#refrigerated container truck

[seosubzero]

India’s Cold Supply Chain: Keeping It Cool With Refrigerated Trucks

India, a land of diverse climates and terrains, has always presented unique challenges when it comes to transporting temperature-sensitive goods. Whether it's fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy products, or pharmaceuticals, maintaining the integrity of these products during transportation is crucial. This is where refrigerated trucks play a pivotal role in India's cold supply chain.

1. Preserving Freshness:

Refrigerated trucks, commonly known as "reefer trucks," are equipped with temperature-controlled units that keep goods at a specific temperature throughout the journey. In a country where the temperature can vary greatly from region to region, these trucks are essential for preserving the freshness of perishable items.

2. Farm to Market:

India is one of the world's largest producers of fruits and vegetables. With refrigerated trucks, farmers can transport their produce from remote rural areas to urban markets without worrying about spoilage. This not only reduces food wastage but also allows farmers to reach wider markets and obtain better prices for their products.

3. Dairy and Meat:

Refrigerated trucks are crucial for the dairy and meat industries. They ensure that milk, cheese, and meat products remain at safe temperatures during transit, preventing bacterial growth and spoilage. This guarantees the quality and safety of these essential food items.

5. Seafood:

India's extensive coastline provides access to a wealth of seafood. Refrigerated trucks are essential for the seafood industry, allowing freshly caught fish, shrimp, and other marine products to be transported to various parts of the country without compromising their quality and taste.

6. Challenges:

While refrigerated trucks have revolutionized India's cold supply chain, they also face challenges. The country's vast road network, often riddled with potholes and inadequate infrastructure, can pose challenges in maintaining temperature consistency. Additionally, power shortages can affect the functioning of these refrigeration units, making it crucial to have backup power sources.

7. Future Prospects:

As the demand for temperature-sensitive transportation grows, the refrigerated truck industry in India is expected to expand. Innovations in refrigeration technology and improved energy efficiency will further enhance the sector's growth. Moreover, the government's focus on improving infrastructure and logistics will positively impact the industry.

In conclusion, refrigerated trucks have revolutionized India's cold supply chain, enabling the transportation of temperature-sensitive goods across the diverse landscape of the country. From agriculture to pharmaceuticals, these vehicles are crucial for preserving product quality and safety. As India continues to modernize and improve its logistics infrastructure, the role of refrigerated trucks will become even more prominent in ensuring the availability of fresh and safe products for consumers nationwide.

[artcalledky]

Star The Swiping There, Start All this for 4.99 I should of fried my own Could’ve fried a whole bag Had way much more Thank You Large! No cups of condiment included! Nor napkins Pesky salt and pepper pacts! Well fuck you Need a name here! What a value @ $4.99 mmmmm I can count and break it down per fried fry Your name here would suck Didn’t cut your very own Nah bag bought How many people purchased whole store bought bags? I don’t have a frier? Cool in the City! Opinions and no onions vary you left out that part at least! Nien zwevebel Leave out tomato Chump crinkle store bought Not in stored well you paid for more! Patron! The container was $2.75 It had a top Hey USA French Fries Brought by DoorDash I should cook my own We know Phillies in all dailies In the mid west! No fucking Ranch as stated Nor napkins Wipe your self with bag Hey the restaurant over driver pick upper You had clean pants and shirt Star the swiping there Start 4.99 B S

[hiralink]

Stake Body Truck | Insulate Your Vehicle Now

One of the more unusual hauling choices accessible to fleets and businesses in the UAE region is the use of stake body commercial trucks. Stake body trucks provide the distinctive cargo truck body options that businesses need to transport very large, awkwardly shaped cargoes.

Similar to a flatbed truck, a stake body truck features sockets along the edge that can be used to insert upright stakes to create a fence. Stake body trucks derive their name from the side stakes that surround the truck bed.

Know more :- Stake Body Truck | Insulate Your Vehicle Now

[rashomonss]

The brothers and the Human Realm

a/n: so ik ‘jealous much’ won the poll but it’s still not done yet so have this instead!

context: a part of me still finds lessons 40-43 funny because the brothers have never really been to the human world that much, and they don’t really know how certain things work. Take the slow cooker and ice cream truck for example. So these are little headcanons I have for when all of y’all are together in the beginning of their stay in the human realm.

enjoy <3 , also these are in no specific order

you all are hopeless…

Solomon and MC would so fuck with the brothers while being in the human realm.

For example they’d take Lucifer to the shadiest mexican restaurant possible then after they finished eating they would tell the waiters it was Lucifer’s birthday and watch the Avatar of Pride sit there with a big ass sombrero on his head as they sang happy birthday to him.

MC later took a picture and sent it to Diavolo who then made it his lock screen.

Satan and Belphie tried to electrocute Lucifer by throwing a toaster in the bathroom while he was in the middle of a shower. This happened after the fact you told them not to put water on the toaster because it could electrocute someone. 

Beel ate an entire bottle of ibuprofen liquid gels because he thought they were hard gummies.

Beel also ate the food and cake shaped wax candle melts you had bought for Asmo as a gift

Beel lastly ate your whole brand new container of melatonin and it knocked him out for 15 hours straight. Needless to say Lucifer was very concerned for his wellbeing, and Belphie soon questioned if you had anymore.

Belphie and his brothers were never taught stranger danger, because who in their right mind would be a danger to them in the Devildom?

So after you had explained to him what an ice cream truck was he vowed to go to one with you.

However when a creepy old man in a white van offers him candy he believes it to be the same as the ice cream truck so he gets in the van.

When the brothers relay this information to you, you begin to lose your shit explaining how that was not in fact an ice cream truck he got into but instead a kidnapper van.

The brothers don’t know how to eat certain human world foods.

Such as a banana, watermelon, mango, pineapple, kiwi, avocado, cherry, dragon fruit, papaya, onion, etc.

So when you first buy one from the grocery store and leave it out before cutting it they automatically think it’s some weird shaped human food and bite into it eating the skin or seeds and all.

After they tell you about the weird but delicious taste of it you ask if they cut it or spit out the seeds before eating it, and when they reply with a puzzled look and a no your heart drops.

Thank god they’re demons. You then proceed to buy the same thing again this time cutting it up in front of them so they know what parts to eat of certain things.

Expanding on the cherry part, did y’all’s parents ever tell you not to swallow watermelon or cherry seeds because if you did a cherry tree or whole watermelon would then grow in your stomach??

I know mine and some of my friends parents would tell us that when I was younger to make sure we didn’t swallow any seeds.

If they didn’t then oh well, anyway…

Continuing with Solomon being an ass, he would so tell something like that to the brothers. If he happened to see Beel swallow a cherry whole he would then proceeded to tell Lucifer not to let him do that.

And when the oldest asks why Solomon would then go onto explain that if he swallows cherry pit then a cherry tree will then grow inside his stomach.

Of course this freaked out Lucifer so for the next hour he tried getting Beel to spit out all the cherries he ate.

You would have to organize their fridge and pantry in the new house because they don’t know which human world foods need to be refrigerated or not.

After you arrive at the house you spent a good three hours explaining to them not everything can go in the pantry because some of it will spoil after you open it.

Then you proceed to gag when you pulled out an expired chunky milk container from the pantry.

They find the concept of drive thru or fast food places astonishing. The fact that you can just order wait in a line for a few minutes in your car then get your food is crazy. They do however all panic though when you get to the front and they don’t know what to order off the menu.

Car washes are also something they found themselves favoring. You would turn up the music as you slowly pulled in and joked by telling the brothers you were going on a ride of sorts.

Which in turn shocked you when they did believed you as the car wash stared. Each of them were staring out the windows with starry eyes as different colors of soap were thrown on your car.

You laughed to yourself as they all admired the way the soap blended together, Asmo and Mammon found themselves taking pictures of the whole thing. While Belphie was telling Beel how this looked like a starry sky.

And Levi went on to tell Satan how this reminded him of an anime scene. Lucifer also found himself sitting quietly in the passenger seat enjoying it too. (Lucifer is a certified passenger princess, fight me on that)

Each brother questioned you on how this was possible and you replied with smile. After the car wash was over and you drove through the dryers they all asked if you could do that again, to which you replied smiling “maybe some other time”.

Lucifer watered the fake succulents and plants you put around the house for two weeks straight until you said something.

They love watching true crime documentary’s to the point you’d have to physically pull them away from the tv.

It happened one afternoon while a few of them were relaxing in the living room and you were looking for a channel to watch.

Deciding there was nothing interesting on you put on an old true crime documentary and began watching it. As the brothers heard the story of the crime from the tv they each became immersed in it.

Telling you things such as “how could humans do that to each other?” or “wow humans are more brutal than we thought” or even adding in their own comments on how they could have made the crime worse.

It became a guessing game between all of them to figure out who killed who during each episode you watched.

Much to everyone dismayed Satan was the one who won every time.

Meanwhile while they were all immersed in the tv you noticed Lucifer standing behind you, arms crossed also watching tv. You told him to sit down and watch with all of you but he denied, claiming he wasn’t really interested in stuff like this anyway.

Yet he never moved from that same spot each episode.

Each of the brothers have made something explode in the microwave.

Lucifer stained it red when he went to reheat pasta, but he put it in for to long and it exploded. Mammon overfilled his ramen thus causing it to leak then explode.

Satan and Levi also happened to be reheating takeout at the same time, but both of the containers were styrofoam and exploded. Levi got annoyed and Satan threw the microwave at Lucifer.

Asmo put some skincare product in there because he found something online about a certain hack, and it exploded causing the microwave to smell like burnt strawberries.

Beel put too much food in the microwave causing it to all melt together then explode.

Belphie put a coffee in there to reheat and it exploded, but he was too lazy to clean it up so he just left it. Lucifer was then next to use the microwave and got coffee all over him.

You made all seven of them watch the entire twilight series as a joke but ironically they all actually enjoyed it.

Satan even went out and bought the books, and finished all of them in about 2 hours

Bonus

Solomon distracted Diavolo for 3 hours straight by making him watch 5 minute craft videos.

Diavolo then proceeded to break things to try these said crafts which caused Barbatos to have a meltdown.

Barbatos destroyed an entire sidewalk because he saw two rats run across it into the sewer.

[thatchickwiththecamera]

Hi!!

Can you write something related to Matt? I'm soooo obsessed with him lately.

Not a specific request, just Matt 🥺

Thank you!!!!

Author’s Note: Someone sent in two requests in one ask for Matt and Ruffilo. Since this wonderful anon didn’t specify what they wanted their request regarding Matt to be about, I am responding to the Matt portion of that double prompt through this request!

Check out my other writings here: MASTERLIST

Warning: Contains Smut, 18+ ONLY

The Shirt

The blazing rays of the morning sun were already bearing down on Olivia’s shoulders as she unloaded the bags of fertilizer and potting soil out of the trunk of her RAV4. Even at 7am, Texas in the middle of July was scorching and that heat would take a bite out of you really quick if you weren’t careful. 

As she was stacking the last bag on top of the pile she had made on the corner of her driveway, a truck drove up onto the concrete slab and parked next to her. The bed of the truck was loaded down with various gardening tools, cuts of lumber, and a number of plants nestled in their temporary plastic pots. 

Matt Dierkes, one of Olivia’s oldest friends, emerged from the driver’s side, his long hair covered by one of his signature ballcaps. He wore an old Bloodline tee with the sleeves cut off and a pair of athletic shorts with the name of their high school printed on them. 

Matt had the next three months off before his next set of shows with the guys and had agreed to help Olivia build her own garden and green space in her backyard. Gardening was a hobby he had picked up during the pandemic when the music industry shut down touring wise so she naturally turned to her best friend for help when deciding to start her own. 

Shortly after he stepped out of the vehicle a little blonde blur of fur hopped out as well and bolted toward where Olivia stood. She stopped what she was doing and scooped Matt’s yorkie Boo up into her arms and hugged him to her chest as he licked her face in greeting. 

She let out a laugh in response and lowered herself into a criss-cross sitting position on  the ground to continue playing with her friend’s furry child. Matt lowered the tailgate of his truck and paused, peaking around the truck to watch his best friend play with his dog. The view made him smile. Two of his favorites in one place.

They soon moved everything, including Boo, to the fenced in backyard and quickly got to work. The plan was to get as much done in one day as they could by sundown and then finish whatever was left tomorrow. The reward at the end of the project was a pair of tomahawk steaks and a twelve pack of Dr. Pepper that sat on the top shelf inside Olivia’s refrigerator. 

They finally took a break a little after noon. They had gotten the ground cleared and the three raised garden boxes built and lined with a weed barrier. Now, they laid down on the cool concrete of Olivia’s covered back porch. Olivia with a couple of pillows from one of the lounge chairs nestled under her head, Matt’s with his head propped up on the side of Olivia’s stomach, hat off, now covering his face. 

The ceiling centered above them steadily pushed warm air down over their bodies. Boo lay curled up on the elevated cooling dog bed that she bought specifically for him that she placed next to the door while they worked. 

The mixture of warm air and cool concrete made it tempting to drift off to sleep and take a nap right then and there. One of her Spotify playlists shuffled out various songs through the bluetooth speaker sitting on the edge of the porch. She hummed along to lyrics of an A Day To Remember song and found herself absentmindedly playing with the hair on Matt’s now uncovered head. She loved his long hair and dreaded the day he ever decided to cut it. 

“Hmmm, if you keep that up I am going to end up falling asleep.” Matt commented, voice partially muffled by the hat. 

He moved the hat slightly, peaking to look over at her with a smile. Her eyes were closed and a content smile adorned her face as she continued to fiddle with his light brown locks. He reached up with his right hand and poked her side with his thumb, knowing fully well how ticklish she was. 

She squirmed and tried to swat it away with the hand not currently occupied with his hair. He did it again and when she tried to swat at his hand, he grabbed it and pulled it toward him, trapping it in his own against his chest. She let out a laugh. 

“Matthew, if you wanted to hold my hand you could have just said so.” she said, now looking down at him with a smirk. 

He rolled his eyes, jokingly flipped her the bird before throwing the hat back over his face. Her hand remained in place on his chest, his right hand draped over it. She made no effort to move it. They fell back into a comfortable silence. She continued to play with his hair and eventually felt him start drawing slow gentle circles with his thumb against the back of her other hand. They remained that way until their stomachs signaled it was time to eat lunch and get back to work. 

By the end of the day, all three garden boxes were full of the proper ratios of soil, fertilizer, and mulch along with strategically placed irrigation hoses. Pre-grown sprouts had been transplanted from their plastic pots along with regular seeds into neatly organized and labeled rows in each box. In a few weeks Olivia would have tomatoes, various peppers, carrots, asparagus, sweet corn, and potatoes growing tall and green in her garden. 

They both agreed that it was too late and they were too tired, sweaty, and partially sunburnt to bother cooking and decided to hold off on the celebration dinner until the next afternoon. After loading the various gardening and power tools back into the bed of his truck, Matt turned and watched Olivia walk over with Boo in her arms. 

“Can’t he just stay here tonight since you’re coming back tomorrow anyway?” She asked, not wanting to part with the pint sized pup that she had come to adore almost as much as his owner over the years. 

“Liv, are you trying to steal my dog from me?” He accused, stepping closer to scratch the little dog's head before looking down at his much shorter friend with a smile. 

“I don’t have to try, he likes being here,” she defends. 

Yeah, he’s not the only one, Matt thought

“and besides, he lives here when you’re on tour and now that you’re home I miss him.” 

“Oh, so what you’re saying is you can’t wait for me to leave again.” He teases. 

“No, I’m saying that now that you’re home, I miss having Boo around.”

“So you don’t miss me when I’m on tour, but you miss my dog?” He asks. 

“I’m going to smack you,” she threatens, “you know what I meant asshole”

“Boo, are you going to let her talk to your dad that way?” he asks with a sarcastic gasp. 

“Boo, If I didn’t know any better, I’d think your dad is a little jealous.” She states, kissing the top of the dog's head, smirking at her friend. Blue eyes glowing with a hint of mischief. 

He rolls his eyes. 

“You’re insufferable, you know that?” 

“Lies,” She states matter of factly. “So can he stay?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” he replies with a sigh. 

Everyone who knew Matt knew that he was certainly not a pushover. Quite the opposite in fact. He could be an outright ass sometimes. But there was just something about Olivia that made it hard to say no, even when they were younger. He chalked it up to her just being very persuasive and good at making a convincing argument. But as they had gotten older, he knew it was because he loved seeing the way her eyes lit up with excitement when she was happy. He liked being the one that made her happy. 

When he got home, he headed straight to the shower, wanting to rinse away all the sweat and dirt that had built up over the course of the day. From the shower he lazily went through the rest of his bedtime routine before seeking refuge under the comforter. 

Despite how much his body ached and longed for rest. His mind would not allow sleep to take hold. After a while he rolled over onto his back with a frustrated sigh and stared up at the ceiling fan. His bed was noticeably colder without Boo curled up next to him. His house was too quiet. It felt odd and out of place. Like something was missing aside from the obvious absence of man’s best friend. 

He used to love the isolation being home provided after months of time spent on cramped tour buses and in shared hotel rooms, but now he was dreading the solitude. 

Before his mind could ponder further he heard a familiar notification chime from his phone. He rolled over and grabbed the device off the nightstand, the light from the screen cutting through the darkness. 

Olivia: New Text Message

He unlocked his phone and was greeted by a photo of Boo in a bathtub, hair spiked up in different directions by the shampoo lathered in his hair. The message underneath read:

Olivia: Someone knocked over the trashcan while I was taking a shower and got caught red pawed with peanut butter all over him. 🙃

The message made him smile in amusement. Boo was notorious for knocking over and digging through the garbage if you didn’t keep the trash can secured in some fashion. He had done it many times when Matt had originally moved into his own place before he finally got a heavy metal can with a push pedal lid that couldn’t be knocked over.

Before he could type out a reply another photo popped up. This one showed Boo sitting, with freshly dried fur, looking up at Olivia through the mirror on the countertop next to the sink in her bathroom. The reflection showed Olivia smiling down at her phone screen behind him as she snapped the picture, hair dryer up and ready in her opposite hand. 

She was wearing an oversized t-shirt, which was practically a dress on her short frame. Not just any t-shirt. His t-shirt. His favorite Lord of the Rings t-shirt that he thought he accidentally lost. 

But there is was, and fuck did she look good in it. 

Olivia: Pupdate: Back to his clean handsome self! 😋

He zoomed in to see that she had gathered the pups hair up into a hair tie causing the free hair to stick up like a troll doll. His smile grew wider as he typed back a reply. 

Matt: You gave my dog a ponytail? And is that my shirt? 🤨

Olivia: Yeah! You guys match now! And I don’t know what you’re talking about. Lol 🤭

Matt: 🙄

Olivia: He looks cute and you know it! 🖕

Matt: So what you're saying is you think I look cute? And stop trying to avoid the question. 🤔

Olivia: I say you match and that's all you got out of that? 🙄

Matt: You didn’t say no. 😏

Olivia: 🤐

Matt: I’m taking that as a yes until you say otherwise and I want my shirt back. 

“Boo, I think your dad is flirting with me” Olivia said to the pup curled up under her arm, big brown eyes looking at her. 

Albeit she was flirting back, but they were both arguably kinda bad at it. 

Olivia: I plead the fifth and if you want it back you’ll have to come and take it. 

Matt: That can be arranged. 

Oh shit, maybe not as bad at it as she thought. 

Olivia: You’d like that wouldn’t you? 

Well, no turning back now. They’ve officially crossed into a territory outside of the realm of just friends. 

Three little text dots popped up at the bottom and then went away. 

Shit Shit Shit. 

She felt doubt start to form like a weight in the pit of her stomach. Maybe she read the messages wrong. Maybe he wasn’t flirting? 

Twenty minutes passed with no reply. She wanted to scream, and cry, and throw up all at the exact same time. Olivia was genuinely worried that she had just royally fucked up her friendship. 

She was anxiously pacing around her room, waiting for Matt to reply, when she heard her doorbell ring from downstairs. She looked over at the clock on her nightstand. It read 11:47pm. 

Boo let out a growl at the new noise. She tried to soothe the dog before leaving him secured inside her bedroom and headed downstairs to see who the hell was ringing her doorbell in the middle of the night. She was mentally chastising herself for not investing in one of those ring doorbell cameras that she always said she was going to invest in when she moved in two years prior. 

She stood on her tip toes and looked through the peephole. She let out a slight gasp by who she saw on the other side before quickly unlocking and opening the door. There on the other side of the threshold was Matt with a very serious look on his face, his brown eyes looked darker than usual. They both said nothing, a noticeable tension filled the air as she pulled the door open wider, allowing him room to step inside. She quickly closed the door behind him and re-secured the locks. 

“Matt, wha…” she started to ask, turning around to face him. 

“Shut up.” he interjected, stepping forward and connecting their lips in a searing kiss. 

They stood like this for a moment, before he took another step and the cool wood of her front door against her back caused her to part her lips in a gasp, allowing his tongue to slip inside. His hands left her face and traveled down the seam of her shirt. His shirt. Before he reached behind her thighs and lifted her up, legs wrapping around his center, as he carried them over to the couch across the room. 

That tension felt before snapped as hands found skin and clothing met the floor piece by piece. She didn’t have time to feel shy. The desire of it all was dizzying and they both craved more. He rolled her off his lap to where she laid across the couch and he began to plant kisses along her throat. Over her breast. Down her stomach. Watching her react with each touch as he made his way to her core. 

He looked up at her as he pressed gentle kisses against her inner thigh, silently asking permission to continue. She nodded and he didn’t hesitate. Her hand quickly found its way into his hair as his tongue worked deeper. Her head snapped back into the couch pillow as he gently introduced his fingers to her folds, falling into a steady rhythm as his mouth flicked over her clit. She tried to move her hips to match his thrusts but he firmly held her in place by snaking his free arm around her thigh. 

She let out a moan as she felt herself growing closer and closer to climax. The sounds of her moans and how she breathlessly whispered his name were like music and he was desperate to hear more. She looked down at him, his eyes borderline pitch black with lust. Their gaze remained locked as she felt her body coil tighter until it snapped and she screamed out his name in pleasure. Writhing beneath him as he continued to work his fingers in and out, while kissing the overstimulated bud. 

The sound of her voice as she fell apart made his dick twitch. She whimpered slightly at the absence as he made his way back up her body and attaching her lips to his in another deep kiss. He pulled back and looked into her eyes, her pupils blown with ecstasy. 

“Are you sure about this?” He said, seeking consent to continue. 

She grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him into another breathtaking kiss. 

“Fuck, yes.” She breathed against his lips. 

She gripped his arms, nail leaving crescent moon indentions on the skin as he pushed inside of her. Sweat began to pool at the small of his back as she rolled her hips up to meet him, their bodies falling into a steady rhythm.

He placed his forehead against hers, eyes locked as he thrusts harder, deeper. Both chasing their high together. Olivia's eyes flutter closed as the pleasure builds closer and closer. 

“Look at me!” Matt demands. God the way he said that unlocked something in her. 

Her eyes snap back open to meet his. He picks up his pace with a grunt, alternating between deep full hilt thrusts and shallow ones that leaves her needing more. 

“Fuck, Liv, you’re doing so good for me.” He praises between his own moans. 

Her hands snake deeper into his mane of hair as they push closer and closer to the breaking point. He tries to hide his moan in another deep kiss. 

“Matt….” She whines, “so close..”

“That’s it, babygirl.” He praises, “cum for me, let me hear that pretty voice.”

She cried out his name in pleasure, star bursts dotting in her vision as he continued to fuck her through her orgasm. She writhed with overstimulation as he chased his own climax shortly after. He collapsed on her chest, both of them trying to calm their ragged breathing. 

Matt quickly got up and retrieved a wet washcloth from the half bath and cleaned both of them up before laying back down and pulling Olivia on top of him along with the decorative blanket that was draped over the back of the couch. She nestled her face into the crux of his neck, he rested his chin on top of her head. 

“Matt?” Olivia asks, voice muffled by how she was laying. 

“Yeah?”

“You’re still not getting the shirt back.” She says. 

He lets out a laugh. 

“Fair enough,” he replies, kissing her forehead, “It looks better on you anyways.”

[honey-dont]

types of freight cars

made a whole post to help ppl design stex ocs as the resident freight enthusiast :) while this isn't every freight car in existence, it's definitely a good chunk of them!

FLATCARS

The most basic type of freight car. They’re…well…flat! Designed for carrying bulky loads.

Autorack: Transport automobiles. Can have single, double, or triple levels.

Boom/Idler: Placed in front of a breakdown crane to protect the boom or in front of/behind oversized loads to protect the overhang.

Bulkhead: Have walls (bulkheads) on the end. Used to transport pipe, poles, slabs, and lumber. Prone to derailing when traveling empty and put speed restrictions on the freight train.

Centerbeam: Carry lumber. Another type is the opera (round) window style. Have to be loaded/unloaded evenly to avoid the car tipping over.

Depressed Center: Used to carry extremely heavy loads such as generators. Have a lowered (depressed) middle section.

Intermodal/Well: Carry semi-truck trailers and containers. Have a lowered bottom (well).

Skeleton/Spine: Very narrow car used to transport lumber. Has stakes on the sides. Spine cars do not have stakes and are often used for intermodal transport.

GONDOLAS

Open-topped cars that generally transport loose goods. Can also be covered. Differ from hoppers in that they have flat bottoms and have to be manually unloaded or put through a rotary dumper.

Bathtub: Transport coal. Have rounded bottoms for extra space.

Coil: Carry coils of metal. Can be open or have specialized covers to protect the cargo. Typically considered a subtype of gondola, but can also be a subtype of flatcar as well.

Side-dump: Cars tip sideways to dump loads. Often carry ballast or rocks for railbeds.

HOPPERS

Evolved from gondolas but differ in that they have sloped bottoms and discharge doors. Can be covered or uncovered, and have between two to five chutes. Open cars transport bulk goods such as coal, while covered ones carry food items.

Ore Jenny: A small, specialized hopper designed to carry large loads of iron ore from mines.

BOXCAR

Enclosed cars with side or end doors. Used for bulk commodities and for goods that need to be protected from the weather.

Stock: Used to transport livestock such as cattle, horses, sheep, and poultry. Have ventilated sides for airflow. A variant used to carry fish was attached to passenger trains and was more luxurious.

Refrigerator: Insulated and cooled cars used to transport frozen goods.

TANKERS

Used to transport liquids or gases. Can be specialized to carry hazardous materials.

Milk: Specialized tank car variant (as opposed to the boxcar variant) that carries milk. Attached to passenger trains to prevent spoilage.

Pickle: There's pickles in there! The vats were filled with vinegar.

Torpedo: Carry molten iron. Designed to withstand very high temperatures.

Whale Belly: Large tank car with a lowered midsection for additional carrying capacity.

SCHNABEL

These cars are a type all of their own. Used to transport extremely large loads by pinching it between the arms of the car.

[delopsia]

The Little Things They Do When Dating You

Contains: ✰ Robert “Bob” Floyd, Rhett Abbott, Miles Miller, and Harrison Knott. Warnings: Food mentions. Miles is implied to be living in the present day. Don't bite me for it 😅 

✧˖° Robert “Bob” Floyd

♦ Associates you with a particular animal. If you don't already have a critter in mind, then he will not rest until he's assigned you one. Comes home from deployments with figurines, plushies and other things related to that animal ♦ Shamelessly makes puns just to get a rise out of you.

♦ Loves, loves, loves to settle down on the couch with you and read in silence together. Feet tangled under the same blanket, wrapped up in your own little stories. ♦ When he goes on deployments, he likes to do this thing where you read the same book series and discuss it when he comes back. Also likes to swap books! What you read while he was gone will be what he reads when he comes back, and vice versa 😊 ♦ Before he leaves, he writes you a series of letters and hides them in places that he knows will take you a while to find. It's his little way of loving on you, even while he's gone. ♦ Can't resist spoiling you every chance he gets. Sweet treats, jewelry, little things he caught you looking at while walking through town. If you want it, you've got it. ♦ Lays on top of you when he's trying to get you to slow down. Some days, you just forget how to take it easy, and this is the only way he knows how to calm your nerves. ♦ Has so many inside jokes with you. Conversations can very easily fall into secret code that nobody else can understand. ♦ Lays down on the couch and encourages you to lay on top of him while watching movies together. Sneaks his hand beneath your shirt and rubs invisible shapes into your skin. ♦ Is surprisingly clever when it comes to bickering with you. It's so hard to come up with something to say when he's got you laughing.

✧˖° Rhett Abbott

♦ Nuzzles your noses together when you cuddle. ♦ Isn't afraid to try the things you enjoy, regardless of how 'feminine' it might be. He wants to understand the feeling you get out of it. Lets you paint his nails, put makeup on him, pick his outfit for the day, put him in skirts. There was one instance where he asked you to teach him how to shave his legs because he wanted to know what it felt like. ♦ Quietly follows you around on your shopping trips, only speaking up when he sees something you're looking for or if he thinks you might like it. ♦ He's gone from not knowing how to share a bed at night to not being able to sleep without you. If you leave town, then he's pretty much guaranteed to sleep terribly. He can't help it. There's something so comforting about having you there with him. ♦ Hugs you from behind and rests his chin on your shoulder whenever you're standing somewhere. Concession lines, watching the rodeo, in the kitchen. ♦ Gave you one of his old buckles to wear because he'd heard you say that you wanted to match him. It's ridiculously large, but there's something about prancing around rodeos with an Abbott buckle that makes your heart flutter. ♦ Kisses and traces the indents that his buckle has left on your skin. ♦ Switched his workout routine because you love his chest and biceps. He hates taking pictures of himself, but he's gotten into a habit of taking the occasional photo that flatters his chest just to get a rise out of you. ♦ He doesn't know a damn thing about dancing, but he'll spin you 'round and 'round in front of his truck headlights or the refrigerator lights. ♦ Refuses to let you stay in those trashy motel rooms that he usually resigns himself to when he's traveling to rodeos alone. It might be okay for him but for you? He'll spend the extra dollar to make sure you're as comfortable as possible. ♦ Gets red in the ears when you show him off to your friends and family. He's never been with someone who was proud to call him theirs before, never mind introducing him to those they care about.

✧˖° Miles Miller

♦ He loooves to use emoticons. There's the occasional emoji, but it's primarily things like: ^-^ :D :) :v >.< ^w^ ♦ Cannot pick a good movie to save his life. Cute pet movie? The dog died in the end. Camping film? It was actually a horror. That movie with the snow on the cover? Surprise cannibalism! The romance film? The love interest died in the end. Please save him. ♦ Trips over his own words when he's trying to describe something he likes about you, or even when he's saying 'I love you' in general. He's got so many feelings, and he just doesn't know what to do with them all! ♦ His smaller, lanky stature often tricks you into forgetting how protective he can be. A guy tried to smack your ass once, and Miles had him by the wrist before the hit even landed. Puts himself between you and whoever is bothering you. Doesn't say a whole lot, but it's often enough to ward folks off. ♦ He traces your facial features when he thinks you're asleep. Most of the time, you've secretly been awake, fighting the urge to smile when it starts to tickle. ♦ Cries when you do big things for him. Once, you surprised him with a birthday party, and the poor thing was so happy that he burst into tears. It took him ten minutes to blow out the candles because he just kept sniffling. ♦ He keeps buying matching pairs of socks to wear together. His heart can't handle the idea of matching outfits, but socks? Socks are fun for him. If he catches you wearing a pair of yours, then he'll go and find his to wear, too. ♦ He thinks everything you've ever done is amazing. You can be folding laundry, and he'll be mesmerized. Tries to tell you as much, but he can hardly get the words out his mouth. ♦ Makes you desserts all the time. He's recently figured out how to bake, and he just can't resist bringing you little sweet treats. ♦ Talks about you in his sleep. Most of the time, it doesn't make any sense, but then you'll catch little murmurings of how pretty he thinks you are and how much he loved this one thing you did for him.

✧˖° Harrison Knott

♦ Loves to hold your hand. On the days when it's too hot for that, he likes to link your fingers instead ♦ Does not play around when it comes to you taking medication. You're finishing that prescription whether you still have flu symptoms or not! ♦ You can't pay him back for anything. You may think that you've gotten away with putting that $10 bill in his wallet, but you have yet to realize that he's already taken it out and put it on top of your fridge. ♦ Massages the tension from your shoulders whenever he notices you're stressed out, then settles between your legs and fucks you nice and slow, just for extra measure. ♦ Ever since he found out that you couldn't get enough of his body, he's doubled down on his workout and diet routines. Fitness has never taken a huge priority for him, but he's in love with the feeling of your eyes raking up and down his body, hands greedily squeezing at his muscles. ♦ Picks you up and carries you around the house because "what's the point of working out if I can't carry you whenever I feel like it?" ♦ Bounces his leg when you're sitting in his lap. ♦ Makes you custom playlists for every occasion and gets so smiley when you make one for him, too. ♦ Tricks you into looking at something that isn't there, then kisses your nose when you turn to look back at him. ♦ He loves to take you down to the beach but hardly pays attention to the scenery because he's too busy paying attention to you instead. If you call him out on staring, he'll just nod his head and confirm that it's exactly what he's doing.

[sayruq]

 As the escalation of the conflict extends to its 19th day, a staggering 2.2 million people are now in urgent need of food. Prior to the hostilities, 104 trucks a day would deliver food to the besieged Gaza Strip, one truck every 14 minutes. 

Despite 62 trucks of aid being allowed to enter southern Gaza via the Rafah crossing since the weekend, only 30 contained food and in some cases, not exclusively so. This amounts to just one truck every three hours and 12 minutes since Saturday. 

[...]

International Humanitarian Law (IHL) strictly prohibits the use of starvation as a method of warfare and as the occupying power in Gaza, Israel is bound by IHL obligations to provide for the needs and protection of the population of Gaza. In 2018, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 2417, which unanimously condemned the use of starvation against civilians as a method of warfare and declared any denial of humanitarian access a violation of international law. Oxfam said that it is becoming painfully clear that the unfolding humanitarian situation in Gaza squarely fits the prohibition condemned in the resolution. 

Clean water has now virtually run out.  It’s estimated that only three litres of clean water are now available per person – the UN said that a minimum of 15 litres a day is essential for people in the most acute humanitarian emergencies as a bare minimum. Bottled water stocks are running low and the cost of bottled water has already surged beyond the reach of an average Gaza family, with prices spiking fivefold in some places. A spokesperson for the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNWRA) pointed out that some of the food aid allowed in - rice and lentils - is useless, because people do not have clean water or fuel to prepare them. 

A series of airstrikes have left several bakeries and supermarkets either destroyed or damaged. Those that are still functional, can’t meet the local demand for fresh bread and are at risk of shutting down due to the shortage of essentials like flour and fuel. Gaza’s only operative wheat mill is redundant due to the power outages. The Palestinian Water Authority says Gaza's water production is now a mere 5 percent of its normal total, which is expected to reduce further, unless water and sanitation facilities are provided with electricity or fuel to resume its activity. 

Notably, essential food items, like flour, oil and sugar, are still stocked in warehouses that haven’t been destroyed. But as many of them are located in Gaza city, it is proving physically impossible to deliver items due to the lack of fuel, damaged roads and risks from airstrikes.  

The electricity blackout has also disrupted food supplies by affecting refrigeration, crop irrigation, and crop incubation devices.  Over 15,000 farmers have lost their crop production and 10,000 livestock breeders have little access to fodder, with many having lost their animals. Oxfam said that the siege, combined with the airstrikes, has crippled the fishing industry with hundreds of people who rely on fishing losing access to the sea. 

[gynandromorph]

how many doors does the average house have? remember, doors to bathrooms, bedrooms, basements, closets, refrigerators, cabinets, etc. ALL COUNT AS DOORS. we can safely say it's multitudes of 4.

but hey, cars take up less space, and most people have multiple cars for 1 house, right?

quite a lot of cars. we'll just tuck the fact that trucks, especially 18-wheelers, exist in the back of our minds for now. surely adding up more wheeled vehicles is important.

it's going to be pretty tough to sort out all of the wheeled machines. let's check out buildings to kind of get a grasp on the situation, even though there are more things with doo--

...........i don't think it's even a contest. cars, the most common type of vehicle in the world, pretty much ALL HAVE AS MANY DOORS AS WHEELS. pretty much every MACHINE that uses wheels to manufacture shit is inside of a building with doors, and the machines can also have doors!!!!!

there are more large containers meant to be open and closed with a door than large containers put on wheels to move independently.

[hometoursandotherstuff]

Cute & affordable little house in the well respected neighborhood of Indian Village within Gentilly, New Orleans, Louisiana. It's a 1940s brick home with sleeping loft, a modified 320 sq. ft. refrigeration container workshop, an abundance of salvaged, high-quality building materials, antiques and tools…. and everything is included in the sale! 1bd, 1ba, $127K.

It's cute in a hippie kind of way, right?

Are those old books on the back wall? If so, I like the look.

Remember that you get everything with it, and some of it looks nice- you don't have to keep it all.

Check out the big fan in the kitchen ceiling. Someone did a cute painting on the fridge. You can decorate this so sweet.

A washer/dryer unit is worth not having to go to a laundromat.

Like the pedestal sink and the wall, but the toilet platform needs work. I would imagine that there's a shower behind the curtain on the right.

I would definitely have to put a full floor up in the loft.

Looks like a little bamboo hut up here, but the holes in the floor are too big.

This is the interior of the workshop. Nice for an old semi truck container.

Outdoor work area with all this material included. If you don't want it, you could probably sell it and use the money to fix up the house. This is building material, so maybe it can also be used in the house.

I like this funky little property and the cute garden.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2920-Powhatan-St-New-Orleans-LA-70126/149030137_zpid/

[whirligig-girl]

Commission for @trydianth of Entrapta operating tiny trains (since she loves tiny food so much!)

Image ID: Entrapta from She-Ra is grinning and fiddling with some train cars on her model train set. Entrapta is a tan-skinned woman with pink hair in large prehensile tentacle-like pony tails. Her regular hands are on the train layout table but she’s messing with the train cars with her hair. She’s also using her hair to control the model railway’s power transformer, which is hooked up to a First One’s crystal. The train layout contains a yard with three sidings with five freight cars and a purple tank engine. It also contains a loop that goes back and forth between a simplistic diorama of dark purple Dryll castle on the left and of Brightmoon castle on the left, with a small diorama of the Whispering Woods’ dark blue trees in the foreground. There’s a spur track that runs off-screen with the ominous reddish glow of the Fright Zone. A pretty streamlined tan, white, and gold train is coming from that line. On the loop line near Entrapta is seven freight cars and a scary looking military-green diesel with a Horde insignia. End Image ID.

Under the cut are some detail close-ups and artist’s notes.

Flatbed of First Ones Tech, FZR Boxcar, two unnamed vans, a refrigerated Salineas Fisheries boxcar, an unnamed tank wagon, a gondola of snow from the Kingdom of Snows, a Fred Pelhay Coal Co. truck for some reason, a Plumeria Products boxcar, and a Freight Zone Rail Road boxcar with graffiti reading She-Ra was Here.

A Freight Zone Rail locomotive and an old industrial shunter tank engine from Dryll Quarry.

Bright Moon Railway’s cab-forward streamliner, coming from the Fright Zone. Does that make sense? Perhaps not, but I hasten to remind the viewer that this is just Entrapta’s toy model.

I definitely put more detail into this than I intended to! It was going to be a lot simpler, but by the time I got to drawing and then perspective-skewing an actual model railway layout with sidings and switches I realized this was going to take a while. I wasn’t quite sure what to do for the engine visual style. At first the locomotive positioned next to the Dryll tank engine was going to be a big Dryllian steam engine, but I decided it’d be better to show a big scary Horde diesel.

I used steam engines for the good guys and a diesel for the bad guys soley and completely because i am thomas the tank engine-brained because I just like the look of steam engines! There’s no realistic reason why there should be steam traction in Etheria, rather than something entirely magical--but then, steam engines just look better in fantasy settings in my opinion! I can justify it, after-the-fact though: magic is everywhere in Etheria, but it can’t be harnessed by everyone (during the events of the series). Sometimes transportion has to be done through mundane means. And it’s not like we see any big power plants on Etheria, so electricity is out. Entrapta’s one of the only people who uses first one’s tech to power her inventions--otherwise we see no powerplants in Dryll. So. Wood or coal or magic-crystal powered steam engines! Yipee!

Obviously they’re all electric powered in this model, though.

[seosubzero]

All You Need to Know About Truck Containers

Truck containers play a crucial role in the transportation and logistics industry, serving as the backbone of global trade and commerce. These containers are used to transport a wide variety of goods over land, making them an essential part of the supply chain. In this blog, we will delve into the details of truck containers, exploring their types, uses, and the impact they have on the global economy.

What are Truck Containers?

Truck containers, also known as shipping containers or cargo containers, are standardized metal boxes used for transporting goods by road. These containers are designed to be easily loaded onto trucks and are compatible with various modes of transportation, including ships and trains. They come in various sizes and are constructed to withstand the rigors of transportation, ensuring the safety and security of the goods inside.

Types of Truck Containers

Standard Containers

Standard truck containers come in two sizes: 20 feet and 40 feet in length.

These containers are the most commonly used and are suitable for a wide range of goods, from consumer goods to industrial materials.

High Cube Containers

High cube containers are similar to standard containers but are taller, providing extra vertical space.

They are ideal for transporting lightweight, bulky goods or goods that require extra vertical clearance.

Refrigerated Containers

Refrigerated truck containers, also known as reefers, are equipped with temperature control systems to transport perishable goods such as fruits, vegetables, and pharmaceuticals.

These containers are essential for maintaining the quality and freshness of temperature-sensitive products during transportation.

Open-Top Containers

Open-top containers feature a removable top, allowing for easy loading and unloading of goods from the top of the container.

They are suitable for oversized cargo that cannot be loaded through the standard container doors.

Flat Rack Containers

Flat rack containers have collapsible sides, making them suitable for transporting heavy or oversized cargo, such as machinery, vehicles, or industrial equipment.

Uses of Truck Containers

Truck containers are utilized in various industries and for a wide range of goods, including:

Consumer goods

Machinery and equipment

Raw materials

Electronics

Food and beverages

Pharmaceuticals

Impact on the Global Economy

The widespread use of truck containers has significantly impacted the global economy in several ways:

Efficient Transportation: Truck containers have streamlined the transportation of goods, making it more efficient and cost-effective.

Global Trade: These containers have facilitated international trade by simplifying the process of transporting goods across borders.

Supply Chain Optimization: Truck containers have played a crucial role in optimizing supply chains, ensuring timely delivery of goods to their destinations.

Economic Growth: The ease of transporting goods via truck containers has contributed to the growth of industries and economies worldwide.

Conclusion

In today's interconnected global economy, truck containers, including those manufactured by Sub Zero, stand out as indispensable assets, enabling the smooth transportation of goods across vast distances. The versatility, standardized design, and seamless integration with various modes of transportation make truck containers a cornerstone in the logistics and supply chain industry. Sub Zero's commitment to producing high-quality refrigerated containers and truck bodies further enhances the reliability of these crucial components.

As trade and commerce continue to expand, the role of truck containers, particularly those crafted by Sub Zero, becomes even more pronounced. Their innovative designs and advanced technology contribute not only to the efficiency of cargo transport but also to the preservation of perishable goods. Sub Zero's dedication to excellence aligns seamlessly with the demands of a growing global market, driving economic growth and fostering enhanced global connectivity. In this ever-evolving landscape, Sub Zero plays a vital part in shaping the future of logistics, ensuring the safe and efficient movement of goods across borders and continents.

[soul-controller]

Learning A Valuable Lesson II

As the loud tones of an alarm clock filled the small bedroom of Richard Grosse, high school jock Jason found himself violently pulled from his dreams. Despite the noisy hindrance and the slight pain from the sharp trilling noise that was a far cry from Jason’s usual alarm tone of his favorite song, the man still woke up with a wide smile on his face.

The reason behind this was due to the jock’s dream providing an ideal situation where his plan for revenge against his terrible and jealous math teacher was executed flawlessly. Not only was Jason able to successfully swap back into his normal jock body after spending the weekend as a 53-year-old portly teacher, but he was also able to drop an anonymous tip to the school’s gossip page about Mr. Grosse’s kinky pastimes as a submissive, leather-wearing homo. Although in his dream the gossip page was originally uninterested in the story, Jason’s added attachments showcasing the man nearly nude and posing in submissive positions was enough to convince the page to run the story by dropping it on Monday morning just as him and his classmates began to make their way into the school for their final week of semester exams. While countless students were making fun of the pathetic teacher, it was Jason who had the last laugh during his gym class as he stopped running outside and watched as the teacher was dragged out of the school and forced to leave the premises immediately.

Upon recollecting his dream, the jock-turned-teacher began to push himself into a seated position, letting out a light groan from the amount of energy he had to expend given his temporarily obese physique. As he rubbed the sleep away from his eyes and looked down at his body, the fitness-obsessed man couldn’t help but cringe at the large and gray hair-coated gut that was now resting on his thighs and thus fully concealing his borrowed crown jewels. 

As he sat up and held his head due to the intense migraine he had from his hangover, Jason exited his teacher’s bedroom to make his way towards the kitchen. After his quick search through his teacher’s house the previous night, the teenager had only really explored the man’s office and bathroom before heading out to enjoy the evening out on the town. Upon making his way out of the hallway and entering the living room and adjoined kitchen, the man quickly grew enraged. Although he had assumed that his teacher’s home wouldn’t be in the greatest shape due to his slovenly appearance in terms of both his obese body and constantly wrinkled clothing at school, he didn’t expect his teacher to be this much of a slob! 

In the living room, there was practically no space to sit beyond the single recliner that was well-used based on the person-shaped indent in it. There was another recliner and couch in the area along with some end tables, but all of those were unavailable for use due to the stacks of pizza boxes, cardboard boxes, and empty beer bottles resting on top of them. As he waddled his way into the kitchen, Jason realized that this room didn’t fare much better. There was absolutely no area to cook or place anything due to the dirty dishes strewn about along with the stacks of food containers from deliveries. Even the man’s cupboards and fridge were quite disgusting as old, expired food took up the majority of space. The only thing that seemed to be in-date still was the case of beer that was framed like a glorious prize due to the yellow glow of the refrigerator light that shone around it. 

* * * * *

As his mind began to focus more on the six-pack of beer in the fridge, Jason’s mind suddenly traveled back to the events of the previous evening once he had gotten into his teacher’s beat-up truck and drove to the bar closest to Mr. Grosse’s house. Given how lonely and reserved Mr. Grosse seemed to be whenever he wasn’t teaching, Jason had expected to come into the bar and be completely unrecognized by the patrons. But once he arrived, it quickly became clear that the man was rather well-known.

Out of nowhere, countless people began to crowd around the bewildered jock as they enthusiastically talked with who they believed to be a 53-year-old teacher. Despite his initial confusion, Jason was all too willing to go along with it and be the life of the party like he often was during the high school parties that he attended. Although the demographics of who he was currently interacting with was a good 30 to 40 years older than his usual drinking buddies, the jock was able to quickly acclimate and fill the burly teacher’s much wider shoes for the evening. 

Although he had no idea what most of the people were talking about as they cracked what seemed to be inside jokes that the real Richard was privy to or continued to tell Jason about stories that they had seemingly been unable to finish the last time they all had met up, the jock was able to successfully fake it till he made it. Given the fact that his seventeen year old soul had no idea about the struggles of middle-aged individuals like the stories that were being shared though, Jason was quite relieved when the conversation began to shift towards more interesting and universal topics like sports. As soon as some of the men started to discuss the most recent football game, the jock instantly perked up and grew much more prominent in the discussions as he shared his own personal thoughts on how certain teams and players performed.

However, this sudden outburst of football knowledge was viewed as something quite bizarre to the countless people who were apparently long-time friends with Richard Grosse as they joked about how they had no idea that the burly teacher was so interested in athletics. Upon nodding his head and confirming this fact though, Jason suddenly gasped and grew furious as one of Richard’s friends (who was just as burly but instead of flab was quite muscular) suddenly reached out and prodded a few fingers into Jason’s inherited globe-like gut. 

As the friend joked and said that it was hard to believe that such a “chubster” could be interested in sports, Jason mentally found himself having to hold back from violently leaping at the man and destroying him for such a demeaning physical attack. Even though Jason knew that the gut wasn’t his, the crazy situation of a body swap left the jock feeling rather self-conscious as he was now the one operating this larger body. Despite his rage-filled feelings though, the man eventually opted to simply brush off the comment as best he could as he realized that he no longer had the beefy muscles that could easily go toe-to-toe with the equally buff yet older man. Even though the man was already quite embarrassed about being in such a flabby and weak body, it would be even worse to be in that body after getting his ass kicked!

While the night continued and Richard’s friends began to order drinks for Jason though, another issue with taking over another man’s life emerged. From all of the countless parties that he had attended throughout the years with all of his jock buddies, Jason had become an avid hard seltzer drinker. Unfortunately for the jock, Richard was a hardcore beer drinker and thus Jason found himself being handed beers countless times throughout the night. After taking a sip and gagging at the taste, the jock found himself secretly disposing of the beer bottle and trying to secretly order a Truly from the bartender. 

This plan ultimately didn’t pan out though as Richard’s friends kept popping out and surprising the man with another beer bottle while telling him to start loosening up and have fun. With time continuing to fly by as he found himself being constantly supplied with a fresh beer, Jason ultimately gave up on his quest for a Truly and opted to just try and make the best with what he got. Despite still not being a big fan of the taste in comparison to the fruity seltzers he was used to drinking, the jock couldn’t deny that the alcohol was starting to taste better with each beer that he finished. 

To his surprise though, the third beer that he had finished hadn’t left Jason with anything larger than a slight buzz. Being such a heftier man now meant that Richard’s body had a much higher tolerance than Jason’s toned and muscular physique, which meant that Jason had to continue pushing past the still-uninviting taste in hopes of getting drunk. Once the sixth beer had finally been finished, the man was relieved to realize that he was finally feeling quite tipsy.

Now feeling quite inebriated, Jason found himself easily susceptible to the influence of Richard’s closest friends. As the men encouraged him to head out to the dancefloor and see if he could find someone to take home with him, the brand new math teacher couldn’t help but agree and follow their instructions. Although he was absolutely not a fan of being an overweight middle-aged man, Jason was intrigued to see if Mr Grosse’s body could help him nab the woman of his dreams. Despite the jock’s constant insistence to his friends that he thirsted for the young blonde cheerleaders that cheered him on at his football games, the reality was that he wasn’t interested in them but rather the cheerleaders’ mothers. The jock had quite the kink for MILFs, no doubt caused by his late night searches through the trending section of PornHub in his youth. 

Hearing the hard hitting pop music filling the dancefloor, Jason eventually started to really let loose and start dancing. Even though he usually hated this kind of music and much preferred hip-hop, he couldn’t deny that the fast-paced vocals and glitchy production was really helping him let go of any inhibitions. Hell, he was having so much fun that he even stopped being self-conscious about feeling his body jiggle and shake with each jump and bounce he took while he grooved!

Unfortunately for Jason and his eagerness to get wasted as soon as possible, the jock refused to take note of his surroundings. If he had, he would have realized earlier that he was in a gay bar and thus not been shocked when he had entered the crowded dance floor filled with men and suddenly found himself getting felt up as he danced. Although the slight rubbing of hands along his body was originally just assumed to be a natural result of people enthusiastically dancing and not paying attention, Jason ultimately began to realize that the contact was deliberate as he felt hands starting to grip and squeeze certain areas like his gut and ass.

Just as he began to panic and freak out about being fondled by so many men, relief suddenly came in the form of a mystery man who grabbed onto Jason and pulled him away from the crowd. As the newly stout man looked up at the eyes of his savior, Jason’s eyes bulged out as he took in the visage of the handsome older man. Although he himself wasn’t gay, he could certainly tell that the man was attractive given the thick beard that framed his face along with the model-like features he had. Unfortunately, Jason’s simple observations led to a full-body response as a tightening in his crotch began to emerge…

As the man led Jason over to a less-crowded table and began to make small talk, the jock was growing increasingly uncomfortable at just how turned on his temporary body was by this older man. Although he was enjoying having a simple conversation with the man despite his body’s attraction to the man, this fun didn’t last for long as the man opted to make a move by asking if he’d like to get out of here and go somewhere more “private”.

Upon realizing that the man had simply saved him from the crowd in order to flirt, Jason grew enraged to the point where his rage finally bubbled over. Just as the loud pop song came to an end, Jason screamed about how he wasn’t a queer and had no interest in spending time with a “total creep”.

After yelling aloud and causing quite a scene in the momentarily quiet bar, the rage-filled Jason began to quietly curse under his breath as he stormed away from the table. As he lumbered out of the bar to begin heading home, the jock was pissed to see that his boner was still rock-hard though and pressing against the khaki pants that he was wearing. Throughout the short walk out of the establishment and towards his parking spot though, his attention was ultimately caught by the constant swaying and stumbling that he was doing in his bigger body. Seeing this caused him to immediately cancel his intended plan of driving home. Although he was quite the knucklehead jock, he wasn’t a totally thoughtless man and thus didn’t want to potentially harm himself or others with his sloppy driving. 

Unfortunately, Richard Grosse wasn’t a big fan of tech given the older model iPhone he was using and the very few apps downloaded, which meant that Jason couldn’t quickly order a ride via a ride-share app. As Jason clicked to begin having Lyft downloaded onto his phone, the jock also quickly realized that his teacher had a cheap data plan too as the progress of the download moved at a snail’s pace despite the perfect reception. After waiting a few minutes and seeing that the download had only progressed a few percent, the man huffed before realizing he needed to find a place that had WiFi.

Luckily, a quick trip into the Maps app was able to reveal a nearby bar that was only a few minutes away from his current location. Despite not wanting to do any physical exertion given how tired he was from his night out, the man willed up the motivation to stumble his way down the several blocks until he reached his destination. As he made his way in to take a seat at the bar to catch his breath, Jason was relieved to see that not only was the bar meant for straights given the loads of men and women flirting at tables, but it also had WiFi!

While he was originally eager to get home and sleep off what would eventually be a killer hangover, Jason’s attention was soon stolen by a blonde older woman who seemed to be sitting there alone at the end of the bar tabletop. Although he could recognize that she was a gorgeous lady and exactly his type, he was angered to see that Richard’s body was unable to form a physical reaction via a boner. Despite this sign, Jason was headstrong in his goal and thus became extremely determined to defy his new body’s desires and force it to accept his own heterosexuality. So as he sat on a barstool and observed that the woman was similarly aged to the middle-aged body that Jason was currently occupying, the jock couldn’t help but wonder if he could successfully seduce the woman and achieve his ideal MILF fantasy via Richard’s body. 

After gathering the courage to get up from his seat and take one that was right next to the woman, Jason finally pushed aside his slight anxieties and began speaking. For the next few minutes that they chatted, the duo seemed to strike up a nice conversation, so much so that Jason decided to stay even as his phone notified him that Lyft had finally finished downloading.

Luckily, a ride for the night was quickly sorted when the woman, whose name was Melinda and revealed herself to be a recent divorcée, asked if Jason would like to take her home for the night. Given the fact that the woman had only consumed a single glass of wine, she was more than able to safely drive the duo back to Richard’s house. As soon as they crossed the threshold of the front door, Jason immediately began to use his meaty hands to tear off the woman’s clothes along with his own. Although the haste in which Jason moved was due to his own inner desire to affirm his straight persona, the man also couldn’t deny that it was to keep the woman distracted from seeing the messy house that his teacher lived in.

Once they made their way into Richard’s bedroom and fell into his large bed, the duo began to roll around while passionately making out. Unfortunately, the man’s dick refused to get hard and thus the makeout session was quickly interrupted by Melinda reaching down and allowing her soft and supple fingers to graze across his flaccid manhood. Although this was quite embarrassing on its own, Jason began to feel even more shame and embarrassment when the woman grabbed her purse and pulled out a Viagra to offer him. Angered by both Richard’s body betraying him along with his anger at the woman assuming he was impotent, the man growled at the woman and told her that he didn’t need a “stupid” pill to get hard. After a few more minutes of trying to get the man sexually excited and failing though, the woman’s ego became slightly bruised and she suddenly announced her desire to leave and go home.

As the woman grabbed her items and haphazardly got dressed before making her exit, Jason was also going through an extreme hit to his ego as he was unable to make his fantasies a reality. Of course the one teacher he decides to swap bodies with turns out to be gay! Hearing the clack of the woman’s heels grow increasingly more distant until he heard the loud slam of Richard’s front door, Jason fell back into the bed and closed his eyes. With the corners of his eyes beginning to well up with tears, the jock turned to the side and decided to just go to bed in hopes of sleeping off the devastating ego bruise along with his inebriated state…

* * * * *

With his memories of the previous night now recollected, Jason began to grow enraged over how disappointing his night had been. Although he knew he wasn’t going to be some lady killer with Mr. Grosse’s flabby body, he had at least thought it would be fun to go out to a bar and not have to worry about being carded. Unfortunately, all of that was ruined due to his disgusting experience in a gay bar and the strike-out he had gone through at the other bar with the MILF of his dreams.

As a slight rumble in his stomach rang out and filled the quiet home to alert the man of his hunger, Jason’s hands instinctively moved up to rub his prominent gut. Given the fact that he had one more day to have some fun with Mr. Grosse’s body before he went to that weird website and swapped them back, the devious jock found himself eager to further punish the teacher beyond his primary plan of revenge. Upon returning into his teacher’s bedroom and grabbing the older-model cell phone and wallet from the nightstand, there was a glimmer in the man’s borrowed eyes as he realized he could truly have the ultimate cheat day.

Given the fact that he constantly had to count his calories and diet to maintain his killer physique, Jason had never dared to check out the several fast food chains or restaurants that he had heard so much about. Now in Richard’s body though, the jock realized that he could finally try these places out with no real consequences given the fact that his teacher was already so big. At that point, why would he throw a fit about adding on a few more points, Jason thought to himself.

So upon downloading the DoorDash app onto his iPhone 7 and grabbing Richard’s credit card, the man spent most of the day lounging in the only available recliner watching TV and eating. Although he figured that one meal from a restaurant would be enough to fulfill him like usual, Richard’s body seemingly had an intense appetite that took quite a bit to completely satisfy.

By the time it had reached dinner time, Jason had learned to order bigger meals in one swoop as he had gone through five deliveries. Given the fact that the jock had left his teacher’s truck at the gay bar the previous night, deliveries were the only option and thus added on tons of charges until the man had spent over $150 in a single day. Once his dinner delivery arrived though, the man hobbled into the kitchen to crack open one of the beers in his fridge. Although Jason still had a preference for the hard seltzers he was used to, this body had an intense craving for the alcohol that caused him to eventually put aside his disinterest and begin drinking once more. Upon deciding to just grab the entire six pack, the jock waddled back to the recliner before kicking his feet up to watch Sunday Night Football for the rest of the night.

As the clock passed 11 PM though, that suddenly familiar pang of hunger re-emerged and caused his gut to growl in revolt. Although he was eager to get his revenge plan underway by leaking the photos and initiating the swap back as soon as possible, the intense hunger he now felt took precedence so he opted to call a local pizzeria and get a large pizza delivered. 

While he waited in the living room for the arrival of the pizza, the man went through every detail of his plan once more to make sure everything was perfectly planned out. After going through the teacher’s camera roll once more and favoriting the most humiliating photos so he could easily pick them out and send them to the gossip account of his school, the man hobbled his way into Richard’s office and to his old desktop computer to pull up the website that had caused Jason and his teacher to swap bodies. Once the website was pulled up and every part of his plan was gone over in his head, the sudden ding of his doorbell rang out and informed him that his late night snack had arrived.

After tipping the delivery driver with some loose dollar bills that he found in Mr. Grosse’s weathered leather wallet, Jason was quick to slam the door and fall back into Richard’s well-used recliner to consume his meal. In between slices of the greasy food, the man couldn’t help but grow curious about what his teacher was up to while in Jason’s jock body. 

Although he highly doubted that the man would be actively posting to social media given how tech-unsavvy he was based on the terrible phone and apps Jason had been using over the past day, the man couldn’t help but grow curious and download Instagram. Given the fact that he would have needed to download Instagram to go about leaking his teacher’s scandalous photos via a private DM to the gossip account for his high school anyway, the man figured that he might as well use the opportunity to snoop on his teacher to see what he was up to.  

Upon making a blank-photo account using one of the emails Jason found on Richard’s mail app, the jock quickly typed up his username and clicked on it. To his surprise, he found that a brand new post had been added since he swapped bodies with his teacher! Clicking on the post allowed Jason to see that Mr. Grosse was clearly getting comfortable with his new body. Not only was the man wearing a tight tank top that allowed Jason’s thick pecs and abs to show up through the fabric, but the man also had a cocky expression on his face as he flexed his arms for the camera while leaning against Jason’s car. Somehow, the total loser that was Richard Grosse was doing a decent job pretending to be a popular high-school aged jock!

Although he was rather quite impressed to see how easily his teacher was to acclimate to his new body and life, Jason was also quite angered by this fact. His life was hard as hell with the responsibilities of school and his sports, so it was quite annoying to see his old and unathletic teacher somehow excelling at pretending to be him.

With this rage still coursing through his bloodstream as he finished the entirety of the pizza, the man quickly tossed the pizza box in the same general area of the other discarded takeout containers before sitting up in the recliner and rising to his feet. As he turned out the lights and began to navigate through the dark towards Richard’s bedroom, Jason left his account and moved to the gossip account as he began to furiously type out the tip about Richard Grosse. By the time he made it down the hallway, he had composed and sent the exposé DM filled with text screenshots and suggestive photos. Luckily, someone was active on the account as they were quite interested in the juicy news and told Jason that it would be released the next morning just as everyone started to get ready for school.

Now with his revenge complete and scheduled to destroy Mr. Grosse’s life the next morning, Jason was eager to get back to his own body so his teacher could experience every morsel of the shame and humiliation that he would surely receive. Before entering his temporary bedroom, the man turned to enter the office next door and waddled over to the computer that had the soul-controllers website pulled up. Upon going through the same process that he had when he first made his wish to swap bodies with his teacher,  the man leaned down towards the screen as he clicked on the chat window and began to list his desire to swap back to his original body. Once the site comprehended his request and proposed a body swap spell similar to the way it was offered during his first time using the site, Jason clicked on the spell and filled out the form asking for the names of the two individuals swapping. 

As he finished this and clicked on the submit button though, Jason was getting nervous as the loading wheel of a cauldron being stirred kept going and going. After waiting a few minutes and seeing that the cauldron animation was still going, the impatient jock growled under his breath and decided to go to bed. Despite the lingering fear that the page would still be loading when he woke up, his hopes that the website would work and thus allow him to end up back in his original body were stronger. So after exiting the office, the man quickly entered the bedroom and got into bed.

Unfortunately for Jason, his optimism was far too strong as when he awoke the next morning, he would wake up to quite a terrifying surprise… 

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[ronearoundblindly]

So Ari used to comfort us when you BF had left. So when our ex bf is into and we accidently run into them saw the bar or gas station and were in qris car and tty the whole duck down thing or hiding out of site thing how does Ari react and say we see him another time days later at the bar with Ari within king he had have left so our guard was down but nope what does Ari do? We all know he's territorial as hell with us especially with how we were hurt the first time

Ah yes, Philip. Warnings for language and no* editing. WC 1.8k (which is apparently my magic number...)

Run In, a Bedrock and Blueprints drabble long drabble tale

Not that long after you insist Ari moves in, you two are out getting groceries at the local supermarket. You normally divide the list in chunks by area of the store, so you're rounding a tall-shelved aisle when WHAM! It's Philip, your ex and the reason you know Ari, right in your face.

Maybe three sentences total are spoken. Your stomach is so knotted up in shock and a kind of hot fear that you're not entirely sure what you say, but Phil's face is placid enough. The words must cause no offense because he waves and walks away without incident.

You're sweating bullets, glancing over your shoulder every ten feet down the refrigerated section. You don't need the bag of frozen french fries, but sticking your head in the cold storage to carefully check the label is a welcome reprieve.

Ari meets you at the self-check-out as planned, a soft smile tucking the seam of his bread together when he's caught thumbing through the candy. The man likes snacks, sweet or savory; he just can't help it.

"Grabbed some extra to make your favorite tonight. You'll have plenty for lunch tomorrow, too," he adds casually, starting to scan all the gathered things. "We didn't need more leftover containers, did we? Can't remember if we ever found enough lids for the red ones."

Ari doesn't notice you constantly scanning the area behind you.

"Hey," he interrupts your panicking brain, "you got the coupons for this?"

"Yeah," you bluster, quickly digging in your purse for the little stack of papers. "Yeah, here."

You think it's over and start to breathe easier in the open air outside, loading the bags into the truck bed and sliding onto the leather seat.

Ari turns on the car and frowns. "Better fill up on gas while we're out."

"Okay," you chirp absently. Any distance from the store is still distance, or so you think until you see Philip right there at the next pump.

You flatten yourself so fast onto that seat that it squeaks and you bounce slightly. Ari's already gotten out of the car, and if he's facing the tank, then he's also facing away from Philip. He might not notice a thing.

But if he's facing the pump...

"Levinson?!"

Oh, shit, Ari, don't be stupid. Don't be stupid. Don't mention me. Please.

Your cheek is suctioned to the leather you're so squished down.

Ari must have walked over to Philip because all you hear are deep, muffled voices and three words:

"Saw her..."

"...inside?"

The mumbling changes in pitch and volume a few more times, a much longer conversation than you had with Philip minutes ago, but after a bit, the pump catches full, and you hear Ari close the cap.

He opens the driver's side door but keeps looking past the hood.

"See ya around," Ari calls back.

"Hope so, Levs," comes the far-off reply.

Ari jumps in and starts the truck, looking both ways like he's driving completely normal, alone, like there isn't a crazy woman pancaked on his seat. After pulling out of the parking lot, he sighs.

"I assume you were gonna tell me you saw him eventually."

Gently raising yourself upright, you rub at your arm.

"He surprised me--"

"--yeah," Ari scoffs, "me, too."

"--and I...I didn't know what to say."

He stays quiet, artfully navigating familiar streets and thinking, but his expression is inscrutable.

"You think I knew what to say? Kid, he abandoned you. He never even apologized, and now I had to see him as your boyfriend and be blindsided that you'd already talked?!"

"We didn't talk, Ari. I said maybe two things to him. Pleasantries. I can't even remember because he just--" you slap your hands together "--was there."

Ari huffs, adjusting his grip on the steering wheel with white knuckles. "I know," he whispers. "I get it. I'm sure it's worse for you than for me, but... I want to throttle the guy."

"He was your friend, too, Ar--"

"You were a better friend than Phil ever was," he bursts. "Ya know, after the first time he brought you out, we thought you were out of his league. Like you were too nice and quiet and put together. Then you hung out a few more times, and José finally made a joke that you were too cool for him. Philip was a loser compared to you. All of us thought you were too good for him full stop."

Ari drops one hand from the wheel and searches for yours, weaving your fingers together. "That was before he even left...the first time."

You're stunned.

"Then Phil was gone and so were you," he continues, squeezing your hand, "but we only missed you." Ari shrugs. "Somebody had to drive you back to the bar so we could hang out."

"And you drew the short straw," you mutter.

"There were no straws. I volunteered."

All this time, you thought that Ari, José, and Dimitri used to tolerate you out of loyalty to Philip. You thought maybe Philip had told them to watch out for you while he was deployed, and you knew that changed eventually. You couldn't pinpoint the shift though; there was no moment where one or more of them said "you're our friend now, not Phil's girl," but you did know they at least pitied you when Philip left for good. After all, they were mourning the loss of their friend, too, right?

It took years to feel like Ari wasn't just driving you around out of obligation--partly because he always grumbled about being your 'chauffeur'--but here he is telling you they'd all have chosen you over Philip, possibly even if Philip never left but simply moved on from you. The comfort of that thought radiates through you like the warmth from Ari's hand in yours.

Apart from the odd remark or two, Philip is forgotten again after that night. You have so much history beyond him and a future without him.

Two and a half weeks later, of course, you're not expecting to see Philip sidle up to your table with the boys at the bar--the bar, the original haunt that you inherited in the divorce essentially--and José and Dimitri are duly surprised as well.

"Where the hell you been, brother?"

"They ain't got phones out there?"

Philip is bashful, remorseful in a way that seems more like him before his first deployment, and it is genuinely nice to see. You keep silent anyway, unable to think of something overtly nice or generic to say.

Ari's arm is around your shoulders as it usually is in this booth, but then his hand squeezes your shoulder, and he leans unnecessarily close to your ear.

"Can you scoot to let me out, baby," he asks, voice low and deep. "I'll get us another round."

Before you can move, Ari plants a quick kiss on your neck, knowing full well that his beard tickles right there, and makes you shiver.

After he's standing, Phil's face is questioning, eyes wide, but he doesn't say anything. Instead, Ari taps his shoulder.

He ticks his head toward Patrick behind the bar. "Need a beer, buddy? I'm buying."

Phil snorts and follows.

"I'll be damned. Ari Levinson offering to pay for a drink? You sure changed."

"It's been a long eight and a half years," Ari groans, flagging down Patrick and ordering.

It takes more time for the drinks to arrive than it takes Phil to start in, glancing conspicuously over at the booth.

"What'd you do, Ari? Jump right into my place? Did my plane even touchdown before you went for her?"

"I went to tell her you left. There's a difference."

"Never thought of you as a sloppy seconds guy. Did your dick happen to fall in--"

"Finish that fucking sentence if you'd like to be toothless," Ari growls, making a point to plaster a smile on his face since you can likely see them in profile from here.

"I'm just saying I wouldn't want to be a rebound."

"No, Phil, what you should want to be is a man, but instead, you were a piece of shit." Ari doesn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that it took almost the entirety of those eight and a half years to thoroughly move on from the people Phil left behind, but he's still pissed.

"Hell, I was a piece of shit, too, for years, but I stayed when I could. I was also a piece of shit who noticed that that girl is worth way more than yours--or my--ego, so if you so much as blink in a way that makes her uncomfortable--" he throws a glance to the exit "--I will hand you your ass outside and make you eat dirt. We clear?"

"Levs, why are you being like this? Man, you never cared about chicks this much."

"You wanna know what changed me," Ari hisses, pointing over at the booth, uncaring if any of you are watching, fake smile long gone. "That changed me. She changed me. She's the type of woman worth changing for."

Patrick drops off the drinks and slides the money off the counter, ignoring any tension between the two men.

"I did change," Philip mumbles, "and she never understood--"

"You did not fucking try," Ari nearly spits in rage but pets a hand down his beard again for composure. He sucks on his teeth, pondering what to say next. "Look, I knew you for a long time, and we were the same. We didn't care. We didn't give a fuck about putting in the effort. And because we didn't give a fuck, no one should have given a fuck about us. She did, and you walked away from that. You are an asshole. You are not welcome here. She is. She always will be.

"Do you understand that?" Ari looks Phil dead in the eyes and holds that gaze with militant ferocity.

"Yeah, man."

Ari relaxes, softening his look and casually clinking his beer bottle to Philip's. "Good. Then get the fuck out of this bar," he says flatly.

Ari heads back to the booth alone, winking as he hands you your drink and motions to scoot back in beside you. Phil hangs around at the bartop just long enough to guzzle his beer and leaves.

José is the first to ask, "what happened there?"

"You know Phil." Ari takes a long pull from his bottle and then stretches back to have his arm over you. "He realized he was in the wrong place. Shame he couldn't stick around."

"Ah, well," Dimitri muses, "we're better off without him."

"Yeah," you say softly, the first word out of your mouth since Phil showed up.

Ari leans over to kiss your temple, his thumb running back and forth across your shoulder. He straightens and picks his beer back up.

"So we're thinking of having a housewarming party. You guys in?"

I don't see Ari as a big spectacle guy, but I do think he'd put his fucking foot down when it came to shit-talking the kid. Honestly, I imagine if Philip showed up before you and Ari got together, Ari would still have been that protective simply because you mean a lot to him. However, he's hyper-aware of not embarrassing you, so this is as confrontational as I can picture him. Still quite *swoon* if I do say so myself, but he's still subtle.

Thank you for reading! Hope you are enjoying this story so far.

[Bedrock and Blueprints Masterlist; Main Masterlist]

[cathkaesque]

There’s a lot of research on banana production out there, especially from this great organisation called Bananalink which supports banana workers’ unions in the UK supply chain. Most the facts here are from these two pages on their website. I just wanted to ground some of the discussion around bananas in the production process, labour and environmental conditions, and who benefits from this process.  The above diagram might not be very clear so I've reproduced the text below:

1. Banana production takes approximately nine months. It starts with the preparation of the soil including the clearing of land, drainage, installation and fertiliser application. Then planting and field work, such as weeding, pest and disease control, and irrigation, take place. Bananas are harvested while still green [you can watch a video of this process here]

2. The harvested bunches are transported to a packing shed where they are divided into smaller market-friendly bunches, inspected, sorted, washed, treated, labelled, and boxed for export. Bananas that do not meet the quality standard are usually sold locally at a much lower price or used for livestock feed.

3. Some bananas are pre-packed into bags according to the specifications of individual retailers. Pre-packing is used to differentiate bananas such as Fairtrade organics or small bananas from the bulk supply of loose bananas. It can be an opportunity for the grower to add value, but it also offers advantages in controlling quality and reducing wastage.

4. Bannas are then transported by truck to ports, placed in sheds, and packed in refrigerated ships or refridgerated containers. Bananas take between six to 12 days to get to the UK/Europe. They are shipped at a controlled temperature of 13.3 centigrade in order to increase their shelf life. Humidity and ventilation are carefully monitored to maintain quality.

5. When the bananas arrive at their destinaation port they are first trucked to warehouses where they can be kept in cool conditions and then ripened - using ethylene - when they are needed for delivery to retailers. Bananas may also be bagged at this stage. They are then delivered to retailers' regional distribution centres before final delivery to individual stores.

The local population eat different varieties of bananas grown primarily by small farmers. The ones for the Americans and the Europeans, Cavendish variety bananas, are grown in huge, monoculture plantations that are susceptible to disease. The banana industry consumes more agrichemicals than any other in the world, asides from cotton. Most plantations will spend more on pesticides than on wages. Pesticides are sprayed by plane, 85% of which does not land on the bananas and instead lands on the homes of workers in the surrounding area and seeps into the groundwater. The results are cancers, stillbirths, and dead rivers.

The supermarkets dominate the banana trade and force the price of bananas down. Plantations resolve this issue by intensifying and degrading working conditions. Banana workers will work for up to 14 hours a day in tropical heat, without overtime pay, for 6 days a week. Their wages will not cover their cost of housing, food, and education for their children. On most plantations independent trade unions are, of course, suppressed. Contracts are insecure, or workers are hired through intermediaries, and troublemakers are not invited back.

Who benefits most from this arrangement? The export value of bananas is worth $8bn - the retail value of these bananas is worth $25bn. Here's a breakdown of who gets what from the sale of banana in the EU.

On average, the banana workers get between 5 and 9% of the total value, while the retailers capture between 36 to 43% of the value. So if you got a bunch of bananas at Tesco (the majority of UK bananas come from Costa Rica) for 95p, 6.65p would go to the banana workers, and 38p would go to Tesco.

Furthermore, when it comes to calculating a country's GDP (the total sum of the value of economic activity going on in a country, which is used to measure how rich or poor a country is, how fast its economy is 'growing' and therefore how valuable their currency is on the world market, how valuable its government bonds, its claim on resources internationally…etc), the worker wages, production, export numbers count towards the country producing the banana, while retail, ripening, tariffs, and shipping & import will count towards the importing country. A country like Costa Rica will participate has to participate in this arrangement as it needs ‘hard’ (i.e. Western) currencies in order to import essential commodities on the world market.

So for the example above of a bunch of Costa Rican bananas sold in a UK supermarket, 20.7p will be added to Costa Rica’s GDP while 74.3p will be added to the UK’s GDP. Therefore, the consumption of a banana in the UK will add more to the UK’s wealth than growing it will to Costa Rica’s. The same holds for Bangladeshi t-shirts, iPhones assembled in China, chocolate made with cocoa from Ghana…it’s the heart of how the capitalism of the ‘developed’ economy functions. Never ending consumption to fuel the appearance of wealth, fuelled by the exploitation of both land and people in the global south.