#sorry for no transcripts i am severally exhausted. never expected to end up a “i hate my job” person.

[paintingskyblutf2]

sorry noodles

cold doodles

[octerminal]

Avoiding the ME1 LI Romances

...And also what to do if you’ve already triggered them.

This is a post I’ve been wanting to remake forever, and with the remaster around the corner I thought now was a good time to finally get on it.

A few things first: I say “avoiding the ME1 LI romances”, but in reality this is mostly going to be about Kaidan and Ashley. While there are a few ways around Liara’s romance I’ve discovered, I have never been able to find a simple way to avoid triggering it. (I’ll get to that later.)

This post will be split into three sections: Kaidan, Ashley, and Liara. Kaidan and Ashley’s sections specifically will go over how to avoid triggering their romances entirely, and then the dialogue choices you need to take if you want to end the romance if it’s already been triggered. I have also included a few bonus things for the both of them, such as avoiding the flirting during the scenic view cutscene in the Citadel Wards. For Kaidan specifically, I have also included content about his mechanics in ME3.

Please note that most of these have been accomplished on console. I have gotten several PC users who do attest that, at the very least, Kaidan’s portion works for them. But on the off-chance that platform influences other parts of Kaidan’s, or Ashley and Liara’s, I thought it was worth mentioning. It should also be said that, obviously, these are all using the original games as a basis, though I am not expecting MELE to change any of this.

I will also be using both my Kaidan transcript and Ashley transcript as reference for their dialogue. I recommend following along there if you find Tumblr’s formatting confusing.

Final note before we begin: this post is not an open invitation to hate on any of these characters. ME1 is turning 14 this year and ME3 recently turned 9. Anything you have to say about these characters and their romance mechanics has already been beaten to death, brought back to life, and beaten to death again. No one wants to hear it, least of all me. Please keep your comments to yourself and be civil.

KAIDAN

“I WANT TO AVOID TRIGGERING IT ENTIRELY, WHAT DO I DO?”

Kaidan’s romance can be triggered after the first main mission has been completed. For many players, I imagine this is Therum, but it really doesn’t matter which mission it is.

Kaidan will prompt the conversation, as he will for every other post-main mission conversation so long as his romance remains active. This conversation will be about his time at Brain Camp. You can read the conversation in his transcript if you find it easier to follow along, though I have done my best to format this post as cleanly as possible.

KAIDAN: Commander, do you have a minute?

SHEPARD: (You can choose whatever dialogue option you want. It makes no difference yet.)

KAIDAN: Off the record, I think there’s something wrong here. This Saren is looking for records on some kind of galactic extinction, but we can’t get backup from the Council? Sorry, Commander. There’s writing on the wall here, but someone isn’t reading it.

SHEPARD: (Again, you may choose whatever dialogue option you want. It still makes no difference yet.)

>FIRST CHANCE TO AVOID THE ROMANCE<

KAIDAN: I hear ya. It - It just seems like a group that’s been around as long as the Council should see this coming. It’s funny. We finally get out here and the final frontier was already settled. And the residents don’t even seem impressed by the view...or the dangers.

SHEPARD (Renegade - Zip it, Lieutenant.): I’m sure your letters home are very poignant. Just keep this kind of sentimentality out of the CIC.

KAIDAN: Yes, ma’am. Sorry to have wasted your time. I’m right about the mission, though. I know it. (The conversation will end here and his romance will not trigger.)

>SECOND CHANCE TO AVOID THE ROMANCE<

SHEPARD (Paragon - Cute way to look at it./Neutral - An old-fashioned view.): Well, well. You’re a romantic. Did you sign on “for the dream,” Alenko? Secure man’s future in space?

KAIDAN: Heh, yeah, I read a lot of those books when I was a kid. Where the hero goes to space to prove himself worthy of a woman he loves. Or, you know. For justice. Maybe I was a romantic in the beginning. But I thought about it after Brain Camp - ah, sorry, “Biotic Acclimation and Temperance training.” I’m not looking for “the dream.” I just want to do some good. See what’s out here. Sorry if I got too informal. Protocol wasn’t a big focus back in BAaT.

SHEPARD (Renegade - Just be ready.): I trust you won’t have any questions when whatever’s coming hits the fan?

KAIDAN: None. I’m not questioning the mission. I’m just concerned. Sorry to have wasted your time, ma’am. It won’t happen again. (The conversation will end here and his romance will not trigger.)

The final chance to cut off Kaidan’s romance before it triggers happens after Shepard asks him about Brain Camp. This opens up a lot of investigation options and you may exhaust all of them. If you want to avoid hearing Kaidan imply that he thinks your Shepard is attractive, avoid the “Time to talk, then./Time to “get physical,” then.” investigation options. Once Kaidan is done speaking about Brain Camp, you will get one final chance to avoid his romance.

>THIRD CHANCE TO AVOID THE ROMANCE<

KAIDAN: Anyway. This was supposed to be a casual debrief, not a bull session about stuff that happened years ago.

SHEPARD (Renegade - You’re right.): I pretty much gave up waiting for the good part.

KAIDAN: Bad habit, ma’am. I do tend to run off at the mouth. I will work on it for my next review. Sorry to have wasted your time, ma’am. It won’t happen again. (The conversation ends and his romance does not trigger.)

You will notice all of these are renegade options. There is literally no way around this if you want to avoid triggering Kaidan’s romance. You don’t get any renegade points from them, and Kaidan does not treat you negatively in the ensuing post-main mission talks.

Here is an easy way to tell if Kaidan’s romance remains active. Conversations between him and Shepard will end like this:

SHEPARD: We’ll talk later, Kaidan.

KAIDAN: I’d like that.

“I’VE ALREADY TRIGGERED IT, HOW DO I GET OUT OF THIS?”

The good news is that getting out of the romance is fairly simple. The game gives you a lot of opportunities before it triggers the love triangle with Liara (assuming her romance has also been triggered, anyway).

If Kaidan’s romance was triggered, you will have an opportunity at the beginning of his second and third post-main mission talks. These are a bit more complex to transcribe, so I really recommend just reading them in my transcription if you need the exact dialogue options to understand.

But the gist: You can’t go wrong with choosing the renegade dialogue options. This is always the dialogue option that will end his romance. You are almost never going to end his romance with a paragon or neutral dialogue option. He will always prompt this conversation by wondering if he’s gotten his signals mixed up, if there’s someone else you’d rather spend time with, if he’s being too casual, etc. Once he does this, just shoot him down with a renegade dialogue option.

Again: you get no renegade points from this. He will not treat you negatively in the ensuing post-main mission talks.

Here is an example. This one occurs in his second post-main mission talk if Liara’s romance hasn’t been triggered:

KAIDAN: I’m just saying...try to leave yourself a way out. I’ve seen what cutting corners can do and I’d hate to have that happen to you, Shepard. Commander.

SHEPARD (Renegade - I don’t need approval.): I’m your commanding officer, Alenko. Are you questioning the way I handle things?

KAIDAN: No, Commander. Just concerned about the reception of the brass if things go sour. I apologize for bringing it up. I know we’re getting the job done.

SHEPARD: (You can choose whatever response you like; they all lead to the romance ending.)

If you have repeatedly not broken off the romance with Kaidan after a certain point and Liara’s romance is also active, it will trigger the love triangle scene. This is one of the last points you have to break off Kaidan’s romance, but it will lock you into Liara’s romance instead. If you are wanting a no-romance run, I recommend choosing one of the other options instead.

There is also a separate way to end the romance outside these three opportunities. In the third post-main mission talk, you must pick the dialogue option that triggers the argument that can “renegade” Kaidan’s opinion on the Council. You must not choose the charm or intimidate option here, and you must then pick the renegade dialogue options. The conversation should go like this:

KAIDAN: So yeah, I hated that turian. But he wasn’t “a turian” to me. He was Vyrnnus.

SHEPARD (Renegade - All turians are the same.): You can’t deny the turians are imperialists. And the asari, the salarians - they’re manipulators.

KAIDAN: Shepard, I outgrew the blame game years ago. If the Alliance is missing its chance, it’s because of men like Udina. Not the rest of the galaxy holding it back.

SHEPARD (Renegade - I’m not so sure.): When anyone out here listens to us, the Council starts up with their treaties and heel-dragging. We can only rely on ourselves.

KAIDAN: We’re not doing the galaxy any favors if we try to force our way into a seat at the grown-up table. They aren’t - malicious. They’re just slow to change. My story doesn’t get any better if Vyrnnus is a good guy.

SHEPARD (Renegade - Whose side are you on?): I don’t need you kissing the Council’s asses, too.

KAIDAN: Look, Shepard. You’re in command, and we’ll all follow your lead. But don’t ream me out for having an opinion. I thought we respected each other more than that.

SHEPARD (Renegade - I can’t respect this.): I can’t believe you’d side with aliens over your own kind. I think we’re done here.

KAIDAN: Yeah, I think we are. It’s--It’s too bad we...It’s just too bad, Commander.

This argument will end his romance. He will also not be renegaded. This is obviously a much more convoluted way to end his romance, but I’m throwing the option out there because it’s 1) hilarious, and 2) way more dramatic, if you want to roleplay ending the romance for whatever reason.

MISCELLANEOUS

Depending on the dialogue options you take for the scenic view on the Citadel, Kaidan will always flirt with you. This does not lock you into, or even trigger, his romance. It is entirely possible to not have him flirt with you at all in this scene, and still initiate the romance later. But if you do not want him to flirt with you, simply do this:

[image ID: ME1’s subtitles showing Ashley saying “Or maybe they just don’t like humans.” with the dialogue wheel below it giving the following dialogue choices, starting from the top: “What’s not to like?”, “Let’s move out.”, and “That’s enough, you two.” end ID]

When you get to this part of the scenic view cutscene, choose any dialogue option but the top “What’s not to like?” one.

Also, even if you’ve already avoided or shut down Kaidan’s romance, Liara will still ask if there’s something between the two of you if her romance is active. Tell her that there isn’t (because there isn’t). Her saying this does not re-trigger Kaidan’s romance.

Congratulations, you have now survived ME1’s romance mechanics. Enjoy experiencing unromanced Kaidan for the rest of the game.

ME3 BONUS: “OKAY, WHAT ABOUT HIM FLIRTING WITH ME IN THE HOSPITAL THOUGH?”

I have tested both of these personally multiple times and they have always worked for me, but again: see my warning about different platforms at the beginning of this post. If it doesn’t work for you, please let me know.

If you have not romanced Kaidan previously: don’t buy him the alcohol as a present. That’s it.

If you have romanced Kaidan previously: on Mars, tell him your relationship is over. It is a renegade dialogue option, but it is necessary to avoid the flirtation in the hospital. This route also means that you can buy him the alcohol and he will still not flirt with you.

Please note that going renegade on Mars does not lock you out of his romance. It merely prevents him from assuming you’re interested during your hospital visit.

ME3 BONUS: “OKAY, WHAT ABOUT HIS APOLLO’S PROPOSITION THOUGH?”

This only happens if you have not locked in your romance with your preferred love interest first. For Garrus, this is the bottle shooting date. For Tali and Traynor, it’s inviting her up to your cabin. For Liara and Miranda, it’s her Presidium date. So on and so forth.

This means there is no way around it if you romanced Jacob or Thane and do not want to pursue a different romance after them. If you do get this scene: again, just turn him down. It is never brought up again. He does not act like he’s in love with you going forth. You will get his unromanced date in the Citadel DLC, as well as his unromanced London goodbye.

ASHLEY

“I WANT TO AVOID TRIGGERING IT ENTIRELY, WHAT DO I DO?”

Ashley’s romance can be triggered after the first main mission has been completed. For many players, I imagine this is Therum, but it really doesn’t matter which mission it is.

Ashley will prompt the conversation, as she will for every other post-main mission conversation so long as her romance remains active. This conversation will be about her concerns about the aliens aboard the Normandy.

Note: Ashley has one less opportunity to avoid triggering her romance in the first post-main mission talk compared to Kaidan. You may also read the conversation in her transcript if you find it easier to follow along, though I have done my best to format this post as cleanly as possible.

ASHLEY: Commander. You have a minute to talk?

SHEPARD: (You can choose whatever dialogue option you want. It makes no difference yet.)

ASHLEY: I know things are different aboard the Normandy, but - I'm concerned about the aliens. Vakarian and Wrex. With all due respect, Commander, should they have full access to the ship?

SHEPARD: (Again, you can choose whatever dialogue option you want. It still makes no difference yet.)

>FIRST CHANCE TO AVOID THE ROMANCE<

ASHLEY: This is the most advanced ship in the Alliance Navy. I don't think we should give them free reign to poke around the vital systems. Engines. Sensors. Weapons.

SHEPARD (Side - You're out of line!): That's enough, Chief. You always second-guess your superiors?

ASHLEY: Sir! No, sir! I'm sorry. I was out of line. I'll get back to my duties, Commander. (The conversation will end and her romance will not trigger.)

If you do not pick the above option, Ashley will elaborate her stance further until you get to the dialogue wheel with the second (and final) chance to avoid her romance.

>SECOND CHANCE TO AVOID THE ROMANCE<

ASHLEY: My family's defended the Alliance since it was founded. My father, my grandfather, my great-grandmother - they all picked up a rifle and swore the Oath of Service. I guess we just tend to think of Earth's interests as our own.

SHEPARD (Renegade - Just shut up.): I expect you to keep your family politics to yourself, Chief. The mission will be difficult enough without you picking fights with aliens.

ASHLEY: Aye, aye, Commander. (The conversation will end and her romance will not trigger.)

Note: You can still pick the investigation dialogue options that discusses her service and family history. You just have to pick the renegade dialogue option outlined above afterward, instead of any other option.

Like with Kaidan, you do not get any renegade points for picking this option and Ashley does not treat you negatively in the ensuing post-main mission talks.

Here is an easy way to tell if Ashley’s romance remains active. Conversations between her and Shepard will end with the following:

SHEPARD: We'll talk later, Williams.

ASHLEY: Looking forward to it, sir.

“I’VE ALREADY TRIGGERED IT, HOW DO I GET OUT OF THIS?”

Admittedly, you have fewer easy opportunities to end Ashley’s romance than you do Kaidan’s, and most of the early game ones require Liara’s romance also being active. You are still offered multiple different opportunities out before the game ends, however.

If Ashley and Liara’s romances are both triggered, you will have an opportunity at the beginning of Ashley’s second and third post-main mission talks to end the romance. The gist is the same as Kaidan’s: You can’t go wrong with choosing the renegade dialogue options. This is always the dialogue option that will end her romance. You are almost never going to end her romance with a paragon or neutral dialogue option. She will always prompt this conversation by bringing up your relationship with Liara. Once she does this, just shoot her down.

Again: you get no renegade points from this. She will not treat you negatively in the ensuing post-main mission talks.

In both the second and third post-main mission talks, the conversation will go something like:

ASHLEY: Surprised to see you here, sir. Thought you’d be chatting up what’s-her-name. T’Soni.

SHEPARD: (Pick the neutral or renegade dialogue option here; they both lead to the same dialogue branch.)

ASHLEY: Scuttlebutt says you’ve got a bit of a thing for her. I could understand why. The crew’s off-limits, with the regs against fraternization. And at least she looks like a woman.

SHEPARD: (Pick the neutral or renegade dialogue option here. They both end the romance.)

One of the easier exceptions to this that doesn't require Liara’s romance being active is in the second post-main mission talk when Ashley gets Sarah’s vid-mail. It will go like this:

SARAH: - Oh, before I go. You said you’re serving with Commander Shepard now? We saw him on the news here. He’s cute! Later, sis.

ASHLEY: Tell me you didn’t hear that.

SHEPARD (Renegade - That’s unprofessional.): I don’t need to tell you it’s inappropriate to gossip about how “cute” your commanding officer is.

ASHLEY: No, sir. You don’t. Sorry about that. It won’t happen again. (Conversation and romance ends.)

Please note, however, that this will lock you out of the remainder of the conversation and you will not learn about Ashley’s family.

If you have repeatedly not broken off the romance with Ashley after a certain point and Liara’s romance is also active, it will trigger the love triangle scene. This is one of the last points you have to break off Ashley’s romance, but it will lock you into Liara’s romance instead. If you are wanting a no-romance run, I recommend choosing one of the other options instead.

There is also a separate way to end the romance outside these three opportunities. In the third post-main mission talk, you must pick the dialogue option that triggers the argument that can “paragon” Ashley’s opinion on the Council. You must not choose the charm or intimidate option here, and you must then pick the renegade dialogue options. The conversation should go something like this:

ASHLEY: But hey, once we save the galaxy, maybe the Alliance will get its act together. Start acting like an actual government.

SHEPARD (Paragon - The Alliance is all right.): The Alliance isn’t perfect, but it does well enough.

ASHLEY: Have to disagree with you there, skipper. Giving aliens the run of our most advanced ship? Kowtowing to the Council?

SHEPARD (Paragon - It’s not like that.): The Alliance should be able to stand on is own. We can’t. Yet. Why not learn from the races that have been standing for the last thousand years?

ASHLEY: How can you say that, given everything we’ve seen out here? They’re already acting like Saren is our problem. Already siccing us on the bear. The Council races will always think of themselves first. It’s - human nature. We can’t afford to trust them. Not if the survival of humanity is on the line.

SHEPARD (Renegade - I’ve heard enough.): Whatever feelings I might have for you, we have to work with the Council. I can’t let you second-guess our superiors.

ASHLEY: Shepard, I’m a soldier. You’re my commander. If you give me an order, I’ll follow it. I don’t expect you to treat me differently from anyone else under your command. And if you have been - quit it. I thought you knew me better than that.

SHEPARD (Renegade - Do I?): Seems like every time we run up against aliens, you whip out the “Earth first” card. I can’t have my authority undermined.

ASHLEY: I never intended to “undermine” you, Shepard. I believe in you. I wish you’d believe in anyone but yourself. With your permission, sir, I’ll return to my duties.

This argument will end her romance. She will also not be paragoned. This is obviously a much more convoluted way to end her romance, but I’m throwing the option out there because it’s 1) hilarious (that final line, oof), and 2) way more dramatic, if you want to roleplay ending the romance for whatever reason.

MISCELLANEOUS

Like with Kaidan, depending on the dialogue options you take for the scenic view on the Citadel, Ashley will always flirt with you. This does not lock you into, or even trigger, her romance. It is entirely possible to not have her flirt with you at all in this scene, and still initiate the romance later. But if you do not want her to flirt with you, simply do this:

[image ID: ME1’s subtitles showing Ashley saying “Or maybe they just don’t like humans.” with the dialogue wheel below it giving the following dialogue choices, starting from the top: “What’s not to like?”, “Let’s move out.”, and “That’s enough, you two.” end ID]

When you get to this part of the scenic view cutscene, choose any dialogue option but the top “What’s not to like?” one.

Also like with Kaidan, even if you’ve already avoided or shut down Ashley’s romance, Liara will still ask if there’s something between the two of you if her romance is active. Tell her that there isn’t (because there isn’t). Her saying this does not re-trigger Ashley’s romance.

Congratulations, you have now survived ME1’s romance mechanics. Enjoy experiencing unromanced Ashley for the rest of the game.

LIARA

“I WANT TO AVOID TRIGGERING IT ENTIRELY, WHAT DO I DO?”

As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, I have found no easy way around Liara’s romance. If anyone else has, I genuinely mean it when I say I would absolutely be open to you telling me, because I would love to know.

The only way to avoid triggering Liara’s romance that I have found are the following:

Simply not talking to her for most of the game (not ideal)

Completing Therum only after you’ve done at least two main missions (also not ideal since it will require Noveria being completed without her)

Completing Therum only after all the other main missions have been completed (again not ideal, though every player should at least do this once if only for the unique content you get from it)

Okay, so what if you want to complete Therum first but still avoid Liara’s romance? I have found one way to accomplish this, but it requires you to be in a romance with Kaidan (or presumably Ashley, but I have only tested this with Kaidan).

After you recruit Liara, you may check up on her in the med-bay but do not initiate conversation after that. If she prompts you by saying, “I get the feeling you want to ask me something, Commander,” do not pick the yellowed dialogue option:

[image ID: ME1′s subtitles showing Liara saying, “I get the feeling you want to ask me something, Commander.” with the dialogue wheel showing the following options: “Investigate”, a yellowed option above “Investigate” labeled “I’d like to talk about you.”, and “Goodbye.” end ID.]

After you complete another main mission, you can check back in with Liara and speak to her normally. This conversation should be the one you’d normally get after Therum, where you learn about why she likes archaeology and how she finds Shepard fascinating.

After you complete another main mission, you must talk to Kaidan or Ashley first. To clarify: at this point you should be at the post-third main mission mark. For Kaidan, you will be getting the “Vyrnnus and Rahna” talk that you can read in his transcript; for Ashley, you will be getting the “Williams Curse” talk that you can read in her transcript.

After you speak with Kaidan or Ashley, you may speak with Liara as normal. This conversation should be picking up on where you left off last time. Liara will talk about how she’s looked into Shepard’s history and Shepard can press her for why she’s so interested in them. Liara should then say something like the following lines:

LIARA: I admit, your connection to the Protheans had something to do with my initial interest. But it has grown beyond that. My interest in you, however, is strictly professional. I want to make that clear. It is obvious you and Lt. Alenko already have some type of relationship. I would not want to come between you.

Her romance will not trigger for the rest of the game.

Please note: Again, I have only tested this with Kaidan. But it should, in theory, work the exact same for Ashley considering many of hers and Kaidan’s other romance mechanics are identical.

“THAT’S NICE, BUT HOW DO I END HER ROMANCE IF IT’S ALREADY TRIGGERED?”

You will follow the same steps as in Kaidan and Ashley’s portions. When she prompts you with whether or not there’s anything between the two of you, you must turn her down. You can never go wrong with the renegade dialogue options here. Again: you get no renegade points for it, and Liara treats you no differently going forth.

She will also usually bring up Kaidan or Ashley depending on what Shepard you are playing, and mention that it seems like there’s something between the two of you even when you do not have their romance active. If you aren’t romancing the VS, just tell her that she’s got it wrong, because...she does. It does not re-trigger either of their romances.

YES I AM ALMOST DONE TALKING

The game really does give you ample opportunities to avoid or end the romances (which is only fair considering how easy they are to trip), so hopefully I have outlined at least one you are comfortable taking.

There are other ways to end both Kaidan and Ashley’s romance that I did not mention (such as during the locker scene, or if you try to un-paragon/renegade) - the point of no return you mainly have to worry about is en route to Ilos. I imagine most players will have their romances sorted out by then, though, so I’m not sure it’s worth mentioning unless you’re wanting to do it purely for roleplay reasons. (In which case: you may read those in their respective transcripts if you’re curious.)

I cannot say I have tested every single romance cut-off, but I have tested most of the important ones players are most likely to take. I am assuming the romances are cut off based on the fact Shepard and the VS’ farewells will change depending on their romanced status (as I outlined in their respective sections), which I do feel is a safe bet. But if you try one of these and find that it did not end the romance: I’m sorry, and please do let me know (and also what platform you play on).

If you read all of this: thank you for your time, and I hope you find this guide useful!

[calligraphist-artemisia]

25 | Mystery

Written for Kidgetober 2020. Week 4: Halloween. Day 25: Mystery.

Summary: Alternate Universe - Modern Day.  Detective Holt and Doctor Hawkins are called to investigate a murder at Lionheart Manor.

Also posted on AO3 under the username Kishirokitsune. Titled as “Chill in the Air”.

- - - - -

25 | Mystery

Detective Katie “Pidge” Holt and her partner, Keith Hawkins, arrived at the Lionheart Mansion to a most dramatic scene.

A silver-haired young woman openly wept into the shoulder of a man with brown hair, who held onto her and crooned soft words into her ear. Nearby, a man with a meticulously styled mustache who also wore an old-fashioned butler's uniform, watched the pair of them with narrowed eyes. He snapped to attention as Pidge and her partner walked up the steps to the heavy front doors and Pidge made a mental note to talk to him as soon as possible.

The only other person out front was an exhausted plain clothes officer, who Pidge recognized as Captain Kolivan Durand, who was likely waiting for his dismissal from the grounds.

Before she could do that, she needed to interview the others and get their side of the story.

Pidge cleared her throat. “Miss Allura Lionheart?”

The woman with silver hair noisily sobbed for a few more seconds before removing herself from the arms of the man who was comforting her. She dabbed at her eyes with a delicate pink handkerchief and then finally turned to address Pidge. “Y-yes?”

“I'm Detective Holt and this is my partner, Doctor Hawkins,” Pidge introduced. “We're here to ask everyone a few questions about the events that occurred here in the early hours of this morning. Would you have a private room where we could do this?”

“Yes, of course. Please follow me this way,” said Allura. She patted at her eyes one last time and then turned, leading the pair into the mansion. She seemed to shrink away from the grand staircase, which had been roped off by the initial investigation team, and hurried them to a parlor on the right. “There's an office on the other side of that door. I hope you'll find it suitable.”

“The office sounds perfect,” Keith spoke up.

“If you don't mind, we'd like to interview you first, Miss Lionheart,” Pidge said, getting straight to the point. “After that, your remaining guests, and then any staff that were here last night.”

Allura nodded in agreement. “Whatever you need to do, detective.”

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

TRANSCRIPT OF ALLURA LIONHEART – HEIRESS

PIDGE: For the record, I am Detective Katie Holt. I am here with my partner, Doctor Keith Hawkins, who will be taking notes and asking questions of his own to aid in this investigation. Our first witness is Heiress Allura Lionheart. Miss, Lionheart, if you don't mind, we'll be recording this conversation so we can look back and review it when we need to.

[ALLURA makes a sound to indicate her agreement.]

PIDGE: Miss Lionheart, you hosted an even yesterday afternoon? Would you tell us what it was for and who attended?

[There's a shuffling of paper as KEITH flips open his notebook and prepares to take notes. He verbally notes this for the audio record.]

ALLURA: I sent out invitations a month ago. Lance McClain, Ulaz Lange, Thace Nilsson, and Slav Balogh. It was to celebrate my dear friend, T-Takashi. [She pauses to loudly sniffle.] Oh, Takashi, if only I had known, I never would have sent out a single invitation!

PIDGE: I am truly sorry for your loss, Miss Lionheart. You and the deceased were close?

ALLURA: We went to school together and stayed in touch over the years. I hadn't seen him in over a year.

PIDGE: Was there a reason for this?

ALLURA: No, we just drifted apart. Letters became scarce and I didn't want to bother him when he was so deep into his research.

PIDGE: I see. Now, I know this may be difficult, but I'd like for you to recount, in your own words, the events of this past evening leading up to the discovery of the body.

ALLURA: It wasn't until after dinner that the party ended. I invited everyone to stay here at the manor and Lance and Shiro were the only two to agree. I took a leisurely after-dinner stroll through the garden with Lance and then he escorted me to my room. I went to bed shortly after.

KEITH: Do you remember what time this was?

ALLURA: I-I cannot.

PIDGE: Did you happen to notice anything weird during your stroll? Any loud noises? Anyone acting suspicious?

ALLURA: No. There was nothing.

KEITH: May I ask who else remained in the manor overnight, other than your two guests? You said Mr. McClain and the deceased were the two who stayed, correct?

ALLURA: That's right. I also have several live-in staff who have their own rooms. Coran, Romelle, and Hunk were all here last night.

PIDGE: And you weren't woken by anything during the night?

ALLURA: No, I'm a very sound sleeper. I routinely sleep through the grandfather clock in the lobby chiming on the hour, or well... Actually, I did wake once. It must have been around three o'clock or so. That's how many chimes I heard. How odd.

PIDGE: And in the morning, did you wake on your own? How did you discover the scene?

ALLURA: I don't... oh goodness, I woke on my own. And there was this commotion that I could hear. Perhaps that aided me into waking. And I hurried to put on my robe and go see what the fuss was about and... and that's when I saw him lying there. It was so horrid I couldn't bear to look. Please, detective, you must find who did this!

PIDGE: We will do our best, Miss Lionheart. If you have nothing else to add for the moment, we'd like to move on to our next witness. If you think of anything later, we will of course take the time to listen.

[END RECORDING]

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

“So, what do you think?” Keith quietly asked while he and Pidge prepared for their next witness. “That clock thing seemed odd.”

“Or it could be nothing. We'll look into it, but I don't really expect to get much out of a clock,” Pidge said. “Right now I want to focus on our interview with Mr. McClain. According to Miss Lionheart, he was the last person she saw that night, and right now we don't know where he went after walking her back to her room. Lets see what he has to say and then we'll talk to the staff.”

Keith nodded in agreement.

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

TRANSCRIPT OF LANCE MCCLAIN – PILOT

[PIDGE and KEITH introduce themselves to LANCE, who then agrees to answer any questions they have.]

PIDGE: I'd like to jump right in to the events that took place from after dinner last night to this morning when the body was found. You and the deceased were the only two guests who remained in the manor, correct?

LANCE: Yeah. It was the two of us, Allura, and the others who live here.

PIDGE: Their names are...?

LANCE: The butler is Coran, Romelle is the head maid, and Hunk is the head chef. Me and Shiro spent some time with them once Allura went to bed. They're all pretty cool.

PIDGE: We'll come back to that. Tell me what happened after dinner, once the other guests left.

LANCE: Right, so, we had gone to the front hall to see off Ulaz, Thace, and Slav, and Shiro said he was going back to his room to de-stress for a while after having to spend an evening in the company of Slav. They have some kind of strange history together. I dunno. It's like everything Slav did was to push Shiro's buttons. Anyway, once they were gone and Shiro was off doing his thing, I asked Allura for a walk in the garden. I figured it'd be a nice romantic way to end the evening.

KEITH: You and Miss Lionheart are seeing each other?

LANCE: Not officially, but I'd like to.

PIDGE: Please carry on, Mr. McClain.

LANCE: We must have spent an hour or so out there talking and then I walked her back to her room. After that I figured I'd go downstairs to see if there was anymore of the amazing dessert we had for dinner, and that's when I bumped into Shiro again. We went down to the kitchen together and one thing led to another and then we were all sitting around playing cards.

PIDGE: Please state who you were playing cards with.

LANCE: Shiro, of course, and then Coran, Hunk, and Romelle. Well, just the two of us and Hunk at first, then Coran joined us, and then Romelle. We played until midnight – I remember hearing that clock chime twelve, and then we all split up. Shiro and I went back to the second floor where our rooms were and that was the last I saw of him. I went to bed after that.

PIDGE: And did anything strange happen during the night?

LANCE: Eh, I don't know about that. It's an unfamiliar place, so I feel like I woke up with every creak the manor makes. Between that and the clock going off every hour, I feel like I barely slept. But I wouldn't call that strange.

PIDGE: Tell me what it was like when you got up that morning.

LANCE: Normal, I guess. My alarm went off, I washed off my face and got dressed. I was heading down to the kitchen for breakfast when I found everyone else around... around Shiro. I couldn't believe it. I still can't believe it. It's just awful what happened.

PIDGE: Is there anything else you feel we should know?

KEITH: Any odd behavior from anyone you spent time with that night?

LANCE: Nope. Like I said, we were all hanging out and playing cards. It was a good time.

PIDGE: Thank you for your time, Mr. McClain. If there's anything else you can think of, please let us know.

[END RECORDING]

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

“The clock again,” Keith pointed out the moment they were alone.

“It still doesn't mean anything. Besides, we've heard it go off once since we arrived and you have to agree, it's a very loud clock,” Pidge responded. “Anyway, his testimony backs up what Miss Lionheart said, so there are no red flags there.”

“Unless they're both lying.”

Pidge sighed softly, but couldn't disagree with her partner. “Unless they're both lying.”

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

TRANSCRIPT OF CORAN ROUSSEAU – BUTLER

PIDGE: We now pick up with Coran Rousseau, the butler of Miss Lionheart's estate. Mr. Rousseau, you were here for the duration of the event held yesterday and overnight, correct?

CORAN: Correct! I live here in the manor so that I can better serve Miss Allura. All of the head staff have their own rooms over in the servant wing. Last night I was here with Romelle and Hunk, as well as Miss Allura's guests, of course.

PIDGE: I'd like to hear your account of the events that occurred here yesterday evening. You may start from the point where the others left after dinner, if there's nothing that stands out during the get-together.

[CORAN makes a loud humming sound – KEITH notes that the butler twirls his mustache as he thinks back to the day before.]

CORAN: After dinner, I assisted Misters Lange, Nilsson, and Balogh to their vehicles and remained until they were past the gate. I made sure it was securely shut before going back inside, at which point the others had already dispersed for the evening. I went to speak with Romelle while she straightened the dining room and then went about my usual evening routine. Once those were through, I joined Hunk, Mr. Shirogane, and Mr. McClain in the kitchen where they were playing cards. Romelle joined us shortly after. It must have been around midnight when we all split up for bed.

KEITH: You're sure it was midnight?

CORAN: Oh, yes! The grandfather clock in the main hall chimed twelve times. We could all hear it.

PIDGE: Could you go into more detail about your usual evening routine?

CORAN: Oh, I just walk around the manor and make sure all of the windows are locked and everything is in its right place. I always start on the ground floor where I first check the security system and then I move onto the doors and windows. On the top floor are more windows and I make sure the rooms are all in order – unless they're occupied, of course.

PIDGE: How long would you say that takes you?

CORAN: A little over an hour.

PIDGE: And you didn't notice anything odd during that time last night? Anything out of place? Any strange sounds? Smells?

CORAN: Nothing odd at all. I had this whole place locked up tight for the night!

PIDGE: I see. Well, thank you for speaking to us, Mr. Rousseau. Please let us know if there's anything else you can think of.

[END RECORDING]

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

Pidge through her hands up the moment they were finished interviewing Hunk and Romelle, who both corroborated the stories that had already been told and also noticed nothing strange during the night. “How is it no one heard or saw anything odd? There were five – okay, six, but I can't really count Mr. Shirogane – people here last night!”

“It just means that whoever committed the murder did so quietly. They must know this manor pretty well, too,” Keith said. “Ready to go sleuthing?”

Pidge's eyes lit up. “Yes! Just let me get something first...”

Keith watched as Pidge reached into her satchel and pulled out a gray deerstalker cap and a small wooden pipe. To his bewilderment, she happily plopped the cap on her head and poured some sort of liquid into the pipe, which she then stuck in her mouth and blew into, causing tiny bubbles to rise up.

“Seriously?” he asked and got no response.

Their first stop on their investigation of the manor was the main hall, where the infamous grandfather clock stood tall and proud in one corner of the room, not far from where the body of the victim was found that morning.

“Well here it is,” Pidge said, coming to a stop in front of it. “Just a perfectly ordinary, not-at-all-suspicious clock. Thoughts, Keith?”

He glared at her. “Everyone we talked to mentioned this clock. My gut instinct says that it's important, but not necessarily suspicious.”

Pidge gave him a few minutes to examine the clock while she plotted out her next move. Walking through the entire manor sounded like the best way to start, but she also had some questions about the security system that she hadn't thought of before. Like, what it only to detect if someone opened the door or a window? Or were there cameras involved as well?

So while Keith examined every inch of the grandfather clock, Pidge flagged down Coran to ask him a few more questions about the security system and learned about a room on the first floor which held the video feed for the cameras outside and the few cameras inside the manor.

“Although... I'm afraid it didn't capture anything in the main hall last night,” Coran said apologetically. “I was asked to turn it off.”

“By who?” Pidge demanded, immediately suspicious.

“That would be Mr. Shirogane. He has a habit of sleepwalking and he asked if I could turn it off. It has a sensor, you see, to detect unwanted movement in the night. He didn't want to wake anyone up if he made it that far.”

Pidge blew into her pipe and watched tiny bubbles erupt from the end.

“Keith, lets go! I think I found something,” she called out.

Ten minutes later, the two found themselves in a cramped security office, fast-fowarding through the limited footage from the night before in search of anything changing.

Suddenly, Keith frowned. “Pause for a minute. Go back to three AM.”

Pidge did so and they sat and watched the unchanging cameras for a minute. “There's nothing there.”

“There's something there,” Keith corrected. He nudged her hand away from the controls and backed up all the way to 1:59 AM. “There's sound, right?”

“Yes?”

Keith hit play and they only had to wait thirty seconds before they heard the muffled gongs of the grandfather clock go off at exactly 2 AM. He waited until it was finished and then fast-forwarded back to 2:59 AM and hit play, but that time it clicked over to 3 AM and there were no gongs.

It wasn't until the time read 3:17 AM that they finally heard it.

Keith looked at Pidge smugly. “I told you there was something important about the clock. This has to be why it woke up Miss Lionheart; it went off at a different time than was normal and she was subconsciously aware of it.”

“Alright, I admit it. You were right about the clock,” Pidge said reluctantly. “The question is: how is it related to the case?”

“I guess that's up to us to figure it out,” Keith said, tossing her an excited grin.

Pidge looked equally as excited to have found a clue, but did a good job of tamping down on that to try and maintain an air of professionalism. “Right, so lets go over what we have so far. Our victim is Takashi Shirogane, who recently received a grant to continue his research. Miss Lionheart hosted a party to celebrate this and it was during the night that he was bludgeoned to death in the main hall. The murder weapon is currently unknown, but we have evidence of someone potentially tampering with the grandfather clock.”

“Only potentially?” Keith asked. “Do I need to replay the video?”

“Potentially because we don't know how accurate it is on average. We need to ask about that before we can conclusively say that someone tampered with it,” Pidge said.

“So, we have to talk to Coran again?”

Pidge nodded.

The pair took their time walking back to the main hall where they'd asked everyone to remain until they finished their investigation. When they got there, they found a strange sight. There was a tall man with dark hair sobbing loudly into Allura's shoulder, who looked utterly bewildered as she tried to comfort him.

For one heart-stopping moment, Pidge thought that their victim had been resurrected and was walking among them, because the man looked alarmingly like Takashi Shirogane.

“What's going on?” Keith asked the nearest person, who turned out to be the Head Chef, Hunk Garrett.

“We don't know,” Hunk said with a shrug. “He just turned up and started wailing about his brother? He says his name is Sven.”

Pidge and Keith exchanged confused looks.

“I don't remember our records saying anything about a brother, do you?” Pidge asked quietly.

Keith shook his head, flipped through his notes, and then shook his head again.

Pidge grumbled something indecipherable under her breath and then marched over to Allura and Sven, loudly announcing her presence by clearing her throat. Keith was close behind her.

“Excuse me? There's an investigation going on here, sir. Why are you here?” she asked.

Sven gave one more loud sob before lifting his head from Allura's shoulder and turning to face the Detective and her partner. Resting above his upper lip was the most obvious fake mustache Pidge had ever seen.

“I-I am Sven. I came the moment I heard about m-my brother.” He spoke in an outrageously bad Norwegian accent; one so awful that Keith had to turn away and cough in order to cover up his desire to laugh.

“Your brother,” Pidge said flatly. “So you would be Sven... Shirogane?”

He shook his head. “Sven Holgersson. Takashi is my half-brother. We have different fathers.”

Pidge stared at him for a moment and then threw up her hands. “I am not doing this.”

At once, the atmosphere of the room changed. Allura brushed away her tears and stood up straight, Keith gave into his laughter and was joined by Lance, and “Sven” gave Pidge a wry grin.

“Shiro, this was not part of the game,” Pidge said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I thought it would be fun to spice things up a bit,” Shiro said with a shrug. “No offense to Kolivan, but there's only so long I can stand around outside and make small-talk before things get boring. And it may have been that I was coming in to ask everyone what they wanted for lunch and then we heard you two come back and I had to think of something on the fly.”

“So you thought of Sven Holgersson?” Pidge asked incredulously.

“It's better than Gyro,” Hunk said. He paused to think about it for a moment. “Marginally. It's marginally better than Gyro.”

Shiro playfully harrumphed. “None of you appreciate my creative genius.”

Keith recovered from his bought of laughter and took Pidge's hand, drawing her in close and stymieing her frustration before it could build any higher. “Why don't we take a break for lunch and then come back to this after. Without Sven Holgersson,” he added in the hope of solving their current biggest problem.

Everyone else agreed, though Shiro did pout over it for a few minutes, until they told him he could hang out in the security room and watch them run around on the cameras for the rest of the game.

And with that they put a hold on their game of Clue and all went out for lunch.

[dammit-stark]

out of the blue

carolrhodey - - 1.5k words

She texts him one day, even though it’s been over a year since they’ve talked. It’s bad. The way her tone comes off through the texts, Rhodey knows she’s probably drunk off her ass somewhere, nursing a bottle of strong liquor like a baby while she pets that damn cat and giggles like a maniac. He knows how bad of an idea it would be to respond. Disaster-level, heart-wrenching, kill-him-twice-over bad idea.

He waits five minutes and sends back a three-word text. He can’t help it. She’s his soft spot, even if she’s disappeared.

What’s up, carol?

She texts back immediately. The uninhibited speediness hits him almost like a twisted knife right in the spot it hurts him the most.

Miss you.

Oh, god. Here it comes.

No you don’t.

Do too!

They text for hours. Rhodey’s in his bed at the compound, buried under a heavy comforter, the soft light beside his bed stealing a respite from the overworked blue light that unceremoniously sheds itself across his room that night. He has no idea where she’s texting him from. It’s nearing dawn when he finally gets up the courage to ask.

Where’d you run off to, Carol? Where is it that you’re texting me from?

For the first time all night, she doesn’t respond immediately. Rhodey wonders if she’s sobering up or if she really ran away from him like that. Either way hurts. The grey bubbles on his phone are quiet for an uncomfortably long time.

He tries something else, I miss you.

There’s another completely expected beat of nothing, and Rhodey’s hope dwindles his hand over the power button. His too is dark and he’s an idiot who ruined a good thing without bowing how yet again.

Then there’s a soft vibration, and Rhodey’s glad he’s alone because nobody is in his room to witness the desperate way he dives for his phone.

Can’t tell you, babe. You know that. I’m sorry.

He stares at the word babe for an unacceptably long time.

Then she adds, almost like a taunt or a promise or something even more painful, I miss you too.

The sun peeks out from between the blinds, and Rhodey knows it’s time to go to sleep. His heart hurts and his eyes feel heavy.

Good night, Carol.

He doesn’t pick up his phone again when she responds, the blue light of the notification flooding his bedside table. He’s already asleep. Dawn comes quickly after that, and Rhodey continues to doze, blissfully dead to the world.

When he wakes up, there aren’t any more texts, and Rhodey hates that he’s actually disappointed.

When he picks up his phone and a receptionist tells him, “Please hold for NASA security division,” Rhodey automatically assumes that oh, Tony’s causing trouble again. Great. Fantastic. Figures. 

His head falls back heavily into his pillow and he sighs. Pepper was supposed to have a handle on him, though the veritable question lies in whether a single person could ever truly have a handle on Tony Stark. Rhodey listens to NASA’s incessant hold music and decides that no, Tony Stark has never been one easily controlled. Rhodey should’ve figured that.

Then the music stops and a NASA big wig behind a desk somewhere is saying, “Is this Colonel Rhodes?”

“Yes, it is.”

“We have a report here that you received a number of messages coming from Mission Ship D16, and it is policy for Security Division to be read in on these messages.”

Rhodey rubs a hand over his face. He’s too tired for this shit, really, “Excuse me?” He says, because what else can he do.

“We need a physical or oral transcript of your interactions with those aboard the Mission Ship, sir. Either will do.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,”‘ Rhodey says, as blunt as can be as he sits up in his bed and leans against his knees. He isn’t as good at all nighters as he used to be, that’s for sure, “I’ve never heard of a Mission Ship D16, and I didn’t receive any messages last night.”

The voice on the other end of the line is silent for several long moments, and a vague flipping of papers can be heard through the device, “No,” He says, confident and tired, “We have a distinct record of transmission between your phone and the exact location of the ship in orbit for several last night. We need access to those transmissions, sir.”

Last night. Carol. Oh.

So maybe everything isn’t about Tony after all.

“Did you say location in orbit?”

“Yes, sir, Mission Ship D16 is an aerospace vehicle.”

Oh.

Oh.

“I did receive some messages last night now that I think about it,” Rhodey says, feeling much more awake now that his mind is absolutely reeling, “They were from Lieutenant Danvers.”

“Yes,” The engineer says. He’s sounding increasingly tired, “Lieutenant Danvers is in charge of the craft. Can we have the transcript of the messages now?”

“I’ll- I’ll fax it over later,” Rhodey tells him, stammers, “Over and out,” Then hangs up abruptly on the NASA tech.

He opens up Carol’s contact information and just stares at it. Space. She was in space. Not even on the planet. She left him and didn’t tell him where she was because she was in space and it was confidential. Rhodey can barely fathom how this is his life. He texts Carol.

So you’re in space.

He watches the gray bubble fill with a blinking ellipses as she hesitates. It’s almost comical, the idea of Carol hesitating, being thrown off guard. Rhodey’s used to it himself, his best friend and his ex-girlfriend are both superheroes, surprise is practically a personality trait of his at this point, but Carol fights aliens for a living, not much surprises her.

What makes you say that? She replies, neither confirming nor denying. It almost makes Rhodey laugh aloud. Almost. There’s this heavy feeling in his stomach of a puzzle clicking in place that keeps the noise from coming out into his mostly dark bedroom though.

Got an enlightening call from NASA this morning.

Shit.

Yeah.

So you know?

If you’re asking if I know that you’re currently in space then yes I know, Rhodey hesitates, then adds, Why didn’t you tell me?

You weren’t high enough security clearance, Rhodey. I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't.

Full bird colonel and my clearance still isn’t high enough to know where my ex-girlfriend works why am I still surprised by things like this

He can still imagine the lilt of her laugh perfectly.

I meant it when I said I miss you, Carol says suddenly, and it’s like she brandishes her knife again, Now that you’re read in do you want to come visit?

He laughs aloud, finally.

In space?

Yeah, why not.

God, he missed her, too.

Yeah, He finally responds, I’d like that, as long as NASA doesn’t mind.

fuck

What?

I forgot about nasa, how did they feel about our texts last night?

Rhodey laughs aloud again, he can’t help it. He’s got this irritatingly accurate image in his head of Carol as a freight train, crashing her way through troughs of red tape.

I’m sure they’ll have a good laugh when they see them

Shit.

That’s what you get, Danvers, for texting me while drunk

Shut up, Rhodes, she tells him, and it almost feels like she’s on the planet, like she never even left, like she somehow isn't impossibly far away.

Rhodey finally gets out of bed, stretches languorously and blinks away some of the stray exhaustion. He wonders distantly as he pads toward his laptop and coffee machine, whether or not text rates are extra going to space.

NASA, as it turns out, does not find their exchanges very amusing. Carol gets a very strongly worded letter from some straightlaced agency director about the immorality of drinking while on what is technical government property and Rhodey gets a very lovely selfie of his girl posing with a bottle of vodka and the letter printed out on cardstock. He can see the metal walls of the spaceship in the background and it’s weirdly normal for him to see.

It doesn’t matter what NASA thinks about them, though, because two days later, a giant metal ship makes traction on Rhodey’s front lawn and Carol’s stepping out all grins.

“Hey, baby,” She says, real and there and not converted to words theough a device.

Rhodey looks at her dazzling smile, to her Ship, to the giant mud pit in his yard, then back to her smile, and he grows a grin of his own and says, “What the hell, Carol?”

“Wow, Rhodey,” She says, taking a few strides toward him, “Good to see you, too.”

He wraps his arms around her, pulls her tight- real, tangible, more than just a coding and a transmission. He doesn’t say anything.

“So,” She says, “Wanna go to space with me, baby?”

He looks up, sees the clouds and the stars and the largeness of it all, then he looks down at her face and he can see her glowing, and he nods, “Yeah,” He says, ecstatic, “Show me the way, Space girl.”

[captainlenfan]

New Post has been published on http://websiteshop.network/episode-433-qa-with-robb-and-nicki-26/

Episode 433 – Q&A with Robb and Nicki #26

http://robbwolf.com/2019/06/21/episode-433-qa-with-robb-and-nicki-26/

We’re back on a roll with Episode 433, Q&A #26!

Submit your own questions for the podcast at: https://robbwolf.com/contact/submit-a-question-for-the-podcast/

If you want to see the video for this podcast, be sure to check out our YouTube channel.

  Show Notes:

1. Enzymes and IBS? [3:32]

Ken says:

Talk to us about enzymes Robb. I’ve played with alot of different things over the years to help with IBS issues. For a long time I was devoted to probiotics but I never found any real consistent results with them. I took a stool test a year or so ago and discovered that literally none of the strains of probiotics I had so diligently taken (and paid for) were significantly present. Along the way anti fungals and anti parasitic medication (Dr Rx’d) helped calm the fire down below but it was enzymes that seem to seem to have made the final difference for me. Not only is the fire largely out I’ve really not had to keep up with taking enzymes like I did with probiotics. To be fair to probiotics they seem to help in the moment but I get the sense you have to take them daily which does not seem to be the case with enzymes. I should mention I know several people that have had the same experience with probiotics and enzymes. My question then is what is the mechanism at work? I get that enzymes help break down foods but why would that help with IBS symptoms and furthermore why would those symptoms be largely gone after only 6 months or so of using them but not taking them daily even?

  2. Squat Pooping and Toilet Training [10:42]

Terrence says:

Hey Robb and Nicki!

Loving the new Q&A format! You have done such a great job educating the public on what to put in one end of their bodies that I want to take a moment to talk about how to get the most out of what comes out the other end!

I am a first-time dad of a now 16-month-old, so that means we’re starting to approach potty training. As we all know, the “natural, paleo way” of pooping is getting into that deep squat and letting fly. It’s so obvious to me that this is the way we’re meant to poop. I see it every morning: my little girl suddenly stops playing with her toys and drops into that ass-to-grass squat that my jiujitsu hips will never do again. By the time that thousand-yard stare creeps into her eyes, I’ve already got one hand on my SLS-free baby wipes.

Every parent has seen that, and yet every parent in this hemisphere insists on trying to get their kid going from this squat position to sitting on a porcelain platform with his/her feet dangling. The toddler naturally resists with a, “what the hell do you expect me to do from here?” look. Frustration ensues, but poop doesn’t. It seems like transitioning our toddlers from diapers to seated toilets is yet another mismatch of nature in our modern civilization.

For adults, it’s easy to make a homemade platform or buy a Squatty Potty / similar product. But what’s the plan for tots? I’ve considered setting up a kitty litter box in the bathroom. The mother-in-law is almost certainly going to lose her shit (heh heh) but maybe that’s the price of being the world’s #2 Dad!

Would love to hear your Paleo Poop Solution for how we are Wired to Shit.

-Terrence

  3. Travel Eating Tips? [14:30]

Luiza says:

Got your masterclass and it was paramount for the achievement of the keto sunset. 8 weeks in, 15 lbs down and I feel amazing!

However I am quite a foodie and will be heading to Paris for 10 days in June to vacation with my brother and dad. I will be staying at a hotel and definitely don’t wanna miss out on real French croissants or pastries… I also am from Brazil and while I can tell the benefits of keto long term, I would not be able to go visit and skip out of eating fruits, which is most of my diet while I’m down there.

so question: Should I still try my best to keep up with calories/macro count while traveling and/or supplement with exogenous ketones (do they even work?) or should I not worry about it until I get back home? Am I gonna feel absolutely awful while getting back on carbs? On that note, maybe I should re-introduce carbs before I even go?

Appreciate your guidance on the issue.

  4. BJJ + Recurring Staph Infections [18:39]

Sam says:

Dear Robb + Nicki,

Over the last 12 year period, I’ve made numerous attempts to train BJJ–each attempt ending in a staph infection. My first time was about 12 years ago, where I got a good year of training in. This was punctuated by a pretty bad staph infection that flared back up a few more times shortly after. 8 years later, I went for it again…this time getting a staph infection after one week of training. Most recently, I got 6 months in before getting another. As you can imagine, every doctor I’ve ever talked to thinks I just need more antibiotics, or that I have some secret colony of staph living in my nose. This approach has obviously not been successful for me. It also fails to address why I only get them while training, and never in the periods in between. While hygiene may have been to blame the first time, I was pretty careful the last two times, even if it wasn’t 100% perfect. I had a funky sleep schedule before my most recent occurrence, which I think may have contributed. Some more details for you…I’m 33, in good shape, otherwise healthy, eat well, and sleep well. I’ve always lifted weights outside of BJJ but nothing crazy in terms of volume. My question for you is: If this was happening to you, where would you start? What would you be looking at? I have considered seeing a functional medicine practitioner as I’ve wondered if there are some bigger picture immune issues at play. I appreciate any thoughts you have on this– I don’t want my BJJ career to be over so soon. Thanks!

Notes: https://www.defensesoap.com/

  5. Adult Autism – Should I Go Keto? [23:51]

Alex says:

Hi Nicki and Robb,

I’m 29 and was diagnosed as on the autism spectrum just two years ago. This would have been considered as asperger’s in the past. I’ve been primarily paleo (ice cream is really good) for the better part of six years, but after running my DNA through Found My Fitness, I’m wanting to address my dietary choices from a more personalized approach, including finding the most optimal choices to address some of the occasional stressors I feel associated with being on the spectrum – anxiety, depression, and general cognitive/mood disregulation.

The most researched dietary intervention seems to be a gluten free, dairy free diet, with a few studies looking into keto. However, each study I’ve seen is only looking at kids as the subjects and typically with more severe symptoms than what I experience. Keto seems to be a promising approach, but is there any reason why this would be different for an adult? I tried keto for about a month a year ago but immediately found my cognitive performance drop. While I know my macro amounts were appropriate (used ketogains calculator), I know now that I didn’t incorporate the electrolyte component. Could this account for my initial struggles with it? Is there anything else someone on the spectrum should consider when attempting keto? Supplements, macro ratios, etc.? I’ll include more details about me below, but thank you for your time in reading question and all of your work.

Alex

29 years old

6′ 4”, 240 lbs

CrossFit 3-4x per week

Sleep 6-7 hours a night (we have a 1 year old that thinks the day begins at 3:30am)

Polymorphisms of concern from FoundMyFitness: MTHFR (which seems to be common in those on the spectrum), FTO (multiple SNPs), APEO3/4 (multiple SNPs)

Live in Minnesota where sun exposure is only frequent enough where your skin doesn’t freeze

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  Transcript:

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Nicki: Hey, Hubs

Robb: Welcome back, wife. What’s new? What’s exciting? We’re living in the Arctic of Reno

Nicki: I know. It’s been a really, really long, drawn-out spring going into summer. It’s cold.

Robb: The White King is dead. Winter should be ending, but it’s not.

Nicki: Winter is still here.

Robb: Yup. Did you want to fill people in on anything, or do you just want to jump in?

Nicki: If you want, sure, what we’re thinking of doing.

Robb: Sure. Well, no, you do it.

Nicki: Well, we have decided that we are going to be moving to Texas.

Robb: You gonna be oblique about where so nobody can find us? We had a crazy story. Zoe was only a couple of days old…

Nicki: I don’t know what crazy story you’re telling.

Robb: …that, when the people showed up at our front door?

Nicki: Oh. Yeah.

Robb: Yeah. So, a little bit of background, and I’m sorry, if you don’t give two shits about this, just fast forward a little. A really close friend of ours had just had this super gnarly identity theft thing go on where somebody found out that they were out of town, they forwarded their mail… It was super, super messed up-

Nicki: Yeah.

Robb: …and so we were kind of a little on edge from that.

Nicki: So, that was one week before, and then we had Zoe. She was super young. I was, like, nursing in the back room.

Robb: This was day four or five and we were completely sleep deprived, like, out of your head and you’re legitimately insane at this point.

Nicki: Uh-huh (affirmative).

Robb: And, somebody had pinged Squatchy, and they’re like, “Hey, I want to send Robb one of these exercise mobility ball things or something like that, and so Squatchy had given them our home address, and, lo and behold, somebody knocks on the door-

Nicki: (laughs)

Robb: and I show up at the door just disheveled and exhausted, and there are these people I’ve never met before with this little rubber ball. They’re like-

Nicki: They’re like, “Oh, we had a wedding to go to and so we were driving through, so we thought we would just personally deliver it.” (laughs)

Robb: And so, after that, we got a P.O. box. And, it’s not that we hide our location, but I’ve had a few, kind of wacky threats from the crazy vegans and stuff like that. We have kids and so, yeah. So, we’ll be… it’s central Texas. Yeah, we’re looking at central Texas.

Nicki: Hill country Texas.

Robb: Hill country Texas.

Nicki: But, not Austin.

Robb: But, not Austin. Yeah. All the cool kids can go there. We’re going somewhere else. So, anyway, yeah, we’re looking at moving so the podcast may be a little hit and miss. We’re trying to bank some of these-

Nicki: Yeah, but-

Robb: …so that we stay on top of that but, yeah.

Nicki: Yeah. So.

Robb: That’s our preamble on that, or our pre-ramble.

Nicki: Pre-ramble. All right. We’ll jump in then.

Robb: Okay. Cool.

Nicki: So our first question is on enzymes and IBS from Ken, and he says, “Robb, talk to us about enzymes. I’ve played with a lot of different things over the years to help with IBS issues and, for a long time, I was devoted to probiotics, but I never found any real, consistent results with them. I took a stool test a year or so ago and discovered that literally none of the strains of probiotics I had so diligently taken and paid for were significantly present. Along the way, anti-fungals and anti-parasitic medication, doctor-prescribed, helped calm the fire down below, but it was enzymes that seemed to have made the final difference for me.

Nicki: Not only is the fire largely out, I’ve really not had to keep up with taking enzymes like I did with probiotics. To be fair to probiotics, they seem to help in the moment, but I get the sense you have to take them daily, which does not seem to be the case with enzymes. I should mention I know several people that have had the same experience with probiotics and enzymes, and my question is, what is the mechanism at work? I get that enzymes help break down foods, but why would that help with IBS symptoms and, furthermore, why would those symptoms be largely gone after only six months or so of using them, but not taking them even daily?”

Robb: Yeah, it’s really interesting stuff. When I was at the UCSF conference that Akil Palanisamy puts on each year, really amazing event. Doctor Datis Kharrazian was there, and this guy is so smart. Chiro and also a Ph.D in Immunology, I think, from Harvard, so kind of… D.C., Ph.D guy, and he’s a real, legit gut health expert, and really on the… how do you fix things clinically. And, he did an amazing breakdown of this whole story, and he relies heavily on things like betaine hydrochloride, apple cider vinegar, which I have shifted to using capsules because, when I would do the apple cider vinegar shots, it was dissolving my teeth, which it has a tendency to do, and butyrate.

Robb: So, what’s going on on that in kind of a multi-factorial story is that the enzymes in improving the acid content of the stomach while you’re eating food… if you break everything down into its constituent parts, and we’re really concerned about the proteins in this story, and proteins, whether it’s from animal sources or plant sources, if they hit the gut lining as single amino acids or dipeptides, which is about the ideal scenario, there’s really not immunogenic substance, then. There’s not the problematic proteins that can irritate the gut and cause the motility issues that kind of typify IBS. And then, he recommended the butyrate because the butyrate tends to help fix the gap junction issues within the gut in kind of a primary indirect fashion.

Robb: So, when a healthy gut, assuming that an individual is eating some fermented, fermentable fiber and all that type of stuff, would get butyrate and propionate and malonate and these different short-chain fats, that improve gap junction function, and then, in theory, a healthy gut, people are robustly digesting all of their food, including the proteins, and also the carbohydrates that should be digested early in the process versus, you know, if we have poor digestion, those carbohydrates can make their way intact into later portions of the digestion, which is kind of where SIBO and all that stuff pops up.

Robb: So, that’s kind of the mechanism there, and it makes a lot of sense, and what’s interesting about that, it’s a little bit reminiscent… the gut health topic and the microbiome topic is really interesting, and I think when we’ve talked about this a couple of times before, but clearly the gut microbiome and gut health is critical. But, we don’t really know yet, I think in general, what to do about it.

Robb: About fifty percent… Most of the studies you look at, Doctor Ruscio has talked about this… a hundred people take a probiotic formula, about half of the people show improvements, half the people don’t. Some of the don’ts actually get worse. So, it’s very hit and miss in that regard, and also the probiotics generally are not intended to be repopulating the gut. They’re actually intended to kind of tune the immune system, although some work from the Sonnenberg Lab suggests that the process of putting these gut microbes from probiotics through this system actually creates a more amenable environment for you to get other organisms from the environment that should be taking up residence there, and… really interesting stuff.

Robb: But, the point being that… if we look at people who have had different forms of ileostomies, like, basically having their intestines, to varying degrees removed, these people don’t live shorter, worser lives than people with all of that real estate. And this is despite whatever injury or illness caused that scenario.

Robb: So, on the one had, clearly the gut microbiome and gut health is really important, but it seems, in my mind… my kind of take on this, is it’s really, really important to either function well or, if pathology has occurred, then we need to somehow address the pathology, because, clearly, just removing that real estate, it makes all the notion of, well, fiber is critical to health and all this stuff. It really kind of casts an interesting light on it, so, in the scenario of really augmenting frontal digestion with enzymes and potentially, again, apple cider vinegar or some other acid sources, that would appear to really fix a lot of problems because we’re breaking the food down and there isn’t the large proteins that are potentially immunogenically stimulating.

Robb: So, that’s what’s going on both on the probiotics side and, most likely, on the enzyme side. It is intriguing to me that you can get by with this with intermittent use instead of needing to be really consistent. But also, even though the IBS had gone on apparently for some significant period of time, he maybe only needs to kind of pulse that whole process. Because it is interesting, too, once the gut heals, then cholecystokinin release is more normalized, and acid secretions are more normalized. We know that H. pylori suppresses acid production, ironically, even though it’s associated with peptic ulcers, but it tends to suppress acid production in the stomach to foster a more amenable environment for the H. pylori. So, sometimes if we move out the… if we change the gut microbiome in a favorable way, then it just actually gets a little bit of a feed forward mechanism going and it just generally functions better. So, yeah.

Nicki: All right. Our next question is from Terrence on squat pooping and toilet training. Terrence says, “Hey Robb and Nicki, loving the new Q and A format. You’ve done such a great job educating the public on what to put in one end of their bodies that I want to take a moment to talk about how to get the most out of what comes out the other end.

Nicki: I’m a first-time dad of a now-sixteen-month-old, so that means we’re starting to approach potty training. As we all know, the natural Paleo way of pooping is getting into that deep squat and letting fly. So obvious to me that this is the way we’re meant to poop. I see it every morning: my little girl suddenly stops playing with her toys and drops into that ass-to-grass squat that my jiu jitsu hips will never do again. By the time that thousand-yard stare creeps into her eyes, I’ve already got one hand on my SLS-free baby wipes. (laughs)

Nicki: Every parent has seen that and yet every parent in this hemisphere insists on trying to get their kid going from this squat position to sitting on a porcelain platform with his or her feet dangling. The toddler naturally resists with a, ‘What the hell do you expect me to do from here?’ look, and frustration ensues, but poop doesn’t.

Nicki: Seems like transitioning your toddlers from diapers to seated toilets is yet another mismatch of nature in our modern civilization. For adults, it’s easy to make a homemade platform, or buy a Squatty Potty, or similar product, but what’s the plan for tots? I’ve considered setting up a kitty litter box in the bathroom. (laughs) Mother-in-law is almost certainly going to lose her shit, (laughs) but maybe that’s the price of being the World’s Number Two Dad.” (laughs)

Robb: (laughs)

Nicki: Terrence, that’s hilarious. “Would love to hear your Paleo poop solution for how we are wired to shit.”

Robb: Terrence definitely gets Best Question of the Podcast History Award.

Nicki: He gets… yeah.

Robb: I don’t know, I mean… the first thought that pops in my mind is, “This is a great product opportunity for Terrence to get in and try to address.

Nicki: You know what’s interesting is other countries have… you do squat.

Robb: Right.

Nicki: I remember traveling to Turkey when I was nineteen, and even Italy, I think, they have some toilets like this, where it’s a hole in the ground, it’s porcelain, then there’s a little spot for your feet, but you actually squat. And, it flushes, but you’re not sitting on anything.

Robb: So, yeah.

Nicki: I’m sure you can order these toilets and have them installed in your home. [laughs]

Robb: Right. Can we do that with our new house?

Nicki: We can look into it.

Robb: Look into that. Yeah, I mean, we saw this same phenomena go down, and there is pretty clear literature suggesting that pooping not in a squat… you get a little bit of, like, fecal backflow because we’re supposed to have a valsalva maneuver, and… so, yeah, this is another one of the things that… you know, it’s so interesting, some of the articles on this, is, suggests that a lot of what we characterize as kind of normal GI dysfunction is a consequence of the way that we’re pooping, but that’s just so endemic that it’s kind of a problem hidden in plain sight. The researchers generally never even ask the question, “Well, if I change my position and was in a more, you know, I guess it’s not orthopedically, like, poop-opedically aligned position that, you know, this stuff would be addressed.

Robb: But, yeah, I’ve wanted the pit toilet for a while.

Nicki: Yeah, it’s just a square, porcelain thing-

Robb: And it still flushes and does all that stuff, yeah.

Nicki: …that sits in the ground with a hole, just like a normal toilet bowl hole, with little grooves for your shoes, and you just squat, and it has a flush.

Robb: Well, let’s look into that.

Nicki: (laughs) Okay.

Robb: (laughs) Terrence, we’ll keep you posted if we find one of those in the new digs, we’ll send you info on it. But, really good question, and it’s interesting, and this is another one of these things that we get our kids started off not on the right foot with a lot of stuff. Yeah.

Nicki: All right. Let’s see. Our next question is from Luiza on falling off the wagon. She says, “I got your masterclass and it was paramount for the achievement of the keto sunset. Eight weeks in, fifteen pounds down, and I feel amazing. However, I’m quite a foodie, and will be heading to Paris for ten days in June to vacation with my brother and dad. I will be staying at a hotel and definitely don’t want to miss out on real French croissants or pastries. I also am from Brazil, and while I can tell the benefits of keto long-term, I would not be able to go visit and skip out on eating fruit, which is most of my diet while I’m down there.

Nicki: So, my question: should I still try my best to keep up with the calories and macro count while traveling, and/or supplement with exogenous ketones? Do they even work? Or, should I not worry about it until I get back home? And, am I going to feel absolutely awful while getting back on carbs? On that note, maybe I should reintroduce carbs before I go. I appreciate your guidance on the issue.”

Robb: So, maybe we’ll start from the back and then work forward. Are you going to feel awful going back on carbs? I have no idea.

Nicki: Depends on-

Robb: …it just depends, person-to-person. I don’t know, I go back and forth on this. On the one hand, I guess a really minimal tweak to what you’re doing and still being able to enjoy all that you have to experience there, try to make sure you hit your protein minimum. That just seems to be so important for not overeating, whether we’re on a low-carb or a low-fat diet. So, by hook or by crook, just make sure that you get your protein in. If you’re in Brazil, then eat all the fruit, but make sure that you’re getting plenty of protein with the fruit. When you’re eating your croissant, make sure that you don’t forgo the eggs and-

Nicki: Sausage and whatever.

Robb: …sausage and all that type of stuff. And, a little bit of portion control… I mean, the challenge, or the benefit, of keto is that we’re removing the carb-fat combo, and that’s where it becomes challenging for people to maintain normal appetite control. Again, adequate protein is really going to help with that, but… So-

Nicki: So, in Brazil, should she do protein and fruit, and skip any additional fat?

Robb: Yes.

Nicki: And in Paris, she could do protein and don’t put butter on her French croissants and pastries.

Robb: Maybe a little bit, but yeah.

Nicki: Yeah, try to-

Robb: Just don’t go crazy on it. Yeah.

Nicki: …I think there’s a lot of butter in them already-

Robb: Right.

Nicki: …when they make them, but trying to minimize the fat if she’s going to increase her carbs.

Robb: Yeah, yeah, to some degree. And, as to the exogenous ketones, exogenous ketones are great, but the point isn’t necessarily to take a ketone supplement to paper over other dietary concerns, unless we’re really tackling that from a neurodegenerative perspective, or something like that. So, I mean, I don’t really see the exogenous ketones being a huge boon in this scenario.

Robb: If you like them, some people do notice that they do get some appetite regulation by dropping in a scoop of the exogenous ketones or the MCTs. There’s one study that suggests a carb-rich breakfast plus MCTs caused people to then… and also, I’ve got to say they ate adequate protein in this, too, so it wasn’t just carbs and MCT. It was a good whack of protein, some standard carb intake, but then adding MCT in, what they noticed over time, was that these folks tended to eat fewer calories overall throughout the day.

Nicki: Hm.

Robb: And Chris Masterjohn did a nice unpacking of this, and so… That might work that similarly with the exogenous ketones. We don’t have a study on that yet. There is one reasonably well-performed study that suggests that MCT powder or MCT oil does that.

Nicki: Okay. Well, have fun, Luiza. That sounds like a really fun summer.

Robb: I wouldn’t mind that. Yeah.

Nicki: Okay. Let’s see. Our next question is from Sam on BJJ and recurring staph infections.

Nicki: “Dear Robb and Nicki, over the last twelve-year period, I’ve made numerous attempts to train BJJ, each attempt ending in a staph infection. My first time was about twelve years ago, where I got a good year of training in, which was punctuated by a pretty bad staph infection that flared back up a few more times shortly after. Eight years later, I went for it again, this time getting a staph infection after one week of training. Most recently, I got six months in before getting another. As you can imagine, every doctor I have talked to thinks I just need more antibiotics, or that I have some secret colony of staph living in my nose.

Nicki: This approach has obviously not been successful for me. It also fails to address why I only get them while training and never in the periods in between. While hygiene may have been to blame the first time, I was pretty careful the last two times, even if I wasn’t 100% perfect. I had a funky sleep schedule before my most recent occurrence, which I think may have contributed.

Nicki: Some more details for you: I’m 33, in good shape, otherwise healthy, eat well, sleep well. I’ve always lifted weights outside of BJJ, but nothing crazy in terms of volume. My question for you is, if this was happening to you, where would you start? What would you be looking at? I’ve considered seeing a functional medicine practitioner, as I’ve wondered if there are some bigger picture immune issues at play, and I appreciate any thoughts you have on this. I don’t want my BJJ career to be over so soon.”

Robb: Yeah. Gosh, where would we jump into this? Getting a functional medicine assessment wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, to see if there is something kind of off with HPTA axis, cortisol, which could be suppressing immune function… Definitely the hygiene of the gym that you’re in is a big factor. The places that we’ve gone to, they’re pretty on it. They spray the mats down in between classes, and they’re definitely on top of that. So, that maintenance is important. What is the name of the soap that Darien sells?

Nicki: Oh…

Robb: There’s, like, a-

Nicki: It’s Defense? Defense? Maybe?

Robb: Yeah, Defense Soap. Yeah.

Nicki: I’ll find it for sure and we can put a link in the show notes.

Robb: Yeah, but I think it has tea tree oil and some other antimicrobials, and a lot of people swear by that. This is also why, even though my jiu jitsu game, I’m not fabric-dependent, I’m not hanging onto the gi. I tend to wear a rash guard, and then a gi. I don’t usually wear sprats also, but you could do that. But, taking all that stuff, then you just have minimal surface area exposed.

Robb: So, yeah, I mean, the boxes to tick, see if there’s anything that could be obvious with regards to immune function and something being amiss there. Definitely lean on the facility owners to clean the mats thoroughly. I would recommend wearing a rash guard, possibly sprats and a gi-

Nicki: Wash the gi every single-

Robb: …and launder those aggressively each time.

Nicki: …yeah, every single time. If you get off the mat to go to the bathroom, put shoes on and walk.

Robb: Yeah.

Nicki: Everybody in the gym should be wearing shoes into the bathroom, on and off the mat.

Robb: Yeah, they should be bringing sandals to go in. It’s so gross when you see people sprint to the bathroom. The guy’s always in…

Nicki: Barefoot.

Robb: …barefoot, and then they come back on, and you’re like, “Listen, knucklehead…” But, those are the things. Anything else? Yeah, laundering the, your… whatever you wear thoroughly, and then the Defense Soap, maybe, post-training would be the things that I would look at.

Nicki: Can the sleep thing… I mean, if you’re super sleep-deprived and stuff-

Robb: Definitely, I mean, sleep-deprived. And, one other thought with this is, if you’re going really hard rolling, it’s like a CrossFit workout or something. People can turn these sessions into a near-death experience, which can kind of crush your immune response. And so, you may need to look at the intensity that you’re training, and it’s hard for people to do.

Robb: In the beginning, they just are battling for survival, and the only thing that you can rely on is strength and cardio and power output and everything, but that will knacker you, and it definitely impacts immune response. Yeah, it can kind of dig a hole. So, I would definitely consider, you know, how hard are you going and figure out ways of dialing that back. I would check out Henry Aiken’s Hidden Jiu Jitsu course. He has a specific module in his course when he had a gig in Bali, and he actually has a block of, like, fifteen videos that shows him rolling with the people that attended the event, and Henry just, he looks like he’s almost unconscious.

Robb: Now, granted, he’s got twenty-plus years of jiu jitsu experience, but even though I’m nowhere near where Henry is, my rolling looks way more like that than what you see in the competition videos, where people are super rigid and they’re just go-go-go… and, so, and that’s part of the reason why I’ve been able to train pretty consistently, and I try to figure out how my forty to sixty percent effort can continue to beat or make improvements on everybody else’s ninety-five percent effort. So, that would be another piece to look at.

Nicki: Okay. Let’s see, our last question today is from Alex, an adult on the autism spectrum: should I go keto?

Nicki: “Hi, Nicki and Robb. I��m twenty-nine and I was diagnosed as on the autism spectrum just two years ago. This would have been considered as Asperger’s in the past. I’ve been primarily Paleo, ice cream is really good-

Robb: (laughs)

Nicki: …for the better part of six years, but after running my DNA through FoundMyFitness, I’m wanting to address my dietary choices from a more personalized approach, including finding the most optimal choices to address some of the occasional stressors I feel associated with being on the Spectrum: anxiety, depression, and general cognitive and mood dysregulation.

Nicki: The most researched dietary intervention seems to be a gluten-free, dairy-free diet with a few studies looking into keto. However, each study I’ve seen is only looking at kids as the subjects, and typically with more severe symptoms than what I experience. Keto seems to be a promising approach, but is there any reason why this would be different for an adult?

Nicki: I tried keto for about a month a year ago, but immediately found my cognitive performance drop. While I know my macro amounts were appropriate, I used the Ketogains Calculator, I now know that I didn’t incorporate the electrolyte component. Could this account for my initial struggles with it, and is there anything else someone on the Spectrum should consider while attempting keto? Supplements, macro ratios, et cetera. I’ll include more details about me below, but thank you for your time in reading the question, and all of your work.”

Robb: And, details: age, height, weight, CrossFit-

Nicki: Mm-hmm (affirmative), sleep.

Robb: …decent sleep, and then he mentions some of his polymorphisms from the FoundMyFitness stuff. It’s interesting, there shouldn’t… if one is going to benefit from keto for a neurological situation. I don’t see that there would be any difference between kids and adults. It is, that said, it is interesting many children who go on a ketogenic diet for, say, epilepsy, they don’t need to stay on it for life. They’re able to get off of it at some point.

Nicki: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Robb: So, there is something that changes there. So, I don’t know if the flip side could apply, that maybe there was a window in childhood where this could have worked and now it’s not going to. That doesn’t really make sense to me, but it… yeah, I don’t know. But, definitely not everybody experiences cognitive improvement on a ketogenic diet. But, the lack of adequate electrolytes, in particular, sodium, is just jaw-dropping, make-or-break deal. So, if you were going to get back in and try this again, I would definitely check out LMNT, get, go… even if you just go to the drinkLMNT.com page, and then check out the How to Make Your Own Keto At Home Electrolyte Drink. One or the other, do that.

Nicki: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Robb: Start supplementing, if you do Kettle & Fire Bone Broth, put some salt in that, significant amount.

Nicki: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Robb: You really have to be on point with all that. You could also try using a little bit of MCTs or exogenous ketones in this scenario, because if we really are talking about a brain metabolism story, potentially some gut dysbiosis, those things may help in this whole process.

Robb: Additionally, on the supplements, a really rich form of DHA, EPA, DHA, but leaning heaving on the DHA, if you just eat a lot of fish. I’m wearing Wild Planet, these guys are amazing, getting fish from these guys or something similar. Sardines, mackerel, salmon-

Nicki: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Robb: …would be really beneficial, or you could supplement with a DHA-rich fish oil or krill oil formula.

Nicki: Okay.

Robb: Yeah.

Nicki: Thanks, Alex. Hubs, that was our five questions for this week.

Robb: Cool, cool. Somebody commented that they felt like we were rushed going through these, which I don’t know-

Nicki: Oh, I didn’t see that comment.

Robb: …that we’re rushed, but, yeah, it was a private message, compared to the Greg Everett days-

Nicki: Oh.

Robb: …where we would just wax on and on and on.

Nicki: You had no kids and no… (laughs)

Robb: We had no kids and, also… I try to be as thorough as I can, but also concise because people have a shortened attention span these days-

Nicki: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Robb: …and so, try not to wax on too long, but trying to strike a balance between being both thorough and concise.

Nicki: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Robb: So, there you have it.

Nicki: Yep.

Robb: Okay.

Nicki: Okay.

Robb: We’ll talk to y’all soon. Oh, thanks for the-

Nicki: No, no, no, no, no.

Robb: Oh, yeah.

Nicki: No, no, no, no, no, no. If you have questions, you can submit them, robbwolf.com contact page. What else?

Robb: Drink LMNT sponsored this podcast.

Nicki: Yep. Sponsored this LMNT

Robb: Drink Element, and even though we’re not-

Nicki: Coming into a summer, too, so, if you’re in a hot climate in particular, you’re going to want to be supplementing with electrolytes. If you’re active, and you were saying something-

Robb: And, love the Wild Planet guys. So, they’re a podcast sponsor this week, too. (laughs)

Nicki: (laughs)

Robb: They’re really amazing people. They… So, the back of this shirt says something like, “When you… would your tuna… How was your tuna caught? One line, one fish, one process.” They really are committed to sustainable fishing practices-

Nicki: Mm-hmm.

Robb: …and they’ve been beating this drum for a long time, so big shout out to the Wild Plant people. They’re wonderful folks doing some very cool work. In addition to the fish, they’re also doing some meat and chicken options-

Nicki: Oh, I didn’t know that.

Robb: …in like the vacu-seal packs and stuff like that, but they’re, like, organic and blessed by the Dalai Lama and all that stuff. But, really cool people, so, check out both of our sponsors, DrinkLMNT and also Wild Planet.

Nicki: Thanks, guys.

Robb: Take care. Buh-bye

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(Beep. Music fades in.)

You know, you shouldn't worry about it so much. Your office isn't as messy as you think it is. Sure, there's a lot of torn up journals and articles strewn about, but there's some pattern to that chaos. And while your bookshelf looks cluttered at first glance, the second glance is a lot more forgiving. It only looks messy because you keep shoving paper scraps into books while you read, but that doesn't look so bad.

Okay, it is a little unsightly, but it's also a necessity. Kind of. I mean, academics just have to be held to a different standard. You need to be able to have thoughts and then house them outside yourself where there is more space. Quickly. What did you call this habit twenty years ago… an advantage? A leg up for your career?

(Music cuts)

Okay, I've freaked you out now. Sorry, I didn't mean to do that, but I did need to get your attention. (Music fades in) I now have it. Not in a good way, but I can make do.

You see, I know you aren't the kind to believe in the supernatural. You started playing this podcast merely out of curiosity. Or that's what you thought it was. And you are curious about podcasting. You want to better understand this new “trend,” as you called it. Because, as you argued, it has a lot of potential and might be the root cause of the next big cultural shift That's what you said. You called it curiosity, but now you aren’t so sure.

Going back to that beginning, you felt something that you didn't have a word for. So you guessed, but now I have to tell you that you guessed wrong.  Really, you felt this sense of familiarity that drew in a restless soul. I would say that’s a calling. Many people would agree. What about you?

What do you think about this? About this thing and me and everything I'm saying.

(Music fades out and new music fades in)

That's a genuine question. Or several, more accurately Because I do. care about you and what you think. I don't mean to scare you, though I fully understand that is what I did. I didn’t want to scare you, but I had to be sure you are listening.

Take a deep breath. Check your pulse. And by the way you took your heart pills this morning. Give yourself credit. You're a lot better at remembering to take them than you think you are.

Then again, you do have valid reason to be afraid after his passing. Not only because of his passing but also because of the absurd scenarios your brain conjured up as a means of coping with the news. Because he couldn't have just died, right? It didn't matter how old he was. He was better than that. Not above that because that is biologically impossible. But you were both expecting his death to have more theatrics than it ended up having.

Your jokes aside, I can't imagine what you’re going through. I don't say that as a platitude. I genuinely mean it. And don't cite your age or other numbers as a way to dismiss this reality. You are in pain, and that is to be expected. I can't even imagine what it was like to have the love the two of you had.  Never mind what it was like to lose it… to live in its aftermath. No, I… I can’t imagine what it’s like to be you right now, and frankly, I’m not trying that hard.

He did love you, by the way. Don't let your hurt take that away. That's not your rational nature talking. It's your sadness trying to feed itself like a cancer, stripping away all that you are and have just for its own growth.

Sadness isn’t always cancer, and cancer is always fatal but (sigh) you are unlucky.

Those things it’s telling you are lies. He loved you. He loved you more than any man has loved his wife.

(Pause)

No, I don't think you're weak. I have no reason to think that. On the other hand, I do think you're human, and the emotions are a dead giveaway. Sorry. I shouldn't have said dead.

But my point is, you are human. Emotions are tied to humanity, and humanity isn't necessarily something to be condemned. After all, he was human. And a very good one at that.

(Music fades out and new music fades in)

At the risk of discrediting myself, I saw him in person. Didn't he frequent the coffee shops by your office building? I've been to the one on the corner several times, and well… he does… he did have a very distinct face.

He went there because he liked the noise, right? He even showed you a study that argued that coffee shop noise is beneficial to the creative process. That's what he told you, but really, he liked being around you. Even being that far away, on the absolute edge of your orbit meant something to him.

Admittedly, I didn't dream that. It came up in conversation once or twice. You know how he was… He'd talk to anyone who looked like they needed a few kind words, and I am perpetually exhausted. So obviously I was in his line of sight.

We all miss him. You know? It doesn't matter how long it has been or will be, I think he will always be missed. The whispers in the hallway that seem to follow you are lamentations of his passing. Not accusations not judgments. Nothing like that. No one is out to condemn you.

But maybe to you it's the all the same. After all, you are the type who wants to be alone with their pain. To what end is a different question. One that you do your best to avoid answering. You and a respectable chunk of the population. If you want my answer as an outsider who wasn't able to stay on the outside, I will say this much  It's one of those impulses that doesn't go anywhere. It probably used to protect our ancestors from a predator or two. Then our lives shifted but fragments of our past selves didn’t get the memot.

I think reminds you of another aspect of what it is to be human. The folly of man but not quite. That we design the world without even nodding to all those broken elements of our nature. We made the world without thinking of our quirks and bodies leaving traps and twists along the way. We created mazes, having forgotten that we ourselves can be reduced to lab rats in the right light.

Do you remember saying that to your husband? I know it was a long time ago, but bear with me. You were trying to explain this to him, and he went ahead and got distracted by the way your nose wrinkled when you said it. And you got annoyed because it was a serious matter and an important part of your next big project. The thing that was going to get you tenure.

But that was almost three decades ago. And a moment your husband swore he didn't remember.

Take a deep breath. Steady yourself on your desk if you need to. The oak can bear your weight even if it is imitation.

But don't turn me off just yet. I know you don't want my help. And I can respect that. But this isn't entirely about you. Lift your head. Your office door is open, right?  And you can see down the hall to where her cubicle is. The young girl, the child they hired a few months ago. (Pause.) She's not a child, though. She's a young lady. But you weren't so inclined to correct me, were you?

Because that description suits her somehow. It fits her better than her dress does today, doesn’t it?

You see, this isn't just about you. It's about her.

Are you listening

(Music fades out. Beep.)

Follow the rest of Client AH.67109′s journey with The Oracle of Dusk, in your podcast player of choice

[getlo]

So uhm...I wrote a thing...

“Loren, I decided I’m not coming to Chicago anymore HAHAHAHAHAHAH. Do you think I’m joking?! I’M JOKING!!!” He laughed and laughed, teasing me as he was boarding the plane. I told him it was obvious that he was joking because he couldn’t stop himself from laughing.

Have a safe flight, I told him.

I’ll see you soon.

Love you.

It was my birthday present. I had recently moved back to the States after living in South Korea for two years, and we had discussed seeing each other for my birthday. He wanted it to be the best birthday I had ever had, and I was excited to introduce him to everyone important to me. His plane had landed and minutes ticked by as people filed out from customs and immigration. Minutes turned into hours, and less and less people were waiting for loved ones. I started asking airport security about how to know if my person was still going through immigration.

Four hours later, he still hadn’t come through.

Four hours later, and finally another person on his flight told me that he was pulled aside for secondary screening. They had torn apart his stuff, were asking him very difficult questions, “but he’s back there,” they reassured me.

We had met how most people meet their best friends - on Tinder. Well...we didn’t really intend to become best friends, it just ended up that way. He probably won’t admit to this, but he was more of the pursuer than I was. I have to admit though, his persistence paid off and I eventually gave him the time of day.

Next thing I knew, I was flying to Japan to meet him. Since I lived in Seoul at the time, this wasn’t that big of a deal. We had a great time together, and I found myself sadder than I expected to go home, especially since we didn’t know when we would see each other again.

A few months passed and he came to stay with me in Korea for a little bit. We had a bit of a tough time of it, and looking back, I can fully admit that we had done some things backwards. Word of the wise - it’s probably not a good idea to have someone live with you when you’re still getting to know them. After a tumultuous month together, Yuhey left to go travel the world. Something that he had saved up for and something that attracted me to him. I loved the fact that he had been places I could only imagine of going to. He was frugal to a fault with his money, which allowed him to see the world.

First he went to Canada, then Hawaii, back to Canada, New York, and then finally Mexico. I remember him calling me when he first woke up in Canada. “What am I doing here, Loren?” he asked me. “I shouldn’t have left Korea.” I thought back to his last night in Korea and about how I told him that he didn’t have to leave if he didn’t want to. “Don’t tempt me” was his response.

During that time, we had a bit of a falling out. We didn’t speak for almost 2 months, and I resigned myself to not having him in my life anymore. I knew at that time he was seeing someone else and he didn’t really want to tell me about it. At first it didn’t bother me much, he would still call and text whenever something big was happening, when he needed emotional support. It eventually became too difficult for him to juggle, and I accepted that, and attempted to move on with my life. I stopped sleeping with his hoodie, I made new friends, started going out more. Then one day, he called me. It was Valentine’s Day.

To this day, he still denies saying this, brushing it off with a “must’ve been emotionally distressed,” but while we chatted and joked and caught up on that Valentine’s Day phone call, he ended our conversation with “I just couldn’t imagine going to sleep without saying Happy Valentine’s Day to the person I love most in this world.” I know what you’re thinking, and trust me, I am not a romantic either. From then on, we started our friendship back up, and it wasn’t always easy. Old wounds, old trauma dies very very hard, and as someone with anxiety, it is especially difficult to let go of those ruminating thoughts.

He had eventually broken up with the person he was seeing, and it was a bit of a difficult process. They had had a huge falling out, and she was very bitter. He would call me and ask about things, try to talk about them without giving all of the information, even though I already knew it. He called her a friend, referred to her as a man, so as to spare my feelings. Finally, when he knew that he wasn’t getting the full emotional support he needed, his brother talked some sense into him.

“Is Loren your friend, or is she your girlfriend? If she is just a friend, then you can tell her everything, and it wouldn’t matter,” his brother told him.

“Yes, but I’m afraid of losing her,” replied Yuhey.

“If she was just a friend, there wouldn’t be this chance of losing her. What is she to you?”

From that conversation, we had our own very difficult, relationship changing conversation. We were still friends at the end of it, but all of the crap was pulled out into the light. We decided that day that we should see each other for my birthday, I was coming back to the states anyway and he was still in Mexico. We wanted to spend all important days together from then on out, and that’s exactly what we intended to do, what could go wrong?

My mom’s best friend’s youngest daughter, who is more like a sister to me, and I sat in the airport waiting for over 4 hours. After repeatedly being told that they didn’t have any information about Yuhey by the officers in Customs and Immigration (even though I was his emergency contact), I accepted that nothing could be done at 4 in the morning, and took my friend home. She needed to sleep and it wasn’t her responsibility to wait with me. I returned roughly an hour and a half later.

The airport was busier than when I had left it, but still no one would answer my questions, no one would answer the phone. I finally stopped an immigration officer and asked him for some help. I was as polite as possible, especially since I was going on being awake for over 24 hours, explained the situation, and asked what I could do.

His response:

“Are you even sure your boyfriend got on that plane?”

It was like a slap in the face. Calling Yuhey my boyfriend was easy, our relationship was full of blurred lines and it confuses even my family, but to question his determination to get to me? Now that was uncalled for. I reassured the officer that he had in fact gotten on the plane, he had called me when he was boarding. The officer told me that there was nothing he could do to help me, nothing he could even tell me. The look in his eyes felt full of judgement, and I was more confused and frustrated than ever.

I called one of my cousins, one who had been like a best friend my whole life. I explained to her everything that was going on, frustrated and exhausted with the lack of information I was being given. She got off the phone with me, promised to call right back, and called immigration services. Where I was presented with endless voice recordings, she started pressing buttons until finally someone answered. While she posed as me, the person working at immigration told her that Yuhey had been denied entry and was being sent “back to where he came from.” No additional information. No why, no where. Sent back? To Mexico or Japan? Denied? He had never even had a single run-in with law enforcement.

Devastated, I left the airport, exhausted and confused. My cousin stayed on the phone with me until I got to my friend’s house. Yuhey was constantly on my mind. I needed to see him, talk to him, make sure he was okay. I knew what they were doing to him, I knew he was alone, and afraid. Yuhey had been a troublemaker growing up, dumb kid stuff, and he could be a difficult person at times, but his heart is often in the right place. He is the type of person who wouldn’t think twice about helping someone carry heavy luggage up a flight of stairs after countless people had already passed them by, who strikes up conversations with people even if he doesn’t speak their language very well. It broke my heart to know that he was alone during this time, unsure of what would happen to him.

Roughly 8 hours later, my phone started ringing. “Yuhey?! Are you okay?! Where are you?! What happened?!” I asked in panicked tones.

“Loren, I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry,” he replied. He felt as if he had ruined my birthday, I felt as if it was my fault this had all happened.

As the story began to unfold, I was to learn that he was denied entry because of old text messages they found in his cell phone. I couldn’t even believe that they would go through his cell phone. In the texts, he had discussed smoking marijuana with his ex-girlfriend. The texts were from months ago. He admitted to having smoked marijuana, his thinking was that if he was honest and told the officer what he wanted to hear, he would be let go, he would see me and everything would be alright.

But everything was not alright. They denied him entry and revoked his ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) waiver. He was confused, the interview took place in English, and while Yuhey surprises most people with his English skills, it is still not his native language. Yuhey had never been in trouble before, he didn’t know what they were going to do, he didn’t understand why they kept asking him the same question in different ways in an attempt to trip him up. The only problem was that there was nothing to trip him up on - he was being completely honest and compliant.

I read through the transcripts of the interview that he sent me. The officer left no stone unturned, asked about me, my family, where I lived, what I did for a living. They asked Yuhey about his finances, people he had spent time with, his purpose behind traveling.

“How have you been supporting yourself for 1 year on $7000?”

“I have been trying to save my money by not wasting it.”

“So you expect me to believe that you supported yourself for almost a whole year on $7000 traveling to several different countries. Is this correct?”

“Yes.”

All I could think was dear lord, if they spent 5 minutes with the man trying to find a decent restaurant, they would never question how he saves money. I can’t count the number of times Yuhey has pulled me from a restaurant after seeing the prices on the menu. It’s just a part of who he is, we always say that we balance each other out - he’s more cautious with his money and I am more generous.

Question 3 of the Eligibility section of the ESTA application states “Have you ever violated any law related to possessing, using, or distributing illegal drugs?” This is what they used against him to deny him entry based off of his old text messages. While yes, he did admit to it, the last time I checked America doesn’t prosecute people on past petty misdemeanors that wouldn’t even land them jail time. Not to mention the fact that at the time of filling out his ESTA application, he had not yet violated any crime. Yes, marijuana is a schedule 1 controlled substance which is federally illegal, but one wonders what would have happened if he had flown into a state where personal marijuana consumption is legal?  

“They treated me like a criminal Loren. I was so scared.”

My heart broke every time he said those words to me. I felt embarrassed to live in and be from a country where they do this to people just trying to visit. I flew down to Mexico City to figure out what had to be done next. We filed paperwork, applied for a DS-160 B2 Visitor’s Visa, called the Embassy a million times only to find people who were unwilling to help us. His application for a DS-160 Visa was denied at the interview based off of his ESTA revocation. I called lawyers, asked for legal advice, and all I could get was “apply again, bring a certified drug screening.”

So here we sit, and we wait for his next upcoming appointment. I think about all the songs I know that reference drug usage, see the pictures that people post online about how high they are. I truly wonder, can someone really be treated like this because of a few text messages discussing something that is getting legalized more and more with each passing day?

[aworldawordatatime]

Night Blindness

You could say that I don’t like to drive at night.

No, that’s not quite true, not quite strong enough.

I fucking hate night driving.

I know what you’re saying. Night blindness is a bitch and a half, especially when you’re driving down a two lane road and someone flashes their high beams at you coming the opposite way. But that isn’t exactly why I avoid driving after the sun sets.  

First, however, you might need a bit of background.

I wasn’t always this way. My eyes used to be better when I was younger. I mean, ironically, I was basically blind. Had a prescription worse than most old ladies.  Had to wear those lenses so thick that they constantly slipped down the bridge of my nose no matter what I did because they were so heavy. I’ve heard all of the insults.

Four-eyes is tame, by the way.

I was in college (and as sleep deprived and full of ramen as you are imagining the average college student to be) when a friend of a friend offered to get me in on this new and experimental eye treatment.  

“Completely non-surgical,” she said.

I told her that I was absolutely on board.

Before she brought this up, I may have ranted a bit about the cost and weight of my ridiculously heavy glasses. We were at a party and both of us were a bit tipsy, so my memory’s a bit fuzzy after that point, but after I finished hugging the toilet in my shared apartment for dear life, I found a dog-eared business card in my pocket, and I thought what the heck? So I called them and made an appointment.

The office building I’d been directed to by the friendly woman on the phone was nondescript in such an unremarkable way that now, looking back on it, I don’t remember there being any actual signs other than the number on the glass door leading out of it.   At the time I was somewhere between a righteous paranoia that I was going to be forced to pay for something, or that the treatment was going to turn out to be something like raw sewage billed as “healing water” or some hocus pocus bullshit.

So when the cheerful receptionist handed me a clipboard with paperwork to fill out and sign, I read through the entire thing like I was trying to decipher a secret code.  The thing was, I couldn’t find anything that said anything about paying for the treatment, nor did I find any references to “healing crystals” or “reiki solar plexus punches.”

“So...this is legit, right?” I asked the nurse as she walked me back to the exam room.

“Well, you are part of a trial, so we do have to get all of your vitals as well as an eye exam,” she explained. “But I’ll leave it to the doctor to explain the specifics of the treatment.”

And so, I went through a generalized physical of sorts, including a blood draw to check for various things.  Thankfully, I didn’t have to be fasting, so at least I didn’t have to come back later after agonizing about having to deal with my needle phobia (which is, by the way, severe and one of the main reasons why I had not considered laser eye surgery before).

The doctor turned out to be a middle-aged woman with dark brown hair drawn back in a ponytail. Her skin was slightly lighter brown than her hair, and her eyes were golden and bright as she smiled at me.  “I am so glad that you are willing to participate in our trial! We’ve been trying to get the word out for the past month but a lot of people seem to think that it’s a scam or some kind of trick.”

“Well,” I said, feeling somewhat chastened, “in my experience, when something seems too good to be true, that’s because it is.”

“This is usually true, but this is not too good to be true,” she replied, pulling out a sheet of paper.  “There are possible side-effects, obviously, and you’ll have to come in every week to be poked and prodded and interviewed on how the treatment works for you.  Due to the non-invasive nature of the procedure, it will take, on average, four to six months of treatment before changes become permanent, which is daunting for many.”

“As long as I don’t have to get a needle in my eye, I think I can manage,” I said, crossing my arms.

At that point, she went into the long list of possible side effects, but if we’re being honest, most of them seemed to be on par with the potential side effects from taking ibuprofen from time to time.

After an eye exam that confirmed that I have some of the worst eyesight without being quite considered legally blind, I was given a bright blue bottle of eyedrops and an instructional sheet on how and when to use them, as well as a small lined notebook where I was to record the date and time I administered a dose, as well as a place to record comments.

Now, I’ll be honest.  I missed a few doses and fudged the numbers a bit out of embarrassment. I was sleep deprived, taking a full load of classes and working a job and a half, so I didn’t always have the best decision-making skills.

But none of that seemed to matter. By the end of the first week, my eyesight had improved so much that wearing my old glasses gave me headaches, and a literal weight was lifted from my life.  I was pretty much religious about administering it at the same time every day.  Just two drops to each eye, blink and then dab around the eye to make sure the blue drops did not stain my skin. It stung a bit in my eyes, but no worse than the average redness relief eye drops. There was no scent, either.

Each week, I went in to report my results and get checked out by my doctor, whose name was Dr. Praesh.  Each time, she jotted down some notes, nodded approvingly, and gave me another bottle.

Three months into my treatment, something changed.

I was fixing dinner for myself when I saw a blurry form move in the corner of my eye. My first instinct was annoyance bordering on frustration.  I’d seen mice around the dumpsters in my apartment complex from time to time, but never in my living space.  Stupidly, I grabbed the first thing I could find (a spatula), and ran over to where I’d seen the thing disappear behind the couch.

With a roar that I am still embarrassed to admit actually came from my mouth, I pushed the couch aside, expecting something completely different than what I saw.  There, standing, with half of its mist-gray body sticking through one of the legs of the couch, was something I had never seen before.  My jaw dropped and the spatula fell to the floor as my arms went numb with shock.

A ghost.

A mouse ghost, to be exact.

The creature blinked its partially transparent beady eyes at me and then had the audacity to clean its whiskers. I stomped loudly on the ground and it started, darting through the far wall before I could do anything else.

It started happening more regularly, but I didn’t want to say anything at first.  I blamed it on my penchant for sleep deprivation, or maybe something I ate.  I didn’t want to consider the fact that I might slowly be going insane.  I even stopped the eye drops as a test to see if the visions would go away, but it did nothing to lessen the appearance of the shadows of the dead.

That’s the only term I can think of for it, but I’m sure that’s not right, either. There’s not a lot of science in classifying ghosts, especially when I’m the only one who seems to be able to see them.  They’re not like the sort of ghosts you imagine from movies or books.  They don’t attack anyone, and in fact often act as though they are going about their regular business without any mind to what is going on around them.   I’ve seen deliverymen step through the body of a sleeping cat’s ghost easy as you please.  The ghost didn’t even twitch its tail.  They generally appear in a fine, gray mist in the shape of what they were in life with a hint of skeletal features underneath if I look close enough, as though the mist is a thin membrane over their bones.

When I went to the clinic a few months later (after avoiding going due to paranoia as I tried to exhaust every other possibility), the number on the front was gone, leaving a dark outline in paint where it had been, and the office was locked and empty when I peered through the glass door.  All attempts to get ahold of the research group turned up nothing.  I did, however, receive a strange message on my phone from an unknown masked number. I didn’t pick it up because I generally assume they’re telemarketers, but the message was a full minute long, which is unusual for a telemarketer call.  It was someone speaking in a hushed voice, as though they were talking to someone else that I couldn’t hear and accidentally recorded the message.

This is a written transcript of that message:

“I know. I know. It’s not like we knew that was going to be the case.  It only happens in 20% of clients.  Of course I had them sign the wavers. They knew the risks!  Besides, most only have minor symptoms, and can’t interact with the spectors, or vice versa.  Oh, hello. Sorry about that. This is just a friendly message to let you know that you can discontinue the usage of your test product. All data has been received and the study is over. If you should experience any side effects, they should dissipate within the next few weeks.  We thank you for your time and your patience. Oh. Right. And, whatever you do, if you see them, don’t touch them. They will see you. And if you see them, it’s over.”

After listening to the message, I was vaguely creeped out, but then I reminded myself that it was also possible that I’d just been pranked or spammed or some other thing that my brain was having a hard time justifying with a rational explanation.

The good news is that it’s hard to see them in the day time.  There are fewer out and about as well— the sunlight seems to bother them.  They tend to congregate in the places where they died, so for many small creatures, that means the streets, especially country roads.  When it gets to be evening, I will see a glowing parade of animals walking in the road, though they tend to run out of the way when they hear a car, which is ironic considering that they likely died because they forgot to do so in life.

The bad news is that driving at night, especially in the freeways and cities, is a nightmare.  The small animals aren’t so bad, though there are many.  Phantom birds preen in the middle of a four lane highway. Skunks play with their ghostly babies on the side of a thoroughfare.  A large, rotund, and very transparent raccoon shakes its fist at me and runs off chittering silently into the bushes by the local levy. Most are far too small to pass through the bottom of my car.

The animals are what they are.  They keep to themselves in death as they would in life and I do not fear them. In a way, they’ve become endearing.

The problem are the others...the ones that loom tall and flare bright gray like matchsticks with a grinning skull at the head.  They wander en masse, across every road, and I must avert my eyes whenever I see a small one, because I know what that means.

At one time, they must have been human.  They must have had hopes, dreams, fears.  There are so many that roam the streets.  And every time my car passes through one and it, in turn, passes through me in some small way— a hand, a head, a torso— it is only a few moments later that I hear the telltale clicking sound as their heads turn, and they see me.  It is a game, then of keeping my head down, of not returning that gaze.  

They pour across the road in the darkness, and I must not look, must not engage.  

Must not think of the sensation of a cold hand touching the back of my neck.

When they follow me, their finger bones click, sending a telltale shiver down the back of my spine and into the primal part of my mind that makes my grasp on reality slip just a little.  But soon, they grow disinterested, and move on.

So, all in all, I’d rate this product a solid 8 out of 10. I don’t need prescription glasses anymore, and even my regular optometrist is impressed at how well I score on vision tests nowadays. But I did have to mark it down by 2 points due to the whole “seeing the wraith-like spirits that try to follow me and likely do something awful if I meet their eye sockets with my own” thing.

And I still fucking hate driving at night.

[apsbicepstraining]

CNN 10 – March 8, 2017

March 8, 2017

A proposal to overhaul the U.S. health systems and the reactions to it are our first topics today on CNN 10. Then, we’re taking you to the Southern Hemisphere for a look at how a shabby stadium is emblematic of one nation’s slump. How chip cards can be hacked and how a museum can serve as a gym are two other topics on today’s display .

TRANSCRIPT

CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hi. I’m Carl Azuz.

Leading off today’s news coverage on CNN 10, we’re explaining a project designed to overhaul the U.S. health systems. Republicans in the House of Representative have revealed their plan to cancellation and replace the Affordability Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Former President Barack Obama signed it into rule in 2010. It was examined his biggest domestic accomplishment. It’s too controversial. On the plus back, it facilitated 20 million Americans gained health insurance coverage, contributing to more people having it than ever before. On the minus side, it costs more than the government expected and several insurance companies that were originally carried it have removed Obamacare coverage .

Congressional Republicans have been trying to repeal the existing legislation for years. Now, with their party in charge of Congress and the White House, they’ve exhausted a overture “ve called the” American Healthcare Act. The bill would eliminate the Obamacare requirement that Americans either get health insurance or is a fine of at least several hundred dollars for not having it. It would maintain some of the favourite parts of Obamacare. It would get rid of the governmental forces payments that helped people buy health insurance and replace those with the tax recognition and it was ultimately restructure Medicaid, a federal and commonwealth platform that leaves insurance to low income Americans.

Just as Obamacare is controversial, the American Care Act is too. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan says Obamacare is collapsing and that the said law would reduce costs and commit every American access to good, affordable health insurance .

Independent Senator Bernie Sanders has said provided with access doesn’t aim people are able to afford it. Some Republican reviewers say the programme doesn’t go far enough to eliminate Obamacare, and Democrats and some health insurance experts say the changes could introduce tens of millions of Americans at risk for losing their health insurance coverage, though Republicans say those who are currently enrolled “wouldve been” grandfathered in so they don’t .

The Trump administration calls the plan a work in progress. The bill will be debated and revised in the days ahead, as its Republican supporters try to push it through the House and Senate and on to President Trump’s desk .

( BEGIN VIDEO CLIP )

AZUZ( voice-over ): Ten-second trivia :

What is most important country in the Southern Hemisphere ?

Is it Argentina, Australia, Brazil or China ?

With an area of more than 3.2 million square miles, Brazil is the largest country south of the equator .

( END VIDEO CLIP )

AZUZ: Large-hearted country, big problems. Brazil has been going through the worst recession in the nation’s record. One explanation of a recession is when a country’s gross domestic product reduces for two quarterss, two three-month periods in a row.

Brazil’s economy has been flinching for eight quarterss in a row. This January, the nation’s unemployment rates thumped 12.6 percent, nearly 13 million people are out of work, a massive government bribery scandal factored in.

There are signs things are getting better. Foreign investment is back. Brazil’s stock market is up. Analysts say the recession could point this year.

But its external debt and dilapidation of one Brazilian landmark holds as an example of many Brazilian strives .

( BEGIN VIDEOTAPE )

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT( voice-over ): A familiar fixture in Rio de Janeiro’s skyline, steeped in football history. Now, Maracana Stadium’s field returned brown with disuse. Windows have been crushed, televisions stolen. The accepts faded, with random openings where there should be accommodates .

( on camera ): Some tushes were taken out and put back in the wrong place, but even more staggering, about 7,000 sits were literally rent out and they haven’t genuinely put back. You can’t genuinely sell tickets here.

( voice-over ): When it was inaugurated in 1950, Maracana was the biggest stadium in the world .

The theatre of Brazil’s humiliating loss to Uruguay in the World Cup back then and of Pele’s 1,000 th purpose, Maracana became a national landmark.

It was virtually rebuilt for the 2014 World cup finals, a renovation that expenditure more than $500 million and catered a colorful backdrop to the contenders .

More redevelopments induced for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Summer Recreation. Six months later, that excitement a distant recall.

The fellowship that oversees Maracana says Olympic organizers left the stadium in a state of extreme dilapidation .

DAELCIO DE FREITAS, SPOKESMAN FOR MARACANA STADIUM( through translator ): After all the investments, it’s such a pity that this newly refurbished stadium wasn’t being maintained.”

DARLINGTON: They move us through the stadium to visualize the damage first handwriting.

( on camera ): Well, we now know at the least where some of those posteriors dissolved up .

( voice-over ): But the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee contends they offered to pay $130,000 for reparations when the handed the stadium back to the government of Rio de Janeiro — itself now completely broke .

Whoever is to blame, the sorry state of affairs raises questions about what kind of bequest the Olympic Games have left for Brazil .

Shasta Darlington, Rio de Janeiro .

( END VIDEOTAPE )

AZUZ: Microchip placards, charge card with tiny microchips have been increasingly used in the U.S. since 2015. The old-fashioned type of poster which utilized a magnetic strip was easier to hack and embezzle info from. The chip is supposed to cut down on credit card cases of fraud and it has to some extent.

But CNN’s Laurie Segall found out how it too can be hacked when she spoke with employees of a company that aims to protect people and organizations from digital misdemeanour .

( BEGIN VIDEOTAPE )

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN CORRESPONDENT( voice-over ): Chip placards, they take forever. On the bright side, they’re also more secure. They’re supposed to stop crooks from plagiarizing our info, but the very thing that attains them take longer are also welcome to stimulate them vulnerable .

On an old-fashioned charge card, the data that’s sent to the register is static. It never changes. On a chip placard the data is randomized, which entails it’s exclusively good for one busines. Normally, information that expires after exactly a instant “wouldve been” useless, but if intruders could plagiarize it and use it all before it switches again, they’re in business .

And brand-new experiment shows that might actually is the possibility as hackers can crack open a storage register and include something called a skimmer. Maybe they’re friends with the teller, maybe they own the supermarket themselves. Whatever the speciman, the hackers wait for you to insert your credit card, and then their hour embarks .

Here’s how it operates. During that hour, the hacked registry is plagiarizing all of your card’s information and wirelessly transmitting it to another design the hackers have set up elsewhere like a smartphone be prepared to make a mobile purchase, or in this case a hacked ATM that’s mystifying the data for your physical bank placard .

And —

( on camera ): First of all, wow. What did we just see? Can you illustrate what merely went down ?

TED BEARDSLEY, RAPID7, SENIOR SECURITY RESEARCH MANAGER: The data related to the card is get to submit to a design that’s inside this false front here, and then that is then in turn starting to punch in all the data, perforating in the PIN, wants to see you for $200, and thumping evacuation.

WESTON HECKER, RAPID 7, SENIOR SECURITY ENGINEER: There’s little basically robot mitts that is really putting the PIN multitudes in there .

SEGALL: You had to take over nearly two inventions to make this happen, right? So how likely is this to be widespread ?

BEARDSLEY: What we’re trying to do now is kind of contemplate these sorts of criticizes that we feel are going to be likely to happen once the U.S. moves over more completely to the chip and PIN standard. It’s not like criminal matters are going to throw up their hands and say, oh, you took away my magstripes, I’m out of the credit card fraud business .

So, I would expect to see some variation of this, maybe in two years hence. You know, you’re not going to see this today .

SEGALL: You have this skill that enables you to hacker an ATM and make money precisely kind of flow out .

Yet you want to use this knowledge for good. A lot of beings would want to take the money and move. So what is it about you that reaches you want to use this supremacy for good ?

HECKER: I like being ethical. Like, you know, like being able to go into society and, you know , not be scared that every knock on the door “re gonna be all” the police force in general .

BEARDSLEY: I adoration the internet and I am a big technophile. I want that stuff to keep working. And the only behavior that’s going to keep working is good guys are working at least at pace with the bad guys .

( END VIDEOTAPE )

AZUZ: On a day off, some tribes might go to a museum and then work out. Others might work out and then go to a museum. At New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, you can now do both at the same day — the museum exercising. It’s advertised as radical, the opportunity to connect with the art, while initiating person and thinker.

It’s too expensive. Seventy-five bucks for 45 instants, though, that does include a museum ticket. The morning exercising is sold out, which indicates that exhibiting fitness is a possibility merely a ticket.

Does it hoist working out to an skill figure? Maybe, if they’re plyomartrics, artrobics, powart lifting, museumba. Guess it depends on whether museum point to all of it .

I’m Carl Artzuz .

Click here to retrieves the printable form of today’s CNN 10 transcript .

CNN 10 serves a growing audience very interested in compact on-demand word broadcasts ideal for cause seekers on the go or in the classroom. The show’s priority is to identify legends of international significance and then clearly describe why they’re seeing information, who is affected, and how the events fit into a complex, international society .

Thank you for using CNN 10

The post CNN 10 – March 8, 2017 appeared first on apsbicepstraining.com.

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[athena29stone]

How to Make it to the End of the School Year

Episode 66 of the 10-Minute Teacher- An Audio Blog Post

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Today I share a post I wrote several years ago that tends to be shared like crazy this time of year. I hope it encourages you to finish well. Here’s the link to the original blog post: http://www.coolcatteacher.com/how-to-make-it-to-the-end-of-the-school-year/ if you want to read it instead of listening to it.

Listen now

Listen to iTunes

Stream by clicking here

Download the PDF Transcript

 Transcript of How to Make it to the End of the School Year

I’ve included the transcript here today since I’m the one who did the show. Just keeping it simple. The link for the transcript still points here!

Go to the original blog post here: http://www.coolcatteacher.com/how-to-make-it-to-the-end-of-the-school-year/

[Recording starts 0:00:00]

Hello remarkable teachers, I’ll let you know at the end of the show how you can get my list of my 200 plus favorite Ed tech tools and sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter.

 It is my home to shine a light of encouragement on you with the 10 Minute Teacher. And I just wanted to give a shout out to some of you who’ve really encouraged me lately. So I got the loveliest letter from Erika Lewis. And Erika, this message is for you.

                    Imagine you driving to your special needs school and having a more positive mindset as you listen to the 10 Minute Teacher. That sweet email you sent me really does make my day and I forwarded it to my husband, Kip, who’s the producer and it really excited us. I know that it may sound silly but I really do appreciate the reviews and the kind remarks.

                    Also, some of the latest reviewers on iTunes I wanted to give you guys a shout out because there were also just some lovely reviews that you gave me. [Mark Eican, Bridgette McCaw, Kimberly Onick, Nicky Lee and Jay Biseren.] And I hope I pronounced your names correctly. But I really do read all the reviews and I appreciate it so much. Now, I’ve added a new feature for you. I’m going to start letting you know the episode number at the beginning of the show. And a lot of you have been liking the transcripts but you want an easier way to find them. So this is episode 66; How to Make it To The End of The School Year.

                    And you have to give me about 10 hours to get the transcription all together because there’s a pretty quick lead time on that but you’ll be able to go to coolcatteacher.com/e66 for the full transcripts and a link to the show notes. And you’ll definitely want to check out those show notes because it has links to all kinds of things that we mentioned in the show. So I hope that is helpful for you. And now let’s get started with Episode 66; How to Make it To The End of The School Year.

The Ten-minute Teacher podcast with Vicki Davis. Every weekday you’ll learn powerful practical ways to be a more remarkable teacher today.

Vicki:           There’s a blog post I wrote three years ago that at the end of every school year it trends. So today, I’m going to turn this into a motivational Monday for all of you podcast listeners out there who may not have passed about the blog and seen this post. How to Make it To The End of The School Year.

Yesterday after school I earned my Dumpster Diver 101 Merit Badge. As a senior now, I went through the schools track looking for an unmarked photo CD that had been accidently tossed. They made out my sanity but they cannot doubt my love. After it was found I drove home quickly to take a hot bath. You know, I was reminded of a word I hadn’t used in ages, but we used it often in the 1980s, “grody.” I’m not even sure that’s a word. All the while, I started thinking about the crazy days these are. It is the end of the school year for us and you know April and May are just crazy. These are the days apt to be described by the first paragraph of a tale of two cities.

You know, right now I have three planning periods a week – not kidding. Plus Special Olympics Bocce Ball plus NHS blood drive, plus senior slide slow, plus graduation movie, plus bidding out pulling cable for the new building, plus the technology playing and budget for next year, plus tech support, plus my book launch for Reinventing Writing to coordinate, plus graduating me second child and getting her off to college – minus sanity. I say this because tens of thousands of you live this every day. This is your life too. You totally get this. You know, too bad nobody else does and don’t expect them to, either.

[00:04:00]

                    People pretty soon are you going to start casually saying, “Aren’t you glad things are winding down?” And you know they are among the clueless. There is nothing winding down about the end of the school year, it is more like a complete and total crash. You accelerate until you run into a brick wall and you hope your seat belt lets you get out of the thing intact so you can limp off into your summer.

The first week or so of my summer is usually spent sipping coffee, staring into space and reading books where stuff gets blown up. I am worthless because I am spent and every shred of everything I had to give is given. But as one teacher to another, you’re going to make this. If you’re a new teacher and you’ve never experienced this side of the “end of school” the jolting, nerve-wracking, exhausting, ridiculous side of “ending school” then it is okay. You will make it. it is one of the toughest most taxing things you’ll experience.

Then everyone in the world is jealous of teachers but they don’t understand that we’re hurting, exhausted and we’re often wounded by this time. You know, we don’t fault new moms for staying home six to eight weeks after having a child and not dads either anymore. They’re not getting time off and we aren’t either. When the summer starts, we’ve just come through something. To me, it’s as taxing and exhausting as childbirth. I may not feel as close to death as I did when I had my 10-pound baby girl who is now 6ft 1” and graduating. But in terms of wondering if you can do one more thing, it’s the same thing.

[00:06:00]  

                    So just know that you’re going to find yourself doing all kinds of things over the next six to eight weeks at the end of school. You may even find yourself in the dumpster or even worse the proverbial dumps. But hold on, you’re going to make it. Yell in the wind as it whips your hair flying by and enjoy it for what it is. Being noble, work hard, keep your commitment to excellence. It is never okay to go on auto-pilot. You know what, these kids can watch movies all summer, don’t give in the temptation to be sorry. You’ve still got things to do. Teach until the last day, find your beautiful moment every week.

You know what, teacher? You rock. And often, your nobility is observed and measured these last weeks when many of our peers slack off and head on to summer break early. Finish well. Do remarkable things. Be epic. Never settle. You know, we get one chance at this life and everything we do in the classroom is important especially how we start and we finish. Have fun with a purpose, be intentional about everything, Make memories. You know, these are hard times but they’re sweet times.

So as I emerged from playing in the trash yesterday, it was with a laugh and a high five and the joy at knowing that I showed love by my willingness to play in the trash. And that, my friends, is why you and I are here. The lessons we teach in our classrooms are important but the lessons we teach with our lives are never forgotten. And this is just another one of those lessons. The hope that if I share this little piece of myself and my own struggle that it will encourage you. We can do this, dear friends. I am so happy to be a teacher even if it’s hard.

[00:08:00]

                    So how do we make it to the end of the school year? Let’s pull each other forward, friends. We’re going to need each other in the coming days for we can’t expect the world out there to know what this is like but we should expect support, encouragement and a magnetic pull of excellence from our PLN and colleagues to finish this year in awesome ways. And remember this one essential point; the magic always happens outside your comfort zone. So of all the things you can do, don’t get comfortable. Get better and better and end in amazing ways.

You can either be memorable or you’re forgettable. And the same applies to what you teach. Live it. Be it. Be a noble. We’re in an important profession. Teach to the last day and let’s be remarkable.

Ending

Hello, remarkable teachers, I have a bi-weekly newsletter just for you. You’ll get lesson plans, ideas and lots of freebies I don’t share anywhere else. You can sign up by text message if you’re here in the United States by texting Coolcat to 444999 and you’ll be put on my email list. Now, if you’re not in the U.S. you can go to coolcatteacher.com/newsletter. Now, when you sign up, I have a super handout of my 200-plus favorite  Ed tech tools that you can download and start exploring.

  Thank you for listening to the Ten-minute Teacher Podcast. You can download the show notes and see the archive at coolcatteacher.com/podcast. Never stop learning.

  [End of Audio 0:09:59]

  [Transcription created by tranzify.com. Some additional editing has been done to add grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors. Every attempt has been made to correct spelling. For permissions, please email lisa@coolcatteacher.com]

  The post How to Make it to the End of the School Year appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

from Cool Cat Teacher BlogCool Cat Teacher Blog http://www.coolcatteacher.com/make-end-school-year/

[aira26soonas]

How to Make it to the End of the School Year

Episode 66 of the 10-Minute Teacher- An Audio Blog Post

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Today I share a post I wrote several years ago that tends to be shared like crazy this time of year. I hope it encourages you to finish well. Here’s the link to the original blog post: http://www.coolcatteacher.com/how-to-make-it-to-the-end-of-the-school-year/ if you want to read it instead of listening to it.

Listen now

Listen to iTunes

Stream by clicking here

Download the PDF Transcript

 Transcript of How to Make it to the End of the School Year

I’ve included the transcript here today since I’m the one who did the show. Just keeping it simple. The link for the transcript still points here!

Go to the original blog post here: http://www.coolcatteacher.com/how-to-make-it-to-the-end-of-the-school-year/

[Recording starts 0:00:00]

Hello remarkable teachers, I’ll let you know at the end of the show how you can get my list of my 200 plus favorite Ed tech tools and sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter.

 It is my home to shine a light of encouragement on you with the 10 Minute Teacher. And I just wanted to give a shout out to some of you who’ve really encouraged me lately. So I got the loveliest letter from Erika Lewis. And Erika, this message is for you.

                    Imagine you driving to your special needs school and having a more positive mindset as you listen to the 10 Minute Teacher. That sweet email you sent me really does make my day and I forwarded it to my husband, Kip, who’s the producer and it really excited us. I know that it may sound silly but I really do appreciate the reviews and the kind remarks.

                    Also, some of the latest reviewers on iTunes I wanted to give you guys a shout out because there were also just some lovely reviews that you gave me. [Mark Eican, Bridgette McCaw, Kimberly Onick, Nicky Lee and Jay Biseren.] And I hope I pronounced your names correctly. But I really do read all the reviews and I appreciate it so much. Now, I’ve added a new feature for you. I’m going to start letting you know the episode number at the beginning of the show. And a lot of you have been liking the transcripts but you want an easier way to find them. So this is episode 66; How to Make it To The End of The School Year.

                    And you have to give me about 10 hours to get the transcription all together because there’s a pretty quick lead time on that but you’ll be able to go to coolcatteacher.com/e66 for the full transcripts and a link to the show notes. And you’ll definitely want to check out those show notes because it has links to all kinds of things that we mentioned in the show. So I hope that is helpful for you. And now let’s get started with Episode 66; How to Make it To The End of The School Year.

The Ten-minute Teacher podcast with Vicki Davis. Every weekday you’ll learn powerful practical ways to be a more remarkable teacher today.

Vicki:           There’s a blog post I wrote three years ago that at the end of every school year it trends. So today, I’m going to turn this into a motivational Monday for all of you podcast listeners out there who may not have passed about the blog and seen this post. How to Make it To The End of The School Year.

Yesterday after school I earned my Dumpster Diver 101 Merit Badge. As a senior now, I went through the schools track looking for an unmarked photo CD that had been accidently tossed. They made out my sanity but they cannot doubt my love. After it was found I drove home quickly to take a hot bath. You know, I was reminded of a word I hadn’t used in ages, but we used it often in the 1980s, “grody.” I’m not even sure that’s a word. All the while, I started thinking about the crazy days these are. It is the end of the school year for us and you know April and May are just crazy. These are the days apt to be described by the first paragraph of a tale of two cities.

You know, right now I have three planning periods a week – not kidding. Plus Special Olympics Bocce Ball plus NHS blood drive, plus senior slide slow, plus graduation movie, plus bidding out pulling cable for the new building, plus the technology playing and budget for next year, plus tech support, plus my book launch for Reinventing Writing to coordinate, plus graduating me second child and getting her off to college – minus sanity. I say this because tens of thousands of you live this every day. This is your life too. You totally get this. You know, too bad nobody else does and don’t expect them to, either.

[00:04:00]

                    People pretty soon are you going to start casually saying, “Aren’t you glad things are winding down?” And you know they are among the clueless. There is nothing winding down about the end of the school year, it is more like a complete and total crash. You accelerate until you run into a brick wall and you hope your seat belt lets you get out of the thing intact so you can limp off into your summer.

The first week or so of my summer is usually spent sipping coffee, staring into space and reading books where stuff gets blown up. I am worthless because I am spent and every shred of everything I had to give is given. But as one teacher to another, you’re going to make this. If you’re a new teacher and you’ve never experienced this side of the “end of school” the jolting, nerve-wracking, exhausting, ridiculous side of “ending school” then it is okay. You will make it. it is one of the toughest most taxing things you’ll experience.

Then everyone in the world is jealous of teachers but they don’t understand that we’re hurting, exhausted and we’re often wounded by this time. You know, we don’t fault new moms for staying home six to eight weeks after having a child and not dads either anymore. They’re not getting time off and we aren’t either. When the summer starts, we’ve just come through something. To me, it’s as taxing and exhausting as childbirth. I may not feel as close to death as I did when I had my 10-pound baby girl who is now 6ft 1” and graduating. But in terms of wondering if you can do one more thing, it’s the same thing.

[00:06:00]  

                    So just know that you’re going to find yourself doing all kinds of things over the next six to eight weeks at the end of school. You may even find yourself in the dumpster or even worse the proverbial dumps. But hold on, you’re going to make it. Yell in the wind as it whips your hair flying by and enjoy it for what it is. Being noble, work hard, keep your commitment to excellence. It is never okay to go on auto-pilot. You know what, these kids can watch movies all summer, don’t give in the temptation to be sorry. You’ve still got things to do. Teach until the last day, find your beautiful moment every week.

You know what, teacher? You rock. And often, your nobility is observed and measured these last weeks when many of our peers slack off and head on to summer break early. Finish well. Do remarkable things. Be epic. Never settle. You know, we get one chance at this life and everything we do in the classroom is important especially how we start and we finish. Have fun with a purpose, be intentional about everything, Make memories. You know, these are hard times but they’re sweet times.

So as I emerged from playing in the trash yesterday, it was with a laugh and a high five and the joy at knowing that I showed love by my willingness to play in the trash. And that, my friends, is why you and I are here. The lessons we teach in our classrooms are important but the lessons we teach with our lives are never forgotten. And this is just another one of those lessons. The hope that if I share this little piece of myself and my own struggle that it will encourage you. We can do this, dear friends. I am so happy to be a teacher even if it’s hard.

[00:08:00]

                    So how do we make it to the end of the school year? Let’s pull each other forward, friends. We’re going to need each other in the coming days for we can’t expect the world out there to know what this is like but we should expect support, encouragement and a magnetic pull of excellence from our PLN and colleagues to finish this year in awesome ways. And remember this one essential point; the magic always happens outside your comfort zone. So of all the things you can do, don’t get comfortable. Get better and better and end in amazing ways.

You can either be memorable or you’re forgettable. And the same applies to what you teach. Live it. Be it. Be a noble. We’re in an important profession. Teach to the last day and let’s be remarkable.

Ending

Hello, remarkable teachers, I have a bi-weekly newsletter just for you. You’ll get lesson plans, ideas and lots of freebies I don’t share anywhere else. You can sign up by text message if you’re here in the United States by texting Coolcat to 444999 and you’ll be put on my email list. Now, if you’re not in the U.S. you can go to coolcatteacher.com/newsletter. Now, when you sign up, I have a super handout of my 200-plus favorite  Ed tech tools that you can download and start exploring.

  Thank you for listening to the Ten-minute Teacher Podcast. You can download the show notes and see the archive at coolcatteacher.com/podcast. Never stop learning.

  [End of Audio 0:09:59]

  [Transcription created by tranzify.com. Some additional editing has been done to add grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors. Every attempt has been made to correct spelling. For permissions, please email lisa@coolcatteacher.com]

  The post How to Make it to the End of the School Year appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

from Cool Cat Teacher BlogCool Cat Teacher Blog http://www.coolcatteacher.com/make-end-school-year/

[ralph31ortiz]

How to Make it to the End of the School Year

Episode 66 of the 10-Minute Teacher- An Audio Blog Post

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Today I share a post I wrote several years ago that tends to be shared like crazy this time of year. I hope it encourages you to finish well. Here’s the link to the original blog post: http://www.coolcatteacher.com/how-to-make-it-to-the-end-of-the-school-year/ if you want to read it instead of listening to it.

Listen now

Listen to iTunes

Stream by clicking here

Download the PDF Transcript

 Transcript of How to Make it to the End of the School Year

I’ve included the transcript here today since I’m the one who did the show. Just keeping it simple. The link for the transcript still points here!

Go to the original blog post here: http://www.coolcatteacher.com/how-to-make-it-to-the-end-of-the-school-year/

[Recording starts 0:00:00]

Hello remarkable teachers, I’ll let you know at the end of the show how you can get my list of my 200 plus favorite Ed tech tools and sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter.

 It is my home to shine a light of encouragement on you with the 10 Minute Teacher. And I just wanted to give a shout out to some of you who’ve really encouraged me lately. So I got the loveliest letter from Erika Lewis. And Erika, this message is for you.

                    Imagine you driving to your special needs school and having a more positive mindset as you listen to the 10 Minute Teacher. That sweet email you sent me really does make my day and I forwarded it to my husband, Kip, who’s the producer and it really excited us. I know that it may sound silly but I really do appreciate the reviews and the kind remarks.

                    Also, some of the latest reviewers on iTunes I wanted to give you guys a shout out because there were also just some lovely reviews that you gave me. [Mark Eican, Bridgette McCaw, Kimberly Onick, Nicky Lee and Jay Biseren.] And I hope I pronounced your names correctly. But I really do read all the reviews and I appreciate it so much. Now, I’ve added a new feature for you. I’m going to start letting you know the episode number at the beginning of the show. And a lot of you have been liking the transcripts but you want an easier way to find them. So this is episode 66; How to Make it To The End of The School Year.

                    And you have to give me about 10 hours to get the transcription all together because there’s a pretty quick lead time on that but you’ll be able to go to coolcatteacher.com/e66 for the full transcripts and a link to the show notes. And you’ll definitely want to check out those show notes because it has links to all kinds of things that we mentioned in the show. So I hope that is helpful for you. And now let’s get started with Episode 66; How to Make it To The End of The School Year.

The Ten-minute Teacher podcast with Vicki Davis. Every weekday you’ll learn powerful practical ways to be a more remarkable teacher today.

Vicki:           There’s a blog post I wrote three years ago that at the end of every school year it trends. So today, I’m going to turn this into a motivational Monday for all of you podcast listeners out there who may not have passed about the blog and seen this post. How to Make it To The End of The School Year.

Yesterday after school I earned my Dumpster Diver 101 Merit Badge. As a senior now, I went through the schools track looking for an unmarked photo CD that had been accidently tossed. They made out my sanity but they cannot doubt my love. After it was found I drove home quickly to take a hot bath. You know, I was reminded of a word I hadn’t used in ages, but we used it often in the 1980s, “grody.” I’m not even sure that’s a word. All the while, I started thinking about the crazy days these are. It is the end of the school year for us and you know April and May are just crazy. These are the days apt to be described by the first paragraph of a tale of two cities.

You know, right now I have three planning periods a week – not kidding. Plus Special Olympics Bocce Ball plus NHS blood drive, plus senior slide slow, plus graduation movie, plus bidding out pulling cable for the new building, plus the technology playing and budget for next year, plus tech support, plus my book launch for Reinventing Writing to coordinate, plus graduating me second child and getting her off to college – minus sanity. I say this because tens of thousands of you live this every day. This is your life too. You totally get this. You know, too bad nobody else does and don’t expect them to, either.

[00:04:00]

                    People pretty soon are you going to start casually saying, “Aren’t you glad things are winding down?” And you know they are among the clueless. There is nothing winding down about the end of the school year, it is more like a complete and total crash. You accelerate until you run into a brick wall and you hope your seat belt lets you get out of the thing intact so you can limp off into your summer.

The first week or so of my summer is usually spent sipping coffee, staring into space and reading books where stuff gets blown up. I am worthless because I am spent and every shred of everything I had to give is given. But as one teacher to another, you’re going to make this. If you’re a new teacher and you’ve never experienced this side of the “end of school” the jolting, nerve-wracking, exhausting, ridiculous side of “ending school” then it is okay. You will make it. it is one of the toughest most taxing things you’ll experience.

Then everyone in the world is jealous of teachers but they don’t understand that we’re hurting, exhausted and we’re often wounded by this time. You know, we don’t fault new moms for staying home six to eight weeks after having a child and not dads either anymore. They’re not getting time off and we aren’t either. When the summer starts, we’ve just come through something. To me, it’s as taxing and exhausting as childbirth. I may not feel as close to death as I did when I had my 10-pound baby girl who is now 6ft 1” and graduating. But in terms of wondering if you can do one more thing, it’s the same thing.

[00:06:00]  

                    So just know that you’re going to find yourself doing all kinds of things over the next six to eight weeks at the end of school. You may even find yourself in the dumpster or even worse the proverbial dumps. But hold on, you’re going to make it. Yell in the wind as it whips your hair flying by and enjoy it for what it is. Being noble, work hard, keep your commitment to excellence. It is never okay to go on auto-pilot. You know what, these kids can watch movies all summer, don’t give in the temptation to be sorry. You’ve still got things to do. Teach until the last day, find your beautiful moment every week.

You know what, teacher? You rock. And often, your nobility is observed and measured these last weeks when many of our peers slack off and head on to summer break early. Finish well. Do remarkable things. Be epic. Never settle. You know, we get one chance at this life and everything we do in the classroom is important especially how we start and we finish. Have fun with a purpose, be intentional about everything, Make memories. You know, these are hard times but they’re sweet times.

So as I emerged from playing in the trash yesterday, it was with a laugh and a high five and the joy at knowing that I showed love by my willingness to play in the trash. And that, my friends, is why you and I are here. The lessons we teach in our classrooms are important but the lessons we teach with our lives are never forgotten. And this is just another one of those lessons. The hope that if I share this little piece of myself and my own struggle that it will encourage you. We can do this, dear friends. I am so happy to be a teacher even if it’s hard.

[00:08:00]

                    So how do we make it to the end of the school year? Let’s pull each other forward, friends. We’re going to need each other in the coming days for we can’t expect the world out there to know what this is like but we should expect support, encouragement and a magnetic pull of excellence from our PLN and colleagues to finish this year in awesome ways. And remember this one essential point; the magic always happens outside your comfort zone. So of all the things you can do, don’t get comfortable. Get better and better and end in amazing ways.

You can either be memorable or you’re forgettable. And the same applies to what you teach. Live it. Be it. Be a noble. We’re in an important profession. Teach to the last day and let’s be remarkable.

Ending

Hello, remarkable teachers, I have a bi-weekly newsletter just for you. You’ll get lesson plans, ideas and lots of freebies I don’t share anywhere else. You can sign up by text message if you’re here in the United States by texting Coolcat to 444999 and you’ll be put on my email list. Now, if you’re not in the U.S. you can go to coolcatteacher.com/newsletter. Now, when you sign up, I have a super handout of my 200-plus favorite  Ed tech tools that you can download and start exploring.

  Thank you for listening to the Ten-minute Teacher Podcast. You can download the show notes and see the archive at coolcatteacher.com/podcast. Never stop learning.

  [End of Audio 0:09:59]

  [Transcription created by tranzify.com. Some additional editing has been done to add grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors. Every attempt has been made to correct spelling. For permissions, please email lisa@coolcatteacher.com]

  The post How to Make it to the End of the School Year appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

from Cool Cat Teacher BlogCool Cat Teacher Blog http://www.coolcatteacher.com/make-end-school-year/

[patriciaanderson357-blog]

How to Make it to the End of the School Year

Episode 66 of the 10-Minute Teacher- An Audio Blog Post

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Today I share a post I wrote several years ago that tends to be shared like crazy this time of year. I hope it encourages you to finish well. Here’s the link to the original blog post: http://www.coolcatteacher.com/how-to-make-it-to-the-end-of-the-school-year/ if you want to read it instead of listening to it.

Listen now

Listen to iTunes

Stream by clicking here

Download the PDF Transcript

 Transcript of How to Make it to the End of the School Year

I’ve included the transcript here today since I’m the one who did the show. Just keeping it simple. The link for the transcript still points here!

Go to the original blog post here: http://www.coolcatteacher.com/how-to-make-it-to-the-end-of-the-school-year/

[Recording starts 0:00:00]

Hello remarkable teachers, I’ll let you know at the end of the show how you can get my list of my 200 plus favorite Ed tech tools and sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter.

 It is my home to shine a light of encouragement on you with the 10 Minute Teacher. And I just wanted to give a shout out to some of you who’ve really encouraged me lately. So I got the loveliest letter from Erika Lewis. And Erika, this message is for you.

                    Imagine you driving to your special needs school and having a more positive mindset as you listen to the 10 Minute Teacher. That sweet email you sent me really does make my day and I forwarded it to my husband, Kip, who’s the producer and it really excited us. I know that it may sound silly but I really do appreciate the reviews and the kind remarks.

                    Also, some of the latest reviewers on iTunes I wanted to give you guys a shout out because there were also just some lovely reviews that you gave me. [Mark Eican, Bridgette McCaw, Kimberly Onick, Nicky Lee and Jay Biseren.] And I hope I pronounced your names correctly. But I really do read all the reviews and I appreciate it so much. Now, I’ve added a new feature for you. I’m going to start letting you know the episode number at the beginning of the show. And a lot of you have been liking the transcripts but you want an easier way to find them. So this is episode 66; How to Make it To The End of The School Year.

                    And you have to give me about 10 hours to get the transcription all together because there’s a pretty quick lead time on that but you’ll be able to go to coolcatteacher.com/e66 for the full transcripts and a link to the show notes. And you’ll definitely want to check out those show notes because it has links to all kinds of things that we mentioned in the show. So I hope that is helpful for you. And now let’s get started with Episode 66; How to Make it To The End of The School Year.

The Ten-minute Teacher podcast with Vicki Davis. Every weekday you’ll learn powerful practical ways to be a more remarkable teacher today.

Vicki:           There’s a blog post I wrote three years ago that at the end of every school year it trends. So today, I’m going to turn this into a motivational Monday for all of you podcast listeners out there who may not have passed about the blog and seen this post. How to Make it To The End of The School Year.

Yesterday after school I earned my Dumpster Diver 101 Merit Badge. As a senior now, I went through the schools track looking for an unmarked photo CD that had been accidently tossed. They made out my sanity but they cannot doubt my love. After it was found I drove home quickly to take a hot bath. You know, I was reminded of a word I hadn’t used in ages, but we used it often in the 1980s, “grody.” I’m not even sure that’s a word. All the while, I started thinking about the crazy days these are. It is the end of the school year for us and you know April and May are just crazy. These are the days apt to be described by the first paragraph of a tale of two cities.

You know, right now I have three planning periods a week – not kidding. Plus Special Olympics Bocce Ball plus NHS blood drive, plus senior slide slow, plus graduation movie, plus bidding out pulling cable for the new building, plus the technology playing and budget for next year, plus tech support, plus my book launch for Reinventing Writing to coordinate, plus graduating me second child and getting her off to college – minus sanity. I say this because tens of thousands of you live this every day. This is your life too. You totally get this. You know, too bad nobody else does and don’t expect them to, either.

[00:04:00]

                    People pretty soon are you going to start casually saying, “Aren’t you glad things are winding down?” And you know they are among the clueless. There is nothing winding down about the end of the school year, it is more like a complete and total crash. You accelerate until you run into a brick wall and you hope your seat belt lets you get out of the thing intact so you can limp off into your summer.

The first week or so of my summer is usually spent sipping coffee, staring into space and reading books where stuff gets blown up. I am worthless because I am spent and every shred of everything I had to give is given. But as one teacher to another, you’re going to make this. If you’re a new teacher and you’ve never experienced this side of the “end of school” the jolting, nerve-wracking, exhausting, ridiculous side of “ending school” then it is okay. You will make it. it is one of the toughest most taxing things you’ll experience.

Then everyone in the world is jealous of teachers but they don’t understand that we’re hurting, exhausted and we’re often wounded by this time. You know, we don’t fault new moms for staying home six to eight weeks after having a child and not dads either anymore. They’re not getting time off and we aren’t either. When the summer starts, we’ve just come through something. To me, it’s as taxing and exhausting as childbirth. I may not feel as close to death as I did when I had my 10-pound baby girl who is now 6ft 1” and graduating. But in terms of wondering if you can do one more thing, it’s the same thing.

[00:06:00]  

                    So just know that you’re going to find yourself doing all kinds of things over the next six to eight weeks at the end of school. You may even find yourself in the dumpster or even worse the proverbial dumps. But hold on, you’re going to make it. Yell in the wind as it whips your hair flying by and enjoy it for what it is. Being noble, work hard, keep your commitment to excellence. It is never okay to go on auto-pilot. You know what, these kids can watch movies all summer, don’t give in the temptation to be sorry. You’ve still got things to do. Teach until the last day, find your beautiful moment every week.

You know what, teacher? You rock. And often, your nobility is observed and measured these last weeks when many of our peers slack off and head on to summer break early. Finish well. Do remarkable things. Be epic. Never settle. You know, we get one chance at this life and everything we do in the classroom is important especially how we start and we finish. Have fun with a purpose, be intentional about everything, Make memories. You know, these are hard times but they’re sweet times.

So as I emerged from playing in the trash yesterday, it was with a laugh and a high five and the joy at knowing that I showed love by my willingness to play in the trash. And that, my friends, is why you and I are here. The lessons we teach in our classrooms are important but the lessons we teach with our lives are never forgotten. And this is just another one of those lessons. The hope that if I share this little piece of myself and my own struggle that it will encourage you. We can do this, dear friends. I am so happy to be a teacher even if it’s hard.

[00:08:00]

                    So how do we make it to the end of the school year? Let’s pull each other forward, friends. We’re going to need each other in the coming days for we can’t expect the world out there to know what this is like but we should expect support, encouragement and a magnetic pull of excellence from our PLN and colleagues to finish this year in awesome ways. And remember this one essential point; the magic always happens outside your comfort zone. So of all the things you can do, don’t get comfortable. Get better and better and end in amazing ways.

You can either be memorable or you’re forgettable. And the same applies to what you teach. Live it. Be it. Be a noble. We’re in an important profession. Teach to the last day and let’s be remarkable.

Ending

Hello, remarkable teachers, I have a bi-weekly newsletter just for you. You’ll get lesson plans, ideas and lots of freebies I don’t share anywhere else. You can sign up by text message if you’re here in the United States by texting Coolcat to 444999 and you’ll be put on my email list. Now, if you’re not in the U.S. you can go to coolcatteacher.com/newsletter. Now, when you sign up, I have a super handout of my 200-plus favorite  Ed tech tools that you can download and start exploring.

  Thank you for listening to the Ten-minute Teacher Podcast. You can download the show notes and see the archive at coolcatteacher.com/podcast. Never stop learning.

  [End of Audio 0:09:59]

  [Transcription created by tranzify.com. Some additional editing has been done to add grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors. Every attempt has been made to correct spelling. For permissions, please email lisa@coolcatteacher.com]

  The post How to Make it to the End of the School Year appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

[apsbicepstraining]

CNN 10 – March 8, 2017

March 8, 2017

A proposal to overhaul the U.S. health systems and the reactions to it are our first topics today on CNN 10. Then, we’re taking you to the Southern Hemisphere for a look at how a shabby stadium is emblematic of one nation’s slump. How chip cards can be hacked and how a museum can serve as a gym are two other topics on today’s display .

TRANSCRIPT

CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hi. I’m Carl Azuz.

Leading off today’s news coverage on CNN 10, we’re explaining a project designed to overhaul the U.S. health systems. Republicans in the House of Representative have revealed their plan to cancellation and replace the Affordability Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Former President Barack Obama signed it into rule in 2010. It was examined his biggest domestic accomplishment. It’s too controversial. On the plus back, it facilitated 20 million Americans gained health insurance coverage, contributing to more people having it than ever before. On the minus side, it costs more than the government expected and several insurance companies that were originally carried it have removed Obamacare coverage .

Congressional Republicans have been trying to repeal the existing legislation for years. Now, with their party in charge of Congress and the White House, they’ve exhausted a overture “ve called the” American Healthcare Act. The bill would eliminate the Obamacare requirement that Americans either get health insurance or is a fine of at least several hundred dollars for not having it. It would maintain some of the favourite parts of Obamacare. It would get rid of the governmental forces payments that helped people buy health insurance and replace those with the tax recognition and it was ultimately restructure Medicaid, a federal and commonwealth platform that leaves insurance to low income Americans.

Just as Obamacare is controversial, the American Care Act is too. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan says Obamacare is collapsing and that the said law would reduce costs and commit every American access to good, affordable health insurance .

Independent Senator Bernie Sanders has said provided with access doesn’t aim people are able to afford it. Some Republican reviewers say the programme doesn’t go far enough to eliminate Obamacare, and Democrats and some health insurance experts say the changes could introduce tens of millions of Americans at risk for losing their health insurance coverage, though Republicans say those who are currently enrolled “wouldve been” grandfathered in so they don’t .

The Trump administration calls the plan a work in progress. The bill will be debated and revised in the days ahead, as its Republican supporters try to push it through the House and Senate and on to President Trump’s desk .

( BEGIN VIDEO CLIP )

AZUZ( voice-over ): Ten-second trivia :

What is most important country in the Southern Hemisphere ?

Is it Argentina, Australia, Brazil or China ?

With an area of more than 3.2 million square miles, Brazil is the largest country south of the equator .

( END VIDEO CLIP )

AZUZ: Large-hearted country, big problems. Brazil has been going through the worst recession in the nation’s record. One explanation of a recession is when a country’s gross domestic product reduces for two quarterss, two three-month periods in a row.

Brazil’s economy has been flinching for eight quarterss in a row. This January, the nation’s unemployment rates thumped 12.6 percent, nearly 13 million people are out of work, a massive government bribery scandal factored in.

There are signs things are getting better. Foreign investment is back. Brazil’s stock market is up. Analysts say the recession could point this year.

But its external debt and dilapidation of one Brazilian landmark holds as an example of many Brazilian strives .

( BEGIN VIDEOTAPE )

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT( voice-over ): A familiar fixture in Rio de Janeiro’s skyline, steeped in football history. Now, Maracana Stadium’s field returned brown with disuse. Windows have been crushed, televisions stolen. The accepts faded, with random openings where there should be accommodates .

( on camera ): Some tushes were taken out and put back in the wrong place, but even more staggering, about 7,000 sits were literally rent out and they haven’t genuinely put back. You can’t genuinely sell tickets here.

( voice-over ): When it was inaugurated in 1950, Maracana was the biggest stadium in the world .

The theatre of Brazil’s humiliating loss to Uruguay in the World Cup back then and of Pele’s 1,000 th purpose, Maracana became a national landmark.

It was virtually rebuilt for the 2014 World cup finals, a renovation that expenditure more than $500 million and catered a colorful backdrop to the contenders .

More redevelopments induced for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Summer Recreation. Six months later, that excitement a distant recall.

The fellowship that oversees Maracana says Olympic organizers left the stadium in a state of extreme dilapidation .

DAELCIO DE FREITAS, SPOKESMAN FOR MARACANA STADIUM( through translator ): After all the investments, it’s such a pity that this newly refurbished stadium wasn’t being maintained.”

DARLINGTON: They move us through the stadium to visualize the damage first handwriting.

( on camera ): Well, we now know at the least where some of those posteriors dissolved up .

( voice-over ): But the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee contends they offered to pay $130,000 for reparations when the handed the stadium back to the government of Rio de Janeiro — itself now completely broke .

Whoever is to blame, the sorry state of affairs raises questions about what kind of bequest the Olympic Games have left for Brazil .

Shasta Darlington, Rio de Janeiro .

( END VIDEOTAPE )

AZUZ: Microchip placards, charge card with tiny microchips have been increasingly used in the U.S. since 2015. The old-fashioned type of poster which utilized a magnetic strip was easier to hack and embezzle info from. The chip is supposed to cut down on credit card cases of fraud and it has to some extent.

But CNN’s Laurie Segall found out how it too can be hacked when she spoke with employees of a company that aims to protect people and organizations from digital misdemeanour .

( BEGIN VIDEOTAPE )

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN CORRESPONDENT( voice-over ): Chip placards, they take forever. On the bright side, they’re also more secure. They’re supposed to stop crooks from plagiarizing our info, but the very thing that attains them take longer are also welcome to stimulate them vulnerable .

On an old-fashioned charge card, the data that’s sent to the register is static. It never changes. On a chip placard the data is randomized, which entails it’s exclusively good for one busines. Normally, information that expires after exactly a instant “wouldve been” useless, but if intruders could plagiarize it and use it all before it switches again, they’re in business .

And brand-new experiment shows that might actually is the possibility as hackers can crack open a storage register and include something called a skimmer. Maybe they’re friends with the teller, maybe they own the supermarket themselves. Whatever the speciman, the hackers wait for you to insert your credit card, and then their hour embarks .

Here’s how it operates. During that hour, the hacked registry is plagiarizing all of your card’s information and wirelessly transmitting it to another design the hackers have set up elsewhere like a smartphone be prepared to make a mobile purchase, or in this case a hacked ATM that’s mystifying the data for your physical bank placard .

And —

( on camera ): First of all, wow. What did we just see? Can you illustrate what merely went down ?

TED BEARDSLEY, RAPID7, SENIOR SECURITY RESEARCH MANAGER: The data related to the card is get to submit to a design that’s inside this false front here, and then that is then in turn starting to punch in all the data, perforating in the PIN, wants to see you for $200, and thumping evacuation.

WESTON HECKER, RAPID 7, SENIOR SECURITY ENGINEER: There’s little basically robot mitts that is really putting the PIN multitudes in there .

SEGALL: You had to take over nearly two inventions to make this happen, right? So how likely is this to be widespread ?

BEARDSLEY: What we’re trying to do now is kind of contemplate these sorts of criticizes that we feel are going to be likely to happen once the U.S. moves over more completely to the chip and PIN standard. It’s not like criminal matters are going to throw up their hands and say, oh, you took away my magstripes, I’m out of the credit card fraud business .

So, I would expect to see some variation of this, maybe in two years hence. You know, you’re not going to see this today .

SEGALL: You have this skill that enables you to hacker an ATM and make money precisely kind of flow out .

Yet you want to use this knowledge for good. A lot of beings would want to take the money and move. So what is it about you that reaches you want to use this supremacy for good ?

HECKER: I like being ethical. Like, you know, like being able to go into society and, you know , not be scared that every knock on the door “re gonna be all” the police force in general .

BEARDSLEY: I adoration the internet and I am a big technophile. I want that stuff to keep working. And the only behavior that’s going to keep working is good guys are working at least at pace with the bad guys .

( END VIDEOTAPE )

AZUZ: On a day off, some tribes might go to a museum and then work out. Others might work out and then go to a museum. At New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, you can now do both at the same day — the museum exercising. It’s advertised as radical, the opportunity to connect with the art, while initiating person and thinker.

It’s too expensive. Seventy-five bucks for 45 instants, though, that does include a museum ticket. The morning exercising is sold out, which indicates that exhibiting fitness is a possibility merely a ticket.

Does it hoist working out to an skill figure? Maybe, if they’re plyomartrics, artrobics, powart lifting, museumba. Guess it depends on whether museum point to all of it .

I’m Carl Artzuz .

Click here to retrieves the printable form of today’s CNN 10 transcript .

CNN 10 serves a growing audience very interested in compact on-demand word broadcasts ideal for cause seekers on the go or in the classroom. The show’s priority is to identify legends of international significance and then clearly describe why they’re seeing information, who is affected, and how the events fit into a complex, international society .

Thank you for using CNN 10

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