#which is a whopping €1600.

[erotomanicpixiedreamgirl]

spent my money on booking a hotel and buying new reebok shoes bc they had a sale. not giving them anymore fucking money i just gave them a total of €1000 within two months

just got ANOTHER letter demanding €400 from TK oh my fucking godddd

[sleeplesssmoll]

Reverse 1999: Vertin Character Analysis and Theory

Vertin and the “Hidden Desire”

I'll be exploring the Gluttony Amplification Material and how it potentially relates to Vertin. Unlike the Psychubes, Gluttony is not a conclusion built upon Vertin’s thoughts and reflection. Instead, Gluttony is “a desire hidden in the depths”. I examined this under a mostly biblical lens because Reverse1999 loves to use Biblical references. Word Count 1600+

Relevant Background Information

Psychubes are an element of an arcanist's thoughts. They provide buffs/abilities. The more you ponder, the more you gain (in game description). Vertin can reflect and meditate in a process called pneuma analysis (resource stage) twice a day, where she acquires lesser Psychubes, Thought Elements, and Thoughts in Entirety. 

Thought Elements: an element of an arcanist’s thoughts. There are so many ways to organize the mess: the furnace that burns and the blade that cuts…but I wish to keep it the way it is.

Thoughts in Entirety: an arcanist’s complete thoughts. As the disorganized has been organized, the darkened vision lightens, ideas are finally taking shape in my mind.

These are the building blocks for greater ideas, which would be higher level Psychubes. On the Psychube page in the Atlas, you will also see the phrase word anamnesis. 

In Platonic philosophy, anamnesis is a process of rediscovering knowledge that the soul already possesses but has forgotten. Plato stated the soul has pre-existing knowledge that is brought back to consciousness through the process of questioning and recollection. However, in Christian and Catholic contexts, anamnesis is recollecting the “Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus”. In other words, remembering Jesus’s sacrifice and honoring his memory (this is an oversimplification for the sake of brevity). In general, we can think of anamnesis as a profound reflection or recalling of events.

To summarize, the Psychubes interlap with Vertin's emotional state and have been cultivated by her experiences. She reflects, recollects, and creates stronger “impressions” (from the Psychubes). The definition for impression: an idea, feeling, or opinion about something or someone, especially one formed without conscious thought or on the basis of little evidence. These are all emotion/intuition based. Very fitting for an arcanist.

From a lore perspective, the Psychube Shop is a representation of Vertin’s mind as she turns her thoughts into Psychubes. The different prices represent the time and introspection needed to gather Vertin’s thoughts. She needs more complete thoughts (Thoughts in Entirety) in order to afford the stronger Psychubes, which means spending more time doing pneuma analysis (farming the stage). The lesser ideas are also the foundation of strong ones. In the game this is represented by engraving a Psychube to make it stronger. (Note: This is how I connected the game mechanics to the lore, but I'm open to other interpretations!)

Gluttony is not a Psychube and isn't listed in the Atlas. However, it consumes the most Thoughts in Entirety. The strongest Psychubes are worth 210, but Gluttony is a whopping 300. The Snake symbolizes “desire hidden in the depths.” It gorges on Vertin’s thoughts if she indulges it instead of a Psychube. However, if she allows Gluttony to devour her thoughts, she can amplify an existing Psychube. This could be interpreted as gaining a deeper understanding, but to get there she needs to get obsessed/fixated/focused. This is reflected in the large amount of thoughts she needs to invest in Gluttony before she can amplify her chosen Psychube.

But what exactly is Gluttony and why is it slithering around in Vertin’s soul? 

The Serpent and the Sin

Gluttony is represented by a snake, which we can also refer to as a serpent.

In the Bible, snakes are often associated with deception and temptation. The serpent in the Garden of Eden is commonly interpreted as a symbol of Satan tempting Eve to disobey God. Snakes also represent danger and evil.

In the biblical story of the Garden of Eden, the serpent tempts Eve to eat the forbidden fruit (Apple) from the Tree of Knowledge. The serpent challenges God's command, suggesting that eating the fruit will not lead to death but rather make Eve and Adam godlike, “knowing good and evil”. The serpent manipulates Eve, creating doubt about God's intentions and enticing her with the idea of gaining knowledge and wisdom. Eve eventually succumbs to the temptation, eats the forbidden fruit, and shares it with Adam. Their disobedience led to their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. The story is a lesson on disobedience and its consequences. The snake was also cursed by God to crawl on its belly and eat dust.

While snakes aren't evil in every context, keep this story in mind.

With the Snake symbolism established, we can look at the Sin.

The Seven Deadly Sins are Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride.

Going a step further, Lust, Gluttony, and Greed share a theme: excessive desire. People carrying these sins are deemed insatiable. 

Gluttony refers to excessive indulgence in food or drink. It involves overconsumption beyond what is necessary, often driven by an unrestrained appetite or desire for pleasure. It’s a sinful behavior due to its focus on self-indulgence and lack of moderation.

However, we haven’t seen any behavior to connect Vertin with Gluttony. In fact, she displays the exact opposite and reflects Gluttony’s counterpart: Temperance. Temperance is one of the Seven Virtues (opposite of Seven Sins). According to Wikipedia Temperance is the practice of moderation and voluntary self-restraint. It involves refraining from vengeful actions through mercy and forgiveness, avoiding arrogance through humility, and curbing excesses like luxury, overindulgence in food and drink, as well as managing rage through calmness. This is Vertin’s whole persona as the stoic Timekeeper. She asks for nothing, but is always ready to give. During Green Lake, we see her explicitly say things like she doesn’t have wishes because she already has everything she needs but she goes out of her way to fulfill other people’s desires.

So Why a Snake? Why use the term Gluttony? 

In Vertin’s case, I’d say a “hunger for knowledge” suits her. She wanted to know the outside world to the extent of letting herself get hurt in (electric fence and punishments from teachers) in the process. She craved more while everyone else obeyed the Foundation and stayed in their lane. Smoltin could never be satisfied within the Foundation’s walls.

While it’s true she had an insatiable curiosity, she is not Eve in this story.

She was the Serpent.

During the break away event, Vertin enticed the other children to disobey. She tempted them, just like the snake who tempted Eve. She challenged everything they knew the way the Snake planted doubts about God. The other children were swayed by her which ended up getting them Reversed. Now she is the Timekeeper, doomed to helplessly watch history repeat as she loses friends and allies. The snake was cursed to crawl on its belly, and she was cursed to brave the Storm as Eras end.

Maturity and trauma go hand in hand since children who experience trauma are forced to grow up faster than others. Vertin wanted “too much”, and look at where it got her. She has her own goals and desires of course, but Vertin doesn’t ask for much compared to her crew. Vertin is also a victim of other people’s greed like Constantine, and as of recently, Arcana. What if she’s afraid she’ll become like the people who hurt her and her friends? Who continue to hurt her physically and emotionally?

Gluttony could be what Vertin perceives as her sin. She could have a skewed perception of herself. She wants things like everyone else, but wanting things is “wrong.”  Wanting too much will make her hurt people. This is why Gluttony is part of her psyche along with the psychubes she manifests. It’s not a conclusion or idea she needs to come to because it's already coiled up in her mind. It lives there. To clarify Vertin has desires but chooses not to act on them. Its similar to not being able to control your emotions, but you can manage how they manifest to some degree.

The repression is intense.

“The snake is hissing to find its way. It is now clear where to go and what to bite. It opens its mouth, it protrudes its fangs, it sinks them into the prey.”

Fun fact, snakes are predators that can unhinge their jaws to eat their prey whole after they subdued them. It fits right into the concept of Gluttony. Idk how you want to interpret this but to me it shows someone who knows what they want, knows how to get what they want, and has the means to claim it without hesitance. Yet, Vertin doesn't indulge this part of her (Unlike Constantine and Arcana). What do you think? There are so many ways to interpret this!

TL;DR: Psychubes are linked to Vertin's emotions and experiences, cultivated through reflection and meditation in a process called pneuma analysis. Anamnesis, mentioned in the game's Atlas, connects to Platonic philosophy and Christian contexts, representing a profound recollection of events. Gluttony, symbolized by a snake, consumes Thoughts in Entirety, reflecting excessive desire and temptation akin to the biblical story of the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Despite Vertin's displayed Temperance, Gluttony resides in her heart. Her trauma represses many of her “hidden desires”.  The symbolism of Gluttony, both in the lore and game mechanics, adds depth to Vertin's character.

Disclaimer: there is also a serpent on the Insight Material “Fruit of Good and Evil” but that will be a discussion for another time because we’re focusing on Gluttony.

More Psychube Stuff:

[art-of-tek]

MarInk Day 11: Wander

This isn't actually fanart of any media or an OC, but rather a drawing of a real animal! This is OR-7, also nicknamed "Journey". He is a real wolf walked a whopping 1600 kilometres, and he was also the first wolf in a long time to return to both California and western Oregon. You can read more about him here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OR-7

I didn't just choose OR-7 for today's prompt because he "wandered" a lot, though. A children's book based on OR-7's journey was actually written a few years ago, called "A Wolf Called Wander". In this book they named OR-7 "Wander" rather than Journey or his designation, which is why I chose him from this prompt. The word Wander is intrinsically connected to OR-7 to me.

The head came out a little too big but eh what can you do.

[rabbitcruiser]

National Windmill Day

Drive out to windmill country, or read up about the history of windmills and how they can provide clean, sustainable energy by harnessing Earth’s natural power.

Most people love them because there’s something absolutely bucolic about their squat structures and the gentle creak of their fins as these wooden structures spin in the natural wind currents. Of course, that describes the old fashioned kind of windmill. The newer, modern versions take on some different characteristics, of course.

Windmills have been around for a very long time, since the time when people first realized it was possible to harness the power of the wind to perform work and provide energy. Ever since new innovations have been made with the ability to utilize the never-ending source of power that windmills capture.

National Windmill Day commemorates the origins of the windmill as well as how it has helped to shape technology and industry from the past and into the future. It’s time to learn about and celebrate National Windmill Day!

History of National Windmill Day

The idea of capturing the power of the wind to perform work isn’t new and, in fact, it goes back far further into history than most people would suspect. Since then, its use has sprung up in multiple cultures throughout the world.

Heron of Alexandria, who lived in the first century AD, was the earliest person known to have harnessed the energy of moving air to perform work, using a very primitive device to power, of all things, a musical instrument: the organ. The people of Persia also developed more traditional windmills, though they had a different orientation than the ones most people typically think of when hearing the word ‘windmill’.

Some historians think that the Persian models were the inspiration for the vertical models that were developed later on in the middle ages. The evidence of one of the oldest windmills that remains today can be found in Weedley, Yorkshire, England and is said to have been built in 1185. As is commonly depicted in media, these machines were used primarily to grind grain, and have been for many centuries since that time.

Recently though, at least in the last 150 years or so, there’s been a growing movement to use windmills in another fashion entirely. The power of the wind can be harnessed to turn giant wind turbines which in turn generate clean, and virtually unlimited, renewable energy.

Windmills have been around for a long long time, and while they may seem like primitive tech, they’ve moved into the world as hope for a clean future. Along with solar, bio-fuel, and fuel cells, windmills are working to save the environment.

National Windmill Day Timeline

644 AD First reference to windmills

Beginning as horizontal mills with woven reed blades that radiate from a vertical axis, these first windmills are built in Persia.

11th Century AD Windmills are used for food production

In the Middle East, windmills are used to help produce food and the ideas are then taken to Europe by merchants and crusaders.

1300s Windmills are used to drain water

The Dutch people of the Netherlands realize that the water from their low-lying areas can be drained using windmills.

1600s Windmills are introduced to the New World

When the Dutch colonize New Amsterdam (now called New York City), they bring their windmill designs with them

1887 First large scale power generating wind turbine

Charles F. Brush builds a huge 60-foot windmill with a whopping 144 blades in Cleveland, Ohio.

How to Celebrate National Windmill Day

Learn More About Windmills

Well perhaps to first thing to do is start by reading up on the topic of windmills. One of the best things that can be done to celebrate the day is to get more educated on the history of windmills, to begin learning how they’re helping us today, and even to share that information with others. As one of the fastest growing sources of energy in the world, it’s worth learning more about!

Here are some interesting facts about windmills:

The first modern version of the wind turbine was built in Vermont, USA in the 1940s. Its success was not long lived due to war shortages and the next time a windmill would rival it in size would be in 1979.

Hawaii, USA hosts the world’s largest wind turbine, which is the height of a 20 story building and its blades are the length of a football field.

Offshore wind is particularly effective. In Europe, one offshore wind turbine (located in the water) can power more than 1500 homes.

Read Don Quixote

Famous (or perhaps, infamous) for his mistake in thinking that windmills are giant monsters, Don Quixote bravely rides toward them to do battle and, of course, eventually gets knocked off his horse. This is just one of the many beloved and memorable scenes in this classic novel by Spanish author, Miquel de Cervantes, published in 1606.

Visit Holland for National Windmill Day

While not necessarily the first place to house windmills, Holland (now known as The Netherlands) has a long history with them as they were the first place to use them to move water from low lying lands. In fact, the second Saturday and Sunday in May (because one day just isn’t enough!) are celebrated in Holland as “National Mill Day”, which is called Molendag in Dutch. This is a day when 950 windmills and watermills will open their doors to the public for visitors to see their inner workings first hand and learn more about them. Plus, many of them will also host fun events for the local community and tourists alike.

Whether in Amsterdam or throughout the rest of this country filled with canals and waterways, the windmills are stunning. It’s even possible to go on a bike tour of the mills to visit some of the most beautiful, iconic and picturesque mills in the world!

Those who find other countries in Europe to be more accessible can celebrate National Windmill Day in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland and other countries, where it is often referred to as National Mills Day.

Watch Some Windmills

For those who happen to live in an area that has a single windmill or a whole windmill farm, it might be fun and interesting to go out and watch them turn, turn, turn… (Are we the only one hearing that song now?) More and more communities are dotting them about the landscape as a sustainable source of power. As you gaze upon and contemplate just how important these are to a bright, pollution-free future for our children, enjoy watching their soothing motion and consider their history too.

National Windmill Day FAQs

How do windmills work?

Wind turbines use their large blades to collect kinetic energy as the wind flows over the blades to create “lift”.

Do windmills make noise?

Windmills do emit a characteristic noise, mainly generated by the movement of the blades, but the noise is generally weak.

Are windmills renewable energy?

Wind is an emissions-free source of energy that has fewer effects on the environment than many other energy sources.

Do windmills create electricity?

Yes! Wind turns the propellers of the windmill around a rotor that, in turn, spins a generator to create electricity.

How much do windmills cost?

The standard windmill costs around $2-4 million with another $40-50,000 in per year in operation and maintenance.

Source

[riflebrass]

Well I think the Vicky & Vance casino is bugged and won't let me gamble at all. I went up to New Vegas and hit up the Atomic Wrangler instead. My normal strategy for gambling in New Vegas is to play roulette. Betting on a corner between 4 numbers pays out 8:1. With a max bet of 200 caps that pays out 1600 if you win. I try max bet 5 times in a row. If I win I save. If I lose I load the game, wait the minute for the anti-cheat countdown (lol) and try again. When I won enough to get kicked out of the casino I decided to go bigger. I loaded my last save and bet on a single number trying 10 spins. The payout is 35:1 which is a whopping 7k caps. I had to load my game once to try again but then I got it. Got kicked out with about 11k of profit.

Since Lenny's charisma is 1 and I've put nothing into barter prices are pretty rough. I burned through half my winnings getting a Katana (lol) with the balanced grip in Novac and a power fist with the ported chambers from the gun runners.

[genieife]

Delhi Diaries: Day 1 — A Journey Through Time and Tradition

Delhi Diaries! A lot of people despise Delhi.

Let’s face it: this city doesn’t have the best of reputations.

Delhi is polluted, congested, dirty, smelly, loud, and scams are rampant. The air is toxic to breathe, there’s non-stop hassle to deal with, and the sheer number of people can leave you feeling overwhelmed. It’s maddening at times.

Am I selling this city to you yet?

Because there’s just as much to love about it. In fact, Delhi is one of my favourite cities on the planet, and I fell for it from the moment I stepped foot on its busy streets.

You’ve got its fantastic food scene, the lush parks, the incredible architecture, the blend of cultures, the city’s long and fascinating history, and the fact that it’s unlike anywhere else on earth. And there’s so much beauty in amongst the challenges.

Plenty of first-time visitors to India’s capital hear about Delhi’s reputation and decide to duck in and out of the city as quickly as possible.

I think they’re making a big mistake by doing so.

Even if it’s your first time in India and you’re feeling intimidated, don’t skip over Delhi. This city has so much to offer its visitors, and I’d suggest allocating at least three days to exploring.

Today’s post is going to be an itinerary for how to spend three days in Delhi, a list of the best places to see in Delhi, a photo essay, and a love letter to this frenetic yet wonderful city.

Let’s get started.

HOW MANY DAYS SHOULD YOU SPEND IN DELHI?

Three days is the perfect amount of time to spend in Delhi.

Why three?

Well, there are three main areas in the city.

You’ve got crumbling, chaotic Old Delhi, once the magnificent walled city of Shahjahanabad in the 17th century. This area is all about the culture shock, with so many sights and sounds and smells to absorb at once.

There’s New Delhi, which was created by the British when they decided to build a new capital in India — this part is all about the gleaming buildings, government structures, and a sense of a little more order.

And to the south, you’ll find South Delhi — an upmarket residential neighbourhood that’s calmer, quieter, and leafier than the rest of the city.

All three areas have so much to offer up to visitors.

It therefore makes sense to devote at least one day to each of these three distinct areas. I recommend spending your first day in town wandering through Old Delhi, your second day marvelling at New Delhi, and your third day unwinding in South Delhi.

It’s going to make for the perfect introduction to the city.

DAY ONE: THE BEST TIME TO EXPLORE OLD DELHI!

When you picture the commotion and cacophony of Delhi, you’re most likely thinking of Old Delhi.

I recommend spending a full day in this area, allowing your senses to be attacked as you dodge rickshaws and motorbikes and thousands of people, avoiding cows and goats and dogs as you wander down narrow alleyways, smelling incense and street food and, um, things that are a little less pleasant.

There’s nowhere on earth quite like Old Delhi.

Start your day, though, by heading to the Red Fort when it opens. Without the crowds of tourists, it’ll bring about a peaceful start to a day that’s likely to be anything but.

Built from sandstone in the 1600s and originally used as a residence for Mughal emperors, the inner structures have since been plundered and destroyed, yet it’s still worth visiting.

Despite being right in the heart of Delhi, it’s surprisingly calming to wander through this large area of green space, and it makes for a tranquil introduction to the city’s architecture.

Jama Masjid is just a 15-minute walk away from the Red Fort, so it’s the next logical stop on a tour of Old Delhi.

This mosque is one of the largest in Delhi, able to hold a whopping 25,000 people at a time, and is one of the most impressive structures in the city.

One highlight is climbing to the top of one of the minarets for a wonderful view over Old Delhi. It’s so worth doing, even though the staircase is cramped, dark, and daunting to walk up/down.

Watch out for scammers here! There’s plenty of people looking to take advantage of tourists in this area. You’ll have to pay to hire robes, no matter how covered up you are, pay for a camera permit, and somebody will undoubtedly take your shoes off you and ask for a tip for keeping them safe when you return.

Venture next to Raj Ghat, a memorial to Gandhi that’s worth visiting, despite looking understated compared to everything you’ll have seen so far. Of course, its simplicity is the point.

Raj Ghat is a 30-minute walk from Jama Masjid, but the walk itself isn’t particularly exciting, so feel free to grab a rickshaw or an Uber to get there.

The memorial comprises a small black marble platform with an eternal flame at one end, marking the exact spot where Gandhi’s body was cremated.

Around the memorial, there’s plenty of manicured green space that’s filled with people picnicking and relaxing, and it’s a calming area for meditating, paying your respects, and taking a break from the chaos.

And believe me, you’re going to want to take that break because your next stop is going to be Chandni Chowk.

You’ve never been anywhere like Chandni Chowk.

This unbelievable district and market is the heart of Old Delhi and it’s unlike anywhere you’ll have ever been before. The chaos! The traffic! The confusion! The smells! The sounds! 

I couldn’t get enough of it.

Most of the time, you’ll have no idea where to even walk, as there’s zero opportunity to just stand and soak it all in. Instead, everybody will be swarming around you, moving, moving, moving, and sounding their horns to get you moving, too.

There was always something fascinating to see, as the video below illustrates.

As you walk the alleys of Old Delhi, you’ll be overcome by an odd, dizzying sensation, where you feel as though you don’t belong and you have no idea what’s happening. You’ll wonder if you’ve stepped foot on another planet.

If you’re anything like me, it’s going to make you feel so alive.

Yes, this is somewhere that’s certain to leave you feeling overwhelmed, but it’s somewhere you have to see. It’s somewhere where you’ll want to have your camera to hand, knowing that there’s so much going on but that it’s impossible to capture it in a single frame.

Still, you’ll have fun trying.

One of best ways to learn more about Delhi’s food scene is to jump on a street food tour. I recommend the offering from UrbanAdventures.

Diving mouthfirst into a city’s food scene is the best way to get to know a place, and in India, I quickly found I was clueless.

As I’d wandered the streets of Old Delhi earlier that afternoon, I’d quickly realised I had no idea what any of the dishes were. I didn’t recognise a thing!

That was intimidating.

With fears of Delhi Belly reverberating through my head, I’d been too nervous to go anywhere near the street food through worry that I’d get sick.

When you couple that with not even being able to identify the dishes that were for sale, I was mostly skirting past the stalls with a nervous expression on my face.

That was exactly why I recommend jumping on this tour.

Guided by a charismatic university student who has lived in Delhi her entire life, she’s the perfect person to introduce you to the Delhi food scene. This guide lives for food and she raves over getting to be a street food tour guide and how much she enjoyed eating 10 items a night.

On the tour, you’ll get to sample Indian-style shawarma, golgappas (my favourite!), and bhelpuri. Next, comes the pao bhajji and kulfi-falooda, and you’ll rounded off our tour with gulab jamun (another favourite!) and jalebi.

In short, this is a phenomenal activity for your first day in the city. You’ll get to explore the markets and stalls with a local, build up your confidence when it comes to eating on the streets, and — of course — sample some of the best food of your life. I’d honestly take this exact tour again because I want to re-eat all of the delicious snacks!

As we conclude Day 1 of our Delhi exploration with Geniefie, we’ve only scratched the surface of this vibrant city’s treasures. From the majestic monuments to the bustling markets and delectable cuisine, Delhi offers an unforgettable tapestry of experiences. With Geniefie Trip planner as our guide, we’re excited to uncover even more gems in the days to come. Stay tuned for Day 2 as we continue our adventure through the heart of India’s capital!

[dower]

Coal saved our forests

And oil saved the whale, or so goes the energy transition tale. But thats not the whole story, not by a long shot.

Without the UK driving the adoption of coal in the late 1600s, we’d run the risk of de-foresting the whole of the land. Probably. Long before the industrial revolution, we needed heat to make glass. And heat traditionally meant charcoal, made from lots of trees.

But, we were running out of trees, and much of the landed gentry wanted to keep forests for themselves. They loved to hunt. So, the glass makers turned to using bituminous coal to create heat. Thereby saving the trees, and hunting. And coal was glorious..

Coal went on to give us indirect locomotion via heat (steam) providing the energy layer that underpinned the industrial revolution; steam trains, cross-ocean shipping, and portable motive power that liberated farming, mining, construction, and transport. Steam engines replaced huge, unscalable static powerplants such as water wheels and windmills with smaller, cheaper and more controllable power.

Coal was controllable power on a scale never seen before, but came at a price. Smoggy cities, respiratory diseases, filth, and death plus the cost to miners and communities from its extraction. For 200 years we dug and burned the stuff to fuel growth, imperialism, wars, ambition and the egos of the nouveau riche.

Atmospheric CO2 was clearly not a thing 300 hundred years ago, but if it was, the meter would have shown 280ppm in 1700. By the time oil usurped coal’s crown in the early 20th century it had barely moved the needle, showing under 300ppm. A 7% rise, or 20ppm, in 200 years seemed fuck all.

Yes, it had turned the facades of our great institutions black with soot. It might have turned London and other industrial cities into health death traps and created the horror that is the commuter belt. But, we had an empire to run, locals to subjugate, foreign lands to pillage, remote corners of the world to own.

The world was ours, driven by British bureaucracy, imperial coffers, and that damn coal. We were coal-powered apex predators.

Oil eh? Well, come the 20th century and we get super-efficient at converting heat into motion - by directly burning it under pressure in a confined volume; the dawn of the internal combustion engine. We also set alight to its lighter fractions to produce light, which was useful as we’d been burning dead whales for way too long.

Oil also produced other useful stuff such as fertiliser, pharmaceuticals, plastics, waxes, lubricants, detergents, and paints. This wonder substance would go on the dominate world growth, geopolitics, war, fame, and power for over a century.

Britain would lose its imperial crown, first, to oil-fired USA, then to … erm, lots of others. Some weren’t even real countries when the combustion engine was invented.

Unlimited cheap oil corrupted us all, kept on killing people and now increasingly wildlife. But energy this cheap and (even today) plentiful might have saved us from a coal-smog death and also allow whales to edge back from extinction. The ppms kept going up; by 30ppm to 330ppm in the first 75 years of the 20th century, more than the whole of the preceding 200 years.

We still burned coal, of course, and now also oil, mostly to provide our ravenous need for electricity. And now here comes gas, natural gas, clean burning, cheap gas. From the 1960s on, the UK pivoted to using gas for heat and electricity and oil (kerosene, petrol, and diesel) for transportation.

In the final 25 years of the 20th century, atmospheric CO2 climbed a whopping 40ppm. It took 200 years of burning coal to get a rise of 20ppm. Worse still, in the first 20 years of this century, CO2 rates have climbed a further 40ppm. Despite wind turbines, nuclear, carbon capture, rooftop solar, plant oils, led lightbulbs, single-ply toilet paper, hybrid engine technology and sophisticated combined cycle gas-turbine power stations.

We still burn coal, hunt and extract oil, we compress gas into massive ships and we send it round the world. Some luddites still burn charcoal and wood - more than you think and certainly more in the UK than use heat-pumps. At least we don’t frack, for now.

So what saves us next? After 300 years we need to stop burning stuff. We still need oil; for plastics, fertiliser, food stuffs, pharmaceuticals etc the list goes on. We don’t need gas - that’s you fucked, Qatar - or coal. But, oil still has a place in the world, we just need to decarbonise it.

To continue to grow on Planet Earth, we need to make much more electricity, more cheaply, more locally, at zero or negative carbon cost and we need to do it now. Our lungs will thank us, as will our great grandchildren who’ll be able to hug us and inherit our 20th century homes. The whales will probably say thanks, too.

Your turn

Look into getting an EV. Consider a heat pump to replace your aging home boiler. Look into solar, and wind. Understand YOUR CO2 footprint and try to tread a little lighter. It’s not just the whales that will benefit - it’s mankind itself. And the ability to look directly into your great grandchildren’s eyes and tell ‘em what you did to save the planet, what you sacrificed, that they may live.

[mdshariful]

Lenovo has discounted the newest Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Pro 16 by a large 45% leading to a sub-US$648.99 worth. On the sale worth, the IdeaPad 5i Pro Laptop 16 is an extremely candy deal because it packs a thirteenth gen Core i5-13500H CPU alongside an RTX 3050 cellular GPU. [content-egg-block template=offers_logo_groups] Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Pro 16 with Core i5-13500H Laptop Lenovo launched the new IdeaPad 5i Pro in 14 and 16-inch variants at CES 2023. Each fashion includes Raptor Lake-H processors and as many as NVIDIA RTX 4050 GPUs. The 16-inch IdeaPad Pro 5i is currently on sale for US$648.99 on Amazon, representing a whopping US$675 off the record worth (slick deals). Read More: Asus ROG Strix G17 Laptop with RTX 4060 gets US$300 discount Relating to hardware, the Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Pro 16 rocks a Core i5-13500H CPU, an RTX 3050 GPU, 16 GB of LPDDR5-5200 reminiscence, and 1 TB of PCIe Gen 4 storage. Dealing with show duties is a 16-inch 2.5K decision IPS panel with a 120 Hz refresh fee, 100% protection of the sRGB gamut, and 350 nits of brightness. Moreover, the laptop computer packs a 75 Wh battery and Wi-Fi 6. On paper, the Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Pro 16 is an honest mid-range performer. The Core i5-13500H scored 13,941 and 1,744 factors within the Cinebench R23 Multi-Core and Single-Core benchmarks in our testing. Consequently, the Core i5-13500H is on par with the Ryzen 5 7645HX and solely 10% behind the Core i7-13700H within the Cinebench R23 Multi-Core benchmark. Specifications Standing screen display size ‎16 Inches Screen Resolution ‎2560 x 1600 pixels Max Screen Resolution ‎2560 x 1600 Pixels Processor ‎3.1 GHz core_i5_family RAM ‎8 GB SDRAM Memory Speed ‎3.1 GHz Hard Drive ‎512 GB SSD Graphics Coprocessor ‎NVIDIA GeForce MX450 Chipset Brand ‎NVIDIA Card Description ‎Dedicated Graphics Card Ram Size ‎2 Wireless Type ‎802.11ax Number of USB 2.0 Ports ‎1 Number of USB 3.0 Ports ‎2 Average Battery Life (in hours) ‎10 Hours In different phrases, the Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Pro should lower employing day-to-day duties, after which some. Transferring on, the Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Pro 16 with 6 GB RTX 3050, though not the most highly effective, has sufficient horsepower to play fashionable video games at 1080p with medium to excessive graphic settings.

[newswisenow]

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Series: Unveiling Key Specifications of the Highly Anticipated Tablets

Samsung is gearing up for an exciting product lineup announcement, which includes the highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 series. Alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 5, Z Flip 5, and Galaxy Watch 6 series, Samsung is expected to unveil the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9, Galaxy Tab S9 Plus, and Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra. Renowned tipster Ishan Agarwal has recently shared some key specifications of the Galaxy Tab S9 series, giving us a glimpse into what to expect. Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Series: Key Specifications Unveiled Starting with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9, this tablet will boast an impressive 11-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen, offering a WQXGA resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels. On the front, users can enjoy capturing memorable moments with the 12-megapixel camera, while the rear panel is equipped with a 13-megapixel camera. Powering the device is a substantial 8,400mAh battery, complemented by 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. The tablet measures 254.8 x 165.8 x 5.9mm, making it a sleek and compact device. Read Also Redmi Pad 2: Unveiling the Anticipated Successor to Redmi’s Tablet Lineup Moving on to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Plus, users can look forward to a larger 12.4-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, producing a WQXGA+ resolution of 2800 x 1782 pixels. This tablet will feature a 12-megapixel front camera, perfect for high-quality selfies and video calls. On the back, a dual-camera system with 13-megapixel and 8-megapixel sensors will deliver impressive photography capabilities. The device will be equipped with a substantial 10,090mAh battery, accompanied by 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. Its dimensions will measure 285.4 x 185.4 x 5.7mm, providing a large yet sleek design. Price and Features for Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra For those seeking an even more immersive experience, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra will offer a massive 14.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel. This display will present users with a WQXGA+ resolution of 2960 x 1898 pixels, promising stunning visuals. The tablet will feature a pair of 12-megapixel cameras on the front, enabling high-quality selfies and video calls. On the back, a dual-camera system with 13-megapixel and 8-megapixel sensors will capture memorable moments with exceptional clarity. With a generous 16 GB of RAM and a whopping 1 TB of storage, the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra ensures smooth performance and ample space for multimedia content. Its large 11,200mAh battery will ensure extended usage time, and the tablet's dimensions of 326.4 x 208.6 x 5.5mm make it the largest device in the series. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 series is anticipated to be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, a powerful chipset operating at 3.36GHz. This is the same chipset found in the Galaxy S23 series of smartphones, showcasing the impressive performance and capabilities of these tablets. Additionally, the series will offer features commonly found across Samsung's lineup, including four speakers, an optical in-display fingerprint sensor for convenient unlocking, and an S-Pen with bilateral charging for an enhanced creative experience. Read Also Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: Explore the Exciting New Color Options Available Now With the imminent announcement of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9, Galaxy Tab S9 Plus, and Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, Samsung enthusiasts can eagerly anticipate a range of cutting-edge features and top-of-the-line specifications. As the boundaries of tablet technology continue to be pushed, Samsung's latest offerings are poised to deliver a remarkable user experience, catering to the needs of both productivity and entertainment enthusiasts alike. Read the full article

[kikokuso]

Alright listen up here motherfuckers resident train boy™ is here to teach you about

✨TRAIN GAUGE✨

Also known as the reason why the trams in my city suck.

Let's begin with the basics: let's say that you want to build a railroad. Now, unless you want to build the railroad to be a closed circuit and you want to build everything including the trains by yourself, you can build it in any gauge you want. Go nuts, show nuts, I don't care. However, if you want your railroad to be compatible with... literally anything, you'll have to build it in a gauge of some sort. Which gauge should you build in? Most logical answer is: build it in the gauge that the railroads you're connecting to are in.

Now I know what you're all asking right now: "what the heck is a train gauge?" And it's a good question! Train gauge is essentially the spacing between the two rails of a railway line. You need this to be constant and uniform, so thag trains can actually run on the train teacks without derailing. The first trains were made with whichever gauge the owner wanted (going all the way to 2+ meters) Until a universally agreed upon gauge was made, which is 1435mm because fuck you. This decision to use 1435mm came from Britain, where they decided in 1829 to use such a gauge for all their rail lines, and so it spread across the island and after that across the world.

However, the first steam train made it's journey in 1804 and by 1829, countries were already building their own train tracks in their own gauges. Spain for example used 1672mm or six Castillian feet (this got later changed to 1668mm to be compatible with portugal), Russia uses 1524mm or five feet (this gauge was used by the USA too) and even the Brits didn't keep up with their standards of 1435mm when they were building trains in the colonies, with some being as small as a meter and some being as large as 1676mm. So what gauges are there in the world right now?

We have:

The standard 1435mm gauge used all across the world and on most high-speed trains (except the Russian ones)

The broad gauges, which include

The Russian 1524mm gauge used in Russia, former Soviet countries and Finland, which was chosen for completely meaningless reasons and not for military reasons like many people would believe

The Irish 1600 gauge used in Ireland (wow) and some places in Brazil

The Iberian 1668mm gauge, which is slowly being phased out in Spain and just like the russian gauge was not chosen for military reasons

The Indian gauge and it's whopping 1676mm of gauge that's used in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Argentina, Chile andfor some ungodly reason that nobody knows the San Francisco BART train (???)

and many one-off gauges that are used on special lines like the Leipzig, Dresden, Toronto and Pennsylvania gauges used on like two tracks (why.)

then we have narrow gauge railways which include

mainly heritage 600mm gauge railways

Bosnian gauge railways built all over the former Austrio-Hungarian empire and stillfound there today

762mm gauge used in former british colonies and for some reason North Korea

900mm gauge used mostly in Europe on urban networks

914mm gauge mostly found in the Americas in the mountains (many narrow gauges were built in the mountains, probably for better turning radiuses)

950mm gauge used mostly in Italy and it's colonies from the 20th century (IDK why???)

1 meter gauge used in many trams, light railways and is the standard gauge for Brazil, Bolivia and the Southeast of Asia

1067mm gauge, which is used everywhere in Southern Africa, Australia, New Zealand and East Asia (basically everywhere the Brits were)

1219mm gauge used for mainly trams

and 1372mm "scotch" gauge used today only in Japan.

I know what you're saying. You'e probably saying "why am i reading this." or "is he just taking information from wikipedia and pretending he's smart?" to which I don't know and yes respectively. But I know that some of you are saying "but what if i want to run multiple trains of different gauges on the same rail line?" or "what if i want to run a train on multiple different gauge railways?" To which I have and answer!

The dual-gauge rail is a genius idea that works by putting a third rail into an already built railway (see picture below)

this allows multiple gauges to run on the same track (like this)!

however the second problem is much harder to answer and the technology used for it is much more complicated. The most modern and efficient way to do it is by having trains capable of mid-travel gauge changes like this stadler train right here:

However if you live in a country with last-century technology such as Russia, you cannot have a cool train that changes gauge, which is why on the Trans-Mongolian railway, even in 2022, you still have to wait several hours on the Mongolian-Chinese border while your train gets taken into a depot and gets converted to 1435mm gauge.

now back to the topic at the beginning. Why are the trams in my city inferior to other trams? Well, they are running on 1 meter gauge, while all the nearby trams are running on 1435mm gauge. This means that they cannot run as fast due to risk of derailment, the tracks they run on are incompatible with trains (unlike my country's other tram tracks which were frequently used by freight trains at night) and the trams are just... more proprietary compared to others.

So there. here's my big-ass essay on track gauge that everyone will probably ignore.

[musicallisto]

the most you could potentially pay for giving birth is the car parking fee tbh,,, as for actual treatments, your health insurance covers up to 80% of hospital costs and sometimes 100% of pharmacy costs for prescribed medications. Say you break an arm in France; the total cost of the ER + surgery + anesthesia + overnight stay + cast & sling + medication is around like 1500€, which is approx. $1600

hold up,,,,, this has to be a full on ask because !!!!!!!! i'm cRYING?????

we all know the E.R. is expensive as hell, but you're telling me an E.R. overnight stay, and a super deluxe pack of surgery with your essentials is only $1,600? did you forget a zero, clara? pLEASE tell me you forgot a zero,,,, 😭😭😭😭😭 i've never broken an arm, but i just phoned a friend who did, and the surgery alone cost ~$15,000. admittedly, they didn't have insurance at the time, so that jacks up the price, but i still weep for them. 😭😭😭😭😭 a typical overnight E.R. stay in my state (minus any kind of tests) is ~$1,400 (with insurance) alone. can you imagine with a surgery? and medication is hell, i tell you. my little sister has asthma and for one (1) of her required inhalers, it's around $250 a month after insurance. 😭😭😭😭

if you want, i could pull up my medical records and tell you what it was for my heart surgery after insurance (which was a valve repair, wayyy cheaper than a replacement), but i'm pretty sure you'd cry.

interestingly enough, though, dental is pretty much the same! my sister got her wisdom teeth out (only 3 tho) and it was about the same price. i'm not sure how good or bad our dental is, though. i want to say it's good, but idk.

sadly, though, i don't have optical insurance, so that's a lot™.

in conclusion: i'm crying.

✧˖°࿐ I am 100% serious and I did not forget a zero! I used to go to the hospital all. the. time when I was a kid because I had severe allergies, and the last time I went (I was around 6) and they ran a battery on tests on me, my parents did not pay a dime. Or like, a ridiculously low price that insurance didn't cover. How it works is the public healthcare system (called Sécu) pays for 80% of the price for everyone regardless of insurance, and then if you have an insurance they cover the remaining expenses. According to a 2012 study, the average cost of a surgery in France was $5300 for heavy surgeries, and $1500 for light ones (which rounds up to $1060 and a whopping $300) after the Sécu has worked its magic). I found another, more recent article that claims a day at the hospital costs approximately $1500, and a day in intensive care is $3500. But what you really pay if you don't have insurance is more around $300 and $700 for intensive care. In some cases the Sécu covers all of your hospital charges and you effectively pay a grand amount of $0 without insurance (but that's rare cases, like a prolonged hospital stay or reconstructive surgeries).

I'm baffled that a hospital stay could be so expensive in the US, like,,,, how do you guys live?? I understand now why Americans are so prone to smiling through the pain and going to the doctor only when they're on the brink of death because holy shit- another instance of you being so much tougher than us lol

I'm curious about your medical records, even if I don't want to breach your privacy of course! But I feel like we will both just weep. Also, I do not want to shatter you but I checked the price of an inhaler in France and it's... $4. (According to Google, because my asthmatic friend is telling me it's more) Tell that to your sister and see how she reacts because I'm honestly crying for her 😭 When I was highly allergic I had an Epipen on me at all times (a pleasure many know too, I'm sure!), and one of them cost my parents something like $28.

(Ok, I'm not saying I don't believe you but I HAD to do some research because there is no way that an inhaler is so expensive. Like you need it to BREATHE?? but alas...)

(there is no way that's real. There is NO WAY that's real.)

Funny to see that dentistry is the same though! I had the nightmare helmet machine that Katy Perry has in the TGIF video (or the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory thing) + braces so I know what it's like and it's a PAIN. And glasses are SO expensive too??? Like I just want to see,,, be a normal, functioning human being,,,, not run into every fucking lamppost on the street,,,,, I'm very short-sighted so my lenses are thick af and last time I changed them my glasses were like $800?????? bitch?????

no but also - you guys have different insurances for different things?? like you have one insurance for the dentist, one insurance for the ophtalmologist...??? i'm,,, i'm feeling anxious.

one last thing we need to discuss in the price of PHONE PLANS in the usa... i mean this is not a phone plans in the usa are overpriced thing, it's more so that phone plans are cheap as hell in France (because there's a lot of competition? idk shit about economics). i have nightmares on the daily when I think about your phone plans,,,

[webuyhousesfastllc]

Selling Your House Fast using the “Subject To” Method

By: The Massachusetts Home Buyers LLC

Why would anyone want to sell their home via subject to financing? Aren’t their major risks associated with such undertaken? What if the buyer flakes and defaults on the note? This situation alone would be enough to deter any homeowner from selling their home in such a way as relying on another stranger to pay their mortgage. Worst of all, your credit score would take a significant hit alongside many other financial hardships. On the contrary, everything could also, too, go as planned with the mortgage getting paid down and your credit score gradually increasing.

Today, most FSBO’s shy away from such creative deal structuring due to one major issue, LACK OF KNOWLEDGE!

That’s right! A recent poll taken by The Massachusetts Home Buyers LLC had determined this issue among a survey selection of 50 FSBO’s who were either currently selling or planning to sell their homes very soon. The survey showed us that out of the 50 FSBO’s, on a professional critique level, 42 within the sample of 50 would have benefited more from a subject to deal than a traditional one-time closing. Out of the 50 FSBO’s 48 had no idea what it was and why it is used.

Why would a homeowner sell their home via subject to their existing mortgage?

Let’s start with the real-life story of Peggy Labate of Massachusetts. Peggy had lost her job Do tour company going to economic trouble. She then began facing the possibility of her home going into foreclosure, Putting her in a particularly dire financial situation. Peggy owed a total of $74,000 on her note for her home. This put her at an astonishing $12,000 in the hole.

She had an investor interested in a property, however, He did not actually have the full $74,000 needed for the sake of purchasing the property. Instead, the two of them worked out a compromise that would work for everyone. The compromise consisted of the following: He would purchase the property in such a way that he was subject to the existing mortgage payments per month. If agreed upon, Peggy will no longer have the monthly payment mortgage burden because the investor will be taking over her payments. Peggy then was able to make the sale work and avoid a disastrous credit hit by foreclosure. She barely had any money for food for that week, nevermind a mortgage payment. She was also able to sell the home within 2-3 business days following the agreement. YES! It was that easy.

In other parts of the country subject to the existing mortgage now has become quite popular among for sale by owners. Especially in post Covid era, selling subject to deals have increasingly spread. Especially in areas where unemployment has increased drastically.

Furthermore, most people don’t have the time in today’s world to even market the property by themselves. Additionally, they are not adapt to marketing, interviewing potential buyers, and credit analysis as Massachusetts license representatives are trained for. But why pay commission when you can simply pass your mortgage bill over to a investor who will take over the payments as well as put some money on the sellers pocket.

Another example was Hank. Hank was upside down on his mortgage because he bought right before the 2008 crash. The homes value dropped significantly but was able to almost break even in 2021. Let's look at Hanks predicament below

Home cost 2005: $320,000.00

Mortgage note: $335,000.00

POST CRASH

Home cost 2009: $245,000.00

Mortgage note Current 2009: $315,500.00

Present 2021

Home cost 2021: $285,500

Current note Balance: $295,000

Since Hank lost his job due to the COVID-19 virus, he is now finding it hard to pay for every day expenses and his mortgage. Therefore he’s in a little predicament. A friend of his told him “to suck it up and pay up to $10,000 and be done with it already”, but Hank doesn't have the $10,000 to come out of pocket. Plus, Hank is thinking “who actually sells a home to lose money?”. The plot thickens as the days go by and his bills pile up he is now three months behind on his mortgage and his banks are calling leaving messages on his voicemail. His monthly mortgage PITI is at $1,250.00. Thus, on top of all the other bills, as well as the $10,000 he will need to pay out-of-pocket if he wanted to sell, he is now behind approximately three months and four days owing a whopping $4,200.00 (includes late payments). The home is getting close to breaking even, and he has pre-permitted lot space to extend the square footage of his home. He was told by an investor he could add another 1000 to 1500 sqft to his home. Although costs would range anywhere between $68,000 to $80,000, it would bring his home value from $285,000 to $390,000. Additionally, if he were to add another a bathroom and a half in this addition, the after renovations value would be anywhere between $415,000 to $425,000. Unfortunately, Hank did not have the funds, which would probably be anywhere between $110-$120,000 to do such work, even though the value add would be $200,000 to $215,000. What is Hank going to do.

Hank is definitely stressed out!

Hank is now slipping into foreclosure and is getting unrealistic to almost cruel advice. Until one day he found an ad in his local paper from The Massachusetts Home Buyers LLC.

Hank called The Massachusetts Home Buyers LLC and told him his predicament. Hank began his conversation by saying, “ Look, I know you can’t help me in my situation but maybe you can give me some advice?”, the investor from The Massachusetts Home Buyers LLC laughed and calmly said “ Well hello, my name is Gary, Whats yours?”. Hank forgetting his manners backed up his excitement and said with a sigh, “My apologies, Hank here”. The caller than asked Hank to fill him in on what’s going on. At the end of the conversation, the investor asked to visit the property and take a look at the permits that were once pulled by Hank that he never utilized back before the crash.

Although the permits had become null and void, the investor knew the area very well as well as the permitting process for building additions. The Massachusetts Home Buyers LLC are constantly scrutinizing and investigating the housing market and its bylaws. At the end of the walkthrough the investor suprised Hank with a deal that almost had him fall to the ground. The deal, according to Hank was pure genius.

The deal looked like this:

First, Hank will transfer title to the property over to the Massachusetts Home Buyers LLC.

Instead of paying out of pocket, the investor offered him $20,000 cash in pocket for the transfer of title.

The Mass Home Buyers LLC would bring an additional $6,000.00 for closing expenses incurred and pay up the missed payments of $4,500.00 to the bank.

The Massachusetts Home Buyers LLC would then own the home, however, Hank would need to leave his mortgage untouched and in place.

To lessen Hank’s anxiety, Hank and the investor called his lender on a three-way call to explain the transaction. Strangely, the lender knew the investor by the first name. Hank knew he was dealing with professionals. The investor kindly told the lender about Hanks's situation and that he offered him the title in exchange for paying off the back payments as well as take over his note as-is. The lender said, “ Ok, Gary, so you want to subject to the existing note and make payments on Mr. Hanks 30 year fixed?” The investor replied, “yes, Sir.” The lender asked, “ok, that's fine; when do you think it will transfer or be paid in full?” The investor said calmly, “I don’t know now; however, you will be the first to know when we do so.” The lender stated, “fair enough- ok, we are good, no static on this end.” Hank had heard about the dreaded due on sale clauses and was just relieved. Besides, the investor boldly asked the lender to keep the mortgage under Hank's name; however, cancel his insurance for a tenant-buyer who can be vetted additionally by the lender will be taking over. Hanks's problems were swiftly Disappearing. How does this subject to thing work anyhow?

Finally the closing date has come and looked like this.

Purchase: $25,000 transfer of deed w/ subject to $290,000 fixed 30 year mortgage payments.

Hank has money for first and last for a apartment and got his job back. Also, his credit was soaring because of all the additional payoffs by the tenant-buyer the Mass Home Buyers LLC had moved in.

Investors side

Current mortgage: $1,250 per month

The Mass Home Buyers Lease Option Payments by tenant buyer: $1,900.00 ( the areas rental median is $2,500) Cash Flow $650.00

The tenant-buyer was a carpenter who pulled a new permit and added over 1600 SF of home and an in-law and two full baths. The home soared from $290,000 to $480,000.00

After cash-out refinances, the tenant-buyer will be able to reflip, and the Massachusetts Home Buyers LLC will make over $235,000 within 1.5 years. Not bad for one deal.

Hank no longer is upside down and in debt. He also has money in the bank. The tenant-buyer has an affordable investment he will inevitably reflip. The Massachusetts Home Buyers LLC made a healthy profit for saving Hank's credit from annihilation while providing inventory to one of many tenant buyers. Talk about a win/win/win heh? Subject to deal structuring is highly beneficial for sellers who are in situations like Hank, but also if they need to sell in a hurry due to a strict timeline that cannot wait for a realtor to research, market, interview, negotiate, and inevitably, sell their home.

Subject to candidates usually have three main scenarios in common:

They are facing foreclosure and/or exceptionally behind on payments

They want to repair their credit score and what better than a real estate solutions company paying their tab under their name on a monthly basis for an extended amount of time. As the buyer pays on the mortgage, the previous owner of which the note is named under, is being paid consistently. Sometimes even double paid due to the buyers motivation to pay down the balance in preparation of either a resell or a cash out finance situation.

They need to move very quickly and do not have the time to A) remote manage a realtor on the property which can result in miscommunication and other issues B) Has a new job that begins relatively soon that is out-of-state. C) A or B, however, has a significant amount of mortgage left to pay. and D) Is negative on their note and does not want to come out of pocket to pay the difference. The Massachusetts Home Buyers LLC not only assists those in selling their upside-down notes but will also. Reward the seller for transferring the title. What would you rather do?

The moral of the story is, long as you’re dealing with professionals and people who know how to market with structure and don’t hide things from anybody, make deals such as a subject to or any other Creative Financial matter that much more beneficial for all. As of today, the Massachusetts homebuyers not only helps people in need like Hank but also work with retail homebuyers because they structure their deals in a way that gives both the seller what they need in regards to pricing at the same time, create a good investment for their company. REMEMBER THIS: THE SELLER OF A PROPERTY MUST ALWAYS HAVE A MORTGAGE OR ANY ALTERNATE LIEN AGAINST THE HOME TO CONDUCT A SUBJECT TO DEAL. IF THEY DON'T HAVE ANY PAYMENTS AGAINST THE HOME THAN IT WOULD BE KNOWN AS SELLER FINANCING.

[blueiscoool]

A Rusted Porsche 356A Cabriolet Sells for $230,000

Porsche is a brand that has become infamous within the classic euro market. Their reputation of making some of the most brilliantly designed cars for the times in which they were produced has created an abundance of hype surrounding classic Porsches. Most would describe the cars as being right on the cusp of perfection. Because of this masterful design, a hefty price is commanded by these cars. However, when contemplating these incredible machines the question arises, how much is too much? This seems to be a question that did not cross the mind of the owner of this 1958 Porsche 356A Super 1600 Cabriolet rust-bucket which was purchased for a whopping $230,000.

Having been covered in a layer of rust, this 63-year-old Porsche has found its success in the craze of classic cars which was brought on due to the recent pandemic. The car has had two previous owners after which it was stored in Brisbane under a church where it was left to rot in 1995. This time capsule was estimated to have a value of close to $300,000 once restored, but that begs the question of why one would pay $230,000 for this rust bucket before it has even been resurrected. Fortunately, there seems to be a method to the madness behind this extreme purchase.

You see, to describe this car as rare is an extreme understatement. Accompanying the car is a myriad of special options such as a Karmann hardtop, 15/4 replica Rudge wheels, and one 1600 Super engine. One of just 1382 cars produced with these specifications, combine that information with the fact that these cars are over 60 years old now and you have yourself a recipe of an extremely rare and extremely valuable vehicle that should command a price well beyond that of a restored example of this car without those options.

By Elizabeth Puckett.

[rabbitcruiser]

National Windmill Day

Drive out to windmill country, or read up about the history of windmills and how they can provide clean, sustainable energy by harnessing Earth’s natural power.

Most people love them because there’s something absolutely bucolic about their squat structures and the gentle creak of their fins as these wooden structures spin in the natural wind currents. Of course, that describes the old fashioned kind of windmill. The newer, modern versions take on some different characteristics, of course.

Windmills have been around for a very long time, since the time when people first realized it was possible to harness the power of the wind to perform work and provide energy. Ever since new innovations have been made with the ability to utilize the never-ending source of power that windmills capture.

National Windmill Day commemorates the origins of the windmill as well as how it has helped to shape technology and industry from the past and into the future. It’s time to learn about and celebrate National Windmill Day!

History of National Windmill Day

The idea of capturing the power of the wind to perform work isn’t new and, in fact, it goes back far further into history than most people would suspect. Since then, its use has sprung up in multiple cultures throughout the world.

Heron of Alexandria, who lived in the first century AD, was the earliest person known to have harnessed the energy of moving air to perform work, using a very primitive device to power, of all things, a musical instrument: the organ. The people of Persia also developed more traditional windmills, though they had a different orientation than the ones most people typically think of when hearing the word ‘windmill’.

Some historians think that the Persian models were the inspiration for the vertical models that were developed later on in the middle ages. The evidence of one of the oldest windmills that remains today can be found in Weedley, Yorkshire, England and is said to have been built in 1185. As is commonly depicted in media, these machines were used primarily to grind grain, and have been for many centuries since that time.

Recently though, at least in the last 150 years or so, there’s been a growing movement to use windmills in another fashion entirely. The power of the wind can be harnessed to turn giant wind turbines which in turn generate clean, and virtually unlimited, renewable energy.

Windmills have been around for a long long time, and while they may seem like primitive tech, they’ve moved into the world as hope for a clean future. Along with solar, bio-fuel, and fuel cells, windmills are working to save the environment.

National Windmill Day Timeline

644 AD

First reference to windmills 

Beginning as horizontal mills with woven reed blades that radiate from a vertical axis, these first windmills are built in Persia.

11th Century AD

Windmills are used for food production 

In the Middle East, windmills are used to help produce food and the ideas are then taken to Europe by merchants and crusaders.

1300s

Windmills are used to drain water 

The Dutch people of the Netherlands realize that the water from their low-lying areas can be drained using windmills.

1600s

Windmills are introduced to the New World 

When the Dutch colonize New Amsterdam (now called New York City), they bring their windmill designs with them

1887

First large scale power generating wind turbine 

Charles F. Brush builds a huge 60-foot windmill with a whopping 144 blades in Cleveland, Ohio.

How to Celebrate National Windmill Day

Learn More About Windmills

Well perhaps to first thing to do is start by reading up on the topic of windmills. One of the best things that can be done to celebrate the day is to get more educated on the history of windmills, to begin learning how they’re helping us today, and even to share that information with others. As one of the fastest growing sources of energy in the world, it’s worth learning more about!

Here are some interesting facts about windmills:

The first modern version of the wind turbine was built in Vermont, USA in the 1940s. Its success was not long lived due to war shortages and the next time a windmill would rival it in size would be in 1979.

Hawaii, USA hosts the world’s largest wind turbine, which is the height of a 20 story building and its blades are the length of a football field.

Offshore wind is particularly effective. In Europe, one offshore wind turbine (located in the water) can power more than 1500 homes.

Read Don Quixote

Famous (or perhaps, infamous) for his mistake in thinking that windmills are giant monsters, Don Quixote bravely rides toward them to do battle and, of course, eventually gets knocked off his horse. This is just one of the many beloved and memorable scenes in this classic novel by Spanish author, Miquel de Cervantes, published in 1606.

Visit Holland for National Windmill Day

While not necessarily the first place to house windmills, Holland (now known as The Netherlands) has a long history with them as they were the first place to use them to move water from low lying lands. In fact, the second Saturday and Sunday in May (because one day just isn’t enough!) are celebrated in Holland as “National Mill Day”, which is called Molendag in Dutch. This is a day when 950 windmills and watermills will open their doors to the public for visitors to see their inner workings first hand and learn more about them. Plus, many of them will also host fun events for the local community and tourists alike.

Whether in Amsterdam or throughout the rest of this country filled with canals and waterways, the windmills are stunning. It’s even possible to go on a bike tour of the mills to visit some of the most beautiful, iconic and picturesque mills in the world!

Those who find other countries in Europe to be more accessible can celebrate National Windmill Day in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland and other countries, where it is often referred to as National Mills Day. 

Watch Some Windmills

For those who happen to live in an area that has a single windmill or a whole windmill farm, it might be fun and interesting to go out and watch them turn, turn, turn… (Are we the only one hearing that song now?) More and more communities are dotting them about the landscape as a sustainable source of power. As you gaze upon and contemplate just how important these are to a bright, pollution-free future for our children, enjoy watching their soothing motion and consider their history too.

National Windmill Day FAQs

How do windmills work?

Wind turbines use their large blades to collect kinetic energy as the wind flows over the blades to create “lift”.

Do windmills make noise?

Windmills do emit a characteristic noise, mainly generated by the movement of the blades, but the noise is generally weak.

Are windmills renewable energy?

Wind is an emissions-free source of energy that has fewer effects on the environment than many other energy sources.

Do windmills create electricity?

Yes! Wind turns the propellers of the windmill around a rotor that, in turn, spins a generator to create electricity.

How much do windmills cost? 

The standard windmill costs around $2-4 million with another $40-50,000 in per year in operation and maintenance.

Source

[njadastonearm]

I just finished reading a book that’s basically just a field guide to other books; specifically, it’s sort of a master rec list of female horror and speculative fiction authors dating back to the 1600s, and it’s given me a lot of ideas for other books to read since I enjoy reading horror but haven’t really read that much of it, all things considered. in fact, of the books mentioned, I think I counted five books that I’d actually read (only one of which was by an author who got an in-depth profile). so I guess I have a lot of reading to do, because I just added a whopping 89 books to my want-to-read list on GR. jesus christ.

[melongumi]

archive says i have 500+ posts tagged #wwx and the epic flute solo of doom,

which is a lot, but still less than tamora pierce, fma, homestuck, doctor who, or the tales series. ...for now

it is not, however, going to catch up to final fantasy xiii any time soon, whose #fabula no i can’t handle this tag is at a whopping 1600+ posts