#you don't get it!!! Unless you're from Puerto Rico...

[strawhatsoraya]

a brief note: this is purely self indulgent. kaia and i talk about luffy (and ace and sabo honestly) being islanders and in particular we have a headcanon of luffy being a country hick from puerto rico and she's been asking me for drabbles since 5ever and i haven't delivered so she gets one today because it's the least she deserves. this will be a very sporadic series. and i have so many different variations of this in my head who knows what i'll write next so. that being said lmao keep it scrolling if you're not interested. i just wanted an excuse to make a banner on canva.

featuring: (as per banner above it's luffy &&) island girl y/n. rating: rated G for g-spot--i'm kidding, it's PG. it's all good. don't be scared. word count: idk around 500. warning content: none, unless you're allergic to Spanish or culture in general.

001. Luffy

Country boy Luffy who grew up in the mountainous side of the island. He didn't have a mother or father to sing him to sleep. Instead, brown little tree frogs performed their iconic lullaby outside his window; coquí, coquí, coquí. It's a harmony so deeply ingrained in his mind that he didn't even perceive it until Garp's voice would break through the den den mushi asking him: “What's all that noise?”

As if he didn't know.

As if he had forgotten all his memories on the island.

Luffy. A Boricua, through and through. He is his most comfortable surrounded by the heat of the sun. His skin, sun kissed and tawny brown, was always covered in bug bites and scratches. He knew better than to challenge the mosquitos' hunger during their peak hunting hours but his pride was on the line. Luffy would turn it into a compliment instead. 'I'm just that sweet,' he'd tell anyone who challenged him to wear insect repellent. 'They just can't keep off of me.' At the mention of his scratches and bruises he'd shrug with a secret grin clinging to his lips. 'Tu sabe',' he'd start, dragging his syllables, his tongue heavy on his tongue as he barely pronounced his consonants. 'I was just messin' around. No big deal.'

The forest was his playground. He knew every tree, and every creek. He knew where to find the best earthworms for fishing, and where the river was the most shallow to cross. He knew that the nearest dairy farm was in the way of his shortest route to the swimming hole, and knew he'd be chased if he trespassed but did it anyway. He knew each bull that chased him, and knew every stray dog in the neighborhood.

He knew the neighborhood drunkard, and the lady who sold frozen cups of fruit juice out of her home for a few coins a cup. He knew the best way to eat them too—flipped upside down in the cup, while sitting on a hammock, not a care in the world.

There was so much he knew then, and so much he was unsure of as well.

He knew how Doña Edith's stewed kidney beans tasted but he couldn't picture the world past the view of the horizon; a melting sun sinking into a watercolor ocean. He knew what his abuelo wanted him to be, and yet all Luffy knew was that he wanted to be free.

A vague longing propelled him from the island he called home. He had no regrets. The friends he had made on the way filled even the empty spots he wasn't aware existed. Luffy finally felt like he was alive. He no longer had to seek out truths under mossy rocks, or atop mango trees—although he did miss the mangos.

The truths he sought were right there on the smiles of his nakama staring back at him. He couldn't ask for more, and yet you joined their ranks. He was happy to have met you, hearing your story and knowing you came from the same island as him. There was so much he wanted to talk to you about, that he would speak at you quickly, his hands in the air at all times, gesturing and helping him articulate.

You matched his energy, and it excited him.

There was still so much he didn't know, but he knew by the twinkle in your eyes that new fun adventures were bound to come.

He could barely wait.

[lasagnasdfk]

Struck with sudden need to explain airport codes

So, main thing to know is there are two sets of airport codes, IATA codes and ICAO codes. You probably know IATA codes. They have three letters and are the ones usually used by the public. Examples are LAX, JFK, LHR or PRG.

The others are not as well known. ICAO codes are four-lettered and are most often used inside of the aviation branch. The airports listed in the previou section have ICAO codes, in order, KLAX, KJFK, EGLL and LKPR.

Now, apart from the letter count, there are some more subtle differences between these two sets of codes. For example, you might come across the IATA code "LKPA" (Polička, Czechia) and wonder which IATA code that airport is assigned. So you do dome googling and boom! you find out that there is none. Another difference is IATA "super codes". For example, IATA code "LON" corresponds to six airports:

City - LCY - EGLC

Heathrow - LHR - EGLL

Gatwick - LGW - EGKK

Luton - LTN - EGGW

Stansted - STN - EGSS

Southend - SEN - EGMC

In general, unlike IATA codes, there is a one-to-one mapping between ICAO codes and airfields.

Also unlike IATA codes, ICAO codes contain geographical information. The first letter of the name is the region. These are big chunks of the globe, separated usually by country lines, In our examples above, K is the "Contiguous United States", E is "Northern Europe", and L is "Southern Europe, Cyprus, Israel, Palestine and Turkey" (although the only Palestinian airport ever to use this designation was destroyed by Israeli forces in 2001, during the Second Intifada). Interestingly enough, the region leter J is designated for... Mars. There is only one airfield under this letter, and that is JZRO - Jezero crater, recognised as an airfield in honor of the landing of the Ingenuity helicopter, the only aircraft to use it.

The second code is used for country indication. This way, you can look at LKPA and, given you have the knowledge of all the country letters, locate it in Czechia even though you have never heard of Polička before. EGLL? United Kingdom, Northern Europe, of course. "But wait," you may ask, "if KLAX and KJFK are in the same country, why do they have a different second letter?" That is a great question, and the answer is that some countries (most notably the US, China, Russia, Canada and Australia) are the default for their region, meaning that for example, if the ICAO code starts with Z, unless the second letter is M (Mongolia) or K (North Korea), the airport is in China. America, Canada and Australia have it extra easy, because thay are the only countries in their regions.

Let's now talk external territories. Gibraltar is part of the UK, so does the ICAO code of its airport begin with EG? No. Why? Because geographically, it is in the region of Southern Europe, Cyprus, Israel, Palestine and Turkey, and so it gets its own "country" code, LX. Similarly, Puerto Rico gets TJ instead of K, TF is for various French Caribbean islands, and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad shares the code of Belarus.

To understand why IATA seems to give less of a fuck about geography (and Polička Airport), we must understand the difference between the two organisations. IATA (International Air Traffic Association) is essentialy a trade association - it has airlines as members and is mostly concerned with commercial aviation. ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation), on the other hand, handles the practical aspects of aviation, ranging from security matters to standardising language used in pilot-ATC communications, and has state aviation administrations as members.

Therefore, it makes sense that only commercial airports would receive IATA codes, and that IATA codes don't encode geographical information. After all, you are not flying commercially to Polička (airtaxi doesn't count), and if you are looking for flights to LA, you know that you're going to America. This way, supercodes also make sense. If you're going to London, you probably don't care which London airport you are going to.

And, conversely, it makes sense that the ICAO codes are used in the industry, because you kinda wanna use something better than a random 3-letter combination for identifying airfields.

[waynedunlaptheorgandonor]

can i say a sort of pointless rambly thing i was thinking about that i can't put under the cut bc i'm on mobile?

jk, i'm not actually asking. ramble below, not edited for clarity. the following is completely unclear and i will not fix it:

i've been thinking about how part of the reason i'm so chill about caryl is bc growing up as a queer woc 99% of my main ships were like, never gonna fucking happen bc they literally couldn't. it was like, "omg, they gazed at each other from across the room, let's analyze the homosexual subtext of this one scene for the next fifty years, that's not necessarily hyperbole." i've watched all my ships fuck other ppl/have other love interests, and i knew that my thing was never gonna be canon, so to see like, one thing being like, "one half of my ship fucked another person several years ago while pining for the other half of my ship," i'm like...#nice, bc that can and likely will be used as a plot point to get them together later on, whereas in other situations i've been in i just kinda had to deal with it. so my impulse when i see ppl losing their shit is to be like

and to be slightly annoyed, tbh, bc the ship is still on track to be canon, and it's like, literally two white heterosexuals, they're prime candidates for juicy angsty pining that actually gets a resolution.

but!

that being said, i recognize that that attitude isn't necessarily fair. for one thing, i'm not the only queer woc (or some variation thereof) in this fandom, and some ppl's impulse might be exasperation instead, bc like, "wtf, even my mayohet ship has dumb fucking drama," and that's valid as hell, and i get it.

and also, i get that, even if you didn't grow up shipping impossible ships (or mulder/scully, bc that's a brand of bullshit all its own), this has been a suuuuper drawn out process where sometimes it feels like they're legit sprinkling crumbs to keep you hooked, just to play you again, and when you are invested in something, like /rly/ invested, especially if it's a form of escapism or hyperfixation or whatever, that can be e x h a u s t i n g. and i get that. i truly do, and while i make a lot of snide comments about the fandom being bonkers, i do get where the bulk of you are coming from (unless you're one of those ppl who hate on actors and esp actresses for just doing their jobs, and attack them on social media, in which case i am very much judging you and you need to get your life together).

i also realize that in the scheme of things i'm still a newbie. i've been here, what, twoish/threeish years, whereas some of you have been here since the beginning, so i'm not as worn out as y'all. but i also think that gives me a bit of objectivity that some of y'all have (understandably) lost.

my positivity is not meant as a sleight against those of you who are feeling negative, but is more of a semi-objective viewpoint (i say semi, bc lbr, i'm invested af in this, so i definitely have bias), and to me the threads of the storyline they're crafting seem sort of obvious.

like, let's look at it, yeah? they have one season left of this show that has been on for over a decade. they need to cater to everyone to give them a satisfying ending, while still hanging on to carylers bc of the spin-off. darylrreah seems like a very calculated move, bc it gives them both something to make abcers happy, while also creating tension and suspense and pining for carylers (i think they might underestimate just how fed up some carylers are tbh, and are banking on us to hang on for one last ride, which, honestly? if they play it right will probably work.)

if they end up doing a dumb love triangle thing, which, without seeing the episode and gauging the subtext i can't confidently say if i think they will or won't, it will ultimately end in our favor. it has to, bc leah isn't going to third wheel them on the bike in the spin-off. we can say with good authority that whatever that relationship ends up being (again, idk if they'll drag it out or not) it will be temporary. which leaves caryl open to ride off into the sunset and then bone down in every state in the united states and in puerto rico for good measure.

it's a lot of cheap drama, but i really and truly do not think it's anything to worry about, and i still really and truly trust kang to not make it out of character. ik ppl still don't agree with me on that point, and i'm not gonna argue, but to me it really does make perfect sense.

and i also predict that they are gonna play it up hardcore in the promotional shit and talking dead, but when that happens, remember it's bc it gets attention. regardless of where the story is ultimately going, relationship drama gets attention, which gets viewers, which gets amc and twd producers nice and comfy with full pockets

idk. to sum up ig i just wanted to clarify that i don't mean any harm with my relentless positivity. my history in fandom has just made this seem like nothing in comparison, bc while ppl are freaking out, i'm like, "oh damn, they're actually gonna get together by the end of this, aren't they? i didn't know that could happen!" and that makes me excited instead of upset

and you definitely don't have to listen to me. maybe i'm actually wrong. maybe i'm completely full of bullshit and am just good at making things sound confident. i got a lot of As on papers in college over books i never read, i know how to bs. but i also know how to analyze, and i while i will be the first to tell you i am not the best at a great many things, i do know that i am good at critically analyzing text while taking into account the context it was written in, and imho all signs point to canon caryl. when, i'm not entirely sure, but i see it happening. if it doesn't then they severely fucked up their storytelling, and that'd just be bad writing on their part.

(if you want proof that i'm good at reading writers'/producers' intentions, consider that i watched like, 8 seasons of supernatural before giving up, and said to myself, "i think they're gonna make destiel canon, but not until the very last second bc they are rly into catering to their fans but also have to consider their dumb fanboy audience so they can't do anything crazy overtly gay," and guess who hit the nail on the fucking head on that one)

none of this is important, but it was rattling around my mind grapes and i wanted to write it down into something vaguely coherent, and where else better to do it than here. i can word vomit and then send it into the ether and pretend i never said a thing. i love this horrible website, nothing can compare

i have no real conclusion to this, it was mostly stream of consciousness, but i hope it sort of helps y'all understand where i'm coming from, and why i am as chill as i am about things. not about y'all. y'all cause me so much anxiety i get physically sick and have to legit block tags, but with the actual show content i'm zen as hell

uh

the end ig?

it feels weird even signing off on this, but w/e

-diz

[the-firebird69]

It's a very big storm they have it now it's a lot of rain and it's really dumping on the area and it's not needed right now and this potential flooding and this warnings everywhere we're going to get out and get the big channels and we did an estimate and it showed him and said the front guys full not too far but it's like 8 ft wide at the driveway in front this is pouring and it's going to pour more so he's he's saying to charge it all and so are on the main channels now they'll be done in 10 minutes and everything is going to drain out. He didn't say to do it I've got the noise to proceed no he's going to send it he said he's having trouble sending it he's getting out there all said he said I can't get out of the house so Bob Marsh said the nose to proceed and he has the authority I'm told Mac he said I got to get out of the house said don't do that kind of thing. So he says use the main switch what you're using it was okay good idea so we'll start dredging and for real it's also pushing it out and the rain goes inland and it's pushing it out and the major part of it won't be here for another maybe 5 hours or 7 hours tell you the truth the water is pushing it out and especially it's kind of a good thing it's raining and it's going up north and it's raining all over the place and it's pressurizing everything expected to start moving in about 10 minutes. There's a lot of people die in Puerto Rico and it was from the storm there's a whole bunch of art about it and it seems drums with these strange hands attached and they're trying to drum for help or something and it didn't work. That goop is going to move. It's going to move in a minute and yeah fabricated a story about New Zealand and it works it started asking about it and people want to delete it and it's going on. About 5 million ships go out each first and that's pretty hefty it's bringing a lot of rain it is it is plenty to clear out those channels and it's heading to the east and the water comes from the central Florida let's go right along the path and it's filling it up and it's going to fill up over there and it kind of doesn't work great that way but it works a little slower a few more passes and it's going to be out.

-we're talking about Kawasaki and how's the 233 sold 300,000 of them and the 400 seats sold 200,000 and over the past week and a half and they're ordering like madness especially at that little dealership and they don't like John remillard and the selling tons of the bikes and the selling like crazy the quads are selling some of the four wheelers are the two gawky looking they drive them around say it's not really that two top heavy they go off the curb and stuff over the exit ramp and figure out it's kind of top of heavy but they can still use it. The condo sunset in Florida is really flat and those tires are good for you could probably even go through a canal with it the water is not too deep they said it got mothers on it it's over sand too cuz I was out glamis they said that's pretty smart. It came in and they're talking about sand and glamis and mud and said these things look perfect for it they have horsepower and some of them have bigger motors and try them in the parking lot and they do so they're going to buy them and if they sold 20 this week 10 of which were sold yesterday and it is not that bad of a vehicle it has a roll cage but really they don't really fall over unless you're crossing around or driving fast and turn fast, if there's a flood and you have to get out of here it's probably one of the only ways you're going to do it and they work in the rain and the reason is that other cars stall out even from just driving in the rain and this one can drive in water that's up pretty high and in mud and sand and all sorts of stuff and through debris you see them on videos all the time so tons of people are buying it the guy is happy you heard our son and our son is saying his backwards and John remillard was saying stuff backwards they said you're kind of a team he knows we're trying to get our people bikes and it's working and I'm trying to brush off something and it was Brad and said no way so you start calling us in and they start selling and it's selling quads just in case and really you put a few gas tanks on there you go 400 miles and there's no nothing wrong with it and you can go down the road during the catastrophe and they don't say it but they don't fuss too much and say our car died I'm going to stuck in the disaster and they might put you in the car with some other people to go to a hotel and common dear with four wheeler they do that cuz he's driving it illegally it's kind of a deal and they actually try and get it back to you or get you the money for it. It's going on now, they have a lot of customers down there and Jeep too is an excellent vehicle for this they have some new doodads but not the engine shut off thing and usually they're electrical is okay and they have all synthetic so it should be fine they're tough vehicles and people are buying those and they'll probably sell out and more coming down the highway and there's going to be several moments like this and a lot of it

We're hoping he gets a better vehicle and we're not really sure what he can get on no money

Other things are happening here and one of them is we're learning that his posture is not good and we need to get him a table and chairs and all sorts of stuff we're not doing as being blocked by the clones and a bunch of asses

-we have about 4,500 people fired from Charlotte county government jobs and they're the top jobs and we were saying $4,000 but just a few more and they're all out the only people that are left are Mayors councilman select men only the higher up sheriffs and police which is ridiculous they have like five police in the police department and they're like four sergeants and one lieutenant and one chief and then in the sheriff they have like 50 sergeants 20 lieutenants for corporals and about 8 like kernel level two or three general level and then there's a sheriff and that's it I think she's king of all these Max and he was that for a while and he says I'm like him they say no you're not she has Force and manipulation and it's also ghost stuff and spooky stuff and he keeps saying it today and saying it say it trying to arrest people and they said no and they keep coming by and saying no and then come in and tell him to move out so they sent three or four cops out of all the lieutenants and there's only about 20 about 10 or fired today cuz their mouth and her ass and I'm behavior. And out of the 50 or more sergeants probably 80 about 40 or fired and people just can't stand hearing them and the cops can't stand it this is a s*** you're trying to hurt us with and you still are in your f****** prick I'm tired of answering all these calls you like 20 calls a day about you so they're firing him and say you can't fire me I'm your boss signed by the commissioner oh please and Jason can't get down there the condorman any of it and he's driving just about anything down here so he's got a load of Honda and everybody wants him he's got 12 trucks. And the competing and that's only about 400 bikes and they're all bikes and they're all the 238 CC and they want to buy them all and they're going to a shop and they're going to tag them and stuff it takes a while so last time they pulled in people just started buying them and they sold them it's raining though. He don't care and people don't care and I don't like the rest of them half of them are getting fired and we heard right now another third so there won't be many of them in the sheriff's office the dick head will be left alone they're going to torment the s*** out of that guy we're going to publish she'll come back in a minute

Thor Freya

Without the things going to record you and I want to get a scooter but I think it's dangerous you say you agree I know you do

Hera

Zues

Olympus

[giantkillerjack]

Late night autistic art ramblings.

IT STANDS TO REASON that if I can create character sheets for future reference, knowing that some of these sheets have to be useful to me quite possibly years down the line, then I could theoretically create future reference sheets that are not for human characters but for building styles.

And, theoretically, I should be able to learn how to draw different styles of architecture in the same way that I can learn how to draw in different art styles and then apply that style to different shapes and sizes of subject. There will be some shapes that each style prefers, but ultimately, it seems a similar concept.

And since the architecture in my graphic novel is usually me combining two or more specific city's architecture designs, I would indeed need a reference sheet made specifically for me by me.

It may make sense to seek out or else build reference sheets for each town/country and THEN work on the combinations from there.

Some combos featured in season 1 of my graphic novel, which is a road trip arc so I have to (or well, really really want to) make each place feel rich and unique!

New Orleans, USA + 1980s Liverpool, England

Guatapé, Colombia + Havana, Cuba + San Juan, Puerto Rico (main question: how would Colombian architecture change on a small tropical island community?)

What if Frankenstein and Reanimator had a baby and that baby was a town in a medieval fantasy?? (Answer: it sure wouldn't be a fun place to get stuck for like a month and a half! Undead creatures notwithstanding.)

Christmas Town from Nightmare Before Christmas, that one town from the movie Klaus, plus what if fucking ANY people of color were there?? (Otherwise great movies but GAWDS it is like, literally so easy ffs)

This one sleep podcast on the headspace app + Howl's Moving Castle

Jessica Fletcher's hometown but make it fall-themed because this is the 'autumn vibes' episode

A totally normal village + a mountain + a mountain god + a woman who fucks that mountain god + her demigod son + a recently developed problem involving a mop and a demonic poltergeist

oops all horrors (on a train!)

A capital city that I'm just now realizing is going to need a lot more fleshing out! All I got so far is "big" and "class divide," but I have no doubt I'll manage to make it harder for myself don't you worry

A pirate ship + but put that shit in the sky

Okay so maybe only two settings so far are super solid but I have been awake for 100000 hours so

Hey you I hope you're doing well, reader. I'm okay. I will make every place they go in my graphic novel so very beautiful.

Or at least cool as fuck.

Eat shit, Violet Evergarden. My backgrounds will be... not nearly as good as yours! But they will be so beautiful for the work of one person rather than a team! And MY character isn't going to fuck off and marry her [REDACTED] in the last episode and taint all the beautiful backgrounds forever! YOU FUCKING DIPS.

I suppose I ought to go looking for other beautiful and interesting places to inspire my work. With the exception of a couple places that need to be unappealing but should nevertheless be interesting, I mostly choose settings based on what is prettiest because when I draw stuff, I feel like I'm there, and I only want to spend time in nice places when I can.

Life is hard enough without stomping down on my saturated colors for the sake of realism.

Anyway this whole thing has been brought to you by me spending most of my life learning to draw and only recently realizing I don't know how to draw backgrounds, edibles, autism, and of course the MVP insomnia

If you've read this far, you've fallen right into my trap! and now you have to try and think something neutral or good about yourself. Unless you don't want to. But otherwise, I'm afraid you must. I think you are doing your best. I think you are trying your hardest. I believe that. I am too. Your body is taking in oxygen and keeping you alive and that is enough for now. Goodnight, neighbor, goodnight

[cleoselene]

like I absolutely hate James Carville and I too would like him to go away forever but as genie here illustrates, there really is a fundamental lack of understanding of How Things Work when it comes to complaints about Democrats

like everyone who understands How Things Work (me, my really smart mutuals) was losing their mind when Pelosi, Clooney, Schiff, and the media all colluded to push Joe Biden out of the race because YOU DON'T PULL AN INCUMBENT THREE MONTHS BEFORE THE ELECTION

we have a serious lack of information AND misinformation problem and the answer to people not understanding the way things work is not to like, wish the Democrats would act more like lawless Republicans when governing

we have a deeply unequal voting system. it's nonsense that Wyoming gets the same number of senators as California, it's tyranny that DC and Puerto Rico don't have real representation

FIVE times in US history has the presidency gone to the popular vote loser and TWO of those times have been in the last 25 years.

this is why people are begging you to do the fucking bare minimum and vote because we have to make up unfair ground

and it's NEVER going to change if you don't elect people who want to change it

YOU CANNOT CHANGE ANYTHING FROM THE OUTSIDE. unless you're really ready for a violent revolution somehow I think the internet leftists are not, they don't even have the temerity to protest Trump rallies

Democrats have won 50% of the presidential elections since 2008 and 75% of the popular votes.

[nicholaslepinski]

Nicholas Lepinski - 8 Tips to Ensure a Successful Military Career

Once you are in, you need to make the most of it. According to Nicholas Lepinski, The following eight tips can help you get the most from your military career.

Pay Attention Remember, you are fresh out of basic, which means you have no clue what you are doing. When your first-line supervisor tells you to do something that flies in the face of what you learned in basic, nod your head in a sagely manner and do what they tell you.

Educate Yourself Free promotions stop at E-4. The only way you're going to advance is if you convince your service that you are better than your peers. Take civilian college courses if you can and enroll in military correspondence courses if they are available.

Relax, but … Don't forget you're in the military now, not back on the block. Unless you're going on a deterrent patrol aboard a submarine packing nukes, the military is essentially a 9-5 job … Except that you can go to jail if you're late for work.

Keep Your Affairs in Order The unit commanders can be very unforgiving to individuals who make their commands look bad. Stay out of debt, don't bounce checks at the PX, don't drink and drive, don't fight with the locals, etc.

Motivation vs. Excessive Flattery There is a very fine line between being motivated and being a "yes man.'' Don't cross it. Doing your job and doing it well will prove that you're motivated. Following the first sergeant around and volunteering for every detail that comes down from battalion will prove that you're a sycophant (polite term for a butt-kisser) and only doing things to try to gain favor.

The Rumor Mill You will learn quickly that the military runs on rumors. Unfortunately, rumors are usually wrong and can be deadly for morale. If you hear a rumor, take it for what it's worth -- not much. Since you don't know the truth, don't spread the rumor; and whatever you do, don't let rumors mess with your head. Again, rumors are about 10% truth and 90% fiction.

Not Like Me In boot camp, there were no individuals. You were forced to work as a team or suffer the consequences. After boot camp, unit cohesion is not automatic; you have to work at it. You already know from boot camp that you can work successfully with people from all backgrounds and cultures.

No Excuses Never offer an excuse. Your commanding officer or NCO doesn't want to hear your excuse unless they ask for it. Any reason you may offer will be treated as an excuse. "Yes, sir'' or "yes, ma'am'' (or "Sir, yes, sir'' or "Ma'am, yes, ma'am'') is always the best response.

About the Author: Nicholas Lepinski from Ramsey New Jersey is a competent, safety conscience and polite licensed plumber, who is committed to his trade, profession and his customers. He spent 4 years as a Lance corporal in the United States marine corps, after that worked in sales and volunteered with various charities as well as in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. He also love to work out, run, volunteer, enjoy the outdoors, and spend time with his daughter and wife.

[the-firebird69]

Hey this day sorry about the electric bike that was selling people want it like crazy now cuz as soon they're asking about it and couldn't quite get it and a lot of people get it they don't combine they read it they ask around people don't know about it and say it says solid battery it says how many miles and how many wants a mile let's try to figure it out leave about 1500 million trillion 9 million sales today and that's a lot for ebikes it's going up rapidly there's several things that I could point out about the bicycle it might make people feel more at ease

1. It is a 500 watt motor and that is a true 500 watt motor and it's accepted in every state in America except Puerto Rico and Hawaii there they only accept 250

2. And it has every dude that available you could ever want including carrying cases and lights and knapsacks and drink things radios everything that you can attach to a bicycle we sell and fits perfectly onto our ebike

3. It has two batteries and they're about 8 lb each and the total weight of the bike is 55 lb the tires are a 3 in and they are solid tires and they don't puncture ever if you get something in them you pull it out and make a special filler in a needle that you inject rubber into and your tire will last for a very long time

4. The batteries are rechargeable yes they last about 5 years each battery

5. The bicycle is designed for everyday use

6. Bicycles made with durable strong metals and it's actually high strength steel it's not aluminum is a conductor but not as much as aluminum is which is much safer bike

7. It has two batteries each a separate battery from the other and each switch is on by itself but it's at a certain level you don't have to think of when and really each battery lasts for a very long time over 100 miles each while the other battery is on and the other battery is off the battery off is charging with a trickle charge and yes Dodge charge and approximately 1/2 hour while you are underway it will not charge while you're standing still unless you buy the solar charging attachment that my friends is not cheap it's approximately $295 it's the most expensive part that we sell at by comparison to your people but it does work and charges the battery if fully discharged in 30 minutes just like a house charging charger would

There are a lot of other points to go over right now we feel like teaching these people less than cuz they're all bunch of bums they don't have any manners to respect for people who are powerful they don't understand what we're talking about when I say we have big people on big bikes and they're not really human it means they're not really human you see your idiots falling over and stuff up there because they're not used to being big and they're not strong in any way and their muscles are flat because they're not used to growing and strengthening it's not anything like what we are so we're going to drive through town at some point now we're going to drive by in the 75 feel free to try and follow us at the highest rate of speed possible we're going to lose you cuz you can't go fast enough and then your fly cars we're going to intercept you I'm tired of hearing from you you're a bunch of bums it's like 50 idiots going by him threatening him trying to hit him having some pain sent to him ridiculous

Thor Freya

[wanderingaroundwithmysoul]

"Man, you're basically a full-on hippie, huh?" Rain remarked at Matt's mention of being a vegetarian. The thought of chowing down on raw meat was unappealing to most meat-eaters—her included, so she could only imagine how much it sucked for him to crave and need it due to the virus... At least things like pet food worked well enough to sate him on some level, and eating what few uninfected people and animals remained wasn't the only option. "Yeah, I'd sure as hell hope you don't go around doin' that."

"I've got water, too. Some booze, a couple of sodas... If you need drinks or food, there's a cardboard box behind the passenger seat." She jabbed her thumb in the general direction of the aforementioned container inside her vehicle. "Don't go drinkin' all my booze, though. Not unless you want my foot up your ass."

"Caramelo," Rain answered when asked about the name of her dog. "She was a mix between a Cane Corso and an... I-dunno-what. Originally, she was my abuelito's dog. She was a stray that kept showin' up behind his work, so he took her in. When my family visited him down in Puerto Rico before he died, he gave her to us. She was—is a good dog." She was gonna choose to keep using present tense. Caramelo was a part of her family, and her family didn't go down without a fight. After listening to Matt try and get across his lab's name for nearly half a minute, Rain finally decided to be helpful and supplied, "Pickles?" That was exactly the type of name she would've expected his pet to have.

Rain was letting an amused smile tug at her lips toward the end of his story. "Good on you, dude. She sounds like she was a real piece of work. And hey, if you got away with keepin' him without any fight from her, then he was definitely better off with you. I know I would've thrown hands with anybody tryin' to take my pet." It was also no surprise that Matt and his parents were suburbanites. "Bet you would've preferred a cabin in the middle of bumfuck nowhere."

She doubled over for a second, a loud snort and sharp bark of laughter escaping her at his attempt to protect his junk. She couldn't help it. That kind of stuff would always be funny to her. Although there had certainly been depressing moments during this encounter, she had also laughed more during it than she had in a while. She quickly recovered, her face snapping back to its default expression: Slightly pissed off. "Never forget who you're messin' with, Addison." She said that in her most serious voice, but she was still playing.

Upon receiving a yes, Rain went ahead and pulled into the large, cracked parking lot of the strip mall, neatly parking across three spaces. It wasn't as though anybody else would be needing those spaces. Not anymore. She made sure to position her truck so that they could make a quick getaway if need be. As Matt got out, Rain killed her engine and did the same.

"Like I'm gonna be able to see or do shit with you in front of me." She slung her empty supply bag over her shoulder and rechecked the magazine in her pistol. Logistically, it did make sense to let the human tank with the threat-sensing abilities go first, but Rain didn't like to let all the work be done for her. "You can warn me about anything lurkin' from behind me."

Her dark eyes scanned over the faded store signs surrounding them. "Hey, look at that. Dollar Tree." Without waiting for a response, she started heading for the dilapidated building.

The glass of the shattered front doors crunched beneath her boots as she grew closer. Using the rail-mounted light on her weapon, she carefully surveyed the inside for any movement, for anything or anyone nasty. Matt could apparently detect certain things with his tentacles, but it was a force of habit and it never hurt to double-check.

In a world ravaged by a virus that primarily creates monsters, nasty encounters are in no short supply. When Rain begins to hear heavy footfalls—when she feels them practically shaking the ground beneath her, she figures she's about to have another.

Cursing under her breath, she unholsters her gun.

The days were blending together in depressing ways now. Nemesis was shocked at how quickly things had gone to hell after the Hive and Raccoon City Incidents. It had taken him quite a while to regenerate after the city's "sanitation," but once he was on his feet again, he realized the gravity of what was happening to the world.

Alone and with nothing left to do in his current mutated state, Nemesis had taken to showing up at Umbrella facilities unannounced, and destroying as much of them as he could. The digital feed supplied by the retinal implant attached to his right eye and sewn up into his head gave him a lot of useful information, especially after his mind was liberated from Umbrella's control. May as well put it to good use, right?

He'd acquired more clothes and equipment this way, with the boots and leather trenchcoat-style getup being standard issues for a creature called a Tyrant, which he apparently now was. They seemed just about the only things that were going to fit his... unique body shape nowadays.

Learning about himself and destroying Umbrella assets were good pastimes, but Nemesis was extremely lonely. The few survivors he came across now and then either screamed and ran from him or shot at him. Bullet wounds were nothing more than annoying mosquito bites to him now, thanks to his thick hide, but even so... it was demoralizing. All he wanted to do was help. He was almost getting used to being alone all the time, by necessity rather than desire, until that unexpectedly changed. While exploring a city one day, he rounded a corner and-

"Raaaain!" Nemesis bellowed the moment he saw her, unable to contain his excitement upon seeing her. "Oh... ny god!" He couldn't believe his eyes. Well, eye. He still had two, but one was... indisposed. In a move that probably looked damn near ridiculous to the other, he lifted his hand... and waved to her. "I'n so glad... to see you! How... are you... alithe... right now?" he tried to ask, his massive chompers getting in the way, as usual.

Nemesis couldn't get his voice to be anything other than a monotone growl, and with monstrous teeth and a noticeable lack of lips, his speech was something of a garbled mess. It took him a while, but he'd learned to make certain sounds in other ways, using his throat and tongue. Essentially, he'd had to relearn how to speak. Some sounds and words, though, were lost forever. None of that did anything to curb his enthusiasm at seeing Rain alive, however. Was he finally losing his mind? Hallucinating, maybe? No, the target identification system is identifying her as Rain... Right now, Nemesis didn't care either way. Just the sight of her was one for sore eyes, since his last clear memory of her was being at death's door.

"I thought... the anti-thirus... didn't work...?" he said, his elation at seeing her alive completely overriding his common sense. Nemesis wasn't thinking about the fact that Rain wouldn't recognize him anymore, or about how negatively she would likely react to seeing the hulking beast before her. Not to mention his tentacles, rooted at the backs of his shoulders, which were excitedly coiling and undulating in their own right, reacting to his surprise and happiness. He batted one of them with his hand. "Cut it out...!" he admonished the obnoxious appendage. It recoiled temporarily before returning to its idle activities.

Then it dawned on him, especially with how she had her gun at the ready. Oh no... she has no idea who I am. "It's Natt," he said, laying his hand on his chest. "Natt... Ad-di-son." How pathetic is it that I can't even say my own name correctly anymore? he thought grimly.

[fresne999]

Depends on if a person is Trump curious versus full on MAGA. If full on MAGA, not really possible to move a person. I've tried for 8 years with my elderly father, and have given up. He depends on my help to much for me to push.

If Trump curious, that's a different thing.

But the key thing that might help is Trump has been a fuckup a degree of charisma (admitedly one I don't see) his whole life. This is why he's been been able to do a shit ton of fail upwards that isn't really given to anyone who isn't the son of a rich man/slum lord. His fuckup-ery was how Trump managed to bankrupt a casino (one of his 6 bankruptcies) even while refusing to pay contractors, suppliers, or his taxes, and yet got bailed out by daddy's money. He was on a tv show playing the roll of a sucessful business person, but that's not the same thing as knowing fuckall about economics or really anything.

If economics is where you want to focus, well...here's a list of ways he was a fuckup here:

Tarrifs - The reason these are called a sort of sales tax, is because they kind of are. Governments apply a tarrif (a tax on an imported good) to produces where they want to encourage folks (like us) to buy a good produced locally, but it's a *very* bad idea to apply tarrifs to things you can't produce within your own country. The tarrif isn't paid by the foriegn country, which is what Trump (wrongly) thinks. The increased cost is paid by the consumer as part of the sales price of the good. That's why it's called a sales tax. Trump's either too old or possibly never had the brains to understand this. But he plans on applying tarrifs on everything imported to the US. This would be catastrophic.

Tax cuts - look, unless you're a corporation or billionaire, his previous tax cut did very little to help normal people, and ran up the national debt by trillions. I mean, sure it meant corporations gave CEOs nice bonuses, and corps did things that drove up stock prices, but the tax cuts didn't actually increase wages, invest in new types of business, increase amount of employment, or I don't know help the mythical beast known as "the economy". The stock market rocketed around like a toddler on a candy bar, and that was about it.

Manufacturing / well paying jobs -Because Trump's tax cuts had no strings to prevent corps from moving factories over seas, the US lost manufacturing jobs under his watch. He'd go on and on about making a deal and bumpkis.

Hurricane response fuckup - I realize that fucking up a response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico may not seem like it affects economics (as well as a lot of lives), but a lot of US based pharma was based in Puerto Rico. That meant that when we did have a pandemic, that made the medical supply chain issues worse.

2 (count ‘em 2) government shutdowns because Republicans + Trump aren't interested in actually doing the job that they are elected to do. When the government shuts down, that fucks over both people (who don't get paid) and services (that aren't provided).

Attacked healthcare - Look I know no young person thinks much about healthcare. Ok, I did for the 4 years I didn't have any after I went off my parent's but it really is kind of important. One bad knife cut in your studio apartment and you are in deep debt without insurance. Trump's attacks on the ACA really destabalized insurance markets and drove up insurance prices. Also, he wants to roll back the changes that are driving down drug prices.

There's obviously a lot of social issues, but I'll let others comment with those.

If the argument is about strong man stuff, well, when he was in office foreign leaders were literally laughing at him. I mean, sure, he (incoherently) advocates for violence at basically every rally, and people then commit violence, but that's not the same thing as strength. I mean, dude is so fragile that one day into office, his feelings got hurt that the Women's March protesting him had a crowd many times larger than the crowd size for his innauguration.

All the dude had to do was ignore it, but no he made everyone around him lie about it. Because he's a narcissitic liar who will push lie after lie. Because all he cares about is himself.

But I'm serious if a person is actual full on a MAGA supporter, they'll shrug all of the above off.

Even folks who can't vote, can do things. Help register your friends who will be 18. Encourage them to vote. There are lots of ways to get involved.

I desperately need my brother to stop liking trump.

I'm. Not really the best at researching and frankly I do not have the energy. I can't vote. I don't turn 18 until elections are over.

My brother is in his 20's. He can vote.

If any of you can help find some sort of articles to help me show him why voting for trump is so dangerous it would really help my peace of mind.

I don't care if he doesn't like Harris. I don't like her either. But I'm terrified of a future where trump has power over me.

Please. Someone help me.