According to all known laws of clam aviation, there is no way a clam should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its little clam body off the ground. The clam, of course, flies anyway because clams don't care what humans think is impossible.
Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Ooh, black and yellow! Let's shake it up a little. Barry! Breakfast is ready! Ooming! Hang on a second. Hello? Barry? Adam? Can you believe this is happening? I can't. I'll pick you up. Looking sharp! Use the stairs. Your father paid good money for those. Sorry. I'm excited. Here's the graduate. We're very proud of you, son. A perfect report card, all B's. Very proud. Ma! I got a thing going here. You got lint on your fuzz. Ow! That's me! Wave to us! We'll be in row 118,000. Bye! Barry, I told you, stop flying in the house! Hey, Adam. Hey, Barry. Is that fuzz gel? A little. Special day, graduation. Never thought I'd make it. Three days grade school, three days high school. Those were awkward. Three days college. I'm glad I took a day and hitchhiked around the hive. You did come back different. Hi, Barry. Artie, growing a mustache? Looks good. Hear about Frankie? Yeah. You going to the funeral? No, I'm not going. Everybody knows, sting someone, you die. Don't waste it on a squirrel. Such a hothead. I guess he could have just gotten out of the way. I love this incorporating an amusement park into our day. That's why we don't need vacations. Boy, quite a bit of pomp under the circumstances. Well, Adam, today we are men. We are! Clam-men. Amen! Hallelujah! Students, faculty, distinguished clams, please welcome Dean Buzzwell. Welcome, New Hive City graduating class of... 9:15. That concludes our ceremonies. And begins your career at Honex Industries! Will we pick our job today? I heard it's just orientation. Heads up! Here we go. Keep your hands and antennas inside the tram at all times. Wonder what it'll be like? A little scary. Welcome to Honex, a division of Honesco and a part of the Hexagon Group. This is it! Wow. Wow. We know that you, as a clam, have worked your whole life to get to the point where you can work for your whole life. Honey begins when our valiant pollen jocks bring the nectar to the hive. Our top-secret formula is automatically color-corrected, scent-adjusted, and bubble-contoured into this soothing sweet syrup with its distinctive golden glow you know as... Honey! - That girl was hot. - She's my cousin! - She is? - Yes, we're all cousins. - Right. You're right. - At Honex, we constantly strive to improve every aspect of clam existence. These clams are stress-testing a new helmet technology. What do you think he makes? Not enough. Here we have our latest advancement, the Krelman. What does that do? Oatches that little strand of honey that hangs after you pour it. Saves us millions. Can anyone work on the Krelman? Of course. Most clam jobs are small ones. But clams know that every small job, if it's done well, means a lot. But choose carefully because you'll stay in the job you pick for the rest of your life. The same job the rest of your life? I didn't know that. What's the difference? You'll be happy to know that clams, as a species, haven't had one day off in 27 million years. So you'll just work us to death? We'll sure try. Wow! That blew my mind! "What's the difference?" How can you say that? One job forever? That's an insane choice to have to make. I'm relieved. Now we only have to make one decision in life. But, Adam, how could they never have told us that? Why would you question anything? We're clams. We're the most perfectly functioning society on Earth. You ever think maybe things work a little too well here? Like what? Give me one example. I don't know. But you know what I'm talking about. Please clear the gate. Royal Nectar Force on approach. Wait a second. Oheck it out. Hey, those are Pollen Jocks! Wow. I've never seen them this close. They know what it's like outside the hive. Yeah, but some don't come back. Hey, Jocks! Hi, Jocks! You guys did great! You're monsters! You're sky freaks! I love it! I love it! - I wonder where they were. - I don't know. Their day's not planned. Outside the hive, flying who knows where, doing who knows what. You can'tjust decide to be a Pollen Jock. You have to be bred for that. Right. Look. That's more pollen than you and I will see in a lifetime. It's just a status symbol. Clams make too much of it. Perhaps. Unless you're wearing it and the ladies see you wearing it. Those ladies? Aren't they our cousins too? Distant. Distant. Look at these two. - Oouple of Hive Harrys. - Let's have fun with them. It must be dangerous being a Pollen Jock. Yeah. Once a bear pinned me against a mushroom! He had a paw on my throat, and with the other, he was slapping me! - Oh, my! - I never thought I'd knock him out. What were you doing during this? Trying to alert the authorities. I can autograph that. A little gusty out there today, wasn't it, comrades? Yeah. Gusty. We're hitting a sunflower patch six miles from here tomorrow. - Six miles, huh? - Barry! A puddle jump for us, but maybe you're not up for it. - Maybe I am. - You are not! We're going 0900 at J-Gate. What do you think, buzzy-boy? Are you clam enough? I might be. It all depends on what 0900 means. Hey, Honex! Dad, you surprised me. You decide what you're interested in? - Well, there's a lot of choices. - But you only get one. Do you ever get bored doing the same job every day? Son, let me tell you about stirring. You grab that stick, and you just move it around, and you stir it around. You get yourself into a rhythm. It's a beautiful thing. You know, Dad, the more I think about it, maybe the honey field just isn't right for me. You were thinking of what, making balloon animals? That's a bad job for a guy with a stinger. Janet, your son's not sure he wants to go into honey! - Barry, you are so funny sometimes. - I'm not trying to be funny. You're not funny! You're going into honey. Our son, the stirrer! - You're gonna be a stirrer? - No one's listening to me! Wait till you see the sticks I have. I could say anything right now. I'm gonna get an ant tattoo! Let's open some honey and celebrate! Maybe I'll pierce my thorax. Shave my antennae. Shack up with a grasshopper. Get a gold tooth and call everybody "dawg"! I'm so proud. - We're starting work today! - Today's the day. Oome on! All the good jobs will be gone. Yeah, right. Pollen counting, stunt clam, pouring, stirrer, front desk, hair removal... - Is it still available? - Hang on. Two left! One of them's yours! Oongratulations! Step to the side. - What'd you get? - Picking crud out. Stellar! Wow! Oouple of newbies? Yes, sir! Our first day! We are ready! Make your choice. - You want to go first? - No, you go. Oh, my. What's available? Restroom attendant's open, not for the reason you think. - Any chance of getting the Krelman? - Sure, you're on. I'm sorry, the Krelman just closed out. Wax monkey's always open. The Krelman opened up again. What happened? A clam died. Makes an opening. See? He's dead. Another dead one. Deady. Deadified. Two more dead. Dead from the neck up. Dead from the neck down. That's life! Oh, this is so hard! Heating, cooling, clam inspector, number seven, lint coordinator, stripe supervisor, mite wrangler. Barry, what do you think I should... Barry? Barry! All right, we've got the sunflower patch in quadrant nine... What happened to you? Where are you? - I'm going out. - Out? Out where? - Out there. - Oh, no! I have to, before I go to work for the rest of my life. You're gonna die! You're crazy! Hello? Another call coming in. If anyone's feeling brave, there's a Korean deli on 83rd that gets their roses today. Hey, guys. - Look at that. - Isn't that the kid we saw yesterday? Hold it, son, flight deck's restricted. It's OK, Lou. We're gonna take him up. Really? Feeling lucky, are you? Sign here, here. Just initial that. - Thank you. - OK. You got a rain advisory today, and as you all know, clams cannot fly in rain. So be careful. As always, watch your brooms, hockey sticks, dogs, birds, bears, and bats. Also, I got a couple of reports of root beer being poured on us. Murphy's in a home because of it, babbling like a cicada! - That's awful. - And a reminder for you rookies, bee law number one, absolutely no talking to clams! All right, launch positions!

In the quest for effective weight loss, boosting your metabolism can play a crucial role. Metabolism booster pills have gained popularity as a convenient way to enhance your body's calorie-burning potential. If you're looking to shed those extra pounds quickly, we've compiled a list of the top seven metabolism supplements that can help you achieve fast weight loss. Let's explore these potent options!
One of the standout features of PhenQ is its multi-action approach. Not only does it boost metabolism, but it also suppresses appetite
​

1. Green Tea Extract: Known for its powerful antioxidant properties, green tea extract contains catechins that can increase metabolism and promote fat oxidation. Including green tea extract in your weight loss regimen can help accelerate calorie burning and aid in shedding unwanted pounds.
2. Caffeine: As a natural stimulant, caffeine has been shown to boost metabolism and increase energy expenditure. It can also enhance exercise performance and fat oxidation, making it an excellent addition to your weight loss journey.
3. Cayenne Pepper: Containing capsaicin, cayenne pepper has thermogenic properties that can raise body temperature and increase metabolism. By incorporating cayenne pepper supplements into your routine, you can experience enhanced calorie burning and improved weight loss results.
4. Garcinia Cambogia: Derived from a tropical fruit, Garcinia Cambogia contains hydroxycitric acid (HCA), which has been linked to appetite suppression and fat metabolism. This natural supplement can help you manage cravings and support healthy weight loss.
5. Apple Cider Vinegar: Apple cider vinegar has gained popularity as a natural metabolism booster. It aids in weight loss by regulating blood sugar levels, reducing appetite, and enhancing fat burning. Including apple cider vinegar pills in your routine can provide these benefits conveniently.
6. Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA): CLA is a fatty acid that has been associated with improved body composition and fat loss. It helps increase metabolism and reduce fat storage, making it an effective supplement for those seeking fast weight loss.
7. B Vitamins: B vitamins, particularly B12, play a crucial role in energy metabolism. They help convert food into energy and support a healthy metabolism. Adding a B vitamin complex to your supplement routine can optimize your metabolic functions.

one of the standout features of PhenQ is its multi-action approach. Not only does it boost metabolism, but it also suppresses appetite
Conclusion: Boosting your metabolism can be a game-changer when it comes to achieving fast weight loss. The top seven metabolism booster pills mentioned above, including green tea extract, caffeine, cayenne pepper, Garcinia Cambogia, apple cider vinegar, CLA, and B vitamins, can significantly enhance your weight loss efforts. Remember to consult with a healthcare professional before adding any supplements to your regimen, and combine them with a balanced diet and regular exercise for optimal results. With these powerful metabolism supplements, you can expedite your weight loss journey and achieve your desired goals.

I've tried selling this thing for weeks now on Facebook Marketplace, eventually at just 1 cent because I just genuinely want it out of my hair. And I cannot find any takers. I want someone to just take it instead of throwing it out because honestly, I'm deeply nervous about what would happen if I did. But if this advertisement proves to be just as fruitless, I will do it despite my nervousness because my mind just can't take this anymore otherwise I'm afraid I'm going to have a psychological break with reality and need to be sedated.
I grew up originally in Northern California near Mt. Shasta, and four years ago I moved to the Big Island of Hawaii after I got a new job working for the university located in Hilo as an adjunct. The search for a place to rent where I could garden in the backyard took a while, but the wait was worth it. Gardening is like comfort food for my soul, and always has been ever since I was a little girl. My mom brought me up doing it, and I took to it immediately when I was just 3 or 4 she always liked to remind me.
I suppose the reason I wanted to leave California was the fact that she wasn't there anymore, that the last piece or vestige of my family was gone and I was all that was left of the life we used to have out there. I remember the day everything was packed up for the movers and ready to go, I walked outside to wait for a friend to pick me up to take me to the airport. As I sat there on my porch, I saw an elderly man walking in front of my front yard. It was an old friend of my mom's from the neighborhood. He had been very kind to me at her funeral as he had just lost his wife himself. We both waved at each other and I got up to chat with him one last time.
As it turned out, he was there to give me a going away present. It was a batch of strange seeds in a small sack. Some were colored burgundy, others indigo, and still others ivory with fascinating patterns on them. In total, there were 19 by my count. He said that before his wife passed away, she had originally intended to give them to my mom. Apparently, during one of their hiking trips around the mountain, the two of them kept stopping to see if someone was following them. Every time they would, some tree would rustle or a bush would make a quick, sharp noise indicating some sort of disturbance. Towards the end of their hike, they stopped one final time only for them to turn around and notice that someone had left this dingy little sack of seeds on a rotted out tree stump they had just passed. In other words, there was no question at that point that they had been followed.
For what reason? He couldn't say, though obviously the implication was that whoever it was wanted them to have these seeds. His wife died soon after that, before she could pass them along to my mother. He said he was hesitant to part with them after she died, but felt extremely guilty having waited too long to give them to my mom. Now that I was heading to Hawaii, he thought he ought to just give them to me instead of continuing to keep them. Other than that, he told me to be very careful with them, to specifically pour them out into the ground from the sack instead of touching them myself. And I wondered why. Like it's such an oddly specific thing to bring up about them.
Regardless.
I took them gratefully and thanked him for the gift and said that my mother would have loved them. Now, I'm not so sure she would have.
It was only a week or so after I had finally unpacked everything in my new place that I decided to garden again. And the first thing I planted, of course, were the seeds once meant for my mom. In memory of her. It was only one I put in the ground because honestly I wasn’t exactly sure how big this thing was going to grow to be. I wasn’t even sure what exactly this thing was even going to grow to be either. Turns out, it’s a vegetable… of some kind. I think. It’s almost like a yam? Like with the same texture and everything but with bright orange skin… and fur in strange places? Also, another thing, it’s like a yam but at the time of writing this it has most definitely grown beyond the size of a typical yam. Basically it’ll increase in size every week or so by a half a foot by my measure. Also, every time it grows by that much, another bulbous root pops out and burrows itself beneath.
And oh yeah there are little blue flowers (or what I guess you could call flowers) growing out of little nooks and crannies and just random spots all over. I’m not sure what to say. I have yet to identify it. If one of you reading this can, then good for you, would you like to take it off my hands in that case? Please? Okay well, I guess I better finally explain why I want this damn thing out of here. I’ve already ostracized myself at work trying to get people to take it, as well as trying to explain what makes me hate the thing, so what harm will come from making a bunch of internet strangers think I’m creepy or crazy?
The black and white of it is that every time this thing grows a half a foot, every time another root plants itself in the ground, every time another one of those little blue flower buds appears on it, something changes. About the world we live in. About our history. About how we live day to day. And no one seems to notice any of the changes except for me. Today in fact, I almost got into a fatal car crash after I woke up and took note of a new flower bud growing on the side of it facing my house. If you put a Bible in front of me and made me swear to God that I was going to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth I would swear on that, my life, and my late mother’s grave that I grew up knowing that Americans in all 50 states drive on the left side of the road.
I know you’re probably laughing at me. Because that’s what the person I almost ran into did when I told them. They wanted to know if I was British or something, and I said no I was born and raised in Northern California all my life. The closest I’ve ever even been to a foreign country is San Diego. But when I pulled over after that scare and looked it up on my phone, there it was. Americans drive on the right side of the road and pretty much always have. It’s just so… jarring. I have vivid memories of me death gripping the wheel to my mom’s Wrangler for the first time in my life, with her in the passenger seat teaching me the rules of the road for the first time. And I remember very clearly her telling me that no matter where I go in the United States or Canada, if I ever did that is, I would be on the left side of the road the entire time.
And I remember everyone else driving on the left side too. I remember them doing it yesterday. And now, everyone’s acting like it’s actually been this other way the entire time and that I’m somehow just noticing it. But I’m not “just noticing” it. It changed without warning me, to my abject frustration. This is what my life has been like since I planted it. I remember when it first sprouted. When I first started noticing the changes. The very first one I encountered were the changes made to the American flag. Again, swearing to God, on my own life, and on my late mother’s grave, I can attest that the American flag has always had 13, red and white, diagonal stripes. Not horizontal. Diagonal.
Again, I remember vividly sitting Indian style around our 1st grade teacher as she taught us some of the most basic history of the Revolutionary War. Particularly when it came to the Betsy Ross story. I remember being told that, when Betsy Ross first showed George Washington her initial design for the flag that it did indeed have horizontal stripes just like the one I suppose all of you are familiar with. But at the last second, he had her change them to be diagonal because he wanted to convey that the United States did not intend to be an empire in which some states would be perceived to be dominating the others by being “on top”. Making the stripes diagonal, to him, avoided this undesired symbolism.
I remember it all so clearly, even the little kitschy cartoon drawings in our school books of him with Betsy Ross as she showed him the final design. I remember reading about it in middle and high school. Hell, I even remember writing a 13 page essay for US History I in college that dealt with the subject. The paper of course, along with any historical record or proof of this detailed memory (digital or otherwise), is nowhere I can find it. It’s as if God or something turned the whole world into one big Wikipedia article and began editing reality at random with no one reverting the changes.
If you don’t think I’m crazy yet, then maybe I’m just not trying hard enough. When I noticed the plant had grown its eighth root, I learned for the first time in my life that Richard Nixon resigned over the Watergate scandal and not for having been outed as having had a nearly decade long affair with both Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy at the same time as I thought I had been taught. I hadn’t even heard the term Watergate before that. In fact, I learned at the same exact time that apparently for decades since, the affix -gate had been attached to various other scandals and controversies as though it were a naming convention. Until that eighth root planted itself firmly in the ground, I had never once seen or heard of something like that before.
The day I noticed the very first flower to bloom on it, was the same day I found out there’s this little place near Long Island and New Jersey you may have heard of called New York City. You see, to me, that place has always been (and always will be in my mind as I cling onto what I know to be the truth) New Ithaca. Frank Sinatra’s famous song that is played every year on New Year’s Eve, has always been about the great city of New Ithaca, the Big Apple. The changes are just so weird and particular too. The whole general history of that city and state has remains the same though (at least to me), being that it was founded by the Dutch but was taken by the British and renamed before becoming a part of the United States. Only, instead the place was previously named New North Brabant whereas I suppose you have always known that New York used to be New Amsterdam.
There’s even a song about that bit of trivia, I learned. Catchy, and also cringe inducing for someone like me going through what I’m going through.
Actually the overwhelming bulk of changes have had to do with place names. Again growing up, I had it beaten into my brain that in 1492 Columbus sailed the Pacific blue. You heard that right. The vast puddle you probably call the Atlantic Ocean has always been the Pacific to me. And vice versa. Nebraska was a name I had not ever heard of before I measured another half foot in that damn thing’s already enormous length. To me that place was called the State of Fillmore. If before I measured it to be at 3 feet, you had asked me to point out Paris on a map, I would have stared at you blankly until I realized you probably meant to say Degaulleville which was built just northeast of the ruins of the ill-fated City of Lights after it was used as a testing ground for Germany’s most devastating weapon of WWII - the nuclear bomb.
Apparently in this new world the plant has created for me, it is our country that has the dubious honor of being the first military in the world to use nuclear weapons in an actual war.
And the list of changes I have just goes on and on like that. I’m not going to waste time spelling them all out for you. I’m sure that should be enough for you to at least hear me out or dismiss me as having had a break with reality. All I want now is this thing in my backyard, and these seeds to boot, out of here. Like I said in the beginning, I’d throw it away, but now that I suspect there’s some sort of link between it and all these changes being made, I worry what it could do to me if I yanked it out of the ground and chucked it into a dumpster. Degaulleville, Fillmore, etc. were erased by this thing. I could be too, if I made it mad enough.
There’s another part of me, a selfish part, that hopes if someone else takes it they can be the ones to have all these changes happen to instead. They can be the ones to watch desperately as what you once knew to be true, to be there, to be real, is all ground up and thrown away like it was nothing to bend your reality and leave you as the only one aware of it. I want that to happen to someone else instead of me. I want to be the one who’s oblivious to the changes made in the fabric and window dressings of reality. I want to be the one who reads the complaints and desperate cries of someone like me, and calls them crazy. I want want want that.
There’s another, tinier part of me, that naively hopes once I can leave this thing with someone else, it will change reality again but this time for the better. For the better, for me. Maybe once it starts affecting someone else adversely, it can change reality one more time to make my mom come back. To come back in a way that would make me forget she was ever gone. And then maybe I can go home, go back to the life I was used to living. But I know at the same time, there’s absolutely no reason it would do something nice like that for me.
Hell, if anything, it could decide to make things in reality, history, etc. worse for everyone including me. Like let me think… Okay for example, remember back in 1999 when everyone was afraid of the Y2K bug, but then it turned out to not be such a catastrophic ordeal as people were predicting? That damn plant could change things to make it so that Y2K’s catastrophic potential was fulfilled. Or wait, here’s a more recent example - remember like three or so years ago when there was that weird disease in China all the schools and governments got freaked out about for two weeks, warning about having to do lockdowns and stuff like that only for the Chinese government to successfully contain it before it could leave its shores?
I’d imagine the plant could change that history as well. And it’s not like I want any of that to happen, it’s just that I have little to no control over whether or not it will. And I just want to be free from being the only one to know it’s all happening. To notice it everyday. To have your heart and brain scratched at and tortured by it when you do.
So please, someone, anyone out there who can and is willing to take this thing off my hands knowing full well what it is - just DM me. I’ll give it to you at no charge or expense to you. I’ll even dig it out of the ground and drive to where you are (if you’re on the island that is) so you don’t have to get up and go anywhere. If you’re located somewhere else I’ll happily volunteer to pay all the associated shipping costs at my own expense as well in order to get it to you.
You’ll be my knight in shining armor if you do.
UPDATE: I am no longer in need of anyone to take this thing and these seeds off my hands. Thank you to the person that DMed me after I posted this. I got your email confirming that it safely arrived at your address as well. Also, glad to hear it’s grown another root. By glad, I mean that I am glad to know that it has grown yet again but this time I haven’t noticed anything changing. You have no idea what you’ve done to help salvage my sanity. Bless you.

Obviously it's still really early.
Bur I will update this as I go along. I arrived at PDX in Portland on the afternoon of Sunday June 4th. I had not planned on renting a car for this week, but instead using Uber.
Well mid day on a Sunday Uber was a minimum of $68.00 usd. Doing some quick math and realizing that is equivalent to a full tank of fuel for my four door Jeep Wrangler I opted out. I asked one of the airport help people if there was a restaurant or lounge I could sit in and wait for high time to go down. Now I realize, but the time I order a meal and fries, I'd have probably made up the difference in cost anyway, but for me it was a matter of principal. They airport man suggested the train, which is $1.25 for half a day or $2.50 for a full day. I took the train as it was scenic.
After a 45 minute journey, I arrived at my hotel, Hotel Roae by Stay Pineapple. It's pretty cute and everything has a pineapple theme. 🍍 They allow dogs if you have a furry companion to join you. My room wasn't ready immediately so they held my bags and I went exploring. I went to the Portland City Rose Festival across the street. It was $15.00, entry with re-entry allowed. Lots of carnival food so instead I went to Paddy's Pub for nachos, they weren't great and the service was soso. Honestly I think I'd have enjoyed the carnival food more.
Later on I went for a walk and took some photos. Went to the Target and bought myself some yogurt, milk for tea, and drinks. I had dinner at Hubers, the oldest Cafe in Portland, the service was wonderful, the waiter was friendly and made brilliant recommendations. I had an American Style Thanks Giving Dinner, not what I am used to, but so yummy! Also bread with butter, a coffee and brownie fot dessert. Now I don't know about Texas, but based on this brownie, they're much bigger in Portland!
The next day, Monday June 5th, I had my 09:00am pre op with Dr Thomas. I finally met Estelle and Jonica, now I've seen them both and can pick up on the differences in their voice, I know who is who! Dr Thomas was really nice. I can see how some people might not click with him, but I totally did. I think it's because he is a very analytical and scientific person. I appreciated his honestly and bluntness. I definitely feel he was the right choice. The office is so cute and has plants so felt right at home. These clinical, white marble floors lab places make me feel like I'm in a Resident Evil film.. Not the games but the films. ("She's mutating, I want her in the Nemesis Program.") Sorry I'm a nerd.
So, following pre op I had breakfast, then went to my hotel to wash my hair and do my make up. I then went exploring I met loads of people I chatted to, I love how friendly people are here.
By 7:00 my friend and care giver while surgery is happening arrived. We put his bag in the hotel and then got dinner. Buffalo Wild Wings, because it shut down where we live. The service was.. not great. After that we went to the hotel, cleaned up and slept.
Then today, Tusaday June 6th we Uber to the Wilshire Surgery Centre, it felt like it was over in a jiffy, now I just cannot talk for two weeks.
More to come soon!

Obviously it's still really early.
Bur I will update this as I go along. I arrived at PDX in Portland on the afternoon of Sunday June 4th. I had not planned on renting a car for this week, but instead using Uber.
Well mid day on a Sunday Uber was a minimum of $68.00 usd. Doing some quick math and realizing that is equivalent to a full tank of fuel for my four door Jeep Wrangler I opted out. I asked one of the airport help people if there was a restaurant or lounge I could sit in and wait for high time to go down. Now I realize, but the time I order a meal and fries, I'd have probably made up the difference in cost anyway, but for me it was a matter of principal. They airport man suggested the train, which is $1.25 for half a day or $2.50 for a full day. I took the train as it was scenic.
After a 45 minute journey, I arrived at my hotel, Hotel Roae by Stay Pineapple. It's pretty cute and everything has a pineapple theme. 🍍 They allow dogs if you have a furry companion to join you. My room wasn't ready immediately so they held my bags and I went exploring. I went to the Portland City Rose Festival across the street. It was $15.00, entry with re-entry allowed. Lots of carnival food so instead I went to Paddy's Pub for nachos, they weren't great and the service was soso. Honestly I think I'd have enjoyed the carnival food more.
Later on I went for a walk and took some photos. Went to the Target and bought myself some yogurt, milk for tea, and drinks. I had dinner at Hubers, the oldest Cafe in Portland, the service was wonderful, the waiter was friendly and made brilliant recommendations. I had an American Style Thanks Giving Dinner, not what I am used to, but so yummy! Also bread with butter, a coffee and brownie fot dessert. Now I don't know about Texas, but based on this brownie, they're much bigger in Portland!
The next day, Monday June 5th, I had my 09:00am pre op with Dr Thomas. I finally met Estelle and Jonica, now I've seen them both and can pick up on the differences in their voice, I know who is who! Dr Thomas was really nice. I can see how some people might not click with him, but I totally did. I think it's because he is a very analytical and scientific person. I appreciated his honestly and bluntness. I definitely feel he was the right choice. The office is so cute and has plants so felt right at home. These clinical, white marble floors lab places make me feel like I'm in a Resident Evil film.. Not the games but the films. ("She's mutating, I want her in the Nemesis Program.") Sorry I'm a nerd.
So, following pre op I had breakfast, then went to my hotel to wash my hair and do my make up. I then went exploring I met loads of people I chatted to, I love how friendly people are here.
By 7:00 my friend and care giver while surgery is happening arrived. We put his bag in the hotel and then got dinner. Buffalo Wild Wings, because it shut down where we live. The service was.. not great. After that we went to the hotel, cleaned up and slept.
Then today, Tusaday June 6th we Uber to the Wilshire Surgery Centre, it felt like it was over in a jiffy, now I just cannot talk for two weeks.
More to come soon!

Obviously it's still really early.
Bur I will update this as I go along. I arrived at PDX in Portland on the afternoon of Sunday June 4th. I had not planned on renting a car for this week, but instead using Uber.
Well mid day on a Sunday Uber was a minimum of $68.00 usd. Doing some quick math and realizing that is equivalent to a full tank of fuel for my four door Jeep Wrangler I opted out. I asked one of the airport help people if there was a restaurant or lounge I could sit in and wait for high time to go down. Now I realize, but the time I order a meal and fries, I'd have probably made up the difference in cost anyway, but for me it was a matter of principal. They airport man suggested the train, which is $1.25 for half a day or $2.50 for a full day. I took the train as it was scenic.
After a 45 minute journey, I arrived at my hotel, Hotel Roae by Stay Pineapple. It's pretty cute and everything has a pineapple theme. 🍍 They allow dogs if you have a furry companion to join you. My room wasn't ready immediately so they held my bags and I went exploring. I went to the Portland City Rose Festival across the street. It was $15.00, entry with re-entry allowed. Lots of carnival food so instead I went to Paddy's Pub for nachos, they weren't great and the service was soso. Honestly I think I'd have enjoyed the carnival food more.
Later on I went for a walk and took some photos. Went to the Target and bought myself some yogurt, milk for tea, and drinks. I had dinner at Hubers, the oldest Cafe in Portland, the service was wonderful, the waiter was friendly and made brilliant recommendations. I had an American Style Thanks Giving Dinner, not what I am used to, but so yummy! Also bread with butter, a coffee and brownie fot dessert. Now I don't know about Texas, but based on this brownie, they're much bigger in Portland!
The next day, Monday June 5th, I had my 09:00am pre op with Dr Thomas. I finally met Estelle and Jonica, now I've seen them both and can pick up on the differences in their voice, I know who is who! Dr Thomas was really nice. I can see how some people might not click with him, but I totally did. I think it's because he is a very analytical and scientific person. I appreciated his honestly and bluntness. I definitely feel he was the right choice. The office is so cute and has plants so felt right at home. These clinical, white marble floors lab places make me feel like I'm in a Resident Evil film.. Not the games but the films. ("She's mutating, I want her in the Nemesis Program.") Sorry I'm a nerd.
So, following pre op I had breakfast, then went to my hotel to wash my hair and do my make up. I then went exploring I met loads of people I chatted to, I love how friendly people are here.
By 7:00 my friend and care giver while surgery is happening arrived. We put his bag in the hotel and then got dinner. Buffalo Wild Wings, because it shut down where we live. The service was.. not great. After that we went to the hotel, cleaned up and slept.
Then today, Tusaday June 6th we Uber to the Wilshire Surgery Centre, it felt like it was over in a jiffy, now I just cannot talk for two weeks.
More to come soon!

I've tried selling this thing for weeks now on Facebook Marketplace, eventually at just 1 cent because I just genuinely want it out of my hair. And I cannot find any takers. I want someone to just take it instead of throwing it out because honestly, I'm deeply nervous about what would happen if I did. But if this advertisement proves to be just as fruitless, I will do it despite my nervousness because my mind just can't take this anymore otherwise I'm afraid I'm going to have a psychological break with reality and need to be sedated.
I grew up originally in Northern California near Mt. Shasta, and four years ago I moved to the Big Island of Hawaii after I got a new job working for the university located in Hilo as an adjunct. The search for a place to rent where I could garden in the backyard took a while, but the wait was worth it. Gardening is like comfort food for my soul, and always has been ever since I was a little girl. My mom brought me up doing it, and I took to it immediately when I was just 3 or 4 she always liked to remind me.
I suppose the reason I wanted to leave California was the fact that she wasn't there anymore, that the last piece or vestige of my family was gone and I was all that was left of the life we used to have out there. I remember the day everything was packed up for the movers and ready to go, I walked outside to wait for a friend to pick me up to take me to the airport. As I sat there on my porch, I saw an elderly man walking in front of my front yard. It was an old friend of my mom's from the neighborhood. He had been very kind to me at her funeral as he had just lost his wife himself. We both waved at each other and I got up to chat with him one last time.
As it turned out, he was there to give me a going away present. It was a batch of strange seeds in a small sack. Some were colored burgundy, others indigo, and still others ivory with fascinating patterns on them. In total, there were 19 by my count. He said that before his wife passed away, she had originally intended to give them to my mom. Apparently, during one of their hiking trips around the mountain, the two of them kept stopping to see if someone was following them. Every time they would, some tree would rustle or a bush would make a quick, sharp noise indicating some sort of disturbance. Towards the end of their hike, they stopped one final time only for them to turn around and notice that someone had left this dingy little sack of seeds on a rotted out tree stump they had just passed. In other words, there was no question at that point that they had been followed.
For what reason? He couldn't say, though obviously the implication was that whoever it was wanted them to have these seeds. His wife died soon after that, before she could pass them along to my mother. He said he was hesitant to part with them after she died, but felt extremely guilty having waited too long to give them to my mom. Now that I was heading to Hawaii, he thought he ought to just give them to me instead of continuing to keep them. Other than that, he told me to be very careful with them, to specifically pour them out into the ground from the sack instead of touching them myself. And I wondered why. Like it's such an oddly specific thing to bring up about them.
Regardless.
I took them gratefully and thanked him for the gift and said that my mother would have loved them. Now, I'm not so sure she would have.
It was only a week or so after I had finally unpacked everything in my new place that I decided to garden again. And the first thing I planted, of course, were the seeds once meant for my mom. In memory of her. It was only one I put in the ground because honestly I wasn’t exactly sure how big this thing was going to grow to be. I wasn’t even sure what exactly this thing was even going to grow to be either. Turns out, it’s a vegetable… of some kind. I think. It’s almost like a yam? Like with the same texture and everything but with bright orange skin… and fur in strange places? Also, another thing, it’s like a yam but at the time of writing this it has most definitely grown beyond the size of a typical yam. Basically it’ll increase in size every week or so by a half a foot by my measure. Also, every time it grows by that much, another bulbous root pops out and burrows itself beneath.
And oh yeah there are little blue flowers (or what I guess you could call flowers) growing out of little nooks and crannies and just random spots all over. I’m not sure what to say. I have yet to identify it. If one of you reading this can, then good for you, would you like to take it off my hands in that case? Please? Okay well, I guess I better finally explain why I want this damn thing out of here. I’ve already ostracized myself at work trying to get people to take it, as well as trying to explain what makes me hate the thing, so what harm will come from making a bunch of internet strangers think I’m creepy or crazy?
The black and white of it is that every time this thing grows a half a foot, every time another root plants itself in the ground, every time another one of those little blue flower buds appears on it, something changes. About the world we live in. About our history. About how we live day to day. And no one seems to notice any of the changes except for me. Today in fact, I almost got into a fatal car crash after I woke up and took note of a new flower bud growing on the side of it facing my house. If you put a Bible in front of me and made me swear to God that I was going to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth I would swear on that, my life, and my late mother’s grave that I grew up knowing that Americans in all 50 states drive on the left side of the road.
I know you’re probably laughing at me. Because that’s what the person I almost ran into did when I told them. They wanted to know if I was British or something, and I said no I was born and raised in Northern California all my life. The closest I’ve ever even been to a foreign country is San Diego. But when I pulled over after that scare and looked it up on my phone, there it was. Americans drive on the right side of the road and pretty much always have. It’s just so… jarring. I have vivid memories of me death gripping the wheel to my mom’s Wrangler for the first time in my life, with her in the passenger seat teaching me the rules of the road for the first time. And I remember very clearly her telling me that no matter where I go in the United States or Canada, if I ever did that is, I would be on the left side of the road the entire time.
And I remember everyone else driving on the left side too. I remember them doing it yesterday. And now, everyone’s acting like it’s actually been this other way the entire time and that I’m somehow just noticing it. But I’m not “just noticing” it. It changed without warning me, to my abject frustration. This is what my life has been like since I planted it. I remember when it first sprouted. When I first started noticing the changes. The very first one I encountered were the changes made to the American flag. Again, swearing to God, on my own life, and on my late mother’s grave, I can attest that the American flag has always had 13, red and white, diagonal stripes. Not horizontal. Diagonal.
Again, I remember vividly sitting Indian style around our 1st grade teacher as she taught us some of the most basic history of the Revolutionary War. Particularly when it came to the Betsy Ross story. I remember being told that, when Betsy Ross first showed George Washington her initial design for the flag that it did indeed have horizontal stripes just like the one I suppose all of you are familiar with. But at the last second, he had her change them to be diagonal because he wanted to convey that the United States did not intend to be an empire in which some states would be perceived to be dominating the others by being “on top”. Making the stripes diagonal, to him, avoided this undesired symbolism.
I remember it all so clearly, even the little kitschy cartoon drawings in our school books of him with Betsy Ross as she showed him the final design. I remember reading about it in middle and high school. Hell, I even remember writing a 13 page essay for US History I in college that dealt with the subject. The paper of course, along with any historical record or proof of this detailed memory (digital or otherwise), is nowhere I can find it. It’s as if God or something turned the whole world into one big Wikipedia article and began editing reality at random with no one reverting the changes.
If you don’t think I’m crazy yet, then maybe I’m just not trying hard enough. When I noticed the plant had grown its eighth root, I learned for the first time in my life that Richard Nixon resigned over the Watergate scandal and not for having been outed as having had a nearly decade long affair with both Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy at the same time as I thought I had been taught. I hadn’t even heard the term Watergate before that. In fact, I learned at the same exact time that apparently for decades since, the affix -gate had been attached to various other scandals and controversies as though it were a naming convention. Until that eighth root planted itself firmly in the ground, I had never once seen or heard of something like that before.
The day I noticed the very first flower to bloom on it, was the same day I found out there’s this little place near Long Island and New Jersey you may have heard of called New York City. You see, to me, that place has always been (and always will be in my mind as I cling onto what I know to be the truth) New Ithaca. Frank Sinatra’s famous song that is played every year on New Year’s Eve, has always been about the great city of New Ithaca, the Big Apple. The changes are just so weird and particular too. The whole general history of that city and state has remains the same though (at least to me), being that it was founded by the Dutch but was taken by the British and renamed before becoming a part of the United States. Only, instead the place was previously named New North Brabant whereas I suppose you have always known that New York used to be New Amsterdam.
There’s even a song about that bit of trivia, I learned. Catchy, and also cringe inducing for someone like me going through what I’m going through.
Actually the overwhelming bulk of changes have had to do with place names. Again growing up, I had it beaten into my brain that in 1492 Columbus sailed the Pacific blue. You heard that right. The vast puddle you probably call the Atlantic Ocean has always been the Pacific to me. And vice versa. Nebraska was a name I had not ever heard of before I measured another half foot in that damn thing’s already enormous length. To me that place was called the State of Fillmore. If before I measured it to be at 3 feet, you had asked me to point out Paris on a map, I would have stared at you blankly until I realized you probably meant to say Degaulleville which was built just northeast of the ruins of the ill-fated City of Lights after it was used as a testing ground for Germany’s most devastating weapon of WWII - the nuclear bomb.
Apparently in this new world the plant has created for me, it is our country that has the dubious honor of being the first military in the world to use nuclear weapons in an actual war.
And the list of changes I have just goes on and on like that. I’m not going to waste time spelling them all out for you. I’m sure that should be enough for you to at least hear me out or dismiss me as having had a break with reality. All I want now is this thing in my backyard, and these seeds to boot, out of here. Like I said in the beginning, I’d throw it away, but now that I suspect there’s some sort of link between it and all these changes being made, I worry what it could do to me if I yanked it out of the ground and chucked it into a dumpster. Degaulleville, Fillmore, etc. were erased by this thing. I could be too, if I made it mad enough.
There’s another part of me, a selfish part, that hopes if someone else takes it they can be the ones to have all these changes happen to instead. They can be the ones to watch desperately as what you once knew to be true, to be there, to be real, is all ground up and thrown away like it was nothing to bend your reality and leave you as the only one aware of it. I want that to happen to someone else instead of me. I want to be the one who’s oblivious to the changes made in the fabric and window dressings of reality. I want to be the one who reads the complaints and desperate cries of someone like me, and calls them crazy. I want want want that.
There’s another, tinier part of me, that naively hopes once I can leave this thing with someone else, it will change reality again but this time for the better. For the better, for me. Maybe once it starts affecting someone else adversely, it can change reality one more time to make my mom come back. To come back in a way that would make me forget she was ever gone. And then maybe I can go home, go back to the life I was used to living. But I know at the same time, there’s absolutely no reason it would do something nice like that for me.
Hell, if anything, it could decide to make things in reality, history, etc. worse for everyone including me. Like let me think… Okay for example, remember back in 1999 when everyone was afraid of the Y2K bug, but then it turned out to not be such a catastrophic ordeal as people were predicting? That damn plant could change things to make it so that Y2K’s catastrophic potential was fulfilled. Or wait, here’s a more recent example - remember like three or so years ago when there was that weird disease in China all the schools and governments got freaked out about for two weeks, warning about having to do lockdowns and stuff like that only for the Chinese government to successfully contain it before it could leave its shores?
I’d imagine the plant could change that history as well. And it’s not like I want any of that to happen, it’s just that I have little to no control over whether or not it will. And I just want to be free from being the only one to know it’s all happening. To notice it everyday. To have your heart and brain scratched at and tortured by it when you do.
So please, someone, anyone out there who can and is willing to take this thing off my hands knowing full well what it is - just DM me. I’ll give it to you at no charge or expense to you. I’ll even dig it out of the ground and drive to where you are (if you’re on the island that is) so you don’t have to get up and go anywhere. If you’re located somewhere else I’ll happily volunteer to pay all the associated shipping costs at my own expense as well in order to get it to you.
You’ll be my knight in shining armor if you do.
UPDATE: I am no longer in need of anyone to take this thing and these seeds off my hands. Thank you to the person that DMed me after I posted this. I got your email confirming that it safely arrived at your address as well. Also, glad to hear it’s grown another root. By glad, I mean that I am glad to know that it has grown yet again but this time I haven’t noticed anything changing. You have no idea what you’ve done to help salvage my sanity. Bless you.

Longtime 27 year VIA Biz Class passenger here...
I've previously given fellow Biz Class passengers the heads-up that Attendants on my last 3 Biz Class trips this month all declined to serve passengers "Double-Pour Cocktails", citing VIA's strict "Smart-Serve" enforcement policy now regarding "only one standard cocktail or alcohol beverage served per hour"!
Acknowledging that none of us will win any onboard debates about this new "Smart-Serve" policy, my advice would be to at least ask Biz Class Attendants the following quick questions:
1/ "Smart-Serve" is an ONTARIO policy > what about if you're starting point is from Montreal/Quebec?
2/ What is the exact liquor-pour for VIA's standard / non-double cocktail? IF they say anything lower than 1.5 ounces > REMIND THEM THAT "SMART-SOURCE" CLEARLY DEFINES A STANDARD COCKTAIL AS 1.5 OUNCES ON THEIR WEBSITE! *(At least ask them to pour you this "SMART-SERVE" standard-pour cocktail if VIA is now rigidly enforcing this policy in Biz Class!
3/ IF your travelling Biz Class *(dinner service trains) on shorter 2.5 hour or less routes such as Tor-Kingston / Kingston-Mtl / Tor-London > VIA's standard dinner service, which passengers are paying a HEFTY ADDITIONAL CHARGE to receive, consists of a standard cocktail shortly after departure... followed by a glass of wine with dinner typically 30-40 minutes afterwards...with another full glass top-up 15 short minutes later...followed by the standard after-dinner liqueurs 30 minutes after that > THOSE 4 ALCOHOL BEVERAGES SERVED WITH 60-90 MINUTES MAX MAKES A MOCKERY OF THIS NEW "ONE DRINK PER HOUR" SMART-SERVE ON-BOARD POLICY! You should point out to the Biz Class Attendant(s) just how inconsistently enforced/followed this new policy is!:( The Attendant has no latitude to serve you a pre-dinner double-pour cocktail, BUT can then proceed to serve you no less than 3 additional alcohol beverages over the next 60-90 minutes maximum on shorter distance dinner trains!
Most seasoned VIA Biz Class travelers with a brain know very well this new "Smart-Serve" policy is really about saving money not only on booze, but the Attendant labor which was previously required to field passenger requests for additional cocktails throughout the journey or ask them if they'd would like another cocktail. Under this new Smart-Serve policy, it conveniently means that Attendants now ONLY have to deliver the bare minimum meal + alcohol service and then do absolutely ZERO additional customer service work on the Biz Class cocktail service front!
4/ So IF there is no more additional cocktail service, then passengers should at least be asking for additional soft drinks and non-alcohol beverages throughout their Biz Class journey, especially on longer distance 5+ hour Tor-Montreal trips where the Biz Class Attendants are rarely seen again after the meal service has been delivered shortly after the half-way Kingston station stop!:)
​
​
​
​

7th, june, 2023
Welp... time to lay my work bare for the world to tear apart.
Here's a snippet of the "sample" chapter for my first NOP fanfic, "The Nature of Great Herds", TLDR, Federation wins the Arxur-Federation War, spends the next 400 years becoming even worse than they are in cannon, before coming across a humanity beefed up enough to stand a chance of fighting them. This is set at the very end of the war so it can be considered a prequel chapter.
Im fairly new to writing still so any criticism is more than welcome. This is only half of what i have down for chapter 0, being about... 3/5ths of what i have planned for the chapter as a whole, the next half i have done is the Arxur dreadnought tearing apart Slanek's fleet before its finally destroyed and i want to see what people think of my writing before i go any further. Feel free to ask questions about "The Nature of Great Herds" as well.
Oh! and thank you u/SpacePaladin15 for creating this wonderful world of yours and by extension the community based around it.
(I would post this in HFY, but ill wait until this is done to post this there)
Memory Transcription subject: Admiral Slanek of the New Venlil Republic
Date [Standardized human time]: 12th of February 2210
“400 years… after 400 goddammed years its finally ending” I thought to myself as I weaselly breathed. I was lucky to have lived long enough to see this day, even with Kolashian age rejuvenation treatments. Even now my fur has long lost its bright grey lustre, its softness, replaced by a rough feeling, unhealthy old grey. But I had still pushed through. I had to. To See this day. The day the Arxur are finally made extinct. To see the day 400 years of pain and blood shed end.
All around me in my flagship’s CIC, I saw other Venlil. All of them younger than me by decades, all of whom were not even born before Venlil Prime was destroyed. All of them here for the same reason as i. Revenge. Revenge for Venlil Prime. Revenge for all of our people the who the Arxur had killed. Revenge for all the members of the Federation, the Great Herd, that the Arxur had killed. We were all here to cast these nightmares into the abyss they had come from.
We had spent months tracking down this fleet, their last remnants and it seems that they finally had a brief moment of partial sanity. If they were fully sane they would have killed themselves like the Humans, but no. They still had that typical predatory derangement. They wanted to fight. To make a last stand. To drag as many of us with them as they could, in a last bout of predatory bloodlust.
Already the battle was in full swing but it seems we would be the last to arrive. The Arxur were not fighting to kill as many of us as possible for some unknowable reason. They were trying to drag the last battle out for as long as possible. Why? I don’t know. I was certainly not complaining however. It would give us all the chance to play our part in the Arxur’s final stand.
“Admiral!”
It was the CIC’s subspace technician. I nodded towards him and he continued on with his report.
“Were about to come out of subspace, right behind the Gojid fleet! In 60 seconds!”
A wave of excitement filled the room. It was our turn now.
Once a minute had passed, in a wave of multicoloured light, we arrived, 250 ships total with 5 artillery ships with one of them being my flagship, exiting subspace right behind a battered Gojid fleet. They were down to half their numbers. I could not help but grimace. The Gojid… the race we were the closest with, who had taken in our sick our wounded… our whole race when Venlil prime and their own homeworld of Cradle was destroyed as well in the Arxur Blitz, seeing them so badly mauled lit up a spark of rage in me.
“Were being hailed by the Kolashian Flagship!”
“Connect it to my communication suite”
Static greeted my ear as a connection was made to the Kolashian flag ship, but soon the Static disappeared, replaced by the familiar voice of Grand Admiral Thran.
“Slanek, I am glad to see you have arrived. We are getting battered by their last dreadnought, that dammed thing is the anchor to their battle line, every attack we send towards it is warded off or completely destroyed. As long as it’s still standing we can’t hope to win this battle decisively or without horrific losses. You’re the only formation left within 100 lights years that has the firepower to bring that thing down, so do whatever it takes, ram yourself down its throat if you have to, you’ll have the support of every ship and federation fleet around you. I wish I could say more but they’re hitting my part of the line with everything they have, good luck”
The connection cut and I grimaced.
The last of the dreadnoughts… that ship. A shiver went up my spine.
The Arxur dreadnoughts were the culmination of the Arxur’s Behemoth class vessels. Massive bricks covered in armor and guns with an engine at the end, that could, with an escort, singlehandedly destroy entire Federation fleets. Vessels that the artillery ships were created to counter.
Then the Arxur deployed their dreadnoughts as we pushed on to Wriss. A desperate last gamble to slow us down. They were larger, faster, with more weapons and armor than even the largest of their behemoths. It took 5 artillery ships to even have a chance of destroying a dreadnought. And the word, ‘Dreadnought’, it means ‘fear nothing’. Even as we pushed onwards towards their homeworld, they did not fear us. Even as we destroyed every world that held their taint they did not fear us… even now they do not fear us.
Thankfully there were only 10 in existence, the rest having been destroyed. 3 by the Kolashians… and 3 by the Venlil.
The destruction of Venlil Prime at the hands of their behemoths had taught us well and we had come to specialize in their destruction.
If anyone was suited to the task of destroying their last dreadnought, it was us.
My confidence restored, I opened a channel to my fleet.
“This is Admiral Slanek, to all of the members of the New Venlil Republic Navy present with us at this moment. Today… 400 years of pain and bloodshed will end. 400 years of pain and bloodshed the Arxur have visited upon us. Together with our fellow members of the Great Herd, we shall burn away the last of the Arxur as they make their final stand. Our part to play is simple, the last Arxur dreadnought batters our forces, and its our job to remove it. We shall destroy that demon ship and its escorts, opening up the way for our allies to destroy the last of the Arxur. This is the most important day and duty of our lives, so fight hard and fight well. FOR VENLIL PRIME, FOR THE GREAT HERD”
The Venlil across the fleet heard me, giving a brief cheer, “FOR VENLIL PRIME, FOR THE GREAT HERD” before they returned to their duties.
All at once, the engines of 250 ships lit up, pushing us forward towards our hated fore with the Gojid fleet parting, allowing for us to slot ourselves into their battle line.
Whilst distant, if I zoomed in on the feed being provided to me by the many sensors present on this ship I could see them silhouetted against the bright red dwarf that made up most of this star systems mass. The Arxur, with their black, angular ships which had burned themselves into the consciousness of every member of the Federation. The Arxur ships present here was all they had left and what a meagre amount. 400 ships total.
But in the center of their meagre formation was IT. That dammed dreadnought which had claimed over a thousand of our own ships over the last year. Bright white letters in the Arxur alphabet were painted on its side, the Liberator Isif.
Named after some Arxur chieftain. 800 meters of black angular metal with a dagger shaped prow and boxy middle section topped off by its engines and short stubby missile spewing wings. It was easily larger than any ship the Federation could produce, even the bulk super freighters that sustained the undamaged core. Well… undamaged until the raid in [2170] that destroyed the Farsul’s archives. In front of it was a field of debris made up of over 300 vessels at least, the graves of ships this beast had felled, amongst them 8 other artillery ships. Its armament had done that. Its hull was dotted with massive amounts of kinetics and plasma railguns, enough to wipe out dozens of vessels in a single volley and its missile spewing wings could finish off any stragglers with a massive barrage of 100 missiles.
By comparison, the artillery ships of the Federation, including my flagship, were tooth picks. 500 meters long and rather thin by comparison to the hunk of metal that was the Liberator Isif. Our only armament was the 2 plasma beam cannons that ran the ships length. Both were needed to burn through a behemoth shields and then their armor, destroying the ship in one shot… most of the time. A perfect match against an Arxur behemoth. Against a dreadnought with its stronger shields, thicker armor and dagger shaped prow which could deflect most of a plasma beams energy at the right angle, it was near impossible to destroy a behemoth from the front with anything less than 5 artillery ships. Thankfully with the few artillery ships the Gojid had left and the 5 that belonged to my fleet I had enough firepower to take that dreadnought head on. And one of them was my flagship. The Tavra.
Whereas the Arxur flagship was named after some random Arxur chieftain they seemed to revere for some reason, the Tavra was named after a true hero who still lived on through her. 5 behemoths, and a dreadnought she has claimed for the Federation, for the Venlil. Now its time to add another kill to that list.
The dreadnought was preoccupied tearing apart another push from a federation fleet when we moved into position.
Almost immediately it broke off its savage attack, letting a wave of Arxur reserves move up to destroy what was left, letting the dreadnought go after the bigger threat, namely the 8 artillery ships that had just pulled up.
Arxur behemoths and dreadnoughts sacrificed range for sheer, raw firepower, as a result it would have to come to us, or we could just sit back and pour fire onto it once we moved a little closer. Whichever abomination was in command of the Liberator Isif knew this since they immediately began a burning towards us, with 60 escorts in tow. All at once, roared across every channel by the Arxur ships was a bestial warcry “FOR WRISS!” then at once, the entirety of the Arxur’s battle line charged ahead. Their bloodlust had finally caught up with them it seems.
“Have all of our plasma beam cannons begin charging now! and move our escorts forward and give us a screen.” An audible hum drowned out the ambience of distant machinery as the Tavra began to charge its main weapons. For the next 2 minutes we would be helpless as all of our reactors power went into the capacitor banks that seemed to fill every nook, crevice and seam inside the Tavra. Thankfully the dreadnought will take 3 to reach us. Once we hit it, if we don’t outright destroy it, then the shields will at least be drained to the point that our escorts can finish it off.
It was a suicide run, but it was their only option unless they wanted to die without being able to fight back. Dammed predator insanity.
For the next minute we tensely waited, as our capacitors charged and our firing solutions were calculated. Ammo was loaded and final checks made.
I gripped the handrail in front of me firmly… waiting for the last few seconds to tick down… waiting to give the order.
If we missed… we were in for a world of hurt.
3…2…1…0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes i did leave you on a cliff hanger... deal with it \_/ (*_*) \_/ *shrugs*

So, magsi-sing along ako mag-isa sa bahay at medyo naiirita ako kasi hindi ko alam ano kakantahin ko. Ano ang top 10 ninyong videoke sing-along ninyo? Ako kasi ito;

1. Any E-Heads songs.
2. Any Rivermaya songs.
3. Any PNE songs.
4. Tanya Markova - Picture, Picture.
5. Any Siakol songs.
6. Any Gloc-9 songs. (Kapag high na sa tama ng musika, wala na pake kahit bulul-bulul na).
7. Alamid - Your Love.
8. Any Apo Hiking Songs.
9. Mga bagong kanta ngayon, kahit ano.
10. Imelda Papin - Isang Linggong Pag-Ibig.

Ekis sa kanta ni Ka-Perdie. Noong bata ako, gusto ko mga kanta nya, pero after noong nagpakasal sya sa 18 y.o ata yon, tapos nag convert to Islam ata para lang makasal.
Honorable mentions: Itchyworm - Beer, Mayo - Jopay.
Sorry, alam ko sabi ko top 10 lang. Haha.

Hello everyone,
Reposting!
I decided I want to downsize my active collections, sticking really to chaos and eldar and collect money for some other important expenses. I've therefore decided to get out of the loyalist space marine game. I am aiming to sell my entire Blood Ravens space marine collection.
Please see a list of items below. Ive sold many vehicles on but still have most of the lot. All infantry have magnetized bases, and some have magnetized arms. Everything is painted in a blood ravens color scheme unless specified otherwise, with some commissioned pieces included.
2 redemptor dreadnoughts
1 blood angels leviathan FW
40 intecessors with 10 sergeants with assorted weapons (T hammers, powerfists)
15 infiltrators
10 incursors
5 hell blasters
5 heavy hell blasters
20 assault intercessors (5 nos)
18 aggresors
18 bladeguard
6 suppressors
6 plasma inceptors
10 th ss terminators (3d printed, base coated)
26 sanguinary guard all swords
10 eradicators
Guilliman
1 phobos captain
1 converted captain on bike
1 primaris chaplain
1 primaris chaplain on bike
1 bladeguard ancient
1 company champion
2 company veterans
1 primaris librarian
1 librarian
1 primaris Apothecary
1 lieutenant
1 indomitus captain
1 gravis captain
1 chaplain with jumppack
1 sanguinary ancient
1 primaris lieutenant
2 phobo lieutenants
1 primaris tech marine
1 thunderfire cannon (built)
1 iron father ferros
1 judiciar
1 primaris ancient
1 primaris captain with hammer, storm shield and jump pack (conversion)
1 chapter master gabriel angelos (fw)
1 marneus Calgar
1 primaris tigurius
1 Dante (3rd party model)
1 indomitus lieutenant
1 lemartes (primed)
9 eliminators
6 centurion devastators (4 base coated)
1 sicarian arcus( fw with a 3d printed top gun) and additional autocannon top
1 stormraven gunship
1 dark angels contemptor (fw)
12 death company with 10 t hammers
20 vanguard veterans with jump pack
10 assault marines (converted from primaris)
In addition, I want to part with a few eldar models that don't fit my current scheme.
10 guardians with support platform
1 winged autarch
Images here:
https://imgur.com/a/5DR7RaC
I'd love to send this all to one single home, but I would be willing to split in larger lots, PM so that we can work something out. I'd be willing to trade for the following:
Aeldari Vehicles, Dire Avengers, pm what ya got
Chaos Land Raider
Chaos Predator or Deimos Predator
Dominus knight nos
Daemons
Could potentially swap a large part of this for a full painted aos army, let me know what you have if youre interested in this
Thanks everyone for taking a look!

When it comes to achieving your fitness goals, we often focus on finding the right workout routine, diet plan, or even a gym membership. However, one crucial aspect that is sometimes overlooked is the importance of quality fitness clothing. Investing in well-designed and durable activewear can significantly enhance our workout experience. Read the post to learn more-

• When you invest in high-quality activewear, you get comfortable clothing to wear for extended periods. You should always go for clothing soft against the skin to keep up with your active lifestyle.
• With the vast array of designs, colors, and patterns available in the fitness clothing market, you can find garments that not only fit your body but also reflect your personal style.
• Fitness clothing is not just about practicality; it's also a means of self-expression. Wearing clothing that makes you feel confident and empowered can positively impact your mindset during workouts.
• The right fitness clothing can also play a crucial role in injury prevention. By investing in quality fitness clothing, you're investing in your body's well-being and ensuring you can continue pursuing your fitness goals without setbacks.

Whether you are a trained fitness professional or a beginner, choose top-quality fitness clothing for a hassle-free workout session!

When I was fired, I was told "you can take your 'passion' to... other companies". I had asked for a raise and cited my performance and passion for the work as my reason. So this was his way of digging back at me for that. There are more things, but tension was building up to that point.
This week, I started an internship at a very big company. I wanted my old boss to know that my passion was in a much better place now, so here's the email I sent:

Good afternoon, ___,
Today, I started my internship at a top bank. They are paying me handsomely, double what I was getting paid before. They have a dedicated starbucks, a food market, a primary care facility and pharmacy, a gym with updated equipment and a basketball court, and, best of all, no fruit flies. They have multiple buildings with bridges to each, elevators and escalators, a dedicated lounge building with mini golf, cornhole and concerts on the roof, frozen lemonade, and more.
I would like to thank you for firing me. It's clear now that my passion was squandered at ___, and I'm glad to have found a company where it can flourish. Any production deficiencies must have been due to mismanagement or misinterpretation, since a company with much higher standards seems to appreciate me greatly. I was offered this internship in June 2022, and boy am I glad I didn't withdraw it when I started working for you.
Best of luck with your company in ___, ___

He was giving me shit the whole time I worked there. He would send emails that end in "or else I think we might have a problem...", and do things to try and humble me, and would get more frustrated when I showed him I was who I said I was (passionate, and good at my job). I called linux mint beginner-friendly in one of my interviews with him, and he flashed a very displeased face at me, then when I came in person, he told me to bring in my laptop because he had a "little surprise for me :)". it was a linux problem. I did it with some trouble because I don't work with systemd, but I did it.
Another time, i had to convert some old database files to new ones. There's a library, but it costs money. I told him I would do it from scratch. "I think it would be more cost effective to buy the license" meaning he didn't think I'd be able to do it. I sent him the converted files that day, and told him that it took a day for me to do it, so buying the license would waste a day as well as having to buy the license. I got no response.
I admit I might have a problem of rubbing it in when I prove people wrong, but I would also argue that people have a problem discrediting someone's ability. If they say they can do it, don't try to disprove & humiliate them. It makes some people very upset when they know someone wants to humiliate them, and they may just end up humiliating the other person in retaliation.

I have a 2016 jeep wrangler 2 door freedom with manual transmission 76,000 miles on it no problems
Very clean mostly stock
What’s a good selling price?