Orlando puerto rican restaurants

Does anyone know of Dj Wassabanga's compositions in 1977? I've only been able to find Panamanian music from 84-87, in an official capacity. I've found some Puerto Rican music dating 1983. In that album art this group was known as the first Spanish rappers to a Reggae beat, produced by Serious Gold productions.
I've also noted earlier compositions with Reggae in Spanish in countries like Argentina and Cuba, predating Panama. The only one's I've come across resembling anything of what Reggaeton did in it's prime comes from Puerto Ricans. The rap/hip-hop element especially.
This is an age old debate and throughout my research I noticed a kind of parallel movement with Puerto Ricans in NY and the island, and Panamanians.
I've also studied the Pounder, and noticed that the sample comes from Bobo General and Sleepy Wonder's pounder. It was looped and titled Fake Pounder. Most attribute the base directly to Nando Boom but this it incorrect.
Also, listening to the earliest compositions, Puerto Ricans sampled Jamaicans directly. I don't deny Panamanian influence but this parallel movement really isn't covered. I find the sounds to be at odds with each other. Note, I say parallel because looking at it from a neutral perspective there was a ton going on with New York Ricans, who were neighbors with Black Americans and Jamaicans, and much of this was brought back.
But, there was also the Jamaicans in Panama doing their own thing. It's a complex history for sure but in my opinion, Reggaeton, isn't strictly tied to Panama. This has to do with dates. Please, provide me compositions by Wassabanga which I cannot find for the life of me.
I've only found a few media sources detailing the parallel nature of these movements coming from Panamanian radio shows and New York Rican/Jamaican radio stations. This is at odds with the predominate opinion, attributing its origins to Panama with Reggae in Spanish. I've even researched into Plena 110 from Panama where the hosts admitted early Puerto Rican influence and detailed that the origin of the name itself comes from a folk genre in Puerto Rico.
Which, if you asks me makes this bickering completely pointless, I mean look at the complexity!

My husband is from PR, now living on the mainland, and his mom makes consommé rice that he loves. I have asked for the recipe but she’s never given me one. When I search online, the only consommé rice I find is stick of butter rice, which is not her Puerto Rican consommé rice. Does anyone have a recipe for Puerto Rican consommé rice?

DOCTORS’ CENTER HOSPITAL ORLANDO HEALTH – DORADO - PR-696, Dorado, 00646, Puerto Rico
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Unpacking the Light Police. Light Pollution News.
Show Link: https://lightpollutionnews.com/podcast/unpacking-the-light-police/
Subscribe: Apple Podcast Spotify Google Podcast
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Guests:
John Barentine of Dark Sky Consulting, LLC.
Kaitlyn Evans, Conservationist.
Show:
I was busted by the light police. They had a point, Dana Milbank of the Washington Post.
Dana Milbank purchased a home in, soon to be not, rural Virginia. At night he kept the formerly vacant property lit to the degree that spurned one commentator to call it “spaceship lighting.”
Milbank recaps being visited by the “light police,” a group of concerned citizens who help educate neighbors and instill a sense of pride in the brilliance of their starry night skies.
At first, he was taken aback, but later, not only did he appreciate their efforts, but he also converted his blinding always on, white light flood lights to warm 2700 Kelvin motion sensing lights.
Per Ruskin Hartley, executive director of the International Dark Sky Association, “for 4.5 billion years there was no artificial light at night. It’s really only in the last five human generations that we transformed that. It’s one of the most profound transformations of our environment.”
Many of you may recall an earlier story, way back in our Hormone of Darkness episode, showcasing concerns by local residents prior to a 760 house (now 761) plus town center development moving into the Culpepper County, VA area. Per the Rappahannock News, this development features “a resort style swimming pool, clubhouse, tot lot, and multiple sports fields and sports courts, all connected by a network of biking and walking trails.”
The forgotten medieval habit of ‘two sleeps’ by Zaria Gorvett of the BBC.
Gorvett opened my eyes to something I never knew about, the medieval custom of two sleeps. For those of you unaware, two sleeps are exactly what it sounds like.
Folks would partake in a communal nap, complete with rigid sleeping arrangement conventions, between 9 – 11pm, then awaken for a few hours to do everything from hang out to brew beer! In fact, the idea of multiple sleeps crossed cultures and was found in places as far from Europe as indigenous South America.
How can one’s circadian rhythm make sense of all of this?!
Well, for starters, until the invention of the alarm clock, which humorously was invented by a clocks salesman so he could wake up and sell more clocks, people had no firm way to wake up at a consistent time. The industrial revolution enforced a new circadian standard.
And there’s some science behind this! In the 1992 study, In Short Photoperiods, human sleep is biphasic, researcher Thomas Wehr found that after four weeks of 10 hour days, his subjects began to engage in this two sleep cycle, involving a one to three hour period for which they became awake and engaged in between.
Want to Learn About Light Pollution? There’s a mini-course for that!, Jennifer Sensiba of Clean Technica.
Quoting Sensiba, “As I got older, I traveled a lot more and saw the problem more for what it is. Not only did I see that in many places there is no refuge from it, but I also saw that it was slowly growing worse. Places that had been dark 30 years ago had more and more light creeping upon the horizon.”
If you’re interested in learning more, or more importantly, know someone who might benefit from learning more, Sensiba links up to an International Dark Sky Mini-Course on light pollution, call it Light Pollution 101!
There’s a Play Date at the National Museum of Natural History: Lights Out exhibit!
But unfortunately, by the time you listen to this, and hell, by the time we talk about this, it has passed.
Ann Arbor named best place for sunrises, sunsets in Michigan. Sarah Parlette for Click on Detroit.
Evidently gambling websites have decided to honor April’s International Dark Sky week in a strange new content marketing campaign, which was to rank the best places in each state to see sunrises and sunsets. My favorite one, “Ann Arbor named best place for sunrises, sunsets in Michigan,” comes from Click on Detroit, whereby a quote “study” examined Michigan’s most populated cities.”
According to Click on Detroit, “to celebrate International Astrology Day on Saturday, staff at Great Lake Stakes, a Michigan online gambling news site, looked at light pollution in the five most populated cities around the Mitten state to determine which offers the best views every morning and evening.”
Star bathing is the new outdoor travel trend we should all be trying for Summer 2023, according to Amy Beecham at Stylist.
Evidently, as an attempt to destress and promote mindfulness, romanticism about sleeping under the stars has birthed a 70% increase in searches for the term ‘star bathing’ on Hipcamp. And to be sure, “Hipcamp recommends checking a stargazing calendar which outlines major astrological events – like supermoons, pink moons, and star showers.”
“Industry Must Face an Inconvenient Truth — Most LED Lights at Night are Unhealthy”
Dr. Martin Moore-Ede, a circadian clock expert, recently published an article in LEDs Magazine chastising the lighting industry for not recognizing and reigning in the negative externalities of its products. Per the piece, such effects are, obesity, diabetes, depression, cancer, and more.
He cites three categories of industry responses, making the correlation that long term Denial or outright Ignorance of the Facts, may result in “asbestos-scale liabilities or draconian regulations.”
Per the piece, a recent survey by the Circadian Light Research Center of 2,697 peer reviewed scientific articles confirmed that human circadian clocks are highly sensitive to blue wavelengths, and that exposure to such wavelengths leads to major health disorders.
Moore-Ede calls for the industry to harvest the “commercial opportunity” to greatly limit future liability by creating and managing its own standards for circadian modulated lighting.
Unpacking the Wallpack, by Dan Weissman in LD+A Magazine.
Weissman, who recently purchased a telescope for his family in Cambridge, MA, discovered that the scope could only afford him views of some solar system objects and a few brightly burning stars.
The ire of Weissman’s pen takes the shape of a rectangular fixtures, be it box like or simply a panel these days, that typically hang off the side of an exterior wall or above an exterior door. “Devoid of aesthetic value” this light is often put up under the “pretense of security and safety” by “recommended practices and adopted municipal codes.”
Weissman recognizes labels that often accompany, what he calls, “Glare bombs,” including “contractor-select,” “energy efficient,” or “light pollution friendly.”
Further, per an earlier LD+A article, such lighting driven by its extreme contrasts is exceedingly common in minority communities where light is weaponized as a tool of power. It becomes a “device of alienation, creating a zone of control and separation.”
Weissman recognizes that the true reason such fixtures are selected often comes down to cost. He recognizes that it may take equally as much cost to persuade building and homeowners away from such lighting into the realm of more responsible, lower lumen, shielded lighting.
Weissman calls for producers of these glare bombs to be labeled as polluters, putting them in line with fossil fuel manufacturers and PFAS makers.
Songbirds, dusk and clear skies: Scientists explore migratory flights, by Erin Blakemore.
Bird migration season is ending here in the Mid-Atlantic. I was lucky enough to catch several Baltimore Orioles and Indigo Buntings last week. Researchers looked at 400 songbirds from 9 major species, “including the yellow-rump warbler, American redstart and Bicknell’s thrush.”
The question they hoped to answer was how are these birds so darn precise in identifying the best time to take off for their nightly migration? Scientists found that 90% of the migrating birds in the study took off within 69 minutes of dusk. A “much narrower takeoff window,” that even shocked the research team!
Per the study, taking off at night is all about maximum flight time. In addition to being able to precisely schedule their take offs, a feat that every airline I’ve flown with over the past few years has proven inept at, birds also are apparently good meteorologists! They often depart when the atmospheric pressure rises over a day’s span. Other factors also trigger migration, including sex, age, and celestial cues.
‘Lights Out’ initiative appears to be saving birds from crashing into Philly buildings by Sophia Schmidt.
Preliminary results indicate that bird death counts are down 70% at one Market Street tower, since it began its participation in Lights Out. As we spoke about on a previous show, birds utilize the stars to navigate, but city lights can disorient the birds. Combine the lights with reflective or transparent glass, and that spells fatal trouble for our migrating warblers!
Per Keith Russell, a program manager for urban conservation with Audubon Mid-Atlantic, “We’ve lost almost a third of our birds – and [collisions] contributing to that. If we’re going to want to preserve the bird populations here in North America, we have to look at these types of problems. And this is a preventable one.”
The Knoxville, TN Zoo is offering up what they call “Twilight Tours” per WVLT 8. Each event will feature a guide to showcase nocturnal critters.
I did something similar in Singapore years ago. The zoo had very dim lights in the exhibits – and they kept those lights dim as you walked so that you didn’t lose your night vision. It was a very different and, might I say, peaceful experience than the typically chaotic daytime zoo.
Flashlights posing major threat to nesting sea turtles. Fox35 Orlando
Apparently, a single flashlight can deter female sea turtles from coming onto a beach and nesting. Florida, as I did not know, is home to 90% of the sea turtle nests across the world, so losing sea turtles can affect the global ecosystem.
One visitor to Cocoa Beach stated, “Just leave them alone. Stand back and look. You don’t need a flashlight.”
Another, “It’s not super surprising because more buildings go up, more technology. As it increases, nature and stuff like that decreases,” said Zoe Jovaag, whose grandfather used to take her on walks to see sea turtles.
Capture the Dark 2023 officially is under way!
The International Dark Sky Association opens up its annual photo contest complete with prizes across eight categories and an additional People’s Choice category. Voting begins on July 3rd, entries must be received by June 30th.
City Tests Traffic Light That Only Turns Green for Drivers Who Obey the Speed Limit. Erin Marquis for Jalopnik.
And hey, you better not speed in Brossard, Quebec….otherwise you may be waiting around for a while. Brossard is testing out a new traffic light that will stay red until it senses oncoming traffic. However, it will only change to green if the car is going the speed limit. Per the Jalopnik article, “FRED [the French acronym for “educational traffic calming light] forces fast drivers to stop and gives them a chance to reconsider their life choices.” Such lights are already used in Europe, but this will be the first for the Great White North.
Why the Greatest Threat to Star-Gazing Isn’t Light Pollution, and this comes to us from Dorin Elin Urrutia at Inverse.
Elin Urrutia writes, in her compelling piece, that the greatest threat to star-gazing is actually the weather. Citing notable examples of the Mount Stromlo Observatory in Australia (which burnt down due to bushfires) and the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico (which sustained structural damage following the winds of Hurricane Maria).
While the threat of human-caused climate change has presented new challenges, Elin Urrutia references proactive burns that saved Los Angeles’ Mount Wilson Observatory from flames in 2020.
On a similar note, ABC News (the Australian Broadcasting Company, not to be confused with the American Broadcasting Company), brings us “A World Without Darkness Could Be a Reality within a Few Years.”
Per Carol Redford of Astrotourism Western Australia, “There are some people in the world now who don’t actually experience darkness anymore. They’re in a city like Beijing, Toyoko, or London. In all those big cities, it’s never dark, it’s always light. During the day of course with the sun, but then during the night with all of the artificial light. They’re not experiencing darkness, and definitely not seeing those beautiful stars…”
In the 66 years since the implementation of the UN Convention on the Peaceful Use of Outerspace, around 11,000 satellites orbit the Earth. But it’s about to get wayyy busier. Driven by innovations that have led to dramatic reductions in costs, over the next ten years, Per attorney Steven Freeland, it’s anticipated that somewhere between 100,000 to 500,000 objects will be sent up. Let me pause on that for a second.
On the travel front, we stay in the land down under, “Aussie region determined to keep its darkness is a stargazer’s dream” by Chantelle Francis of News.com.AU.
The town of Swam Reach, population 270, resides in a 3200sq km region of Southern Australia that received its International Dark Sky Reserve status over three years ago. On a scale of darkness between 0 – 22, the River Murray Dark Sky Reserve at Swam Reach, measures in at a whopping 21.9!
Tourism has become a growing business. The reserve hosts numerous telescope pads and offers tours of the night sky. There’s hope that an observatory and/or planetarium may also arrive in due course.
Best smart lights for outdoors in 2023, Brittney Vincent of CBS Essentials.
Oh there’s a lot not to love here, but it does fall in line with last month’s ‘Lumens are Coming’ article.
For those of you who feel the need to light your trees, because for some reason they need light at night I guess…I’ll try and pretend it’s not solely for ostentatious and narcissistic reasons. By the way, does anyone remember when those were negative characteristics?
The article features spotlights that can be programmed to over 16 MILLION colors including…lucky for us, ALL shades of white….which you can also do for a 500 lumen flood light set.
And hey, Ring now has solar path lighting. Don’t worry though, the fixtures themselves put out up to 80 lumens of sideways light.
You know, it’s astounding when you look at some of these pictures. The amount of redundant lighting. It honestly makes no sense to me. You have a porch light, which lights up the path. Path lighting, which lights up the path. And, in the one picture, god awful frontward facing flood lights, which also light up the path. How bright do you need these paths!? I digress. But the lumens are indeed coming.
LDS Church will get to light up its Heber Valley Temple after all, but the faith didn’t get everything it wanted, Blake Apgar of the Salt Lake Tribune.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints fought hard to rid itself of any nighttime lighting responsibility by pressuring Wasatch County, Utah officials to approve new lighting rules that would enable the church to light a proposed new temple the same way it does for every other temple.
The Church received permission to uplight the temple, enabling an exception to be made in Wasatch’s rather stringent nighttime lighting rulebook. However, the temple will be restricted by the level of lumens it can use, and it must have exterior lighting turned off an hour after sunset or an hour after normal business hours.
Smart Street Lights Market is Expected to Hit USD 14,751.1 million at a 23.4% CAGR by 2030, Market Research Future Press Release
The pandemic is officially over, smart street lighting is about to boom. Combine the rush to LED fixtures with the Internet of Things, and expect to see street lights moonlighting as traffic and parking monitors, air quality meters, and more. Not to mention, “it is anticipated that camera-connected smart street lighting will increase road safety by lowering the likelihood of accidents and criminality.”
Texas now has 7 dark sky communities for spectacular star gazing, Sana Ameer, MRT.
Let’s cheer on the city of Bee Cave, everyone! Bee Cave joins a growing list of dark sky places already in the Lone Star State, including 2 Dark Sky Sanctuaries, 5 Dark Sky Parks, and 1 Dark Sky Reserve. Nighttime is alive and well in some parts of Texas!
Our Afraid of the Dark article is a bit scary! Hilton Head’s dark roads and pedestrians are deadly combo. What the town is doing about it, Blake Douglas at The Island Packet.
Per the article, 9 pedestrian and cyclist fatalities occurred since 2018, with five occurring after dark. Prior to that period, there were 28 recorded deaths from 2000 – 2016, with 20 of them taking place after dark.
In 2018, an 11 year old resident was struck and killed while walking her dog across an intersection one night. Lighting advocates began taking shape in what otherwise is a very conservation focused island. Hilton Head, SC has a limited number of street lights, priding itself on “avoiding light pollution and blending nature with construction.”
Lighting advocates appear to be, at the very least, asking for flashing crosswalk lights on the island to indicate when an individual is crossing.
It should be noted that the article shows a chart of 9 after-dark-deaths since 2014, only two of them occurred at crosswalks. In fact, during the same time frame, 6 additional deaths occurred at crosswalks during the daytime.
As a whole, the National Safety Council reports that 74.5% of pedestrian deaths occurred at night, whereby 39.1% took place in lit areas and 35.38% took place in unlit areas.
Bryan Bloch, an auto safety expert, surmises that car companies bear some of the blame – producing cheap or ineffectual headlight fixtures, and drivers themselves, who don’t realize that they need to regularly clean their headlight lenses.
Despite opposition from residents, it appears that Hilton Head will be receiving lights at two new intersections and possibly more depending on engineering studies currently in progress.
Is lighting the key variable here? Is more light going to solve pedestrian deaths?
Our featured research article of the month comes to us from Animal Conservation, “Manipulating spectra of artificial light affects movement patterns of bats along ecological corridors.”
Bats are already known to have a wide range of responses to artificial light at night (also known as ALAN). Fast flying species tend to be more opportunistic in the presence of ALAN while slower ones tend to be more light averse. We know that “long wavelengths and reduced intensity” can minimize their environmental effects on bats. It’s not unheard of for bats to travel upwards of “tens of km per night.” Furthermore, bats are very dependent on the landscape and the structures within those landscapes.
Despite the nuances between species, the consensus is that ALAN, especially high intensity ALAN, negatively affects bats. This study attempted to answer what exactly bats do when they encounter ALAN – how do they react depending on different types of ALAN.
The study used three different light fixtures – one green, one red, and one white. The control was devoid of light fixtures. The researchers attempted to ascertain the behavior of bats as they encountered lights adjacent to woody areas. The researchers looked at three different bat groupings based on their foraging-echo location behavior, that being one of open field foraging, forest edge foraging, and narrow space – or more aptly forest foragers.
Researchers found that open and edge foraging bats increased their activity close to white and green lights, and to a lesser extent red lights. However, narrow space bats were more likely to veer away from all colors of lighting. Edge foragers were also less likely to cross a white light.
The positive effects of white and green light on open and edge foraging bats appear to be attributed to the accumulation of insects around light sources containing more blue light.
The nighttime sky over Oahu will be lit up with green lasers in the coming days. Here’s why. Hawaii News Now
Before we close up today, do you live in Hawaii? I know I wish I did!
If so, do you recall seeing green lasers streak across the night sky? Well, the Army Corps of Engineers was using lidar at night to complete a coastal mapping survey.
Why did they survey at night? Specifically, why did they do this between midnight to 5am? Simply b/c the airspace is so busy, that time was the only chance they had to complete the survey. The remaining survey was completed during daytime hours.

I hunted monsters for an international anomaly research center
Part 2
I decided instead of telling you about the next monster I’d planned I will tell you all what I did last week. I’d heard about this anomaly before, but that was because it was contained. Not by our organization but by one we work closely with. They’d been keeping it well in their Puerto Rico containment facility, but it managed to escape during a power outage. They’d insisted on trying to capture it themselves for a couple of days before they finally let me come in. Normally I’d be mad that they couldn’t catch it, but the Scape Ore Swamp Lizard Man is no walk in the park.
Standing 10 feet long, 8 feet tall, and pure muscle this thing is practically a walking tank. It has an almost inch-thick hide of small black snake-like scales. It stands on two legs but can switch to four when needed. It has a large head with a long muzzle full of sharp venomous teeth. Its face is always contorted into a scowl adding to its frightful appearance. Its back is covered in large spiked scutes which start at the head to the tip of the tail. On its two large four-fingered hands are two-inch-long nasty claws.
They deployed me the same way as always, and I landed with a light thud on the jungle floor after I was unlatched from the parachute and harness. I looked out at the darkening jungle around me. My search would be far from easy. I knew that, as I needed more information about where it was. However, after getting my sniper railgun ready I began my pursuit.
My pursuit was aimless and tiring. I had no direction, and the heat was slowly burning me alive. The jungle was full of loud squawking birds. At one point I looked up and saw in the evening light a small group of bats flying overhead.
I walked slowly and steadily scanning the quickly darkening ground for something, but as I suspected there was nothing in sight. No sigh from the lizardman. I walked on and on until finally, I found something. They were large three-toed tracks that almost looked like ones a T-rex would’ve made. My heart leaped in joy and excitement and I began following the footprints. They were easy to follow as the heavy feet had sunk deep into the wet muddy ground of the jungle. They followed no path and almost walked the way I had been walking aimlessly. Until like me, it seemed to have found something to follow.
Its path led in an almost perfect straight line, having trampled almost anything that wasn’t a tree out of its way. I noticed as I followed its tracks large claw marks in the trees. There were three and they were long and deep.
I followed for a good long while still tired but my determination had increased 10 fold now that there was a path to follow. As I walked along I began to hear something off in the distance. It was so faint it was hard to discern. At first, I thought it might be some sort of birdcall, but then it clicked in my head. It screamed. I started running as fast as I could through the jungle tripping at one point but pulling myself back up.
Eventually, I found myself running into a field. What I saw in that field I’ll never forget. I don’t know what it is, but I’ve never been bothered by dead humans before. In my youth when I’d go to funerals seeing the body never disturbed me. I’d be sure but the body itself never made me uncomfortable. And after I got this job I got completely desensitized, but something about dead animals. I could never handle seeing a dead animal. I don’t know exactly why. I guess it’s because it brought me back to my childhood.
My dad was born in Mexico in 1979, but he and his family moved to Puerto Rico 3 years later. My dad lived in Puerto Rico during the horrifying but short reign of the Chupacabra. When I was little he would tell me stories about it. Fields of livestock just on the ground dead wholly drained of blood. Those stories actually started me down the route of where I am today, but I don’t think I ever really comprehended what that looked like until I saw the massacre in the field I was now in.
It almost seemed as though a sheet of blood and muscle and meat had fallen over the field. It was absolutely everywhere and dispersed throughout this massacre I could see small bits of bones. Vertebrae there, or a rib over there. It almost looked like they’d all exploded from the inside at the same time, but I know that is not what happened. I saw the footprints in the ground, I saw the claw marks in the bones. I knew the only thing that could’ve done this was the horrible beast I was hunting.
I walked around through the massacre for a while in a sort of shock. Then I finally snapped out of it and looked around again. I saw a house separated only by a now broken wood fence to the field. I instantly knew where the screams had come from and what had likely happened. I ran toward the house and a story began to unfold as I got closer. The father or man of the house must’ve come outside to defend his family because I found his body ripped apart just outside the front door.
I stepped over the body and walked into the tiny house. It was absolutely destroyed. The walls were torn apart, furniture was left shattered on the ground, and there was lots of blood. I looked over and saw a partial body on the living room floor. I grimaced when I realized the poor thing had once been a big dog. Now it was nothing but torn meat and bones. One step at a time I made my way to the back of the house down a cramped hallway. In the bedrooms were the destroyed bodies of a woman and three children. The only peace I had was that these people died quickly. I noticed at the end of the hall was a shattered glass backdoor. I stepped through it, almost slipping on the shards of glass still on the floor, and walked into the backyard. It was a tiny cleared area surrounded by trees. The ground was littered with small dog toys and in the corner was a chicken coop. The roof of it had been ripped off and shattered. I peeked in through the hole and saw lots of blood-covered eggs. It looked like, unlike the other animals, the lizardman had actually stopped eating all the chickens. Maybe all of that butchering worked up an appetite. I thought.
After calling in for the investigation crew I continued on my trail. The sun had completely set and navigated the dense jungle even with my bright headlight showing the way. Not long into it rain began pouring which completely covered the tracks. In frustration, I turned around and made my way back to the farm.
Suddenly I heard something from the treetops. It sounded almost like a faint growl and before I could do anything else the large figure of the Lizardman jumped from the trees right in front of me. It immediately slashed at my chest and left arm tearing them open causing blood to start pouring through. I let out a scream of agony and fell to the ground.
With my good right arm, I reached for a gadget on my belt and pressed it. It instantly began spraying a strong wonderful smell of flowers into the air. If there’s one thing the lizardman cannot tolerate it is sweet solid smells. It roared in anger and then sprinted in the other direction. I lay there blood seeping from my wounds wondering if I was about to die. I’m not old, only 26, but for my line of work, I’m ancient; about half the guys die on their first or second mission. If you survive the first two you will probably last much longer, but even then people die within two years meanwhile I’ve been here for 5 years.
I lay there with my eyes slowly growing heavier and heavier and then they closed and I was consumed by the darkness.
I woke up in a bright white room. The light was so blinding I kept blinking but still could hardly see anything. I noticed a woman standing in the room who was like the room wearing all white.
“Am I dead?” I sputtered out in my half-dazed confusion.
The woman let out a slight chuckle: “No you’re not dead. You’re in the medical wing of our Puerto Rican location.” She explained.
As she was talking everything seemed to clear around me. It was a small hospital room and the woman was short in a doctor's coat with dark hair tied in a bun.
“Who’s we?” I asked.
“USDAC,” She said, busy with something at her table.
I knew USDAC they were the United States Department of Anomaly Containment. They were the ones the Lizardman had escaped from.
“Where’s my organization? Why didn’t they send the team out to get me?” I asked angrily.
“I’m not quite sure. They never even told us you went down. Our investigation team was looking around the jungle when they found you.” She said with a genuinely confused look on her face.
I scanned the room again and saw on a chair next to my bed all my gear laid out nicely. I reached for my walkie, grabbed it, and pulled it off of my belt.
“This is Trigger to dispatch, do you copy?” I asked through the device.
“We copy, you aren’t dead?” The receiver asked, obviously very confused.
“Not yet. Why didn’t you send the team out to get me?” I asked more confused than angry at this point.
“They said you were gone. They said the lizardman had got you.” He said.
“Well, he hasn’t got me yet,” I said defiantly then hung up.
“Mam, I’m going to go finish what I started, but I am going to need a few things.”
I suppose a few things were a bit of an understatement. I had them get the best tracker they could find out here, which they quickly got to do. I got a whole new set of equipment more specialized for the task at hand I filed a hasty but fierce resignation letter to my organization siting leaving me for dead as the primary cause. They never even got back to me and needless to say, I was pissed. I knew the moment USDAC found out I was no longer part of the organization they’d send me away, so I decided I’d better be quick with this operation.
I pulled the small Uhaul full of supplies down the dirt road. Next to me sat Santiago, an older Native American man with a long black salt and pepper braided ponytail. He’d worked with both my organization and USDAC for a number of years and had much experience in tracking beasties like this one.
“So, where exactly are we going?” I asked looking at him.
“Well we’re going to the most recent attack and I’m hoping to get there by noon so if you could step on it that would be lovely.” He said sounding rather harsh.
I nodded and pushed slightly more on the accelerator. I would’ve started flying down this road but this truck was not built for dirt roads so I had to do my best.
As I drove Santiago busied himself with a map. I watched out of the corner of my eye as he put small red x’s on certain spots. I assumed those were the previous attacks. Occasionally he would look up from his work to make sure I was still going in the right direction and finally, after he directed me to turn onto a smaller more unkept dirt road we arrived at the farm.
It was eerily similar to the other. The house was destroyed and the field was full of massacred goats. Although the main difference was this one was swarming with USDAC investigation teams. Four big black vans were parked in front of the home, almost blocking my view. I stopped the truck and me and Santiago both stepped out. We walked over to the house and one of the investigators met us at the door.
He was tall with a weathered face and a strong chin that made him look like an actor. He had nicely done silver hair, stubble, and hazel eyes. A slight grin appeared on his face when he saw us.
“You two must be the hunters, I’m Detective Slade.” He greeted, sticking his hand out for a shake.
I took his hand first. “Hello Slade, I’m Agent Biel,” I said shaking his hand with Santiago quickly doing the same.
After we finished with formalities Slade led us around the house and into the field behind it. It felt like deja vu looking at the field. It told almost the exact same story mine did. Dozens of torn-apart goats and a small now empty chicken coop. I looked at all of it in disgust. The animals had no time to defend themselves they were just destroyed.
Santiago began scanning the mess on the ground looking for tracks to follow. Meanwhile, I stood talking with Slade.
“This is the eighth attack in four days, it looks like it’s making two attacks every night.” Slade explained, “So far it has killed 37 people, 650 goats, 242 cows, and has eaten almost 300 chickens.”
“Have you noticed a pattern?” I asked.
“Besides attacking at night not really. It usually attacks the fields first, but even that isn’t always the case.”
“I found something.” Santiago interrupted.
He stood by the edge of the field that met the jungle. I saw the large tracks of the beast leading into the jungle.

**Me and Santiago lugged the heavy equipment through the jungle we were tired and hot, but we continued knowing that the lizardman was likely close by. The sun had begun to sink low in the sky as we marched on. I was surprised at the path of the lizardman it had literally walked a straight line for miles upon miles. Only ever turning for a large tree or a hill. We were hoping we would get to the things nest before it went on its next night excursion but we weren’t extremely hopeful. I could only hope that the wretched thing was still wherever it rests.** **Suddenly their hike was interrupted by a loud call. I looked above to see a large tropical bird eyeing me from a branch. It was brightly colored vaguely reminding me of a parrot. Oddly I gave the bird a nod and then caught up to Santiago who’d ignored the bird and kept walking.** **Eventually, the sun set and we both had to turn our lights on. My body was beginning to grow heavy and I could tell it was the same for Santiago, but right as we seemed to the point of giving up we arrived at the edge of a lake. It was small and had short sandy beaches separating it from the jungle. Perfectly outlined in the sand were the feet of the lizardman. It had clear as day walked straight into the lake. We both looked at each other. He was clearly as unsure about the situation as I was. We stood there contemplating when I noticed something.** **The lake had a few logs floating in it but one didn’t look like the other. It was far too symmetrical. I scanned my light over it and realized the texture I’d thought of as bark was actually scaled. Then suddenly my light scanned over to the head and its bright red eyes opened wide. It let out a roar and started swimming toward us. I dropped my bag and hurriedly put my remaining gear on. Santiago dropped his and took aim with his rifle.** **BANG! The shot echoed through the quiet air and I saw it clearly hit the thing right in the center of the forehead. The bullet tinked off like it had hit thick steel. The Lizardman swam closer and as the water got shallower it transitioned from swimming to sprinting. The second it took a step on shore I struck. I slammed one of my gauntlet-bearing fists into the thing's face. There was a loud audible crack as it fell over. It quickly stood back up and slashed at my thick steel armor. It did nothing but scrape off some paint and I pulled my fist back and punched it again. It stumbled again and before it could recover I punched it again and again.** **Immediately after the punch it lunged forward its jaws latching on to either side of my helmet. I heard the sounds of it and felt the metal beginning to bend in on itself. I kicked the thing where I knew it would hurt. It unlatched from my face and I uppercut it right in the lower jaw. It fell into the water letting out a whimper-type noise as it did.** **I stood over the beast having misjudged it as defeated. In a second wind, it grabbed me by the leg and threw me into a tree. I heard my suit crack and crunch having been badly damaged. The lizardman started over at me threateningly and in a quick burst of speed it charged over to me.** **BANG! BANG! BANG! His first shot struck the side of its head getting its attention, and as it turned the second bullet struck it directly in its left eye. The third and final bullet struck its nose harmlessly. It roar in pain and charged towards Santiago, but I jumped up and grabbed it by the tail. I held it still for a moment before it did something that caught me off, guard. It turned around and bit off its own tail. It then continued charging toward Santiago. His bullets struck it again and again but its hide was far too strong. Quickly I dropped the tail and pulled out a canister pulling the pin and throwing it. A wonderful smell erupted from it as it soared through the air and landed right in front of Santiago.** **The Lizardman backed away from him dizzy from the overpowering smell. I pulled myself off the ground and charged towards it. I jumped on top of the thing pinning it to the ground.** **“Meds!” I yelled to him as the Lizardman was already struggling.** **Santiago reached into its mouth that I held open and shoved the tranquilizer down its throat. After another minute of shaking and struggling it finally blacked out. I pulled out my walkie and called in dispatch.** **“The lizard is down,” I said simply.** **Within minutes they had a dozen helicopters out there and had the creature properly restrained.** **I walked over to the man who appeared to be in charge. He was average height with blonde hair combed to the side, aviator glasses, and a nice gray suit. “I’d recommend you step up the security on that thing,” I suggested.** **He turned around and looked at me for a moment, almost studying me.** 

“We will be.” He said finally. “I am personally seeing that it is brought to our most secure location.”
“Good, good, I don’t want to ever deal with that thing again.” I chuckled.
He looked closer at me after I said that and it seemed to click in his head who I was.
“Agent Biel, I’m very happy to see you. I got word of your resignation at UARF.” He said sounding oddly sad.
I prepared for the worst as I was technically not supposed to be here.
“Yeah, I wasn’t exactly happy with being left for dead,” I grumbled.
“Well sir I promise if you take my offer you won’t be left for dead,” He said smiling now.
I paused for a moment unsure what he meant. Then it seemed to click he was hiring me and I took his hand and shook it vigorously.
“I do accept your offer, sir,” I yelled excitedly.
“You can call me Dr.Barclay,” He said politely shaking my hand back.
So that is how I was hired here at USDAC and I’ve already discovered that they do things quite differently here but that is a story for another day. Biel out.

I hunted monsters for an international anomaly research center
Part 2
I decided instead of telling you about the next monster I’d planned I will tell you all what I did last week. I’d heard about this anomaly before, but that was because it was contained. Not by our organization but by one we work closely with. They’d been keeping it well in their Puerto Rico containment facility, but it managed to escape during a power outage. They’d insisted on trying to capture it themselves for a couple of days before they finally let me come in. Normally I’d be mad that they couldn’t catch it, but the Scape Ore Swamp Lizard Man is no walk in the park.
Standing 10 feet long, 8 feet tall, and pure muscle this thing is practically a walking tank. It has an almost inch-thick hide of small black snake-like scales. It stands on two legs but can switch to four when needed. It has a large head with a long muzzle full of sharp venomous teeth. Its face is always contorted into a scowl adding to its frightful appearance. Its back is covered in large spiked scutes which start at the head to the tip of the tail. On its two large four-fingered hands are two-inch-long nasty claws.
They deployed me the same way as always, and I landed with a light thud on the jungle floor after I was unlatched from the parachute and harness. I looked out at the darkening jungle around me. My search would be far from easy. I knew that, as I needed more information about where it was. However, after getting my sniper railgun ready I began my pursuit.
My pursuit was aimless and tiring. I had no direction, and the heat was slowly burning me alive. The jungle was full of loud squawking birds. At one point I looked up and saw in the evening light a small group of bats flying overhead.
I walked slowly and steadily scanning the quickly darkening ground for something, but as I suspected there was nothing in sight. No sigh from the lizardman. I walked on and on until finally, I found something. They were large three-toed tracks that almost looked like ones a T-rex would’ve made. My heart leaped in joy and excitement and I began following the footprints. They were easy to follow as the heavy feet had sunk deep into the wet muddy ground of the jungle. They followed no path and almost walked the way I had been walking aimlessly. Until like me, it seemed to have found something to follow.
Its path led in an almost perfect straight line, having trampled almost anything that wasn’t a tree out of its way. I noticed as I followed its tracks large claw marks in the trees. There were three and they were long and deep.
I followed for a good long while still tired but my determination had increased 10 fold now that there was a path to follow. As I walked along I began to hear something off in the distance. It was so faint it was hard to discern. At first, I thought it might be some sort of birdcall, but then it clicked in my head. It screamed. I started running as fast as I could through the jungle tripping at one point but pulling myself back up.
Eventually, I found myself running into a field. What I saw in that field I’ll never forget. I don’t know what it is, but I’ve never been bothered by dead humans before. In my youth when I’d go to funerals seeing the body never disturbed me. I’d be sure but the body itself never made me uncomfortable. And after I got this job I got completely desensitized, but something about dead animals. I could never handle seeing a dead animal. I don’t know exactly why. I guess it’s because it brought me back to my childhood.
My dad was born in Mexico in 1979, but he and his family moved to Puerto Rico 3 years later. My dad lived in Puerto Rico during the horrifying but short reign of the Chupacabra. When I was little he would tell me stories about it. Fields of livestock just on the ground dead wholly drained of blood. Those stories actually started me down the route of where I am today, but I don’t think I ever really comprehended what that looked like until I saw the massacre in the field I was now in.
It almost seemed as though a sheet of blood and muscle and meat had fallen over the field. It was absolutely everywhere and dispersed throughout this massacre I could see small bits of bones. Vertebrae there, or a rib over there. It almost looked like they’d all exploded from the inside at the same time, but I know that is not what happened. I saw the footprints in the ground, I saw the claw marks in the bones. I knew the only thing that could’ve done this was the horrible beast I was hunting.
I walked around through the massacre for a while in a sort of shock. Then I finally snapped out of it and looked around again. I saw a house separated only by a now broken wood fence to the field. I instantly knew where the screams had come from and what had likely happened. I ran toward the house and a story began to unfold as I got closer. The father or man of the house must’ve come outside to defend his family because I found his body ripped apart just outside the front door.
I stepped over the body and walked into the tiny house. It was absolutely destroyed. The walls were torn apart, furniture was left shattered on the ground, and there was lots of blood. I looked over and saw a partial body on the living room floor. I grimaced when I realized the poor thing had once been a big dog. Now it was nothing but torn meat and bones. One step at a time I made my way to the back of the house down a cramped hallway. In the bedrooms were the destroyed bodies of a woman and three children. The only peace I had was that these people died quickly. I noticed at the end of the hall was a shattered glass backdoor. I stepped through it, almost slipping on the shards of glass still on the floor, and walked into the backyard. It was a tiny cleared area surrounded by trees. The ground was littered with small dog toys and in the corner was a chicken coop. The roof of it had been ripped off and shattered. I peeked in through the hole and saw lots of blood-covered eggs. It looked like, unlike the other animals, the lizardman had actually stopped eating all the chickens. Maybe all of that butchering worked up an appetite. I thought.
After calling in for the investigation crew I continued on my trail. The sun had completely set and navigated the dense jungle even with my bright headlight showing the way. Not long into it rain began pouring which completely covered the tracks. In frustration, I turned around and made my way back to the farm.
Suddenly I heard something from the treetops. It sounded almost like a faint growl and before I could do anything else the large figure of the Lizardman jumped from the trees right in front of me. It immediately slashed at my chest and left arm tearing them open causing blood to start pouring through. I let out a scream of agony and fell to the ground.
With my good right arm, I reached for a gadget on my belt and pressed it. It instantly began spraying a strong wonderful smell of flowers into the air. If there’s one thing the lizardman cannot tolerate it is sweet solid smells. It roared in anger and then sprinted in the other direction. I lay there blood seeping from my wounds wondering if I was about to die. I’m not old, only 26, but for my line of work, I’m ancient; about half the guys die on their first or second mission. If you survive the first two you will probably last much longer, but even then people die within two years meanwhile I’ve been here for 5 years.
I lay there with my eyes slowly growing heavier and heavier and then they closed and I was consumed by the darkness.
I woke up in a bright white room. The light was so blinding I kept blinking but still could hardly see anything. I noticed a woman standing in the room who was like the room wearing all white.
“Am I dead?” I sputtered out in my half-dazed confusion.
The woman let out a slight chuckle: “No you’re not dead. You’re in the medical wing of our Puerto Rican location.” She explained.
As she was talking everything seemed to clear around me. It was a small hospital room and the woman was short in a doctor's coat with dark hair tied in a bun.
“Who’s we?” I asked.
“USDAC,” She said, busy with something at her table.
I knew USDAC they were the United States Department of Anomaly Containment. They were the ones the Lizardman had escaped from.
“Where’s my organization? Why didn’t they send the team out to get me?” I asked angrily.
“I’m not quite sure. They never even told us you went down. Our investigation team was looking around the jungle when they found you.” She said with a genuinely confused look on her face.
I scanned the room again and saw on a chair next to my bed all my gear laid out nicely. I reached for my walkie, grabbed it, and pulled it off of my belt.
“This is Trigger to dispatch, do you copy?” I asked through the device.
“We copy, you aren’t dead?” The receiver asked, obviously very confused.
“Not yet. Why didn’t you send the team out to get me?” I asked more confused than angry at this point.
“They said you were gone. They said the lizardman had got you.” He said.
“Well, he hasn’t got me yet,” I said defiantly then hung up.
“Mam, I’m going to go finish what I started, but I am going to need a few things.”
I suppose a few things were a bit of an understatement. I had them get the best tracker they could find out here, which they quickly got to do. I got a whole new set of equipment more specialized for the task at hand I filed a hasty but fierce resignation letter to my organization siting leaving me for dead as the primary cause. They never even got back to me and needless to say, I was pissed. I knew the moment USDAC found out I was no longer part of the organization they’d send me away, so I decided I’d better be quick with this operation.
I pulled the small Uhaul full of supplies down the dirt road. Next to me sat Santiago, an older Native American man with a long black salt and pepper braided ponytail. He’d worked with both my organization and USDAC for a number of years and had much experience in tracking beasties like this one.
“So, where exactly are we going?” I asked looking at him.
“Well we’re going to the most recent attack and I’m hoping to get there by noon so if you could step on it that would be lovely.” He said sounding rather harsh.
I nodded and pushed slightly more on the accelerator. I would’ve started flying down this road but this truck was not built for dirt roads so I had to do my best.
As I drove Santiago busied himself with a map. I watched out of the corner of my eye as he put small red x’s on certain spots. I assumed those were the previous attacks. Occasionally he would look up from his work to make sure I was still going in the right direction and finally, after he directed me to turn onto a smaller more unkept dirt road we arrived at the farm.
It was eerily similar to the other. The house was destroyed and the field was full of massacred goats. Although the main difference was this one was swarming with USDAC investigation teams. Four big black vans were parked in front of the home, almost blocking my view. I stopped the truck and me and Santiago both stepped out. We walked over to the house and one of the investigators met us at the door.
He was tall with a weathered face and a strong chin that made him look like an actor. He had nicely done silver hair, stubble, and hazel eyes. A slight grin appeared on his face when he saw us.
“You two must be the hunters, I’m Detective Slade.” He greeted, sticking his hand out for a shake.
I took his hand first. “Hello Slade, I’m Agent Biel,” I said shaking his hand with Santiago quickly doing the same.
After we finished with formalities Slade led us around the house and into the field behind it. It felt like deja vu looking at the field. It told almost the exact same story mine did. Dozens of torn-apart goats and a small now empty chicken coop. I looked at all of it in disgust. The animals had no time to defend themselves they were just destroyed.
Santiago began scanning the mess on the ground looking for tracks to follow. Meanwhile, I stood talking with Slade.
“This is the eighth attack in four days, it looks like it’s making two attacks every night.” Slade explained, “So far it has killed 37 people, 650 goats, 242 cows, and has eaten almost 300 chickens.”
“Have you noticed a pattern?” I asked.
“Besides attacking at night not really. It usually attacks the fields first, but even that isn’t always the case.”
“I found something.” Santiago interrupted.
He stood by the edge of the field that met the jungle. I saw the large tracks of the beast leading into the jungle.
Me and Santiago lugged the heavy equipment through the jungle we were tired and hot, but we continued knowing that the lizardman was likely close by. The sun had begun to sink low in the sky as we marched on. I was surprised at the path of the lizardman it had literally walked a straight line for miles upon miles. Only ever turning for a large tree or a hill. We were hoping we would get to the things nest before it went on its next night excursion but we weren’t extremely hopeful. I could only hope that the wretched thing was still wherever it rests.
Suddenly their hike was interrupted by a loud call. I looked above to see a large tropical bird eyeing me from a branch. It was brightly colored vaguely reminding me of a parrot. Oddly I gave the bird a nod and then caught up to Santiago who’d ignored the bird and kept walking.
Eventually, the sun set and we both had to turn our lights on. My body was beginning to grow heavy and I could tell it was the same for Santiago, but right as we seemed to the point of giving up we arrived at the edge of a lake. It was small and had short sandy beaches separating it from the jungle. Perfectly outlined in the sand were the feet of the lizardman. It had clear as day walked straight into the lake. We both looked at each other. He was clearly as unsure about the situation as I was. We stood there contemplating when I noticed something.
The lake had a few logs floating in it but one didn’t look like the other. It was far too symmetrical. I scanned my light over it and realized the texture I’d thought of as bark was actually scaled. Then suddenly my light scanned over to the head and its bright red eyes opened wide. It let out a roar and started swimming toward us. I dropped my bag and hurriedly put my remaining gear on. Santiago dropped his and took aim with his rifle.
BANG! The shot echoed through the quiet air and I saw it clearly hit the thing right in the center of the forehead. The bullet tinked off like it had hit thick steel. The Lizardman swam closer and as the water got shallower it transitioned from swimming to sprinting. The second it took a step on shore I struck. I slammed one of my gauntlet-bearing fists into the thing's face. There was a loud audible crack as it fell over. It quickly stood back up and slashed at my thick steel armor. It did nothing but scrape off some paint and I pulled my fist back and punched it again. It stumbled again and before it could recover I punched it again and again.
Immediately after the punch it lunged forward its jaws latching on to either side of my helmet. I heard the sounds of it and felt the metal beginning to bend in on itself. I kicked the thing where I knew it would hurt. It unlatched from my face and I uppercut it right in the lower jaw. It fell into the water letting out a whimper-type noise as it did.
I stood over the beast having misjudged it as defeated. In a second wind, it grabbed me by the leg and threw me into a tree. I heard my suit crack and crunch having been badly damaged. The lizardman started over at me threateningly and in a quick burst of speed it charged over to me.
BANG! BANG! BANG! His first shot struck the side of its head getting its attention, and as it turned the second bullet struck it directly in its left eye. The third and final bullet struck its nose harmlessly. It roar in pain and charged towards Santiago, but I jumped up and grabbed it by the tail. I held it still for a moment before it did something that caught me off, guard. It turned around and bit off its own tail. It then continued charging toward Santiago. His bullets struck it again and again but its hide was far too strong. Quickly I dropped the tail and pulled out a canister pulling the pin and throwing it. A wonderful smell erupted from it as it soared through the air and landed right in front of Santiago.
The Lizardman backed away from him dizzy from the overpowering smell. I pulled myself off the ground and charged towards it. I jumped on top of the thing pinning it to the ground.
“Meds!” I yelled to him as the Lizardman was already struggling.
Santiago reached into its mouth that I held open and shoved the tranquilizer down its throat. After another minute of shaking and struggling it finally blacked out. I pulled out my walkie and called in dispatch.
“The lizard is down,” I said simply.
Within minutes they had a dozen helicopters out there and had the creature properly restrained.
I walked over to the man who appeared to be in charge. He was average height with blonde hair combed to the side, aviator glasses, and a nice gray suit. “I’d recommend you step up the security on that thing,” I suggested.
He turned around and looked at me for a moment, almost studying me.
“We will be.” He said finally. “I am personally seeing that it is brought to our most secure location.”
“Good, good, I don’t want to ever deal with that thing again.” I chuckled.
He looked closer at me after I said that and it seemed to click in his head who I was.
“Agent Biel, I’m very happy to see you. I got word of your resignation at UARF.” He said sounding oddly sad.
I prepared for the worst as I was technically not supposed to be here.
“Yeah, I wasn’t exactly happy with being left for dead,” I grumbled.
“Well sir I promise if you take my offer you won’t be left for dead,” He said smiling now.
I paused for a moment unsure what he meant. Then it seemed to click he was hiring me and I took his hand and shook it vigorously.
“I do accept your offer, sir,” I yelled excitedly.
“You can call me Dr.Barclay,” He said politely shaking my hand back.
So that is how I was hired here at USDAC and I’ve already discovered that they do things quite differently here but that is a story for another day. Biel out.

Hi! My mom and sibling are arriving tomorrow, and I wanted to have a decent sized list of potential activities.
She has rheumatoid arthritis which severely affects her hands and has spread to her knees and ankles. She said she goes on (slow) walks everyday but gets tired relatively easily. Her hands have been impacted enough that while they are no longer painful, she can't grip very well. So, even an e-bike isn't an option. She also has a history with alcohol, and while she partakes occasionally, hanging out at breweries or bars likely isn't something we'll do.
She doesn't get out much and is from a rural area, so I'd like to give her some good experiences and memories to bring back home(:
Things I've thought of:

• Restaurants, cafés, bakeries
  
• Scenic drives
  
• Farmers' markets
  
• Ethnic grocery stores
  
• Natural areas/ scenic walking (Watson Lake, Lions Open Space)
  
• Tours (would appreciate suggestions on this; she liked Celestial Seasonings and Hammond's tours when I was in Denver)
  

Oh! And she grew up in Puerto Rico, so anything specifically related to PR or just anything Hispanic in general would have her over the moon!
Thank you ❤️

So I never post on anything, please be nice but I’m very torn about a recent experience that has never happened to me before …. Everything happened in less than 30 min. But I was having a bad day, it was late so I decided to stop by Popeyes off of Colfax. At first I tried the app but my order wouldn’t go through so I went through the drive-through. The first question I asked was, do they take Apple Pay and they said yes. When I drove up to the window and went to go pay, their machine and my phone did not want to work. We tried about three times before I put my car in park and ask them to give me a second to look for my physical card. They gave me less than 30 seconds and started yelling at me as I said, I was having a really bad day so I looked at them and I said I’m having a really bad day. I continued to look for my card. The manager seem to get upset and told me to go around again. I asked her why I need to go around when your machine isn’t working and I am hungry. She told me that if I did not go around that she would call the police. I asked her to try Apple Pay one more time and they explained to me that it had been working all day, and it was my fault. At that point I was pretty livid. Although they did not know it, I spoke fluent Spanish, and I could hear them as they said Negrita no quiere pagar meaning the black lady doesn’t want to pay. The manager then proceeded to come out of the restaurant to serve the cars behind me, that clearly got their food and drove around me (so I wasn’t blocking the drive which was their lie to the police.). I was humiliated and livid. I had just transferred $75 to my card so that I wouldn’t have theses issues. Multiple employees told me that they were calling the police including Elena and Diana. When I asked what the mangers names were Diana gave me the managers first name and refused to give me her last name. I told them this was poor customer service and that this was my particularly favorite location but they just kept telling me to move so I refused. I was hungry, my physical card im sure was stuck between my seats but I was so flustered I couldn’t think. When the manager was done serving all the cars behind me I said fuck it and opened a gift card I kept for emergencies. They refused to take it! When the girl at the window refused I told the manager in Spanish that I am trying to pay but she was too busy on the phone calling the police. I took a video of me saying I want to pay but shes just standing outside on her phone. I’m not gonna lie, at that point they were getting told in their own language how stupid they were which I’m sure they didn’t appreciate. They finally let me pay and gave me my food but not before telling me that they took down my liscense plate and were still reporting me to the police. Which naturally they had a few more Spanish phrases thrown their way and I drove away…
As I said I arrived at 940 and by 1010 I parked a couple streets down, cried and called the Denver police. A few things that may or may not be important but I’m African American born in Littleton and grew up in highlands ranch neiborhoods or better. I also have a relative involved with the Denver pd and other government organizations. I know some laws, studying to be a lawyer and fairly educated. Needles to say that was the first time anyone has looked me in the eyes to tell me They were calling the police.
I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong. It wasn’t my fault that the card reader didn’t work. They refused to manually input my cc number. It wasn’t my fault that they were impatient and didn’t want to serve me. It’s not my fault that I’m black. Immediately when they said there going to call the police I felt a sting of injustice. At that point I hadn’t spoken a single negative Spanish word but I knew they wanted to threaten me. During the interaction when asked why they said I was blocking the drive. About three or four times they kept theeatening to call the police on me knowing absolutely nothing about me and falsely accusing me of a crime I didn’t commit. I just couldn’t pay as fast as they demanded I guess? From their perspective it is the Popeyes 2122 colfax and even during the day I’ve seen some rough people around… I have been going there almost every Tuesday for 2 yrs. This was my first Friday and sadly you won’t catch me at another Popeyes after how I was treated ..
When I called the police dept @ q1013 they said an officer was dispatched and the restaurant claimed I had blocked the drive and refused to pay. That’s when I broke. The dispatcher told me that I didn’t do anything illegal and I was fine. I asked how it was fair and what to do but I wasnt given an answer. And now for the sad part…
Without going into too much depth of my tortured soul I went home, looked at my dad (who also has been falsely accusing of nonsense lately ) and asked “when am I allowed to call it quits? When can I give up? I’m just not strong enough to constantly ask for a little bit kindness instead of being judged for things I can’t control.” Needless to say, ever since Friday night at Popeyes my suicidal thoughts of constantly thinking of ways to kill mysef have returned. Please. I don’t want need or care about advice on my mental health. I have my various support systems in place and I promise me and my doc already had an apt set for this week. I’ve left reviews on yelp and google and did the corporate survey. I’m planning on telling the corporate office on Monday but I’m just curious about public opinion (from every race) am I just being sensitive because they have been the umpteenth person to want me to jump on their say so this week or was that my first encounter of someone of another race calling the cops on a black person with the sole intent meant to threaten, harm, and intimidate that individual in a public place. As fucked up as this sounds, my whole life and even now I am told by othersI am the whitest black person. I grew up in such a bubble that I thought there were only white ppl in Colorado until at 30 THIRTY I discovered Aurora 😂 🤦🏾‍♀️😳. My best friends have been white black Mongolian middle Eastern Jewishh African and Costa Rican z. It’s not that I don’t see color it’s that I embrace every race and culture. I honestly believe there is some thing beautiful about the differences in humanity and I want to learn everything thatis similar and different from my own experience. Sadly, I think I may be the only one when I’m treated like it’s 1950s in the south and all the blacks had to go around the corner to the back to eat the same food and pay the same money as white people but they were always chosen to be served first and when blacks did not comply they too had the cops called on them.
If you’ve read all my bullshit, thank you. I just don’t know if I should keep crying in the corner or go talk to a lawyer.. If you want to help, spread the word, lay off the chicken at 2122 colfax, and remember we are all people. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Get to know the person before deferring to stereotypical bias that every Race is guilty of committing. All lives matter but if it weren’t for some black ancestors to pave the way and lead the fight for true equality starting first with Blackmen fighting to being consider a fraction of a man, soon whitewomen found their voice in the suffage movement. The 1960s civil rights that allowed for women to go to college, play sports and have careers as well as the end of Jim Crow laws was not started because white people wanted equality but because black people courageously demanded it. Only after did the white feminist movement and Chicanos movement follow in our footsteps, and even now with the gay rights movement, they have taken lessons from our black ancestors to aid their fight to equality today, so all lives do matter. But black lives seem to be the only ones paving the way for all other races, orientations and disabilities to live comfortably enough so that when thing don’t go their way to call the police (that will beat and sometimes kill) solely based on the color of a person’s skin. You’r welcome.
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Hello, my husband and I are looking to try some authentic Costa Rican coffee while we are staying in Puerto Viejo. Any suggestions? I saw a lot of cafes when I googled coffee, but I was curious to know if anyone had any specific suggestions. Thank you!

Hi. I’m a 23-year-old who’s interested in learning Spanish. I’m at the intermediate level (used to be around B2, but my lack of practice pushed me back to B1), and I would like to move on from B1-C1/C2 Spanish by late 2024. My interests include reading, writing, genealogy, research, graduate school, tutoring/teaching, technology, video games, YouTube, tourism, health, nature, Cuban and Puerto Rican agriculture, Cuban and Puerto Rican foods, and learning as much as I can about other cultures. I’d like to learn Latin American Spanish so I can connect with my Cuban and Puerto Rican heritage. Additionally, I’m planning to study US Hispanic and/or Puerto Rican literature during undergrad and graduate school.
In exchange, I’d like to offer American English. In addition to being my native language, English is actually my bachelor’s degree’s concentration, and I just entered my senior year. I’d like to help a language exchange partner to keep up and advance in their English studies, be it through starting and maintaining conversations, sentence building, or writing an argument/opinion. Because I’ve lived in many different states, I can share some interesting facts about American foods, geography, nature, and tourism.
For safety purposes, I’m comfortable with only adult language exchange partners who are about my age (22-25). We can get to know each other and share our learning goals via Reddit DMs. Then, if you’re comfortable, we can transfer to Discord to send DMs and try voice chat.

Relative rum neophyte here with what may be a dumb question. For cocktail recipes that call for Spanish-style (or Puerto Rican) silvewhite rum, e.g. Don Q Cristal, Bacardi, Cruzan etc, are Plantation 3* or Foursquare Probitas acceptable substitutes? I have and enjoy both of those, but was wondering if I should also get a bottle of one of the Spanish-style rums mentioned above for specs that call for Spanish style Puerto Rican… thoughts?

Relative rum neophyte here with what may be a dumb question. For recipes that call for Spanish-style (or Puerto Rican) silvewhite rum, e.g. Don Q Cristal, Bacardi, Cruzan etc, are Plantation 3* or Foursquare Probitas acceptable substitutes? I have and enjoy both of those, but was wondering if I should also get a bottle of one of the Spanish-style rums mentioned above for specs that call for Spanish style / Puerto Rican… thoughts?

Layout:
— Individual Team News + Stone’s Cold Takes
— Miscellaneous/Other NFL News
— Restaurant of the Week - Pittsburgh
Arizona Cardinals:

• RB James Conner likes being an underdog
• HC Jonathan Gannon wanted to move forward with who was all in on the team when asked about DeAndre Hopkins
• Gained $4.21m in cap space after June 1st deadline
• QB Clayton Tune could work his way into a starting spot
• Potentially interested in moving on from LB Isaiah Simmons

This team cannot unload folks fast enough it seems. They are now looking to potentially move on from LB Isaiah Simmons who in many folks eyes has not lived up to the hype from the draft. WE shall see if they can get anything for him if they do decide to move on. The storyline I am most interested in watching this year here is first how long Kyler Murray will be out and second how rookie QB Clayton Tune is developing. It seems like they took him so they could try out a young QB in the interim while Murray is working his way back. Apparently thus far he has been doing well in OTAs.
Atlanta Falcons:

• Team expects TE Kyle Pitts to be ready for season opener
• Ditching gradient uniforms and will wear throwbacks 3 times

Not too much news from the Falcons but many will be excited to hear about Kyle Pitts expected to be back for the season opener. Hopefully this is the year he can really break out but a lot will depend on the QB Desmond Ridder actually being able to throw him the ball unlike the past quarterbacks he has had who have not made things easy.
Baltimore Ravens:

• WR Zay Flowers is impressing with his route running capabilities early on

Good news here because receiver seems to be a position where the Ravens have struggled to get good production. With new OC Todd Monken that should start to change and with an added emphasis on the passing game it inevitably should change as more throws are made.
Buffalo Bills:

• Rumored that QB Josh Allen will be featured on the cover of Madden
• Signed:
  
  • DT Ed Oliver to a 4-year $68m extension with $45m guaranteed
  • WR Marcell Ateman
  • OT Brandon Shell
• Supposedly out on WR DeAndre Hopkins
  
• Expect Edge Von Miller to be back for the season opener
  

Great move here signing Ed Oliver to his extension. He is a key piece of that d-line and helps hold them together. I personally don’t believe they or really any of the other teams that have said they are out on DeAndre Hopkins actually are. To me it appears more to be a message saying they are not going to be paying him the money that WR Odell Beckham got earlier this offseason. Only time will tell. Great news for the team that EDGE Von Miller should be back by the season opener. Personally though I would take my time with him and would be overly cautious to make sure he is fully healthy. Hopefully that is by week 1!
Carolina Panthers:

• QB Bryce Young is already impressing with his poise
• Plan to use some Deebo Samuel-like packages for WR Laviska Shenault

The hype appears to be real for the Bryce Young but it is what every team says about their rookie quarterback who is a top pick so hard to decipher how folks are actually feeling. I am excited about how Frank Reich will use WR Laviska Shenault because I have always been impressed with his athletic ability and expected him to break out more. It seems this could have been the type of role he has been waiting for.
Chicago Bears:

• Have other sites in mind potentially for a new stadium besides Arlington
• QB Justin Fields donated $10,000 to the special olympics
• WR DJ Moore has been performing well in OTAs
• Stadium is at risk after property tax assessment

A lot of news around the future stadium of the Bears. It appeared a couple weeks ago that everything was moving along as planned and no issues had come up. This week there was nothing but concerns and problems. I wonder if these are all real storylines or if it is something they are using to try and negotiate more with the government to get help with the stadium. In more football news is appears that WR DJ Moore and QB Justin Fields are enjoying working together and developing a good connection. This is important to give Fields someone he can trust like he did his receivers at Ohio State.
Cincinnati Bengals:

• WR Tyler Boyd feels they one-upped the Chiefs signing Orlando Brown Jr.
• DE Sam Hubbard excited for what’s next this season
• Will hold joint practices with the Packers

Not too much football news here but they appear to be ready to take on the Chiefs again this year and make a deep playoff run. Also, it appears at this point that the team will keep RB Joe Mixon based on comments from the team and HC Zac Taylor. This offense per usual will be an exciting one to watch.
Cleveland Browns:

• Strong possibility that WR DeAndre Hopkins ends up here
  
  • QB Deshaun Watson is working hard to recruit him
• DC Jim Schwartz sees a benefit in d-linemen playing fewer snaps to stay fresh
  
• Gained $10.9m in cap space after June 1st release deadline
  

Good news and good vibes are finally coming out of Cleveland. Feels like it has been while. QB Deshaun Watson appears to be benefitting from having a full offseason and getting work in with his new receivers. He has been pushing hard for Hopkins and the Browns would make sense as a good landing spot for him given the prior relationship Watson and Hopkins had during their time in Houston. I have been pleasantly surprised by how well things appear to be going so far this offseason.
Dallas Cowboys:

• Started long-term extension talks with CB Trevon Diggs
• WR Antonio Callaway was arrested Saturday in Miami
• Micah Parsons is more concerned with making impactful plays on defense
• Supposedly out on WR DeAndre Hopkins
• RB Tony Pollard is a little ahead of schedule with rehab
• Gained $10.9m in cap space after June 1st deadline

Similar to the Bills I don’t think the Cowboys are actually out on Hopkins but probably sending a message that he needs to bring down his asking price. I wonder sometimes if they are still saving room for RB Ezekiel Elliott to come back here and play especially with them gaining the $10.9m in cap space after the deadline. Also, hopefully the team can get something done with CB Trevon Diggs sooner rather than later because he has been an impactful piece on defense despite the big plays he occasionally gives up because he can change a game with one of his interceptions.
Denver Broncos:

• HC Sean Payton puts a heavy emphasis on the importance of Guards in the NFL
• Released RB Jacques Patrick
• Gained $3.75m in cap space after June 1st deadline
• Signed:
  
  • K Elliott Fry

Not too much news here but they did find their replacement for K Brandon McManus in Elliott Fry. I would say less news from this team this offseason is better because ever since QB Russell Wilson struggled it seemed like the media was out to get him and the team any chance they had. HC Sean Payton must be running a pretty tight ship.
Detroit Lions:

• OC Ben Johnson expects offense to take a huge step forward this season
• RB Jahymr Gibbs has been standing out in practice running and catching the ball
• OT Penei Sewell is embracing leadership role
• S Tracy Walker expects to be fully cleared for camp

All good news this week which should be good for morale. Seems they have strung together a couple good weeks during their OTAs. Great to see that RB Jahymr Gibbs is getting some reps in and showcasing his abilities that made the team feel the need to spend a high draft pick on him. Great to see as well that Penei Sewell at the young age of 22 taking on a leadership role and getting good work in as well. With that said OC Ben Johnson could be prepping and is expecting for the offense to have a big year.
Green Bay Packers:

• WR Romeo Doubs doesn’t think there will be a regression with QB Jordan Love
• OL David Bakhtiari says disrespectful to say they are rebuilding
• Will hold joint practices with the Bengals

It appears that it may be a bit tough in the post Aaron Rodgers era as expected. However, it does sound like there is less front office drama now that they are not having to work with him in the offseason. Time will tell whether the drama was more caused by a lack of good communication as Rodgers claimed recently or by the former Packers QB himself.
Houston Texans:

• QB CJ Stroud is ahead of where the team expected him to be at this point
• RT Tytus Howard is in line for a big extension
• Released DT Taylor Stallworth with injury settlement
• Will hold joint practices with the Dolphins and Saints

Good news about CJ Stroud but again as I mentioned with Bryce Young it is hard to find a team that drafted a top QB in the draft not raving about their quarterbacks progress at this point. The joint practices they have setup will be great for QB CJ Stroud. The Dolphins and Saints should each have tough defenses this year and will give Stroud a bit better of an idea of what to expect from an NFL defense in a real game.
Indianapolis Colts:

• QB Anthony Richardson is looking really good overall
• Worked out WR Breshad Perriman

Looks like the Colts are trying to get receiver help but haven’t decided on any yet. This is the team that should go out and get Hopkins. They need a true #1 receiver and Josh Downs while I think he will be really good would benefit from having a big bodied possession type receiver in Hopkins. Also, it would give QB Anthony Richardson more of a safety net in terms of a WR that can help him progress and see things that he may not have picked up on otherwise.
Jacksonville Jaguars:

• K Brandon McManus called special teams coach to express interest in the team after being cut
• EDGE Josh Allen is the only player under contract not attending voluntary OTAs
• Being cautious with WR Calvin Ridley during OTAs
• Plan to have a RB committee approach

I am really excited for the Jaguars this season. They are kind of the forgotten team in the NFL most years but appear to be poised to make a deep playoff run this year. WR Calvin Ridley is going to be a huge difference maker this year and should benefit from QB Trevor Lawrence continuing to progress going into his 3rd NFL season.
Kansas City Chiefs:

• Wife of Chiefs owner Norma Hunt passed at the age of 85
• Supposedly out on WR DeAndre Hopkins
• WR Justyn Ross has the trust of QB Patrick Mahomes

Sad news to hear about Norma Hunt’s passing as the whole league mourned and sent their condolences. They are also supposedly out on Hopkins which I believe means they are really saying we need you to come down on price. The Chiefs though per usual have revealed though their secret weapon in WR Justyn Ross who many had forgotten about due to him sitting out with an injury his rookie year. It looks like Ross may be back to prior form when he was making plays at Clemson with Trevor Lawrence.
Las Vegas Raiders:

• Open to listening to trade offers for WR Hunter Renfrow
• HC Josh McDaniels is not worried about QB Jimmy Garoppolo’s foot surgery

Even though the media and some fans were starting to worry about Jimmy G’s foot surgery it does not appear McDaniels has any worries about him missing time because of it. Will be interesting to see what the team ends up doing with Renfrow with all signs from earlier in the offseason pointing towards a release or trade.
Los Angeles Chargers:

• WR Quentin Johnson has been impressive according to teammates Keenan Allen
• OT Rashawn Slater is at 100% and has been for quite some time

Not much news here but it was great news to get confirmation from OT Rashawn Slater regarding his health and to hear WR Keenan Allen’s thoughts on rookie WR Quentin Johnson. This team should give us what they think they will every year and go far in the playoff this year.
Los Angeles Rams:

• DC Raheem Morris helped save drowning child
• Signed:
  
  • WR Tyler Johnson

Not much news here but signed WR Tyler Johnson who can help them make some big splashy plays on offense. DC Raheem Morris helped saved a drowning child and credited his AED training. Always cool to hear these stories about NFL coaches and players leaping into action to help and save other in the community.
Miami Dolphins:

• Hope to sign DT Christian Wilkins to an extension before the season
• QB Tua Tagovailoa is completely healthy and showing signs of growth as a leader
• Real possibility they end up with RB Dalvin Cook this year
• Opted to only use 6 of 10 available days of OTAs
• Gained $13.6m in cap space after June 1st deadline
• Will hold joint practices with the Texans

This team appears to be click on all levels so far this offseason and there appears to be a lot more good coming with the team working to get a Wilkins extension done before the season and may even still end up with RB Dalvin Cook here soon. Tua being completely healthy at this point doesn’t feel like much of a surprise but it does appear that he is trying to take on more of a leadership role after finding his confidence last year. My main worry though with Tua is that last year he still was very much a rhythm quarterback in my mind so when he got knocked off that rhythm he had some really bad games. However, when he was able to keep in rhythm he at times looked like the best passer in the league. It will be key this offseason now that he knows the offense to be able to play off rhythm when necessary and make those plays that the top quarterbacks in the league make if he wanting to take the next step.
Minnesota Vikings:

• Seems that only thing left for RB Dalvin Cook is an announcement of how he will be leaving the team by trade or by getting cut
• Head Coach Kevin O’Connell described RB Alexander Mattison as a every down RB
• Paid off their debt on stadium 23 years earlier saving taxpayers $226m in interest
• Expected that WR Justin Jefferson to be highest paid WR when he signs his extension
• Will have joint practices with Tennessee

It appears that the Vikings are in a holding pattern and I imagine are hoping to get a trade package they approve of for RB Dalvin Cook. Sooner or later though it appears that Dalvin Cook will not be with the Vikings this year. Big win though for the fans and locals in Minnesota with the team paying off their stadium early and saving taxpayers a bunch of money. Might get some more buy in from good press like that.
New England Patriots:

• QB Mac Jones is aiming to earn the respect of his teammates

Not much news here but it appears things are moving along really well in comparison with last year at this time. QB Mac Jones seems happy and is working hard. It will be tough for this Patriots team with how stacked the division is but maybe a big move to get Hopkins and some improvement from the offense and Mac Jones and who knows they may be right up there with everyone else in the division.
New Orleans Saints:

• DE Cam Jordan will play for the team as long as he wants
• QB Jameis Winston feels that he is still a starting QB in the league
• Excited to WR Michael Thomas to be ready for camp
• Will hold joint practices with the Texans
• HC Dennis Allen had Jon Gruden attend OTAs in order to aid offense with QB Derek Carr
• TE Juwan Johnson has been studying Julian Edelman tape at QB Derek Carr’s urging

Another team where things just seem to be clicking so far is here in New Orleans. QB Derek Carr seems to be doing a good job taking on a leadership role and working with teammates such as TE Juwan Johnson. Things will be going even better if WR Michael Thomas can actually return for camp and find a way to play near a level that he used to. Right now in a wide open NFC South it appears that this team will be the favorites to win it going into the season.
New York Giants:

• Did homework on WR DeAndre Hopkins and are now supposedly not interested in pursuing him
• Officially added Ryan Cowden as executive advisor the general manager
• QB Daniel Jones is ok with rookie center John Michael Schmitz using “dead snap” technique

Not much here which may be a good thing for a New York team to get a break from all the media. This season will be an interesting one with how the team went all in on QB Daniel Jones. It kind of feels like besides the Eagles the rest of the division is up for grabs with no true strong contender emerging yet.
New York Jets:

• QB Aaron Rodgers has enjoyed the communication within the organization
• Signed:
  
  • OL Yodny Cajuste
• Released OL Eric Smith
  
• The team and Quinnen Williams are not far off in contract talks
  

Good news on the Quinnen Williams front and in keeping Aaron Rodgers happy. Williams and the team are not far off in contract talks which hopefully means something will get done here very soon. Rodgers has been raving about the Jets communication skills which was his main gripe with the Packers. Now lets just make it clear that he does not need to be pulling the sled.
Philadelphia Eagles:

• Team is excited for QB Jalen Hurts to make another huge leap
• Offered to trade for QB Russell Wilson but Wilson did not want to play in Philly
• DT Jordan Davis broke a blocking sled

Man what a difference one decision can make. Jalen Hurts I imagine would have been in Seattle had the trade happened for Russell Wilson. I bet Eagles fans are happy this didn’t pan out but it does not mean they need to cut Wilson any slack for not wanting to play in Philly if these teams meet in future seasons or end up playing each other in the Super Bowl. Eagles appear setup to be the main threat in the NFC.
Pittsburgh Steelers:

• First round pick Broderick Jones getting 1st-team reps at Left Tackle

Not much out of Pittsburgh per usual but the good news is that Broderick Jones is progressing nicely and is already getting 1st-team reps at Left Tackle. I am sure QB Kenny Pickett is pleased with that.
San Francisco 49ers:

• S Ji’Ayir Brown is already taking first team reps and has stood out in OTAs
• GM John Lynch feels QB Trey Lance has had a really quality offseason
• Very encouraged by progress and throwing session QB Brock Purdy had
• DL Arik Armstead very excited about adding Javon Hargrave to the group
• RB Christian McCaffrey excited to have a full offseason with HC Kyle Shanahan
• Plan to make DE Nick Bosa highest paid defensive player

Things are moving along just fine for the 49ers. Exciting to hear that S Ji’Ayir Brown is making good progress and apparently had 4 or 5 interceptions during OTAs. I imagine the team is also very pleased with the progress QB Brock Purdy is making in his recovery from elbow surgery. He appears to be on pace with the original timeline. If this team can figure it out at the QB position they just might be the most complete all around team up there with the Eagles.
Seattle Seahawks:

• HC Pete Carroll expects his team to be aggressive when returning kicks and expects more squib kicks to be used
• WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba has been extremely impressive
• Signed:
  
  • Benjie Franklin
  • Montrae Braswell
• Cut:
  
  • Forrest Merrill
  • LaTrell Bumphus

Gotta love HC Pete Carroll. It seems like so far it has been pretty unanimous that all those that are playing or coaching football do not love the new kickoff rules. I am sure folks will find ways to take advantage of it though. Once again this week WR Jaxon Smith Njigba was impressive and should be establishing himself within that offense. Seahawks could very well be a sleeper team in the NFC that was good last year but that folks are paying a ton of attention to this year.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

• Antoine Winfield Jr. is expected to play Free Safety this year
• Respect is a key factor in the quarterback battle that is ongoing
• WR Chris Godwin feels his explosiveness coming back

This team has all the big name weapons at receiver one could ask for as long as they stay healthy. It was great to hear that Chris Godwin is getting his explosiveness back. Now not surprisingly it comes down to the QB battle and a big part of that is gaining respect from those veteran players and coaches in the building. I still feel like this battle is QB Baker Mayfield’s to lose at this point.
Tennessee Titans:

• Longtime executive Bob Hyde passed away
• QB Will Levis had a rough week at practice
• P Brett Kern announced his retirement
• Will have joint practice with Minnesota
• Signed:
  
  • DL Jaleel Johnson

Sad news this past week here as well with the passing of Bob Hyde. Also, finally some negative news about one of the Quarterbacks from this year’s draft. Will Levis has been struggling. However, this should not be viewed as a bad sign because every rookie is going to struggle and Levis with his situation has the benefit of time.
Washington Commanders:

• The Josh Harris bid after making some changes is inching closer to full approval
• CB Emmanuel Forbes has been thriving in the slot
• QB Sam Howell has looked the part and is taking command of the offense thus far
• OC Eric Bieniemy wants everyone to be like WR Terry McLaurin
• Gained $8.37m in cap space after June 1st deadline
• Released CB Cameron Dantzler
• Releasing G Andrew Norwell once he passes physical

Seems we are inching closer and closer to the Josh Harris Group’s bid being fully accepted by the owners after some minor adjustments. From the actual team and players it sounds like things are going really well and maybe better than a lot of folks expected. CB Emmanuel Forbes has been doing well in the slot and QB Sam Howell is looking the part and taking charge. The Commanders will be a fun team to watch this year and see how they end up when it is all said and done.
Miscellaneous/Other NFL News:

• Still no announcement as to who will be the team featured on Hard Knocks
• CB Damar Hamlin is leading a multi-city CPAED tour
• Several NFL teams are waiting for RB Dalvin Cook to be cut
• Yannick Ngakoue wants a multi-year deal with a Super Bowl contender
• Chiefsaholic fan is still on the loose
• Tom Brady is certain he is done playing and has tried to make that clear to other teams
• RB Ezekiel Elliott is staying in shape
• Executive are nervous about WR DeAndre Hopkins ability to separate and run at this point in his career
• Less than 100 days from the NFL season

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Restaurant of the Week: (Pittsburgh - Burgatory)
Get excited Pittsburgh fans and all folks going to a game here! Burgatory is only a half mile from the stadium and has some of the best food so far from the restaurants that have been featured. One of my personal favorites is the Piggy Butter & Jelly. Yes, that is a burger with peanut butter and jelly on it. Don’t question it just try it. However, if for some reason you do not my other recommendation would be The Triple B which is a Bison, Beer Cheese, and Bacon burger. Hence the name Triple B. You can’t really go wrong with anything on the menu and the important thing though is that you don’t forget to grab a shake as well. My personal favorite is the Oreo Peanut Butter Pie shake. They are open every day starting at 11am and closer at 9pm everyday except for Friday and Saturday when they close at 11pm. Hop on over and enjoy this delicious food when in town for a game!