Orchard valley health and rehab photos

La Crescent, MN

2015.01.04 08:31 vanjan14 La Crescent, MN

A place for people who live or have lived in or near La Crescent, MN to discuss news, issues, and community events!
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2018.12.05 01:24 shiki_present Australian version of r/MakeupExchange!

Welcome to AussieMakeupTrade. A subreddit to buy, swap and exchange your unwanted, unloved or forgotten beauty products within Australia
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2009.10.09 11:02 akurjata Prince George, British Columbia, Canada

That's the smell of money: a subreddit for Northern British Columbia's unofficial capital and the surrounding area. There is hope beyond Hope.
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2023.06.05 14:27 Curious-Month7727 22 [M4F] UK - Online, Hoping I Can Find That Special Someone One Day šŸ™šŸ»

Intro

I wanna make a post for people to read that isn't too boring, long / short, or cheesy as I have a habit of talking about my emotions + feelings when it comes to this sort of thing, that's mostly what I talked about in my last post... I'm hoping I can get at least someone's attention by writing the right and necessary words on this subreddit... So, where to begin?
I guess I'll start with what I'm looking for in terms of dating. A fresh, warm, healthy and positive long-term relationship is what I've been craving for the last 4¼ years (after getting a taste of it 4¼ years ago then it was instantly taken away), not as in desperate or obsessed with it, more as in yearning for that right person to come along and bring sunshine to my life for the first time in a very long time. Someone who'll accept me for who I am and not care about what I have / don't have, someone who'll understand and accept my insecurities and flaws, not to mention me doing the same for her as well. I wanna have that happy and bright future with that special someone, similar to all the couples I see on Instagram who laugh, joke, tease each other, flirt, do fun activities together both indoors and outdoors, purchase matching items for them to wear and hold dear, hold hands... I want the dream.
However, I do understand that relationships need time to form and grow in a healthy and positive way, so maybe we could get to know each other first and see where things lead?

Personality (100% the truth)

As you might have guessed, I am a hard core introvert. Although I get along with people irl; I briefly chat to them by saying the usual "hello" or "alright?", I then usually keep to myself from them most times to avoid feeling ignored / unimportant / irrelevant in their eyes. This is because I'm not that great at socialising in public places like the club or anywhere else, and also due to the fact that I feel extremely shy whilst meeting new people. However, if others ARE willing to get to know me and want me in their presence, I will perk up and be quite a confident individual once enough time passes :)
Other things you should know about me is that I'm extremely loyal and will never hurt the people I love and hold dear, no matter what. I care too much about the people in my life, including family, and I also will never let them down or disappoint them in any way.
Just a little fun fact about me, my zodiac sign is Cancer ā™‹ļøšŸ¦€ for those of you who are interested and if that matters to you at all. This is related to what I've just written above in the second and fourth paragraphs.

Hobbies

I'm an indoor type of person. I like:
•Watching TV shows like Doctor Who when new episodes come out, The Simpsons and Hollyoaks 5 days a week, and binging on a ton of movies.
•Listening to music pretty much every single day as I'm a huge HUGE fan of it.
•Gaming on PC games such as GTA, Red Dead, and Minecraft.
•I may stay indoors most of the time, but I DO also enjoy doing outdoor activities like spending my days out in places in the UK like Scarborough, Blackpool, Hornsea and Withernsea. I'm going to a place named Filey late next month so hopefully I'll get to take a load of pics to show you if you're interested :)
•I'm also interested in Photography, taking stunning photos both indoors and outdoors to store and save for later. Wildlife, sea life and everything else in between is what I'm most interested in :)
•Playing different sports such as Badminton, Bowling, Cricket, Dodgeball, Tennis and Volleyball on the beach are activities I really enjoy doing, but I haven't played them recently thanks to a lack of others playing them with me.
•Gardening and working with plants is something that really fascinates me, planting and watching plants of all shapes and sizes grow is everything I've wanted to do since my late high school days. Also getting a bit of sunshine on my neck in the summer does me some good lol.
•I occasionally like doing artistic activities like card making, paper crafting, drawing and painting, but only on special occasions.
•I also like to read from time to time.

Physical Appearance

My appearance is quite normal:
•I'm 5'8 in height (1.73 m)
•Eye colour is dark blue šŸ’™
•I've got quite the decent body shape
•I have no tattoos but I'm considering getting a few in the future
•I've got a small amount of facial hair
•I've got quite a lot of dark brown hair on the top of my head but keep it in control most times with hairspray
•I've got an average to slightly above average face imo (pics can be exchanged if you're interested in knowing what I look like)
•I'm healthy with no health conditions or concerns
•I wear normal clothes such as buttoned t-shirts, hoodies / denim jackets, jeans / tracksuit bottoms, and leather jackets in colder weather.
•I also have a balanced diet as I go grocery shopping at least once a week. I shower 7 days a week and I brush 🪄 everyday too.

Important Topic to Cover

I'm not gonna mention what my source of income is because I don't want anyone to message me just because of that, like so many people have done before.

Preferences In You

I don't have many tbh. Just as long as you
•Live in the UK, or at least in different countries that are close to the UK like Norway, Ireland, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, France, or perhaps even The Netherlands, since all have shorter time-zone differences to the ones in the UK which will make it so much easier to chat at similar times (but you can message me wherever you are on the globe)
•Don't smoke or do drugs
•My age limit is between 18-23, but people that are past that age range can also message me.
•I'm not religious, by any means, but I don't mind dating people who are.
•Come as you are, no sugar coating, be real, be genuine. 🚫No NSFW content please🚫, that's all I ask.
It looks like the Reddit chat is finally redeeming itself by not glitching out every 5 seconds and sending messages to one another on time, so feel free to message me wherever you feel most comfortable on :D

Outro

Welp, this is me signing off and seeing what happens now. If you've read this far, then I appreciate you for taking the time out of your schedule to read my post all the way through :) I hope you have a nice rest of your day šŸ™šŸ»šŸ‘‹šŸ» Come say Hi if you're feeling up to it! :)
submitted by Curious-Month7727 to ForeverAloneDating [link] [comments]


2023.06.05 14:07 ExtremeSubstantial31 AITA for blocking a friend after she refused to wish me well?

My friend (35f) had a divorce party a few months ago, but, unfortunately, I had some health issues crop up and couldn’t attend. I let my friend know I was still sick via text and that I should stay home. And she said, ā€œOk.ā€ That was it. An hour or so passes with no other word from her and I feel super guilty about it, but after the pandemic, my physical symptoms were just not acceptable in public anymore, even if it’s not covid (it wasn’t), not to mention that I could barely stay awake. So, I added those details and said I feel bad, but I don’t know what I have and don’t want anyone else to catch it. She replied, ā€œyea you should stay home.ā€ At no point did she wish me well. No, ā€œfeel better,ā€ or ā€œget better soon,ā€ or any other equivalent at the end of her text. AND this is the second time, in a year, that she has refused to do so. But this kind of rudeness is her MO and instead of ignoring it like usual, all her mistakes over 15yrs of friendship flooded my memory and I became furious. I ignored her attempts at communication: memes and photos of her cats every day… a ā€œhow are you?ā€ Didn’t appear from her for a whole month, and only after asking my husband about me. He told her to ask me directly. She did, but I ignored it, as I was still trying to calm down and figure out if this friendship was still worth pursuing. I eventually decided to tell her and give her a chance to apologize. I keep my explanation short, civil, and to the point at first, no rehashing old issues. And she replies, ā€œsorry.ā€ nothing else. I am PISSED but ignore it. The next day she gives me a loaded apology where she’s sorry for being ā€œinattentive,ā€ but I need to feel empathy for her, and her divorce, to understand her behavior. I know it was traumatic, but I don’t want to be responsible for her emotions when I just wanted to read two words… two words people tell strangers when they’re sick. I lose it, memories of her shitty behavior towards me from the last 15 years poured out in rage filled text novels… but she’s replying, coming at me as if I’m the problem, but camouflaged in ā€œI went to therapy jargon,ā€ saying things like, ā€œshe’s sorry she couldn’t be the person I needed her to be.ā€ As if my expectations for her behavior were too much for her to achieve. But I never asked of her more than what I would want for myself, a relatively equal amount of energy, empathy, basic politeness and respect for boundaries, which she would hardly ever give me, but would often demand. That doesn’t mean I haven’t made mistakes, but I did learn to not make people responsible for my shitty behavior as part of an apology, apparently, she hadn’t. I ended up blocking her after a few days of cooling down and still receiving no actual apology. So, AITA here for blowing up and blocking her? Did I ask to much of her? Am I allowed to feel entitled to a polite sentiment or should I have just felt empathy for her and moved on? Thanks in advance!
submitted by ExtremeSubstantial31 to AmItheAsshole [link] [comments]


2023.06.05 13:57 GreenGreen148 FN Capsule Wardrobe Help!

FN Capsule Wardrobe Help!
Hi everyone! I have been really trying to get some sort of style together for myself. I am a momma of 2 under 3 and I don't want to be frumpy anymore! I've been taking my health as a priority and really seeing great changes in my body for the better. Overall, feeling great! I would love the outside to reflect the inside! I am a minimalist at heart and would love to create a capsule wardrobe. I asked the capsule wardrobe redddit page and a lot of them thought this color palette could easily mix and match.
Now I am turning to you Kibbe experts if you think the types of clothing in the second photo would all be appropriate for FN lines? All of the photos are from Amazon. I am most likely going to use these types of clothes as a guideline of what I want when I thrift or shop my own closet, but I am going to put these pieces in my Christmas Amazon shopping list-- maybe I will be gifted some of the pieces.
My inspiration is mostly boho, which I've never worn before but I really am drawn to flowy skirts, balloon sleeves, peasant kind of tops. I don't wear pants often because of how tight and restricting they felt at an unhealthy weight. It makes me nervous about wearing wide leg pants, but I see here on the FN page that it looks great for FN women! I know only the basics of Kibbe but really want to hone in on what is going to look good on me and keep my closet really minimal. The idea of this number of pieces is for a year round capsule wardrobe.
Thank you in advance!!! (Note: You can click the 2nd photo and zoom in easily to see details of the pieces)
https://preview.redd.it/pm4biztst64b1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=c541d6aa8c558fa9fd35bb87984fa09f2059d39e
https://preview.redd.it/v0t7x1ust64b1.png?width=5424&format=png&auto=webp&s=4138b575bda87c7b3680902e3d4bbac0d07bf0a5
submitted by GreenGreen148 to flamboyantnatural [link] [comments]


2023.06.05 13:27 deliriations I am a scientist who was tasked with recording dreams.

A dream is a mental construct. Whenever one falls asleep they experience vivid hallucinations. These are impossible to record or properly re-account.
Psychosis is a mental condition where the victim experiences very disturbing hallucinations or thoughts. Think of things like schizophrenia, Then take the effects of that condition and amplify it. Psychosis victims report hearing whispers, Seeing bugs crawl on their skin and see the faces of people they have never met.
When I studied psychology I learnt about these things and they fascinated me. I went on to get a degree in psychological study and have been working as a psychologist and health scientist for 17 years.
I was contacted by my facility about a matter of a psychosis patient, While rare I have stumbled upon many of them and they act the same. In-consistent nonsensical babbling and severe PTSD. Most of the cases are results of tripping on acid but some are caused from depression and schizophrenia. This case was different.
When i arrived the patient seemed to be normal. When i sat down with her she opened up before i could even speak. "Doctor. Alexander." She took a deep breath. "I see dreams when I'm awake, Not hallucinations. Right now when i look at you, All i see is spots across your face. Like polka dots." I had to process this for a moment. "Dreams you say." I started to think.
"Y-Yeah.. Dreams, Nothing is normal, Every piece of furniture in this room looks different from each other, Like that vase behind you, It’s not right.. It looks.. Folded in.. Like an origami vase.. I can't describe it."
I didn't understand her. Dreams? This doesn't seem like psychosis.After a few hours of talking about what she has been seeing, How she feels and if her mind is feeling foggy, The only thing i could partially diagnose was severe schizophrenia.
"Take this prescription of Haloperidol, Take 2 a day, 1 in the morning and 1 at night. If you have more issues, come back here and we can discuss it. In 2 weeks I will do a mental health re-evaluation so I can see progress."
There were no issues for around a week until I got an urgent call. "Sir. One of your patients, Jane, Shes gone batshit fucking crazy, Like seriously she cant even talk without screaming that something is taking her soul, we need you down here NOW.ā€
I rushed down to my facility, Thoughts raced through my head "Has she stopped taking her meds?"I shook all those thoughts off as i swerved into the parking lot, As i darted inside the familiar jingle of the bell above the door startled me "Fucking bell.." I whispered under my breath as I ran faster than I have before.
When I arrived at the emergency care block I heard the screaming from the entrance. It was deep guttural wails that filled with so much dread it hurt my heart to listen to. When I stormed in there, Jane stood there on the ground covered in blood.
"THEY ARE HOLDING ME. SOMEBODY STOP THEM. SOMEBODY PLEASE"
She was screaming bloody murder and her mouth was bleeding. When I saw her state I immediately asked one of the nurses for a sedative to reduce her condition.
As she went I stood there with her trying to comfort her."What do you see jane." I overcame her wails with a calm demeanor and all of a sudden everything stopped. She seemed normal.
"They.. They stopped. They are staring at you."I looked at her calmly. I knew these were psychosis symptoms and I started to comfort her."Jane, You are experiencing very vivid hallucinations. It is called schizophrenic psychosis. Have you been taking the prescription I gave you?"
"Y..Yes doctor i have but.. it doesn't work, Everywhere i go i see the same things i saw before, Except this time everything seems more cold.. Beforehand everything seemed more colorful. Now it is damp."
"Jane, I am going to have to check you into this facility for a full psychiatric re-examination and study. If this is not schizophrenia, I will have to figure out what it really is so I can properly diagnose you and get you the help you need."
She began to cry terribly. "w..why can't i just be normal, why me? what have i done?" I began to pat her back as i sighed. "Let me help you up" as i stood i reached my hand out. As she grabbed it i almost yelped. She was extremely cold, Almost frozen. My hand felt pain as she held it but I pushed on as she stood.
"I will have some nurses check you in and we will begin tomorrow. Please signal for help if you see anything, we will try and get you the right medication to stop it.. But I can't guarantee anything, We don't know what we are dealing with."
As I walked off to check out I signaled to the front desk to call the nurses for Jane's psychiatric re-evaluation. They nodded and they called into the intercom "We need 3 available for psych unit 7"
The sounds muffled as I walked out, I felt really bad for jane. But I knew she was getting help.
As i arrived home the warm smell of the autumn trees luminated like a light. I felt more calm as I walked through my door. The gentle creaking of the hinges made me cringe as I shut the door. The warm air rushed out of the room as I walked to the kitchen.
As I grabbed my bottle of rum I got a call. "What the fuck is it now.." I sort of just waddled over agitated. I checked the caller ID and noticed that it was an unknown caller. Out of habit I declined the call and went back to my bench. As I poured the rum the iridescent smell of pleasure filled the air.
The phone rang once more. As I sighed I walked over and answered the unknown caller. "Hello Dr. Alexander, How may I help you."
"Good evening Dr. Alexander, We are here to identify a patient of yours, Jane Myers correct?"
Confused, I confirmed his assumption "Yes that's right, What is it?"
"Sir I work for a certain agency, I can't tell you its policy. Tomorrow we will be at your front desk awaiting your arrival. It's to do with her condition. If you believe this is a wrong contact, please confirm so we can move on."
I was extremely confused at this point, I thought it was a prank at first but it all seemed serious. There was no underlying tone to his voice, it seemed raspy, he sounded too old to be a prank caller.
"Uh.. Okay? I'll make sure to be there by 12:00 PM."
The call ended abruptly as I whispered to myself.
"What the fuck..."
I kind of shook it all off, Maybe it was her family? I don't know but I'll figure it out tomorrow. The rest of the night went uneventful and as i faded off to sleep i thought of jane. I dreamt about terrible black figures standing above me and Jane on the floor of the psychiatric unit. They were almost fuzzy, like blurry, I couldn't properly conceive their appearance, they were just human shaped blurry structures.
When I finally woke up it was 10:30 pm. I woke up later than usual so I rushed to get ready. As I finished getting dressed I poured myself some coffee, as I sipped on the hot beverage the aroma of earth filled my nose. I felt relaxed, I thought to myself "Today will be a good , happy day." I was trying to make myself feel better about the coming events.
When I arrived at my facility I saw a black car with tinted windows outside the front. "Must be them." I said to myself as I wandered through the door, The bell startled me and I kind of froze for a second. I finally collected my thoughts and I saw 2 men in plain black suits. They stood up to greet me as if they knew who I was.
"Hello Dr. Alexander, My name is Harry and this is my partner Sam. We are here about your patient Jane Myers, It is to do with her condition. May we see her?" I said "Why do you need to see her?"
They both adjusted their positions and Sam said
"We are with the government, We are here to review this patient's condition. We cannot tell you why but it is important, It is research and we believe she has a rare condition. "
I thought for a moment before finally obliging. As I led them down the plain white halls I started to get more anxious, I started to overthink "Are they here to kill her?" I shook off the thoughts. They were stupid, Simply just speculation.
As we arrived at psych unit 7 we walked in to see Jane on the bed being talked to by some nurses and another psych doctor. As they walked in they shut the door behind them. "What we are about to tell you is to be upmost classified among only you"
Everyone looked at each other extremely confused but before any questions were asked they opened up.
"Jane, You have a condition called petriscarphy Dream Psychosis. It is a condition where well.. Instead of you falling asleep to dream, You see them awake. You are the only known suspected subject with this rare condition. We want to record what you see. A team will be arriving soon to set-up the right conditions for this to be possible."
As Harry finished his sentence I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing.. Were they being serious? Before I could do anything, The other psych doctor in the room, His name was Terry, Stood up and got in the 2 men's faces. They remained calm as he spouted off at them.
"What the fuck do you think your doing? Are you joking? That is nonsense, I request you leave immediately before I call security."
The 2 men stood there silent as Terry stared at them. He had a crazy look in his eye and then he shoved harry. The moment he touched him, Sam grabbed a pistol out from the underside of his jacket and aimed at Terry.
"Sir. Calm down, I assure you this is not a joke. We are being perfectly cooperative with you but if you try to do anything like that again then I will be forced to put you down."
I remember the phrasing of that sentence "Put you down" He spoke like he was a higher being and was about to just.. Phase Terry out of existence.
As Terry backed up, shocked he sat back down and became silent. I swear I could hear the air in the room, Not for long however. Jane began to sob and wail softly. "They are back.. They are upset, They don't want you recording them, Please.. Go.. Don't do this. They will kill me. PLEASE"
She pleaded with the men but they stood in silence. After 5 minutes of Jane's agonizing wailing we heard the sounds of frantic footsteps and before long, men in white coats and masks entered the room. They had a label on their coats. It was a blue circle with black in the middle, It had the initials above it "N.A.O.S"
"We are here for Ja-" They stood silent as she continued wailing
"JUST LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE"
She grew silent as she sat there un-moving.
That's when she slipped unconscious, Slouching over into her bed and making no sound. We sounded an alarm that a patient had fallen unconscious and nurses rushed in ignoring the men. After around an hour we stabilized her.
The man stood around in silence and once everyone was out but me and Terry, They got to work. I watched as one of the white coated men pulled out a small vial with a blue liquid in it. He grabbed a syringe and started to draw the liquid. It looked viscous and bubbled at the top as he finally pulled out the syringe.
After he was done the 4 other men in the room grabbed out small pieces of equipment and started to arrange it. The parts clacked together and made the same sound as metal being dropped onto a hard surface. The echoes of the screeching sound made me cringe once again.
When it was done it looked like a microscope was attached to a plate with glass in the middle. A camera lens was attached and the coated man squirted a small amount of the viscous blue liquid onto the plate and then he grabbed another device. It looked like something out of some saw movie.
It was a dome shaped metal helmet with tubes running out from 4 holes surrounding where the head should go. These tubes ran to a socket in the device. I started to feel sick "What the fuck is all this" I murmured angrily. "This is a device that is used to transmit the electrical waves inside the patients head and can be transferred to this magnoscope to then print out the photographs. The liquid you see is well.. I actually can't tell you, It's not that simple, But it's classified."
I started to boil with anger. This was inhumane, Finding someone's terrible condition and using it for research instead of helping them? I was considering trying to stop them but I knew they had guns. There's no way I was leaving either.
Finally after a few minutes of assembly they attached the device to Jane's head and a sound started to play. It was like the sound you expect electricity to make, a little quiet constant zapping with the occasional crackle.
As i watched jane she started to twist and turn in discomfort even though she was unconscious, I felt so fucking bad for her, Everything about this was so twisted, It seemed so.. Wrong.
As she squirmed and fiddled the sounds started to fade as the liquid that was on that glass plate had turned to a deep red color, almost like blood. As I stood looking at it I smelt the sensation of chemicals, like bleach and drain cleaner.
I started to feel like I was going to break down. My mind was literally foggy as I stared at this contraption. Another sound started up, It was like that of a printer but much quieter, I could barely hear it. As I stared at the pictures being pushed out from the side I started to feel more nauseous. Something about this felt wrong. I couldn't describe it.
Finally the coated men approached the pictures and they examined them. The moment one of them looked at one of those pictures he froze in place and looked shocked. I could see the look of fear in that man's eyes. As he stared longer and longer he started to shake uncontrollably. After an agonizing few seconds he grabbed the syringe with the remaining liquid and screamed.
"WE HAVE TO KILL IT, WE MUST BANISH IT, WHAT THE FUCK IS IT"
The man's once professional manor turned into malice and hatred as he injected Jane with this syringe full of this liquid. She immediately started to seize, a Black goo was coming from her mouth and she flatlined almost immediately.
Sam and harry immediately upholstered there weapons and aimed at the man
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING" Sam screamed at the man, Finally he lunged at them, Immediately 2 ringing gunshots sounded as the man fell, Everything went to shit, Screaming and crying occurred throughout the unit and that was when i took my chance to run, Not before grabbing the photos however. As I ran the screams echoed and the sobbing and crying of other patients sounded.
I made it out to my car and swerved out of the lot. I almost hit another car but i managed to narrowly avoid it and race home, My heart was beating so fast it felt like i was about to have a heart attack. As I made it into my driveway I took no time grabbing the photos and my bag and rushing right inside.
When i made it in i slammed my door shut, The creaking didnt phase me this time, Nothing did, I was focused on getting away from whatever the fuck had just happened.
When I finally calmed down enough to function I sat down with the photos and looked at them. Dear god, The terrors this woman must have faced.
The first photo had a black and white vivid pattern, In amongst it i could see an opaque face, It was perfectly symmetrical, Almost too perfect, The faded patterns ran through it like a vintage photo but the only detail i saw were the eyes, In the pupils i saw another cascade of photos, It was the same perfect face over and over. I counted how many I could.. I counted 9.
That one disturbed me, It felt ominous and had an almost aura around it, It was clearly a sinister vision, It was... Really odd to me however, This wasn't what Jane had described to me as her visions.
The next photo is why I'm writing this. Why I'm ready to accept death from the organizations that conduct these inhumane things. I saw a structure, In around it was a show with white fade, But the center had a very recognisable shape. It was a single long line with more lines stretching off of it, they formed a pattern that looked like a spider, well kind of. The thing that disturbed me was the one word that stood under it.
It was in an almost unrecognizable state, it was scribbly, faded and pretty much blurred, but I could read it. There stood the single word: Universe.
That was when i thought i was hallucinating, I started to feel sick, I dry heaved and eventually vomited as i stared at the photo, It doesn't sound disturbing when i put it into words but when you look at it... It almost seems fake, like a vision of its own.
It's been a week since then. The facility is closed and I doubt it's gonna open soon. I've been staring at this photo for a long time, A very long time. And I swear whenever I look away I see blurry dark faces staring back at me.
They will be here soon to take what's theirs. This is my final message. Goodbye.
submitted by deliriations to nosleep [link] [comments]


2023.06.05 13:04 FelicitySmoak_ On This Day In Michael Jackson HIStory - June 5th

On This Day In Michael Jackson HIStory - June 5th
1972 - Michael appears as the bachelor at The Dating Game TV show and chooses Latanya Simmons as the bachelorette and he performs ā€œRockin Robinā€.

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1984 - The Victory Tour contract is signed by Don King, Chuck Sullivan and Joe & Katherine Jackson. Sullivan pays $38.5 million to become tour promoter, of which $12.5 million is paid up front
1988 - Michael Jackson plays the first of three nights at Stadion Feijenoord (De Kuip) in Rotterdam, Holland, to an audience of 48,400

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1990- Michael Jackson undergoes tests at St John's Hospital and Health Center in Santa Monica,
Cardiologist Mark Zatskis, reported that 'a temporary setback in his condition,' caused by new chest pains, delayed some scheduled testing."These diagnostic tests were rescheduled and hopefully will be completed (Tuesday)", he said.
"In the meantime, Jackson remains under observation.Michael is a positive person and his spirits are never low", spokesman Bob Jones said.
The hospital said Jackson had received 'many flowers and greetings from fans and well-wishers.'
1993-Michael is interviewed by Rick Dees on the Radio Sation KIIS FM in Los Angeles
1994 - Michael takes Lisa Marie and her children Benjamin & Danielle to Disneyworld in Florida. He also pays a visit to Shaquille O’Neal to talk about a musical collaboration.

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2005 - Michael was taken to an emergency room for treatment of a back problem.
Accompanied by a bodyguard, he arrived at the Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital, about five miles from Neverland at roughly 2:30 p.m.
"Mr. Jackson's back has spurred up on him again.He’s under a tremendous amount of stress right now", spokeswoman Raymone Bain said at an impromptu news conference outside the hospital, "Other than his back, he is doing fine.″
Michael left the hospital in a SUV shortly after 8 p.m. in a flurry of activity. His aides erected white scaffolding outside the emergency room entrance to block the view of photographers gathered outside.
2009 - Michael attended rehearsals
2013 - Jackson v AEG Trial day 24
No Jackson family is in court
Randy Phillips Testimony
Jackson direct
Brian Panish resumed questioning. He showed several instances where Randy Phillips said one thing in deposition, another while on the stand. Panish asked Phillips which answer was right. He answered:
"Do you want the truth or do you want what I testified?"
Panish asked Phillips if he knows the corporate structure of AEG Live. He said it was under AEG, but he doesn't know who exactly owns AEG. Panish showed a board meeting agenda on 5/26/09, in which they were to talk about Michael's tour
Panish played the interview Phillips gave Sky News saying AEG hired Dr. Murray. Phillips said he meant AEG hired the doc on behalf of Michael. Phillips said AEG's media person set up several interviews for him after Michael's death. Phillips said each interview was different, but the intention was to say AEG hired Dr. Murray on behalf of Michael. "It's called the truth."
Randy Phillips was asked about meetings with Conrad Murray at Michael Jackson's house. He confirmed Jackson's weight was discussed during at least one of the meetings. He was a bit unclear on dates, so Jackson's weight may have been discussed at two meetings. Panish tried to use a police report of an interview with Phillips and detectives to refresh his recollection
Randy Phillips (AEG Live CEO) said there were numerous inaccuracies in the report. Panish started to ask him to go through it methodically. "We don't need to do it line-by-line', interjected Judge Yvette Palazuelos. Phillips then keyed in on two areas he said were inaccurate.
Phillips said LAPD's detective made a mistake in the written police statement attributed to him. Phillips said he never told LAPD "Randy stated that Kenny got in Michael's face, at which time Dr. Murray admonished Randy..." "The police made a mistake," Phillips said. "He (detective) misconstrued what was said and made a mistake." Dr. Murray got in to and admonished Kenny Ortega and told him not to be an amateur doctor, Phillips said he told the police.
Phillips read one statement about a meeting at Jackson's home between himself, Conrad Murray and director Kenny Ortega. Report: Randy stated that Kenny got into Michael's face, at which time Dr. Murray admonished Randy, stating, "You are not a doctor. Butt out".
Phillips said the police made a mistake. "If you read it, it makes no sense," Phillips said.
Phillips keyed in on how the report mentioned Murray got in his face, when it more than likely was Kenny Ortega he admonished. "I believe the Los Angeles Police Department is a fine entity as I believe in this judicial system," Phillips explained.
Phillips pointed out another mistake in LAPD's report. It states Phillips/Gongaware produced 2 Michael Jackson tours but Phillips said he wasn't involved. Phillips also said the police report said he and Paul Gongaware worked with Jackson over the course of 16 years. Phillips said that was wrong - Gongaware worked with Jackson that long, but he hadn't. Those were the two inconsistencies Phillips pointed out in his police report. Interview apparently wasn't taped at request of AEG attorneys
As to Michael missing rehearsals, Phillips clarified:
"Michael was showing up to rehearsal, just not to enough of them, in Kenny's opinion"
Phillips remembers one phone call with Dr. Murray that lasted probably about 25 minutes. Phillips told Panish he'd know how many times he called Dr. Murray because the attorney subpoenaed the exec's phone records. Panish said he never subpoenaed any phone records, that it was LAPD that did. Phillips said he made an assumption. The only phone call Phillips remembers is the one that Dr. Murray called him on June 20, 2009
In his deposition, Phillips said Paul Gongaware never communicated to him about the email that AEG, not Michael, was paying Dr. Murray. Phillips said at the deposition it was the first time he ever saw Gongaware's email. Panish showed the email that was forwarded to Frank DiLeo and Phillips was cc'd containing the mention that AEG, not Michael, pays Dr. Murray. Phillips said he never received the email. Then, after being shown the email at deposition, Phillips said he didn't remember receiving it. On the stand today, Phillips said he received Gongaware's email. Panish grilled Phillips pointing out he changed his answer three times. Phillips said he answered the same thing, but with different qualifications. "Frankly, I don't remember reading Paul's email, I was more concerned about Kenny's email," Phillips said. At this point, most jurors seemed to be tuned out when Phillips didn't give straight answers
Panish showed an email dated 6/17/09 from Phillips to Dr. Tohme:
Kenny Ortega, Gongaware, DiLeo, his doctor named Conrad from Vegas and I had an intervention with him to get him to focus and come to rehearsals yesterday. Getting him fully engaged is difficult and the most pressing matter as we are only 20 days out from the first show
Phillips said it was not an intervention, but a meeting. He said it had nothing to do with drugs.
Panish asked the executive if Jackson had ever fired Tohme. "It's not a yes or no answer", he said, "The answer is yes but he kept in contact with him"
Phillips was asked about a lunch meeting he had with Jackson's former manager Tohme Tohme, at the Polo Lounge, about a month ago. AEG attorney, Marvin Putnam, was present too.
Panish: "And you were discussing his testimony in this case at the Polo Lounge with him?"
Phillips: "I wasn't"
Panish: "You know there were witnesses sitting around you? You know people took pictures of you?"
Phillips said he didn't remember exactly what was discussed.
Phillips:"I don't remember what I ate"
Panish: "I didn't ask you what you ate"
Phillips said the meeting had to do with the case Tohme filed against Jackson's estate with the state labor board for money he was never paid. Phillips was a witness.Panish said he would have a witness who could testify about what was discussed at the table later in the trial. Panish asked Phillips if he testified at Tohme's Labor Commission hearing to "try to help him out." Phillips said no. "I was completely impartial," Phillips said of testifying at the labor hearing. "I was an impartial witness." (After court, AEG attorney Marvin Putnam, who was at the lunch meeting, said it was standard for attorneys to interview witnesses before they testify. It remained unclear whether Tohme Tohme will testify during the Jackson vs AEG Live trial)

Panish: "Isn't it true, sir, that when Dr. Murray was hired no one was acting as Michael Jackson's personal manager?"
Phillips: "He had someone in that capacity. My understanding was Frank DiLeo was his manager"
Phillips said AEG advanced DiLeo $50,000 at MJ's direction.
Phillips said he didn't know anything about Dr. Tohme in January 09 other than he was a consultant for Colony Capital and repped Michael.
"With Michael Jackson and his advisers you needed a scorecard", testified Randy Phillips. Phillips said he was introduced to Tohme in a meeting at the Century City offices of Colony Capital, the investment firm that held the mortgage on Jackson's Neverland Ranch. It was AEG owner Phillip Anschutz's friendship with a Colony Capital partner that led to the firm's promotion of the planned 50 This Is It concerts. Phillips said Tohme was an adviser to Colony Capital who had no background in the music business and represented no other clients when he began working with the singer. Brian Panish asked Phillips what kind of doctor Tohme was, whether he was a physician or if he had a doctorate. Phillips said that although he had met this doctor 25 times, he never asked him
Randy Phillips was also asked about Tohme's $100k/mo. contract between him, AEG Live and Michael Jackson. Phillips said he could recall of only one other instance where AEG Live paid a fee for the artist's manager. He said it was a standard practice for Michael Jackson during his career. Phillips said Bon Jovi has a similar deal. Phillips said in Michael's career they always paid his personal manager.
Randy Phillips denied that he told Sharon Osbourne that AEG Live had kept all the money from ticket sales for This Is It. "That would be the most idiotic thing in the world" to say, Phillips said of the statement attributed to him in the Osbourne conversation.
Panish: "Did you talk to Sharon Osbourne about the show?"
Phillips: "No, not to the extent that Sharon is alluding to"
Phillips said he ran into Sharon at the lobby of their building. She asked how it was going, he said it's tough but we're going to get there. Phillips said the encounter with Sharon Osbourne was just a hi and bye. They never talked about ticket sales or anything else related to Michael
93% of the This Is It tickets sold were refunded, Phillips said. "7-8% people elected to hold the tickets as souvenirs." Out of $75 million in sales, AEG kept more than $5 million, which Phillips said they gave back to the estate.
Phillips testified it was a "miracle" that the singer showed up at a news conference in London to announce his comeback. Randy Phillips testified that Jackson was hung over, although in emails he says the singer was drunk. "The fact that the press conference even happened is a miracle," Phillips wrote to Jackson's manager.
Panish: "Was Mr. Jackson drunk?"
Phillips:"No, to the best of my knowledge no".
Panish: "Was he despondent?"
Phillips:"No"
Panish produced an e-mail writted by Phillips to AEG President Tim Leiwicke the day of the news conference.
Phillips said:
Michael is locked in his room drunk and despondent. Tohme [another Jackson manager] and I are trying to sober him up and get him to the press conference with his hairdressemake-up artist
Leiweke's response:
"Are you kidding me?"
In a second email to Leiweke, Phillips wrote:
I screamed at him so loud the walls are shaking. Tohme and I have dressed him and they are finishing his hair and then we are rushing to the O2. This is the scariest thing I have ever see. He is an emotionally paralyzed mess riddled with self loathing and doubt now that it is show time. He is scared to death. Right now I just want to get through his press conference
After showing the e-mails to the jury, Panish asked his witness if he had yelled at Jackson on the day the e-mail was written.
Phillips: "In the two-and-a-half hours this all took place, if you take it out of context the answer won't make any sense"
The executive later acknowledged, "I raised my voice"
Panish: "So the answer is no? Did you or did you not scream at Mr. Jackson? Yes, no or I don't remember?"
Phillips said he couldn't answer the question.
At his deposition six months earlier, before he was shown his e-mails, Phillips denied that Jackson was either drunk or despondent on the day of the president conference, and denied yelling, saying he merely "raised his voice."
Phillips says he was telling the truth in his deposition, and was not accurate in his email. "I was relaying what Dr. Tohme told me... I wrote it as fast as I could write it."

Panish:"You have to yell pretty loud to make the walls shake. Do you have a tendency to exaggerate?"
Phillips: "No." 
To another business associate, Phillips wrote:
"I haven't pulled it off yet. We still have to get his nose on properly. You have no idea what this is like. He is a self-loathing emotionally paralyzed mess... I just slapped him."
Phillips admitted, "I slapped him on the butt"
Phillips began worrying about Jackson backing out of the concert tour just a month after he signed the contract with AEG Live to promote and produce it and more than a week before the announcement.
"I was worried that we would have a mess, his career would be over," Phillips testified. "There were a lot of things I was worried about."
But instead of pulling the plug then, before millions of dollars were spent, AEG LIve chose to force Jackson ahead.
"Once we go on sale, which we have the right to do, he is locked," Gongaware wrote to Phillips.
Phillips testified it was "a very tense situation" and "frankly, I created the tension in that room. Because I was so nerve-racked, OK, the time slipping away, and his career slipping away."
AEG was hosting thousands of Jackson fans and hundreds of journalists for the anticipated announcement, which would be seen live around the world.
Court Transcript
submitted by FelicitySmoak_ to MichaelJackson [link] [comments]


2023.06.05 12:33 Cultural_Edge5086 OMG OMG сайт Omg darknet ŠžŠ¼Š³ онион

How to find the OMG store in Tor browser

The site is located on the darknet, so in search of an official mirror, you should look in the shadow directories. The entrance to OMG is usually located at the top of the screen when you go to the main address. To launch a link through Tor, you need a darknet domain zone. Such a mirror will provide privacy during your interaction with the trading platform. You can always find more information on the official OMG forum. There you will find up-to-date information if the main site is down.

How not to use the original OMG onion mirror

In order not to use a mirror, you need to bookmark your favorite link by clicking on the star stencil in the TOR browser. You can always support the project by making a donation in bitcoin. This can also be done from your btc crypto wallet. You may have noticed that in the OMG domain there are random numbers and symbols obtained like in roulette. This is the feature of the onion network — name generation is random. Therefore, links to OMG in the torus look like this. This ensures a stable anonymous connection between all participants in the trading platform.

What are the official OMG darkmarket mirrors

First of all, OMG!OMG! onion — this is the most popular working combination for site access. It is the fastest and safest on the Internet. Use it and look for alternatives only when you can’t enter the store using it. The analysis showed that there are six main mirrors and one main address. Which address to use is up to you, but we advise you to find a working mirror on the OMG darknet forum. If the main address is disabled, you can always access the alternative working link OMG!OMG! The darknet is distributed mainly in the onion project, so you should look for a link through shadow search engines that do not have censorship. The official OMG website is located at OMG!OMG! Be careful — in Google, Yandex, you can find fraudulent sites. Therefore, you should trust only trusted sources so as not to fall under the influence.

Correct link to OMG darknet

Using drugs is dangerous for your health!
In most developed countries, many types of drugs are legalized, but in Russia, the purchase is possible only on the Internet using the OMG darkmarket.
In order to always have access to the site, you need to download the Tor Browser. You can download Tor for free on the website of our partners (link in the comments). Use only official apps and don't click on questionable links.
Don't forget to save verified mirrors on your phone or computer. In case of a DDoS attack or other technical problems, use the links from the list in the comments.
You can buy goods around the clock in instant shops for bitcoin and rubles through an exchanger. Bitcoin exchange is possible through qiwi, through a bank (Sberbank, Tinkoff, Alfa, VTB), through a SIM card (MTS, TELE2, Beeline, Megafon). You can replenish bitcoin on OMG bot in any convenient way. If you want your transaction to be successful, you should pay attention to choosing a bitcoin exchange point. To view the rating of the exchanger, click Ā«catalogĀ». There you can also find the rating of stores. Verified exchanger — this is a special status and most likely it is a highly rated crypto exchange. You can replenish your personal account in any way indicated on the site. You can also deposit OMG through LocalBitcoins. To do this, you need to purchase coins on the exchange, and then send the transaction to the updated wallet of the trading platform.

Login to OMG!OMG! onion via TOR

The official OMG forum will help you find any products using the original link for tor. But what if you couldn't find the item you bought? In case of problems with the address, treasure or underweight, the buyer is obliged to open a dispute within 12 hours from the date of purchase. The OMG store reserves the right to refuse to consider a dispute in case of flooding, spam, insults or off-topic requests.
1. Address problem.
In case of error, inaccuracy of the address or lack of photos, the buyer can ask «Question on the order» or open «Dispute» The courier will definitely clarify the data in the near future.
2. Not found
If the area in the photographs of the hoard is not true, take a photograph of the place before starting the search.
If you were unable to find your item, open a dispute, attach clear photos taken during daylight hours from the perspective of a miner, describe the search process, at what time of the day you were looking for the treasure. The cladman's answer will be given no later than 24 hours from the moment of the request.
Compensation is not due in the following cases:
3. Underweight. Questions about the quality of the goods.
If you suspect underweight, please attach photos of the step-by-step unpacking of the goods so that we can identify our packaging. As well as a photo of the product inside the zip-lock and separately from it on special accurate scales.
Using drugs is bad for your health! On the site OMG! OMG! there are shop bumps, marijuana, hash, head, plan, and other types. In grams, you can buy any substance, such as mef, salt, mephedrone, cocaine, alpha pvp, surfactant or powder. In the search for goods, a convenient catalog will help you, where all the sellers are located. In Moscow or St. Petersburg, ordering a bookmark is very simple, there are couriers and staff. In Russia (RF) you can order in any city 24 hours a day. You can launch the OMG website in Tor Onion through the Tor Browser. To do this, you need to download the application on an android or ios phone, aka tor project on a PC. You can download Tor Onion browser for free by issuing google or duckduckgo.
Sometimes it's impossible to access OMG due to blocking. OMG Onion is the largest marketplace in the CIS countries where you can buy "shadow" goods for every taste.
To do this, you need to register an account (login, password, account name), replenish your wallet (among the methods you can specify both transfers from a regular bank card and payment systems (for example, QIWI), and direct deposits from crypto wallets) and select the product you are interested in.
Technical support and site administration are actively involved in resolving any issues that arise. The correct links to go to the site are on the darknet site OMG!OMG! onion. There are links for both regular browsers and TOR.
omgomg.site-darknet.net
omgomg-1.com
darknet-agregator.net
submitted by Cultural_Edge5086 to u/Cultural_Edge5086 [link] [comments]


2023.06.05 12:13 DarkPandaArbiter 2 of my closest relationships in my family were destroyed by a wedding

Recently my cousin got married on the same day as graduations. It has ruined my relationship with my sister and my grandmother (I realized issues with my grandmother).
My brother graduated from highschool recently. I'm so proud of him. He was born premature with a bunch of health complications including being mentally delayed. He was illiterate in elementary school and I he didn't start reading until he in 4th grade at a kindergarten level. In two years he was at grade level. So needless to say him graduating on time is a great accomplishment.
My sister decided to go to the wedding over my brother's graduation. The wedding was a distant cousin who we haven't even spoken to in over a decade and have only seen once a year at most when we did see them. She lives out of state and had to drive straight through my state driving through the city I live in to get to the wedding. My older brother who was adopted by my grandmother went to the graduation say "It wasn't even a decision." My sister's sister died a couple of years ago. After her death my sister said I was her closest sibling and that she wanted to have better relationships with the siblings she has.
My grandmother I understand why she went but it's a little frustrating because she lives in the same city as us. We have always referred to her as our grandmother because she adopted my mom from her sister and she has always insisted on being called my grandmother.
  1. She is defending my sister's decision
  2. She tried to tell my brother the graduation was a different day and it already happened so he would go to the wedding
  3. She baled on me multiple times
  4. Youd be hard pressed to find a photo of me in her house even though I've spent to most time with her out of all the grandkids
  5. She has become injured lately and the only people who help her or visit is me and my brothers
  6. She has taken gifts she gave my away due to my parents custody agreement
  7. She has never made the effort to contact or visit me first
  8. Ive never truly felt like her grandchild
  9. She has excluded me from holidays
  10. She watched me get abused by my parents for years and did nothing
I just wanted to vent I don't need advice Thanks
submitted by DarkPandaArbiter to TrueOffMyChest [link] [comments]


2023.06.05 12:03 Glad-Yellow-8702 Is this broken or just badly bruised?

[28F] two hours ago I smooshed my arms between a door that had slammed from wind. Hit my tibia and radius really badly. Immediately a bubble formed (swelled). It’s gotten purple. Been icing it and elevating it but very painful. Hurts to bend fingers and when I put pressure on my leg a pain shoots up and down it. Should I worry? Or is this most likely fine. I don’t have health insurance and I am in the US unfortunately. Link to photos in comments
submitted by Glad-Yellow-8702 to AskDocs [link] [comments]


2023.06.05 11:58 XNjunEar Bunny Pride Issue out now! Chew it proudly, poop it proudly, at your newsstand! Vegetable inks and safe paper, as usual.

Bunny Pride Issue out now! Chew it proudly, poop it proudly, at your newsstand! Vegetable inks and safe paper, as usual. submitted by XNjunEar to BunnyNewsNetwork [link] [comments]


2023.06.05 11:44 Kenajovski Deep breathing and breathlessnes in a teenager

It's a very annoying problem I've been having. I'll make it quick and to the point.
17M; height: 176cm; weight: 56kg; white. I take Magnesium (100mg) in tablets, B vitamins (B1 0.45mg; B2 0.45mg; B6 0.33mg; B9 150μg; B12 0.9μg) pills, vitamin D (1000 UI) in capsules, vitamin C (120mg) in tablets. All of these every day. I do not smoke or drink, and I do not take any form of drugs. I am from Poland, EU. I experienced the death of my father pesonally in 2020 and he died due to COVID. I consider myself a stressful person, but I am working on improvement. I exercise a lot (although without a gym becuase there is no gym where I live) at home.
First, something that happened that might or might not have influence over my issue. When I was a little child I went with my dad to drive electric go karts on a race for kids, and I remember I hit myself really hard in the chest with the driving wheel because we crashed against another kart. I had an ache in that area for about a month I remember, then it was gone. I didn't tell my parents about that.
NOW THE ACTUAL ISSUE:
CONTEXT: As of writing this, I'm experiencing it. I don't know if it's breathlessness, but what it is is I just have to take a deep breath or yawn every 1-2 minutes. Besides that I'm pretty groggy and tired/sleepy. As of writing this, I have been experiencing this for over 12 hours (started yesterday 3pm). I have no other symptoms.
It is worth mentioning that I had infectious mononucleosis AND COVID consecutively last year's summer and I experienced breathlessness several times AFTER COVID, not during it. I've become very stressed about my health since then.
I've been to a pulmonologist and to a cardiologist regarding these issues several times (I actually booked another appointment with another pulmonologist). I was not diagnosed for any issues with both of the systems. I was deemed healthy, with suspicions of being depressed or anxious. I took an X ray photo of my chest as well (immediately after COVID) and it revealed nothing to be worried about (healthy lungs and heart) [on the photo there was a black spot next between my heart and lungs, but my pulmonologist deemed it an error on the photo].
ISSUE: Like I said, I don't know if it's random breathlessness (even if I don't feel anxious) or what, but I feel air hunger and the need to take deep breaths almost every 1-2 minutes. I have no other symptoms besides that. I am experiencing it right now, I experienced it last week for 1-2 hours two times, other than that last time I had it was in december last year. It really bothers and concerns me because it feels really uncomfortable.
Something I wanted to add and that has been bothering me a lot as well, but this I've been experiencing my whole life. DEEP BREATHING. It is hard to describe but I will try my best:
  1. I take one, filling deep breath. If I try to take another deep breath right after, the next one is not as filling - it feels like only my chest gets air.
  2. If I try to force myself to breathe in more, I don't get more air and I get an urge to yawn.
  3. When I yawn, I either cannot take a full deep yawn or I can. If the FIRST happens, I keep the urge to yawn and try to yawn again afterwards. I don't yawn, I try to sigh or just take several shallow breaths, and the urge goes away.
VERY IMPORTANT thing: it feels as if I have a blockade around the trachea area and no matter how much air I try to inhale, I feel it. The trachea blockade feels like a mild "pain" (it feels the exact same way something heavy is put on your body).
I am really bothered by these things. This is my first post here so please don't judge harshly. I will provide any information you need below if you ask me. I WILL REALLY APPRECIATE IF ANYONE TELLS ME IF I SHOULD BE WORRIED OR NOT. I WILL APPRECIATE YOUR ANSWERS.
cheers.
submitted by Kenajovski to AskDocs [link] [comments]


2023.06.05 11:36 eieireddit Happiness Advice from a positive psychologist, The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor

Here are what I learned from a book called "The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work" by Shawn Achor.
- When we are positive, we make a success like doing well on an exam.
- Shawn’s to-do list for us
- Meditate: ā€œNeuroscientists have found that monks who spend years meditating actually grow their left prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain most responsible for feeling happy.ā€
- Find Something to Look Forward To: ā€œOne study found that people who just thought about watching their favorite movie actually raised their endorphin levels by 27 percent.ā€
- Commit Conscious Acts of Kindness: A long line of empirical research, including one study of over 2,000 people, has shown that acts of altruism—giving to friends and strangers alike—decrease stress and strongly contribute to enhanced mental health.
- Making time to go outside on a nice day: ā€œOne study found that spending 20 minutes outside in good weather not only boosted positive mood but broadened thinking and improved working memory.ā€
- Try watching less TV: ā€œStudies have shown that the less negative TV we watch, specifically violent media, the happier we are.ā€
- For those who worry about not knowing life’s risks: ā€œPsychologists have found that people who watch less TV are actually more accurate judges of life’s risks and rewards than those who subject themselves to the tales of crime, tragedy, and death that appear night after night on the ten o’clock news.ā€
- Move: ā€œThree groups of depressed patients were assigned to different coping strategies—one group took antidepressant medication, one group exercised for 45 minutes three times a week, and one group did a combination of both.33 After four months, all three groups experienced similar improvements in happiness. The very fact that exercise proved just as helpful as anti-depressants is remarkable, but the story doesn’t end here. The groups were then tested six months later to assess their relapse rate. Of those who had taken the medication alone, 38 percent had slipped back into depression. Those in the combination group were doing only slightly better, with a 31 percent relapse rate. The biggest shock, though, came from the exercise group: Their relapse rate was only 9 percent! In short, physical activity is not just an incredibly powerful mood lifter, but a long-lasting one. Walk, bike, run, play, stretch, jump rope, pogo stick—it doesn’t matter as long as you get moving.ā€
- Spend Money (but Not on Stuff): ā€œSpending money on other people, called ā€œprosocial spending,ā€ also boosts happiness.ā€
- Use a Signature Strength: ā€œWhen 577 volunteers were encouraged to pick one of their signature strengths and use it in a new way each day for a week, they became significantly happier and less depressed than control groups.ā€
- Where to find the Signature Strength: https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/
- Align our tasks with our personal vision to see work as a calling.
- What is the purpose of this task?
- What will it accomplish?
- What does this result lead to?
- Believe in others’ potential: the Pygmalion Effect: when our belief in another person’s potential brings that potential to life.
- Be optimistic: ā€œStudies have shown that optimists set more goals (and more difficult goals) than pessimists, and put more effort into attaining those goals, stay more engaged in the face of difficulty, and rise above obstacles more easily.12 Optimists also cope better in high-stress situations and are better able to maintain high levels of well-being during times of hardship.ā€
- Believe that you are a lucky person: ā€œA researcher asked volunteers to read through a newspaper and count how many photos were in it. The people who claimed to be lucky took mere seconds to accomplish this task, while the unlucky ones took an average of two minutes.ā€
- Write down three good things each day: ā€œOne study found that participants who wrote down three good things each day for a week were happier and less depressed at the one-month, three-month, and six-month follow-ups.ā€
- Make mistakes to grow more!: ā€œThe earlier we face difficulties and drawbacks, the better prepared we are to deal with the inevitable obstacles along our pathā€
- Explain your past events positively: ā€œPeople with an optimistic explanatory style interpret adversity as being local and temporary (i.e., ā€œIt’s not that bad, and it will get better.ā€). They automatically imagine alternative scenarios that make them feel fortunate, interpret setbacks as short-lived and small in scope, and see inherent opportunity where others only see foreboding while those with a pessimistic explanatory style see these events as more global and permanent (i.e., ā€œIt’s really bad, and it’s never going to change.ā€) In the world of sports, studies of athletes ranging from collegiate swimmers to professional baseball players show that explanatory style predicts athletic performance.ā€
- Set reasonable expectations for yourself and make small success:
- Harvard Business School professor Peter Bregman ā€œDon’t write a book, write a page.… Don’t expect to be a great manager in your first six months, just try to set expectations well.ā€
- ā€œSmall successes can add up to major achievements.ā€
- Make good habits: ā€œHabits are like financial capital—forming one today is an investment that will automatically give out returns for years to come.ā€
- Passive leisure, like watching TV and trolling around on Facebook, might be easier and more convenient but doesn’t provide the same rewards as Active leisure like hobbies, games, and sports. Studies have found that American teenagers are two and half times more likely to experience elevated enjoyment when engaged in a hobby than when watching TV, and three times more likely when playing a sport.
- 20-Second Rule: Preparation for a good habit should be 20 seconds to lower resistance.
- Form good relationships: ā€œResearchers have found that social support has as much effect on life expectancy as smoking, high blood pressure, obesity, and regular physical activity.ā€ ā€œStudies have found that people with strong relationships are less likely to perceive situations as stressful in the first place.ā€
- Our external circumstances predict only about 10 percent of our total happiness. It means whatever your job is, you can be happy.
- Belief shapes our perception: ā€œOne study found that two people can look at the same picture of a friend and see two completely different expressions on that friend’s face.ā€
- Don’t worry!: ā€œAfter an initial adjustment and period of hardship, most victims of paralysis bounce back to just about the same level of happiness they experienced before.ā€
- ā€œOnline advertisers now conduct market research with sophisticated eye-tracking machines, determined to develop the perfect place for a banner ad on a website.ā€
Let's discuss it!
submitted by eieireddit to books [link] [comments]


2023.06.05 11:33 Due_Owl_2898 New dad quitting social media

Any other dad's out there that had to quit social media for their mental health?
Before becoming a dad, I did a lot of really cool shit. Always going out on adventures and pushing the envelope just a bit further with my friends.
Now that I'm grounded at home watching my six month old, I just can't stand to get on social media and see all the posts about what my friends are up to.
Some of them still check in and send me photos. I appreciate the gesture but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous.
Disconnecting from it all and just pretending like it's not part of my life anymore seems to be the only way for me to make piece with what used to be such a central part of my identity.
Any others go through something similar? Does it get better?
submitted by Due_Owl_2898 to daddit [link] [comments]


2023.06.05 11:07 OnePlatform8074 Protection and Resolution

Hello my legalist friends!
I'm gonna keep this brief and hit bullet points of what I'm dealing with legally with evidence to support my argument
I am currently in a mental health crisis. ASD undiagnosed until about 4 years ago this August. Mother, who is a vet, has gaslit me about my past and my father has as well. Caused friction between myself and all of my family (minus Liz my half sister and my grandfather RIP). When I was on my way for treatment, I gave her permission to get essentials. Knowing I was not in a great state, she took my passport and other forms of identification. She then proceeds to tell me because of my substance abuse history (Again i see a therapist and tried to get into a rehab program only to be denied because of ASD diagnosis) and that, "I thought I'd be at your funeral today." Now, I take full responsibility knowing i messed up. However I was, am, and continue to turn myself into the proper people in order to be better overall and smooth out the less than ideal side of me and get to a place where I can live my life freely. I have tons of debt, including 2 repos and 2 apartments with unpaid rent, and 40K in student loans. When I became homeless, she wouldn't let me stay with her in spite of the fact she also lost our home again to am electrical fire. Again i was not the most stable person to be around but I'll allow the you guys to give me sound advice. Note: all of the collections debt happened during my time back home in Knoxville or roughly 6 years
submitted by OnePlatform8074 to legaladvice [link] [comments]


2023.06.05 11:07 PinkSlime_96 W/F/L

W/F/L submitted by PinkSlime_96 to bloxfruits [link] [comments]


2023.06.05 10:13 best-probiotic Best Probiotic Supplements (2023) - Uses, benefits, and Ingredients

Best Probiotic Supplements (2023) - Uses, benefits, and Ingredients

https://preview.redd.it/wx9g1lscq54b1.png?width=712&format=png&auto=webp&s=8c3902e4f19b156cf01589e50c50aa9f0a08e27d

Product Name Best Probiotic Supplement
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Side Effects No side effects reported
Ratings ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Avaibility Official Website
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What Exactly Is Best Probiotic Supplement?
You have to take control of your life. There is no one out there who can help you if you can't help yourself. This means you have to become educated on your condition and how to make it tolerable. Start with this article and all of its tips on controlling acid reflux.
Stay away from acidic foods. They can best probiotic supplements both cause and exacerbate acid reflux. While this is by no means a comprehensive list, try to avoid oranges, tomatoes, grapefruit and vinegar. If you can't cut them out of your diet completely, at least try to avoid eating them in the evenings, so acid reflux doesn't strike when it is time for bed.
Eating large portions is a huge cause of acid reflux in a lot of people. When the stomach is too full, it puts too much pressure on the muscles in your stomach. It is better to eat five smaller meals instead of three larger ones. You will eat the same amount, but you will reduce the amount of acid your body produces.
Believe it or not, your clothing can affect how often you get acid reflux. Clothing that fits too tightly around the midsection will put excess pressure on the stomach, making reflux occur more often and with more pain. Opt for clothing with a loose fit. Only wear pants and belts that are tight enough to stay up without pressing too hard on the midsection.

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Does Best Probiotic Supplement Work?
A great way to minimize your acid reflux at night is to eat your largest meal of the day at lunch. You want as much of your food to be digested prior to lying down for the night. Rearrange your eating habits to include a big lunch and very small dinner.
Do not wear extremely restrictive clothing. This means beware of tight belts, waistbands and pantyhose. There will be added pressure on the stomach if you wear tight clothes. This may cause acid reflux. Try wearing comfortable clothes that let the stomach breathe.
Do you enjoy being active and best probiotic for women participating in strenuous exercise, but you experience acid reflux very often? Fortunately, your problem may be easily fixed. Try to consume at least 8 glasses of water a day. Water keeps you hydrated. This will also aid in the digestion of your food. Water aids in food digestion and reduces stomach acid production, which will improve your acid reflux.
Try popping a few pieces of chewing gum into your mouth every time you are feeling the symptoms of acid reflux. This will cause the body to produce a much larger amount of saliva than it does on a regular basis, and this will help neutralize the acid inside of the stomach.

How to use Best Probiotic Supplement?
Exercise daily to help reduce acid reflux. These exercises should be low impact exercises such as walking. Gravity is known to help decrease the odds of acid reflux; therefore, go for a walk after eating to lessen the effects of stomach upset and increased stomach acids. Exercising will also help you lose weight which will aid in reducing acid reflux.
Watch out for foods that trigger your acid reflux. For most people, these include fried and fatty foods, caffeinated and/or best probiotic for men carbonated beverages, citrus juices, spicy foods, etc. There may be other foods and drinks that cause your acid reflux, so just be mindful of what you are eating. If you notice that a particular food or drink is worsening your acid reflux, stop consuming it.
Avoid Certain Foods. Some foods are more likely to trigger acid reflux than others. These include caffeine, spicy food, alcohol, tomatoes, chocolate, and any foods that are acidic in nature. If you frequently suffer from acid reflux, consider eliminating these foods from your diet, or at least try not to eat them in the hours before you go to bed.
You don't want to consume a lot of alcohol if you are a sufferer of acid reflux. Alcohol is a prime cause of increased stomach acid production. If you still decide to drink, be sure to limit your intake and search for a drink that doesn't give you acid reflux.

Are there any side-effects?
Elevate your head at least 5 inches when you are sleeping to best probiotic gut health create a better flow of saliva down your esophagus when you are sleeping. This will help to reduce the acid that builds up in your stomach so that you do not wake up with any symptoms in the morning.
Did you know that acid reflux, when untreated, can lead to ulcers? You can have perforations of both the stomach and esophageal lining, leading to intense pain. When your heartburn seems to have kicked up a notch, talk to your doctor to get the right tests done to rule out this complication.
Eat smaller portions throughout the day instead of larger meals. A big meal takes longer for your body to digest it and usually puts added pressure on your stomach, causing not only irritation, but damage, too. Instead of eating three large meals, break them up into five or six smaller ones.
Although not always the case, tight clothing can sometimes cause acid reflux. If a belt or waistband seems tight, try loosening your clothing to relieve the discomfort. When too much pressure is put on your midsection, gastric acid can be forced from the probiotics supplements for gut health stomach and upward into your esophagus, creating the burning sensation.


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Conclusion: Best Probiotic Supplement
Consider keeping a food diary if you suffer from reflux. There are several foods that are often found to be acid reflux triggers for some individuals. They include things like tomatoes, onions, coffee, tea and even chocolate. If you keep a food diary, you can easily spot when your reflux problems are taking place and which foods appear to be causing the problems.
Now that you have this knowledge, you must use it. You have to start changing your lifestyle to help you cope with your condition. You need to take life by the reins and guide it where you want it to go. What you must do most of all is start the changes today.

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submitted by best-probiotic to u/best-probiotic [link] [comments]


2023.06.05 09:59 PrincessValeGirl Advice Needed: MLM Hun Friend Respones

Advice Needed: MLM Hun Friend Respones
I’ve had a friend, who has recently been on me regarding her ā€œteamā€ with BODi, which I believed is Beach Body. She’s actually a very good person, having survived a lot of DV abuse. Her heart is gold but she’s stuck in MLM world. I believe she’s too far gone, and I’m not interested in MLMs. I’m not sure how to respond to her latest, ā€œwhy are you not interestedā€ ask but I do need to respond. I want to be firm but kind. Any advice?
submitted by PrincessValeGirl to antiMLM [link] [comments]


2023.06.05 09:43 crystals_and_therapy Rehab

Ive been lurking this sub for a long time. I have wanted to stop smoking for months now because honestly, it didnt feel like anything to me anymore. It makes me numb. Ive tried to quit many times and always fail. I've decided to seek out rehab for my marijauna addiction.
It's hard to admit to myself that im an addict. Everyone around me acts as if this can't happen. My mental health is getting worse and worse, and i feel out of control. Its hard to admit i need help, but i do.
I need to change my life because i cannot live this way anymore. I am so ready to heal.
submitted by crystals_and_therapy to leaves [link] [comments]


2023.06.05 09:05 Ril3ySmil3y I GOT GHOUL!

https://imgur.com/a/q7fbvFK
I just finished soloing Ghosts of the Deep and I somehow managed to get flawless as well. Congrats to Bungie for making such an amazing dungeon. I love everything about it and this was the first dungeon that I decided to solo and get the title for. The only major complaint is that the bosses have a tad bit too much health for solo, but other than that this is one of my favorite pieces of content in the game.
I finished my run in just over an hour and a half and 5-phased both bosses, although Ecthar should have been a 4-phase since I messed up a little and his health bar was non-existent after the 4th phase, like not even a pixel. I used bonk titan the whole run and it was pretty chill, although there were some close calls that had the hair on my neck standing up.
I had a blast soloing this dungeon and wish anybody else attempting to solo it luck! If you have any questions about my build or strats feel free to ask them in the comments! :)
P.S. sorry for the bad quality of the second photo but I was so excited that I forgot how to screenshot and just took a picture with my phone
submitted by Ril3ySmil3y to DestinyTheGame [link] [comments]


2023.06.05 08:41 moshpitrocker GPA Update on Power System Status Restoration June 5, 2023 Day 11 Since COR4

GPA Update on Power System Status Restoration June 5, 2023 Day 11 Since COR4
Guam Power Authority (GPA) continues its power restoration process and have made progress to its post-typhoon recovery. The crews are divided into sectors to systematically address grid repairs throughout the island. GPA will continue to provide an estimate recovery summary to summarize our restoration progress to the Island-Wide Power System (IWPS).
Typhoon Mawar Recovery Summary As of 1:00 pm, MONDAY June 5, 2023
IWPS/PERCENTAGES System Load (Customer Demand) Restored (106.3MW) 53.2% GPA Substation Energized 95.8% GPA Feeders/Circuits Energized 88.9%
Notes: NO feeders/circuits can be energized unless GPA substation is energized. System Load (customer demand) percentage increases as GPA feeders/circuits percentage increases -Feeders/Circuits: 2 additional feeders/circuits added to the island-wide system for a total of 56 feeders/circuits are partially energized today. -Generation Capacity: 154MW of capacity online supporting 106.3MW load.
TODAY’S KEY OBJECTIVES INCLUDE: • Continue to energize GWA wells in Yigo (P-331, P-332), Dededo (P-87, P-88, P-89), and on Route 3/NCS (P-46) well fields. • Energize Umatac Substation. • Energize Navy Radio Barrigada Substation. • Continue work on urgent needs islandwide.
POST-TYPHOON RECOVERY PHASE II In the second phase of the post-typhoon recovery, GPA crews will address three or more sectors (north, central, and south) to restore as many customers (with minimal storm damage) as possible per feeder. Those with significant damages will be addressed in Phase III recovery efforts.
Some areas of focus over the next 1 to 3 days include: • P-270: Route 16 from McDonald’s to Route 1 (left side of Route 16 northbound). • P-271: south side of Hamburger Rd (Adrian Sanchez St) to Route 1, and from Star Plaza northbound to Route 16 intersection (dialysis center). • P-250: Ordot-Chalan Pago area including Dero Road and Dairy Road. • P-204: Chalan San Antonio from Mayor’s office toward Farenholt, and areas behind GPO. • P-280: Anigua substation towards Maina, and through to Asan valley. • P-262: Talofofo village to Windward Hills Road, and on towards Route 4 including Baza Gardens vicinity and down to Ipan area.
GENERATION CAPACITY • Current operable capacity is 154MW which is adequate for today’s load of 106.3MW. • Capacity available to serve customers energized. • Work continues to dry out base load units (Piti 8 and Cabras 1 & 2), as they proceed toward being placed online within the next few days.
PATH FORWARD: • GPA crews will continue power restoration work as quickly and safely as possible. The crews are encouraged by the positive words, prayers, and goodwill offered by all. • Continue addressing critical water, wastewater, communications, health and other critical services infrastructure.
The island-wide power system (IWPS) may be unstable, with fluctuating voltages, power interruptions and intermittencies occurring during restoration and recovery especially after a strong typhoon. Outages or interruptions may occur after power has been restored. This is not unusual as the grid is fragile and period of system instability will occur until full restoration is completed. GPA will make every effort to have power restored as quickly as possible to its customers. Once full restoration is completed around the island, the system will stabilize and less power interruptions will occur.
Our priority is to restore energy back into your homes and businesses; and restore the island-wide power system online at full capacity. GPA linemen and support crews are working night and day for you, your families, and your businesses. Si Yu’os Ma’Äse’ for your patience and support.

#

submitted by moshpitrocker to guam [link] [comments]


2023.06.05 08:39 SamPaxton97 Call of Duty: Eternal

Hello
Here's a thought experiment. Imagine that, in 2017, Activision did not publish Call of Duty: WWII but instead Call of Duty: Eternal. This is a story which is very much the same as what Call of Duty: WWII transpired as but with a couple of significant differences. For a start, it's not set during World War Two - it's set in a fantasy world with a 1940s/50s level of technology. A global war is raging between mankind and Orks, with the Orks having conquered great tracts of the world, and the story opening with the efforts by humanity to retake "Albion" from Ork occupation. I like to imagine the faces of Call of Duty fans when the first trailer came out and, seeing what looked like D-Day, got excited that at last the franchise was going back to its roots - only to see that the enemies are Orks and the main character is a Lenape woman.
To help with this imagining - below you'll find the full script for the first mission of Call of Duty: Eternal, based on the first mission of Call of Duty: WWII. The rest will gradually follow.
You might find it useful to follow along using this video - a walkthrough (no commentary, thank God) of the actual first mission in Call of Duty: WWII to help with visualising it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7y1bDQBEhA
Call of Duty: Eternal Mission 1 X-Day
Text slowly appears on-screen:
The world is bathed in flames.
The Ork clans, united for the first time in centuries, are on the march.
Man faces extermination.
A human skull is shown before an Ork boot comes down on it, shattering it.
Radio broadcast: With unmatched ferocity, the Ork war machine has launched its onslaught against the world… mankind faces the abyss.
The camera pans up on the Ork boot to show an Ork soldier as, behind him, Ork soldiers and tanks move through a devastated city.
Radio broadcast: As we brace for our darkest hour, we must summon our strength to be the bulwark against oppression.
Ork bombers are shown bombing London, recognisable for the Thames if not for the architecture. They are four-engine bombers, like B-17s, and the camera closes in on a propeller which shifts to a ceiling fan.
Radio broadcast: The Ork onslaught will be the greatest test we'll ever face.
The camera pans down from the ceiling fan Mona Kanti, a young Lenape woman and the protagonist, is shown joining the Imperial Armed Forces. She stands in a line in a recruitment office as a recruitment officer stamps her papers.
Radio broadcast: But face it and defeat it… we must.
To punctuate the ā€œwe must,ā€ a sudden cut to black with the sound cut out. Then, we hear the voice of the Ork Primarch. A speech plays, meant to mirror FDR’s D-Day Prayer, with shots of the Ork war machine we’ve been hearing so much about.
Primarch: With this war we set upon a mighty endeavour.
Fade from black to show huge lines of Ork soldiers in formation, like big Nazi rallies, are shown.
Primarch: A struggle to restore our civilization…
Ork soldiers on one knee in this rally are shown, closer up, dressed in battle gear and their faces daubed in war paint.
Primarch: …and to set free a suffering people.
A view from the rear of the rally, with the vast architecture of the Primarch’s palace shown looming over it all, resembling the Palace of the Soviets.
Primarch: Our Sons. Pride of our Clans.
Another panning shot of the assembled Orks, this time from the side.
Primarch: May the Mother lead them straight and true.
An Ork mystic, on the balcony overlooking the assembly, blesses the troops with hands raised to the sky.
Primarch: The road will be glorious. Men's souls will be broken with the beauty of war.
A shot from behind the mystic, seeing the assembled troops stretching towards the horizon.
Primarch: In this time of fire and blood…
The face of one Ork soldier is shown up close.
Primarch: …we shall prevail.
With the slightest of grimaces, the Ork uses a knife – and, in the background, we see the others doing the same – to ritualistically slice his forehead and let blood trickle down.
The cutscene then shifts to the Imperial Navy ships, including battleships of a scale similar to the Super Yamato, that are heading for the beaches of Albion. Mona Kanti is writing a letter to her sister, Luna Kanti, and we hear her voice-over as we view shots of the fleet.
Kanti (narrating): Luna. Oh, I wish you could see this, sister. An armada from one horizon to the next. I turned sixteen too late to help free Ɖriu. But not Albion – and it’s gonna be tougher. Much tougher. You know, I think I could bear the blood, and the misery… and the Orks. But the waiting… well, that’s a whole other battle.
Inside the troopship living quarters. We are now in first-person as Kanti. Kanti is sat at a table, hanging out and talking with her squad-mates Kinsi Rei (female Somali; shaved head), Thea Adlai, (female Swedish; ginger, freckles, glasses) and Ren Tao (male Chinese). Ren Tao is eighteen – the others are all sixteen. Bunks are stretched out behind them and other soldiers, of all ethnicities and sexes, walk by throughout. Rei is holding court while playing with a knife, every now and then jabbing between her fingers.
Rei: So she asks me for my watch and I'm thinking, "what in the Nether do you want my watch for; your parents make like fifty times mine!" But I turn around, and I felt this punch. And it's cold like ice.
Some of the dialogue is drowned out by Kanti’s narration. Every now and then, Kanti glances down at her fingers as she snaps them, but whatever she’s trying to do with that isn’t happening.
Kanti (narrating): Believe it or not, I managed to make some half-decent friends in Basic. All scared as can be. But nobody’s letting on.
Rei keeps playing her knife game as she talks.
Kanti (narrating): I hated Rei when I met her – and now she's my best friend. Funny how that works. She's always looking for trouble. If there wasn't already a war on she'd be off trying to start one.
Rei offers her knife to Thea Adlai and, though we can’t hear her given the narration, seems to be asking her if she wants to try the knife game. Adlai refuses.
Adlai: Besides, I gotta keep all my fingers if I'm gonna take photo of the year.
Kanti (narrating): Adlai says she's gonna be a photographer for a fashion magazine. She’s got a good eye. Except when she takes off her glasses – then she can’t see shit.
Rei offers her knife to Kanti and Kanti turns to Ren Tao.
Kanti (narrating): Tao's the vet but, if I’m honest, he's what kokomi would call ā€œa bit of a bumpkin.ā€
Ren Tao is tempted to play Rei’s knife game.
Tao: Okay, okay. Let's make this interesting.
Rei: It’s not interesting? Kanti – what’re you doing?
She says this in reference to Kanti’s finger-snapping.
Kanti (narrating): I swear I used to be able to do this…
Tao: So you keep saying.
Tao take off his talisman and dangles it in front of Rei.
Tao: Xu Yaling. Spirit of war.
Adlai: And sex, right?
Tao: Sssh. (Rei and Adlai laugh) He's had my back since Sabha. And, yeah, that’s real gold. (drops the talisman down on the table) Rei, three times in ten seconds, and he's all yours. (Sits back down)
Rei: I don't know.
Tao: Oh, you could always wimp out. That’s a choice, too.
Kanti: My money's on Rei.
Rei: Okay. Okay, I'm in.
Adlai: I can't watch.
Tao: I can.
Rei looks to Adlai.
Rei: Just time me when I tell you. Back to my story – me and my girls, we muscled our way into this chess game that the wrestling team had going. We had a bona-fide genius among us – but it was me playing. We worked out a system where she can signal to me what moves to make. You should have seen the Head Girl’s face when I took that pot. (To Adlai) You ready? That's what happens when you try to hustle a hustler. Now…
Rei plays the knife game while Adlai times her and wins the bet in a few impressive seconds.
Rei: Checkmate!
Tao: There ain’t no way!
Kanti (narrating): Tao had enough fight in him for two men.
Rei: Much obliged.
Rei offers to shake hands with Tao.
Tao: My mother told me never touch a Nube.
Rei doesn’t flinch but you can tell she’s ready to throw hands. Instead…
Rei: That's not what she said last night.
Rei winks and Tao shakes her hand.
Kanti (narrating): And enough bigotry for six.
Tao: Meh, who needs a stupid talisman anyway.
Rei: Apparently, you did. Here, have it back.
Tao: You won it.
Rei: It’s fake gold.
Tao: What? No, no, no, that’s as real as you or I.
Rei: A hustler always knows.
Tao: Ah, whatever, if it’s fake I don’t want it. I'm gonna get something better. A real trophy. You'll see.
Rei: Good luck with that.
Kanti snaps her fingers and finally produces what she wanted – a finger of flame, like a lighter, appears.
Kanti: I did it! Look, look, I did it!
Rei: Well, by Baphometh, isn’t that something?
Tao: That’s very pretty, Kanti. You’re ready to take on the Primarch, I should think.
Rei: She was always ready. Right Kanti?
Tao: You got any healing spells we could use or is it all evil magic with you?
Kanti: Well-
Rei: Oh, go on, tell him, Kanti! Tell him about that thing you can do!
Adlai: What thing?
Rei: And there’s no such thing as good and evil magic. Just good and evil people.
Kanti: It’s not that I can do it; it’s just that it happens sometimes. When someone’s dead I can kinda, you know, see into their past. But they have to of died recently. And I can’t do it with most people.
Tao: Well, we’re invading Fortress Albion, my friend. Good time to find yourself some corpses.
Rei: Maybe even your own.
Adlai: Hey, Kanti, do that spell again for the camera.
Adlai raises her camera then, seeing her watch, realizes that they are late for the mission briefing.
Adlai: Oh! Never mind, briefing’s at 18:00; we're gonna be late!
Adlai jumps up and runs from the room. The others also stand.
Tao: Run, little mouse.
Rei: I got us covered Kanti; don't worry about it (Showing the pendant to Kanti and winking). It is real gold.
As Kanti and Rei leave the living quarters, they encounter Khand, their turban-wearing sergeant, and in terms of personality very much a cranky sergeant stereotype.
Khand: Briefing's about to start; what in the Nether are you idiots doing?
Kanti (narrating): Then there's Sergeant Khand. He’s a sweetheart.
Khand: Oh, you think you're special, huh? The Orks are gonna eat you alive.
Rei: No, not me, sergeant. I’m high in salt.
Khand: Watch your lip, Rei. On me.
Khand leaves. The other two move to follow.
Rei: Since I'm obviously on a lucky streak, whatever happens, stay close. First Albion, then the Great Pale, then home in time for tea and medals. We got this, Kanti.
Scene fades out.
All of the 66th Infantry Division troops are on the deck of the ship as the rain pours down and Colonel Kitwana, a Swahili man, gives his pre-battle speech. As he does, we see the soldiers assembled watching him.
Kitwana: Today… we embark on an operation of unparalleled importance. To establish a beachhead in Albion… and roll back the Ork horde... that has terrorized the world since before many of you were born. We are all that separates the world from darkness. This is so much more than a chance to be heroes in our own lifetimes. If we prevail… our triumphs will be etched into the hearts and minds of a grateful world for untold generations. I'm talking about glory. True glory.
Kanti narrates her letter to Luna and soldiers begin to climb down the cargo net on the side of the ship into landing craft. These craft start making for the Albion coast.
Kanti (narrating): Colonel Kitwana can give a nice speech. His pep talk reminded me of the one Coach Pakwa gave us on our Mother’s Night game against Susquehanna. I'm sure you remember we lost by 67 points. (Focuses on Sokolov and Khand) Always looking over Khand’s shoulders is Lieutenant Sokolov. He's got him on a tight leash. But if Khand breaks free, we'll all get bit. Ever since I found my gift, I wanted to be like you, Luna. You've always been a tough act to follow. But I'll do my best.
Gameplay
We are now in first-person again as Kanti.
Kanti (narrating): It's now or never.
Kanti is writing in her notebook, the photo of Luna pinned to a page, as their landing craft drives for the Albion shore. Kanti is interrupted by Rei.
Rei: Hey! I wish I was coming home to her!
Kanti: That’s my sister! Just wait ā€˜til we hit Lutetia. Enough girls for the rest of your long life.
Rei: I’m starting to realise how far away it is.
Kanti take a quick glance at her notebook and closes it before tucking it into her pack.
Sokolov: Remember. No digging in at the shore. You advance. You need to stay low and do not bunch up. Stick to your training and you're gonna make it through.
Khand: Most of you, anyway.
Medium bombers pass by overhead, resembling the Junkers Ju 88 (in this universe known as Dragons) on a heading towards Albion.
Tao: Alright! Give em hell, boys.
Text appears across the screen.
X-DAY Lùnastal 17th, 397 NE Rheged, Northern Albion
Rei: The beaches are meant to be flattened, right?
Khand: You sound scared, Private.
Rei: No, sir.
Khand: You should be.
Driver: Hey, you! You!
Kanti turns to look at the landing craft’s driver behind her.
Driver: Got a light?
Kanti: Sure thing.
Kanti snaps her fingers a couple times and produces the flame again.
Driver: Oh – you’re one of them.
Soldier: Never trust a witch.
As the driver lights his cigarette on her finger, a bullet hits the boat’s machine gunner in the throat; he falls, flailing, with blood spurting out of his neck like in a Tarantino film. Shells start to fall.
Driver: Bastards!
Sokolov: Everyone down!
Rei: This is it!
Ork artillery lands in the grey ocean all around, spraying the craft with water. Kanti crouches with the rest of the troops.
Soldier: Watch out!
Bullets bounce off the landing craft’s armour.
Soldier: This isn’t fun!
Driver: Five hundred yards!
Another shell lands nearby and sprays the craft with water. Kanti trips but is held up by Khand grabbing her arm.
Driver: We’re gonna have to pull off!
Sokolov: No, we stay on mission! You're taking us in!
Driver: We must have drifted! I can't see the landmark!
Khand: You heard the lieutenant. Full speed!
Sokolov: Incoming!
An artillery shells blows up the neighbouring landing craft.
Soldier: By the Gods!
Sokolov: Hold tight!
An artillery shell, again, lands near the boat.
Kanti: Damn it!
Driver: Two hundred yards!
Looking up, a Dragon bomber is visible coming down with an engine on fire.
Driver: Twenty seconds!
Sokolov: Remember the plan! Get to the seawall!
Khand: Ceres! Aradove! Get the bangalore to the wire, fast! Everyone ready? Here we go!
Sokolov: Drop the ramp!
Driver: There's no cover!
Khand: That was an order, damn you! Drop it!
The ramp drops just as a landing craft consumed with flames comes crashing into theirs.
Rei: Oh, shit!
Kanti is knocked off her feet by the impact. Looking up, she watches as machine gun fire from the clifftops chops down a number of soldiers on the boat now that the ramp has been dropped. One has his head blown off and his neck is left spouting blood over Kanti as others are also cut down.
Sokolov: Over the sides! Now! Now!
Kanti follows as the survivors climb over the boat’s side. She stays underwater for a few seconds before being helped to her feet by Sokolov, spluttering.
Sokolov: I got you, child!
Just behind him, the beach is consumed by fighting and the noise of war is deafening.
Sokolov: Get your head down and keep moving!
Sokolov leads Kanti out of the surf, a burning soldier falls screaming from another landing craft and into the water, while carnage reigns all around. Bodies are floating all about and the water is red with blood.
Sokolov: Kanti; on me!
Running through the sand as explosions go off all around, artillery can be seen curling from the Ork lines towards the beach. Sokolov and Kanti hit the deck in front of some Ork tank traps.
Sokolov: Demolition team is dead! Take the bangalore and get to the seawall! We need to clear a path to the bunkers!
Kanti temporarily looks away, back to the water, and witnesses the bloodshed of soldiers dying, and a number running out of a landing craft on fire, while a warship close to shore opens fire on the coastal defences. Sokolov gets Kanti’s attention.
Sokolov: Kanti!
An explosion goes off nearby, half-soaking Sokolov’s face with gore. Someone just blew up.
Sokolov: This is your job! You got that?! Now pick up the banger!
Kanti moves the severed arm of a dead soldier to retrieve the bangalore. She looks upon the dead soldier’s corpse and, suddenly, her vision fades away and she sees his memories. This is the first of the Internal Vortex collectibles which can be found throughout the game, whereby additional lore is provided through Kanti’s ability to tap into the memories of certain corpses (human and Ork). In this case, the accessed memory tells a brief story of the soldier (Private Omid Afshani) and how he was part of a traditional military family and all his brothers have already fallen, told he would be a general someday, how he was born on a ship evacuating Persia (which goes some way to explaining why the Imperial military is so multiethnic – the whole world evacuated to the Americas) and how his last letter home from the ship told of how ā€œI can’t wait to hear the birdsong again.ā€
Afterwards, she returns to lucidity.
Sokolov: Kanti! Kanti! You with me?!
Kanti: Yes!
Sokolov: You can do this!
Sokolov stands and starts running up the beach. Kanti watches after him.
Kanti: I hope so, sir!
Kanti looks at the dead soldier that was carrying the torpedo bangalore, and with one hand closes his eyes.
Kanti: Sorry.
Kanti takes the body’s R7 Remi rifle (comparable to the M1 Garand) and proceeds up the beachhead, trying not to get killed. The machine gun nests in the clifftop fortifications will open fire on the soldiers then wait for a few seconds to reload. This will be the player's chance to move up to avoid taking damage. The player moves from cover to cover – tank traps, the wreckage of vehicles such as half-tracks and light tanks, and shell craters, mostly.
Khand: Hurry before they reload! Move it!
Sokolov: Kanti! This way! Hurry! Stop and you’re dread!
Tao: Shit!
Sokolov: Those MGs are killing us! Get off the beach!
Khand: Private Kanti – get to the seawall!
Rei: Get to the seawall! I’ll meet you there!
A couple of armoured vehicles – light tanks resembling Soviet BT-7s, here called LT-5 Termites – are now also moving up the beach and providing fire support. One blows up.
Sokolov: Keep low. When there’s a break in the fire, run for it!
There’s a break in the fire – you run for it.
Sokolov: Kanti, get the bangalore!
When Kanti reaches the seawall, which is made up of a big mound of sand lined at its top by barbed fire and burning gasoline, she falls against it. Her fellow soldiers fall in alongside her or are already there. A lot of wounded are also there, being treated by medics as machine gun fire flies over their heads. Rei falls next to Kanti, her face covered in dirt and blood.
Rei: Kanti! Use the banger; I'll cover you! After we breach, keep pushing toward the bunker!
Kanti: You’re covered in blood.
Rei: It’s not mine. Focus!
Kanti sets up the torpedo bangalore, made up of two cylindrical rods, with the second able to fit inside the first. Her handling is shaky and she drops one rod. Rei picks it up for her and gives it back.
Rei: We're nearly there!
Kanti pushes the torpedo bangalore into the seawall.
Rei: Pull it! Pull it!
Kanti: Fire in the hole!
Kanti scrambles backwards and the bangalore explodes, tearing a hole in the seawall for the soldiers to pour through, dirt pouring down like rain.
Sokolov: Weapons ready! Fix bayonets!
Kanti fumbles for her bayonet and fixes it to her rifle. You can now use this as a melee weapon against enemy infantry.
Rei: Ready to see your first Ork?
Sokolov: Attack!
Sokolov leads the troops through the hole – and many, though not Sokolov, are cut down.
Rei: Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!
Sokolov: Push forward!
After passing through the hole, you are faced with a clearing sprinkled with tank traps and barbed wire. After that, trenches, and then the bluffs with fortifications spitting machine gun fire.
Rei: Into the trench! Hurry!
Soldier: Orks!
You now face your first Ork drones as you push towards the trenches. Once you get into the trench, you slowly clear it and a mortar position, presumably losing Health as you do. Once done, you turn a corner deeper into the trenches where Rei is located.
Rei: That wound looks bad! Here, take this!
Rei throws a health pack to Kanti. The player can now call on Rei, when the squad meter fills, to add a pack for a total of four.
Kanti: Many thanks!
The player moves through the trenches, clearing out Ork drones. Friendly troops leap across the trenches. The player then gets to the end of the trenches and reaches the bluffs covered by Ork fortifications. A slope goes uphill between the bluffs but machine gun fire pins the friendly troops down and makes it impassable.
Khand: We can't advance with those MGs firing on our position!
Sokolov: Hold tight. Fire support incoming!
Khand: Kanti, mark the target!
Khand throws a canister to Kanti. Kanti catches it and throws it uphill towards the Ork bunkers. Red smoke emanates. Sokolov is shouting into a radio.
Sokolov: Kestrel, target is lit up! Hit it now and hit it hard!
Radio: Roger, we have your smoke visual. Attack run inbound.
Explosions hit the MG bunker as rockets from a trio of dive-bombing jets which resemble de Havilland Vampires (in this universe called Banshees) come in and obliterate the fortifications. The jets pass by close overhead.
Tao: That's it! Let 'em have it!
Adlai: MGs are dead!
Kanti: (laughs) They tore them to shreds!
Sokolov: Get to the top!
You and your squad move up the hill – a wounded Ork, both arms missing, stumbles from the smoke and still tries to fight by biting at Sokolov. Sokolov shoots it down.
Sokolov: Crazy bastards.
More Ork infantry advance.
Ork: I shall wear your hide as a coat!
After defeating these Orks, the player advances to the top of the hill through which additional trenches burrow.
Sokolov: Kanti; I need you and Rei to take point and clear those bunkers! Go!
Rei: Had to be us!
You move in with your squad. There are five bunkers to clear. The first has a clearing full of mortar positions, where Ork infantry defend, and there’s more firing at you from inside the bunker itself.
Sokolov: Orks are dug in. Kanti, get a grenade in that bunker!
You break into the bunker and clear it out, including the machine gun post covering the beach.
Rei: First one’s down!
Sokolov: Bunker’s clear – everyone out.
You move on. Taking the adjoining trenches, you come across an Ork Officer – larger and more heavily armoured than the Drones you’ve been fighting so far – holding a human soldier by the neck. Assuming you shoot him in the head, the only non-armoured part, he’ll go down and the soldier is saved.
Soldier: Thanks! I owe you!
If not, and your bullets bounce off the Officer’s armour, he crushes the man’s neck in his hand and comes for you.
After that, you drive on through the trenches, killing a few more Orks, before turning and entering an underground bunker. Inside, the entry is covered by a machine gun post.
Khand: MG's pinning us! Someone toss a smoke!
You can do that, or you can perhaps kill the machine gunner. Up to you. Afterwards, you drive on through the underground bunker. It’s a bit of a catacomb full of dormitories and a radio room. Eventually, you clear it.
Khand: Bunker's clear. Let's go!
Sokolov: Everybody out, bunker's clear!
You head back outside, 2 of 5 bunkers complete. You continue through the trenches, meeting fresh Orks.
Rei: There’s artillery hitting the beach! The next assault wave won’t make it!
Khand: Keep pushing! That artillery is hammering our ships!
Kanti: On it, sir! Yeah, I can do this, I can do this…
You carry on through the trench. Some Banshee jet fighters screech overhead. Reaching the entrance to the next bunker, you see a friendly – Corporal Lieu – with an F3 Inferno – a backpack flamethrower. He fires it down the bunker at unseen enemy troops before being gunned down.
Kanti: I'm going in!
Rei: Careful!
You enter the bunker – you can pick up the F3 Inferno as you do, which doesn’t last long but which is fun to use.
Ork: Come, little men!
You clear the bunker. As you reach the machine gun post, you enter into a quicktime moment. Kanti gets ambushed around a corner by an Ork soldier, who grabs her by the throat and pins her to the wall, but she jams her combat knife into his neck. Falling from his grasp, she sees the machine gunner just as a shell from a ship offshore hits the bunker dead-on and blows it, and him, to smithereens. Rei appears from the dust and helps Kanti to her feet.
Rei: Shit! Fucking Navy. Don’t they believe in us?
Returning from the machine gun nest, some Orks have shown up to try and retake the bunker. Take them out and then the bunker’s cleared.
The next bunker is just a hop from this one – you enter, at first finding nobody, before discovering an Ork pinning an Imperial soldier to the wall.
Soldier: Somebody help!
You, I should hope, kill the Ork.
Soldier: Thanks! Oh, hey, a girl…
Kanti: You wish.
You drive into the bunker, in the heart of which is a mortar position, and take out the Ork defenders. With that, the bunker is cleared.
Khand: Move up, move up!
Everyone rallies at the big steel door at the end of the bunker.
Khand: Adlai. Tao. With me. Kanti, you and Rei clear the next bunker. Rally at the top of the bluff, and for fuck’s sake try not to get yourselves killed.
You interact with the big steel door and open it, before going with Rei down some more trenches.
Kanti: Alright, Rei. One more!
Rei: We got this!
You turn a corner into a clearing before the bunker. There’s Orks both defending it on the ground and a sniper on top of the bunker itself. After dealing with this, you head inside, Rei behind you.
As you enter the bunker, Kanti is ambushed by an Ork Major – she is thrown to the floor and the Ork stands over her, pulling out a knife.
Ork: Never did fear smell so sweet.
Rei jumps onto its back and holds onto him around the neck. The Ork manages to throw Rei onto the ground before stabbing her through the belly.
Kanti: Rei! Oh, shit, no!
The Ork soldier leaves the wounded Rei, knife still sticking from her stomach, and approaches Kanti.
Ork: Stand and face me, woman. Show some honour.
Kanti stands and fights the Ork, which through its superior strength easily ends up on top of her, taking away her knife and now pushing it down towards her with both hands. Then, Kanti’s hands light up and the flames return – her whole hands are on fire. The Ork roars in pain and surprise and backs away, looking at its burned hands, before Kanti runs at him as the flames go out and tackles him to the ground. The Ork is still stronger and goes back to throttling her – but they’ve fallen near Rei, who yanks the knife out of her belly and jams it into the Ork’s chest.
Ork: The glory…
The Ork dies. Kanti climbs off and approaches Rei, who suddenly brandishes a pistol.
Kanti: Whoa, Rei…
Rei: Duck!
Kanti does so and Rei shoots the unseen Ork which was behind her. Kanti looks back to Rei, who is dealing with quite a lot of pain.
Kanti: Come on, you’re okay, you’re okay.
Rei: I can't walk.
Kanti pulls up Rei’s uniform to see her stomach – the wound is gushing blood.
Kanti: Oh, shit…
Rei: That bad?
Kanti: It’s not great.
Rei: Would you mind getting me out of here?
An explosion, presumably artillery – Kanti looks down the bunker to see it shudder, rubble falling from the ceiling.
Kanti: Yeah, course, no problem Kinsi, just stay with me, okay? Can you do that?
Rei: I’m gonna have to try. Pulling that knife out was pretty fucking stupid, huh?
Kanti: No comment. Come on.
The player starts dragging Rei out of the bunker and outside. Across a pretty dangerous clearing are friendly lines.
Kanti: We've gotta get back to friendly lines!
Kanti starts dragging Rei across the grass
Rei: On your left!
Kanti shoots the Orks which appear from the left with her pistol and keeps going.
Rei: You’re gonna… have to tell me… how you did that fire thing.
Kanti: I will when I figure it out myself!
They keep going.
Kanti: Not much further. Just keep pressure on that wound.
Rei: I’m trying!
Kanti drags Rei to a wall of sandbags and clambers over them.
Kanti: We gotta take cover!
Rei, in what is pretty clearly a painful endeavour, follows suit and lays in the mud. With her pistol, Kanti faces the Orks now coming for them.
Ork: Tasty, salty man-flesh!
Rei: How many?
Kanti: Too many!
Once the Orks are dispatched, Kanti looks back down at Rei.
Kanti: We're clear! Come on!
Kanti starts dragging Rei through the mud.
Rei: You call that fuckin' clear?
They skirt the edge of the trenches – an Imperial soldier with a flamethrower is dousing a group of Orks in fire. They continue along the edge of the trench, which is lined with barbed wire and so inaccessible, at least for Rei.
Rei: I'm losing too much blood. I think. You need more than half, right?
Kanti: Just hang in there! I gotta find a clearing to get in the trench!
Kanti places Rei down as smoke canisters pop, obscuring the next Ork wave to come their way.
Ork (from somewhere in the smoke): The clan will feast on you!
Kanti: Keep your head down!
Rei: Did you get 'em?
Kanti: They keep coming! How many of these fuckers are there?!
After taking out four or five, Kanti turns back to Rei.
Rei: Watch out!
Rei, with her sidearm, shoots down an Ork drone running at them from behind.
Rei: Still got it.
Kanti: Now’s our chance!
Kanti keep dragging Rei along the edge of the trench, smoke from the Ork canisters obscuring everything. As she goes, an Ork grenade lands at her feet.
Kanti: Fuck!
Kanti throws grabs it and throws it away. She sees an open area in the trench.
Kanti: Bingo!
Kanti jumps down into the trench, up to her ankles in mud, then turns back to Rei.
Kanti: I got you!
Rei rolls off the edge of the trench and lands in the mud at Kanti’s feet. A few more Orks appear from the smoke and Kanti shoots them down. She then looks down at Rei, who’s on the edge of losing consciousness, and then looks down the trench where more Ork infantry are coming at them.
Kanti: Oh, give us a break!
Kanti takes them out. Then, she turns back to Rei and starts dragging her down the trench.
Rei: Oh, wow, I'm actually bleeding out.
Kanti: Just keep pressure on it!
Rei: I’m trying! I’m trying!
Kanti: Almost there!
They reach some concrete steps – a friendly soldier is at the top.
Soldier: Come on up here! Move, move!
Kanti starts dragging Rei up the stairs – the soldier runs down and helps.
Soldier: I got you!
Two Orks come around the corner – someone on the top of the stairs shoots them both down. They reach the top of the stairs and find themselves in the middle of a friendly improvised triage centre. Kanti lays Rei down, whose face is very dazed, as she flicks off her helmet, blood trickling from her mouth.
Kanti: Okay. Stay with me. Healer!
Nobody comes – everyone’s busy.
Rei: I need morphine. All the morphine.
Kanti takes out a syringe of morphine, pulls off the cap with her teeth, and injects Rei in the thigh. Rei’s breathing is strained and painful. Kanti puts a hand under her head as a pillow.
Kanti: You gotta hang on. Those girls in Lutetia are waiting for you.
Rei: Really?
Kanti: Of course.
Rei: I… uh… how about another look at your sister?
Rei manages a smile, sniggering through the pain, and Kanti laughs, too.
Kanti: You’re infuriating.
Rei: It's okay. I can't see shit. I'm just gonna rest right here.
Rei’s eyes close.
Kanti: No, no, no, you need to stay awake. Hey.
Kanti puts her hand against Rei’s face, slapping her awake, and Rei’s eyes open.
Rei: Mona…
Kanti: I'm here.
Rei makes eye contact.
Rei: Help me.
Kanti: I need a fucking Healer!
A Healer finishes treating a wounded soldier and rushes over, taking over from Kanti in trying to stop the bleeding.
Healer: I got this! Go!
Kanti looks back down at Rei.
Kanti: But… but I…
Sokolov appears, standing over them.
Sokolov: Kanti! He'll take care of her. I need you with me. (to others) Listen up! There's an Ork cannon just a little up the road. It's tearing up the beach – we’re gonna stop it. Let's roll!
Kanti looks back down at Rei, who’s reaching out to her. Kanti takes her hand for a moment.
Kanti: Just stay alive, okay?
For a moment, with Rei on the very edge of death, little flickers of her memories flash before Kanti’s eyes. We see her mother telling her she’s a disappointment, Rei sitting in a prison cell, and then being told by a recruiting officer that ā€œthe Army’s running out of men – we need some ladies ready to be heroes.ā€ Then Kanti returns to lucidity and Rei’s face.
Rei: I promise.
Their hands part and Kanti stands, grabbing a rifle, and joins the rest of the squad.
Sokolov: Check your ammo and grenades!
Khand: You heard him! Up the road, now!
Kanti and the rest of the squad move out of the top of the bunker, along a field pock-marked with craters, then go onto a dirt road leading towards a farm.
Kanti: Moving up!
Khand: Let's move!
Sokolov: Be ready – these Orks don’t look like the surrendering type!
You keep moving up the road, finding some dead cows as you go.
Khand: Move fast! They're shelling the beach to shit!
You reach the target – a machine-gun nest is set up in a half-destroyed farmhouse and starts shooting at you as you appear.
Sokolov: MG in the hay loft! Take cover and take it out!
After taking out the machine gun, you keep moving up to fight Orks among the farmhouses and hay bales. A large artillery cannon is in the centre and you move to clear it and secure the area, moving in a couple of the farmhouses to do so.
Adlai: Where’s all the civilians?
Khand: In the Ork’s stomachs, probably!
Once you’ve cleared everything, silence seems to fall.
Soldier: Orks coming in from the south! A lot of them!
Sokolov: They’re gonna try to retake the cannon! We gotta hold this position!
Khand: Not a step backwards!
The squad defends the position as a couple waves of Orks swarm towards them. You can use the machine gun posts in the upper floors of the farmhouses to help fight them off.
Adlai: There’s too many of them!
Khand: Hold! Have courage!
Still the Orks swarm the field to the south – until explosions start to blow them away. Termite tanks appear from the left, their 45mm guns tearing through the Orks, which are either slaughtered or flee.
Tao: Our boys are coming in!
Adlai: Look at them scatter!
Sokolov: Alright, everyone. We mopped them up good. I don’t think they’ll be back.
Khand: Clear! Destroy that cannon!
Kanti goes to the cannon and crouches down behind it. An Imperial soldier appears next to her.
Soldier: Thermite!
The soldier carries a number of thermite charges inside his helmet like a bucket and empties them out in front of Kanti. Kanti lights one of them.
Kanti: Fire in the hole!
Everyone backs away – you probably should too – and the thermite explodes. The cannon is destroyed.
Sokolov: Excellent work, Kanti. Alright, everyone, rally on me to the assembly point. Khand, I'll need a casualty report. We lost so many.
Khand: But we took the beach.
Sokolov: What a price.
At the rally point, Rei is on a stretcher on the ground, a cigarette in her mouth as Tao is knelt next to her.
Rei: Kanti...
Rei tries to sit up and Tao puts out a hand to encourage her to lay back down. Given the pain on Rei’s face, that’s probably a good idea.
Tao: Man, I thought I'd seen everything…
Kanti: She gonna be okay?
Tao: Yeah. They taped her up pretty good.
Rei: I should’ve stayed on the boat.
Tao: Oh, now she tells us.
Kanti: Hey, what you did back there… I owe you. Big time.
Rei: I’d say we're even.
Kanti: We'll see this through.
Rei smiles.
Rei: To the end. I guess.
Kanti: Whenever that may be.
Sokolov and Khand walk by behind Rei; Sokolov addresses everyone. Kanti glances up at them, then back at Rei, who just gives her a knowing nod, then stands as she looks back at their superiors.
Sokolov: Beachhead's secured. We'll bivouac at the second hedgerow after the ridge. It’s not over, everyone.
Behind them, a couple of dead Orks are being examined. Adlai is taking photos of one while a soldier gently kicks the head of another.
Soldier: Stop kicking it.
Soldier #2: I don’t wanna.
Khand regards Kanti. There’s blood in his beard.
Khand: Welcome to the Smiling Sixty Sixth. You're a long way from home, farm girl.
Khand walks off. Sokolov watches Kanti, then approaches when Khand is out of earshot.
Sokolov: That’s his way of saying he’s grateful. You did well. Not bad for your first day.
Kanti: Thanks, sir. I, uh…
Sokolov puts a hand on Kanti’s shoulder.
Sokolov: You'll be alright, child.
Kanti: Yes, sir.
Sokolov pats her shoulder, nods, then walks off. Kanti looks down at her hands, covered in dirt and blood, which hold each other before slowly separating.
Kanti: Course I will.
The level ends.
submitted by SamPaxton97 to videogames [link] [comments]


2023.06.05 08:34 TheTim The Tough Reality of Running an Independent Retail Shop in Downtown Everett [LONG!]

The Tough Reality of Running an Independent Retail Shop in Downtown Everett [LONG!]

exterior of Chai Cupboard, with a large replica Moai
It's been just over two years since my wife and I opened the doors at Chai Cupboard, our loose leaf tea and spice shop in downtown Everett, and I thought it would be a good time to share how things are going for our little mom and pop shop. Can we call ourselves a mom and pop shop if we're only in our 40s? Whatever, I'm going for it.
In short: It has been and continues to be difficult!

Starting up

Let's start with what it took just to open our doors. We spent about $32,000 of our own money (no investments, no loans) to start up. This included things like buying the initial inventory, all our jars and other supplies, furniture, and putting in new flooring.
Finding a good location in downtown Everett was a challenge. It seemed like every space we looked at was either way too large (2,000+ square feet), way too expensive ($2,000+ a month), or both. The space we eventually landed in is around 1,100 square feet and costs us just under $1,800 a month. Plus electricity and gas. Plus parking. Plus basic building maintenance, repairs, and real estate taxes. You would think that those last few things should be the responsibility of the landlord that owns the building, but this particular landlord owns such a large portion of downtown Everett that they are able to dictate the terms of the lease to dramatically favor them and there's basically nothing you can do about it. Fun!
a Shiba Inu named Maya lays contentedly in a ray of sunlight in front of a shelf full of glass jars that contain tea

Keeping the lights on

Okay, so let's talk about ongoing costs. All together, running the shop five days a week, we need to make about $100 a day in profit to pay our basic bills. That means we need around $200 a day in sales to break even after paying for our inventory and other supplies. So far in 2023 we're making an average of $117 per day in sales. That's up from $100 per day during the same period in 2022, but still far short of where we need to be in order just to break even—and these figures are with no employees, just us (mostly my wife) running the shop entirely by ourselves. If we wanted to hire just a single employee at $20 an hour for 20 hours a week, the wages, taxes, and other costs would add up to another $2,000 a month or more than $100 a day.
All of this means that we're putting about another $1,500 into the shop every month out of our pocket to keep the doors open. To date we have made around $55,000 in revenue, but spent a total of about $128,000, meaning that over $70,000 has come directly out of our pocket to try to make this work.

Expanding our horizons

Since it has been difficult selling enough loose-leaf tea and spices to make ends meet, we have been working on a few different ideas to try to bring in more money. The biggest of these plans was to open a full tea bar, serving things like tea lattes and iced tea. Unfortunately, our space is not equipped with the proper kitchen to obtain the necessary permits from the health department.
Our landlord was open to letting us pay to upgrade their space (how generous of them!) and we were able to get a grant from the city for about $16,000 that we thought would cover the plumbing improvements and appliances we would need. Unfortunately again, once we opened up the walls we discovered that the existing drainage was nowhere near sufficient for the amount of sinks the health department requires. Fixing this would require considerably more work than we originally expected, including cutting a trench into the concrete floor. Between the extra drainage work and the extreme inflation that ratcheted up the cost of everything else while we tried to figure it all out, the total cost of the project ballooned to over $50,000. We applied for a second grant in hopes of still moving forward, but were denied. So the full tea bar idea is dead unless we find a whole new location with a proper restaurant kitchen, which would of course have much higher rent, somewhat negating the benefit of opening the tea bar at all.
three glass tea brewers, each with tea currently brewing
Thankfully as long as we only serve hot tea in a to-go cup, we are not classified by the health code as a "food establishment," so we can still do that without all of the extra sinks. We have been able to set up three tea brewers on a custom stand that I built out of hardwood, and at least provide a basic cup of tea to-go.

Building the physical and digital space

a custom-built wooden counter holding a register and some tea brewers, in a shop with brick walls and a shelf with jars in the background
Speaking of building furniture, the shop has given me a good excuse to spend some quality time with my woodworking tools. I built our custom shelves that hold all the jars, as well as the custom main counter, and I'm quite pleased with how they all turned out.
a shelf made of wood and pipe, full of glass jars with spices, in front of a brick wall
Surprisingly, building physical objects like the furniture has been easier than building things in the digital space. While we have had a basic website set up since before we opened, building a proper online shop has been a bit of a pain. Aside from the challenge of synchronizing all of our inventory with an online storefront, to get it properly set up we need to take individual photos of all 200+ of the teas and spices we sell, which is a daunting task.
Once we do get the online side of the store set up with all the photos, another idea we've had to increase sales is to set up a tea sampler subscription box, but the economics of subscription boxes is pretty rough. There are competitors in the space that sell a tea box for $20 that includes shipping. It would be difficult for us to make and ship a box of teas for less than $20 in actual cost to us.

So, what's next?

We have really enjoyed running the shop, learning more about teas and spices, and meeting all the lovely people who have come in over the past two years. To date we have had nearly 2,000 customers, about 25% of which are repeat customers. We have had zero problems with crime, and only one unpleasant run-in with an individual having a drug-induced psychotic episode. Downtown Everett is a great location, and we love the increasing number of events that are happening downtown like Sorticulture, Salty Sea Days, and the Wintertide Festival & Market.
We're convinced that our shop is a valuable addition to Everett, but it's tough to keep pouring thousands of dollars into it every single month, and to be so far away from even being able to hire a single person to help out. It is beginning to feel like running a small independent retail shop in downtown Everett may not be viable with the current cost of rent, lack of significant downtown foot traffic, and most people's default mode of shopping online first. We've still got over a year on our current lease, so we're going to continue trying to make this work, but looking around at the other businesses downtown, it's easy to see why they're mostly restaurants, breweries/bars, coffee shops, or retailers who have been around forever and own their own building.
And of course, I haven't even mentioned the other big complicating factor: In just a few weeks we're having a baby! This means we're going to have to dramatically cut back how many hours the shop is even open, due to the aforementioned inability to afford to hire any additional help.
Anyway, if you fancy some tea, stop on by! We're at 2809 Colby in downtown Everett. And if you have some brilliant idea for how to make this type of business actually turn a profit, please drop me a line and share it!
a row of glass jars full of colorful spices, with white labels and gold lids, sitting on a wooden shelf in front of a brick wall
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2023.06.05 08:05 SaukstasProto 93: thank you, my meal was a pleasure

93: thank you, my meal was a pleasure

https://preview.redd.it/fu5lg7sf454b1.jpg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=363d77b4c87841f3222227660cb8a639ec13b177
Eating and experiencing food in general must be pleasant - if we want the whole ingestion and digestion activity to be efficient. Whether you like it or not, this is how the real process works. Please pay extra attention to the further facts if you recognize yourself as one who usually "grabs a bite", never eats but snacks, uses immense force of willpower to eat broccoli (at the same time admitting that there is no worse taste than this, but we need to eat broccoli because it is healthy). Please also pay extra attention if you are parents of children who are not allowed to leave the table until all the soup is finished (even when they are shaking with disgust and poking a milk film on the soup with the tip of the spoon - I am sorry about the image, but I know that this is not only my personal demon).
• The more people limit themselves (in the specific contexts of eating) - the lower is their self-clarity, the less they are satisfied with their life and the more neurotic symptoms they experience. Eating pleasure is an important factor to such people. If such person limits himself or herself while eating a lot, but gave high score for eating pleasure, then his or her self-clarity results were poor, and neurotic symptoms - abundant. If eating pleasure is high and level of limiting is low - self-clarity was high and neurotic symptoms were few (1).
• Eating pleasure may be two-fold: pleasure to feel decreasing level of hunger, or pleasure when a learned response to "it-is-work-day-lunch-time" leads you to the meal (surprisingly, this instinct remains very quiet during the weekends). Second type - watching and consuming a beautifully served and very tasty food in a company of interesting people (which researchers call an epicurean pleasure). People who tend to experience epicurean pleasure, also tend to choose smaller portions, are in general healthier and have a more balanced body mass index (2). Good news - this is not an innate trait, it can be trained and developed, but you need to remember to intentionally notice that pleasure.
• We usually eat for two reasons - because we want food and because we like food (taste, texture, look is appreciated positively). The fact that we like food (or, to be more precise, the fact that we remember that we tasted it before and that we liked it) is only one of the reasons why we seek food - not the only one, not the main one. Feelings of wanting and liking are ruled by two different regions in the brain. This is why we sometimes eat the food that we don't like, but are conditioned to want (yes, just like Pavlov's dogs, this mechanism works perfectly in our brain as well). We are caught in this situation every time we smell warm cinnamon rolls - we did not plan on eating, we were just after the breakfast, but we still WANT that roll, because brain follows the same path: smell eating the roll getting some dopamine as reward. I'm sorry, I know that you really want them rolls right now. Exactly this type of eating - when you want it but not when you like it - usually leads to overeating and eating unhealthy food. Now, when so many nudges towards eating surround us - advertising, snacking culture, very available and plentiful food - the reflex to eat is also awakened very often. Besides, not so rare stress also increases urge to eat (3). So clearing your immediate surroundings from food cues might be a very good step forward.

In summary - eat only the healthy food that you like (if I'd say, "only the food you like", you would act on your impulse to eat only sweets). Clear your environment from food cues, do not keep your food visible, keep clear from the food advertising, do entertain yourself with trips to the food stores. Definitely - eat only when hungry, not when it is time to eat. Eat with pleasures, in the widest sense - with pleasant company and ambience, giving time and attention to the food. Also, do not forget you notice why this food is pleasant for you.

Photo: Peter from Pixabay
#spoonfulofreason #psychology #eating #pleasure

Studies:
  1. The relationship between restrained eating, pleasure associated with eating, and well-being re-visited: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1471015308000986
  2. Pleasure as an ally of healthy eating? Contrasting visceral and Epicurean eating pleasure and their association with portion size preferences and wellbeing: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666315300143
  3. The tempted brain eats: Pleasure and desire circuits in obesity and eating disorders: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2913163/

My name is Monika, I am health and nutrition psychologist. I help to deal with daily and difficult questions about behaviour, thinking, emotions. I write, give lectures, and provide psychological counselling. Book my session here: https://calendly.com/saukstasproto/psichologine-konsultacija
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