#Massachusetts Car Service

[nyclimocarservice]

Limo Rental NYC offers luxurious limousine services in Massachusetts at unbeatable prices. With a fleet of top-notch vehicles and professional chauffeurs, we ensure a seamless and stylish transportation experience for any occasion. Whether it's a wedding, prom, corporate event, or airport transfer, our reliable service guarantees comfort and elegance. Contact us at (917) 722-1119 or visit our website for reservations and inquiries.

[shipvehicles]

Expert Tips for a Smooth Car Transport Experience in California

California Car Transport Service California delivers convenient and dependable vehicle shipping solutions throughout the Golden State. Whether you're moving, buying a new car, or sending a vehicle to a distant location, our expert team ensures safe and efficient transportation. We pride ourselves on affordability, punctuality, and excellent customer service, making us your trusted choice for all your California car transport needs. Your vehicle's journey is in capable hands with us.

[newhampshirelimousine]

Car Service To Gillette Stadium

If you are planning to attend an event or a game at Gillette Stadium, one of the best options for transportation is a car service.

New Hampshire Hire Limousine offers the best Car Service To Gillette Stadium.

Hire us today!

[metrowestlimousine1]

Luxury Travel Redefined: The Lincoln MKT Town Car Experience

Anytime you hire a town car, you want a journey that is just as relaxing and comfortable as the destination. Luxury travel shouldn’t restrict you from getting from point A to B. It is about an experience in style and the statement you can make when rolling up in a Metrowest Limousine Lincoln MKT town car.

We understand the sentiment of luxury more than anyone else by providing tailored transpiration in the New England area. We cater to a diverse range of clientele and always ensure you are getting the very best around. It doesn’t matter if you are an executive in town for a critical business meeting or on a local staycation celebrating 20 years of marriage. We want you to sit back, relax, and enjoy the journey we provide in this luxurious vehicle.

Step into the world of supreme luxury with the Lincoln MKT Town Car. Its elegant contours and refined aesthetics resonate with those with an eye for sophistication. But as any seasoned traveler would tell you, looks are just the start.

Inside this plush sedan, every feature screams luxury. Are you planning to bring along a few bags? The ample trunk space means you won’t have to clutter your seating area. Perhaps you want to catch up on some reading or simply relax with a glass of wine and some soothing music. The Lincoln MKT Town Car makes it all possible, creating a personal haven amidst the bustling world outside.

And while the vehicle itself is a masterpiece, it’s the person behind the wheel that completes the experience. Our team at Metrowest prides itself on hiring, training, and cultivating professional chauffeurs. Experienced, courteous, and highly trained, they ensure your journey is smooth, safe, and punctual. After all, what’s luxury if not complemented by peace of mind?

Even better, you get local insights. While you enjoy the fresh air of central Massachusetts or a quick jaunt from Logan Airport to your hotel, your ride inside this incredible vehicle is one to remember. This high horsepower engine has the interior and technology for a climate-controlled ride experience. We integrate modern conveniences that easily integrate into your experience, so the only thing to worry about next is where to find the best pasta in the North End on your visit.

With 24/7, 365 days a year service, we can provide a quality ride to any of our service areas. As we move forward in an era where luxury is constantly being redefined, the standards set by our team and selection of Lincoln MKT Town Cars are undeniably high. Luxury is no longer about just owning the best but experiencing it.

Let’s discuss your unique needs by booking one of our fleet cars today. We look forward to ensuring you have a safe, reliable, comfortable, and, most importantly, luxurious ride wherever you need to go next, any time of the year - rain or shine.

[deadpresidents]

Road Trip

On November 8, 1960, millions of Americans went to the polls in what would become one of the closest Presidential elections in American History:  John Fitzgerald Kennedy versus Richard Milhous Nixon.

That morning, Kennedy voted in Boston and Nixon voted in Whittier, California.  The candidates had spent months canvassing the nation, working to get every last vote – and every last vote was needed.  For the past several weeks, Kennedy and Nixon had criss-crossed the country, debated one another, and been working non-stop to be elected the 35th President of the United States.

After they voted that day, there were results to monitor, precincts to watch, election day problems to take care of, and many other things to worry about.  Imagine being on the cusp of the Presidency – with a 50/50 chance of being elected the next President of a superpower in the grip of the Cold War, with the threat of Communism and nuclear weapons hanging over your head, and the hopes of hundreds of millions of people pinned on either your victory or defeat.  Imagine being in the position of John F. Kennedy or Richard Nixon on November 8, 1960.  What would you do? 

John F. Kennedy put the control of his campaign in the hands of his younger brother, Bobby, and then took a nap.

And Richard Nixon took a road trip to Mexico.

Once Nixon voted that morning at a private home in a quiet Whittier neighborhood, he had been scheduled to head to the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles (where Bobby Kennedy would be assassinated eight years later) for the Election Day vigil and the long wait for the returns which would indicate whether he would be moving into the White House or facing an early retirement. 

Nixon was finished voting by 8:00 AM and hopped into his black Cadillac limousine to be driven to the Ambassador.  Several blocks away from the polling place, Nixon ordered the limousine to stop.  Along with a military aide and a Secret Service agent, Nixon jumped out of the limo and into a white convertible follow-up car driven by an officer from the Los Angeles Police Department.  Nixon took the LAPD officer’s place, got behind the wheel and ditched the press which had been following him.

Driving to La Habra, California, Nixon made a quick visit with his mother, making sure she had voted for her son in the Presidential election.  Nixon drove south along the Pacific Coast Highway, with no specific destination.  He stopped for gasoline in Oceanside and told a gas station attendant – startled to see the Vice President of the United States on a joyride on the very day that he stood for election as President – “I’m just out for a little ride."  Nixon confided that it was his only source of relaxation.

As the group of four men, with Nixon in the driver’s seat, reached San Diego – over two hours away from Nixon’s campaign headquarters at L.A.’s Ambassador Hotel – Nixon pointed out that he hadn’t been to Tijuana in at least 25 years.

As David Pietrusza wrote in his recap of Nixon’s road trip, "Richard Nixon – the ultimate control freak – was winging it on the most important day of his life."  Not only that, but the sitting Vice President of the United States and the man who many Americans were choosing to become the next President, impulsively decided to leave the entire country while those voters were still at the polls.

In Tijuana, Nixon and his party headed to a restaurant called Old Heidelberg.  Despite the fact it was owned by a German, Border Patrol agents told Nixon that it was the best place in Tijuana for Mexican food.  Joined at the last moment by Tijuana’s Mayor, Xicotencati Leyva Aleman, Nixon, his military aide, a Secret Service agent, and an average LAPD officer ate enchiladas in Mexico while John F. Kennedy took a nap in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.

When Nixon’s press secretary Herb Klein was asked about the missing candidate, he had to tell reporters that Nixon often took some private moments on hectic days such as Election Day.  Really, though, Klein had no clue where Nixon was, eventually admitting that the Vice President was "driving around without any destination”. 

After lunch in Tijuana, Nixon and his companions headed back north towards the United States border crossing.  The LAPD officer took over driving duties as Nixon sat in the convertible’s passenger seat.  A shocked Border Patrol guard shook hands with the Vice President and asked the man who was currently on the ballot for the Presidency, “Are you all citizens of the United States?”.

Nixon and company drove to the Mission of San Juan Capistrano, which Nixon called “one of my favorite Catholic places” on the day he faced the first successful Catholic candidate for the Presidency in American History.  Nixon took his three companions on a quick, informal tour of the Mission.  “For a few minutes, we sat in the empty pews for an interlude of complete escape,” Nixon later recalled.

The missing candidate and his three road trip buddies arrived back in Los Angeles before the election results started rolling in.  Nixon had to explain his trip to reporters who had been searching for him all day.  “It wasn’t planned.  We just started driving and that’s where we wound up.”

In his Memoirs, Nixon didn’t go too far into explaining why he escaped on Election Day, but a paragraph about that day is pretty illuminating:

“After one last frenetic week, it was over.  Since the convention in August I had traveled over 65,000 miles and visited all fifty states.  I had made 180 scheduled speeches and delivered scores of impromptu talks and informal press conferences.  There was nothing more I could have done.”

Except escape to Mexico while JFK slept.

[dandelionsresilience]

Good News 8-14

Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $Kaybarr1735! And if you tip me and give me a way to contact you, at the end of the month I'll send you a link to all of the articles I found but didn't use each week!

1. Rare foal born on estate for first time in 100 years

“The Food Museum at Abbot's Hall in Stowmarket, Suffolk, is home to a small number of Suffolk Punch horses - a breed considered critically endangered by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. A female foal was born on Saturday and has been named Abbots Juno to honour the last horse born at the museum in 1924. [...] Juno is just one of 12 fillies born so far this year in the country and she could potentially help produce more of the breed in the future.”

2. The cement that could turn your house into a giant battery

“[Scientists] at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found a way of creating an energy storage device known as a supercapacitor from three basic, cheap materials – water, cement and a soot-like substance called carbon black. [... Supercapacitators] can charge much more quickly than a lithium ion battery and don't suffer from the same levels of degradation in performance. [... Future applications of this concrete might include] roads that store solar energy and then release it to recharge electric cars wirelessly as they drive along a road [... and] energy-storing foundations of houses.”

3. New road lights, fewer dead insects—insect-friendly lighting successfully tested

“Tailored and shielded road lights make the light source almost invisible outside the illuminated area and significantly reduces the lethal attraction for flying insects in different environments. [...] The new LED luminaires deliver more focused light, reduce spill light, and are shielded above and to the side to minimize light pollution. [... In contrast,] dimming the conventional lights by a factor of 5 had no significant effect on insect attraction.”

4. When LGBTQ health is at stake, patient navigators are ready to help

“[S]ome health care systems have begun to offer guides, or navigators, to get people the help they need. [... W]hether they're just looking for a new doctor or taking the first step toward getting gender-affirming care, "a lot of our patients really benefit from having someone like me who is there to make sure that they are getting connected with a person who is immediately going to provide a safe environment for them." [... A navigator] also connects people with LGBTQ community organizations, social groups and peer support groups.”

5. Tech company to help tackle invasive plant species

“Himalayan balsam has very sugary nectar which tempts bees and other pollinators away from native plants, thereby preventing them from producing seed. It outcompetes native plant species for resources such as sunlight, space and nutrients. [...] The volunteer scheme is open to all GWT WilderGlos users who have a smartphone and can download the Crowdorsa app, where they can then earn up to 25p per square meter of Balsam removed.”

6. [Fish & Wildlife] Service Provides Over $14 Million to Benefit Local Communities, Clean Waterways and Recreational Boaters

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is distributing more than $14 million in Clean Vessel Act grants to improve water quality and increase opportunities for fishing, shellfish harvests and safe swimming in the nation’s waterways. By helping recreational boaters properly dispose of sewage, this year’s grants will improve conditions for local communities, wildlife and recreational boaters in 18 states and Guam.”

7. Bornean clouded leopard family filmed in wild for first time ever

“Camera traps in Tanjung Puting National Park in Indonesian Borneo have captured a Bornean clouded leopard mother and her two cubs wandering through a forest. It's the first time a family of these endangered leopards has been caught on camera in the wild, according [to] staff from the Orangutan Foundation who placed camera traps throughout the forest to learn more about the elusive species.”

8. Toy library helps parents save money 'and the planet'

“Started in 2015 by Annie Berry, South Bristol's toy library aims to reduce waste and allow more children access to more - and sometimes expensive - toys. [...] Ms Berry partnered with the St Philips recycling centre on a pilot project to rescue items back from landfill, bringing more toys into the library. [...] [P]eople use it to support the environment, take out toys that they might not have the space for at home or be able to afford, and allow children to pick non-gender specific toys.”

9. Chicago Receives $3M Grant to Inventory Its Trees and Create Plan to Manage City’s Urban Forest

“The Chicago Park District received a $1.48 million grant [“made available through the federal Inflation Reduction Act”] to complete a 100% inventory of its estimated 250,000 trees, develop an urban forestry management plan and plant 200 trees in disadvantaged areas with the highest need. As with the city, development of the management plan is expected to involve significant community input.”

10. Strong Public Support for Indigenous Co-Stewardship Plan for Bears Ears National Monument

“[The NFW has a] plan to collaboratively steward Bears Ears National Monument to safeguard wildlife, protect cultural resources, and better manage outdoor recreation. The plan was the result of a two-year collaboration among the five Tribes of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition and upholds Tribal sovereignty, incorporates Traditional Ecological Knowledge, and responsibly manages the monument for hunting, fishing, and other outdoor recreation while ensuring the continued health of the ecosystem.”

June 1-7 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[avianreptiles]

I realized i actually dont know much about kenny, so if you want you can take this as a prompt to talk about him cuz he intrigues me....

This is not a place of honor

Okay so this is the general summary of his bullshit. I have a lore doc on the way. The lore doc goes soooo much into more detail on particular events and especially more on the reasoning and psychology of the actions in the story. The whole story itself is insane and gruesome and horrible, but i singled out on Kendrick cuz he's the most interesting in my opinion and I don't like him.

If you are waiting for the lore doc, I applaud your patience. It's coming, I swear.

Tw for talks of death, brief mentions of gore, suicide, main character deaths, politics, drugs, alcoholism, whatever. There is no happy endings in the shay/avian cinematic universe yadda yadda yadda okay

OKAY so Kendrick Poste was a transgender man born in 2098 in the right-winged, one-party dominant "democracy", the United States of Albany, to his parents, Mac and Haisley Poste. Mac and Haisley were both left-leaning and tried to raise him away from being rightwinged, but Kendrick ended up growing up not caring that much for politics. Anyways important bit, THEY WERE GOOD PARENTS. Haisley was a wonderful woman. Mac cared deeply for his son. Kendrick was When Kendrick was 12, the three of them got into a car wreck by a drunk driver, with Haisley passing away rather gruesomely, with the nature of the direction that the car hit. Namely, a good chunk of Haisley's lower and mid face had been ripped off by the carnage of the passenger door. Kendrick saw this in full view. It is very important to know that Kendrick saw this.

Kendrick and Mac are neverrrrrr the same after this. Like at all. Kendrick ends up recovering enough mentally after a couple of years and graduates high school early, applying for and getting into college at 16. The first half of the year goes by without a breeze. The second half of the year rolls by, and Kendrick falls like Icarus, got a little too close to the sun, a little too confident. After he lost all the drive to finish school, he started taking up smoking and ended up becoming "friends" with the guy that deals him weed, Percival. I can write so much on how Percival sucks but instead, I'm gonna write about how Kendrick is worse. So this guy manipulated and threatened anyone and everyone to his benefit, including his ex-girlfriend and his father. He was just some egotistical, jackass kid who got caught up gang violence and drug deals who took advantage of the people around him to make a name for himself in almost every circle of the city he lived in. He was known for just about one thing, though: Percival's big scary personal guard dog. He was a violent and often times cruel kid, cementing himself as one of the morr dangerous people to butt heads with AT FUCKING 16.

Anyways I am skipping a lot of important info but the day he turned 17, he got drafted into the war that Albany was in at the time, the Massachusetts/Albany war. The draft was basically a death sentence, as kids who got shipped off to war tended to not come back at all. For what he thought was going to be his last three weeks on earth until he had to go to the selective service office, he proceeded to let himself go almost entirely. Specific events? Threatened to kill Percival a couple times, did cocaine off of a hooker's leg at a party he went to, broke someone's wrist, and drank almost every other night. Mac at that point had given up on him, but their last conversation was when he was dropping him off at the service office, where Kendrick told him to go to hell. Anyways that was fucked up. What's up next is worse

Being drafted sucked dick. He was already pretty damn fit, and the government determined he didn't really need any physical training, but he was still a rebellious, jackass kid, and that needed fixing. Recently in the war, more draftees were going awoll, so the govs solution? Deadend. Deadend was a compound/training facility that I once described as "not supposed to make you love your country, but to fear it." At Deadend, it was basically physical torture under the guise of "if you dissent from the army/go awoll, you will have wished that the enemy had flayed you alive, with the shit we're going to do to you". It was about 2 months of that. This compound is also the reason why a lot of Albany soldiers, especially in the later years of the war, were reported to have looked "empty" or "souless" in the eyes. You had to drop your morals at the door, cuz if you didn't do everything your superior told you to, you were getting shoved into the drywall.

After 2 months, he got put into a special little group called Great Lakes Special Forces. Now I'm going to summarize some of the shit that happened in GLSF in some sort of timeline, because so much happened in the period of about a year:

-Late July 2115, placed into group with four other members.

-Late August, 2115, first kill, a girl about his age

-December 2115, Kendrick (Huron 01) is ordered to kill Ontario 01, to which he complies out of fear.

-Later in December, Ontario 02 is assigned to the group, a reminder that anyone is replaceable.

-December 2115 to about July 2116, Kendrick, distraught about having to carry out Ontario 01's execution becomes more reserved and West (Superior 01), starts to place him on more solo missions. In a combination of unsupervised warfare, cruelty, bloodlust, guilt over Ontario's death, and what not, becomes the most dangerous man on the Eastern Seaboard. His existence becomes a boogeyman tale, with titles such as "Deerhead" and "the devil with white eyes" become tossed around while describing assassinations, killings, and what not that happen within his domain. West (technically his commanding officer) around this point realized that this would be her fatal flaw, letting Kendrick get too cocky.

-In late July 2116, he is sent on more cooperation missions, and actually talks to Ontario 02, the replacement for Ontario.

HEY THIS IS NOT DONE BTW. I POSTED IT TOO EARLY. IM JUST GONNA WORK ON THE LORE DOC FOR NOW

[noneedtoamputate]

Happy holidays, @land-sh. I'm your HBO War Secret Santa, and I hope you like this modern holiday AU featuring Ron and Carwood. I know you don't live in the United States, so I wanted to let you in on a few things in case you didn't know (and my apologies if you already know). The Pentagon, where Ron works, is home to the U.S. Departmen of Defense, and Instacart is an app where you can order groceries and get them delivered to your house. Fair warning for anyone else reading, it's just a tad spicy toward the end. I hope you enjoy it and have a wonderful holiday season, no matter how you celebrate!

Ron stared at the calendar hanging in the kitchen. If looks could set paper ablaze, the month of December would have burnt to a crisp thirty seconds ago.

He took another sip of his steaming black coffee, careful not to let any get on his Army dress uniform.

He took the calendar down from its hook and walked over to the kitchen table they purchased three years ago, when Ron accepted a desk job at the Pentagon and Carwood left active service and started teaching history at a local high school. 

Car’s messy handwriting filled almost all of the squares. He had Army reserve duty the first weekend of the month, and as assistant coach of the boys’ junior varsity basketball team, there were practices or games almost every weeknight up until holiday break. There was the neighborhood cookie exchange, where he promised to make his famous gingerbread people, and then there was the Santa Paws fundraising event at the humane society. Car volunteered to dress up as Santa.

Ron’s small, neat cursive only filled Mondays for his personal training appointments and on December 22, with one word and arrow ending on December 30.

Home.

No one at work would ever guess that Lt. Col. Ronald Speirs loved Christmas. He loved the lights, the movies, the gifts, and, most importantly, being with the people he loved. He hadn't made it back to his parents in Massachusetts for the holidays since moving to Washington. He finally had enough seniority in his department to take an entire week off in December.

He couldn't wait to taste his mother’s shortbread, to be spoiled by his sisters, to take his nieces and nephews sledding. There really was nothing like Christmastime in New England. 

He heard Car come down the stairs of their townhouse. He wore a black turtleneck sweater, fitted tan pants, and loafers. If Ron’s teacher had looked as half as good as Car, Ron would never have passed U.S. History. 

Car smiled at him as he walked over to the coffee maker. 

“The calendar’s getting pretty full,” Ron said, trying to sound casual.

“December’s always busy,” Car replied as he sat down across from his husband. “But not too busy that we can't find time for each other.”

“Movies?” Ron asked. 

“Of course. Die Hard. Love Actually. We’ll watch them all.”

Ron leaned closer. 

“And we’ll drive around to look at the lights?” Ron was a sucker for Christmas lights.

Car nodded. “I’ll drive, so you can really look at the displays.”

Ron smiled. “Well, if that isn't love, I don't know what is.” He reached over to kiss Car.

“I gotta run.” Car picked up his travel mug. “Have a good day. I love you.”

“Love you, too,” Ron replied.

He finished his coffee and tried to get into work mode, the mode where no one would guess he loved watching Home Alone with his husband and dog and a fire roaring in their living room.

*

The next week, Ron looked at the calendar again. 

He was not happy.

“Why do you have ‘choir concert’ filled in on Wednesday?” Ron asked as Car buttered his toast.

“Yeah, about that …” Car trailed off as he nervously scratched his head. “Mrs. Ramirez needed some help setting up for the holiday show.”

“That was supposed to be movie night.” Ron tried not to sound too upset. 

“I know,” Car conceded. “Practice gets out early Friday night. We’ll have movie night then. I’ll even make the popcorn.”

“With extra butter?” Car nodded, Ron’s mouth curled up into what was almost a smile.

“It's a date,” Ron replied, and gave his husband a kiss.

But movie night never happened. A student teacher’s car wouldn't start in the faculty parking lot. Car tried jumping it, and when that didn't work, he waited while they called a tow company and gave them a ride to their apartment. 

By the time Car got home, Ron didn't feel like watching anything. 

“What was I supposed to do?” he asked Ron. “I couldn't just leave them there.”

“Of course not,” Ron agreed. 

But Ron lost his patience the following week when he walked into their home office and saw Car furiously typing away on the computer keyboard. 

“Dinner’s ready,” Ron said. He stood behind Car and put his hands on Car’s shoulders, giving them a gentle rub. 

Car moved away from Ron’s touch and rubbed his temples. 

“What's the matter?” Ron asked. 

“Two students asked for recommendation letters at the last minute. I need to finish these tonight.”

Ron narrowed his gaze. “You could have said no.”

Car sighed. “No, I couldn't. They’re great kids. Smart, responsible …”

Ron cut him off. “Asking for a recommendation letter at the last minute isn't responsible.”

The two just stared at each other. 

“You need to eat,” Ron finally said.

“I'll grab something when I'm finished.” Car went back to looking at the monitor. 

“And I guess this means no looking at lights tonight.” Ron crossed his arms.

Lulu came into the room and nuzzled up to Car, looking for some love. 

“Can you take her? I can't focus with her with trying to get attention “

“You don't even have time for the dog?” Ron asked, no longer hiding his anger. He leaned down to pet Lulu. “C’mon, girl, let's go for a walk.”

Ron set off on a good clip toward the park, Lulu happily keeping up the pace. 

Why does he do this? Why does he put everyone first?

He felt disloyal asking himself the question, because the way Car looked out for people was one of the reasons Ron loved him so much. 

Ron hated admitting that he felt jealous of all the attention Car had shown other people this month while making no time for him, or so it seemed.

And sadness crept over him. They seemed so distant over the last few weeks. No cuddling on the couch, binging the latest series. No long conversations over dinner. No spooning in bed before falling asleep.

And certainly no sex.

The brisk air and exercise cleared his head a bit, but he still paused for a second before opening the front door. The house stood quiet, and the chicken tetrazzini on top of the stove remained untouched. 

He threw the baking dish back into the oven to reheat and poured dog food into Lulu’s bowl. He ate dinner alone. He rinsed the dishes and loaded them into the dishwasher. He sorted the mail and cleaned out the fridge. When he ran out things to do, he poured himself two fingers of Scotch and tried to read a book, but he read the same page over and over. It was only 9:30 pm, and he wasn't tired, but he gave up and got ready for bed. 

It was just before midnight when Car finally made it upstairs. He didn't say anything as he took off his clothes and slipped into bed, staying far away from Ron’s side. 

“You're going to wear yourself out,” Ron said quietly.

“I'll be fine,” Car replied. Soon, his deep breaths signaled that he was asleep.

Ron put his hands behind his head and stayed awake for two more hours.

*

On the morning they planned to leave for Ron’s parents, Car woke up with the flu: Body aches, chills, and a pounding headache.

He wouldn't admit it. “Maybe I'll feel better tomorrow,” he told Ron. 

Ron titled his head to one side and gave Carwood that Ron Speirs look.

“It's possible,” Car said meekly, not really sounding convinced himself.

Ron called his mom and dad and explained the situation. Though disappointed, they completely understood and sent their love to Car.

He put in an Instacart order. There was not a lot of food in the house, as they planned to be gone for a week. Plenty of Gatorade, rice, bananas, bread for toast. All the ingredients for chicken soup, and easy meals for Ron to eat in between caregiving duties. 

The next day, he felt even worse. Ron added another bedspread on top of him for warmth and plugged in a heating pad for him to use. 

“You don’t need to stay here. Go to your parents. I can take care of …” Before Car get the last word of the sentence out, he started coughing. 

Ron rubbed his back. 

“I'm sorry,” Car said, once he caught his breath.

“No reason to apologize for coughing,” Ron replied. 

“No, not the coughing. For …” He started coughing again. 

Ron took a deep breath. He’d been trying to avoid thinking about what he was missing at home. His family, the epic games of Yahtzee, his mom's roast lamb on Christmas Day. 

But he knew Car hadn't gotten sick on purpose. If Ron had gotten sick right before they were supposed to go to West Virginia for the holidays, Car would have taken care of him without a second thought.

“It's okay,” Ron said. 

Ron couldn't have said that the day before and meant it. But today, he did.

*

On Christmas Day, Car felt well enough to get into the shower by himself. They exchanged gifts. Ron bought Car a new messenger bag for work, and Car bought Ron the watch he’d had his eye on for a while. Ron made chicken soup for lunch, and they finally watched Home Alone together on the couch. Car felt asleep halfway through, but Ron could tell he was finally on the mend. 

The rest of the week was mainly more of the same. Ron would make something for lunch, and they would watch one of the holiday movies they never got around to before Car got sick: Gremlins, Miracle on Thirty-Fourth Street, It's a Wonderful Life. Each day, they would sit a little closer on the couch to one another, hold hands, spoon. 

New Year’s Eve arrived, and Car felt great. They had an invitation to a party, but they decided it was bit soon to go out.

Ron, being a great cook, made steak and lobster tails for lunch. They splurged on a bottle of good champagne and talked and laughed like they hadn't the entire month of December. 

They turned on a football game, and Ron fell asleep before halftime. He woke up to the feeling of Car’s fingers in his hair.

“I didn't mean to take a nap,” he said, reaching for his husband's hand. 

“You needed it. You've been taking care of me all week.”

Ron stroked Car’s cheek and reached in for a kiss. 

They started slow, almost uncertain, the tension of the last few weeks still present. But then Car traced his tongue along Ron’s earlobe, a surefire way to get Ron hard. Wordlessly, they walked upstairs to the bedroom.

Car started undressing Ron, taking his time. Ron hadn't realized how touch starved he was for Car's hands and lips. He kissed his neck and worked his way down, nuzzling Ron’s chest with his stubble and gently biting Ron’s nipples. Ron couldn't help letting out a moan, and he could feel Car smile against him.

He let out an actual groan when Car grabbed him, stroking him exactly the way he liked. He put the head of Ron’s cock in his mouth and teased him, before taking it all in.

Ron tried to pull away, but Car shook him off. “I want to take care of you,” he said. 

Ron realized that for all the things Car did for other people, he would only do this for Ron. This was just for the two of them. He had no reason to be jealous.

Ron realized and ran his fingers through Car’s hair, staying in the moment and taking in every sensation. He knew he wouldn't last long, and that it wouldn't matter. 

Ron said his husband’s name as he came, and Car kept him in his mouth and teased the inside of his thighs as he came down. He took Ron in his arms, and Ron lay his head on Car’s chest. 

Another thing no one at the Pentagon would guess was how much Ron loved the time after making love, when they would hold each other and talk quietly. He didn't used to, not before he met Car. It was one of the ways he knew Car was the man for him. 

They stayed quiet for longer than usual, enjoying the closeness.

“I am sorry you didn't make it home for Christmas,” Car finally said. “You said was okay, but I know how much it meant to you.”

Ron kissed him. “I was home for Christmas.” He looked the man who meant everything to him in the eye.

“You are my home.”

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this Op-Ed from the New York Times:

To keep the lights on, many utility companies are proposing to build dozens of new power plants that burn natural gas. North Carolina-based Duke Energy alone wants to add 8.9 gigawatts of new gas-fired capacity — more than the entire country added in 2023. Using their own projections of soaring energy demands as justification, these companies are also pushing back on the climate targets set by their states and the Biden administration.

If state regulators sign off on these plans, they will be gambling with our country’s future. We need to electrify everything from cars to appliances to slow climate change, but we won’t be able to reach our climate goals if we power all of those machines with dirty energy.

There is a better way. But to get there, legislators will need to overhaul the incentives driving utilities to double down on natural gas, so that they can turn a profit without cooking the planet.

Companies like Duke, Dominion Energy and Georgia Power argue that they need more gas-fired plants to reliably provide power during times of peak demand — for instance, on a hot summer weekday afternoon when home cooling systems and data servers are all humming at maximum output, and the grid strains to keep up. But those peaks tend to materialize only for a few dozen hours per year, and there are ways to deal with them that don’t require a massive amount of new methane-burning infrastructure.

The real reason the utilities want to build these plants is quite simple: The more stuff they build, the more money they make. Regulators let utilities charge their customers enough money to cover what they spend on assets like combustion turbines and wires, plus a generous rate of return (up to 10 percent) for their investors. This longstanding arrangement incentivizes power providers to build expensive things whether society needs them or not, in lieu of lower-cost, cleaner options, and to invoke their duty to keep the lights on as a post hoc rationalization.

Fortunately, utilities have plenty of ways to meet this new need.

They include “virtual power plants” — when technologies such as home batteries, rooftop solar systems, smart water heaters and thermostats are linked together and managed via software to provide the same services as a conventional power plant. Utilities in Vermont, Colorado and Massachusetts are already using them, to quickly respond to rising demand at a much lower cost than operating natural gas combustion turbines. According to one estimate, virtual power plants could lower U.S. utilities’ costs by as much as $35 billion over the next decade.

Utilities could also accelerate efforts to replace outdated transmission lines with newer ones that can carry double the electric current and to bring more battery storage online. They can compensate customers for using less energy during times when demand is high and invest far more in energy efficiency, helping customers to adopt devices that use less electricity.

All of these solutions would save customers money and reduce carbon emissions. They could, according to a Department of Energy analysis, meet the entire projected growth in U.S. peak electricity demand over the next decade.

[mariacallous]

Who owns the data created by cars: their owners, or the companies that built them?

In 2020, Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly approved a law that began to answer that question. It required automakers selling cars in the state to build an “open data platform” that would allow owners and independent repair shops to access the information they need to diagnose and repair cars. Automakers countered, arguing that such a platform would make their systems vulnerable to cyberattacks and risk driver safety. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade association and lobbying group that represents most global carmakers, sued the state.

Now, after some waffling, the Biden administration has backed Massachusetts voters. In a letter sent yesterday, a lawyer for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the American car safety regulator, told the Massachusetts attorney general’s office that the feds would allow the state to go ahead and enforce its law. “NHTSA strongly supports the right to repair,” wrote Kerry Kolodziej, the government lawyer.

This is a change of course. The administration had staked out the right to repair—the idea that the owner of a product, not the company that sold it to them, gets to decide how to fix it—as a signature issue, involving the Federal Trade Commission in the effort to push back against manufacturers who put limits on independent repairs. But in June, NHTSA’s Kolodziej wrote to warn automakers not to comply with Massachusetts’ law, frustrating right-to-repair advocates. She said that the “open data platform” demanded by the law could make Massachusetts-sold cars susceptible to hackers, who might use the platform to access vital steering, acceleration, or electronics systems.

Yesterday’s letter indicates that lawyers for the federal government and Massachusetts have agreed that there are ways to give more people access to crucial vehicle repair information safely. Car manufacturers could comply with the law “by using short-range wireless protocols, such as via Bluetooth,” to give owners or independent shops authorized by owners access to the information they need to diagnose issues with and repair vehicles, the letter says.

Nathan Proctor, the head of the right-to-repair campaign at the advocacy organization US Public Interest Research Group, wrote in a statement that the government’s reversal on the Massachusetts law creates an opportunity for new discussion of national right-to-repair issues. “It’s time to have a frank conversation about the future of internet-connected cars to ensure it’s one which respects privacy, safety and the Right to Repair,” he wrote. “NHTSA’s latest letter could be the start of that conversation.”

It remains unclear how the feds’ newest move will affect car buyers in Massachusetts. The automakers’ lawsuit stemming from the right-to-repair law is still ongoing. The state attorney general, Andrea Joy Campbell, said she would finally begin enforcing the law earlier this summer. In the letter sent by NHTSA, the agency acknowledged that the open data platform required by the law still does not exist, and indicated that federal and state lawmakers had agreed to allow vehicle manufacturers “a reasonable period of time to securely develop, test, and implement this technology.” The Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General did not respond to WIRED’s questions.

Meanwhile, at least two automakers, Kia and Subaru, have cut off telematics access for new car buyers in Massachusetts. They argue it’s a necessary step to stay in compliance with the law because the open data platform demanded in it doesn't yet exist. In practical terms, that means new car buyers there can’t access the newest in-vehicle tech, such as Subaru’s Starlink service, which includes emergency roadside assistance and automatic collision notification, and Kia Connect, which includes stolen vehicle recovery and remote unlocking and climate control. The new NHTSA letter warned automakers against this compliance strategy. “Disabling vehicle telematic functions as an attempt to comply with the [law] would harm vehicle owners, first responders, and other telematics users,” Kolodziej, the agency’s lawyer, wrote.

Still, Kia and Subaru telematics systems are unavailable in cars with the model year 2022 and newer in the state. “We look forward to a resolution that allows us to get back to providing the products and services our Massachusetts customers love,” says Dominick Infante, Subaru’s director of corporate communications.

Kia referred WIRED to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the lobbying group that filed the Massachusetts lawsuit. The Alliance declined to comment on the letter, citing its ongoing litigation with the state.

The right-to-repair issue is unlikely to go away, regardless of the lawsuit’s outcome. Most new cars are connected to the internet; some constantly send information back to carmakers. When auto software goes awry, it sometimes can be fixed by remote over-the-air updates. Independent repair shops, which still dominate the car industry, worry that automakers will use these increasingly sophisticated online features to lock them out of important diagnostic and repair information, or to raise prices on that information to levels that are unsustainable for small, local businesses.

[beardedmrbean]

The suspect accused of stabbing four young women at an AMC movie theater in Braintree, Massachusetts and then two McDonald's employees at a rest stop in Plymouth over the weekend has pleaded not guilty to charges relating to the second incident, his attorney told Fox News Digital.

Jared Ravizza, 26, of Chilmark – a town on the island of Martha's Vineyard – was arraigned in Plymouth District Court Tuesday on charges including assault with intent to murder and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in connection to the alleged rest stop attack.

His attorney told Fox News Digital "no comment" when asked if he had a statement on behalf of Ravizza.

The Braintree Police Department says the movie theater stabbing happened around 6 p.m. on Saturday, leaving four young females between the ages of 9 and 17 with "non-life-threatening injuries," before Ravizza allegedly carried out a second attack targeting McDonald’s employees at a rest stop along Route 3 in Plymouth about an hour later. 

MASSACHUSETTS STABBING SPREE SUSPECT JARED RAVIZZA WAS ‘LAUGHING’ DURING MOVIE THEATER ATTACK, MOTHER SAYS

That attack, the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office says, left a 21-year-old female and 28-year-old male injured.

"Investigators reviewed surveillance video from the McDonald’s restaurant that appears to show Ravizza allegedly reach through the drive-thru window and stab the male victim with a large knife," the office said. "Video then shows Ravizza leave the drive-thru in a black Porsche, park the car, go inside the McDonald’s, and stab the second female victim."  

Ravizza then allegedly fled the scene before being taken into custody around 7:15 p.m. in Sandwich, a town on Cape Cod.   

Prosecutors in Braintree intend to charge Ravizza with four counts each of assault to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Fox News Digital.

Ravizza is also reportedly a suspect in a homicide investigation. 

The Boston Globe reports that investigators are determining whether Ravizza was involved in a murder in Deep River, Connecticut. 

When Fox News Digital reached out to the Connecticut State Police about Ravizza, the agency sent over information about a homicide that took place on May 25 – the same date as the Braintree and Plymouth stabbings.  

"A deceased individual was found at this location," the report stated. "The identity of the decedent has not been confirmed and the investigation remains active and ongoing." 

"A suspect in this investigation has been taken into custody in the State of Massachusetts and there is no active threat to the public," police said. 

A website for Ravizza describes him as "an American serial entrepreneur and CEO of Ravizza Jones, an internationally renowned full-service digital marketing agency based between New York and Beverly Hills.  

"He is also an American artist and skier," it adds. "Ravizza resides between Beverly Hills and Martha’s Vineyard." 

[newhampshirelimousine]

Car Service From Boston

Boston, the capital of Massachusetts, is a vibrant and bustling city with a rich history. With so much to see and do, it is no wonder that many residents and tourists rely on car services to navigate the city's streets.

New Hampshire Hire Limousine offers the best Car Service From Boston. Our service offers convenience, comfort, and peace of mind for those who prefer not to deal with the challenges of driving in a busy urban environment.

Hire us today!

[metrowestlimousine1]

Benefits of Hiring a Black Car Service

What exactly is black car service?

A black car service is a ground transportation business that dispatches luxury and executive automobiles at set times and prices. A licensed chauffeur or driver (differences between chauffeurs and drivers) provides black car service to customers, and indeed, these cars are generally black in colour. 

Why Black Car Service? Chauffeured service, professional car service, private car service, executive car service, and luxury vehicle service are all terms used to describe black car service. Here are the reasons why to avail the service - 1) You don't have to worry about driving to get there, 2) You don't have to worry about parking when you get there, 3) You don't have to worry about being picked up again after you finish there, 4) You don't have to worry about getting home from there, and 5) You don't have to worry about getting home from there. When you do have to wait, the no-wait mentality of black car services takes the sting out of it. When you reserve a black automobile, you can expect it to be on schedule and ready for you to board. 

The classic private automobile world of sedans and SUVs that are common fare has given way to black car service. Sprinters, high-end mini buses, and motor coaches are examples of black car service vehicles - black car service for groups of various sizes.

All cars, regardless of capacity, arrive in beautiful condition - cleaned and disinfected - in the black car sector. 

Black car service should be about more than just dependability, safety, and civility. It should also be about developing relationships. The MetroWest Limo platform was designed to serve both the passenger and the driver in order to provide a hassle-free trip experience. The drivers and ride experts do not have to worry about transportation difficulties and communication, they can focus on dependability, safety, courtesy, and, of course, you. 

That centrifugal notion produces a culture for us, which we find quite useful. We are able to serve more considerately, precisely, and personally as a result of this culture. 

[mightyflamethrower]

Concerns Mount Over Exploding Electric Vehicles

1 day ago

Guest Blogger

65 Comments

From the DAILY SCEPTIC

BY CHRIS MORRISON

Safety concerns around electric vehicles continue to mount with Australian fire and rescue services in New South Wales stating they might have to make a “tactical disengagement” of a trapped car accident victim if the battery is likely to explode. Australian journalist Jo Nova covered the story, which was first mentioned in the EV blog The Driven, and commented: “They say the first responders need more training as if this can be solved with a certificate, but the dark truth is they’re talking about training the firemen and the truck drivers to recognise when they have to abandon the rescue.”

The Driven, a widely-read blog that seems highly sympathetic to a rollout of EVs, was reporting on recent testimony given to the NSW Government’s Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Batteries Inquiry. The writer suggested that first responders did not have adequate training to deal with electric vehicle collisions, and in the most serious cases, crews could be forced to abandon rescues. One particular area of concern seemed to revolve around the need to extract a trapped casualty quickly after a crash by dragging the person out in a “very undesirable manner”. Fires are a grave risk in any vehicle accident, but they can be quickly brought under control in an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle.

Worries about the potential dangers inherent in EVs is likely to grow as numbers on the roads continue to rise. EV battery explosions can occur very quickly, triggering the release of highly toxic gases. When they roar into thermal overdrive, they create very high temperatures and are very difficult to extinguish. The explosion can occur after almost any collision, or be due to a fault in the initial manufacture. The fire often takes hours to control and it can reignited days after it was thought to be out. With Net Zero fanatics desperate to drive ICE cars off the road in short order, EVs are the only mass private transport solution offered. Many of the issues, including safety, that make them an inferior product compared to petrol-powered combustion cars are often ignored.

Just what can be involved in putting out a fire in an EV was dramatically detailed in a recent press release from the Wakefield Fire Dept in Massachusetts. It was called out to deal with a burning Tesla on a snowy Interstate 95, and reported:

Wakefield Engine 1 and Ladder 1 initiated suppression operations, applying copious amounts of water onto the vehicle. Multiple surrounding mutual aid communities responded as well to support firefighting operations and to create a water shuttle to bring water continually to the scene. Engines from Melrose, Stoneham, Reading, Lynnfield as well as a Middleton water tanker assisted. Firefighters had three 1¾-inch hand lines as well as a ‘blitz gun’ in operation to cool the battery compartment… Lynnfield crews established a continuous 4-inch supply line from Vernon Street up to the highway. The fire was declared under control and fully extinguished after about two and a half hours… The vehicle was removed from the scene after consulting with the Hazmat Unit… The crews did a great job, especially in the middle of storm conditions – on a busy highway.

There is little doubt that EV fires are on the rise. In the U.K., CE Safety runs Freedom of Information checks on local fire brigades and its latest survey shows an alarming rise in conflagrations. In Greater London in the 2017-2022 period, there were a reported 507 battery fires from a number of EV types, but CE Safety found a “gigantic” 219 conflagrations in 2022-23 alone. Lancashire was said to rank second with 15 EV battery fires, but this was 10 more in a single year than recorded in the five years between 2017-2022. Overall “it was concerning” to discover that the number of electric battery fires during 2022-2023 was higher in most areas than the data showed over five years from 2017 to 2022. During that year, 14 buses suffered battery fires.

There was a substantial increase in the number of e-bikes catching fire, with CE Safety noting that lithium is highly flammable and reactive. “Over-charging presents a massive risk to households with lithium-powered vehicles,” the safety organisation observed.

Concern is also rising over the transportation of EVs on car ferries. Recently, Havila Kystruten, which operates a fleet of car ferries around the coast of Norway, has banned the transportation of electric, hybrid and hydrogen vehicles. According to a report in the Maritime Executive, it is the latest step by the shipping industry, “which has become acutely aware of the increasing danger of transporting EV and other alternate fuel vessels”.

Havila’s Managing Director Bent Martini said a risk analysis had shown a fire at sea in a fossil fuel vehicle could be handled by on-board systems. “A possible fire in electric, hybrid or hydrogen cars will require external rescue efforts and could put people on board and the ships at risk,” he said. That of course is the nightmare scenario. If fire breaks out on a ferry making a 20-mile crossing in good weather, the chances of all passengers and crew surviving are good. Less good, perhaps, if fire was to break out and fill the ship with toxic smoke in the middle of a stormy November night while crossing the Bay of Biscay. Chances of survival would be diminished if the high temperatures caused nearby EVs to explode.

Mercifully, we are less and less likely to see such accidents. The list of disadvantages of EVs is lengthening by the day. Environmental concerns about the manufacture and mining of raw materials have been raised, while ‘range anxiety’ is common among drivers. EVs are more expensive than ICE cars, while knackered batteries mean that second-hand values are very poor. For those who would see the back of them, the graph below might provide some comfort.

This shows the recent decline in the share price of the American car hire giant Hertz. Back in 2021, the company pushed ahead with huge purchases of Teslas. In January it dumped 20,000 of them, and last month pushed another 10,000 onto a sagging second-hand market. Out in the real world – the world where people create wealth by providing what other people actually want – fewer drivers seemed willing to hire them. The share price tells its own sorry story. Meanwhile, EV sales across Europe tend to be driven by unsustainable tax breaks, while the cars are mainly popular with wealthy people as a second or third city runabout. An enforced political adoption of EVs is likely to destroy vast swathes of the European car industry, unable to compete with cheap Chinese imports.

If the aim is to take away personal transport for the masses, EVs are an excellent idea. Whether that will ultimately play well at the ballot box is another matter.

Chris Morrison is the Daily Sceptic’s Environment Editor.

I would not be able to sleep at night knowing I had a ticking time bomb parked in my garage.