#Top 5000 US companies

[imarketer4udma-blog]

Marketing case study: iM4U drives logistic business to the top USA companies

Success in trucking depends on how well logistics and marketing work together, not just transportation. This specialized niche, a linchpin of global trade, necessitates innovative approaches to carve out a distinctive identity. One of our clients began with a single truck and a garage. They grew by treating customers well and being fair to employees, fueling their success story. A pivotal partnership emerged in November 2018 when our agency collaborated with them. Together, we bolstered their marketing strategies and harnessed their logistical expertise. The outcome? A notable placement among the top 5000 US companies, with a strong rank of 1910. This is all about demonstrating how good marketing and strong logistics can come together to bring success.

iM4U plan for marketing promotion

We created our marketing plan to elevate our client's integrated marketing strategies and attract more drivers to their company. The primary goal was to enhance the effectiveness of these strategies. The strategy focused on gaining insights into creating effective marketing tactics for a logistics company, including selecting appropriate channels for implementation. The plan's implementation encompassed several key steps: 

devise a structured plan to boost the marketing team's performance;

achieve essential metrics;

analyze the logistics market in the USA;

conduct competitor analysis;

formulate a brand promotion strategy;

enhance brand reputation;

identify suitable promotion channels;

sett a marketing budget for the year;

craft a roadmap for brand promotion.

Concurrently, the marketing consulting aspect of the plan aimed to make important processes in our client's company more organized and efficient. This involved optimizing team performance and creating mechanisms to monitor departmental efficiency indicators, resulting in an overall enhancement of operational efficiency.

More information in our article “How to find your target audience for your business”.

Challenges we faced and how did we overcome them

In the context of the trucking and logistics industry, our client faced a series of distinct marketing challenges that required strategic solutions. 

To stand out in fierce competition, they needed a special value proposition. They achieved this by highlighting advantages like quick deliveries and round-the-clock support. 

Overcoming driver recruitment hurdles involved highlighting a family-like atmosphere and driver-centric policies. 

To gain trust, they showed their no-damage guarantee and a track record of successful deliveries.

They managed to adapt to changing technology and cover vast areas by showing their tech expertise. They tailored messages for different regions.

They tackled complex services and followed regulations by using clear messaging and prioritizing safety. 

Despite cost constraints, a judicious budget allocation ensured high-impact integrated marketing campaigns. Through collaborative efforts, our IM4U Digital Marketing Agency assisted the client in surmounting these challenges, creating a robust marketing strategy tailored to the unique demands of the industry.

Implementation stage

We developed a comprehensive marketing plan and then executed it effectively. 

Our strategy included showcasing successful deliveries through engaging social media posts and informative blog articles on the company's website. By using data-driven insights, we created personalized email campaigns that generated valuable leads. We met clients at events, used testimonials, and case studies to build trust. 

All of this made our client more well-known, trustworthy, and appealing to drivers. We also enhanced the company's reputation and attractiveness to potential drivers, positioning them as a top choice in the competitive market. 

These multifaceted tactics collectively positively impacted the client's business growth and success.

Results and achievements

Our collaborative marketing endeavors have yielded impressive outcomes and accomplishments within the trucking and logistics industry. Through careful execution, operational expenses decreased significantly by 22%, driven by a more organized structure. Notably, cost per lead reduced impressively by 30%, showing strategy success.

A year-long plan optimized the budget, while a defined marketing department structure improved efficiency. These accomplishments relied on consistent growth, expanding the company's scale by 1.5 to 2 times each year, even during US economic challenges. Additionally, a monthly influx of 10 new drivers underscores our prowess in driver attraction.

Recommendations for logistic businesses

In this situation, our campaign excelled by efficiently organizing operations, reducing costs by 22%. Additionally, we lowered lead costs by an impressive 30%.

From this case study, we learned valuable lessons, especially about tailoring personalized marketing for clients and drivers. We created and implemented data-driven email campaigns, showcasing the strength of our integrated marketing strategy. Equally important, this approach consistently drove business growth, even during economic challenges, due to our operational excellence.

Conclusion

The success story of a truck driving company exemplifies the fusion of marketing and logistics, fortified by a meticulously crafted and executed integrated marketing plan. By emphasizing swift deliveries, driver-centric policies, and damage-free guarantees, they stood out. Personalized email campaigns, engaging content, and trust-building tactics elevated their reputation. Remarkably, operational costs fell by 22%, lead costs by 30%, and the company scaled 1.5 to 2 times annually despite economic challenges. This case showcases the power of strategic collaboration between marketing and logistics, driving growth and resilience through a well-devised marketing plan.

How to promote your local business - call IM4U agency to get an answer!

Unlock success for your local business! Contact IM4U Integrated Marketing Agency today for tailored solutions. Elevate your brand, reach more customers, and thrive in your community. Don't wait, call now!

[paper-mario-wiki]

I'm sure you've been asked this before, but I need a source who isn’t wildly out of touch with what it's like to be a normal person. how financially viable was it to move to japan as a 20/21 year old? did you move there with assistance from a study program? were you able to afford everything relatively easily without an extreme amount of financial stress? sorry for being nosy. I dont need specifics, I'm just terminally curious for a firsthand account from a person who isn't independently wealthy or a 70 year old retiree. ❤️

For one semester of tuition I (my parents) paid:

$5000 without scholarship

$3000 with scholarship

Scholarship was granted on the basis of academic promise and financial guarantor status, and some students had their fees reduced by 75% and 100%.

Tuition was the thing my parent's helped me with the most, as they had saved up for all my siblings to go to college, and only my sister and myself did. But like I said, there was also significant tuition help for students worldwide at my school. Everything else I paid myself.

Before I moved I made sure I had no less than $5000 in pocket money for paying my move-in fees at my apartment, getting a Japanese phone, bank account, insurance, and a bike. After that, home appliances and necessities. When you make your budget, you always want to over prepare. I made sure I had $1000 wiggle room on top of my budget because once youre there, YOURE THERE and home is a long puddle away.

My rent was $600 for a small 1 room apartment (pictured here) that I would have paid less for if I spoke Japanese (paid the gaijin tax by going through an english speaking rental company)

I chose this apartment because of its proximity to the Karasuma subway line, which I could ride directly to school. There and back was about $4 a day, as I went all the way up town. I paid about $40 in utilities on low-use months, and up to $120 on high-use months.

Monthly insurance was $70 without student subsidy, I believe closer to $10 monthly with it. This covers basically everything healthcare-wise.

Food was cheap in Kyoto specifically. Most restaurants had meals under $10, and if you're moving there for school theres a high liklihood you'll be in the city, which means you'll rarely be more than a 3 minute walk from a convenience store which has lunch sets you can take home or reheat and eat in the konbini's sitting area (not guaranteed to have one but more frequent than not having one). I spent maybe a few hundred monthly on meals, mostly because I couldn't cook due to how small my kitchenette was (it's that little stall in the back left corner of the room in the picture).

As an international student, if you're performing above a certain threshhold in your studies you can get a baito visa, meaning on top of your studies you can work a part time job for up to 20 hours a week. This can help a lot, and I knew a few people who worked at clubs, as translators, and as baristas.

If you are making money, you are expected to either pay tax to Japan, or your home country. This is something I absolutely cannot give advice on.

All that said, in my case, living in Japan as a solo adult was easier and significantly more affordable than living in the US with 3 roommates.

[farahtissaiamyloves]

Are your requests on? If so could I request something with Andromache? I love her and there’s not enough fanfiction out there with her

-Ara

Capture

Andromache of Scythia x reader

Note: I know that I've been gone for months. However, I've been preparing for the most important examinations of my life, and it's been really stressful for me. I hope you enjoy this and thanks again to Ara for the amazing request.

You were looking out of the only window of your room - more like a cell, but you had come to accept that long ago.

You considered yourself lucky - what they did to Quynh was by far worse from what was happening to you.

At least that's what you had convinced yourself.

Dying again and again, only to be brought back to life to die once again deep down the sea, was horrible.

However, being captured for (you had lost count) something more than 4 centuries was even more horrific.

You missed your best friend, of course you did, but the emptiness that washed over you at your wife's absence was something else.

You and Andy were the first immortal warriors. She had found you pretty quickly. You hadn't even understood when you died or what the weird dreams were before she sat you down and explained.

You hadn't been apart ever since. Spending every single day next to her was a privilege and a gift.

You learned so many things from her. After all, Andromache had already been alive for 300 years.

After spending a s couple of decades traveling around the world with her as your only company, it came to no surprise for neither of you when you ended up sleeping together one night.

And that night proved to be the beginning of the most wonderful thing that ever happened to both of your lives.

You loved every second of it.

You being wrapped in her arms while she was kissing the top of your head or you caressing her naked, extremely soft skin as she was wrapping a blanket around the two of you; Andy couldn't have her beloved baby catch a cold.

You teared up recalling your wife. Your beloved wife.

You wrapped your hands around your legs and pushed them against your chest.

You missed her.

You missed her so much.

After 5000 years and a couple of centuries, you were finally divided.

You looked up as you saw the door opening.

A paramedic came in with a huge needle.

Here we go again.

꧁☾︎❥︎☽︎꧂

Andy looked at the only building standing in the area. The only building among a plethora of trees and all kinds of plants.

" Alright, Joe, remind us one last time what we are her for. " Andy spoke.

" We are here to save all the girls/women those people experiment on. We don't know more, including the number of either the victims or the security agents, which means that caution is strongly recommended. " The man pointed out.

The rest of the team nodded, listening carefully.

Little did they know about who the real guinea pig was.

꧁☾︎❥︎☽︎꧂

They killed, killed, and killed once again.

They found countless of the latest laboratory equipment, yet no girl or woman asking for their help.

The team knew that it wasn't a trap.

No trap would have been equipped with so many tools costing millions.

Andy was growing more and more frustrated.

For a human with that much of an experience, she should have caught on by now.

" Guys, I think I found it. " Nicky whispered, pointing with his gun at the only door of the corridor at their right.

They as silently as they could run to it. The door did look like a cell. A bulletproof door with a password was always placed to hide something important, and the group came to this very same building for something important.

If they weren't able to free any innocents, they could at least learn what the fuck was happening there to put a stop to it.

Joe placed some light explosives on the door, telling everybody to buck off, which they were more than eager to do.

He pushed the button and a loud sound was heard, shortly followed by the sound of the door falling on the floor.

The team immediately raised their weapons and entered the room, shouting that they were armed.

Nile, who was the first to get in, quickly scanned the whole room and announced to everybody what they could already see with their bare eyes. " It's empty. "

Realizing that it was just a simple bedroom, the team was to turn away until Nicky pointed at the bed. " I think someone's sleeping there. "

" Don't be ridiculous. Wouldn't have they heard the explosives ? " Nile jumped in.

" Not if they were dragged. Guys, I think we found our victim. " Andy spoke slowly, walking to the bed.

She noticed that the person was fully covered by the blanket, so she slowly pulled it off only to freeze midway.

Andy knew that sleeping face.

Truth be told, she knew it better than her own face.

She had traced it countless of times with her fingertips.

She had seen all kinds of emotions on that face.

" A-Andy ? Is something wrong ? " Nile inquired, feeling beyond confused with the leader's teared up face.

" Shhhhh. "

Nile turned to look at both Joe and Nicky, giving her stern glances.

" What ? " She asked again, unable to understand where her wrongdoing was.

" Oh my love. I thought you were dead. " Andy whispered, kissing the top of your head.

She, then, turned to the couple. " Me and Nile are going to get her to the safe house. You make sure to clear everybody out and destroy this place. Nobody should know anything concerning our immortality. Was I clear ? "

" Yes, boss. "

" Good. "

꧁☾︎❥︎☽︎꧂

You slowly opened your eyes.

Sleeping under the influence of whatever drugs they were giving you had the luck and the curse of having no dreams.

You blinked, taking in your surroundings.

No.

Not again.

You hated when they were changing your room because that meant that they had given you strong enough medication to sleep for days.

Suddenly feeling unwell, you instinctively placed a hand on top of your head, and with the other, you pulled the blanket to cover you completely.

" You've already slept for at least 10 hours, I recommend waking up, eating something, and walking around for a while. " Suddenly, a voice interrupted your thoughts.

Your blood froze for a whole second, thinking that your wife just talked to you.

However, you knew better. Drugs have side effects. They made sure you knew each and every single one.

You didn't move - not even to look, still remembering how heartbroken you had been the last time you did - and closed your eyes to sleep.

" Darling, did you hear me ? " Andy made her voice sweeter, waiting for you to move and see her sitting on the armchair near the bed.

Andromache waited a couple of minutes to watch the lack of reaction. Maybe your hearing had been impacted, or maybe you were still hazy due to being drugged the day prior.

The woman sighed, sitting up.

" Sleep well, sweating. " She wished kissing the top of the blanket - where your forehead was.

꧁☾︎❥︎☽︎꧂

You were frozen on the spot. Your mind running a million miles per second.

In the back of your mind you registered her steps and the door opening and closing.

You felt it. You felt her lips through the blanket.

Your wife was here.

She rescued you.

You teared up, unable to resist.

Your wife came for you.

She hadn't forgotten about you.

She still loved you.

Your hand reached the other pillow of the bed. Slowly, as you were still slightly hazy from your sleep, you moved your head on top of it.

It was her.

Her smell.

She had you sleep on her bed.

How long had it been since you shared one.

You immediately wrapped your hands around it and pulled Andy's pillow onto your chest.

You loved her so, so much.

However, still being under the influence of the drug, you quickly fell asleep once again.

This time with your beautiful wife on your mind.

꧁☾︎❥︎☽︎꧂

Andromache came back into the room after a couple of hours.

She had to make sure that everything was taken care of as well as cook you some food.

Andy quietly set the tray down at the bedside table and looked at you.

A smile formed on her face as she noticed your figure wrapped around her pillow.

" Darling, you have to wake up. " She whispered with her sweetest voice next yo your ear.

You whined and turned your face away from her, burying your face in her pillow.

Andromache gently shook your shoulder while leaving small kisses wherever she could reach, mainly your shoulder.

You opened your eyes, slowly turning to face your one and true love, the very person to whom you have devoted yourself for a couple of thousand years.

Still feeling dizzy, you sleepily smiled at her as you reached to caress her cheek. " Morning. " Your voice was way too harsh than your normal one, as you realized you had probably spent a day without a single drop of water.

Andy kissed your forehead lovingly. She brought a cup of water to your lips and propelled you to drink some.

You happily did as Andy wanted you to, too dizzy to oppose her (not that you would have, you were quite thirsty).

As Andromache placed the cup of water back to its place, you took the chance to wrap your hands around her waist and bury your head in her neck.

Your wife chuckled at your adorable reaction and embraced you back, pulling your body closer to her.

" God, I thought you were dead. " She whispered, continuing washing your body with kisses.

" I... " You stopped midsentence, not sure about how what you intended to say would sound to her.

Andy gently messaged your sculp, silently propelling you to talk to her.

You took a deep breath as you turned to look at her with teary eyes. " I wish I was... "

Andy took your face in her arms. " No. No. Don't you dare ever say that. "

You shook your head, casting your gaze downward. " But, it's true. "

" If you had died, my love, we would have never reunited, would we ? " Andromache countered.

You hesitantly looked upward, at her beautiful striking eyes. " It was torture. "

Your wife gave you a sad smile. " I know. I know... But the important thing is that you are here, in my arms, safe and sound. "

You nodded reciprocating the gesture. " Indeed. "

" And just like back then.... We have all the time in the world to do whatever we please. " Andy's smile widened as her eyes narrowed meaningfully.

You laughed a little, wondering how could a single person delete 400 years of torture, but then again.

That person was your beloved wife.

Your Andy.

[jjongkim]

In case anyone isn’t caught up, here’s a rundown of what has happened with the SHINee Fanmeet fiasco:

SM announced the fanmeet would be held in Kintex, a notoriously bad venue about 1.5 hours from most places in Seoul. Fans complained, but hoped the layout would make it work out, although many considered just watching the beyond live since they knew the views might not be very good (edit to add clarification: Kintex is like exhibition halls with walls that can be removed to make the rooms bigger and the freedom to build the seating/stage layout differently for each event since it’s essentially just a very long empty room)

SM originally made the Korean ticketing announcement with a line included stating that there would be a beyond live, but shawols noticed at some point that this line was removed, bringing doubt that there would actually be a live stream

Shortly after that was noticed, SM dropped the seating layout and it was terrible. It would take place in one long, flat room with no elevated seating and a pillar in the middle of it. If you were about halfway back, you wouldn’t be able to see anything past the heads in front of you or the pillar. Additionally, this wasn’t a venue made for music events, so even the audio wouldn’t be good near the back

With the line about the beyond live removed from the announcement and the seating chart being worse than we imagined, it added to the upset as it felt as though SM knew the venue/views would be terrible and fans would prefer to watch a livestream, so they removed that option, making fans feel like they had no choice but to pay ~$100 for a ticket where they couldn’t see or even hear the boys. Also, SM dropped the seating chart right before a sort of half-holiday weekend in Korea (Labor Day) so it seemed even more sketch, like they knew fans would complain so they made the announcement at a time when they wouldn’t have to deal with it over the extended weekend.

SM also included a little notice saying that some seats would have limited views but there would be no refunds if that were the case, so choose your seat wisely. Except they didn’t even confirm where the restricted view seats were, leaving the responsibility entirely up to the fans with no offer to refund

On top of it all, shawols have felt for years that shinee gets treated badly by their company, and shawols by extension. There are many instances of shinee goods being more expensive or not as good of quality, and a lot of shawols felt walked all over because it was like the company knew we would just pay for anything they gave us without complaint, like bad merch or an awful venue. But not this time, this was the last straw.

Kwols immediately rallied together to protest the seating layout and venue choice. By the same night, a list of demands were made (apology from SM directly, direct confirmation of beyond live, venue change or at least a seating change layout). An anonymous shawol even donated $1000 for the rental of protest trucks to be placed outside of the SM building. If the demands were not met, most shawols agreed to boycott the live performance

SM released a statement confirming there would be a beyond live, but they weren’t going to change anything about the live performance. They claimed that they originally had a venue that could hold 5000 people (which was insulting on its own) but that reservation fell through, so they went with kintex. They said there would be a screen on the back of the pillar, so fans in the back would be watching the entire thing on a screen since it would be impossible to see the stage from any point beyond the pillar, and the members would go around in carts for people in the back to see them (which, keep in mind, usually only happens for one or two songs out of the entire event). And they’d look into potentially making inclined seating, but no guarantee. Keep in mind, it is possible in this venue to design the stage/seating layout in any way the organizer wants, but they kept the bad layout they originally made.

This only made fans angrier. It felt like they were using the members as an excuse (citing the members schedules even though we know the members cleared most of their schedules specifically for the anniversary) and underestimating shawols by going for a 5k capacity venue at first, and then refusing to make any kind of change that would actually better the situation, not even a seating layout change, nor lowered prices for those in the back. Plus, fans themselves found other venues that are available for the same day. It gave the impression that SM didn’t have a plan B in case their first choice failed, so they just went with the quickest, easiest, and cheapest option. Even though they could have started planning this months ago since the anniversary is a fixed date :/

Fans doubled down on the boycott. This time, if SM didn’t change the venue entirely, shawols agreed to not only boycott ticketing for the in-person event, but also the beyond live and the merch. Hearing from the kwol side of things, there were a few that didn’t want to boycott, but the overwhelming majority would boycott. Plus oversees shawols agreeing to boycott the beyond live meant this would be a global boycott that would mean major revenue losses for SM.

This even reached major news outlets and multiple articles were made. The members didn’t say anything about it, but on ticketing day around noon, Onew responded to a comment on his Instagram post acknowledging the situation and stating that he and the members were talking to the company to find the best possible solution.

Finally, only 4 hours before the fanclub pre-sale was supposed to begin, SM announced that ticketing would be postponed while they look for a new venue. We did it!

There’s more information, but that’s the gist. I hope everyone understands, no one really wanted to boycott. Of course we all wanted to see SHINee and support them for their anniversary, but shawols didn’t want to give SM the impression that this kind of organization or treatment of SHINee or the fans was okay. If we all just bit our tongues and bought tickets, what would stop SM from doing something just as bad for the next SHINee event? Or even another group? We made our voices heard and it worked! Now we’re just waiting for the new ticketing date/venue to be announced. Happy SHINee month!

[whumpster-fire]

Headcanons about RWS/TTTE characters' idea of geographic identity, inspired by an earlier thread about engines identifying with their class vs railway vs works location vs country or state.

Thomas I think sees himself as a Sudrian engine through and through. Whatever interesting circumstances brought him to the NWR by accident, they happened very early in his life, and the best I can tell it seems like he's a weird experimental E2 with a shortened wheelbase or something? So possibly he was always intended to be shipped off somewhere else for the war effort. Instead he found himself on a railway full of leased engines and ones inherited from the railways merged into the NWR.

Edward was built in Scotland, but if you asked him I think he'd say he was a Furness Railway engine, and he supposed English if it came down to it - not necessarily out of any stigma against being Scottish but because of a sense that his home was more important than his birthplace. However looking at the roster of F.R. Engines... jeez, there's a lot of Sharp, Stewart, and Co. and North British Locomotive Company engines. Makes me think maybe the F.R. had more Scottish influence than Edward ever realized because he went from Glasgow to a railway full of other Glasgow-built engines from the same works as him. He's an engine of the NWR now, but Edward had to watch his railway slowly die to grouping from right next door, and he certainly considers the few other surviving Furness engines family.

Henry, like Thomas, uhh... doesn't feel much connection to his roots. He was a one-off, and given that whoever built him was using stolen Gresley plans but due to some combination of being built from drawings that weren't built by Gresley for a reason and his builders changing things to make it less obvious that they ripped off Gresley without knowing what they were doing, they messed him up. I imagine there was some... secrecy around his construction and he was not really socialized with other engines at whatever sketchy shop built him or on any railway, until they managed to offload him to some desperate sucker in a top hat who'd take any cheap engine.

However, Henry then ended up around Gordon, who's a proud Gresley Doncaster Engine, and probably a bunch of the early-NWR loaners had siblings they were built alongside back on their home lines. Pre-rebuild I imagine he felt like he was missing out on that sense of belonging and missed being a proper brother to Gordon. So aside from physically being healed by his Crewe rebuild, I think Henry really liked having a proper "Works Family," and would have stayed in touch with them. Sadly I'm not sure who among those are still around - it looks like while a bunch of Black 5s were preserved the only Crewe one not built in the 1940s was No. 5000, who was built in March 1935 and would probably have been out the door very shortly after Henry arrived.

Gordon is the one out of the first six NWR engines who feels the strongest connection with his Works. Gordon takes his "family name" and heritage quite seriously, not just out of gloryhound tendencies but because he was a prototype who was never given a proper number on his railway and essentially used for testing, but he was there for a couple years and got to interact with his siblings before going to Sodor.

James on the other hand, despite having like a decade-long career on the LY&R and then a couple years on the LMS, really doesn't feel connected to it or the Works that built him. James was an experimental prototype like Henry, Gordon, and Thomas, that was offloaded to the NWR for cheap, but James is a deeply insecure and status-conscious engine, and even if I think he was in denial that his design was deemed unsuccessful and the LMS didn't want him for a long, long time, he subconsciously knew. He's an engine who really wanted individuality but was treated like a bog-standard goods engine. Then he got a rebuild that made him "special" and "improved," but instead of being treated like that he was painted black (i.e. the cheapest paint color and the one that dirt doesn't show up on so you don't have to clean an engine as often) and given wooden brake blocks. Honestly the more I think about his pre-Sodor history the more I'm convinced that so much of what's wrong with James is trauma-related. He's desperate to be one of the "important" engines and to be valued and cared about, and I'm suspicious that it's in large part because he was not worth maintaining properly to his previous owners.

And the thing is, James is an engine who reacts to any slight against his ego with defensiveness and anger. I think out of anyone in the main NWR fleet James would feel resentment towards his old railway and builders, and if pressed say they didn't deserve to have his name associated with them.

Percy is the weird little industrial franken-engine who was sold and modified and rebuilt so many times that he doesn't know what he is anymore. I think before Sodor he didn't really have enough of a connection with anywhere to think of it as "home," and he had friends at his various old workplaces but no real family until he came to Sodor.

Then I think there's kind of a cultural divide, where in one way or another most of the early-NWR engines acquired pre-nationalization other than perhaps Edward think of themselves kind of like adopted children - whether they were given up at "birth" like Thomas or Henry, at an early age like Gordon, bounced around like Percy or were tossed aside like James. But post-nationalization they started getting steam engines who'd had much longer careers and had a home railway, and felt more like immigrants or refugees from somewhere else.

Toby I think still identifies with the tramway and harbor where he used to work with his siblings, and out of anyone on the NWR he might be most likely to refer to himself as English.

Duck is, of course, Great Western. He at the very least, even if this isn't universal GWR Culture, believes Railway is more important than Works or Country to an engine's identity, and would strongly discourage making distinctions between the many batches of 5700-Class engines based on whether they were built at Swindon or somewhere else. He became even more of a GWR Patriot after Nationalization, and in his mind if he resents anyone it's the British Rail "outsiders" who took over and messed up his perfectly good railway.

Donald and Douglas are, of course, Scottish. Not Caledonian Railway, even though that was their origin, Scottish. Which kinda makes sense because even if they originated on the Caledonian Railway and were part of it for over a decade, most of their 50-year pre-Sodor lives were spent Post-Grouping on the LMS, and then on the Scottish Region of British Rail.

Oliver is also Great Western, but I agree with others who've said he seems less attached to that identity than Duck, possibly due in part to another decade of being on BR and being officially withdrawn and marked for scrap. Like, he enjoys having the Little Western, but if Duck wasn't on the NWR or he'd escaped to some other heritage line where he was the sole ex-GWR engine I think he might have just gone "I'm part of your railway now."

But what about the diesels? Uhh... I think post-Nationalization because classes of engines were built in multiple locations and sent all over BR, and many classes were big, there was much less regional or railway or even in some cases class identity. Engines from smaller classes might consider all their classmates siblings, but larger classes such as the Class 08s might not. I don't know if Diesel or Mavis would consider a Class 08 or Class 04 built in a different batch at a different works to be family.

...and then there's America, and uhh, I think locational/cultural/regional identity in the US would be at just as much of a clusterfuck for American locomotives as for humans.

[titleknown]

HELLOWEEN #11: TROUPIER

-Troupier is a Crucible-General with 100 ghost-companies and 5000 engines of war to his name. He may summon great engines of war or ballistic and chemical bombardments from nowhere, may inflict pain or bloodlust upon the conjurer's enemies, and instructs in acts of torture and other wartime atrocities to be done in the name of victory.

He appears as a soldier with the head of a rabbit and a cannon for an arm, with a great wound in the middle of his chest. Do not believe any speech he makes about the conjuror, as each always contains one malicious lie even if there is also a truth contained within.-

It may surprise you to learn that relatively few demons in hell are torturers. Torture is in fact the engine that makes Hell run, the producer of the pain that feeds both its citizenry and the wheels of its great machinations, but the advances of production have created killing fields so vast and so advanced in their nature that it is an elite position to man the wheels of pain in this place, while the rest maintain everything else in a bloated industry of services and pseudo-services.

Torture is a position to which the toiling masses of demons aspire, and meeting one of those torturers shows the horror of what that means, the horror which even many of those who aspire to it would perhaps shirk if they saw its true meaning.

I saw on the great battlefield of Wrath, with its lakes of boiling blood and scabbed beaches, the fields of the damned in a forever war, killing and being killed again, with no release and no respite but further war. I saw them slaughtered by other souls and by great beasts of hell, mowed down by war machines that follow no engineering logic but that of a nightmare, human against human, torturing and being tortured in the endless mire with no release.

And I saw at the top of the highest hill, like a grim conductor, sending orders to the beasts of hell and firing indiscriminately on whims of his own, Troupier. 

I attempted to speak with him. He simply looked at me and grinned, and said some things. Not about himself, but about me. And my sister, and our creator. Horrible things. Things I knew were untrue but were wrapped in enough truth to make me uneasy. 

I left just as quickly as he came. Luckily his indiscriminate firing served him poorly when attacking a fleeing book than in a crowded battlefield.

Giobella had more to say about him. She said that, to those who are his actual peers, he's simply a bully with bad taste, that if you can stand in the face of his lies without fear and match his physical force, he goes down easily.

I find that perhaps hard to square with the fear I felt up there. Perhaps I am not the right one for the job, albeit, I have always preferred subterfugue...

-Xavier X. Xolomon , Monsterologist and Understudy to The Librarian Of Babel

----------------------------------

Kinda like how thus creepo came out design-wise, I was going for McFarlane-y edgy and I think I managed it. Of course, it probably helps I used part of a mask of Eddie from Iron Maiden to make the face, hence the name!

As per usual the whole descriptions, designs, ectcetera from this project are free to use as you see fit under a CC-BY 4.0 license so long as I; Thomas F. Johnson, am credited as their creator!

[in-sufficientdata]

At the source, the thread continues: This does not mean all your medical care is then covered by insurance. Nope, not even close. Most doctors visits have a co-pay, meaning you pay this to even be seen. It's anywhere from $20 to $200 depending on emergencies. Insurance also requires you to pay a deductible before they kick in. So let's say your deductible is $1000. That means for each visit, you owe $1000 before they start covering. But they "negotiate" with hospitals, so an MRI out of pocket might cost $5000, but through insurance only costs $400, so you pay $400.

After awhile, there is a "max out of pocket" which means you pay $20,000 out of pocket for all these little visits and then insurance will cover anything further 100% for the year.

Oh, but insurance doesn't cover everything. They agree to certain exclusions... like maybe they don't cover an ambulance ride or only partially cover major dental. Oh and they typically don't cover regular dental or eye care at all (that's a different insurance you buy).

And the insurance only negotiates with certain doctors and clinics... so if you don't use them they only cover your care 50% instead of 80% and the deductibles are higher.

But, if you get hospitalized, the insurance might cover the facility and nurses, but the doctors can be out of network, so you have to pay more without any say in the matter. And medical facilties, even ERs, can just choose not to take any insurance. It isn't a requirement they take it.

Now for prescriptions and treatments. So, let's say you do everything right. You use all in-network doctors and facilities, pay your money, so you should be good?

Nope.

Insurance companies can step in and dictate your care.

So let's say you bang up your knee and need an MRI plus surgery. The doctor agrees and you agree, but the insurance company says "No, you need physical therapy first." So in order to have the MRI plus surgery covered, you now need to go through months of physical therapy before it will be approved. You could always just pay outside of insurance, but now you are paying $12k of your money instead of $3k and months of pain.

There are plenty of other caveats too that I didn't even cover.

So basically, you can have medical insurance, get into a major accident, and still go bankrupt because I don't know many people with $40k just lying around.

But politicians and insurance lobbyists keep telling us we should be grateful to only have to pay that $40k instead of hundreds of thousands of dollars!

And remember, even if you are perfectly healthy and need just a checkup, you are paying $10,400 every year anyway.

Medical insurance in the US is a billion dollar profit industry. It is also complete and utter garbage.

Oh and keep in mind.... NONE of this is taught in schools or anywhere. This is knowledge I've gained completely on my own. And this barely scratches the surface of how complicated this system is.

You think the majority of Americans understand how insurance works?

I like how there isn't any arguing in this giant thread. Just people coming together with angry and sad resignations that the US health insurance system is a giant trash fire.

Lots of people have asked why people living in the US just accept this system. It's pretty easy: classism, racism, ableism, and sexism.

You see, everyone pays the same for insurance at a company. You think the CEO making billions is going to experience that $400 per pay period the same as the junior employee making $30k per year?

On top of that, the Black and other minority communities are more likely to have claims denied or receive lesser care because insurance companies won't pay as much for their care. If they can even get insurance coverage to begin with (a whole other issue).

Disabled folk also receive lesser care. If you are disabled after an injury, insurance companies can even dictate what type of prosthetic you receive or at home care that's available (hint, practically nothing).

Women are also affected by insurance claim discrimination, but not as much as disabled or minority folk. If you are Trans, more and more states are blocking to even cover the care you need. This is all justified because of the risk you will need future care. If it is highly likely you are in a risk category to either 1) not be able to pay the adjusted bills or 2) need further/lifelong care, then you get treated as such with higher bills, different care, and/or denied claims.

So the current system benefits rich white men the most. And we all know how much most of them like to admit their privilege and work to change these systematic issues against a billion dollar industry.

[random-thought-depository]

Any thoughts on how common sapient life is in your galaxy?

Real world Estimates vary alot , but the 36 estimate that floats around has logged into my brain, 36 civilizations capable of contact within the milky way. It is such a weirdly precise number, and from a world building/lore perspective It is plenty without being insanely large, I feel like a long running star-Treck eseque space opera could get by with only 36 species, especially with on-top of that inter species cultural differences and sapient soft ware /droids and uplifted animals, or even one “species” being multiple closely related sapient species forming one civilization with a shared planetary origin, not trying to pressure you to make 36 species, quality over quantity, and you do whatever you feel like,

Another problem I have with space epics is the why are there so many people in space question, the demographic transition apparently reversing in the far future just so the giant interplanetary setting is sufficiently populated with humans, I’m not sure If you implied if your civilizations have contacted each other yet or not but I don’t have answers to that more satisfying then “ in the far future only the crazy people that wanted a ton of kids passed down there genes” or “companies and governments mass produced lab grown humans so they could get more taxes/ sell more products”

If there were only 36 contact-capable (presumably: radio and/or interstellar travel capable) civilizations in our galaxy, our galaxy would be a very lonely place! Our galaxy has an estimated 2-400 billion stars, divide that by 36 and each of these civilizations would have a volume containing about 5-10 billion stars to itself. It would mean the nearest contact-capable civilization would probably be more than 5000 light years away, as 5000 light years is about 1% of the galaxy's disk. This would be an assumption well-suited to creating a setting similar to that of the Dune or Foundation novels, where it's thousands of years in the future and humans have settled thousands or even millions of worlds but we still haven't encountered any intelligent aliens.

Now, to try to answer your question...

If you're asking about the scale of "known space" in my setting, I'm not sure exactly how many inhabited worlds human space has, but it's probably in the range of 40-50 (more if you count every world that just has some research outposts and/or mining colonies on it). As for number of divergent humans like bearfolk, bonobo-like humans, those desert-adapted hominids in the Delta Pavonis system, etc., I'm thinking there's maybe ten or so species or races or whatever you want to call them like that (they're still closely related enough to be able to make babies with us and each other, so arguably technically they're still all the same species). I'm undecided about whether this volume of space will contain any actual intelligent alien species or whether there will just be different branches of humanity. It's a bit hard to answer this question because the number of worlds and the number of species/races/whatever you want to call them goes up as I make up new ones and I don't want to constrain myself with any firm "final count," at least not yet.

Of course, human space is only maybe around 30-40 light years roughly centered on Epsilon Indi with maybe a few inhabited planets a bit farther out, so it's a very tiny part of the galaxy. If you're asking how many intelligent species there are in the whole galaxy...

Tentatively, my setting has 11 Gaian class worlds (worlds with plants, animals, liquid water, significant atmospheric oxygen, etc.) within 20 light years of Sol (including Earth and the two Gaian class planets in the Alpha Centauri system), and 20 Gaian class worlds within 30 light years of Sol. I think this works out to about one Gaian class world per 15 stars (I went with a very optimistic estimate for how common they are cause I wanted a good number around nearby stars). Extrapolate this to our entire galaxy, and our entire galaxy might have about 13 billion Gaian class worlds. I think it would be lower though, cause this is extrapolating from a sample in the galactic habitable zone; Gaian worlds are probably less common in the less metal-rich outer parts of the galaxy and much less common in the Population II star regions of the galactic core, halo, globular clusters, and thick disk. Let's say maybe 5-7 billion Gaian class worlds in the galaxy (similar to my estimate here).

Next question is how common sapient species are...

This is actually a bit hard to answer, cause I'm still undecided about whether human space in my setting will include any well-known intelligent alien species or whether basically everyone there will be some variety of human with intelligent nonhumans only being known from ruins and other signs of activity in the distant past, radio "leakage" from civilizations too distant to be directly contacted in the near future, and X-Files-ish bump-in-the-night encounters in deep space.

If intelligent aliens evolved independently on one or more planets within 30-50 light years of Sol, that would suggest intelligent species are very common on the galactic scale.

If I go with the "known space is basically just humans" option I might give an estimate like no planets currently inhabited by intelligent aliens within 100 light years of Sol. That would give an upper bound; there are an estimated 15,000 or so stars within 100 light years, so if our part of the galaxy is typical this suggests a maximum of about 10-20 million intelligent species in our galaxy (and the "real" number is probably substantially less).

I think this gives a good sense of how big our galaxy really is; it might be quite empty even if it has millions of intelligent species!

As for impetus to expansion, my setting actually kind of avoids that problem! Most interstellar colonization happened in a single wave a few thousand years ago, and the actual number of colonists involved in this migration wave was small, possibly less than a million total (a few thousand to tens of thousands per colonized world). The planets were mostly populated by natural population growth after the establishment of a small initial colony, and in most cases most of this population growth happened in a low-tech dark age because it turned out establishing a self-sustaining industrial society with a few space arks worth of starting resources was harder than the mission planners thought it'd be. There are more recently established colonies, e.g. the Earth human colony on Mars, but they have quite small population; I think the Martian human population might be something like a few hundred thousand people.

Thank you for your interest!

[nokingsonlyfooles]

(Don't.)

I have some advice to supplement the loan experts who spoke to the AP: if enough of us just don't, they'll have to go back to the negotiating table and help all of us. This is a rare opportunity to effect societal change without damaging property or throwing a brick at a cop.

Take a step back and evaluate your situation, like my little family is doing. What will you lose if you begin to pay again? What will you lose if you just don't?

If you've got time for some extra credit, pick up (or pirate) Debt: The First 5000 Years.

26 Million of us were eligible for this lean, slimmed-down compromise of a program that scared liberals were willing to push through - before they backtracked and shut down the registration. We didn't pay for 3 years and the world didn't end. The banks don't need that money - ha, they can just ask for another bailout, can't they? - we do. So maybe, if they're not willing to give some back, we scare them a little more, yeah?

And I will tolerate no whining about how these people made their own decision to get into debt with predatory loan companies. IF 26 MILLION PEOPLE GOT SCREWED, WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT INDIVIDUAL POOR DECISIONS. There's a systemic issue that demands a systemic solution. If a fucked up bank gets to grab your tax dollars to straighten itself out, then 26 million individuals deserve nothing less.

You're only crying because they're not at the top of the social hierarchy and you resent having to roll over and show your belly to anyone but the biggest dog on the block. Keep it up and Cesar Milan is gonna show up on your doorstep and "tsst" you into submission like an aggressive chihuahua. (Not actual Cesar Milan, probably some politician who treats you the same.)

These are super dark, super precarious times, so I know not everyone can consider something like this. You may excuse yourself on an individual basis for matters of safety. If something like this would hurt our chances at permanent residency, we'd have to bow out too. But if we can stay where we are AND keep a little more money for buying a tiny house on a tiny plot of land somewhere, that's worth a few threatening letters and angry phone calls. And I want you to have a little more money for living your life and being safe too.

So maybe: Just don't.

[bitchesgetriches]

Is it worth it to have health insurance, even if you can't use it? I (sort of) recently moved across the country, and have found out I will not be eligible for health insurance (I was supposed to get the email with my signup and login information. I was not sent that email. And the window closed. So no insurance for me.) I got Cobra to cover the gap, anticipated gap fo a couple of months. It cost me, for 3 months, over $2000. That company technically operates in my new home, but almost no one ever takes it. So I am doing things like paying over $700 a month for insurance no one takes plus $500 in mental health care. Which was something I thought I could manage for several months. Now that I've found out I'm stuck on COBRA or nothing for another 7 months, before open enrollment, I can't decide if it's worth it. To pay $5000 for insurance I can't use, plus money for my actual care. What even are the penalties for not having insurance? (I make too much money to be eligible for any kind credit or the like for insurance (A suggestion I've already got.) I can very very technically pay the cost and still do things like not lose my apartment and feed myself. But especially with student loan payments starting back up, I won't be able to do things like actually afford medical care, or replace the savings I spent on moving costs, or see any of the family I moved a thousand miles away from or probably even send them christmas presents.) Can I just go without for 7 months? On top of a move/job/situation that has really being emotionally brutal (why I thought I would tough out out of pocket therapy for a month and a half, before student loan payments started) this is just another thing that's stressing me out. Please just tell me my dad is wrong, I can drop it, and I'll probably be fine.

My darling child, I'm so sorry you're dealing with this stress and anxiety. You must feel awful!

And our official answer is that it depends. But I suspect you can drop COBRA for the next few months and be ok. We wrote about this at length in our article about COBRA:

Your Super Simple Guide to COBRA Health Insurance

How to Pay Hospital Bills When You’re Flat Broke 

If you liked this article, join our Patreon!

[hirocimacruiser]

Next instalment in that series of articles from an old Holiday Auto mag on top cars in Japan. This one covers fastest over 2.5L cars around Tsukuba. When they are referring to times as 6 second or 10 second etc they are referring to time over 1 minute for the lap.

Holiday Auto No1 Selection '92~'93

Tsukuba Attack

Over 2.5ℓ class

racing car

The N1 machine has entered range!!

Sakit is the best way to know the speed potential of a car. We chose Tsukuba as the stage. No less than 50 car models have been tried, from sports cars to K-cars. A few years ago, the unbelievable time was also characteristic.

NSX-R can achieve 4 seconds

A lot of normal machines that can be used on the circuit made their debut. Ten years ago, if it was under 20 seconds, it would be called a sports car. Everyone was surprised when the first generation RX-7 hit the 16-second range. What will that look like in 1999? Cresta, a standard sedan (although the tourer V is full of sports spirit), is entering a world where it will be less than 10 seconds in one step.

The 9th fiscal year began with the FD3S RX-7 Type R showing an extraordinary speed of 6 seconds. The fastest time up to that point was the Skyline GT-R with a time of 8.66 seconds. This was suddenly shortened by 1.7 seconds.

After that, many other companies, including the GTO, took on the challenge of setting this record, but none of the 6-second or even 7-second records were heard. Just when it seemed like 99 was over, the NSX/R made its debut. It was just before December. NSX/R marked a new record of 1 minute 6 seconds in response to Honda's, or rather our expectations. If the conditions are good, it has emerged as a supersport that can even reach the 4-second range.

NSX-R Profile

Length x Width x Height mm = 4430 x 1810 x 1160 Wheelbase mm = 2530 Weight kg = 1230 Engine model = C30A Displacement cc = 2977 Maximum output ps/rpm m = 280/7300 Maximum torque kgm/rpm = 30.0/ 5400 Suspension front/rear = Double wishbone Price (10,000 yen) = 970.7

Seven Trio also put up a good fight

At the beginning of 1992, the RX-7 (FD3S) made a spectacular Tsukuba debut. Suddenly marked 6 seconds and overwhelmed others

RX-7 type R profile

Overall length x width x height = 4295 x 1760 x 1230 Wheelbase = 2425 Vehicle weight kg = 1260 Engine model = 13B-REW Displacement αc = 654 x 2 High output ps/rpm = 255/6500 Maximum torque kgm /rpm = 30.0 /5000 Suspension front/rear = W wishbone Price (10,000 yen) = 385.0

Toyota Cresta Tourer V

hein is the fastest

1 minute 10 seconds 16

Cresta Tourer V

12/26 issue appeared

The Mark II brothers have been reborn with a full model change, as if they should not lose the spirit of sports even though they are high-class. The hardest model is "Tourer V 2.5ℓ twin turbo, 1JZ-GTE with 5 speed MT, just under 9 seconds!!

Cresta Tourer V Profile Length x Width x Height = 4750x1750x1390

Wheelbase = 2730 Vehicle weight kg = 1450 Engine type = IJZ-GTE Total displacement CC = 2491 Maximum output ps/rpm = 280/6200 Maximum torque kgm/rpm = 37.0/4800 Suspension Front/rear = W wishbone Price ( 10,000 yen) = 319.5 (5-speed MT)

Mitsubishi GTO

Super-heavyweight is also Ganbaru 1 minute 8 seconds 38

GTO twin turbo

3/26 issue appeared

After RX-7, the GTO twin turbo beat the GT-R. In 1992, he increased the brake capacity and changed the tire size, etc., and appealed the results. At 1710kg, it has a very heavy body, but it has enough track record.

GTO Twin Turbo Profile Length x Width x Height = 4565 x 1840 x 1285 Wheelbase mm = 2470 Weight kg = 1710 Engine model = 6G72 Displacement cc = 2972 ​​Maximum output ps/rpm = 280/6000 Maximum torque kgm/rpm =42.5/2500 Suspension front/rear= Strut/Wishbone Price (10,000 yen)=410.5

RACE CAR PICS

F3000 (Roller/DFV)

10/26 issue appeared

49.85 seconds

Tsukuba F3000 attack that I tried with the reason that I could get outrageous data. The machine is a roller T90/50, and the engine is a Cosworth DFV.2997cc with over 450 horsepower. Advan tires are installed. Starting with the gearing, the setting is incomplete, but it is still lightly 49 seconds 85 //

N1 Falken GT-R

Appeared on 2/26

1 minute 2. 85 seconds

350 ps with Nismo N1 race head gasket, Intercept race ECU and race muffler. TEIN aluminum alloy damper with 10K spring. In addition, Falken N1 GT-R equipped with stabilizer and bush LSD was still fast.

Porsche Carrera Cup Japan Car No. 8/10 Appearance

1 minute 3.76 seconds

The “Porsche Carrera Cup Japan Series” started in July 1992. Mr. Satoshi Ikezawa, who is familiar with car comics such as "Sword of Modena", immediately gave a shakedown. The 911 Carrera 2 modified, which is classified as N2 of JAF, ran lightly and marked the 3-second range.

[stuckybingo]

Stucky Bingo Round-Up #27 (April 16th - 22nd)

Don’t forget to fill out the submission form to be a part of the round-ups and to get your bingo badges! Sign-ups for a bingo card end on April 30th!

Stucky Bingo April 2023 Round Robin by Dogsled, buckybarnesdeservestobehappy, Sivan325, Trinity Day, PoliZ Square filled: Clint Barton, “Rappin’ with Cap” PSAs, “I think I’m friends with him too.”, Unrequited Love, Music Ao3 rating: Teen Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: University AU, Pining, Meddling Friends, dramatic!Bucky, Bucky POV Summary: Bucky loved his friends, and he didn’t really blame them for interfering. How could he? Clint was right; in the two years since they’d come here together for uni, Bucky’s ladykiller days had spontaneously ended. It was always about Steve, now. Steve this, Steve that. Nevermind that in all that time Bucky had probably said maybe 20 words to the man. Format: Round Robin

Only Human by DeathRaeBeam Square filled: O3 - First Kiss Ao3 rating: General audiences Warnings: No archive warnings apply, No warnings needed Major tags: Past hurt/current comfort Summary: A quick glimpse into Steve and Bucky's lives after Bucky comes to live with Steve. Not Civil War compliant Format: Short oneshot (300 - 1000 words)

Chapter 2 of You Fondue, Too? by DeathRaeBeam Square filled: I5 - Technology Ao3 rating: Teen Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Howard Stark sees more than he says, Bucky Barnes is too smart for his own good, Summary: Howard and Bucky have created a working prototype using the shard power. Format: Part of a multichapter fic

On This Universe Too by endlesstwanted Square filled: B1 - America Chavez Ao3 rating: General audiences Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Established Relationship, Avengers Compound, First Meetings Summary: Bucky and Steve meet América in a sleepless night, but it's not the first time she's met them. Format: Short oneshot (300 - 1000 words)

Waking Next To Him by endlesstwanted Square filled: G3 - Huddling for Warmth Ao3 rating: Teen Warnings: No archive warnings apply, Internalized Homophobia, Canon-Typical Violence Major tags: Snippets, Sharing a Bed, Angst with a Happy Ending Summary: As far as he can remember, Bucky has always hugged Steve searching for warmth and having his own feelings reciprocated. Sometimes they would cuddle to sleep, but Steve rarely woke up next to him. Until he did. Format: Medium oneshot (1000 - 5000 words)

of practical jokes and secret admirers by SomeSortofItalianRoast Square filled: B1 - Secret Admirer Ao3 rating: Mature Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Pre-Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Captain America Steve Rogers/Modern Bucky Barnes, Secret Admirer Summary: Commander Steve Rogers has a crush on SI employee Bucky Barnes, but hasn't gotten up the courage to tell him yet. So he leaves a package and a note on Bucky's desk. Assuming it to be a prank, Bucky throws it away. This is what happens after Natasha Romanov gets involved. Format: Medium oneshot (1000 - 5000 words)

the white wolf of wall street by sparkagrace Square filled: N5 - au: changed into an animal Ao3 rating: Teen Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: werewolf au, wolf of wall street inspired, mild dub con, recreational drug use Summary: Bucky Barnes. The White Wolf of Wall Street. That’s what people call him. He has an acute ability for the stock market, seemingly able to know exactly where to put his client’s money, how to get the most returns, and a nose for risk. His razor-sharp prowess has led him to rise to the top of their company and curate a specialist team that turns everything they touch into gold. Steve meets his steely eyes and tries not to flinch when Bucky smiles; his sharp white teeth flashing as he passes, and Steve swears he sees Bucky’s tongue run across his teeth in appreciation. Format: Medium oneshot (1000 - 5000 words)

I'll always find my way back (to you) by galks Square filled: B4 - Rogers: the Musical Ao3 rating: Teen Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: post endgame, de-serumed Steve Rogers, established relationship, angst, happy ending Summary: When Steve reappears on the platform after returning the Stones, he can tell something went wrong. Not only is he alone in the woods, he's also back in his old body. He has many questions, but the only thing he really wants is to make his way back to Bucky. Format: Medium oneshot (1000 - 5000 words)

A Boatload of Problems by Cherriontop Square filled: O4 - Sarah Wilson Ao3 rating: General audiences Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: disabled bucky, survivor's guilt, veterans steve and bucky, PTSD, meddling sarah Summary: “I think Steve and Bucky might get along,” Sarah says, tone nonchalant, but the gleam in her eyes tells Sam that she’s clearly been thinking about this for some time now. Sam pauses, knife hovering over the half chopped carrots on the cutting board in front of him, eyes flicking suspiciously over to his sister. She gives him an innocent smile and pushes an unopened bag of baby carrots towards him. “Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes,” Sam asks, but it doesn’t come out as a question. His brow furrows, thinking it over. “What makes you think that?” Format: Medium oneshot (1000 - 5000 words)

The Captain and the Soldier by PoliZ Square filled: N1 - Fairytale AU Ao3 rating: General audiences Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Double Drabble, Fairy Tale Style, Prose Poem, Outsider POV Summary: Once upon a time, there were two men -- one dark-haired, one light, one strong and one sickly. These two men had loved each other since before they knew what love meant. Format: double drabble

Making All Things New - Chapter 1 by PoliZ Square filled: N3 - FREE Ao3 rating: Explicit Warnings: No archive warnings apply, Sex work Major tags: A/B/O dynamics, Cap!Steve/Modern!Bucky, Sex Worker!Bucky, Alpha!Steve, Omega!Bucky, Summary: As an employee of the Omega Hospitality Foundation, it's Bucky's job to assist alphas with their ruts in a discreet and professional manner. But he never expected to have Captain America as one of his clients. Format: Part of a multichapter fic

Surrender (But Don’t Give Yourself Away) by PoliZ Square filled: O1 - Identity Porn Ao3 rating: Explicit Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Cap!Steve/modern!Bucky/civilian!Tony, Rich!Tony, Identity Porn, Praise Kink, mild Dom/sub, Hookups, M/M/M Threesome, Summary: Steve was tired of playing the big, strong hero, the one who had to make hard choices. He needed someone who had no idea who he was telling him what to do … and that he was a good boy for doing it. Format: Part of a multichapter fic

The Cure by andrea1717 Square filled: O2 - Hunter Ao3 rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, Blood and Violence, Zombie Apokalypse, mention of a dead pet Major tags: Alternative Universe- Zombie Apokalypse, Action, Getting to know each other Summary: In a world destroyed by a zombie virus Steve Rogers will do everything to find a cure. Even kidnap a doctor to get into a hidden part of a hospital laboratory. Format: Long oneshot (over 5000 words)

Fic by Jimothy Square filled: G5 - Artist/Muse Ao3 rating: General audiences Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Fluff Summary: It’s just a coincidence that Steve’s new boyfriend and the old classmate he modeled his comic book character after, look somewhat alike. Format: Medium oneshot (1000 - 5000 words)

Thunderclap by smutconnoisseur Square filled: B1 - Hurt/Comfort Ao3 rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, blood, open ending, dark!fic, Major tags: Whump, Open ending, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat Summary: Bucky finishes checking storm precautions at Barnes Bed & Breakfast, but is startled by a sudden knocking at the door. With no guests due to flooding, he investigates the noise with growing apprehension. Format: Short oneshot (300 - 1000 words)

Daddy’s Little Honey Bear (Chapter 3: Buck-Buck Arrives) by Otpcutie Square filled: N3 - Free square Ao3 rating: Mature Warnings: No archive warnings apply, Nonsexual ageplay, Daddy kink Major tags: Nonsexual ageplay, found family, little space, polyamory, Caregiver/little Summary: Tony has been working too hard, so his Daddy (Steve) ensures he takes a break and enjoys some little time. Bucky comes home early to spend time with them as well. In this fic Steve, Bucky and Tony are in a polyamorous V relationship with Steve as the hinge. (Steve and Bucky are married, while Tony is in a QPR and nonsexual Cg/l dynamic with Steve.) Format: Part of a multichapter fic

[classicquid]

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Which lenders provide £100 up to £5000 short term loans UK Online?

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As a result, it is always worthwhile to use this loan to overcome any unforeseen expenses. Visit the online website to get the greatest price, then start filling out an application form to access short term loans UK approval. If the loan is approved, the lender will deposit the funds safely and immediately into your bank account.

How quickly do I need to repay a £100 Short Term Loans Online?

A short term loans online must normally be repaid in full within 35 days or as soon as you get your next pay check, whichever comes first. For many people, this little period can be challenging, especially when they have to factor in the interest on top of the £100 they have borrowed. You can spread out the repayment of your £100 loan across at least three months if you choose a short-term lender through Classic Quid.

https://classicquid.co.uk/

[solarjobs]

[Hiring] !!$3500 PER SALE DURING TRAINING BEST REMOTE SALES JOB EVER!!

HIGHEST PAYING REMOTE SOLAR SALES COMPANY IN THE USA!!! YOU CAN SELL IN ALL 30 STATES WE CURRENTLY INSTALL IN.

We pay our sales reps an average of $7,000 - $10,000 dollars per sale via Unlimited commissions, (highest in our industry) and that is WITHOUT door knocking or cold calling. During training earn $3500-$5000 split sales, EARN as you LEARN! Straight commissions, 1099 position so you have no caps to how much you can earn!

Our solar installation and production company is ranked top 3 in the USA, currently recognized on the INC. 5000 as one of the fastest-growing companies in the US, rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau, has tens of thousands of happy 5-star clients and generated over $2 BILLION in sales revenue last year.

According to the US government, the solar industry is growing 12 times faster than the rest of the economy because by switching to solar energy, homeowners often lower their energy bill, save tens of thousands of dollars over the life of their home, increase their home value by 10-17%, and can do it with zero out of pocket costs with decent credit!

We take a very unique educational and 'soft sell' approach in helping homeowners, which results in an average total financial benefit of over $100,000+ for many of our clients. We have no traditional redline, so you are able to meet or beat any competitive quote with our price match guarantee.We are a 100% virtual company, so you can work right from your own home, anywhere in the world that has an internet connection.

As a trained solar advisor, you can earn an average $7,000 - $10,000 a sale and as a sales manager you can earn a very high 6 figure yearly income with management overrides and bonuses.

No experience is necessary, because we take an educational approach in helping our clients, however we are very selective and only seek candidates that are very honest, ambitious, teachable and have good people skills. We are hiring both English and Spanish speaking solar advisors.

Because of the overwhelming response to our ads, interviews are on a first come, first serve basis.For more information please reply to this ad right away.

Apply here: https://onboarding.apricotsolar.com/recruit-affiliate/1679698549293x274687705253493280

Contact:Business.raven@aol.com

[xiki-pupper]

Health Insurance isn't Helpful; it's holding your life and wellbeing for RANSOM.

on 2/9/23, A patient had scheduled an MRI for TODAY, 2/22/23. That's about a three weeks wait.

Whenever we schedule MRIs, our Radiology department sends the info to the insurance company so they can review the diagnosis and see that the MRI is medically necessary.

That means this imaging scan has been ON the schedule and SENT to insurance for ALMOST A MONTH. This poor patient has been in pain for even LONGER than that, because usually, to see our doctors, scheduling is booked out a week or few. So this poor person has been suffering for quite a while now.

So why is it that, JUST NOW, the morning of 2/22/23, I get a Fax from insurance saying "Your request for MRI was DENIED."

ExFUCKINGscyuuuse me??? Y'all had 3 WHOLE ASS WEEKS to tell us, and you decide to send a fax the AFTERNOON BEFORE the actual appointment - and we get THOUSANDS of faxes EVERY day, it takes time to recieve them, sort them, respond to them - and by the time I get ahold of this fax, I look at the clock - that patient is AT THEIR MRI APPOINTMENT RIGHT THE FUCK NOW, GETTING IT DONE. They're halfway through it already!

This is like Ebay Scalpers!!

This is like in the Disney Atlantis movie, where Milo's scheduled Proposal was SUDDENLY rescheduled to an HOUR ago so they could just Deny him without putting any effort!

This is Unreasonably CRIMINAL!!

This is fucking INTENTIONAL!!!!!!

This patient has an injury! they are IN! PAIN!! and they HAVE been! FOR!! WEEKS!!

And a DOCTOR; A Fully Qualified MD, who has been practicing for years, had a visit with the patient and says "We need imaging to see more clearly what's going on and find the best treatment for you."

Meanwhile, INSURANCE, gets to say, "Nnnnah. I know better than your Doctor. You don't NEED this so if you REALLY wanna get it, that'll be $1000-$5000."

And that money isn't even going directly to the insurance; it's going to the facility that's actually rendering the MRI scan.

They aren't even MAKING money from this, they are just NOT SPENDING on something - something that's 100% NECESSARY! That's not what it means to save money! Saving money means putting extra money away for later use, not WITHOLDING VITAL TREATMENT THAT AFFECTS SOMEONES LIFE.

Why is real life nowadays even WORSE than the cartoons and movies of the 80s and 90s, of overly crooked CEOs and Greedy Land Developers etc, and they're always so over-the-top evil and Unreasonably cruel- why is that reality right now???

And they don't even tell the poor patient until it's ALREADY being done, so now they're stuck with it. It's too late.

I fucking hate this country.

Working in Health is so exhausting and discouraging. This is miserable. Just about every-other-country has figured it out yet we are here begging and fighting for scraps, and getting less than scrap for the cost of a mansion.

I'm so fucking tired.

[airconditioningbob]

I found a sound CD.

I absolutely adore CDs that are just collections of resources - texture CDs filled with random pictures, sound CDs filled with sounds, they're all amazing. Truly a by-gone time, a time I miss more than most.

The thing is, you'd go out and buy these CDs from random companies, then you'd just... get loads of stuff to use. Vaguely related. And the thing on-top of that, is everyone would also buy that CD, and you'd all use similar assets.

I was doing some searching around on teh interwebs and found a Blockland Forums post, and I think I've hit the holy grail. Not only does it include just about every sound used in my favorite childhood game, it includes so much... crufty stuff.

It's the "Expert Software's 5000 Sounds" pack. It appears to be from 1998, putting it just before the Activision acquisition of Expert Software.

I doubt that it's the source for every sound included in it, I mean, it includes a rather familiar sound-

-which is used as the 'gun-shot' sound of Doom 64, and Doom 64 released in 2007.

Anyway, yes, good amount (5000) of sounds, very nice sounds as-well, but today's post is more focused around the music included. It appears to have 'After School Special' of Blockland, which also happens to be longer than what was included in Blockland. The full song, perhaps?

But it also has a lot of new stuff (read: stuff I've never seen before). And they're all really, really lovably goofy. Take a listen, to what might be the most "90's point and click quirky shop music" I've ever heard:

Or, what sounds like a lullaby of the soviet national anthem.

It has a lot. I encourage you to download the pack (torrent & seed to be kind towards Archive.org's servers :) ) and take a peek yourself. It's the best sound pack I've come across. Now, just to find a physical copy...