#also i had this done before the last post but. i wanted to draw tesla amd amber.. so i drew them and forgot about this

[harvestmoth]

cough

[idkthisisjustforfanfic]

U N P L A N N E D, part four

Knowing what Harry wanted was a relief. It made you sleep better, even that first night after you drove home and reported back to Lexi over dinner. 

Sure--the stakes were now higher in a sense, right? You were going through with it. Something about that felt completely surreal and still somehow impossible, but deep inside of you, buried beneath the fear and the doubt, was a tiny speck of hope. And it was decidedly apple-seed shaped. 

When you were five or six, you insisted on pushing your dolls around in a carriage, so much so that you refused one day to go to kindergarten without them. Your mother had you all buckled in the car, your doll beside you and the toy-sized stroller folded in the trunk. 

It had always been something you wanted, something you saw in your future--but you’d always thought that it would be in a different order. In fleeting moments, when you made your peace with that, the hope managed to fight it’s way through all of the other feelings, letting you know that it was there and real and maybe things would work out okay. 

The reality was this: you were pregnant. You’d decided that you were going to have the baby. Harry seemed involved enough at this stage, and frankly, you were fine enough for now to just push any other thought out of your head. 

Where would you live? Where would he live? How often would he see the baby? Would you even have full custody or were you making a terrible assumption? Would he be on tour when you went into labor?

There were a thousand questions that tried to keep you up at night, but apparently growing a human took enough out of you that you fell asleep easily these days. And Harry had warned you it was coming--a quick text to give you a heads up. 

310-324-9090 (8:24am): Spoke with Jeff some more last night after I got home. He thinks it’s best if we have a meeting with some of my team. Can you call me later and I’ll give you some details?

You did as he asked--stepped out on your lunch break and spoke to him in the courtyard, careful to keep your voice quiet. 

It wasn’t that people at work were nosy--it was more that a random Facebook employee getting knocked up by a famous musician was sure to be a good headline that someone would be killing to write if they got wind. So for now, you tried your best to speak in code. 

“They want to have a meeting. Just to talk about some logistics and privacy things and whatnot.” He made it sound so casual.

“The logistics of the current situation?” 

He sounded a bit confused. “Of you being pregnant with my baby--yes.”

“This feels like something I would need a lawyer for.”

“You don’t need a lawyer.”

“Aren’t you the opposing side? Isn’t this going to become some weird negotiation around what I can and can’t do with your--you know.”

“I don’t know…”

“Your baby,” you whispered the word quietly, a hand over your mouth to be safe. “Who is mine, too, by the way.”

“Y/N--this is just a meeting, okay? There’s a few things for you to sign--basically just saying that you’re not going to sue me or try to blackmail me.”

Glenne had mentioned that. She threw back another margarita that night in your kitchen and said you’d have to sign an NDA. It’s just something a bunch of people sign, confidentiality, basically. You’ll be fine.

It made sense. Jeff wanted to be sure you wouldn’t sell your story or try to cash in on the undoubtedly pricey offspring you were producing--that’s what Lexi had joked about. Can you imagine how much someone would pay for his baby? 

You reminded her that it was yours, too. She threw her head back and laughed, yeah, but his DNA would make it more expensive--like a purebred. 

And this was the easy phase, after all--that’s what your mom had told you on the phone when you told her you’d be keeping it. Things were still normal. You weren’t showing, you had no symptoms. Other than the apple-seed growth in your uterus, everything was still completely normal. For now. 

You agreed to meet Harry on Saturday afternoon--some office building in Westwood that felt eerily empty on the weekend. Hallways that all looked the same, meeting rooms and conference tables stared back at you. 

He’d met you in the lobby, offered a quick hug when you walked in from the fresh air. He took you up in an elevator, fourth floor, second room down on the left. 

Jeff was inside with a few others, a small smile when you walked in behind Harry, clad in a graphic tee. 

“Hey,” he said, standing and rounding the table to give you a hug. “How are you feeling?”

You could hear the guilt that laced his voice. “Good--I’m fine.”

“I’m, uh--I’m sorry about the other night. I was just--you know, kind of freaked.”

Harry let out a quick laugh, sarcasm threaded through his words. “We were doing totally fine--not freaked out at all.”

Jeff rolled his eyes, sat back down and introduced you to the other faces in the room. Lola, Harry’s publicist, John, a PR guy from his label, Dave, a lawyer. His assistant, Emma, a small smile on her face when you made eye contact. 

You turned to Harry quickly--he sat on the other side of the table beside Jeff, fumbled with the top of his water bottle. He said you didn’t need a lawyer--but for some reason, he had one.

That’s when the anxiety kicked in--the swirling questions of what they all thought. They offered smiles when Jeff began talking and you did your best to wipe the sweat from your hands every few seconds on your pants. 

“So--obviously, this is big news for everyone here--uh, we wanted to have this meeting, really, to just get a few things agreed upon.”

You nodded, watched Harry for a second until he looked at you. 

Dave spoke now--black rimmed glasses sat atop his nose. You wondered what his life was like. A lawyer for top musicians? He probably drove a Tesla, too.“We have to have you sign something, Y/N--just saying that you won’t discuss any of this with the press. It includes no social media posting, no interviews, limited disclosure to friends and family.” 

Another nod--that was a given, and it seemed to be for your own protection, too. Lexi had brought it up first. What happens when people find out he’s the father?

“We don’t expect you to hide the pregnancy altogether--to be clear. But for now, the parentage needs to be confidential.”

“Okay,” you said. “But not like, with everyone, right?” Maybe it was a dumb question. “I already told my mom.”

“No--your mom is fine.” Harry answered the question for them, which is when you realized that you were the only one on your side of the table. They sat in a line, the five of them elbow to elbow, their team and against yours. 

The only problem was that right now, no one was on your team. 

“How much did you tell her?” Dave’s head tilted like you’d said the wrong thing.

“Just a little--she knows it’s his,” your eyes went back up to Harry’s now. He held your gaze for a minute, looked over to Dave and cleared his throat. 

“That’s fine,” Harry said.

The look on Dave’s face told you otherwise. “We need to keep the number of people who know to a minimum.”

“Well I certainly don’t expect her to not tell her mother,” Harry retorted, anger more present in his voice than before. You shrunk in your chair, feeling incredibly isolated as they sat across from you.

“Who does know?” Jeff leaned in, hoping to ease the tension between Harry and Dave--a welcome distraction when he looked towards you.

“Aside from people in this room, my mom, Lexi, Glenne--and my doctor, but, I think she’ll be fine.”

Dave started writing on the notepad in front of him. “I can draw up non-disclosures for them, too.”

Emma sipped at her water--you peered past her out the window. It was sunny--a good day for anything but this. 

“So--we can move to the financial aspect,” Dave put his pen down and thumbed through some papers. “I know this is always the worst part, but--has to be done.”

You looked around the room, still feeling a step behind the others, confused. You watched as Harry twisted his hands together, stared down at them on the table. It felt like no one even wanted to make eye contact with you, like you were somehow wearing a scarlet letter. 

“This agreement details the child support he’ll pay. Monthly until the child turns eighteen. Visiting rights, partial custody if he so chooses. If you sign, it means you agree to the terms and conditions and will hereby agree to share custody, barring any legal changes, of course. Anything you don’t agree to will be settled in arbitration, along with any changes to the agreements set forth here.”

He pushed a packet across the table, the paper was crisp and thick, stapled in the top left corner. 

You looked up at him. “Do I get time to read it over?”

“Of course,” Jeff spoke quickly. “We’ll need it either way by Monday. 

You tried not to roll your eyes. A whole two days. You swallowed, nodded, ignored the pen that Dave flipped over in his hand, apparently hoping you’d agree to sign now. 

“We also have this,” he said, lifting another packet of papers from the stack in front of him. “We’d like a paternity test. This can be completed after seven weeks gestation. The previous agreements and contracts will become null and void if the paternity test proves Mr. Styles is not the father. That’s all detailed in here, though.”

There was a heat on your cheeks, one that felt like it threatened to bring tears. You stared down at the paper already in front of you, words like custodial and proprietary suddenly left your mouth feeling dry.

You didn’t have a chance to respond, Dave slid more papers towards you, this time the pen came with them. “We need you to sign the agreement to DNA testing for paternity confirmation and the basic non-disclosure today.”

You looked up at Harry--he watched as Dave fumbled through more papers, seeing if there was another dotted line for you to put your name on. Jeff stared at the glass of water in front of him, avoiding your gaze like you weren’t his friend, someone who came to his birthday parties or texted memes to his girlfriend.

“I need a minute,” you said, voice hoarse and unsteady. You pushed back from the table, turned and headed for the door without a response from anyone in the room. 

“You can have time with the other documents, it’s just the paternity testing we need signed,” Dave’s voice faded when you got to the hallway, you counted the stripes on the carpet as you put more distance between you and your side of the conference table. The hallways were a maze, more rooms and tables and rolling office chairs that didn’t help calm your nerves. 

There were footsteps behind yours--Harry’s, no doubt--but you kept moving, the end of the hallway was in sight, a door to a balcony, fresh air, a moment to breathe. 

He was right behind you when you pushed it open, the cool metal of the door was prickly on your skin, hot and flushed. You squinted in the sun, he was quiet for a moment, the door shut. 

“M’sorry,” he said after a second. You looked down at the cars that were parked on the streets below, people on sidewalks, a breeze from the ocean. “We have to do that--they’d never just believe it was mine without the actual proof.”

You turned around to face him. “Feels kind of shitty, though. They’ll think I’m lying until I can prove that I’m not.”

He rolled his eyes a bit. “Well people lie, Y/N! You might not be crazy but people out there are--so we have to just, I don’t know, they have to take precautions.”

“This isn’t just happening to you, Harry! I know that’s all that they care about--all that Jeff cares about right now--but this is happening to me, too! This is changing my life, too. You’re not the only one with a career and a family and a life.”

“I know!” He said, looking up to the sky as if it were the hundredth time you said it. “I know it is--I’m doing the best I can, okay? I need to know for sure that it’s mine, too, okay? I trust you, I do--but I have to know for sure.”

“Right--cause somehow this is my fault and it all falls on me at the end of the day, right?”

“I never said that,” he said, more hushed now.

“Well, this is on you, too. You’re the father and if I have to take a fucking paternity test I will but--you’re the only person I’ve slept with in the last, like, year.”

His eyes went a bit wide at that--you let out an annoyed laugh and turned back to the view, wishing you were home, beneath the tree in your mom’s backyard in Santa Paula. A good book and a sense of calm, something that felt all too fleeting these days. 

“Really?”

“Really.”

You tried to ignore the smirk on his face, crossed your arms over your chest when you turned back to see him again. “So--there’s literally no chance it’s anyone else’s.”

He nodded, the corner of his mouth still lifted toward the sky. 

“What? What are you smiling for?”

“Dunno,” he laughed a little. “Just--I kind of thought you left that night because you were seeing someone or something like that.”

“What? No--I haven’t--I had a boyfriend a while ago but we broke up.”

“I know.”

“You know?”

He shrugged, dropped your gaze for a moment. “Well, when I met you in the fall at that dinner--I don’t know, I asked Glenne about you and she said you were kind of,” he glanced back up at you, “unavailable. Or, you were dealing with something. So I figured when you left and never called it just--had to do with him.” 

You thought back to that first night in October, long before the sex and the sneaking out. Sushi and drinks and butterflies when he walked in to the restaurant. You always knew that they knew him--heard his name and heard his songs on the radio. You’d seen him from afar once, a party at Jeff’s old house, you were on your way out when he strolled in, sometime in 2017, hugging other people and shaking hands with beautiful women. You never even thought he noticed you until you found yourself drunk on his couch two years later.

You knew why Glenne said it. You’d ended a relationship in the spring of 2018 and it took you all summer to even want to go out again. Lexi would beg and plead and apparently, a celebration in Glenne’s honor was what it took in the fall for you to finally put on a pair of heels and have a few drinks. 

“I wasn’t unavailable--I just--I don’t know, her and Lexi can be protective.”

He nodded, quiet for a minute when he looked out over the hills in the distance. 

Your break up was tough, not so much about losing him, but losing the vision you had. There were plenty of red flags--so big that even Lexi could pick up on them. But you brushed it off, pretended like it didn’t matter that he was unreliable and immature. When you finally had enough, you were more upset about the fact that it threw you off course. 

What am I supposed to do, now? You’d asked Lexi in the living room, crying on the couch with a glass of wine in hand. How am I supposed to get married at 27 and have a baby at 29 if he’s not the one?

He wasn’t--he was far from it. Lexi poured more wine and said she’d order you a vibrator on Amazon. He’s a fucking dickface, dude, you’ll meet someone else. And fuck that timeline. It’s bullshit. 

Maybe it was a gust of wind or the thoughts of how terribly off track this put you, more tears in your eyes when you sighed. 

“I’m sorry you have to sign all this shit.”

You bit at your lip, a tiny thud in your chest when his eyes met yours. 

“S’not how it should typically be and that’s because of me--or my job, at least.”

You nodded. He was right. If this was anyone else it’d be a lot easier. A lot less paperwork, a lot less questions. 

“Do you want to go get dinner?”

“Right now?”

“Well,” he looked over his shoulder--Jeff was down the hall, his figure blurred through the glass. “You probably have to sign at least the NDA if you want them to let you out of the building. But--after that.”

You took a deep breath, wishing you could ignore the guilt that sat on your shoulders. He shouldn’t have spend time with you. You didn’t want him to feel tied down, trapped, you didn’t want to be the ball and chain that would inevitably be blamed for changing his life and ruining his career. 

“No, no, we don’t have to, I should go home.”

“It’s Saturday,” he said. “What do you have to do?”

You didn’t expect his question--or pushback at all, really. “I have to clean. I have to organize stuff.”

“Stuff?” A smirk on his face told you he was on to you. 

“You don’t have to take me to dinner. We don’t have to pretend like we’re friends.”

He watched you for a second, his eyes scanning your face as if he didn’t know what to say. He pushed his lips out in thought and then scratched at the back of his neck. 

“Am I at least allowed to get to know you? If you’re having my baby--if we’re doing this--you’re kind of stuck with me.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” you tried to backtrack. 

“However you meant it--I still want to take you to dinner.”

“Fine,” you said, heat on your cheeks when he smiled, eyes crinkling by the side. “But I have some things to sign first.”

“Right,” he nodded, a stifled laugh under his breath. He turned around and grabbed the door, gesturing for you to head back inside. “After you.”

**

Another burger, this time, hold the pickles. He teased you at the drive through window that you’d be keeping them in business alone for the next nine months, you parked this time near a beach north of Santa Monica. 

“You said I didn’t need a lawyer,” you didn’t look at him, focused instead on the half-eaten burger in your hands before you took another bite. “Feels like I do.”

He looked over at you and shifted in his seat uncomfortably. “I mean--I didn’t want to freak you out. You don’t need one. You could have someone read over the papers for you. Do you have one?”

You racked through your brain. Maybe Simone would be your best bet, you could bring them into work on Monday and let her give it a read, but, then again, there was no way Dave and Jeff would let you tell another person before the paternity test results came in. 

You shook your head. “Lexi watches a lot of Law & Order.”

He stifled a laugh, sipped from his soda and adjusted the dark sunglasses perched on his nose. “I don’t think she counts, love, sorry.”

You picked up your own drink and took a swig, ignoring the fluttering in your stomach when he smiled down at you. 

“Hey, it’s alright. I can, uh, I can have Jeff find someone--not Dave--who can read them and you can meet with them, maybe. Go over it all and make sure it makes sense.”

You nodded, a feeling of gratitude swept through you. You offered a small smile of appreciation, another bite of your burger before Harry let out a laugh. 

“See? M’not the enemy.”

You rolled your eyes. “Don’t push it.”

“Hey, I mean it,” he turned towards you now, the sleeve of french fries on his lap shifted, one fell down to the clean carpet of his car. “I know they’re requiring the test, but, I trust you. And we’re in this together.”

You crumpled up the garbage of your dinner, tossed it in the bag that sat by your feet, suddenly too nervous to sit so close to him in the confines of his car. “Let’s take a walk,” you said, unsure of how to respond to his words. It was hard to believe him, he pulled up the hood of his sweatshirt and walked beside you towards the beach, another stark reminder of the difference between your life and his. 

It was obvious again, when the teenager behind the ice cream window at a beach front shop begged for a photo. You took it and prayed she didn’t even remember that you were with him. Hopefully the adrenaline in her system would wipe your face from her memory. 

“This is the most beautiful ice cream cone I’ve ever gotten,” he said, sitting on the bench of a picnic table a decent ways away from the counter where you’d ordered. He twirled it around, inspecting it from all angles when you pulled the straw of your milkshake up to your lips. 

“You’re acting like you’ve never seen one before,” you teased, reaching for a napkin from his other hand. 

“S’just so perfect looking.” He reached for his phone, lifted his dessert up in front of the setting sun that sprawled over the ocean’s horizon. “Wow--do you see this?” He clicked the button on his phone, his thumb successfully capturing the moment.

You rolled your eyes, took a quick peek around to make sure no one was nearby. He’d already warned you that he couldn’t stay long. Typically only 30 minutes after you take a photo with someone, otherwise people start to show up. 

“I’m sending this to you,” he laughed. “I understand if you want it framed or just as reminder of this beautiful evening.”

He pressed a few buttons and then your screen lit up on the bench in between you. 

He peered down at it, then brought his eyes back up to yours. A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth before he took the first lick of his ice cream. “Ever gonna save my number in your phone?”

You laughed, a bit embarrassed that a part of you had refused to do it. What if one day you woke up and he backed out? Said you were on your own and wrote you a check to never seek him out?

“Yeah, I just--I dunno, it felt weird at first.”

He raised his eyebrows a bit, finally took another lick from his ice cream. “Too personal?”

You laughed, “a bit.”

“Nothing quite as personal as having a baby together, if you ask me.” He took another lick and then dropped your gaze, a small smile on his face when he looked back at the sunset. “M’not going anywhere. Promise.”

**

When Aarav showed up at your desk on Monday morning, you knew you’d fucked up. When Simone showed up only ten minutes later, you knew you’d really fucked up. 

“I’m so sorry,” you said. “I totally forgot it was tonight.”

“You forgot our bi-weekly Monday night bitch session about work was on a Monday night? On the Monday night after we didn’t hang out last week?” Simone tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at you. Aarav let out a sigh. 

“I’ve been busy, I’ve been so busy.”

“Well are we still on? Simone and I are free as birds, so--we’re waiting on you.”

You looked at your work calendar, pulled up on your screen. Your last meeting was 3pm--then you were supposed to head towards Westwood to meet Harry and Dave and Jeff and probably the other people who had been at the first meeting. 

“Yes, I can--I just, I have to cancel something else. But it’s fine. Not a big deal. That’s on me.”

You picked up your phone and tried to open the message discreetly. Simone pulled up her own and kept talking. “I’ll make us a reservation at Diego’s, yeah?” 

“Sure,” Aarav said, “that’s the place with the good guac, right?”

“Right,” she said, clicking her phone shut and bringing her eyes back to you. “But also--can we talk tonight about how Carson told me he heard Levi mention something about talking with someone at Apple?”

Your eyes went wide. “Shut up--did you actually?”

“I’ll fill you in tonight,” she smiled, taking a step back from your desk and heading for the door of your office. “Over a nice, tall, frozen margarita.”

You leaned back in your chair and groaned, playfully insinuating that waiting that long would be torture. Aarav laughed and picked up a stress ball on your desk. He tossed it in the air once Simone walked away. 

“You alright lately?”

You looked up from your screen, a half written text to Harry was typed out. 

Hey--any chance we can rain check the meeting tonight? I know I have to sign it but something at work

“What?” You looked up at him and clicked your phone to sleep. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You seem distracted, or just stressed.”

“I’m fine, I promise.”

“Okay,” he said, a lilt in his voice like he didn’t quite believe you. 

You mulled it over for a second. You could tell him, you could tell both of them. They were good people and they’d sat through many intolerable staff meetings when Carson tried his best to shit on your team as if he wasn’t everyone’s least favorite coworker. 

You swallowed it down and looked up at him. “All good--just, busy, really. Really hoping that there’s some movement here, soon.”

He knew what you meant--he was the one you’d been most transparent with. 

“I think it’s gonna happen, don’t worry.”

You nodded, let out a sigh, wishing you could tell him that the apple seed in your uterus made things slightly less black and white than just getting a promotion.

And you wished you could have explained that to them that night--especially when they grilled you for not drinking. You shoveled chips and dip into your mouth like it was going out of style--only coming up for air when Simone reminded you about her news. 

“So do you want the scoop on Levi or what?”

“Do not get my hopes up,” you warned her. “I’m not in a good place for getting jerked around.”

Aarav laughed and sipped on his margarita. “Jerk her anyway.”

“I think he had an interview.”

“No he didn’t,” you whined, worried it was either false or too good to be true. You loved Levi. He was funny and talented and he taught the three of you a lot. Plus, he didn’t really care that you’d been working from home a lot more often lately. 

But you’d been hoping he’d leave Facebook for the last eight months. Ever since he told you that he’d certainly recommend you to the higher ups as his replacement. 

“I swear on my life. On Mark Zuckerberg, even. I heard Levi telling Dan from Tech Support about it in the cafeteria the other day.”

Instead of responding, you shoveled in another mouthful of guac, wide eyes when they looked at you for some sort of response. But what were you supposed to say? How were you to supposed to be excited for something that had long been building, moving in that direction, but was now suddenly threatened by a one night stand?

You’d worked at Facebook longer than both Aarav and Simone. Simone came on only a few months after you, but Aarav was a whole year behind. They were also marketing geniuses, Aarav came from a top school in Chicago, Simone from the Bay Area with a degree in New Media and Internet Marketing. Your small team was responsible for digital promotions, those run online or in commercials. As the team’s Visual Designer, you worked closely with the rest of them to bring their ideas to the screen, however that looked.

So when the Team Lead, Levi, had started making mentions about heading to a new job, he casually tried to gauge your interest over coffee in the first floor cafe. 

But this was shitty timing. How were you supposed to take maternity leave in the first few months in a new job? Would someone fill your spot while you were gone? The questions that started to race through your mind felt overwhelming, so much so that you wished you could reach for the margarita in Aarav’s hand. 

But you didn’t. And you bit your tongue when they asked you again why you weren’t drinking. You didn’t tell them, though you wanted to, that the reason you had to miss work in the afternoon the next day was because you had to sign an NDA, agreeing to keep them and others in the dark about what was sure to be the most wild adventure yet. 

And when you hugged them goodbye in the parking lot, you blinked back tears, hoping that one day, they’d know the truth. 

**

You sent the documents to your mom. She was far from a lawyer, but she was likely the safest option you had. Lexi tried to grab them when you left them on the counter, push some sunglasses on her face and read the biggest words she saw in a posh Transatlantic accent. Both individuals agree that any proceedings will be confidential, she giggled and pretended to rip it up, collapsing on the sofa beside you to watch Netflix before bed. 

It didn’t make much more sense to your mother, either, she sighed over FaceTime and apologized for not being able to help. That was your cue to text Harry. Is there actually someone I could meet with to go over these papers? Aside from Dave?

He set it up--claimed that Jeff found someone easily and then two days later, a woman with short blonde hair stood on your front step, Jeff in tow. 

She sat at your small dining room table--one your mom had tucked away in the basement when you were little--the perfect spot for arts and crafts. You prayed, while your blonde-haired lawyer looked over all the words on the endless pages, that she didn’t notice the paint splotches or pools of glitter that had long been stuck on the dark, stained wood.

You sat there for hours, Lexi came and left twice in the time that the three of you huddled around the papers, Jeff with a baseball cap on as he told you about why these things were important. Rita--who you learned was a connection through Harry’s record label--had already signed an NDA and promised to explain the clauses and constraints in layman's terms. 

So you felt slightly less stupid and insecure walking back into the same conference room Tuesday afternoon, alone on your side of the table. 

Harry was already seated when you arrived, he offered a smile and a nervous scan over your body before you sat across from him. Jeff ended whatever call he’d been on, Dave’s hand immediately extended to receive the manila folder he’d previously sent you home with. 

Another sunny Los Angeles day smiled through the window, Harry’s assistant was nowhere to be seen, the label rep wasn’t there, either. Three against one, this time. 

You didn’t admit it to them, but your hand shook a bit when you reached across the table, handed over the packet of papers that somehow felt like you were giving up freedom, giving up your say in things and like you didn’t even know what you’d now lose. It was all in writing now. You were carrying this baby to term and that was the one thing that would keep Harry in your life, for better or for worse.

The only thing you took solace in was the fact that you had access to Jeff and Glenne, and maybe Rita, now, too. You could ask questions or get clarification over cups of coffee or take out. 

So maybe that explained the calmness in your gut when you sat on top of an exam table in Doctor Weston’s office, Harry pacing nervously in front of you. 

“Can you relax?” You asked, finally letting out the breath you’d been holding for the last few minutes. 

Was it okay for you to say that? You still felt like you were walking on eggshells around him, unsure of what would tick him off and how to react. The truth was that you were still strangers--he was still someone you didn’t know. Someone who had his own pet peeves and his own fears and anxieties. He’d met you in the parking lot, he was already out of his car when you pulled in beside him the next week and met him after work. 

You’re kind of late, he’d said. A frown on his face when he used sunglasses to shield his eyes. 

You’d been in a meeting. You left as soon as you could. Now, he still couldn’t shake the nerves after he’d listed off the things that were keeping him up at night.

“I can’t relax,” he retorted, his words charged. He turned on his feet, hands in the pockets of his jacket. “I have to figure out a lot of stuff right now. And I’m nervous, okay? This is a big day.” He motioned over to the sonogram machine, a box of purple gloves was tucked alongside it. 

“You’re not the one who has to have someone’s fingers in her--you know.”

He rolled his eyes at that, let out a breathy sigh and sat in the chair against the wall. He clasped his hands together but then looked up at you. You wondered if he thought you looked stupid in the blue and white gown the nurse had left for you on the table. You’d locked him out of the room when you changed, now he smirked up at you. 

“Cute dress.”

“Shut up.”

“S’nice!”

“It’s ratty and old and--not very flattering,” you plucked at the fabric with your fingers, looking back at him when he sighed again. 

“M’sorry--I just--I had a meeting with Jeff today and we decided to push the album back.”

You were quiet, the air in the room felt stiff and cold. Goosebumps on your skin when you swallowed back the thought: it was all your fault. 

“I--”

He cut you off before you could string any words together. “S’fine, Y/N, really. Gives me more time to sit on it and plan some music videos and talk about marketing stuff.”

You would have asked more about it. Asked about the songs or the process or anything in between, but the door opened and Dr. Weston smiled when she stepped into the white-tiled room. 

“Hello, hello, how’s mom feeling?”

The m-word got caught in your throat, color drained from your face when Harry looked between you and the doctor. “Good, right, love?” He stood and took two steps over to you, some sort of instinct in him took over, a hand on your back when he realized how frozen you were. “Headaches, she’s said, a funny taste in your mouth, right?”

You nodded.

Dr. Weston sat on the rolling stool and moved towards the sonogram machine, an apologetic smile for the panic she’d caused in you. “Are the headaches helped by something over the counter? Advil? Tylenol?”

“Yeah,” you said. “Advil. Is that alright?”

“Perfectly fine. Just take the recommended dose, no more than it says on the bottle.”

You and Harry both nodded at that--as if he would remember her advice, too. 

“Alright,” she reached for some gloves and looked up at you, eyes wide. “Ready to lean back? The gel will be cold but it will give us a good look at what’s going on in there. This will be the first of many ultrasounds.”

You did as she told, pushed your bum back on the table and let your back rest flush against it. She was right--the gel was sticky and cool and the probe that came from the machine poked at your stomach. You ignored the nervousness that pooled in your chest when you exposed your skin in the room, that last time Harry had seen you like this, it was dark and his vision was likely blurred by the alcohol. 

“Okay,” Dr. Weston’s voice was calm, she moved along your lower stomach for a few seconds, all eyes were glued to the screen. “So, the big dark circle there in your uterus,” she pointed at the screen and clicked something to capture it. “That’s the lining, there, where it turns to a lighter gray.”

Harry nodded, his lips slightly parted as his arms crossed over his chest. 

“And that, the tiny little thing inside of it--” she adjusted the probe again and pointed to the screen, tugging at the whole machine a bit so you could see it more easily. “That’s your baby.”

Quiet for a second, the first time in a while that your pulse slowed and you felt alone again, even if it was just inside your head. The thoughts slowed, your breathing slowed, and Harry’s hip bumped against your arm when he looked down at you. 

There was a small smile on his face. One that looked genuine but slightly terrified at the same time. He pointed towards the screen, “s’right there, that’s it.”

“I see it,” you nodded.

He tilted his head to the side. “It’s more--like a pea now.”

You laughed a little, immediately bringing levity to the room. “It wasn’t going to be an apple seed forever.”

Dr. Weston smiled, rolled away from the machine when you pushed yourself up on your elbows. “Do you want to do a vaginal ultrasound? We can possibly hear the heartbeat that way--obviously less comfortable.”

Harry looked over at you, all you did was nod. She asked you to slide off the hospital shorts you’d tugged on beneath the gown. Harry twisted around to offer privacy, this time, the probe was more uncomfortable and there was a tinge of pink on your cheeks when he turned back to face you, his gaze trailed down to notice Dr. Weston’s hand under the blanket that was now splayed out on your lap.

Quiet for a second, then she smiled. “That sound, the whooshing--that’s the heartbeat. That’s the baby, again,” she pointed. “Right there.”

“Huh,” you said, once again, eyes on the screen and hands clasped over your stomach. Harry looked down at you when Dr. Weston captured the image again. 

“So,” Dr. Weston’s voice was quieter now, she removed the probe and discarded her gloves into the trash. “Still too soon to tell the sex. But--we’ll do another one in about four weeks. If anything changes, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out. You can email me on the patient portal or just call the front desk.”

“Okay.”

“I'll print these for you.”

“Can you print two copies, please?”

She nodded, another reminder of how off track things were from the plan. You ignored the weight on your shoulders, the guilt that passed through your veins when she shut the door behind her and left you alone in the room with him. 

You sat up, the paper crumbled beneath you and Harry stood awkwardly in the center of the room. 

“I, uh--I still haven’t told my family.”

You bit at your lip, unsure. Was it because he was ashamed? Embarrassed? Angry? You didn’t ask.

“I want to, I just--I haven’t seen them in a bit. So. I’m supposed to go home for a while next week.”

You nodded. “You should go.”

“It’s supposed to be for, like, six weeks.”

“That’s fine.”

“No--I’m not--I can’t miss whatever happens.”

“Nothing’s going to happen.”

He pulled his head back, confused by your words. “I don’t think that’s how pregnancy works.”

You stood from the table and hopped down, suddenly much shorter than you felt before, barefoot on the tile. “Just go.”

He let out a sigh. “I might for a week, but, that’s all.”

“You don’t have to do this,” you snapped suddenly. “You don’t have to come to every appointment and act like we’re actually--I don’t know, together, or something. We can still live separate lives.”

“I’m not acting like that,” he said, eyebrows pointed inwards now. “I’m just doing what’s right. I’m in this, too, Y/N.”

You turned around, shimmied the shorts down from your hips and held the gown in place. You grabbed for your underwear on the chair beside his, neatly folded in a pile as if your life wasn’t a mess.

“I think you should do it. Tell them in person.” You pulled up the elastic band over your hips, still keeping the gown close to your body. 

He handed you the black shorts you’d been wearing earlier, the gesture didn’t match the tone of his voice. “Why are you like this?”

“I’m not like anything,” you said, one foot in first, then the other. “I just don’t want you to feel trapped in LA with me. I’m fine.”

You dropped the gown now, holding it to your chest when you turned to reach for your bra. He averted his gaze, stared directly at the vagina poster on the wall. “Right.”

You tugged on your bra quickly, reaching for your shirt and pulling it over your head. “Right what?”

“You’re right. You’re fine. You don’t need me,” a shrug of his shoulders. “Is that what you want me to say?”

“I don’t want you to say anything. I want you to relax.”

“Well I’m sorry that I can’t,” he spoke quickly now, the anger on his face stopped you in your tracks. “But the last thing I need is for you to act like none of this is a big deal.”

You didn’t mean to do it again--you didn’t feel it coming until the tears were already on your cheeks, wet and falling towards the floor. He sighed at that, steadied his own breathing and pinched at the bridge of his nose. 

“I’m sorry,” you said quickly, words broken by the heavy breathing. “It just happens now--I just cry on command.”

He shook his head, watching as you folded the gown neatly on the table, left it there to be discarded by the nurse. “No--I--it’s fine. You can cry as much as you want.”

You turned to look at him, a few breaths to try to steady your pulse. He stepped forward, his arms wrap around your shoulders. You were still for a moment, unsure if you were allowed you let your arms wrap around his waist, or if it would make the crying worse. But you did, and when you did, he leaned down to kiss the top of your head. 

“S’alright. I’ll go home for a week. Then I’ll be back.”

“Okay,” you said. “Okay.”

table of contents | talk to me + join the tag list

author’s note: longer than usual!!! so excited for all of you to read what’s coming! I hope everyone is staying safe and staying home. I wanted to put this chapter out a bit early since I know everyone is (hopefully) stuck inside. keep all of the messages coming i love chatting with all of you about Harry and Y/N and their little apple seed!!!! 

tag list: @stepping-into-the-light @thurhomish @afterstylesmadeit @iconicharry @stylesfics-xx @harryspirate @mellamolayla @harryinsweatersandbandanas @stylesfantasy @clorenafila @mell-love @anssu-amry @yelllowgrass @littlesoldierelleora @styles217 @rachkon @c-h-e-r-r-y-y @myhat  @rosegoldbel @passionate-dreamerr @grammyforstyles @haute-romance-quotidienne@dontgiveupthedayjob @ursamajor603 @craic-head-horan @heavenspidey @talk-british-2-me-britbritharry @blackxxmagicc @winter-soldier-007 @ssllbb @wanderlustiing @jdcharliewhiskey  @caritocp @kaybee87 @wildbeee @hsunflowervol @harrys-medicines @tobe-sogolden @theresnooneheretosave @1d-tommo5 @soullikestyles @mrsfstyles

[sitorrothekitsune]

Aight fine

2, 7, 15, 21, 22, 23, 29, 30, 34, 35(singer), 39, 43, 46, 48, 51, 56, 57, 58, & 64

Answer these

Someone decided they weren’t nice today...

Since Jeff’s asleep I’ll be answering these alone.

Alone? You have me here.

What? You want to answer some?

Why not? Haven’t done it before.

Because there’s a lot here... how about this, you get the next one all to yourself.

Alright...

2- On a scale of 1-5, how scared are you of the dark?- None, anymore. I used to get ptsd from the night, because a mountain lion decapitaded one of my hosts, but it’s gotten better over the years. Especially since I haven’t seen one in half a millennia.

7- What shirt are you wearing?- Don’t tell Jeff but I’m actually wearing one of his merch shirts. The one that has the loaf of bread and the grian face on it. Kinda cute if you ask me.

15- Do you like someone?- Despite how frustrating he can be, I can’t not like Jeff. He is my boyfriend, and he’s a nice guy. He behaves better than some of you too.

21- If you were the opposite sex for one day, what would you look like and what would you do?- I think this question was geared more towards Jeff because I do this all the time anyway. I typically go Caucasian, with a short stature and little muscle. I give myself black hair and gold eyes. I’ve applied to be in the military before, but typically nothing eventful happens, so I start a business afterwards or do mercenary work.

22- Do you have a secret talent?- I don’t think my position permits me to have a ‘secret’ talent, but what most people don’t know is that I’m actually as good with a gun as I am Sun dance, my Katana.

23- What is one unique thing you’re afraid of?- Do intergalactic beings count? There are a few specific races that if we were to clash it would not be a pretty day for civilization.

29- What is your favorite expletive?- None. They each kinda get used equally...

30- Your house is on fire; what is one inanimate object you would save?- Well, realistically I’d just put out the fire, but for the sake of this post, let’s say that I was unable to for whatever reason. In which case, if it wasn’t already on me, I’d grab my father’s amulet. But I almost always have it around my neck even when I’m sleeping. If I had that on me, I’d save my Katana, because I take it off while sleeping. Duh. But, if it was during the day, and I had most everything with me, I’d probably either grab Jeff’s pc (he probably wouldn’t be able to carry it out on his own) or my guns. Just depends on the situation.

34- What was your last dream about?- I don’t remember... sorry! :P

35- Are you a good singer?- Nope... not really.

39- What kind of music to you like?- I like Jazz, Symphony, and “traditional styles” such as the Japanese string music, or African slave songs. Songs that mean something to a group or groups of people.

43- Do you have any Scars?- A few, but not many are skilled enough to land a hit on me. I have one in my left ear, that I got from ducking below a strike, and one across my back that I got after some brat paralyzed me via poison. I may have had other scars, but I either healed them before I realized they were there (I try to keep scars so I remember the battle) or they were two small to warrant remembering.

46- Are you reliable?- I better be. If I’m not I don’t know why I’d be here.

48- Do you hold grudges?- I do, but I try not to act upon them. I’m relatively patient, especially with humans.

51- Are you a good liar?- Nope... not in the least...

56- What do you like on your toast?- Butter. I don’t typically have toast; it’s not good for keeping your shape, but when I’m at a noble’s house or something, I eat it mostly plain.

57- What’s the last thing you drew a picture of?- Moe sometimes asks me to help him with his experiments, and I sometimes have to draw chemical composition.

58- Dream car?- Honestly just give me a Tesla. The Cybertruck seems pretty fun, but the new performance models also seem nice.

64- Opinion on babies?- Eh, they’re cute. They’re hard to take care of, but they’re also your legacy, so like them or not, they’re important.

There you go! That’s everything!

[amoveablejake]

Well, Here We Are

It is time for the obligatory year in review piece, I know, try and contain your excitement. 

Well, here we are. The end of another calendar year. 2020 is drawing to a close and so like many, if not all, journalistic outlets I too will be doing my year in review. Do I count as a journalistic outlet I hear you ask? Yes. I’ve decided that I do. This is my column and I’m going to to pretend that I am a columnist here. And I can’t hear your eye rolls because I’m busy hiding behind my clicking keyboard. 

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about how I wanted to structure my year in review, for instance did I want to go through each category in a classic way and also would I also only speak about things that came out this year. The answer to both, is a no. Instead I am going to present to you my alternative awards for the year. There will still be runners up but the categories may be a little bit all over the place so if you were planning on counting on  a sure thing award winner that might be out the window now. That being said, shall we dive into perhaps the most chaotic awards show you’re going to experience this year. 

The album that I listened to literally on repeat for a week whilst I was working and as result now know ridiculously well. Perhaps too well - Winner: Pink Floyd ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ 

Right. So. Back in April one rainy Monday afternoon I put on ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ to listen to it through in its entirety for the first time. I had heard songs from it before and I was familiar with Pink Floyd’s music before this but this was what sent me down a spiral of their discography, so much so that Spotify have dubbed them my artist of the year based on playtime. Whilst I would not consider them to be my artist of the year, I can’t deny how deep I’ve gone into their library and in particular ‘Dark Side of the Moon’. I quite literally had it playing on repeat for the entirety of that week and now, now I simply don’t know if I ever truly existed before that album. Am I the album? Is the album me? I’m in too deep. 

The best representation of Seattle in a post apocalyptic video game - Winner: ‘The Last of Us Part Two’

Honestly, I know that this category makes it pretty clear that Last of Us was always going to win but that is because if it wasn’t on this list somewhere I think it might have indeed been a federal crime. This year I played both editions of Joel and Ellie’s story pretty much back to back and boy oh boy was that quite the ride. Part Two is a gruesome, grueling, revenge fueled ride that in all honesty is some of the best storytelling I have ever experienced. In any medium. It’s narrative is phenomenal, its game design is unparalleled, the voice acting and soundtrack are both out of this world and the way it looks is breathtaking. It is a game that continuously left me speechless and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I put it down. The fact that Joel looks like my Dad did and wears the same clothes only partly adds to the emotions it makes me feel. Although I won’t pretend the bit where Joel is talking to Ellie didn’t hit me quite hard. But hey, thats the game’s point. Its a story designed to make you feel and oh boy does it achieve that. 

The football player who came out of nowhere to bring life back to my club - Winner: Bruno Fernandes 

It has been a lot ol’ time since I’ve seen a player that I instantly fell for. Bruno Fernandes arrived in Manchester with an already strong reputation but he has completely transformed a team and shows no sign of slowing down. His first twelve months have been unparalleled and the comparisons drawn with a certain other Portuguese player who was worn that red shirt are not only warranted but deserved. 

The band who I’ve been missing all my life: Winner - Niteflyte 

Quite frankly, this is a very hard award to give. There were quite a few front runners however, it has to be Niteflyte. I got introduced to Niteflyte via a podcast about the CIA’s involvement with the soundtrack of the Berlin wall coming down (’Wind Of Change’, listen to it now. Well after you’ve finished reading this piece that is). The podcast only played Niteflyte because one of the figures it was investigating used to manage the band. It was a thirty second sound bite if that and it stopped me in my tracks. I was walking in my old city at the time and I had to stop on the street and find the album the song was from and put it on straight away. I have previously written about Niteflyte and their self titled album on the blog so go back and read that for a more in depth look however, if you take one thing from this it might be that if I was going to give an artist of the year award, lets just say I think I know who it would go to. 

The best motion picture handling of a father that has passed away that I have seen. Ever - Winner: ‘Onward’ 

When I first heard what ‘Onward’ was about I was, hesitant. Any film where a parent particularly a father comes back to life always makes me filled with trepdiation and this was the case when I went to go and watch ‘Onward’ back in March (the last film I saw in the cinema before all of this). Instead, what I found was an incredibly moving and sensitive film about losing a parent that had at its end the best handling of a reunion between father and son that I have ever seen on the big screen. I have watched it a second time since and I still found it to be incredibly well done. ‘Onward’ might well be my film of the year because of it, I’m that impressed. It is also a great film in its own right but hey, I can’t deny why it sticks out in my head. 

The show that keeps on getting better and better: Winner - ‘The Mandalorian’ 

Sigh. Everytime I think that that ‘The Mandalorian’ couldn’t possibly get any better it goes and proves me wrong. This year started off with the finale of series one and it has ended with the conclusion of the second series. It is a masterpiece and for that I don’t want to ruin its ending here. Instead I will say that it does get better and better each week and for this life long die hard Star Wars fan, hell, it might be my favourite Star Wars property. And I know that won’t mean anything to you, but to me, that is saying something. 

Okay, so, I could keep going on and on with these awards however, its the festive period and I don’t want to keep you hanging around too much so instead I am going to include below some honourable mentions with a little sentence about each. 

‘Anxious People’ - If I was to give a book of the year award winner this would be it. In fact its one of my top ten books ever. Its perfection. Read it. Now. 

‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ - Released at the perfect time and all these months later it still captures my heart everytime I go on it. 

‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ soundtrack - Look. I don’t need to make my feelings about this album any clearer. We know I love it and I hope that you’ve listened to it by now and you do too. 

Diego Maradona - The greatest of all time. There’s nothing more to say. 

‘The Prestige’ - Oh boy. I had heard about this film a lot from the IGN UK podcast over the years and it did not disappoint at all. Especially who plays a certain Mr Tesla. That reveal blew me away. 

Joe Exotic - Watching ‘Tiger King’ really felt like event viewing and came along at the perfect time like Animal Crossing. Joe Exotic, I don’t know what to say but he has earned his place on this list thats for sure. 

‘I’ve Got My Second Wind’ - I heard this on one of the early days in January, maybe the second or third and I’ve been listening to it ever since. My song of the year. 

Philippe Auclair - Football journalist and singer. Auclair who features on the Guardian’s Football Weekly podcast regularly is an incredibly articulate speaker and is never afraid to hold the more questionable footballing authorities accountable. One of the writers and figures in football that I look up to the most. Oh and hes an excellent singer. What a man. 

Napoli FC - This was the year that I fell in love with Napoli. Theres no looking back now, I finally found my own team. 

‘Uncharted Four: A Thief’s End’ - The game that showed me, truly, how good games can be. I felt like it was a crime that this game is so perfect. It feels like the inside of my head and I never wanted it to end. 

My brother, James - Look. I know you’re reading this and you more than deserve your place on this list. I was going to give you a proper award but I couldn’t quite get the wording right. Anyway, the point is you’re on the list as you always will be. (And yes, you’re in the same section as Joe Exotic, quite the compliment I know) 

So there we have it. 2020. Hopefully the above gives you something to think about and some things to consume over this festive period before we go again for the new year. This won’t be the final piece for the year but all the same, I hope its a bright 2021 for you, see you in the future. 

- Jake, a man who is immediately re assessing the awards, 27/12/2020

[nancy-kenyablog]

Milk

Milk has become a major issue. Africa drinks chai. Hot creamy weak sweet tea. Here at the museum we drink it and serve it all day long. You get a visitor, you shake hands, you ask how they are and you serve chai. That’s how it’s done. Sometimes you are serving one person and sometimes 20. And of course you must have a cup of chai if they have a cup of chai. This ritual is proving to be milk intensive.

At first we were buying milk in little plastic bags at the store about 45 minutes away. We kept running out and Jessica and I didn’t like the idea of the plastic bags. Everybody we know has at least one cow. Most have many more. So we decided to strike a deal with a local to buy milk from them. This process took several meetings and much negotiation. We thought we had it handled and this week it all seemed to be going smoothly. Children arrived every morning, usually two small groups, with a gourd of milk that was sufficient for a full day. But last night we ran out. When we asked our cook and chai maker why he said that the price we agreed to pay is not sufficient and they are cutting us off. So all of those meetings and negotiations didn’t actually create a workable solution and it’s back to the drawing board.

Some of the problem is probably language issues. Misunderstandings are bound to occur when the parties in question don’t speak the same language and the interpreters have their own agendas. But there is another component and this is the one that keeps coming up in a variety of ways. Scarcity. These people are coming from a place of need and not having and they look at us – white people- as the haves to their have nots. Who could blame them? They aren’t stupid and they aren’t completely unexposed to the wider world. They know about malls and Teslas and fur coats. They sometimes think they want all that stuff. They would at least like the option of having the option. Of course they have no idea what that stuff does to humans. They have no idea how polluting in every way that stuff is. They just know that we represent the world of money and things and they want some of that from us.

The first time I became aware of this was one day after working my ass off at the museum moping floors, picking up trash, washing dishes…… whatever. As we were leaving just before dark I came upon a group of women drinking chai just outside our gate. I felt like collapsing on the spot and begging for an IV drip of the stuff. This was in the beginning of my time here. I was exhausted everyday all day. There was too much to do and I was still recovering from jet lag and all of the inoculations I had to get before I left the states. One of the women asked me if I wanted some chai. I said yes, please and she said 20 bob. I didn’t even know what 20 bob was but I quickly got the drift – money. I didn’t have any money. I had given what I had to Jessica in the morning to buy food to feed the workers. I thought, what the fuck???? I worked my ass off all day AND spent all my money to feed you guys and now I cant get a little cup of chai when I’m ready to pass out…… What kind of world have I ended up in?

I might have continued in that vein if I weren’t so exhausted. Thankfully I just got in the car and tried to relax while we drove 45 minutes on the worst bumpy roads I had ever been on to that point (I’ve been on much worse since) back to our simple little hotel where there wasn’t much but there was a shower and a bed and it was clean and I was grateful. Looking back from my more seasoned perspective I can now see how truly fortunate I was to have that little hotel as a buffer in my first 3 weeks. After that initial honeymoon period we moved into the museum. Now, the museum looks amazing and it is amazing and beautiful and all that a museum is meant to be….. on the surface. But it’s also a pretty tough place to live. We have running water but it’s swamp water and it’s down by the outhouse which is an awful place you never want to go and it’s not that close. We have bugs and bats and monkeys to contend with and now apparently a hyena has shown up. It’s dirty around here. It’s hard to get as clean as I want to get with a sponge bath and a sponge bath is all I ever get. I’m feeling more like a Maasai every day.

But I will never know the scarcity that they live with. I might be getting a taste of Maasai life but I am not Maasai and I have no idea what it is like to have always lived this way. I very nearly gave up in the early days of living in the museum and I could have. I have a backdoor. These people have no options. These are the conditions they live in and there is no way to get to the mall or even the sweet simple little hotel that I had the extreme good fortune of staying in for my first three weeks in Kenya.

It’s easy to fall into a certain “volunteer” mentality. Like I’m here doing CHARITY ya’ll. I’m here on my own dime and I’m actually paying to be here and do all of this work that I am not getting paid for. Shouldn’t you ingrates be thrilled to give me a cup of chai? Shouldn’t these people who this museum was created to serve be thrilled to give us unlimited quantities of milk? We give them chai whenever they visit. Is there no justice?

Well, That’s it for this blog post. I have no answers. I’m doing my best to feel my way through it without judgment. I can see it from their perspective and I know that my perspective counts too. I reckon there will be more meetings and as usual I am thrilled to not be on the hook for decision making above my pay grade. I’m just a volunteer and as such I get the option of bowing out of such high level negotiations.

I’m just hoping that whatever plan is put in place provides me with a cup of chai whenever I want one. Keeping it simple like that helps me to stay focused on what there is to do that I can do and there is plenty of that.

[dustindahusky-blog]

Would Americans buy a Chinese car?

From my view, yes. Here’s why a Chinese car might stick around long enough to catch on with American buyers.

 Cars are pillars of status, privilege, and pride in the USA. The car has truly made its home in our country and to many we often see them as members of the family or a faithful friend. Some like to show off with luxury or sport models or brands to denote their position in their company, neighborhood, or for the thrill of driving something fun or special. Most of us own what I would refer to as a daily driver, a car that gets you to A and B without fuss with creature comforts that make the everyday drive possible and while adding buckets of practically for any adventure. Some own minivans or CUVs/SUVs for hauling stuff around easier or to move large families around with oodles of space. Trucks are great for even bigger hauling and towing things around like boats or trailers of beer or stolen copper wire. However there is a price to pay with all this, depending on brand or model, new or used. Buying a vehicle is quite the important purchase for many. And they aren’t cheap depending on entirely what you’re looking for.  And this is where the Chinese auto manufacturers might have a leg on nearly all brands currently selling in the US. This even includes the value leaders of Kia and Hyundai, who have been known to sell cars at more reasonable prices than their competitors and offer more for what you’re buying.

 Installing a brand into a new market isn’t easy, however we have seen a template in which new guests into the US auto arena have done very well to get anchored in and to weather to storm ahead. At first European brands immediately after WWII have established themselves and have secured a foothold in the US, so did the Japanese in the mid 1960’s and early 1970’s, the Koreans in the late 80’s and early 90’s, and even late newcomers back on American soil like Tesla in the 2010’s have found their way to be taken seriously on the big stage. That successful template is offer something special or affordable in value, or do both. The original Volkswagen Beetle offered affordability, simplicity, and economy that was hard to pass up in the car starved post war era of the late 40’s. So was the Toyota Corona and Corolla of the late 60’s. The Koreans offered the Hyundai Excel that also provided much the same qualities. At the time when they were new, they were “the” disposable car of their time. They did a job well and adequately without many frills, and they were good value for the money for their respected time periods. Even the little Yugo from Socialist Yugoslavia offered the cheapest car in the US that only did the job to get you around town that didn’t get you wet when it rained.  They offered both young people and adults who didn’t have a lot of money to spend or who wanted to buy a new car at second hand car prices, cheap affordable wheels they can take home with.

 Now it’s 2018, and the brands that introduced themselves humbly during their times are now well established with the American buying public. No longer do we look at brands like Toyota, Honda, or Nissan with skeptical views of cheapness or being unpatriotic of not buying domestic, even today the scrutiny of buying Kia and Hyundai products is nearly nonexistent in our day and age because they have continued to up their quality and value game. Much like the many imports before them, we see them no differently than how we see GM, FoCoMo, and Chrysler-Fiat products. Just another quality brand. However now, there is a catch that we now see today, the import brands that came into our country that once touted affordability have now slowly over the passage of time become a tad out of reach for younger buyers. Yes cars are expensive, but most cars you see on dealer lots tend to be more expensive mid and upper trim option levels for most models, and you have to do some digging around to find a new car that is cheap enough to fit within budget needs. And here’s why this affordability is important with the feasibility of seeing Chinese cars in the US market. The average age of a car in the US is 11 years old, which honestly doesn’t sound that bad, though that feels kinda low. I’d feel it’s more like 15 years old, there are still a ton of older cars still rolling about the hills and the back roads. But whatever it is, people are holding on to them for many reasons. Can’t afford a newer car, maybe with plenty of work done a car could be driven for a lot longer, or maybe life priorities don’t call for the purchase of a newer car.

 Now let’s take a look at the Chinese auto industry. The Chinese economy is very much a living example of the Yugoslavian hybrid model of “market socialism”, centralized planning with capitalist competitiveness coexisting well together that promotes more frequent updates or advancements with the goal to sell to the consumer without having industrial or economic waste. Other socialist states didn’t work like this, and how they had vehicle development, marketing, and production was a much more different animal than what is seen in China today. And because of this, China’s automotive industry is has blossomed into many companies producing many models of vehicles for its vast “captive” and export markets. Some companies have properly obtained licensing agreements and their technical packages to produce vehicles, while some others have reverse engineered vehicles to blatantly copy. Their quality ranges from comparable to Western cars we come to expect to just low quality junk that we haven’t seen in cars since the 80’s or 90’s.

 If China makes most of our consumer products, cameras, phones, selfie sticks, appliances, industrial equipment and car parts, why not whole cars. Well China did try to extend into our auto market by selling us the Coda electric sedan on the West coast for only a model year from 2012 to 2013, and selling a dismal 117 units. Quality wasn’t where it should have been for the cost of $40k, and initially scheduled to be launched back in 2010 was held back two years due to lack of developmental time for durability. For the first US market launch of a Chinese made car that designed in 2004 on an older Mitsubishi platform, and an electric car right off the bat, no bite and little positive impression.

 Now for real, let’s say China markets a car brand for the US that passes Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) and fuel economy/emissions standards, they should start with basic affordable cars that people want to buy. It’s a no brainer that the US market for car sales is a huge market on its own, and even other European companies are envisioning a return back to grab a small slice of the market pie. For one, Americans might draw some skepticism to a Chinese car but the idea of buying a compact or even midsized sedan with loads of options for less than $15-20k is a tantalizing prospect and would buy them up like they did the Yugo. The Yugo did alright for staying in the market from 1985 to 1992, selling 142k units. If you can sell ten thousand cars like how Scion began in 2003, you’ll make a good enough foothold in the market, unless you’re Daihatsu. Sorry Daihatsu, maybe a subject for another day.

 What are you going to expect with your Chinese car when you get it. I would expect body panels that don’t align well as they should have, “orange peel” paint finish, interior plastics that look like they won’t last long, sheet metal that might go rusty in a couple years, seat fabric that might rip in not much time, fit and finish overall is generally an afterthought. Again, you’re paying to get pissed off like buying a $3990 Yugo sold new in 1986 (if you could ever find one that sold for that low back then), but remember that you’re buying a set of wheels that’ll get you by for the time being. Much like how people expected Hyundai Excels to be just garbage piles, still preformed the duty of a basic if not agricultural car.  But that would be a worst expectation of what a Chinese car could be. Who knows, maybe if the Chinese are that serious about the US market, they’ll build a separate assembly line like the Zastava factory who built the Yugo for the USDM. Here’s a scary thought, we all know how much of a mixed bag the Yugo was in the US, and to think the ones that made it here were built better on another assembly line meant for our market, I can’t imagine what the Yugoslavian market Yugos were like.

 Much like every cheap and affordable car that introduces itself to our market, expect it to have little to no resale value to speak of, however you’re not really expecting to sell this car if you were looking at buying one. In your situation, you’re buying your first car for the first time or needing a second car, something to get you rolling for the time being. Whether if you’re in college or in highschool, or down on your luck with an older car that kept falling apart. The idea that you could buy a Chinese car for peanuts is something that’ll get the job done, and not care much about what you’re driving. You’re not expecting mind bending performance or luxury, you know what you’re getting into if you do, and the more you accept this the better. I mean no Toyota Corolla was ever sporty in the 70’s, it was the car you bought after the Ford Falcon finally rusted away and you needed to buy something fast so you can still go to night class. And if there were Chinese cars in the market here to buy, I’d buy one to drive it into the ground to either save up for a better car or just to buy another if one wasn’t enough. In the world of millennials sometimes having no credit or shit credit could transpire into a hairy situation of sticking with a rusty 90’s Nissan Sentra affectionately named “Liam Nissan” that eats too much oil or asking your aunt to buy her equally rusty Plymouth Breeze with empty cigarette packs scattered around. You’d rather buy a Chevy Cruze however you’re afraid that one for $10k and 83K miles might end up needing routine maintenance that you couldn’t afford to pull off on the spot and any new Kia Rio found on a dealer lot is still thousands over the mythical minimum sticker price. Hell, if a Chinese car was too expensive brand new, wait a year and you could even get one for sub $6-8k prices, maybe even less.

 Honestly I’m really surprised that the Chinese haven’t entered our market yet, they have entered the European zone and been a huge mainstay in Russia (I guess Ladas aren’t cheap enough for them) for years now. They can range from cheap to really adequate modes of transportation, even something to own for more than you really require of it. The Chinese have been making Audi’s, BMW’s, and Buick’s with huge demands because they have been grand sellers in terms of luxury, and they tend to be of quality similar to their genuine originals. Whatever the Chinese do throw out us someday, we’ll gladly be in open arms for cheaper alternatives to newer, or really used cars. Plus, we Americans love to rip on unknown shitboxes, then in 15 years’ time we are buying them by the thousands. Who would guess in 1966 that Toyota would be producing quality luxury sporty cars under the Lexus brand. In 1995 when Kia would one day be producing a car like the Stinger that is chasing around other RWD sport sedans. In 1992 the Yugo going on to better things….oh wait we ran out of Yugoslavia by then. Mhmmmm we never really did get the Tata Nano here in the states (who remembered when that came out, $3000 car that had a fire problem), even though that there was an interest for a short while. In 1970 Americans wouldn’t expect Datsuns to be called “Datsun by Nissan” in 1984 and just Nissan by 1985. Import brands change and morph in the fluid of time, and many are still here. I wouldn’t be surprised if a Chinese brand turns out to be a good seller in 5-10 years time much like how the other imports started out.

 And apparently on a quick google search, it seems that the Chinese auto company GAC has an interest in joining the US market in late 2019. Under the local Chinese brand name….Trumpchi. They are serious, and honestly their vehicles don’t look that bad either. In fact they would fit right in with this country. They are figuring out a newer name to use in North America. No one is certain how reliable a new Chinese car will be in the states, but if it’s cheap don’t expect it to last forever.

 If you made it this far, hurray! If you like my rambling, you’d like what I’d have in store in the future. If you don’t, well, I’m still going to write it down anyways. :D

 Keep zooming!

[sonderei]

I got bored and answered one of those 100-questions things so if you ever wanted to know a stupid amount of useless information about me read on, otherwise enjoy whatever content is in the next post!

Spotify, SoundCloud, or Pandora? Spotify

is your room messy or clean? my room is a mess, the rest of the apartment is pretty clean

what color are your eyes? brown

do you like your name? why? its grown on me. I used to get teased a lot in school “hey Ariel, where’s your best friend Flounder??” but now I work on Disney property and it’s on my name tag so I get to make a lot of kids (and adults) happy

what is your relationship status? been dating a small mess of a person for 4 years, whom I love dearly 

describe your personality in 3 words or less basically a cat

what color hair do you have? brown, or like a really dirty blonde if I spend enough time in the sun

what kind of car do you drive? color? a black 2013 hyundai accent hatchback (named Jazz)

where do you shop? where I shop: target, forever21, H&M, BoxLunch, Garage where I’d LIKE to shop: ModCloth, ASOS

how would you describe your style? I once bought an oversized Polariod windbreaker and I wear it everywhere I can??? I also love passive aggressive crop tops (”no thanks”) I wore it to a mandatory meeting at work at 9am and any time my managers asked me a question I just pointed to my shirt. So idk that should tell you something

favorite social media account I think I enjoy Instagram and Tumblr equally?

what size bed do you have? queen

any siblings? one full brother (5 years younger), one half brother on my dad’s side (13 years younger), and one half sister on my mom’s side (18 years younger). 

if you can live anywhere in the world where would it be? why? idk because I haven’t traveled anywhere I’d actually like to live. I love the idea of living northwest US (Seattle, Portland) or in NZ or like Scotland or somewhere with beautiful scenery but like...never been so can’t say for sure?

favorite snapchat filter? flower crown

favorite makeup brand(s) NYX is pretty much all I use but I also do like bare minimum with my makeup

how many times a week do you shower? typically every other day unless I’m super gross

favorite tv show? too hard. Steven Universe, Game of Thrones, A:TLA, and Adventure Time?

shoe size? 7-8 depending on who makes them

how tall are you? smol. Like 5′3″ or so? 

sandals or sneakers? sneakers, unless going somewhere involving water and/or sand

do you go to the gym? nah. I’m up and down stairs at least 20 times a day, usually while carrying stuff. that’s my exercise.

describe your dream date sitting in front of the Ocean Voyager exhibit at the Georgia Aquarium all day. like literally that’s it. and my date lets me without asking to move on, and ideally enjoys it as much as I do.

how much money do you have in your wallet at the moment? uhhh like $25 because that’s how much you have to have to open a new bank account which I’ve been meaning to do for like two weeks now

what color socks are you wearing? not wearing any, but I was wearing shark socks all day

how many pillows do you sleep with? just one, super soft and squishy

do you have a job? what do you do? I'm a server at a restaurant in Disney Springs at Walt Disney World. Its challenging and often frustrating and stressful but I get to meet some really cool people so it evens out. (Pat Sajak from Wheel of Fortune was in last week, I didn’t ask him if I could buy a vowel because I have some dignity)

how many friends do you have? like true friends, would drop everything for me if I asked them / needed them to? I’d say 3. But my social group is like...maybe 10 people? That I actively try to hang out with semi regularly.

whats the worst thing you have ever done? I honestly don’t even know. I forgot a woman’s ketchup last week at work and apparently I ruined her entire Disney vacation so

whats your favorite candle scent? usually anything with jasmine, so long as it isn’t overpowering

3 favorite boy names Nathaniel, Sebastian, Milo 

3 favorite girl names Riley, Maisie, Phoebe

favorite actor? robert downey jr probs

favorite actress? tessa thompson?

who is your celebrity crush? ugh. tom holland, tessa thompson, rdj? 

favorite movie? Spirited Away or Howl’s Moving Castle

do you read a lot? whats your favorite book? I used to, before I worked at a bookstore. For some reason that killed my love for reading. But favorite books were the Bartimaeus Trilogy and Abarat.

money or brains? brains

do you have a nickname? what is it? Skip (long story short, its a Cabin Pressure reference because I’ve always wanted to be a pilot)

how many times have you been to the hospital? for myself? 5? maybe 6?

top 10 favorite songs in no particular order Evolve by Phoria Put ‘Em Up by Priority Cleopatra by The Lumineers Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man Miracle by CHVRCHES Dissolve by Absofacto Taro by alt-J Lavender by Two Door Cinema Club Dinosaurs by The Maccabees Ambling Alp by Yeasayer

do you take any medications daily? nope

what is your skin type? (oily, dry, etc) ehh a bit on the oily side

what is your biggest fear? losing the ones I love

how many kids do you want? NONE ZERO NADA ZIP ZILCH FUCK NO

whats your go to hair style? pull it back, messy bun if possible

what type of house do you live in? (big, small, etc) a p small apartment (but not tiny, I think it’s like 800-900 sq ft)

who is your role model? Steve Irwin

what was the last compliment you received? a guest at one of my tables told me I looked like one of the recent Bond girls

what was the last text you sent? bailing on a few friends who were going to Blizzard Beach because I was exhausted from having my dad in town for the last two days so I wanted to sleep

how old were you when you found out santa wasn’t real? like 2 or 3. not very old

what is your dream car? realistic? a nice Subaru or Audi. Maybe a Tesla unrealistic? bugatti veyron

opinion on smoking? cigarettes? ew gross not around me also poor life choices weed? don’t care, just not around me please and thanks my other half is allergic

do you go to college? I did, graduated two years ago, still haven’t done anything with my life / degree

what is your dream job? anything working directly with animals, especially marine mammals, big cats, or non-venomous reptiles

would you rather live in rural areas or the suburbs? big city. right in the middle of it.

do you take shampoo and conditioner bottles from hotels? not usually, I have specific stuff I use for my hair that’s a lot nicer than the stuff at hotels

do you have freckles? not like a ton but yeah

do you smile for pictures? if I feel like it? also depends on who’s taking the picture

how many pictures do you have on your phone? I’d say somewhere in the realm of like 650-800?

have you ever peed in the woods? yep, used to go camping a lot as a kid

do you still watch cartoons? hell yeah, I usually prefer them to anything else. Steven Universe, Adventure Time, Voltron, A:TLA, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends...that shit is my jam

do you prefer chicken nuggets from Wendy’s or McDonalds? mmmm Wendys but I usually don’t get c nugs from anywhere

Favorite dipping sauce? chick fil a sauce or ranch

what do you wear to bed? just underwear

have you ever won a spelling bee? no but I came close in middle school

what are your hobbies? not many tbh. I have a few reptiles that I take care of. I collect / trade Disney pins. I love swimming but don’t do it all that often. Uhhh...seeing how many times I can ride Kilamonjaro Safari in a row before the cast members begin to judge me?

can you draw? not really, no

do you play an instrument? nope, I can’t even read music and I can barely hum

what was the last concert you saw? uhhhh...I think Death Cab for Cutie and CHVRCHES?

tea or coffee? tea

Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts? Starbucks for drinks, Dunkin for food (donutssssss)

do you want to get married? yeah, eventually. I told the SO that ideally before I’m 30 and that we’re not having a wedding but we’re gonna elope instead because fuck weddings I don’t have the money for that or the patience to plan it

what is your crush’s first and last initial? not really a crush but more of a “current-and-potentially-forever life partner” but DU

are you going to change your last name when you get married? no idea. D wants to change their last name but idk if they’d take mine or they’d just change it to their middle name and then I’d take that? honestly it doesn’t really matter to me each way so long as I don’t get their current last name (because of bad associations)

what color looks best on you? no idea honestly. I prefer dark, muted blues?

do you miss anyone right now? my parents and siblings, and two of my best friends

do you sleep with your door open or closed? open, otherwise the cats would never let us sleep

do you believe in ghosts? nah, not really. I grew up in a town that had a bunch of history and by extension ghost stories, so it was more a part of “tourist culture” than something that seemed legitimate to me

what is your biggest pet peeve? I never know until someone starts doing it around me. but uhhhh I hate loud chewers, people that refuse to even try to see your side of an argument, and when you’re sitting somewhere in public like on a bench or something and there’s plenty of other empty seating options nearby and yet someone comes up and sits RIGHT NEXT TO YOU nope you know what that’s it I fucking hate that and it happens to me all the time at Disney

last person you called` I think my mom?

favorite ice cream flavor? cookies and cream, unless I’m at one of those places where you can basically make your own flavor in which case I will ALWAYS do a rose-infused ice cream with pistachios 

regular oreos or golden oreos? please don’t make me choose

chocolate or rainbow sprinkles? rainbow!

what shirt are you wearing? not wearing one ;)

what is your phone background? just a basic stock photo of some ferns. kinda boring but I like simple backgrounds

are you outgoing or shy? its pretty even but if I had to say one over the other I’m probably slightly more outgoing than I am shy.

do you like it when people play with your hair? only people I know and allow. don’t just come up and start playing with my hair unless you KNOW that I’d be okay with it

do you like your neighbors? haven’t met them! we moved in like a month ago but we still haven’t seen anyone that lives on our floor

do you wash your face? at night? in the morning? if I remember, but honestly I’m really bad about doing it unless I’m in the shower in which case it’s every time I take a shower

have you ever been high? nope

have you ever been drunk? sadly no. I have a ridiculously high natural alcohol tolerance, so I get sick to my stomach before I can even manage tipsy.

last thing you ate? pizzaaaaaaa

favorite lyrics right now idek and that’s a lot of effort so sorry here’s me “free pass” I’m using it on this question next

summer or winter? ugh winter always I can’t stand the heat there’s only so many layers you can take off

day or night? night

dark, milk, or white chocolate? milk or white. milk for straight eating, white for flavoring other things

favorite month? october

what is your zodiac sign leo!

who was the last person you cried in front of? my significant other

[grassroutes]

Maxoak Bluetti AC100 Keeps You Powered Up, No Matter What

Our verdict of the Maxoak Bluetti AC100: It doesn't have the power of its larger siblings, but the Maxoak Bluetti AC100 has more than enough to keep your most vital electronics running when you need them.910

The world is an unpredictable place, so you never know when you might need a solid source of portable power. You may have a power outage in your area or you could have a downed wire from a storm. Maybe you’re just going on a camping trip but can’t do without a specific modern convenience.

We’ve previously looked at portable power supplies from Maxoak’s Bluetti line and were impressed with what they had to offer. That said, not everyone needs a big ultra-powerful pseudo-generator. When you just need to power a few household electronics, the Maxoak Bluetti AC100 will get the job done, and it’s just light enough to make it luggable.

Join us as we take a closer look at the Maxoak Bluetti AC100, and scroll down for an exclusive coupon code!

Specifications

Inputs: AC adapter or solar panel (16V-40V 10A)

Outputs: 2x AC sockets, 4x 5V USB 2.1A ports, 1 x 45W PD USB-C, 1 x 12V 9A car port

Total capacity: 1000Wh

Maximum continuous power: 600W

Battery technology: Lithium-Ion

AC Charge time: 10 hours

Solar charge time: Variable (higher power panels mean shorter recharge times); panels not included

Maxoak Bluetti AC100 Maxoak Bluetti AC100 Buy Now On Amazon $899.99

Build & Design

The Maxoak Bluetti AC100 might be smaller than some others in the Bluetti line, but it isn’t exactly tiny, nor is it light. The size is slightly bigger than a car battery and weighs in at 34.4 pounds (15.6 kg).

While most of that weight comes from the internal lithium-ion battery, a significant portion of it comes from the build. This is a sturdy power source, with a handle for easy carrying. It feels like it could handle a drop from a few feet, but I wouldn’t want to find out the hard way.

The battery may be tough, but it does have its weak points. The biggest of these is that it isn’t waterproof. This isn’t a problem if you’re keeping the AC100 around for power outages, but it means you’ll need to be careful if you bring it on a camping trip.

Features

Functionality is simple: just press the power button on the front, then tap the AC or DC buttons on the front to enable power to the ports. You can use both at the same time, but the individual switches make it easy to route power only to where you need it. You’ll be using both switches often, because aside from the two AC sockets on one side, every other port provides DC power.

One extra bit of functionality comes from the built-in light. Turn on the battery, then tap the light button and you’ve got an extremely heavy, largely unwieldy light source. That said, this may be handy when it comes to plugging devices into the Bluetti AC100 during a power outage.

The built-in display is easy to read, both inside and outside. As with the Maxoak Bluetti 1500Wh, the five-segment battery indicator doesn’t give you a good idea of how much power is left. That said, this is the only poor aspect of the display. Being able to see exactly how much power is discharging at any given time is useful.

Charging the Battery

The Maxoak Bluetti AC100 arrived mostly charged, so I had quite a lot of work to do before I could charge it to see how long it took. Given the capacity of the battery, this took longer than I’d initially planned.

There are two ways to charge the Bluetti AC100, one of which is standard AC power from a wall outlet. An AC adapter is included in the box, which makes this easy.

As this is such a large battery, you’ll need a while to charge it — roughly 10 to 11 hours, in fact. In my case, charging took around nine hours, but this is because I didn’t entirely run out the battery before plugging it in to charge over the course of a day.

The other option for charging the Bluetti AC100, and largely one of the more novel reasons for opting for this power source over others, is using a solar panel. You can use plenty of solar panels, as long as it provides a working voltage of between 16V and 40V at a max of 10A. A DC to MC4 charging cable is included in the box.

I had hoped to have a solar panel on hand to test this feature, but that was not to be the case. If you’re interested in charging via solar panel, see our review of the Maxoak Bluetti 1500Wh Backup Solar Generator, which has a 50% larger capacity than Bluetti AC100.

Solar power is great, but not exactly known for being predictable, as so much is reliant on the weather. How fast the AC100 charges depends partly on your solar panel and partly on how the weather is while you’re charging.

Powering Up Your Home

You can power anything with the AC100, as long as it doesn’t draw more than 600 watts. This means that it easily powers TVs, computers, coffee grinders, and more. Maxoak even advertises using the Bluetti AC100 to power a car fridge or mini-fridge.

That said, the AC100 won’t power every home appliance. Microwaves, toaster ovens, kettles, or even a slow cooker, typically all draw more than 600 watts.

Fortunately, you don’t need to worry about accidentally plugging in something with too big of a draw. The AC100 has built-in protection against overcharge, overcurrent, overvoltage, and overheating.

I wasn’t it to provide much fo a challenge, but for initial testing, I plugged a Marshall guitar amplifier from the mid-1980s into the Bluetti AC100, which draws around 50-watt. As expected the AC100 had no problem powering the amp, but there was a strange noise in the background. I’m going to blame this on the amp being a solid-state amp that is around 35 years old rather than the Bluetti.

Just to make sure that the AC100 didn’t have any significant issues with noise, I next decided to power my home audio setup. This includes an Audio-Technica turntable, a hybrid tube integrated amplifier, cassette deck, and input switcher. The Bluetti AC100 easily powered everything, and I noticed no noise. Everything sounded exactly as it was plugged into the wall outlet.

How Long Does the Battery Last?

Unlike laptop power banks, which Maxoak also makes, it can be hard to predict how long the battery will last unless you know how much power you’re drawing. Fortunately, the readouts on the built-in display make this part easy.

Once you know how much power you’re drawing, you can figure out how long the battery will last. This model has 1,000 Wh (watt-hours) of capacity, which simply means that drawing 1 watt continuously would get you roughly 1,000 hours of power. If you’re drawing a total of around 100 watts at a given time, you can expect roughly 10 hours.

This formula works, but you won’t always be working with neat units of 10 or 100. Still, the Maxoak Bluetti AC100 performed as expected, delivering power for roughly as long as I expected. It’s important to note that power usage will fluctuate in most cases, so you’ll want to keep your eye on usage for a while. If you want to be safe, just base your estimate on the highest number you see.

I tested the Bluetti AC100 with my home theater setup that included an LCD TV, 5.1-channel receiver, powered subwoofer, and Ultra HD Blu-ray player. All of this only displayed a load of around 100 watts, even during playback, so I could have expected around 10 hours of playtime. I didn’t feel like watching TV for 10 hours, but after finishing a roughly 2.5 hour movie, the AC100 had drained at the rate I had expected.

Should You Buy the Maxoak Bluetti AC100?

The Maxoak Bluetti AC100 is a great example of a product that clearly describes what it aims to do and then does just that. While it’s not as powerful as other products in the Bluetti line, it’s still powerful enough to keep a fair amount of electronics running. The occasional slightly gimmicky feature like the built-in light don’t do anything to take away from that.

The more important thing to consider when looking at the Bluetti AC100 is whether it does what you need. It’s handy how powerful this power bank is, but that doesn’t mean much if you’re aiming to power your toaster and this won’t handle it. While the AC100 will handle most things you throw at it, its portability does come with a slight tradeoff of sheer power.

Maxoak Bluetti AC100 Maxoak Bluetti AC100 Buy Now On Amazon $899.99

If you need just slightly more than what the Bluetti AC100 can provide, you might be interested in one of the more powerful models in the Bluetti line. On the other hand, if you’re looking to power your entire home or even a portion of it, no product like this will meet your demands. Instead, you’re probably in the market for a diesel-powered generator or Tesla Powerwall.

This level power and portability doesn’t come cheap, but you aren’t necessarily stuck paying the Bluetti’s $900 MSRP. Using the coupon code bluetti108, you can get a further $108 off the purchase price (and there’s an Amazon coupon for $50 on the sales page this can be combined with), which may be a large enough difference in price to make this a worthwhile investment.

Enter the Competition!

Maxoak Bluetti AC100 Battery Backup

Read the full article: Maxoak Bluetti AC100 Keeps You Powered Up, No Matter What

Maxoak Bluetti AC100 Keeps You Powered Up, No Matter What posted first on grassroutespage.blogspot.com

[toomanysinks]

Pi Day wasn’t pleasant for a lot of tech execs

Pi Day is apparently New Job day for tech execs and VCs these days.

Leaving: Lee Fixel

It’s not every day that one of the top VC investors heads out from their shop. TechCrunch’s @cookie aka Connie Loizos has the story:

Lee Fixel, the low-flying head of Tiger Global’s private equity business, is leaving at the end of June, the firm announced today in a letter sent to clients and seen by Reuters . Scott Shleifer and Chase Coleman will continue as co-managers of the portfolios Fixel has overseen, with Shleifer taking over as its head, according to the letter.

Fixel, 39, is reportedly planning to invest his own money and “may start an investment firm in the future,” Tiger Global wrote in the letter.

Tiger Global has become a major force in late-stage investing. As I wrote last fall, it is also part of a small coterie of investment firms which have pushed their portfolio companies to IPO with reasonable speed (the other firm I noted at the time was Benchmark).

One challenge for Tiger has been the rise of the SoftBank Vision Fund, which has driven up valuations for startups and has almost certainly complicated the return profile of many of Tiger’s investments. The two also share a penchant for investing internationally, where Tiger had almost a monopoly position before the Vision Fund burst on the scene.

Another wrinkle worth tracking is the increasing opposition of Indian founders to both Tiger (and specifically Fixel) and SoftBank. As I wrote in the newsletter just a few weeks ago:

There is a clear lack of trust between India’s startup and venture communities, which ultimately threatens the sustainability and growth outlook of the country’s tech sector.

But a solution to the problem is not so cut and dry. Mega growth funds like SoftBank and Tiger Global have given limited control to their Indian portfolio companies and have forced their hands on numerous occasions. Yet Ola’s avoidance of SoftBank has led to lower valuations and more difficult and lengthier fundraising processes.

Leaving: Chris Cox & Chris Daniels

Facebook’s chief product officer is leaving along with Chris Daniels, the VP of WhatsApp. TechCrunch’s Josh Constine summarized the situation:

The changes solidify that Facebook is entering a new era as it chases the trend of feed sharing giving way to private communication. Cox and Daniels may feel they’ve done their part advancing Facebook’s product, and that the company needs renewed energy as it shifts from a relentless growth focus to keeping its users loyal while learning to monetize a new from of social networking.

There has been much ink spilled here about what this all means strategically, but I do think that there are no good times for prominent 13-year and 8-year veterans to leave their positions. Zuckerberg seems ready to begin a whole new era for Facebook, and perhaps neither wanted to make the multi-year commitment that his new vision entails.

That, or Cox unplugged the servers yesterday.

Leaving (America): Jay Jorgensen

A very rare move from the United States to Korea for a senior exec, from TechCrunch’s Catherine Shu:

Coupang, the unicorn that is defining e-commerce in Korea, announced today that it has hired Jay Jorgensen, Walmart’s former global chief ethics and compliance officer, to serve as its general counsel and chief compliance officer. Jorgensen will relocate to Seoul for the position.

Founded in 2010, with a total of $3.4 billion raised from investors, including SoftBank, and a valuation of $9 billion, Coupang currently operates only in Korea, where it is the largest e-commerce player, but has offices in Seoul, Beijing, Los Angeles, Mountain View, Seattle and Shanghai.

Coupang has been the outlier success of the Korean startup ecosystem for the past few years. The company’s founder, Bom Kim, who holds a bachelor’s and an MBA from Harvard, has worked to apply American management models to Coupang, attempting to eschew the insular culture typical of Korea’s technology companies. Clearly, that vision is drawing international talent.

Staying: Zachary Kirkhorn

Tesla is getting some financial help from itself, from TechCrunch’s Kirsten Korosec:

The automaker officially tapped as its next chief financial officer Zachary Kirkhorn, a longtime employee who has been part of the automaker’s finance team for nine years, according to securities filings posted Thursday. The automaker also appointed Vaibhav Taneja, who led the integration of Tesla and SolarCity’s accounting teams, as its chief accounting officer. Taneja, who will report to Kirkhorn, will oversee corporate financial reporting, global accounting functions and personnel.

No telling whether Kirkhorn knows how to blow a whistle though….

No Longer Admitted: Bill McGlashan

Sometimes when you venture to make an investment, it doesn’t always pan out, from Maggie Fitzgerald at CNBC:

TPG’s Bill McGlashan was fired from the private equity firm on Thursday amid the massive college cheating scandal.

McGlashan, 55, has been terminated for cause from his positions with TPG and Rise effective immediately.

“After reviewing the allegations of personal misconduct in the criminal complaint, we believe the behavior described to be inexcusable and antithetical to the values of our entire organization,” said a TPG spokesperson.

McGlashan founded TPG Growth, which has had a litany of successes investing in later-stage startups such as Airbnb.

Leaving (but not by choice): Bird employees

Once high-flying and now somewhat not as high-flying scooter startup Bird announced that it was laying off around 40 employees. From TechCrunch’s Megan Rose Dickey:

“As we establish local service centers and deeper roots in cities where we provide service, we have shifting geographic workforce needs,” a Bird spokesperson told TechCrunch. “We are expanding our employee bases in locations that match our growing operations around the world, while developing an efficient operating structure at our Santa Monica headquarters. The recent events are a reflection of shifting geographical needs and our annual talent review process.”

I hope they flip them the Bird on the way out.

India fintech and the growing proxy war between global tech giants

Photo by anand purohit via Getty Images

Written by Arman Tabatabai

South African media conglomerate and investment giant Naspers is reportedly planning to invest $1 billion in India this year.

According to reports earlier this week, Naspers is looking towards India’s budding fintech market in particular to unload the fresh pile of dough it’s sitting on after recently lowering its stake in Tencent and cashing out on Walmart’s $16 billion acquisition of portfolio company Flipkart last year.

The fintech heavy thesis directionally makes sense in the context of Naspers’ broader strategy. Naspers has openly discussed its attraction to India’s financial services market and the company already has an established footprint in the region as the owner of payments platform PayU.

That said, the amount Naspers is reportedly looking to gift in just one year is astounding. Indian fintech startups saw around $2.6 billion of investment in 2018 according to Pitchbook. Naspers’ investment alone would represent a 40% spike in India’s total fintech venture capital.

Though one billion dollars in one year may seem ambitious, Naspers has proven it’s not afraid to pour billions into India and emerging verticals, having just led a $1 billion round in Indian food delivery startup Swiggy only a few months ago.

More importantly, Naspers’ push shows that the company is seriously doubling down in the escalating competition to become the dominant force in India’s booming fintech ecosystem. As we discussed in our recent conversation with Billionaire Raj author James Crabtree, India’s financial system is ripe for disruption. With secular tailwinds like growing mobile penetration and financial literacy, innovative financial models in India have begun leap-frogging traditional institutions, with Google and Boston Consulting Group even forecasting that the market for digital payments in India would reach $500 billion in size by 2020.

And many have taken notice — the number of fintech investments in India has grown at a 200%-plus compound annual growth rate over the last five years, according to data from Pitchbook, as leading investors and global tech powerhouses all battle to become the layer of financial infrastructure on which the future Indian economy sits.

A recent deep dive in the WSJ highlighted how crowded the ongoing fight for Indian payments dominance has become in the context of Paytm, an Indian startup that received a $1.4 billion investment from venture behemoth SoftBank:

The Indian market is one worth fighting for, with hundreds of millions of Indians getting online and starting to transact for the first time, thanks to plummeting prices for mobile data and smartphones.

Digital payments in India are soaring” and “set to explode,” Credit Suisse said in a February research note. They should rise nearly five times to $1 trillion by 2023, the report said…

…Meanwhile, it isn’t just Google and WhatsApp challenging Paytm . Indian e-commerce titan Flipkart, in which Walmart Inc. bought a controlling stake for $16 billion earlier this year, has a popular payments service called PhonePe. Amazon.com Inc. has its own payments service and two of India’s biggest telecom players, Bharti Airtel Ltd. and Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., offer digital wallets, as well.”

Next to peers like Alibaba, SoftBank, or Google, Naspers can often seem like the biggest tech company no one has ever heard of. But if its latest swan dive into India can help Naspers strike gold — as it did with its early investment in Tencent — it might just become the company powering the next economies of the world.

Thanks

To every member of Extra Crunch: thank you. You allow us to get off the ad-laden media churn conveyor belt and spend quality time on amazing ideas, people, and companies. If I can ever be of assistance, hit reply, or send an email to danny@techcrunch.com.

This newsletter is written with the assistance of Arman Tabatabai from New York

source https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/15/pi-day-was-a-bloodbath-for-tech-execs/

[fmservers]

Pi Day wasn’t pleasant for a lot of tech execs

Pi Day is apparently New Job day for tech execs and VCs these days.

Leaving: Lee Fixel

It’s not every day that one of the top VC investors heads out from their shop. TechCrunch’s @cookie aka Connie Loizos has the story:

Lee Fixel, the low-flying head of Tiger Global’s private equity business, is leaving at the end of June, the firm announced today in a letter sent to clients and seen by Reuters . Scott Shleifer and Chase Coleman will continue as co-managers of the portfolios Fixel has overseen, with Shleifer taking over as its head, according to the letter.

Fixel, 39, is reportedly planning to invest his own money and “may start an investment firm in the future,” Tiger Global wrote in the letter.

Tiger Global has become a major force in late-stage investing. As I wrote last fall, it is also part of a small coterie of investment firms which have pushed their portfolio companies to IPO with reasonable speed (the other firm I noted at the time was Benchmark).

One challenge for Tiger has been the rise of the SoftBank Vision Fund, which has driven up valuations for startups and has almost certainly complicated the return profile of many of Tiger’s investments. The two also share a penchant for investing internationally, where Tiger had almost a monopoly position before the Vision Fund burst on the scene.

Another wrinkle worth tracking is the increasing opposition of Indian founders to both Tiger (and specifically Fixel) and SoftBank. As I wrote in the newsletter just a few weeks ago:

There is a clear lack of trust between India’s startup and venture communities, which ultimately threatens the sustainability and growth outlook of the country’s tech sector.

But a solution to the problem is not so cut and dry. Mega growth funds like SoftBank and Tiger Global have given limited control to their Indian portfolio companies and have forced their hands on numerous occasions. Yet Ola’s avoidance of SoftBank has led to lower valuations and more difficult and lengthier fundraising processes.

Leaving: Chris Cox & Chris Daniels

Facebook’s chief product officer is leaving along with Chris Daniels, the VP of WhatsApp. TechCrunch’s Josh Constine summarized the situation:

The changes solidify that Facebook is entering a new era as it chases the trend of feed sharing giving way to private communication. Cox and Daniels may feel they’ve done their part advancing Facebook’s product, and that the company needs renewed energy as it shifts from a relentless growth focus to keeping its users loyal while learning to monetize a new from of social networking.

There has been much ink spilled here about what this all means strategically, but I do think that there are no good times for prominent 13-year and 8-year veterans to leave their positions. Zuckerberg seems ready to begin a whole new era for Facebook, and perhaps neither wanted to make the multi-year commitment that his new vision entails.

That, or Cox unplugged the servers yesterday.

Leaving (America): Jay Jorgensen

A very rare move from the United States to Korea for a senior exec, from TechCrunch’s Catherine Shu:

Coupang, the unicorn that is defining e-commerce in Korea, announced today that it has hired Jay Jorgensen, Walmart’s former global chief ethics and compliance officer, to serve as its general counsel and chief compliance officer. Jorgensen will relocate to Seoul for the position.

Founded in 2010, with a total of $3.4 billion raised from investors, including SoftBank, and a valuation of $9 billion, Coupang currently operates only in Korea, where it is the largest e-commerce player, but has offices in Seoul, Beijing, Los Angeles, Mountain View, Seattle and Shanghai.

Coupang has been the outlier success of the Korean startup ecosystem for the past few years. The company’s founder, Bom Kim, who holds a bachelor’s and an MBA from Harvard, has worked to apply American management models to Coupang, attempting to eschew the insular culture typical of Korea’s technology companies. Clearly, that vision is drawing international talent.

Staying: Zachary Kirkhorn

Tesla is getting some financial help from itself, from TechCrunch’s Kirsten Korosec:

The automaker officially tapped as its next chief financial officer Zachary Kirkhorn, a longtime employee who has been part of the automaker’s finance team for nine years, according to securities filings posted Thursday. The automaker also appointed Vaibhav Taneja, who led the integration of Tesla and SolarCity’s accounting teams, as its chief accounting officer. Taneja, who will report to Kirkhorn, will oversee corporate financial reporting, global accounting functions and personnel.

No telling whether Kirkhorn knows how to blow a whistle though….

No Longer Admitted: Bill McGlashan

Sometimes when you venture to make an investment, it doesn’t always pan out, from Maggie Fitzgerald at CNBC:

TPG’s Bill McGlashan was fired from the private equity firm on Thursday amid the massive college cheating scandal.

McGlashan, 55, has been terminated for cause from his positions with TPG and Rise effective immediately.

“After reviewing the allegations of personal misconduct in the criminal complaint, we believe the behavior described to be inexcusable and antithetical to the values of our entire organization,” said a TPG spokesperson.

McGlashan founded TPG Growth, which has had a litany of successes investing in later-stage startups such as Airbnb.

Leaving (but not by choice): Bird employees

Once high-flying and now somewhat not as high-flying scooter startup Bird announced that it was laying off around 40 employees. From TechCrunch’s Megan Rose Dickey:

“As we establish local service centers and deeper roots in cities where we provide service, we have shifting geographic workforce needs,” a Bird spokesperson told TechCrunch. “We are expanding our employee bases in locations that match our growing operations around the world, while developing an efficient operating structure at our Santa Monica headquarters. The recent events are a reflection of shifting geographical needs and our annual talent review process.”

I hope they flip them the Bird on the way out.

India fintech and the growing proxy war between global tech giants

Photo by anand purohit via Getty Images

Written by Arman Tabatabai

South African media conglomerate and investment giant Naspers is reportedly planning to invest $1 billion in India this year.

According to reports earlier this week, Naspers is looking towards India’s budding fintech market in particular to unload the fresh pile of dough it’s sitting on after recently lowering its stake in Tencent and cashing out on Walmart’s $16 billion acquisition of portfolio company Flipkart last year.

The fintech heavy thesis directionally makes sense in the context of Naspers’ broader strategy. Naspers has openly discussed its attraction to India’s financial services market and the company already has an established footprint in the region as the owner of payments platform PayU.

That said, the amount Naspers is reportedly looking to gift in just one year is astounding. Indian fintech startups saw around $2.6 billion of investment in 2018 according to Pitchbook. Naspers’ investment alone would represent a 40% spike in India’s total fintech venture capital.

Though one billion dollars in one year may seem ambitious, Naspers has proven it’s not afraid to pour billions into India and emerging verticals, having just led a $1 billion round in Indian food delivery startup Swiggy only a few months ago.

More importantly, Naspers’ push shows that the company is seriously doubling down in the escalating competition to become the dominant force in India’s booming fintech ecosystem. As we discussed in our recent conversation with Billionaire Raj author James Crabtree, India’s financial system is ripe for disruption. With secular tailwinds like growing mobile penetration and financial literacy, innovative financial models in India have begun leap-frogging traditional institutions, with Google and Boston Consulting Group even forecasting that the market for digital payments in India would reach $500 billion in size by 2020.

And many have taken notice — the number of fintech investments in India has grown at a 200%-plus compound annual growth rate over the last five years, according to data from Pitchbook, as leading investors and global tech powerhouses all battle to become the layer of financial infrastructure on which the future Indian economy sits.

A recent deep dive in the WSJ highlighted how crowded the ongoing fight for Indian payments dominance has become in the context of Paytm, an Indian startup that received a $1.4 billion investment from venture behemoth SoftBank:

The Indian market is one worth fighting for, with hundreds of millions of Indians getting online and starting to transact for the first time, thanks to plummeting prices for mobile data and smartphones.

Digital payments in India are soaring” and “set to explode,” Credit Suisse said in a February research note. They should rise nearly five times to $1 trillion by 2023, the report said…

…Meanwhile, it isn’t just Google and WhatsApp challenging Paytm . Indian e-commerce titan Flipkart, in which Walmart Inc. bought a controlling stake for $16 billion earlier this year, has a popular payments service called PhonePe. Amazon.com Inc. has its own payments service and two of India’s biggest telecom players, Bharti Airtel Ltd. and Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., offer digital wallets, as well.”

Next to peers like Alibaba, SoftBank, or Google, Naspers can often seem like the biggest tech company no one has ever heard of. But if its latest swan dive into India can help Naspers strike gold — as it did with its early investment in Tencent — it might just become the company powering the next economies of the world.

Thanks

To every member of Extra Crunch: thank you. You allow us to get off the ad-laden media churn conveyor belt and spend quality time on amazing ideas, people, and companies. If I can ever be of assistance, hit reply, or send an email to danny@techcrunch.com.

This newsletter is written with the assistance of Arman Tabatabai from New York

Via Danny Crichton https://techcrunch.com

[topicprinter]

This is a follow up on the post that /u/FBAThrow made "Step by Step Guide on How to Manufacture Products in China". You can read more about putting your own brand label on already designed products here I stumbled upon /u/FBAThrow's post while sitting in the airport, after returning from a week long trip to Taiwan, and saw that some people were asking about own-design products and how to get them produced. Here we go:Producing and assembling own-design products in ChinaSo how do you set up a complete production line capable of producing tens of thousands of units a year? I will try to answer this question based from our experiences the past two years.Creating a designFirst and foremost: What do you want to produce? This post will not be directly about product design, but I’ll be happy to answer product design related questions as well. Our product is simple and it works (and sells) because of that. The product fulfills the statement that our marketing sells, no more, no less. Its mechanics are fairly simple, using the same key elements that have been used in speakers for almost a 100 years. Nevertheless, it has multiple custom solutions that are not necessarily seen in the industry before. The story this time starts with a complete product. A CAD file containing the entire assembly. With this a BOM (Bill of Materials) is generated, containing part numbers, materials, quantity pr. unit and a row for price (we'll get to that liter). Here is also listed everything from packaging materials to zip ties to screws and glue. Also from the CAD file is generated an assembly guide. In our case our CM was already aware of the general assembly, so this was less needed for them. More on assembly later. Finding a CMSo in your hand you have your CAD file, technical drawings of all parts with relevant drawings (these are more or less relevant depending on what materials and manufacturing processes you intend on utilize. I generally create drawings that contain the basic dimensions, and supplier will often ask for extra dimensions if they need it.), complete BOM and assembly guide. Now comes a three-step rocket: 1. Finding a CM that can (and that you feel safe with) produce your product2. Figuring out what troubles or issues the CM might have with the manufacturing and assembly of your product.3. Figuring out how much you should pay your CM for the product (pr unit and NRE’s) This is very simplified and things can definitely be done differently and in different orders, but this is more or less how we did it. Finding a CM you can trust and believe in, is definitely the most difficult part of the whole process. You need to find someone that can lift the production task, and at the same time have your order be an interesting business case to them. If your order is pennies to them, you have no leverage when they don’t give you enough engineering man hours or if their prices are too high. You also don’t want someone too small that doesn’t have enough resources to move fast, experience with foreign partners and in general meet your demands. Companies often keep their CMs very secret and you should as well when you find yours. Starting from scratch and finding the perfect CM is a difficult task. You should pull as much as you can on whatever network you have. Get to know people within the industry you’re in and find people smarter than you. Find people who have experience rather than theoretical knowledge. When you start screening CM’s you should keep this in mind: how much R&D work are they willing to do? Some are willing to provide engineering resources to help you get through, some are less willing. Get a feeling of this, so you know exactly how/where the handover to them is. This is especially relevant if you have many molded parts, or parts involving more complex processes and advanced materials. In our case we pulled quite a lot on their experience on material choices as well as molding, since we had limited knowledge on this subject. So you’ve found a CM you can trust, and you have perhaps visited them and gotten a tour of the facilities. You have presented them your product and gotten a project manager assigned that you (hopefully) like. Now you have to handover your product so they can give you a ballpark quote on it. When you have the ballpark quote you can start focusing your time and energy on where to improve your design and get it ready for manufacturing. In our case that involved a pretty early handover so we could get a ballpark quote to see how far we were from our targets. Two things are important to keep in mind: how much time do you have and how much cash are you willing to spend? If things have to go quick, it means more visit on site at the factory, express shipping prototypes, etc. If you have more time (and patience) you can do more things via email and WeChat. Do plan at least three trips to the factory doing this handover process. You’ll be fighting two battles and they might work against each other:1. Getting the CM to understand your product and figure out how to produce it.2. Getting the right price for the each component. How to manufacture your productThe better you are prepared and the more knowledge you have on the manufacturing processes, the better you’re able to help them. Getting the right price is a whole topic of its own, but it generally breaks down to 5 topics: 1. Choosing the right manufacturing methodThe manufacturing method should fit your quantity and requirements to CMF and material.2. Choosing the right materialThe material should clearly fit the functionality. Sometimes a CM might choose a material for reasons that are not relevant to you, because they misunderstood something. Be clear about what requirements you have.3. Choosing the right CMFSame as material. Define as much as you can and be sure that the selected material and method can give you the desired result.4. Choosing the right designCan the part be smaller? Have more ribs instead of solid? Be two identical parts instead of one big? Can you skip the part altogether?5. Sacrifice the right items/requirements at the right timeThis is the most difficult one, since it requires killing parts of your baby one by one. Do you really need that extreme temperature requirement? Do you really need that crazy, difficult multi-direction molding? Always hold your arguments up against the mission of your product. Can a sacrifice win something else? For example, aluminum might make your product lighter and allow you to anodize it. On the flipside it's expensive compared to steel. Can you turn around the story and be story of durability instead of weight? To figure out what to focus on, compare your target BOM with the quote you got. Focus on the items that are 5x what you expected and leave those that are 1.5x. All this should be part of your initial handover, but information might get lost along the way or things change during the process due to e.g. price. Always make sure that your requirements are understood and followed down to the smallest screw. Sometimes they can understand a "why", other times you just need to insist. Assume you know the best until proven otherwise. This can be a lot of back and forth. Changing parts, materials and designs that allows your product to actually be manufactured. How much you are willing to sacrifice doesn't have a straightforward answer. Listen to your gut, and be very clear about what your product stands for. Prioritize what makes your product unique and why it sells and skip all the nice-to-haves. Now comes the final quote where you agree on a price. This will be tough, demanding, stressful and difficult. Your CM will do everything to minimize their own risks. Don’t be surprised if they seem to have different ethics than you. Remember that business in China can be very different than in the Western world. ProductionLastly comes setting up the production line and initiating tools. When you’re at this point, it will all make a whole lot more sense, since you’ve now been down into the tiniest details of your product every day the last year or so. I would always suggest trying to be physically present as much as you have time for in setting up the production line. You know the product, you know why you designed it like you did, you certainly know better on how to assemble it the easiest. Be suggestive but clear when helping them. It’s in everyone's interest that the product ships at time, but remember that it’s not you paying the extra salary to the workers if something fucks up. You might have an idea of using robotics, completely dust-free environments or that cool thing you saw Tesla do, but it's them having to pay for it all. To be continued...I think I will let this be it for now. I have two more paragraphs written on how we came to this point, but I’ll wait a bit with them for now. It’s my first time writing stuff like this, but it feels good sharing and helping others. I don’t have any affiliate links or anything, but I would be happy sharing some of the blog posts that have helped us. I also didn’t get too much into specifics to keep it light, but feel free to ask questions about specifics, I’d be happy to answer if I can.Links that helped usThe Illustrated Guide to Product Development by Bolt.ioEngineering Guidelines to Designing Plastic Parts for Injection MoldingIntroduction to Injection Molding by 3dhubsHow to design parts for Injection MoldingAnd my favorite: Fictivs guide to Hardware, covering topics on R&D, Plan, Design, Fabricate, Assemble, and Test. I'm by no means affiliated by any of these blogs.

[newsintodays-blog]

Tesla's U-turn puts it back at square one on cash

New Post has been published on http://newsintoday.info/2018/08/28/teslas-u-turn-puts-it-back-at-square-one-on-cash/

Tesla's U-turn puts it back at square one on cash

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Elon Musk’s take-private plans for Tesla Inc have evaporated, but the company’s looming debt needs remain.

FILE PHOTO: SpaceX founder Elon Musk pauses at a press conference following the first launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., February 6, 2018. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo

With a debt load of about $10.5 billion and the possibility of an impending cash shortfall, Wall Street expects the luxury electric carmaker may need to raise funds before long.

Tesla Chief Executive Musk said late on Friday he would heed shareholder concerns and no longer pursue a $72 billion take-private deal, abandoning an idea that stunned investors and may draw regulatory scrutiny.

None of that has done anything to help it with a looming issue: cash.

Tesla, which has had just one quarter of positive free cash flow since the fourth quarter of 2013, has $1.3 billion in debt coming due in the next 12 months. Meanwhile it has just $1.3 billion of cash on hand after backing out $942 million of customer deposits on cars.

With analysts forecasting a slowed, but continued, cash burn in the second half of 2018, Tesla may need to borrow up to $2 billion by the end of the year to stay afloat.

In response to a request for comment, a Tesla representative referred to Musk’s statement on the company’s second-quarter earnings call when he said the company planned to pay its convertible debt with internally generated cash flow.

DEBT RAISING

The most likely option, according to analysts, is a convertible debt issue. Musk has historically favored convertible bonds to raise capital, and Tesla and its SolarCity unit each have three issues of convertible senior notes, worth a total of $4.2 billion.

Convertibles give owners the right to trade their debt for equity after shares rise over a certain price. They allow holders to benefit from a rising share price, while also offering bond-like protection if it falls.

The one challenge of using more convertible debt, however, is “that it drives more short sellers to your stock. And Musk does not want that,” said Jeffrey Osborne, senior research analyst, Cowen Inc.

Frequently, convertible bond owners will hedge their positions by selling the underlying stock short. Moreover, the dilution caused by conversion could also pressure a stock, drawing the interest of short sellers.

Of the $1.3 billion Tesla has coming due in the next 12 months, $230 million is from a SolarCity convertible due on Nov. 1, and another $920 million from a Tesla convertible due on March 1, 2019. Tesla’s shares, at $319.27, are a long way from the $560.64 needed to convert the SolarCity debt but have traded above the $359.87 March 2019 debt conversion price.

Musk could also choose to offer convertible bond investors the opportunity to exchange their debt for equity below either or both strike prices, although that could require some assurances on the company’s fundamentals.

Tesla’s mountain of debt: reut.rs/2Mwlh5z

STRAIGHT DEBT

Tesla could issue straight debt akin to the 5.3 percent coupon junk bond coming due in 2025. That bond however, is trading well below par at 87.13 cents on the dollar, and so it would be unlikely that Tesla could get the sort of favorable terms they secured in their last offering.

Krishna Memani, chief investment officer of OppenheimerFunds, which is among Tesla’s top 10 bondholders, said that the level of scrutiny Musk would have to go through “would be meaningfully higher in any new issuance.”

EQUITY

Equity markets have historically been friendly to Tesla, however Musk said, on the company’s second-quarter earnings call, that he would not tap them for cash. “We’ll not be raising any equity at any point… I have no expectation of doing so; do not plan to do so.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation into Musk for potentially misleading investors when he tweeted that he had “funding secured” for a $420 a share take-private deal, according to media reports.

LEASE/ASSET-BACKED SECURITY DEAL

Tesla could securitize automotive leases backed by drivers’ monthly payments as it did earlier this year when it sold $546 million of bonds backed by leases on Model S and Model X cars.

There are two problems with issuing new asset-backed securities.

The first is that old vehicles may not sell for as much as expected given the increasing competition Tesla is facing in the electric vehicle space. Second, leases as a percentage of vehicles sold have fallen dramatically as it is not possible to lease a Model 3 sedan. While roughly 20 percent to 30 percent of Model S and Model Xs were leased, the Model 3 must be paid for in cash.

Reporting by Kate Duguid; Editing by Megan Davies and Lisa Shumaker

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Source link

[smartwebhostingblog]

Tesla's U-turn puts it back at square one on cash

New Post has been published on http://rwamztech.com/teslas-u-turn-puts-it-back-at-square-one-on-cash/

Tesla's U-turn puts it back at square one on cash

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Elon Musk’s take-private plans for Tesla Inc have evaporated, but the company’s looming debt needs remain.

FILE PHOTO: SpaceX founder Elon Musk pauses at a press conference following the first launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., February 6, 2018. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo

With a debt load of about $10.5 billion and the possibility of an impending cash shortfall, Wall Street expects the luxury electric carmaker may need to raise funds before long.

Tesla Chief Executive Musk said late on Friday he would heed shareholder concerns and no longer pursue a $72 billion take-private deal, abandoning an idea that stunned investors and may draw regulatory scrutiny.

None of that has done anything to help it with a looming issue: cash.

Tesla, which has had just one quarter of positive free cash flow since the fourth quarter of 2013, has $1.3 billion in debt coming due in the next 12 months. Meanwhile it has just $1.3 billion of cash on hand after backing out $942 million of customer deposits on cars.

With analysts forecasting a slowed, but continued, cash burn in the second half of 2018, Tesla may need to borrow up to $2 billion by the end of the year to stay afloat.

In response to a request for comment, a Tesla representative referred to Musk’s statement on the company’s second-quarter earnings call when he said the company planned to pay its convertible debt with internally generated cash flow.

DEBT RAISING

The most likely option, according to analysts, is a convertible debt issue. Musk has historically favored convertible bonds to raise capital, and Tesla and its SolarCity unit each have three issues of convertible senior notes, worth a total of $4.2 billion.

Convertibles give owners the right to trade their debt for equity after shares rise over a certain price. They allow holders to benefit from a rising share price, while also offering bond-like protection if it falls.

The one challenge of using more convertible debt, however, is “that it drives more short sellers to your stock. And Musk does not want that,” said Jeffrey Osborne, senior research analyst, Cowen Inc.

Frequently, convertible bond owners will hedge their positions by selling the underlying stock short. Moreover, the dilution caused by conversion could also pressure a stock, drawing the interest of short sellers.

Of the $1.3 billion Tesla has coming due in the next 12 months, $230 million is from a SolarCity convertible due on Nov. 1, and another $920 million from a Tesla convertible due on March 1, 2019. Tesla’s shares, at $319.27, are a long way from the $560.64 needed to convert the SolarCity debt but have traded above the $359.87 March 2019 debt conversion price.

Musk could also choose to offer convertible bond investors the opportunity to exchange their debt for equity below either or both strike prices, although that could require some assurances on the company’s fundamentals.

Tesla’s mountain of debt: reut.rs/2Mwlh5z

STRAIGHT DEBT

Tesla could issue straight debt akin to the 5.3 percent coupon junk bond coming due in 2025. That bond however, is trading well below par at 87.13 cents on the dollar, and so it would be unlikely that Tesla could get the sort of favorable terms they secured in their last offering.

Krishna Memani, chief investment officer of OppenheimerFunds, which is among Tesla’s top 10 bondholders, said that the level of scrutiny Musk would have to go through “would be meaningfully higher in any new issuance.”

EQUITY

Equity markets have historically been friendly to Tesla, however Musk said, on the company’s second-quarter earnings call, that he would not tap them for cash. “We’ll not be raising any equity at any point… I have no expectation of doing so; do not plan to do so.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation into Musk for potentially misleading investors when he tweeted that he had “funding secured” for a $420 a share take-private deal, according to media reports.

LEASE/ASSET-BACKED SECURITY DEAL

Tesla could securitize automotive leases backed by drivers’ monthly payments as it did earlier this year when it sold $546 million of bonds backed by leases on Model S and Model X cars.

There are two problems with issuing new asset-backed securities.

The first is that old vehicles may not sell for as much as expected given the increasing competition Tesla is facing in the electric vehicle space. Second, leases as a percentage of vehicles sold have fallen dramatically as it is not possible to lease a Model 3 sedan. While roughly 20 percent to 30 percent of Model S and Model Xs were leased, the Model 3 must be paid for in cash.

Reporting by Kate Duguid; Editing by Megan Davies and Lisa Shumaker

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[awesomecolorfulcollectorwombat]

Tesla's U-turn puts it back at square one on cash

New Post has been published on http://rwamztech.com/teslas-u-turn-puts-it-back-at-square-one-on-cash/

Tesla's U-turn puts it back at square one on cash

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Elon Musk’s take-private plans for Tesla Inc have evaporated, but the company’s looming debt needs remain.

FILE PHOTO: SpaceX founder Elon Musk pauses at a press conference following the first launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., February 6, 2018. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo

With a debt load of about $10.5 billion and the possibility of an impending cash shortfall, Wall Street expects the luxury electric carmaker may need to raise funds before long.

Tesla Chief Executive Musk said late on Friday he would heed shareholder concerns and no longer pursue a $72 billion take-private deal, abandoning an idea that stunned investors and may draw regulatory scrutiny.

None of that has done anything to help it with a looming issue: cash.

Tesla, which has had just one quarter of positive free cash flow since the fourth quarter of 2013, has $1.3 billion in debt coming due in the next 12 months. Meanwhile it has just $1.3 billion of cash on hand after backing out $942 million of customer deposits on cars.

With analysts forecasting a slowed, but continued, cash burn in the second half of 2018, Tesla may need to borrow up to $2 billion by the end of the year to stay afloat.

In response to a request for comment, a Tesla representative referred to Musk’s statement on the company’s second-quarter earnings call when he said the company planned to pay its convertible debt with internally generated cash flow.

DEBT RAISING

The most likely option, according to analysts, is a convertible debt issue. Musk has historically favored convertible bonds to raise capital, and Tesla and its SolarCity unit each have three issues of convertible senior notes, worth a total of $4.2 billion.

Convertibles give owners the right to trade their debt for equity after shares rise over a certain price. They allow holders to benefit from a rising share price, while also offering bond-like protection if it falls.

The one challenge of using more convertible debt, however, is “that it drives more short sellers to your stock. And Musk does not want that,” said Jeffrey Osborne, senior research analyst, Cowen Inc.

Frequently, convertible bond owners will hedge their positions by selling the underlying stock short. Moreover, the dilution caused by conversion could also pressure a stock, drawing the interest of short sellers.

Of the $1.3 billion Tesla has coming due in the next 12 months, $230 million is from a SolarCity convertible due on Nov. 1, and another $920 million from a Tesla convertible due on March 1, 2019. Tesla’s shares, at $319.27, are a long way from the $560.64 needed to convert the SolarCity debt but have traded above the $359.87 March 2019 debt conversion price.

Musk could also choose to offer convertible bond investors the opportunity to exchange their debt for equity below either or both strike prices, although that could require some assurances on the company’s fundamentals.

Tesla’s mountain of debt: reut.rs/2Mwlh5z

STRAIGHT DEBT

Tesla could issue straight debt akin to the 5.3 percent coupon junk bond coming due in 2025. That bond however, is trading well below par at 87.13 cents on the dollar, and so it would be unlikely that Tesla could get the sort of favorable terms they secured in their last offering.

Krishna Memani, chief investment officer of OppenheimerFunds, which is among Tesla’s top 10 bondholders, said that the level of scrutiny Musk would have to go through “would be meaningfully higher in any new issuance.”

EQUITY

Equity markets have historically been friendly to Tesla, however Musk said, on the company’s second-quarter earnings call, that he would not tap them for cash. “We’ll not be raising any equity at any point… I have no expectation of doing so; do not plan to do so.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation into Musk for potentially misleading investors when he tweeted that he had “funding secured” for a $420 a share take-private deal, according to media reports.

LEASE/ASSET-BACKED SECURITY DEAL

Tesla could securitize automotive leases backed by drivers’ monthly payments as it did earlier this year when it sold $546 million of bonds backed by leases on Model S and Model X cars.

There are two problems with issuing new asset-backed securities.

The first is that old vehicles may not sell for as much as expected given the increasing competition Tesla is facing in the electric vehicle space. Second, leases as a percentage of vehicles sold have fallen dramatically as it is not possible to lease a Model 3 sedan. While roughly 20 percent to 30 percent of Model S and Model Xs were leased, the Model 3 must be paid for in cash.

Reporting by Kate Duguid; Editing by Megan Davies and Lisa Shumaker

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[lazilysillyprince]

Tesla's U-turn puts it back at square one on cash

New Post has been published on http://rwamztech.com/teslas-u-turn-puts-it-back-at-square-one-on-cash/

Tesla's U-turn puts it back at square one on cash

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Elon Musk’s take-private plans for Tesla Inc have evaporated, but the company’s looming debt needs remain.

FILE PHOTO: SpaceX founder Elon Musk pauses at a press conference following the first launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., February 6, 2018. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo

With a debt load of about $10.5 billion and the possibility of an impending cash shortfall, Wall Street expects the luxury electric carmaker may need to raise funds before long.

Tesla Chief Executive Musk said late on Friday he would heed shareholder concerns and no longer pursue a $72 billion take-private deal, abandoning an idea that stunned investors and may draw regulatory scrutiny.

None of that has done anything to help it with a looming issue: cash.

Tesla, which has had just one quarter of positive free cash flow since the fourth quarter of 2013, has $1.3 billion in debt coming due in the next 12 months. Meanwhile it has just $1.3 billion of cash on hand after backing out $942 million of customer deposits on cars.

With analysts forecasting a slowed, but continued, cash burn in the second half of 2018, Tesla may need to borrow up to $2 billion by the end of the year to stay afloat.

In response to a request for comment, a Tesla representative referred to Musk’s statement on the company’s second-quarter earnings call when he said the company planned to pay its convertible debt with internally generated cash flow.

DEBT RAISING

The most likely option, according to analysts, is a convertible debt issue. Musk has historically favored convertible bonds to raise capital, and Tesla and its SolarCity unit each have three issues of convertible senior notes, worth a total of $4.2 billion.

Convertibles give owners the right to trade their debt for equity after shares rise over a certain price. They allow holders to benefit from a rising share price, while also offering bond-like protection if it falls.

The one challenge of using more convertible debt, however, is “that it drives more short sellers to your stock. And Musk does not want that,” said Jeffrey Osborne, senior research analyst, Cowen Inc.

Frequently, convertible bond owners will hedge their positions by selling the underlying stock short. Moreover, the dilution caused by conversion could also pressure a stock, drawing the interest of short sellers.

Of the $1.3 billion Tesla has coming due in the next 12 months, $230 million is from a SolarCity convertible due on Nov. 1, and another $920 million from a Tesla convertible due on March 1, 2019. Tesla’s shares, at $319.27, are a long way from the $560.64 needed to convert the SolarCity debt but have traded above the $359.87 March 2019 debt conversion price.

Musk could also choose to offer convertible bond investors the opportunity to exchange their debt for equity below either or both strike prices, although that could require some assurances on the company’s fundamentals.

Tesla’s mountain of debt: reut.rs/2Mwlh5z

STRAIGHT DEBT

Tesla could issue straight debt akin to the 5.3 percent coupon junk bond coming due in 2025. That bond however, is trading well below par at 87.13 cents on the dollar, and so it would be unlikely that Tesla could get the sort of favorable terms they secured in their last offering.

Krishna Memani, chief investment officer of OppenheimerFunds, which is among Tesla’s top 10 bondholders, said that the level of scrutiny Musk would have to go through “would be meaningfully higher in any new issuance.”

EQUITY

Equity markets have historically been friendly to Tesla, however Musk said, on the company’s second-quarter earnings call, that he would not tap them for cash. “We’ll not be raising any equity at any point… I have no expectation of doing so; do not plan to do so.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation into Musk for potentially misleading investors when he tweeted that he had “funding secured” for a $420 a share take-private deal, according to media reports.

LEASE/ASSET-BACKED SECURITY DEAL

Tesla could securitize automotive leases backed by drivers’ monthly payments as it did earlier this year when it sold $546 million of bonds backed by leases on Model S and Model X cars.

There are two problems with issuing new asset-backed securities.

The first is that old vehicles may not sell for as much as expected given the increasing competition Tesla is facing in the electric vehicle space. Second, leases as a percentage of vehicles sold have fallen dramatically as it is not possible to lease a Model 3 sedan. While roughly 20 percent to 30 percent of Model S and Model Xs were leased, the Model 3 must be paid for in cash.

Reporting by Kate Duguid; Editing by Megan Davies and Lisa Shumaker

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[hostingnewsfeed]

Tesla's U-turn puts it back at square one on cash

New Post has been published on http://rwamztech.com/teslas-u-turn-puts-it-back-at-square-one-on-cash/

Tesla's U-turn puts it back at square one on cash

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Elon Musk’s take-private plans for Tesla Inc have evaporated, but the company’s looming debt needs remain.

FILE PHOTO: SpaceX founder Elon Musk pauses at a press conference following the first launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., February 6, 2018. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo

With a debt load of about $10.5 billion and the possibility of an impending cash shortfall, Wall Street expects the luxury electric carmaker may need to raise funds before long.

Tesla Chief Executive Musk said late on Friday he would heed shareholder concerns and no longer pursue a $72 billion take-private deal, abandoning an idea that stunned investors and may draw regulatory scrutiny.

None of that has done anything to help it with a looming issue: cash.

Tesla, which has had just one quarter of positive free cash flow since the fourth quarter of 2013, has $1.3 billion in debt coming due in the next 12 months. Meanwhile it has just $1.3 billion of cash on hand after backing out $942 million of customer deposits on cars.

With analysts forecasting a slowed, but continued, cash burn in the second half of 2018, Tesla may need to borrow up to $2 billion by the end of the year to stay afloat.

In response to a request for comment, a Tesla representative referred to Musk’s statement on the company’s second-quarter earnings call when he said the company planned to pay its convertible debt with internally generated cash flow.

DEBT RAISING

The most likely option, according to analysts, is a convertible debt issue. Musk has historically favored convertible bonds to raise capital, and Tesla and its SolarCity unit each have three issues of convertible senior notes, worth a total of $4.2 billion.

Convertibles give owners the right to trade their debt for equity after shares rise over a certain price. They allow holders to benefit from a rising share price, while also offering bond-like protection if it falls.

The one challenge of using more convertible debt, however, is “that it drives more short sellers to your stock. And Musk does not want that,” said Jeffrey Osborne, senior research analyst, Cowen Inc.

Frequently, convertible bond owners will hedge their positions by selling the underlying stock short. Moreover, the dilution caused by conversion could also pressure a stock, drawing the interest of short sellers.

Of the $1.3 billion Tesla has coming due in the next 12 months, $230 million is from a SolarCity convertible due on Nov. 1, and another $920 million from a Tesla convertible due on March 1, 2019. Tesla’s shares, at $319.27, are a long way from the $560.64 needed to convert the SolarCity debt but have traded above the $359.87 March 2019 debt conversion price.

Musk could also choose to offer convertible bond investors the opportunity to exchange their debt for equity below either or both strike prices, although that could require some assurances on the company’s fundamentals.

Tesla’s mountain of debt: reut.rs/2Mwlh5z

STRAIGHT DEBT

Tesla could issue straight debt akin to the 5.3 percent coupon junk bond coming due in 2025. That bond however, is trading well below par at 87.13 cents on the dollar, and so it would be unlikely that Tesla could get the sort of favorable terms they secured in their last offering.

Krishna Memani, chief investment officer of OppenheimerFunds, which is among Tesla’s top 10 bondholders, said that the level of scrutiny Musk would have to go through “would be meaningfully higher in any new issuance.”

EQUITY

Equity markets have historically been friendly to Tesla, however Musk said, on the company’s second-quarter earnings call, that he would not tap them for cash. “We’ll not be raising any equity at any point… I have no expectation of doing so; do not plan to do so.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation into Musk for potentially misleading investors when he tweeted that he had “funding secured” for a $420 a share take-private deal, according to media reports.

LEASE/ASSET-BACKED SECURITY DEAL

Tesla could securitize automotive leases backed by drivers’ monthly payments as it did earlier this year when it sold $546 million of bonds backed by leases on Model S and Model X cars.

There are two problems with issuing new asset-backed securities.

The first is that old vehicles may not sell for as much as expected given the increasing competition Tesla is facing in the electric vehicle space. Second, leases as a percentage of vehicles sold have fallen dramatically as it is not possible to lease a Model 3 sedan. While roughly 20 percent to 30 percent of Model S and Model Xs were leased, the Model 3 must be paid for in cash.

Reporting by Kate Duguid; Editing by Megan Davies and Lisa Shumaker

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.