#from his odd food choices from latest stream

[scarbadtimes]

Xisuma in REAL LIFE used to be stoner and some of his odd muchies consist of

- dorito dust mixed with dip in a homogeneous mixture

- oranges (peel ON “for the fibre”) dipped in greek yogurt

- “bowl of goop” that’s made of soup, noodles, cheese and crackers mixed until it’s thick goo

Overall, since the boiled chicken incident, I sincerely believe this man can’t cook. On another note can we get Xisuma with a hjuge blunt

[the-tiniest-one]

Parenting Rock Lee with Might Guy :)

Note:@xemaliahrssx here ya go! I hope it tastes just like you dreamed it would!

Sitting at the kitchen table, watching Guy and Lee devour the dinner you made, had you feeling nostalgic... You watched with your head rested on your hand. It was the little family moments that you appreciated more than anything else these days. "Yeah! and then I caught him in a cross block!" Lee said, describing their latest mission, his mouth full of food.

"Haha yes yes (y/n) you should have been there, our Rock Lee is becoming a real force to be reckoned with, much like his handsome sensei" Guy said with a wink in your direction.

"Handsome indeed" you said with a grin.

Thinking back to the days when you were a little more of a workaholic made you laugh. If you told your younger-self all those years ago that you would be Konoha's worst helicopter parent in just a few years, you'd have never believed it. Guy was a perfect match for you in that regard. You two were a well oiled machine when it came to parenting.

While Lee could do no wrong in your eyes, Guy was a bit heavy handed in his discipline of Lee's skills as a shinobi. You kissed every bruise and scrape, while Guy was teaching him how to prevent them in the first place.

Rock Lee has had more than his fair share of the short-end-of-the- shit-stick his entire life. BUT One could be forgiven for not recognizing the true level of hardship the boy has overcome in his short tenure as a shinobi. Lee is a true underdog.

Lucky for him, you've always been a bit of a sucker for an underdog.

You thought back to those early days......

Even before Lee evolved to a mini version of your childhood crush, you felt the need to protect him. Watching him fumble and practice jutsu in vain day after day.....early in the morning and into the night. You would watch him from a distance while training your own team. One early morning, you decided to check in on the boy with long black hair. He kicked at a post, counting off as you looked on...10....11.....12.....his kicks were weak even for his young age. As he got closer to 50 he fell back, overwhelmed by the pain of repetitively beating his shins into the wood without chakra to safeguard his bones.

Clearly angry at his situation, the thought occurred to you that maybe he wasn't using chakra because he couldn't....the boy had tears streaming from his eyes. It broke your heart to watch a kid who couldn't be more than 10, cursing his life.

"A kid working that hard shouldn't have to feel that defeated..." you said to yourself.

You felt conflicted. Torn between wanting to step in and takeover his training...but feeling the weight of responsibility that would come with encouraging a child to chase a pipedream that would only lead to disappointment. You knew all too well what happens to weak ninja. The reality was that it would be cruel to encourage the boy to peruse a life as dangerous as that of a shinobi. You were no slouch when it came to taijutsu but ninjas are able to compete with one another because of the advantages that come with developing kakai genki.

Could a boy with no use of chakra stand a chance against the generations of those families of ninja who use fearsome jutsu and tactics like lightning...wind....wood or even hereditary gifts like the dreaded sharingan or byakugen? The real answer was sad and harsh. No. He couldn't.

You wouldn't be so irresponsible as to tell the boy he could be anything but a failure.

If he perused that path, he would die young.

So you stood back, restraining the desire to comfort and nurture the little boy out of what you told yourself was mercy. Day after day, week after week....you watched on....until it became too much. You couldn't sleep anymore, couldn't function on missions the same way. Always thinking back to him still out at those training grounds.....always struggling.

....

One morning it was pouring rain. You called off training that day for your team and headed out to the place you knew he would be. He was there of course. He was doing his best to catch a cold while practicing hand signs to no avail. After watching him for a few minutes you finally asked, "What's your name kid?" speaking loud to project over the rain. Startled he looked up to where you stood, perched on a post a few feat away. "I...Im Rock Lee" he said timidly. You laughed at his shy but sweet face, "Im y/n" you said.

"Your kicks look like they could use some work", holding your palm about chest high, to show him where his blow should be landing. The boy grimaced...clearly angry with his lack of direction in training. You laughed and the both of you worked on his kicks for the duration of the morning.

"I think you'll be a splendid ninja someday" you said as you offered him a bit of lunch you packed. The boy looked up at you with the most heartbreaking fear in his eyes, "I can't use chakra" Lee said barley above a whisper, clearly ashamed to tell you the truth.

You ruffled his hair. "Look kid, life is shitty sometimes. But I can tell you are someone who will never quit. No matter the odds, and that is something worth more than all the talent in the world." He instantly smiled up at you, melting your heart for what would be the first of a million times. Laughing and showing you also first time you saw that shiny smile that you would come to love more that anything on earth.

From then on he was your responsibility. Your chest burned with pride in his concrete determination. Feeling instantly the protective burn and feral instinct to insulate him from anything that would hurt him.

....

It was about a year later when things evolved. You and Lee had become close. He, being an orphan as you found out he was, had taken your invitation to live in your spare bedroom. It wasn't long before you were nagging him to be sure and eat breakfast before class, take baths every night. You were often hearing your mothers voice echo in your own as you guided the child to a structure he lacked.

You even went to his parent meetings at the Academy, much to the surprise of Iruka (because he himself was 2 years older than you and had known you since you were smol) laughed when you asked to see Lee's reports.

----

Then one hot summer day you got the order... your team was dispatched on your first extended mission with your new genin. 3 months on a C rank mission to Suna. Your heart sank as you remembered Lee's graduation exam was in just a few days. Before you left, you kissed his forehead and promised a tearful Lee who had become just as attached as you over the last year, that would bring him back a graduation present.

You just knew he would finally pass.

....

Returning to the village near midnight you couldn't wait to see Lee. After giving report to Lord Third, you quickly made your way home. Quietly cracking the door to his bedroom, you peaked in to see his sweet little face. The snoring boy looked peaceful.

"He cut his hair?" you thought puzzled..."he must have done it himself, it looks a little odd." You laughed at the thought of him using a bowl to cut his hair.

Then your eyes traveled to the headband still around his forehead, "He passed!!!" you quietly celebrated, careful not to wake him up. You placed the promised gift on his dresser, a brand-new set of num-chuks you'd had made in Suna.

The next morning you were up before sunrise making a celebratory breakfast when an extreme round of knocking came from the apartment's front door.

You quickly answered, immediately flustered when on the other side was none other than Might Guy....the same Guy you'd had the hots for over a decade.

"Y/N!, I must have the wrong address! I was looking for one of my students!" Guy said in his familiar boisterous cadence. Laughing nervously you started to respond, when behind you Lee pushed his way through the doorframe. Your eyes widened at the sight.

The haircut made sense now, Lee stood side by side with his sensei. He was wearing Guy's jumpsuit... they could have been father and son.

Looking at the two of them standing side by side in front of you for the first time gave you the most jarring sense of dejavu.

"Guy sensei! Look what Y/N brought me from her most dangerous mission!" Lee brandished the weapon, beaming up at his teacher who laughed and winked in your direction. "Ah, a great choice! Only the most skilled ninja know how to use such a fine weapon! We must enlighten you at once Lee my boy!" With that the handsome jonin and your sweet Rock Lee were off to train.

You had known Guy since he was still struggling to gain entrance to the Academy, you knew that the man who radiated confidence today, only earned that ability through blood, sweat, and tears.

You apprehensively accepted that Might Guy was a good match to be Lee's sensei.

"Be careful!" you called, more than a little apprehensive at the thought of your sweet baby boy training with such an admittedly impulsive man. Feeling a small tug of sadness as you watched the two of them disappear down the street.

"Lee's getting tall..." you though as you closed the door.

....

Over the next few years Lee had grown into a strong young man. You felt such extreme pride in everything he did. Even though you being in your mid-twenties were not nearly old enough to be Lee's mother, he had taken to occasionally calling you mom.

Lee was never embarrassed of you as he grew into a teen like some of the other kids his age. He was always just as willing to give you a hug before a mission as the day you met him.

It would be a lie to say that the relationship you and Guy shared hadn't also matured along the way. Although you weren't Lee's biological parents, anyone would be forgiven for thinking that you were. Everything you had admired about Guy, his hot-bloodedness, his devotion to youthful perseverance, his love of his village had been passed down to your surrogate son.

It was only natural that you and Guy would become a team in raising Rock Lee. Over time after a few years of dinners, training sessions, birthdays, holidays etc...Guy decided to propose to you.

It was a literal dream come true. You couldn't say yes fast enough. But as required when two shinobi become married, when you went to sign the paperwork to make your marriage official, requesting a stamp of approval from Lady Tsunade....she extended to you a folder with a second set of forms.

Guy beamed as you read the contents. Adoption papers with Lee's name printed at the top in bold.

"He will always be our son. Since we are making it official... why not add one more?" Guy said with a laugh. The tears began welling in your eyes. "He's 17" you laughed, "I love you" is all you could think to say in response to the most kind gesture you have ever witnessed.

Guy held his trademark thumbs up high as he replied, "Lee will always need his mom, no matter how big he gets!" His words like music to your heart...

You'd never felt so complete as you walked hand in hand with Guy, on your way home to surprise your sweet son with the news.

Upon telling Lee what the two of you had done, he looked from the papers back to you. Confusion spread across the sweet ravenette's features. "But I do not understand" Lee said with a hand rubbing the back of his neck. "Have you not always been my mom?"

The innocent look in his eye and profound sincerity in his voice made tears well in your eyes for what felt like the tenth time that day. You laughed and swept he and Guy into a hug that didn't last long enough. "What's for dinner?" the two men asked in unison and in that moment you knew you were the luckiest person in the world.

[baepsaesbae]

Heal Me, Kill Me Ch.4

Pairing— Kim Taehyung x reader

Genre— Vampire!Taehyung x Vampire Hunter!reader, ANGST, mild smut +18, comedy (i tried), fluff in this chapter

Warnings— Unprotected explicit sex, fingering, blood mentions, death, 

Word Count— 6.9k (nice)

Summary— You’re one of the best vampire hunters in the world. That’s to be expected when your parents are the best of the best. Your life had solely revolved around ruthlessly killing vampires, making you a cold blooded machine. However, things take a turn once you meet Kim Taehyung, your latest target.

A/N— Huge shoutout to @dee-ehn for this beautiful banner! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, please let me know what you think! Things are starting to get spicy~

The chilly crisp air that once gently kissed your cheeks had transformed into a biting cold that gnawed at your bones. Dread began to settle in as Taehyung led you by the hand, blissfully unaware of the daunting job you’ve been tasked with. You knew you should have killed him right away, but you couldn’t help yourself. You were well aware of the consequences, and now it is time to face the repercussions. 

Your jewelry was prepped and loaded with your special poison that consisted of neurotoxins from the deadliest animals. Pufferfish, scorpions, and king cobras were among the lethal mix. You had also laced your anointed silver dagger with the poison, as you would need every advantage you could get to combat Taehyung's strength.

“Would like some tea to calm your nerves, darling?” Taehyung asked sweetly.

“Yeah, that might help,” you shot him a meek smile.

Taehyung nodded and kissed the back of your hand before leaving you to make the tea. His sweet gesture made your heart sink. How could you possibly kill this man? The one and only person you’ve ever loved in your life? Well, even though he was not technically a person, no one had ever made you feel so loved before.

Taehyung quickly returned with hot tea and you gratefully let the cup warm up your hands. He pressed his cold hand against your forehead to check for any sign of illness.

“I’m fine, Taehyung,” you assured him.

“The air is getting colder. This is the opportune time for pestilence to strike,” Taehyung chided.

“Ok dad,” you rolled your eyes at him. God, you’re gonna miss this silly banter.

“I thought girls address their significant others by ‘daddy’ now?” he innocently asked, causing you to nearly spit out your drink.

“Some girls yes, but not in this instance. It’s more of a kink,” you explained.

“So was Freud correct in his reasoning?” Taehyung questioned.

“Well, yes and no. I don’t know. His theories are stupid and sexist. I hate that guy,” you concluded.

“I’m inclined to agree, he was rather odd,” Taehyung nodded wistfully.

“You act as if you actually knew him,” you scoffed, knowing damn well that he probably did meet him at some point.

“Of course not, that would be impossible. How old do you think I am?” he tried to joke with you. The subject of time and age always seemed like a touchy subject for him (and rightfully so). 

“We’ve been over this. You’re probably centuries old or some shit. You always talk like some old timey character in a cheesy period film.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Not necessarily,” you smiled at him. 

You really should stop dragging this on. It’s only going to cause more pain. Well, maybe spending just one more day with him wouldn’t be too bad. Nothing you do now is going to avert the pain. You might as well make this final day count.

“Darling?” you asked after a moment of silence.

“Yes, my love?” Taehyung gazed softly at you.

“Can you cuddle me all day? And make me feel like the most loved girl in the world?”

“My darling, you are the most loved girl in the world. Nothing in this realm can ever diminish my affections for you,” Taehyung tightly embraced you.

His kind words made you shed a silent tear. You will cherish every last second you had left with him. And that you did. The rest of the day was spent bundled up together under the warm covers of his bed watching Peaky Blinders. You insisted that he finish all of the episodes that day (which was a silly notion to him, but he obliged nonetheless). 

It was late afternoon by the time the show was completely binged, and now your stomach was growling relentlessly. 

“Hungry?” Taehyung chuckled.

“I believe so,” you clenched your stomach.

“I’ll go whip up some quick sandwiches then. Would you like some tea as well?”

“I can make the tea, you just handle the food,” you ordered.

“As you wish,” Taehyung complied.

It was time. You brewed the tea as you normally would, making sure you acted as if everything was okay. Just like you did before, a quick motion was all it took to pour a lethal dose of your special concoction into Taehyung’s tea. 

There was no turning back now. Taehyung happily brought the sandwiches to the table. You smiled at him, fighting to hold back tears. At least your last memory of him would be pleasant.

“I love when you make the tea, it always tastes better than mine,” Taehyung praised you as he brought the cup to his lips. 

Your breath hitches as he takes a sip. Immediately his face contorts with disgust and he looks at you with hurt betrayal in his eyes. Your heart breaks as you hesitate for a second; your hand is gripped around the hilt of your poisoned dagger. 

With tears streaming down your face, you lunge at Taehyung. He quickly evades you, your blade narrowly missing his neck. Just a scratch of your blade would spell out his doom. Taehyung coughs out as much of the poison as he could. 

Again, you propel yourself at Taehyung, zeroing in on his neck. He grabs you by the back of your head and effortlessly flung you across the room. You crash into the wall, the impact knocking the wind out of you. In a split second, Taehyung was in front of you, pulling you up by your hair.

You tried to stab him, but your efforts were futile. He grabbed your wrist with such force that it felt as if it was about to shatter. The dagger falls to the floor and his hand moves from your wrist to your neck.

The pain in his eyes was too unbearable to look at. Tears welled at the bottom of his eyes as he opened his mouth to speak but couldn't find any words to say. 

“I could kill you right now,” is all he managed to say.

“Then do it,” you say without any hesitation.

“Go to sleep,” Taehyung demands, his words laced with the most potent magic you’ve ever encountered. In an instant, you were in a deep slumber. 

You wake up in an unknown amount of time later. Your hands and legs are tied up to a chair in the middle of Taehyung’s living room. The restraints are so tight that you couldn’t even squirm your wrists or ankles. 

Taehyung was rapidly pacing back and forth in front of you. His puffy eyes indicate the waterfall of tears he must have shed while you were knocked out. 

“Tae--” you tried to call out.

“Don’t,” Taehyung snapped at you, instantly shutting you up. 

He was using his magic now, and there’s nothing you can do to combat it. You had no choice but to sit helplessly as you waited for Taehyung to speak again.

“Why? I thought we had something real. I would have never hurt you. Did I not show you that I am harmless?” Taehyung finally said as he imposingly stood over you, “You may speak. Tell the truth.”

“I was ordered to exterminate you by the VEC. Taehyung you have to believe me when I say I love you. That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and I regret ever doing it,” you cried.

“Why should I ever trust you again?” he scoffed.

“If I didn’t kill you they would just keep sending more and more agents. You already encountered some before me,” you kept trying to explain.

“I tried to tell the vampire hunting couple that I have not done anyone harm in centuries. I’m sure you’re curious as to how I satisfy my peculiar craving. I pay a very handsome sum to the local hospital, and in return they supply me with endless blood donations. No one is harmed in the process. But those people refused to listen to me. I didn’t want to hurt them, but they gave me no choice,” Taehyung recounted. 

“Those people were my parents,” you said softly.

Taehyung’s harsh gaze softened. He didn’t know how to react. He reasoned that avenging your parents may have been a justifiable reason to kill him.

“I’m terribly sorry, ___. I did not want to hurt them, but they were belligerent. I did not have a single moment of peace while they were pursuing me. You must have thought I was a monster this entire time,” Taehyung’s voice cracked, and he turned to hide his face from you.

“No, Taehyung, not at all. I love you. I never really knew my parents, so as awful as it is to say, their deaths didn’t really affect me. I treated this mission like any other, but curiosity got the better of me. Taehyung, I’ve never felt more human than when I’m with you,” tears began to cascade down your cheeks. 

Taehyung remained silent and refused to look at you.

“I foolishly thought that the least I could do was give you a quick painless death. I didn’t want you to suffer,” you continued.

“___, I have never known a greater pain than this betrayal. I was willing to give you the world,” he finally turned to you, revealing that he too was crying, “And I still am. I have not been so enthralled by another for as long as I can remember. I do not know what kind of spells you used on me, but I fear that they are unbreakable.”

“Neither of us used any magic on each other before this, Tae. I wish you killed me on the spot when you first saw me,” you wailed.

“And ruin the single most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen? I couldn’t bear to think of it,” Taehyung said softly, gently caressing your wet cheek with the back of his hand. 

Taehyung picked up your chair with one hand and brought you to the dining table. 

“I’m going to untie you. Please do not try to run away or kill me again. We both know you are no match for me,” Taehyung said sternly.

You nodded quickly, eager to get the restraints off. You obediently sat still after he tore off the rope that bound you to the chair. Taehyung took his place opposite of you. Silence filled the air as tension built. Finally, Taehyung slid his poisoned tea to the middle of the table.

“Since peace does not seem to be an option, I believe it would be best for one of us to die,” he stated. 

You stare blankly at him.

“Or perhaps, we could run away together and never look back. I can forgive this little infraction if you can forgive me for my deceit. We were both keeping secrets, and in the end it only harmed both of us,” he continued. 

“We both know that can’t happen. The VEC would hunt us down relentlessly,” you disagreed. 

Before he could react, you grabbed the cup and consumed its contents in the blink of an eye.

“___! What are you doing!?” he yelled at you, leaping across the table to smack the cup from your hands. 

“I have a tracker in my bloodstream, Taehyung. They’ll always be able to find me, and we will never know peace. At least this way, you can flee and continue to live out your life,” you smiled weakly.

It won’t take long for your body to become paralyzed. After all, this was meant to kill vampires, not humans.

Taehyung cradled you in his arms, clutching you close to his chest. He wept over you as your body began to stiffen. Your cognitive abilities will remain intact until the very end. You watched as Taehyung’s heart broke for the second time that day.

“You fool. I don’t care if they keep coming after us. It would all be worth it if it means that I can have you by my side,” he cried as he cupped your cheek.

It was evident that the poison had begun running its course. You couldn’t reply nor could you move any part of your body. Only your eyes could convey your sorrow. Taehyung leaned down to plant kisses on both cheeks before gingerly placing one more on your still lips. 

He picked you up bridal style and headed for the door. He walked along the trail on which you used to skip alongside him. The chirping birds that once greeted you were eerily quiet now. The evening dusk hour made the trees cast long spooky shadows along the path. The lake comes into view, but now it looks menacing as fog rolls along the water.

“I wish I didn’t have to do this, ___,” Taehyung said somberly. 

You couldn’t say anything, but your eyes expressed your deep heartache.

“Don’t look at me like that, love. It’ll only make this harder,” Taehyung set you down gently on the edge of the dock, “I loved you, you know. I trusted you.”

Taehyung bent down to give you a final kiss. You could feel his sorrow as his cold lips pressed against yours. After parting, Taehyung began to sing. Tears began to roll down your cheeks. Of course, you were crying because you didn’t want to die, but also because you loved Taehyung’s voice so much. It was probably the one thing you’d miss most from this world. Besides Taehyung himself, of course.

“Have I lost myself? Or have I gained you?” Taehyung’s beautiful voice carried through the air.

Taehyung placed you into the lake on your back. You floated for a few seconds before your legs began to dip deeper into the water. Now completely immobile due to your poison, you had no choice but to drown peacefully.

“Please don’t say anything. Reach my hand out to cover the mouth,” Taehyung sang, his eyes never leaving you.

The water engulfed you as your head finally sank below the surface. Taehyung’s voice began to fade away as your lungs filled with water. Is this what your dreams have been warning you about? Have you already seen your own demise? None of that matters now, as the dull light from above the water gets further and further away.

Everything fades to nothingness as the water swallows you whole. Your vision, hearing, and consciousness slip away. Nothing but the frigid lake can be felt now.

Is this really how you’d go? Maybe you deserved it. You did attempt to kill the love of your life. You couldn’t help but be thankful for the time you spent with him.

Water fills your lungs, and you’re certain that your time has finally come. For being raised as a vampire hunter, you managed to stretch out your life expectancy. You closed your eyes for the last time as you sunk further towards the bottom of the lake.

Suddenly a warm light caressed your cheek. Your eyes fluttered open as you desperately gasped for air. All of your senses flood back and it’s incredibly overwhelming. There’s an unbearable white light that temporarily blinds you. Loud indiscernible sounds cause you to crumple to the ground. Soon the loud noises turn into a muffled tone that you can’t quite make you. The light begins to fade away as well.

You finally open your eyes once again, and are shocked by what you see. You’re in a lush garden, surrounded by gigantic trees and beautiful flowers. Birds can be heard chirping overhead. 

‘Is this heaven?’ you thought to yourself.

“Not quite yet, child,” a voice boomed from above. 

The sudden response made you jump. You looked around to try and find who responded, but to no avail. 

‘God…?’ you thought. 

“You flatter me, little one,” the voice chuckled. 

The voice wasn’t as loud, but was now much closer. It honestly even sounded a little familiar. You turned around to see a giant figure looming behind you. Flowing golden robes elegantly wrapped around the figure. As your eyes focused on it, you saw a familiar face smiling down at you. Wait what the hell? It looked and sounded exactly like Yoongi. 

“Let me speak before you ask any more questions,” the faux Yoongi said, “Welcome to Purgatory. You are neither dead nor alive nor undead. Your soul is temporarily in limbo. You must be a rather peculiar human. Most souls merely pop in here for an instant before their fate is decided or they are pulled back into the mortal realm. I have been instructed to converse with you,” the being explained.

“Y-yoongi?” you stammered in your confusion.

“Ah, I am not Yoongi, though I’m sure I resemble that fellow. I am perceived as any being who is held dear by those who gaze upon me. Usually I appear as a lover or a parent. Forgive my curiosity but under which category is ‘Yoongi’ to you?” the being sat beside you.

“Neither. But he’s probably the closest thing I have to a parent,” you shrugged.

“Interesting. Do you have a lover?” 

“I think I did before I fucked everything up. What happens now?” you asked. You didn’t want to ponder on why this strange being did not take the form of Taehyung. Surely you held Taehyung more dear to you than Yoongi.

“You get to choose,” the being replied, “Also, I am not a god, upper or lowercase. You can think of me as sort of a cousin to Death. I am inevitable, but much less known,” it must have sensed your eagerness to figure out what it was.

“Do you have a name?” you inquired, now looking at it in awe instead of fear. If you didn’t know any better, you would think you were sitting with the real Min Yoongi. However, this being’s powerful aura easily gave it away as an imposter. 

“Names are powerful things,” fake Yoongi tsked.

“Surely you know mine. It’s only fair for me to know yours,” you replied, “And I keep calling you Fake Yoongi in my head.”

“You may call me Lethe, as some have called me before,” it said after a long pause.

“Cool. Nice to meet you, Lethe. So what is this choosing business? Whether I live or die?”

“Of course,” Lethe said as a matter of factly.

“Wouldn’t it be obvious that I’d want to live?”

“Do you?”

That question filled you with doubt. What happens if you go back? How would you face Taehyung? Would it even be possible to talk it out and pretend like it never happened? Or would you need to go through the ordeal of attempting to kill him again?

“Those are all valid questions,” Lethe nodded.

“I forgot you can read my mind,” you said with surprise, “How long can I stay here?”

“Time does not exist here. But I suppose for your feeble mind to comprehend, I’d say about 2 more hours. At least, that’s what it’ll feel like to you. You can converse with me for the time being,” the immortal sat beside you. 

And so it went. Lethe helped you weigh out your options. Lethe taking Yoongi’s form helped you open up. This was the closest thing you’ve ever had to a real heart to heart with a parent. Perhaps Yoongi was more important to you than you thought.

Lethe had already known every detail of your life, as they do with all those who pass through their domain. It was clear that you weren’t ready to die. You were just lost on what to do when you go back.

“Time is nearly up, little one,” Lethe softly said, “Have you made your decision?”

“Yes. I want to go back to the land of the living,” you smiled.

Lethe returned your smile as they began to wave their hands above you, making you instantly sleepy.

“I’ll be happy to see you again when it’s finally my time to go,” you managed to make out before letting out a yawn and shutting your eyes. 

“That would be nice, little one. But no one ever remembers me,” Lethe said in a bittersweet tone as they sent you back to the mortal plane.

“___? ___! ___ wake up!” you heard muffled yells.

Your eyes opened slowly, but it was too dark to see anything. Your entire body ached. Bitter chills began to set in as you realized you were sopping wet, making the wintry air even more unbearable. 

You drop back into a state of unconsciousness, but you swore you still faintly heard someone calling out your name. 

“You didn’t have to come here yourself.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? I lost her parents. I can’t afford to lose her too. Why the fuck didn’t you step in immediately?”

  “You ordered me to observe her, and that’s exactly what I did. She would be dead if it weren’t for me.”

“I’m gonna kill that bloodsucker myself.”

“...Yoongi…?” you weakly called out, your eyes still closed.

“___?!?” you heard the men scramble to your side.

The sheets you were wrapped in were warm. The biting cold that hurt your bones had faded away. Your body ached beyond belief, and you didn’t have the strength to sit yourself up.

“___, are you okay? I’ll get you some water,” a familiar voice said. It must be Jungkook.

“___? Are you awake?” Yoongi’s voice was much closer now.

“Yoongi?” you repeated while your eyes slowly opened to adjust to the light. 

“Oh my god. Thank god you’re okay,” Yoongi pulled you in for a tight embrace. 

“We really thought you were done for,” Jungkook handed you a glass of water. 

“I thought I was too. I really think I died for a little bit. I can’t remember exactly what happened, but all I can recall is a bright light and maybe a forest? I think Yoongi was there?” you replied in a daze.

“Well, I was the only person with you until Yoongi showed up so I’m not sure about that. Unless you mistook me for Yoongi, which I take offense to,” Jungkook half smiled before taking a serious tone, “I saw him dump you in the lake. Why didn’t he drain you first?”

“Extremely tactless of you, Jungkook,” Yoongi admonished.

“He hasn’t harmed a living person in a long time. Well, except for my parents,” you softly answered.

“Come to think of it, he didn’t drink your parents’ blood either,” Yoongi stated.

“Please don’t hurt him. Please leave him alone. He won’t hurt anyone,” you begged. 

“He hurt you, ___. For that, he needs to die,” Yoongi said sternly.

“I poisoned myself,” you admitted.

“What?” Yoongi and Jungkook said in unison. 

“I...I love him. I told him to flee and live in peace after I sacrificed myself,” you began to cry.

“Are you stupid?” Yoongi asked in disbelief, “That thing killed your parents!”

“In self defense! They wouldn’t leave him alone after he told them numerous times to back off!”

“How do you know that? How do you know he wasn’t lying?” Yoongi argued.

“I can tell! You of all people should know that a vampire hunter doesn’t survive for long unless they can detect deceit in any and every form.”

“Sir, pardon me, but I think she’s telling the truth,” Jungkook interjected.

“Unbelievable. You too, Jungkook? Are you in love with the vampire too?” Yoongi scoffed.

“No. I just believe in her. When has ___ ever deviated from a mission? She’s your top agent. I don’t think she’d let herself get swept up by seductive charms,” Jungkook reasoned on your behalf, “I spoke with her yesterday. There was no trace of magic on her. Hopefully my word as your second highest agent means something. Plus, I’ve seen her express more emotion this past week than I have her entire life.”

“Jungkook,” you gratefully smiled at him.

“What the fuck are we supposed to do then? Just let him go without any consequences? I will not let your parents’ deaths go unavenged,” Yoongi crossed his arms.

“Let me talk to him,” you requested.

“What are you gonna say?” Jungkook joined you on the bed.

“I…” you trailed off.

What can you say to him? For one, he thinks you’re dead. You can’t imagine what he must be feeling right now. Anger? Sadness? Maybe he would be temporarily happy if you returned to him. However, it wouldn’t be long until your betrayal hurts him again.

“I just want to see him,” you finally say, “I’ll figure it out when I get there.”

“Absolutely not,” Yoongi shook his head, “I’m not sending you back without a plan.”

It took three days before you fully regained your strength. Yoongi and Jungkook took turns taking care of you. Jungkook offered to help you bathe, but you turned him down with a glare. 

“Can HQ function properly without you?” you asked Yoongi in the kitchen.

He turned around quickly, surprised that you’re out of bed, “___! Sit down, don’t strain yourself.”

“I’m fine, Yoongi. I’ve been in bed for too long,” you shooed him away.

“I guess we can all have dinner together at the table tonight. I made fried chicken,” Yoongi said triumphantly, “Also, I haven’t had a day off in years. The VEC can handle itself for a little bit longer.”

“The chicken smells amazing, Yoongi. I’m gonna take a shower because I feel and smell disgusting.”

“You sure you don’t want my help?” Jungkook materialized out of nowhere.

“Sure, you wanna help me take a shower?” you peered up at him.

“Are you being serious?” Jungkook’s doe eyes widened.

“Yep. The only condition is that I’m going to kill you afterwards,” you deadpanned.

“Mm so you’d still want to take at least one full shower with me,” Jungkook teased.

“Shut up, bunny boy,” you rolled your eyes.

You could hear Yoongi chuckle to himself behind you. It must be a relief to see you back to normal and bickering with Jungkook as if nothing happened. 

Flashbacks of your last encounter with Taehyung filled your head as warm water cleansed your body. You didn’t know what you’d do, but you made up your mind. You needed to see him. You wanted nothing more than to be in his arms again. You longed to feel his soft lips on yours. 

Dinner was full of smiles and playful banter. The food was delicious (fried chicken was Yoongi’s speciality) and it tasted even better since you hadn’t been able to eat solid food in days. 

“So, what are we gonna do now that ___ is feeling better?” Jungkook questioned with a mouth full of food.

“I’m going to go talk to him,” you affirmed. 

“Again, what are you going to talk about?” Yoongi raised his eyebrows.

The rest of the evening was spent devising a plan. It took a lot of convincing by both you and Jungkook, but Yoongi finally gave in. It seemed like even Jungkook was hesitant about the plan, but backed you up nonetheless. Jungkook and Yoongi would be your backup in case things went south.

The next day you drove to Taehyung’s home. The drive that you once happily made now brought you dread. You had no idea how Taehyung would react. You just prayed that he wouldn’t kill you on the spot.

It was now well into the winter season. Snow covered the ground and frosted the windows of Taehyung’s weathered home. Knocking on the front door may not be the best move, but it’s what you decided to do. There was no answer. You tried to turn the knob to find that the door wasn’t locked at all. 

You snuck through the front door, cautious not to make any sounds. Something was amiss. Someone as cautious as Taehyung would never leave their front door unlocked. The house was eerily quiet.

He was nowhere to be found on the first floor. You journeyed up to the second story in the hopes of finding him. A rustling from his room was heard.

You tiptoed to his room, the door was wide open. Taehung was staring out of his bedroom window. The world seemed still for a moment. You quietly walked into the room, and realized that the room was filled with bouquets. Flowers ranging from lillies, chrysanthemums, carnations, and roses made the room smell sickly sweet. 

“Taehyung,” you called out to him.

He turned to you to reveal his tear streaked face. His eyes were red and puffy. He cast a disinterested gaze at you before he shooed you away with one hand.

“Go away. You’re not real. When will this hell end?” he sighed.

“Tae, my darling, I am real,” you approached him slowly.

“My own imagination won’t let me live down my guilt, huh? I suppose I deserve it,” he replied sadly, turning back to face the window. 

“Taehyung, I’m right here, dumbass,” you say with more conviction as you hug him from behind.

He jumped at your touch, whipping around to face you with inhuman speed. His cold hands gently cupped your face, as tears began to fall from his eyes.

“How? There’s no way you can be real. There’s no way that you’re ___,” he cried out, hugging you tightly.

“You better believe it, Taehyuung. I didn’t come back from the dead to be ignored,” you tried to joke, but your voice gave you away.

It was a bittersweet reunion. Tears freely fell, wet kisses were shared, and best of all, you were in each other’s arms again. Any fear you had regarding awkward tensions had dissipated. 

Taehyung held you in his arms as you recounted the past few days. You came clean to him about being a vampire hunter, and about how you were the VEC’s top hunter. You started to cry again as you told him about the inner turmoil you struggled with ever since you met him. Taehyung listened intently to everything you said, clutching you closely the entire time.

“The President of the VEC knows that you’re here?” he asked after you finished.

“Yes,” you answered.

“Is he going to kill me?” he seriously inquired.

“He may try, depending on the choices you make today,” you replied. 

“What choices do I have? I’ll receive any consequences you deem fit,” he kissed your forehead. 

“How do you feel about working for the VEC? It took a lot of arguing, but Yoongi agreed that if I can keep you in check, you would be allowed to work with me. However, one slip up and you’re dead. Those were his words exactly,” you explained.

“What exactly does a ‘slip up’ entail?” he questioned.

“Killing and/or eating any humans. You would only be allowed to kill vampires. The VEC would ensure that blood will always be provided to you to avoid any hunger killings,” you laced his fingers between yours, as if this was any normal casual conversation.

“My ultimatum is that I either work for the VEC to kill my own kind or to die? Is that correct?” he clarified.

“That sounds pretty harsh. But yes, those are your only options.”

“What if I kill all of you instead?”

“Okay, you have three options then.”

“But only one of them will allow me to spend my life with you,” he replied gently.

“You’ll do it? You’ll work with me at the VEC?” your eyes lit up.

“If it means I get to be with you, of course. Vampires are solitary creatures anyway. I have no remorse for my kind that resort to needless violence,” he planted a tender kiss on your lips.

“In that case, I have one more condition. This is a personal request,” you whispered.

“Anything for you, my darling,” Taehyung cooed.

“Turn me.”

Taehyung’s eyes widened, stunned by your request. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. 

“I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I finally found a real reason to live, and it’s you. I had just been going through the motions until I met you. Please, Taehyung. I want us to stay like this. Forever,” you pleaded.

“Do you know what you’re asking, ___? You’ll be dead, just like me. You’ll be dependent on feeding on human blood. I’ve had countless years of practice, but the hunger can sometimes become uncontrollable,” Taehyung tried to reason with you.

“I would have you to help me through all of that,” you stroked his cheek.

“What if the VEC decides to hunt us down?”

“Then we can flee together. Or we can fight them. I don’t care, as long as we’re together. You don’t have to do it right now, but just know that I want it,” you say in a defeated tone. 

“If you’re sure,” Taehyung gripped a handful of your hair and tilted your head back, “I’ll do it.”

“Then do it. Bet you won’t,” you teased to hide your nervousness.

He chuckled at your response. He peppered gentle kisses along your neck, before licking a long stripe along it. The tingling sensation made you moan. Taehyung’s hand found its way between your thighs. He slowly began to rub your clit while seductively whispering in your ear.

“I’ve been dreaming of doing this since the first time I saw you,” he growled.

You took off your pants to grant him easier access to your intimate spots. 

“Good girl,” he praised, slipping a finger into you.

You moaned as he added another one. You felt your body clenching as he brought you closer to your climax. His fingers curled perfectly and his pace quickened. He had simultaneously been kissing your neck the entire time. 

“You smell so fucking good, darling,” his deep voice resonated in your ear, “I can’t promise that this won’t hurt. But I do promise to fuck your brains out after.”

He didn’t give you time to respond. You had been holding out long enough. You reached your high as his sharp fangs bit into your neck. The initial puncture hurt, but it began to feel better as soon as Taehyung lapped up the blood. Taehyung suckled your neck as his fingers played with your clit.

“T-tae t-that’s too much,” you struggled to say.

“Don’t act as if you can’t take it, darling,” Taehyung growled in response.

He threw you on your back. He let you have a second to catch your breath, as he tore off his blood stained shirt. He dove right back into feeding from you, but now his hard crotch was grinding against your wet exposed core. 

“I have to warn you, this next part may be a bit unpleasant for you,” he stated as he licked the blood off of his lips.

This sight of a bloody Kim Taehyung was oddly erotic. Knowing that it was your blood on him strangely made it even more hot. 

Taehyung bit his own wrist. He held his bleeding wrist over your mouth.

“Drink,” he ordered.

You did as you were told, hesitantly licked his wrist. The metallic taste caused you to cringe.

“It won’t work if you don’t do it,” he scolded.

You grabbed his wrist and brought it to your mouth. You sucked on the wound hard, swallowing as much as you could. Taehyung groaned, the sight of you feeding from him turned him on more than he could imagine. You couldn’t take it anymore after a few minutes. You stopped to get some air.

“That should be good enough, darling. Well done,” Taehyung kissed your forehead.

“How will I know if it worked?” you asked.

“It takes a little while for my blood to circulate throughout your body. It’ll happen, don’t worry. For now…” his voice trailed off as his hand returned to your pussy.

“Do you want me to make you feel good again?” he teased, his fingers lightly tracing your lips.

“I thought you promised that you’d ‘fuck my brains out’?” you deviously smiled.

“I do intend to make good on that,” he returned your sly smile.

He flipped you onto your stomach, and propped your ass up. He gave it a good slap, one that stung for a few seconds afterwards and immediately turned your ass red. 

He ran his length along your pussy, coating himself with your juices. He teased you by slowly putting just the tip in before coming back out. You didn’t have the energy to be your normal cheeky self. You patiently waited for him to ease into you. His hand came around to grip your neck, forcing your head upwards.

“You’ve been such a good girl,” he growled, as he finally gave you his entire length. 

His hips bucked into you ferociously, his grip still firmly around your neck. Your neck was still sore from being bitten into, but at this point you didn’t care. You were still sensitive from your last orgasm, and Taehyung was drilling directly into your g spot. 

“Fuck, you’re so wet,” he panted.

“Please fuck me as hard as you can. I really can’t keep up with you much longer,” you managed to say.

“Sure thing, darling,” Taehyung obliged.

He pounded into you harder with speed that you couldn’t handle. He let go of your neck, allowing you to collapse onto your chest. His hands gripped your ass instead. His strokes became sloppier, indicating that he was now close to his limit. 

With a sudden grunt, Taehyung released his load into you, his hot semen filling you up. He leaned over to you, and you thought he was going in for a kiss, but he licked your neck instead. You didn’t realize that you were still bleeding. You turn to the side to give him better access. After the bleeding stopped, he cuddled you, pressing his chest against your back.

“You have the sweetest blood I’ve ever tasted,” he kissed your ear.

“Thanks I guess? Have you ever tasted a diabetic? That might change your opinion,” you laughed.

“I can’t recall. I just know that no one has ever tasted better,” he squeezed you tighter, “Also creeping thistle.” 

“Huh?” you turned to look at him in confusion. Was he speaking in code?

“You asked what kind of flower I thought you were before. I believe I can give you my answer now,” Taehyung replied thoughtfully.

“Okay I’ll bite. What does a creeping thistle look like?” 

“You know those tall purple flowers you see on the sides of the road? Those are creeping thistles,” he answered. You paused to recall driving past them.

“Wait, those are weeds!” you cried out in disbelief, “You think I’m a pest like a weed?”

“They are weeds, yes. They are resilient, persistent, and can hurt you if you’re not careful around them,” Taehyung chuckled. 

“Those don’t really sound like compliments--”

“But they also produce beautiful purple flowers that go unappreciated. Purple is my favorite color,” Taehyung interrupted you. 

“Fine, I’ll take it since you said they’re beautiful or whatever,” you playfully rolled your eyes, but you were touched by the thought that went into his answer. You noticed you were growing colder by the second, and snuggled closer to Taehyung to try and produce some body heat. He noticed this and helped you get under the covers before cuddling with you again. 

 “You’re going to die tonight. Don’t worry, that’s part of the process. I’ll be by your side the entire time. You’ll be like me in the morning,” he kissed your forehead. 

“Will it hurt?” you asked, slightly scared.

“The worst is over. The most excruciating part is when my blood begins to circulate in yours, but I think I successfully distracted you from that pain,” he smirked. 

“Oh I’m sure that was the only reason you dicked me down senseless. Thank you for your generosity,” you laughed.  

Your body began to feel heavy yet weightless at the same time. Panic began to set in. The feeling was similar to when you drowned in the lake. Your breathes became more strained as you struggled to inhale sufficient oxygen. Sensing your distress, Taehyung held you tighter and whispered a single word into your ear.

“Sleep.” 

“You look pretty harmless.”

“I try to be, for the most part.”

“Jungkook! Get away from him. Don’t talk to him. Taehyung, if that’s even your real name, you’re on thin fucking ice. If ___ doesn’t wake up when you say she will I’ll put your pretty little head on a spike.”

“You think he’s pretty?”

“Shut up Jungkook.”

You slowly opened your eyes after hearing the men bicker. You woke up to find all three of them standing in front of the bed. Jungkook had an uncharacteristically somber look on his face while Yoongi looked gloomier than usual. You could tell that Taehyung had reverted back to his reserved state in their presence. 

“Yoongi? Why are you here?” you questioned. You started to panic. Did Taehyung admit to turning you? You hadn’t even thought about how to break the news to Yoongi. If you weren’t dead now then you’d surely be dead after Yoongi found out. 

“Your phone rang. I answered “Yoongles” who had some rather choice words for me. I told him that you were fine and resting. He barged in immediately after that,” Taehyung explained.

“Yoongi I told you that I would--”

“I’m beyond relieved that you’re still alive. I only called because it was urgent and--”

“The VEC was attacked,” Jungkook butted in.

“What?” you were shocked. 

“We’re the only ones left,” Yoongi stated.

Published October 24, 2020. No editing, copying, translating, or reposting allowed. All Rights Reserved © 2020 Baepsaesbae.

[theurbanologist]

Is This Place A Dream?

As I stepped off Amtrak’s train number 99 in New York’s Penn Station on New Year’s Day, I wondered if I was in Penn Station—or was I actually at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Train Hall? 

Could I be in both places at the same time?

 I looked down and saw a yellow sign under my feet that read “Moynihan Train Hall”, complete with directional arrow. 

It’s always nice to have good way finding, no?

My pleasure diminished a bit as I looked up and saw several prominent ads for Manscaped’s “groin grooming” products. I was immediately reminded that we are never from a screen or billboard or talking light rectangle telling us what to buy, how to live, or which streaming services will deliver the latest and greatest content. 

It is exhausting. I didn’t want to think about groin grooming at that particular moment (mine or anyone else’s), so I followed the yellow signs to an escalator leading up, up and away into the Moynihan Train Hall. Despite the gloomy sky, I saw a glimmer of light and the presence of 100 people or so taking pictures, streaming on Twitch, and otherwise engaged in documenting this most momentous day.

What would have Senator Moynihan thought about the structure that bears his name? 

He’s been dead for 18 years——and I don’t think you should listen to anyone who pretends to know what he would think. Well, I take that back—I’m going to say he would have thought it this new transit experience is a vast improvement over the tawdry rat-warren that is Penn Station. 

Senator Moynihan’s robust 1993 proposal to transform the Farley Post Office Building into an homage to the former Penn Station was well received in many quarters, but alas, the funds were not forthcoming. In the past decade alone, there were a handful of plans that reimagined recreating McKim, Mead & White’s original 1910 Penn Station in toto, an elaborate plan by the family that owns Madison Square Garden, and several other plans which focused on regional transportation issues. 

The plan that won the day? That’s the one I experienced—the one executed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill—the one with the grandiose 92-foot-high skylights and the four-faced clock that lets you know you might be late for the train to Newport News if you’re not already looking at your phone to see if you might be late for that very train. And a food hall shall follow later this year. 

Let’s take a look at some of these details, shall we? 

What follows are a few things I observed today—the good, the bad, and the “needs improvement” of the Moynihan Train Hall. 

What’s near the top of your list when you enter a transit facility? I’m going to guess that you’d probably want a place to sit while you wait for your train, collect your thoughts, catch up on work, or just scroll, scroll, scroll.  And guess what’s missing in this photo? There’s no place to sit. Unlike much smaller transit facilities in cities like New Haven or Providence, there’s no place to sit——yes, there’s a place for ticketed passengers to sit—we’ll come back to that. This is a tragic omission that hopefully will be rectified in the future—soon. 

If you’re coming to the Moynihan Train Hall, my guess is that you’re going to want a bit of a history lesson on the former Beaux-Arts glory that was Penn Station. And yes, there is just such a elegant lesson told with expertly reproduced historic photographs with thoughtful explanatory text telling tales of “Wartime Activity” and “Postwar Decline” (Hey—is that a liquor store I spy?—let’s bring that back!)

There’s one rather significant problem: location, location, location.

This assemblage appears in the——baggage claim area. It strikes me as a very odd choice considering this space will hopefully soon again be an area a’ bustling with folks picking up checked baggages from Wilkes-Barre, Jacksonville, and other Amtrak destinations. Great idea, odd placement. 

As it turns out, there is a place for Amtrak passengers with a ticket to sit down as they wait for the train. When I approached the entrance to this seating area, an Amtrak employee informed that “Today anyone can come in, but after this, you’ll need a ticket”. 

The design is aesthetically pleasing enough, with the type of furniture and workspaces that you’d expect from a nicer airport—most likely not one in the United States. There are the requisite USB outlets, effective lighting, but wait—are those dividers in the seating area? Ah yes, they are.

Honestly, if I have paid for a ticket, why not give me the opportunity to recline a bit if I am tired? Sure, there will be some uncouth souls who just roam all over, but I’d like to believe that folks with a ticket might behave. Maybe add a sign that reminds folks to not drape their footwear all over?

As I side-stepped a group of New Year’s day revelers all wearing matching bandanas that read “Fuck COVID 2021”, I encountered a man with a motorized wheelchair live-streaming the entire melee on his phone. He introduced himself as a “two-time veteran—the United States Army and the MTA” and we talked a bit about how he was finding the new facility.

“Listen, this place is a dream”, he said. “First of all, you have to go check out those elevators. You can get to each track without any problem at all—that’s a big deal if you use a wheelchair. It’s really great. I’d like to have a place to get some food too. I guess there’s a food hall coming in the fall.”

Nodding, I told him I’d also like a place to get some food. 

I’m certainly never going back to the Zaro’s in Penn Station again. 

[coopdigitalnewsletter]

21 May 2019: Like a vending machine, pharmacies and plastic bags, Amazon invests in Deliveroo

Hello, this is the Co-op Digital newsletter - it looks at what's happening in the internet/digital world and how it's relevant to the Co-op, to retail businesses, and most importantly to people, communities and society. Thank you for reading - send ideas and feedback to @rod on Twitter. Please tell a friend about it!

Like a vending machine

"People are coming in, they're grabbing one thing, and then they leave. "People [are] ... kind of treating it like a vending machine." - Amazon’s New York Go store.

Obviously supermarkets have larger baskets/spend and less frequent visits, and convenience stores have smaller baskets/spend and more frequent visits. But maybe that inverse relationship between convenience (or speed) and transaction size extends much further. If you reduce much of the shopping friction (no checkouts etc) in a convenience store, maybe the basket size will happily drop so far that you don’t need a basket any more.

Technology has been great at splitting apart existing “bundles” into ever smaller atoms, and then replacing them with a new kind of bundle. Music: sales of songs (iTunes in the 2000s and MTV in the 90s) replaced sales of albums, but that spend is now moving to streaming (Spotify). The same thing is happening with TV at the moment (cable TV packages give way to streamed video on demand from Netflix). The same thing will happen with private transport: owning a car is inefficient for many travelers because 90% of the time the car sits outside a home, so it makes more sense to buy a ride instead (Uber).

Could you translate a pattern like that to grocery? Maybe Go means that the natural “basket size” is something that fits in your pocket. Maybe the next step is that the food somehow becomes a monthly subscription service. That’s an interesting idea, though hard to do with food because, unlike say digital content, the marginal distribution costs of food are not zero (as meal kit companies have been finding). But maybe you could imagine a Costco-like model: a monthly membership gets you access to the store, in which all of the goods are cheap and maybe some are free.

Elsewhere in retail:

McDonald’s locations to double as U.S. embassies in the most American thing that ever happened - why shouldn’t retail help provide valuable help and service to people?

Now its partnership with Ocado is ending, Waitrose plans to treble the size of its online sales to 1bn.

Richer Sounds founder hands over control of hi-fi and TV firm to staff.

Co-op CEO Steve Murrells has backed the recommendation from Tesco chief Dave Lewis that online retailers be charged a 2% sales levy to help pay for a reduction in business rates for high street stores.

Health: service design and plastic bags

Great piece about service design in the NHS - Mostly service design: the health and care edition:

“People in this sector talk a lot about “service redesign”. I find that odd because, on the available evidence, much of the service we have today was never consciously designed. It emerged through countless policy decisions and reorganisations.”

Boots has robots packing repeat prescriptions but they’ve introduced single-use plastic bags which some customers don’t like. “She said she intended to use a different pharmacy if Boots gave her another plastic bag.”

A paper bag generally signals “eco-friendly” compared to a plastic bag. The green footprint of packaging is sometimes counter-intuitive, and reasons for packaging choices aren’t always obvious (Boots said "the bags also need to be heat-sealed shut, which reduces the risk of products falling out of the bags in transit") so if Boots were replacing paper bags with plastic ones, maybe the bags could’ve had a message printed on them explaining the choice.

Elsewhere in pharmacies: Co-op’s Health new service helps people view, order and manage their NHS repeat prescription from their phone. Co-op will also trial self-serve lockers for prescription collection. (And how Co-op Digital ran design sprints to quickly answer critical business designs for a forthcoming feature.)

Amazon invests in Deliveroo: routes to market

Amazon is the lead investor in Deliveroo’s latest fundraising - Deliveroo will use the money to hire more tech people and open more dark “cloud” kitchens.

Takeaway marketplaces and food delivery are contested and overlapping these days: Just Eat started as a takeaway marketplace but now competes more directly with Deliveroo. Most of these companies seem to have increasing costs to acquire customers so it's often seen an attritional "scale wins" space. Amzn tried and later closed its Restaurants delivery service in London, which suggests that it felt investing in (or buying) Deliveroo would be a better route to the same goal.

Automated face recognition

A legal challenge to current police use of automated face recognition (AFR). The case is primarily about privacy: AFR collects data which can later be used to match or identify people, so you might think of it as being like non-consensual mass fingerprinting. There isn’t much if any regulation on use of facerec, so this may lead to some legislation. The wider questions with AFR are whether it works too well (surveillance society) or not well (tragedy of errors) and where the UK wants to be on the freedom/privacy/safety/control map.

San Francisco bans facial recognition technology - the first ban by a major city in the US.

Google vs Huawei (US vs China)

The US President amped up the trade disagreement with China. US firms cannot supply components to Huawei without export licences (or maybe they can). Google will withhold Android updates and Play store, Gmail, Goog maps etc from Huawei phones in future. This may hurt Huawei and help Samsung outside China, and fragment mobile phone OSes further in the long-term. It may also hurt Apple everywhere if China retaliates, and even dilute the strength of any anti-competitive scrutiny against Google in the US.

Everything else

Adobe tells users they can get sued for using old versions of Photoshop - this seems like a bad thing to say to your customers.

BT unveils new logo - its name in a circle - staff will get shares which is good. The new logo has a default social media user icon vibe to it, which may or may not fit your aesthetic.

“Dark magic”: a user successfully controlling lots of things on their mobile with Google voice and without losing their mind in frustration.

A 2019 survey of US consumers suggests that Walmart has 58.5m app customers. Amazon has 54.4m (surprising that it’s in second place?), Uber 52.1m, Starbucks 44.2m.

Netflix saves our kids from up to 400 hours of commercials a year (fewer ads, yay) though this is also because the average 6-11 year old is spending over 1,450 hours a year watching television (erm).

Co-op Digital news

Co-op health: running a design sprint across disciplines.

The Co-op Group annual general meeting was on Saturday. The motion results.

Events

Public events:

Ladies that UX - Tue 21 May 6pm at Federation House.

User Research North: An evening with Jared Spool - Tue 28 May 6.30pm at BookingGo, 35 Fountain Street M2 2AN.

Open:Data:Night Data Viz - Tue 28 May 6.30pm at Federation House.

Freelance Friday social - Fri 31 May 5pm at Common, Edge Street, Manchester

Internal events:

Co-operate show & tell - Wed 22 May 10am at Fed House 6th floor.

Mental wellbeing drop-in - Thu 23 May 12pm at Fed House 5th floor.

Data management show & tell - Thu 23 May 3pm at Angel Square 13th floor.

Membership show & tell - Fri 24 May 3pm at Fed House 6th floor.

What has the web team been up to - Tue 28 May 1pm at Fed House 5th floor.

Food show & tell - Tue 28 May 1.30pm at Fed House 5th floor.

Health show & tell - Tue 28 May 2.30pm at Fed House 5th floor.

Data ecosystem show & tell - Wed 29 May 3pm at Angel Square 13th floor.

Membership show & tell - Fri 31 May 3pm at Fed House 6th floor.

Delivery community of practice meet-up - Mon 3 Jun 1.30pm at Fed House.

Funeralcare show & tell - Tue 4 Jun 12pm at Angel Square 12th floor.

CMO CRM show & tell - Tue 4 Jun 2pm at Angel Square 13th floor.

More events at Federation House - and you can contact the events team at  federation.events@coopdigital.co.uk. And TechNW has a useful calendar of events happening in the North West.

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[leechangjoons]

Pungdo- A Sanctuary For the Homeless

Population: 200-400 

Mayor: Soyi, also referred exclusively as Mayor Park.  Previous Mayor: Sungwoong, widely referred to as ‘Mr Bulldozer’ or ‘Mayor Park’ instead of his actual name 

Geography: Facing the sea, harsh cliff faces with staircases and ramps carved into the rocks to allow for easy access. 3 major storeys of buildings- the main plaza with a small mart, hospital, petrol kiosk and post office are on the first level, as well as a bus stop leading to the outside world. The post office houses a bulletin board that is filled with odd jobs for people to pick up and go for, and there is also a community center for exercise, physiotherapy, psychological therapy as well as workshops to prepare the residents for the working world. They also rent out suits for residents. 

In recent times, a few more amenities have opened up, notably a cafe run by Jiwoo and Hojun to allow residents to unwind with cheap drinks after a hard day at work or just to relax and bond. The splinter group of Monarch Acquisitions has also opened a branch to stay at after making a deal with Sungwoong, and occasionally take out contract jobs from within. The underground is not spared, however, and the resident vigilante group of the Beastslayers are known to be active. The latest addition is a branch of the notorious Chess Bionics, a clean energy firm that provides state-of-the-art prosthetics as well. 

The second storey are mainly residences and the third and final storey is Sungwoong’s house as well as the outpost that Bumsoo owns with his detectives, which sprawls out a significant distance. Bumsoo is considered the de facto law enforcer of the town, though it is never unusual to see residents concealing and producing homemade weapons due to being under consistent threat while previously homeless. There is a consistent open-carry law in Pungdo, which is lax, and there is rarely if ever any crime or violence in the town because everyone understands hitting rock bottom. 

On the far end of the island, there is Mooyeol’s Breezebreak Resort- a large inn allowing special and esteemed guests of Sungwoong’s to stop and rest their feet at. With the many meetings Soyi hosts to improve and expand Pungdo’s resources, Mooyeol almost never goes out of business. With Soyi’s takeover, though, the tourism policy has relaxed, and a small rotational handful of volunteers are also housed there. 

The residences given to the new members are simplistic, zinc-roofed houses, and each house usually holds 3-4 people. Residents that are invalid due to dementia or other factors are paired off with more able people that have cared for them before coming to Pungdo. The main form of transportation from place to place is on foot, bicycles (if able) or on repurposed golf carts that run on solar energy, which have designated spots to be parked at. 

History: Sungwoong’s goal has always been to eradicate homelessness. By creating a town that is basically a transition to allow homeless people to be equipped with skills to go to the working world and if not, still have a support system that allows them to live somewhat comfortably, Pungdo (’the island of wind’) is now a sanctuary for the homeless and destitute. Oftentimes, callous people can be seen driving and dumping their aged parents or invalid children at the bus stop of Pungdo, which are quickly taken in by the other vagrants. 

The old people can often be seen nursing the children abandoned by others, and usually children are handed off to orphanages if they are not claimed otherwise- Pungdo is after all not habitable for children too young, and Sungwoong would rather they grew up away from such influences and pursue greener pastures instead if given a choice. 

Despite this, however, people still stream into Pungdo for less savoury affairs- and are swiftly dealt with by the retainers that roam freely in Pungdo.  

Laws: Each resident is usually given a nickname upon entry, or addressed strictly by honorifics if older due to Pungdo not being recognised yet as a state of residence. They are usually issued a bus card allowing them to access the outside world, as well as $10 of pocket money upon entry. Even after Pungdo was recognised as a sovereign state, residents still avoid using their actual names unless they are with family. 

If the resident desires more money, they are able to either obtain an odd job from the bulletin at the post office or work for the relevant organisations such as the post office or the mart if there are spaces (they rotate very often to immerse everyone for exposure). Food is often provided by the mart in the form of packed fruits, and clothing are usually recycled ones donated from the churches and shelters around Pungdo: since the shelters’ resources have now been funnelled into the town itself, the citizens often come to the plaza to host soup kitchens for them. 

Due to the consistent open-carry law in Pungdo, residents are strongly advised to keep a weapon within close proximity of them at all times. It is never surprising to see a resident walking around with a hammer or a crowbar- oftentimes, they have a need to hold these as a warning to the outside world. 

Energy and Natural Resources: Pungdo is an island surrounded by water, so fishing and marine life has become one of its major exports. The lush forests that dot the landscape also house strange flora with unique medicinal properties, and it has thus become a hotbed for researchers to explore and uncover the more complex nature of the place. 

What is most unique about Pungdo is its naturally occurring ore deposits that was hidden within the forest itself, glowing red stones known as “dynamium” that dissolves after being treated into easily contained and clean raw energy. While entirely harmless to a normal person, it has the unusually radioactive property of rapidly increasing the size of shifters and Chosen if exposed to, repressing their human nature and turning them into rampaging beasts. Dynamium is thus harvested by enterprising Normals who are more than happy to venture through the forests with the help of their shifter companions to harvest their own energy sources. 

Each family is given three cells of dynamium that combined can last them a year in terms of electricity and heating. When exhausted, they can either visit the energy retrieval stand in Chess Bionics for a refill, drop off their used cells at the Town Hall with their address or inform the enforcers to make an exchange with them by personally visiting them if they are unable to do either. 

Pungdo bizarrely touts its main export as tapiocas, despite the existence of dynamium. With Taeoh’s devotion in studying the strange substance (being immune to it himself), it meant that Sungwoong swiftly silenced any leaks of its existence to avoid endangering the lives of his citizens.

Income: Nobody quite knows how Pungdo gains so much wealth. Pungdo doesn’t take taxes from their people, either, so rumours have floated around that their mayor is sustaining their tiny town with his own money. More rumours point to illicit activities like smuggling of arms, but none of these have been confirmed or denied by Sungwoong himself. With the many proposals put forth and worked on by Sungwoong and later Soyi, the city sees a surprisingly robust culture and income.

Pungdo has a very strict no-tourism policy. Journalists especially are banned from Pungdo entirely- Sungwoong maintains very strongly that his residents are not ornaments, nor testaments of the eradication of poverty, and would want to maintain their pride by allowing them this sense of normalcy. With Soyi’s takeover, though, the tourism policy has relaxed however to allow volunteers of various charitable organisations to enter and put up at Breezebreak at the time being- she hopes that by having them give feedback that they would be able to secure more funding and support from the public to raise awareness. 

Bizarre Occurrences: Pungdo has been the site of strange temporal and dimensional disturbances known as “Gates”, where people from other dimensions seem to keep emerging from the forest surrounding it. Suspicions abound that it is likely due to the dynamium concentration within the area, which once again brings up the question of why Sungwoong had not mentioned it before...

Notable Members:  Sungwoong (ex-mayor, ‘Bulldozer’) Soyi (current mayor, ‘Iron Ox’) Bumsoo (police chief, ‘Steel Ball’) Hyejin (advisor, ‘Genie’)  Retainers:  Yeonseok (town doctor, ‘Flaming Cat’) Yumi (town advisor, ‘Frost Ghoul’) Jungwoo (surgeon, ‘Scum Ninja’)  Sungkyun (psychiatrist, ‘Smiling Tiger’) Jieun “Chunhyang” (spy, ‘Pirouette’)  Ara (strategist, ‘Victor’)  Sunghoon (spy, ‘Junk Lizard’)  Jinhyuk (security specialist, ‘Sniper’)  Taeoh (engineer, ‘Alien’) Eunkyung (lawyer, ‘Puppy’) 

Zhiheng (marine museum curator, ‘Jaws’)

Mooyeol (hotel owner, ‘Type Null’) 

Regular members:  Dongwon (detective, ‘Sweater’)  Hyukkwon (detective, ‘Harpy’) Ryeowon (detective, ‘Wyvern’)  Sukwon (detective, ‘Daniel’) 

Jiwoo (cafe owner, ‘Swordfish’) Sooyoung (resident, ‘Eagle’) Sejong (long-term volunteer, ‘Butterfly’) Inwoo (town bum, ‘Bull’)  Junhyo (resident, ‘Present Bird’) Kijoon (resident, ‘Prism’) Jisung (resident, ‘Dragon’)  Joowan (resident, ‘Lava Ghoul’) Jihye (resident, ‘Imp’) 

Jungjin (???, referred to exclusively as ‘Proxy’, nobody knows his real name) 

[thisdaynews]

Paella, billboards and campaign swag: 33 things that cost the 2020 candidates big money

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/paella-billboards-and-campaign-swag-33-things-that-cost-the-2020-candidates-big-money/

Paella, billboards and campaign swag: 33 things that cost the 2020 candidates big money

POLITICO Illustration/FEC

campaign finance

The campaigns spent big on advertising and staffing — along with sometimes-bizarre odds and ends that fueled the startup businesses.

Running for president costs millions of dollars in staff salaries, even more in advertising fees and tons in travel — but sometimes, what a campaign really needs to get through a day is five-figures worth of paella.

That’s among the eye-catching expenses hidden in plain sight among thousands of lines of campaign charges contained in the latest round of FEC disclosures. There were a few through-lines across the Democratic campaigns from April through June: Digital advertising is at or near the top of most expense lists, as candidates try to build massive donor lists to qualify for debates and fund a long primary campaign. Staff salaries, too, are a major cost — for those who can afford it, as some smaller campaigns make the crucial choice to prioritize advertising in order to make the debates.

Story Continued Below

But some expenditures are singular, from consulting payments to a sitcom-inspired fundraising firm to the campaign event in Los Angeles fueled by a company called “Got Paella.” And some, like the digital advertising expenses, illustrate broad stories about the state of the campaign and the Democratic Party, like the top Democratic law firm working for at least seven different 2020 presidential candidates.

Here are the most revealing, outlandish or just weird ways Democratic presidential campaigns spent money between the start of April and the end of June:

Joe Biden: $102,353 for the launch ad that never was

Biden paid $102,352.90 on May 16 to the firm owned by Mark Putnam, a famed Democratic ad man who worked for former President Barack Obama and produced viral campaign spots for congressional candidates including Amy McGrath and Jason Kander. Putnam’s firm shot footage for a launch ad before Biden jumped into the race in April — except it didn’t ever run. Instead, Biden advisers chose to go with a different video. Putnam left Biden’s campaign in June.

Kirsten Gillibrand: $350,000 on a digital firm that the campaign ditched

Gillibrand’s campaign spent $346,681.03 in the second quarter on Anne Lewis Strategies, a consulting firm that directed the campaign’s online ads and had played a central role as Gillibrand became one of the party’s top online fundraisers in 2017.

But by mid-spring of this year, Gillibrand cut the firm loose, as she struggled to raise money from individual donors online. Now, the campaign has brought its digital advertising and fundraising in-house, which presidential campaigns traditionally haven’t done in the past. Throughout the second quarter, Gillibrand’s campaign dropped $842,192.14 on ads paid directly to Google, Facebook and Twitter.

Ten different campaigns: $4.1 million in direct payments to Facebook for ads

It’s not just the Gillibrand campaign: A number of other Democrats are paying less and less money to digital advertising consultants to develop online strategies and instead moving their programs in-house, the Democratic digital group Acronym noted recently. Campaigns — including Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttegieg’s — are opting to hire staff who directly run their advertising programs, partially in a bid to save money on traditional consultant commissions.

Tulsi Gabbard: $100,198 on billboards

The Hawaii congresswoman’s single biggest expense went into an unusual form of advertising: billboards, according to her FEC filing. Many of her competitors would drop that cash on digital ads, arguably reaching more voters.

Bernie Sanders: $751,068 on swag

Sanders’ campaign boughta lotof t-shirts, buttons, hats and bumper stickers in the second quarter — over three-quarters of a million dollars worth, using them to stock Sanders’ online campaign store. It’s not just for fun or for random on-the-street advertising: Sanders’ campaign has been using stickers and other items to entice donations from his email list.

Joe Biden: $256,798 on private jet travel

The Biden campaign gave $256,798.18 to Advanced Aviation, a charter jet and helicopter service. Using private jets was a source of contention during the 2016 race: Bernie Sanders took some criticism for his frequent travel on private jets. Part of the Biden campaign’s expense was for carbon offsets that the campaign is purchasing when the former vice president travels, a spokesman said.Part of the Biden campaign’s expense was for carbon offsets that the campaign is purchasing when the former vice president travels, a spokesman said.

Pete Buttigieg: $299,066 on private jet travel

Buttigieg also racked up a big bill on private jets — a practice he can afford as the top second-quarter fundraiser in the 2020 primary field, who packed his recent schedule full of events requiring quick travel. He flew around on three different private jet companies during the second quarter, dishing out $299,065.56 to Advanced Aviation, Vertivue Air Charter and Evojets.

Joe Biden: $12,075 on paella

Biden spent $12,075.00 on food from the Los Angeles-based Got Paella, which serves the traditional Spanish seafood-and-rice dishes, in early May, shortly after he launched his campaign — likely for a fundraiser when the former vice president stopped in Southern California. While prospecting for online donors is costing Democratic campaigns a lot, traditional high-dollar fundraising events come with serious costs as well, from candidate travel to the spread for guests.

It’s unclear if Biden or anyone else shouted “What am I supposed to do with all this paella?” before, during or after the event.

Pete Buttigieg: $64,000 to two event spaces in NYC, Fenway Park

Buttigieg is known for his sold-out fundraisers, and it costs a lot to host those standing-room-only crowds. Two of Buttigieg’s most expensive line-items went to site rentals in New York City and Boston in June. There was $27,901.39 to Brooklyn Steel for a grassroots fundraiser and $36,276.88 to Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, for a fundraiser in one of the field’s suites.

Cory Booker: $500 on car repairs

The Booker campaign charged $500.00 for “auto repair” to Capital Certified Collision Center, a Washington D.C.-based auto body shop.

Marianne Williamson: $2,011 to self-help movie company Streaming for the Soul

Williamson paid $2,011.30 to Streaming for the Soul, LLC, a streaming video company that offers titles online including “Psychic Mediumship” and “Living the Luminous Life.” Williamson paid the company for videography, editing and other services.

Seven candidates: $652,517 to powerhouse Democratic law firm Perkins Coie

Almost one-third of the Democratic presidential field has retained Perkins Coie for legal services, sending nearly two-thirds of a million dollars to the firm in the second quarter. Under Marc Elias, the chair of the firm’s political law practice, Perkins Coie has taken over legal business for most of the Democratic Party’s top committees and campaigns and is always a good bet to be involved in recount or voting-rights litigation where Democrats have a stake in the outcome.

But little illustrates Perkins Coie’s size and influence in Democratic politics than the fact that these campaigns — including two of the five first-tier candidates in Harris and Warren — are all eager to retain the firm’s resources despite being locked in competition with each other. Biden, Buttigieg and Sanders, among others, used different law firms in the second quarter.

Jay Inslee: $30,226 to the mysterious, ingeniously named fundraising firm Banana Stand LLC

The Inslee paid $30,226.10 to a Gilbert, Ariz.-based fundraising firm that appears to have been named with a nod to the sitcom Arrested Development. But the “Mr. Manager” behind Banana Stand LLC remains a mystery: The firm has no website, and only one other federal campaign — Richard Ojeda’s 2018 bid for House of Representatives — has paid money to a firm called Banana Stand LLC in recent years.

Joe Biden: $3.5 million on digital advertising

Biden spent $3,435,563.74 on expenses marked as digital advertising in three months — a mammoth sum that shows how he’s working to build up a list of small-dollar donors, 10 years after the last time he ran a race solo. It was the single biggest expense for the Biden campaign last quarter, but it helped return a big day-one fundraising number, $8.3 million in second-quarter small-dollar donations, and easily more than enough donors to qualify for future debates.

Andrew Yang and Bernie Sanders: $16,497 and $13,634, respectively, on Airbnb

While many campaigns stick to traditional hotels, some are increasingly branching out into Airbnb, whether they’re seeking cost efficiencies or just going with the 21st-century flow. Two that went all in: Yang and Sanders, which spent $16,497.43 and $13,634.44 on Airbnb last quarter, respectively. Beto O’Rourke spent a smaller amount: $1,901.82.

Cory Booker: $1,500 to rent out space in a private club in Philadelphia

Booker’s campaign put down $1,500.00 to rent space at the elite Fitler Club, a “private lifestyle club” for young sophisticates where membership each year costs upwards of $5,000 per year, according to Eater Philadelphia. The rental appears to have been for a May 16 fundraiser hosted by a pair of Philadelphia lawyers.

Elizabeth Warren: $9,295 to a PAC helping her bid

Warren paid $9,295.00 to the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a PAC that endorsed the Massachusetts senator earlier this year. The expenses were for “campaign materials and internet advertising,” the filing said. The PCCC is one of Warren’s oldest allies in politics, and the group likes to promote its place in the “Elizabeth Warren wing of the Democratic Party.”

Seth Moulton: $1,109 on Harvard Clubs

Moulton’s campaign spent $1,069 at the Harvard Club of New York for lodging on May 29. Moulton, who has three degrees from Harvard, also spent $40 for “membership dues” for the Harvard Club of Boston.

Kamala Harris: $4,943 at upscale hotels

The Harris campaign is sleeping in style: It paid $4,943.49 to three four- and five-star hotels during the second quarter. The Harris campaign paid $978.78 to The Line, a stylish modern hotel in Los Angeles; $1,535.20 to the historic The Citizen Hotel in downtown Sacramento; and $2,429.51 to Loews New York, presumably for a stay at the Loews Regency on Park Avenue.The payments were for multiple stays and multiple individuals, a Harris campaign spokesman said.

Pete Buttigieg: $112,890 on lodging during the Democratic National Committee’s first debates

Buttigieg dropped $112,890.12 at the Hilton Miami Downtown during the DNC’s debate week, a hefty sum for the marquee event. But the campaign was hosting a big event of its own, in addition to housing staff for several days. The hotel is where Buttigieg and top aides detailed the plans for the next stage of their campaign to donors, including significantly ramping up early-state staff by Labor Day.

Beto O’Rourke: $328 on minor league baseball

Beto O’Rourke spent $328 for an event at the Iowa Cubs, a minor league baseball team based in Des Moines. The team ran a promotion earlier this year inviting fans to watch the movie “Field of Dreams” after a game; undoubtedly, O’Rourke and other underdog Democrats are hoping the first caucus state makes their own dreams come true next year.

Kamala Harris: $500,000 for new online donors

Harris dropped a cool half-million dollars in April and May for “digital acquisition,” which is campaign-speak for buying contact lists for potential small-dollar donors. She purchased the lists from the firm Authentic Campaigns, Inc., her main digital vendor. Harris’ campaign fundraising has been carefully balanced between small- and large-dollar donors so far, per her FEC reports, partly because of careful and long-term list-building activities.

Amy Klobuchar: $324 on a Minneapolis Star-Tribune subscription

Klobuchar may be running for president, but she’s still keeping tabs on her hometown paper. Her presidential campaign is still paying up for a subscription to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, as well as subscriptions to The New York Times.

Eric Swalwell and Seth Moulton: $9,066 and $12,400, respectively, for coworking spaces

Not every presidential campaign has a sprawling headquarters or its own dedicated field offices. Swalwell’s short-lived presidential campaign appears to have set itself up at least in part at The Yard 13, a coworking company with offices in several cities.Moulton’s campaign, meanwhile, spent $12,400 on WeWork, a coworking company.

Pete Buttigieg: $153,048 on security

Buttigieg hired several security firms for the second quarter, providing personal and event security for the campaign. The Secret Service doesn’t typically get involved in non-incumbent campaigns until later on in an election cycle, and unlike other candidates, Buttigieg has also dealt with protesters at his events attacking him for being gay.

Seth Moulton: $116,300 on primary state research

Moulton’s campaign spent $50,500 for primary state focus groups and $65,800 on primary state polling from veteran consultancy The Mellman Group in late May. He may be a long-shot, but he clearly didn’t jump into the presidential race blind. Notably, The Mellman Group polled for Moulton when he pulled off his Democratic primary upset over a longtime incumbent in 2014.

Pete Buttigieg: $1,133,151 on merch

Buttigieg’s campaign spent seven figures to pump out a range of merchandise for the once little-known mayor who became a viral sensation in 2019. His online campaign store features T-shirts that say: “Pete, Chasten, Buddy & Truman,” which is a play on the candidate, his spouse and their dogs. Another one? “Chasten for First Gentleman,” featuring his smiling face.

Michael Bennet: $550 on books at Barnes and Noble

When the Colorado senator shows up for a meet-and-greet at a home in Iowa or New Hampshire, he doesn’t come empty-handed. His campaign spent $549.54 on books at Barnes and Noble, which Bennet gifts to his hosts. The titles, often wrapped in a blue ribbon, include “Evicted,” by Matthew Desmond and “Frederick Douglass,” by David W. Blight.

Andrew Yang: $377 on a karaoke event space

Andrew Yang’s campaign spent $376.65 for “event space” at Karaoke City, which bills itself as “Midtown Manhattan’s Largest Karaoke Experience” in May. We should all be so lucky to experience it.

Amy Klobuchar: $65,000 on office set-up services

The Klobuchar campaign got a lot of help moving into their campaign headquarters in Minneapolis. The campaign spent $65,801.40 on Synergy Builders, LLC, a construction company to help set up their office space — a step above a last-minute IKEA raid. The campaign also paid another $1,900.73 to AAA Movers in Minneapolis for additional “office set up,” according to her FEC filing. The campaign also dropped $22,912.37 on office supplies and equipment.

John Delaney: $699 on cake

John Delaney spent $699 at Smith Island Baking Company, a cake company in Crisfield, Md., on the Chesapeake Bay. That’s enough to serve cake to more than 170 people, according to the estimates on the site — or, in 2020 campaign terms, 0.13 percent of the 130,000 individual donors Democrats need to amass to qualify for the September debates.

Read More

[kennethherrerablog]

48 Ways to Save Money When You’re a Broke College Student

Between your studies and your social life, there’s a lot competing for your time and attention in college. Still, you can’t forget about your finances.

You’re not in high school anymore; you’re an adult in charge of your financial future. And if you want to master this adulting thing, you’re going to have to dedicate a little of your focus to proper money management.

By saving money instead of spending it, you could end up graduating with a positive net worth instead of being one of the millions of young adults bogged down with debt right at the start of their working lives.

While saving money in college may be challenging, it’s not impossible. It just takes some determination and drive.

It’s time to shatter the stereotype of the broke college student with these 48 tips on how to save money in college.

Save Money on College Education Expenses

Getting an education isn’t cheap. But there are ways to save money by cutting down the costs of tuition, books and supplies.

1. Consider attending community college and then transferring to a four-year school to lower your cost of tuition. Or look into attending a public university instead of a private one to save money.

2. Complete the FAFSA — Free Application for Federal Student Aid — each year to find out what financial aid is available to you.

3. If you have to take out student loans, make sure to meet with a financial aid counselor, who can help you understand the terms of your loans and how you’ll be expected to repay them.

4. Apply for scholarships and grants to help cover the costs of tuition, room and board.

5. Get textbooks online instead of at the (often overpriced) campus bookstore. You can buy or rent books for less on sites like Amazon or Chegg. Ask your professor if you can use an older version of the textbook, which will likely be cheaper than the latest edition.

6. Buy, rent or borrow used textbooks from former students. Or share textbooks with students who are currently taking the same courses.

7. Check if your campus library has the book you need before buying or renting it.

8. Take advantage of your professor’s office hours instead of paying for a tutor to get extra help, or form a study group with your peers.

9. Shop for school supplies during tax-free holidays before school starts. These tax-free days usually occur in July or August. In 2018, 16 states held back-to-school tax-free holidays.

10. Look for special deals for students when purchasing laptops or other electronic devices or software. Apple and Dell offer discounts for college students, and Microsoft provides students with a free version of Office 365.

Save Money on Living Expenses

Living on your own for the first time can be exciting — and expensive. Whether you’re living on campus or off, here are some tips to lower your cost of living.

11. Don’t assume living on campus will be cheaper. Crunch the numbers. If you want to live off campus, don’t forget to factor in the cost of utilities, cable and internet when comparing. Or if you attend college near your hometown, live at home to really cut costs.

12. Become a resident assistant to get your living expenses covered. Some schools even pay resident assistants a small stipend

13. Instead of buying wall art or desk accessories, make your own DIY dorm decor. If DIY isn’t your thing, make sure to shop for dorm room decor during back-to-school sales or a tax-free shopping holiday if your state holds one

14. Share big-ticket items with your dorm roommate. You probably don’t need two minifridges or microwaves in your small space.

15. Create a graduation registry so that loved ones can purchase needed dorm supplies for you as a high school graduation gift.

16. Reduce the cost of monthly bills, like cable and utilities. Instead of signing up for a cable package, watch shows and movies on streaming services like Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime for much less. Lower your utility costs by conserving energy.

Meghan Prusinowski, a graduate student at West Virginia University, said she saves money by keeping the lights off and rarely turning on the heat or air conditioning. Her monthly electric bill is between $25 and $40, while other residents in her apartment building pay over $200 for their high energy use.

17. Get a roommate — or roommates — to split the cost of rent and utilities. You may even find an apartment complex that gives residents separate leases, even if they live together in the same unit.

Make sure you discuss from the start how you’ll divide the costs — both bills and household expenses like toilet paper, cleaning supplies and any shared food. You should also make sure you’re on the same page on things like utility use and having guests over.

18. Get renters insurance. Though it’s an added expense now, having renters insurance can save you from having to spend hundreds or thousands if your property gets damaged or stolen. Shop around for the best deal by getting quotes from multiple companies.

19. Buy personal care products, like toilet paper, soap and shampoo, in bulk. Check the cost per unit to make sure you’re getting the best deal.

Saving Money on Food in College

Gone are the days when your parents filled up the fridge and cooked you dinner. Hopefully, they’ll send you a care package every now and then, but in the meantime, here are some ways to save money on food.

20. Evaluate your meal plan to make sure you’re not overpaying at the dining hall. If you always skip breakfast, or if you can’t make it to the cafeteria for lunch most days because of your class schedule, you’re wasting money if you pay for a three-meals-a-day plan

21. Bring your own snacks with you when you’re out for the day. You’ll avoid overpriced vending machines or convenience store treats.

22. Avoid eating out at restaurants or ordering takeout food. Instead, make the most of your meal plan. If you live off campus, make meals using simple ingredients like rice, potatoes, frozen vegetables and beans. Buy them in bulk for additional savings. Ramen noodles, PB&J and oatmeal are other classic cheap meals.

23. Eliminate the need for a bunch of kitchenware by cooking one-pot meals or meals you can make in a slow cooker.

24. Save money on beverages. Drink water instead of buying soda or juice, and invest in a filtered water bottle that you can refill whenever you want. Make your own coffee. If you’re of legal drinking age, buy your own alcohol to avoid bar prices.

25. Take advantage of events on campus offering free food. The complimentary drinks and refreshments served may be substantial enough to cover a meal — or, at the very least, a snack that you don’t have to buy.

26. If you do dine out, visit restaurants or bars during happy hour or when they have special discounted prices. Some establishments may provide discounts for students, so make sure you bring your college ID. You can also find deals on Groupon to save some money on your bill.

27. Get a side gig as a mystery shopper to get paid — or at least reimbursed — to dine out.

Save Money on Transportation

Having your own car on campus may buy you popularity points, but it also may not be the most economical choice. Here are some tips to save money on transportation.

28. Walk, bike, take campus shuttles or use public transportation instead of bringing a car to school. Your student ID may score you discounted bus or train fares.

29. When you take Uber or Lyft, use the shared ride function for a lower fare.

30. If you have a car at school, find ways to help cover your expenses. Share rides with other students to split the cost of gas and parking. Rent out your vehicle when you’re not using it to get extra cash. Also, make sure to keep up with maintenance. Cars that aren’t well-maintained may face more expensive repairs down the line.

31. Use apps like Gas Buddy to find cheaper gas when you fill up.

32. Limit trips home if you don’t live close to your college campus. When you’re planning on going home for Christmas or spring break, monitor websites for cheap flights and plan to book at least two months in advance. Or take a bus or train instead of flying home. Riding Greyhound could significantly lower your travel costs.

Save Money on Entertainment

Some say college was the best four years of their lives — and that isn’t because of the time they spent studying. Here are a few ways to save money while also having fun.

33. Take advantage of your local library. Public libraries offer more than just free books. You could check out passes to museums or stream your favorite movies or TV shows with your library card.

34. Attend free events on campus or in your town. Visit the student center or check out your local or campus newspaper to learn about upcoming events.

35. Have fun at home. Indulge in cheap entertainment by hosting movie nights or game nights.

36. Make the most of student discounts. A variety of places offer student discounts, from chains like AMC Theatres to your local art museum. Make sure you carry your student ID with you, and ask businesses you visit if they offer student discounts.

Make Money to Increase Your Savings

Your No. 1 job is keeping up with your studies, but having a source of income in college can really boost your savings. Here are some options for earning cash while you’re in school.

37. Get a part-time job on campus or close to school. Scott Henderson graduated from the University of Utah in 2017 with no debt and money in the bank by working a part-time job on campus, starting a side business detailing cars and saving between 30% and 50% of his income.

38. Start a side hustle like driving for Uber or Lyft, delivering groceries with Shipt or Instacart or doing odd jobs on TaskRabbit.

39. Tutor other students on campus or students at a local high school or middle school.

40. Get a gig as a babysitter or nanny over Christmas break or during the summer.

41. Get an internship in your field. Meet with your academic adviser for advice on good internship programs, or check online job boards like Internships.com or Indeed.

42. Start a blog and monetize it.

43. Make quick cash selling things you no longer need. Sell old textbooks on BookScouter, clothes you no longer wear on Letgo or unwanted DVDs and video games on Decluttr.

How to Stay on Top of Your Finances

Start adulthood off on the right track by being smart about how you save money. Consider these tips a crash course in personal finance.

44. Learn to track your expenses and stick to a budget. It can be easy to swipe your debit card without thinking, but having a budget will help you avoid overspending.

One popular budgeting method is the 50/20/30 budget — where half your money goes to bills and essentials, 20% goes to savings and debt and 30% is for spending on fun stuff. You can use a free tool, like Mint, to track your spending and keep you on budget.

45. Avoid overdraft fees by linking your student checking account to a savings account and signing up for overdraft protection. Just make sure there’s money in your savings account to cover any needed overdraft transfers.

46. Be responsible about credit cards. Don’t sign up for all the credit card offers that come your way. Try to get the lowest interest rate you can. Having a secured credit card — one that’s backed by your own cash — can also help you establish a credit history and build up your credit score.

47. Automate your bill payments, so you don’t have to worry about remembering due dates. You don’t want to forget to pay your cell phone bill and get hit with a late fee.

48. Don’t give in to the peer pressure of spending money just because all your friends are paying for tickets to an event or going out for drinks every weekend.

Know the difference between wants and needs, and focus on having a solid financial future.

Nicole Dow is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.

The Penny Hoarder Promise: We provide accurate, reliable information. Here’s why you can trust us and how we make money.

48 Ways to Save Money When You’re a Broke College Student published first on https://justinbetreviews.tumblr.com/

[healthmasterlove-blog]

is thrive market worth it

Shopping to find supreme quality organic food in an affordable price isn't simple.  Certainly one of my own hacks will be always to execute a great deal of comparison buying almost any packed goods that our household eats.  Getting fresh, fruits, veggies and legumes is definitely the heart of a wholesome diet.  But we utilize farmer markets, CSAs and community grocers for this percentage.  Finding the best deals requires moment and vigilance, therefore I will demonstrate the way exactly we can do this. Current Thrive Market Promo: Get an Additional 20% Off Your 3 Orders Watch the Bargain Today For your packed goods, I have been trying a brand new internet site named Thrive Market and comparing it to different internet options we utilize.  The conventional ones that we use most usually are Vitacost and Amazon, therefore these are those we'll compare against Thrive Market. Vitacost VitacostSave Save Save Save Save Save Vitacost includes a broad range of food and other household things.  We generally just order from their website whenever there's an adequate promo of 1-5 % off running.  Their website and ordering procedure can be redeemed in contrast to the others and you also normally need to dictate a little simultaneously to find totally free delivery, therefore we frequently join orders together with friends or label along with every other larger orders.  They've any items which are not readily found everywhere and on particular items we utilize, they faithfully possess the best deals. Amazon Amazon.com For Amazon, we've got a Prime membership, that I urge for all reasons but particularly in the event that you search for groceries on the web.  Without Prime, sending prices can accumulate.  Additionally, together with Prime, the delivery times are truly blazing fast.  They're running a special which lets you decide to try it for 1 month and I feel that is well worth. Hint: Prove Your Savings! However we do not end there.  Amazon recently published their Amazon Prime Visa card and that I snapped it up instantly.  It took approximately 60 minutes to acquire approved and so they mechanically caused it to be my own default payment procedure.  But here is the kickerthat you obtain 5 percent off some Amazon Prime purchases along with also an instantaneous $70 charge to your accounts.  For mepersonally, it had been a nobrainer.  I really don't utilize it to get anything apart from Amazon purchases, however it's well worth it for this. Should you buy that card, then don't forget to just take 5 percent off the values at the study below.  That usually makes the distinction between Amazon being the most economical option or perhaps not.  Nevertheless, since you'll notice below, Amazon is frequently not the ideal spot to purchase food (that could very well be 1 reason that they acquired whole-foods).  They really do have good deals on personal grooming and products equipment, but less on food.  Some times you're able to find the very best price if you should be eager to buy in bulk, however only thing prices in many cases are better everywhere. Testing out Thrive Market Thrive MarketSave Save Save Save Save Save The brand new entrant is currently Thrive Market.  Thrive Market relies on pure, organic markets and household goods, therefore that it's more niche compared to other two, however we work with lots of the services and products within our household.  Thrive Market has obtained $159 million (!)  In investment capital financing, therefore they have been very intent on becoming dominant within their own niche. Thrive Market's version is somewhat different compared to other two; nonetheless, it really is similar to Costco compared to wal mart.  Here are the Advantages and Disadvantages of utilizing Thrive Market: Thrive Market advantages: Ordinarily low thing costs, occasionally radically Less than rivals Decent Choice of foods selected due to their healthiness Stocks a few differently Hard to Find Products Free shipping on $49 Have their very particular branded Items Which can not be seen everywhere For each paid subscription, direct a free membership for your family in demand Trying to Decrease carbon footprint within their transport methods Thrive Market downsides: There is a membership fee Shipping is not free under $49 Shipping may be slow The choice is marginally smaller compared to other sellers (but seems to be expanding quite quickly) Since you can observe previously, there are definite benefits and drawbacks.  The simple fact that shipping isn't totally under $49 does not disturb me because we do not dictate in tiny amounts so that it has play.  In this manner, it's comparable to the way we utilize Vitacost. Thrive Market attempts to spare shipping for financial reasons and also so are green by packing everything in to as many boxes as you possibly can.  What this means is there is more variability at the delivery rate.  I have obtained orders as fast as 3 days as soon as fourteen days.  Which means you must think farther ahead when buying in Thrive Market compared to Amazon, however, the economies into our entire world of these low packaging stuff and carbon footprint would be without doubt real.  It only depends upon what you appreciate, so that as I mentioned we utilize every one of those options. What is with all the negative reviews? Certainly one reason it took me some time to decide to try Thrive Market was that I read reviews and it seems to be considered a ceremony that you love or despise. You will find some very negative reviews on the market so that I spent a while sifting them through.  They largely Appear to fall in to 2 types: Inch) "I did not understand that there was a membership fee" Two) "It is Difficult to cancel" Thrive Market conducts a great deal of promotions, frequently touting free services and products.  But, their complimentary services and products include a trial membership as soon as it expires they'll charge you for the yearly fee.  This is the way just about all of subscription services work, moving all of the way back into the Columbia House Records deals in my childhood.  I actually don't actually expect you'll find anything at no cost therefore this is simply not a turn me offpersonally, but recall; if you accept the offerings they are going to charge you after the trial time period. Another one is the membership is tricky to cancel.  I've begun it, canceled it restarted it without the real troubles.  Much like many subscription services and products, they make an effort to speak out of departing when you say your aim.   I hope that that it will not violate me to jump through the hoops leave after that point comes. Let us talk concerning the waiver Fee The component of this Thrive Market service which may make a lot of men and women balk could be your membership fee since it is somewhat odd to pay for a commission such as this for markets (if you don't utilize Costco or BJ's).  Also to tell the truth, it initially rubbed me the wrong way so that it took me a little while to give it a go.  But, I think that it's some of the items that by the close of your afternoon makes no critical big difference. The main reason why I say is that using Amazon often means you are going to want to acquire Amazon Prime, and that's just another membership fee.  Amazon's yearly fee is 50 percent more than Thrive Market.  But it has really a high value rate whilst the selection in Amazon is not quite infinite plus it has an streaming television membership which may make Netflix blush.  Nonetheless, it's a subscription fee. Pinching penniesSave Save Save Save Save Save Vitacost along with also other internet vendors provide free shipping within a particular purchase dimensions and also we make significant usage of their vouchers, however, the percent item prices in many cases are marginally greater.  Therefore there isn't any up front membership fee however, all of it comes out in the wash as, by the close of your afternoon, sending costs money and all these really are low-margin services and products. I would like to produce two additional tiny notes.  The initial is all about Amazon.  Even though their pick is generally unmatched, they don't really carry a number of things people try to find, because you'll notice below.  The different note is all about Thrive Market's email newsletter.  They send mails just a tad bit more often than I would enjoy, however they're frequently packaged with genuinely invaluable recipes and data.  It isn't simply a sales page everytime just like so many different newsletters.  As a result of the, I believe that it's well worth registering to listen from their website. Thrive Market Online Codes How Thrive Market boosts their service is through semi-constant sale promotions.  There is virtually always a sale going on in Thrive Market.  It's frequently free types of hot items; additional times it's a percent away from your complete purchase.  We are going to continue to keep the latest promo codes and offers to these pages to ensure it is easy.  Be mindful that taking good advantage of such a promotion will signify that you're becoming a member of his or her yearly fee. Read the full article

[investmart007]

NEW YORK  | The Latest: Justify captures Triple Crown, wins Belmont

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/yErU21

NEW YORK  | The Latest: Justify captures Triple Crown, wins Belmont

NEW YORK — The Latest from Saturday’s Belmont Stakes (all times local):

6:55 p.m.

Justify has won the Triple Crown.

The Preakness and Kentucky Derby winner became thoroughbred racing’s 13th Triple Crown with a front-running victory in the Belmont Stakes.

American Pharoah ended a 37-year Triple Crown drought in 2015. It was the second Triple Crown for trainer Bob Baffert and the first for jockey Mike Smith.

Gronkowski finished second in the 1 1/2 mile race. Hofburg was third in the thrilling race in which Justify was challenged momentarily at the top of the stretch and then drew off the roars of a crowd of 90,000.

___

6:20 p.m.

With a little less than 30 minutes to go until the Belmont Stakes, two trucks are watering the dirt strip at Belmont Park.

It’s been baked dry by sunny skies and 80-degree weather. Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Justify will be taking to the sprawling oval to try to become racing’s 13th Triple Crown winner and second in four years with a victory in the 1 1/2-mile race. Justify won the first two legs on sloppy tracks.

___

6:05 p.m.

The crowd of roughly 90,000 fans and bettors around the world clearly expect Justify to win the Triple Crown.

The Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner opened at the 4-5 favorite with about an hour to go before the Belmont Stakes. The next best choices were 6-1 odds shared by Bravazo and Hofburg. Bravazo finished second in the Preakness and Hofburg was sired by Tapit, whose sons have won two of the last races in the Belmont, which is run at a 1 1/2 mile.

Justify will be trying to become thoroughbred racing’s 13th Triple Crown winner. American Pharoah ended a 37-year drought in 2015.

___

3:10 p.m.

Bob Baffert is 2-for-2 at Belmont Park so far.

The Hall of Fame trainer has won the $400,000 Brooklyn Invitational with Hoppertunity. The 7-year-old bay horse won by 2 1/4 lengths and paid $9.10 to win — a generous price on a Baffert trainee.

Earlier, Baffert and jockey Mike Smith teamed to win the $750,000 Ogden Phipps with Abel Tasman.

Of course, the race that Baffert and Smith really want to win is the Belmont Stakes. Smith will be aboard Justify in the colt’s bid to become racing’s 13th Triple Crown winner.

Last year, Baffert went 4-for-4 on Belmont Stakes day.

___

2:30 p.m.

The fashion scene at the Belmont Stakes is as diverse as New York itself.

It ranged from fans in T-shirts and shorts to men in suits and women in dresses and an assortment of hats. Some women wore ones topped with big decorations that looked like the Belmont Stakes trophy.

If there’s a common theme among the crowd, it’s the desire to take a selfie to bear witness to their attendance at Justify’s bid for the Triple Crown.

The food in some ways is typically New York: pizza, wings, hot dogs and beer.

___

1:25 p. m.

Bob Baffert and Mike Smith have teamed up to win a big race at Belmont Park.

No, not the Belmont Stakes. That’ll be run later Saturday.

The Hall of Fame trainer and jockey won the $750,000 Ogden Phipps with even-money favorite Abel Tasman.

The 4-year-old filly cruised to a 7 1/2-length victory while snapping a three-race skid.

It was the first of five mounts Smith has on the 13-race card.

The 52-year-old jockey knows the sprawling track and its sweeping turns well, having been the leading rider in New York from 1991 to ’92.m.

___

12:55 p.m.

Fans are streaming into Belmont Park in anticipation of watching Justify try to become horse racing’s 13th Triple Crown winner and second since 2015.

Skies are sunny and the temperature is forecast for 73 degrees when the Belmont Stakes is run early Saturday evening. The crowd has been capped at 90,000.

It will be the first time Justify runs on a dry track in the Triple Crown series. He won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness on sloppy tracks after heavy rain fell.

Justify is taking on nine rivals, the largest number that a potential Triple Crown winner has ever faced.

Among those expected to be on hand is New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski. His equine counterpart named Gronkowski is a 22-1 shot in the Belmont. The football star has purchased a small interest in the colt.

___-

2:15 a.m.

Justify is seeking to become horse racing’s 13th Triple Crown winner and second in four years when he runs in the Belmont Stakes.

The Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner is the early 4-5 favorite for Saturday’s 1 ½-mile Belmont, the longest and most grueling of the three-race series.

If Justify beats nine rivals in the 150th Belmont, Bob Baffert would become the second trainer to win the Triple Crown twice. He did so in 2015 with American Pharoah, a colt that ended a 37-year drought.

Justify is 5-0 in a career that began with his first race in February. He didn’t compete as a 2-year-old.

Baffert will saddle a second horse: 30-1 shot Restoring Hope.

Trainer Todd Pletcher also has two horses in the field — 8-1 Vino Rosso and 30-1 Noble Indy.

The forecast calls for a high of 80 degrees and cloudy skies. Post time is 6:46 p.m. ET.

__

By Associated Press

___

[euro3plast-fr]

Best Christmas Adverts of 2017

25 of the best and the worst Christmas adverts from 2017, with reviews from the Smart Insights team

The battle for the most popular Christmas advert is underway. It has been reported that UK companies will spend an estimated £5.6bn on marketing in the run-up to Christmas. While prime television spots alone are expected to attract a spend of £1.3bn. From Tescos to John Lewis we cover the best and the worst of Christmas adverts for 2017.

Marks & Spencer

Marks and Spencer have used a well-known character, Paddington bear as part of their Christmas advert this year. They have launched a fully integrated campaign using the hashtag, #LoveTheBear, accompanied by its own paw emoji. The campaigns aim according to M&S’s Marketing Director, Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne was:

'We have to break through that mood of the nation, which is why the campaign plays into something much warmer and more heartfelt. As we see every year, people do want a break, a little bit, from reality and this is what the campaign is supposed to provide them with,”

Alongside the advert and social media promotion, they have created marmalade-themed recipes and are hosting private screenings of the new Paddington film both for members of its Sparks loyalty scheme. In-store, you will find Paddington Bear merchandise, childrenswear, Paddington Bear themed foods and a book dedicated to the story.

Latest update: We can now reveal our tale of true Christmas spirit with our favourite @paddingtonbear #lovethebear > https://t.co/CbdLGcbYIn pic.twitter.com/fNKu7Sr5f0

— M&S (@marksandspencer) November 7, 2017

Campaign Live reported that 'M&S's campaign achieved 159,957 engagements within the first 12 hours of release on 7 November. Of those interactions, 93% were positive in sentiment'. Whereas John Lewis only received 74,039 engagements within 12 hours.

Vodafone

Martin Freeman returns in Vodafone's Christmas ads, with a festive love story. Martin meets a young lady who’s using her Vodafone Video pass to stream It’s a Wonderful Life. The love story is told across six pieces of content – two for TV and four for social. Their main aim is to highlight two new launches their pay as you go product PayG 1 and Vodafone Passes.

Tesco

Every family has a different turkey tale, Tesco features a range of families spending Christmas day together as they focus their attention t0 the turkey. They finish the Ad with the tag like 'However you do Christmas, we’ve got a turkey for you'. I think this is a great advert from Tesco, it's heartwarming, and authentic.

Tesco did receive some backlash for the advert because they featured a Muslim family in the advert. Tesco replied by issuing a statement:

“Everyone is welcome at Tesco this Christmas and we’re proud to celebrate the many ways our customers come together for the festive season.”

John Lewis - Moz the Monster

The much anticipated John Lewis advert was launched last week, and there have been mixed reviews. Similar to previous years John Lewis has returned to its focus on creating an ad that will pull at your heartstrings. The advert focused on a little boy befriending a monster named Moz living under his bed. In True John Lewis style Moz the Monster is accompanied by Elbow, who perform The Beatles’ lullaby Golden Slumbers.

They launched the advert on John Lewis’s website, social media channel, and in-store. as part of their campaign, they have teamed up with Facebook to use their augmented reality platform, offering consumers the chance to ‘Mozify’ their faces. You can also buy Moz merchandise such as cuddly toys, books, mugs, and pajamas.

Marketing Week reported that the advert received '2,906 mentions of the John Lewis Christmas ad on social media between 7 and 8am, after the ad was released at 7.40am. During this first hour, mentions peaked at 246 per minute. Overall consumer sentiment was 86% positive, while 14% of mentions were negative.'

For me, this advert didn't reach the expectations of previous years. it didn't leave me feeling warm, fuzzy and excited for the festive season, it actually left me confused.

Sainsburys - #EverybitofChristmas

The supermarket says it made a conscious decision to move away from one-off Christmas ads in favor of a more consistent brand approach. They made an advert based on their 'Living well' campaign for consistency. The campaign is centered around a song about Christmas, featuring members of the public and a couple of 'celebrities'. For me, Sainsbury's was the biggest disappointment, compared to previous years such as Mog the cat or 1914 Christmas day ads, Sainsburys really missed a trick. For those who can keep up with the jumpy, feative song you can sing along in their karaoke version.

Peacocks - #XMASFACTOR

That's right peacocks have joined the battle of the Christmas adverts, with an XFactor theme. Featuring ex-contestants such as Jedward, Honey G and Wagner, they sing a bespoke rap 'Deck the halls with rhymes from Honey'. Although I felt a little sorry for the acts featured in the ad, it stands out from teh crowd and is perfect for their target audience.

Mcdonals - #reindeerready

Mcdonals based their story on a young girl who saves a McDonald's carrot for Santa's reindeer. We follow her as she takes the carrot home ready for the reindeers until she gets home and her older brother says You know there's more than one, right?'.

Although a slightly confusing message going to McDonalds for 'carrots', they have supported the advert with a Snapchat partnership that introduces a hub on the social platform with special features. There's a carrot-collecting game, an augmented reality lens that shows dancing reindeer and new geofilters.

The link between a carrot and McDonalds seemed odd to me as that's not what they are really about. But it tells a sweet story which got the 'Aww' vote from the Smart Insights team.

Argos - #Readyfortakeoff

Argos take us to their magical Argos distribution centre, where the elves are busy helping Santa deliver toys. However, a robotic puppy is left behind, so one of the elves chases the delivery spaceship to make sure the toy gets to the child in time. The ad ends with the message: “Argos, ready for take-off. Presents delivered within four hours'. The ad helps promote that Argos will be making deliveries within 4 hours up until 6pm on Christmas Eve.

According to Gary Kibble, Marketing Director at Argos:

'There’s an opportunity as 40% of the respective customer base currently shops at both brands so encouraging the other 60% to shop across the two is a big opportunity.'

Aldi - Kevin the carrot is back

Our Email Marketing Manager, Kim Greenop-Gadsby had to say about Aldis Christmas advert:

'Kevin the carrot is back and this time he’s looking for Santa and love. This year we find Kevin outside in the snow, acting as a substitute nose for a snowman. Harry Potter actor, Jim Broadbent commences to narrate, as Kevin is awoken by a passing train. Believing to have seen Santa, Kevin catches the train. Once inside he enters the dining car and his gaze falls upon the beautiful Katie, as she lounges upon some mince pies while reading “9½ Leeks”. Our hero is instantly infatuated and undertakes the perilous journey to reach his carrot love. He travels passed a needle-like fork and the remains of a bisected gingerbread man. Horrified, Kevin starts a chain-like reaction that leads to peas being throw into the air and heading directly towards his love. With no thought of his own safety he throws himself in front of the speeding pea. And all goes dark. He awakens to being held gently by Katie and continues to say, “I think I pea-ed myself," thus winning over his lady as she bends down to kiss her romantic hero.

This ad pulls at the heartstrings, as much as animated carrots can. Like most retailers who have a mascot in their advert, Aldi is no different and is selling a plush version of Kevin and Katie. Last year, customers scooped up multiple Kevin's and proceeded to sell them on various auction sites at extortionate prices. This year Aldi have restricted purchases to 2 Kevins and 2 Katies per customer with sales supporting the Teenage Cancer Trust.'

The carrot soft toys went on sale on 19th November online and sold out straight away. People already have the toys on eBay selling for around £50.

Pandora - DO Get What You Wish For

Somya our Content Intern, reviews Pandoras ad:

'Pandora – the jewellers you can rely on, to deliver great Christmas adverts. Unlike the dreamy Debenhams video, Pandora has gone for a more light-hearted approach, yet, making for a highly effective Christmas advert! Starting with a groovy background score, the video immediately establishes a relaxed, cheerful setting, where we see couples asking for their dream Christmas presents, by dropping not-so-subtle hints.

In addition to giving you numerous clever ideas on how to nudge your partner on getting that perfect present, the advert cleverly makes use of Christmas symbolism, to create a simplistic yet powerful holiday narrative. Moreover, the video cleverly ends in exactly 60 seconds, avoiding any dangers of becoming too repetitive.

Another interesting feature of this Christmas advert is definitely the choice of words. The caption, “DO Get What You Wish For”, could’ve been a question asking people what are they wishing for, this Christmas, but Pandora wanted to leave no scope for confusion there. Even though the caption may sound quite authoritative, oddly enough, it can help give a sense of rightfulness to the viewer. Through its simple yet powerful use of diction, the Pandora advert can leave you with a sense of worthiness, worthiness to deserve a great Christmas present!'

Asda - Best Christmas Ever

The very Charlie and the Chocolate Factory advert features a grandad and his granddaughter. The couple explores the Asda factory discovering new and exciting creations for Christmas. Although a good advert for me this doesn't have the wow factor or get me excited for Christmas.

Waitrose - #ChristmasTogether

Our Blog Editor, Annie shares her thoughts on Waitrose:

'One of the greatest things about Christmas is the magical element in colour, either garish reds and greens or delicate silvers, golds and blue to represent chilly winter days. Waitrose’s Christmas advent doesn’t capture any of these elements, instead choosing to represent their best food with a dull black and white filter. Like many other supermarket Christmas adverts, you find yourself looking at the different festive foods they offer, but the bland colours leave me feeling disappointed. Where is the crisp golden turkey skin? The brownness of the gingerbread? The light, comfortable and supportive warm hue of a family coming together at Christmas? I’m sure that even when snowed in with a black-out the candles would still shine some festive, warm emotion into the house but there’s nothing warm about this advert. I find myself staring at some black and white boiled potatoes in a black and white pan and it doesn’t make me want to run to Waitrose to buy them. I want colour.'

Sky - Movies at Christmas

Our Rob Jones reviews Skys Christmas advert:

'With the aim of bringing the family together around a movie at Christmas, Sky Cinema have produced an ad for the Christmas season which follows the relationship between a mother and daughter over 25 years. The piece, created by WCRS for Sky follows a mother and daughter from 1992 to the present day. The focus of the ad is onThe Sound of Music, one of the first films to be broadcast on Sky in 1989. The clever part? As the little girl ages, the Sky TV boxes change too. If you watch closely at each shot of the TV, you’ll notice the Sky boxes accurately change over time. For example, moving from the old Amstrad Sky TV box and finishing with a Sky Q box, in the present day.

This represents the relationship between Sky and their loyal customers. Even in the age of Netflix, who doesn’t know someone who has Sky TV. Brilliantly thought through, effectively put together and finished off with a few mentions of “The Sky is full of stars” a quote from the Sound of Music'.

Talk Talk - This is Christmas

A real British family enjoying Christmas day. Talk Talk film a one families Christmas day to capture authentic, unscripted footage. Compared to the big brand campaigns this is a refreshing advert that everyone can relate to. For me Talk Talk have capture what christmas is all about.

Boots - #Showthemyouknowthem

Boots take us back through two sisters memories, looking at their Christmases together sharing 11 boots products from the brand’s archives. Annie shares her thoughts:

'I am a big fan of storytelling! Storytelling is a great way to represent your brand, what you stand for, and what your product means to your audience. I think Boots got this right! We’ve probably all sent at least one beauty related product to a family member or friend, but here boots shows you WHY it’s important and what it means. Two sisters who have been through life’s challenges and milestones together, coming together for Christmas. But, for me it’s the story Boots tells that engrossed me into the advert because above all else, it’s relatable. Being able to empathise is a valuable personal emotion and Boots shows that they can not only relate, but empathise with the wider population and show the value in their products - the coming together of family at christmas with gifts that mean something.' 

Debenhams - #Youshall

Somya, our Content Intern shares her thoughts on Debenhams attempts to copy the cinderella story:

'The Debenhams Christmas advert is here and let me tell you, it’s here to stay! Amidst a plethora of not-so-christmassy Christmas adverts, the Debenhams advert hits you right in the feels. It makes you want to curl up in your bed, with some fuzzy popcorn and re-watch all the versions of the Cinderella movie ever. No, really, the advert itself has the potential to bloom out in a full-fledged feature film, Cinderella 2.0.

The advert begins with a romantic train setting, where the modern-day, clumsy Cinderella meets her prince charming, and needless to say, it’s love at first sight! However, Debenhams has taken the age-old fairytale, added a quirky twist to it and made it oh-so relevant to today’s day and age. Even though the advert consists the classic lost shoe, romance finds its way through hashtags and social media. With the help of rapid reposting, #FindMyShoe and #FindThatGirl seem to be the two magical hashtags that unite the digitally-savvy lovers.

In a short duration, the brand has managed to convey a powerful narrative with a strong emotional quotient. The advert effortlessly showcases the strength of smooth and crisp storytelling, in conveying a brand message and engaging the audiences. As Ryan Deutsch (Senior Vice President of Global Customer Success at Persado) correctly points out, “Retailers need to get their arms around the fact that emotions matter and that urgency is not the most important emotion." Oh, and a cameo by Ewan McGregor ain’t hurtin’ nobody!'

Barbour - The Snowman and The Snowdog

Rob gives his honest thoughts on Barbour's Christmas ad: 

'The ad features the story of The Snowman and The snowdog, which was a animated film launched in 2012, a sa sequel to The Snowman.

Whilst the ad includes some brilliant animation, snow and a pet dog, which all make the ad feel christmassy, the ad also doesn’t seem to have any association with the Barbour brand. Nevertheless, it’s great to see an animated christmas film being used, as we all those those sort of ads.'

Matalan - Creating Value in Every Moment

Our Email Marketing Manager, Kim Greenop-Gadsby had to say about Matalans Christmas campaign:

'This year Matalan feature a busy family and Dodger the dog. While the busy mum and teacher dashes off she grabs the dreaded “to-do list”, which Dodger tries to eat. We cut to the mum trying to organise the primary school Christmas pageant (which of course, includes a dinosaur, superheros and Santa). Through all the chaos of kids picking noses, fighting and set disasters, our mum receives a text from Matalan that her click-and-collect is ready. We can instantly observe our mum relax and smile. We cut to the dad and kids at home, dealing with their own chaos. Dodger again is trying to eat dad’s to-do list. After they struggle to get the tree and house ready we see a well behaved Dodger in a cute reindeer outfit. Mum collects her order from Matalan and arrives to the Christmas party. Our mum changes into a stunning red dress, is relaxed and full of smiles. Mum and dad enter a room and we see their smiles disappear. Naughty Dodger has eaten all the food.

I can relate to this advert. A working mum, having loads of those to-do lists on the fridge and dogs that would happily eat anything in sight. However I don’t think I would be as relaxed or cheery as the mum without a relaxant pill or copious amounts of mulled wine. For Christmas we all have a desire to make things as perfect as possible. At least this advert shows no matter how many to-do lists you have, things can still go Pete Tong.'

TK Maxx - A White Christmas

TK Maxx offer something a little different as they promise that they will deliver actual snow to people for free if you find an exclusive snow globe in the shop. This is a grwat spin on the normal christmas advert and makes them stand out from the very competive crowd.

Children's Hospice - #FirstChristmas

Among the chaos of Christmas, adverts like this bring us back to what really matters and raises awareness for those who find Christmas hard. This advert by Shooting Star Chase brings to life the story of the Barker family, who tragically lost their son, Matthias, after a battle with cancer. The ad tells the story of a father, struggling to come to terms with the passing of his son and how the family comes together to help him cope with their grief. Although hard to watch, an advert like this always gets my vote.

House of Fraser - Bring Merry Back

The sister theme strikes again, as House of Fraser follows two sisters through each Christmas they have spent together.

Paddy Earnshaw, Chief Marketing Officer at House of Fraser, said:

"As adults we can sometimes lose sight of the magic of Christmas as we have to do grown up stuff like manage plans and ‘to do’ lists. There is no such thing as a picture-perfect Christmas where everything goes to plan; that’s half the charm and the fun. "

Lidl

Lidl have a series of six short separate adverts following different characters such as The Cavalier Carver, The Mince Pie maverick, and the Double Dipper. Characters we can all relate to and see through the Christmas period.

Claire Farrant, the supermarket’s Marketing Director, said:

‘Our campaign “Every Lidl Thing For Christmas” has been developed to showcase the fantastic breadth of food and drink we have for the UK customer at Lidl.'

Morrisons - Christmas List

Morrisons looks to tell the story of how three families prepare for their perfect Christmas. The first ad shows a family writing letters to Santa, listing what they want this Christmas. The second focuses on a young girl and brother, who encourages her to do things such as feed a reindeer and putting the star on the tree. The aim to promote their Free From range. The adverts lack the wow factor for me and I the link between an older brother encouraging his sister to do new things and eating gluten-free are still confusing.

Here is what our Senior Research Analyst, Rob Jones, thought:

'As Tesco, ASDA and Sainsbury’s have suffered over the past few years, Morrisons have found their feet. Morrisons have increased market share, profits and revenues more recently, this is is almost unheard of in these difficult times for grocers, with the exception of the discounters Aldi and Lidl. A marketing overhaul has also helped to reinvent the brand. Continuing the brand message that Morrisons is a family focused brand, the story follows a little girl that is nervous to feed a reindeer and take centre stage in a school play, but isn’t nervous about the treats she can eat, as they are gluten free. It’s easy to associate. those with allergies and dietary limits are always unsure of what they can eat, represented by the little girl's nervousness of most things. The ad promotes the free from range, sharing the message that everyone can enjoy mince pies at Christmas.'

Overall the quality has been good but not as good compared to previous years. The biggest disappointment for me was John Lewis. It has been good to see brands using more digital platforms to promote their campaigns and adapting to platforms such as snapchat or Instagram. Next year I would love to see retailers take a brave move into new creative territory to shake it up and to challenge consumers’ perceptions with something unexpected.

Which Christmas advert gets your vote this year? Let us know what you think and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.

from Blog – Smart Insights https://www.smartinsights.com/internet-advertising/best-christmas-adverts-of-2017/

[touristguidebuzz]

Travelers Get Candid About Their Struggles With Permanxiety

Travel anxiety affects people of all backgrounds. Bing Qing Ye / Skift

Skift Take: The travel industry at large speaks eagerly and often about creating positive experiences for travelers. This contrasts heavily, though, with the fears and anxieties experienced by real travelers from diverse backgrounds.

— Sarah Enelow

Skift launched the latest edition of our magazine, Travel in an Age of Permanxiety, at Skift Global Forum in New York City in September. This article is part of our look into the current state of the traveler mindset through the lens of the pervasive state of anxiety felt worldwide.Absent a heart monitor, anxiety is nearly impossible to capture in a chart or graph. It’s about how we feel in relation to the world around us and the challenges that appear to be coming our way.

Absent a heart monitor, anxiety is nearly impossible to capture in a chart or graph. It’s about how we feel in relation to the world around us and the challenges that appear to be coming our way. Anxiety’s impact, though, can be measured in the choices we make because we are anxious or fearful. We stay at home instead of going out. Or we don’t vacation in the U.S. because of Trump or avoid Paris because of ISIS or scratch Russia off the list because of unreasonable visa requirements or skip the Caribbean because of Zika. The impact on travel is significant.

The following five stories look at travelers’ permanxiety from a variety of perspectives to better understand what we think about when we visit an airport, check in to a hotel, or visit a new destination. These are similar to conversations that many of us have with friends and family, as well as how we think about things in our own heads. No matter your background, we think you’ll recognize something in these stories from your own experience.

—Jason Clampet

Download Travel in an Age of Permanxiety magazine here

Peter Slatin, as told to Deanna Ting

Peter Slatin travels far and wide in his role as the founder and president of Slatin Group, a company that helps businesses better understand how to deliver customer services to customers with special needs.

I’m blind, and I use a guide dog most of the time when I’m traveling. Sometimes I use my white cane, but most of the time I’ll use a guide dog.

What prompted me to start the Slatin Group was all the kinds of experiences I’ve had — the miscommunication, misunderstanding, and just difficult and challenging service experiences, some of which can be dangerous, and some of which are just annoying and insulting.

At the Airport

The two points that create the most anxiety are the entry to the airport and when I’m waiting to board. When I arrive at an airport, very often, I have a bad experience.

Airport design has changed from a time when you would walk in and the check-in counter would be pretty much straight ahead. A lot of times, it’s off to the side or they’re just kiosks, and the check-in counters are far away, so I rely on someone. I’m hoping that someone from the airline or the airport will find me and guide me to check-in and that’s what I rely on, but most the time that doesn’t happen.

There are also queues that have been set up with the mobile straps and expansions so people can queue up for tickets or to check their luggage. Each airline may have a different setup, and security will be here or there. There are just so many places where it’s really hard to know where to go and what’s happening around you. Once you get to the concourse or your gate concourse, at least again, that’s relatively straightforward. People go in generally two directions, although there are stores and restaurants, and people are streaming in and out of those.

If you have a disability, if you need assistance, first, the airline will help you get your boarding pass, which I usually do at the airport rather than online ahead of time because I try to get placed in a seat that’s advantageous for me and my guide dog where the guide dog has room. Sometimes they’ll block out an extra seat. These are things where things go well, but once I get my ticket, they will guide me to a waiting area. It’s a holding pen for people with disabilities, so I’ll be there, and there’ll be people with wheelchairs and elderly people, senior citizens. We’re just all waiting for someone to take us to our gate, and it’s just an odd kind of encampment of people who need assistance.

The people who come and provide that assistance are a huge mix of people who are extremely competent, kind, and smart, and people who are none of the above. There are people who are well-trained, but no one’s usually well-trained. People usually just do what they can, and you kind of train them on the spot.

You trust them to get you to your gate. Once that gets going, I always engage them in conversation because that puts them at ease. If they’re not up for that or into it, then that’s fine, but most of the time we talk about where they’re from, because they’re almost always from overseas somewhere. Some have been in the country a very short time, and this is a job they just found.

At Hotels

I find the greatest challenge is usually in the lobby. Lobbies, like airport terminals, are diverse in design. They’re all very different in design unless you’re in a very simple, limited-service hotel with the check-in counter straight ahead and one person and that’s it, but if you’re in anything that has a lobby lounge or just a little more variation in design, it’s really hard to know what’s what.

I think it’s less of a thing today, but there used to be so-called lobby ambassadors, which are really helpful, who are there. Their role is to spot someone, whether they have a disability or not, who’s looking for assistance, who seems to need assistance, and that’s their job, or sometimes just to welcome people past the doorman. I know it impinges on ROI, and that’s a terrible thing, but I think that’s really helpful, and something more hotels should have.

I’d say the vast majority of encounters that go wrong are not because of ill intention. They are because of fear and unfamiliarity and uncertainty and awkwardness and just lack of information, lack of education, lack of training, and also clear guidance from the top about what that means. How do you extend service to this or any population of people you’re unfamiliar with?

Hotels where someone, whether it’s been someone in management or on the staff, has very early on in my stay said, “I’m going to watch out for you, and I’m going to make sure you are taken care of,” without being obsequious or overbearing but instead to be, “I’m going to watch out for you.” They’ve just been there. If they see me, they come and say hello. They introduce themselves. They make sure that my experience is good. I don’t know. I couldn’t say it’s because I’m blind. I could say it’s just because they saw it as their role.

What I’d Want to Say to the Travel Industry

I understand the challenge of this, but amid all the requirements that you face and the juggling you face of your own personnel, and competing with all of your competition and everything that changes around you, just keep your eye on the service ball. Because service is not a cliché, it’s real. Without it, no one wants any part of what you have to offer.

You’re a conduit, from point A to point B, or you’re a place to stay, but if someone wants just that, they will go to Airbnb or they’ll rent a car or what have you. You’re there because people really value what you have to offer, and that really includes the service as much as it includes the décor and the food, all of which can be spoiled by bad service. As long as you keep your eye on that and remember that service is the biggest thing you offer, then you’re in good shape.

Neil Miller, as told to Dennis Schaal

Neil Miller, 65, owns an insurance agency in Trumbull, Conn. that he runs with his wife Esther. He has Gold status in the American Airlines AAdvantage program. The couple has traveled everywhere from Japan to Paris and Jordan over the last 17 years, and usually takes about a month-long vacation annually.

We’ve been traveling a lot, and in recent years we’ve been doing more of the exotic types of stuff. We used to go to the Caribbean and lay on the beach for a week. But around 2005 we decided we thought we’d expand our horizons.

So we don’t vacation anymore, we travel.

For about 95 percent of our trips we go on Tauck tours. We don’t have time to plan our vacations and with Tauck pretty much 95 percent of the trip is set up for you. So even when you land, there’s someone waiting for you, taking you to the hotel or wherever you are going.

We already have a trip planning for next June where we are going to fly to Vancouver and then go by train. You sleep one night on the train and wake up in the middle of the Canadian Rockies.

We’re not interested in going to Europe right now; we’ve been so many times I’m personally getting a little bored. And the truth of the matter is because of the state of the world today, we said, “Let’s go to Canada.”

We went to Europe two years ago so we flew to Brussels. And the year after that the airport in Belgium was blown to smithereens. So we said, “forget that.”

We’ve been to a lot of places where there eventually has been trouble such as a train station in Madrid, where they had those bombings in 2004.

My family is not crazy about going to Europe right now. God forbid, if something happens and I’m in Canada, I can still rent a car and come home.

And then there’s President Trump. My wife Esther says she’s “not interested in going to Europe and have them turn around and start yelling, your president is an asshole.”

I can guess what the sentiment is about Trump in Canada, but I’m not worried about the Canadians.

We’ve done things to make the airport experience easier for ourselves. I have Gold status in AAdvantage, and I got the American Airlines Citibank Executive card about four years ago. So we always fly American because I have so many miles and we get to use their Admirals Clubs. We have PreCheck through the Global Entry Program, which we got through the Executive card.

Esther says she’s never leaving our marriage. “I’m staying with him for the miles,” she says.

Having adequate Wi-Fi is a concern when we travel because we work a bit while we travel, even if it’s only five minutes or an hour per day. I usually buy an international phone package and we try to stay in places where hopefully we’ll get Wi-Fi.

We don’t care at all about social media. I have a Facebook account and I don’t really know how to use it and Esther checks it every once in awhile if she’s online and has nothing else to do. I see people so focused on Facebook and sharing their new pictures. My attitude is: find something better to do on vacation or stay home.

In fact, my wife’s daughter gave me a selfie stick for my birthday one year. I told her, “take it back.”

One concern I’ve been having is getting through airport security because I wore braces on my bad knees for several years before my knee-replacement surgery last year. In May we were leaving San Francisco and the titanium set off the TSA scanning machine. I was searched for a long time, and it was really screwed up. It was embarrassing. The TSA guy was touching my “stuff” and it was weird.

In Asia, we’ve traveled to Japan. We were on a ship, and the cabotage regulations meant we had to sail to South Korea. And then that asshole, Kim Jong-un shot off a missile.

“So you can’t even go there now,” says Esther, meaning Asia. “Where can you go? Canada.”

Jeremy Swift, as told to Sarah Enelow

Jeremy Swift is a 34-year-old African-American actor, who was born in Oklahoma and has been living in New York for five years. Swift went to South Korea in 2017 as a performer in Dreamgirls.

My friend and I went to Japan after performing in Korea and I bought a ninja star. I stuck it in my bag, they gift wrapped it and everything. My friend told me to make sure I put it in my checked baggage before we got to the airport.

We go through security. My bag goes through, and I’m thinking that they’re not going to let me take a bottle of Listerine I forgot. So they push it through and say, “We need to check that one more time.” So it goes through again. I’m still thinking about the Listerine. I’m mad, but you know, it was $5; I’m cheap.

I asked them what they were looking for and the security agent wants to know, is there “metal or something” in my bag? I was telling him that I had remembered to take my laptop out just as he pulls out the ninja star.

My friend started screaming and I literally just threw up my hands. I’m certain I’m going to jail or at the least I’m going to get cavity searched. I’m sure I turned red, white, orange, and purple. My friend just kept saying, “Oh my God, oh my God.” She goes, “He didn’t mean it, he didn’t do it on purpose.”

The Japanese agent is much cooler than us. “You can’t have this. Have a nice day,” he says. My friend asks if I can put it in my checked bag and the agent helpfully says, “Let me make a phone call.” He calls the counter and then walks me back through security with the ninja star.

Of course, I’m thinking that if this was America, I probably would have been shot in the face, twice. This just doesn’t fly. I was so shocked at how understanding they were. My friend tells me that in America they would have said, “Take it all off. We are searching every crack you have.”

That was one the scariest moments I’ve had.

On the other end of the trip, it’s a different story. The second we get off the plane in America, this six foot five, 300-pound black man starts yelling in this tourist’s face because she didn’t have her paperwork straight, or something like that. And I was thinking why are people in America not nice? He was literally screaming at her. She was stammering while the man barked orders at her.

Like, I’m sure it’s in her bag, calm down.

I’m a goofball. I’ll sing in the airport security line, dance in line, I’ll rap your name, I’ll just do weird stuff because sometimes flying is stressful. Some TSA agents will look at me like they are going to put me on the no-fly list. And some will join in and dance with me. It just makes things a little lighter. Sometimes I get some nice people. Other times I get ones who I know are thinking, “I have been on this shift since 1974. Shut up.”

Joshua Robinson, as told to Sarah Enelow

Joshua Robinson is a 31-year-old designer of Chilean descent who was raised in Sydney, Australia. He now lives in New York City with his American husband.

I hate security and going through the process of immigration. It’s just scary. I guess I have nothing to fear. I’ve got the correct papers, so why would it be scary?

I’m just scared that they’re going to say, “You can’t come in.”

The first time that I came into the U.S. as an adult was with a J-1 visa. They totally grilled me at that time, but then the next couple of times, once I had the green card, they just looked at the document and they’d write, stamp — so there’s nothing to fear.

What do they do with all those documents? Is it processed at the time? Or is it processed later?

You think that you have everything in order, but what if you don’t? Going through the green card process, you do that with a lawyer so I always know that that’s a backup plan.

I always wonder, would they question my marriage for some reason? My husband advocates for me, plus he’s white. When he’s with me I’m fine.

The media coverage and the facts of the immigration ban contribute to paranoia. And it’s the fact that people had gone and done their research and got their papers correct and then came here and then a certain few were questioned and sent back.

I definitely feel like being Australian we have a close alliance with the U.S.

I didn’t realize how Americans are perceived by some different nations compared to Australia. Australia is friendly. We don’t have really any conflicts with anyone.

My husband Matt and I recently came back from Mexico. I’m in a transition period with my green card where I have a temporary one while they put me onto the 10-year green card. Because my actual card is expired, I have a letter from the government saying that it has been renewed for one year. I just felt like this flimsy letter feels like a letter from your parents to the teacher, it’s like, “Yeah, he’s fine,” but there was just this paranoia of my actual card having an expiring date. But it was fine — we went to the officer and she was like, “Great. Stamp. Next.”

I was just thinking of stories from friends. Some of them have misdemeanors. One of them — every time she comes through immigration — she gets escorted to the little room where they just double check everything.

My friend who’s from Saudi Arabia has no criminal history. Zero.

Whenever he comes to Australia, he’s always escorted into the room, no matter what.

Ping Chan, as told to Andrew Sheivachman

Ping Chan is a 27-year-old Asian-American graphic designer at Skift, who was born in China and has been living in the U.S. for 11 years. Chan is currently a resident of the U.S. under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

When I first came to the U.S., it was 11 years ago, not long after 9/11 so the authorities were really serious about who was entering the country. My Dad looks really dark-skinned so Customs officers pulled us into a room and interviewed us for 30 minutes, basically asking us why we were here.

I told them I was here to travel. But they found a letter in my bag from a friend telling me to have fun in school. They said I was lying, I was so scared, and then they pulled my Dad away to interview us separately.

Everything is kind of a blur now, but then they let us pass anyway. They only left me with a month to stay, even though my parents had longer visas, and I became illegal because my parents didn’t bother to change my status. The high school had accepted me; I could have switched to a student visa and avoided this. I don’t know whether my parents didn’t care, or messed something up, or what.

The first five years, I really wanted to go back to China, but then I accepted my fate. Skype and all that makes life easier. Honestly before I got my DACA, I couldn’t travel anywhere. I was basically illegal. I was so scared; I was about 15 years old when I came here with my parents, I didn’t know anything about how visas work.

Anywhere I would go, I wouldn’t go to the airport and fly. I would take the bus, even from Indiana to New York which is like a ten-hour bus ride. I would rather take the bus. I thought the bus was the only option. Now I’ve got my DACA, and I can go to the airport. I only fly domestic of course. I would like to visit a place like Cuba, for instance, but can’t. When I travel the country I visit places like Austin and the furthest I’ve gone is Palm Springs in California.

I really want to go to Hawaii, it’s been a part of my childhood dream. It’s the furthest state away from the mainland U.S., and closest to Asia. Even with that, I feel like I have to be really careful and look up whether I can go there without a passport or something else. Even though Hawaii is a part of the U.S., I have second thoughts. Am I really allowed to go? Will I be allowed to come back? I have to do a lot of research on it if I want to go.

I’m worried now because of the Trump Administration repealing DACA. The news came out on my birthday, and it was very upsetting. I don’t know what I can do, it’s very confusing.

Download Travel in an Age of Permanxiety magazine here

[rollinbrigittenv8]

Travelers Get Candid About Their Struggles With Permanxiety

Travel anxiety affects people of all backgrounds. Bing Qing Ye / Skift

Skift Take: The travel industry at large speaks eagerly and often about creating positive experiences for travelers. This contrasts heavily, though, with the fears and anxieties experienced by real travelers from diverse backgrounds.

— Sarah Enelow

Skift launched the latest edition of our magazine, Travel in an Age of Permanxiety, at Skift Global Forum in New York City in September. This article is part of our look into the current state of the traveler mindset through the lens of the pervasive state of anxiety felt worldwide.Absent a heart monitor, anxiety is nearly impossible to capture in a chart or graph. It’s about how we feel in relation to the world around us and the challenges that appear to be coming our way.

Absent a heart monitor, anxiety is nearly impossible to capture in a chart or graph. It’s about how we feel in relation to the world around us and the challenges that appear to be coming our way. Anxiety’s impact, though, can be measured in the choices we make because we are anxious or fearful. We stay at home instead of going out. Or we don’t vacation in the U.S. because of Trump or avoid Paris because of ISIS or scratch Russia off the list because of unreasonable visa requirements or skip the Caribbean because of Zika. The impact on travel is significant.

The following five stories look at travelers’ permanxiety from a variety of perspectives to better understand what we think about when we visit an airport, check in to a hotel, or visit a new destination. These are similar to conversations that many of us have with friends and family, as well as how we think about things in our own heads. No matter your background, we think you’ll recognize something in these stories from your own experience.

—Jason Clampet

Download Travel in an Age of Permanxiety magazine here

Peter Slatin, as told to Deanna Ting

Peter Slatin travels far and wide in his role as the founder and president of Slatin Group, a company that helps businesses better understand how to deliver customer services to customers with special needs.

I’m blind, and I use a guide dog most of the time when I’m traveling. Sometimes I use my white cane, but most of the time I’ll use a guide dog.

What prompted me to start the Slatin Group was all the kinds of experiences I’ve had — the miscommunication, misunderstanding, and just difficult and challenging service experiences, some of which can be dangerous, and some of which are just annoying and insulting.

At the Airport

The two points that create the most anxiety are the entry to the airport and when I’m waiting to board. When I arrive at an airport, very often, I have a bad experience.

Airport design has changed from a time when you would walk in and the check-in counter would be pretty much straight ahead. A lot of times, it’s off to the side or they’re just kiosks, and the check-in counters are far away, so I rely on someone. I’m hoping that someone from the airline or the airport will find me and guide me to check-in and that’s what I rely on, but most the time that doesn’t happen.

There are also queues that have been set up with the mobile straps and expansions so people can queue up for tickets or to check their luggage. Each airline may have a different setup, and security will be here or there. There are just so many places where it’s really hard to know where to go and what’s happening around you. Once you get to the concourse or your gate concourse, at least again, that’s relatively straightforward. People go in generally two directions, although there are stores and restaurants, and people are streaming in and out of those.

If you have a disability, if you need assistance, first, the airline will help you get your boarding pass, which I usually do at the airport rather than online ahead of time because I try to get placed in a seat that’s advantageous for me and my guide dog where the guide dog has room. Sometimes they’ll block out an extra seat. These are things where things go well, but once I get my ticket, they will guide me to a waiting area. It’s a holding pen for people with disabilities, so I’ll be there, and there’ll be people with wheelchairs and elderly people, senior citizens. We’re just all waiting for someone to take us to our gate, and it’s just an odd kind of encampment of people who need assistance.

The people who come and provide that assistance are a huge mix of people who are extremely competent, kind, and smart, and people who are none of the above. There are people who are well-trained, but no one’s usually well-trained. People usually just do what they can, and you kind of train them on the spot.

You trust them to get you to your gate. Once that gets going, I always engage them in conversation because that puts them at ease. If they’re not up for that or into it, then that’s fine, but most of the time we talk about where they’re from, because they’re almost always from overseas somewhere. Some have been in the country a very short time, and this is a job they just found.

At Hotels

I find the greatest challenge is usually in the lobby. Lobbies, like airport terminals, are diverse in design. They’re all very different in design unless you’re in a very simple, limited-service hotel with the check-in counter straight ahead and one person and that’s it, but if you’re in anything that has a lobby lounge or just a little more variation in design, it’s really hard to know what’s what.

I think it’s less of a thing today, but there used to be so-called lobby ambassadors, which are really helpful, who are there. Their role is to spot someone, whether they have a disability or not, who’s looking for assistance, who seems to need assistance, and that’s their job, or sometimes just to welcome people past the doorman. I know it impinges on ROI, and that’s a terrible thing, but I think that’s really helpful, and something more hotels should have.

I’d say the vast majority of encounters that go wrong are not because of ill intention. They are because of fear and unfamiliarity and uncertainty and awkwardness and just lack of information, lack of education, lack of training, and also clear guidance from the top about what that means. How do you extend service to this or any population of people you’re unfamiliar with?

Hotels where someone, whether it’s been someone in management or on the staff, has very early on in my stay said, “I’m going to watch out for you, and I’m going to make sure you are taken care of,” without being obsequious or overbearing but instead to be, “I’m going to watch out for you.” They’ve just been there. If they see me, they come and say hello. They introduce themselves. They make sure that my experience is good. I don’t know. I couldn’t say it’s because I’m blind. I could say it’s just because they saw it as their role.

What I’d Want to Say to the Travel Industry

I understand the challenge of this, but amid all the requirements that you face and the juggling you face of your own personnel, and competing with all of your competition and everything that changes around you, just keep your eye on the service ball. Because service is not a cliché, it’s real. Without it, no one wants any part of what you have to offer.

You’re a conduit, from point A to point B, or you’re a place to stay, but if someone wants just that, they will go to Airbnb or they’ll rent a car or what have you. You’re there because people really value what you have to offer, and that really includes the service as much as it includes the décor and the food, all of which can be spoiled by bad service. As long as you keep your eye on that and remember that service is the biggest thing you offer, then you’re in good shape.

Neil Miller, as told to Dennis Schaal

Neil Miller, 65, owns an insurance agency in Trumbull, Conn. that he runs with his wife Esther. He has Gold status in the American Airlines AAdvantage program. The couple has traveled everywhere from Japan to Paris and Jordan over the last 17 years, and usually takes about a month-long vacation annually.

We’ve been traveling a lot, and in recent years we’ve been doing more of the exotic types of stuff. We used to go to the Caribbean and lay on the beach for a week. But around 2005 we decided we thought we’d expand our horizons.

So we don’t vacation anymore, we travel.

For about 95 percent of our trips we go on Tauck tours. We don’t have time to plan our vacations and with Tauck pretty much 95 percent of the trip is set up for you. So even when you land, there’s someone waiting for you, taking you to the hotel or wherever you are going.

We already have a trip planning for next June where we are going to fly to Vancouver and then go by train. You sleep one night on the train and wake up in the middle of the Canadian Rockies.

We’re not interested in going to Europe right now; we’ve been so many times I’m personally getting a little bored. And the truth of the matter is because of the state of the world today, we said, “Let’s go to Canada.”

We went to Europe two years ago so we flew to Brussels. And the year after that the airport in Belgium was blown to smithereens. So we said, “forget that.”

We’ve been to a lot of places where there eventually has been trouble such as a train station in Madrid, where they had those bombings in 2004.

My family is not crazy about going to Europe right now. God forbid, if something happens and I’m in Canada, I can still rent a car and come home.

And then there’s President Trump. My wife Esther says she’s “not interested in going to Europe and have them turn around and start yelling, your president is an asshole.”

I can guess what the sentiment is about Trump in Canada, but I’m not worried about the Canadians.

We’ve done things to make the airport experience easier for ourselves. I have Gold status in AAdvantage, and I got the American Airlines Citibank Executive card about four years ago. So we always fly American because I have so many miles and we get to use their Admirals Clubs. We have PreCheck through the Global Entry Program, which we got through the Executive card.

Esther says she’s never leaving our marriage. “I’m staying with him for the miles,” she says.

Having adequate Wi-Fi is a concern when we travel because we work a bit while we travel, even if it’s only five minutes or an hour per day. I usually buy an international phone package and we try to stay in places where hopefully we’ll get Wi-Fi.

We don’t care at all about social media. I have a Facebook account and I don’t really know how to use it and Esther checks it every once in awhile if she’s online and has nothing else to do. I see people so focused on Facebook and sharing their new pictures. My attitude is: find something better to do on vacation or stay home.

In fact, my wife’s daughter gave me a selfie stick for my birthday one year. I told her, “take it back.”

One concern I’ve been having is getting through airport security because I wore braces on my bad knees for several years before my knee-replacement surgery last year. In May we were leaving San Francisco and the titanium set off the TSA scanning machine. I was searched for a long time, and it was really screwed up. It was embarrassing. The TSA guy was touching my “stuff” and it was weird.

In Asia, we’ve traveled to Japan. We were on a ship, and the cabotage regulations meant we had to sail to South Korea. And then that asshole, Kim Jong-un shot off a missile.

“So you can’t even go there now,” says Esther, meaning Asia. “Where can you go? Canada.”

Jeremy Swift, as told to Sarah Enelow

Jeremy Swift is a 34-year-old African-American actor, who was born in Oklahoma and has been living in New York for five years. Swift went to South Korea in 2017 as a performer in Dreamgirls.

My friend and I went to Japan after performing in Korea and I bought a ninja star. I stuck it in my bag, they gift wrapped it and everything. My friend told me to make sure I put it in my checked baggage before we got to the airport.

We go through security. My bag goes through, and I’m thinking that they’re not going to let me take a bottle of Listerine I forgot. So they push it through and say, “We need to check that one more time.” So it goes through again. I’m still thinking about the Listerine. I’m mad, but you know, it was $5; I’m cheap.

I asked them what they were looking for and the security agent wants to know, is there “metal or something” in my bag? I was telling him that I had remembered to take my laptop out just as he pulls out the ninja star.

My friend started screaming and I literally just threw up my hands. I’m certain I’m going to jail or at the least I’m going to get cavity searched. I’m sure I turned red, white, orange, and purple. My friend just kept saying, “Oh my God, oh my God.” She goes, “He didn’t mean it, he didn’t do it on purpose.”

The Japanese agent is much cooler than us. “You can’t have this. Have a nice day,” he says. My friend asks if I can put it in my checked bag and the agent helpfully says, “Let me make a phone call.” He calls the counter and then walks me back through security with the ninja star.

Of course, I’m thinking that if this was America, I probably would have been shot in the face, twice. This just doesn’t fly. I was so shocked at how understanding they were. My friend tells me that in America they would have said, “Take it all off. We are searching every crack you have.”

That was one the scariest moments I’ve had.

On the other end of the trip, it’s a different story. The second we get off the plane in America, this six foot five, 300-pound black man starts yelling in this tourist’s face because she didn’t have her paperwork straight, or something like that. And I was thinking why are people in America not nice? He was literally screaming at her. She was stammering while the man barked orders at her.

Like, I’m sure it’s in her bag, calm down.

I’m a goofball. I’ll sing in the airport security line, dance in line, I’ll rap your name, I’ll just do weird stuff because sometimes flying is stressful. Some TSA agents will look at me like they are going to put me on the no-fly list. And some will join in and dance with me. It just makes things a little lighter. Sometimes I get some nice people. Other times I get ones who I know are thinking, “I have been on this shift since 1974. Shut up.”

Joshua Robinson, as told to Sarah Enelow

Joshua Robinson is a 31-year-old designer of Chilean descent who was raised in Sydney, Australia. He now lives in New York City with his American husband.

I hate security and going through the process of immigration. It’s just scary. I guess I have nothing to fear. I’ve got the correct papers, so why would it be scary?

I’m just scared that they’re going to say, “You can’t come in.”

The first time that I came into the U.S. as an adult was with a J-1 visa. They totally grilled me at that time, but then the next couple of times, once I had the green card, they just looked at the document and they’d write, stamp — so there’s nothing to fear.

What do they do with all those documents? Is it processed at the time? Or is it processed later?

You think that you have everything in order, but what if you don’t? Going through the green card process, you do that with a lawyer so I always know that that’s a backup plan.

I always wonder, would they question my marriage for some reason? My husband advocates for me, plus he’s white. When he’s with me I’m fine.

The media coverage and the facts of the immigration ban contribute to paranoia. And it’s the fact that people had gone and done their research and got their papers correct and then came here and then a certain few were questioned and sent back.

I definitely feel like being Australian we have a close alliance with the U.S.

I didn’t realize how Americans are perceived by some different nations compared to Australia. Australia is friendly. We don’t have really any conflicts with anyone.

My husband Matt and I recently came back from Mexico. I’m in a transition period with my green card where I have a temporary one while they put me onto the 10-year green card. Because my actual card is expired, I have a letter from the government saying that it has been renewed for one year. I just felt like this flimsy letter feels like a letter from your parents to the teacher, it’s like, “Yeah, he’s fine,” but there was just this paranoia of my actual card having an expiring date. But it was fine — we went to the officer and she was like, “Great. Stamp. Next.”

I was just thinking of stories from friends. Some of them have misdemeanors. One of them — every time she comes through immigration — she gets escorted to the little room where they just double check everything.

My friend who’s from Saudi Arabia has no criminal history. Zero.

Whenever he comes to Australia, he’s always escorted into the room, no matter what.

Ping Chan, as told to Andrew Sheivachman

Ping Chan is a 27-year-old Asian-American graphic designer at Skift, who was born in China and has been living in the U.S. for 11 years. Chan is currently a resident of the U.S. under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

When I first came to the U.S., it was 11 years ago, not long after 9/11 so the authorities were really serious about who was entering the country. My Dad looks really dark-skinned so Customs officers pulled us into a room and interviewed us for 30 minutes, basically asking us why we were here.

I told them I was here to travel. But they found a letter in my bag from a friend telling me to have fun in school. They said I was lying, I was so scared, and then they pulled my Dad away to interview us separately.

Everything is kind of a blur now, but then they let us pass anyway. They only left me with a month to stay, even though my parents had longer visas, and I became illegal because my parents didn’t bother to change my status. The high school had accepted me; I could have switched to a student visa and avoided this. I don’t know whether my parents didn’t care, or messed something up, or what.

The first five years, I really wanted to go back to China, but then I accepted my fate. Skype and all that makes life easier. Honestly before I got my DACA, I couldn’t travel anywhere. I was basically illegal. I was so scared; I was about 15 years old when I came here with my parents, I didn’t know anything about how visas work.

Anywhere I would go, I wouldn’t go to the airport and fly. I would take the bus, even from Indiana to New York which is like a ten-hour bus ride. I would rather take the bus. I thought the bus was the only option. Now I’ve got my DACA, and I can go to the airport. I only fly domestic of course. I would like to visit a place like Cuba, for instance, but can’t. When I travel the country I visit places like Austin and the furthest I’ve gone is Palm Springs in California.

I really want to go to Hawaii, it’s been a part of my childhood dream. It’s the furthest state away from the mainland U.S., and closest to Asia. Even with that, I feel like I have to be really careful and look up whether I can go there without a passport or something else. Even though Hawaii is a part of the U.S., I have second thoughts. Am I really allowed to go? Will I be allowed to come back? I have to do a lot of research on it if I want to go.

I’m worried now because of the Trump Administration repealing DACA. The news came out on my birthday, and it was very upsetting. I don’t know what I can do, it’s very confusing.

Download Travel in an Age of Permanxiety magazine here

[healthmasterlove-blog]

is thrive market worth it

Shopping to find supreme quality organic food in an affordable price isn't simple.  Certainly one of my own hacks will be always to execute a great deal of comparison buying almost any packed goods that our household eats.  Getting fresh, fruits, veggies and legumes is definitely the heart of a wholesome diet.  But we utilize farmer markets, CSAs and community grocers for this percentage.  Finding the best deals requires moment and vigilance, therefore I will demonstrate the way exactly we can do this. Current Thrive Market Promo: Get an Additional 20% Off Your 3 Orders Watch the Bargain Today For your packed goods, I have been trying a brand new internet site named Thrive Market and comparing it to different internet options we utilize.  The conventional ones that we use most usually are Vitacost and Amazon, therefore these are those we'll compare against Thrive Market. Vitacost VitacostSave Save Save Save Save Save Vitacost includes a broad range of food and other household things.  We generally just order from their website whenever there's an adequate promo of 1-5 % off running.  Their website and ordering procedure can be redeemed in contrast to the others and you also normally need to dictate a little simultaneously to find totally free delivery, therefore we frequently join orders together with friends or label along with every other larger orders.  They've any items which are not readily found everywhere and on particular items we utilize, they faithfully possess the best deals. Amazon Amazon.com For Amazon, we've got a Prime membership, that I urge for all reasons but particularly in the event that you search for groceries on the web.  Without Prime, sending prices can accumulate.  Additionally, together with Prime, the delivery times are truly blazing fast.  They're running a special which lets you decide to try it for 1 month and I feel that is well worth. Hint: Prove Your Savings! However we do not end there.  Amazon recently published their Amazon Prime Visa card and that I snapped it up instantly.  It took approximately 60 minutes to acquire approved and so they mechanically caused it to be my own default payment procedure.  But here is the kickerthat you obtain 5 percent off some Amazon Prime purchases along with also an instantaneous $70 charge to your accounts.  For mepersonally, it had been a nobrainer.  I really don't utilize it to get anything apart from Amazon purchases, however it's well worth it for this. Should you buy that card, then don't forget to just take 5 percent off the values at the study below.  That usually makes the distinction between Amazon being the most economical option or perhaps not.  Nevertheless, since you'll notice below, Amazon is frequently not the ideal spot to purchase food (that could very well be 1 reason that they acquired whole-foods).  They really do have good deals on personal grooming and products equipment, but less on food.  Some times you're able to find the very best price if you should be eager to buy in bulk, however only thing prices in many cases are better everywhere. Testing out Thrive Market Thrive MarketSave Save Save Save Save Save The brand new entrant is currently Thrive Market.  Thrive Market relies on pure, organic markets and household goods, therefore that it's more niche compared to other two, however we work with lots of the services and products within our household.  Thrive Market has obtained $159 million (!)  In investment capital financing, therefore they have been very intent on becoming dominant within their own niche. Thrive Market's version is somewhat different compared to other two; nonetheless, it really is similar to Costco compared to wal mart.  Here are the Advantages and Disadvantages of utilizing Thrive Market: Thrive Market advantages: Ordinarily low thing costs, occasionally radically Less than rivals Decent Choice of foods selected due to their healthiness Stocks a few differently Hard to Find Products Free shipping on $49 Have their very particular branded Items Which can not be seen everywhere For each paid subscription, direct a free membership for your family in demand Trying to Decrease carbon footprint within their transport methods Thrive Market downsides: There is a membership fee Shipping is not free under $49 Shipping may be slow The choice is marginally smaller compared to other sellers (but seems to be expanding quite quickly) Since you can observe previously, there are definite benefits and drawbacks.  The simple fact that shipping isn't totally under $49 does not disturb me because we do not dictate in tiny amounts so that it has play.  In this manner, it's comparable to the way we utilize Vitacost. Thrive Market attempts to spare shipping for financial reasons and also so are green by packing everything in to as many boxes as you possibly can.  What this means is there is more variability at the delivery rate.  I have obtained orders as fast as 3 days as soon as fourteen days.  Which means you must think farther ahead when buying in Thrive Market compared to Amazon, however, the economies into our entire world of these low packaging stuff and carbon footprint would be without doubt real.  It only depends upon what you appreciate, so that as I mentioned we utilize every one of those options. What is with all the negative reviews? Certainly one reason it took me some time to decide to try Thrive Market was that I read reviews and it seems to be considered a ceremony that you love or despise. You will find some very negative reviews on the market so that I spent a while sifting them through.  They largely Appear to fall in to 2 types: Inch) "I did not understand that there was a membership fee" Two) "It is Difficult to cancel" Thrive Market conducts a great deal of promotions, frequently touting free services and products.  But, their complimentary services and products include a trial membership as soon as it expires they'll charge you for the yearly fee.  This is the way just about all of subscription services work, moving all of the way back into the Columbia House Records deals in my childhood.  I actually don't actually expect you'll find anything at no cost therefore this is simply not a turn me offpersonally, but recall; if you accept the offerings they are going to charge you after the trial time period. Another one is the membership is tricky to cancel.  I've begun it, canceled it restarted it without the real troubles.  Much like many subscription services and products, they make an effort to speak out of departing when you say your aim.   I hope that that it will not violate me to jump through the hoops leave after that point comes. Let us talk concerning the waiver Fee The component of this Thrive Market service which may make a lot of men and women balk could be your membership fee since it is somewhat odd to pay for a commission such as this for markets (if you don't utilize Costco or BJ's).  Also to tell the truth, it initially rubbed me the wrong way so that it took me a little while to give it a go.  But, I think that it's some of the items that by the close of your afternoon makes no critical big difference. The main reason why I say is that using Amazon often means you are going to want to acquire Amazon Prime, and that's just another membership fee.  Amazon's yearly fee is 50 percent more than Thrive Market.  But it has really a high value rate whilst the selection in Amazon is not quite infinite plus it has an streaming television membership which may make Netflix blush.  Nonetheless, it's a subscription fee. Pinching penniesSave Save Save Save Save Save Vitacost along with also other internet vendors provide free shipping within a particular purchase dimensions and also we make significant usage of their vouchers, however, the percent item prices in many cases are marginally greater.  Therefore there isn't any up front membership fee however, all of it comes out in the wash as, by the close of your afternoon, sending costs money and all these really are low-margin services and products. I would like to produce two additional tiny notes.  The initial is all about Amazon.  Even though their pick is generally unmatched, they don't really carry a number of things people try to find, because you'll notice below.  The different note is all about Thrive Market's email newsletter.  They send mails just a tad bit more often than I would enjoy, however they're frequently packaged with genuinely invaluable recipes and data.  It isn't simply a sales page everytime just like so many different newsletters.  As a result of the, I believe that it's well worth registering to listen from their website. Thrive Market Online Codes How Thrive Market boosts their service is through semi-constant sale promotions.  There is virtually always a sale going on in Thrive Market.  It's frequently free types of hot items; additional times it's a percent away from your complete purchase.  We are going to continue to keep the latest promo codes and offers to these pages to ensure it is easy.  Be mindful that taking good advantage of such a promotion will signify that you're becoming a member of his or her yearly fee. Read the full article

[healthmasterlove-blog]

is thrive market worth it

Shopping to find supreme quality organic food in an affordable price isn't simple.  Certainly one of my own hacks will be always to execute a great deal of comparison buying almost any packed goods that our household eats.  Getting fresh, fruits, veggies and legumes is definitely the heart of a wholesome diet.  But we utilize farmer markets, CSAs and community grocers for this percentage.  Finding the best deals requires moment and vigilance, therefore I will demonstrate the way exactly we can do this. Current Thrive Market Promo: Get an Additional 20% Off Your 3 Orders Watch the Bargain Today For your packed goods, I have been trying a brand new internet site named Thrive Market and comparing it to different internet options we utilize.  The conventional ones that we use most usually are Vitacost and Amazon, therefore these are those we'll compare against Thrive Market. Vitacost VitacostSave Save Save Save Save Save Vitacost includes a broad range of food and other household things.  We generally just order from their website whenever there's an adequate promo of 1-5 % off running.  Their website and ordering procedure can be redeemed in contrast to the others and you also normally need to dictate a little simultaneously to find totally free delivery, therefore we frequently join orders together with friends or label along with every other larger orders.  They've any items which are not readily found everywhere and on particular items we utilize, they faithfully possess the best deals. Amazon Amazon.com For Amazon, we've got a Prime membership, that I urge for all reasons but particularly in the event that you search for groceries on the web.  Without Prime, sending prices can accumulate.  Additionally, together with Prime, the delivery times are truly blazing fast.  They're running a special which lets you decide to try it for 1 month and I feel that is well worth. Hint: Prove Your Savings! However we do not end there.  Amazon recently published their Amazon Prime Visa card and that I snapped it up instantly.  It took approximately 60 minutes to acquire approved and so they mechanically caused it to be my own default payment procedure.  But here is the kickerthat you obtain 5 percent off some Amazon Prime purchases along with also an instantaneous $70 charge to your accounts.  For mepersonally, it had been a nobrainer.  I really don't utilize it to get anything apart from Amazon purchases, however it's well worth it for this. Should you buy that card, then don't forget to just take 5 percent off the values at the study below.  That usually makes the distinction between Amazon being the most economical option or perhaps not.  Nevertheless, since you'll notice below, Amazon is frequently not the ideal spot to purchase food (that could very well be 1 reason that they acquired whole-foods).  They really do have good deals on personal grooming and products equipment, but less on food.  Some times you're able to find the very best price if you should be eager to buy in bulk, however only thing prices in many cases are better everywhere. Testing out Thrive Market Thrive MarketSave Save Save Save Save Save The brand new entrant is currently Thrive Market.  Thrive Market relies on pure, organic markets and household goods, therefore that it's more niche compared to other two, however we work with lots of the services and products within our household.  Thrive Market has obtained $159 million (!)  In investment capital financing, therefore they have been very intent on becoming dominant within their own niche. Thrive Market's version is somewhat different compared to other two; nonetheless, it really is similar to Costco compared to wal mart.  Here are the Advantages and Disadvantages of utilizing Thrive Market: Thrive Market advantages: Ordinarily low thing costs, occasionally radically Less than rivals Decent Choice of foods selected due to their healthiness Stocks a few differently Hard to Find Products Free shipping on $49 Have their very particular branded Items Which can not be seen everywhere For each paid subscription, direct a free membership for your family in demand Trying to Decrease carbon footprint within their transport methods Thrive Market downsides: There is a membership fee Shipping is not free under $49 Shipping may be slow The choice is marginally smaller compared to other sellers (but seems to be expanding quite quickly) Since you can observe previously, there are definite benefits and drawbacks.  The simple fact that shipping isn't totally under $49 does not disturb me because we do not dictate in tiny amounts so that it has play.  In this manner, it's comparable to the way we utilize Vitacost. Thrive Market attempts to spare shipping for financial reasons and also so are green by packing everything in to as many boxes as you possibly can.  What this means is there is more variability at the delivery rate.  I have obtained orders as fast as 3 days as soon as fourteen days.  Which means you must think farther ahead when buying in Thrive Market compared to Amazon, however, the economies into our entire world of these low packaging stuff and carbon footprint would be without doubt real.  It only depends upon what you appreciate, so that as I mentioned we utilize every one of those options. What is with all the negative reviews? Certainly one reason it took me some time to decide to try Thrive Market was that I read reviews and it seems to be considered a ceremony that you love or despise. You will find some very negative reviews on the market so that I spent a while sifting them through.  They largely Appear to fall in to 2 types: Inch) "I did not understand that there was a membership fee" Two) "It is Difficult to cancel" Thrive Market conducts a great deal of promotions, frequently touting free services and products.  But, their complimentary services and products include a trial membership as soon as it expires they'll charge you for the yearly fee.  This is the way just about all of subscription services work, moving all of the way back into the Columbia House Records deals in my childhood.  I actually don't actually expect you'll find anything at no cost therefore this is simply not a turn me offpersonally, but recall; if you accept the offerings they are going to charge you after the trial time period. Another one is the membership is tricky to cancel.  I've begun it, canceled it restarted it without the real troubles.  Much like many subscription services and products, they make an effort to speak out of departing when you say your aim.   I hope that that it will not violate me to jump through the hoops leave after that point comes. Let us talk concerning the waiver Fee The component of this Thrive Market service which may make a lot of men and women balk could be your membership fee since it is somewhat odd to pay for a commission such as this for markets (if you don't utilize Costco or BJ's).  Also to tell the truth, it initially rubbed me the wrong way so that it took me a little while to give it a go.  But, I think that it's some of the items that by the close of your afternoon makes no critical big difference. The main reason why I say is that using Amazon often means you are going to want to acquire Amazon Prime, and that's just another membership fee.  Amazon's yearly fee is 50 percent more than Thrive Market.  But it has really a high value rate whilst the selection in Amazon is not quite infinite plus it has an streaming television membership which may make Netflix blush.  Nonetheless, it's a subscription fee. Pinching penniesSave Save Save Save Save Save Vitacost along with also other internet vendors provide free shipping within a particular purchase dimensions and also we make significant usage of their vouchers, however, the percent item prices in many cases are marginally greater.  Therefore there isn't any up front membership fee however, all of it comes out in the wash as, by the close of your afternoon, sending costs money and all these really are low-margin services and products. I would like to produce two additional tiny notes.  The initial is all about Amazon.  Even though their pick is generally unmatched, they don't really carry a number of things people try to find, because you'll notice below.  The different note is all about Thrive Market's email newsletter.  They send mails just a tad bit more often than I would enjoy, however they're frequently packaged with genuinely invaluable recipes and data.  It isn't simply a sales page everytime just like so many different newsletters.  As a result of the, I believe that it's well worth registering to listen from their website. Thrive Market Online Codes How Thrive Market boosts their service is through semi-constant sale promotions.  There is virtually always a sale going on in Thrive Market.  It's frequently free types of hot items; additional times it's a percent away from your complete purchase.  We are going to continue to keep the latest promo codes and offers to these pages to ensure it is easy.  Be mindful that taking good advantage of such a promotion will signify that you're becoming a member of his or her yearly fee. Read the full article

[investmart007]

NEW YORK  | The Latest: Trucks water sun-baked dirt strip at Belmont

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/Q0nywG

NEW YORK  | The Latest: Trucks water sun-baked dirt strip at Belmont

NEW YORK — The Latest from Saturday’s Belmont Stakes (all times local):

6:20 p.m.

With a little less than 30 minutes to go until the Belmont Stakes, two trucks are watering the dirt strip at Belmont Park.

It’s been baked dry by sunny skies and 80-degree weather. Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Justify will be taking to the sprawling oval to try to become racing’s 13th Triple Crown winner and second in four years with a victory in the 1 1/2-mile race. Justify won the first two legs on sloppy tracks.

___

6:05 p.m.

The crowd of roughly 90,000 fans and bettors around the world clearly expect Justify to win the Triple Crown.

The Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner opened at the 4-5 favorite with about an hour to go before the Belmont Stakes. The next best choices were 6-1 odds shared by Bravazo and Hofburn. Bravazo finished second in the Preakness and Hofburg was sired by Tapit, whose sons have won two of the last races in the Belmont, which is run at a 1 1/2 mile.

Justify will be trying to become thoroughbred racing’s 13th Triple Crown winner. American Pharoah ended a 37-year drought in 2015.

___

3:10 p.m.

Bob Baffert is 2-for-2 at Belmont Park so far.

The Hall of Fame trainer has won the $400,000 Brooklyn Invitational with Hoppertunity. The 7-year-old bay horse won by 2 1/4 lengths and paid $9.10 to win — a generous price on a Baffert trainee.

Earlier, Baffert and jockey Mike Smith teamed to win the $750,000 Ogden Phipps with Abel Tasman.

Of course, the race that Baffert and Smith really want to win is the Belmont Stakes. Smith will be aboard Justify in the colt’s bid to become racing’s 13th Triple Crown winner.

Last year, Baffert went 4-for-4 on Belmont Stakes day.

___

2:30 p.m.

The fashion scene at the Belmont Stakes is as diverse as New York itself.

It ranged from fans in T-shirts and shorts to men in suits and women in dresses and an assortment of hats. Some women wore ones topped with big decorations that looked like the Belmont Stakes trophy.

If there’s a common theme among the crowd, it’s the desire to take a selfie to bear witness to their attendance at Justify’s bid for the Triple Crown.

The food in some ways is typically New York: pizza, wings, hot dogs and beer.

___

1:25 p. m.

Bob Baffert and Mike Smith have teamed up to win a big race at Belmont Park.

No, not the Belmont Stakes. That’ll be run later Saturday.

The Hall of Fame trainer and jockey won the $750,000 Ogden Phipps with even-money favorite Abel Tasman.

The 4-year-old filly cruised to a 7 1/2-length victory while snapping a three-race skid.

It was the first of five mounts Smith has on the 13-race card.

The 52-year-old jockey knows the sprawling track and its sweeping turns well, having been the leading rider in New York from 1991 to ’92.m.

___

12:55 p.m.

Fans are streaming into Belmont Park in anticipation of watching Justify try to become horse racing’s 13th Triple Crown winner and second since 2015.

Skies are sunny and the temperature is forecast for 73 degrees when the Belmont Stakes is run early Saturday evening. The crowd has been capped at 90,000.

It will be the first time Justify runs on a dry track in the Triple Crown series. He won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness on sloppy tracks after heavy rain fell.

Justify is taking on nine rivals, the largest number that a potential Triple Crown winner has ever faced.

Among those expected to be on hand is New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski. His equine counterpart named Gronkowski is a 22-1 shot in the Belmont. The football star has purchased a small interest in the colt.

___-

2:15 a.m.

Justify is seeking to become horse racing’s 13th Triple Crown winner and second in four years when he runs in the Belmont Stakes.

The Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner is the early 4-5 favorite for Saturday’s 1 ½-mile Belmont, the longest and most grueling of the three-race series.

If Justify beats nine rivals in the 150th Belmont, Bob Baffert would become the second trainer to win the Triple Crown twice. He did so in 2015 with American Pharoah, a colt that ended a 37-year drought.

Justify is 5-0 in a career that began with his first race in February. He didn’t compete as a 2-year-old.

Baffert will saddle a second horse: 30-1 shot Restoring Hope.

Trainer Todd Pletcher also has two horses in the field — 8-1 Vino Rosso and 30-1 Noble Indy.

The forecast calls for a high of 80 degrees and cloudy skies. Post time is 6:46 p.m. ET.

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By Associated Press

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