#if the USB start up repair doesn’t work I have to go back to the computer store though. Again.

[forcedhesitation]

maaaaaan. and now my pc is stuck in a bios loop. tells me it cannot find any bootable devices. checked the cables and everything seems alright?? trying to repair start up thru USB windows installation next but I have a deep dread in me that this could be worse :(

[greysdesk]

Usb backup for mac

USB BACKUP FOR MAC HOW TO

USB BACKUP FOR MAC FOR MAC

USB BACKUP FOR MAC MAC OS

USB BACKUP FOR MAC SOFTWARE

USB BACKUP FOR MAC PC

Most of the data in the backup is the same, but there are a few GBs of new files I'd like to backup as well. I have an outdated Time Machine backup, made before I upgraded from Mountain Lion to El Capitan. Back up as much of the data as possible and replace the disk. This disk has a hardware problem that can't be repaired. I am able to boot into Recovery Mode, and I can even run Disk Utility (it doesn't detect any problems.) However, when I attempt to reinstall the OS, it tells me: The progress bar would take forever to reach 100%, and then it would just stop there once it reached it all the while the fan running loudly.

USB BACKUP FOR MAC SOFTWARE

If you need a simpler format tool to format USB or external hard drive to FAT32 on a Windows computer so to make it work on Mac, you can apply a third-party format tool for help.ĮaseUS partition software is a popular disk management tool that is available for resolve all types of partition management jobs such as format disk partition, extend system partition, settle low disk space problems.Out of the blue, my iMac (late 2010, running El Capitan) started refusing to boot.

USB BACKUP FOR MAC PC

Format USB or External Hard Drive for Mac on a Windows PC Step 5. Wait for the process to complete and then close Terminal.Īfter this, you can use your USB on Mac in a detectable and readable format now.

/dev/disk2 is the location of the USB drive.

MBRFormat tells disk utility to format with a Master Boot Record.

(You can also replace it with another file system.) Type: sudo diskutil eraseDisk FAT32 MBRFormat /dev/disk2 and press Return. Type: diskutil list and find out which disk is your USB drive. Step 2. Press cmd + space to run Spotlight, type: terminal, and hit Enter. Connect the USB flash drive or external hard drive to your Mac computer. If you prefer to use this method, make sure that you follow the steps below carefully: Terminal command lines work the same as Disk Utility, however, it's more complex for beginners.

USB BACKUP FOR MAC FOR MAC

Format USB Drive for Mac using Terminal Command Wait for the process to complete and then you'll get a new Mac compatible file system on your external hard drive or USB, which will make your device detectable and workable on Mac. Step 6. Reset the drive name and click "Erase" to confirm the operation on the next pop-up window.

USB BACKUP FOR MAC MAC OS

Step 5. Select your USB or external drive, click "Erase", then click the Format column and select a format for your USB.įor example, Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or MS-DOS (FAT). Step 4. Double-click to open Disk Utility in the Utilities window to open it. Step 3. Double-click "Utilities" in the Applications window. On the Apple menu, click "Go" and select "Applications". Connect the USB or external hard drive to your Mac computer. You can try the following steps to format USB or external hard drive for Mac with Disk Utility on Mac: Format USB or External Hard Drive for Mac Using Mac Disk Utilityĭisk Utility offers users similar features in the disk management tool, such as to create, delete, resize, merge and format partitions.

If you want to format USB on your Windows computer and make it usable on Mac, try Method 3.

If you want to directly format the USB on your Mac computer, follow Method 1 and Method 2.

USB BACKUP FOR MAC HOW TO

So how do I format a USB stick on a Mac computer? Here, we'll show you how to format your USB flash drive or external hard drive for Mac usage. Format USB Drive for Mac on Mac/Windows Computers

If you tend to use it as a Time Machine backup disk, format it as Mac OS Extended Journaled.

If it's larger than 64GB, set its file system as exFAT.

If the USB drive is less than 64GB, set it as FAT32.

So how to set a suitable format for your USB flash drive or external USB drive? Here are our suggestions: Usually, both APFS and Mac OS Extended file systems are mostly used on Mac hard drives, while the FAT/FAT32 and exFAT are common formats for external storage devices.

FAT32 and ExFAT: Compatible with both Windows and macOS.

Mac OS Extended: Used by macOS 10.12 or earlier.

Apple File System - APFS: Used by macOS 10.13 or later.

Here is a list of macOS supported file systems： Note that Windows uses NTFS but Mac can't write files to volumes with NTFS format. Set a Suitable File System for USB or External USB Drive on Mac To prepare a USB flash drive ready for Mac on a Windows computer, you can try the third-party format software.Īfter picking the right USB format tool, you can now move to the next guide and decide which format that you should set for the USB flash drive or external hard drive. The terminal is far more complex for beginners. To format a USB flash drive on Mac, Disk Utility is better a better choice. So how to select a suitable tool to format your USB flash drive or external hard drive for Mac? For a quick guide, read the tips here:

[ms-demeanor]

You know what’s funny is whenever I make a tech post I get people going “this is blatantly untrue” and I get people going “this is really good information and everyone needs to know it” and the dividing line is how much time you spend with people who are tech literate.

Yep, I would tell my computer savvy friends where they could get keycaps and fix their keyboards; I don’t even have to bother telling my computer savvy friends how to run a fifteen year old laptop because we’re all pretty good at it.

But GODDAMN I just read a response to my “cheap computer season” post that claimed that it was totally reasonable to run a macbook from 2010 and

Look.

That’s not a reasonable thing to tell a student who needs a functional computer to do research and write papers. (have fun trying to find installation discs from when the OS was still named after cats and have fun trying to get a browser to get along with that OS)

You know why most people bring me laptops with missing keys? Because the key got ripped off by their two-year-old and damaged the soldering in the keyboard and I have no idea it’s going to be “oh, yeah, that’s a ten dollar fix” or “sorry, that’s going to be an hour and a half to disassemble and reassemble and we’ll have to order you a new keyboard specific to that model out of new old stock” and the thing is the second one is much, much, much more common in my experience than the first.

Do I think you need to replace a laptop when the bezel is cracked? No. I also don’t carry my laptop powered on in the bag with a flashdrive sticking out of the USB port. Customers do weird things that I don’t understand and when a customer tells me they want me to fix the bezel they think it’s a twenty-dollar snap-on repair because they have no idea how this works and then they get mad at me when I explain “no, you’ve gotta have this specific piece of plastic, these haven’t been made in five years, and you might be better off buying a used model online than trying to track down a new bezel.”

So here’s the thing: Can Macs get viruses?

There are three answers here.

“No, of course not, Macs are made to be virus-proof”

“Macs need antivirus protection because, while it is less common than infections for PCs, there are types of malware that can infect macs and it’s worthwhile to guard against that”

“tEcHnIcAlLy a virus has to be self-replicating and IOS’s file management system [or some other bullshit] prevents that so TECHNICALLY Macs can’t get viruses and what you need is anti-malware software if you need anything because you’re fairly likely to have security through obscurity”

I’m aware of the third position and voicing the second position to people who believe the first position.

YES TECHNICALLY YOU CAN KEEP A COMPUTER RUNNING INDEFINITELY AND YES IT’S TOTALLY POSSIBLE YOUR LAPTOP WILL LAST TEN YEARS.

“Well if you treat it right and run it well it’ll be in great shape for a long time”

YES THAT IS CORRECT DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY PEOPLE WHO DON’T WORK ON THEIR OWN CARS DRIVE AROUND WITH THE OIL CHANGE LIGHT ON FOR MONTHS?!?

Tons of people in the world today use computers. They use computers every day, they use computers at home and at school and at work.

Tons of people drive every day. They use cars for fun and for commuting and for their jobs.

That doesn’t mean that all (or even most, or even half) of the people using these things is any good at keeping them running, or even has the barest idea of how to start tracking down a problem.

Someone in the notes of that post described a green line on their screen and thought that was a symptom of hard drive problems. I don’t have the hours in the day to catch this person up to speed on why a display issue on a laptop isn’t indicative of hard drive issues.

Do you know how much people think it’s going to cost to get data off of a broken drive? Not “won’t power up” not “won’t spin” but “I dropped this and part fell off and now it won’t power up or spin and also the platter is chipped”? I’m going to have to send that shit to a clean room and the customer is *staggered* that it might cost more than a hundred dollars to get their data. “Outrageous, what kind of blackmail operation are you trying to run here, just plug it in and get my pictures.”

A year or so ago I was at Jiffy Lube (ew). I’d been shooting the shit with the mechanic when a parent and child rolled in in a panic. And they should have been panicking! They’d thrown a fucking rod because they’d been driving with no oil in the car for god knows how long because neither of them had had the oil changed in the two years they’d owned the vehicle.

*I* can keep a 30-year-old car running. I can put a belt back on an engine in a dark parking lot with a wrench and a headlamp. I can drop a gas tank and replace my fuel filter and thumb my nose at the mechanics who tried to upsell me on “replacing your old, worn-out air filter” the day after I’d popped a new one into my truck.

These folks couldn’t keep a new car running with three alarms telling them what was wrong.

*I* can power up my 2005 macbook running Leopard and use garage band to record a song or do some design work on my copy of Adobe CS3; I can kludge its FF3.5 browser into playing nice with the internet and accept that it’s going to be a slow piece of shit.

The lady who called me confused by the fact that the password to her email was different than the login information for her grocery store rewards account will not be able to function if she gets a pop-up that says she’s using an outdated browser and will think it’s a virus if her bank won’t let her log in on that browser.

And you know what, I’m kind of sick of this attitude.

I would *fucking adore it* if computers were actually easy to repair; I’d love it if you could run new OSs on old hardware (especially on macs because I think apple are kind of shitheads about planned obsolescence).

But you know what, no, most people *CAN’T* reasonably expect to use a ten-year-old computer and have pleasant experience of it. It’s going to run slow. It’s going to shut down when they don’t want it to. The battery is going to swell slightly with the heat and your touchpad is going to go nuts. Your USB ports will stop working. Standard wear and tear that most people don’t know how to protect against and don’t know how to repair is going to make it harder to use AND software requirements will outstrip the hardware capabilities of the computer.

If your old computer sucks it’s not your fault. If you can’t happily use a 10-year-old laptop to do your homework that’s okay, it wasn’t designed for you to use it that way and YOU SHOULDN’T FEEL GUILTY ABOUT IT.

Because that’s kind of what a lot of these “well anybody should realistically be able to run a laptop from 2010″ responses comes down to: if you need new hardware you’re just not doing it right. If you have to replace your computer you didn’t make good choices when you bought it. If your battery dies it’s because you didn’t take care of it.

No. No. No. No.

This shit is A) designed to fail and B) actually really hard to keep running (hey how many blown capacitors do you think someone has to have on their motherboard before you say it’s not their fault for wanting to replace the laptop)

ALSO SOMEONE IN THE RESPONSES OF THAT POST LITERALLY SAID THAT IF YOUR BATTERY DIED AT THREE YEARS IT WAS BECAUSE YOU WEREN’T DOING THE DRAIN CHARGE CYCLE RIGHT AND FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU. It’s discharge cycles and heat, motherfucker; they are going to fail at some point and people shouldn’t feel bad if their batteries stop working after a couple years.

UGH.

You shouldn’t have to be a mechanic. You shouldn’t have to be a computer technician. Yeah, your shit will last longer if you know how to take care of it but, fuck. Imagine you were still using internet speeds from 2010. Imagine all your devices still had USB 2.0. Imagine you couldn’t log onto your online bank because your hardware won’t run he software that your bank recognizes because the hardware manufacturer decided it won’t support the older hardware.

What I was trying to get across in that initial post was “computers fail, and they fail pretty frequently; your life will be better and you will save money if you plan on replacing them at a regular interval and have reasonable expectations in terms of cost and failure. So buy a cheap computer now because you’re probably going to need one at some point”

And now I’ve got to Do A Yell about how there’s no ethical consumption under capitalism and it’s unreasonable to expect tired, overworked, broke people to become experts in computer repair in order to do their homework or play the goose game.

FUCK THAT.

IT’S CHEAP COMPUTER SEASON MOTHERFUCKERS. LAPTOP FAILURE RATES INCREASE AT THREE TO FIVE YEARS AND DESKTOP FAILURE RATES INCREASE AT FIVE TO SEVEN YEARS. RIGHT NOW THERE ARE DISCOUNTS ON NEW COMPUTERS AND IT’S CHEAP TO GET AN EXTENDED WARRANTY.

LIVE LONG AND PROSPER AND WORK ON COMPUTERS IF YOU WANNA AND PLAN TO REPLACE REGULARLY IF YOU DON’T WANT TO WORK ON COMPUTERS.

ALSO CHANGE YOUR FUCKING OIL YOU’RE PROBABLY DUE.

[imnotwolverine]

Bear cuddles

Henry Cavill x reader

Word count: 1.581

Warnings: bit of expressive language + pure and utter fluff <3

I just got my period and I needed to write myself some comfort fluff to pull myself through. 

Ps. nesting is one of my favourite things to do when on my period party :3 Try it, do it!

(Link to my Masterlist)

It was Friday afternoon and you all but wanted to cry, your heavy legs carrying you up the stairs to your apartment at an excruciatingly slow pace.

Your neighbours were already well into their weekend celebrations as you heard their loud music booming through the hallway, the thin walls definitely not managing to silence their ill choice of mumble rap “music”. You sighed, digging through your pocket to find your keys. Hmm. No keys. Your bag perhaps?

Shrugging off the heavy bag from your shoulder you squatted down on the floor to dig through the gazillion little things that made out to be your ‘bare necessities’ while on the road. Some basic make-up, writing gear, a usb drive, a tiny sewing kit, a spare pair of leggings, a few peppermints…but ..no keys.

Darn it!

When did you last see them? Your mind was a bit of a blur as you had practically been on zombie-mode ever since getting up. You had been having a rough night as you had just gotten your period. And the many days of working late this week sure didn’t help either. But this? THIS?!

Just your luck.

You could only remember pulling the door closed this morning as you had to rush to the bus stop. Wait. Rewind a bit. Pulling..the door..closed. Oh FUCK. You left your keys inside! How did this always happen to you?

Annoyed with your own stupidity you pulled your phone out of your pocket - thankfully you didn’t lose THAT - and opened your contacts list. Scrolling through the many names your panic started to take a hold of you. Your best friend was out of town. Your ex had recently returned your key. The spare key in your office was inaccessible as the office was already closed. So..who else had a key? Did you really have to call your landlord? Or one of those key repair services. Oh this was bad.

Scrolling further down your eye fell on his name.

“Henrybear.”

A smile crept over your tired face as you remembered the night you had met Henry. The two of you had been quite drunk. Or should you say..really drunk? You two had been soo drunk that this one-night-stand of you two had absolutely failed: you had both fallen asleep. It did however make for a pretty funny moment as you both woke up, neither one of you quite sure about what had happened. Like..did anything happen at all? Well, just to be sure, you had made up for it with a second, much improved round of morning sex. Followed by breakfast in bed. Followed by a whole day of lounging around in your underwear. Followed by many more hook-ups whenever either of you needed it. And it was just what you needed since anything more serious was just not happening as your busy work schedules didn’t allow for this thing called ‘dating’.

It had been a week ago since you had last seen him and..you DID give him a key beforehand so he could let himself in while you were working late.

Should you call him?

Your finger hovered over the call button as you hesitated for a moment. What if he wanted to have sex? You definitely didn’t. Gosh. All you wanted to do was hide away in a blanket and pillow fort and watch bad movies with a large bottle of wine and pizza. Or..what if he wasn’t in town? Or if he was with someone else? Or…

Your thumb accidentally slid over the green button and any further trepidation was thrown out of the window. Your faith was decided upon as he answered after a few rings, his baritone voice greeting you with an upbeat tone.

‘Y/n! How are you darling?’

‘Hen…oh I’m such a fool…’ You started, your voice much more fragile than you wished it to be.

‘Hey, you okay? Something wrong?’ He asked. You sighed, feeling sorry for even bothering him with your own stupidity.

‘Oh it’s just so silly. I think I locked myself out this morning..can’t find my keys in my bag..and..now I can’t get into my apartment and..’ Your voice became more quivering as you rattled on. Gosh these hormones.

‘It’s okay, it’s okay. Shh. Calm down love. No need to panic.’ His voice was soothing like honeyed tea, your heartbeat immediately calming as you heard his feet echo through what probably was his hallway.

‘And good news. I have your keys right here.’ You could almost feel his comforting smile upon you, through the phone. You nodded and muttered: ‘Ok. I’ll..eh..come get ‘em. You’re at home?’

‘Oh no need to sweetheart! I’ll come over to you. It doesn’t sound like you need any further excursions for the day. You stay put and I’ll be there in fifteen.’

After silently obliging, you slumped against the wall, your head barely registering as a pair of feet halted right next to you some fifteen minutes later.

‘Hey you.’ Henry smiled lovingly, holding out your key and dangling it in his hand before pushing it into the lock and opening your door. A sound you didn’t know you liked to hear, until just now.

’You look like you are in dire need of wine, a bubble bath, pizza..and..eh..a hug, perhaps?’ You crawled back on your feet and looked into those ocean blue eyes, forgetting all prior objections you had for inviting Henry, his big warm body standing there, ready to be hugged. ‘Come on then.’ He ushered, holding out his arms a bit wider so you could slide right in, your face melting into his thick wool sweater, the scent of cedar wood, wool and some undefinable muskiness welcoming you.

‘Oh I’m sorry for this Hen. And you really didn’t have to come all the way over..’ You sulked as you both walked into your apartment. ‘And here they are..damn.’ You pointed at your keys that still lay on the cupboard in your hallway. Henry snickered and flung his backpack from his shoulder.

As if sensing you were not in a talkative mood he remained quiet, looking into the cosy apartment and waiting for further instructions. You looked over your shoulder at him and sighed. You couldn’t really send him away now, could you?

‘Is pizza okay for you too? With your crazy diets and all?’

‘I’m on the off season right now. So. Absolutely. Give me all the pizza you can get.’ He smiled, taking that as an invitation for him to stay for a little while longer, his hand now moving to close the door behind you two and placed his backpack in the corner.

‘Oh and I brought some “medicine” for you to indulge on.’ He slipped a bottle of your favourite wine out of his backpack, smiling like a proud puppy as you hummed in delight.

‘Henn..oh…’ You swooned, caressing his arm and feeling the annoyances of the day slowly slip into the background. Why was this man such a sweetheart? You couldn’t quite fathom what he was doing here with you, but right now you also didn’t wish for him to be anywhere else. You crushed yourself back against his large chest as you enveloped him in a tight hug, your eyes tearful with relief, the stress finally flowing out of your body.

Henry didn’t object, he just smoothed his large hands over your back in slow circles, slowly rubbing your sore muscles as you cried your tears.

‘I’m probably totally ruining your Friday night.’ You swallowed, nuzzling his wool sweater.

‘Hardly. Otherwise it would have been quite similar, but then without a sweet female counterpart to cuddle with. Pizza..a movie..wine..’ He shrugged and pulled away a bit, thumbing away the tears that were staining your cheeks.

‘How about you sit down and order pizza. Then I’m going to make you a little nest.’ He smiled.

A nest?

Not quite sure what he meant, but ever curious, you slowly nodded and walked to the kitchen island, sitting down on one of the bar stools as you ordered the pizza. While scrolling through the selection of pizzas you heard the rustling of fabrics along with soft socked footfalls to and from the living room. What was he UP to?

After placing your order you went out to look for Henry, finding he had made quite literally..a nest, your bed now stuffed with pillows and blankets.

‘Tada!’ He grinned, patting in the centre, ushering you to crawl in. You couldn’t help but giggle. ‘You are such a dork.’ You sniffled, gingerly crawling onto the mass of blankets before dropping yourself in the pillows. It was perfect. ‘Now, don’t move!’ He said while he left the room again, leaving you once more a tad confused before he returned with your laptop in one hand and two glasses topped with your favourite wine in the other. Reaching out the glasses of wine you quickly moved forward to take them from him and placed them on the night stand, his large body now crawling right next to you, making your cosy nest complete.

Soft fluffy nest? Check.

Wine? Check.

Cute bear to cuddle with? Check.

‘Netflix and cuddle?’ He smiled, opening your laptop. You giggled, nodding in agreement.

And Netflix and cuddle? Definitely check.

‘Now come here then, lovely one.’ He hummed, sitting back and opening his arms so you could crawl into his chest.

That night was probably one of the best nights you ever had. And “nesting”, had become of your new favourite Friday night activities, with Henry.

[inquisitive-mess]

Tarts of Remembrance

This connected to the drawing I did for it. I know it’s kind of late to do a story about it, but I was in the mood to do one. Plus I feel like this would give some light on Ann felt about Anne Boleyn’s death.

Jane Parker by @altairtalisman

Mentioned Katherine “Kath” Tudor by @ellielovesdrawing and Amalia “Mali” by @pandora-dusk

What should of been a normal day for Ann turn into experience she wouldn't forget. It started when she was in her shop finishing a work order. She was rebuilding laptop from scratch for a customer. They want high definition screen, large RAM, longer battery life, additional USB port, and latest computer programming. This took her some time to do with many countless hours of her sitting and looking at the screen to make sure it was running right. She also took necessary breaks from the computer to avoid straining her eyes. She got up from her stool she was sitting on, moved her shoulders around, took her glasses off to place them on her head, and decided to walk around her shop a bit as the final program was uploading. She walk into the storage room to see if she has enough inventory in stock or need to order some. As she was doing that, the front door chimed indicating that customer walk in to the shop and she head to the front of the store to greet them. When she walk to the front, she saw it was Jane P and smile a bit. What started as Jane accidentally walking inside Ann’s shop to get her radio fix turn into a small friendship. Sure there was small hiccups where Ann got little emotional seeing her due to their past history where Jane was kind of responsible for Howard’s death later her own death when they redeem her crazy, but they were able to talk out civilly and forgive each other. And the incident where Jane and her girlfriend, Mali, decide to burst into her shop half naked to avoid Mali’s sister wrath. That would be a day Ann isn’t going to forget about. As far as Ann knew, Jane and Mali were the only people who know she was back and working here. Jane promise Ann that she will keep it a secret, until Ann was ready to tell the queens she was back. She also told Mail the same thing too and she agree to it.

Ann walk to the counter as she said in a calm tone “Hey Jane, what brings you here? Did your radio break again or some else broke that needs repair?” Jane shook her head and walk to where Ann while answering her “Nothing like that. I don’t have anything broken yet and radio is running as fine as it could be thank to your repair. Just on my home from dance rehearsal and figure I’ll drop by here on the way. Do you have time to spare?” Ann crossed her arms and reply “Fortunately yeah. I just got finish with an order and wait for last installment to load completely, so I call the customer to let them know it’s ready. After that, i’m free for the rest of the day.” Ann notices something Jane was holding a white box, turn her head, and said “What’s in the box?” Jane place the box on the counter and told her “Well, Kath, a reincarnated you wouldn’t know and owns a bakery, came to the theater with this box. It’s test samples of treats she want to sale, but I guess she wants an opinion on how they are. I offer to test them and was going to share with Mali.” Jane then said as she rub the back of her head “I’m still bad about how that turn out. I didn’t think we would have to run all the way here half naked and hide in your shop from her sister.” Ann sighed and reply “It’s not like it the first time I seen someone half naked. I work at the palace, so it doesn’t fazed me. You guys were lucky I didn’t have anyone in here when it happen. I couldn’t imagine the problem this would have cause, if someone was. And already forgave you guys, so it’s okay. And I hope Mali like them.” Ann smiled a little after saying this.

Jane look at Ann, place her hand on the box, and ask her “Do you want one? I'm sure Mali and I can’t finish all of it. Plus it would nice for Kath to have more input on them and have outside opinion, rather then friends thoughts.” Ann raised her hand and told her “Sorry, but I have to pass. I really don’t have a sweet tooth. Plus I don’t want to intrude on your guys lovely snack.” Jane shook her head and said “ No, I insist. And it’s the least we can do for hiding us in your storage room.” Ann knew she isn’t going take no for answer and would lead to back and forth talking, so she sighed and answered “Fine, but only one. I don’t want to ruin my dinner later on. I do need to eat a proper meal.” Ann begin to walk to the back and ask Jane before she left “ Can’t eat these without something to drink. Do you want me get you canned coffee or bottle water? Sorry I don’t have many choices. The shop doesn’t have a kitchen, but I do have fridge to keep my drinks and food when I bring some.” Jane look little confuse when she heard canned coffee. She didn't know you could get coffee in a can, but remember that there canned tea, so it shouldn't be too far off. Jane replied "Coffee, please." Ann nodded and head to her workspace, where the fridge was. She took out two cans, closed the door, and head back to the front. She place the cans on the counter near the box and hand one to Jane. Jane took it and thank her. She crack open it, took a sip, put it down, and said "It's not bad. I prefer my caramel macchiatio, but this is acceptable." She took another sip and said " You know was funny, your sister has coffee addiction and can't live without it, so I'm wondering if it runs in the family." Ann chuckled a little as she open hers and answered " I see that happening. She always stay up all night writing or learning something when I used to serve her. Unfortunately to tell you that I don't have coffee addiction. I only drink these whenever I feel like it and only get these because they're convenient and lot more cheaper to buy than those overpriced coffee shops. Don't get me wrong. I do go to them, but I can't imagine spending that much money and waiting in those line for cup of coffee everyday." Jane heard this and kind agree with her on that part.

They both turn to the box, Jane open it up, and look at all of sweets. There were different types of it and Ann didn't know which one to get. As Ann mentioned before, she didn't have a sweet tooth, so she didn't know which one were too sweet for her. Ann decide to grab a tart because it look the less sugary and look at it before taking a bite into it. As she chewing on it and enjoying the taste of it, this remains her of something, but can't remember what. She know this can't be from her current life, since she would remember that due to that she wasn't allow to get any sweets growing up and when she was able to, it make her feel a little sick. She look at the tart to see what was in it and something clicked in her head. She stare at it and thought "It can't be..." She took another bite of it and sure enough it was it, but how. She remember that no one was allowed to these, except for him and the family. She remember that perfectly when it happen and how sad she was because she really like them. Jane noticed Ann react and ask "Are you okay there? Did you get something you didn't like? You can choose something else. There a lot to pick from." This snapped Ann out of it, she shook her head, looked at Jane, and told her "It's nothing like that, but you should try this tart though. It's something." Ann hope that Jane would taste them and remember what these are, since she was there too when it happen. Jane looked confused on how Ann was acting, but she listen to what she said. Jane grab the tart and bit into it, which Jane had reaction from it and looked at Ann. She ask "Are these...." Ann smiled a little and answered "I guess they become public after our lifetime. The tart we used to eat when we served as ladies/maids in waiting at the palace." With that, they didn’t say anything afterwards. How could they? They used eat these after hard days work and talk to other maids/ladies as they enjoy them. These were made for them, but that ended when the king found about them and forbid anyone from eating them, unless it was made for him and his family.

After thinking a bit, Jane ask “ So Ann, what was your first time having these?” Ann crossed her arms, closed her eyes, and reply “It was a couple of weeks when I first started working at the palace. I was so young and innocent back then. I was so eager to learn everything and be as good as mother. I worked day in and day out trying to figure things out without messing up. Once day when I was done with my work, I was so tired and was ready to rest, but I was also hungry. I forgot to eat lunch that day and knew the kitchen didn’t have food left, so I was going to rest with an empty stomach when I smell something good. I follow it which lead me to the kitchen and saw Anne was baking something in it. I hide behind the wall and spy on her to see what she made. When I saw what she made, it made my mouth water and I wanted to try it, but knew I couldn’t since it was unladylike to invite yourself to something when you’re not welcome. As I was thinking, my stomach growl, which catch Anne attention, and she told me to come out. I came out and Anne smiled at me. She ask me if I want one and I politely decline, until my stomach growled again. Anne told me I can take one since she made it for other eat too, so it would no harm down. I then took one and ate it. It tasted so good and made Anne chuckle a bit. She ask for my name and she told me hers. We soon walk out the kitchen with tarts in hand and head to other were to enjoy them.” Jane listen to Ann’s story and thought it cute. She wish her story was that enjoyable, but it was just bland and boring. Jane said happily “That sounds amazing. To think you were there when Anne made them all though years ago. Bet you had some more stories about you two” Ann shook her head and answer “ Not really. I just follow Anne as we did our duties and I help her out with tarts to share with everyone, until the king found out them and banned us to eat them. I was sad when it happen and didn’t think I would eat them again, until Anne become queen and found a way for sneak some for me since she knew I like them. She became a role model to me and wanted to be like her. I took in all of the teaching she taught me and became devote to the religion she was in. Of course that where it all end” When she said, she lower her arms and open her eyes with a sad look.

Jane notice this and spoke sadly “ Ann...” Ann interrupt her as she raise one hand, place on the counter, and talked “ I know what you are going to say. You’re going to tell me it wasn’t my fault that she died, how there nothing I could of done to stop her beheading, or I shouldn’t had this guilt, since I was child when this happen, but I can’t. I look up to her as a role model, I want be like her, and I let her died. How am I suppose to feel? I feel like I let her down and her blood was on my hands. I know there nothing I couldn’t done to stop it, but I feel like I could of done something. Talk some sense into you, find the person who falsely accused her of adultery, anything would do. I fail her as a student and a terrible friend” As she was saying this, he crutch her hand tight and started to cry. Jane saw this and felt bad about it. She already felt bad for what happen to Boleyn and knew she was partly blame for it. She walk around the counter where Ann was and hugged her. She then explain to her “I don’t think Anne blame you for what happen to her. She know who to blame for that and I still have some guilt for it. I pretty sure she doesn’t expect a child to stop a king and the whole court, but I do know that she would be trilled to see you again when you are ready and she don’t want you to carry this guilt. I know my words isn’t much, but I can saying as a friend that you are not a failure or terrible person. You forgave me for what happen to Howard and took on this burden that you shouldn’t taken. That alone tells me that you are a better person that anyone in that court and people who condemned her.” This made Ann smile a little and said “Thanks” Jane replied “Just paying back the kindness you gave me.” Jane let go of Ann and said “Now that over with, do you want to continue enjoying these sweet or are you done?” Ann look at the box of sweets and look at the tarts. She turn back at Jane and answered “ Well, I do want you to save some for Mali, so I take one more tart and leave you guys the rest.” Ann grab a tart and bit into it as she drank some of her drink. Jane smile a bit as Ann went back being happy. Jane still has some guilt that may take time to heal, but it nice to see that she isn’t alone with it and has someone to talk to about it. Jane walk back to her drink and drank some of it as they talk about bittersweet memories. Maybe they can both overcome the guilt they have someday.     

[solhrafn]

So, be me, be in Norway and go down from hytta for quick groceries in the village in the valley. Don’t take your iPhone charging cable nor your powerbank cause it’s only a 20 minute long errand.

Get to the only store around. Open 8-16 on Lørdag. The day is indeed Lørdag but the time is 17:45

Fæn! Drive 30km out of the mountain range to nearest big village, go to a store there, get stuff (but thanks to adhd brain forget one of the important things you did the trip for in the first place but notice really much later).

Think you still have time to drive somewhere else to take pictures of rainy landscapes. Drive 30 minutes then decide it’s good enough and drive back.

Phone with faulty battery is at 20% on low power mode. It should hold for playing music on the 35 km way back up the mountain.

Keep stopping here and there for pictures.

10km from the first village in this story, stop to take pictures of a farm and its stabbur. Get out of car, walk 100 metres, come back and step on a random 200kr bill in the grass on the side of the road. Weigh in options. Houses around are too far so discreetly pick up the bill and feel lucky.

Literal seconds after this, sit in car, get key in ignition but notice resistance right at the moment you try to put it in. The key doesn’t go in further then half a centimetre. Immediately feel like your sudden luck and happiness could only lead to THIS!

Try to understand what’s wrong with the key. Key is fine. Be dumbfounded. Ask oneself if someone came in and broke something in the keyhole on purpose and left 200kr around as an ultimate “umad” trolling. Realise it’s a dumb idea then try the key again to no avail.

Panic. Get phone to call in-laws, who live 2.5 hours away. Phone dies. Panic more. Check wheel again and understand that the wheel locking mechanism engaged by rotating the wheel once the key is out must’ve had a fuckup.

Imagine having to knock on a door at 9pm in broken Norsk. Reject the idea and die inside.

Remember there is a phone charger in the flive box. See that without the engine running the phone can’t be charged. Remember the radio can be activated without the engine running and it has its own usb port. Remember the phone cable is faulty and that’s why it’s been thrown in the glovebox. Start believing it’s a curse for taking the 200kr. Walk back to the grass patch and plce the bill down where you found it, because who knows?

Go back to car and keep examining the keyhole and the wheel. Take apart the plastic around the wheel (get slightly cut on the fingers in the process) and channel your “I’m the son of a mechanical genius, my IQ is in the 130-135 range, I’ve repaired shit I know nothing about before” energy and start fiddling with the wheel’s exposed innards. Nothing changes. You think a garage with a diagnostic tool could maybe reset the lockdown.

Realise the « the bill is responsible » theory is stupid, go back and get it, because you are not half Dutch for nothing. Go back to the car.

The idea of knocking on a door becomes more realistic as time goes on. Especially since the cabin is a good 15km away with a 400m positive climb to reach the altitude it’s at.

Fiddle more with everything because knocking on a door for help - even for a phone charger - is admitting defeat and goddamn do you never admit to that shit.

Fiddle some more but don’t make an attempt, instead adhd-switch to getting the phone cable to work again, try for 10 minutes with no luck and subsequently proceed to give up all hope.

Pick key. Put it in ignition. Gasp in surprise and hope as it goes almost all the way in! Turn the wheel as you keep pushing the key.

Oh shit it’s fully in!

Laugh manically. Put back the wheel covers and drive away with heightened senses from the happy chemicals flowing through your brain.

Start to think about Loki and his mischievous nature : helping and hindering as he pleases. Remember that the day before, a padlock at the cabin also resisted weirdly . Realise earlier on this day a dial of your camera stopped working out of the blue then fixed itself completely in a similar fashion.

Smile and entertain the possibilities for the sake of it. Being human means letting the imagination roam freely.

[thedaveandkimmershow]

“STARTING OFF WITH A RECIPE FOR COZY”

7AM

Turns out the recipe for cozy is one sleeping bag underneath, a wool blanket directly on top, a second sleeping bag on top of that, and a duvet cover over this whole yummy sandwich of warm. Like very comfortably warm without further heat from the Rialta as the overnight temps settled into the high 30s.

Out of bed in the morning, yeah. I definitely felt the world outside our cozy bubble. So we fired up the Rialta, kicked on the heat, and continued our journey south with a stop at one of the Starbuck’s along Main Street in Vancouver, Washington for a drip coffee, an Earl Grey tea, and a sausage breakfast sandwich to share between the two of us.

By the time we left Vancouver and landed in Hayden Meadows Square just on the other side of the Columbia River, we were coming up on 

9AM

Okay, first of all, our stops at Starbuck’s while we’re on road trips also double for opportunities to recharge our electronics. Only at this point in our collective history, Starbuck’s in Vancouver isn’t doing the dining-in thing. Which also happens to mean no charging for our phones and laptops.

Whoops.

We also discover, much to our chagrin, that none of the electrical outlets in the Rialta actually, you know, work.

Double whoops.

And then we find out, there in the Hayden Meadows parking lot in front of Lowes, that Xfinity hot spots aren’t what I think they are. By which I mean to say we were surrounded by such hot spots yet couldn’t find them on our phones or laptops.

Triple whoops.

Fortunately for Kimmer’s first Zoom meeting of the day, Lowes turned up with a complementary bit of Wifi service.

Definitely a fortunate turn of events.

Now while Kimmer was occupied, I set about researching some potential solutions for our charging problems. A solar usb charger was top of that list. Failing that, another usb battery pack and one or more power banks with A/C outlets. I hit Lowe’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, a Marine & Outdoor store, and, of course, Walmart’s.

After that, I wanted to know why we came up short on the Xfinity hot spots so I walked around, guided by the Xfinity Hot Spot app, to check out each one of those hot spots that were identified. What I discovered was that some of the Wifi coverage was pretty much confined inside stores while other times it leaked comfortably out into parking lots. Even then, though, that coverage definitely had a hard boundary. Which is how I discovered that we’d parked maybe 50 feet shy of solid Wifi service without ever knowing it. Broadcast from the local DMV, no less.

12:45PM

Back on I-5 traveling south from Hayden Meadows, it’s striking how much of this corridor—starting almost from the Columbia River all the way to where you can begin to see downtown Portland across the Willamette River—is defined by graffiti, considerable amounts of trash, and homeless encampment after homeless encampment. 

It’s a helluvan introduction.

1:15PM

Okay so the big challenge today is finding local RV repair service. The dead electrical outlets, of course, are front and center in our minds. But also this: what was the engine “hiccup” about? Is that an actual problem? And if not, will it be an actual, you know, stranding us problem?

Back up at Hayden Meadows, Kimmer’d spoken with our first choice for RV service, a mobile repair company, and quickly discovered they were booked two solid weeks into the future.

Down by the Fred Meyer’s in Tualatin, using the Xfinity hot spot we could acquire in the parking lot, we reached out to other companies both in Tualatin as well as ahead of us in Salem.

But it was same story one after the other.

Booked.

Solid.

Yikes.

But here’s the thing: we’ve got time. 

We’ve got.

Time.

Some space to breathe and to think. So first of all, to address a coupla different and immediate needs, we booked ourselves into the Tualatin Oregon Comfort Inn & Suites. It’s actually right out back of the Fred Meyer and is, in fact, a comfortable, peaceful, and perfect spot for regrouping. 

As well as recharging.

2:30PM

We actually checked in early, put in our order for tomorrow’s breakfast, and settled right in. 

Our primary concern’s that the further we travel from home, the more screwed we are if anything’s actually and hugely wrong with the Rialta’s transmission.

Right now, the plan’s to be in Crystal Cove, California on Tuesday. So there are a number of options open to us... and Kimmer runs us through ‘em.

1. Find someplace local where we can drop our Rialta for repair and also rent a new RV with which to continue our travels.

2. Rent a car, continue our travels, and then rent an RV in LA.

3. Catch a train down to L.A. and then do the RV rental thing.

Good ideas, all. But it doesn’t take long to spot that the Rialta being left in Tualatin creates a logistical problem in a coupla ways. First, we’re traveling with a lot of stuff we don’t actually want to leave here. And second, eventually we have to deal with the Rialta in Tualatin.

So then Kimmer comes up with new alternatives.

1. Turn around, go home, rent an RV, and then hustle down I-5.

2. Turn around, go home, rent a car, then hustle faster down I-5.

3. Turn around, go home, catch a flight from Sea-Tac to Long Beach, then rent an RV there.

Kimmer even identified a Sunday morning flight for decent rates. So that would be us getting up early tomorrow and returning the Rialta to its home driveway. Sleep sleep sleep. Then, the following morning, drive down to the Doug Fox parking lot at Sea-Tac, and then catch our flight.

This was a very doable plan which didn’t leave the Rialta stranded in Tualatin.

It’s a working plan, though. We’ve still got time to think this through. And while we do that, we’re gonna head a little further south to visit the GoodWill Superstore in Wilsonville.

For now, though, our plan is to return home.

[something-of-a-hermit]

Random tips for new drivers???

Keep an eye on the engine temp (the gauge is on your dash but you already knew that and the indicator should be just below center at the warmest. If it overheats, probably check the coolant levels first.

Get your check engine light looked at ASAP!!! What could turn out to be an easy fix now may get worse with time, and if it is serious you need to know sooner rather than later. O’Reilly’s and usually AutoZone offer to assess check engine lights free

Keep coolant, windshield washer fluid, (and I keep transmission fluid), in the back of your car. A long funnel may also be good, but as far as I’m aware you should only need it for the transmission fluid.

Try not to let your fuel get below half in the winter??? If you live somewhere cold you don’t want to find yourself stuck in a snowbank and out of gas.

Keep at least a blanket in the back. I’ve got two blankets and a sleeping bag, but you judge based on how much space you have and how cold it usually gets/how far you usually drive

Keep a raincoat and/ umbrella. You don’t know when you’re gonna need it. In the winter, switch the rain coat for something warmer.

If you’re driving an older vehicle or one with a lot of miles on it (I’m up around 280,000 on a 20yo Subaru) as a general rule get your oil changed every 3000 miles. Price averages between $25 and $50, I get mine done for $35.

Keep things like chapstick, phone charger, pack of gum, flashlight, pocket knife, tissues, aspirin, hand sanitizer in the center console/easy to get to.

If you’re driving a vehicle that doesn’t have a fancy radio that connects to your phone, you can get a Bluetooth adapter on Amazon for like $15

If your car only has one cigarette lighter electrical port, they make adaptors that plug into that and give you two ports. Mine also has two USB ports

Ac doesn’t work? Yeah you can roll down your windows but they also make dash fans that will circulate air through a little better. Definitely makes a difference

Ladies? Uterus owners? Your preferred pads/tampons/etc? Keep some in your car.

Sunglasses? You’re going to want them

Like listening to cds? You can get a cd holder for your visor

Learn your way around your car!! Know where the wipers are, how the cruise control works, know how it likes to accelerate!

When driving someone else’s vehicle I like to ask them if there’s anything specific I need to know about their car. Usually they tell me how to turn on cruise control or where the wipers are

If it’s snowed since you last drove somewhere and there’s snow on your windows? Wipe them off now, if you let it sit there and freeze over night you will have a good thick layer of ice on your windows in the morning

Do not!! Let other drivers!!! Pressure you into driving faster than you are comfortable with!!!

Wiper blades aren’t too hard to replace. And trust me, you don’t want to have it start pouring rain in the middle of the night and realize your wipers don’t work for shit

AT Oil Temp light blinking suddenly? Most likely means the transmission fluid is overheating. Pull over, allow the engine to cool completely, take out your manual and find the page on Automatic Transmission, locate the transmission fluid under the hood, check to see if it’s low. If it is, this is where the funnel and transmission fluid come in, add more in small amounts, careful not to overfill. Use the dipstick to check the fluid level again, make sure you didn’t spill any anywhere, closer her up and you should be good to go. But definitely take the time to actually do this instead of pushing your car too far with that light blinking at you. If the transmission goes out, no more driving, and/or you’re about to dish out a lot of money on repairs.

Know a place that will install customer parts? Have a friend-mechanic who is willing to help you out? Replacing a part you can install yourself with help from YouTube? Rock Auto is your friend; they sell good parts for better prices than most places, you just have to wait for them to show up in the mail instead of getting your piece in town same day.

I don’t think I have anything else? If you have a tip I didn’t think of, go ahead and add it to the list

Stay safe on those roads kids!!

[the-delta-42]

Endgame 1

Follow up of This by @lenoreofraven

Repost of This by me

1 [Here], 2 [Here], 3 [Here]

Thor stared at the hammer, gold lining the cracks from where Hela had destroyed it. Hesitantly, he held out his hand, the Hammer flying towards him, only to lose momentum and fall to the floor. Marinette silently sighed, she was worried this would happen, although Thor had stopped his more self-destructive habits, his own thoughts and self-hatred was something that she couldn’t help with.

Marinette grabbed Mjolnir and slung it into her bag. Plagg flew out and looked at the group.

“So, I take it that the others couldn’t join us?” Plagg questioned, looking around for the Kawamii.

“Wayzz and Trixx were lost in the snap.” Said Alya, “And Pollen barely leaves Chloe’s purse.”

“We think Hawkmoth was dusted as well,” Said Nino, settling himself down in a chair, “there haven’t been any Akuma attacks since the snap happened.”

Thor was quiet, before he leaned back.

“Gabriel married Nathalie.” Said Chloe, taking Pollen out of her purse and setting her on her shoulder, “so that’s at least one good thing.”

Adrien quietly snorted, Marinette throwing him a dirty look.

“We don’t know about the Guardian, since only you two knew who he was.” Said Chloe, ignoring the snort and the look.

“His name wasn’t on any of the monuments,” Said Marinette, “So we know he survived the snap itself. I’m going to visit his parlour, see if he’s still there.”

Adrien started walking around, tidying up any mess from the gap.

/*/

Marinette stopped in front of Fu’s parlour. From the outside, it looked as it had been shut down, but it still looked lived in.

Marinette raised her hand to knock on the door, and the door opened, and Master Fu looked at her.

“Marinette,” Said Fu, his voice hoarse, “I feared the worst, please, come in, come in.”

Marinette follow the old man into his home. The miracle box open, showing the Turtle and Fox miraculous, both grey and lifeless. Fu noticed her gaze.

“Both went like that during the event.” Said Fu, “I believe that everyone is calling it ‘the snap’ or something similar.”

“Yes, master,” Said Marinette, her head bowed, “I was actually wondering if you could do something.”

“I cannot restore the earrings, Marinette,” Said Fu, making Marinette’s head snap up to look at him, “I know that you need them to fix this, but they were created long before my time and the only ones I know would be able to restore them are the Sorcerer Supreme and The All-Father.”

“Both of whom are dead.” Said Marinette, her eyes falling to her lap.

“Yes.” Said Fu, “and even if I could, I would not be able to.”

“Why?” Marinette asked, fear settling in her stomache.

“I am old, Marinette,” said Fu, “Surely you have noticed how much effort it took me to open the door. I’m not going to be here for much longer.”

“B-but we need you, I need you,” Exclaimed Marinette, “You taught us so much and you’re the keeper of the Miraculous.”

“Not anymore.” Said Fu, looking up at Marinette, “You learnt all that I could teach you before you left, and I serve no more purpose other than to pass the torch to my successor.”

Marinette heard a scraping sound, as the Miracle box moved forwards. She looked at Fu, who only hoped that she would take the box. Marinette lurched forwards and hugged him.

“Please,” Said Fu, “Take care of yourself.”

/*/

The group heard the door close, and Marinette make her way upstairs. They could tell from the sound of her footsteps that something was wrong. Adrien poked his head out from where he was cleaning and spotted Marinette carrying the Miracle box.

“Oh no.” Said Adrien, before he rushed towards Marinette.

Marinette didn’t say much for the rest of the evening.

/*/

Adrien, Marinette and Thor arrived back in New Asgard a week later. Valkyrie spotted them as they arrived, taking not of the box in the little warrior’s arms.

“Is that what I think it is?” Valkyrie called, making them look at her.

“The hammer or the box?” Thor responded, “The Great Guardian of the gems is dying and named Marinette as his successor.”

“And the earrings?” Valkyrie pressed, making Thor sigh.

“According to the Guardian, the only ones who had the knowledge and power to restore them were the Sorcerer Supreme,” Said Thor, folding his arms, “and my father.”

Valkyrie winced, before she frowned in thought, “I could see if there’s anything that can be done to fix things, but I guess it’s back to square one.”

Thor hummed in agreement.

A loud shout told everyone that Korg had died, again.

/*/

Marinette ducked under Stormbreaker, quickly hooking Eruption over the handle and pulling downward. Marinette then found herself on the ground with Thor’s foot on her shoulder.

“I wised up to that trick that last seven times you pulled it.” Laughed Thor, before Marinette grabbed his other foot and knocked him off balance. Marinette vaguely heard Longg cackling at the sight of the God of Thunder hitting the ground.

Marinette and Thor heard the sound of footsteps up the path to where they were. Both looked and spotted Valkyrie, a nervous look on her face.

“Banner and the Rabbit are here.” She said, Thor and Marinette tensing up.

Ever since the failed mission to find Thanos and reclaim the stones, the Avengers had been all but abandoned, Tony had married Pepper and had a daughter, Natasha commanded what remained, Steve ran a support group, Bruce had gone off and no one knew what happened to Clint.

“Where are they?” Thor asked, rubbing his hand over his mouth.

“In your house.” Said Valkyrie, “They said it was important.”

Thor and Marinette made their way back into the village, everyone quiet as they approached Thor’s house. They found the front door open, Marinette quietly grumbling about poor manners.

They found them in the living room, with Plagg looking at the two, Korg complaining about NoobMaster69 or something similar, Thor took the headset and dealt with the issue, while Adrien was handling a baby with blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Emma blew bubbles at Banner and Rocket.

“I don’t suppose there is a reason for you being here?” Marinette asked, leaning against Adrien’s chair.

“We think we have a plan to get the stones.” Said Banner, before explaining about how Scott appeared and how Time travel was going to work.

“Doesn’t the Rabbit Miraculous do the same thing?” Adrien asked, making everyone look at Marinette.

“Yeah, but for something this big, the portals would have to be left open and everything would pass the same as it would in real time, and that isn’t accounting for anything that may come back through.” Said Marinette, her arms folded.

“Pleh,” Grumbled Plagg, “If the Earrings were whole, Tikki would be able to fix everything with the use of an amplification spell.”

“Too bad the only guys who could are dead.” Said Korg, making Marinette’s eyes light up.

“But they aren’t,” She said, getting some funny looks, “We just have to find the right place and right time.”

It suddenly dawned on everyone what she meant.

“Wha do we need?” Asked Thor, looking at Plagg.

“It’s all in the book, the ingredients, where they are, when they are and how to make the spell.” Said Plagg, “But for it to work, the entire Guardian Circle must be together and on the same side.”

“So, the ingredients from whenever, the Fox and Turtle from the past and a visit to my father.” Said Thor, gaining a nod, “Let’s go.”

Marinette and Adrien shared a look, before Marinette called out the door.

“VALKYRIE!”

/*/

The Avengers looked over the book.

“We’re going to need more of that red stuff.” Said Rhodes, making Scott look at him.

“Only Hank had the particle, its all we have.” He said, making Tony frown.

“Cap and I can go back to the 50’s, back then he was working with SHIELD and had the stuff.” Tony said, making Steve nod, “We can then go to Paris and get the Jewellery.”

“One of the ingredients, a seed from the Eternal Tree, is with the Sorcerer Supreme, so someone can go back to the Battle of New York to get that, as well as the Mind Stone.” Said Marinette, making everyone look at her, “We don’t know how effective the spell is going to be, I have no idea on if Vision is going to restored with it.”

“And if it is, we might be facing someone coming after it.” Said Steve, folding his arms.

“I’ll go, Scott and Adrien can come with me.” Said Bruce, getting a nod from the two.

“Blood of an Ancient god is were the Power Stone was kept.” Said Plagg, “I know because its my blood and I was the one that put it there.”

“I’ll take that one.” Said Rhodes, with Nebula indicating that she would go with him.

“A Bone from a Forsaken Sacrifice is on Vormir.” Said Marinette, her eyes narrowing at the scripture.

“Clint and I will tackle that one.” Natasha volunteered.

“A shard of a Great Beast’s fang or horn.” Said Marinette, head shifting when Thor raised his hand.

“If we go back at the right point, there should be one in my father’s vault.” Said Thor, “We can get that one while the earrings are repaired.”

“And all the other stuff we can pick up from the same or similar locations.” Marinette finished, her hand resting on her hip, “Let’s get to work.”

/*/

Adrien’s knees almost buckled as he landed in New York. Tony and Steve looked around them.

“Okay, Banner can go to the Sanctum, Ant Man, Chat Noir, you can get a ride with Tony, I’ll go in through the back and intercept the Sceptre.” Said Steve, getting a nod from everyone. Adrien looked at the ring on his finger, before telling Plagg to Transform him.

Adrien’s suit had gained a more armoured appearance since the last time he used it. He was pleased to learn that he wasn’t constrained to five minutes after using Cataclysm, Plagg also telling him about Dark Storm and Black Hole.

Tony grabbed the back of Chat’s suit and flew them up to Stark Tower. Chat made sure he had the data stick that Marinette had given him. Tony landed and set about getting the Sceptre with Ant Man. Chat creeped along the back of the room and plugged the drive into a USB port.

“I don’t think you are authorised to do that.” Said a voice, making Chat jump.

“It’s fine, Tony told me to do it.” Said Chat, hoping that neither of the Tony’s heard him.

“Unless I receive some proper authorisation, I will be alerting Mr. Stark and-” Said the Voice, before Tony appeared behind Chat.

“It’s fine JARVIS,” Said Tony, pressing his hand against a scanner, “He’s with me.”

“My apologies, sir.” Said JARVIS, “I cannot help but notice that your bio-signature is more than ten years older than it should be.”

“Time travel.” Chat blurted, before wincing.

JARVIS was silent before saying, “I have increased the speed of the download of my systems, sir and I have disabled Camera’s 20 through 87 to ensure that you are not detected.”

Tony frowned, before looking at Chat.

“Marinette.” He said with a shrug.

/*/

Marinette, Thor and Rocket landed in Asgard. Marinette could vaguely hear the Guards escorting Jane to her room and Marinette’s younger self to Odin.

“Okay, I’ll go drop in on Odin and myself, you two can go to the vaults and get the stuff.” Said Marinette, checking for Eruption and Hail.

Thor nodded and vanished with Rocket.

Marinette then turned around and walked head long into Heimdall.

“Ah, shit.” Marinette cursed.

Odin was halfway through questioning the girl about how she got the earrings when the doors to the Throne room burst open, with Heimdall dragging a young woman by the arm.

“I’ve found a trespasser, your Majesty.” Said Heimdall, shoving the woman forwards.

“Who are you and how did you get to this place.” Odin demanded, making the woman look up at him.

“That’s complicated and is a long story.” She said, looking around, her eyes falling on the girl with the earrings.

“I believe we have time.” Said Odin, leaning back in his throne.

The woman was silent, before she sighed.

“Alright,” She said, “I’ve come from the future, roughly eight or nine years. My name is Marinette, I’m the older version of her and I need something fixed.”

Odin narrowed his eye at the woman, seeing that she was telling the truth.

“Then tell me, Marinette, what is it you need fixing and why come to me instead of the Guardian?” Odin questioned, making her look down.

“The Guardian was unable to restore them, and he passed not long after.” She said, “There was a battle, a battle against a mad titan by the name of Thanos. During said battle he secured the infinity stones and wiped out half of all life in the universe. To ensure that no one could undo what he had done, he damaged the earrings and destroyed the stones.”

Odin frowned, he knew of this Thanos, but has yet to cross paths with him.

“We learnt of a spell that could amplify the healing effects of the Miraculous cure and we’ve started collecting the required items, but,” Said Marinette, her younger self frowning, “with the earrings damaged, we have no way of casting the cure.”

Odin held out his hand and gestured for Marinette to give him the damaged earrings. Marinette reached into her pocket and produced two cracked burnt earrings.

“It seems he was intending to destroy them.” Said Odin, looking over them, “I take it he didn’t know of their ties with the rest of the Universe?”

“No, sir.” Said Marinette, as Rocket rushed into the room, being chased by a large group of Guards.

“This still going on?” Rocket questioned, as he crawled up to Marinette’s shoulder, “I lost Thor at some point.”

It was at that point Frigga entered the room with Thor at her heels. Marinette noticed that Thor’s younger self was watching them.

Odin’s hand closed into a fist and a bright light emitted from his closed fist. Odin released his grip, producing two intact Ladybug earrings. Marinette shakily reached out and took them, putting them on. A bright red light appeared and turned into a Kawami, Tikki opened her eyes and looked at her chosen.

“Marinette…” Said Tikki, as Marinette cupped her hands around the small god.

While Marinette was reuniting with Tikki, Frigga pulled Thor over to his younger self and told the younger Thor to put Mjolnir down.

Frowning, the younger placed Mjolnir on the floor and watched at his mother turned to his older self and told him to pick it up.

“I can’t,” Said the older Thor, “Something happened, something that made me no longer worthy.”

Marinette looked up from Tikki, her younger self looking really lost, and looked over at Thor.

“If this is about Wakanda, and how Thanos didn’t die,” Marinette said, “That doesn’t make you unworthy of a magic piece of metal.”

Thor spun around and glared at her, Mjolnir flying into his hand. Surprised, Thor looked down at the hammer.

“I’m- I’m still worthy.” Said Thor, looking as if a weight had been lifted from him.

“Odin,” Said Marinette, drawing the attention of the All-Father, “Thank you, for everything.”

Odin nodded, prompting Rocket to prepare for the jump back to their time.

Thor tried to say something to his mother, but she stopped him. It wasn’t until the time travellers were gone did the present Thor say, “They took my hammer with them.”

/*/

The team all landed in the facility, each dusting themselves off. Marinette turned and looked at Clint and Natasha, both of whom were covered head to toe in a dark brown substance that Marinette hoped was mud. Unfortunately, the smell told her otherwise.

“Alright, we have everything.” Said Tony, as Adrien plugged the data stick into the computer, “Let’s get to work.”

An hour later the spell was ready and Marinette transformed into Ladybug. Like Adrien, her suit had gained more armour to it, as well as giving her boot practical for her constant use and a jacket. Marinette wasn’t sure what the Jacket was for.

“I’ve got the Miraculous.” Said Adrien, “Hawkmoth should be arriving any moment now.”

“Sir, I have an unidentified vehicle requesting entrance to the facility.” Said JARVIS, making everyone but Tony, Adrien and Marinette jump.

“that would be the moth.” Said Tony, As Adrien pulled the Peacock Miraculous from his pocket.

Adrien left the room and returned with Chloe, Alya, and Nino. Marinette saw Gabriel and Nathalie and, despite all the pain the two caused her, she smiled.

“Everything ready?” Marinette asked, as Nino and Alya put on the Turtle and the Fox, becoming Carapace and Rena Rouge, Chloe transforming in Queen Bee and Hawkmoth and Mayura making an appearance.

Marinette silently conjured a lucky charm and said, “Please, lest this work.”

Marinette threw the charm into the air and as it reached its highest point, she snapped her fingers and the Wave exploded outwards.

[watchtheblog]

petty cache

thank you for coming to read my diary which masquerades as a blog but is actually just a vessel for disseminating my birthday wishlists. it’s like an event you show up to where the host tries to sell you a timeshare 25 minutes after some requisite, mindless song and dance.

welcome! if you’d like purchase a timeshare, scroll to the bottom. for the song and dance, look no further:

the other day i zoned out on zoom therapy and when my therapist asked where i “went” i had to lie because i had gone to the part of my brain that holds all the things i need to think about forever for no reason (i call it the petty cache — this is an umbrella term for the space that also houses my attitude cabinet) and dusted off a memory of a comment i saw on a stranger’s facebook three weeks ago that said “message me. i lost my password and i have good news to share”.

i don’t know either person, and that’s what i was thinking about. i spend $[redacted] a month on therapy and instead of focusing on one of my numerous unsolved mysteries, i was thinking about the nuances of this comment - like why they wouldn’t just share the news or message the person directly? or what losing their password had to do with anything? or why they would comment on facebook instead of texting or calling the person. did they not have their number? imagine not knowing someone well enough to have their phone number, but still wanting to share your good news with them!

all i want (for my birthday) is to know what the news is that this stranger has to share, and i’ll never know so i have to put that comment in my minutiae repository with all the other things that will plague me until i die from texting and driving, smoke inhalation as a result of purposely leaving a candle lit in my home overnight almost every night, consuming half a dozen hot dogs a week, or a now unnamed disease that will posthumously be attributed to my chronic inability to mind my own business.

i’m constantly concerning myself with things that are none of my concern - no matter how insignificant - because my brain is a commune of sentient pepperoni running instagram polls among themselves to discern if something is worth spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about. and guess what? it turns out absolutely everything that has ever offended, confused, bothered, intrigued, slightly inconvenienced, or merely happened to me is worth spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about.

because i devote so much energy to nonsense, i can often be found persecuting strangers for insulting me on the internet (and for other miscellaneous bad behavior). the information superhighway is my home so i have to protect myself (and my friends) here, and if that means spending 45 minutes to 48 hours trying to find every misstep you’ve made in your life until i have enough ammunition to spray a dozen simulated retaliatory bullets at your virtual head because you called me a “stupid bitch” on instagram, well… so be it!

i am relentless in my pursuit of wasting time, so if that doesn’t work, i will find the cold stone creamery you frequent, seek employment there, be hired on the spot, learn the craft, be promoted to manager, poison you on your birthday, gain access to your funeral, and tarnish your reputation by reading your shitty DM in front of the few family and friends whom i haven’t already made aware of the abhorrent way you conducted yourself online!

there are so many different ways strangers will try to hurt your feelings — an interesting genre of which come from men who (like me) have definitely never had sex before, and mistakenly think i care about the ways in which my body does not make them horny.

“no tits” one will say. and i’m like, how do you want me to respond to that? my boobs are indeed small, yes. did you come here to shoot facts back and forth all day? ok: you’re going to start balding way sooner than you’re prepared for, i bet your childhood dog is dead, your time on the internet should be supervised, your closet is full of vests, and you wait on line at nightclubs… good day?!

while i will obviously engage with anyone if they want to fight, i prefer when the unsolicited criticism is personalized, and not just thoughtless, lazily devised tripe.

a year and a half ago, a man who looked like he exhales smog DMed me to let me know - among other things in a paragraph long rant - he’d “lost brain cells” watching my story. knowing he had likely never had an adequate amount to begin with, it seemed like an emergency, so i started a group DM with his wife. because his message had come just three days after a “fuckkk [heart eye emoji]” response to a photo of my ass, i included a screenshot as evidence of his devolving mental state.

being - presumably - gainfully employed, neither of them responded.

luckily, the consolation prize for insulting me is that you gain residency in my brain and stay in my thoughts and prayers for all eternity, so i checked in on them a few days ago. they’d unfollowed and wiped their feeds clean of each other!!

because i’ve never “moved on” in my entire life, i fired up our long dormant group chat, and sent my condolences: “aw. sorry your trip to positano - where you were going to attempt to repair your ramshackle marriage - got cancelled because of covid and so you just got divorced instead :(” i wrote before being blocked by both of them. 

then i headed right over to my therapist’s facebook and commented “message me. i lost my password and i have good news to share”

i spent an entire therapy session detailing this monomania before my therapist thoughtfully suggested i “pick [my] battles”.

to which i thoughtfully responded: yeah, babe. i pick every single one.

                                                        ***

timeshare time! it’s the same list as this post, with a few additions (at top) (and edits based on availability).

places to donate food education fund pretty brown girl the okra project

some furniture stuff a side table  a pointless, laughably tiny little thing this website is calling a “drink table” a lamp one of these benches i do not want this but it’s important to me that at least 2 other people know it exists

this plant that obviously does not need to cost $165 but idk how to shop economically

air pods

gifts from the previous post - all still v much in play!

a pair of shoes (size 8 or 38) one pair, another pair, yet another, these are on sale, these are not, and a final pair

a specific clutch with three color choices they allege this color is called sand but it looks white to me, pink, green for those who do not know what malachite means (it couldn’t be me. i learned it 3 hours ago when i began compiling this cursed list)

something everyone with money to waste needs this

dresses i’ll never be able to wear until there’s a vaccine because unlike someone tacky who knows me, i won’t be having a birthday party in the middle of a global pandemic (hi, you fool) white polka dot, not white polka dot, also not polka dot, a red dress, a skirt (aka half a dress), a black dress

this sweatsuit xs in this, small in this

is sephora cancelled? i want this hair dryer which i’m sure you can buy elsewhere if sephora is cancelled, which it v well may be

this item which you may think is cheap but actually it’s not soooo a hairpin

earrings one pair, another pair, and another

this dress which i’ll never wear anywhere even when there is a vaccine because… what?! but maybe. you never know. size 34. lol when i get this far into the list i’m always blown away by how insane it is that i do this every year to no audience. so i’m just laughing alone at that. :) i am v funny to myself. another dress i’ll never wear ;)

the nicest weighted blanket you know of i’m depressed!!!!! if you can’t tell!!!!!!!

every year i have asked for a weekend bag and every year i have not received one, so alas, we try again this is not a weekend bag actually but it will do. this is!

a peloton but just venmo me the cash (@merce212) because i have a hookup

an assortment of ridiculous things a $500 body scarf a $580 beach towel with an octopus on it for no reason besides “art” i cannot tell analog time but it’s never too late to start!! how mad would you be if someone bought you a roulette table for your wrist? be honest. (THIS WATCH IS FOUR YEARS RENT!!!!!!) they won’t say how much this costs :( i’m losing my mind and must be gifted a chanel watch or else i will perish. to put my salami on when i am eating salami in my bed “24k gold crocodile [?!!) teddy bear”. the website says there’s only one left, which begs the question “why did someone buy one of these rather than buying me a chanel watch?!!” *real ‘billionaires shouldn’t exist [unless they’re buying me a watch]’ energy* to put my new watch in this is ugly but it’s on sale :) idk wtf “secret box pendant” means but i wish this necklace was also a USB with every season and spinoff of 90 day fiancé on it hi yes i’m stupid but i draw the line at $1500 connect four…

[maxieh369249969]

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[incarnateirony]

So anyway, life updates on what I’ve talked about good, bad, and vagueblog.

But I introduce you to Betty White, or the Millennium Falcon, name pending.

Most of yall know that I’m on disability, dealing with some massively janky medical issues that Alabama’s bottom-ranked health care system doesn’t even know how to cover, and my wifey blew a disc in her neck at work, essentially debilitating her, too, but also earning a small settlement. In scale of it, 25K -- 21 after lawyer fees -- isn’t really much to do anything with.

So we had already known we had to fix up and sell the house and thought, hey, the land value went up substantially out here, we can pocket and flip it and be hella good.

Until her father finally came out here and in long story short, found out that the inspector that ran through this house when my wife first bought it (during our breakup period YEARS ago) didn’t do his job and it’d be 20-30K worth of repairs to even sell this place at the value her loan is for, meaning we pretty much have to short sell it to get out from under it. I mean bad shit. Fire hazard wiring and rotting roof and siding element under shiny things that hid it that have clearly been deteriorating since long before the house got a lipstick job.

So we went and found an RV, because it’s time to go. We have to GO. We have to get out of this state. There’s nothing for us here. There’s no medical care, there’s no worker protections, being LGBT women we’re extra up a creek in the area, it’s just bad. So RV it was! But finding one in the now suddenly cramped budget with the house turning up bunk entirely was FUN.

But like a stroke of providence I happened to find a listing the day it was upgraded on what has been jokingly referred to by my friends as the Millennium Falcon of RVs. 

It came from an older couple, almost 60, that had been RVing for a few years, and the thing was already used when they bought it. It’s a friggin 1994. It’s old, it’s Chonk. But it was a project RV they decided to start on and while it has a solid AF 454 engine in it,

 they’ve over a few years put in just about New Everything. New transmission, new air brakes, new air bags, new radiator, new septic lines, new alternator, new battery, new steering and suspension, new new new new new. Modified backup camera that tracks engine temp/tire pressure/etc like modern dashes and stays on constantly instead of just when backing up. It has its little hijinks with the in-n-out stairs being funky and the generator is a funny little bit because they didn’t want to spend 8K+ on a generator for an old RV so they got one that’s an external mount, which I imagine is why it was having a hard time selling.

Atop that inside the wife went bananas and got rid of the shitty old wallpaper and painted it bright colors different on every wall, removed the space consuming fold out couch since they didn’t need an extra bed and installed an armoire-storage-couch-thing that takes up half the outter floor space, stuff like that.

This was their baby and they intended to keep this baby and did great work on this baby, and the second I saw it in the advert, I knew it, because the images weren’t all spit cleaned sales stuff, it was vacation images with their shit still hanging inside it and their party lawn with their sports teams and stuff and the shiny lights they added on it to make it a party bus like

So anyway it turned out they basically got conned into getting a newer shinier one and just wanted to get the fuck OUT of Alabama but because of the generator and age it wasn’t selling at market value which was about 15K even as old as it is, and had price gouged it down to *8500*

Thought it was too good to be true, got our old construction and mechanic friend go out out there and go over it with a fine toothed comb and this thing, as he put it “goddamn if I had the money, I’d buy it myself, what the hell, you ain’t gonna get anything better for that price, hell, you ain’t gonna get anything as good for the price” THEY JUST WANTED TO GET OUT OF ALABAMA. And I mean, MOOD, BIG MOOD.

In fact the money they were asking for was basically to pay off loans and costs on all the New Stuff they put into it to begin with.

Because of them basically gouging their asking price in half an old lady had come to see it same day and at first the husband was like WHOEVER GETS US THE MONEY FIRST but talking to us the wife was like HELL NO THAT OLD LADY COULD BARELY GET IN THE THING SHES JUST GONNA DRIVE IT DOWN TO FLORIDA AND LET IT ROT THIS IS OUR BABY THESE GIRLS NEED TO TAKE CARE OF IT AND THEY WILL and she ran interference through the weekend until our mechanic friend could go check it out.

You might ask “if you have a buttload of money why an RV” but in trying to get out of Alabama and all the way back to Oregon where I literally KNOW I can make it work out in life for us, for reasons that are a whole story unto themselves, the moving costs cross country alone for a uhaul would be expensive AF. Downpayments. Finding pet friendly apartments. And then whether it was portland or somewhere else we could get STUCK. And we’re tired of getting stuck. So we’re packing up our own FUCKING house that we FUCKING own outright that fucking NOBODY can take away from us and with NO payment obligations and FUCK THE SYSTEM.

So anyway this big fuckin honker the wife was like WHY ARE YOU SO COMFORTABLE DRIVING THIS to Shea, but Shea worked for both Uhaul and Hertz so like hauling bigassed trucks around was kinda her thing and she also worked horses so giant ass horse trailers, you name it. So she just got up in there like she belonged and next thing you know we’re doing 65 down the bendy ass mountain freeways of central alabama like we been doing it for years

PS when you are in a literal fucking house 65 feels like 90, I’m just letting you know that now.

We’re still at our house cuz we gotta get this properly under our own tag/insurance and get a tow for the car. It was funny though cuz experienced or not knowing it was OUR LITERAL HOUSE Shea started like GOTTA BE CAREFUL GOTTA BE CAUTIOUS GOTTA MAKE SURE NOBODY DUMB and it turned into GET OUT THE WAY FUCKERS I’LL WIN within the 120 mile haul back home. Like BITCH I’LL TAKE MY FOOT OFF THE GAS BUT I AINT GONNA TRY TO JACK RABBIT STOP THIS FUCKER SO YOU BETTER GET SOME GIDDYUP IF YOU GONNA MERGE YOU FRIGGIN HONDA

This beast only has 65K miles on it. And that sounds like a lot but for an RV that isnt S H I T. People are like, if you can find a used one under 100K you’re doing okay. Half of those miles are just taking it out for a jog because you’re supposed to drive it once every couple weeks to keep it from rusting out basically. They just safely drove it in like a tristateish area down here for a few years as you can see on the cabinet stickers and moved around to sports games and shit and had fun.

The bedroom is purple. The kitchen is blue and yellow. KJSDKJFSjk she was like “Fuck the 1990 floral wallpaper we updating, there’s extra paint in one of the storage bins if you wanna touch any of it up”

So that’s it. We’re gonna do some work with said mechanic friend on the AC and a few tweaky details and as said, gotta tag/insurance/tow but once we get that worked out, that’s it, that’s home starting in a few weeks. 

We’re heading to Independence, Missouri first to touch base with my internet momma then swinging in Salt Lake City to meet old media friends like the folks at Arrowstorm and stopping to enjoy their stuff at Evermore Park before hitting Portland which, reasonably, I’ll guestimate we’ll be at like a week or two before Halloween but maybe we’ll make better time. If you’re en route to those destinations and wanna meet up, lemme know, we’re still gonna have fun on the way and try to record shit. 

Portland is the city I know how to work to and from the bone. I can turn any quarter into at least a dollar there, quite literally; I know how to eat eight times a day for free if need be. I reasonably think we can stay WELLLLLLLL above the line of needing that kind of assistance but because Shea is very anxiety driven to know we outright have a promised home and have promised food if worst case scenarios happen really made her go, you know what, fuck it, sure, Portland, you loved Portland, the wages are good in Portland, let’s do Portland.

If we start with dry camping at locations with free plug ups even still paying for Shea’s car and insurance, once major gas costs GETTING there are done, we’ll be running about 500 a month, and again, that’s including insurance for both vehicles and paying off her car note. Depending on the lot we land at, 700-900 a month. I can float that on my casual residual income. Everything after that is profit. Everything after that is success. I refuse to let Shea be anything less than Okay, but most of all, weird and nonconformative as it is, everything after this is scales of success. Hell minus the car note we’d be under 600/mo on the pricy end. We got dis. 

No more of my wife being convinced she needs to performatively pull loans on her livelihood and shelter for the illusion of a 3/2 middle class life with a picket fence and a job she hates in a place she hates that she doesn’t know how to get away from. Hell, if she ends up hating Oregon? WE CAN PICK UP OUR HOUSE AND MOVE.

QUEER CULTURE IS HAVING THE MILLENNIUM FALCON OF RVS RAINBOW PAINTED INTERNALLY TO HAUL ASS TO PORTLAND OREGON AND AINT SHIT YOU CAN DO TO STOP US, FUCKERS.

It’s literally parked in our yard right now awaiting our voyage.

You bet your ass we’re getting an aux cord and blaring classic rock on surround sound the whole goddamn way

Also gonna get a CB radio to roll with some of the better trucker herds out there. Trust me, solid investment for a multitude of reasons. And entertaining.

If you don’t know what Smokie In The Woods is on a CB radio, you don’t know the road.

It also comes with a lot of gadgets you usually have to buy, like converters for USB chargers in older vehicles and the cable antenna and an extra tent and hell they left two bikes on it like YALL WANT EM YOU CAN HAVE EM, SURE

So buying the RV, paying the friend for the loss of a work day, the necessary gas to get out there, and the tow all in all is gonna run us about 12,000 bucks total, which isn’t a bad deal for bringing your own house with you.

We already burned a few thousand of our settlement trying to fix this house before the bad news and/or upkeeping bills but now it’s time to burn it and walk. By the time we roll I’m expecting us to have about 4K over costs in the bank, which is... enough. It’s more of a nest egg than we’d have if we stayed here that’s for sure, covers emergencies on the way there and gives us a few months to get our shit together. Even the part-iest part time job out in Portland will float any overhead on bills much less if shea can fall in with all the media and digital work out there with her graphic design and art, we’re eyeing the portland saturday market to sell her stuff at in season too. SCREW THE SYSTEM YALL

[carmintros]

@gushq​     /     ❛   ｡   ✩   ﾟ my eyes are probably playing tricks on me again, but is that really  alberto rosende? oh, wait, it’s just  cristian gustavo “gus” rodríguez. yes, that  twenty-six  year old  electronic engineering technician, who i am pretty sure is a  local. according to the talk of the town, he is incredibly  finicky & uninhibited, yet undeniably  conscientious & innovative. that is precisely why  perfectly soldered joints on a circuit board, button-down shirts with rolled up sleeves, late night lan parties with the boys, laminated datasheets scattered across a desk, a usb drive containing classic sci-fi & horror movies, & dark circles under tired eyes  remind me of them so much, but then again you know what they say about  virgos, we’ll see how that one turns out !   penned by maia  /  ast & she / her

introduction post .

ok so homeboy here has had it pretty good his entire life. his dad works relentlessly as a police sergeant and his mom had worked as a prestigious software engineer; one of the most sought out in california, and later, a software specialist for the same police station his dad works. they were neither in the poorhouse or in a mansion; they just lived humbly and comfortably. because of his mom’s vast computer knowledge, though, gus was privileged (and slightly spoiled) when it came to all the new technology, mostly video games. he started off playing at the tender age of eight with his very first gameboy and pokemon yellow as his first game, and he’s been playing through the generations of video games (both console and computer) ever since. it arguably could be considered when his interest in electronics was first sparked.

as he grew older and curiouser, gus would actually take electronics found in their home apart, investigating all the small pieces inside, and then put them back together; it was like building a puzzle. most of the time the electronics he took apart would still work after putting them back together, but other times they wouldn’t work quite as well as they did before he took them apart, and they later became projects for him to fix, once he got a better understanding of the parts inside and how they worked. youtube videos taught him the basics of what he knows now when it comes to soldering, and he was soon able to fix anything with faulty wiring, from a solar garden light to a hairdryer.

in high school, gus was definitely one of the nerdier students and this, of course, made him a target, though his outrageous sense of humour and rumbustious personality saved him somewhat from getting relentlessly bullied like most of the meek and feeble kids had to suffer through. while he wasn’t the most popular, he wasn’t a complete loser either, and managed to find make friends in the unlikeliest ways / places. anytime anyone needed a phone repaired and didn’t want to pay a small fortune to get it done, they went to gus. he made it his own little side business, fixing phones and other small electronics for his fellow classmates for a reduced fee, but not low enough that it wouldn’t be worth his while.

after graduating high school, he went to college and took a two year program to become an electronic engineering technician. while his studies were most important to him, gus broke free of all other responsibilities and social standards, and partied his ass off whenever the opportunity presented itself. he made countless connections and memories that he wouldn’t trade for the world. with everything he was able to experience, the good and bad, those two years were probably two of the best years of his life. now, gus has been working for well over five years and thoroughly enjoys what he does, but he’s been considering going to university in order to drop the technician title and become a full-fledged electronic engineer.

wanted connections .  

1.  homeboy needs a more athletic / jock-type friend. somebody who would have been more likely to use him as a human punching bag if they’d attended high school together. very unlikely pals, basically polar opposites of each other, but they met at the local gym once gus started getting serious about his physique / working out and they’ve been pretty good friends ever since. possibly also tries to get gus laid because they believe he has no game …. which he doesn’t lmao

2.  a fellow electronics nerd, coding buddy, hacker-partner in crime. someone he can fully nerd-out with who actually understands him / reciprocates his excitement with their own. possibly is also someone he studied the same program with in college?? and they went through all the hardships together bc that would be cute. most likely also has lan parties with this person, maybe even enter gaming tournaments / competitions together and are the ultimate team / dominate online multiplayer games.

3.  to add onto that best nerd bud connection: a couple other pals to make up a squad of four? classic brothers from other mothers; joke together, roast each other, game together, go out to bars occasionally, have wild adventures & make good as heck memories / stories to tell everyone else, be there for each other whenever they go through hard times & whenever they achieve great things. i imagine their personalities differing but also complimenting each other. possibly could have gone to the same high school and/or college together and remained friends?? just a Good wholesome connection.

[dyscrasia-eucrasia]

Huion New 1060PLUS graphics tablet review

So a couple of weeks back, my Wacom Intuos Pen and Touch died on me (and then resurrected itself as soon as I got my Huion, of course...). I needed a tablet for a number of project, and since the Pen and Touch is no longer manufactured, I figured it would probably be cheaper and faster to just buy a new tablet instead of trying to get my old one repaired. I’d heard about Huion, a Chinese tablet company, before, so I decided to give it a try. I found the New 1060PLUS for $80, and paid $14 for two-day shipping, bringing it to a total of $98. This is roughly the same price as the cheapest tablet Wacom currently has to offer, though the Wacom Intuos Graphics is about half the size of the Huion New 1060PLUS. 

I have now had the tablet for two weeks, making multiple drawings daily with it, and feel like I have used it enough to do a review. 

Initial Thoughts

My initial thoughts on the Huion was that it handled at a similar quality to my old Wacom, though with perhaps somewhat more pressure points. However, the first attempt at drawing it was exceedingly frustrating due to some weird quirks of the tablet, which I will get to in the Cons section of this review. Once I got the kinks ironed out, it performed fine. It was comparable to my old Wacom, but not particularly better. 

Pros

Price

Size

Pressure points

The Huion’s price point is its big selling factor. It is far cheaper than my old Wacom, which cost me $200 in 2015. That the Huion would be less than half the price but delivery the same quality of work is very impressive. The size of it is also good, having a slightly bigger workspace than my old Wacom, which makes it a pretty large drawing surface. It has slightly more pressure points than my old Wacom, making for pretty smooth handling. 

Cons

Doesn’t initially play well with Clip Studio Paint

Bizarre touch keys

Driver issues

Stylus needs to be charged

Stylus doesn’t have an ‘eraser’

As I said in my initial thoughts, there were a lot of issues right out of the box. I primarily use Clip Studio Paint on a Macbook, so this may not affect you if you use Photoshop or Sai or a Windows. When I started using the tablet, it somehow changed key commands in CSP. I don’t know how, but it changed hotkey settings so that pressing the Command key by itself would switch whatever the current tool was to the move tool. It was then almost impossible to switch it back. This meant if I was trying to hit undo and clicked ‘Command’ and THEN ‘Z’ instead of tapping them at the exact same moment, it would switch my tool. I use undo a lot and I always start by pressing Command, so this was very frustrating. This had never happened in the 8 months I’ve been using CSP. I had to do a lot of digging on the internet to fix the issue. 

For anyone who may encounter the issue, the fix is to go to Modifier Key Settings under CLIP STUDIO PAINT, then change ‘Cmd’ from ‘Change tool temporarily’ to ‘Common’ or ‘None’. 

The tablet itself had many issues with the touch keys that were extremely frustrating to me. As with many tablets that have side buttons on the stylus, touching them would change the current tool. However, they were FAR more sensitive than any side buttons I’ve ever used... except when you were trying to switch back. It was so easy to brush the button by accident, have my brush switch to the eraser tool, and then, no matter how many times or how hard I pressed the button, it would not turn back. 

The fix for this is to go to Huion’s application, select the Stylus Pen, click on the side buttons, and deselect ‘Switch Tool’.

For a few days after I figured this out, it was clear sailing. But then I started to have a new problem. Sometimes while drawing, the stylus would experience pressure sensitivity issues, were the tablet would only register part of the strokes I was making. It looked like this:

The thick dark red strokes are places where the tablet registered my stylus, the thin dark red scribbles were my scrawling on the tablet trying to get it to register the stylus. The light pink strokes were made while the tablet was functioning normally. This was much harder to fix. I looked around the internet, including Reddit and Huion’s forum, trying to find a fix, and the closest advice I found was just to reinstall the drivers. While I did. And it would work fine for about an hour, and then have the problem again. When I looked at Huion’s application, it was showing that the tablet was disconnected, even though it obviously wasn’t. Unplugging the tablet and then plugging it back it seems to work, but it can take multiple tries to get it to connect. 

Those are the big issues I have, the other points are nitpicks. 

First, the stylus needs to be charged. I’ve never encountered this in a tablet before. It charges via USB, so it’s possible to keep working while it’s charging, but the cord feels cumbersome and top-heavy. The stylus lights up red while it’s charging, and the light turns off when it’s done. However, there is no way to tell if the charge is dying. I should note that I have charge the stylus once, when I first took it out of the box, and it hasn’t appeared to need a charge again. 

Second, the port for the charger is on the back end of the stylus. In a Wacom, this is where the ‘eraser’ is, and flipping the stylus over like an actual pencil will switch the current tool to the eraser. The Huion stylus lacks the feature. It’s not a huge deal, I can just click the eraser tool myself (and if the side button worked in a way that made sense, I could just use that) but after years of Wacom tablets it does interrupt my workflow somewhat. 

Final Thoughts

The Huion has some bizarre and frustrating issues that have made it very strange to work with, but when it does work, it works fine. It is not, however, a game-changer. 

If you are currently using a Wacom and have the funds and want to trade up, I would not recommend the Huion. Going from Wacom to Huion has been a very steep learning curve and I think that if you have the funds to buy a better tablet, you should do so. 

However, if you are looking for your first tablet, or your current tablet has died and you don’t have the funds for a more expensive one, a Huion will do the work you need it to do, just be ready to have to puzzle out some very strange issues. 

[thelightofthingshopedfor]

trying to get a cheap Xbox 360: a saga

background: several years ago I found a bunch of stuff in a dumpster, like a couple backpacks, some dried crickets (reptile food I guess), a bunch of birthday cards, and also a functional PSP with two games, an original Xbox, and a probably busted Gamecube with a controller. the whole thing was a mystery; I did eventually find the owner on Facebook because his name was on the cards and I tried to contact him to see if he wanted any of it back, especially the cards since it seemed like those might have sentimental value, and it went in his spam folder and he found my message like...three years later to say no thanks. so: free stuff for me! figured I might have a use for the Xbox eventually.

I didn’t, actually, because what are you even going to do with an original Xbox, but then once I finally got through Silent Hill 2 and 3 I started hunting around to see how hard it would be to play any of the other games. and I discovered, first of all, that Silent Hill: Homecoming has no trophies or achievements on Playstation or Steam, which is where I had it on my wish list, but it does have Xbox 360 achievements; that Silent Hill 4 is also supposed to be good but it hasn’t been re-released on anything newer than PS2/Xbox, because Konami hates putting in any effort to make money; that it’s possible to get Silent Hill 4 for like ten bucks if you go with the Xbox version; and also that an Xbox 360, in what appears to be its only major advantage over the PS3, can natively play any original Xbox game. so then obviously I fixated on getting a cheap Xbox 360, because that doubles my field of games I can play cheap by getting them used (and I’d already picked up a couple downloadable Xbox 360 games for free that were just sitting in my Microsoft account).

and after that it just got dumb. 

do some hunting. actual refurbished Xbox 360 consoles are like $70; Goodwill often has some for $50, which seems like way too much considering a) I’m not sure those come with power supplies and they definitely don’t come with controllers, and b) if they don’t come with power supplies, there’s no way to know if they work. start stalking Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace.

eventually find somebody on Craigslist selling original Xbox 360, power supply, two controllers, and two games (Madden 09 and some arcade compilation) for $35, which sounds like a very very good deal; don’t want to pull the HDMI cable off my PS3, though, so I order one cheap and wait

bring Madden 09, original Xbox, and probably-busted Gamecube to local game store, where I’m pleasantly surprised to be offered $40 trade-in credit for everything; immediately buy Silent Hill: Homecoming for Xbox 360

HDMI cable arrives. I hook everything up...........and get a Red Ring of Death

hunt around on the internet to see if there’s anything I can try

open Xbox 360, slicing open finger in the process, in hopes that dust inside is the cause of RROD; it’s not

controllers also don’t seem to work. no, wait, one of them does, the one that looks like it might actually be a little corroded? new batteries don’t work but the old ones do even though I’m pretty sure they didn’t the first time I tried?

call around to see what repair prices are like. it’s not great! the whole point was to get this for extremely cheap!

find somebody else on Facebook Marketplace selling another original Xbox 360 and an Xbox 360 E (but no power supply for either) for $40, because apparently her nephew just left them behind when he left the state. I figure okay, I can use the power supply and maybe controllers from Craigslist, and whichever consoles I decide not to keep can at least get me something in trade-in value. plan to meet. get cash and drive all the way over. stop hearing from her. eventually learn her daughter got a bloody nose at the playground and they went home. ask if we can meet again. hear nothing.

she’s available the next day. I say a different day would be better. she’s like okay I’ll just go to the next person then (you know, even though I’d been talking to her and she knew I drove all the way across town once already). I’m like ugh fine if today’s the only day then yeah I’ll drive over again, knowing I might be getting suckered but it does seem like a good price. this time I actually get them.

this Xbox 360 is like...surprisingly beat up, but I hook it up with the power supply from the RROD Xbox 360 and it WORKS. also has Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 inside. bonus. 

Xbox 360 E requires a different power cord, and local store has power supplies for $30 or more. I decide I can be patient and go online, where I discover that instead I can order a three-dollar adapter that will let me use the original power supply with it. also order a rechargeable battery pack for the controller, which...works on both controllers, including the one that refused to work with batteries. sure why not.

find wired controller at Goodwill for $8 and buy it, figuring it’s a good deal and it’ll be especially useful if I want to use a controller with my PC. has an old plug that the Xbox won’t take (which is weird, because...I have the oldest version of Xbox 360, and this is an Xbox 360 controller, so what console was this controller designed for?) so I order a USB adapter for a couple bucks. it arrives. wired controller doesn’t turn on. is it the adapter or the controller itself? no idea but my money’s on “I spent eight bucks on a busted controller because I shouldn’t buy shit like that at Goodwill maybe”.

decide I want to try MW3 just to see if I want to play it before trading it in. open optical drive, and it closes itself faster than I expected, so I grab at the tray. it doesn’t like that. will now only make sad noises when I try to open it. I do some reading on how to open stuck Xbox 360 optical drives, watch some videos, spend a considerable amount of time messing with it. nope, it Will Not Open. 

occurs to me that the Xbox 360 E might have something in it as well, since I don’t have a power supply and haven’t been able to turn it on. turns out the Xbox 360 E is actually designed in a reasonable way that lets you easily pop open the tray if it’s stuck. it does have something inside but it’s just a DVD of The Equalizer, boo.

so now I have an original Xbox 360 in great shape except for the RROD, and a beat-up one that is somehow perfectly functional except for the optical drive, and a much less beat-up Xbox 360 E that I’m feeling much friendlier toward but that I can’t use until I get the adapter, so I figure I’ll use that one. it’s newer, it’s obviously better designed, it probably doesn’t have the same problems that gave so many original Xbox 360 consoles the RROD.

the adapter finally arrives. I hook everything up. the Xbox 360 E does not turn on.

no RROD, no nothing, it just sits there. I ask the universe if it’s fucking kidding me but the universe does not reply. 

is it the adapter or the console? I HAVE NO WAY TO KNOW BECAUSE I HAVE NO WAY TO POWER THE CONSOLE. grumpily order an actual Xbox 360 E power supply, finding a third-party one on eBay for $15.

now: waiting for the new power supply but also still stalking Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist, wondering if I should jump on it if I find yet another cheap console that might be better than what I’ve gotten so far or if that’s, you know, the whole “throwing good money after bad” thing.

prediction: once I get the Xbox 360 E power supply, the console still will not turn on, which will leave me with a power supply I will probably want to resell and two original Xbox 360 consoles busted in different ways. I will try to swap the optical drives which, if successful, will leave me with one beat-up but functioning Xbox 360, and two busted consoles that should at least get me some trade-in value. however, given my luck so far, I will be utterly unsurprised if the beat-up but functioning Xbox 360 just fucking dies on me in fairly short order as well.

this also does not include my attempts to get Minecraft for cheap, because one dude on Facebook was going to sell it to me but then he stopped replying, and somebody else wanted me to drive out even further but then she had some kind of emergency so that didn’t work either.

I just. I just wanted to get a cheap Xbox 360 so I could play more games, why did that have to be so complicated

[fakesurprise]

The Repair Job

I remind myself that I need this job. I remind myself that most jobs involve a test by the management. It doesn’t help enough as I knock on the door to the office. Old Joe answers the door, wearing just some trainers and a track suit from the gym in the morning. He’s thirty, but this is a computer company so owner or not he’s Old – only not to his face.

“Mel! What do you need?” he asks with an easy smile.

“I have questions about the computer that was brought in yesterday,” I say.

Old Joe hesitates. He’s not quite got his pulse on the state of computing anymore, but he doesn’t want to admit that. I’ve worked with a lot of bosses like that, most of whom had comb overs. To his credit, he gestures me to bring the old case into his office a moment later.

I set it up quickly, moving his test bench and plugging it into the monitor.

“VGA?” Old Joe asks.

“It is rather old, which – isn’t the odd part. I figured this is a joke by someone else, one of those ‘ha ha the new person deals’ that happen?”

Old Joe shakes his head. “Tracy and Qi used to do one where they had people try and install certain graphic cards on the wrong architecture, but I nixed it for taking up too much time. “

“All Maureen told me was that it was brought in by an eleven year old boy who had been helping a friend and was ‘really confusled’ it was behaving poorly. There were – a lot of viruses on it, but I did manage to remove them. Malware, rootkits, you name it. I’m amazed the computer could turn on at all. The weird part is the emails.”

Old Joe pauses. “You can’t go looking into private emails like that –.”

“One of the viruses opened up Outlook a couple of times, and I read one or two and then thought this had to be a prank.”

I turned the mail program on, opened it up and let Old Joe read them. He read one, then another, then a third, and began skimming quickly after that.

“It goes back about three years, I think. This Jay kid had the computer, and replies to every email he received on the basis everyone would want to be his friend.”

“Including the spam emails,” Old Joe says. “And every one of those replied back to him. Those are automatic systems, botnets: none of them should be able to reply.”

“Either we’re being trolled on an epic and obscure level, or – I don’t even know what or is,” I admit.

Old Joe unplugs the computer, pops open the side panels and does the same check I did for some weird webcam or usb device: something to explain why someone would pull a prank like this on us. He puts it back together after and both of us freeze as the computer announces that it has mail.

“It’s not plugged in,” Old Joe says.

I nod. I double check. The test monitor turns on, showing notification for an email. I unplug it, only for nothing to change at all.

I swear, the kind you don’t do in front of a boss.

Joe just laughs shakily. “Got those words out before me. I have no idea what this is, but I think we need the boy to come back in. I’ll handle this.”

I nod in relief and work on another project. I’m never told when this Jay boy returns for the computer, but it’s a couple of days after I realize the computer is missing from the office that I realize no one in the office is calling him Old Joe anymore. Nothing has changed that I can tell, but something did.

I don’t reply to spam emails I get.

Not yet. But there was a word Jay used in every email, and I am starting to wonder if ‘jaysome’ is some strange exe file that isn’t one at all. It doesn’t make sense. But nothing about this does at all.

I don’t reply. Not yet. But I think some day – some day I might have to, just to see what will happen.