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schnickelbradley · 7 months

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Managing Stress on Long Hauls Tips for Cargo Truck Drivers by Bradley Schnickel

Bradley Schnickel

Managing Stress on Long Hauls: Tips for Cargo Truck Drivers by Bradley Schnickel

Driving long distances as a cargo truck driver is not just physically demanding but can also take a toll on one's mental well-being. The isolation, monotony, and pressure to meet deadlines contribute to elevated stress levels among truckers. However, with effective strategies and coping mechanisms, it's possible to manage stress and maintain mental health on these demanding journeys. This article takes input from Bradley Schnickel, a seasoned cargo trucker, who informs us of the ways he’s developed to combat stress while on the road.

Prioritize Rest and Sleep

Ensuring adequate rest and sleep is paramount for truck drivers to stay alert and focused on the road. Establishing a consistent sleep schedule, even amidst irregular working hours, can significantly improve cognitive function and reaction times. Drivers should aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep per day, parking in safe and designated rest areas for uninterrupted rest periods. Additionally, incorporating short power naps during breaks can help alleviate fatigue and enhance overall alertness during long hauls.

Regular exercise is essential for mitigating stress and promoting overall well-being. Engaging in physical activities such as stretching, walking, or simple exercises at rest stops can help alleviate muscle tension, improve circulation, and boost mood. Furthermore, maintaining a balanced diet with nutritious meals and staying hydrated is crucial for sustaining energy levels and enhancing resilience against stressors on the road.

Cultivate Positive Mental Attitude

Developing a positive mindset can significantly impact a truck driver's ability to cope with stress and overcome challenges encountered during long hauls. Practicing mindfulness techniques, such as deep breathing exercises and meditation, can promote relaxation and mental clarity amidst the demands of the job. Moreover, fostering a supportive network of colleagues, friends, and family members can provide emotional support and a sense of connection, even while on the road.

Manage Time Effectively

Effective time management is essential for reducing stress and optimizing productivity during long hauls. Utilizing technology tools such as GPS navigation systems and traffic monitoring apps can help drivers plan efficient routes and anticipate potential delays. Breaking down the journey into manageable segments with scheduled breaks for rest, meals, and stretching can prevent burnout and maintain focus throughout the trip, Bradley Schnickel tells us.

Stay Connected with Loved Ones

Maintaining communication with loved ones is crucial for combating feelings of isolation and loneliness experienced by truck drivers during long hauls. Regularly connecting with family and friends through phone calls, video chats, or messaging apps can provide emotional support and a sense of connection to home while on the road. Sharing experiences, concerns, and achievements with loved ones fosters a sense of belonging and strengthens relationships despite physical distance.

Seek Professional Support When Needed

Despite implementing various coping strategies, truck drivers may still encounter overwhelming stress or mental health challenges. It's essential to recognize when professional support is necessary and seek assistance from qualified healthcare professionals or counselors. Many companies offer employee assistance programs that provide access to confidential counseling services and mental health resources tailored to the needs of truck drivers. Seeking help early can prevent stress from escalating and ensure drivers receive the support they need to maintain their well-being on long hauls.

Practice Stress-Relief Techniques

Incorporating stress-relief techniques into daily routines can help truck drivers manage stress levels effectively. Techniques such as progressive muscle relaxation, visualization, or listening to calming music can promote relaxation and reduce anxiety during long hauls. Taking a few minutes to engage in these practices during breaks can refresh the mind and body, enhancing overall well-being on the road.

Maintain a Comfortable Driving Environment

Creating a comfortable and ergonomic driving environment can significantly impact a truck driver's comfort and reduce stress levels. Ensuring proper seat adjustment, maintaining a clean and organized cabin, and using supportive cushions or seat covers can enhance driver comfort during long hours behind the wheel. Additionally, regulating cabin temperature and ensuring adequate ventilation can create a more pleasant driving experience, improving overall mood and reducing stress.

Practice Defensive Driving Techniques

Adopting defensive driving techniques can help truck drivers anticipate and respond to potential hazards on the road, reducing stress and enhancing safety. Maintaining a safe following distance, staying alert for signs of aggressive or reckless driving, and anticipating the actions of other motorists can help prevent accidents and minimize stressors while driving. Bradley Schnickel reminds of the importance of staying updated on traffic laws and regulations and practicing patience and courtesy on the road can contribute to a safer and more stress-free driving experience.

Engage in Relaxing Activities During Downtime

During downtime between hauls, Bradley Schnickel recommends engaging in relaxing activities to unwind and recharge for the next journey. Activities such as reading, listening to music, or pursuing hobbies can provide a welcome distraction from work-related stressors and promote mental relaxation. Taking time to enjoy recreational activities during breaks can enhance overall well-being and improve job satisfaction, making long hauls more

Managing stress on long hauls is essential for cargo truck drivers to ensure their safety, well-being, and overall job satisfaction. By prioritizing rest and sleep, engaging in regular exercise, cultivating a positive mindset, managing time effectively, staying connected with loved ones, and seeking professional support from experts like Bradley Schnickel when needed, truck drivers can navigate the challenges of the road with resilience and confidence. Implementing these strategies not only enhances individual health and happiness but also contributes to safer roads and more efficient transportation systems for everyone.

#Bradley Schnickel

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atths--twice · 4 years

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Mulder and Scully share memories of how and when they fell in love with one another. Little places along the way, where pieces of their hearts were given and shared.

A Patchwork Heart 3a/8

Chapter One

Moments Lived in Miles Traveled

After their car breaks down, they must use a rental car. As a result, memories of the past begin to rise to the surface.

March 2020

Scully tried not to laugh as she held Faith and watched Mulder struggle to put her car seat into the rental car they were picking up, after his car overheated and they discovered the radiator would need to be replaced.

The steam coming from his car as they were heading home, still miles away, had led to waiting on a tow truck, the warm spring day feeling even warmer as they waited in the non running car. When the man arrived, he had smiled at Faith, who was intrigued with the big truck and flashing lights. Discovering it was not a simple overheating, but a broken radiator, Mulder had sworn and shook his head.

The driver had kindly taken them to the nearby rental agency before heading to the dealership, their warranty still thankfully covering the repair. Scully and Faith had waited outside, petting the big furry cat who had been laying in a patch of sun when they arrived, as Mulder picked out the car.

The cat had pushed at Faith’s hand, purring loudly, wrapping in and out of her legs, and then falling to the ground and rolling onto his back. She had laughed as she bent down and patted his fluffy belly. He had jumped up quickly, pushing his head into her chin, and rubbing against her face.

“Cat,” Faith had said and Scully grinned as a new word was added to her vocabulary.

“Yes, baby girl, it’s a cat.”

Mulder had walked out, scaring the cat and causing it to run across the parking lot. Faith had attempted to chase it, and Scully stopped her, picking her up and kissing her cheeks.

“Cat,” she had said again, pointing toward the cat who was now licking his front paw.

“Whoa… she said cat!” Mulder had grinned and blew a raspberry on Faith’s cheek, causing her to laugh and momentarily forget about the cat.

They had walked to the car and now they stood waiting for him to put the seat in, which was a battle he seemed to be losing.

“I swear to God,” he muttered loudly. “This car doesn’t have the hooks for the buckles. How are we supposed… no wait, I found them. Fucking hell…”

“Hey,” Scully called out to him with a laugh. Glancing down at Faith, she nodded as he looked up.

“As if she can understand me,” he replied, with a roll of his eyes.

“She said cat a few minutes ago and she said S-H-I-T the other day so… you’re wrong,” she countered, raising her eyebrows at him.

“She did not. Stop saying that she did.” He shook his head with a heavy sigh and she shrugged her shoulders.

“Sure sounded like it to me,” she teased and he laughed.

“Maybe you should get your hearing checked. You know, especially as you’ve recently had a birthday. As we age, Scully…”

“Oh, buddy, no. You’re gonna want to stop right there,” she said, putting up a hand and shaking her head. He grinned and she glared at him. “Your daddy is skating on very thin ice, my girl.” She held her stare as she spoke to Faith and he laughed and shook her head again. “Put the car seat in the car so we can get some lunch. Your ladies are getting hungry.”

Turning around with a grin, he finally set the seat in the car securely, and came to grab the backpack and place it in the car. Kissing Faith, Scully handed her to Mulder. He nuzzled her neck, causing her to laugh, before he put her in her car seat and shut the door.

“Let’s get going, old lady,” he teased, looking at her with a grin as he opened the drivers side door.

She cupped a hand around her ear and turned her head to the side. “What was that? I’m having a hard time hearing you.” She closed her hand, leaving only her middle finger up, and he laughed.

“Get your ass in the car,” he said, gesturing with his head to the passenger side.

She smiled and walked over, getting in and taking a deep breath, the scent of rental cars never seeming to change. It was a mixture of faux new car smell, greasy meals, and old cologne and perfumes. An odd combination and others may find it overwhelming or perhaps not even notice, but to her it was a familiar scent and one she found oddly comforting.

He looked at her as he started the car, giving her a wink. Suddenly, she saw him on their first case: younger, no gray hair at his temples, the lines in his face far less prominent. His eager excitement as he continuously cracked open sunflower seeds, something she had found cute and charming, was nearly palpable.

She saw him staring at her and laughing, or rolling his eyes at something she disagreed with, as he tried to prove his point, and the concentration needed that went into reading a huge fold out map, no smart phones with fancy apps available back then to help them find their way.

She smiled as they backed up and pulled out of the parking lot, the wind from the open windows blowing cooling air inside the warm car, as Faith babbled in the backseat. She laughed softly as she looked out the window and shook her head. Her mind drifted through her memories, thinking back on the many miles they had traveled together, learning about each other in cars similar to the one they were now driving down the road.

That first case… so green and without any field experience, she had not known what to expect, but it definitely was not someone like him...

____________

He filled the silence in the car, chatting about everything. It was very different from any other man she had traveled with in the past. Jack usually had a topic planned ahead of time, thus the car ride was spent wisely, as he used to say. Ethan liked listening to classical music and for the short time they were together, she heard more Bach and Beethoven than she ever wanted to hear again.

But Mulder, though not her boyfriend, thus not an entirely accurate comparison, loved to discuss anything and everything. Conspiracy theories, current events, old cases, places they each had been, childhood fears... nothing was off topic. She learned more about him than anyone she had ever known in her life, including her family members.

He was brilliant, his mind absorbing and retaining knowledge in a way she had never seen. He could call up baseball statistics, a case from years ago, addresses, and telephone numbers. He knew her senior thesis by heart, which he rattled off at the strangest of times, never ceasing to amaze her that he knew it so well.

He knew so much, about so much, it led to conversations that sometimes left her head spinning. After a while she learned to simply nod and stop listening to what he had to say, finding it to be the best way to handle the nonstop chatter.

It had, of course, backfired on her as he would bring it up later and, at her blank stare, he would sigh and pout with that big bottom lip sticking out, before explaining it all over again. She enjoyed those times, though it was a repeat of what he had already said, his excitement over a topic evident as he rambled and paced around the motel room.

When he would leave, his mouth finally running out of words to say, she would lie down in bed, wondering if it was normal to go to sleep with the thought of that bottom lip jutting out and those puppy eyes staring at her. He was her partner for God’s sake, and yet his eyes and that lip taunted her.

They would take turns driving of course, neither of them able to stay awake for hours and hours on end; the towns they visited were sometimes far from commercial airports. The first time he commented about her struggle to adjust the seat, his six foot frame needing more space than her smaller one, her angry eyes quickly shut him up. He never mentioned it the same way again but she saw his grin, his smirk, as she pulled the seat forward and adjusted the back.

He got his comeuppance though and it always made her laugh. When he would forget about the fact that she had driven last, he would attempt to sit down in a seat that was far too close. His head would hit the roof of the car, his knees hitting the steering wheel, as a curse fell from his lips. Covering her laugh with a cough, he would curse again as he moved the seat back.

When she was the driver, he was able to read and most often would share the information with her. Sometimes it was about the case, but other times it was about a book he had read, or an article he found interesting in the paper. As he tended to drone on at times, his words tumbling over themselves, his voice becoming louder in his excitement, she would call for the agreed upon ten minutes of silence.

One night when they had been upset, angry, and extremely tired, they agreed that if silence was called for, the other had to adhere to the request for at least ten minutes. Oftentimes, the other person would agree without any problems, but some days he was not so acquiescent.

If he had a topic he was dying to discuss and she had called for silence, he would check his watch, making sure he would know when the allotted time would be up. With him not talking, sometimes the pressing quiet in the car would then become too much. Turning on public radio, she would breathe a sigh of relief, finding it refreshing to have something else to focus on besides the silence or the topic of his choosing.

When the radio was on, they would generally both become engrossed in the story they heard, forgetting why the call for silence had been asked for in the first place. In those occurrences, the ten minute call for silence would have long since passed as the show ended. A lively discussion would then take place over what they had just heard, the miles rumbling beneath them and carrying them forward.

When she became ill, she noticed a change in him. He was quiet, especially when they drove, their lively discussions halted, as if he did not want to disturb her, or cause any undue problems. She felt how he withheld things from her at times, his frustration or his anger, and she hated it. Hated being treated differently because she had a disease inside of her.

She was tired after the treatments, sometimes for just a bit and other times for days after. She fell asleep in the office a couple of times, his hand laid gently on her shoulder waking her up, his eyes sad and concerned. She pushed away from him, away from those sad hazel eyes, walking down the hall to the restroom, where she allowed herself a cry before splashing cold water on her face.

In a meeting, she had dozed off, and he ever so slightly touched her arm and whispered her name, letting her know that she had fallen asleep without any other words spoken. Her cheeks flushed but she was unable to rush out of the room like she had in the office. He kept his eyes straight ahead, but she knew exactly how they would look at her if he turned his head. Broken and scared; exactly how she felt.

After those times, he began to drive more often when they were out of town. No discussion had between them, he simply took over the lion’s share of what they were doing. She tried to stay awake and be the navigator as she always had been, but she failed. He never said a word, instead he turned the radio on low or remained silent, allowing her to sleep, knowing she was exhausted, but would not discuss it.

With a general knowledge of how long it would take for them to get from point A to point B, some days when she was nauseous and had a hard time not vomiting, she would feel the car slowing and the drive taking longer, in order to allow her to be her when she arrived to work on the case.

There were small plastic trash bags in his suitcases which he placed in the glove box of any rental car they used, along with packs of tissues. Just in case, he would say, not meeting her eyes, closing the glove box softly. While a part of her wanted to scream that she could take care of herself, that she did not need his help, she knew that it was not true. Not always.

He carried gum and mints in his pockets, silently handing them to her after she had thrown up either outside the car door or into one of the plastic bags he so thoughtfully packed. He always took one for himself, thus making it seem as though only she needed it. His caring both annoyed and meant the world to her.

On one of the rare nights she did drive, he made a comment about switching places as she looked tired, and she snapped. She did not need his worry, his attempt to hold her back, she would not stop driving or working for that matter, even if he felt she should. He said nothing, letting her yell and release her frustration, something that had been building for a while she realized, as she ran out of steam and finally fell silent.

Turning her head to look at him, she found him staring at her, his eyes hurt and sad. He said nothing, and she knew she had gone too far. He had been nothing but supportive since it had all happened, and while she did not like the feeling of not being in control and at times, less than, she appreciated the little things he did.

Feeling like shit, but unable and unwilling to apologize, she kept her eyes on the road, the motel not far away. When they pulled in, he stopped her from leaving the car with a hand on hers as she unbuckled her seat belt. He stared at her, trying to say words, but failing to articulate them.

“I need to be here, Mulder,” she whispered, squeezing his hand and dropping her eyes. He squeezed back with a nod.

After that moment, she was more accepting, if that was how it could be described, of his help and care. He never said it, but his eyes watching her and the silent things he did, were not unnoticed.

Scully shook her head, tears in her eyes, as she looked out the window. What a different time it had been, and how different they had been. She released her breath, and in the silence of the car, Faith most likely sleeping in her car seat, she thought again of days spent with him in cars similar to the one they were in now…

They sat together in traffic jams, through heated discussions about whatever came to mind. Times when silence was heavy and filled with worry or times when it was light and welcome. There were times when they laughed, both of them overly tired with miles to go before they reach their destination.

Days of worn out bodies, exhausted injury, standing beside the rental attendant explaining the mess in their car. Being yelled at by Skinner, or Kersh, over the complaints from the rental companies.

There were days when the weather was freezing but the heater did not work and his coat was offered to her as she shivered. Then there were days when the heat was unbearable and the air conditioner was on the fritz. His coat was not needed then, nor was her own as she stripped it off and threw it in the backseat along with her dress shirt sometimes, sitting in the car in just a lace camisole, causing him to swallow hard.

There were places where the rain came down so hard, they had to nearly yell to be heard above it. Or decide when to make a run for it as the lack of umbrellas would lead to wet clothes if they were not fast enough. Then the days came when wet clothes were welcome, as it led to stripping and warming each other up.

They traveled many miles together and along those miles and bumpy roads, she fell in love with him. In cafés, diners, interrogation rooms, watching him with children, how he spoke to women, his kindness and care in his voice. All those places, she fell in love with him, but nowhere so much as in those stuffy, and often smelly, rental cars as they drove all over the country.

Back roads, highways, interstates, surface streets, his voice singing along with the radio, droning on about his theories, or softly telling her of his worry for her, simple words that spoke volumes.

Within the confines of the four doors, they learned the give-and-take that became the cornerstone of the partnership. Respect, admiration, and understanding traveled with them, the car their touchstone, their way to re-center when everything around them was chaotic…

“Hey, Scully?” Mulder's voice said, breaking into her thoughts. “What do you want for lunch?”

“Anywhere is fine,” she said, wiping at her eyes discretely, though her tears were happier than before.

“Italian?”

“Anything,” she answered, looking at him with a smile, reaching for his hand and locked their fingers together giving it a squeeze. He turned his head to look at her and gave her a quizzical look.

“What?” he asked and she shook her head.

“Nothing,” she replied with a smile of her own. “Nothing at all.” He smiled, his eyes back on the road and she saw again, the young excitable agent, out to save the world.

Closing her eyes, she saw through the years, all the different versions of him, and she smiled, happy to have known each of them.

Opening her eyes, she looked at him as he was now, the best version of himself; still him, yet older and wiser.

“Still gonna tell me it’s ‘nothing’ with the way you’re staring at me?” he teased, squeezing her hand.

“Yup,” she said, smiling as he looked at her, his eyes happy. He laughed and nodded with a sigh. “Just keep driving.”

“Yes ma’am,” he said, raising her fingers to his lips for a kiss, as he stepped on the gas, going wherever the road took them.

______________________________________________

So this particular story was written for on my really good friend on her birthday. It is also the 100th XF story I wrote and I was bound and determined to have it ready for her. I was so excited to post it for her. Hope you all enjoyed it!

#The X Files #XF Fanfic #Post MSIV #Family Life: The Story Beyond the Series #Humor #Fluff #Family Fluff #Memories #Rental Cars #Learning One Another in Miles Traveled #Love #Caring #Together

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zumpietoo · 4 years

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NEW YORK (AP) — Last Christmas, Shanita Matthews cooked up a feast for her family of three: Roast chicken, barbecue spareribs, spinach, macaroni and cheese. This year? They’ll stick with tuna fish and crackers, among the few items she can afford at the supermarket. “We’re not really doing Christmas — I guess you can say it that way,” said Matthews, who lives in Suwanee, Georgia. “We are struggling. We are tired, and all I have is my faith." Like nearly 10 million other Americans, Matthews has been jobless since the viral pandemic ripped through the U.S. economy in March, triggering a devastating recession and widespread unemployment. Now, many months later, they face a holiday season they hardly could have foreseen a year ago: Too little money to buy gifts, cook large festive meals or pay all their bills. Nearly 8 million people have sunk into poverty since June after having spent $1,200 checks that the government gave most Americans in the spring and a $600-a-week supplemental jobless benefit expired in July, according to research by Bruce Meyer at the University of Chicago and two other colleagues. And finding a job is getting even harder: Hiring in November slowed for a fifth straight month, with U.S. employers adding the fewest jobs since April. Some relief may — potentially — be on the way. This week, Congress approved a $900 billion pandemic rescue package that includes a $300-a-week unemployment benefit, cash payments of up to $600 for most individuals and a renewal of extended jobless aid programs that are about to expire. On Tuesday night, though, President Donald Trump injected doubts about that urgently needed federal aid by attacking the rescue package as inadequate and suggesting that he might not sign it into law. Help, in the meantime, can't come soon enough for Matthews. With her bank balance now negative, she worries that her account could be closed if she doesn't receive financial aid soon. Matthews, 41, has been struggling with her finances since she had to shut down her wedding business in March, when ceremonies were canceled and any need for the centerpieces and flower arrangements she made suddenly evaporated. Matthews was denied unemployment aid by Georgia’s labor department. She doesn't understand why and is appealing the decision. But the process is so slow that she’s waited months just to get a hearing. Despite being a registered nurse, Matthews has been unable to land a job. She can work only late hours because she often needs to help her 6-year-old daughter, who must do virtual learning at home when virus cases spike at her school. Matthews' car was repossessed after she couldn't keep up with payments. Most of what her husband earns goes to a $1,600 mortgage on their home. That leaves them with about $200 a month for groceries, utilities and a $50 internet bill — a necessity for her daughter’s schoolwork. Matthews hopes that a relative can step in and buy a Christmas gift for her daughter. “We want to be able to have food, water, heat," she said. “Those are the things that we care about.” Charities say they have been overwhelmed with requests for help, a sign many are in deep financial distress. The United Way expects the number of calls to the 211 hotline it funds to double from last year to 20 million calls, mostly from people needing help paying rent or electricity bills. Feeding America says many of the people showing up at food banks are first timers. Out of desperation, Sheyontay Molton turned to Twitter for help after a series of events left her with no money to buy gifts for her four children. Her children's father lost his job this year. Molton, who is 28 and lives in San Antonio, Texas, had to temporarily stop working as a delivery driver for DoorDash after falling debris from a truck severely damaged her car in October. She used part of her rent money to repair it, leaving her behind on bills. Having noticed on Twitter that social media influencers and celebrities were providing cash to some needy people, Molton created an account and tweeted about her situation. Someone sent her $200 through an app — money that she plans to use for groceries. Another couple on Twitter asked her to create an Amazon Wishlist and then bought her kids a doll, cars and other toys for Christmas. Without the donations, Molton had planned to tell her young kids that Santa Claus couldn’t come because he was taking extra coronavirus precautions. “Silly, I know,” she said, But “it would have bought me more time.” The struggles of low-income workers and the unemployed are contributing to a weak holiday shopping season that will likely drag on the overall economy. Retail sales fell 1.1% in November, a month that is typically strong as gift-buying gets under way. Some economists expect retail sales to decline again this month, particularly as governments impose more business restrictions and rising coronavirus cases keep consumers away from stores and restaurants. A scaled-back holiday is what Summer Kluytman has been envisioning. She had to tell her two teenage sons not to expect the kinds of Christmas gifts they’ve typical received in the past, like the $400 Oculus virtual reality headset that was under the tree last year. Having lost two art teaching jobs, Kluytman had to go on food stamps to help pay for groceries. The salary of her husband, who works for a cable company, goes toward the rent for their home in St. Petersburg, Florida. Kluytman is spending $100 on each son this Christmas for hoodies and other clothing, down from the $500 she spent on each last year. She plans to hold movie nights, where they’ll gather in the living room to catch a flick. “I think that they’re cool with us spending time together as opposed to a bunch of stuff under the tree,” she said. “But it does break my heart a little bit.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/struggling-bleak-christmas-americas-jobless-123955883.html

And remember, the $600 each Trump just fucked us out of would’ve really helped any and all of these people next week.

If you want people to feel bad for.....try these...

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zizeschmizes · 5 years

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helping hand. | solo

WHO: lauren zizes (& antonio zizes)

WHAT: help comes in the form of a call from home.

WHEN: 10/15; late afternoon

WHERE: outside of A Latte Fun Coffee

Lauren pushed out of the coffee shop, walking a few paces away from where patrons passed through into the busy campus spot and paused to put in her earbuds. Finding a job on campus and around town was proving to be a major pain in the ass. Everything from work study assignments to in town gigs had been snatched up long before she'd started looking.

It was her own damn fault, really. Adjusting to the new reality of sophomore year was taking a lot longer than it did in her previous semesters. Then, she'd been lucky enough to snag a choice spot in the library. Working the front desk usually meant long stretches of time spent watching movies and doing her homework in between stacking books to be reshelved and answering the occasional question from a lost student.

Now she was left scrambling. Her softball scholarship covered her tuition and the basics of housing (on campus) and meal plans, but the rest (like living) was up to her. Refusing to touch her savings meant budgeting herself to only the essentials but even those were starting to feel beyond her bank account. New camera lens, an extra external drive to house her pictures, a new fall coat...the dollar signs were giving her a headache.

Lauren sighed. A Latte Fun was her last resort. She'd tried the barista thing back in New Orleans, slinging coffee the spring and summer before her freshman year and it wasn't terrible, just not ideal. Still, a job was a job, and the coffee shop would prove helpful. Not to mention workable with her schedule. She just didn't know when she'd actually sleep. Of course this was all pending, she wouldn't know about the job until later, but the interview had gone well. Still...she needed a backup, just in case.

There was a sharp pressure building at the back of her neck, a sure sign of stress and Lauren absently rubbed at the spot as she made her way back to campus, where a long night of editing was in her future. She'd picked up a side gig, snapping pictures of Homecoming Weekend for Ginsburg's Alumni Association and needed to get the files for last weekend's big game to the webmaster by morning.

The sound of her phone ringing paused the music that played softly from her earbuds and Lauren was prepared to ignore the FaceTime request until she saw the name. She hit 'Accept' and the familiar sight of her eldest brother's face coming into view made brought forth the first genuine smile she'd had all afternoon.

"Hey, Nono."

"Hey! You busy?"

Lauren shook her head and took a break from her walk to sit on a nearby bench. "Leaving the coffee shop. What's up? Where are you?"

Antonio flipped the camera, giving Lauren a brief glimpse of the gym in the background, decked out in LSU purple and gold before turning it front facing. “Just finished up, bout to meet Gabe for food. Haven’t heard from you in a minute.”

“Yeah, I know” she replied, ignoring the tiny pinprick of guilt that followed. “Still tryin’ to get settled with school and stuff.”

Brown eyes, much like her own, held a sympathetic gaze and Antonio shook his head in the camera’s view. “Figured you were busy that’s why I reached out. It’ll be your turn to hit me up next time. Everything okay?”

“Yup!” Lauren nodded, backing up her strained response with a smile that wasn’t as bright as her first one, looking as tired as she felt, and she was seriously regretting a video call. Because she knew her brother and knew he’d pick up on her weird mood right away.

“Something’s wrong. What happened?”

There it was. The worry that she didn’t want to hear. She was fine to handle the problem (that wasn’t even a problem) on her own. As the first of the bunch, Antonio had the responsibility of wrangling the others and keeping them in line. He was their parents’ pride and joy, the dutiful eldest son who’d followed in his father’s footsteps.

Star footballer, exceptional student, LSU’s twice elected homecoming king leaving college a legend, with a degree in hand and a top pick in the NFL draft. He was the blueprint the others were expected to follow and it drove Lauren crazy that on top of everything, her successful, saintly, stupidly handsome brother was also a total sweetheart.

He was good for a deep talk, looking out for his siblings in a way that Lauren always appreciated...but not now. She didn’t want to hear about how ‘things would work out’. She just wanted to hide under her covers for a little while, just enough time to suck it up and stop feeling sorry for herself.

“It’s nothing. Got a lot of work to do, and I’m still lookin’ for a job. But it’s fine, really.” This smile was better than the last, going for subtle as she continued, easing back into a drawl that matched his own. “Congrats on the game, by the way. Y’all ate Florida up.”

Whether or not Antonio bought it, his face gave nothing away. Instead, his lips twisted into a grin that bordered on cocky and for some reason made Lauren miss home more than anything...if only to throw a pillow at his head and wipe it off his face. “Yeah, we did alright.”

“Y’all are number one in the division, it’s more than ‘alright’. How’s Gabe?”

He shrugged. “Still a jackass. You gotta come home sometime, get your brother together.”

Lauren laughed. “He doesn’t listen to anybody.”

“Yeah? Sound familiar?” He grinned at the ‘shut up!’ that followed and the laughter that came after.

“I know he was on best manners with the parents there, though.”

“Oh you know that. We missed you at Homecoming.”

She shrugged. “It’s Homecoming here, now. Our game was Saturday too. We won, by the way.”

“‘We’?”

“Showing my school spirit. I had to take pictures of the events for the alumni association so I went to the game. And I gotta do a few other appearances. For softball stuff. Whatever.” It wouldn’t do to point out that her parents had yet to attend a homecoming at Ginsburg, despite never missing one, or any home game for her brothers at LSU. That ship had long sailed and Lauren had no intention of bringing up old shit.

For his part, Antonio skirted past the topic, recognizing Lauren’s dismissiveness. Still, he couldn’t help but ask his next question. “You sure you’re okay? You don’t need anything?”

“I’m fine. Just tired. Long weekend. Long week ahead.”

“Okay. Well good luck with the job stuff. When’re you hearin’ back from them?”

“I don’t know. Sometime this week.” The ‘hopefully’ was silent, but her tone said enough and Lauren shook her head at her brother’s look of concern. “I’ll be fine.”

The angle of the phone changed slightly, Antonio’s face tilted upwards and he hummed an absent ‘Mhm’ at his little sister before the connection blurred and went on pause.

“Antonio? What…” It was only a minute or two before he returned, now in the driver’s seat of his truck and grinning at a perplexed Lauren. “Where did you go?”

“Check your phone,” he told her, ignoring the question altogether while setting his phone in the holder on the dash. “Should be getting an alert now.”

Sure enough, the muted tone beeped in her ears and Lauren paused the video feed to check the text notification from her bank’s app, and the alert that $300 had been added to her account. The culmination of the rough day, and her brother’s kindness brought a lump to her throat and she swallowed it down, taking a deep breath before resuming the video.

“You didn’t have to do that, Nono.”

Antonio rolled his eyes as if Lauren’s stubbornness was a mild inconvenience and not the Zizes trademark. “Yeah, I did. You need it, I got it, and I know you ain’t askin’ anybody. Especially not Ma or Dad. I got you.”

“Thank you. I’ll pay you--”

“Nope. That’s yours. It’s fine. Just get somebody hot to play me in the movie you write about us, all I ask.”

That made Lauren laugh out loud, drawing a few looks from people ambling on the sidewalks but she paid them no attention. “Issa deal.”

“Good. I gotta get Gabe but I’ll tell him you said hey, okay? Love you, Lozinha!”

The call disconnected and Lauren paused her music. Antonio’s generosity wouldn’t completely solve her problems, but it made things feel a little less chaotic. She would still pursue a job, whether it was at the coffee shop or somewhere else because she wouldn’t rely on that kind of bailout, no matter how much Antonio insisted it was what he was there for.

With a sigh, Lauren pushed off the bench and slinging her bag over her shoulder, began the trek back to her dorm and the mountain of work that waited.

#para.all #para.solo #para001

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thetalkingrainbow · 5 years

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Maldives Travel Guide for First Timers

Even before we got married, my then fiancé now husband (Jamal) promised to travel with me to different countries– Maldives on top of the list. True to his word, after two years of our marriage, he took me to my dream destination.

I had various reasons why I wanted to visit this country. For one thing, it’s considered by many as “Paradise on Earth” and it’s undeniably true to me– after swimming in the clear, turquoise waters, walking around a local island with sparkling beaches and palm fringes, running on a white sandbar, and seeing aesthetic coral reefs that are home to plenty of marine species. Second, it’s a 100% Muslim country, and it was an exciting thought to beach bum without seeing too much nakedness. Haha. Indeed, if heaven on earth exists, it is definitely in Maldives!

I used to imagine visiting the tropical paradise as an exceptionally luxurious trip– accessible only if I have millions of pesos on my bank balance. I thought of it as a place I will never have the capacity to visit in this lifetime. I may be right years back, but things have changed now. Maldives is now reachable for budget travelers like me, despite it being a luxury destination. Thanks to the government allowing Maldivians to operate guesthouses, staying in a resort is just an option today.

ABOUT THE COUNTRY Maldives is an Islamic country located in the Indian Ocean southwest of Sri Lanka and India. It consists of 1,192 gemlike islands grouped in clusters called “atolls” but only 200+ are inhabited. Its capital and most populous city, Malé, is geographically located at the Kaafu Atoll and is a ferry-away from the airport island, Hulhule.

Below are some of the local islands near Malé which are accessible by local ferry:

Maafushi Island

Hulhumale Island

Villingili

Gulhi

Guraidhoo

Fulidhoo

You can choose which island you want to stay in but I recommend Maafushi Island based on experience, and Fulidhoo Island based on positive reviews I have read across the internet.

VISA

Filipinos do not need a pre-arrival Visa to enter Maldives. You will be issued a 30-day free Visa upon arrival provided that your passport is valid and will not expire for the next six months from the entry date.

WHERE TO BOOK FLIGHTS Flights to Maldives normally cost around ₱20,000 to ₱25,000 with a layover either in Singapore, Malaysia or Thailand. There are several low-cost carriers servicing the Manila to Malé route—you can try Scoot Air, AirAsia or Cebu Pacific. In our case, we took the MNL-SG-MLE and vice versa flights via Scoot Air for P14,000 ONLY per pax inclusive of a 15kg check-in baggage. I honestly thought I scored the cheapest with the said amount, but unfortunately, several weeks subsequent to booking, I came across Scoot Air’s promotional flight of just ₱8,000 for MNL-MLE round-trip flights. There are times that AirAsia offers the same promo. Insane, right? You simply have to be always on the lookout for these unusual promo fares. It’s a different story if you have the moolah to splurge though.

For more info on how I usually score cheapest golden flights, read here.

HOW TO GET AROUND You might be wondering just how you should be getting around Maldives. Well, there are few methods of transport you can avail depending on your preference and based on factors such as convenience, budget, and safety.

From the Airport Right after stepping outside the arrival hall, you will see a number of booths and their respective staff scattered around the area. If you are expecting your hotel or resort’s staff to welcome you there, just look for a placard with your name on it.

To Resorts or other Local Islands – If no one shows up for you at the airport (insert sad smiley), you may consider taking a speedboat to your preferred resort or local island. Rate depends but it typically starts at 25 USD ~ 1,315 PHP per pax. You also have the option to take a seaplane that costs a lot more than my two kidneys combined. hahajk

To Malé City – If you’re on a budget plan, walk past the booths and locate the public ferry counter to purchase a ticket to Malé City for only 10 MVR ~ 34 PHP. The ride should only take 15 minutes and you’ll arrive at Hulhumale Ferry Terminal.

Ferry Schedule: FROM MALE CITY TO AIRPORT Every 10 minutes from morning 06:00 AM to 02:30 AM Every 30 minutes from morning 02:30 AM to 04:00 AM Every 15 minutes from morning 04:00 AM to 06:00 AM FROM AIRPORT TO MALE CITY Every 10 minutes from morning 06:00 AM to 02:30 AM Every 30 minutes from morning 02:30 AM to 04:00 AM Every 15 minutes from morning 04:00 AM to 06:00 AM

On Fridays, ferries operate every 10 minutes from the morning at 06:00 AM to 00:00 AM.

Conversely, you can ride a speedboat for your convenience. Within two minutes, you’ll reach the northeast part of Malé City.

Because I booked our hotel in Malé within a day before our arrival and because I did not communicate with them our arrival time, no one showed up for us. Wala kaming placard, jusko napaka-dukha feels. Haha. But they were supposed to greet us at the airport since we paid for that one-way airport transfer. Ang tanga ko lang talagang kausap. hehe

Around the City of Malé Arriving at the ferry terminal, you can take a taxi or a mini pickup truck to bring you either to your hotel (if you intend to stay at Malé) or to Villingili Ferry Terminal (if you want to go directly to a local island of your choice). Also, there are bus lines running a circular route around the small city. The downside is—if your hotel is not within their routes, you still have to walk after getting off on the nearest bus stop.

To our Hotel – We rode a mini pickup truck to reach our hotel. Pahirapan kumuha ng taxi, mga bes kaya nagpaka- Megan Young and Mikael Daez kami ni Jamal. Haha. We were charged 50 MVR by the driver. Minimum fare for taxis is 20 MVR per pax during the day and 25 MVR during the night.

To Maafushi Island From Villingili Ferry Terminal, the ride to Maafushi Island will only take about an hour and a half. Ticket price is only 53 MVR ~ 3.50 USD ~ 190 PHP.

Ferry Schedule:

For an updated schedule, click here.

After spending the night at Malé, we went to Maafushi Island where we planned to stay for 5D4N. From our hotel, a staff hailed a taxi for us (and paid for it because of their utang to us) and instructed the driver of our destination.

Since we arrived at the terminal early, we went to a food court nearby and had milkshake while waiting. Sobrang init, mga bes.

Around Maafushi Island From the terminal, getting to your hotel will be either through your hotel’s private vehicle or rickshaw. Yup, rickshaw. Maafushi is a very small island (1.275km x 0.260km) that you can see the entire island within two hours of walking. Some hotels and guesthouses offer a rental bike service for 5 USD per hour. A bit pricey. You can see the locals using motorcycles as a mode of transportation as well, though I am not sure if they are up for lease.

WHERE TO STAY There are a limited number of budget sleeps in Maldives. Unlike in any other Asian country where you will find a 30 USD per night accommodation for two, in Maldives, budget hotels or guesthouses usually cost no less than 60 USD. If you’re lucky, you may come across huge discounts in Agoda. Make sure to constantly browse the app, you might come across a crazy deal like what happened to us.

Or better yet, sign up on Airbnb using this link to earn ₱1,600 travel credit. Or get a 10% refund on your first transaction at Booking.com when you use this unique link.

For high-end tourists, exclusive resorts are the place to be but allot at least 600 USD per night.

The Melrose Hotel – It’s a 450m-walk from Hulhumale Ferry Terminal. We spent our first night here for just 30 USD. It’s the cheapest we could find on Agoda that serves breakfast. Our booking was inclusive of taxes, environmental fees, a welcome drink, one-way airport transfer, and free breakfast. The staffs were friendly and helpful; the receptionist is Pinay, yaay! Our room was small, enough for a 9-hour stay, but very clean. It has toiletries, coffee and tea sachets, iron, and a flat-screen TV among others.

Seven Corals Guesthouse – This was our home in Maafushi for 5D4N. I loved it! The staffs were friendly and attentive, the room was spacious and snug, food was in a variety, and the ambiance was cozy and relaxing. Not to mention the long list of inclusions on our ₱16,500 deal:

Meals (Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner)

Welcome drink

Afternoon tea

Express check-in

Fruit basket

Selected watersports (i.e. Jetski, but the schedule was in conflict with ours)

Free local mobile SIM card

Complimentary snacks

Night Fishing

Sunset Cruise

Dolphin Cruise (No dolphins on our cruise huhu)

Snorkeling Excursion

Sandbank Picnic

Taxes and other fees

We tried looking for another guesthouse/hotel that offers the same but only Seven Corals does. Highly recommended to keep an eye on a deal like this.

Adaaran Prestige Vadoo (optional) – One-night rate starts at ~1,000 USD inclusive of breakfast and taxes/fees. Additional of at least ~200 USD per pax for the roundtrip transfers. It can hurt your pocket but recommended to stay if you have the cash. OR- here’s the catch, you can ask a Maldivian in the local island where you stay to contact any resort you prefer and ask them if you’re allowed to arrange your roundtrip speedboat transfer. The local quoted us 100 USD (2 pax; 2-way transfer) only, 400 USD less than the quoted price on Agoda.

Novina Hotel – another great hotel centrally located in Malé City for ~70 USD only inclusive of a welcome drink, buffet breakfast, and airport transfer. Just like our room in The Melrose, it was small but well maintained. The floor was carpeted and there’s a mini-fridge, too. They served decent food which was great. I love the omelette. Staffs were very welcoming and friendly that they let us stay in the lobby after check-out while waiting for our evening flight.

PLACES TO VISIT IN MALE CITY

Masjid Al-Sultan Muhammad Thakurufaanu Al-Auzam

Fish Market

Republic Square

National Museum

Tsunami Monument

ACTIVITIES TO TRY

MONEY SAVING TIPS

If you have a layover in Singapore for at least 5.5 hours to 24 hours, join the FREE 2.5-hour guided tours of Changi Airport. More info about the tours here.

Visit during the low season (June to November) to score off-season rates on activities, accommodation, and flights. Prices tend to drop insanely plus, there are fewer tourists traveling.

Last minute deals exist, just be smart enough to plan your trip.

Currency exchange shops in Malé City offers better rates than those in the Airport.

Bring USD with you preferably in 100s or 50s. Usual buying rate for 50-100 USD is 15 MVR per USD while for denominations below is around 12 MVR per USD.

Resorts and guesthouses only accept Dollars while local restaurants and street side shops need Rufiyaa.

Local Ferry >>> Speedboat

STAY. ON. A. LOCAL. ISLAND.

If you’re into luxury resorts, choose those closer to Malé or to the island you’re staying at.

Get not just a full board stay, but an all-inclusive package. It’s very reasonable than bringing with you your wallet all the time.

Haggle like a pro. Be it souvenirs or activities, bargain a better price.

Pack chips and biscuits.

Do not forget your swimming essentials. Sunscreen lotions and rashies in the local islands are expensive.

For our ultimate travel hacks mostly on how to save on your next trip abroad, check these tips on our previous blog.

SAMPLE 6D5N ITINERARY

OPTIONAL: Stay on a high-end resort.

EXPENSES

*The amounts do not reflect our actual expenditures.

#maldives #travel #travels #explore #maafushi

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joshhamilton11 · 5 months

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Year-Round Tax Success: Tips and Tricks For Truckers

Tax season can be daunting, but it doesn't have to be for truckers. By adopting savvy strategies and staying ahead of the game, you can sail smoothly through the tax maze. From optimizing deductions to maintaining meticulous records, here's a guide packed with expert advice to ensure year-round tax success for truckers.

1. Keep Impeccable Records:

The cornerstone of tax success for truckers is meticulous record-keeping. Track every expense related to your job, from fuel and maintenance to tolls and road meals. Embrace technology by utilizing specialized apps or software tailored for truckers to streamline your record-keeping process.

2. Grasp Per Diem Rates:

Per diem rates can be a powerful tool in your tax arsenal. They enable you to deduct a portion of your meal and incidental expenses while on the road. Stay updated on the IRS's current per diem rates and ensure you're claiming this deduction accurately to maximize your tax savings.

3. Optimize Deductions:

Don't miss out on valuable deductions. Take full advantage of deductions for vehicle maintenance, equipment purchases, insurance premiums, and even home office expenses if applicable. Every deduction adds up, so leave no stone unturned.

4. Stay Organized Year-Round:

Avoid the tax season frenzy by maintaining year-round organization. Establish a robust filing system for receipts and invoices, and make it a habit to log expenses into your accounting software regularly. By staying on top of your finances throughout the year, you'll breeze through tax season effortlessly.

5. Consider Professional Assistance:

While you can handle your taxes independently, seeking guidance from an accountant for truck drivers can provide invaluable peace of mind. Look for a seasoned professional familiar with the intricacies of truckers' taxes to ensure you're maximizing your savings and complying with regulations.

6. Plan for Estimated Tax Payments:

As a self-employed trucker, staying on top of quarterly estimated tax payments is crucial. Failure to plan for these payments can lead to penalties and interest charges. Work with your tax advisor to calculate your estimated tax liability and set aside funds accordingly to avoid any surprises.

7. Harness Retirement Savings Opportunities:

Investing in retirement not only secures your financial future but also offers immediate tax benefits. Explore retirement savings options such as a SEP IRA or Solo 401(k), which allow you to contribute pre-tax income and lower your taxable income for the year.

8. Stay Abreast of Tax Law Changes:

Tax laws are constantly evolving, and staying informed is key. Subscribe to industry publications, participate in seminars, or engage in online forums where tax professionals and fellow truckers share insights and updates about tax regulations.

Conclusion:

Achieving tax efficiency as a trucker demands diligence, organization, and knowledge. By maintaining meticulous records, optimizing deductions, and staying informed about tax law changes, you can navigate the tax landscape with confidence. With these essential strategies in your toolkit, you'll be well-equipped to minimize your tax burden and maximize your savings year-round.

#tax #accountant #business #finances #trucking

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theokotrain · 3 years

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Vestige - Chapter 2: As If You Know The Story

Wattpad Version

Well I have known you for just a little while

But I feel I've known you, I feel I've seen you when the Earth was split in fives

And in your words, I should let it out, I would see it die

But I'm a watcher, I see it watch her, it's in your afterlife

---

I stood by the pickup counter, lightly tapping my foot as I waited for the employee to ring the bell on the counter and shout my name. The café was surprisingly busy, much more so than I remembered it usually being. I had ordered two egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches, along with two coffees for Liam and I. There weren't many tables to sit at, so they were all taken. Thankfully, we weren't planning on eating in here anyway. While I was getting our breakfast, Liam went to the store a few doors down so we could get some groceries to last us the trip. He never really learned how to cook much, with the exception of instant ramen or microwave dinners, so I thought of this as a good idea to fix that. I wouldn't call myself a good cook or anything, but I used the shared kitchen in the dorms pretty damn frequently because I never signed up for the university meal plan.

I never really know what to do with my hands when I'm just standing around like this. I switched between checking my phone for notifications and then just putting my hands in my coat pockets repeatedly. I keep my eyesight generally trending towards the floor, trying to avoid making awkward eye contact with the other customers. While looking at my phone again, someone new walks up to the till right next to the order pick-up area. I don't look to see who it is, but I vaguely recognize the voice, a feminine one. I keep looking down at my phone, not wanting to say anything and risk it being a complete stranger. I hear her handing cash over the counter, thanking the employee a bit loudly. I guess she noticed my ears perking up from her voice, because she walks over to me as I pretend to remain ignorant of her presence.

"Jake!" She says, mildly surprised. "It's been a while! What are you doing back in Vestige?" I instantly recognize her. Ms. Addams, the therapist I started seeing in grade eleven. I didn't really think I needed to see a therapist back then, but my parents made me choose between that or weekly visits to the school guidance counselor who was notorious for preaching confidentiality and then telling the parents basically everything anyway. She turned out to actually be pretty cool, at least to sixteen-year-old me, and I kept seeing her up until I left for university, although pretty infrequently.

"Oh, Allison! I'm in town visiting everybody for spring break." I replied, in the most sincere voice I could conjure.

Her eyes widened, "Everybody? As in everybody everybody?"

"Yeah, everybody." I said, a smile of acceptance on my face.

"That's good to hear!"

"I probably wouldn't have done it if Liam didn't insist." I say, quickly realising that she has no idea who that is.

"Liam? Is that-"

"Friend from university. I asked him to come with me, probably against my better judgement." I say, jokingly.

"Ah, 'friend', right," She said, laughing. Allison was the one who helped me make the apparently obvious discovery that was my sexuality, so I was usually pretty comfortable talking about that stuff with her.

"Ms. Addams making a joke at my expense? That's definitely something new," I reply sarcastically.

"You aren't my client anymore, so there's no obligation to be entirely respectful, at least to some extent," She jokes, pausing for a moment. "So, is he here?" She says, subtly scanning the occupied tables. I always failed to understand how she manages to act so professionally when she needs to. That was a huge insecurity of mine back in high school when I wanted to be seen as an adult who could make his own decisions, to no avail.

"Nah, I'm just grabbing us breakfast." I said, realising that the food I had ordered was taking a weirdly long time to be ready. "But..." I grab my phone from my pocket, opening the photos app and scrolling, trying to find a specific picture. There aren't a lot of them since he's really picky about how he looks and makes me delete the bad pictures. After a bit, I found the photo I'm looking for, "Here," I say, turning the phone over to her. The picture was from back in October, when we went to an outdoor concert with Liam's friend, Nathan. October was always hit or miss when it came to warmth, and we definitely got a miss that day. Liam and I spent the last half hour or so of the concert in the back of Nathan's pick up truck with blankets, listening to the performance. The last song the band performed was pretty dramatic, and they set off fireworks during a really crazy guitar solo. So, I obviously had to seize the moment and get a picture of Liam with the fireworks in the background, even if it was just with my phone camera. That was probably one of the best photos I had ever taken, to the point that he actually asked me if he could post it online, which was pretty flattering.

"Aw, he looks really sweet!" She says with the kind of tone you'd use to talk to an eight-year-old.

"Yeah! It's too bad you can't meet him right now, I don't think he's gonna come in here, we're heading straight back to our place after this," I sigh, making an effort to have it sound mildly disappointed.

"I have an order for Jake?" The café employee calls out. I grab the bag with the breakfast sandwiches in one hand, and do my best to hold both coffee cups at the same time and thank the employee, turning back to Ms. Addams.

She looks off for a moment, thinking about something. "...You know, you should come to my office one of these days while you're in town! It'd be nice to see how you've been doing since you left." She says, smiling.

"I'd have to see what days would work, but that'd be cool!" I didn't really want to, but it would be nice to just talk to her, even if I didn't really need therapy anymore.

"Great! Well, my contact info hasn't changed, so just let me know!" She replies. My phone loudly pings, but I don't have a free hand to grab it from my pocket.

"Oh! That's probably him," I say, nudging my head down towards my pocket. "I should probably get going, but it was nice to see you again!"

"You too, Jake! I hope the rest of your trip goes well!" I nod in return and push the door open with my shoulder, trying not to spill any coffee.

I can see my car a bit further down the parking lot with Liam sitting in the passenger seat. It's a bit hotter out today than it was yesterday. At least, hot enough to actually start melting the small amount of ice still on the ground. Hopefully that means we could actually go outside during the trip without having to wear multiple layers. It was mildly busy, though for a town like this it's a pretty low bar to be considered such. When I get to the car, I have to set the coffees on the roof so I can open the driver's seat door.

"Hey! Run into any problems at the store?" I asked, handing him his coffee.

"Nope! Pretty sure I got everything you said." He replies. I grab my coffee off of the car roof and hop in the car. I put my keys in the ignition and start the car before taking a sip.

"Man, I ran into my old therapist in there, definitely not a conversation I was expecting to have today," I said, chuckling as I shifted into reverse, ready to pull out of the parking lot.

"You had a therapist? Like, in high school?" Liam asked. Yeah, I guess there's a lot I still haven't told him about myself.

"Yeah, parents thought I was depressed, didn't think so but it wasn't really up to me."

"...Were you?"

"Uh- I don't really know- probably? I never had to go on antidepressants or anything but it definitely helped with the teen angst."

"Oh my god, please tell me you had a rebellious phase, that's hilarious," Liam put his hand on his forehead as he laughed.

"Incredibly regretfully, but yeah," I replied, sighing, Liam still laughing. "What, you weren't also embarrassing in high school?"

"Of course I was! I was the nerd that no one wanted to be friends with!"

"Ohhhhh, so you were a walking high-school-movie stereotype?" I remarked, laughing.

"Jake, I didn't even go to high school with you and it is so clear to me that you were the misunderstood kid that desperately wanted to be different. Literal stereotype!" He retorted jokingly.

I paused for a second, "...Ok, that might actually be pretty accurate but you are literally a psychology major so it's not like it was totally obvious!"

"...So are you!"

"Yeah! But I mean, like- a good one! Important distinction."

"A 'good one'? Have you seen my assignments?" Liam laughed.

"You specifically don't let me look at them like half the time, so no." I said, smirking.

"Exactly! Cause they're garbage!" He exclaimed.

"I think we both know that's bullshit," I replied, looking over at Liam, his ears subtly twitch in response. For the relatively short amount of time I've known him for, it was very clear from the beginning how insecure he was about anything he did that was remotely creative. Although, he's definitely started opening up more recently.

As we drive down the highway towards the cabin, the morning sunlight reflects off of the lake. I've always hated posting pictures of myself online, so my social media pages were typically just taken up by landscape photos, and the lake was a huge subject for me. I thought I wanted to be a professional photographer growing up, and I took basically any photography course that I could find at high school. But for a small town school photography department, they were definitely limited in the availability of equipment that wasn't twenty years old. I eventually moved on to music as my main hobby- I mean, I didn't really think I was ever gonna do anything actually important with music, but I looked up basically any guitar lesson video I could find, and I've kinda kept with it ever since. Plus I got the benefit of being the annoying asshole with a guitar at any campfire or social event whenever I wanted. And I'd be lying if I said it didn't impress Ty back then, along with Liam now.

"Hold on- weren't we talking about your therapist? How did we get that off-topic?"

"Oh, right! There's not really much to say, I saw her monthly for most of high school, found out I was kinda depressed, probably fixed it - but who really knows - anyways this is not important because we have plans that need to be put in motion!" I say as I reach down for my phone and unlock it, handing it over to Liam while trying to keep my eyes on the road. "Can you go to the group chat I have with everybody? Ask them if they'd be free tonight to come over and we'd like make food and shit - you should probably word it better than that but you get the idea."

"Ah, a truly upper class vocabulary," He laughed, the soft clicking sound of the phone keyboard playing as he typed the message.

"I think they have to have gotten used to my inane word choice at this point," I said. I could tell we were nearing the cabin. "You could probably add your number to that group chat too, if ya want," I offered.

"Oh, uh, sure!" He responded, his tone faltering somewhat.

"...You don't have to if you don't want to?"

"No, it's cool! I just barely know them still, though" He said, ending with an awkward chuckle.

"I thought you and Elliot actually hit it off last night? Plus Alex really seemed to like you, too," I said, trying to reassure him.

"Well, yeah... probably just me being irrational anyway," He paused for a moment. "I don't think Ty directly spoke to me at all last night, either."

"Oh... yeah, I wasn't really paying attention to that. Sounds about right, though," I sighed, "Don't worry. He'll definitely warm up to you eventually, he's always like that around new people." I say as I turn into the cabin driveway. A soft silence continues on as I drive through the dirt and gravel up to the front of the cabin and shift into park. I hear the message send sound effect from my phone.

"Well, I sent the text and added myself." He exclaims, handing the phone over to me.

I grab the phone from his hand and give him a kiss on the side of his muzzle, "Well, we just need to go put all this away and we can head down to the water!" I said, attempting to change the mood.

"Is the beach, like, sand? I don't think I've actually paid attention to that anytime we've been on the highway," He asked, chuckling. I got out of the car and opened the backseat door to grab some grocery bags.

"Kind of, close to the water. Mostly grass, though, which is arguably better for sitting on," I answered.

"I think any sane person would probably agree with that, sand gets literally everywhere and you still end up finding it months later," He complained. I grabbed the bag with our breakfast sandwiches as well and headed to the front door.

"Oh definitely, that's the one thing I hated about going to the beach in Vancouver."

"Yeahhh, but I appreciate the ocean, so it kinda makes up for that."

"Really, a cat likes the ocean? I never would've expected that," I said, smirking.

"That's a stereotype!" Liam exclaimed. I looked over at him, sarcastically incredulous.

I have to set a few of the bags on the ground so I can grab the key out of my pocket. unlock the front door and swing it open. I head inside after picking up the bags, Liam following closing behind with the rest of them. "Did Shae go somewhere?" He asked.

"Yeah, pretty sure her parents needed her to do some stuff since she's in town," I replied. She didn't get specific about the details, she never liked talking about family stuff anyway so I was used to it.

"Ohhhh, right! I think she mentioned that yesterday," He acknowledged.

I set the bags on the kitchen counter and took another sip of my coffee. After making sure we got everything out of the car, we started unloading the food into the fridge and cupboards. I was planning on making a tofu stir fry for everybody tonight, hoping they were even gonna be able to come, given the kinda short notice. Which reminds me...

I pull my phone out of my pocket and check the group chat.

Jake: Hey! Planning on making dinner tonight, would you guys wanna come over?

Yeah, he definitely worded that a lot better than what I said.

Shae: If I can get out of here in time to actually be there, then sure

Shae: if not ill just eat all the leftovers lol

Nobody else had replied yet, which made it obvious that Shae was bored out of her mind and probably just scrolling on her phone. Though the only one in the group who had a sporadic work schedule was Ty, so it was usually pretty typical to assume they were available back in high school, and Ty used to always tell me his schedule anyway so it wasn't a problem.

I then came to the very apparent realization that I had left Liam to finish putting away everything. And, not wanting to be an asshole, I go back and help him with the last few bags, an apologetic grin on my face. Although, he doesn't seem phased by it, so I don't mention it. Once everything's put away, I put my hands on my hips and look around the room, "So, we good to go?" I ask.

"I think so, let me go grab my jacket," He answered, and went to our room. I check the time on my phone, 11:43 AM.

"I should probably get a head start on that research paper today too, as much as I'd like to procrastinate it until the last second." I lightly shouted towards our bedroom.

"Oh! Right, ugh, thanks for reminding me," He shouted in return, clearly not excited about spending spring break writing on his laptop.

A few more moments pass as I drink my coffee, waiting for Liam. It tastes nowhere near as good as the coffee at the campus café, but I appreciate the nostalgia. Eventually, he comes back to the kitchen with his coat in his arms. I take our sandwiches and one of the blankets off of the couch and we head out the door. I stick close to Liam, leading a bit in front as we walk down the patio steps and down the driveway. Even if it's not necessarily summer weather, we should be good for an hour or two, especially with our jackets. The forest surrounding us is pretty thick, and is mostly pine trees so you can't see too deeply into it at all. The only thing on this highway past Vestige are houses, a campground, and a boat launch area for the lake. Most of which don't get any real use until the summertime, so cars were an uncommon sight out here.

"So, where is this place?" Liam asked, his voice somewhat faint from behind me. I turn around and he glances past me towards the highway. There's a small forest there blocking the potential view of the lake.

"It's a little path, kinda hidden. The owner of the cabin told me about it, you just follow it down and it goes to a little clearing by the water." I said, trying to point towards the path with the hand holding our food. The path is definitely not too noticeable to someone driving down the highway, but I can see it pretty easily from here. It's a small clearing between a few trees, with a visible lack of grass forming a pathway. The gravel driveway is not enjoyable to walk on, being a bit slushy from the melting ice.

"I'm starting to think I didn't need my jacket." Liam said. He was definitely right, the sun was beating down now, negating the effect of any wind-chill.

"It'll probably get colder by the water, so I wouldn't rule out a jacket so fast."

Liam quickens his pace, trying to walk next to me. We stop for a moment when we reach the road, making sure we don't get run over by some truck driver going thirty over the speed limit. The wind seems to pick up significantly here, ruffling my jacket sporadically. Standing at the entrance of the pathway, I can tell it's a bit of a bumpy walk down to the spot. I grab Liam's hand, leading him behind me down the small path. The ground is fairly uneven, and I almost trip a few times, trying my hardest not to take Liam down with me. I can see a bit of the water through the trees, and it doesn't look like the path goes on for long at all. There isn't much of any ice on the path, but the dirt is somewhat wet.

After a minute or two, we reach the clearing on the side of the lake. It's the exact same lake I've been so familiar with for about sixteen years, but I've never actually been to this part before. The sun is shining across the lake onto the nearby mountains, and the water is crystal clear. I had absolutely zero interest in swimming in a freezing cold lake, but it was a nice scene to sit next to. Liam made some comments about how adorable this place is, and I had to agree, at least for this specific area. The rest of the town? I might be a bit more inclined to object, but if he liked it, that was good enough for me. I hand Liam our sandwiches and take the blanket out from under my arm, unfolding it out onto the grass.

"You know, this is pretty cliché for a date idea." He says, I'm assuming jokingly from his laugh afterwards. We both sit down on the blanket as I grab the sandwiches out of the bag.

"Well- I wasn't really thinking of it as a date... Just like, I don't know, something fun to do I guess?" I said, my usual ability to construct proper sentences lacking. I hand him one of the sandwiches.

"I mean, that's literally what a date is."

"If you prefer to consider this a date then I am happy to oblige, but I usually put more effort into that stuff,"

"More effort? This is like, par for the course for the kinda dates I plan,"

"But there's so many variables! I can't just say 'Hey let's go here'" There's a light breeze rustling the trees around us as I take a bite of my breakfast sandwich. Just as good as I remember it.

"Can't you? We're doing that right now." He remarked.

"Yeah, but I didn't consider this anything special. And even then, I got the idea like three days ago and still had to do some planning," Liam laughed under his breath, "What?" I ask.

"It's just funny to me that you're the one putting all this effort into our dates," He says, smiling genuinely.

"...What do you mean?" I asked, taking another bite. We never really had actual plans for when we would spend time together, we would usually just suggest whatever came to mind. But I would still plan them a few days in advance. I don't really know why, I've just always liked having any potential issues accounted for, which would always kind of freak me out when I couldn't do that for spur of the moment plans.

Liam didn't say anything for a few moments, "...You remember yesterday, when you told Elliot how we met?"

"...Yeah?" I replied, not really knowing where this was going.

"That wasn't the first time we met." Liam said.

"What? Before the party? ...I honestly don't remember ever talking to you earlier than that." Hopefully this wasn't significant enough that I would actually be an asshole for not knowing the real first time we met.

"Yeah! I don't really blame you, it was like the beginning of our first year at university." He said.

"Really?"

"It was a group project for... I think it was the introduction to cognitive psychology course? I don't even remember what the project was about, but I made a couple friends in the class, and you ended up joining our group since we needed one more! And we obviously only really talked through the project group chat so I didn't know anything about you, other than I thought you were cute. I think I asked for your social media at one point? And you gave it and said you'd follow me back."

"And I obviously didn't." I said, kinda mad at myself.

"Yeah!" Liam exclaimed, laughing. "I didn't know you were gay at the time, so I didn't wanna embarrass myself, plus we didn't talk after that anyway so I only knew you through your online posts and from seeing you in lectures. Fast forward a year and a half, I went to that party with a few friends and you know the rest." He said as he put one of his arms around my shoulder, pulling me in for a side hug.

"Wow... How do I not remember that? I feel like I should remember that."

"It was almost two years ago, I don't remember at least ninety percent of the shit that happened that year, other than the usual stress about being a new student and having no clue what I was doing." He reassured.

"That entire year was basically one big blur, all I really did was go to classes and cower in my dorm room."

"Was Eric your dorm mate yet?"

"Yeah he was, I mostly just avoided talking to him until the second semester though, so I just huddled up in the dorm half the time while he actually had a social life," I joked, my self-deprecating humor in full-force.

"Well hey, now you got me to drag you places against your will!"

I didn't really know what to follow up with after that, so I opted to stew in my own mild embarrassment for a while as we finished eating our breakfast. I went to check my phone again, seeing if anybody else had replied to the plans we were making. To my surprise, everyone else was also able to come, which I wasn't expecting to be honest. I let Liam know and set my phone on the blanket. A fair amount of time passed as we sat there, enjoying the moment.

Before I got here, I made it a personal goal to use my phone, and technology in general, a bit less. I didn't tell anybody about that, just cause I thought it was kinda stupid, but I spent way too much time at university on my laptop - most of the time not even doing anything productive. So, I thought of this return to my hometown where they had barely started getting rid of dial up internet at the start of the decade as a good opportunity. Of course, there was no escaping the assignments we had to submit when the break ended, but I was still gonna try.

"Thanks for bringing me here, by the way." Liam said, suddenly taking me out of my head.

"...To the lake?" I replied, mildly confused.

"No! Well, that too- I mean on the trip! I know you were kinda iffy about bringing me to see basically your entire childhood." He said. I've started noticing recently that his voice gets a bit higher pitched when he's being sappy. I usually try to avoid being over-sentimental simply out of embarrassment.

"...well, this is only the second day! Believe me, you'll have plenty of time to start to regret ever thinking coming here was a good idea." I joked.

"I'm sure!"

As I finish the last few bites of my breakfast sandwich, I can hear Liam's phone going off in his pocket. He sets his sandwich back in the wrapper and grabs his phone. I can't see who's calling from the angle I'm looking at, and he answers it before I can move over.

"Hey! ...A few minutes away, why? Oh! Yeah! Yeah, just gimme a minute. Okay, we'll just be a minute!" He hangs up the phone, putting it back in his pants, "Did you lock the door to the cabin?"

"...Yeah?" I replied, thinking nothing of it.

He sighed, "Shae can't get in."

I groaned, dramatically, "I didn't think she'd get back until tonight!" I quickly stood up, "Wait here. I'll go let her in and come back."

"Hurry back!" He laughed, probably at how I locked the door of one of the most remote cabins within a fifty mile radius. Locking my door had become second nature at university anyway due to a couple guys breaking into my dorm and stealing some of my roommate and I's stuff, and breaking my TV. It happened early on in my first year, so I'm over it, but I still kept the habit of locking the door. Besides, Eric had his own key so it was never a problem.

Walking back into the forest brought the noticeable lack of noise to the forefront of my mind. All I could hear once again was the crunch of the leaves and ice underneath my shoes along with the occasional car driving down the highway. It's noticeably darker from the trees blocking any sunlight from reaching the forest floor. When I make it to the highway, I am greeted by fog, and lots of it. There's no way this much fog showed up here while Liam and I were down by the lake. Although, fog wasn't exactly uncommon around here, especially at this elevation near a mountain range. I start heading up the driveway, trying to see if I can spot Shae at the door. As the cabin comes into view, the only car I see out front is my own, and Shae doesn't appear to be outside. Maybe she found a way in? I step up the stairs onto the porch, the wood creaking under me. The whistle of the wind is high pitched, swerving throughout the nearby trees, rustling the leaves. I try the front door, seeing if Shae unlocked it, but it seems to be locked still. I grab the keys out of my pocket and insert them, unlocking the door.

As I go to open the door, my ears perk as I hear the sound of footsteps on the gravel near my car. I silently hope that it's just Shae, but my irrational fears seem to be taking hold. I walk over to the patio fence, looking to see if someone's down there, but there seems to be nothing, at least that I can see.

Fuckin- god.

I turn around and head inside, not wanting to deal with whatever bullshit is currently happening. I figure I'll just call Shae and see what's up.

"there's nothing for you in there."

#Vestige #Story #Novel #Novella #Chapter #Two #2 #As #if #you #know #the #story #as if you know the story #furry #gay #lgbt #writing #write #town #coming of age #book #wattpad

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atths--twice · 5 years

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A Patchwork Heart

Today, with this story, marks an important milestone for me. I have reached 100 stories that i have written about The X-Files. ONE HUNDRED. I can’t believe that I have written that many. It is insane that I have, but also very exciting.

Today is my friend’s birthday and I wanted her story to be the 100th one, so I have been working like a mad woman to get them all done on time. I did it and I am very proud of myself.

I hope you all enjoy this story.

Mulder and Scully share memories of how and when they fell in love with one another. Little places along the way where pieces of their hearts were given and shared.

Moments Lived in Miles Traveled

March 2020

The driver kindly took them to the nearby rental agency before heading to the dealership, their warranty still thankfully covering the repair. Scully and Faith waited outside as Mulder picked out the car, petting the big furry cat who had been laying in a patch of sun when they arrived.

He pushed at Faith’s hand, purring loudly, wrapping around her legs, and then falling to the ground and rolling on his back. She laughed as she bent down and touched his fluffy belly. He jumped up, pushing his head into her chin, and rubbing against her face.

“Cat,” she said and Scully grinned as a new word was added to her vocabulary.

“Yes, baby girl, it’s a cat.”

Mulder walked out, scaring the cat and causing it to run across the parking lot. Faith attempted to chase it, and Scully stopped her, picking her up and kissing her cheeks.

“Cat,” she said, pointing toward the cat who was now licking his front paw.

“Whoa… she said cat!” Mulder grinned and blew a raspberry on Faith’s cheek, causing her to laugh and momentarily forget about the cat.

They walked to the car and now they stood waiting for him to put the seat in, which was a battle he seemed to be losing.

“I swear to God,” he muttered loudly. “This car doesn’t have the hooks for the buckles. How are we supposed… no wait, I found them. Fucking hell…”

“Hey,” she called out to him with a laugh. Glancing down at Faith, she nodded as he looked up.

“As if she can understand me,” he replied, with a roll of his eyes.

“She said cat a few minutes ago and she said S-H-I-T the other day so… you’re wrong,” Scully said, raising her eyebrows at him.

“She did not. Stop saying that she did.” He shook his head and she shrugged her shoulders.

“Sure sounded like it to me,” she retorted and he laughed.

“Maybe you should get your hearing checked. You know, especially as you’ve recently had a birthday, as we age…”

“Oh, buddy, you’re gonna want to stop right there,” she said, putting up a hand and shaking her head. He grinned and she glared at him. “Your daddy is skating on very thin ice, my girl.” She held her stare as she spoke to Faith and he laughed as she shook her head again. “Put the car seat in the car so we can get some lunch. Your ladies are getting hungry.”

“Let’s get going, old lady,” he teased, looking at her with a grin as he opened the drivers side door.

She cupped a hand around her ear and turned her head to the side. “What was that? I’m having a hard time hearing you.” She closed her hand, leaving only her middle finger up, and he laughed.

“Get your ass in the car,” he said, gesturing with his head to the passenger side.

She saw him staring at her and laughing, or rolling his eyes at something she disagreed with, as he tried to prove his point. The concentration that went into reading a huge fold out map, no smart phones with fancy apps available back then to help them find their way.

She smiled as they backed up and pulled out of the parking lot, the wind from the open windows blowing cooling air inside the car, as Faith babbled in the backseat. She laughed softly as she looked out the window and shook her head. Her mind drifted through her memories, thinking back on the many miles they traveled together, learning about each other in cars similar to the one they were now driving down the road.

That first case… so green and without any field experience, she did not know what to expect, but it was definitely not someone like him...

____________

But Mulder, though not her boyfriend, thus not an entirely accurate comparison, loved to discuss anything and everything. Conspiracy theories, current events, old cases, places they each had been, childhood fears, nothing was off topic. She learned more about him than anyone she had ever known in her life, including her family members.

It had, of course, backfired on her as he would bring it up later and at her blank stare, he would sigh and pout with that big bottom lip sticking out, before explaining it all over again. She enjoyed those times, though it was a repeat of what he had already said, his excitement over a topic evident as he rambled and paced around the motel room.

He got his comeuppance though and it always made her laugh. When he forgot about the fact that she had driven last, he would attempt to sit down in a seat that was far too close. His head would hit the roof of the car, his knees hitting the steering wheel, as curse fell from his lips. Covering her laugh with a cough, he would curse again as he moved the seat back.

Feeling like shit, but unable and unwilling to apologize, she kept her eyes on the road, the motel not far away. When they pulled in, he stopped her from leaving the car with a hand on hers as she unbuckled her seatbelt. He stared at her, trying to say words, but failing to articulate them.

“I need to be here, Mulder,” she whispered, squeezing his hand and dropping her eyes. He squeezed back with a nod.

After that moment, she was more accepting, if that was how it could be described, of his help and care. He never said it, but his eyes watching her and the silent things he did, were not unnoticed.

Scully shook her head, tears in her eyes, as she looked out the window. What a different time it had been, and how different they had been. She released her breath and in the silence of the car, Faith most likely sleeping in her car seat, she thought again of days spent with him in cars similar to the one they were in now…

Days of worn out bodies, exhausted injury, standing beside the rental attendant explaining the mess in their car. Being yelled at by Skinner or Kersh, over the complaints from the rental companies.

They traveled many miles together and along those miles and bumpy roads, she fell in love with him. In cafés, diners, interrogation rooms, watching him with children, how he spoke to women, his kindness and care in his voice. All those places, she fell in love with him, but nowhere so much as in those stuffy and often smelly rental cars as they drove all over the country.

Back roads, highways, interstates, surface streets, his voice singing along with the radio, droning on about his theories, or softly telling her of his worry for her, simple words that spoke volumes.

Within the confines of the four doors, they learned the give-and-take that became the corner stone of the partnership. Respect, admiration, and understanding traveled with them, the car there touchdown, their way to re-center when everything around them was chaotic…

“Hey, Scully?” Molders voice said, breaking into her thoughts. “What do you want for lunch?”

“Anywhere is fine,” she said, wiping at her eyes discretely, though her tears were happier than before.

“Italian?”

“Anything.” She answered, looking at him with a smile, reaching for his hand and locked their fingers together giving it a squeeze. He turned his head to look at her and gave her a quizzical look.

“What?” he asked and she shook her head.

“Nothing,” she replied with a smile of her own. “Nothing at all.” He smiled, his eyes back on the road and she saw again, the young excitable agent, out to save the world.

Closing her eyes, she saw through the years, all the different versions of him, and she smiled, happy to have known each of them

Opening her eyes, she looked at him as he was now, the best version of himself; still him, yet older and wiser.

“Still gonna tell me it’s ‘nothing’ with the way you’re staring at me?” he teased, squeezing her hand.

“Yup,” she said, smiling as he looked at her, his eyes happy. He laughed and nodded with a sigh. “Just keep driving.”

“Yes ma’am,” he said, raising her fingers to his lips for a kiss, as he stepped on the gas, going wherever the road took them.

#xf fanfic #msr #family #memories #driving #sharing their lives #100th story

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mlmtamilnadu · 3 years

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Blockchain Supply Chain Management -MLM software Tamilnadu

Supply chain management includes the integrated planning as well as the execution of different processes. This involves material flow, information flow as well as financial capital flow. The management of the flow of goods, services, and information involving the storage and movement of raw materials, building products as well as full-fledged finished goods from one point to another is called as supply chain management. A supply chain within the SCM is a network of individual entities, organizations, businesses, resources as well as technologies that combine together in the manufacturing of a product or service. Why a Blockchain powered Supply Chain Management Solution? Supply Chain is one sector that is expecting big disruption with Blockchain. Though traditional SCM systems work good for logging in data at each stage of the supply chain, it fails miserably in accountability, provenance, security and traceability. Also these legacy Supply Chain Management systems are not sophisticated enough to validate changes and updations made to the records. This makes it un-reliable for use in sensitive business sectors that require tamper proof data maintenance. On the other hand, the inherent “distributed ledger” nature of the Blockchain makes all this seamlessly possible. All versions of changes to each data are maintained in a tamper proof manner that enables tracibiity and accountability in every stage of the process - in a way like never before. How can this Turn-key script be used in a Food Supply Chain Management Use Case? Any type of food in the world ( Rice, Fish, Vegetables, Bread, Wine, Juice etc. ) undergoes a ‘many stage’ process before it reaches the plate of a consumer in a restaurant -or- a Can in the retail store -or- a meal box served in an airplane etc. Food being food, has a short shelf life and it needs a lot many quality steps to be taken care of, in each step of the process. Even a slightest mistake in any stage can result in the food item getting spoilt and create a disaster! ( Just imagine if the food supplied to passengers in an International Aircraft is spoilt. It can result in passengers getting sick and may require to even do an emergency landing to hospitalise people…. That results in huge loss for the aviation company and the reputation of the aviation brand going bad overnight ). When blockchain is employed in the entire supply chain process of any food, it enforces strict automatic audit in each stage. And anything going wrong in a particular stage of the process can be traced instantly and corrected. And, In the event of something going wrong, the ledgers can be queried to find exactly in which stage the mistake occurred, on what date and time, the person responsible, the batch of food that is affected etc. Let’s take an example of a delicious Seafood dish being served in a restaurant. From the Ocean to your plate, the fish has undergone numerous stages of processing before reaching your plate. In each of the stages, the quality control can be enforced and all entires fed to the blockchain ledger. Lets do a simple 5 step process and understand this example: Step 1: Fish is weighed and downloaded from the ship. Bluetooth Sensors in the weigh machine sends the exact wight of the fish to the Blockchain ( along with the Date, Time, Name of the Fish, Photo of the location, Vessel name, Manager name, Temperature etc. ) Step 2: The Fish is shipped to warehouses via. transportation trucks. The name of the truck, Driver, Start location, Destination is fed in the blockchain ledger. The IOT sensors in the truck feeds the temperature maintained in the truck constantly and the location coordinates etc. Step 3: The Fish is moved from the warehouse to the retail stores. The Date, Time of shipment, Warehouse name, Temperature maintained in the warehouse is constantly fed to the Blockchain ledger. The type of containers used to store the seafood is fed to the ledgers. Also the quantity of seafood uploaded to each vehicle is entered. Step 4: The seafood reaches the restaurants from the retail stores ( Note: For demo purpose, we are just skipping through a lot many process to finish this example in 5 simple step ) The date of shipment, The quantity, Name of Fish, Price is entered into the Blockchain automatically from the POS in the retail store. The restaurant to which the fish is shipped to, weight of each unit, Name of the fish etc. is entered in the system. Step 5: The Chef cooks the fish before it getting served to you on the plate in the restaurant. The name of the Chef, The restaurant, Address, The name of the delicacy he is cooking, the Recipe, the ingredients used in the delicacy, Date/ Time, Price etc. is fed to the Blockchain ledger ( along with your review of the dish from you ). Just imagine, this data can be beautifully displayed to you on a mobile app just after you have ordered the food. So you know from the ocean to your pate…all the quality control and procoss the seafood has gone thorugh to preserve your food. Restaurants can use such un-altered data to check the quality of the seafood they are ordering. Owners of the fishing firm get first hand, real time information of every stage their catch has gone thorugh. They can monitor if everything is happening as per the established process. If there is any leakage. Since the blockchain ledger is un-tamperable ( ie. each change to a block is a new record )…. Anyone with access can monitor all the changes that have been done to each data and checkout who made that change. In case something goes wrong ( like a can of fish getting spoilt ), the owners can easily find out where and when the fault occurred… and identify the entire batch of the seafood for recall.

How can I make money using this Blockchain powered SCM script? The owner of the Fishing Firm: Employ this solution to establish a perfect supply chain management platform to your business. Have the peace of mind that everything is always recorded and nothing can be changed. In each stage of the process, your managers can make sure the previous stage process has been followed with excellence. If anything goes wrong ( Ex: wrong temperature in the truck ), you can easily find at which stage what went wrong. A Restaurant owner: You can check the ledger to get the best fish for your customers. You can also give a mobile app for your customers to check the process the food they have ordered has gone through. Your customers will just love it! An Entrepreneur: Now you know the benefits of such an incredible solution. Sell it to the Fishing Firm Owner and the restaurants. A Developer: Blockchain is the bleeding edge technology the entire world is interested in. Use this source code and documentation to setup a full blockchain project and also master it. Thanks for reading our Content. To know more about our Services, kindly Visit our Website: MLM Software Tamilnadu MLM Software Development Company, 26, 49th Avenue, Ashok Nagar, Chennai – 600083 https://www.mlmsoftwaretamilnadu.in

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onlahuana1973 · 4 years

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mobappdevelopmentcompany · 4 years

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How IoT-based Mobile Apps are Significantly Impacting Multiple Businesses?

Mobile apps and the Internet of Things have formed a winning combination of technology, creating a vibrant future for us together!

The seamless pairing of mobile apps and IoT is driving productivity and profitability across multiple business sectors. Capturing crucial real-time data from things like sensors, smart appliances, security systems, wearable health meters, smart TVs, etc. and displaying them on smartphones happens in just a matter of seconds now!

No wonder why IoT app development has gained momentum recently and a host of IoT apps solution providers have emerged across the globe at a fast pace.

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Fitness Industry

Smart wearable devices like wristwatches, fitness trackers, eye glasses, etc. are a vital part of IoT solutions. They are connected to smartphones by using technologies like Bluetooth, WI-Fi, etc. They collect the biometric activity of the body and other health data. This collected data is saved and displayed on the mobile phones for monitoring health progress.

Let’s consider an example. A new-age IoT-based fitness app developed by Biz4Solutions, an established mobile app development company in Texas, monitors the heart rate, blood glucose, activity, meal plan and BMI using a simple wearable device. Users can also set a reminder for any of their medicines in this app. Thus, users can monitor their health and remain aware of any abnormalities in health conditions.

Healthcare Domain

In hospitals and clinics, several medical devices are connected with sensors that fetch the health data from patients and transmits it to the dedicated healthcare mobile apps for chronic disease management, preventive and predictive care, etc. These devices collect critical health data continually in real-time and also saves it in the EMRs (Electronic Medical Records). This not only helps the physicians to monitor patient health for providing a superior care experience but also streamlines the internal workflows.

Such apps are used for remote clinical monitoring as well. These are especially helpful for older patients or bedridden patients who cannot visit the hospitals frequently. This captured health data is visible on physician’s phones too. Physicians can thus be informed about any threatening medical conditions of the patients and take proactive steps to save their lives.

Transportation and Logistics Sector

IoT-enabled mobile apps have significantly benefitted this industry more than any other sector. IoT devices collect vital data related to vehicle health, location of the vehicle, traffic conditions, load on the trucks, driver behavior, traffic routes, bad weather issues, condition of goods, etc. and this data is sent to smartphones of fleet owners or concerned managers through dedicated mobile apps. All such insights improve the overall efficiency of the transportation and logistics business.

For instance, one of the renowned IoT-based mobile apps is AppWeigh, developed by Biz4Solutions, a web, and mobile app development company. The sensors attached to the tires of trucks calculate the real-time load on them and send the updates to the managers or owners on their smartphones. This transparency and real-time visibility help the owners to ensure the safe and legal loading of the cargo.

Retail Industry

Crafting an ultimate customer experience is the sole aim of the retail industry and IoT-based mobile apps are best suited for this. These apps enable personalized communications with customers based on the data collected through sensors and other IoT solutions like RFID inventory tracking chips, digital signage, Wi-Fi tracking systems, etc. Other benefits include the following:

proactive response to the customers’ needs and product delivery status

inventory and warehouse management

predictive maintenance of equipment

supply chain optimization

optimized product usage

monitoring and predicting in-store wait times

innovating experiences in the store

using wearable devices for loyalty programs

Concluding View:

The scope for the mobile apps leveraging the IoT solutions is gigantic. In almost all the industrial sectors, such apps are proving to be the game-changers in the business. Such apps have several other benefits like better integration with other technologies, easy customization options, greater security, etc. If you want to boost your profitability and get a competitive edge to your company, you must integrate smart IoT solutions with your mobile app.

Do you also want to have an IoT-based mobile app for your company?

We are an IoT app development company providing forward-thinking IoT-based mobile app solutions to clients across the globe. We are based in Texas and have a rich experience of more than 8 years in this arena.

#IoT app development company #IoT apps solution providers #IoT app development

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writerspink · 8 years

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Basic Topics

Food

cook bread cake pie noodles pasta eggs meat milk cheese oil chocolate chips cookies crackers treats snacks muffin rolls biscuit cupcake brownies bagel biscotti French fries sandwich hamburger salad meatloaf breakfast lunch super dinner snack fruit juice soda pop tea coffee wine beer

Outdoors

snow rain wind sunny cloudy tornado hurricane hail ice freeze thaw hot cold earthquake sand mud dirt dust mountain river lake sea ocean valley plain field park sidewalk fresh air camping campfire barbecue picnick

Animals

cow donkey horse rabbit dragonfly deer squid kangaroo bear wolf chipmunk squirrel dog fox cat pheasant brontosaurus mouse eagle clam parrot crow duck cricket swan housefly pterodactyl goose chicken oyster turkey sheep goat hummingbird raptor owl eel hornet zebra bird mosquito whale cougar shrimp elephant lion bee pigeon gazelle cheetah hippopotamus fish tiger gecko grasshopper rhinoceros walrus octopus otter spider jellyfish penguin falcon snake rat crab leopard T-Rex dolphin orca lizard shark hawk giraffe dinosaur starfish snail

Clothes

hat gloves scarf coat trench coat rain coat umbrella shirt pants shorts underwear vest sweater sweat shirt sweat pants sweat suit jogging suit boots shoes sandles slippers swimming suit suit dress skirt blouse hood hoodie fedora flat cap fedora polo shirt dress shirt T-shirt tank top muscle shirt blazer tuxedo cufflinks necklace bracelet earring

Home

house garage workshop window door screen wall floor ceiling kitchen bathroom living room bedroom window door garbage trash can clean wash rinse mob broom washcloth sink shower bath soap toilet toothbrush towel curtain bed blanket pillow bed sheets table chair bench knife fork spoon plate cup bowl water glass bottle cutting board rolling pin toaster blender stove oven fry pan wok pot kettle baking sheet crock pot coffee maker dish washer refrigerator freezer cellar pantry cupboard counter top cabinet closet toybox chest wardrobe vanity coat rack stand sofa couch love seat coffee table footstool ottoman recliner

Office & School

desk computer phone tablet printer clock watch memo note pencil pen ink eraser glue paper clip stapler rubber band sharpen dull shavings shred ruler protractor compass classroom pencil holder calendar pin board thumb tack desk lamp board room whiteboard blackboard conference table manager supervisor teacher principal team & teammates classmates employee student project assignment study work learn correct edit fix repair update upgrade install enroll graduate finish late on time communicate network energy electricity announcement speakers PA system (public announcement) public private corporation company school district industrial park factory building commerce money market

Roads

car truck motorcycle semi truck pickup truck sport car sedan coup scooter dirt bike bicycle BMX bike skates skateboard helmet seat belt air bag crash collision fender bender ticket parking lot speed limit lane highway onramp expressway freeway toll road bridge overpass underpass train tracks railroad train station bus stop yield distance limousine chauffeur driver taxi tour guide travel

Farm & Garden

barn tractor trailer crops harvest irrigation pesticide herbicide weed-killer fertilizer lawn mower bumper crop hay loft straw alfalfa pasture horse fence gate work gloves planting watering weeding trimming trowel plow hoe rake shovel pruning shears hedge trimmer watering can hose hose butler hose reel hose trolley spigot nozzle sprinkler turret sprinkler spray gun rain barrel rain gauge wood chips seeds blossom pollen silo grainery grain elevator cheesecloth cheese curd dairy butcher cellar canned vegetables frost dew perennial annual tulip bulb rose garden walled garden shrubbery

Sports

baseball basketball football soccer lacrosse golf tennis badminton swimming hockey bat glove mitt hoop basket net goal cleats shin guards pads jersey baseball cap court racket pool referee coach team manager stadium arena referee guard forward pitcher catcher offense defense goalie umpire puck penalty disc frisbee quarterback fowl pitch tee-off green rough course field flag boundary out of bounds clock period inning half quarter round match set play (a football play) line sponsor spectator stands bleachers nose-bleed section admission season playoffs tickets finals halftime

Music

piano clarinet oboe bassoon saxophone French horn trumpet trombone tuba flute percussion drum snare tympani bell chimes harp synthesizer instrument sampling director symphony orchestra band marching band parade color guard cadence harmony melody counter melody solo duet quartet march concerto composer tempo beat dynamics volume drum major field commander captain genre jazz blues pop rock n’ roll big band dixieland waltz tango alternative boogie woogie ragtime classical baroque romance medieval pentatonic scale Major minor harmonic

Cyberspace

computer monitor tablet stylus writing tablet touchscreen smartphone mouse keyboard battery power cord cable display desktop wallpaper firmware software application (app) app store runtime environment operating system kernel motherboard integrated circuit transistor processor processor core central processing unit (CPU) graphics processing unit (GPU) random access memory (RAM) read only memory (ROM) user account website profile page Internet web page homepage dependency software stack markup language scripting language cascading style sheet (CSS) hypertext markup language (HTML) database structured query language (SQL) universal resource identifier (URI) (https://write.pink/vocab) universal resource locator (URL) (https://write.pink) web address texting global positioning system (GPS) geolocation temp file directory structure file system email web application blog (weblog) content management system (CMS) human resource management (HRM) customer relations management (CRM) enterprise resource planning (ERP) personal information management (PIM) words per minute (WPM) social media multimedia terminal command line console client server client side language server side language legacy version version history product road map scope creep bug report feature request install update upgrade beta security malware virus spyware cookie meta data content menu navigation heading header footer article post tag search engine web crawler contacts share embed log error message runlevel priority foreground background radio select checkbox dropdown select text field encrypt certificate session web browser desktop application email client

Hospitality

reservation checkin checkout key deposit hotel motel hostel resort bead & breakfast cruise ship country club waiter waitress server maître d’hôtel concierge host butler bus boy bell hop kitchen crew dish crew chef assistant menu chef’s surprise soup of the day cup of joe appetizer soup & salad main course side dish dessert bread basket pitcher order make ticket make line make table make time delivery time serving tray goblet water glass pilsner glass martini glass shot glass wine glass soda fountain on tap deli deli cut tip / gratuity buffet all you can eat take out doggy bag delivery refill silverware napkin place setting cost per plate guest linens dining room floor bedding double bed queen size bed king size bed twin beds room service wake up call bar bar stool high boy bartender barista clerk open shop close shop “we’re all out” first in first out first in last out last in first out cost of sales five star three star

Travel

navigation driving directions baggage luggage carry-on hand-baggage check in checked baggage baggage claim ticket pass boarding pass departure arrival departure time travel time arrival time estimated time of departure (ETD) estimated time of arrival (ETA) delay on time commute journey embark boarding disembark boarding gate departure gate time table service counter first class business class economy class premium economy frequent flier membership card priority boarding priority seating lounge pass call button flotation device evacuation instructions bulkhead cabin wings air pressure altitude tunnel crash landing splash landing touchdown splashdown turbulence in-flight meal in-flight entertainment airplane mode stow dinner tray reading lamp climate control overhead compartment seat number isle seat window seat dining car sleeper car truck stop weigh station fuel station gas station petrol station passengers crew captain pilot copilot navigator conductor flight attendant helm deck terminal dock ferry plane ship airline cruise ship train bus subway space shuttle transporter beam flying saucer teleportation warp drive hyperdrive hyperspace supersonic lightspeed nautical mile time zone

Dinning Out

Dress

“dressy” festive casual jeans and tie dress pants and tie suit and tie three piece suit dress shirt nice shirt nice T shirt old shirt old T shirt jeans nice jeans rockstar jeans stone washed jeans blazer vest dress short nice shorts jean shorts skirt blouse dress high heels dress shoes slippers loafers sandals sneakers casual shoes [sport] shoes wingtip shoes

orange soda grape soda red soda cola Dr. Pepper lemon lime root beer ginger ale cream soda bread basket sub sandwich fruit platter cole slaw burrito taco nachos melon lemonade snacks popcorn hot dog chips

Camping

camper trailer mobile home campfire fire pit firewood kindling starter fluid charcoal coals ashes marshmallow s’mores graham crackers hot dog roast hot dog bun condiments relish ketchup mustard paper plate disposable silverware tin foil dinner wrap foil wrapped dinner grill barbecue cookout roasting stick campground toiletries bath house dump station park service park ranger national park state park county park city park recreation off road vehicle recreational vehicle speed boat water skiing wake boarding beach sand dune mountain climbing hiking walking stick mosquito net insect repellent tent tarp AstroTurf picnic table lawn chairs lantern kerosene sing-along

Construction

scaffold nails hammer sledgehammer jackhammer allen wrench screws screwdriver torques head Phillips head straight edge concrete flexcrete cement mortar bricks foundation chimbney threshold partition fire escape story loft lean-to foundation basement construction crew construction site building code building permit detour road construction earth moving equipment shovel rake bulldozer backhoe dumptruck studds drywall log cabin blueprints I-beam welding molding trim work framing carpeting tiling tile floor grout trowel hardhat work gloves safety glasses safety goggles face mask plaster paintbrush pain roller paint can paint can opener paint thinner wallpaper window frame door frame hinge deadbolt lock electric outlet breaker switch breaker box fuse box pluming faucet pipe drain septic tank septic system drain field landscaping survey crew land surveying acre shelf awning tarp fence rebar power grid power lines power transformer electrical pole wiring linoleum formica veneer lumber particle board plywood sandpaper palm sander belt sander saw horse table saw band saw jig saw radial arm saw drill press lathe C-clamp wood glue wood putty wood stain varnish lacquer

Basic Topics was originally published on PinkWrite

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