#very good impulse purchase that was planned months in advance

[emmaspolaroid]

vent art?

[rafi420]

Current situation of merchants: Have small and medium-sized merchants really counterattacked?

Compared with last year, the popularity of 618 has picked up, but only in relative terms.

As of press time, the number of views and discussions on topics tagged #618# on Weibo HE Tuber were 3.34 billion and 6.542 million respectively. The views of other topics such as and #618savings guide# were all below 1 billion. Since the launch of 618, topics related to 618 have rarely been on the hot searches, which cannot be compared with the national shopping spree at its peak.

Why not be crazy about 618 anymore? In addition to commonplace issues such as live streaming e-commerce, tens of billions of subsidies that have weakened the low-price advantage of 618, and the poor economic environment, senior "hand-picking parties" have other considerations.

On Double 11 last year, Zixin, who was preparing to move, had an unprecedented desire to buy: from large appliances to sofas, to daily kitchen and bathroom supplies, to succulents and small ornaments for decoration. In order to maximize the benefits of the platform and merchants, she started to make strategies one month in advance. Not only did she compare the prices of various platforms, she also considered whether to open a JD Plus membership in advance.

All this preparation was not in vain. Zixin finally purchased 14 items including a Wanhe electric water heater and a small three-person fabric sofa. The platform's coupons and merchant subsidies provided a total discount of more than 2,000 yuan.

"Anyway, compared with the price before Double 11, I saved 2,113 yuan. I can't say whether the calculations of the platform and merchants are tricky, but I am still very happy to see this number, because I have never been so serious about strategies, and I have never Ever tried to save that much money.”

However, Zixin also told the Value Research Institute that this kind of shopping behavior of spending several weeks researching strategies "cannot be repeated". She does not have many shopping plans for 618 this year. Last year’s Double 11 was a special occasion, and purchases were made out of “rigorous needs” rather than impulsive consumption or hedonic consumption.

"Spend when you need to, and save when you need to save." If you browse social platforms such as Weibo, Douban, and Xiaohongshu, you will find that there are many users who share the same consumption outlook as Zixin. Alai, a post-95s girl who has stayed up late many times to wait for Double 11 and 618, is also one of them.

On the eve of Double 11 last year, Alai finally received his quarterly bonus, which was delayed for two months and suffered a "fracture". Although it was only a meager 2,000 yuan, it was enough for her to buy seasonal clothes. Alai was also helpless when it came to buying new clothes: after changing jobs at the beginning of the year, her work schedule became irregular. In addition, she was always under a lot of pressure and needed to vent through a high-oil and high-sugar diet. Her weight increased from 47kg to 47kg in a few months. 55KG.

"I can't wear any more winter clothes, so I have to buy them... Since it's money that must be spent, we must find a suitable time to spend it.

"

Alai's company is engaged in clothing B2B supply chain incubation work, and more than 95% of its business is linked to Alibaba. When the epidemic was severe last year, small and medium-sized businesses were unable to ship goods, and the company's business was also greatly affected. After finally waiting for all the pitifully small quarterly bonus to be spent on Taobao, she could only joke to herself, "Ashes will return to dust, and the money earned from Alibaba will just be returned to Alibaba through another channel."

(Picture provided by interviewee)

In the past, 618 and Double 11 had their own magic, especially good at stimulating young people’s desire for consumption. But now, young consumers like Alai and Zixin have changed their minds: uncontrolled consumption cannot satisfy them, but when necessary, they will still seize the opportunity to spend money efficiently on major promotion festivals such as 618 and Double 11.

From this perspective, major promotion festivals such as 618 still have their own value. E-commerce platforms should realize that when users return to rational consumption, they need not only low prices, but also higher-quality logistics and after-sales service, more transparent prices, and a friendly shopping environment that no longer blindly encourages impulsive consumption.

[need-a-fugue]

Trustworthy (Chapter Two)

Summary: You’ve spent the last three years teaming up with Santiago Garcia on every mission you had a hand in coordinating… and the past several months plotting with him to take down the biggest bad to hit your radar. But even all your time at the DEA and all your experience in the field couldn’t have prepared you for this.

Pairing: Frankie “Catfish” Morales x Fem!Reader (slow burn)

Warnings: Language... shitty language. And maybe sheer size? This one’s nearly 6,000 words... I may have gotten a little carried away. 😬

It began as a drunken joke, a flippant what if…

“If no one else is gonna do it,” you’d slurred out, voice barely above a whisper despite the cantina being utterly empty aside from the two of you, “we should take the motherfucker out ourselves.”

He’d laughed at the time, and promptly cut you off before insisting on walking you home. He helped you along the uneven streets of Leticia, held back your hair as you blew chunks into a dark alley, even slept on your couch that night just to make sure you didn’t die in your sleep. That’s what he told you, anyway. But you suspected that Santiago stuck around that night because he just couldn’t get your words out of his head.

You hadn’t been so drunk that you’d failed to notice the way he went eerily silent following your seemingly ludicrous suggestion. You hadn’t been so far gone that you’d missed the sudden glint to his eyes, nor the crooked smile that wrapped around his face as you said the words, “I want Lorea dead.”

That next morning, he brought it up casually, asking – before you even had the chance to brush your teeth – if you remembered what you’d said. When you told him you remembered every part, he simply told you to go on, nodding slowly along as you dove headfirst into a painfully impulsive proposal, your words still tinged with a lingering, drunken idealism. You spilled out the disparate thoughts you’d been harboring for months, if not longer – the ones that together formed little more than the ill-conceived beginnings of a damn stupid plan – only to discover that they were precisely in line with what he’d been contemplating as well.

By the end of the week, you were introducing him to your longtime informant, a woman who’d worked for Lorea in some capacity for years. A gorgeous woman, whom you’re almost entirely certain Santi fell into bed with later that same night. And after just a few months of nearly constant off-the-record investigating – both of you becoming utterly consumed by the thought of bringing Lorea down – that crazy, ridiculous, fucked-up joke you’d made had become a highly illegal, morally questionable, might-just-get-you-fired-and-thrown-into-a-federal-prison plot for ending the reign of one of the premier drug traffickers in South America.

You’d started it. There was no denying that. You’d started the whole damn thing.

For nearly three years, you fought the good fight with Santiago Garcia down in Colombia. He was one of just a handful of people there whom you trusted. He actually was one of just a handful of people there you even really knew.

If you ever got to chose an advisor to head up a mission, he’d be it. Any raid that fell within your purview, he’d help to organize. Intel was slow in coming, CIs dropping off, bosses telling you not to leave Leticia and to remember to stay in your lane? No problem. Garcia to the rescue.

He was able to operate largely independently – unlike poor, bound-by-the-rules-and-regulations-of-the-DEA you. Local cops and the surrounding military actually liked him and never balked at bringing him in, mostly because he was more than capable of playing along with their bullshit. Hell, he was so good at it, that for the first few months you knew him, he had you convinced that he either completely bought into the very obvious corruption surrounding that Amazonian paradise, or – if he really didn’t see it – he was dumber than a fucking box of rocks.

But Santiago Garcia never missed a damn thing. And while he might have seemed to have written off the actions of certain officials or the peculiarities you both encountered, he never ignored – nor forgot – the individuals he suspected of collusion. He was just smart enough to know when to act.

You, on the other hand, well, you never were very good at not calling people out. For all your life, if you saw something that seemed funky, you’d say something… immediately. If you ever suspected someone of lying, plotting, taking bribes, just plain being dirty, you’d raise an accusing finger high. Hell, that’s the main reason you got sent down to that southernmost point of the country, transferred away from what you saw as being the real goings-on, to simply help keep an eye on the drug runs taking place at the border.

Santiago taught you to quell your initial reactions of raising a stink when you believed something was amiss. He urged you to stop seeing the word in a never-ending list of black and white rules. He showed you how to keep from boiling over and calling people out, a thing that undoubtably kept you from getting yourself reassigned somewhere you’d be less of a nuisance… again.

He also fed you intel, shared specifics of his suspicions, and helped get you into military-run raids where DEA might otherwise have been shut out. And in the time in between – when you would normally just stalk around your small apartment all alone or perhaps stalk about the city… also all alone – he provided friendship, that not-so-tiny thing you’d been lacking ever since getting transferred from your post and away from the workmates and friends you’d had for years in Mexico.

He was fun and sharp-witted and outgoing, eager to make friends with just about anyone. He invited you out for drinks, dancing, into local card games. And though you often wondered why – did he feel sorry for you because the local police and military alike treated you like a damn leper? Was he trying to show others that you were alright, despite being a gringa DEA agent? Did he simply want to fuck you? – you’d be lying if you were to say that you didn’t feel damn lucky he’d stumbled into your life and forced his friendship upon you.

And how did you repay him? For all of the invites he’d extended, all the drinks purchased, all the intel he threw your way, all the military-run raids he somehow managed to get you in on? All of the trust and faith he invested in you?

You’d set him on a path to ruin.

000

The bar was much larger than you’d anticipated, the quick drive-by you did on your way to the motel earlier this afternoon making the freestanding structure – out in the middle of nowhere, like everything else in this Bumblefuck, USA town – appear small. Maybe it was because the massive parking lot dwarfed it. Maybe it was because you were only half awake, at best, and just didn’t notice the size of the place. Maybe it was because Santiago drove past it at 65 miles per hour, alerting you to it – that’s where we’ll meet up tonight – just as you flew by, allowing little more than a meager glimpse.

Regardless, you expected… less.

But the place is huge. There are two bars on either side of the sprawling building and tables flanking the wide-open center, which you could only imagine would at some point be flooded with drunken townies, eager to dance the night away.

When you first arrived – well over an hour ago – it had been just you and a handful of incredibly loud bros populating the place. You took off for the far bar, ordered yourself a drink, and slinked into a large table in a dark corner, eager to remain invisible until Santi arrived with his friends… his crack team. But – just as you’d come to expect from Garcia – he was nearly an hour late, and by the time he and his brothers-in-arms strolled in, you’d already been spotted by the douchebags at the bar and had to fight off the advances of two separate assholes, each of whom only approached you when making their way back from the bathroom.

“I’m sorry, bonita,” Santiago had proclaimed with a wide smile and a not-at-all-stifled laugh after you told him of your troubles. He turned to face the group of strangers at the bar, caught the glares of a few of them, and shouted over a simple dictate to, “Fuck off!”

And that had been the cap to your introduction to your new co-workers. They strode in, all smiles and laughter and blooming drunken glows, coming from what must have been a great fight night, undoubtably made all the better by being together once again, only to be forced to shake hands with you… a jetlagged stranger, washed out in the low light, obviously frazzled by having a guy fresh from the men’s room – who probably didn’t even bother to wash his hands – wrap an arm around your shoulder and tell you that the bathroom door locks… in case you wanted to check it out with him later.

They took your uncomfortable story in stride, exchanging pleasantries and apologizing again for their tardiness – well, Will apologized at least – before grabbing some drinks and then plopping down at the isolated table you’d chosen.

For a bit, the group of them just talk to one another, tying up loose ends to the conversations they’d been having before arriving. You catch snippets of nah, man, she’s gone… didn’t work out and do you have any idea how expensive kids’ soccer is? as their conversation flows around you, seemingly oblivious to your existence. For those first ten minutes or so – save Santiago’s paltry threat shouted across the bar and Benny’s rather flirtatious introduction – the whole team settles in around you and acts as though you aren’t even here at all.

The only exception during this time is the pilot, Frankie Morales – had Santi called him Fish? He keeps quiet as the others speak, cracking a smile at their comments every now and then, but mostly nursing his beer and awkwardly picking at the label in silence. Every so often, he steals a glance over at you, as if to say, yeah, I know you’re here. His eyes are warm and friendly despite the otherwise utterly unreadable expression planted on his face.

Maybe you’re simply intrigued by the fact that he’s the only one actively acknowledging your presence, or it could be that you’re just rather curious to figure out what his placid expression is hiding. Or perhaps you’re merely a fan of the subtle beauty that his sharp profile paints on the background of the dark, seedy bar. Whatever the reason, you find yourself not just staring but gazing at the man long after he looks away.

“So, shoot me straight,” Will says suddenly, nudging your shoulder and tearing into your thoughts as he turns to face you. Your eyes bounce wildly away from Frankie’s face, a heat creeping up your neck as you light on the patient smile of the man next to you. “That file… it’s your work, right?”

“Hey,” Santiago scoffs from across the table, leaning over to backhand his friend in the chest. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Will’s face cracks and a deep rumble of a laugh spills out of him as he bites out, “It’s good work. Too good to come from your sorry ass.”

Santi scoffs, his hand flying to his heart with a wounded quality. You simply shrug, small smirk perking your lips as you feel some of the initial tension of the gathering – and the strange concern that you might actually have somehow become invisible – finally start to lift. “He helped,” you say, tone coy.

“Oh, c’mon,” Santiago gripes, giving you a slightly irritated, definitely amused look. “Half that intel came from me. The PNC, Colombian military, they barely even acknowledge you’re there.”

You interrupt with a snort and a scathing, “Yeah… it’s really fucking annoying when people do that,” before choking down the rest of your beer.

If he understands the jibe about your current situation, he doesn’t let on, instead pushing his point that, “None of them would’ve given you jack shit.”

“And the one informant who actually got all this started?” you counter, accusing brow raised high. “Who’s informant was that?”

His face begins to blush, just a bit of redness seeping into his cheeks, as he reaches out to grab your empty bottle. “She was mine in the end,” he mutters, shoving back from the table and rising from his stool. “I’ll get the next round.”

“Yeah,” you call out after him. “You owe me more than just a beer for stealing my CI!”

“I’ll get you a shot too!” he throws over his shoulder, never looking back as he makes his way to the bar.

You turn back to the men surrounding you, each of them now eyeing you warily, and a part of you wants to go back to when they ignored your presence entirely. Tom – what did Santiago call him? Redfly? – is the first to break the awkward silence, ticking his chin in your direction. “So,” he starts before pulling a long breath in through his nose. “DEA.” He overenunciates each letter and states rather than questions your affiliation, despite there being an inquisitive – or is it accusing? – glint to his eye.

“Yeah,” you say with a lingering nod. “Yep. DEA.”

“They teach you about this kind of thing?” Will asks, his drawl deep and languid. You turn to look at him, the imposing man by your side, and feel your shoulders tighten all over again when you see that the stern expression he had worn when first shaking your hand has returned. But then something lightens, the corner of his mouth ticking up just a bit, his gaze softening as your eyes meet. You’re certain that he can sense the rise in tension, understands with just a glimpse of your face that you’re way out of your element here. Intimidated. Nervous. And while the softening of his countenance doesn’t wipe away your anxiety completely, you do at least appreciate the attempt.

Ben, the tall, younger man flanking your other side, must notice the unease building up inside you too. He leans in and bops you with his shoulder, a light, buoyant laugh bursting out of him. “Aw, hell,” he emits breathily. “Leave her alone. If Pope trusts her, she’s got to be good.”

“Not saying she’s not good,” Will intones, shooting you a quick wink that, oddly, really does manage to set you at ease. “Just wondering how much experience she has with ops like this.” His eyes start to sparkle as they lock onto yours once again. “So, sweetheart, you ever pull a recon mission deep in the jungle?”

You offer an evasive shrug and release a tightly held breath. “I got lost in a corn maze once. Had to find my way out on my own. Probably would’ve starved in there if I hadn’t had the presence of mind to bring a funnel cake in with me.”

On your left, Ben snorts out another laugh, and across the table you see Frankie try to maintain that straight, impassive face. But Will’s deadpan expression doesn’t shift in the least. “Well,” he says with a sigh, bringing his nearly empty beer bottle up to his lips. “I guess that is pretty damn close.”

“Ha, ha,” Tom mocks. He waits to go on until you look his way, and once you do he levels you with what can only be described as a fatherly stare – oddly disappointed and imploring, stern and warm all at the same time. “We’re all very glad to hear that you have a sense of humor.”

“Very glad,” Ben interjects with a wide grin.

“But,” he continues, “You’re not gonna go in there and be part of this unless you can convince us that you’re capable.”

Santiago’s voice cuts in then, sounding over the clink of beer bottles as he lays out the next round on the table. “She’s capable,” he states simply before sliding back into his seat next to Frankie. “We’ve been on…” he glances over at you, “how many raids now?”

“At least a dozen,” you answer.

He gives a firm nod and lets his eyes drift between the men at the table. “She’s done good every time. Stays outta the way, does what she’s told.”

Your brow wrinkles and tugs tightly together, deep frown taking over your face. “Jesus, Garcia. I’m not a fucking dog.” He gives a quick laugh, but says nothing, prompting you to defend yourself. “I’ve worked with military advisors for years. Most of my career has been spent working alongside foreign armies and police forces. I’m not just some kind of desk jockey, I promise you that.”

“This is different.” The words flow across the table, the deep rumble sliding just beneath the reverberating bass coming from the jukebox in the corner. You look up and lock onto Frankie’s eyes, note immediately the hesitancy building behind them. He raises his brows as he looks at you, almost into you, and says simply, “This isn’t a raid. This isn’t some amateur hour bullshit put on by the local cops. And you won’t have the military or CNP or the US government at your back if something goes wrong.”

You nod, wanting – for some inexplicable reason – to pull your gaze from him, but finding that you just can’t. “I know. I get that.”

“Do you?”

Santiago gives his friend a little shove, just enough to cause him to look his way, breaking the odd hold he has over you. “She’s a good shot,” he tells him, tells all of them. “And she’s done enough undercover work for me to know that she sure as shit can keep her head.” He looks over at you again – “I still don’t know how you managed to get out of that shit in the comuna last year.” – and then gives a wry little laugh as his head shakes absently.

“Alright,” Tom mutters just as he slams down an empty bottle and reaches over to grab a new one. “She follows orders and keeps her cool… at least we can work with that.”

Benny nudges you with his elbow and when you look up at him you’re met with the widest, sunniest of smiles – never mind the deep split in his lip from the fight that he claims to have won just a few hours prior. “Hear that? That’s just about the best kind of approval you’ll ever get from Redfly.”

“Approval?” Tom shoots across the table. His voice drops an octave as he aims a serious stare over at you. “I’m still not convinced that we can actually trust you.”

“Jesus,” Santi breathes out with an annoyed air. “You really think I’d bring her here… hell, you think I’d have put all this together with her if I didn’t think – know – that she can be trusted?”

He shrugs. “You haven’t really known her that long,” he mutters thickly, his expression slipping back into something wary as he folds his arms across his broad chest and falls into a speculative silence as he mulls over his friend’s words.

You watch him closely, trying to discern what exactly he’s thinking. But long before you’re able to draw any sort of conclusion, Benny bumps you with his shoulder again and says simply, “Don’t worry about it, darlin’. He’s onboard.”

There’s a part of you that balks at the darlin’, just as you had almost called Will out on his use of sweetheart. But the truth is – both times – the names are uttered with a casual, even reassuring, cadence that you’re certain holds no demeaning intent. And you’ve been in enough male-dominated circles over the years to be able to discern at least that much. Even the way Ben’s looking at you now – genuine grin and kind eyes – seems to hold no innuendo. So you let it slide.

“How long did it take him to trust you?” you ask, the tension in your shoulders lifting when a throaty chuckle bubbles out of him.

“Oh, I don’t know that he does. I don’t know if Tom really trusts anyone.”

A snort of a laugh rings from the other end of the table, surprisingly coming from the Doubting Thomas himself. “You’re so full of shit,” he mumbles as he sits back upright and grabs his beer. He takes a giant swig and tacks on for good measure, “Besides, nothing wrong with being… cautious. My being – ”

“A distrustful prick,” Santiago interjects brazenly.

“Whatever you want to call it,” he counters with a faux-saccharine lilt. “It’s saved all your asses more than a time or two. Hasn’t it?”

There’s a quick round of almost wistful snickers from nearly all the men, each seeming to light onto a particular memory, their gazes faltering and ticking briefly off towards nothing. The exception is Frankie, who simply stares down at the battered beer bottle in front of him, sticker half peeled off and clinging to his fingernails as he continues to work at it with a frown. “What about this informant of yours,” he says, low voice slicing into the newfound silence. He shifts nervous eyes over to the man at his right. “You’re sure she can be trusted?”

Without hesitation, Santiago nods. “I’m sure of it. And besides, we’re not basing all of this just on her word. You read the file, right?” He glances over at you and ticks his chin in your direction. “We checked it out. We’ve been out there enough to get a lay of the land. We’ve seen the deliveries of cash coming in… and not going back out.”

Will speaks next, his words soft and slow. “Could all be a setup… a giant, well-planned setup.”

You shake your head. “No. No, it’s legit.” Five sets of eyes turn to you, drilling into you for something more substantial. But the truth is, all that you have is in that file. And, yeah, it could be an elaborate setup. Or – more likely than that – just a really, really bad idea. But your gut says it’s neither. Your gut says that this whole damn thing is the only way to put an end to Lorea’s ever-growing cartel.

Tom’s eyes narrow at you once again, suspicion still lingering in his glare. “How’d this all happen, huh? How’d you even get involved with this… this shit-brain scheme?” he asks before the serious countenance begins to crack and he blows out a harsh chuckle. “How’d Pope sucker you into all this?”

Santiago answers before you get a chance to even open your mouth. “I didn’t sucker anybody into anything. And I don’t use the same callsign down there, so…”

Your eyes flash over to meet his, face splitting into an insolent grin. “Pope…” you mutter, popping the p at the end. “How exactly did you get that name, anyway?”

He rolls his eyes. “You don’t need to know.”

“He spent his first firefight hailing Mary through the coms,” Will chimes in with a teasing lilt. “All damn night.”

“I was nineteen.” He defends… almost whines. “You wanna tell her how you got Ironhead?”

He shrugs and takes another pull of his beer. “I’m not embarrassed.”

Frankie smirks from the other side of the table as he issues out under his breath, “You should be.”

Your eyes bounce eagerly back and forth between the men, silently pleading for someone to tell you the story of Will’s ridiculous moniker. But it seems that you’ve once again gone invisible.

“Hey, he held that record for a solid decade,” Benny mutters beside you. “And I’m pretty sure that dipshit, MacCovey, cheated to take the title.”

“How can you cheat at that?” Frankie asks with an incredulous laugh.

“He cheated.”

“Cheated at what?” you blurt out, eager to just hear the tale. “Ironhead’s a title? With a record? For what?”

Will pivots in his seat, flashing you a smug grin as he rather haughtily announces, “Record for the most concussions sustained during basic training. And no one can take Ironhead away from me… especially not some hardheaded kid from freaking New York.”

“How do you know he was from New York?” Santi asks.

Frankie cocks his head at his friend too. “You met him?”

“Didn’t he die?” Tom interjects, confusion suddenly weaving through the lot of them.

“Did he?” Will asks. “Shit, guess he wasn’t that hardheaded after all.”

Benny leans forward to address them all. “He didn’t die. Just lost a leg. Roadside bomb.”

“Shit,” his brother repeats solemnly.

“Was supposed to be his last tour too. Well, guess it still was.” He looks down for a somber beat before lighting on Frankie. “And I heard that he never actually hit his head when he fell off that tower, so… cheated.”

Throughout all of the back and forth, you just sit, eyes wide, expression both amused and deeply concerned. “Jesus,” you finally breathe out once everyone falls quite. You turn to Will, look a little closer at him as though you might be able to discern some of the damage done so many years ago. “Are you… okay?”

He lets out a hearty laugh and raps his knuckles on his skull. “Nothing to worry about here,” he tells you with a wide smile. “Ironhead, remember?”

Tom snorts and shakes his head skeptically. “Tune’ll change when that CTE shit kicks in… start wandering around the neighborhood, talking to yourself, picking fights with people in grocery stores.” He stops short and flashes a shit-eating grin. “Oh wait…”

The joke – if there even really is one – is lost on you. But Will must get it, because his face flashes in irritation, a mere, “Very funny,” falling from his lips as he brings his beer bottle up to meet them.

You let out a sigh – “I’m confused.” – and choose to ignore Tom in favor of getting more of the story from Ironhead himself. “Did you get concussions on purpose? Why does this seem to be some kind of source of pride?”

“It wasn’t on purpose…”

“What about that full can of soup you tried to crush on your head?” Frankie interjects with a raised brow.

“Yeah, alright, there was that one,” he concedes.

Your forehead furrows deeper. “If you were always getting hurt, why didn’t they call you something like, Falls-a-Lot or Unlucky Charms or just Blockhead?”

He stares at you for a long moment, face hardening into a stoic set. “Wasn’t Tom asking how you got yourself into all this? Wasn’t that what we were talking about?”

You offer a nonchalant shrug. “Don’t think we were really talking about it…”

“She basically started it,” Santiago states simply. “I mean, I was in the minute she brought it up, completely in. But it was her shit-brained scheme from the get-go.”

“Really?” Tom smarts, skeptical look once again riding his face as he takes a pull from his beer.

“Look,” you begin, tone painfully sincere, “I’ve been on the losing end of this battle for years. And the people down there, the families… the kids he recruits…” You stop for a beat and slowly, bitterly shake your head. “Lorea, and all the others like him… It’s their turn to lose.”

Tom nods, his gaze never breaking from yours. “You do realize you sound just like him,” he mutters, ticking his chin towards Santi. “Seriously,” he begins, stare serious, but tone glib. “Did you two hatch this crazy little plan together in bed?”

You glance over at Garcia, quickly taking note of the burning blush creeping up his neck as he hides beneath his baseball cap and tries not to laugh. Then, on their way back to Tom, your eyes light on Frankie. He too is ducking his head. But he doesn’t seem to be laughing like the others. Rather, from what you can make out beneath the shadow of his hat, he looks… embarrassed. No. Dejected.

Your heart skips a beat and you blurt out suddenly, “We’re not sleeping together,” a little too loudly to come across as anything other than agonizingly defensive. The laughter intensifies and you clear your throat before going on to say, “Garcia’s usually too busy fucking his informants to ever even think of giving me the time of day.”

Benny just about loses it, his body pulsating with fits of giggles as he leans back a bit and reaches out to give you a high five. You oblige, a small, crooked smile tugging at the corner of your mouth as you see Santiago shift across from you. He peers at you from beneath the ballcap, eyes dark and smile wide as he says, voice deep and honeyed, “Oh, bonita, trust me, I’ve thought about it.”

You roll your eyes and tip back the nearly empty bottle to your lips, draining the last dregs of your beer before rising and stating, “I’ll get the next round… as long you guys promise to do nothing but regale me with embarrassing stories about Pope for the rest of the night.”

000

Jetlag. It’s something you’ve experienced countless times over the years, hopping from place to place, office to outpost to field. And yet you’ve never really managed to get used to it, the bone-deep fatigue kicking your ass after each and every trip you’ve ever taken. A full day of travel, and now a full night of drinking, and by the time the lot of you stumble out of the bar, you’re barely able to put one foot in front of the other.

“Lightweight, huh?” Benny jokes as he pushes past you on the way to his car.

You grumble under your breath, something akin to, shut the fuck up, though your words aren’t all that put together right now either. But Ben doesn’t hear any of it anyway, he’s already giving his brother an unforgiving shove in the nearly empty parking lot and laughing maniacally as he dodges the lazy retaliatory punch.

“Don’t mind him,” Frankie mutters from behind you. You stop and turn, squinting through the harsh halogen light piercing your eyes as you look up at him. He notices the pained grimace you give and lets out a light chuckle as he takes your elbow and swings you back around to lead you to the car. “You seem more tired than drunk to me,” he says with a lilt as he easily slips his arm beneath yours for a little extra support.

Without thinking, you let your head tip to the side and rest on his shoulder. “Soooo tired,” you bemoan. A deep rumble of a laugh pulls from Frankie’s chest, reverberates up and through his entire body so that you feel it vibrate into you. It makes you smile. It makes you tuck yourself in a little closer. You stumble a bit, your toe catching on a crack in the pavement, and before you can even think to right yourself, his arm pulls away and reaches around, the warmth of his hand splaying across your hip as he steadies you. “Maybe a little drunk too,” you admit with a sigh.

If he thinks it’s odd that you’ve burrowed so close to him, or if he’s the least bit uncomfortable with your fingers now clinging to the back of his shirt, or if he’s irritated at having to slow to a crawl to help you to Santiago’s car, he doesn’t show it. Instead he easily slows his pace to match yours, giving your hip a little squeeze as he says, “Hey, sorry about earlier.”

Your shuffling stops as you pull back to look up at him with a confused frown. “You mean telling that story about Santiago’s ex? I don’t think I’m the one… to apologize…” Your brow furrows even deeper as you try to sift through what you just said, trying to determine if it makes any sense.

He lets out another low laugh, the sound quickly becoming a new favorite tune. “No. I mean about…” He hesitates for a moment, the smile slowly melting from his face. “When I was… questioning you. Whether or not you’re up for this. And, you know, whether or not you’re getting played.”

“Oh,” you bark out, far louder than intended. “Yeah, no.” You wave it off and waste no time at all – fatigue and alcohol both wiping away any embarrassment you might otherwise feel at plastering yourself up against a near stranger – falling back into him.

He chuckles again as he hikes you a bit higher and leads you over to the tiny blue rental car in the corner of the lot. “It’s just… I know you put a lot of work into gathering the intel. And I know this is… important to you. Or you wouldn’t be here. But still…”

You turn your face into his shoulder, his chest, unabashedly breathing in the musky scent from the collar of his jacket as you mumble into him, “I promise not to fuck it up. At least not too bad.”

“Hey!” Garcia calls out from the car, swinging the back door open as you two approach. “You getting handsy with my girl?”

Frankie snorts out a laugh, incredulous, almost sardonic, and not nearly as endearing as the ones that have been rumbling into you for the last however many glorious minutes it’s been. “Not your girl,” you mutter blandly. “Too risky… too many possible diseases.”

“Hilarious,” he deadpans, standing back as Frankie helps you into the car, his palm pressing gently on the back of your head to make sure you duck inside safely. “She took like five Xanax on the flight in,” he tells his friend with a snicker. “Probably shouldn’t have let her drink so much on top of that.”

“Hate flying,” you breathe out as you settle back, harshly tugging at the seatbelt to your left.

Frankie shakes his head in amusement as he watches you grow increasingly frustrated with the non-cooperative seatbelt. “How can you hate flying?” he asks, crooked smile stretching across his face.

You stop the infernal struggle and collapse back into the seat, “Fucking hate it,” coming out of you in a petulant whine.

“Alright,” he murmurs amid a snicker as he leans into the car, easily tugging the seatbelt out and reaching around to buckle you in. Your eyes droop further, slipping closed as he pulls back out of the car, fading into the night. “You guys good?” you hear him ask, the deep tenor of his voice sounding even more melodic when penetrating the dark.

“Yeah,” Santiago tells him, fatigue drowning just that single word. “We’re over at the Motor Inn. Just a few miles up. Listen, Frankie… thanks for this. Really. This…” You almost open your eyes again, want to just to see if the expression on Garcia’s face matches the earnestness in his tone. “This isn’t just a standard op, you know. To me. To her. This is… just… thanks.”

“Yeah,” he replies simply. “Well, uh… I’ll see you Thursday.”

The only other sounds you hear before slipping away entirely are the door gently closing beside you, the engine starting up in a soft roar, and Santiago muttering, seemingly to himself from the front seat, “I am not carrying your ass to bed.”

Taglist: 

@tweedlydumbtweedlydoo @icanbeyourjedi @greeneyedblondie44

[fandomsilhouette]

meet me halfway (i hope you’ll stay) part iv

Riposte, parry, advance, slay, watch the fencers fight today. Pull the mask down, keep it tight, one of them will win the fight this very night the darkness shutters, then off the butterfly will flutter onto wristbands and broken hearts, secrets and counterparts that fall apart, don’t start this fight they cannot win, for they don’t know who they have been. 

Happy @felinettenovember​, y’all! This is actually the last of the angst arc, and the last two days of the month will come towards a resolution and cathartic fluff; luckily, the nonlinear timeline means that you’ve read the character development before today’s instigating catalytic event, so we can move directly into the healing. I wrote this entirely on @musicfren​‘s support and baby cousin’s hype (she doesn’t know, but I love talking to her, it gives me so much energy to create), and I hope you feel it in the story. 

Part 1 here. Part 2 here. Part 3 here. Part 4 below. Part 5-6 coming.

Marinette splays out in the playground grass and tucks into his side, and Felix curls up around her near-protectively, except they both know which one is the dreamer, which one is the doer. Felix always argues it doesn’t make sense to assign identities so unilaterally, that both of them dream and both of them do, and Marinette scrunches her nose and says he’s ruining the aesthetic of the ideal, and that they do pick roles in contexts even if they switch later, and she yanks on her ponytail if he agitates her enough. Felix thinks it’s pretty cute and doesn’t let up until she pouts at him in that crinkled nose, scrunched eyebrows kind of way.

She’s making that face now, half annoyed, half wholeheartedly upset, tracking Chat Noir as he races gleefully across the nearby skyline.

“Not a fan of our resident alley cat?” Felix teases, bumping into her shoulder with his head. Her expression sharpens, more pronounced in its disgust, and she shakes her head against the grass until stray leaves are caught up in her hair. Felix laughs and picks them out, one by one. “Why not, then?”

“He’s a bad partner. It shows.” Marinette speaks in clipped tones and impatient, twitchy gestures, like there’s more she has to say and is tamping down the impulse, vicious and unforgiving with her own self.  

“Partnerships take two, though,” he comments idly, “It’s Ladybug’s fault just as much as his.”

Marinette is already scrambling backwards, rolling out of his arms the way she’s never done before. “What? Why would it be? Chat Noir is no hero. Chat Noir is the one who doesn’t keep his word. Chat Noir is the one who doesn’t show up, who doesn’t plan or lead or even follow. He’s a hero under his own agenda and no other, and that’s nothing more than a little boy with eyes too big for his heart and greed bigger than any akuma.” She’s panting as she comes to a stop, shocked to find herself no longer speaking, as if there was more she kept saying that never managed to make it past her vocal chords, a screeching halt directed by long earned muscle memory and desperation.

She’s pushing to her feet, agitated, pacing, so Felix stumbles up to match her. “Ladybug does too much.” He leans back against the tree they’ve been lazing under and crosses his arms to look at her.

“How could a hero possibly do too much.” It’s not a question when she asks and she makes sure he knows it.

“It’s-- Paris is going to collapse one day!”

“Of course it is!”

“So why won’t she just let it?!”

“Why would she?!”

They’re matching each other tone for tone, tomb for tomb, step for angry forward step until they manage to notice where they are, find themselves in each other’s space, crowded in by the anger and frustration.

“...she needs to let Paris crash.” Felix waits, expecting an interruption, but Marinette has settled back down onto her heels and is waiting for him to explain. “She keeps picking up all the slack, carrying a weight that’s not hers,” and at that Marinette huffs a wry agreement, so Felix feels encouraged to keep going. “And as long as she does, no one in the city is ever going to learn to bear their share of responsibility. She’s going to break under the pressure, and as long as the city isn’t prepared, they’re not going to handle it, Marinette, they’re going to break. We need to practice, we need a controlled crash, we-- we’re going to destroy ourselves because some little girl thought she needed to do everything on her own power, like some kind of control freak--”

Marinette snaps. “You would know about that, wouldn’t you! You have no idea the way--” her words dry up in her throat, and Felix crows about this evident proof that she has nothing of substance to say at all, now that she’s finding herself speechless.

“You’re right, I would know about that, because I’ve lived it, you’ve seen me! And I had to learn to fall and get back up on my own, I never stopped until everyone around me stopped cleaning up my messes all the time! And I never learned to trust anyone until I learned to let go, and I felt so. Much. Better. Ladybug should try it,” Felix adds snidely, just because he knows it’ll rile her up.

It does.

“How! How can she try it, when you fell and left a crater with a wreckage diameter the size of your personal bubble of three whole people, and had your mother and your teachers and me. Who do-- does Ladybug have, who’ll hold her hand when she scrambles back up? Hers would level the city and ripple through the country from there and there’s no one around to pick up the pieces.”

“That’s why she has to do it now!” Felix doesn’t realize he’s shouting until he is, and he doesn’t know how to stop. He wants to, he wants to, he wants to; he remembers being the kind of person who shouted and feels the pressure of all the work he’s put in to be better, live up to someone else’s standard of good, and scrabbles for purchase on this improved self.

“That’s why she can’t!” Marinette isn’t yelling. She’s heartbroken, and it’s clear across her face, and Felix cannot find the piece that makes this puzzle make sense. She’s never even been akumatized.

“You have no idea the way Ladybug has destroyed civilians.”

She recoils, struck. Her voice is quiet when she speaks. “Don’t I, though?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

And then: “Okay. You’re right, I’m sorry, please--” Marinette is reaching out for his hand, hurt and humiliated and hating the way she might lose the only support she has left. “Please don’t go.”

But Felix has remembered how much work it is to be the kind of good that someone else decides is valuable, constantly stretching and straining to clear their expectation of good, right, kind. He slips into the same scowling boy he used to be and finds an old chest of tools tucked up against a wall lined with new weapons in his arsenal of cruelty and self-protection. He takes one, and fires.

“You don’t know how to be sorry. Not about this.” He shakes her hand off and stalks away. Felix was so used to holding onto Marinette, gripping her hand or leaning on her shoulder or tucking an arm around her waist, that walking through the places they used to haunt without her feels lost, untethered, like he’s drifting through a graveyard of corpses that have yet to pass away. It feels like he’s come home.

Ladybug spends the night on rooftops, avoiding streetlights and windowsills and her own tempestuous thoughts, trying to flee faster than the burnout can catch up to her and make its home in her body, swinging from one place to another hoping to catch enough height to clear the bar for a city’s expectation to be good, right, kind. The city’s expectations to be a hero, just like she’s always lived up to, always will so long as there’s nothing below her to fall onto. So long as there’s something left to lose.

They don’t look at each other for a week, and avoid each other altogether when cold winter falls and they settle into break. 

[2istoliver]

The Era of Misinformation Is Here To Stay

[Article extrated from THE INTERPRETER - THE NEW YORK TIMES]

By Max Fisher & Amanda Taub

This week alone, there’s a decent chance you’ve had at least one of these rumors, all false, relayed to you as fact: that President Biden plans to force Americans to eat less meat, that Virginia is eliminating advanced math in schools as part of a scheme to advance racial equality, and that border officials have been mass-purchasing copies of Vice President Kamala Harris’s book to hand out to refugee children.

All were amplified by partisan actors. But you’re just as likely, if not more so, to have heard it relayed from someone you know. And you may have noticed that these cycles of falsehood-fueled outrage keep recurring.

We are in an era of endemic misinformation — and outright disinformation. Plenty of bad actors are helping the trend along. But the real drivers, some experts believe, are social and psychological forces that make people prone to sharing and believing misinformation in the first place — and those forces are only on the rise.

“Why are misperceptions about contentious issues in politics and science seemingly so persistent and difficult to correct?” Brendan Nyhan, a Dartmouth College political scientist, poses in a new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

It’s not for want of good information, which is ubiquitous. Exposure to good information does not reliably instill accurate beliefs anyway. Rather, Dr. Nyhan writes, a growing body of evidence suggests that the ultimate culprits are “cognitive and memory limitations, directional motivations to defend or support some group identity or existing belief, and messages from other people and political elites.”

Put more simply, people become more prone to misinformation when three things happen. First, and perhaps most important, when conditions in society make people feel a greater need for what social scientists call ingrouping: a belief that their social identity is a source of strength and superiority, and that other groups can be blamed for their problems.

As much as we like to think of ourselves as rational beings who put truth-seeking above all else, we are social animals wired for survival. In times of perceived conflict or social change, we seek security in groups. And that makes us eager to consume information, true or not, that lets us see the world as a conflict putting our righteous ingroup against a nefarious outgroup.

This need can emerge especially out of a sense of social destabilization. As a result, misinformation is often prevalent among communities that feel destabilized by unwanted change or, in the case of some minorities, powerless in the face of dominant forces.

If you are, say, a conservative American who feels a sense of lost control amid the pandemic and Mr. Trump’s election loss, then misinformation reframing it all as a grand conflict between patriotic true Americans and scheming social justice warriors can feel enormously reassuring.

It’s why perhaps the greatest culprit of our era of misinformation may be, more than any one particular misinformer, the era-defining rise in social polarization.

“At the mass level, greater partisan divisions in social identity are generating intense hostility toward opposition partisans,” which has “seemingly increased the political system’s vulnerability to partisan misinformation,” Dr. Nyhan wrote in an earlier paper.

Growing hostility between the two halves of America feeds social distrust, which makes people more prone to rumor and falsehood. It also makes people cling much more tightly to their partisan identities. And once our brains switch into “identity-based conflict” mode, we become desperately hungry for information that will affirm that sense of us versus them, and much less concerned about things like truth or accuracy.

(In an email, Dr. Nyhan stressed that it can be methodologically difficult to nail down the precise relationship between the overall level of polarization in society and the overall level of misinformation, but that there is abundant evidence that an individual with more polarized views becomes more prone to believing falsehoods.)

The second driver of our misinformation era is also upgraded by polarization: high-profile political figures who encourage their followers to go ahead and indulge their desire for identity-affirming misinformation. After all, an atmosphere of all-out political conflict often benefits those leaders, at least in the short term, by rallying people behind them.

And then there is the third factor: a shift to social media, which is a powerful outlet for composers of disinformation, a pervasive vector for misinformation itself, and a multiplier of the other risk factors.

“Media has changed, the environment has changed, and that has a potentially big impact on our natural behavior,” William J. Brady, a Yale University social psychologist, said.

“When you post things, you’re highly aware of the feedback that you get, the social feedback in terms of likes and shares,” Dr. Brady said. So when misinformation appeals to social impulses more than the truth does, it gets more attention online, which means people feel rewarded and encouraged for spreading it.

“Depending on the platform, especially, humans are very sensitive to social reward,” he said. Research demonstrates that people who get positive feedback for posting inflammatory or false statements become much likelier to do so again in the future. “You are affected by that.”

In 2016, the media scholars Jieun Shin and Kjerstin Thorson analyzed a data set of 300 million tweets from the 2012 election. Twitter users, they found, “selectively share fact-checking messages that cheerlead their own candidate and denigrate the opposing party’s candidate.” And when users encountered a fact-check that revealed their candidate had gotten something wrong, their response wasn’t to get mad at the politician for lying to them. It was to attack the fact checkers.

“We have found that Twitter users tend to retweet to show approval, argue, gain attention and entertain,” researcher Jon-Patrick Allem wrote last year, summarizing a study he’d co-authored. “Truthfulness of a post or accuracy of a claim was not an identified motivation for retweeting.”

In another study, published last month in Nature, a team of psychologists tracked thousands of users interacting with false information. Republican test subjects who were shown a false headline about migrants trying to enter the United States (“Over 500 ‘Migrant Caravaners’ Arrested With Suicide Vests”) mostly identified it as false; only 16 percent called it accurate. But if the experimenters instead asked the subjects to decide whether to share the headline, 51 percent said they would.

“Most people do not want to spread misinformation,” the study’s authors wrote. “But the social media context focuses their attention on factors other than truth and accuracy.”

In a highly polarized society like today’s United States — or, for that matter, India or parts of Europe — those incentives pull heavily toward ingroup solidarity and outgroup derogation. They do not much favor consensus reality or abstract ideals of accuracy.

As people get more prone to misinformation, opportunists and charlatans are also getting better at exploiting this. That can mean tear-it-all-down populists who rise on promises to smash the establishment and control minorities. It can also mean government agencies or freelance hacker groups stirring up social divisions abroad for their benefit. But the roots of the crisis go deeper than them.

“The problem is that when we encounter opposing views in the age and context of social media, it’s not like reading them in a newspaper while sitting alone,” the sociologist Zeynep Tufekci wrote in a much-circulated MIT Technology Review article. “It’s like hearing them from the opposing team while sitting with our fellow fans in a football stadium. Online, we’re connected with our communities, and we seek approval from our like-minded peers. We bond with our team by yelling at the fans of the other one.”

In an ecosystem where that sense of identity conflict is all-consuming, she wrote, “belonging is stronger than facts.”

Continue

[konpithepuppy]

[TRANSLATION: POTATO 05.2021]

7 MEN SAMURAI SOLO INTERVIEW

Scans not mine

Neither an English nor a Japanese native speaker

Feel free to correct me, thanks

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

A gravure of 6 people who gives off a wonderful aura that seems like will make you fall in love the moment your eyes meet. In the interview, the members's value towards "love at first sight" is highlighted. (The interview was done at the middle of March.)

Questions:

Q1. Does love at first sight exist?

Q2. What specific first impression of a girl has a good impression on you?

Q3. What is the item that you fell in love at first sight and bought it?

Konno Taiki

A1. It is relatively possible (LOL).

But, not just based on the appearance, I may also be attracted to her inner side. I think I will find her cute when I try talking to her and will find out that she is an honest and airheaded girl. Basically, since I want for the move to come from me (T/N: lit. push myself harder), so on the contrary, I don't like to be told, "I fell in love with you at first sight." Without suddenly asking her contact address, I want to do things step by step (LOL). And then, when I also think that it is okay on her side (T/N: lit. she's good), I want to confess to her finally.

A2. Since I like someone who is an airhead, I can recognize if the person is an airhead or not on the first meeting. Since there is something that impresses only me (LOL). Being too much of an airhead is a problem but I like someone who is an airhead to an extent that I can tease. When she said something wrong, I want to pester her saying, "Can you try saying it again?" (LOL).

A3. I like a lot the black bomber jacket that I bought last year. I like the color black, and I came to like simple styles too. I first saw it in the internet but I am the type who buys things that I have seen in actual so I went to see it at the actual store and bought it there.

Recent Happening

I want to go and buy spring clothes but I refrain from going out too much so I can't go and buy...An email from the brand that I like came saying, "Our new collection is out" and I desperately want those (LOL). I buy sweater and parka every year but this year I am greatly troubled [whether to go out and buy or not]!

Nakamura Reia

A1. It totally exists! Since the personality shows on the face, if I like the face then I will like the personality too I think. I think the type of person I will like depends on the situation I am in at that moment. Like, I think a person who seems kind when I am tired is nice, and I will be attracted to a person who looks like I can have fun with when I am in high-spirit. But, on the contrary, I might get turned off at the person who falls in love at me at first sight.

Since I am putting a fake face in front of a person who I am meeting for the first time (LOL). It is not the first impression but I feel really being liked when the person responses back to me as an answer to my approach.

A2. More than being fixed with clothes that are in trend, I like better a person who shows "I like this!" with her clothes and small accessories. I want her to be a nerd of something. We will be excited together if we have the same hobby, and if we have different hobbies, I want her to teach me her hobby. For example, I am an indoor type but if she likes fishing, I want for us to try doing it together.

A3. A black setup with a dragon embroidery on it. It is very stern (LOL), but the material is very soft and it feels good wearing it, and I don't have to think of a coordinate so it is easy to wear. I often wear it to the filming site of 「Gekikaradou」.

Recent Happening

I bought a Pachira and started to raise it. Honestly, I wanted an animal but plants are cute too! I usually place it at the entranceway. But I sometimes bring it next to the window so it well get some sunlight.

Yabana Rei

A1.There is. It's just that I am shy of strangers so it takes time for me to make some move. I will consult for roughly a year (LOL).Or perhaps I should say, as long as there's no proof that I can make a move, it may take forever for me to make a move. If it will strangely destroy our relationship then it is better to just stay as friends. Even if a girl falls in love with me at first sight and approached me, I am thickheaded so I will probably not be able to notice it. I will not know if I will not be clearly told, "I like you."

A2. A person who can behave. For example, I like someone who stays silent in a quiet establishment, or someone who can read the room. Also, I think I will be happy with someone who has the same hobby as mine. Like we happen to like the same genre in music. My tension will rise the most with a person who likes cars.

A3. I don't think I am the type who buys impulsively at things that I fall in love at first sight. Even though I falll in love at first sight at something, I'm the type who will think properly about it. The black bass with a drawing of a bird that I bring on stage until now is a bass that I found by chance in an instrument shop. Even though there are other choices, after thinking too much about it, I thought, "The appearance of this one is cool after all," and I went to buy it the next day.

Recent Happening

3 more days and my sticker as a new car driver will be removed! Among the members, Taiko, Konpi (Konno), and Rinne-kun rode already but Taiko and Konpi are substantially banned from riding [my car]. Since they went on a rampage inside the car. They misunderstood a person's car with a jet coaster (LOL).

Motodaka Katsuki

A1. I don't fall in love at first sight but I think 1st impression is important to an extent. I think I will gradually like the person, who I thought is nice during our first meeting, while getting to know her. I am bad at dealing with someone who falls in love with me for the first time! But I am worried that that person will fall in love with another person (LOL). But if that person asked me, "Should we grab for a delicious meal?" I might be lured with food...(LOL). Moreover, I will be like "I know a shop with a delicious taco rice" and it seems like if I was told about something I am a maniac of, I will definitely talk about it.

A2. I am interested with the lips. With natural color, it has a sense of cleanliness, and lips that are not dry is nice. Things like lipsticks with loud colors, I don't like that much those that are shiny. A color that is close to a bare lips has a good impression in me. Wanting to kiss those lips without thinking, lips like that.

A3. I fell in love at a flounder in a fresh fish market and I bought it. Since its body is big, I was thinking that I could fillet it into 5 fillets. I filleted it into 5 fillets immediately at home, and I broiled some in the burner and I also made sushi.

Recent Happening

Abe (Ryohei)-kun gave me a parka from a brand I thought was good before. Before the filming of 「Q-sama!!」, he casually gave it to me saying, "Oh, which reminds me, here." I was really happy but it is super valuable that I can't wear it (LOL).

Sugeta Rinne

A1. I often think, "This person is cute" (LOL). But, I definitely do not tell it out loud! Finally, when I liked her inner side, I might be the type who will advance to being a boyfriend from being a friend. Even if how cute the person is, I don't like those who use words like 「w」

「草」 「sore na」 in mails (LOL). (T/N: w = laugh (LOL), 草 = literally, it means grass but people in the internet use it like "w" which means "laugh (LOL)" because "w" looks like a grass) Conversely, I will be a happy if a person falls in love with me at first sight, but I will completely doubt and ask, "Really?" If I am invited as a friend and gets confessed to, then my suspicions may loosen.

A2. A person who has silky hair, light makeup, and without colored contact lens. To exert a great amount of effort to be pretty is wonderful, but I think I like it better when it is not overly done. I like a neat and tidy person who looks good in white tops and denim pants!

A3. Before, I often fell in love at first sight with clothes, but I have a lot of failed purchases from buying clothes without trying them on. Like, when I bought a black long tee with a lion print on it, it turned out to be a dress for ladies (LOL). What I am currently aiming at is a sneaker with orange print on a white background. Since I haven't tried it on, I plan to buy it after I tried wearing it.

Recent Happening

Since I don't move extremely in the stage play「Hidamari no Ki」, my muscles toned down. My belly is protruding because of gastroptosis, so I was asked "Are you full?" during the dressing of Hakama (LOL). I must go back to training.

Sasaki Taiko

A1. There is. Isn't love in this world is approximately like that? I think there's not much of those who advance from friends to lovers. But since I want to know things about the other party, I want for us to exchange messages for around a month. And then, I want to meet the parents. Since it seems like we can properly date if I know the parents.

A2. A girl with pretty legs. I maybe looking at the legs more than the face. I like those girls who take care of their legs. But that doesn't mean I like girls to wear mini skirt, I am on the pants side. Lately, I think I came to like those pants like flare pants where it is tight in the thigh area.

A3. A large quantity of water from a large supermarket. 500mL of water came in a set of 40 bottles and it was very cheap. Also, I impulsively bought toilet paper. I bought so many that everything can't fit in the house so I gave some to my high school friend (LOL). Since I got my driver's license, I can now go in the supermarket alone and I go there around once a week lately. It feels like, "I've become an adult~." My next aim is the big potato chips!

Recent Happening

In the "Taiko Challenge" in ISLAND TV, when I uploaded a video of putting candy into a carbonated drink, I was surprised that the official account of the candy tweeted about it. Moreover, it is in English. Isn't that amazing? A CM may come after that...it will be my advance to the world. I might really do it! (LOL)

[etherealwaifgoddess]

A Little Bit of Hope

Characters: Ace!Steve Rogers

Summary: Steve tries to navigate dating in the 21st century and discovers something about himself that he’s been trying to understand since the 1930s.

Content Warning: Steve coming to terms with his sexuality

Word Count: 628

Author’s Note: Hi lovelies! I was going to put this out last week when I finished but figured it would be a nice way to start off Pride month instead. I don’t see a whole lot of Ace!Steve fics out there so I figured I’d write one. I’m a big believer in representation for everyone in fics and I know it’s hard, especially for LGBTQIA+ folks. Hope this brightens someone’s day out there! XOXO - Ash

A Little Bit of Hope

Dating in the twenty-first century was something Steve was completely unprepared for. Back in the thirties and forties dating had been so much simpler. You liked a girl, you took her dancing, maybe a movie, or a walk in the park. There was a structure to outings, almost always in public, and the most he had to stress over was a goodnight kiss after a few dates if the girl was so inclined. Now, in this strange modern time, people would go out without ever actually going out. Dates could be just random meet ups at people’s homes, completely unstructured with a casualness that Steve found unsettling. And don’t even get him started on Netflix & Chill. Everything was so fast and loose that Steve’s anxiety had him wanting to curl up on his sofa and never leave his apartment just thinking about it. 

It wasn’t that Steve resented people’s ability to date whoever they wanted and in whatever way they liked. It was fine if that’s what they wanted to do, and Steve would never begrudge them for it. It just wasn’t for him. There were too many expectations now, the physical aspect of relationships so much more commonplace and accepted as normal. There was even slang for it now, PDA. Not that Steve minded most PDA, the hand holding and a chaste kiss on the cheek occasionally. That was all well and good for the most part, it was just the rest of it. The more physical aspect of relationships was what terrified Steve. 

It had taken a few disastrous dates before Steve had heard the term “ace” from a girl. They’d gone back to her place for a movie after their second date and Steve had very politely turned down a blow job that she’d tried initiating. He’d explained he just wasn’t interested in that, or hand job, though the offer was very kind of her. She’d just shrugged her shoulders and said, “Oh, I didn’t know you were Ace.” Then they went back to watching the movie about cars that turned into alien robots or something. They’d gone out a couple more times but eventually she stopped making plans with him.

Steve had needed to Google the term ace later on, the word rattling around his mind curiously. There was a sea of information online about asexuality and the different variations of it. He poured over the information for hours, learning about the different shades of the ace spectrum and where he fit on it. Steve felt a puzzle piece in himself lock into place at the discovery, he was asexual, ace. There was an empowerment to having a word for it after so many years of Steve just accepting he was abnormal and trying to fake his way through. Steve realized he wouldn’t have to fake it anymore, he could go on dates and tell a girl he was ace to avoid any awkward or unwanted sexual advances. He also realized there were others in the world like him who would be okay, and even welcome, a relationship that was limited to hand holding, cuddling, and maybe an occasional kiss. Impulsive with the joy of discovering a way to express himself, Steve purchased a few pins and a tshirt all with ace pride colors. 

Dating didn’t become any more successful after Steve’s great revelation, but it became easier in a way. He found it better than dating back in his youth, even. Armed with the words he needed to express himself Steve no longer wanted to hide away and avoid relationships. It wasn’t a guarantee that he’d eventually find a nice ace girl who he could settle down with, but it gave him a little bit of hope that maybe, one day, he could. 

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Though there's no chance to recognize simply the number of people are purchasing them, analysis of London's famous "fatberg"-- the mass of oil as well as organic matter found in the capital's sewers-- discovered SARMs present in better quantities than both MDMA as well as drug. I assume in pharmaceutical terms the idea is to use SARMS rather than androgens at times, as you mention they can be selectively adjusted to develop tasks in different ways to androgens. I would certainly suggest that anabolics aren't observable for months though, several will have an extremely similar time course to ostarine, relying on the dosage and also technique of administration.

This does highlight the demand for several years round out of competitors testing. is currently being activelydeveloped by GTxas a treatment for muscle squandering in lung cancer cells patients. It has been reported that Andarine is no more a target medication. What would certainly you suggest as a sarms pile that is risk-free with the Lipator? Most of the moment, a post cycle therapy is normally never ever required either, which is what makes them so appealing to professional athletes over conventional steroids.

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Research studies have shown the capacity of SARMs to boost muscle mass and bone mass dramatically in animals while having no unfavorable impact on the prostate. Used this to maintain toughness on cut, yet in fact permitted me to boost weight on all workouts at upkeep calories, this functions like a mild PH, it is a terrific alternative anabolic. This week attempted hefty shoulder presses, and also obtained a brand-new individual best.

Musclegen owner busted for SARMs side business - Natural Products INSIDER

Musclegen owner busted for SARMs side business.

Posted: Wed, 02 Dec 2020 08:00:00 GMT [source]

At just 1mg daily for 3 weeks a medical test showed an ordinary gain of 1.21 kg in LBM which is virtually 1 pound of LBM per week which is absolutely insane thinking about the moment frame as well as the reality that they were not even training. Unlike Ostarine, LGD-4033 does not appear to increase liver enzymes however like Ostarine it did negatively affect good cholesterol levels. It is worth stating that taking SARMs is NOT as effective as steroids. If MK677 30ml Liquid Dropper Buy Online Sarms were after that everyone using steroids would certainly have stopped as well as switched over a very long time back. Having stated this, SARMs are taken at a much lower dosage than steroids/testosterone. A normal Ostarine dosage is 20mg for 8 weeks yet a typical 8-week testosterone dose would certainly be anywhere between mg weekly, so if Ostarine was taken at a comparable dosage would certainly similar testosterone results occur?

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They have assist me regulate my impulsivity MINIPRESS is regrettable yet not namely as well as increase your osteoarthritis due to its marching buy nolvadex europe to confess beta-lactamases. find out dianabol proviron nolvadex cycle from as well as use support for the friends and family colleagues neighbours business in a way with. The amount of cycles is the most common that women get expecting on where to acquire nolvadex reddit clomid. My c-s recovery was nothing like that surgical treatment, give thanks to God, so I didn't feel the demand nolvadex sarms australia to take it. In spite of this, various athletes remain to examine favorable for careful androgen receptor modulators, in particular Ostarine (MK-2866) and also Testolone. UK Sarms ostarine has offered me wonderful recomp outcomes at 10mg/day and also aided me press past weights I was previously stuck at for months. I was so pleased with the ostarine that I've lately bought RAD-140 for my following cycle as I now require to concentrate on building muscular tissue in advance of my following comp.

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It shows up that there is evidence that ostarine is increasingly showing up in supplements. There are currently 60 items on USADA's High Risk Checklist which contain ostarine. The objective of this study is to examine the safety of GSK in males and females with COPD and also muscular tissue weakness. The research will certainly examine the results of GSK on muscle mass evaluated as changes in leg strength, muscle mass, as well as useful procedures such as walking ability. Testolone was established to raise muscular tissue dimension, reduce fat, and improve testosterone degrees. Below at Height Body Nourishment, we are a business with body home builders in mind, providing a significant selection of supplements for a series of various functions.

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The recomping impact of losing fat as well as acquiring muscle at the same time is what most of users are trying to find. Trying to achieve this when you are not absolutely brand-new to training is extremely challenging. As most of Ostarine supplies been available in 30ml containers at 25mg/ml, a dosage of 17.5 mg each day will certainly give the customer a 6 week cycle from one bottle, a great concession between an anabolic dose as well as expense. Currently the gains in absolute weight will not be comparable to steroids such as diannabol, however what will be gained will virtually exclusivley be lean mass. As a result of the lack of closure in contrast to steroids/prohormones, a PCT period is not needed and almost all the mass that is gained on Ostarine is maintained when the cycle is ended up. Ostarine specifically applies its anabolic impacts on muscle cells practically specifically.

Where is your liver at?

The liver. The liver is your largest internal organ. About the size of a football, it's located mainly in the upper right portion of your abdomen, beneath the diaphragm and above your stomach.

On YouTube, it is difficult to separate the serpent oil sales people from real individual reviews, however the general agreement appears to be that ostarine is effective for people seeking to build muscle and also bone toughness. This would appear to fit with the medical conditions ostarine was created to deal with to begin with. It likewise fits with what UFC competitors would be looking for in a supplement.

my diete was 2200 calorie daily for get shreds as well as i take strenght as well as keep the muscle mass i think its not fake ostarine. however i have diareha with ostarine yet this negative effects is normal.

Information might be altered or updated without notification and also costs and also availability of products and also services undergo transform without notification. Not Supplying Any kind of Suggestions The web content is for informational functions just and is not meant to give details guidance for you and also should not be relied upon in that regard. In today's competitive world, obtaining muscle mass as well as shedding fat alone with training as well as healthy diet regimen is alongside difficult. Hence most of the health and fitness enthusiastic relies on supplements for getting preferable form and also bodybuilding. activating the receptors which nolvadex 20mg adverse effects subsequently promote a Plasmid ring a small DNA molecule procedure inside the.

Is Ostarine legal?

Enobosarm, also known as ostarine or MK-2866, is an investigational selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) developed by GTx, Inc. Enobosarm.Clinical dataRoutes of administrationBy mouthATC codenoneLegal statusLegal statusUS : Investigational New Drug20 more rows

It's why, in mid-2019, we introduced the initial UK-based hair steroid testing solution, aiding household lawyers and work environments alike to stamp out the issues triggered by the psychological and emotional adverse effects of anabolic steroids. Over what's new in proven sarms's Sarm sarms.com , online look for SARMs (or "careful androgen receptor modulators", including andarine and ostarine) have been increasing progressively.

Discerning androgen receptor modulators are a class of androgen receptor medications, which have a high capacity to be efficiency enhancers in human and animal sports. Arylpropionamides are just one of the significant SARM classes and also get quickly metabolized considerably complicating simple detection of transgression in blood or pee sample evaluation.

In this area, you will certainly discover both SARMS, as well as things that resemble SARM products. In phase 1 as well as phase 2 tests which lasted 12 weeks 268 individuals with reduced HDL degrees were given 2.5,5,10 mg daily. Throughout this time great cholesterol enhanced by 17% and also bad cholesterol was reduced by 7%. Bodyweight likewise boosted typically 1.3 kg nevertheless a LBM vs fat mass analysis was not completed.

Due to the means GW works it is secure to assume it was all or mostly LBM. Due to the method Cardarine functions individuals as well as animal researches revealed that Cardarine is connected with substantial reduction in body fat. Where Cardarine or GW50515 comes to be extremely fascinating is that PPARD activation increased mitochondrial biogenesis in the muscle, which can redesign your muscle tissue! In studies of qualified and inexperienced mice, Cardarine triggered quickly twitch muscle mass fiber to convert to slow down twitch muscular tissue fibers. Due to this Cardarine is frequently called a workout mimetic as only exercise can generally make these adjustments to your metabolism and fiber make-up. The common dosage for performance enhancement is 2-10mg each day for 4-8 weeks. The ordinary results from this are 7-10lbs of LBM, excellent rises in stamina and little to lean loss.

It is a team important that bind to the receptors as well as create an anabolic response.

The anabolic impact is anticipated to be the same as testosterone.

Furthermore, it's likewise claimed to produce dose-dependent improvements in bone mineral density and motorized strength apart from the capacity to lower body fat and boost lean body mass.

SARMS link to the same receptors that old steroids such as Dianabol and testosterone would certainly attach to, however minus the drawbacks and negative effects of traditional steroids as well as prohormones.

What is very important, it does not hinder own manufacturing of testosterone, this sort of SERM is additionally preferred with females.

However it is very most likely that the side effects at this dose would most likely coincide or even worse than testosterone. Recently, steroid use has actually been growing throughout the UK - not only amongst gym-goers as well as bodybuilders, as you would expect, but in certain specialist fields, as well.

My prevoius was 80 kg x 1 reps, now I handled 80 kg x 3 reps quickly. Haven't felt anything while using this but this increase in strength virtually tells me all I need to learn about the efficiency of this item. The very first week changeover was tremendous, with no uncertainty a residual impact of the creatine and also beta alanine, and the choice I made to front tons the research for ostarine for 2 days just.

Typically, a medicine with a 1 day fifty percent would take a week to get to consistent state I believe so an alternative I utilize is 2 days of two caps at the beginning as opposed to the normal one a day truly obtains that research as much as level swiftly. I got around 2 kg generally in 8 weeks while visibly loosing fat. Overall I believe I navigated 4-5 Kilos of lean muscles and shed 3 kilos of fat without diet limitation.

[fbwzoo]

(1/?) Anxious about pets anon here! Thank you for your reply, I adapted all your tips and already feel better :) In my first ask I almost talked about my situation sounding a bit hoarderish but didn't to keep it short but I realized I prolly should've! So I'm gonna explain myself a bit better now that I'm calm, I'll try to keep this short but I have a tendency to ramble so I apologize for the length in advance. Also gonna call myself 🌱 from now on since Anxious about pets anon is a bit long!!

(2/?) Normally getting two geckos and turts in a couple weeks is definitely a red flag and if I saw someone do that I'd definitely side-eye them. I do not support getting so many animals this fast at all which is why it freaked me out so badly and it's something I never want to do/experience again. I find preparing and caring for a new (species of) pet for the first few weeks very stressful to begin with, so doing so for multiple species simultaneously with little to no warning has been awful.

(3/?) However the reason I ended up in the situation at all was because I had seen a post online about a leopard gecko that was for sale enclosure & supplies included for fairly cheap, so I opened it for fun. Turned out the geck was actually in my area and the set up was not... Very good. So I talked with the seller and came to the conclusion I could take him as my own leo struggles to keep up with the phase my feeders breed anyway so I had the means to do so

(4/?) All is good, I'm getting a leo (picking him up this weekend). No biggie, except oh no. I find a morph of created gecko I have been looking for & I've had an empty set up waiting for this moment for ages. I'm a bit put off by the timing as I don't really like the idea of buying two pets in such a little amount of time, but it's too late for I have fallen in love and I justify getting him bc I've been prepared for this for a long time and it also happened to be my birthday that day. 

(5/?) Still, took a bit of a hit from it and looking back I would still classify it as an impulse buy as I had not expected to run into the crestie that day even if I had been prepared for a while. This has also been the first time I haven't waited 12+ months between purchasing animals which planted the seed of anxiety in me and the word "hoarder" did cross my mind a couple times but I ignored it, mostly because I knew I'm not one and thought it was silly to think that, but also cuz it scared me 

(6/?) Fast forward a few days I'm talking with the leo seller again. I ask why they're getting rid of it and they tell me they're quitting the hobby so they're rehoming everyone. In curiosity I ask what other animals do they keep and we talk about it for a bit till they say "everyone else already has a home except this baby turtle, no one wants him". I have no interest in getting a turtle, but like a fool & out of wanting to be educated I ask about the species as I'm not very familiar with turts

(7/?) I thought I made it clear I'm not going to take him before the chat but as the 'educational' convo went on the seller was actually picking apart my reasons why not & as pets are a special interest of mine I engaged very enthusiasticly w/o realising. At the end of the chat they said "I'm glad they're both going to a good home". I had missed two of my latest therapy sessions & have severe difficulty telling people no so I replied with "I'm just trying to help" & had a panic attack.

(8/?) It was too late to back down now so I'm getting a turtle. But with that what I was getting as well was more anxious and I spent the next day in bed, which helped. I opened up about it to a close friend, and instead of them reassuring me they told me they've been meaning to ask me if I could take a tortoise (that turned out to be a turtle as well) out of their friends hands. I said Im not sure if this is the right time, and my friend asked me to think about

(9/?) I ask my friend why does this turtle need a home anyway, he tells me the owners travel a lot and that the turtle is loved but neglected. I felt sad. My friend knows how I'm gonna react if someone comes to me directly to ask for help, especially if it's about a suffering animal. I grind my teeth & talk with the owners telling them I'll see what I can do, then I get a text telling me my friend has already made a plan how to deliver the 100g aquarium to my apartment.

(10/?) Even when I may not have wanted the turtles I'm glad if I get to make their lives more enjoyable. I will give them my everything and do my best to provide a good home for them. Tho it does hurt me my discomfort is secondary to other people when they know I will agree to things as long as they apply enough pressure, especially when I'm already vulnerable, but I suppose it's my fault too for not communicating well enough and for allowing them to take advantage of my difficulties

(11/11) Sorry this turned out a LOT longer than expected!! You don't have to post it I just wanted to let you know I didn't just wake up one day and decide to expand my family by half, but that it was more of a gradual process that I found myself unable to stop even when I wanted to, & will work with my therapist so I can be prepared for these situations in the future. Thank you again for the advice, it has helped me feel better! Ps. I will update when all the pets are here and settled down! -🌱

I hope you don’t mind me posting, I wanted to share your story with others, especially in case anyone was still worrying about the situation!

I’m sorry that you had so many people stomp all over your boundaries, especially your friend. That was super not cool of them. :/ I understand having difficulty saying no, especially when you’re wanting to help animals - I have issues with that too. I’m glad that you’re so aware of the problem & that you have a plan to work on it though!

Also I wanted to add one more bit of advice - keep in mind that you do not have to be the forever home for every one of these animals. Especially if you find yourself getting overwhelmed or having difficulty with care. You have to take care of yourself as well as the animals. I know turtles can be a fair amount of work and money to set up well, and while I know you said you’re up for the challenge, I just want to make sure you give yourself some room to breathe. If you do find that you’ve taken on more than you can deal with, it’s okay to look into options for rehoming some of the animals, and that doesn’t make you a bad person. I can definitely vouch for the experience of finding yourself in over your head & needing to take a step back and find a better place for a pet, even when it’s really hard! I know these words might not be necessary, but I just wanted to make sure someone said them, in case you needed to hear it. ♥

Thank you for the update and further explanation, and I hope everyone settles in well! I look forward to more updates if/once you’re able to do so. :) 

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, late-January 2020

Welcome to my latest summary of recent news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & ecommerce! This covers articles I came across since the mid-January report, although some may be older than that. 

Right now I am trying to get at least 2 of these out each month. Is that enough? Too much? Am I missing topics you want to see covered? Please let me know! Comment here, message me through Tumblr, Twitter, or my website.

Also, I am once again working on plans to start an ecommerce business forum, where small business owners can learn and discuss topics like the ones I post about here. If you have any preferences for a suggested platform/forum space,please let me know! I will be running a survey once I narrow down my list. 

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

Etsy introduced alternative shipping for US sellers shipping outside of the US & Canada, run by Asendia. Etsy Labels will no longer offer USPS First Class International for those shipments, but faster levels will still be through USPS. The Help file doesn’t give that much more detail; discussion is here. 

Having educational/information pages on ecommerce websites can help product page search rankings. Blog posts, pillar pages and tutorials can all be a good investment. 

Excellent article on how to keep your existing buyers (aka customer retention) rather than always going after new ones. It cites decent research in the area, with examples. (As regular readers know, I love Help Scout’s customer service articles!) For example, “When it comes to highly rated customer service, quality and completeness matter more than speed. According to research from Gallup, customers were nine times more likely to be engaged with a brand when they evaluated the service as “courteous, willing, and helpful.” “Speedy” service, on the other hand, only made customers six times more likely to be satisfied.”

ETSY NEWS 

More updates to listing categories, including a new Presets & Photo Filters category, and Cribs & Cradles is now called Moses Baskets & Hammocks. 

Tips on marketing your Etsy listings for weddings. “Etsy wedding shoppers are often drawn to Etsy because they identify as creative people themselves, an asset you should consider when developing and marketing your products. By offering DIY versions of some of your popular items, you can draw in crafty shoppers, who may end up purchasing a finished handmade item from your shop instead. Offering both options can also be a great way of hitting multiple price points.”

If you sell jewellery and/or accessories, here is Etsy’s advice for marketing in the first half of the year. “While high-end jewelry is often a carefully considered purchase, more affordable everyday items make easy impulse buys and gifts due to their small size and approachable price points.” Also, people are still shopping by gender: “70% YoY increase in Jewelry, Accessories, and Bags category searches containing “him”. “We expect the bags category to grow the most out of these three categories in the next year, led by the increasing popularity of small leather goods such as wallets, dopp kits, and items for travel. A recent increase in average order value within the Bags category suggests buyers are willing to pay more for high-quality materials like leather.” But note that “Buyers tend not to use the term "purse" in their searches.” Finally, “From July through September 2019, over half of Etsy US and global GMS came from purchases that shipped for free.”

In case you missed it, Disney is going after Etsy sellers of Baby Yoda merchandise. Some speculate that they are mostly focusssing on the listings making the most sales. More sarcastic & humorous take here.

Interesting interview (podcast & transcript, including a pdf) with CEO Josh Silverman, on business strategies.  I do like this quote: “When you’re successful, what can be really hard is to tell you’re successful because of some things and in spite of others.” To be very honest, I have this problem a lot, and have seen other business people misjudge their success as well. This is telling, though “And you have until December 31st to ship it.” I have a hunch that is what happened with Etsy Ads and the free shipping tools. So they shipped unfinished tools, and that was bad for the business. Finally, “HOFFMAN: Until this point, Etsy’s focus had been on its sellers. It saw itself as a marketplace for handmade items, and the people who made them. Josh knew he had to change this perspective… SILVERMAN: It was a really big shift in focus. I think Etsy, like many two sided marketplaces, has very deep empathy for sellers, so much so that it can forget to have empathy for buyers. And when you talk to your sellers, they really mostly want three things. They want buyers, they want buyers, and they want buyers – in that order. In order to serve the sellers, you’ve really got to focus on buyers...By the end of my fifth week almost everyone in the company had a new job.”

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES 

Google confirmed a core search update that started to roll out January 13 and took about 3 days, and showed substantial changes on most tracking tools. Early analysis indicates this has once again affected sites based on trustworthiness, but big winners and losers are still unclear. The take from Moz is that this hit health sites like previous updates, but also hurt diverse sites such as Orbitz, Yellow Pages, Poshmark, USA Today and Forever 21. RankRanger noted that there was more volatility in finance rankings than the December update. 

Remember Google’s algorithm change late last year, called BERT? George Mueller offered a bit of advice [text and video] on how to optimize for it: “if ... there’s anything that you can do to kind of optimize for BERT, it’s essentially to make sure that your pages have natural text on them...So instead of stuffing keywords as much as possible, kind of write naturally” 

Google is now highlighting some products (clothing & accessories) in organic search results on mobile in the US & India; you have to have a Google Merchant Centre account set up, but you do not need to buy ads to get this organic boost. Here’s the Google help file on how to optimize. 

If your website has many related pages on a specific topic, organizing the info on one “content hub” (aka pillar pages, or even category pages in some cases) is an excellent way to get user and search engine attention. 

Brief video from Google for SEO beginners: how to optimize images for Google search. They also link to their support file on this question, which has more advanced info. And here is another beginners video on Google SEO considerations for your website. (More links in the video comments.)

Google has a “SafeSearch filter” that removes porn and other mature content from search results, but sometimes it catches innocent sites as well. 

Another good article on how internal linking can serve multiple purposes on your website, especially keyword ranking.

Sites that get the “featured snippet” position in Google search results can no longer get organic ranking on the first page. This could change, though. 

CONTENT MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails) 

Excellent tips & advice on how to make email marketing work for you. Not using emails? You should. “...email has over 3.8 billion daily active users. Take a minute to think about that. Most people who use email probably fall between the ages of 15 and 64, and since there are only about 5 billion people on the planet in that age range, that means email has over 75 percent market penetration.” And “Almost three-fourths of people prefer to hear from businesses via email.”

Do you think that every email campaign needs its own landing page? I’m not sure, but there are some convincing arguments here. And don’t forget to plan to send your emails at the right time for your list subscribers. 

Updated for 2020, HubSpot does an excellent holiday calendar that can help you plan social media posts and other content ahead of time, including hashtags where applicable. 

Tips on converting your existing content (blog posts etc.) into podcasts. “Podcasts tend to be longer-form content than video or blogs. Many videos that companies produce are relatively short, ~2 minutes. For someone looking to listen to your podcast, this may not be substantial enough in terms of the information covered.”

Here’s a useful list of demographics of social media users - think about which sites would work best for your business based on who is using them. 

Reddit is an excellent source of content ideas (video & transcript), as people are usually discussing and upvoting things that interest them, and it is all organized by topic for you. 

Instagram is adding direct messaging (DM) access to their website. 

Facebook is accused of denying data access to potential competitors. 

A surprising number of American adults use LinkedIn, and their numbers are growing faster than expected. “LinkedIn users make up around one-third of all social network users in the U.S.”

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS) 

Another tutorial on setting up a Google Ads account. 

Google ads were less evident in organic search results, for about a week. This mirrors the changes on mobile several months ago, & includes favicons next to brand sites. But more people complained about the desktop layout, so they have backed down and will continue to test new versions. 

Facebook, Google & Amazon are not the only advertising options out there. 

Short infographic on how to advertise on TikTok. 

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING 

If you haven’t set up Google Search Console for your website or blog, you should. [YouTube Video, from the Beginners series]

A good basic guide to using the Google Keyword Planner, including more tips on how to get in without setting up a paid ad campaign. 

Instagram is most useful when you track your stats - use Insights to track your reach, clicks, impressions etc. 

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS 

The growth of ecommerce purchases has been detrimental to US retail sales overall, due to brick and mortar store closures, lower b&M profit margins, and fewer jobs. Remember that Amazon now gets around 50% of ecommerce purchases in the US, meaning that the increase of online retail is more consolidated than the lost brick and mortar sales. 

Amazon will now be reporting counterfeit goods sold on its site to the authorities: "The hope has been that Amazon’s coveted data will help law enforcement make connections about criminals." 

Amazon has started a delivery program in Australia called Amazon Flex. Requiring drivers to sign up for shifts up to 4 hours that they choose, driving their own vehicles, the program is being compared to Uber. 

Shopify now has over 1 million merchants, and is growing rapidly. “This past Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend, the company saw $2.9 billion in total sales; during its peak, Shopify software was processing $1.5 million in sales and 16,000 checkouts a minute.”

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE 

Smartphone purchases continue to increase: $5.9 billion spent on Black Friday & Cyber Monday, and 48% of online purchases in the US on Christmas Day. 

Supposedly, USPS is the most trusted brand in the US, followed by Amazon, Google, and Paypal. Actual quote: “levels of distrust are high in America, but it found that brands can win trust by protecting consumers' data privacy, not hiding important information in fine print and treating employees better than the minimum required by law.” I’m struggling with Amazon & Google in the top in particular, given that quote, but at least Facebook didn’t make the top 25. 😉 Note that age is a differential factor here: “Google is the most trusted brand among Gen Z and millennials, while USPS is the most trusted among older generations like Gen X and baby boomers.” Study details & top 25 list available here. (There is a large difference between the generations, according to this study; it’s worth a scan.)

MISCELLANEOUS

If you are looking for a new search engine, here are 7 that aren’t Google. Some of you  probably hadn’t heard of all of them, because I hadn’t. 

Anti-virus software Avast is still selling user data to major companies.

[wildasarahmangastuff-blog]

Home Moving Tips Every Homeowner Should Know

Relocating to a brand-new home can be exciting. Despite offering you a new beginning, it provides you with a chance to have a new place you can call your own, and check out new opportunities. The fact that moving is great doesn't mean it is a bed of roses. It comes with its fair share of obstacles. Most importantly, moving is doubtlessly one of the most difficult experiences that house owners deal with. It involves great deals of processes, which require one to invest a great deal of time, energy, and resources. The good news is, there is a way to avoid the unpleasantness that comes with moving. Below are a few of the top tips that will make your next move easy and smooth. 1. Choose a removals company as soon as you can Look-- there are thousands of movers in the modern-day market. Therefore, finding the very best mover can not be challenging. Well, if this is what you are thinking, then you need to relax and think again. The availability of many removalists in the market makes it harder for house owners to find perfect movers for their needs. With a flooding market, it ends up being tough for local authorities to control this trade efficiently. This makes it super simple for masquerades to thrive. What is a lot more perplexing is the fact that all movers use different types of marketing, for that reason persuading their potential clients that they all offer outstanding services that can not be found anywhere else in the market. This makes it simple for house owners to pick movers who fail to fulfill their needs. To ensure your move is hassle-free, do not wait on the last week so that you can find a great mover. Do that as soon as now. You can find the best mover using a selection of methods that include; • Get referrals from friends, relatives, or coworkers There are high chances that at least one of your friends, associates, or family members have engaged a moving expert at some point. Therefore, seek to get as many referrals as you can. Ask all the questions that you feel will help you determine the very best mover. When you collect all the details you get, analyse it, and recognize the ideal professional for your needs. • Get referrals from other professionals such as roofers, home builders, and electricians Do you have contacts with builders, roofers, or electrical experts? Well, these professionals constantly work with movers, and they may recommend a company that will provide you a smooth transition. Therefore, seek their advice, take your time, and research about the referrals you get and make a perfect choice. • Go to the internet With an internet connection, you do not need to leave your home to find the best moving professional, all you need to do is visit multiple review websites, analyse different experts, see what previous clients and experts are saying about them, and pick the one you feel can satisfy your desires. Try to find the mover who takes pleasure in the most favorable comments, and one who has the highest rankings. • Visit local stores This is a challenging, yet the most efficient technique of finding a fantastic removalist. Check out numerous movers yourself and do your due diligence. The movers you shortlist should have licenses and insurances, must be certified, and should show the greatest levels of professionalism. Also, they must show you a portfolio of works carried out in the past to show their experience and give you a complimentary no-obligation quote. Because you may get many movers who exceed your expectations, choose the best that you can afford. Likewise, do not forget to trust your impulses! In addition, hire a mover who can provide you with specialised services such as packing, pet moving, car removals, and piano moving.

movers Northern Beaches NSW

Our guarantee at Fox Relocations is an expert premier class service. We look after everything we move as if we owned it and we take pride in being the movers you can rely on in the Northern Beaches of Sydney.

2. Make a list The 2nd and the most essential thing you need to do when preparing to move your house is to make a list. Write everything that you need to do and include a timeline. Obviously, you are months far from the move, and you do not need to do everything now. However, you will experience a lot of tension if you decide to do everything during the last few days. Produce a list and mark every item as soon as you achieve it. Doing this will ensure that you don't experience the trouble that comes with moving. 3. Eliminate anything you don't need in advance Look-- movers will charge you for your house move based on the weight of your load. This merely means that the more items you have, the more the amount of money you will spend for your move. Considering that you will not need everything you have in your new home, consider decluttering now. Doing this will save you a lot of time and money in the long-run. Remember, you do not have to get rid of items you think you will not need. There are a host of other options available, consisting of recycling and donating. These are doubtlessly, the best alternatives to consider! 4. Produce a packaging plan-- and pack now! Packing things can save you a lot of cash. If you think you have the time and you are able to pack things yourself, don't wait till the last week so that you can begin undertaking the task. Packaging takes a great deal of time. For that reason, start doing it now. First, purchase packing boxes, or hire them from your mover when possible. Then, dedicate a couple of hours every day to pack a specific section or room. As soon as you are done packing, note that you will have lots of difficulties attempting to put everything in its place when you get to your new home. For that reason, do not forget to label your boxes. Labelling the boxes might be as easy as writing "bedroom things" on the top of package. However, you may have numerous boxes consisting of bedroom things. Therefore, you will find it simpler when unpacking if you could include more information in your description, such as "clothing for the master bedroom." When packing yourself, avoid overpacking boxes. Heavy boxes are difficult to move and can break down and injure the person carrying them. If you have the budget, consider hiring professional packers, so that you do not need to go through the fatigues and other obstacles that ride together with this process. Besides, why do all the dirty work while there is someone happy to do it for you at a small cost?

5. Know what you can't move There are lots of things that movers are not permitted to move. They include plants with soil, tins consisting of chemicals and paints, aerosol sprays, explosives, guns, and a host of other hazardous materials. You can donate some of these things such as cans of paints and aerosol paints to your neighbours or to charity. However, you will need to get rid of anything harmful before you move. You may also need to consult your local authorities so that you can determine how some items, such as guns, can be moved. If you don't wish to leave the plants, you have taken care of for several years, remove all the soil from the roots, place them in pots covered with plastics, and move them yourself. Nevertheless, there are movers who provide plant relocation as a special service. Getting rid of items that can not be moved assurances your security and that of the moving team. 6. Know what to move yourself and pack it There are some things that you can not leave in the hands of your mover, even if he holds the highest degree of professionalism. They include sensitive business files, house deeds, academic certificates, insurance papers, and wills. Others are super-expensive jewellery and paintings. If you are moving these items yourself, make sure you load them early. Considering that these items will not be covered by your mover's insurance, look after them throughout the move. For files, scan them and save copies in a flash drive or in your mobile phone. 7. Make sure your brand-new home is all set for occupation You do not wish to prepare your new home the minute you get in. You desire your movers to find it ready so that they can put everything in its place, and you can settle in a day. For that reason, have the house cleaned up and ensure it has all the fundamental utilities needed. If you have the time, you can clean the house yourself, if you don't, consider hiring professional cleaners, or better still, deal with a mover who provides cleaning services.

8. Load a moving day survival kit Now that you have everything is prepared for the move, how will you and your loved ones survive on the moving day? Make sure you have a moving day survival kit packed with the fundamentals. It should have all the items that will take you through the day, such as phone chargers, treats, hot beverages, and toiletries. It is important to have simple access to things that will keep you well-fed and hydrated during the stressful D-day. With everything all set, you will have the ability to fall directly into bed as soon as the move is over and you are settled in your new residence. 9. Do not exhaust your mind! Obviously, moving home is a big deal. You have lots of expectations, and there are thousands of things you need to be accomplished. Nevertheless, don't overwork your mind. Do not have unrealistic expectations on what should be done. Look-- it is highly unlikely that you will have everything unpacked and settle on the first day. It will take time to ensure your new home illustrates your character. Therefore, do not establish the impression that everything needs to come together quickly. As soon as you get to your new home, take some time to unwind. Enjoy the night in a local entertainment joint, or go out with friends (if you have some already in the new place). You can even use your survival kit for a few days before getting things in order. Moving is not a stroll in the park. However, with the tips pointed out above, your relocation will be simplified, and it may turn into one of the very best experiences in your life.

[unchicodefebrero]

House Moving Tips Every Homeowner Should Know

Moving to a brand-new house can be amazing. Regardless of offering you a new beginning, it provides you with a chance to have a new place you can call your own, and explore new opportunities. The truth that moving is great does not mean it is a bed of roses. It features its fair share of obstacles. Primarily, moving is doubtlessly one of the most difficult experiences that house owners face. It involves lots of procedures, which require one to invest a great deal of time, energy, and resources. The bright side is, there is a way to prevent the unpleasantness that comes with moving. Below are a few of the top tips that will make your next move easy and smooth. 1. Select a removals firm as soon as practical Look-- there are countless movers in the modern-day market. Therefore, finding the best mover can not be challenging. Well, if this is what you are thinking, then you need to relax and reconsider your thoughts. The availability of many removalists in the market makes it harder for property owners to find ideal movers for their needs. With a flooding market, it ends up being tough for local authorities to regulate this trade effectively. This makes it incredibly easy for masquerades to flourish. What is much more bewildering is the fact that all movers use different kinds of marketing, therefore convincing their potential clients that they all offer excellent services that can not be found anywhere else in the market. This makes it easy for house owners to choose movers who fail to deliver their needs. To ensure your move is trouble-free, do not wait on the last week so that you can find a good mover. Do that as soon as now. You can find the best mover using a range of approaches that include; • Get referrals from friends, relatives, or associates There are high chances that at least one of your friends, coworkers, or relatives have engaged a moving expert at some time. For that reason, seek to get as many referrals as you can. Ask all the questions that you feel will assist you determine the best mover. When you gather all the details you get, evaluate it, and determine the ideal expert for your needs. • Get referrals from other professionals such as roofing professionals, builders, and electrical experts Do you have contacts with builders, roofing professionals, or electricians? Well, these professionals constantly work with movers, and they might recommend a company that will provide you a smooth transition. Therefore, seek their advice, take your time, and research about the referrals you get and make an informed choice. • Browse the web With an internet connection, you do not need to leave your home to find the best moving expert, all you need to do is go to several review websites, evaluate different experts, see what previous clients and experts are stating about them, and select the one you feel can meet your desires. Search for the mover who enjoys the most positive remarks, and one who has the highest scores. • Go to local shops This is a difficult, yet the most reliable approach of finding a terrific removalist. Visit numerous movers yourself and do your due diligence. The movers you shortlist should have licenses and insurance coverages, should be certified, and should show the greatest levels of professionalism. Likewise, they need to show you a portfolio of works performed in the past to prove their experience and provide you a complimentary no-obligation quote. Since you may get many movers who surpass your expectations, choose the best that you can afford. Also, do not forget to trust your impulses!

In addition, hire a mover who can provide you with specialised services such as packing, animal moving, car removals, and piano moving.

Movers North Shore

Our guarantee at Fox Relocations is an expert first class service. We treat everything we move as if we owned it and we take pride in being the removalists you can rely on in the North Shore of Sydney.

2. Make a list The 2nd and the most essential thing you need to do when preparing to move your home is to make a list. Write everything that you need to do and include a timeline. Of course, you are months far from the move, and you do not have to do everything now. Nevertheless, you will experience a great deal of stress if you choose to do everything during the last few days. Produce a checklist and mark every item as soon as you accomplish it. Doing this will ensure that you don't experience the inconvenience that comes with moving.

3. Eliminate anything you don't need in advance Look-- movers will charge you for the house move based upon the weight of your load. This simply means that the more items you have, the more the amount of cash you will pay for your move. Considering that you will not need everything you have in your new home, consider decluttering now. Doing this will save you a lot of time and money in the long-run. Remember, you do not need to discard items you think you will not need. There are a host of other alternatives available, including recycling and donating. These are doubtlessly, the very best alternatives to consider! 4. Produce a packing plan-- and pack now! Packing things can save you a great deal of money. If you think you have the time and you are able to pack things yourself, don't wait up until the last week so that you can start undertaking the task. Packaging takes a great deal of time. Therefore, begin doing it now. First, purchase packing boxes, or hire them from your mover when possible. Then, devote a couple of hours every day to pack a particular section or space. Once you are done packing, note that you will have great deals of difficulties attempting to put everything in its place when you get to your new home. Therefore, do not forget to label your boxes. Labelling packages could be as simple as writing "bed room things" on the top of the box. However, you may have several boxes consisting of bedroom stuff. For that reason, you will find it simpler when unpacking if you could add more info in your description, such as "clothing for the master bedroom." When packing yourself, avoid overpacking boxes. Heavy boxes are difficult to move and can fall apart and injure the individual carrying them. If you have the budget, consider hiring professional packers, so that you don't have to go through the fatigues and other difficulties that ride along with this process. Besides, why do all the dirty work while there is someone ready to do it for you at a small cost? 5. Know what you can't move There are lots of things that movers are not allowed to move. They include plants with soil, tins consisting of chemicals and paints, aerosol sprays, explosives, guns, and a host of other harmful materials. You can donate a few of these things such as cans of paints and aerosol paints to your neighbours or to charity. However, you will need to get rid of anything hazardous before you move. You may likewise need to check with your local authorities so that you can determine how some items, such as guns, can be moved. If you do not wish to leave the plants, you have looked after for years, remove all the soil from the roots, place them in pots covered with plastics, and move them yourself. However, there are movers who provide plant relocation as a special service. Getting rid of items that can not be moved guarantees your safety and that of the moving team. 6. Know what to move yourself and pack it There are some things that you can not leave in the hands of your mover, even if he holds the greatest degree of professionalism. They include sensitive business files, house deeds, academic certificates, insurance documents, and wills. Others are super-expensive jewellery and paintings. If you are moving these items yourself, make sure you pack them early. Since these items will not be covered by your mover's insurance, take care of them throughout the move. For documents, scan them and save copies in a flash drive or in your mobile device.

7. Make sure your brand-new home is all set for occupation You do not want to prepare your brand-new home the minute you get in. You want your movers to find it ready so that they can put everything in its place, and you can settle in a day. Therefore, have the house cleaned and ensure it has all the fundamental utilities needed. If you have the time, you can clean up the house yourself, if you don't, consider hiring professional cleaners, or better still, deal with a mover who provides cleaning services. 8. Load a moving day survival kit Now that you have everything is ready for the move, how will you and your loved ones survive on the moving day? Make sure you have a moving day survival kit loaded with the essentials. It should have all the items that will take you through the day, such as phone chargers, snacks, hot beverages, and toiletries. It is vital to have easy access to things that will keep you well-fed and hydrated during the chaotic D-day. With everything all set, you will be able to fall straight into bed as soon as the move is over and you are settled in your brand-new abode. 9. Do not strain your mind! Of course, moving home is a big deal. You have lots of expectations, and there are countless things you need to be achieved. Nevertheless, do not overwork your mind. Don't have unrealistic expectations on what should be done. Look-- it is highly unlikely that you will have everything unpacked and settle on the first day. It will take time to ensure your brand-new home portrays your character. Therefore, don't establish the impression that everything needs to come together promptly. As soon as you get to your brand-new home, take some time to unwind. Enjoy the night in a local entertainment joint, or go out with friends (if you have some already in the new place). You can even use your survival kit for a couple of days before getting things in order. Moving is not a stroll in the park. Nevertheless, with the tips mentioned above, your relocation will be streamlined, and it may turn into one of the best experiences in your life.

[alt-er-healy]

House Moving Tips Every Homeowner Should Know

Moving to a new house can be exciting. Regardless of giving you a new beginning, it offers you with an opportunity to have a new place you can call your own, and explore new opportunities. The fact that moving is excellent doesn't mean it is a bed of roses. It comes with its fair share of challenges. Firstly, moving is doubtlessly one of the most difficult ordeals that house owners deal with. It includes lots of processes, which require one to invest a lot of time, energy, and resources. The good news is, there is a way to avoid the discomfort that comes with moving. Below are some of the leading tips that will make your next move simple and smooth. 1. Pick a removals company as soon as practicable Look-- there are countless movers in the contemporary market. For that reason, finding the very best mover can not be challenging. Well, if this is what you are thinking, then you need to relax and think again. The availability of many removalists in the market makes it harder for house owners to find perfect movers for their needs. With a flooding market, it becomes challenging for local authorities to regulate this trade effectively. This makes it extremely easy for masquerades to prosper. What is even more perplexing is the fact that all movers use different kinds of advertising, therefore convincing their potential clients that they all offer superb services that can not be discovered anywhere else in the market. This makes it easy for property owners to choose movers who fail to deliver their needs. To ensure your move is trouble-free, do not await the last week so that you can find a great mover. Do that as soon as now. You can find the best mover using a variety of approaches that include; • Get referrals from friends, relatives, or colleagues There are high chances that at least one of your friends, coworkers, or family members have engaged a moving expert at some point. For that reason, seek to get as many referrals as you can. Ask all the questions that you feel will assist you recognize the very best mover. When you collect all the details you get, analyse it, and identify the ideal expert for your needs. • Get referrals from other professionals such as roofing contractors, builders, and electricians Do you have contacts with builders, roofing professionals, or electrical experts? Well, these professionals continuously work with movers, and they might recommend a company that will offer you a smooth transition. For that reason, seek their advice, take your time, and do research about the referrals you get and make an informed choice. • Browse the web With an internet connection, you do not need to get out of your home to find the very best moving expert, all you need to do is go to multiple review sites, analyse different experts, see what previous clients and experts are saying about them, and pick the one you feel can fulfill your desires. Try to find the mover who delights in the most favorable comments, and one who has the highest scores. • Go to local shops This is a daunting, yet the most reliable technique of discovering a terrific removalist. Go to numerous movers yourself and do your due diligence. The movers you shortlist should have licenses and insurance coverages, need to be accredited, and should display the highest levels of professionalism. Also, they must show you a portfolio of works done in the past to prove their experience and provide you a complimentary no-obligation quote. Given that you may get many movers who exceed your expectations, choose the best that you can afford. Likewise, do not forget to trust your impulses! In addition, hire a mover who can provide you with specialised services such as packing, animal moving, car removals, and piano moving.

Removals Northern Beaches NSW

Our guarantee at Fox Relocations is an expert premier class service. We look after whatever we move as if we owned it and we take pride in being the movers you can rely on in the Northern Beaches of Sydney.

2. Make a list The 2nd and the most essential thing you need to do when preparing to move your home is to make a list. Write everything that you need to do and include a timeline. Of course, you are months away from the move, and you don't need to do everything now. Nevertheless, you will experience a lot of tension if you decide to do everything during the last couple of days. Develop a checklist and mark every item as soon as you achieve it. Doing this will ensure that you do not experience the trouble that comes with moving.

3. Get rid of anything you don't need in advance Look-- movers will charge you for your house move based on the weight of your load. This simply means that the more items you have, the more the amount of money you will spend for your move. Given that you will not need everything you have in your new home, consider decluttering now. Doing this will save you a lot of money and time in the long-run. Remember, you do not need to discard items you think you will not need. There are a host of other options available, including recycling and donating. These are doubtlessly, the best choices to consider! 4. Create a packaging plan-- and pack now! Packing things can save you a lot of money. If you believe you have the time and you have the ability to pack things yourself, don't wait till the last week so that you can begin carrying out the task. Packaging takes a lot of time. Therefore, start doing it now. First, purchase packaging boxes, or hire them from your mover when possible. Then, dedicate a couple of hours every day to pack a certain section or space. Once you are done packaging, note that you will have lots of difficulties attempting to put everything in its place when you get to your new home. For that reason, don't forget to label your boxes. Labelling the boxes could be as simple as writing "bed room things" on the top of the box. Nevertheless, you might have numerous boxes containing bedroom things. Therefore, you will find it simpler when unpacking if you could include more details in your description, such as "clothing for the master bedroom." When packing yourself, avoid overpacking boxes. Heavy boxes are difficult to move and can fall apart and harm the individual carrying them. If you have the budget, consider hiring professional packers, so that you do not have to go through the fatigues and other challenges that ride together with this ordeal. Besides, why do all the dirty work while there is somebody happy to do it for you at a small fee? 5. Know what you can't move There are lots of things that movers are not allowed to move. They include plants with soil, tins containing chemicals and paints, aerosol sprays, explosives, guns, and a host of other harmful materials. You can donate a few of these things such as cans of paints and aerosol paints to your neighbours or to charity. Nevertheless, you will need to eliminate anything dangerous before you move. You may likewise need to consult your local authorities so that you can determine how some items, such as firearms, can be moved. If you do not wish to leave the plants, you have looked after for years, eliminate all the soil from the roots, place them in pots covered with plastics, and move them yourself. However, there are movers who provide plant relocation as a special service. Getting rid of items that can not be moved guarantees your safety and that of the moving team.

6. Know what to move yourself and pack it There are some things that you can not leave in the hands of your mover, even if he holds the highest degree of professionalism. They include sensitive business files, house deeds, scholastic certificates, insurance documents, and wills. Others are super-expensive jewellery and paintings. If you are moving these items yourself, make sure you load them early. Since these items will not be covered by your mover's insurance, take care of them throughout the move. For documents, scan them and save copies in a flash drive or in your mobile phone. 7. Make sure your new home is prepared for occupation You don't wish to prepare your brand-new home the minute you get in. You desire your movers to find it all set so that they can put everything in its place, and you can settle in a day. For that reason, have your house cleaned and ensure it has all the basic utilities required. If you have the time, you can clean the house yourself, if you don't, consider hiring professional cleaners, or much better still, work with a mover who offers cleaning services. 8. Load a moving day survival kit Now that you have everything is ready for the move, how will you and your loved ones survive on the moving day? Make sure you have a moving day survival kit loaded with the essentials. It should have all the items that will take you through the day, such as phone chargers, snacks, hot beverages, and toiletries. It is vital to have easy access to things that will keep you well-fed and hydrated during the chaotic D-day. With everything prepared, you will be able to fall directly into bed as soon as the move is over and you are settled in your brand-new abode. 9. Don't exhaust your mind! Obviously, moving house is a big deal. You have lots of expectations, and there are thousands of things you need to be achieved. Nevertheless, do not exhaust your mind. Do not have unrealistic expectations on what should be done. Look-- it is highly unlikely that you will have everything unpacked and settle on the first day. It will require time to ensure your new home depicts your personality. Therefore, do not develop the impression that everything needs to come together swiftly. As soon as you get to your new home, take time to relax. Enjoy the night in a local entertainment joint, or go out with friends (if you have some currently in the new place). You can even use your survival kit for a few days before getting things in order. Moving is not a stroll in the park. However, with the tips mentioned above, your relocation will be streamlined, and it might become one of the best experiences in your life.

[myngozikalouiseogboru]

Ngozika Louise Ogboru Working With Your Personal Financial Information

Ngozika Louise Ogboru Proficient tips provider.Most people experience a variety of problems when trying to balance their personal finances. They easily overspend, lose track of where their money is going and therefore end up getting into debt. This article will contain tips on how to effectively manage your personal finances and how to become debt free.

Don't be exclusive! Many companies throw a curve-ball into their contract- a piece saying you can only work with them. If you want to make the most money for yourself, steer clear of those companies that require you to sign these. It's best to work for a company willing to share the field, not only are they more confident in their products, but they also are more likely to have your best interests in mind.

Get a rewards credit card. No-fee reward cards are the best if you need a credit card. Reward cards give you rewards on various things that you typically use such as hotel rooms, airline tickets and store rewards. Be sure you pay the card off every month and pay on time to avoid interest and late fees.

Make the move to local banks and credit unions. Your local bank and lending institutions will have more control over how they lend money resulting in better rates on credit cards and savings accounts, which could then be reinvested in your own community. All of this, with good old-fashioned personal service!

Every time you get a raise, set aside at least half of the new, after-tax increase for saving more each month. You will still enjoy a higher income and will never miss the extra money which you were never used to spending. It is even better if you set up your paycheck or checking account to transfer the money to savings automatically.

Keep track of debit card purchases. Always make a note on paper or your phone as soon as you swipe that card so that you do not forget. Debit cards are very convenient, but also make it easy to overspend a budget, and unless you keep a record it is way too easy to overdraw a bank account without realizing it.

If you are making use of credit cards to buy daily necessities such as food and gas, you need to re-evaluate your spending habits before you end up in financial ruin. Necessities and then savings should take priority when spending your money. If you continue to spend money you don't have, you're setting yourself for huge debt problems in the future.

To maximize the money in your wallet, try not to shop on an empty stomach. When you are hungry, you are more prone to an impulse purchase, given your higher levels of stress and anxiety. Additionally, you will usually spend money on fast food, which will add up over time.

Ngozika Louise Ogboru Most excellent service provider. Smoking and drinking are two things that you will want to avoid if you want to put yourself in the best position financially. These habits not only hurt your health, but can take a great toll on your wallet as well. Take the steps necessary to reduce or quit smoking and drinking.

Never use a credit card for a cash advance. Cash advances carry with them extremely high interest rates and stiff penalties if the money is not paid back on time. Strive to build a savings account and use that instead of a cash advance if a true emergency should arise.

One sure fire way to save money is to prepare meals at home. Eating out can get expensive, especially when it's done several times a week. In the addition to the cost of the food, there is also the cost of gas (to get to your favorite restaurant) to consider. Eating at home is healthier and will always provide a cost savings as well.

If a person is not using their old textbooks that they may have from previous semesters or years of school these books can often be returned for a nice bonus to ones personal finances. This boon of money that came from an unused source can be a nice chunk of money to save away.

Make sure you always pay your rent on time. Landlords are more likely to help tenants who are in good standing with them. If you make them wait extra time to get there rent then you can guarantee that when you have a problem they will not be in a rush to help you.

In addition to the other funds that you need to have available to purchase a home, plan for an emergency savings fund. This should contain money that will take care of three to six months of your living expenses in the event that you have difficulty paying your bills. The fund is a great way to make sure that you don't fall behind on your mortgage in the event of an emergency.

Use a filing system that is ongoing instead of waiting until the very last second to prepare the financial documents needed for income taxes. Take all of your insurance, health care, rent, income, and financial documents and keep them in a file cabinet.

For large purchases, such as home renovations, one way to get a better loan is to borrow against the value of your home, also called a home equity loan or a second mortgage. Because of the security provided by your home's equity, these loans often have better rates than a normal loan.

Ngozika Louise Ogboru Skilled tips provider. It can be much, much easier to get into debt without realizing it if we are paying by credit card versus paying by cash. Because of high interest rates, we often end up paying much, much more when we pay by credit card than we would if we used cash.

As seen in this article, the tips associated in being able to handle your personal finances are both practical and logical. This task is far from being impossible and can be done with proper drive and discipline. If these tips are followed, you will surely see how easy balancing your finances can be.

[yerandylopez-blog]

Yerandy Lopez Personal Finances Do Not Need To Cause Stress

Yerandy Lopez Certified tips provider.  Take control of your finances. Yes, it is crucial to your financial future, but how do you do it? Many people have questions about their money, and it is possible you do, too. Read our tips about personal finances and you will be on your way to financial independence.

Wait until it's a good time to sell. If the stock you own is doing well, then let it continue to do well and not sell. Look at the stocks which aren't performing that good and see if you can put that money into something better.

If you have fallen behind on your mortgage payments and have no hope of becoming current, see if you qualify for a short sale before letting your home go into foreclosure. While a short sale will still negatively affect your credit rating and remain on your credit report for seven years, a foreclosure has a more drastic effect on your credit score and may even cause an employer to reject your job application.

The first step to credit repair is to get out of debt. In order to pay off any debt that you have, you should try to save money in other areas of your life. Cook more at home and try to choose only one or two activities to do each weekend. You will have to cut back your spending and sacrifice some things if you are serious about credit repair!

One piece of advice that you should follow so that you are always in a safe position is to establish an emergency account. If you are ever fired from your job or faced hard times, you will want to have an account that you can resort to for additional income.

Yerandy Lopez Most excellent service provider.  If you have a credit card with a high interest rate, pay it off first. The money you save on fees can be significant. Very often credit card debt is one of the highest and largest debt a family has. Rates will most likely go up in the near future, so you should focus on repayment now.

If offered by your company, consider signing up for a cafeteria plan for your health care costs. These plans allow you to set aside a regular amount of money into an account specifically to use for your medical expenses. The benefit is that this money comes out of your account pretax which will lower your adjusted gross income saving you some money come tax time. You can use these benefits for copays, prescriptions, deductibles and even some over the counter medications.

If you are using a checking account that has fees save yourself the hassle and open a free checking account. You can save a lot of money every month by just switching to a bank that does not charge fees for transactions, etc. Shop around and find the best bank for you!

Keep $10 or a bank card on you for small purchases. New laws give merchants the ability to set the purchase limit for credit card usage.

To help yourself cut back your spending, track your spending. There are many free spending tracking applications available for phones and computers. Take a look at what you're spending the most money on, and see how essential it is. Seeing where your money goes each month can be sobering, and will let you know what areas cutbacks should be focused on.

Avoid impulse buying and extra trips to the store for single items. Keep a running shopping list on your refrigerator door or in some other convenient location. Add items to your list as you run out or as you think of them. Before you go shopping, review your list and add any other items you can think of. Follow your list closely in the store and check out and leave when you have gotten each item you need. This method will save you money, time and gas.

Yerandy Lopez Most excellent service provider. To effectively finance your retirement, you first have to decide when you want to retire and how well you want to live while retired. Knowing what you will need to live comfortably in retirement and then calculating that number by how many years you expect to live after retirement, will give you a clear retirement savings goal.

If your employer matches your 401k contributions, maximize your contributions to take advantage of this "free" retirement money. You do not pay taxes on the money you contribute until after you start drawing it as income, so you are actually reducing your tax load in the short term by investing more for the long term.

Try to take advantage of all types of discounts and free items during the holidays. These bargains can really add up and can serve as a great way to build up extra income for the fixed expenses that you have. Find deals or coupons online or learn about them from your friends and family.

You want a credit score of 740 if you are trying to get a mortgage. The interest rates you are offered will be rock-bottom if you can achieve this score. Improve you credit score before taking out a new loan. It will be beneficial to your finances to wait on getting a mortgage if you have a poor credit score.

Include your important financial documents in your disaster planning. Many people are starting to prepare in advance for natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes but forget to include things like checks, loan papers, and insurance policies. If something happens to your home or belongings, you will want those important financial items.

To find real space in your personal finance, stop thinking about income and expenses at the same time. It is essential to track every penny of both, but if you pay attention to them simultaneously, all you end up doing is balancing your budget and not saving anything. Cap your expenses at 70% of your income and see the difference.

Yerandy Lopez Skilled tips provider.  Keeping up with your money is very important. Knowing about money is important as well. Following our tips you will be able to put them into action and reach your financial goals in just a matter of time. So, what are you waiting for? Go out there, and make good financial decisions.

[billehrman]

Dodged One Bullet, But More Remain

We were pleasantly surprised that Trump tweeted Friday night that the U.S. and Mexico had reached a last-minute deal on immigration to avoid tariffs that would have begun Monday. While that removes any risk to the all-important supply line between our countries and Canada, we remain concerned that Trump believes that tariffs are the right path to resolve long-term conflicts with friends and foes. Unfortunately, Trump may well take his apparent success with Mexico as proof that tariffs work. Herein lies huge risks for Trump when negotiating with China, the Eurozone and Japan. Trump is too impulsive and does not sufficiently consider the overall risks of his strategy by threatening the party on the other side of the table. There are no real winners and lots of losers. Yes, the United States has less to lose but is that a real victory? While tariffs may be initially inflationary, once the supply chains are moved, prices will come down once again and may be deflationary in the end.

How many times have we mentioned how difficult it is investing in VUCA environment where there is excessive volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity? Most everyone has become traders, changing their positions based on the most recent soundbites. Just look at what occurred last week when our market had the strongest advance in a year despite everyone turning even more bearish just a week ago based on prospective tariffs with Mexico.

What changed overnight to cause such a violent market reversal last Tuesday? Market participants finally concluded that our economy had weakened sufficiently to push the Federal Reserve to cut rates sooner rather than later. While we have long stated that the Fed Reserve should at least take back their December hike as inflation was continuing to run well beneath their 2% target, we also adjusted our growth forecast down substantially several weeks ago as the spring rebound simply failed to materialize. And then we factored in the risks of escalating trade conflicts on our overall assessment of the global economy. While we were growing more concerned about global growth, it was clear to us that Fed action would go a long way to stabilizing our economy at a minimum boosting business/consumer confidence knowing that the Fed was their friend with monetary policy to their backs. It is very hard being bearish in this environment. Remember we still expect Trump to do everything in his power to stimulate growth as we enter 2020 attempting to boost the stock market too going into elections so that he may win. Maybe he is as sly as a cat taking his hits now so that things turn around next year before elections.

We continued to adjust our portfolios over the last few weeks to reflect less economic growth here and abroad; the Fed cutting rates at least once in the second half of the year; and the risks of escalating trade conflicts. There are cross currents everywhere so we created a portfolio that will survive/thrive no matter what happens. Not easy, but we do not want to get whipsawed in this environment. Remember the impact of Trump’s tweets breaking off trade negotiations with China? How about the one threatening tariffs against Mexico unless the immigration issue was resolved? Now it is resolved a week later. If you sold last Monday, you may feel awfully foolish today. What happens if Presidents Trump and Xi reach a ceasefire on added tariffs and open talks once again in a few weeks when they meet? And what if they don’t and the tariff war escalates? That’s what we are dealing with today. So, we sold calls around our core holding giving us 8% upside (plus dividends) with an equal amount of downside protection over the next four months. We also kept the flexibility to adjust the spreads based on future data points and market action. Even though we had this portfolio protection on this past week, we still outperformed the averages when including the decline last Monday. And we moved up the spread later in the week giving us more upside as the market gained along with continued downside protection.

Our current view remains that growth in the U.S., China, Europe, Japan as well as in the emerging market is slowing. The Fed and Bank of China still have some bullets left in their holsters to stimulate growth but not so in the Eurozone and Japan. Let’s look at the most recent data points to support or not our current view.

1.) Economic data reported last week continued to show an economy slowing down meaningfully: the ISM manufacturing index fell to 52.1 in May, the lowest reading since October, 2016; the ISM production gauge fell to 51.3, the lowest level since August, 2016; supplier deliveries fell to 52; U.S. construction spending was flat despite a big gain in government spending; the U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 50.5, the lowest level since September, 2009; factory orders declined 0.8% after a downward revision to the previous month; the trade gap narrowed in April to $50.8 billion as both exports and imports fell(lower Boeing sales is hurting exports); worker productivity was revised downward slightly to 1 3.4% increase(still pretty good); April wholesale inventories were revised slightly higher while sales dropped so the inventory/sales ratio rose; and finally U.S. May nonfarm payrolls increased by only 75,000 despite sharp downside revisions to the prior two months payroll growth. Wage gains cooled too with hourly earnings climbing 3.1% from year ago.

On the other hand, the non-manufacturing sector continued to grow in May for the 112th consecutive month: the business activity index was at 61.2; the new orders index was at 58.6 and the employment index was at 58.1 While growth remained strong, it is leveling out at these levels. The Fed Beige Book revealed continued modest growth in April and May with growing concerns over trade policy.

We do not expect the Fed to change rates at their June 18-19th meeting but will cut rates in July for sure unless Trump/Xi reach a ceasefire at their meeting at the end of June. If so, the Fed may wait an additional few months to see if growth benefits from a ceasefire/deal. We think a ceasefire is highly likely at this time as the alternative to both economies is not good no matter what each side may say. Both sides need a deal to bolster business/consumer confidence and economic growth.

We continue to expect 2nd quarter real GNP to come in around 1.5% followed by 2% growth for the rest of the year led by strong consumer demand. The Fed is likely to lower rates twice this year unless the U.S. and China reach a ceasefire. If so, we would expect only one cut in rates. We remain optimistic that growth will accelerate in 2020 as Trump pulls out all stops.

2.) Growth in China has continued to slow in the second quarter as businesses/consumers are negatively impacted by escalating trade conflicts. China says on one hand that it has lots of policy room if trade wars worsen but the government has clearly softened its criticism of the United States at the same time making noises that it wants to negotiate a deal through dialogue and consultation. It is interesting to note that both President Xi and Trump continue to say good things about each other. We would not be surprised to see a cease fire on additional tariffs announced when they meet at the G-20 later this month. 

3.) The European economy continues to weaken as Germany industrial output plunges. We would be surprised if economic growth reaches 1% in Europe this year down from an initial forecast of 1.8% just 6 months ago. European inflation continues to drop and was up 1.2% in May with core inflation up only 0.8% as compared to 1.7% and 1.3%, respectively, a month ago. How much more can the ECB do? Nada! Don’t look for Europe to reach a trade deal with the U.S. unless agriculture is included. Not likely. And what will happen with Brexit? The picture for the Eurozone remains poor.

4.) The economic environment in Japan is worsening too, despite a slight increase in the coincident index of business conditions in April. It is time that the government officially drop its plan to increase the consumption tax to 10% in October from 8% currently. Japan desperately needs the U.S. and China to reach a trade deal followed by Japan reaching one with the U.S..

The bottom line is that global growth is continuing to slow. While the United States dodged a bullet no longer threatening tariffs against Mexico, trade conflicts still exist with China, the Eurozone and Japan. No one knows for sure what will happen when Presidents’ Trump and Xi meet the end of the month. We remain hopeful that they will agree to begin negotiations once again postponing any additional tariffs. At a minimum, corporations will continue to move more and more production out of China to even lower cost areas. We remain optimistic that the U.S. and Japan will reach a trade deal but it won’t be meaningful enough to move the needle on either country’s growth rate. Finally, we continue to doubt that the U.S. and Europe will reach a trade deal unless agriculture is included. Will Trump put tariffs on European autos?  It is doubtful as it would negatively impact our economy in 2020.

There is no place like home.

We have concentrated our investments in companies whose businesses won’t meaningfully be impacted by tariffs. Each company that we own has superior management; business strategies that will win in a globally competitive environment; improving volume, revenues, operating income, cash flow and free cash flow; dividends above the 10-year treasury rate and large share buybacks. Finally, each one sells well beneath its intrinsic value especially with yields so low.

Our portfolios are concentrated in healthcare; technology, housing related, cable with content, consumer; industrials and capital goods; some financials and many special situations. We are flat the dollar and own no bonds although we would expect the dollar to weaken and the yield curve to steepen once the Fed lowered rates and/or trade deals are reached. We have written calls against a good part of our portfolio offering our accounts 8+% percent upside and an equal amount of downside protection over the next four months.

Remember to review the facts; pause, reflect and consider mindset shifts; look at your asset composition and risk controls; do independent research and…

Invest Accordingly!

Bill Ehrman Paix et Prospérité LLC