Okay this might be a dumb question, but I haven't used a pressure pot before so I only have a vague idea of what I'm doing. I bought a super quiet 2 gallon air compressor, but recently learned in a molding/casting course I'm doing that this won't be enough; I have a 5 gallon pot, so a 2 gallon compressor will fill the pot too slowly.
I can't afford a 5 gallon compressor and have no room for something larger anyway, and I love the 2 gallon I have (it truly is super quiet). However, I can buy an air tank at Harbor Freight for about $40 for a 5 gallon, or $60 for an 11 gallon. Would I be able to use this to pressurize my pot? Like use the compressor to first fill up the tank, and then use the tank to pressurize the pot? It says the tanks are a substitute for times when you need a compressor but there isn't one available, so it seems like it would work? Does anyone know?
ETA: I don't know why I thought my pressure pot was 5 gallons? I was just thinking how small it is and went to check, it's only 2.5 gallons. :-D So probably my compressor is fine for my use. I'll leave up the post though because I'd still love to know the answer if anybody knows!

Hi! I found someone that sounds like a really cool roommate but have some concerns in regards to my parrots (amazon and conure).
She owns a house in Massachusetts with no central air and old windows. She keeps the thermostat at 60 in winter and heats using a wood stove. In a roommate situation I’d rather keep them in my room for safety but I’m concerned about them getting too cold. I’m guessing it’ll be colder in the individual room since the wood stove will be in the main area. Also idk if it’s possible to use some sort of safe portable heater? Would you continue to explore this living arrangement? I’m from the south where it’s rare not to have central aiwood stoves so my apologies for being clueless.

The whirring blades of my MD-902 throbbed against the warm evening air, and I smiled.
From 5,000 feet, the ground flew by in a carpet of dark forests and kelly-green fields. The sun hung low on the horizon in a picturesque array of dazzling orange and gold, and I could make out the narrow strip of the Ohio River to my left, glistening in the fading daylight. This time of year, the trees would be full of the sweet aroma of fresh blossoms, and the frequent rains kept small pockets of fluffy white mist hanging in the treetops. It was a beautiful view, one that reminded me of why being a helicopter pilot trumped flying in a jumbo jet far above the clouds every day of the week.
Fourteen more days, and I’m debt free.
That made me grin even more. I’d been working as a charter pilot ever since I obtained my license at age 19, and after years of keeping my nose to the grindstone, I was closing on the final payment for real-estate in western Pennsylvania. With no debt, a fixer-upper house on 30 rural acres all to myself, and a respectable wage for a 26-year-old pilot, I looked forward to the financial freedom I could now enjoy. Maybe I’d take a vacation, somewhere exotic like Venice Italy, or the Dominican Republic. Or perhaps I’d sock the money back for the day I started a family.
“Remember kleineun, a real man looks after his own.”
My elderly ouma’s voice came back from the depths of my memories, her proud, sun-tanned face rising from the darkness. She and my Rhodesian grandfather had emigrated to the US when they were newlyweds, as the violence against white Boer descendants in South Africa spiraled out of control. My mother and father both died in a car crash when I was six, and it had been my grandparents who raised me. Due to this, I’d grown up with a slight accent that many of my classmates found amusing, and I could speak both English, and Afrikaans, the Boer tongue of our former home.
I shifted in my seat, stretched my back muscles, and glanced at the picture taped to my console. Both my parents flanked a grinning, gap-toothed six-year-old me, at the last Christmas we’d spent together. My mother beamed, her dark hair and Italian features a sharp contrast to my father’s sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. Sometimes, I liked to imagine they were smiling at me with pride at how well I flew the old silver-colored bird my company had assigned to me, and that made the long, lonely flights easier to bear.
A flicker caught my eye, and I broke my gaze away from the photograph.
Perched in its small cradle above the controls, my little black Garmin fuzzed over for a few seconds, its screen shifting from brightly colored maps to a barrage of grey static.
Did the power chord come loose?
I checked, ensuring the power-cable for the unit’s battery was plugged into the port on the control panel. It was a brand-new GPS unit, and I’d used it a few times already, so I knew it wasn’t defective. Granted, I could fly and navigate without it, but the Garmin made my time as a pilot so much easier that the thought of going blind was dreadful.
My fuel gauge danced, clicked to empty, then to full, in a bizarre jolt.
More of the gauges began to stutter, the entire panel seeming to develop terrets all at once, and my pulse began to race. Something was wrong, very wrong, and the sludge inside my bowels churned with sour fear.
“Come on, come on.” I flicked switches, turned dials, punched buttons, but nothing seemed to fix the spasming electronics. Every gauge failed, and without warning, I found myself plunged into inky darkness.
Outside, the sun surrendered to the pull of night, the sky darker than usual. A distant rumble of thunder reverberated above the roar of my helicopter’s engine, and I thought I glimpsed a streak of yellowish lightning on the far horizon to my left.
Calm down Chris. We’re still flying, so it must just be a blown fuse. Stay in control and find a place to set her down.
My sweaty palm slid on the cyclic stick, and both feet weighed heavy on the yaw pedals. The collective stuck to my other hand with a nervous vibration, and I squinted against the abyss outside.
Beep.
I jumped despite myself, as the little Garmin on my panel flared back to life, the static pulling aside to reveal a twitching display. Each time the screen glitched, it showed the colorful map detailing my flight path over the ground below, but I noticed that some of the lines changed, the names shifting, as if the device couldn’t decide between two different versions of the world.
One name jutted out at me, slate gray like most of the major county names, appearing with ghostly flickers from between two neighboring ones.
Barron County.
I stared, confused. I’d flown over this section of southeastern Ohio plenty of times, and I knew the counties by heart. At this point, I should have been over the southern end of Noble County, and maybe dipping lower into Washington. There was no Barron County Ohio. I was sure of it.
And yet it shown back at me from the digital landscape, a strange, almost cigar-shaped chunk of terrain carved from the surrounding counties like a tumor, sometimes there, sometimes not, as my little Garmin struggled to find the correct map. Rain began to patter against my cockpit window, and the entire aircraft rattled from a strong gust of wind. Thick clouds closed over my field of vision like a sea of gray cotton.
The blood in my veins turned to ice, and I sucked in a nervous breath.
Land. I had to land. There was nothing else to do, my flight controls weren’t responding, and only my Garmin had managed to come back to life. Perhaps I’d been hit by lightning, and the electronics had been fried? Either way, it was too dark to tell, but a storm seemed to be brewing, and if I didn’t get my feet on the ground soon, I could be in real trouble.
“Better safe than sorry.” I pushed down on the collective to start my slow descent and clicked the talking button for my headset. “Any station, this is Douglass Three-One-Four-Foxtrot, over.”
Nothing.
“Any station, this is Douglass Three-One-Four-Foxtrot, requesting emergency assistance, over.”
Still nothing.
If the radio’s dead, I’m really up a creek.
With my hand shaking, I clicked on the mic one more time. “Any station, this is—”
Like a curtain pulling back, the fog cleared from around my window, and the words stuck in my throat.
Without my gauges, I couldn’t tell just how far I’d descended, but I was definitely very low. Thick trees poked up from the ground, and the hills rolled into high ridges with flat valley floors, fields and pastures pockmarking them. Rain fell all around in cold, silvery sheets, a normal feature for the mid spring in this part of Ohio.
What wasn’t normal, were the fires.
At first, I thought they were forest fires for the amount of smoke and flames that bellowed from each spot, but as I swooped lower, my eyes widened in horror.
They were houses.
Farms, cottages, little clusters that barely constituted villages, all of them belched orange flames and black pillars of sooty smoke. I couldn’t hear above the helicopter blades, but I could see the flashes on the ground, along the road, in between the trees, and even coming from the burning buildings, little jets of golden light that spat into the darkness with anger.
Gunfire. That’s rifle fire, a whole lot of it.
Tiny black figures darted through the shadows, barely discernable from where I sat, several hundred feet up. I couldn’t see much, but some were definitely running away, the streaks of yellow gunfire chasing them. A few dark gray vehicles rumbled down one of the gravel roads, and sprayed fire into the houses as it went. They were fighting, I realized, the people in the trucks and the locals. It was horrific, like something out of war-torn Afghanistan, but worse.
Then, I caught a glimpse of the others.
They didn’t move like the rest, who either fled from the dark vehicles, or fired back from behind cover. These skinny figures loped along with haphazard gaits, many running on all fours like animals, swarming from the trees by the dozens. They threw themselves into the gales of bullets without flinching, attacking anyone within range, and something about the way they moved, so fluid, so fearless, made my heart skip a beat.
What is that?
“Echo Four Actual to unknown caller, please respond, over.”
Choking back a cry of shock, I fumbled at the control panel with clumsy fingers, the man’s voice sharp and stern. I hadn’t realized that I’d let go of the talking button and clicked it down again. “Hello? Hello, this is Douglass Three-One-Four-Foxtrot out of Pittsburgh, over.”
An excruciating moment passed, and I continued to zoom over the trees, the fires falling away behind me as more silent forest took over.
“Roger that Douglass Three-One-Four-Foxtrot, we read you loud and clear. Please identify yourself and any passengers or cargo you might be carrying, over.”
Swallowing hard, I eyed the treetops, which looked much closer than they should have been. How far had I descended? “Echo Four Actual, my name is Christopher Dekker, and I am alone. I’m a charter flight from PA, carrying medical equipment for OSU in Columbus. My controls have been damaged, and I am unable to safely carry on due to the storm. Requesting permission to land, over.”
I watched the landscape slide by underneath me, once catching sight of what looked like a little white church surrounded by smaller huts, dozens of figures in the yard staring up at me as I flew over a towering ridgeline.
“Solid copy on that Douglass Three-One-Four-Foxtrot. Be advised, your transponder shows you to be inside a restricted zone. Please cease all radio traffic, reduce your speed, climb to 3,000 feet and proceed north. We’ll talk you in from there. How copy, over?”
My heart jumped, and I let out a sigh of relief. “Roger that Echo Four Actual, my altimeter is down, but I’ll do my best to eyeball the altitude, over.”
With that, I pulled the collective upward, and tried my best to gauge how far I was by eyesight in the gathering night, rain still coming down all around me. This had to be some kind of disaster or riot, I decided. After all, the voice over the radio sounded like military, and those vehicles seemed to have heavy weapons. Maybe there was some kind of unrest going on here that I hadn’t heard about yet?
Kind of weird for it to happen in rural areas though. Spoiled college kids I get, but never saw farmers get so worked up before. They usually love the military.
Something moved in the corner of my eye, and I turned out of reflex.
My mouth fell open, and I froze, unable to scream.
In the sky beside me, a huge shadow glided along, and its leathery wings effortlessly carved through the gloom, flapping only on occasion to keep it aloft. It was too dark for me to see what color it was, but from the way it moved, I knew it wasn’t another helicopter. No, this thing was alive, easily the size of a small plane, and more than twice the length of my little McDonald Douglass. A long tail trailed behind it, and bore a distinct arrow-shaped snout, with twig-like spines fanned out around the back of its head. Whatever legs it had were drawn up under it like a bird, yet its skin appeared rough and knobby, almost resembling tree bark. Without pause, the gigantic bat-winged entity flew along beside me, as if my presence was on par with an annoying fly buzzing about its head.
Gripping the microphone switch so tight, I thought I’d crack the plastic, I whispered into my headset, forgetting all radio protocol. “T-There’s something up here.”
Static crackled.
“Douglas Three-One-Four-Foxtrot, say again your last, you’re coming in weak and unreadable, over.”
“There’s something up here.” I snarled into the headset, still glued to the controls of the helicopter, afraid to deviate even an inch from my course in case the monstrosity decided to turn on me. “A freaking huge thing, right beside me. I swear, it looks like a bat or . . . I don’t know.”
“Calm down.” The man on the other end of the radio broke his rigorous discipline as well, his voice deep, but level. “It won’t attack if you don’t move too fast. Slowly ease away from it and follow that course until you’re out of sight.”
I didn’t have time to think about how wrong that sounded, how the man’s strict tone had changed to one of knowledge, how he hadn’t been the least surprised by what I’d said. Instead, I slowly turned the helicopter away from the huge menace and edged the speed higher in tiny increments.
As soon as I was roughly two football fields away, I let myself relax, and clicked the mic switch. “It’s not following.”
“You’re sure?”
Eyeing the huge flapping wings, I nodded, then remembered he couldn’t see me. “Yeah, I’m well clear.”
“Good. Thank you, Mr. Dekker.”
Then, the radio went dead.
Something in my chest dropped, a weight that made my stomach roil. This wasn’t right, none of it. Who was that man? Why did he know about the thing I’d just seen? What was I supposed to—
A flash of light exploded from the trees to my right and shot into the air with a long finger of smoke.
What the . . .
On instinct, I jerked the cyclic stick to one side, and the helicopter swung to avoid the rocket.
Boom.
My world shook, metal screeched, and a dozen alarms began to go off inside the cockpit in a cacophony of beeps and sirens. Orange and red flames lit up the night sky just behind me, and the horizon started to spin wildly outside. Heat gushed from the cockpit door, and I smelled the greasy stench of burning oil. The safety belts dug into my shoulders, and with a final slip, the radio headset ripped free from my scalp.
I’m hit.
Desperate, I yanked on the controls, fought the bird even as she spun toward the ground in a wreath of flames, the inky black trees hurtling up to meet me. The helicopter went into full auto-rotation, the sky blurring past outside, and the alarms blared in a screech of doom. Panic slammed through my temples, I screamed at the top of my lungs, and for one brief second, my eyes locked on the little black Garmin still perched atop my control panel.
Its screen stopped twitching and settled on a map of the mysterious Barron County, with a little red arrow at the center of the screen, a few words popping up underneath it.
You are here.
Trees stabbed up into the sky, the belts crushed at my torso, glass shattered all around me, and the world went dark.
Copper, thick, warm, and tangy.
It filled my mouth, stank metallic in my nose, clogged my throat, choking me. In the murkiness, I fought for a surface, for a way out, blind and numb in the dark.
This way, kleineun.
My ouma’s voice echoed from somewhere in the shadows.
This way.
Both eyes flew open, and I gagged, spitting out a stream of red.
Pain throbbed in my ribs, and a heavy pressure sent a tingling numbness through my shoulders. Blood roared inside my temples, and stars danced before my eyes with a dizzying array. Humid night air kissed my skin, and something sticky coated my face, neck, and arms that hung straight up toward the ceiling.
Wait. Not up. Down.
I blinked at the wrinkled, torn ceiling of the cockpit, the glass all gone, the gray aluminum shredded like tissue paper. Just outside the broken windows, thick Appalachian bluegrass and stemmy underbrush swished in a feeble breeze, backlit by flashes of lightning from the thunderstorm overhead. Green and brown leaves covered everything in a wet carpet of triangles, and somewhere nearby, a cricket chirped.
Turning my head from side to side, I realized that I hung upside down inside the ruined helicopter, the top half burrowed into the mud. I could hear the hissing and crackling of flames, the pattering of rain falling on the hot aluminum, and the smaller brush fires around the downed aircraft sizzling out in the damp long grass. Charred steel and burning oil tainted the air, almost as strong as the metallic, coppery stench in my aching nose.
They shot me down. That military dude shot me out of the sky.
It didn’t make sense. I’d followed their orders, done everything they’d said, and yet the instant I veered safely away from whatever that thing in the sky had been, they’d fired, not at it, but at me.
Looking down (or rather, up) at my chest, I sucked in a gasp, which was harder to do that before.
The navy-blue shirt stuck to my torso with several big splotches of dark, rusty red. Most were clean slashes, but two held bits of glass sticking out of them, one alarmingly bigger than the other. They dripped cherry red blood onto my upturned face, and a wave of nausea hit me.
I gotta get down.
I flexed my arms to try and work some feeling back into them, praying nothing was broken. Half-numb from hanging so long, I palmed along my aching body until I felt the buckled for the seat belts.
“Okay.” I hissed between gritted teeth, in an effort to stave off my panic. “You can do this. Just hold on tight. Nice and tight. Here we go . . .”
Click.
Everything seemed to lurch, and I slid off the seat to plummet towards the muck-filled hole in the cockpit ceiling. My fingers were slick with blood and slipped over the smooth faux-leather pilot’s seat with ease. The shoulder belt snagged on the bits of glass that lay just under the left lowest rib, and a flare of white-hot pain ripped through me.
Wham.
I screamed, my right knee caught the edge of the aluminum ceiling, and both hands dove into a mound of leaf-covered glass shards on the opposite side of the hole. My head swam, being right-side-up again enough to make shadows gnaw at the corner of my eyes.
Forcing myself to breath slowly, I fought the urge to faint and slid back to sit on the smooth ceiling. I turned my hands over to see half a dozen bits of clear glass burrowed into my skin like greedy parasites, red blood weeping around the new cuts.
“Screw you.” I spat at the rubbish with angry tears in my eyes. “Screw you, screw you, screw you.”
The shards came out easy enough, and the cuts weren’t that deep, but that wasn’t what worried me. On my chest, the single piece of cockpit glass that remined was almost as big as my palm, and it really hurt. Just touching it felt like self-inflicted torture, but I knew it had to come out sooner or later.
Please don’t nick a vein.
Wiping my hands dry on my jeans, I gripped the shard with both hands, and jerked.
Fire roared over my ribs, and hot blood tickled my already grimy pale skin. I clapped a hand over the wound, pressing down hard, and grunted out a string of hateful expletives that my ouma would have slapped me for.
Lying on my back, I stared around me at the messy cargo compartment of the MD-902. Most of the medical supplies had been in cardboard boxes strapped down with heavy nylon tow-straps, but several cases had ruptured with the force of the impact, spraying bandages, syringes, and pill bottles all over the cluttered interior. Orange flames chewed at the crate furthest to the rear, the tail section long gone, but the foremost part of the hold was intact. Easily a million-dollar mess, it would have made me faint on any other trip, but today it was a godsend.
Half-blind in the darkness, I crawled along with only the firelight and lightning bolts to guide me, my right knee aching. Like a crippled raccoon, I collected things as I went, conscious of the two pallets of intact supplies weighing right over my head. I’d taken several different first-aid courses with some hunting buddies of mine, and the mental reflexes kicked in to help soothe my frazzled mind.
Check for bleeds, stop the worst, then move on.
Aside from my battered chest and stomach, the rest of me remained mostly unharmed. I had nasty bruises from the seatbelts, my right knee swelled, my nose slightly crooked and crusted in blood, but otherwise I was intact. Dowsing every scratch and cut with a bottle of isopropyl alcohol I found, I used butterfly closures on the smaller lacerations that peppered my skin. I wrapped soft white gauze over my abused palms and probed at the big cut where the last shard had been, only stopping when I was sure there were no pieces of glass wedged inside my flesh.
“Not too bad.” I grunted to myself, trying to sound impassive like a doctor might. “Rib must have stopped it. Gonna need stitches though. That’ll be fun.”
Pawing through the broken cases, I couldn’t find any suture chord, but just as I was about to give up, I noticed a small box that read ‘medical skin stapler’.
Bingo.
I tore the small white plastic stapler free from its packaging and eyeballed the device. I’d never done this before, only seen it in movies, and even though the cut in my skin hurt, I wondered if this wouldn’t be worse.
You’ve gotta do it. That bleeding needs to stop. Besides, no one’s coming to rescue you, not with those rocket-launching psychos out there.
Taking a deep breath, I pinched the skin around the gash together, and pressed the mouth of the stapler to it.
Click.
A sharp sting, like that of a needle bit at the skin, but it didn’t hurt nearly as bad as the cut itself. I worked my way across the two-inch laceration and gave out a sigh of relief when it was done.
“Not going to bleed to death today.” I daubed ointment around the staples before winding more bandages over the wound.
Popping a few low-grade painkillers that tumbled from the cargo, I crawled wriggled through the nearest shattered window into the wet grass.
Raindrops kissed my face, clean and cool on my sweaty skin. Despite the thick cloud cover, there was enough constant lightning strikes within the storm to let me get glimpses of the world around me. My helicopter lay on its back, the blades snapped like pencils, with bits and pieces of it burning in chunks all around the small break in the trees. Chest-high scrub brush grew all around the low-lying ground, with pockets of standing water in places. My ears still rang from the impact of the crash, but I could start to pick up more crickets, frogs, and even some nocturnal birds singing into the darkness, like they didn’t notice the huge the hulk of flaming metal that had fallen from the sky. Overhead, the thunder rumbled onward, the feeble wind whistling, and there were other flashes on the horizon, orange and red ones, with crackles that didn’t sound quite like lightning.
The guns. They’re still fighting.
Instinctively, I pulled out my cellphone, and tapped the screen.
It fluttered to life, but no matter how I tried, I couldn’t get through to anyone, not even with the emergency function designed to work around having no service. The complicated wonder of our modern world was little better than a glorified paperweight.
Stunned, I sat down with my back to the helicopter and rested my head against the aluminum skin of the craft. How I’d gone from a regular medical supply run to being marooned in this hellish parody of rural America, I didn’t know, but one thig was certain; I needed a plan. Whoever fired the missile could have already contacted my charter company and made up some excuse to keep them from coming to look for me. No one else knew I was here, and even though I now had six staples holding the worst of my injuries shut, I knew I needed proper medical attention. If I wanted to live, I’d have to rescue myself.
My bag. I need to get my go-bag, grab some gear and then . . . head somewhere else.
It took me a while to gather my green canvas paratrooper bag from its place behind the pilot’s seat and fill it with whatever supplies I could scrounge. My knee didn’t seem to be broken, but man did it hurt, and I dreaded the thought of walking on it for miles on end. I focused instead on inventorying my gear and trying to come up with a halfway intelligent plan of action.
I had a stainless-steel canteen with one of those detachable cups on the bottom, a little fishing kit, some duct tape, a lighter, a black LED flashlight with three spare batteries, a few tattered road maps with a compass, a spare pair of socks, medical supplies from the cargo, and a simple forest green plastic rain poncho. I also managed to unearth a functioning digital camcorder my ouma had gotten me for Christmas a few years back, though I wasn’t sure I wanted to do any filming in such a miserable state. Lastly, since it was a private supply run from a warehouse area near Pittsburgh to a direct hospital pad in Ohio, I’d been able to bring my K-Bar, a sturdy, and brutally simple knife designed for the Marine Corps that I used every time I went camping. It was pitiful in comparison to the rifle I wished I had with me, but that didn’t matter now. I had what I had, and I doubted my trusty Armalite would have alleviated my sore knee anyway.
Clicking on my flashlight, I huddled with the poncho around my shoulders inside the wreck of the chopper and peered at the dusty roadmaps. A small part of me hoped that a solution would jump out from the faded paper, but none came. These were all maps of western PA and eastern Ohio. None of them had a Barron County on them anywhere.
The man on the radio said to head north, right before they shot me down. That means they must be camped out to the north of here. South had that convoy and those burning houses, so that’s a no-go. Maybe I can backtrack eastward the way I came.
As if on cue, a soft pop echoed from over the eastern horizon, and I craned to look out the helicopter window, spotting more man-made flashes over the tree tops.
“Great.” I hissed between clenched teeth, aware of how the temperature dipped to a chilly 60 degrees, and how despite the conditions, my stomach had begun to growl. “Not going that way, are we? Westward it is.”
Walking away from my poor 902 proved to be harder than I’d anticipated. Despite the glass, the fizzling fires, and the darkness, it still held a familiar, human essence to it. Sitting inside it made me feel secure, safe, even calm about the situation. In any other circumstance, I would have just stayed with the downed aircraft to wait for help, but I knew the men who shot me down would likely find my crash site, and I didn’t want to be around when they did.
Unlike much of central and western Ohio, southeastern Ohio is hilly, brushy, and clogged with thick forests. Thorns snagged at my thin poncho and sliced at my pant legs. My knee throbbed, every step a form of self-inflicted torture. The rain never stopped, a steady drizzle from above just cold enough to be problematic as time went on, making me shiver. Mud slid under my tennis shoes, and every tree looked ten times bigger in the flickering beam of my cheap flashlight. Icy fear prickled at the back of my neck at some of the sounds that greeted me through the gloom. I’d been camping loads of times, both in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, but these noises were something otherworldly to me.
Strange howls, screeches, and calls permeated the rain-soaked sky, some almost roars, while others bordered on human in their intonation. The more I walked, the softer the distant gunfire became, and the more prevalent the odd sounds, until the shadows seemed to fill with them. I didn’t dare turn off my flashlight, or I’d been completely blind in the dark, but a little voice in the back of my head screamed that I was too visible, crunching through the gloomy forest with my long beam of light stabbing into the abyss. It felt as though a million eyes were on me, studying me, hunting me from the surrounding brush, and I bitterly recalled how much I’d loved the old Survivor Man TV series as a kid.
Not so fun being out in the woods at night. Especially alone.
A twig snapped somewhere behind me, and I whirled on the spot, one trembling hand resting on the hilt of my K-Bar.
Nothing. Nothing but trees, bushes, and rain dripping down in the darkness.
“This is stupid.” I whispered to myself to keep my nerves in check as I slowly spun on the spot. “I should have went eastward anyway. God knows how long I’m going to have to—”
Creak.
A groan of metal-on-metal echoed from somewhere to my right, and I spun to face it, yanking the knife on my belt free from its scabbard. It felt so small and useless in my hand, and I choked down a wave of nauseas fear.
Ka-whump. Creak. K-whump. Creak.
Underbrush cracked and crunched, a few smaller saplings thrashed, and from deep within the gloom, two yellow orbs flared to life. They poked through the mist in the trees, forming into slender fingers of golden light that swept back and forth in the dark.
The soldiers . . . they must be looking for me.
I swallowed hard and turned to slink away.
Ice jammed through my blood, and I froze on the spot, biting my tongue to stop the scream.
It stood not yards away, a huge form that towered a good twelve feet tall in the swirling shadows. Unpolished chrome blended with flash-rusted spots in the faded red paint, and grime-smeared glass shone with dull hues in the flashes of lightning. Where the wheels should have been, the rounded steel axels curved like some enormous hand had bent them, and the tires lay face-down on the muddy ground like big round feet, their hubcaps buried in the dirt. Dents, scrapes, and chips covered the battered thing, and its crooked little radio antenna pointed straight up from the old metal fender like a mast. I could barely make out the mud-coated VW on the rounded hood, and my mind reeled in shock.
Is . . . is that a car?
Both yellow headlights bathed me in a circle of bright, blinding light, and neither I nor the strange vehicle moved.
Seconds ticked by, the screech-thumping in the background only growing closer. I realized that I couldn’t hear any engine noises and had yet to see any soldiers or guns pointed my way. This car looked old, really old, like one of those classic Volkswagen Beetles that collectors fought over at auctions. Try as I might, I couldn’t see a driver inside the murky, mold-smeared windows.
Because there wasn’t one.
Lightning arched across the sky overhead, and the car standing in front of me blinked.
Its headlights slid shut, as if little metal shades had crawled over the bulbs for a moment and flicked open again. Something about that movement was so primal, so real, so lifelike, that every ounce of self-control I had melted in an instant.
Cursing under my breath, I lunged into the shrubs, and the world erupted around me.
Under my shoes, the ground shook, and the car surged after me in a cacophony of ka-thumps that made my already racing heart skip several beats. A weather-beaten brown tow truck from the 50’s charged through the thorns to my left, it’s headlights ablaze, and a dilapidated yellow school bus rose from its hiding place in the weeds to stand tall on four down-turned axel-legs. They all flicked their headlights on like giants waking from their slumber, and as I dodged past them, they each blared their horn into the night in alarm.
My breaths came short and tight, my knee burned, and I crashed through thorns and briars without thought to how badly I was getting cut up.
The cheap poncho tore, and I ripped it away as it caught on a tree branch.
A purple 70’s Mustang shook off its blanket of creeping vines and bounded from a stand of trees just ahead, forcing me to swerve to avoid being run over, my adrenaline at all-time highs.
This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening, this can’t be happening.
Slipping and sliding, I pushed through a stand of multiflora rose, and stumbled out into a flat, dark expanse.
I almost skidded to a stop.
What had once been a rather large field stood no taller than my shoestrings, the grass charred, and burnt. The storm above illuminated huge pieces of wreckage that lay scattered over the nearly 40-acre plot, and I could just make out the fire-blackened hulk of a fuselage resting a hundred yards away. The plane had been brought down a while ago it seemed, as there weren’t any flames left burning, and I threw myself toward it in frenzied desperation.
Burned grass and greasy brown topsoil slushed underfoot, and I could hear the squelching of the cars pursing me. Rain soaked me to the bone, and my lungs ached from sucking down the damp night air. A painful stich crept into my side, and I cursed myself for not putting in more time for cardio at the gym.
Something caught my left shoelace, and I hurtled to the ground, tasting mud and blood in between my teeth.
They’ve got me now.
I clawed at the mud, rolled, and watched a tire slam down mere inches from where my head had been. The Mustang loomed over me and jostled for position with the red Volkswagen and brown tow truck, the school bus still a few yards behind them. They couldn’t seem to decide who would get the pleasure of stomping me to death, and like a herd of stampeding wildebeest, they locked bumpers in an epic shoving match.
On all fours, I scampered out from under the sparring brutes, and dashed for the crumpled airplane, a white-painted DC-3 that looked like it had been cut in half by a gargantuan knife blade. I passed a snapped wing section, the oily remains of a turbo-prop engine, and a mutilated wheel from the landing gear. Climbing over a heap of mud, I squeezed into the back of the ruined flight cabin and dropped down into the dark cargo hold.
Wham.
No sooner had my sneakers hit the cold metal floor, and the entire plane rocked from the impact of something heavy ramming it just outside. I tumbled to my knees, screaming in pain as, once again, I managed to bash the sore one off a bracket in the wall.
My hand smeared in something gooey, and I scrabbled for my flashlight.
It clicked on, a wavering ball of white light in the pitch darkness, and I fought the urge to gag. “Oh man . . .”
Three people, or what was left of them, lay strewn over the narrow cargo area. Claret red blood coated the walls, caked on the floor, and clotted under my mud-spattered shoes. Bits of flesh and viscera were stuck to everything, and tatters of cloth hung from exposed sections of broken bone. An eerie set of bloody handprints adorned the walls, and the only reason I could tell it had been three people were the shoes; all of them bore anklebones sticking out above blood-soaked socks. It smelled sickly sweet, a strange, nauseas odor that crept into my nose and settled on the back of my tongue like an alien parasite.
Something glinted in the beam of my flashlight, and my pulse quickened as I pried the object loose from the severed arm that still clung to it.
“Hail Mary full of Grace.” I would have grinned if it weren’t for the fact that the plane continued to buck and roll under the assault from the cars outside.
The pistol looked old, but well-maintained, aside from the light coating of dark blood that stained its round wooden handle. It felt heavy, but good in my hand, and I turned it over to read the words, Waffenfabrik Mauser stenciled into the frame, with a large red 9 carved into the grip. For some reason, it vaguely reminded me of the blasters from Star Wars.
I fumbled with a little switch that looked like a safety on the back of the gun and stumbled toward a gap in the plane’s dented fuselage to aim out at the surrounding headlights.
Bang.
The old gun bucked reliably in my hand, its long barrel spitting a little jet of flame into the night. I had no idea if I hit anything, but the attacking cars recoiled, their horns blaring in confusion.
They turned, and scuttled for the tree line as fast as their mechanical legs could go, the entire ordeal over as fast as it had begun.
Did I do that?
Perplexed, I stared down at the pistol in my hand.
Whoosh.
A large, inky black shadow glided down from the clouds, and the yellow school bus moved too slow to react in time.
With a crash, the kicking nightmarish vehicle was thrown onto its side, spraying glass and chrome trim across the muddy field. Its electro-synth horn blared with wails of mechanical agony, as two huge talon-like feet clamped down on it, and the enormous head of the flying creature lowered to rip open its engine compartment.
The horn cut out, and the enormous flying entity jerked its head back to gulp down a mass of what looked like sticky black vines from the interior of the shattered bus.
At this range, I could see now that the flying creature bore two legs and had its wings half-tucked like a vulture that had descended to feed on roadkill. Its head turned slightly, and in the glow of another lightning bolt, my jaw went slack at the realization of what it was.
A tree trunk. It’s a rotted tree trunk.
I couldn’t tell where the reptilian beast began, and where the organic tree components ended, the upper part of the head shaped like a log, while the lower jaw resembled something out of a dinosaur movie. Its skin looked identical to the outside of a shagbark hickory but flexed with a supple featheriness that denoted something closer to skin. Sharp branch-like spines ranged down its back, and out to the end of its tail, which bore a massive round club shaped like a diseased tree-knot. Crouched on both hind legs, it braced the hooked ends of its folded wings against the ground like a bat, towering higher than a semi-truck. Under the folds of its armored head, a bulging pair of chameleon-like eyes constantly spun in their sockets, probing the dark for threats while it ate.
One black pupil locked onto the window I peered through, and my heart stopped.
The beast regarded me for a moment, with a curious, sideways sniff.
With a proud, contemptful head-toss, the shadow from the sky parted rows of razor-sharp teeth to let out a roar that shook the earth beneath my feet. It was the triumphant war cry of a creature that sat at the very top of the food chain, one that felt no threat from the fragile two-legged beings that walked the earth all around it. It hunted whenever it wanted, ate whatever it wanted, and flew wherever it wanted. It didn’t need to rip the plane apart to devour me.
Like my hunter-gatherer ancestors from thousands of years ago, I wasn’t even worth the energy it would take to pounce.
I’m hiding in the remains of the cockpit now, which is half-buried under the mud of the field, enough to shield the light from my screen so that thing doesn’t see it. My service only now came back, and it’s been over an hour since the winged beast started in on the dead bus. I don’t know when, or how I’m going to get out of here. I don’t know when anyone will even see this post, or if it will upload at all. My phone battery is almost dead, and at this point, I’m probably going to have to sleep among the corpses until daylight comes.
A dead man sleeping amongst friends.
If you live in the Noble County area in southeastern Ohio, be careful where you drive, fly, and boat. I don’t know if it’s possible to stumble into this strange place by ground, but if so, then these things are definitely headed your way.
If that happens . . . pray that they don’t find you.

27 minutes ago
Deutsche Welle
A member of The Left coalition in Poland, Jakub Klimek, after being charged with funding a terrorist attack on a PiS office two years ago, took his wife and two sons hostage before committing suicide 2 hours into the police siege. During that time the Warsaw police raided the headquarters of the Civic Coalition and The Left coalition leading to the arrest of dozens of opposition members.
After Jakub Klimek, a member of The Left coalition, was charged with funding a far-left extremist group behind a 2023 terrorist attack in Warsaw against the ruling right-wing PiS party, he went to his home in an apartment in Central Warsaw notifying his relatives he was going to say goodbye to his family before turning himself in, but instead he remained in his home until the police arrived, at which point he took his wife and two sons hostage at gunpoint. When soldiers of the specialized anti-terror unit JW GROM stormed the apartment he immediately committed suicide by gun. His family was not harmed in the siege.
His family said he apologized over and over again for the majority of the two hours the siege lasted, during which his two seven year old sons were constantly crying while their mother was trying to console them. He held his family in the bathroom because it was the only room without a window, according to the police. When he heard the window shattering from JW GROM entering the apartment he immediately shot himself in the head, without hesitation, his wife said.
At the same time the police siege began, the headquarters of the Civic Coalition (KO) and The Left were raided leading to the arrest of at least 60 individuals. The police obtained over 1200 documents they allege support the claim of the 2023 attack being supported by The Left and KO. While all information hasn’t been released to the public yet, Polish sources are claiming the ’’Fists of Freedom’’, the group behind the terror attack, was funded with over $700k by KO and The Left between 2023 and 2024.
The ’’Fists of Freedom’’ were seemingly a very new organization when they attacked that PiS office, but sources say it was created by the cooperation of KO and The Left for retrieving harmful documents to them from the PiS office. It hasn’t been confirmed yet what these documents were or how they ended up into PiS hands.
On Reddit a user on Poland who claims to have sources in the Warsaw Police Department posted unreleased images of the KO headquarters after the raid and wrote that PiS had obtained documents relating KO and The Left officials to a $2.3 mn bribe in 2023 from the Polish defense company Mesko for purchasing additional ’PPZR Piorun’ man-portable air defense systems, or MANPADS. PiS was supposedly attempting to blackmail their opponents into political concessions with these documents until they were destroyed in the 2023 raid. Why PiS didn’t make copies of them is unknown, some have commented that it’s a made up story and its writer is a moron who didn’t think the story logically through before he started writing, but I digress. At the start of the next year in 2024 Poland did indeed place an order for 800 Piorun launchers and 2500 missiles, costing a total of $850 mn between 2024 and 2029. At the time of the purchase, this was justified as refilling stocks of weapons sent to Ukraine, but if this information is true, it might mean the deal was made due to more unethical reasons.
The poster then said the police are going to open investigations into Mesko and into the Armament Agency, the main office for military procurement in Poland. This wouldn’t be the first time corruption was uncovered in the Polish defense industry, although never has it been to this scale. For example in 2019 six PGZ (PGZ is a large government owned defense consortium in Poland) employees were arrested for falsifying documents and influence peddling, and in 2023 four employees of PIT-RAWDAR, a Polish electronic company specializing in military equipment, were arrested for bribery. This incident, however, would be the largest and most influential in modern Polish history.
Another point the poster made is the potential investigation of PiS for claimed blackmail of their political opponents. This would mean essentially all major parties in Poland would be under investigation by the police for corruption.
What comes next for Poland is unknonwn, but several Western activists have expressed distress over the potential elimination of the right wing government’s rivals. If the high ranking leadership of The Left or KO were jailed it would destroy the parties’ reputations and of all their members.
Minor protests took place in Poland and Gdynia numbering no more than 100 total in both the cities combined. When interviewed, one of the protestors in Warsaw said: ''It is insane how people believe what PiS says. They are insane, I don't believe anything they say.'' This seems to be echoed by the rest of the protestors who are marching under the banner of KO and The Left innocence.
The Polish President Adrzej Duda called them ''idiotic hippies'' in a recent tweet. This tweet was replied to by Elon Musk who said: ''Based."

Some offseason drivel.
Simple ratio of number of instances of an FBS school's flair (including any alternate flairs) divided by the school's enrollment.
Note: This is a count of flair, not users. Example: If a user has [UCF] primary flair and [UCF alternate (the Citronaut)] secondary flair, that counts as 2 in the Flair column rather than 1. In other words, users who double up on their school's flair offerings count twice. There certainly are users who double up, but I feel like it does not affect the numbers much. This method makes sure to capture users who do not use their school's standard flair and instead use their school's alternate flair. (Note: Not every school has alternate flair. * Bearcat tears 😿 *)
Data sources:

• Enrollment (Some of these are out of date by a few years. This was the easiest source to pull from. I am not going to track down current official enrollment numbers for 133 separate institutions.)
• Flair count (Accessed 05/31/2023)

 

Rank	Program	Conf.	Flair	Enrollment	Ratio
1	Notre Dame	FBS Independents	7,745	13,139	58.9%
2	Michigan	Big Ten	17,127	50,278	34.1%
3	Oregon	Pac-12	6,789	22,257	30.5%
4	Alabama	SEC	11,674	38,316	30.5%
5	Ohio State	Big Ten	18,118	61,677	29.4%
6	Nebraska	Big Ten	6,963	24,431	28.5%
7	Navy	American	1,249	4,528	27.6%
8	Oklahoma	Big 12	7,349	28,042	26.2%
9	Georgia	SEC	10,467	40,118	26.1%
10	Army	FBS Independents	1,189	4,594	25.9%
11	Clemson	ACC	6,127	27,341	22.4%
12	Tennessee	SEC	6,856	31,701	21.6%
13	Auburn	SEC	6,349	31,526	20.1%
14	LSU	SEC	7,170	35,912	20.0%
15	Texas	Big 12	10,325	51,991	19.9%
16	Miami	ACC	3,307	19,096	17.3%
17	Florida	SEC	9,042	55,781	16.2%
18	TCU	Big 12	1,932	11,938	16.2%
19	Penn State	Big Ten	7,297	47,560	15.3%
20	Iowa	Big Ten	4,447	29,909	14.9%
21	Air Force	Mountain West	613	4,181	14.7%
22	Florida State	ACC	6,392	45,130	14.2%
23	Wisconsin	Big Ten	6,543	47,932	13.7%
24	Michigan State	Big Ten	6,394	49,659	12.9%
25	Arkansas	SEC	3,675	29,068	12.6%
26	South Carolina	SEC	4,455	35,471	12.6%
27	Virginia Tech	ACC	4,615	37,279	12.4%
28	Stanford	Pac-12	2,132	17,680	12.1%
29	Texas A&M	SEC	8,597	72,530	11.9%
30	West Virginia	Big 12	2,996	25,474	11.8%
31	Oklahoma State	Big 12	2,770	24,660	11.2%
32	Baylor	Big 12	2,238	20,626	10.9%
33	USC	Pac-12	4,995	49,318	10.1%
34	Georgia Tech	ACC	4,426	43,844	10.1%
35	Tulsa	American	384	3,832	10.0%
36	Kansas State	Big 12	1,940	20,229	9.6%
37	Iowa State	Big 12	2,895	30,708	9.4%
38	Ole Miss	SEC	1,957	21,203	9.2%
39	Kentucky	SEC	2,782	30,390	9.2%
40	Washington	Pac-12	4,721	52,439	9.0%
41	Vanderbilt	SEC	1,178	13,796	8.5%
42	Missouri	SEC	2,640	31,412	8.4%
43	Washington State	Pac-12	2,361	29,843	7.9%
44	Wake Forest	ACC	703	8,947	7.9%
45	Mississippi State	SEC	1,775	23,086	7.7%
46	Kansas	Big 12	2,035	26,780	7.6%
47	North Carolina	ACC	2,377	31,733	7.5%
48	Utah	Pac-12	2,535	34,464	7.4%
49	Pittsburgh	ACC	2,134	29,238	7.3%
50	Texas Tech	Big 12	2,927	40,542	7.2%
51	Northwestern	Big Ten	1,631	22,933	7.1%
52	Minnesota	Big Ten	3,474	52,376	6.6%
53	Boston College	ACC	991	15,046	6.6%
54	Louisville	ACC	1,441	22,140	6.5%
55	Appalachian State	Sun Belt	1,309	20,641	6.3%
56	Syracuse	ACC	1,364	21,772	6.3%
57	Virginia	ACC	1,616	26,026	6.2%
58	Colorado	Pac-12	2,280	37,956	6.0%
59	Boise State	Mountain West	1,545	25,830	6.0%
60	NC State	ACC	2,189	36,831	5.9%
61	Duke	ACC	1,047	17,620	5.9%
62	Cincinnati	Big 12	2,370	40,281	5.9%
63	SMU	American	728	12,385	5.9%
64	UCLA	Pac-12	2,737	47,516	5.8%
65	Oregon State	Pac-12	1,892	33,193	5.7%
66	Tulane	American	746	13,127	5.7%
67	California	Pac-12	2,563	45,435	5.6%
68	Purdue	Big Ten	2,688	49,639	5.4%
69	Maryland	Big Ten	2,149	41,272	5.2%
70	UCF	Big 12	3,619	70,406	5.1%
71	Wyoming	Mountain West	588	11,479	5.1%
72	BYU	Big 12	1,592	34,802	4.6%
73	Indiana	Big Ten	2,043	45,328	4.5%
74	Rice	American	373	8,285	4.5%
75	UAB	American	998	22,289	4.5%
76	Marshall	Sun Belt	484	11,125	4.4%
77	Illinois	Big Ten	2,450	56,607	4.3%
78	Western Michigan	MAC	741	19,038	3.9%
79	Houston	Big 12	1,828	47,031	3.9%
80	Coastal Carolina	Sun Belt	406	10,473	3.9%
81	Central Michigan	MAC	597	15,465	3.9%
82	Toledo	MAC	653	17,045	3.8%
83	Memphis	American	768	21,622	3.6%
84	Rutgers	Big Ten	1,790	50,804	3.5%
85	Arizona State	Pac-12	2,715	77,881	3.5%
86	Georgia Southern	Sun Belt	913	27,091	3.4%
87	Hawai'i	Mountain West	640	19,097	3.4%
88	Northern Illinois	MAC	534	16,234	3.3%
89	South Alabama	Sun Belt	452	13,992	3.2%
90	Louisiana Tech	Conference USA	355	11,037	3.2%
91	Arizona	Pac-12	1,551	49,471	3.1%
92	Ohio	MAC	753	24,429	3.1%
93	James Madison	Sun Belt	659	22,166	3.0%
94	Jacksonville State	Conference USA	269	9,238	2.9%
95	Troy	Sun Belt	416	14,901	2.8%
96	USF	American	1,232	44,322	2.8%
97	Louisiana	Sun Belt	426	16,225	2.6%
98	Miami (OH)	MAC	502	19,216	2.6%
99	Bowling Green	MAC	457	17,645	2.6%
100	Temple	American	897	35,626	2.5%
101	Connecticut	FBS Independents	800	32,146	2.5%
102	Southern Miss	Sun Belt	343	14,146	2.4%
103	San Diego State	Mountain West	778	35,732	2.2%
104	ECU	American	602	28,021	2.1%
105	Colorado State	Mountain West	702	32,777	2.1%
106	Eastern Michigan	MAC	328	15,370	2.1%
107	Fresno State	Mountain West	492	24,585	2.0%
108	UTSA	American	688	34,734	2.0%
109	Akron	MAC	274	14,516	1.9%
110	WKU	Conference USA	292	16,750	1.7%
111	Middle Tennessee	Conference USA	359	20,857	1.7%
112	North Texas	American	724	42,454	1.7%
113	Nevada	Mountain West	348	21,034	1.7%
114	Utah State	Mountain West	429	27,426	1.6%
115	Texas State	Sun Belt	576	37,864	1.5%
116	Old Dominion	Sun Belt	345	23,494	1.5%
117	Arkansas State	Sun Belt	188	12,863	1.5%
118	Ball State	MAC	270	19,337	1.4%
119	Buffalo	MAC	447	32,332	1.4%
120	ULM	Sun Belt	114	8,565	1.3%
121	Kent State	MAC	338	26,597	1.3%
122	FAU	American	374	30,155	1.2%
123	Charlotte	American	376	30,448	1.2%
124	UMass	FBS Independents	389	32,045	1.2%
125	Sam Houston	Conference USA	247	21,679	1.1%
126	New Mexico State	Conference USA	148	13,904	1.1%
127	New Mexico	Mountain West	228	21,738	1.0%
128	UNLV	Mountain West	313	30,679	1.0%
129	San José State	Mountain West	330	37,133	0.9%
130	Georgia State	Sun Belt	478	55,466	0.9%
131	UTEP	Conference USA	184	24,003	0.8%
132	FIU	Conference USA	217	56,732	0.4%
133	Liberty	Conference USA	225	95,148	0.2%

 
 
Here's conference summaries:
 

Rank	Conf.	Flair	Enrollment	Ratio
1	SEC	78,617	490,310	16.0%
2	Big Ten	83,114	630,405	13.2%
3	FBS Independents	10,123	81,924	12.4%
4	ACC	38,729	382,043	10.1%
5	Big 12	46,816	473,510	9.9%
6	Pac-12	37,271	497,453	7.5%
7	American	10,139	331,828	3.1%
8	MAC	5,894	237,224	2.5%
9	Sun Belt	7,109	289,012	2.5%
10	Mountain West	7,006	291,691	2.4%
11	Conference USA	2,296	269,348	0.9%

Cement silo play a crucial role in the concrete production process, particularly in concrete batching plants. These tall structures are responsible for storing cement in bulk quantities, ensuring a continuous and reliable supply of this essential ingredient. In this blog post, we will dive deeper into cement silo, exploring their importance, construction, functionality, and the benefits they bring to concrete batching plants. Join us as we demystify the world of cement silo and shed light on their significance in the construction industry.
The Importance of Cement Silo:
Cement is a primary component of concrete, and its availability in sufficient quantities is crucial for uninterrupted concrete production. Cement silo provide a centralized storage solution, allowing concrete batching plants to store a large quantity of cement on-site. This eliminates the need for frequent cement deliveries and ensures a steady supply, even in remote or challenging locations.
Construction and Design:
Cement silo are typically cylindrical structures made of steel or reinforced concrete. They are designed to withstand the weight and pressure of the stored cement. The silos are equipped with a cone-shaped bottom section to facilitate the smooth flow of cement during extraction. Various sizes of cement silo are available, ranging from small silos suitable for smaller batching plants to larger silos capable of storing significant quantities of cement.
Functionality:
The functionality of cement silo is fairly straightforward. Cement is delivered to the silo through bulk transport trucks or pneumatic conveying systems, and it is unloaded through a filling pipe or conveyor. Inside the silo, the cement is stored in a controlled environment, protected from moisture, air, and other external factors that could compromise its quality. When needed, the cement is extracted from the silo through an auger or conveyor, and it is transported to the mixing unit of the concrete batching plant for further processing.
Benefits of Cement Silo:

1. Continuous Supply: Cement silo enable concrete batching plants to have a continuous supply of cement, reducing the risk of delays and ensuring uninterrupted production.
2. On-site Storage: Storing cement on-site eliminates the need for frequent cement deliveries and minimizes transportation costs and logistical challenges.
3. Quality Control: Cement silo provide a controlled environment for cement storage, protecting it from moisture and maintaining its quality, resulting in better concrete performance.
4. Increased Efficiency: With a cement silo, concrete batching plants can streamline their operations by having cement readily available, reducing the time and effort required for manual handling and storage of cement bags.
5. Flexibility: Cement silo come in various sizes, allowing batching plant operators to choose the capacity that best suits their production needs. They can be easily integrated into new batching plants or added to existing ones.

Conclusion:
Cement silos are an integral component of concrete batching plants, providing a reliable and efficient storage solution for cement. These structures ensure a continuous supply of cement, eliminate the need for frequent deliveries, and enhance the overall efficiency of the batching process. By understanding the construction, functionality, and benefits of cement silo, batching plant operators can make informed decisions regarding the selection and installation of these crucial components.
At Nilkanth Engineering Works, we offer a wide range of high-quality cement silo designed to meet the diverse needs of concrete batching plants. Our robust and reliable silos provide efficient storage solutions, ensuring a steady supply of cement for your concrete production. Contact us today to learn more about our cement silo and other batching plant equipment.

Introduction

When it comes to transforming the look and feel of your home, you don't need to break the bank or audition for a home renovation show. By implementing some budget-friendly and DIY-worthy home improvement tips, you can instantly increase the appeal and value of your property. In this blog, we will share our top 5 tips that can help you achieve a remarkable home renovation without spending a fortune.

Why Invest in Home Improvement?

Home improvement goes beyond aesthetics; it is also about enhancing functionality and creating a space that works better for you. Whether you're considering a central air unit installation, door relocation, or upgrading your windows, investing in home improvement allows you to reinvest in your home and reap long-term benefits. As professionals dedicated to creating exceptional homes, it's essential to ensure that the improvements you make are both budget-friendly and add significant value.

1.Get Creative with Paint

Are you envious of the beautifully decorated homes with their captivating color palettes? Well, the secret to transforming the character of your home lies in a simple can of paint. Adding a fresh coat of paint can entirely revamp the ambiance and style of any room. You can explore modern color schemes online or personally visit the store to mix and match shades that resonate with your vision. The cost of paint is relatively low, with most gallons priced around $30. This is a stark contrast to the approximately $1,000 often spent on hiring professional painters.

2.Refresh Your Bathroom

The bathroom holds significant importance in any home, and it can be a deciding factor for potential buyers. To enhance the appeal of your bathroom without undertaking a costly complete overhaul, consider refreshing a few key elements. Start by applying a new layer of grout and caulk around the bathtub, tiles, and sink for a clean and polished look. Additionally, updating finishes such as sink spouts, handles, lighting, and mirrors can create a modern and inviting atmosphere.

3.Add Color to Your Outdoor Spaces

The exterior of your home is the first impression potential buyers will have, and it's crucial to make it count. Sprucing up your outdoor spaces with vibrant flowers and plants can add instant curb appeal. Landscaping is an excellent way to enhance the beauty of your home, and you don't have to spend a fortune. By taking on the task yourself, you can achieve a total transformation for under $100. Research flowers and plants that are native to your area and will attract bees and birds, creating a picturesque and eco-friendly environment.

4.Update and Enhance Your Finishes

Upgrading and adding finishes throughout your home is a fantastic way to breathe new life into your living spaces. Consider replacing cabinet and door handles, faucets, and light fixtures to achieve a fresh and modern aesthetic. Opt for contemporary options like bronze, rose gold, mod matte black, or sleek steel finishes. Don't forget about crown molding, which can add an elegant touch to any room. By acquiring materials from a home goods store and taking accurate measurements, you can make a significant difference in the overall appeal of your space.

5.Pay Attention to Filters

One of the most practical home improvement tips is to regularly check and replace your filters. Ensuring clean air and water for future homeowners is essential. Replace air filters every 90 days, or every 60 days if there are pets in the house. Cleaning out your vents is another crucial step to reduce allergies and minimize dust accumulation. Remember to keep track of when to change your water filters as well. To elevate your space further, consider updating filter covers. Vent covers are now available in a wide range of colors, patterns, and finishes, allowing you to add charm to this often overlooked aspect of your home.

Conclusion

By following these five easy home improvement tips, you can transform your space, enhance its appeal, and increase its value without breaking the bank. Whether you're repainting rooms, refreshing your bathroom, adding color to your outdoor areas, updating finishes, or paying attention to filters, these budget-friendly and DIY-worthy projects can have a significant impact on your home's overall look and feel. So, roll up your sleeves, unleash your creativity, and enjoy the satisfaction of creating a space that you and potential buyers will love.
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5-Easy-Home-Improvement-Tip-to-Enhance-Your-Space-and-Boost-design-Appeal-home-interior-design-tips-in-thane.html

Hi everyone! Just came back from my first trip to Japan. It has always been my biggest dream to visit Japan since I was a kid and I'm so glad I finally got the chance to go! The trip was actually planned by my boyfriend who booked everything for us in May, which is my birthday month.
Tips:
Make Reservations Months in Advance! We made reservations for cafes, activities, restaurants, and even trains months in advance to make sure we would be able to do everything we wanted; we were not taking any risks and we were so thankful for our reservations. Make sure to do your research about when to make reservations months in advance.
Pack and Travel Light. Japan isn't really suited for traveling with big luggage to haul around. The trains can get incredibly crowded, you’ll probably be walking around and using stairs frequently, and hotel rooms can be very small at times. I recommend bringing a small rolling luggage and a large backpack and only pack what you need. Leave some room in your luggage for souvenirs or snacks to bring back.
Get Yen immediately at the airport or at the nearest convenience store! You will definitely need yen for a good amount of places in Japan. My boyfriend and I tried to load money in our Suica but the machine we used only accepted yen. Luckily we found a nearby conbini that accepted our debit card but we couldn't use our credit cards for some reason because the atm required a pin number. I might have accepted Mastercard but we both didn't have one.
Bringing comfortable shoes is a must in Japan! I brought comfortable shoes and my feet still hurt by the third day because we were walking and standing most of the days. I also recommend buying Lion’s Foot Patch if you find it at a conbini (I think we bought them at Lawsons) as the gel patch felt so good after a long day of walking!
Plan more days to relax. Although I have no regrets doing all the fun things we planned for our trip, I do wish we had more rest days in Japan, especially when our feet were so sore and we were so sleep deprived from waking up early. I wish we would have stayed a full 2 weeks in Japan and planned relaxing things to do in between our activities like visiting an Onsen and staying in a Ryokan.
Get to popular places early! My boyfriend and I would wake up at 5am to get ready and beat the morning rush hour and to get to popular places before the crowds showed up, it definitely worked out well for us.
Use hotel luggage transport or lockers when necessary. The luggage transport was especially useful when traveling long distances and carrying luggage through the trains would just be a hassle. All we had to do was just talk to our hotel clerk and give him the information for our next hotel we would be sending it to, and the clerk did the rest of the work. The luggage would usually arrive 2 days after we sent it. For the rest of the time, we just used lockers at train stations to store our luggage as we went sightseeing.
Trip Report:
Sunday May 14: Arrival and TokyoDisney
Arrival at Narita Airport
Arrival was simple, fast, and easy. For immigration and customs, we just had to scan our QR codes and passport and also take a picture.
Yen situation
As we arrived at Disney by bus, we wanted to use the coin lockers to store our luggage. The lockers only took suica (maybe yen too) so we tried to buy a suica but the machines only took yen (it didn't look like it took foreign cards). We tried walking to 7/11but it was closed so we ended up just walking to our hotel to drop off luggage. We ended up spending more than an hour walking everywhere and only had 2 hours for Disney.
Tokyo Disney
The only ride we had time for was the beauty and the beast ride and it was amazing! We loved our experience inside the castle and we were amazed how fluid the animatronics were. If I could recommend one ride in Disney it would be this one. We did have time to go on one more ride so we went on the Monsters Inc ride which was just a shooter game and was just okay.
Monday May 15: Tokyo- DisneySea
Before we went to disneysea, we wanted to try some convenience store food so we went to Lawsons and Family Mart. The convenience store food was delicious! The onigiri tastes better than the ones in the US, the chicken in the hot food section was so juicy and delicious! Definitely recommend eating the hot foods and drinks. We tried getting money out of the ATM with our Visa credit cards but it didnt work so we used our debit card because the atm required a pin number.
Tokyo Disneysea
We arrived at Disneysea almost an hour early and we still had to wait in line. After the gates opened, we went straight to Journey to the Center of the Earth, but it broke down before we were able to ride it. The staff did offer us a fast pass to use for the ride later when it would be fixed. When the ride was working again, we headed back, used the fast pass and immediately got on the ride. It was a fun. fast, and short ride. All the rides at disneysea are pretty short and are moderately thrilling. Afterwards, we went to the submarine ride, 20,000 leagues under the sea, which was a unique experience and a very chill ride. Next was the Indiana jones ride; it was fun and a much better ride than the one in california. Then we went to Tower of terror which wasn't too scary. We also went to Soaring which actually has really long lines and wait time but it was a cool experience. The ride with the longest line was probably toy story mania; we decided not to go on the ride because of the long lines and we've been to the one in california. Kings triton castle was the most beautiful area to look at and explore, our favorite part of the area was exploring ariel's trinket room. Lots of rides were closed the day we went so we didnt get to ride on the spirits roller coaster, autopia, and explorers. My favorite food i tried there was the Ukiwa bun.
We also got to eat at Magellan which is one of the more expensive dining options. We didn't make a reservation until that very same day but we luckily able to reserve a spot in the morning. The food was tasty and it was my first time going to a fancier kind of restaurant that offered 3 course meal that were all tiny portions. I got the cheaper option (around $40 or $60, i cant remember) and it was very delicious. My boyfriend got the most expensive option (around $100) and it tasted terrible! I wouldnt recommend getting the most expensive option there.
Tuesday May 16: Tokyo-Harajuku
Harajuku
We took the trains to get to Harajuku and it was a little overwhelming trying to figure out how to find our train the first few times but, after a while, it became a very easy process. We used google maps to find the trains we needed to take. Then at the train stations, we looked for signs with the name of the train line we needed and followed the arrows and asked for directions when we needed extra help. Then we used our suica card to tap into the specific station we needed to be at to find our train. Next we looked for the PLATFORM NUMBER our train would be arriving at and followed the signs for that number. Once at the platform, we confirmed if we were at the right place by making sure the ARRIVAL TIME, PLATFORM NUMBER, and TRAIN LINE on the digital signs matched the one from our google maps. Make sure to follow train etiquette by stepping to the side to let people out of the train and putting your backpack in front of you if the train is really crowded.
At Harajuku station, we put our luggage in coin lockers for the day so we could explore. We went to a conbini, grabbed some food for breakfast and went to Yoyogi park to eat since nothing was open at 7am. After eating, we went to Meiji shrine for a bit, which is also near yoyogi park, and then headed back to harajuku so we wouldn't be late for our mipig reservations.
Mipig cafe was our favorite cafe and one of our favorite experiences in japan! The pigs were so loving and friendly, they came right up to us and laid on our laps after the staff put some blankets on us. They were adorable and as many as 2-3 pigs would come up to us and sit on our laps. Some pigs would even get aggressive with other piggies if you gave one too much attention. Some pigs started chewing on my dress so I had to get another blanket to hide my dress from being eaten.
After Mipig, we wanted to get some food. We tried Marian crepes, candied strawberries, and some small cafes. We visited Anakuma cafe and it was definitely an interesting experience. A bear hand would come out of hole in the wall and give us candy and a coin to put in a gacha machine and it would also play rock paper scissor with us.
Next stop was Hedgehog cafe which i wouldnt recommend only because I learned later that hedgehogs are nocturnal and they were sleeping most of the time we were there. We ended up leaving early because there was not much to do as we felt bad disturbing the little guys.
Afterwards we visited the Kiddyland store and I enjoyed the studio ghibli section but they also had kirby, pokemon, and sanrio merchandise.
Teamlabs
Next we took a train to team labs, we got there early but we had to wait until it was closer to our reservation time before we could line up. After getting inside we had to put our shoes and backpacks in lockers so we could go through the water exhibition first. They offer shorts if you are wearing dresses as some of the exhibitions have mirror floors. I wasnt too into the water exhibition but I did like the lights exhibition and flower exhibition the best. Overall it was a cool experience and I got some amazing photos out of it.
Shibuya sky
Lastly we went to shibuya sky. We also couldn't get inside until our reservation time started. The elevator ride up was pretty cool as they played a video on the ceiling. They have some restaurants and cafes near the top, I wish I came earlier to try them but we were so tired I didnt want to stay too long. The top of shibuya sky was outside and it was cold (i wish i brought a sweater) but it was incredibly beautiful, especially at night. It's a nice place to relax and look at views. This was probably my favorite sky building out of the three i went (shibuya sky, umeda sky, and tokyo skytree).
Wednesday May 17: Nagoya-Ghibli Park
Ghibli park
We left early morning to get on the train and avoid morning rush hour. We ended up taking the Nozomi train to Nagoya. We bought our shinkansen tickets at the JR ticket booth. We recommend reserving seats as its only a couple yen more and gives you peace of mind knowing you get to choose your seats. We also grabbed some ekibens which were delicious, my favorite was the blue one with mt. fuji on it. Next we had to take a bus to ghibli park which was actually very hard to find. We had to ask for help to find it. To pay for the bus, you can use a suica card or yen to pay as you board the bus.
We arrived super early, and put some of our bags in the lockers. We went to lawsons nearby and bought a ghibli park book which features the exhibitions inside. We walked around the park a bit before we were allowed to start lining up for our reservation times. There are also no trash cans at ghibli park so make sure you bring a trash bag with you to take all your trash back with you.
Around 12pm we went inside and went straight to the first exhibition (Becoming characters in Memorable Ghibli scenes) and there was already a line to get in. Once we got in we took pictures with Noface from spirited away, ponyo, princess mononoke scene, and many more movie scenes.
The next exhibition we went to was the food exhibition (Delicious! Animating Memorable Meals). You can't take pictures in that area but it was cool to be able to interact in the kitchen spaces from your favorite movie scenes. Also, in the end of this exhibition, you can take pictures with totoro and the cat bus!
We visited the ghibli store next because I heard the lines can get rather long at the end of the day and I bought some merchandise from there.
Afterwards, we took pictures at the central staircase, the castle in the sky scene, and the scene with Yubaba.
Next, we took the elevator down to the bottom floor and took pictures in the arietty scenes, it was cool feeling so tiny while everything was supersized!
Lastly we went to the bakery to get some sandwiches. Unfortunately, the food does sell out and there were not a lot of choices left by the time we got there. The food we got was okay but nothing special.
Osaka: Ichiran ramen
After Ghibli park we took the train to Osaka. In Osaka, we lined up to get into Ichiran ramen. We ordered our ramen through a vending machine and it gave us our ticket to give to our server. We were seated in these small cubicle areas but we were also able to close the partition in between us so my boyfriend and I could share our table space together. I thought it was a unique dining experience; it was cool not having to say a single word to our server, and the food was also delicious too.
Thursday May 18: Osaka-Universal Studios Japan
Got to USJ an hour before it opened and there were still super long lines! As the gates opened up, we ran to nintendoland to make sure we got in. We went to toadstool cafe to get ticket reservations but they didn't open until 9am so we decided to take the single rider line for the mario kart ride, it was a bad idea. For some reason the single rider line still took us 30 minutes to complete and it felt like it was going slower than the regular lines. The mario kart ride was cool, it used like a VR headset and you were able to shoot shells at others but I really didn't understand what was going on.
Toadstool cafe
We went back to toadstool but all the tickets were gone, I tried talking to one of the workers if they would offer tickets later but I don't think he understood what i was saying. He actually just let me in the line after I asked a few times if they had anymore tickets for the afternoon. After waiting in line and ordering, we grabbed our drinks and table number and sat down at our table. The drinks were delicious! Definitely recommend. We also ordered some kind of mushroom pesto soup and it was bomb! We recommend that too since they don't offer it in the California Universal. We also got peaches cake for like $30 which is supposed to be for 4 people but just the 2 of us ate it. It was light and fluffy and we recommend getting it as they also dont offer it in the California Universal. The staff also came by and offered to take pics of us which was so nice.
Next we bought the limited edition wrist bands and started playing some of the mini games. We played about 3 games before we decided to leave nintendo land and check out the other areas because we also bought a reserved time to get back into nintendoland to use our fastpass for the yoshi ride.
We had a fastpass for the Jurassic park ride so we went on that next. Make sure you are prepared to get wet cause you will get soaked at the end. Then we went to Hogwarts and watched some of the shows they offered and grabbed a meatpie. We didn't stay long here as we have already been to Hogwarts in california. Next we got in line for the mario strawberry shortcake pancake and it was delicious light and fluffy! I think we also had a fastpass ride for jaws and that ride was actually really cooler than I expected . The next fastpass ride was for despicable me ride so we did that one too and it was actually better than the california version. And lastly we went back to nintendoland to use our reservation time and our fastpass for the yoshi ride. It was a cute slow ride but it had nice views of the park. I enjoyed it even though it was a kiddy ride. Lastly, we had the yakisoba shells and melon lassi and both were delicious
By this time our feet were so sore from walking for days so we left early to go rest at our hotel. I ended up being so sore and tired I just knocked out early. My boyfriend bought Lions Foot Patches from Lawson and put them on my feet while i slept. They felt so nice and cool on my feet. I recommed getting those foot patches while you're in japan.
We woke up for a late dinner and got some nearby mcdonalds. I'm not a fan of mcdonalds in the US but i wanted to try japan's mcdonalds to see if its better. I honestly didn't like the Japan Mcdonalds either even though it does taste different, I'm not sure what the hype is about with the japanese mcdonalds. I found that japan's convenience store chicken was much juicer and tasted better than the mcdonalds chicken.
Friday May 19: Kyoto-Fushimi Inari Taisha, Nishiki market, Ninenzaka
Fushimi inari taisha shrine
We got to the shrine early, maybe around 7am,and it was not very crowded but there were still people there. It was raining a bit so luckily i brought my umbrella, unfortunately my boyfriend did not, this would haunt him later. We took a picture of a map to see which way to go to reach the top as there are different routes you can take. It was a gradual climb up but my boyfriend really struggled as his feet still hurt from the days before. The gates were beautiful and there were so many areas to look at and explore as we climbed. Unfortunately my boyfriend was tired and we were in a time crunch so we didn't explore every area but I wish I could have because this was the most beautiful place I had visited in Japan. As we neared the top it started to rain more heavily and my boyfriend ended up getting soaked. The top of the shrine was anticlimactic, but we took our picture and headed back down. On our way we stopped by the little stores and bought an umbrella for my boyfriend which we were thankful they had some. As we went down the steps in the rain, my boyfriend accidentally slipped and fell on his back pretty badly. He ended up with a deep gash on his finger as the blood gushed all over the floor. Luckily I had some tissues to wrap up his finger. We headed back down the mountain and bought some bandaids at a conbini store. We also bought some strawberry daifuku at a small little shop and it was the best daifuku I ate in Japan. The mochi was a great consistency and the strawberry was the juiciest strawberry i ever had. I wish i had bought more from there.
Nishiki market
We went to Nishiki market around 11am and it was super crowded while the path was so small and narrow. We literally had to push through the crowds at times because there were so many people, it was not a fun time for me. I also ended up losing my suica card somewhere around there. I'm also not the biggest fan of seafood but my boyfriend is so he ended up eating most of the food. We ended up not staying long for all those reasons and ended up going to a nearby store that sold all kinds of different food which I liked a lot better because there weren't crowds of people there.
Ninenzaka
Next we walked to Ninenzaka which was like a 30 minute walk. It was still raining so we were just looking for a place to stop and eat for a bit. We went to Kudamono cafe and got the cloud dessert. It was pretty good and fluffy and the dessert looked so pretty. Afterwards, we had room for more dessert so we tried Maccha house. We ordered the matcha tiramisu and the parfait. The matcha tiramisu was probably the best dessert i had in Japan, I definitely recommend getting it! We also visited Donguri and bought more totoro merchandise. At this point, my boyfriend was so tired and soaked from the rain we decided to go back to the hotel. We took the bus this time and it was packed! We had to push people just to get out.
Saturday May 20: Kyoto, Nara, Osaka
Kyoto:
Arashiyama bamboo forest
We got to the bamboo forest early at 7am, there were a few people there but not too many like later in the day. I recommend going super early to beat the crowds. The bamboo forest was super short but it was still a cool area to check out and plus there are many things to do around the area. We walked to a nearby park next to a big river and the views were absolutely gorgeous! Kyoto is really breathtaking. After walking a while and checking out the scenery we headed back to the bamboo forest to board the Sagano Romantic Train.
Sagano Romantic Train
We had reserved seats for the Sagano Romantic Train and the views from the train were amazing! Get there early because you might have to do some minor paperwork stuff to print out your ticket if you reserved in advance. The reserved seating we had was in a train with no glass windows so you can just feel the air rushing through your hair as the train moves. Truly it was a memorable and fun experience with a lot of breathtaking nature views. After coming back to our initial departure spot on the train, we left for Monkey Park.
Monkey Park
We rushed over to Monkey park and by this time the streets of kyoto became much crowded as we had to dodge pedestrians left and right. We paid a fee to get into the monkey park and hiked our way up to the park, there were a couple benches to take rest if needed. At the top, you can see monkeys running around and playing with one another. We went inside a little building where you can buy food for the monkeys and feed them through windows covered with a mesh net. We didnt stay long as we had a full schedule planned for the day so we left to go catch a train to Nara but we did eat some amazing street food on the way. I don't know why but the street food in Kyoto was so delicious, the best I had in Japan probably.
Nara:
Nakatanidou
We arrived at Nara from the trains and went straight to Nakatanidou for some mochi and it was packed with people! It was even hard trying to get a space to watch them make the mochis. It was cool to experience the mochi making and to taste the mochi but I probably wouldn't go back there again because of the crowds.
Nara Park
After the mochis, we walked to Nara park and it was amazing! There were so many deers and they were so friendly and polite! This was my favorite part of nara for sure. For a few yen, we bought some crackers and found some deers that would bow everytime they wanted a cracker, it was too cute. The deers were literally everywhere, on the streets and even at temples.
Shrines
There were lots of shrines around the area but we came pretty late so most of them were closing up but the ones we did see were pretty neat to look at. We also ate some udon at a little restaurant next to a small lake, the views of the lake were amazing from inside the restaurant.
Osaka:
After Nara, we came back to Osaka and the streets were so crowded at night. I tried shopping at don quixote but there were just to many people to weave through that I just decide to give up and try a 10 yen cheese bread near the store. The line was kind of long but I decided to try it out, it was actually really big, not that good, and made my stomach hurt. I would not be getting that again haha
Matsusakagyu Yakiniku Restaurant
My boyfriend had reserved this place for Thursday but we were so tired that day that we decided to cancel our reservation. We decided to try to go in person on this day to see if we could get in. We were lucky that they had a spot available and we ordered a platter of A5 wagyu beef for more than $100 US dollar. Im not really a meat person but the beef was very tender and delicious and the service was very good. They took pictures of me and my boyfriend and gave me free ice cream for my birthday.
Sunday May 21: Tokyo-Joypolis, Akihabara, skytree
Joypolis
The next morning we took the Nozumi back to Tokyo and headed straight to joypolis. We got tickets that allowed us to go on pretty much any ride there. Joypolis was small but had some interesting and unique rides and attractions. My favorite was the rhythm rollercoaster where you play rhythm games on a small roller coaster. We also played a VR Laser tag which was actually pretty fun even though I dont really play VR. There was an Attack on Titan walkthrough attraction that was completely in Japanese so I didnt understand any of it but it had some very cool props inside. The other interesting attraction was a scary house, where you have to get into these lockers and a girl comes and bangs on them and then the lockers flip you back horizontally. It wasnt that scary but it was pretty unique.
Akihabara
Next we went to Akihabara just to check out but we were actually super tired so we didnt stay long. We went to a couple stores but to be honest it was actually kind of boring as I am no longer as into anime as I was when I was a kid so we ended leaving akihabara fairly quickly.
Tokyo Skytree
Instead of going to akihabara I kind of wish I just went to the tokyo skytree shopping area because there was so much cool things to do there! They have a pokemon center, a kirby cafe, studio ghibli shop, and so many stores to shop or restaurants to eat at! We also went to the top of skytree but it honestly wasnt worth the money as the very top didnt have that much stuff and we just had to wait in these super long lines to get both up and down the skytree. After the skytree, we found a yakitori spot and ate some beef skewers which were delicious. We wished we went restaurant hopping more as there were just so many places to eat in this area.
Monday May 22: Ueno Park and Departure
Ueno park
Before we left to the airport, we visited Ueno park which was only a few blocks away from our hotel. It had a beautiful lake which was covered with some sort of lily pads. The park was pretty big and it was nice just walking around the area.
Life Mart
We decided to stop at Life Mart to get some food before we left to the airport. The Meat was so delicious and was so cheap, and it had different options from conbinis. We took train back to Narita Airport, this train I think you have to reserve in advance.
Narita airport
Going back through immigrations and customs and tsa was super easy and fast. We recommended getting lunch or snack early because there were pretty long lines as our departure time approached.
We also bought Tokyo Banana for souvenir snacks to bring back to our families, its very delicious!
For pictures of my trip you can take a look at my Instagram: martha_o93
https://www.instagram.com/martha_o93/
In the end, visiting Japan was better than I could ever imagine and I just cant wait to go back! Please let me know what your favorite parts of Japan are and what other areas in Japan I must check out!

First off, I am the Michelangelo of Menards, master of megaracks, secret engineer of sky-high sanctuaries. My pièce de résistance? A top-tier, high altitude mancave, secretly nestled behind an imposing barricade of 60+ gallon water heaters in the plumbing aisle. I'm talking three stories up, folks, where even the keenest-eyed GM would struggle to spot anything amiss.
The single camera standing sentinel at the end of the aisle, you ask? Well, let's just say it was gifted a liberal coating of vaseline a while back. The lens hasn't seen clearly in years. In case anybody questions, the tale of an adventurous pigeon that routinely graces our store with its presence is my standing alibi.
My fortress is a hidden treasure, an oasis in a desert of faux discontinued SKUs. It's outfitted with a PRD-sanctioned special-ordered couch and queen bed, perfect for those mid-shift power naps. For sustenance and comfort, I've got a pink stickered microwave, mini fridge, air conditioner, sink, and a toilet – all expertly "borrowed" from a back haul or compactor and restored to full functionality. For those cozy winter nights, there's an electric fireplace, and the floor's adorned with a plush rug snagged from Ray's List. The one concession to opulence? – a flat screen TV I bought at full-price, for all my entertainment needs.
Of course, even the craftiest TM can't just disappear off the face of Menards. I still have my wits about me to maintain an illusion of diligent work. I answer calls on the radio with practiced ease, ensuring my presence is felt, if not seen. Carefully timed descents to the ground level for a quick PRD snack haul, a cardboard run here and there, some small talk with my pals in Building Materials, and a round of checks at my precious GC farm are all part of my routine. My garden's a true gem - fruits, vegetables, and a few 'herbs' that make life just a bit more interesting.
Despite the precariousness of my situation, I've managed to maintain this delicate balance for months. As far as anyone's concerned, I'm the hardest working TM Menards has ever seen. The one hiccup in this perfect setup came in the form of our eagle-eyed plumbing DM. But even he fell to my powers of persuasion and now serves as my unwitting guardian angel. It's no surprise a man who works with pipes appreciates a little green incentive to ensure he keeps things running smooth and leak-free. As I recline in my fortress, planning my next grand project - perhaps a shower - I can't help but marvel at the good life here at Menards. Who says work can't be comfortable?
So, dear GMs, and esteemed members of GO, enjoy this exclusive peek into the extraordinary lives of your TMs – this story is my salute to you. After all, it's not every day you find out your employees have a better living room at work than you do at home. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a fort to attend to and some crops in the GC to water. Happy hunting!

Hey Heatpumps, Am I going to be sorry if I don't put in another hybrid system? Are new heat heat pumps able to keep up with extreme cold spells? On a heating climate zone map in the USA, I'm in a zone 5. They recommend 50 or 60 BTU per square foot.
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My current heatpump is tied into a gas furnace, what I'll call a hybrid system. It's from 1983 and the compressor died so I'm thinking about replacements.
I've had quotes for a new hybrid system (brand new heat pump and new gas furnace) and a quote for a stand alone heat pump. The prices are comparable (25K) however with incentives from the utility company, the stand alone heat pump will be 5K cheaper (about 20% less). Besides the difference of having two potential fuel sources (Elec and gas) with the hybrid system, I'm concerned about a ONLY Elec heat pump system efficiency. The sales guy said it's efficient down to 0 degrees Fahrenheit (any colder and it activates a super charged Elec coil which will supplement). In my area we could spend a couple days a year that cold....my question: Will a heat pump rated for 0 degree keep the house warm if the temp stays that cold for days...or will we just be slowing dropping inside temperature until the heat pump is "relived" by warmer temps? Assume the insulation is good and air flow is adequate and please assume the electric source is going to be reliable. (big assumption I know)
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Thank you for any insights, particularly if you have a heat pump and only a heat pump as your main heat source in a cold climate.
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Space to heat is approx :1600 sq ft
Approx. output of heat pump only unit: 90,000 BTU (45,000 of which is heat)
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The heat pump only unit:
Condenser Model Number: EODA18H-4860
Tonnage: 3
Coil Model Number: EAHATN-36
SEER: 20
AHRI Number: 202110529
HSPF: 10
Thermostat: Ecobee ‎EB-STATE3LT-02

I've had two air compressors in my life, a new Craftsman pancake, and a used Craftsman Professional 30-gallon unit. Both of them, when left plugged in on "auto", will switch on a few times per day for a short time to "top up" the pressure. I assume there is gradual loss over time.
Is this normal behavior? Is there a frequency of such actuations beyond which I should be concerned/check fittings?

Any of modern construction or manufacturing applications are using one or all of three different kinds of power: electrical, hydraulic or pneumatic. Pneumatics provides power by means of pressurized air or gases, whereas, Hydraulics provides fluid power by means of pressurized liquids, such as oil or water. In choosing one of the two, some of the factors to be considered are cost-effectiveness, materials to be moved, availability of resources and space etc.
Each type of power has its advantages and disadvantages, according to circumstances.
Strength:
Hydraulics is the best option for strength, because the liquid medium used for its operation has a high mass density and is highly incompressible. This means that hydraulics can develop much higher levels of pressure, and can use that pressure to transmit the power that will drive your application. Industrial applications using hydraulic power may command anything from 1,000-5,000 pounds per square inch (psi) of pressure, while some specialized applications such as mining equipment or heavy lifting cranes can develop 10,000 psi or more.
When implementing hydraulics, one crucial aspect to consider is the utilization of hydraulic tube fittings. These fittings play a vital role in ensuring a secure and reliable connection between hydraulic components. By incorporating hydraulic tube fittings, you can effectively channel the immense power generated by the hydraulic system, ensuring seamless transmission throughout your application. These fittings are specifically designed to withstand the demanding conditions and high pressures associated with hydraulic systems, providing an essential link that enables efficient and dependable operation.
The media used in pneumatics have low mass density and are easily compressible. In some circumstances, gas or air can be compressed up to several hundred psi, but most mechanical applications are based on an operational pressure of only 80-100 psi. This means that pneumatic systems are largely incapable of the much larger force as offered by hydraulics, and are unsuited to the moving or lifting of heavy loads. Compressed air is also subjected to unexpected pressure drops or fluctuations which can cause operations to become jerky or unstable.
Hygiene:
Pneumatic systems win out over hydraulics in the field of hygiene, as the only thing that can leak out of your system is air. Within the system itself, the compressed air will be cleaned of oil, water or metal particles, and any other contaminants, by the filtration unit. Pneumatic systems are generally favored by environmentally-conscious companies.
You'll also be likely to choose pneumatics if you're installing systems in a clean room, a pharmaceutical laboratory, or the food and beverage industry. In these environments there must be absolutely no risk of contamination, so hydraulic systems are generally off-limits as they may be susceptible to leakage.
Whether you choose water or oil in a hydraulic system, either of these may potentially leak out via faulty hydraulic seals, hydraulic valves or worn hoses. This will contaminate your clean environment despite any safeguards you may put in place. The presence of liquids may also invite corrosion of the hardware, with a further risk of introducing contaminants. Storage tanks are also required for the fluids, and residues must be disposed of at the end of the operational process.
Speed:
Speed is one of the pneumatic system's biggest advantages. Compressed air has a high flow rate, which enables the quick release of energy and high-speed motion of moving parts such as actuators. Pneumatic actuators can achieve high cycle speeds and increased duty cycling, which deliver greater productivity. The advantage of rapid cylinder movement is further enhanced by the availability of equipment in very small sizes, ideal for use in applications where miniaturization is a priority.
Air has a much lower mass density and can flow much more quickly and easily through pipework. Another advantage of the pneumatic system is that valves and cylinders can quickly alter their state or change direction by dumping their compressed air. This can be voided straight to the atmosphere and requires no further disposal.
Water and hydraulic oil have a much greater resistance than air, with the viscosity of oil making it much slower. Although it will ultimately develop a greater degree of force and maintain constant pressure, it does not have the same rapidity as air movement and may take longer to get your system running. In the event of a leakage or emergency, hydraulic fluid may not be vented rapidly to the environment, but must be re-routed back to its tank or reservoir.
Energy:
Comparing hydraulics to pneumatics with regard to energy consumption, there are several factors to be considered. Both systems usually require an input of electrical power to drive them, and a pneumatic system needs the continuous running of a compressor to provide the compressed air. The air supply cannot be recycled and requires constant replenishment, so energy consumption in this respect may be high. Any air leakage will also a waste energy in the system.
You also have to take into account the fact that pneumatic systems lose energy through heat produced by the compression process – though there are several measures that can be taken to make your system more energy-efficient. Fortunately, air is still free of charge, so there is no need to pay for energy in obtaining, replenishing or disposing of waste products.
Hydraulic fluids can use the same oil or water over and over again after the initial start-up. Provided you have a good filtration system and keep it properly maintained, a hydraulic system can be very energy-efficient in the long run. However, electrical power is still generally required to drive the pump, and much of the energy consumed by the pump is wasted. This is because the fluid medium is in constant circulation to maintain system pressure, even though only short periods of actuation may be required to drive the application. The more viscous the fluid medium, the more energy will also be required to move it. However, significant improvements are being achieved, with technological advancements involving different types of pump and the potential of modulating drives.
Safety:
Considering hydraulics and pneumatics in the industrial environment, pneumatics is undoubtedly the safer option. A leakage of compressed air is not going to cause contamination, since air is not poisonous or corrosive, although other gases used in stand- alone or portable equipment may be hazardous. Compressed air does not generally pose a risk of fire and it won't explode, but the forcible escape of air through mechanical failure may cause physical injury.
Hydraulic fluids, on the other hand, are always at risk of potentially dangerous leaks. Even water can cause damage if it's hot enough to scald. Other fluid media such as oil, ethylene glycol, plasma and fluid synthetics may be corrosive and/or poisonous. The fluid media may be combustible and require extra safety precautions, and used oil or fluids must eventually be drained and safely disposed of. In general, hydraulic systems incorporate fewer mechanical parts, but these may be subject to corrosion and potential component failures.
Complexity:
Hydraulic systems typically have fewer moving parts and may be easily controlled with push buttons and simple levers. On the other hand, hydraulics rely on complex engineering that requires a system of valves and hoses, as well as a pump powered by an external energy source and a tank for storage of the liquid medium. It is possible to install a centralized power unit in a manufacturing plant in order to control several different hydraulic applications. Newer technology is introducing much better systems of managing speed, pressure and power.
Pneumatic system designs are also typically very simple, and operate at a much lower pressure, so their component parts may be made from cheaper and less complex materials. Since the fluid medium is not corrosive or combustible, precautions do not need to be built in against these safety hazards. Technological advances have increased the variety of uses for pneumatic systems, with miniaturization and new materials helping to reduce weight as well as bulk.
Maintenance:
Pneumatic systems are cleaner and easier to maintain than hydraulic ones, since the fluid medium is air. A regular schedule of inspection and preventive maintenance is usually all that's required to keep a pneumatic system running, e.g. checking the seals and making sure there is no leakage of air. The air does need to be cleaned of contaminants, and one of the most important maintenance procedures is the cleaning and regular replacement of the filter-regulator-lubricator unit.
With hydraulic systems, the main issue is corrosion. Unless you’re able to install pipes made of non-corrosive material, such as Electro plated, regular monitoring will be required to assess how the pipes are being affected by the fluid medium. Water may cause oxidation, and oils or other media may leave deposits that will cause corrosion. Regular checks and replacements will be required for critical components such as seals, hoses and valves.

4 ton American Standard Unit (2018 manufacture) R410a Electric AC, gas heat Electric fan and Compressor in the outside unit
Had someone come look at it yesterday because it wasn't cooling and compressor fan was cycling on 2 minutes then off 30 seconds. I was thinking low refrigerant. Next day when the tech came it was staying on constantly (about 5 pm).
Air Intake: 76 F Output: 73 F (Temp in the home 77F, Thermostat Set at 72F) Airflow speeds into and out of the air handler were fine Refrigerant Low side: 57-60 psi - 62 F Refrigerant High Side: 275 psi - 91F Superheat: 56 F Subcool: 0 F Coils are both fine, neither seem to be icing. The low pressure line inside is significantly colder than the high pressure line coming into the air handler suggesting the expansion valve is functioning The tech added about 1 lb of refrigerant to test for a change in pressures with no significant changes on either side Compressor is pulling normal amperages Condensation drain is clear
I'll be getting a second diagnostic since something didn't seem to add up with the numbers, what that tech was telling me, and my own engineering knowledge. I've looked for refrigerant leaks and didn't see any obvious ones. I know I could be leaving out some small details that may change things, but can anyone give me a best guess or even something they suspect is wrong?
Edit: Added Superheat and Subcool temps as requested

Hello all, just wondering if I may use harbor freights cheap paint gun to run wood staging for fence picket staining and if I can run paint for metal fencing through it while using the 8 gallon mcgraw air compressor with no issues?

Description:

This abnormality doesn’t have a visible shape but instead is a series of black static inside its containment room (similar to 1.75 MHz)

Overview:

Classification: T-05-67
Name: Fragment of the Bygones
Selection Text: Who are these familiar faces around me? And what is my name?
Risk Level: Aleph
This abnormality is capable of instadeath/employee alteration/facility alteration
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Basic Information (Cost (30) PE-Boxes):
Qliphoth Counter: 3
E-boxes capacity: 33
White Damage (6 - 9)
Good Mood Range:
25 - 33
Normal Mood Range:
14 – 24
Bad Mood Range:
0 – 13
Description: This abnormality doesn’t have a visible shape but instead is a series of black static inside its containment room (similar to 1.75 MHz)
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Ability: - If an agent with Prudence lower than level V starts to work on this abnormality, Qliphoth counter lowers by 1. After this, the black statics would overwhelm the agent. After 5 second, the agent will go out of the containment chamber, with black clouds covering their face and their name. The agent would be considered Out of Control, and they can’t be interacted with by any command. That agent would simply wander endlessly in the facility. When ending the day, all these agents are consider dead. - If an agent panics inside its containment chamber, the same black fogs overwhelm them and also made the agent received the same fate as above. When an abnormality that is breaching and possess fighting capability sees the agent, it won’t attack but simply treat the agent as non-existent and continues to move. The agent also wouldn’t attempt to attack anything but simply wander. They still can take damage from attacks if they happen to stand inside the hitbox. - When an agent with black statics covered on their face walk and passed any employee, these employee would instantly receive high White Damage (50). If the employee also gets panic by this, they would also be takeover by the fogs. - If an agent in a department get controlled by the fog, they would try to reach their old department, and also try to find their colleagues by touching them. Clerk would simply wander endlessly without any guidance. - Clerk can be executed by Execution Bullet but agent can’t be Executed by Execution Bullet and both can’t be Suppressed. - Each time an agent panics in its department, lower counter by 1. When counter reaches 0, the agent with the lowest Sanity will instantly be controlled by the fogs, losing themselves. - If the manager looks at the abnormality’s containment chamber for more than 2 minutes (In game time), they would lose all control over agent for 1 minutes as all of them gain a thin layer of black haze above their face. After 1 minutes, they turn normal.
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Abnormality Work Favor: (Costs: (10) PE-Boxes)
Instinct:
1 Low (10%)
2 Low (20%)
3 Low (35%)
4 Low (35%)
5 Low (40%)
Insight:
1 Very Low (0%)
2 Very Low (0%)
3 Very Low (0%)
4 Very Low (0%)
5 Very Low (0%)
Attachment:
1 Low (20%)
2 Low (30%)
3 Low (35%)
4 Low (45%)
5 Low (50%)
Repression:
1 Very Low (0%)
2 Very Low (0%)
3 Very Low (0%)
4 Very Low (0%)
5 Very Low (0%)
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Managerial Works 1/2/3/4/5 (Cost: 8 PE-Boxes)
Managerial Tips 1: If the employee who started working on this abnormality have Prudence lower than V, they get controlled by the statics.
Managerial Tips 2: If an agent panics inside its containment chamber, the same thing happens to them as above.
Managerial Tips 3: Everytime an agent panics, lower Qliphoth Counter by 1.
Managerial Tips 4: When counter was lower to 0, an employee was devour by the black statics.
Managerial Tips 5: The manager shouldn’t look at the abnormality for more than 2 minutes.
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Escape Information (Costs: 30 PE-Boxes)
Non-Escaped Object
Qliphoth Counter (3)
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Observation Level:
Level 1 (1 Section unlocked): Speed Rate +5
Level 2 (2 Sections unlocked): Success Rate +5%
Level 3 (3 Sections unlocked): Speed Rate +5
Unlocks the E.G.O. Gift 'Bygone'.
Level 4 (All details unlocked): Success Rate +5%
Unlocks the E.G.O. Weapon and Suit 'Nostalgic'.
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E.G.O. Equipment:
E.G.O. Weapon Nostalgic:
Risk Level: ALEPH PE-Box Cost: 222 Max 1 15 – 20 White Damage Fast Normal Unlock at Observation Level 4
Description: This weapon is an ethereal stick-line things form out of black statics. When seeing an enemy, the user would raise their weapon and slam it down, hitting one target at a time, dealing 15-20 White Damage each.
Special information:
They can occasionally perform a special attack. When using it, they would raise their stick into the air, before a loud buzzing sounds appear, as everyone in the same room with them (Even ally), get hit by large White Damage (60-80). Every attack they do would heal their Sanity by the same amount.
E.G.O. Suit Nostalgic:
Risk Level: ALEPH PE Box Cost: 120 Max
RED: 0.5 (Endured)
WHITE: 0.3 (Resistant)
BLACK: 0.5 (Endured)
PALE: 1.0 (Normal)
Special Information:
If White Damage would be lower or equal than 10, absorbs it instead.
E.G.O Gift Past:
Faces of clerk embedded on the employee’s torso.
Effect: -10 Sanity; -0.2 White Resistant.
1% drop chance
Unlock at Observation Level 3
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Origin: This abnormality originates from employee who got [Data Expunged].
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Story: - If you are hearing this, then I probably have died from mental corruption, or that is what the Sephirah say. The truth is, I didn’t die because of my sanity, but it’s because of all of you, all the other employee around me, they are the one that drove me to my death. Every day, when I woke up and start to work, and when I look at the other agents around me, I felt like all of them are extreme familiar, yet I can’t manage to remember who are they. Every single minutes, I kept asking myself: “Who are they? Why are they so familiar? Why can’t I remember who they are?” I walk into a random agent, and say hi. They greeted me normally, and even manages to say my name. I repeat this with several other agents, and they seem to know me very well, yet I can’t even remember one of them. The only sensation they give me was dreadful familiarity, like they were even one of my best friend! I am shaking inside my rooms right now, I don’t know what had happened to me, I don’t know what to do, whether to tell them or to hide from them. But at least the employees remember me, right? They even remember my name... Wait, what was my name again? My memories are starting to be fuzzy. Was it Dakota? Or Dia? Maybe even BongBong? What is it again? All that I remember is that I am an agent from Lobotomy Corporation, and I work at the Central Department which is guided by Hokma. And that, that, I think I work with an abnormality called “Fragment of the Bygones” yesterday. Yes, it must the work of that thing! I must seek it out, and ask it to undo its terrifying curse. Ugh, my memories are getting fuzzy again. What was I thinking about again? Oh, I think I remember now, an agent had requested to meet me yesterday. Maybe I should go to see what they have to say now.
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Flavour Text:
“ can’t remember his name anymore.” “’s memories are getting fuzzy.” “ felt a headache.” “ can’t remember his colleagues’ name anymore: When an agent get controlled by the fog: “ remember that they must meet another agent soon.” “ felt like they are missing something, but can’t figure it out.” “T-05-76 suggests to find someone to talk with”

Our house had central air installed in the 70s. We bought this place in 2001 and it was still running fine.
In 2005 it stopped working (IIRC, it was the motor). HVAC tech said the compressor was kaput and the whole system needed to be replaced. We live in a place with moderate summers (upstate NY) and decided to not replace it until/unless we had to. Other than cutting the power to the unit, everything is still in place including lines running along a wall before going into the house.
We now want to upgrade our electrical service, including moving the electrical panel 4 feet. Unfortunately the old AC lines are in the way and will have to be removed.
Yanking out the pipes and removing the compressor looks totally doable, but I understand it's nearly certain there's refrigerant in them.
I stay in my DIY lane and there's certain things I don't mess with.
I called up a local HVAC firm and got a quote of $1,000 to remove the refrigerant. Does that sound about right? Should they have looked at the system before giving the quote? Or is the job the same no matter what?

Compressed air systems are generally placed in compressor rooms. Generally, there are two situations, one is that it is installed in the same room as other equipment, or it can be a room specially designed for compressed air system. In both cases, the room needs to meet certain requirements to facilitate the installation and ergonomics of the compressor.

1. Where should the compressor be installed?

The main rule in the installation of compressed air systems is to arrange a single central area for the compressors.
Second, a separate area of the plant used for other purposes can also be used for compressor installation. Such installations should take into account certain risks and inconveniences. For example:Interference due to noise or ventilation requirements of the compressor; Physical risks and overheating risks; Condensate drain; Hazardous environments (e.g. dust or flammable substances); Space requirements and service accessibility for future expansion.
However, installation in a workshop or warehouse can facilitate the installation of energy recovery devices. It can also be installed outdoors under a roof if there are no facilities available for installing the compressor indoors. In this case, certain issues have to be taken into account: the risk of freezing of condensed water; rain and snow protection of air intakes, suction openings and vents; the required solid, level foundations(asphalt, concrete slab or flat tile bed); dust; the risk of flammable or corrosive substances and prevent other foreign matter from entering.

2. Compressor placement and design

Distribution system wiring should be performed for installations of compressed air equipment with long piping. Compressed air equipment is installed close to auxiliary equipment such as pumps and fans to facilitate servicing and maintenance; the building should be equipped with lifting equipment sized to handle the heaviest component of the compressor installation (usually the electric motor) and to have access to a forklift. It should also have enough floor space to install additional compressors for future expansion. Also, the clearance height must be sufficient to suspend an electric motor or similar equipment if required. Compressed air equipment should have floor drains or other means to handle condensate from compressors, aftercoolers, air receivers, dryers, etc.

Air compressors Supplier - Youteng

Wuxi Youteng Machinery Co., Ltd. was established in 2012, mainly engaged in air compression system, vacuum system design consulting, engineering project and repairing services etc. Our company mainly provides air compressor equipments and air compressor consumable material for compressors of world-famous brands. We also support OEM. In addition, The company has a number of experienced technicians to perform maintenance work on various air compressors, dryers and filters, which have a certain influence in China. At the same time, the company also participates in motor overhaul projects and maintains various motors. We have a complete service system and sufficient spare parts to relieve customers from worries.

Hello everyone, reminder this is official rankings till the Committees drop their rankings. A team of various coaches and commissioners submit ballots each week to determine this ranking. Voters have to vote every week or they will lose their vote. If people have a problem with someone's picks being inherently bad (picking their team #1 always, troll picks, stuff like that), that coach could lose their vote. Without further ado, here is the FBS and FCS poll for week 8:
FBS

Rank	Team	Points Received	Record	Trend
#1	North Texas	345 (10)	7-0	+1
#2	Cincinnati	338 (4)	7-0	-1
#3	South Carolina	308	6-1	+3
#4	Wyoming	305	6-1	0
#5	Baylor	263	6-1	0
#6	Vanderbilt	259	6-1	+2
#7	Iowa	242	6-1	+11
#8	Army	234	5-2	+7
#9	Georgia State	204	6-1	+5
#10	Ohio State	192	6-1	+6
#11	Utah	185	5-2	+11
#12	UAB	182	5-2	-2
#13	Ole Miss	160	5-2	NR
#14	Georgia	153	5-2	NR
#15	Miami	141	5-2	-7
#16	Miami, OH	133	5-2	-14
#17	Navy	124	5-2	-10
#18	Washington	107	5-2	NR
#19	Georgia Southern	83	5-2	NR
#20	UCLA	77	5-2	-7
#21	Alabama	67	5-2	-10
#22	UCF	64	5-2	+3
#23	Tulane	49	5-2	NR
#24	Nebraska	42	4-3	-12
#25	Boise State	34	5-2	NR

Others receiving votes: Central Michigan (26), Florida State (25), Kansas State (25), Akron (17), South Alabama (17), USC (17), Old Dominion (16), Duke (13), Toledo (12), Northwestern (11), Hawaii (10), Kennesaw State (10), Pittsburgh (10), BYU (8), East Carolina (8), Michigan (7), USF (5), Air Force (4), Northern Illinois (4), Oregon State (4), Washington State (4), Kansas (3), Tennessee (2), Troy (1)
FCS

Rank	Team	Points Received	Record	Trend
#1	William & Mary	124 (4)	7-0	+4
#2	Delaware	121 (1)	7-0	0
#3	Albany	111	6-1	+4
#4	Eastern Kentucky	109	7-0	0
#5	Western Carolina	107	6-1	+1
#6	Columbia	99	6-1	+2
#7	UTRGV	97	6-1	-6
#8	Delaware State	87	6-1	+1
#9	Fordham	78	6-1	+3
#10	Sacramento State	69	5-2	+13
#11	New Hampshire	66	6-1	+4
#12	Montana	65	5-2	-2
#12	North Dakota	65	6-1	-10
#14	Morehead State	60	5-2	NR
#15	Northern Arizona	54	5-2	+7
#16	Incarnate Word	52	5-2	NR
#17	Bucknell	49	5-2	NR
#18	Southeast Missouri	45	5-2	-2
#19	Idaho	42	6-1	-2
#20	Harvard	21	5-2	-9
#21	Stetson	18	5-2	NR
#22	Towson	17	5-2	NR
#23	Rhode Island	14	5-2	NR
#23	Villanova	14	5-2	NR
#25	South Carolina State	12	6-1	-6

Others receiving votes: Eastern Washington (8), Norfolk State (7), Stephen F. Austin (5), Furman (4), Lafayette (4), Nicholls State (1)