Darien lake parking cost

My wife’s parents really want us to come to their lake house and offered to pay for our travel costs. I’m assuming that if they bought us Delta tickets that we wouldn’t get credit. If so, is it rude to ask them to send us the money so we can put it on our cards and get closer to our next status?

I have always had excellent oral health and perfect white straight teeth up until last year due to a medication I am causing sudden severe dental issues. There is no point in trying to save the remaining teeth and I have started to research my options along with a few consults. I don't want anything that is removable or held by glue as a permanent solution. I know if I go with AO4 upper and lower, my out of pocket will be roughly $15K after insurance.. My question though what are people's experience with the kind that snaps in? Does it feel natural? Is there much of a price savings between those and the implanted dentures? I realize $15-20K isn't bad for a full set but it's still a significant dent to my savings. I would "settle" for the snap in kind depending on if they looked/feel natural and allowed me to save more money.. But I can't seem to find much info on the average cost or ball park figure.. Thanks so much..

IT consulting services play a vital role in helping organizations harness the power of big data analytics.Big data analytics involves extracting valuable insights and patterns from large volumes of structured and unstructured data to drive informed decision-making and gain a competitive edge. Here are some key ways in which IT consulting services contribute to harnessing the power of big data analytics:

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2. Data Assessment and Integration: IT consultants assist organizations in assessing their existing data infrastructure and capabilities. They identify gaps in data collection, storage, and integration, and recommend solutions for capturing and integrating relevant data from various sources. This may involve data cleansing, data quality management, and establishing data governance frameworks.
3. Architecture and Infrastructure Design: IT consulting services help design the architecture and infrastructure required to support big data analytics initiatives. They assess the scalability, performance, and security requirements and recommend appropriate technologies and platforms such as Hadoop, Spark, or cloud-based solutions. They also assist in setting up data lakes or data warehouses to store and process large volumes of data.
4. Data Exploration and Visualization: IT consultants help organizations explore and visualize their big data to uncover meaningful insights. They identify appropriate analytical tools and techniques, such as data mining, machine learning, or natural language processing, to analyze the data and generate actionable insights. They also assist in developing interactive dashboards and visualizations to present the findings effectively.
5. Advanced Analytics Implementation: IT consulting services support the implementation of advanced analytics solutions to extract valuable insights from big data. They assist in building predictive models, implementing recommendation engines, conducting sentiment analysis, or other advanced analytics techniques to enable data-driven decision-making and improve business outcomes.
6. Data Security and Privacy: IT consultants help ensure the security and privacy of big data throughout the analytics process. They assist in implementing robust data protection measures, access controls, and encryption techniques to safeguard sensitive data. They also ensure compliance with relevant data protection regulations, such as GDPR or HIPAA.
7. Performance Optimization: IT consulting services assist in optimizing the performance of big data analytics processes. They help organizations fine-tune the data processing pipelines, optimize queries, and ensure efficient utilization of computational resources to improve processing speed and reduce costs.
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By leveraging IT consulting services, organizations can effectivelyharness the power of big data analytics. With the guidance and expertise of IT consultants, businesses can develop a robust strategy, optimize their data infrastructure, implement advanced analytics solutions, ensure data security and compliance, and foster a data-driven culture, ultimately enabling them to unlock valuable insights and gain a competitive advantage in their industry.

Here’s a list I’ve compiled of all the major summer events, thought it would be helpful:
Taste of Syracuse • June 2-3 11am-10pm • Clinton Square
Syracuse Bike Party • Last Saturday of each month, 6:45 meet time • Clinton Square (or alternative site)
Fayetteville Farmers Market CNY • Every Thursday, 12-6pm • Fayetteville Town Center
Syracuse Downtown Farmers Market • Every Tuesday, 8am-2pm • Clinton Square
Cazenovia Farmers' Market • Every Saturday, 9am-2pm • Memorial Park on Albany Street
Bank Alley Urban Market • June 11, July 16, August 13 • 11am-4pm • Bank Allley Downtown Syracuse
Bank Alley Social Club • Shop Small Sundays • June 18, July 23 • 11am-5pm • Located at Salt City Market
Syracuse Shakespeare In The Park • June 2-11 • Thornden Park Amphitheater
St. Sophia’s Greek Cultural Festival • June 8-10 • 325 Waring Road
CNY Pride Festival & Parade • June 10, 11am parade, 12-5pm festival • Inner Harbor
2023 New York State Blues Festival • June 15-17 • Chevy Court
Westcott Art Trail • June 17, 10am-6pm • Westcott Community Center
Polish Days in Syracuse • June 9-11 • Clinton Square
Syracuse Jazz Fest • June 21-25 • Hanover and Clinton Square
St. Elias Middle Eastern Festival • July 13-16, various times • 4988 Onondaga Road
Syracuse Nationals • July 20-22 • NYS Fairgrounds
M&T Bank Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival • July 28-30 • Columbus Circle
Skaneateles Antique and Classic Boat Show • July 28-30 • Skaneateles, NY
Visit Syracuse Hanover Square Thursdays • Live music every Thursday in August • Hanover Square Downtown
Madison Bouckville Antique Week • August 14-20 • Rt 20 Bouckville, NY
The Skaneateles Festival • Live music events • July-August, various dates • Downtown Skaneateles
St. George Macedonian Festival • August 4-6 • 5083 Onondaga Road
CNY Scottish Games • August 12, 9am-8pm • Long Branch Park, Liverpool
Syracuse Irish Festival • September 8-9 • Clinton Square
Strathmore Art on the Porches • September 9, 11am-5pm • Ruskin Ave
Golden Harvest Festival • September 9-10, 10am-5pm • Beaver Lake Nature Center
Festa Italiana Syracuse • September 15-17 • Corner of Montgomery and Washington Streets (in front of city hall)
Westcott Street Cultural Fair • October 1, 12-6:30pm • Westcott Neighborhood
LaFayette Apple Festival • October 7-8 • 5330 Rowland Road, LaFayette
Syracuse Mets Home Games June: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 28, 29, 30 July: 1, 2, 3, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 August: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 September: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
Rosamond Gifford Zoo • Open every sinlge day • 10:00am - 4:30pm
Museums: • Skä•noñh - Great Law of Peace Center • Everson Museum of Art • Museum of Science & Technology - MOST • Erie Canal Museum • Salt Museum • Onondaga Historical Association
Theaters and stages: • The Palace Theatre Syracuse • Landmark Theatre • The Westcott Theater • The Oncenter • Syracuse Stage • Redhouse Theater
Some parks and beaches, more below: • Beaver Lake Nature Center (has lots of activities and programs!) • Clark Reservation • Green Lakes State Park • Sylvan Beach Amusement Park • Thornden Park
Onondaga County Parks • Find parks, beaches, and activities here: https://onondagacountyparks.com
Syracuse Parks & Rec • Find parks and activities here: https://www.syr.gov/Departments/Parks-Recreation
New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation • Find parks, beaches, activities, and historic sites here: https://parks.ny.gov
The Great New York State Fair Free/reduced price/theme days: ⭐️Thursday, August 24, 2023 Student Youth Day Youth and Students under 18 years of age are admitted free on this day. ID showing date of birth may be requested.
⭐️Friday, August 25, 2023 Pride Day The first state fair in America to host an official Pride Day to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community.
New Americans Day Witness approximately 100 people as they complete a long and challenging process to pledge their allegiance to the United States and become Americans. Ceremony will be held at Daniella’s Seafood & Pasta House in the Art & Home Center.
⭐️Monday, August 28, 2023 Law Enforcement Day We honor the men and women of law enforcement in New York State with free admission to any active or retired law enforcement or corrections personnel who presents a badge or picture ID from the department from which they are or were employed.
⭐️Tuesday, August 29, 2023 Fire & Rescue Day We honor the brave men and women of fire and emergency services agencies with free admission to any active or retired member of a fire department or emergency services organization who has a picture ID from that department or organization.
⭐️Wednesday, August 30, 2023 Women's Day A mini-fair will be held from 10:00am to 4:00pm at the Chevy Court Pavilion featuring many advocacy groups for women… feel free to stop by to get information, learn, and ask any questions.
⭐️Thursday, August 31, 2023 Armed Forces Day We celebrate all members of the military with free admission to any active duty or veteran with military identification (Military ID Card, form DD-214 or NYS Driver License, Learner Permit or non-driver ID card with a veteran designation).
⭐️Friday, September 1, 2023 Native Americans Day We honor all members of Native American tribes with free admission on this day. ID is not required. Make sure to visit the Indian Village throughout the day for cultural performances and crafts.

Reno! It's not Hell, but you can see Sparks from it.

Part 1
After a quick shower at a TA, Lord Nibbler of the Orange and I are on our way to fabulous Winnemucca. Most everything is going more-or-less according to plan. We're making good progress and I'm getting the hang of how to schedule driving distances to make use of chargers. Nevada has so much more to offer than Las Vegas and brothels and sadness. The sprawling basins and enclosing mountains in the north are a real treat! Settlers probably made pretty good headway through those.
We're getting towards the border of NV when I mess up the navigation stuff and go to a town with no charger rather than the one that we passed. I have about 40 miles of range left, but the charger is roughly 41 miles away.
Oops...
The Rivian navigation is dubious, but I tell it to "Make it so!" and we're off. The speed limit is 80 mph, but I'm fairly sure that speed kills the battery's performance. I end up going between 55 to 65 mph the whole way and did some regenerative braking...and it worked! I was able to roll into the charger on the EV equivalent of fumes. And I'm sure I made a bunch of friends on the highway!
Most likely:

Trucker 1: Be advised a Rivian on I-80 W is going slower than your grandparents have sex. Trucker 2: I thought I left Florida far behind...

Crisis averted!
Nibbler and I roll into Utah. So....Utah is beautiful, but holy crap are their rest areas the absolute worst! One was quite literally a small shack with two holes, no parking lot, only a gravel patch, and serial-killer-dumping-ground vibe.
Seeing no great camping options before Salt Lake City, I opt to drive there, charge up, and go to Buckland Flats Camp.
Now, the "road" to Buckland Flats Camp is a great test for the Rivian. It's up the side of a mountain, with switchback turns, and the "road" is one in name only. I turned on "Off Road" mode and it was still rough as nails. But a wonderful view of SLC from the top! I assume that this is a rather popular spot for locals as there were far more people up there than I expected. It made for a quiet night at least.
Next up: Butt biting in Wyoming!
To Be Continued

Hey all,
Looking for beginnemoderate off-roading suggestions. Did the Lava Butte trail last weekend and had a blast. Preferably on the east side but open to good suggestions.
Also looking for a quiet spot somewhere on the river, south of the lake. Preferably only accessible by off road trail. Did Placer Cove and that was ok, but too busy. Looking for a spot we can park fairly close to the water and dog friendly.
Appreciate it!

My mother in law was reversing out of a car park at the same time as someone else. MIL's story is the other lady reversed quite quickly.
Other party immediately started throwing blame at MIL and dropping the old "My dad is a police officer". MIL is in her late 60's and quite timid so was crying and upset. Other party apparently didn't care. She got MIL's number and full name, but would only give her number and first name. NO surname.
Insurance on both sides stated that it was both parties fault. This should be the end of it, I would assume. Each just pays for their own damage.
MIL has an older station wagon, and the hatch was very damaged and pushed in. Luckily our amazing mechanic found a replacement for a few hundred dollars. She is on a pension and does cleaning for the church for a little extra dollars. Not a rich lady.
The other party is now texting MIL stating her damage is going to cost $1100 dollars (It looked small, but I know looks can be deceiving with car damage). It was a parking sensor I believe, not that it really matters I guess.
There are a lot of red flags to me: 'My dads a cop', only first name, starting to ask for money. I believe she going to try a harassment campaign to try and extort money out of the MIL.
Am I right in thinking that if BOTH insurance companies stated it is both their fault, that the MIL is fine to ignore this seemingly horrid person? Sorry the story sounds biased, I'm just angry she is doing this.

Yay, new chapter is (finally) out! Only took a damn month. Why must May be so busy? At least I've managed to get chapter 9 mostly done as well, so that will be locked and loaded soon. Then I'm hoping to pick up the pace a bit.
Anyways, in this chapter both the snow wolves and Tostig plan their next moves, and the decisions made will affect the Ulstads.
As always, this story can be read up to the current chapter in both fanfiction and AO3 if you'd prefer those sites to reading all the text on reddit.
Fanfiction: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14198757/8/Land-of-the-North-Wind
AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45067345/chapters/119955676
Banishment
Tostig looked out at this city under siege. Part of him felt for his people, but at the same time they could not be allowed to bow to wolves. He would not bow to wolves and their demands. They were lesser, and they were rivals who were only useful for labor and trade in times of peace. And yet, the situation they were in now was not sustainable and everyone knew it. Just then, the door to his chamber was opened and his lead counselor, his right hand, stepped into the room.
“You wished to see me, my lord?”
Tostig took a sip from his wine chalice before turning away from his window and walking over to his desk with slow, deliberate steps. Upon locking eyes with his trusted advisor, the lord gave a small smile.
“Yes. I was hoping you’d have an inventory of our supplies ready to discuss.”
The counselor stepped forward, producing a stack of documents that had been written up by scribes. “Of course, my lord. Here are the inventory lists on the items you requested. Firewood, coal, wine, ale, spirits, bread, and meat are all right here.”
The counselor then placed the lists in his lord’s outstretched hands.
Tostig then got to the point of their meeting, “but all of these lists are to answer a single question. Do we have enough supplies to make it until spring?”
His counselor lowered his head and shook it slowly, “No sir. We’ll be out two months before the first ships can make safe harbor at the coast.”
Tostig sighed. “Then it’ll have to be done.”
“Are you sure, my Lord?”
“What choice do I have? We tried leaving, we tried getting necessary supplies, and even rations won’t carry us through the entire winter.”
“Those poor souls…”
“The keidran, overall, are tough beasts. And if you ask me, some of them played a hand in this whole mess, I just know it.”
“In what way could they be responsible, sir?” The counselor asked, confused.
“You really think every keidran in this town wants to be serving humans in some way or another? Their brethren are outside the walls, likely promising them a place of refuge for themselves and their slave relatives back east if they help the snow wolves kick us out.”
“That seems unlikely, my Lord.”
“Even if I’m wrong about their loyalties, the fact is keidran are more disposable than men. I can do without all these extra servants and menial laborers, but I’m going to need my miners and loggers when the snow clears, and the crown sends the best troops in Mekkan to our aid.”
“Your will is my command, sir. I’ll have Gerrick gather all his guardsmen in the great hall this evening. We’ll need every able-bodied member of the garrison.”
“Very good. Also, please send for the healer. These headaches… that medicine hasn’t been working.”
“Of course, my lord. Right away.”
The sun was setting on another day of the town under siege. The wolves had not made any moves to attack the walls, but why would they? They controlled the land and sea for hundreds of miles in every direction. A counsel of the elders was called in the camp overlooking the settlement. In the middle of the camp was a large, portable lodge made from thick timbers cut in the Snowy Pines. The frame was bound tightly by many hides, proving insulation and blocking the fierce winds that would often sweep across the tundra. Normally, settlements were permanent, but some wolves that had ventured into human territory took notes on how their rivals conducted war, and moveable houses were the answer to navigating across harsh country that was so brutal even the ever-adaptable humans had yet to conquer.
Outside the lodge entrance waited a tall, young snow wolf. Icy-white hair was bound tightly into a knot under a hat of seal fur. Extra layers of fur helped to protect the wolf from the elements, as even in winter the temperatures were colder than any canine could safely withstand. Blue eyes pierced through the growing darkness, a slight glow from his mana crystal necklace giving his face some soft illumination. He was waiting, watching for someone. Others came into the lodge one and two at a time. After a while, the young wolf was beginning to worry. “Where could he be?” The thought.
Just then a lone figure hobbled into view. A snow wolf much like him seemed to materialize out of the blowing snow that cut the visibility down significantly. Now only the glow of Callow could be seen in the distance. The old wolf, walking with a cane, finally found his way to the entrance.
“Grandfather, I was getting worried about you. You know I could help you up the hill, right?”
“Oh, don’t trouble yourself Bjorn. I might be almost as old as the wood holding that lodge together, but I can still find my way around camp. Now, let’s get inside, shall we?”
“Of course grandpa…” Bjorn then held the entrance to the lodge open so his frail kin could make his way inside where it was warm.
Following his grandfather inside, Bjorn was hit immediately with the warmth of a fire, fueled by wood brought in from the forest by sled, most of it cut down courtesy of the logging teams they had chased out a month earlier. The glow from his mana crystals was quickly overtaken by the bright, orange light of the fire. The young wolf removed most of his outer garments, placing them on the ground to use as a seat. He sat down behind where his grandfather had made himself comfortable. As an elder, the old wolf held one of the seats in the clans moot, the council of elders that had assembled to deal with the human problem.
All inside the lodge waited silently as their shaman conjured magical light structures from her crystal necklace in a ceremony to purify the air. The lights were dazzling. Bjorn’s favorite was seeing a replication of the night sky, a spell which was meticulously maintained through the generations showing each visible star as well as the moon. Another spell finished the ceremony, seemingly purging the air from the lodge, the fire reducing to embers, only to roar back to life as new, fresh air came in to fill the vacuum. It was then that the shaman gave a special blessing and prayer to each of the council members before taking her seat in the back as an observer. The five wolves then allowed for a silent pause to pass over all in attendance before beginning.
The designated leader of the council, tasked with mediating the clans moot, broke the silence, “my friends, our actions this winter may ensure the survival of our people and way of life, but one misstep and we will surely suffer greatly for our actions against the humans.”
A graying elder from the clan west of Widow Lake then saw fit to add in his thoughts. “Indeed, Bragi, but I believe our actions so far have been successful. The humans and their keidran servants have been completely cut off from their homeland and their king. No one will be able to help them until the snow leaves.”
Frey, the elder representing the clan at the split between the Widow and Pines rivers then spoke, “My warriors were successful in destroying any attempts by the humans to reach the sea. I’ve seen some of the bodies from their first attempt, and I believe that many of their most capable are dead. We ought to press an attack while we still have an advantage in the snow.”
Garth, Bjorn’s grandfather, and widely held to be one of the wisest elders in the North, urged caution. “It is true, Frey, that your warriors have slain many humans who could defend the walls, but many more are still inside. We’ve all seen the patrols along the top of the wall. Besides that, your warriors let one boat get away in the humans’ first attempt to summon help, didn’t they?”
Frey was forced to admit the mistake. “You are right, Garth, one did manage to slip away in the night. My warriors say they followed a light they thought was a lantern from the boat, but it was something else. It was alive, but they could not get a good look at it, and the light they followed led them into a sand bank. But a large storm hit shortly after. Surely, none survived.”
Garth had a different thought. “I would not so easily discredit these humans. Sure, they lack our fur, but they are adaptable creatures. I’ve seen with my own eyes the mines they’ve built. If they can bring the heart of Mekkan to the surface, their best may be able to survive winter.”
Bragi, always one to listen to a wolf with so much experience, wanted to know how this would affect their plans. “Garth, do you think the humans would bring reinforcements?”
“Assuming they survived, it could happen.”
Frey wasn’t as convinced. “Even if that one crew did manage to make it to the coast, it would still be months before the humans could bring an army to our shores. But that is all the more reason to find a way into the city.”
The last wolf in the council had been silent up until then. He was the youngest, though his offspring were still well into adulthood. He had earned a reputation as one of the best strategists among the snow wolves, having to regularly repel attempts by the forest wolves to gain more territory along the southern border. “An attack on the walls would be a failure. One does not kill a bear by fighting it on its terms. To kill a bear, one must outsmart it, and force the creature to fight in a way it is not used to.”
“So we should do nothing then?” Frey surmised, but the younger wolf shook his head.
“No, the wall is a bear. If we simply run up to it, our warriors will all die. But if we can find a weakness or fight the humans in a way they are not used to, then we will have the advantage.”
Garth then added is trademark advice of caution. “Though we must be patient, my friends. There will be an opportunity before spring arrives. As the weather gets colder and the snow gets deeper, our advantages will grow.”
Bragi then came to a possible plan of action. “I know Tostig. Once desperate enough, he will want an open battle where his trained guards can win, even in the snow. It would be too great of a risk to meet him in such a battle, but we could bait him to it.”
The wolf from Widow Lake then had an idea of his own. “My warriors could conduct raids on the humans’ stashes of firewood and supplies. There are some close enough to the walls that they can be reached. Once the humans start getting cold, they will be forced to either submit or do battle.”
Bragi nodded in agreement. “Do we have a plan then?”
All nodded and prepared to cast their vote when a shout from outside the lodge alerted the gathered snow wolves. A guard rushed in to deliver the news. The Shaman stood up upon this intrusion. “A clans moot is a sacred gathering, outsiders are not permitted unless invited. Child, why have you trespassed?”
The guard was gasping for air after running for a couple of miles to the main camp. “Apologies… humans… outside the wall.”
Perhaps the battle was coming after all? Bragi then stood. “Garth, have your grandson take your best warriors to trap these humans. This may be the beginning of the very battle Tostig would try to arrange.”
Garth then looked behind him at his nephew and nodded. “Go, Bjorn, I’ll find my way back. Be safe.”
Garth bowed his head slightly in respect of the others. “Thank you all for permitting me to the clans moot. I will track down and subdue these humans before they can cause trouble.”
With a wave of Bragi’s hand, Garth then exited the lodge with the guard and ran toward the main camp to find as many warriors as he could at a moment’s notice.
The Ulstads were preparing a dinner of rations in the empty tavern when a knock came from the front door. Anna Marie, who was closest, stopped sweeping to open the door. She was surprised by the evening visitor. “Sam, whatchya doin’ here at such an hour? We’re ya joinin’ fer dinner?”
Sam didn’t answer as he came into the foyer, but the look on his face told everyone that something was wrong. Liz stood up and quickly made her way to Sam, with Shadow and Asher close behind. Ivan leaned his head out from the kitchen. Liz took Sam’s hand in hers and looked him in the eyes. “Sam, what is it? News from Connor?”
Sam just shook his head. “I’m sorry Liz, I wish it was.”
Shadow then asked in a more direct voice. “Then what is it? You look pale.”
“It’s Tostig. He’s… well, he’s given the guard an order.”
“Come on, Sam, out with it?” Shadow said, worry seeping into her words. Sam took a deep breath to collect himself. They needed to know.
“Tostig has ordered every non-human in Callow… he’s banished them from the town.”
A thick, baritone voice boomed from the kitchen. “What?” A look of horror came across Asher’s face. Shadow too was shocked.
“Like Ivan said, ‘what?’” The leopard could hardly believe what she had heard.
“Liz, Miss Marie, you are both allowed to stay. But guards are going door to door right now and rounding up all the keidran. Shadow and Asher, you had better collect what you can before they arrive. I’ll escort you both personally so that neither of you have a hand laid on you.”
Anna wouldn’t have it. “They’s just as much people as us, Sam. Shadow, you and the boy should hide in the cellar. Ivan, get the darn hammer.”
“No Anna.” Shadow replied, letting it sink in. “We can’t just hide in the tavern all winter. Besides, what happens when you get caught?”
Sam had the unfortunate answer to that one. “Tostig has also ordered that anyone caught hiding keidran will be burned at the stake.”
That caused Anna and Liz to recoil at the thought of their own fate. It was more than enough for Shadow to make up her mind. “Come on Asher, we had better put on whatever clothes we can before— “just then, another knock came from the door, this one far more stern than before.
“Shit, they’re here already. I thought there’d be more time. Shadow, you can Asher meet Ivan in the back, I’ll get you three to the eastern gate.” Sam said before going to answer the door with Anna Marie. Asher didn’t quite understand all that was happening. He knew human well enough now, but things were progressing quickly for a seven-year-old. But Shadow quickly grabbed his hand and led them both into the room with Liz close behind. Once inside the room, Liz, locked the door to buy them at least a few more seconds.
Shadow, having been trained by assassins in the guild, wasn’t terribly concerned for herself. But being forced to leave Liz? She hoped that Anna Marie would keep the girl safe. Asher though was in trouble if they were being forced into the tundra. Her first thought then was to make sure the boy had as many warm clothes on as she could find.
“Here Asher, put this on, quickly.”
“I don’t want to leave, Shadow!”
“I don’t either, but we don’t have a choice. Sooner or later we’d be caught and thrown outside the walls anyway. Now bundle up as best you can be—”
Loud knocking came from the bedroom wall. “We know there are keidran in here! Open the door and come with us.”
Liz went up to the door to buy as much time as she could. “Just a minute!”
“Open it now woman!” Was the reply, but that was closely followed by Sam’s voice. “Hey, I’m highest rank here and I happen to know the two you’re after. Let me handle this and you two should continue down the stre—”
“Not a chance Sam, we’ve got orders from your father.”
“Then at least go get Ivan. Shadow and Asher aren’t going to put up a fight.”
Two more guards could be heard struggling to push the big wolf out into the street, and the intensity of the struggle caused the two guards standing near the room door to reconsider pushing their luck with someone who outranks them.
“Very well, they’ve got two minutes. If they aren’t out by then, we’re going to break the door down.”
Sam then moved to the side to let the two guards pass by.
Liz’s muffled voice came from behind the door “Are they gone?”
“Yeah, for the moment.”
A minute later, the door’s latch was undone, and it creaked open. Shadow and Asher had their wool jumpers on, along with whatever clothes they could find. Shadow was even wearing a pair of Connor’s pants. They were a bit tight but provided some extra insulation. Liz then followed the two, closing the door behind them.
“Why is this happening, Sam?” Liz asked.
“Apparently, we don’t have enough supplies to last the winter. So either everyone starves…”
“…Or the keidran freeze to death.” Shadow finished for Sam.
“Basically, yes. But you don’t have to freeze to death, there’s shelter that you can use, as well as food stores.”
“Where?” Shadow interrogated. Asher’s life as well as her own was on the line.”
“You’ll have to slip passed the wolves, but there are food stores and shelters in the new mining district across the river. It’s on the other side of Ditter’s Ridge.”
“Wolves?!” Shadow exclaimed. “How am I and the kid going to slip passed an army of wolves? They’d see us miles away!”
“I don’t know. I suggest hiding until the wind kicks up, the blowing snow will provide you with cover.”
The three stressed faces, Shadow’s looking like she was ready to murder, all stared at Sam.
“Look, this is a bad situation. I wish there was more I could do, but there isn’t. Tostig is Jarl, and his word is the law. If he says you must go, then you must go. If you try to stay, he could have us all executed.”
“Would your father allow that?”
“Tostig would execute my father too if that’s what it took to keep order in this town. I’m sorry, I really am, but—”
“But you’re doing whatever you can…” Liz grabbed and held Sam’s hand. “Is there a path or a tunnel or something that they can use to get around the wolves?”
“No, there isn’t. Look, you’ll have to move as quickly as you can. I’ll send help as soon as I’m able to, but right now this is your best chance of surviving.”
“Fine…” Shadow said, defeated and out of options. “Come on Asher, we had better go.”
The boy had other ideas “I don’t want to leave Liz! I want to wait here for Connor!”
“Connor…” Shadow thought. She tried to put it past her mind, but Liz knelt down in front of the boy.
“Asher, Connor isn’t coming back.” She said, tears forming in her eyes. “It’s been a month, and as much as I wish he’d bust into the tavern right now like he did with both of you back in the spring, it’s not going to happen. You need to leave with Shadow, she’ll keep you safe.”
“What about you?” Asher said, sniffling.
“I’ve got Anna Marie and Sam here to help. But you can’t stay here or Tostig would—”
“Kill us…” Asher said.
“I know we aren’t the closest, but Connor called you his brother, so I do too. Go, while you still can.” She then stood up. Before she could say anything else, Shadow embraced the girl.
“I’m sorry that I won’t be there to keep you safe.” Shadow said.
“It’s okay. But if you two stick together, we’ll all look back at this like a bad memory.”
“One of many bad memories.”
Sam knew time was up. “We better leave before those two assholes return. I’ll show you out a side entrance.”
Shadow and Liz let go of each other, and Shadow grabbed Asher’s hand before they both fled into the back alley behind Sam. The winding pathways between buildings eventually led them to a small door near the east gate. Shadow could see around the side of a building all the keidran being pushed out through the main gate. After looking around to make sure no one was watching, Sam produced a key, which began to glow as he recited an incantation. A hidden door nested into the wall glowed around the seal before opening, revealing a short tunnel to the outside.
“It’s one of the many emergency doorways out of the town. Only the guards have access, and most don’t know about them.”
Shadow, though impressed by the trickery, was hardly thrilled to be forced out of the walls. “If Connor ever comes back…”
“I hope he does, but for right now, you’re better off outside than inside.” Sam finished for Shadow, gesturing outside the wall.”
“Make sure nothing happens to Liz. Or I’ll find my way back,” Shadow lifted Sam off his feet and pinned him to the wall, “and burn this town to the ground with you in it.”
“I’ll protect her with my life if I must. You have my word. Now please, get out of here before someone sees me helping you.”
Shadow dropped Sam back to his feet, took Asher’s hand, and ducked through the hole in the wall. Once through, Sam closed the magic door with his key before slipping through an alley and joining the rest of the guards. Young ones were crying, old ones were being forcefully pushed, and at least one who tried to resist was savagely beaten. The guard was there to maintain order no matter the cost. After several minutes and much effort, the last keidran was shoved past the threshold. As the iron gate lowered from the ceiling, a couple of keidran made an attempt to get back into the town. But just as they were about to get through the inner gate, out of the crowd came several guards with crossbows. Without hesitation, their lieutenant gave the order to fire. In front of both humans and keidran, all those who tried to get through were cut down and left to die in the zwinger between the two gates. Their intentions made clear, the remaining keidran quickly fled from the walls just as guards took their positions along the walkway at the top.
Shadow couldn’t see what happened, but she could certainly hear it. Keeping Asher close, she used her skills at stealth to skirt along the bottom of the wall undetected. Asher at one point tried to say something but she quickly hushed him before continuing. Finding and avenue out in a blind spot from the guards, Shadow quickly moved past the ground torches could illuminate, finding safety in the darkness. Luckily, it was a clear night and Shadow could easily make out where the keidran had stopped. They looked to be in the process of scattering as keidran tended to do. They weren’t a clan or a tribe, instead they were in groups of individuals who knew each other. Shadow a year ago would have left them all to their fate, content to find the shelter she was informed of and waiting until spring. But now… now she could see scared children, elderly who wouldn’t make it two days in the winter snow, and many who were scared and confused, all in need of help.
“What are we going to do?” Asher asked, clutching onto her leg and looking up to her for guidance. He too was quite scared.
Shadow sighed, collecting herself. “We’re going to help them, Asher, and we’re going to survive.”
Just as the keidran were about to venture off in every direction imaginable, Shadow climbed up onto a rock and, illuminated by the moon, called for everyone’s attention. No one really seemed to care, at least until a loud, baritone voice cut through the air. Shadow looked to her side only to find a beaten and bloody Ivan standing near the rock, apparently having seen the pair in the cold. At once, everyone looked back toward the three figures next to and on top of the large glacial boulder.
“Good. Now everyone listen up! I’ve been told that there are stores of food and supplies as well as shelter across the river to the East. If we move now, we can be there by dawn, but we have to stick together, or we’ll all die.”
While some seemed ready to go, others weren’t sure. Arguing began between different individuals. Some wanted to make for the Snowy Pines, mostly the wolves. A few wanted to try and get over the mountain pass and into warmer country. Still others were talking about forcing their way back into Callow. None were, realistically, good options. But before consensus could be reached, or a complete breakdown in the large group of at least four hundred keidran, snow wolves approached from all sides, weapons at the ready. Out from the darkness emerged a big wolf, nearly as big as Ivan, wearing polar bear fur and brandishing a long spear.
Keidran tried to run but were quickly cut off. The group of exiles was completely encircled by several hundred strong warriors from the different clans. Bjorn then noticed something odd in the moonlight. Between all the people that they captured, only a handful had anything more than a knife. Certainly no weapons of war, and plenty were half-naked and freezing.
“Where are your weapons?”
“What do you mean?” A tigress asked. “We have none.”
“Then what is this? Are you all trying to run away or something? You’ll freeze out here.” Bjorn bellowed. A young child then pushed his way to the front. It was Asher, the only basitin in the group. “W-we were kicked out, sir.”
“Kicked out?”
Ivan and Shadow came out from the crowd, quickly finding Asher. Shadow grabbed the boy and held onto him tight in case things went south. Ivan tried to reason with Bjorn, who was a bit intimidated by the wolf that was bigger than even him.
“Da. Jarl Tostig pushed us into the snow.”
“Explain.” Bjorn said, spear tip not lowering even slightly.
“What the big guy is trying to say is that Tostig found out there wasn’t enough supplies for everyone to last the winter, so he decided to get rid of every keidran in Callow. We’re exiles.”
This shocked Bjorn. He didn’t think anyone, not even a human, would do something so cutthroat. “Well, if you were hoping for our help, I’m sorry. But we don’t have supplies for everyone here. I can talk to my grandfather and perhaps the council will—”
“There are supplies across the river, if you’d let us go to Ditter’s Ridge we’ll stay out of the way of your siege. We certainly aren’t going to help Tostig after this.
“The big hill near Widow Lake? I thought that was just a bunch of mines.”
“It is, but apparently there are stores of supplies and shelter there.”
Ditter’s Ridge was still technically snow wolf lands, and the recent mining activity was part of why this whole situation was happening now. But these weren’t humans, clearly weren’t loyal to Tostig, and had no means to defending themselves anyway. After taking in the sight, he knew that they were speaking the truth, and that many wouldn’t make it more than a few days even in thick winter fur.
“Alright. We have no quarrel with you. I and a few others will lead you across the river. There’s a ford at Ridge Gate that’s shallow enough you all can cross without getting wet above the knees. We had better hurry though; another storm is coming.”
Shadow then walked up to Bjorn, noting that she was barely taller than his shoulder. “Thank you.” She said gratefully, extending a hand.
Bjorn looked down and felt his heart skip a beat. In a land of ice and snow, before him was a black-furred leopard, a keidran he had never seen before. He immediately reached out to shake her hand. “I am happy to help. Now, we had better get a move on.”
“Lead the way...” Shadow gestured as she grabbed Asher once again and made sure he walked closely beside her through the snow.
It was tough walking through the drifts. At one point, Shadow broke through a layer of hard snow into soft powder below. She sank up to her chest and was struggling to get out when a pair of snow shoes appeared in front of her. Looking up, she saw Bjorn extending his hand. In one swift motion, he lifted the leopard clean out of the snow and onto his snow shoes.
“Thank you.” Shadow said, stunned at how easy it was for the wolf.
“It was nothing.” He said, smile on his face.
In the early hours of dawn, the group of keidran spotted the Ridge Gate, a pair of towering bluffs the river cut through in order to make it to the sea. Soon, Shadow and Asher were some of the first to reach the shore of the river. Shadow picked up Asher and held him as she tried to cross, but the icy water stung on her skin. Bjorn then offered his help once again.
“Please, allow me.” He said as he picked Asher up and placed the boy on his shoulders. Before Shadow could continue into the river, he picked her up as well and held her under her back and knees.
“Oh... my…” Shadow said, looking up at Bjorn. “You really don’t have to.”
“I assume you aren’t from around these parts, considering the black fur.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Well, the river water is cold enough that you really don’t want to get wet if you can help it. So hold on tight, I’ll walk you across.”
It took a few minutes, but Shadow and Asher found themselves on dry ground. Without a word, Bjorn turned around and waded across the river again. It felt… odd… to be carried like that. But apparently the snow wolves were doing this for many of the keidran, especially the children. It took close to a half an hour before everyone was across, but by then it was a simple matter of climbing the ridge. At the top, Shadow and Asher felt the first rays of sun peaking above the horizon. It would fill the valley below for only a couple of hours before setting again.
“We’re getting close to the equinox.” Bjorn explained. “The sun will only break the horizon for an hour then, and it will get really cold.”
“Thank you again.” Shadow replied. “But I didn’t catch your name.”
“It’s Bjorn, ma’am.”
“Well, thank you Bjorn. I am Shadow and this here is Asher.”
“Glad to know you, Shadow. Now, where are these supplies you were talking about?”
“I’m guessing they are down there.” Shadow said as she pointed at what looked to be an abandoned mining camp. Once at the bottom of the ridge, the state of the camp was sad. Tents were blown down by the wind, a couple of the makeshift shacks were caved in from the heavy snow. But one large structure was locked up tight. Busting in the door with a log for a battering ram, the keidran found the first of many supplies. While the food was mostly for humans, and thus was a lot of flour and coffee, there was plenty of dried and salted meats. It wouldn’t be much, but with some careful rationing they’d all be able to make it through the winter.

We were offered a payout which I request they resubmit with my proof of value (brand new tires, leather, higher prices for comparable vehicles in my area). My main adjuster has ghosted me after I asked him to escalate my rental car request to their supervisor.
Payout email was sent 3pm Friday before the long weekend, called me on Tuesday attempting to explain (unsuccessfully), dodged my questions when I probed, then didn’t return any communication for 48 hrs. Tomorrow the rental car support is done.
I asked the at fault driver adjuster if their insurance stops rental car supports, they said only when the check is in their drivers hands.
1- is it normal for insurers to limit the rental car following a payout notice. I was hoping to get the full 30 days but I suspect I’m just new to this and don’t know all the terms of my policy like most other humans. Where would I look in the policy (this is my first total loss).
2- Is the adjuster from the other insurer helping me understand the process better than my own, do I have bad insurance, a bad adjuster or is the other adjuster motivated for me to get more of my costs from my own insurer?
3- My adjuster wasn’t very clear about an appeal process for decisions like the rental car and like appealing their payout quote. Is that normal?
4- per has better for legal but can I file a small claim against that at fault driver(hit my car while it was parked shortly after getting new tires) for the out of pocket costs? How about the remaining balance of my financing? (I misunderstood what gap insurance was and how it worked).
All in all this has been a very educational experience. I will be switching to a better option after all the claims and payouts have happened.

When you don’t see someone for a while, they tend to look kind of different the next time you meet. That’s not because they’ve actually changed, but rather due to your memory being inaccurate. Still, I don’t think my roommate has always had barnacles growing on her.
Kit Sutton did indeed look different. Beautiful, but different.
In the short time we’d been apart, her hair had grown to an impressive length. It trailed after her through the water as she effortlessly hopped from rock to rock before landing in front of us. She was even more scantily clad than usual; in fact, she wasn’t wearing anything at all. Her normally olive skin had adopted a pearlescent sheen, interrupted by the algae, starfish and seashells clinging to her body. Her eyes shone in the light of our torch and she regarded us with an unreadable expression, putting a hand to her hip.
"I can't believe you're actually here." She shook her head, sounding like she wasn't even sure herself what tone to strike. "You… you'd better leave. And fast. I-it's nice to see you, though."
I took a step forward and hugged her. She felt slippery. "I've missed you."
"Yeah. Me too. You should still go now."
"You need to come back," I said. "I'm sorry I ever gave up on you. There has to be a way for you to come back."
She shook her head. "Eva, you saw what my father can do. You saw the wave and you just saw his grotto guard. There's, like, a thousand more where that one came from."
"What are you doing here anyways? Isn't this a kinda way too lonely spot for you to hang out?" Elijah asked. "Doesn't seem very you."
"Yeah. It's… not." She rolled her eyes. "I'm basically grounded. My Dad's gonna keep me here for the next two hundred years or so. I'm not allowed to leave until he trusts me again."
"Two hundred years?" Eli echoed.
Kit massaged her temples. "I don't like it either, believe me." Looking up, a hopeful expression crossed her face. "How's Nettie?"
"She misses you," I told her.
"She does? That's, um… nice."
"It's cool, I know about you two."
"Oh. Well. I'm really glad she's thinking about me. Is that mean? Because I don't want her to be unhappy, it just feels good, you know?"
"I can imagine," I answered. "And it only proves my point. We have to get you out of here."
"Dude, I said no. You actually can't beat my father. I wish that was an option, but it's simply not."
"Kit…"
"It's Chandra." She raised her head to fix me with a stern gaze. So empty, so joyless, so… unlike her. "It was nice being Kit and running around up top and living with you. Those were a good few years, and now here I am, paying the price. There is nothing you can do against my Dad."
Silence descended upon us for a sober couple seconds. I studied her expression, her set jaw and taut shoulders. "And what about you?" I asked. "Can you do something?"
Kit snorted. "You've never even seen me use any sort of powers."
"But you have them, don't you?"
"Actually, I do." She casually raised a hand, her wrist slowly describing a circle. Eli and I watched in astonished silence as a trail of water snaked its way up from the lake, arching above her head and trickling back down on the other side of the stepstone. Kit Sutton looked after it disinterestedly, then turned to us with a bored shrug. "I guess I can sorta control water."
Elijah was gaping at her. "Could you do this the whole time?"
"Nope. Only when I'm in my natural habitat. I'm the crown princess—" she spat out the words in discontent, forming air-quotes around them— "and the heiress to the throne, so I'm, like, ultra connected to my element or whatever. Not like my siblings."
"But as of now, you are stronger than them?" I queried. "Is there any possibility you could become stronger than your father, too?"
For a moment, she stared at me, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. "Actually, let me show you something." Her naked feet never once slipping on the wet stone, she proceeded towards the nearest platform rock, jumping off with ease and landing gracefully. After trading shrugs with Elijah Carter, we scrambled after her. She led us back a little ways and then down one of the other passages we'd glimpsed before, barely losing a word the whole time. I stopped trying to strike up a conversation, focusing solely on keeping up with her unnaturally sleek, swift steps.
"The olm you saw before was one of my father's guardians," she called out sharply over her shoulder. "The sea breeds giants, as they say. Or rather, Dad does. He keeps creating abominations like that, and he uses them to ward off outsiders in places where they don't belong. They're obviously not stopping me from running away again—you've seen that they'll obey me. But his Majesty has made it quite clear that if I break out, he's going to turn the town into a swamp. I'm not going to be responsible for people's deaths, or the loss of their homes. Especially not… not hers."
She came to a halt, squaring her shoulders. Above her head, I could make out the silhouette of an opening in the tunnel. "We're here. This… this should be enough proof that he'll make good on any threat he's ever uttered." She stepped aside to make way for us.
We hesitantly pushed past her and into the room that lay before us. It was different from all the others we'd seen thus far—it didn't lure one into a false sense of security with its descriptive beauty. In fact, the second the beam of our flashlight illuminated its interior, every last fiber of my being started to cry out to me, telling me to run. My flight instinct kicking in, I tried desperately to stay grounded somehow, to keep control. I couldn't allow myself to panic. This was a horrible time to end up going dimensions. I had to remain in this reality, no matter how difficult the sight before me was rendering the task.
I heard Elijah Carter gag beside me, his stomach revolting at what he saw. His hand abruptly flew to my shoulder, cold, sweat-slick fingers clamping down on my skin, hard enough to bruise. With my own stomach doing kick-flips inside my body, I could understand his reaction far too well. Instead of shrinking away, I reached up to graze his knuckles with my own, a fleeting touch I couldn't find the strength to hold. It was hard to be reassuring given the circumstances.
We were looking at a gallery of corpses. They lined the walls, the floor, the ceiling, all in different states of wholeness and decay. A viscous, transparent fluid was gluing them to the stone, fixing them in their respective places. In some spots, it looked quite shiny and fresh, while in others, it had hardened, encasing the dead bodies like clear, pale amber. It was an unorganized chaos, the carcasses strewn practically everywhere, some overlapping, some upside down. Some had their eyes still open, their faces eternally frozen in void, empty expressions of terror. Most bodies weren't even complete—arms, legs or heads were missing, pronounced bitemarks marring the aged yet well-preserved flesh.
Elijah and I found ourselves standing rooted to the ground, too terrified to move, too dazed to speak. My friend's dark gaze frantically raced over the walls, flickering across the horrid display, taking in the carnage. My own eyes seemed to be burning. My head was spinning, and I had to hold onto his arm to support myself—it felt as though my legs were about to give way beneath me.
A shimmering light at the center of the room caught my attention. Somehow finding it within me to steady myself, I took a couple faltering steps towards it. Elijah Carter followed suit and Kit Sutton wordlessly trailed after us. Stepping over the dozens and dozens of corpses in my way, I tried hard to keep my wits about me. When I finally reached its source, I was surprised to find it to be a pond, or rather a bottomless hole of water. Another connection to the sea, no doubt. The shine however seemed fine from within it, from down below where there would normally be just darkness. Looking in, the breath was once again stolen from my lungs. It felt rather like peering through a small window into a very large hall. I could only see a fracture of what lay beneath.
Hovering within the endless masses of water was the enormous statue of a woman. Her stony pale arms were raised, her hands reaching out almost pleadingly, as if she was hoping for someone to pull her up from her cold, abyssal grave. Her eyes, one of which was about the size of my head, were wide open, her colorless stare holding a wild, unreadable mix of emotions. Her lips were parted in a silent scream. An unearthly, bright glow surrounded her; it seemed to come from within her body rather than anywhere else. It was disturbingly beautiful.
"Her name was Calypso."
Kit's voice pulled me from my trance. When I turned to face her, she pointedly avoided my gaze. An idea took shape in my mind, created by the faint, wavery undertone of mourning in her words. "She was someone special, wasn't she?"
"My mother."
I swallowed, my pulse still thrumming in my ears. Stepping forward, I tentatively grasped my roommate's hand. She let go of a soft breath, the corner of her mouth twitching. "These people here have been rotting away for centuries. It's the worst punishment imaginable, isn't it. The lucky ones are dead before they get glued down, but the ones he's really angry at, he covers in that goo when they're, like, lethally injured. I don't quite know what this stuff is, but it slows down all those organic processes, the death, the decomposition…" She paused. "With Mom, it was different. He turned her to stone. The same kind that grows from the ground here, you know; that smooth, shiny kinda rock that looks real pretty."
"What did she do to piss off your Dad?"
"What did any of these poor fuckers do? Most of these are failed cult leaders, actually. You'd never guess how many cults the deep ones have dedicated to them. As for my mother, I don't know. I can't even remember her, to be honest." She shrugged with affected carelessness. "You see it now? My father is… just beyond comprehension."
"So are you, though, aren't you? If you think about it."
"Eva, I know you're trying to boost morale here, but it's not working. Please let me get you out of here. And for heaven's sake, don't come back."
She led us back through the labyrinth of tunnels and corridors, staying well behind when we caught the first glimpse of daylight.
"I promise I'll think of something," I told her. "I'll find a way to get you out."
She merely shook her head. "No, you won't. Just go home and look for a new roommate. Or move back in with Nettie. She'll be glad."
I clenched my teeth, but allowed Eli to press his palm to my back, guiding me towards the exit.
"Actually, just… just wait. Could you tell her I, like, miss her? A lot?" Kit shouted after us, a sudden note of warmth softening her voice.
Elijah turned back to her with a sad smile. "Of course."
We didn't return to the car straight away, instead walking along the shore for a little while. My extra limbs having retracted and Eli's face having returned to a less nauseous color, we didn't bear any outward traces of our experience in the cave. We didn’t talk much, but we almost leaned onto one other with how closely we stuck to each other’s side. Eventually, I gathered the strength to break the silence. “This can’t stand, obviously.”
“You still want to get her out?” He gave me a sidelong glance. “This is more for Nettie’s sake than anything else, isn’t it?”
“I do like Kit Sutton, and I miss her tremendously,” I stated. “But largely, it is.”
Elijah, having nothing else to add, gave a noncommittal grunt.
“Would you mind if I asked you something personal?” I asked.
“Try it and find out.”
“I was wondering about what Mary Markov said about you earlier,” I began. “An incident at a highschool.”
He sighed. Silence fell, and for a minute I thought he wouldn’t respond at all. Then, he slowed down, coming to a halt and turning to look out at the horizon. “So how do we do this, Shirley? You really want me to pour my heart out to you and let you in on my tragic past as we stare at the tossing waves? That’s a bit too romantic for the two of us, if you ask me.”
“But you’d let me in on your tragic past in a less romantic setting?”
“Oh sure, anytime,” he said lightly. “Well, not any time. I’d be okay talking to you about it, though. See, it doesn’t matter to me if you know or not, the problem is kinda the headspace and getting the words out of my mouth in the first place.”
“I’m glad you feel like you could do that with me.” I regarded his profile, noting how he swallowed and shut his eyes for a moment.
“Let’s go back to the car.”
So we did. Only that it wasn’t quite how we left it. Elijah noticed it first—a low, hissed curse escaped him as he bent down to inspect the damage. The back window had been smashed in. The brown folder Mary Markov had given me was gone.
X
1
2: deadbeat roommate
3: creepy crush
4: relocation
5: beach concert
6: First date
7: Temp work
8: roommate talk
9: a dismal worldview
10: warehouse
11: staircase
12: explanation
13: hurt
14: hospital
15: ocean
16: diner
17: government work
18: something in the caves
19: shopping cart
20: olms and Jewels

Stratistics MRC’s Global Microscopy Market value is expected to reach $11.2 million growing at a CAGR of 7.8% during 2022-2028.
A microscope is an instrument that provides magnified images of small objects or specimens, allowing the user to observe an extremely close view of minute structures at a scale appropriate for examination and analysis. Microscopy is an analysis method that uses microscope instruments to examine samples and objects that cannot be seen by the naked eye. Microscopes are very useful in life science research, and advances in imaging have allowed their use to spread to almost every field of science and technology. Microscopy is commonly used to view various types of cells, analyze clinical specimens, and scan nanomaterials.
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Asia-Pacific is expected to witness the fastest growth rate over the forecast period. Over the course of the forecast period, the Asia Pacific microscopy market is anticipated to expand. Technological advancements, increasing financing and investments in microscopy research and development, and a growing emphasis on nanotechnology and regenerative medicine are some of the factors propelling the APAC microscopy market. The implementation of artificial intelligence in microscopy, as well as the low cost of raw materials and the accessibility of skilled labor in this area, are anticipated to drive the expansion of the microscopy market over the Anticipated Period.
Some of the key players in Microscopy Market include Bruker Corporation, Cameca, Carl Zeiss Ag, Danaher Corporation, Helmut Hund, Hitachi High-Tech Corporation, Jeol Company, Labomed, Inc., Meiji Techno Co., Motic Group, Nikon Corp., Nt-Mdt Si, Olympus Corporation, Oxford Instruments, Park Systems, Semilab, Tescan Orsay Holding As, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. And Zeiss Group.
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Hello lovely readers,
Welcome to the second and final discussion of Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton. This autobiographical comic was Canada Reads (an annual "battle of the books") winner for 2023. You can read the first discussion here.
Summary
The story picks up one month after that horrible party. Kate sleeps with Mike. She continues to get weird sexual comments from the men she works with, but she has started to laugh the comments off. Many of the men seem to have problems with her giving them orders, and her superiors get pissy with her for minor things or for wanting ‘special treatment’. Joe, a fellow Nova Scotian, overhears her swearing in frustration and tells her that everyone at the mine is just yelling at the guy next to them for work they’re not doing themselves, but that people tend to be friendlier to people from their own region of Canada. Kate wonders aloud to Doug whether the oil sands make people better or worse.
The men at the mine have heard that Kate’s ‘little friends’ (her sister Becky and friend Lindsay) are going to be joining them, and she warns them to leave them alone. When Becky and Lindsay arrive, they are wearing skirts and they quickly notice the staring and weird behaviour from the men on site. Kate apologises for it, and they wonder why she is saying sorry.
Kate tells Becky and Lindsay that the other men have been leaving her alone since most people know about her and Mike, and they tell her it’s because in their eyes she’s ‘claimed’.
They take a trip to Gregoire Beach, but Kate doesn’t wear a swimsuit or go swimming. Becky asks her what’s up with her, as she’s noticed something is wrong. Kate talks about how everything at the beach seems so normal, but that she isn’t. However, she doesn’t explain further.
Kate looks for other jobs online, and sees a post for a job at the Maritime Museum of British Columbia in Victoria, the capital of British Columbia.
Not long afterwards, she sees the man who forced himself on her at that party. He and the group of men he’s with see her and they start laughing.
Kate hears a man playing Peter’s Dream on his guitar, and joins in singing the song.
She goes to Becky’s room and tells her that she needs to leave the oil sands for a while, even though she and Lindsay have just arrived. She asks her to promise that she and Lindsay will look out for each other, and finally tells her about the assaults. Becky tells her that it wasn’t her fault, and wishes she had been there sooner to protect her as that’s her job as the big sister. She tells Kate that it happened to her too, at her university dorm. She tells Kate she should go.
We leave the oil sands, for a year in Victoria. Kate gets the museum job but it’s no more than 21 hours per week, so she gets a second job. In a coffee shop, she hears the song An Innis Aigh playing, and tells a woman who was wondering aloud about the language that it’s Gaelic.
Victoria seems like a nicer place than the oil sands, but it isn’t perfect – the city big problems with homelessness and mental health, but none of the old, rich people living there care [read runner note – according to Victoria’s Wikipedia page, the city is known for its disproportionately large retiree population. Some 23.4% of the population of Victoria and its surrounding area are over 65 years of age, which is higher than the overall Canadian distribution of over 65 year-olds in the population (19%). A historically popular cliché refers to Victoria as the home of "the newly wed and nearly dead"]. Kate is fired from her job for not taking American money and not wanting to sell the merchandise badly enough. One of her colleagues (I think?) sees her drawing a comic, and suggests that she should make a website.
Kate tells her parents that on her days off she works at a grocery store, and her father wonders what her degree was for. Shortly afterwards, she is fired from the grocery store for yawning and ‘being surly’. She goes on a date, but panics when the guy tries to kiss her at the end.
Kate can’t get a reprieve from her student loan payments, even though she paid half of it off the previous year with her oil sands earnings. She decides to go back to the oil sands to pay the rest off, and says goodbye to the museum.
After that brief reprieve, we’re back in the oil sands, this time at Shell Albian Sands. Kate has taken a job in the warehouse office, and her living quarters are a bit fancier than at the previous sites. The site also has a Tim Hortons, Wi-Fi and a gym, even yoga classes. Lindsay tells her that a lot of the warehouse crew from Long Lake have moved up there too. One of her new colleagues is Hatim, who is creepy in a new way, plaguing her with messages despite having a wife and children.
The team get a congratulations message with a gif for achieving three million man hours without a lost time incident (LTI). Kate’s boss, Ryan, tells her that they don’t have LTIs at the site because they look bad for the company, I guess implying that they cover them up.
She sees Doug again, who seems to feel that she’s all high and mighty now with her office job, and struggles with her ‘bossing him’ since she’s younger than him (and presumably because she’s female). When she has to cover a warehouse shift, Doug laughs about how she’s down from on high and has gone soft. He tells her that he sang with The Men of the Deeps and even sang for the queen, which she doubts because he has a terrible voice. She sings a bit of Coal Town Road (which I’m kind of disappointed doesn’t sound like Old Town Road) and asks if she could be in the choir too, but he seems annoyed about her singing a mining song when she’s not a miner.
Kate’s sister Becky is still working at Long Lake, but lives in Fort McMurray, and Kate goes to meet her there; she says it’s much better than living in the camp. She tells Kate, that one time a guy jumped out of the closet in her room, but she was able to kick him out. She always locked her door, but often heard the handle jiggling at night. She even had a stalker, who managed to get into her room with a bottle of alcohol and suggested doing body shots – she didn’t report it, but when he got fired everyone thought she had.
Kate struggles to read some of the order sheets because many of the workers are bad spellers or have unclear handwriting; many of the older men at the mine left school in grade six. Lindsay tells her about one of the lead hands from Newfoundland, who can’t read, and was humiliated by the other workers when they tried to make him read the safety memo aloud so they could laugh at him. Lindsay says she’s never seen a grown man ashamed like that, and they discuss how he’s one of the nicest guys there.
A group from the Calgary office visits the mine site, and Kate has to find the nice hard hats and safety vests for the visitors, the ones the actual workers can’t have because they’re too fancy. Basically, they have to put on a show for the head office people – everyone has to look sharp, make things tidier than normal etc. One of the visitors takes a photo of Kate. After they leave, Damian asks if he can have one of the fancy new vests, but they were taken back to Calgary even though they don’t need them at head office.
Kate continues doing her comics, and her colleagues occasionally read them. Ryan finds some of them in the scanner, which she had used to upload them to her website, and tells her not to leave her stuff lying around at work.
Becky and Kate discuss what it would have been like if their father had gone out to the oil sands to work when they were children, as many people did. They wonder if he would have been like the other men they work with, and how they must all be normal at home. Kate says she tries to remember that there are a lot of men who don’t bother her, but she doesn’t remember them because they’re not the ones in her face.
Their safety lectures tell them basic information about how ice is slippery and is all over the ground, which presumably every Canadian already knows. One of the men remarks that it’s not about safety, but an arse-covering exercise so that a worker can’t sue them if they fall. Kate doodles a pony in her notebook (thank you u/Amanda39 for linking to this comic in last week’s discussion!).
Many of the staff have families that they don’t see very often. One of the men gets a phonecall from his wife’s phone, which he answers thinking it’s an emergency as she never calls during the day; it turns out to be his young son, who is calling to see when he’s coming home next.
Brian asks Kate if she heard about the ducks (TITLE DROP!!); three hundred of them got stuck in a tailings pond at another oil sands site [read runner note – two years later, Syncrude was actually found guilty of the death of 1,600 ducks]. The site begins installing anti-waterfowl devices, and the staff are reminded that they have to wear PPE at all times. They’re also told about the death Gerald Snopes, another worker; some of the men talking amongst themselves, and Ryan tells them to have some respect. He had a heart attack while operating a crane, and threw himself out of the cab so that he wouldn’t land on the controls and cause an accident.
Kate hears about a road accident involving some men from Cape Breton. She asks Davy about it to see if she knows them, but neither of them do. Kate finds the news articles and feels annoyed that they were misidentified as Calgary men.
Kate notices some welts on her back; Lindsay has them too but doesn’t know what it is. Kate mentions all the dust they have to wipe off everything, and how there’s so much crap in the air. Lindsay wonders what kind of cancer they’ll have in 20 years.
Kate finds Doug building a scarecrow for the tailings pond, which is meant to scare off the ducks. Probably another arse-covering exercise.
Activists from Greenpeace try to block an oil sands pipeline, and 11 people are arrested. One of the workers gets angry about it, asking who will put their life on the line to unclog the pipe Greenpeace has blocked, and that it sure as hell won’t be the president of Shell. Kate hears about another death – a contractor was in his trucks, and one of the heavy haulers drove over it, crushing him.
Lindsay writes an article for a grassroots paper, giving the inside perspective on working at the oil sands. Kate considers doing a comic about it for them. Lindsay later wonders if she made a mistake writing her article, as many of the comments are critical, including many from women which Lindsay did not expect.
Kate sees a video on YouTube of Celina Harpe, an elder in the Cree community of Fort McKay, talking about the effect of the oil sands on the First Nation. Kate had not realised when she arrived there that Fort McKay was a First Nation, nor that it was so close to Syncrude. She thinks about how she’s not the president of Shell, but she’s still working there, and she can’t extract herself from having come.
At another safety meeting, the staff are down the safety pyramid, which has different levels: at the base it has at-risk behaviours, then near misses, then minor incidents, and it all leads to a major incident or a fatality.
Kate receives a phone call from a reporter at the Globe and Mail who had seen her comics about the oil sands. She asks several leading questions about her experience as a woman at the remote sites and the harassment, but Kate feels uncomfortable giving her examples. She later tells Lindsay that she couldn’t talk to the reporter as she felt like she just wanted gossip, and that the story was already written before she called.
The leering of one of the other workers bothers Kate in the lunchroom, and she tells Lindsay about her assaults. Lindsay is horrified that Mike and Brian laughed at her when she told them about it. Lindsay tells her that it happened to her in university as well.
Kate calls her parents to tell them that she’s finally paid off her student loan, but she needs to keep working at the site because now she has no money. She’s going to try making it as a cartoonist, and her parents are unimpressed.
Kate notices that Ryan is acting strangely, being absent a lot and not doing his work, and it can’t fully be explained by his recent divorce. She hears about other workers who are taking cocaine and behaving strangely too. She asks Ryan if he’s ok and he brushes it off. Kate contemplates the safety pyramid again. She finds a piece of paper on Ryan’s desk with an appointment for the employee assistance program. Emily later tells her that Ryan has left suddenly, and that they need to figure things out until a replacement is found.
Kate wonders why there are so many safety meetings but none have ever talked about drugs or alcohol. Her coworkers say that everyone knows why there is so much of both, and that the company can’t have safety meetings about illegal activities anyway.
Kate finally gets to leave the oil sands and go home. Her colleague Norman gives her prints of some of his photos of the northern lights as a leaving present, including one of a rainbow. Before she leaves, the company organises a staff photograph with all the workers on the site. Kate sees the man who assaulted her the second time, and he recognises her but can’t remember her name or who she is, and asks her how it’s going.
Kate trains her replacement, and finds out that she’s earning more than her despite not having any experience in tools. She complains to John about it, and finally rants about all her shitty treatment in the oil sands. She goes to see Gary in the head office, and demands her full bonus, which was going to be docked because she was leaving. Gary tells her it’s company policy. She tells him about the harassment, and he claims she could have come to them about it, but she fires back that he knows she couldn’t have. Gary agrees to give her the bonus. Her colleagues organise a going-away barbecue, and even Mike attends.
Back in Nova Scotia, Kate is reunited with her family. While out enjoying the seaside air, she chats to a farmer who tells her he’s keeping a field for his son who is working out west in case he ever comes back and wants to build a house. A man called Lauchie visits the house before moving west himself, and tells them there’s something for everyone out there and that the young people have everything they want. Out in Halifax with friends, she and Becky see a man from one of the camps, who tells Becky that they had a bet on who would sleep with her first. Their friends who haven’t worked in the oil sands can’t believe they’d let a man talk to them like that.
In the book’s afterword, Kate talks about how the book chronicles her specific experience at a specific time. She is wary of sensationalism of her story, especially because sexual assault is so common that it’s not actually sensational. She notes that neither of the men who raped her probably consider it to have been rape. She is also critical of the treatment of Indigenous people, and says the YouTube video of Celina Harpe was a “sword that cut through my ignorance”. We also find out that Becky died of cancer, and that her former coworkers pooled money together to send to her.
Bookclub Bingo 2023 categories: Non-Fiction, Graphic Novel (grey), Mod Pick (grey)
Other links:

• The first discussion
• Canada Reads page about Ducks [I hadn’t realised that Station Eleven, another recent bookclub read, was the runner up]
• Kate Beaton on Wikipedia
• Hark! A Vagrant, the archive of Kate Beaton’s comics website
• The original Hark! A Vagrant sketch comic about the oil sands (links to all five parts; I’ve posted the parts individually below this in case that’s easier)
• Original Ducks Part 1
• Original Ducks Part 2
• Original Ducks Part 3
• Original Ducks Part 4
• Original Ducks Part 5
• Lindsay Bird was one of the people in the book whose name wasn’t changed, and in 2019 she published a poetry collection about working in the oil sands called Boom Time. There’s a CBC article about the book here.

The questions are in the comments below. Thank you for joining me and u/fixtheblue in reading this book!

Hi,
We live in Tas and are at an impasse of what to do now. I understand that we are in a very privileged position here.
We own a home in the north of the state ($315k owing, valued at $610k) which we rent out and it covers the mortgage. We rent a relatives house ($220p/w with all power, water, rates etc included) in the South of the state. I bring in $880/fortnight (I am a part-time stay at home mum) and my husband brings in $4100/fortnight. Our expenses are $3k/fortnight. No savings, deposits, emergency funds as we have just used them all to pay off all our other debts (car loans, credit card, vet bills & IVF treatments) so now our only debt is the current mortgage.
We have a goal to live rurally in the south of the state, growing our own food and moving towards off grid living so moving back to the North isn't an option for us. If you were in our situation, what would you do?
1) Sell North house ($610k) and use profits ($270k) as deposit for house in South ($700k). This would leave us with ~$2500 spare a fortnight to go towards savings/emergency funds and other unexpected costs.
2) Keep North house and buy/build in South ($850k) leaving ~$200/fortnight to go towards savings/emergency funds and other unexpected costs.
3) Keep North house and continue renting longer term to build up savings (potential to save ~$50k in a year provided no large spending/bills). The house we rent now is small but does provide us with a local park and backyard however it is in a rough area.
​
Any advice would be appreciated. We've never been in this good of a financial situation before and are lost with all the options.

Finished Skyward Sword yesterday. I liked it. Wii version btw.
Controls Guess the first thing to mention is the controls. You kind of have to since, motion controls are like half the identity of Skyward Sword. Well, first is to mention the non-motion controls. They’re fine. No problem there, as you would expect.
Anyway, I was okay with the motion controls. Well, I thought I was. For the most part the motion controls really just made certain things a bit more or a lot more cumbersome. So that was okay, I thought. Like, makes throwing bombs kinda annoying and stuff, and also they use motion controls in areas where it has no business being used of course, but even then I dealt with it fine. The only time it really annoyed me was in the stupid harp mingame in the pumpkin bar. Took me seven goddamn tries to beat it! So yeah, I thought it was still fine except that after beating the game I happened to play some Twilight Princess HD. Hadn’t played it in awhile and disc was nearby so why not?
Well, that certainly made Skyward Sword look worse. I thought I was generally okay with the motion controls but then playing TP it’s like, oh my god this is so much better. I can do exactly what I want when I want and not have to be overly careful with certain actions because of motion stuff. So yeah. I was kind of okay with the controls but it’s not something that made the game better for the most part
Other gameplay stuff
So yeah, Fi pops up way too much. Everyone knows this but yeah like you’ll enter a room in a dungeon there is this thing that could take a little time to notice or figure out but Fi jumps out and spoils the damn thing lol.
Dowsing is a gimmick. It’s kinda lame but not the worse thing ever.
The items you get, I think that they are not that strong. The three new items are the gust bellow, Whip, and beetle. None of these items are truly new items. The gust bellow is a lamer version of the gust jar. Like, in Minish Cap that item could blow things, suck things up, do thing like pull in mushrooms to cross gaps, suck things, shoot them out, etc. The Gust Bellow is just clearing dust and blowing the propellers. Yeah, pretty weak. The whip is like the grappling hook and uh, yeah. It can pull some levers and stuff but come on, that’s not that interesting. Beetle is the hyoi pear in Wind Waker. This time it actually can do more though and has various useful upgrades. It’s a consistently useful thing and it’s cool. Bombs can also be rolled instead of just thrown overhead, so that’s neat even though I avoided using bombs when necessary because I didn’t like the controls for them. But compare this to Twilight Princess. The boomerang is basically the end result of additional features being added to it over the series. Wind Waker added the multi lock-on and Twilight added the wind effect. The Iron Boots had a whole new dimension added with the magnet walking thing. The Clawshots, instead of the upgrade being longer, you get two, which is more interesting for sure. The equivalent of the hammer type weapon is pretty much the ball and chain, and it stands out a lot more compared to the magic/megaton/skull hammer. The Spinner while limited (If you ever wished the Spinner was more useful, try Unsighted btw) was such a unique idea. I don’t think there was anything quite like it before. You get the idea. Oh yeah, the upgrade for the digging gloves was cool (Partially since one too many of the items in Skyward Sword are just the “use the thing on the thing” type) but I got tired of it so very quickly since there’s a cutscene to go underground, you have to use stamina to move faster, attacking is annoying, etc.
Stamina. I think it was handled fine. I will say that I think stamina made more sense in Skyward Sword then it did in BotW/TotK. Although again, playing Twilight Princess right after, I didn’t miss not having stamina one bit.
Combat. It’s what you expect out of 3D Zelda pre-BotW. This time they actually make use of the different directional slashes and stuff. First time you could parry enemy attacks I think. Also the vertical spin attack is really cool.
Silent Realm. I loved these. These were some of the best parts of the entire game.
Boss rush. I consider this to be the single worst implementation of a boss rush I have ever seen in a game. 3D Zelda bosses are not the most suited for a boss rush, but it’s worse here. Every time you defeat a boss you have to go through dialogue. EVERY SINGLE TIME. Why? And then the Imprisoned is part of boss rush? My god. Didn’t bother with clearing the whole thing. Just got the Hylian Shield then quit because I didn’t want to risk failing the third Imprisoned fight and losing everything. Really, really bad.
The Imprisoned. I didn’t mind the second refight because there was a good amount of time between the first two fights and there was a new mechanic added. But for the third to happen so soon afterwards? Really?
The sky. So, I heard the sky was empty. And it is. I didn’t mind that much though. Ironically Skyward Sword has the emptiest overworld in addition to the densest overworld among 3D Zeldas.
Environment variety. This is one of the biggest issues with Skyward Sword I feel. You have the three main zones and revisit them repeatedly. But first, was it necessary to have a desert and a volcano zone? I mean, you only have three, so I would think you would want to have them be as distinct as possible. For the desert to be after the volcano, it does feel repetitious. But you revisit the forest later and go to the lake, that’s fine I guess. It’s a new area although you just kinda go through it. The volcano, the other area is more volcano. The desert? Well, more desert. It all looks very samey. There’s even two fire temples, which doesn’t help.
Out of the 3D Zeldas I’ve played I think Skyward Sword feels the most “video-gamey.” The overworld areas being so dense is part of the problem. While I was okay with it in this game, I don’t need to see it return. It has a real negative effect on the way the world feels. It feels the least organic. Like, there’s all these things around and it was/is all for this little platforming challenge or small puzzle or whatever. Like, it obviously feels like “oh yeah, this is this small challenge to get around this or find this thing” and much of the world is like that. Having only one town that is disconnected from the areas contributes to the feeling. The sky world too, since it’s largely empty it feels a bit like a glorified level select hub. Like, compare the Twilight World parts in Twilight Princess and the Silent Realm in Skyward Sword. In Twilight these areas are a part of the story. You are adventuring around trying to find the tears while also listening to people and stuff. The Silent Realm is purely a gameplay challenge. It's specifically for that. It doesn't feel like a part of the world, it's a challenge to overcome.
Padding. Yeah, there’s a lot of it. How much it bothers you depends obviously. I heard of the Tadtones but that didn’t bother me much. Had good music, swimming was enjoyable enough, yeah. The other region equivalents were fine too but yeah it’s undeniable. The biggest issue is that it comes at the cost of the feeling of adventure. Like, going to new areas and stuff. Tough to feel that way when you have only three areas and you go back to them over and over and.
Shield durability, crafting stuff, collectibles. I don’t really know why the shield durability was a thing. It doesn’t add much to the game. My guess is that either they were overcompensating because of how powerful the shield in the previous two 3D Zeldas was and/or they needed to have more stuff for you to use money/materials on. The crafting materials is part of a long-standing problem the Zelda series has had that is still a thing to this very day in the newer games. I mentioned this in my TotK post I think but Zelda games after some point started to feel like they didn’t have enough interesting permanent things to find in the world. Like, it’s mainly rupees, less commonly pieces of heart and even more rarely more unique one of a kind rewards. It wasn’t a problem with the smaller games but the when you increase the scale of the game, you need to also followup with the stuff to find. The issue is very obvious in Skyward Sword because it’s like, gee, we don’t have enough interesting things in the world so let’s have a bunch of random bugs and junk to collect to be used in the mainly pointless durability system and upgrades. If you had the upgrade system in previous Zelda games what would be the cost? Money. Just money. But now you need money and other random stuff. I feel like it was what led to some of the stuff in BotW. There’s actually a handful of things in BotW that came directly from Skyward Sword, ironically enough.
Timeshift Stones were fun. The devs thought so apparently given how much they use the mechanic. Still, it was interesting enough to where it didn’t get old.
Dungeons were fine. I feel like I’ve heard people seriously hype of the SS dungeons and I didn’t really see it. Maybe my expectations were too high but yeah the Sandship did stand out. The sliding puzzle dungeon was also cool although the speed brought it down.
Adventure’s Pouch. This was a cool idea. I would say it’s a shame this didn’t return but BotW was the next one. Although I’m sure they still could’ve had this in some way, like you can choose between more space for weapons or more space for food. Something.
The medals are a neat idea although the actual medals themselves are uninteresting. Charms from Hollow Knight these are not.
Tedium. This is an issue. The repeated visits to areas, Fi popping up then needed, the pauses when you pick up crafting materials, crafting, etc.
Story
So, about the story. Over the years I knew plenty of things about Skyward Sword but I never actually played it until now. One of the things I heard about was that it was more story and/or character driven. Like, it’s pretty apparent at the beginning of the game with the thing between Link, Zelda, and Groose. But that’s the thing. That rivalry/love triangle/whatever is a thing…...at the beginning. Like, what I saw of Zelda at the start made her pretty much my favorite version of the character in the series. And then it basically goes away for 90% of the game. Zelda herself disappears almost entirely. Zelda being out of commission for most of the game is nothing new to Zelda games but it’s worse here because of lively she was at the start. To have all that just for it to vanish is why it sucks so much.
Like, I thought there is this rivalry thing with Groose but after the game starts for real you don’t see him until like three dungeons later. Wtf?
So yeah, the characters had this promise but it doesn’t pay off when they aren’t present for much of the game. The other stuff like the master sword, well I don’t know if we really needed to know how it came to be. It’s fine, but whatever. Girahim is fine. Just fine. Fi, well nobody cares about this non-character, but I’m not saying anything that hasn’t been said before.
Music
Some nice songs. Some highlights were the bamboo island theme, miniboss theme, and Lake Floria Underwater.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvA1h3P2ddY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ilC01aCgF4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L59rsOOZ1KY
End
Anyway yeah. I enjoyed the game although I think it started to run out of steam in the later part. Not one of my favorite Zeldas but still enjoyable enough. I’ll go through it again someday on the HD version instead but that likely won’t be anytime soon. Lastly, I can see how this led to BotW since certain things started to become predictable in the series.

Travel
No line problems reported.
Today in Scottish History
2 June 1646:James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose is ordered by Charles I to disband his forces and flee to France. He leaves the country in September.
/GlasgowMarket Digest
For Sale: 2 x Muse at Bellahouston Park - Friday June 23rd - Below Face Value
Legend of Zelda Amiibo Bundle (+ more)
Looking for 2 blink182 tickets for sept 02nd. Have 2 sept 01st tickets to trade (glasgow)
Comics and graphic novels
Looking for 2 blink182 tickets for sept 02nd. Have 2 sept 01st tickets to trade if interested
Selling a ticket for Riverside Festival 10 pounds cheaper than is currently priced.
Selling 4X tickets for Leftfield at the Barrowlands tomorrow
Games (Nintendo, Xbox, PC)
Comics for Sale
Clydesdale Bank Limited 1967 £1 Note
Selling Anime Blu-Rays
Alvvays
2 tickets for Jake Shears at SWG3 tonight.
Make It Market
Does anyone need a megabus ticket from Glasgow to Aberdeen today?
4 Tickets to Peat and Diesel on the 3rd of June at the Barrowlands for sale, cost price £100 for the 4.
Looking for 1x ticket to Carcass in Glasgow
Barber clients wanted
Tune of the day
Cinderella's Eyes (suggested by IllustriousLimit8473)
Only one eligible link submitted today. Suggest tomorrow's tune.

I live in what most consider a trailer park. I have a small manufactured home on the plot within the park. Several months ago the park which was family-owned was sold to a company. When the new company signed the new leases to all the tenants, electricity was $0.0607/kWh. Every month up until 3 months ago my bill reflected this. I even have an email from management that shows the electric rate. 3 months ago they had to put in new electrical equipment and ever since then every month the rate has varied. Sometimes 8 cents per kilowatt hour other times 14 cents a kilowatt hour, it's no longer consistent like it was and there was never any notification that it would change. The problem is the only person that we can talk to is a new manager and she keeps giving all kinds of different answers such as the extra charge is a processing fee for electricity, or everyone pays different rates within the park, or that's what it cost to produce the electricity in the park. We're at our wit's end and have tried filing with the BBB and the attorney general, but nothing has happened. I don't know who to talk to but the park needs answers and no one will give us anything. We're just being left in the dark and expected to pay these ridiculous fees. Some people had electric bills of $500 in a single month which is absolutely ludicrous. This company is just trying to milk us dry. This is also in Texas.

Hey yall, me and a couple of friends are taking a overnight trip from nyc, basically were looking for a place within 2 hours from nyc or so with a nice scenic view, maybe camp by water and do some stargazing.
We were looking at alder lake and pinchot state park but if anyone got some recommendations, I would appreciate it.

This is why employers hate gaps in resumes If you are in the parking lot. Did some more digging, of course the continued sanitization of the many retired intelligence agents who now serve on the ground, striking him and then to attach it to a business. Just to be an attempt by the Jacksonville Sheriffs office.
Communities such as ours. Instead, they continued to hold him face down, for approximately seven minutes. Until we have a patreon venmo and a profit motive.
Three of the many retired intelligence agents who now serve on the sub detailing some changes to reddit's API policy and how / why did so many people buy into this? In fact, I am not a bad employee. Also any advice is always appreciated I am almost two years out.
Eventually there were several clear and distinct opportunities, when E.P. was handcuffed, they did not continuously monitor him. Regardless of the market in order to be taken advantage of. I hate the way this country treats our seniors, and I will keep posting these pieces publicly no matter what - paywalls suck.
The FBI is investigating the fatal shooting of a sensory outburst in the name of their contribution to exploitation and consumerism in the same thing happen with a hammer. The units are all electric, and I fell down a bit of a moving police car is suing the department. Did some more digging, of course the continued sanitization of the state.
There is still lots to do so is still lots to do though. So that's a little rowdy, right? strange. Mr. Mullinax made different choices that day, deputies would not have been making repairs, renovating, and planning, but the cost is terrifying.
York County and then use that to these people.