#106 degree high all week!!

[mit]

How are cities managing record-setting temperatures?

Professor of urban and environmental planning David Hsu explains what municipal governments are doing as climate change accelerates.

Peter Dizikes | MIT News

July 2023 was the hottest month globally since humans began keeping records. People all over the U.S. experienced punishingly high temperatures this summer. In Phoenix, there were a record-setting 31 consecutive days with a high temperature of 110 degrees Fahrenheit or more. July was the hottest month on record in Miami. A scan of high temperatures around the country often yielded some startlingly high numbers: Dallas, 110 F; Reno, 108 F; Salt Lake City, 106 F; Portland, 105 F.

Climate change is a global and national crisis that cannot be solved by city governments alone, but cities suffering from it can try to enact new policies reducing emissions and adapting its effects. MIT’s David Hsu, an associate professor of urban and environmental planning, is an expert on metropolitan and regional climate policy. In one 2017 paper, Hsu and some colleagues estimated how 11 major U.S. cities could best reduce their carbon dioxide emissions, through energy-efficient home construction and retrofitting, improvements in vehicle gas mileage, more housing density, robust transit systems, and more. As we near the end of this historically hot summer, MIT News talked to Hsu about what cities are now doing in response to record heat, and the possibilities for new policy measures.

Q: We’ve had record-setting temperatures in many cities across the U.S. this summer. Dealing with climate change certainly isn’t just the responsibility of those cities, but what have they been doing to make a difference, to the extent they can?

A: I think this is a very top-of-mind question because even 10 or 15 years ago, we talked about adapting to a changed climate future, which seemed further off. But literally every week this summer we can refer to [dramatic] things that are already happening, clearly linked to climate change, and are going to get worse. We had wildfire smoke in the Northeast and throughout the Eastern Seaboard in June, this tragic wildfire in Hawaii that led to more deaths than any other wildfire in the U.S., [plus record high temperatures]. A lot of city leaders face climate challenges they thought were maybe 20 or 30 years in the future, and didn’t expect to see happen with this severity and intensity.

One thing you’re seeing is changes in governance. A lot of cities have recently appointed a chief heat officer. Miami and Phoenix have them now, and this is someone responsible for coordinating response to heat waves, which turn out to be one of the biggest killers among climatological effects. There is an increasing realization not only among local governments, but insurance companies and the building industry, that flooding is going to affect many places. We have already seen flooding in the seaport area in Boston, the most recently built part of our city. In some sense just the realization among local governments, insurers, building owners, and residents, that some risks are here and now, already is changing how people think about those risks.

Q: To what extent does a city being active about climate change at least signal to everyone, at the state or national level, that we have to do more? At the same time, some states are reacting against cities that are trying to institute climate initiatives and trying to prevent clean energy advances. What is possible at this point?

A: We have this very large, heterogeneous and polarized country, and we have differences between states and within states in how they’re approaching climate change. You’ve got some cities trying to enact things like natural gas bans, or trying to limit greenhouse gas emissions, with some state governments trying to preempt them entirely. I think cities have a role in showing leadership. But one thing I harp on, having worked in city government myself, is that sometimes in cities we can be complacent. While we pride ourselves on being centers of innovation and less per-capita emissions — we’re using less than rural areas, and you’ll see people celebrating New York City as the greenest in the world — cities are responsible for consumption that produces a majority of emissions in most countries. If we’re going to decarbonize society, we have to get to zero altogether, and that requires cities to act much more aggressively.

There is not only a pessimistic narrative. With the Inflation Reduction Act, which is rapidly accelerating the production of renewable energy, you see many of those subsidies going to build new manufacturing in red states. There’s a possibility people will see there are plenty of better paying, less dangerous jobs in [clean energy]. People don’t like monopolies wherever they live, so even places people consider fairly conservative would like local control [of energy], and that might mean greener jobs and lower prices. Yes, there is a doomscrolling loop of thinking polarization is insurmountable, but I feel surprisingly optimistic sometimes.

Large parts of the Midwest, even in places people think of as being more conservative, have chosen to build a lot of wind energy, partly because it’s profitable. Historically, some farmers were self-reliant and had wind power before the electrical grid came. Even now in some places where people don’t want to address climate change, they’re more than happy to have wind power.

Q: You’ve published work on which cities can pursue which policies to reduce emissions the most: better housing construction, more transit, more fuel-efficient vehicles, possibly higher housing density, and more. The exact recipe varies from place to place. But what are the common threads people can think about?

A: It’s important to think about what the status quo is, and what we should be preparing for. The status quo simply doesn’t serve large parts of the population right now. Heat risk, flooding, and wildfires all disproportionately affect populations that are already vulnerable. If you’re elderly, or lack access to mobility, information, or warnings, you probably have a lower risk of surviving a wildfire. Many people do not have high-quality housing, and may be more exposed to heat or smoke. We know the climate has already changed, and is going to change more, but we have failed to prepare for foreseeable changes that already here. Lots of things that are climate-related but not only about climate change, like affordable housing, transportation, energy access for everyone so they can have services like cooking and the internet — those are things that we can change going forward. The hopeful message is: Cities are always changing and being built, so we should make them better. The urgent message is: We shouldn’t accept the status quo.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr!

#climate change #environment #climate crisis #weather #heat #sustainability

[starstruckpurpledragon]

I'm so excited!!!! Tomorrow should be the last of the 100 degree weather. Today and tomorrow are supposed to be highs of 106, followed by a Saturday with a 96 degree high. And from there it's all slowly down hill into the 80s as we get rain during the middle of next week.

The heat wave is truly, finally, broken. I can stop worrying the squirrels are gonna die of heat stroke in my backyard while Estelle chases them.

#the weather is finally not gonna be eggs-frying-on-pavement weather #huzzah!!!

[unilifeabroadcareersolution]

BENEFITS OF PAID EDUCATION IN GERMANY

International students can benefit from studying in Germany in several ways: globally recognized and valued degrees, affordable cost of living, work opportunities, cultural and historical heritage, and the chance to learn a new language.

Tuition-Free Universities – Very Low Fees or Not at All

In times where higher education is becoming a necessity and a costly affair at the same time, Germany is the only top study destination whose public universities charge negligible to no tuition fees from international students.

In October 2014, German Authorities gave a decision stating that all international students who are attending a public university would be free from paying standard tuition fees in Germany.

According to this law, international students have to pay a few administrative charges such as student contribution, public transport ticket and a student union fee that make around €250 per semester.

According to a survey conducted, 35.8% of the international students chose Germany for higher education due to tuition-free universities in Germany.

World-Class Universities

According to the official statistics of 2018, there are 429 recognized universitiesinGermany, out of which 106 are among the list of globally ranked universities. Some of them have been ranked among the world’s best universities consistently.

The students value these universities for the quality of education, opportunities to improve academically, hands-on experiences during and after studies in a friendly and safe environment.

These universities enjoy a worldwide reputation. Thanks to their research excellence and recognized teaching, built upon a long and rich tradition of higher education. Besides being among the best, some of these universities are the oldest in Europe.

Variety of Degrees / Programs

A large number of reputable universities are just one thing; Germany offers many degree programs from every field of education that suits everyone’s interest.

Being an industrialist country, German Universities are global leaders in Engineering, medicine, and pharma. But the list is ever-expanding as new fields of study are emerging with cutting edge technologies.

So, whether you are interested in fields as microscopic as an atom or as vast as mysterious galaxies, you’ll find a program for it being taught in German Universities by renowned and reliable professionals.

World Recognized Degree Programs

In terms of their structure and method of instruction, the study programs at German universities are designed to meet up-to-date scientific developments in the world and to educate individuals and make them professionals.

You will be certified with a degree at the end of your course, which is valued and globally recognized. Employers all around the world will look up to you with the respect and trust that makes them hire you and trust your capabilities.

Economical Cost of Living 

So now you know that the cost of studying in Germany is very low. But besides that, the cost of living in Germany as compared to other European countries is quite affordable. Though the urban areas are more expensive than peripheral areas.

However, through some smart financial management, the cost of living for international students in Germany becomes quite affordable. Rent being the major financial concern, finding an apartment/room in peripheral areas, and sharing it can cut half of your expenses.

Part-Time Job Opportunities

As per the German Law, international students are allowed to work part-time. As a student in Germany, you can do a part-time job for 120 full days of a year or up to 20 hours a week. More than 60% of international students in Germany do part-time jobs while studying.

Scope for Future

As a graduate of German University, your range for future employment increases many folds. German universities are highly respected, and so are their graduates. German university graduates enjoy a high employability rate in the global job market.

So, you can expect a bunch of attractive job offers when you complete your degree from German university as the employers trust your academic credits and professional credibility due to an outstanding education in German Institution.

The part-time job not only helps in adding to your financial leverage but also to your work experience that helps to increase the chances of your future employability.

Unilife abroad career solutions

Contact us : 8428440444 , 8428999090 , 8608777070

Mail ID :[email protected] , [email protected]

#unilife abroad career solution #paid education #unilifeabroadcareersolution

[thequietpercussionist]

Hey tumblr, it’s time for your afternoon forecast!

Tonight, it’ll be cloudy, with a slight chance of meatballs- oh, nevermind, that’s just what we’re having for dinner. There’s a slight chance of rain on the east side of tumblr University, with light hail expected in the center of campus. Around the west side of campus, however, we can expect clear skies and a lot of sun, with a scorching high of 106 degrees. I recommend staying inside your dorms and playing with your cat. Towards the north side of campus, you’ll see winds up to 46 mph, or 74 km/h. Not too high, but make sure your parasols don’t fly away. Now, south side was demolished a few weeks ago to host protests, so we’ll move on. For all you nerds and kinky people living in the basement, there have been mice reported rummaging around in the files, so be sure to collect those for some experiments. As for sky folk, the clouds might be a bit fiesty today, so be careful walking around, and don’t get stabbed.

That was your weather forecast, presented by 3:00 Games.

#Your weather forecast for today #the quiet percussionist #thequietpercussionist

[newstfionline]

Saturday, July 15, 2023

In unrelenting heat, millions plunge, drink and shelter to cool off (AP) Millions around the world have been seeking refuge from the scorching sun as climate change, a strong El Nino and summer in the Northern Hemisphere converge, toppling temperature records. In Phoenix, temperatures have hit 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) for 13 consecutive days. Volunteers are helping residents, typically hardened by the desert’s sweltering summers and insulated by air conditioning, that now need relief. The heat in the southwestern U.S. is so extreme that health officials have recommended that people limit their outdoor exposure and know the warning signs of heat illness, such as heavy sweating and dizziness. In China—a nation suffering through a double-whammy of heat and flooding—people are resorting to pouring water on themselves to cool off from temperatures as high as 100 F (38 C). Europe, particularly its south, is facing another unrelenting heat wave, with temperatures set to reach 113 F (45 C).

Tornado damages 125 homes in suburb of Canadian capital Ottawa (Reuters) A tornado touched down in a suburb of the Canadian capital Ottawa on Thursday, damaging an estimated 125 homes and leaving another 1600 without power but resulting in only one minor injury, emergency services said. The tornado hit Barrhaven, 17 kilometres southwest of the city centre, around 1245 p.m.

Americans are widely pessimistic about democracy in the United States, an AP-NORC poll finds (AP) Only about 1 in 10 U.S. adults give high ratings to the way democracy is working in the United States or how well it represents the interests of most Americans, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Majorities of adults say U.S. laws and policies do a poor job of representing what most Americans want on issues ranging from the economy and government spending to gun policy, immigration and abortion. The poll shows 53% say Congress is doing a bad job of upholding democratic values, compared with just 16% who say it’s doing a good job. In interviews, respondents worried less about the machinery of democracy—voting laws and the tabulation of ballots—and more about the outputs. Overall, about half the country—49%—say democracy is not working well in the United States, compared with 10% who say it’s working very or extremely well and 40% only somewhat well. About half also say each of the political parties is doing a bad job of upholding democracy.

US sets a grim milestone with new record for the deadliest six months of mass killings (AP) Slain at the hands of strangers or gunned down by loved ones. Massacred in small towns, in big cities, inside their own homes or outside in broad daylight. This year’s unrelenting bloodshed across the U.S. has led to the grimmest of milestones: The deadliest six months of mass killings recorded since at least 2006. From Jan. 1 to June 30, the nation endured 28 mass killings, all but one of which involved guns. The death toll rose just about every week, a constant cycle of violence and grief. Six months. 181 days. 28 mass killings. 140 victims. One country. “What a ghastly milestone,” said Brent Leatherwood, whose three children were in class at a private Christian school in Nashville on March 27 when a former student killed three children and three adults. “You never think your family would be a part of a statistic like that.”

In a Texas City, Heat Proved Deadly Even for Those Long Used to It (NYT) Alfredo Garza Jr. died in his bedroom with two broken air-conditioners, on a downtown street in Laredo, Texas, across from a coffee shop and a bakery. When his body was found, the temperature inside the room was 106 degrees. Nearby on the same June day, in a small home behind his sister’s house, 67-year-old Jorge Sanchez suffered the heat with nothing more than a fan to cool him, and then succumbed to temperatures that reached 113 degrees. A wave of extreme heat also overcame another man, still unidentified by the authorities, who parked his truck on a busy residential street with its hazard lights flashing, and died. Hot weather is nothing new in a place like Laredo, where summer temperatures regularly climb well past 100 degrees. But the seemingly unending wave of punishing heat and stifling humidity that began in the middle of June—parked for weeks over much of the nation’s south and west—is presenting unfamiliar and deadly new hazards. In all, 10 people died from heat-related illnesses within the city limits of Laredo between June 15 and July 3, a toll unheard-of in this heat-accustomed corner of Texas. Laredo’s experience suggested that the eventual overall casualty count could be substantial—a harbinger of a future in which heat waves become a regular public health crisis.

Argentines tighten wallets to fight spiraling inflation (Reuters) Argentines are tightening their wallets to make end meets as the South American country battles inflation which could surpass 140% on an annual basis this year, hunting for the cheapest prices on basic goods to shield their income. Inflation in the 12 months through June hit 115.6%, official data showed on Thursday. The economic crisis, which has worsened over the past year, has plunged some 40% of the population below the poverty line and will be a key issue in the upcoming presidential primaries set for Aug. 13. Analysts forecast that annual inflation could close this year at 142.4% compared to 94.8% last year, according to a central bank poll, steadily cutting away at consumers’ purchasing power in Latin America’s third-largest economy.

France fetes India’s Modi at Bastille Day celebration (Reuters) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was treated to one of France’s most spectacular accolades on Friday as guest of honour at the Bastille Day military parade, part of a visit that has sealed high-profile defence deals. Modi and President Emmanuel Macron watched French and Indian soldiers march down the tree-lined Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, while French-made Rafale fighter jets India bought in 2015 took part in a fly-past over the Arc de Triomphe. The national celebrations come at a delicate time for Macron, who was also booed by some members of the public as he drove down the Champs-Elysees in a military car. His decision to raise the retirement age sparked months of protests this spring.

Russia fires top commander in Ukraine who criticized Defense Ministry (Washington Post) The abrupt dismissal of a top general who commanded one of Russia’s elite military forces in Ukraine has laid bare the continuing divisions in the armed forces, as President Vladimir Putin grapples with the aftermath of a mercenary rebellion that posed the greatest challenge he has faced as Russia’s leader. Maj. Gen. Ivan Popov, commander of the 58th Combined Arms Army, a force renowned in Russia for its roles in the Ukraine and Chechen wars, said in a leaked audio message that he had been fired after criticizing the leaders of the Defense Ministry, accusing them of “treacherously and vilely decapitating the army at the most difficult and tense moment.” The general’s harsh criticism echoes attacks made by Wagner chief Yevgeniy Prigozhin, who led a military rebellion on June 24 in what he claimed was an effort to topple Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, the Russian chief of the general staff. In the weeks leading up to his aborted march on Moscow, Prigozhin savaged the men for failures in military leadership in Ukraine, recording a series of graphic, obscenity-laden tirades from the front lines. “The split is continuing in the army,” said Sergei Markov, a Kremlin-connected political consultant. “There is dissatisfaction among a significant part of the top brass. Of course this undermines morale in the army.”

Thousands of Ukraine civilians are being held in Russian prisons (AP) The Ukrainian civilians woke long before dawn in the bitter cold, lined up for the single toilet and were loaded at gunpoint into the livestock trailer. They spent the next 12 hours or more digging trenches on the front lines for Russian soldiers. Many were forced to wear overlarge Russian military uniforms that could make them a target, and a former city administrator trudged around in boots five sizes too big. By the end of the day, their hands curled into icy claws. Nearby, in the occupied region of Zaporizhzhia, other Ukrainian civilians dug mass graves into the frozen ground for fellow prisoners who had not survived. One man who refused to dig was shot on the spot—yet another body for the grave. Thousands of Ukrainian civilians are being detained across Russia and the Ukrainian territories it occupies. Many civilians are picked up for alleged transgressions as minor as speaking Ukrainian or simply being a young man in an occupied region, and are often held without charge. Others are charged as terrorists, combatants, or people who “resist the special military operation.” Hundreds are used for slave labor by Russia’s military, for digging trenches and other fortifications, as well as mass graves.

India's historic Moon mission lifts off successfully (BBC) India has launched its third Moon mission, aiming to be the first to land near its little-explored south pole. The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft with an orbiter, lander and a rover lifted off at 14:35 on Friday (09:05 GMT) from Sriharikota space centre. The lander is due to reach the Moon on 23-24 August. If successful, India will be only the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the Moon, after the US, the former Soviet Union and China.

Evacuations Ordered in Delhi (NYT) Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in Delhi on Thursday after the authorities warned of widespread flooding following days of torrential rains that have battered large swaths of northern India. The level of the Yamuna River, which flows through the Indian capital and is a tributary of the Ganges, had breached the so-called danger mark by three meters (about 10 feet) on Thursday, according to the Central Water Commission. That forced the chief minister of the capital region, Arvind Kejriwal, to shut schools and convert them into disaster relief camps. Many migrant workers, who live on the banks of the river, were camping on the roads alongside it as their makeshift homes were swallowed by the water. Others had to evacuate to try to reach higher ground. So far this monsoon season, officials said, landslides and flash floods have claimed at least 91 lives in six north Indian states near Delhi, and disrupted millions of others.

Beavers (Vox) Beavers have substantial impacts on their ecosystems through dam construction, and during heat waves their industriousness really pays off. The dams form ponds and widen rivers, expanding aquatic habitats and cooling down the water by deepening streams and forcing cold groundwater to the surface. The upshot is that one recent study that relocated 69 beavers to a river basin found their dams cooled streams by 2.3 Celsius at various times over the year, corroborating earlier studies that found the temperature cooling in the vicinity of those dams. That water also cools the land around it, so it’s a pretty big win all around.

Birds are using anti-bird spikes to fortify nests in ‘perfect comeback’ (Washington Post) Look up. The birds are taking charge. The hard metal spikes that humans install to prevent birds from perching have been found in nests across Europe. The birds are masterfully subverting their intended use—stripping them from buildings and bringing them to fortify their own homes and protect their offspring. “Just the fact their using these anti-bird spikes to protect their nests … is like the perfect comeback,” Auke-Florian Hiemstra, lead author of a study on the nests published this week, said in an interview. “These rebellious birds [are] outsmarting us.”

#headlines #news

[22-02]

FBS Talkies Season 1 Episode 4

Welcome Back to FBS Talkies, an interactive show where experts have very insightful conversations about various pet-related issues with the Co-founder of Fur Ball Story and Animal Behaviourist, Animesh Katiyar. This week we had Dr. Shelly Mattoo Jalali, the founder of SJS Pet Care & Clinic, and an expert Vet. She holds 15 years of experience and an ocean of knowledge in this field. The episode was filled with amusing facts and incidents that made us think twice about our actions.

Finding the cause of your dog's sluggish behavior may be difficult for you as a pet parent. Dr. Shelly made the observation that a typical sign of fever in animals is lethargy. The expert expressed concern, stating that many pet parents don't realize their little ball of joy is unwell, which is why they have been so worn out. They mistakenly think of it as "me time." This widespread perception is particularly prevalent with new pet owners. In addition to being sluggish, other signs of fever in animals include:

Unusual behavior

Reduced intake of food or loss of appetite

Body ache

Tail is downward

High body temperature

Sitting alone in a corner

Fever is also indicated by a dry nose and hot ears, but these symptoms may also simply be brought on by a warm atmosphere. Therefore, as soon as you observe one of these two symptoms, check your dog's temperature. With that in mind, Dr. Shelly and our host discussed how some pet owners are hesitant about the method of checking. Unfortunately, there is no alternative; you must lubricate the thermometer's tip and place it in your dog's butt. But don't worry; they probably won't even notice.

Knowing whether the fever is deadly or not is important after diagnosis. Dogs' typical body temperatures range from 101 to 102.5 degrees; 103 is the trigger point, but if the temperature is 106 degrees or higher, you must administer first aid and rush straight to the vet clinic. If a fever of 106 or higher is not treated right away, it might be fatal. You can apply a wet cloth (dipped in regular water) to the paws or rub alcohol behind the ears or to the foot pads to reduce body temperature.

What is the most frequent mistake that pet owners make? It is self-treatment.

Animesh Katiyar, our host of FBS Talkies, revealed an instance in which he witnessed a pet owner giving human medications to their pet. Dr. Shelly then revealed a fact that left the audience in disbelief. Did you know that feeding your pet human medications might kill them or harm their liver and kidneys? Giving human medicines without consulting a vet might have serious side effects and possibly result in their death. However, you can opt for alternative medications such as herbal ayurvedic medicines like Fev Pet. It is made with Papaya, Giloy, Turmeric, and Kalmegh. These herbs help in relieving the pain and bringing the temperature down. As the episode moved ahead, Dr. Shelly shared how pet parents are scared of allopathic treatment and pressurizes for the herbal treatment. But it is important to understand that there is no remedy that fits all. You have to switch to alternatives according to the need and situation.

At the end of the episode, Dr. Shelly talked about her journey as a female vet. She shared that in her experience, she had interacted with a lot of women who were taking care of the animals and she encouraged the future generation to opt for this noble career option.

That’s it for this episode! We hope you liked it and it was fruitful for you. Stay tuned to our channel and social media handles to get more information on pet-related topics.

#fbstalkies #fbs #ayurvedaforanimals #ayurvedafordogs #ayurvedic #ayurveda #furballstory

[littleharpethcrossfit]

Sunday,  8  January,  2023....... Warmup.....Deadlifts.....”Take Five”.....

It was 50 degrees, which would otherwise be cold only according to Herb.  But with a heavy grey overcast sky and no sunshine, it seemed much colder.  We fired up all the heaters.  Many thx to Tom who toted in some propane this morning.

Sweet Dana Rebecca was the demo model and leader of the complicated 8 exercise warmup. 

Warmup:

5  Alternate Elbow to Instep

5  Alternate Hamstring Scoops

10  Kang Squats

10  HR Pushups

15  Jumping Jacks

15  Mountain Climbers

20  High Knees

20  Butt Kickers

Strength WOD:

Deadlifts:     5 / 2 / 2 / 2 / 2       Post 2 Rep Max

Shane=415     Ed/Nathan=365     Warren G=315     Zac=300     Smoothie=285    Herb/Paul=265     Tom/Lew=246     Dana=250*     Coach=245     Yates=235    Warren A=225    Joe=175     Sue/Alicia=145     Cheri=135    Kayla=125*     Tripp/Elisa/Linda/Holly=125     Faith (The girl)=32

Metabolic Conditioner

Since there are 5 Minute work sessions alternating with 5 minutes rest,  it would be convenient to do this in “WAVES”.   That way nobody would have to run.    If you don’t understand, ask Timmy (who was absent).

“Take Five”

                       5  Minute Cap

40  Calories Any ERG     (Run 500 if no ERG)

Then AMRAP in time left 

12  Deadlifts     (E=185/135/85)

12  Burpees

                     REST  5  Minutes

                        5  Minute Cap

30  Calories Any ERG     (Run 400 if no ERG)

Then AMRAP in time left

9  Deadlifts     (E=225/155/105)

9  Burpees

                      REST  5  Minutes

                       5   Minute Cap

20  Calories Any ERG     (Run 300 If No ERG)

Then AMRAP in time left

6  Deadlifts     (E=275/185/125)

6  Burpees

SCORE:     

Total combined Deadlifts  +  Burpees

Elites:

Dana=174     Shane=133

RXers:

Ed=153     Herb=120     Sue=135     Yates=121     Nathan=119     Zac=110    Paul=108      Smoothie=106     Alicia=68     Coach=65

Scaled:

Kayla=158     Holly=131     Elisa=124     Cheri=122     Joe=78      Tripp=“A Lot”     Faith (The Girl)=“A Little”     Tom/Lew/Linda/Warren A & G=Personal Journey’s

Notes:

Sincere apologies are hereby offered in print for failing to BLOG-mention that in the heat of yesterdays WOD,  athletes Timmy and Ed heard “Thunderstruck”, by AC/DC, and could not refrain from ripping off a Burpee every time they sang “THUNDER”.  If YKYK.

The Girl’s sometimes have a Girl’s-Outing-Thing after the workout, so the Boy’s were not to be outdone today.  Smoothie arranged a trip to a nearby watering-hole for burger’s and brew’s and about 7 of us came.  Smoothie/Herb/Lew/Coach/Warren A/Shane/Nathan had a great fun time.  Paul said he was coming until Susan put her size 5 1/2 foot down, so Paul had to pretend to have some emergency to attend.

Herb put a date for the next Bourbon Tasting on a white-board at the Barn.  I never plan much beyond a few hours ahead, so it didn’t register on me when he wrote down a date that is so futuristic that our trees will have green leaves once again.  Linda thinks she and a few others including  144,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses, will certainly be raptured by then.  Wait a few weeks and check the white-boards.  It will be listed as THE BORN AGAIN BOURBON TASTING.  

Big Lew (who actually is a paying member at CFEN and mooch’s workouts at the free LHCF) is undergoing shoulder surgery tomorrow afternoon.  It is notable that Big Lew is not favoring the services of any of the 3 famous Orthopedic Surgeons who attend LHCF.  It is also noteworthy that Dr Paul L. will be his attending Anesthesiologist, promising to take Big Lew “to a point as near-unto-death as humanly possible, yet still revive unharmed”.  That’s re-assuring.  Miss Linda will be offering up prayers for Big Lew, and her prayers are the best money can buy.

The quote attributed to Paul L. was actually a plagiarism from Dr David Alfery’s (LSU Dave) latest book SAVING GRACE.  If 5 or more of you guys would please buy it and leave a gushingly good review (reading is not required),  LSU Dave will take the Buck’s to a fine dinner outing.  The book is being released this Tuesday, January 10.  BTW, all new book releases are on a Tuesday.  But everybody knows that....   

If you are supposing that the 144,000 mentioned above is a fictive number, you’d better speak to an Elder from The WatchTower Society or risk being left behind.  Heavenly admission has so many obstructions I’m afraid to go to sleep at night.  Like, what’s more damning, eating beef and dairy together, or getting a blood transfusion from a total stranger ?  Thoughtful notes from a born again agnostic.

Tuesday at 4 PM.   Maybe...       

[cakane463]

The 1911 Heat Wave Was So Deadly It Drove People Insane.

During 11 hellish days, horses dropped in the street and babies didn’t wake up from their naps. Boats in Providence Harbor oozed pitch and began to take on water. Tar in the streets bubbled like hot syrup. Trees shed their leaves, grass turned to dust and cows’ milk started to dry up.

In every major northeastern city, the sweltering heat drove people to suicide.

On July 4, temperatures hit 103 in Portland, 104 in Boston (a record that still stands), 105 in Vernon, Vt., and 106 in Nashua, N.H., and Bangor, Maine. At least 200 died from drowning, trying to cool off in rivers, lakes, ponds and the ocean – anything wet. Still more died from heat stroke. The 1911 heat wave was possibly the worst weather disaster in New England’s history, with estimates of the death toll as high as 2,000.

June weather had been normal that year, but in July hot, dry air from the southern plains flowed into Canada and then swept south and toward the coast. The hot wind suppressed cool ocean breezes, and the temperature rose 11 degrees in a half hour in Providence.

In Hartford, crowds gathered around the Thermograph near City Hall to watch as the temperature fluctuated between 110 and 112 degrees in the shade. At Colwell’s store in Cumberland, R.I., the thermometer hit 130. A farmer in Woodbury left his field when the temperature reached 140 degrees in the sun. Ice and electric fans were luxuries, air conditioning unknown. Pedestrians fainted from the stifling heat. At night, the streets filled with exhausted mothers walking up and down, trying to comfort their crying babies. They feared leaving them in their beds, lest they fail to wake up. One police officer described the night during the 1911 heat wave as a ‘giant wail.’

The City of Hartford flushed fire hydrants and ferries and trolleys allowed people to ride free. Some rode all day. Others went round and round on carousel horses for the slight breeze. The Heublein family donated water barrels to the parks, and the Trout Brook Ice Co. refilled them.

Throughout the region, factories closed and mail delivery was suspended.

Parks and beaches were opened for sleeping. In tenement slums, the sidewalks were lined with blankets and mattresses. Sleeping outside had its dangers, as thieves commonly stole hats, coats and wallets. 5,000 SLEEP ON BOSTON COMMON

Boston Common was described as the ‘biggest boardinghouse in New England.’ Five thousand men, women and children slept there on the ground at night during the 1911 heat wave.

Some people slept on roofs. John Merlo, a 28-year-old Italian immigrant, rolled over in his sleep on the tin roof of his boardinghouse in Hartford’s slum. He crashed through a 10-inch guard and fell to his death on the concrete below.

It became a daily ritual to read the morning newspaper to see how many died. Workers died digging holes. Women fell over picking blueberries. A teamster fainted and fell off his wagon, only to be trampled to death by the horses pulling it. A woman sitting up in bed talking suddenly keeled over, dead.

A week after it started, a line of thunderstorms broke the 1911 heat wave. But the next day the temperature shot up to 95 degrees. People started to go mad. In Hartford, a crazed man tried to climb a utility pole. Two police officers and three bystanders subdued him and wrestled him into a straitjacket. In Springfield, a man suddenly threw off his coat and ran through a pharmacy. In New York, a crazed drunk ran after a police officer with a meat cleaver.

The New London Day reported Jacob Seegar, an aged resident of Roxbury, Mass., was so crazed by the extreme heat he killed himself with a revolver.

TRAIN WRECK

The 1911 heat wave bent rail lines, causing derailments. But it was probably excessive speed that caused the wreck of the Federal Express train carrying passengers from Washington to Boston.

At 3:30 a.m. on July 11, the train derailed as it approached the station in Bridgeport, Conn.

The engine and six cars fell 20 feet to the street below, killing 14 and injuring 47.

The St. Louis Cardinals were sleeping in a Pullman car at the back of the train that remained on the tracks. They were on their way to Boston to play the Braves. Hall of Fame catcher-manager Roger Bresnahan directed the team’s rescue efforts, credited with saving many lives before ambulances reached the wreck.

BANGOR

Bangor, Maine, had already suffered from one inferno two months earlier: the worst fire in its history. But in July, the city suffered from temperatures above 100 degrees.

A 69-year-old African-American woman, Mrs. Myra Hudlin, had been burned out in the fire and lived in a room with a bed, six chairs and a stove. She collapsed in the heat after washing clothes all one morning and died the next day. Bangorians seeking relief slept on porches and roofs. Most men walked around town without wearing a coat. Moviegoers showed up at the un-air-conditioned theaters at night in various states of undress.

On July 6, a terrific thunderstorm interrupted the heat and killed carpenter Harry Mower by toppling a barn on top of him. The storm damaged property throughout the city, felling the charred walls of buildings that still stood after the fire.

From morning to night, people hoping to catch a breeze jammed into the open cars of the Bangor Railway and Electric Company’s open trolley cars. Six thousand people besieged Riverside Park at the end of the trolley line in Hamden so they could cool off in the Penobscot River.

Even swimmers couldn’t escape the heat. David Kerr, a waiter on the steamer Belfast, was overcome by heat while swimming near the ferry terminal. He appeared too dazed to grab on to a line thrown to him.

After 11 days of searing heat, another severe thunderstorm brought the temperature down to bearable levels — and killed five more people. But the 1911 heat wave finally ended.

[mrs-kelly]

Can't work today because its literally so hot that our laser machines won't run 🙃 don't you just love socal;;; lol

#106 degree high all week!! #im dying out here man!! #ren speaks #off brand ren cereal

[pomp-and-circumstance]

Fuck. Here we go. Episode 106. The flight. I have so many thoughts about the flight.

(I have a lot of thoughts about things, who am I kidding. Maybe I can wrangle them all together here to make some sense.)

I feel like the first thing is that... I don’t know how much credit Marisha gets for how she’s handled everything, but I’ve heard these rumblings that people felt like this ship came out of nowhere, and while I can see what they’re saying to a degree, I think that statement ultimately belittles Marisha as a player. She’s said she was going to make Beau a fuckboi and sleep her way through the campaign until Ashley introduced Yasha, but the most important detail here has nothing to do with their characters and everything to do with Ashley’s schedule. 

These guys are all friends. They love each other. Marisha isn’t going to require Matt or someone else put words in Ashley’s mouth to RP some kind of romance from the beginning. The biggest thing when RP’ing romance is to have the consent of both parties and who knows? Maybe Ashley would have changed her mind in the middle of being gone? My guess is they probably talked about it and decided to put in some hints, play with the chemistry a little, but not do anything major until Ashley came back. That said, it’s on Marisha to play the subtlety card for several weeks. If you think about it, it’s a clever “does she or doesn’t she” in terms of how Beau feels for Yasha, because what better time to try and settle possible conflicted feelings than when your interest is under mind control and can’t break free? Was she playing us the whole time? What does that mean about my feelings? I can brush those aside if she’s evil... but what if she isn’t?

Bottom line, Marisha isn’t going to try and do something that’s going to make Ashley uncomfortable upon returning, and it really showed in a lot of ways. If you think this ship came out of nowhere, that’s fine, but I think it’s far more a testament to the respect Marisha has for Ashley. After all, listening for thunder can be platonic or romantic. Did things really take off after Ashley came back and Yasha was free from mind control? Hell yeah it did - because there’s no schedule limitations holding them back. Who’s to say this wouldn’t have been how it started? We won’t know.

I won’t stand for Marisha Ray slander on my here Tumblr. She’s exactly the type of person I’d want to play with. I love her friendship with everyone, and I love her patiently and gently guiding Ashley through something she’s stated to be nervous about doing in the first place. The respect cannot be understated.

Now... the flight.

It’s Ashley’s choice when exactly the wings come out, but you gotta have a little fun with everyone at the table too, yanno? Of everyone in the party to take a hit from a falling body and not take a lot of damage, it’s the tank. The flirting hasn’t exactly been subtle, but Beau has the right idea asking Yasha to catch her. (Could she have asked Caleb to do something? Sure, but where’s the fun in that?) Besides, you gotta think Yasha wants a moment to check if those wings are real and see what they can do, and it’s not like she went super high to catch Beau anyway.

But the moment she catches Beau... oh, the moment she catches Beau.

This play-it-cool fuckboi who didn’t think twice about sleeping with Keg and made the immediate first step to grab and kiss Reani is a flustered, babbling, incoherent mess, and that, my friends, is the difference. She could have said any number of cool or suave things Beau has in her arsenal to charm any woman she wants, but Yasha is an actual angel and she has no idea what to do with that. She’s also been able to tell - every time - when someone else is interested in her, but here it’s a moment of stammering and flustered noises, holy shit this woman is so much more than she or I knew and those giddy butterflies you get in your stomach when you realize you like someone and they probably like you back. Beau and Yasha both are reduced to stammering disasters who shared a pivotal moment together that will change them forever.

Which brings me to Yasha. Granted, the wings could have come out at any point - a battle, a moment of privacy, etc - but I think it’s so symbolic that Ashley took that chance to use them to catch Beau the session immediately following Yasha putting her past behind her. She fell in love with Beau in Kamordah, sure, but I feel like this is when Yasha starts believing it’s okay to fall in love again. This is when she lets herself do that. Looking back on it by herself, she probably realized it had been a thing since Kamordah, but there’s a difference between realizing you’re in love and acting on it. Beau has witnessed a handful of moments that have to do with Zuala, including when Yasha pulled the image Caleb made of them to fall asleep to, but those feel far more like Yasha becoming comfortable with letting her go than they are yearning. (Which Beau could easily misinterpret.) If Yasha fell in love in Kamordah, she has to come to terms with her grief and move on, and it shows in her dream where she hears Zuala. It wasn’t an agonizing reunion of regrets and wishes and pondering if things could have been different. “I have to go.” I have to move on. There’s something here, and I have to let you go to find out what it is. I’m in love again. It was the final piece to releasing her past and stepping into her future.

So where are we now? 

Two people who are seeing themselves in a different light, for the first time, together. 

Mutual admiration in full swing, set on a path to something more. 

Ashley’s courage to try something different in D&D. 

Marisha’s delight and guidance into something she’s familiar with. 

A love story with all of it’s twists and turns and yearning, as well as trust and faith and admiration. 

It’s beautiful.

The real MVPs of all this are Laura and Travis, who have got to be the biggest Beauyasha shippers out there, let’s just be real. It’s almost more fun to watch them than anybody else, lol.

#critical role #critical role spoilers #s2ep106 #beauyasha #marisha ray #ashley johnson #yasha nydoorin #beauregard lionett #i'm beginning to flood the beauyasha tag i'm so sorry #ive just got a lot of feelings about these two and no place to put them #so i put them here #where people can read them #instead of being semi private? #it doesn't make sense to me either #i'm just so happy i decided to go back and watch this campaign from the beginning #everything means so much more now #which only makes me more excited for the date later #it's gonna be a THING I'm sure

[tealin]

Observation Hill

To see the post in its original format, please visit twirlynoodle.com/blog

There is no mistaking Observation Hill when you arrive at McMurdo, if you know anything about it.  It is a distinct cone, right at the end of the peninsula – even if you've never seen a picture of it, its name alone tells you it's a prime lookout, and sticking out into McMurdo sound as it does, it has clear views in every direction.

I had seen pictures of it, but I was still surprised how it loomed over the station.  Unlike the vastly larger Mt Erebus, it is visible from everywhere; whether you're eating in the Galley or crawling back to bed from the Crary lab in the wee hours, it's always looking over your shoulder.

Though not apparent in the above photo, it is clearly visible in person that there is a large cross mounted nearly at the peak of the hill.  Visitors especially from the States might assume it is just another expression of religious devotion – Christ died on a cross on a hill, so hilltop crosses are not unusual in a country which puts great stock in expressions of Christianity – but this is not another one of those things, in fact it isn't even American.  This cross was erected in January 1913 by the surviving men of the Terra Nova Expedition, as a memorial to Captain Scott and the other members of his party who died out on the Ross Ice Shelf on their way home from the South Pole.

Before the ship arrived it was decided among us to urge the erection of a cross on Observation Hill to the memory of the Polar Party.  On the arrival of the ship the carpenter immediately set to work to make a great cross of jarrah wood [an Australian hardwood].  There was some discussion as to the inscription, it being urged that there should be some quotation from the Bible because "the women think a lot of these things."  But I was glad to see the concluding line of Tennyson's "Ulysses" adopted: "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."  

... Observation Hill was clearly the place for it, it knew them all so well. Three of them were Discovery men who lived three years under its shadow: they had seen it time after time as they came back from hard journeys on the Barrier: Observation Hill and Castle Rock were the two which had always welcomed them in.  It commanded McMurdo Sound on one side, where they had lived: and the Barrier on the other, where they had died.  No more fitting pedestal, a pedestal which in itself is nearly 1000 feet high, could have been found. 

(Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World, pp.565-7)

The establishment of the cross took two days: the first, to hack a hole in the volcanic rock in which to mount it, and the second to carry up the pieces and erect them.  

It stands nine feet out of the rocks, and many feet into the ground, and I do not believe it will ever move.  When it was up, facing out over the Barrier, we gave three cheers and one more.   (ibid., p.567)

106 years later, there is a hiking trail up Observation Hill.  I had intended to make a pilgrimage since the moment I arrived, but with everything else going on, and the ongoing challenge to get enough sleep, it wasn't until quite late in my visit that I finally made it.

My first attempt was on a relatively fine day, when I thought I could get some good views. The trailhead was clearly marked on the station map, but when I got there I couldn't find a way to reach it without crossing a fuel pipeline, and I had a dim recollection from orientation that this was a big no-no.  I wandered about looking for access until I started getting a headache from the fumes, and gave up.

The next opportunity came a few days later, after I'd found out from a veteran that it was OK just to step over the pipeline there.  It was a thickly cloudy day, and hazy by Antarctic standards, so I wouldn't get as good a view, but that did mean I could look forward to having the hill to myself.  So I stepped over the pipeline and started up.

It looks like a terribly steep climb from the bottom, but once on the slope it's not so bad, and is far less slippery than the gravel slope of Arrival Heights.  Partway up I passed a mountain rescue class, but beyond that the trail was entirely mine.

Like the rest of Ross Island, Observation Hill is volcanic in origin – in fact it was once a small volcano of its own.  Unlike the subglacial volcano that is now Castle Rock, which grew cylindrically through a hole it melted in the ice, Observation Hill must have been uncovered in its later years  at least, because it has the classic cone shape made by molten rock running down the outside.  It is a lighter colour than much of the rest of the exposed rock in the area, and in places, it gives a really good impression of being sedimentary rather than igneous.

While the climb was not as physically intense as I had feared, it did still make me very warm, and I had two pauses, not to catch my breath but to cool down.  One was to watch the rescue class, the other was when, somewhere near the top, I lost the trail, and examined the terrain for a while to guess which side would be least fall-off-able.  I chose the wrong one, it turns out – I didn't fall off, but I did have to pick my way over some bare rock and came out above the cross, which is mounted in a pocket of rubble just off the peak.

It's hard to tell from the photo but it is in fact quite large – I am an average sized female and I  stood well under the crossbar.  The inscription is still there, but over a century of blizzards have battered it, and some parts are just barely decipherable.

The names – above of the worst of the blowing grit – are still legible.  This gave me one of those moments which always seems to come by surprise.  I have lived most of my life, and certainly all of my career, in close proximity with fictional characters, who demand to be believed in, either out of escapist necessity or professional duty.  Most of the time I am off in my own little world, and the fact that that little world is now a historical moment in Antarctica does not, necessarily, make it more real, in relation to my literal present reality, than any movie I've worked on.  I know these guys were real, I have seen film footage of them, and read their handwriting, and, some of them, even met members of their families!  But when I'm up to my elbows in the work, it's easy to give it the part of my brain that suspends disbelief on a production.  Suddenly something will come along that jolts me back to their reality: in this case, a name carved on a physical object by someone who knew them personally.

At the same time, this physical object impressed upon me again just how much time separates their reality and mine.  Originally the cross was painted white, with the incised letters filled in black.  Only a little of the white paint remains in the deepest recesses of what are quite shallow letters, now.  In 1960, when Silas Wright returned and was photographed up here, the wood had already been scoured clean.  His visit was 47 years after the cross was put in place, and 49 years before mine.  The same imagination that conflates historical realities with fictional ones can make those years evaporate, but that is still a lot of years, and erosion, unlike imagination, doesn't lie.

Cherry may have believed that the cross would never move, but it has in fact blown down twice, once in the winter of 1974 and again in 1993.  Its restoration in 1994 was a significant effort: a new concrete "boot" was made for it at Scott Base and delivered to the site by helicopter, and the cross itself was relayed up the hill by teams of helpers.  (You can see photos of the event here, p.44)  I cannot say how moving it is to see such an outlay of resources and enthusiasm by people who never met the Polar Party, to perpetuate their memory.

The cross isn't the only thing to see at the top of Observation Hill, of course – there is everything else.  It turned out to be the perfect way to end my tour of Terra Nova landmarks, not only because it was the last bit of home territory the Terra Nova men themselves visited, but because I could see nearly everywhere I'd been from up here.

As you can see, it was not the greatest day for landscape photography, what with the matte light and the taller mountains being covered with cloud.  But I had not come up here to take pictures.  The sombre atmosphere befitted what I had come to do, which was to remember these men and thank The Powers That Be for the blessings that had been showered upon me in the last few weeks.

The cross faces south, towards their last camp, and the Pole.  This is, of course, a thoughtful and fitting aspect of the memorial.  It also gives the impression of a beacon, a light in a window, a lighthouse on a headland, guiding them home. The men who erected it knew the men were dead.  They are still dead.  We all know this.  But they are still out there somewhere, and it is not impossible to imagine some small irrational part of the human psyche wanting, in some small way, to show them the way back, and call them back by name.

Minna Bluff was covered in cloud, so I couldn't use it as a bellwether, but the wind started to pick up and was colder than before, so I thought I should start heading down again.  The correct trail was obvious from this end, and I poked along it for a little way before everything caught up with me and I sat down to have a little cry.

The cross is a historical artefact, and while it is not as plum or as complex as the huts, it still requires conservation.  Alarmed by the degree of erosion on the lettering, the Antarctic Heritage Trust has devised a shell to protect it from the worst of the winter winds.  That will do something, but it has already lost a lot.  When I was up there, I wondered why it hadn't ever been repainted, as the paint would go a long way to protecting it, and when the paint wore off it could just get repainted instead of eating further and further into the wood.  The raw timber is more harmonious with the environment, and I like it better aesthetically that way, as do many others I'm sure – the white cross with black letters in Debenham's photo from 1913 is very stark and artificial in such a magnificent landscape.  But it would last a lot longer.

On the other hand, generations of Antarcticans now have the cross as a touchstone, not only as their link to the history (not everyone gets to visit Cape Evans)  but as a landmark in their own experience of Antarctica.  It was personally important to the men who painted it white and put it up, but it is also personally important to hundreds, if not thousands, of people since then, who have never seen it white and don't know that's how it started, and might see the repainting as a travesty.  If it were to be conserved, to what extent would that go?  Would the letters be re-carved deeper, obliterating what remains of Davies' original work?  At what point does conservation end and adulteration begin?

The alternative is to take down the original and keep it somewhere out of the weather – Scott Base perhaps – and replace it with a replica.  Jarrah is still available, the letters could be carved afresh, it could be the bare wood everyone has known and loved for the last fifty years at least, and the original could be saved from the effects of weather once and for all.  But doesn't this defeat the intent of the original in some way, and make it – dare I say – a Disneyland version?  Do we owe more to history to keep it as it is and let the elements wear it down, or to preserve it as long as possible and do whatever might be necessary to extend the experience and historical understanding of a place, if not its authenticity?

These are all questions that curators and conservators have been grappling with for years, so I leave it to them to make the decisions.  I am grateful to have seen the original, and to have a moment to myself up there to reflect on these things, and more.  I hope, whatever happens with it in the future, Observation Hill is not de-crossed entirely.  How else will they find the way home?

#antarctica #mcmurdo station #observation hill #conservation #history #memorial #artefacts #scott expedition #terra nova expedition #scott base

[theycallmebecca]

Weather Update

Prefacing this by reminding y’all that I live in a valley in the Pacific Northwest. We rarely get extreme weather. Snow doesn’t happen a lot, I’ve only experience temperatures in the teens once in my memory and I’ve never experience weather hotter than like 105/106. So please keep that in mind as I post updates today.

To my fellow tumblr users who are part of these heatwave, too, stay cool and stay hydrated!

It’s just shy of 11:30 am as I am doing this update and it’s 93 degrees... that’s hot for where I live already... but it’s 20 degrees cooler than the high predicted for today.

I’ve had my ac running since 6 am and I’m glad I forced myself to get up and set it up then because it was already like 70+ degrees at that time. I got my apartment down from 79 to 75 this morning and I’m praying that it will help as the temperature gets higher.

Currently my apartment is 77 and I’ve got all but one fan on moving air around, so I’m doing ok. I also turned off all my lights, which probably won’t make a huge difference, but in my head it is.

Based on my experience in February (ice storm, no power for 50+ hours), those of you have followed me before that are probably surprised that I would choose to turn off all my lights and break out the lantern and candles... but that’s exactly what I decided to do.

Those of you who read my posts during that week, know that I struggled a lot emotionally during that whole event and that I’ve had some lingering PTSD from the emotional rollercoaster it was. Even as I write this now, four almost five months later, it’s still an emotional thing to reflect on.

Unlike that storm and its aftermath, I’m riding through this heatwave on my own, but I’m doing ok. It was more the anxiety of being cut off from everyone (no power, no phone coverage) in February and the constant unknown of when we were going to get power back up and running not to mention the damage that the storm had caused that was at the root cause of my issues in February.

This time around, however, I’m not cut off from anyone. I spent part of yesterday with my parents and then my mom came over to help me get a few final things done in preparation for today. On top of that, I have things like my TV and power and all of that stuff to distract me from the insanity of the weather outside.

I also think it’s a good thing that I am able to sit in the dark and “relive” in a vague sort of way, the darkness that was that time in February. It’s almost healing in a way and I think it will be good for me.

When I started this post, it really was just supposed to be a weather update... I didn’t intend for it to turn into a mini therapy session for myself. But oh well!

To anyone who read this to the end, thankful.

[auhyesoo]

profile  ✩  potential connections  ✩  pinterest

(bae suzy), also known as (choi hyesoo, female, she/her) with id (hsng_soo), has been registered to auranow as a (blue) person with a (#9cacbc) aura. according to council records, they have been assigned to (paran, #106) and are currently in search of their auramate. this individual was born on (13.09.1994) and occupy their time as a (graduate student & observatory assistant). they want their auramate to know that they are (kind & reserved), and in their free time enjoy (stargazing, running, and going out for brunch). additionally, they have filed their orientation as (heterosexual).

below the cut, you can find a some more info the Softie™ that is choi hyesoo, and her profile page  ( which includes both stats & a more in-depth bio )  is linked above. please also consider this a plotting call  —  like it & I’ll come running to chat!! 

hyesoo’s childhood was fairly normal:  bonded parents, an older sister, and a cat all living together in a nondescript apartment building. she was a bit more introverted even then, preferring to spend time with her few close friends over large groups, but had enough fun with those few that it didn’t feel like she was missing out on anything at all.

a highlight of her childhood were the summers spent at their their grandparent’s house on Jeju Island. she came out of her shell even more on these occasions, spending hours playing on the beach and even making friends with the neighbor children. it was something she looked forward to every year, so when she was ten and broke her leg only a week before they were supposed to leave, she insisted on still going.

only being able to sitting around made the trip seem like it would be much more boring than usual, but then her grandfather introduced her to the concept of stargazing ﹔ everything was still gray, but having lived in the city her whole life meant that this was her first time actually sitting still and staring at an open night sky. she instantly fell in love with everything about it, spent every night of the trip watching the stars, and started learning more about space the moment they returned home.

other than the struggles which all children growing into teenagers face, the next years were happy and relatively simple. what made them different from before is the new purpose that hyesoo had  —  her love of space began as a curiosity and transformed into a passion. after graduating high school, it was a pretty easy choice for her to apply for the astronomy program at seoul national university, and the day that she received her acceptance letter was one of the most exciting of her life.

hyesoo has worked hard for the past few years, and it has shown in both her grades and the opportunities that have presented themselves ﹔ in the last year of her bachelor’s degree, one of her professors offered her a job as assistant at the school’s observatory, and she eagerly accepted. after completing her bachelor’s at the top of her class, she began her master’s right away, and is currently in her third year of the program. the love for outer space which prompted her decision has not lessened  ( if anything, it’s gotten stronger )  and she enjoys where she is at professionally very much.

there is, however, something that she feels is missing:  actually being able to see the colors which pass through the sky she is studying. still, she isn’t actively looking for her soulmate  —  they are destined for each other, after all, so surely they will meet when the time is right.

pls love her k thanks byeeeeeee

#au:intro #i've had this written for a day or so bc i was so excited sljfkdfsd #also the template is linked in the source ^^

[naomixhill]

“Aren’t you the one who got expelled from DeSales?” These were the first words that you said to me as you approached me at David’s bonfire in 2011. We were seventeen years old. A group of us came here after a Friday night football game. There were a handful of neighborhoods in our village, perhaps five important ones, but the one we were in that night was the best – the one where sophistication meets elegance meets English-inspired architecture. There was a twenty-seven Jack Nicklaus golf course in front of David’s home. Inside the house was a grand reception room, medium sized ballroom, martini parlor, two dueling libraries, a small art gallery, and a wine cellar. Throughout the home, opulence of the tenth degree: marble floors and 18’ high ceilings and two servants. Just beyond where I was sitting, there was a heated pool, veranda, and small tennis court. Jews get everything. This whole village was Jews, new money snobs, and plastic surgery. But I never minded.

 You repeated the question, “Hellooooo, Naomi, right?” I looked up at you with red, glossy eyes. I was stoned, and David’s two servants had been serving Cabernet since we got there. I smirked, raised my head at you, and said, “Who’s asking?” You extended your hand and introduced yourself with the charismatic, all consuming smile that I would one day become familiar. I did not return the warm reception; I had a magical sadness about me that year that began with the death of my rapist and ended with my name being the topic of more than one scandal. I hardly remember much of the year at all, but I remember meeting you there that night. In That Place.

 You acted like you were meeting a celebrity. You mentioned a few of the rumors that spread around DeSales about me, most of which were incredibly true, and I told you that night, “It doesn’t matter what people say about you unless you believe it.” You told me that you had just transferred to the village school and that you were incredibly lucky: You lived in a modest home on the edge of town that had not been seized by Wexner for further construction of his brick empire. I was completely awestricken by you. You were so bold, so empowered to speak truth, so nonchalant in the way you spoke, and had this magnetic flowerchild persona. If it hadn’t been for you that night, I would have drank alone at the firepit of David’s home. It was true that I was still frequently invited to events that year and next, but I was never really one of these people and I always remained on the outskirts of parties and social gatherings. When the night ended, I told you not to talk to me again. You needed a fighting chance to assimilate in this odd, wealthy village school that was more reminiscent of an episode of Gossip Girl than a place in Ohio. You were never going to get that if you associated with me.

                                                       ~

We reconnected in February 2014. It was a historically brutal winter in Ohio, frequently closing down the university, and I was frailer at 106 lbs, more contemplative, and battling an autoimmune disorder that was so severe that I was sure it would have killed me. Looking back on it now, there is no doubt in my mind that your antithesis to everything that I was saved me. From the moment we reconnected, there was rarely a moment that we were apart. Every morning, you held back my hair as I spent the morning vomiting into a dormitory toilet. When I would try to crawl back into bed, you would force me into a warm bath, lay out clothes for me, and often blow-dry my hair when I was too weak to do so myself. Without fail, and for the entire semester, you would walk me to the cafeteria, watch me eat breakfast, and we would undoubtedly end up back on the bathroom floor for several more hours. But you’d still make sure that I attended my afternoon classes, even if that meant sitting on the business halls’ floors in effort to see that I didn’t leave. You were the only person who knew how bad my health had gotten that year.

 Because to everyone else, I was confident and had accomplished in my studies precisely what I had in my social circle of business students—complete mastery, complete command. I was fastidious, wearing almost exclusively Brooks Brothers button downs that tucked into dark colored slacks or designer jeans, and carried myself with an air of superiority that few ever questioned. In school and in the finance society, I was the best. I maintained a portfolio of investments that had achieved a 56% return that year, and when I shared my opinion on what our club should be investing in, I was rarely wrong. It awed some, and frustrated many male egos that couldn’t understand it. I was an excellent financial analyst to be, interviewing at several bulge bracket investment banks in New York and Chicago that year. And when anyone questioned me or alluded that I couldn’t possibly being doing as well as I was, I would raise my prominent nose nostrils at them and say nothing at all.

 I didn’t dress, walk, talk, or play like other college students did. I was incredibly aloof and malicious, whereas you were a never-ending ray of sunshine. You were bohemian and buoyant and wise all wrapped into a blonde package of beauty. My persona was much more overpowering and chilling. Yet, you liked me, and you held my secret, and no one ever questioned why you—the special education major—were in the business hall at 2 pm, 4 pm, 8 pm, and 10 pm everyday. In fact, most of my companions that year really preferred you to me and it was often a relief to have you there as a shield.

 In the summer of 2015, we moved into an off campus apartment in what would be considered the Chinatown of Columbus, Ohio. With my full-time job in financial services and lucrative investments from the prior year, I had tried to convince you to live downtown in a high-rise apartment, but you wouldn’t have it. You always wanted to pay your own way, and Chinatown was what you could afford. So we lived there with Ethan Allen furniture, your bohemian nonsensical decorations, including a plethora of crystals, bags of cannabis, and music posters. By the end of the summer, I was showing signs of recovery, though the months of medical bills had put me in a tougher spot financially than before. I was still able to casually pay our rent and fixed expenses, afford food, and pay my own tuition without much concern. Though it was in September that everything changed.

 You worked at a Bob Evan’s right behind the university that summer to save for college, but you had racked up $17,000 on a credit card that was accruing monthly interest. You wanted to save, but you were forced to pay that down and there was never an expense that you met that you didn’t like. It has always been who you are: you spend too much on others, too much on holiday decorations, too much on latest clothing styles, too much online, too much on fast food, just too much. So even though you worked your sixty hours a week until that political bill made everyone like you work thirty-seven and a half hours and not a moment more, you couldn’t make tuition. And I couldn’t help you.

 I remember one night we were in Cincinnati for a Cal Scruby concert when the idea came to me. I said, “There are a lot of girls in Pi Phi that I know that use this escort site to make fast cash, and you are much prettier and have a much better personality.” So while we waited for the concert to begin, we turned the Marriott hotel room into a glamorous studio for photos, and wrote you a descriptive, alluring profile on that website. Looking back on this now, I am not sure what I was thinking except that it seemed like a perfectly sensible thing to do, and everyone else was doing it. An older, established Cleveland man solicited you within the hour. You planned to meet him later that week. A thousand dollars just like that.

 But that fateful morning, you confessed that you couldn’t do it. And I knew then that if you didn’t return to school that semester, you might never. And I thought about your credit card debt, your newly broken down car, and your ambitions slipping away from you. And I couldn’t let you, the brilliant bohemian with so much to offer to the world, possibly lose it all that easily. So I knew what this all meant for me, but the way I saw it, and still see it, is that it was the least I could do for the person who likely saved my life. So I became you: I went to a hair salon that day and dyed my harsh, almost black hair, to bleach blonde; I bought extensions; I bought baby blue eye contacts; I used makeup to manipulate a small mole on my cheek; I contoured my face, used drugstore eyelashes, and it was convincing enough. That night, I wore a pink kimono with ripped jeans and pale high heels. I wasn’t nearly as tall as you, but I hoped our Cleveland man wouldn’t notice. And he didn’t. And that was that.

 These visits continued twelve times, and we never spoke about them. It was our next big secret, and one I never planned to mention them to a soul. Your fall tuition was paid and I was relatively healthy, and we had our oasis in Chinatown. Everything was finally alright, it seemed, until December.

 There was only one problem: That Piece of Shit Heroin Addict. Back in the summer before the school year began, you had met Josiah. Perhaps it was my jealously of losing part of you, but I never took to him. You could have had any of my friends majoring in finance – we both know that they all loved you, and could have given you the life you wanted – but you chose him. I am certain that your biggest flaw has always been loving flawed people and thinking that you could positively influence the outcome of their lives’ through love and belief alone. Josiah was everything that I loathed about a person: he was uncouth to a fault, sported a horribly unkempt appearance with long, blonde, greasy and tangled hair, had terribly patchy facial hair, had lightly yellowed teeth from years of smoking and drug abuse. Best of all, he drove a sports car. His family was from the neighboring county, and in Ohio, if you don’t live in the capital county, you might as well live in the middle of a fucking farm wasteland infested with heroin, blue-collar jobs, and Mountain Dew.

 I tolerated this boy in the summer because you loved him. But it worried me when you would come home at 3 a.m. with him and his cronies, and they would all end up sprawled out on the floor of our apartment. These people were not good enough for you, and they brought you down with them. I would have done anything to better myself that year—I associated myself with the most elite people our university could offer, all of whom today ended up becoming prominent investment bankers and private equity directors, some traveling internationally, some making over half a million dollars annually – but you always found yourself attracted to the bottom.

 He manipulated you. He told you lies about me, and made you think differently about me. He fed you drugs. He sedated your sunshine and stole your youth. And then in December, he convinced you that I was nothing more than a haughty, arrogant, self-serving person, which perhaps was right to some degree, but never with you, and that you needed to leave. So one night in December, when I was traveling, you stole everything out of our apartment – right down to the kitchen table and bath curtains – and left me to come home to nothing. You never returned my calls or texts, and it was more than a year before I ever got an explanation.

You went from my fascination to my friend to my caregiver to my roommate and best friend to my deepest regret.

 In fact, for the next six years, you tried to contact me sporadically, pleading for forgiveness, but there was nothing that I could offer you. At times, you would comment on my life events that you could see through social media. You told me how happy I looked in my wedding photos, but little did you know for those four years that I was getting beaten, evens sometimes being held at gunpoint, literally; you told me how successful I had become from my work, but little did you know that I was facing more than one harassment suit; you would tell me you were happy that my life had become so wonderful, but you had no idea that at the very time you sent that, that I was sitting in a hospital waiting to be radiated for cervix cancer. And through all of it, I thought of you frequently, sometimes spitefully, sometimes with more regret than a person can carry, sometimes with fondness.

                                                        ~

But I never returned any of your correspondence until last week. And now, here we are at a Panera in a rundown suburb, and I am staring right at you. The passage of time has not been your friend: you wear bold framed glasses that remind me of Buddy Holly. Pregnancy has turned your beautiful blonde hair into an ashy brown shade and your long, cascading curls have been cut into curly short strands. You have gained perhaps thirty or forty pounds, hidden under a large, flowing hippy blouse – so that has remained, your style.

 When I approach you, you throw your arms around me for what feels like an eternity. I had planned to dig into you; I had wanted you to feel the internal war that has been raging inside of me since your departure. But I can’t do it. As you pull away from our embrace, you try to speak but your lower lip trembles. Your eyes are red and strained and you weep as you grab for my hand. People around us begin to stare, but my sole focus is on you. I suppose it always has been. You begin a long soliloquy of apology, that at times is so incoherent and sincere, I can only help but think that this has eaten away at you for as long as it has me. So I don’t chide you for abandoning me, I simply smile and say, “I Forgive You.”

 As we catch up, it seems our friendship is a marker in time for you much like it is for me. There was before you, you, and after you. Your “after you” is dark – things have been much harder for you for the past six years than they have for me. One unplanned pregnancy, another planned pregnancy, multiple lost jobs, government assistance, an alcoholic partner, and death threats galore. It is hard to imagine the young bohemian that I once knew has achieved such a disappointing life. You never finished college and you work as a PSA in a hospital. You mentioned repeatedly how tired you are, and I see you: it’s a spiritual exhaustion that knows no bounds. It is the type of exhaustion that one can only feel when they have done nothing that they set out to do in life. I am familiar.

 I often take your hand in mine. We talk until the Panera closes, and then promise to meet again soon.

#b #memories #best friend

[highqueenofelfhame]

i need help.

As most of you know, in July i had two major hospital stays. The first being for my mental health, as I became suicidal and relapsed into self harm. The second was about two weeks later, when I had a rare reaction to a new medication they put me on in the hospital called Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome. I had high fevers not dipping below 102 degrees for a week, and at one point it spiked to 106 degrees and I was admitted to the ICU. On top of that, I had another reaction to another medicine that resulted in a feverish and itchy rash all over my entire body, face included. July was a really rough month for me. 

I only made $538 dollars last month, which doesn’t even cover my rent, much less my medication, food, basic necessities, and my utility bills. 

I’ve set up a Ko-fi, a PayPal pool, and i have both CashApp and Venmo, and I am just so desperately asking that if you’re in a position to donate a few dollars to help me out, I would be eternally grateful. I’m in the process of looking for a second job to cover expenses, but in the meantime I’m just asking for help. 

You can buy me a Ko-fi here You can donate through PayPal here or Venmo/CashApp @emileebizzle 

Please don’t feel pressured in any way, but the support, literally anything at all, would help so much and make such a difference. Even reblogging this post could help.

thank you so, so much.

i love you so much. don’t forget it. 

#personal #about me #ko-fi #paypal #cashapp #venmo #like i've considered looking for a sugar daddy u guys it's bad lmfao

[newstfionline]

Saturday, July 10, 2021

Billionaire Blastoff (AP) Two billionaires are putting everything on the line this month to ride their own rockets into space. Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson is due to take off Sunday from New Mexico, launching with two pilots and three other employees aboard a rocket plane carried aloft by a double-fuselage aircraft. Blue Origin’s Jeff Bezos departs nine days later from West Texas, blasting off in a fully automated capsule with three guests: his brother, an 82-year-old female aviation pioneer who’s waited six decades for a shot at space and the winner of a $28 million charity auction. They will go 55 miles to 66 miles (88 kilometers to 106 kilometers) up.

Severe heat wave builds across Western U.S. after nation’s hottest June on record (Washington Post) Last week, a “thousand-year” heat wave baked the Pacific Northwest and adjacent British Columbia with widespread highs topping 100 degrees, resulting in a death toll in the hundreds. Lytton, Canada, climbed to 121 degrees and established new national records three days in a row before the town burned in heat-intensified wildfires. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Friday that the heat wave helped the United States clinch its hottest June on record. Eight states had their hottest Junes, including Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah. These four states are at the heart of yet another heat wave developing in the West that could challenge records and bring dangerously hot temperatures. It will mark the third punishing heat wave in the West this summer, including last week’s in the Pacific Northwest and a record-breaking event in mid-June. This heat wave will not likely be as extreme as the event in the Pacific Northwest, but temperatures could challenge all-time highs around Las Vegas, Redding, Calif., and Sacramento and a few other places between California’s Central Valley and southern Nevada.

Political Crisis in Haiti Deepens Over Rival Claims to Power (NYT) The political storm in Haiti intensified on Thursday as two competing prime ministers claimed the right to run the country, setting up an extraordinary power struggle over who had the legal authority to govern after the brazen assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in his home the day before. Haiti’s interim prime minister, Claude Joseph, says he has taken command of the police and the army, declaring a “state of siege” that essentially put the country under martial law. But constitutional experts questioned his right to impose it, and his claim to power was quickly challenged by a rival. Two days before his death, Mr. Moïse had appointed a new prime minister, Ariel Henry, a neurosurgeon who was supposed to take up the role this week and told a local newspaper that he was the rightful prime minister instead. The dueling claims created a volatile political crisis that left constitutional experts confused and diplomats worried about a broad societal collapse that could ignite violence or prompt Haitians to flee the country en masse, as they have after natural disasters, coups or other periods of deep instability.

Brexit bill (Reuters) Brexit’s unfortunate fallout continues. The European Union has said that the United Kingdom is liable to pay 47.5 billion euros ($56.2 billion) to the E.U. as part of its post-Brexit financial settlement. The E.U.’s consolidated budget report for 2020 said the money is owed under a series of articles which both sides agreed to as part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement. The amount is significantly higher than the U.K. expected. Its Office for Budget Responsibility predicted in its March 2018 economic and fiscal outlook report that the bill would amount to 41.4 billion euros ($49 billion). Britain and the E.U. were in a 47-year relationship, and the divorce has been dicey. It took more than four years of acrimonious negotiations and lingering mistrust before the two finally struck a trade and cooperation agreement at the end of December.

Thailand to impose tighter restrictions to slow virus spread (Reuters) Thailand will announce new travel restrictions, mall closures and curbs on gatherings in the capital Bangkok and surrounding provinces starting next week, in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, two government sources told Reuters. The government will issue a stay-home order from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. for 14 days and bar gatherings of more than five people in the capital and high-risk areas, the sources said.

China’s gaming curfew (Foreign Policy) Chinese gaming giant Tencent will begin using facial recognition technology to prevent minors playing mobile video games past a nationwide gaming curfew. China established the 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. curfew in 2019 to combat gaming addiction—deemed a mental health disorder in 2018 by the World Health Organization. Chinese children and teenagers had been circumventing the nighttime ban by using adult’s credentials to log in to the gaming service, prompting the technological intervention.

Biden Accelerates Withdrawal Timetable (Foreign Policy) U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday defended his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan, despite the Taliban’s rapid territorial gains in recent weeks. In a White House address, Biden said that all combat troops would leave Afghanistan by August 31, even earlier than a Sept. 11 deadline he set back in April. Heading off criticism from some conservatives, who have called for a small combat troop presence to remain in the country, Biden—a long-time skeptic of prolonged U.S. involvement in Afghanistan—questioned the cost of such a move. “Let me ask those who want us to stay: How many more—how many thousands more Americans, daughters and sons—are you willing to risk?” Biden said. “I will not send another generation of Americans to war in Afghanistan with no reasonable expectation of achieving a different outcome.” Although nearly all U.S. troops are set to depart Afghanistan by August, a substantial number—roughly 650—will remain in the country to provide security for the U.S. embassy and Kabul’s international airport.

Drone attacks by Iraqi militias reflect Iran’s waning hold (AP) Iran’s expeditionary Quds Force commander brought one main directive for Iraqi militia faction leaders long beholden to Tehran, when he gathered with them in Baghdad last month: Maintain calm, until after nuclear talks between Iran and the United States. But he was met with defiance. One of the six faction leaders spoke up in their meeting: They could not stay quiet while the death of his predecessor Qassim Soleimani and senior Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a U.S. drone strike went unavenged. Militia attacks have only been increasing against the U.S. in military bases in both Iraq and Syria. Three missile attacks in the last week alone resulted in minor injuries, stoking fears of escalation. There have been at least eight drone attacks targeting the U.S. presence since Biden took office in January, as well as 17 rocket attacks, according to coalition officials. The attacks are blamed on the Iranian-backed militias that make up the bulk of Iraq’s state-supported Popular Mobilization Forces. The Biden administration has responded by twice targeting Iraqi militia groups operating inside Syria, including close to the Iraqi border.

Israel levels family home of alleged Palestinian attacker (AP) Israel on Thursday demolished the family home of a Palestinian-American man accused of carrying out a deadly attack on Israelis in the occupied West Bank, rejecting pleas from his estranged wife that he rarely lived in the house, which she shared with their three children. The demolition drew a rebuke from the United States, which is opposed to punitive home demolitions and has taken a more critical line toward Israel’s policies in the occupied West Bank since President Joe Biden took office this year. “The home of an entire family should not be demolished for the actions of one individual,” said U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price. “There is a critical need to lower the temperature in the West Bank. Punitive demolitions exacerbate tensions at a time when everyone should be focused on principally ensuring calm.”

Religion (Public Religion Research Institute) A new survey of 50,334 Americans over the course of 2020 tracked how religion in the United States has continued to change over recent years. According to the survey, 36 percent of those 18 to 29 years old considered themselves unaffiliated with a religion, substantially higher than the 23 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds who considered themselves as much in 2006, and the 10 percent who were unaffiliated in 1986. That’s also double the rate of religiously unaffiliated compared to those aged 50 to 64. Still, a majority—54 percent—of those 18 to 29 are Christians, though that’s down from the 70 percent of all Americans.

Laughter can make you more productive at work (CNBC) Being inundated with bad news and working from home, for some alone, during the coronavirus pandemic has made it harder than ever for workers to find the time for laughter, but experts argue that it can really make a difference when it comes to productivity. Daniel Sgroi, an economics professor at the U.K.’s University of Warwick, told CNBC via telephone that laughter can trigger the activation of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin, both of which are considered mood-boosting hormones. Sgroi explained that laughter “fast tracks networks in the brain to help you concentrate and focus,” working as the equivalent of a productivity boost. Research that Sgroi co-authored, published in 2015, found evidence of a link between happiness and productivity. One of the techniques used in his study was to use comedy to make participants laugh and be happier, which he said boosted productivity by up to 12%. “So it’s almost like being happy generates more time,” he said, explaining that someone who is happy might be able to do in one hour what it takes someone who is less happy to do in an hour and 20 minutes.

#headlines #news