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mostlysignssomeportents · 1 month

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Twinkfrump Linkdump

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me in CHICAGO (Apr 17), Torino (Apr 21) Marin County (Apr 27), Winnipeg (May 2), Calgary (May 3), Vancouver (May 4), and beyond!

Welcome to the seventeenth Pluralistic linkdump, a collection of all the miscellany that didn't make it into the week's newsletter, cunningly wrought together in a single edition that ranges from the first ISP to AI nonsense to labor organizing victories to the obituary of a brilliant scientist you should know a lot more about! Here's the other 16 dumps:

https://pluralistic.net/tag/linkdump/

If you're reading this (and you are!), it was delivered to you by an internet service provider. Today, the ISP industry is calcified, controlled by a handful of telcos and cable companies. But the idea of an "ISP" didn't come out of a giant telecommunications firm – it was created, in living memory, by excellent nerds who are still around.

Depending on how you reckon, The Little Garden was either the first or the second ISP in America. It was named after a Palo Alto Chinese restaurant frequented by its founders. To get a sense of that founding, read these excellent recollections by Tom Jennings, whose contributions include the seminal zine Homocore, the seminal networking protocol Fidonet, and the seminal third-party PC ROM, whence came Dell, Gateway, Compaq, and every other "PC clone" company.

The first installment describes how an informal co-op to network a few friends turned into a business almost by accident, with thousands of dollars flowing in and out of Jennings' bank account:

https://www.sensitiveresearch.com/Archive/TLG/TLG.html

And it describes how that ISP set a standard for neutrality, boldly declaring that "TLGnet exercises no control whatsoever over the content of the information." They introduced an idea of radical transparency, documenting their router configurations and other technical details and making them available to the public. They hired unskilled punk and queer kids from their communities and trained them to operate the network equipment they'd invented, customized or improvised.

In part two, Jennings talks about the evolution of TLG's radical business-plan: to offer unrestricted service, encouraging their customers to resell that service to people in their communities, having no lock-in, unbundling extra services including installation charges – the whole anti-enshittification enchilada:

https://www.sensitiveresearch.com/Archive/TLG/

I love Jennings and his work. I even gave him a little cameo in Picks and Shovels, the third Martin Hench novel, which will be out next winter. He's as lyrical a writer about technology as you could ask for, and he's also a brilliant engineer and thinker.

The Little Garden's founders and early power-users have all fleshed out Jennings' account of the birth of ISPs. Writing on his blog, David "DSHR" Rosenthal rounds up other histories from the likes of EFF co-founder John Gilmore and Tim Pozar:

https://blog.dshr.org/2024/04/the-little-garden.html

Rosenthal describes some of the more exotic shenanigans TLG got up to in order to do end-runs around the Bell system's onerous policies, hacking in the purest sense of the word, for example, by daisy-chaining together modems in regions with free local calling and then making "permanent local calls," with the modems staying online 24/7.

Enshittification came to the ISP business early and hit it hard. The cartel that controls your access to the internet today is a billion light-years away from the principled technologists who invented the industry with an ethos of care, access and fairness. Today's ISPs are bitterly opposed to Net Neutrality, the straightforward proposition that if you request some data, your ISP should send it to you as quickly and reliably as it can.

Instead, ISPs want to offer "slow-lanes" where they will relegate the whole internet, except for those companies that bribe the ISP to be delivered at normal speed. ISPs have a laughably transparent way of describing this: they say that they're allowing services to pay for "fast lanes" with priority access. This is the same as the giant grocery store that charges you extra unless you surrender your privacy with a "loyalty card" – and then says that they're offering a "discount" for loyal customers, rather than charging a premium to customers who don't want to be spied on.

The American business lobby loves this arrangement, and hates Net Neutrality. Having monopolized every sector of our economy, they are extremely fond of "winner take all" dynamics, and that's what a non-neutral ISP delivers: the biggest services with the deepest pockets get the most reliable delivery, which means that smaller services don't just have to be better than the big guys, they also have to be able to outbid them for "priority carriage."

If everything you get from your ISP is slow and janky, except for the dominant services, then the dominant services can skimp on quality and pocket the difference. That's the goal of every monopolist – not just to be too big to fail, but also too big to care.

Under the Trump administration, FCC chair Ajit Pai dismantled the Net Neutrality rule, colluding with American big business to rig the process. They accepted millions of obviously fake anti-Net Neutrality comments (one million identical comments from @pornhub.com addresses, comments from dead people, comments from sitting US Senators who support Net Neutrality) and declared open season on American internet users:

https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2021/attorney-general-james-issues-report-detailing-millions-fake-comments-revealing

Now, Biden's FCC is set to reinstate Net Neutrality – but with a "compromise" that will make mobile internet (which nearly all of use sometimes, and the poorest of us are reliant on) a swamp of anticompetitive practices:

https://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2024/04/harmful-5g-fast-lanes-are-coming-fcc-needs-stop-them

Under the proposed rule, mobile carriers will be able to put traffic to and from apps in the slow lane, and then extort bribes from preferred apps for normal speed and delivery. They'll rely on parts of the 5G standard to pull off this trick.

The ISP cartel and the FCC insist that this is fine because web traffic won't be degraded, but of course, every service is hellbent on pushing you into using apps instead of the web. That's because the web is an open platform, which means you can install ad- and privacy-blockers. More than half of web users have installed a blocker, making it the largest boycott in human history:

https://doc.searls.com/2023/11/11/how-is-the-worlds-biggest-boycott-doing/

But reverse-engineering and modding an app is a legal minefield. Just removing the encryption from an app can trigger criminal penalties under Section 1201 of the DMCA, carrying a five-year prison sentence and a $500k fine. An app is just a web-page skinned in enough IP that it's a felony to mod it.

Apps are enshittification's vanguard, and the fact that the FCC has found a way to make them even worse is perversely impressive. They're voting on this on April 25, and they have until April 24 to fix this. They should. They really should:

https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-401676A1.pdf

In a just world, cheating ripoff ISPs would the top tech policy story. The operational practices of ISPs effect every single one us. We literally can't talk about tech policy without ISPs in the middle. But Net Neutrality is an also-ran in tech policy discourse, while AI – ugh ugh ugh – is the thing none of us can shut up about.

This, despite the fact that the most consequential AI applications sum up to serving as a kind of moral crumple-zone for shitty business practices. The point of AI isn't to replace customer service and other low-paid workers who have taken to demanding higher wages and better conditions – it's to fire those workers and replace them with chatbots that can't do their jobs. An AI salesdroid can't sell your boss a bot that can replace you, but they don't need to. They only have to convince your boss that the bot can do your job, even if it can't.

SF writer Karl Schroeder is one of the rare sf practitioners who grapples seriously with the future, a "strategic foresight" guy who somehow skirts the bullshit that is the field's hallmark:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/07/the-gernsback-continuum/#wheres-my-jetpack

Writing on his blog, Schroeder describes the AI debates roiling the Association of Professional Futurists, and how it's sucking him into being an unwilling participant in the AI hype cycle:

https://kschroeder.substack.com/p/dragged-into-the-ai-hype-cycle

Schroeder's piece is a thoughtful meditation on the relationship of SF's thought-experiments and parables about AI to the promises of AI hucksters, who promise that a) "general artificial intelligence" is just around the corner and that b) it will be worth trillions of dollars.

Schroeder – like other sf writers including Ted Chiang and Charlie Stross (and me) – comes to the conclusion that AI panic isn't about AI, it's about power. The artificial life-form devouring the planet and murdering our species is the limited liability corporation, and its substrate isn't silicon, it's us, human bodies:

What’s lying underneath all our anxieties about AGI is an anxiety that has nothing to do with Artificial Intelligence. Instead, it’s a manifestation of our growing awareness that our world is being stolen from under us. Last year’s estimate put the amount of wealth currently being transferred from the people who made it to an idle billionaire class at $5.2 trillion. Artificial General Intelligence whose environment is the server farms and sweatshops of this class is frightening only because of its capacity to accelerate this greatest of all heists.

After all, the business-case for AI is so very thin that the industry can only survive on a torrent of hype and nonsense – like claims that Amazon's "Grab and Go" stores used "AI" to monitor shoppers and automatically bill them for their purchases. In reality, the stores used thousands of low-paid Indian workers to monitor cameras and manually charge your card. This happens so often that Indian technologists joke that "AI" stands for "absent Indians":

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/29/pay-no-attention/#to-the-little-man-behind-the-curtain

Isn't it funny how all the really promising AI applications are in domains that most of us aren't qualified to assess? Like the claim that Google's AI was producing millions of novel materials that will shortly revolutionize all forms of production, from construction to electronics to medical implants:

https://deepmind.google/discover/blog/millions-of-new-materials-discovered-with-deep-learning/

That's what Google's press-release claimed, anyway. But when two groups of experts actually pulled a representative sample of these "new materials" from the Deep Mind database, they found that none of these materials qualified as "credible, useful and novel":

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.chemmater.4c00643

Writing about the researchers' findings for 404 Media, Jason Koebler cites Berkeley researchers who concluded that "no new materials have been discovered":

https://www.404media.co/google-says-it-discovered-millions-of-new-materials-with-ai-human-researchers/

The researchers say that AI data-mining for new materials is promising, but falls well short of Google's claim to be so transformative that it constitutes the "equivalent to nearly 800 years’ worth of knowledge" and "an order-of-magnitude expansion in stable materials known to humanity."

AI hype keeps the bubble inflating, and for so long as it keeps blowing up, all those investors who've sunk their money into AI can tell themselves that they're rich. This is the essence of "a bezzle": "The magic interval when a confidence trickster knows he has the money he has appropriated but the victim does not yet understand that he has lost it":

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/09/autocomplete-worshippers/#the-real-ai-was-the-corporations-that-we-fought-along-the-way

Among the best debezzlers of AI are the Princeton Center for Information Technology Policy's Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, who edit the "AI Snake Oil" blog. Now, they've sold a book with the same title:

https://www.aisnakeoil.com/p/ai-snake-oil-is-now-available-to

Obviously, books move a lot more slowly than blogs, and so Narayanan and Kapoor say their book will focus on the timeless elements of identifying and understanding AI snake oil:

In the book, we explain the crucial differences between types of AI, why people, companies, and governments are falling for AI snake oil, why AI can’t fix social media, and why we should be far more worried about what people will do with AI than about anything AI will do on its own. While generative AI is what drives press, predictive AI used in criminal justice, finance, healthcare, and other domains remains far more consequential in people’s lives. We discuss in depth how predictive AI can go wrong. We also warn of the dangers of a world where AI continues to be controlled by largely unaccountable big tech companies.

The book's out in September and it's up for pre-order now:

https://bookshop.org/p/books/ai-snake-oil-what-artificial-intelligence-can-do-what-it-can-t-and-how-to-tell-the-difference-arvind-narayanan/21324674

One of the weirder and worst side-effects of the AI hype bubble is that it has revived the belief that it's somehow possible for giant platforms to monitor all their users' speech and remove "harmful" speech. We've tried this for years, and when humans do it, it always ends with disfavored groups being censored, while dedicated trolls, harassers and monsters evade punishment:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/08/07/como-is-infosec/

AI hype has led policy-makers to believe that we can deputize online services to spy on all their customers and block the bad ones without falling into this trap. Canada is on the verge of adopting Bill C-63, a "harmful content" regulation modeled on examples from the UK and Australia.

Writing on his blog, Canadian lawyer/activist/journalist Dimitri Lascaris describes the dire speech implications for C-63:

https://dimitrilascaris.org/2024/04/08/trudeaus-online-harms-bill-threatens-free-speech/

It's an excellent legal breakdown of the bill's provisions, but also a excellent analysis of how those provisions are likely to play out in the lives of Canadians, especially those advocating against genocide and taking other positions the that oppose the agenda of the government of the day.

Even if you like the Trudeau government and its policies, these powers will accrue to every Canadian government, including the presumptive (and inevitably, totally unhinged) near-future Conservative majority government of Pierre Poilievre.

It's been ten years since Martin Gilens and Benjamin I Page published their paper that concluded that governments make policies that are popular among elites, no matter how unpopular they are among the public:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B

Now, this is obviously depressing, but when you see it in action, it's kind of wild. The Biden administration has declared war on junk fees, from "resort fees" charged by hotels to the dozens of line-items added to your plane ticket, rental car, or even your rent check. In response, Republican politicians are climbing to their rear haunches and, using their actual human mouths, defending junk fees:

https://prospect.org/politics/2024-04-12-republicans-objectively-pro-junk-fee/

Congressional Republicans are hell-bent on destroying the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau's $8 cap on credit-card late-fees. Trump's presumptive running-mate Tim Scott is making this a campaign plank: "Vote for me and I will protect your credit-card company's right to screw you on fees!" He boasts about the lobbyists who asked him to take this position: champions of the public interest from the Consumer Bankers Association to the US Chamber of Commerce.

Banks stand to lose $10b/year from this rule (which means Americans stand to gain $10b/year from this rule). What's more, Scott's attempt to kill the rule is doomed to fail – there's just no procedural way it will fly. As David Dayen writes, "Not only does this vote put Republicans on the spot over junk fees, it’s a doomed vote, completely initiated by their own possible VP nominee."

This is an hilarious own-goal, one that only brings attention to a largely ignored – but extremely good – aspect of the Biden administration. As Adam Green of Bold Progressives told Dayen, "What’s been missing is opponents smoking themselves out and raising the volume of this fight so the public knows who is on their side."

The CFPB is a major bright spot in the Biden administration's record. They're doing all kind of innovative things, like making it easy for you to figure out which bank will give you the best deal and then letting you transfer your account and all its associated data, records and payments with a single click:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/21/let-my-dollars-go/#personal-financial-data-rights

And now, CFPB chair Rohit Chopra has given a speech laying out the agency's plan to outlaw data-brokers:

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/prepared-remarks-of-cfpb-director-rohit-chopra-at-the-white-house-on-data-protection-and-national-security/

Yes, this is some good news! There is, in fact, good news in the world, bright spots amidst all the misery and terror. One of those bright spots? Labor.

Unions are back, baby. Not only do the vast majority of Americans favor unions, not only are new shops being unionized at rates not seen in generations, but also the largest unions are undergoing revolutions, with control being wrestled away from corrupt union bosses and given to the rank-and-file.

Many of us have heard about the high-profile victories to take back the UAW and Teamsters, but I hadn't heard about the internal struggles at the United Food and Commercial Workers, not until I read Hamilton Nolan's gripping account for In These Times:

https://inthesetimes.com/article/revolt-aisle-5-ufcw-grocery-workers-union

Nolan profiles Faye Guenther, president of UFCW Local 3000 and her successful and effective fight to bring a militant spirit back to the union, which represents a million grocery workers. Nolan describes the fight as "every bit as dramatic as any episode of Game of Thrones," and he's not wrong. This is an inspiring tale of working people taking power away from scumbag monopoly bosses and sellout fatcat leaders – and, in so doing, creating a institution that gets better wages, better working conditions, and a better economy, by helping to block giant grocery mergers like Kroger/Albertsons.

I like to end these linkdumps on an up note, so it feels weird to be closing out with an obituary, but I'd argue that any celebration of the long life and many accomplishments of my friend and mentor Anne Innis Dagg is an "up note."

I last wrote about Anne in 2020, on the release of a documentary about her work, "The Woman Who Loved Giraffes":

https://pluralistic.net/2020/02/19/pluralist-19-feb-2020/#annedagg

As you might have guessed from the title of that doc, Anne was a biologist. She was the first woman scientist to do field-work on giraffes, and that work was so brilliant and fascinating that it kicked off the modern field of giraffology, which remains a woman-dominated specialty thanks to her tireless mentoring and support for the scientists that followed her.

Anne was also the world's most fearsome slayer of junk-science "evolutionary psychology," in which "scientists" invent unfalsifiable just-so stories that prove that some odious human characteristic is actually "natural" because it can be found somewhere in the animal kingdom (i.e., "Darling, please, it's not my fault that I'm fucking my grad students, it's the bonobos!").

Anne wrote a classic – and sadly out of print – book about this that I absolutely adore, not least for having one of the best titles I've ever encountered: "Love of Shopping" Is Not a Gene:

https://memex.craphound.com/2009/11/04/love-of-shopping-is-not-a-gene-exposing-junk-science-and-ideology-in-darwinian-psychology/

Anne was my advisor at the University of Waterloo, an institution that denied her tenure for fifty years, despite a brilliant academic career that rivaled that of her storied father, Harold Innis ("the thinking person's Marshall McLuhan"). The fact that Waterloo never recognized Anne is doubly shameful when you consider that she was awarded the Order of Canada:

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/queen-of-giraffes-among-new-order-of-canada-recipients-with-global-influence

Anne lived a brilliant live, struggling through adversity, never compromising on her principles, inspiring a vast number of students and colleagues. She lived to ninety one, and died earlier this month. Her ashes will be spread "on the breeding grounds of her beloved giraffes" in South Africa this summer:

https://obituaries.therecord.com/obituary/anne-innis-dagg-1089534658

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/13/goulash/#material-misstatement

Image: Valeva1010 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hungarian_Goulash_Recipe.png

CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

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nhl-stories · 1 year

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Did You Come? – Matthew Tkachuk

Summary: Deciding to pick up and move your life doesn't make you stupid, right?

Author’s Note: Angst, infidelity, and adult content below, enter at your own risk.

Word Count: 2.6k

Album Series Masterlist

Was she good? Just what you liked? Did you come? How many times?

I used to be smart, I swear.

I was logical and calculating. I made pro and con lists, had five and ten-year plans. I thought things out. Some called me rigid; I called it goal-oriented and it had been working out for me.

Then I met Matthew and I became an idiot.

The worst part is I loved every moment of it.

I loved the spontaneity, how I had to loosen up and go with the flow of his far more unpredictable schedule. I loved the tweaks I made in my ten-year plan to fit around him.

I spent years swearing I would never be the type of woman who would change for a man and yet here I was about to tell a man I was willing to pick up my entire life and move 4,000 km for him and his dreams.

I really was smart once, I swear.

But now I’m in front of a foreign house with a pros and cons list that just has one pro: because you love him. And that pro outweighed everything else.

I finally build up the courage to ring the doorbell, happy it doesn't have a camera. I wait for a minute before trying again. I look at my phone, wondering if the time change has turned me around and he’s not at home. That there’s a game or practice I didn’t account for.

But before I can berate myself for not quadruple checking my plans, a shirtless Matthew opens the door.

The daily sun exposure has been good to him, his golden skin makes me want to cry. I didn’t realize how much my body had ached to be near him and I throw myself into his arms before he even has time to react.

I squeeze him so tightly, like I can’t believe he’s real or that if I let go, he’ll disappear like a mirage. I squeeze tighter to keep my mind off sobbing.

“Babe, you’re suffocating me,” he finally chokes out and I let go, embarrassed.

I pull back and smile, the speech I had rehearsed already forgotten as my brain turns to goo around him.

“What are you doing here?” He runs a hand through his hair, which is messier than usual even with his curls kept short.

“I wanted to surprise you,” I swallow before I can admit the rest, trying to gauge his stoic expression.

“I– I want to move down here,” I put on a brave face, I want to show how sure I am about this.

“Seriously?” a smirk turns into a grin.

I can’t speak, my voice is certain to crack, so I nod instead.

“You’re gonna love it down here, it’s so different from Calgary but it’s great. And I’ll help you figure out how you can take the bar down here and we’ll find you a new firm and–“

I cut him off with a kiss. It’s the first we’ve shared since we packed up the last of his boxes in Calgary and you could tell in how quickly it becomes heated.

My tongue explores his mouth as if I’d find something new after all these months and he’s pulling me closer and closer as if he could merge our bodies by force.

I have to pull away because I feel woozy but I can’t bear the separation for too long. I move my lips along his jaw towards his ear.

“I missed you so much.”

I bite his ear lobe and hear him growl, primal and low, in response. He picks me up in a flash and before I can even register the layout of his place, I’m on my back in his bed.

“I can’t believe you’re really here,” he has a wolfish smile as he hovers above me, but there’s sincerity dripping from his tone.

He kisses me firmly and I feel my bones melting as he moves down my body.

“I never thought you’d come,” he whispers against my collar bone and I’m the one who moves to get my shirt off.

“Eager, are we?” He laughs at my hands already working their way down to my pants.

I can’t even think of a good response.

Because I’m an idiot now.

So instead, I just nod. Desperate for his touch, his attention, his praise. He’s suddenly my sun and my world revolves around him.

“I think I can do something about that.”

He moves my hands and pins them over my head with one hand and pushes his other under my waistband. He kisses me gently as his fingers brush against my soaked underwear and I can feel his cocky smirk against my lips. I can feel my blood leaving my brain.

“It’s been a while, huh?” he takes his sweet time dipping his fingers in, “no one knows how to touch you like this.”

I can only let out a whimper in response. He’s right, my vibrator can only do so much.

“Let me show you how happy I am that you’re here.”

He moves between my aching legs and suddenly I’m exposed as I can feel his hot breath and it takes all my will power to not just shoves his face in there.

“Matty please,” I hate how desperate I sound.

Usually, he likes to tease things out, make me fall apart until I’m begging. But it’s been months and I’m making that pretty obvious so he gives in pretty quickly. I almost let out a sigh of relief when his lips wrap around my clit.

I thread my hands in his curls and try to focus on the individual sensations to make this last, but I’m overstimulated. I squeeze my thighs against his head and find myself orgasming far too quickly.

“Fuck, that was hot,” Matt rests his head on my thigh and looks up at me, pupils blown out.

“Yeah, sorry.”

“No need to be sorry,” he kisses my thigh, “cause there’s more where that came from, once I catch my breath.”

I have just enough time to run a hand lovingly through his hair and slow my heartrate to an acceptable level before he begins his second assault.

I can keep my thoughts straight this time around, at least for the time being. I can focus on the feeling of his tongue and the pressure of his suction and how his fingers curl just so inside of me.

I throw my head back and notice a hair tie sitting on the bedside table, the side that would be mine. In the moment my brain is flashing red flags, but another part of me thinks that Taryn was probably here at some point, and another part of my brain feels Matt nip at my clit and curl his fingers in the perfect way.

That last part wins out and all I can do is ride out the waves of pleasure and roll my eyes into the back of my head.

Have I mentioned I’m an idiot?

We wake up several hours and orgasms later, Matthew’s head on my chest. He says he missed falling asleep to the sound of my heartbeat.

I carefully slip out from under him and take stock of his new place. I start in the kitchen since I haven’t eaten since I got here. His fridge is mostly bare except for some sports drinks and coconut water and beer.

Thankfully, Matthew has a bit of a sweet tooth and there’s ice cream in the freezer. Not the most nutritious refuel, but I’m too euphoric to really think about it.

I survey the place now; it clearly has had a woman’s touch. I suspect Chantal had a big hand in that like she had in Matthew’s old place. But it’s still a little too put together, without any intervention he’s been known to get a bit messy. I remember insisting on spending time in my much tidier home early on in the relationship.

I peek out his curtains to see the backyard, there are a couple of plants by the pool I know he couldn’t keep alive on his own.

“Going out there naked?” I jump at Matthew’s voice.

“As fun as sunburning my vag sounds,” I laugh and feed him a spoonful ice cream.

He wraps his arms around me and I feel like this could be home.

We spend the rest of the day lazily wrapped in each other. The heat has died down but it’s not any less intimate. Any excuse to be close and touch we take. My heart aches thinking about all the time we spent apart because I had to think it through and not just dive in headfirst.

Things already feel pretty normal when I’m getting ready to go to a game the next day. Going through the motions feels so familiar though I need far fewer layers, which makes me feel a bit naked as I take an Uber to the rink.

I eventually find my way to the family suite and am greeted by a familiar scene and a familiar face.

“Oh my god, I didn’t know you were coming to town!”

I’m wrapped into the tight embrace of Sam Bennett’s girlfriend, Maeve, our time together only briefly overlapped but we had instantly bonded over being born and raised Alberta babes. Another piece of home.

“I kind of surprised Matthew.”

“I’m sure it was a hell of a surprise, how long are you here?”

“Forever?”

Her smile falters for a second, “No shit. I guess I never thought getting you out of Calgary was an option.”

“I didn’t really either,” I shrug as a knot begins to tighten in my stomach.

“I’m really happy you’re here though,” she squeezes my hand before pulling me towards some of the other women, who have not-so-discreetly been trying to figure out how I fit in.

“Guys, this is Matthew’s –– girlfriend,” Maeve’s pause between her last two words makes me uncomfortable.

“Oh?” One woman speaks up before a list of names is rattled off and I can’t get out of my head enough to remember any of them.

There’s a tension in the suite and I can tell it’s not about the game, although that’s fairly close. I try and ignore it by keeping the focus off me, just making small talk and catching up with Maeve.

Halfway through the second period another woman walks into the suite. She’s tall, tan, and maybe a bit overdressed for a hockey game, even by some WAG standards. She silently acknowledges the group before taking a seat.

Then I feel everyone’s eyes on me and I feel desperately out of the loop. I look over to Maeve with a blank stare, hoping for some clarification.

“That fucking bastard,” she says under her breath but loud enough for me to understand exactly what’s going on now.

Like I said, I’m a fucking idiot.

“Let’s go get a drink,” she says dragging me out of the suite, a buzz of whispers from the other women growing distant.

I’m surprised when we actually start standing in a drink line, but everything feels so surreal I can’t really comprehend anything.

Maeve orders two drinks and hands me one, I down it in one go.

“I’m so sorry,” her eyes are glossy and I don’t know how I’m not crying, not collapsing on the floor.

“I– I– I guess I don’t get it,” my words haven’t caught up with where my brain is already.

“I didn’t even realize you guys were still together. I mean, I don’t think the girl is that serious, but still.”

When I don’t respond she tries to fill the space, “I can take you back to Matt’s place and get your stuff. You can stay with me and Sam until you get a flight or whatever.”

I swallow hard around the thick ball of despair lodged in my throat.

“No,” I croak out, “I need to see him.”

Maeve just nods and we go back to the family suite and I act like nothing happened. I pretend the other woman doesn’t exist.

Maeve holds my hand the whole time.

We go down by the locker room when the game ends, we hang towards the back of the group.

Sam comes out and grins when he sees me. I can’t help but smile and relish the big bear hug he gives me. Then he sees what Maeve already sees: Matthew comes out of the locker room and the other woman practically throws herself at him, hanging off of him as she gives him a sloppy kiss.

Matthew pulls away as fast as he can, like somehow that will make her not exist.

His face crumples when he finally makes eye contact with me.

Finally, the smart person within me takes over. I march right up to him and smack him across the face. The sound reverberates in the hallway and I turn to walk away before I can see anyone’s reactions.

I don’t really know where I’m going, but I hear footsteps chasing after me and I know it’s Matthew.

“Baby,” he says as he takes hold of my wrist.

“Just take me back to your place Matthew, so I can get my stuff and get the fuck out of here.”

He thinks for a moment like he’s going to say something, but instead he just leads me to his car.

“Was she good? Did she make you come the way you like?” I sneer at him once he puts the car into drive.

He lets out a heavy and shaky sigh.

“You said you’d give me time to think about this, about us,” I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of my tears but I can only fight my body so much.

“Is this what giving me time means to you? Fucking someone else?”

He doesn’t say anything for a long while and I realize we’re parked in his driveway. I look over to see the redness from my slap blooming across his cheek, I take some pride in that.

“You hadn’t made any progress in months and you didn’t give me any signs that would change.”

“So, that makes this, okay? It’s my fault you found someone else?”

“Fuck, no, that’s not what I mean. I just never saw a world where you actually came down here and things with Casey just sort of happened.”

There’s something in the way he actually says her name that feels like an extra stab.

“She isn’t just a fuck buddy, is she?”

He shakes his head, “But–“

“No! You don’t get to justify things. You had a million chances to end it with me or tell me you didn’t want to be exclusive or literally anything else and you didn’t. I loved you so much I was willing to uproot my entire existence for you and you couldn’t even give me the decency of being honest.”

“I love you too.”

“I wish I could believe that.”

I stuff the few things I’ve taken out back into my bag, wanting to get out of here as soon as I can. But I leave my pros and cons list on the bed before I storm out.

I hope reading it keeps him up at night. Remembering how much I was willing to give up for him and how selfish he was instead. I hope my handwriting haunts him.

And maybe that makes me an idiot.

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wavetaxes · 10 months

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Wave Taxes Inc: Your Trusted Accounting Firm in Canada. We provide expert tax and accounting services to individuals and businesses, ensuring compliance, financial clarity, and peace of mind. Let us navigate the complexities while you focus on growing and thriving. Discover a smoother financial journey with Wave Taxes Inc. visit us: https://wavetaxes.ca

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nspccalgary · 1 year

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Tax & Accounting Services Calgary

Looking for reliable accounting services in Calgary? Look no further than NSPC Certified Public Accountants! Our team of experienced professionals is dedicated to providing comprehensive accounting solutions to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes. From bookkeeping and tax preparation to financial planning and reporting, we have the expertise to help you achieve your goals. Contact us today to learn more about how our services can benefit your business!

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mmtcpa · 1 year

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8 Smart Reasons Freelancers Should Hire An Accountant

Unless you’re an accountant in your own right, here are eight reasons freelancers should be outsourcing tax preparation and financial planning to an accountant, starting today.

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beiermathiesen · 2 years

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Sap Hr On-line Coaching From India, Best Sap Hr On-line Training Institute In Hyderabad

Also, take recommendations or decide ideas from already discovered or experienced candidates in the topic. HKR Trainings, with a team of industry specialists, are ready to boost your skilled profession and assist you to to get your dream job. The SAP HR training permits firms to successfully handle details about the individuals in their organization. It is integrated with different SAP modules and exterior systems. From the Organization Management perspective, companies can model a enterprise hierarchy, the relationships of employees to various business units and the reporting structure among staff. Due to the worth added by ERP’s to medium and large sized firms by method of enabling them to become ever more environment friendly, the growth within the implementation of ERP’s is inevitable.

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In the competitive enterprise circuit, hands-on expertise issues should you faucet the alternatives within the business. Our SAP internship in London program permits the learners to develop the required expertise and mature as an skilled. SAP software program program is useful to arrange operations and buyer relationships in a enterprise. SAP is worlds largest vendor of ERP options and demand for SAP Professionals is ever rising.

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Complete our certification-level programs to earn your Certified SAP Professional status from Michael Management. 50+ SAP skill assessments to establish your information gaps shortly. SAP HR/HCM Training value will rely upon course matter select by candidate & required time period to complete the course. Productivity and manipulation are the primary parts of any company. It permits quick decision-making to maintain up choosing on observe and drives regular process improvement. Correct use of operational and key efficiency indicators will drive accountability all through the operation and improve customer support ranges up. https://www.itraininglondon.co.uk/course/sap-hcm-training-certification-courses-london-online-uk may be utilized, much like handheld, wearable, and vehicle-mounted units, with system set-up options to tailor layouts for each. The duration of this course is three months, with a one hour session per day. Supply Chain Management and Analytics is an emerging field that requires skilled professionals. The scope of Supply Chain Management has grown exponentially with the advent of digital technologies. The course covers matters like supply chain analytics, SCM technique, SCM operations, SCM design and implementation, demand forecasting and planning, and so on. The demand for supply chain professionals is growing at an exponential rate in the present job market. Supply Chain Management & Analytics has been ranked one of many high 20 hottest jobs by Career Cast in 2018 as a result of there are more than 3 million job openings for these professionals in the US alone. A key instance is our current partnership with The Calgary and Area Child Advocacy Centre , a non-profit organization that exists to be a centre of hope for children, youth and families who are survivors of abuse.

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Students are given entry to the syllabus matters in order that they can revise and recap at their convenience.

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For all these causes, taking a SAP HR certification will certainly give a optimistic edge to HR professionals in job market.

You just have to voice out your question and we will be eager that can help you with an evidence. You want to inform us about the missed courses and we will fit you in the subsequent session and also present you recorded online video of the category. Yes, all SAP HR/HCM coaching materials is offered to the candidate from the consultant that include complete SAP HR/HCM Overview, SAP HR/HCM Configuration Document, SAP HR/HCM Training Video, SAP FI HR/HCM and so forth. The faculty students are given an opportunity to decide on a mode of teaching from our three completely completely different modes, depending on their necessities. Different coaching methods could be discovered for people as properly as for corporates. Unlike a lot of the on-line trainings at current, Our Online trainings are interactive classes and are much like our classroom trainings. The scholar shall be connecting to our Live digital classroom the place they're going to be ready work together with the coach. At Zoe Talent Solutions, we're working exhausting to deliver you probably the greatest and the newest applications on various topics that are extreme in demand to cater to the wants of the professionals to steer forward in their careers. This coaching course incorporates Dreamweaver teaching, Photoshop for the Web coaching and a Web Design coaching day that can cowl the fundamentals of fantastic design. Topic-specific exercises in the SAP system give individuals the possibility to achieve first-hand sensible expertise of the above processes. We provide Customised One to One training in both Classroom and Online based totally trainings. A tailored course for school students looking out for undeterred consideration from the tutor the least bit the instances.

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gdpcmarketing · 7 months

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Finding the Right Fit: Exploring Accounting Firms in Calgary

Calgary, often dubbed the “Heart of the New West,” is a thriving hub of economic activity. The city’s business landscape is as diverse as its people, ranging from small startups to large corporations. One common thread among all these businesses is the need for sound financial management and expertise in navigating the complex world of accounting, taxation, and financial planning. This is where accounting firms in Calgary come into play, serving as trusted partners in the journey towards financial success.

The Role of Accounting Firms in Calgary

In a city with such a dynamic and competitive business environment, having a knowledgeable and reliable accounting firm by your side is essential. These firms play multifaceted roles in supporting businesses of all sizes and industries. Let’s delve deeper into their pivotal functions:

Tax Planning and Compliance: Calgary accounting firms are well-versed in the ever-evolving landscape of tax regulations. They help businesses navigate the complexities of taxation, ensuring compliance while optimizing tax strategies to minimize liabilities.

Financial Reporting and Analysis: Accurate and timely financial reporting is crucial for informed decision-making. Accounting firms prepare financial statements that adhere to accounting standards and offer in-depth analysis to guide strategic planning.

Business Advisory Services: Beyond crunching numbers, accounting firms provide valuable insights into market trends, industry benchmarks, and performance analysis. They help businesses chart a course for growth and success.

Audit and Assurance: For businesses requiring audits, these firms conduct independent examinations to provide assurance on the accuracy and reliability of financial information.

Bookkeeping and Record-Keeping: Day-to-day financial transactions can be overwhelming. Accounting firms offer bookkeeping services that ensure all financial records are organized and up to date.

Budgeting and Forecasting: Developing a solid financial plan is essential for any business. Accounting firms assist in budgeting and forecasting, helping businesses set achievable financial goals.

Technology Integration: In an increasingly digital world, accounting firms can help businesses leverage technology for efficient financial management, including cloud-based accounting solutions and automation.

Choosing the Right Accounting Firm in Calgary

With numerous accounting firms in Calgary, finding the right fit for your business can be a challenging task. Here are some key considerations to help you make an informed decision:

Expertise and Industry Knowledge: Seek a firm with experience in your specific industry or business type. Industry-specific knowledge can be invaluable in understanding your unique financial needs.

Reputation and References: Check references and read reviews to gauge the firm’s reputation and client satisfaction. Word-of-mouth recommendations can be insightful.

Service Offerings: Ensure the firm offers the specific services your business requires, whether it’s tax planning, auditing, consulting, or financial planning.

Communication: Effective communication is paramount. Choose a firm that is responsive, approachable, and willing to explain financial matters in a way that you can understand.

Technology Capabilities: Inquire about the firm’s technological capabilities. A modern accounting firm should be able to harness technology to streamline financial processes.

Fees and Budget: Understand the firm’s fee structure and ensure it aligns with your budget and expectations. Transparency in pricing is crucial.

The Benefits of a Strong Accounting Partnership

Having the right accounting firm in Calgary as your financial partner offers several advantages:

Financial Stability: Proper financial management leads to greater stability and resilience, even in uncertain economic times.

Tax Optimization: Expertise in tax planning can lead to substantial cost savings by optimizing your tax strategy.

Strategic Growth: Accounting firms provide valuable insights to help you make informed decisions, fostering strategic growth.

Time and Resource Savings: Outsourcing financial tasks to professionals allows you to focus on your core business activities.

Compliance and Risk Management: Ensuring compliance with regulations and managing financial risks is essential for long-term success.

Conclusion

In the bustling business landscape of Calgary, accounting firms are not just service providers; they are strategic partners in your financial journey. Whether you’re a startup striving for financial stability or a well-established enterprise seeking to expand, these firms offer the expertise, experience, and dedication to help you achieve your financial goals. Finding the right fit among the many accounting firms in Calgary can make all the difference in your path towards financial success and growth.

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