#trying to get back into regular posting and setting with a queue I’ve been busy with school these past few months | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

forgot-my-line · 5 months

Text

I’m gonna post it here because all the friends I have are also close to this person or overly straight and I am very much gay with the occasional exception of a pretty face. Sorry for how long it is. It’s like a short story almost.

Let me tell everyone a story. I have had a friend since grade 9. She really pretty and cool but we were basically on opposite ends of our friend group cause she was smart and I was less so. Towards the end of grade 9 COVID shut everything down and we both kind of ghosted everyone. Grade 10 was a mess of day one day two and online schooling so there wasn’t anytime between everything to figure emotions out so I just didn’t.

Grade 11 happens and we’re end up playing hockey against each other. It was a shit show and the first game we played i think 4 or 5 players were injured/kicked. Really horrible for them but it gave us something other than my almost failing or her almost 100% grades. We grew a little closer.

Grade 12. COVID is finally over (more or less) and the school system is back to regular. Somehow throughout the rest of high school we hadn’t had a single class together. I was in the French program and the band program and she was in the drama and enviro programs so it just never worked out. Somehow even with me passing my grade 11 English class with a 62 I made it into ap English. This was term 1. So now I have a class I’ve struggled with in the past and my friend who is really really smart.

I’ve forgotten to mention I didn’t realize I was almost fully completely gay until after my second/third boyfriend. (I say that questioning myself because my actual second boyfriend lasted just over a week and I don’t know if that counts or not. Besides the point). So my really amazing friend has watched me go through two trashy guys and has given me solid advice through both of them and probably thinks I’m a more guy-orientated gay instead of ✨girls✨.

Anyway somehow my at-the-time boyfriend also made it into this class. Unfortunate but oh well. He had lower English grades than I did. This is when he started acting really trashy instead of just every now and again trashy. Queue my super duper fantastic friend to my rescue once more. I could not ask for a better more reliable friend.

Did I mention in grade 12 we made the same hockey team so now I’m spending more time than ever with her. Did I also mention how amazing and awesome she is? cause she is. I didn’t mention how I am a closeted nb who uses a completely different name and pronoun set with my friends than the rest of the world. She didn’t slip up one single time nor did she accidentally put me. Basically she used little nicknames like buddy to refer to me.

Anyway I’m getting slightly off topic. First term passes and she’s be my side and has my back and I didn’t mention my other really annoying friend let’s call her shy. Second term starts and we find we all, all being my amazing beautiful friend, shy, and I, have a physics class together. This is the only class I am actually good at mostly cause it was math-y and I was good at that type of thinking in my head. I’m super excited because I have another class with my wonderful friend and it was something I usually don’t embarrass myself in. Well shy comes along and she’s always been the type to try and one up me. For no reason other than I was in lots of the same classes and we hung around each other a lot. Besides the point. Every little question was a competition and when I say I was good at physics I’m telling you I averaged nineties when the class average was seventies. I beat her every single time except once and that was the end of our friendship.

I couldn’t be better than her. They was no way I could be in her mind. My genius of a friend was put into an awkward position because in shy’s mind, she could be better than her so shy always asked for her help and when she was busy she told shy to ask me since I had the fourth or third top score. Keep in mind we were sitting beside each other (my very very pretty friend and I) while shy was a row in front of us. I knew what was going on. I knew the questions she asked. I knew the answers too, most importantly. She never asked me and if she did I explained it wrong or didn’t understand what she meant (with my friend then later explaining the exact same way in an annoyed tone).

Anyway eventually my awesome friend got sick of this attitude and called her on it. This was just after she beat me by two points cause I rounded wrong and proceeded to use the wrong number. Shy was a bragger. (Side note: if anyone wants to hear ask me about her entitledness later). My stunning friend came to my rescue once again. This is about the time we started to casually hang out I think. It was never just us unless someone left first but somehow it also seemed someone left earlier than predicted.

So now my spectacular friend has saved me from two bad boyfriends and a semi-toxic (fully toxic if you ask her) friendship. And we’re starting uni. At this point I’m pretty sure I’m super gay with a side of gay. It’s also at this point where we graduated and are now starting university.

I was the only other person besides my dearest friend to make it/apply into the main uni near us. We’re both pretty nervous cause it’s a big change but now it seems we’re spending even more time together. Maybe it’s just more one on one time cause really it’s still just lunches and hockey games which I’ll get to later. This is where I start processing my thoughts and putting them all together. I think I might of developed a small crush. We’ll get to that later too if you’re still around. Sorry for how long this is.

This is the about the time where I start hanging around a different friend too. We’ll call her Dolly. Cause we made dolls together but that’s also I different story I can tell at another time. Dolly and I spent time together whenever I didn’t want to be in class, which to say was very often. Sadly, my remarkable friend is becoming an engineer and can’t skip classes if she wants to pass.

So now Dolly and I, and the greatest ever friend and I are both really close. This is almost where the dilemma comes in so listen/read closely. Remember those hockey games I mentioned earlier? Well since my breathtaking friend is a year-ish older than I am, she has aged out of the league we were playing in. Now beer leagues are her jam when she can get subbed up. Recently she’s been inviting me more and she’s been coming to more of my games and I guess when I write it down it doesn’t seem as significant but it does mean something so keep that in mind.

This is where my maybe crush turns into a probably crush.

Not only do we do hockey games and long road trips to hockey games but also we’ve started hanging out out of school or work contexts more. I’ve gone to the gym with her and her lovely mom more times than I can count. I’ve eaten at a fully fledged family gathering and had all the fun with sisters and cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents and great grandparents. We’ve gone and counted the stars and watched more than one meteor shower in the coldest months this year. I really really like simply hearing them talk or just being around them.

The thing is, Dolly has invited me to do those things with her to. Not hockey games cause she doesn’t play, she’ll come to mine occasionally but not near as often as my incredible friend, but playing video games together or sewing our own dolls. Things like that. Different yet similar. I’ve eaten with her family, not extended but her dad, her mom and her brother. I’ve gone star gazing with her but not out of the city. We have tea on her deck and it’s fun! really it is. I really really like her too. Just my super amazing friend I like differently.

I know it’s probably not as big of a deal as I’m making it out in my head to be and I can have both of them as friends at least but sometimes I’ll feel guilty over spending more time with one than the other.

And even though I like like my astonishing, supperb friend I don’t want to mess anything up with our current friendship either. Maybe it’s because I like like her? Idk this is why I avoided processing for like two/three years.

help?

0 notes

romanceforransom · 3 years

Text

There was a writer!sander fic that i started a little while ago but didn’t know where to go with it. So, I decided to post it here 🤷‍♀️

I might continue it...? idk. but let me know what you think :)

I ran into my local bookshop, the bell notifying my entrance as I swung open the heavy wooden door.

I had made sure to set my alarm extra early for that morning, giving myself enough time to get there before I had to make my way to work. There was a book that I had been waiting what felt like years for, and I wanted to pick it up as soon as humanly possible.

“Has it come?” I asked excitedly, rushing over to the front desk and locking eyes with an amused Zoë

She was used to my erratic behaviour by now, becoming desensitised to my hyperactive persona that I don whenever a new book comes out.

Not that I do it with every book. Of course, I love most things that come out, burying my nose in anything that I possibly can. But nothing gets me quite as excited as the books by Earthling Oddity.

Nobody knew this unknown author’s real name, or what they looked like. The air of mystery obviously created a lot of hype, gaining them a lot of followers trying to crack the code and reveal the hidden identity. What really made them popular, though, was the magical way they created stories.

I was always completely enraptured by the words written on the pages. Becoming engrossed in the fictional world they created and riding out the waves of emotions that came with the storylines.

They had come out with a new book recently, a new addition to one of their series, and I had been patiently (except not really. Unless pacing up and down the flat and checking my phone constantly for updates was considered as being patient) for it to be delivered to my bookstore.

“It’s here” Zoë replied, sounding amused “I reserved one for you, even though I knew you would be the first one in here today”

She reached underneath the desk and produced the long-awaited book

I stared at it in awe, admiring the bright colours and detailed art on the front cover.

“Wow” I breathed out, smiling

“You looking forward to reading it?”

I tore my eyes away from the book and looked up at her, squinting my eyes slightly “Seriously? I have been counting down the days for this book! Of course, I’m looking forward to finally being one step closer to unravelling the mystery that lies between the pages…”

She chuckled as I lifted my hand to tenderly stroke the front cover “Should I leave you two alone?”

“No, that’s ok” I said, picking it up and placing it gently in my backpack “I have to get going anyway”

“Ok, well keep me updated on it!”

I walked backward towards the door, grinning “Hourly updates are a given”

***

“Why are you carrying your bag so carefully?” Jana asked me curiously as I got to work

I had placed it gently on the ground in the back room with my coat, not wanting to damage the valuable contents lying inside of it.

“Seriously Jana? It’s got the book that I’ve been waiting months for”

Realisation washed over her face. I had been talking her ear off about it for a number of shifts. The amount of information she had actually been listening to and retaining would forever be a mystery, but she let me talk all the time without much judgement so that was the main thing.

“Aah ok, that makes more sense”

I pulled my apron over my head “What did you think was in there?”

She shrugged as she went back to stacking food in the display case “Judging by the way you were handling it, I thought for sure there was a bomb in there”

I shook my head at her amusedly “So your co-worker has a bomb, and you don’t do a thing to stop it? The least you could have done was taken my bag”

“We have a full shift ahead of us, Robbe” she deadpanned “Excuse me for not having much pep right now. I want to move as little as possible and retain the small amount of energy I have stored. Wrestling a bomb from you would probably take everything I had”

“Oh, come on. Shifts here aren’t that bad”

She raised her eyebrows at me “Go out all night drinking before our next shift and then tell me that again”

We both worked at a coffee shop in town. I actually quite enjoyed it. Being able to chat with people and brighten their day with coffee and cakes was a nice feeling.

Of course, it wasn’t something I wanted to do forever. Film making was my passion, the thing that I aspired to do in the future. Maybe even make some adaptations of Earthling’s books. Who knows? But, for now at least, I had to make do with making drinks.

Unlike me, Jana really did not like her job. She liked interacting with the customers, being the social butterfly she is, but the part where she actually had to serve and clean was never really something she enjoyed doing.

If I got paid every time she moaned when cleaning down the tables, there would be no need for this job. I would be rolling in money. She always claimed that it was manual labour, and she was going to sue the company for it. It did make me wonder what she thought would happen when she signed up for the job, but I never dared ask as she was always in a mood. It was best not to make things worse and just nod along.

“So, that book you have” she said “That’s the one with the mystery author, right?”

I nodded “Yep, they use a pen name. Lots of people have obviously tried to step forward and claim to be the author but the real one has yet to be revealed. If they ever will be. Fame isn’t for everyone, so I wouldn’t blame them for keeping hidden and basking silently in the glory of their writing”

“Aren’t you curious about who it is?” she asked me

“Well, yeah” I replied “I have always wondered who it is. I would love to be able to properly give my gratitude to the person that created such wonderful books… but I wouldn’t go out of my way to try and drag someone into the spotlight that doesn’t want to be there”

Many people on the internet have been trying to do exactly that. I have never understood why. Sure, you want to be the one to solve this giant question. But if it involves having to invade someone’s private life and tear down all the security and boundaries, they have built around them in order to remain anonymous, why would you want to do that?

What does revealing a random stranger’s identity add to your life? Nothing. It wouldn’t make you best friends with this person. In fact, you would probably end up as public enemy number one. Snooping in other people’s business isn’t cute, it’s creepy. Especially when they go out of their way to hide it.

The customers began flooding in. People coming in for their takeaway cups of coffee to beat away the morning tiredness. Monday’s were always especially bad. The weekend always wipes people out. Combining that with five days left of work looming over their head, a constant reminder of the seemingly never-ending week ahead of them, anyone would be exhausted.

Then, after a while, I spotted a familiar head of bleach blonde head of hair among the crowd out the corner of my eye.

“Robbe” I heard Jana hiss beside me as I continued making drinks for the awaiting customers “He’s here!”

Sander was a regular at the shop. He would always come in with an easy smile on his face and instantly brighten my day.

He was one of the most beautiful people I had ever laid my eyes on. Not only that, but he was also incredibly kind. Always dishing out compliments and making conversation with us while he patiently waited for his order. He has even defended us a couple of times when customers have been rowdy and impatient during the rush hours. Sander was just an all-round saint.

Jana knew that I had a small crush on him. I never told her outright, but she saw the way my face lit up whenever he was around and joined the dots herself.

I waited until he got to the front of the line and greeted him with a shy smile, trying not to blush like I normally did

“Hey, Robbe!” he said, grinning “How are you this morning?”

“I’m good” I squeaked “Will it be your usual, today?”

Ok, so maybe small crush was a bit of an understatement. He always seemed to make me tongue tied and act like a complete idiot. Which was a great way to act in front of someone you want to impress.

He nodded “You know me so well. Either that or I am in here too often”

“Nonsense!” Jana called to him “We love having you in here, Sander… some more than others” she muttered under breath, meaning only for me to hear it

As I was making his drink (a chocolate mocha – which was basically just a fancy coffee with chocolate, always with whipped cream on top) he leaned against the counter, making light conversation with Jana and me. He never seemed aware that we were at work and that he might be holding up the queue. Not that there were many of them at that moment. He had come just at the right time, most of the people filing out and going to their jobs.

“So, did that book come that you were talking about?” he asked me

“Um, yeah” I was surprised he remembered. I had made an offhand remark about it a few weeks back. But then, he always did seem to pick up on small details like that often “I got it this morning before I came to work. The first thing I’m going to do when I get out of here is run home to read it”

“Really?” he said, sounding faintly surprised “You are that eager to read it?”

I turned towards him, placing the steaming cup of coffee on the tray next to the croissant Jana got for him.

“Well, I’ve been waiting for it for so long… it takes priority over everything else as far as I’m concerned”

“You know Robbe” Jana said teasingly from beside me, jabbing me lightly in the side “forever a bookworm”

Sander smiled as he picked up the tray from the counter “When I come back, you’ll have to tell me how you’re finding it”

Just as I was about to reply, Jana jumped in “He’ll only have good things to say. He’s obsessed with this author, won’t shut up about them. It’s kind of annoying actually”

He smirked “Maybe I’ll have to check them out”

“You should!” I told him enthusiastically “Their works are amazing. Even if you aren’t really into reading, this person can have you drawn in with just a page of their writing”

“I don’t doubt that, I’m sure you have impeccable taste” Sander said, winking at me

He often did that but even after weeks of seeing it, I was still blown away each time. He always seemed to take my breath away without even trying.

Sander made his way over to a table, placing his tray down and taking out his small black notebook as normal. It was his daily routine and moved like clockwork every time. I don’t think there has been a single day he has come in when he hasn’t been scribbling away dedicatedly in there, pen moving furiously across the paper.

I was always curious about what he was doing in it, but never dared ask. It could be something deeply personal and private, I wouldn’t want to invade his comfort zone like that.

He was in his own world when he wrote. As soon as the book was opened it was like a protective bubble opened up around him, blocking out anyone and everything from his work. If we wanted to ask if he wanted a refill or anything else to eat, it would take a few tries to get his attention. Sander manages to block it out so easily.

Although it was a similar thing when I read. It was like escaping to another realm where nobody could reach you. Like a haven that you could take shelter in and escape from all your problems, if only for a short amount of time.

#wtfock #wtfam #wtfock fanfic #fanfic

30 notes · View notes

littlejeanniebean · 4 years

Text

Ep. 3 | The Marauders: Riddle Records

A/N: “Come to the dark side. We have a solo career.” - Tom Riddle Jr., probably. On a lighter note, I can just see them backstage like this by the lovely artist @theimpossiblefifth��. Read on AO3 :) Enjoy! - J xx

One look in your eyes

I can read your mind

You're naughty, my type

Care for a good time?

You could be just like all your high society friends at high tea

You could get with a football player

But there’s nothing like a shot of adrenaline in the morning

You know you want a dragon slayer

“Like me,” James mouthed seductively to the camera and winked.

“I’m Alice Fortescue, these wonderful lads are The Marauders, thank you for joining us this Saturday Night Live!” the actress grinned widely as the camera backed away.

The boys all gathered around her in a group hug.

“Holy shit! That was incredible!” Obviously, this was Sirius speaking.

“You were wonderful, honey,” a low voice whispered.

A smiling man with sweet eyes and a mop of dark hair put his arms around Alice.

“Oh, everyone, this is my boyfriend, Frank!” the bubbly actress grinned widely, “He’s a photographer for GQ.”

“Sick!” James shook his hand.

“Nice to meet you, Frank; lovely working with you, Alice; hope you’ll both come to one of our shows sometime, ta-ta!” Sirius practically dragged the band away before anyone could say anything more.

“What was that?” Remus tutted at his boyfriend.

“Yeah, ta-ta?” the bespectacled boy wiggled his nose to adjust his glasses that had gone askew, “Who says that?”

“Not what I meant,” the pale, mousy-haired boy shrugged off his suit jacket in their shared dressing room.

“Look, I’ll explain later!” Sirius pleaded, “Just hurry up and let’s get the hell -”

“Yoo-hoo! Siri!” a warbling, high-pitched voice giggled on the other side of the door, “This is their room here, Tommy...”

“Christ,” the dark-haired boy covered his face with his hands.

“We’ll deal with Bella,” James set his jaw and turned to the other two, “Ready?”

Remus and Peter rolled up their dress shirt sleeves and nodded.

The trio filed out of the dressing room, forcing Bella Black and her friend backward, and immediately shut the door behind them.

“He doesn’t want to see you or any of your family again, Bella,” said James sternly, giving the show's new cameraman the stink-eye for good measure.

Bella stuck her tongue out childishly.

Her guest grimaced and offered his hand to the boys, “I’m sorry about her. She overheard I was interested in speaking with you young talents and… well, it got a bit out of hand. I’m Tom Riddle, of Riddle Records.”

Really, the man with chiseled features and dark slicked back hair wasn’t much older than they were. But he was dressed more expensively than they could ever be comfortable with, even with the fresh success of their debut album.

“You’re Senior’s kid,” James nodded, his mother being an agent in the industry. He noted just the smallest flinch at the mention of the man's father. “With all due respect, we already have a label.”

“A label that has you locked into a contract as a group,” Tom gave them each his card and presented James with another one for Sirius, “We would pay any fees associated with breaking your current contract, then we would launch your solo careers - James as the pop prince, Sirius as the rock and roll bad boy, Remus as the R&B god, and Peter as the jazz legend!”

“We’re better musicians together,” said Remus.

Tom leaned in, “Your success now, quadrupled. Plus the potential for high-engagement collaborations among you. The freedom to create in your own style on top of that. Imagine it. And give me a call.”

"Ta-ta," Bella blew them each a kiss in a way that could only be described as menacing. When they were out of the boys' earshot she simpered, "You're such a clever businessman, Tommy."

"Don't call me that," he yanked his arm away and pressed his phone to his ear irritably, "I found us some new business and laid the groundwork. Can I have my allowance now?"

The Marauders flew back to Scotland that night and rehearsed for months until they were ready to drop before flying back to LA for Night One.

“Nervous?” Sirius whispered while they waited for their opening act, DJ Dedalus Diggle, to finish his set.

“Why would you ask me that?” James huffed, adjusting his bright red tie for the umpteenth time.

“You need more glitter,” Molly patted his cheekbones lightly with her pointer finger, which was covered in the golden stuff.

“Five minutes, boys!”

“Thanks, Arthur!” Remus spoke for them all.

“We’ve got this, Jimbo!” Peter bounced excitedly on his heels.

“Easy for you to say. You’ve been performing at recitals since you were big enough to reach the keys from the bench.”

“The jitters never get old,” his baby-faced friend told him, “but we’re all going out there. And with everything we do together, we always have fun.”

James nodded to himself and made sure to check on their drummer for the tour, “You good, Kingsley?”

The man in a rose-red disco suit twirled the sticks deftly in his hands, “Let’s do this.”

“... and now, Los Angeles,” Diggle hyped the crowd, “give it up… for The Marauders!”

The lights went up and the boys looked out at the incredibly emotional fans who’d come to see them.

“Right,” James whispered, reaching for the microphone with shaking hands, “A-one, two, three.”

I don’t have a lot of time

I’m running for my dear life

Can’t breathe without you by

Aye aye aye

It’s a full house

But I’ll seek you out

It’s a wild crowd

But I’ll seek you out

I don’t know how

But I’ll seek you out

James couldn’t help grinning ear to ear as Sirius broke out into his guitar solo.

Remus pointed out a sign that said, “Marry me, James Potter!”

The lead singer laughed and spoke into his mic, “Well, will you buy me dinner first, at least?”

The girl promptly fainted.

Arthur was by her side immediately to make sure she was alright.

“Oh, dear, you’ve hit your head,” Molly crouched down beside him and handed the young girl an ice pack.

The red-headed manager got his first good look at the videographer and her multi-pocketed fishing vest and cargo pants.

She noticed him staring, “I’ve known these boys a long time. You never know what you’re going to need.”

“Good advice,” he helped her and the fan back up in one go, “I’m Arthur.”

“Molly,” she grinned, hoisting her camera back onto her capable shoulders and focused back in on James.

Under your spell, I like how you play it

Keeping it cool is so overrated

Waiting on you, every breath bated

Hey hey hey

They played LA two more nights before moving on to San Francisco. Then Vegas, then Seattle, and across the rest of the continent, all the way to New York.

“Madison Square Garden,” James swallowed, taking in the iconic jumbotron above their heads and the entire stadium, really.

Just three hours later, he was up on that very stage, sweat trickling down his back and the bridge of his nose as he sang his heart out about a funny story the designer, Lily Evans once related about her sister via Instagram post.

There’s a little house on Privet Drive

Where nothing ever happens

Little curtain twitcher of a wife

And a little boy and husband

But when they leave for their nine to five

And the little boy goes to school

The little old lady with cats ninety-nine

Does what she wills to do

Living next to ordinary no. 4

So much to do, so much to explore

The grocer down the street from me

His daughter left for university

And he needs the comfort of my tabbies

Yessiree, that’s what I’m here for

Your neighbour next to ordinary no. 4

After that, they went all over South America. The streets were typically too narrow to drive a tour bus around, so they often jetted from one country to another and rented a little convoy of minivans to take them to the arenas from their hotels and back.

“Shit, Petey’s got food poisoning!” Remus fussed over the poor boy.

“I’m fine! Really!” the blond insisted before doubling over and retching once more.

“I can fill in,” DJ Diggle adjusted his signature flat cap, “I have all your songs pre-recorded -”

“We have half an hour to get it out of his system!” Sirius declared determinedly, “We’re not going on without you, Pete!”

“I’ve got the doctor!” Arthur came in, followed closely by a middle-aged woman with apple cheeks and curly hair.

“You need to replace your fluids,” Molly handed Peter a bottle of electrolytes.

“Yeah, it’s a common bacterial infection going around among tourists,” said the doctor, giving him a dose of antibiotics, “He’s not in any shape to perform, you lot, so you might as well let him rest.”

“I can - oh,” Peter ran to the bathroom.

“How soon can you give him another dose of that?” Sirius asked anxiously.

“Not any time in the next half hour,” she narrowed her eyes at him, apparently having overheard his earlier proclamation.

“Poppy’s right,” said Arthur, “Peter’s health comes first. Dedalus, isolate the keyboards in every track and queue the set list.”

“Try to keep in time,” Sirius added.

“No improvising for tonight, lads,” Arthur warned the regular band members.

“But -”

“I’m serious.”

“And so am I!” he could only maintain a straight face for two and a half seconds after he said this.

James sighed as they waited for the DJ to introduce them half an hour later, “It’s not going to be the same without Peter.”

“We’ll make the best of it, Jimbo,” Remus assured him, “and he’ll be back with us for the next one.”

The frontman set his jaw, pushed his glasses up his face and pulled the microphone to his lips.

Do you remember

The games we used to play

Mermaids underwater

Aliens in outer space

Do you remember

The sticks we’d raise aloft

We called them swords and never

Lost the battles that we fought

Peter was back on stage the next night, to much celebration and all too soon, they flew back across the pond for their European leg. Of course, their first stop was Scotland.

“It’s so good to be home,” James sighed happily, pausing to wipe his glasses on the hem of his shirt and winking at a girl who lost it at the sight of his abdomen, “This is our last song. Please join in if you know the words. Or make them up. Just have a good time. Be as loud as you want to. We love you all, thank you for everything you’ve done for us. We’re the luckiest boys in the world.”

Is there a risk to it?

Is it a challenge?

If there isn’t, if it isn’t, I don’t want it

Yeah, I wanna do some damage

I feel lucky tonight

I got you by my side

Seven days in a week

And you spend them with me

So hell yeah, I feel lucky

"That sounds really good, Pete," said James from where he lay on the floor of their stage after the arena emptied, "We could use that."

Peter chuckled, "It's Chopin. A waltz."

James ambles over and his friend makes room for him on the bench.

"It's a split C chord, then F, A flat..." he guides him through the song. It's out of time and messy, but they're having fun. "James…"

"Yeah, Pete?"

"What are we going to do about Tom Riddle's offer? I mean, his dad’s label practically owns half the music industry. And Castle is just this little independent… He could make our lives more difficult than he already has."

"Unless we join him, you're thinking?"

"We could ask Arthur to negotiate a group contract just the same. I doubt they'll dislike the idea of paying less upfront."

"But what about loyalty to everyone at Castle? McGonagall? Urquart?" James shook his head, "We're having a successful tour in spite of the ticket bots Riddle set on us. We're looking out into seas of fans all wearing our merch in spite of his shipment hijacking. And we're having bloody good time because we're not letting any of the homophobic slander he's fueled the press with get to us."

"Here, here!" cheered Sirius, clinking his beer bottle with his boyfriend's.

"Right, rest up, lads! You deserve it with all the work you put into this show," James stood and ambled back to the tour bus, where Shacklebolt was already sleeping soundly, being the earliest riser of them all.

“Goodnight, all!” Peter loved his friends, truly. But he was convinced their stubborn sense of the meaning of courage would do them a great disservice.

As always when confronted with a decision to make, he visited the only jazz bar in Scotland, the Leaky Kettle. Immediately upon stepping inside, he let the smooth piano carry away the stress.

“The usual,” he told the bartender.

“Put it on my tab,” Tom Riddle swivelled around on the bar stool, "Fancy meeting you here."

"You mean you didn't expect to? Didn't plan it?" Peter received his drink with barely more than a sideways glance at their adversary.

"It's just business, Peter. I know you understand that."

"Then why go through all this trouble for one act? There must be thousands - hundreds of thousands - of talented artists who could make you rich."

Tom rolled his eyes, "My father was always… a bit single-minded. He wants to put me through my paces before handing me the keys to the kingdom, so to speak. But don’t worry about that. Just know this: I think your group is talented and I can see that you’re the musical glue holding it all together. You’re the only one with any formal training, after all. And I really can see to your career’s longevity. If you stick with this boyband too long, though…”

Peter raised his eyebrows, “Then what?”

“Well,” the label executive leaned in, “then you’ll need to think about what that does to your image as a real, serious musician.”

The blond boy finished his drink.

“Another one for my friend,” Tom told the bartender, took his jacket, and left.

His calling card sat heavy in the keyboardist’s wallet.

9 notes · View notes

shaunstoffer · 6 years

Text

I left the school I worked at in Vietnam to start a new journey backpacking Japan, visiting my family in Singapore, and to live and teach in Taiwan. I didn’t dislike Vietnam but couldn’t get past some of the cons that made me not want to extend my stay past my fifteen months of living in Ho Chi Minh City.

Some of the things I do and don’t miss about living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam:

The corruption: My temporary residence card was a piece of crap to begin with. It cost me well over $100 and was simply a cheap quality business card that had my photo laid on top and laminated. The seal was uneven and already breaking after just a few weeks in my wallet. So, I tried to double laminate it like a stubborn fool only for it to get bizarrely stuck in the laminator and come out looking like this. As a result, I tried several different ways to leave Vietnam from trying to purchase an exit visa, paying a bribe, and hiring a man who specialized in immigration issues such as this. In the end, the only method that worked was ironically getting help from a friend’s, whose dog I was fostering, cousin who worked for immigration. He simply met me at the airport, talked to immigration for maybe one minute, and waved me through hundreds of people queued in immigration and security. Literally he instructed me to go to the staff lines, which were empty, while hundreds of people waited in the regular lines. Each employee would look at me confused, I’d point to him, he’d give a thumbs up and a nod, and they would wave me through without a second thought. It was the most impressive thing I’ve seen in a long time.The pollution: My neighborhood in district seven was among the cleanest in Ho Chi Minh City, which isn’t saying much frankly, but I still never got used to waking up and seeing smog that would conceal the sky. I ended up getting a Vietnam “cough”, something a lot of expats initially develop from the exposure to pollution and are left with no choice but to either get used to it or leave. I was missing fresh clean air and nature more than I ever imagined to the point that every holiday I took I would go somewhere with mountains or beaches or both. Fresh air is something I’ll never take for granted again. The flooding: There’s nothing more comical than watching a horde of people with their feet on the panhandles of their bikes, going a kilometer an hour, and doing everything in their power not to come to a complete stop as that would cause them to have to put their leg, sometimes thigh deep or more, in the dirty flood waters that have nowhere to go due to the poor sewage system which is regularly clogged by locals uncaringly sweeping their into the drains. It was also unpleasant to be driving to work or the gym and experience a mild drizzle turn into a full on flash flood within five minutes. Many people wear heavy raincoats while driving, as umbrellas aren’t rational, even when walking due to the strong winds. However, people typically still bring an extra outfit in their bag or wear shorts and flip flops to avoid being stuck in wet clothes the entire day.

My students:My neighborhood, Phu My Hung:An unfortunate quick stop to Singapore: I reluctantly took a trip to see my mom and her side of the family in Singapore for my birthday prior to going on a three week holiday to Japan. I was fighting a serious case of homesickness and had contemplated going back home for my holiday instead of Japan. However, after spending three days with my family I couldn’t wait to say goodbye and move on to the next adventure. Aside from a nice birthday dinner and some much appreciated birthday gifts, I was all but forgotten. No one wanted to go out to eat, I ended up getting sick again, and every conversation went to gossiping about people or questioning my every life action. “What are you going to do after you’re done teaching?” “How are you qualified to teach social studies?” “What’s this? Why are you growing a beard?” “If you don’t like it you can go eat somewhere else!” It’s been a long time since I’ve been around people who made me feel so alone and small and I attribute my coldness and lack of trust to my undesired experiences and interactions with a fair amount of my family. To them it’s normal, to me it’s something I would never tolerate from any other persons. I chalk it up to different cultures but also to a lack of understanding from both sides of my family. I’ve never been understood and people can seldom relate to me, I ultimately think it attests for a lot of my loner mentality and lack of emotions.

Fair warning Singapore is a fun place but definitely strict when it comes to drugs. If you want a party beyond alcohol, don’t come to Singapore or try your luck in Geylang.The view from my grandmother’s apartment in Braddell Place.Six different currencies I’ve managed to collect overtime. Thai baht, US dollars, Japanese yen, Malaysian ringgit, Singaporean dollars, and Vietnamese dong. (From left to right, top to bottom.)Osaka Food Market: The seafood market was easily the best and my favorite out of the three I visited in Japan. Some of my favorites of the foods I tried were Kobe beefsteak, raw sea urchins, and fresh fire-roasted scallops.

Osaka’s Streets: Osaka is absurdly clean and people follow every traffic rule there is. No one j-walks, no one loiters, and everybody is helpful and courteous despite the language barrier. In Japanese culture it is rude to stare and common courtesy is expected such as holding the door out for someone, allowing someone in a hurry to pass you by, and to greet and thank customers and patrons habitually. That being said, a lot of Japanese will still see foreigners as outsiders, especially if they do not speak Japanese. Meaning just because they are polite to you does not necessarily mean they care or want to know about you.

My regular traditional Japanese Food: Sushi and dumplings.A Guilty Pleasure: I go to a McDonalds in every country I visit because it’s always a little different from the menu to the seating. Japanese McDonalds have bacon lettuce burgers, teriyaki chicken fillets, and double beef and egg burgers for example.Vending Machines: Vending machines are sprawled out everywhere, literally every block has one. From soda to coffee to beer and even ice cream. There are very few things, especially beverages that you can’t find in vending machines in Japan.

Trains: Japan has a lot of conveniences such as toilets and breastfeeding rooms everywhere for the self-explanatory. Trains are definitely one of those conveniences offering different trains like local, sub-express, and limited express. The system is a bit confusing but there are some conveinces to help you such as maps posted every where, machine for route finders and fare adjustments, and there is almost always a tenant who speaks reasonable English at every ticketing queue.

My first experience on the train in Osaka I followed Google maps which took me on an unnecessarily longer route. I showed the ticket tenant my ticket and asked if my directions were accurate. He literally gave me my money back, bought a new, cheaper ticket, and walked me to the right line, stop, and told me when and where to get off. I had never been so thankful or respectful of someone’s courtesy and helpfulness.

7th Eleven: These are everywhere as well in Japan and offer some of the freshest meals as well ass an exceptional variety of beverages.

Toilets: Something I have to admit I miss about Japan is the toilets. The seats automatically lift up and down and there is always a set of buttons that allow you to control music, clean the toilet for you, a bidet with adjustable buttons for the spray strength and temperature. It became one of those weird things where you actually looked forward to using the toilet.

Traditional housing in Japan: Oddities: For whatever reason Japanese people love Spam, they literally have flavors I didn’t even know existed. Nightlife: Osaka has a thriving nightlife from strip clubs to highball bars to British pubs. People in Osaka are generally more open and friendly towards expats whereas many Japanese can be particularly cold to foreigners. For example, many foreigners who have tattoos are not allowed into saunas, gyms, and springs unless they find a way to cover them up. Also, many foreigners are politely unwelcome at restaurants or bars simply because they are foreigners as well as aren’t fluent in Japanese. They��ll be politely told we are closed or full.

I experienced all these things in a variety of way such as being told at a hookah bar in Kyoto that they were full, until they saw my Japanese girlfriend and magically two seats became available. I also booked a hotel in Tokyo with a Taiwanese girl who spoke Japanese and laughed when a sign posted read:

The famous Glico Running Man:

Highballs & Sake: Highballs, which are basically tall cocktails comprised of liquor, normally whiskey and a lot of club soda. At first, this drink seemed unappealing to me as I prefer whiskey on the rocks or neat, but overtime they grew on me and I ended up having numerous highballs over my time in Japan.

Sake, on the other hand, is something to be either taken as a shot or sipped and enjoyed. A general rule of thumb is that quality sake is served cold where has lower tiers are served warm. I had the pleasure of trying a variety at various bars and have to admit I became a fan of aged Suntory whiskeys.

To politely cheers in Japan you should either pour your sake bottle or be holding your sake glass with two hands to receive your sake. You should also cheers lower than the person you are cheering with.

Japan isn’t cheap to eat or drink out at and one should expect to spend around 600-700 (around $6) for a standard beer at a bar.

Hookah in Japan: I fell in love with smoking Japanese shisha in Japan because it was something cheaper, social, and I wouldn’t be comatose in bed the next day. I also happened to Casanova my way into charming a female employee who gave me quite the hook up.Traditional Japanese Eateries: What I loved about the neighborhood, Tennoji, that I stayed at in Osaka was the variety of traditional eateries a short walk down the street form my hostel. The language barrier was difficult at first as I didn’t learn how to say useful phrases such as, “one please” “thank you” or “excuse me” until after a week of practicing in Japan. I relied on Google translate, pointing at pictures, and the dumb luck of having an occasional English speaking server or chef.

Osaka Castle: Is it touristy? Yes. Is it worth it? Hell yes.

Nature and weather during summer’s June: All over fellow travel blogs and travel websites I heard that June was the worst month to visit Japan due to the lack of blooming cherry blossoms and the unfortunate rainy season. However, of the three weeks I spent in various cities in Japan it only rained, and mildly at that, a fraction of the time. There was no flooding, no heavy rain, and no thunder or lightning. A simple umbrella and you can get around no problem. As far as nature goes, there is a bit of a lack of variety in color but there are still plenty of flowers and everything is very green and pleasant to see nonetheless. Many flowers won’t be in bloom but nature is still worth visiting in parks and gardens for sure.

Survival Japanese: Simplified for English pronunciation.

One = Itchy

Yes = Hi

Cheers – Comb pie

Please – Own knee guy she mas

Thank You – are we got toe go zi mas

Excuse Me/Sorry = Sue me ma send

No Problem = Moan die nai

Story Time: My last night in Osaka I spent the day in the slums run by the Yakuza. I walk into the first restaurant I see without any foreigners and the server tells me, “only Japanese menu.” I reply “mondai nai (no problem),” and the cook comes out to take my order but instead asks me about my cauliflower ears. I explain I’m a semi-retired fighter on holiday.

We start taking about fighting and I show him old videos of me and some of my old training partners killing it right now. They start bringing up old Japanese Pride fights and ask me to send them one of my old fight pics. They print two copies out and get me to sign them and they tape one on the wall and tell me they are going to put the other up in a nearby bar. It turns into a small group of the staff but we are all vibing.

I ask them if there are any Yakuza bars nearby I should be wary of and they laugh. They tell me you’re really close to one and I go seriously? The cook pulls up his shirt to show a full back piece of Shiva and I’m like oh shit. He explains he’s lower tier but not to worry, if you respect us we’ll respect you. I offer to buy them a round of drinks and they starts cheersing me and return the favor by giving me a free meal.

We keep talking and they literally say we’re going to close the restaurant down and take you to a local bar. Being me, I reluctantly say let’s go. They literally close the place down and we go to a Yakuza bar that’s something like a speakeasy where, go figure, is the second picture hung up. The bartender’s and other patrons go what are you doing bringing this foreigner here? They go don’t worry he’s with us, he’s cool. They warn me the boss isn’t in tonight but if he decides to show up you have to leave, it’s not personal but you aren’t one of us. I tell them I understand and we start eating and drinking but then a random member stands up and slaps me in the face – twice. I stand up and square up like what the hell? They all start laughing and say we wanted to see how you would react then say don’t worry, we all like you now because you didn’t back down, it shows you have pride like us. We go shot for shot, drink for drink ALL NIGHT. Eventually, I leave and they ask for a way to contact me to keep in touch, I right down my number and bid them farewell.

Never a dull moment. This is my version of Bert’s “I Am The Machine!”

Osaka I left the school I worked at in Vietnam to start a new journey backpacking Japan, visiting my family in Singapore, and to live and teach in Taiwan.

#Asia #Backpacking #Japan #Osaka #Survival Japanese #Travel #World Travel

1 note · View note

davewakeman · 4 years

Text

Talking Tickets: 7 February 2020--Come See Me In NYC! And, London!

Hey everyone!

Thank you so much for being here. Every week the community around this newsletter grows larger and larger all because you are sharing this newsletter with your friends and colleagues.

There were a few challenges with the link to the new ebook I produced with Booking Protect. So we worked up a fix. We are also putting together a special FREE webinar on 26 February 2020 at 1500 GMT (10 AM Eastern) with ideas, takeaways, and actions we felt were compelling from the ebook.

I’m in DC this week on a bit of a holiday with the boy. It is a winter break for DCPS. But I do have upcoming trips with details in the footer!

To the tickets!

————————————————————————————————————

1. Are diversity programs failing?

This is an idea that is really close to my heart because it was a really huge issue that I ended up spending a lot of time on when I was going to Australia in November.

The term that people would whisper to me was “older and whiter”.

The idea of diversity popped up a lot lately as well with the Oscars.

In many of my recent talks, I’ve been focusing people’s attention on the idea of empathy as a competitive advantage when trying to reach and serve an audience.

But more widely, as marketers and sellers, we have to continue to try and juggle two competing ideas: building new audiences and keeping the old audience.

I think we should look at diversity as an opportunity and understand that reaching and cultivating is an ever-changing art form and one that we will always be revisiting.

This white paper is from 2014, but I think it still offers a lot of value to folks thinking about the makeup of their audience.

2. West Ham’s finances and relegation fight open an interesting window into the business of a sports’ club:

Blame Simon for my almost all-consuming attention to the Premier League and Tottenham Hotspur.

But following the Premier League and European football so closely has helped me shift my thinking about revenue generation, ticket sales, and the role of fan development in the success of a team, especially long-term.

If you aren’t familiar, the bottom three teams in the Premier League standings are relegated to the Championship. The top two Championship teams are automatically promoted and the teams in 3-6 play a tournament for the last spot!

It is a truly fascinating system.

In 2016, West Ham moved from their traditional home ground, Upton Park, into London Stadium. Most of us consider it conventional wisdom that you are going to make boatloads more money if you move into a new stadium.

West Ham is challenging that convention.

If you read through their revenue numbers over the last few years, you’ll see that the revenues aren’t really all that different than before they moved from Upton Park, except in the TV money.

In the case of West Ham, we see rising attendance, new stadium, and investments in players, administration, and the venue…but no more money from the in-game experience.

I’d point to two things here that are worth our attention:

The fans seem to be ambivalent, at best, to the experience at the London Stadium and even with more fans, they aren’t as compelled to spend money as they might have with their destination location at Upton Park.

We have to continue to always test our assumptions about things that are conventional wisdom or that everyone is doing. Due to the nature of reporting from Premier League teams we get a clearer financial picture than would ever happen in the US, but I like to offer the thought experiment of thinking through “what if what we know is wrong?” This is a great example of trying to think beyond conventional wisdom.

3. The Super Bowl was a hot ticket!

Ticketmaster reported that the average ticket price for Super Bowl LIV got up to $8507!

This is a really big number.

I remember being in NYC for the Super Bowl between the Broncos and Seahawks when on the Friday before the game, I had many brokers offering me tickets for less than $1,000.

QZ wrote up a nice piece about how the Super Bowl came to dominate our culture.

And, I think we can only look on at the people that were saying the NFL was over and roll our eyes.

I think the NFL does the big marquee event as well as anyone could, but I think you can still question how that can and should translate to the 16 regular-season games, preseason, and playoffs.

But you have to continue to be amazed that over 100 million folks will tune into anything.

One word of caution, the Super Bowl has really been a bucket list item for a lot of folks and I think that will continue for a while.

I do think that this year’s Super Bowl still highlights how much of demand and excitement is still driven by things that are outside of the NFL’s control and that is a dangerous place to be if you allow that to always be the case.

Demand generation and audience maintenance have to always be top of everyone’s mind.

4. Resale, transparency, and the secondary market get clicks!

The first story in the headline is from November 2019, when I was in Australia. So I don’t think I really got it at the time, but my inboxes kept getting this one forwarded to me over the last few weeks…so why not!

To begin with, Ian Taylor sent me a comment a while back that made a good point about no one asking about inventory and transparency in many other industries.

True!

But I think the continued nature of stories around tickets and people’s questioning of the industry from outside of the industry reflects that the buying experience is often confusing and problematic for people at a point in time where many industries have developed almost frictionless transactions.

If you are me, you ask, “what if this didn’t make sense” and you are reminded that tickets are an easy tool to steal, commit fraud, or launder money from.

Every team, band, and organization should be working their tails off to create and keep customers. That’s the job!

So when Pearl Jam takes actions to limit resale and transfer, I’m sympathetic to their actions because they’ve been consistent in developing a fan base and working to control their tickets to the greatest amount possible.

I’m also not blind in my view of the market and recognize that there are plenty of organizations using the secondary market to their advantage. Which if that is their strategy, good on them.

Finally, I completely recognize that in the States our relationship is different with the secondary market than anywhere else in the world and that there isn’t just one reason behind this.

If I look at the secondary market and some of these things from a global perspective, I’d highlight 3 points:

In the States, we need the secondary market because the secondary market has a lead on digital demand generation, no one is doing a particularly great job marketing, and there are technology gaps between the primary and secondary. Among other things.

If you are a secondary market player in an international market, to establish yourself, stomping your feet about fairness and boohooing isn’t a good look. You need to educate about why resale is important and focus on creating unique value for your market.

Everyone should be focusing on marketing more effectively because as Stephen Glicken mentioned on my podcast and Queue-it points out in their blog post, there are billions of dollars at play…and as Stephen points out, lots of it is left on the table.

5. We should be paying attention to the sports business community in Australia:

Due to my recent trip to Melbourne and my friendship with a lot of folks from the Australian Football League, I’ve been paying a lot of attention to the kickoff of this season and the kickoff of AFLW.

The AFLW is setting a good example of women’s leagues around the world because they are focusing on growing the game, taking care of players, and long-term success from the start. Which can be extremely difficult.

At the same time, the AFL’s business continues to grow and their ability to incorporate and activate sponsors is a good example for teams and leagues around the world.

Look at the new deal with Cole’s to be the official supermarket of the AFL. And, what is interesting is that Cole’s will work to actively give back in communities…which may be brand purpose mumbo jumbo, but I think aligning your sponsors with your fans is a smart decision.

In extending their deal with BetEasy, the AFL is pushing responsible gambling efforts and handle a topic that is on the minds of a lot of folks around the world as gambling becomes a bigger part of the sports landscape globally.

Is it a perfect solution?

Is anything?

Finally, looking at the A-League and their conversations about how to grow the game and the sport in Australia has been interesting over the last few months.

This story about the possibility that Hyundai will walk away from their sponsorship of the A-League highlights a bunch of trends that might be on people’s minds everywhere like declining participation, poor car sales, and lack of demand/attention.

These are interesting situations to watch because Australia hasn’t suffered a recession in about 30 years! So they give us a good laboratory for learning about how they manage growth, but also how they fight decline. —————————————————————————————————————-

What am I up to this week?

Episode 100 of the podcast is ME! I wanted to share a few ideas and learnings from the first 100 episodes and use the opportunity to talk about where I’m going next.

Queue-It asked me and a few other folks what we think is necessary to be successful in selling tickets.

I’m going to do a workshop in NYC on Tuesday, March 31st, 2020 on marketing and strategy in any market. I’ll have a landing page posted next week. But if you are interested in learning more, email me.

I’m in London on 13 April and I’m going to see about putting together a meetup at one of my favorite spots in London, Brewdog SoHo. More details to follow, but mark your calendars now if you are going to be in London that day.Ta

Please follow and like us:

Talking Tickets: 7 February 2020–Come See Me In NYC! And, London! was originally published on Wakeman Consulting Group

0 notes

siva3155 · 5 years

Text

300+ TOP SAP QM Interview Questions and Answers

SAP QM Interview Questions for freshers experienced :-

1. Which Movement Types Refer To Inspection Origin 05? You need to check the T156S-QSSHK. It shows the inspection lot origin for all movement types. 2. I Have Executed Massive Automatic Usage Decision Via Qa16 And Noticed That No Stock Postings Been Updated. The System Noted The Usage Decision But Didn't Carry Any Goods Movements. Why Were The Stock Postings Not Updated? Is It Possible To Execute In Mass Via Qa16? You should make sure that the UD codes you use have the automatic postings setup for it. The selected set code needs to be set for background postings and what material status it should post to. Take care of these and it will take care of the problems. 3. I Need To Change The Status Of A Lot Based On Certain Conditions And Looked At Qfpo_post_status_for_lot But This Didn't Return Anything. I Need The Status Of The Lot To Be Insp Rrec So That I Can Forward The Result Copy On To Batch Classification? In general, forcing a change to the system status is not a very good idea. Instead, you should consider using a user status. If the system status is not RREC then, there will be no results to copy. 4. Is It Possible To Make The Inspection Lot Quantity To (1) All The Time? Can It Be Configured As An Automatic Default In Qa01? If Yes, What Are The Steps Necessary To Make A Sample Size Default Every Time We Create An Inspection Lot? If you are referring to the Sample Size the answer is yes. If you are referring to the Lot Size, then the answer is no. For the lot quantity, you can use a sampling procedure of type fixed and assign the size to 1. 5. In Our Plant, Gr For A Material Was Made Three Months Back. This Material Is Qm Managed. The Quality Plan For This Material Was Made This Month Only. Hence Our Qm Personnel Are Not Able To Clear This Particular Gr. How Do I Go About It? What Is The Tcode For It And How Do I Proceed? You can reset the Sample Calculation and Recalculate the change in Start & Inspection end date in QA02. In QA02 you can also change the key date on the second tab so it looks for a plan on that date. If that plan has already been created, you can then change the key date to the current date and it will find the plan. 6. How Do I Transfer The Results From One Origin To Another Origin? This can be done by creating a program attached to the follow up functions for the UD code. Once the UD is done the results can be transferred from lot to lot 7. I Want The System To Take My User Name As Default For Partner Ao Author While Creating A Notification. I've Created The Partner Determination Profile And Assigned It To The Notification But It Is Not Defaulting The User Name As Partner. What Can I Do To Correct This? I assume that you have an organization for the partners. I think you need to utilize workflow and do some coding. Utilize the user ids. Use the KU for coordinator since it is for the user, and KO is for the person which requires HR. When a Q3 based notification is created the coordinator would be defaulted. But as I said, it requires organization, workflow and some coding. 8. Where Does The System Store Mic Long Text History? When I Tried Using, 'read_text Function Module', The System Is Fetching Only New Long Text. How Do I Fetch The Old Long Text Of Mic? The system does not store the long text history, because it is a text. To maintain the long text, create MIC with the appropriate versions and assign MIC in the task list as per the required version. The setting is in customization for the plant level, MIC with history. An alternative recourse is to check out AUT10. You need to set it up, but it allows you track changes to any Long Text. I believe it is available from 4.5 or 4.6. 9. Can Somebody Explain To Me How A New Posting Proposal Can Be Added In Order To Use This In The Catalog Assigned To A Ud Code? There Is A New One But Won't Be Available (vmenge01) Until 2007. I Want To Add An Extra One. Try the customizing path Quality Management -- > Quality Inspection --> Inspection Lot completion -- > Define inventory postings. 10. The Deletion Flag On Production Order Was Set But Had To Be Revoked To Allow Further Goods Issues. Issues Have Now Taken Place But In Trying To Reset The Deletion Flag, The Following Error Message Occurs. "the Order Has Been Flagged With Delivery Complete". What Are The Settings Necessary For Generating Quality Certificates In Sap? You're normally not allowed to mark a Production order for deletion as long as the financial value on the order isn't zero and/or you've got materials posted to it. I can't see the point in deleting an order with postings. That way you'd probably mess up both logistics and accounting.

SAP QM Interview Questions 11. I Have A Requirement From A Client For Inspection Of A Material For Different Vendors. Characteristics Change From Vendor To Vendor. Automatically , The Inspection Plan Will Need To Be Selected Based On The Vendor. How Do I Accomplish This? In the material to plan assignment, scroll to the right and you will see a vendor column. If you put a vendor number in that column, that is the plan that will be selected for the material/plant/vendor. 12. I Know It Should Be Possible To Attach Files, Pictures Etc. When Creating Notifications. However, I Am Working Right Know In An Automotive Release And Cannot Find The Button Anymore. Did We Miss Something? What Can Be Wrong? Check what type of user you have set up. Sometimes the security guys set up a testing ID as a different type than a regular user. Some ID types don't have the ability to use the Object services functionality. 13. I Have Activated 04 Inspection Type With Post To Inspection Stock For A Material. I Have Left Qm Not Active Unchecked For 101 Mvt Type For Mvt Indicator F (gr For Order) In Omjj. While I Am Doing Gr For The Process Order, The '101' Message Appears. What Is The Problem And How Can I Resolve This? If the process order was created after you modified the material, then it's an "old" process order, and this may explain the error. If there was an existing stock of this material before you start, then try this first with a newly created material. Afterwards, the error you describe should not happen. 14. In The Inspection Plan I Have A Characteristic With Upper Limit. In Which Table Can I Find This Value? Look at table PLMK. If it is a reference MIC, also check QPMK. These are for checking the plan. The Inspection Lot keeps them in different values. 15. I Am Using Exit Mm06l001 (function Module- Exit_sapmm06l_001) For Quality Criteria. The Scores Of The Sub Criteria Are Calculated On The Basis Of Quality Notifications And Inspection Lots. But No Score Is Getting Calculated For The Vendor. Where Did I Go Wrong And What Can I Do To Remedy The Error? Regarding quality notification, do verify the following: Notification completed with External origin. Invoice verification already took place. As for inspection lot, verify that usage decision has been made. In addition, verify customization of all required parameters (as listed in documentation under QM->Quality Control->Vendor Evaluation). 16. When I Try To Upload Data With Lsmw To Create Inspection Plan, The System Shows The Message: "bdc_open_group, Lock Date./. Is Invalid". I Have Bdc Authority, So What's The Problem? Did you enter a date for field START in structure BI000? The date has to be earlier than today's date. The queue start date specifies the day until which a batch input folder is locked. You cannot process a locked batch input folder until the day after the specified date. 17. I Am Doing Quality After Doing Migo Mvt Type 105. So When The Migo Mvt Type105 Doc Is Saved Then The Inspection Lot Is Generated And The Stock Is In Quality. Can You Tell Me The Transaction Code For The Stock On Which The Usage Decision Is Pending? You can use the list display transaction code QE51N and in the EXCEPTION criteria you can specify it to be ‘UD Not done’. Otherwise in the same transaction code QE51N in the output columns, you can display the column "Usage decision by" and sort by it so that the blank ones are on the top. Those blank ones are the lots for which UD was not done. Once you find out the lot numbers you can open the lot and see the order number in it. 18. Is There A Way To Create Inspection Lot Programmatically In An Abap Report? Is There Any Business Object, Function Module Or User Exit? We Went To 1 Lot For 1 Shift. We Use Inspection Origin 89 (manual). Therefore We're Searching For A Way To Create The Inspection Lot Via Job (abap Program). How Do I Resolve This? Automatic creation of Inspection lot in SAP is governed by Inspection lot origin, inspection type, etc. You have to give the details of why you want an inspection lot creation by program or ABAP report. Instead, you can use a report /program to do it. Standard SAP provides this functionality. If it is in--process inspection, you can use inspection points based on shifts. 19. I Was In The Process Of Testing The Scenario Of Skip Lots. I Have Done All The Data Maintenance In The Material Master And The Dynamic Modification Rule. The Quality Level Is Getting Updated To A Skip Stage, But The Stock Is Not Getting Directly Put Into Unrestricted Stock When The Lot Should Be Skipping. Where Am I Going Wrong And How Do I Correct This? This can be done by setting the Control Inspection lot indicator in the QM view of the material master to each material document. Iit works for DMR at a lot and characteristic level. 20. We Have Two Inspection Lots For Which Ud Has Already Been Done. Later On We Realized That These Lots The Sample Size Was Not Calculated. Now We Want To Reset The "sample Calculation" But Not Able As The Status Of The Lot Is "ud Done". Is There A Way We Can Reverse Ud Or Reset The Status Of An Inspection Lot? Under normal condition, a UD cannot be reversed. 21. I Could Not Create Return Delivery For A Material. The Message Display Is: 'could Not Create Return Delivery Wm Movement Type 102 Not Allowed For Warehouse No. 010'. How Do I Fix This Problem? Check in the configuration. The message clearly says that for the Warehouse no. 010 you have not allowed movement type "102". You have to change this configuration and add a line or move the stock to a warehouse where customer returns are allowed. 22. How Do I Populate Additional Entries Directly Into The Tables? Is There Any Direct Way To Populate Fields In The Tables? It depends on which tables you are talking about because some tables can be directly maintained in PRD. For some you have to transport it maintaining in DEV system. For example, number ranges are not transportable. You have to maintain it directly in every instance. If you are talking about mass maintenance, Standard SAP QM does not have it by now. You can talk to your developer to write a program for you by which you can do a mass maintenance. Otherwise SM30 is good enough to run. 23. I Have Created Some Certificate Profiles That Need To Be Deleted. But They Are All In Released Status. I Know That Certificate Profile Cannot Be Deleted If It Is In "rel" Status. How I Should Deal With This Issue? It seems to me you could potentially block the profile - from within the profile, edit -> block profile. Once it's blocked, you can proceed with the deletion. 24. I Need Some Guidelines In Maintaining The Settings For Batch Management In Qm. What Are The Customizations Necessary For Batch Management From Qm Point Of View? How The Inspection Lots Get Triggered And How Are They Connected / Interlinked To The Batches? The links have to do with your configuration of batch management for your material. If the materials in are batch managed and are purchased or manufactured within your organization when the material is received using the 101 movement type, the batch is created and assigned in the background to the inspection lot. Depending on how you've designed your inspection plan or material specification, you can build the master inspection characteristics, dependent on class characteristics, that will copy the inspection results into the batch record. This is less QM configuration than it is MM-Batch Management configuration and material master definition. 25. I Want To Post The Stock From Quality Inspection To Unrestricted Use Partially With Two Ud Codes For Same Inspection Lot. But The Qga2 System Will Show The Total Document Posted On Only One Usage Decision Code. I Want To Evaluate The Stock On The Basis Of Usage Decision Code. How Can I Resolve This Issue? You could use inspection points and partial lots. In this way, you may have a different UD for inspection points and inventory posting accordingly. 26. I Would Like To Know Where The Batch Status Can Be Set In Sap. We Have The Stock Type Q For Quality Inspection. We Would Like Stock Type R For Rework And S For Blocked. Where Can This Be Set In Sap? There is no way to create a new status. The only thing you can do, if you have Batch Management, is to activate the Batch status so you can have Unrestricted (blank), Quality (Q) and Blocked (S). Having these batch statuses, you can duplicate all stocks to restricted Q, blank and S. 27. I Am Having 3 Different Operations. The 0020 And 0030 Operation Is Dependent On The 0010 Operation. It Means That Once The Rr Is Done For Operation 0010, Manual Ud Has To Be Taken Immediately. Then Results Are Recorded For Operation 0020 & 0030 And Finally A Common Ud Is Made For Both 0020 & 0030 Operation. This Is The Case For Incoming Inspection And In Process Inspection. Is There Any Customization For This Type Of Rr & Ud? You could use Inspection Points for 0010 (it has its own UD) and then use the Inspection Lot UD for the whole process. 28. How Do I Use Material Specification? If I Want To Use Material Specification, What Are The Things I Should Do? To use Material specification you need to have: Class Characteristics; MIC's linked to the Class Characteristics; A Class containing the Class Characteristics, assigned to the Material Master; Material spec maintained. (QS61); Limit values for the characteristics, maintained in the classification view in the material master; Inspection with material specification chosen in the inspection type in the material master. 29. While Rr For Some Of The Mic's, The System Is Asking For Manual Valuation And For Some It Is Not Asking. I Want The System To Ask Manual Valuation For All The Mic's. What Settings Should I Do To Get This? Check your Valuation Mode / Sampling Procedure. From there, you can find the settings needed to configure your requirement. 30. Is It Possible To Cancel The Inspection Lot Once It Has Been Created? You can cancel it by reversing the transaction that created it. It's also possible to go into the inspection lot in Chance mode and set the status to “locked”. It will then disappear, but if there's QI stock linked to it you won't get it out. SAP QM Questions and Answers Pdf Download Read the full article

1 note · View note

fitnesshealthyoga-blog · 5 years

Photo

New Post has been published on https://fitnesshealthyoga.com/5-things-i-learned-from-quitting-sugar-for-30-days/

5 Things I Learned From Quitting Sugar for 30 Days

by Jonathan Meadows, running coach

As someone who doesn’t add sugar to my coffee, rarely drinks fizzy drinks, whose breakfast hasn’t come from a box with a cartoon on it since forever and doesn’t load up their shopping basket with biscuits, cakes and chocolate – I don’t seem like the kind of person who needs to take on the challenge of quitting sugar.

However, I do have a sweet tooth and I volunteered to take on the challenge to quit sugar for a month. So I did.

My weaknesses for sugar are:

if there’s chocolate in the office, I’ll have some. Then I find that I keep coming back for bits throughout the day…

If there are cookies laid out at someone’s house, you can bet I’ll take one – then a few more…

If I’m offered cake, it’s unlikely I’ll say no to a slice…

Basically, when I start, it’s very hard to stop. So I decided to cut myself off and see what happens.

The first 2 days of the no-sugar challenge

Here is an overview of the beginning of my no-sugar experience.

Day 1, January 1st*

I opt for scrambled eggs with healthy fats from an avocado, bacon and tomatoes for a healthy breakfast – we’re off to a good start. However, with New Year’s Eve being the night before, there’s some bottles to tidy up, bowls to wash and a chocolate fondue to put away.

On the way to kitchen to put the chocolate away for the next 31 days, I break off a chunk and eat it before I even realize what I’ve done.

Yep, chocolate for breakfast (you can do that when you’re grown up and don’t live with your parents anymore). After 50 minutes of sugar-free living, my challenge of quitting sugar is already over….we’ll call that a false start. But, tomorrow is a new day, so another chance, right?

*Jonathan originally completed his challenge in January 2017.

Day 1, Take 2, January 2nd

I stayed up a bit later than I should have, so I set myself up to be tired and low on willpower on my first day of the challenge.

Breakfast: It’s a sugar-free breakfast of porridge, berries, and flax seeds. I didn’t prepare anything for lunch – tired and no meal prep, I’m really making this easy for myself!

Lunch: I head to a sushi place near the office figuring sushi is a good choice. As I’m in the queue I remember you add sugar to sushi rice. Overpriced sashimi for lunch it is. The first day back at work kept me busy and nonstop all day, which usually would have me reaching for something sweet, but I stay strong and keep satiated on nuts.

Pre-run snack: Another time I sometimes reach for a sweet treat is for a pre-run snack to give me a little pick-up and extra energy, not tonight. Baked salmon, green beans, and sweet potato turmeric wedges make the 3rd and final sugar-free meal of the day. Day 1 of quitting sugar is done.

It’s day 2…

… and I haven’t prepared my lunch again. Clearly I didn’t learn anything from day 1.

Improvised sugar-free lunch:

I quickly decide on mackerel fillets, microwave rice, and peas from the supermarket. Except they’re out of mackerel and frozen peas. I try to find the canned peas (passing the chocolate aisle twice), only to find the ingredients on the label say peas, water and sugar! Why is there hidden sugar in a can of peas!?

Seemingly sugar is added to nearly all packaged foods; not even peas are safe. The green beans appear to have been saved the same sugary water fate and the tin says it contains only green beans and water – which is what I’d expect. I opt for a trout fillet and head back to the office. That’s about as good as it gets when it comes to an improvised sugar-free lunch.

After two days, I already learned…

Having learned my lesson the hard way that Meal prep is key to avoiding and successfully quitting sugar, so I begin avidly preparing and planning my meals in advance for the rest of the month.

I also ensure I should keep a bag of nuts nearby or with me as my go-to healthy snack during my challenge.

Social settings provide a challenge when you’re trying to quit sugar, but I’ve found the key is to eat in advance and accept that you’ll have to decline things you previously would have accepted without hesitation. It also helps to be surrounded by supportive people.

Giving up sugar isn’t easy and willpower will be required should you choose to do it! Quitting sugar has become a hot topic in the last few years and for good reasons. Learning more about sugar really opened my eyes…

If you want to succeed, educate yourself about sugar

During my challenge I educated myself about the topic by watching a few films and documentaries about our sugar consumption, which were truly eye-opening.

Why is sugar so bad?

Sugar is everywhere; in fact, it’s in 80% of packaged food.

Did you know that…

Sugar is highly addictive and it wreaks havoc on the body.

Not only does it send your energy levels up and down, it can also do the same to your hormones. Over time, the constant fluctuations will leave them unbalanced and not working as they should.

When we eat sugar, insulin is released by the pancreas in order to remove glucose from the blood. Eventually, this constant request, mixed with high levels of insulin and glucose, leads the pancreas to produce less insulin over time, which causes insulin resistance – the precursor to diabetes.

Also, if the energy from sugar isn’t burned soon after consumption, it’s converted into fat and gets stored in the body.

Find out more about why you should consider quitting sugar.

Quitting sugar and weight loss

During my challenge I lost around 3kg (granted my challenge started right after the typical season of excess that is Christmas). Apart from that, I continued my running and ate as I wished (as long as it was sugar-free of course!).

I noticed around 2 weeks into my challenge I looked more defined, not bad for someone who hadn’t been to the gym yet in January. Which makes me wonder what kind of fat is lost when sugar is removed from the diet. Around the same time I realized I was on a high-fat, moderate-carb and protein diet – nuts, cheese, avocados, and peanut butter became regular snacks. Main meals were made up of carbs or veg, along with fish or meat. Which likely made me more fat-adapted, someone who burns fat for energy instead of sugar or readily available glucose.

Summary: These 5 things are the biggest benefits of quitting sugar

I learned a lot during these 30 days. But the best part is that the biggest lessons I learned came along with some really nice, unexpected benefits…

1. Realizing how much sugar you really eat

Sugar is lurking everywhere. Check the products next time you go shopping, read the labels of a range of items and you’ll find out just how many of them contain “hidden” sugar. Sugar comes in many forms. The label might not say “sugar”, but if the words end in ‘ose’, it means it is still a sugar. A “healthy” breakfast of cereal, yoghurt, and fruit with a glass of orange juice can contain up to 14 teaspoons of sugar – the recommended daily amount is 7 teaspoons.

2. Increased focus and mental clarity

The first 2 weeks felt like I was bit hazy. I had a few nights of poor sleep and some long days at work during this time, but this felt different to the usual feelings of tiredness. After about 2 weeks something changed. I snapped out of my haze and suddenly felt more focused with more mental clarity than I’ve had in a long time. I’m guessing I went through a bit of a sugar detox.

3. More energy and no energy slumps

Since quitting sugar, my energy levels have gone up and I’m no longer looking for a sugary treat to give me a boost. I wake up feeling more refreshed and have higher levels of energy. That’s all-day energy too; that 3pm afternoon slump is gone and I’m no longer looking for a sugary fix to remedy it.

4. Improved skin

Since quitting sugar, I’ve noticed I have a less oily T-Zone (the forehead and nose). Excess sugar intake can cause oily skin, so instead of applying products to the outside, maybe looking at what’s going on in the inside is the answer to skin problems (sugar can also cause spots and even wrinkles!).

5. Love of cooking

I regained my love of cooking. I’ve always enjoyed cooking and I always cook relatively healthy meals.

Since most sauces were out the question and a whole range of products no longer allowed on my plate, I needed to cook pretty much everything from scratch. This got me making old recipes I’ve not made in a while, as well as researching and cooking new meals. You know exactly what’s in your meal if you make it yourself! I really feel that this is the key on how to detox from sugar.

Will I continue to eat sugar?

Will I eat products containing sugar again? Yes. If someone brings birthday cake into the office? Sure. If there’s tiramisu on the dessert menu in a restaurant? You bet. But will I be more mindful of products containing sugar and aim to limit my intake? Absolutely. A sugar free diet is not my aim – education and creating awareness is!

Author bio:

Jonathan is a keen marathon runner with a personal record of 2:54. He likes to read about new fitness trends and ways to constantly improve himself and is always up for a challenge.

***

if(!getCookie("tp-opt-out")) !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function()n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments);if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n; n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)(window, document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', '1594940627485550'); // Insert your pixel ID here. fbq('track', 'PageView');

!function(e,t,n,s,u,a)(window,document,'script'); // Insert Twitter Pixel ID and Standard Event data below twq('init','nxxoy'); twq('track','PageView');

Source link

#health insurance news usa #health news united states #us public health news #Fitness Training

0 notes

blogging-phelddagrif · 7 years

Text

League of Legends Champions

Hello everyone! With all eyes turned onto the ProTour this weekend I didn’t feel like making a Legacy Deck Tech was very fitting and I thought I’d take a break so we all can look at Vehicles decks duke it out on stream. Instead, I’ll make a post about League of Legends;

I know the game has been around for a while and it can have a bad rep, but I’ve started playing again after I think was a 6 year break and I’m really liking it. Granted the player base can be pretty toxic, but besides that the game is fun. I’ll go over the champions that I main in just a second! Also, I just want to put this out there; I love the Snow Day skin collection. Like, A LOT. Any champion that I own that has one I need to have it (besides Singed, but that’s more because I don’t really like playing Singed...). I’m even thinking of playing Malzahar back-up support JUST because he has a pretty sick Snow Day skin...anyways! Here goes nothing!

Bard

This is, by far, my favourite champion. Their skill set is exactly what I love about the game and the character’s design just feels so perfect to me. I’m a support main, so Bard is really my go-to champion and I love every single game that I play with them, even if I lose. Sadly, in solo queue it’s a bit harder to play with Bard since some of their skills require good communication for maximum efficiency, but I still love them nonetheless!

This is the masteries build that I used, pretty standard for a support champion with a bit of an emphasis on healing so that their W makes more of a difference.

The runes are giving me some much needed cooldown reduction and the rest is less important; magic penetration & ability power are nice and the mana regen is alright.

This is the item build that I use which so far seems relatively good. I’m not a fan of going full AP on Bard as I feel like going deep into support items better on them. With these items I feel like I have most of my grounds covered with the different match-ups.

Gnar!

If Bard is my favourite champion by far, Gnar is easily my 2nd favourite. I love this little ball of fluff so much! He’s really good at poking while he’s in his Mini Gnar form and can put out a good amount of damage while doing so, and when he turns into his Mega Gnar form he becomes SO TANKY and has so much CC going on! The double-form aspect of the character is really interesting too, making the way you play him really unique and fun. Top is my 2nd role & Gnar is my go-to top laner.

These are the masteries that I use on Gnar. I like making him really tanky as it makes his Mega Gnar form so much more devastating and it makes his Mini Gnar form more survivable, since he’s pretty squishy in general.

The runes are really to make him more tanky, some armor & magic resist are really essential. The attack speed does make a huge difference since it’s usually fairly slow and with just the runes I don’t really need to get any items for speed. The lethality quints is nice, still unsure if I might just put some more attack speed in there instead, but so far it seems good. I also use these runes for Jungling since it gives everything a Jungler needs really.

And these are the items! I really like building with these to give Gnar a lot of HP while giving him a nice damage output. Granted I often build him tanky with just 1 or 2 damage items, but if the game is going well and we’re ahead I’ll build him damage oriented and crush some scrubs.

Ziggs

I’m not much of a Mage player, but Ziggs is so much fun. He’s really the champion that I put out the best results with and he just feels so instinctive. He deals A LOT of damage, has a really nice poking potential and his abilities are just great overall. I don’t play mid very often but Ziggs is really my go-to mage.

Super damage oriented masteries; I really want to deal as much damage as possible and it works so well. Just make everything go boom.

The runes are shared with Bard as you can seen, as both the champions are fine with the same ones; cooldown reduction is SUPER important of Ziggs and the magic penetration and ability power are VERY nice on him. Mana regen is alright too, it helps in the early game.

Oh the magnificent items. I go all-in the cooldown reduction so I can spam his abilities as much as possible. On top of that I try to have AS MUCH ability power boost as I can, to make his bombs even more devastating (if that’s even possible). I got my bases covered for match-ups where I get killed too quickly as well, but to be honest I feel like with Ziggs you can afford being really squishy as you can deal a lot of damage while still being at a safe distance from fights.

Graves

So, ADC & Jungle are the 2 roles that I VERY rarely play. I usually support of top, and those 2 roles are pretty popular, so rare are the occasions where I have to play those. Since I almost never carry or jungle, I thought I could kill 2 birds with 1 stone and have a jungler who can play as an ADC as well! (also, all the pure junglers are just too…edgy). Thanks to the amazing @karadork who gifted me Graves, now I can safely play some solo queue while still having a champion for each role! Also, Graves is REALLY fun to play!

I really like these masteries to be able to just generate a lot of damage quickly and I feel like it works for ADC & junglers. I know some people build him tanky, but I prefer dealing more damage.

Runes are pretty standard for ADC; got some nice cooldown reduction (I love those runes) as well as a bit of attack speed and some nice lethality. I’ll have to try those runes a bit more for jungling, as I think it could work on Graves, but in the worst case I use the Gnar runes (as seen earlier) for jungling.

So these are the items I use on Graves. He benefits a lot from Phantom Dancer, like, seriously, that item is insane on him. The rest is just to give him so much damage outlet to melt down anyone he encounters. Also some nice options for defence that are still fairly aggressive too.

Back-Ups

So these champions I’ve just went through are my main ones, the ones that I play over & over to really become good at. But sometimes some people will ban champions that I main and then I’m screwed, so I need a plan B, some back-up champions. Granted, the champions I play are not the top picks in the meta so it’s rare that the get banned, but it happens sometimes and it makes me sad…but yeah, here are my back-up champions!

Leona

So this one isn’t definitive, but Leona is for now my 2nd favourite support. She’s really tanky and has A LOT of CC which makes her very dangerous and super good! I’m also thinking of Malzahar as a potential support back-up since he’s really good at harassing and has some nice CC, but we’ll see.

Illaoi

To be honest I havn’t had a chance to try her out yet, but she’s my 2nd favourite top laner design-wise. Also, she seems to benefit from a build similar to Gnar so that’s even better! I’ll need to play her a bit soon but I’m 99% sure she’ll be my back-up top!

Syndra

This is a character that I feel has a VERY unique and interesting skill set. Her abilties are really different that what you’re used to and her interactions with the balls are weird & fun. She’s maybe not super good but I really like her play style and I think she’s a nice back-up mid mage.

Kindred

As much as I’ve criticized the design of Kindred, which feels like furry bait, the champion has some very neat abilities. The skill set of Kindred is one of the most fun and interesting one that I’ve encountered. Also, Kindred works as a jungler as well as an ADC, so it’s a very nice back-up for Graves, who also fills both roles! Kindred isn’t super good right now, but it’s still a nice 2nd option, especially since I don’t play ranked games…

Wrap-Up

So yeah, that’s it! I hope some of you guys appreciated this post and I am MORE THAN OPEN to any advices, tips & whatnot. I’ve just got back into the game and I’d really appreciate any imput! I know this is not the kind of content that this blog is used to, but I just felt like talking about this for one week while people are busy watching the ProTour; next week we’ll get back into the regular schedule and jump to an EDH deck tech!

#league of legends

26 notes · View notes

blablabrat · 4 years

Text

Yesterday was my 27th. I am nearing the end of my mid 20s and I hate it. But this isn't a rant. I actually want to remember my 27th birthday as it was much more pleasing than what I had expected. I didn't have expectations actually, because of all the Covd19 chaos and my busy daily schedule, I had been too tired to plan for a celebration or to think about it at all. I only prepared to order some steak and burgers for a nice warm dinner at home with my mom and sister. It was just gonna be a small simple dinner, but I guess I needed a reminder that I was a little more special than I thought. Yesterday was a very nice reminder. I have to be in the office at 6am everyday, so I usually wake up around 5:30am. My alarm clock is set at 4:30 to make sure I get the fuck up lol. Still, I manage to be late almost everytime. Yesterday my mom and sister got up at 5am just to wake me up with the happy birthday song and brought me breakfast in bed. It was really sweet and I enjoyed waking up to that. It was funny because they were laughing and singing and dancing at 5am in the morning, you wouldn't even remember how early it was with all the energy they were bringing into the room. But it was funny because while I was eating the egghead, they finished singing and dancing at this point and were just sitting on my bed watching me eat and I couldn't help but laugh out loud because it seemed that their sleepiness had finally hit them again, and they were just staring into space. both of them. lol. I laughed and told them they could go back to sleep haha, and they laughed too because they realized how quick the energy de-escalated. lol. It was a good start to the day. I got to work, 15minutes late as usual, on my bike. It was cloudy but not enough to rain so that was good. As I got off my bike and walked to the office it started to seem like another regular day, which is what I expected anyway, but when I entered the office, there it was again. The birthday vibe was in the air. My computer was turned on for me (which usually I have to do myself and takes about 10 minutes to load) and there were 2 paper bags on my desk. 1 bag with brownies and another with a gift from my team. It was very touching and I was thrilled because I didn't think they would be aware of my birthday. I was really happy, and I really appreciated the effort. Inside the gift bag were 2 bottles, both cleaning formulas for my motorcycle. They know me so well, I was ecstatic. and the brownies were such a nice touch and good substitute for a cake actually. They all greeted me a happy birthday and by that time I had realized that I had really good co-workers. They actually cared haha. I feel very lucky to have them, even though we spent most of my first year at work not really talking to each other lol. I guess we have all grown on eachother ever since we got back to the office in July. Funny thing is, we're closer now that we sit one seat apart than we were when we were sitting next to eachother. Ironic huh. Anyway, it was nice. I ordered 2 pizzas for the whole office to show my appreciation as well, since the total of people in the office are only 11 lol, wasn't too hard or expensive. My boss also gave me a popsicle to celebrate haha. Kids stuff I know, but it was nice too. I got dismissed 30 minutes earlier than my usual time off, and was able to get to big house at about 3pm and waited for my orders there. The steak and burger. While I was waiting I got my motorcycle checked by my cousin, who confirmed my suspicion that something was wrong with it because it wobbled while I drove. He took it for a test drive to double check, and while I waited for him too, I went to the back yard where my other cousin was doing some gardening and feeding his fish, he gave me some of his fresh produce (Pechay) which were ridiculously aesthetic. They looked like they came out for a photoshoot or something. It was so satisfying to look at and pluck off the ground. They looked perfect. After that, my uncle finally came with the beef that I ordered, and after some chit chat with my mechanic cousin I headed home. I was about an hour late so I knew my mom and sister were probably pacing around waiting for me. When I got home I was right haha, it was really quiet as I entered the house, suspiciously quiet. When I opened my room door, that was the queue for the happy birthday music and my sister and mom started dancing again and singing happy birthday. There were a few decorations and a cake for me to blow out, it was really small and simple but I really really enjoyed every second of it. I blew out my candles and my mom took the steak to start cooking. I was getting greetings all day in person and on social media, it was unexpected because I try to not be too loud about my birthday but since the cat was out of the bag already, I went ahead and posted some pictures and videos of some of the nice things I got today. My mom and sister got me some presents and they were all great, especially the cards lol. The birthday greeting cards were amazing. one of them read, “Smart, thoughtful, and good looking, but enough about us. Today is about you. Happy birthday.” LOL. I gotta admit this one made me laugh, and another greeting card from my sister read, “Thank you for always being older than me, Love,Dasha” How freakin’ sweet is that. haha. I don’t know why but I am happy they didn’t do or write anything cheesy. It was all laughs from there. I opened my presents and got 2 sets of “Dasters” I’m actually looking forward to using them. And another gift - 3 packs of medical facemasks lol good one, and the last gift, by far my most favorite and best freakin’ gift in a long time... My mom and sister got me Kush. That’s right. M mothafuckin’ J. I went wild, I was super happy, still am actually. Can’t wait to try it out with them. Lastly, my boyfriend and I video called for a bit and he revealed his gifts to me via video call. He’s in Baguio so it was hard not to see him specially on my birthday but he made sure I wouldn’t be sad about it that day. He got me 5 gifts, because my birthday is Aug “5th” lol, I’ve never had that done for me before so I was ecstatic to find out what he got me. He’s actually really good at getting gifts.And I was right, he got me almost all the things listed on my shopping cart lol, literally. I don’t know how I got so lucky. Here’s what he got me:

Vlog lapel mic for my action cam

light reflector for photoshoots

SSD storage for my PC

Logitech webcam for my pc

3 sets of Des Buncio’s facemask + 1 eye shield

1 whole set of accesories for my action cam

Dude he got me more than 5 gifts, I was overwhelmed af. I didn’t know which ones to be more excited about! Like I was lost for words, I was so happy that I didn’t know what to say or what to do, like I was going into shock lol.

I have such a good boyfriend for once. I realized that he knew me so well, that he got all his gifts right. I mean like, they are all literally useful to me. I was always meaning to buy them myself but I just kept putting them off, and he finally got them for me. haha, the day could not be more perfect.

The day was great. By far one of the best birthdays I have had in a long time. Even if I didn’t get to spend it with him as well, he made it clear that he was still there.

That’s all, I just wanted to put this out there so I could read this on my future shitty birthdays and remember this one perfect birthday, for one day, I forgot about the pandemic, I forgot about all the problems, I forgot about everything negative and I was just really truly happy.

0 notes

stellahibernis · 4 years

Text

Writing life

I haven’t done regular writing updates in a long while, so here’s a bit more comprehensive one just because. Mostly about writing (it’s been an unusual half a year for me), and something about life in general and the half a year of relatively minor but continuous health challenges, which are a big reason why the writing has been what it has, albeit not all of it.

When it comes to writing, I’ve been much less productive than in previous years. Mostly due to lack of energy (due to the aforementioned health problems), but I’ve also had something of an inspiration problem. Good news for me is that the inspiration problem seems to be dealt with (although possibly less good for my regular readers, since it comes with branching to new fandoms even though I’m not dropping MCU), now I need to rebuild the writing habit that suffered during the spring. I’m on summer vacation now, and will hopefully get a good amount done.

(Rest behind a cut since I got characteristically wordy)

The first weeks of the year were pretty much business as usual, including that I finally wrote the Captain Marvel fic, A New Year, that I’d been mulling over for a while, but never got done until then.

At the beginning of the year my company moved to a new office, and after a while it became obvious there was something there that caused an allergic reaction in me. It wasn’t great, but we managed it best as we could (including working partly from home and at the office I sat at least part time in one of the smaller rooms, which worked better than the open space where our desks are). It was doable, but left me with considerably less energy than usual after the work days, which obviously affected my writing.

The first few months of this year my writing efforts were mostly spent on love’s not controlled by the weather, which was a funny process, because I like the story and was inspired to work on it, but it didn’t quite feel like that because of the general fatigue going on. The whole time there was this weird disconnect between what I thought of it and the general feeling about the process. I’m happy with the end result, and also that I managed to post it when it was still early spring (it being a winter romance, sure would have been ironic to post in June, for example :D).

Anyway, starting from March, I’ve obviously been living in the same limbo as everyone else. Since March 10th, I’ve been at the office exactly once, otherwise working remotely (for reference, I live in Finland where things never got completely out of hand). I’m one of the really lucky ones who can do so relatively easily and our company was very good about it. We had a policy that we can work remotely or come to office (and rules on how to be careful if you do), but since my getting there involves public transport and I have less than great lungs due to late diagnosed celiac disease that manifested mostly as respiratory problems (hence the difficulty in diagnosis, it’s gotten better since my diet was fixed), I’ve stayed at home as much as possible.

Turns out, I most likely had the virus in March (it was very, very mild so I never got tested or even saw a doctor for it). At the time it felt like a somewhat weird cold with fatigue and indigestion, but in retrospect it was probably Covid, the biggest giveaway being that once spring came and I got more active, I noticed my lung capacity is dismal these days. It’s in fact worse now than after the bronchitis I had in my early adulthood that lasted a whole winter, and I was nowhere near that sick this year. So that’s what I’m dealing with now, although I’m getting back to my regular energy levels, just need to take it easy when walking up the hill, for example.

Unsurprisingly the general fatigue affected my writing, and I went literally the whole of April without writing a single word. The bright side was that I managed to actually deal with it in a constructive way, and gave myself permission to not even try if I couldn’t which took away much of the mental load, and probably helped me get back to it in May.

The non-writing April was also a big reason why I decided not to take part in a big bang this year. I’ve had a good time (and been extremely happy with the results) over the last couple of years I’ve participated, but at the sign up time I had no idea what I should write or if I even could get back to writing any time soon, so I decided it was better not to force it.

In May I started to feel much more inspired again (also healthier, it’s amazing what a little additional energy does for your creative drive), and at first it manifested in the form of a bunch of new ideas. My idea list is even more terrifyingly long than usual at this point, although I know realistically not all of them will get written, not even all of those for which I have more than a vague idea. I think I have about 30k of one story written that won’t be finished. Some of the themes have and will be translated into other stories (including a current WIP which definitely will get finished), and the rest of it was good practice, so no regrets even though it’ll stay in the unfinished limbo.

Before the writing break I started a Stucky fic, and it was the one I came back to in May when I started writing again, albeit slowly, in fits and starts. Over the last handful of years I’ve developed a pretty good writing habit, but apparently a month long complete break during an otherwise challenging year does a lot of damage to it, and I’m still getting back to it. Slowly but surely, and I’ve adjusted some of my process starting early this year, because focusing for longer periods doesn’t work as well as it used to. Nowadays I write more in short bursts here and there rather than all at once, but the daily word counts are getting to the similar level, which I’m very happy with.

The aforementioned Stucky fic (which still has no title, the constant struggle to come up with those!) is about two thirds done, and it’s mentally in the category “would like to post it in July” even though it has had a couple of big breaks, first the non-writing break and then my very sudden detour to other fandoms. Steve and Bucky are currently hanging at the beach with some unresolved issues, so I should get back to it :D

Generally this year I’ve had several instances where I might have branched toward other fandoms than MCU, which is quite a big indicator that the focus of my interest is definitely on the move (the laser focus of over five years is pretty unusual, tbh). I still have a lot of ideas for it and will keep writing them, but I’ll also write other stuff.

First potential branching out, one that didn’t produce anything concrete and probably won’t in anywhere near future (for the pretty obvious “creator being a despicable human being” related reasons) was to finally write the post canon HP fic I’ve been toying with every now and then ever since Deathly Hallows was released. I considered starting it early this year, but never got there (although I have a rough idea what the story would be like, if I were to write it), and now I’m again soured even at the thought of it.

Second branch, again nothing concrete has materialized yet, mostly because it came to me during April, is a Kingdom Hearts fic set post game three. I used my low energy time in getting to know what happened in KH3 and I have mixed feelings but also there was a hook that would turn into a pretty interesting story. This is in my idea pile, in the very back burner currently, but a lot more likely to get written at some point (probably not in 2020, though).

Third branch, I’ve been meaning to write a fic in the Wicked + the Divine canon, and actually started one in winter, but then I got sick. It should be a short one, so I’ll get to finishing it one of these days (tentatively places it also in the “would like to post it in July” category, but it’s the last one in that pile).

Fourth branch, which actually produced a finished story, and not only that, it was the easiest, most joyful writing process of the year (so far! Hopefully more to come), was that I got reminded of Susan Cooper’s Dark Is Rising books, read all of them over a couple of weeks, and got hit by a major case of feels. Hence Light from the Lost happened.

And the fifth branch started from where I finally watched the Untamed, promptly fell deep in that hole and now the muse is terrifyingly bountiful and demands I write all the things (I have no less than eight fic ideas already!) The one currently at works is just condensed pain when it comes to rewatching scenes for research :D

Also I have a terrible tv show hangover from it, which is very inconvenient since I want to watch the last season of Dark but just can’t invest myself into it right now.

So that’s what’s been going on for me, the current plan in life is to enjoy the vacation, get less stressed, and hopefully healthier. Writing plan for immediate future is:

Finish, edit, and post the Untamed fic on top of that queue, and hope that the muse allows me to work on other stuff after that

Finish, edit, and post the Stucky WIP, preferably in July

Decide what to write for the traditional end of year fic (look at me planning ahead!)

This has been over 1700 words of writing about writing fic, so maybe I should get to that now. On the other hand, writing this definitely helps me in building the regular writing habit, so we’ll count it as a win.

#writing process #life stuff

0 notes

timbdesign · 7 years

Text

A Bit Personal – How I lost 15 Pounds in 2 weeks

Frankly, I don’t recommend what I’m doing here – because it’s more of an extreme bet that I made with some of my friends (to lose 7% of my body weight – or 15 pounds) than a ‘this is what you should do post.’

If you follow me for my digital marketing content, I should say – the moral here is figuring out what you want to do, and then taking extreme action at all costs to get there. This is how I get incredible results for my clients, and how I get amazing results for my business.

This post is part of that strategy of doing whatever it takes – I want to share the meals I’m eating for the next four days in photograph form as part of my tactic for losing weight fast. If I don’t lose the last seven pounds over the next five days – I may not publish this, but I will certainly come back to it for a record of what happened, and likely finish out the last bit of weight over the next two weeks. Let’s assume I’m going to beat this challenge – what did I do to lose weight so quickly?

ONE – I made a bet with people I trusted that whoever could lose 7% of their body weight first would win the other people’s money.

Peer Pressure

TWO – I’ve been taking everything that had the best reviews and was part of the most lists as part of weight loss supplement ‘best of’ lists.

SunFiber – Hefty 3 or 4 scoop dose at night before I go to bed

Smooth Move Tea – 2 Tea Bags soaked for 10 minutes and squeezed of all the herb goodness before bed

CLA 1250 (Safflower Oil)

Cellucor HD 2500 Thermogenic Supplement (Caffeine, Yohimbe, B Vitamins)

Possibly helpful, but not exactly sure if they are directly related:

Branch Chain Amino Acids

KeTo Cana (as suggested by Tim Ferriss’s Tools of Titans)

MCT Oil Powder (as suggested by Tim Ferriss’s Tools of Titans)

THREE – I’m trying to add in regular interval running, though I’ve only gotten two sessions in so far – I’m looking to do this every day for the next four days.

45 Minutes in the morning, run fast for awhile, then walk for awhile… I tried to do this at 1-minute to 3-minute increments, as the idea is just to keep your heart rate at a solid clip.

FOUR – Food is obviously the biggest piece to this whole puzzle. I normally throw down a pizza or two a week, and have mostly turned off the junk food to great effect, as of this morning I was 205.7 pounds, for a total weight loss of 7.3 pounds or 3.5% of my body weight. (Not quite the 7% I’m going for).

I’ve been trying to do intermittent fasting (not eating after dinner and not until 10 or 11 in the morning for a total of 14 hours or so generally). Today I tried to limit my caloric intake to 1200 calories, while my normal intake was around 2200, tracking things in MyFitnessPal, but started this more recently. As part of this challenge, I’m going to share a picture of everything I eat for the next four days (to keep me honest about what I’m eating.)

Sunday:

Monday:

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

This somewhat extreme dieting plan is not for people with eating disorders – but for me, it was fun to try! I can sometimes be a ‘couple pizzas a week’ kind of guy, but I wanted to see what MASSIVE ACTION could do for my weight since I was 15 pounds over my preferred weight and 22 pounds over my ‘wedding weight.’

The last day or so I did a little weight training, a little sauna sitting, and tried not to consume too much water – tricks for those last few pounds are sauna sitting, diuretics, and smooth move tea. Also took a queue from wrestlers trying to make weight and sucked on ice cubes that last 20 hours, without a ton of hydration. Going to break into celery with almond butter and the rest of my strawberries and kiwis after weigh in. Oh the indulgence!

This brings me to how this weight loss challenge is an analogy for digital marketing – because I feel it’s obligatory on this blog.

Setting a big, inspiring goal

Getting accountability

Putting your money on the line

Researching the critical things needed to achieve that massive goal

Doing whatever it takes to reach that goal

Here are some things I read that helped me along the way to lose weight quickly:

4 Hour Body by Tim Ferriss

How Can You Make Weight Before Your Match – Bodybuilding.com

How to lose 20-30 pounds in 5 Days by Tim Ferriss

Rapid Weight Loss, Affirmations on Audible.com

The post A Bit Personal – How I lost 15 Pounds in 2 weeks appeared first on Tim B Design.

from A Bit Personal – How I lost 15 Pounds in 2 weeks

#A Bit Personal – How I lost 15 Pounds in 2 weeks

0 notes

ulyssessklein · 7 years

Text

Naming your band — in 10 easy steps

Having been through the naming process so many times, either with my own bands or ones I’ve taught, I’ve learned that trying to find THE GREATEST BAND NAME EVER is a fool’s errand. The best you can hope for (and what most bands settle for) is the LEAST BAD BAND NAME.

Many famous bands don’t like their name:

Smashing Pumpkins “is a stupid name, a dumb bad joke and a bad idea”

Goo Goo Dolls: “We had a gig that night and needed a name. If I had had five more minutes, I definitely would have picked a better name”

Hoobastank: “It was fun to say at the time, and when we named the band we were a lot younger”

Smokey Robinson And The Miracles picked their name out of a hat. Even the TV show Sesame Street‘s name “was set at the 11th hour and fifty ninth minute.” Almost everyone on the show disliked the name. But they hated The Video Classroom, 1-2-3 Avenue B and Fun Street more. They set a deadline to come up with a better idea and “went with it because it was the least bad title.”

Back in the 80s it was enough to come up with some misspelled and often laughably umlautted monicker. I spell Vengence Vengeance incorrectly to this day thanks to my time in a metal band. In those simpler times, as long as people could pronounce your name you were OK. And if your band had the same name as one on the other side of the world, it wasn’t an issue till one of you signed to Warner Bros. But the internet changed all that. Here’s 10 steps to naming your band.

1. Brainstorm A List Of Names

Write down at least 50-100. Write them ALL down. Every single one. No matter how silly. Don’t judge. Don’t debate. The stupidest will make a cool talking point during interviews (and you never know – some goofy garage band or tribute act may use the rejected name in your honour).

2. Mix And Match The Names You Have

When you can’t think of any more, try taking a word from one name and adding it to another. Look for unusual juxtapositions like Sound-garden, Radio-head or Led Zeppelin.

3. Change The Numbers

If any name contains a number, try multiple versions with different numbers. Three Blind Mice? Four Blind Mice! Six Blind Mice! Joseph Heller’s novel, Catch 22, was originally called Catch-18, but that’s less, erm, ‘catchy.’

4. Google It – For Rival Bands

Google “YOUR BAND NAME band” or “YOUR BAND NAME music” or “YOUR BAND NAME lyrics” If there is another active band with your name YOU ABSOLUTELY CANNOT USE IT. Yes, you might beat them to the punch if they haven’t registered it, but what’s the point? If it’s so cool and original how come someone else thought of it first? Is it really worth spending money on?

The one caveat is ‘active band.’ Was the last gig mentioned on their Facebook page in 2004? Is their web presence limited to a MySpace page? You MIGHT be OK. But don’t assume – your namesake may be gigging like crazy but lousy at social media.

5. Google It – For Rival Brands (And Other Things)

What if your chosen moniker isn’t a band name, but a ‘thing’ out there in the real world? If it’s a trademarked product or a person – forget it. Disney, Pepsi and Simon Cowell have bigger and uglier lawyers than you. If it’s just a ‘thing’ you may be OK, but ask yourself – is your band going to get lost in the internet ‘noise’?

For example ‘Whale’ is terrible name for your band because when someone types ‘Whale Music’ or ‘Whale Album’ into Google your album will join the queue behind 600,000 hits for Greenpeace.

6. Does It Mean Something Bad?

Does your name have nasty or unfortunate connotations? Think about it and ask lots of other people (eg “What do you think of when I say “Ben Dover And The Batty Men?”). It might seem funny taking your name from some obscure sexual practice until your fan’s eyeballs get a baptism of fire on google images. Check Urban Dictionary and a regular dictionary too.

If you have a multiword name, try typing it without spaces as in ‘yourbandname.com’. Sometimes a perfectly inoffensive name can create a terrible URL. What business do you think Penisland.net, Expertsexchange.com, Speedofart.com and Powergenitalia.com are in?

7. Is It A Song Title?

More specifically, is it a song by a band that you are heavily influenced by? Then Don’t. Just don’t. Nothing marks you out more clearly as a slavishly unimaginative copycat.

But otherwise, that’s fine. ‘Radiohead’ is a song by Talking Heads. Judas Priest took their name from a Bob Dylan song ‘The Ballad Of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest’. Deep Purple, Jet, The Kooks, Death Cab For Cutie, Nine Below Zero, Right Said Fred and The Sisters Of Mercy are all named after music they sound nothing like.

8. Can Everyone Spell It?

Think carefully about this. Is it something that people are going to have trouble spelling? Or remembering?

I was once part of a band called Aistaguca. Pronounced Eyes -Ta – Goo – Cha. It doesn’t mean anything in any language. It’s not spelt phonetically. I lost count of the number of times people who had really enjoyed our gig asked me what we were called. Then asked again. Then asked me to spell it. And then I would see their eyes glaze over as they resigned themselves to the fact that they were never going to be able to find us online, tag us on Facebook or even tweet that they’d seen us. FAIL.

The only exception would be spelling your name ‘wrong’ to help people get it ‘right’. Led Zeppelin went with the ‘Led’ spelling to prevent people saying “leed” – as in ‘lead guitar’.

9. Don’t Pick A Name That Sound Like A Completely Different Genre.

One day a hundred, very unhappy, very drunk, thrash metal fans will show up to watch your folk trio play the local art gallery. Your ironic name won’t seem so funny then.

10. Live With It

Once you’ve got it, stick with it and get on with the real business of making music. If you do a good job with that, the music itself will come to define what that name means, not the other way around. Say Buffalo Springfield now and we think of Neil Young and a bunch of hippies not the steam-roller they were named after. And when you see the word ‘Beatles’ you don’t think about insects or ‘beat music’ do you?

Sources:

Smashing Pumpkins [Cracked] Goo Goo Dolls [Rolling Stone] Hoobastank [Rolling Stone] Sesame Street [That Eric Alper] Catch 22 [Spectator] Judas Priest [Classic Bands] Jet [Wikipedia] Speedofart.com [Boredpanda]

This article was written by Matt Blick of the Beatles Songwriting Academy, and it originally appeared HERE.

The post Naming your band — in 10 easy steps appeared first on DIY Musician Blog.

0 notes

siva3155 · 5 years

Text

300+ TOP SAP QM Interview Questions and Answers

SAP QM Interview Questions for freshers experienced :-

1 note · View note