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How Much Money Do I Need to Start an FBA Business on Amazon?

2024.05.19 22:42 DutyTop8086 How Much Money Do I Need to Start an FBA Business on Amazon?

1. Amazon Store Rent
First, let's talk about the monthly rent for an Amazon store. Registering an Amazon store is free, but using a company registration instead of a personal one is recommended. This approach is safer and has a higher approval rate. After registering, you can choose between an Individual account and a Professional account.
Individual Account: This account has no monthly fee, but you'll pay Amazon $0.99 for each item you sell. It’s suitable for sellers who are just starting out and have lower sales volumes.
Professional Account: This account costs $39.99 per month, but you won’t pay a fee per sale. This option is more cost-effective if you sell more than 40 items per month.
Recommendation: If you’re just starting and your sales are low, opt for the Individual account. As your sales increase and you consistently sell more than 40 items per month, switch to the Professional account to save on per-item fees.
  1. Product Selection Tools
Choosing the right products to sell is crucial for the success of your e-commerce business. Fortunately, there are several tools available to assist with this process, each offering unique features to help you make informed decisions.
Popular Paid Tools: JungleScout and Helium10
JungleScout: Priced at $49/month, JungleScout is widely recognized for its comprehensive suite of tools designed to help sellers identify profitable products, estimate sales, and analyze competition. Its features include:
Product Database: Allows you to filter products based on various criteria like price, sales, and competition.
Product Tracker: Helps track the performance of potential products over time.
Keyword Scout: Provides keyword research and optimization suggestions to enhance product listings.
Sales Analytics: Offers insights into sales trends and revenue estimates.
Helium10: At $79/month, Helium10 is another powerful tool that provides a wide range of functionalities for Amazon sellers. Key features include:
Black Box: A product research tool that allows you to find profitable niches.
Xray: A Chrome extension that gives you a quick overview of product performance metrics directly on Amazon.
Keyword Research: Tools like Cerebro and Magnet help you discover and optimize for high-ranking keywords.
Listing Optimization: Features like Scribbles and Index Checker ensure your product listings are optimized for maximum visibility.
Free Tool: 4SELLER
4SELLER: For those who are looking for a budget-friendly option, 4SELLER is a free tool that offers a robust set of features to aid in product selection and management. It includes:
Product Selection: Assists in identifying profitable products by analyzing market trends and competition.
Inventory Management: Helps track inventory levels, forecast demand, and manage stock efficiently to prevent overstocking or stockouts.
Supplier Finder: Aids in locating reliable suppliers, which is essential for maintaining product quality and consistency.
Why Product Selection Tools are Essential
Using product selection tools is vital because they provide data-driven insights that help you make informed decisions. These tools can save you time and reduce the risk of choosing products that may not sell well. They offer features that allow you to:
Identify Trends: By analyzing market data, these tools help you stay ahead of trends and capitalize on emerging opportunities.
Evaluate Competition: Understanding your competition is crucial. These tools provide detailed analysis of competitors' products, pricing strategies, and sales performance.
Optimize Listings: Well-optimized product listings are more likely to attract buyers. These tools offer keyword research and listing optimization features that improve your product's visibility on e-commerce platforms.
Manage Inventory: Efficient inventory management ensures you have the right products available at the right time, which is crucial for maintaining customer satisfaction and maximizing sales.
Whether you opt for a paid tool like JungleScout or Helium10, or a free option like 4SELLER, leveraging these tools can significantly enhance your ability to select profitable products, manage inventory effectively, and optimize your listings for better performance.
3. Initial Stock Costs
Purchasing your first batch of products involves a significant initial investment, and the amount required can vary widely depending on the type of products you choose to sell. Here’s a detailed breakdown of what to consider when estimating your initial stock costs:
Factors Influencing Initial Stock Costs
Product Type and Price: The nature of the products you choose to sell will greatly influence your initial costs. Higher-priced items tend to have less competition but require a larger upfront investment. Conversely, cheaper products are more budget-friendly but often come with higher competition.
Quantity: The number of units you decide to purchase initially is another major factor. A common recommendation for new sellers is to start with 200-500 units. This range allows you to test the market demand without overcommitting financially.
Calculating Initial Costs
To estimate your initial stock costs, you need to multiply the quantity of units by the purchase price per unit. Here’s a simplified formula:
Initial Stock Cost=Quantity×Purchase Price per UnitInitial Stock Cost=Quantity×Purchase Price per Unit
For instance, if you decide to buy 300 units of a product that costs $5 per unit, your initial stock cost would be:
300 units×$5/unit=$1,500300 units×$5/unit=$1,500
Typical Budget Ranges for New Sellers
Low Budget: If you’re starting with a tighter budget, you might opt for products with a lower purchase price. For example, if you choose items costing around $2 per unit and purchase 200 units, your initial cost would be $400.
Moderate Budget: A more common range for new sellers is between $1,000 and $3,000. This allows for a balance between purchasing a reasonable quantity of units and managing the risk of unsold inventory. For example, buying 400 units at $5 per unit would total $2,000.
Higher Budget: With a larger budget, you can consider higher-priced items that might have less competition. For instance, purchasing 300 units at $10 per unit would result in an initial cost of $3,000.
Why Initial Stock Costs are Important
Understanding and planning for initial stock costs is critical because it ensures you are adequately prepared for the financial outlay required to launch your business. Here are a few reasons why this is essential:
Market Testing: Buying an appropriate number of units allows you to test market demand without over-investing. This way, you can gauge the product's popularity and adjust future orders accordingly.
Cash Flow Management: Proper planning helps manage your cash flow effectively. Ensuring you have enough funds to cover initial stock costs, along with other expenses like marketing and shipping, is crucial for maintaining business operations.
Risk Mitigation: Starting with a moderate quantity of units helps minimize the risk of unsold inventory, which can tie up capital and lead to losses. It’s better to start small, analyze performance, and scale up gradually.
Carefully estimating and planning for your initial stock costs is a vital step in setting up your e-commerce business. By understanding the factors that influence these costs and budgeting accordingly, you can make informed decisions that set the foundation for a successful venture. Whether you have a limited budget or can invest more significantly, strategic planning will help you manage risks and maximize your chances of success.
4. UPC Codes
UPC stands for Universal Product Code, a standardized barcode used by retailers, including Amazon, to track products. Obtaining UPC codes is a critical step in setting up your products for sale. Here’s a detailed explanation of why you need them, where to get them, and the associated costs.
What are UPC Codes?
Definition: UPC codes are unique identifiers assigned to products. Each code consists of a series of black bars and a corresponding 12-digit number that can be scanned by barcode readers.
Purpose: These codes help retailers manage inventory, streamline the checkout process, and track sales. For e-commerce platforms like Amazon, UPC codes ensure each product is uniquely identifiable, reducing errors and simplifying logistics.
Where to Buy UPC Codes
Official Source: GS1: The Global Standards 1 (GS1) organization is the official provider of UPC codes. Purchasing from GS1 ensures the authenticity and uniqueness of your codes, which is crucial for compliance with Amazon’s policies.
Why GS1?: While there are third-party sellers offering UPC codes at lower prices, these codes might not always be unique or compliant with GS1 standards. Using GS1 guarantees that your UPCs are globally recognized and legitimate, preventing potential issues with listing products on Amazon.
Cost of UPC Codes
Initial Purchase: GS1 sells UPC codes in packs. A pack of 10 UPCs costs $250 initially. This upfront cost covers the registration and issuance of the codes.
Annual Renewal Fee: In addition to the initial purchase cost, there is a $50 annual renewal fee. This fee ensures your codes remain active and your registration with GS1 stays current.
Breakdown of Costs
Initial Cost: For a pack of 10 UPC codes, the initial cost is $250.
Annual Renewal: The $50 annual renewal fee applies every year to maintain your codes.
Example Calculation:
If you purchase a pack of 10 UPCs, your total cost for the first year would be:
$250 (initial cost)+$50 (annual renewal fee)=$300$250 (initial cost)+$50 (annual renewal fee)=$300
In subsequent years, you will only pay the $50 renewal fee to keep your UPCs active.
Why UPC Codes are Important
Inventory Management: UPC codes play a crucial role in inventory management, allowing you to track stock levels accurately. This helps prevent stockouts and overstock situations.
Product Identification: Each UPC code is unique to a specific product, ensuring that Amazon and other retailers can correctly identify and catalog your items. This reduces the risk of listing errors and mix-ups.
Compliance and Credibility: Using GS1-issued UPC codes ensures compliance with Amazon’s listing requirements. This adds credibility to your listings and prevents potential issues that might arise from using unauthorized codes.
Efficiency and Automation: UPC codes facilitate the automation of various processes, including checkout, shipping, and inventory updates. This enhances operational efficiency and reduces manual workload.
Investing in UPC codes from GS1 is an essential step for any e-commerce business aiming to sell on platforms like Amazon. The initial cost of $250 for a pack of 10 UPCs, along with the $50 annual renewal fee, ensures that your products are uniquely identifiable and compliant with global standards. This investment not only helps in effective inventory management but also enhances the credibility and efficiency of your business operations.
5. Shipping and Distribution Costs
Shipping and distribution costs are critical components of your overall budget when selling on Amazon. These costs encompass various fees and charges that ensure your products reach Amazon’s warehouses and, ultimately, your customers. Here’s a detailed breakdown of what to consider and how these costs can impact your business.
Components of Shipping and Distribution Costs
Shipping to Amazon’s Warehouse: This involves the costs of transporting your products from your supplier to Amazon’s fulfillment centers. Factors influencing these costs include the size and weight of your products, the shipping method, and the distance between the supplier and the warehouse.
Packaging: Proper packaging is essential to protect your products during transit. This includes boxes, cushioning materials, and labeling.
Inspection Fees: To ensure quality and compliance with Amazon’s standards, you might need to pay for product inspections before they are shipped.
Import Duties and Taxes: If you are importing products from another country, customs duties and taxes will apply. These costs vary based on the product category and the country of origin.
Estimated Shipping Costs by Product Size
Small Items: For smaller products, shipping costs are generally lower. On average, you can expect to pay around $4 per unit for shipping.
Mid-sized Products: For larger or heavier items, shipping costs increase. These costs can range from $8 to $12 per unit, depending on the specific dimensions and weight of the products.
Amazon FBA Fees
Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) Fees: Once your products are in Amazon’s warehouse, the company handles storage, packaging, and shipping to customers. Amazon charges FBA fees for these services, which are based on the size and weight of the product.
Small and Light Items: FBA fees for smaller items typically range from $2.92 to $6.13 per unit.
Larger Items: For bigger or heavier products, FBA fees can be higher, reflecting the additional handling and shipping costs.
Breakdown of Costs
Shipping Costs to Amazon’s Warehouse:
Small items: $4 per unit
Mid-sized items: $8-$12 per unit
Amazon FBA Fees:
Small items: $2.92-$6.13 per unit
Larger items: Higher fees depending on size and weight
Example Calculation
If you are shipping 300 small items to Amazon’s warehouse, with each unit costing $4 to ship and an average FBA fee of $4.50, your total costs would be:
Shipping to Warehouse: 300 units×$4/unit=$1,200300 units×$4/unit=$1,200
FBA Fees: 300 units×$4.50/unit=$1,350300 units×$4.50/unit=$1,350
Total Shipping and Distribution Costs:
$1,200 (shipping)+$1,350 (FBA fees)=$2,550$1,200 (shipping)+$1,350 (FBA fees)=$2,550
Why Shipping and Distribution Costs are Important
Budget Planning: Understanding and accurately estimating these costs is crucial for budgeting and financial planning. Unexpected expenses can significantly impact your profitability.
Pricing Strategy: These costs need to be factored into your pricing strategy to ensure you maintain healthy profit margins. Underestimating shipping and distribution costs can erode your margins and affect your competitiveness.
Customer Satisfaction: Efficient shipping and distribution are key to timely delivery and customer satisfaction. Using Amazon FBA ensures reliable and fast shipping, which can enhance your seller ratings and lead to repeat business.
Operational Efficiency: Managing these costs effectively can streamline your operations and improve cash flow. By optimizing packaging, negotiating better shipping rates, and accurately forecasting demand, you can reduce expenses and improve efficiency.
Shipping and distribution costs are a significant part of your overall expenses when selling on Amazon. By carefully estimating these costs, including packaging, inspection fees, import duties, and Amazon FBA fees, you can better manage your budget and pricing strategy. Understanding these costs helps ensure smooth operations, enhances customer satisfaction, and supports your business's profitability and growth.
6. Inventory Storage Costs
Inventory storage costs are a critical consideration when using Amazon’s Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) service. These fees are based on the size and quantity of your inventory stored in Amazon’s warehouses and vary throughout the year. Here’s a detailed breakdown of these costs and their implications for your business.
Amazon’s Storage Fees
Amazon charges monthly storage fees that depend on the size category of your products (standard-size or oversized) and the time of year. The fees are higher during the holiday season (October to December) due to increased demand for warehouse space.
Standard-Size Storage Fees
January to September: $0.83 per cubic foot
October to December: $2.40 per cubic foot
Oversized Storage Fees
January to September: $0.53 per cubic foot
October to December: $1.20 per cubic foot
Calculating Storage Costs
To estimate your storage costs, you need to know the cubic footage of your inventory. Here’s how you can calculate it:
Cubic Footage=Length×Width×HeightCubic Footage=Length×Width×Height
Once you have the cubic footage, multiply it by the applicable storage fee rate.
Example Calculation for Standard-Size Products
Let’s say you have 500 units of a product, each measuring 1 cubic foot. Your storage costs would be:
January to September: 500 cubic feet×$0.83/cubic foot=$415500 cubic feet×$0.83/cubic foot=$415
October to December: 500 cubic feet×$2.40/cubic foot=$1,200500 cubic feet×$2.40/cubic foot=$1,200
Example Calculation for Oversized Products
If you have 200 units of an oversized product, each measuring 3 cubic feet, your storage costs would be:
January to September: 600 cubic feet×$0.53/cubic foot=$318600 cubic feet×$0.53/cubic foot=$318
October to December: 600 cubic feet×$1.20/cubic foot=$720600 cubic feet×$1.20/cubic foot=$720
Why Inventory Storage Costs Matter
Budget Management: Accurately estimating storage costs is crucial for budgeting and financial planning. These costs can add up, especially during peak seasons, impacting your overall profitability.
Inventory Turnover: High storage costs can incentivize better inventory management practices, such as maintaining optimal stock levels and ensuring a higher inventory turnover rate. This helps in reducing long-term storage fees and minimizing the risk of overstocking.
Seasonal Planning: Knowing that storage fees increase during the holiday season can help you plan your inventory levels more effectively. You might choose to stock up on faster-moving items or reduce slower-moving inventory before the fees increase.
Cost Control: By understanding these fees, you can implement strategies to minimize them, such as reducing the size of your packaging, negotiating better storage terms, or using other fulfillment centers if necessary.
Strategies to Manage Storage Costs
Optimize Inventory Levels: Maintain a balance between having enough stock to meet demand and avoiding excess inventory that incurs high storage costs.
Seasonal Adjustments: Plan your inventory levels based on seasonal fluctuations in storage fees, ensuring you minimize costs during peak periods.
Efficient Packaging: Use packaging that minimizes space without compromising product safety. Smaller packaging reduces the cubic footage and, consequently, storage fees.
FBA Inventory Management: Use Amazon’s inventory management tools to monitor and adjust your stock levels based on sales data and forecasts.
Inventory storage costs are an important aspect of selling on Amazon using FBA. These costs, varying by product size and season, can significantly impact your business’s profitability. By accurately estimating these fees and implementing strategies to manage and reduce them, you can optimize your inventory management and control expenses effectively. Understanding and planning for these costs will help ensure a smoother and more profitable operation.
  1. Platform Commission
When selling on Amazon, it’s essential to account for the platform commission, known as the referral fee. This fee is a percentage of each sale and varies by product category. Understanding these fees is crucial for pricing your products and calculating your profit margins.
Amazon’s Referral Fees
Amazon charges a referral fee on each sale made through its platform. The percentage varies depending on the product category. Here are some common examples:
Electronics: 8%
Beauty Products: 15%
Books: 15%
Clothing and Accessories: 17%
Home and Kitchen: 15%
How Referral Fees Are Calculated
The referral fee is calculated as a percentage of the total sales price, which includes the item price and any shipping or gift wrap charges.
Referral Fee=Sales Price×Referral Fee PercentageReferral Fee=Sales Price×Referral Fee Percentage
Example Calculations
Electronics: If you sell a gadget for $100, the referral fee would be: $100×8%=$8$100×8%=$8
Beauty Products: If you sell a skincare product for $50, the referral fee would be: $50×15%=$7.50$50×15%=$7.50
Why Platform Commission is Important
Pricing Strategy: Knowing the referral fee helps you set your product prices appropriately to ensure you cover costs and achieve desired profit margins.
Profit Margin Calculation: Understanding the commission allows you to accurately calculate your net profit after deducting all fees.
Category Selection: The commission rate can influence your decision on which product categories to focus on. Lower commission rates in certain categories might lead to higher profitability.
Competitive Pricing: Factoring in the referral fee ensures your prices remain competitive while still being profitable.
Impact on Different Product Categories
High-Commission Categories: Categories like beauty products and clothing with higher referral fees require careful pricing to maintain profitability. High fees can significantly impact margins, especially for low-cost items.
Low-Commission Categories: Categories like electronics with lower referral fees can offer better profit margins, but these categories might also have higher competition.
Strategies to Manage Referral Fees
Optimize Pricing: Adjust your pricing to ensure it covers all costs, including the referral fee, while remaining attractive to customers.
Product Selection: Consider the referral fee when selecting products to sell. Products in categories with lower fees might be more profitable.
Bundle Products: Creating product bundles can help increase the average sales price, potentially offsetting the impact of the referral fee.
Platform commission is a significant cost factor when selling on Amazon. By understanding the referral fee structure and calculating these fees accurately, you can make informed decisions about pricing, product selection, and profitability. Properly managing and accounting for these fees ensures your business remains competitive and financially sustainable on the Amazon platform.
8. Advertising Costs
Advertising is a crucial component of your e-commerce strategy, driving visibility and sales for your products on Amazon. Effective advertising can help you reach potential customers quickly, but it requires a financial investment. Here’s a detailed breakdown of advertising costs, strategies, and their impact on your business.
Types of Advertising
Amazon Advertising: The primary form of advertising on Amazon is Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads. These ads appear in search results and on product detail pages, allowing you to target specific keywords and audiences.
Sponsored Products: These ads promote individual product listings and appear in search results and product pages.
Sponsored Brands: These ads feature your brand logo, a custom headline, and multiple products.
Sponsored Display: These ads target audiences both on and off Amazon, helping to re-engage shoppers who have viewed your products.
Off-Amazon Advertising: To broaden your reach, you can also advertise on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. These platforms allow for targeted advertising based on demographics, interests, and behaviors.
Budgeting for Advertising
A typical budget for new sellers on Amazon ranges from $700 to $1,000. This budget should cover various advertising strategies, including PPC campaigns and social media ads.
Cost Breakdown
Amazon PPC Ads:
Sponsored Products: These are the most common and can cost anywhere from $0.10 to $2.00 per click, depending on the competitiveness of your keywords.
Sponsored Brands: These ads generally cost more per click due to their higher visibility and brand promotion capabilities.
Sponsored Display: Costs vary but can be effective for retargeting potential customers.
Social Media Advertising:
Facebook Ads: Costs typically range from $0.50 to $2.00 per click, depending on targeting options and competition.
Instagram Ads: Similar to Facebook, Instagram ad costs range from $0.50 to $2.00 per click, with the advantage of visual storytelling through images and videos.
Example Budget Allocation
Let’s allocate a $1,000 advertising budget across different platforms:
Amazon PPC Ads: $600
Sponsored Products: $400
Sponsored Brands: $150
Sponsored Display: $50
Social Media Ads: $400
Facebook Ads: $200
Instagram Ads: $200
Why Advertising is Important
Increased Visibility: Advertising ensures your products appear in front of potential buyers, increasing the likelihood of sales.
Competitive Edge: With many sellers on Amazon, advertising helps you stand out and reach customers who might otherwise not find your products.
Sales Velocity: Effective advertising can boost your sales velocity, improving your product rankings and increasing organic visibility over time.
Strategies for Effective Advertising
Keyword Research: Use tools like Amazon’s Keyword Planner or third-party tools to identify high-performing keywords for your PPC campaigns.
A/B Testing: Continuously test different ad creatives, headlines, and targeting options to find the most effective combinations.
Monitor and Optimize: Regularly review your ad performance data to optimize your campaigns. Adjust bids, pause underperforming keywords, and allocate more budget to high-performing ads.
Leverage Social Media: Use Facebook and Instagram to build brand awareness and drive traffic to your Amazon listings. Engaging content, such as videos and customer testimonials, can enhance ad performance.
Advertising is a vital part of your e-commerce strategy on Amazon and beyond. Allocating a budget of $700 to $1,000 for advertising can significantly enhance your product visibility and drive sales. By utilizing Amazon PPC ads and leveraging social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, you can reach a broader audience and increase your chances of success. Effective advertising requires continuous monitoring and optimization, but the investment can lead to substantial returns in terms of sales growth and brand recognition.
9. Returns and Refunds
Managing returns and refunds is an inevitable part of selling on Amazon. While they can impact your profitability, understanding the associated costs and implementing effective management strategies can help mitigate their effects. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the costs and considerations involved in handling returns and refunds.
Amazon Return Processing Fees
Amazon charges a return processing fee that varies depending on the product’s size and weight. This fee is applied when a customer returns a product, and it covers the cost of handling and processing the return.
Standard-Size Products: Fees for standard-size products are typically lower due to their smaller dimensions and weight.
Oversized Products: Fees for oversized products are higher because of the additional handling and storage space required.
Example Fee Structure
Standard-Size Product Return Fee: Approximately $2 to $5 per unit, depending on the specific dimensions and weight.
Oversized Product Return Fee: Approximately $5 to $20 per unit, depending on the specific dimensions and weight.
Additional Costs of Returns and Refunds
Restocking Fees: Amazon may charge a restocking fee for certain returned items. This fee is deducted from the refund amount and can range from 10% to 20% of the item’s price.
Return Shipping Costs: In some cases, you may be responsible for covering the cost of return shipping, especially if the return is due to a defect or error on your part.
Product Condition: Returned items that are not in resellable condition may need to be disposed of or liquidated, leading to additional losses.
Why Returns and Refunds Matter
Customer Satisfaction: Efficient handling of returns and refunds is crucial for maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction and positive reviews. Poor management can lead to negative feedback and damage your seller reputation.
Cost Management: Understanding and anticipating the costs associated with returns can help you better manage your budget and pricing strategy, ensuring you account for these potential expenses.
Inventory Control: Effective return management helps maintain accurate inventory levels and reduces the risk of overstocking or stockouts.
Strategies to Manage Returns and Refunds
Clear Product Descriptions: Provide detailed and accurate product descriptions to reduce the likelihood of returns due to customer dissatisfaction or misunderstandings.
Quality Control: Implement rigorous quality control measures to minimize defects and errors that could lead to returns.
Customer Service: Offer excellent customer service to address issues promptly and potentially resolve problems without necessitating a return.
Return Policies: Establish clear and fair return policies that balance customer satisfaction with protecting your business from excessive costs.
Example Calculation
Let’s consider you sell 100 units of a product, with an average return rate of 5%. Here’s how you can calculate the potential costs:
Product Price: $50 per unit
Return Rate: 5% (5 units)
Return Processing Fee: $3 per unit
Restocking Fee: 15% of the product price ($7.50 per unit)
Return Shipping Cost: $5 per unit
Total Return and Refund Costs:
Return Processing Fee=5 units×$3=$15Return Processing Fee=5 units×$3=$15 Restocking Fee=5 units×$7.50=$37.50Restocking Fee=5 units×$7.50=$37.50 Return Shipping Cost=5 units×$5=$25Return Shipping Cost=5 units×$5=$25
Total Costs:
$15+$37.50+$25=$77.50$15+$37.50+$25=$77.50
Handling returns and refunds is a necessary aspect of selling on Amazon, and the associated costs can add up quickly. By understanding the fees and implementing strategies to manage returns effectively, you can minimize their impact on your profitability. Clear product descriptions, stringent quality control, excellent customer service, and well-defined return policies can all contribute to reducing return rates and associated costs. Efficient return management not only helps maintain customer satisfaction but also supports better cost control and inventory management.
  1. Miscellaneous Expenses
In addition to the primary costs associated with setting up and running your Amazon business, there are several miscellaneous expenses that can significantly impact your budget. These costs, while often overlooked, are crucial for creating a professional and efficient operation. Here’s a detailed breakdown of these potential expenses and their importance.
Graphic Design for Product Listings
Importance: High-quality graphics and well-designed product listings are essential for attracting customers and conveying professionalism. Poorly designed listings can deter potential buyers.
Costs: Hiring a freelance graphic designer can cost between $50 and $200 per listing, depending on the complexity and the designer's experience.
Services: Graphic design services might include creating product images, infographics, and enhanced brand content (EBC) that highlights your product's features and benefits.
Professional Photography
Importance: Professional photos can make a significant difference in how your product is perceived. High-quality images help build trust with customers and increase conversion rates.
Costs: Professional product photography can range from $100 to $500 per product, depending on the number of images and the photographer’s expertise.
Services: This may include standard product shots, lifestyle images showing the product in use, and detailed close-ups of key features.
Virtual Assistant (VA) Services
Importance: Hiring a virtual assistant can help manage various tasks, such as customer service, inventory management, and order processing. This can free up your time to focus on strategic growth.
Costs: VAs typically charge between $10 and $30 per hour, depending on their skill level and the tasks they perform.
Services: Tasks handled by VAs can include responding to customer inquiries, updating product listings, managing social media accounts, and handling administrative duties.
Other Potential Miscellaneous Expenses
Subscription Services: Tools and software subscriptions for keyword research, inventory management, and sales analytics can cost anywhere from $20 to $200 per month.
Legal and Accounting Services: Professional advice for legal and tax matters is crucial. This can include incorporating your business, trademark registration, and tax preparation, costing several hundred dollars annually.
Packaging Design: Custom packaging design can enhance your brand image and customer experience. Costs can range from $100 to $500, depending on the complexity of the design.
Marketing and Promotional Materials: Additional marketing efforts, such as email campaigns, social media ads, and promotional giveaways, can also add to your expenses.
Example Budget Allocation
Let’s break down a potential budget for these miscellaneous expenses:
Graphic Design: $150 per listing for 5 listings = $750
Professional Photography: $300 per product for 3 products = $900
Virtual Assistant: $20 per hour for 10 hours per month = $200 per month
Subscription Services: $100 per month
Legal and Accounting Services: $500 annually
Packaging Design: $300
Marketing and Promotional Materials: $200 per month
Annual Costs:
Graphic Design=$750Graphic Design=$750 Professional Photography=$900Professional Photography=$900 Virtual Assistant=$200×12=$2,400Virtual Assistant=$200×12=$2,400 Subscription Services=$100×12=$1,200Subscription Services=$100×12=$1,200 Legal and Accounting Services=$500Legal and Accounting Services=$500 Packaging Design=$300Packaging Design=$300 Marketing and Promotional Materials=$200×12=$2,400Marketing and Promotional Materials=$200×12=$2,400
Total Annual Miscellaneous Expenses:
$750+$900+$2,400+$1,200+$500+$300+$2,400=$8,450$750+$900+$2,400+$1,200+$500+$300+$2,400=$8,450
Why Miscellaneous Expenses Matter
Professionalism and Trust: Investing in professional services like graphic design and photography enhances your product listings and builds trust with potential customers.
Efficiency and Focus: Hiring a virtual assistant allows you to delegate time-consuming tasks, enabling you to focus on growing your business.
Operational Smoothness: Subscriptions to essential tools and professional legal and accounting services ensure your business operates smoothly and compliantly.
Brand Building: Custom packaging and marketing materials contribute to a strong brand identity, which can lead to increased customer loyalty and repeat business.
Miscellaneous expenses, while sometimes overlooked, play a vital role in the success of your Amazon business. By budgeting for high-quality graphic design, professional photography, virtual assistant services, and other essential tools and services, you can create a professional and efficient operation. These investments not only enhance your product listings and customer experience but also free up your time to focus on strategic growth, ultimately contributing to your business's long-term success.
Summary
Setting up and running an Amazon business involves various costs that need careful consideration to ensure profitability and efficiency. Here’s a summary of the key cost components:
Product Selection Tools: Essential for choosing profitable products, with popular tools like JungleScout ($49/month) and Helium10 ($79/month). Free alternatives like 4SELLER also provide valuable features for product selection and inventory management.
Initial Stock Costs: Depending on the product type and quantity, initial stock costs can range from $1,000 to $3,000. Starting with 200-500 units is recommended to test the market without overcommitting financially.
UPC Codes: Necessary for product tracking, these should be purchased from GS1. A pack of 10 UPC codes costs $250 initially, plus a $50 annual renewal fee.
Shipping and Distribution Costs: Includes fees for shipping products to Amazon’s warehouse and Amazon’s Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) fees, which range from $2.92 to $6.13 per unit. Shipping small items might cost around $4 per unit, while mid-sized products could cost $8-$12 per unit.
Inventory Storage Costs: Monthly fees for storing products in Amazon’s warehouse vary by size and season. Standard-size storage costs $0.83 per cubic foot from January to September and $2.40 per cubic foot from October to December. Oversized storage costs $0.53 per cubic foot and $1.20 per cubic foot during these periods, respectively.
Platform Commission: Amazon takes a commission on each sale, typically between 8% and 15%, depending on the product category. For instance, electronics have a referral fee of 8%, while beauty products have a fee of 15%.
Advertising Costs: To drive visibility and sales, set aside $700-$1,000 for advertising. This includes Amazon PPC ads and potentially social media ads on platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Returns and Refunds: Handling returns incurs costs, including Amazon’s return processing fee, restocking fees, and return shipping costs. These fees vary based on product size and weight.
Miscellaneous Expenses: Other costs include graphic design for product listings ($50-$200 per listing), professional photography ($100-$500 per product), and virtual assistant services ($10-$30 per hour). Additional expenses may include subscription services, legal and accounting services, packaging design, and marketing materials.
In total, you'll need at least $5,000 to start an Amazon FBA business today. Plus, you'll need to spend a lot of time managing your store and optimizing your product listings. This includes continuously monitoring your sales performance, tweaking your advertising strategies, and keeping an eye on competitors to stay ahead in the market.
By understanding and planning for these costs, you can effectively manage your Amazon business, ensuring it remains profitable and efficient while maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction.
submitted by DutyTop8086 to AmazonFBA_USA [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 22:40 Basic_File_5385 Feels like driving standards have dropped and people road rage for no reason.

Hi ,
I’m a driver with just a couple of months under 2 years of experience. Of late I have for some reason I have been in a couple of incidents where if I hadn’t swerved or emergency braked I’d be in a RTC.
The incident that made ponder a lot was a mum with her kids in a MPV pulled out of school access onto a 30mph road just before the traffic lights. I had to swerve onto the other side of the road (single carriageway) to avoid an accident and the lady didn’t let me back into the correct side of the road ( as if I was trying to overtake and she sped up). Once I managed to slow down and get back into the lane the signal turned red. She rolls down the window and tells me to piss off and put her middle finger up at me. I said you have got kids just drive safe you could have caused an accident there and she just tells me to f*** off and asks me what’s my issue.
The 2nd incident was a recent one at a mini roundabout and some guy behind me was honking and I couldn’t enter the roundabout as there was cars to my right already I look in my rearview mirror and he is showing his middle finger to which ask him what’s his issue and he is still honking.
It genuinely feels like anyone and everyone is allowed on the road these days. I think I’ll just need to get a dash cam fitted to be safe.
Is this a common them around the country ?
submitted by Basic_File_5385 to drivingUK [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 21:12 Ambitious-Desk-60 Lucifer vs. Mary, Chapter 2:7 Deadly Sins

Lucifer began approaching Mary, kicking the caltrops out of the way while Mary was swinging her thurible, winding up a swing, also careful not to step on her own caltrops.
“Heh…… You completely surrounded yourself huh? That’s good”
Lucifer remarks, before holding out one of his hands.
“MAMMON! GAUNTLETS OF GREED!”
Lucifer’s gauntlets turned gold, and the caltrops nearby began to fly to him, Mary looking at the caltrops, before Lucifer closes his fist, enhancing the attraction of the gold, Mary suddenly getting stabbed from behind from the caltrops, and a lot of gold jewelry and gems from the audience also adding up, Lucifer’s gauntlets now having massive spiked knuckle dusters, Mary taking the caltrops out of her back, dripping myrrh into the wounds from her Thurible to close them.
“Cheap trick..”
Mary said to Lucifer, who grinned.
“It’s your fault for giving me those caltrops”
Meanwhile, Göll was shocked at Lucifer’s powers.
“He called out another Sin…is that how his powers work?”
Brunhilde then answers Göll.
“Yes, it’s a trick he learned when he first rebelled to the 6 Heavenly Leaders”
Brunhilde then looked at Mary, who stopped bleeding thanks to the myrrh produced by the thurible being empowered by the gifts of the 3 magi.
“You already know how and why Lucifer first rebelled against YHWH and the other Leaders, right?”
Brunhilde asked Göll, who nodded.
“He thought he was above them, rallying a 3rd of all pantheons and even Helheim, but was defeated by Michael, right?”
Brunhilde nods, looking at Lucifer’s armor.
“To be more precise, Lucifer was the perfect being in Heaven. He had everything he could ask and more, like a spoiled brat, and one time, when training in Heaven, he had this thought:Why am I not one of the 6 Heavenly Leaders?”
Brunhilde continued, Göll listening carefully.
“So, he went to each of the 6 Heavenly Leaders, and told them he wanted to also be a Leader, even being happy with being the 7th, but after a council, all 6 of them denied his request, as Lucifer was not worshiped like a God by the humans; This enraged Lucifer, to the point he grabbed a sword nearby, and lunged against Ra and Amaterasu, claiming that he just has to kill one of them and take their spot, before YHWH’s bodyguard, Michael, intervened, parrying his strike before throwing him out of the Council room”
While Brunhilde was talking, Göll couldn’t help but look at Lucifer’s armor and weaponry.
“And so, Lucifer became very determined into overthrowing all 6 Leaders, and traveled across all pantheons, recruiting several angels, monsters, demons, minor gods, and even managing to convince major ones, such as Seth, the Asuras, Mot, Baal, and many more, and after gathering such a large army and increasing his own power, he launched a full invasion in Heaven, aiming to kill YWHW first for revenge, but was met with a single obstacle:Michael”
Upon hearing Michael’s name, Göll had memories of the previous round, where Michael had fought against Yoshitsune and nearly died.
“T-the same Michael who fought last match?”
Brunhilde nodded, continuing the narration.
“Michael requested for a duel to solve the matter, whichLucifer agreed to, but as soon as the 6 Heavenly Leaders gave their approval for the duel, Lucifer sent his entire army against Michael, and after a long battle, Lucifer was finally defeated by a single Angel, something he still couldn’t believe, despite being surrounded by bodies, and being all beaten up. As he was still Alice, Lucifer then asked Michael how he won, and why he didn't kill him off, Michael replying with:”My faith in Lord YHWH granted me the strength to beat your selfish Pride, Lucifer, and the freedom of death will not be a proper punishment for you” before casting Lucifer’s entire army, including Lucifer himself, into the jaws of the Leviathan, the Gates of Helheim” “The Leviathan? Isn’t he also one of the 7 Deadly Sins?”
Göll asked Brunhilde, who then replied back.
“He wasn’t, until Lucifer was sent to Helheim, where he plotted to overthrow it, and after breaking out once with the help of the 72 Demons of the Ars Goetia, he went to the Leviathan’s mind, and told him that if the Leviathan helped him, Lucifer will make him a name everyone will fear and submit to, to which the Leviathan agreed to, and with the help of his fellow other sins, Beelzebub, Mammon, Belphegor, Satan and Asmodeus, he gathered all of the prisoners and sinners in Helheim, and successfully overthrew Hades and Thanatos, holding Hades hostage to avoid the 6 Heavenly Leaders from intervening, and banishing Thanatos out, becoming the sole leader of Helheim.”
Brunhilde finished narrating, as Göll kept looking at Lucifer’s armor and weapons while he fought Mary, especially captivated by the dark auras surrounding him.
“So, in Helheim, he then realized he could gather sin energy for himself?”
Göll asks once again, Brunhilde nodding in response.
“With that same sin energy, he kidnapped Kanayago and Hephaestus, while also forcing cyclops and the souls of human blacksmiths, to forge him the weapons and armor he’s using right now:the Armor of Pride, the Gauntlets of Greed, the Helmet of Sloth, the Hook of Gluttony, the Sword of Wrath, the Shield of Envy and the Spear of Lust”
As Brunhilde was listing Lucifer’s arsenal, Lucifer unsheathed his sword, approaching Mary.
“SATAN! SWORD OF WRATH:ABADDON PLAGUES!”
Lucifer’s sword then extended in black and red sin energy, and swung at Mary, who swung back, shattering the sword.
“LUCIFER’S SWORD HAS BEEN SHATTERED BY THE VIRGIN MARY’S SWING!”
Heimdall announces, Zeus then chuckling.
“She shouldn’t have”
The shattered fragments, still flying in the air, then turned into various plagues:toxic frogs, locusts, boiling oil, plague-infested pests and a pitch black smoke, Mary being unaffected by the frogs, locusts and pests, and swinging her thurible to dissipate the smoke, but burning her arms on the oil in the process.
“WHAT WAS THAT???”
Göll screamed shocked, Brunhilde calmly explaining.
“The weapons and armor are imbued with the sin energies, and with that, Lucifer can use various powers, which were given to him by his fellow sins, Satan's Wrath in this case”
Mary then cooled the oil off with myrrh, and upon seeing Lucifer approach, she swung the thurible around herself, creating a cloud of smoke.
“Yeah yeah, keep hiding you little bitch….hm?”
Lucifer stepped back from the incense smoke, and tapped his helmet, which grew an eye between the horns.
“Helmet of Sloth, Belphegor…..what do you mean your Automatic Aim can’t scan weak points through that smoke? What do you mean “Be happy you can still see an outline?””
As Lucifer began scanning the smoke, from the top balcony, Brunhilde saw that Mary had made a wall of frankincense smoke around her.
“So, his helmet was made with the power of Belphegor, the…..sin of sloth? How does that even make sense?”
Göll asked, confused, Brunhilde looking at Göll.
“Yes, but remember:Sloth is the sin of inaction, of not doing anything yourself, and the Helmet of Sloth automatically tells Lucifer where his enemy is, any incoming attack, and can even focus on weak points, doing all the work”
Inside the circle, Mary once again, swung her thurible, but this time, it also spewed incense, accelerating the swing, while Mary began to pray, the audience hearing the prayer from Heimdall’s speakers, and began joining in.
“_Hail Mary, Full of Grace, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen._”
Soon, Lucifer could hear the audience had also begun praying along Mary.
“Hm? Oh, they’re praying for her safety? Hehe, how pathetic” “THE VIRGIN MARY IS PRAYING FOR HERSELF? FOR WHAT REASONS IS SHE DOING THIS?”
Heimdall announced, also confused.
“Ugh, LUCIFER! ARMOR OF PRIDE! JERICHO QUAKES!”
Lucifer’s boots glowed black, Lucifer doing a roundhouse kick towards the wall, shockwaves dissipating the smoke, revealing the Virgin Mary, who immediately charges towards Lucifer.
“_Ave Maria!_”
Lucifer was caught off guard by the speed at which Mary approached and attacked, using his gauntlets to shield himself.
“What the-”
As Mary’s thurible hits Lucifer’s gauntlets, a glowing light emerges from the point of contact, and Lucifer’s Gauntlets then shatter from the hit, shocking Lucifer, Heimdall and all of the audience, even making Zeus and Artemis worry.
“THE…..THE VIRGIN MARY LANDS A DEVASTATING HIT! LUCIFER’S GAUNTLETS HAVE BEEN BROKEN!”
submitted by Ambitious-Desk-60 to ShuumatsuNoValkyrie [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 20:46 EverhardWriting I was asked to shoot a bear for 5000 dollars

I never believed in monsters, but the events of last week made me question those beliefs to a great extent.
The job seemed pretty simple at first: some people saw a strange creature in the woods and the mayor of their little no name town was willing to pay me for taking it down. He offered me 5000 dollars for shooting what was probably just a mangy bear, I’d be a fool for turning him down. Besides, he even paid me half of it in advance AND offered to lend me the keys to a private bungalow near the forest, to make my stay more comfortable. It took some time for the keys to arrive (postal services be damned), but after about a week it was time for me to head out. I packed my rifle, ammunition and some clothes and got in my truck. This would be the job of a lifetime.
When I arrived at the town, there were no signs of life. I chalked it up to it being 11 PM on a Tuesday, but even so, you’d expect at least a few lights to be on, right? Nevertheless, I continued driving until I reached my “home” for the coming few days.
The bungalow was small, it looked more like a cabin. Then again, I wasn’t here for a vacation anyways, I was here to work. As I tried unlocking the front door, I noticed it was already open. Strange, I thought to myself, but nothing unusual. It’s not like you’d have to worry about people breaking into your house in a small town in bumfuck nowhere.
Once inside, I threw my bag on the floor and plopped down onto a chair. It was a long drive, and I was tired. After grabbing a beer from my bag I began to mentally prepare for the days to come. Tomorrow, I would visit the mayor and ask for any leads of their “creature’s” whereabouts, after which I would spend the remainder of the day scouring the forest for any tracks. If my hunt wasn’t successful by then I would simply try again the day after. Easy job, easy plan and easy money. I finished my beer and decided to go to bed.
That night, I was awoken by my stomach’s inability to digest alcohol. I rushed to the bathroom while vomit started to work its way up my throat. Sadly, I was too late, and now the bathroom door was covered in beer and the half-digested sandwiches I had the day before. I cussed for a while, thinking about how stupid this whole situation was. Sure, my body had not been the same since the accident, but I never had trouble drinking before. After sitting there for a while I went searching for something to clean up my work of art. A thorough inspection of the bungalow led me to a closet, where I finally found a mop and went to town on my stomach’s content.
I was humming a little song to help lighten up my mood, but when I heard someone humming back to me from outside my whole demeanor changed. I quit cleaning immediately and snuck over to my backpack. As soon as I did that, the humming stopped and was replaced by a man’s voice.
“Sorry… Didn’t want to startle you there… Buddy!” the mysterious man said, with no discernable emotion in his voice.
I sat in silence, loading my rifle while I listened to the man outside. Sure, it was no bear, but random people hanging around your place in the middle of the night rarely spell good news. I waited for him to start speaking again, but he did not resume talking, no matter how long I sat there in silence. An hour had passed and still he had not said a word. I figured it was probably just a local drunk that found his way to the cabin, heard me hum, hummed along like a merry drunk guy would and then left because why not. Drunk guys do what drunk guys do. After coming up with this rational explanation, I went to sleep again, thinking about how weird that whole situation had been.
When I woke up in the morning my stomach pain was gone. I got out of bed, packed my stuff and headed to my truck. I noticed the scratches on the truck almost immediately. I remember thinking that it must have been that drunk guy from the night before and that I would make him pay for this if I ever saw him again. Angrily, I got in the car and drove over to the town hall. On my way there, I once again noticed the lack of people in the street. The road being empty on a Tuesday night made perfect sense, but not even one person having to drive to work on a Wednesday morning? That’s suspicious, and it should have been one of the many things that should’ve made me reconsider the job. My car needed a new paint job though, and even then, I’ve always been a stubborn bastard. As I drove, I thought I saw someone move behind a building in my rear view mirror, but I didn’t get a clear view of the person. I felt happy to see that there actually were people in this town, so I continued my drive.
When I got to the town hall the first thing I noticed was the broken window. That drunk guy must’ve vandalized more than just my truck, I thought at the moment. I got out of my car and walked up to the front door, which was open, and entered the building. Upon walking into the entrance hall I was met by a rotten smell. My vomit would’ve been all over the floor if it hadn’t been for my little adventure yesterday, that’s how bad it was. It smelled like a mixture of dead animals, fermenting plants and rotting milk. I considered turning around and leaving right then and there, but I decided to at least try to talk to the mayor, to find out what was going on. Curiosity killed the cat, I thought, but I was no cat. Stupid as I was, I didn’t bother going back to the car to get my rifle. What was the worst thing that could happen? Against better judgment, I went to search for the mayor.
When I found him, his body was lying on the floor, completely dead. He was missing an arm and his face. His torso had been ripped to shreds. His office had been completely ruined too, with random office supplies and some antique vases lying scattered on the floor, along with a picture of the mayor and his wife. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, I heard a familiar voice coming from the hallway: the drunk guy from last night.
“Hey… I know you’re in here somewhere… Dude,” he said, his voice still as monotone as before.
His footsteps were heavy, growing louder with every step as he got closer and closer. Along with his footsteps, the sound of something being dragged across the floor could be heard. I even heard his breathing, heavy and labored, as he neared the mayor’s office. Suddenly, all of the sounds stopped. I knew he was right outside the door, waiting for me to make a move. I just sat there, regretting my choice of not taking my rifle with me. Then I realized something. I realized that I’m a 6’3 foot man who weighs 250 pounds and also used to be a boxer in his younger years. I got up with my fists ready to throw some punches and decided to make this man regret screwing with my car. I could hear the man scratching at the wall as I neared the door.
“Found you!” he yelled, his voice sounding more guttural than before.
I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder as my aggressor knocked me to the floor, followed by the warm sensation of blood flowing out of my wound. I remember thinking that the bastard had stabbed me.
The man jumped at me before I was able to regain my balance, forcing me to roll to the side to avoid him. That’s when I noticed that this “man” wasn’t a person at all. At the moment, all I could see was something vaguely bipedal, hunched over a bit and covered in long black fur. What I thought had been a knife were actually a set of long claws on each hand.
The creature began to turn towards me, and I took this as my sign to move. I picked up a vase that was lying next to me and threw it at the monster, hitting it straight in the head. Then I got up in an instant and booked it. As I was running, I could hear the creature following me closely behind. Its roars became more and more animalistic with each passing second, clearly enraged from my attempt to fight back. I practically jumped down the stairs, nearly breaking my legs in the process, after which I continued my sprint towards the door. Without thinking twice I just busted through the surprisingly weak door.
Once outside, I noticed more creatures coming at me in the corner of my eyes. Filled with adrenaline, I ran to my truck, got inside and started the engine. That’s when the creature from earlier came falling down in the parking space right next to me. The bastard had jumped through the first floor’s window. When it got up, I finally got a good look at the thing. The thing that I heard it drag across the floor was its tail, and the things that stabbed me and scratched my car were the massive claws on its hands. Yet the thing that got me the most, the thing that will forever haunt my dreams, was its face. Or, to put it in better words, the contorted face of a man, plastered over its head. It was the same face I saw on the mayor’s picture.
I stepped on the gas and floored it. While driving, I noticed more and more creatures started to give chase, each one wearing a different face. I drove as fast as I could until they were all out of sight and I had left the town. Even then, I did not drop my speed, probably committing multiple traffic violations as I drove. But I did not care. The stuff I saw there was way above my paygrade, and I wanted to get as far away from it as possible. I drove for hours, only stopping to tank my car.
This incident happened a few days ago. Currently, I’m still in the hospital, waiting for the wound in my shoulder to heal. The doctors say I’m lucky that I can still move my arm. Sure, I’m happy to be alive, but life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows for me. I’ve racked up more debt than the 2500 dollars can pay and as if that wasn’t enough, men in black suits have been interviewing me ever since I got here. So if you’re reading this, please just remember one thing: if some guy offers you 5000 dollars just to shoot a bear, stay away. Because there’s no way in hell those things were bears.
submitted by EverhardWriting to everhardwriting [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 20:44 EverhardWriting I was asked to shoot a bear for 5000 dollars

I never believed in monsters, but the events of last week made me question those beliefs to a great extent.
The job seemed pretty simple at first: some people saw a strange creature in the woods and the mayor of their little no name town was willing to pay me for taking it down. He offered me 5000 dollars for shooting what was probably just a mangy bear, I’d be a fool for turning him down. Besides, he even paid me half of it in advance AND offered to lend me the keys to a private bungalow near the forest, to make my stay more comfortable. It took some time for the keys to arrive (postal services be damned), but after about a week it was time for me to head out. I packed my rifle, ammunition and some clothes and got in my truck. This would be the job of a lifetime.
When I arrived at the town, there were no signs of life. I chalked it up to it being 11 PM on a Tuesday, but even so, you’d expect at least a few lights to be on, right? Nevertheless, I continued driving until I reached my “home” for the coming few days.
The bungalow was small, it looked more like a cabin. Then again, I wasn’t here for a vacation anyways, I was here to work. As I tried unlocking the front door, I noticed it was already open. Strange, I thought to myself, but nothing unusual. It’s not like you’d have to worry about people breaking into your house in a small town in bumfuck nowhere.
Once inside, I threw my bag on the floor and plopped down onto a chair. It was a long drive, and I was tired. After grabbing a beer from my bag I began to mentally prepare for the days to come. Tomorrow, I would visit the mayor and ask for any leads of their “creature’s” whereabouts, after which I would spend the remainder of the day scouring the forest for any tracks. If my hunt wasn’t successful by then I would simply try again the day after. Easy job, easy plan and easy money. I finished my beer and decided to go to bed.
That night, I was awoken by my stomach’s inability to digest alcohol. I rushed to the bathroom while vomit started to work its way up my throat. Sadly, I was too late, and now the bathroom door was covered in beer and the half-digested sandwiches I had the day before. I cussed for a while, thinking about how stupid this whole situation was. Sure, my body had not been the same since the accident, but I never had trouble drinking before. After sitting there for a while I went searching for something to clean up my work of art. A thorough inspection of the bungalow led me to a closet, where I finally found a mop and went to town on my stomach’s content.
I was humming a little song to help lighten up my mood, but when I heard someone humming back to me from outside my whole demeanor changed. I quit cleaning immediately and snuck over to my backpack. As soon as I did that, the humming stopped and was replaced by a man’s voice.
“Sorry… Didn’t want to startle you there… Buddy!” the mysterious man said, with no discernable emotion in his voice.
I sat in silence, loading my rifle while I listened to the man outside. Sure, it was no bear, but random people hanging around your place in the middle of the night rarely spell good news. I waited for him to start speaking again, but he did not resume talking, no matter how long I sat there in silence. An hour had passed and still he had not said a word. I figured it was probably just a local drunk that found his way to the cabin, heard me hum, hummed along like a merry drunk guy would and then left because why not. Drunk guys do what drunk guys do. After coming up with this rational explanation, I went to sleep again, thinking about how weird that whole situation had been.
When I woke up in the morning my stomach pain was gone. I got out of bed, packed my stuff and headed to my truck. I noticed the scratches on the truck almost immediately. I remember thinking that it must have been that drunk guy from the night before and that I would make him pay for this if I ever saw him again. Angrily, I got in the car and drove over to the town hall. On my way there, I once again noticed the lack of people in the street. The road being empty on a Tuesday night made perfect sense, but not even one person having to drive to work on a Wednesday morning? That’s suspicious, and it should have been one of the many things that should’ve made me reconsider the job. My car needed a new paint job though, and even then, I’ve always been a stubborn bastard. As I drove, I thought I saw someone move behind a building in my rear view mirror, but I didn’t get a clear view of the person. I felt happy to see that there actually were people in this town, so I continued my drive.
When I got to the town hall the first thing I noticed was the broken window. That drunk guy must’ve vandalized more than just my truck, I thought at the moment. I got out of my car and walked up to the front door, which was open, and entered the building. Upon walking into the entrance hall I was met by a rotten smell. My vomit would’ve been all over the floor if it hadn’t been for my little adventure yesterday, that’s how bad it was. It smelled like a mixture of dead animals, fermenting plants and rotting milk. I considered turning around and leaving right then and there, but I decided to at least try to talk to the mayor, to find out what was going on. Curiosity killed the cat, I thought, but I was no cat. Stupid as I was, I didn’t bother going back to the car to get my rifle. What was the worst thing that could happen? Against better judgment, I went to search for the mayor.
When I found him, his body was lying on the floor, completely dead. He was missing an arm and his face. His torso had been ripped to shreds. His office had been completely ruined too, with random office supplies and some antique vases lying scattered on the floor, along with a picture of the mayor and his wife. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, I heard a familiar voice coming from the hallway: the drunk guy from last night.
“Hey… I know you’re in here somewhere… Dude,” he said, his voice still as monotone as before.
His footsteps were heavy, growing louder with every step as he got closer and closer. Along with his footsteps, the sound of something being dragged across the floor could be heard. I even heard his breathing, heavy and labored, as he neared the mayor’s office. Suddenly, all of the sounds stopped. I knew he was right outside the door, waiting for me to make a move. I just sat there, regretting my choice of not taking my rifle with me. Then I realized something. I realized that I’m a 6’3 foot man who weighs 250 pounds and also used to be a boxer in his younger years. I got up with my fists ready to throw some punches and decided to make this man regret screwing with my car. I could hear the man scratching at the wall as I neared the door.
“Found you!” he yelled, his voice sounding more guttural than before.
I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder as my aggressor knocked me to the floor, followed by the warm sensation of blood flowing out of my wound. I remember thinking that the bastard had stabbed me.
The man jumped at me before I was able to regain my balance, forcing me to roll to the side to avoid him. That’s when I noticed that this “man” wasn’t a person at all. At the moment, all I could see was something vaguely bipedal, hunched over a bit and covered in long black fur. What I thought had been a knife were actually a set of long claws on each hand.
The creature began to turn towards me, and I took this as my sign to move. I picked up a vase that was lying next to me and threw it at the monster, hitting it straight in the head. Then I got up in an instant and booked it. As I was running, I could hear the creature following me closely behind. Its roars became more and more animalistic with each passing second, clearly enraged from my attempt to fight back. I practically jumped down the stairs, nearly breaking my legs in the process, after which I continued my sprint towards the door. Without thinking twice I just busted through the surprisingly weak door.
Once outside, I noticed more creatures coming at me in the corner of my eyes. Filled with adrenaline, I ran to my truck, got inside and started the engine. That’s when the creature from earlier came falling down in the parking space right next to me. The bastard had jumped through the first floor’s window. When it got up, I finally got a good look at the thing. The thing that I heard it drag across the floor was its tail, and the things that stabbed me and scratched my car were the massive claws on its hands. Yet the thing that got me the most, the thing that will forever haunt my dreams, was its face. Or, to put it in better words, the contorted face of a man, plastered over its head. It was the same face I saw on the mayor’s picture.
I stepped on the gas and floored it. While driving, I noticed more and more creatures started to give chase, each one wearing a different face. I drove as fast as I could until they were all out of sight and I had left the town. Even then, I did not drop my speed, probably committing multiple traffic violations as I drove. But I did not care. The stuff I saw there was way above my paygrade, and I wanted to get as far away from it as possible. I drove for hours, only stopping to tank my car.
This incident happened a few days ago. Currently, I’m still in the hospital, waiting for the wound in my shoulder to heal. The doctors say I’m lucky that I can still move my arm. Sure, I’m happy to be alive, but life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows for me. I’ve racked up more debt than the 2500 dollars can pay and as if that wasn’t enough, men in black suits have been interviewing me ever since I got here. So if you’re reading this, please just remember one thing: if some guy offers you 5000 dollars just to shoot a bear, stay away. Because there’s no way in hell those things were bears.
submitted by EverhardWriting to nosleep [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 20:12 Quassimodem1 Flying in the UK

lying the DJI Avata 2 is an exhilarating experience, especially when navigating the diverse weather conditions of the UK. Here’s a guide to help you make the most of your flights, along with some recommended weather apps to ensure you pick the best times for your aerial adventures.
The DJI Avata 2: A Brief Overview
The DJI Avata 2 is a top-tier FPV drone, designed to provide an immersive flight experience with its high-resolution camera and exceptional stability. It’s perfect for both recreational flyers and professional videographers, offering superior maneuverability and impressive flight times.
Navigating UK Weather
The UK is known for its unpredictable weather, which can change rapidly. Understanding the weather conditions is crucial for safe and enjoyable drone flights. Here’s how you can navigate the UK’s weather effectively:
1. Check Weather Forecasts Regularly: Before planning any flight, always check the weather forecast. Look for periods of clear skies and low wind speeds. 2. Understand Wind Conditions: The DJI Avata 2 can handle moderate wind conditions, but it’s best to avoid flying in high winds to prevent potential damage and ensure stable footage. 3. Consider Visibility: Fog and heavy rain can significantly reduce visibility and affect the drone’s performance. Always aim for clear conditions to maintain visual line-of-sight with your drone. 
Best Weather Apps for Drone Flying in the UK
1. UAV Forecast • Features: This app provides detailed weather forecasts tailored for drone pilots, including wind speed, gusts, visibility, and temperature. • Benefits: It offers a clear indication of whether it’s safe to fly, with a simple “good to fly” or “not good to fly” status. 2. Windy • Features: Windy offers comprehensive weather maps and detailed wind forecasts. It allows you to view wind patterns at various altitudes, which is crucial for drone flying. • Benefits: The app’s detailed visualizations help you understand the broader weather patterns that might affect your flight. 3. Met Office Weather Forecast • Features: As the UK’s national weather service, the Met Office app provides accurate and up-to-date weather information, including rain radar, UV index, and pollen counts. • Benefits: Its reliable data and severe weather warnings help you plan your flights more effectively. 4. AccuWeather • Features: AccuWeather provides minute-by-minute forecasts, which are particularly useful for catching brief windows of good flying weather. • Benefits: The app’s hyper-local forecasts help you make quick decisions about whether to fly or wait. 5. Drone Assist • Features: Developed by NATS (National Air Traffic Services), this app not only provides weather information but also highlights no-fly zones and areas with flight restrictions. • Benefits: It ensures you stay compliant with UK drone regulations while keeping an eye on the weather. 
Tips for Flying in the UK
1. Pre-Flight Checks: Always perform thorough pre-flight checks of your DJI Avata 2, including battery levels, propeller conditions, and firmware updates. 2. Flight Planning: Use the weather apps to plan your flight path and duration. Avoid areas with potential obstacles or restricted airspace. 3. Safety First: If the weather changes unexpectedly, land your drone safely and wait for better conditions. Safety should always be your top priority. 
Flying the DJI Avata 2 in the UK’s variable weather can be a fantastic experience if you prepare adequately and use the right tools. By leveraging the best weather apps and following these tips, you can enjoy safe and spectacular flights, capturing stunning aerial footage no matter where you are.
Happy flying, and enjoy the skies! 🚁🌤️
submitted by Quassimodem1 to DJI_Avata2 [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 20:11 thatmozzie_ Created A CyberPunk Dystopian Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Novel Set In The Year 2124 In Los Angeles

Created A CyberPunk Dystopian Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Novel Set In The Year 2124 In Los Angeles
"The Neon District"
https://preview.redd.it/h6j5xnthef1d1.jpg?width=1792&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2dac28553adfcd5e9a5762f45cecd76ca2071491
I was inspired after reading another user's experience creating his own world, so I decided to give it a shot. I wanted to create a sort of interactive choose-your-own-adventure cyberpunk story set in 2124 Los Angeles. I prompted ChatGPT to essentially create a story and world that revolves around common themes within a typical CyberPunk setting such as rampant crime, corrupt cops and politicians, massive drug usage, mega-corporations out of control, poverty, and technology blurring the lines between humanity.
One of my favorite video games lately of all time is CyberPunk 2077, so I just wanted to create something similar that I could experience and live through in a different interactive way while also testing out ChatGPT out of boredom. Here are some of the results from the simulation.
I'll denote "USER INPUT" as anything I wrote or input, and "CHAT GPT" anytime it outputs anything.
Rules: I will use minimal intervention / altering and mainly allow the program to pretty much lead me through the story barring any world-breaking narratives or plots:
  • CHATGPT:

Setting: Los Angeles, 2124

General Environment

  • Skyline: The skyline is dominated by towering skyscrapers, neon signs, and massive holographic advertisements. The upper levels house the wealthy elite and powerful corporations, while the lower levels are grimy, chaotic, and densely populated.
  • Streets: The streets are teeming with life at all hours. Neon lights and electronic billboards illuminate the darkness, casting a perpetual artificial glow. The air is thick with pollution, making clean air a luxury.
  • Architecture: Buildings are a mix of high-tech designs with futuristic materials and dilapidated structures. Graffiti covers many walls, and it's not uncommon to see makeshift shelters and slums in the shadow of corporate headquarters.
  • Technology: Advanced technology is integrated into everyday life. People have cybernetic enhancements, AI assistants, and immersive virtual reality systems. However, the gap between those who can afford cutting-edge tech and those who can't is vast.

Society

  • Crime and Law Enforcement: Crime is rampant. Gang wars and turf battles are common. The police are corrupt, often working for the highest bidder, whether it's a corporation or a crime syndicate. Justice is a commodity, and the wealthy can buy their way out of trouble.
  • Economy: The economy is dominated by a few mega-corporations that control everything from food and water to security and healthcare. Small businesses struggle to survive. Basic necessities are expensive, and clean water is a luxury.
  • Culture: The culture is a blend of hedonism and despair. Nightclubs, brothels, and underground fight clubs offer temporary escape from harsh realities. Art and music are heavily influenced by the cyberpunk aesthetic, with neon colors, dark themes, and digital elements.

Key Locations

  • The Underground: A labyrinth of tunnels, abandoned subway stations, and hidden passages used by criminals, hackers, and those avoiding the authorities. This is where Zoe feels most at home.
  • Corporate Towers: Massive skyscrapers where powerful corporations operate. They are heavily guarded, both physically and digitally, but hold valuable data and resources for skilled netrunners like Zoe.
  • Black Markets: Hidden marketplaces where anything can be bought or sold, from illegal tech and drugs to human organs and stolen data. Zoe frequents these markets to find jobs and acquire tools for her hacks.

Main Character: Zoe

Background

  • Early Life: Zoe grew up on the streets, learning to fend for herself from a young age. She quickly became skilled at navigating the dangerous urban environment and developed a talent for hacking and stealth.
  • Skills and Abilities: Zoe is a netrunner, capable of hacking into secure systems using her neural augmentations. She is also proficient with small arms and knives, and excels in stealth, disguise, acting, and manipulation.
  • Personality: Zoe is resourceful, intelligent, and determined. She has a sharp wit and a knack for thinking on her feet. While she can be cynical and distrusting, she also has a strong sense of loyalty to those she cares about.

Appearance

  • Height and Build: Zoe stands at 5'6" with a slim, athletic build. Her frame allows her to move quickly and silently.
  • Features: She has sharp features, piercing eyes, and a distinctive look that she can easily alter with makeup and disguises. Her hair is usually styled in a practical yet edgy way, fitting the cyberpunk aesthetic.
  • Augmentations: Zoe has several cybernetic enhancements, including neural implants for hacking, enhanced vision, and a subdermal interface for interacting with digital systems.

Plot Elements

Conflict

  • Corporate Rivalries: The mega-corporations are constantly vying for power, using any means necessary to sabotage their rivals. Zoe often finds herself caught in the crossfire, hired by one corporation to hack another.
  • Underground Power Struggles: Crime syndicates and gangs are in a constant state of flux, battling for control of territory and resources. Zoe's connections to these groups provide her with both opportunities and dangers.
  • Personal Stakes: Zoe's ultimate goal is to uncover the truth behind her parents' mysterious deaths, which she believes were orchestrated by one of the powerful corporations. This quest drives many of her actions and decisions.

Themes

  • Humanity vs. Technology: The story explores the tension between human identity and technological augmentation. Zoe struggles with maintaining her humanity as she becomes more reliant on her cybernetic enhancements.
  • Survival and Loyalty: In a world where trust is scarce and betrayal is common, Zoe must navigate complex relationships and alliances. Her loyalty to her friends and allies is both a strength and a vulnerability.
  • Power and Corruption: The pervasive corruption in both the corporate and criminal worlds serves as a backdrop for Zoe's journey. She constantly grapples with the moral complexities of her actions and their consequences.
USER INPUT
Lets create some additional characters to the story and more world building, starting with her childhood best friend. He's trustworthy, loveable character type. Strong, loyal to a fault, pure, but also an amazing fighter and can be mean to those that do him or his family wrong as quick as any common thug on the streets. What should his name be?
CHATGPT
Let's name Zoe's childhood best friend Lucas. Here's a detailed character profile and additional world-building elements:

Character Profile: Lucas

Name: Lucas "Luc" Raines

Background:

  • Age: 20
  • Height: 6'2"
  • Build: Muscular and athletic
  • Appearance: Lucas has short, dark hair and piercing blue eyes. His face is usually adorned with a friendly smile, but he can turn fierce in an instant when provoked. He has several tattoos, each symbolizing different aspects of his life and struggles.
  • Personality: Lucas is trustworthy and lovable, known for his unwavering loyalty and pure heart. Despite the harsh realities of their world, he maintains a strong moral compass. He's always ready to stand up for his friends and protect those he cares about, even if it means getting his hands dirty.

Skills and Abilities:

  • Combat: Lucas is an exceptional fighter, trained in various martial arts and street fighting techniques. His strength and combat skills make him a formidable opponent.
  • Loyalty: His loyalty to Zoe and their close-knit group of friends is unshakeable. He would go to great lengths to ensure their safety and well-being.
  • Strategic Thinking: While Lucas may come across as a brawler, he's also a strategic thinker, able to plan and execute complex operations when needed.

Relationships:

  • Zoe: Lucas and Zoe have been best friends since childhood. They share a deep bond, built on years of mutual trust and shared experiences. Lucas is fiercely protective of Zoe and often acts as her guardian in dangerous situations.
  • Family: Lucas has a younger sister whom he cares for deeply. His parents were victims of corporate exploitation, fueling his disdain for the mega-corporations that dominate their world.

Additional World-Building Elements:

Key Factions:

  1. The Vanguard Syndicate:
    • Overview: A powerful crime syndicate that controls much of the underground economy in Los Angeles. They deal in everything from illegal augmentations to black-market goods.
    • Leader: Damien "The Viper" Valdez, a ruthless and cunning leader known for his strategic mind and brutal enforcement tactics.
    • Conflict: The Vanguard Syndicate often hires netrunners like Zoe for high-risk hacking jobs, while also clashing with rival gangs and corporations.
  2. NeoCore Corporation:
    • Overview: One of the largest and most influential mega-corporations in the city. They specialize in advanced cybernetic enhancements, AI development, and data security.
    • Public Image: NeoCore presents itself as a benevolent entity, promising technological advancements and prosperity. However, beneath the surface, they are involved in unethical experiments and corporate espionage.
    • Objective: They are always seeking to expand their influence and eliminate any threats to their dominance, making them a constant antagonist in the story.

Key Locations:

  1. The Neon District:
    • Description: The heart of the city's nightlife, filled with clubs, bars, and entertainment venues. It's a place where people go to forget their troubles, at least for a while.
    • Atmosphere: The district is always buzzing with energy, illuminated by neon lights and holographic advertisements. It's a haven for both thrill-seekers and those looking to make shady deals.
    • Significance: This is where Zoe and her friends often gather, blending in with the crowds and keeping their ears to the ground for potential jobs.
  2. The Wastes:
    • Description: The outskirts of the city, where pollution and neglect have turned the landscape into a desolate wasteland. The Wastes are home to the city's poorest residents, who live in makeshift shelters and struggle to survive.
    • Danger: The area is lawless, ruled by scavengers and rogue gangs. It's a place where only the strong or well-armed dare to venture.
    • Connection: Zoe occasionally visits the Wastes to help those in need or to hide from the authorities when necessary.
  3. The Vault:
    • Description: An underground bunker and safe haven for netrunners. It's a hidden, secure location equipped with the latest hacking tools and technology.
    • Community: The Vault is a tight-knit community of hackers and tech enthusiasts who share information, resources, and protection.
    • Importance: This is where Zoe refines her skills, plans her heists, and collaborates with other netrunners on large-scale operations.

Plot Hooks and Story Arcs:

  1. The Heist:
    • Synopsis: Zoe and Lucas are hired by a mysterious client to infiltrate a NeoCore facility and steal valuable data. The heist requires meticulous planning and flawless execution, with high stakes and unexpected twists.
    • Challenges: They must navigate through tight security, betrayals, and unforeseen dangers. The job tests their skills and loyalty to each other.
  2. The Rescue:
    • Synopsis: Lucas's younger sister is kidnapped by a rival gang seeking leverage against him. Zoe and Lucas must track down the kidnappers and rescue her before it's too late.
    • Emotional Stakes: This mission is deeply personal for Lucas, and his rage and determination drive the story forward. Zoe must balance her tactical mind with supporting her friend through this ordeal.
  3. The Conspiracy:
    • Synopsis: Zoe uncovers clues about her parents' deaths, leading her to a massive conspiracy involving NeoCore and the Vanguard Syndicate. As she digs deeper, she realizes the scale of corruption and danger she faces.
    • Revelations: The story arc delves into Zoe's past, her parents' secrets, and the true extent of corporate manipulation. It sets the stage for a climactic showdown against the forces that have shaped her life.
These elements add depth to your story, creating a vivid and engaging world for Zoe and her companions.
USER INPUT
Can you generate an image in an anime/cyberpunk style reminiscant of the style of Ghost In The Shell. Generate our main character Zoe
CHAPTGPT
ZOE
  • USER INPUT
let's develop more scenes and characters as well. It would be interesting to have a sort of old underground father type figure to both Zoe and Lucas, someone not related to them but someone that took them in to the underground at a young age and taught them everything they know. He looks after them like family, but he is also a criminal type in the underground world so a mix of good to them, but can be evil to others. Feel free to create other interesting characters and scenes / locations / etc as well
CHATGPT

New Character: Marcus "Iron Hand" Kane

Role: Father Figure to Zoe and Lucas
Background:
  • Age: 55
  • Height: 6'0"
  • Build: Stocky and strong, with a presence that commands respect
  • Appearance: Marcus has a rugged, weathered face with deep-set eyes that have seen the worst of the city. His hair is a mix of grey and black, often tied back. His most distinctive feature is his cybernetic right arm, known as the "Iron Hand," which is both a powerful weapon and a symbol of his status in the underground.
  • Personality: Marcus is a complex character, blending kindness and brutality. To Zoe and Lucas, he is a protective and caring father figure, offering wisdom, guidance, and training. To others, he is a feared criminal, ruthless in his dealings and unwavering in his pursuit of power.
  • Skills and Abilities: Marcus is a master tactician, skilled in combat and cyber warfare. His "Iron Hand" cybernetic arm has multiple functionalities, including enhanced strength, weapon capabilities, and hacking tools. He is also a shrewd negotiator and leader.
History:
  • Marcus took in Zoe and Lucas when they were just children, recognizing their potential and providing them with a home in the underground. He trained them in survival, hacking, and combat, instilling in them the skills they needed to thrive in the harsh realities of their world.
  • He has a dark past, having been involved in numerous criminal activities and power struggles. Despite his ruthless nature, he has a strong sense of loyalty to those he considers family.

Additional Characters:

1. Lila "Viper" Santos
  • Role: Underground Information Broker
  • Age: 28
  • Appearance: Lila is a striking figure with sharp, green eyes and sleek black hair. She has a slender build and often dresses in stylish, high-tech attire. Her cybernetic enhancements include a neural interface that allows her to access and process vast amounts of information quickly.
  • Personality: Lila is cunning, resourceful, and always a step ahead. She has a network of informants and is known for her ability to find out anything about anyone. Despite her aloof demeanor, she has a soft spot for Zoe and Lucas, often providing them with critical information.
  • Skills: Expert in data retrieval, espionage, and manipulation. Her cybernetic enhancements give her an edge in accessing secure networks and uncovering secrets.
2. Riko "Ghost" Tanaka
  • Role: Elite Netrunner and Rival
  • Age: 22
  • Appearance: Riko is an enigmatic figure with short, spiky white hair and cybernetic eyes that glow faintly blue. He has a lean, agile build and is known for his stealth and speed.
  • Personality: Riko is a lone wolf, fiercely independent and highly competitive. He respects Zoe's skills but also sees her as a rival. He is driven by a desire to be the best netrunner in the city.
  • Skills: Master hacker with advanced cybernetic enhancements that allow him to move through digital networks undetected. He is also skilled in parkour and close-quarters combat.

New Locations:

1. The Hub
  • Description: The Hub is a massive underground complex that serves as the central meeting place for the city's netrunners and tech enthusiasts. It's filled with advanced tech, servers, and hacking terminals. The atmosphere is a blend of chaos and order, with people constantly exchanging information and working on new projects.
  • Significance: This is where Zoe and Lucas often go to gather information, meet contacts, and plan their operations. The Hub is also a place of relative safety, where violence is strictly forbidden.
2. The Sprawl
  • Description: A sprawling slum area on the outskirts of the city, characterized by makeshift shelters, narrow alleys, and rampant poverty. Despite its dire conditions, the Sprawl is a vibrant community where people band together to survive.
  • Atmosphere: The Sprawl is always bustling with activity, from street vendors selling homemade goods to children playing amidst the ruins. It's a place of both danger and resilience, where the inhabitants have learned to adapt to their harsh environment.
  • Connection: Zoe often visits the Sprawl to help those in need and to stay connected with her roots. It's also a place where she can move around relatively unnoticed.
3. NeoCore Headquarters
  • Description: A towering skyscraper in the heart of the city, NeoCore's headquarters is a symbol of corporate power and technological advancement. The building is sleek and modern, with state-of-the-art security systems and heavily guarded entrances.
  • Significance: NeoCore Headquarters is often the target of Zoe's hacking missions, as it houses valuable data and cutting-edge tech. The building's imposing presence is a constant reminder of the corporation's influence over the city.

New Scenes:

1. The Heist
  • Setting: NeoCore Headquarters
  • Description: Zoe and Lucas undertake a daring heist to steal critical data from NeoCore. The scene is filled with tension as they navigate through tight security, avoid detection, and hack into the corporation's mainframe.
  • Key Moments: Zoe uses her hacking skills to disable security systems, while Lucas provides physical protection and deals with any guards they encounter. The heist culminates in a high-stakes escape, with the duo narrowly avoiding capture.
2. The Rescue
  • Setting: The Sprawl
  • Description: Lucas's younger sister is kidnapped by a rival gang, and Zoe and Lucas must infiltrate the gang's hideout in the Sprawl to rescue her. The scene showcases the gritty, dangerous environment of the slums and the close-quarters combat skills of the protagonists.
  • Key Moments: The rescue mission is fraught with challenges, from navigating the labyrinthine alleys of the Sprawl to engaging in fierce hand-to-hand combat with gang members. The scene highlights Lucas's protective nature and Zoe's quick thinking.
3. The Confrontation
  • Setting: The Hub
  • Description: Tensions rise as Riko "Ghost" Tanaka confronts Zoe, accusing her of stealing a job from him. The scene is set in the bustling environment of the Hub, with onlookers gathering to watch the showdown.
  • Key Moments: The confrontation escalates into a heated argument, showcasing the rivalry between Zoe and Riko. Despite their differences, the scene hints at a potential alliance in the face of a greater threat.
USER INPUT
can you create images in the same style as the original image for the new Characters Marcus Iron Hand, Lila Viper Santos, and Riko Ghost Tanaka, Lucas, etc? Also generate additional images of some of the new locations etc separately.
CHATGPT
LUCAS
MARCUS \"IRON HAND\"
RIKO \"GHOST\" TANAKA
LILA \"VIPER\" SANTOS
THE HUB
THE SPAWL
NEOCORE HEADQUARTERS
"THE VAULT"
https://preview.redd.it/anol60qpef1d1.jpg?width=1792&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fcfb76dc6ac42f816de6148e66d3f3f60f442d64
  • USER INPUT
Awesome. Lets start the story now. The story begins with Zoe waking up on a typical Saturday late morning. Friday night was a big night celebrating her childhood friends birthday drinking and partying at their favorite club. She wakes up with a slight hangover and is hungry. she notices several missed calls and messages
  • CHATGPT

Scene: Zoe's Apartment - Late Saturday Morning

The dim light filtering through the grime-covered windows of Zoe's apartment barely illuminates the cluttered room. The remnants of last night's celebration are scattered everywhere—empty bottles, discarded clothes, and the faint hum of old electronic music playing in the background. Zoe groans and sits up in bed, rubbing her temples to ease the throbbing in her head.

Narration:

Narrator: Zoe squinted at the holographic display, her vision still slightly blurry. The notifications were a mix of urgent messages and missed calls, each vying for her attention. She quickly scanned through them, her fingers moving with practiced ease over the interface.
Zoe: (mumbling to herself) "Great, just what I need. More problems to deal with..."
She swings her legs over the edge of the bed, stretching and wincing at the persistent hangover. With a sigh, she picks up her cybernetic arm from the nightstand and attaches it, feeling the familiar click as it integrates with her neural network. She taps her wristband, bringing up the missed messages and calls.

Dialogue:

Zoe: (talking to herself) "Let's see... job offers, updates from the underground... and what's this? 'Urgent Opportunity – High Reward.' Sounds promising."
Her stomach growls, reminding her of her hunger. She heads to the small kitchenette, grabbing a protein bar and some instant coffee. As she munches on her makeshift breakfast, she taps the message to read the details.
Zoe: (reading aloud) "High-risk, high-reward job, requiring a skilled netrunner. Substantial payout. Meet at The Hub tonight. Perfect."
Her thoughts are interrupted by a knock at the door. She frowns, not expecting visitors this early. Cautiously, she approaches and peers through the peephole. Recognizing the familiar figure on the other side, she relaxes and opens the door.
Lucas: (with a grin) "Morning, sunshine. You look like hell."
Zoe: (rolling her eyes) "Thanks, Lucas. You’re a real charmer. Come in."
Lucas steps inside, looking as rugged as ever with his scruff and tattoos. He drops a bag on the table and takes a seat.
Lucas: "I brought breakfast. Figured you’d need it after last night."
Zoe: "You’re a lifesaver. So, what’s up?"
Lucas: "Got a tip about a job. Sounds like it could be worth our while. But first, you need to get your head straight. Eat up and let’s talk."
They share a quick meal, discussing the potential job and catching up on recent events in the underground.

Choice Point 1: Zoe's Response to the Job Offer

Option A: Agree immediately and start planning. Option B: Ask for more details and express caution. Option C: Refuse the job and suggest looking for something safer.
Please choose an option by typing "Option A," "Option B," or "Option C."
  • USER INPUT
Option B
  • CHATGPT

Choice: Option B - Ask for More Details and Express Caution

Zoe: (taking a sip of her coffee) "Hold on, Lucas. Before we jump in headfirst, I need to know more about this job. What exactly are we dealing with here?"
Lucas: (nodding) "Fair enough. It's a high-stakes heist at NeoCore Headquarters. Our client wants us to steal some sensitive data from their secure servers. The payout is massive, but so are the risks. We'll need to get past top-tier security, both physical and digital."
Zoe: (raising an eyebrow) "NeoCore, huh? That place is a fortress. Who's the client?"
Lucas: "No name, just an anonymous contact. But they seem legit. They've provided detailed blueprints and security protocols. Still, I get it if you’re hesitant. This one's big."

Choice Point 2: Zoe's Next Action

Option A: Accept the job but suggest taking extra precautions and planning thoroughly. Option B: Contact Marcus "Iron Hand" Kane for his advice and see if he has any additional information or support. Option C: Investigate the client further to ensure their legitimacy before making a decision.
That's all i have so far but this was a super cool way to pass some time on a Sunday. I am considering starting a parallel story similar to this but a horror-survival one, similar to something like the original Silent Hill etc.
What do you guys think - Anyone interested in seeing how this develops?!
submitted by thatmozzie_ to ChatGPT [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 19:59 HazelRose15 Can I still get hired as an EMT with a bad driving record?

Hey everyone. I’m in Vancouver WA and I’m in the process of starting my EMT program, but I have some concerns about getting hired afterwards due to a bad driving record. All of my violations were done in Oregon. I got my license in 2019, and since then I’ve had 2 at fault accidents (2019 and 2020) a speeding ticket in 2019, and I just got a speeding ticket from a speed camera last month (I’m currently doing the traffic diversion program for this one, but I’m unsure if it dismisses the ticket.) So technically, the first 3 tickets were all over 3 years ago, 2 of them being 5 years ago. From what I’ve heard, AMR only cares about violations within the last 3 years?
I’m very disappointed in my driving record, and I was very proud that I hadn’t had any problems in years, until last month. I was really looking forward to joining an EMS career, but now I feel like I can kiss my EMS dreams goodbye. I know it seems like I’m a horrible driver, but those first 3 violations happened right after I got my license and I consider myself extremely young and dumb. This recent one, I was driving in a new place and didn’t know the speed limit.
Please be kind, I’m already very down about this and kicking myself for not being more careful. I just want to know if anyone has experience with a bad driving record and still got hired? Thanks.
submitted by HazelRose15 to NewToEMS [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 17:11 Sweet-Count2557 Is Atlantic City Safe

Is Atlantic City Safe
Is Atlantic City Safe Are you concerned about the safety of Atlantic City? Well, fear not! In this article, we'll be your trusted source of information, providing an objective overview of the city's safety situation.From crime rates to essential precautions, we'll guide you through the landscape of Atlantic City's safety. While certain areas require caution, rest assured that there are safe and enjoyable neighborhoods for tourists.So, let us be your guide as we explore the safety of Atlantic City together.Key TakeawaysAtlantic City has safe areas and high-crime areas.Violent crime rates in Atlantic City are 112% higher than the national average.Property crime rates in Atlantic City are 50% higher than the national average.The Marina District and the Boardwalk are considered safe neighborhoods in Atlantic City.Overview of Atlantic City SafetyIn our overview of Atlantic City safety, we can observe that the city has both safe areas and high-crime areas. Safety measures vary from one neighborhood to another, and it's essential to evaluate security measures in Atlantic City.Certain areas are more prone to criminal activity, so it's crucial to be cautious while exploring these places. On the other hand, there are parts of the city that are safe and enjoyable.When it comes to crime rates, Atlantic City has higher rates compared to the national average. Violent crime rates are 112% higher, and property crime rates are 50% higher. However, it's worth noting that the city's overall crime rate has decreased by 36% year over year.As tourists, it's important to take safety precautions, such as staying aware of our surroundings, keeping belongings secure, and avoiding walking alone on unfamiliar streets, especially at night. There are safe neighborhoods like the Marina District and the Boardwalk, while certain areas should be avoided due to higher crime rates.Crime Rates and StatisticsWhen it comes to crime rates and statistics, we need to examine the safety situation in Atlantic City.The impact of tourism on crime rates is a significant factor to consider. With a large number of visitors coming to the city each year, it can potentially attract criminal activity.However, Atlantic City has implemented various crime prevention measures to ensure the safety of its residents and tourists. These measures include increased police presence, surveillance cameras, and community outreach programs.The effectiveness of these measures can be seen in the decreasing overall crime rate, which has decreased by 36% year over year.While certain neighborhoods in Atlantic City are known to have higher crime rates, there are also safe areas such as the Marina District and the Boardwalk.It's essential for tourists to stay aware of their surroundings and take necessary precautions to ensure their safety while exploring the city.Safety Precautions for TouristsTo ensure the safety of tourists in Atlantic City, it's important for us to take necessary precautions while exploring the city.Here are some safety tips for exploring Atlantic City and the best ways to protect your belongings.First, always stay aware of your surroundings when using transportation in the city. Whether you're on a jitney or in a cab, keep your belongings secure and close to you.Avoid walking alone on unfamiliar streets, especially at night, and be sure to keep your belongings secure while enjoying the beaches.When you're in your hotel room, lock your valuables or use the hotel safe.Lastly, keep your chips and cash secure while gambling.Safe Neighborhoods and AreasLet's explore the safe neighborhoods and areas in Atlantic City that are worth visiting.When it comes to safety, the Marina District and the Boardwalk stand out as some of the safest neighborhoods in Atlantic City.In the Marina District, you'll find a bustling waterfront area with upscale hotels, restaurants, and entertainment options. This area is known for its well-maintained streets and security presence, making it a popular choice for tourists and locals alike.Similarly, the Boardwalk is a vibrant and iconic area with plenty of attractions, including casinos, shops, and restaurants. With its lively atmosphere and constant foot traffic, the Boardwalk is generally considered safe for visitors.However, it's essential to remain vigilant and aware of your surroundings, as safety can vary from one neighborhood to another in Atlantic City.As we delve into the next section about unsafe locations and areas to avoid, it's important to note that while there are safe neighborhoods, there are also areas in Atlantic City with higher crime rates.Unsafe Locations and Areas to AvoidNow let's delve into the areas and locations in Atlantic City that should be avoided due to higher crime rates. When visiting Atlantic City, it's important to be aware of high crime areas and take necessary precautions to ensure your safety. Here are three tips for staying safe in Atlantic City:Avoid the North part of the city: This area has a higher crime rate, with chances of becoming a victim as low as 1 in 32. It's best to steer clear of this neighborhood, especially if you're unfamiliar with the streets.Research and avoid areas with higher crime rates: Before exploring the city, take the time to do some research and identify locations known for criminal activity. By planning your route and avoiding these areas, you can minimize the risk of encountering any dangerous situations.Stay aware of your surroundings: Whether you're using transportation, enjoying the beaches, or gambling in Atlantic City, it's crucial to stay vigilant. Keep your belongings secure, be cautious when walking alone at night, and always lock your valuables in your hotel room or use a hotel safe.Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat Are Some Popular Tourist Attractions in Atlantic City?Popular tourist attractions in Atlantic City include the famous Boardwalk and the vibrant casinos.The Boardwalk offers a scenic stroll along the beach, with various shops, restaurants, and entertainment options.The casinos provide a thrilling experience with their wide range of gaming options and live shows.These attractions attract visitors from all over, seeking fun and excitement.Whether you're looking to relax by the ocean or try your luck at the tables, Atlantic City has something for everyone.Are There Any Specific Safety Measures in Place for Events or Festivals in Atlantic City?During events and festivals in Atlantic City, safety measures are put in place to ensure the well-being of visitors. These measures include increased security presence, bag checks, and surveillance systems.Event organizers work closely with local law enforcement to maintain a safe environment. Additionally, medical personnel and first aid stations are readily available in case of any emergencies.These precautions aim to provide a secure and enjoyable experience for everyone attending events in Atlantic City.Are There Any Public Transportation Options Available for Getting Around Atlantic City?When it comes to getting around Atlantic City, there are several public transportation options available. From buses to taxis, you can easily navigate the city.Public transportation is accessible and convenient for both locals and tourists. Whether you're exploring the Marina District or strolling along the Boardwalk, these transportation options make it easy to reach your destination.Are There Any Specific Laws or Regulations That Tourists Should Be Aware of While Visiting Atlantic City?When visiting Atlantic City, it's important for tourists to be aware of certain laws and regulations.Liquor consumption regulations are enforced, so it's crucial to adhere to age restrictions and drink responsibly.As for gambling laws, it's legal in Atlantic City and there are numerous casinos to enjoy. However, it's essential to gamble responsibly and be aware of the specific rules and regulations set by each establishment.What Are Some Recommended Activities for Families Visiting Atlantic City?When it comes to activities for families visiting Atlantic City, there's something for everyone!From outdoor adventures like strolling along the iconic Boardwalk and enjoying the beautiful beaches, to indoor entertainment options like visiting the kid-friendly museums and aquariums, the city has it all.Whether you're looking for fun in the sun or seeking indoor excitement, Atlantic City offers a diverse range of activities that will make your family vacation memorable.ConclusionIn conclusion, while Atlantic City may have its areas of concern, the majority of the city is safe and enjoyable for tourists. By taking necessary safety precautions and exploring the recommended neighborhoods, you can have a worry-free experience during your trip.So don't let the fear of crime deter you from experiencing all that Atlantic City has to offer. Come and enjoy the vibrant atmosphere, entertainment, and beautiful beaches with peace of mind.
submitted by Sweet-Count2557 to worldkidstravel [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 15:25 TheGangstaGandalf Discussion of the Diamond Handbook (Part 1)

Hey everyone, this will be my first attempt at a serious post on this sub. I’m not exactly practiced in articulating my thoughts (I’m more of a fiction writer) so please bear bull with any mistakes and please correct me if I’m wrong. The last thing I want to do is spread misinformation, I’m not an expert (or a financial advisor) on any of this. I'm here to learn, not to teach.
This post will be the first in a series of me reading through the entire Diamond Handbook (2nd) and just commentating on points I find interesting or discussion worthy. I will be asking questions as well as giving my own personal thoughts based on my understanding of the events that have transpired. I became an ape right after the sneeze, and followed a lot of the discussions back then, but have been zen for a while so I haven't fully kept up with a lot of the new developments.
I haven't actually sat down and read DD in a long time, so I decided to give myself a refresher and actually look at the Diamond Handbook (2nd) for the first time. I had read a lot of these posts as they had come out, so I had never felt the need to look at the full PDF before. For the apes that haven’t read it either, I recommend giving it a read. You can find the full DD library in the pinned post of this sub, and the Diamond Handbook is the first one there.
As I have been reading it, I’ve quickly realized that some of the stuff is a little outdated. That can’t really be helped since so much DD has been done between then and now, but this brings me to the two reasons for this post. The Diamond Handbook is likely the first piece of DD a new ape will be recommended; I want to spark discussion to clear up some things that are misguided or outdated in this handbook. The second reason is more of a personal challenge. Whenever someone denies the legitimacy of the DD, an ape usually responds by saying something like “Well, read the DD and prove it wrong”. The average MOASS denier won’t do this though, in my experience they just think it’s ridiculous on a conceptual level, and won’t take the time to actually look through all the DD available and construct a proper debate. I can’t really blame them for this though, spending so much time on something you have no interest in doesn’t sound like a fun time.
But I have a lot of interest in this, and I am an aspiring author who writes 400K word fanfictions for fun. I’ve got the time and the writing willpower. I am very big into trying to understand how a reader will interpret a piece of my writing, so I’ll be looking through that lens and will be writing this with the assumption that you have already read the Diamond Handbook (2nd). Please take the time to respond/correct what I say here, I want to learn.
With all that out of the way, let’s get started.

The Mother of All Short Squeezes (MOASS) Thesis, Published on May 26, 2021, by u(slash)HCMF_MACEFACE
Before we even get into the meat of this section I already see a bit of an issue. A lot of the language implies that MOASS is imminent, take this section for example:
*“If you don't believe me, just look at the chart of GME which our DD (Due Diligence/research/analysis) has been forecasting for a while now. The below pattern has only preceded massive spikes in price, but this time, those on the other side of the trade are going to have a much harder time suppressing the price like they did in January and March. Thanks to the activity on 5/25, we have entered the end-game. The MOASS is beginning.”* 
I think most new apes will look at this, then look at the date of posting (three years ago), and think this is delusional thinking. They will say that MOASS did not ‘begin’ because it hasn’t happened yet. This would be pretty short sighted though, GME has always been a Deep Value investment, long positions are called long for a reason. ‘Buy and HODL’ is such a repeated mantra because that is the investment strategy most apes employ. Like most investments, it takes a long time to realize gains. Your retirement account will be growing for 40+ years before you cash that thing out, GME is my retirement plan so I don’t expect it to be much different.
Just because the sneeze happened in a week doesn’t mean MOASS will, in theory it should be a very long event as both the shorts and longs have a test of wills to see who caves first. However, the sneeze was the ‘beginning’ because it was exposed a lot of the fuckery that is going on in the market right now, I think that is the message that should be taken from this section.
*“These terms are key to understanding the theory and speculated value of a GME investment. Hyperlinks to Investopedia, "the world's leading source of financial content on the web", have been included for most market terms and concepts and it is recommended to check them out if they are not clear. We will be breaking down some of the more complex terms and concepts within the post and framing them within the context of GME.”* 
After the introduction, this post does a great job of explaining all the concepts of the stock market that are relevant to the MOASS thesis. However, I do wish it mentioned some other stock terms for the sake of new investors. Since none of the DD is supposed to be financial advice, I can’t really blame them for these omissions, but at the beginning the OP does say they wanted the post to be good for newer investors, so I think some more pointing in the right direction should’ve been provided. I do appreciate the link to Investopedia, but this DD is already a novel, and the average reader might forget about that link by the time they finish it. So an additional link should’ve been provided at the end.
The two big concepts I see missing are Options and Wash Sales/Stop-Losses.
Options are interesting because they create a different type of buying/selling pressure compared to just buying/selling stocks regularly. There are concepts like gamma ramps and stuff that can be relevant when discussing catalysts for price movement. However, options are pretty scary for most investors, I’ve only ever bought one, and forgot about it so it auto-exercised for me (lol), so it’s not a concept I would call essential. I just think it’s better to be educated than not.
The much more egregious omission is that of Wash Sales and Stop-Losses. Wash Sales are extremely dangerous to new investors who still make decisions based on emotions and are not used to the volatility that comes with GME.
If you are unfamiliar, a Wash Sale is when a person sells a stock at a loss, then buys the stock again within a short period of time. As an example, let’s say you bought a stock at $50, then the stock goes down to $40.00 and you no longer feel comfortable with your investment. You sell the stock at a loss. You lost $10.00 on this transaction, but it’s not all bad. When you go to do your taxes, you can report this $10.00 loss to the IRS. This is good because if you make a $10.00 profit off another trade, you now don’t have to take taxes out of that profit, since the IRS will see this as you breaking even in the grand scheme of your portfolio. You didn’t actually make any money, so they aren’t going to tax you for it.
A Wash Sale is triggered when you buy back the stock you sold in a short period of time, this can even apply if you buy a stock in the same sector. So if you buy a stock at $50.00, sell it at $40.00 then buy it again. That $10.00 loss you took can no longer be reported to the IRS as an actual loss. So when you make $10.00 on some other trade, the IRS won’t see you as breaking even, they will tax you on that $10.00.
For a stock as volatile as GME this can be very dangerous, I know people who brought in the peak, then as the price went back down they triggered a Stop-Loss (auto-sale you can program to trigger when a price falls), only to then buy back in when the stock dropped even lower, creating a wash sale that fucked their taxes.
We say “Buy and HODL” a lot, but I think the ‘why’ of it has been lost in the meme. I personally buy and HODL because averaging down is a lot better for me than accidently triggering a Wash Sale. I fucking hate the IRS and don’t want any of that smoke.
*“SPOILER: GME and \[Popcorn\] have tons of FTDs reported.”* 
I just kinda don’t like the mention of the Popcorn stock here, it has never been a deep value investment. If you are unfamiliar with the Deep Value investment strategy, please take a look at the old Roaring Kitty livestreams. In summary, Deep Value investing is defined by looking for stocks that are extremely undervalued and unpopular due to no fault of the company. These external factors that are making the stock undervalued can be anything, shorting, COVID, stuff like that. But what makes it a Deep Value investment is always strong management within the company. If the company is not mismanaged in any way, then it is very unlikely to go bankrupt, and will have opportunities to make a comeback. GME has Ryan Cohen leading, a proven successful businessman that has already taken precautions to ensure GameStop never goes bankrupt. Popcorn just doesn’t have that. It is very short-squeezable, but it’s not deep fucking value.
*“Short sellers must eventually close, or cover, their short position.”* 
Ok, but why ‘must’ they? This is another point I think has been lost in the memes. There are two problems with just saying ‘shorts must close’ without providing context. The first is the simple fact that there isn’t a due date. Unlike a common car loan or mortgage, a short position doesn’t operate on a time table. They can wait forever to close, unless they get margin called.
This next part I’m a little shaky on, I’m probably getting some things wrong here:
Ok, well how are they going to get margin called? The problem I see is that these Short Hedge Funds (SHF) are making a lot of money by selling naked shorts. It’s really hard to get margin called when they are literally printing money, and since they don’t have to report these their books just look to be filled with an infinite amount of cash.
So, there are a couple solutions to this:
1, Government regulation. If the SEC puts a stop to naked shorting, these SHF can’t print money anymore. Eventually the interest from their positions will eat them alive, and they will get margin called. Unfortunately, MOASS has the potential to destroy the economy like in 2008, so they probably aren’t too keen on just doing this without creating some kind of safety net. So I can’t really count on them to help, because the government has a vested interest in keeping MOASS from happening. It’s just not something I believe will be the catalyst. Although they might just do it on purpose given the right reason, like pinning the economic collapse on a scapegoat, or by GameStop forcing their hand by exposing the fraud somehow. I’ve seen a lot of apes hoping for one of these reasons to come to pass, but for me, I don’t see enough motivation from the participating parties.
2, A price run-up. If the price of the stock can unbalance the books of the SHF enough then they could also get margin called. I’m not counting on this either, since the price is manipulated by the process of naked shorting. Sure, they are digging a bigger grave when they suppress the price like this, but it can also help smaller SHFs with exiting their positions with OTC stuff. Over-The-Counter trades are trades made off the lit exchanges, historically it was intended to kind of simulate a transaction between two individuals, like buying a video game from a buddy off the books, no taxes, no regulation. Unfortunately, this is abused by institutions and can’t even be used by individuals, making dark pools of trades full of fraud and undermines the free market. Smaller SHFs that are more at risk of getting Margin Called due to their lack of collateral, can make OTC trades with the big naked-shorting market makers to ‘close’ their positions using fake shares. Of course, this only passes the buck so to speak, but it’s a viable strategy for them since the big SHFs that take on these ‘bucks’ are less likely to get margin called. A lot of historic short squeezes happen because a small SHF gets margin called, then drives the price up and causes a bigger SHF to get called, and so on until they’re all in the grave. This is why I don’t really give a shit if the price goes up to $80 in a week, it’s not enough, the buck has been passed. (To be clear, I don’t have proof that this is the reason for the uptick in OTC transactions, it’s just a theory. If a smarter ape than I can get on this that would be great.) But, even if a price run-up itself doesn’t cause MOASS, it may give motivation for the true trigger:
3, Interest Rates. Here is the big one that I look at, that I believe will be the true cause of MOASS. Now please, correct me if I’m wrong again, I am just an ape who dropped out of college. So, from what I understand a Short institution has to pay a certain amount of interest to the people they borrow the stocks from. This is the cost of borrowing and is how these Lenders make money. For a long time, the interest rate was at like 1%, this means that selling one naked short could cover the cost of the interest 100 times over. However, let’s say that the interest rate becomes 110%, sounds crazy, but this would mean that borrowing the share would cost more than the share. This would destroy the balances of the SHFs and ensure they get margin called. Why would this ever happen though? Because these lenders want to make money. These lenders are the real winners of MOASS, and they aren’t talked about enough in my opinion. Lenders can’t sell the shares they’ve lent out, their income is in the interest rates, there has to be a balance here between it being more profitable to lend the shares or to sell them. If Lenders start to think that lending their shares aren’t making them more money than the alternative, they will raise interest rates to make these profits until SHFs can’t pay them, then the SHFs have to return the shares, causing MOASS with the massive buyback, then lenders can just sell the shares on the way down. Lenders have a monetary business interest in causing MOASS, so they are the most likely cause of it in my opinion.
*“This is the GME MOASS thesis. GME is a stock that stands to hit an unprecedented price point due to the fact that manipulators of the market have failed to bankrupt GameStop thanks in huge part to the Legendary Keith Gill AKA* u(slash)DeepFuckingValue*, Ryan Cohen, and all of the GME investors who took part in this saga. It may not be today, this week, or even this month, but one day soon, these toxic participants have no choice but to buy the stock to close out their short positions.”* 
I don’t think this is necessarily inaccurate, but I think it’s misguided, and the language here is a bit to emotive for my taste. I think the reason the company didn’t go bankrupt is because of the strategic share offering made by Ryan Cohen to build up more cash than the company’s valuation (at the time). All the other stuff was just dressing, DFV and retail did not make RC do this, this move by RC is what ensured the company literally can’t go bankrupt, until then (and at the time this was posted) it was still a risk in my opinion. So this huge thanks feels kinda like a pre-cum celebration, and I've never really liked putting Keith on a pedestal, he's just an individual investor, just like the rest of us.

FAQ, Published April 12, 2021, by u(slash)BYE_TRIANGLE
*“Why does Holding do anything?”* *“They need your shares to cover their short positions! They got greedy. Thinking GameStop would fail, the short sellers started Naked Shorting the stock. Long story short they created synthetic stocks with their special privileges as Market Makers. But they can’t cover a short with a synthetic share. So because of the Naked Shorting, the Short Sellers, multiple large greedy money managers, and Hedge Funds need a total number of shares greater than the number available to purchase. THEY NEED EVERY SHARE, EVEN YOURS CONAN!”* *“aRe YoU GuYs MaNipuLatIng THe MaRKeT?!”* 
Holding does something else that I think is really important. It proves that retail is not responsible for the manipulation of the price. You see it in the mainstream media every time the price fluctuates, they say that retail and Roaring Kitty is driving the price up for the memes, and that the ‘meme stock craze is dead’ whenever the price falls, claiming that retail is selling. However, it quickly becomes clear to anyone with the willingness to research that retail holds. Holding doesn’t move the price at all, so they literally can’t blame this sub for the fuckery that happens.
Now, on the flip side, I know people on the old sub to buy and sell with these fluctuations, they did it during the sneeze and I’ve seen comments claiming to do it last week. I think this is why Roaring Kitty really had to speak to congress about this, because a legitimate-seeming argument could be made that retail was buying and selling at high volumes. The loss and gain porn on the old sub could be presented as evidence. Here though, apes hold, we glaze purple doughnuts.
So when MOASS does happen, the massive price increase will be only due to buying pressure from SHFs, so they are the only ones that can take the blame for what happens next.
*“No one knows how high the squeeze could take the stock price. The best rational reasoning says that these numbers \[500k per share\] are possible through the laws of supply and demand. Furthermore, it is likely that the Short Percentage is a lot higher than reported, with many suggesting that the short-sellers, cumulatively, need more than 100% of the float to cover.”* 
A lot of naysayers will claim people are insane for thinking that phone number prices are possible. They will cite that it would make the company’s valuation higher than the amount of money in the world, which is true. However, with the nature of fraudulent naked shorts being fake, the price is fake too, and the valuation of the company doesn’t necessarily mean that the whole float will be sold at those prices. Yes, it shouldn’t be possible, by all accounts it wouldn’t make sense, but it is possible due to the naked shorting. Also, institutions that own shares likely won’t HODL out for the phone number prices, they will sell when they think it’s safe, and when they won’t get in trouble with the SEC for destroying the economy. The infinity pool (the shares that will be sold at these prices) will be a small fraction of the total amount even among retail investors. So the argument that I see against the possibility of this doesn’t hold a lot of weight.
Keep in mind that even though ‘buying pressure’ moves the price up, someone has to be willing to sell in order for someone to buy. So as the price creeps up from $100 to $1000 to $100000 to $8675309 someone will be selling on the way up to get there.
*“Synthetic long positions could be used to disguise their short positions as well, the mechanisms behind this practice utilize the options markets and could explain some of the crazy options activity that we have seen in GameStop the last few months.”* 
So uhm… I don’t understand ‘Synthetic Longs’ at all. Could an ape with more wrinkles elaborate on this? From what I can extrapolate, this may refer to an institution purchasing a naked shorted share from someone else?
*“While at the same time they employed the use of social engineering to slowly depress the positive sentiment for the stock on Reddit and elsewhere.”* *“You may have been called a Shill for one of a number of reasons. This community is very inclusive and open to everyone, but because of the blatant attacks this forum has suffered a lot of people are understandably paranoid. (Myself included). Please, unless you really are a shill, don’t take it personally.”* 
I want to address this, because there is a lot of misconception about SuperStonk. A lot of people will claim that this sub is just an echo chamber cult that can’t handle anyone questioning the narrative. This may seem true on the surface, but I think the reality is just that we’ve become hyper sensitive to the social engineering the old sub fell victim to, and I remember this sub being attacked with that as well. So whenever we see a post that has extremely emotive language, we become skeptical and down vote it. Emotions have no place in investing, that is a common rule touted in even the oldest investing books, so posts that try to incite an emotional response are shot down. Apes aren’t about to be manipulated again. That being said there are emotive posts that still get upvoted, ones with positive hype-filled narratives. Since these get upvoted and the negative ones don’t that sometimes gives the impression of an echo chamber. This is because the facts do support the MOASS thesis, so a hype title and opening paragraph is just more agreeable with the facts-based narrative. Some people are just scrolling on their phone and don’t have time to read the whole post.
However, if you go into the comments of these posts, there are apes investigating the profile history to determine if posters are bots, regardless of the pushed narrative. If you look past the upvote counter, apes are very skeptical of any post that isn’t based in fact or harmless memes. The comments rule the post, and I have to say I’ve very proud of this sub for staying vigilant in the wake of Reddit restricting moderation tools.
*“Ryan Cohen clearly believes in Gamestop, to the point of announcing that he will be taking equity as compensation. In fact, as of writing this all of the new Gamestop board members are going to be taking equity as compensation. This is seen as an incredibly bullish sign of the company's future success.”* 
This is one of the principles of Deep Value investing, I wish this was elaborated on more of why this is bullish. This means that the board, and more importantly Ryan Cohen, is tying their individual self-worth to the company. Due to this tie, they will essentially ‘go down with the ship’ if the company goes down. This means that the board and Ryan actually have an interest in the company doing well, instead of having an interest in making money off the company. You may think this sounds like the same thing, but it’s not. If RC cared more about money than the company, then he could destroy the company to make money (this is what’s happening to popcorn), but by tying his worth to the shares, the only way for him to become richer is for the company to flourish.
I don’t really like the language being used here, stuff like ‘clearly believes’ ‘seen as incredibly bullish’ are all pretty emotive and doesn’t actually explain why these are positive growth signs for the company, they are just saying it is ‘bullish’, the average new investor isn’t even going to know what that really means. Even though GME is extremely manipulated, causing Technical Analysis to become increasingly difficult to depend on, the investment is still rooted in fundamentals of deep value.
*“Below is a shortlist of some of the potential catalysts people are speculating about:* 
-A Stock Split, or some similar move from Gamestop that recalls shares
-Gamma Squeeze
-Gamestop’s Q1 Earnings Call
-Some speculate Gary Gensler (Newly appointed head of the SEC), may make some move that sets things in motion
-DTCC rule changes taking effect
-Appointment of a new CEO”
Yeah… this feels bad man. I’ve talked about this already, but we can rapid fire down this list.
The stock split didn’t work out, since those in charge of distributing the splits did it fraudulently. Gamma Squeeze is the kind of thing that could trigger a smaller hedge fund to get margin called and cause a domino effect, but I’ve shared my theory of the OTC action. Earnings are nice, but public sentiment has always been more tied to the media manipulation than actual facts. Fucking Gary.
On the subject of bringing in new talent, I do feel like a big move will happen soon. We’ve already seen a lot of job offerings from the Corporate side of GameStop so this could be the next phase of the plan. I really think that RC has spent these last few years taking precautions to make sure the company can’t go bankrupt, the last thing he wants is to turn out like Toys-R-Us. A lot of downsizing happened, so now he can start thinking about upsizing again.
I’m not necessarily saying that these things can’t trigger the squeeze, but I am saying that depending on something to start it is just inviting disappointment. I think the ‘no dates’ rule has been sorely forgotten lately with all the hype and speculation around Roaring Kitty’s tweets and stuff. I am a zen ape, it happens when it happens.
*“First of all, it is incredibly important to note your potential biases when determining if someone is just a shill trying to spread FUD. Not all FUD is invalid, someone may bring up a solid point against an otherwise great DD, and that could scare you. Remember that just because you do not like what someone is saying, doesn’t make it invalid. It is important users here work with constructive criticism to refine their theories.”* 
Damn, wasn’t I just talking about this? This critique isn’t going to just be wagging fingers, this is really good stuff that still applies today, and from what I’ve seen apes are doing a great job of distinguishing between FUD and legitimate criticism. I also want to take a second to thank the mod team, especially after their tools were restricted, they’ve been a great help.
*“…but since then retail investors have been buying on every single dip in the price… That's more than two whole months of buying-the-dip. Now, I will not speculate on numbers here, if you want to know more you will have to read the DDs on that.”* 
This is pretty outdated now. Apes have been buying for three years now, and with the advent of Direct Registering we have a much better idea of how much apes hold. I can say with confidence now that retail owns a floats worth of shares. Since there is so much naked shorting, a lot of institutions probably own their own floats too.
I glaze those purple doughnuts, yum.

Citadel Has No Clothes, Published March 14, 2021, by u(slash)ATOBITT
Ohhhh, this one is special to me, I read it when it first came out, first time I was there on release night. Let’s see how it hodls up.
*“TL;DR - Citadel Securities has been fined 58 times for violating FINRA, REGSHO & SEC regulations. Several instances are documented as 'willful' naked shorting. In Dec 2020 they reported an increase in their short position of 127.57% YOY, and I'm calling bullsh\*t on their shenanigans.”* 
58 times. I don’t actually know how much that number has gone up, but I’m sure it has. I am reminded of an old saying, that if the punishment for a crime is a fine, then it only a crime for the poor. The crime being done to GME is class warfare, it’s nothing less.
*“$295,347,948,000 of that is split into options (calls & puts), while $78,979,887,238 (20.52%) is allocated to actual, physical, shares (or so they say). The rest is convertible debt securities.”* 
This is why I’m skeptical that it’s even possible for Citadel to get margin called by a normal price run-up. Let’s do some math here. GME’s float is at 232 million-ish shares, let’s say they shorted 300% of that, just to be conservative (lmao), so that’s 696 million. To take what the first post said, Margins don’t get called unless an entities’ collateral becomes less than 80% of what they’ve borrowed. If they use their entire $384,926,232,238 portfolio as collateral, then GME would have to soar to a price of… divide by 4, multiply by 5… $691.32 per share. That may sound relatively reasonable, but I don’t think a normal catalyst would be enough for that. I really think interest rates are the key, think about it, if they have to pay like 30% interest on all of those shares, their portfolio will be reduced by that much (kinda) and we can find a much more reasonable midpoint. Now brace yourselves, I’m about to spend an unreasonable amount of effort on something that is probably wrong because I don’t know shit about fuck about margins or getting called (I have a cash account and I lack rizz).
In order to calculate that we gotta do one of those double equation variable bullshit things we all hated in school, I forgot what they were called but I remember how to do them.
So, we have a few variables:
C = Citadel’s Portfolio = $384,926,232,238
S = Shorted Shares = 696,000,000
I = Intrest = 0.30
X = Price Per Share
Y = Citadel’s new portfolio amount after paying interest
So, X and Y are undetermined, but we have two equations to work with
C – I(X*S) = Y
This one calculates how much money is going to be in citadels new portfolio after paying interest, we calculate the interest by multiplying the cost per share, by the amount of shorted shares, and multiplying that by the interest rate, then subtracting it from their total portfolio.
Y * 1.25 = X * S
This one calculates the total amount those shorted shares have to be in order for Citadel to get margin called, by multiplying their new portfolio by 5/4 and calculating the total cost of the shares.
X * S has a direct value; we can plug the left side of the second equation into the first to get
C – I(Y*1.25) = Y
Now we just gotta isolate Y on one side of the equation.
C = Y + 0.3(Y*1.25)
C = 1.3Y * 0.375
C= 0.4875Y
C * 0.4875 = Y
Y = $187,651,538,216.03
Now we gotta find X, we can just plug in the other stuff.
(Y* 1.25)/ 696,000,000 = X
X = $337.02 per share for shitadel to get margin called on 30% interest.
Holy shit, now that’s what I call reasonable. See how much interest can completely fuck a portfolio? They lost almost half of their portfolio value to a 30% interest to this. This is why the whole market will bleed red on the run up to MOASS, they will have to sell half of their portfolio just to pay the interest.
Citadel is probably not a good example of this, since they print the naked shorts themselves... so they would be paying interest to... themselves... when they borrow them? Citadel is so fucked up, I don't have enough wrinkles for this.
But hey, I think the concept of what I said is fine. High interest rates can reduce collateral and cause margin calls. Hey, just out of curiosity, how much is the borrowing interest rate looking now?
16.5%
SHF are fucked.

Anyway, I’m writing this on a Wordpad document so I’m not sure if I’ve come up on the character limit, but I think I’m getting close so I’ll end this part here. Please let me know what I’ve got wrong or any insights you want to share, I’ll be sure to talk about any interesting comments when I do a part 2!
TLDR: I am reviewing the Diamond Handbook (2nd) and seeing what has changed in the three years since it’s been compiled. I have a bias in thinking that high borrowing interest rates are what will cause MOASS, and that is shown here. This is not meant to be an impartial analysis, just my thoughts. Not financial advice.
submitted by TheGangstaGandalf to Superstonk [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 14:09 NoraVanderbooben Copy/pasted because you gotta give them your email…

Copy/pasted because you gotta give them your email…
Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell's plan to overhaul the city's transportation network seeks to dramatically expand bus service, add miles of new sidewalks, shorten commutes and bolster safety for pedestrians and cyclists.
Why it matters: The plan, which O'Connell calls Choose How You Move, is his solution to an issue that has vexed generations of city leaders. It will require a sales tax increase that is likely to appear on the November ballot. State of play: Nashville is one of four of the 50 largest U.S. cities without dedicated funding for mass transit, which advocates say has clogged highways and hampered growth.
Because many federal grants require dedicated local funding for transportation, Nashville misses out on federal money for upgrades. But if the plan is approved, the city would be in line for over $1.4 billion in federal funding for transportation over the next 15 years, the mayor's office says. Between the lines: At a kickoff event at the Southeast Community Center in Antioch Friday, O'Connell sold the proposal as a way to ease the rising cost of living and improve quality of life for everyday Nashvillians.
O'Connell is asking residents to agree to a half-cent sales tax increase to pay for the plan. Although the initial price tag for the plan is $3.1 billion, his administration declined to immediately release a larger cost estimate that will also appear on the ballot in November. What he's saying: A recent Forbes analysis of drive times, public transit and walkability ranked Nashville as the hardest commute in the country.
To demonstrate how the plan would help, the mayor's office says a drive down perpetually congested Murfreesboro Pike would be 12 minutes shorter if the proposal is approved. "We will all benefit from Choose How You Move, whether anyone takes the bus or not," O'Connell told a crowd of supporters at Friday's event. During his announcement, O'Connell outlined specific improvements proposed under Choose How You Move.
🚶 Sidewalks: A lack of sidewalks has headlined the list of neighborhood complaints in Nashville for decades. O'Connell says his plan will address that by building 86 miles of sidewalks.
The result will be a 50% increase in the number of walkable neighborhoods. 🚦 Signals: Acknowledging that most Nashvillians don't take the bus, easing traffic congestion for everyone is a priority in Choose How You Move.
O'Connell proposes building or modernizing 592 traffic signals. The improved signals will use technology to manage traffic flow. A new traffic management center can analyze where congestion is the worst and make changes to signal patterns in real time. 🚌 Bus service: The plan would add bus rapid transit — which is super-fast bus service synched to traffic signals — on busy corridors such as Murfreesboro Pike, Nolensville Pike and Gallatin Pike. Some of the rapid buses will travel on dedicated lanes, avoiding car traffic.
O'Connell proposes to build 12 transit centers and 17 park-and-ride facilities for commuters. Choose How You Move would increase total bus service by nearly 80%, according to the mayor's office. ⚠️ Safety: Nashville has been plagued by pedestrian deaths and unsafe intersections. In response, the proposal seeks to make the necessary safety improvements at 25 intersections and 78 miles of the most dangerous stretches of Nashville streets.
By not disclosing the larger price tag that will appear on the ballot, the O'Connell administration kicked the can on the most likely source of political criticism.
What we're watching: According to an outline of the plan, the initial cost estimate is $3.1 billion. However, that figure doesn't include additional costs that will also be disclosed in the actual ballot language.
Kevin Crumbo, O'Connell's top finance adviser, says an audit of the proposed financing will be conducted and the ballot's dollar figure will be released in the coming weeks. By the numbers: Raising sales tax by half a cent comes out to 25 cents for every $50 a person spends. O'Connell's administration estimates it would cost most Nashvillians about $70 per year.
He touted the fact that 60% of Davidson County sales tax collections come from non-residents — either tourists or business people who commute to work here. The intrigue: Prior to O'Connell's speech on Friday, an immigrant rights advocate, a union leader, a transit activist, a North Nashville resident and a college educator spoke in favor of the plan, foreshadowing the political coalition he hopes will make the referendum a success.
O'Connell's transition team suggested the measure go on the ballot in an election year when turnout, especially among Democrats, is the highest. Yes, but: Just six years ago, voters demonstratively rejected a transportation improvement plan. Even so, armed with new polling, O'Connell's team begins this referendum effort with tremendous optimism.
O'Connell says his plan comes with significantly more community input and with more immediate impact on residents than the 2018 proposal. The bottom line: In a preview of his sales pitch, O'Connell said that for the cost of putting an extra quarter in the jar with each visit to Target or Kroger, residents will get "easier access to a school, park, library, grocery store, small business" and more mass transit.
"I think being able to demonstrate the clear benefit is going to make the cost palatable," he says. What's next: The state comptroller, Metro Council and Davidson County Election Commission must sign off on elements of the plan before it is officially on the ballot.
submitted by NoraVanderbooben to nashville [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 14:09 --TheSkyLord-- My Experience with Missions

I had a strange relationship with deconstruction as my dad was trained at a university level to do apologetics. He was an LDS chaplain in the Army, and every night for scripture study, we got discourses on the nuances of our faith and justifications for every question we ever had. I didn’t swear until I was 18 years old, or drink caffinated anything until about that time as well, because it was never a matter of justification. It was what my family, my tribe, my people did, to go to church on Sunday, and to be worthy. I was senior patrol leader and assistant to the bishop if that clarifies who I was. I didn’t have “God will reveal it in due time” parents. I had “Here’s the answer, here’s contemporary discussion about it. Here’s some reading material if you want to learn more” parents, except for they were wicked smart, and had biased conclusions.
I was called to serve in the Mexico City East mission. Shortly before opening my mission call, I broke up with my girlfriend at the time. i left BYU-I and went home to prepare. I received my endowments after lying to my stake president about my worthiness to enter the house of the lord. I came clean, and he threatened to not let me go out for a year because I was unclean. The prick made me talk to a therapist to be cleared for the mission field. The therapist had a brain and let me go out. When I was giving my mission farewell speech, I wrote it to include the teachings of many religions in it. I had drawn inspiration from the 13th article of faith “We believe all things, hope all things-“ and wrote a poem about how Adam and Eve related to the Resurection and Atonement of christ. My dad tells me the stake president was shifting in his seat like he wanted to pull me down from the pulpit. Prick.
The CCM was a pleasure to attend because of my district. The guys in my district there held a secret thanksgiving feast after hours when we were supposed to be in bed with food we had smuggled out of the cafeteria. We had look outs so we wouldn’t be caught by the patrolling teachers. My district was placed under surveillance because of politics against our spanish teacher who we could tell actually cared about us, and we were transferred into a classroom with one sided mirrors, and microphones hanging from the ceiling. An apostle came to speak to the entire CCM, and I thought we would get a chance to meet with him directly, or that he would be even remotely accessible in some way. He was kept away from us, separate and removed even though we had the same mission. I played a lot of volley ball, and got into shape enough that I touched the rim of a basketball hoop for the first time while I was there.
My first companion was a native speaker, and liked to spend the mornings in the cyber (Internet Cafe). He would make sure I was on LDS.org while he looked at softcore porn on instagram. We would spend hours there, and I was disappointed that this was the mission.
We went to a previous investigators house, and while there, we saw preparations for an animal sacrifice. These guys were putting alcohol, cocaine, and blowing smoke onto a white chicken, and placed in into a cardboard box with a bunch of black chickens. They showed us a room full of weapons, with blood and feathers strewn all over the floor. We noped the fuck out, and went home.
I requested an emergency transfer after spending most days in the cyber, watching my companion deface JW’s property, and being an all around dick to me by telling me how to shower and how to sleep.
For his replacement, the person that would help me with his bastion of knowledge, they gave me a white guy who spoke as much Spanish as I did because he was only a transfer further into his mission than me. They made this poor kid senior companion to me before his first transfer was over. Why? Because the kid was a workaholic.
The first thing this elder and I did when we got to our apartment was to pick up and leave to go to the house of a member who had just died. We sang at the wake. I sang in a language I didn’t know, for people I didn’t know, with a companion I didn’t know. We sounded pretty damn good. The elder began setting appointments with the non-believing family members during the service. I just sat and watched the mindless kids chase the family dog.
This elder skipped lunch every day, and made me do the same. We knocked every door in our area twice that transfer. One time, he got very sick, and was delirious out in the sun with me while we were walking. I made us go home for lunch that day, and he made me promise to wake him up after thirty minutes so we could get back to the Lord’s work. Three hours later he woke up, chewed me out for letting him sleep that long, and then begrudgingly thanked me for making him rest.
One time, while walking, this Elder expressed to me that he also had some questions, but he was afraid to share the details because he knew my own testimony was fragile. I pressed him for details of his plight, and he revealed to me the darkest part of church history that he had learned while we were in the CCM, that Joseph Smith had drank alcohol while in Carthage Jail before he died. Thoughts of Fanny Alger, of Mountain Meadows Massacre, and of my own mother’s rather recently implemented looser interpretation of the word of wisdom all flashed through my head. This guy was supposed to be my teacher? All I could do was express how sorry I was for his confusion, and told him to have faith. Heaven knew I couldn’t help him.
One night with this companion, it was storming hard, and the streets were flooded. This guy refused to let us go home. We climbed along fences to avoid getting our already wet shoes soaked, and waded through a foot of water to get to the doors that were slammed in our faces. There was a loose wire on a door bell, and when I rang it, I was shocked by the completed circuit the water made. Rejection after rejection piled up. Finally, my “senior” companion said that this was the last row of houses. On the last house of the last row, there was a family that was all deaf. The father opened the door, and was suprised to see us and didn’t know who we were. I remembered the sign for Jesus from my grandparents who started and ran the ASL endowment ceremony in the Saint George temple. The family was thrilled we knew the sign. When I asked if we could come in, the family politely waved goodbye and closed the door on our faces.
Another time when it rained, something fell into my eye. It was one of those freak nature accidents, and small enough that I couldn’t figure out how to get it out without a mirror. The thing stayed wedged in the corner of my eye for hours before we got home and I could finally get the foreign object out. Looking at it on my finger, I could see it was a small green spider. Days later, still in pain, I pulled what I can only assume was accumulated webbing from the spider that I’d crushed against my eyeball off of my lower eye lid. The pain stopped after that.
I bought a $500 camera. It was stolen within a month.
This Elder and I had the good luck before transfers to baptize two children. They would have been baptized anyways, so I didn’t do any actual converting, but I taught a few lessons, got in the water and did the dunk. Bucket list item, check.
I didn’t have enough time for laundry on P-Day, so I’d wash my outfit and dry in on the radiator through the night. Transfers happen, and my new companion lied to our land lords about the electricity bill, paying it in full but not giving a reason as to why it was so high. I didn’t care anymore, I just needed something clean to wear, but these land lord had treated me and my previous companion well, better than the previous landlord who had stolen our cleaning supplies. I felt these people deserved honesty. My senior companion capitulated eventually, and he and I butted heads regularly after that on the morality of things. I think in hindsight he was a smarter and better man than I was.
The new land lords, the “Lagunez Family”, were wonderful. They included us in their activities, and I felt like I had some people in my corner. When I eventually came home from my mission, a daughter of the family had written me a goodbye letter. She is currently serving a mission. They made some great music, and I have “Infiltradors” on CD, the official name of the band the father of the family was a part of (he was the drummer).
I knew the whole area by heart by that point, so I navigated us to our appointments. Half of the landmarks I watched for to know our location were interesting buildings with unique colors. The other half of my landmarks were dead dogs whose decaying corpses had become second nature to see. I began marking how much time had passed by how deeply a certain dog on a certain dirt path’s chest was caved in.
There was an apartment complex in my area that I had been told not to proselytize in because “It’s dangerous.” Turns out, those people didn’t have any money, so the church didn’t want them. That complex was past the dog and to the east about ten blocks.
My companion and I knocked on a door, and visited a man who was missing his legs. His daughter was there, putting dirty water on the aching wounds. He had a single room for a house, and wheezed when he spoke. He couldn’t afford medication. He still went out and worked all day for his daughter, and gave her whatever money he made, trusting her to keep him alive somehow. The church expected this man to pay tithing. The church expected me to tell this man to pay tithing.
I got the chance to hike up a mountain. At the top, I played chess with a chess set I’d procured from one of the best rapid chess players I’ve ever met. He had been the ward mission leader. He was a good man, a good father, and I wish him the best.
I found another man who was deaf and spoke sign language. I sat with him, and convinced him to come to church all by myself while my companion talked with some tienda tender. I was so excited because this was my own personal project and it was going well. The man came to church, and I sat with him through sacrament meeting. In Sunday school (I can’t believe I did this), I accidentally drooled on the guy. I was just talking so he could read my lips, and I guess I forgot to swallow at some point because a dolup of spit landed on his arm. I apologized profusely, and he played it off, but I never saw that investigator again.
My companion and I knocked a door one day, and a man answered. He wore tattered clothes, and maggots were burrowing into and out of his feet. He muttered something about the stars, missing his wife, and he began to tear up. My eyes stung from the stench. The door closed. Somehow, I knew the man would be dead in a matter of weeks.
I had lost hope that I was doing anything worth while. I looked down on the Doc Martins that had stayed with me five months at this point. I was angry with myself for being so useless in the field, angry with the church for giving me leaders that didn’t listen to my needs or perspective, angry with my mom for drinking while I had to teach people that it was a sin, angry with my dad for giving me the skills and knowledge to justify anything, even pedophilia in the early days of the church, to the point where I could look someone in the eye, and knowing the kind of man Smith was, tell them he was a good man and a true prophet of God. Suddenly a man approached us. He said he recognized us as missionaries, and asked about our message. This never happened. People didn’t just come up to us unless they were crazy or dangerous. But this was a public place, and this guy was genuine. My companion talked to him, and gathered his story, but I was plotting something else. I was done with not caring about these people in a way that mattered. I was tired of walking in another man’s shoes, a man who wasn’t me, who believed different things than me. The chopped leg, the rotting dogs, the infested feet, it all swirled into a single thought in that moment.
What would Jesus do?
I walked over to the man, and in broken Spanish asked him to stand next to me. He did so, and I compared my shoe size to his foot. It was a perfect match. He protested, but I didn’t let him get a word in edge wise. I took off my shoes, put them on his dirty feet, and laced them up nice and tight. Those shoes had cost a ton, and had been meant to last the whole mission. All I had left at this point were my fancy dress shoes that gave my blisters back at the apartment. I didn’t care. I walked home in my socks that day, happy as a lark.
Covid-19 hit a month later. I was one of the few they brought home instead of quarantining. After having served only 6 months. I told God if he wanted me to stay home, he’d have to make them release me.
They released me. I think I was one of maybe a hundred missionaries that were released due to Covid. The church realized their mistake pretty soon after I was released. Once Covid infrastructure began to develop, they didn’t release any more. I guess I didn’t serve a full two years, but I did serve a full mission.
My brother served, and he nearly killed himself due to intense depression brought on by Covid quarantine and poor leadership (I’ve got a few mission president stories, but those are for another time).
I learned lying to someone’s face from my mission, and spent the rest of my time at BYU-I as “nuanced” until the last two years, over which the most epic hoe phase imaginable became my new mission. I spent those years terrified of getting a call from the honor code office.
I’m married now, with my degree irrevocably in my possession. I have friends and loved ones that are in the church and are working on their mission papers. I’m beginning to feel powerless again. I’m seeing the decay again, not on legs, feet, or dogs anymore, but in the souls of the people who the church raises to do their dirty volunteer work. I see them like the animal sacrifices I saw being prepared. I’m not sure what shoes I have left to give to those people that I know are going to be in pain.
My parents are out completely now. It was a long time coming, but they are out and so much happier. I’m working on building a new relationship with my family, one based off of the fact that we won’t be together forever, so we have to make the most of our time together now.
Happy Sunday guys, best of luck to you all. And most importantly, chupa la piña.
submitted by --TheSkyLord-- to exmormon [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 13:26 Sweet-Count2557 12 Outdoor Ice Skating Rinks Across Connecticut for Winter Family Fun

12 Outdoor Ice Skating Rinks Across Connecticut for Winter Family Fun
12 Outdoor Ice Skating Rinks Across Connecticut for Winter Family Fun Are you ready to slide into winter with some chilly family fun? Connecticut has got you covered with not one, not two, but twelve outdoor ice skating rinks just waiting to be explored.From the picturesque town of Stamford to the vibrant city of Hartford, there's a perfect spot for everyone to lace up their skates and glide across the ice.So, grab your mittens and join us as we take a journey through the frozen wonderland of Connecticut's outdoor ice skating rinks.Key TakeawaysThere are outdoor ice skating rinks available in various cities across Connecticut, including Stamford, Westport, Darien, Redding, Fairfield, New Haven, and Hartford.Each rink has its own unique features and offerings, such as the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Ice Skating Center in Stamford, which spans over 9,000 feet of ice and is open most days through February.Some rinks have specific opening dates, such as the Westport PAL Rink in Westport, which is scheduled to open on November 25, 2022, weather permitting.Certain rinks, like Gorhams Pond in Darien, offer picturesque winter scenes and invite families for ice skating. Skating seasons may start earlier in locations with colder weather.Stamford Ice Skating CenterLocated in Stamford, the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Ice Skating Center offers an expansive 9,000 feet of ice for an exhilarating outdoor skating experience. Our center is the perfect place for ice skating enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels. Whether you're a beginner looking to learn the basics or an experienced skater looking to improve your skills, we've a variety of ice skating lessons and programs to suit your needs. Our highly trained instructors are dedicated to providing a safe and supportive environment for learning and growth.At the Stamford Ice Skating Center, we also offer a range of special events and activities to enhance your skating experience. From themed skate nights to holiday celebrations, there's always something exciting happening on the ice. Bring your friends and family for a fun-filled day of skating and enjoy our festive atmosphere.In addition to our regular ice skating sessions, we host a variety of special events throughout the season. Whether it's a figure skating competition, a hockey tournament, or a charity fundraiser, there's always something happening at the Stamford Ice Skating Center. Join us for thrilling performances and support the local skating community.Westport PAL RinkAfter enjoying the exciting skating experience at the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Ice Skating Center in Stamford, it's time to venture to the Westport PAL Rink for more open-air skating near the picturesque Long Island Sound. Westport PAL Rink offers a variety of activities and events for skaters of all ages and skill levels.One of the highlights of the Westport PAL Rink is its skating schedule and events. The rink is open for public skating sessions throughout the week, providing ample opportunity for families and friends to enjoy the ice together. Additionally, the rink hosts special events such as theme nights, live music, and even ice shows. These events add an extra element of excitement and entertainment to the skating experience, making each visit to the rink a memorable one.For beginners or those looking to improve their skating skills, Westport PAL Rink also offers skating lessons. These lessons are taught by experienced instructors who are dedicated to helping skaters develop their abilities and confidence on the ice. Whether you're a complete novice or just looking to refine your technique, the skating lessons at Westport PAL Rink are designed to cater to your individual needs and goals.With its beautiful location near the Long Island Sound, the Westport PAL Rink provides a unique and invigorating outdoor skating experience. Skaters can enjoy the crisp winter air and scenic views as they glide across the ice. The rink's open-air setting adds a sense of freedom and liberation to the skating experience, allowing skaters to fully embrace the joy of gliding on the ice.Gorhams Pond in DarienGorhams Pond in Darien offers a picturesque winter scene for families and individuals to enjoy the exhilarating activity of ice skating. Here are three reasons why Gorhams Pond in Darien is the perfect destination for family-friendly ice skating activities and winter scenery:Timing of the Ice Skating Season: Gorhams Pond in Darien starts its ice skating season earlier than other rinks due to the colder weather in the area. This means that you can hit the ice sooner and make the most of the winter season. Imagine gliding across the frozen pond, surrounded by the beauty of nature, with the crisp winter air filling your lungs. It's a truly liberating experience.Family-Friendly Activities: Gorhams Pond in Darien isn't just about ice skating. It offers a range of family-friendly activities to keep everyone entertained. From ice hockey games to figure skating lessons, there's something for everyone. You can spend quality time with your loved ones, creating memories that will last a lifetime. And with the stunning winter scenery as your backdrop, every moment spent at Gorhams Pond will feel like a winter wonderland.Winter Scenery: One of the highlights of Gorhams Pond in Darien is its picturesque winter scenes. The pond is surrounded by tall trees, their branches covered in a blanket of snow. The glistening ice reflects the sunlight, creating a magical atmosphere. Whether you're a seasoned skater or a beginner, you'll be captivated by the serene beauty of the surroundings. It's a place where you can escape the hustle and bustle of daily life and immerse yourself in the freedom of the winter season.Redding Community CenterTucked away in a quiet corner of Redding, the Redding Community Center offers a convenient and inviting location for ice skating enthusiasts of all ages. This hidden gem provides a safe and enjoyable experience for families looking to have some winter fun on the ice.The Redding Community Center boasts a flexible skating schedule that caters to various preferences and schedules. From dawn to dusk, the ice rink is open every day, allowing visitors to choose a time that works best for them.One of the standout features of the Redding Community Center is its designated evening skate times. These evening sessions create a magical atmosphere, with twinkling lights illuminating the ice and creating a cozy ambiance. Skating under the night sky adds an extra touch of enchantment to the experience.In addition to its convenient schedule, the Redding Community Center offers a range of amenities to enhance the skating experience. Visitors can take advantage of the on-site skate rentals, ensuring that everyone has access to the necessary equipment. The center also provides a warming hut where skaters can take a break and warm up before heading back onto the ice.The Redding Community Center isn't just a place for skating; it's a hub of family-friendly activities. Alongside the ice rink, there are often other winter activities available, such as sledding or snowball fights. Families can make a whole day out of their visit, enjoying the various winter activities and creating cherished memories.Whether you're a seasoned skater or just starting out, the Redding Community Center is the perfect place to lace up your skates and enjoy some quality time on the ice. Its convenient schedule, amenities, and family-friendly atmosphere make it a must-visit destination for winter fun. So gather your loved ones, embrace the freedom of the ice, and make unforgettable memories at the Redding Community Center.Gould Manor Park in FairfieldNestled within the picturesque town of Fairfield, Gould Manor Park offers a delightful outdoor ice skating experience for families and skating enthusiasts alike. As you step onto the glistening ice, you can't help but feel a sense of freedom and excitement.Here are three things to know about Gould Manor Park in Fairfield:Best times to visit for a less crowded experience: If you prefer a quieter skating session, it's best to visit Gould Manor Park in the early morning or on weekdays. The park tends to be less crowded during these times, allowing you to glide across the ice with ease and enjoy the peaceful surroundings. Embrace the freedom of having the rink to yourself or with just a few fellow skaters.Tips for beginners to enjoy ice skating at the park: If you're new to ice skating, Gould Manor Park is the perfect place to learn and improve your skills. Remember to dress warmly and wear comfortable, supportive shoes. It's also a good idea to bring a helmet for added safety. Take your time and start by practicing your balance and basic strides along the edges of the rink. Don't be afraid to ask for help or take a lesson if you're feeling unsure. With a little practice and determination, you'll soon be gliding confidently across the ice.Embrace the freedom of the open space: Gould Manor Park offers a spacious outdoor rink that allows you to fully embrace the freedom and joy of ice skating. Take in the crisp winter air as you skate under the clear blue sky. Feel the wind on your face as you glide effortlessly across the ice. Whether you're twirling, spinning, or simply taking leisurely laps around the rink, Gould Manor Park provides the perfect backdrop for an unforgettable ice skating experience.Owen Fish Park in FairfieldHave you ever wondered where to find a charming outdoor ice skating rink in Fairfield, Connecticut? Look no further than Owen Fish Park, a hidden gem nestled within the town. This picturesque park offers a tree-lined pond that is perfect for ice skating activities and immersing yourself in the beautiful winter scenery.At Owen Fish Park, you can lace up your skates and glide across the smooth ice, surrounded by towering trees and a peaceful atmosphere. The park provides a serene setting for families and friends to enjoy the timeless activity of ice skating. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced skater, Owen Fish Park offers a welcoming space for everyone to embrace the joy of gliding on ice.To give you a better idea of what to expect at Owen Fish Park, here's a table that highlights some key features:Owen Fish Park in FairfieldLocationFairfield, ConnecticutSkating ActivitiesIce Skating, Ice Hockey, Skating PracticeWinter SceneryTree-lined Pond, Serene AtmosphereAmenitiesBenches, Restrooms, ParkingOpening HoursDawn to DuskAs you can see, Owen Fish Park provides more than just a place to skate. It offers a tranquil escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, allowing you to reconnect with nature and enjoy the simple pleasures of winter. So grab your skates, bundle up in warm attire, and head over to Owen Fish Park for a memorable ice skating experience.Remember to always check the park's opening hours and any safety guidelines before your visit. Enjoy the freedom of gliding on ice and creating lasting memories in the enchanting winter wonderland of Owen Fish Park.Osbornedale State Park in DerbyLooking for a stunning outdoor ice skating destination in Derby, Connecticut? Look no further than Osbornedale State Park, where you can experience the thrill of gliding across the ice in a picturesque setting.Here are three reasons why Osbornedale State Park is the perfect place for your next ice skating adventure:Safety First: When enjoying outdoor ice skating, it's important to prioritize safety. Remember to wear proper attire, including warm clothing, gloves, and a helmet. Check the ice thickness before stepping onto it, and always skate in designated areas to avoid any potential hazards. By following these outdoor ice skating safety tips, you can ensure a fun and worry-free experience at Osbornedale State Park.Best Times to Visit: To make the most of your visit to Osbornedale State Park, it's helpful to know the best times to go. The park is open from sunrise to sunset, but for optimal ice skating conditions, it's recommended to go during colder months when the ice is more likely to be frozen solid. Additionally, weekdays tend to be less crowded, providing more freedom and space to enjoy the ice.An Enchanting Winter Wonderland: Osbornedale State Park offers a magical winter backdrop for your ice skating escapades. The park's designated ice skating area is surrounded by beautiful natural scenery, including towering trees and snow-covered landscapes. As you glide across the ice, you'll feel a sense of freedom and exhilaration, surrounded by the beauty of nature.Wrights Pond in OrangeWrights Pond in Orange offers a delightful winter experience, with its serene setting and abundant wildlife. As you glide across the ice, you'll be surrounded by the beauty of nature, with snow-covered trees and the sounds of birds chirping in the distance. This hidden gem is the perfect place to escape the hustle and bustle of daily life and immerse yourself in the tranquility of winter.One of the highlights of Wrights Pond is the opportunity to observe winter wildlife in their natural habitat. As you skate, keep an eye out for graceful swans gliding across the frozen surface and playful squirrels darting through the snow. The pond is teeming with life, providing a unique and enchanting experience for visitors of all ages.To ensure your safety, the city Parks and Recreation Department closely monitors the ice conditions at Wrights Pond. They regularly check the thickness of the ice and provide updates to the public. It's important to always follow their guidance and heed any warnings or restrictions they may have in place. By doing so, you can enjoy a worry-free skating experience and focus on the joy of being outdoors.To further emphasize the importance of ice safety, here's a table highlighting some key tips:Ice Safety TipsCheck ice thicknessAvoid skating aloneWear appropriate gearStay away from cracksObserve posted warningsTrust your instinctsThe Bushnell in HartfordNestled in the heart of Hartford, The Bushnell provides a winter wonderland for ice skating enthusiasts of all ages. The Bushnell, known for its stunning architecture and rich history, transforms into a magical ice skating rink during the winter months.Here are three reasons why The Bushnell is a must-visit destination for winter fun:Winterfest activities: The Bushnell hosts a variety of Winterfest activities that are sure to delight visitors. From ice sculpting demonstrations to live music performances, there's always something exciting happening at The Bushnell. Families can enjoy the festive atmosphere while gliding across the ice and creating lasting memories.Free skating lessons: For those who are new to ice skating or want to improve their skills, The Bushnell offers free skating lessons. Experienced instructors are available to teach beginners the basics of skating or help more advanced skaters refine their techniques. Whether you're a novice or an expert, The Bushnell has something to offer everyone.The perfect setting: The Bushnell's picturesque location, surrounded by the beauty of downtown Hartford, provides a stunning backdrop for a day of ice skating. Skaters can enjoy panoramic views of the city skyline as they glide across the ice. The Bushnell's outdoor rink is the perfect place to embrace the freedom of winter and experience the joy of skating.Simsbury Farms in SimsburyAfter experiencing the enchanting winter wonderland at The Bushnell, it's time to explore another captivating outdoor ice skating destination in Connecticut - Simsbury Farms in Simsbury.Simsbury Farms is a hidden gem nestled in the charming town of Simsbury, offering a range of exciting winter activities for the whole family to enjoy.One of the highlights of Simsbury Farms is its covered ice skating rink, which provides a sheltered and cozy environment for skaters of all ages and skill levels. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out, the rink at Simsbury Farms has something for everyone. And if you're new to ice skating, don't worry - they offer skating lessons taught by experienced instructors who'll guide you every step of the way.Aside from ice skating, Simsbury Farms also offers other winter activities to keep the whole family entertained. You can take a leisurely stroll on the nearby walking trails, surrounded by picturesque winter scenery. Or, if you're feeling adventurous, you can try your hand at cross-country skiing on the groomed trails. And for those who prefer a more relaxed pace, there are designated areas for sledding and snowshoeing.Winter at Simsbury Farms is truly a magical experience. The crisp air, the sound of blades gliding on ice, and the laughter of families enjoying the outdoors create an atmosphere of freedom and joy. So, gather your loved ones and head over to Simsbury Farms for a day of winter fun. Whether you're a seasoned skater or just starting out, Simsbury Farms has something for everyone.Winding Trails in FarmingtonWinding Trails in Farmington offers a charming and picturesque outdoor ice skating experience for visitors of all ages. As you glide across the smooth ice, surrounded by snow-covered landscapes, you'll feel a sense of freedom and joy.Here are three reasons why Winding Trails is a must-visit destination for winter activities:Tranquil Setting: Winding Trails is nestled in the heart of Farmington, surrounded by snow-encrusted pines and breathtaking natural beauty. The peaceful atmosphere creates the perfect backdrop for a serene ice skating experience. As you skate hand-in-hand with loved ones or gracefully twirl on your own, you'll feel a sense of tranquility and escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.Family-Friendly Environment: Winding Trails welcomes visitors of all ages, making it an ideal destination for a fun-filled family outing. Whether you're a seasoned skater or a beginner, there's something for everyone to enjoy. Parents can watch their little ones take their first wobbly steps on the ice, while older siblings can challenge each other to friendly races. The laughter and smiles of families enjoying the winter wonderland will warm your heart.Old-Fashioned Charm: Winding Trails offers an authentic and nostalgic ice skating experience. The rink is reminiscent of a bygone era, where outdoor skating was a cherished winter pastime. As you glide across the ice, the crisp winter air filling your lungs, you'll feel connected to a simpler time. The sound of skates gliding and laughter echoing off the surrounding trees creates a magical ambiance that will transport you to a world of pure joy and freedom.Make sure to carve out some time this winter to visit Winding Trails in Farmington. With its tranquil setting, family-friendly environment, and old-fashioned charm, it's the perfect place to create lasting memories and embrace the beauty of the winter season.Eastbury Pond in GlastonburyWith its expansive frozen surface and thrilling skating adventure, Eastbury Pond in Glastonbury is a winter wonderland for ice skating enthusiasts of all ages. As you glide across the glistening ice, you can feel a sense of freedom and exhilaration, surrounded by the beauty of nature.To give you a glimpse of what awaits you at Eastbury Pond, let me paint a picture with words. Imagine stepping onto the ice, your blades cutting through the smooth surface with ease. The crisp winter air fills your lungs as you pick up speed, the wind rushing past your face. The pond stretches out before you, inviting you to explore its frozen expanse. And as you twirl and spin, you can't help but feel a sense of joy and liberation.But while Eastbury Pond offers thrilling winter adventures, it's important to prioritize ice safety precautions. Before heading out onto the ice, make sure to check its thickness. A minimum of four inches is generally considered safe for skating. It's also essential to wear appropriate gear, including a helmet, knee pads, and warm clothing. And remember, never skate alone. Bring a friend or family member along for added safety and enjoyment.Now, let's take a look at a table that showcases the key features of Eastbury Pond:FeatureDescriptionExpansive SurfaceThe pond offers a large area for skating, allowing for freedom of movement.Natural BeautySurrounded by picturesque landscapes, Eastbury Pond provides a visually stunning backdrop.Family-FriendlyThe pond is suitable for ice skaters of all ages and welcomes families for a fun-filled experience.With its thrilling skating adventure and emphasis on safety, Eastbury Pond in Glastonbury is the perfect destination for a winter escapade. So grab your skates, bundle up, and get ready to embark on a memorable ice skating journey.Frequently Asked QuestionsAre There Any Age Restrictions for Ice Skating at the Stamford Ice Skating Center?There are no age restrictions for ice skating at the Stamford Ice Skating Center. It's a great place for the whole family to enjoy some winter fun on the ice.The center follows strict ice skating rules and safety measures to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone.As for the best time to visit the outdoor ice skating rinks in Connecticut, it's typically during the colder months when the ice is at its best.Is There a Fee for Ice Skating at the Westport PAL Rink?Yes, there's a fee for ice skating at the Westport PAL rink. The rink offers open skate time near Long Island Sound and is mostly dedicated to recreational skating.As for the age restrictions at the Stamford Ice Skating Center, there are no specific restrictions mentioned.Visitors are allowed to bring their own ice skates to Gorhams Pond in Darien, and skate rental services are available at the Redding Community Center.It's worth noting that there's no information about a limit on the number of people allowed on the ice at Gould Manor Park in Fairfield.Can Visitors Bring Their Own Ice Skates to Gorhams Pond in Darien?Yes, visitors are allowed to bring their own ice skates to Gorhams Pond in Darien. It's a picturesque winter destination that invites families for a delightful ice skating experience.However, it's important to remember to take safety precautions while enjoying the ice. At the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Ice Skating Center in Stamford, safety measures are in place to ensure a secure skating environment.Are There Any Skate Rental Services Available at the Redding Community Center?Yes, there are skate rental services available at the Redding Community Center. They understand the importance of providing convenience to visitors and offer skate rentals for those who don't have their own skates.Additionally, many other outdoor ice skating rinks across Connecticut also offer skate rentals. It's a great option for families who want to enjoy the winter fun without the hassle of bringing their own equipment.Is There a Limit on the Number of People Allowed on the Ice at Gould Manor Park in Fairfield?There is no limit on the number of people allowed on the ice at Gould Manor Park in Fairfield. It's a charming spot with a Currier & Ives scene of children skating.As for the Stamford Ice Skating Center, there are no age restrictions for ice skating. It spans over 9,000 feet of ice and is open most days through February.Both locations offer a wonderful opportunity for families to enjoy outdoor ice skating in Connecticut.ConclusionSo lace up your skates and let the ice be your canvas as you glide across the frozen landscapes of Connecticut.Whether you choose the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Ice Skating Center in Stamford or the Westport PAL Rink near Long Island Sound, there's no shortage of outdoor ice skating rinks for winter family fun.So grab your loved ones and embark on a winter adventure that will leave you with memories as sparkling as the ice itself.
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2024.05.19 12:20 erepresent Defending Against Digital Dangers: The Power of Comprehensive URL Scans

In the digital age, the security of our online interactions is paramount. As we navigate various websites and click through numerous links daily, the threat of malicious URLs looms large. These harmful links can lead to a range of security breaches, from malware infections to data theft. This makes the vigilance in identifying and avoiding suspicious URLs essential. One effective method to enhance our digital safety is through comprehensive URL scans, a process which assesses the security of websites before we interact with them. By employing such preventive measures, users can significantly mitigate the risks posed by deceptive web content.
The term "URL phishing scan" refers to the specific process of checking URLs for characteristics typical of phishing attacks. Phishing is a method used by cybercriminals to trick individuals into providing sensitive information by masquerading as a trustworthy entity. URL scans are particularly effective in identifying such deceitful tactics, as they analyze the web address and the associated page’s content for any signs of duplicity. Regularly conducting these scans can prevent users from entering personal details into sites designed to mimic legitimate ones, thereby protecting their private information and maintaining their online security.
However, the effectiveness of URL scans is not solely reliant on the technology itself, but also on the users' awareness and proactive behavior. Educating internet users about the importance of scrutinizing links before clicking on them is crucial. Awareness campaigns and educational programs can help in cultivating a culture of security. Individuals should be encouraged to verify the authenticity of URLs and to use internet security tools that offer real-time scanning capabilities. By combining technological solutions with informed user practices, the digital community can create a safer browsing environment.
The digital landscape requires robust defenses to counteract the sophisticated tactics employed by cybercriminals. Comprehensive URL scans are a powerful tool in this ongoing battle. By integrating these scans with regular security practices and user education, the internet can remain a space of opportunity and safe exploration for everyone. Encouraging a broader adoption of these proactive measures can significantly reduce the prevalence of online threats and foster a culture of vigilance and resilience against digital dangers.
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2024.05.19 12:14 funlol3 How I Keep My Car Insurance Rates as Low as Possible

What's up Panda's?
As someone who's always looking to save a buck wherever possible, I've spent quite a bit of time figuring out how to keep my car insurance rates low. I thought I’d share my strategies with you all, so here's everything I do to make sure I’m not overpaying for car insurance:
  1. Shop Around Annually: Insurance rates vary widely between companies. Each year, I take some time to compare rates from different insurers to ensure I'm getting the best deal. It's surprising how much you can save by just shopping around!
  2. Bundle Policies: I've bundled my car insurance with my homeowner’s insurance. Most insurers offer a significant discount for multiple policies. It simplifies my payments too!
  3. Maintain a Good Credit Score: Many people don't realize that your credit score can affect your insurance rates. I keep my credit score high by paying bills on time and keeping my credit utilization low.
  4. Drive Safely: This one might be obvious, but avoiding accidents and traffic violations keeps my insurance rates down. Insurers often offer discounts for good drivers, so it pays to drive cautiously.
  5. Use a Higher Deductible: Opting for a higher deductible can significantly lower your premiums. I make sure I have enough saved to cover the deductible in case of an accident.
  6. Take Advantage of Discounts: I always ask about discounts. Many companies offer reductions for things like anti-theft devices, being a good student, or even for driving a low number of miles each year.
  7. Drive a Less Expensive Car: High-end cars are more expensive to insure. I stick to models that are cheaper to repair and aren’t targeted as often by thieves.
  8. Review My Coverage: I regularly review my coverage to make sure it's not more than I need. For example, older cars might not need comprehensive coverage if they're not worth much.
  9. Attend Defensive Driving Courses: Some insurers offer a discount if you complete an approved defensive driving course. Plus, it’s a great way to brush up on safe driving techniques.
  10. Stay Informed: I keep myself updated on any changes in the insurance industry that might affect my rates, such as new laws or changes in technology.
By following these steps, I’ve managed to keep my car insurance rates reasonably low without compromising on coverage. Hope this helps you too!
What are your tips for keeping car insurance costs down? Let’s share and help each other out!
submitted by funlol3 to InsurancePanda [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 12:11 ConsequenceSure3063 Best Carhartt Work Boots Mens

Best Carhartt Work Boots Mens

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Welcome to our roundup of the best Carhartt Work Boots Mens for the hardworking and dedicated individual. From rugged terrain to long work hours, our selection of Carhartt Work Boots Mens caters to all your needs. Get ready to experience the ultimate combination of durability, comfort, and style that Carhartt Work Boots Mens has to offer.

The Top 19 Best Carhartt Work Boots Mens

  1. Carhartt Ground Force Waterproof Work Boots: Comfort, Protection, and Style - Carhartt Ground Force work boots for men provide superior comfort and protection with composite safety toe, FastDry technology, maximum arch support, and a waterproof design to stand up to tough jobs.
  2. Stylish Carhartt Work Boots with Wheat-tanned Leather and Rubber Outsoles - Experience ultimate comfort and durability with the Carhartt 6" Moc Soft Toe Wedge Boot, featuring a cushioned insole, fast-dry lining, and a slip-resistant outsole, making it the ultimate work-to-weekend companion for men.
  3. Carhartt Men's 6-inch Waterproof Moc Toe Wedge Work Boots Black 10.5M - Carhartt's 6-inch waterproof moc toe wedge work boots are the ultimate choice for men seeking comfortable, durable, and long-lasting workwear, featuring Storm Defender technology, moisture-wicking FastDry linings, and Goodyear welt construction.
  4. High-Performance Carhartt Waterproof Work Boot for Men - Experience ultimate comfort and traction with Carhartt Men's 6" Waterproof Soft Toe Hiker Boots, featuring Vibram Arctic Grip outsole and Insite technology footbed for maximum arch support on rugged terrains.
  5. Carhartt Men's Brown Waterproof Work Boot with Steel Toe Protection - The Carhartt Men's 6" Brown Waterproof Work Boot is a reliable, durable option for any job, offering breathable Storm Defender technology, fast-wicking FastDry lining, and ASTM F2892-18 EH-rated protection against electrical hazards.
  6. Carhartt Work Boot - Rugged Design, Durable Protection, ASTM Certified - Experience durability, comfort, and protection with the Carhartt Men's Rugged Flex 6-Inch Steel Toe Work Boot, featuring FastDry Technology lining, Composite toe, and a rugged rubber outsole.
  7. Carhartt Men's 6-inch Work Boots: Oil-tanned Leather and Rubber Outsole - Carhartt's 6-inch brown leather work boots: rugged, durable, and stylish - perfect for your next project.
  8. Carhartt Force Sneaker Boot: Lightweight, Comfortable, and Abrasion Resistant Men's Boot - Experience ultimate comfort and safety with the Carhartt Force 5" Lightweight Sneaker Boot - the perfect work companion that combines style and superior functionality.
  9. Carhartt Men's Work Boot: Rugged, Waterproof, and Protective - Carhartt's Rugged Flex Waterproof Steel Toe Work Boot, offering unbeatable durability and protection for men in any tough work environment.
  10. Carhartt Ground Force Waterproof Work Boot for Maximum Comfort - Experience ultimate comfort and durability with the Carhartt Ground Force Men's Waterproof Composite Toe Work Boot, featuring lightweight, non-metallic safety toe caps, oiled leather upper, and insulate Technology for all-day support.
  11. Carhartt Men's Oil Tanned Welt Work Boots: Durable, Comfortable, and Versatile - Carhartt Men's 10in Pull-on Work Nano Toe Boot: Oil Tanned Leather, High Abrasion PU Coating, and FastDry Technology for Comfort and Durability
  12. Comfortable Work Boots for All-Day Comfort - Experience ultimate comfort and durability with the Carhartt Force Romeo Nano boot, featuring advanced technology for maximum protection and support, even in harsh work environments.
  13. Carhartt Met Guard Work Boot: Durable, Comfortable Protection for Men - Experience ultimate protection and superior comfort with Carhartt 6inch Internal Met Guard Composite Toe Work Boots - the perfect choice for any challenging work environment.
  14. Carhartt Men's Waterproof Work Boots with Insulated Comfort - Experience top-quality protection and unmatched comfort in challenging environments with Carhartt Men's Ground Force Waterproof Work Boots.
  15. Insulated Work Boot by Carhartt: Rugged Comfort and Protection - Stay warm and comfortable in the harsh work environment with the Carhartt Men's Rugged Flex 8-Inch Insulated Composite Toe Work Boot, offering exceptional quality and craftsmanship.
  16. Men's Carhartt Rugged Flex Work Boots - Full Grain Leather, Cushioning, and Slip-Resistant - Experience the ultimate combination of work safety, durability, and ultra-cushioned comfort with the Men's Carhartt Rugged Flex 6" Soft Toe Work Boots.
  17. Carhartt Work Boots: Rugged Flex Waterproof with Breathable Protection - Unmatched durability and comfort, the Carhartt 6" Rugged Flex WP Work Boot offers a breathable waterproof design and unbeatable traction, making it the ultimate choice for demanding work environments.
  18. Carhartt 6" Moc Toe Work Boot for Men - Enhanced Comfort and Durability - Durable Carhartt work boot for men, offering fast sweat wicking, cushioned insole for support and all-day comfort, and meeting safety standards for electrical circuits.
  19. Carhartt Men's Work Boot: Waterproof, Comfortable, and Slip-Resistant - Carhartt's men's 11.5" Brown Wellington offers exceptional durability, waterproof protection, and added comfort in a versatile, oil and chemical-resistant work boot.
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Reviews

🔗Carhartt Ground Force Waterproof Work Boots: Comfort, Protection, and Style


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I had the chance to try out the Carhartt 6" Ground Force Composite Toe Waterproof Boots in Men's Brown, and I must say, they have been quite an experience. These boots are designed for those working in tough environments, and they definitely live up to that expectation.
The first thing I noticed was how comfortable the Insite technology footbed is. I was able to wear these boots for long hours without any foot fatigue. It was great to be able to focus on my job without being bothered by my feet.
However, there were a couple of drawbacks that I couldn't quite shake off. The boots felt a bit heavy, and the ankle support could be more effective. Additionally, some reviewers mentioned they had problems with the boots not being waterproof, which is a major concern for those working in wet conditions.
Despite the cons, I must say that the Ground Force boots are a game-changer for those looking for comfort and durability in their work boots. They are well-designed, and the features like the FastDry lining and EVA midsole really make a difference.
Overall, the Carhartt Ground Force Composite Toe Waterproof Boots are a solid choice for anyone looking for a reliable, comfortable work boot. Just be prepared for a bit of adjustment time as you get used to the fit and feel of these boots.

🔗Stylish Carhartt Work Boots with Wheat-tanned Leather and Rubber Outsoles


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When I wore the Carhartt Wedge Boots for the first time, I immediately noticed the soft, unlined casual upper that felt comfortable from the start. The stylish wheat oil-tanned leather uppers were perfect for both work and casual settings.
However, the lack of arch support made my heels feel like they were on fire by the end of the day. Despite the cushioned foam footbed and good-looking design, the footbed didn't offer the best fit for my wide feet. Overall, the slip-resistant Goodyear welt construction and wicking lining made it a suitable choice for construction and landscaping situations, but the comfort level left something to be desired.

🔗Carhartt Men's 6-inch Waterproof Moc Toe Wedge Work Boots Black 10.5M


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I've been wearing these Carhartt work boots for about a month now, and I must say, they've really made an impact on my daily work routine. The leather is top-notch, and I appreciate the Storm Defender membrane that keeps my feet nice and dry even on those damp workdays.
One of the features that stood out to me is the dual-density rubber sole - it's incredibly comfortable, and I find myself walking more confidently on uneven surfaces. The Goodyear welt construction is another highlight, ensuring that these boots will last for a long time, even with the occasional accidental bump.
That being said, there were a couple of downsides to these work boots. The break-in period was a bit longer than expected, but once they fit comfortably, it was all worth it. Another minor issue was the size - I usually wear a 10, but I found that these boots ran a bit big, so I had to go for a smaller size.
Overall, I'm quite pleased with my Carhartt work boots. They're a durable and comfortable choice for long hours on the job, and I feel more confident wearing them on the construction site. I hope more people can experience the benefits of these boots, just like I have.

🔗High-Performance Carhartt Waterproof Work Boot for Men


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I recently got these Carhartt Waterproof Soft Toe Hiker Boots, also known as the FP5070-M ones, and they've been a game-changer in my outdoor activities. One of the features that stood out to me was the Vibram Arctic Grip outsole for superior traction in wet and on ice. As someone who spends a lot of time in slippery environments, this came in handy on a recent hike where I had to cross a narrow bridge over a fast-moving river.
The olive nubuck leather and high abrasion resistant 1260D material was also impressive. I couldn't help but notice how resistant these boots have been to scratches and wear, especially after a particularly rough day at work. The waterproof and breathable membrane worked exceptionally well too, keeping my feet dry even when I had to wade through knee-deep water in a swamp.
However, there were a couple of cons that I noticed. Firstly, they fit a bit snugly, so it was a bit of a struggle getting them on and off. But overall, the benefits outweighed the minor inconvenience. Secondly, I found them to be a little warm during the summer days. But considering they're waterproof and offer great support, it's a trade-off I'm willing to make.
All in all, these boots are a solid investment if you're looking for reliable, comfortable footwear to take on rugged terrains or challenging outdoor activities. The combination of style, durability, and comfort makes these boots perfect for both work and play.

🔗Carhartt Men's Brown Waterproof Work Boot with Steel Toe Protection


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I recently started using the Carhartt Men's 6" Brown Waterproof Work Boots, and I'm quite impressed by their performance so far. The first thing that stood out to me was the leather upper – it seems durable and looks sleek. But the true test came when I encountered wet and damp conditions at work. The Storm Defender waterproof and breathable membrane really kept my feet cozy and dry, which was a huge relief. I also appreciated the FastDry lining, as it wicked away sweat and moisture, keeping me fresh throughout the day. The cushioned insole was a game-changer, providing support, comfort, and reducing foot fatigue.
However, there was a downside to the break-in period. The boot initially felt a bit stiff, which made it uncomfortable to wear for long periods. But that's a common issue with work boots, and I expected it. Another thing I noticed was the potential for stitching issues, as one customer had mentioned. I'll keep an eye on that, but so far, so good. Overall, I'm happy with my purchase, and I'm looking forward to putting these boots through their paces in various work conditions.

🔗Carhartt Work Boot - Rugged Design, Durable Protection, ASTM Certified


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For years, I've been on the hunt for a rugged and comfortable pair of work boots that can withstand the test of time, both on and off the job site. After trying out several pairs, I finally stumbled upon a winner: the Carhartt Men's Rugged Flex Steel Toe Work Boot. The first thing that caught my attention was the brown leather, paired with the Carstrong durable reinforced fabric that protects against wear and tear without being excessively heavy. The boots' FastDry technology lining is a game-changer for me, as I tend to sweat quite a bit in the heels of my footwear.
One of the standout features of this pair of boots is the composite toe that protects against both impact and compression hazards, ensuring I am always safe on the job site. The rubber heel bumper provides extra stability and protection, while the EVA midsole with cushioned polyurethane insole offers great support and shock absorbance - something my feet appreciate after long hours on my feet.
The Rugged Flex rubber outsole not only offers durable traction but also keeps me feeling flexible, enhancing my overall comfort while I'm at work. However, there have been a couple of cons worth mentioning. For instance, the boots took a bit more time than I would've liked to break in properly, which disrupted my workflow for a few days. Additionally, the FastDry lining didn't seem to work as effectively as it should have, leaving me with sweaty feet at the end of the day.
Despite these minor setbacks, I have found the Carhartt Men's Rugged Flex Steel Toe Work Boot to be a reliable and comfortable choice for those seeking top-notch work boots. The pros undeniably outweigh the cons, making these boots a worthy investment for anyone looking for durability, protection, and comfort in their footwear.

🔗Carhartt Men's 6-inch Work Boots: Oil-tanned Leather and Rubber Outsole


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These Carhartt work boots have become a staple in my daily life. The leather upper and rubber outsole make for a durable and reliable footwear option. I was a bit skeptical about the removable insole, but it provides great cushioning and support. The fit is true to size, and the boots have a nice, snug feel around the foot.
One issue I did encounter is the tongue stitching. It gets in the way of putting my foot in the boot, which is a bit inconvenient. Also, I've noticed the FastDry lining doesn't do much to control odor, so I have to clean them more often than I'd like.
Despite those minor drawbacks, the boots have held up well during my day-to-day activities. The removable insole is a great feature and adds to the overall comfort of the boots. I would recommend these Carhartt work boots for anyone in need of a tough and reliable pair of boots for work or play.

🔗Carhartt Force Sneaker Boot: Lightweight, Comfortable, and Abrasion Resistant Men's Boot


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As someone who loves the convenience of sneakers when it comes to working hard, but also needs the support and durability of proper boots, I was excited to try the Carhartt Force Lightweight Sneaker Boot in Men's Coyote.
From the moment I first wore them, I was impressed by the lightweight knit upper and the protective, abrasion-resistant heel and toe counter. The fact that it has a slip and oil-resistant Carhartt Force rubber sole made me feel confident that even though I spend a lot of time working outdoors and being exposed to various weather conditions, these boots would hold up well.
Another notable feature for me was the FastDry technology lining, which kept my feet comfortable and dry during my long, tiring days at work. The light and high rebound EVA midsole, along with the Insite technology comfort footbed, provided the cushioning and support I needed, even after countless hours on my feet.
However, there was one drawback to this otherwise great pair of boots. As mentioned in the title, the boots had a slightly oversized heel and were not as snug or comfortable as I would have preferred. Additionally, while I appreciated the soft toe design, it did make the boots feel looser than I had hoped.
Despite these minor issues, my overall experience with the Carhartt Force Lightweight Sneaker Boot has been positive. It's a versatile and functional boot, perfect for those who want the comfort and flexibility of sneakers, combined with the support and durability you'd expect from a top-notch work boot.

🔗Carhartt Men's Work Boot: Rugged, Waterproof, and Protective


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Recently, I had the chance to try out a pair of Carhartt Men's Rugged Flex 6-Inch Waterproof Steel Toe Work Boots in brown. In terms of durability, these boots truly lived up to their promise. The oil-tanned leather and reinforced fabric provided a long-lasting wear that I appreciated as I went about my daily work tasks. The lace closure was a great feature, giving me a more secure and custom fit, which was important to me as I was often on my feet for long periods of time.
One of the standout features for me was the FastDry lining, which helped wick away sweat and fight odors. It kept me feeling fresh and dry even on the warmest days, which was a welcome relief. The composite toe offered excellent protection against impact and compression hazards, and it met ASTM 2413-18 standards. This gave me the peace of mind I needed when working in potentially dangerous environments.
The rubber toe and heel bumpers added stability and protection, while the EVA midsole with cushioned polyurethane insole provided support and shock absorbance. The Rugged Flex rubber outsole offered durable traction and flexibility, making it a great choice for tough outdoor work environments. I also appreciated the secondary protection against incidental contact with electrical circuits of 18,000 volts or less under dry conditions and the ASTM 2413-18 EH standards.
Though the boots were generally comfortable and supportive, there were a few minor drawbacks. One was that the insole was not as cushioned as I would have liked, which made long periods of wear less comfortable. Additionally, I found that they ran slightly big in size, which took some time to adjust to.
Overall, I was very impressed by the Carhartt Men's Rugged Flex Boots. They provided the comfort, support, and protection I needed for my demanding work environments, and I have no qualms about recommending them to others.

🔗Carhartt Ground Force Waterproof Work Boot for Maximum Comfort


https://preview.redd.it/gkg93ub7yc1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5e46ec3dfbceda06b69adb54668fc4e852f17f51
Imagine a day in the life of a Carhartt Ground Force Men's 6" Waterproof Composite Toe Work Boot wearer. He wakes up to the comfortable, supportive cushioning that reduces fatigue, all thanks to the Carhartt footbed with Insite Technology. He laces up his boots, feeling the durable oiled leather upper and the Storm Defender waterproof, breathable protection keeping feet dry and comfortable. As he starts his day, he heads out into his construction project, walking on earthy and rocky surfaces, his boots standing up to the test.
However, after some time, he notices his soles are starting to crack and peel - a clear sign that these boots aren't as sturdy or durable as he thought they were. The boots he bought 18 months ago should be in good shape by now, but they're not. He wonders about the boot's durability and if it's worth the investment.
He also expresses his dissatisfaction with the customer service. He reached out to the company multiple times but received no response. It seems like the brand isn't as committed to its customers as it claims to be with its products.
Overall, he appreciates the comfortable features of the Carhartt Ground Force Men's 6" Waterproof Composite Toe Work Boot. However, the concerns about the boots' durability and the lack of customer support cast a long shadow over his experience with the product. Would he buy these boots again? It's a difficult question, but the current quality and support issues make it a challenging decision.

🔗Carhartt Men's Oil Tanned Welt Work Boots: Durable, Comfortable, and Versatile


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I recently tried on the Carhartt 10" Traditional Welt Comp Toe WP Boot, specifically the 15 Men's Brown variant. Right off the bat, I was impressed by the oil-tanned leather and suede upper coated with high abrasion PU. It gave the boot a rugged yet premium feel. One feature that I found quite appealing was the molded rubber toe bumper and the Carhartt Heel Guard. It provided great support and protection to my feet while on the job without compromising on flexibility.
The Storm Defender waterproof protection was another aspect of the boot that stood out to me. Working in a rainy environment, I could feel the water resisting capabilities of the boot. It did a great job protecting my feet from getting soaked.
However, one downside I encountered with these boots was the removable foam cushion insole with TPU arch support. While it offered some comfort, it felt a bit off after some time, giving me unnecessary pressure on my arches.
Another thing I was a bit disappointed with was the rubber lug outsole, which while offering excellent traction and slip resistance, wore out much faster than I expected for a boots in this price range.
In conclusion, overall my experience with the Carhartt 10" Traditional Welt Comp Toe WP Boot was satisfactory. The boots have shown good support and protection for my feet, but they could use some improvements in the comfort and durability departments.

Buyer's Guide

When it comes to working boots, you'll want to consider several factors before purchasing a pair. In this section, we'll outline important features, considerations, and advice to help you find the best Carhartt work boots for men.

Quality and Durability

Carhartt is known for its high-quality and long-lasting workwear. When selecting a pair of Carhartt work boots for men, look for materials that can withstand wear and tear, such as leather or nylon. Additionally, check the stitching and construction quality to ensure the boots are built to last.

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Comfort and Fit

Comfort is crucial when choosing work boots. Look for boots with a cushioned footbed, adequate toe room, and a secure heel. A good fit will also help prevent blisters and reduce fatigue throughout the day. Carhartt offers various widths and sizes to accommodate different foot shapes and sizes.

Safety Features

Working in hazardous conditions requires specific safety features in your boots. Consider boots with slip-resistant soles, steel toes, and electrical hazard protection. These features can help protect you from accidents and injuries in the workplace.

Waterproofing and Breathability

If you work in wet or damp environments, look for work boots that are waterproof and offer good breathability. This will help keep your feet dry and comfortable, even in challenging conditions.

https://preview.redd.it/f8z9fq1cyc1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1cbbb6a46dfcce8a14126f45530417e7c5840367

Maintenance and Care

To ensure the longevity of your Carhartt work boots, proper maintenance and care are essential. Regularly clean and condition the leather or nylon materials, and apply waterproofing treatments as needed. Additionally, store your boots in a cool, dry place when not in use to prevent damage and extend their lifespan.

Consider Your Work Environment

Different work environments require specific boot features. For example, if you work in construction, you'll need boots with steel toes and slip-resistant soles. On the other hand, if you work in a warehouse, a pair of waterproof boots may be more suitable. Consider the demands of your workplace when selecting a pair of Carhartt work boots.

Budget

Carhartt work boots can range in price based on the features and materials they offer. Determine your budget before shopping to find the best value option that meets your needs.

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Read Reviews and Check Warranty Information

Before making a purchase, read reviews from other buyers to get an idea of the boot's performance and durability. Additionally, check the warranty information to understand the manufacturer's commitment to quality and customer satisfaction.

FAQ

Are Carhartt work boots men's boots comfortable to wear?

Yes, Carhartt work boots are designed to provide comfort and support for long hours on the job. They feature padded collars, cushioned soles, and breathable materials that allow for comfortable wear. Some models even have protective inserts to absorb shock and reduce fatigue.

https://preview.redd.it/z45tdf0dyc1d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=93621834d3a4d74f6c56745c870b9afbf67b0dcc

What materials are Carhartt work boots made of?

Carhartt work boots are made from high-quality materials such as leather, nylon, and synthetic rubber. The materials used depend on the specific boot model and its intended use. Leather is commonly used for durability and resistance to wear, while nylon and synthetic materials offer lightweight and breathable options.

Do Carhartt work boots provide protection against hazards?

Yes, Carhartt work boots prioritize safety by offering protective features such as steel toes, metatarsal guards, and electrical hazard protection. These features help protect your feet from injuries caused by heavy objects, falling debris, and electrical hazards.

What are the different styles and colors available for Carhartt work boots?

Carhartt offers a variety of work boot styles catering to different jobs and preferences. Some popular styles include hiking boots, safety boots, and work boots with a lace-up or slip-on design. As for colors, you can find Carhartt work boots in black, brown, and grey, among others.

Are Carhartt work boots waterproof?

Some Carhartt work boots are waterproof, while others are not. Waterproof work boots feature a membrane that prevents water from entering the boot but still allows moisture vapor to escape, keeping your feet dry and comfortable. Non-waterproof work boots may be suitable for dry or mild weather conditions.

What is the warranty on Carhartt work boots?

Carhartt offers a limited lifetime warranty on their work boots, which covers any manufacturing defects. The warranty does not cover wear and tear, misuse, or damage caused by normal wear and tear. For a warranty claim, you must provide proof of purchase and register the footwear within 60 days of purchase.

How do I care for and clean my Carhartt work boots?

To maintain the quality and durability of your Carhartt work boots, it is essential to clean and care for them properly. After removing any debris, use a soft-bristle brush to gently scrub the boots with a mild soap and warm water. Allow the boots to air dry naturally and avoid using heat or a dryer. For leather boots, apply a leather conditioner or polish to help maintain their appearance and prevent cracking.
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submitted by ConsequenceSure3063 to u/ConsequenceSure3063 [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 12:04 ficus77 Some tips for first time travellers to Vietnam

Just got back from Vietnam - North to South tour over a couple of weeks around my partner's birthday. Absolutely loved the experience and would love to visit again and slow down the travel to take things in a bit more.
I have some tips for folk from my own experience. I'm from the UK - and specifically Cornwall where tourism is a mainstay of our local economy and I know what it's like to have your land flooded with tourists.
1: the pound is roughly 30000 Vietnamese dong, so divide by 3 and knock off some noughts. It's easier to knock off the last three 0s from the dong price first. Very important for weighing up the personal value of something you might buy/are being hassled to buy.
2: Security at airports is not like our biometric passport scanners in the UK - it's guys in very officious looking uniforms taking their sweet time to weigh up whether you should be let in (or out) of the country. Bear this in mind for planning follow up transport or arriving for a flight. Huge queues. It took about an hour after arriving to get through security, and an hour and a half when departing for our UK flight (important as they were shutting the doors by the time we got through security).
3 phone data - while queuing to get into the country in Ho Chi Minh, we opted to buy some local SIM cards from a stall next to the queues. They were £8 each and gave us unlimited data for our 2 weeks. Ideal. Might be able to get it cheaper but convenience after 20 hours of travelling was worth it. EDIT - thanks to u/phantasizer for pointing out these stalls aren't legit. Our experiences were the sim cards worked fine but see their comment below.
4 airport transfers - take advantage of these where offered. Again, just takes the stress out of things as we found the country quite overwhelming, especially HCMC and Hanoi (overwhelming in a good way though).
5 city markets - we went to Hanoi, Cat Ba, Hoi An, Phú Quoc and Saigon and in each place there was a sizeable (Cat Ba was smaller) market advertised as a "must see" experience but in truth is the same place selling knock off clothes, luggage, souvenirs, food ingredients, etc. Every fourth or fifth stall is EXACTLY the same stuff. It gets boring after 10 minutes. Would advise visiting this wherever you are on your last day to buy some stuff to take home rather than lugging it around.
6 scooters - I wouldn't consider this unless you know how to ride a scooter, especially in the cities. Vietnamese traffic is an organic wonder to beyond from the safety of a taxi.
7 crossing the road - for UK folk, they drive on the other side in Vietnam. Very important to look both ways but believe the hype, pick your moment and go confidently - Vietnamese also have incredible spacial awareness to avoid you.
8 GRAB - download the app, add your card and Grab away. Again, speaking of convenience and least stress, you will quickly appreciate not walking for 20 minutes in +30° city heat and choosing to take an air conditioned taxi. For comparison, a trip that would cost about a tenner in UK costs a £1. Incredible value for your wallet, comfort and time.
9 food - try everything. OK, maybe Thit Cho on Hanoi is a stretch too far for the average Brit but everything else should be experienced. Personal favourites were Hotpot (so wish we had similar in UK) and BBQ where it's in the middle of the table and you do all the grilling. You can find Pho for equivalent of about £1 if you need shoestring food.
10 wine - some places sell local Dalat wine which is OK but wine is not a big deal in Vietnam and is usually at least UK price if not more. My partner found this hard as she doesn't like beer and didn't want to drink cocktails all holiday. Dalat is perfectly good plonk though - white and red.
11 Hoi An - don't believe the hype. We spent too long here (so sorry Saigon, you weren't as loved as you should have been). It can be done in a day and you've experienced it all. Reviews were lead to believe there was more to it. Nightlife was a laugh in a trashy way though if you want to do the whole Brits abroad thing.
12 Be respectful - my experience was that Vietnamese are a country of grinders who work all hours of the day. So speaking of Brits (or anyone else) abroad be respectful that not everyone you see is there for your photo opp or to help you and those in markets and hospitality are making a living, so don't waste their time. British especially are a nation of window shoppers and I'm not sure that came across too well on our travels. Try to be low key while you weave around the lives of Viet folk.
13 Learn to confidently say "no thanks" - politely saying "no thanks, just looking" and moving on is a valuable tool for getting through certain touristy areas. Engaging with folk will both give that person the wrong expectations and exhaust you in the process.
14 Google Translate - download this and use for basic enquiries. I don't think I was saying Xin Chao, Cam On or Tam Biet properly, so for anything beyond that, I have no clue. Don't assume people speak English - some are good enough to say Hello first to get past that.
15 Find a spot and just watch - find a coffee shop, relax and watch a very different people go about their lives. Things I enjoyed: how cool all the young people are; how obsessed the young folk are about selfies; care of children; karaoke round the dinner table (understand not to everyone's taste); friends enjoying a hotpot; lads fighting a crab into said hotpot; groups of friends having animated toasts after work; care of old folk; many and varied ways to use a scooter to carry people, goods, materials, flat screen TVs, dogs.
16 Beers in order of my personal taste - Saigon Red; Larue; Saigon Special; Hanoi; 333
17 Beer St in Saigon - go walk through it. I have never seen anything like it. Don't necessarily stop there but go observe it's wild, perverse nature.
18 If staying in a hotel, before you head out for the day, soak a flannel in water, put it in a glass, put the glass in the fridge. You will appreciate it when you get back from your enevitablely roasting walk around town (mad dogs and Englishman..).
19 pack for very hot weather (in May at least). I took a set of clothes for UK - these were worn to and from the airport and otherwise lived at the bottom on my bag. Otherwise, shorts, t-shirts and light shirts to keep the sun off. Even cotton t-shirts felt too much at times. My favourite items were a matched black linen shirt and shorts I bought out there. Pretty much lived out of them exclusively towards the end of the trip. Must have announced my musky presence from a great distance. Utilise the laundry services for sure.
20 ignore the rubbish - try to tune it out and adjust your hygiene expectations. This is important as in two weeks, I got blisters, bites, at anything and yet came away without food poisoning, infection or anything else. It's an eyesore at times to these soft UK eyes but don't let it ruin the trip. Hope Vietnam authorities can do more to handle that as it'll mount up the more the country is discovered.
Sure there's more but just offloading after getting back. Hope it helps.
EDIT: More to add
  1. Cash is king but card is accepted - in the UK, because of COVID, cash has definitely taken a back seat to contactless payment. I've rarely had to use cash other than to pay for things off FB marketplace. Vietnam isn't like that, despite being at least as technologically advanced as the UK in certain respects. Always have some dong on you. Few hundred thousand covers small purchases like water, Bahn Mi for the road, restorative coffee, etc. A lot of places do accept card but can come with a 3% fee. And get ready as they take the card and put it into the machine - it's not a scam (at least, I don't think it is) just how it's done. The card machine is handed to you for pin and then half the time they need a signature on the receipt. Monzo is a good bank for travelling as you get free ATM withdrawals on their side up to £100 and you can instantly see the conversion of the latest transactions.
  2. Ice cubes - when I got my travel vaccines, I was told to be wary of ice as much as tap water. From experience, iced coffee from most coffee shops has been fine (thankful in the heat) and cocktails with ice also fine. I'd maybe avoid the street side iced drinks and stick to modern looking bars, coffee shops and hotels to be on the safe side.
  3. Geckos - you may see geckos in hotel rooms and elsewhere. Fear not, they are harmless and like to feast on mosquitos. As with any wild animal though - and includes all the cute looking street dogs - observe from a distance. We shared our cabin in Phu Quoc with a foot long Tokay Gecko which absolutely freaked us out for an evening until the manager told us it's fine and just to leave it be and it'll keep it's distance. Definitely the coolest wild creature I saw.
  4. Overnight train to Da Nang - if you want to traverse the length of the country and save some time, get the Night Train to Da Naaaang (cue: Madness). Pay the extra for your own cabin. It's relatively comfortable and the next day you can while away the morning watching the mountains and coast roll by. You get complimentary snacks, drinks and a simple breakfast as well.
  5. Cat Ba Express - originally, we planned to make our own way to Cat Ba by taxi>train,>ferry>taxi. At last minute, I scrapped that off of a recommendation on here and went with a company called Cat Ba Express. For £20 each, we got a return - hotel-to-hotel on an air conditioned bus and on the way back took up the option of a cable car over the water from Cat Ba to Haiphong. Well worth it, again for convenience and time.
  6. Safety - prompted by u/G_saxboi comment below, while we both felt safe for the majority of the trip, do use common sense when out and about. If you need to get your bearings, find a coffee shop, have a sit down and a drink, and check then - being glued to your phone while walking around isn't the best advice in most touristy parts of the world.
Regarding Beer St in Saigon - you can walk through albeit hassled to come for a drink but enter any of those establishments at your own risk.
Also, generally good advice not to engage with anyone who randomly comes up to you. Just say "no thanks" and move on.
submitted by ficus77 to VietNam [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 11:18 PowerMinute1922 The Man who screams at Daybreak

My last flat was unbearable.
I mean, you try having a family of 11 live above you, when half of them are under the age of 8. Also try having a pair of raging alcoholic neighbours on either side of you. A pair who were once married to each other. My eyes rivalled that of pigeons’ due to no sleep.
I lasted a total of 21 days. I know, new record huh? I just about shoved the keys back in the grubby hands of my landlord when I finally saw the lunacy inscribed on his face. No wonder the rent was dirt cheap.
So I was back on the road, not on the streets though. Luckily enough I started questioning the flat by day 8, looked around for another place by day 15, and made a decision to get the hell out on day 18. 3 days of packing and it was bye-bye.
My new place seemed all the better too: yes, the rent was more expensive, and yes, it only has 2 bedrooms. But at least it was a house, one where pesky neighbours were at least 5 metres away. On my right, at least. On my left? Their house - thankfully - couldn’t even be seen where I stood.
Parking my car, I skipped up towards my new house with my fresh set of keys. And on entering? Silence. Perfect still silence. Thank the Lord. I basked in it for a while before returning to my car, unloading some of my baggage. It took 3-4 hauls, but I managed to fit it into one of the bedrooms. Thankfully, the rest of my things were to be brought by moving vans in about an hour.
I envisioned what the house could look like with a few finishing touches.
“But first…”
I eyed the 2 rooms. “Mine!”
The room I had chosen to be mine gave a bright view of my own smaller garden, as well as a portion of my right neighbour’s house, but that didn’t matter much. The view in the other room would suck: just my car and some reeds.
I was just about done heaving some of my baggage into my newly-chosen room when the doorbell gave an obnoxious ring. I stood, fighting the urge to just run away into one of my rooms when it beeped again.
Reaching the door, I eyed out of the peephole to see nothing but an opaque whiteness. I guess the downside in this house is that the last tenant was a slob. I eyed some of the yellowing walls. Sighing, I opened the door.
“Hello! We’re your neighbours, Jack and Sally, and we live just there,” She motioned towards my right, “We came to introduce ourselves, and to let you know that if you ever need anything, we’re right here.”
She then shoved a basket full of biscuits at my chest, a motherly-smile stretched around her lips. She turned to leave, husband - clearly forced to follow her - in tow, when she turned around.
“Your name, dear?”
“Leen!” I shouted after her.
“Perfect.”
And perfect it was, I thought. Neighbours that respect their distance from you, and give you food? I eyed the delicious snacks in front of me. Definitely an upgrade.
Though it was at dawn the very next day that I woke up, shook.
~
See, I was just sleeping in my newly delivered bed when I heard it. Something that sounded like a bird, a huge caw, before it alternated into different pitches. Disoriented, I tried to wipe the sleep from my eyes in order to focus better. But it just made me more confused.
It sounded like a chicken.
As far as I know, this new place was not the countryside, nor farmland. So what? And why?
I stepped up to my window to take a good look outside. I wouldn’t keep a rooster in my home that’s for sure. Whatever it was, it was coming from…
My jaw dropped.
I closed my eyes and scrubbed at them harshly.
Please tell me why I opened my eyes and saw the exact same thing.
A man, on his haunches, face pointed towards the sky, was making rooster noises.
And he was on my neighbours’ garden. The ones I met earlier.
He looked absolutely demented. I wasn’t even scared then, just flabbergasted. I wasted no time calling the police at this disturbing nuisance.
When they arrived though, I saw my neighbours’ shoot straight from their house, speaking or…was it pleading? With the officers. What on Earth..?
Anyway, it was their problem now, so I went back to bed. I had a whole bunch of chores the next day, and had to get it all sorted before I returned to work.
Shutting my eyes, I wished for peace. And quiet, thank you very much.
~
At last, I woke up at 10 AM. By 1 PM, I had sorted my clothing into its respective drawers, and had decorated my bedroom walls, including a new golden addition. And now? I had food cooking on the stove. It felt satisfying, having cleaned up and now awaiting the prize of food.
I scrolled on my phone as I waited for the pasta to cook, before another ding turned my attention towards the door.
“Huh, what now?”
Unfortunately I hadn’t cleaned the peephole yet, so I had to open the door. There stood Jack and Sally. Or Sally and Jack. Jack looked lost. Sally stared deep into my eyes.
“Was it you?”
“Me? What do you mean?”
“That called the police last night?”
I recalled the past night, and gave her a thumbs up, hoping my smile was reassuring. “Yep, don’t worry, that lunatic will not be coming back ever again. He can go to the zoo if he wants to squawk.”
I should’ve taken the cue from Jack’s paling face, but Sally grabbed hold of me. “Listen here, okay? That man, the one you called the police on...” She trembled, “He’s my son! You can’t do that! He was not even on your property!”
My eyes widened. “He’s…your son?”
“Of course! How can you not see that?”
Nodding at her, I relinquished myself from the hold she had on my arms. “Okay then, sorry for the call. But I do have to mention something,” Jack started to shake his head behind his wife, but I ignored the little-to-say man, “Is there any way you can keep the noise down to a minimum? Honestly, your son has vocal cords of steel! It would wake the entire neighbourhood at this rate.”
Sally stared pointedly at me, then took a look around my house. “Very well.”
She grabbed her husband’s arm as she turned to leave, and I caught the slightest look of fear in his eyes before he was abruptly pulled away.
I dismissed it - and the sinking feeling - on discovering my very soft, overcooked pasta when I came back into my home though.
I managed to also do one thing before wrapping up: I cleaned out my door's peephole. Now I wouldn't have to open the door to know it's them. I'd just speak at them from the inside if they were to come back.
~
I woke, jolting out of my bed the very next morning, or night. I checked my bedside clock to see it was 3:50 AM. The cock-a-doodle-doo was breaking into my head. I grasped my hair in frustration, knowing that I didn’t have the madman’s parents phone numbers’ to call, or maybe scream at them. It was the exact same thing as the day before! Except…maybe…
I strained my ear.
It sounded a lot closer.
My hands, for some reason, became clammy instantly, and the urgent thumping of my own heart - the fragility of my own life - became all the more prominent.
I tiptoed to my window and peeked outside. Nothing.
I then slowly treaded to my spare bedroom, and pulled the curtains apart. Zilch. Nada. Though…
Almost as if under a spell, my head turned towards my main door. I…I could somehow feel it. Just to confirm though, I peeked out of the door-hole.
And with a slam, I collapsed in my new, dream home.
~
When I came to, I was lying on white sheets, and a bright white light hung over me.
A hospital.
I was in my own room, which I found odd. It was not like I needed it. But then a doctor walked in, followed by 3 other people, and it all made sense. Everything - blurs and sureness - melted into a perfect picture.
Sally, Jack, and their son.
He couldn’t be more than 17 really. Though he looked 37 a few hours ago. Face pressed against the glass of my peephole, mouth wide open towards it, eyes pointing in different directions as his face reddened and contorted.
I was deaf in one moment. Then came the COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO.
Of course I fainted. Who could blame me?
“Good afternoon, I’m Dr Lam. You’re in A&E right now. Are you able to tell me your full name and date of birth?
My voice answered the Doctor’s questions, but my eyes stared dazed at the youngster’s abdomen, not daring to reach his its eyes.
“Well, nothing seems to be wrong with you. You may have just been dehydrated. Did you have any headache or pain before you fainted?”
I replied in the negative.
“Luckily, your friends’ son had found you passed out, and ensured your speedy arrival to hospital, so I wouldn’t be worried about any damage.”
My eyes finally strayed, looking towards the ground. I held the nauseousness of bile down my throat. Following a brief check-up, I was allowed to leave.
And 2 people and a demon followed me out.
“Well, Leen, that should give you a lesson,”
Sally.
I turned towards the family, who stood in a 3 person arc. Only 1 managed to look away, equal parts shame and guilt. I don’t need to mention who that was.
“Don’t worry. You can look at me, I don’t bite: not now and not at dawn,” a strained voice whispered at me. “I promise, it’s only at dawn when I…when I…”
“Hush Dean, don’t work your voice that much. You’ll need to save it for later.”
I was still dizzy. That didn’t stop me from running half-hobbled to the taxi stand, where I begged and claimed to many that I would provide double payment if they were to take me to my house.
It took a while, but I managed to pack some of my clothes. There was no way in hell I was sleeping at that damned house again, not now, not ever. I called and booked at a nearby hotel in the meantime.
I was done packing necessities by the evening. Walking out of my house, I saw no sign of those three. I would have been relieved, had I not come face to face with than one thing: standing in my garden, leaning against my car. My breathing picked up instantly.
Dean
It stood with its back resting against my car. And It noticed me immediately. Seems like it was just waiting for me to notice it.
“Are you leaving?” It sounded almost sad, but I needed it to move away, or my only way out of there would be in jeopardy.
“For the night.” My answer? Almost smooth, but even I could hear the first shake in my voice.
It nodded though. “Okay.” And he moved from my car. I counted the distance. 1 metre. 2. 2.5-
It made a sudden dash at me as I - in flight response - ran frantically to the driver’s seat, locking the door. I came in half-squashed, my backpack still on my back. But I didn’t care.
Its face was pressed against the window.
“Mum is waiting for a person that will like me for me, not run away. You’re supposed to like me.” It said, matter-of-factly. It then wailed, and sunk beneath the car window.
I did not dare to sit up and see what it was doing.
I didn’t even need to though. The sound came a split-second later.
COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO
Tears spilled from my eyes. My limbs felt weak. I couldn’t even breathe. It suddenly sprang up to the window. Eyes enlarged: looking at me and everywhere at once.
“I can actually tur-COCK- in the day too, but M-DOODLE- said it would be too much for you,” wheezing, it exclaimed again before adding, “but this is ME. Do you-do you, do you like me?”
With dead limbs I weighed my foot on the pedal, and jump-started the car to speed off. My head shook left-and-right in response, stomach heaving with nausea.
Human preservation kicked me into taking proper control of the car when I saw, out of the rear view mirror, Sally. This time with a rope, which locked around the creature’s neck before she tugged, drawing it into her house. At one point we locked eyes. And what do I mean by we?
Answer: the 2 of them and me.
It was honestly a miracle that I did not get into a road traffic accident.
I spent 3 days living in the hotel after that, my job long-forgotten in the aftermath.
By day 4 I broke down and called my older sister, asking to stay at her place for a while. Her house and area seemed fine the times I’d stopped over. I guess I clearly did not seem right though, as she many-a-time asked me what was wrong. My answer? Stress. She persisted, years of living together as kids helping her figure out my lies, though she ultimately gave up after a week. She knew it was something I didn’t want to share, and that I was safe now. That was enough for her.
For me? I guess at the time I so badly wanted to tell someone. Though it couldn’t be my sister. I didn’t want to cause any trouble. Nor see if she’d even believe me, or instead rank me at the same IQ level as her two 5-year-olds.
For a few weeks, I stayed with my sister and her family, reassuring both her and myself that I was fine. Thankfully, we worked together to find a small apartment. Next to a kids school too - bonus points. I now craved safety above all else. After moving out though, I realised I needed my belongings back.
So, who picked up my stuff from that cursed residence, you ask? The moving people. I called the police from a random phone booth first to head over to that area, emphasising on seeing some suspicious looking men, whilst I got them to collect everything. I did not dare to call the police on that family though. I would prefer if the link between me and them got cut, drawn and quartered.
So now I’m here, in an apartment which thankfully hasn’t shown any sign of insanity. Inspecting my belongings, I noticed that there was one thing missing.
My gold frame, used to encase my make-shift certificate - made by yours truly after her 21-day record from the previous apartment - was gone.
I felt somewhat miffed, but then I realised something.
Something which can maybe bring the light out in this whole situation.
I counted carefully. I broke my record.
With a grand stay of 2 days. Now that - that I don’t think I’d ever be able to beat.

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2024.05.19 10:58 jenajiejing The Secret of Human Bodies – Examples Proving the Existence of the Greatest Creator

Xue Feng Though the modern medicine has limited knowledge of human bodies, what we have known is enough for us to admire the excellent human body structure and functions. Each system and organ in the human body is designed by the Greatest Creator. Even those trivial body parts have great functions. For example, there are several types of hairs on human bodies with distinct forms and functions. The head hair is designed to protect and beautify the head. It can grow long. According to the Bible, “But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.” The eyebrows can divert sweat and rain, preventing them into the eyes. That’s why they are lined above the two eyes. Eyelashes can prevent the dust and other things from entering the eyes. That’s why they are lined on the sides of the eyelids. Also they stand forward in a special curve because it wouldn’t hinder the eyesight or pierce into the eyes when closing the eyes. If the eyebrows and eyelashes are too long, they will hinder the eyesight. That’s why they wouldn’t grow as long as the hair or beards. The nasal hairs can filter the inhaled air. That’s why they grow inside the nostril and stand sideways and outwards. If they stand inwards, the other things will find it easy to come into the nostrils and difficult to go out. The armpit hairs can prevent the partial friction and help the sweat evaporate. Without the armpit hairs, we have to raise our arms. Otherwise the skin under the arm will become inflamed because of the friction and moist. Required by the function, the armpit hairs cannot grow as long as the head hairs, or as short as the eyebrows. Besides, they are soft and curving. If they are rigid and coarse, they will hurt the skin. And cilia grow on the intestinal epithelium. The cilia grow downward and vibrate together. The vibrating waves move downward from upward to help move down the intestinal contents. Cilia also grow on the airway and bronchus epithelium. However, they grow and vibrate in the opposite direction as those on the intestinal epithelium. Only in this way can they move the sputum upward to the throat and spit them. If they grow downward, the airway and bronchus would get stuck by the sputum and the humans would die from it. Now I wish to take two simple reflections of human bodies as an example. When foreign matters enter the nostrils or airways, they will arouse two protective reflections, sneeze or cough, which is designed to repel the foreign matters. But due to different situation, these two reflections differ in their approaches. The foreign matters in the nostrils are not urgent so the sneeze reflection can be prepared in a composed way. First, inhale slowly; open the mouth, and the soft place move upward to block the nostril. Then breathe in enough air through the mouth, and the pleural body contracts sharply to emit the air in the lungs quickly. When the emitting reaches its peak, the tongue rises abruptly to block the mouth to repel the air to go out swiftly through the nostrils. In this way the foreign matters in the nostrils are driven out. However, if the foreign matters enter the airway, it is an emergent situation. If the foreign matters are not driven out timely, the life will be put at risk. The inhaling is strictly forbidden because it will make the foreign matters go deeper and cause suffocation. So the cough doesn’t include the inhaling. Instead, the glottis closes immediately. At the same time, the pleural body contracts suddenly and adds the lung air pressure extremely. When the pressure is at its strongest point, the glottis opens suddenly and the lung air sends out explosively, compelling the foreign matters in the airway to the throat via the glottis. At this time, the soft place rises to block the nostrils. The foreign matters are spit out through the mouth. If the tongue and the soft place perform the same way as in the sneeze, the foreign matters emitted out of the airway will enter the nostrils, causing another trouble. In these two reflections, the body parts must cooperate closely. Any failure in the coordination will lead to the failure of the reflection, causing serious consequences. So these activities are not done freely. Instead, they are done as required by their functions and set procedures. These procedures are not learnt or practices. The program has been rooted in our brain nerve structure (nerve nucleus) when we are born. Otherwise, the babies will not survive. The advanced computer science has made it possible to simulate these activities. However, the simulation requires 3 conditions: 1. Device simulating the inhale and exhaling of human mouth, nose, throat, pleural and the sensing device; 2. The central control equipment simulating nerves and body system (compute, input and output devices). The above two devices are hardware. And software is also needed, namely (3). A program composed in strict compliance with the requirements to control the performance and procedure of each link, and arrange them in perfect coordination. All the three conditions are imperative. Otherwise the reflections can’t be realized. The program itself is not a substance structure. Instead, it is a smart use and spiritual result. There will be no such a thing as the program without the smart use. So we have to ask, the program is composed by the humans and stored in the computer, how about the control program in the human brain. Is it also composed by someone and stored in the human brain? Sneeze and cough are the simplest examples. There are numerous automatically controlled physical, bio-chemical and pathological human body activities, which are even more sophisticated than reflections of cough. Even today, some of them remain mysteries to us. So how are these sophisticated control programs composed? And where do they come from? Now let’s have a look at the sensory organs on human bodies. Why do we have two ears? The reason is that one ear is not able to identify the direction. With the ears lying on two sides of the head, the sound reaches the ears in sequence of time. Based on the slight receiving time difference, the brain can judge where the sound comes from. The auricle is the most outward component of the ear. It can introduce the sound into the external auditory canal. Within the auricle there is a thin layer of cartilage helping to retain the form of auricle, giving it wonderful elasticity and protecting it from the clashes. Without the cartilage, the auricle is just two useless pieces of skin hanging on the head side. If the thin bone is inside the auricle, it will break easily even if when you are sleeping on your side, damaging the auricle. There is fuzz on the outer segment of the external auditory canal preventing the sand and dust. The inner segment secretes cerumen to prevent insects. When foreign matters enter the external auditory canal, it will trigger head shaking, instead of sneeze or cough, to get the matters out. Because the external auditory canal is a blind passage, it is impossible to repel the foreign matters with air. Why don’t the foreign matters in the nostrils arouse the head-shaking reflection to repel them? That’s because the nostrils of humans almost lie in the middle of the head. The shaking is not able to produce enough centrifugal force. Besides, the human nostrils face downward and it is improper to repel the foreign matters by shaking the head. The sound is produced by the mechanical vibration of objects and is transmitted by the air fluctuation, or the sound waves. The human ears are actually working like a precise mechanical vibration monitor. In the inner ear there are a number of keyboards with different sizes, producing nerve impulses produced by echoing with corresponding frequencies. The brain, in accordance with the features of these impulses, identifies the strength, tunes and timbre of the sounds. We must note though there are many sensory organs in human bodies, only the inner ear is protected by the most solid and firm bones. In fact, it lies in the cave part of the temporal bone. Of all the sensory organs, only the ears monitor the mechanical vibration, which needs a relatively fixed position. Otherwise, it is not able to monitor the sound. If the inner ear lies in the soft tissues, when the sound wave arrives, the inner ear will vibrate with it. Thus it can hear nothing. Now the inner ear lies in the firm bone and it can’t sense the air vibration. So it is imperative to reduce the density waves to the mechanical vibrations before sending them to the inner ear. And there is such a reduction device at the middle bottom of the external auditory canal, which is called the eardrum. The eardrum has enough space to receive the air pressure. It is thin enough to vibrate when the sound wave arrives. Meanwhile, the eardrum is strong enough to push the transmission device. The long handle of the middle ear cartilage is attached to its inner side, the tensile force of which makes the eardrum sink inside slightly to maintain certain tension. This allows the eardrum to accurately reduce the arriving sound waves into the mechanical vibrations. No matter what the temperature is, the vibration function is not impacted. After the sound waves are reduced into the mechanical vibration, some rigid objects are needed to transmit the vibration to the inner ear. Of all body tissues, the most rigid objects are the bones. However, the bones are heavy in general and covered by the soft tissues, which are not suitable for the audio vibration. However, in the tympanic cavity between the eardrum and the inner ear, there are three unique tiny bones with delicate forms measured in millimeters. They are almost completely exposed to the air in the tympanic cavity. These three tiny bones are connected by ligament and form a transmission chain in curve with excellent audio vibration function, able to transmit accurately the vibration of the eardrum to the inner ear. The transmission device can properly multiply the weak vibration and reduce the strong sound wave. All of these structures are the super designs required by the acoustics. There are even smarter designs in the hearing organ. For example, to make the eardrum vibrate freely following the arriving sound waves, the two sides of the eardrums must be exposed to the air. As a result, there is a tympanic cavity full of air in the middle ear. If the cavity is filled by liquids, just as other cavities are, the eardrum is not able to vibrate because the liquids can’t contract. Besides, the cavity does not only need to be filled with air, but also needs to be connected to the outside world with a proper passage, to balance the static air pressure in the cavity with the outside air pressure. Otherwise, the air in the cavity will gradually be absorbed, causing the eardrum to sink excessively or damaging it. When the outside air pressure changes, (such as in mountain climbing, diving, the airplane takeoff or climate change), it will arouse uncomfortable feelings or lead to hearing malfunction. But the middle ear can’t be opened to the outside world directly, just like the external auditory canal or nostrils can. The reason is that the direct exposure will make the arriving waving sound reach the two sides of the eardrums at the same time via the external auditory canal and middle ear passage, counteracting the sound pressure. Thus the eardrums will not vibrate at all, unable to produce the hearing. So it is a difficult problem to connect the middle ear and the outside world. However, the human body, with a smart design, solves this problem. The middle ear is opened at the two sides in the upper rear of the pharynx via a half-opened passage (the so-called auditory tube). The auditory tube is locked in common times and only opened temporarily when taking the swallowing actions, balancing the air pressure in the middle ear shortly. After the swallowing action is over, the auditory tube is locked again. Apart from eating, human body would regularly take swallowing action unconsciously, even when he or she is sleeping. Thus the air pressure in the middle ear can be adjusted from time to time and avoid the hearing from being hindered. Besides, when swallowing, the swallowing segment and the soft palate will definitely rise, blocking the mouth and nostrils against the outside world. So on the moment when the ear and throat are opened shortly, though the air in the throat can enter the middle ear, the sound waves from the outside world are blocked against the middle ear. As a result, the hearing will not be interfered and can receive the outside sound and voice. Only the throat in the body can meet the special demand of the hearing organs. The throat is originally designed as part of the digestion and breathing system, it does not belong to sensory system. However, it can cooperate so smartly with the hearing organs. We have to admire the extremely delicate body-wise design. The vestibule in the inner ear controls the balance of the body. In the vestibule there are 3 semicircular canals. When the body loses balance, the mutually-vertical semicircular canals produce the balance impulse, which triggers the corresponding reflection via the balance center in the medulla brain. Why are there 3 semicircular canals instead of 2 or 4? And why are they mutually vertical? The reason is apparent. Humans live in the 3-dimensional space. There are 3 mutually-vertical movement directions, namely, front and rear, left and right, upward and downward. So the 3 mutually-vertical semicircular canals can monitor the movements. The number less than 3 or more than 3 would be insufficient or redundant. We can see the delicate and smart structure and function, and the supreme wisdom in them. They can’t be the accidental results. As the most important perception of human bodies, vision provides more information than that provided by all other perceptions. The vision is the perception of image and space and the visual organs must have the most precise and accurate structure completely different from other sensory organs. As a result, in the perspective of the embryo-genesis or neuro-anatomy, the main structure of the eyes is not just the common receptor. Instead, it is part of the cerebral cortex. The so-called optic nerves are completely different from other cerebrospinal nerves. In essence, the optic nerves are inner structure in the brain, transmitting the most sophisticated visual information. The eyes function like a precise camera. The retina composed of the photoreceptor cells is just like the films. The crystal, iris and the cornea works like the lens, diaphragm and the filter. However, the precision and automatic adjustment of the eyes is no match of any high-quality cameras. For example, the lens in modern cameras is made of special glass or hard plastics with fixed focal distance. When taking pictures for the landscapes with different distances, the lens position must be adjusted. Otherwise, the image will not be produced on the films. But this is an awkward approach. Imagine when the eyes are watching landscapes with different distances, the eyeballs have to protrude or recess alternatively, which looks ugly or damages the health and function of the eyes. However, the crystal in the eyes are transparent and elastic colloid, which can adjust automatically the focal distance in accordance with the distance of the objects to make sure all the objects can be imaged on the retina, without changing the position of the crystal. Such automatic adjustment function can’t be fulfilled by any camera. If we observe the eyes in the perspective of modern TV technologies, the eyes are more like the television camera, but thousands of times more precise than the television cameras. The TV image is composed of dense pixels (the mixed dark or brilliant light spots). Till now, the best TV image only contains less than 1 million pixels. However, the human eyes can produce image containing 20 billion pixels. Only the eyes can see the details of objects. No matter how clear or accurate the image is, it is still a plan view image. Then how the eyes can provide the dimensional image is a key issue of providing the complete vision. But it is not an easy task at all to convert the flat view image into the dimensional one. For a long time, people have been puzzled by how the conversion is done. Of course, we later knew the smartness and delicacy of the human body shown here. The two eyes send the flat view images they receive into the same nerve center, which contrasts and analyzes the images and judges the distance of the objects based on the slight visual angle difference caused by the position difference of the two eyes. Thus the dimensional image is produced. That’s why people have to have 2 eyes to establish the complete vision. Based on such understanding, humans have invented the dimensional movies. But the above is only the external process of how vision is formed. People have little knowledge about how the visual center works inside. We have to admit that the mysteries of human body structure and functions are beyond the intelligence of mankind. As a matter of fact, the distance judgment with two eyes is the triangulation technique which is precise and automatic. The accurate measurement needs two premises. First, the two eyes must focus on one object at the same time. Otherwise, there will be double vision, which means the one objects will be seen as two objects. As a result, the complete neuromuscular system is equipped on the outside of the eyeballs, making the eyeballs the most flexible and accurate organs. The ciliary muscle inside the eyeballs can adjust the conversion rate of the crystal at any time to focus on the object and form the clearest image. Second, the retina of the two eyes must be strictly symmetrical. Otherwise, the image contrast of the two eyes will become impossible. Furthermore, the images received by the two eyes must be transmitted at the same time to the same visual center for contrast and analysis. There are two visual nerves on the left and right side of the brain, supervising respectively the two sides of the vision field. The objects in the left of the vision field are reflected, via the eye pupil, on the retina of the right sides of the two eyeballs. The corresponding images in the two eyes, via the visual nerve, are sent to the visual center on the right side of the brain. The objects in the right of the vision field are reflected, via the eye pupil, on the retina of the left sides of the two eyeballs. The corresponding images in the two eyes, via the visual nerve, are sent to the visual center on the left side of the brain. The two visual nerves contrast the corresponding images coming from the eyes and produce the full-field dimensional images. The pairs of human parts are often symmetrical on the outside. Only the retinas are symmetrical in the same position. Namely, the left side is symmetrical to the left side and the right side symmetrical to the right side of the two retinas. That’s because the light rays come in directly. Otherwise, the visual centers can’t receive the corresponding images or get the coordinated vision. The structural symmetry of the retinas in the two eyes must be accurate to the utmost. Otherwise the images in the two eyes will not comply with each other and the ambiguity will occur. Besides, the corresponding images from the two eyes must be sent to the same visual center. Thus the optic nerves must have the corresponding special structure to realize the cross-transmission of the images. This is the unique “chiasma opticum” unique to the optic nerves. This function is not possessed by any other nervus cerebrospinalis because they don’t handle the information of images and space. If we use the computers and monitoring cameras to simulate the process of human vision, the input network of the computers has to have a similar chiasm. No other design can do it. Judging from the above, we can find all the human organs, structures and functions have shown the supreme wisdom. And these are the ways they should be. Some people think that human body has some useless organs, such as the thymus gland, appendix, tonsil and coccyx, in order to prove the human structure is imperfect. Some people used to believe that these organs were not that useful. Instead, they tend to arouse diseases such as appendicitis and tonsillitis. If these organs are cut off, it will not have much impact on the human body. In the past, people used to classify spleens and other organs into the useless organs. There was a list of useless organs in the past which included over 100 organs. But the list was long not because these organs are useless but because people at the time were ignorant. As more we know about the organs, most of them have been deleted from the list and there are only a few still remain in the list. Some people think that these organs are the leftovers of human evolution, which are called the “waste back organs” and use them as one of the evidences of evolution theory. This is a complete misunderstanding. Till not we have understood there are no such things as the “obsolescent organs”. It is simply the lack of knowledge of these organs. Take the thymus gland as an example. In the past, people didn’t know its function. Now we have understood it is the warning device of the human body against the inner and outer infection sources. As a result, the thymus gland contributes a lot to the human health. Another example, if the coccyx fractures, it will cause serious functional disturbance. So the coccyx is also an imperative part of human body. Some people might say these organs can trigger diseases. Then all human organs can lead to diseases, even brain and heart are of no exceptions. Why don’t we say the brain and heart are useless? Some organs, though they are not as important as the heart and brain and wouldn’t endanger life immediately when eliminated, are also useful. Just like if the hands or feet are lost, though not fatal, the human body is handicapped. After knowing the supreme and smart design of human structures and functions, you might want to know how they come into being. Who has designed and made such sophisticated and precise organs? We cannot avoid the question. Any truth-seeking person would admit that the extremely delicate organs and structures are not produced naturally or accidently. For instance, if someone gives you a top-class camera and tells you it is a natural one without designer or manufacturer; do you think his words are scientific and acceptable? The human body, which is even more delicate, accurate, flexible and practical, must have a supremely wise and capable creator behind it. On a spring Sunday morning in 1954, I saw a young stranger sitting in the chamber of a Church. When we started to talk, I knew that he was a student at Peking Union Medical College. He said to me, “Since I studied anatomy and physiology, I have felt the human body is really a wonder. It is not possible to understand it unless we interpret the wonder with a God.” He came to the church to seek an answer. The wonder of this young man is not the only example. I remember that when I was studying anatomy and physiology in school, some students surrounded our physiology teacher and kept asking him questions. Finally, the teacher, annoyed by so many questions, told us, “Please stop the questions because they will lead to religion in the end.” Because of the special political background at the time, the teacher’s warning silenced all the students. But his warning impressed me deeply and remained in my memory till today. My thought at that time was that the teacher was right because all the things were created by the God. Though he was not a Christian, he had to admit the truth and the further probe into the human body mysteries (part of the Universe mysteries) would definitely lead to the existence of the God (religion) in the end. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain the wonders of the human body. The Bible says, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”(1:20 Romans 1) Was the teacher demonstrating his scientific spirit? No. The scientific spirit means the truth and boldly pursuit of the truth without avoiding any controversy. The teacher knew very clearly that one more step forward would lead to the God but he dared not move onto the path towards the truth. Instead, he asked his students to stop there. It has shown that many people refuse to admit the existence of God not because they don’t have the scientific spirit but because of the social pressure, individual consideration for their interest and prospect, just as what the teacher was doing at that time. Nevertheless, the existence of the God would not change. And we cannot live in such considerations for the reality forever. One day in the future, when we have to face the ultimate choice, we will have to face the supreme master who has created the Universe and the human beings. The Bible says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” If we don’t accept the immoral God now, we have no excuse when it comes to the day. When we talk about the origin of all things in the Universe, some young people often ask, “You have said the humans are created by the God, then who has created the God?” The analogizing logics seem to be reasonable. But it is not true. Because the God is the creator instead of the created, you can’t link these together. The table is made by the carpenter. But you cannot say the carpenter and the table have the same origin. Human benings’ understand of the God is only limited to the enlightenment from the God to the humans. Otherwise, humans cannot understand the mystery of God’s nature. The God says, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” (Exodus 3:14 and Revelation 1:8). For the God, there is only the eternality, and there is no time, beginning or ending. Even in the scientific field, too many analogizing questions won’t be tolerated. One scholar was talking about the belief in the God with his students. One student asked suddenly and proudly, “Where does the Universe come from?” The scholar answers, “The Universe is created by the God.” The student continued to ask, “Who has created the God?” The scholar answered, “The God is Alpha and Omega and I am not created.” The student said, “This is not scientific at all.” The scholar then asked the student, “Where does the Earth come from?” The student answered, “The Earth comes from the Sun.” The scholar continued to ask, “Where does the Sun come from?” The student answered, “The Sun comes from the Galaxy.” The scholar asked again, “Where does the Galaxy come from?” The student hesitated and answered, “The Galaxy comes from the nature.” The scholar continued to ask, “Where does the nature come from?” The student couldn’t answer this question and said in anger, “The nature is the nature and comes naturally.” The scholar then laughed, “This is not scientific at all.” So we can conclude that the “scientific” answers are not scientific. Another example is that the sciences tell people that substances are composed of the molecules. Then what are the molecules composed of? The molecules are composed of the atoms. But what are the atoms composed of? They are composed of the electrons, protons and neutrons. Then what are the electrons, protons and neutrons composed of? Till now, we cannot find an answer to this question. The atomic physicists are now working hard to find the “elementary particle”. They are called “basic particles” because the scientists don’t expect the substances to be divided limitlessly. So they believe that one day they will find the ultimate component, the “elementary particle”. Of course, the scientists will not ask such question of “what is something composed of?” This is the extremity and everything ends here. The materialists claim that the Universe is limitless and that the materials are eternal and can be divided limitlessly, etc. They are simply the groundless conclusion of the philosophers. And there is an extremity in their logics, the materials. They say that the materials are Alpha and Omega but can’t tell where the materials come from. Now let’s have a look at the math. All numbers come from 1, followed by 2, 3…. You can’t ask what the 1 is because 1 is 1, and not other numbers. It means that 1 is the origin of all numbers. The Greatest Creator has created all things and the Greatest Creator is the origin of them. It will be meaningless to ask where the Greatest Creator comes from.
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2024.05.19 10:57 jenajiejing The Secret of Human Bodies – Examples Proving the Existence of the Greatest Creator

The Secret of Human Bodies – Examples Proving the Existence of the Greatest Creator

Xue Feng

https://preview.redd.it/inye2mb6lc1d1.jpg?width=606&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=91a7161a35c1824c81442d04ca1efb17d2cbda20
Though the modern medicine has limited knowledge of human bodies, what we have known is enough for us to admire the excellent human body structure and functions. Each system and organ in the human body is designed by the Greatest Creator. Even those trivial body parts have great functions. For example, there are several types of hairs on human bodies with distinct forms and functions. The head hair is designed to protect and beautify the head. It can grow long. According to the Bible, “But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.” The eyebrows can divert sweat and rain, preventing them into the eyes. That’s why they are lined above the two eyes. Eyelashes can prevent the dust and other things from entering the eyes. That’s why they are lined on the sides of the eyelids. Also they stand forward in a special curve because it wouldn’t hinder the eyesight or pierce into the eyes when closing the eyes. If the eyebrows and eyelashes are too long, they will hinder the eyesight. That’s why they wouldn’t grow as long as the hair or beards. The nasal hairs can filter the inhaled air. That’s why they grow inside the nostril and stand sideways and outwards. If they stand inwards, the other things will find it easy to come into the nostrils and difficult to go out. The armpit hairs can prevent the partial friction and help the sweat evaporate. Without the armpit hairs, we have to raise our arms. Otherwise the skin under the arm will become inflamed because of the friction and moist. Required by the function, the armpit hairs cannot grow as long as the head hairs, or as short as the eyebrows. Besides, they are soft and curving. If they are rigid and coarse, they will hurt the skin. And cilia grow on the intestinal epithelium. The cilia grow downward and vibrate together. The vibrating waves move downward from upward to help move down the intestinal contents. Cilia also grow on the airway and bronchus epithelium. However, they grow and vibrate in the opposite direction as those on the intestinal epithelium. Only in this way can they move the sputum upward to the throat and spit them. If they grow downward, the airway and bronchus would get stuck by the sputum and the humans would die from it.
Now I wish to take two simple reflections of human bodies as an example. When foreign matters enter the nostrils or airways, they will arouse two protective reflections, sneeze or cough, which is designed to repel the foreign matters. But due to different situation, these two reflections differ in their approaches. The foreign matters in the nostrils are not urgent so the sneeze reflection can be prepared in a composed way. First, inhale slowly; open the mouth, and the soft place move upward to block the nostril. Then breathe in enough air through the mouth, and the pleural body contracts sharply to emit the air in the lungs quickly. When the emitting reaches its peak, the tongue rises abruptly to block the mouth to repel the air to go out swiftly through the nostrils. In this way the foreign matters in the nostrils are driven out. However, if the foreign matters enter the airway, it is an emergent situation. If the foreign matters are not driven out timely, the life will be put at risk. The inhaling is strictly forbidden because it will make the foreign matters go deeper and cause suffocation. So the cough doesn’t include the inhaling. Instead, the glottis closes immediately. At the same time, the pleural body contracts suddenly and adds the lung air pressure extremely. When the pressure is at its strongest point, the glottis opens suddenly and the lung air sends out explosively, compelling the foreign matters in the airway to the throat via the glottis. At this time, the soft place rises to block the nostrils. The foreign matters are spit out through the mouth. If the tongue and the soft place perform the same way as in the sneeze, the foreign matters emitted out of the airway will enter the nostrils, causing another trouble. In these two reflections, the body parts must cooperate closely. Any failure in the coordination will lead to the failure of the reflection, causing serious consequences. So these activities are not done freely. Instead, they are done as required by their functions and set procedures. These procedures are not learnt or practices. The program has been rooted in our brain nerve structure (nerve nucleus) when we are born. Otherwise, the babies will not survive.
The advanced computer science has made it possible to simulate these activities. However, the simulation requires 3 conditions: 1. Device simulating the inhale and exhaling of human mouth, nose, throat, pleural and the sensing device; 2. The central control equipment simulating nerves and body system (compute, input and output devices). The above two devices are hardware. And software is also needed, namely (3). A program composed in strict compliance with the requirements to control the performance and procedure of each link, and arrange them in perfect coordination. All the three conditions are imperative. Otherwise the reflections can’t be realized. The program itself is not a substance structure. Instead, it is a smart use and spiritual result. There will be no such a thing as the program without the smart use. So we have to ask, the program is composed by the humans and stored in the computer, how about the control program in the human brain. Is it also composed by someone and stored in the human brain? Sneeze and cough are the simplest examples. There are numerous automatically controlled physical, bio-chemical and pathological human body activities, which are even more sophisticated than reflections of cough. Even today, some of them remain mysteries to us. So how are these sophisticated control programs composed? And where do they come from?
Now let’s have a look at the sensory organs on human bodies. Why do we have two ears? The reason is that one ear is not able to identify the direction. With the ears lying on two sides of the head, the sound reaches the ears in sequence of time. Based on the slight receiving time difference, the brain can judge where the sound comes from. The auricle is the most outward component of the ear. It can introduce the sound into the external auditory canal. Within the auricle there is a thin layer of cartilage helping to retain the form of auricle, giving it wonderful elasticity and protecting it from the clashes. Without the cartilage, the auricle is just two useless pieces of skin hanging on the head side. If the thin bone is inside the auricle, it will break easily even if when you are sleeping on your side, damaging the auricle. There is fuzz on the outer segment of the external auditory canal preventing the sand and dust. The inner segment secretes cerumen to prevent insects. When foreign matters enter the external auditory canal, it will trigger head shaking, instead of sneeze or cough, to get the matters out. Because the external auditory canal is a blind passage, it is impossible to repel the foreign matters with air.
Why don’t the foreign matters in the nostrils arouse the head-shaking reflection to repel them? That’s because the nostrils of humans almost lie in the middle of the head. The shaking is not able to produce enough centrifugal force. Besides, the human nostrils face downward and it is improper to repel the foreign matters by shaking the head. The sound is produced by the mechanical vibration of objects and is transmitted by the air fluctuation, or the sound waves. The human ears are actually working like a precise mechanical vibration monitor. In the inner ear there are a number of keyboards with different sizes, producing nerve impulses produced by echoing with corresponding frequencies. The brain, in accordance with the features of these impulses, identifies the strength, tunes and timbre of the sounds.
We must note though there are many sensory organs in human bodies, only the inner ear is protected by the most solid and firm bones. In fact, it lies in the cave part of the temporal bone. Of all the sensory organs, only the ears monitor the mechanical vibration, which needs a relatively fixed position. Otherwise, it is not able to monitor the sound. If the inner ear lies in the soft tissues, when the sound wave arrives, the inner ear will vibrate with it. Thus it can hear nothing. Now the inner ear lies in the firm bone and it can’t sense the air vibration. So it is imperative to reduce the density waves to the mechanical vibrations before sending them to the inner ear. And there is such a reduction device at the middle bottom of the external auditory canal, which is called the eardrum. The eardrum has enough space to receive the air pressure. It is thin enough to vibrate when the sound wave arrives. Meanwhile, the eardrum is strong enough to push the transmission device. The long handle of the middle ear cartilage is attached to its inner side, the tensile force of which makes the eardrum sink inside slightly to maintain certain tension. This allows the eardrum to accurately reduce the arriving sound waves into the mechanical vibrations. No matter what the temperature is, the vibration function is not impacted. After the sound waves are reduced into the mechanical vibration, some rigid objects are needed to transmit the vibration to the inner ear. Of all body tissues, the most rigid objects are the bones. However, the bones are heavy in general and covered by the soft tissues, which are not suitable for the audio vibration. However, in the tympanic cavity between the eardrum and the inner ear, there are three unique tiny bones with delicate forms measured in millimeters. They are almost completely exposed to the air in the tympanic cavity. These three tiny bones are connected by ligament and form a transmission chain in curve with excellent audio vibration function, able to transmit accurately the vibration of the eardrum to the inner ear. The transmission device can properly multiply the weak vibration and reduce the strong sound wave. All of these structures are the super designs required by the acoustics.
There are even smarter designs in the hearing organ. For example, to make the eardrum vibrate freely following the arriving sound waves, the two sides of the eardrums must be exposed to the air. As a result, there is a tympanic cavity full of air in the middle ear. If the cavity is filled by liquids, just as other cavities are, the eardrum is not able to vibrate because the liquids can’t contract. Besides, the cavity does not only need to be filled with air, but also needs to be connected to the outside world with a proper passage, to balance the static air pressure in the cavity with the outside air pressure. Otherwise, the air in the cavity will gradually be absorbed, causing the eardrum to sink excessively or damaging it. When the outside air pressure changes, (such as in mountain climbing, diving, the airplane takeoff or climate change), it will arouse uncomfortable feelings or lead to hearing malfunction. But the middle ear can’t be opened to the outside world directly, just like the external auditory canal or nostrils can. The reason is that the direct exposure will make the arriving waving sound reach the two sides of the eardrums at the same time via the external auditory canal and middle ear passage, counteracting the sound pressure. Thus the eardrums will not vibrate at all, unable to produce the hearing. So it is a difficult problem to connect the middle ear and the outside world. However, the human body, with a smart design, solves this problem. The middle ear is opened at the two sides in the upper rear of the pharynx via a half-opened passage (the so-called auditory tube). The auditory tube is locked in common times and only opened temporarily when taking the swallowing actions, balancing the air pressure in the middle ear shortly. After the swallowing action is over, the auditory tube is locked again. Apart from eating, human body would regularly take swallowing action unconsciously, even when he or she is sleeping. Thus the air pressure in the middle ear can be adjusted from time to time and avoid the hearing from being hindered. Besides, when swallowing, the swallowing segment and the soft palate will definitely rise, blocking the mouth and nostrils against the outside world. So on the moment when the ear and throat are opened shortly, though the air in the throat can enter the middle ear, the sound waves from the outside world are blocked against the middle ear. As a result, the hearing will not be interfered and can receive the outside sound and voice. Only the throat in the body can meet the special demand of the hearing organs. The throat is originally designed as part of the digestion and breathing system, it does not belong to sensory system. However, it can cooperate so smartly with the hearing organs. We have to admire the extremely delicate body-wise design.
The vestibule in the inner ear controls the balance of the body. In the vestibule there are 3 semicircular canals. When the body loses balance, the mutually-vertical semicircular canals produce the balance impulse, which triggers the corresponding reflection via the balance center in the medulla brain. Why are there 3 semicircular canals instead of 2 or 4? And why are they mutually vertical? The reason is apparent. Humans live in the 3-dimensional space. There are 3 mutually-vertical movement directions, namely, front and rear, left and right, upward and downward. So the 3 mutually-vertical semicircular canals can monitor the movements. The number less than 3 or more than 3 would be insufficient or redundant. We can see the delicate and smart structure and function, and the supreme wisdom in them. They can’t be the accidental results.
As the most important perception of human bodies, vision provides more information than that provided by all other perceptions. The vision is the perception of image and space and the visual organs must have the most precise and accurate structure completely different from other sensory organs. As a result, in the perspective of the embryo-genesis or neuro-anatomy, the main structure of the eyes is not just the common receptor. Instead, it is part of the cerebral cortex. The so-called optic nerves are completely different from other cerebrospinal nerves. In essence, the optic nerves are inner structure in the brain, transmitting the most sophisticated visual information. The eyes function like a precise camera. The retina composed of the photoreceptor cells is just like the films. The crystal, iris and the cornea works like the lens, diaphragm and the filter. However, the precision and automatic adjustment of the eyes is no match of any high-quality cameras. For example, the lens in modern cameras is made of special glass or hard plastics with fixed focal distance. When taking pictures for the landscapes with different distances, the lens position must be adjusted. Otherwise, the image will not be produced on the films. But this is an awkward approach. Imagine when the eyes are watching landscapes with different distances, the eyeballs have to protrude or recess alternatively, which looks ugly or damages the health and function of the eyes. However, the crystal in the eyes are transparent and elastic colloid, which can adjust automatically the focal distance in accordance with the distance of the objects to make sure all the objects can be imaged on the retina, without changing the position of the crystal. Such automatic adjustment function can’t be fulfilled by any camera.
If we observe the eyes in the perspective of modern TV technologies, the eyes are more like the television camera, but thousands of times more precise than the television cameras. The TV image is composed of dense pixels (the mixed dark or brilliant light spots). Till now, the best TV image only contains less than 1 million pixels. However, the human eyes can produce image containing 20 billion pixels. Only the eyes can see the details of objects. No matter how clear or accurate the image is, it is still a plan view image. Then how the eyes can provide the dimensional image is a key issue of providing the complete vision. But it is not an easy task at all to convert the flat view image into the dimensional one. For a long time, people have been puzzled by how the conversion is done. Of course, we later knew the smartness and delicacy of the human body shown here. The two eyes send the flat view images they receive into the same nerve center, which contrasts and analyzes the images and judges the distance of the objects based on the slight visual angle difference caused by the position difference of the two eyes. Thus the dimensional image is produced. That’s why people have to have 2 eyes to establish the complete vision. Based on such understanding, humans have invented the dimensional movies. But the above is only the external process of how vision is formed. People have little knowledge about how the visual center works inside. We have to admit that the mysteries of human body structure and functions are beyond the intelligence of mankind.
As a matter of fact, the distance judgment with two eyes is the triangulation technique which is precise and automatic. The accurate measurement needs two premises. First, the two eyes must focus on one object at the same time. Otherwise, there will be double vision, which means the one objects will be seen as two objects. As a result, the complete neuromuscular system is equipped on the outside of the eyeballs, making the eyeballs the most flexible and accurate organs. The ciliary muscle inside the eyeballs can adjust the conversion rate of the crystal at any time to focus on the object and form the clearest image. Second, the retina of the two eyes must be strictly symmetrical. Otherwise, the image contrast of the two eyes will become impossible. Furthermore, the images received by the two eyes must be transmitted at the same time to the same visual center for contrast and analysis. There are two visual nerves on the left and right side of the brain, supervising respectively the two sides of the vision field. The objects in the left of the vision field are reflected, via the eye pupil, on the retina of the right sides of the two eyeballs. The corresponding images in the two eyes, via the visual nerve, are sent to the visual center on the right side of the brain. The objects in the right of the vision field are reflected, via the eye pupil, on the retina of the left sides of the two eyeballs. The corresponding images in the two eyes, via the visual nerve, are sent to the visual center on the left side of the brain. The two visual nerves contrast the corresponding images coming from the eyes and produce the full-field dimensional images. The pairs of human parts are often symmetrical on the outside. Only the retinas are symmetrical in the same position. Namely, the left side is symmetrical to the left side and the right side symmetrical to the right side of the two retinas. That’s because the light rays come in directly. Otherwise, the visual centers can’t receive the corresponding images or get the coordinated vision. The structural symmetry of the retinas in the two eyes must be accurate to the utmost. Otherwise the images in the two eyes will not comply with each other and the ambiguity will occur. Besides, the corresponding images from the two eyes must be sent to the same visual center. Thus the optic nerves must have the corresponding special structure to realize the cross-transmission of the images. This is the unique “chiasma opticum” unique to the optic nerves. This function is not possessed by any other nervus cerebrospinalis because they don’t handle the information of images and space. If we use the computers and monitoring cameras to simulate the process of human vision, the input network of the computers has to have a similar chiasm. No other design can do it. Judging from the above, we can find all the human organs, structures and functions have shown the supreme wisdom. And these are the ways they should be.
Some people think that human body has some useless organs, such as the thymus gland, appendix, tonsil and coccyx, in order to prove the human structure is imperfect. Some people used to believe that these organs were not that useful. Instead, they tend to arouse diseases such as appendicitis and tonsillitis. If these organs are cut off, it will not have much impact on the human body. In the past, people used to classify spleens and other organs into the useless organs. There was a list of useless organs in the past which included over 100 organs. But the list was long not because these organs are useless but because people at the time were ignorant. As more we know about the organs, most of them have been deleted from the list and there are only a few still remain in the list. Some people think that these organs are the leftovers of human evolution, which are called the “waste back organs” and use them as one of the evidences of evolution theory. This is a complete misunderstanding. Till not we have understood there are no such things as the “obsolescent organs”. It is simply the lack of knowledge of these organs. Take the thymus gland as an example. In the past, people didn’t know its function. Now we have understood it is the warning device of the human body against the inner and outer infection sources. As a result, the thymus gland contributes a lot to the human health. Another example, if the coccyx fractures, it will cause serious functional disturbance. So the coccyx is also an imperative part of human body. Some people might say these organs can trigger diseases. Then all human organs can lead to diseases, even brain and heart are of no exceptions. Why don’t we say the brain and heart are useless? Some organs, though they are not as important as the heart and brain and wouldn’t endanger life immediately when eliminated, are also useful. Just like if the hands or feet are lost, though not fatal, the human body is handicapped.
After knowing the supreme and smart design of human structures and functions, you might want to know how they come into being. Who has designed and made such sophisticated and precise organs? We cannot avoid the question. Any truth-seeking person would admit that the extremely delicate organs and structures are not produced naturally or accidently. For instance, if someone gives you a top-class camera and tells you it is a natural one without designer or manufacturer; do you think his words are scientific and acceptable? The human body, which is even more delicate, accurate, flexible and practical, must have a supremely wise and capable creator behind it.
On a spring Sunday morning in 1954, I saw a young stranger sitting in the chamber of a Church. When we started to talk, I knew that he was a student at Peking Union Medical College. He said to me, “Since I studied anatomy and physiology, I have felt the human body is really a wonder. It is not possible to understand it unless we interpret the wonder with a God.” He came to the church to seek an answer. The wonder of this young man is not the only example. I remember that when I was studying anatomy and physiology in school, some students surrounded our physiology teacher and kept asking him questions. Finally, the teacher, annoyed by so many questions, told us, “Please stop the questions because they will lead to religion in the end.” Because of the special political background at the time, the teacher’s warning silenced all the students. But his warning impressed me deeply and remained in my memory till today. My thought at that time was that the teacher was right because all the things were created by the God. Though he was not a Christian, he had to admit the truth and the further probe into the human body mysteries (part of the Universe mysteries) would definitely lead to the existence of the God (religion) in the end. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain the wonders of the human body. The Bible says, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”(1:20 Romans 1) Was the teacher demonstrating his scientific spirit? No. The scientific spirit means the truth and boldly pursuit of the truth without avoiding any controversy. The teacher knew very clearly that one more step forward would lead to the God but he dared not move onto the path towards the truth. Instead, he asked his students to stop there. It has shown that many people refuse to admit the existence of God not because they don’t have the scientific spirit but because of the social pressure, individual consideration for their interest and prospect, just as what the teacher was doing at that time. Nevertheless, the existence of the God would not change. And we cannot live in such considerations for the reality forever. One day in the future, when we have to face the ultimate choice, we will have to face the supreme master who has created the Universe and the human beings. The Bible says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” If we don’t accept the immoral God now, we have no excuse when it comes to the day.
When we talk about the origin of all things in the Universe, some young people often ask, “You have said the humans are created by the God, then who has created the God?” The analogizing logics seem to be reasonable. But it is not true. Because the God is the creator instead of the created, you can’t link these together. The table is made by the carpenter. But you cannot say the carpenter and the table have the same origin. Human benings’ understand of the God is only limited to the enlightenment from the God to the humans. Otherwise, humans cannot understand the mystery of God’s nature. The God says, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” (Exodus 3:14 and Revelation 1:8). For the God, there is only the eternality, and there is no time, beginning or ending.
Even in the scientific field, too many analogizing questions won’t be tolerated. One scholar was talking about the belief in the God with his students. One student asked suddenly and proudly, “Where does the Universe come from?” The scholar answers, “The Universe is created by the God.” The student continued to ask, “Who has created the God?” The scholar answered, “The God is Alpha and Omega and I am not created.” The student said, “This is not scientific at all.” The scholar then asked the student, “Where does the Earth come from?” The student answered, “The Earth comes from the Sun.” The scholar continued to ask, “Where does the Sun come from?” The student answered, “The Sun comes from the Galaxy.” The scholar asked again, “Where does the Galaxy come from?” The student hesitated and answered, “The Galaxy comes from the nature.” The scholar continued to ask, “Where does the nature come from?” The student couldn’t answer this question and said in anger, “The nature is the nature and comes naturally.” The scholar then laughed, “This is not scientific at all.” So we can conclude that the “scientific” answers are not scientific. Another example is that the sciences tell people that substances are composed of the molecules. Then what are the molecules composed of? The molecules are composed of the atoms. But what are the atoms composed of? They are composed of the electrons, protons and neutrons. Then what are the electrons, protons and neutrons composed of? Till now, we cannot find an answer to this question. The atomic physicists are now working hard to find the “elementary particle”. They are called “basic particles” because the scientists don’t expect the substances to be divided limitlessly. So they believe that one day they will find the ultimate component, the “elementary particle”. Of course, the scientists will not ask such question of “what is something composed of?” This is the extremity and everything ends here. The materialists claim that the Universe is limitless and that the materials are eternal and can be divided limitlessly, etc. They are simply the groundless conclusion of the philosophers. And there is an extremity in their logics, the materials. They say that the materials are Alpha and Omega but can’t tell where the materials come from. Now let’s have a look at the math. All numbers come from 1, followed by 2, 3…. You can’t ask what the 1 is because 1 is 1, and not other numbers. It means that 1 is the origin of all numbers. The Greatest Creator has created all things and the Greatest Creator is the origin of them. It will be meaningless to ask where the Greatest Creator comes from.
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2024.05.19 10:01 MarvSee Aizen Power Male Review

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Where To Buy Aizen Power Supplement?

Aizen Power Supplement is available for purchase through the official website and select online retailers. It is recommended to buy directly from the manufacturer to ensure authenticity and quality.
When looking to buy Aizen Power Supplement, consumers can easily find it on the manufacturer's website, where they will have access to the latest offers and promotions. Authorized sellers on popular online platforms like Amazon also carry the product, ensuring convenience and quick delivery. By purchasing from these reliable sources, customers can avoid any risks associated with counterfeit products. The availability of Aizen Power Supplement in official channels guarantees that consumers get the genuine formula, formulated using cutting-edge technology and high-quality ingredients.

Is There A Money-Back Guarantee For Aizen Power Supplement?

Yes, Aizen Power Supplement offers a money-back guarantee to customers who are not satisfied with the product. The guarantee reflects the manufacturer's confidence in the supplement's quality and effectiveness.
This guarantee serves as a safety net for users who might be hesitant to try a new supplement. If a customer finds that the Aizen Power Supplement does not meet their expectations, they can request a refund within a specified duration.
The money-back guarantee policy usually requires customers to return the unused portion of the product. It's important to note that certain conditions may apply, such as the need to provide proof of purchase or comply with the return process outlined by Aizen Power.

Final Verdict: Is Aizen Power Supplement Worth Trying?

Aizen Power Supplement offers a comprehensive solution to various health concerns and goals. Its unique formula, positive customer reviews, and money-back guarantee make it a promising option for individuals looking to enhance their well-being.
The blend of natural ingredients in Aizen Power Supplement is specifically designed to support overall health and vitality. Many users have praised the supplement for its noticeable energy boost and improved focus. The company behind Aizen Power takes pride in their dedication to quality and customer satisfaction, evident in the high ratings and testimonials. With today's hectic lifestyle, having a reliable health supplement like Aizen Power can be a game-changer in maintaining optimal wellness. The efficiency and reliability of Aizen Power make it stand out among the sea of supplements available on the market.

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Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is Aizen Power Supplement?

Aizen Power Supplement is a dietary supplement designed to support men's sexual health and performance. It is made with natural ingredients that work together to enhance testosterone levels, improve libido, and combat common sexual health issues.

2. How does Aizen Power Supplement work?

Aizen Power Supplement works by targeting the root causes of sexual health problems in men. Its powerful blend of ingredients helps to increase blood flow, boost testosterone production, and improve overall sexual function and stamina.

3. What ingredients are included in Aizen Power Supplement?

Aizen Power Supplement contains a blend of natural ingredients such as Tongkat Ali, Maca Root, L-Arginine, and Horny Goat Weed. These ingredients have been used for centuries to improve sexual health and performance in men.

4. Are there any side effects of taking Aizen Power Supplement?

Aizen Power Supplement is made with all-natural ingredients and is generally safe for consumption. However, as with any supplement, it is always recommended to consult with a healthcare professional before use, especially if you have any pre-existing medical conditions.

5. How long does it take to see results from Aizen Power Supplement?

Results may vary from person to person, but many users report seeing noticeable improvements in their sexual health within the first few weeks of taking Aizen Power Supplement regularly. It is important to follow the recommended dosage and use the product consistently for best results.

6. Can I purchase Aizen Power Supplement without a prescription?

Yes, Aizen Power Supplement is available for purchase without a prescription. However, it is always recommended to consult with a healthcare professional before trying any new supplement, especially if you have any underlying health conditions.

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2024.05.19 09:49 ConstantVegetable249 Ensuring Safety with Emergency Showers in Hazardous Work Environments

Ensuring Safety with Emergency Showers in Hazardous Work Environments
https://preview.redd.it/55qoxsv19c1d1.jpg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3fcc7d6c52d1bdaf8a94372b56147b7bf41c97a2
When working with hazardous materials, adhering to safety protocols is essential. Emergency showers are crucial safety devices that provide immediate decontamination in the event of chemical exposure. Beyond just installing them, it’s vital to understand their usage and upkeep to ensure they function effectively in emergencies. This comprehensive guide covers the importance of emergency drench showers. When working with hazardous materials, adhering to safety protocols is essential. Emergency showers are crucial safety devices that provide immediate decontamination in the event of chemical exposure. Beyond just installing them, it’s vital to understand their usage and upkeep to ensure they function effectively in emergencies. This comprehensive guide covers the importance of emergency drench showers, their proper use, and maintenance practices to keep them operational.

Understanding Emergency Safety Showers

Emergency safety showers are specifically designed to drench individuals who have come into contact with hazardous chemicals. They are commonly found in environments like laboratories, factories, and other industrial settings where dangerous substances are present. These showers quickly wash away contaminants from the skin, eyes, and clothing, significantly reducing the risk of injury and preventing further complications.

Key Components of Emergency Safety Showers

Before learning how to use an emergency safety shower, it’s important to understand its main components:
  1. Shower Head: Features a circular nozzle that disperses a large volume of water over the entire body.
  2. Activation Mechanism: Typically includes a pull handle or a push button that activates the water flow when engaged.
  3. Water Supply: A reliable water source is essential. This can be a direct water line or a reservoir tank.
  4. Drainage System: Ensures that the water drains away quickly to prevent slipping hazards.

Using Emergency Safety Showers

Knowing how to properly use an emergency shower is crucial during a chemical spill or exposure. Follow these steps for effective use:
  1. Immediate Activation: If exposed to a toxic chemical, immediately activate the nearest emergency shower by pulling the handle or pressing the push button.
  2. Remove Contaminated Clothing: Quickly remove any clothing contaminated with chemicals to prevent further skin absorption.
  3. Stand Under the Water Flow: Remain under the shower for at least 15 minutes, ensuring thorough washing of the face, eyes, limbs, and body.
  4. Use Eyewash Stations for Eye Exposure: If chemicals contact the eyes, use the eyewash station to flush them thoroughly, preventing potential damage.
  5. Seek Medical Attention: After decontamination, seek medical help, even if you feel fine, as some chemical exposures can cause delayed reactions.

Maintaining Emergency Safety Showers

To ensure emergency showers are always ready for use, regular maintenance is essential. Key maintenance steps include:
  1. Inspecting and Testing: Regularly check that all components are functioning correctly, including the activation mechanism, water flow, and drainage system.
  2. Cleaning and Decontamination: Periodically clean the showers to remove dirt and bacteria that can reduce their effectiveness. Use mild detergents to avoid damaging the equipment.
  3. Controlling the Temperature: Ensure the water temperature is comfortable, as extremely hot or cold water can deter usage during emergencies.
  4. Education and Training: Train employees on the proper use of emergency showers and the location of these devices within the facility.
  5. Compliance with Regulations: Adhere to relevant safety regulations, such as those from OSHA, ensuring that emergency showers are correctly installed and maintained according to standards.

Challenges Associated with Emergency Safety Showers

Despite their importance, using emergency showers can present challenges:

  1. Accessibility: In some areas, especially rural or small facilities, showers may be hard to access or not evenly distributed. It’s crucial to ensure adequate placement throughout the workplace.
  2. Training: All personnel must be well-trained in using emergency showers. Lack of training can lead to delays or incorrect usage during emergencies.
  3. Water Supply: A reliable water supply is necessary for proper functioning. In regions with unstable water sources, maintaining operational showers can be difficult.
  4. Upkeep Problems: Without regular maintenance, showers may become inoperative. Routine inspections and repairs are essential to keep them functional.

Conclusion

Emergency safety showers are vital for protecting workers from chemical hazards in the workplace. Employers can safeguard their employees by understanding proper usage, maintaining the equipment, and emphasizing regular training. A robust safety program, focused on preventing chemical accidents and ensuring readiness, can significantly enhance workplace safety. With the right knowledge and preparation, emergency showers can be life-saving tools in hazardous environments.
, their proper use, and maintenance practices to keep them operational.

Understanding Emergency Safety Showers

Emergency safety showers are specifically designed to drench individuals who have come into contact with hazardous chemicals. They are commonly found in environments like laboratories, factories, and other industrial settings where dangerous substances are present. These showers quickly wash away contaminants from the skin, eyes, and clothing, significantly reducing the risk of injury and preventing further complications.

Key Components of Emergency Safety Showers

Before learning how to use an emergency safety shower, it’s important to understand its main components:
  1. Shower Head: Features a circular nozzle that disperses a large volume of water over the entire body.
  2. Activation Mechanism: Typically includes a pull handle or a push button that activates the water flow when engaged.
  3. Water Supply: A reliable water source is essential. This can be a direct water line or a reservoir tank.
  4. Drainage System: Ensures that the water drains away quickly to prevent slipping hazards.

Using Emergency Safety Showers

Knowing how to properly use an emergency shower is crucial during a chemical spill or exposure. Follow these steps for effective use:
  1. Immediate Activation: If exposed to a toxic chemical, immediately activate the nearest emergency shower by pulling the handle or pressing the push button.
  2. Remove Contaminated Clothing: Quickly remove any clothing contaminated with chemicals to prevent further skin absorption.
  3. Stand Under the Water Flow: Remain under the shower for at least 15 minutes, ensuring thorough washing of the face, eyes, limbs, and body.
  4. Use Eyewash Stations for Eye Exposure: If chemicals contact the eyes, use the eyewash station to flush them thoroughly, preventing potential damage.
  5. Seek Medical Attention: After decontamination, seek medical help, even if you feel fine, as some chemical exposures can cause delayed reactions.

Maintaining Emergency Safety Showers

To ensure emergency showers are always ready for use, regular maintenance is essential. Key maintenance steps include:
  1. Inspecting and Testing: Regularly check that all components are functioning correctly, including the activation mechanism, water flow, and drainage system.
  2. Cleaning and Decontamination: Periodically clean the showers to remove dirt and bacteria that can reduce their effectiveness. Use mild detergents to avoid damaging the equipment.
  3. Controlling the Temperature: Ensure the water temperature is comfortable, as extremely hot or cold water can deter usage during emergencies.
  4. Education and Training: Train employees on the proper use of emergency showers and the location of these devices within the facility.
  5. Compliance with Regulations: Adhere to relevant safety regulations, such as those from OSHA, ensuring that emergency showers are correctly installed and maintained according to standards.

Challenges Associated with Emergency Safety Showers

Despite their importance, using emergency showers can present challenges:

  1. Accessibility: In some areas, especially rural or small facilities, showers may be hard to access or not evenly distributed. It’s crucial to ensure adequate placement throughout the workplace.
  2. Training: All personnel must be well-trained in using emergency showers. Lack of training can lead to delays or incorrect usage during emergencies.
  3. Water Supply: A reliable water supply is necessary for proper functioning. In regions with unstable water sources, maintaining operational showers can be difficult.
  4. Upkeep Problems: Without regular maintenance, showers may become inoperative. Routine inspections and repairs are essential to keep them functional.

Conclusion

Emergency safety showers are vital for protecting workers from chemical hazards in the workplace. Employers can safeguard their employees by understanding proper usage, maintaining the equipment, and emphasizing regular training. A robust safety program, focused on preventing chemical accidents and ensuring readiness, can significantly enhance workplace safety. With the right knowledge and preparation, emergency showers can be life-saving tools in hazardous environments.
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