Pet supplies plus clinton township
Pet Pigeons
2010.05.21 05:04 Pet Pigeons
This is a community for those who are interested in keeping pigeons as pets and for current pigeon fanciers! This sub is more focused on the pet aspect! Feel free to discuss how to keep one as a pet, therapy pigeons, training, or rehoming/selling!
2023.06.03 19:04 thesyncopater2_0 Looking for feedback on this Build
Looking for some feedback on my second build. It’s my first liquid cooling build and I’m giving some more priority on aesthetics. I’m ready for a new build (last build was 2014) but I’m not thrilled about the current generation of GPUs and am planning to upgrade in the future.
The feeling is get from the Reddit communities is that this generation of GPUs (nvidia especially) don’t quite offer much improvement from the previous generation. I’d like to wait around for some shift on this front but the time is ripe in my life for a build and there’s still no guarantee the state of affairs will improve. For this reason I’ve selected a somewhat underpowered card with the intention to upgrade at some point in the PC’s life. For this same reason I’ve overpowered the power supply to be able to handle whatever future may come.
Aside from the card situation, I appreciate thoughtful feedback on the mobo. I’ve been hearing bad things across the board from these companies (security issues, bad company practices etc) but I suspect they all have some sort of downside. I picked Asus because my last build used it and I had no issues.
Any comments on compatibility or mismatches in performance between components is very welcome. Known performance issues with any specific model is also excellent. I’ve allowed comments on the pcpartpicker list.
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hdYMBj
PCPartPicker Part List
submitted by thesyncopater2_0 to buildapc [link] [comments]
The feeling is get from the Reddit communities is that this generation of GPUs (nvidia especially) don’t quite offer much improvement from the previous generation. I’d like to wait around for some shift on this front but the time is ripe in my life for a build and there’s still no guarantee the state of affairs will improve. For this reason I’ve selected a somewhat underpowered card with the intention to upgrade at some point in the PC’s life. For this same reason I’ve overpowered the power supply to be able to handle whatever future may come.
Aside from the card situation, I appreciate thoughtful feedback on the mobo. I’ve been hearing bad things across the board from these companies (security issues, bad company practices etc) but I suspect they all have some sort of downside. I picked Asus because my last build used it and I had no issues.
Any comments on compatibility or mismatches in performance between components is very welcome. Known performance issues with any specific model is also excellent. I’ve allowed comments on the pcpartpicker list.
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hdYMBj
PCPartPicker Part List
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i5-13600KF 3.5 GHz 14-Core Processor | $292.99 @ Amazon |
| CPU Cooler | NZXT Kraken 240 RGB 78.02 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler | $159.99 @ Newegg Sellers |
| Motherboard | Asus PRIME Z790-P WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard | $244.99 @ Amazon |
| Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory | $117.99 @ Newegg |
| Storage | Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive | $110.75 @ Amazon |
| Video Card | Gigabyte GAMING OC Radeon RX 6750 XT 12 GB Video Card | $399.99 @ Newegg |
| Case | Fractal Design Pop Air ATX Mid Tower Case | $89.99 @ B&H |
| Power Supply | EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 GT 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply | $174.99 @ Newegg |
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts | ||
| Total | $1591.68 | |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-06-03 13:03 EDT-0400 |
2023.06.03 18:58 Frank_Leroux Molossus, Chapter Sixteen
First Chapter
Chapter Fifteen
“Thank you, Ms. President, and Mr. Secretary-General. It’s my privilege to come and speak to everyone present during such a momentous time in human history. One which, I hope, will lead to a brighter future for us all…”
US President Correa’s boilerplate beginning flowed out as she scanned the room. Behind her rostrum sat a larger dais tiled with green marble, behind which sat the UN President, Secretary-General, and Under-Secretary-General. Two huge screens flanked the dais, and those screens now showed Correa’s face as she continued.
“…and we are committed to our country’s pledge to finding a peaceful and just way for Coalition technology to be incorporated worldwide, and to not attempt any reverse-engineering of our own. Make no mistake; we do not do this out of any sense of altruism or fairness, as pleasant as that may sound. We will hold this pledge sacred for the simple reason that, if the United States were to attempt such efforts the rest of the world would, without a doubt, find out. That, of course, would lead to a great instability.”
‘Great instability’ was diplomatic-speak for ‘the rest of the world then gangs up on the USA and then everything goes to hell’.
“I know there has already been a great deal of debate in this august hall as to the best way to proceed forward, in a fair and impartial manner. We believe that we have found what one might call a ‘trial run’ which will allow us to work out such matters.”
The general murmuring from the many semi-circular rows of desks in front of her increased.
“To begin with, during the first weeks after first contact we wanted to make sure our guests from the Coalition would not starve to death. Much like humanity’s own ships during the Age of Sail, Coalition exploration vessels store enough provisions for years…but such provisions never last. They have very advanced recycling, but mostly for water and even that is only a stop-gap measure. It is unknown even at this time as to how long it will take to repair the Exultant Finger of Rithro, and we did not want to risk the crew running out of food.
“Therefore, we undertook an emergency effort to have their ship’s medic examine various Earth foods to determine their compatibility with our guests’ varied biochemistries. I am pleased to report that there are quite a few Earth foodstuffs which are indeed compatible, although there are some specific items which act as allergens amongst some of the Coalition species. During these efforts, we did learn a bit about how their alien biochemistries work…information which has been duly published and is now openly available. We also began to get glimpses of something wonderful, and asked the Coalition crew for more details. They supplied us with some general ideas of what their medical technology can accomplish; I must emphasize that we do not possess any knowledge of how they can perform such miracles.”
Now the murmuring got quite a bit higher, but not quite to the point where they’d have to call for order.
“Yes, I use the word ‘miracles’ advisedly. For example, take Captain Sadaf. You have all seen her, and how she moves like a person in the prime of their life. Now. What if I told you that she is a little over four hundred years old?”
The murmuring died down into a shocked silence.
“Her species, the auhn, is no more long-lived than we are…but they are able to regenerate and remove the effects of aging. I hope the esteemed ambassadors can see what I am driving at. I propose that we set up a research institute, international in scope, to be placed at a neutral location which is still to be determined. The purpose of that institute will be to study and adapt Coalition medical technology for use in humans.”
Now the murmuring started again; she hoped they were actually listening instead of hatching side-deals with each other.
“You all have families and friends. I’m sure you have at least one family member, one good friend, who died of some horrible and unnecessary affliction. Think of what this means to the world, to us. It is also an excellent way to determine the inevitable issues and frictions which will arise from such a concerted international effort, and that, in turn, will inform our efforts in mutual reverse-engineering of other Coalition technology.
“I know this is, in many ways, a frightening time. Change can be frightening. But I am convinced that you will all know the right way forward, and that you will all see the need for us to unite in this matter, even if others may not be so clear-cut. I thank you for the opportunity to speak.”
As she stepped away from the rostrum, the UN President cleared his throat.
“We will now begin the debate on Madame President Correa’s proposal. Paper copies, with specifics of the proposal, are now being distributed to you all. We’ll now begin the debate period…yes, the gentleman from Portugal…?”
__________
Correa’s Chief of Staff was a shorter, tubby man with an olive complexion by the name of Pablo Rosas. He and Correa sat in a White House conference room, staring at a big screen which now showed the results of the UN vote. “Well, I suppose that went about as well as we could expect,” said Rosas.
“Yep. I was surprised they even agreed with our asking them to kick in some money.”
Rosas chuckled. “Keep in mind that all of this new medical tech will be available for anyone patent-free. Should be air-tight legally, since nobody here on Earth invented it; we’re merely adapting it. I think that was the sweetener we needed to get it passed.”
The president gave a brief nod, then tapped a few keys on the controls in front of her. The screen now showed a world map. “Now we just have to figure out where to put the damn thing without everyone getting butt-mad about it.”
“Hmm.” Rosas laced his fingers over his substantial gut as he regarded the map. “Someplace not ‘the usual’, then.”
Correa growled in frustration. “I keep thinking Switzerland, but I know there’s gonna be a lot of shit flung about that it’s too European-centric. Taiwan would be great; they’ve got both a good tech base and excellent transport infrastructure.”
“But way too controversial, for obvious reasons,” replied Rosas. “Japan?”
“China will, again, kick up a fuss. Huh. New Zealand?”
“That might work. They tend to be more neutral…but then again some might say they’re in too close with Australia, and that this whole effort is too Western-centric.” His eyes flicked back to north on the map. He was about to move his gaze elsewhere, but then he paused. “What about Iceland?”
“Iceland?” Correa almost scoffed, then looked more thoughtfully at the map. “Okay, they’re a NATO member which is a minus. But they tend to remain mostly neutral, which is a plus. Decent transportation infrastructure…don’t we have a naval air base there?”
“I think so, let me check…” Rosas tapped at his phone. “Hey, Jack? What can you tell me about any US naval air bases in Iceland? Just the highlights.” After a couple of minutes, he responded with a curt, “Okay, that’s enough, thanks.”
He put his phone away. “We kinda-sorta have one, at a place called Keflavik. The base there used to be a lot bigger during the Cold War. Then we shut it down after the Soviets were no longer a going concern. Iceland uses it now, and they allow us to fly submarine-search aircraft out of there, but a few years ago they nixed the DOD’s request to rebuild it into a more permanent base.”
“That does work in their favor. It makes for better optics if they’re known for keeping NATO at arm’s length.”
Rosas sat up. “Think the UN will go for it?”
“We can only try. I’ll have our ambassador in Reykjavik make some discreet inquiries, let’s see if they’d be okay with our proposing them as a candidate.”
The Chief of Staff smiled. “If it goes through, this institute will be pumping well north of a billion dollars per year into their economy. That should make it more than ‘okay’.
__________
Agent Cécile Savoie sat in a secure-location breakroom, silently grumbling as she held an as-yet un-drunk mug of coffee in her hands. As the agent-in-charge of the security detail during the Camp David incident, she’d been put on administrative leave, right alongside every other agent who’d been there. But it wasn’t like she had much down time; the inquiry board into that incident now summoned her damn near every other day for yet another round of tedious questioning.
“Hey,” said Hanson as he strolled in, looking just as sour as she felt.
She looked up in surprise. “Hey yourself. I thought you were assigned to the alien detail.”
“I was,” he said as he seated himself across the circular table from her. “Guess being in Alabama when the shitshow went down wasn’t far enough away to be completely out of suspicion. I just finished running my own gauntlet. But the rumor is, I’m getting it easy compared to everyone who was at Camp David, including the special forces people. Especially you.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty much a colonoscopy every day,” she muttered. “Going over the timeline, where I was at which times, who I had direct line of sight on, who I was in radio contact with.” She finally sipped her coffee.
Hanson’s sour expression deepened. “Do you really think it was one of us?”
She sighed. “It has to be. My gut tells me that there’s more than one mole and I told the inquiry board as much. The fuckers who got in knew too much about our patrol patterns, where everyone was, when they’d have a clear shot at an infil. That means someone with access to our methods and comms, and as to the latter we don’t use CB radios.”
The other agent leaned back. “Fuck. I wish I knew why any of us would do that. We’re supposed to be quiet professionals, not frothing radicals.”
Savoie turned the mug in her hands. “Not to tell tales out of school but, through the whisper network, they’ve been leaning hard on the captured dudes from the attack. Apparently one of their main ‘objections’,” and here she made some one-handed air quotes, “is that they think the whole Breaker thing is a ruse. It’s all smoke and mirrors, so that we’ll beg the Coalition to come and save us. And then…well, it gets vague after that but I guess they claim that at best we’ll get turned into the galactic equivalent of a Native American reservation. Worst case, we all get harvested for our precious bodily fluids.”
Hanson stared at her for a moment in disbelief. “That is, if you will forgive the uncouth term, utterly retarded. For chrissake, the Hubble got some beautiful shots of their ship once they’d spun that shield around to reveal it to us. I mean, I’m no spacecraft expert but even I could tell it had gotten the shit pounded out of it.”
She responded with a shrug. “Hey, Flat Earthers are still a thing.”
“Flat Earthers don’t stage FUCKING mortar attacks in our nation’s capital,” snapped Hanson. Then he subsided and spoke more softly. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be so on edge. This whole thing just pisses me off.”
“Join the club,” said Savoie as she sipped more coffee. “I just don’t get it, though.”
Hanson made a gentle ‘continue’ wave of his hand.
She leaned forward. “Okay. Our comrades in the CIA managed to identify the four who made it into the compound. They were all mercenaries, each with at least ten or fifteen years of experience in kicking ass around some of the worst hot spots in the world. Syria, Burma, bunch of places in Africa. One of ‘em even turned out to be ex-Wagner group.”
“Okay?” It was a leading single-word question, but not an unkind one.
“So why was the rest of the attack made up of nothing but a bunch of goddamn shit-kickers? And that includes the aborted attempt in Decatur. I’ve seen the files of those we rounded up in the Camp David attack. They were all low-life idiots just banging around, maybe they might have once held a gun in their lives. Hell, from what I’ve heard, the shootings that triggered the alarm at Camp David were an accident; those intruders were supposed to sneak around that patrol, not kill them. They all had the same top-of-the-line kit, so we know whoever is behind this has deep pockets. Why not hire an entire bunch of competent people instead of doing it onesy-twoseys?”
“It is a puzzle.” Hanson got up and set a styrofoam cup of water into the nearby microwave. As the cup turned within its electromagnetic prison, he leaned against the nearby counter and pondered her question. “Maybe the team in the woods was intended just as a distraction?”
“That’s what I thought at first, but then I reconsidered. I mean, what if the four who went in failed? You’d still need a proper backup plan. Same thing with the Decatur bunch. By the way, did they ever catch them?”
Hanson let out a dark chuckle. “Decatur PD found a pile of vests and rifles, hastily wiped down. They were able to pull a few partial prints off of ‘em. My guess is they’ve fled to the proverbial four winds, hoping to lay low for the rest of their lives. We’ll nab ‘em eventually.”
The microwave dinged and he retrieved his hot water, then pulled a tea bag out of his jacket pocket as he re-seated himself.
Savoie smiled. “I never figured you for a tea guy.”
He unwrapped the bag and with a bit of ceremony dunked it into his cup. “Well, I used to be a coffee guy, but my gut doesn’t agree with the acidity.”
“We do have tea here, you know.” She pointed to the storage bins behind him.
“Yeah, but it’s cheap-ass stuff. The brand I like is expensive, but worth it…” Hanson’s eyes widened as he trailed off.
She raised an eyebrow. “Hanson? Do you smell burnt toast?”
“They couldn’t afford it,” he said in a near-whisper.
Savoie was about to tell him to stop being overly dramatic, then she realized he might be on to something and that she didn’t dare distract him. “Keep talking.”
He leaned forward, his forearms on the table. “Okay. Imagine you’re a hard-bitten mercenary. You’ve been in the literal shit, in every nasty conflict anyone cares to name. Somehow, someone finds you and comes to you. They say ‘hey, these aliens are bad news, do you want to kill them?’ Even if you, as the hypothetical mercenary, are down with the cause…”
“From what the intruders were yelling, they were,” said Savoie.
“Yeah but even then, our mystery financier is asking you to infil and exfil out of one of the most heavily guarded pieces of real estate on the planet. Oh, and kill a bunch of special-forces-maybe and aliens-definitely in between. What do you do then?”
She replied with a grim smile. “If I’m that mercenary, then I ask for a metric fuck-ton of money. And there were four of them, they would have all done the same. Hell, they must have been doing collective bargaining.”
Hanson dunked his tea bag as he thought it through. “Okay, so our mystery mastermind has a lot of money, but not billions on hand to hire a literal army of hard cases. Huh. So those other dipshits might indeed have been a distraction.”
“Maybe. They must have also spent quite a bit on the mortar attack. That wasn’t made by some hobbyist in their bedroom, they knew what they were doing. Given that nobody saw them set up the launcher or leave, they were more pro.” Savoie hoped that the FBI’s efforts to track the various mortar components turned up something soon. Thus far, those efforts were bogged down; as it turned out, quite a few companies had ordered the identified components, and tracking the subsequent second-hand purchases was time-consuming.
“And those mortar-making pros would be more expensive.” Hanson sipped a bit of tea. “Did they ever get anything off of the launcher itself?”
“Sadly, no. Turns out the whole damned thing was homemade, constructed out of tubing and other off-the-shelf components. It was also wiped down thoroughly, no prints. Like I said, pros.”
“But limited in resources,” said Hanson. “Which explains one of the things that’s bugged me. Namely, that our OPFOR didn’t use some proper artillery. If they have a couple of moles in the Secret Service, then it should be easy to recruit and pay some military dudes to slip ‘em some gear and alter the logs. They could stow a howitzer inside a semi-tractor-trailer. You could park that thing anywhere up to 25 miles away. Use a single 155mm Excalibur GPS-guided munition, boom. That would have pretty much obliterated the stage and everyone on it. Then you just re-stow the howitzer and toodle off all innocent-like, right when everyone is freaking the hell out.”
“So they couldn’t afford that type of arty strike,” she said. “Or they simply didn’t have the contacts to pull that off. Hmm. I wonder if our moles are getting paid at all?”
Hanson resumed his thousand-yard stare. “The mortar attack must have been planned first. The other two attacks feel much more like rush jobs.”
“Eh? Oh, I get it. Sadaf’s speech was known well in advance. It was going to be one of her first big public appearances since the initial presidential speech. They were broadcasting it online to the world. Having her get turned into chunky red salsa, in real time, would be one helluva statement. So that’s what they focused on.” She drank a bit more coffee, and now it was time for her eyes to widen. “Our mole or moles didn’t arrive at Camp David until after Sadaf’s speech was announced.”
“That…oh, yeah, that makes sense. Originally the mortar attack is the OPFORs’ only focus, but yet somehow they’ve suborned one or two Secret Service agents and they have ‘em in their back pocket. Then one, or better yet both, of the moles gets assigned to the Camp David detail, and they realize that now that they have a golden opportunity to get at the other aliens as well. So they go off and hire four pros for the actual attack inside, plus a bunch of chucklefucks to act as a distraction, because that’s all they can afford since the four pros are asking for some serious money.”
Savoie leaned forward. “When did Chao and Grakosh leave Camp David?”
“It was, ah, three? No, four days after we got everyone settled, both the aliens and the special forces types.”
“Okay, so then the OPFOR gets word, courtesy of our moles, that one of the aliens is now heading to Alabama. But now they’re stretched so thin that they can’t afford anything other than to hire another bunch of dipshits to make a run at them and hope for the best.”
“And then the second bunch lets the FNG drive.”
They both laughed, but that humor settled down as they both thought through the chain of inference.
“It is pretty thin,” said Savoie at last. “There’s a lot of assumptions in there.”
“Yeah. But I do like the idea of our moles getting assigned at the last minute.”
She rubbed her forehead. “We had a bunch of new people come in when they decided to stow the Rithro crew there. Seven, no eight in all.”
“It’s a place to start,” said Hanson. He finished his tea. “C’mon, let’s see if we can get a meeting with the inquiry board.”
__________
A little while later and not very far away, three people sat in a well-lit but otherwise deadly dull room. At least the chairs were somewhat comfortable. Matt and Martinez sat at two chairs against one wall, while across from them McCoy sat sprawled sideways on another with a foul look on her face. She glowered at the far beige-painted wall. “This completely sucks. Why can’t we have our phones? I could at least play some mahjong.”
“This is a secure location, Corporal,” replied Matt. “Ixnay on the onephays.”
Martinez’s leg jittered. “How long are we gonna sit here? They said they’d call us in, like, an hour ago!”
“Dunno, it’s some kind of last-minute interview thing,” replied Matt with Zen-like calm.
The corporal looked over at Matt. “I don’t get you, man.”
Matt grinned. “Nobody gets me. I’m like the wind, baby!”
“That’s not…I mean, I watched you open up a dude like he was a bag of fuckin’ Doritos using nothing but a fuckin’ knife. Now you’re being all Caine from ‘Kung Fu’.”
“It’s good to know that the classics are still appreciated,” said Matt.
Martinez pointed at him. “If you start calling me ‘Grasshopper’ I will shoot you.”
McCoy turned her glare to the ceiling. “Maybe it’s a psychological test. They want to see if we crack under pressure and start yakking secrets.”
“I mean, I’m sure they’re recording us right now,” replied Matt. “But it’s merely as a precaution. I am also five-nines certain that none of us are suspects. We weren’t integrated into the compound’s overall security, and thus it would be unlikely that we could have let our four attackers in.”
“Not to mention, we were the ones to kill ‘em,” added Martinez. “Well, except for the one that Takh took care of.”
“Yep. This is…I won’t call it a formality, but the board just wants to know where you were and what you saw. Walk them through your personal timelines, understand? Tell them only what you know. If you don’t know something, then say so.”
McCoy turned herself around so that she now sprawled the other way. “This whole bullshit just bugs me. Takh and the others are off with a bunch of strangers and I…I mean, we aren't there to help protect them.”
Matt and Martinez shared a meaningful glance. “From what I heard, Takh is quite capable of taking care of himself,” said the latter with a grin. “You told me he pitched that one dude across the room like he was throwing a softball.”
For once, the petite corporal looked a bit flustered. “Yeah, but, I mean, what if some other potential bad guy gets the drop on him with a gun? I don’t like not being there. I just wanna know that he’s okay. I should be there, just to make sure.”
The smaller man snapped his fingers in the face of the taller, who sighed and took out his wallet. With great ceremony, Matt pulled out a five-dollar bill and placed it upon the now-upraised palm of Martinez.
“Told ya,” said Martinez with a grin.
She sat up and glared at them both. “That doesn’t mean anything! Takh is a good guy!”
“Nobody said he wasn’t,” replied Matt as he stowed his wallet. “He is indeed a good guy.”
“Yeah, seriously, we’re glad you two hooked up,” added Martinez. “Takh’s solid. Hell, I’d let him date my sister.”
“I. Am. Not. Hooked Up. With ANYONE.” McCoy now looked furious enough to chew nails.
Martinez stroked his chin. “Kissing might be a problem, though.”
Matt performed a similar chin-stroking action. “Hmm, indeed, Corporal, I do believe it might be a serious issue. One has all of those mandibles to contend with.” He hooked his fingers next to his mouth in an approximation of an udhyr’s face. “Still, I think that, with enough will and effort, one could figure it out. Like the man said, life finds a way.”
“But how much tongue is he packing?” posed Martinez. “You know what the man also says. Big dude, big tongue. Could make things more interesting, all around.”
The woman did not look amused. “Martinez, Toke? You are now both officially gigantic flatulating assholes.”
“C’mon, McCoy!” protested Martinez. “Think of it this way. A few years from now, let’s say we filthy humans are now part of the Coalition and I’m at some meet ‘n greet, and I just so happen to spy me an oh-so-very-fiiine udhyr mamacita from across the room. Now, I wanna do my bit for my species and approach her, and get some good old inter-species cultural interaction going on. But there’s all sorts of questions. How do I compliment her without insulting her culture? How am I supposed to get in good with her? How do the mechanics work? How do the various bits line up? We need details! You’re at the tip of the spear, we all need good intel!”
McCoy slumped back into her seat. “Over seven hundred billion Dimmadollars of defense spending, and yet somehow I wind up stuck in a room with you two fuckos…oh, by the way, Toke,” she added, pointing a finger at Matt, “why the hell can you and Sarge never go back to Okinawa?”
“Nice distraction, McCoy,” said Martinez. “My guess is some sort of wet-work shit.”
Matt just smiled. “Oh for fuck’s sake, I don’t kill everyone I meet. I was a Second LT at the time, managed to somehow leapfrog my way into officer ranks all the way from enlisted. Anyways, the Okinawa affair was merely a case of, well, one particular case of rye whiskey. The good sergeant…was he a sergeant then? Oh yeah, we had done some other stuff I can’t tell you about in someplace I can’t tell you where, and we were celebrating Shaw getting his third stripe. We’d got ahold of the previously-mentioned case of whiskey and then we began toasting to each other’s good health. We did a lot of toasting. Quite a lot of toasting. As you can imagine, the toasting went on and on until we, um, well we did some unwise things. It started out with us sparring-for-fun with each other in public and escalated from there. No locals were harmed, and nothing we did was hella illegal, or I would’ve never made Captain. Buuut the local government would definitely throw a shitfit if me or, God forbid, both of us set foot back on the island.” He chuckled. “Hell, the Okinawan customs people probably still have both of our pictures taped up inside their booths with a big old sign saying ‘DO NOT ADMIT THIS PERSON, YOU FOOL’ written above them.”
“What did you do?” asked Martinez. His eyes were big and soulful, like a kid asking for yet one more story before bedtime.
Matt shrugged. “I mean, I don’t remember much for obvious reasons. I’m almost sure we didn’t piss on any monuments, that would have definitely been cause for a serious demotion. We did do a number on some shrubbery, that I do remember. We decided it needed to be trimmed back, and so we did so. Using our bare hands. Seemed like a good idea at the time.”
A fearsome light came into McCoy’s eyes. “Martinez, do you know what this means?”
He looked at her all uncertain. “Um, Toke and Sarge have cast-iron livers?”
“No, you fool. Blackmail material.”
Matt pointed back at her. “Hey, now, I told you that in confidence. Besides, Shaw has a lot more to contend with right now.”
The reminder of the sergeant’s current crippled state brought the elevated atmosphere of the room back down. McCoy nodded as her smile faded. “Right. Hey, did you see the Prez’s speech at the UN?”
“Yep,” said Matt. “From what I’ve read, the political wrangling after it seems pretty tame compared to the usual.”
Martinez snorted. “No shit. Did either of you see the laundry list of shit that we might be able to do? Anti-aging, limb regrowth, cancer treatments which work well and which don’t half-kill the patient…hell, maybe even Alzheimer’s could be in our rear-view mirror. The grand high muckity-mucks are falling all over themselves to get that out into the world, for themselves if nobody else.”
“You’re way too cynical, Martinez,” said Matt.
“Oh fuck off. What if…okay, I know this sounds like a cheesy sci-fi concept, but what if they hoard all of the good shit for themselves and we peons get just the crumbs?”
Matt lapsed back into his meditative demeanor. “In that case, my dear corporal, you or I or McCoy or someone like us will show those hypothetical elites that, while they are indeed long-lived, they are not in fact immortal.”
The trio fell into silence for a few minutes. Then Martinez leaned over towards Matt. “Ah, a little birdie told me you were involved in questioning the prisoners we nabbed at Camp David.”
“I merely facilitated certain conversations,” replied Matt.
Martinez sighed. “What the fuck does that mean?”
“Ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies…Corporal.”
McCoy let out a growl. “Well, I heard these terrorist assholes are saying that the Breakers aren’t real, that it’s all fake videos from the Coalition.”
“Just to play devil’s advocate,” said Matt, “our AI image and video generation is already getting to the point where, soon, we puny humans could manufacture such evidence.”
“What?” Martinez looked as if he was about to launch himself at Matt.
Matt held up a calming hand. “I’m not saying it is fake. The Hubble pics are damned convincing.”
Martinez hiked up one foot to place it on his seat, then rested his chin on his knee. “Fuck. I guess it didn’t convince everyone.” He mused for a few moments. “Wait. What if we made it even more convincing?”
“How?” asked Matt.
“We send some humans up to the Rithro. Two or three at least. The boats can still make it up to the ship, right?”
For once Matt looked uncertain. “I think so? Dunno how many times they can come and go without recharging, we’ll have to ask ‘em.”
“Right, so we set up an even better publicity stunt than the Hubble pics. Choose a few people, from all over the world. We have ‘em travel up to the Rithro, take pics and video up close showing the damage. Even take ‘em inside the ship and get a full tour, maybe…if the crew is okay with that, of course.”
“Huh.” Matt sat back and pondered the idea. “That’s a really good idea, Martinez. I guess you aren’t as dumb as you look.”
The corporal responded with a slight smile at the verbal jab. “We’d need to choose the right people, though.”
“They’d have to be trustworthy…or at least someone that the entire world will consider trustworthy,” said Matt.
“Well known,” added McCoy. She no longer looked vengeful. “With recognizable faces and voices, and then they can go on all the talk shows after and say that, yes indeed, I got a tour of the ship and it is indeed quite banged up.”
Martinez stared at the far wall. “Some kind of celebrity? Heh. You think Tom Cruise would be up for it?”
Matt laughed. “That beautiful maniac? Hell, he’d insist on shooting an entire movie up there, with at least one action scene where he’s hanging off of the outside of the ship.”
They all smiled at the resulting mental image.
“Chao could work,” said McCoy into the silence. “She’s kind of a celebrity now. After all, she was the first human to come into contact with aliens, eh?” She gave Matt a big and very un-subtle wink.
To skirt the rather…unconventional methods used to achieve a positive First Contact, Matt’s role had been very much demoted in the official story. Now every recounting of the tale included a bit of ‘…oh, and there was also another person who stumbled across our brave woman in the midst of her attempts at informational exchange with the aliens…” His exact identity was also not published, under the screen of ‘he wishes to remain anonymous’.
“Oh bite me, McCoy, it’s fun,” replied Matt. He waggled his eyebrows. “Besides, I work better in the shadows!” He threw his forearm across his face like a half-assed Count Dracula trying to hide behind his cape.
Then he dropped his arm. “Yeah, Chao would be good as a current social-media darling. Of course, she might not want that. She strikes me as more of the wallflower type, for the most part.”
“We need more people,” said Martinez, as he stared at the floor. “Chao might be good on her own, but she’s got that motor-mouth talking thing when you get her going. It’s one or the other. Either she’s trying to shrink into a corner and take up as little space as possible, or suddenly you’re getting pulled into another corner for a doctoral dissertation on how minimal-energy transfer-orbits work.”
Matt pondered for a moment. “Wait, when did she do that? I never sat through one of those lectures.”
Martinez looked away and…well, Matt hoped that their supposed overlords were indeed recording this particular moment in time because the hard-bitten Hispanic special-forces corporal actually blushed.
McCoy, of course, realized a golden opportunity for payback and immediately pounced. “Why, Corporal Martinez,” she purred. “Doooo tell us. When did Chao Me Chu, heh, pull you into a corner? Hmmm?”
“She’s…she’s just real nice, that’s all,” replied Martinez. “I asked her a couple of questions, and she answered them. That’s all. We both love classic sci-fi, like Asimov and shit. I guess we bonded over that.”
Matt cleared his throat. “Aaaaand may I remind you two and everyone listening in that we have all been cooped up nuts-to-butts for awhile? Don’t mistake familiarity for romantic bullshit.” He pointed over at Martinez. “But you. If you can follow at least half of what she talks about, then you are absolutely without-a-single-fucking-doubt wasted as a corporal, even if you’re in a low-drag high-speed outfit like this. You hear me?”
“Um, yes sir.” It was the first time in McCoy’s memory that anyone had addressed Matt as befitting his perhaps-former rank.
“Good. You get your ass into college, somehow. You’re a smart guy, you’ll figure all that shit out. And as for Chao? Just give it room to breathe. Let her know you’re interested, but don’t press the matter.”
“Let her know?” For once Martinez looked completely lost. “How do I…” he trailed off. “I mean, I like her…and yeah, I mean I like her in that way, but she’s so damn smart and pretty and I’m just some dipshit meathead.”
“Hey, don’t sell yourself short,” said Matt. “You’re our dipshit meathead.”
McCoy’s vengeful smile faded. “Martinez…no, Luca.”
Martinez looked up in surprise at her use of his first name.
She continued. “Just talk to her. Neither of you have any clue as to what ‘normal’ social interactions look like. In your case, it’s because you’ve been a soldier for all of your adult life. In her case, it’s because she’s, well, because she’s Chao. So just walk up to her and be straightforward. Trust me, it’ll be like a breath of fresh air for her to not have to navigate social cues. Just say something like ‘Hey, I really like you, do you like me and do you want to go get a coffee sometime’? Start with that. Chao’s good people, the worst thing she’ll do is say no. She won’t yell at you or talk shit about you online. Buuuut, some sixth sense is telling me she won’t say no to getting some coffee with ya.”
Matt smiled. “McCoy, I think you might have a calling after you leave the military.”
She snorted. “Oh yeah, I’ll hang up my match-making shingle on the internet and start raking in the big bucks. Martinez is right, though. If we try to do a publicity stunt up at the Rithro, then we’ll need somebody alongside Chao to win the world over. Somebody well-known, but preferably someone not in the traditional Western pop-culture sphere. That’ll make it more palatable…”
Her voice trailed off and she stared into space. The two men now looked at each other in genuine concern until she spoke again a few moments later.
“Guys? I think I just had the best idea ever.”
submitted by Frank_Leroux to HFY [link] [comments]
Chapter Fifteen
“Thank you, Ms. President, and Mr. Secretary-General. It’s my privilege to come and speak to everyone present during such a momentous time in human history. One which, I hope, will lead to a brighter future for us all…”
US President Correa’s boilerplate beginning flowed out as she scanned the room. Behind her rostrum sat a larger dais tiled with green marble, behind which sat the UN President, Secretary-General, and Under-Secretary-General. Two huge screens flanked the dais, and those screens now showed Correa’s face as she continued.
“…and we are committed to our country’s pledge to finding a peaceful and just way for Coalition technology to be incorporated worldwide, and to not attempt any reverse-engineering of our own. Make no mistake; we do not do this out of any sense of altruism or fairness, as pleasant as that may sound. We will hold this pledge sacred for the simple reason that, if the United States were to attempt such efforts the rest of the world would, without a doubt, find out. That, of course, would lead to a great instability.”
‘Great instability’ was diplomatic-speak for ‘the rest of the world then gangs up on the USA and then everything goes to hell’.
“I know there has already been a great deal of debate in this august hall as to the best way to proceed forward, in a fair and impartial manner. We believe that we have found what one might call a ‘trial run’ which will allow us to work out such matters.”
The general murmuring from the many semi-circular rows of desks in front of her increased.
“To begin with, during the first weeks after first contact we wanted to make sure our guests from the Coalition would not starve to death. Much like humanity’s own ships during the Age of Sail, Coalition exploration vessels store enough provisions for years…but such provisions never last. They have very advanced recycling, but mostly for water and even that is only a stop-gap measure. It is unknown even at this time as to how long it will take to repair the Exultant Finger of Rithro, and we did not want to risk the crew running out of food.
“Therefore, we undertook an emergency effort to have their ship’s medic examine various Earth foods to determine their compatibility with our guests’ varied biochemistries. I am pleased to report that there are quite a few Earth foodstuffs which are indeed compatible, although there are some specific items which act as allergens amongst some of the Coalition species. During these efforts, we did learn a bit about how their alien biochemistries work…information which has been duly published and is now openly available. We also began to get glimpses of something wonderful, and asked the Coalition crew for more details. They supplied us with some general ideas of what their medical technology can accomplish; I must emphasize that we do not possess any knowledge of how they can perform such miracles.”
Now the murmuring got quite a bit higher, but not quite to the point where they’d have to call for order.
“Yes, I use the word ‘miracles’ advisedly. For example, take Captain Sadaf. You have all seen her, and how she moves like a person in the prime of their life. Now. What if I told you that she is a little over four hundred years old?”
The murmuring died down into a shocked silence.
“Her species, the auhn, is no more long-lived than we are…but they are able to regenerate and remove the effects of aging. I hope the esteemed ambassadors can see what I am driving at. I propose that we set up a research institute, international in scope, to be placed at a neutral location which is still to be determined. The purpose of that institute will be to study and adapt Coalition medical technology for use in humans.”
Now the murmuring started again; she hoped they were actually listening instead of hatching side-deals with each other.
“You all have families and friends. I’m sure you have at least one family member, one good friend, who died of some horrible and unnecessary affliction. Think of what this means to the world, to us. It is also an excellent way to determine the inevitable issues and frictions which will arise from such a concerted international effort, and that, in turn, will inform our efforts in mutual reverse-engineering of other Coalition technology.
“I know this is, in many ways, a frightening time. Change can be frightening. But I am convinced that you will all know the right way forward, and that you will all see the need for us to unite in this matter, even if others may not be so clear-cut. I thank you for the opportunity to speak.”
As she stepped away from the rostrum, the UN President cleared his throat.
“We will now begin the debate on Madame President Correa’s proposal. Paper copies, with specifics of the proposal, are now being distributed to you all. We’ll now begin the debate period…yes, the gentleman from Portugal…?”
__________
Correa’s Chief of Staff was a shorter, tubby man with an olive complexion by the name of Pablo Rosas. He and Correa sat in a White House conference room, staring at a big screen which now showed the results of the UN vote. “Well, I suppose that went about as well as we could expect,” said Rosas.
“Yep. I was surprised they even agreed with our asking them to kick in some money.”
Rosas chuckled. “Keep in mind that all of this new medical tech will be available for anyone patent-free. Should be air-tight legally, since nobody here on Earth invented it; we’re merely adapting it. I think that was the sweetener we needed to get it passed.”
The president gave a brief nod, then tapped a few keys on the controls in front of her. The screen now showed a world map. “Now we just have to figure out where to put the damn thing without everyone getting butt-mad about it.”
“Hmm.” Rosas laced his fingers over his substantial gut as he regarded the map. “Someplace not ‘the usual’, then.”
Correa growled in frustration. “I keep thinking Switzerland, but I know there’s gonna be a lot of shit flung about that it’s too European-centric. Taiwan would be great; they’ve got both a good tech base and excellent transport infrastructure.”
“But way too controversial, for obvious reasons,” replied Rosas. “Japan?”
“China will, again, kick up a fuss. Huh. New Zealand?”
“That might work. They tend to be more neutral…but then again some might say they’re in too close with Australia, and that this whole effort is too Western-centric.” His eyes flicked back to north on the map. He was about to move his gaze elsewhere, but then he paused. “What about Iceland?”
“Iceland?” Correa almost scoffed, then looked more thoughtfully at the map. “Okay, they’re a NATO member which is a minus. But they tend to remain mostly neutral, which is a plus. Decent transportation infrastructure…don’t we have a naval air base there?”
“I think so, let me check…” Rosas tapped at his phone. “Hey, Jack? What can you tell me about any US naval air bases in Iceland? Just the highlights.” After a couple of minutes, he responded with a curt, “Okay, that’s enough, thanks.”
He put his phone away. “We kinda-sorta have one, at a place called Keflavik. The base there used to be a lot bigger during the Cold War. Then we shut it down after the Soviets were no longer a going concern. Iceland uses it now, and they allow us to fly submarine-search aircraft out of there, but a few years ago they nixed the DOD’s request to rebuild it into a more permanent base.”
“That does work in their favor. It makes for better optics if they’re known for keeping NATO at arm’s length.”
Rosas sat up. “Think the UN will go for it?”
“We can only try. I’ll have our ambassador in Reykjavik make some discreet inquiries, let’s see if they’d be okay with our proposing them as a candidate.”
The Chief of Staff smiled. “If it goes through, this institute will be pumping well north of a billion dollars per year into their economy. That should make it more than ‘okay’.
__________
Agent Cécile Savoie sat in a secure-location breakroom, silently grumbling as she held an as-yet un-drunk mug of coffee in her hands. As the agent-in-charge of the security detail during the Camp David incident, she’d been put on administrative leave, right alongside every other agent who’d been there. But it wasn’t like she had much down time; the inquiry board into that incident now summoned her damn near every other day for yet another round of tedious questioning.
“Hey,” said Hanson as he strolled in, looking just as sour as she felt.
She looked up in surprise. “Hey yourself. I thought you were assigned to the alien detail.”
“I was,” he said as he seated himself across the circular table from her. “Guess being in Alabama when the shitshow went down wasn’t far enough away to be completely out of suspicion. I just finished running my own gauntlet. But the rumor is, I’m getting it easy compared to everyone who was at Camp David, including the special forces people. Especially you.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty much a colonoscopy every day,” she muttered. “Going over the timeline, where I was at which times, who I had direct line of sight on, who I was in radio contact with.” She finally sipped her coffee.
Hanson’s sour expression deepened. “Do you really think it was one of us?”
She sighed. “It has to be. My gut tells me that there’s more than one mole and I told the inquiry board as much. The fuckers who got in knew too much about our patrol patterns, where everyone was, when they’d have a clear shot at an infil. That means someone with access to our methods and comms, and as to the latter we don’t use CB radios.”
The other agent leaned back. “Fuck. I wish I knew why any of us would do that. We’re supposed to be quiet professionals, not frothing radicals.”
Savoie turned the mug in her hands. “Not to tell tales out of school but, through the whisper network, they’ve been leaning hard on the captured dudes from the attack. Apparently one of their main ‘objections’,” and here she made some one-handed air quotes, “is that they think the whole Breaker thing is a ruse. It’s all smoke and mirrors, so that we’ll beg the Coalition to come and save us. And then…well, it gets vague after that but I guess they claim that at best we’ll get turned into the galactic equivalent of a Native American reservation. Worst case, we all get harvested for our precious bodily fluids.”
Hanson stared at her for a moment in disbelief. “That is, if you will forgive the uncouth term, utterly retarded. For chrissake, the Hubble got some beautiful shots of their ship once they’d spun that shield around to reveal it to us. I mean, I’m no spacecraft expert but even I could tell it had gotten the shit pounded out of it.”
She responded with a shrug. “Hey, Flat Earthers are still a thing.”
“Flat Earthers don’t stage FUCKING mortar attacks in our nation’s capital,” snapped Hanson. Then he subsided and spoke more softly. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be so on edge. This whole thing just pisses me off.”
“Join the club,” said Savoie as she sipped more coffee. “I just don’t get it, though.”
Hanson made a gentle ‘continue’ wave of his hand.
She leaned forward. “Okay. Our comrades in the CIA managed to identify the four who made it into the compound. They were all mercenaries, each with at least ten or fifteen years of experience in kicking ass around some of the worst hot spots in the world. Syria, Burma, bunch of places in Africa. One of ‘em even turned out to be ex-Wagner group.”
“Okay?” It was a leading single-word question, but not an unkind one.
“So why was the rest of the attack made up of nothing but a bunch of goddamn shit-kickers? And that includes the aborted attempt in Decatur. I’ve seen the files of those we rounded up in the Camp David attack. They were all low-life idiots just banging around, maybe they might have once held a gun in their lives. Hell, from what I’ve heard, the shootings that triggered the alarm at Camp David were an accident; those intruders were supposed to sneak around that patrol, not kill them. They all had the same top-of-the-line kit, so we know whoever is behind this has deep pockets. Why not hire an entire bunch of competent people instead of doing it onesy-twoseys?”
“It is a puzzle.” Hanson got up and set a styrofoam cup of water into the nearby microwave. As the cup turned within its electromagnetic prison, he leaned against the nearby counter and pondered her question. “Maybe the team in the woods was intended just as a distraction?”
“That’s what I thought at first, but then I reconsidered. I mean, what if the four who went in failed? You’d still need a proper backup plan. Same thing with the Decatur bunch. By the way, did they ever catch them?”
Hanson let out a dark chuckle. “Decatur PD found a pile of vests and rifles, hastily wiped down. They were able to pull a few partial prints off of ‘em. My guess is they’ve fled to the proverbial four winds, hoping to lay low for the rest of their lives. We’ll nab ‘em eventually.”
The microwave dinged and he retrieved his hot water, then pulled a tea bag out of his jacket pocket as he re-seated himself.
Savoie smiled. “I never figured you for a tea guy.”
He unwrapped the bag and with a bit of ceremony dunked it into his cup. “Well, I used to be a coffee guy, but my gut doesn’t agree with the acidity.”
“We do have tea here, you know.” She pointed to the storage bins behind him.
“Yeah, but it’s cheap-ass stuff. The brand I like is expensive, but worth it…” Hanson’s eyes widened as he trailed off.
She raised an eyebrow. “Hanson? Do you smell burnt toast?”
“They couldn’t afford it,” he said in a near-whisper.
Savoie was about to tell him to stop being overly dramatic, then she realized he might be on to something and that she didn’t dare distract him. “Keep talking.”
He leaned forward, his forearms on the table. “Okay. Imagine you’re a hard-bitten mercenary. You’ve been in the literal shit, in every nasty conflict anyone cares to name. Somehow, someone finds you and comes to you. They say ‘hey, these aliens are bad news, do you want to kill them?’ Even if you, as the hypothetical mercenary, are down with the cause…”
“From what the intruders were yelling, they were,” said Savoie.
“Yeah but even then, our mystery financier is asking you to infil and exfil out of one of the most heavily guarded pieces of real estate on the planet. Oh, and kill a bunch of special-forces-maybe and aliens-definitely in between. What do you do then?”
She replied with a grim smile. “If I’m that mercenary, then I ask for a metric fuck-ton of money. And there were four of them, they would have all done the same. Hell, they must have been doing collective bargaining.”
Hanson dunked his tea bag as he thought it through. “Okay, so our mystery mastermind has a lot of money, but not billions on hand to hire a literal army of hard cases. Huh. So those other dipshits might indeed have been a distraction.”
“Maybe. They must have also spent quite a bit on the mortar attack. That wasn’t made by some hobbyist in their bedroom, they knew what they were doing. Given that nobody saw them set up the launcher or leave, they were more pro.” Savoie hoped that the FBI’s efforts to track the various mortar components turned up something soon. Thus far, those efforts were bogged down; as it turned out, quite a few companies had ordered the identified components, and tracking the subsequent second-hand purchases was time-consuming.
“And those mortar-making pros would be more expensive.” Hanson sipped a bit of tea. “Did they ever get anything off of the launcher itself?”
“Sadly, no. Turns out the whole damned thing was homemade, constructed out of tubing and other off-the-shelf components. It was also wiped down thoroughly, no prints. Like I said, pros.”
“But limited in resources,” said Hanson. “Which explains one of the things that’s bugged me. Namely, that our OPFOR didn’t use some proper artillery. If they have a couple of moles in the Secret Service, then it should be easy to recruit and pay some military dudes to slip ‘em some gear and alter the logs. They could stow a howitzer inside a semi-tractor-trailer. You could park that thing anywhere up to 25 miles away. Use a single 155mm Excalibur GPS-guided munition, boom. That would have pretty much obliterated the stage and everyone on it. Then you just re-stow the howitzer and toodle off all innocent-like, right when everyone is freaking the hell out.”
“So they couldn’t afford that type of arty strike,” she said. “Or they simply didn’t have the contacts to pull that off. Hmm. I wonder if our moles are getting paid at all?”
Hanson resumed his thousand-yard stare. “The mortar attack must have been planned first. The other two attacks feel much more like rush jobs.”
“Eh? Oh, I get it. Sadaf’s speech was known well in advance. It was going to be one of her first big public appearances since the initial presidential speech. They were broadcasting it online to the world. Having her get turned into chunky red salsa, in real time, would be one helluva statement. So that’s what they focused on.” She drank a bit more coffee, and now it was time for her eyes to widen. “Our mole or moles didn’t arrive at Camp David until after Sadaf’s speech was announced.”
“That…oh, yeah, that makes sense. Originally the mortar attack is the OPFORs’ only focus, but yet somehow they’ve suborned one or two Secret Service agents and they have ‘em in their back pocket. Then one, or better yet both, of the moles gets assigned to the Camp David detail, and they realize that now that they have a golden opportunity to get at the other aliens as well. So they go off and hire four pros for the actual attack inside, plus a bunch of chucklefucks to act as a distraction, because that’s all they can afford since the four pros are asking for some serious money.”
Savoie leaned forward. “When did Chao and Grakosh leave Camp David?”
“It was, ah, three? No, four days after we got everyone settled, both the aliens and the special forces types.”
“Okay, so then the OPFOR gets word, courtesy of our moles, that one of the aliens is now heading to Alabama. But now they’re stretched so thin that they can’t afford anything other than to hire another bunch of dipshits to make a run at them and hope for the best.”
“And then the second bunch lets the FNG drive.”
They both laughed, but that humor settled down as they both thought through the chain of inference.
“It is pretty thin,” said Savoie at last. “There’s a lot of assumptions in there.”
“Yeah. But I do like the idea of our moles getting assigned at the last minute.”
She rubbed her forehead. “We had a bunch of new people come in when they decided to stow the Rithro crew there. Seven, no eight in all.”
“It’s a place to start,” said Hanson. He finished his tea. “C’mon, let’s see if we can get a meeting with the inquiry board.”
__________
A little while later and not very far away, three people sat in a well-lit but otherwise deadly dull room. At least the chairs were somewhat comfortable. Matt and Martinez sat at two chairs against one wall, while across from them McCoy sat sprawled sideways on another with a foul look on her face. She glowered at the far beige-painted wall. “This completely sucks. Why can’t we have our phones? I could at least play some mahjong.”
“This is a secure location, Corporal,” replied Matt. “Ixnay on the onephays.”
Martinez’s leg jittered. “How long are we gonna sit here? They said they’d call us in, like, an hour ago!”
“Dunno, it’s some kind of last-minute interview thing,” replied Matt with Zen-like calm.
The corporal looked over at Matt. “I don’t get you, man.”
Matt grinned. “Nobody gets me. I’m like the wind, baby!”
“That’s not…I mean, I watched you open up a dude like he was a bag of fuckin’ Doritos using nothing but a fuckin’ knife. Now you’re being all Caine from ‘Kung Fu’.”
“It’s good to know that the classics are still appreciated,” said Matt.
Martinez pointed at him. “If you start calling me ‘Grasshopper’ I will shoot you.”
McCoy turned her glare to the ceiling. “Maybe it’s a psychological test. They want to see if we crack under pressure and start yakking secrets.”
“I mean, I’m sure they’re recording us right now,” replied Matt. “But it’s merely as a precaution. I am also five-nines certain that none of us are suspects. We weren’t integrated into the compound’s overall security, and thus it would be unlikely that we could have let our four attackers in.”
“Not to mention, we were the ones to kill ‘em,” added Martinez. “Well, except for the one that Takh took care of.”
“Yep. This is…I won’t call it a formality, but the board just wants to know where you were and what you saw. Walk them through your personal timelines, understand? Tell them only what you know. If you don’t know something, then say so.”
McCoy turned herself around so that she now sprawled the other way. “This whole bullshit just bugs me. Takh and the others are off with a bunch of strangers and I…I mean, we aren't there to help protect them.”
Matt and Martinez shared a meaningful glance. “From what I heard, Takh is quite capable of taking care of himself,” said the latter with a grin. “You told me he pitched that one dude across the room like he was throwing a softball.”
For once, the petite corporal looked a bit flustered. “Yeah, but, I mean, what if some other potential bad guy gets the drop on him with a gun? I don’t like not being there. I just wanna know that he’s okay. I should be there, just to make sure.”
The smaller man snapped his fingers in the face of the taller, who sighed and took out his wallet. With great ceremony, Matt pulled out a five-dollar bill and placed it upon the now-upraised palm of Martinez.
“Told ya,” said Martinez with a grin.
She sat up and glared at them both. “That doesn’t mean anything! Takh is a good guy!”
“Nobody said he wasn’t,” replied Matt as he stowed his wallet. “He is indeed a good guy.”
“Yeah, seriously, we’re glad you two hooked up,” added Martinez. “Takh’s solid. Hell, I’d let him date my sister.”
“I. Am. Not. Hooked Up. With ANYONE.” McCoy now looked furious enough to chew nails.
Martinez stroked his chin. “Kissing might be a problem, though.”
Matt performed a similar chin-stroking action. “Hmm, indeed, Corporal, I do believe it might be a serious issue. One has all of those mandibles to contend with.” He hooked his fingers next to his mouth in an approximation of an udhyr’s face. “Still, I think that, with enough will and effort, one could figure it out. Like the man said, life finds a way.”
“But how much tongue is he packing?” posed Martinez. “You know what the man also says. Big dude, big tongue. Could make things more interesting, all around.”
The woman did not look amused. “Martinez, Toke? You are now both officially gigantic flatulating assholes.”
“C’mon, McCoy!” protested Martinez. “Think of it this way. A few years from now, let’s say we filthy humans are now part of the Coalition and I’m at some meet ‘n greet, and I just so happen to spy me an oh-so-very-fiiine udhyr mamacita from across the room. Now, I wanna do my bit for my species and approach her, and get some good old inter-species cultural interaction going on. But there’s all sorts of questions. How do I compliment her without insulting her culture? How am I supposed to get in good with her? How do the mechanics work? How do the various bits line up? We need details! You’re at the tip of the spear, we all need good intel!”
McCoy slumped back into her seat. “Over seven hundred billion Dimmadollars of defense spending, and yet somehow I wind up stuck in a room with you two fuckos…oh, by the way, Toke,” she added, pointing a finger at Matt, “why the hell can you and Sarge never go back to Okinawa?”
“Nice distraction, McCoy,” said Martinez. “My guess is some sort of wet-work shit.”
Matt just smiled. “Oh for fuck’s sake, I don’t kill everyone I meet. I was a Second LT at the time, managed to somehow leapfrog my way into officer ranks all the way from enlisted. Anyways, the Okinawa affair was merely a case of, well, one particular case of rye whiskey. The good sergeant…was he a sergeant then? Oh yeah, we had done some other stuff I can’t tell you about in someplace I can’t tell you where, and we were celebrating Shaw getting his third stripe. We’d got ahold of the previously-mentioned case of whiskey and then we began toasting to each other’s good health. We did a lot of toasting. Quite a lot of toasting. As you can imagine, the toasting went on and on until we, um, well we did some unwise things. It started out with us sparring-for-fun with each other in public and escalated from there. No locals were harmed, and nothing we did was hella illegal, or I would’ve never made Captain. Buuut the local government would definitely throw a shitfit if me or, God forbid, both of us set foot back on the island.” He chuckled. “Hell, the Okinawan customs people probably still have both of our pictures taped up inside their booths with a big old sign saying ‘DO NOT ADMIT THIS PERSON, YOU FOOL’ written above them.”
“What did you do?” asked Martinez. His eyes were big and soulful, like a kid asking for yet one more story before bedtime.
Matt shrugged. “I mean, I don’t remember much for obvious reasons. I’m almost sure we didn’t piss on any monuments, that would have definitely been cause for a serious demotion. We did do a number on some shrubbery, that I do remember. We decided it needed to be trimmed back, and so we did so. Using our bare hands. Seemed like a good idea at the time.”
A fearsome light came into McCoy’s eyes. “Martinez, do you know what this means?”
He looked at her all uncertain. “Um, Toke and Sarge have cast-iron livers?”
“No, you fool. Blackmail material.”
Matt pointed back at her. “Hey, now, I told you that in confidence. Besides, Shaw has a lot more to contend with right now.”
The reminder of the sergeant’s current crippled state brought the elevated atmosphere of the room back down. McCoy nodded as her smile faded. “Right. Hey, did you see the Prez’s speech at the UN?”
“Yep,” said Matt. “From what I’ve read, the political wrangling after it seems pretty tame compared to the usual.”
Martinez snorted. “No shit. Did either of you see the laundry list of shit that we might be able to do? Anti-aging, limb regrowth, cancer treatments which work well and which don’t half-kill the patient…hell, maybe even Alzheimer’s could be in our rear-view mirror. The grand high muckity-mucks are falling all over themselves to get that out into the world, for themselves if nobody else.”
“You’re way too cynical, Martinez,” said Matt.
“Oh fuck off. What if…okay, I know this sounds like a cheesy sci-fi concept, but what if they hoard all of the good shit for themselves and we peons get just the crumbs?”
Matt lapsed back into his meditative demeanor. “In that case, my dear corporal, you or I or McCoy or someone like us will show those hypothetical elites that, while they are indeed long-lived, they are not in fact immortal.”
The trio fell into silence for a few minutes. Then Martinez leaned over towards Matt. “Ah, a little birdie told me you were involved in questioning the prisoners we nabbed at Camp David.”
“I merely facilitated certain conversations,” replied Matt.
Martinez sighed. “What the fuck does that mean?”
“Ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies…Corporal.”
McCoy let out a growl. “Well, I heard these terrorist assholes are saying that the Breakers aren’t real, that it’s all fake videos from the Coalition.”
“Just to play devil’s advocate,” said Matt, “our AI image and video generation is already getting to the point where, soon, we puny humans could manufacture such evidence.”
“What?” Martinez looked as if he was about to launch himself at Matt.
Matt held up a calming hand. “I’m not saying it is fake. The Hubble pics are damned convincing.”
Martinez hiked up one foot to place it on his seat, then rested his chin on his knee. “Fuck. I guess it didn’t convince everyone.” He mused for a few moments. “Wait. What if we made it even more convincing?”
“How?” asked Matt.
“We send some humans up to the Rithro. Two or three at least. The boats can still make it up to the ship, right?”
For once Matt looked uncertain. “I think so? Dunno how many times they can come and go without recharging, we’ll have to ask ‘em.”
“Right, so we set up an even better publicity stunt than the Hubble pics. Choose a few people, from all over the world. We have ‘em travel up to the Rithro, take pics and video up close showing the damage. Even take ‘em inside the ship and get a full tour, maybe…if the crew is okay with that, of course.”
“Huh.” Matt sat back and pondered the idea. “That’s a really good idea, Martinez. I guess you aren’t as dumb as you look.”
The corporal responded with a slight smile at the verbal jab. “We’d need to choose the right people, though.”
“They’d have to be trustworthy…or at least someone that the entire world will consider trustworthy,” said Matt.
“Well known,” added McCoy. She no longer looked vengeful. “With recognizable faces and voices, and then they can go on all the talk shows after and say that, yes indeed, I got a tour of the ship and it is indeed quite banged up.”
Martinez stared at the far wall. “Some kind of celebrity? Heh. You think Tom Cruise would be up for it?”
Matt laughed. “That beautiful maniac? Hell, he’d insist on shooting an entire movie up there, with at least one action scene where he’s hanging off of the outside of the ship.”
They all smiled at the resulting mental image.
“Chao could work,” said McCoy into the silence. “She’s kind of a celebrity now. After all, she was the first human to come into contact with aliens, eh?” She gave Matt a big and very un-subtle wink.
To skirt the rather…unconventional methods used to achieve a positive First Contact, Matt’s role had been very much demoted in the official story. Now every recounting of the tale included a bit of ‘…oh, and there was also another person who stumbled across our brave woman in the midst of her attempts at informational exchange with the aliens…” His exact identity was also not published, under the screen of ‘he wishes to remain anonymous’.
“Oh bite me, McCoy, it’s fun,” replied Matt. He waggled his eyebrows. “Besides, I work better in the shadows!” He threw his forearm across his face like a half-assed Count Dracula trying to hide behind his cape.
Then he dropped his arm. “Yeah, Chao would be good as a current social-media darling. Of course, she might not want that. She strikes me as more of the wallflower type, for the most part.”
“We need more people,” said Martinez, as he stared at the floor. “Chao might be good on her own, but she’s got that motor-mouth talking thing when you get her going. It’s one or the other. Either she’s trying to shrink into a corner and take up as little space as possible, or suddenly you’re getting pulled into another corner for a doctoral dissertation on how minimal-energy transfer-orbits work.”
Matt pondered for a moment. “Wait, when did she do that? I never sat through one of those lectures.”
Martinez looked away and…well, Matt hoped that their supposed overlords were indeed recording this particular moment in time because the hard-bitten Hispanic special-forces corporal actually blushed.
McCoy, of course, realized a golden opportunity for payback and immediately pounced. “Why, Corporal Martinez,” she purred. “Doooo tell us. When did Chao Me Chu, heh, pull you into a corner? Hmmm?”
“She’s…she’s just real nice, that’s all,” replied Martinez. “I asked her a couple of questions, and she answered them. That’s all. We both love classic sci-fi, like Asimov and shit. I guess we bonded over that.”
Matt cleared his throat. “Aaaaand may I remind you two and everyone listening in that we have all been cooped up nuts-to-butts for awhile? Don’t mistake familiarity for romantic bullshit.” He pointed over at Martinez. “But you. If you can follow at least half of what she talks about, then you are absolutely without-a-single-fucking-doubt wasted as a corporal, even if you’re in a low-drag high-speed outfit like this. You hear me?”
“Um, yes sir.” It was the first time in McCoy’s memory that anyone had addressed Matt as befitting his perhaps-former rank.
“Good. You get your ass into college, somehow. You’re a smart guy, you’ll figure all that shit out. And as for Chao? Just give it room to breathe. Let her know you’re interested, but don’t press the matter.”
“Let her know?” For once Martinez looked completely lost. “How do I…” he trailed off. “I mean, I like her…and yeah, I mean I like her in that way, but she’s so damn smart and pretty and I’m just some dipshit meathead.”
“Hey, don’t sell yourself short,” said Matt. “You’re our dipshit meathead.”
McCoy’s vengeful smile faded. “Martinez…no, Luca.”
Martinez looked up in surprise at her use of his first name.
She continued. “Just talk to her. Neither of you have any clue as to what ‘normal’ social interactions look like. In your case, it’s because you’ve been a soldier for all of your adult life. In her case, it’s because she’s, well, because she’s Chao. So just walk up to her and be straightforward. Trust me, it’ll be like a breath of fresh air for her to not have to navigate social cues. Just say something like ‘Hey, I really like you, do you like me and do you want to go get a coffee sometime’? Start with that. Chao’s good people, the worst thing she’ll do is say no. She won’t yell at you or talk shit about you online. Buuuut, some sixth sense is telling me she won’t say no to getting some coffee with ya.”
Matt smiled. “McCoy, I think you might have a calling after you leave the military.”
She snorted. “Oh yeah, I’ll hang up my match-making shingle on the internet and start raking in the big bucks. Martinez is right, though. If we try to do a publicity stunt up at the Rithro, then we’ll need somebody alongside Chao to win the world over. Somebody well-known, but preferably someone not in the traditional Western pop-culture sphere. That’ll make it more palatable…”
Her voice trailed off and she stared into space. The two men now looked at each other in genuine concern until she spoke again a few moments later.
“Guys? I think I just had the best idea ever.”
2023.06.03 18:46 CaManAboutaDog US stores to reliably get veg sausage?
Any recommendations for US grocery stores that routinely carry good Italian veg sausages?
Aldi and Lidl both used to carry veg sausage but since covid supply issues neither seems to carry any brand. Do 70% of grocery shopping at Lidl.
I haven't checked new Sprouts store near us. Whole Foods and Trader Joes both a bit far just to go food shopping, but will go if otherwise in area.
Have Costco, Giant, Safeway and Food Lion nearby. Plus some international grocery stores.
Not a big fan of veggie breakfast sausages (too small and not tasty imho).
I've tried the Beyond Meat ones. They were okay but not easy to find consistently. Plus a bit $.
submitted by CaManAboutaDog to vegetarian [link] [comments]
Aldi and Lidl both used to carry veg sausage but since covid supply issues neither seems to carry any brand. Do 70% of grocery shopping at Lidl.
I haven't checked new Sprouts store near us. Whole Foods and Trader Joes both a bit far just to go food shopping, but will go if otherwise in area.
Have Costco, Giant, Safeway and Food Lion nearby. Plus some international grocery stores.
Not a big fan of veggie breakfast sausages (too small and not tasty imho).
I've tried the Beyond Meat ones. They were okay but not easy to find consistently. Plus a bit $.
2023.06.03 18:43 Dan_Stainberg [Econ][Retro]Promoting Competition & Fair Markets Across Canada
[M]/ I accidentally mislabelled this pot as an [Event] instead of [Econ], so have to re-publish it. Plus a couple extra links in case someone wants to have a read. /[M]
Moreover, Canada trails many other developed countries when it comes its institutional design. Unlike other jurisdictions, such as the European Union, Canada is a highly judiciary-centred model, where even the enforcement body - Canada's Competition Bureau - first has to prove there's a formidable threat to competition, brining the matter the quasi-judicial Competition Appeal Tribunal, rather than act unilaterally, akin to the European Commission.
However, despite having CAT in place, the scope for private enforcement and complaints to the Tribunal has been pretty limited, which combined with a heavily restrained and underfunded enforcement agency made it Canada's competition regime to be arguably the most tolerant when it comes market concentration among the industrialised economies.
Aiming to give the CB real capacity to act on its own, a new funding mechanism is being introduced: in addition to direct funding from Ottawa, the House of Commons also gains right to order the Government of Canada to expand funding through a simply majority vote, including as component of a private member's bill or acting on upon recommendations of theStanding Committee on Industry and Technology (INDU).
Additionally, the Commissioner of Competition - the person leading the CB - is set to be reposing to INDU and the Parliament, directly bypassing the executive brach, with any changes to the position to be approved by the House at the same manner of the Privacy Commissioner. Notably, the Commissioner is being granted the right to sponsor amendments to the Competition Act that regulates CB's activities every parliament, including re-introducing changes that could not be passed due to the House being dissolved.
Under its newfound powers, the Competition Bureau also obtains partially adjudicative role, as opposed to a strictly investigative one. Namely, CB no longer has to bring their decision under the consideration of the Competition Appeal Tribunal, so long the opposed party reforms from contusing the decision. For its part, CAT is set to be the final decision-maker when it comes to any process relating to competition matters, including mergers and acquisitions, whenever there's a contradiction between the judgement made by the Bureau and the opposite party. Under the agreement with the provinces, CAT is set to be expanded on a two track-basis. First, the Tribunal is expanded to include an independent representative from each provinces, territory, and the Government of Canada - all appointed through a confirmatory vote in their respective legislatures every 5 years, aiming to achieve the greater possible degree of independence for the Tribunal, with one judicial member appointed from each provincial and territorial bar association, with the Chairman having no special powers, apart from nominal representation in the CAT.
While not removing the clause completely from the Act, the government is restricting its use to solely to export-oriented companies, namely where over 60 per cent of the its revenue comes to exported products sold outside Canada. Moreover, efficiencies defence is set to be non-applicable whenever there's a possibly of creating a gatekeeper, capable in the long-run to support the creation of new market barriers to entry, defined as a player with more than 20 per cent of sales, including those made in Canada through importing products.
Unlike recommend, rather than allowing for CB to commission market studies, this power is being grated to the newly created Competition & Markets Commission of Canada (CMCC) comprised of the Chairman of the Competition Appeal Tribunal, Head Commissioner of the Competition Bureau, as well as provincial appointed a provincial, territorial, and federal consumer protection authority is set to set direction for the CMC. Being an intergovernmental agency, whose funded and responsible to the Parliament, CMCC aims to provide better policy diffusion between consumer protection - traditionally a provincial matter - and competition considerations, through issuing policy recommendations, as well as commissioning market studies, and playing a central advocacy role to incorporate market entry and concentration concerns thought the public policy space.
CMCC gains power to "red flag" both existing and future legislation and regulations issued by governmental bodies of those may result in increased market concentration, create conditions conducive to future market entry barriers or significantly restrict supply for any purposes other than public health, safety, or existing international commitments, and appeal the matter directly to the CAT or request further investigation by competition watchdog.
Notably, the new version of the Competition Act explicitly equates both monopolies and monopsonies as per their negative impact on the market, emphasising possible repercussions for local markets, be that an employer monopsony collaborations or exerting pressure on suppliers.
Additionally, the Act is set to be automatically reviewed every 5 years, or upon the request of the Commissioner for Competition, included acting on behalf of a provincial consumer protection agency. The Act also openly permits private action and direct legal acton from private actors to the Competition Appeal Tribunal when there's a perceive violation of the terms of the Act, with CAT being able to order the Competition Bureau to pursue further investigation of the matter. Additionally, the concept of a nation-wide "level playing field" is being inserted into the Act, that both the Competition Bureau and the Competition Appeal Tribunal is tasked to protect.
The Act also introduces the so-called "Competition Override" committing the Government of Canada to prioritising competition considerations when conducting any public policy, including problem procurement, government subsidies, and issuing or amending legislation relating to consumer protection or federally regulated industries. The override can be used by the Competition Bureau to bring the Government of Canada to CAT, and directly challenge any decision or regulation, including those issued by other independent agencies on competition grounds. However, this can only be used after an extensive enquiry by the Competition & Markets Commission of Canada has been conducted, unless the Bureau is compelled to act by a prior Tribunal ruling.
The Competition Act also allows for direct federal-provincial cooperation, permitting the Competition Bureau and the CMCC to conduct enquiries on behalf of provincial governments, as well as brining respective public agencies directly into the CAT process, treating legal proceedings launched by provincial consumer protection agencies as essentially equivalent to those pursued by the Competition Bureau.
Those enjoying such legal equivalence include:
The Act also permits unilateral action by the CB through CAT or any other legal means to protect and further develop the free movement of goods, services, persons, and capital, so long those remedies "do not result into changes to the division of powers between the Provinces and the Government of Canada or legal alteration of the Constitution of Act." The Act also exempts restrictions imposed on the grounds of public health safety, or environmental protection from being challenged by the Bureau.
While otherwise possibly interpreted as an infringement of provincial rights, the clause of the Competition Bureau being explicitly allowed to bring federal and provincial governments to courts over breaking either the Level Playing Field provision of violating freedom of movement for goods, services, and capital may provide the necessary incentive to expedite further liberalisation of internal trade. Effectively, allowing the Bureau to become an additional stimulant whenever the institutions outlined in the Canadian Free Trade Agreement fail to deliver.
submitted by Dan_Stainberg to Geosim [link] [comments]
Introduction
While being humorously "America junior" Canada has remained distinct in many respects, with its competition policy being arguably one of the starkest difference not just with the United States, but any other major economy. While remaining firmly on a more relaxed side when it comes to competition enforcement, Canada has take a step further, explicitly allowing greater market concentration in the name of market efficiency through the so-called "efficiencies defence" clause in the Competition Act.Moreover, Canada trails many other developed countries when it comes its institutional design. Unlike other jurisdictions, such as the European Union, Canada is a highly judiciary-centred model, where even the enforcement body - Canada's Competition Bureau - first has to prove there's a formidable threat to competition, brining the matter the quasi-judicial Competition Appeal Tribunal, rather than act unilaterally, akin to the European Commission.
However, despite having CAT in place, the scope for private enforcement and complaints to the Tribunal has been pretty limited, which combined with a heavily restrained and underfunded enforcement agency made it Canada's competition regime to be arguably the most tolerant when it comes market concentration among the industrialised economies.
Taking competition off the leach
Following extensive consultations with stakeholders, finalised through an unanticipated round of bilateral talks with provincial and territorial governments, Ottawa is "releasing" the nation's competition enforcement institutions - a policy but at the centre of Canada's Fall Economic Update 2023. Namely, the Competition Bureau is being removed from under the jurisdiction of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada - previously Industry Canada - and granted full operational independence from the Government of Canada.Aiming to give the CB real capacity to act on its own, a new funding mechanism is being introduced: in addition to direct funding from Ottawa, the House of Commons also gains right to order the Government of Canada to expand funding through a simply majority vote, including as component of a private member's bill or acting on upon recommendations of theStanding Committee on Industry and Technology (INDU).
Additionally, the Commissioner of Competition - the person leading the CB - is set to be reposing to INDU and the Parliament, directly bypassing the executive brach, with any changes to the position to be approved by the House at the same manner of the Privacy Commissioner. Notably, the Commissioner is being granted the right to sponsor amendments to the Competition Act that regulates CB's activities every parliament, including re-introducing changes that could not be passed due to the House being dissolved.
Under its newfound powers, the Competition Bureau also obtains partially adjudicative role, as opposed to a strictly investigative one. Namely, CB no longer has to bring their decision under the consideration of the Competition Appeal Tribunal, so long the opposed party reforms from contusing the decision. For its part, CAT is set to be the final decision-maker when it comes to any process relating to competition matters, including mergers and acquisitions, whenever there's a contradiction between the judgement made by the Bureau and the opposite party. Under the agreement with the provinces, CAT is set to be expanded on a two track-basis. First, the Tribunal is expanded to include an independent representative from each provinces, territory, and the Government of Canada - all appointed through a confirmatory vote in their respective legislatures every 5 years, aiming to achieve the greater possible degree of independence for the Tribunal, with one judicial member appointed from each provincial and territorial bar association, with the Chairman having no special powers, apart from nominal representation in the CAT.
Levelling the Playing Field
The Government of Canada is set to follow though with the proposals of the Competition Bureau as it relates to amending the Competition Act, making all the adjustments recommend, with a notable exception of the Efficiencies Defence.While not removing the clause completely from the Act, the government is restricting its use to solely to export-oriented companies, namely where over 60 per cent of the its revenue comes to exported products sold outside Canada. Moreover, efficiencies defence is set to be non-applicable whenever there's a possibly of creating a gatekeeper, capable in the long-run to support the creation of new market barriers to entry, defined as a player with more than 20 per cent of sales, including those made in Canada through importing products.
Unlike recommend, rather than allowing for CB to commission market studies, this power is being grated to the newly created Competition & Markets Commission of Canada (CMCC) comprised of the Chairman of the Competition Appeal Tribunal, Head Commissioner of the Competition Bureau, as well as provincial appointed a provincial, territorial, and federal consumer protection authority is set to set direction for the CMC. Being an intergovernmental agency, whose funded and responsible to the Parliament, CMCC aims to provide better policy diffusion between consumer protection - traditionally a provincial matter - and competition considerations, through issuing policy recommendations, as well as commissioning market studies, and playing a central advocacy role to incorporate market entry and concentration concerns thought the public policy space.
CMCC gains power to "red flag" both existing and future legislation and regulations issued by governmental bodies of those may result in increased market concentration, create conditions conducive to future market entry barriers or significantly restrict supply for any purposes other than public health, safety, or existing international commitments, and appeal the matter directly to the CAT or request further investigation by competition watchdog.
Notably, the new version of the Competition Act explicitly equates both monopolies and monopsonies as per their negative impact on the market, emphasising possible repercussions for local markets, be that an employer monopsony collaborations or exerting pressure on suppliers.
Additionally, the Act is set to be automatically reviewed every 5 years, or upon the request of the Commissioner for Competition, included acting on behalf of a provincial consumer protection agency. The Act also openly permits private action and direct legal acton from private actors to the Competition Appeal Tribunal when there's a perceive violation of the terms of the Act, with CAT being able to order the Competition Bureau to pursue further investigation of the matter. Additionally, the concept of a nation-wide "level playing field" is being inserted into the Act, that both the Competition Bureau and the Competition Appeal Tribunal is tasked to protect.
LPF is defined as "regulatory, institutional, legal framework that governments a marketplace an manner that is neutral or more favourable towards new entrants, and where consumer sovereignty is preserved"Moreover, the Act reverses the roles when it comes to competition enforcement: it's set to be up to the defender to prove their actions shall not result in immediate or long-term lessening of competition, new entry barriers, or consumer harm, with the efficiencies gain remaining restricted to export-oriented companies.
The Act also introduces the so-called "Competition Override" committing the Government of Canada to prioritising competition considerations when conducting any public policy, including problem procurement, government subsidies, and issuing or amending legislation relating to consumer protection or federally regulated industries. The override can be used by the Competition Bureau to bring the Government of Canada to CAT, and directly challenge any decision or regulation, including those issued by other independent agencies on competition grounds. However, this can only be used after an extensive enquiry by the Competition & Markets Commission of Canada has been conducted, unless the Bureau is compelled to act by a prior Tribunal ruling.
The Competition Act also allows for direct federal-provincial cooperation, permitting the Competition Bureau and the CMCC to conduct enquiries on behalf of provincial governments, as well as brining respective public agencies directly into the CAT process, treating legal proceedings launched by provincial consumer protection agencies as essentially equivalent to those pursued by the Competition Bureau.
Those enjoying such legal equivalence include:
- Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Consumer Services
- Consumer Protection BC
- Consumer Protection Office within Manitoba Justice
- Financial and Consumer Services Commission (New Brunswick)
- Digital Government and Service NL, Consumer AffairsConsumer Affairs at Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (Northern Territories)
- Service Nova Scotia and Internal ServicesConsumer Affairs at Department of Community and Government Services (Nunavut)
- Consumer Protection Ontario within the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery
- Consumer Services at theDepartment of Justice and Public Safety (Prince Edward Island)
- Office de la protection du consommateur (Québec)
- Consumer Protection Division of the Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority of Saskatchewan
- Consumer Services at the Department of Community Services (Yukon)
- Office of Consumer Affairs (Government of Canada)
A Canadian Single Market at last?
However, as one of the most important changes is concerned with last minute changes to the Canadian Free Trade Agreement - an intergovernmental treaty negotiated to eliminated non-tariff barriers to trade between Canada's provinces and territories. The Competition Act is now directly referencing the CFTA as a framework for intergovernmental cooperation when it comes to competition enforcement, grating the Competition Bureau the right to directly petition both Ottawa and the Provinces to support and maintain a "level playing field, through promoting free and unrestricted movement of goods, services, capital, and labour within and across Canada".The Act also permits unilateral action by the CB through CAT or any other legal means to protect and further develop the free movement of goods, services, persons, and capital, so long those remedies "do not result into changes to the division of powers between the Provinces and the Government of Canada or legal alteration of the Constitution of Act." The Act also exempts restrictions imposed on the grounds of public health safety, or environmental protection from being challenged by the Bureau.
While otherwise possibly interpreted as an infringement of provincial rights, the clause of the Competition Bureau being explicitly allowed to bring federal and provincial governments to courts over breaking either the Level Playing Field provision of violating freedom of movement for goods, services, and capital may provide the necessary incentive to expedite further liberalisation of internal trade. Effectively, allowing the Bureau to become an additional stimulant whenever the institutions outlined in the Canadian Free Trade Agreement fail to deliver.
Impact of Domestic Politics
Canada's has been going through a period of surpassingly sticky inflation, that has been in large part driven by increasing prices of food. Which in turn resulted in acquisitions the grocery sector been too monopolised, allowing retailers to extract exorbitantly high prices at the expense of already struggling households. Additionally, Canada received its fair share of negative coverage, thanks to its lacklustre productivity growth, that has also been partially attributed to far lower completive pressures in the economy. Moreover, with the Trudeau government making somewhat expensive commitments betting on repositioning Canada's during the global green transition some believed subsidy regime oversight was needed. It also may give the federal Liberals something to counter the conservative narrative, looking much tougher cracking down on "gatekeepers" across Canada.2023.06.03 18:43 Key_Dog_1930 My Build ? what do you think?
i am asking if this build is solid for my first build. i was on a budget and also there were things i needed on my motherboard that the cheapo motherboards didn't have. do u guys see any pc throttling or bottleknecking going on with this build? what are your thoughts?
[[PCPartPicker Part List](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/c8T6Tn)
submitted by Key_Dog_1930 to buildapc [link] [comments]
[[PCPartPicker Part List](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/c8T6Tn)
2023.06.03 18:42 the_gizzle 1st Time Build for Small Office
Just trying to game in 1440p and not take up a lot of space. How's this build? The GPU runs about $500-$530.
PCPartPicker Part List
submitted by the_gizzle to buildapc [link] [comments]
PCPartPicker Part List
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor | $226.72 @ Amazon |
| CPU Cooler | MSI MAG CORELIQUID 240R V2 78.73 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler | $109.99 @ Adorama |
| Motherboard | ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard | $240.03 @ MemoryC |
| Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory | $63.99 @ Newegg |
| Storage | Crucial P3 Plus 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive | $26.99 @ Amazon |
| Storage | Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive | $139.00 @ Amazon |
| Video Card | ASRock Phantom Gaming OC Radeon RX 6800 XT 16 GB Video Card | - |
| Case | HYTE REVOLT 3 Mini ITX Tower Case w/700 W Power Supply | $128.99 @ Newegg |
| Power Supply | Lian Li SP 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply | $118.99 @ B&H |
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts | ||
| Total | $1054.70 | |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-06-03 12:38 EDT-0400 |
2023.06.03 18:39 hanxyuu Need some info
I'm thinking about building a pc for light gaming and and coding. i wanna know if these are the right options for me. im not gonna be running the latest high end games like spider-man, forza horizon 5, god of war, cyber punk 2077 or anything.. just wanna be able to play fortnite, cod, valorant, gta 5 and some unity and real engine games with 1080p settings smoothly. also id like to know what kind of games can i run with this setup.
these are the specs>>>
*Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 5600.
*Motherboard: MSI Pro B660M-E Ddr4
*Ram: XPG DDR4 D50 RGB 16GB (2x8GB) 3200MHz
*Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB PCIe NVMe M.2
*Graphic card: ASUS Dual AMD Radeon RX 6400 4GB GDDR6
*Power supply: Ant Esports FB550B 80 Plus
*case: Ant Esports ICE-110
*Moniter: BenQ GW2480
Do i need to change anything or is this a decent set up? i dont plan to upgrade it anytime soon. any help is appreciated im new to this.
submitted by hanxyuu to buildapc [link] [comments]
these are the specs>>>
*Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 5600.
*Motherboard: MSI Pro B660M-E Ddr4
*Ram: XPG DDR4 D50 RGB 16GB (2x8GB) 3200MHz
*Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB PCIe NVMe M.2
*Graphic card: ASUS Dual AMD Radeon RX 6400 4GB GDDR6
*Power supply: Ant Esports FB550B 80 Plus
*case: Ant Esports ICE-110
*Moniter: BenQ GW2480
Do i need to change anything or is this a decent set up? i dont plan to upgrade it anytime soon. any help is appreciated im new to this.
2023.06.03 18:38 Far-Comfort-8180 NVIDIA GeForce experience not showing any Gpu activity
Playing destiny 2 I run a solid 200 frames and randomly after about 15-20 minutes game will crash instantly with no error code. GeForce experience shows cpu utilization but 0% for Gpu clock, Gpu temp, Gpu voltage, Gpu utilization, Gpu power, fan speed and memory clock.
Hardware NVIDIA GeForce 4070ti Gpu 13th Gen intel i5-13600k Cpu 32 GB Corsair ddr5 ram 750 watt 80 plus gold evga power supply Msi mpg z790 edge wifi Motherboard
submitted by Far-Comfort-8180 to techsupport [link] [comments]
Hardware NVIDIA GeForce 4070ti Gpu 13th Gen intel i5-13600k Cpu 32 GB Corsair ddr5 ram 750 watt 80 plus gold evga power supply Msi mpg z790 edge wifi Motherboard
2023.06.03 18:09 ImperfectFantasy $300-400 budget build
I know a $300-400 budget isn't much for a gaming pc, but I already have a set up planned and just need advice on if they work together well or not. Plus maybe some recommendations for cheaper options (as cheap as possible would be great). Also, sorry in advance but I'm a noob at pc building and still learning some terms!
>**What will you be doing with this PC? Be as specific as possible, and include specific games or programs you will be using.**
Minecraft and some indie games. I don't know if I'll play anything that requires a lot, but I do want some wiggle room just in case. I also tend to download a lot of different games at once.
>**What is your maximum budget before rebates/shipping/taxes?**
$400
>**When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Note: beyond a week or two from today means any build you receive will be out of date when you want to buy.**
I'm not sure.
>**What, exactly, do you need included in the budget? (ToweOS/monitokeyboard/mouse/etc\)**
Everything except the monitor, keyboard, and mouse. I still need to buy some, but I'll look into that later.
>**Which country (and state/province) will you be purchasing the parts in? If you're in US, do you have access to a Microcenter location?**
USA, OH. I have access to a Microcenter.
>**If reusing any parts (including monitor(s)/keyboard/mouse/etc), what parts will you be reusing? Brands and models are appreciated.**
I have none, but I can do second hand stuff.
>**Will you be overclocking? If yes, are you interested in overclocking right away, or down the line? CPU and/or GPU?**
No.
>**Are there any specific features or items you want/need in the build? (ex: SSD, large amount of storage or a RAID setup, CUDA or OpenCL support, etc)**
Just all that is necessary.
>**Do you have any specific case preferences (Size like ITX/microATX/mid-towefull-tower, styles, colors, window or not, LED lighting, etc), or a particular color theme preference for the components?**
Nothing too chunky, but I'm not picky.
>**Do you need a copy of Windows included in the budget? If you do need one included, do you have a preference?**
I didn't even know I needed one so probably yes.
>**Extra info or particulars:**
Here's what I have so far. Again, willing to downgrade as much as possible.
[PCPartPicker Part List](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Gbyjfv)
TypeItemPrice
:----:----:----
**CPU** [Intel Core i3-13100F 3.4 GHz Quad-Core Processor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/9MGbt6/intel-core-i3-13100f-34-ghz-quad-core-processor-bx8071513100f) $74.99 @ Best Buy
**Motherboard** [ASRock B660M-HDV Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/4ZPQzy/asrock-b660m-hdv-micro-atx-lga1700-motherboard-b660m-hdv) $94.99 @ Amazon
**Memory** [Patriot Viper Elite II 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL20 Memory](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/kPfnTW/patriot-viper-elite-ii-8-gb-1-x-8-gb-ddr4-3600-cl20-memory-pve248g360c0) $20.99 @ Amazon
**Storage** [Intel 670p 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/r4C48d/intel-670p-1-tb-m2-2280-nvme-solid-state-drive-ssdpeknu010tzx1) $44.98 @ Amazon
**Video Card** [Gigabyte GV-N1030D4-2GL GeForce GT 1030 DDR4 2 GB Video Card](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/xC448d/gigabyte-geforce-gt-1030-ddr4-2gb-video-card-gv-n1030d4-2gl) $72.98 @ Amazon
**Case** [Thermaltake Versa H17 MicroATX Mini Tower Case](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/JtWfrH/thermaltake-versa-h17-microatx-mini-tower-case-ca-1j1-00s1nn-00) $44.99 @ Amazon
**Power Supply** [Thermaltake Smart 500 W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Wbhj4D/thermaltake-smart-500w-80-certified-atx-power-supply-ps-spd-0500npcwus-w) $39.95 @ B&H
*Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts*
**Total** **$393.87**
Generated by [PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com) 2023-06-03 11:49 EDT-0400
submitted by ImperfectFantasy to buildapcforme [link] [comments]
>**What will you be doing with this PC? Be as specific as possible, and include specific games or programs you will be using.**
Minecraft and some indie games. I don't know if I'll play anything that requires a lot, but I do want some wiggle room just in case. I also tend to download a lot of different games at once.
>**What is your maximum budget before rebates/shipping/taxes?**
$400
>**When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Note: beyond a week or two from today means any build you receive will be out of date when you want to buy.**
I'm not sure.
>**What, exactly, do you need included in the budget? (ToweOS/monitokeyboard/mouse/etc\)**
Everything except the monitor, keyboard, and mouse. I still need to buy some, but I'll look into that later.
>**Which country (and state/province) will you be purchasing the parts in? If you're in US, do you have access to a Microcenter location?**
USA, OH. I have access to a Microcenter.
>**If reusing any parts (including monitor(s)/keyboard/mouse/etc), what parts will you be reusing? Brands and models are appreciated.**
I have none, but I can do second hand stuff.
>**Will you be overclocking? If yes, are you interested in overclocking right away, or down the line? CPU and/or GPU?**
No.
>**Are there any specific features or items you want/need in the build? (ex: SSD, large amount of storage or a RAID setup, CUDA or OpenCL support, etc)**
Just all that is necessary.
>**Do you have any specific case preferences (Size like ITX/microATX/mid-towefull-tower, styles, colors, window or not, LED lighting, etc), or a particular color theme preference for the components?**
Nothing too chunky, but I'm not picky.
>**Do you need a copy of Windows included in the budget? If you do need one included, do you have a preference?**
I didn't even know I needed one so probably yes.
>**Extra info or particulars:**
Here's what I have so far. Again, willing to downgrade as much as possible.
[PCPartPicker Part List](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Gbyjfv)
TypeItemPrice
:----:----:----
**CPU** [Intel Core i3-13100F 3.4 GHz Quad-Core Processor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/9MGbt6/intel-core-i3-13100f-34-ghz-quad-core-processor-bx8071513100f) $74.99 @ Best Buy
**Motherboard** [ASRock B660M-HDV Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/4ZPQzy/asrock-b660m-hdv-micro-atx-lga1700-motherboard-b660m-hdv) $94.99 @ Amazon
**Memory** [Patriot Viper Elite II 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL20 Memory](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/kPfnTW/patriot-viper-elite-ii-8-gb-1-x-8-gb-ddr4-3600-cl20-memory-pve248g360c0) $20.99 @ Amazon
**Storage** [Intel 670p 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/r4C48d/intel-670p-1-tb-m2-2280-nvme-solid-state-drive-ssdpeknu010tzx1) $44.98 @ Amazon
**Video Card** [Gigabyte GV-N1030D4-2GL GeForce GT 1030 DDR4 2 GB Video Card](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/xC448d/gigabyte-geforce-gt-1030-ddr4-2gb-video-card-gv-n1030d4-2gl) $72.98 @ Amazon
**Case** [Thermaltake Versa H17 MicroATX Mini Tower Case](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/JtWfrH/thermaltake-versa-h17-microatx-mini-tower-case-ca-1j1-00s1nn-00) $44.99 @ Amazon
**Power Supply** [Thermaltake Smart 500 W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Wbhj4D/thermaltake-smart-500w-80-certified-atx-power-supply-ps-spd-0500npcwus-w) $39.95 @ B&H
*Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts*
**Total** **$393.87**
Generated by [PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com) 2023-06-03 11:49 EDT-0400
2023.06.03 17:59 aleco99 Rebuilding my prebuild Acer predator orion 3000
Hey all,
I was just sitting around and gaming but I am getting more and more fed up by the amount of noise my pc is generating. Also its having some heating issues which causes it to black screen (no undervolting or overclocking whatsoever). Since its a prebuilt with a shitty mobo I need to replace some parts to get it inside another case.I also want to replace the power supply to be able to upgrade in the near future to another graphics card (possibly 40 series or maybe AMD) Any advice on parts or whatever is very welcome since this will be my first time 'building' my own pc. I already upgraded the cpu-cooler with the Noctua NH-U9S cause the CPU temps were mental on this pc.
Current Hardware:Predator Orion 3000 (PO3-620) Intel Core i7-10700F / 16 GB DDR4 RAM zwart / 1024 GB SSD/NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (8 GB GDDR6)
Future hardware:
NZXT H7 Flow
Cooler Master MWE 850 Gold V2
MSI MPG Z490 GAMING PLUS ATX
GSKILL DDR4 3200 32GB C16 AEGIS K2 2X16GB 1,35V
I am aware that this mobo will need to be replaced in the future as well if i want to upgrade my cpu. I think the nzxt h7 flow will be nice and futureproof.
All advice/comments welcome!
submitted by aleco99 to buildapc [link] [comments]
I was just sitting around and gaming but I am getting more and more fed up by the amount of noise my pc is generating. Also its having some heating issues which causes it to black screen (no undervolting or overclocking whatsoever). Since its a prebuilt with a shitty mobo I need to replace some parts to get it inside another case.I also want to replace the power supply to be able to upgrade in the near future to another graphics card (possibly 40 series or maybe AMD) Any advice on parts or whatever is very welcome since this will be my first time 'building' my own pc. I already upgraded the cpu-cooler with the Noctua NH-U9S cause the CPU temps were mental on this pc.
Current Hardware:Predator Orion 3000 (PO3-620) Intel Core i7-10700F / 16 GB DDR4 RAM zwart / 1024 GB SSD/NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (8 GB GDDR6)
Future hardware:
NZXT H7 Flow
Cooler Master MWE 850 Gold V2
MSI MPG Z490 GAMING PLUS ATX
GSKILL DDR4 3200 32GB C16 AEGIS K2 2X16GB 1,35V
I am aware that this mobo will need to be replaced in the future as well if i want to upgrade my cpu. I think the nzxt h7 flow will be nice and futureproof.
All advice/comments welcome!
2023.06.03 17:57 ScxrredPxnda 4070 Ti vs. 7900 XT: Which GPU is Right for My RM750x PSU?
Hey everyone! I've been using an RX 580 for the past four years, but it's starting to struggle with my gaming needs. I'm looking to upgrade, and I'm torn between the 4070 Ti and the 7900 XT. I'm leaning towards the 7900 XT because of its 20GB of VRAM, with some newer games utilizing more than 12GB of VRAM it seems like a no-brainer. But as silly as it sounds at this point, I can't pick one or the other.
However, I have concerns about power consumption. The 7900 XT has a TDP of 300W, while the 4070 Ti has a TDP of 285W. I believe my current setup should be fine but I'd appreciate any input on this. Thank you!
4070 TI
7900 XT
Current specs:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450M DS3H WIFI
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32GB DDR4
Storage: Seagate Surveillance 2TB HDD + Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1TB SSD
GPU: RX 580
Power Supply: Corsair RM750x (2021)
OS: Windows 11 Home
submitted by ScxrredPxnda to pcmasterrace [link] [comments]
However, I have concerns about power consumption. The 7900 XT has a TDP of 300W, while the 4070 Ti has a TDP of 285W. I believe my current setup should be fine but I'd appreciate any input on this. Thank you!
4070 TI
7900 XT
Current specs:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450M DS3H WIFI
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32GB DDR4
Storage: Seagate Surveillance 2TB HDD + Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1TB SSD
GPU: RX 580
Power Supply: Corsair RM750x (2021)
OS: Windows 11 Home
2023.06.03 17:52 allfirefox 5800x3d or 7600 or, 13500 (exactly the same price)
Hi, I am hesitating between 3 build I made following some tips I saw on this Subreddit
first off, I will purchase a GPU later, probably a 6700xt or a 7000 series if a good one is announced, I build this PC only for Starfield and very occasionally Photoshop
the one that I want at the moment is the 7600 one, because of the 3 M.2 port I want to get rid of sata ssd and hdd), the "future-proof" of it, and the "low" power draw, the 5800x3d on the other hand have a lot of pro and con,
it's still on ddr4 so for what I know it is more "stable" or at least have fewer issues, it has very good performance in à lot of games, it has more core than the 7600, has a high resell value (at least for now) for the con, draw significant more power, dead platform, I need to update the bios of the motherboard (it seems easy, but we never know what could go wrong)
the 13500 is just for an intel option and the core count, but the con is the same as the 5800x3d
7600 https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/list/CwVMBj
5800x3d https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/list/RPKWW4
13500 https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/list/WqbB8r
thanks everyone
submitted by allfirefox to buildapc [link] [comments]
first off, I will purchase a GPU later, probably a 6700xt or a 7000 series if a good one is announced, I build this PC only for Starfield and very occasionally Photoshop
the one that I want at the moment is the 7600 one, because of the 3 M.2 port I want to get rid of sata ssd and hdd), the "future-proof" of it, and the "low" power draw, the 5800x3d on the other hand have a lot of pro and con,
it's still on ddr4 so for what I know it is more "stable" or at least have fewer issues, it has very good performance in à lot of games, it has more core than the 7600, has a high resell value (at least for now) for the con, draw significant more power, dead platform, I need to update the bios of the motherboard (it seems easy, but we never know what could go wrong)
the 13500 is just for an intel option and the core count, but the con is the same as the 5800x3d
7600 https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/list/CwVMBj
| 7600 |
|---|
| Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 |
| Gigabyte B650 Gaming X AX |
| Crucial 2x8go DDR5 4800 CL 40 |
| 970 evo plus 1TB |
| MSI MAG A650BN |
| Total: 638,87€ (tax and shipping included) |
5800x3d https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/list/RPKWW4
| 5800x3d |
|---|
| Thermalright Peerless assassin 120 |
| MSI b650A PRO |
| Corsair 2x8go DDR4 3600 CL18 |
| 970 evo plus 1TB |
| MSI MAG A650BN |
| Total: 633,58€ (tax and shipping included) |
13500 https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/list/WqbB8r
| 13500 |
|---|
| TR peerless assassin |
| Gigabyte B760 Gaming x |
| Corsair 2x8go ddr4 3600 CL18 |
| 970 evo plus 1TB |
| MSI MAG A650BN |
| Total 635,42€ (tax and shipping included) |
2023.06.03 17:51 FrowzyFraulein Where else can you ask for assistance with pet food/supplies?
RandomActsOfPetfppd denied my submission since I haven't been active on Reddit. I haven't been active because I struggle with social media addiction (who doesn't anymore?) and decided I felt better without it, but now I'm back.
In the last week, we went from feeling pretty solid financially to being thousands of dollars in debt. One kid had a medical emergency which required labs and all that fun stuff. Then our downstairs flooded due to the pump on our washing machine failing. I took our clothes to my parents house to wash/dry and guess what? Their dryer burned holes in a bunch of our clothes! It was even set to "low" because I never dry stuff on high heat, but apparently the vent where the air comes in heated up anyways. We had to throw a ton of clothes away including many we had JUST received. My kids got one wear out of them. And finally, our cat had an emergency medical issue and racked up a huge bill which I was thankfully able to put on CareCredit. But the monthly payment is going to put us in the negative every month.
I'm trying to get everything outside of bills taken care of so we can prioritize the things we HAVE to pay. The food bank here is awesome so I'm not too worried about getting food for us. We can cut back on driving and just walk where we need to go since that's better for us anyways.
But the pet food and litter is the one expense I'm not really sure how to handle. If anyone has tips for this they would be greatly appreciated. I also appreciate you reading all of my rambling. I'm feeling overwhelmed at the moment but writing it all out made me feel a bit better and I know it's all going to get figured out eventually.
Edit: Thank you to those that said to look for a pet food bank! There's a humane society about 40 minutes away that shows they have a food pantry on Facebook. I've reached out to them. Fingers crossed we can go soon!
submitted by FrowzyFraulein to povertyfinance [link] [comments]
In the last week, we went from feeling pretty solid financially to being thousands of dollars in debt. One kid had a medical emergency which required labs and all that fun stuff. Then our downstairs flooded due to the pump on our washing machine failing. I took our clothes to my parents house to wash/dry and guess what? Their dryer burned holes in a bunch of our clothes! It was even set to "low" because I never dry stuff on high heat, but apparently the vent where the air comes in heated up anyways. We had to throw a ton of clothes away including many we had JUST received. My kids got one wear out of them. And finally, our cat had an emergency medical issue and racked up a huge bill which I was thankfully able to put on CareCredit. But the monthly payment is going to put us in the negative every month.
I'm trying to get everything outside of bills taken care of so we can prioritize the things we HAVE to pay. The food bank here is awesome so I'm not too worried about getting food for us. We can cut back on driving and just walk where we need to go since that's better for us anyways.
But the pet food and litter is the one expense I'm not really sure how to handle. If anyone has tips for this they would be greatly appreciated. I also appreciate you reading all of my rambling. I'm feeling overwhelmed at the moment but writing it all out made me feel a bit better and I know it's all going to get figured out eventually.
Edit: Thank you to those that said to look for a pet food bank! There's a humane society about 40 minutes away that shows they have a food pantry on Facebook. I've reached out to them. Fingers crossed we can go soon!
2023.06.03 17:47 Conradbio Is this an error in my training manual?
 | I am studying for my journeyman’s test as well as completing my curriculum for my final fall semester. I’m currently reviewing article 210. The book gives an example of sizing wire for a continuous load as well as derating for temperature. I’ve done this in the field all the time however the example in the book seems wrong. submitted by Conradbio to electricians [link] [comments] It’s suggesting 3awg when based on my math it should be 4awg. For some reason the book is also focusing on the 60c column of 310.16 even though it’s thhn which lets you use the 70c column. The book also says 60F which is probably supposed to say 60C. |
2023.06.03 17:33 VincentLobster Freezing issues on PC
Hey all,
So for the last month or two I've been having an issue where the game will freeze for about 5-10 seconds and then it will resume from there. I've started noticing that when this happens, my CPU usage jumps to 100% while the freeze is going on. I've tried looking for other people who have the same issue, but I haven't found anyone experiencing the same thing as me- usually it's they drop to low frames but can still play, or their game freezes completely until they force quit.
I've tried many things- updating my graphics drivers, cranking up the graphics to make my GPU take on more load, file scan and repair, checking for thermal throttling in HWinfo (Temps are completely normal), adding the "-threads 2" or whatever the line is to the launch options, but nothing is working for me. This issue is also only happening in Overwatch. No other games I play have been freezing like this.
Here are my specs: •Ryzen 5 5600X •RTX 3070 Ti •16 GB RAM •Seasonic Focus Plus 850 W 80+ plat power supply
Any help is appreciated. I just want to play without these freezes.
Edit: typos
submitted by VincentLobster to Overwatch [link] [comments]
So for the last month or two I've been having an issue where the game will freeze for about 5-10 seconds and then it will resume from there. I've started noticing that when this happens, my CPU usage jumps to 100% while the freeze is going on. I've tried looking for other people who have the same issue, but I haven't found anyone experiencing the same thing as me- usually it's they drop to low frames but can still play, or their game freezes completely until they force quit.
I've tried many things- updating my graphics drivers, cranking up the graphics to make my GPU take on more load, file scan and repair, checking for thermal throttling in HWinfo (Temps are completely normal), adding the "-threads 2" or whatever the line is to the launch options, but nothing is working for me. This issue is also only happening in Overwatch. No other games I play have been freezing like this.
Here are my specs: •Ryzen 5 5600X •RTX 3070 Ti •16 GB RAM •Seasonic Focus Plus 850 W 80+ plat power supply
Any help is appreciated. I just want to play without these freezes.
Edit: typos
2023.06.03 17:30 WorkingTharn Build Critique - Gaming/Dual boot into Linux for Work
This is an upgrade to replace a Corsair that I purchased ~ 5 years ago. I have a triple monitor setup and all peripherals I'd need (mic, speakers, camera, mouse, keyboard)
I haven't built a PC in about 11 years so any feedback is happily welcomed!
PCPartPicker Part List
submitted by WorkingTharn to buildapc [link] [comments]
I haven't built a PC in about 11 years so any feedback is happily welcomed!
PCPartPicker Part List
2023.06.03 17:27 Proletlariet Gex
If this weren't a video game, I'd be on my way to prison!
Gex
After the successive deaths of Gex's father and uncle, which happened to leave him a large inheritance, Gex entered a deep depression, unable to leave the house. He used his cash to buy himself a big TV and cable, and spent his days as a couch potato in front of the screen, a hopeless addict. One day, when he swallowed a special bug sent by the villainous Rez, he was pulled inside the world of TV. Now, with only his natural gecko abilities to help him, Gex goes on an adventure to defeat Rez and escape from TVland, all the while spouting off extremely dated pop-culture references.As a playable character in the game Mad Dash Racing, Gex is capable of performing any feat another character in his racer class (Dasher) can do, as well as any feat performable by the other two racer classes (Glider and Basher) as long as he’s carrying 10 green meteor chunks. Overview of racer classes from the manual. Feats that Dashers can perform will be marked with “MDR” for Mad Dash Racing while feats Gex would need ten meteor chunks to perform will be marked with “Tri” for “Tribrid.”
Gecko Abilities
Tongue- Snatches a bug out of the air with his tongue
- Picks up powerups with his tongue
- Pulls his entire body onto a platform with his tongue
- Pulls himself up onto a tree branch to avoid automatic fire.
- Pulls himself up to a tree branch twenty feet above his head to escape cannibals and a tiger.
- Pulls himself up to a conduit fifty feet above the ground to avoid an attack from Rez.
- Catches his fall and reels himself back up to a platform after Rez knocks him off it.
- In the first game, Gex can climb along any surface, including walls and ceilings
- From the second game onwards, Gex can only climb on specially marked areas
- Uses the suction-cups on his feet to cling to a tree against the blast of four tank shells.
- Invincibility
- Super speed that makes Gex leave afterimages
- Super jump that lets Gex jump high into the air
- Fire breath that incinerates foes
- Flaming aura that lets him light a fuse (Gameboy version)
- Ice breath that freezes foes In the novel, it pierces Rez’s chest and knocks him back into a pit of static.
- Multidirectional lightning breath that incinerates foes
- Spitting attack Uses it to knock Rez off a wire, make a car skid, and immobilize three gangsters.
- Temporary Herculean strength
- Temporary superhero strength which can shatter stone
- Bunny costume
- Space suit
- Caveman outfit
- Indiana Jones costume
- Police costume
- Winter clothes
- Firefighter costume
- Pharaoh outfit
- Army uniform
- Cowboy costume
- Akuji the Heartless costume
- Toga
- Pirate costume complete with peg leg
- Wrestling costume
- Tin Man costume
- Scuba gear
- Gangster outfit
- Lifeguard outfit
- Superhero costume
- Vampire costume that lets him glide through the air
- Red riding hood that lets him glide
- Robot suit that lets him glide In the novel, it makes him a transformer who can shapeshift into a bucket, a forklift, a jet plane or a helicopter with a rotor strong enough to chop up a heavily armoured giant robot.
- Sherlock Holmes costume that lets him analyze his surroundings and... shrink?
- Psycho Chicken: a chicken-shaped guided missile that homes in on foes and explodes.MDR
- Blob Bombs:, which are green glowing blobs that can be set down which explode on contact like mines.
- Bouncy Fruit: bouncing explosive projectiles shaped like fruit.
- Ribbon of Pain: A tron-like trail of energy that trails behind him, stunning anybody who touches it.
- Disco Ball: A shield that gives Gex temporary invincibility plus a speed boost.
- Freeze All: Freezes all other racers on the track, forcing them to struggle to escape with a button prompt.
Vehicles
Strength
General Strength- Diverts the path of a slow-moving rocket
- Holds onto a large firework as it flies into the air (Gameboy version)
- Holds onto a rocket as it flies through space
- Uses a mounted machine gun without experiencing recoil
- Hits a golfball so hard that it leaves a trail of fire when it lands.
- His tail whip attack is described as being able to dismember enemies and even disintegrate them
- Bashes through a large cluster of blocks with one hit from his tail
- Breaks metal containers
- Destroys a satellite dish
- Destroys a radio tower
- Breaks flying TVs
- Breaks giant dominos
- Breaks giant, evil pool balls
- Breaks a giant metal locker door
- Breaks a sarcophagus-themed wall covering
- Breaks the Ark of the Covenant (Gameboy version)
- Breaks the arms off a statue
- Breaks metal grates
- Breaks a brick house apart with repeated strikes
- Tail-whips a skull offscreen
- Tail-whips barrels
- Tail-whips and breaks strings that are holding up anvils
- Tail-whips a large mushroom (Gameboy version)
- Tail-whips a cooler of blood (Gameboy version)
- Tail-whips a sentient piece of machinery (Gameboy version)
- Tail-whips an Asian vase (Gameboy version)
- Tail-whips a set of double doors
- Tail-whips a bookshelf cover
- Tail-whips some giant bones
- Tail-whips a crystal power cell
- Tail-whips a sandcastle
- Tail-whips wooden boards
- Tail-whips tents
- Tail whips a car-sized boulder back at the cyclops who threw it, knocking them back into a mountain.
- Tail whips a desk into splinters.
- Sends Rez flying with a tail whip. Rez is very large and made of metal.
- Defeats a troop of alien warriors with his tail-whip.
- Defeats six ninjas at once with a roundhouse tail-whip.
- Sends Moo Shu Pork, a mutant cow/pig hybrid, flying with a kick, and is then implied to eat him. Moo Shu Pork is considerably larger than Gex.
- Knocks over a mech walker
- Deflects a thrown present out of the air hard enough to stun Evil Santa (Gameboy version)
- Dismembers a Frankenstein's monster
- Can defeat a dinosaur (Gameboy version)
- Activates a cannon by striking it (Gameboy version)
- Spins a gear to raise a large platform
- Spins a crank to pull out a bridge
- Rings the bell on a test-your-strength machine
- Tail slams so hard he shakes a mountain, causing part of it to collapse onto a cyclops.
- While giant, breaks apart a skyscraper with repeated strikes
- Shakes a giant tower inside a space station with a tail slam.
- Sends shockwaves through the ground with a tail slam, defeating two sumo wrestlers.
- Casually knocks aside robotic drones.
- Sends a roman soldier flying out of a chariot with a tail swipe.
- Knocks down a twelve foot tall cyclops.
- Knocks down a very large man with a tail swipe.
Mad Dash Racing
- Can defeat a Tremmel (a spikey headed monster) with one hit.MDR
- Can stun other racers and knock them into the air with a tackle.MDR
- Can smash through thick sections of foliage.Tri
- Can smash through rows of crates.Tri
- Can smash through a larger pile of crates.Tri
- Can destroy large underground roots.Tri
- Can destroy large stone tiki heads.Tri
- Can bash through cracked stone blocks.Tri
- Can smash apart a metal barricade.Tri
- Can smash apart a barricade made from large metal barrels.Tri
- Can smash through a large door.Tri
- Can smash through a cracked stone wall.Tri
- Can destroy a large rock spire.Tri
- Can destroy large stone boulders.Tri
- Can bash apart huge sections of rock.Tri
- Can beat Hex in a boss fight. Hex is strong enough to smash through huge stone walls and shrugs off a massive explosion in a cutscene and says he’s feeling “okay” afterwards. Although any playable character can play through Mad Dash Racing’s story mode and fight Hex, the cutscene for winning does change to reflect who you pickedMDR and there’s not really any canon for this game
Mobility
Agility- Can bounce using his tail
- Can jump surprisingly far
- Jumps from his chariot to another while in a race.
- Jumps from satellite to satellite in space, using his suction cups and sticky tongue to help him.
- Can clear long gaps with a karate kick
- Can do a one-handed handstand
- Can run, climb, and swimMDR very quickly.
- Can also climb arm over arm hanging from a net ceiling very fast.MDR
- Can perform a “Powerslide” while turning in order to charge up a burst of speed. In action.MDR
- Can grind quickly across thin surfaces like guard rails, vines, and ropes.MDR
- Can glide through the air a good distance by flapping his arms.Tri
- Counters an attack from a cow-pig hybrid with a pair of nunchuks, then disarms him.
- Dodges swings from Rez. Does it again.
- Runs while avoiding spear thrusts from cannibals chasing him.
- Jumps over a crowd of zombies, then dodges a knife-swing from a slasher villain.
- Can jump over a ninja's shuriken while fighting him (Gameboy version)
- Leaps out of a tank to avoid four enemy shells.
- Dodges gunfire from three gangsters.
- Runs away from a POW camp while avoiding gunfire from the guards.
- Ducks behind a car to avoid a driveby shooting.
- Can aimdodge automatic fire from a gangster’s tommygun.
- Can jump over a hunter's cartoon bullets while fighting him (Gameboy version)
- Can run around hunters with homing bullets (Gameboy version)
- Can move around slow-moving energy blasts
- Can dodge rocket blasts from Rez
- Avoids a bunch of homing missiles from Rez.
- Jumps onto a missile after it’s fired and steers it through a TV and into Rez’s chest.
- Deflects a thrown present out of the air hard enough to stun Evil Santa
- Can run extremely quickly after a golf ball he’s launched; in this case, covers about 180yds in a few seconds.
Durability
- Unhurt by jumping through glass
- Unhurt when the rocket he's riding blows to bits
- Unhurt by an impact that destroys the wooden crate he's in
- Deflects blue fireballs
- Gets slapped into the side of a building by Rez. Rez is strong enough to shake a huge tower inside a space station with one hand.
- Gets hit by Rez again, knocking him off a platform.
- Gets slammed in the skull by an FBI agent with a crowbar, although it knocks him out
- Gets pistol whipped in the back of the head by a mobster.
- Gets blasted into a wall by a robot’s beam attack.
- Gets shot by a giant robot and crashes into the ground hard enough to damage his jet-boots.
- Has an exploding bouquet of flowers go off in his face, blasting his head the wrong-way around.
- Gets thrown high up a mountain by a cyclops.
- Can crash through a large neon sign without slowing down.MDR
- Can be hurled a long distance from a catapult and hit the ground running.MDR
- As a mandatory section of a race course, falls from high up and hits the ground running.MDR
- Can be hit by a giant rolling boulder and is only stunned for a second.MDR
- Can take a hit by the Tremmel King in a story mode cutscene. As a Basher type racer, the Tremmel King is strong enough to smash apart large obstacles.MDR
- Can take hits from Hex during his boss fight. Hex is strong enough to smash through huge stone walls during scripted sections of the fight.MDR
- Can get speared by a floor spike trap and walk it off.MDR
- Can be hit by a swinging bladed pendulum and walk it off.MDR
- Can be blown up by a land mine and walk it off.MDR
- Can be burned by a spray of hot steam from a pipe and shake it off.MDR
- Can be burned by a jet of flame from a giant tiki and shake it off.MDR
Other
- In the first game, can spend an indefinite amount of time underwater
- Can spend an indefinite amount of time in space with no suit or air supply Same in the novel.
- Gets charged up with an energy that lets him activate jump pads
- Fucking murders people with a tommy gun
- Can kill ghosts
- His tail seems to be somewhat prehensile, picking up, unfolding, and putting on a pair of sunglasses.
- Carves an ice sculpture with tail whips (Gameboy version)
- Is pretty good at golf.
Hey, cool. I wonder what's on HBO...
2023.06.03 17:19 NewShot98 Frozen Accounts
I am curious how many there are that got their accounts frozen by Revolut and what you used your account for? As in, only bank transfer, shopping, any crypto hystory?, main account where income comes in and everything gets paid through that bank account or any of such sorts.
I've been using Revolut for a year now with the Plus(?) Plan. It is not my main bank account. I transfer the remaining money left from my income on my Revolut account and pay for things such as gas, pet food, groceries and such. I also have some subscriptions that go through with my Revolut account. I save up my money on Revolut as well bc of the Vault System, makes it look pretty organised. I used to have some crypto there that i got gifted through a Crypto App for like maybe 2 weeks, but sold it bc I don't wanna have anything to do with that. My account has never been frozen. My card got frozen ONCE bc they thought there was a suspicious transaction happening while I was trying to buy concert tickets, but I was able to unfreeze my card on my own through the app.
I would like to see if there's maybe a pattern in the accounts that get frozen, because I still doubt any bank just freezes your account for no reason? I've been with many FinTech/Online only banks and none of them ever freezed my account.
submitted by NewShot98 to Revolut [link] [comments]
I've been using Revolut for a year now with the Plus(?) Plan. It is not my main bank account. I transfer the remaining money left from my income on my Revolut account and pay for things such as gas, pet food, groceries and such. I also have some subscriptions that go through with my Revolut account. I save up my money on Revolut as well bc of the Vault System, makes it look pretty organised. I used to have some crypto there that i got gifted through a Crypto App for like maybe 2 weeks, but sold it bc I don't wanna have anything to do with that. My account has never been frozen. My card got frozen ONCE bc they thought there was a suspicious transaction happening while I was trying to buy concert tickets, but I was able to unfreeze my card on my own through the app.
I would like to see if there's maybe a pattern in the accounts that get frozen, because I still doubt any bank just freezes your account for no reason? I've been with many FinTech/Online only banks and none of them ever freezed my account.
2023.06.03 17:15 furiousferretlove Getting a ferret soon
Hello! I'll be getting a ferret soon after months, maybe years of research. I still have a few questions though, so I wanted to post here to see if anyone could answer them.
submitted by furiousferretlove to ferrets [link] [comments]
- Would a large (36 x 22 x 25) dog crate with a handmade wooden platform be large enough for 1-3 ferrets? Most likely 3. They will be out of it 100% of the time I'm home, besides when I'm sleeping or out of the home. That would likely be at least about 6 hours a day during school and 12 hours during summer and weekends. I plan to eventually switch to free roam even when I'm sleeping or out.
- How would I go about switching a ferret from kibble to WHOLE prey? I've seen how to switch to grinds or franken prey but not whole prey. Please do not point me to a website, I've searched everywhere online and got 0 clear answers.
- How do I know if a vet is good enough for my ferrets? I'm easily able to find vets in my area that will treat ferrets, but unsure how to tell which one is the best.
- I have mice in my room, but they are up in a space where I know a ferret could not get. Would the ferret dedicate themselves to getting up to them? Will I need to move them to a new room? I'm fine if I do, I can move them to my basement, as they are less a pet and more a supply of food for the future ferret, which I am currently saving up my food stock.
- How long can I go with my ferret just in my room, and how soon will I need to start introducing them to new rooms so they are not stressed, bored, or depressed? Can I introduce them slowly to other rooms instead of all at once? Or do I really need to if I provide them with enough enrichment in my own room?
- How often should I be clipping their nails?
- Can I provide a small pool of water for enrichment? Not as a bath, just water in a tub. Rarely will I do this, but incase I ever want to I would like to know if it's safe and/or okay.
2023.06.03 17:09 UrmCookiez Penguin Pet
 | For those of you wondering, all of the bonuses from my clothes apply to the pet, which is the coolest thing. It’s like having two of me, except it can’t make food, plus it has a 900% Profit!! submitted by UrmCookiez to eatventureofficial [link] [comments] Thanks dev team! These pets are something else! Please don’t nerf them. |
2023.06.03 17:08 Leonx132 [PC] [PvE-C] Friendly server for Both new and veteran players
Used to play back on console a long time ago so me and a small group of friends got a server for PC and welcome anyone who wants to join, our goal with this server is to create a place were we can have some good times and make great memories with anyone wanting a safe place for PvE with a bit of PvP 3 times a week.
Our server is evolving and you may want to give your input on the economy, clan v clan interaction, what kind of events would you like, etc., then no worries that's all open, so if you want a server that listens to its members has increased decay times so you can pick up and drop the game whenever and dose not tolerate toxic people, were a great server to start with.
We now have a small but very active base of players that is constantly growing every day & some arena events every Wednesday with more coming soon, the server is still fairly new so come join and help us in making this one of the best community's in Conan.
2x Gather rate, 1.5x XP, 50% faster thrall & pet taming, PvP Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays (GMT-6)
Features - /home, /multihome, /tpr(teleport request), /trade, starter kits(more kits coming soon), paydays, social merchants(sell your own goods to other players using thespians), a market for players to place there thespians & An arena for thrall/pet battles or friendly duals, custom quests
Mods > Pippi - User & Server Management > ModControlPanel > Sudo Exile > Kerozards Paragon Leveling > Thrall Wars Dungeon > Emberlight > Frost and Flame Placeables > Pythagoras: Expanded building > LBPR - Additional Features > Unlock Plus > Less Building Placement Restrictions > Javelin Improved > SH - Armory > RA: Character Customisation & Fantasy Extension > Simple Minimap (by Xevyr) > Hosav's Custom UI Mod > AWS v1.0.7, Tot ! Custom
Server name - [FF] Exile's Sanctuary
Location - US West
IP/port - 45.137.246.56:29300
Discord - https://discord.gg/tgmvRMAfV7
submitted by Leonx132 to ConanExilesServers [link] [comments]
Our server is evolving and you may want to give your input on the economy, clan v clan interaction, what kind of events would you like, etc., then no worries that's all open, so if you want a server that listens to its members has increased decay times so you can pick up and drop the game whenever and dose not tolerate toxic people, were a great server to start with.
We now have a small but very active base of players that is constantly growing every day & some arena events every Wednesday with more coming soon, the server is still fairly new so come join and help us in making this one of the best community's in Conan.
2x Gather rate, 1.5x XP, 50% faster thrall & pet taming, PvP Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays (GMT-6)
Features - /home, /multihome, /tpr(teleport request), /trade, starter kits(more kits coming soon), paydays, social merchants(sell your own goods to other players using thespians), a market for players to place there thespians & An arena for thrall/pet battles or friendly duals, custom quests
Mods > Pippi - User & Server Management > ModControlPanel > Sudo Exile > Kerozards Paragon Leveling > Thrall Wars Dungeon > Emberlight > Frost and Flame Placeables > Pythagoras: Expanded building > LBPR - Additional Features > Unlock Plus > Less Building Placement Restrictions > Javelin Improved > SH - Armory > RA: Character Customisation & Fantasy Extension > Simple Minimap (by Xevyr) > Hosav's Custom UI Mod > AWS v1.0.7, Tot ! Custom
Server name - [FF] Exile's Sanctuary
Location - US West
IP/port - 45.137.246.56:29300
Discord - https://discord.gg/tgmvRMAfV7
2023.06.03 16:53 TarDawgHeel [Room Wanted] Young professional looking for a roommate in ITP
Hey there! I'm a friendly and quiet professional in my early 30s. I like to keep myself busy with various activities like reading, working out, coding, and playing video games. Currently, I'm studying to attend grad school and also working a second job for fun, so my days are pretty packed. I usually wake up early and come home late.
Believe it or not, I actually find cleaning to be a great stress reliever. I'm also a fan of pets, so having them around is no problem for me. Every now and then, I might have a guest over, but don't worry, I'll always communicate with you beforehand. I believe in being considerate and making sure we're both comfortable with any visitors.
When it comes to finding a roommate, I'm looking for someone who shares similar qualities and interests. It would be great to have a roommate who is friendly, responsible, and respectful of personal space. If you're someone who values a clean and tidy living environment, that would be a big plus. I believe in open communication and creating a living atmosphere where we can both feel comfortable.
In terms of budget, I'm looking for a place in the range of $850 to $1300 because I'm trying to save up for grad school. I'm aiming to move in sometime between the end of June and early July.
If you're interested, we could grab a coffee to see if we vibe and get along well. Feel free to reach out to me through chat or DM. Looking forward to connecting with you!
Seeking ITP: West Midtown, Midtown, Inman Park, VA Highlands, Kirkwood, Edgewood, Castleberry Hill...you get the point. Possibly Buckhead depending on the situation.
submitted by TarDawgHeel to ATLHousing [link] [comments]
Believe it or not, I actually find cleaning to be a great stress reliever. I'm also a fan of pets, so having them around is no problem for me. Every now and then, I might have a guest over, but don't worry, I'll always communicate with you beforehand. I believe in being considerate and making sure we're both comfortable with any visitors.
When it comes to finding a roommate, I'm looking for someone who shares similar qualities and interests. It would be great to have a roommate who is friendly, responsible, and respectful of personal space. If you're someone who values a clean and tidy living environment, that would be a big plus. I believe in open communication and creating a living atmosphere where we can both feel comfortable.
In terms of budget, I'm looking for a place in the range of $850 to $1300 because I'm trying to save up for grad school. I'm aiming to move in sometime between the end of June and early July.
If you're interested, we could grab a coffee to see if we vibe and get along well. Feel free to reach out to me through chat or DM. Looking forward to connecting with you!
Seeking ITP: West Midtown, Midtown, Inman Park, VA Highlands, Kirkwood, Edgewood, Castleberry Hill...you get the point. Possibly Buckhead depending on the situation.