I’m at the point in my kitchen remodel where I need to add lights over the peninsula and I just can’t decide what to do. I have a can light installed above the kitchen sink and I’m most likely installing a smaller ceiling fan in the canter of the kitchen (I live in Florida). I prefer the cleaner look of can lights but want to light up my granite stone. Should I get drop pendants or just go with can lighting?

Took boob light out and planning to install Costco’s Avia 2 ceiling fan. Appreciate any help or insight. Thank you!! Links in comments.

It’s impossible to think of 90’s pop culture without encountering the masterful work of comedian Phil Hartman. His shocking murder still seems unreal, even 25 years later. The immense body of work he left behind still has fans laughing and dearly missing the virtuosic performer.
Philip Edward “Phil” Hartman (September 24, 1948 ~ May 28, 1998; born Hartmann) was a Canadian American actor, comedian, screenwriter and graphic artist. Hartman joined the comedy group The Groundlings in 1975. Hartman co-wrote the screenplay for the film “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” and made recurring appearances on Reubens’ show “Pee-wee's Playhouse.”
Hartman became famous in the late 1980s when he joined the sketch comedy show “Saturday Night Live.” He was given the moniker “The Glue” for his ability to hold the show together and help other cast members. In 1995, he starred as Bill McNeal in the NBC sitcom “NewsRadio.” He had frequent roles on “The Simpsons” as Lionel’s Hutz, Troy McClure, and others, and appeared in the films “Houseguest,” “Sgt. Bilko,” “Jingle All the Way” and “Small Soldiers.”
While he was sleeping in the early morning hours of May 28, 1998, Phil Hartman was shot three times and killed by his wife, Brynn (Omdahl) Hartman. The couple had an argument earlier. Brynn was taking Zoloft, had been drinking alcohol, and had recently used cocaine. For hours after shooting her husband and contacting friends and family saying “[she] killed Phil,” Brynn locked herself in her bedroom.
As the police raced toward the house, Brynn’s friends arrived on the scene. Friends and authorities worked to remove the Hartmans’ children Sean, 9, and Birgen, 6, from the house; Sean told them that the gunshots had sounded like a door being slammed over and over again.
The arrival of the LAPD heralded the beginning of the end. With the authorities closing in, Brynn locked herself in the bedroom, sat next to the husband she’d slain, and called her sister. When the cops banged on the door, Brynn hung up on her sister and took her own life.
Both Hartmans were cremated by Forest Lawn Memorial Park and Mortuary, Glendale, California, and their ashes were scattered over Santa Catalina Island's Emerald Bay.

Big Idea Design Like New Green Cerakote (Limited Release) - SOLD $100 I say this is like new because for some reason it has a blem on it when I stored it with my other pens. One of the pics indicate the blem but it's subtle. This was never carried but was used to test writing. Love the color which is my favorite but I use other pens more.
Big Idea Design Slim Bolt Action Pen - DLC Black Titanium - SOLD $80 This is new and never carried. It's a nice pen and love the black but again I use other pens and need to slim the collection.
Nottingham Tactical TiButton Parker Style - Seigaiha (Urban EDC Exclusive) - Double Lock (Right Hand) - $200 I got this because I wanted to try the double lock but not a fan so looking to move on from it. I have the single lock and prefer that.
All prices include shipping and Paypal fees.
Pics and timestamp
Ships from SF Bay Area
Paypal G&S

Why do we see some things and not others? I’d seen the manual push mower leaning against the building, but nine summers passed before I used it to cut grass. Before then, I used an electric mower with a cord, and though it did the job, the job rarely felt good in the doing. I can’t even claim to have been the one to see the manual push mower this season – it was buried beneath vining plants and simmering soil, and a garden volunteer had disentangled it to get a better look. Now, I use it every time, and though I like mown lawns less than all-over gardens and tall grasses, the manual mower can crisscross the yard without making the user feel like a maniac, which is how the power mowers tend to create user satisfaction – by complimenting the user on not succumbing to maniacal urges arising from semi-automatically decimating grass.
A manual push mower on a Saturday mid-morning makes the sound of a water sprinkler. The sound comes from the curved blades zinging along a fixed edge to create thousands of snips per minute via virtual scissors. This cylinder of continuous scissoring churns up a plume of confetti wherever the mower goes, creating mild intimations of parade, at least up to the one-foot mark. Because there is no engine, motor, exhaust, or fluids, the manual push mower does not feel like a power tool – more like an object of nineteenth century optimism, still superior to not being a maniac with a modern mower. I could see myself taking the mower on walks – once around the block or across town, or when I’m just in the mood to mull a few things over. I would not mow with it while I walked but find pleasure from such a perpetual will to industry leading the way.
Okay, I admit it – I’m not sure the manual push mower really exists. A manufactured device, yes – assembled somewhere, transported here – but perhaps standing for a projection of myself made dormant by the age of electricity and an era of geometric lawn care. So out it comes, as if unearthed from a prior civilization, when gear-driven blades replaced the practiced swing of a scythe. Yes, that premodern image of harvest – of grain, of souls – was also used to trim lawns, and if death-as-lawn-care-professional is something we refuse to imagine, please know I go out of my way to really see the grass I’m mowing. There is a reason why beauticians cut hair with scissors instead of ceiling fans, and so the lawn and me have struck a deal with this so-called mower. I will make you beautiful, conjure parades. You will make me an instrument of peace.

I moved into a room for rent in an old house a year or so ago. The bathroom only has a small window and no ceiling fan
If I don't consently stay cleaning the shower (no tub) mildew or mold will go on tiles quickly. Any ideas in how to minimize the growth of mold/mildew? Would a humidifier help?

Five things:
(1) No brainer. Fisher and Kaval would willingly throw their mothers, wives, and daughters out the front door to be raped if it meant bucks in their pockets.
(2) The A’s (Fisher and Kaval) don’t have their shit together, so much that their “outstanding” renderings of a Vegas stadium don’t call for anyway for fans to get in their seats.
(3) The fact is Vegas is doing this NOT to guarantee themselves the A’s, but, rather, for an expansion team after the Oakland and Tampa Bay drama’s conclude.
(4) Oakland already has conceded well more than enough for either the two stooges (Fisher and Kaval) to close the deal with Howard Terminal, or, if not, people like Ellison to throw Fisher a $1 billion to $1.5 billion bone to call it quits and for Ellison or someone like him to turn the Oakland A’s into into a dominant force with which to be reckoned for the ages.
(5) If Manfraud let’s this fraud of Fisher to go any further, he will look just stupidly foolish (no real feasibility studies, etc.) and make certain MLB owners question if if Manfraud really has any marbles left.
And one more thing. Nevada has more than enough issues with which to deal for the safety, health, and, and education of its constituents. Really!?!?! Fisher and Kaval come first. If so, Nevada is rightfully the 49th or 50th State in education and health.
Oakland, OaklandAs

A terrifying movie or book or show gets your blood pumping in the moment of consumption, sure—we covered our eyes in Squid Game with the rest of the world. But for the most part, you rest easy afterward knowing that what you've witnessed is fiction, deliberately spun up to creep you out. When the real world gets eerier than anything Stephen King could dream up, that's when you have every right to get a little scared of the dark.
Once in a while, a story of a dreadful disappearance, demonic possession, or devil worship will land in the local paper instead of a pulpy old paperback. We've rounded up the most unnerving real-life tales below. In honor of spooky season, here are eleven we can't stop thinking about.

The Axe Murder House

The Villisca Axe Murder House in Villisca, Iowa is a well-known tourist attraction for ghost hunters and horror lovers alike. The site of a gruesome unsolved 1912 murder, in which six children and two adults had their skulls completely crushed by the axe of an unknown perpetrator, was purchased in 1994, restored to its 1912 condition, and converted into a tourist destination. It costs $428 a night to stay at the old haunted home, where visitors always report strange paranormal experiences, such as visions of a man with an axe roaming the halls or the faint screams of children.
But in November of 2014, the haunting took a darker turn. Robert Steven Laursen Jr., 37, of Rhinelander, Wisconsin was on a regular recreational paranormal visit with friends when true horror struck. Per VICE:

His companions found him stabbed in the chest—an apparently self-inflicted wound—called 9-1-1, and Laursen was brought to a nearby hospital before being helicoptered to Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said Laursen suffered the self-inflicted injury at about 12:45 a.m., which is around the same time the 1912 axe murders in the house began.
Laursen recovered from his injuries, but has never spoken publicly about what occurred that day. For Martha Linn, the owner of the home, the incident was very upsetting. "It's publicity, but it's not exactly the kind of publicity you desire to have. I don't want people thinking that when they come to the Villisca Axe Murder House something's going to happen that's going to make them do something like that.” The house remains open for tourist visits and overnight stays today.
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The Haunted Doll

When you think of haunted dolls, it’s likely the creepy old Victorian-looking porcelain kind that springs to mind. None of which you probably have laying around. Still, don’t get too comfortable around any kids toys too soon, though: a Disney’s Frozen Elsa doll that was gifted for Christmas 2013 in the Houston area made headlines earlier this year when it seemingly became haunted.
Per KPRC2 Houston News:

The doll recited phrases from the movie Frozen and sang “Let It Go” when a button on its necklace was pressed.
“For two years it did that in English,” mother Emily Madonia said. “In 2015, it started doing it alternating between Spanish and English. There wasn’t a button that changed these, it was just random."
The family has owned the doll for more than six years and never changed its batteries. The mother says the doll would randomly begin to speak and sing even with its switch turned off.

The family decided to throw the creepy doll out in December of 2019. Weeks later, they found it inside a bench in their living room. “The kids insisted they didn’t put it there, and I believed them because they wouldn’t have dug through the garbage outside,” Madonia told KPRC2 Houston News.

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At that point, Elsa ceased to sing the English rendition of “Let It Go” altogether, speaking only Spanish when pressed. The family then double-bagged the bizarre doll and placed it at the bottom of their garbage which was taken out on garbage day. They went on a trip shortly after, but when they returned, Elsa too had come back, and was waiting in the backyard of their home.
This time, the family mailed Elsa to a family friend in Minnesota, who taped the haunted doll to the front bumper of his truck. It doesn’t seem to have made its way back to Houston yet, as per Madonia’s latest February Facebook update on the creepy doll.

A Deadly Exorcism

In August 2016 in North London, 26-year-old Kennedy Ife began acting strange and aggressive following a pain in his throat. He reportedly bit his father, threatened to cut off his own penis, and complained of a python or snake inside of him before his family restrained him to a bed with cable ties and excessive force.
As the BBC reported:

“The family then set about attempting to ‘cure’ Kennedy through restraint and prayer over the next three days, the court was told.”

His brother, Colin Ife, told police:

“It’s clear that thing was in him, what we believed was a demon because it was not natural. It was clearly trying to kill him,” he said.
“We had to restrain him for himself. It was clear if we didn’t restrain him, he could have tried to harm people in our family.”

Kennedy Ife had been bound to his bed for three days without medical attention when his brother called emergency services, explaining that Kennedy Ife was complaining of dehydration. He appeared to have developed breathing issues, and was pronounced dead at 10:17 a.m.
As The Independent reported:

While police were at the house Colin Ife allegedly carried out an “attempted resurrection” by chanting and praying for Mr. Ife.

All seven of Kennedy Ife’s family members were accused of manslaughter, false imprisonment, and causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult. A post-mortem examination revealed over 60 wounds including a possible bite on Kennedy Ife’s body, and his father, Kenneth Ife, along with four of his brothers, sustained injuries as well.
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The BBC reported:

Kenneth Ife told jurors he ordered his sons to take shifts and use "overwhelming force" but denied that an "association with cults, occults and secret societies" played any part in the death.

After a four day jury deliberation, all seven family members were cleared of charges on March 14, 2019.
📷Witches prepare themselves for a journey by broomstick to the Black Mountain, circa 1650. From a 17th century Dutch copperplate by Adrianus Hubertus.Hulton Archive

Dead Animals in the Walls

When the Bretzuis family decided to insulate their home in Auburn, Pennsylvania in 2015, they discovered that it had already been—with scores of dead animal carcasses.
As Fox reported:

The dead animals were wrapped in newspapers from the 1930s and 40s and were among half-used spices, and other items.
After removing the items they sent hundreds of artifacts and carcasses to an expert in Kutztown.

The expert attributed the rotting animals in their walls to Pow-wow or Dutch magic, a ritual originating in the culture of the Pennsylvania Dutch to treat ailments and gain physical and spiritual protection. The Pennsylvania Dutch were a group of German-speaking settlers to Pennsylvania in the 1600 and 1700’s, and are often of Lutheran, Mennonite, or Amish faiths.
The Washington Post notes on the magic:

Many of the spells deal with the care of livestock, finding water, or the treatment of minor ailments, reflecting the conditions and concerns of early American settlers.
But powwow also has within it a tradition of darker spells, and even of such things as conjuring demons.

One notable ritual in their tradition is this hex to create loyalty in a dog:

To attach a dog to a person, provided nothing else was used before to effect it: Try to draw some of your blood, and let the dog eat it along with his food, and he will stay with you.

The mold found on the rotting carcasses in the Bretzuis home has caused illness among the family members, and they say that the odor hasn’t gone away.
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Florida Devil Worshipping

Friends noticed that Danielle Harkins, a 35-year-old schoolteacher near St. Petersburg, Florida, started acting strangely in June of 2012, developing an interest in demonic rituals.
Soon after, she was arrested for abuse of seven of her former students, as the Tampa Bay Times reported:

Danielle Harkins told the kids they needed to rid their bodies of demons as the group gathered before dusk Saturday around a small fire near the St. Petersburg Pier. They should cut their skin to let the evil spirits out, police said she told the children. Then, they needed to burn the wounds to ensure that those spirits would not return.
When Harkins held a lighter to one teen's hand, wind blew the flame out, police said. That prompted her to douse his hand in perfume before setting it on fire. The boy suffered second-degree burns, police said.
Another teen was cut on the neck with a broken bottle, police said. Harkins used a flame to heat a small key, which she then used to cauterize the wound.

The police were notified because a friend of one of the students who participated in the ritual raised alarms. However none of the students themselves told their parents about the event or would comment following the arrest of Harkins for aggravated battery and child abuse.
NBC reported:

Investigators said they've spoken to Harkins, but she didn't spell out what type of religion would require such drastic measures.
"She hasn't informed us exactly what she was trying to accomplish with this," Puetz [of the St. Petersburg Police Department] said.

The Death of Elisa Lam

Elisa Lam was last seen on January 31, 2013 in the lobby of the Cecil Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. She was vacationing through the West Coast, documenting the trip on her blog, and checking in with her parents every day. On January 31 those calls stopped. Lam had vanished. Soon the police were involved and her parents arrived to help with the search.
They had nothing. That February, LAPD released elevator surveillance footage of Lam before her disappearance. The footage shows Lam behaving strangely in the elevator, appearing to talk with invisible people, peering around the corner of the door, crouching in the corner, and opening and closing the door. But what exactly is going on in this video raises more questions than answers. Theories range from psychotic episodes, to demonic possession, to unknown assailants just out of the camera's view:
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Around that time, hotel guests started reported weird things happening with the Cecil Hotel water supply. As CNN reports:
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"The shower was awful," said Sabina Baugh, who spent eight days there during the investigation. "When you turned the tap on, the water was coming black first for two seconds and then it was going back to normal."The tap water "tasted horrible," Baugh said. "It had a very funny, sweety, disgusting taste. It's a very strange taste. I can barely describe it."But for a week, they never complained. "We never thought anything of it," she said. "We thought it was just the way it was here."

On the morning of February 19, a hotel employee climbed to the roof and used a ladder to investigate the hotel's water storage tanks. That's where authorities found the decomposing, naked body of Lam, whose personal items were found nearby. After an autopsy, her death was labeled accidental. NBC Los Angeles reported at the time about the strange circumstances in the hotel's past:

The tank has a metal latch that can be opened, but authorities said access to the roof is secured with an alarm and lock.The single-room-occupancy hotel has an unusual history. "Night Stalker" Richard Ramirez, who was found guilty of 14 slayings in the 1980s, lived on the 14th floor for several months in 1985. And international serial killer Jack Unterweger is suspected of murdering three prostitutes during the time he lived there in 1991. He killed himself in jail in 1994.In 1962, a female occupant jumped out of one the hotel's windows, killing herself and a pedestrian on whom she landed.

In February 2021, a Netflix doc called Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel explored Elisa's tragic case and the history of the "cursed" Cecil Hotel.

An Exorcism in Indianapolis

Last year, the Indianapolis Star published a lengthy report on a family terrorized by three children allegedly possessed by demons. The account of Latoya Ammons and her family tells disturbing stories of children climbing up the walls, getting thrown across rooms, and children threatening doctors in deep unnatural voices. It would seem like something straight out of a movie–a work of fantasy, except all of these accounts were more or less corroborated with "nearly 800 pages of official records obtained by the Indianapolis Star and recounted in more than a dozen interviews with police, DCS personnel, psychologists, family members and a Catholic priest."
One of the more chilling sections of the report includes a segment about the possessed 9-year-old:

According to Washington's original DCS report—an account corroborated by Walker, the nurse—the 9-year-old had a "weird grin" and walked backward up a wall to the ceiling. He then flipped over Campbell, landing on his feet. He never let go of his grandmother's hand.

Another segment of the piece reads:

The 12-year-old would later tell mental health professionals that she sometimes felt as if she were being choked and held down so she couldn't speak or move. She said she heard a voice say she'd never see her family again and wouldn't live another 20 minutes.

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Utah Murder-Suicide

In September of 2014, a Utah teen returned to his home to find his parents and three siblings dead. "In a notebook, a 'to-do list' had been scribbled on the pages ... The list looked as if the parents were readying to go on vacation—items such as 'feed the pets' and 'find someone to watch after the house' were written," The Salt Lake Tribune reported. It appeared to be murder-suicide, but there was no suicide note, no prior indication that they would do this, no explanation. Police could not figure out why two parents would kill themselves and three of their four children.
For a year, no one knew exactly what happened to the family, or what would drive the parents to do something so unthinkable. In January, police released more chilling details in the case. According to accounts from family members and an investigation by police, the parents were driven by a belief that the apocalypse was coming and an obsession with a convicted killer. As the Washington Post reported:

Friends and family told police that the parents were worried about the "evil in the world" and wanted to escape a "pending apocalypse." But most assumed they just wanted to move somewhere "off the grid." Investigators also found letters written by Kristi Strack to one of the state's most infamous convicted killers, Dan Lafferty, who was convicted in the 1984 fatal stabbing of his sister-in-law and her 1-year-old daughter. According to trial testimony, he killed the victims at the order of his brother, Ron Lafferty, who claimed to have had a revelation from God. The story became a book called "Under the Banner of Heaven."Police said Kristi Strack became friends with Dan Lafferty, and she and her husband even visited him in prison.

The Phone Stalker

In 2007, ABC news documented a series of cell phone calls to families with terrifyingly specific death threats. The unidentified callers knew exactly what families were doing and what they were wearing.

The families say the calls come in at all hours of the night, threatening to kill their children, their pets and grandparents. Voice mails arrive, playing recordings of their private conversations, including one with a local police detective.The caller knows, the families said, what they're wearing and what they're doing. And after months of investigating, police seem powerless to stop them.

This went on with the Kuykenall family for months, who reported a caller with a scratchy voice threatening to slit their throats.

When the Fircrest, Wash., police tried to find the culprit, the calls were traced back to the Kuykendalls' own phones -- even when they were turned off.It got worse. The Kuykendalls and two other Fircrest families told ABC News that they believe the callers are using their cell phones to spy on them. They say the hackers know their every move: where they are, what they're doing and what they're wearing. The callers have recorded private conversations, the families and police said, including a meeting with a local detective.

"The Watcher"

After moving into their $1.3 million dream home, a New Jersey family started receiving creepy death threats from someone who identified themselves as "The Watcher." As CBS News reported earlier this year:
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Since moving in, the owners said they have received numerous letters from the mysterious person. "The Watcher" claimed the home "has been the subject of my family for decades," and "I have been put in charge of watching and waiting for its second coming," Castro reported.The new owners have several children, and other letters asked, "Have they found out what's in the walls yet?" and "I am pleased to know your names now, and the name of the young blood you have brought to me."

The family was forced to flee from their home and later filed a lawsuit against the previous owners.

Issei the Cannibal

In 1974, 24-year-old Wako University student Issei Sagawa allegedly followed a German woman to her home in Tokyo, Japan, broke into her apartment while she was sleeping, and attempted to cut a piece of flesh off her body to consume. When she awoke, she reportedly fought him and he was later captured by the police. According to a 2012 Vice documentary that covered Issei's bizarre story, he was mistakenly charged with attempted rape and his wealthy father paid the victim a settlement outside of court to have the charges dropped.
Seven years later, in 1981, he allegedly committed a murder in France—shooting and eating a fellow University student, Renée Hartevelt. Issei creepily documented the entire experience with photographs and he was captured by authorities once again while attempting to dump the rest of her body in the Bois de Boulogne lake. He was deported back to Japan and committed to a mental institution. For reason unknown, his psychologists in Japan declared that he was sane. Furthermore, a legal technicality involving the French government refusing to turn over the documents from his case meant that his murder charges were dropped completely. He checked himself out of the mental hospital and has reportedly been walking the streets as a free man ever since. Issei has even become a controversial celebrity, writing over 20 books. According to Japan Today, he most recently fantasized about an unnamed TV actress, saying:
"I'll catch a glimpse of her thigh and think, 'That sure looks tasty.' But I don't feel like I actually want to eat it. As I accomplished the act of cannibalism once, there's no meaning to maintaining the desire for it anymore. In my book, I wrote that it [human flesh] was tasty, but that was not really true; I'd much rather eat Matsuzaka (Kobe) beef. But because I'd desired to consume human flesh for so long, I'd managed to convince myself that it would necessarily be delicious."
Issei Sagawa was also referenced in the Rolling Stones song "Too Much Blood," with the lyrics reading: "And when he ate her he took her bones/To the Bois de Boulogne." He is currently 73 years old and continues to live in Kawaski City, Japan. To this day, no one knows why France did not allow Japan to give him a trial.
📷MATT MILLER

I am thinking of a 52” ceiling fan for our bedroom but need something with a good speed and breeze. A lot of new DC fans are disappointing when we tried out at showrooms. The old AC fans had a lot more breeze going around but can’t find them now locally. Room size is about 300sqft (old HDBs)

Respect Kyoshi

Only justice will bring peace.

History: Long ago, the Four Nations did not always live in harmony. The Avatar, the sole master of all four elements reincarnated in each generation, was responsible for bringing balance to the world, and the world was in disarray after the previous Avatar's death. It was up to the new Avatar, an abandoned street urchin named Kyoshi, to discover her destiny and save the world.
Kyoshi went on to become a legendary figure in her 230 years of life. She trained the elite Kyoshi Warriors and the Dai Li, defended the world from conquerors and kings alike, and remained a mythic figure hundreds of years after her death.

Source Key Citation in link: The Rise of Kyoshi = RoK [Chapter Title] The Shadow of Kyoshi = SoK [Chapter Title] Citation in superscript: Avatar: The Last Airbender Season # & Episode # = A:tLA S#E# Escape From the Spirit World, Chapter 2 = ESW 

Notes:

• Feats during RoK occur when Kyoshi is 16, with little training
• Feats during SoK occur when Kyoshi is almost 18, when she is more experienced
• All animated feats occur during Kyoshi's adulthood, after reaching full mastery

Scaling: Jianzhu,Rangi, Yun, Shirshu, Wan

Strength

• Lifting/Throwing
  • Lifts a heavy container she carries through a manor
    • The container is so heavy it would take two grown men to lift it
  • Picks a man up by the neck one-handed and cracks an ice wall behind him while strangling him
  • Bowls over men with a dense wooden game board before flinging it at others
  • Rangi stands on her knee while Kyoshi does exercise squats
  • Throws a teenager a distance away out of a vault and into a hallway
  • Pulls away a big man in a blink
  • Flings one man into two others, bowling them over
• Striking
  • Catches herself from an attacker beneath her pulling her under ice, then stamps her foot down and crushes their face before pulling herself free from the ice
  • Swings a maul at a trunk repeatedly and splits it apart
    • Another woman could not pull the maul out of the stump Kyoshi retrieved it from
  • Kicks over a cauldron large enough to immerse a grown man
  • Tackles two men at once, sending them flying away from the men around them
  • Tears people fighting eachother apart, knocks their heads into eachother, and tramples over them when running

Durability

• Injured while freeing herself from ice and gives pursuit while bleeding
• Fights through paralytic poison incapacitating her moments ago to tackle a man off a mountain side, ignoring the pain when she lands to start fighting
• Lifted into the air and slammed into the ground before being nearly suffocated into unconsciousness
• Falls a distance onto a hard stone ground and gets up to do so again throughout her training
• Endures lightning that nearly snaps her spine in two, allowing further bolts to pass through her into the ground before counterattacking and entering the Avatar State to win her duel before ultimately passing out from the pain
• Fights through a garrote coated in shards of glass around her neck
• Pelted with clay training discs Yun flings at her, taking the last one to the jaw, and keeps fighting

Speed

• Using earthbending she catches a stone thrown at her and returns it hard enough to draw blood
• Uses earthbending to bisect pebbles thrown at her and returns them
• Catches a man striking out with his knife and breaks his fingers with her fan in one swift motion
• Blocks poisoned darts fired at her instinctually
• Instinctively guards her face with her gauntlets from shrapnel
• Evades several rapid fire projeciles from Yun while delivering attacks of her own
• Blocks a spike of earth Yun attacks her with, grinding it down a foot from her face

Earthbending

• Projectiles
  • Pulls a room-sized boulder toward her from behind her opponent
  • Pulls a massive cube of stone out of a canyon from a distance away
  • Using earthbending she catches a stone thrown at her and returns it hard enough to draw blood
  • Kicks rocks at targets and raises walls
  • Uses earthbending to bisect pebbles thrown at her and returns them
  • Alters the trajectory of thrown stones, sending them out to see so far their splash is inaudible
  • Fires bullets of stone off a giant column in the center of a room, then throws the entire column so that it slices through the manor she is in to the outdoors
• Structures
  • Constructs a training area, including a balance beam
  • Creates a 50 foot ramp and surrounds a manor with a massive trench
    • Reference for estate's size
  • Raises and lowers a bridge
  • Raises a ramp up to an isolated cliff
  • Raises a crag to the isolated hut to allow those on it to leave, something noted earlier to require an extremely skilled bender
• Ground
  • Creates a trench in a street to try to entrap shirshu's leg
  • Sinks Rangi into the ground up to her shins to trap her in place
  • Attempts sinking Yun's limbs into the earth to trap him
  • Sends out a radial blast that throws the men surrounding her away ^ESW
• Power
  • Jianzhu refers to her as possessing the ability to break mountains whenever she remembered to
  • Bounces a teahouse into the air a half inch
  • The teahouse was large, possessing a partially-built second story
  • Lifts the teahouse again in combat, tilting it to one side to spill out several people
  • Fires a pebble at Jianzhu and struggles for control over it with him before struggling for control over an entire building Jianzhu tries to bring down, matching even the greater effort of his death throes as Jianzhu dies. The building then lifts up and slams down and Kyoshi needs a brief pulse of the Avatar State to hold it together
    • This was a 3 story building described as larger than the teahouse Kyoshi lifted earlier
    • Kyoshi and Jianzhu were both recovering from poison during this struggle
  • Rips the foundations away from a hut and nearly collapses a cliff, holding it into place
  • When Yun rips apart a grove and separates the trees with tremendous effort he notes that Kyoshi could have done it easily
• Mobility
  • Sprints through several walls, crushing through them as though were rice paper
  • After initial failure, learns the unique art of dust stepping to reach higher ground
  • Uses dust stepping to escape a militia
  • Plows downward through 14 stories of a building
• Misc.
  • Reaches through a brick wall and pulls someone through it
  • Suffocates several men with clay to intimidate them
  • Retrieves shards of glass from a wound around her neck
  • Blocks a spike of earth Yun attacks her with, grinding it down before it ever touches her
  • Engraves a tombstone

Firebending

• Blasts
  • Breathes fire her first time firebending, but could not summon more fire shortly after
  • Lost control of a spout of flame her second time firebending
  • Soon learned to firebend properly and felt like a natural at it, and kicks out a crescent of flame
  • Rockets herself forward into a tackle, then releases a massive ball of flame that destroys a stone defense Yun hastily raises
• Utility
  • Heats up an iron lock between her hands in order to break it
  • Summons a tornado of fire and air
  • Lights her way down a dark hallway with fire
  • Heats up iron shackles, preparing to break them
• Misc.
  • Notes that she has bending strength far surpassing the best of the best firebenders as she deflects, catches, and charges through their fireblasts

Airbending

• Blasts
  • Throws a ball of wind to blast away a man next to her sending the man flying down a hallway
  • Flattens a clump of people fighting one another
  • Holds a door shut with a continuous blast of air while whipping men around a hallway into the walls and ceilings until they collapse
  • Kicks out air that fills a hallway, smashing scrubbing it clean and smashing tables to bits
  • Gusts the clothing off a man ^{A;tLA S2E5}
• Utility
  • Plays with a breeze
  • Summons a tornado of fire and air
  • Catches several papers thrown into the air

Waterbending

• Utility
  • When caught by surprise she waterbends the first time by catching some thrown at her
  • Creates a raft to quickly navigate the canals of Ba Sing Se
  • Lifts herself and another to the surface from underwater and holds them there
  • Amplifies her swimming to sink faster
• Power
  • Aided by the moon and a waterbender providing control, Kyoshi lifts the contents of a pond and washes it through a building to spill out the guards within
    • Reference for estate's size
  • Sweeps a ship 100 yards out to sea and snaps the ropes mooring it to shore, then freezes it in the air with talons of ice
  • Lures Yun into arm's length to place her palm on his chest, then freezes his lungs solid to kill him
    • The technique is said to require too much raw power for most benders
    • Kyoshi spent a month learning healing before gaining the technique
• Healing
  • Heals a cut around her neck, though the water doesn't glow like it normally should
  • Heals superficial injuries of wounded guards, and knows how to stop bleeding and pop joints into place
  • Spends a month studying healing
  • Stabilizes Rangi and helps to save her life after Rangi suffers impalement

Avatar State

• Pulls a column of stone from a sea floor that tilts over a boat, then washes pirates away with a wave of water and pulls up more earth that snap ships apart as she boils the sea
  • Bent earth from over 200 paces away, exceeding the capabilities of Jianzhu
  • This was her first time entering the Avatar State, and she was so exhausted afterward she immediately passed out
• Described as imbuing her with the skills and knowledge of all past Avatars as well as vast amounts of energy and the previous Avatar destroyed an island before mastering the Avatar State
  • Further detail about the destroyed island
• Blacks out, waking up to find she ripped trees up by their roots, pushed over hilltops, and caused landslides, though she retains consciousness thereafter
• Raises herself and an opponent into the sky on a column of air, lights soldiers and fields of rice ablaze, creates a vortex where her opponent cannot breath, redirects flame he fires at her, and drops him to his death
  • Afterwards she reflects that she was in complete control of herself, and after a few minutes passes out from the pain of the lightning bolts she endured
• Opens up the ground to reach the well water beneath, then uses it to heal Rangi's impalement and save her life
• Throws 2 massive statues ^{A:tLA S2E3}
• Creates a fissure in the earth, raises a wall of lava, and gusts off the end of a peninsula to create Kyoshi Island ^{A:tLA S2E5}

Skill

• Combat/Tactics
  • Prior to training she could move large amounts of earth easier than precise amounts, the reverse of how most earthbenders learned
  • Teaches herself to levitate a small clay turtle, but accidentally breaks it
  • Underwent grueling training to implement her fans into a fighting style
  • Trained in firebending while balancing during sparring sessions and was comfortable dropping to her stomach on the balance beam
  • Studied Jianzhu's tactical manuals, navigating a fight within a building using said knowledge
  • Takes out over two dozen armed men while fighting in a confined space
• Stealth
  • Learned to step quietly during her time as a servant
  • Sneaks up on Kirima
  • Automatically scans her environs for weaknesses in their security
• Spirituality
  • Unconsciously recited a previous Avatar's poem word for word
  • Feels a prickle on her neck in a spiritually resonant location
  • Meditates to summon the previous Avatar to speak with her
  • Possesses a later Avatar's body to testify in court after her death ^{A:tLA S2E5}
  • Experiences difficulty communicating with her previous life at first
  • Communing with past lives is said to be extremely difficult
  • Connects with Kuruk's memories upon meditating with a spiritual guide, who is impressed with how quickly she did so
  • Nearly drowns herself to successfully establish contact with Kuruk
  • Proves skilled at detaching herself from the physical world, and connects with her past life Yangchen

Equipment

• Wears chainmail armor
  • Protects her from an arrow
  • A sword breaks against her shoulder
  • Makes her chainmail even heavier
  • Stands up to earthbent shrapnel that killed several others, including armored guards
• Uses her mothers bronze war fans, headdress, and makeup
  • Her fans helped her mother continue to airbend as her powers dwindled
  • They also help her to waterbend for the first time
  • Her fans assist Kyoshi in bending with precision so well it feels like cheating
  • Breaks a man's fingers fingers with her fan in one swift motion
• Wears armored metal gloves that do not impede her bending and guard against darts

I love my daily, but miss having a light, tossable, manual car. My first car was a BRZ and now I am thinking of picking up another one to eventually turn into a track car. I am considering rebuilt so I won't feel guilty tearing into it.
I have considered trading into an Emira, but realized I would not be willing to track it.
I also want something to work on, but don't want it to need the work to enjoy - at least not immediately. I am confident working on cars, but would rather put my time into upgrades rather than maintenance and tracking down issues. I also have access to large CNC machines, and want to fabricate parts for it.
I don't care about appearance and will probably learn to HVLP paint on this car.
Plan to do an engine swap/build no sooner than 6 months Plan to do suspension ASAP Other parts as needed or time/money permits
I have looked into Miatas, but I am worried about crash safety and prefer the larger engine bay in the twins.
I don't think I want to deal with BMW maintenance
I feel similarly about Porsche parts prices and also engine bay size
I'm not a fan of the MR2 for my uses, but I have only ever driven a 1st gen
Is there anything else to look into at that price or are those thoughts uninformed?

Offshore has opened in the spot formerly occupaied by Clydes overlooking Lake Kittamaqundi. The decor is more open and brighter than Clydes and the view of the lake is quite pleasant.
The food is quite good. I had the vegan shrimp and grits and it was really good. I'm not vegan, but I felt like grits and I'm not a fan of shrimp so this was a good choice. The four large "shrimp" were deep fried and served on a bed of grits that covered half the plate. The other half was a lovely tomato based sauce that mixed well with the "shrimp" and grits.
My daughter didn't want a large meal so she ordered the fried calamari appetizer as her main course. It was a large bowl filled with fried calamari, baby octopi, and picked jalapeno rounds all breaded and fried to perfection. Even though it was listed as an appetizer she wound up taking half of it home because there was so much. It is served with two sauces, a tomato based sauce and a cream based sauce (remulade?). The calamari were cooked well, with just a hint of chew - just how we like them.
The only disappointment in the food was the bread basket. For $9, you get four large rolls, which in themselves were quite good. The rolls were of different types, I liked the cheddar the best, but the brioche were nothing to sneeze at. The disappointment was the Old Bay butter that they included with the bread. I get the nautical Maryland theme of the restaurant, and I'm a fan of Old Bay in general (fries, chicken, crab(dip)), but they dumped so much old bay into the butter that not only did it overpower the bread, it was too salty, detracting from the bread. Our waiter was kind enough to fetch some regular butter which worked much better.
The service was excellent. The waiter kept our glasses full, removed plates as needed, and brought the dessert menu all without us asking. He knew the menu and could answer questions about the dishes. I was impressed at how good the service was.
The total for two people (1 entree, 1 appetizer, 1 bread basket) with no alcohol was $60 pre-tip . That prices it similar to Food Market and possibly Lak (haven't been yet). I would give the nod to Food Market for the food, though Offshore's food is good, but Offshore has better ambience.

First time home buyers needing advice- Sorry this is so long, there’s so many moving parts with this situation!
Here’s the situation, we are under contract as of April 17th, the sellers requested a longer close which was fine by us, our close date was originally set for May 23rd, and we’ve had some delays due to heavy rains in Colorado on May 11/12. We never really get this amount of rain, and a lot of homes were affected including the one we’re buying.
The house has two issues- the roof leaking into the garage, so roof flashing repairs + the ceiling/wall in the garage needing replacement, and then the crawl space was pooling water from under the soil and now the entire space needs to be redone with insulation and vapor barrier.
Before the rain damage, inspection and appraisal came back and everything was in. Great condition, like literally nothing to worry about.
The delays we are having are because between May 11 to closing date, all the sellers did was throw some fans in the crawl space and make an insurance claim. They were not proactive in letting us know about damage, getting quotes, getting and repairs started. My realtor found out and immediately got 3 vendors out to give us quotes for repairs and our inspector to asses the damage.
Insurance can’t get out to the property until this upcoming Tuesday (3.5 weeks after the rain) and then the written report done by Friday. So that’s holding things up…
But now the sellers are saying they HAVE to close on Wednesday, are unwilling to wait any longer, and that’s before an insurance report is written up where we even know what’s covered and what’s not, and are offering $5k in concessions to help pay for the repairs.
The average quote for all repairs is $7,000, but all of them said “but we also won’t know until we start”
They don’t want to inform the title company, which means no post-escrow account, because obviously that would delay close because title would NEED repairs to be done, so we’re already being nice not informing them.
The sellers are already moved out, we know they are staying in temporary housing nearby, and are waiting on the sale of the home to buy their next one, and are moving out of state (AKA they NEED this house to close)
Here’s some of the issues we have-

• We agreed to buy the house in the condition that it was in, it’s no longer in that condition, and the sellers didn’t fix it in time for close, and now they are pressuring close for Wednesday
• We don’t know what insurance will cover or not, and the sellers aren’t willing to wait an extra two days to close until we have a report in hand
• We’re not going to blindly buy a half mill house without knowing the extent of the damages
• We don’t want to blow up the deal because we love the house, but we don’t want to get screwed on the repairs that are now in our hands and have to deal with it
• Our rate lock expires in 2 weeks, so we’d get screwed in that, but we’re in an apartment, so we have flexibility to extend our lease so housing wise we’re okay

Our options- 1) take $5k concessions and risk repairs 2) ask for $10k concessions if they want to close without an insurance report 3) put them into a corner and say we won’t close until insurance has written report 4) what would you do??
Thank you!

It's been a few days since the season ended for us and I've been taking in all the media opinions about the Lakers next season. Being a typical delusional Lakers fan, I've been fantasizing about what moves the Lakers can make for next season. And no, I don't think the path to success is gutting the roster for Kyrie, Trae, or Dame. Personally, I'm still very high on the current roster, but I also see that we need to tweak the personnel around the edges. Just want to toss this out into the bright minds of Lakers reddit to see what others think. As of now, I see the roster like this:

• Tier 1 - On the books: Lebron, AD, Vando, Max (4 spots)
• Tier 2 - Must resign: Reaves, Rui (2 spots)
• Tier 3 - Try to bring back: Dennis, Lonnie (2 spots)
• Tier 4 - Maybes/Trade chips: Dlo, Beasley, Bamba, #17, #47 (5-ish spots)
• Tier 5 - Replace: TBJ, Wenyen, Tristan, Shaq H (4 spots)

Tiers 1 and 2 are the cores to keep. Tier 3 is nice to have if it doesn't break the bank. That's already 6-7 solid guys in the rotation + Max, who has the potential to step up into a rotation-level 3&D wing next season. Personally speaking, I wish I could include Dlo in this Tier as well because he's a homegrown guy that came back with great potential, but his WCF performance was so atrocious that it's hard to argue against it. Regardless, this would be a strong playoff-proven core. If we are to take this to a title-contending level, I see a few needs that need to be fulfilled:

• Defensive / Floor-spacing Big - Someone that can either play with or be a backup to AD. AD's injury concerns aren't going away any time soon, and it doesn't help if he's constantly banging bodies at the 5. Give him the option to go back to the 4 (assuming he works on his damn shots this summer...) and plug in a big that can rebound and shot block. Ideal targets would be guys like Brook Lopez, Naz Reid, Mason Plumlee.
• Defensive / High IQ Guard - Someone that can take the load off Lebron for playmaking. Also someone that can chase the opposing team's best guards. Vando did a great job with Ja, but he's better suited for wings. Dennis eventually became the main defender for Steph and Jamal, which wasn't enough. Ideal targets would be guys like Alex Caruso, GTJ, Josh Richardson.
• 3&D Wing - Because we could always use 3&D Wings. My hope is that Max grows into this role and Vando improves his 3-pt shooting over the summer to take a noticeable leap, but there's no guarantee there. Ideal targets would be guys like Kuz, Jerami Grant.

Tier 5 is not necessarily a bad group of guys, but probably the least valuable imo. TBJ showed some great flashes in stretches but proved to be very inconsistent. Wenyen's energy and hustle are great in short spurts, but there are better "true" bigs out there with more size and skills. Tristan had a nice flash-to-the-past performance in WCF Game 4, but we all know he's more of a locker-room guy at this point in his career. Shaq was a pleasant surprise when he played and I'm actually curious to see if he can improve to be a part of the rotation, but there are other proven players with similar skills. Wouldn't mind any of them coming back if there are no better options, but I'd say step one is finding an upgrade here.
Tier 4 becomes the big question mark. The ceilings of these guys are attractive on paper, and I think there's a legitimate argument to give them another chance. The big concern with them is their contracts v.s. their true values based on experience. Unlike the Tier 5 guys, who are all vet mins, the Tier 4 guys expect rotational-player level salaries in the range of $10-25 mil per year. With that kind of money, we need consistent productivity on the floor, which they were not able to display this past season. The ideal scenario would be to renegotiate their contracts to something more in the ballpark of their recent performances and decide later if they're worthwhile to keep or better served as potential trade chips in the future for some of the targets mentioned above.

• Dlo: $18-20 mil per year / 2 years
• Beasley (drop team option and resign): $10-12 mil per year / 2 years
• Bamba (drop team option and resign): $6-8 mil per year / 2 years

Unloaded a lot here, but I guess I had the time to kill until summer league started back up!

last update: 27may2023
part of SAGs Lighting Guide
I'm currently working on the bucket coolewarmer and messing with microgreens.
TL;DR- white UFO or PAR38
Lighting level measurements for the white dimming UFO with a five gallon bucket:

• An analysis of and how to mod the FECiDA UFO LED dimmable grow light --I get into how to flip the fan and why you may not want to do it

Lightning level measurements for the PAR38 build:

• A low cost, no hassle lighting setup for a five gallon Space Bucket --this is the origianl PAR38 post

bucket coolewarmer project
This is a current project to come up with a cheap and easy way to cool and warm a bucket.

• bucket cooler proof of concept

a discussion on defoliation
If you don't know what you are doing then don't defoliate.

• PSA: stop defoliating your plant- some of you are killing your yields

don't underwater your plant!

• How to water a plant part 2

As a beginner, use the second knuckle rule. Stick your finger in the soil down to the second knuckle and if it feels dry then do a complete and thorough watering (not just around the stem). Experienced growers typically just go off weight of the soil container.
how to do full color fluorescent imaging
This is a great DIY project. If you have a cheap UV laser, go out at night and point it at the grass. The red dot you see is chlorophyll fluorescence. It can help to use a yellow/orange/red filter to look through to block the UV.

• cheap and easy chlorophyll fluorescence imaging of a leaf

FAQ I'm working on

• Bugbee, UV light, aluminum foil/white paint
  
• top 5 yield killers, green light, roots, phones, CO2, temperature
  

a few examples of bucket builds

• A low cost, no hassle lighting setup for a five gallon Space Bucket --this is the OG PAR38 build brought to you by being bored in a Walmart and Covid-19
  
• Safety tips on the PAR38 build --how to wire up a dual PAR38 build
  
• PAR20 build guide --kind of a pain, I get into the safety of this particular build and why it's a problem
  
• 2 gallon isolation bucket day 28 --pothos plant and shows some Vero 10 under lighitng
  
• 5 gallon pea microgreen setup --this is the first try with microgreens at 10-15% humdity
  
• 5 gallon pea microgreen day 18 --this is microgreens optimized in shape to a single COB with a five gallon bucket. This is the torus or torodial pattern I sometimes mention.
  
• 2 gallon isolation buckets and why to use one --LOL...don't take a plant from the hardware store and put it in your grow chamber. Isolate it for three weeks first.
  
• 2 gallon mini buckets and showing a technique I call a "folded torus". Tomato plants --I'm showing a variety of lighting techniques
  
• 1st try with the Ekrof Space Bucket ---2013, note- modding LED bulbs was safe(r) back then because they still had ingress protection over the LEDs when the cover was removed and the LEDs were isolated. You should never do this with a modern LED bulb and you should use much better PAR38 bulbs instead.
  

testing lights
I tested seven different cheap quantum boards and they all failed. Three were quite deadly. I talk about safety testing and standards in some of the posts.
A quick tip on how to tell if the light is dangerous- look for plastic washers used anywhere in the lights construction. The light maker is playing games with the grounding and it's likely a dangerous light. Lights on Amazon, eBay and the like don't actually need safety testing to be sold (lights bought in store at a Walmart or a big box hardware store will be safe).

• I am testing cheaper "quantum boards" to UL 1598 standards. The first four failed.
  
• Another cheap "quantum board" failed. Very rough draft of an article. Help me pick the next light to test --I'm getting in depth on safety testing
  
• Found another stupid dangerous quantum board not to buy.
  
• MarsHydro TS 600 "quantum board" failed very badly in my testing
  
• Review of a $15 sixty watt garage light
  
• Line voltage COBs and a discussion on electrical safety --we've had people getting bad shocks by using line voltage COBs.
  
• Quick safety note on the very cheapest eBay line voltage LED power supplies
  

Hi there! I'm a Quiet Corner person who has lived here all my life, but within a year or two will likely be moving into a home I can call my own. I hope to meet someone I can call my partner in life or consider my bestie who would be interested in sharing plenty of relaxed days together or fun trips outside! I'll get started with a little bit of background info:
I graduated with a bachelor's in communications last year from ECSU, and soon I will be starting a new job working as documentation for a sign-making company. I work full-time and go by a 40-hour work week. I do not smoke, drink, or take any recreational drugs.
I feel I have to include that I am largely liberal and do not have a faith. All I ask is either aren't your entire personality!
I enjoy playing games! Video games have been a huge part of my life since I was a child, so they have always been source of comfort and entertainment. I would love to play any with you if you're interested! To name a few better known titles I enjoy: Minecraft, Fortnite, World of Warcraft, Deep Rock Galactic, and most RPGs. I'm a huge fan of Star Wars, Elder Scrolls, and most fantasy/Sci-Fi media. We'll have plenty to talk about here if you share at least one of these interests!
I love going out for bike rides, kayaking, walks, or daytrips to fun places like Mystic CT or Hampton Beach in NH! With Summer right around the corner, I hope to eventually share some awesome days out!
Longterm, I aspire to travel abroad to places like Italy, Norway, the Caribbean, or wherever else!
That's about all I can think of for now. I hope to hear from you soon!