Weather in centreville alabama

Welcome to DayZGone Namalsk - an exhilarating first person survival experience like no other! No Base Building, or Cars! Dive into a post-apocalyptic world set on the frozen wasteland of Namalsk, where unforgiving weather conditions and bloodthirsty zombies are just the beginning of your challenges. We have added some additional mods below all while still keeping the Vanilla aspect of the game.
🎒 Military Overhault Pack: Unleash your inner warrior with a complete overhaul of military-grade equipment. Discover new weapons, gear, and clothing options that will make you a force to be reckoned with including the AR-15 and the AKSR.
🔫 VSWeaponry: Prepare to arm yourself with an extensive arsenal of weapons, courtesy of the VSWeaponry mod. From powerful assault rifles to precision sniper rifles and devastating shotguns, this mod brings an exciting variety of firearms to the game. Each weapon is meticulously crafted with attention to detail, ensuring a realistic and immersive combat experience yet also keeping a balanced level between all weapons.
🙅‍♂️ No Force Weapon Raise: Say goodbye to accidental weapon raises and enjoy smoother, more immersive gameplay. No more frustrating interactions when you need to stay quiet and undetected.
📦 Stack More Items: Maximize your carrying capacity and make the most of your limited inventory space. Stack More Items allows you to stack essential resources efficiently, ensuring you're always prepared for the harshest of conditions.
👕 Windstrides Clothing Pack: Customize your character's appearance with a diverse range of stylish clothing options. Protect yourself from the elements while expressing your unique style in this frozen, unforgiving world.
Join DayZGone Namalsk now and embark on a thrilling journey of survival, where every decision matters. Test your skills, form alliances, scavenge for supplies, and fight to stay alive in this brutal, immersive DayZ experience.
SERVER INFORMATION:
Max Players- 42
IP- 37.10.124.212:24000
Restarts- Every 4 hours.
Mods- Community Framework, Community Online Tools, Advanced Weapon Scopes, DayOne, Military Overhault Pack, No Force Weapon Raise, Stack More Items, Windstrides Clothing Pack.
Playstyle- PvP, PvE, RP.
First Person Only!
Discord: https://discord.gg/a8uc95Ms5s

Hi guys pretty new here, so i hope i do not cross some guidelines.
I’ve been commuting regularly for about 3 years now without seasonal pauses (weather was kind for biking thankfully) and about 4 months ago i started biking from 30-80 kilometers during weekends.
And I have seen huge improvements in my cardio and especially my strength in legs and lower back, but my legs never ever literally feel well rested. My commute became so integrated into my everyday life that I’m unable to not cycle even for a day.
But even so I’m not forcing myself during weekdays or so I think I’m not.
Now to give some info. Town that I live in is full of hills, my home to work commute is literally 2 km uphill but even if it’s uphill it’s really short and quick commute. During the weekdays every day I average around 10 km, I don’t have a diet or some special regime and only physical activity is cycling and hiking.
So after this awfully long story I truly hope someone with greater experience will help me recover, I have this feeling of leg fatigue for 2 months now and is mentally limiting me from going further even though my lungs and cardio are telling me to go further (that sounded exactly something roadie would say) but i hope I was clear.

Here are three seemingly unrelated gameplay flaws of BOTW and TOTK:

• repeatedly having to swap outfits for specific abilities/buffs gets annoying
• permanent progression in these games sometimes feels lacking
• combat often doesn't feel incentivized enough

What I think they all have in common is that a well-balanced skill tree mechanic could have addressed all of them.

1. Many of the gear buffs such as attack up, stealth up, and climbing speed, would have worked well as incremental skill tree upgrades. Some, climbing speed in particular, feel like they should just be permanent attributes for link, as they are so useful that having to swap outfits to access them just gets annoying. Outfits could still have unique attributes, such as weather protection and maybe elemental resistances. Players could experiment with different combinations within the skill tree and different outfits/weapons to create "builds" for different playstyles.
2. Having this kind of a reward/progression system could allow for a new kind of collectible, one that mostly comes from enemy parts. Let's say there's a shop owner who can melt down enemy parts into some currency to be used in the skill tree, similar to how Zonaite gets forged into new battery upgrades. Low level enemies would be a low conversion, while high level enemies and miniboss parts would net big payouts.
3. This would address combat usually not being worth it. Fighting enemies really just gives you stuff so you can fight more enemies, but this gameplay loop is way too closed and doesn't work if you prefer to just avoid combat or you already have a good weapon inventory. With a skill tree unlocked by engaging in combat, now you might be motivated to fight that lynel not just for his spear, but so that you can swim faster, have an easier time climbing, etc.

If done wrong this could obviously become too grindy, but that could easily be avoided. As long as no essential upgrades are hidden behind grinding enemies, and the player can advance in the skill tree a decent amount just by playing normally, I think this kind of mechanic would add a lot to player progression and combat.

hello,
im looking for a decent hybrid camera for photo and video as i grow into photography/videography. some uses will be: youtube (music vlogs/interviews), natur (hiking), landscape, etc. so i guess, something versatile.
i think 2000 is a low budget in which case i found some options under 2000 used, but im not sure i have enough knowledge to inspect a used camera. i could bump up the budget if im really getting something 'that much' better.
something with decent IBIS, autofocus, battery life, prefer weather sealing. looking for a lifetime camera. i was considering the following:
- panasonic g5 (i or ii), g9
- olympus e-m1 mark iii (might be hard to find under 1k)
- fujifilm x-t4
- xs-10 (i believe has no weather sealing, not sure how much this would matter).
regarding IBIS, one reviewer compared the olympus to the fuji (camera conspiracy on YT), and the fuji IBIS was pretty bad! another channel i saw, the fuji IBIS was great compared to a sony a6600...so not sure about some of the reviews or if it was due to some lens differences...
any other suggestions? thanks!

• State/Country of Residence: MN
• Ties to other States/Regions: Undergrad in WI
• URM? (Y/N): N
• Year in School: 2 completed gap years, 3rd gap year during this reapp cycle
• Undergraduate Major(s)/Minor(s): Biology / Chemistry minor
• Graduate Degrees (if applicable):
• Cumulative GPA: 3.92
• Science GPA: 3.94
• MCAT Score(s): 516 (131 CP / 125 CARS / 130 BB / 130 PS)
  • from 8/2020 so the score is expired at a good amount of schools
• Research Experience: 330 hours over 4 years, same lab.
• Publications/Abstracts/Posters (include how you were credited e.g. first author, second author, etc.): Poster presentation + grant at college symposium - first author
• Clinical Experience (paid or volunteer): 2 years full-time scribe at specialty clinic + (1 anticipated)
  • added 1 year for reapp
• Physician Shadowing: 32 hours first app (24 were virtual)
  • added 25 hours from 3 specialties for reapp.
• Non-Clinical Volunteering: 65 hours
  • added 50 hours for reapp with an anticipated 50 from scheduled involvements.
• Other Extracurricular Activities:
• Other Employment History: 3250 hours working retail (mostly high school and college summers)
• Immediate family members in medicine? (Y/N): N
• Specialty of Interest (if applicable):
• Interest in Primary Care (Y/N): Y / Undecided
• Interest in Rural Health (Y/N): N
• Other notes: low volunteering tanked app last year and I was not really on the ball adding more during cycle until recently. I have utilized more resources to hopefully improve my writing. I did not get any interview invites with 30+ applications completed last year.
• Medical School List: List is reduced by oldish MCAT for this cycle, I did not apply DO last cycle.

MDs
University of Minnesota (Cities)
University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
Saint Louis School of Medicine
Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine
Wake Forest School of Medicine of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
George Washington University Schooll of Medicine and Health Sciences
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Albany Medical College
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
DOs
A.T. Still University of Health Sciences - Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine - ATSU-KCOM
A.T. Still University-School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona - ATSU-SOMA
Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine - ACOM
Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine - ARCOM
Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine Auburn Campus - VCOM-Auburn
Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine - LECOM
Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine - MSUCOM
Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine - Rowan-Virtua SOM
Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine - SHSU-COM
Touro University California College of Osteopathic Medicine - TUCOM
Western University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific - WesternU/COMP
William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine - WCUCOM
Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine - KYCOM
​
Thanks in advance for any advice and help!

So it's often easy to narrow down to a couple of brands but not everything is reviewed independently, perfectly good tents that launched only 2 or 3 years ago have been discontinued, if a tent is reviewed there often isn't a video showing it being put up. It's a nightmare. I last bought a tent 10 years ago, I bought a tent for £25 from a stock liquidation and it's been brilliant. I hate it's weight, i hate putting it up, i hate takign it down but the room it offers, the separate porch area and general atmosphere is nice, it's a nice place to be but i'm fed up with spending an hour putting it up in hot weather after queuing to get into a festival. It's not too difficult to get up but once it is up it requires a lot of fiddling to get it just right.
I need a new one and it's really difficult to pick one, there are some that are perfect apart from being too big but there's often no smaller size even though tents i hate have 3 or 4 size options, some reviews say ta tent i like leaks, others say they camped in torrential rain and it was fine, often there's no dedicated, independent tent review site that's looked at a model and said for sure what it's like in inclement weather.
​
There's no reason to keep changing tent designs so often, surely after centuries of tent making there's a handful of designs that should be the pinnacle of tent design and only subject to minor improvements? The Rover Safety Bicycle was the blueprint for pretty much every bicycle afterwards so why is there not specific tent designs in each category? There's no reason why Vango, Coleman and others shouldn't be producing standard tents that are weatherproof, reasonably priced and easy to pitch.
I shouldn't be wading through unsuitable dome tents or finding ones that are suitable but haven't been sold for 5 years and therefore cannot be obtained new.
i hate tent buying and i hope i don't have to do it again for another decade.

Who am I?
I am a great, funny, caring and thoughtful individual who is seeking a cuddle buddy for our dreaded California weather. I mean how else can I survive in this bitter cold that we experience. I can host so if you can push past the blizzards, you can seek refuge in my arms. I work as a waiter and have my own business on the side. I love to be the big spoon while cuddling and watch a new movie or documentary. When I am not working, I am at the gym or going for a hike.
Who I am looking for?
Obviously you! You great human being. I am looking for someone who is friendly, has a heart, loves a warm embrace, any age and status, I never been one to judge.

Four years ago this weekend I was in the middle of a mental health crisis, one of this existential questionings that was up and down. Context is I was 36 at the time and I had been getting deep into my mental health issues for 15 years and still couldn't find any meaning to it all.
I was sitting in my cubicle practicing a reading I had to give at a funeral. It was Ecclesiastes 3:8 which says: “A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.” I wasn't a very religious person, somewhere between agnostic and atheist depending on the weather. I thought I get Love and Peace, sure time for that, time for War, I mean I guess in self defense of the innocent (not self defense of the guilty). But hate, why is there any time for that.
I had spent 15 years trying to work on not hating myself, not hating my mental health diagnosis, not hating all the beautiful things pass by cause I couldn't get over how much I hated myself. So right there in my cubicle I thought from now on I will never believe there is a time for hate.
I'm still not sure how it all happened but later that day I did not go to that funeral. I went to my parents and told them I had a problem. We went to my wife and we talked about the problem. I wanted to kill myself or burn down my life and find peace disappearing from everything. I spent the rest of memorial day weekend in a mental health unit of a hospital.
When I went to bed I was awoken by something. Paralyzed in my sleep I listened. It explained everything to me. A blueprint to do something. I've been writing about it and its implications for years on reddit so I won't go into it all, that's not why I'm writing this.
I'm writing this because I at least followed the spirit of that blue print at every decision I made for the next four years. I still made some bad decisions, some very bad ones that almost destroyed me. But I also made a lot of good ones. Tried new therapists and therapies. Read about mindfulness. Tried meditating a ton. Focused on my children, my work, my marriage the best I could and centered my spiritual beliefs on understanding what unconditional love is.
Today on the four year anniversary of being in that hospital, one of one too many stays in institutions, I was feeling very grateful for the past four years, the good and the bad, admiring the beauty of the journey. I decided to take my daily walk with my dog around the neighborhood just clearing my mind and it hit me in it's simplicity. I knew instinctively after I had the idea that it was my higher power's answer to the question "But hate, why is there any time for that."
There is time for whatever you want. You decide what your life means. What you focus on is what you worship, and what you worship will guide your decisions as we all inevitably outsource decision making to whatever we worship be it a God, or a partner, a philosophy, a political party. In that context there is always time for hate. Here is what it has to do with unconditional love.
Unconditional love has been described many ways, I just posted about the most articulate description I've ever heard which was from an AI I trained. But AI is trained on the past so it can only ever deliver variations of the past. On this walk I got a new answer to the question of if my higher power's love is unconditional and I believe my higher power is powerful enough to create everyone and everything then why is there time for hate?
Unconditional love is the ability that comes from mindfulness to recognize that there is never a time to hate another human. Unconditional love is the realization that hate is toxic, but shit happens and you are going to get angry, its inevitable for whatever cosmic reason. It is your choice of what you do with that hate that defines you.
And my higher power's advice was that the only thing you should ever hate is me, the God of your choice. You will be better served focusing on gratitude, you will be better served focusing on the beauty of the present moment, you will be better served remembering all the love that got you this far in life. But if you find yourself hating something, and you end up like Sefton believing unconditional love and hate are mutually exclusive and get caught in a paradoxical hell that sends you to be visited by shit I can't explain, it is ok to direct that hate at whatever you believe in.
That is the source of your hate. That is your enemy. Hate whatever you believe in or forced to believe in or wanted to believe in. Not cause the source of your hate is wrong. But on the off chance you find yourself with a whole bunch of energy that is about to turn into hate, put it towards what you believe in. Your higher power or someone else's higher power can take it, after all they are immortal or whatever.
But that TSA Agent who is moving too slow, that neighbor who gets on your nerves, that life partner who won't let you be happy, that unfairness at work, in the economy, in politics, in cities and villages all over the world. All of those things are just people, like you. Mere mortals worried about the next pay check, their health, their children. They definitely have less capacity to deal with your hate than a deity.
So that is the answer to the question I asked my higher power 4 years ago. If you want to believe unconditional love is the most powerful thing in the universe and you want to practice it the best you can, and on the off chance out of whatever statistical probability of this chaotic existence you find yourself trapped in a moment where you just feel a lot of hate, you won't be in trouble for directing that hate at God or whatever belief you choose. But you will be accountable for the hate you cast out into civilization here on Earth.

Hi all! Been suffering with symptoms for nearly 2 years now without a diagnosis. Originally, my PCP thought symptoms were related to Lupus bc I have a positive ANA and high DNA Antibody levels. Saw 3 rheumatologists, one of which treated me for Lupus (Plaquenil & Benlysta) with no relief of symptoms or change in labs. I'm now off those medications and trying to start my journey for answers all over again.
I've also seen 2 cardiologists that said I was "fine" as my EKG, ECHO, and wearable monitor were "normal".
My average resting HR is 90-100 when I sit up it's in the one-teens and anything standing or moving puts me anywhere from 120s-150s. This is also true for my blood pressure, getting higher as I go from laying to sitting to standing etc. Mild activity causes me to sweat profusely even in cold weather. I have a daily baseline temperature of 99.5. And with increasing frequency, I become dizzy (to the point that I feel I'm about to faint) if I don't get up VERY slowly. These are just the most detrimental of my symptoms.
Yet, I can't find a doctor who's willing to help me find a diagnosis or manage my symptoms. I was curious to see if you all received your diagnosis from a cardiologist, neurologist, primary, or other specialty? I'm hesitant to find a 3rd cardiologist as being let down so many times is becoming increasingly bad for mental health.
I'd even appreciate hearing your stories and/or similar situations!

Is it possible to revert to the old display?
My ecobee updated itself and I don't like the new display. I used to be able to see the clock and weather easier. Now it's just displaying the interior temperature any time someone walks by the thermostat, and as it's in a hallway that's all the time.

I've been having so much fun with this little story. Here's part one if you'd like to read it in its entirety! But to summarize:
Vr'ocria and Human Aldrick were sent on a survey mission together. Things went south, Aldrick made sure they were safe, and then Vr'ocria learned what human sleep is and how vulnerable humans are when they sleep. Vr'ocria's people don't sleep, but enter stasis, a form of rest in which they typically stand, and they are still slightly aware of their surroundings. Vr'ocria finds human sleep utterly adorable, and also decided she would protect Aldrick while he slept. And she also developed a massive crush on him. (Her scales turning purple is her version of blushing)
Vr’ocria ran the engine diagnostic again, and again it came back inconclusive. She slammed her fist on the dusty controls. “Blasted thing.” Of course she got stuck with the rusty, crusty old shuttle pod that no one else wanted. Why did these things always happen to her? She just wanted to do her job!
Not for the first time, she wished she had Human Aldrick for company.
It had been two moon cycles since Vr’ocria had last seen Aldrick. They’d only served on the one away mission together, and once they returned to the ship, they’d been sent their separate ways. They worked in separate departments, after all.
But that didn’t stop her from missing him. She’d only spent a few solar cycles with him, but somehow was already totally enamored by the human–the human who was supposed to be a terrifying, dangerous, nearly indestructible monster.
Vr'ocria had met a handful of humans during her service, and they were all polite enough. But Aldrick was the first human she'd ever spent any extended alone time with. It was on that away mission that Vr’ocria learned what “sleep” was: The human form of rest in which the human becomes completely unconscious, and thus, totally defenseless. Something about learning humans were even able of being defenseless at all, much less in such a complete way, had changed her entire perspective on them. She’d grown up always being told to fear the humans, the wild, indestructible humans.
She had been nervous enough to quake in her scales, but he was nothing but kind to her. And when she saw him sleep for the first time–planets, what a blasted cutie. During their few cycles together, she always stood by him when he slept and she went into stasis. Her people were still slightly aware of their surroundings while in stasis, so she would be able to protect him if there was danger.
She couldn’t help but worry about him ever since they separated. Who was going to keep watch while he slept? What if something happened, what if there was an ambush or a ship malfunction and he couldn’t wake up fast enough? She wanted to be there for him…
Vr’ocria cringed at the memory of when she asked her nestmate, Galek, about human mating rituals.
“You want to mate him? Are you insane?”
"No! I mean–well…" Vr'ocria reminded herself to keep her voice down; Aldrick was still sleeping in the next room. "I…Galek, listen–"
"He's a human!" Even through the communicator, she could hear his scales snap. "He's dangerous!"
"He's nice! When the away mission went wrong he made sure we were safe and–" her voice caught when she remembered the way Aldrick strolled fearlessly through a thunderstorm, one warm hand gripping her wrist, unflinching at every thunderclap and lightning strike in the sky that rattled her to her core, as he led them to a cave for shelter.
Galek sighed. "Vr'ocria, let it go. We are not compatible with humans, they do things differently anyway. They don't mate."
Vr'ocria stilled. "They don't?"
"No. Well, kind of? Ugh, why am I even telling you this…"
"Because I'm your favorite nestmate," Vr'ocria grinned.
"Shut up." There was no bite to his words. "Anyway, what I mean is that humans usually court each other first, and then mate. I think they call it 'marriage.' But that's all I know."
She hummed in thought. "This is good to know."
"Vr'ocria, I mean it." Galek was back in protective-nestmate-mode. "Drop it, it's a terrible idea. Humans are…it's just a bad idea, okay?"
"I'm not gonna do anything," she mumbled.
And what if he doesn't even like me anyway?
Her scales faded to a faint red and her shoulders slumped at the thought. Back in the present, she absent-mindedly flicked through the controls on the cracked panel in front of her. Maybe Galek was right, and she should just stay away from Aldrick altogether.
“Agent Vr’ocria, report.”
Vr’ocria jumped at the tinny voice that suddenly filled the cabin. She pressed the comm button. “Commander, this pod is–” she stopped herself from using a few choice words– “in a state of engine malfunction. I can’t even diagnose a problem. I’m not going anywhere in this thing.”
”Stand by.”
Vr’ocria drummed her fingers on the consol.
”Agent Vr’ocria, you’ve been reassigned to shuttle pod Delta. You will join a crewmate there.”
That’s right, Delta was a two-person pod. She groaned inwardly at the prospect of working with someone else in such a cramped space.
Vr’ocria tried not to drag her feet as she approached the Delta pod. The loading door was already open, and she climbed inside. “Hello? I’ve been re–”
“Vr’ocria!”
She turned towards the cockpit, and her scales flashed to purple in record time. “Aldrick?”
The human was beaming as he maneuvered through the tight space to approach her. “It’s so good to see you again!”
“What are you doing here?” she asked, silently urging her scales to go back to green. “Aren’t you in engineering?”
He shrugged, suddenly looking everywhere except her face. “I uh..I asked to be transferred to the survey department.”
“Why?”
His cheeks turned pink. They seemed to do that a lot. Vr’ocria really needed to ask the ship’s doctor if that was normal for humans or if he was getting sick. “Engineering just wasn’t doing it for me, y’know? Needed a change of pace. I volunteered for that one survey mission and it turns out I liked it, so why not try it full time?" He turned back towards the cockpit. “We should get going! I think this mission is gonna be more fun than the last one. The planet we've been assigned has a more stable atmosphere, so fewer storms."
So she and Aldrick would be working together, alone, again. Vr'ocria swallowed hard before following him to the cockpit. Oh, planets, why did these things always happen to her?
—
The trip to planet Theta-7 was quiet. Aldrick occasionally tried to engage her in conversation, but Vr'ocria pretended to be engrossed in her file pad. Guilt prodded her spine with every one-word answer and noncommittal grunt, but she was determined to keep her distance. Aldrick eventually fell quiet, and her scales nearly curled in on themselves in shame.
She avoided looking in his direction, but she still heard the sound of his canteen unscrewing and the slosh of liquid as he took a sip. Her nostrils flared at the odd, bitter-sable scent.
When she realized she recognized the smell, her eyes blew wide and she whirled to face him, dropping her pad. "What are you doing?" She nearly shrieked.
Aldrick lowered the canteen from his lips, looking startled. "Uh…drinking my coffee?"
"Coffee?" Another foreign word. "That's remfrylie! It's a deadly poison!" Her blood was rushing through her veins so fast she feared her scales would start to swell.
Aldrick laughed.
Laughed?
Her scales turned yellow and stood on end. "What is this?" She asked indignantly.
"I'm so sorry, Vr'ocria," he rubbed his eyes, still chortling. "I forgot, I should've warned you–humans call remfrylie 'coffee.' It's a beverage, we drink it. The caffeine in it gives us a boost of energy."
She stared at him.
As if making a point, he took another big gulp from the canteen, and smiled at her. "See? Totally fine."
Slowly, her blood slowed and her scales laid back down. But there was still a thrill of fear deep inside her–she'd become so enamored with him that she'd forgotten how dangerous he was. Drinking pure poison? Just for a boost of energy?
She turned away, embarrassed, a little afraid, and a little angry at him for scaring her like that. She bent over to pick up her pad from where it fell at her feet and went back to mindlessly flicking through her files.
Fabric rustled as Aldrick shifted in the seat next to her. "Hey," he said softly, "I really am sorry for scaring you. I didn't mean to do that."
"It's okay." Her voice was clipped and short.
Aldrick was quiet for a moment. "Is everything okay?" He asked slowly. "Have I…I mean, have I done something to offend you? I'm really sorry if–"
Guilt washed over her again. "No, no you haven't done anything." She finally looked over and tried for a weak smile. Now that she was actually looking at him, she could see the way he'd turned his whole body to face her, his fingers fidgeting at the edge of his seat and his warm brown eyes filled with worry.
Oh, that's right, humans had color in their eyes. Her people only had large black pupils, but humans had pupils with–what's the word–an "iris." She'd seen humans with brightly colored irises before, and while she found them beautiful, they also freaked her out. It was just so very strange.
But Aldrick's eyes…
The brown was a little closer to her own black, making them feel more familiar. In the tiny, cramped cabin, she realized that this was the first time she'd ever gotten a chance to really study his eyes up close. The brown seemed to swirl, and she noticed that there were layers of shades and colors floating around his pupils. And when natural light from a sun shining through the window hit them just right–
Aldrick cleared his throat awkwardly and turned to face forwards again. "Looks like we're here."
Vr'ocria looked forward and saw Theta-7's solar system quickly approaching. Oh, right. They had a mission to do.
—
Theta-7 was warm, just how she liked it. The sand, not so much. She tightened her boot laces twice to keep sand from finding its way inside.
The mission, thankfully, went smoothly. Walk, scan, record. Walk, scan, record. Being out in the field was different from working aboard the ship like she usually did, but she found she enjoyed it. With the agreeable weather, she quite liked the peaceful repetitiveness of the work.
Although, things were still awkward between her and Aldrick. She fought the urge to make excuses to drift away from him–since it was just the two of them, they needed to remain within eyesight of each other in case anything happened. As a result, she had a front row seat to Aldrick’s human antics. He climbed trees like it was nothing, crossed a stream by easily hopping from boulder to boulder, nibbled on plants he claimed were edible but that still made Vr’ocria’s scales ripple with unease, and even insisted on approaching a ferocious, furry creature with his hand outstretched and cooing “Hi kitty! Hi baby! Come here, let me give you scritchies, come on–”
Vr’ocria didn’t know what a “kitty” was, but a baby it definitely wasn’t. “Aldrick, please,” she called weakly.
“But she’s so cute!”
“It’s got claws! And look at its big teeth!”
Aldrick grinned as the creature crept closer. Its head came to Aldrick’s hip from where he knelt, still reaching out with his fingers and making a scratching motion in the air. “Naw, she’s just a little baby, aren’t you sweetie? Come ‘ere!”
Vr’ocria trembled on the spot as the creature was finally within arm’s reach of Aldrick. He began scratching its sandy-colored head, and to her disbelief, the creature closed its big eyes and leaned into his touch. “Oh, yes,” Aldrick positively giggled, “you’re such a sweet little baby, aren’t you?”
Vr’ocria could only stare, stunned, as he continued scratching the creature’s head, then its cheek and chin–extremely close to its massive fangs.
“All kitties like scritchies, huh?” he cooed at the…kitty.
Okay, they were kind of cute.
It, she corrected herself. The ”kitty” was cute. Not him. Definitely not.
She didn’t notice her scales flushing a soft pink as she watched him nearly pull the “kitty” into his lap, beaming and petting it. A gentle smile crossed her lips.
Aldrick glanced over at her and tilted his head. “You’re pink. That’s new, I haven’t seen that color on you before.”
Vr’ocria’s blood froze and her scales immediately flashed to purple. Blast. Shit. Fuck. Great, now she was picking up human curse words.
He blinked at the sudden change in color.
"Oh it’s–” she coughed, “it’s nothing. Just the heat, I think.”
“Are you okay?” He eased away from the creature as he stood, and it darted off into a hole in the rocks. “Do we need to take a break?”
Stop being so NICE, she growled inwardly. “No no,” she squeaked instead. “I’m fine. Let’s keep going.” She buried her head in her scanner and walked briskly towards the next scanning zone.
When night fell, the two of them made their way back to the shuttle pod. They still had scanning to do, but it wasn’t safe to work through the night, so they agreed it was best for them to take rest inside the pod.
Once they were safely inside, Aldrick laid out what he called a “bedroll” on the floor of the cockpit, between the two pilot seats. Still dressed in his uniform, he laid down and shifted until he appeared as comfortable as he could get. Tugging a blanket over himself, he glanced toward Vr’ocria. “Well...good night.”
“Sleep well,” she murmured. She stood in the short aisle in front of him, facing the door, and began to enter stasis. Despite how much she’d come to struggle with her feelings for him, she was still determined to protect him while he slept.
It was in the middle of the night when Vr’ocria snapped back to full awareness.
Thud.
There it was again.
Shuffle shuffle.
She whirled around and threw herself on top of Aldrick, clapping a hand over his mouth as he jerked awake with a muffled shout.
“Shh!” she hissed. “Something’s out there.”
He stared up at her with wide eyes as she slowly removed her hand. She didn’t move from her position on top of him as she looked up and around the cabin, trying to discern where the sound was coming from.
Thud.
“The door,” Aldrick whispered, looking over her shoulder.
There was one last thud, then a beeping sound.
”Shit!”
Without warning, Aldrick was grabbing her shoulders and flipping them so that he was on top, and before she could even react, there was a core-rattling BOOM.
She couldn’t hear herself scream as a shockwave blew fire and debris over them, and then everything went dark.
Vr’ocria groaned as she came to, her head pounding. She found herself sprawled in the sand, looking up at the night sky. She slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, her limbs heavy. “What…” when her eyes focused, she gasped in horror.
The side of the shuttle pod where the door used to be now had a big hole blasted through it. Debris and supplies were strewn out across the ground, and judging by the drag marks, it looked like someone had dragged her body out and thrown her haphazardly into the sand.
She leapt to her feet, stumbled, fell, and jumped up again. Forcing her legs to steady under her, she stormed into the pod, and came face-to-face with a Norvidian pirate.
“Fucking pirate,” she roared, drawing her fist back and punching him right in the face. He yelped and dropped the thing he was dragging, and with horror, she realized it was Aldrick.
Something deep and primal flooded through her veins, and she grabbed the Norvidian's head. She slammed it against the wall, once, twice, three times, before dropping him to the ground, where he oozed yellow blood.
“Well that was fucking scary.”
Vr’ocria snapped out of her haze.
Aldrick was struggling to climb to his feet, and she darted forward to catch him before his face hit the floor. “Oh planets, oh my–Aldrick, are you alright?”
He rubbed a hand over his face, still looking dazed. “Yeah, I think–I think I’m okay.” He laughed, and it sounded a little hysterical. “Did you kill that guy?”
She looked over at the pirate, and somehow, she felt no remorse. “I hope so,” she growled. Logically, she knew the pirate was probably just tossing the two of them outside so he could raid their supplies. But the sight of him dragging a limp and pale Aldrick was burned into her memory, and her bright yellow scales rippled with rage.
“Jesus, you’re fucking scary when you’re angry.” He laughed again. “It’s kinda hot.” He turned pink and his face twisted in an expression she didn’t recognize. “Uh, pretend I didn’t say that.”
Vr’ocria didn’t know what it meant for something to be “hot,” so she played along and pretended she didn’t hear that. “We need to get you cleaned up,” she said instead. “Can you stand?”
Aldrick started to shift his legs, then went tense and dropped his head to her shoulder with a groan. It was then that Vr’ocria was able to lean forward enough to see his back, and she gasped.
The back of his shirt was in tatters, stained red with blood. Cuts and burns raced across his skin, and Vr’ocria knew that if she had taken the blast like that, she would be dead.
“Aldrick–” her throat felt thick, “Your back…shit–”
His breathing was ragged against her shoulder. “Hurts like a bitch,” he ground out, “but it won’t kill me. Just need to disinfect and bandage it.”
She laid him down on his stomach as gently as possible and rushed to the cockpit, praying that the first aid kit was undamaged. “Thank the planets,” she breathed as her fingers closed around the handle of an intact box.
She tried to steady her shaking fingers as she gingerly cut his shirt away and began dressing the wounds according to the kit’s instructions for treating humans. She also dressed the few injuries that ran down the back of his legs. Luckily–or unluckily–the damage was concentrated on his back. While she worked, she could see his muscles tense tight enough to crack, his teeth grinding and his hands clenched into fists so tight that his knuckles were white. She knew there had to be painkillers in the first aid kit, but she wanted to get his wounds dressed as fast as possible to prevent him from bleeding anymore. All she could do in the meantime was whisper quiet apologies.
Once she’d gotten him bandaged up, she finally dug through the kit. “Here,” she said as she fumbled with a bottle, “I found some pain killers, they’re supposed to be fast acting. You just let them dissolve in your mouth.”
She could tell he was in too much pain to move, so she held two of the pills up to his lips. He let her feed them to him, and after a few moments, he visibly began to relax. “Oh, that’s good shit,” he slurred into the floor.
“Feel better?” Vr’ocria asked hopefully.
“Yeah.” His voice was still crackly and weak. “Still aches a bit, but I don’t wanna scream about it anymore.”
“Good.” She stood and draped a blanket over him. “Now, stay put and don’t try to move. I need to figure out how to get us out of here.”
The shuttle pod wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. When she investigated the control panel, she found that the blast had knocked out communications, and their personal communicators were wrecked as well. “Great,” she mumbled.
Making her way back outside, she glanced around until she saw the pirate’s tiny craft a distance away. He must’ve landed out there so we wouldn’t hear him, she mused. She was reluctant to leave Aldrick alone, but she jogged the distance and pried the door open. The thing was a rust bucket, stinky and creaky, and she quickly decided she didn’t want to risk loading Aldrick up in that thing.
What to do, what to do…
Then she remembered: There was a survey outpost a few kilometers from here. She could take him there for professional treatment, rest, and to contact their ship.
When she got back to the pod, Aldrick was standing, leaning against the wall.
"How are you feeling?" She asked as she approached.
His eyes seemed clearer now as he looked up at her. "I've been worse," he said with a crooked smile.
Vr'ocria thanked the planets for human durability.
She let out a breath. "There's a survey outpost near here, due east. It's a few hours' walk. Do you think you can make it?"
Rather than answering, he stooped to pick up a blanket from the floor, shook out the dirt and debris, and threw it around his shoulders to cover his naked torso. "Let's go." He hopped easily out of the pod, and Vr'ocria could only shake her head in disbelief as she followed him. Humans truly were unbreakable.
It was still nighttime, but the clouds in the sky had cleared to reveal two big, bright moons that illuminated their way. Vr'ocria kept a close eye on Aldrick as they walked. While at first he seemed totally unaffected by his wounds now that they'd been dressed, she was beginning to notice the tight lines around his eyes, his white knuckles where he fisted the blanket, and the way each step he took was just a little shaky.
After walking in silence for nearly an hour, she finally found her voice. "Thank you," she said quietly, "for saving me back there."
He looked at her with those warm brown eyes and she thought she would melt. "Anytime."
Stupid purple scales.
They were halfway to the outpost when Aldrick collapsed. His knees hit the ground and Vr'ocria darted forward with a yelp to catch him before he went all the way down.
"Aldrick!" She shook him. "Look at me! Hey, hey…"
But all he could do was groan as his head lolled in her hands, slumping forward so that he sagged against her. Vr'ocria tried not to panic, but her scales stood on end anyway. "Aldrick!" This time her voice cracked.
Okay, okay, calm down, he's gonna be fine, he's human, it's gonna be okay… But doubt still twinged in her spine.
She ruffled her scales. Snap out of it.
"Okay. Aldrick," she took his face in her hands, "I need to put you on my back, but you'll have to help me."
He didn't respond.
She slapped him.
"Ow!" His eyes shot open. "Jesus, woman–"
"Look at me. I need to put you on my back, and you have to help me."
He blinked, eyes still cloudy, but finally nodded. It took some maneuvering, but Vr'ocria finally got him situated on her back–"piggy back style," he called it. She held his legs around her waist, and used the blanket to tie him to her. She could feel his warmth and heartbeat from where he was pressed against her back. His breath ghosted across the nape of her neck, sending tingles over her scales.
She tightened her grip around his knees as she walked. My human.
"You're pink again," Aldrick mumbled behind her ear.
Vr'ocria pressed on.
—
By the time they reached the outpost, her back was aching and her feet were sore, but she didn't care. She waved down the watchmen, and within minutes they were being swarmed by a med team. Aldrick was now fully unconscious and much too pale, and the medics wasted no time loading him up on a stretcher and carrying him to the med bay. When they tried to insist that Vr'ocria go to a separate room for evaluation, she snarled and snapped her yellow scales until they backed off.
She wasn't leaving Aldrick's side for a minute.
By the next morning, the med team had worked their magic and Aldrick was sleeping peacefully. He was curled on his side like he usually did, his face free of lines, lips parted, softly sighing with each breath.
Stupid human and his stupid cute sleeping.
She brushed his hair from his face, gently trailing her fingers across his cheek. Human skin was much softer compared to her scales, and warmer too. Aldrick had once explained that humans are "mammals," creatures that were "warm blooded." Her people were "cold blooded." Maybe that explained why she always wanted to touch him, hold him, feel his warmth…
Aldrick shifted and sighed, and her breath caught as he leaned into her hand. His eyes cracked open and he gazed blearily up at her. "Hi," he croaked.
She smiled. "Hi."
"You're still pink," he observed. "Are you okay? Did you get checked out?"
Blast all the planets. "I'm okay," she assured him. "My people turn pink when…when, um…I-I'll tell you another time," she stuttered. Galek was going to kill her.
Aldrick reached up to take her hand from where it still rested on his cheek. "Thank you for taking care of me."
She squeezed his hand. "Anytime."
This got so much longer than I thought it would 😂 How do we feel about one more part where these two idiots finally admit their feelings for one another?

I feel like I'm going crazy. I have a one year old black lab/blue heeler mix that was an unexpected surprise from an ex. I learned fairly quickly that these are extremely high energy dogs who require a lot of exercise and mental stimulation.
Over the past few months, I've slowly transitioned to walking him in the mornings and evenings (about an hour each time due to my schedule, longer on days off) and playtime on breaks from work (fetch, tug of war, treat puzzles, hide and seek, commands and tricks) due to the hot weather. He can be laying on the floor, refusing to budge anymore and then 20 minutes later it's like he hasn't played all day. None of it feels like it works anymore. I'm at my wits end because he's now actively destroying parts of my home out of boredom. So far he's gouged my hardwood floors through digging at some non-existent thing, chewed the trim on several doorways and is starting to chew holes in my linoleum floor.
I know he's bored and has pent up energy as he only does it when I'm working and can't pay full attention to him or when we miss the walks because of stormy weather, which I try to make up for with more mental stimulation. I even rotate toys and occasionally buy him a new one when he's worn out the old ones. He is kennel trained but I don't feel right leaving him locked up for so long while I work, generally 2-3 hours between breaks. He's been checked out by the vet and is perfectly healthy.
I cannot afford a doggy daycare and I have no friends that have dogs that he can interact with while I work. I'm out of ideas on what to do, I'm losing my mind and I'm about to break down and cry. What else is there to even do at this point? Everything I read online just says I'm not doing enough, I'm not trying hard enough and it's all my fault and I cannot stand it anymore. Every single article is copy and pasted from the one before it. How can it be my fault when just about every free moment I have is taking care of him? What am I missing?
Oh and let's add in that he's now starting to guard his food and treats from the cat that just happens to walk by on their way to another room, who's never so much as looked twice at his food because how dare they walk nearby. It's never been a problem before but sure, let's add to the humans stress levels 😭

I have a really odd question. Can I be spending too much time with my birds? I have 2 Moluccan cockatoos I adopted 2 1/2 years ago and they have their own cages next to each other. I like for them to be out of their cage as much as possible…especially if I’m home, I don’t like them being caged, it just doesn’t feel right. They tend to get pretty vocal and I know it’s time for them to go back to relax. And in the morning I want to spend about an hour with them before I go to work otherwise they don’t get as much interaction.
The last few times I’ve been under the weather I did not get them up until 10 am. And they were SILENT. I had to put them back after about 20 minutes and again, silence.
Am I wrong in my thought that they NEED as much interaction as possible?

Because it's kind of like a Sunday (for those in the U.S anyway).
Got a lot done around the house and the yard today. Pressure washed the patio, trimmed the blackberries, emptied old flowerpots and refilled with new posies. The motorcycle is cleaned, oiled, waxed and chain adjusted. The weather is fine and the dog is napping on the couch. I can hear a band playing in the park nearby. A good friend became a grandpa yesterday. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is pretty funny (so far).

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