Kroger weekly ad north myrtle beach

So my husband and myself went for our weekly relaxing dinner and drinks at this restaurant on the beach. We really love this place, the staff, the food, and the staff likes us a lot. Also, we live in Mexico, I’m from another country to the north and my husband is a local. Anyway, some stupid street dogs were fighting on the beach and one came up to the patio and peed on my leg and the table leg. So disgusting and infuriating!!! I was already pissed because of the barking and snarling going on but that just took the cake! I yelled at the filthy animal and the other one that was still on the beach barking. My fellow foreigners looked at me as if I was the devil incarnate as if to say “how dare you talk to poor doggo woggo like that you evil b**ch!!” Luckily my husband mean mugged them back and they didn’t say anything. Mostly venting because I texted my friends back in my birth country about it and one said “Blame the owner” and another said that it was disgusting and surprised I didn’t do something and then asked what’s up with white people and dog obsession? They’re not nutters by any means btw. Like how about I bring my parrots and let them scream and crap everywhere? How about I go pee on the nutter’s table and sniff their food and crotches? Oh, and the people that mean mugged me also had a beast WITH a wagon, a dog bed, and toys. At least it was well behaved but still, leave it at home! Not to mention that they were parked right next to the live music. Another note, so many foreigners brag about “rescuing” dogs here and shipping them to the US and Canada. They spend thousands and thousands of dollars on these worthless street nuts but don’t help some of the locals living in literal squalor. People will post about needing a blood donor for a surgery and no one respond but god forbid there’s a street dog someone posts about and people come out of the woodwork to “help”. Completely insane. What about horses, birds, and other pets. They need “help” too.
Vent over 🙄

6/21/80 Anchorage, Alaska
In order to talk about the Grateful Dead in Alaska in 1980, I need to first talk about me living in Puerto Rico in 1995. That summer I had been sent to Puerto Rico for my first duty assignment in the Navy. Not a bad duty assignment for a 20 year old. I was still onboarding to my new assignment when Garcia died—it kinda sucked being all by myself for that, but my barracks roommate was cool and let me bump the Dead nonstop for a few days.
Now, my roommate, Jason, was this wonderfully weird, big ol’ cornfed farm dude from South Dakota who liked Star Trek, jazz, and a copious amount of rum and cokes. We of course got on like gangbusters. At one point we went in on an “island car” together: a 1979 Dodge Aspen that would only start with a push start—we were constantly looking for hills to park on! I think we paid like 200 bones for it. Anyway, a few days later he lumbers in and chucks a book at my head, “Hey Mitchell, I saw this at the Exchange and thought of you” (Jason and I used to call everybody ‘Mitchell’ due to our love of both the terrible Joe Don Baker movie and the hilarious MST3K episode).He had gotten me Steve Silberman’s “Skeleton Key: Dictionary for Deadheads.” Cool!
So, as I’m skimming through the book, I notice an ad for a “Grateful Bed and Breakfast” in Luquillo that was like 20 minutes away. I call the place and talk to the owner—a New Yorker named Marty. “Come on up my man, lets's hang!”
It was a neat little rustic B&B—rustic being the operative word. But it was a cool place and Marty became a good friend. Since I didn’t know any other Heads down there, Marty and the Grateful Bed and Breakfast became a kind of sanctuary. It was nice to forget about military BS every once in a while. I would go up a few times a month to hang out, listen to tunes, help him hang drywall in the guest bungalows—stuff like that. He had been some kind of political advisor or strategist or something, but had lost his taste for politics. The B&B was his way of starting over, engaging with the things he loved: namely the Dead and making people happy. Marty also had a couple of hundred tapes which he graciously let me go through over the weeks and months.
6/21/80 is one of the first I taped from his collection, and it became one of my favs. I love the idea of the Dead playing the solstice in Alaska. What a cool adventure! But aside from all that, this show brings the goods. It is hot!
This show finds the band almost smack dab in the middle of their existence—15 years behind and 15 years left to go. I am rarely disappointed in 1980 Dead, and I think this is a tip tier show. It flows. It's cheeky. It swings. There are interesting song placements—ending the first set with a bad ass Feel Like a Stranger and starting the second set w/ a Big Railroad Blues—it all works. The playing on this date seems effortless. The transitions are on point and the band is locked in. And the energy is A+. It must have been a gas experiencing this show!
Now look, is this my favorite Sugaree? (*yes, but sometimes it’s 5/19/77 and sometimes it’s both and sometimes it’s some other version, probably from 1977). But yeah, this Sugaree is dope!
Lazy Lightnin> Supplication is super tight. Jerry on fire.
The real centerpiece for me is the Terrapin>Playin>Drums>Space>Truckin>Stella Blue. Did I mention this show flows? This whole seamless segment is so incredibly satisfying and beautiful. This is why we listen to this band, for inspired segments like this.
I don’t think this is a show that gets that much attention, but I would rate it as a highlight from a very good Dead year. Other shows from this year rightly get a lot of attention: everyone knows about the Warfield and Radio City Music Hall runs in the fall. Gainesville and Lewiston Maine are other popular shows from this year that rock, but for me this show hits just right. I don’t think it’s been released officially, but there are good auds and sbds available. My original copy was a good aud—probably the first good aud I ever got. I linked a really sweet matrix.
This is a good sipping beer on the back porch show. The jams are intense, but go down smooth. I always like putting this on for cookouts and back porch hangs. I can sometimes catch glimpses of those past days too. Not often, but sometimes I can conjure those days in my mind's eye: cookouts at Luquillo Beach, hanging w/ Marty listening to the Dead, or adventuring w/ Jason listening to this tape in that broke dick Aspen, driving up to El Yunque to swim at the Angelito swim hole, drinking rum and being young.
I suppose I miss hanging w/ Marty the most from those days, simply because I will never see him again. In 1997 I was sent to the Fleet and overseas deployment. Sadly, I heard a few years later that Marty had tragically died in a fire at his bed and breakfast. But this show doesn’t make me sad. It makes me happy that the music exists, that those times really did happen, and that the music and memories endure. The gorgeous Brokedown Palace is the perfect coda to this stellar show.
Going home, going home, by the waterside I will rest my bones, listen to the river sing sweet songs to rock my soul. RIP Marty

We recently got moving quotes from UPack, PODS, Allied, Bekins and North American. We contacted Atlas who never called us back. We had trouble initially scheduling with United/Mayflower. Mayflower could do a video quote early next week but we wanted to make a quicker decision.
I have posted a few threads about our move from Texas to Delaware. We are moving very little furniture (although the furniture we are moving is high value). We also are moving a lot of porcelain and glass figurines that are very valuable.
We have some stuff we must take in our one SUV: 2 cats, computers, clothes, important papers.
This is made even more complicated because we need to find and buy a house and so stuff will need o be in storage, most likely 2 to 4 months.
We have done in state moves before but never a 1500 mile move. We are older retired folks so doing the loading ourselves or doing a self-move was not an option.
Although I've used traditional movers before, I wanted to look into container options.
Upack - I got a Relocube quote online that was about $2800 for 2. When DH called them for a date about a week later the quote was $4200. The Upack trailer was for less. However, they could not offer any storage at all. I don't know if they just don't offer in DE or if their storage was full.
PODS - The quote for one 16' POD was fine, just over $3100. Monthly storage was about $400 after the first move. However, we would have had considerable charges to get everything packed, loaded and unloaded. Even more critically we would have wanted o send our porcelain by that method as we would have had no protection for breakage. So we would have needed to have taken our cats and other stuff in the car to Delaware and then either driven back to get the porcelain or fly back and rent an SUV to take the porcelain to Delaware. That would add a lot of time and cost.
Allied - Allied's binding quote was a little over $14k We had some furniture that it were unsure if we would take or not so we asked for quote both with and without that furniture. I think the Allied quote was with that furniture, but not sure. I asked for an updated quote without that furniture and having received it yet. The quote was fairly detailed and broke everything out. They were going to crate our glass table top (but not the legs) and our 75" TV. They had a fairly detailed inventory. So, Allied was basically fine to deal with but not as responsive on some things.
Bekins - Their binding quote was a few hundred dollars more than Allied. They did this via video. There was no inventory provided. They also listed the services but did not break up any of the charges. I think they were going to crate our large elliptical and maybe the glass table top. I think they likely included the furniture we weren't sure if we wanted to take. I've asked for clarification and a quote without that furniture. I have not received that yet. I was not impressed by the quote not breaking out costs . They also say 90 days storage is included but I may not need that much and since they don't break out costs I have no idea what it would be for less storage.
North American - North American's binding quote without any of the uncertain furniture was just under $11k. With that furniture it was about $2 more. This was an entirely different experience than Allied and Bekins. Allied (sister company) was overall pretty good in coming to my house and doing the inventory. North American was at an entirely different level of competence and detail. The inventory is more complete. I was required to give a list of high value items (those worth more than $100 per pound). The representative looked at those items very carefully. They will be crating the glass table top and the legs as well as several of the largest, most valuable porcelain pieces. North American initially did the quote without any of the furniture that I was uncertain about it. Then, I got an individual quote for adding each of the possible furniture. Finally I got a quote for the move with all the "maybe" furniture in it. This made it very easy for me to decide not to take any of the the furniture I was uncertain about.
North American will store our stuff locally until we have an address in DE. I will pay them for packing and loading when they pick everything up. Monthly I will pay the storage fee. Once we get a delivery address in Delaware they will either collect the balance by credit card or I can pay on delivery with a cashier's check (what I will likely do).
I then added up all the components for what PODS would cost us. Of course some of that is a guestimate in terms of packing and loading and unloading fees. But I estimated those things based upon some local moving we've done. And then I estimated the cost to come back here and get the porcelain for the second trip. The result is that doing PODS would end up costing very close to the North American quote or maybe a $1000 or so less. And, it would be far more hassle.
The result is that we are likely going with North American. They were the most professional and detailed in heir work. I get near instant email responses from the person I dealt with there. They are taking the most care with my valuable items (yes, I am paying for it but that is fine). And, they are the least expensive overall even when comparing their quote with all the possible furniture to the Allied and Bekins quotes.
​

Here's the true story of my first time. I've kept this to myself for weeks and have to get it out.
Backstory, i'm 40 yr old straight male. I've been curious every since my early 20s. It started when I first got my own place. Shy early 20s kid in really good shape but single a lot of the time. Like anyone with privacy for the first time, i started going online. This the early 00s of internet so long before reddit, social media, grindr and all these other ways to explore. My new thing was going in chat rooms and c2c with people. My intentions were of course to find some sexy housewife to have some random fun with, but more and more it was guys messaging me. I didn't mind, if these guys wanted to enjoy watching me jerk off, it's no bother to me. Then they would want to show me there cam, I would say what the hell and watch it even though it wasn't something i was interested in. Over time, watching guys jerk off really started turning me on.
Over the years i my porn tastes would change from women only, to adding some dicks into the mix. I was still to shy to hook up with a guy but I would try to put myself in the situation. I would go to the gym and after working out, i would hop in the shower thinking something might happen with another guy, i would go in the jacuzzi naked, sit in the sauna, but nothing every happened. So my urge would just linger. Eventually i met a woman and committed, very happy, 15 years went by but this curiosity would always be in the back of my mind. Over time, as our passion waned, i would spend my porn time more and more looking at dicks. It was so hot. I loved looking at older guys with thick cut cocks, dicks in gloryholes, big muscley alpha men. I fantasized about sucking one, that's what i wanted so much. I'd think up dirty scenerios, having a married by dad that would play with, being in jail and having to suck off my cellmate, dirty truckers in a gloryhole. I bought a dildo on a wknd work trip and the feeling of having it in my mouth sent a rush through me. I knew I was finally mentally ready to actually go through with it.
Coming out of the pandemic, i decided to take a break and took a solo vacation to a tropical resort. Along with this being a needed gettaway, the situation would have me in the best opportunity i have every had to fulfill this fantasy. By myself, in this tropical resort full of bi guys on the downlow. Also now Grindr existed. No having to somehow pick up a guy at the resort, if someone was out there that wanted the same as me, they were a swipe away. Once i landed and was in my room, the first thing i did was download the app. I was curious at how many guys would be online. I was happy to see a few were, so I had everything i needed, at 40, the only thing stopping me was me
After a couple days trolling, i finally got up the courage and responded to a couple chats. One guy immediately stood out. He was an older guy, i'd say late 50s/early 60s. White, stocky build, and a nice, but difficult to judge penis in the pics he sent. He told me he wasn't at the resort but had a place just down the beach. It was a rented resort house in a gated community. I knew my nerves and comfort was the number one thing holding me back. So to counter that, i laid out exactly what i wanted to do. I didn't want any chat or smalltalk, didn't even want names. I just wanted to come over, give him a blowjob, and once I was done, be gone. Full anonymity, just wanted to experience a dick. Whenever I thought about my ideal first time, it would have been a gloryhole. Just being able to experience a penis without any connection to who it belongs to was what i wanted. So to get as close to that as possible, i asked him to wear a covid mask. I know it's stupid but it's what I though I needed.
He was on board with everything. He said his wife had left to go back to NYC so he was along for the next couple days. He invited to meet me at the beach by my resort the next morning and we would walk to his place, which was like 15 min away. Having a 15 min chat with this guy was completely against everything i asked for so I said no, and told him i'd get back to him. I was still a little unsure, so as i was enjoying my next day in the sun, i decided to take a walk along the beach, 15 min was more like 30 but i found his place exactly has he described, it eased my nerves more, and I decided I wasn't going to let this opportunity get by me and spend the next 20 years staring at a computer screen thinking "what if".
I went back to my resort and messaged the guy back. Said he was available in like an hour. I told him i'd see him then. IT WAS HAPPENING. I grabbed a water bottle and half filled it with vodka. I needed some liquid courage for this one. I got dressed and started walking. Passing all of the families and couples lying in the sun, none of them knowing I was on my way to my first gay hookup. I make my way to his house, walk up the driveway and knock on the door. This balding stocking white man, with a bit of blonde/grey fur wearing only a towel opens the door. He leads me down a hall to a living room that has a big couch and a big screen tv that's playing porn off his laptop. Classy guy for sure. My heart is beating out of my chest. He tells me to take my clothes off, I do it, even though i'm just giving him a bj but whatever. He takes off his towel and out flops this gorgeous thick cock. I quickly drop to my knees. I am now an inch away from touching a penis for the first time ever. I'm taking it all in, he smells freshly showered (hot), his balls are shaved but he still has a thin trimmed bush (hot!), he's circumcised (sorry but hot!!!). I take it in my hand and immediately put his half hard head in my mouth. I CAN'T FUCKING BELIEVE IT!!! I'M SUCKING A COCK!!. I ask him to sit on the couch so i can get more comfortable. I put a cushion on the floor and knees between his legs as he sits back and puts the covid mask on.
I get my first real look at this hard cock, it's big. I don't mean in some insane porn way, but i never tough that all dicks are going to be thick and this was at least 7 inches. It was truly beautiful. Before i had a moment to think, i had it in my mouth. I was stroking it with my lips and tongue, i pushed it as deep as it could go. I was purely focused on his dick nothing else. I looked up once and he was watching the porn, i glanced over and the porn was pretty shitty. Some bad euro looking bisexual stuff i think. But i didn't care, all that was on my mind was sucking his dick. I kept going for what felt like 30 seconds but was probably like 10 minutes. I licked the shaft, sucked the balls, did everything i could. After some time i feel him tense and he makes a grunting sound. I didn't even think about what I would do when he came, that wasn't in my head at all, but suddenly i felt this rush of warmth fill my mouth. OMG, this complete stranger is cumming in my mouth! What the fuck do I do? I'll be straight up, i had to fight the urge to swallow it. Having this man cum from my blowjob sent such a rush through me, my body was immediately wanting to swallow it. But that was a bit much even for me, so after he emptied in my mouth (i made sure I sucked out ever last drop) i spit it into a towel nearby.
I sit bad and see the aftermath of my work. This slowly receding pipe wet and shiny, this dad bod man leaning back panting with a mask on. I stand up and start putting my clothes on. He stands and can just muster out "grrrr that was hot". "Fuck year it was" I reply. I get my shorts and shirt on, we walk to his front door, i throw my shoes on and walk away. Nothing else was said or needed to be said. As I walk along the beach back towards my hotel, that rented house grows smaller and smaller. Every image of what I went through is rushing through my mind. I walk past all the people enjoying their vacation, the locals offering me weed, None of them away that i have some mans cum on my lips. My heart is exploding in my chest, i just want to get back to my room. For what feels like a hour, I finally get back to my hotel room, i rush through the door and say to myself "did you really just do that????". I jump in the shower and use some mouthwash. Laying back in my bed, i have this unbelievable weightless feeling. This desire i've thought about for decades that I never thought I would have the guts to do, has been done. It was everything I could have every wanted it to me. I layed back in bed, pulled my own cock out and slowly made myself cum with the images of the man I took to calling "Mr Silver". THe rest of my day was a bit of a blur, i relaxed by the pool, I got dinner, I smoked some weed. Then that night, I got curious again and went back on Grindr and saw another guy suddenly message me. It took me 20 years to have my first penis, was I going to get a second just hours later?..........

Credit to u/bluefishcake for writing the original SSB story and building the sandbox for us to play in.
And a big thanks to the authors and their stories that inspired to get off my ass and put my fingers to keyboard. RandomTinkerer (City Slickers and Hayseeds), Punnynfunny (Denied Operations), CompassWithHat (Top Lasgun), Rhion-618 (Just One Drop), UncleCieling(Going Native), RobotStatic (Far Away), Kazevenikov (The Cryptid Chronicle), Also to the editor # Fan Beta Readers and KLiCkonthat .
As always comments, complaints, and suggestions are welcome.
This is a fair use notice. Any and all aspects of this may be used on and within this subreddit only, with attribution. All other uses are exclusive to the author.
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Nanorix took the news from the advocates in stride, better than Linda. They had spent the night mutually venting at the injustice of the situation while putting away bottles of gin. Max sounded almost broken by the news while Nora the optimist in the family, firmly held to the belief that things would work out. Rufus was, well, Rufus. Intuitively compassionate, which is why he was laying in the front seat of the truck with his head on Linda's lap as they drove up to Flagstaff.
Linda was trying to sleep off her hangover, her eyes closed but not asleep. Alila had been honest that the only reason Garquile was not tied up in this was that he had her direct protection as a territorial governess. Tommy did not have that level of security and without it, he was in more danger than Robert. From what Alila had said, elements in the Interior wanted Robert dead, other interested parties wanted him alive because of his potential. The situation was so bad the Planetary Governess had stepped in and ordered the house arrest of six high-ranking members of the Interior and let it be known that if anything happened to young Mr. Pierce they would die publicly.
Neither Alila nor the planetary governess knew why the Interior wanted Robert dead, she did. After she heard that the pod found the children and what was being done to them. Her lieutenant had completely lost it, she rounded everyone operating the orphanage and lined them against the wall, and had them shot. The Interior had come in and had done what they always did, cleaned up the mess, and protected those who were important and connected. Before the interior got there one of the girls found a large data server and they made copies. There were four full copies still on Earth and one that she knew was off-world, and she had one of them. It had been too dangerous to keep at home so she had setup a remote server that would once a week send out a heartbeat signal. There were major safety measures in place to prevent access.
She had managed to go to Flagstaff for brunch about once a month to establish a pattern of behavior. Those trips with Robert and sometimes Tommy had always been good, nothing special just good days. She and Linda would have brunch and she would trigger a download to her server buried under the barn. When they had spoken with Alila, Max, and Nora, Max had commented that if anybody could stack the deck and pull inside straight now was the time to do it. She did not tell Linda why they had to come, just that she needed to come up and check on something.
She and Linda had a quiet brunch on the patio of the restaurant to allow Rufus to join them. As they ate she triggered the data transfer. The data transfer would take at least thirty minutes to complete, so they would have a nice long brunch and talk about anything but the boys, she even took a couple of selfies of the two of them to cover what she was doing. Rufus camped out under the table but never relaxed, she was not sure if he sensed her unease or something else was going on that she could not see.
They stayed and chit-chatted until Linda finished her third cup of coffee. She did not want the third cup but they needed the extra time to let the data transfer complete, and by that time Linda's hangover had started to subside. The drive home was uneventful, but traffic was horrible due to the festival of colors going on, it was the 4th of July after all.
/*******************************/
Ishani was tired and hungry but had little interest in eating. She and Ensign Tha'xur had been up half the night working to translate the new equations that Robert had created yesterday, with a new understanding of how the translation needed to work. Thoughts of Robert consumed her mind, and she had to fight the urge to look over and watch him, the singular human male. His name seemed to roll off her tongue, lingering from her dreams the previous night as she drifted off to sleep. Those dreams had been far from innocent, filled with exotic and seductive images of him, even in his baggy exercise clothing.
Returning her attention to her food, Ishani shifted uncomfortably. She would need to change her underclothes if she continued dwelling on him like this. Taking another bite of the fruit, nut, and sauce mixture, she tried to enjoy it, but it did little to distract her from watching him. He moved slowly, almost as if dancing, though she couldn't grasp the purpose behind his movements. Ensign Tha'xur's timely arrival saved her from making an obvious fool of herself by staring at a boy nearly two years her junior. It always felt like she was the only one looking.
Ensign Tha'xur sat down with a tray of food and jokingly said, "Ground control to Crewwoman Vevreix, are you awake?" Ishani returned her gaze to her food and responded, "Yes, ma'am, I am awake, just..." Before she could finish her sentence, Ensign Tha'xur interrupted, "Distracted?"
Signing without looking up and absentmindedly playing with her food, Ishani replied, "Yes, ma'am, horribly. It's just... he's just one boy. I have enough common sense to know that there is no way I should even consider... why couldn't he be old, wrinkled, and fat..."
Ensign Tha'xur completed Ishani's thought, saying, "Instead, he's young, fit, and I would even go as far as to say he's attractive in a very unmasculine way, with that wounded, sad boy aura."
Looking up, Ishani was taken aback and asked, "What do you mean 'you could call him attractive'? Are you blind? I mean, he may be a little short, but other than that, he is..." She trailed off, unable to find the right words.
Smiling and taking a bite of her burrito, Ensign Tha'xur replied, "He is desirable, and deep down, I believe you could take away all his pain and sadness... but please don't go there." Shifting into a serious tone, she continued, "I overheard Cmdr Norroe and Lt Cmdr Ashix talking about him the day we arrived. What caught my attention was Cmdr Norroe mentioning his thousand-yard stare that is measured in miles. There are significant parts of his life that we don't have access to because they've been redacted by the interior."
Ishani looked over at Robert, who appeared to have finished his morning workout and was heading towards the mobile kitchen. She murmured, "No one is ever so lost in the deepest of caves that they cannot be found by the beating of their heart. There is always hope and always a way out."
Ensign Tha'xur wiped her face clean of the red sauce that had dripped from her burrito and commented, "You, Crewwoman, are an optimist."
"With all due respect, ma'am, have you looked?" Ishani responded quizzically.
With a wry smile En. Tha'xur replied smoothly "I am technically a married woman and my husband and kho wives are going to be here in three days. I am hoping that my leave request will be honored, we were supposed to go to Tel Aviv for 14 days." Frowning slightly with the last statement.
Ishani gave an understanding smile "Well, that explains why you are not interested. You know, if you want to get the time off then ask for help. What is the worst he can do to say no?"
En. Tha'xur almost laughed at that, "So what should I do ask him over here for you to ogle him and for me to get a chance to go on leave, I do not think he would like that, being that he is here under guard."
Ishani took another bite of her food, ‘alright girl put up or shut up’ she thought to herself, before standing. "Ma'am if you never ask for help you will never get any." This is not a good idea, turning to find Robert who was looking for an open table to eat at. "Robert, can you join us over here, please?" Blessed Nest mother, that sounded so bad she inwardly cringed.
/************************/
Robert had gotten his food-laden tray and was looking for an empty place to sit. It felt a little weird not having a personal shadow always with him. The petty officers had told him last night that he would be given some space and an opportunity to interact with the people here. "Go out, mingle, talk to people, that's a winning idea," he thought sarcastically. Yup, everything was normal again. Alone in a room full of people and completely clueless about how to do the most basic of things, like talking to anybody.
Now, the people he could talk to were a problem. Being the only male and the only human, he received looks. The looks could be categorized into three groups: lust, curiosity, and pity. Dealing with lust was easy; he just chose not to care, and thankfully, they were discreet about it for now. Pity, on the other hand, infuriated him because most of the time, it was fake. Whenever someone expressed their sympathy for all the things he had been through, he wanted to scream. At best, it was a polite social convention, and at worst, it was a selfish and internalized burden of guilt that had nothing to do with him.
Just as he spotted an empty table at the far end, somebody called out his name. "Can you join us over here, please?" Shit, it was Ishani, the one person in the whole damned place who had a very unsettling effect on him. She was the only one here who scared the shit out of him. Taking a breath to collect himself, he acknowledged her with a nod and proceeded to join her and the Ensign at their table.
He noticed that when he acknowledged her, she just beamed and got all bubbly. That was the best word for it. Her glowing tattoos seemed to brighten for just a moment before she sat down, leaving him to wonder what those tattoos looked like on the rest of her body. He made it to the table and sat down on autopilot while his mind indulged in a little fantastical daydream, leaving him noticeably flushed and uncomfortable in ways that only men could be.
Setting his tray and bottle of maple syrup down on the table and taking a seat, Robert tried to say thank you, but neither Ishani nor the Ensign had their translators running.
En. Tha'xur noticed him stop trying to use hand speak and realized that they had just messed up a little. "I am sorry, that was rude of us," she said as she tried to get her translation app up and running. Meanwhile, Ishani was no help; she was head down in her food, blushing and trying very hard not to be noticed. "There, we're set."
Robert was relieved when En. Tha'xur got her translation app running, so he wouldn't have to stare at Ishani across the round table from him. He returned his attention to En. Tha'xur. "I was trying to say thank you for asking me to join you, and it's okay. You at least figured it out."
Ishani looked up from her half-eaten food when En. Tha'xur's translator started speaking. Fuck, she thought, this is so embarrassing. Inviting a boy to come over and eat with you only to ignore him when he gets here. Idiot. Turning to face him, her brain failed as she smiled stupidly and took another bite. "Hungry?"
En. Tha'xur couldn't help but cringe. The situation unfolding before she seemed straight out of a cliché "coming of age" story, where a girl meets a boy and the universe seems to pause just for them. It reminded her of the sentimental videos her older brother and his friends would tear up over. Poor Ishani, the other girls around her would roast her mercilessly, yet she remained oblivious to the fact that she was being watched. En. Tha'xur couldn't decide if it was cute or tragic. Determined to intervene and save Ishani from herself, she spoke up, "Robert, the reason Crewwoman Vevreix invited you over is that I need your help."
"Hungry?" Robert was caught off guard by Ishani's question. Did she even understand what she was doing? He found her confusing, and he just wanted to finish his meal quickly and GTFO. En. Tha'xur was speaking, but he had missed what she said. He decided to play dumb and replied, "OK."
En. Tha'xur thought to herself, "This is good." She then explained, "Well, my husband and my three kho wives are going to be arriving on Earth in three days. I had scheduled a 14-day leave, but then I received an emergency assignment here, and I don't know if they will honor my leave request."
Robert had managed to pay enough attention to understand that she needed a favor. He had two basic choices: give a hard no and explain that the advocates wouldn't allow him to help until they gave the go-ahead, or try to answer her questions. His best option was to listen and see if he could offer some hints. "I am quite restricted by what my advocates have told me to do, but I will try to point you in the right direction."
Finally, Ishani managed to gather her thoughts and interjected, "See, I told you, all you need to do is ask."
En. Tha'xur rolled her eyes, silently expressing her frustration towards Ishani. She replied, "Thank you, can you help?"
Talking with his mouth full wasn't polite and attempting to gesture while eating proved to be a challenge. Robert sighed as he reluctantly set down his fork, his stomach growling in protest. "Yes, I will genuinely help you. And if you're wondering why," Robert paused, trying to understand his willingness to assist, "it's because you asked. Now, the big question is, do you even know what you want to ask?"
Ishani eagerly jumped in, unknowingly giving En. Tha'xur some time to formulate a proper question to ask. "Okay, if I can ask one too, please?"
Robert held up one finger as he obeyed the demands of his stomach and shoved a load of runny fried eggs and hash browns in his mouth. "Sure, since you saved me from eating alone." Robert swallowed hard after he finished speaking, realizing he had just unintentionally flirted with her. Thinking inwardly, "Shut up, dumb ass. You are going to get yourself in trouble."
Ishani sputtered like Joe Pesci for just a couple of seconds before getting to her real question. "Ok, ok, ok, ok." Pointing to the work area where the Charger was, she asked, "Why is the car so important? Why did you build it?"
Robert shoveled another load of eggs and hash browns into his mouth. "Why would a human boy on Earth, living in North America, want to build a fast car and one that could fly?" Pausing to inhale the bite of his eggs and hash browns, he continued, "Because it was fun, and it would have been cool to have a hotrod and be the only one to fly. Well, that would be a show-off, a little, and to have a shitload of fun flying around in it."
En. Tha'xur cluelessly responded, "What is a 'hotrod,' and why would a flying car be 'cool'? I guess that means good?"
Robert had to roll his head back before responding, to the idea of attempting to explain custom car and motorcycle cultures. "Humans like to personalize cars and other things as expressions of their personalities and rolling pieces of art in some cases. For a human boy to be able to build a car and go fast is a dream. Hotrods are the result of those builds."
Taking another break to move the French toast in front of him and pour on the maple syrup, he continued, "Back to the first part of your question, 'Why is it important?' Other than a personal attachment to the memories connected to it... it is not, in the grand scheme of things, it was a mistake. A very valuable mistake, it disproved one of my approaches to a bigger challenge."
En. Tha'xur and Crewwoman Vevreix just looked at each other and mouthed the same words, "It was a fucking mistake!!"
Robert tried to hide his smug satisfaction. Nobody ever considered just how much of his work was critical and applied to his big challenge. Ishani looked at Robert as he dug into his French toast. "If that was a mistake, what is the prize?" Robert just smiled and shrugged in response to the question. En. Tha'xur sat dejected, "Well, that did answer one of the big questions. The car is a stepping stone to the bigger thing."
Watching the Ensign sit dejected and look a little lost made Robert feel like a little shit. Flipping the bird to the bureaucratic machine that was the Imperium always felt like a "fuck yes," but trolling a person was different. She had asked him for help, and he had used it to be petty and spiteful. "You don't need to ask right now, and if you loan me your data slate, I will give you a couple of hints," he said, reaching out for the device.
En. Tha'xur handed over the data slate wordlessly. Robert opened a new document and wrote:
"If you have 'The Right Stuff,' you can connect the dots."
"Space-Time Gravity is not the same as Gravity Space-Time."
When he finished, he handed the data slate back to the ensign and returned to his food. En. Tha'xur picked up the data slate, read the hints, and found the first line to be of no use other than some devotional wisdom that would be preached in a temple. However, the second line held interesting possibilities. Grabbing the data slate, Ishani quickly scanned the text and handed it back to En. Tha'xur. "Thank you, I think we can work with this," she said. Turning to En. Tha'xur, she added, "Ma'am, I think we need to work in conference room 2 today. It has the other digital whiteboard, and I think we need the space."
En. Tha'xur picked up the data slate and looked right at Robert. "I don't get the first one. The second one could be applied in a dozen or more places."
Finishing his first piece of French toast, Robert tried to remember the order of the equations to point her in the right direction. "Show me my work from last night, and I will show you the one to work against. Don't try to finish it, just try to understand it."
En. Tha'xur handed the translated copy of Robert's work back to him, and he looked at it with a mixture of fascination and difficulty. It was strange to see his work presented so neatly, but it was also challenging to read. He had to mentally retranslate it to the original version he had written. Working through the problem brought his headache back in full force, making the surroundings too bright and diminishing his appetite. Robert tried to hide his discomfort, squinting his eyes and taking deep breaths.
Concerned, Ishani noticed his strained expression and asked, "Are you alright? You don't look well."
With a weak smile, Robert replied, "I shouldn't have done that. I usually take a couple of days off after my little flying trips. It's like working out too hard and feeling extremely sore the next day, then trying to work out again. Not fun."
En. Tha'xur felt uneasy knowing that Robert was enduring pain to help her. She thought of her father and how he would be disappointed in her. "Are you sure you don't need a doctor?" she asked, genuinely concerned.
"I'll be fine, I just need some sleep," Robert reassured them, pushing his plate of food away. "If either of you wants to finish this, go for it. At the very least, don't waste the bacon."
Ishani reached for the plate and admitted, "I've heard about bacon, but I'm a little afraid to try new foods. I don't want to be disappointed."
En. Tha'xur reached for a piece of bacon, saying, "I love bacon. I'll even taste-test it to make sure it's okay." She smiled at Ishani and took a bite.
Robert observed as En. Tha'xur's eyes widened in shock. Oops, he remembered that he had coated the bacon in maple syrup. However, she didn't spit it out, which was a good sign. His mom loved crispy bacon dipped in maple syrup. Sometimes, she would devour an entire package of bacon if there was maple syrup in the house, and then she would try to conceal the fact that a pound of bacon had disappeared. She would even do her dishes, a chore that was usually Robert's.
En. Tha'xur bit into the bacon, expecting a salty taste but experiencing the combination of sweet and salty. The flavor was incredible. She paused to savor the taste before chewing again. "You have to try this!" she exclaimed.
Ishani, with anticipation in her eyes, sniffed the remaining piece of bacon. "Here goes nothing." She cherished this moment, as it was the closest she had come to tasting her nest mother's nectar. Grabbing the plate, she declared, "I'm finishing this!" and devoured the last piece of French toast without bothering with utensils.
Despite his throbbing headache, Robert couldn't help but smile as he rose from the table. "Enjoy. I need some sleep."
/*******************************/
Tommy had to roll his eyes at Valenlina's latest attempt to "improve" his wardrobe with a purple satin shirt with a matching sea green scarf. No matter how many times Valenlina tried to have Tommy dress like a proper male, Tommy always simply said no. Early on in the dating, Valenlina had gotten so frustrated that she also broke up with him, not that she ever told him. Her father and kho mother Tearhart had stepped in and explained that she could not make a human be like a Shil. The Imperium still tried, and the Humans resisted more. There were several semi-celebrities on the data-net that advised Shil’vai women on dating human males and females. The most common rule for dating a human male is not to try and change them to be acceptable in your circle because they will resent you for it. You have attracted a human male for a reason, embrace it.
Their walk through downtown Prescott was a moment the Tommy did not have to think about the meeting tomorrow. Early this morning he and his mother had gotten almost an hour of one on one time with Advocate Roskin and she was able to explain in greater detail what was expected of him tomorrow and how things could go right or wrong. Withholding information was one of the worse things he could do. After the meeting, Valenlina noticed the additional stress in Tommy. It was so bad that physical affection had no effect. There was only one thing other than sex that could distraction, window shopping.
Their window shopping trip started as a serious attempt to make him presentable in Shil’vati society, ow her attempts to help him look more presentable were just something they did to have fun. In many ways, it was closer to foreplay now, as Tommy now attempts to have Valenlina dress like a human girl. Tommy did have one big win, a pair of 4-inch-high heels, he had said they improved the view coming and going. Her big win last year was a shirt and tie set for his tailored charcoal suit, he was finally willing to wear formal attire with a splash color.
Valenlina could see her best effort to pull Tommy out of what his mother called a 'funk' were not working. He was still not willing to talk to her about it, she could understand that he was pissed but his silence bothered her. While he had not pushed her away, he still felt distant. Last year's fireworks had been the warmup act for what had followed. She could never look at Mr. Scott's old Ford pickup without blushing just a little bit.
Tommy smiled with a wicked little smile, "Thinking dirty thoughts again I see." he said holding up a pair of women's cowboy boots in hot pink.
Playfully Valenlina put on her pouty face, "What would you wear with them?"
Taking his turn to think dirty thoughts and hoping to see her turn dark blue Tommy put on his most innocent face, "First this is a girl's color, and they would be for you, but what would I wear if you wanted me to try them on? Nothing?" Emphasizing the last word.
With a facade of indignation, "Why Mr. Sandoval, are you implying that the Governess's daughter would be involved in anything so uncouth as to make a respectable male present himself for inspection with only what the Goddess endowed him with?"
Tommy returned the boots to the display and stepped forward to steal a kiss."My Dear Miss Seskie, you know dammed well that you would take full advantage of that situation."
Returning the kiss, Valenlina smiled. "Yes, Mr. Sandoval I would." She bent down to whisper into his ear. "I think we both need to cool off or we will never make it to the fireworks show."
Tommy took her by the hand." Looks like I'll have to settle for mint chocolate chip ice cream."
Valenlina put on a hurt expression. "You are so cruel."
They left the window shopping and continued walking back to the courthouse square. The roads around the court were closed for three days for Frontier Days and the Festive of Colors. This opened the court square up for a giant art show and sales venue. This was the change for local artisans to show off their wares in the hopes of making one or selling to a noble patron and then getting follow-up commission work. The north side of the courthouse was dedicated to custom motorcycles and the east side was for classic custom cars. The west side, known as "Whiskey Row" is where the food vendors and their destination Jacksons Ice Cream was set up right in front of the Palace Restaurant and Saloon.
Turning the corner to walk up Whiskey Row Tommy could not help but feel he was being watched. Tommy had to keep Valenlina from heading off to go look at this or that. He had to remind her, that ice cream was first or he would have to give her a spanking. Valenlina would always retort with, "Promises, promises".
When they were getting their ice cream Valenlina nudged Tommy and told him to look across the street. Standing in front of a face painting booth was a short portly balding human male with a puggy round face. He wearing a well-made black suit, the only thing missing from the 1930s gangster getup was a fedora hat.
Taking their ice cream and heading off to a wood sculptor's booth Tommy kicked himself mentally for not seeing him earlier, he was the only person wearing a business suit. He should have stood out like a sore thumb, but he just seemed to blend in. The booth was impressive, boasting several pieces commissioned by various members of the nobility. Tommy ate his ice cream and kept an eye on the gangster while Valenlina inspected the various pieces and got sticker shock.
Tommy tried to get Valenlina's attention when the gangster entered the booth and proceeded to the cane rack. By the time Valenlina noticed, the gangster was already paying for the cane he had selected.
When the gangster finished his transaction, he turned to Tommy and Valenlina." Well if it isn't the young man of the hour, Thomas Sandoval. It's a pleasure to meet you. As well as you, Miss Seskie."
Flustered, Tommy stuttered out, "Who the fuck are you? Have you been watching me?"
The man smiled, but it felt unnerving, maybe a little malicious, too., "My name is Mr. Rojo and I watch everybody. It's my calling, but I will admit that you and your brother have piqued my interest. I go through life watching the world go by, I enjoy the shifting mosaic of peoples' lives, and how they interconnect. For example, the car that you and your brother build was a 69 or 70 I could not tell with what is out on the news media.”
Tommy waited to tell this to go pound sand, but he need to talk and tell Mr. Rojo what even he needed, Tommy forgot Valenlina was listening as he spoke.” It is a 69, why is that important?”
The gangster slowly dropped part of his smile as he replied, ”It is not important, it is merely a curiosity just like why not use the Confederate battle flag and why the name Valkirey?”
Eagerly Tommy responded, “The Betsy Ross over the Stars and Bars, because it is more appropriate at this time and the Shil’vati Imperium has no idea what it means, instead of erasing human history maybe the Shil’vati could try learning from it.” almost quoting Sean Connery about goose stopping morons and burning books. “ Now for Valkire over General Lee, that is easy, Valkire’s are sexy and cool. and General Lee would get us in trouble, just like the Stars and Bars.”
The gangster's smile was completely gone, and his expression and tone had changed to serious but neutral almost professorial, “But I have a simple question for you, and I'd greatly appreciate it if you would give me an honest answer, Thomas what is gravity?"
Thomas could not stop himself and replied without hesitation. "Gravity is a higher dimensional construct. When projected from a higher dimension it appears to be a force, but to use it as a dimensional construct the space-time gravity interpretation must be inverted to be the first-dimensional construct so that space-time gravity becomes gravitational space-time with an indeterminate number of dimensional constructs between gravity and space."
The gangster looked surprised, while Valenlina looked utterly confused. "Is that your brother Robert's words or yours?"
Thomas hesitated only slightly before he replied. "Mostly Robert's, I can't dream up the shit he does but once he explains it, I can see it. He uses me as a sounding board." Tommy suddenly realized what he was saying. "Who the fuck are you?"
The gangster took Tommy's hand to shake it. "Mr. Sandoval, I told you I am a watcher and now I get to watch you. Have a glorious life Mr. Sandoval" nodding to Valenlina, "and you too, Miss Seskie."
Tommy watched as the gangster walked out of the booth noting that nobody noticed his passing.
Valenlina had been too engrossed in Mr. Rojo and Tommy's conversation to say or do anything, but now that Mr. Rojo was no longer there she angrily turned to face Tommy."Thomas, you have some explaining to do!"
Tommy would not realize until much later, that the gangster had placed the cane in his has as he left.
/*******************************/
First:
Janissary: The Joy Ride Ch1 : Sexyspacebabes (reddit.com)
Previous:
Janissary: The Joy Ride Ch7 : Sexyspacebabes (reddit.com)
Next:
Chapter 8
Extra:
Janissary: The Son Of War : Sexyspacebabes (reddit.com)
Janissary: Vision from Zy'Verila : Sexyspacebabes (reddit.com)

Previous
Writer's note: My bad about the past few days. A stomach bug and work got in the way. But all's good.
Now learn some tragic backstory, a bit of Earth info, and the status of everyone's favorite omen of misfortune.
Enjoy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The King was already conversing with Colonel Muhammed when James finally caught up with him in the command room. He jogged in at a brisk pace, but stopped when he saw the two of them talking on the small tablet in front of the King.
King Farrick cocked an eyebrow as he saw James. James just shrugged while mouthing "I know." and gesturing at his beard. The King shook his head as he looked back down at the tablet.
"We're just glad our people could be of assistance sir." The Colonel said. "Even if it only ended up being during the cool down after everything had already resolved."
"It is greatly appreciated Colonel." The King replied. "Seeing as the dungeon is currently erm... ruined... we'll have to let the last few of your people there out. Though they'll still be restricted in their movements." He added. The Colonel nodded, as if she'd expected as much. "As for the weapons." He continued. "Well," He sighed deeply. "I look forward to the.... paperwork.... regarding its use in necessary situations."
Colonel Muhammed let out a quick snort. "I'll see if I can get em to keep it short and sweet." She said.
The King motioned for James, who walked over. "Captain Choi is back earlier than expected, as I'm sure you know." He said as James got next to him and he turned the tablet so its camera caught James too. "I'll let you have him for a bit."
And just like that James was looking at his commanding officer while sporting a neon pink beard.
"Evening ma'am." He said with his cheesiest smile.
Muhammmed's eyes glazed over as she saw the ridiculous facial hair.
"Do I even want to know?" She asked.
"Nope." James replied honestly. "But I made friends during my trip." Then he shook his hand in a so-so gesture. "Well... one of em might just be an...." Then he rethought his standing with the Vatrian Emperor, Vateris. He also hadn't talked with command about his personal vendetta against the so-called gods. "Look. I didn't end up in prison or dead. And things went mostly well."
And suddenly a very grainy, sand-coated, hand was holding James's. He did what he could not to jump with surprise.
"By the way. Meet Glag!" He said excitedly as he panned the camera down to the rock monster's face. Glag looked at the screen with wide, amazed, eyes. James was surprised to see that Glag looked surprisingly dark, and just a little red. "He's a new companion!"
"What in the hell is that?" The Colonel asked as she peered at the screen on her end.
"Glaaaaag." Glag replied.
"Introductions done." James said. "So, what's the deal with the Zootopia duo?"
------------------------------
"Okay. It was weird at the store." Samantha said as she looked around. "But this is just plain strange."
Around them the restaurant was empty. The bistro Fletcher had brought her to, The Blue Tree, was a ghost town. A few of the staff stood at the greeting booth on the other side of the room. But other than that it was completely deserted. It was so quiet that they could hear the kitchen staff working prep in the back, for what had to be ONLY their food.
"Admittedly I think they took this a bit too far." Fletcher said abashedly as he peeked at the small menu. "This can't be cheap for the hospital, or government or whoever is funding the rehabilitation program."
There was an awkward silence for a few moments as they both tried to think of what to say. Neither of them would admit it, but it had been a while since either of them had dated.
And neither of them had ever dated in THIS particular scenario.
"So... how long have you been a lawyer?" She asked hesitantly.
"Um... about... eight years now?" He said uncertainly as he tried to do math in his head. "Close to nine. How bout you? How long were you in the Army before um.... well. You know."
She nodded. She was getting a lot better about acknowledging what had happened. But it was still a sore spot.
"I was about half way through my second term. So about six years." She answered, even though she was certain he'd probably read that in her file at some point. "Wasn't gonna reenlist again though."
"No plans to make it a career?" He asked.
"No." She said with a shake of her head. "No I intended to get out and get certified as a ration enforcement officer once I was done."
"Ration enforcement?" He said with raised eyebrows. "That's a dangerous job. Even compared to being an MP. Planning on staying near your family?"
She chuckled. "Yeah." She admitted. "My fathers shop is small and usually gets shunted by the bigger ones in the area. Wanted to stick around and keep the queues in order so it didn't happen."
"Ah. Makes sense." He responded as one of the wait staff came over.
A few minutes later, and after Fletcher had ensured that they'd been warned about Samantha's new dietary difficulties, the young woman departed with a smile and promise that their drinks and appetizers would be out in just a few minutes.
"And what got you into law?" She asked once they were alone again.
"My wife." He said, causing her to spit out the small sip of water she'd taken after asking the question. He smiled and there was a pain there. "Don't worry." He said. "I'm not married anymore."
"Divorced?" She asked, trying to figure out what was happening now.
Fletcher's mouth opened for a moment as he tried to think for a second. Did he really wanna have THIS talk on, what was hopefully a first, date. "Widower." He said softly.
And just like that she was thrown off balance again.
"I'-I'm so sorry." She said hastily. "I didn't know."
He held his hands up in warding. "It's fine." He said reassuringly. "It's been.... almost a decade now. I'm... I'm okay."
There was another awkward silence, though this time NOT because neither of them had anything to say.
Fletcher spoke first.
"She was a Paramedic." He said. "She was helping with some humanitarian work overseas and um... She got sick from some of the fallout." He nodded as he took a deep breath. "The organization she worked for was uh.... less than honorable about helping her get cared for afterwords. I started reading up on as many laws and regulations as I could to help her fight for it. But uh.... too little too late." Then he fake-smiled. "But I found out I was good at understanding legal jargon so I uh.... found my calling. I guess. Retooled my college classes and the rest is history."
"That's awful." She said quietly, not knowing what else to say given what she'd just heard.
"It was, yeah." He agreed. "But uh... thanks to that I've been able to help a lot of people who've been screwed by similar situations. So... I don't know. Guess that's something."
She smiled too. "Well you helped me." She said. "Didn't expect the ARMY of all organizations to back down from some legalese."
He pointed out at one of the windows, at the people outside walking about. Across the street a few teenagers were watching as one of them tried to levitate. The kid rose about a foot or so before beginning to wobble and then flipping over and falling on his face. The other two fell out laughing and jeering as he picked himself up.
"Between the two packs that split off and headed north and south, and all the people that have started to have ACTUAL magic powers." He said with a shrug. "I think they just have bigger fish to fry."
"Your appetizers and drinks." The server said, startling both of them.
"Ah." Fletcher said with a genuine smile this time. "I think you're gonna like the crab sliders here. They actually use REAL crab."
Her eyes widened. Real crab was rare nowadays. Then she looked at the server, who was nodding. "They closed this place and you guys serve REAL crab?" She asked.
"Sure do." The server replied with a smile. "We're one of the few restaurants in the city that gets any.
"God you weren't kidding." Samantha said as she turned back to Fletcher. "It must have cost a fortune to close a place like this for a night."
"I told you." He said jokingly with a grin.
She slumped, a little embarrassed at everything that had to have gone into this. She didn't deserve all this.
"So we'd better make the most of it before the hospital's finance department catches on." He said as he raised his glass of wine in a toast. "Again, assuming this isn't government funded. Which... it probably is."
Samantha lifted the large stein of light ale and, as gently as she could, clinked it against his glass.
"Enjoy." The server said as she nodded and stepped back.
And just like that the tone of the conversation lightened, and the rest of dinner was much more enjoyable.
--------------------------
Vickers awoke with a gasp.
Everything hurt.
He'd been beaten up pretty badly before. Had even been way too close to explosions a few times and spent weeks in the hospital recovering afterword to make sure he didn't have any unseen injuries. Then there was the time some turbulence had caused him to botch a wet insertion from a helicopter that had already been almost at the max height for a dive.
Those had all had him SORE for weeks.
This was different.
He felt both hot and cold at the same time. And not just his skin, but his entire body, inside and out, felt like they were infused with IcyHot.
And try as he might, he couldn't see, and everything was muted.
"He's awake." Someone said from outside of him. "Fetch the Archmage and master Farstorm."
"Whe-" He tried to say. But his voice was horse, and cracked as he tried to wheeze out the question. "Where?" He said weakly after struggling to swallow with a mouth that was drier than it had ever been before.
Someone touched him on the chest, and even though the touch was light and delicate he groaned in pain as every nerve in the area screamed.
And even in that excruciating moment, the part of his brain that nobody could ever fully get rid of, no matter how much training they underwent, joked.
So this is what Choi's life is like. It said sarcastically. Running through life like a marshmallow that got dropped in a camp fire every few months. Tough little fucker.
"Calm down Mister Vickers." One of those muted voices, that he thought sounded familiar, said. "We only woke you up so the Archmage could ask a few questions. We'll have you back under in a minute. Let me give you something for the pain."
"Not until the lead healer has okayed it." Another voice said somewhat harshly. "We don't even know how your Earth medicine will affect his body now."
"I do." The first voice replied. "I've used this stuff on were-people before. It works just fine. I just have to up the dosage. And Shrend knows it." The first voice, which he now faintly recognized as Choi's mom, said.
There was a pinch in the middle of a bloom of fire on Vickers' throat as a needle was pressed into one of the veins there.
And suddenly the pain, and everything else for that matter, seemed to drop away.
"Thassss..." He began. "Thasssalot... bedder."
"Shhhh." Mrs. Choi said as he felt, faintly, her touching his head. "I'm gonna take off some of your bandages so you can hear and see." She finished as his hearing cleared. "Plus we need to check your eyes and ears anyways."
A moment later Vickers' eyes opened and he was surrounded by a swirling mix of green and amber light. It was blurry, though he was mostly just happy he had any sight at all.
"Still cloudy." Mrs. Choi said as she pried his eyes open ever so slightly and looked inside. She as about to check his ears when the door opened.
Vickers turned his head with a slowness that was not intentional.
"Chief Vickers." Said the old mage who usually spoke so slowly, and looked so frail. But he didn't look or sound anything of the such at the moment as he pulled up a chair and sat where he could look at Vickers.
"Thaassss....me." He said as his head swam with whatever Mrs. Choi had given him. Probably Ketamine or something.
"I know you're in a lot of pain right now." The old mage said. "But we need to know what you saw. What was on the other side of that door before the Elemental manifested?"

Previous / First
Writer's note: My bad about the past few days. A stomach bug and work got in the way. But all's good.
Now learn some tragic backstory, a bit of Earth info, and the status of everyone's favorite omen of misfortune.
Enjoy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The King was already conversing with Colonel Muhammed when James finally caught up with him in the command room. He jogged in at a brisk pace, but stopped when he saw the two of them talking on the small tablet in front of the King.
King Farrick cocked an eyebrow as he saw James. James just shrugged while mouthing "I know." and gesturing at his beard. The King shook his head as he looked back down at the tablet.
"We're just glad our people could be of assistance sir." The Colonel said. "Even if it only ended up being during the cool down after everything had already resolved."
"It is greatly appreciated Colonel." The King replied. "Seeing as the dungeon is currently erm... ruined... we'll have to let the last few of your people there out. Though they'll still be restricted in their movements." He added. The Colonel nodded, as if she'd expected as much. "As for the weapons." He continued. "Well," He sighed deeply. "I look forward to the.... paperwork.... regarding its use in necessary situations."
Colonel Muhammed let out a quick snort. "I'll see if I can get em to keep it short and sweet." She said.
The King motioned for James, who walked over. "Captain Choi is back earlier than expected, as I'm sure you know." He said as James got next to him and he turned the tablet so its camera caught James too. "I'll let you have him for a bit."
And just like that James was looking at his commanding officer while sporting a neon pink beard.
"Evening ma'am." He said with his cheesiest smile.
Muhammmed's eyes glazed over as she saw the ridiculous facial hair.
"Do I even want to know?" She asked.
"Nope." James replied honestly. "But I made friends during my trip." Then he shook his hand in a so-so gesture. "Well... one of em might just be an...." Then he rethought his standing with the Vatrian Emperor, Vateris. He also hadn't talked with command about his personal vendetta against the so-called gods. "Look. I didn't end up in prison or dead. And things went mostly well."
And suddenly a very grainy, sand-coated, hand was holding James's. He did what he could not to jump with surprise.
"By the way. Meet Glag!" He said excitedly as he panned the camera down to the rock monster's face. Glag looked at the screen with wide, amazed, eyes. James was surprised to see that Glag looked surprisingly dark, and just a little red. "He's a new companion!"
"What in the hell is that?" The Colonel asked as she peered at the screen on her end.
"Glaaaaag." Glag replied.
"Introductions done." James said. "So, what's the deal with the Zootopia duo?"
------------------------------
"Okay. It was weird at the store." Samantha said as she looked around. "But this is just plain strange."
Around them the restaurant was empty. The bistro Fletcher had brought her to, The Blue Tree, was a ghost town. A few of the staff stood at the greeting booth on the other side of the room. But other than that it was completely deserted. It was so quiet that they could hear the kitchen staff working prep in the back, for what had to be ONLY their food.
"Admittedly I think they took this a bit too far." Fletcher said abashedly as he peeked at the small menu. "This can't be cheap for the hospital, or government or whoever is funding the rehabilitation program."
There was an awkward silence for a few moments as they both tried to think of what to say. Neither of them would admit it, but it had been a while since either of them had dated.
And neither of them had ever dated in THIS particular scenario.
"So... how long have you been a lawyer?" She asked hesitantly.
"Um... about... eight years now?" He said uncertainly as he tried to do math in his head. "Close to nine. How bout you? How long were you in the Army before um.... well. You know."
She nodded. She was getting a lot better about acknowledging what had happened. But it was still a sore spot.
"I was about half way through my second term. So about six years." She answered, even though she was certain he'd probably read that in her file at some point. "Wasn't gonna reenlist again though."
"No plans to make it a career?" He asked.
"No." She said with a shake of her head. "No I intended to get out and get certified as a ration enforcement officer once I was done."
"Ration enforcement?" He said with raised eyebrows. "That's a dangerous job. Even compared to being an MP. Planning on staying near your family?"
She chuckled. "Yeah." She admitted. "My fathers shop is small and usually gets shunted by the bigger ones in the area. Wanted to stick around and keep the queues in order so it didn't happen."
"Ah. Makes sense." He responded as one of the wait staff came over.
A few minutes later, and after Fletcher had ensured that they'd been warned about Samantha's new dietary difficulties, the young woman departed with a smile and promise that their drinks and appetizers would be out in just a few minutes.
"And what got you into law?" She asked once they were alone again.
"My wife." He said, causing her to spit out the small sip of water she'd taken after asking the question. He smiled and there was a pain there. "Don't worry." He said. "I'm not married anymore."
"Divorced?" She asked, trying to figure out what was happening now.
Fletcher's mouth opened for a moment as he tried to think for a second. Did he really wanna have THIS talk on, what was hopefully a first, date. "Widower." He said softly.
And just like that she was thrown off balance again.
"I'-I'm so sorry." She said hastily. "I didn't know."
He held his hands up in warding. "It's fine." He said reassuringly. "It's been.... almost a decade now. I'm... I'm okay."
There was another awkward silence, though this time NOT because neither of them had anything to say.
Fletcher spoke first.
"She was a Paramedic." He said. "She was helping with some humanitarian work overseas and um... She got sick from some of the fallout." He nodded as he took a deep breath. "The organization she worked for was uh.... less than honorable about helping her get cared for afterwords. I started reading up on as many laws and regulations as I could to help her fight for it. But uh.... too little too late." Then he fake-smiled. "But I found out I was good at understanding legal jargon so I uh.... found my calling. I guess. Retooled my college classes and the rest is history."
"That's awful." She said quietly, not knowing what else to say given what she'd just heard.
"It was, yeah." He agreed. "But uh... thanks to that I've been able to help a lot of people who've been screwed by similar situations. So... I don't know. Guess that's something."
She smiled too. "Well you helped me." She said. "Didn't expect the ARMY of all organizations to back down from some legalese."
He pointed out at one of the windows, at the people outside walking about. Across the street a few teenagers were watching as one of them tried to levitate. The kid rose about a foot or so before beginning to wobble and then flipping over and falling on his face. The other two fell out laughing and jeering as he picked himself up.
"Between the two packs that split off and headed north and south, and all the people that have started to have ACTUAL magic powers." He said with a shrug. "I think they just have bigger fish to fry."
"Your appetizers and drinks." The server said, startling both of them.
"Ah." Fletcher said with a genuine smile this time. "I think you're gonna like the crab sliders here. They actually use REAL crab."
Her eyes widened. Real crab was rare nowadays. Then she looked at the server, who was nodding. "They closed this place and you guys serve REAL crab?" She asked.
"Sure do." The server replied with a smile. "We're one of the few restaurants in the city that gets any.
"God you weren't kidding." Samantha said as she turned back to Fletcher. "It must have cost a fortune to close a place like this for a night."
"I told you." He said jokingly with a grin.
She slumped, a little embarrassed at everything that had to have gone into this. She didn't deserve all this.
"So we'd better make the most of it before the hospital's finance department catches on." He said as he raised his glass of wine in a toast. "Again, assuming this isn't government funded. Which... it probably is."
Samantha lifted the large stein of light ale and, as gently as she could, clinked it against his glass.
"Enjoy." The server said as she nodded and stepped back.
And just like that the tone of the conversation lightened, and the rest of dinner was much more enjoyable.
--------------------------
Vickers awoke with a gasp.
Everything hurt.
He'd been beaten up pretty badly before. Had even been way too close to explosions a few times and spent weeks in the hospital recovering afterword to make sure he didn't have any unseen injuries. Then there was the time some turbulence had caused him to botch a wet insertion from a helicopter that had already been almost at the max height for a dive.
Those had all had him SORE for weeks.
This was different.
He felt both hot and cold at the same time. And not just his skin, but his entire body, inside and out, felt like they were infused with IcyHot.
And try as he might, he couldn't see, and everything was muted.
"He's awake." Someone said from outside of him. "Fetch the Archmage and master Farstorm."
"Whe-" He tried to say. But his voice was horse, and cracked as he tried to wheeze out the question. "Where?" He said weakly after struggling to swallow with a mouth that was drier than it had ever been before.
Someone touched him on the chest, and even though the touch was light and delicate he groaned in pain as every nerve in the area screamed.
And even in that excruciating moment, the part of his brain that nobody could ever fully get rid of, no matter how much training they underwent, joked.
So this is what Choi's life is like. It said sarcastically. Running through life like a marshmallow that got dropped in a camp fire every few months. Tough little fucker.
"Calm down Mister Vickers." One of those muted voices, that he thought sounded familiar, said. "We only woke you up so the Archmage could ask a few questions. We'll have you back under in a minute. Let me give you something for the pain."
"Not until the lead healer has okayed it." Another voice said somewhat harshly. "We don't even know how your Earth medicine will affect his body now."
"I do." The first voice replied. "I've used this stuff on were-people before. It works just fine. I just have to up the dosage. And Shrend knows it." The first voice, which he now faintly recognized as Choi's mom, said.
There was a pinch in the middle of a bloom of fire on Vickers' throat as a needle was pressed into one of the veins there.
And suddenly the pain, and everything else for that matter, seemed to drop away.
"Thassss..." He began. "Thasssalot... bedder."
"Shhhh." Mrs. Choi said as he felt, faintly, her touching his head. "I'm gonna take off some of your bandages so you can hear and see." She finished as his hearing cleared. "Plus we need to check your eyes and ears anyways."
A moment later Vickers' eyes opened and he was surrounded by a swirling mix of green and amber light. It was blurry, though he was mostly just happy he had any sight at all.
"Still cloudy." Mrs. Choi said as she pried his eyes open ever so slightly and looked inside. She as about to check his ears when the door opened.
Vickers turned his head with a slowness that was not intentional.
"Chief Vickers." Said the old mage who usually spoke so slowly, and looked so frail. But he didn't look or sound anything of the such at the moment as he pulled up a chair and sat where he could look at Vickers.
"Thaassss....me." He said as his head swam with whatever Mrs. Choi had given him. Probably Ketamine or something.
"I know you're in a lot of pain right now." The old mage said. "But we need to know what you saw. What was on the other side of that door before the Elemental manifested?"

Had a family trip planned to the Mammoth Lakes area of California for a while now. Since we were looking to feed about 9 people and bring enough food with us to do so on the 7ish hour trip from SoCal to Mammoth, I took the liberty of using my REI 20% off coupon and some dividend to pull the trigger on a Tundra 45. I wanted tan, wife wanted white, so we compromised and got....white. :)
I grabbed an extra basket and the divider as well, not so much for this trip but for future ones...the size was right for our first out-going kit: 2 count of 18 eggs, a half gallon of regular milk, a quart of oat milk, several packages of frozen sausage patties, and some condiments/jam/bread. Took some frozen butter and several vitamin C shots in the basket to keep them from getting wet. Used a couple Yeti ice thins in the bottom and then poured half bag of ice over the top.
On the way back, we had the leftovers, and added in: 10 cans of soda/sparkling waters, as well as 3 bottles of some leftover adult beverages. Same deal on the way back - Yeti ice at the bottom, and half bag of ice over the contents. Left Monday morning about 11am, and drove back to the house straight away. Last night (Thursday) decided it was time to pull the drinks out of the cooler which had been sitting on the kitchen floor for the last few days unopened. The ice was of course melted, but the water inside (as well as the cans/bottles) were still cold enough for me to pull out and have a cold one.
Its big enough to hold enough food/drinks, but not too big or heavy for me to carry solo (even semi-full) and with the rope handles 2 person carry is a cinch. I have the Hopper Flip 12 and the Tundra Haul and have loved them both, but this new T45 is the sweet spot and something I can see us using for years to come on camping trips, to the beach, or with the dudes on our next trip up to SF coming in a few weeks. Never had the feeling of "I made the right purchase" as I did after using the T45 this weekend.

Hey Everyone,
I'm going to Assateague next weekend and was wondering what would be worth bringing for the week. I'm from more up north so just need some help figuring out what to target.
I'm thinking from the beach I can target kingfish and spot with some hi-lo float rigs with small hooks. Wondering if it is worth using fish finders for Black or Red drum. Are the bluefish down there as well? I would bring float rigs with wire leader for those. Is it worth jigging the beach for flounder? Would it be better to target flounder up near the bridge?
Bait would be squid, clam, and mackerel. Gulp and whatever fishbites I have.
Also looking for tips on clamming and crabbing. I went clamming there at one of the points that had a sign for clamming and didn't come up with anything at all. Some guy told me it had been dry for years. I figure I can get crabs from pretty much any of the back bay access areas.
Any tips or stories would be appreciated. Thanks.

It appears the hardest part to the raw diet is finding affordable sources for varied meats other than chicken. Walmart Chicken leg quarters would probably need to be a staple for my dogs' diets since it seems difficult to find affordable sources for other types of meat, at least for my income.
After reading this guide here: http://www.rawmeatybones.com/petowners/feedyourdogrmb.php it says " The closer you follow the natural ideal the better. Feed whole carcasses whenever you can and otherwise base your feeding regime on raw meaty bones in large pieces from a variety of animals. However, wolves frequently depend on meat from a single prey species, for instance deer, and there are lots of pet dogs that eat chicken at every meal." This tells me I would probably be ok providing whole Walmart chicken leg quarters and sometimes Walmart or food lion/Kroger etc. whole chickens for pretty much every meal. Convenient, cheap, and good for the dog. If who is considered the founding father of the pet raw diet says it's ok for a lot of dogs to eat chicken carcass at every meal, it's probably a safe bet. Of course there are special needs dogs and allergies and whatnot, but as a general rule he's saying many dogs can live nutritionally well off a chicken carcass based diet. What are some opinions on this from people here?
I'm now reading the book Work Wonders, also by Tom Longsdale, and he says " Feed meaty bones from a variety of animals—for instance chicken, lamb and rabbit—thus ensuring good balance of nutrients." "Please keep these principles in mind, but at the same time practical considerations and availability of supplies may influence your decisions." Yet, despite this he also says on the website write-up that I quoted above that a lot of dogs eat chicken at every meal. This sounds conflicting. I'd like to be able to feed our dogs chicken carcass at every meal because it's super cheap and convenient, with some store bought raw unseasoned meats of other varieties mixed in once the dogs get used to the raw chicken carcass diet. Other meats are just so much more expensive than chicken, at least store bought. I also want to be doing them right nutritionally too. I will say, our Walmart has many whole cheap frozen fish types so I was planning on adding some whole tilapia as well. Staying away from salmon due to that possible disease Salmon may give dogs. Also was going to do some canned fish (not salmon) as well into their dishes a few times a week.
I'm not a hunter, I live in a small rural town with pop of about 24,000. Have a townhouse with a 0.18 acre lot with a small to I guess medium sized backyard, enough room for our Doberman and Shiba to get some good running in along with some neighborhood walking. The Walmart chicken base would work perfect for my income and our living situation, but I'd also like to add some other raw bone meat varieties into that chicken base. With Walmart bought chicken I could probably get away with just using our fridge for the storage of weekly bought chicken leg quarters and whole chickens. However, the buying of other meats in bulk which seems to be the way for saving money on other meats--I would buy a small freezer for storing those. No issue buying a freezer. The only issue with me it seems is finding a decent cheap'ish source of animal carcasses other than chicken.
Opinions on this? Is it a safe bet feeding our dogs primarely Walmart bought chicken leg quarters and whole chickens given his line "lots of pet dogs that eat chicken at every meal"?

Company Name	Title	City
Ace Handyman Services	Handyman	Charleston
LongHorn Steakhouse	Restaurant Manager	North Myrtle Beach
Walmart	Online Order Filler	Charleston
Walmart	Stocking & Unloading	Charleston
Walmart	Food & Grocery	Charleston
Teleperformance USA	CRC Specialist	Columbia
Teleperformance USA	Customer Service Representative	Columbia
Kelly Services, Inc.	Substitute Teacher	Edgefield
Kelly Services, Inc.	Float Teacher	Edgefield
Epic Travel Staffing	Travel OR Tech (Surgical Tech) CVOR (Cardiovascular Operating room)	Florence
Travel Nurse Across America	Progressive Care Unit - PCU RN - TravelNurse	Florence
Southern Health Partners	LPN or RN Weekend Nights	Fort Mill
Walmart	Storeman	Mount Pleasant
Whole Foods Market	Retail Team Member	Mount Pleasant
Walmart	Shopper	Mount Pleasant
Walmart	Retail Team Member	Mount Pleasant
OnSite Healthcare and Wellness, LLC	Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner	North Charleston
The Retreat At Ladys Island	Server- Part Time	Beaufort
The Retreat At Ladys Island	Medical Technologist (MT)	Beaufort
The Retreat At Ladys Island	LIS Technician	Beaufort
Sun Recycling, Inc.	Quality Control Technician (8:00 AM 4:30 PM)	Catawba
Sun Recycling, Inc.	Equipment Maintenance (All shifts)	Catawba
US Navy	Electronics Engineer	Columbia
US Navy	Cryptologic Technician	Columbia
US Navy	Bomb Technicial (EOD)	Columbia

Hey guys, here are some recent job openings , feel free to comment here if you have any questions, I'm at the community's disposal! If you encounter any problems with any of these job openings please let me know that I will modify the table accordingly. Thanks!

As you probably know, MQ is headed to Myrtle Beach for 2 weeks with Erik. She will be leaving for the vacay towards the end of next week. Since she typically doesn’t know what day of the week it is because she is so “busy”, how do you think the preparation for the trip is going to go (nails, hair dye, tinsel, monsters/cigs/sodas/snacks, errands, endless shopping, another tanning session likely before she leaves, packing, etc.)?
View Poll

This is a long read and has many trigger warnings - sexual assault, abuse, mention of drug use, murder threats, etc. This isn't a light Sunday read, and I am sorry because I wish it was. I honestly don't expect anyone to read this, I just needed a place to let go. This isn't all put together, its messy, there are grammatical errors I am sure. But it is 1:14am as I finish writing this, and for me right now I think it is a good start.
When I was nineteen, I reported my abuser after a nearly three year relationship that began when I was 17 and he was 23. The ages alone sound like an obvious recipe for disaster. I've been screamed at, assaulted; there was one night after a fight I laid down in our bed, our backs turned to each other, and he told me in detail about how he would murder me and what he would do to dispose of my body. I simply went to sleep. It's not that I didn't believe him, it's that I knew the only way I would ever get any sort of justice is if I was dead. I was so tired. It was a four year trial and I ended up being right, my case was thrown out the night before trial.
It was freeing and terrifying to report him, but I had a new apartment, I had new friends, and a month after the first report I would have a new boyfriend, Logan (fake name and I'm sorry to all the Logan's out there). I knew at the time I was getting into a relationship too quick, it was happening too fast, I wasn't ready. Most importantly, I wasn't healed. I didn't know how to say that I wasn't ready without hurting Logan, and I wanted to see where things would go with him, just not that fast. When things started getting more serious, maybe the third time seeing each other, I told Logan that I was in two court cases with my ex, I told him why, and I told him he didn't need to go through all that with someone he basically just met. I don't know if he took that as a challenge, maybe he just didn't understand how serious it was, but he told me he was determined to "make it work". After two weeks of dating he would say "I like you. I just really like you" over and over and I knew - I could feel there were other words he meant to say. He would keep pushing it to a point of discomfort and when I would try to change subject, not respond to each "I really like you" with the same enthusiasm or wording, he would get upset and become distant. We were both nineteen and it felt like I was dating someone who emotionally was fifteen, I would chock it up to him being homeschooled (or unschooled as he said) and not having a lot of socialization growing up, I just needed to be supportive I thought. When we were crossed a few days later, the "I love you"s began. To be honest, my first real 'adult' relationship I was groomed into. I didn't know how relationships worked and part of me thought this was natural or expected. The beginning with Logan was the same honeymoon rushing that I experienced with my ex, and instead of putting the thoughts together - I thought it was normal.
Then, about three months later, he raped me during a hurricane. We had gotten tattoos together the day before, and while they don't match, every time I look at the tattoo I remember. I remember not feeling safe in my apartment during the hurricane(this feeling ended up being right as the roof next door caved in). I remember agreeing to smoke. I remember saying yes at first then feeling too out of it, saying we should stop, and him asking for anal. I remember saying no. I said no. Then my body went limp. I don't know if there was something in the weed or if I had simply smoked too much. and he flipped me over.
he would start then stop. then start then stop. Each time he stopped he would call my name, shake my shoulder. I couldn't respond my body wouldn't work. I kept screaming no but the words wouldn't leave my mouth. He just kept going and I kept screaming knowing he wouldn't hear me.
After a while Logan stopped. He shook me, he gave me water, and I fully passed out. I came to a few moments later (I think) and all I could say was "you (hurt)* me". He laid on the floor, face down, and kept hitting his head into the floorboards. As if he expected me to comfort him. I was, I am, disgusted. I was in and out of consciousness for a while, and then was able to text my dad to pick me up. my dad drove through the hurricane to come get me. I was still in and out on the drive to my parents place and when I got home I fell into my childhood bed and passed out. It was about 3am the next day when I woke up. my sheets were covered in blood from the assault.
***(((I don't know how reddit works and if the word shadows the post)))
After a few days Logan came to my apartment to drop off my cat who had gotten stuck under the staircase and I couldn't get to him before I left. He handed me a letter, a letter I still have and have since given copies of to the police. He said nothing, passed me the letter and sat down looking away. I cried as I read it. cried out of betrayal, anger, devastation, embarrassment? It happened again. That's all I could think to myself. was that it happened again. I was back in that bed where my ex told me he would kill me, and this time with Logan I gave up just the same. I took him back. I wanted to forget about it but I never could. It was the background of all our arguments, it was washed down with as much liquor I could find, it was in every little action he did or thing he said and I hated him for it. I hated how he spoke. I hated how his lip curled when he laughed. So much of what he did disgusted me, even the most mundane things. And then there were other moments where he was that guy I first had started to fall for. I hated him for killing that guy.
He assaulted me two more times in our relationship. All of which I reported to police after each time they happened, but making sure there was a record only. I was still in my court case and didn't want another one, I just wanted a record in case I changed my mind there would proof that there was a history. If my relationship with abuse taught me one thing, it was how to survive in it. Though looking through old messages, I found texts where I accuse him of assaulting me when I was passed out drunk (he denied saying I initiated it so it wasn't assault) so maybe that counts too. Either way, excluding that point, the other assaults he would molest and grab me while I was asleep. I would wake up, cry, kick him out and threaten to call the cops and then get back together with him a week later because I was scared to be alone and I wanted so badly to be loved. I wanted to be loved so badly I didn't care if it was real or not.
It was our two year anniversary and we had booked a hotel room. Romantic getaway. I laid in Logan's arms sobbing about how he had again assaulted me just the day before, I kept begging to know why he kept doing this to me. He kept promising he would stop and then he would do it again months later, I kept begging to know why I was worth so little when he claimed to love me. Logan laid there, face as cold and empty as stone. He then suggested we break up, not because he was hurting me, but because he "didn't want to be with someone who made him feel like a bad person". Exact quote.
I both know what was going on in my head, and now looking back, I don't understand. I begged him not to. I told him I would treat him better, that I just wanted to know why and I just wanted the hurt to stop. Honestly at the time I was so completely broken. I was scared of being alone and I was scared that my abuser would be right. My ex, who I was still in a court case with, said to me once, "this is why nobody loves you and why all your boyfriends will abuse you". I didn't want everyone I love to abuse me, and I denied denied denied that I was in an abusive relationship with Logan. He wasn't violent, he wouldn't throw things. He would rarely even scream at me. I wanted it to not be true so badly I was blinded that it already was.
We broke up six months later, because he was washing a spoon with his fingers and I laughed at not using a sponge or clothe. he got offended, saying he knows how to wash dishes, I apologized saying I was only joking. Then my roommate who, before moving in together I considered my best friend came into the kitchen and began slamming cabinet doors. After my ex, this triggered my PTSD so I excused myself and went to lie down. I know this wasn't her intent, and I hope still she didn't take my reaction personally, she was just upset and that's how it came out. My eyes were closed as I was laying in bed, I didn't even know Logan had entered the room until he grabbed me. At this point I began hyperventilating and said "I thought you were (exs name)" before my attack began getting so bad I could no longer breathe. PTSD is hard for everyone, both the person suffering and loved ones. After my attack he broke up with me, specifying it wasn't because I was having an attack but because I had thought he was my abuser.
I still didn't fully realize at the time Logan was one.
It would take three weeks for us to officially break up. I had found out I was pregnant, making a shitty situation worse. I booked two appointments, first the ultrasound then the abortion. It was too much doing it all at once and spreading it out, giving myself time to breathe...it made sense at the time. Logan picked me up from the ultrasound because I didn't want him there with me. We were breaking up, I wanted to do it alone. I didn't want to depend on the guy who had hurt me so much yet who I still somehow loved so much. I didn't want to depend on him for support anymore, I think I was trying to get myself back and doing a hard thing alone felt like the way to do it. After he picked me up from the ultrasound and went home, his roommates told him they thought I was faking the pregnancy, in part suggesting because of the disabilities I have/had as a result of my trauma that I would try to fake baby trap him. I cannot put into words how disgusted I am with anyone who fakes a pregnancy - let alone the suggestion I was doing so because I have a disorder that means I feel emotions more intensely. Its disgusting and pathetic. I know I was scared of being alone, of being unloved; I could never and would never do something so traumatizing and abusive in itself to trick someone into staying with me. If someone doesn't want to stay I don't understand why you would force them to. Part of the accusation was that because I didn't want him to attend the ultrasound with me, this meant it was fake. He dismissed and disregarded anything I tried to say about how we were breaking up and I didn't mean to be unfair I was just trying to make it less hard for us both. Looking back I can see how this was weird to him, but this was the only ""evidence"" he had that I was "lying" about the pregnancy. I showed him the test and offered to show him medical records - he denied. This accusation, alongside losing my best friend and roommate alongside my boyfriend in a horrific manner but nonetheless a story for another time; I legitimately had a psychotic breakdown. Years of assaults, accusations, and that's just the tip (because hold on its about to get worse) - I completely spiralled. It began by not being able to function. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't speak. I laid in bed and stared at a wall. I heard voices and saw shadows that weren't there. I hid under the covers when hallucinations of a connected humanoid mass of my abusers would walk down the hall and sit at the foot of my bed. For two weeks that's all I did. I didn't even realize I had missed the appointment for my abortion.
A few days after my missed appointment, I woke up around midnight with the worst pains and cramps I can describe. It was so bad I began puking. Then the bleeding started.
The nurses at the triage were nice. I can't imagine the mess they saw as I walked into the emergency room, my taxi driver helping me walk. I didn't want a baby, especially not with Logan and I know I had already setup the abortion but I was so unbelievably scared. I was alone in that hospital room and I was so scared, for the first time I was scared for the pregnancy too. In my delirium I began referring to the pregnancy as 'her', not that I wanted to have her or even could, but just incredibly devested about everything. The nurses got me a wheel chair and a warm blanket, and one held my hand while we sat in a separate room waiting for a doctor until an emergency called her away. I was sitting alone and pathetically, desperately, I called Logan. He was silent on the other end as I told him through tears what was going on, I apologized the entire time and again offered to give him the medical records to at least prove I wasn't lying. That I wouldn't lie about this. That we didn't need to be in each others lives in anyway but to at least clear my name from the lie that he, months later, would go on to convince all our friends and even people I don't know, was true. To this day (three years later) I sometimes get messages on facebook from strangers telling me what an awful person I am for lying. But I didn't lie. When I was done telling him, he said "is that it?" to which I confirmed it was and he hung up. The last text he sent me was a screenshot of his tinder account, and then I was blocked on all platforms. I later would have to communicate to his roommate to drop off his things, a box with his birthday gift and a letter, much like he had first given me years ago, apologizing, wishing him well, offering medical records, and with love to the part of him that I still cared for.
The doctor came in, she did the exams and bloodwork, then when she was finished she came back and held my hand. She told me what I already knew, adding that the pregnancy was not strong enough to last full term and it wasn't my fault, just the cards I was dealt. Nothing felt real. It was like I was watching my life on this giant screen that covered my vision yet no matter how much I blinked or tried to pull away from it the screen would not shut off.
I walked home a few hours later. It felt surreal. It was still dark out and the street lamps were highlighting the snow as it fell. Outside was quiet, soft. A different world than the one I left in that hospital. A different world entirely to the one in that relationship. Outside was gentle, despite the snow and ice it felt warm. Still sobbing, I called my mom. I was waking her up and all I could say was that I just left the hospital after having a miscarriage. She knows that part of the story, but to this day I haven't told her what else Logan had done to me. I hold some guilt in her not knowing, and while I know she would still support me with nothing but love, I feel embarrassed telling her it happened again.
After the depression wore off, the full psychosis began. I was putting myself into dangerous situations, hooking up without protection with men I don't know, drunkenly wandering around the city late at night hoping someone would try to do something to me so I had a good justification to get in a fight. I wanted to feel my knuckles bleed, hoping if I bled the anger would leave my body too. This was the early winter months of 2021, and by summer I started to be okay again. Me and my sister moved into a new apartment, it was right besides the granary so early in the morning trucks would be loud outside my window, waking me up at 5am when I had gone to bed at 3. But you should have seen what the sky looked like from our sunroom. Sometimes birds would hop onto our balcony and look in at us, my cats watching them too in amusement. I started to heal in the summer. I always used how hot and sticky the days were, how the heat clung to my skin. I needed to mourn and I needed to learn how to love life, and I think that's what the summer is for now. The sun is warm and the birds are singing, its the perfect time I think. I started learning to love myself, instead of the danger or the hookups or the drugs I was at the beach collecting shells with new friends, friends Logan couldn't share false histories with. I was exploring abandoned buildings. I was giving piggy back rides to the girls that got a little to drunk while we were all out. I was painting and doing yoga at sunrise and come sunset I was playing guitar on my balcony. In the evenings I would be stealing bites from dinner my sister made, wishing I knew where she got the talent.
Then I met Chris, and I am so thankful to know someone who has grown with me and has not only loved me but has genuinely valued me. I've never felt so safe as I do with him, and I didn't know if life, in all of her mysteries and all of my past pains, would ever allow someone so beautiful to stumble into the rebuilt ruins of my life to simply hold me. I'm eternally grateful.
I am grateful for my mom, who has always supported me and put me first, and for my sister who first showed me there is more than kicking the ruins of a fallen world. Me and my dad...I grew up in a very loving, but a very aggressive and loud household. Mine and my fathers relationship carries the weight of that, we aren't huge talkers with each other. I am so grateful that his love for me goes beyond what he says in words.
A lot of time has passed, and I have worked really hard to forgive myself. For staying, for failing to love or to value myself, for begging, for giving up for so long. That person I was feels so distant now that I don't recognize her when I look in the mirror. I did for a while, but now all I see is me. I am still angry sometimes. Other times I am really sad, I cried the entire time writing this. But I want to let it go, I deserve to let it go. I honestly couldn't tell you why I thought reddit of all places was the place to do so, I think part of it is for the anonymity; though any of my friends who know even a little bit will surely recognize parts this story. I have never once shared it in full, and if you've made it this far, I'm thankful and I'm sorry. It's a really hard story I think, to both write and read, but I think the ending is getting a little happier. Slowly. I have been holding onto a lot of pain, to a lot of hurt, and a lot of anger. Sharing with you, I hope that means I can let some of it go.
I love you, and I hope you can enjoy the sun today.

Hello Lovely Ladies!
This is my first post here-I think I may have replied a time or so to a random post over the last few months. I've been reading here several times a week, and wanted to talk about some things I've read-along with my own struggles and what I've tried to do to help myself.
I am 57. I went through my first year with no period at 54. At the last month of that, I had the worst period of my life. I'd been bleeding heavily for a decade before, and had fibroids-barely managed to keep my uterus with Prometrium 200 mg. nightly for three weeks out of every month. But this was....a crime scene. I had to use plain cotton baby diapers folded up with a heavy disposable pad on top of that and change every two hours-I went like that for 5 days until it slowed down. I was weak as a kitten and on vacation at the beach expecting to have a great time. It literally sucked.
Some women say it can be like that. I never had another period again.
I stayed on the Prometrium and investigated what type of estrogen replacement I might be able to take with Fibroids. For a year or so, I took no estrogen. I finally got so desperate with no sex drive, sleep, no feeling in my clitoris or nipples, grouchy and unfeeling towards people-and the biggie-I couldn't remember anything and felt I was losing my mind. My cholesterol, blood sugar and A1C went sky high. So, I started the lowest minimal dose of Bi-est cream.
I felt amazing after the side effects of bloating and breast tenderness wore off. My sex drive came back, and although my clitoris and nipple feelings didn't come back well, I could orgasm occasionally. But the best of all was that my brain power returned and I could function again without seeming like an idiot. I even started nursing school and did really well with tests, etc. Sleep still suffered, but it wasn't as bad.
Then this last January, I had a 4 day mild period-like bleed. I used a mini pad a day. I called my GYN and immediately went off the Bi-Est and waited to be seen. In March, I had an Ultrasound and then in April I had a uterine biopsy done. My uterine lining was at 8, and biopsy was negative for cancer. It turns out my lining was at 8 before starting the Bi-Est cream the year before, and I wasn't told (I was pissed about that). So, the Estrogen didn't cause it. I was off the Bi-Est for 4 months before I felt I just couldn't survive all the symptoms anymore. They all came roaring back, and if anything, worse than before. I contacted my doc in tears and asked, please, for something. She called in a compounded cream of the most lowest dose of Bi-Est (1.86 mg, I think) along with Testosterone and DHEA mixed in, and a bit of Progesterone. I'm going to continue to take the Prometrium at night, because it has an affinity for the uterine tissue and is super protective against uterine cancer-the cream version can be debated, but it doesn't seem to work as well for prevention of cancer. At some point, I'm going to have to have my uterus out. I'm starting this cream this week, wish me luck.
I spent alot of time researching what I could do for myself in the meantime. Here's what has worked so far:

1. Prioritize yourself. See your doctor and get the labs and meds you need. I am now on a low-dose Statin (I hate it but....) and Ozempic for the Diabetes. I ate clean and minimal carbs, but something happened when I went into Meno that was very bad-like I hit a point health wise and age wise where the bad stuff was going to start to happen. On Ozempic, my A1C has gone down to 5.3 from 8.9 and body inflammation everyplace has toned down. Do what you need to do for YOU.
2. HYDRATE-something I struggled with. I started drinking 1/2 gallon of non-caffeinated teas with added water to a jug everyday. This totally adjusted my digestive system and I don't feel as fatigued or constipated.
3. SLEEP-I use a mixture of things and I rotate them so I don't get too used to them and they fail to work. One night I may take a Benedryl, the next L-Theanine, the next a Melatonin tab-but always take these with Glycine 1,000 mgs and Magnesium Glycinate, 5 capsules to make sure I get just over that 100% daily requirement. I'm thinking off trying to add in Taurine. Resveratrol 100 mgs. makes me sleepy, too. I still wake up at 2-4a.m. and struggle to get back to sleep, but if I'm in bed by 9 and asleep by 10, then I get at least 4-5 hours. With the Bi-Est, I was getting 7 hours. If I'm really stressed about a nursing proctor test the next day or such, I'll take L-Theanine with Melatonin or the Benedryl. Find what works for you individually.
4. HRT-hoping this new combo is going to work for me. I absolutely can't make it without the estrogen. We will see what will happen with the DHEA and Testosterone with sex drive and feeling in the bits again. The key is getting what I need at the minimal dose and preventing uterine cancer until I can get the insurance to pay to get my uterus out.

I hope this helps someone here. I find that if I just wake up and say to myself "I'm going to prioritize hydrating and sleep today", that it makes everything seem better. I can't let myself down on those two things, ever-because then I struggle and it's a downhill slide.

The global solar pumps market has been segmented into submersible pumps, surface solar pumps, solar pool pumps, agriculture, drinking water and oil & gas among others. Among these segments, the agriculture segment is anticipated to dominate the market for solar pumps globally. It can be attributed to the initiatives taken by government of different regions. This factor is envisioned to strengthen the growth of global solar pumps market.
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In Q4 2021, USA current-account deficit widened stood at $224.8 billion. However, in Q1 22, CAD rose by 29.6%, reached to $291.4 billion, adding $66.6 billion to the gap. Export of good and services increased by $25.7 billion to reach $1.03 trillion in the first quarter of 2022. However, goods and services deficit was $79.6 billion in June, down $5.3 billion from $84.9 billion in May, revised- reflecting some sight of relief. On the other hand, annual inflation rate in the country hit 8.5%. Energy CPI surged by 32.9% in July 2022, inflating the cost of logistic and some signs to disrupt supply chain whilst electricity cost upsurged by 15.2%, highest since Feb 2006. Apart from that, In July 2022, existing US home sales declined 5.9% to 4.81 million (seasonally adjusted annual rate), the lowest since May of 2020 and below market expectations of 4.89 million. As mortgage rate touches to peak 6%, sales for houses declined for a sixth consecutive month. Global energy crises to remain at focal point, pushing consumers to spend less on the products and services and save more.
On the other hand, the worst is expected to be seen in the European countries especially during 2022 winters. The energy and gas crises has already started grappling the region where in many Western European countries including Germany is looking for coal fired solutions to tackle the gas supply shortage, created by Russian-Ukraine conflict.
Amidst global concerns, market players have started looking for safe investments by holding on to the new technology and product launches. Factors like currency translation, disruption in global supply chain, Anti-China sentiments brewing across the globe, slowdown in Chinese economy, inflated products prices, USD getting stronger every week, decreasing purchasing power and strict measures taken by central banks/institutions across the world to ensure less spending and more saving, could hit the demand for the product and service badly in near future.
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Hello, I would like to seek fellow redditors opinions, input and recommendation on how I could better finetune my itinerary better. There's only so much I can think of, and plan as an individual, but with everyone's input and comments I can further refine and enhance the travel experience before I set foot into Japan. Do forgive me in advance for the theorycrafting wall of text.
I know it may be difficult to review the itinerary, so to make the review easier I have broken the itinerary down into specific sub-groups e.g. Shikoku, Kinki etc. Specific questions that I have are bolded.
Thank you in advance for taking your time to provide your opinions!
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Baseline information

• 32M, average fitness, solo traveller
• Public transport only (challenge); I have a driver's license but I have not drove a car for god knows how long so I would prefer not to test it against the green hills of Shikoku
• Interest: anime (select few), experience autumn/nature, visiting secluded spots, and just trying random stuff
• JP language skill: rudimentary at best (N4), but I will not shy away from speaking in simple, broken japanese or use a translator to communicate. Reading/interpreting kanji is not a problem (in general).
• Visit history: Visited twice (once to Hokkaido for ~8 days, and once toKyoto and Osaka for 8 days
• Will probably travel around with a (slightly) oversized luggage at ~166cm (A+B+C), that’s the only one I have with me. This will be a problem on the Shinkansen (but hopefully not so much on sightseeing trains/limited expresses).
• Will be visiting during (almost) peak autumn at 11 November, and will depart on the 16th of December
• Jet lag is unlikely to be a problem (1h time difference), but nevertheless I will maintain a low tempo on the first day to acclimatize to the environment
• Only thing firmed as of now is the air ticket, everything else is up in the air.
• I like planning/min-maxing to some degree, though I recognize that I may not fulfill all objectives during the trip and I am totally ok with that [its just a guideline or framework to give the holiday some structure, that’s all.] FWIW, I personally like traveling at a high tempo pace like some japanese travel show do (e.g. ローカル路線バス乗り継ぎの旅)

​
Specific goals/objective:

1. Experience Shikoku in autumn (specifically the views at Iya Valley) and in other prefectures (thus making nature sightseeing more of a priority this time round)
2. Experience Kanazawa for anime stuff
3. Experience the Shimanami Kaido in full (including any sightseeing spots in between the 6 island chains)
4. Bonus - try as many sightseeing trains as possible.
5. Bonus - if weather, time and schedule permits, try skiing as an option in Nagano.
6. Bonus - stay in as many onsen ryokans as possible, without breaking the bank.

​
Locked-in prefectures [i.e. I will definitely go to those prefectures no matter what]:

1. Shikoku (as per above objective)
2. Hiroshima (because its on the opposite end of the Shimanami Kaido)
3. Kanazawa (for anime related reason)
4. Tokyo (that is my starting and end point so it has to be included by default)

All other prefectures are basically float i.e. I am open to consider dropping said itinerary for something else based on your suggestion that aligns with my preferences/interest. Most of the other locations I added are prefectures that are often next to each other, or well-connected (apart from the initial Tokyo Kagawa jump via Sunrise Seto/Shinkansen).
​
Wait-list prefectures (prefectures that I want to go, but I don’t think I can realistically fit in without dropping other locations):

1. Snow skiing at Nagano (depending on how cooperative the weather is in early-ish December (would 2 days be sufficient?))
2. Ehime, Kochi expansion [spend 1-3 more days]
3. Izu Peninsula (~2 days, via Saphir Odoriko)
4. Nagoya + lower Nagano (Kiso Valley) (~3 days)
5. Ishikawa expansion [1 extra day at Kaga]

I am open to dropping a few days in Tokyo/Osaka etc to make that trade off [currently kept 3 days free for further development]. Alternatively, if the planning can be better optimized based on your inputs I might be able to do one of those without compromising on the base set. I would like to hear your opinion on what locations you would drop in the itinerary to make time for one of the above.
​
General planning philosophy:

1. My itineary adopts a breadth approach (cover as much area as I can humanely possible without rushing/touch-and-go) as opposed to depth (i.e. spending much more time within Shikoku than what I allocated); though I would be open to considering more days at selected locations if you have strong recommendations. My thought is to experience how different autumn is at various parts of the country (if possible), and maybe winter too (to a certain degree).
2. Due to the nature of my travel, I note that luggage logistics is a critical consideration when moving between prefectures; my thought is to park that luggage at the next hotel as quickly as possible so that I can free myself for sightseeing within the vicinity, or leave the luggage at the hotel after I check out until I am ready to travel to the next location. I will need to send (quite a fair bit of) emails to the hotels to confirm on this prior to booking.
3. I will attempt to minimize transit time between prefectures to no more than 2~3 hours a day to avoid having excessively long transport days (except the initial Tokyo Kagawa jump).
4. Because of the long trip, I will also need to factor a bit of downtime at night for administrative stuff (e.g. catching up a little bit on work, laundry etc).

---------
Shikoku (~7 days)
Specific thoughts while planning:

1. I will need to exploit Limited Express trains as much as possible to minimize downtime between the 4 prefectures. Fortunately, for the most part these train frequencies are almost hourly, thus missing one train isnt too deadly consequence-wise.
2. The transfer between Kochi and Ehime [Matsuyama] is oddly quicker via express bus as opposed to trains (!)
3. For Kochi, my opinion is that it is best explored on car instead of public transport [it’s a really wide prefecture]; I feel that 1 day may not do it justice, but it is probably adequate for exploring the city centre as a whole.
4. There's a fair bit of uncertainties while planning this leg so I would deeply appreciate any advice you may have.
5. This current iteration is unable to weave in the Shikoku Mannaka Sennen Monogatari sightseeing train [四国まんなか千年ものがたり] ; if you people think its something not to be missed do let me know and I will reshuffle my timetable as such.

Day 0: Tokyo Kagawa (Sunrise Seto) [Saturday, 11 Nov]

• Touch down at Narita at 1720hours
• Transfer to Tokyo Station via NEX or Skyliner
• Settle administrative matters at the Midori-no-Maruguchi (e.g. get all the booked tickets etc from JR Pass, for Shinkansen and all other sightseeing trains) at Tokyo Station.
• IF Sunrise Seto ticket is obtained via the JR West portal booking, chill till 2200 and take Sunrise Seto to reach Kagawa (Takamatsu) at 0700 the next day. Try to snag the ticket online (likely via the japanese portal since there's no option to buy Solo Deluxe through the english/international website. Otherwise, compromise and go for Single)
• IF Sunrise Seto ticket is NOT obtained, proceed to take the furthest possible Shinkansen westwards (probably Okayama) and rest for the night.

Day 1: Kagawa (Takamatsu) [Sunday, 12 Nov]

• Chill around Takamatsu. Drop luggage at coin locker OR the hotel (near JR Takamatsu ideally)
• Look at whats left of Takamatsu Castle en route to the port.
• Day trip to Naoshima or Teshima to visit the art museums (Chichu Art Museum, Lee Ufan Museum etc).
• Ritsuin Garden in the evening (closes 1830)
• Find an eatery with Sanuki Udon for dinner if possible.

Day 2: Kagawa (Kotohira) Tokushima (Iya Valley) [Monday, 13 Nov]

• Morning trip from Takamatsu to Kotohira (either via JR or Kotoden). Visit Kotohiragu [includes inner shrine] and Kanamaruza Theater
• Return to Kotohira to pick up luggage, transit to Oboke via Limited Express Shimanto [Takamatsu Tadotsu Oboke]
• Retire at a local hotel around Oboke. If time permits, take the chance to explore around Oboke Gorge itself.

​
Day 3: Tokushima (Iya Valley) [Tuesday, 14 Nov]
[Post-research note: I realized that there is NO public transport to Mount Tsurugi on a weekday. I will have to rent a taxi direct to Mount Tsurugi, make the 'climb', then thereafter take the taxi down to the other attractions. I am inclined to just go full hog on the private taxi and rent it (almost the whole day, probably 7~8 hours for 4300yen/hour) to save the trouble.
Otherwise, I will need to hike downhill which can be rather rough since its just a single lane road (looking at nearly 10++ km) so I think it wise not to penny pinch in the interest of both time and safety.]
Spend the day at Iya Valley.

• Take a taxi after breakfast to zip to Mount Tsurugi and speedrun it to the mountain peak (aka using the chairlift to speedrun a good chunk of the mountain) about 2.5 hours ~ 3 hours as per the Iya Valley guide
• Taxi from Mount Tsurugi chairlift down to Oku-Iya Niju Kazuraashi and cross it (~1 hour estimate)
• Taxi down to visit the mannequins/scarecrows at Nagoro Village (~3km downhill from Oku-Iya). (~1 hour estimate)
• Check out the Peeing Boy Statue (~0.5 hour estimate [its just looking at the statue that is overlooking the entire gorge is it not?])
• Cross the outer vine bridge Iya-no-Kazurabashi (~1 hour estimate)
• Taxi back to Oboke, and retire for the day (~0.5 hour estimate, thus looking at about ~8 hours taxi rental total, with some leeway for lunch break)

​
Day 4: Tokushima (Iya Valley) Kochi (Kochi) [Wednesday, 15 Nov]

• Transit from Iya Valley [Oboke] to Kochi via Limited Express Shimanto (again) after breakfast. (~1 hour transit)
• Park luggage at hotel [ideally near JR Kochi Station], then proceed to mill around Kochi, visiting places such as Kochi Castle [高知城] and Harimaya Bridge[はりまや橋]
• Transit to Sakamoto Ryoma Memorial Museum [高知県立坂本龍馬記念館] via local bus which is also near Katsumatsura Beach incidentally. Chill at Katsumatsura Beach in the evening
• Return to JR Kochi, dinnesupper at Hirome Market (ideally to try out Kochi's speciality seared bonito). [is visiting the market more preferable during lunch OR dinner?]

​
Day 5: Kochi (Kochi) Ehime (Imabari) [Thursday, 16 Nov]

• Complete any remaining items in Kochi in the morning, then transit to Imabari via train (Kochi Tadotsu Imabari), via Limited Express Shimanto (yet again!) and Ishidzuchi**[TBC: this might be better done via highway bus instead which is faster at ~2-3 hours]**
• Drop luggage at Imabari for the next 2 days, either at Sunrise Itoyama OR Cycle no Ie. [both are well positioned for the Shimanami Kaido, and are also one of the selected hotels eligible for the Sagawa luggage transfer.] Ideally done just around lunch time, so that there's still the better half of the day to explore Imabari.
• Spend the remainder of the day visiting Imabari Castle (closes 1700) and Towel Museum (slightly out of the way) (closes 1800) [TBC: I note this place is quite out of the way from Imabari itself, even the JP website suggests taking a taxi (!) there from the nearby train station. Might have to drop this).
• Attempt to try some Ehime-related food specialties e.g. Taimeshi (Sea Bream), Ehime oranges, Champon for the next 2 days

​
Day 6: Ehime (Matsuyama / Imabari) [Friday, 17 Nov]

• Take the Limited express train Ishidzuchi to Matsuyama day tripping. (~1h one-way).
• Explore Matsuyama Castle, and the nearby Matsuyama Ropeway Shopping Street
• Visit Shiki Memorial Museum
• Visit Dogo Onsen [and attempt to soak in the waters if possible].
• Also consider looking at Ishiteji (石手寺) beside Dogo Onsen.
• Bonus: Subject to train schedule, if possible, attempt to secure tickets for the Iyonada Sightseeing Train (伊予灘物語), Futami leg [双海ふたみ 編] , and also visit JR Shimonada Station (JR下灘駅) at the same time.
• Bonus: visit Yawatahama Port where the movie Suzume took reference from,
• Return to Imabari via the same Limited express Ishidzuchi and retire for the night.

Day 7: Ehime (Imabari) Hiroshima (Shinamani Kaido) [Saturday, 18 Nov]
I am of the opinion that 1 day in Shimanami Kaido is adequate if I attempt just the main route which is about 80km [as a test run, I did 70km and finished it within 6-7 hours with lunch breaks included]. For now I will plan for two full days, however should I truncate it down to one day later, I will add an extra day to either explore Matsuyama or Okayama.
​

• Start off at Sunrise Itoyama [watch the sunrise, have breakfast here, cafeteria opens at 0700, rental opens at 0800] OR Cycle no Ie. Do paperwork to send luggage over to the next accomodation via Sagawa.
• I will (probably) follow the recommended 'extended' route on Cycle no Ie's website and do the following:
  • Take the west coast for Oshima (~13km) and cross to Hakatajima, with possible stop on:
    • Mount Kiro Observatory Point [I am aware that there's a steep incline so this would be contingent on my physical/mental status by then].
    • Nagahama Beach
• Take the coastal route for Hakatajima (~17km) and cross to Omishima and enjoy the coastal scenery
• Take the coastal route (again) for Omishima (~41km) (or lesser depending on how I'm feeling at that point) , with possible stop on:
  • -TBC: Okunoshima (there is apparently a ferry route to the well-known rabbit island via Omishima port. Not sure if anyone else have tried this particular route and if this is a better approach than going through Tadano-umi (though I would acknowledge that there's historical stuff to visit in nearby Takehara), and I would not be able to buy rabbit food in advance).[Based on Google Earth estimate, its about 3km for the entire island loop - seems doable within 2 hours to tour the poison gas museum with a bike and pet some rabbits).
  • Oyamazumi Shrine Treasure Museum
• End the day at WAKKA (Omishima) OR Guesthouse NEST / Soil Setoda (Ikuchijima) just beside Kousanji / The Hill of Hope (closes 1700). If possible, visit before closing, otherwise defer to next day.
• Try the ice cream at Dolce at Ikuchijima if possible.
• Bonus: if for some reason I am still ahead of time at this juncture (<1500), proceed to finish Innoshima and Mukaishima, then take a ferry to backtrack to Wakka/Soil Setoda or cycle back (last boat is ~1700) and rest; however, the next day I will zip straight to Onomichi via ferry after breakfast.

--------
Hiroshima + Yamaguchi (~4 days)
Specific thoughts while planning:

1. Onomichi is a pretty good base to jump to Okayama to explore Okayama, Kurashiki or Tomonoura with the Shinkansen accessibility, but it is impossible to cover them all within a single day. If I finish the Shimanami Kaido within a single day or finish it early on the second day, I will have that extra time to visit those.
2. There's another sightseeing train etSETOra from Onomichi to Hiroshima but it only operates on Monday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday. For now the schedule could fit the train timetable pretty nicely.
3. Would anyone suggest visiting Miyajima in the morning or in the evening? This would help me determine the order for the Kintaikyo Bridge/Miyajima day trip. Watching the sunset at either destination is pretty good in my books.

​
Day 8: Hiroshima (Shinamani Kaido Onomichi) [Sunday, 19 Nov]

• Continue from Ikuchijima towards Innoshima and Mukaishima (~18km) via the western coast route after breakfast, with possible stops on the following areas:
  • Innoshima: Innoshima Flower Centre, Shimanami Beach [open to more suggestions]
  • Mukaishima : there seems to be a lot of brunch places like Willows Nursery etc, soak the view at Mukaishima Rest Park [TBC: open to more suggestions]

Ideally reach Onomichi just around lunch or earlier. Chill for the rest of the day, and if I'm still up for it, explore Onomichi, including but not limited to:

• Exploring the cat alley
• Visit the exhibits at Onomichi City Museum of Art
• Consider walking to Senkoji and Onomichi Hondori Shopping Street
• Look into trying Onomichi-style ramen.

Retire at a guesthouse/hotel near JR Onomichi that I have forwarded the luggage to.
​
Day 9: Hiroshima (Onomichi, Takehara+Kure OR Tomonoura OR Okayama) Downtown Hiroshima) [Monday, 20 Nov]

• Mill around Onomichi in the morning (if not done yesterday), with a side trip to EITHER Takehara/Kure OR Okayama/Kurashiki OR Tomonoura (choose one):
  • Takehara: stroll along the historical townscape [and look if they have any Tamayura-related merch], Okunoshima (if not done during the Shimanami Kaido leg / Kure: look into trying Kure curry/Niku-jaga and visit the Yamato Museum
  • Okayama: Okayama Castle (zip via Shinkansen) / Kurashiki : Kurashiki Bikan Historical Quarter
  • Tomonoura: stroll along the townscape during the day (zip via Shinkansen, transfer to local bus)
• Return to Onomichi (no later than 1400), board the etSETOra sightseeing train at 1437, and zip to Hiroshima. Enjoy the sunset along the coastline.
• Retire for the night at Hiroshima proper, probably near JR Hiroshima OR the bus terminal. If time permits, take a gander along the streets and see what takes me from there.

​
Day 10: Hiroshima (Downtown Hiroshima) [Tuesday, 21 Nov]
Spend the day surveying Hiroshima proper.

• Peace Memorial Park (平和記念公園) and Atomic Bomb Dome
• Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims (国立広島原爆死没者追悼平和祈念館)
• Hiroshima Castle
• Orizuru Tower (おりづるタワー)
• Shukkeien (縮景園)
• Optional: Mazda Museum / Kure (if not done the previous day)
• Try to source for Hiroshima-specific food: Okonomiyaki, Dandan Noodles

​
Day 11: Hiroshima (with a day trip to Yamaguchi) [Wednesday, 22 Nov]

• Daytrip to Yamaguchi [Shin-Iwakuni] to visit Kintaikyo Bridge via Shinkansen. Also stop by the nearby Iwakuni Castle.
• Try Tonosama Sushi at Iwakuni if possible.
• Take the local train back to Miyajimaguchi and take the boat to Itsukushima.Take the time to stroll around the island and perhaps watch the sunset at the torii gate.
• Exit back to Hiroshima via boat to Hiroshima Port direct, and transit back to hotel.

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Shimane + Tottori (4 days)
Specific thoughts while planning:

1. Matsue becomes the main jump point for Shimane just because of the subsidized highway bus from Hiroshima, and ease of access towards Tottori later. There's no direct train between Hiroshima and Izumo/Matsue (!).
2. Tottori is really wide size-wise, to the point that it feels more efficient to have two separate hotels in two nights (Kurayoshi/Misasa Onsen + downtown Tottori) rather than one hotel for two nights (i.e. downtown Tottori). Could be just me making excuses to get into an onsen ryokan however.
3. Is there anything interesting at Yonago (Tottori) that I should take note of? Based on my initial survey nothing in particular pops up (other than the Tottori Prefectural Flower Park).
4. Skipping Tottori Castle since it doesn’t seem to be interesting at first glance. Any other interesting things to at Tottori downtown (or nearby)?

​
Day 12: Hiroshima Shimane (Matsue) [Thursday, 23 Nov]

• Make good use of the 500yen highway bus from Hiroshima to Matsue. (3.5 hours transit). Fortunately the frequency is not too bad (7-8 buses per day, looking at 0800 departure or later); if there are still outstanding places to visit in Hiroshima I will visit them in the morning.
• Check in at a hotel near JR Matsue, and proceed to trawl around Matsue with whatever daylight is left. (TBC: am considering taking a few stops down to Tamatsukuri Onsen 玉造温泉 or Matsue-shinjoko Onsen instead of the typical hotel. Does anyone have any positive experiences there?)
• Attempt to spend the afternoon at the Adachi Museum of Art. Local train to Yasugi, transfer to free shuttle.
• Chill off in downtown Matsue for the night. Prowl for Shimane-specific food such as Naniwa Zushi (浪花寿司), Shijimi clams (しじみ), Izumo soba, Izumo Zenzai (出雲ぜんざい).
• Bonus: visit the Tottori Prefectural Flower Park for the winter Hanakairo Flower Illumination at Yonago at night [which is just beside Matsue. Free shuttle bus at Yonago bus terminal].

​
Day 13: Shimane (Izumo / Matsue) [Friday, 24 Nov]

• Day trip from Matsue to Izumo. (JR Matsue JR Izumo, swap to Ichibata local rail to Izumotaisha-mae)
• Take a stop at Izumo Taisha, as well as the nearby Shimane Museum of Ancient Izumo (島根県立古代出雲歴史博物館)
• After lunch, return to JR Matsue and proceed to Yushien Garden (由志園) via bus. Enjoy the sunset over the garden.
• Stop by Matsue Castle on the way back.

​
Day 14: Shimane (Matsue) Tottori (Kurayoshi) [Saturday, 25 Nov]

• Transfer from Matsue to Kurayoshi in the morning via Super Matsukaze Limited Express (~1h).
• Settle down luggage at Misasa Onsen, then proceed to hike up Mitokusan Sanbutsuji Temple (三仏寺). Cater extra time just in case I have to wait for another fellow to pop up to climb in pairs. Estimated climb time excluding wait is about 2-3 hours both ways?
• Excess time to be spent sauntering Misasa Onsen and its nearby area such as the Nijisseiki Pear Museum [二十世紀梨記念館（なしっこ館)] and Kurayoshi Historical Quarter.
• Retire at Misasa Onsen for the night. Bonus: watch the constellations at night at Misasa Onsen on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday, 2100JST. Current plan does not fall within those 3 weekdays
• Bonus: take a short detour to Conan Town (postnote: not a big fan of the show).

​
Day 15: Tottori (Kurayoshi Tottori) [Sunday, 26 Nov]

• Transfer from Kurayoshi to Tottori (~35minutes transfer) in the morning, and proceed to tour around Tottori.
• Drop luggage, take a local bus to Tottori Sand Dunes, and visit the nearby Sand Museum.
• Transfer northwards to Uradome Coast via local bus and spend the remainder of the day there. Watch the sunset over the coast.
• Return to downtown Tottori, stroll around and call it a night.

​
-----------
Hyogo, Kyoto, Osaka , Nara, Mie (10 days)
Specific thoughts while planning:

1. Kinosaki Onsen is intentionally designed to be a slow-paced leg to recover [and also to make time to enjoy the onsens].
2. The limited express train between Kinosaki Onsen and Osaka stops by Himeji thus I thought of resting a night there instead of doing day trips via Osaka.
3. Osaka itinerary does look sparse but that is in large part because I have already visited most of them in the past. Nevertheless, I would like to experience how different it is in autumn compared to summer [based on those few destinations that I loved going previously].
4. I have kept one float day to decompress, OR shift to any of the other prefectures (TBC).
5. There are (multiple) special limited express train by Kintetsu; they're not covered by JR pass but nevertheless I would love to ride on those as an experience. The Kintetsu pass covers the basic fare only but based on my preliminary cost estimate, it is still worth getting it.
6. Is it feasible to compress Himeji and Kobe to a single day?
7. The itineraries for Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and Mie are flexible since they're literally beside one another - makes it particularly easy to shift around base on ground situation.

​
Day 16: Tottori (Tottori) Hyogo (Kinosaki Onsen) [Monday, 27 Nov]

• Settle any outstanding sightseeing spots in the morning if required in Tottori, then transfer to Kinosaki Onsen via the Sanin Line.
• Make a pitstop at Amarube ('Sky Station') and marvel at the engineering work.
• Deposit luggage at the ryokan (or put in the coin locker), and stroll around and enjoy Kinosaki Onsen [after all its an onsen town].
• Try to hit as many of the 7 external onsens that are usable. Retire for the night here.
• Optional: go up the ropeway and oversee Kinosaki Onsen in the evening (last ride up ~1630)
• Optional: take a short hike up to Onsenji Temple.

​
Day 17: Hyogo (Kinosaki Onsen + Northern Kyoto (Amanohashidate) day trip) [Tuesday, 28 Nov]

• Optional: take a (very) early start to the day to Takeda Castle Ruins and witness the 'floating castle' effect in the morning (<0800).
• Day trip to Amanohashidate via ToyookaKyotango Railway. Do the funny bend-down pose on the bench at Amanohashidate View Land, and see how it feels like looking at the world inverted.
• Cross the sandbar and look from the other side (Nariaiji Temple / Kasamatsu Park)
• Select one of three additional side-trips:
  • EITHER take a local bus up to Ine to look at the Funaya + sightseeing boat,
  • OR local rail down to Maizuru to look at the Maizuru World Brick Museum + eat at the Michi-no-eki;
  • OR reverse to Toyooka spend time in the city itself e.g. Izushi Castle Town
• Return to Kinosaki Onsen, and continue experiencing the remainder of the onsens. Retire for the night here. Optional: ride the Aomatsu sightseeing train back to Toyooka.
• Optional: Take a trip to Ankokuji Temple (安国寺) in the evening. Likely to visit post-peak autumn which means less than ideal viewing conditions.

Day 18: Hyogo (Kinosaki Onsen Himeji) [Wednesday, 29 Nov]

• Transit from Kinosaki Onsen to Himeji via Limited Express Hamakaze (~2 hours).
• Deposit luggage at the hotel or the coin lockers at the station, then proceed for sightseeing.
• Walk along the Miyuki Street Shopping District which is en-route to Himeji Castle.
• Himeji Castle sector : Himeji Castle (姫路城), Kokoen (好古園)
• Take a local bus at Himeji Castle to go to Mount Shosha and hike up Engyōji Temple (圓教寺)
• Optional : Stroll along Hyogo Prefectural Museum of History and/or Himeji City Museum of Art which is beside the castle, OR Shosha Handicraft Museum which is just at the foot of Mount Shosha
• Optional: Make a detour to the Japan Toy Museum near Koro station (~30 minutes from JR Himeji). Closes 1700.
• Look for Hyogo-specific food: Kobe beef, steamed pork buns, sobameshi, himeji oden, etc

Retire at Himeji for the night.
Day 19: Hyogo (Himeji Kobe) Osaka (Dotonburi) [Thursday, 30 Nov]
Day trip to Kobe, before continuing further down to Osaka.

• Check out from Himeji, transit further down to Kobe for another stop before Osaka. Place luggage at the holding facility within the Shinkansen station.
• Take a visit to the Earthquake Memorial Museum (人と防災未来センター) to look at the devastation wrought by the 1995 earthquake.
• Stroll along Kobe Harborland (神戸ハーバーランド) and Meriken Park (メリケンパーク) , look at the Kobe Tower since its closed till 2024 for renovation, and look at the damage caused by the earthquake
• Optional: Head westwards to Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art.
• Optional: Hit up the ASICS Sports Museum (アシックススポーツミュージアム)
• Look at the engineering feat that is the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge and the nearby Akashi Kaikyo Bridge Exhibition Center at Maiko. (Suzume no Tojimari)
• Return to Shin-kobe, pick up luggage, and transit to Shin-Osaka via Shinkansen, and then to Dotonburi/Shinsaibashi. End the (long) day in Osaka.

Day 20: Osaka [Friday, 1 Dec]
Osaka Nostalgia (acid) trip, speedrun edition: revisiting places that I want to go again

• Day trip to Mino Park and revisit the waterfall (I loved visiting it previously) via the Hankyu line in the morning.
• Zoom down to the Osaka Aquarium after lunch and walk around it (Minoo Umeda Honmachi Osakako Station).
• From there, race towards Abeno Harukas and watch the sunset/nightview at Abeno Harukas.
• Bonus: revisit Sumiyoshi Taisha if time permits.
• Spend whatever time remains at night at Nipponbashi Denden Town (shops close at ~2000) and Dotonburi (some stores are still open near midnight) and/or Shinsekai (新世界).

Day 21: Osaka (Nara day trip) [Saturday, 2 Dec]
Spend a day in Nara.

• Zoom from Namba to Nara via Kintetsu (note: non-JR)
• Explore Todaiji Temple, Kokufuji Temple, Isuien Garden and Kasuga Taisha.
• Optional: pass by Naramachi (奈良町) on the way back.
• Take the Kintetsu line down to Mount Yoshino. [TBC: subject to whether I am too early or late for the koyo.Based on last year's prediction I am about 1-2 weeks too late. Might swap this out to a Uji day trip instead in Kyoto.). Spend time walking around the Shimo Senbon and Naka Senbon and experience the autumn.
• Transfer back to Osaka. Bonus: take the Blue Symphony back to Osaka instead of the typical train. (non-JR)

Day 22: Osaka (Mie day trip) [Sunday, 3 Dec]
Day trip to Mie.

• Take the Iseshima Liner from Tsuruhashi Station (near Namba/Dotonburi) to Ise. Bonus: take the Hinotori from Osaka to Tsu, then transfer to Mie. (non-JR)
• Hit up Ise Jingu (伊勢神宮) [both inner and outer] and Okage Yokocho (おかげ横丁)
• Try to eat Matsuaka Beef or Ise Udon for lunch.
• Head westwards to Futamiokitama Shrine (二見興玉神社) / Meotoiwa Rocks; and if further time permits, go to Toba for the Ama Viewing Platform.
• Take the returning Shimakaze Limited Express train back to Osaka (note: only one train at 1630; if this train is missed, change to normal express trains). (non-JR)
• Retreat back to Osaka for the night. Consider doing any other night activities in Osaka if time, and body permits.

Day 23: Osaka ('north' Kyoto day trip) [Monday, 4 Dec]
(north) Kyoto day trip.

• Take a stop at the Kyoto Railway Museum. Optional: also consider heading to To-ji Gojunoto first if I reach Kyoto way early before 10am.
• Walk back to Kyoto station, and take a bus northwards to Kyoto Manga Museum.
• Hop on the bus direct from the Manga Museum to Kinkakuji. [bus 15]
• Select one of two side-trips:
  • EITHER head westwards to Arashiyama (note: already visited once in the summer but I still think it nice to visit in autumn/winter this time round). Bonus: experience sunset along the Togetsukyo Bridge.
  • OR head eastwards to Higashiyama (closes 1700), Philosopher's path etc (did not visit these in my past trip here so there's the 'new' factor, but it is going to be a physically taxing day. Also, most likely will reach here nearing evening i.e. closing time thus there's a limit to how much I can visit realistically).

Whichever choice, return back to Osaka for the night. Look out for Kyoto-specific food such as Yudofu, Saba Sushi, Warabi Mochi, Nishin Soba (にしんそば) etc.
Day 24: Osaka ('south' Kyoto day trip) [Tuesday, 5 Dec]
(south) Kyoto day trip edition (mainly Uji and Fushimi).

• Zip from Osaka to Kyoto via Keihan to Uji Station.
• Spend the better half of the morning in Uji.
• Visit the Byōdō-in and the nearby Tonoshima and Tachibana Island.
• Hike up to the Daikichiyama Observation Deck to oversee Uji as a whole. On the way down, explore Ujigami Shrine.
• Take the chance to buy some Uji tea as gifts to relatives. Have lunch along the Omotesando Road.
• Head further northwards to Fushimi, and do another hike up Fushimi Inari. (Note: visited once in the past but I liked the experience thus I would like to do it again.) Bonus: if its done in the evening.

Head back to Osaka and retire for the night. Consider doing any other night activities in Osaka if time, and body permits.
Day 25: Osaka (wildcard) [Wednesday, 6 Dec]
Spare day to do whatever I feel like doing OR reallocate this to another prefecture. Intentionally left blank for later planning
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Kanazawa, Gifu+ (4 days)
Specific thoughts while planning:

1. Is it likely for the skiing season to open around 9~10 December at Shiga Kogen or Nozawa Onsen? Would very much like to try skiing for fun, but am uncertain if the snow condition would be satisfactory by then. Some of the skiing website indicates that these two destinations are usually the first to open. I would like to seek advise on this if possible [never skiied before].
2. As an additional question to point 1, is 2 days adequate just to get a flavor on skiing?
3. Kanazawa is a pretty solid jump point to Shirakawago/Takayama via express buses (~1 to 2 hour one way).
4. My initial planning considered going to Kurobe Gorge (Toyama) but apparently the railways are closed from December onwards. Please correct me if I am mistaken.
5. Another sightseeing train in Kanazawa that I can fit in nicely in my current plans (花嫁のれん), runs on Mon/Fri/Sat/Sun.

Day 26: Osaka Ishikawa (Kanazawa (Kanazawa cityside)) [Thursday, 7 Dec]

• Zip from Osaka to Kanazawa via Limited Express Thunderbird in the early morning (~3hours; ideally the 0740 or 0810 service). Drop luggage at the hotel near JR Kanazawa and explore the cityside.
• Have lunch at the Omicho Market (近江町市場), OR at Higashi Chaya District.
• Stroll around Kanazawa Castle (金沢城, Kanazawajō) and the nearby Kenrokuen (兼六園) / Seisonkaku Villa (成巽閣, Seisonkaku) .
• Consider visiting one or more of the nearby museums if possible:
  • D.T. Suzuki Museum OR
  • National Crafts Museum OR
  • 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art
• Optional: Head southwards to Myoryuji Temple + Nishi Chaya District.
• Optional: Head northwards to Higashi Chaya District (if not done for lunch).

Any outstanding spots not completed today, to be rolled over to the next 2 days (if possible).

• Retire in Kanazawa for the night. Be on the lookout for Kanazawa-specific food: Gold-leaf ice cream, oden, hanton rice
• Optional: have a stay at Yuwaku Onsen for at least one night for anime-related reasons. (Hanasaku Iroha)

​
Day 27: Ishikawa (Kanazawa cityside) / Gifu (Shirakawago, Takayama) [Friday, 8 Dec]

• Day trip to Shiwakawago and Takayama via Nohi bus (non-JR, ~1h). Grab the morning bus express bus to Shirakawago and explore the place in the morning. Experience early snowfall (?) there. Optional: visit Ainokura on the way towards Shirakawago.
• Take another express bus down to Takayama for lunch (~1h travel time).
• Explore what Takayama has to offer. Stroll along the old town near the bus terminal and visit the Takayama Jinya. If time permits, stroll along the Higashiyama Walking Course.
• Optional: pay a visit to Hida Folk Village.
• Return to Kanazawa via Hida Limited Express to Toyama Shinkansen to Kanazawa, OR take the same Nohi express bus directly back (non-JR).
• Retire at Kanazawa for the night. Last express bus from Takayama to Kanazawa is 1630, arrive at 1845. Alternatively, head northwards to Toyama via JR and transfer to Kanazawa.

​
Day 28: Ishikawa (Kanazawa cityside / outskirts) [Saturday, 9 Dec]
Side trip to Wakura Onsen / Nanao for anime-related sightseeing. (Insomanics after Class, Hanasaku Iroha)

• Zoom from Kanazawa up to Wakura Onsen/Nanao via Limited Express Noto Kagaribi. Do some sightseeing related to Insomanics after Class and Hanasaku Iroha.
• Do some train spotting with two anime along the Noto Railways. Stop at Nishigishi station for some sightseeing. (non-JR)
• Return to Kanazawa in the evening from Wakura Onsen via the sightseeing train Hanayomenoren [花嫁のれん, last train 1630).
• End the night at Kanazawa.

Day 29: Ishikawa (wildcard) [Sunday, 10 Dec]
Spare day to do whatever I feel like doing OR reallocate this to another prefecture. Intentionally left blank for later planning
--------------
Tokyo (~6 days)
Specific thoughts while planning:

1. Specific interest to target: anime/vtuber stuff, music (piano in particular), bookstores etc.
2. This is the point in time I should go ham on souvenier purchase if I have not done so. I'll probably get an extra cardboard box or duffel bag to lug with me to the airport to store extra stuff.
3. Would like to seek recommendation on where I should set my base for the 5~6 days here. For now I am planning to pit at Ginza, subject to availability and cost. My thought is that as long as its along the Yamanote line everything rolls I suppose.
4. Hard pass on Golden Gai on the Shunjuku leg (I do not drink).
5. There's way too many to list in terms of what I would like to do in Tokyo, but I have listed items that are of particular interest to me first within the available time frame. If you have strong opinions on specific locations do let me know.

Day 30: Ishikawa (Kanazawa) Tokyo (Ginza) [Monday, 11 Dec]

• Zip from Kanazawa to Tokyo via the Hoririku Shinkansen in the morning (just north of two hours). (TBC : If I can optimize my schedule better, I can try squeezing two days here for a stop at Nozawa Onsen / Shiga Kogen (Nagano) for a short ski experience).
• Deposit luggage at one of the Ginza hotels (TBC: subject to cost; might swap for another location later on)
• Explore ('south') Tokyo with the remainder of the day.
• Marvel at the architecture that is the Tokyo Station and its surrounding.
• Visit the Imperial Palace.
• Head south towards the Mori Art Museum (closes 2200)
• End the night with a stop at Tokyo Tower (closes 2230).

Day 31: Tokyo (Shibuya, Shinjuku and Nakano) [Tuesday, 12 Dec]
Explore ('west') Tokyo, namely Shibuya, Shinjuku and Nakano.

• Start off with an early day visit to Meji Shrine / Yoyogi Park.
• Head up to Shinjuku. Spend the remainder of the morning and lunch exploring Kabukicho, Hanazono Shrine and Omoide Yokochō (ideally have lunch here). Also make a pit stop at Kinokuniya's flagship store at Shinjuku.
• Head northwards to Nakano Broadway and trawl for anime goods for several hours (closes ~1900)
• Head south down back to Shibuya and experience the crossing in peak night condition. Walk around and soak in the atmosphere. Optional: stop by the Ishibashi music store at Shibuya (closes 2000).
• Cap off the night and look at the night view at Shibuya Sky (closes 2230). Zip back to the hotel at Ginza.

Day 32: Tokyo (Akibahara, Asakusa and Sky Tree) [Wednesday, 13 Dec]

• Kick off the day with a morning visit to Asakusa (i.e. Sensoji).
• Transit over to Tokyo Skytree to watch the Tokyo cityscape in the day.
• Trawl around Akibahara for the afternoon. (Animate, Sega claw machines, etc).
• Also stop by Ochanomizu for sightseeing (Suzume no Tojimari)
• Zip back to the hotel for the night. If time permits, stop by the two flagship music stores along Ginza: Yamaha Ginza and Yamano Ginza. Also, visit Itoya Ginza (stationary store).

Day 33: Tokyo (Kamakura day trip OR Ikebukuro) [Thursday, 14 Dec]
EITHER take a day trip Kamakura, OR explore northern Tokyo (Ikebukuro)
Kamakura leg:

• Make a detour to Used Tyre Market Sagamihara Store to experience the retro vending machines. Then head southwards to Enoshima.
• Look at the giant Buddha statue and stroll along Hasedera.
• Take the Enoden to Enoshiima and explore the island.
• Take the JR back to Ginza and retire for the night.

Tokyo (Ikebukuro leg):

• Visit Otome Road for otaku related stuffs.
• Trawl the usual suspects such as Bic Camera etc.
• Make a stop at the Mejiro Gardens.
• Visit the Waseda International House of Literature (The Haruki Murakami Library) at Waseda University.

Day 34: Tokyo (wildcard) [Friday, 15 Dec]
Spare day to do whatever I feel like doing OR reallocate this to another prefecture. Intentionally left blank for later planning
​
Day 35: Tokyo Home [Saturday, 16 Dec]

• Contemplate life at the hotel, doing whatever I feel like for the morning and early afternoon. Bonus: have an early breakfast at Tsukiji Market in the morning if staying at Ginza.
• Clear any last minute administrative matter (if any), or do (very) last minute sightseeing/buying. Most likely limited to Ginza and Akibahara.
• Get a nice lunch omakase to cap it off if possible. (taking recommendations if anyone has one, ideally meat/beef centric instead of just sushi).
• Head off to Narita from Tokyo Station via NEX just after lunch at 1430 1530 to Narita, flight at 1830.

END
---------------------
If you're still reading up to this point, here's my own personal ramblings/thoughts on JR pass usage:
I have thought of two ways of doing this for the first 21 days:
a. easy-mode : just get 21 days JR global pass before the price hike at 60450 yen, OR b. hard-mode: get a 7 day JR global pass (to cover the NEX fees, the basic fee on the Sunrise Seto to Shikoku, as well as limited express trains within Shikoku) (29650) + 5 days for JR Okayama Hiroshima Yamaguchi Area Pass (15000) + 4 days for JR Sanin Okayama Area Pass + 5 days for JR Kansai Wide Area Pass (10000) for a total of 59230.
The initial conclusion was to go with option A since that reduces the administrative burden, but I realized the individual passes do have its own perk which truimphs over the global JR pass. For instance, the Sanin Okayama Area Pass provides a (minor) discount for the Adachi Museum of Art; the Kansai Wide Pass covers the Kyotango route between Kinosaki Onsen and Amanohashidate which the global JR pass does not cover, JR Okayama Hiroshima Yamaguchi Area Pass covers JR buses within Hiroshima for free, therefore I am inclined to go with the hell option (option B) as it stands.
For the remaining 14 days, I could also get the global 14 day JR pass at 47250 yen but it is not worth it at all, because I will be relying largely on Kintetsu for the Osaka/Kyoto/Nara/Mie leg which the JR pass most certainly does not cover.

• For the Osaka/Nara/Mie/Kyoto leg, I intend to make good use of a mix of both local metro and the Kintetsu rail pass for 5 days (4900). If I do exploit Kintetsu's limited express train to its fullest, I should be able to save money by buying the pass. The Osaka Amazing Pass at 2600yen a day does not make financial sense for me this time round, given how little I am exploring within Osaka.
• For the Osaka Kanazawa, Shirakawago and Takayama leg, the preferred pass of choice is the Takayama-Hokuriku Area Tourist Pass over the global JR pass, in large part because this pass fully absorbs the Nohi highway bus fees (which can rack up quite a lot at ~8000yen for a return trip between Kanazawa and Shirakawago/Takayama). Also this absorbs the Thunderbird fee. One major issue with my current plan is that it does not cover Wakura Onsen nor the sightseeing train.
• For the final Kanazawa Tokyo leg, the preferred choice is the Horuriku Arch Pass that covers the direct Shinkansen back to Tokyo, and the NEX fees to Narita when I depart from Tokyo. Will only break even with the pass at best unless I make a stop at Nagano.

So all in all, there's quite little incentive to get the global JR pass after I worked out my schedule, apart from the initial 7 days for the Sunrise Seto jump which the All Shikoku Pass will not cover.
Through the hodge-podge of multiple area passes, it works out to around 102890 yen for the whole trip of 35 days, contrast with 107700 yen for a 21 + 14 global JR pass. While there's a minor cost saving doing the hard way which sweetens the deal, the additional minor perks associated with the area passes sells it for me, as I would had to pay more out of pocket to cover non-JR pass buses/rails and such which would add up to much greater cost than I would had anticipated. Also, if I did this trip post-price hike in October, the calculus becomes a no-brainer: avoid the global JR pass like the plague.
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Thank you very much for your opinions, suggestions and advice in advance!