My auto store hasbrouck heights nj

Hello! I don't have much experience with creating props or sewing (did some body paint and low-cost stuff before), but I'm more than willing to learn and can follow online guides as best as anybody.
My question is about practicality of a cosplay idea I had - making a Slender Man. If anyone has some tips regarding the points below, I would love to hear them out:

1. I want to create some stilts from wood, about 1 meter in length (3.2 feet). Creating them and learning to walk on them sounds do-able, my main question is what would be the best way to have the ends look like actual shoes, not just platforms or skinny poles. I was thinking of making the ends of the stilts screw into these things and then using a strong adhesive to stick some thrift store shoes on. Anyone with stilt-making experience, insight on feasibility?
2. Can you lengthen the arms and legs of a black suit in a believable way? (considering a thrift store purchase, as I would rather not ruin a pricy suit) I don't know how much skill and what technique would be required to add about 1 meter of length to arms and legs. Does a black suit make the seam blend easily? There's also the fact that I would be wearing stilts to take into consideration here - would wider pants look weird, or can the foot rest in such a way on the stilts (at an angle, like ballerinas) as to not add girth to the pant leg?

Since the sleeves would be longer, I would be sticking mannequin arms at the end of my own and have them jut out from the sleeves, completing the illusion of unnaturally long arms and legs. There are Ikea wood hands that would look good covered in some gloves - any idea if there are better ways to do this?
I've never taken on a project of this complexity, that would require such wood working and tailoring skills. I'm lucky to live in a big city and could muster the tools (there are places that rent equipment) and materials needed for this project, what I would love is some insight on how one would best create this cosplay.
Thanks for reading!

Seeing how I was downvoted in the last post with the characters getting perks, now I will make quotes of the characters getting guns. There are two types of guns that I think would do well, wall guns and box guns. There will be seperate quotes for each weapon or type of weapon depending on the character and we will do this in character order. Depending on the size of the map, the box will move every few guns made when someone gets a teddy bear. Now remember, this is the Jingle to the Mystery Box.
Takashi Komura
"Well an over under Shotgun, don't see if this can be much help?" Purchasing the Olympia
"At least I can try to figure out what to do with this, I think Rei has a better idea than me." Pruchasing the M14
"Something to keep me light on my feet, might be running back and forth to get more ammo for this." Purchasing the MPL or PM63
"Well a Pump action, wait wasn't this supposed to have a scope?" Pruchasing the Stakeout
"Well if my legs want to, I guess I can keep running or ditch one of these." Pruchasing the Mp5k, MP40 or AK74U
"A little boy with his favorite toy!" Purchasing the M16
"Explosive barricades, might come handy in a pinch." Purchasing Claymores
"Restocked and ready for more!" Purchasing grenades
"Wait why is there a knife digging into my inventory space?" Purchasing the Bowie Knife
"Well sensing something happy that this box will give me. I would take my chances." Getting an Assault Rifle or Spectre from the box
"AUG more like AUG-SOME!" Getting the AUG from the box
"Wow this must be heavy, I don't think I want to develop problems from carrying this thing for too long." Getting a light machine gun from the box
"Time to blow some heads off!" Getting a Shotgun from the box
"Fighting me up close isn't fair, and now I get a SNIPER RIFLE?!?" Getting a Sniper from the box
"Now the entire crowd will have to see what someone like me has in store!" Getting an explosive weapon from the box
"Don't know if this would be much use?" Getting the Ballistic Knife from the box
"God why are you so cruel some times?!" Getting a Pistol from the box
"Don't know if its one or two?" Getting dual wield pistols from the box
"Wait what is this supposed to do again?" Getting a Ray Gun from the box
"Wow this should be interesting." Getting the wonder weapon of the map
"Just you and me my fuzzy pal, now lets go kill some zombies." Getting monkey bombs from the box
"Hey box! FUCK YOU!" Getting a teddy bear from the box
Kohta Hirano
"A shotgun with the highway in its barrels, I can't see if this would cause an accident." Purchasing the Olympia
"Hey this used to be my favorite gun to get from the wall." Pruchasing the M14 or MP40
"Ammo count is low and the rate of fire isn't going to help." Purchasing the MPL or PM63
"Well if they want to get up close and personal, I'm ready for them." Pruchasing the Stakeout
"Hey looks like I got something light and portable. Time to watch this kid run." Purchasing the Mp5K or AK74U
"This is a little off balance... wait doesn't this thing come with an underbarrel grenade launcher?" Purchasing the M16
"Now I want to be careful as this might trip someone up." Purchasing Claymores
"Well now I don't need to wait between rounds to get more grenades." Purchasing grenades
"I think this thing was useful for the first ten rounds, why did it have to become obsolete?" Purchasing the Bowie Knife
"Well me and my friends would always bet 950 on the Mystery Box." Getting an Assault Rifle or Spectre from the box
"Well someone could say I am happy." Getting the Commando from the box
"Time to go full Rambo on the zombies." *Laughs* Getting a light machine gun from the box
"I bet there is one where you can dual weld a Shotgun." Getting a Shotgun from the box
"Do you really think I need to be across the map for the perfect shot?" Getting a Sniper from the box
"No refunds from this party cannon zombies." Getting an explosive weapon from the box
"What am I supposed to do with this? Go down?" Getting the Ballistic Knife from the box
"I try my best to accept everything I can get in life but this something I don't want to take." Getting a Pistol from the box
"Akimbo with these things? This could be interesting." Getting dual wield pistols from the box
"This brings back fun memories!" Getting a Ray Gun from the box
"This looks... odd... I bet it can be useful." Getting the wonder weapon of the map
"I remember I wasn't fond of that mister monkey." Getting monkey bombs from the box
"Why did someone like me have to roll that dreaded teddy bear?" Getting a teddy bear from the box
Rei Miyamoto
"I am happy and ready to fight!" Purchasing the Olympia
"Wee! This is my favorite rifle!" Pruchasing the M14
"I wish I could hold another one of these with my other hand." Purchasing the MPL or PM63
*Laughs* "Look at this pitful thing, it was very expensive if we aren't to pay for its upkeep!" Pruchasing the Stakeout
"One two three four, these guns are in my... how does it go again?" Purchasing the Mp5k, MP40 or AK74U
"I don't like the mechanics of this gun." Purchasing the M16
"I completely forgot what these did again." Purchasing Claymores
"Strapping extra explosives to my body is a good idea? Right?" Purchasing Grenades
"Well time to stab and slice them to ribbons! Ribbons for Takashi." Purchasing the Bowie Knife
"Well if someone says fortune could make a lady like me smile, this could mean first love." Getting an Assault Rifle or Spectre from the box
"A nice cushion for my chest." Getting the FN FAL from the box
"I would definitely lay down and mount this thing to my body." Getting a light machine gun from the box
"Birds, seeds, slugs, deer. This has it all." Getting a Shotgun from the box
"Definitely reminds me of the scope of my rifle. I want to mount it to the M14." Getting a Sniper from the box
"Definitely want to take down the horde with this." Getting an explosive weapon from the box
"Gah I don't like using knives up close." Getting the Ballistic Knife from the box
"Why do you hate me box?" Getting a Pistol from the box
"Hooray! This makes me very happy!" Getting dual wield pistols from the box
"This is... MINE!" Getting a Ray Gun from the box
"Wee! This weapon would look to be a lot of fun." Getting the wonder weapon of the map
"A fuzzy little friend for someone like me." Getting monkey bombs from the box
"Where are you going box, did you dump me or something? Do you not like me?" Getting a teddy bear from the box
Saya Takagi
"Argh, I'm not a fan of double barrels." Purchasing the Olympia
"Who wants to reform the M14 Gang?" Purchasing the M14
"A little gun but it should have a deadly output of lead!" Purchasing the MPL or PM63
"Time to make their little heads go... boom!" Purchasing the Stakeout
"Something to keep my time occupied with their moans as they collapse to my feet." Purchasing the Mp5K or AK74U
"The MP40! WUNDERBAR!!" Purchasing the MP40
"A three round burst of... DEATH!" *Laughs maniacally.* Purchasing the M16
"Time to see their legs shatter into a hundred pieces!" Purchasing Claymores
"This makes a girl like me very happy." Purchasing grenades
"I don't know who Jim Bowie was but he must have been BIG and LONG and SHARP!" Purchasing the Bowie Knife
"Something like this would make someone as crazy as me but I want to hear them scream while they fall to my knees!" Getting an Assault Rifle or Spectre from the box
"Seeing something as strange as Kraut magic that makes the zombies go pop will make me smile with glee!" Gertting the G11 from the box
"So much lead, so much death!" Getting a light machine gun from the box
"So much fun in these tiny little shells." Getting a Shotgun from the box
"An excellent engineering piece... for zombie on the stage with me at the balcony seat." Getting a Sniper from the box
"I will be drowning in all of their body parts!" Getting an explosive weapon from the box
"The surgeon's favorite tool. Ze Doktor is in!" Getting the Ballistic Knife from the box
"A doctor's tools are numerous but this is one I wouldn't use." Getting a Pistol from the box
"Oh wow! Time to use these to harvest their organs!" Getting dual wield pistols from the box
"Glowing green balls are my favorite tools to perform an amputation. TO THE LEGS!" Getting a Ray Gun from the box
"Blowing them away with infinite damage isn't as fun as painstakingly taking them apart with finite damage." Getting the wonder weapon of the map
"My little monkey friend. Shall we go kill the hordes of the undead. YES VE SHALL!" Getting monkey bombs from the box
"All right fine! If you don't want to keep my medicine in check then you are fired!" Getting a teddy bear from the box
Saeko Busujima
"A good gun to start us off. Wait why does it have to be a shotgun?" Purchasing the Olympia
"Now this is something a warrior's desires should be taken into consideration." Purchasing the M14
"Nice and feather light. Divine wind would sweep over me." Purchasing the MPL or PM63
"Why would I need a shotgun? Shouldn't I be slicing and dicing instead of blasting holes into them?" Purchasing the Stakeout
"They say a true honorable warrior's kit is full of useful tools. This should satisfy my needs." Purchasing the Mp5k, MP40 or AK74U
"This thing should be full auto right? I am not one of a controlled bursts." Purchasing the M16
"Land mines for the honorable warrior to protect herself. This should be interesting." Purchasing Claymores
"I am glad to be restocked. I wouldn't have many ways to keep myself in fighting condition." Purchasing Grenades
"Now this is an honorable weapon to killing the zombies with." Purchasing the Bowie Knife
"A warrior's basic tool to fighting the undead, I lust for the blood to be spilled!" Getting an Assault Rifle or Spectre from the box
"This is considered the best of the best. I would certainly have to make do and keep fighting." Getting a Galil from the box
"A warrior has to be nimble to fight. This is too heavy for my tastes." Getting a light machine gun from the box
"Eh... not my favorite." Getting a Shotgun from the box
"I can't do much with this, I am no coward." Getting a Sniper from the box
"Can be exciting, can be not. To be fierce or not to be is my question." Getting an explosive weapon from the box
"Oh look two knives. I am pretty excited to see this." Getting the Ballistic Knife from the box
"It turns out the wretched box doesn't recognize my honor." Getting a Pistol from the box
"It's not like having two guns pleases me. I can barely control even one." Getting dual wield pistols from the box
"Can this... device... be of any use for a warrior like me?" Getting a Ray Gun from the box
"The warrior is now invincible!" Getting the wonder weapon of the map
*Chuckling* "The Emperor would be amused!" Getting monkey bombs from the box
"You wretched teddy bear. You bring all misfortunes to the entire group!" Getting a teddy bear from the box
Shizuka Marikawa
"Why do I always have to make the wrong choice and get the shotgun early?" Purchasing the Olympia
"A brutal way of dismembering them piece by piece. Wait it's my job to help patch them together?" Purcashing the M14
"Definitely a side arm I want to keep as a back up. I wish there were more automatics like this." Purchasing the MPL or PM63
"Takashi would like this to be used as a medicine dispenser." Purchasing the Stakeout
"Something that requires two hands to hold. It's like taking Zeke for his walks." Purchasing the Mp5k, MP40 or AK74U
"I wish I had one of these in Rika's weapon locker." Purchasing the M16
"Be careful and don't drop them." Purchasing Claymores
"Well I needed more of these like a shopping list." Purchasing Grenades.
"A cooking utensil for using it on them." Purchasing the Bowie Knife.
"Standard with every shipment." Getting an Assault Rifle or Spectre from the box
"This weapon wants to make me G16GL3." Getting the Famas from the box
"Concealing something as big as this makes it hard to carry at least I'm big enough to carry it without problems." Getting a light machine gun from the box
"They often say fun things come in small packages those packages are the ammo." Getting a Shotgun from the box
"I wouldn't be so useful if I was so far away." Getting a Sniper from the box
"Boom boom time!" Getting an explosive weapon from the box
"I heard this thing is excellent to bring downed team mates back from the grave. Now time to wait for someone to need my help." Getting the Ballistic Knife from the box
"This gun doesn't bring much joy to me." Getting a Pistol from the box
"Two pistols? I don't know what to say." Getting dual wield pistols from the box
"Wait what does a nurse with a strange weapon like this is supposed to do again?" Getting a Ray Gun from the box
"I guess we seemed to have luck on our side no?" Getting the wonder weapon of the map
"Aww he's so cute. I want one of these in my office." Getting monkey bombs from the box
"Wait you're leaving? Okay have a nice day box." Getting a teddy bear from the box
Alice Maresato
"Why would there be a gang with this gun, it's not good for anything." Purchasing the Olympia
"A beautiful piece of machinery, maybe good for points." Purcashing the M14
"This will get expensive in the long run, I do not suggest purchasing." Purchasing the MPL or PM63
"I can see this being helpful getting rid of that one zombie in front of me." Purachasing the Stakeout.
"Come baby we do the 59, eh?" Purchasing the Mp5k or MP40
"I can declare that this is my favorite gun from the wall." Purachasing the AK74U
"Second best to put them down in a controlled manner." Purchasing the M16
"I will surround myself in these to form a barricade, they won't be able to reach me!" Purchasing Claymores
"Well I would always fall in love with Semtex grenades as they just stick to them like glue." Purchasing Grenades.
"EEEK! I knife almost the size of me!" Purchasing the Bowie Knife.
"Well there isn't a rifle that I don't like. I would like them all." Getting an Assault Rifle from the box
"Okay guys I'm all set up until round 35." Getting a Galil from the box.
"Hey the box really loves me!" Getting the Spectre from the box
"I... can't... carry... this!" Getting a light machine gun from the box
"Time to blast some holes in those stiffs. I definitely want to see them fall." Getting a shotgun from the box.
"I can't tell if the AK74U, Galil, Spectre is now my favorie because this has outranked them all... probably not. I still love the Spectre." Getting a SPAS-12 from the box
"Hello beautiful I will cock you gently." Getting a Sniper from the box
"Is it really safe for me to use this? I definitely want them to explode." Getting an explosive weapon from the box
"I feel I want to immediately trade this for another gun." Getting the Ballistic Knife from the box
"Well gun you did it, you made Alice cry!" Getting a Pistol from the box
"Two guns is better than one and one is better than... what?" Getting dual wield pistols from the box
"My old friend, shall we kill some zombies? Yes Alice yes we shall!" Getting a Ray Gun from the box
"They will see what they will fear from a little girl such as myself!" Getting the wonder weapon of the map
"I would prefer Gersch Device or Matryoshka Dolls over this monkey!" Getting monkey bombs from the box
"Hey guys, the box disappeared, what... what are we going to do?" Getting a teddy bear from the box
What more quotes should I make? I definitely have had some fun making this as this would explain more about the characters in how I wrote them. I would like to hear your suggestions.

Hello everyone,
Last January, I purchased a CX-60. As it is still difficult to find user reviews of this model, I took the time to write this review in the hope that it can be helpful to you if you are considering buying this car. I hope that my experience can answer some of your questions and assist you in your decision-making process.
Exterior Design (4/5)
The design is particularly successful. The car has a sleek look and gives the impression of being in motion even when stationary, just as the designers promised during the design phase. It has nothing to envy compared to its competitors, such as the Audi Q5. Although I'm not a big fan of black rims, I must admit that they blend harmoniously with the Takumi package on this model. The black accents on the rims, tinted windows, and mirrors create a visual signature that doesn't go unnoticed. Unlike most models, it stands out more in person than in photos, especially in terms of size. It is truly massive. For comparison, it is longer and taller than an Audi Q5. When you see it for the first time, the "wow" effect is guaranteed. However, the rear of the vehicle is less expressive and does not do justice to the front and side views. Fortunately, the quad exhaust at the back helps maintain the sporty character of the model.
Interior Design (5/5)
The interior layout is clean, simple, and modern. It features a large central screen, a minimally customizable driver display, and a head-up display integrated directly on the windshield. This efficiency will surely appeal to those who struggle with screens everywhere displaying unnecessary information. Similarly, you cannot customize the ambient lighting in the evening. The lights are fixed, in a neutral color, and the adjustment only offers 3 intensities. It may not be to everyone's liking, but personally, I find it liberating to be free from countless customization possibilities that always leave a sense of dissatisfaction. As for the materials, they come in understated colors and durable textures, both in terms of aesthetics and longevity (at least for now, time will tell). The center console is impressively wide and gives a sense of space rarely felt in vehicles of similar size. When driving this car, you feel like you're aboard a large American SUV like the Suburban or Ford Explorer. Unfortunately, there are not many storage compartments. The huge center console only offers a tiny compartment that can hold a few small items and keys at most. The door pockets are also very low and not very practical.
Ergonomics (4/5)
The cabin offers generous space for all occupants, including the rear seats where even adults over 1.80m tall have ample legroom. The seats, which are rather firm and have limited adjustments, can be surprising at first, especially if you're coming from a vehicle with a multitude of settings. In the first few days, I experienced sharp back pain, especially since the car lacks flexibility as I'll mention later. After three weeks of adjustment, the pain disappeared, and I even noticed an improvement in my posture. In my previous vehicle, my seat was so comfortable, like a sofa, but now I realize it was bad for my back. Inside this car, with its comfort inspired by Japanese tatami mats, I ultimately feel better, less slouched, and more alert. The trunk offers significant capacity, especially compared to similar models. However, it doesn't have a dual compartment or a sub-trunk to store charging cables. The tailgate rises very high, over 3 meters. It struggles to lock in place when encountering resistance, which can damage it from the first uses. I recommend adjusting it by pressing the closing button while it's opening, to lock it at the desired height, and holding down that button for 5 seconds (until you hear a series of beeps) to limit the opening range.
Technologies and Equipment (3/5)
The connectivity is quite comprehensive, although Apple CarPlay suffers from some instability and unexplained bugs (random disconnections, unexpected cuts, slowdowns, random automatic connection). Wireless charging also sometimes poses a problem. It works randomly and seems to generate a lot of heat on the phone. When not in use, an error message keeps flashing, indicating that no phone is being charged.
As for driving aids, the lane-keeping system works very well, although it is not autonomous. If you don't have your hands on the wheel, the car behaves like a billiard ball, bouncing from one lane to another. However, if it deviates from its trajectory because you're not attentive enough, it will alert you and secure the car by making a steering correction. It's very reassuring and always activated at the right time. Moreover, it's even a valuable aid on high-speed winding turns, on certain departmental roads. Other vehicles end up cutting through the turns or having to slow down excessively, while you effortlessly stay precisely in your lane.
I was very disappointed with the cruise control, which is not adaptive. Later, I discovered that it is an option that is disabled in the software since all the necessary sensors are already present. You can confirm this through ActiveSense, which provides a complete view of surrounding vehicles. So, I wanted to add this option later, willing to bear the cost, but Mazda doesn't allow it. This strategy, or lack of a sales strategy, is surprising.
The temperature management inside the car is surprising. Without changing the temperature settings in automatic mode, during a long drive, there is a yo-yo effect that is difficult to explain. One moment, it feels quite cool, and a few minutes later, it becomes too hot. I wonder if it's related to the external brightness because on a hot spring day, the air conditioning temperature suddenly rose when the sky suddenly became overcast. However, it was still hot outside. I think there's an overly reactive adaptive mode at play.
The remote car management is quite good. It's possible to activate the heating or air conditioning, which will run for a maximum of 30 minutes before shutting off and sending a notification to your phone. You can extend it if you have a good signal. The car surprisingly receives a signal in unexpected places, even in underground parking lots where my phone has no network. This remote temperature mode is ideal for defrosting the car or leaving a dog inside during cold weather or in the summer when the temperature rises quickly in a closed and parked car. I've tested it in extreme cold and hot seasonal temperatures, and it works very well so far. Of course, it consumes a lot of energy, but you can't have everything without a trade-off. It's suitable for occasional use. The rest of the remote features include locking the car, checking tire pressure, consulting the range, and receiving alerts if the alarm is triggered, which is very reassuring. It's also possible to locate the car precisely. It's a shame that we can't access the cameras, as in other fully electric models.
It's not clear in the vehicle manual, but to deactivate the alarm, you need to press the alarm button on the remote right after locking the car. The indicator will blink 4 times, and then it will be turned off. It's better to do it before leaving your dog alone, or else the alarm will be triggered if the dog moves inside the vehicle.
Performance and Driving Dynamics (4/5)
I own the 327-horsepower PHEV model: 200 horsepower from the atmospheric gasoline engine and 127 horsepower from the electric motor. Although the low-end power is reduced with an atmospheric engine, the electric motor more than makes up for it with its responsiveness and instant torque. Despite its weight, the car is very agile. It even outperforms some more powerful or lighter petrol-powered cars in terms of acceleration. Of course, such models regain the advantage in corners, but not in straight lines. The acceleration is impressive, although the road noise insulation somewhat dampens the sensation. Other vehicles seem almost stationary when you step on the accelerator.
I was initially disappointed with the braking performance, which was less impressive than in my previous vehicle. However, by pressing the pedal harder and adjusting the regenerative braking to the maximum, I managed to get used to it.
The handling is remarkable. Although it's not a sports car capable of maintaining very high speeds in corners, it still surpasses similar-sized competing models. Thanks to the four-wheel drive and four-wheel steering, the turning angle and trajectory in corners are impressive for a car of this size. One of the drawbacks of the vehicle lies in the stiffness of the suspension. Despite the excellent noise isolation, you feel the road imperfections more than you would expect when driving an SUV. Even at low speeds, speed bumps are very uncomfortable and cause items in the trunk to bounce around. Mazda seems to have made this choice to prevent the relatively high car from swaying in corners and reduce the risk of rollovers at high speeds. Adaptive suspension could have solved this problem. However, considering the pricing position against the competition, I understand why the brand overlooked this aspect. Moreover, after 3000 km, I noticed that the suspension has become slightly softer, improving comfort to some extent.
Energy Efficiency and Range (2/5)
The consumption and hybridization aspects encompass the majority of the vehicle's drawbacks. The car discharges quickly, and the actual range is much lower than what the manufacturer claims. Like many owners, I also face a discharge issue when the car is parked. It loses about 30% of charge in 24 hours (and even drains the 12-volt starter battery - as if the headlights were left on). This problem is due to software that prevents the car from entering sleep mode. I have already taken my vehicle to Mazda for reprogramming, and I will have to do it again soon because the issue is still unresolved (now I lose 15% in 24 hours). This problem is not part of the manufacturer's recalls, but many owners are affected. Dealing with a less established manufacturer, this can quickly become a headache. I had to go through many steps and cancel orders for other CX-60s for my company before being taken into consideration by the after-sales service. During my third call, Mazda France assistance even replied to me that they are not Audi. The message is quite clear.
Beyond this specific issue, the management of hybridization lacks customization and seems suitable for a specific use case only. If you live in a house, always have the car plugged in, and regularly make short trips, this plug-in hybrid is suitable. However, if you cannot plug it in daily or if you regularly drive more than 50 km round trip, you might be disappointed. Especially considering the consumption of this car in electric mode, it is often more expensive to charge it than to refuel with gasoline. The cost per 100 km is 2 to 4 times higher at current energy prices. Personally, I opted for the hybrid due to the tax incentives and benefits, but I also wanted to take advantage of remote heating and air conditioning options, especially when I have to leave my dog in the car for a few minutes. Since I cannot recharge it daily in the parking lot of my building, it would be desirable to be able to keep a charged battery and drive in combustion engine mode, but no mode truly allows that. It is possible to choose to recharge the car while driving, consuming approximately 13 liters per 100 km, but you cannot choose to drive solely on the combustion engine without using the high-capacity battery. The sport mode comes close, but the gears are shifted at high RPM, making the driving experience jerky and particularly noisy, and the battery is used as soon as you accelerate a bit (to activate the 137-horsepower motor). An exclusively combustion engine mode would have been relevant, similar to the exclusively electric mode. Furthermore, recharging the battery while driving doesn't work correctly. The recharge is very fast, much faster than when it's connected to 7 kW chargers. However, the displayed percentage does not correspond to the actual charge, which explains why it continues to recharge beyond the set percentage. For example, if you're at 30% and ask the car to recharge up to 50% while driving, it will work at a high rate until it reaches 50%. In normal mode, it will stop recharging the battery, but will continue operating at a high rate to not drop below 50%. So, you end up consuming more without reason, with the engine noise constantly high, which is quite unpleasant. In sport mode, it will continue recharging the battery above 50% without any limit. However, once the car is stopped and restarted, you'll notice that you weren't at 50%, but rather at 35%. The fast recharge was, therefore, fictitious. The problem is that this is a first for Mazda in terms of technology, and no one there is able to provide answers on this matter. The garage I visit explains that Mazda is highly centralized and communicates very little in terms of engineering with the garages. It is, therefore, common for a problem to persist for several months (or more) before being addressed at the technical management level in Japan and then transmitted to local dealerships. However, when deciding to market a technologically immature car, it would be wise to establish a continuous improvement process based on user feedback. In fact, on forums, we can see that Japanese users receive preferential treatment compared to the rest of the world. In conclusion, the battery of this car, which needs to be recharged at a high cost, is only useful for the first 40 kilometers. So, you spend over 3 hours recharging a battery at an exorbitant rate for only 25 or 30 minutes of driving without using gasoline. One might wonder if it's simply a trick to equip professionals, allowing them to benefit from incentives and reduced tax on company vehicles (the primary reason for my purchase). I think many people will never plug it in.
Cost and Value for Money (4/5)
The value for money of this model is indeed very interesting when compared to vehicles of the same standing from other brands, such as Audi. For example, an Audi Q5 offers a similar level but with an additional cost of €25,000. For the same price as a Mazda CX-60, you would only get a Q3 from Audi, which is clearly not comparable. However, it is important to note that the depreciation of this vehicle could be significant, and it might even become difficult to resell it in a few years. This is also true for all plug-in hybrid models. Therefore, I would recommend this model, provided that you negotiate the price well or opt for a lease (the offers are very attractive, and personally, I chose this payment method). The PHEV configuration of the vehicle is suitable for individuals who have daily access to a charging point and have diverse travel needs, ranging from short to long trips. Before the increase in electricity prices, the cost per 100 km was slightly more advantageous compared to gasoline, but today it is the opposite (except when charging from a domestic socket).
Conclusion
I am delighted with this car considering the price at which I acquired it. The positioning is unbeatable, and there are good deals to be made to drive this luxury sports SUV at the price of a "regular" SUV. With a domestic electric socket, choosing the plug-in hybrid is a good middle ground. It's just a shame that the hybrid management is not more refined. Perhaps future updates will address these teething problems.

"Pig! Nasty fat pig! - Arthur thought with irritation, leaving the subway, - Squeals, as if she is being cut! Businesswoman! I would put this businesswoman with doggy style right on her huge table and fuck her like a..."
Arthur Lomov was thirty-four and he had everything, like people have - a house, a wife, a child, death ahead, and death inside. He also had a job that he hated. More precisely, the work itself did not cause rejection in him, work as work is no worse than then of others. He did not like the bosses (who likes their?). And not even all the bosses, but only the headmistress, the one whom he was going to "fuck". Sleek and haughty, she spoke to people with undisguised disgust, through her teeth, sincerely and deeply despising the "cattle" that surrounded her. Lomov including. He was nobody for her, a manager, what millions, not even an insect, but a bacterium, office plankton. She has not fired him until now just because there was no case. And then the crisis broke out and rumors about layoffs spread around the office.
And as luck would have it, Arthur mixed up some numbers in the quarterly report. Margarita Nikolaevna called him into the office, and screamed as if he had stabbed and robbed a beggar on the porch of church! Not only did she deduct 30 percent from his salary, she also promised to fire he next time! Yes, he himself would have gone, on the same day! If he had money, real big money, say a million dollars!
Arthur suddenly imagined how he, in an expensive dark gray Versace suit, with a small suitcase in his hand, ignoring the screams of secretary, opened the door with a kick and entered the hated office. How the headmistress's already round stupid eyes are rounded.
"What do you want, Lomov?" She asks.
“I have a business proposal!” He says and puts the case on the table; - I want to fuck you ... Yes, to fuck you now on that table fore million dollars! Behind, you a lustful bitch!
“Yes, you are drunk Lomov, leave my office immediately ...” the headmistress says and the last word gets stuck in her throat, because at that moment Arthur opens the suitcase and she sees tight green bundles with real American money.
The headmistress hardly takes her eyes off the dollars, looks at Lomov, then back at the money. Her primitive brain tries to comprehend the non-standard situation and begins to boil.
"Where did you get this from, Lomov?" she says, swallowing her saliva.
"Who cares? You agree?"
The woman's face is covered with red spots, becomes confused and even somehow miserable.
“This is so unexpected…” she mutters, “what if someone comes in?”
Lomov does not answer anything, and only looks at the headmistress, enjoying her confusion.
Finally, having overcome her excitement, she presses the "selector" button:
“Lena don’t let anyone in to see me! I'm busy!"
Then she raises her eyes to Lomov and begins to unbutton her blouse with trembling fingers, the buttons do not obey her, she throws it, grabs the zipper on her skirt.
At this moment, Lomov slams the suitcase shut and takes it off the table.
"Best wishes!" he says.
"In what sense?" The headmistress asks bewildered.
"I changed my mind!" Arthur calmly answers and, without looking back, leaves the office...
He dreamed so much that he almost fell under the wheels and right on the pedestrian crossing. Some idiot on a tinted "nine" flashed in front of him, Arthur barely had time to bounce, but did not calculate his strength and fell into a puddle.
“No, that’s not good,” he thought, rising to his feet and shaking off the dirt from his jacket, “I need to drink urgently!”
* * *
The pub turned out to be very unpresentable, but this did not bother Lomov. Taking two mugs of beer, he hardly found a free table in the bluish smoke and finally took his first long sip.
- Your headmistress got nitpicking you up, and you are completely innocent of anything? - Arthur heard a dry cracked voice in his ear.
He raised his eyes and saw that a dubious appearanceg peasant with a week-long stubble and two mugs of light beer was sitting at his table. Since the question was purely rhetorical, Arthur merely chuckled vaguely in response.
Now ask me, how do I know this? - the stranger did not want to lag behind.
- What is this?
- Well, the fact that you were fucked by your headmistress for no reason at all?
- Well, how do you know that? - Said Arthur to get rid of the importunate type.
- It's very simple - I'm God! - The stranger said triumphantly. And noticing the bewilderment in the eyes of the interlocutor, he explained:
- Well, the one who created the Earth, the Sky and all this! - He glanced around at the smoky pub.
The life of Artur Lomov developed in such a way that he was not ready for such meetings.
"Yeah, that's exactly how I imagined you!" he chuckled sarcastically.
But the impostor, as it turned out, was not going to joke at all.
- What did you want? I look like this because of you! Because that's how you represent me! And if you were a Hindu, I could now have an elephant's head and a long trunk. What if you were a Mayan...
- Don't, I understand everything, - Arthur stopped him, - Just don't expect me to buy you beer!
- Do not make me laugh! I can create so much beer that it will flood not only your entire Moscow, but the entire planet! And what, not a bad idea - a worldwide beer flood! It is high time! Pathetic little people completely lost their fear, they do what they want! I created such a beautiful planet for you: blue seas, snow-capped mountains, shady forests, crystal waters of rivers! And what did you turn it into?
“Yes, the guy seems to be in trouble with his head!” - thought Arthur, listening to the ravings of an uninvited drinking companion.
Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.
- Well, if you are so omnipotent, could you, just as an entertainment, create for me, let's say a small suitcase with a million dollars? Lomov asked.
“I could,” reply the impostor, not at all embarrassed, “but I won’t. You see, money is such a thing… no matter how much they give you it anyway, very soon you will feel that this is not enough. I'd rather make sure you never need money at all. Is it coming?
Arthur shrugged vaguely.
- I will turn you, well, let's say ... - the stranger thought for a second, - into a rat!
“I don’t want to be a rat,” Lomov suddenly got scared, “they are vile and nasty!”
- No, no, just a rat! Big black rat! But not today, tomorrow. In the meantime, drink your beer!
- Wait! Don't turn me into anyone! - Arthur shouted, but the hanyga had already vanished into cigarette smoke.
* * *
Arthur could not get the key into the keyhole for a long time, and when he finally managed to open the door, he saw his wife in a dressing gown with a crumpled night face.
- Where are you hanging out? – Unkindly asked she, - Do you know what time it is? And why isn't the cell phone answering?
- The phone is dead. Probably ... - Arthur muttered, barely moving his tongue.
- You're l drunk! - The wife said and grimaced in disgust, - And with whom did you get so drunk?
- You will not believe - with God!
- Moron! - said the wife and slapped Arthur on the head with a slipper.
- I am not kidding! I actually drank beer with God and he promised to turn me into a rat! Tomorrow! - He suddenly felt funny, and he began to choke with laughter, - Imagine, tomorrow you wake up, and your husband is a rat, or rather ratman! But it's tomorrow, and now I want to sleep!
- You idiot, take off your shoes! - said the wife and went to the kitchen.
Lomov threw off his shoes with difficulty and went into the bedroom and, without undressing, collapsed onto the bed.
* * *
He dreamed of some nonsense: Margarita Nikolaevna, completely naked, in only shoes, walked around the office, scolded negligent employees, gave valuable instructions. The subordinates listened to her with a serious look and nodded their heads. And only one Arthur could hardly contain the laughter. But when the naked headmistress began to teach the electrician how to properly install the outlet, Lomov could not stand it and literally neighed out loud.
- Lomov, what's the matter with you? - Margarita Nikolaevna asked sternly, - Did I say something funny? By the way, how are you going to compensate for the colossal loss that you caused the company with your mistakes in the report? Do you have a million dollars?
- I have? – Surprised Arthur – Where?
- Then we could cut off your hand! - Suggested Margarita Nikolaevna, - Although wait! Say, are you drinking?
- No!
- It's good that you don't drink, and then we'll take your liver. Or not, better a kidney, because you have two of them!
And then Arthur saw a huge kitchen knife flash in the headmistress's hand. He realized that it was time to run, but his legs suddenly became wobbly and he could not budge...
* * *
Waking up the next morning with a sore head, Arthur first tried to understand why he felt so bad? Obviously, because he got drunk yesterday - that's clear. He strained his brain, and he managed to remember the scandal arranged by the headmistress, as well as the promise to fire him. After such it was a sin not to get drunk! But where? He didn't remember this.
However, there was no time to think, he was already late for work. Taking a sip of cold tea from a cup standing on the table, he quickly dressed and rushed out into the street.
* * *
Despite all the efforts, Lomov was still late for work. As soon as he sat down at his desk and turned on the computer, the secretary called and said that Margarita Nikolaevna urgently wanted to see him. His heart immediately felt ugly and cold.
Arthur honestly tried, following Chekhov, to squeeze a slave out of himself, drop by drop, but somehow it didn’t work out very well. He could convince himself as much as he wanted that the worst thing this woman could do to him was to fire him. Only and everything! But after all, he has arms, legs and a head on his shoulders; he will not die of hunger. But as soon as he was in the director's office, all logical arguments instantly evaporated, and only one animal inexplicable irrational fear remained. That vile, shrill voice pulled things out of the depths of his subconscious that he didn't even know existed. He literally physically felt how he began to decrease in size.
Even now, standing in front of the huge director's desk, like a delinquent schoolboy, he could not get rid of the feeling of his own insignificance.
“Not only are you unable to write an elementary report,” Margarita Nikolaevna’s voice boomed in his ears, “you are also late!” What do you not like about your work? Or do you want to be reduced?
Lomov suddenly imagined that he really was reduced, and at the same moment he saw how all the items in the director's office, including the hostess, began to grow rapidly. He did not immediately guess that in fact no one and nothing is growing, and that he himself is decreasing in size.
- Arthur Valentinovich, what are you doing? – Finally noticed the strange metamorphoses headmistress, - Immediately stop, I order you!
But Lomov was no longer able to stop anything. He was already looking at the edge of the director's table from the bottom up, and after a couple of seconds he realized that his height did not exceed the height of a woman's shoe.
- Rat! - Margarita Nikolaevna suddenly squealed and jumped onto the table with unexpected agility, - Lena, come here soon!
Whistling a few centimeters from his temple, the massive crystal ashtray hit the carpet with a dull thud, and Arthur realized that any delay could cost him his life. With all his might, he rushed under the closet, and a mobile phone and a few obscene words flew after him.
- Where is the rat, Margarita Nikolaevna? - asked the secretary, who came running to the cry.
- She hid under the closet! Call the guard as soon as possible, the closet must be urgently moved away before she runs away!
Realizing that he could not hide here, Arthur began to look for a way out and soon discovered a gap between the plinth and the wall. With difficulty, squeezing through a narrow opening, he found himself in a pier between the main wall and the plasterboard panels with which the office was sheathed. Only now did he feel relatively safe and tried to analyze the situation.
First, he realized that not only had he shrunk in size, but even worse, he had turned into a rat (he never liked rats). This followed not only from the screams of the headmistress (she could call her subordinate and not that way!) but mainly from the long bare tail dragging after him.
And only then Arthur remembered yesterday's visit to the pub and dubious type who called himself God.
It must be said that yesterday he treated his random drinking companion rather lightly, but now, under the pressure of circumstances, he was forced to admit that the impostor was far from being as simple as it seemed to him at first glance. Of course, he is no God, that's clear. But who? For some reason I didn't want to think about it.
Meanwhile, a security guard came and pushed the closet away. They searched for Arthur for a long time and unsuccessfully, but found only a gap in the wall.
- She probably climbed into this hole, - said the guard, - now you can’t smoke her out of there! Or you order to break the wall?
Then the supply manager and some other people came, made noise, moved the furniture.
This bustle tired Lomov, and he dozed off, and when he woke up, there was dead silence. Obviously, the working day has already ended and everyone has gone home. He was terribly hungry, however, not surprising, because he had not eaten anything since yesterday. And then his nostrils caught a delicious smell, it came from the director's office, seeped through the cracks in the wall, penetrated into the brain and caused painful salivation.
Overcoming fear, Lomov cautiously crawled out of hiding and, sniffing the air, moved in the direction of the source of the seductive aroma. Very soon he realized that the smell was coming from the drawer. Using the wires leading to the monitor, he deftly climbed onto the table, but the drawer was closed, and Arthur's weak rat paws were simply unable to pull it out. Luckily, there was a pencil on the table, he pushed it through the slot and, acting as a lever, opened the drawer rather quickly. To his disappointment, he found there only a pile of useless papers and a thick stack of five thousandth bills tied with an elastic band. The impostor did not deceive, now Lomov's money was not at all interested, out of annoyance he even shit on them, but this only increased the hunger.
“Did the devil pull me to ask this idiot for a million dollars?! - he thought, listening to the hungry cramps in his stomach - And yet, where does this smell come from? How can money smell so delicious!”
He rummaged through the entire drawer filled with stupid papers and finally found in the very corner under some kind of contract a small moldy piece of cheese. Well, yes, of course, it was cheese, only he could emit such an attractive aroma.
Arthur ate it in a couple of seconds and of course he didn’t sated a drop. Unable to resist, he even began to gnaw at the contract, soaked with a cheese smell.
- Are you eating contracts? Look, you will earn an ulcer! - Arthur heard a sly voice behind him and turned around. On the edge of the table sat a small but rather pretty white rat.
- Hello! My name is Larisa, - the rat introduced herself, - And you are Arthur from the sales department!
- Exactly, but how do you know me?
- Yes, I used to work in the logistics department; I was fired six months ago.
- Larisa from logistics? I remember you! - Arthur was delighted, - Such a pretty blonde, you still always wore very short skirts, our men just twisted their necks when you walked down the corridor.
- That's why I was fired.
- Wait, are you, too, like I used to be a human?
- All rats were once people, - Larisa remarked philosophically, - but fear turns a person into an animal.
- What kind of nonsense? - Arthur was skeptical.
- No nonsense. British scientists conducted research and came to the conclusion that over the past 40 years, the IQ in rats has increased by 10 points! And at the same time in all rats living in different parts of the globe.
- And what? Rats live next to people and learn all sorts of tricky things from them!
- Let's admit it. Do you know how many people disappear without a trace every year in our country? 80 thousand! A man went out to the nearest store for bread and did not return!
- Do you think they all turn into rats?
- Maybe not all, but many. We have become!
It was difficult to object to such an argument, and Arthur remained silent.
- What are we all talking about? - said Larisa, - you're probably hungry? Come on, I've got something from the New Year's banquet.
Larisa led Arthur to her hole, where a sumptuous dinner was waiting for them: there were half-eaten sandwiches with boiled pork and smoked sausage, and assorted fish, and of course cheese, a lot of cheese.
Satisfying his hunger, Arthur took a closer look at Larisa and suddenly realized that he liked her. And even her long bare tail now did not cause disgust, but rather seemed piquant. And what a wonderful smell emanated from her small, but such a dexterous little body!
Unable to resist the call of the flesh, he approached her from behind and put his paws on her shoulders.
* * *
- Darling! Do you want us to have little rats? - Larisa asked a few minutes later, snuggling comfortably on Lomov's shoulder.
- What? What other rats? Arthur didn't understand.
- Well, how? We didn't protect ourselves! And I am very prolific, in the last litter I brought twelve rats!
- Oh my God! Lomov groaned, “But you can’t do it somehow so that ... well, you understand!”
- Don't you want us to have little rats?
- No, you misunderstood me, that's not the point! It's just all of a sudden...
- What is unexpected? If you don't want little rats, say so!
- It's not that I don't want little rats. You see, this happened to you a long time ago, and in six months you have probably turned into a real rat, you feel like a rat and think like a rat. And I was still a human this morning...
- You were office plankton! - Larisa reminded.
- Okay, so be it! But I walked on two legs, wore a blue suit, a striped tie, and drank Gösser beer.
- You can get beer in the garbage dump, - Larisa suggested, - Sometimes unfinished bottles are thrown there.
- I don't want beer from the dump, damn it! - Arthur got angry, - And I don't want to be a rat! Why on earth should I be a rat? Why, Lord? There are so many real scums around: thieves, robbers, murderers, rapists, child molesters! Well, why me?!
“You and I seem to have such karma,” Larisa sighed sadly, “never mind. Let's sleep better, and tomorrow we'll go to the garbage heap and find you a Gösser beer.
* * *
Lomov fell asleep and had a wonderful dream. In this dream, he was human again.
He was lying in a small bright room on a clean sheet, covered up to his chin with a striped woolen blanket. The gentle spring sun shone through the window, and the soul was light and calm.
He thought that, perhaps, he should go to wash and already threw back the covers, but at that moment voices and noise were heard outside the door. Arthur returned the blanket to its place and pretended to be asleep.
People entered the room, through narrowed eyelids Lomov could only see through the legs and the skirts of white coats.
- But Semyon Arkadyevich, pay attention, a very interesting case! - said the first rather pleasant male voice, - Sick Lomov, he entered yesterday. Hypomanic arousal in an acute form, convinced that he is a rat. When the team arrived, he rushed around the director's office, biting, scratching, trying to hide under the closet, barely managed to calm him down. He was injected with 4 cubes of chlorpromazine. When he wakes up, for some time he will adequately perceive the surrounding reality, but after a few hours the effect of the drug will end.
- Very good! - Answered the second voice, - continue aminazin, add more phenazepam and electroconvulsive therapy. Who's next for us?
- Maklakov, Delirium tremens, entered three days ago...
The voices began to fade, the dream gradually melted away and Lomov found himself again lying in the rat hole. A white rat sat next to him and somehow strangely (with tenderness?) looked at him.
- Larisa? You? - He asked, looking at the animal.
- Well, yes, Larisa, who else?
- You know Larisa, I had such a strange dream here! - Lomov yawned, unable to restrain himself, - As if I had become a man again, I was lying in a clean, bright room, some people in white coats were coming and saying something. It seems like I got sick, I'm in the hospital, and they treat me.
- I, too, at first dreamed of something similar, but then everything went away, - Larisa reassured him, - And it will pass for you too!
- I do not want will pass! Vice versa. Understand - I do not want to be a rat, sleep in this stinking hole, and eat garbage! I want to be human!
- Unfortunately, this is a one-way street.
- In what sense?
- I asked to other rats. There has never been such a case that a rat became a man.
- And what, there is no hope?
- To be honest, not the slightest. Okay, stop talking, let's go have breakfast in the trash, otherwise yesterday we ate up all the supplies!
- I won't go, - Arthur answered and lay down, resting his head on his front paws.
- Okay, lie down. Then I'll bring you something delicious. Do you want rotten herring intestines?
- No.
"Then what do you want I to bring?"
- I do not want anything.
- You can't do that, Arthur. If you don't eat, you'll get sick and soon die!
- That's good, everything is better than this life!
- You know, Arthur, I used to think so too, but then I realized one very simple thing: since we exist as outcasts ...
- Outcasts? Lomov asked.
- Well, yes - rats, cockroaches, crickets and others ... So, since we are exist, then someone needs it!
- To whom? To office plankton? So that they look at us and rejoice that it is not they who have to rummage through the garbage in search of rotten herring intestines?
- Well, yes, at least. And don't forget that at any moment they themselves can be in our place!
- I don't want to be a scarecrow for these one-celled!
- And what do you want?
- Don't know. I don't want to live, that's what!
- We must be careful with desires, - Larisa warned, - they tend to come true!
- Well, let! I want to die and the sooner the better!
- Bad deed is not tricky. There are thousands of ways: you can deliberately climb into a mousetrap, or, for example, go out into the yard in the evening and shout: “Cats are motherfuckers!”
- Faggots! Cretins! Jerks! - Heard the cries of Margarita Nikolaevna from behind the wall, - I will fire you all; you will eat rotten meat in my garbage dump! I told you yesterday to catch a rat! Not only did this bastard gobble up a million dollar contract, but he also pissed off my money!
“Money can be laundered,” the financial director advised timidly, “now many do it!
- Here you take Mark Antonovich and launder this money as you want! And you, Igor Ivanovich, as the head of the security department, urgently take care of the rat! And so that by tomorrow morning I could see her corpse!
- Then I went for mousetraps? Igor Ivanovich asked.
- Go, do something already! Do not stand like idols!
* * *
Arthur not only did not go with Larisa to the trash, but did not even touch the delicacies that she brought him. He spent the whole day lying in the hole, with his head on his paws and staring dully in front of him.
But by evening, when there was no food left, hunger began to make itself felt. Thoughts of suicide disappeared somewhere; he wanted cheese, ham, grain, and most importantly more and more. At first he endured, trying to hide his cowardice, but then he could not stand it.
- Listen Laris, and there you have nothing left to gnaw? - he asked.
- No, I finished everything, you refused! - Answered Larisa, - But I think it's time to visit our headmistress's office. The working day is already over; no one will interfere with us.
Four mousetraps were waiting for them in the office, richly stuffed with cheese, sausage and even lard.
- Give me a pencil! Larisa asked.
Arthur climbed onto the table and brought a pencil. Larisa put it in a mousetrap and it snapped shut, breaking the back of the pencil.
- Well, now you can safely eat cheese! - She said.
While Larisa was fiddling with the next mousetrap, Lomov decided to look for food on his own, and very quickly found a saucer of flour in the corner behind the bedside table. True, the smell of flour was a little strange, but the hunger was so strong that he did not become picky.
- You're so funny! - Larisa giggled when she saw Arthur, - you have a white mustache, and the whole muzzle!
- Yes, I'm here ... I found flour ... - Lomov muttered and began to embarrassedly rub his muzzle with varnishes.
- Wait, are you eating flour? Larisa asked, and her gaze was filled with genuine horror.
- Yes, what wrong? - Arthur spoke slowly, involuntarily infected by her fear.
- I knew it! You could not be left alone for a second; you are like a small child! It's my entire fault!
- Wait a minute, explain plainly what happened?
- There is such an old way of killing rats and mice. Flour is mixed with alabaster and placed in a conspicuous place. Now you will be thirsty, the alabaster will mix with the water, the solution will immediately seize, and you will die a slow and painful death.
- What if you don't drink?
- Then you will die of dehydration. Not a very pleasant ending either.
Wait, you must be wrong! Maybe there was no alabaster in that flour? 'Cause I can't die, I'm so young!
- Okay, let's go; let's look at your flour! - Larissa sighed.
Lomov showed her the saucer; the rat carefully sniffed it and confidently sentenced:
- The smell of alabaster!
- And what will happen now?
- Now you're going begin to die!
- No, it can't be! After all, I have not even begun to truly live, only I was going to! And most importantly - for what?
- I don’t understand where all of a sudden such a thirst for life comes from? Just a few hours ago, you yourself wanted to die!
- I was a fool! And now I understand everything, I want to live! Live by anyone: a blind mole, a cockroach, a worm.
- Whoever you are, sooner or later you would still have to die. Or did you think you'd live forever?
- No, of course, - Arthur was embarrassed, - I just didn't expect everything to happen so quickly and ridiculously. I am not ready!
- Well, get ready, you still have time! I told you - you will go to die for a long time.
- Wait, Laris, it seems it has begun!
- What started?
- Well, what were you talking about. There is something going on inside of me. It feels like... I don't know what to say. It seems like everything is starting to turn to stone!
- I knew it! Well, go to look for your last shelter!
- What other shelter?
- The rat, when it feels that its end is near, leaves its relatives, looks for a secluded place and hides there.
- For what?
- Such is the law - everyone dies alone!
But I don't want to die alone! In fact, I just don't want to die! However, I think I've already said that.
- Of course he did! Come on; crawl away faster while you can still move your paws!
* * *
Arthur wandered for a long time through some basement passageways, crawled into holes, but could not find a quiet place anywhere. There was a rat smell everywhere, or even worse, a cat smell. Finally, he managed to find a seemingly suitable hole, he lay down on a pile of dirty rags, but as soon as he closed his eyes, some devils appeared and dragged him to hell.
"Put me down," he shouted, "I don't want to go to hell! For what? I didn't do anything wrong!"
In response, the devils grinned and were talking among themselves in an incomprehensible language. And when he began to struggle, they twisted his hands (now he had hands!) Behind his back.
But the worst began when they arrived at the place. The devils put a funnel down Arthur's throat and began pouring molten lead into him. However, maybe it was not lead, but silver, platinum, or some other white metal.
Then he vomited with this liquid metal, and then the funnel was inserted again, and everything started all over again. But this was not enough for the devils, and they began to pour the same metal into it only from the other side. His insides were swollen, and it seemed that they were about to burst. Unable to bear the torment, Arthur passed out.
And when he came to himself, he saw a girlish face of angelic beauty bending over him. And suddenly this angelic face approached him and dug into his lips with a passionate kiss.
"Maybe I'm in heaven!" thought Arthur.
- Stop overworking, Lariska, don't you see, he's already recovered! - A rather unpleasant female voice came from somewhere above.
Larisa pulled away and spat.
“I thought he would never recover!” she said, wiping her lips with the back of her hand.
- Where I am? Arthur asked, looking around.
- Where, where, in Karaganda! - Answered the second girl and rolled up with a cheerful laugh, - You better tell us fool, why did you eat cement?
- Cement? So it was cement? – Delighted Arthur, - Definitely not alabaster?
- We have Tajiks doing repairs, - the girl explained, - there are bags of cement in the corridor, so you ate straight from the bag. Dzhamshut came running, complaining, if your patients eat our cement, how can we repair? You had to do a gastric lavage, and out of habit you almost go to hell! Well, Lariska noticed in time, you can say, she saved your life!
The nurses left (he guessed that they were nurses in white caps and gowns) and Lomov began to inspect the room. On the wall, framed under glass, he noticed a rather strange document. Arthur got out of bed, walked over and began to read.
“A reminder to the new arrivals.
Eight levels of hell.

1. Arbuda-naraka - hell of blisters. On a dark frozen valley, surrounded by cold mountains, there is a constant blizzard and snow storm. The inhabitants of this hell are naked and lonely, and their bodies are covered with blisters from the cold. The time spent in this hell is how long it will take to empty a barrel of sesame seeds, if one grain is taken every hundred years.
   
2. Nirarbuda-naraka - the hell of swelling blisters. This hell is even colder and the blisters swell and explode, leaving the bodies covered in blood and pus.
   
3. Atata-naraka - hell when shaking from the cold.
   
4. Hahava-naraka - the hell of weeping and groaning. When the victim moans from the cold.
   
5. Huhuva-naraka - the hell of chattering teeth. Terrible chills and chattering of teeth.
   
6. Utpala-naraka - the hell of the blue lotus, when the constant cold makes the whole skin turn blue like a lily.
   
7. Padma-naraka - lotus hell. A snowstorm covers the frozen body, leaving bloody wounds.
   
8. Mahapadma-naraka - the great lotus hell. The whole body cracks from the cold, and the internal organs also crack from the terrible frost.
   

Staying in each next level is 20 times longer than in the previous one.
After…"
What awaits the unfortunate then Lomov did not have time to find out - a doctor entered the ward. He felt his pulse, pulled his eyelids back, examined his tongue.
- Well, the patient, I see - your condition has stabilized, it's time for the procedures! - He said in a cheerful voice.
- What other procedures? Arthur asked suspiciously.
- Shock cryotherapy.
- What is this? Never heard of such a thing!
- No wonder, this is my own technique. It consists in the following: the patient is stripped naked and placed in a special chamber, cooled to an extremely low temperature...
- Wait, I can't be frozen, I can't stand the cold! My skin is covered with pimples and starts to beat like a fever!
- Get used to, a person gets used to everything. Moreover, you have eternity ahead of you!
Are you a doctor; are you out of your mind? What the hell is eternity? Are you going to freeze me forever? My heart can't take it, I'll just die!
- It's you who are crazy, - the doctor objected, - and now we will treat you!
- Do not treat me, doctor! Yes, I admit, I was sick, but now I am cured. Believe me, I'm healthy! I adequately perceive the reality around me! For God's sake, let me go!
- Would a healthy person eat cement? - The doctor grinned sarcastically.
The orderlies appeared - Lomov recognized in them the very devils who poured liquid metal into him.
They blindfolded the patient and led him through the endless hospital corridors. Then he was taken for a long time in an elevator, as it seemed to him down, and then again there were corridors.
* * *
- I can't be frozen, - just in case, Arthur warned, when the orderlies suddenly began to pull off his clothes, - I'm allergic to cold. I will die immediately!
- Not anymore! - The orderly assured, continuing to undress Lomov.
- In what sense? - Arthur didn't understand.
- In direct! You probably think you're in a psych ward?
- Yes of course! Where else can they bully people like that?
- Wow, "above the people"! - The orderly chuckled, - But just a few hours ago you considered yourself a rat!
- I was wrong! But now that I have realized my delusions, there is no need to keep me in your terrible hospital!
- I told you, this is not a hospital for you!
- What then?
- The ancient Greeks called this place Hades, the Muslims Sakar, the Buddhists - Naraka, the Christians - underworld or just Hell. Atheists believe that there is no such place at all. Remember that jerk on the tinted nine?
- Wait, what do you want to say? But I managed to jump back!
- As you can see, you didn’t have time! - The orderly grunted sarcastically, - You died before the arrival of the ambulance!
- How did I die? Wait, I'm… - Arthur tried to object, but suddenly he realized that he was talking to himself.
He tore off the bandage from his eyes and saw that he was standing completely alone, naked in the middle of an endless snowy plain, and the icy wind was beating his face, tearing tears from his eyes, which immediately hardened, turning into ice.
There was no strength to stand still, and he went at random, trembling all over and falling into the snow almost up to his knees...

Hi there,
My Goal (Image 1)

• I am trying to automate an email newsletter to send job postings stored in an Airtable base using the SendGrid extension.

Context:

• In a Jobs table I auto generate the HTML for this list item in a field. (Image 2)
• In a Newsletter table, I lookup the HTML list items, of the jobs that are included in the issue and put it into an unordered list (UL). (Image 3)

The Problem:

• When I parse the UL {listings} into the Sendgrid extension, it only displays the raw HTML. (Image 4+5)
• When I paste the raw HTML directly into the SendGrid extension, it renders it correctly. (Image 6+7)
• The same is true when I use this in conjunction with an HTML template from SendGrid.

How can I fix this? Many thanks
Image 1
Image 2
Image 3
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Image 6
Image 7

Anyone know where i can store my legally obtained firearms outside the home and have 24 hour access in conneticut or southern rhode island. I looked up GUN SITTERS based out of NJ but they dont have a shop in CT. Wife doesnt want guns in the house ... but supports my desire to have a hobby. SMH. This is her idea of a compromise.

Being the eldest child in family sucks. It is worst when you don't have any support system. I was 16 when suddenly one day out of nowhere my father decided to abandon me and my mother and sister followed by no contact from his side or information. His work partners torturing us was a whole different scenario.
Being the elder one in family I quit my studies, I was about to go to 12th grade and picked up a job at a convenience store and also did some Tuitions in my sister's school so her studies in school don't have problem with fees.
My school agreed to me working and appearing for board exams and I did and guess what I failed in one subject. I, the same student who stood as topper in my grade 10 and 11th exams. It broke me but I sucked it up and continued with my shit. Years passed and I somehow finished my education while working simultaneously but I couldn't help my sister finish her education thanks to covid 19.
It's 2023, I have rent pending of 2 years and certain EMIs pending (taken by mom during covid). I pay and pay and pay. My sister still needs to finish her education.
After all these years of sucking up what I felt and just doing things has now started to affect me mentally and physically. I can barely afford daily living so therapy is distant dream. My poor mental health has given me memory loss of certain years. I don't remember few parts of my life. I'm always working on autopilot. No feelings.
My health is bad too. I have vertigo like the permanent kind.
After all this, I'm still trying. Amidst false positivity I'm still trying. But I realized I have dreams too. I never lived for myself. I have forgotten how to feel due to being on auto pilot all the time. I can't suck it up and do it anymore. My mom and sister never fail to remind me how much we still need to pay the landlord and EMI because I have to do it. Landlord wants 2 years of money and mom says give him so we can leave this place (the household and area is a disaster. Not a safe place for my mom and sister to live. Theft and all kinds of crime happen there). I often feel scared that what if my mom gets sick due to stress how will I manage everything? I just worry about everything and its killing me quite literally.
I want to pay off everything and help them give better life. Educate my sister atleast but I'm so fucking helpless and tired of keeping brave face. I am a robot.
Idk what's the point of the rant. I guess I could use some help but I don't know how.
My dreams are crushed I never got to live my teens and early 20s but this is the least I can do for them.
Being the eldest child is gonna fuck you up. Literally.

Hi, I have created the following always-on script to make life easier with the help of the AHK community and by using AI and script converter. This script includes my favorite scripts that I have come across, and I am looking forward to adding more to it. Please share your favorite scripts or any suggestions to build on this.
​

 #SingleInstance Force ; check if it is running as Admin, if not reload as Admin. put at top if not A_IsAdmin { Run("*RunAs `"" A_ScriptFullPath "`"") ExitApp() } ;Text expansion and shortcuts: ^;:: { SendInput FormatTime(, "dd/MM/yy") } ^+;:: { SendInput FormatTime(, "hh:mm tt") } ;Open Notepad with Win+N #n::Run("Notepad.exe") ;Launch Calculator with Win+F7 #F7::Run("calc.exe") ;Open Downloads folder with ctrl+shift+d ^+d::Run("C:\Users\licha\Downloads") ; ;Task Manager with Win + X #x::Run("taskmgr") ; Cleanup with win + del #Del::RunWait("cleanmgr.exe /sagerun:1") ;Bing search with win + b #b:: { Send("^c") Run("https://www.bing.com/search?q=" A_Clipboard) } ;Quick Google Search with Ctrl + Shift + g ^+g:: { Send("^c") Sleep(50) Run("https://www.google.com/search?q=" A_Clipboard) } ; ChatGPT with Ctrl+shift+c ^+c:: { A_Clipboard := "" SendInput("^c") Errorlevel := !ClipWait() Run("https://chat.openai.com/") Sleep(5000) SendInput(A_Clipboard) Sleep(1000) SendInput("{Enter}") } ^+m:: { Send("^c") ClipWait ; Wait for the clipboard to contain data Run("https://translate.google.com/#view=home&op=translate&sl=auto&tl=mr&text=" A_Clipboard) } ;Press middle mouse button to move up a folder in Explorer #HotIf WinActive("ahk_class CabinetWClass", ) ~MButton::Send("!{Up}") #HotIf ;Always on Top toggle with ctrl + spac ^SPACE::WinSetAlwaysOnTop(-1, "A") ;Suspend then reload after 10 sec with Win + End #End:: { Suspend(-1) Sleep(10000) ; Wait for 10 second Reload() } ;Reload script using Win + F5 #F5::Reload() ;Screen OFF #Left::ErrorLevel := SendMessage(0x112, 0xF170, 2, , "Program Manager") ;Ctrl+g to paste without Formating ^g:: { Store:=ClipboardAll() ;Store full version of clipboard A_Clipboard := A_Clipboard ;converts to plain text SendInput("^v") Sleep(50) A_Clipboard:=Store } ;Volume control, Alt+Scroll wheel (and Mbutton) Alt & WheelUp::Volume_Up Alt & WheelDown::Volume_Down Alt & MButton::Volume_Mute ;Quickly View or Hide Hidden Files Ctrl + F2 ^F2::CheckActiveWindow() CheckActiveWindow() { ID := WinExist("A") Class := WinGetClass("ahk_id " ID) WClasses := "CabinetWClass ExploreWClass" if InStr(WClasses, Class) Toggle_HiddenFiles_Display(ID) Return } Toggle_HiddenFiles_Display(ID) { RootKey := "HKEY_CURRENT_USER" SubKey := "Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" HiddenFiles_Status := RegRead(RootKey "\" SubKey, "Hidden") if (HiddenFiles_Status = 2) RegWrite(1, "REG_DWORD", RootKey "\" SubKey, "Hidden") else RegWrite(2, "REG_DWORD", RootKey "\" SubKey, "Hidden") PostMessage(0x111, 41504, , , "ahk_id " ID) Return } 

.

Who does wants my settings but its ok if its bad im just sharing this Because if there anyone plays krunker in Chromebook Or in a laptop Try this Settings Btw Enjoy the Settings And i do not go play at performance mode Even im in Chromebook Because the difference of Pro settings i mean the Flatter it looks in Pro settings and in Peformance is on Default Settings but a little more fps if you have itThanks for Playing my settings! have fun :)
{"resolution":0.4,"aspectRatio":"1280x1024","lowSpec":true,"noTex":true,"mapDet":false,"particles":false,"particlesDist":10,"shadows":false,"ambientShading":false,"showTrails":false,"muzzleFlash":false,"bulletCasings":false,"impactHoles":false,"sniperFlapAnim":false,"textureAnim":false,"objectAnim":false,"screenShake":false,"lighting":"0","showExplo":false,"scaleUI":0.3,"oldScoreboard":true,"disableRarityAnim":true,"showPfp":false,"showHitInd":false,"showDMG":false,"dmgScale":0.5,"showKills":false,"showFPS":true,"showSpeed":true,"speedOffX":2.5,"speedOffY":6.3,"nametagOpac":0.6,"nametagScale":0.7,"showMedals":false,"playMedals":false,"chatBGOp":1,"chatHeight":5,"crosshairSho":"4","crosshairImage":"https://assets.krunker.io/pro_crosshair.png?build=cslYWbH2pCUPSZm3v43Rvd3yRm7Twckf","crosshairAlways":true,"crosshairShoM":"4","crosshairAlwaysM":true,"aimSensitivityX":0.69,"aimSensitivityY":0.69,"sound":1,"micVolume":0,"voiceVolume":0,"gunsVolume":1,"verifiedBadge":false,"premiumBadge":false,"partnerBadge":false,"customBadge":false,"fov":110,"fpsFOV":105,"weaponBob":0,"weaponLean":0.4,"weaponOffX":0,"weaponOffY":3,"weaponOffZ":1.4,"aimAnim":false,"hideADS":true,"showHands":false,"showWeapon":false,"showWeaponSec":false,"showWeaponMel":false,"showPScore":false,"scoreScale":0.6,"scoreOffY":2.5,"progShadow":false,"progMShadow":false,"feedLimit":4,"bulletTracerCol":"#ffff00","ropeCol":"#ff0000","canChangeLogo":false,"autoLoadLast":true,"scopeBorders":false,"useDamageOverlay":false,"voiceChatTrigger":"0","aimSensitivityX_0":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_0":0.69,"fov_0":110,"fpsFOV_0":105,"weaponBob_0":0.2,"weaponLean_0":2,"weaponOffX_0":1.4,"weaponOffY_0":2,"weaponOffZ_0":1.5,"hideADS_0":true,"aimSensitivityX_1":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_1":0.69,"fov_1":110,"fpsFOV_1":105,"weaponBob_1":0.2,"weaponLean_1":2,"weaponOffX_1":1.4,"weaponOffY_1":2,"weaponOffZ_1":1.5,"hideADS_1":true,"aimSensitivityX_2":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_2":0.69,"fov_2":110,"fpsFOV_2":105,"weaponBob_2":0.2,"weaponLean_2":2,"weaponOffX_2":1.4,"weaponOffY_2":2,"weaponOffZ_2":1.5,"hideADS_2":true,"aimSensitivityX_3":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_3":0.69,"fov_3":110,"fpsFOV_3":105,"weaponBob_3":0.2,"weaponLean_3":2,"weaponOffX_3":1.4,"weaponOffY_3":2,"weaponOffZ_3":1.5,"hideADS_3":true,"aimSensitivityX_4":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_4":0.69,"fov_4":110,"fpsFOV_4":105,"weaponBob_4":0.2,"weaponLean_4":2,"weaponOffX_4":1.4,"weaponOffY_4":2,"weaponOffZ_4":1.5,"hideADS_4":true,"aimSensitivityX_5":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_5":0.69,"fov_5":110,"fpsFOV_5":105,"weaponBob_5":0.2,"weaponLean_5":2,"weaponOffX_5":1.4,"weaponOffY_5":2,"weaponOffZ_5":1.5,"hideADS_5":true,"aimSensitivityX_6":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_6":0.69,"fov_6":110,"fpsFOV_6":105,"weaponBob_6":0.2,"weaponLean_6":2,"weaponOffX_6":1.4,"weaponOffY_6":2,"weaponOffZ_6":1.5,"hideADS_6":true,"aimSensitivityX_7":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_7":0.69,"fov_7":110,"fpsFOV_7":105,"weaponBob_7":0.2,"weaponLean_7":2,"weaponOffX_7":1.4,"weaponOffY_7":2,"weaponOffZ_7":1.5,"hideADS_7":true,"aimSensitivityX_8":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_8":0.69,"fov_8":110,"fpsFOV_8":105,"weaponBob_8":0.2,"weaponLean_8":2,"weaponOffX_8":1.4,"weaponOffY_8":2,"weaponOffZ_8":1.5,"hideADS_8":true,"aimSensitivityX_9":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_9":0.69,"fov_9":110,"fpsFOV_9":105,"weaponBob_9":0.2,"weaponLean_9":2,"weaponOffX_9":1.4,"weaponOffY_9":2,"weaponOffZ_9":1.5,"hideADS_9":true,"aimSensitivityX_10":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_10":0.69,"fov_10":110,"fpsFOV_10":105,"weaponBob_10":0.2,"weaponLean_10":2,"weaponOffX_10":1.4,"weaponOffY_10":2,"weaponOffZ_10":1.5,"hideADS_10":true,"aimSensitivityX_11":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_11":0.69,"fov_11":110,"fpsFOV_11":105,"weaponBob_11":0.2,"weaponLean_11":2,"weaponOffX_11":1.4,"weaponOffY_11":2,"weaponOffZ_11":1.5,"hideADS_11":true,"aimSensitivityX_12":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_12":0.69,"fov_12":110,"fpsFOV_12":105,"weaponBob_12":0.2,"weaponLean_12":2,"weaponOffX_12":1.4,"weaponOffY_12":2,"weaponOffZ_12":1.5,"hideADS_12":true,"aimSensitivityX_13":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_13":0.69,"fov_13":110,"fpsFOV_13":105,"weaponBob_13":0.2,"weaponLean_13":2,"weaponOffX_13":1.4,"weaponOffY_13":2,"weaponOffZ_13":1.5,"hideADS_13":true,"aimSensitivityX_14":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_14":0.69,"fov_14":110,"fpsFOV_14":105,"weaponBob_14":0.2,"weaponLean_14":2,"weaponOffX_14":1.4,"weaponOffY_14":2,"weaponOffZ_14":1.5,"hideADS_14":true,"aimSensitivityX_15":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_15":0.69,"fov_15":110,"fpsFOV_15":105,"weaponBob_15":0.2,"weaponLean_15":2,"weaponOffX_15":1.4,"weaponOffY_15":2,"weaponOffZ_15":1.5,"hideADS_15":true,"aimSensitivityX_16":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_16":0.69,"fov_16":110,"fpsFOV_16":105,"weaponBob_16":0.2,"weaponLean_16":2,"weaponOffX_16":1.4,"weaponOffY_16":2,"weaponOffZ_16":1.5,"hideADS_16":true,"aimSensitivityX_17":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_17":0.69,"fov_17":110,"fpsFOV_17":105,"weaponBob_17":0.2,"weaponLean_17":2,"weaponOffX_17":1.4,"weaponOffY_17":2,"weaponOffZ_17":1.5,"hideADS_17":true,"aimSensitivityX_18":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_18":0.69,"fov_18":110,"fpsFOV_18":105,"weaponBob_18":0.2,"weaponLean_18":2,"weaponOffX_18":1.4,"weaponOffY_18":2,"weaponOffZ_18":1.5,"hideADS_18":true,"aimSensitivityX_19":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_19":0.69,"fov_19":110,"fpsFOV_19":105,"weaponBob_19":0.2,"weaponLean_19":2,"weaponOffX_19":1.4,"weaponOffY_19":2,"weaponOffZ_19":1.5,"hideADS_19":true,"aimSensitivityX_20":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_20":0.69,"fov_20":110,"fpsFOV_20":105,"weaponBob_20":0.2,"weaponLean_20":2,"weaponOffX_20":1.4,"weaponOffY_20":2,"weaponOffZ_20":1.5,"hideADS_20":true,"aimSensitivityX_21":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_21":0.69,"fov_21":110,"fpsFOV_21":105,"weaponBob_21":0.2,"weaponLean_21":2,"weaponOffX_21":1.4,"weaponOffY_21":2,"weaponOffZ_21":1.5,"hideADS_21":true,"aimSensitivityX_22":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_22":0.69,"fov_22":110,"fpsFOV_22":105,"weaponBob_22":0.2,"weaponLean_22":2,"weaponOffX_22":1.4,"weaponOffY_22":2,"weaponOffZ_22":1.5,"hideADS_22":true,"aimSensitivityX_23":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_23":0.69,"fov_23":110,"fpsFOV_23":105,"weaponBob_23":0.2,"weaponLean_23":2,"weaponOffX_23":1.4,"weaponOffY_23":2,"weaponOffZ_23":1.5,"hideADS_23":true,"aimSensitivityX_24":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_24":0.69,"fov_24":110,"fpsFOV_24":105,"weaponBob_24":0.2,"weaponLean_24":2,"weaponOffX_24":1.4,"weaponOffY_24":2,"weaponOffZ_24":1.5,"hideADS_24":true,"aimSensitivityX_25":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_25":0.69,"fov_25":110,"fpsFOV_25":105,"weaponBob_25":0.2,"weaponLean_25":2,"weaponOffX_25":1.4,"weaponOffY_25":2,"weaponOffZ_25":1.5,"hideADS_25":true,"aimSensitivityX_26":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_26":0.69,"fov_26":110,"fpsFOV_26":105,"weaponBob_26":0.2,"weaponLean_26":2,"weaponOffX_26":1.4,"weaponOffY_26":2,"weaponOffZ_26":1.5,"hideADS_26":true,"aimSensitivityX_27":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_27":0.69,"fov_27":110,"fpsFOV_27":105,"weaponBob_27":0.2,"weaponLean_27":2,"weaponOffX_27":1.4,"weaponOffY_27":2,"weaponOffZ_27":1.5,"hideADS_27":true,"aimSensitivityX_28":0.69,"aimSensitivityY_28":0.69,"fov_28":110,"fpsFOV_28":105,"weaponBob_28":0.2,"weaponLean_28":2,"weaponOffX_28":1.4,"weaponOffY_28":2,"weaponOffZ_28":1.5,"hideADS_28":true,"controls":{"pListKey_alt":18,"sBoardKey":70,"sBoardKey_alt":70,"sprayKey":32,"sprayKey_alt":32,"sprayWheelKey":32,"sprayWheelKey_alt":32,"premiumKeys":[76,76,76,76],"premiumKeys_alt":[76,76,76,76],"toggleSets":[-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1]},"customize":{"reticles":[["Moon","https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/704072933810634842/721938179841720410/Moon_Juice_Animated_Scope.gif"],["Blank","https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/715279386215055490/774443930493911061/null.png"],["Old Moon","https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/603479820361531399/654493284223418438/Main-Scope.png"]],"scopes":[["OLD","https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/704072933810634842/721938179841720410/Moon_Juice_Animated_Scope.gif?width=834&height=834"],["When Worlds Collide","https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/840775812117430302/856356472770134066/image0.png"],["ewew","https://cdn1.vectorstock.com/i/1000x1000/86/45/weapon-night-sight-sniper-rifle-optical-scope-vector-44528645.jpg"],["hm","https://preview.redd.it/qpdikmsf97w31.png?width=1500&format=png&auto=webp&s=65094ed122a5818d6abe6c51351ba3f0fb4bb116"]],"favorites":[4549,1946,4546,6305,6284,6432,6225,6328,6303,6285,6254,5216],"loadouts":{"Preset1":{"skinColIndex":5,"hairCol":-1,"chatCol":-1,"dyeIndex":-3,"faceIndex":-1,"shoeIndex":-3,"attachIndex":0,"reticleIndex":2,"savedReticle":null,"scopeIndex":1,"savedScope":null,"meleeIndex":-1,"backIndex":2076,"petIndex":-3,"wristIndex":-3,"hatIndex":1946,"waistIndex":-3,"secondaryInd":10,"kcStatIndex":1,"classindex":1,"streakIndex1":-1,"streakIndex2":-1,"streakIndex3":0,"skins":"{\"0\":1080,\"3\":1214}","charms":"[]"}}}}
Copy and paste this and Go to the settings and press the Import and paste it The import is in the Top side of General settings
Please do not take this serious :)

Hello all. This post is to help the thousands of readers of my previous post get started using pfSense. This guide can help you reduce bufferbloat and lag spikes while playing Smash Ultimate or other Nintendo games online.
My previous post can be found here: https://www.reddit.com/SmashBrosUltimate/comments/11lfvi1/stopping_lag_in_smash_ultimate_online/
​
In my other post I discuss various ways to mitigate online lag in Smash Ultimate. In this post I am providing a set of pfSense firewall configuration .xml files so readers may engage themselves with pfSense, view my settings and optimize their Nintendo Switch connection.
This post and firewall configuration covers Firewall Rules, Port Forwarding as well as limiters which combat bufferbloat with CoDel and fq_codel.
Please note, this is probably not worth your time if your Internet Service Provider's (ISP) router already has QoS features, or if you have a gaming router, with "gaming mode" or a different router which uses fq_codel automatically. Since pfSense doesn't do these things automatically (neither does my AT&T router at home), I have done them for you, and have added extra security to the router via this configuration file which I will discuss more below. If your ISP or gaming router still has lag spikes, even with the gaming mode enabled, perhaps this hands-on approach can help or inspire you.
The configuration files are stored on dropbox, the link is attached to the posting and can also be found here:
Download - https://www.dropbox.com/sh/7oz8vtxz4rxjl2f/AADLnF3Ts12wybl9zv9Nbcnra?dl=1
Dropbox File - https://www.dropbox.com/sh/7oz8vtxz4rxjl2f/AADLnF3Ts12wybl9zv9Nbcnra?dl=0
Let's get started.
Requirements:

• A laptop or desktop computer with multiple ethernet ports, with pfSense 2.6 installed, or a hypervisor of your choice with pfSense 2.6 installed as a virtual machine (you still need two ethernet ports but I prefer 3.)
  • The pfSense 2.6 iso. Download pfSense Community Edition
  • Rufus to make a pfSense USB install stick. Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way (oh god advertisements!)
  • I personally enjoy Type 1 hypervisors and use Proxmox. However, this can also work on a Type 2 Linux or Windows Hypervisor using virtual ethernet bridges for WAN and LAN. IOMMU is not necessarily a requirement for the Type 1 Hypervisor setup, as mine is working perfectly fine. I also have a bare metal pfSense installed on an HDD and one on an SSD just in case.
• A Nintendo Switch with an ethernet cable and a USB adapter or dock with an ethernet port.
• An internet connection. You can place the pfSense behind your internet service provider's gateway, or (for more advanced users) you can replace the ISP router (but probably not the modem) with the pfSense router.
• 50 mbps or higher download and upload speeds. If your internet is slower, this could still help, however you'll need to adjust the limiter and possibly could benefit from the Squid Proxy section.
• (Optional)
  • a PoE or non Poe wireless access point.
  • A (managed) smart switch or (unmanaged) dumb switch.

Steps:

• Install pfSense to a USB stick using Rufus.
• Install pfSense on your laptop or desktop (aka bare metal install) or through your hypervisor as a VM.
• Plug your non-pfSense computer into the pfSesne's LAN port. You can optionally plug your Modem/ONT/upstream router into the pfSense's WAN port. However I recommend not doing so yet.
• If you have a managed or unmanaged switch, now is a great time to plug it into the pfSense's LAN port and then plug your desktop into the switch.
• Alternatively, if you are using Virtual Machines, you can either plug another computer into your LAN ethernet port, or you can create another desktop environment and assign it the same LAN virtual bridge as the pfSense. Easy.
• Boot the pfSense and wait. While you are waiting, you should watch this video.
  • your home router SUCKS!! (use pfSense instead) - YouTube - however, don't use the Wizard to configure pfSense.
• Assign LAN interfaces in the pfSense's console UI.
  • You view the console's UI by plugging an HDMI cable into the pfSense box or through QEMU via proxmox.
• pfSense by default will assign your LAN interface IP address 192.168.1.1 & for convenience, please leave this IP address as-is.
• pfSense by default will assign you a DHCP WAN address, however, I recommend leaving your WAN port unplugged and not assigning a WAN address yet.
• Open your web browser and navigate to 192.168.1.1:80 (make sure your pfSense is powered on and has gone through the bootup sequence. Note that the system will hang for a while during the WAN configuration if your upstream modem/routeONT is not connected to the pfSense. pfSense didn't crash, it is just trying all of the different possible ways to auto-connect to the internet.)
• Log into the pfSense WebUI.
  • Username: admin
  • Password: pfsense
• pfSense will now try to take you through the setup wizard and prompt you to change the username in password. Don't do anything quite yet (unless you want my config file to overwrite your password with the defaults again). AlterNATively, if you choose to run the wizard, I have included partitions of my entire configuration file, which are the only parts of the entire configuration that matter. I have listed the names of the partial configuration files below and their purpose.
• Navigate to Diagnostics > Backup & Restore > Restore Backup
• Download my dropbox configuration files and unzip them.
  • If you want to assemble the configuration yourself, use the config files excluding config.xml.
• Under Restore Backup, leave the dropdown as all and choose the config.xml file.
• Click "Restore Configuration"
  • Sometimes you have to click it again.
• A dialogue will pop up, asking if you are sure you want to restore the configuration. Click OK.
• Let the system reboot. After it reboots, now you should configure your WAN settings. Edit: You will also need to reconfigure your LAN interface IP settings because my default LAN interface is a virtual interface. Yours should look something like "igb0" if you use an Intel network card: Introduction — Interface Naming Terminology pfSense Documentation (netgate.com)
  • Do you want to keep your ISP router? Plug your pfSense WAN into your gateway and play games through a double NAT.
  • AT&T fiber gateways (I have tested the BGW-210 and BGW-320) may be more friendly to double NAT setups and videogames, as the Nintendo Switch doesn't detect the double NAT.
  • If your Nintendo Switch does detect the double NAT, you may receive a NAT F score in the Nintendo's internet test. Your ISP router may have a bridge mode you can configure as well. AT&T fiber routers have IP passthrough for (nearly) true bridged mode, and it binds your public IP address to your pfSense's MAC address via DHCP. With this setup I prefer to set a Static WAN IP in pfSense, and create "allow" floating firewall rules on WAN for ports 67 & 68 (DHCP), as well as allow ICMP to the upstream gateway. This is considered more professional, and can prevent DHCP packets leaking from your pfSense, through the AT&T router and to the public internet.
  • If you use a Static, Public IP, you can simply assign it as a Static WAN IP.
  • For the record, I have no idea how to set up PPPoE or any other crazy ISP bridging requirements, such as with Satellite internet like Starlink. Just DHCP or Static WAN options.
• Let it reboot, plug your Nintendo Switch into the managed or unmanaged switch, or into the pfSense where your desktop is configured. (The LAN interface).
• To log back in you must navigate your browser to https://192.168.1.1:250
  • I used port 250 because it has no associated services.
• Play some Smash Ultimate!
• Don't forget to change the default username and password for security.
  • Additional security can be had by creating Certificates for the Webgui and replacing the default cert. It is a headache to say the least, especially if you want it to be signed by a third party: pfSense - How install an SSL/TLS Certificate - YouTube

Configuration files and their functions:

• Config.xml - This is the complete configuration file which includes all of the configuration files listed below integrated into the system.
• Aliases.xml - Lists Security Aliases for a decent firewall. These aliases themselves don't block these ports or IP addresses, but make it easier to create firewall rules which do.
  • Located under Firewall > Aliases
  • There is a single IP address list from CINS Army ( List Download - CINS Army ).
  • There is also a SANS TCP and UDP Port List for a complete SANS firewall audit ( FirewallChecklist.pdf (sans.org) ). I excluded blocks to ports 80, 443 and 123 because we will actually need those for gaming. Please note, that some game servers may also need port 445.
    • You can always look up the game server you are trying to connect to and see what ports are open. If they have it open, chances are you need it open too. I had a single Ark: Survival Evolved Server have port 445 open once, and any time I closed it on my end I would get booted from that server. None of the other servers needed it; only that one.
  • Additionally, I added the malicious ports listed on whatismyipaddress.com
• dhcp6 (disabled).xml - Since the Nintendo Switch doesn't use IPv6, I disabled the DHCP6 server, as well as router advertisements. Both are very chatty in system logs in a non-IPv6 environment. Please note that if you choose to not use the config.xml file, and you want to use this to quickly disable the DHCP6 server, you will also probably want to completely disable IPv6 in the pfSense advanced settings. System > Advanced > Uncheck Allow IPv6.
  • Located under Services > DHCPv6 Server & RA
• DNS Resolver.xml - This setup is made to work with Cloudflare anti-malware DNS servers with the DNS forwarding SSL/TLS options to 1.1.1.2 and 1.0.0.2. I couldn't build you guys a firewall in good conscience without actually trying to make it secure.
  • Located under Services > DNS Resolver
  • I also disabled WAN IPv6 Link-Local as well as LAN IPv6 Link-Local because of how chatty they are.
  • I disabled everything except WAN under "outgoing network interface binding."
  • I checked "Strict Outgoing Network Interface Binding" because it sounds secure. The feature was not in previous versions of pfSense. I have had issues with the DNS resolver being susceptible to hacks in the past and this aims to prevent those hacks in conjunction with the DNS resolver ACL. I have used it both on and off with NordVPN/OpenVPN through pfSense in the past and it didn't break anything, although you'd think it should.
  • I disabled DNSSEC support. Good luck getting this to work as a home user. The Nintendo Switch uses its own encrypted DNS anyways through Akamai.
  • I enabled DNS Query Forwarding and SSL/TLS.
    • Please note that if you choose to install this configuration file by yourself, instead of via the Config.xml file, you'll need to set up the DNS servers your pfSense will communicate with System > General Setup > DNS Server Settings.
  • I changed the Advanced DNS Parameter "Incoming TCP Buffers" to "0"
    • The SANS firewall audit recommends not allowing LAN devices to request TCP DNS connections. Most optimally, you should set a firewall rule to reject TCP requests from LAN devices in addition to this setting being set to zero.
  • I checked the Advanced Parameter "Disable the automatically added access control entries"
  • I added a DNS ACL which allows your LAN devices to query the DNS resolver.
  • I added a DNS ACL which refuses local-data queries from anything other than your LAN devices. This is to prevent creeps who work for your ISP from screwing with your DNS resolver when they are jealous you aren't using theirs.
• Firewall.xml - I've (mostly) optimized this firewall setup for security while using my Public Static IP block (no double NAT). Using this IP block I have no protection from my ISP (AT&T). These firewall rules probably won't hinder your user-experience. And may definitely keep your devices more secure.
  • Floating Rules:
  • Located under Firewall > Rules > Floating Rules (aka Unassociated Rules)
    • Added a Match Rule for the bufferbloat limiter. This match rule is required to reduce bufferbloat using the traffic limiter. NOTE: pfSense limiters absolutely require a firewall rule. "Matching" firewall rules like mine absolutely require the Quick option to be disabled per netgate instructions. ***"***The match action is unique to floating rules. A rule with the match action will not pass or block a packet, but only match it for purposes of assigning traffic to queues or limiters for traffic shaping. Match rules do not work with Quick enabled." - Firewall — Floating Rules pfSense Documentation (netgate.com). This can also be done with "Pass" firewall floating rules, or under the default LAN "allow all" firewall rule. How To Solve pfsense Bufferbloat With A CodelQ / FQ_Codel Limiter in 2.4.4 - YouTube However, I've already done the lifting and research for you.
    • Added a block rule for access to the WebUI over WAN (port 250 because there are no registered services on port 250)
    • Added CINS Army firewall block rules using the CINS Alias - "The CINS Army List is a subset of the CINS Active Threat Intelligence ruleset provided to our Sentinel IPS customers, and consists of IP addresses [whose] . . . recent Rogue Packet score factor is very poor." - List Download - CINS Army
    • Added SANS TCP and UDP block rules.
    • Added an RFC 1918 traffic exiting from WAN reject rule (enabled by default but you may need to disable it if you have a double NAT setup.) pfSense® software Configuration Recipes — Preventing RFC 1918 Traffic from Exiting a WAN Interface pfSense Documentation (netgate.com). This firewall rule can cause a lot of lag if you are using a double NAT setup because it blocks ICMP to your upstream router. ^{Too bad they don't have a "block all protocols except this protocol" protocol/port inversion feature.}
  • Added Ping rules for you to play with while optimizing your setup. All of them are disabled by default.
    • Block all except ICMP request and reply
    • Allow all ICMP request and reply
    • Allow all ICMP (because who cares)
  • Associated Rules (non-default):
    • Located under Firewall > Rules > WAN or LAN (aka Associated Rules)
    • WAN - Port Forwarding rule you can enable for an A-Type (Open) NAT to your Nintendo Switch. Disabled by default (Please read the description first. You must actually enable this rule under the Port Forwarding Menu for this Allow rule to function correctly.
    • LAN - Added an allow LAN to port 250 rule for HTTPS to the pfSense's WebUI (works in conjunction with disabling port 80 under advanced system settings). Deleted the default anti-lockout allow rule for port 80 and 443 to the pfSense Firewall. Left the default allow LAN to any rule.
    • LAN Policy Routing - Added an allow rule which allows LAN devices to communicate with the local DNS resolver via the LAN interface. Added a reject rule which prevents devices from going around your RouteDNS Resolver for DNS queries. If you'd like, you can also add Port Forwarding rules which intercept all DNS requests and queries from LAN devices and send them to either localhost (127.0.0.1) or the LAN interface. -- Not all devices are compatible with direct localhost communication. The Nintendo Switch, in particular, doesn't seem to be.
• Limiters.xml: The bread and butter of the whole operation. The traffic limiter which fixes lag in online gaming! This function is mentioned in Method 9 of my previous guide.
  • Limiter Settings are found under Firewall > Traffic Shaper > Limiters
  • NOTE: These limiters absolutely require a firewall rule. Matching firewall rules like mine absolutely require the Quick option to be disabled.
  • With this limiter I restricted the Download Bandwidth to 50mbps and Upload Bandwidth to 40mbps and I adjusted the CoDel and fq_codel parameters in accordance with this guide on limiting connections which use less than 100mbps: https://community.ui.com/questions/Best-Practices-for-Smart-Que-tuning-FQ-CoDel-on-and-ER-X/845b3bd4-676c-4b3e-be0e-2fb9abe97415
    • #FQ-Codel notesrecommended settings (as I see fit):target = default 5 ms For slow links , set to 5ms + max-MTU send duration This adds 13ms at BW=1Mbit and MTU=1500 Using HTB with multiple classes: Take into account reserved BW and ceiling, as they might be way lower than link speed On 10GigE, lower to 1msinterval = default 100 ms For slow links, set to MAX ( target+95ms , 10*target )Quantum = default 1514 Up to 100Mb/s , set to 300. This favors smaller packets in VOIP/Data mix For huge bandwidth (datacenter): setting to 4000 might capture entire single conversation in "new mode"Limit = 10240 default This is way too big , and wastes memory. set at 1000 for 1Gb , to 600 for 10Mb/sFlows = default 1024 Use defaultECN: Default enabled. Disable on upload for speed below 4Mb/sbtw: this is how target and interval are set by ubnt-defaultUsing UBNT SmartQueue at default settings, varying BW:256k limit 10240p flows 1024 quantum 1514 target 48.1ms interval 143.1ms ecn512k limit 10240p flows 1024 quantum 1514 target 24.1ms interval 119.1ms ecn1Mbit limit 10240p flows 1024 quantum 1514 target 12.3ms interval 107.3ms ecn2Mbit limit 10240p flows 1024 quantum 1514 target 6.2ms interval 101.2ms ecn4Mbit limit 10240p flows 1024 quantum 1514 target 5.0ms interval 100.0ms ecn8Mbit limit 10240p flows 1024 quantum 1514 target 5.0ms interval 100.0ms ecn50Mbit limit 10240p flows 1024 quantum 1514 target 5.0ms interval 100.0ms ecn
  • Set QMA to CoDel and AQM to fq_codel for created limiters WANUp, WANDown, WANUpQ and WANDownQ. All targets are set to 23ms, all intervals to 1ms, all quantum 300, all limit 1000 and all flows 1024. Had some issues with using the 600 quantum he mentioned above . So I set it to 1000.
    • 1st Edit: I may have misread what to set the interval at. Above it says to leave it at 100ms. I set up mine with a 1ms interval. I have been playing on it for about a week now and it is fine. An updated Limiter.xml with a 100ms interval for all of the settings was added to the patch 1.1 folder. Thanks!
  • My average ping is 13mbps but yours may be 40mbps on cable/dsl. If so, you may need to adjust the target parameters to your average ping + 5ms. I'd recommend changing both the limiter target parameter and the AQM parameter under the WANUP and WANDOWN limiter settings and the respective queues. Try a few rounds of smash first and see if it works for you!
  • Before you adjust your target parameter, first try increasing the Download and Upload limiter speeds slightly. On my fiber connection, it seems that my optimal download speed for these limiter settings is 70mbps download and 50mbps upload.
  • I set ECN notifications for Downloads only as recommended above. Turning it on for uploads seemed to cause some stutters in Smash Ultimate while using my Static Public IP block and pfSense as my border gateway, but not while I was using a Double NAT setup. Turning on ECN for uploads while using my AT&T router as my border gateway seemed to help a bit, but it is hard to know if it is your settings causing lag, or your opponents.
  • In the past I have also increased the Bucket size to 128 slots, up from the default 64. It seemed to have helped with stutters a bit.
• NAT.xml - While not the bread and butter of the setup, it is still equally as important as the limiter settings and match firewall rules.
  • I set automatic outbound NAT to manual outbound.
  • I checked the 192.168.1.1/24 static port option to give the Nintendo Switch a moderate or "B" NAT type. Without this setting enabled, you CAN play Smash Ultimate online, but you will have a D-Type NAT (Strict NAT) and it can take a very long time to find someone to play with: pfSense® software Configuration Recipes — Configuring pfSense Software for Online Gaming pfSense Documentation (netgate.com) & the Static Ports subsection of Network Address Translation — Outbound NAT pfSense Documentation (netgate.com)

Edit: Due to the nature of virtual machines, you may need to reassign your IP addresses to your interfaces after loading my config.xml file and assign them to the correct interfaces. My vm's interfaces are vtnet but yours will definitely be different unless you use virtual proxmox bridges. You can reset them with Option 2 from the console menu. Introduction — Interface Naming Terminology pfSense Documentation (netgate.com)
​
I hope you enjoy this experience once you get it set up and working. It is very much a functional, budget setup for those who don't feel like buying a gaming router. There are many other ways to customize the limiters such as with source or destination dynamic limiter masks (I still don't know how to use these, but they seem to be a legitimate way to automate optimizing the limiter settings.) If you have any suggestions to improve the setup for gaming + home security let me know! If you have other questions, I will answer them as I correct my grammar and formatting at my leisure.
I added all of the firewall options because internet downloads are inherently pretty sketchy, and I couldn't bare sharing a router configuration file without maxing out its security as much as possible. Please note, that this setup works and was tested on a virtual machine using one CPU core and 1 gigabyte of RAM. It hardly uses more than half a gigabyte of RAM, if ever.
Cheers.

Thought I'd come back on here to share another cool effect I've been working on for my website clarcproductions.com/portfolio. Not sure if anyone else has done this, but this effect causes images within a section to move and shift in response to mouse movement, giving the illusion of hovering, complemented by a corresponding shadow that enhances the 3D illusion. I came up with this idea for the effect when I started adding drone photos to my portfolio, hence the idea of hovering images. Whether you're a professional in drone real estate photography like me or just starting with Squarespace, this guide is for you! I'll walk you through how to add an eye-catching 3D hover effect to your images in Squarespace 7.1. This guide is beginner-friendly, and you'll need a Squarespace Business subscription or higher, as we'll be adding some custom code.
Step 1: Install the Squarespace ID Finder extension
To easily find the block and section IDs, you can use the Squarespace ID Finder extension for Google Chrome. You can download it here.
Step 2: Find your section and block IDs
Once you've installed the extension, go to your Squarespace site and find the section and block IDs for the images where you want to add the 3D hover effect. Click on the extension in your browser and the extension will show the IDs when you hover over different sections and blocks. You can also highlight the image and use 'Inspect Element' to find the ID, but using this extension makes it so much easier.
Step 3: Accessing code injection
Next, click on 'Settings' in the left-hand Home Menu. Within the settings menu, scroll down to 'Developer Tools' and then click on 'Code Injection'.
Step 4: Adding the custom code
In the 'Header' field of the code injection page, copy and paste the following code:

 Please replace '#section-id' and '#block-id' with your actual section and block IDs   

Step 5: Customize movement and appearance

const xAxis = (centerSection.x - (e.pageX - rectSection.left)) / 10; const yAxis = (centerSection.y - (e.pageY - rectSection.top)) / 10; const shadowXAxis = (centerSection.x - (e.pageX - rectSection.left)) / 20; const shadowYAxis = (centerSection.y - (e.pageY - rectSection.top)) / 20; 

By changing the values in these lines, you can increase or decrease the amount the images and shadows move.

x: rectSection.width / 2, y: -rectSection.height / 2, 

These lines of code define the center point around which the images move. By modifying these values, you can adjust the central position from which the images begin their movement. This particularly influences the initial direction and extent of the image movement when the mouse first enters the section.

block.style.boxShadow = `${-xAxis - shadowXAxis}px ${-yAxis - shadowYAxis}px 15px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3)`; 

You can adjust the parameters on this line of code to change the appearance of the shadow from the color to the blur radius.
Step 6: Save changes
Click 'Save' to ensure that your new code is stored and implemented.
And there you have it! Your real estate drone photography shots (or any other images!) now have a cool 3D hover effect. This will add a layer of sophistication and interactivity to your Squarespace site, regardless of your business type.
Let me know what other effects you'd want to see from me or if there is anything I should add to this effect to make it better. Would love to hear your thoughts!

I will be starting work at UCSF Parnassus Heights very soon and will be commuting from North Berkeley. My arrival time would be ~7:45 am and departure time ~5:15 pm, preferably. I don’t drive and am entirely dependent on public transportation and/or carpooling. I have looked into Scoop, Commute with Enterprise, Merge, [email protected], Lyft/Uber (way too $), BART, AC Transit, and Muni (+ N-Judah line). I am also aware of UCSF’s Commuter Benefits and Commute with Enterprise and MTC Vanpool Program Benefits.
I have also looked into several options that are now out of service, including Casual Carpool and every carpooling/ride-share app on the App Store.
For those who have/are currently doing this commute or a similar one, which has been most efficient (time and $$-wise) for you?
Also wondering if anyone is currently/will be doing this commute and is open to carpooling or commuting together? Would be nice to find a reliable group to travel with!

Have you ever had the experience of swearing you saw something at the edge of your vision, peering at you from around a corner before? I’m fairly sure a good chunk of people have, maybe even you reading this right now. Regardless of whether you’re in a crowded area such as a mall or school, or home by yourself, you’ve more than likely had that strange sensation of being watched, usually accompanied by a slight shiver down your spine. You’ll snap your head up from whatever it is you’re doing, or whoever you’re talking to. And nothing will be there. But, you always swear that, at the very edge of your vision, you saw something. A slight blur, as if something was there, but seemed to anticipate your move, and pulled back out of sight. I’m fairly certain most of you just end up shaking it off. You shake your head, telling yourself that nothing was there, and go back to what you were doing.
That’s a good thing. Because it’s what keeps you safe. It’s what keeps you alive.
Like many of you, for years, I always wrote seeing the slight blur at the edge of my sight off as a trick of my eyes. “Being so focused on one particular area that the rest of your vision goes fuzzy” as my mother once told me when I, as a child, told her I’d seen something at the doorway to my bedroom. And as I grew older, I simply took it as fact, the way every child takes their parent’s wisdom to heart. And once I became an adult, I simply waved it away completely.
That was, until one night.
You see, as a thirty-something year old bachelor who makes just above the line of adequate pay, I live by myself in a small, one bedroom apartment. It means having to live farther out from the city where I work, but I prefer living alone over not having to make the rather long drive to and from work every day. And, because my free time during the day is close to zero, I also am a bit of a night owl. This particular night, about three and a half weeks ago, I was up late, sitting at my kitchen table with my laptop out in front of me. I was surfing the net, looking for good deals on EBay for a new DVD/VCR combo since my old one broke, when the feeling came over me. The small, but noticeable shiver shot up my spine, and at the upper edge of my vision, just below where my hair began to drift into my eyes, I saw it.
It was a black and silver blur. At least, that’s what it looked like to me. I lifted my head quickly, looking towards the corner I’d seen it. My kitchen is in the back of the apartment, and where the table is set up, I was looking back out into the living room. The bedroom also sits next to the kitchen, and the wall separating the two stretches out a bit, causing a rather large blind spot from where I sat. Of course, when I looked up, there was nothing there. For a few more seconds, I simply sat, staring at the corner. Nothing moved. There was no sound except for the quiet whine of my laptop’s fan, and the hum of the fridge. I snorted. Really, Eddie? You’re jumping at shadowy blurs now? What are you, eight years old again? And with a shake of my head, I went back to the computer screen.
The hours seemed to pass by at an accelerated pace, and to my surprise, when I checked the clock at the bottom right of my laptop screen, the time said quarter to three in the morning. “Holy crap, I stayed up too friggin’ late!” I whispered to myself. I’d barely be getting four or five hours of sleep. And so, with a yawn, I shut my computer down and put it back into its carrying bag. As I stood up, though, a slight feeling of apprehension wiggled its way to the forefront of my mind. I lifted my head from zipping up the bag and again stared at the corner. This time there was nothing there. No blur at all. Recalling what my mother had told me years ago, I stood up and slowly stepped into the center of the kitchen, where I could see around the corner. I felt a small pang of embarrassment at the relief that washed over me as I saw nothing was there.
“What next, you gonna start believing in the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus again?” I muttered to myself. And with that, I entered my bedroom, shutting the door behind me and climbing into bed. For a moment, the image of the blur danced behind my eyelids. And then the sandman overtook me, plunging me into a deep and dreamless sleep.
The next day passed by like I was wading through quicksand. Of course, it likely had to do with how tired I was. But I got through the day, and soon enough, I was back home. This time, I resolved to get to bed before midnight. One AM at the latest. So I didn’t go on my computer. Instead, I watched some TV, and indulged myself in a few online matches in Battlefield 1. Soon enough, the clock sitting next to the TV displayed 12:35 in big red numbers. Alright, time for bed, I thought, and stood up, shutting off the TV and Xbox. I decided that I would get myself a drink before bed, and moved to the fridge. Opening it, I pulled a pitcher of juice out, and grabbing a glass from a nearby cabinet, poured myself some. The cold liquid felt good sliding down my throat, and I let out a relieved sigh. For a moment, I closed my eyes. Apart from the sound of a diesel truck passing by outside, and the ticking of the clock over the sink, all was silent. And I loved it. I placed the glass in the sink to wash tomorrow, and turned to take the pitcher back to the fridge.
And nearly dropped it at what I saw. As I turned around, I had a clear view across the kitchen and living room toward the small alcove where my front door sat. And for just a second, I saw the same black and silver blur, pulling back out of sight from the edge of my vision. Except this time, I know it wasn’t just a trick of my vision, or a strand of hair flashing in front of my face. “Hey!” I reflexively yelled out. I didn’t expect any response, and I didn’t get any. But now I knew for certain. There was something, or someone there. I felt my pulse rapidly quicken, and my heart began to beat like a drum against my chest. Fucking great, did someone decide to break in and try to burgle my apartment, of all places tonight? I looked around quickly for something to defend myself. My eyes fell upon the block holding all my kitchen knives, and moving quickly, I pulled the largest one out and turned back towards the entryway.
There was no movement now, but I noticed a change in the atmosphere. Gone was the simple, vacant air the apartment always held. Now, it seemed to contain a charge to it. As if seeing the figure had been something they hadn’t planned on. As if I weren’t supposed to have seen it. Probably figured I’d already be in bed. Well, they have a massive surprise coming their way. I cleared my throat. “You back there” I called out simply. Again, there was no reply. I spoke again. “Look, I saw you there peeking around the corner of the entryway. The jig is up. I don’t want a fight right now, so, I’ll make you a deal. If you turn around right now and leave, I won’t call the cops on you, and I won’t come at you with this knife. Just, go find someone else to rob, okay?”
Still, there was silence. But the tension in the room seemed to have racked up more than a few notches at my words. I waited for a minute, feeling my temper begin to flare. Does the dumbass seriously believe that if he stays quiet, I’ll believe he’s not there and go to bed or something? It wouldn’t be a surprise; the people who usually broke into houses and apartments in my neighborhood were usually strung out on the drug of choice for the week, or, in all truthfulness, simply not that bright. I let out an annoyed growl. “If I have to come over there to get, it’s not gonna end well for you” I said. At six feet even, and in good shape, I could easily take on whoever it was.
The silence was almost deafening. Okay, the hell with this, man. I strode quickly across the room, the knife held out in front of me in a vice like grip. I stopped for a moment, drawing in all my strength and reflexes. For a moment, though, an odd sensation seemed to wash over me like a wave. To my surprise, it was a bolt of fear. But, fear of what? Yes, it was a bit dangerous to about to confront a cornered intruder, but fear shouldn’t be one of the experienced emotions. Shaking it away, I put all the muscle into my legs, and leapt around the corner.
There was nobody there.
For a moment, I simply stood there, feeling dumbfounded. “Uhhh….what?” I blurted out. I knew for a fact I’d seen someone there. It hadn’t been a trick of my eyes. And I hadn’t heard the front door open. In fact, looking down at it now, I saw the little knob on the door handle was, in fact, twisted into the locked position. As I stared down at it, a sudden, huge shiver rushed up my spine, combined with the feeling of being stared at intensely. In fact, it almost felt as though whoever were doing the staring, were almost directly behind me-shit!
On instinct, I whirled around, slashing out with the knife as hard as I could. But again, there was nothing. No one stood behind me. The oddest thing, though, was that as soon as I spun around, the feeling of eyes boring into the back of my skull ceased. As if the watcher had simply blinked out of existence the moment I turned. But the tension in the apartment didn’t go away. In fact, it almost seemed to intensify. And it kept me on edge. Enough to the point that I searched the entire apartment. I went into the bathroom, drawing back the shower curtain. I went into my bedroom and opened up the sliding doors to the closet. I even opened up both closets in the living room, pulling out all the coats and boxes someone could hide behind. But I found nothing. No trace of anybody. Even still, though, when I went to bed, I locked the door to my bedroom behind me, just in case. And I slept with the knife on my bedside table.
The next morning, when I awoke, the feeling had vanished from the apartment. It was almost as if the daylight had banished the tension filled aura away, and I was glad for it. Along with the fact that I had a full day of work ahead of me. And so, with a final look around, I locked the front door behind me, climbed into my old, but well taken care of Mitsubishi Starion, and made the two and a half hour drive into the city for work. The day passed by without much fuss, aside from a mandatory team meeting my dickhead boss decided to impose on us during our lunch break. The monotony calmed me down somewhat, and I began to mentally tease myself for how bent out of shape I’d gotten last night. I even decided to tell some of the guys at the water cooler about it.
Everyone, of course, had a good laugh over it. “Well, Ed, if I ever need someone to slice away at the dark emptiness of my house, I’ll be sure to give you a call!” Mark, one of my coworkers joked, causing everyone, including myself, to guffaw some more. The joking shoved it completely out of my mind, and before I knew it, the evening had arrived. I packed up my belongings back into the car and made the journey back home, still chuckling a bit to myself and humming along to the songs playing on the car’s radio. As I pulled into my apartment building’s parking lot and into my space at close to ten at night, however, I saw something which tore away that relaxed, relieved emotion from me like it’d been a loved one in the grip of a tsunami.
My complex is set up in a U formation with two floors, sort of similar to how an older built motel looks. My apartment was the second one on the top floor, and from where I sat in my car, I could look up and see the living room window of my place between the slats of the walkway’s railing. As I always did, when I left, I’d twisted shut the white venetian blinds so nobody walking past the window could look into my place.
Someone was peering down at me from between the blinds. From between my blinds.
I felt my blood turn to ice as I saw the obvious parting in the middle of them, signifying someone was pulling down on a section of them. And then doubly so when they, just as quickly, snapped back into position. Shitttt, I mentally hissed. I fumbled around in my coat pockets, looking for my cell phone. I let out a groan as I suddenly realized I’d forgotten it when I’d left home that morning. Which meant it was up there. With them. “Shit” I hissed again, out loud this time. I gazed around for a moment at the darkened windows of the other units. But I knew none of my neighbors would be of any help to me. Long gone were the days of neighbors looking out for each other; they would, inevitably, tell me to either find a way to call the cops myself, or straight up tell me to go fuck myself, that it wasn’t their problem. Which, unless I wanted to drive straight to my local police station, over twenty minutes away, the only other option was…to go in myself.
Hissing through gritted teeth, I pulled the door handle and kicked the door open, letting the chilly night air flood into the car’s interior. I reached down and yanked on the trunk release before climbing out and slamming the door. Crossing to it, I pulled the glass hatch up and fumbled around inside for a moment, before withdrawing a tire iron from the mess of crap cluttering up the trunk. Slamming the hatch closed, I took a deep breath, then, leaving my car’s engine running in case I needed to make a quick getaway, I took the stairs to the top floor two at a time. A moment later, I was standing at the head of the landing, staring at the Tweety-Bird yellow painted door of my apartment. My heart pounded in my chest as I took a step forward, reaching out slowly and gripping the handle in one hand. I gave it a small twist to see if it would turn.
But it stayed in place, showing that the door was still locked. Or, whoever’s in there locked it behind them. Swallowing a bit, I reached into my pants pocket for my house keys with my free hand. Pulling them out, I slid them as quietly as possible into the lock in the center of the doorknob. I took a deep breath, knowing as soon as I twisted the key, the doorknob would turn with it as well. “God, please don’t let me get jumped as soon as I step inside” I quietly whispered towards the dark sky. I let out the deep breath, then raised the tire iron over my head and twisted the key.
The knob turned, and I immediately pushed the door open. It swung inwards, before hitting the wall with a soft clunk. The porch light cast a long, narrow shaft of light into the dark room beyond, reflecting off my flat screen TV on the far side of the living room. Aside from that, though, the place was as dark and silent as a tomb. My pulse quickened as I slowly reached inside, my hand searching for the light switch. Part of my feared that, as I blindly searched, I’d suddenly feel a vice like grip seize my wrist and pull me into the dark. The mental image sent a shiver of fear through me, just as my fingers found the plastic switch. Flicking it on, the living room suddenly became awash in the bright overhead light. Still holding the tire iron over my head, I took a tentative step inside. The atmosphere in here had changed again. Gone was the tense one which had accompanied seeing…whoever the other night. In its place was….an almost threatening one. And realizing it set me even farther on edge.
Moving quickly, I leaned around the corner, giving me a glimpse of the kitchen beyond. Both it, and the living room were empty, from initial appearances, anyways. But that still left the bathroom, and the kitchen. Something caught my eye, however, which filled me with relief. My cell phone still sat where I’d left it, in the middle of the living room coffee table. I moved slowly, trying to stay as quiet as possible so whoever was hidden wouldn’t realize I was going for my phone and bum rush me. I held my breath as I passed by the half open doors of both my bathroom and bedroom, stepping around the couch and picking up my phone. I decided right there and then, that I’d step back outside and call the cops. There was a fine line between being courageous, and being suicidally stupid, and searching this place on my own, with just a tire iron to defend myself, especially knowing someone was hiding somewhere in here, was firmly on the latter side of that line.
I turned to begin walking quickly back to the open front door. But something stopped me. Something which made me freeze. There was a small section of eggshell white wall between the door to one of my closets, and the bathroom door. Something had been written there. No, not written, I realized. It had been scratched into the wall. My eyes flashed over the three words etched into the paint and plaster. Videre nos potest. My head swam with confusion, trying to place what language it was. That was when I felt my heart almost stop in my chest, my breath along with it.
Out of the left corner of my vision, I saw the door to my bedroom had slowly, but noticeably swung open a bit. That wasn’t what had caused my heart to skip a beat, though. It was seeing the black and silver blur again. Ohhhhh, shit. Before the thought had finished in my head, I was dashing for the door. Out of the corner of my vision, there was a sudden blur of movement as the black and silver figure came flying out of the room. It never made a sound, though. I dodged it, somehow, and flew around the corner, snatching the doorknob in my free hand and yanking the door shut behind me. Twisting the keys to the right to lock the door again, I tore them from the lock and thundered back down the stairs, yanking the door to my car open and crashing into the driver’s seat. Slamming the door shut and locking it, I dropped the tire iron and fumbled with my phone.
As the voice of the emergency dispatcher came on the other end of the line, and I stumbled through explaining what had happened, I kept my gaze locked through the windshield on the front door and the living room window. I swear I saw the blinds part again as I heard the wail of the police sirens approaching.
When the police arrived, I jumped out of my car and quickly explained what had happened. They took my house keys from me and with their pistols drawn, climbed quickly up the steps to my place. With neighbors opening their doors and parting their blinds to see what was happening, they unlocked the door and quickly entered. A few minutes later, they both reappeared and waved for me to come up and join them. “I’m sorry sir, but whoever it was, they’re gone” one of them said to me. He then showed me that the window in the back of the apartment, which was in the back of the kitchen and opened out onto a main road, had been opened, the mosquito screen having been cut to allow someone to jump out. I stared out and down at the two story drop. It would hurt to jump from this height, but it’s doable, I thought. The cops again did a sweep of the apartment, turning the entire place upside down with me there, and again, found no one. They both promised to stay the night outside, to keep an eye on the place in case the person attempted to try and come back, and would make sure an officer was posted outside for the next week or so. It made me feel more than a bit better.
“What about the writing scratched into the wall?” I asked them, pointing to it. The first officer shrugged. “I honestly don’t know, sir” he said, giving me an apologetic look, “That’s a language I’ve never seen before” That’s when the second spoke up. “It’s Latin” he said simply. We both looked at him. He was staring at the writing with a bit of a confused, if not apprehensive look on his face. “But what freaking low level criminal knows Latin?” he murmured quietly, more to himself than us. “Well, what does it say?” I asked him. For a few seconds, he didn’t answer, then he finally turned and looked at me.
“He can see us. That’s, roughly, what it says”
I felt a massive chill shoot up my spine at his words, though I couldn’t understand why. Not at the time.
As promised, the officers watched over the apartment the rest of the night. And for the next week, there was always at least one cop car sitting outside. It was also, thankfully, quiet that next week. I was almost able to feel completely calm, putting the frightening experience out of my mind and allowing my life to regain a bit of normalcy. I didn’t feel any sensation of being watched. One thing I did do, though, was type the Latin words into Google, in an attempt to see if anything came up. But nothing did. I decided to push the last remnants out of my conscious mind. And as the weekend came, I looked forward to sitting on the couch, playing video games all night, and having a bottle of Hypnotiq to myself. Saturday night, I played until almost one in the morning, before stumbling my drunk ass to the bed. I passed out almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.
I’m honestly not sure what woke me up. But when I slid my eyes open, it was still to darkness. I felt my head begin to spin, showing that I wasn’t fully sober yet. I shot a look at the bright red glowing numbers of the clock on the bedside table next to my head. 3:30AM. Ugh, what the hell? Do I have to piss? What woke me u-
Everything stopped. My mind froze mid-thought, and my heart fluttered in my chest. My breath hitched in my chest as my eyes adjusted to the dark, staring across the room. I was looking at my bedroom closet, which, when I’d fallen asleep, I’d looked over and seen it closed. But now, as I stared, I realized the sliding right door had been pulled back some. A chill ran through me. And then it was replaced by a bone chilling shiver of fear as my eyes locked on to something else. Something which stared at me from around the edge of the half open closet door.
It was the black and silver blur. Except this time, it wasn’t a full on blur. I’m not sure whether it was the darkness or the alcohol still flowing through my veins, but…I could see it a bit more clearly now. I couldn’t see much. Just what looked like two large, very dark eyes, glaring at me. I felt frozen in place, fear quite literally paralyzing me to the bed. As I lay there, my eyes widened to the size of saucers, I slowly became aware of something else. Something which I’ll never forget, which I can still hear in the silence. It was whispering. It was a soft, hissing voice, sounding as grating as sandpaper, but it almost seemed to be growing in intensity. As if it knew I was awake and was staring at it. And it was not even remotely happy about it. The words were indistinguishable at first, but as the voice grew louder, the words became clear. But they weren’t words I knew. Or a language I knew.
“Tolle qui nos videre potest. Tolle qui nos videre potest. Tolle…qui nos videre potest!” I recognized some of the words as the same as the words written on my wall. It was speaking in Latin. The voice grew angrier and angrier, turning from a hiss into almost a demonic growl. And then, it went deadly silent. It almost seemed as though the entire world had gone dead silent, as if everything were being sucked out of the world.
That’s when I saw the hand reach up from underneath the bed to grab onto the sheets, less than a foot from my face. A hand which more resembled a claw, tipped with five razor sharp fingernails. There’s more than one….and it’s under my fucking bed!
Seeing that hand…that claw reaching up from under the bed broke the paralyzing hold that had come over me. I flew up in bed, flinging the sheets up and forwards and letting out an involuntary scream. Instantly, there seemed to be a world of motion in the bedroom. Black and silver blurs seemed to appear from everywhere. From the closet, from under the bed. Even from inside my armoire I used to store candy, books and CDs. And they were all coming for me.
But I was already moving, practically flying for my open bedroom door. Behind me, I caught the blurs following after me. They were terrifyingly fast, but they stayed silent. Silent, that is, except for the mantra they all suddenly began to angrily whisper. The same words I’d heard the one in the closet angrily hiss. “Tolle qui nos videre potest!” they chanted, just loud enough for me to hear. But not enough for anyone else in the complex to. I ran through the bedroom door, grabbing it and slamming it shut behind me. A moment later, I felt the push from the other side as whatever the things were attempted to force it open. Looking around, I spied a kitchen chair within reach and grabbed it, forcing it under the handle to block the door.
I knew it wouldn’t hold for long, though. I could hear the creatures practically throwing themselves at the door. I used the time I had to grab my computer bag, along with the clothes I’d left strewn on my living room floor and my cell phone. I’d just snatched my car keys from their hook, when I realized they’d gone silent. The assault on the door stopped. For a split second, I felt a wave of relief. And then I saw something out of the corner of my eye from the kitchen. My blood turned to ice as I realized the cabinet doors under the sink were beginning to open. And that demonic growl of a mantra was beginning to pour out from under it. So was my bathroom door. And both closets. “Oh, fuck me” I whimpered, then dashed for my door, snatching up my sneakers as they rushed out from their new hidey holes.
I unlocked and threw the door open, dashing out into the night and yanking it shut behind me. Bolting down the steps, I jammed the key into the door of my car and unlocked it. I piled into the driver’s seat and yanked the door shut, slamming down on the lock button. Forcing the key into the ignition and twisting it, the engine roared to life. I knew I should simply call the cops, but I knew at this point, if I did, when they arrived, they’d all have disappeared. Maybe even make it look like another person had jumped out the window again They're THAT smart. Instead, I jammed the shifter into reverse and peeled out of the parking lot. As I left, I saw the blinds part again. As they watched me go.
I haven’t been back to my apartment in weeks. I drove all through the night, fighting back the waves of nausea from the alcohol still in my system until I made it to the city where I work. I rented a motel room, and ever since then, I’ve been staying there. I figured I could just eventually have movers go and collect my things from the apartment, and give my thirty day notice. There was no way I was ever going back there.
I thought I would be safe in the city. I thought I would be safe anywhere else but my apartment. That they were bound to the place.
I was wrong. So very wrong.
Because I’ve started seeing them everywhere now. I’ve seen them while out in crowded places such as the mall or Wal-Mart. I’ve seen them in my coworker’s houses when I’m invited over by them as they tell me they’re concerned about how I’m beginning to act. I’m even seeing them at work. Peering at me from around the corners of hallways, from behind the water cooler. I’ve even caught them glaring at me from around the corner of my office cubicle. They whisper that horrible Latin mantra to themselves, now added with evil chuckles. And whisper it to me. I ended up entering the phrase into Google Translate, to understand what they were saying. But wish I never had. Because knowing meaning of the words fills me with an existential dread and terror I’ve never felt before.
Take away he who can see us
You need to listen to me now. You, reading this account I’m posting. I don’t know what these creatures are. I wish I did, because then, I might have some way of fighting back against them. I don’t even know what they fully look like. I’ve only seen their eyes. And their clawed hands. The only thing I can deduce, is that they are incalculably old. Centuries old. Maybe even eons. I now understand that those blurs I saw all throughout my life, from the corner of my vision, were them. They’ve lived alongside us for all of humanity’s existence, staying just out of sight. They like it that way. They don’t like us humans knowing about them.
But I know others, not just myself, have likely seen them.
How many strange cases of people disappearing in their homes, with all the doors and windows locked from the inside have you heard about. I know I’ve heard more than a few. And I think I know what happened to them. They saw these creatures. And when they realized the people could see them? They came for them. They wore them down, mentally and physically. Like they’re doing to me now. I’m afraid to fall asleep. Afraid I’ll wake up to see them right in front of me. I feel so weak now. I couldn’t fight them off if I tried. They know that. They knew that about the others. And that’s when they dragged them away….to God only knows where.
I know I'm going to find out soon enough.
Because all of today, they’ve been getting closer. I caught one trying to grab my leg under my desk. That wasn’t the scariest encounter I’ve had. The worst was driving back to the motel. Looking in the rear view mirror of my Starion. And seeing one of them glaring at me from just behind the rear seat. It caused me to nearly crash into a telephone pole. I’ve locked myself in my motel room, which is where I’m writing this. I don’t have much time left. They’re beginning to poke their heads out from everywhere in here. Multiple have popped their heads up from under the bed, watching me frantically typing this out on my laptop. And they’re all laughing at me. Today is when they're going to take me. They know I know that. I can’t do anything more now. I can’t run from them anymore. I’m too tired. Too weak.
But I can do one final thing. I can warn you. I can post this account here as a warning. I know for a fact most of you won’t believe me. And that’s fine. It may even be what saves you in the end.
But please, listen to me when I say this. If you ever think you see something peering at you from around a corner? If you ever catch a glimpse of a black and silver blur disappearing just out of sight? Don’t investigate it. Just ignore it. Tell yourself it’s nothing, and go about with your lives.
Because you don’t ever want them to realize you can see them.

While a VPN can hide our IP address, our GPS location can still be detected, since a VPN doesn't provide GPS emulation. I came across some streaming sites that tracked my location via GPS, particularly, YouTube TV, and it required me to use GPS emulation software to spoof my location. I did a little research and thought I should make and share a list of possible location tracking and spoofing methods.

• IP tracking. The most popular tracking method, easily bypassed using a VPN. I'm sure you're all aware of this one, so I'm not going to get any deeper into it.
• GPS tracking. So some apps, particularly region-locked streaming or dating apps will require you to enable the GPS/location services on your device. The region locking can be bypassed using GPS emulation apps, such as Fake GPS, Location changer, or GPS emulator on iOS and Android. You can use the same apps on Windows and macOS, however, Chromium browsers also have built-in location spoofing options.
• Time zone tracking. So far I've only noticed it with a couple of streaming websites, but basically, it traces your device's location based on the time zone settings. It is bypassed easily by changing your device's time zone in the settings.
• Cookies. A surprising amount of your data (including your location) can be stored in cookies. Especially if you have accessed a website without hiding your real location, the website could use the cookies to track your location the next time you visit the website. Always make sure to regularly clear your browser's cache and opt out of unnecessary cookies. I personally use a browser add-on, called "Cookie AutoDelete", it makes my life a lot easier by deleting cookies upon exiting a website.

I'm not going to get into RFID or Wi-Fi tracking, as it is not really used by websites or regular consumer apps. If you have encountered any other location tracking methods, please share!

Height: 5'3"
Weight: 130-140 lbs
Sleep Style: Side (mostly), back (sometimes)
This is my first time hunting for a new mattress. I went to the Purple store and ended up getting the Purple Restore in Firm, but I find that this mattress is too squishy for me and I wake up with muscle strain in my lower back. I am planning on returning it ASAP
Another mattress I've been looking at is the Bear Elite Hybrid in Firm, but I'm wondering if it would be too firm for me because of my weight? I don't want anything super rock hard, but I hate that the Purple mattress sinks unevenly depending on how I lay down (if that makes sense). Or I'm wondering if I should just avoid foam mattresses in general, any advice would be appreciated :)
Edit: I don't have any concerns about sleeping hot, but I would like something that will last a while since I spend a lot of time being comfy!

It was a day like any other. Delvers fought and harvested, mana flowed in, expansions were made and threats were no longer present since Deepholm was eliminated, and life was peaceful as little changed. The only thing differentiating it in any way was the inspection scheduled, yet even that was a common occurrence, with the unusual types of upgrades and expansions that Caldera made. However, as is usual for Caldera, any occurrence she calls normal or positive turns into something unexpected very quickly
​
And so it was that Lydia entered her territory, communication stone in hand, and started her exploration of the dungeon, killing creatures among the way and being shown the novelties that were added. Being larger than previously, Lydia ended up deciding to explore Caldera in two phases, making a stop at the bath house to regenerate from her wounds. And this is where the unusualness begins. While she is undressing to relax in the bath, Caldera decided to look over in that (un?-)fortunate moment, her gaze drifting as she was lost in day dreams, at least until she accidentally stumbled upon the inspector that just got done using the artificial hot spring, stretching her toned body in the sun, the droplets glistering as they slowly wandered across her abs, just like caldera's stare, one that she noticed too late to stop before it occurred. Her flustered mind quickly directed her looks somewhere, literally anywhere else, trying to distract herself from this breach of privacy and so deciding to drill emmet with questions she randomly made up. the alchemical scion was only too happy to comply, not noticing the emotions shared through their bond or simply feigning ignorance, only to surprise her by asking what cheese is and why it could be grated on Lydia's abs, being prevented from asking any further questions that could embarrass her master by said master making their quick escape to bother someone else.
​
The inspector meanwhile got ready to continue her delving, and so made her way to beat up the sexy rabbit men, who were currently busy covering themselves in oil, posing, wrestling with each other and doing other things that served no practical purpose before Lydia arrived. She observing the scene with an unreadable gaze before talking into the stone, stating that the bunnies seem to be ready to make an enclave, despite the clear lack of intelligence that is usually required, as well that they somehow have procured Oil, despite no apparent access to plants with a high fat content nor any form of press machinery. She also noticed and told the stone how there appears to be a crowd of various people watching the bunnies, probably collecting information and waiting for the best moment to engage. With the note sent, she decided to indulge the posing and imposing rabbits as well as the crowd by charging in head first rather than being careful, feeling familiar with the way these brutes worked and trusting that Caldera would not allow any serious harm befall her. Expecting a more or less easy fight, she was surprised as any attempt to grab one of the bunnies or strike at them with her weapon just ended with them moving with the strike or grabbing movement, both her hands and weapons slipping over their bodies rather than inflicting any serious harm. The fight which she expected to last only 5 minutes at worst thus got prolonged, with Lydia making a mental note that these Rabbits have learned from her fight with Jackie, thus proving the capability to learn more than just the most rudimentary of functions as well as that she once again underestimated the dungeon, which has disguised yet another massive change as something one might dismiss as inconsequential.
​
Unable to truly harm one another in a fight ending way, the battle instead went on for a minute, then ten, and simply continued as the two opposing parties tried to win via attrition, or rather, one of them did while the other simply launched itself against their enemy, prompting said enemy to simply dodge out of the way unable to attack any fallen bunnies to exploit their prone positions when they fell due to the other ones rushing at her, with both sides too stubborn or maybe brain dead to end the fight by running away or calling backup, their pride as fighters on the line that even death wound not be a price too much to pay to preserve.
​
While the two parties battled, the mass of people from earlier now started to increase as a lot more people now wanted to observe the spectacle, the cheers from the crowd only serving as further fuel to the ego of the participants of which eventually Caldera took part of too, having mostly forgotten the incident from before by conversing with Giorno, who dutifully distracted his Don by explaining the details of army composition to her, which she listened to with a thanks. Having come fearing the worst as usually can be expected from her brawler bunnies, she instead was greeted by a crowd of raunchy and cheering parties and what looked like a battle between the buns and Lydia. even more surprising, she noticed them as well as her cru- the inspector covered in Oil and sweat too, likely from the times where a bunny hit or she tackled or tried to grab one, the reasoning coming to her later when she received a recap of the fight by Alexa. her wondering of when they even acquired oil was quickly washed away as she noticed that what the fighters were doing was actually something found in the media she often consumed in her alone time while she was still human, embarrassment mixed with the realization that the scions were not the only ones able to seek information from their Dungeon, with an even more growing feeling of horror appearing at the thoughts of what else her denizens would try from the rich store of forbidden knowledge that was her brain. What if they adopted a certain style dictated by striped thigh-highs? Or even worse, _capitalism_ and ***middle management!?***
​
Breaking out of her unholy thoughts, she realized that the fight was finally won by the inspector, the bunnies not having a way to sweat to relieve themselves of the high temperature, thus dropping in exhaustion as their body was continuously exposed to ever increasing amount of heat, yielding their loss. and there, over the pile of exhausted brawlers stood Lydia, her body glistering from the sun, crowd cheering and hair blowing in the wind. There was nothing more cool than this, and if dungeons could die from blood loss then Caldera would have when the inspector noticed her presence and gave her a wink. Prompted to once agayn bravely charge into battle backwards, Our surprisingly-down-bad-for-a-dungeon heroine decides to look at the sky instead as a distraction, finding herself seeing Lydia in the forms that the skies formed. Unable to make a tactical retreat, she gave up and decided to watch her Idol from a distance, hoping that she would not be noticed following her. "Nope, not creepy at all. This is my home and it is okay to watch what is happening in it" were the thoughts as she followed the Inspector doing her work, who always had a stern look on her face as she did her duties, leaving the scions wondering why she still remained an emerald when a ruby would be more fitting to represent her physical manifestation.
​
at last most of the inspection was over and Lydia called upon Jackie in a request to inspect the dungeon core as procedure demanded of her to do if possible, and Caldera had to come out of the questionably secret hiding spot of far away to answer, the answer as usual being yes. Leading her to the core, the dungeon trusting the inspector enough to not post up any guards while at her most vulnerable, the inspection of the core too started as usual too with Lydia focusing on the core's parameters and Caldera trying to and still failing to not look at Lydia, though this time she held back far less than she usually would due to the former experiences. looking into her eyes, she felt like she fell into them like she would into a black hole in the night sky, a force of nature as inescapable as it is beautiful, the rings of color around it being an amalgam of all the matter that collected around it for over millions of years, glowing brighter than even the stars which dotted the background with a faint blue spread throughout, all of them coalescing into a single piece of beautiful imagery as deep as the cosmos, stretching for infinity despite the small confines in which it had to be placed, the slow hypnotizing movement of it all leaving her entrapped and completely lost without any conscious thought being able to form as she stared into the abyss and the abyss stared back.
​
it took her far too long than she'd like to admit, but eventually after what felt like an eternity Caldera noticed that the staring back part was more literal than she thought it could be, for Lydia was looking directly at her, a wide grin on her face. The thoughts stopping in an instant before starting to race, an attempt was made to talk herself out of the situation that formed. "You, umm, you've got interesting eyes" shit, that was just an admission that she actually was staring at them.
"Oh, you think so?" came the reply from Lydia. "Well, I hope they are as interesting as the rest of my body is, considering how intensely you've been staring at it throughout the day." Fuck. A laugh escaped her beautiful, soft lips which she sadly covered up soon with her hand before speaking again, the grin growing more mischievous. Was it that bad? "You know, it is kinda hard to ignore it when it feels like your vision is licking me all over" okay, it is that bad. in a panic, I try reaching out to Giorno, Jackie or anybody else who might be close, just to find them all too far to respond immediately. shit shit shit, I am on my own, what do I do now? I found myself left word or metaphorically-breath-less as this devilish angel in front of me moved closer, gay panic crossing past peaks by the moments, every second a new height as she said in a hushed voice "you know, you could always just have asked me".
​
All thoughts coming to a stop, I feel like my eyes are about to pop out of my metaphysical head as she unfastens her armour somewhat, taking her sweet time to loosen the belts, letting the protective equipment show part of her midriff as well as the inner sideboob. As she finishes up the teasing display, she starts to stretch in the very same way she did in the safe zone, and poses a bit like the bunnies did, all the while I simply keep staring at the show in front of me, not able to say a thing while half my brain cheered and the other one was panicking, though the cheering part is louder.
​
Watching her showing herself this way specifically for me, I cannot help but drift my gaze upon her soft lips formed into a pleasing, teasing grin, something that did not go unnoticed by her. "when you're not focused on my eyes or body, this is what you mainly look at. So, would you like to feel them?" for yet another time this day, my thoughts froze and ran rabid at the same time, unable to keep up with the information my brain was supposed to process as I watched her move closer yet again, her soft, beautiful lips being licked slowly by her tongue as she visibly prepared to do something with them. wait, wait, I am not prepared, I'm not mentally ready! There's no heads up, I did not even brush my teeth! Can I really let my first time be like this when -
​
all thoughts were silenced when her lips met my core, a blue-green-golden glow forming between them and my core as an electrifying feeling swept across me from the glowing point, the lingering taste of aether still on me as well as a feeling akin to a shiver that runs up one's body as a tingling reminder of what just happened. Letting out a soft giggle, Lydia gave me a smile, this one filled with warmth rather than mischievous intent "you know, of all the things I expected, giving my first kiss do a dungeon was not one of them" I simply sat there for a moment, stunned before bursting out in a WOOOOHOOOO! Not even caring about what happened in the past nor thinking about the future, I just partied at the whole scenario that just played out, before the feeling of her finger on the emerald grounded me once again. slowly running the finger in circles, she makes my legs melt with that one simple motion, as she dreams "now that you've gotten a kiss, we can except even more in the future, can we not?" leaving me once again as a stammering mess all at her command. My core sat there with my presence, she slowly stood up, saying those dreaded words "I'm afraid for now I have to leave - there are duties I need to uphold, " making me long for more, just another moment of this closeness that I've never felt before, before she makes another mischievous grin, easily plugging those thoughts with a "but don't worry, next time I return, we shall make it up for alllll the time that we've missed out on" as she exits while wiggling her hips somewhat for me to enjoy, leaving me with anticipation of the next time I need to be inspected, thinking about whatever she may have in store for me.
​
***
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"Okay, what the hell is this?"
​
I wave the piece of paper around telepathically in front of the group of scions that was assembled, most of them having an unrecognizable expression on their face with Kelvin simply wanting to get away, Emmet looking intrigued at this piece of non alchemical information while Alexa simply continued to sort the files.
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"Would somebody please mind explaining, why there is a FANFICTION of me and Lydia in the folder related to me?" no answer, Kevin simply looked like he just wishes the time back when he could do his job by relaxing on a malleable rock.
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"And more Importantly, _why am I portrayed as such a bottom in it?_" once again the group gave no further reaction, except once again Kevin, not handling through the wrangler (a German saying)
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"Who even made this? and how long does it exist? and perhaps even worse, why is it that EVERYONE seems to know about this except me?" yet again the same thing repeated, except for a chuckle from somewhere, the source of which I did not notice before the origin supressed any further noise
​
"And you wish to tell me that Alexa distributed this to everyone, scions and Denizens, throughout the entire network!?" the reply was a simple emotion of "I serve" felt throughout the bond, as another chuckle came from the crowd
​
shifting her piercing look towards group, the unfortunate target of it would up being Giorno, as she looked around him while he held a face as expressionless as a Moai, asking "Did you do this, you traitorous little toad?" directing the stare at Jackie, she then asked "and what about you? going to keep quiet too, despite being one of the first?"
​
Emmet received a short look, quickly moving on to someone else as she just did not think that this curious creature could ever hide any of their discoveries, let alone fake interest in a topic. The twin scions simply pointed at each other, leaving the search for the culprit fruitless and the fanfiction without an author

I'll be moving to Pittsburgh in 3 weeks. I'm a Afro-Latino closing in on 22 years old - on my own, about to work my first remote tech role for the first time, these are things I’d really like in a neighborhood:
- One that has grocery stores/gyms/parks/a place where people are frequently seen socializing outside is a plus
I’m not a bar scene or party guy but I love to see a neighborhood with some life
- Diversity is a plus
- where Cost of living is reasonable
- Great management/maintenance for the apartment
- Newer building or atleast renovated (important)
​
Here are the neighborhoods from my online research that look promising:
Friendship - Brookline - East Liberty - Millvale - Dormont - Stanton Heights
Honorable Mention: Bloomfield
​
Any thoughts, suggestions, advice for my move in 3 weeks to Pittsburgh?

Since it seems that no one can be bothered to search the sub for the word "mechanic" before making a new post, I searched it for you and summarized two years' worth of posts below.
TL;DR the recommendation is almost always "Rising Sun Motors" unless you've got an unusual vehicle or situation. Also, apparently XSrcing has spent the past couple years quietly helping poor people fix their cars for free/cheap, so everyone be sure to buy that guy a beer next time you see him.
2023-05-23 Body shops that work on 90s Hondas

• Vehicle and/or issue: 1995 Honda Del Sol body work
• Commenters suggested: Rising Sun Motors, Joe’s Automotive Repair

2023-05-17 Where's my Subaru Mechanic?!

• Vehicle and/or issue: Subaru 2013 Forester
• Commenters suggested: Rising Sun Motors, Northwest Rally Sports, Bruce Cox Imports, Dewey Griffin Subaru, TK Automotive Repair, Hi-Tech Automotive

2023-05-15 Mechanic for an 89 Trooper

• Vehicle and/or issue: 1989 Isuzu Trooper
• Commenters suggested: Unlimited Service Downtown, Axton Automotive

2023-05-10 Volvo Mechanic

• Vehicle and/or issue: Volvo
• Commenters suggested: Rainbow Auto Service, Bruce Cox Imports, Manieri Motorworks

2023-05-09 Subaru Mechanic

• Vehicle and/or issue: Subaru
• Commenters suggested: Rising Sun Motors, Harmony Motorworks, Northwest Rally Sports

2023-05-04 Chuck's Midtown Motors?

• Vehicle and/or issue: Prius, asking about specific mechanic
• Commenters suggested: Chuck’s Midtown Motors Automotive Repair

2023-04-29 Anyone know of a good mechanic around here?

• Vehicle and/or issue: general inquiry
• Commenters suggested: Rising Sun Motors, Autotech Car and Truck Repair, Bruce Cox Imports, SK Motorsport, Birchwood Auto Repair

2023-04-19 Local mechanics

• Vehicle and/or issue: walnut blasting valves
• Commenters suggested: SK Motorsport

2023-04-19 Classic Car Mechanic

• Vehicle and/or issue: 1972 Chevrolet truck body work
• Commenters suggested: Bailey’s Classic Collision, No.1 Automotive Body Repair, Heavy Metal Custom Shop, Nitro Autolab

2023-04-17 Bellingham Automotive is SLIMEY and will steal from you. They tampered with my car then gave me a nasty attitude about it.

• Vehicle and/or issue: unhappy customer
• Commenters suggested: OP deleting their post, Bellingham Automotive, Trottners Auto Repair Service, Sterling Automotive

2023-04-08 Looking for a diesel mechanic for 97 e350 short bus

• Vehicle and/or issue: 1997 Ford E350 bus
• Commenters suggested: SMG Equipment and Marine, Unlimited Service Bakerview

2023-03-23 Classic car mechanic

• Vehicle and/or issue: air-cooled Volkswagen
• Commenters suggested: SK Motorsport, HMC Garage, Northwest European Autoworks, Peace Vans (in Seattle)

2023-03-17 Pro/Amateur mobile mechanic?

• Vehicle and/or issue: free/cheap mobile mechanic for person living in a van
• Commenters suggested: XSrcing

2023-02-27 A trustworthy mechanic?

• Vehicle and/or issue: general inquiry
• Commenters suggested: Cornerstone Auto Care, Axton Automotive, Rising Sun Motors, Hi-Tech Automotive, Birchwood Auto Repair, Harmony Motorworks

2023-02-21 ISO mechanic for classic Chevy pickup

• Vehicle and/or issue: 1958 Chevrolet pickup truck inspection and fluids
• Commenters suggested: Heavy Metal Custom Shop

2023-02-15 good mechanics?

• Vehicle and/or issue: Nissan Altima CVT transmission
• Commenters suggested: TK Automotive Repair, Midas, Barrett Transmission Specialties, Hi-Tech Automotive, Flat Black Automotive

2023-02-15 mechanics that do free / cheap diagnosis in town ? (not talking check engine lights btw)

• Vehicle and/or issue: free/cheap diagnostic
• Commenters suggested: Complete Auto Repair Service, Rising Sun Motors, Hi-Tech Automotive, Les Schwab

2023-02-03 Mechanic Recommendation

• Vehicle and/or issue: 1998 Volkswagen Beetle manual transmission
• Commenters suggested: TK Automotive Repair, Dr. John’s Auto Clinic, Euro Sport (???), Cunningham Tuning

2023-02-02 Car Problems

• Vehicle and/or issue: windshield wiper motor replacement completion help
• Commenters suggested: XSrcing, Trottners Auto Repair Service

2023-01-30 22re yota mechanic?

• Vehicle and/or issue: 1994 Toyota pickup truck
• Commenters suggested: Hi-Tech Automotive, Rising Sun Motors, Flat Black Automotive, Axton Automotive, Sterling Automotive

2023-01-12 Seeking mechanic recommendations for 10 year old ford work truck. Computer is dying and it needs a junkyard transplant.

• Vehicle and/or issue: Ford truck computer transplant
• Commenters suggested: Birchwood Auto Repair

2023-01-12 Transmission Mechanic?

• Vehicle and/or issue: 2015 Honda Civic transmission
• Commenters suggested: Barrett Transmission Specialties

2022-12-30 Mechanic recommendations?

• Vehicle and/or issue: general inquiry
• Commenters suggested: Flat Black Automotive, Rising Sun Motors

2022-12-05 Are there ANY decent auto shops in this town?

• Vehicle and/or issue: unhappy customer / general inquiry
• Commenters suggested: Panacea Automotive Repair, Alignment & Brakes Plus, Rising Sun Motors, OP learning to fix their own vehicle if they want to be cheap about it

2022-11-25 Jurachic Auto

• Vehicle and/or issue: general inquiry
• Commenters suggested: Joe’s Automotive Repair, Flat Black Automotive, Nitro Autolab

2022-11-11 Suzuki mechanic near bham

• Vehicle and/or issue: 2006 Suzuki XL-7 timing chain
• Commenters suggested: Rising Sun Motors

2022-10-22 How do I find a good mechanic?

• Vehicle and/or issue: general inquiry
• Commenters suggested: Sterling Automotive, XSrcing, Rising Sun Motors, Joe’s Automotive Repair, Davis Automotive, Hi-Tech Automotive

2022-09-27 Garage/Mechanic Recommendation to fit a tall (9-10ish ft) camper van?

• Vehicle and/or issue: 1989 Chevrolet G20 camper van, garage with a lift that can handle tall vehicles
• Commenters suggested: Camping World (in Burlington), Unlimited Service Bakerview, Northwest Chevrolet

2022-09-19 Best Affordable Mechanic in Bellingham

• Vehicle and/or issue: oil change and inspection
• Commenters suggested: Master Lube, Sterling Automotive

2022-09-15 Is there a car repair shop that takes payment plans in or around Bellingham?

• Vehicle and/or issue: 2005 Subaru Outback, payment plans
• Commenters suggested: XSrcing, Firestone Complete Auto Care

2022-08-29 Mechanic/someone who can diagnose a transmission sound for free, trying to get to a wedding.

• Vehicle and/or issue: 2000 Ford Ranger transmission, free/cheap diagnostic
• Commenters suggested: Midas, XSrcing, Firestone Complete Auto Care

2022-08-16 Mechanic shops

• Vehicle and/or issue: truck tune up
• Commenters suggested: Rising Sun Motors, Sterling Automotive, Flat Black Automotive

2022-08-06 Honest affordable mechanic?

• Vehicle and/or issue: general inquiry
• Commenters suggested: Rising Sun Motors, Joe’s Automotive Repair, Sterling Automotive, Whatcom Radiator & Battery (closed?), Bernard Tech Services, Naztek Automotive, Sound Truck & Auto Repair

2022-08-02 Oil change for prius

• Vehicle and/or issue: Prius oil change
• Commenters suggested: Master Lube, Sehome Express Lube, Rising Sun Motors, Lucky’s Auto Shop, Rod’s Japanese Auto Care, literally anywhere because it's just an oil change

2022-07-20 Any recommendations for a good mechanic to replace a catalytic converter?

• Vehicle and/or issue: Honda replace stolen catalytic converter
• Commenters suggested: Flat Black Automotive, Rising Sun Motors, Bellingham Automotive, Panacea Automotive Repair, Marlin’s Auto Service, Service Pro, Faction Automotive, Davis Automotive, Harmony Motorworks

2022-06-13 Respectful/honest mechanic?

• Vehicle and/or issue: Honda CR-V AC, respectful to women
• Commenters suggested: Rising Sun Motors, Flat Black Automotive, Bellingham Auto Air, Reference Automotive, Sterling Automotive, TK Automotive Repair, Toyota of Bellingham, Juracich Auto Repair (closed?), Steves Auto Repair, Faction Automotive, Integrity Auto Care (in Arlington), NAPA Auto Parts Blaine, Pete’s Auto Repair, Import Autosport (in Anacortes), Whatcom Radiator & Battery (closed?)

2022-05-30 Old Chevy Truck 88' best mechanic.

• Vehicle and/or issue: 1988 Chevrolet truck
• Commenters suggested: Marine Drive Auto Services, Unlimited Service Downtown, Chuck’s Midtown Motors Automotive Repair, Bellingham Automotive, Davis Automotive

2022-05-30 Trustworthy/not scammy mechanics in the area?

• Vehicle and/or issue: general inquiry
• Commenters suggested: Joe’s Automotive Repair, Steves Auto Repair, Dr. John’s Auto Clinic, Rising Sun Motors, Superior Auto, Hi-Tech Automotive, Toyota of Bellingham, Sterling Automotive, Harmony Motorworks

2022-05-19 Anyone have a recommendation on a good mechanic to replace brake pads on an older Subaru? Thanks!

• Vehicle and/or issue: Subaru brakes
• Commenters suggested: Alignment & Brakes Plus, Rising Sun Motors, Harmony Motorworks, Joe’s Automotive Repair, Northwest Rally Sports, Chuck’s Midtown Motors Automotive Repair, Birchwood Auto Repair, TK Automotive Repair

2022-05-04 Looking for a good mechanic!

• Vehicle and/or issue: 1990 Ford E-250 Econoline van engine replacement
• Commenters suggested: Rising Sun Motors, Sterling Automotive, Lucky’s Auto Shop, Joe’s Automotive Repair, Rude’s Auto Repair

2022-04-09 Motorcycle mechanic

• Vehicle and/or issue: assorted motorcycles
• Commenters suggested: Cycle Therapy, BBRP, OP just has bad gas

2022-02-09 Prius mechanic

• Vehicle and/or issue: 2010 Prius
• Commenters suggested: Unlimited Service Bakerview, Unlimited Service Downtown, Bellingham Automotive, Rising Sun Motors, Toyota of Bellingham, Midas, Lifestyle Motor Co

2022-02-02 Mechanic recommendation

• Vehicle and/or issue: 2004 Toyota RAV4
• Commenters suggested: Rising Sun Motors, Joe’s Automotive Repair, Sterling Automotive, Davis Automotive, SK Motorsport, Hi-Tech Automotive

2022-02-02 Auto Repair

• Vehicle and/or issue: Honda PIlot seatbelt & airbags, mobile mechanic
• Commenters suggested: Unlimited Service Downtown, Rising Sun Motors, Whatcom Radiator & Battery (closed?), Davis Automotive

2022-02-02 Any mobile mechanics/someone to check out a car tomorrow?

• Vehicle and/or issue: mobile mechanic for pre-purchase inspection of used car
• Commenters suggested: AR MECHANIC, Trottners Auto Repair Service

2022-01-22 Mechanic Recommendation

• Vehicle and/or issue: Ford pickup truck
• Commenters suggested: Davis Automotive, Dan's Automotive (closed?), Sterling Automotive, Rod’s Japanese Auto Care

2022-01-20 Need help checking out a used car

• Vehicle and/or issue: pre-purchase inspection of used car
• Commenters suggested: Joe’s Automotive Repair, Rising Sun Motors

2022-01-16 Diverter for exhaust

• Vehicle and/or issue: 1990 Ford E350 van exhaust
• Commenters suggested: Ben Richards Fabrication (in Burlington)

2022-01-14 Mechanic Recommendations?

• Vehicle and/or issue: 2001 Toyota Camry fuel pump
• Commenters suggested: Rising Sun Motors, Sterling Automotive, Rod’s Japanese Auto Care, Dr. John’s Auto Clinic, Birchwood Auto Repair, Trottners Auto Repair Service

2022-01-02 Does anyone here know a mechanic that can come to my place? My car won’t start.

• Vehicle and/or issue: mobile mechanic
• Commenters suggested: O’Reilly Auto Parts (to test battery), some dude named Will

2021-12-21 Car broke down - need advice

• Vehicle and/or issue: 2008 Suburu Outback
• Commenters suggested: Rising Sun Motors, Steves Auto Repair, Sterling Automotive, Birchwood Auto Repair, Bruce Cox Imports, Joe’s Automotive Repair

2021-11-30 In desperate need of a mechanic

• Vehicle and/or issue: 2008 Ford Fusion rough idling
• Commenters suggested: Premier Auto Repair (in Mount Vernon), Faction Automotive

2021-11-28 Car Mechanic Open on Sunday

• Vehicle and/or issue: windshield wipers, open Sunday
• Commenters suggested: AutoZone Auto Parts, Firestone Complete Auto Care

2021-11-17 Looking for mechanic for '83 Ford ranger

• Vehicle and/or issue: 1983 Ford Ranger
• Commenters suggested: Foreign Auto Clinic, Panacea Automotive Repair, Van Loo’s Auto Service, Hi-Tech Automotive, some dude named Zach

2021-11-12 Subie Mech

• Vehicle and/or issue: 2004 Subaru Forester
• Commenters suggested: Rising Sun Motors, Northwest Rally Sports, Harmony Motorworks, Lucky’s Auto Shop, AR MECHANIC, Chuck’s Midtown Motors Automotive Repair, Bruce Cox Imports

2021-11-05 Looking for a Volvo mechanic

• Vehicle and/or issue: 2000 Volvo V40 electrical issues
• Commenters suggested: Rainbow Auto Service, Harmony Motorworks, Keith Cox Autobahn

2021-10-15 Recommendations for experienced Element mechanics?

• Vehicle and/or issue: Honda Element
• Commenters suggested: Rising Sun Motors, Sterling Automotive, TK Automotive Repair, Trottners Auto Repair Service

2021-10-04 FIAT Mechanic?

• Vehicle and/or issue: Fiat
• Commenters suggested: SK Motorsport, Keith Cox Autobahn, Rising Sun Motors, Northwest European Autoworks

2021-09-30 Toyota Service Mechanic

• Vehicle and/or issue: Toyota
• Commenters suggested: Rising Sun Motors, Marlin’s Auto Service, Davis Automotive

2021-09-19 Subaru owners of Bellingham!

• Vehicle and/or issue: Subaru
• Commenters suggested: Rising Sun Motors, Northwest Rally Sports, Bruce Cox Imports, Unlimited Service Bakerview, Flat Black Automotive, Dewey Griffin Subaru

2021-09-13 Seeking car repair recommendations

• Vehicle and/or issue: 2002 Ford leaking oil
• Commenters suggested: Sterling Automotive, Rising Sun Motors, Unlimited Service Bakerview, Birchwood Auto Repair, Bruce Cox Imports

2021-09-10 Keith Cox Autobahn? Mechanic recommendation?

• Vehicle and/or issue: 2010 Mercedes AMG, asking about specific mechanic
• Commenters suggested: Keith Cox Autobahn, Bruce Cox Imports, Harmony Motorworks, Meridian Auto And Tire

2021-08-31 Anywhere in town work on Lexus vehicles?

• Vehicle and/or issue: Lexus SUV (GX470)
• Commenters suggested: Harmony Motorworks, Rising Sun Motors, Toyota of Bellingham, TK Automotive Repair

2021-08-11 Looking for Subaru mechanic

• Vehicle and/or issue: Subaru brakes
• Commenters suggested: Rising Sun Motors, Northwest Rally Sports, Sterling Automotive, Axton Automotive

2021-07-09 Car maintenance

• Vehicle and/or issue: general inquiry
• Commenters suggested: Rising Sun Motors, Firestone Complete Auto Care, Sterling Automotive, Barnett Automotive, Joe’s Automotive Repair, Whatcom Radiator & Battery (closed?), Panacea Automotive Repair, TK Automotive Repair

2021-06-01 Local mechanic shops

• Vehicle and/or issue: pre-purchase inspection of used car
• Commenters suggested: Rising Sun Motors, AR MECHANIC, Birchwood Auto Repair, Hardman Auto Care (closed?), Keith Cox Autobahn, Trottners Auto Repair Service, Meridian Auto And Tire, Harmony Motorworks