Eons ago, it seems, I got a blind-box component for a penny from SparkFun - the OpenLog dev board, meant to store streaming serial data: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13712
I don't much have a need for that, but I DO have a use for an SD card reader for a project. Rather than buy something new, I can't help but think this will work, I'm just not sure how. I created a web server on an ESP32 board and I'd like to pack a little more info on it because it's quickly filling up its native capacity with button checks and the html. Can this little board act as additional read/write storage and, if so, how would I use the 6 headers to do so?

local rem = script.Parent.RemoteEvent
local char = script.Parent.Parent
local plr = game.Players:GetPlayerFromCharacter(char)
local str = plr.PlayerGui.ScreenGui.ImageButton.Frame.str.stat.num
local active = false
local hitList = {}
local anim = 0
local sound = 0
local function knockbackplr(plr, force)

print("ran", plr, force) local rem1 = game.ServerScriptService.knock.RemoteEvent rem1:FireClient(plr, force) 

end
local function checkstun(modle, val)

 local stun = modle:FindFirstChild("stun") if stun then if stun.Value == false then 

if val > 1 then
stun.timmer.Value += 5
else
stun.timmer.Value += 10
end

 else 

if val > 1 then
stun.timmer.Value += 2
else
stun.timmer.Value += 5
end

 end end 

end
local function calculateDamage()

local strValue = str.Value local damage if strValue <= 25 then damage = strValue \* 0.5 elseif strValue <= 100 then damage = 12.5 + ((strValue - 25) \* 0.25) elseif strValue <= 500 then damage = 31.25 + ((strValue - 100) \* 0.171875) else damage = 100 end if damage < 1 then damage = 1 end damage = damage / 2 return damage 

end
local function punch(player, dmg, val)

if player.Name \~= char.Name or active then return end sound = game.ReplicatedStorage.audio.swing sound:Play() active = true hitList = {} local box = Instance.new("Part") box.Size = Vector3.new(5, 5, 5) box.Transparency = 1 box.CanCollide = false box.CanQuery = false box.Massless = true box.Anchored = false -- Set the box CFrame relative to the character's HumanoidRootPart local hrp = char:FindFirstChild("HumanoidRootPart") if hrp then box.CFrame = hrp.CFrame \* CFrame.new(Vector3.new(0,0,-2.5)) end box.Parent = game.Workspace local weld = Instance.new("WeldConstraint") weld.Part0 = hrp weld.Part1 = box weld.Parent = box box.Touched:Connect(function(hit) local hum = hit.Parent:FindFirstChild("Humanoid") if hum and hit.Parent \~= char and not table.find(hitList, hit.Parent) then table.insert(hitList, hit.Parent) print(hit.Parent, "got punched") hum:TakeDamage(calculateDamage()) local root = hit.Parent:FindFirstChild("HumanoidRootPart") local moveDirection = hrp.CFrame.LookVector moveDirection = Vector3.new(moveDirection.X, moveDirection.Y, moveDirection.Z).unit -- Keep movement in the X-Z plane local pushForce = 0 if val > 1 then 

sound = game.ReplicatedStorage.audio.light
sound:Play()
pushForce = 50
anim = hum:LoadAnimation(script.Parent.hit)

 else 

sound = game.ReplicatedStorage.audio.heavy
sound:Play()
pushForce = 100
anim = hum:LoadAnimation(script.Parent.stun)

 end local forceVector = moveDirection \* pushForce local player = game.Players:GetPlayerFromCharacter(hit.Parent) print(player) if player then 

print("ran")
knockbackplr(player, forceVector)

 end print(hum.RootPart.Velocity, hum, hit.Parent, hum.RootPart.Anchored) hum.RootPart.Velocity = forceVector print(hum.RootPart.Velocity, hum, hit.Parent) checkstun(hit.Parent, val) anim:Play() end end) game.Debris:AddItem(box, 0.4) wait(0.4) active = false 

end
rem.OnServerEvent:Connect(punch)
is my punch script this script works on humanoids such as dummies but dosent work on players
if you look at this piece of code:
print(hum.RootPart.Velocity, hum, hit.Parent, hum.RootPart.Anchored)
hum.RootPart.Velocity = forceVector
print(hum.RootPart.Velocity, hum, hit.Parent)
both print statements return with everything needed and no nill values. the velocity of the root part is changed but the player dosent move but humanoids do.
if somone know why please help

Hello everyone. I want to share my journey through NEET PG preparations (PG entrance exam in India) 4 years ago. I was not a great student but i worked really hard through one year of drop and ended up scoring well enough to end up in Radiology which i had never imagined before.
I want to share bits of my own journey, share the things that i learnt about how to score well in the exam.
This is not a step by step guide to crack NEET PG exam, but rather my own experiences and what i believe can help you score well.
Part 1: Introduction
Throughout undergrad i was an average student. I didn’t read a lot, but in general i understood the concepts well.
There's always all kinds of people writing the exam: first, the top tier elite students who have the potential and are hard working enough to crack the exam. We all have those in out batch and we all know who they are.
Second, Mid to low tier ones who either have the potential but are unable to put in enough hard work, or are hard working but lack a smarter approach or strategy. This post is mainly intended for such people.
Then there are ones who neither want to or are incapable of putting in the effort. These are already out of the competition and do not contribute significantly to the competition. The actual competition is among the 30-40k students, beyond which it's just insignificant crowd.
Before approaching NEET PG, i never expected myself to do well in the exam. I was however aware of my shortcomings. I knew what a mammoth task it was to crack an exam like that, and how underprepared i was.
During med school, i had imposter syndrome. I significantly underestimated myself. I attributed the things i had achieved to luck rather than my own hard work. I wasn't very hard working during MBBS either. However for NEET i ended up developing a system which got me through the preparation and helped me score well in the exam. I got 839 marks out of 1200, with a rank of 1299, which isn't that amazing in of itself, but it was way beyond i had ever expected. And there must be many of you in the same boat. There must be some of you who have the potential and just need some direction or a little push towards the right direction.
This is not a step by step guide to scoring higher marks, rather the story of my own journey through the prep, the things i learnt, the mistakes i made, and the challenges i overcame.
People say you can achieve anything with hard work. Can you really though? Can it really be done through sheer hard work and planning, was the question i had. I was competing with people much smarter, hard working and dedicated students across the country. I'm sure many of you feel this way.
Part 2: Entering the prep
Entering the prep, i was vastly underprepared as compared to my colleagues.
I had several important realizations before entering the preparation, which played a vital role in how it turned out. It's important that you pause and take some time to truly understand these things and ingrain it in your brain.
First, understand how big a task NEET really is. The sheer scale of it should humble you. You cannot underestimate the exam or overestimate yourself. If you approach the exam with a slightest bit of casual attitude, you don't truly deserve a great outcome. It's a competitive exam. For every mistake of yours there are thousands waiting to surpass you.
Second, the exam demands your complete attention and dedication. Anything else going on in your life must take a lower priority. Preparation and studying should be of utmost importance. That is the mindset you are going to need while entering the prep.
What many of us end up doing, is that we enter the preparation with a more relaxed mindset and think that eventually we'll get more serious. “There's an entire year to study i don't want to burn myself out”. The entire prep phase has three phases, the beginning, the middle and the end. Each has it’s own set of challenges that we need to overcome.
Third, we need to aim high. No matter who you were up to this point, no matter what you expect from yourself, if you want to succeed in the exam you must have a clear vision to do whatever it takes to succeed and aim higher than you expect.
Part 3: The beginning, the middle and the end
While preparing for any major exam, there are three key factors that govern the momentum and impact of our studies. These are:

1. Information retained, which forms your overall accumulated knowledge about the subject which you can recall on the day of the exam.
2. Backlog represents your pacing and how much you’re lagging behind. Backlog tends to build up exponentially, so we need a strategy to manage backlog more effectively.
3. And the burnout, which directly governs your momentum and retention. Motivation can prevent or reduce burnout.

The entire prep phase can be divided into three major phases. Entering each of these you will be at a different level of information retained, backlog and burnout. A combination of these will govern your momentum.
In the beginning we’re at level zero, or that’s what we’ll assume here. No retained info, but also no backlog or burnout.
Many enter the prep with a more relaxed attitude, thinking they do not want to burn themselves out. But that can lead to buildup of backlog. And once backlog starts it accumulates exponentially.
Also it’s highly unlikely to get serious in the middle phase. Once get used to a relaxed lifestyle in the beginning, it almost always get too late until you ‘get serious’.
In the end phase it’s relatively easier to build momentum as the exam gets closer. So most end up studying well in the third phase irrespective of whether they got serious since the beginning or the middle.
Which is why we need to enter the prep with our full attention and dedication. This can give you a great boost among many of your peers. It’s a competitive exam, to move ahead of others, you need to do everything where most others might cut some slack.
Build enough momentum in the beginning and it will carry you through the middle, the most difficult phase to get through. The middle is the time when we have covered enough subjects to get a real idea of how big the entire syllabus is, how much you already have to read and retain and how much is yet to come. It can be a scary realization. And you balance of your knowledge (retained info), backlog and burnout will decide how you tackle the middle.
Do well in the first third and you will survive the middle. This is a time where many who started well at the beginning start falling behind, likely due to burnout or lack of motivation.
Try to read and retain too much info for a long enough period of time can lead to burnout and slow you down. Read too little and backlog increases which will further suppress you down in the future.
Part 4: Backlog
Backlog is bound to happen. It’s possible to have some control over it.
First, the obvious thing to do is to try to keep backlog as less as possible during the first read itself. It means try to go through the entire topics during the first read itself. It will require extra time, extra work at times. But keeping backlog to a minimal at the beginning is vital.
Second, keeping track of any topic that you skip during the first read, write it down at a common place, which we’ll call ‘The list of Backlogs’. Keep a visual track of every topic you have skipped to read in the future. This way all the accumulated backlogs won’t to a void which you forget and eventually discover during your revisions. It will keep you in check. And if you’re ever confused what topic to study, or sometimes if you have just a small window of time to read a small topic, you can visit your backlogs.
Part 5: The art of note taking
A clear concise and clean notes is easier to read, revise and retain. I used to put conscious efforts into keeping my notes interesting. Diagrams, highlighters, sticky notes, use whatever it takes to help that one extra piece of information leave an impression which it wouldn’t have otherwise.
Here are few tips that helped me make good notes:

1. Keep it as neat and clean as possible. Leave ample spaces to add things later on. And do not underestimate the amount of things you’ll have to add eventually. Leaving more space beforehand lets you add the new stuff in a neat and systematic manner.
2. Use multiple colored pens: at least one primary and a secondary color. The secondary color should only be used to highlight key information which you’d like to glance through. It’s not important to use secondary colors to write headings as they do not contribute to the ‘key info’ which you would want to glance through.
3. Neat, simple diagrams. Be creative with your diagrams. It’s okay to make it funny or add extra details in the diagrams to make it easier to remember.
4. Summarize pages in a box: for certain pages where you can summarize longer concepts or key info in a separate box to make easier to glance through. Remember, one of the main goals while first writing the notes should be to make it easier to revise later on.

Part 6: Short and long term planning and strategy
Every single night write down a list of topics that you hope to cover the next day. I used to write it down on a sticky note and stick it in front of the study table. This way you progress in a more systematic manner, have a clear idea of what you’re supposed to do that day instead of wondering and wasting time over it.
Always have a clear vision of what your current day, the next day, the current week, and how the next few month are going to be like. How many days you are going to give to a certain subject or topic. All should be visually charted on a planner which should be easily accessible, for example on the wall next to your study table.
Part 7: Approaching the MCQs
I developed a hyper focused approach to solving MCQs. I made sure to attempt every single MCQ that i would ever come across with utmost sincerity and attention. It does not matter whether you’d read the particular topic. As long as there’s anything familiar in the question or the answer choices, try to use all logic and everything you can think of in order to rule out at least two of the options. Make a final guess, preferably write down the option to commit to the answer. And then check the answer key.
The point is to make this entire journey of solving a single MCQ an active effort rather than passively checking the answer key. Whenever you guess a wrong answer, which you will of course many many times, it should leave a tiny impression on you.
The purpose of this is to develop an ability to make an educated guess.
Many of the questions in an exam are solved by critical thinking, ruling out the least probable answers, and making a highly educated guess about the correct answer.
Solving MCQs is a game in of itself. It’s more about ruling out the less probable answers than about ‘knowing’ the answer to every question.
Part 8: Keep the body healthy and mind sharp
These are basic advice which people should keep in mind. Eat healthy. Get enough sleep, etc. Time is precious, try not to fall sick.
Take supplements like multivitamins.
Adding more antioxidants in your diet helps keep the mind sharp.
Try your best to stop smoking or reduce it as much as possible. Smoking greatly affects your focus and retention.
Try keep some form of exercise in your routine. It’s not possible for all of us to workout or go to the gym. This exercise can be anything minimal such a a good 10-15 mins of stretching, yoga, jogging, running etc. Any form of exercise is better than no exercise at all.
I used to use ample amounts of coffee, as it helped me focus better. It’s okay to use anything which genuinely helps you focus.
Caffeine combined with L-theanine worked wonders in maintaining focus.
Let me know if you'd like me to continue or expand upon this.

White NR200P V2 Max ITX build I just completed. Parts are new, GPU still has plastic on it
Full build $2500 shipped, less local to Chicagoland burbs
SPECS:

• GPU - PNY 4090 24GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO EPIC-X OC
• Case - White NR200P V2 Max!! put the AIO and PSU from a Max into this
• CPU - Intel 14700k
• Cooler - NR200P Max AIO
• PSU - Cooler Master 850w from Max
• Mobo - MSI MPG Z790I EDGE WIFI
• RAM - DOMINATOR PLATINUM RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 5600MT/s CL36 White
• Storage - Samsung 990 PRO 4TB

Windows 11 Enterprise installed and activated.
Computer will be shipped in the case box with all extra accessories from other parts inside. Care will be taken to secure components for safety. Signature required.
Timestamps:
Pics
Video Timestamp

Hello everyone. I want to share my journey through NEET PG preparations (PG entrance exam in India) 4 years ago. I was not a great student but i worked really hard through one year of drop and ended up scoring well enough to end up in Radiology which i had never imagined before.
I want to share bits of my own journey, share the things that i learnt about how to score well in the exam.
This is not a step by step guide to crack NEET PG exam, but rather my own experiences and what i believe can help you score well.
Part 1: Introduction
Throughout MBBS i was an average student. I didn’t read a lot, but in general i understood the concepts well.
There's always all kinds of people writing the exam: first, the top tier elite students who have the potential and are hard working enough to crack the exam. We all have those in out batch and we all know who they are.
Second, Mid to low tier ones who either have the potential but are unable to put in enough hard work, or are hard working but lack a smarter approach or strategy. This post is mainly intended for such people.
Then there are ones who neither want to or are incapable of putting in the effort. These are already out of the competition and do not contribute significantly to the competition. The actual competition is among the 30-40k students, beyond which it's just insignificant crowd.
Before approaching NEET PG, i never expected myself to do well in the exam. I was however aware of my shortcomings. I knew what a mammoth task it was to crack an exam like that, and how underprepared i was.
During med school, i had imposter syndrome. I significantly underestimated myself. I attributed the things i had achieved to luck rather than my own hard work. I wasn't very hard working during MBBS either. However for NEET i ended up developing a system which got me through the preparation and helped me score well in the exam. I got 839 marks out of 1200, with a rank of 1299, which isn't that amazing in of itself, but it was way beyond i had ever expected. And there must be many of you in the same boat. There must be some of you who have the potential and just need some direction or a little push towards the right direction.
This is not a step by step guide to scoring higher marks, rather the story of my own journey through the prep, the things i learnt, the mistakes i made, and the challenges i overcame.
People say you can achieve anything with hard work. Can you really though? Can it really be done through sheer hard work and planning, was the question i had. I was competing with people much smarter, hard working and dedicated students across the country. I'm sure many of you feel this way.
Part 2: Entering the prep
Entering the prep, i was vastly underprepared as compared to my colleagues.
I had several important realizations before entering the preparation, which played a vital role in how it turned out. It's important that you pause and take some time to truly understand these things and ingrain it in your brain.
First, understand how big a task NEET really is. The sheer scale of it should humble you. You cannot underestimate the exam or overestimate yourself. If you approach the exam with a slightest bit of casual attitude, you don't truly deserve a great outcome. It's a competitive exam. For every mistake of yours there are thousands waiting to surpass you.
Second, the exam demands your complete attention and dedication. Anything else going on in your life must take a lower priority. Preparation and studying should be of utmost importance. That is the mindset you are going to need while entering the prep.
What many of us end up doing, is that we enter the preparation with a more relaxed mindset and think that eventually we'll get more serious. “There's an entire year to study i don't want to burn myself out”. The entire prep phase has three phases, the beginning, the middle and the end. Each has it’s own set of challenges that we need to overcome.
Third, we need to aim high. No matter who you were up to this point, no matter what you expect from yourself, if you want to succeed in the exam you must have a clear vision to do whatever it takes to succeed and aim higher than you expect.
Part 3: The beginning, the middle and the end
While preparing for any major exam, there are three key factors that govern the momentum and impact of our studies. These are:

1. Information retained, which forms your overall accumulated knowledge about the subject which you can recall on the day of the exam.
2. Backlog represents your pacing and how much you’re lagging behind. Backlog tends to build up exponentially, so we need a strategy to manage backlog more effectively.
3. And the burnout, which directly governs your momentum and retention. Motivation can prevent or reduce burnout.

The entire prep phase can be divided into three major phases. Entering each of these you will be at a different level of information retained, backlog and burnout. A combination of these will govern your momentum.
In the beginning we’re at level zero, or that’s what we’ll assume here. No retained info, but also no backlog or burnout.
Many enter the prep with a more relaxed attitude, thinking they do not want to burn themselves out. But that can lead to buildup of backlog. And once backlog starts it accumulates exponentially.
Also it’s highly unlikely to get serious in the middle phase. Once get used to a relaxed lifestyle in the beginning, it almost always get too late until you ‘get serious’.
In the end phase it’s relatively easier to build momentum as the exam gets closer. So most end up studying well in the third phase irrespective of whether they got serious since the beginning or the middle.
Which is why we need to enter the prep with our full attention and dedication. This can give you a great boost among many of your peers. It’s a competitive exam, to move ahead of others, you need to do everything where most others might cut some slack.
Build enough momentum in the beginning and it will carry you through the middle, the most difficult phase to get through. The middle is the time when we have covered enough subjects to get a real idea of how big the entire syllabus is, how much you already have to read and retain and how much is yet to come. It can be a scary realization. And you balance of your knowledge (retained info), backlog and burnout will decide how you tackle the middle.
Do well in the first third and you will survive the middle. This is a time where many who started well at the beginning start falling behind, likely due to burnout or lack of motivation.
Try to read and retain too much info for a long enough period of time can lead to burnout and slow you down. Read too little and backlog increases which will further suppress you down in the future.
Part 4: Backlog
Backlog is bound to happen. It’s possible to have some control over it.
First, the obvious thing to do is to try to keep backlog as less as possible during the first read itself. It means try to go through the entire topics during the first read itself. It will require extra time, extra work at times. But keeping backlog to a minimal at the beginning is vital.
Second, keeping track of any topic that you skip during the first read, write it down at a common place, which we’ll call ‘The list of Backlogs’. Keep a visual track of every topic you have skipped to read in the future. This way all the accumulated backlogs won’t to a void which you forget and eventually discover during your revisions. It will keep you in check. And if you’re ever confused what topic to study, or sometimes if you have just a small window of time to read a small topic, you can visit your backlogs.
Part 5: The art of note taking
A clear concise and clean notes is easier to read, revise and retain. I used to put conscious efforts into keeping my notes interesting. Diagrams, highlighters, sticky notes, use whatever it takes to help that one extra piece of information leave an impression which it wouldn’t have otherwise.
Here are few tips that helped me make good notes:

1. Keep it as neat and clean as possible. Leave ample spaces to add things later on. And do not underestimate the amount of things you’ll have to add eventually. Leaving more space beforehand lets you add the new stuff in a neat and systematic manner.
2. Use multiple colored pens: at least one primary and a secondary color. The secondary color should only be used to highlight key information which you’d like to glance through. It’s not important to use secondary colors to write headings as they do not contribute to the ‘key info’ which you would want to glance through.
3. Neat, simple diagrams. Be creative with your diagrams. It’s okay to make it funny or add extra details in the diagrams to make it easier to remember.
4. Summarize pages in a box: for certain pages where you can summarize longer concepts or key info in a separate box to make easier to glance through. Remember, one of the main goals while first writing the notes should be to make it easier to revise later on.

Part 6: Short and long term planning and strategy
Every single night write down a list of topics that you hope to cover the next day. I used to write it down on a sticky note and stick it in front of the study table. This way you progress in a more systematic manner, have a clear idea of what you’re supposed to do that day instead of wondering and wasting time over it.
Always have a clear vision of what your current day, the next day, the current week, and how the next few month are going to be like. How many days you are going to give to a certain subject or topic. All should be visually charted on a planner which should be easily accessible, for example on the wall next to your study table.
Part 7: Approaching the MCQs
I developed a hyper focused approach to solving MCQs. I made sure to attempt every single MCQ that i would ever come across with utmost sincerity and attention. It does not matter whether you’d read the particular topic. As long as there’s anything familiar in the question or the answer choices, try to use all logic and everything you can think of in order to rule out at least two of the options. Make a final guess, preferably write down the option to commit to the answer. And then check the answer key.
The point is to make this entire journey of solving a single MCQ an active effort rather than passively checking the answer key. Whenever you guess a wrong answer, which you will of course many many times, it should leave a tiny impression on you.
The purpose of this is to develop an ability to make an educated guess.
Many of the questions in an exam are solved by critical thinking, ruling out the least probable answers, and making a highly educated guess about the correct answer.
Solving MCQs is a game in of itself. It’s more about ruling out the less probable answers than about ‘knowing’ the answer to every question.
Part 8: Keep the body healthy and mind sharp
These are basic advice which people should keep in mind. Eat healthy. Get enough sleep, etc. Time is precious, try not to fall sick.
Take supplements like multivitamins.
Adding more antioxidants in your diet helps keep the mind sharp.
Try your best to stop smoking or reduce it as much as possible. Smoking greatly affects your focus and retention.
Try keep some form of exercise in your routine. It’s not possible for all of us to workout or go to the gym. This exercise can be anything minimal such a a good 10-15 mins of stretching, yoga, jogging, running etc. Any form of exercise is better than no exercise at all.
I used to use ample amounts of coffee, as it helped me focus better. It’s okay to use anything which genuinely helps you focus.
Caffeine combined with L-theanine worked wonders in maintaining focus.
Let me know if you'd like me to continue or expand upon this.

Hello everyone. I want to share my journey through NEET PG preparations 4 years ago. I was not a great student but i worked really hard through one year of drop and ended up scoring well enough to end up in Radiology which i had never imagined before.
I want to share bits of my own journey, share the things that i learnt about how to score well in the exam.
This is not a step by step guide to crack NEET PG exam, but rather my own experiences and what i believe can help you score well.
Part 1: Introduction
Throughout MBBS i was an average student. I didn’t read a lot, but in general i understood the concepts well.
There's always all kinds of people writing the exam: first, the top tier elite students who have the potential and are hard working enough to crack the exam. We all have those in out batch and we all know who they are.
Second, Mid to low tier ones who either have the potential but are unable to put in enough hard work, or are hard working but lack a smarter approach or strategy. This post is mainly intended for such people.
Then there are ones who neither want to or are incapable of putting in the effort. These are already out of the competition and do not contribute significantly to the competition. The actual competition is among the 30-40k students, beyond which it's just insignificant crowd.
Before approaching NEET PG, i never expected myself to do well in the exam. I was however aware of my shortcomings. I knew what a mammoth task it was to crack an exam like that, and how underprepared i was.
During med school, i had imposter syndrome. I significantly underestimated myself. I attributed the things i had achieved to luck rather than my own hard work. I wasn't very hard working during MBBS either. However for NEET i ended up developing a system which got me through the preparation and helped me score well in the exam. I got 839 marks out of 1200, with a rank of 1299, which isn't that amazing in of itself, but it was way beyond i had ever expected. And there must be many of you in the same boat. There must be some of you who have the potential and just need some direction or a little push towards the right direction.
This is not a step by step guide to scoring higher marks, rather the story of my own journey through the prep, the things i learnt, the mistakes i made, and the challenges i overcame.
People say you can achieve anything with hard work. Can you really though? Can it really be done through sheer hard work and planning, was the question i had. I was competing with people much smarter, hard working and dedicated students across the country. I'm sure many of you feel this way.
Part 2: Entering the prep
Entering the prep, i was vastly underprepared as compared to my colleagues.
I had several important realizations before entering the preparation, which played a vital role in how it turned out. It's important that you pause and take some time to truly understand these things and ingrain it in your brain.
First, understand how big a task NEET really is. The sheer scale of it should humble you. You cannot underestimate the exam or overestimate yourself. If you approach the exam with a slightest bit of casual attitude, you don't truly deserve a great outcome. It's a competitive exam. For every mistake of yours there are thousands waiting to surpass you.
Second, the exam demands your complete attention and dedication. Anything else going on in your life must take a lower priority. Preparation and studying should be of utmost importance. That is the mindset you are going to need while entering the prep.
What many of us end up doing, is that we enter the preparation with a more relaxed mindset and think that eventually we'll get more serious. “There's an entire year to study i don't want to burn myself out”. The entire prep phase has three phases, the beginning, the middle and the end. Each has it’s own set of challenges that we need to overcome.
Third, we need to aim high. No matter who you were up to this point, no matter what you expect from yourself, if you want to succeed in the exam you must have a clear vision to do whatever it takes to succeed and aim higher than you expect.
Part 3: The beginning, the middle and the end
While preparing for any major exam, there are three key factors that govern the momentum and impact of our studies. These are:

1. Information retained, which forms your overall accumulated knowledge about the subject which you can recall on the day of the exam.
2. Backlog represents your pacing and how much you’re lagging behind. Backlog tends to build up exponentially, so we need a strategy to manage backlog more effectively.
3. And the burnout, which directly governs your momentum and retention. Motivation can prevent or reduce burnout.

The entire prep phase can be divided into three major phases. Entering each of these you will be at a different level of information retained, backlog and burnout. A combination of these will govern your momentum.
In the beginning we’re at level zero, or that’s what we’ll assume here. No retained info, but also no backlog or burnout.
Many enter the prep with a more relaxed attitude, thinking they do not want to burn themselves out. But that can lead to buildup of backlog. And once backlog starts it accumulates exponentially.
Also it’s highly unlikely to get serious in the middle phase. Once get used to a relaxed lifestyle in the beginning, it almost always get too late until you ‘get serious’.
In the end phase it’s relatively easier to build momentum as the exam gets closer. So most end up studying well in the third phase irrespective of whether they got serious since the beginning or the middle.
Which is why we need to enter the prep with our full attention and dedication. This can give you a great boost among many of your peers. It’s a competitive exam, to move ahead of others, you need to do everything where most others might cut some slack.
Build enough momentum in the beginning and it will carry you through the middle, the most difficult phase to get through. The middle is the time when we have covered enough subjects to get a real idea of how big the entire syllabus is, how much you already have to read and retain and how much is yet to come. It can be a scary realization. And you balance of your knowledge (retained info), backlog and burnout will decide how you tackle the middle.
Do well in the first third and you will survive the middle. This is a time where many who started well at the beginning start falling behind, likely due to burnout or lack of motivation.
Try to read and retain too much info for a long enough period of time can lead to burnout and slow you down. Read too little and backlog increases which will further suppress you down in the future.
Part 4: Backlog
Backlog is bound to happen. It’s possible to have some control over it.
First, the obvious thing to do is to try to keep backlog as less as possible during the first read itself. It means try to go through the entire topics during the first read itself. It will require extra time, extra work at times. But keeping backlog to a minimal at the beginning is vital.
Second, keeping track of any topic that you skip during the first read, write it down at a common place, which we’ll call ‘The list of Backlogs’. Keep a visual track of every topic you have skipped to read in the future. This way all the accumulated backlogs won’t to a void which you forget and eventually discover during your revisions. It will keep you in check. And if you’re ever confused what topic to study, or sometimes if you have just a small window of time to read a small topic, you can visit your backlogs.
Part 5: The art of note taking
A clear concise and clean notes is easier to read, revise and retain. I used to put conscious efforts into keeping my notes interesting. Diagrams, highlighters, sticky notes, use whatever it takes to help that one extra piece of information leave an impression which it wouldn’t have otherwise.
Here are few tips that helped me make good notes:

1. Keep it as neat and clean as possible. Leave ample spaces to add things later on. And do not underestimate the amount of things you’ll have to add eventually. Leaving more space beforehand lets you add the new stuff in a neat and systematic manner.
2. Use multiple colored pens: at least one primary and a secondary color. The secondary color should only be used to highlight key information which you’d like to glance through. It’s not important to use secondary colors to write headings as they do not contribute to the ‘key info’ which you would want to glance through.
3. Neat, simple diagrams. Be creative with your diagrams. It’s okay to make it funny or add extra details in the diagrams to make it easier to remember.
4. Summarize pages in a box: for certain pages where you can summarize longer concepts or key info in a separate box to make easier to glance through. Remember, one of the main goals while first writing the notes should be to make it easier to revise later on.

Part 6: Short and long term planning and strategy
Every single night write down a list of topics that you hope to cover the next day. I used to write it down on a sticky note and stick it in front of the study table. This way you progress in a more systematic manner, have a clear idea of what you’re supposed to do that day instead of wondering and wasting time over it.
Always have a clear vision of what your current day, the next day, the current week, and how the next few month are going to be like. How many days you are going to give to a certain subject or topic. All should be visually charted on a planner which should be easily accessible, for example on the wall next to your study table.
Part 7: Approaching the MCQs
I developed a hyper focused approach to solving MCQs. I made sure to attempt every single MCQ that i would ever come across with utmost sincerity and attention. It does not matter whether you’d read the particular topic. As long as there’s anything familiar in the question or the answer choices, try to use all logic and everything you can think of in order to rule out at least two of the options. Make a final guess, preferably write down the option to commit to the answer. And then check the answer key.
The point is to make this entire journey of solving a single MCQ an active effort rather than passively checking the answer key. Whenever you guess a wrong answer, which you will of course many many times, it should leave a tiny impression on you.
The purpose of this is to develop an ability to make an educated guess.
Many of the questions in an exam are solved by critical thinking, ruling out the least probable answers, and making a highly educated guess about the correct answer.
Solving MCQs is a game in of itself. It’s more about ruling out the less probable answers than about ‘knowing’ the answer to every question.
Part 8: Keep the body healthy and mind sharp
These are basic advice which people should keep in mind. Eat healthy. Get enough sleep, etc. Time is precious, try not to fall sick.
Take supplements like multivitamins.
Adding more antioxidants in your diet helps keep the mind sharp.
Try your best to stop smoking or reduce it as much as possible. Smoking greatly affects your focus and retention.
Try keep some form of exercise in your routine. It’s not possible for all of us to workout or go to the gym. This exercise can be anything minimal such a a good 10-15 mins of stretching, yoga, jogging, running etc. Any form of exercise is better than no exercise at all.
I used to use ample amounts of coffee, as it helped me focus better. It’s okay to use anything which genuinely helps you focus.
Caffeine combined with L-theanine worked wonders in maintaining focus.
Let me know if you'd like me to continue or expand upon this.

Title says it all. Works fine the first time usually, but on the second time without closing the minecraft? Guaranteed stuck, no crash, no "not responding", just stuck but other than that it's completely normal.
Mods
Enchantment Descriptions
Cobblemon Capture XP
Cobblemizer
Waystones
What Are They Up To (Watut)
Entity Culling
CoroUtil
Cherished Worlds
Cobblemon Unchained
Highlight
Complementary Shaders - Reimagined
Crafting Tweaks
Canary
Patchouli
ReBlured
Smooth Boot (Reloaded)
Bad Wither No Cookie - Reloaded
Better Third Person
Cobblemon
Melody
Let Me Despawn
TerraBlender
AI Improvements
Falling Leaves (NeoForge/Forge)
Default Options
Better Ping Display [Forge]
Cobblemon Counter
Drip Sounds (Forge)
Puzzles Lib
Wavey Capes
Advancement Plaques
PokePlaques
Roughly Enough Professions (REP)
Oculus
Cobblemon Interface
Macaw's Fences and Walls
Kotlin for Forge
Macaw's Paintings
Xaero's Minimap
FancyMenu
Memory Leak Fix
Rubidium Dynamic Lights
AppleSkin
Cloth Config API
Motschen's Better Leaves
Collective
CraftPresence
Ghostwriter
ClearDespawn
Macaw's Lights and Lamps
Chat Heads
Architectury API
Catalogue
Macaw's Roofs
Starlight (Forge)
Clumps
Item Highlighter
Ascension Megamons (Cobblemon)
Farmer's Delight
Longer Chat History
Macaw's Furniture
Macaw's Paths and Pavings
Cobblepedia
Roughly Enough Items (REI)
FallingTree
CobblemonExtras
Not Enough Animations
Essential Mod
Macaw's Windows
NetherPortalFix
Iceberg
Konkrete
CobblemonRider
SimpleTMs: TMs and TRs for Cobblemon
Dismount Entity
Borderless Window
Better Advancements
Ambient Environment
Embeddium
Macaw's Doors
Embeddium (Rubidium) Extra
Balm
Macaw's Trapdoors
Xaero's World Map
InvMove
Storage Delight - Farmer's Delight
Visuality: Reforged
Make Bubbles Pop
Tool Stats
Shulker Box Tooltip
Dynamic Crosshair
Just Zoom
Bookshelf
FerriteCore

I realize this is really long and don't blame anyone if you want to skip parts. A lot happened after the morning got derailed. Some good, some that didn't feel so good, but no one else was assaulted and no more family drama hit on Saturday, I'll save what happened Sunday for my post about Sunday - which was a pretty interesting day but the post shouldn't be as long as this day's was...
*** Saturday Continued **\*
I figured we all needed a break from the day’s drama and asked Mark and Sam if they could stay and have lunch with us. Both agreed, Mark said he wanted to go over the security plan that John was putting together, and Sam didn’t want to leave Emily just yet.
I remembered that right after Emily was born, Sam would hold her at every family gathering, staring at her and playing with her little hands. Even though it had been 17 years since she’d last seen Emily, she is still protective of her.
Rather than eat at the conference table, we went to a fairly new gourmet burger place nearby. I asked John to join us at the table for lunch, and he reluctantly agreed. I had seen Mark on the phone on the way over, and by the time we got there, a police car was parked out front.
Emily called her mom on the way to eat and confirmed that she was out and home. She told her mom about her summer job and let her know she’d hopefully see her later today, but that she might spend the night at a friend’s place again. Debbie asked her to find out if I minded if she came by later today or tomorrow. Emily covered her phone with her hand and relayed the question. I told Emily to let her know that one of us would call her, and if we couldn’t meet this weekend, we definitely would on Monday.
I heard Emily tell her mom she might be working tomorrow too and realized that she was right. Things were moving quickly, and I doubted we’d be sitting around relaxing anytime soon.
We got to the restaurant and walked in. The servers pulled a couple of tables together since, even though there were only five of us, both Mark and John took up a lot of room. I noticed that both of them took seats facing the door. We ordered drinks and took a couple of minutes to go over the menu before I asked John to share his plans.
“Well, given the messages and the fact that someone has already been hurt, I think we’re going to want to make some immediate improvements to the security. I’ve already sent messages to our security team to be prepared to install alarms and cameras at both properties; they’ll be on-site tomorrow at the latest. I’ll need complete access to both buildings.”
I remembered that I still needed to get keys from JA, I’d had some exploring to do. The three-story building was constructed sometime around the turn of the century (last century, not this one) and had seen a variety of uses in its 100+ year history. It sat on a corner lot downtown and extended a good bit of the way down the block. Several of the businesses that occupied the first floor had been there for decades, supporting multiple generations of residents. When the downtown was dying in the 70s and 80s, a lot of the occupants moved out, with only the retail offices remaining open, and even those barely made it through those times.
Like most of the buildings back then, it was deep, around 70 feet from the front of the building on Main Street to the alley in back, it was also significantly longer than most, with 100 feet of Main Street frontage and 70 feet on the side street. It acted as an anchor for the downtown for decades. In addition to the retail spaces on the first floor and my office, there was also a bar and restaurant that catered to the professionals in the area and the weekend crowd. I’m not a big drinker, but it was convenient to have a spot to go when I wanted to relax at the end of the day.
The corner of the building housed the lobby and opened to the hallway dividing the storefronts from the storage areas behind them. There was an elevator going up to the second and third floors, although a keycard was required to get to go to the top floor. The staircase was right next to the elevators, which I chose to use the elevator ninety percent of the time.
Once you got to the second floor there was a small lobby with doors heading off in three different directions. One was to my apartment, one directly across from mine, which I assume was a mirror of my space, and then a set of double oak doors going to the backside of the building.
When Joe built the apartment space out he left the wood beams and exposed interior brickwork. A series of tall, evenly spaced windows dominated one wall, letting in a ton of light. The floor plan essentially consists of a great room that houses a kitchen, utility room with washer and dryer, my bedroom and bathroom (which are both quite large), a study, a half bath, and a second bedroom and full bath.
I never measured it, but I think it’s easily 1800 square feet of space with a mostly open floor plan and a ton of light. For a single guy, it feels massive, and the great room lets Charlie and Cooper hang around without it ever feeling crowded (the bed is another story). On the rare occasion I invite anyone up, they’re amazed by the space, having had no idea it was even here.
“We’ll be installing cameras in all common areas and along the rooflines. On Monday or Tuesday, we’ll upgrade the security for lobby access. There is already keycard access on the elevator, but we need to make some changes to limit access to the second floor now as well.
Joe’s place is a little more complex, we’ll be getting upgraded internet installed and a network of wired cameras around the property. We’ll also be installing perimeter motion sensors in the woods. It’s not feasible to cover the acreage with cameras this quickly, but we can at least ensure no one enters the property without us knowing. Finally, remotely deployed drones will be ready to put eyes wherever we don’t have cameras in the event of a motion alert.”
Good lord, I thought… This is going to be at least $50K by the time we get done, and I bet I don’t even get to play with the drones.
“We’ll get copies of the surveys and look at fencing options…” That immediately grabbed my attention. “No fences!” I quickly said. “I’m sorry, John, I know that might make the most sense, but we’re going to have to do this without fences.”
“Understood. Are you okay with a low wall on the road frontage and gates for the driveways? I really need to have some way of controlling vehicle traffic; it will create a safer environment for you and the protection team.”
John’s delivery of a gentle reminder that this wasn’t just about me, that life was going to be different, was needed. I nodded. “Of course, thanks, John. I’d like to preserve the woods as I’ve always known them if we can, but not at a risk to your team. Let me know if we get to that point.”
John nodded. “I appreciate that, it’s our job to find the balance between your security and your happiness.” He paused before continuing, “We’ll go ahead and get work on the system designs for both buildings. We’ll need you or someone from the firm on-site when we’re doing the interior work.”
“One last thing, we’ll be providing you with a GPS tracker and panic button. It can be worn around your neck. We can do the same thing with a smartwatch, but we’d prefer you to also carry the tracker if you don’t have any objections.”
“That’s fine,” I said. “I’ll call JA to get the other keys to my place today, but let’s make Joe’s house the priority since it’s been broken into twice now.“ Emily looked uncomfortable again, but I winked at her, and that made her smile a little bit.
“You good with all this, Mark?” I asked.
“Yep, I just wanted to know what the plan was, and to get John to pay for my lunch since he’s landed himself this fat contract,” Mark said, laughing.
John laughed back and said, “Done! But I’ll take you to lunch anytime, I can always write it off as a recruiting expense. You know I pay a lot better than the city!”
Sam had been quiet the entire time, taking it all in. I asked her what she was thinking, and she just said, “Oh, nothing, we can talk about it later.” I didn’t love that answer. I knew this was already a lot and was afraid it was getting to be too much. I nodded and forced a smile that I was sure didn’t meet my eyes.
I turned to Emily and asked her how her first day had gone so far. She was quick to respond, “It hasn’t been dull!” She had a smile on her face that DID meet her eyes. I couldn’t help but think that the younger you are, the more you’re likely to find things like this exciting, since life hadn’t quite gotten exciting enough on its own. At least I knew I could count on some enthusiasm over what was sure to be an interesting summer.
The rest of lunch was small talk, with Mark and John catching up and Emily telling Sam about school and asking what it was like to leave the valley and live on the West Coast. I just sat and enjoyed my burger as much as I could.
Emily ordered a milkshake to go while the rest of us finished our burgers. John, true to his word, paid the check, and we all walked back to my office. The girls headed into the conference room, but Mark held me back.
“Thanks for an interesting day so far, Alex. You know this really wasn’t what I was expecting when we met for breakfast,” Mark laughed as I was trying to figure out what to say. “I’m pulling your leg; this is going to make for an interesting summer.”
My head snapped around to look at him. “I was JUST thinking that!”
We both laughed for a second before he got serious again.
“Look, keep your eyes open and your head on a swivel. I know Michael is your brother, but he’s not a good guy. He’s been on and off our radar for a while. Your dad has gotten him out of trouble way more often than he deserved. Michael hasn’t gotten smarter with age.” Mark paused for a second. “Don’t underestimate him or his kids.”
I had forgotten about my nephews. Mark was right—they were worse than Michael. With them, there was no pretense of even trying to stay on the right side of the law. If they somehow got pulled into this, that was a whole 'nother level of trouble. I thanked him for reminding me and told him I’d mention it to John and get him to pull their background reports.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m having their arrest records pulled and sent over. It will save him filing a FOIA request, and I can fill him in on some of my experiences with them,” Mark said.
I couldn’t help but wonder just how much trouble they were causing the community, but I decided to get with John later and get a better idea of who we might be dealing with, if Michael did in fact drag them into the situation, or if he already had.
“Thanks again, Mark. I owe you big time. I’ll hit you up a little later and tell you how it goes with Sam.” Mark turned and said goodbye to Emily, Sam, and John, shaking John’s hand as he stepped away, telling him to look for an email shortly.
I asked John if we had anything else to cover, and he said no, that he’d be posted in the lobby of my office.
Turning to Emily, I asked her to get all the notes together on the calls, particularly the client calls. We’d be following up with clients on Monday. I wouldn’t be taking on any more cases or clients for the foreseeable future, so I’d need to get some names for Emily to start referring people to when they called in.
I stepped into my office to call JA about keys, and Sam walked in behind me, closing the door. “Uh oh,” I thought. I leaned up against my desk, bracing for what was coming. She asked me how I was doing, and I was honest. I told her it was a lot to deal with right now, that the breaking and entering and attack on the guard was a complete shock. This is basically how I remember the conversation that followed:
“I know, Alex. You realize this isn’t going to get easier anytime soon? For God’s sake, we just spent the last hour detailing security measures for multiple properties and discussing likely threats to your safety. All that and you haven’t even started dealing with the actual estate and the responsibilities that will come with it,” Sam said with a mix of exasperation and sympathy.
I figured it was time to tell Sam about the other part of the will: the establishment of the Community Foundation and the Russell Family Trust, both of which would be my responsibility to oversee—a total of $50 million in funds to manage, disperse, and direct. I explained Joe’s vision, as much as I understood it without diving into the journals, and told her I’d probably have to get started on the groundwork in the next week or so.
Sam’s eyes widened. “Fuck Alex, Joe really must have thought you could leap tall buildings with everything he’s put on you without any warning.”
Privately, I agreed. I still didn’t understand why Joe handled things this way, but I wasn’t ready to condemn him either. I needed time and perspective to better understand his plan.
“Alex,” Sam started and paused. (“This isn’t good,” flashed through my brain.) “I’m so glad we reconnected, and I feel like so many of the feelings we had for each other when we were younger are still there,” (“Here comes the but,”) “but I don’t see how we can do a new relationship justice with all you’ve got going on.”
“Well, this sucks,” I thought, but I knew she was right. This was going to be enough of a transition without trying to also navigate a serious, committed relationship. I'm honestly glad we had this conversation now as opposed to a month from now.
She continued, “I spent the last 18 years grinding it out in school, residency, and a fellowship to get to this point. I’m committed to my career, and even though I think there is room for an ‘us,’ I don’t think there is room for an ‘us,’ a bodyguard,” (I hated that word) “a family feud, enemies, a foundation, a trust, a complex estate to understand, and a substantial business to manage.”
“I’m not sure there is room for all that in your life, even without trying to build a new relationship. You’re going to need all the friends and support you can get.” As usual, she was right. I didn’t like it, and I wouldn’t have said it myself, but I knew she wasn’t wrong.
“I’d like to be part of that support, and for us to get to know each other as friends again, without the expectations of a romantic relationship. I want to be there for you while you’re building this new life. I want to be your friend first and I want you to be mine. I’m going to need support some days too. I’m basically new in town after 18 years away, and my job isn’t always a cakewalk. There are going to be days that I need a whiskey after work, and you’ve got a great bar downstairs.” Her smile made me feel better about the situation as she continued.
“So, here’s my proposal. Let’s start this as friends, just like we did in elementary school. We’ll be there for each other and know we can talk about anything we need to. We can have a drink, and we can spend time together without expectations of anything more than just friendship.”
“If we’re meant to be together, it will work out that way. If not, then we can at least be godparents for each other’s kids someday.” She looked like she was finished, and a little anxious as she waited for my response.
Sam was more mature than I was when we were in high school, and nothing had changed in the 18 years since.
“I know you’re right, Sam. If it weren’t for this situation, I’d have all the bandwidth in the world for ‘us,’ but as it is, I realize something is going to suffer if we try and do this now. All of this, including us, is too important to risk doing any of it half-assed.”
I could see how relieved she was, and honestly, I felt it a little bit too, like a pressure I didn’t even realize was there had been lifted. I relaxed a little and hugged her. As soon as I did, I knew this was the right thing to do; I just felt it.
With over a week’s worth of hindsight, I know now that our feelings for each other from high school had never been properly resolved. Trying to restart a relationship based on stolen kisses in the hall between classes and exploring what romance meant in the back seat of a car by the river was a bad idea. We had made promises to each other back then before we even knew what those promises meant. Maybe we were destined to be together, but if so, we’d find out as the people we are now, not the kids we used to be.
“So, does this mean I might see you out on dates?” I asked.
“Yep, and I might see you on them too, although I think it’s more likely I’ll see you than you’ll see me. I’m not going to be looking for anyone. I think this move, my new job, and being your friend is going to take up a lot of my time. However, if I think it would be fun to go out with someone and I’ve got time to do so, I will. You need to do the same thing.”
I nodded again. There was no point in arguing; she was still right.
“One more thing, I’m going to be spending time with Emily. She’s going through a lot; it’s not my place to go into details. She promised she’d share with you when she’s ready. Here’s what you do need to know: she needs your friendship, she’s excited about this job, and she’s more than capable of being a good ‘junior assistant.’”
At this point, Sam fixed me with that stare of hers. “Also, she needs a place to stay for a few weeks. DO NOT ask me why, or her, for that matter. I haven’t seen your place, do you have room for a 19-year-old, well-behaved young lady that was editor of the school paper, president of the debate club, and one-tenth of a point away from being valedictorian?”
“Holy crap,” I thought. With friends like Sam, I might just find myself taking direction as much as I’m making decisions.
“She’s welcome to stay with me. I’ll probably end up at Joe’s place some nights anyway. Do you want to check out the apartment and tell me what you think?” I asked. "I'm probably going to need to get her a bed, and maybe some furniture."
“Not the reason I thought I’d be going to your apartment for the first time, but sure. Let me see if it’s any better than these offices,” she said.
“Ouch, that hurts!” I laughed. “Ok, give me a minute to call JA and tell him I need keys ASAP for the rest of this building, and then we’ll head up.”
I called JA and told him what was going on. He already knew about the attack on the guard, of course, and evidently, John had also contacted him and told him we needed to get into the rest of the building to install security systems. He said a courier was meeting someone at his office and picking up the master keys.
“Alex, there is more to that building than you know. I was going to go over this with you when we met on Monday, but it doesn’t really matter, and under the circumstances, it’s more important to get this done. Everything on the second and third floors is part of your uncle’s estate. I’ll explain it all later. I hope you find it as interesting as he did.” I thanked him, and we hung up.
“Ok, let’s head up to check out the apartment. There is a courier on his way with the keys to the rest of the building, so we might get to see more than just the apartment if you have time.”
“Sounds good. I do have some things to do later, but I’m good for now. Let’s see your man cave.”
Leaving the office, I stuck my head in the conference room and told Emily we were heading upstairs for a minute and to keep working. I asked if I had had any more calls, and she said just more of the same—that she’d taken messages and told people that you’d call back when you had time. If it was a client, she told them someone would call them Monday. She said she was working on a schedule based on 20-minute calls.
I told her to begin scheduling calls at 8:00 and to cut them off at 10:30, that we’d be opening the office early so we could close before noon and then get as much done at JA’s office as possible next week. Closing the door to the conference room behind me, Sam and I walked out to the lobby where I let John know the the courier was going to be coming with the keys shortly and thanked him for calling JA.
Sam and I took the stairs up and I opened the door to the apartment. I could tell it wasn’t what Sam had been expecting. “This is amazing! How big is this place?”
“I really don’t know, I think it feels larger than it is because the only walls are around the bedrooms, the study, the utility room, and the bathrooms.”
Sam stuck her head in the second bedroom “This will be fine as soon as you empty it out. She’ll need to get a bed, bedroom furniture, TV, etc. You’ll also need towels for her bathroom.”
Opening my refrigerator she did a quick inventory, I had 4 beers, a leftover pizza, some eggs, milk, yogurt, and a carton of OJ. Thinking about it, I wouldn’t recommend drinking the milk but I kept that to myself. “You need actual food here. Give her a card and tell her to go shopping, I’ll give her a list of the basics. After opening a couple more cabinets she shook her head “Never mind, I’ll take her shopping myself, you apparently only have one plate and it looks like you stole your glasses from the bar downstairs!”
For the record: I did NOT steal them. I once mentioned to the manager that I liked how heavy they were and how nice they looked and she gave me a set since I eat there regularly.
“Also, you might be able to do 100% of your cooking in a single skillet, but she won’t.”
That wasn’t fair either, I have a small pot I used to make soup. One skillet, one pot, who needs more than that??
Her cursory inventory complete she put her hands on her hips and scanned the apartment once more. “Just give me a card, I’ll handle everything. If we run out of room on your card I’ll take care of it and you can just pay me back.” She saw me flinch and said to me with a serious tone.
“Alex, you don’t have to be reckless with your money but aren’t going to fly under the radar like Joe did. Hell, he asked you to run a foundation, which means raising money and schmoozing. You might as well start getting used to the new normal.” She paused until I nodded in agreement “Do you have a particular style of decor you like or don’t like?”
“I like things clean and modern with a little bit of a nod to history, but usually I just let “cheap” win.”
Well, brace yourself. You can have clean and modern but cheap isn’t going to cut it. Especially if I’m going to put my name on it. I’ll try and keep it under $25K but no promises, this dorm furniture is going to go. You have the nicest apartment in the area. Let’s make sure we do it justice.”
I felt my eye twitch, $25K??? I hadn’t paid that much for a car until I finally splurged on my truck. Reaching into my pocket I pulled out my card and handed it to Sam who had a mischievous smile.
“Oh good, I love shopping with other people’s money.” She pulled out her phone and took a series of pictures, panoramas, and videos as she paced off the space to get a rough idea of the dimensions.
“Ok, I’ve seen enough. I’ll try to have a bed here by tonight, If not Emily can sleep on the sofa. I’m going to steal her for the rest of the day today and probably tomorrow if you’re ok with it?”
“Uh, sure. She can take the phone with her and just make sure she stays on top of the calls.”
Sam tucked the card in her pocket. “Great, she may also need a couple of work outfits. Is there any furniture that’s sentimental?”
I looked around, my eyes fell on photos of friends from the military, a folded flag, a shadow box, and a few keepsakes. Sam’s smile softened and she laid her hand on my arm. “Don’t worry Alex, it’s still your place, I’ll honor your friends and your past. We’re not getting rid of you or them. I promise you’ll love it.”
“Oh my gosh, I almost forgot your bedroom. Let’s take a quick look in there.” I pointed to a large hanging barn door. Sam walked over and slid it open. Stepping inside. She took one look at the to the master bedroom and bath and turned around, closing the door behind her as she walked back into the great room. “Forget it, no way it’s going to be under $25K, everything in this place has to go.”
“Sam, I didn’t spend $3000 on all the furniture and stuff in here, I don’t see how it can cost $25,000 to replace it.”
Sam laughed, “Oh, you’ll see, don’t you worry. Do you have a preference for mattress firmness?”
I don’t think I’ve ever even bothered to try different mattresses but I remembered staying on some that I thought were too soft. “Firm, I guess?” Sam nodded and went back to the list she’d been making on her phone.
About that time the door rang, John had sent the courier up. I thanked him for bringing it so quickly on a Saturday and signed for the envelope.
It contained several access cards and half a dozen keys. I asked Sam if she needed anything else. She said she was all so we left the apartment and I started trying keys across the hall. The second one I tried unlocked the door. Swinging it open I saw a mirror image of my apartment, maybe a little larger since this side of the building extended further down the street from the corner. It was unfurnished but gleaming new appliances could be seen in the kitchen and the same open floor plan, uncluttered by thrift store furniture.
Seeing the empty space made remember the possibilities I thought existed before I filled my apartment up with a mix of hand-me-downs and consignment finds. I found myself looking forward to seeing the space when Sam got done.
We wandered around for another minute or two, checking out the view from the windows and commenting on what a great location this was before leaving and locking the door behind us.
That left the double doors and the third floor. I knew Sam was hoping to get Emily settled in to a bed tonight so I decided to save that for another time.
Checking my phone, I saw it was nearly 2:00. We’d been poking around for over half an hour and Emily was just sitting downstairs waiting. “Oh boy, we’d better get downstairs. Did you want to take Emily shopping still?”
“Absolutely, and you need to see if actually wants to stay with you for a while. Let’s go talk to her.”
We took the stairs back down and went into my office. Emily was just getting off the phone, looking annoyed when we walked in.
“Everything ok?” I asked.
“Oh, it’s nothing really, just calls from people wanting to talk to you about borrowing money, making investments, or asking for donations. You also got calls from people we’re not related to.”
Sam and I both laughed. I told her we’d catch up on messages later but that I wanted to talk to her about where she was staying. She evidently had plans to stay a friend’s place for a while until she figured things out.
“I have another option, if you’re interested. I have a second bedroom upstairs if you’d like to stay here. You’ll have a lot more privacy and be right above your work. I’ll be splitting my time between here and Joe’s place for a while, so you’ll probably have the apartment to yourself occasionally.” I thought for a second, “Only rule is no more than three friends over at a time. Five is a party.”
“Oh my God! Really? That would be amazing, and that means I can have all my friends over at the same time! I go for quality over quantity!”
Sam grabbed her purse off the table. “Then that settles it, but you and I have some shopping to do. Let’s go – we need to get you a bed and some bedroom furniture plus Alex lives like he’s in a college dorm. We may not get everything done today, but we can get a start.” Emily grabbed her bag and they left before 2:30, waving goodbye and promising to call when they were on the way back.
I realized then that for the first time since the reading I was alone. No one was expecting me to call. I didn’t have to be somewhere in an hour. It was just me… well, me, two dogs, and John, but mostly just me.
I went upstairs with the dogs following behind. Grabbing a beer out of the fridge, I cleared out the extra bedroom to make room for Emily. I mostly used it to store my kayak, bicycle, and other sports stuff. Those all found their way into the great room, with the exception of the kayak, which I moved into the study.
With the bedroom empty, along with my beer, I grabbed the dogs’ leashes, and we went downstairs to go for a walk. Groups of folks were strolling the downtown sidewalks, checking out the shops and stopping into the beer and wine bars that had popped up over the last few years. Charlie and Cooper got plenty of pets as we strolled, and I finally had time to clear my head.
Eventually, I stopped at a wine bar where a guy was playing acoustic guitar, covering Simon & Garfunkel and doing a pretty good job of it. Sitting on the patio for the next couple of hours, I chatted with several friends that walked up to offer condolences or just say hi, while the pups soaked up all the attention they wanted.
It was almost 6 pm when my phone rang. It was Sam, letting me know they were on their way back and would be there in about thirty minutes with new beds for both Emily and me, along with furniture for Emily’s room. She said she didn’t see anything appropriate for my room but wanted to go ahead and replace the mattress.
I asked if I needed to do anything to get ready, and she assured me that all I needed to do was open the door. She mentioned that two guys in a delivery truck were going to take care of everything. I was shocked that she had pulled this off so fast and asked her how she did it.
“Evidently, when a last-minute sale for over $8,000 comes through the door at the end of the day on a Saturday, you find a way to make the delivery,” she replied.
Now, I was shocked for a different reason, but I just thanked her for arranging everything and said I’d meet them back there.
We had an easy walk back to the apartment. I got there about 15 minutes before they said they’d arrive. I had stripped the bed and pulled out new sheets to remake it when Sam and Emily came in the front door.
Sam checked to confirm that the second bedroom was empty and saw me setting out sheets. 'What are those for?' she asked. I told her I figured I should put fresh sheets on the new mattress.
'Look, Alex, just do me a favor: grab all the sheets in the house and bring them out here, then go downstairs and have a drink and dinner. Emily and I are going to order in; we’ll take care of everything else.' She paused and thought before finishing, 'We might join you for dessert, but we’re going to be busy around here for a while.”
I laughed; I’m sharp enough to know when I’m not wanted. Grabbing my tablet, I walked downstairs and told John I was going to eat around the corner. I asked him if he thought the girls were okay here by themselves, and he said he’d given a panic button to Emily earlier that afternoon when they left. He’d be right around the corner with me in the unlikely event they needed anything.
I walked out the door and turned right; just a few steps was all it took to put me at the front door of The Sluice. Stepping inside, I was greeted by the familiar warm glow of vintage-style lighting reflecting off the copper ceilings twelve feet overhead. The long, polished wooden bar stretches across one side of the room, backed by an array of mirrors and stained glass that date back to the early days of the building. The bar itself is a masterpiece, made from rich, dark wood said to have been milled from black walnut cut in the valley over 100 years ago. It had been meticulously restored to its former glory. Behind the bar, shelves stocked with an impressive selection of spirits and wines create a dazzling display of colors and shapes.
All around the restaurant were tasteful nods to the period when gold mining was the focus of our community. Rustic wooden beams and exposed brick walls provide a sturdy and authentic backdrop, while vintage mining tools like pickaxes, sluice boxes, and gold pans are artfully displayed throughout the space. I’ve been down here many times as folks new to the area ask about the theme, unaware of the gold rush that took place here long before the one in California.
I moved to the bar where I ordered a local lager and flipped open the menu, not for any good reason, I already knew what I was going to order. The bartender, Emma, brought my lager over, and I ordered their 12 oz New York strip medium rare, choosing that over their prime rib only because I wanted to give the girls all the time they needed, and prime rib would come out too quickly.
By the time I finished dinner, it was nearly 8 pm, John had left and been replace by Craig. I texted Sam and asked if I could come back up. She said only if I brought chocolate cake. That sounded reasonable, so I ordered three slices and ice cream to go, paid the check, and finished my beer while waiting for the deserts to come out. Less than ten minutes later I was climbing the stairs back to my apartment, cake and ice cream in hand.
Walking inside, I could hear the dryer running and noticed that both girls were in my bedroom. Up against the wall, they were making up a king-size bed. I’d never had anything larger than a queen, and the size difference was striking.
Seeing me walk in, they excitedly instructed me to lie down and tell them what I thought. Sinking onto the mattress, I said I’d never felt anything like it before. It was by far the most comfortable mattress I’d ever felt. Both were excited to hear that, and frankly, I would have been happy to lie down and sleep, but Emily wanted me to see her room.
I forced myself to get up and follow them. I must have underestimated the size of the room because Sam had elected to go with a king-size bed in here as well, and it easily accommodated the large mattress. The bed frame, dresser, nightstand, and floor mirror all had a Scandinavian feel and were done in white.
A desk with a glass top and rolling chair was up against a wall, and a comfortable reading chair sat in the adjacent corner. Pulling everything together was a light-colored rug with rose tones (in the days since Emily moved in, I once called it pink and was corrected). The bed hadn’t been made yet, but a white comforter sat on top of the mattress.
I was in awe. It had been less than five hours, and at least one room in my apartment now looked like a home. Both girls must have been able to read my expression because I got a big hug and thank you from Emily, who was clearly happy to see my approval, and a warm smile from Sam.
Going to the kitchen to retrieve the cake and ice cream, I realized that not only did I not have dishes, but I also didn’t have a proper place for three people to sit, just a small table that I’d eat at if I wasn’t eating on the sofa.
To be honest, I could have paid to properly furnish my apartment when I moved in. My law practice was doing quite well for a one-man show, between it and my benefits from the military, I had saved up a considerable nest egg for someone my age. I once again thought to myself that I couldn’t wait to see what the rest of the place would look like when they were done.
The girls ended up sitting on the sofa to eat, while I took the only recliner, and we used the to-go containers as bowls. They talked about all the things they had seen and made plans to go back out the next day. Sam suggested that in the morning, since there was no food in the house, Emily and I go to breakfast and then make a run to Emily’s place to pick up some more clothes. She had only packed for a weekend at her friend’s house.
Sam told Emily she’d come back around noon to pick her up and drive back to the city to see if they could find everything else Sam wanted to replace my current furniture.
Sam asked if I’d have time to get the grocery shopping done if she made a list. I assured her that I could handle it and that there would be food in the house by the time they got back.
About that time, the buzzer went off on the dryer. Emily’s new sheets were ready to go on the bed, and they went to grab them.
I picked up the now-empty “dishes” and threw them away. Grabbing the dogs’ leashes, I took them outside one last time, saying hi to Craig as I walked Cooper and Charlie across the street to the square.
The sidewalks were still full, with the after-dinner crowd moving from bar to bar, and the square was well-lit and lively. It was nice to see the downtown so full of life. When I was in high school, it was relatively dead by 6 pm.
When I got back upstairs, Emily’s bed had been made, and Sam was gathering her things to go. “I’ll see you both tomorrow around noon. I’ll bring your list, Alex.” Sam gave Alex and I both a hug before heading downstairs. It was well after 9 o’clock, which normally wouldn’t be the end of a night for me, but I was dead tired.
I told Emily she was welcome to stay up but that I was going to bed and asked her to turn off the lights when she finally decided to turn in.
She ran over and hugged me. “Thank you for everything, Alex. I really didn’t know what I was going to do. You have no idea what this means to me.” I hugged her back and told her this summer was going to be a real adventure for both of us.
I realized that I was glad she was there, not just because I wanted to help her out but because having her there would push me to leave a routine that had become way too comfortable. Having someone around also meant I wouldn’t spend every evening alone, worrying about how I was going to handle what Joe had put in front of me.
Seeing me heading to bed, Cooper jumped up to follow me. I noticed that Charlie stayed on the sofa where he had been lying next to Emily. I figured he’d follow later if he wanted to and left the door cracked for him to slide through later and got ready for bed.
Once again, it had been a crazy day. I was recapping it in my head as I lay down on my new bed.
The last thing I remember was thinking, “this is the most comfortable mattress I’ve ever slept on.”
In hindsight, the next day (Sunday), was a great day. There were some complications and some fallout from Saturday but overall I think it was the best day since Joe died. I'm working on journaling it now and cleaning it up to post it. Thanks for your continued interest in what's been going on.

Howdy, indieheads! Welcome to the 90s Warp Rate, the biggest, bleepiest collection of classic electronica this side of the Atlantic! I’m your host, Warp-alifa, and with my ravey co-host u/WaneLietoc, we’ve prepared to bring you the best rave rate of British golden age drum & bass, bleep, and IDM electronic listening music that acid can buy!

Hold on! What’s a rate?

Once a month, this subreddit plays a game called a “rate” where a host (myself and u/WaneLietoc) select a collection of albums (and bonus songs) for everyone to score on a scale of 1-10, with a single 11 & a 0 available as well. Ballots of these scores are submitted, and then over “reveal” weekend, the host(s) take the averages of the songs and eliminate them from worst to best, giving one song out of all the albums the top spot, and declaring the album where that song is from the coveted “rate winner.”
Our sister subreddit popheads has a Guide to Rates Video that can give you a broad overview of rates (please note our reveal process is thread-based instead of video chat rooms). And here's recent examples of a rate announcement and a rate reveal.

Cool! Are there any other rates happening right now?

Yes! The Brazil Classics Rate is currently ongoing, with ballots due June 21st! Check out more info about it here.

Cool! How do I participate in the Warp Rate?

Simply fill out the ballot by the due date and submit it to me through the link below! You may also use the playlists to help you keep track of what and where you’re listening to everything.

SUBMIT A BALLOT HERE

Backup Pastebin Ballot

BALLOTS DUE: July 16th

REVEAL WEEKEND: July 19th - 21st

Playlists

Apple Music
Spotify
Tidal
Youtube

Main Rate

1) Who and what is Warp?
There’s a label guide to be written here one day, so we’ll try to keep it short. Warp Records was born in 1989 as something of an evolution of a Sheffield sound that had been developing for 15 prior years as 80s dance/rave scene in Sheffield was finally reaching a place of maturation: DJs displayed a wide knowledge base, mixing older rare groove/funk/disco into new abstract electronic minimalism arriving on import from Detroit & Chicago; sounds that crossed racial divides. Meanwhile, luminaries like Cabaret Voltaire, ABC, the Human League, and Heaven 17, all were Sheffield-based pioneers in electronic pop that also happened to have ties to the FON complex, a place where Rob Gordon was cooking up and devising the “bleep” techno sound. By 1989, an opportunity had presented itself to Gordon, partnering with Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell to found Warp as both a record store and a pioneering label with an MO in exploring emerging homegrown electronic sounds that could tear up a Saturday night in the abandoned warehouses across the Northern UK.
It was almost Warped, but no one could understand it through the phone lines really. Also, Warp could stand for We Are Reasonable People. Cheeky Brits!
2) So What Did Warp’s 90s Look Like? Is there a definitive Warp Sound?
You could broadly characterize Warp’s 90s into 3 distinctive parts:

• The 89-92 Bleep Techno Era (Chart topping singles made for Saturday nights out in a warehouse roughly lasting until Rob Gordon was ejected from the label over licensing a ditty Beckett and Mitchell did not want to)
• The 92-94 Artificial Intelligence Era (A pivot away from chart making singles towards sound system oriented Electronic Listening Music albums enshrined by the Artificial Intelligence sub-series–with its chilled-out android, blissing to Pink Floyd and Kraftwerk; a statement of alliance between heady stoner tunes of yore, and the synthetic future of dance)
• The 95-00 Blech Era (Lots of singular producers/artists with a distinct move away from a cohesive Warp Sound to an omnibus Warp Aesthetic, roughly ending with the label’s move to London & Rob Mitchell’s passing a year later in 2001)

Needless to say, Warp’s pivot out of singles, towards singular artists on the outside of “scenes” quickly established itself as the flagship electronic independent label of its time, and is still the label where many of today’s most cherished alternative acts call home. In the mainline rate, we’ll focus on the highs of the Blech Era and meet a few of the most legendary acts to ever sport the little purple globe, exploring their most enduring works.

Aphex Twin - Richard D. James Album (1997) (WARP 43)

The poster child of IDM (so much so that he derided the term), RDJ has built his legacy on going against every little grain he comes across, passing through techno, acid house, rave, ambient, drum & bass, breakbeat, and everything in between. In the process, he became the court jester of electronic dance, a stinky little ginger prankster with a tank living in a bank vault that happened to be one of the most prolific producers ever pressed to wax, Richard David James has gone by many monikers-- Polygon Window, The Dice Man, Caustic Window, user18081971, Four Tet (rumored), Burial (also rumored)-- yet everyone knows the name Aphex Twin.
No one could keep up with Richard in the 90s, not even his best mate Luke Vibert! His sincere acts of trolling repeatedly manifested itself into compilations of analog electronic listening music that he also reveled in rarely giving easy, definitive answers to. Even if he despised his inadvertent celebrity status, the legend of the 1990s Richard D James was an extravagant, decadent one, whose face sprawled forth from every direction. The self-titled-by-proxy Richard D. James Album, with its menacing grin and simplistic title, is but one of a plethora of AFX projects that could have been chosen for this rate; yet with its childlike sense of wonder and bouncing beats, it’s an easy selection for old fans and newcomers alike.
It may even be his most personal work yet. He’d done a portrait for a cover, left track names as anagrams or references to Cornwall, even brought out a new edition of Calx, but the RDJ album happened to feature one major upgrade for Richard hiding in the reflection of his eye: a computer! That’s right, Richard was making the leap to the digital age for breakbeat innovation. He’d long been an analog purist, but after releasing Squarepusher’s debut Feed Me Weird Things, Richard had a new friend, one who he would be locked in a sonic arms race with for the rest of the decade, and a new direction towards something jungle-adjacent, but manic of its own accord.
Note: we will be using the American CD release for this rate, which included the Girl/Boy EP as an addendum–minus the remixes. This edition is not on normal streaming in full.

1. 4
2. Cornish Acid
3. Peek 82454201
4. Fingerbib
5. Carn Marth
6. To Cure A Weakling Child
7. Goon Gumpas
8. Yellow Calx
9. Girl/Boy Song
10. Logan Rock Witch
11. Milk Man
12. Inkey$
13. Beetles

Autechre - Tri Repetae (1995) (WARP 38)

This is when we knew it was really on. Gloriously driven by the kick drum swing of hip-hop while also beginning to dissolve in their new acid computer bath, Tri Repetae is the first full album where Sean and Rob let their hearts and brains fully merge with the gear.

-Sasha Frere-Jones, the Shfl’s (very good!) guide to IDM

There’s a joke in the office, that the Autechre duo always say the next album’s going to be ‘much more hiphop’

-Ian Anderson of the Designers Republic (Autechre’s album cover designers)

I thought I might give them boys another go....Would be the third time of trying, if we count the initial back-in-the-day listening. Got rid of nearly all the CDs years ago - where shall I start? Tips, playlists, beginner's guide to , all very much welcomed. Bear in mind, though, my entrenched position is 1/ no grooves 2/ no tunes 3/ no discernible emotions or even moods.... so evidence proffered to the contrary is unlikely to be persuasive... Much more likely to be swayed by extremes of abstraction.... absolute unhuman inhospitable uninhabitable inclemency... the kind of unreachable alienness gestured at in the devastating denouement to Stanislaw Lem's Fiasco...I do remember being quite impressed by Confield, for instance...Did I quite-like Oversteps? Thing is, I can't remember. And that is the main issue, I just find their stuff resolutely evades memory. There's no element in it, on any level, that sticks. I mean, come on. Who hasn't got better things to do than this?

- Simon Reynolds, continuing to be frustrated by Autechre as of October 19, 2023

I remember, like, doing Tri Rep and it was literally like: ‘Right, we’re just going to do loops, and that’s it’. And it’s going to be that, and they’re going to be incrementally changing. And it was very much about it being looped. I was really thinking about that a lot at the time, that I’m going to loop this more than I should, it’s going to go on longer than it should. But it’s going to be just about tolerable, just within the kind of boundary of what’s acceptable in terms of how long things are going on for and how much repetition there is…I mean, basically we still sit in there arsing around with drum machines and keyboards, we’re not doing anything technically amazing and flash. We’re just REALLY into it.”

- Sean Booth, keeping his feet on the ground in an Interview with Droid (2023) + for Rob Young’s Warp: Labels Unlimited (2006)
By 1995 Autechre wanted out of the industry; they were shit at signing CDs and hated doing interviews. The duo had come to Warp with hardcore electro cuts in ‘91 that were passed on, returning months later with tracks “a bit like LFO but they’ve got better beats”. Warp was amused, edging one cut after another out of them until debut Incunabula was curated as a result. Amber took things in a more decidedly ambient exploration, but neither release quite reflected the promise "The Egg" on the Artificial Intelligence compilation, "Basscadet" on Incunabula, nor the Garbage EP were trafficking in. Tri Repetae was to be their escape vessel.
Very few musicians from the last century were ever able to build the type of devoted cult following that the Manchester-based duo of Sean Booth and Rob Brown have accumulated over 30 years; even fewer have done so while consistently scouting the deepest regions of dance music until it was rendered into some kind of jam-based synthetic utopia. Tri Repetae, their third full-length album from Warp, locates the pair at a pivotal moment in their development. One where the technology was finally at the point Autechre’s love of Street Sounds electro could be hyper-charged while also still playing to a composeNew Music bent the duo was seeing themselves in a lineage belonging to.
It’s straight up an album of loops, ones fully grown into cool, synthetic worlds. It is hip hop but in a way that is beyond the after-image of a break-dancer, an actual moving 'n' grooving human, toeing the line between human and machine, and pushing electronica into a new era of methodical mechanics and pulsing glitch textures. It sounds like music Wall-E and EVE have RAD sex to. It is 70 minutes and Autechre politely requests you listen to it on analog vinyl (the cassette is disposable information & the CD is incomplete without surface noise) AND in the dark; if applicable.
NOTE: this album is a real bizarre one. If the quoteboard makes anything clear, there is SOMETHING to this release, but also it may sound like a brick to you. Deadass. Play around with it. Have fun. Don’t remain motionless!

1. Dael
2. Clipper
3. Leterel
4. Rotar
5. Stud
6. Eutow
7. C/Path
8. Gnit
9. Overand
10. Rsdio

Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right to Children (1998) (WARP 55)

We grew up in the 70s, a time of great paranoia about science, a paranoia which comes across in the science fiction of that era, in books as well as films. It’s this paranoia, this pessimism, this fear of science, which can be found in our music along with other influences. When we were growing up in the 70s, the view of the future shown in TV and films was very dark, very powerful.

After hearing a tape of their work. Sean Booth of Autechre hipped Warp to a pair of enigmatic, nostalgic, brothers, Michael Sanderson and Marcus Eoin. The duo had been working south of Edinburgh in part of a free ranging collective of artist friends since the 80s, Hexagon Sun, that was holding outdoor music and art events. Proto-Boards of Canada music, alongside children’s song records and tapes mixed and reversed over the top were in the mix, complete with kaleidoscopic imagery. But such events had slowed over the 90s as the collective dwindled and insularity became key to the brothers’ work for the Skam label.
With their ARG-album announcements, hidden occult messages, and exquisite production, it’s no wonder why BoC have developed such a rabid following, and an even wider scope of influence in the decades since. The recurring themes of nature and man, memory and nostalgia, wonder and fear of the unknown, all accumulate seamlessly on their Warp debut, Music Has the Right to Children. Flipping fluidly between slinky downtempo and wobbling ambient, while always keeping an underlying adoration to 90s boom bap hip-hop instrumentals, this turquoise-tinted record was another zap from where 90s music was zipping towards. To say it has wowed and inspired generations of listeners would be an understatement, as much as it has become something of a sacred text… an essential bliss out.
Note: we will be using the original UK release for this rate, which did not include the track “Happy Cycling” as found on streaming now.

1. Wildlife Analysis
2. An Eagle in Your Mind
3. The Colour of the Fire
4. Telephasic Workshop
5. Triangles & Rhombuses
6. Sixtyten
7. Turquoise Hexagon Sun
8. Kaini Industries
9. Bocuma
10. Roygbiv
11. Rue the Whirl
12. Aquarius
13. Olson
14. Pete Standing Alone
15. Smokes Quantity
16. Open the Light
17. One Very Important Thought

Squarepusher - Hard Normal Daddy (1997) (WARP 50)

Indeed there have been questions about an act in which Warp is currently investing its future; solo performer Squarepusher, described respectfully as “Weather Report on 78”... Going between us, from 95-97, was really like a conversation. It wasn't like we were trying to better each other; or at least if it was we never came out in the open about it. We were just like, ‘Oh yeah man, that’s wicked’, and then turn up the next week with a DAT: ‘Check this out’. But it was brilliant.

- Tom Jenkinson (Squarepusher) on his friendship with Richard D James during 1995-1997
Tom Jenkinson’s discography is an eclectic, mind-twisting journey through the heart and soul of frantically rhythmic dance music. Spanning almost 30 years, the Squarepusher moniker has explored everything from acid and drill, jungle and techno, hard breaks and flash-- all while maintaining a distinctly human touch to the easier-said-than-done prospect of making drums go “brrrr.” All the while, he’s eschewed a scene or collective. “The idea of being part of a movement isn’t particularly exciting to me, unfortunately,” he said back in 1998.
But before all that, Tom just wanted to release a purple sleeve on Warp. He was a raver that knew his jungle breaks and was cooking up tunes back in the 92-93 heyday when he was 17. He was well on his way to a purple sleeve by 1995, when RDJ helped him curate dozens of cuts into Feed Me Weird Things, a harmonious blending of melodic hooks with technical bravado, for Rephelx. It would kick off the great Squarepusher v Aphex Twin (v Autechre) “make the freakiest shit you can” arms race of the late 90s. The RDJ album fired back at the speed Squarepusher pushed. Chiastic Slide offered an alternate freak mode glitch hop swing. Hard Normal Daddy, Jenkinson’s debut LP on Warp in the spring of ‘97 and hot off the heels of the singularly brilliant purple sleeve Port Rhombus EP, may have been the real achievement of Warp’s 90s run.
Armed with a fake Fender Jazz bass and a “totally outdated” Akai S950 sampler, Jenkinson aimed for something singular. Both a love letter to his local rave scene, as much as an attempt to perfect and enshrine his Weather Report jazz fusion worship into the hardcore continuum, Hard Normal Daddy carries a sense of personalization akin to a bildungsroman. This is Squarepusher the Underdog cementing his own wicked legacy as yet another progressive pioneer in the landscape of alternative electronica.

1. Coopers World
2. Beep Street
3. Rustic Raver
4. Anirog D9
5. Chin Hippy
6. Papalon
7. E8 Boogie
8. Fat Controller
9. Vic Acid
10. Male Pill Part 13
11. Rat/P’s + Q’s
12. Rebus

Bonus Rate (Optional)

Warp had over 71 albums and 128 singles released across 1989-1999. We could be here for DAYS rating cuts! So, we came up with something reasonable. Our bonus rate includes an absolute bevy of Warp classics, examining the varied eras and aesthetics. From the heaviest of dance tunes to the most blissful of comedown tracks fit for a spliff. Oh, and wicked spins on kitschy rave! Want to float peacefully around the orbital space station? Or dive into the deep end of bleep techno? This bonus rate has a little something for everyone, and perhaps a new obsession or two to follow.

1. B12 - ”Telefone 529”
2. The Black Dog - ”End of Time”
3. Broadcast - ”Echo’s Answer”
4. Drexciya - ”Black Sea”
5. F.U.S.E. - ”Substance Abuse”
6. Richard H. Kirk - ”World War Three”
7. Kenny Larkin - ”Tedra”
8. LFO - ”We Are Back”
9. Max Tundra - ”Children at Play”
10. Nightmares on Wax - ”Mega Donutz”
11. Plone - ”Plock”
12. Seefeel - ”Fracture”
13. Speedy J - ”Beam Me Up!”
14. Tricky Disco - ”Tricky Disco”
15. Two Lone Swordsmen - ”The Big Clapper”

Rules - READ ALL OF THESE BEFORE SUBMITTING YOUR SCORES

• Listen to each song and assign each a score between 1 and 10. Decimals are fine, but please refrain from giving decimal scores with more than 1 spot. This is because I'm using a computer program to parse the votes and print everything out (more on that later).
• You have to listen to and score every song in the main rate. Otherwise, I will not accept your ballot as it will crash the program (more on that later).
• Your scores should NOT be considered confidential as they aren’t. Feel free to shitpost about them in the general discussion threads whenever you feel like it - users over at popheads usually just talk about their averages of the albums and what 11 and 0 they gave (which I will explain on the next bullet point!)
• You may give ONE song a 0 and ONE song an 11 in the main rate. Please reserve these for your least favorite and most favorite tracks; excessive sabotage ruins rate results and generally makes things less fun.
• You can change your scores at any time! Feel free to PM me at any point after submission before the deadline and I'll be happy to revise them for you.
• I am using a computer program that fellow rater letsallpoo designed in order to parse these votes! While this will make things a lot more efficient and reduces errors on my part, this does mean that scores need to be sent in a very specific way. The easiest way to make sure your scores follow the necessary format is to use the pre-prepared link at the top & bottom of this post. PLEASE USE THAT. You can copy and paste it to a notepad file or something and fill in your scores there, but PLEASE use that format to send in your scores.
• DO NOT SABOTAGE the rate by giving outrageously low/high scores for the sole purpose of skewing the results, we reserve the right to exclude any ballot we suspect of this. If you're worried your scores could be mistakenly perceived as such, all you need to do is leave comments explaining the reasoning behind them.

Formatting

Songs - THIS IS CORRECT (single space after colon):
Milk Man: 7
You may also and are generally encouraged to leave comments with your scores!
Milk Man: 7 thank you Mrs. Milk Man but I prefer non-dairy alternatives
THESE ARE INCORRECT
Milk Man 7 thank you Mrs. Milk Man but I prefer non-dairy alternatives
Milk Man - 7 thank you Mrs. Milk Man but I prefer non-dairy alternatives
Milk Man: 7: thank you Mrs. Milk Man but I prefer non-dairy alternatives
Milk Man: (7) thank you Mrs. Milk Man but I prefer non-dairy alternatives
Milk Man: thank you Mrs. Milk Man but I prefer non-dairy alternatives 7
Albums: You can also comment on the complete albums by adding a colon after the album name and then your comment, like so:
Album: Music Has the Right to Children Wow! This is just like the time when I had the opportunity to serve as a juror in a censorship or so-called obscenity case, where the same people who would stop me from listening to Boards of Canada complained about a book and even a tv program, and I defended my constitutionally protected rights!
(If you don't follow the format, I'll probably still accept your ballot, but you have to write me a 1000-word essay WITH SOURCES on why Drexciya is the most important techno act of all time.)
***
Did a lot of copy and pasting here (including the following list of users), so thank you to all the raters of old: daswef2; u/vapourlomo; u/roseisonlineagain; u/DolphLundgrensArms; u/R_E_S_I_G_N_E_D; u/stansymash; u/ClocktowerMaria; u/aerocom; u/themilkeyedmender; u/greencaptain; u/Crankeedoo; u/dirdbub; u/ThatParanoidPenguin; u/tedcruzcontrol; u/kappyko; u/FuckUpSomeCommasYeah; u/LazyDayLullaby; u/SRTViper; u/Whatsanillinois; u/NFLFreak98; u/freav; u/freeofblasphemy; u/kvothetyron, u/RatesNorman; u/aPenumbra; u/idontreallycare4; u/p-u-n-k_girl; u/luigijon3; u/WaneLietoc; u/dream_fighter2018; u/darjeelingdarkroast (RIP); u/smuckles; u/PiperIBarelyKnowHer; u/welcome2thejam; u/imrlynotonreddit; u/kvothetyrion; u/thedoctordances1940; u/b_o_g_o (of the BogoLomo Rate Collective); u/MCK_OH; u/TiltControls; u/chug-a-lug-donna; u/TakeOnMeByA-ha; u/indie_fan_; u/bilbodabag, u/zenits, u/saison_Marguerite, and tons of people on popheads.
***

SUBMIT A BALLOT HERE

Ballots are DUE JULY 16TH

Reveal Weekend July 19th - 21st

Thank you for reading, and we hope you enjoy the rate!

Hello everyone. I want to share my journey through NEET PG preparations 4 years ago. I was not a great student but i worked really hard through one year of drop and ended up scoring well enough to end up in Radiology which i had never imagined before.
I want to share bits of my own journey, share the things that i learnt about how to score well in the exam.
This is not a step by step guide to crack NEET PG exam, but rather my own experiences and what i believe can help you score well.
Part 1: Introduction
Throughout MBBS i was an average student. I didn’t read a lot, but in general i understood the concepts well.
There's always all kinds of people writing the exam: first, the top tier elite students who have the potential and are hard working enough to crack the exam. We all have those in out batch and we all know who they are.
Second, Mid to low tier ones who either have the potential but are unable to put in enough hard work, or are hard working but lack a smarter approach or strategy. This post is mainly intended for such people.
Then there are ones who neither want to or are incapable of putting in the effort. These are already out of the competition and do not contribute significantly to the competition. The actual competition is among the 30-40k students, beyond which it's just insignificant crowd.
Before approaching NEET PG, i never expected myself to do well in the exam. I was however aware of my shortcomings. I knew what a mammoth task it was to crack an exam like that, and how underprepared i was.
During med school, i had imposter syndrome. I significantly underestimated myself. I attributed the things i had achieved to luck rather than my own hard work. I wasn't very hard working during MBBS either. However for NEET i ended up developing a system which got me through the preparation and helped me score well in the exam. I got 839 marks out of 1200, with a rank of 1299, which isn't that amazing in of itself, but it was way beyond i had ever expected. And there must be many of you in the same boat. There must be some of you who have the potential and just need some direction or a little push towards the right direction.
This is not a step by step guide to scoring higher marks, rather the story of my own journey through the prep, the things i learnt, the mistakes i made, and the challenges i overcame.
People say you can achieve anything with hard work. Can you really though? Can it really be done through sheer hard work and planning, was the question i had. I was competing with people much smarter, hard working and dedicated students across the country. I'm sure many of you feel this way.
Part 2: Entering the prep
Entering the prep, i was vastly underprepared as compared to my colleagues.
I had several important realizations before entering the preparation, which played a vital role in how it turned out. It's important that you pause and take some time to truly understand these things and ingrain it in your brain.
First, understand how big a task NEET really is. The sheer scale of it should humble you. You cannot underestimate the exam or overestimate yourself. If you approach the exam with a slightest bit of casual attitude, you don't truly deserve a great outcome. It's a competitive exam. For every mistake of yours there are thousands waiting to surpass you.
Second, the exam demands your complete attention and dedication. Anything else going on in your life must take a lower priority. Preparation and studying should be of utmost importance. That is the mindset you are going to need while entering the prep.
What many of us end up doing, is that we enter the preparation with a more relaxed mindset and think that eventually we'll get more serious. “There's an entire year to study i don't want to burn myself out”. The entire prep phase has three phases, the beginning, the middle and the end. Each has it’s own set of challenges that we need to overcome.
Third, we need to aim high. No matter who you were up to this point, no matter what you expect from yourself, if you want to succeed in the exam you must have a clear vision to do whatever it takes to succeed and aim higher than you expect.
Part 3: The beginning, the middle and the end
While preparing for any major exam, there are three key factors that govern the momentum and impact of our studies. These are:

1. Information retained, which forms your overall accumulated knowledge about the subject which you can recall on the day of the exam.
2. Backlog represents your pacing and how much you’re lagging behind. Backlog tends to build up exponentially, so we need a strategy to manage backlog more effectively.
3. And the burnout, which directly governs your momentum and retention. Motivation can prevent or reduce burnout.

The entire prep phase can be divided into three major phases. Entering each of these you will be at a different level of information retained, backlog and burnout. A combination of these will govern your momentum.
In the beginning we’re at level zero, or that’s what we’ll assume here. No retained info, but also no backlog or burnout.
Many enter the prep with a more relaxed attitude, thinking they do not want to burn themselves out. But that can lead to buildup of backlog. And once backlog starts it accumulates exponentially.
Also it’s highly unlikely to get serious in the middle phase. Once get used to a relaxed lifestyle in the beginning, it almost always get too late until you ‘get serious’.
In the end phase it’s relatively easier to build momentum as the exam gets closer. So most end up studying well in the third phase irrespective of whether they got serious since the beginning or the middle.
Which is why we need to enter the prep with our full attention and dedication. This can give you a great boost among many of your peers. It’s a competitive exam, to move ahead of others, you need to do everything where most others might cut some slack.
Build enough momentum in the beginning and it will carry you through the middle, the most difficult phase to get through. The middle is the time when we have covered enough subjects to get a real idea of how big the entire syllabus is, how much you already have to read and retain and how much is yet to come. It can be a scary realization. And you balance of your knowledge (retained info), backlog and burnout will decide how you tackle the middle.
Do well in the first third and you will survive the middle. This is a time where many who started well at the beginning start falling behind, likely due to burnout or lack of motivation.
Try to read and retain too much info for a long enough period of time can lead to burnout and slow you down. Read too little and backlog increases which will further suppress you down in the future.
Part 4: Backlog
Backlog is bound to happen. It’s possible to have some control over it.
First, the obvious thing to do is to try to keep backlog as less as possible during the first read itself. It means try to go through the entire topics during the first read itself. It will require extra time, extra work at times. But keeping backlog to a minimal at the beginning is vital.
Second, keeping track of any topic that you skip during the first read, write it down at a common place, which we’ll call ‘The list of Backlogs’. Keep a visual track of every topic you have skipped to read in the future. This way all the accumulated backlogs won’t to a void which you forget and eventually discover during your revisions. It will keep you in check. And if you’re ever confused what topic to study, or sometimes if you have just a small window of time to read a small topic, you can visit your backlogs.
Part 5: The art of note taking
A clear concise and clean notes is easier to read, revise and retain. I used to put conscious efforts into keeping my notes interesting. Diagrams, highlighters, sticky notes, use whatever it takes to help that one extra piece of information leave an impression which it wouldn’t have otherwise.
Here are few tips that helped me make good notes:

1. Keep it as neat and clean as possible. Leave ample spaces to add things later on. And do not underestimate the amount of things you’ll have to add eventually. Leaving more space beforehand lets you add the new stuff in a neat and systematic manner.
2. Use multiple colored pens: at least one primary and a secondary color. The secondary color should only be used to highlight key information which you’d like to glance through. It’s not important to use secondary colors to write headings as they do not contribute to the ‘key info’ which you would want to glance through.
3. Neat, simple diagrams. Be creative with your diagrams. It’s okay to make it funny or add extra details in the diagrams to make it easier to remember.
4. Summarize pages in a box: for certain pages where you can summarize longer concepts or key info in a separate box to make easier to glance through. Remember, one of the main goals while first writing the notes should be to make it easier to revise later on.

Part 6: Short and long term planning and strategy
Every single night write down a list of topics that you hope to cover the next day. I used to write it down on a sticky note and stick it in front of the study table. This way you progress in a more systematic manner, have a clear idea of what you’re supposed to do that day instead of wondering and wasting time over it.
Always have a clear vision of what your current day, the next day, the current week, and how the next few month are going to be like. How many days you are going to give to a certain subject or topic. All should be visually charted on a planner which should be easily accessible, for example on the wall next to your study table.
Part 7: Approaching the MCQs
I developed a hyper focused approach to solving MCQs. I made sure to attempt every single MCQ that i would ever come across with utmost sincerity and attention. It does not matter whether you’d read the particular topic. As long as there’s anything familiar in the question or the answer choices, try to use all logic and everything you can think of in order to rule out at least two of the options. Make a final guess, preferably write down the option to commit to the answer. And then check the answer key.
The point is to make this entire journey of solving a single MCQ an active effort rather than passively checking the answer key. Whenever you guess a wrong answer, which you will of course many many times, it should leave a tiny impression on you.
The purpose of this is to develop an ability to make an educated guess.
Many of the questions in an exam are solved by critical thinking, ruling out the least probable answers, and making a highly educated guess about the correct answer.
Solving MCQs is a game in of itself. It’s more about ruling out the less probable answers than about ‘knowing’ the answer to every question.
Part 8: Keep the body healthy and mind sharp
These are basic advice which people should keep in mind. Eat healthy. Get enough sleep, etc. Time is precious, try not to fall sick.
Take supplements like multivitamins.
Adding more antioxidants in your diet helps keep the mind sharp.
Try your best to stop smoking or reduce it as much as possible. Smoking greatly affects your focus and retention.
Try keep some form of exercise in your routine. It’s not possible for all of us to workout or go to the gym. This exercise can be anything minimal such a a good 10-15 mins of stretching, yoga, jogging, running etc. Any form of exercise is better than no exercise at all.
I used to use ample amounts of coffee, as it helped me focus better. It’s okay to use anything which genuinely helps you focus.
Caffeine combined with L-theanine worked wonders in maintaining focus.
Let me know if you'd like me to continue or expand upon this.

My wife’s car got rear-ended by a 10-wheel truck last month in Massachusetts, she stopped for traffic but the truck didn’t. Truck driver obviously at fault. Police took a statement, my wife was not obviously injured but accepted an ambulance to the emergency room on advice of bystanders, and was quickly released. Car is smooshed up to the back seats, and got towed.
The police statement lists the driver and registered owner of the truck, and the insurance is listed as “self-insured”, which I didn’t realize was an option.
We do not have collision coverage so our insurance company wants nothing to do with this.
No phone numbers are listed in the police report. An Internet search turns up a phone number for the driver, but the person who answered said it was a wrong number. A search for the owner gives a DOT record for a tiny out-of-state company that the DOT says isn’t licensed for interstate commerce, and a phone number that goes to a voicemail box, no reply.
What can I do here? Are we just screwed? There’s no huge medical bills to recover so I doubt an attorney will take this on for free, and it’s probably not worth it to pay a lawyer by the hour. Small claims court? But how does small claims work if the defendant is a ghost? Private detective? Certified mail?
We do have undeuninsured driver coverage, so as I understand it my auto insurance will have to cover the ambulance and ER bill if nobody else does, but not the vehicle damage. Maybe that gives them incentive to help track down the owner but probably not.
I feel like we’ve got no options for recovering damages on this, and I’d love to hear some practical ideas.
PS: it’s OK to sell off the junked car on my own right? I got photos. I can’t keep racking up storage fees at the tow yard forever…

https://preview.redd.it/7ar4ezvtrr5d1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b4a967f23b0df79b223913b76c962abcca2a1474
https://preview.redd.it/kimos4zurr5d1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a091cbe839cbc79be174792d18ad2f6d550a4bef
https://preview.redd.it/qct711mvrr5d1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=617f8563a5d91c08770025a9da8dd2778153e215
https://preview.redd.it/2v0v9r4wrr5d1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d3251bfd9e74cdebbd45d9420aaaec97fb47cde3
Moved into this small apartment with my gf and looking for any suggestions to improve the layout, decor, walls, artwork, storage solutions, general feng shui!
The white door is to the bathroom so needs to be kept clear. Other door with poster is to a small storage space. Entrance door is next to coat/shoe racks - the boxes there are for storage/recycling.
It's a rental so can't go too mad, but certainly planning on hanging some artwork (current are placeholders), replacing the couch (with an L-shape maybe), and adding some more storage (thinking shelf unit next to bathroom door?).
Main areas for help:

• Couch/TV/carpet/coffee table placement to make a comfy chill-out space (+ any ideas for (affordable) replacemen
• ts for current couch)
• Storage solutions to declutter space (thinking wall mounts for the guitars...)
• Entrance area/coat racks - any ideas to make it a bit more inviting?!
• We also might be able to paint the walls (not crazy about the pale blue...) so any suggestions there welcome too!

So basically any ideas to improve the space very welcome :-)

We purchased a home about a year ago. Most of our initial extra funds were for getting the upstairs and everything to where we wanted. We have an unfinished basement and looking to finish it over the next few years. I’ve got the skill set to do walls, drywalls and other handyman things and know what to hire out.
What I’m looking for guidance on is:

1. How do you best settle on a plan? We’ve got so many options my wife and I are almost frozen with which way to commit.
   
2. Attempting to do the most of what I can myself/using friends, what’s an average timeline? Our basement isn’t massive. To keep costs down, I’m not hiring a contractor to do everything, just what’s beyond my/friends skill set.
   
3. What is your recommended order of events? We are dividing areas into storage, bathroom (already has a rough in), area for the HVAC/water heat/etc and then our main area.
   
4. Any other recommendations/“wish I knews”/ etc
   

Thank you!

I am looking at buying a 2017 used trailer. I have never seen anything like it around, and I wanted to see what people's thoughts are. There are three of us: my wife and 4-year-old son. The local person has it for $6900 with many of the accessories. I wanted to hear what people thought about this trailer after long term use. We are used to tent camping and have a forester to pull it. We like the idea of not having to bring a large storage box with a tent and storing all your gear much easier. Thank you for any advice or reviews.

Introduction
The idea of this specialist system came into my mind after thinking about how cool it would be to have some larger construction projects in Manor Lords, such as stone bridge across large river (in a future map) or a cathedral. In my mind I was not convinced with the thought that these kind of construction projects would just require a defined number of materials and then being built by ordinary villagers. I believe that it would require more skilled labor, or specialists, such as masons, construction engineers (don’t know what would be a medieval equivalent for engineer) and architects. I also believe that attracting these specialists to your village would form an interesting mid-late game challenge. I suggest a quite substantial specialist system, which builds upon the content already present in the game. This suggestion introduces a lot of new interrelated concepts that I believe would be both historically accurate and interesting at the same time.
However, I am no game developer nor do I have any experience in gamifying concepts, and thus I believe the community input in discussing this suggestion as a whole or parts of it would be a step forward. Who knows, maybe this suggestion would draw the attention of the developer and spark some inspiration.
To Slavic Magic: If you happen to read this, I would personally like to thank you for your hard work on this game that has given me so much enjoyment and inspiration and somehow managed to scratch a long-forgotten itch that I've had since playing Stronghold ages ago.
Specialists
Specialists would be managed on a new "specialists" screen that would include local specialists and visiting specialists.
Local specialists
Local specialists would be your tailors, blacksmiths, cobblers, brewers, fletchers etc. that are currently implemented in the game. The screen would enable player to manage the production all of these craftsmen (they could be named and have a portrait) by choosing production option, providing quotas of production (desired surplus etc.) and levelling up. All of the local specialists would start as level 1 craftsmen (novice) that could do some basic production as currently. The specialists would accumulate experience as part of normal operation, but as the village grows, player usually has more abundant resources available which could be used for increasing the specialists exp. by ticking "allow creativity" tick box. Creativity would mean that after fulfilling the production quota, the specialist would continue using resources as usually without producing anything, just building exp. After a required amount of exp has been accumulated and other requirements fulfilled (such as burgage level or perhaps requirement of candles), the specialist could level up. Levels for tailor could be for example:
Lvl. 1 Novice
-Basic production
Lvl 2. Adept
-Fine clothing
Lvl. 3 Master
-Luxurious clothing
-Ability to form a Tailors' guild where exp could be shared (More ideas needed here)
Higher lever production would provide more income but also have more requirements, perhaps some more materials would need to be introduced.
As specialists level up, they become more important part of your village who you might not want to risk dying in a battle. Perhaps there could be option to exempt specialists from militia, which could generate some other side effects like loss of morale or effects on approval rating.
Visiting specialists
Visiting specialists would be a pool of specialists that are currently visiting your town (staying for example in tavern, at the house of a villager or in manor). Visiting specialists would be more skilled experts/craftsmen such as masons, architects, artists etc. and higher level artisans (master tailors, blacksmiths etc.) and also specialists related to military (castle building, military command) and trade. These specialists could be hired using treasury funds to a short-term or permanent contract. In the beginning, only short term-contracts would be possible. This could be limited with village level or some other requirements such as tavern extensions or possible higher level goods (as mentioned in local specialists section).
Hiring construction related specialists would enable player to begin the construction of larger projects such as a stone bridge, cathedral or advanced castle. This is discussed further in the "grand projects" section. Military specialists could be hired as captains to buff up the militia or these could even be the pool from which player would hire the retinue, this could increase the immersion as retinue would not just spawn out of thin air when hired. Visiting master craftsmen could also be used to teach your local specialists increasing their exp. Trade related specialists need further discussion, but these could be used to buff up the trade efficiency.
Attracting specialists
As I have now introduced the concept of visiting specialists, there would need to be a system that determines the availability and quality of these specialists. At the beginning, you would get occasional visits from random low-level specialists (and perhaps soldiers used for retinue) but as you village grows, it would attract more skilled specialists as people in the surrounding areas become aware of your village. I suggest that the attractiveness of the village would be determined by three types of renown that could have some interrelations. These three types of renown would be religious, military and commercial.
Religious renown
Religious renown measures the village's reputation within the ecclesiastical hierarchy and its spiritual influence. Players start the accumulation of religious renown through building and levelling up the church. After some renown is accumulated the player could use this renown (and perhaps treasury funds) to secure a religious relic to your church. At the beginning this would be some low-level relic of a saint (there are lots of historical references on different catholic relics and their classifications). The relic could rename the church according to the selected saint that could also provide some passive buffs to different aspects. Higher level relics could be secured later by, for example, levelling up the church, building extensions and/or creating altar pieces and murals with the help of visiting artist specialist. Perhaps to get the higher-class relic, you would need to invite a bishop to visit your town. It would be sad if you can't accommodate him and his entourage in the manor and would run out of ale or meat or get raided by bandits during his visit. There would be lots of different gameplay elements that could be related to this concept.
As the village gains a relic, it starts to attract pilgrims from the surrounding area (this is how "religious tourism" worked historically). Some of these pilgrims would be visiting specialists, and thus the more pilgrims you attract, the more visiting specialists you get. The number of pilgrims and specialists would also be limited by the availability of accommodation and thus player would need to construct an inn or expand the tavern to house more people. The pilgrims would also spread news and rumors to the surrounding area and the player could use this mechanic to increase the probability of attracting specific specialist.
Military and commercial renown
These should be discussed further, but I think military renown would derive from battles and clearing of the bandit camps and the presence and level of the castle. Perhaps military renown could be increased by hosting tournaments that have again further requirements on food, drink and accommodation. Commercial renown would be generated by the production of fine and luxurious goods, I haven’t thought about this aspect much further. Perhaps the community has some input?
Military and commercial renown would attract only respective specialists but religious renown would be kind of a general attractor. Again, these should be discussed further.
Grand projects
Building of the grand projects would be one of the most important outcomes of the suggested specialist system. The grand projects would be the construction of monumental structures that we can still find in modern world. These projects would be for example cathedrals, large stone bridges, stone castles and monasteries. Ordinary townsfolk would not be able to calculate the required structural integrity or plan the architecture of these structures, thus there is a need for a specialist(s) who have gathered the required knowledge from the university or participating in similar projects elsewhere. In my view, creating these projects should not be enabled by just gathering enough materials and placing it on the map like any other building, that would be quite underwhelming. These should feel like real accomplishments to the player and provide great benefits: think about the strategical and economical value of a sturdy stone bridge in a map divided by large river where only other way across would be ferries which divides military units and require unpacking and repacking of trade goods. Completion of these projects could also be a end-goal for some scenarios which would create more interesting gameplay experience.
Let's take an example of suggested building mechanics for a cathedral. A player would first need to build a stable village, and eventually through different aspects and mechanics of renown, attract a visiting architect. Player would then hire this architect for a short term, which enables player to allocate the initial place where the cathedral would be constructed (i.e. build a construction site). After this construction site has been established, player would be notified on how much of each resource is needed and what other specialists are needed (local and visiting). After this, player would start to slowly stock up the construction site with required materials and other commodities such as tools and wooden parts. After the materials are secured, there would be a requirement of allocating local specialists to the construction where player would need to level up for example local blacksmith and joiner to the required level and allocate them into the construction. At this point player would need to hire visiting architect and stonemason permanently so that construction can begin. As the construction continues there would be different stages where different specialists are needed. In the beginning these would be related to architectural plans and masonry, but as construction continues there would be requirement of for example a master carpenter that can craft support structures and cranes for lifting stones as the walls rise. Eventually the cathedral would reach a finishing stage where artists and higher-level local tailors are required. After the building itself has been finished, it would need to be consecrated by for example visiting bishop as mentioned earlier.
At all times there would also be a large demand of unskilled labor of villagers that are needed in the construction. There would be a situation where construction is paused because of harvesting season and the hired specialists would just stand still and receive monthly payments while the workforce is in the fields.
The construction of these grand projects would provide a lot of content for the mid to late game and provide a challenge that requires a lot of optimization between focusing on the management of the village and the construction.

TIMESTAMPS
Hi all,
Summer is here and that means I have to move. Here's what's no longer being used. Need to get rid of it soon so feel free to send offers. Bundle discounts available.
Please comment before PM - I do not reply to Reddit Chat messages. PM for further details, questions, bundle discounts, local pickup and negotiations etc. Local is Chicago, IL. Thank you.

Name/Timestamp	Price (Shipped/Local)	Condition/age	Description/reason for sale/etc
Bose NC700 carrying case ONLY with white Bose USB-C to USB-A cable and white 2.5mm to 3.5mm cable	$35/$30	9.5/10, purchased in December 2023	DOES NOT INCLUDE HEADPHONES - only the case and cables. Got these with the Bose NCH700 headphones. They are in excellent, like-new condition and come with the original white color charging and audio cables.
DVD Box Sets - Game of Thrones Season 4, Lord of the Rings Special Extended DVD Editions and Harry Potter Complete 8-film collection	$55/$40	Harry Potter collection is sealed, all else are used. No DVD reader to test so sold as is.	Bought these among other things from a local sale. Never used or tested; sold as is.
Kindle 10th generation with built in backlight	$50/$40	Purchased in 2021. Kindle: 7.5/10 due to scratches but the screen itself is excellent.	No case. Works excellent. 8GB storage. All lights working
Surface accessories: 1x Surface Pro 65W charger, 1x Surface Go Charger, 1x Surface Dock (includes HDMI to mini-DP cable)	For all of them: $65/$50	Everything works and condition varies between 7/10 to 8.5/10	Various chargers and a Surface Dock 1 (with HDMI to mini-DP cable and DC Power brick). Everything has been tested and works.
iWalk Secret 4500mAh portable Lightning charger	$20/$10; free if you buy stuff worth $60 or more	BNIB	Got this as a gift sometime in early 2023 but I don't have a Lightning iPhone/iPad. The black leather looks pretty sick actually.
2x4GB DDR3L-1600 SODIMM	Free with anything else or just the shipping cost	Not sure

This is a 2018 release Limited Edition Sailor Pro Gear Suruga-Bay. This pen was a collab between Sailor and the Bungukan Kobayashi shop in Shizuoka, and could only be bought in person at this store. The body is a demonstrator in a gorgeous “Suruga-Bay” blue with silver sparkles.
It writes incredibly smoothly and is a gorgeous HF nib. I’ve left it at an A2 as there is only a tiny scratch on the barrel and a tiny scuff at the base which can be seen in the photos.

• Gently used: the previous owner kept it in storage since 2018, I inked it twice
• Small scratch on the barrel, look at the photos
• Comes with - Sailor box, two ink cartridges, paperwork

This pen is truly a masterpiece and I’m letting it go to a new home to be enjoyed as designed!
Photos and verification - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-m7TAD8E9iWuyK8YRnvftlN0uXKgTTGB
$400 $375 Shipped within the US
Any questions please let me know!
Trades considered -

• Sailor KOP - Stormy Sea in M