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$EGLX.to - Epic eSports stock about to uplist to the Nasdaq

TLDR; EGLX.to is the single best pure-eSports play in the world.

Look I have an incredible track record of getting lucky picking stocks in the new reddit dominated market (PLTR, U, AI, BB, etc) and I want to tell you all about my next big one: Enthusiast Gaming.
While our community has nearly quadrupled in size, I still believe EGLX is one of the most underappreciated plays out there.
Since writing my first DD on EGLX, a few things have transpired:
Get in before the Nasdaq listing if you like money.
Positions: I currently have 40% of my portfolio in Enthusiast Gaming.
I hope the mods don't mind, but I wanted to repost this DD I wrote about a month ago, because it seems like none of the noobs know about the Enthusiast Gaming eSports revolution. So here it is below:
---------------------------------------------------------
LINK to original post - POSTED JAN 6TH 2020:
Greetings friendos.
It's 12:20 AM where I live and since I can't sleep, I have decided to finally write a DD on Enthusiast Gaming that I have been thinking about for some time... EGLX is a stock that I believe can make you 5-20x gains in the next year. I have been watching this stock since like $1.50 during the darkest days of COVID, and I am kicking myself for not getting in until $4 just before Christmas. But I am now a proud shareholder preaching the gospel.
What the eff do I know?
For some background information on my own stock picking prowess and why my ideas might be worth considering, I previously wrote super early DD's on Palantir, Telos and C3ai before making money in all 3 of them. I have a large number of people who have sent me thank you messages on reddit for my DD's on those companies.
PLTR - I was in at 10.50 Telos - I was in at 20 C3ai - I was in at 95
​
As a final qualifying note, in addition to getting incredibly lucky at picking random stocks, I also work in the gaming and digital marketing spaces, and I believe that I am somewhat qualified to comment on the merits of an esports and influencer company such as EGLX.

Who the heck is Enthusiast Gaming?

Enthusiast Gaming is a giant network of websites, esports teams and streaming influencers in the gaming space. Actually, they proclaim to be the single largest esports platform in North America. As of yesterday, they have officially announced that all of their collective followings put them in the top 100 web companies operating in America. Note, the only downside here is that they are getting that number from a huge number of mid sized platforms, not one single super popular site like twitch or youtube.
>Source: https://www.enthusiastgaming.com/news/

Does anyone even watch video games?

Yes. They do and will continue to. Actually us North Americans are very late to the party. The League of Legends world championship is already as popular as the super bowl. These viewers are coming primarily from Asia.
>Facts: https://dotesports.com/league-of-legends/news/league-of-legends-vs-superbowl-viewer-numbers
Furthermore, the hyper focus on gaming as a cultural cornerstone is in fact coming to North America. I hope you don't actually need convincing on this point, but here is a fact for you:
Prior to COVID, studies were already showed that over 90% of all children in America were gaming in some capacity.
>Source: https://www.healthline.com/health-news/video-games-saints-or-psychopaths-082814#:~:text=More%20than%2090%20percent%20of%20American%20kids%20play%20video%20games,of%20Americans%20over%2050%20play.
Now for comparison, most of us now adults grew up while gaming became a thing. If you are a similar age to me, you know when we were growing up, it was like 20-40% of boys gamed, and maybe 1-5% of girls gamed. This dramatic cultural shift is staggering. Obviously, this trend has been solidified this year with COVID. These gamers will and are translating to not only playing, but also watching games. That's Amazon's Twitch platform is growing fast AF. Watching video games is big big big money.
>Twitch facts: https://www.businessinsider.com/twitch-viewership-grows-faster-than-previously-forecast-2020-9#:~:text=That's%20a%2026.2%25%20increase%20from,gaming%20streams%20are%20gaining%20popularity.&text=We%20forecast%20that%20the%20number,next%20year%2C%20to%2044.0%20million.

Who are their competitors?

Actually this is where I think it gets particularly interesting. As a huge gamer and esports believer, I have been looking to find esports investments, but having a real hard time finding pure esports plays. There aren't many companies out there to invest in that are strictly set to capitalize on esports. Frankly, most of the stocks I have found are seemingly doing dick all. I would encourage you to google esports companies. You will mostly find a bunch of garbo sounding companies that are somehow valued at $25m-$50m market cap, but their websites are broken and aren't even up-to-date. Really the only "esports" companies to invest in are the tech majors like Microsoft, Amazon, or Facebook, and the video game companies like Sony, Nintendo, ATVI, EA etc. Sure these are all great companies, but none of them are strictly focused on esports and none of them are new or cheap enough to turn into a ten bagger.
*** IF YOU ARE SKIMMING, THIS NEXT ARTICLE IS IMPORTANT**\*
Forbes recently released a report on the top 10 most valuable esports companies. Obviously, EGLX is on the list, or I wouldn't be mentioning it. But get this, EGLX is not only the ONLY publicly listed company that forbes identified, but they also have the highest revenue by a long shot.
>SORCERY: https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinasettimi/2020/12/05/the-most-valuable-esports-companies-2020/?sh=2e4769ae73d0
EGLX is honestly positioned as the supreme pure esports play in the world right now.

Who the hell is leading this little company?

Well my number one most important metric when assessing a little random undiscovered company is who is captaining the ship? The best way to tell if a small cap stock is a scam or the real deal is to see who is involved. In fact, the biggest reason I chose to invest in the above mentioned companies was because of who was leading them (PLTR = Theil, C3.ai = microsoft ties and the dude from oracle, Telos = a former US general)
Good news of course, EGLX has an A+ grade with leadership legitimacy.
Adrian Montgomery, the former CEO of the Aquilini Sports and Entertainment (AKA THE VANCOUVER CANUCKS) is running EGLX. These guys are the real deal and they aren't fuckin about in some scam company. If they can run the Canucks, they can run an esports team.

But how do they profit?

EGLX does not own games or huge streaming platforms like twitch. So you may be wondering how they actually make money? INFLUENCER MARKETING. That's how. They are generating money through ad placements and influencer marketing on their huge platform. (And remember, they are in the top 100 US online companies in terms of reach.)
Facebook and Google are already soaking up ungodly amounts of money through online advertising and taking over the world. But paid ad placements only go so far. I don't know of a good source off hand, but I am telling you subjectively that influencer marketing is one of the "next big things". Companies are paying people with major social followings to review and talk about their shit. This is a very very big industry. I truly believe influencers are going to overtake hollywood and MSM. You shall see... No sources here. Pure opinion.

Is it actually making money?

Shit loads actually. This year EGLX is talking about increasing their total revenue from $9m last year to $120m this year for like a 1100% annual revenue increase. Obviously, if their proforma numbers turn out to be bogus the stock will collapse. But, referring to the fact that the owners of the Canucks are running this company, I am hoping we are not all being lied to and frauded out of our money.
https://www.enthusiastgaming.com/financial-statements/

How do you know I will make the tendies though?

***IF YOU ARE SKIMMING, ALSO READ THIS PART**\*
EGLX is currently trading at a $450m CAD or about $300M USD market cap. That is absolute peanuts compared to any other hype stock in the memesphere. With $120m annual revenue, that puts them at about a 3x price to sales ratio, which really isn't that bad at all for even a boring a blue chip. For a growth stock, it is extremely low.
But if you dig into their investor presentation, they are actually claiming they will raise their Revenue Per User from $0.40 to $3 in the next 2 years, or a nearly 750% revenue increase, not accounting for growth in the size of their social reach. If you include reach growth, it could be nearly 10 times revenue growth. By that point, the current market cap would be a fraction of their annual sales.
This stock is absurdly undervalued if the promises being made by the leadership come true.
>Go look: https://www.enthusiastgaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/EG-Presentation-November-2020-Nov-27.pdf

Final Fun facts:

- They own the best Overwatch team.
- They own the Seattle Call of Duty team, which happens to be among the nerdiest cities in America.
- They claim to have the best Fortnite players, but idk that game is trash so I couldn't really say if it's true or not.
But wait there's more!
Saved the best info for last.
The stock tripled in the past month. Why?
Because EGLX is still only trading on the TSX and they have applied to list on the US stock exchange.
They have appointed KPMG as the auditor for the application, and having nice big reputable firm involved certainly increases the odds it will get approved. Furthermore, I actually emailed their investor relations folks and asked when they expect to hit the US markets. Surprisingly, they responded and told me they expect their application to be approved Q1 2021.
Once this puppy hits wallstreet, I see it breaking $1B USD in no time, which would be a 3x return. $3B-$5B doesn't seem unreasonable if the current market insanity persists through 2021.
We have the opportunity to get in on this company before those darned Americans pump it to the moon.
CANADIANS HAVE THE UPPER HAND IN THE STONK MARKET FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OUR DAMN LIVES. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT.
--
PS: Risks. Risks. I think it's almost certain that these guys will issue more shares to raise some capital. They are kinda acting like the want to pump their own stock with unnecessary positive announcements, and honestly, they are pretty low on cash. Think they only have $9m on hand or something small like that. Too lazy to look it up again. Just watch out for dilution. My bet is that they will do it after listing on the US exchanges and mooning. But honestly I am not too worried in the long run because they need the cash to compete in this space.
PSS: More risks. If the us exchange application gets denied it will be bad bad news for my TFSA.
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I am 33 years old, make $180,000, live in Los Angeles, and am self employed

I am 33 years old, make $180,000, live in Los Angeles, and am self employed
Intro: I hope this gives people an idea of what finances look like while self-employed. I have included the Ref29 questions at the beginning to give you some more context. I am really nervous and excited to share this and appreciate being part of this community. Please be easy on me as this was not easy for me to share.
Ref29 questions:
Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
Yes. Neither of my parents had college degrees. They didn’t really emphasize needing to go to college but the pressure came from the environment I was in. At my high school, it was assumed that everyone would go to a 4-year college. Community College was not even talked about as an option. Even though I am a first generation college student, it is not as much part of my identity as I think it plays for others. My dad was extremely successful in starting his own business as was my step dad, who also did not go to college. Now with a PhD, I almost feel like I took the easy route.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
Yes. My father passed away extremely suddenly when I was 13 and my mom was put in the position of figuring out what we were going to do since she did not work outside of helping my dad with his company. I grew up in a wealthy neighborhood (TV shows are made about the neighborhood I grew up in), went to private school, got a BMW as my first car, and went on international vacations every year (both to visit our family in our home country--my mom and I are the only ones in the U.S.-- but also to visit family friends in places like South Africa). It was an extremely privileged upbringing.
When my dad passed away, my mother started emphasizing the need to cut down on expenses. I was extremely lucky that I did not have to change schools when my father passed away and that I could maintain a stable environment.
As I got a little bit older there was a huge emphasis from my mother on women needing to take care of themselves and men not needing to know everything that they had. I am in my 30s and unmarried and this has definitely influenced my financial expectations and goals.
Did you worry about money growing up?
I would say no. Even when my dad passed away, we did not have any obvious financial struggles (or at least my mother never showed me).
Do you worry about money now?
I do not worry about money now. Half a year ago when I was ramping up my consulting business there were a few months where I didn't have any clients and I was worried about what would happen next. I am thankfully now at a point where I no longer have fears of not getting clients.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
I think there is some debate in this community of what this even means. At 21, when I graduated college and got a job, I started paying for my bills although my mom still paid for the phone bill and car insurance. I do have a safety net in terms of being able to move home if I needed to and that I can make passive income through renting my apartment (more on this later).
I do think how I grew up led to my being able to get a Ph.D. At the time I made this decision, it wasn't about finding a job that made the most money, instead, it was about what I'm really interested in.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
Yes. As I mentioned above my father passed away extremely unexpectedly when I was 13. I got a sum of money from his Social Security payout every month until I turned eighteen. This went to a college fund for me which was used to pay for college and a small portion for a down payment of the current property that I live in. My mother also contributed the rest of the down payment (totaling 20%) on the property that I live in. I purchased the property (2 apartments and a house, three units total) in 2013, which was a great time in Los Angeles to buy. I am extremely grateful to my mother for coming up with this suggestion and doing this for me.
In 2021, I am also expecting to receive my father’s portion of an inheritance from my grandparents. I will most likely keep this in our home country and will need to learn more about the tax implications.
I receive passive income from house hacking. This money goes into a separate account that the mortgage is pulled from and I do not count in my calculations. This account pretty much zeros out every year due to expenses, mortgage, and property tax.
Income Progression:
I've been working in my field for 11 years. I am counting the first year of my PhD as the first year I started working in my field.
Prior to my PhD I had a few odd jobs. I babysat as a teenager. I had a job the summer before college at a health food store in my area (I believe I was making $8 an hour plus tips) and I worked for 1 year as an admin assistant from 2009-2010.
2009-2010: I took a year off between my undergraduate and graduate degrees so I could save money before going to graduate school, pay for application fees, and take the GRE. I worked for my university at the medical school doing admin work. The salary was $32,000 a year, but a few months in, we had to take 1 day a month furlough due to the financial crisis and budget cuts. I was very lucky to even have gotten this job as many of my friends who also graduated in 2009 were not able to find jobs after graduation. I also tutored SAT and made $400 a month (which was my rent at the time! I split a 2 bedroom 1 bath with 3 other guys!). I was able to save $10,000 for grad school and go on two big trips the summer before my PhD.
2010-2015: During my PhD program I earned between $1400 and $1800 a month for 9 months (summers are not typically paid). In a given year this was less than $20,000. For some summers, I was able to find a research job. I lived in university housing and paid about $630 for my room in a 3 bedroom 2 bath student housing.
2015-2016: Upon graduating with my PhD I did a postdoc at the university where I got my undergrad degree from. This paid $59,000 a year. This is actually very high for my field. Typical postdocs in my field are closer to $40,000-$50,000 a year (for reference, my field is Education).
2016-2019: I worked at a research center on campus affiliated with my postdoc. My starting salary was $64,000 and got a 3% merit raise every year for 3 years (the merit raise was technically a cost of living raise). I think I ended up making $72,000 only because I asked for my title to be changed. I was severely underpaid (I would say by $20K) in this position compared to other colleagues, which I was able to look up because salaries at public universities are public. I brought this up to management and was put in a position where I basically needed to leave. I had applied to many jobs and was one of the last 2 candidates for many positions, but never got an offer! I did get a verbal offer from one company but the next day was told that they actually did not have the budget for that position. I was in a very low place, to say the least.
Second half of 2019: I was extremely lucky to find a startup to consult for part-time for a few months. I charged $100 an hour. That brought my total income to $80,000 in 2019.
2020: A few months later, I got another full time consulting gig making $150 an hour for 5 months. In June of this year was when I really started my own consulting business in that I was looking to build a business with multiple clients instead of being a contract employee or “full time” at one place. I am in the field of education and during COVID Edtech has blown up. It was a rough few months of no projects but in just a few months was able to build up a full roster of clients. I made $180,000 this year and am so proud of this huge jump I made! I never thought this would be possible.
Assets and Debt
*note I have rounded balances to the nearest 1,000.
Retirement Balance
$63,000 in a roll over 401K (technically 403B) from my previous job. I worked for 3 years (+1 if you count postdoc) at a university. Mandatory 7% contribution with 7% match. I additionally contributed 5%.
$41,000 in my self 401K. $1,500 in an individual Roth. My goal is to contribute $20,000 a year to my self 401K.
$22,000 iIn Roth IRA contributions from previous years contributions that I finally invested this year. Before it was sitting in CDs (how dumb of me!). Part if this was from that initial $10,000 I had saved for grad school and part with money I had saved from working.
Equity if you're a homeowner (and how much you put down and how you accumulated that payment).
Put down $225,000 (20%) on a multi family home. The house has 3 units. Most of it was from my mother. She is of the mindset that it is better to get an inheritance now that can be invested than to get it later. Some of this from a college fund that I didn’t use all of. $707,000 left to pay on the mortgage. Value is around $1.8 Million (according to my realtor last year).
Savings account balance
$20,000 in an emergency fund. This is split between my personal savings and my business account. I saved this in 2020.
$20,000 in savings for downpayment for a single family home. I am hoping to save a total of $100,000. I saved this in 2020.
$3,000 in a travel and sinking fund. Because I do not get paid on a regular schedule, I like to keep more here so that I can transfer this to my checking account when needed. I saved this in 2020.
$12,000 in my tax fund. I set aside 30% of income I receive in a separate account for taxes. For 5 months this year I worked as a contractor and received a W2 and taxes were already taken out. I have paid quarterly taxes this December and am keeping this in case I need to pay more come April.
Investment accounts (non retirement)
$6,100 in my stocks. This changes from day to day. I have amazon, uber, target, zoom, and tesla stock. I only started investing late 2019 and 2020.
$25,000 spread across a few ETFs. VTSAX FTW! $9,000 of this I had invested in 2019 and the rest was from 2020.
$2,000 in an HSA. I should have contributed all the years I was eligible but only contributed the last one at my job when I had a high deductible plan. I wish I had a high deductible plan now because this is such a good place to invest.
Checking account balance
$800 in my main checking account
$100 in a secondary checking account.
Credit card debt (and how you accumulated it)
none pay this off in full every month.
Student loan debt (for what degree)
None. My undergrad psych degree was paid for with the money I got from my dad’s social security payment when we passed away when I was 13.
My PhD in Education was paid for through research assistantships and teaching assistantships (this is very typical of PhD programs. If you have to pay tuition, I suggest you do not attend that program).
Anything else that's applicable to you
Additional debt is my car. I have a $504 monthly car payment that will end in October. The interest rate is .99% so I don’t think it makes sense for me to pay this off any sooner. I purchased a used luxury car with very low mileage. Put 12K down and financed the rest over 4 years. I’ve had the car for almost 4 years and it still has less than 25K miles on it. I’m sure she will last me at least another 10 years.
Section Two: Income
Main Job Monthly Take Home:
This is a difficult one to answer. Since I own my own business, I do not get a regular monthly or biweekly paycheck. Some clients I charge monthly per hour (where hours vary from month to month) and some clients pay by deliverable. In December 2020 I made $21,000, in November I made $1,100, and in October I made $26,000. This is all pretax as I am responsible for paying my own taxes. In the year 2020, I will have made about $180,000.
Any Other Monthly Income Here
Yes. I am a landlady and the property I own has 3 units. I house hack, meaning that I live in one unit and rent out the other 2 units for $6,450 (total). This covers my mortgage, property taxes, and other expenses (maintenance, the plumber, who I did have to call this week). I keep any income generated from rent in a separate account and do not use it for personal use.
EXPENSES
Yearly expenses
Property Taxes: ~$17,000 a year. This is typically covered by what is leftover from monthly rent from my tenants. There are a few times where I’ve had to contribute to this from my own savings but have been lucky that my tenants have been able to pay rent this year..
Car registration: $322
Vespa registration: $70 (I think? I purchased this in 2020 and had to pay taxes on the purchase price to the DMV. This was rolled in with the registration)
Vespa insurance: $592.76. This is a lot in my opinion and unfortunately could not be combined with my car and house insurance.
Business expenses: In 2020, I spent $5,000 on my business. $500 is for business insurance. The other $4500 includes things like domain names, website hosting, squarespace account, etc. I also paid someone to help me with my website copy and marketing materials. I think this will stay the same or go up in 2021. I am thinking about ways to outsource some of what I do so I can bring in more clients and focus less time on social media, blogpost writing, and more time on the actual research.
Ring yearly plan: $30
Monthly expenses
*below are expenses associated with my house account that I do not pay for with the income listed above.
Mortgage: $3,700 a month. This is covered and then some by the rent I receive from my tenants.
Electricity: $50. This is for my apartment as well as the common area of my property
Gas: $120 (this is for my apartment and another apartment I rent out). This is on the high end… california winter. In the summer it is closer to $30.
Water: $140. This is for the whole property.
*starting here are expenses that come out of my personal accounts
Home & car insurance: $367 a month (this includes my car and my home since they are bundled). I also pay an additional $200 a year for umbrella insurance (I still don’t know exactly what this is, but it is apparently important to have).
Health insurance: $484.07 a month. I purchase my own through Covered California.
Savings:
Because I do not get paid regularly and think of my savings across a whole year. I would like to save 20K a year in my self 401K. I am also saving up for a downpayment for a house and would like to save 60K in 2021. I try to save a bit for other investments like $500 here and there in ETFs, or if there is a particular stock I want to buy. Right now, however, I am prioritizing saving for a down payment.
Debt payments: Just my mortgage and my car ($504 a month. This will be paid off in October 2021).
Donations: $50 to Planned Parenthood monthly recurring donation. I also contribute to other organizations like wikimedia, Upward Bound House, my friend’s theatre group, and the LA Food Bank. Basically anything that pops up in my inbox. My donations for 2020 totalled $1,300. I do some volunteering with a local homeless group but this is only a few times a year. Now that I have a better idea of my income while self employed, I do plan on upping this to $2K in 2021.
Wifi: $74.99 a month
Cellphone: $0 for me, My mom and I are on a family plan and she pays for this.
Subscriptions: LA times ($7.96). For entertainment, my friend and I split a lot of subscriptions. I pay for netflix ($12.99), spotify ($14.99), and sundance ($6.99 this is just temporary for 2 months for us to watch our favorite show Riviera), my friend pays for hulu and hbo. I use my mom’s amazon prime account.
Gym membership; cancelled due to COVID. Not sure yet if I will restart this.
Pet expenses: none
Therapy: $150 a month. I have a virtual session every other week and pay out of pocket for this.
At the end of each day please tally up your daily expenses. Then at the end of your diary please tally up all expenses in the following categories:
Sunday
7:30am - I have a really hard time sleeping in even on the weekends
9:00am- my boyfriend is still in bed so I decide to try to get some work done for a client from bed.
10:15am- boyfriend still sleeping. Decide to take a shower.
11:30am- boyfriend finally wakes up! We have coffee, lounge a bit.
1:00pm- take my BF home. He lives about 5 miles from me. Really nice to get out of the house and take a drive. Wanted to drop something off at the UPS store and realized they are closed on Sundays!
2:30pm- finally make myself some breakfast. Yummy breakfast sandwich (an egg and a sausage on bread with mustard). Watch a bit of my show on HBO. Watching season 2 of My Brilliant Friend. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVED the books and am really digging the series. The characters look exactly how I imagine them from the book.
3:30pm- still nothing exciting happening. Took out the trash cans, vacuumed, wrote my schedule for the week on my white board in my office, did some work, browsed online a bit.
5:30pm- making breaded chicken fingers in the air fryer and sauteeing up some kale! Enough for lunch tomorrow.
7:00pm- watched Charade
9:00pm- in bed and scrolling through the trying for a baby subreddit. My BF and I have been TTC for a couple of months now. I know these things take time and I probably shouldn’t spend so much time on the internet googling my symptoms.
Monday
6:20am- alarm set for 6:20. So far during the pandemic, I haven’t been setting an alarm and will wake up anytime between 6am and 7am naturally. I am naturally an early bird. Did a 40 minute yoga session from the app Downward Dog. I look at my checking account and see that I’ve received $430 from the government in stimulus money. I have been wanting to donate more this year so research organizations to give to. Donate $200 to Upward Bound House and $200 to the local theatre. Also make my own hemp milk in the blender for my matcha latte.
8:00am- start getting some work stuff together. Create invoices for 2 clients. I have a call with a potential client at 9:30 and need to brush up on what we spoke about last. In my field, a lot of organizations get funding through grant competitions. We are the finalists for one and they would like me to be one of the presenters! Eeek. Get an email that the yoga app I have been using is only $14.99 for the year so purchase that
8:40am time for my second matcha latte.
9:30am meeting with a client
9:50- meeting ended early. My best friend who is in another country right now wants to vid chat. We chat for about 10 minutes
10:15am- getting hungry! Heated up the chicken fingers from last night
11:00-12:30- run some errands. Get my Vespa looked at. It was acting weird a few months ago and now we can’t recreate the problem. Go to the postoffice to send my friend’s xmas gift. $11.04
12:30 continue working
4pm- heating up the last of my chicken fingers! Looks like i’m having a super early dinner today.
5pm- lost a little steam. Did a 10 minute ab workout. Loaded the dishwasher. On the computer now trying to do more work.
6:00-6:45pm- spent some time decluttering and listing items on Poshmark. I really am on a mission to declutter as much clothing as possible and only keep the things I love and feel confident in. I get a lot of things second hand from my mom so it is hard for me to part with stuff because I think of it as her stuff. But this past month I have really focused on figuring out my personal style and how I want to dress (thank you pinterest for helping me).
7-8pm did work for an hourly client
8pm- veg time and my eventual bedtime.
Total= $426.03
Tuesday
6:20- read news, don’t get out of bed until 6:45. Empty the dishwasher. Do a 35 minute yoga session. Shower.
8:05- working! Some work for an hourly project. Our meeting is at 9am this morning.
11:30- meeting ended early! Going to make some lunch! Rice bowl with eggplant, kale, sausage and egg on top! My tenant reported that her kitchen sink is leaking so I called the plumber.
1:30- took the vespa to fedex to print documents ($1.08). Stopped by the gas station to fill up ($4.05). Came home, packed items, and walked to the post office to drop things off in the mailbox.
2:15pm- back at my desk to work.
4:30pm- just ended a meeting with my business partner. Hoped on a video call with my BF. He is coming over tomorrow.
5:30pm- start making dinner. Meatballs (with turmeric and chickpea flour!) rice, radish
6:30-7pm- hop on a call with my friend in singapore
7pm- I pull the trigger and purchase an 8 week coaching class with Melissa Le Man ($290). I have been following her on snapchat and her clients have great results! This might be categorized as lifestyle creep, but I’m at a point where I do not want to spend mental energy trying to decide what to eat or how to work out. Once I fill out her intake form and take before pictures she will email me an eating and workout plan within a week.
Total- $295.13
Wednesday
6:10- wake up a bit before my alarm. Read the news. Go on Target to purchase dumbbells and food scale I need for my training. I opt for picking up items from two locations.
7:45am- take my “before” pictures to send to the trainer. I also finish filling out her intake questionnaire about my goals and lifestyle and eating habits.
9:20- have 10 minutes before my next meeting. What do I do?? Trying to be more consistent in writing blogposts.10 minutes of writing is better than 0 minutes!
10:50- finished a call and some emails. Time to eat!
11-12:30- went to target to pick up my order ($45.14) and went grocery shopping ($90.88). I go grocery shopping once a week and some weeks it is on the higher side (like this bill) and some on the lower.
I know I’m going to get some hate for venturing out of my house but I honestly don’t want to rely on delivery anymore. It is so wasteful. Yes, I could have all these things delivered to me and not leave the house, but I would still be putting work on others.
12”50pm Did some laundry, changed my sheets. Start working from working from bed. I am exhausted today.
Following the shit show of what is happening at the White House
2:30pm- the plumber is here. I wasn’t expecting him until tomorrow! Also on the phone with my BF about insurance. He is a contractor and decided to purchase his own health insurance. The day is going by so quickly and haven’t gotten as much done as I had hoped. It’s just been one of those days.
4:30pm- meeting ended early. Folding laundry, cleaned the bathroom.
5:00pm- back on computer to send a few emails.
5:30pm- start cooking dinner. BF on his way over.
9:00pm- pass out super early
Total: $136.02
Thursday
6:30am- set my alarm for 7:30 but up at 6:30. Feel so much more rested than yesterday
8am- advisory board meeting
11am- meeting with a potential client
12pm- BF is making us a nice brunch! Omelettes with sausage and bread!
2pm- my BF got me a TV for xmas!!!!!!!!! Best Buy cancelled the TV that was supposed to be delivered so we go to Best Buy to pick it up (they come out to the car to deliver it). Then we go to Target (a different location from here I was earlier in the week) to pick up my second set of weights for my personal coaching ($47.07).
3:30pm get home, BF sets up TV, I go back to work
5:30 I am crazy hungry and pick up pizza for us. $54.71 (includes 20% tip).
Fall asleep around 9:30pm
Total: $101.78
Friday
6:30am - wake up again before my alarm. Do some emails, read the news
8:00am- Go on my Friday bike ride! This is about 10 miles total on a nice bike path from my house to the beach. Listen to You’re Wrong About podcast. The bike ride really helps me clear my head and am excited because not many people are out
9:05 am. Get back, shower. BF brings coffee.
10:05am meeting and NON STOP WORK UNTIL 5:30pm. It was a crazy busy day for me today with a last minute project that got added. Luckily we have leftover pizza for lunch! And the CSA box my friend gave me as an xmas gift arrived! Totally forgot this was coming or else I would’ve bought less veggies at the store. Freeze the spinach for my smoothies, and rinse, trim, and freeze the strawberries from the grocery store.
5:45pm- BF makes dinner!
7:30pm- in bed watching My Brilliant Friend on HBO. Finished season 2.
I think I passed out at 9:30 or so.
Saturday
6am- no alarm why am I up? Lounge in bed, go on youtube and snap chat. Do a 40 minute yoga session on Downward Dog app. Eat some leftover pizza.
10am- have a call with a family friend. I am actually hoping I can hire her to help me with some of my work.
11:15am- have a call with my business partner for a grant that we are helping a client put together
12:00pm- pop in some laundry then my BF and I head in the car to pick up sandwiches from a place that he loves. Hot pastrami sandwich for me. He pays. We eat the sandwiches on the curb outside by the parked car.
2:00pm get home, chill for the rest of the day and evening. Fold laundry, vacuum, watch Wonder Boys, watch a lot of youtube, basically enjoying the TV and I pass out at 9pm.
Totals
Food + Drink- $145.62
Fun / Entertainment- $0
Home + Health- $392.20
Clothes + Beauty = $0
Transport = $4.05
Other: $412.12
Total: $953.99
Lastly, reflect on your diary!
This was not a typical week for me in terms of spending since I did make donations and paid for private coaching and workout equipment. I was pretty drained and exhausted this week. I didn’t really take a break from working over the holidays and I think it is finally catching up to me. I also ventured out of my house more in the past week than I have in the last few weeks combined. It was really nice to feel like I was actually doing something and not just suck at home. I also ate way more meat this week than I usually do.
submitted by ashleyandmarykat to MoneyDiariesACTIVE [link] [comments]

Patch is here.

It's a huge patch 1.77 GB.
Update 11/10/2020 PC: 1.68.154.1020 / Mac: 1.68.154.1220 Console: Version: 1.33
Welcome, Simmers! A relaxing getaway sure sounds nice right about now. We’re inviting you to take a trip with your Sims to your favorite destination with the newly added ability to vacation anywhere within The Sims 4! Here at Maxis, we’ll be hitting the slopes of Mt. Komorebi with the release of The Sims 4 Snowy Escape in just a few short days. Curious how it works? Read on! We’ve got a big haul of new features and requested fixes in this major update to The Sims 4.
-SimGuruGraham and SimGuruRusskii
NEW & IMPROVED FEATURES
Platforms
Platforms enable you to build rooms at varying heights within a story level. As much as we’d love to sit here and go on and on about how incredible platforms are and how they completely revolutionize Build Mode, you’ll see that for yourself as soon as you try them out in-game! Here are some basics for how they function and how you start building with them.
You either can use the new Platform Tool directly in or you can place preset platforms that come in various shapes and sizes. You’ll find both of these within the “Walls and Empty Rooms” section of Build Mode.
You easily can add or adjust the height of a platform in any room. Simply click on a room to select it, and the new up & down arrows in the widget that appears will allow you to add or adjust the height of a platform within that space.
Because platforms can have their height adjusted up or down, you can even create platforms that sink down beneath ground… like, really, really deep down. I don’t know why anyone would want to do that \cough\ devious players *cough*, but the option’s there! This ability to go deep is reserved for the ground level and basements.**
You can stack platforms on top of platforms, on top of platforms, on top of platforms, on top of platforms, on top of platforms… Seriously, go nuts. Get creative. Make something nobody has ever seen in The Sims before!... On top of platforms…
When a platform’s height is a single step higher or lower than the adjacent floor, Sims are able to step onto it. For anything higher than a single step, connecting a set of stairs or a ladder between the different surfaces will allow Sims to reach them. Here’s your first advanced lesson in platforming: Remember that callout about stacking platforms on top of each other? If each stacked platform is a single step in height, you could certainly make some interesting custom staircases…
Platforms can be utilized as fully functional space or be purely decorative areas - the choice is yours! As you adjust the height of a platform, your Sims will intelligently adapt to that space. For example, you could create a platform with only enough head clearance for a child to enter. The possibilities are endless!
The visual look of platforms can be customized in a variety of ways. The “Walls and Empty Rooms” section of Build Mode now has a “Platform Trims” subcategory. Here you’ll find trims that match all of our foundations as well as some new trims with basic materials that look perfect in the interior of a building. Want to go even further? Try wrapping the edge of a platform with half walls and then customize the edge with any wall material. Mix and match these methods for creative results!
Even More Half-Walls
Speaking of Half-Walls, we’re pleased to share that we’ve created 12 additional Half-Wall heights to choose from, adding to the 7 heights previously available. One could factually say this is our most sizable Half-Wall update ever! Pity the poor person who was tasked with writing uniquely descriptive names for each of these 19 height variations.
Sentiments
Sentiments are those special fuzzy feelings that form between Sims when they share a memorable moment together. Shared experiences between Sims now offer the opportunity for Sims to develop long-lasting sentiments between each other, which in turn affects how they feel and act in the presence of (or the absence of) another particular Sim. Unlike relationships between Sims, Sentiments can be a one-sided affair. When two or more Sims share an experience together, you may find that all, some, or none of them walk away from that moment having formed a lasting impression of the other Sims that were involved. The base game includes a wide variety of these Sentiments and Snowy Escape has additional ones tied to experiences within that pack.
Sentiments that have formed between Sims can be viewed in two locations. When socializing with another Sim, click on the heart-covered notebook that appears in the social UI at the top of your screen. Alternatively, you can view the Sentiments that exist between two Sims at any time within the new Sim Profile within the Relationship Panel. Read on for more information on this new Sim Profile ...
Sim Profiles
Have you ever gone to check out the other Sims in your Sims’ life, only to be greeted with an overwhelmingly large tooltip that extended from the tippy top all the way to the bottom of your screen? We certainly have, and we weren’t happy with it. There has to be a better way! ...And there is! Introducing: Sim Profiles! Within the Relationship Panel, you can now click on the portrait of any Sim and select “Open Sim Profile” for a full breakdown of all the info the active Sim knows about that Sim. It even includes those nifty new Sentiments everyone’s been talking about!
Skin Tone Update Console & Community Identified Issues
We saw your feedback about the October skin tones update and, to improve clarity and transparency, we shared a first look on Twitter of the fix in progress.
With this patch, the Console game gets the October fixes for texture compression, resolving the banding on the cheeks and foreheads as well as discoloration on the tip of the nose.
In addition, this patch addresses the two community-identified issues of red dots around the lips and a dark blotch between the eyes. The red dots around the lips should be completely resolved at this time. The dark blotch between the eyes was softened to remove the hard edge, but the darkening is expected as part of the shadowing around the nose.
Vacation Anywhere
Couldn’t we all use a good vacation right about now? Your Sims certainly could, and now they can go anywhere! The ability to go on a vacation to any of your worlds has been added to the game for all players along with the “Rental” lot type.
To vacation to a world, a rental lot must exist within it. Should you purchase Snowy Escape, you’ll find the residential world of Mt. Komorebi includes some pre-built rental lots - a ready getaway awaiting your Sims. If you prefer to vacation in another world (Sulani, anyone?), you’ll first need to enter Manage Worlds mode and update at least one of the lots within the desired world to become a rental lot.
During a vacation, if your Sims are lacking any necessities, they now can “Order Supplies Now” from the rental’s mailbox or from their phone. Happy travels!
Toddler Slippers
We figured it’d be nice to give toddlers a pair of slippers to wear. So we did. Cozy feet!
S-Pop Radio Station
You may remember S-Pop (short for “Sim-Pop”) as a radio station in the City Living expansion pack. While the music tracks that originally came with that station will remain exclusive to City Living, the station itself is now available for all players with five new songs for all players to enjoy:
“keep on rocking” Performed by CHAI Written by Yuki Mizutani (p/k/a/ Yuki), Kanae Obata (p/k/a Kana) and Manami Obata (p/k/a Mana) Published by Sony Music Publishing (Japan) (JASRAC) Recording courtesy of Sony Music Japan by arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment
“Kanzen Houki Sengen (Simlish Version)” Performed by Nanawoakari Written by Nanawoakari & Tamaya2060 Published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing Recording courtesy of Sony Music Japan by arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment
“Part. 2” Performed by SASUKE Written by SASUKE Published by Warner Chappell Publishing Recording courtesy of Warner Music Japan Inc. by arrangement with Warner Music Group Video Game Licensing
“Ninhursag’s Tone” Performed by Unite Satisfy Written by Shintaro Aoki Published by Syn Songs Recording courtesy of NNN Records & Cross Groove/Syn Songs
“Harujion” Performed by YOASOBI Written by Takuya Shimizu (p/k/a Takuya) and Akira Tsubono (p/k/a Akira) Published by Sony Music Publishing (Japan) (JASRAC) Recording courtesy of Sony Music Japan by arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment
And now, onto the fixes:
The Sims 4
Get to Work
Get Together
City Living
Cats and Dogs
Seasons
Get Famous
Island Living
Discover University
Eco Lifestyle
Dine Out
Vampires
Realm of Magic
Journey To Batuu
Luxury Party
Movie Hangout
Knifty Knitting
submitted by kaechan1989 to thesims [link] [comments]

I am 28 years old, make $75,000 CAD, live in Ottawa, ON and work as a government analyst. (all dollar amounts in CAD)

Section One: Assets and Debt
Retirement: I work in government and have an employer-matched pension plan, so I just use my RRSP as a secondary long term saving option (I should look in to investing within it). My RRSP is currently sitting at about $3,000.
TFSA: $19,500 (my main long term/down payment savings account)
Savings account: $18,000 (putting away money for a down payment (someday, maybe))
Checking account: $3600 (I try to keep it around $4000, and transfer anything over that to my TFSA)
Credit card debt: none - I pay for almost everything on my credit cards but pay them off every month. I have three - one no-fee card that accumulates grocery points, one travel card, and one no-fee card that I use for shared expenses
Student loan debt: none - I was super lucky to pay for my undergrad through a combination of scholarships, an RESP my parents paid into that covered most of my first year, and working one well-paid summer job and 2-3 part time jobs during the academic year throughout my degree. I worked for a year before starting grad school and had my MA tuition fully funded, with my government coop terms covering my living costs.
Partner: My partner, W, and I have not combined incomes
Section Two: Income
Main Job Monthly Take Home: Approx. $4000 (paid biweekly) I work in government and am paid through the Phoenix Pay System. Worth a google, but TLDR is that the system is broken and there are a lot of issues with paying people correctly. My file is only a little messed up, but I regularly have incorrect deductions taken off my pay and haven’t had a consistently correct pay cheque in over a year.
Deductions generally break down to (per month): $960 in tax $600 to my pension (fully matched)
$50 in union dues
$24 in death benefit
$30 in disability insurance
$200 to Canada Pension Plan (I usually max out my contributions in October)
$30 to EI (usually maxes out in September)
Side Gig Monthly Take Home
No side gig
Section Three: Expenses
Rent: $1237 for my half of the 2 bed, 2 bath apartment I split with my partner. We have similar incomes, so we split the rent, but he pays for the parking spot because it’s his car.
Renters / home insurance: $17/month
Savings contribution: $200 a month to my HYSA, $300/month to my TFSA
Investment contribution: $25/month to a WealthSimple account
Donations: I budget about $500 for annual donations to causes throughout the year, but will be making a portion of this planned monthly donations in 2021.
I coach a girls hockey team as well, and including supervising time at the rink off-ice and planning practices, it’s about 6 hours a week.
Electric: About $30 a month for my half
Internet: $35/month for my half
Cellphone: $25/month (I’m on a grandfathered plan and it is glorious)
Subscriptions:
$11 for Patreons (Unladylike and the American Girls Podcast)
$13.99 for Netflix (my mum uses my account) (W has Amazon Prime)
$4.99 for student spotify premium (I still have access to my student email accounts, so why not?)
$6.99 every three months for a Joy razor subscription
$149/year for my travel credit card (a great investment any year but this one - it gives great travel rewards, has good insurance, and comes with a PriorityPass lounge membership)
Gym membership: $12.99/month for Peloton digital (I used to have a corporate GoodLife membership, but I let it lapse because COVID. When I moved in to a building with a Peloton bike, I tried the app, decided I loved it, and haven’t looked back)
Car: I don’t own a car, but I do use VrtuCar for getting to/from the rink and occasional other outings. I pay $5 a month for the membership (my travel credit card has CLDI) and usually spend about $100-$150 a month in rental fees (you pay by the km and the hour)
*Note on food: W and I share expenses for some food, but we largely prepare our own meals since we have fairly different diets (I'm gluten free and generally don't cook meat at home, he eats a ton and has meat most days). So you won't see me mentioning much of his food in the diary.
Paid hobbies:
In a normal year, I play in a rec women’s hockey league, which costs about $400/year.
My partner and I would also normally join at least one mixed sports league with a group of our friends, which would cost around $130 for the summer.
I previously did yoga once a week at a studio near me, using Costco class passes. My mum bought me a 25 class pass for Christmas last year, $225.
Day One
6am - alarm goes off to take the antibiotics I’m on for a small infection. As soon as I’ve taken it, I roll over for an extra hour and a half of sleep.
7:30am - my boyfriend, W, and I cuddle a little before getting up to start the week. I’ve made a deal with myself that I have to put on “real” clothes during the workweek so I put on jeans (thrifted Zara high rise skinnies, my favourite pair), an old, oversized pink sweater from H&M and adorable half hoop earrings off Etsy, and walk to the second bedroom (set up as our shared office) to start my day. While the computer starts up, I boil water and grind local coffee beans (Equator, for anyone from the NCR) for my French Press and make a bowl of greek yogurt with banana slices and granola. I start my day clearing my inbox and eating breakfast.
10:30am - After my weekly team call, I call the Pay Centre because my paycheque for this week has some weird deductions and a weird total. They’re not able to provide an answer, but they open a ticket to get it looked at. This means I’ll be putting the additional amount immediately into savings, in case any of it was paid in error and will need to be paid back later. Google “Phoenix Pay System” for some of the horror stories, it’s fun (she said sarcastically).
12:15pm - Between calling Phoenix and having a long list of follow-ups from Friday, this morning flew by. I toast a gluten free bagel (I have Celiac’s) and heat up some chicken and rice soup for lunch, which I eat while watching HopeScope videos on YouTube. I make some Irish Breakfast tea and grab a ginger cookie before going back to my desk.
2:30pm - My dad stops by to drop off Christmas lights for our balcony. He lives alone and has a history of depression, so we’re considering ourselves “bubbled” with him (even though it’s not strictly recommended in Ontario, Ottawa’s cases are really low and we’re careful otherwise). I still wear a mask when I see him other than having dinner with him about once a month.
4:15pm - I wrap things up, then get changed to go on a run. Ottawa is starting to get COLD, but I finally got in to running during COVID so I’m committed to trying to run through the winter, although I’m still learning how to layer properly. Today I wear smartwool socks, Lululemon Speed Ups (bought in their Black Friday sale), an Old Navy sports bra (the only sports bras I don’t hate for running), a Lululemon long sleeve swiftly as my base layer, a pullover from my undergrad, a high vis toque, running gloves, my New Balance runners, and a running belt for my phone, keys and mask. I drop off Christmas cards in the mailbox on my way out (all stamped with stamps I already bought). I do about 7km tonight while listening to the Office Ladies podcast then stretch when I get home.
6pm - After rinsing off and devouring some corn tortillas with peanut butter, W. wants to go on a drive to make sure his winter tires are aligned. We drive to a fancy neighbourhood to see their Christmas lights and play Christmas songs on the radio. It’s pretty adorable.
7pm - I prep my dinner (which will also be my next few lunches) - a sheet pan dinner of broccoli, pepper, zucchini and halloumi with rice, pesto, and Everything But the Bagel seasoning. W. is going home for a month later this week, so we exchanged gifts last weekend, and he got me a hydroponic herb starter kit, which we set up together.
11pm - After watching tv mindlessly with W., we both get ready for bed. I do my nighttime face routine (FAB cleanser, Caudalie toner, FAB moisturizer, and a pimple patch on a cystic zit developing on my chin). I want to do a Peloton ride in the morning, so I set out my workout clothes before going to sleep around 11:30pm.
Total spent: $0
Day 2
6:30am - Alarm goes off. I take my antibiotic, pull on my workout clothes (Mondetta bike shorts, a Lululemon Energy Bra, Old Navy cropped tank, Lululemon Speed socks, old sweatshirt, and my UnderArmour mask) and head down to the gym. Our building’s gym is small and has a 3 person max occupancy right now, so first thing in the morning is the only time I can reliably get in to the gym during non-business hours. I do a 45 minute pop ride with Tunde and after my run last night, my legs are DEAD. I take a long shower back upstairs.
8:30am - I’m working later today to support my coworker on a file, so I’ve shifted my hours to 10am-6pm (which I hate, but whatever). After blowdrying my bangs and putting on my Zara jeans a cozy merino wool sweater, and polymer clay earrings, I run to Farm Boy (think Trader Joe’s) to pick up a few things I need. There’s some dude being a jerk and making a stink about putting on the mask he currently has around his chin, but I and the other two people in line behind him all tiredly tell him to just put it on and get out of the way. Ugh. I buy Brussels sprouts, cheddar cheese, cream cheese, thai soup, miso paste, granola, gluten free Stroopwafels, and some fresh pesto (the odds and ends I forgot when doing my big shop, plus impulse buying the cookies and miso), and spend about $45.
9:30am - Back home, I make coffee and have a bagel with cream cheese, then settle in for the morning.
12:30pm - I take a short lunch break, eating leftovers from last night while making myself a calendar for 2021 on VistaPrint (I couldn’t find what I wanted through Etsy or local stores, so I use some basic digital design skills to make one with some of my own travel photos). $25 including shipping.
2pm - While waiting for input on a document I’m working on, I end up on Etsy (oops) and order a velvet scrunchie and a new neck gaiter for running, since I could not find mine last night. I’ve been trying to shop used or small/local since the pandemic, and Etsy has really opened up a whole new world of options. $20
6:15pm - Done for the day, and boy did I forget how depressing it is to finish work after sunset in the winter. W. and I decide to go for a walk to see the Christmas lights at Parliament Hill, then stop to pick up shawarma on our way home because we’re both tired and not feeling it. Mine is $15.99, but it’ll be both my dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow.
7pm - W. and I put on some Office Christmas episodes while we eat. Then he does some cleaning and I pull out my computer to play Civ and do some browsing.
11:30pm - W. and I both got caught up in our respective laptops on the couch, and only head for bed now. After doing my face wash routine, we lie in bed scrolling through TikToks until 12:15 (oops)
Totals:
Food: $61
House: $25
Personal/clothing: $20
Day 3
6am - Water, pill, back to sleep
7:45am - It’s snowing and W and I are so cozy in bed that we cuddle a little too long. We finally get up and I throw on my favourite non-legging lazy pants (these great sweatpants that look like real pants from Roots), a tank, a cozy cardigan and my Birkenstock-style clog slippers. Then it’s the usual coffee, yogurt-banana-granola combo and emails and documents for the morning.
10:30am - I take a 15 minute break to check that my paycheque was deposited (it was) and to pay off my credit cards (which I do every pay cycle - I never carry a balance but I do put just about everything on credit). While in my email I also see that Air Canada has confirmed my cancellation of a trip to see W’s family for the holidays - I booked it when cases were MUCH lower, with full knowledge that I would likely have to cancel, but it still stings a little. W’s still going, since he can work remotely from there and hasn’t seen his family in over a year, so I’m a little bummed we won’t be spending our first Christmas together like I’d hoped (we’ve been together about 3 years and moved in together in the spring). I’ll get a voucher for the value of the flight and use it to visit his family when it’s safe to do so.
12:15pm - Lunch break! I heat up more leftover rice and the veggie/halloumi combo and top it with pesto and kimchi. Today I eat watching the latest Endless Adventure and an old Eamon and Bec on YouTube. I make tea and grab a cookie before getting back to work around 1pm.
4:30pm - I stayed online late waiting to hear back from my boss on a file I’m working on, but not hearing anything I decide to log off now. It can wait until morning. I scroll through tiktoks while stretching my back on the floor until it’s time to get ready to head to the rink. I change into leggings and a sweatshirt and walk a couple of blocks to grab my VrtuCar.
8:30pm - Home from the rink! While it definitely increases my exposure, I feel good about the league’s approach to COVID (they’ve made teams smaller, teams only practice/scrimmage within a bubble of four teams, they’ve modified the rules, and adults/coaches wear masks except when we need to remove them to communicate safely) and I do really love having a chance to get on the ice. Tonight was a scrimmage, and I reffed, so I got lots of skating in! My VrtuCar was $13 for tonight.
9pm - After heating up my leftover shawarma (SO. GOOD), I hang out while W finishes packing, and we watch some more Office together while cuddling on the couch. We go to bed a little early for more TikTok and cuddle time, since he’s leaving tomorrow, and fall asleep around 11:30pm.
Total spent: Transportation: $13
Day 4
6:30am - Alarm goes off. Pill, then I pull myself out of the cozy bed and throw on cropped leggings, a workout tank, a Define jacket and my UnderArmour mask before heading down to the gym for a Peloton ride. This morning it’s pop with Tunde, and it’s a great workout!
8am - After showering and blowdrying my bangs (I forgot this was why I grew out my bangs the last time, ugh), I throw on a great pair of 7 for all Mankind frayed hem jeans I thirfted, a cute Uniqlo sweater, and my favourite clay earrings. The usual coffee and yogurt/banana/granola combo as I go through my emails. I seriously need to do laundry, so I do a few loads throughout my morning. This is my first apartment with in-unit laundry and it is a HUGE life upgrade, especially with wfh.
12pm - Quick lunch break, since I’m helping out with an interview at 1. Same leftovers (today with spicy hummus), accompanied by Kara and Nate’s latest.
2:30pm - After wrapping up the interview, W. and I head out to pick up the car and take him to the airport. I’m tempted to stop for a holiday drink on my way home but decide to save it for my walk with a friend tomorrow. It’s $16 for the car, but W will pay me back for it since it’s saving him from Ubering. I have a DENSE document to review before finishing for the day, so I make myself a big mug of tea to power through.
5:30pm - After finishing work, I order my dad’s Christmas gift (I’ve been discussing options with my brother since last night to coordinate). I’ve been trying to buy small/local as much as possible this year, so I order him Obama’s new book from my favourite local bookstore ($57) and good merino wool socks (for taking distanced walks through the winter) from one of my favourite outdoors stores ($37), both for pickup in store. Both could have been purchased for less from big box stores, but the small price difference is worth it to keep these kinds of shops open in my neighbourhood! I just have to get a smaller gift to go with my mum’s main gift and then I’ll be 100% done shopping! $94 total
7pm - After lazing around, it’s time to tidy up and make dinner. I put on some old Gilmore Girls for background noise while I unload the dishwasher and make a dinner of duck fat roasted Brussels sprouts (from duck fat W. didn’t finish before leaving) and perogies. I settle in for an evening on the couch, watching Gilmore Girls and playing the Sims.
11pm - W. calls me from his layover to update me on flying in the COVID era, then I go to bed around 11:30pm.
Total: $94
Day 5
6am - Last day of this!
7:45am - I’d thought it would be easier to get up with W gone, but turns out having no outside push/peer pressure to get up doesn’t help? Alas. I’m not feeling it this morning, so I toss on my thrifted Zara jeans, a graphic sweatshirt and toss my hair back. Today it’s a bagel and coffee for breakfast because Friday! While checking my email, I see an item I’d posted on Poshmark has sold - score! I don’t consider this a side hustle, since I don’t put a lot of effort in and I only re-sell nicer things that I’m done with in an effort to reduce waste, but it’s still nice. I’ve made a conscious effort over the last year to try to acquire more clothing used (local instagram thrifters and poshmark have been my go-tos) and drastically reduce my fast fashion consumption. I’m not perfect, but I’m working on it! I’ll be making $13 from this sale after Poshmark takes its fees.
12:15pm - I use my lunch break to run to my local bike store and get my skates sharpened ($9) - the last time I had them done was in September, and I’ve been on the ice 1-2 times a week since then. Oops! It’s a quick errand, and I make myself lunch when I get home - a packaged thai noodle soup, to which I add an assortment of fresh veggies.
4:30pm - After a late call with my manager (sigh), I head out to meet an old friend for a walk outside, dropping the Poshmark package in the postbox on my way. I’ve been dragging all day so I grab an Irish Cream Americano from Starbucks on my way (paid for with a giftcard), and we end up walking for almost two hours!
7pm - After getting home, I’m still exhausted. I drag myself off the couch to make a dinner of pasta with pesto and pan fried zucchini and butternut squash. I spend the evening vegging, watching A Princess Switch 2 (TERRIBLE) and Schitt’s Creek, while making a quick plan for tomorrow’s hockey practice. I head to bed around 11:30pm.
Total: $9
Day 6
10am - After lazing around awhile, I get myself up to get ready to head to the rink. I throw on my Speed Up leggings and a grey Roots quarter zip pullover, then make an easy breakfast of mashed avocado and feta on an English Muffin. I watch a few old travel vlogs before heading to the rink.
1:30pm - Back from the rink! The car cost $16.50 - I’m going to have to do some price comparisons to see whether it would be worth it to upgrade my membership package. I make some Annie’s mac and cheese and a French Press, then curl up under a blanket to watch some Schitt’s Creek.
4pm - After a fully unproductive afternoon, I light some candles and do a yoga class using my Peloton app (I usually just do Yoga With Adriene but there’s a challenge on Peloton so I’m trying to max out the number of days I do Peloton workouts). Then I make a flatbread pizza with pesto and veggies and watch a couple of episodes of Gilmore Girls. After cleaning up the kitchen, I pour myself a cider and take a bath. I read You Never Forget Your First in the bath, which is so good!
9pm - I have no motivation, and I’ve decided to do a 60 minute ride first thing tomorrow, so I bring my laptop to bed and watch youtube videos until I fall asleep around 11pm.
Total: $16.50
Day 7
6:45am - I have all the regrets. But I drag myself out of bed, throw on bike shorts and a tshirt, and head down to the gym. Once I’m on the bike it’s all good, and I’m wide awake after the class!
9am - After showering (and blowdrying my bangs), I get dressed (Aerie leggings and a cozy sweater - it’s Sunday) I make a breakfast sandwich (egg, cheese and avocado on an English Muffin) and some coffee, which I enjoy in front of some Schitt’s Creek. It looks like it’s going to snow later and I want to go out once today, so I walk to Shoppers around 11am (where I get some new tweezers, wax strips and a new foot file - $21.23) and walk for about an hour while listening to Gee Thanks, Just Bought It.
12:30pm - I’ve been putting off a deep clean of the shower, but today’s the day! I scrub down both bathrooms and vacuum the apartment while listening to Forever35. Once the place is clean, I cuddle up on the couch with my laptop. I order some cider from a local brewery, some for me and some to go in my mum’s Christmas gift ($32, which comes with free delivery).
3pm - I’ve been doing some online training for personal/career development and I’m really behind, so I set up at my desk and get through a couple of weeks worth of sessions (it’s self-paced, but meant to be completed in six weeks). Since finishing grad school a few years ago I’ve been kind of struggling to identify what kind of path I want to take in my career, so courses like this to help refine my existing skills are helpful.
5pm - Days feel so long when you get up early! I decide to do some meal prep for the week and make a big helping of vegetable curry and rice, with The Holiday in the background. After eating a bowl of it (gotta do quality control!) I make a hot chocolate spiked with amaretto to finish the movie.
8pm - Another COVID weekend is mostly over. My meal prep has cooled enough to be put in the fridge, and after doing that I crawl into bed with my laptop (again - I normally don’t bring my computer to bed but with W gone …) and message W and watch youtube videos until I go to bed around 11pm.
Total Spent: Self care: $21.23
Food/Alcohol: $32
Total Spent for the week
Food/Drinks: $93
Gifts: $94
Misc personal spending: $76.23
Transportation: $29.50
submitted by throwawayMDYOW to MoneyDiariesACTIVE [link] [comments]

Encountering Corrupt Capitalists - Part three

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What happens when it is all one big "efficient company?" An insane claim, by the way. There is no reason to think merging all those companies would lead to something efficient, unless you have the absolutely mindblowing belief that government agencies can run these private companies with more success. Can you imagine going to the DMV to ship a package? Can you imagine being told it will cost $500 to ship the package, and then realizing there is no competition available?
"Can you imagine allowing the government to be as corrupt as businesses are?!? (remember insulin?) That would be bad!"
Yeah no shit - that's why it's called "Policy and Regulation" you fucking ignoramus. The exact thing you're advocating against. "But competition means that consumers can go to company that has the lowest prices - meaning, the company that has the least amount of costs vs profit.
Would a regulated, subsidized, non-profit monopolistic business model not provide that for the cheapest physically possible, orrrrr.....?!?! BRUH
[Them] Even if your service starts off in the best way possible in every single way: you get some messiah like selfless person with 180iq to run the operation, and somehow, they manage to combine all these companies into single effective business, and all for minimal pay.
"Minimal pay" and "Adequate pay" are two totally different things. Raising the minimum wage won't raise the price of a burger unless the CEO's choose to take a profit/pay cut.
Let's just say you get that done. What happens after that person retires?!@?!??! What are the odds you can find another one, and another after that, and another after that, who are all incorruptible, greedless, perfect people?
This knuckle-dragger really can't wrap their head around prohibitive policy that cuts down on negative actions, nor the concept that changing the focus in society from "profit" to "purpose" would severely cut down on the average person's corruption. We live in a society that glorifies having more money than you can physically spend - and it purpetuates the people like you who see that as an excuse to exploit others just because you can.
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Why on earth would it be better to have one person take on the management duties of all these companies?
Still can't wrap his head around anything other than social hierarchies.. "WhOs GoNnA bE tHe BoSs?!"
Unless you're asking how they would make it efficient - which of course anyone with half a brain cell would know 1 person managing absolutely everything would be basically impossible - thought it doesn't suprise me you jump to that conclusion with the content of the arguments... You break it up by region, district and subcategorize parts of the company for national, local, or other ranges. You prioritize parts of the business to go from manufactures to retailers, others for deliveries at home - all the "profits" going to adequately paying the employees, research to further streamline and automate the service (as well as help drive costs down further), and back into the economy through a UBI.
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[Them] To be perfectly blunt, I must imagine, and I say this in the politest way possible, that you do not have the faintest clue what it takes to manage a business. It is well outside the scope of this post for me to teach you, but suffice to say it is not such an easy and laid back task, and I think it would be of immense value to your personal development to get some experience.
Imagine saying that to a person that manged 3 headshops across 2 states for several years, generating over a combined 250k every single year. The owner lived in Cali - I live in CT. I had to order new products based on what inventory we had left, profits we had the previous month and projected sales, I had to organize discounts and sales to move old product, manage the schedules and payroll to be sent out, work with the local authorities when it came to signage, zoning and other issues; I had to advertise for the business online (as part of my job description) and submit all of our cost/revenue/profit sheets for each store. I had to be on call whenever the store was open in order to approve discounts asked by my sales teams. If I missed emails - even if I wasn't working - I'd get screamed at - all for $14/hr plus a small percentage of commission on certain items. The kicker? They had stupid shady business practices. I'm talking they've been sued for wage garnishment multiple times, class action lawsuits, copyright infringement.
You see, they secretly owned the glass company that made 75% of their stock. They paid illegal immigrants roughly $10/hr (one of the owners flat out admitted this to me) to copy competitors items exactly. Producing a product that was literally a knock-off of the main retailer (the quality was shit too), but for a fraction of the price. Literally.
So a certain pipe would retail for say, $1,000. Well, it only cost them about $100 to make it at the end of the day - transportation cost them roughly $25 (depending on how many they ship at once), bringing that total to $125 to put it on our shelf. I sell that item for $1,000 - and make $50 commission (if i passed the sales amount required for the day - If we didn't make enough to cover store costs including my pay, I didn't make commission regardless of the item sold).
So for that entire process - the person who made it got roughly $50 for their labor - the materials cost roughly $50 - the concept for the good itself was stolen - I received roughly $64 for the sale (which is fucking insulting to the person who made it) - sales tax is paid by the customer - meaning that there's $811 left over for the owner to take as profit. AH yes - but he's the 20% of the equation - so he deserves the 80% of the profits - right?! That's how that works?!? That's his reward for the risk of paying workers the absolute minimum required by law (and sometimes lower than that), stealing copyrighted material, and exploiting labor - right?! That's what profits are for - legal battles!
I could go into more detail about more fucked-up shit that company did, but something tells me all of these "best self interest" practices are giving you business ideas because you have no comprehension on morality.
[Me] All this with the added focus that we need to make the resources we utilize as renewable as possible, and the jobs we perform as automated as possible.
[Them] And politicans will do a better job of that, if they are in control of every businesses decisions, in your mind? That seems to be the central point of your argument.
Look at him go trying to make me a communist - as again, the only industries I think the government should control are the ones vital to life. Housing, Education, Healthcare, Sustenance, (and at this point) distribution of goods and access to the internet. The internet goes hand-in-hand with education specifically. There should be free and easy access to a reputable educational source. Wikipedia leaves a lot to be desired - due to lack of funding and regulation.
[Them] That the Chosen People will come and lead the way to Efficient Businesses and Lack of Greed. It makes absolutely no sense and seems like a religious cult.
Literally your argument for capitalism - except you expect people whose sole motivator is profit to make the best decisions - where I want adequately educated people saying "No - fuck your profits, this secondary effect is too detrimental for it to be okay." Like you know - the active destruction of our ecosystems and people dying because they can't afford to pay for a drug that only costs $7 to produce.
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[Me] Well for one, some people choose to live that way. Some people just prefer "off the grid" living.
[Them] Way to avoid the question. Do you suppose the people making less than $1 a day farming would be happy to take your resources, or would they reject them? Would they accept the contents of your wallet, your bank account, your cell phone, and your clothes and amenities and technological comforts? Your laptop and jewelry? I bet they would, regardless of their "preference for off grid living." A very yuppie thing to say in regards to people subsistence farming, by the way.
Jesus fucking christ this dude should be dead with how many times he's hit himself in the face with the point. Not to mention he's changing his stance on this issue AGAIN. Remember, this was the original question that I was answering:
How, exactly, do you "fix" the lives of the BILLIONS of people who scratch out a living subsistence farming?
So in the intial question - he frames subsistence farming as a bad thing - and now in his reply, he's going to turn right around and try and make me seem like the bad guy in the scenario for wanting to "fix the issues". Not to mention that me pointing out the nuance that some people literally choose to do this is apparently "Avoiding the question" even though I answered this ages ago with verticle farming.
Then he comes to this jewel:
Do you suppose the people making less than $1 a day farming would be happy to take your resources...I bet they would, regardless of their "preference for off grid living." A very yuppie thing to say in regards to people subsistence farming, by the way.
"Don't you think impoverished people would want the extra resources you have available?! You're such a yuppie for thinking that they wouldn't want to not be impoverished despite choosing to be self-sufficient outside of society because it creates impoverishment to the point of death!"
Like these fucking conservative thunder-cunts can't wrap their heads around the things they say. By his mentality - owners should distribute their resources to the lower classes because workers could use them to not be impoverished despite "choosing" the job they have. Seriously, what the fuck kind of example is this?! "How do you fix the lives of billions who SCRATCH OUT A LIVING subsistence farming?" "HOW DARE YOU LOOK DOWN ON THEM FOR BEING IN THAT POSITION!1!! THEY'RE CAPITALISTS!!!1!!1"
Bruh. You really need to think about the things you say before you say them.
[Me] If the world prioritized ensuring undeveloped countries had the infrastructure and ability to contribute to the world economy - the long term benefits
[Them] This is a statement that means nothing. "The world" is not an entity, unless you are specifically pushing for the creation of a one world government.
Is he really so stupid that he couldn't see this disclaimer:
Also - these sorts of things would have to be implemented worldwide.
AND that he can't wrap his head around the fact that producers in every single country in the world are contributing to the issues we're facing? Seriously. No dude - I'm only going to try and implement this in America - because the pollution from the rest of the world doesn't fucking matter. Dipshit.
[Me] With the focus on producing food wherever its needed (hydroponic facilities and proper farming techniques)
[Them] As we go further in the post your arrogance seems to grow as your thoughts flow more freely. I imagine it is largely coming from your professors, but it is not enviable. How much farming have you done, I wonder, to know exactly which techniques are 'proper' and which are not? You seem to have all the answers, and it all seems so simple. Where can I vote to, quote, "do things properly"? Who would want to do them improperly, after all!
Translation: "These damn universities are indoctrinating people to the left!1!!11!"
You're a truly stupid motherfucker if you can't ulitlize google to do some research on a few things before hand. Verticle farming is incredibly more efficient than other types of farming in several ways - and that's all capitalists care about right? Efficiency? Cost reductions? While it does have its downsides, Water efficiency is 100%, if the power is from sustainable sources the GHG are 20% of those of typical greehouses, and the yields are also more efficient. The only thing that needs to catch up is our power sources and the lighting tech - and it will be hands-down the most efficienct and best way to grow crops. Further improving our lighting tech will also increase the efficiency of our everyday lighting in society, and the power improvements will always better society when we stop dumping stupid amounts of pollution. Additionally, current improvements in automation will make it so that costs are incredibly minimal.
Imagine being so stupid that you just want to let the market innovate and dictate society - and not those actually aducated in their respective fields. Yes - a scientist should have the final say over production of resources - not a farmer that's only looking to maximize his profits. That's how we ended up in the dust bowl.
For as much as you tell me to think of examples in history to support your narrative - you sure do seem to ignore it.
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[Me] coupled with focus on redistributing resources and wealth where it is needed,
[Them] I'm going to engage directly with your language for a moment. I, too, think redistributing wealth and resources where it is needed is a vital and ongoing function. However, I think it happens naturally in a free market,
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Look at him pivot again. Think back to his "underserving lotter winner" comment here, as well as the pareto principle. 20% of people generate 80% of the income. "The free market naturally redistributes income!" - currently in the worst state of wealth inequality in history due to the free market we currently have.
I swear - conservatives and capitalists suffer from the worst kinds of Dunning-Kruger effects.
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[Them] and I think unnatural distribution of resources through politicians will simply result in cronyism and corruption, as we have now. Which politican are you so confident in to redistribute wealth and resources "where it is needed?" How can one person, or even a team of people, possibly know whether it is smarter to use a community's money to build a chemical plant to produce medicines or a new surgery wing on the hospital, or a new farm instead?
Simple. Education, you know - the thing you lack?
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[Them] How will you determine which will have more benefit? Perhaps hours of public testimony? Consulting with other bureaucrats? Will you listen to the testimony of the hungry, and compare that to the testimony of those needing surgery? Will you compare them to those that lack medicine? How will you make this choice?
Imagine being so fucking stupid that you think society with capabilities to launch a fucking car into space - would have to choose between feeding the hungry and caring for the sick - because.... what? They both aren't a priority?
If healthcare was universal it would cost America less overall, anyone who says otherwise is a brainwashed knuckle-dragger. Don't even get me started on our educational system.
[Them] If it sounds impossibly complicated, it is. In reality, the politician and the bureaucrats are swayed by all the listed factors, and most often they will pick the solution that benefits them and their family and friends the most. Perhaps their brother owns the contracting company that will build the hospital, so they pick that option.
"Politicians are corrupt - businesses that charge hundreds of dollars for life saving medication and lie to the public in order to increase profits are not."
[Them] The alternative though, does not rely on the incorruptibility of a man, or even a group of men. The alternative relies simply on competition and market distribution of resources to those that provide the most goods and services to the public.
Here's another fallacy: the market decides the distribution of resources.. Please tell me more about how the market stages coups. And about how the "invisible hand of the market" creates artificial scarcities.
[Them] In a free market, any or all or none of those things could be built, depending on the decisions of individuals. Those individuals can take risks with their own personal lives, time, and savings, and because they are personally involved they have a strong motivator to be efficient and to please consumers.
LOLOLOL "a strong motivator to be efficient and please consumers!" HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Yes lobbying the government to have them lie about nutrition is about about "pleasing the consumer" - and planned obsolecense is also about "pleasing the consumer".
Stop pretending to have any sort of redeemable values.
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[Them] Politicians have no such risk. By the time the project is even finished, they may be out of office, or have collected their greasy bribes and kickbacks all the same.
"Politicians have no risk because they can get away with sleazy practices just like the rich who I mentioned earlier avoid taxes becasue they can!"
HMMMM, it's almost as if we should address the problem of corruption - and not its symptoms. The source of this problem is societies incessant need to continue prioritizing profits over purpose.
[Them] Your hatred for business owners is replaced by a religious faith in politicians, which is entirely misplaced. It's nice to have something to believe in, but I plead with you, please, consider that you have fallen for a scheme even worse. What if I'm right? What if history backs me up, and every single time this has been tried, it's been a disaster?
"Please- please! Look at history and know (except modern day Europe - don't look there) that this never works! The US will stage a coup, impose sanctions, and cripple your economy before it ever gets off the ground! Besides, the politicians we have now are corrupt and are allowed to be because we don't have policies to restrict them - you can't just give them the power to choose - they'll abuse it and hurt me - the owner who deserves 80% of the profit despite doing less than 20% of the work!!"
Bruh - you put policies in place to stop the actions that enable corruption and greed.
"They're just going to get kickbacks from the businesses that only care about profits to try and sway their choices!! We should just give the power to the businesses that already prove they give no fucks about anything other than profits - and have even less restrictions!"
You aren't a knuckle-dragger, you're an elbow-dragger. Holy shit.
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5/7
[Me] we need to stop holding countries at gunpoint and forcing them to sell us resources for pennies on the dollar.
[Them] Instead we'll just hold entire populations are gunpoint and tell them exactly how to live their lives, right? Which factories to open, which to close, which people can be successful, which cannot. How many farms to have, and how many chemical plants. How many factories, and how many schools. We will dictate every single aspect of their economy, and if any of them with enough money to make themselves heard or do something about it choose to argue, well, we will send the communist re-education squad over with some AKs to teach them to stop being greedy.
Again - this dude is having flashbacks of the cold war and can't handle his triggered fear.
[Me] And we can argue for days about whether we should focus our efforts "here" or around the world, yatta yatta.
[Them] I was really amazed reading through this, because at so many times you are so close to a real epiphany moment. Yatta yatta indeed. You don't think it a rather important point to have locked down, exactly where all these redistributed resources will be spent?
Imagine being so thick headed that you think the needs of the world will be constant and fixed, not fluid and everchanging. "The free market naturally distributes resources where they're needed!" Please tell me more about how Africa is super developed and advanced - and how companies are making efforts to invest in sustainably solving the problems that they are facing.
[Them] Do you imagine yourself part of some special educated club that can discuss these things while the plebes just go along for the ride? Who determines whether the billions of people who live on less than $2 a day are more worthy than you of some redistributed wealth? If it is you, why is that fair?
Why should 2,153 people be allowed to aquire more wealth than 4.6 BILLION people combined? I think that's a better question - you really think that's indicitive of the free market "naturally redistributing wealth"? If you do I got a bridge to sell you.
[Them] Why should you get any money? You have so much compared to them. Following your logic, should we not liquidate 90% of the wealth of the Western countries and redistribute it to the developing countries? It is of course, "better for the world," as you say.
Imagine not understanding what the difference between equality and equity is, and also not understanding what UBI is, and trying to preach to people about the viabilities of economic systems. And also purposefully twisting my comment which explicitly says:
[Me] If the world prioritized ensuring undeveloped countries had the infrastructure and ability to contribute to the world economy - the long term benefits after doing so would surpass the initial costs of enabling it.
Yet he hears "redistribution of weath" and again - ignorantly thinks of the USSR.
submitted by AmbivalentAsshole to ArticulateAmbivalence [link] [comments]

[OC] The NFL was formally created on this day 100 years ago. Held in a car showroom, the meeting saw a team get "kicked out", the Cardinals get mistaken as being from Wisconsin, a $100 membership fee that nobody actually paid, and the introduction of a trophy that has since gone missing.

Last month, we covered the groundwork what would become the NFL being planned out by four team owners in the Ohio League.
On September 17, 1920, that plan was finally set in motion as the owners and representatives from six other teams met in a Canton, Ohio, car showroom to officially create the American Professional Football Association.

The APFC

As discussed in the last post, Ralph Hay of the Ohio League's Canton Bulldogs knew things had to change to save pro football. For much of its early history, pro football was seen as nothing more an an inferior counterpart to the college game, one that was plagued by bidding wars that drove teams out of business, the use of college players under fake names to avoid the wrath of schools, and players being paid to jump ship to other clubs for one game.[1]
The lack of a true national league also meant virtually anyone could claim the "national championship" as long as they won their regional league. With associations in the Midwest and New York breathing down their neck, the Ohio League was in a very precarious position. As such, many teams in Ohio (and elsewhere) felt a unified organization would put an end to the turmoil, though Hay would be the one to actually go forward with the plan.[2]
On August 20, Hay and his franchise face Jim Thorpe met with Frank Nied and Art Ranney (Akron Indians/Pros), Jimmy O'Donnell and Stanley Cofall (Cleveland Tigers), and Carl Storck (Dayton Triangles) in one of his car dealerships to form the American Professional Football Conference. Although some football historians describe this as a "preliminary meeting" that would lead to the NFL, the Professional Football Researchers Association argues this conference can be considered a league itself.[3]
At the meeting, the four parties agreed to create uniform schedules, stop the spending wars for players and "borrowing" other teams' players for one game, and especially put an end to the use of ringers. This was fine and dandy, but there was a bit of a problem: the rules agreed upon were only between the four teams and did not include the rest of the Ohio League, meaning the others were not bound by the rules and could still do what they wanted. Furthermore, a number of the Ohio League teams weren't exactly fit for the mold that the APFC had in mind.[1]
Hay, who was elected temporary secretary, was tasked with setting out for potential suitors to join the new league.[1]

Getting Guys

Before the August 20 meeting, Hay had received letters from three clubs who wanted to play the Bulldogs. Although the identities of the teams are unknown, one could make reasonable inferences based on where the mail came from.
One letter came from Rochester, New York. Although the city had its share of football teams, only Leo Lyons' Rochester Jeffersons were competitive enough to even consider taking on the Bulldogs.[3]
Another was from Buffalo, New York. While a reading of the 1920 APFA team list suggests it might be the Buffalo All-Americans, they were newly created for the 1920 season and it's hard to tell if they would truly challenge a powerhouse in their first season. On the other hand, the Bulldogs and All-Americans were set to play each other later that year.[3]
The third came from a "Hammond team", likely referring to the Hammond Pros in Indiana. Although there were also the Hammond Bobcats, they were actually located in Chicago and played at Cubs Park (now Wrigley Field); the Chicago Tigers are considered the successor to the Bobcats. With this in mind, the PFRA speculated the Tigers might be the sender from Hammond, but then again, "Hammond is not the same city as Chicago."[3]
As the seasons changed from summer to fall, Hay and Thorpe turned their attention to Massillon, where the Tigers were a powerhouse but struggled financially. Cofall previously ran the team before bailing in favor of Cleveland; Hay asked steelworker F.J. Griffiths to save the dying club but he turned it down.[3]
With options running out, Hay decided to go on the offensive and reached out to George Halas, a 25-year-old working at the A.E. Staley starch company in Decatur. The company's football team had gone 9–1 in 1919 on the independent circuit before Halas' arrival (more on that team was covered by me during their 100th anniversary last year at /CHIBears). Incidentally, Halas had signed Guy Chamberlin, a former Bulldog, to play for Decatur.[3]

The Meeting

On September 17, 1920, the stage was set at Hay's Hupmobile dealership in downtown Canton; although he was uncertain as to the number of people showing up, his office was too small to accommodate everyone.[1]
As with the August meeting, Hay and Thorpe, Nied and Ranney, O'Donnell and Cofall, and Storck were present; Bulldogs secretary/treasurer Lester Higgins, who was Hay's brother-in-law, was also in attendance. The others arrived by train: Lyons of the Jeffersons, Dr. Alva Young of the Pros, Halas and Morgan O'Brien of the Staleys, Walter Flanigan of the Rock Island Independents, Earl Ball of the Muncie Flyers, and Chris O'Brien of the Racine Cardinals. Together, the group led ten teams.[3]
The September 16 issue of The Rock Island Argus had the following to say: "Manager Walter Flanigan left last night for Canton, Ohio, to attend the annual conference of major professional football teams, whose representatives assemble every year to plan the campaign for the world's championship."[4]
"The showroom, big enough for four cars-Hupmobiles and Jordans-occupied the ground floor of the three-story Odd Fellows building," Halas wrote in his autobiography. "Chairs were few. I sat on a running board."[1]
Due to the heat, Hay placed buckets of beer next to the cars, free of charge for all to consume.[3]
"Had the police shown up and arrested everyone for violation of the Prohibition Law, the whole future of professional football might have been changed," remarked the PFRA.[3]

Let's Get Down to Business

After some casual chatter, the meeting formally began at 8:15 PM. Ranney took to the typewriter to write the minutes (text version available below).[1] However, there is a glaring mistake in the write-up: Ranney assumed the Cardinals—more popularly known as the Chicago Cardinals—were from Racine, Wisconsin and wrote them as such. As a result, the wording in the minutes seems to suggest there was also an unknown Wisconsin team present at the meeting.[3]
The first order of business surrounded the Massillon Tigers. Vernon "Mac" Maginnis, the former manager of the Akron Indians, wanted to start a traveling team under the Tiger name and sent a representative to the meeting. Ranney and Nied, who were not on the friendliest terms with Maginnis, quickly shot down the plan and barred the rep from attending, though the Tigers were still officially listed as present in the minutes. Hay took over as the Tigers' "rep" and "withdrew" them from the league.[3]
With that out of the way, next topic was the league name, which was changed to the American Professional Football Association. A particular reason for the change was never specified, but NFL Films Research Library head Chris Willis speculated the word "association" suggests a looser coalition of teams than "league", meaning less of a commitment to the organization.[1] Considering the rocky waters that the APFA/NFL had to navigate in its early history with many teams joining and exiting and forming and folding, it wasn't an unreasonable name change.
The now-APFA's third subject was about the presidency. Many of those at the meeting urged Hay to take over, but he hesitated as he felt the best way for the league to catch attention would be to install someone with name recognition. Of course, who better than Jim Thorpe? While Thorpe was never much of a businessman, everyone expected Hay to be the one ultimately making the decisions anyway.[1]
Cofall was named vice president, Ranney became secretary/treasurer, and Young was appointed chairman. Flanigan, Storck, and Cofall were tasked with drafting a constitution for the APFA, including preparing a full list of players who would play the upcoming season. For rules, the APFA decided to just stick with the college rulebook.[3]
Next on the list was charging a $100 membership fee. Well, nobody actually handed any cash over. As Halas recalled, "I can testify no money changed hands. I doubt if there was a hundred bucks in the whole room. We just wanted to give our new organization a façade of financial stability."[1]
As the meeting came to an end, a man named Mr. Marshall from the Brunswick-Balke Collender Company's tire division provided a "silver loving cup" that would serve as the league's first trophy.[3] Known as the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup, it was intended to be a traveling trophy that changed hands with each new champion. The minutes noted the title-winning team would be "awarded the championship by the Association" (which took a page from the Ohio League as league champions were determined by vote between the owners rather than standings), while any team that won it three times would be allowed to permanently keep it.[3]
Nobody would actually be able to claim ownership of the Cup as it went missing after just one season and has yet to be found in the century since. The trophy was last documented at the league owners' meeting in Akron on April 30, 1921, where Nied and Ranney were presented with it for winning the 1920 championship. Since the minutes noted they adjourned by heading out for dinner, it is possible that Nied and Ranney simply forgot to bring the trophy with them and never bothered to come back for it.[5]
"At this point, the chances are not very good that anyone will ever find it," said former Pro Football Hall of Fame executive director Joe Horrigan.[5]
And just like that, there was now a national football league... ish.
Curiously, the meeting's minutes do not address the reasons why the league was formed in the first place: the bidding wars, college ringers, and team jumping. However, local newspapers suggested the teams agreed to halt the practices under an honor code.[3]

Minutes

Below is a transcription of the meeting's minutes:[10]
Meeting called to order at 8:15 P.M., by chairman, Mr. Hay. Teams represented were Canton Bulldogs, Cleveland Indians, Dayton Triangles, Akron Professionals, Massillon Tigers, Rochester, N.Y., Rock Island, Ill., Muncie, Ind., Staley A.C., Decatur, Ill., Racine Cardinals, Wisconsin, and Hammond, Ind.
Minutes of previous meeting were given in a resume by the Chairman.

OLD BUSINESS

Massillon withdrew from professional football for the season of 1920.

NEW BUSINESS

It was moved and seconded that a permanent organization be formed to be known as American Professional Football Association. Motion carried.
Moved and seconded that officers be now elected, consisting of President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. Carried.
Mr. Jim Thorpe was unanimously elected President, Mr. Stan Cofall, Vice President, and Mr. A.F. Ranney, Secretary and Treasurer. Moved and Seconded that a fee of $100.00 be charged for membership in the Association. Carried.
Moved and seconded that the President appoint a committee to work in conjunction with a lawyer to draft a constitution, by laws and rules for the Association. Carried.
Mr. Thorpe appointed A.A. Young of Hammond, Chairman, and Messrs. Cofall, Flannigan, and Storck associates.
Moved and seconded that all clubs mail to the Secretary by January 1, 1921, a list of all players used by them this season, the Secretary to furnish all clubs with duplicate copy of same, so that each club would have first choice in services for 1921 of his team of this season. Carried.
Moved and seconded that all members have printed upon their stationery, "Member of American Professional Football Association." Carried.
Mr. Marshall of the Brunswick-Dalke Collender Company, Tire Division, presented a silver loving cup to be given the team awarded the championship by the Association. Any team winning the cup three times should be adjudged the owner.
It was moved and seconded that a vote of thanks be extended by the secretary to Mr. Marshall.
The meeting was adjourned.
Next meeting to be called by the President sometime in January.

Media Coverage

Speaking of newspapers, media coverage of the meeting was fairly tame, with the story never being headline news. The Ohio State Journal wrote:[1]
Jim Thorpe, leader of the Canton Bulldogs, was chosen to head the American Professional Football Association, the only professional football organization in existence. Representatives of 11 cities [including Massillon] assembled and unanimously voted Thorpe to the presidency, with Stanley Cofall of Cleveland as vice-president, and Art Ranney of Akron, for secretary and treasurer.
A decision was reached to refrain from luring players out of college for the professional game.
The Ogden Standard-Examiner also focused on Thorpe:[6]
Jim Thorpe, famous Indian football player and coach of the Canton Bull Dogs, a local professional team, has been unanimously chosen head of the American Professional Football Association, the only professional football association in the country, according to an announcement here today.
The Times in Munster, Indiana:[7]
Dr. A. A. Young, part owner and manager of the Hammond professional football team, which was beaten last year after a desperate fight by only 3 points by Jim Thorpe's Canton Tigers returned today from Canton, O., where professional football was put on a solid basis and an eleven team circuit organized which will foster professional football as a sport. Jim Thorpe, of Canton,w as elected president of the league, which is to be known as the American Professional Football Association.
The Decatur Herald described the APFA as a "strong organization",[8] while the Muncie Evening Press wrote the the "American Association of Professional Football" will "attempt to do for professional football what the national commission has done for organized baseball."[9]

Aftermath

The Buffalo All-Americans, Chicago Tigers, Detroit Heralds, and Columbus Panhandles would join the APFA prior to the season's start. Although the first game involving an APFA team took place on September 26 (the Independents shut out the St. Paul Ideals 48–0), the first between APFA teams was on October 3 as the Triangles beat the Panhandles 14–0 and the Independents blew out the Flyers 45–0.[1]
Akron would win the inaugural APFA championship, and the league renamed itself the National Football League in 1922. Thorpe only lasted one year as president before Joe F. Carr took over.[2] Hay's Bulldogs would win the 1922 title before he had to sell the team as it was bleeding money (much of which was from from his car businesses); Canton would win it all again the following year to become the first back-to-back champion before folding after 1926.[3]
When he passed away in 1983, Halas was the last living member of the meeting.[11] Hay died in 1944, though his status as one of the NFL's pioneers has mostly been forgotten.[2] Although the Pro Football Hall of Fame is located in Canton, he has not been enshrined in the Hall itself.
"One of the issues is he owned the Canton Bulldogs for a short period of time, only four seasons," Horrigan explained.[11] "He also didn't sign Jim Thorpe. When he bought the team, Thorpe was already there. So his real contribution to the game was trying to organize a league, which was really serving the interest of the teams of the day, but he had a very, very profound contribution in calling that meeting."
Still, Hay's impact remains to this day. He has been recognized by the city of Canton in various ways that include a plaque and statue at the Frank T. Bow Federal Building (where the Hupmobile dealership was located). A portion of Second Street, which the dealership was on, was renamed Ralph Hay Way.[11]
"He wanted football to be bigger than baseball," said Hay's grandson James Francis King in 2015.[11] "He knew the NFL would be big, but he never could have dreamed the multibillion-dollar industry that meeting he organized inside of his showroom would create."
It is perhaps fitting that tonight's game is a battle of the league's two Ohio teams. In Canton itself, where the football-styled Centennial Plaza is nearing completion, artist Dirk Rozich painted a series of murals that pay tribute to Hay and that meeting 100 years ago.[12]

References

[1] The Man Who Built the National Football League: Joe F. Carr by Chris Willis (2010)
[2] Ralph Hay: A Forgotten Pioneer by Chris Willis, The Coffin Corner: Vol. 26, No. 4 (2004), Professional Football Researchers Association
[3] Associating in Obscurity from the Professional Football Researchers Association
[4] ARGUS TO GIVE BOOSTER SHEET TO HELP CAUSE from The Rock Island Argus, September 16, 1920
[5] Have You Seen This Trophy? by Bill Pennington, The New York Times, January 31, 2020
[6] JIM THORPE HEADS NEW "PRO" FOOTBALL SOCIETY from The Ogden Standard-Examiner, September 19, 1920
[7] Football Pros Start New League from The Times, September 18, 1920
[8] STALEYS ENTER GRID LEAGUE from the Decatur Herald, September 19, 1920
[9] PRO FOOTBALL MEN ORGANIZE from the Muncie Evening Press, September 18, 1920
[10] HAPPY BIRTHDAY NFL? from the Professional Football Researchers Association, The Coffin Corner: Vol. 2, No. 8 (1980)
[11] NFL was born in smoky auto showroom in Canton 95 years ago by Arash Markazi, ESPN.com, September 16, 2015
[12] Canton, birthplace of the NFL, ready to celebrate the league’s centennial, even if coronavirus puts a damper on the party by Susan Glaser, Cleveland.com, September 12, 2020
submitted by ZappaOMatic to nfl [link] [comments]

OBLIGATORY FILLER MATERIAL…Lights, camera, carnage!

That reminds me of a story…
OK, OK.
I know it’s been like, forever, since I posted an updated Demolition Days entry. Plus, I still have to finish the saga of how Esme and I escaped from the Middle East. However, these past few weeks really deserve their own entry.
So here it is.
So there.
Anyways…
I’m sitting in my office over betwixt the Geology and Petroleum Engineering Departments as I’m currently under contract for both.
Oh, and here’s a bit of an update: so is Esme.
Yep. She decided that she has way too much free time on her hands around campus so she’s going to go after her very own geology Ph.D. Just think, she finishes and the Rocknocker household will hold a real paradox.
Pair o’ docs…get it?
Really?
Some days it’s just not worth chewing through the leather straps…
Continuing.
Khan is growing like a weed and often accompanies us to our office in the departments.
He’s been accepted by everyone as one rather large, outsized, and rambunctious Rig Dog; sort of the Geology and PE Department’s unofficial mascot. I have no lack of volunteers when it comes time for Khan’s walkies. He’s such a lovable, slobbery doofus, everyone’s kind of taken with him.
So, we’re sitting in our office, Khan wandering the halls looking for scritches and I’m working on my next article for Fuel Magazine, while also working on a fresh Greenland coffee.
“Rock”, Esme states categorically, “I’m not like you. I can’t sit and hammer a keyboard eight hours straight. I’m going to the house and start dinner. Should I take Khan home or will you bring him along later?”
“Hell if I know where he even is right now, Dear”, I reply, as Khan has wandered off again and is probably slathering over some brontosaur femur in the school’s vertebrate paleontology museum.
“Fair enough, Hon”, Es states, stands and cracks like a stack of tinder. “I don’t know how you can sit there, slurp Greenlands all day and still be able to move at night.”
“All part of being an ethanol-fueled, carbon-based organism,”, I smile back. “Plus, the more I write now, the less I’ll have to do over the holidays; so there’s that dynamic keeping me going as well.”
“OK”, she agrees, “Don’t stay too late. I’m planning on Ossobuco tonight. Can you drop by the bottle shop and pick up a nice red for dinner?”
“Chinese or Soviet?” I asked.
She simply ignored the feeble joke and told me to use my better judgment.
I was going to ask her which, but I decided to just smile and tell her I would and I’d be along in a few hours.
I’m working on some of the more unconventional aspects of a very large asset here is one of the local sedimentary basins. It’s one where they have to drill 10,000 feet deep, turn sideways and drill another 15,000 or so feet, then hydraulically fracture the living fuck out of the reservoir because it’s tighter than Dick’s hatband. Just another day in the trenches.
Suddenly, Dean of the department wanders in and fixes his own Greenland coffee from my supplies.
“Y’know Roc”, Dr. Per says, “It’s weird having a 60+-year-old doctoral candidate here.”
“Oh?”, I innocently ask, “How so, Junior?” as I’m at least 20 years his senior.
“Well, for some reason”, he continues, ignoring my comment after slurping at his soupçon, “Many people in the department have taken to keeping bottles of booze in their desks and the rate of cigar smokers around here has skyrocketed.”
“I see no obvious correlation between the two events”, I replied modestly.
“The hell you don’t”, he laughed. “You’re a perambulating bad example. You swear, you smoke, you drink and you make no bones about it.”
“That’s all very fucking true”, I snicker back, “And…?”
“And we wouldn’t have it any other way.” He laughs. “Once the news hit that you were going to be studying for your DSc here, we’ve had all sorts of inquiries. Many from prospective students, a load from the Oil Patch, and even one or two from the government, if you follow the way I’ve drifted…?”
“Oh, you mean Agents Rack and Ruin of the Agency?”, I replied, “Did you finally meet them?”
“Oh, I spoke with them months and months ago.” He explained. “But it’s the calls from Russia, China, and North Korea asking about you that gives me just the slightest bit of pause. Do you really know someone from the NKVD named ‘Olga the KGB Lady?’”
“Olga called?” I started, “And you didn’t tell me?”
Dr. Per sighs. “Damn, I knew it just had to be true. It’s too weird to be make-believe.”
“I’m the original prototype.” I smile as I drain my coffee, “A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die.”
“And well-read, evidently”, Dr. Per chuckles.
“Of course”, I replied. “There was something else you wanted?”
“Oh, yes.”, he replies, “We’ve got a request from the Humanities Department. There’s a bunch of fourth-year film students doing a movie. Evidently, they got a grant from some crowd out of Hollywood. Gave them a load of dosh to make their student film, which from what I understand is a cross between ‘The Avengers’ and ‘Godzilla’; but much artsier, of course.”
“Of course”, I replied.
“Anyways”, he continued, “They’re going ‘old school’, as they put it. ‘Man in rubber suit-mation’. That means detailed miniatures.”
“And…?”, I smile broadly, hoping he’ll fill in the rest.
“Explosions”, he finally says, “Lots and lots of explosions. But they need someone who’s licensed…you see where this is going. Right?”
“Let’s see”, I summarized, “They want the kindly, wizened old Dr. Rocknocker to provide the pyrotechnics for their film extravaganza?”
“Yeah, that’s it in one”, Dr. Per replies, “But remember. This is all in miniature. The pyrotechnics here are going to be seriously fractional to what you’re used to.”
“Dr. Per?” I asked, “Are you a fully licensed and tenured master blaster?”
“No,” he replies truthfully.
“Then leave the explosions to me”, I snickered.
“Gladly”, he smiles back, shakes his head in mock disbelief, and refills his Greenland coffee mug before departing.
The next day, I have several visitors from the Film Department.
Now, far be it from me to cast any sort of aspersions or bow to stereotypes, but at this particular university, we have an outsized Asian population. Which is especially weird considering the currently frosty climate here.
Decidedly most un-Asian. Not a single jungle or rice paddy to be seen.
Ahem.
No, I’m not trying to be stereotypical, or racist, just truthful. As the film crew consists entirely of Asian students. A group of mainland Chinese, one Vietnamese, a couple of Japanese, and one or two odd Koreans.
There’s Xuan Jiahao, Fan Ling, Wan Yating, Geng Zhelan, Yin Zexi, and Duan Zedong. Then there’s Nguyễn Xuân Hãn, Tatsuno Miyuki, Fukutsuchi Yoshimatsu and Ya Na-Woon, and Pang Byeong-Cheol.
And that’s just for starters.
We’re all assembled in the main conference room, and it looks like it’s going to be a multi-media spectacular. They’re going ‘Full Monty’ on us, showing us all they’ve got, figuratively speaking, to try and entice me to work with them.
Plus, they want me to do it for cheap or free. Preferably the latter.
Hell, any chance I get to blow shit up, that’s payment enough. But I’m not about to tell them that, at least, not yet.
Once we’re all settled in the conference room, I decide I’ll be the Master of Ceremonies, for at least the beginning.
“Well”, I began, “Good day and welcome to the University’s Geology and PE Department. I’m, as you already know, Dr. Rock, and I’m the one that will potentially be handling all the pyrotechnics for you during the filming of your latest epic. Please, just call me ‘Rock’, if you don’t mind. Also, please state your name or nickname before replying. Sorry, but I’m a tad bit overwhelmed with your numbers. Just for a while until I get you all in some sort of order.”
“I’m Fan, sir”, Fan Ling began, “I am the group leader here.”
“OK, Fan”, I reply, “It’s just ‘Rock’, as I’ve never been knighted. Yet. Please tell me about your project and what small part I can play.”
So, over the next three hours, several Greenland coffees and tots later, I have a pretty firm grasp on what they are setting out to do.
Gad.
They are a batch of senior year film students from around the globe, as there is another mob, sort of more behind the scenes, whom I haven’t yet met. They somehow got the attention of a bunch of big film producers in Hollywood and wrangled a fairly hefty grant from them so they can complete their picture.
It’s going to be a kaiju/superhero/animation/folklore/anime/manga mash-up of some sort or other; I really didn’t follow whatever was considered to be the plot. However, it’s going to have some pretty nifty CGI, “Suitmation” for some of the kaiju, and some incredibly ethnic superheroes; like “Sushi Man”, “Mao Man”, and “ARVN Man”.
It has elements of comedy, horror, gore, giant monsters, and miniatures; all being stomped and blown up. If one looks at the thing for a sort of skewed meta-viewpoint, it does have things to say about racism, bigotry, and prejudice today, just delivered with a soft double-tap to the head.
All in all, I can’t wait to both be a part of the flick and see the thing when it’s finished.
The trouble is, none of them have the foggiest notion of what pyrotechnics are nor how they are handled.
“Doctor, sir Rock, you can help us?” Duan asked hopefully.
“Just try and hold me back!”, I grinned widely.
They all laughed and clapped. They were happy I was on board. They were happy their movie could go ahead. They were happy they could report to their investors that they had a pyrotechnician.
I was happy I could go out and blow the living shit out of things again. Hell, it’s been almost solid months…
But first, some ground rules. If I’m going to be handling the pyros, and yes, I looked into the legality of all this. I sent off for the proper tests and accreditations, found that I was heavily overqualified, and brought into my blasting portfolio the necessary documents to be included in the credits of this mainstream extravaganza.
However, if I’m to be working on the set as a pyro wrangler, then I’m the boss. The hookin’ bull. You all know the drill. I am the Motherfucking Pro from Dover, and things that go boom are my sole bailiwick.
Everyone readily agreed as I set down some ground rules. In fact, one clear Saturday morning, I took my little crowd of lens-folk out to a local limestone quarry, which was now defunct, unfortunately.
As a bit of an aside, when I got here to university, I made myself known to the locals. I personally know every rancher, oilfield operator, and owner of sand pits, gravel pits, peach pits, limestone, granite, or serpentinite quarry. Ditto with the many farmers possessed of recalcitrant glacial erratics out in their fields of plowed Pleistocene glacial alluvium. I’ve already removed several large erratics for Farmer Bowen and in fact, his north 40 was going to be transformed into a movie set soon.
But I found some scenery that’s even better.
Nonetheless, today it’s “Let’s all get acquainted while Dr. Rock blows a lot of shit up for your education, edification, and entertainment” field trip.
We wheel the two 15-seater university vans into the old limestone quarry. I know the owner of the land, one stodgy old curmudgeon by the moniker of Augie Steinhauer. We get along famously. He doesn’t give two furry rat’s asses what I do out in this old quarry; as long as I keep him in the loop.
“However, Dr. Rock”, he says to me the other day over shots and beers I brought with to smooth the way, “If you could prune up that jagged east wall, I’d be most appreciative. My damned blighted fool of a brother-in-law goes in there to try and find crystals; and some moron sold him dynamite. I’m afraid that bonehead’s gonna bring down that entire east wall on his fuckin’ noggin. Plus, I could use a couple-few yards of gravel as well, if you know what I mean…”
“Sure, Augie”, I say as I lean over and hand him a lighter for the Cuban he filched out of my vest pocket. “Next Saturday, I’ll clean up that east wall and make a bunch of little ones out of big ones for you.”
I continued with the movie angle and he sort of glazed off into the ether. He wasn’t concerned with movies, but he desperately wanted a pond out back where he could water his herds of horses and dairy cows.
“OK, Augie”, I say, “Here’s the deal. You let me and the kids shoot their movie out on the south pasture, particularly on the oxbow in Steinhauer Creek you’ve got over there.”
An oxbow is a really tight bend in a river, creek, or brook. This one out in the south pasture covered about an acre or so, about equal to 43,560 square feet, 160 square rods, or 4.25x10-30 square parsecs. One acre is equivalent to 0.4047 hectares (4,047 square metres).
A nice size for a stock pond.
However, it was currently occupied by an unruly acre of sand, gravel, sneezewort, itchweed, and crawdads. Which was just the right place for all the miniatures to be placed and have some of the Suitmation guys go a-stomping.
See? Everyone benefits.
So, back to the quarry and I’ve brought along a traveling case of some of my more usual and unusual noisemakers.
Of course, I’ve got dynamite. I also have some home-brew nitro, complete with my special additive that makes it 75% less twitchy and 100% just as boomy. I’ve got PETN, RDX, a little gelignite, some Seismogel, a couple of different binaries, some C-4, of course, and all the adjuncts: Primacord, caps, superboosters, demo wire, my galvanometer, and Captain America with the big, shiny, red button.
Just the necessities, don’t ya’ know?
So, as usual, everyone in the quarry is wearing their PPEs, which I insisted upon and also which they thought were very cool and were destined to make it into the film one way or another.
I had set up a folding table with my traveling case, and a huge sign which read in great garish red letters, “BLASTING ZONE : HAPPY HOUR 1400-1800 HOURS”.
I let folks mill around and get the feel of a quarry. I pointed out some hazards, like loose rocks, talus slopes, and the occasional irritated rat, badger, and weasel.
They thought it was all great fun to be in the wide-open outdoors with some gonzo chap who wandered around wearing a very cool, highly polished aluminum hardhat, smoking a huge cigar, and wearing field boots, shorts, field vest, and a Hawaiian shirt in -30C weather.
I called the meeting to order and decided on some small demonstrations.
Blasting caps go “Pop”. Caps and super boosters go “BLAM”, Primacord goes “ZZZZIZIP! KERPOWIE!” and C-4 makes quarry walls echo and people’s ears ring.
However, before all this, I got their universal attention and ran through the usual pre-blast folderol.
I told them how to clear the compass.
North? CLEAR! And all that.
I told them how to look for any sort of organic lifeform that might be in danger’s path when the blast was initiated.
I told them all about “Look once, look twice. Then look again.”
I showed them the blaster’s airhorn and how it blares.
Then I told them all about “FIRE IN THE HOLE!”
With that, I explained we were good to go and I hit Captain America’s big, shiny, red button.
A 12-ton block of dolomitic limestone was rapidly and noisily reduced to a couple of cubic meters of nicely shattered high-magnesium limestone gravel.
I accepted applause munificently.
They were all scribbling like mad when I showed them the difference between 60% Extra Fast dynamite and 40% regular stick. They oohed! And ahhed!
When I set off a 2-kilo charge of C-4 to prune that east wall of the quarry, and like Shaka, the walls fell; they whooed.
They kept writing and asking for more demonstrations.
So, I took this as the opportunity to go big or go home.
Next was a solid 3-kilos of PETN. Great for really good vibrations. I gave them excitations…
Then, RDX, or “Torpedo-charge”. I decided to spread it around and clean up the talus slope at the foot of the east wall. With a couple of pounds of liquid binaries, I pruned that east wall back about 2 or three meters. Now, Mr. Steinhauer will have all the gravel he needs for some time to come.
Finally, the finale. I ran some primacord around an old, dead jack pine that’s been giving me the metaphorical red-ass since it’s always one way or another in my way. I placed some of my special nitro concoction around the base of its dead roots interwoven, bifurcating, and anastomosing through the cracks, fissures, and fractures of the dolomitic limestone.
Funny enough, 60 seconds later, that old jack pine was gone, as were its roots and the stranglehold it had on hanging a hard right turn and getting equipment to the backside of the quarry.
The crowd went wild.
I packed most everything up and was ready for Q&A time.
“Dr. Rock!”, Nguyễn asked, “Those were great effects. Can you make them smaller?”
“You know, no one’s ever asked me that before, “ I admitted in full Burt Gummer mode, “Sure. I suppose I could.”
“Can you show us?” he asked.
“I’m a little uncertain what you want me to do.”, I replied, “Smaller explosions? Why?”
“Oh, our miniatures”, he responded, “And our actors in the suits…”
“Of course”, I said, realization hitting, “But, I think it would be better to use bigger explosions and just add them in post-processing, don’t you? Little explosions have such a tinny sound to them. It really makes the effect look really cheesy.”
There was a lot of conversation and I realized that I was only the pyrotechnician, not the film producer. It’s their show, so I should do what they want, right?
In the end, it was decided to try both. We’d meet the next day out in the south pasture oxbow and they’d bring along their cameras, suit guy, and some miniatures. We’d blow them up as they thought; with little, itty-bitty explosions, then, afterward, we’d set off some proper blasts. They’d film them in slow motion, or fast motion, I forget which, but whatever, they’d run it eventually at normal speed and it would look all that much more momentous.
It’s all jargon and gobbledygook to me. I’ll make big booms. I’ll make little booms. Just tell me where and when.
So the next day, there’s a mocked-up generic city on the sand of the oxbow. Some guy in a pseudo-Godzilla suit, complete with shiny back fins, was going to stomp his way through town. They wanted smoke. They wanted explosions. The wanted fire. But they wanted it all in miniature.
Where’s the fun in that?
It was a bit of a wiring clusterfuck, but some balloons filled with gasoline, some with acetylene and some mighty light blasting caps later, we're ready for some test rolls.
Fakezilla starts stomping his way down the mini-avenue. Crunch goes one model car and I flick a switch. Flame erupts from the smooshed car and there’s a cheery little pop as the mini’s gas tank explodes. A model train gets derailed into a fuel depot and I had a pretty good time, in spite of myself, setting off a load of little charges.
POP!
PTWEU!
KER-pow!
All very cinematic and fake, if you asked me.
Then, there’s the finale of the scene where the monster is herded into a cul-de-sac of high rises by the wildly firing military. All the huge skyscrapers are blasted at their base to fall inward and bury the poor, misunderstood monster under huge piles of building rubble.
Those scenes were in the can, as it were, so we reset the set, as it were, with my take on what explosions and fire should really look like.
We watched the rushes on one screen and as the monster virtually trampled the buildings again, I set off my charges.
OK, a gallon of 100-octane flight fuel was a wee bit much perhaps, but damn, that lens flare of the refinery going up would have done J.J. Abrams proud.
I used superboosters, C-4, and primacord around the base of the skyscrapers and set them off one after another. I had timed it so they would first go into slow-motion explosions, then all about meet halfway and well, let gravity take the rest onto the monster to bury him; at least until the next scene.
They had to admit, the acoustics were much better with my explosions. They decided to go for a mixture of miniature explosions, primarily for close-ups, and my explosions, run in slow motion in the film, for the general carnage and destruction establishing shots and slightly more distant scenes.
The grand finale of the movie was the total destruction of the city, much to the alarm and remorse of the creature as well as all the inhabitants of Mini-City, SE Asia. They wanted total destruction. An ‘Age of Ultron’ finale-sort of blowing up the entire city and putting it into low earth orbit.
Which would work out well with my creation of a stock pond for the landowner.
I called in a few markers and had some of the geology department, who wanted some time drilling, to bring the VibraCore unit out to the Steinhauer place and meet me at the south 40 pasture.
We took several VibraCore cores cross-sectioning that classic oxbow. We extracted the 15-meter long cores and properly laid them into the appropriate core boxes.
We had great core recovery numbers, over 98%. I told them to leave the thin aluminum pipe sleeves in the oxbow as I was going to need that next week. The aluminum pipe had a wall thickness of slightly more than industrial-grade tinfoil, but since we buzzed them down some 45 feet or so, they’d serve as very useful conduits for the AFNO I planned to have pumped into the ground over the next couple of days.
Some of the guys in one or another of the oilfield service companies owed me a favor or 12 and had some leftover AFNO from a couple of jobs that screened out. Knowing how much of a pain in the ass the paperwork is for returning unused explosives, they naturally turned to me and asked if I wanted any part of it.
I sent them maps and specific details of what I needed to be done. The AFNO was to be cut to slurry grade so it would flow easier; basically, all they needed to do was add a bit of extra diesel. Then, they could just hook up a Coflexip hose and pump the slurrified explosive down one or more of the 4 aluminum pipes that we had vibrated down to clay level.
This worked a treat, as the first truck, and only one I had thought, pumped away over 1,500 pounds of AFNO.
Told me “It flowed like melted butter”.
So much so, that back at base, word got around that I was hosting a home for wayward explosives. Over the next week, no less than 6 trucks had come over to Mr. Steinhauer’s south pasture and emptied the remnant slurries out of their tank trucks.
Free explosives! All well and good, but I was pleased with the first bill of lading. The second was not too terribly disconcerting. The third, fourth, and fifth gave me pause. By number seven, my calculator was having a meltdown as I realized they had pumped over 8,500 pounds of ANFO away and it was all sitting there waiting for an initiator.
Luckily, the oxbow was basically an acre-wide bowl or more precisely, basin, first lined with nicely impermeable clay. Filling that is was the 50 or so vertical feet of fine fluvial sands, gravels, and conglomerates. So, through thorough testing, I found that no ANFO had leaked out of the closed oxbow, but I was still standing on 4.5 tons of deflagrating explosive.
Now AFNO may be a crackerjack explosive, but it’s lazy as hell. It needs one hell of a good short, sharp shock to initiate. As I noted, it’s a deflagrating, not detonating, explosive. I told my film guys that there was a “fair amount” of explosives under the place where the set was to be placed and where filming of the finale was going to happen.
They decided that if I said it was safe, then they could take that to the bank. There really was no danger, it’s not like they’re tromping around on nitro or anything so twitchy. Still, I made certain to shield all the smaller explosions at the surface just to be extra sure. Sheets of corrugated tin floored the set, so we were doubly insulated from any untoward accidents.
The shoot of the almost-finale went off without a hitch. Buildings were destroyed, refineries were blown up, there were cars stomped and trains derailed. It was all filmed with multiple cameras, multiple types of cameras: slow-motion, thermal, high definition, and the like.
They were shooting hundreds of miles equivalent of whatever the hell they store film on nowadays. We all sat in the gazebo that had been set-up off-site so we could review the rushes and re-film any scenes that didn’t quite come up to snuff.
There were a couple of scenes that needed some re-dos, but now the set was mooshed well and proper, now they needed to be really blown the fuck up so we can proceed right to the ultimate shot where I set off the AFNO.
Before that, but after filming some smaller explosions in the ersatz city, I instructed everyone to get back.
Way back.
I had them set up cameras at 1 kilometer.
I had them set up cameras at 500 meters.
I had them set up unmanned cameras 50 meters from the oxbow.
They groused, the bitched, and they kvetched; but they listened.
I went over the safety dance with the whole crew right after lunch and before any of them took off for distant locales. I impressed upon them that this was going to be a one-hit-wonder.
There are no re-takes.
“But Dr. Rock”, Fukutsuchi asked me, “Why not?”
“Several reasons, Mr. Yoshimatsu”, I replied, “Chief among them is that it’s going to be a huge explosion and by this time tomorrow, the only thing left of the set will be a lake.”
“Oh, jolly joke Dr. Rock!”, he replies, not realizing that I was quite serious.
“Live and learn, Herr Yoshimatsu”, I mused quietly to myself.
We spent the next couple of hours filming some small, infill explosions. Since we had some time to waste while the director waited for the ‘perfect time, right when the sun eclipsed the treetops’, the guys out on the remote cameras were getting antsy.
“Camera 1 to base! Camera 1 to base! Systems status. What’s happening?” came a frantic call.
“Base to Camera 1, hold your water. It’ll be a little while.” Came the response.
“Camera 2 to base. I need relief, right now. Can’t wait.” Came another frantic call.
“Base to camera 2. Use the pucklebrush 20 meters to your north. Then get back on camera!” Came the exasperated reply.
“Camera 3 to base! Camera 3 to base! I’m being attacked by cows. What should I do?”
“Relax. Guernsey cows aren’t carnivores. Give them a good tip and be ready to roll!” came our reply.
Novices.
Finally, time and tide aligned and the director decided it was showtime. After radio checks and to ensure Camera 3 wasn’t consumed by an errant Black Angus or Hereford, everyone was ready and rolling.
“3…2…1…Firing!”
“Well, that was different”, I replied once I found the director and disinterred him.
Seems that Late Pleistocene clays are a great refractory material. The 4.5 tons of ANFO went off without a hitch. A good portion of the blast energy went up. A bit went sideways, but a fair amount went down, struck the impermeable clay layer, and rebounded upward with a newfound zeal.
In other words, there was a smoking crater left that measured some 10 or so meters deep and with a nominal diameter of approximately 27 meters.
Great huge throbbing clouds of sand, gravel, and creek mud were thrown, well, one fuck of a large distance from ground zero. Camera 1 at one kilometer distant reported dodging high-velocity dirt clods immediately after the explosion.
Fully 21 cameras caught the explosion from an amazing number of angles and in a variety of styles. Infrared, false color, high-speed, 3-D…the whole Megilla.
The director was incredibly excited once his hearing returned. He was in the gazebo, once we unburied it and set it up again, seems they can’t handle shock waves worth a shit.
However, he was slavering over the footage the different cameras had recovered.
“This will be great for the finale! We can use this shot here, and cut to the infrared, then cut over to …” and so on and so on.
I pulled out a flask, took a healthy tot, and sparked a fresh cigar.
“Yeah. It was a good gig.” I muttered to no one in particular.
I was pleased to see that Mr. Steinhauer’s pond was already filling. Should be good for rock bass and crappie by spring.
So, we packed everything up, replaced some of our smaller divots and headed back to our normal lives. Me at the Geology/PE Department and them at the Humanities ward or wherever the hell these characters hang out.
A few days later, I get a call. Seems that a letter had arrived for me via the Film Department.
Would I want them to bring it to my office?
“Sure”, I replied, “I’m here all day”.
A short while later, Ya, Pang, and Geng drop by and present me a letter, handwritten, all the way from Hollywood, California.
I zip the envelope open and see it’s on the stationary of one of the larger, meaning that I’ve actually heard of it, production companies out there on the Whack Coast.
The letter, in brief, was thanking me for my participation in the student’s film. The author of the letter said he was particularly impressed with the “reality” and “impressive results” of the practical pyrotechnic effects; particularly the film’s finale.
“Well, that’s nice”, I smiled quietly to myself.
Then I read the closing comments.
“We are looking into getting our pyrotechnicians blaster’s permits and having them spend some time in local oilfields.”
Guess my reputation precedes me here as well.
“We are also looking into what brands of vodka and cigars are preferred there in [redacted state].
Very truly yours,
James F. Cameron.”
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