Podcasts about Gotcha

Kiera is joined by Mark Rasmussen, CEO of Moolah, to talk about the landscape of credit card fees and how to reduce them, membership discount plans, and other bonus features offered by the dental payment tech company. (Pssst, Mark was last on episode 866, It's Time to Modernize Payment Processing!) Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript Kiera Dent (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today I am super jazzed because I have a guest here who's going to help us with cashflow leaks, modernizing your practice, figuring out those membership plans, all the things that you need and want. We're going to talk about some case studies. This is one of my absolute favorite guests, Mark Rasmussen, CEO, owner, founder, Moolah. How are you today, Mark? Welcome to the show.   Mark Rasmussen (00:22) Hey, Kara, I'm doing fantastic. I'm doing awesome. So, so, so it's connected with you and your listeners and excited to get into all this juicy good stuff about revenue and payments and modernizing things. Let's do it. I love it.   Kiera Dent (00:31) Yeah.   Let's   do it. So I have a slight crush on Moolah. Like truly you guys like just make credit card processing easy. And so what I want to start off, if you guys don't listen, Mark and I have done other podcasts in the past together. ⁓ But I don't know, Mark, what you guys say on your email subject lines, like on your little, what is it your signature, but I feel like it should be like your new favorite credit card processing company. Like that's what I feel like Moolah's tagline should be because I wanted to do a couple case studies with you since we last chatted.   Mark Rasmussen (00:40) Hahaha   Kiera Dent (01:05) ⁓ Mark knows, like, I do have a crush on Moolah. I try to get them to come and be our processor too.   Mark Rasmussen (01:10) I need to like soundbite clip that,   like I have a crush on Moolah just like everywhere in social. I love that.   Kiera Dent (01:15) I   do. do because I like companies that make things easy, but also are like the cheapest on the market and credit card fees are one of my biggest beefs. Like really truly I get annoyed when I look to see how much credit card fees are charging. And when you guys, ⁓ deadly team listeners, just so you know, I'm going to throw it out there. Like anybody who goes through our link literally saves 10 basis points. ⁓   on it, which is huge to get anywhere in the credit card industry. So you're getting below that 2.99. So you're getting 2.89 on cards not present and 2.39. And I hope that Mark, I'm allowed to say that because I'm just going to be bold and brazen. And if not, we'll cut that out. So don't stress about that.   Mark Rasmussen (01:52) No, no, no, for sure. And   not only that, it's like, that's not just a like teaser rate, like they look, your practices will get that preferred rate forever, right, which is awesome. And, and it's like you and I were talking a little bit earlier, too, of like, a bit of shock and awe of like, I and myself as well, I've been seeing like some statements from potential practices. And I'm like, ⁓ my God, I'm like, I'm seeing like,   Kiera Dent (02:03) which is so big and you don't add extra heat.   Mark Rasmussen (02:19) six, seven, eight percent, like net effective rates. I know you were saying you have been seeing even higher. It's crazy. Yeah, that's crazy. It's almost criminal.   Kiera Dent (02:25) Mm-hmm. Yeah, so it   does feel criminal because like here's the thing like you might get a cheaper rate somewhere else but when you look and dig into the details and this is where it feels annoying and obnoxious to me and doesn't happen right away it happens like when you've stopped looking at it you're like I've checked my credit card company for years they don't do anything and then all of a sudden it starts creeping up and being eerie and that's where I just get annoyed and that's why like I have a crush on Moolah because you guys don't do it and you guys stay consistent for it so   I felt Mark and I, you didn't listen to our last podcast, we'll definitely link it in the show notes for you. But Mark, I felt we should kick today off with some case studies because I have some clients that I've recommended over to Moolah. And I think my favorite one is we were looking and I had a practice and our overhead was high. So like this practice, they don't love to like look at numbers. They have an amazing CPA. Like I will say we do look at numbers, but they're kind of like, yeah, carry it. We'll just like out produce our problems a little bit. And that's fine. Like anybody can have that. But I said, Hey,   Mark Rasmussen (03:17) Alright.   Kiera Dent (03:21) Your credit card fees are really high. think that they were honestly like 10%. And I'm like, is that really true? Like that just seems outlandish. And they said, well, Kiera, we're in a contract. Mark, do you want to throw up with contracts? Tell me about credit card contracts.   Mark Rasmussen (03:33) Oh, I hate contracts. I hate contracts   like really in anything in my life. I don't know. So yeah, but that's, it's just crazy. The industry for the longest time has like felt the need to like lock these business owners and not just Dennis, but business owners in like these typically it's like three year contracts. And then, you know, they'll have like termination fees. And so they take advantage of that. And like you were saying, I talked to so many practices are like, Oh, I'm paying X and you know, they were paying X the first month that they signed up.   And then they didn't look at it, like you said, and then six months later, eight months later, the processor started like nudging it up, nudging it up, nudging it up. And to the point where when you look at what their rates are, you know, two years from when they signed up, it's like almost 180 degrees difference. So yeah, please you guys out there, please make sure you stay on your credit card processing. Look at those month end statements. Look at, you know, what is being nudged up because   Kiera Dent (04:19) Yeah.   Mark Rasmussen (04:28) You know, they'll just slip it in a little statement message. They're not forthcoming about it. I promise you they're not like, shooting you multiple emails or calling you and be like, hey, we're going to increase your rate. No, no, no, no, no. They're going to slip it under the table and hope that you never pay attention to it, which is really what happens because you guys are all busy. You guys are all doing amazing care on patients and you're not paying attention to that. That's the reality.   Kiera Dent (04:49) And it's creepy to me because it's also done on things that don't make sense. Like I feel like reading a credit card statement with what they're charging is like reading very highly processed foods. And I'm like, I have no clue what 90 % of these words are. And I feel like it's the same thing when you come to a credit card statement. And so back to this practice, what we did, there's two case studies I wanted to bring to the table today that are my own personal clients that I've referred over to Moolah that I signed up with Moolah. So this practice, again, overhead, let's out produce our problems.   Mark Rasmussen (05:00) That's a good comparison, I like that.   Kiera Dent (05:18) And it was wild because the first month they switched to Moolah, their CPA sent a letter to all of us and said like, hey, what'd you do? Did you switch credit card companies? Your fees are so much lower. Like that fast first month drop down. So we went from about a 10 % fee on what they're producing and collecting to then dropping it down to this 2.89 to 2.39, depending upon if card was present or not, which is super awesome also because then you can get cards.   Mark Rasmussen (05:28) guys.   Kiera Dent (05:44) on auto renew, like on just processing internally and you don't have to, like you can have cards present or not present within the practice, which is so awesome. ⁓ But I was shocked like that fast. And then another practice that we brought to Moolah, they were locked in with another credit card company. And so I didn't know you couldn't do this, Mark. So this was like rookie mistake on me. Like I was, I'm scrappy and I thought, well, okay, fine. You guys are in a contract. So.   just stop processing through that processor, switch everything over to Moolah. Well, you know this Mark and I was rookie so you know what happens. Do you know what happens with those companies?   Mark Rasmussen (06:21) No,   listen, I said that a lot too because technically, really, if the practice is in a contract, and I've said that before, you probably have these miscellaneous junk fees, these monthly minimums that are gonna hit maybe 20, $30 a month. But even if you're paying that minimum and you saved thousands over here, who cares? Pay that minimum, just write that contract out. What happened here in this scenario? Okay.   Kiera Dent (06:44) That was exactly what I said too. So   that's what, cause I was like, why not? I thought the exact same thing. I'm like, okay, if we're looking at, you're able to save 3%, 4 % like higher amounts and we're processing, even if you're processing a hundred thousand or 200,000, like that extra two, 3 % do the math. Like that's surely going to offset the cost. Well, what happened is we actually did that. So a client signed up with you guys. They did that. And we got a letter from the other processor saying,   Mark Rasmussen (06:54) Yeah.   Kiera Dent (07:11) that, we have a minimum and if we don't hit it, it was going to be substantial and to get out of contract, it was going to cost us a thousand dollars. So we literally said, fine, take the thousand dollars because we'd already saved that much through Moolah's savings to be able to like, we're just like, like it's a done deal. Like they were trying to threaten them with this thousand dollar fee, but we were like, that's so minimal to get us out of this contract based on how much we were saving. Now this practice was processing a decent chunk.   Mark Rasmussen (07:32) Right. Right.   Kiera Dent (07:38) But I think even if you're processing like 70,000, 80,000, that one, 2 % stacks up. Like it's insane how much we pay in credit card fees. So those are like the two that I wanted to bring to the, like I said, this is why I have a crush because I hate credit card fees so much. And that's going to lead into our next topic. But Mark, anything you want to add? Cause these were two cases that I've watched since we last met.   Mark Rasmussen (07:45) yeah.   I love that.   Kiera Dent (08:00) ⁓ I'm constantly on the prowl for cheaper people. I love that you guys don't charge for the terminals. You have it set up the next day. There's no contracts. Like that's where I said, like it's your new favorite, like credit card processing. You don't increase the fees. You give our clients reduced rates. If you have multi locations, you guys also take care of those practices. Like it's amazing what you guys do. So that's my like pitch for Moolah, but if you want to add anything else.   Mark Rasmussen (08:22) I love that. wanted to, because you just   like rang a memory. So what you were referring to in that practice, right, where like, okay, you can't just skate by and just pay the minimum, right? Or they were gonna hit him with his fee. Well, another thing I'm gonna tell your listeners out there is, listen, if you don't go with Moolah, great, do your homework. But one thing to look out that I've seen in contracts, which is crazy, is that sometimes you'll see a contract, all right, if you cancel early, it's like a 350 termination fee. Okay, fine.   but I've seen others out there where the processor says they try to enforce liquidated damages. So the processor will say, oh, we've been making, you're in a three year contract, on average we're making like, whatever, $500 a month on your processing. If you leave us now, it's not early termination fee, we're gonna calculate that $500 for the remaining 16, 17 months and they hit you with this liquidated damages thing, crazy. So just be on the lookout for that. If you're doing anywhere that's a contract,   Kiera Dent (08:57) No.   Mark Rasmussen (09:20) Look out for liquidated damages, that's no bueno, but better yet, find somebody that's just not gonna put you in a contract. Much easier.   Kiera Dent (09:26) Yeah. And   also like, okay, Mark, help me understand. And maybe you don't know because you guys don't do this and that's okay. But to me, it feels really funny that I signed a contract with them and there's got to be something in the fine print because I'm like, how did they go from what they told me to being able to add all these extra surcharges later on and increase it when we're in a contract?   Mark Rasmussen (09:43) for sure it's in the fine print.   yeah. It says that any, it basically says that any time at our discretion with 30 days notice, we can make an adjustment to any of your pre-schedule. And so they'll just do that. And then they'll just put a little message, you know, really small font in whatever kind of notification. And you know, in their minds, right? All right, well, we checked off the box. It's super shady. It sucks, but it's, you know, it's out there. Yeah.   Kiera Dent (10:05) Yeah, it is what it is. And I would say   they'll like look at it because two clients that were in contract, we were able to send over every person that I've sent to you guys have just loved who you are, that it's easy, that it's fast, that it's the cheapest processing. And there's a few other features that I think we should talk about. I feel like I'm on like a Moolah sales pitch right now. Like I'm truly not. I just get giddy. Like if you guys hear me talk about Swell,   Mark Rasmussen (10:27) Ha   Kiera Dent (10:30) was Zeke and Google reviews. I have a crush on Swell. They just do Google reviews better than anyone else. And right now, Moolah for sure, you guys are taking the cake on being able to do credit card processing better than any other company that I've come across, which I think is amazing. And so something else that I think is ratcheting fees on practices when we're looking for some of these cashflow leaks is on membership plans. Now, I'm a huge proponent of membership plans. I also think with the economy, with where insurance is reimbursing, ⁓ people are starting to look at like   should we be going out of network? And my big proposal is, hey, yeah, of course, if you want to do that rock on, membership plans really can help with that. But ⁓ there are some membership companies that actually charge pretty outlandish fees. I never wanted to pay for that. I was scrappy in a practice. So what I did is I just charged the patient an annual fee. Well, that was like eight years ago that I was charging an annual fee. And I think you look at today's world, no one wants an annual fee anymore. They just want like a monthly fee and they want it to be low.   Mark Rasmussen (11:02) for   Right. Right.   Kiera Dent (11:28) But managing that is nonsense on my own paying for it. And Moolah, like I've heard through the grapevine, you guys are doing something with membership fees. Can we talk about the membership plans? Talk about how you guys do this. Is it easier? Is it something we can do? Because I think membership plans have to come into play with the insurance situation that offices are in. And also possibly a cash leak if you're paying for heavy management fees on your membership plans.   Mark Rasmussen (11:37) Yeah, yeah, absolutely.   Yeah. So listen, membership discount plans. I've since I've been, I've only been in the industry, you know, dental industry for about four years now. And every year I feel like it's getting traction. More practices are asking about us. I have practices that are doing demos with us and they're like, Hey, I'm doing this demo is driving it because I heard you guys do, you know, membership, discount plan management. And so yes, the answer is we do. ⁓   And as you were looking to, there's a lot of great vendors in this space that just do that, right? And I'm not going to name any names, but there's a lot of great vendors, but they're not inexpensive. Like, you know, there's some decent SAS fees and then you pay per patient enrollment. ⁓ And so when it's, you know, when you look at the net net and you're like, okay, is this really making sense? So what's nice is that we have complete membership discount plan management built into the platform. You can create all your plans. ⁓ You can easily onboard the patient into the system.   Kiera Dent (12:21) Mm-hmm.   Yeah.   Mark Rasmussen (12:48) whether the patient wants to go monthly or annual, like you said, you were doing annual and a lot of the practices that I run into have historically been doing it annually, right? Because to think about billing it on a monthly basis has you like pulling your hair out. But the reality is that the patients and the consumers in the world that we live in, ⁓ everybody looks at whatever they're gonna bring into their life, whether it's a Netflix subscription or it's a car payment or it's anything else, everybody kind of looks at at a monthly basis.   Kiera Dent (13:02) Too hard.   Mark Rasmussen (13:17) And so that is what you want to be delivering. And so with the Moolah platform, you can absolutely manage an in-house membership discount plan and offer both annual and monthly options and truly set it and forget it. Not have to think about it. The system's going to run. The system's going to automatically post that payment into the ledger. In open dental, we even go a step further where when you enroll the patient into the membership, not only are we handling the billing element of it,   But we're also going into the PMS and we're associating that patient to that membership discount plan and keeping track. You know, that's what's really doing all the heavy lifting of keeping track of whatever the one free cleaning of the 10 % off services. And we keep that in lockstep. So if there was like a billing issue, we automatically disassociate the patient from the plan to really just kind of make it pain free. you know, membership discount plans are phenomenal. It's a win win for patients and practice. First of all, it brings some really great reoccurring   Kiera Dent (13:51) Mm-hmm.   Mm-hmm.   Mark Rasmussen (14:14) like trackable revenue into the practice, right? Number two, it's bringing patients like butts in seats ⁓ as well. ⁓ Because the patient looks like, I'm paying $40 a month. I should use it. I should be in there. ⁓ And it's bringing value to the patient. So it's literally just a win-win all around. I really love that for, you know, when you're looking at out of network patients ⁓ and the absolutely, you know, the platform has it built in. So you guys, please, if you're looking at discount plans, memberships,   I encourage you to look at some of the other great vendors out there and then come take a look at us last and see like the value that you get that's included.   Kiera Dent (14:49) That's awesome. Yeah. And again, like there are so many great people out there that are doing it. I just feel, ⁓ when I heard that you guys were doing membership plans, I was like, well, it kind of makes sense because you're already processing credit cards. Like you're already doing the processing. So now something else that is doing a processing is in my processor, into my software, which I just, that was so incredibly clever. And, ⁓ like again, I had another client who, who scoped you against other companies and they were like, gosh, like there's no fees.   Mark Rasmussen (15:03) Great.   Kiera Dent (15:17) compared to other companies with moolah. So that was something I was really excited about. I'm big on just, it's like my insurance. I've been with State Farm forever. And Jason and I giggled, we're like, we need to go and actually like assess and make sure that we're truly getting the best plans. And so I just think like it's good to periodically go and assess and make sure our credit card fees, what they were when we set up.   our membership plans making sense? Is it time to look to possibly renegotiate some certain things? And again, I'm not here to propose one company over another. Like Mark said, do your homework, figure out what's best because there's so many great companies out there. I just really love when it's simple and easy. And that's something I love about you guys, Mark, you guys have the fact that we can send patient statements and like have payments online and they can pay it all times of the day. Like just that alone boosts offices, collections with Moulin. So Mark, I want to go into a dicey topic with you though.   because this one's hot. We had it in our in-person ⁓ doctor and leadership mastermind when we were in Arizona and I loved it. It was like a hot, hot topic and heads up like this might be awkward for you. I don't think it will because of who you are, but there's the question of, and it was hot, like the room was split of people who were pro and con. So the question is with credit card fees being as much as they were, we talked about at the beginning, like ways that we can reduce it.   Mark Rasmussen (16:10) Let's do it.   I know, I wanna hear what the feedback was, because I know where you're going.   Kiera Dent (16:40) Then we talked about reducing membership plans. Now there's a question of, should we actually charge patients the credit card fees? Like this is becoming really popular and I don't blame businesses because inflation's high, labor is higher. So now we're trying to figure out like where could we cut? And so people are like, well, sweet, we're just gonna pass on the credit card fees to our patients. And the room was spicy. There was like people that were so pro and people that like literally people were bristly and it was a...   Mark Rasmussen (17:05) Yeah.   Kiera Dent (17:06) It was quite interesting. So your credit card company, which is where I feel like it's a little awkward to ask you this question, but I want to know, we pro, are we con? Should we charge the patients from your perspective? We're in 2025. So many companies do this. Should people be charging patients the credit card fee? Should they just raise their fees and bake it in? Like, what are your thoughts on this? Because my room was 50 50 split. And I will tell you some of the feedback if you want to hear it, cause it was quite interesting.   Mark Rasmussen (17:13) Yeah.   Okay, okay.   I do. Okay, so the first   thing I want to point out is I expect you to say that the room is split, right? Like half of them are like, yeah, absolutely. You know, I'm not paying for my patients' reward points. And I think the other half of the room was like, yeah, but I'm worried about the optics. Does it look like we're trying to be cheesy or nickel and diming our patients, right? Those are the two ends that are battling each other. The interesting thing is that this hot topic, ⁓ if you would have asked that just three years ago,   Kiera Dent (17:38) Mm-hmm.   Mm-hmm. No.   Mark Rasmussen (18:01) it wouldn't have been 50 50. It   would have been like 80 90 % saying no way and 10 % made me do it. So the trend is is like it is going right and two or three years from now I have a feeling it's going to be like 80 % are doing it and 20 % are not doing it. So the cat is out of the bag. Let's just get that you know right out there in the open. What do I think about it? I'm to be super Switzerland about this and I'm going to say that I think   Kiera Dent (18:06) Agreed. 100 % agree.   I would agree with you.   Remember he's   a credit card processing company.   Mark Rasmussen (18:31) Well,   no, I'm going to say that I think that as a vendor who delivers credit card processing service, I think that I should enable our practices to make that choice for themselves. I think whatever you think you should do for your practice, I want to support it. So if you don't want to do surcharging, great, we love that. If you do want to do surcharging, great, I love that. I just want to give the tools to the practice so they can make that decision. Now, aside what I think about it,   It's a very interesting topic to talk about. Well, what is the net result? I like, all right, how does it work? What does it save? Let's get into it if I may. Okay, so there's a couple ways. There is absolutely there. There is, and there's a couple flavors to this. There's a couple flavors to this. ⁓ there, the, the, what that we do, let me talk about that first. So what we do is what's referred to as compliance surcharging and with compliance surcharging, what is, what you're doing is that   Kiera Dent (19:06) I agree. Cause like, are there rules around it? Like, you actually have to do anything? Okay. I have no idea. Okay.   Mark Rasmussen (19:28) When a customer's paying you with a credit card, the system, system, I'll just speak to our system, most others are similar, but when a patient is paying you, whether it's in practice on the device or whether you sent a text to pay or it's an online payment, our system automatically, real time, looks at the number that the patient put in or used on the terminal. And within a half a second, we're looking back at the credit card network before we even charge it, and we say, is this a credit or is this a debit? If the patient is paying with a credit card,   We then pop on the screen, either on their mobile device or on the terminal, we say, hey, we see you're using a credit card. We're going to add 2.99 % as a fee to you for using a credit card. If you want to use a debit card, you will avoid that fee. So in Compliance Surcharging, what I really like about that is that you're not charging us fee across debit and credit, right? You're still giving your patient the convenience of being able to pay with plastic.   Kiera Dent (20:19) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.   Mark Rasmussen (20:25) and still use a debit card because the reality is if you have a credit card in your wallet, there's probably 99 % chance you've got a Visa debit card in your wallet as well. And so you're not pulling away that convenience of them being able to pay plastic and just saying, hey, if you want to avoid that fee, pay cash or check. That's kind of archaic. So with compliance surcharging, you are going to offload your credit card fees to the patient, only the credit card fees. When they pay with a debit card, you will still pay for that, okay?   Kiera Dent (20:43) I agree.   Mark Rasmussen (20:55) With doing that with Moolah, if you're going to pay the debit fee and not pay the credit card fee, we see that the overall net effective rate for the practice ends up being below 1%. It ends up being like, I'm going to throw out a weird term that people are going, what the heck is that? It's usually going to be around 75 or 80 basis points. About three quarters of 1 % is going to be your net overall cost, which is huge savings, right? Huge savings.   Kiera Dent (21:07) No.   Crazy, like insane. Just do   some math. If you did a million dollars and you were able to basically save, gosh, so much.   Mark Rasmussen (21:28) No, let's just say,   the reality is you're probably saving one and a half percent. So on a million dollar practice, that practice is gonna put about $15,000 back to their bottom line. Like, and that's it, and it was painless. And you're still not really, yeah, exactly.   Kiera Dent (21:37) Exactly.   And that's also for payments you're already collecting. Like this is already   money we're collecting, we just get to keep more of it rather than having the credit card processing fee.   Mark Rasmussen (21:47) Yes.   And it doesn't need to like, you know, break brain cells for you to try and figure it out. Like the system is going to automatically calculate it. We're going to organize it. ⁓ It's just, it's painless. We're handling it in the PMS correctly. listen, the savings cannot be ignored. Like we talked about the cats out of the bag. You're going to see more businesses across more different verticals. ⁓ And the reality is   We've all been around it for a long, long time, right? Who's been doing it forever? Gas stations, right? We've seen it on there. Cash credit, right? That's been there forever. And we're all used to it. And you also typically see a lot when you're dealing with like state or federal agencies, you ever gone on and make an online tax payment, they usually charge a fee there. So it's just now getting more, you know, ⁓ rolling out. Yeah.   Kiera Dent (22:40) Nail salons for the girls out there. We all know the   nail salons. They'll say like, it's a 3 % charge if you use credit card. I'm like, here's your cash. Like it's clever. They push us to what they want.   Mark Rasmussen (22:49) Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.   So it is listen. So I, I believe in delivering the technology to our clients, I don't have an opinion one way or the other, whatever you feel is good. I will tell you though that I think a lot of practices, especially on the on the one half of the room that are like against it. I think what we're finding is that people are not pushing back as much as   you think they are because consumers are just getting used to it. And again, the fact that at least with our practices, you're still giving your patient the ability to have that convenience and pay with a debit card and not have the fee. If they were doing like the model where they call it, know, cash discount, where you're going to hit the debit card and you're going to hit the credit card, I think you get more pushback on that, but you're still giving that convenience. So yeah, I'm a fan of it. We get, like I said, more and more requests of it. ⁓   It's not going anywhere. yeah, we're here to support your practice. If you guys want to try it out, try it out and listen, here's the thing.   Kiera Dent (23:50) Yeah.   How does it work in practice   though? Like, so someone's standing in front of me at a terminal, I'm collecting money in person. How does this work? Because it's not gonna pop up on my like treatment plan that I just gave them or on my ledger. So how do I do that?   Mark Rasmussen (24:00) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.   It'll pop up on the terminal.   so first thing we do, we give the practices, ⁓ you know, some template messaging and they'll just want to put up something by the front desk. And it says something to the effect of that, you know, this office adds a surcharge when using a credit card, ⁓ not beyond, you know, what our costs are, right? This is not a money, additional money revenue is trying to like, you know, make arbitrage between costs and no, I'm only going to pass off. And so.   Kiera Dent (24:32) Great.   Mark Rasmussen (24:35) the patient is aware of it, they've seen it, and then when they go to use it on the terminal, if they're in practice, when they go to run the credit card, it will pop up on the screen and your team can just show it to the patient, they'll see it, that it's adding it because they're using the credit card. And it'll give them an option if they want to accept it or if they want to back out of it and try again with a debit card and avoid the fee, really easy.   Kiera Dent (24:58) Okay, that's actually really helpful. And now I have a question because I don't know this. How does this work? Because technically the practice is collecting more money, right? Like we are taking the fee plus the credit card fee. ⁓   Mark Rasmussen (25:10) Let's say it's $100 and let's just say we're   adding that surcharge so now it's $103. Okay? Yeah. Yeah.   Kiera Dent (25:14) Right, so that's $3 more per $100 transaction. But   does that impact them in tax? I would think no, because credit card companies still charging us the 3%. Like, how does this work? Are you following what I'm saying? how does this impact you?   Mark Rasmussen (25:26) Yeah, I do. So you   don't have anything else to like, you know, break your brain on that. Our system, first of all, will break out the surcharge in the reporting. Okay. So it's really clean. Furthermore, the addition, the $103, right, like the customer got charged, the patient got charged $103. But our system automatically calculates it, that you have a fee of 3 % and that you surcharge the patient 3%. So the practice is still just going to get the full $100.   Kiera Dent (25:36) Mm-hmm.   Mm-hmm.   Mark Rasmussen (25:56) It's as if they took a cash payment. So it's easy for them. They're not getting 10.99 at the $103, so to speak. It's just still truly only taking $100, which is great.   Kiera Dent (25:57) Gotcha. Okay.   Mm-hmm. ⁓   Yeah, because that's what   I was curious like, and like some things have sales tax. So didn't know like surcharges, do they get taxed differently or is it just like accepting cash, same thing for a practice? Okay. Now, so that's really helpful. And that helps me see on the ledger. So are you guys synced into the PMS for it to say, because like if my ledger says a hundred dollars, but I'm now doing 3 % surcharge on it.   Mark Rasmussen (26:18) Exactly, total amount, total amount, yeah.   Yes.   Kiera Dent (26:35) I'm going to be posting $103. How do I make sure that all of my ledgers match up?   Mark Rasmussen (26:40) So   we'll post $100 in the ledger, okay? And then we'll have a procedure code for the surcharge. And then we'll also have an offsetting so that it doesn't mess up your balance. So you can easily run reports based on the procedure code. I can see what my surcharge is, but it's not messing up and showing that, I took in $103 on this $100 transaction. So your ledger is gonna stay nice and clean.   and not be a nightmare, 100%.   Kiera Dent (27:10) Okay,   because that's I was like, Oh, great. Because there was another office that I heard about. And Mark, I'm just curious about your opinion on this. And then we're gonna get back to this like spicy and thanks for walking through this. There was another practice, I've literally never heard of this before. So I'm curious if you have or if you recommend or don't this practice. So let's say a patient, the total is $100, they pay the $100, the practice literally posted on the ledger.   Mark Rasmussen (27:28) Mm-hmm.   Kiera Dent (27:38) instead of being $100 because now they lost $3, they posted $97 on the ledger and they were taking out the surcharge. Have you ever heard of that? Because I had never heard it. I was, do you recommend that? Because I've never recommended that, right? And I think as a patient, I'd feel really angry though. no, I gave you 100 bucks, but you gave me 97. Like I would just.   Mark Rasmussen (27:48) I haven't.   That seems wonky. Yeah.   Right. Or   continue that on. How about now all of a sudden a week later you go to refund it and we're we're refunding you 97. You're like, no, no, no, I paid you 100. It's gonna be messed up in so many levels.   Kiera Dent (28:09) Right. I was just curious.   I was like, I mean, maybe I'm archaic on how I do this. I used to just do it that way and then accept that that would just be a cost on my PNL. But now there's a way for you to actually offset it with the process. So my question is going back to that, that's actually helpful. Thank you. So if you're doing that, definitely recommend not doing that anymore. ⁓ But I was like, Hey, I've never heard of this. Maybe that is the right way to do the accounting on it. But it felt very messy to me. Now,   Do we as the practice need to put in the surcharge as that procedure code when we're charging that out or does Moolah automatically sync it in and put the surcharge of the procedure code?   Mark Rasmussen (28:48) We have, yeah,   automatically done. There's nothing for you to do. Yeah. So during onboarding, we will set up, we will work with the practice, obviously. We'll make sure that we have a procedure code set up for them. And so during the onboarding, we'll have that so that when you do run a surcharge transaction like that, there's nothing you need to do. It'll all be handled in the ledger correctly.   Kiera Dent (28:51) Amazing. I love it. This is why I said I have a preference on you.   and you're in all softwares. What softwares does Moolah sink into?   Mark Rasmussen (29:10) Yes, so ⁓ Open Dental, ⁓ Dentrix, G7, and ⁓ newer server-based, not Ascend. And we're actually going to be ⁓ releasing, finally, this has been a long time coming, we're finally going live with Eagle Soft ⁓ Beta at end of next week. So Open Dental, Dentrix, and Eagle Soft. Yeah.   Kiera Dent (29:28) Awesome.   That's awesome. Okay, very cool. And   then if you're not in one of those and you can just obviously add this in, it wouldn't be automatically synced. And I think like of those ones though, huge win this way. Okay, now we'll go back to the spicy. I will tell you guys how the room was divided. The room was divided, I'll be right. The do it, don't do it. And then the like, there's a middle ground, which I thought the middle ground was kind of convenient. ⁓ There wasn't, but I did see people like it. I did feel like it was like,   Mark Rasmussen (29:45) Yes.   Was there any physical fighting going on? Okay.   Kiera Dent (30:00) like politics and religion status. Like it was like very cut through the room. I do agree with you. And that's what I said. I was like, you guys, this 2025, this is going to take place in the future and it will be very common. just, think our early adopters going to stay or not. It's your choice. Um, I've always been of the opinion like, no, just bake it into your fee. And now I'm like, well, everybody's starting to charge for it. Like, why not? Um, so it was don't charge for it now. Another was like, no, put it in. People are doing it anyway. And the middle ground, which I thought was   Mark Rasmussen (30:02) Right. Right, right, right.   Kiera Dent (30:30) of a good way to do it is in person. They didn't charge a fee, but any of their online statements, they did charge a fee because they said most people who pay online know there's usually a service fee associated with it. So I thought that was kind of a, an easy way. If you guys are looking for a navigation through it. ⁓ but I think like, honestly, it's just like anything else, train your patients if you want to, but don't feel like you have to, I think it'd just be something to consider. So, but again,   Like get the reduction, like if nothing else, like switch to a processor that's going to be reduced fees anyway. So even if you want to continue offering it, you're still saving on that. Mark, I have one last thing that I wanted to dive into. I'm hearing from a lot of like integrated softwares. So like dental Intel and Flex and some of these other ones that literally make practice lives easier. They're having processors in there that are just integrated right into that. They're using it all the time.   Mark Rasmussen (31:20) Yeah.   Kiera Dent (31:25) How does Moolah play in those worlds? Like, do you get the same pricing? Do we not get the same pricing? Are some of those better because they're already bundled in? Again, I'm putting you on like really awkward topics, but I just want to know. I want to know how does this work.   Mark Rasmussen (31:35) No, no, not at all. So listen, you mentioned Flex. We   love Flex, okay? I love Flex, not just because, yes, they're a partner of ours, right? And yes, your Mool account works beautifully and integrated with Flex. But I love Flex just because I think they're like cut from the same cloth that we are. Like we just, at the end of the day, we want to over-deliver, right? We want to over-deliver, whether it's technology, whether it's value, and they have that mindset. And so I love the Flex team. Full disclosure.   ⁓ And so we've been an integrated partner with Flex for, gosh now, I think three years. So yeah, I think they deliver a ton of value to any open dental practice. So anybody out there for sure should check out Flex. They are amazing. Dental Intel. So we used to be, ⁓ not to bore the audience, but like we used to have an integration with Modento and then Dental Intel acquired Modento.   Kiera Dent (32:33) Yep.   Mark Rasmussen (32:33) and   then Dental Intel wanted to roll up their own integrated credit card processing. And so they have now. so, listen, ⁓ we wish Dental Intel the best, wish them well, but yeah, we're no longer integrated with Dental Intel, but yeah, Flex, we love Flex.   Kiera Dent (32:49) Okay, because I was just curious. Now, I feel if it's bundled, is this a time where offices should just be strategic? I'm not saying anyone's doing it. I haven't looked at it. So I'm not here to like cast judge or I just want to make sure offices are being smart. I would think when they're bundled or they're integrated, offices should still check even using MULA. They should still be watching their credit card statements every single month, right? Like no matter what, just to always make sure things are staying clean and also before we sign up with anybody.   Mark Rasmussen (33:08) Mm-hmm.   100%.   Kiera Dent (33:19) Like literally read the fine print and look for it. Yes. No. I from like, let's just go all the way back.   Mark Rasmussen (33:23) Yeah.   And I would always say that, you know, let's just take the Flex example. Flex has, you and I won't name anything, I'll let you guys out there, you go check it out to yourself, but there are three options. I encourage you, especially when we're talking about a vendor that you're looking at, and especially when this vendor that you're looking at revolves around your cashflow, right? Like it's a pretty integral part of a vendor that you're bringing into your ecosystem. call them, talk to them.   Kiera Dent (33:46) Mm-hmm.   Mark Rasmussen (33:54) Call in the middle of the day. Do they pick up the phone? Do they answer? Can you talk to somebody very easily? Like really pop the hood and take a look at who you're going to get in and do business with, especially when it's, you know, that vendor is like controlling your cash flow on a daily basis. So yes, please you guys out there, do your homework, look at the agreements, ask questions, and see what's right for you. Yeah.   Kiera Dent (34:10) Yeah.   That's awesome. just, again,   I wanted to like go into it because these are things I'm hearing. I'm hearing people say like, this seamlessly integrates. I know you seamlessly integrate. I know you guys are constantly working to refine, to get into more and more practice management softwares to make it easier. Just Mark, as we wrap up, like this has been fun. I love the like, thanks for going into some of the spices with me. ⁓ But just as a quick rundown, like what are some of the features that Moola does? We talked about the membership plans. We did talk about that Dental A Team clients get 10 % basis points less for card present or card not present.   Mark Rasmussen (34:33) Always is.   Yep.   Kiera Dent (34:47) Which to me that alone, I would just look into it and see, like I said, two clients literally saved money by like dumping their contracts and moving over, which I think to me, like before I can have a crush on a company, I test them pretty heavily. So to see the proof in the pudding, I was so just elated and it made me even like you guys more. But what else does Moola do? Because I know you guys do a lot of other things that just make life easy.   Mark Rasmussen (35:05) I love that. yeah, yeah. So   at the end of the day, we do a lot, but it's all payment related and will always be payment related, right? So we're focused on being like, we try to be like the end all be all payment solution for dentists. And so when you look at like, what does a dental office need from a payment perspective, ⁓ it's in practice payments, right? So we provide you guys the physical devices. So   No more having to buy rent or lease those terminals. We're going to include them. you know, not only, yeah, they're wireless. Yeah, they're really cool. Aesthetically, they look really good. Yeah. And, and here's the other great part too, that I think it's kind of underrated ⁓ is of course, not only did we include them. the practice didn't need to buy them, but like normally, you know, with our peers, you have to buy these devices and then you buy them and then it's like one year warranty, right? And then like Murphy's law always kicks in.   Kiera Dent (35:37) They're awesome too. They're portable. They can go back to the hygiene operatories. It's amazing. So your hygienist can take it. Like they're awesome. It's so great.   Mark Rasmussen (36:01) like it loves to do. like, okay, month 14, the device just, you know, went out on you. And then you're gonna sorry, you got to buy another five $600 device with mula you guys will literally never have hardware expense ever because we give them to you on the front end. And we will warranty them forever. As long as you're with us. I don't care four or five, six years. If there's new devices that come out and your guys age out, we're going to replace them. Even if you drop it off the counter and crack the screen.   We don't care, we're gonna replace it for you. There's no fear or premium. So, in practice payments, we have you covered there from a technology standpoint as well as a hardware standpoint. Moving on, there's also, have the ability to, like you were talking about earlier, store patient cards securely tokenized. Nothing's ever touching the practices servers. It's all on our servers, but it's giving you the convenience of having those stored cards for the patient. You can have as many stored cards as you want. You can even send a request to the patient.   before their appointment and the patient from easily from home from their mobile device could add their credit card. And so when they come in, it's already stored and it's available to use. So stored cards, yeah, yeah, yeah.   Kiera Dent (37:07) With that, can I ask, do you guys have   the compliance paperwork? Is there anything you have to do to get a patient to have a stored credit card that we can run for future payments? once insurance pays, because I know that's a big thing of storing cards on file, do you have anything with that? Because I know that this is a zone.   Mark Rasmussen (37:23) Yep. What I...   Yeah, no. So it's very obvious as far as the process of the patient adding the card. Like when you send the message, it says, hey, would you like to securely store your card on file? Right? Beyond that, what I've seen some practices do is just they'll just include it in their overall like new patient intake forms and kind of include it in their terms of service of that. Hey, listen, if you want to store a card on file with us, you can. And you allow, once you store a card, you're giving us the authorization to utilize that card.   Kiera Dent (37:35) Mm-hmm.   Mark Rasmussen (37:51) for other future balances. As simple as that, that's all you need to do.   Kiera Dent (37:54) which is so smart you   guys think about it. This is where so many other industries do this. They have a card on file. I mean, I go to the spa, my cards on file, they run that card when I'm gone, like I authorize it to happen. So they never out of money. They're never chasing money down. Like it just to me makes so much more sense of a way to process.   Mark Rasmussen (38:12) Can you imagine if   Netflix or all the other subscriptions, if they had to wait for a payment every month and wait, come on, no. Subscription is the way, 100%. So, okay, so store card on file they get. The other thing they get is the ability to create and manage in-house payment plans. And of course, automatically post those payments to the ledger. We have some great things where if the payment fails, right? They're into the plan for three months and all of sudden the July payment fails.   Kiera Dent (38:18) No. No.   Yeah.   Mark Rasmussen (38:41) our system will automatically notify the practice, notify the patient, and what's cool is that the software will allow the patient to self-administer and fix it. So the software is not telling the patient, your card failed, call the front desk. No, we're gonna save a phone call there. The software will allow the patient to tell the software, okay, either A, try to charge that card again, or B, they can actually upload a new card on file.   So the cool stat on that is that in failed transactions in our payment plans, we see patients solving it between themselves and software within the first 24 hours at a rate of over 80%, which is huge. So payment plans, and then we talked about earlier, you also get the ability to manage any of your in-house membership or discount plans. ⁓ We have the collecting on a balance when the patient is out of practice, ⁓ sending a payment request either   Kiera Dent (39:20) Holy cow, it's amazing.   Mark Rasmussen (39:37) allocated or unallocated payment request can attach a statement. ⁓ We also have the ability to host a payment page on their website. So if you want to put a little navigation, click here to make an online after hours payment, we'll host that page for the practice. ⁓ So yeah, we really kind of just looked at it a full circle of like, where are all the payment touch points that our practice is dealing with, and just trying to deliver these really amazing tools. And again, as you know, our model.   ⁓ There's never any monthly fees. There's never any set up fees. There's never any annual fees ⁓ All there are these two simple flat rates and again, you can cancel it anytime you want never locked in anything   Kiera Dent (40:18) That's awesome. Mark, I appreciate this so much. How do people, like know they just connect with you, schedule a demo. You guys will look at their credit card processing, see how you guys can fix it. How do they connect with you specifically if they're interested? And specifically The Dental A Team, The Dental A Team, perks.   Mark Rasmussen (40:33) I would recommend and maybe we can list this in the podcast, but there will be a specific Moolah URL. It's like forward slash The Dental A Team They should go there and then they can schedule a demo. And then if they go there, then we're going to know it came from you guys. That way we can get them that 10 basis point savings forever. So just schedule a demo with us and no pressure. We're like the most like   the least salesy organization I think that you guys will ever run into. All we wanna do is inform you. We wanna show you what we have. We're not for everybody. ⁓ But assuming that you guys love what you see, we encourage you to try us out and check us out and see if we're gonna be a great fit for your practice.   Kiera Dent (41:13) Yeah, for sure. You guys, honestly, I love Moolah They're incredible. So on our website, we will link it. So the way you get to Moolah, it's on our website, TheDentalATeam.com. And then you can click on the About Partnerships Mulas right there. ⁓ And the actual, like if you guys want our direct link here, it would be TheDentalATeam.com slash partnerships slash Moolah. And that should take you right to Moolah's page. It's also mula.cc slash partners.   So that helps you guys will also link that in the show notes mark. I appreciate you guys so much Things are being on the podcast things are going through the spicy with me. I appreciate you so much   Mark Rasmussen (41:52) Any time, love you guys, you guys are the best and ⁓ have a great rest of day.   Kiera Dent (41:58) Hey, you too, for all of you listening. Thanks for listening and we'll catch you next time on The Dental A Team Podcast.  

A CNN journalist interviewed comedian Tim Dillon and tried to smear him as a right-wing stooge. It backfired spectacularly. I break it down in this episode of the Brad vs Everyone podcast. Plus, streamer Asmongold's viral take on free speech and what he gets wrong. Send me a voicenote: https://www.speakpipe.com/bradvseveryone Check out the merch: https://bp-shop.fourthwall.com/ Subscribe to my 2nd channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MoreBradPolumbo See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sky recently bought a house in Coastal Oregon and had some issues with the matinence that was going on. Instead of getting a second opinion or a different company to fix it all, she decided to play games...

Get Connected Communicator Online Course before the price goes up May 10. Save $50 and get the latest AI conversation opportunities newly added to the course. Go here to join now. In charge of hiring for your company? Go to Indeed and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring? Indeed is all you need. Go to https://www.indeed.com/aee Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dan and Billy's persistence finally gets Ryan Blaney to admit that everyone in NASCAR is a dirty, rotten cheater. AND LESS TALKING, CARL! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Grandia II Part 6: The Birthplace of the Gods Was A Research Facility Square Roots - Episode 462 Quest Log: 28:40 Level Up: 01:48:15 GOTCHA! The Birthplace of the Gods was a research facility, which definitely means that Granas and Valmar were scientists who got turned into gods, and weren't aliens. With the Birthplace of the Gods being a research facility my logic is flawless and Matthew, who still needs to mail me ten dollars, is left speechless as we finish GameArts's classic JRPG! Also: We All Have An Oblivion We'd Rather Be Playing Chris Plante Sent To A Nice Click Farm Upstate A Lot Of Tiddy Talk It. Popped. Out. Tomax and Xamot Fan Fiction Vanessa's Private Network In The Krang Bin This Week: Finish Grandia II! Next Week: Finish Year I and Year II in Grim Fandango! Our Patreon: http://patreon.com/squarerootspodcast Thanks to Steven Morris for his awesome theme! You can find him at: https://bsky.app/profile/stevenmorrismusic.bsky.social and https://www.youtube.com/user/morrissteven Contact Square Roots! Twitter: @squarerootspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/486022898258197/ Email: squarerootspodcast (at) gmail (dort) com

Since the UK Supreme Court ruling clarifying the definition of woman in the Equality Act, trans activists have decided 'transmen' now matter and are using this tiny cohort of women to claim sex-based public toilet arrangements cannot work due to them as a 'gotcha' against the ruling. We discuss the features of the 'gotcha' and how each one fails. We also discuss the superficiality of transgenderism, how photos or TikTok's don't mean someone 'passes' in real life, Gendered Intelligence's lies to 'transmen', the trans to detrans to trans attention-grift arc, and transgenderism's fundamental relation to the Freudian / Lacanian concept of castration. Plus, we call for prosecutions for GBH and conspiracy to commit child abuse, how ‘bottom surgery' for ‘transmen' is the Western version of FGM, and how the gay third sector sold out gay people yet we're somehow meant to pretend we're a community.

Bangkok's a big city that's got her own rules. You can try to fight them, but in the end, in certain situations, no matter how much you beg and plead, Bangkok wins, and you lose. Greg and Ed discuss ten ways Bangkok can own you: frustrating ‘gotchas' that are devilishly difficult to avoid. Even veterans of the city with tons of experience still sometimes forget the nuance or fail to think about the what-ifs and end up standing there like a fool, muttering under their breath. This still definitely happens with Greg and Ed, so if you don't want to get burned on your next visit to Thailand, keep these in mind - learned from cold, hard experience. From sidewalk squirts and freezing aircon to improper documentation and lack of change in a taxi, Greg and Ed recount multiple ways you can get ‘got' in the Land of Smiles. Sometimes you beat Bangkok, but sometimes the city owns YOU.  Don't forget that Patrons get the ad-free version of the show as well as swag and other perks. And we'll keep our Facebook, Twitter, and LINE accounts active so you can send us comments, questions, or whatever you want to share.  

During the first week of the trial, after the jury has been selected caputured some real "gotcha" moments for both the Prosecution and the Defense. Discover those so called "gotcha" moments and see for yourself who you think in so far winning in this explosive 2nd trial. See how both of the Lawyers in this trial have skills unlike any other, and put yourself in the seat of the jury. This and more on this episode of Charlie Crimebuster as he covers the first real week in this trial.  Contact me: charliecrimebuster@gmail.com  Support: www.peacemakernetwork.com  website: www.charliecrimebuster.com  youtube: www.youtube.com/@charliecrimebuster 

Toshia finds herself in a predicament. By BradentonLarry – Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. NOTE: The events of this series (as a whole) follow immediately after Lost in Eros Book 1: The Manor. It is strongly suggested to complete that book first. Chapter 1 Toshia strained against the cords that held her fast. Her arms and legs were stretched out against an X-shaped cross, tied securely at the wrists and ankles. The muscles in her thin, strong arms and her bare legs pulled and struggled as her lithe, naked torso twisted against the cross. She had been trying to pull herself loose for what must be an hour now, and was convinced there was no actual hope that she would free herself. Only fierce stubbornness drove her to struggle again and again. At first, her captors had been gathered around Toshia, laughing at her as she fought futilely against her restraints. They had pinched and fondled her naked body, not as if they were trying to arouse her, but out of amusement at her defiant helplessness. They had squeezed and twisted her nipples, not playfully but cruelly, until tears were rolling down her cheeks. Hands had crushed her breasts roughly and slapped her face and thighs until her skin was burning and bright pink. Rude, unloving fingers had been shoved into her pussy, without intending to excite her, only to violate her. It was infuriating to her that her body had responded to this intrusion with grasping, hungry wetness. Although her mind was rebelling against her situation, and the rest of her body was being so badly mistreated, her vagina – and the damned XYZ in her veins – was ready for sex. Toshia didn't give in, though, and wouldn't. That had been the problem. Toshia wouldn't play along, so they tied her up and put her on display in the middle of this broken down old castle. They had good fun with that, hauling the kicking and fighting naked young woman off and holding her down on the cross while they bound her and then raised the framework to fit into its base. Toshia particularly remembered one of her tormentors, a big redhead with freckles over her cheeks and nose, who laughed in Toshia's face and then licked her cheek with a broad, wet tongue. After a while though, they got tired of abusing her and wandered off to find other things to do. Now and then someone would pass her by. Sometimes they would prod, pinch or fondle her body, but more and more they would just walk by, laughing. At first she had been happy to realize she'd been taken by the warrior women. Given her previous experience in Eros, Toshia expected to find herself in a Sapphic harem, surrounded by playful, horny women. After what she'd gone through, particularly since being separated from Don and the girls, the thought of some girl-on-girl action was quite welcome indeed! As soon as she was dumped out into the courtyard of the castle and looked around, though, Toshia realized this wasn't going to be any nice little harem situation. The stones of the courtyard were rough and cold on her bare skin. The women who stood around her were anything but welcoming. They looked down at her with various expressions of contempt and amusement. Each of these warriors was clearly very strong, with well-defined muscles on her arms, legs and abdomen. Odd pieces of armor were combined with tattered garments to barely clothe their athletic bodies. Each one held a weapon of some kind, mostly spears. "She's a scrawny one," said one of the women with a sneer. "No tits to speak of," said another derisively. Toshia was crouching there in front of them, trying to cover her nudity for the first time since she and Don had awoken in the Manor. "I'll bet she didn't put up any fight," one of the women scowled with distaste. "What about it, little pup? Did you put up any fight or did you just let them fuck you until they were done with you?" Toshia had twisted to get a look at the woman who had asked her those questions. She saw a tall woman with long jet-black hair and icy blue eyes looking down at her. The woman's expression gave the impression that she smelled something particularly rank. Toshia tried to think of what to say, but was distracted when she felt the butt of a spear shoved under her behind, and a voice saying, "I'll bet they screwed her ass too." The blue-eyed woman kept watching Toshia, as the woman behind her shoved the spear harder, pushing Toshia up to a kneeling position. Another woman asked, "Well, what is it, girl, did the goats fuck your ass?" "She's blushing," laughed one of them. "I'll bet she liked getting fucked in the ass by the goats." The blue-eyed woman smiled wryly and said, "As if you don't like a good ass-fucking, Wanda." "Well, yeah, but not from a goat!" Wanda protested. They all laughed at this, but Toshia didn't feel any more comfortable. The woman with the black hair and blue eyes was still looking down at her contemptuously. "What are we going to do with the scrawny little bitch, then," one of the women asked. "Give her to the men?" "It doesn't look like she can fight, so what else is she good for? She's too skinny to be any fun." "I don't know," said the blue-eyed woman haughtily. She reached out and caught Toshia's chin in a strong grip. She turned Toshia's head to the right and left, looking at her face coldly. "She's kind of cute." Cute!? Toshia suddenly realized how incredibly pissed she was. Things hadn't been going exactly well for days but she'd put up with it, thinking that Don and the others would turn up and get her out of this mess. Toshia was nothing if not a good sport; she hadn't actually been hurt and she'd managed to have fun in the process, but somehow a line had been crossed. This bunch of obnoxious women was too much to put up with nicely. A simmering rage welled up in Toshia's breast. The cold woman in front of her seemed to see the fury in Toshia's eyes. She smiled cruelly and said, "What do you say, little pup, will you be a good little pet for me?" "Fuck you!" Toshia spat. The smack came from somewhere off to the right and batted Toshia's head to the left. A spear shaft came down hard across her bare back, stinging like fire and knocking her forward onto her hands and knees. "Show respect, you skinny bitch!" said an angry voice. Toshia glowered at the gray stone in front of her, thinking furiously,I'll be damned if I'm going to be anyone's fucking cute little pet! Then she saw a sandaled foot extended under her face. It moved upward and Toshia lifted her head to avoid making contact. "There, there," said the blue-eyed woman. "I'm sure she'll behave now that she understands that she'll be punished if she doesn't. Right, little pup?" Toshia glared up at the woman and said nothing. "She's a wild one," a blonde woman with braids on both sides of her head, and who looked more than a little like a valkyrie to Toshia, said cheerfully. "Better watch yourself, Daphne." The blue-eyed woman, Daphne, sneered coldly and said, "Don't be ridiculous, Brigit. She'll be a good little pet for me, won't you, pup? Show the girls you'll play nice and kiss my foot." Toshia was keenly aware of the fact that she was surrounded by a gang of big bullies with sticks and worse, but she was past caring. She pushed herself up so that she was kneeling on her haunches and said, "I'll tell you what, I'll kiss your foot right after you kiss my ass." The blonde, Brigit, thought this was very funny, and Toshia thought some of the others laughed a little too, but again she was smacked – this time so hard that she tasted blood. Daphne, who wasn't laughing at all, then said, "It looks like the pup needs to be house-broken, ladies. Let's see how she likes being tied to the cross." So, Toshia was woman-handled until and after she was tied up and put on display in the middle of what seemed to be an ancient, decrepit hall. Fortunately, the women had tired of tormenting her, but they made no move to release her. Toshia pulled again, straining all the muscles in her lithe body against the bonds restraining her left wrist, trying to pull her hand through. She felt the wood of the cross against her back and butt. It seemed as if she would pull her hand off the end of her arm, or at the very least dislocate her shoulder, but nothing gave. She sagged, breathless, against the big X, hanging from her restraints. Toshia resigned herself to waiting until they untied her. In the meantime, she thought back to her adventures since she and Don had come to Eros, both in the Manor and since that day, about a week ago, when they had left the Manor and headed out into the forest. She knew reliving some of those events would make her horny, in spite of her situation, but thoughts of her life before coming to Eros would only depress her further. In any case, there was little doubt that the XYZ would have her horny soon anyway. Chapter 2 The Rite: centaurs & witches & crones (oh my!) Right after leaving the Manor Don found himself in strange company. It wasn't the fact that he was accompanied by four sexy women (each of whom he had slept with, sometimes with the active assistance of the others), including the love of his life and best friend Toshia. Nor was it the fact that two of those women had no memory beyond when they had awakened here in this strange place. Rather it was the presence of the amiable centaur, Ralph, who made the situation so surreal. They had gathered around Ralph in the shade of the first trees on the edge of the lawn spread out in front of the Manor. "Well, we call this the forest," Ralph answered Toshia's question. "No," she insisted, "what do you call everything -- the place where the forest is?" "The world? Oh, you mean Eros," Ralph laughed. "People call the world Eros sometimes." "Naturally," Don shrugged, smiling across to Toshia. "OK," Toshia tried to resume her explanation, "Don, Nicole and I aren't from Eros. We come from a place called Earth, and we would like to get home." Ralph frowned and scratched under his long, dark beard. His equine tail swished a bit too. Then, he said, "I can't say that I've ever heard of this 'Earth' place, and I've traveled extensively throughout the world -- Eros. Oh, would you mind scratching right there, dear?" Amy, who had utterly failed to resist the urge to caress Ralph's strong flanks, obliged him by scratching at his brown hindquarter where her hand had been. "Well," Don tried, "if you wanted to find a way to Earth, is there someone you would ask for help?" "Hmm," Ralph said as his forehead creased with his thought. "I suppose the first place one could try is the Witches of the Glen. Perhaps they could summon the Crone. She is very wise. If anyone knows anything about this 'Earth' it's likely to be... That's very distracting, my dear." "It certainly is!" Shelonda said. She had knelt down next to Ralph and was caressing his prodigious sex organ, which was, naturally enough, responding to the attention. Don wondered if the native fauna responded to the XYZ in the same way the human transplants did. He apologized to Ralph, saying, "I'm sorry. My friends have never encountered one of your kind." "I appreciate that," Ralph said. "It's just that it's been a while since I've been with a mare." "There aren't many centaurs around?" Don asked. "No... not too many..." By now Amy and Nicole had joined Shelonda in caressing and stroking Ralph's large phallus. Toshia was watching them with an expression that seemed a violent mixture of curiosity, shock and titillation. Don almost laughed at her reddening face. He saw that Amy was now kneeling on the ground with both her hands on the column of horse flesh pointing at her face, pumping her hands back and forth on it. Meanwhile, Shelonda and Nicole were similarly stroking Ralph's cock. Don thought it was fortunate for everyone concerned that they hadn't come across an actual horse. "Oh my!" Ralph breathed. Then a deluge of white cum erupted from him, virtually covering Amy's face and front. Pearly droplets splattered everywhere. Shelonda was able to say "Wow!" in the moment before a second bucket full of cum shot out of Ralph and onto Amy's face, and then there was a third much smaller one, followed by a stream that drizzled out. Nicole reached out and caught some of this in her cupped palm, and brought it up to her mouth, only to pronounce it "Yummy!" The girls on the ground proceeded to giggle and laugh as they scooped centaur cum off Amy and slurped it down. Toshia watched this for a moment, until she saw Don watching her with amusement, and then said, "Oh, what the hell?" and got down to join in the fun. "I hope that wasn't too rude of them," Don said to Ralph. "Oh, no -- not at all!" Ralph laughed. "It was a bit kinky, you know. I've never been pleasured by such tiny females, but I'm certainly not complaining." "Well, good," Don smiled. "Now, I was wondering if you could help us find these Witches of the Glen that you mentioned." Once the women managed to finish playing with Ralph's cum and to clean Amy up a bit, the centaur led them through the forest at a pretty brisk pace. Don was happy that he was a good hiker. The women took turns getting rides on Ralph's back, and took the opportunity to bring themselves to loud orgasms along the way. At first Toshia seemed shocked by the fact that Amy and then Shelonda were so openly grinding themselves against Ralph's spine and then so obviously coming, but, after Nicole took her turn, Toshia climbed up and enjoyed the ride for all it was worth. Don watched her bowing her head against Ralph's shoulder blades as she gasped and sighed with her orgasm, and smiled to himself. It was good to see her enjoying herself so thoroughly. For his part, Ralph said he was happy to return the favor done him as much as possible. Amy, however, insisted that she was unconvinced that there wasn't some further way in which Ralph could be of service to the ladies. Don found himself a bit happy when they came upon the glade they were seeking before Amy could put any of her ideas to the test. He sensed that Ralph was a bit relieved too. They were on a cleared hilltop high over the rest of the forest, sloping dark green all around them. The sun was sinking toward the horizon. In the center of the glade were a large stone altar and a large arrangement of wood, ready to become a bonfire. Off to the side, against the tree line, was a large tent of crimson cloth. Ralph led them toward this tent. Before they got there, though, or even called out, a flap was tossed aside and a beautiful woman in a dark red robe stepped out and said, "Hello, and welcome." She had a thick mane of yellow and gold hair falling to her shoulders in an unruly tumult. She looked the party over with eyes of light blue-gray and a knowing smile. "My name is Cassandra, how may we help you?" "Hello Cassandra, I'm Don, and this is Toshia, Nicole, Shelonda, Amy and Ralph." "It's good to see you again, Ralph," Cassandra smiled. Her voice was musical, friendly and confident -- in short, extremely sexy. "Thank you for guiding our new friends here." "It was an honor, mistress," Ralph bowed. "More than that," she winked, "judging from the smell of things." "An honor and a pleasure," he smiled back at her. "I am glad," she nodded. Then, turning to Don, she asked, "How may we help you, Don?" "Toshia, Nicole and I seek a way to leave Eros and return to our home, Earth," Don explained. "Ralph suggested that you could help us find someone who could tell us how to do that." "The Crone," Ralph added. "Ah, yes," Cassandra nodded, taking all of this in with apparent simple acceptance. "I see. We could perform the summoning rite, though you will have to help. We will need a fresh offering for the guardian of the portal, and then there will be a price to be paid to the Crone as well." "What sort of offering and price?" Toshia asked. She had dismounted from Ralph's back and stood next to Don. "Oh nothing quite so dire as you might imagine," Cassandra smiled enigmatically. "Any of you young ladies will do, though I suggest you or Nicole would be most fitting." "Fine," Toshia said firmly, "as long as it's nothing life-threatening, I'll do it." "Wonderful," Cassandra nodded. "And you, Don, will have to pay the Crone's price. Surely you will be as brave as your companion." "Of course," Don nodded, very much conscious of the fact that he was nowhere near as sure of himself as Toshia seemed to be. Cassandra smiled at them both and then turned to the tent behind her and called, "Come on everyone, we have to get ready to summon the Crone!" There were excited exclamations from the tent, followed by a dozen men and women all wearing robes just like Cassandra's. They busied themselves immediately around the firewood and the altar. Don would have paid more attention to what they were doing, but Ralph took this moment to say, "Well, I will leave you in Cassandra's capable hands, then." "You won't stay to see what the Crone says?" Don asked. "No," Ralph shook his head. "I want to find myself a mare as soon as possible, and, to be honest, these magical rites are a bit too intense for me." "Are we safe here?" Don asked in a hushed voice. "Oh, yes!" Ralph laughed. "Cassandra's a sweet, kind person. She won't let any harm come to you, but ... well, it's just going to be intense, that's all. It all gives me the willies. Anyway, good luck!" The girls all bid Ralph goodbye, and then he trotted off into the forest, which was already quite dark in the dusk. "Please, Toshia, come with me," Cassandra said. While they went into the tent, a pair of red-robed women came up to Nicole and Shelonda and led them off toward the fire area. A tall young man approached Don and said, "Sir, if you will accompany me." Don followed the man to a wooden chair that had been set off to the side, with a clear view of the altar without actually being close to it. The young man said, "During the rite, you will sit here until the Crone summons you. Do not participate in the ritual at all until that time. It is very important that you save yourself for the Crone. If you do not, she will know and be displeased." "Okay," Don nodded. "Sit in the chair and don't have any fun -- got it." "Oh, and remove your clothing." "Um, all right," Don said. After disrobing and putting his few items of clothing, and his staff, on the ground next to the chair, Don sat down and tried to make himself comfortable, watching the robed witches go about their preparations. He wasn't surprised to note that everyone in what he was thinking of as the coven was in good shape, even though they seemed to represent a spectrum of different ages, from quite young -- like Nicole or Shelonda -- to as old as in their sixties, if Don was any judge of such things. Knowing what he now knew about Eros, though, Don realized that each of these people could be much older than their appearance would indicate, thanks to the rejuvenating powers of the XYZ they drank as water. After the sun set Don was left alone in the clearing, as the others all disappeared into the big tent. Eventually, the group came out in a solemn procession -- one by one -- with Cassandra in the lead. Toshia came second and was wearing a white robe. The entire group made a circle around the pile of firewood, and most of them began to sing some sort of hymn the words of which Don couldn't make out. This went on for several minutes, until, abruptly, Cassandra raised her hands high over her head, and the wood in front of her burst into flame. Well, that was certainly a neat trick, Don thought to himself. He caught himself, though, and tried to make a point of not being quite so skeptical as usual. After all, we're trying to play along with this world's rules here. Maybe things won't work if I've got the wrong attitude. The witches had stopped singing now, and Cassandra took Toshia by the hand and walked her over to stand with her back to the stone altar; the other witches, along with Nicole, Shelonda and Amy, closed the gap in the circle. Facing Toshia, Cassandra raised her arms, with her palms up to the sky, and called out, "O wise mother who guides us and watches over us, we beseech thee to join us this night that the travelers among us may share in the gift of your knowledge and beauty." The witches around the bonfire repeated Cassandra's words, and four of the men lit torches in the fire and placed them in holes Don hadn't noticed before. These torches were positioned about a meter from each corner of the altar. When the men returned to the circle, Cassandra reached out to caress Toshia's face lovingly. She called out, "O guardian of the portal, we offer you this supplicant who comes seeking knowledge and will give you that which you most desire." Then, Cassandra untied the simple knot at the base of Toshia's throat that held the white robe closed. Toshia shrugged the robe off her shoulders and stood there naked in the firelight. If she was frightened or anxious Don could not see it in her expression or posture. Instead, she stood proudly, with her shoulders back and head high. To Don it seemed that it was Toshia, not Cassandra, who was the high priestess of this affair. As the witches around the fire began a low chant, Cassandra took Toshia by the hand and led her to the foot of the altar, and up a set of steps Don hadn't seen earlier. Toshia gently knelt down on the altar and then turned around and lied down upon her back on the cold stone. Don was fascinated to see her bare, pale flesh in the flickering orange and yellow light. He experienced a strong desire to go to the altar then and ravish Toshia even if it did mess up the rite. Instead, he forced himself to sit still in his wooden chair, and kept watching intently. Cassandra moved around to the opposite side of the altar, away from the bonfire, and produced a large pitcher that seemed to be made of clay. The witch proceeded to pour water over Toshia's naked body. From the sharp gasp and sudden tightening of her muscles, Don could tell Toshia had not expected this, but she lay still on the altar. When she'd emptied the pitcher over Toshia, Cassandra set the pitcher out of the way on the ground somewhere behind the altar, and then leaned over the naked, wet offering and kissed her on the lips. Cassandra came around the altar and joined the circle of chanting witches. Once she was there, the group slowly began to move around the fire. The chanting became a bit more rhythmic, and the witches started to move almost as if they were dancing. One by one, each of the participants broke away from the circle to approach the altar and kiss Toshia on the lips. When they had kissed her, each one dropped his or her robe to the ground in front of the altar before returning to the circle. Nicole, Shelonda and Amy each took their turn in this kissing and disrobing ritual, as if they had done this kind of thing many times. As this went on, with an increasing number of naked chanting, dancing celebrants, the rhythm and pace of the chant very slowly rose. The dancers were now holding hands or had their arms around each other's waists. Finally, only Cassandra still wore her robe, so she returned to the altar, kissed Toshia again and exposed her own naked body to the fire-lit night. This seemed to be a signal to the others, for the chanting shifted to a much more rhythmic cant, and Don swore there were now deep, distant drums keeping the beat. As soon as Cassandra returned to the circle, the dancing around the fire became more playful. Now sweaty bodies glistened in the orangey light. Don saw Amy moving along between two men, in each hand a stiff cock, while their hands groped her body. Shelonda passed by with a lovely young woman trying to get her mouth on Shelonda's beautiful heaving bosom. Nicole had allowed a man to catch her from behind and the two of them managed to move around the circle while he kissed the back of her neck and reached around to run his hands over her front. Cassandra danced past with the wanton sensuality of a belly dancer and a certain regal bearing, somehow both reveling in the energy of the rite and aloof from the playfulness rapidly spreading around the circle. The air seemed to be throbbing with the rhythm of the ritual chant, and the heat of the fire and rising eroticism flooded the night. Don looked over to the altar and saw that Toshia had begun to writhe on the stone. Her hands moved over her upper body and her legs rubbed against each other as she felt the aura of lust pulsing from the fire and the dancers. Don watched as she moved her left hand down between her legs, and he had little doubt what she was doing there. As for himself, Don's cock was lying thick on his thigh, growing harder as the rite progressed. Looking back to the fire, Don saw that the dancing had now stopped, though the chanting and the unseen drums continued on. The witches and company were giving in to their desires. Nearby, backlit by the fire, Nicole, had fallen to her hands and knees, and the man who had been following her so closely was now even closer -- fucking her from behind. Don was unsurprised to see that Amy was kneeling between her two men sucking one cock while stroking the other, and then switching. He couldn't see Shelonda, but figured she must be on the other side of the fire. He could see Cassandra, though, straddling a muscular young man, her head thrown back and her breasts thrust up in the night air as she rode him. When he turned his attention back to the altar, Don was surprised to see that a strange dark figure was standing there at Toshia's feet. Don almost sprang from his chair, but somehow managed to remember what he had been told, and resolved to sit still and wait. The figure, which Don presumed must be the guardian of the portal, was hard to discern at first, only a darker shadow in the night, but as Don concentrated it resolved into a tall, distinctly masculine form. Don was sure the shadowy "man" had long horns springing out of its forehead and sweeping back over its head. Toshia didn't seem to notice the creature's presence until it reached out to touch her ankle; the jet black hand seemed more like a talon at first, but then just a hand with long fingers. Toshia looked down to see the figure at her feet, but didn't seem frightened or even surprised. Don could see that she said something, but if there was any reply he could not tell -- he couldn't make out any features of the guardian's face, though he had the distinct impression that there were two fiery eyes of dark red in the shadows. Toshia parted her legs for the darkness and Don watched the claw-like hands moving over her relatively pale skin. As the shadow rose up and lowered itself over her, Toshia's hands left her own body and reached out for the dark shape. Her back arched as the shadows enveloped her. Don found it hard to focus on what was going on atop the altar. At one moment he saw Toshia with her head thrown back and a black creature with its mouth on her neck, and the next there was an almost billowing shadow enveloping her. Then there was a glimpse of her thighs and butt as they flexed while she was fucking the shadow enthusiastically. Her torso strained and tensed, and a mouth with sharp teeth was on her white breast. And then darkness swirled around her. Don was aware that all around the fire the orgy had become general, even though the chanting and the sound of drums went on. He knew that Nicole was now on her back while a new man was between her legs, thrusting with nearly crazed lust. He knew that Amy was being fucked from behind while she took a cock in her mouth. He knew that Cassandra was passionately kissing one of her female subordinates, while another suckled at her tits and reached down to play with her, all while still riding her initial partner. Don could feel his untouched cock, straining painfully in its excited, engorged state. However, he could not seem to look away from the altar. Though he couldn't hear anything but chanting, drums and the moaning of the witches, he was sure Toshia was crying out in a long, hard orgasm. He could tell the shadowy creature on top of her was not finished, though. "No," said a voice next to him, "he will not be finished anytime soon. His need is ... special." Don looked up to see a woman with long white hair swept away from her face and down her back. She was watching the altar with a smile on her thin, red lips. Her dark eyes sparkled in the firelight as she went on, saying, "His phallus is so very hard, like a thing of steel wrapped in a tight sheath of leather. Not as big as one might imagine, but so, so hard, almost painful to touch, until it fills you and you feel his need becoming your own." She was thin, but tautly muscular, and stood confidently and comfortably next to Don. She wore a black sleeveless shift, bound around her narrow waist with a silver cord. "What is his need?" Don finally managed to ask. Her features were sharp and aristocratic, but her smile was friendly as she looked down at him and said, "Sex, obviously, but not like you or them, or her. The guardian feeds off the carnal pleasure of others, particularly the woman with whom he is engaged -- but especially if she's new to him. The energy he draws from her orgasm makes it possible for me to come to you. He will couple with her as long as she can take it, drawing sustenance from her orgasms, and the lust of the others. He does not couple for release, though, but for the reverse. If he comes, which is quite rare, it will be a fiery jet of liquid ecstasy filling up her body -- every fiber." "A fiery jet?" She looked down at him again and smiled warmly, "Don't fear; I was being poetic." Don smiled back, "And your need?" She held out her hand, and Don took it and brought it to his lips, kissing her palm. She laughed and said, "Come with me, Don." A Covin of Witches Desire Toshia. Don stood and moved around his chair, following the white haired woman toward the large red tent. He stole one more glance over his shoulder and saw that Toshia had been pulled to the foot of the altar; her legs were wrapped around the column of deep shadow that stood over her there, her hands were on her breasts and her head lolled to the side with eyes tightly closed. Don imagined that the guardian of the portal was fucking her vigorously with his steely cock. He looked back to the woman leading him, who was looking back at him with an amused smile. Don said, "I didn't see a portal." "The portal is somewhat metaphorical. Cassandra called to me and the guardian, the guardian came, then Toshia came in the other sense, which made it possible for me to come to you." "So he's really not a guardian, but more of a conductor." She laughed as she drew aside the flap of the tent and pulled him inside. "Yes, that is perhaps a more apt description." The tent was lit by a number of candles, and was sumptuously appointed with large, soft carpets and many pillows. "And you are hardly what I would call a 'crone'," Don smiled, admiring the cool beauty of her face and the lithe sexuality of her form. "It's a title, not a description," she answered as she untied the silver cord cinching her gown about her narrow waist. "However, if you would prefer a different appearance..." She changed abruptly into an ancient, toothless hag, straight out of a stereotypical fairy-tale, or Macbeth. She laughed harshly and said, "Perhaps not, though. What about this? Something more befitting the images conjured up in your mind by the rite you witnessed so patiently." She was now a pale woman in a white nightgown. Thick dark hair fell in a tumult down around her shoulders. Her eyes were dark and glowing with a feral lust. Her full lips parted to show long, sharp canines, and were red with blood -- blood that covered her chin and had splattered all over her generous cleavage. Don immediately recalled his fevered teenage fantasies and felt his cock strain despite the obvious danger of the situation. "Or maybe you would prefer I took the appearance of someone more familiar," she said with Toshia's mouth. Don watched as Toshia shrugged out of the black shift the Crone was wearing, to reveal the slim body he had lately come to know so well. Don was both taken aback by these sudden transformations and now completely convinced that there was more to all of the evening's events that clever tricks. He swallowed and managed to say, "No, your original appearance was more than satisfactory." "Ah, thank you," she smiled, and stood before him as she was before, though now naked. Her breasts were not large, but firm for a woman of her apparent age, and the rest of her body was obviously fit and trim. She reached out to take his hand again and drew him to her. As Don's arms slipped around her unusually cool body, her hand took his straining cock in a strong grip. When their lips met and his tongue slipped into her mouth, Don found himself suddenly remembering his first kiss with remarkable clarity. Then he was reliving the moment he lost his virginity (in the basement of his teenage home), the time he had had sex with his girlfriend while another couple were doing it only feet away (in a cheap motel), the time he had slept with a certifiably unhinged woman who was also a completely uninhibited wildcat in bed, the first and second of the threesomes he had enjoyed, and every other memorable sexual moment from his life before the Manor. The memories flooded through his mind in vivid detail, as the Crone kissed him passionately, sucking on his tongue and stroking his cock in her tight grasp. He felt himself being pulled down to the sea of soft pillows as scenes from his time in the Manor played out in his mind. He remembered waking up next to Toshia in that strange bedroom, the wild, unexpected encounter with the Nymphets (including the first time he'd seen Toshia come), the sexual escapades involved in that dodge ball game (including seeing Toshia fucking the Player), the orgiastic ball, the night with the Lady, the first time he and Toshia had sex, watching and participating in Toshia's little gangbang in the second floor corridor, the wild night in the Disco, and the orgy in the steam room, and many other intense erotic memories swept through his mind. Don felt himself entering the Crone's surprisingly hot and wet vagina. The strong grip was no surprise. Still reliving his wilder sexual memories in exceptionally vivid detail, Don held on to the strong but slender woman beneath him and fucked. He fucked her both as if it was the only thing he could imagine doing and as if his life depended upon it. He felt as if his cock was penetrating deeper into the Crone than was physically possible. Her muscles squeezed and pulled at him with incredible dexterity and strength. The vision of Toshia being taken on top of the stone altar was in his mind when Don began to come. To say this was the most intense orgasm of Don's life would be a severe understatement. The cum boiled out of his balls and shot out of him into the Crone in a gushing torrent. He shoved into her and continued to pump jet after jet of cum. He felt her arms and legs wrap around him, pulling him tighter to him, even as her pussy squeezed and pulled at his cock. He thought for a moment that it felt that there were more than just two arms and two legs holding him to her. He opened his eyes and saw the Crone looking at him with a cool, happy smile on her lips. Don felt the orgasm slowly subsiding but then that preternaturally skilled pussy pulled him on, and he was squirting still more cum into her. When he could no longer pump any cum, it seemed that her pussy went on sucking it from him. The ecstasy of coming became a frightening overdose of pleasure and then a painful ordeal as what seemed like minutes passed and he was drained of cum. He groaned wordlessly, and surrendered to the blackness of unconsciousness. Don had no idea how long he was out before he felt the Crone caressing his face with her cool fingers and kissing his lips lightly. When he opened his eyes, she was smiling down at him. "You seek the Sage of the Tower," she said. "Go down into the valley and follow the river there to its source, and you will find the Tower." "Oh, but wha-?" he tried. "Shush," she smiled, "that is all you need to know. Thank you for your gift, Don." Don thought he should say "my pleasure" but he wasn't sure if that was true, and in any case he was already falling asleep. Chapter 3 Toshia Saved & Caught; rough sex in the forest Like Don had done a week earlier, while he was with the Crone, Toshia found herself reliving the erotic adventures she had had since waking up in the Manor. The sounds of the warrior women feasting and carousing nearby only taunted her with the thought that someone might remember her and bring her some food and water. Her deliberate mental game of remembering her time in Eros while she hung tied to the big, wooden X-cross served to distract her from not only her hunger and thirst but also from her frustration and dejection at being in this predicament. These depressing thoughts reminded her of the day ...Was it three days ago already? She must have been very close to drowning, her vision darkening and her temples pounding, when the strong slender arms had slipped around her from behind and she was hoisted up to the surface of the river. She had gulped air into her lungs desperately, and allowed herself to be drawn to shore. Too weak from struggling against the current, Toshia was limp and useless as she was hauled up onto the sandy bank. She lay there gasping, until she felt soft feminine hands brushing the wet hair out of her face. When she opened her eyes, she saw a beautiful young woman with big eyes of blue-green and long straight hair of emerald green looking down at her with concern. "Thank you for saving me," Toshia finally managed. The green-haired girl smiled at her with full inviting lips. She touched Toshia's lips with light fingertips. She licked her own as she traced the outline of Toshia's lips. She looked over Toshia's naked, wet body, and Toshia raised her head enough to see that the girl was also naked and, obviously, wet. She seemed to be very thin, but strong, and quite pale. The girl looked back at Toshia's face and smiled again, and Toshia thought this smile was a bit friendlier now. Well, this is Eros, after all, Toshia thought to herself. It's probably customary to sleep with anyone who saves your life. As if she could read Toshia's mind, the girl leaned in closer, brushing Toshia's skin with her wet hair, and kissed her mouth tentatively. The girl's lips and tongue were cool and moist, and Toshia found herself returning the gentle kiss happily. After only minutes earlier thinking that she was about to drown, this interlude was a most welcome turn of events. Toshia slipped her arms around her rescuer and held her body against her own. For some time, they lay there on the wet ground, kissing each other languorously. Then, with a smile, the green-haired girl pulled away a little and then moved a bit lower, so she could kiss her way down the curve of Toshia's breast. Toshia shuddered as the girl took her nipple and sucked on it. Toshia parted her legs in anticipation as she felt the girl's hand moving up along the inside of her thigh. Suddenly, though, the girl raised her head and looking into the nearby tree line with obvious alarm. In another second, Toshia heard the sound of someone coming toward them through the undergrowth. "It's OK, that's just my friends looking for me," Toshia smiled at the girl, who immediately shook her head and pulled away from Toshia's embrace. Toshia took the moment to look around a bit more carefully and realized that she was quite a bit downriver from where she had fallen in and, moreover, on the wrong side. It couldn't possibly be Don and the others making all that noise in the woods. Toshia looked warily at the woods, and then back to the girl who had saved her life. She was alarmed to see the green-haired waif diving back into the water. "Wait!" Toshia called as she scrambled to her feet. "Oh, damn!" said a masculine voice behind her. "She got away!" "Of course she did," said another. "The way you two go crashing about, it's impossible to sneak up on anything!" "At least we've got a consolation prize this time," said a third. Being called a consolation prize almost wiped the shocked expression off Toshia's face. Out of the forest had emerged three figures, about five and a half feet tall, with long, dark, curly hair and beards, and bare, muscular torsos and arms. They also had short, curled horns growing out of their foreheads and the hindquarters of goats. Naturally, they also had very prominent and generous male genitalia. Of course, after meeting Ralph the centaur she should not have been so surprised to be confronted by bona fide satyrs. In fact, Ralph hadn't even been the strangest thing she'd encountered since leaving the Manor; there was the demonic guardian of the portal to name just one thing.One thing that had fucked my brains out! she thought to herself. Still, in spite of herself, Toshia was shocked by the sight of these half-man, half-goats. "She does look like she'll give us some sport," said one of the satyrs with an obvious leer. "How about it, toots," grinned the third one who'd spoken, "you up for some fun and games?" "Um, actually, I was just going to find my friends," Toshia said taking a step toward the forest away from the three satyrs. "We can be your friends," suggested the satyr who had spoken first. He took a step closer to her on his hoofed feet and gave his already hard and thick cock a squeeze. "We're very friendly." "Oh, well, I'm sure, but I should really be going." "What's the hurry?" said satyr number two, without taking his eyes off her naked body. "Come on, honey," said number three, "we'll show you a real good time." Toshia was simultaneously revolted by the smarmy attitudes, alarmed that it seemed clear they had no intention of taking "no" for an answer, and annoyed with herself for being a bit aroused by the thought of having a "real good time" with three goat-men. Goddamn that fucking XYZ! "Tell you what," said number two, doing his apparent best to sound good-natured, "we'll give you a head start, and if we catch you we'll have some fun." Thinking it was a good idea to take advantage of a chance to put some distance between herself and them, Toshia nodded and said, "Fine." Without waiting for them to say anything else, she sprang for the trees and made for the nearest hillside up away from the river. Tree branches lashed at her bare skin, and she wished she had fallen into the river with her sandals on, but she didn't slow down. She clambered up a hill, vaulted over a large rock and then half-ran, half-fell down the other side, only to start up the next one. Ducking under a thick branch, she turned to the left and started running along the ridge of a line of hills that seemed to parallel the course of the river. She was trying to close some of the distance between the satyrs and where she had fallen into the river. She was vaguely aware that there were now sounds of pursuit echoing in the forest. Toshia slowed just a little to catch her breath, but that only allowed her to realize that the satyrs were getting alarmingly close. She even caught sight of one moving through the trees off to her left, cutting her off from the river. Plunging ahead again with renewed determination, Toshia clambered up the side of the next hill almost on all fours. At the top of the steep slope, she saw a sunlit clearing in the distance. With the vague hope that she might be able to get someone's attention on the other side of the river, Toshia set her sights on reaching that clearing. She might have made it too, if she hadn't tripped on an ill-placed root. Toshia went sprawling in the thick forest carpet of leaves right in front of an enormous tree trunk that had fallen years ago and was now covered with a deep layer of green moss. She heard someone coming up the hill close behind her, and frantically scrambled to her feet. Toshia hurried to get hold of the mossy tree trunk and raised her foot to get purchase on it so she could vault over, but then felt a strong, hairy arm slipping around her waist to pull her back down. "Gotcha!" the satyr laughed, as he pulled her behind against his front, at the same time pushing her chest and face forward against the soft moss in front of her. Toshia struggled, trying to twist out of his grasp, but he was too strong and she was too winded. She felt the head of his cock between her legs and rubbing up against her outer lips. He pushed her against the moss with one hand, holding her in place, while using the other to get his sex organ in the right position. Toshia gritted her teeth as he pushed himself into her. It wasn't an enormous cock, but it was hard and thick, and she had to admit at that moment, with the XYZ and the adrenaline of the chase coursing through her veins, it felt good to be filled. Toshia clutched the mossy trunk, and closed her eyes, as the satyr held on to her hips roughly and began to fuck in and out of her from behind, shoving violently. In addition to the sensation of the penis sliding in and out of her all too eager pussy, Toshia was keenly aware of the thick mat of fur brushing against her legs and butt as he took her and the fact that her tits were being pressed into the yielding moss with the solid resistance of the tree behind it. She knew that she was, basically, being raped by a half-man, half-goat creature, but she also knew she was enjoying it. The question of whether she should actually consider this rape would occupy her mind quite a bit in the days afterward, and particularly while she was strapped to the X-cross. On the one hand, she had actually said "Fine" to the satyr's proposal that "if we catch you we'll have some fun", but, on the other, at the time of that agreement she had been convinced they were going to have their way with her in any case. However, she knew that rape in the normal world she called home was not really a crime of sex but of violence. Someone who raped another wasn't really trying to have sex with them, but to hurt them. Somehow, Toshia did not get the sense that these satyrs wanted to hurt her in the least; they seemed to just want to fuck, and given the nature of this world, it might be reasonable for them to presume that she would enjoy a good tumble in the woods. Still, the girl who had pulled her from the river had obviously wanted to avoid getting caught by the randy goat-men. Later she would ponder these issues, but for that moment against the moss-covered tree trunk she just let herself enjoy the rough fucking. It wasn't too long before the goat-man began to shove into her with even more force, and then his cock swelled and shot his hot satyr cum into her. It felt like there was quite a bit, and it took him some time before he pulled out of her and slapped her butt happily. Toshia slumped against the fallen tree trunk, both relieved and frustrated. She started to push away from the tree, to make an attempt at gaining that clearing ahead somewhere, but another pair of rough hands took hold of her and pushed her back against the moss. "Not so fast, toots," said satyr number three. Without any other preamble, he shoved his cock into her pussy, squishing his partner's cum out to run down the insides of her thighs. Toshia surprised herself by letting out a happy moan as she was filled again. While the satyr proceeded to fuck her with great enthusiasm, Toshia let go of the moss with her left hand and managed to get it down between the trunk and her body, so she could get her fingers on her clit. She began to stroke herself frantically as the cock pistoned in and out of her almost savagely. In only moments, Toshia found herself gasping and moaning as her orgasm tore through her violated body. She shook and whimpered while the satyr had his way with her until he filled her up with his own flood of cum. He pulled out of her, and she felt more cum running down her legs. Laughing, he said, "Told you we'd have fun." Toshia wasn't surprised to hear satyr number one say, "My turn!" This time, though, she managed to roll around and get her back against the mossy tree trunk. She actually found herself smiling at the hairy goat-man as he stepped up in front of her. Toshia put her hands on his broad shoulders and let him lift her up a bit. Soon, she had her thighs supported on his furry haunches as he pushed his eager cock up inside her. She looked at his grinning, bearded face with its little horns, and even laughed a little as he lowered his mouth to her tits to suck and bite on her nipples. She rocked against him as he fucked in and out of her, letting his hairy torso rub against her clit. Leaning back against the curve of the trunk behind her, Toshia let herself enjoy getting fucked there in the woods by an actual satyr. She smiled when she felt his cock swell inside her to spew a third torrent of cum into her pussy, only to spill in a slow river out of her as soon as he withdrew. She noticed that the other two satyrs were still standing there, watching, with still very hard cocks standing in front of them. Perhaps they would have let her go in that moment, but Toshia had her mind on other things. She laughed and said, "Well, hello boys; are you just going to stand there? I thought you promised me a good time." This prompted laughter from all three of them, and they hastened forward. In the next moment, Toshia was surrounded by all three of the satyrs as they pawed her with their eager hands and kissed and nibbled at her wherever they could reach. Fingers pinched her nipples and pushed up inside her soggy cunt. One enterprising individual got his finger nice and slippery and pushed it up inside her ass. This reminded Toshia of that wonderful time she'd had in the steam room with Don and Peter, only a few days earlier, and gave her an idea. "OK, well, before we go any further, don't you think you should introduce yourselves?" Toshia laughed. Any further? They've each fucked me and they've got their fingers in my pussy and ass! "Oh, I'm Scratch," said satyr number two. "I'm Roscoe," said number one. "And, I'm Bob," said three. "I'm Toshia," she said. "Now that we've got that out of the way. Why don't you lie down on your back here, Bob?" Bob was only too happy to comply, and Toshia promptly straddled him, and took his stiff cock in her hand, pushing the head of it into her pussy, which was quite ready for more action. She sank down on Bob's shaft, leaning forward by placing both hands on his broad hairy chest. Toshia slid up and down on him a couple of times, just because it felt good. Then, she looked over her shoulder and said, "Scratch, can you get back there and fuck me in the ass?" "I sure can!" Scratch said with a grin. There was some scrambling around, and an interesting moment when Scratch pushed his finger up inside her wet pussy with Bob's cock (Oh my! That's interesting! I'll have to try to remember that.). After her own juices and a liberal amount of satyr cum was worked into her butt and smeared over his organ, Scratch slowly pushed himself into her butt. "Oh fuck that feels good!" she exclaimed. "Yes, push it in me!" An unexpected orgasm hit her then, and she held still there as her pussy and ass clenched on the two cocks inside her. Moaning and trembling, Toshia rode it out with a smile on her face. When she had started to come down, she looked down at Bob and over her shoulder at Scratch and said, "Well, what are you waiting for boys, fuck me!" The two satyrs began to do as they were told, working their thick, hard cocks in and out of her. Whether they had practiced this trick before or it was an innate satyr skill, they quickly got into a perfect rhythm, pumping and grinding against her body as if the three of them were one ideal sex machine. Toshia made sure she was giving as good as she was getting, working her pelvis in time with the way the satyrs were pushing and pulling inside her. When she felt comfortable and knew she could keep up, she looked around and beckoned Roscoe over. The third satyr moved over on his cloven hooves to stand in front of Toshia. She reached up with her left hand and took his cock in her hand and pulled it to her mouth, tasting his cum and her own juices on him. Once she had the fat head in her mouth, she stroked the shaft in her fist. Bob reached up to cup her breasts in his hands and to help hold her up. Letting Bob and Scratch do most of the fucking work, Toshia relaxed to enjoy those sensations and concentrated her active attention on Roscoe's cock. She pulled him closer so that she could get her mouth working up and down on him, pushing the head deeper in her mouth so she could feel his thick shaft moving over her lips and her tongue. I wish Don could see me! she thought as she relaxed her throat and sank deeper on to Roscoe's cock. She let go of the base of his shaft and held onto his hips with both hands, both for support and to shove him back if it became necessary, but she was now letting him fuck her mouth and throat. Roscoe was surprisingly careful, holding her head gently in his hands and moving slowly and steadily. Meanwhile, Bob lay under her flexing his hairy abdomen to push himself up inside her pussy, and Scratch held on to her hips and fucked in and out of her ass vigorously. Toshia was intent on making the satyrs come before she came again, but her body had other ideas, and soon she was moaning and trembling while an intense orgasm shook her from head to toe. The frantic clenching of her pussy and ass pulled Bob and Scratch past the point of no return, and they filled her up with more of their cum. Roscoe, who had come most recently anyway, held out a bit longer, but the other two were still inside her when Toshia felt him swelling in her mouth and throat and then pumping gout after gout of sweet, hot cum into her stomach, and then filling her mouth. Pulling away from her, he splashed on final stream of pearly jizz across the bridge of her nose and down her cheek. Still hard, Bob and Scratch continued to fuck her squishy pussy and ass until she came again and again. Only when she had collapsed between them, did they extract themselves and carry her off to their camp in the forest, where they bathed and fed her. That night, the next day, and the night after were spent in a marathon of satyr fucking that left Toshia exhausted. Toshia now, bound to the X-cross, strained again at her restraints, wishing she could get at her pussy and clit now. She needed to make herself come. She remembered how she had awoken the third day, well into afternoon. The satyrs were gone, and she was surrounded by the gathering party from the warrior woman camp. Angry at being abandoned, worn out from the incessant demands of three hard pricks, frustrated at being lost, Toshia had been a bit happy to learn that she was going to be taken to a bunch of women, but that hadn't lasted long. She remembered how they had tied her up underneath a pole carried on the shoulders of two brawny men. The next two days were spent hanging there as she was carried further down river, to the castle where she now stood on frustrating display. To be continued. By BradentonLarry for Literotica

Those "gotcha" headlines on Internet browser home pages do not always speak the truth.

Join hosts Gleenobly and Russ with special guests Ath and Adam as they speak about moments where people don't care what they look like... they're on a mission... they're focused... their IN IT TO WIN IT!  Enjoy!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/punctuated-by-a-lemon--4617484/support.

6 koncertów w miesiąc? I to na dwóch kontynentach? Kto mógł to zrobić, jak nie Matylda... Zdecydowanie jest co opowiadać, więc musiał powstać o tym cały odcinek. Seventeen, TripleS, Ateez, Taemin, All(h)ours i Evnne - o tych właśnie grupach sobie dziś pogadamy. Jak wyglądały poszczególne koncerty? Czy warto iść na fan meeting w Korei nie znając koreańskiego? Czym charaktertyzują się różne fandomy na wydarzeniach? Zapraszamy do słuchania! __________________________________ Piosenki w odcinku: 1. Seventeen „Let me hear you say”, 2. Ateez „Selfish waltz”, 3. All(h)ours „Gotcha”, 4. Evnne „Syrup” 5. Triples „Cherry Talk”, 6. Taemin „Heaven” __________________________________ Tuba.fm na Tiktoku i Instagramie: https://www.tiktok.com/@tuba.fm https://www.instagram.com/tuba.fm/ __________________________________ Matylda na TikToku i Instagramie: https://www.tiktok.com/@everycraft https://www.instagram.com/_everycraft

We are stoked for Andor Season 2. We are looking back with a bonus epsiode at Andor Season 1, Ep3, Reckoning.  Deputy Inspector Syril Karn and Sergeant Linus Mosk are hot on the trail of Cassian.  But Rael and Andor get the upper hand with Ferrix locals with support.  This episode is so fire! Drop as a voice memo or email at bigtliltpodcast@gmail.com. big T & LIL T

The headlines are loud, the markets are messy, and your gut might be telling you to do something — anything — right now. But what should you actually do when your portfolio takes a hit?   Helpful Information: PFG Website: https://www.pfgprivatewealth.com/ Contact: 813-286-7776 Email: info@pfgprivatewealth.com   Disclaimer: PFG Private Wealth Management, LLC is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. The topics and information discussed during this podcast are not intended to provide tax or legal advice. Investments involve risk, and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial advisor and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed on this podcast. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Insurance products and services are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed insurance agents.     Marc: The headlines are loud, the markets are messy, and your gut might be telling you to do something, anything. So what should you actually do when market downturns happen? Let's get into it this week here on ‎Retirement Planning - Redefined.   Welcome onto the podcast. Thanks for hanging out with John, Nick, and myself as we talk investing, finance, and retirement. And, guys, with all the volatility and stuff happening, I thought it'd be a good idea to maybe address some of this stuff. And we've got four key questions maybe to ask ourselves when we're going through some of this volatility and let you guys give some people insights on what you're seeing and what your thoughts are when it comes to this kind of stuff. So welcome on this week, John. How you doing, buddy?   John: I'm doing all right.   Marc: Yeah? A little busy?   John: Just getting ready to start a kitchen remodel, which is bringing its own gut check, but doing all right.   Marc: That is true. Very true. And Nick, how are you doing, my friend?   Nick: Good, good. Staying busy. Obviously a little chaotic right now, but knee-deep in wedding planning. So that's fun.   Marc: So let me ask you guys, before we get into this, when we're seeing this kind of volatility, do you get many calls? I've talked with all kinds of advisors and most of them say a couple, a couple panicked people, but for the most part, their clients have a strategy and a plan in place and it makes it a little easier to handle when there's volatile times like this. Is that kind of the same for you, or what are you seeing out there?   John: Yeah, I'd agree with that. As we mentioned quite a bit in our last podcast, our last sessions, our practice is generally planning based. So a lot of times people are comfortable with where they are, and we do a good job of reinforcing here's where you are, here's your asset allocation, here's how we structure things for a downturn or some volatility. So I think we do a really good job of making sure people are in the right asset allocation, and not only that, but structuring their assets where when they are using their funds for retirement, we have a plan in place to draw on specific accounts when we are expecting this type of volatility.   Marc: Makes sense. Yeah. Gotcha. Well, as you mentioned, gut check as that kind of goes. So let's jump in and do these four items here. And that's the first one. Nick, I'll let you start if you want to. So when is the last time you checked your strategy? When's the last time you checked your plan? I hear people saying, "Oh, the market's down year-to-date, the S&P's down 13%." Well, are you down that or are you only down maybe two or three because you hopefully were properly diversified, right? So when's the last time you checked in on your plan and do you need that gut check? What's your thoughts?   Nick: Yeah, so we try to make sure we're updating plans. We'll go over general numbers each year. And then one thing that we focused quite a bit on last year with clients was updating expenses. With having the inflation like we did for a while, the expenses are obviously a huge driver for clients, and so a lot of our clients are updated. And I know John kind of touched on how many are reaching out. And I would say obviously compared to the clients that we have, there are some that do. And I think the good part about the planning, those that had the planning, we're just reinforcing and reviewing what we've discussed in the past.   I had a couple conversations earlier today with similar thoughts and sentiments, and even though most clients know that they have some sort of mix between stocks and bonds, they rarely think about the bond portion not being as volatile. And so that's something that even where in our minds it might kind of feel basic, these little things, and just kind of talking through and reminding clients about what they actually have, why they're positioned the way that they're positioned and why we did the plan. It's also a reminder for us. We've had some clients that maybe six months, 12 months ago, like, "Hey, should we get more aggressive," et cetera, et cetera. And we kind of emphasized that we've had a really good run for a really long time, and at a certain point there's going to be some sort of pullback. And so I think those clients that both from a being too conservative or being too aggressive standpoint are kind of happy that they have a plan.   Marc: Gotcha. Okay. And so John, that would probably lead to the second step, which is if you are doing that gut check and you do feel like there's some things you need to do, where are you at with your risk? As I mentioned a second ago, people see the headlines and it makes them panic. It makes them worry, it makes us easily agitated. "Oh, it's down 13%." But if you're not taking 100% risk, you're probably not down 13 whole percent, right? So it's about having that risk tolerance adjusted as well.   John: Yeah, and like Nick mentioned, I just had a scenario where this actually came up. They're watching the news and it's doom and gloom. And I'll tell you, I put it on for a little bit sometimes and it's like, all right, if you're watching this all day, I could see where people are panicking. But when we did their review, the person was down minimal year to date, and they're like, "Oh, that's it?" And it's just like, "Yeah, you're doing all right." And then when you reference the plan and you actually show them, "Hey, based on what just happened this last week, you're still in good shape and here's a strategy if this volatility continues, this is how we're going to handle it if you're withdrawing from the portfolio."   And then I will say that what Nick said there as well of, people, when things look good, it's like, "Hey, should I get more aggressive so I can earn more?" And it's really important just to stay the course because you do have these pullbacks and when you do get more aggressive and let's say all of a sudden the market pulls back like we're in the middle of right now and you can't handle that risk, that's when you jump ship and then all of a sudden there could be some news that comes out. Literally there could be one bit of news, especially in what we're dealing with right now and the market could just completely do a 360 and just be positive quite a bit.   Marc: Yeah. At the time we're taping this, we saw that to open up today. It went up about 4% in the first half of the day, and then it started to cool back off. So there's still a lot of things flowing back and forth, Nick, and that again leads back to strategy, right? So that's the third piece of this conversation. Do you have a strategy and are there some things that we should look at, try to find the positives or the silver linings of downturns? What are some things we could maybe, some smart moves we could be looking at?   Nick: Yeah, just even before we get into that, I wanted to touch on John's last point, just from the standpoint of part of the conversation that we've been having with people is that the volatility in the markets, both good and bad, are so much quicker than they were years ago. There's a lot of people that are used to prolonged just slow bleed downturns. And where from hour to hour, day to day, you can have a correction and then claw half of it back within a few days. And just kind of shifting out during that period of time can be pretty deadly for a portfolio.   But from the standpoint of what can be done now or what could make sense now with what you alluded to, dependent upon, it is a good time to kind of do that check on overall risk, potentially integrating in some rebalancing of the portfolio. We try to have clients have some cash on the sidelines no matter what. And it could be a decent time to average in some of that money if they're looking to reinvest.   For those that are still working, I think the emphasis that we put on is buying at a discount when you're averaging in every month and that sort of thing. And then even from the perspective of, and it's something that we are reviewing, tax loss harvesting in taxable investment accounts can be something that makes sense. I will say that unless there's, so many people's positions are up or vary in the green that it can be a little hard even still with this pullback to get some losses and offset some gains and that sort of thing. But we can also take advantage of some of the losses to offset future gains as well. So those are all things that we're reviewing.   Marc: Yeah. And a lot of people are taught, have been wanting to do Roth conversions, for example, right? Well, I mean, kind of silver lining when your accounts are down a little bit in a 401. Maybe you're doing some conversions over to Roth and you're paying lower taxes because the balances are down. And then when the market comes back, because it tends to do, as long as your plan calls for it, then you're gaining that money back tax-free. So different kinds of silver linings. You have to work with a professional, you have to work with an advisor to find your way through some of these tougher times. And so that brings us to the final point, which is unhelpful behaviors, right? So what are some things, guys, we need to stop doing right now if we're getting stressed out? John, you kind of hit it perfectly on the head, said you watched it for half an hour or an hour and it's like, "Yeah, no wonder people are getting down, right?"   John: Yeah, it's definitely doom and gloom out there. So I would say whatever station you're watching the last couple of weeks, it's definitely everything's negative.   Marc: And that's their job. We have to be realistic about that. That's all they're going... They're not going to talk about the positives very often, right? They're looking for the eyeballs from the panic, right?   John: Yeah, hundred percent. I think negative news typically rates better. So that's why you continually see the negative news drip on everybody. But back to one thing you mentioned there, Marc, about the Roth conversions. I just want to point out that is a great strategy when the market dips down, if you're currently implementing a Roth conversion strategy. It is typically a good time to do it when we're having a pullback.   Trying to time it perfectly is obviously going to be difficult to do, but you just try to do your best with that. But when you are converting, just want to make it clear to anyone listening, you typically want to, when you're converting for the strategy of a lower balance and paying lower taxes on the specific shares, you want to do a Roth conversion, that's you keep your shares. So you're doing kind of a transfer of shares over to the Roth versus cashing out and sending the cash over and then rebuying it. So just be careful. If you're working with an advisor, just understand, hey, if we're doing a Roth conversion, are you cashing it out? Are you transferring over the shares? Because we feel it's best to transfer over the shares so that we don't have to rebuy them.   Marc: Yeah. No, definitely. I just was thinking that that was another little piece, so thank you for kind of taking it a little deeper, if that's part of your current strategy. So yeah, turning off the news is certainly a helpful behavior. What else, Nick, you got anything else that you'd like to chime in on that topic?   Nick: Yeah, as somebody that has sometimes a tendency to doom scroll a little bit and try to suck in as much information and try to be able to understand different points of view and all that kind of stuff, it is important to take a break. Something as simple as getting outside, going for a walk, having a conversation. One of the things we try to emphasize with our clients is that if you're getting to that point where severe high level anxiety, maybe concerned about starting to make poor decisions or overreact to anything, is just reach out. Usually the feedback that we get when we just have a conversation with somebody is that able to give perspective. And realistically, what happened yesterday in the markets, which we had a fake post about a change to the tariffs and the market swung like 7 or 8% in five minutes and all this other stuff, really kind of emphasizes the fact that volatility is different than it used to be and overreacting can be something that really hurts you and your overall position.   Marc: That's a great point, right? I mean, we're certainly, the doom scrolling, the second by second feedback, you have to have a strategy, right? And our own worst enemy is ourself. We tend to jump out and do things and then we lock in those losses. So again, before you take any action on something you hear from even our conversation or any other thing that you hear that they're financially based, you should always run that past a financial professional as it relates to your specific unique situation, as the guys pointed out numerous times today in the show.   So if you need some help with that, stop by on the website or give them a call and set up a time to chat, pfgprivatewealth.com, that's pfgprivatewealth.com, or call 813-286-7776. Guys, thanks for hanging out and breaking it down a little bit. Hopefully people keep their heads and we'll see how this plays out. It could be short-lived, it could be a little longer term. So get a strategy. At the end of the day, that's what's important. So the guys can help you with retirement planning redefined. We'll see you next time here on the podcast.

Bible Reading: Galatians 6:4-10Ava yawned as she came into the kitchen. Her brother Jayden glanced at her mischievously, then looked out the window. "Hey, Ava, how'd your bike end up on the roof of the garage?" he asked."What?" Ava ran to the window to see for herself. "Where?""April fool!" Jayden laughed in delight. "Gotcha!"Ava grinned and gave her brother a soft punch on the arm as they sat down to eat.At dinner, Ava and Jayden told their dad about the April Fools' jokes kids played on each other at school. "It's fun to have a day where everyone plays jokes like that," said Jayden. "As long as no one takes the jokes too far," Dad said."Nobody did," Ava assured him, "and everyone was expecting it since it was April Fools' Day." She paused to take a bite of broccoli. "But then there's Louise. Today she was all smiles and sweetness to Mrs. Potter during math class but then said mean things about her at recess. Sometimes I don't know what to make of her. She says she's a Christian, but there are times when she doesn't act like one. Like she's just fooling people."Dad frowned. "I can think of three people right here who don't always act like Christians. Let's keep that in mind. It's possible for any one of us to fool others.""But I've seen Louise do that stuff too," said Jayden. "She acts one way around the teachers and another when they're not looking. It's hard to trust her."Ava nodded. "It seems like there's another side to her that only some of us see.""Well, if what you say is true, that doesn't mean she's not a Christian," said Dad. "We all struggle to do what's right in some areas of our lives. But if any one of us is trying to fool people into thinking we're Christians when we're not, there's someone who can never be fooled. God knows exactly what's in our hearts. We can't hide anything from Him, and we don't have to, because Jesus died for us so all our wrongs could be forgiven. Now, let's pray for Louise and think of ways we can show her love and support instead of talking about her."–Hazel W. Marett How About You?Are you trying to fool someone into thinking you're a Christian? You may fool your parents, pastor, teachers, or classmates, but you can never fool God. He knows exactly what's in your heart, and He offers you grace and forgiveness. Admit your need for a Savior and trust in Jesus today. (To learn more, click the "Good News!" button in the right column of this page or go to www.keysforkids.org/goodnews.)Today's Key Verse:Do not be fooled. You cannot fool God. (NLV) (Galatians 6:7)Today's Key Thought:It's impossible to fool God

Every work day we take our lunch hour to escape from the work day briefly and relax with our crew. Today is top 5 Tuesday where Scott will count down his top 5 favorite "Gatcha" Movies. and can't wait to see what the chat has to offer.  In Addition the age group workouts have been released and we will take a quick look at those.  Cat's new show starts tomorrow night at 8:00PM EST.

Send us a textHappy April Fools Day, Loca!  https://youtu.be/2CLzjKXzwB0?si=sLl_8Muj59M_p3N2Support the showCheck out our books (and support local bookstores!) on our Bookshop.org affiliate account!Starting your own podcast with your very cool best friend? Try hosting on Buzzsprout (and get a $20 Amazon gift card!)Want more??Visit our website!Join our Patreon!Shop the merch at TeePublic!If you liked these stories, let us know on our various socials!InstagramTiktokGoodreadsAnd email us at sortofthestory@gmail.com

April 1st is known as the Day of Dignity only Americans celebrate Fools Day.... Gotcha.... Gotcha....

愚人节这一天，如何轻松快乐的度过呢？今天卡卡老师分享10个既能制造惊喜瞬间，又避免尴尬翻车而且不失幽默的整蛊英语句子。快点学起来吧！New Words:shoelace /ˈʃuːleɪs/ n. 鞋带spider /ˈspaɪdər/ n. 蜘蛛Crawl up /krɔːl ʌp/ v. 爬上来Gotcha /ˈɡɑːtʃə/ interj. （口语）抓住了！zipper /ˈzɪpər/ n. 拉链lottery /ˈlɑːtəri/ n. 彩票bug /bʌɡ/ n. 虫子；v. 窃听1. Your shoelaces are untied... Oh wait, they're not! April Fools!你鞋带散了... 哦，其实没有！愚人节快乐！2. I just saw a spider crawling up your back... Gotcha!我刚看到蜘蛛爬你背上了... 上当了吧！3. The boss said we're working weekends now... Just kidding!老板说我们周末要加班... 假的！4. Your laptop camera is recording... Just kidding!你笔记本摄像头在录像... 骗你的！5. There's a $100 bill under your chair... April Fools!你椅子下有张100美元... 骗你的！6. Hey, your zipper's down... Just kidding!喂，你拉链开了... 逗你玩的！7. I found a winning lottery ticket! We're rich!我捡到张中奖彩票！我们发财啦！8. There's a bug in your salad… April Fools'!你沙拉里有虫……愚人节！9. You've got a parking ticket… Just kidding!你收到罚单了……开玩笑啦！更多卡卡老师分享公众号：卡卡课堂 卡卡老师微信：kakayingyu001送你一份卡卡老师学习大礼包，帮助你在英文学习路上少走弯路

Pags pulls back the curtain on the insidious use of “gotcha questions” in today's media—how they're designed to trap, twist, and push a narrative, not uncover truth. He shares real-world examples of how modern journalism is losing its standards. PLUS—Victor Davis Hanson returns to weigh in on the media's collapse, political weaponization, and what it means for the future of the Republic. This is a powerful wake-up call! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vincent, Buffy and other family matter.Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels. It is selfish to believe that your family will always love you. At some point you will be asked to earn it The main front was stabilizing. The 2nd Army was in tough shape though all three divisions were still in the fight. The 1st Army's 2nd and 9th Divisions had corked up the advances out of Cambodia. As soon as night fell, they would maneuver the majority of the 2nd Division to crush the Alliance forces north of Bangkok. The rioters would be crushed tomorrow morning. They would survive.This realization came too late to them. The rot of fear had infected the 1st Army, 1st Division and the police force commands. Of more importance, a small group of secretive individuals convinced two senior Thai officers that something had to be done before the city fell, or the Prime Minister reasserted control over the city.Those two conspirators had the same problem as the Loyalists, enemy troops and protestors in the street. Those officers had no way to contact the crucial enemy commanders, but they knew who did, the Indian Navy. Surreptitiously, they contacted the Indian Navy's Expeditionary Fleet. The fleet's Admiral quickly put them in touch with the Alliance Command Authority and within two hours, a deal was made.The Great Khan would stop the Alliance offensive if the King of Thailand made a public appeal, no strings attached. This new group of rebels and the Alliance worked out the path they needed to take to reach the King so that the Alliance forces were out of the way and no planes, or helicopter attacked their formations. They even had a TV station that would broadcast the King's speech ending the conflict. All they needed was nightfall.And that was the true story of how the counter-coup was pulled off, how the King of Thailand was able to talk to the Great Khan and how the Thai government was overthrown. In the final analysis, the Loyalist hadn't fallen before the might of the Alliance. They were done in by a tiny number of Black Lotus operative almost no one knew existed, with a small amount of assistance from JIKIT."No wonder the Seven Pillars has never been able to wipe out these guys," Addison yawned. "They are slippery as eels and thrice as lethal. I am glad they are on our side." Several sets of eyes looked at her skeptically. "I mean, I am glad we are currently working toward the same goals."Thus,"I suggest we all get some sleep," Addison declared as she stood up and stretched.Odette was comfortably asleep, so I curled her up and carried her to the elevator. I wanted to go home and forget that I had lost any semblance of a normal life. I didn't know what was worse; me doing the shit I was doing, or me understanding what I was doing. Juanita had gone down ahead of us to pull the car around to the front.Chaz, Pamela, Odette and I went down in the first wave of the exodus from the workplace. The door opened on the ground floor. I wasn't the first person to notice her. My reflexes had improved to the point I had a moment to recognize her before the people around me sprang into action.Pamela side-stepped to the right, pistol mystically appearing in her two-hand grip. Chaz, Chaz bore Odette and me to the ground. His level of dedication astonished me. He was shielding us with his body. From what, I hadn't been able to determine."Deadman switch," one of my aunts stated. "I want to talk with Cáel." The voice had a stressed tenor to it."Back outside," Pamela simmered."No.""Chaz, what is going on?" I asked him. He hadn't moved and wasn't letting me wiggle around to see."Explosive vest," he responded coolly. That's right. Chaz was shielding Odette and me with his body.That is what I found astonishing, his desire to give his life for me. His expectation that Pamela could kill the threat while he was currently occupied was understandable."We seem to be at an impasse," Pamela edged further away.She wasn't avoiding the blast radius. That was impossible in this lobby. No, if it came to firing, she was making it easier for Chaz to get a shot off since the shooter couldn't cover both angles of attack."Let me talk to him," my aunt insisted. This made no sense."Chaz, let me deal with this," I told my bodyguard."Are you sure?" he questioned."Not really. As Pamela said, she's not going to let any of us leave until she talks to me and if you kill her, she kills all of you." Chaz let me stand.Odette was just awakening to the threat. Chaz rose to stand by my side. (Sadly, Odette didn't rate him dying for her.) I prayed I didn't fuck this up."Cáel, is that really you?" the women with green eyes and red hair asked me. She sounded desperate, which would explain the suicide vest."Yeah, which one are, Mom?"{9:10 pm, Tuesday, September 2nd ~ 6 Days to go}"Yes, I'm Sibeal. Are you my son?""Do you mean   No! Grandfather Cáel hasn't supplanted my spirit with his own," I took a deep breath. "I'm not sure how I can convince you of this.""Do you miss your Father?" she queried."Yes," I murmured."Ahh Cáel, you are still my son. Thank all that is divine," she sighed."Care to deactivate the vest now?" Pamela suggested."Do you promise not to shoot me? You two, and the one sneaking up on me from behind." She meant Juanita, who had sensed the danger and exited the car."You are three kinds of crazy, so I'm not making any guarantees," Pamela answered."Pamela   Chaz, I really think she is my mother. And I assume she is here to kill Cáel O'Shea, not me," I interjected. I still wasn't leaving Chaz' side. "Please don't kill her.""No guarantees," Chaz affirmed."She's his mother," Odette chimed in. "If it was anyone else, they would be in a cloud of bodyguards, not alone.""Here is the deal, Mom. You deactivate the vest, then we will talk. Otherwise, I'm taking my security's advice and backing the fuck out of here.""Okay," she nodded. "It's a fake. I'm upset, but not enough to be suicidal. I wanted to see what you would do. Father would have sacrificed everyone else. You got tackled and you obeyed the man who was trying to save your life.""Chaz, what do you think?" Pamela asked him."We could hold her here until Virginia shows up. That would give Cáel a few minutes to reminisce before she gets dragged off to the looney bin." (That would, of course, lead to her death while in Federal custody   so that wasn't happening, period.)"I concur," Pamela agreed. She still had her gun out and aimed. She went to a one-handed grip so she could motion Juanita to come inside.I took the opportunity to walk around Chaz, though I only advanced half way."I think it is asking too much from my bodyguards to walk up to you with that vest lying at your feet," I pointed. "You know   just in case you are lying." She nodded, smiled and came forward. A hug was in the offing. I almost missed Odette coming up behind me."I'm on a timetable," Mom murmured into my shoulder. "You know why.""I am afraid I do," (my pheromones were already affecting her). "What brought this on? How long can you stay?""The kidnapping made it imperative. But this has been my first opportunity to get close enough to you to determine if my father had won, or not," she confessed."I'm not sure how long I can remain ~ maybe a day, or three. I have heard you have an upcoming ordeal you must go through for your Amazons." Odette again by way of Delilah. I decided to give Delilah the benefit of the doubt and just accept that she did what she did because she was worried about me."Oh. Mom, this is Odette Sievert, my roommate and all-around better friend than I deserve." Odette extended her hand. Mom reached past me and shook it."Nice to finally meet you in person," Mom smiled."Nice to realize you aren't as nutty as the rest of the bunch,and considering you came at Pamela and Chaz with a fake suicide vest   that is saying something," Odette grinned."My son is all I have left of Ferko (my dad)," she grew grim. "If my father stole him after killing my husband   I wouldn't know how to carry on.""Aaahh," Odette stammered through this tense family moment. "You are about to be a grandmother in a serious way," she tried to turn things around. "How does a dozen grandkids sound?"Operational security and secret information were concepts Odette was aware of. She simply refused to use either one."Really?" Mom looked from Odette to me. "How serious?""How about we get out of here before the FBI shows up," I began directing my mom out the doors."Cáel?" Chaz questioned."Hey now, I never agreed to hand my mom over to Virginia. The vest was fake. Let's not dwell on this," I urged Mom and Odette out the door."Ishara," Juanita repeatedly prayed, "why do you test me so?"Chaz and Pamela showed their faith in me and my decision-making ability by tagging along. For me, what does a son who hasn't spent any time with his mother since he was seven (because she was supposedly dead for the past fifteen years) ask first?Actually, we waited for Chaz, who had the presence of mind to ensure the vest was truly a dud and then called Virginia so she could clean up one of my messes   yet again."Thank you, Color Sergeant," Mom looked toward Chaz as the GL 550 pulled away from One Mi Ma1 Tower. Unfortunately, the look he sent her way wasn't friendly."Thanks for reminding me," I nodded to Mom. "Chaz, what in the Hell possessed you to jump on Odette and me? I appreciate it,""Me too," Odette chimed in."But please don't do that ever again. Of all the, let's just say I have too many deaths of people I like on my mind. I don't want you added to that list.""Tough.""Well, thanks for considering my request," I groaned."Chaz, three nights ago our boy learned that one of the women he knocked up is going to die and no one will intervene to save her life and they won't tell him where she is," Pamela let him know."Who do we talk to?" he asked me. By 'talk' I assumed he meant torture until they coughed up a viable location/suspect."The Goddess Ishara.""Fuck. I apologize, Cáel. That is hard news for a young man like you to take. As for my jumping on you   suck it up. It is my job to make sure you can do yours.""Juanita," Pamela called out. "Stop driving to Havenstone. Take us back to Cáel's place. He won't let the Amazons take his mother, which means I won't let them, which means Chaz won't let them. Besides, Odette could get killed in the cross-fire and too many people like her for that to be safe for any would-be assassin.""Really?" Odette perked up. Of course she wasn't worried about being killed. Odette was fascinated that people found her valuable   enough to kill anyone who killed her. She'd more fully grasp that curse later on. She was a genuinely nice person. What Pamela left unsaid was that if 'people' thought someone might kill Odette, they would 'proactively' protect her. Too many people she now hung out with were of that stripe of crazy."Pamela, would you miss me if I got killed?" Odette turned to the most dangerous person in the car. (I didn't think Mom was in her league, but then I had never seen her fight, so I was keeping an open mind.)"You bet your ass, Baby-cakes," she grinned at my super-kind sidekick."Me too," Chaz added gruffly. "Of greater importance, Addison would take umbrage. Next to Ms. Love, she's the nastiest bitch I've ever met." He meant that as a compliment."Not Lady Yum   I meant Worthington-Burke?" I inquired."She doesn't take things personally. She'd miss Odette, but not enough to move off-mission," Chaz explained."Let's not forget Buffy," Pamela snorted. "What she lacks in experience she makes up for by being totally psychotic and fanatically loyal to Wakko here. People who piss him off tend to end up as a place holder on the Obituary page.""Unless they never find the bodies," Juanita commented   from her personal experience disposing of people for me. Groan."Cáel, I am so happy I met you," Odette hugged my arm. "My life was going nowhere before you gave me your phone number. Now, I know my life is at risk and I don't care. Being with you has been more wonderful than I ever thought possible."Mom was studying me, both pleased and worried."What?" I asked."You have a lot of your grandfather in you. He did have a gift for inspiring the best out of people. You are like your father in that you care for those people   caring for both their lives and their happiness. Your father inspired that same kind of loyalty because he kept the needs of his people in the forefront of his mind.""Dad was like Grandpa?" I worried."Hell no." That was Pamela."Thank the Divine, no," Mom exhaled at the same time. "How do you know my father?""I killed him," Pamela grinned."You were the one? I'm, I don't know what to think," Mom murmured."Keep that in mind before you try to pull another stunt like you did tonight," Pamela's grin grew feral."Pamela is the best Grandmother I could ever hope for," I explained."Spiritually speaking," Odette tried to lighten the mood (she was a cracker-jack morale officer). "Otherwise it would make Cáel's having sex with her granddaughters rather, suspect.""Odette, you can say 'incestuous'," Mom gave a half-grin. "Do you know much about my family?""Your Pa created you and your sisters to be fuck-toys who also ran errands for him," Odette nodded. "They are all loonies.""Don't share that view with them," Mom cautioned. "When we last met, they had a highly under-developed sense of humor and a well-cultivated mean streak.""Gotcha," Odette giggled. "After dealing with the Slayers of Testicles numbers 1 & 2, I have learned what kind of wacky girls Cáel attracts without even trying.""I really should make sure Mr. Fiennes is okay," I reminded myself."You would do better catching up with that girl down the hall. The Korean takeout girl also asked about you", offered Odette. Yeah, the girl in 3-F baked me some cookies when Dad was murdered."How many grandchildren are we talking about?" Mom looked at me with some serious maternal affection."Who are the Slayers of Testicles?" Juanita wanted to know. My family jewels belonged to House Ishara   at least in her and her sisters' estimation."Oneida's bodyguards," Odette let slip out before she saw the warning look in my eyes."You are sleeping with the apprentice of House Arinniti?" gasped Juanita   I was hoping her questioning wasn't hurting her driving. "What about the 84 day rule?""I'd better not bring up Rhada," Odette nodded thoughtfully."I'm going to spank you," I growled at Odette."Was that aimed at me?" Juanita."Yippee, and we are going home now, too!" Odette squealed."Not you, Juanita   Odette. I want to teach her how to 'not say' whatever pops up in her head," I grumbled."You promised to punish me!" she beamed brightly. "Punish me! Punish me!""Uuuuuuu," I beat my cranium against the headrest in front of me."I thought she was the 'nice' girl," Mom chided me."She was," Pamela smirked. "Unfortunately, she's been totally corrupted by your son.""Yep," Odette agreed. "He's opened up a whole new horizon of things sexual for me.""Son, how many women are you seeing? I thought you were engaged." Mom."Uuuuuuu," I repeated."I'll take care of this," Chaz intervened calmly. "He is as loyal as he can be   within the bounds of his limited moral arsenal   to Hana Sulkanen. So he is sexually and romantically involved with Brooke Lee and Libra Chalmers, civilians he met through contacts at Havenstone. There is Anais Saint-Armour, RCMP, who departed this weekend,""She'll be back," Pamela assured Mom. "They always come back at least once.""Who has only come back just once?" Chaz laconically questioned Pamela."Good point," Pamela acceded. "They keep coming back until he changes the locks, his phone number and address." That made no sense,"I am glad you two are my friends," I groused. "I'd hate to think what you would say about me if you hated me.""You're welcome," Pamela grinned."Ms. Marla Chalmers," Chaz continued without missing a beat, "Libra's younger sibling, who your son indubitably impressed while in college; three teachers at an exclusive school, he met them while body-guarding a group of children; an assistant manager of a hotel he stayed at; six attractive, college-educated European young women,""Don't forget the Macedonian!" Pamela interjected."I have removed her from the list because she has no reliable way to hunt down our boy," he explained."Good point," Pamela nodded."They like busting your chops, don't they?" Mom smiled."As opposed to physically busting my chops   this I can live with.""You have matured nicely. Your father would be very pleased   quietly, of course.""Thank you Mom." She knew the man better than I ever would."We won't count the 189 Amazons who have staked a claim to him for the next nine days," Chaz added."What! 189? When did that happen?""The thirty huntresses and the 159 members of House Ishara," Pamela clued me in."159? When did that happen?" I gasped again. I was repeating myself   not good. I knew I had told Buffy to 'keep up the good work', but still, House Ishara wasn't even two months old yet."They are the best of the roughly 20,000 Runners in the Host and thus, all are serious bad-ass bitches," Pamela assured me. "I think Helena would like you to explore a few more heroic Runners who have since passed.""Passed?" Mom."Cáel sees dead people," Odette beamed."So does his Aunt Baibre," Mom said."Met her, came off a bit, off," I confirmed."That's Baibre. What other ones have you met, besides Deidre and Brianna?"She was asking if I had met others outside of Delilah's watchful eye."Hmm, Imogen, Kelly and Matilda.""Okay. You haven't met the bad ones yet," Mom nodded. I was stunned yet again. Not by what Mom said, but by,"The 'bad ones'?" Pamela inquired. "They come in shades worse than Kelly and Matilda?""I'm with you on that. Those two were unsettling," Chaz agreed. Holy Shit! Pamela and Chaz were agreeing that two of my aunts had them worried on a tactical level. So 'not good' for me, since I couldn't take either of my friends. Bad-bad."Fiona is the worst. She is the second youngest of my generation and by far the most lethal. She was Father's pet.""Oh joy," I sighed."Is she bulletproof?" Chaz inquired."Not quite, but she is definitely hard to kill. She has a greater share of Alal while remaining sane.""Oh, she's the sane one?" Juanita joined in."On that side of his family, sane is a relative term." Thanks, Odette."Relative to how far your cock is into them?" Pamela snorted."Hold on now," I interrupted the jocularity. "What do you mean   'your generation'   'the second youngest'   what happened to the youngest   and when you say 'worst', define 'worst'."Pamela's phone rang."Father created three generations of daughters and sons. Carrig was the 'success' on the male side of the equation."Uncle Lumpy was the 'success'? What had the other uncles been like   idiot cyclops cannibals?"He destroyed all the rest.""Please clarify," Chaz studied my mother. "Your father murdered his own children?""Yes. All but one of the 36 sons. He kept Carrig around as a reminder to not create any more sons. The first generation of daughters were all 'failures'.""You mean dead?" Odette gulped."Yes   dead now, though he viewed all of us as property, not human beings.""Consider Grandad's low opinion of humanity, that's extra tragic," I put an arm around Odette. Pamela was muffling her conversation."Of the second generation of daughters, only Aunt Faoiltiama was kept around. I always had the impression her soul wasn't entirely human. She is rather primitive and predatory. A less horrifically unbalanced Carrig   physically that is. Carrig was somewhat more erudite.""Wow, I don't know what to think of that," I mumbled."Of my generation, eleven of us were allowed to live. Kelly and Maitilda are the most physically dangerous. That was their purpose   killing things.""Trained in combat styles by Cáel's grandfather?" Chaz looked, depressed."Yes. The four of us were. Fiona was the only one I couldn't best.""I would like to spar with you when it is convenient," Chaz requested."Okay. You deserve to know how bad it can be," she nodded. "Of the rest, Una was the youngest, the most human and humane. She was Father's final failure. I was never sure why he kept her alive.""For Cáel to rescue, of course," Odette insisted. Crap. She was right. By the horrified look on my Mother's face, she knew Odette was correct as well.Alal had let Una live as a contingency card, in case I was a soft-hearted sap. In hindsight, it was obvious. The innocent damsel trapped in a madhouse, at the mercy of her fiendish kinfolk, she was a perfect weapon to make me do stupider shit than normal."Damn," Mom muttered. "Anyway, Briana is the most willful and the family's representative to the Illuminati. Deidre is the most sedate, so she handles the normal business interests that we are allowed to know about. Darcie had Alal's hunger for lost and forbidden lore. In her case, it is all-consuming. She has memorized much of Father's collection.""She is rather good at it too   or was when I last saw her. Imogen is our tactician and oversees the O'Shea's bodyguard contingent. She has Father's ability to choose the best men and women, to train them to a razor's edge and to inspire fanatic loyalty.""Sadhbba: she is Father's spy master; with the exceptionally eerie talents of subterfuge, deceit and finding the weakness in others. She and I did not get along. Fiona could do it all, except for my talent.""Which is?" Chaz took over, since Pamela was waving me over for a close, quiet chat concerning her phone call."Fiona was an updated version of me. She was slightly better at everything I could do, except for one thing. I had Father's sixth sense about things. Fiona did not, and that was the reason she hated me so much. Father stoked our internal conflicts to keep us all on edge.""Good to know," Chaz understated his concern. "Do you have any intelligence on how, when and with what your father will come after our boy?" I wasn't insulted by the 'our boy' moniker. He wasn't calling me a child. He was telling Mom that I was 'one of the boys'   on his team. I felt all warm and tingly. My dearth of long-term male friends had meant I had never really been in a fraternity   the close brotherhood of men   before."Problem for you to deal with," Pamela handed me the phone. "It is Tabitha Loire." Tabitha? Vincent's   FBI Special Agent Vincent Lorie's   drop-dead gorgeous daughter. He had taken more than one bullet in Romania. I hadn't heard from him since that morning at the hospital, before being whisked away to the US via Germany. I remained a lousy friend."Hello? Who is this?" the weary, angry voice on the other end of the connection spoke."Cáel Nyilas. Tabitha Loire, what can I do for you?""What can you tell me about my Father?""Oh God! He is not dead, is he?" I grunted. Pause."No. No, Da is okay. He was released from the hospital a week ago. I would like to talk to you about what happened to him overseas.""He won't tell you?""No. Neither will his boss, or any of his acquaintances. Mr. Nyilas, he is down in the dumps and I want to know what I can do to help out. If you are his friend, you should help."I couldn't blame her for being both bitter and exasperated. She had run full tilt into the Great Wall of National Security and been stopped cold."How about I come down and talk to you?" I offered. "What I can tell you shouldn't go out over a phone and I have been remiss in not catching up with your father sooner.""Umm, when?""I'll take the next train down tonight," I decided. "We'll arrange some vehicles at the station. What is your address?" She hesitated. After all, she had Pamela's number, not mine and I was tied into her father being shot   badly. She gave me the address, her desire to know what happened overcoming her caution when dealing with strangers. "I'll give you a call when we arrive in Alexandria.""Train?" Juanita griped. Chaz pulled out his phone and called Agent-86 for both the next train from Penn Station to Alexandria and an update to Virginia and the Homeland Security people for clearance to bring along our ironmongery. Pamela looked at me with pride. So did Mom. Whatever Juanita's opinion of me was, it was concealed by her call to someone else   probably updating Buffy on my itinerary."Vincent was the Federal Agent who was wounded at Miercurea Ciuc?" asked Mom."I need to have a talk with Delilah," Pamela glowered."I want to be in the room when you do," Chaz agreed."Juanita   Penn Station and call someone at Executive Services to pick up our car. Long term parking there is a bitch," I related.Was it? I had no idea, but Alal apparently did. I had been to Penn Station three times; and I never had a vehicle that needed a parking space. All three times, Havenstone sent a car to pick me up. That was for my preliminary and final interviews, plus handling all the paperwork after I got the job.I'd left Bolingbrook in a U-Haul truck (without much in it) a week before starting work. I had an iron-clad belief I could find a place to live within that time span. That was all the time and money I had allotted to that endeavor. My budget had been tight, or so I believed.Unlike the other four chuckleheads who joined the New Directive, I hadn't received a signing bonus. Maybe I should have asked for one. Too late for that now."You taking your mother to meet Vincent?" Odette poked me. I looked from Pamela to Odette then back again.Sneaky-ass bitches. They were introducing my widowed Mother to a really nice, mature guy who was brave, a good father, a widower and all-around stand-up guy. He had a ready-made family, an oldest daughter my age. Beyond some physical similarities, Vincent was not much like Dad. Dad was a quiet, private man.By the nature of his job as a Field Agent, Vincent had to possess superior communication skills. Physically, they were nearly the same height, but Dad was broader in the shoulders. On the other hand, Vincent had both a warrior's spirit and the skills to back it up.But why Mom? Her life was more a disaster than mine, and mine was colossally fucked up."Don't get any ideas," Pamela put out there. Was she talking to me? "Chaz and I don't like you. Your father is a rat-bastard with a mind like a snake. We have no idea if you are yet another one his plots to get at Cáel."They were still taking her with us as we went to see Vincent in Virginia. Since this was going to be a quick trip   I had to be back at Havenstone at 6 a.m.   no clothing was necessary. Chaz received a call from Agent-86 with a follow-up call as we pulled up to the station. I didn't know the nature of the second call until we went to pick up our tickets for the 10:05 Northeast Regional.Waiting there was my old buddy and now sister, Wilma Draper/Ishara. I was at a loss why. It wasn't as if I needed more firepower than Juanita, Chaz and Pamela in the confined environment of a train."Wilma?""Hello Ish   Cáel," she smiled. She was emotionally pumped."What are you doing here?""Oh... Buffy told me that I was to be here on assignment to fulfill an Isharan obligation." This would be Wilma's first mission for House Ishara, no matter how brief and danger-free it might be. She was ecstatic.Huh? I couldn't recall any obligation I owed Buffy, or Vincent. Unlike every other Amazon House, things regularly happened without the Head of House's knowledge. Face facts: I was the least prepared leader the Host had ever had. I compensated by having hyper-competent underlings   the very best of the best Runners-turned-Full-blooded Amazons."Ah," Pamela nodded, sensing my loss of understanding, "A promise to provide Vincent a bodyguard was made in your presence. Being the highest ranking member of the Host present, and failing to pass on that knowledge, it falls to your House to answer that pledge.""Wilma, you are here to be Vincent Loire's bodyguard?""Only temporarily. The current state of affairs at HQ won't allow me to take more than three days leave. Your 'First' is seeking another appropriate Isharan for the task."I had totally dropped the ball.The initiative to bring JIKIT and the Amazons together was my creation. Katrina had approved it, yet it was my status as Chief Diplomat of the Host (as I had redefined that role,) that was responsible for that group, and thus Vincent. There was also another undercurrent to providing Vincent an Amazon bodyguard. I would be sending Vincent the message that he was still a valuable member of the team. His infirmity was simply a temporary difficulty.I gave Javiera a call. I suddenly needed to know Vincent's status with the FBI. A little past Philadelphia, she called back. Vincent was on long-term leave and, barring a positive physical assessment, he would never be going back into the field. They were making him a desk jockey for the rest of his career. That would be a heavy enough blow to the man to put him in the dumps.I made my view clear. As Unpaid Honcho Assigned to Unit L &  U HAUL, I wanted Vincent on my team   JIKIT's field team. I had plenty of lethal shooters. I needed a trained investigator and a veteran lawman to keep us aware of the niceties the world's legal systems wished to live by. I finished that off with a very regal "Make it so!" Javiera, my boss, hung up on me; though I thought I caught a laugh before the connection was cut."Pamela," Chaz turned to Pamela, "I am proud to call him 'brother'.""I think he is coming along nicely, Grandson Charles," Pamela preened. Wha- huh? My family had grown yet again. Grown yet again with people who were better than me."Does that make Aya your niece?" a sleepy Odette smiled."I guess it does," he nodded."Aya will love you," Pamela smiled."I hope Caitlyn loves him too," I smirked."A man could do worse than marrying an Amazon," Chaz blithely retorted. Less I forget, the Tomorrow Clan had its own long warrior tradition."Asking it to be three thousand years long is a bit too much," Pamela agreed with what I had not spoken aloud."On the plus side," I began."He's also getting several frisky sisters-in-law," Pamela finished. Hi-Five."Super Twin Powers Activate!" we proclaimed loudly.Fuck Ishara for taking Tad fi from me. I could be just like my Father. I could bleed off my pain with humor and look at my daughter with untainted love."When I grow up, I want to be just like you," Odette yawned. Which one of us she wanted to emulate wasn't clear.{Wounded, but not forgotten}{2:00 am, Wednesday, September 3rd ~ 5 Days to go}The tickets were one-way. Katrina was having a private jet come down at 4 a.m. to fetch me. We arrived in DC at 1:30. Two bleary-eyed State Department flunkies met us with an S U V and a sedan. We took the S U V ~ we had seven people ~ while they drove the sedan back so they could try to make something of the night that duty had destroyed.They looked curious about what this was all about and were a bit disappointed that no explanation was forthcoming from our crowd. We were polite, and I thanked them for their service. Being a decent human being doesn't cost you much and can pay serious dividends.The drive to Casa de Loire took thirty minutes. Juanita informed me the small airport I would be flying out of was a twenty minute drive, so I had roughly an hour and half with Vincent and his family. When we arrived, Juanita sent Wilma to make a 'walk-around' Vincent's home so she could get the lay of the land as well as keep an eye out for voyeurs.Pamela saved another series of frowns from Juanita by being the first person to the door. Tabitha had called her after all. Tabitha, Vincent's oldest and a Georgetown University senior, clearly didn't know what to make of us, and we weren't making it any easier for her by showing up on her stoop three hours after she had called Pamela.It wasn't going to get better. For starters, Juanita (and the not visible Wilma) had a MP-7A1. Ya know  military-grade weaponry. The door opened halfway. It was Gretchen Loire, the middle daughter."Hello. May I help you?" That wasn't her being uninformed about our imminent arrival. This was the child of an FBI agent allowing a stranger at her door to identify themselves instead of giving them a name to use."I'm Pamela Pile," my mentor answered. "This is Cáel Nyilas, my grandson. The gentleman to his left is my other grandson, Color Sergeant Chaz Tomorrow of the British military. To the left is Juanita Garza, my younger grandson's bodyguard   the one without a gun in his hand. The young lady in back is Odette Sievert, another one of your father's co-workers. The woman beside her is Sibeal Nyilas, Cáel's mother. Don't trust her   long story. A seventh member of our group is checking out your backyard. Her name is Wilma Draper.""You are heavily armed. Is my Da in trouble?""I want to talk to your father, if that is okay with you. I'll let Cáel answer your questions. He's our titular boss."'Thanks Pamela', I groaned inwardly.She was cute, exhausted and emotionally-vulnerable. Eager for answers and for someone to make sense of a world where her anchor   her father   had been nearly killed (not that his wounds had really been life-threatening). I hadn't had sex in over a day and that had only been a tension-breaker quickie with Odette.As we entered, it was obvious that Gretchen and her younger sister, Mariyah, had camped out in the front living room, catching some 'z's' on a recliner and a sofa with light blankets for covers. Mariyah was on the sofa, sitting up on her elbows and struggling to wake up.As Chaz shut the front door, Tabitha came down the stairs."Mr. Nyilas," she greeted me. Well, I was an infamous celebrity. I even had two Facebook pages (Nyilas Nailed Me! and Az  j Magyarorsz g kir lya (The New King of Hungary)) as well as four Instagram accounts devoted to me."Ms. Loire," I met her halfway and shook her hand."Call me Tabitha.""Call me Cabbage-Head," I grinned. That caught her off guard."Oh, kay, not what I expected." (I get that a lot) "We need to talk," she failed to stifle a grin."If you sleep with any of these girls, I will shoot you," Pamela warned me in Hittite."Excuse me?" Tabitha looked her way."Don't worry about it, Tabitha," Pamela gave her a congenial look. "I simply warned the boy that if he acted inappropriately, I would scar him.""Aren't you engaged?" she turned on me."Yes. Yes I am. Hana is a wonderful woman; beautiful, smart, with a big heart and a serious nature. Sadly for her, I'm a lousy human being, untrustworthy cad and perpetually prone to making bad decisions where women are concerned. Very bad decisions.""Miss, since my associate appears to be eminently capable of mangling the English language, let me help you clarify the situation: Cáel can't say 'no' where a woman is concerned. He can't even say, 'no, please don't hurt me', or 'no, not now. I'm talking to my date'.""Hi. I'm Odette. There are four sane people in this room and I'm one of them.""Says the woman who snuck aboard a transatlantic fight and hid in a place in the galley which you couldn't get out of," Pamela snorted."I got to go to Europe for free," she defiantly perked up. "Oh, and ladies," to the Lorie girls, "your father is a wonderful and brave male. (OK, too much time around the Amazons for her.) "He saved my life in Budapest.""He was in Budapest?" Gretchen."When?" Tabitha."Why?" Mariyah."We need to talk to Vincent  

Diplomatic Hell Hole.Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels."Are we in the right place?" the stranger worried."I'm afraid so. Anais, you need to leave.""Not until you tell me what is going on here," she sizzled."She's not here to have sex, if that's what you worried about," I retorted. "Wait, are you here to have sex with me?""I barely know you.""That rarely stops me," I muttered."He's a master of bedroom antics," Pamela praised me. "He's pretty much at a loss at doing anything else.""Thanks Grandma," I griped."Your welcome, Grandson.""We, are here to meet someone," the stranger hedged."You came to the right place," Pamela preempted me. "He's definitely someone.""Fine, redo. I'm Cáel Nyilas," (deep breathe), "NOHIO, HCIESI-NDI, U HAUL, Magyarorszag es Erdely Hercege plus a bunch of other honorifics that have yet to be confirmed. I am single-handedly bringing back medievalism to the center of Europe and the Near East. The woman to my left is Pamela Pale, and she really is my bodyguard. The woman to my right is Sgt. Anais Saint-Amour, RCMP, my ex-lover and the person that needs to leave   right now.""I'm not sure I should leave at this moment," Anais shifted possessively. I had to recall earlier this morning, the part where we'd broken up by mutual consent. Yep. That had really happened. I had thought I was whittling down my current list of paramours. Why do the Goddesses hate me so?"Told you, she can't give up that cock," Pamela whispered."As you can see, I have limited control of my life," I told the strange woman. "I know you are here to meet somebody who isn't me. Now you know who I am. Who are you and your companions?""I'm Ms. Quincy.""Sorry; I'm on a first name basis with everyone I meet," I interrupted."What's your rank, Honey?" Pamela added."What makes you think,?""She doesn't think. That's what makes her so dangerous." I explained."Hey now," Pamela faux-complained."Okay. She's a fledgling telepath, or medium," I shrugged."Captain, Zelda Quincy.""In case you are mesmerized by her tits," Pamela tapped me, "she's packing some serious hardware.""One of those personal defense gizmos?" I leaned Pamela's way."Close, but no cigar. She's my kind of girl, big 'bang-bang', back-up at the small of her back and knife in her boot.""What!" Zelda gulped."She's his knife-fighting instructor," Anais answered drolly."Are you Special Forces?" Zelda regarded my mentor."Nah, I got kicked out for a consistent failure to observe even the loosest Rules Of Engagement. I'm a free-spirit.""Oh, you're a sniper," Zelda nodded."I like this one," Pamela smiled."Ah, thank you." Then, over her shoulder, "I think we are in the right place." Zelda entered the room, followed by a Hispanic panther of a man (kind of like a tanned, slightly shorter Chaz without the cool accent) wearing a long coat, and a Subcontinent-cast woman who looked at everyone as if she expected us to sprout fangs, or start quoting the Koran any second now. She obviously was a brain seconded to this mission very much against her will.The fourth person had that cagey 'when my lips move, I'm lying' look while seemingly unhappy with her current assignment. The heavy implication was that the lady was a career diplomat. Considering our current company and who we were talking to, she was State Department. She was in her late 30's or early 40's and giving off the sensation she had devoted so much to her career that she was starting to wonder if that was all that life had to offer.The fifth member was a military man clearly uncomfortable about what he was doing here, thus not a spook. His off-the-rack suit wasn't terrible, so he expected to socialize somewhat while performing his duties. He also looked like a man who expected other people to speak half-truths and obfuscated lies as easily as they breathed. Numbers three, four and five were dressed for the weather and unarmed.All of this meant they were good at what they did, though they probably didn't know the particulars of what was expected of them. They had their marching orders. Those orders were about to be made irrelevant in the company they would be keeping. The latter weren't the 'doing it by rote' kind of people they would normally be dealing with."I bet you she's a doctor," I murmured to Pamela, "she's with State and he's some sort of Foreign Service type.""I bet the first guy is Air Force," she countered."Like one of those Para-rescue guys?""No. More like one of those Battlefield Air Operations guys, I'm guessing," she corrected me."That guy?" I nodded to the final guy. "Pentagon wonk?""More likely he's one of those embassy guys. I'm going to take an educated leap here, Office of Military Cooperation, Mongolia?""That is pretty clever of you. Kazakhstan. Major Justin Colbert.""I bet some people in the White House, Pentagon and Langley are disappointed with you right now," I reasoned. His jaw grew tight."Don't worry, Major," Pamela grinned. "We consider that a good thing. We don't like the people in charge and have a low opinion of their opinion on just about everything, including their habit of blaming the blameless for their government's fuck ups.""Who are these people?" the first man whispered to Quincy."She's a telepath." That was Zelda"She's a psychic-medium." That was Anais."She can see through time." That was me. "Nice to meet you. Who are you?""Chris Diaz. Lieutenant Colonel, USAF.""Dr. Saira Yamin," the second woman introduced herself. "Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies. Are you the man from Johnston Island?""Why yes, yes I am," I beamed."The APCSS is in Waikiki, Hawaii," Pamela educated me. "Your arrival probably cost her some prime surfing time.""I was more interested in the fact that he survived a plane crash in a Category Four Cyclone," she admitted."Mother Nature hates me. No matter how hard I try, she refuses to kill me," I confessed. "My suffering is an endless source of amusement to that bitch.""That, that wasn't the helpful answer I was looking for," she stammered."So, Lt. Colonel Chris Diaz, you must be with JSOC, I have a deep and abiding respect for you guys. If you need something, just ask," I greeted him. "Captain Zelda, you are not with JSOC.""She's with the DCS ~ that is the Defense Clandestine Service," Pamela kept going. "Zelda, you love being in your uniform, you're proud, yet happy with the concept of dying in an unmarked grave for Constitution and Country. You are too old to have been in the first female class at Ranger School, so that means no 'in the field' JSOC for you. You've gotten around that stone wall by joining the US Defense Department's own little pack of killers.""Also, you felt it was necessary to bring a Benelli M4-11707. That's a close-in action shotgun, but a bit over-kill considering the paper-thin walls in this building. That tells me you are used to being in the kinds of places where such a tool is a necessity. Or in other words, since you think you are meeting a band of terrorists, you brought along your favorite toy.""Your personal weapon is a SIG Sauer P229R DAK in .357 which is a new weapon still under trial by the US Army and Air Force. Your boot dagger is ceramic so it will pass a cursory exam, or scan. You hate the idea of being trapped on a public aircraft weaponless. You have also given up killing power for a proper balance for throwing. I like a forward-thinking gal.""Air Force ~ you've recently come back from Asia, most likely Tibet. It shows in your breathing brought about by a close call with Altitude Sickness. The only reason for an Air Force guy to be here is because he's familiar with the Khanate military and you are not US Army, or Marine Corp Special Forces. I know the type.""You went with the MP5K in the standard 9mm, so you are more interested in sending bullets down range than looking into someone's face as you kill them. You may be a 'light' Colonel, which means you are almost somebody. What your higher-ups haven't appreciated is that our guests will respect you because they are like that ~ remembering past friends and comrades in arms. Of greater importance, you have Cáel's gratitude which will count for more than you currently believe."I pledged then and there to be as good as Pamela at determining that kind of stuff before I died. She had assured me it was as much a matter of psychology as eagle-eyed perception. People were often a type that gravitated to various forms of destruction, be they old school, or going for the latest gadget."I told you all that firepower was excessive," State softly chastised her associates (what they really were, not the underlings she saw them as)."So, you appeared to have forgotten to tell us your name," I regarded the State lass."Nisha Desai Biswal. I'm with the government.""Oh, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, I've examined your website," I told her. It clearly pissed her off somewhat that I so swiftly disregarded her crude attempt at subtle manipulation."Hey. I've got some real enemies at State, so it pays to know who might be the next suit trying to cock me over," I explained. I had to prioritize. It would take some serious effort to convince Zelda to have a MFF three-way straight out the gate and she was definitely the hotter number."Major, you came here unarmed," Pamela noted. "That won't do. They expect you to be armed because you are a warrior, damn it. Cáel get him one of your Glock 22's.""Gotcha," I nodded. I went to my room, tipped away the false back to my closet (that Havenstone had installed recently so Odette wouldn't accidently fire off one of my weapons) and retrieved one of my spare Glocks, but not the one with the laser sight. Such over-the-top fancy gear would be inappropriate. I only gave him one mag. If he couldn't get the job done with 15 rounds, he wouldn't have a chance to reload.Mind you, I took two in a twin-rig shoulder holster and four 22 round magazines, because I tend to shoot two-handed which doesn't exactly give you a bullseye every time. I returned to our crowded living room, handed the Major his weaponry, and then directed the US group to the far side of the room (towards Timothy's bedroom. Saira and Nisha took the couch.Because this tiny space wasn't crowded enough, there was a knock at the door. I checked. It was Juanita, oh yeah, my real bodyguard."Listen up everybody," I announced to the room. "This is my other bodyguard, my official one. Her names is Juanita Leya Antonio Garza, she's from the Dominican Republic via Buenos Aires and she is armed, so don't freak out." I opened the door."What is going on?" Juanita hissed."I'm having a private meeting with a few heavily armed friends. The other side to this party hasn't arrived yet. Why don't you come in?" She came in."Why didn't you warn me?" she whispered her complaint."Long night, worse wake-up, needed to do some soul-searching. Pamela was looking after me, then this came up and I forgot. I apologize," I lowered my head in shame. Juanita was only trying to do the job she'd been entrusted with and by not thinking of her, I was making that so much harder.I made the introductions, first names only."Juanita, Anais, Pamela; please slip into the kitchenette," I suggested.Anais "Why?"Juanita "Where are you going to be?"Pamela "Sure. I'm starving. I'm going to raid the fridge.""Anais, because I need my faction in one place. Juanita, I will be refereeing this meeting, so I will have to remain in the living room, roughly six feet from you." It was really a small apartment. "Pamela, if it is edible, it isn't mine and you'll have to replace it."Great Caesar's Ghost! No wonder Big Wigs had their personal assistants handle this pre-meeting crap. I was on my last two fucking nerves and one of those was already stressed and tender. And the real reason for being here hadn't even arrived yet."Why am I in your faction?" Anais mulled over threateningly."Because you haven't walked out that door. There are going to be three sides to this meeting, not three plus Anais. That is the way it is going to be. Now, are you going to behave, or are Juanita and Pamela going to toss you out?""You are threatening me!""Finally catching on to that, aren't you, Sweetie?" Pamela chimed in."I'm only staying because I believe you are in trouble," Anais grumped."Why is she (Anais) here?" Nisha inquired heatedly. "This is supposed to be a very, very private encounter.""I know Anais. I don't know you. I trust Anais with my well-being despite the fact she has numerous reasons to distrust me. She's staying because she is a straight arrow. That's good enough for me.""But is she going to keep her mouth shut about what happens here today?" Nisha pressed."Anais, this is a clandestine meeting that isn't going to be recorded by anybody so, barring a crime being committed, you can never discuss this with anyone who isn't already in the room. Agreed?"Pause."I agree," she nodded. I really was going to have to fuck her again. Not today. Well, maybe not today; I had to keep my options open. Her investigator mind was going into overdrive. Give it a week and she'd be knocking on my door late one night. Inquisitive, truth-hungry dames are like that, trust me. Then it would be 'bask in my genius' sex. It had been a while since I'd experienced that, with Lady Yum-Yum.There was another knock at the door. I checked before Juanita could do the checking for me, in case someone was going to shoot me through the door. Fuck it. I was going to talk to Timothy about moving. Him, me and Odette. I couldn't give those two up. It was Kazak bookends. I opened up and invited them in. It turned out they had names besides Bookends #1 and #2, Nuro and Roman.Nuro (I think) checked out the rooms while Roman (I was pretty sure) kept an eye on my guests. I made introductions, first names only and specifying who was with who. Technically, they could trust my side because I was the Great Khan's brother and thus my servants were his servants. Technically.Iskender came next followed by OT. A woman I didn't know (sadly, not OT's daughter) came in behind him while the other two quintuplets stayed in the hallway. Iskender and I hugged."Ulı Khaan s yikti ağası," he smiled. That was 'Prince-something'. My Kazak was a bit rusty. He then whispered into my ear. "OT bows to you first. His title is Hongtaiji." What?"Ulı Khaan s yikti ağası," OT bowed."Hongtaiji Oyuun T m rbaatar," I bowed back. I remembered I had to rise first. It was an etiquette thing. In retrospect, Iskender had stretched the bounds of tradition by hugging me, his titular superior. "Welcome to my humble abode.""I thank you for your hospitality," he 'grinned'. His face wasn't made for that gesture so that faint gesture came across as rather unnatural.My mind finally finished translating what Iskender and OT had called me. It wasn't 'prince'. It was 'beloved brother of the Great Khan'. Mother fucker!"Wait," Justin, the military attach  guy muttered, "we are here to meet this guy?" indicating me."What do you mean?" Saira questioned."The title Mr. Nyilas was identified with means 'beloved brother of the Great Khaan'," he explained. "The Kazakhs don't go tossing honorifics like that around. This guy," again pointing at me, "is a really important somebody.""Thanks for dropping this grenade in my lap, OT," I joked. "I'll get you for this, and your little yak too.""Odette is going to be so miffed that she missed this," Pamela chuckled."Mr. Nyilas," Zelda began."Please, call me Cáel. It is how I roll.""Cáel, can I ask you a stupid question?""Go right ahead," Pamela snorted. "Cáel does stupid real well. It is a critical part of his skill set. It makes him adorable instead of annoying. Trust me, you'll learn that soon enough."Too much 'trust me' was flying around in a room where nobody trusted anybody."Thanks for that encouragement, Teach," I grumbled. "Ask away, Captain Zelda.""Why are you playing this game with us?""I wasn't. Until thirty seconds ago I was sure I was here totally as a spectator," I gripped. "My buddy," the word dripped with sarcasm, "Temujin likes dumping these kinds of surprises on me.""Did you mean what Ms. Pale said about you feeling you owed me?" Chris asked."Absolutely.""We need help defusing this Thailand crisis before a shooting war begins.""What do you suggest?""We want the Khanate to back down," Chris stated firmly."I thought we had agreed that I would spearhead this delegation," Nisha reminded Chris."I think the situation had evolved and we need a different approach," Chris insisted."You should listen to the Lieutenant Colonel," I advised. "He knows a whole lot more about what is going on than you do.""Why don't you explain it to us?" she began her weevil-ling."You are engaging in linguistic niceties with men who have bled together, Ms. Biswal," I instructed. "Not that Chris and I have bled on the same battlefield, we have shed blood in the same cause; and that cause has been bringing our two nations, the Khanate and the US, together. The Khanate owes Chris for his efforts on our behalf and we pay our debts.""How so?" Nisha asked."National Security stuff," I evaded. "If you don't know, you shouldn't know and you probably don't want to know. Suffice it to say, the Khanate is willing to listen to Lt. Colonel Diaz's request as a friend.""But he doesn't speak for the United States Government," she corrected."Why not?" I riposted. "He's dealt with the Khanate longer than you have. He has a clue about the mindset of their rank and file.""But does he know their leadership?" she persisted."I don't know. Chris, do you think you have a handle on me?""Are you really capable of talking for the Khanate government?" Nisha preempted Chris. What she left unsaid was 'are you culpable in their atrocities?'"Let's find out," I then looked over my shoulder. "Hongtaiji Oyuun T m rbaatar, will my words and wishes reach my brother's ear?""That is why I am here," he replied."Don't you have the authority to speak for your leader?" she grilled OT. Nisha was relentless trying to stay in the limelight. "Aren't you a diplomat?""There is no need to insult the man," Pamela snidely commented."I am one of many voices that provide information to the Great Khan. I am not his brother. Cáel Nyilas is and has already proved his familial affection by proposing Operation Funhouse and brought whole nations as gifts," OT schooled her. "He is gifted with both tactical and strategic insight as well as sharing the Great Khan's love for his people and his hopes for their eventual freedom.""I didn't think you were a soldier," Zelda looked me over."Oh no," I wove off that insinuation. "I've never been a real soldier and am unworthy of that distinction. I know quite a few who have earned that title and they scare the crap out of me. I mean, they go looking for trouble. In my case, trouble comes looking for me. I'm damn lucky to still be alive and that's the damn truth.""Bullshit," Pamela coughed."What was that, Artemisia?" I winked at her."Bitch," she laughed "My men have become women, and my women men. At least you didn't call me Cassandra.""Well, she's Greek (a deadly insult to all Amazons), but you could be her Evil Twin because everyone believes whatever you say.""Can we get down to business?" Chris inquired."Damn," Pamela shook her head. "They haven't been paying attention.""What does that mean?" Zelda griped."Iskender, you know what I'm talking about, don't you?" I asked."Not a clue, Exalted One," he stood there like a stone statue. Note, the Khanate contingent really were standing there like the Altai Mountains, doing nothing. You had to carefully examine them to see that they did indeed breathe and blink."Use small words," Pamela advised."You really are a rude misanthrope," Anais told Pamela."Do you know what's going on?" Pamela volleyed."No.""Then sit back and watch how the madness works," she snickered. "It is all you, Cáel.""Okay. One; how did Artemisia escape the battle of Salamis?" I began. Nothing."Oh," Justin nodded. "She rammed an allied ship to make the pursuing Athenians think she was an ally. What does that have to do with our current predicament?""Achieve your ends by using violence as a distraction," I sighed. "The Khanate will invade Thailand in," I looked to OT, "tomorrow?" He nodded."How does that help us?" Nisha complained."Second example, Cassandra. She saw the truth through all illusions and falsehoods and no one believed her. Now, reverse that."Pause."We are waiting," Saira finally joined the conversation. I could hear those little microprocessors inside her noggin firing electrons at light speed."We fight a phony war. The Khanate and their buddies invade in a lightning campaign that appears to be successful. Shit like attacking the opposition where they ain't. Things that look epic on CNN where some retired colonel, no offense...""None taken," Chris responded."Where some colonel talks about seizing resources, severed supply lines and encirclement. We, the Khanate, bomb shit like bridges and supply dumps, things with no civilians to get killed. On the downside, to make this work the Khanate needs to put some level of force into Bangkok.""That will get civilians killed," Nisha reminded me, unnecessarily."Civilians are getting killed right now by their own government. This time they will get a chance to strike back," I stated firmly. "The Thai protestors aren't cowards. They are just grossly outgunned. We can change that.""How does that help the United States?" Nisha queried."The US gets to come in and save the day," I sighed. "The US can t get there until the day after, so you don't look bad about letting the first 24 hours of brutality happen.""Oh," Zelda blinked."The US gets to end the fighting that the Khanate has no desire to continue. The US brings peace, while whomever takes over owes the Khanate. Both sides look good. Both sides claim victory. The President gets a second Nobel Peace Prize (psychic, aren't I?). The US gathers some regional allies like Malaysia, the ROC and the Philippines along with our Marines to ensure free and fair elections. The Khanate isn't seen to be backing down against the Titan of Western Civilization. They are working with them to bring about a better world.""Win-win," Saira nodded in agreement."The Khanate is still an autocratic tyranny," Nisha commented."As opposed to the People's Republic's oligarchical tyranny?" Chris countered."Agreed," Saira said. "I now think we should work with the Khanate to bring stability to Central Asia which which was impossible while those member nations were being squeezed between Russia, Europe, China and India.""What are you a doctor of?" I asked."I specialize in 'failed states', among other things," Saira grinned."This could still turn into one bloody cluster-fuck," Zelda mused."My peopled don't have the resources to devastate Thailand," OT finally spoke. "If you, the US, agrees to intervene on our timetable, you will have our thanks, off the record, of course.""How do we know this isn't some ruse to allow the Khanate to overthrow Thailand's existing government?" Justin questioned."You have my word," I replied. No one said anything for several heartbeats."Really?" Nisha balked."Mr. Nyilas, Cáel, do you give me the Great Khan's word?" Chris studied me intently."Without reservation," I answered. "For what you have done for us and more, the Great Khan will honor this deal. We and the Thai's will do the bleeding. You will get your accolades. We avoid a pointless clashing of forces, which is why we are all here today.""I will give you my written recommendation in a few hours," Saira told Nisha.Chris stepped forward to shake my hand. He was an alpha-type alright. I gave as good as I got. His eyes bore into mine, looking for a faltering of will."What did you do in Romania?""I got a lot of good men killed.""Okay.""Okay?" Nisha squawked. "A handshake, a pat on the back and the deals done? Since when did our democratic republic do business this way? He admitted he got men killed in Romania. What is to say this won't be Romania writ large?""Ms. Biswal, he told the truth. He got good men killed and he isn't happy about it. I would be worried if he claimed one bit of glory from that episode. He didn't.""Nisha," I took a deep breathe, "When you unleash men with weapons, nothing is assured. Maybe the Thai government will see the hate coming their way and back down. Maybe the people will resist the intrusion. Maybe the Khanate's forces will get slaughtered at the starting line. It isn't like they have enough time to deploy enough forces to win a protracted war.""What happens if the Khanate decides it won't go?" she continued."Then they get destroyed on the ground in a war of attrition," Chris answered for me. "He's right. They can't bring enough in the time allotted to completely overwhelm the roughly 120,000 members of the Royal Thai Army that have remained loyal to the regime.""In three days they will be out of fuel, shells, rockets and bullets. It is logistics, Ms. Biswal," Zelda piled it on. "The Khanate war-fighting systems are not NATO compatible. That means they can't simply capture more material as they penetrate the frontiers. If they overstay their welcome, we can launch missile strikes against their fuel depots. The combat devolves back to World War I and that's a style of war they can't afford to fight.""What about stopping the Khanate from invading in the first place?" Nisha wouldn't give up."Had the US acknowledged the Khanate, none of this would have happened, Ms. Biswal," I became snappish. "Neither superpower talked to the other until other commitments had been made.""If you think you can come in and start dictating Khanate policy, you are dreadfully mistaken. The US doesn't have the power, or the resolve," I glared at her. "Don't try convincing the Khanate that isn't the case. We know better.""You don't know what the US is capable of," she snapped back."Abandoning Iraq with a fractured pseudo-democratic process? Abandoning Afghanistan without destroying the Taliban? The Syrian Civil War? The Donbass Crisis? The collapse of Libya? Boko Haram? Somalia? Yemen? Exactly how has the US's power and resolve solved any of those issues?" I countered."Ms. Biswal," OT spoke again. "We are willing to create a desert and call it 'Peace'. Our enemies know that. Your unwillingness to do so is neither a strength nor a weakness. It is a hallmark of your society in the same way that 'Total War' is a hallmark of ours. We are more than willing to leave you to manage the Peace. Let us manage the War against the forces opposed to civilized discourse.""As ugly and disagreeable as it is, we are willing to keep creating pyramids of skulls on every street corner until either they learn their lesson, or we kill them all. Let us do that and you will have your global stability and reap the economic benefits and accolades of Pax Americana. We are not your enemy. We are precisely the ally you need to keep the peace and we will do that, if you let us.""To allow barbarism is to become barbarians," Saira mused."That is complete fiction," I scoffed. "The United States didn't become communist because it allied with the Soviet Union in World War II. Truman didn't become Stalin. The enemy of my enemy is my friend is older than recorded history.""It is the Carrot and the Stick on a Global basis," Justin agreed. "Listen to the gentle words of the West, or you will end up feeling the wrath of the East.""As long as the Khanate accepts the limitations of is role," Saira added, "this might work. Please understand there will be factions in the Western Democracies who will not accept that status quo. It is not in the nature of our societies to stifle dissent.""Is it possible to get any political concessions from the Khanate's leadership?" Justin requested. "A pledge to hold some level of democratic elections? A Constitution with some strong provisions to protect individual rights and liberties would be nice.""Justin, in case your bosses missed it, the Khanate is still at a state of war with the PRC," I shook my head. "With their limited experience with democratic government throughout most of the Khanate's territories, that would be madness.""With limited concessions to the Imperial State, we have not interfered with the politics of Albania, Armenia, Georgia and Turkey. We are never going to become a Western-style democracy. We have had limited rule by consensus long before White Men arrived in the Western Hemisphere," OT informed them."Discounting the Irish Monks, Vikings and Knights Templar," Pamela interjected."If you say so," OT gave a minuscule bow to Pamela. "Long before your nation was anything more than the scribbled history of a long-faded Greek city-state, we had meritocracies, oligarchies of senior statesmen & warriors, thinkers and religious leaders, and we had codified judicial moral equality into the political arena. We have a far superior record of religious and minority freedom, of genuine multi-culturalism plus a deeper understanding of the arts and crafts as a means of uniting disparate peoples. We find your claims of cultural superiority to be childish.""Oh, snap," I snickered. "You get'em, OT.""I bet the boys in Foggy Bottom felt that pimp-slap," Pamela agreed."I bet the bronzed skull of some Harvard dean just fell off its pedestal.""They are called 'busts'," Anais groaned. "With a name like that, how could you forget it?""So true," I concurred. "All this responsibility must have clouded my normally hedonistic vocabulary.""That doesn't change the fact that you have employed biological warfare and genocide in this current day and age," Justin pointed out."Tell that to our Native Americans," I snorted. "They are easy to find. They live in trailer parks in whatever blasted Hell Hole we stuck them in, or in their casinos where they are buying back their country, one rube at a time. Ask them if they've gotten over it.""We don't claim to be perfect," Justin insisted."No, we merely claim to have the only correct form of government, economic policy and schools of philosophical, political, scientific and educational thought," I pointed out."We definitely should revive ethical utilitarianism," Pamela slapped a fist into her palm. "Oh, and the guillotine. Work houses for orphans and grist mills for the disabled, and A Modest Proposal for those chronically unemployed and terminally homeless, yes, and,""Pamela, what is it with you today?" I snickered."It is nearly sunset,""Ah, and you haven't killed anyone yet.""You know how cranky I get when I don't get my daily dose of homicide.""Are you two done?" Anais frowned. She did that a lot around me."And you don't hand out Mini-Uzi's to your preschoolers," Pamela glowered. "What is wrong with you people?"Pause, waiting for that punch line that was never coming. See, it was more difficult to sense Pamela was an immediate threat to your health if you thought she was completely off her rocker."Hmm, well, on that note, ladies and gentlemen, I believe we have a deal. Chris and Justin, I will leave you with my loyal Iskender to work out the gory details. Who wants to grab dinner?" I inquired."Are you serious?" Nashi gasped."Oh yeah. I had the Russian invasion of Manchuria figured out in this amount of time and Manchuria is way bigger than Thailand." Was it? I didn't know. Geography was not one of those subjects which gets you laid."What do you have in mind?" Zelda inquired."Whatever you want."{1 am, Sunday, August 31st ~ 8 Days to go}"How did I end up in bed with you?" Zelda sighed happily, her body splayed halfway over mine and her head resting on my chest, listening to my heartbeat."You aren't the first girl to ask me that question."On the other side, Anais moaned in her sleep. Yeah, she was over me. Abso-fucking-lutely. If you recall, she'd try anything once. I convinced her the military babes were totally different than that Goth chick we'd blown the mind of back in Montreal.Zelda was with me because I had caught her in a lie. She claimed to be a lesbian when I first hit on her. She was adamant. I destroyed her with incontrovertible evidence.A) She hadn't scoped out Anais when she came in. A glance didn't count and Anais oozed sexy when she was angry, which was most of the time.B) She hadn't scoped out Juanita's figure when said worthy went to the kitchenette. I look for such things and Juanita has thighs to die for.C) When I told her she had a wicked sense of humor, she blushed. Honestly, lesbians rarely care about strange men complimenting their personalities.D) Then I double-downed by asking her if she preferred a shower, or bath. She said shower (because that's the butch thing to say). When I asked her 'when was the last time she'd had a bubble bath', she blushed again. Lesbians don't like it when a man imagines them naked. Straight chicks, unless you are a creepy, stalker guy, like it when men fantasize about them swathed in bubbles, thus semi-clothed, thus not creepy.E) In a final and fatal act of evasion, she asked a grumpy Anais what she liked about me. Anais was blunt."He can fucking hammer you all night, sneak in a romantic quickie in the shower, cook you a delicious breakfast then give you another round of mind-numbing intercourse up against the wall before you have to go to work. And still find the time and energy to fuck your neighbor."Woot!"So, this happens to you often?" she mused, it was a trap. She really wanted to know if I was an egotistical scumbag who took advantage of every woman I came across. At the same time, she wanted to know if I considered her a 'whoe' ~ a woman who gives up the goodies for free."Do you mean 'am I taking advantage of you'?" I replied."That is not what I asked," she persisted. That meant 'yes'."Let me see," I laid back and looked up at the ceiling. "I have a fiancée, six women I am close enough to to spend quality time with, a fuck-buddy who is a sweet girl and trusts me too much and a passel of ex-girlfriends who have found my infidelity to be reprehensible.""Six women?" she frowned."Four co-workers (Rhada, Oneida, Yasmin and Buffy), the girlfriend of a co-worker who dumped her in a very public fashion (Brooke) and that woman's friend (Libra). She was the wing-chick who was stuck with me on a quadruple-date and was underwhelmed with me when we first met."I didn't count my 'hook-ups' and I wasn't sure how to qualify Nicole."Ex's?""'No' is not a word in common usage in my vocabulary. I've dated a best friend's girl, a mother, sister and aunt of the same girlfriend, basically, I'm either highly immoral, incredibly loose, or a letch.""Don't you take responsibility for any of those, relationships?""Hell yeah," I tilted her chin up so that we could make eye-contact. "I've never blamed a woman for taking out her frustrations on my flesh, ran away from a screaming fit (Big Lie!), or blamed them for any failing in our relationship. It is always my fault because I can't stay loyal.""That's depressing," Zelda moped."Don't get me wrong. I don't find fault in any of the women I have spent time with. That is my problem, I find women fascinating; never boring, or bland. Quite frankly, it is a gift that I don't regret having. I may be a fuck-up, but I'm a fuck-up who will give you the very best attention.""Full of yourself, much?" her attitude shifted. I had short-circuited her fears; I was a cheater, I confessed to it without shame because I was inexorably drawn to her beauty, personality and charm. With Anais around, I couldn't claim to be solely enchanted with Zelda, so I had to think quickly on my feet. After all, Zelda was energetic and had great stamina."I promised you pleasure," I countered. "Did I deliver?""Yes, you are full of yourself," she slapped my stomach. I wasn't full of myself. I was a confident sex machine."Thank you.""Huh?""Wonderful sex, taking a chance with me, agreeing to a three-way, being awake after," I looked at the bed-table clock, "six hours.""I run five miles a day," she bragged."I try to have ten hours of sex a day," I teased. Zelda slapped my stomach again. Anais stirred."Do any women like you, for any reason beyond your cock?""I'm considered loyal where sex is not concerned, reliable and brave," I offered."What happened in Romania?""Have you ever been in combat?""I've been in violent confrontations, but not a true firefight," she admitted."Hmm,""Is it something that you can't relate?" she asked."No. You are a soldier so you probably know more about combat than I do. It was, not chaotic at all. I never lost perspective of what was going on despite the bullets flying around. The Romanian Captain in charge knew his stuff, directed his company well and all I had to do was figure out where the terrorist leader was.""What happened?" she perked up."I am here talking with you and he's in a morgue in Bucharest.""Oh," She wanted more."I have to live with the knowledge that I set all of that in motion, Zelda. I convinced the Romanians that they had to confront that terror group before they moved on to their next target, me.""I knew they would come after me and my friends, no matter where we were. Which would have ended up as a blood bath in some urban center. So I felt compelled to strike first. Based on information I provided, the Romanian Army sent two battalions, the 22nd and 24th, of the 6th Mountain Troops Brigade into battle.""It was a massacre," I remembered sadly."But you won," she tried to comfort me."Of the four companies involved in the battle, the Romanians suffered nearly two hundred dead and wounded. I hardly consider it anything other than a massacre. Yes, we won. Only three of the terrorists escaped. Their leader died. I don't think I've ever felt so hollow in my life," I finished."Forty percent losses, that is horrific," she crawled on top of me."The kicker is the Romanians sent some men of the 24th to hunt me down when I was kidnapped. A squad was in the group that rescued me and my companion from Johnston Island. I thought they would never want to deal with me ever again.""Don't be so hard on yourself. If they thought well enough of you to send their men out to rescue you, then you must have done right by them.""Chaz said something like that too," I felt sheepish and sleepy."Chaz? Who is she?"Honest to God, one day I want to find a girl who thinks I'm talking about another girl and asks if we can have a three-way, instead of trying to compare herself to this unknown person. Wait... I already had someone like that. Her name was Odette."Chaz is Color Sergeant Charles 'Chaz' Tomorrow of Her Majesty's SSR," I corrected her assumption."SSR? Those are some tough people. How do you know him?""Black Bag directives from the National Security Council, sworn to secrecy upon penalty of death, pinky-promise kind of stuff," I grinned. Maybe I wasn't all that sleepy after all."You really are a Man of Mystery," Zelda purred. She had truly exceptional stamina. "Maybe I can convince you to talk.""Maybe I can find another use for my tongue," I countered and off we went. Somewhere along the process, Anais woke up and joined in.It wasn't all fun and games. Anais' parting words were "You are a pig," then she sauntered out of my room and out of my life. Had she remembered to take her Serge with her, I would have bought the act. As it was,"Is she always so volatile?" Zelda remarked."Volatile? That's not her being volatile. That's Anais being affectionate. Volatile usually is accompanied by thrown objects and bodily harm," I sighed happily. Meeting her one more time couldn't be all that bad, could it? Zelda looked hungry so I shoved that thought to the back of my mind and got to work.That was the highlight of my Sunday. Zelda had to fly back to Washington D.C. and I had to go to work with JIKIT. It seemed that the Khanate and the US military were heading for a showdown. I unloaded all my Saturday's activities to the team and we got to work, no recriminations. I was the Khan's spiritual brother and sometimes that meant I had to do him favors.I asked Addison when she thought he would return the favor. She laughed, then smiled and told me that wasn't how it worked. He was a world leader now and I was merely his kooky kinsman that he would keep throwing problems at until one day I broke. Then it would be some other poor saps turn.Then she told me she was kidding and clearly the Great Khan thought the world of me. I chose to believe the second lie because it made me feel better, and it was promising to be a long weekend/start of the week.Note: Geopolitical DevelopmentsWhat follows are snippets of the Battle for Thailand that takes place late in the night of September 1stand continued into the early morning of September 3rd. If this does not interest you, you can rejoin Cáel's exploits in four pages)On the eve of battle, the Royal Thai High Command had decided to strip all but one armored unit from the 2nd Army in order to give the First Army's offensive against the rebels more of a punch. It's decision to strip the tank battalions from both their infantry divisions as well as the armored and one of the two mechanized regiments would prove to be disastrous. It was as if the leadership of the Royal Thai military were idiots.The least economically valuable part of the country was the northeast which the 2nd Army warded. They had severely underestimated the airlift capacity of the Khanate as well as the willingness of Laos and Cambodia to both use their armed forces in an invasion as well as their willingness to let Vietnamese troops cross their countries.That thinking had led the Thai military to adopt a 'forward defense' strategy, the desire to fight the enemy at the borders, as opposed to having stronger formations deeper within the country. Considering the relative weakness of the Cambodian and Laotian militaries, that policy had made sense:- The baseline Laotian and Cambodian tank was the T-54/55, a 1950's Soviet relic. The normal anti-tank capabilities in all Thai infantry formations was more than equal to such a threat.-Neither country had an air force worth worrying about.In contrast, the Khanate's primary tanks, the T-90SM and T-95 were resistant to most of what the Thai Army could throw at them, at least from the front. The seven hundred combat aircraft the Khanate and the Vietnamese were able to field was an equal catastrophe for the Thais. It greatly compensated for the relative small numbers of invaders.Finally, there was a fundamental misunderstanding of what the Alliance's goals were. Military logic dictated the destruction of Thailand's mobile force followed by the capture of Bangkok. As long as the Thai regime held the capital, it would remain the legitimate power in the country.Due to the altering political landscape, the Alliance's only option was to make the government 'look bad'. The loss of peripheral provinces, while of negligible immediate strategic value, looked great on the maps the world-wide media would be showing to their audiences. It would appear that the Thai army had failed to defend their country. That would (hopefully) make the Thai Third Army look like the legitimate authority in Thailand.That was the plan anyway, and you know what they say about battle plans and the enemy, right? H-hour was 4 am, September 1st.The commander of the Zuun stood up and waited to be recognized. The staff officer from the Yunnan Command pointed at him."Sir, why are we doing this? I am not afraid to fight for the Great Khan, but this action seems to be suicidal. We will be far behind enemy's lines while our offensive force will be grossly under-equipped.""You will have to rely on our ability to supply you by air.""We only have supplies for two days of operations. What happens then?""We rely on the Americans to come and save us," the senior officer responded bitterly."Allah save us from allies," the young commander muttered. What else could he do?He was part of the 2nd Mountain Sultan Mehmet Tumen which had just arrived in Yunnan to replace the exhausted 1st Mountain Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur Tumen. His men were from Turkey, inexperienced in combat and using new equipment they were not familiar with. They would be working with a unit he had never worked with before, the 1st Airmobile Tauekel Khan Tumen, Kazaks, who would be seizing the small airport his men needed to land in.From there, they were to 'run amok'. That was the technical term for racing south down a highway in Central Thailand, attacking the headquarters of the 3rd Cavalry Division, an armored unit. Once that was accomplished, they were to attack the local police precinct. Provided they were still alive after that, they were to return to the air strip to resupply then they were to 'spread chaos' until they were finally hunted down by the vastly larger Thai division his 100 men would be fighting.Of course, there was the plan for the rebel Royal Thai Third Army to force their way through the larger frontline forces of the loyalist Royal Thai First Army and come to his rescue. How would the Thai troops respond when ordered to fight their fellow Thais? No one was sure. If there was any hope in this mission, it was the knowledge that several other Zuuns had the exact same mission in other areas of Thailand.  It was H-hour minus twenty-two.It was 11 o'clock in the evening when the general in charge of the Royal Thai 9th Infantry Division was woken up. The Marines were leaving. That was correct; the three Royal Thai regiments were heading west to Sattahip Naval Base, because they had been ordered to by the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Navy. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize why this was going on.Seven hours earlier, the Royal Thai Army had seized all the Air Force bases in the 1st and 2nd Army districts as well as ordering the 4th Army to do the same thing (The Royal Thai Air Force had been trying to remain neutral in the upcoming civil war).Undoubtedly the navy had decided to make their assets less 'hijack-able'. A few phone calls later confirmed that most of the Navy had set sail for parts unknown and the naval air units at Ban Sattahip Air Base (U-Tapao International Airport) had also departed either out to sea, or to ports and bases in the South.He made a personal appeal to the commander of Marine Forces to no avail. They wanted no part of the upcoming struggle and advised the general to do the same. The general had other problems. The Royal Thai Marines were the frontline forces facing the southern border with Cambodia. He quickly reorganized his regiments, sending them to take the old Marine strongpoints to await further orders. Stopping the Marines never entered his mind.That was a bloodletting he wanted no part of. The last thing he did was inform his superiors, thus avoiding any stupid orders to the contrary. Suddenly the nebulous movements along the Cambodian border developed a haunting significance. He wondered how much longer he had before something happened.  It was H-hour minus five.At midnight a loyalist commander of a company of mechanized infantry in the 2nd Cavalry's 11th Battle Group (named after their axis of advance, Highway 11) decided to send a motorized section of his command forward to the advance position his battalion was to occupy come sunrise. Either later in the day, or tomorrow morning, the forces loyal to the regime would launch a coordinated assault against the rebels main supply center at Phitsanulok.He had a cot set up in his communications hut and had just nodded off when the radio squawked to life. His lieutenant in charge of the advance made a hurried report. They had encountered serious opposition in a confusing night action, then he went silent. The captain immediately swung into action. He put the rest of his men on alert, then contacted the neighboring Tank Battalion. He needed some armored support. He made a similar call to the attached artillery component.The Tank Battalions night officer quickly put a platoon of light tanks at his disposal. The artillery were ready for any fire mission he sent their way. Before the armor could arrive, the company commander found himself being called to the carpet by the Duty Officer at the 3rd Cavalry (two regiments of the 2nd Cav. had been attached to the 3rd's command) over his 'offensive' action and the relief mission was called off. What had happened to the patrol of 20 Royal Thai soldiers? He was ordered to wait until sunrise to find out.Little did anyone know, these were the first combat casualties of the upcoming rebel offensive. His patrol had stumbled across a battalion of mechanized troops arriving at their jump off point for the attack that was less than six hours from beginning. Neither the commander of the 11th Battle Group, the 3rd Cavalry Division, or First Army was informed that the enemy had already advanced twenty kilometers south of where they were supposed to be.  

Remember UFTP? We're back, in pod form.Plan a road trip for this one, UFTP has brought the best and brightest minds from the exclusive IngSoc Social Club for a 2-hr deep dive into all the news that's not worth talking about anymore.That's right, we're closing the book on all the stuff that's getting recycled in the news - are Nazis bad? Are Republicans in the Found Out stage of FAFO? Are taxes good? Well, we're here to tell you of course Nazis are bad, silly. And even if Republicans are finding out, they should still be able to afford insulin. We're undecided on taxes, though. We report, we decide!Topics and time-stamps: Nazis - 17:21The Democratic Party is a Farce - 22:05Two-Party System - 25:49Russia is the Bad Guy - 34:25Media Blackout - 37:15Electric Vehicles (not Tesla) - 43:44Detaining Immigrant Families - 53:23FAFO - 1:01:07Trump is Dumb - 1:22:00Taxes - 1:26:50There is no "Gotcha" - 1:34:12Climate is Still a Huge F-ing Problem - 1:35:41Re-negotiating the Social Contract - 1:49:09

Send us a textSeason 2, Episode 35DNA - Deoxyribonucleic acidToday the boy's are back out on the road talking to their guests Wes Cardy and his very good friend Jan. Wes and Jan are in a singing group called "Cardy and Coke" and have been very successful over the years singing and writing songs for themselves and celebrities Ken Dodd and Daniel O'donnell.Wes was born during the second world war and was fathered by an American over here in the UK as a serviceman, working at the local airfield of Wormingford.For 50 years Wes has been trying to trace his long lost father who had returned to the United States in the 1940's but it wasn't until his very good friend and singing partner Jan gave Wes a DNA testing kit for his birthday.Wes and Jan tells us the whole story and the remarkable events that took place following this life changing gift, they discuss the DNA story and how this is available for everyone trying to trace long lost family and those building their own family tree.This is a remarkable story and we thank Wes and Jan for sharing this very personal journey with us all today.DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the molecule that carries the genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth, & reproduction of all known organisms including many viruses. It's a double-stranded helix, often visualised as a twisted ladder, with the rungs made of paired base molecules (adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine).  #HeartTransplant#EbsteinsAnomaly#RareCondition#HealthJourney#LifeChangingDiagnosis#MentalHealth#Vulnerability#SelfCompassion#PostTraumaticGrowth#MedicalMiracle#BBCSports#Inspiration#Cardiology#Surgery#Podcast#Healthcare#HeartHealth#MedicalBreakthrough#EmotionalJourney#SupportSystem#HealthcareHeroes#PatientStories#CardiologyCare#MedicalJourney#LifeLessons#MentalWellness#HealthAwareness#InspirationalTalk#LivingWithIllness#RareDiseaseAwareness#SharingIsCaring#MedicalSupport#BBCReporter#HeartDisease#PodcastInterview#HealthTalk#Empowerment#Wellbeing#HealthPodcast#DNACheck out our new website at www.whostomanddick.comCheck out our website at www.whostomanddick.com

Cáel's second vacation with Aya and friends.Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.Loving your enemy is easy. You know precisely where the two of you standJust in case anyone cares, I do not hate China or the Chinese People. As a Global Power, the PRC is fair game as a great antagonist. Not only do they have, as of 2015, the world's largest economy, largest population and a truly global Diaspora, they also have a rather totalitarian governance system that enables them to devote scary levels of resources to any endeavor they set their minds to.I usually paint all governments to be entities capable of great good (rarely achieved) and great evil (because it makes such enticing fiction). In my stories, it often falls to the people within those institutions to make judgment calls on what is the right thing to do. In my final analysis, there are no 'Evil' governments, just evil people who use the system to get what they want(Right where we left off)"Aya," I spoke to her when she'd finished up by giving Mu a strong dose of a pain killer, "Now go back to the galley and find the nice medic-lady there. She has a bottle filled with some of those kick-ass sedatives. Inject everyone else but me, you, Zhen here and Mu, Mu's had enough drugs for one day.""Okay," she popped up. She turned fearlessly to face her former tormentors and jailors."I had them all swear an oath to Ishara to not kill, harm, or restrain you in any manner, so have fun hunting them down. You've got about thirty minutes.""Is Dot with us right now?" she gave me a bone-tired smile. I nodded. "This is going to be fun," she shouted and off she went.'I'll be by her side', Dot whispered to me. She rose forth from the seat within me and followed Aya out into Seven Pillars Hell. Technically, I believed it was the Diyu of the Fiendish Child. Those malicious bastards suffered every accident, misfortune, and nearly-impossible odds malfunction in the process of being subdued by a 9 year old Amazon.Four of them died in the process of trying to kill her, when stopping her became obviously impossible. Two had their guns blow up when they tried to shoot her, dismembering their hands and wrists. One guy was strangled in his emergency oxygen supply mask. The last guy lunged forward, slipped on a cup and broke his neck when his head was caught in a folded armrest.Twenty-eight nerve wracking minutes later."All done," she gave me an exhausted yet triumphant chirp. "Should I strap Mr. Mu into a chair? He's passed out.""Zhen, buckle your brother into a chair and hurry back. I'll hold us steady until you get back."Remember, I had only the use of my left hand. My right had to stay on the dagger to keep things powered up."Buckle-up after you've gotten Duan Mu secured, Aya. That's his proper name.""I know that. I was trying to keep them irritated so they would act irrationally. You taught me that," Aya bathed me in her sinister ways and means.Finally, it was down to me and Zhen. "Do you think we will succeed, Cáel Wakko Ishara?" "I'm giving it my best shot." "The little girl was right," Zhen groaned. "She told us we'd regret not killing you in New York when we had the chance. I thought she was being an annoying spoiled brat. I was wrong." Pause. "I know you have no reason to answer me truthfully, but when we, the rest of us, die, could you make sure my brother's body is returned to my father so that he can join our ancestors in the family grave?" "Why do you think I would lie to you now that we are alone?" That was a loaded question. I did the majority of my lying when I was alone with a woman. "I, will you give me your Oath, in your Goddess's name?" "Nope. My Goddess has pretty much been exhausted by your boys trying to break their vows to me and Aya. I'll tell you what I will do, " "What?" "Show me your tits and I'll promise to do my best." "What? You want to see me naked?" she grew indignant. "No!" It was her being a vaginal virgin (I knew the type ~ good oral technique and bed play, but no 'go-uppy' the cunt, or ass) and me not being Han Chinese, therefore being a 'Stinky Barbarian'. "Listen, I've never flown a commercial jet before and neither have you. Odds are we are both going to be dead in the next ten minutes. After all the hell you have put me through, can you at least give me some fucking inspiration. No one will ever know. Besides, imagining the perfect swell of your breast and the smooth tautness of your stomach, well, you are so damn perfect it is distracting!" I protested against the World's grand injustice (me not being Han and thus not worthy of seeing her goodies). "Do you really think we are all about to die?" she studied me. "I'm doing my best, but, yes, I believe we are," I stared deep into her dark brown orbs.'You are despicable,' Ishara chortled. 'I promise you, plant your seed and she will bear you a son.' "Very well, hold onto the controls," she said as she released her joystick. She rolled up her padded (high-tech body-weave) shirt carefully. I was a past master of looking while pretending not too look. Still, "Can I look yet?" I hesitantly questioned. Sure, we were about to slam an Airbus-350 into the Pacific Ocean, or a concrete runway, no lights, in a cyclone, but she was 'working it'. For all she knew, this striptease would be her last living memory. "No." A few seconds passed. "Now?" "No." Oh, her top was just cresting her highly aroused nipples, she had tiny, erect nipples. The smallest I had ever seen, but long, almost like tiny awls. Finally she'd played it out as long as possible. "Okay." "No, wait," I begged. "Let me make sure everything is stable. I want to look at you for as long as I can. This will probably be the last happy moment of my life, so I want to make the most of it." That made her happy. I puttered around for five seconds, then pivoted around to take in her full, topless view. I didn't say anything for the longest time. "Aren't you done yet," she grumbled. "We are about to crash." "Oh, sorry," I turned away. She rolled her top down quickly and we returned to trying to keep the people we loved most in life alive. I sensed as sense of disappointment in her nonetheless."Perfect," I whispered. She caught it. "What did you say? Is something wrong?" she worried, studying her crippled command console for any errors she might have missed. "I said 'perfect'. I knew it, your body is perfect," I confessed. Pause. "Oh, " "Now I have something to live for," I declared. "I will never let you see me naked again. This was a one-time thing!" "That's two things I have to live for then," I countered. "Bringing us in alive and seeing me naked once more?" she had to be sure. "I was going to say 'seeing you naked again' and 'living', but I can see that your priorities make more sense," I conceded. "Ah, you are right, that I am right." Pause. "Good luck." "On seeing you naked again, or surviving our landing." "Let's start out by landing the plane. "And then, Duan Zhen?" "We will see, Cáel Ishara."{9 pm, Tuesday, August 16th ~ 23 Days to go}{aka 2 am Wednesday, Aug. 17th ~ 22 Days to go (Havenstone time)}(The following is in Mandarin until I note otherwise)"What are you doing?" I struggled to keep the panic from my voice."Killing all these alarms," Zhen responded. She was grinding her teeth in frustration and fear. "There is nothing we can do to fix those problems.""My, right rudder, its barely responding," I grunted. This was fly-by-wire, not typical manual control, so my concern was entirely mental, not wanting to miss our turn south into the sole runaway on Johnston Atoll. With the steady degradation of the plane's electronics, we wouldn't make the 360 for another pass.Landing from the southern end of the runway would put the cyclone force winds behind us. There would be no way for the plane's two inexperienced pilots to make that miraculous landing happen. No, we had to approach form the north, into the winds and allow nature to slow us down."On it, I'm good," she confirmed that her co-pilot's systems were still doing their job. "Tell me when we are making our final approach." Zhen, my Seven Pillars of Heaven co-pilot (and designated assassin), couldn't see where we were going. Our avionics had perished earlier in this disaster.Goddess Dot Ishara was communicating with Goddess SzélAnya who was frolicking in this maelstrom; the Draconic Storm Divinity was in her element. Dot was 'in' her element as well ~ her last living mortal descendent (me), if you didn't count all those unborn offspring I'd been contributing to in the past few weeks.'Are you thinking about me, Wakko?' she whispered into my mind. I was Wakko Ishara. I was supposed to be Yakko, but that hadn't worked out. As the 'main girl' in the relationship between me, the leader of her Amazon House, and Yakko Ishara ~ my first Ishara ancestor ~ she earned the slot of Dot (see Warner Bros.) Ishara.One of her earliest gifts to me was to make my mind inviolate to ALL supernatural penetration which was the reason she was bothering to ask about my thoughts and intentions.'Yes,' I thought back. 'I'm worried you are expending too much energy on my behalf, Dot.''Opposed to leaving you alone with SzélAnya? I don't trust her around you. She'd make a little Dragon-offspring/avatar with you if I'm not careful.''If you aren't careful? Don't I get a say in all of this?''No. Trust me, she's clingy and you are more active than a whole temple of Babylon's whores. Her mortal avatar would further bond your two legends together and your Legend is already the prop, placed with House Ishara.' Translation: My Goddess was clingy. After all, she'd meant to say my legend was her 'property'."Flaps!" Zhen yelled at me. "Check your flaps. Mine keep shorting out.""On it," I replied. I'd 'zoned out', so she'd screamed at me to get my attention back on task. Altitude, 1200 meters, which meant flaps at, fuck if I knew."What do I set them, Oh Shit!" I realized I'd forgotten something horribly imperiling."What?" Zhen shot me a furious look."Fuel! We've got to start dumping the fuel!" I screamed."Why?""Fireball, Zhen. If we hit hard, this bitch will barbeque us," I spit the words. "Don't you watch any airplane crash movies?" I added."The Airbus 350 has plenty of, safeguards,""You mean like all the other ones that have failed us in the past half hour?""Opening main tanks #1 and #2," she grumbled. "If we are struck by another lightning bolt we could blow up in mid-air.""Won't happen," I feebly jested. "The Storm Goddess loves me.""Does she love my brother and I?""Nah. She wants you and everyone else on this plane dead, but she's humoring me right now.""Flaps," she reminded me. "Why would she care about you?""Having no other useful skills, I am a truly remarkable lover."Zhen spared me a blistering look."You have seized this aircraft from my brother, me and forty of our best Special Operations Strike Warriors. That does not qualify you as 'unskilled'," she lambasted me."Oh no? You should see a 'real' Amazon in action," I teased her. "I'm just an intern who hasn't yet completed his 84 day trial period." I also worked the flaps."Too much," she snapped. "If we drop below 400 kilometers per hour, these winds will slam us into the Pacific."I was adjusting the flaps appropriately as we began our final roll to the left when a cloud-to-cloud bolt of electricity coursed through our craft. We didn't blow up."Thank you, SzélAnya," I whispered."What?" Zhen worried. Fucking up now would be the end of us all.'Your gratitude is overdue, Cáel,' SzélAnya slipped her murmur into the crashing thunder and another lash of raw, natural fury. 'We will talk later.'"I thought you said she loves you.""Umm, did I forget to mention I told her I was going out for pizza and never called her back?""That makes no sense," Zhen glared at me briefly. I was gifted with a visual of our plane in perspective to the runway. Yay, five meter waves were smashing into the atoll. I adjusted our yaw to the right."We are three kilometers out," I advised her."Flaps, spoilers," I went over my limited Alal-knowledge. This stuff worked on a piston driven commercial liner and it was the only flight data I had."Landing gear," Zhen responded. She had to throttle up a little because all that drag was cutting into our speed.'You are being blown too far to the east,' SzélAnya advised. I did the best I could."What are you doing?" Zhen was starting to sweat."Responding to divine intervention.""I, I see it!" Zhen's panic turned to exultation as she could finally make out the pale concrete runway surrounded by the angry sea.Too disasters hit us simultaneously."The left landing gear is not fully deployed," Zhen cautioned me."We are coming in too fast anyway," I dryly noted. The Goddess had brought me in on target, but she knew nothing about aircraft aeronautics.The Airbus came down too hard, too fast and our left landing gear snapped on impact. Sarrat Irkalli's parting gift was decay. Every design weak point gave in. The front fuselage broke apart, my hand on the dagger slipped and the power died. The front 25% of the plane spun off to the west while the remainder shot down the runway and off the southern end of the island.Sadly we went off into the lagoon between the western side and the barrier reef. In a delayed bit of good fortune, our careening section went head to head against a massive storm surge."Go!" I screamed at Zhen.She snatched up her Jian that she had used to pin the undead necromancer Tsu. I was right behind her, though I did stop to retrieve Sarrat Irkalli's dagger and pluck the two bone reliquaries from his neck before following Zhen's tight, athletic buns out of the cockpit and toward Aya. My diminutive better half was still in her seatbelt and clutching the medical bag to her chest.(English) "Cáel, I think we are sinking," she noted with a twinge of concern and more courage than I felt like utilizing. As Zhen was rescuing her brother the enormity of my mistake sunk in. All the Seven Pillars people were unconscious thus unable to save themselves from drowning. Aya's survival came first. I'd worried about my 'would-be executioners' later.I swept up Aya so fast it took me a second to realize she was poking me. She had retrieved the trinkets Felix had given Mu, our phone cards, my Dot-treats and my Amazon blade. I quickly strapped the blade to my arm. The water was rushing in through the severed back section.I turned to see Zhen struggling with her brother. Her look said it all. She expected them both to die. She wouldn't abandon him to save herself and the waves were too rough to make it with him."Get as far as you can," I shouted to her over the typhoon strength winds. "I'll come back for you."Her face expressed how little faith she put in my promise. Zhen had no choice left to her. I cut off two lengths of seat-belt to give Aya a harness to wrap over my shoulder and opposite underarm. I used the second piece to create her harness I linked with my own. {Back to English as the primary language}"He'll come back for you," Aya tried to assure Zhen while I worked."Aya, take a deep breath then expel it," I advised. The second she did I dove into the water. I had never attempted to swim in water this nasty, but I had been dumped into a white water rapids before. That was the best I had.Somehow in the madness, I pointed myself in the right direction. Once more, the storm came to my rescue. Two monster waves picked us up and pushed us toward the edge of the runway.'Go to the north end of the island,' Ishara told me. There is a building there that will shelter you, and Cáel, I must leave now. Don't do it.''I can't not try,' I replied. 'Can you help Aya?' I gave one last appeal. No reply. I twisted southward to locate the next monster wave. My precious cargo pressed tightly to my upper torso, I flipped over so that my feet were facing toward the onrushing runway. I'm not as dumb as I look, or sound.I bent my knees in the same way they instruct you when you go cliff diving. Up we went. I pulled Aya and I as deep into the water as possible, up, up, crest and then down-down-down. My bare right foot hit something jagged and sharp. I'd worry about bleeding later. The momentum of that contact tried to tilt me head-first, but I resisted.My left foot slapped down on a hard, smooth, granular surface, the sea wall. Now I swam backwards with my free arm while I raced to get my right foot back under me. My body ended up surging forward, yet I was in control of my movements once more. I rolled with the impact, taking the brunt to my left shoulder while shielding Aya with my right. Three rolls and I was on my feet again."Aya!" I beseeched my companion."That was fun," she yelled back over the hurricane force winds. "Let's try to do this next year," the rest was lost. I kept staggering forward in about a foot of water that the storm had flooded over the land. I looked behind me.The next wave was unfriendly. The one behind that one appeared to be a lot like what I imagined a Berlin Wall-sized tombstone would look like. I ran. I survived the first wave then gave Aya a cautionary squeeze. I felt her tiny lungs inflate, soak up the salt-water spray and oxygen then flush the air back out.A few more steps then we plunged back sideways into the monster current ~ the wave had already crashed."What did you say?" I shook Aya as we surfaced once more."Next year, much later next year," she grinned up at me."Aya, do you think you can,""Yes. Go find them. You gave her your word," she hugged me."Stay on the runway, head north, Dot says there is a building up there that is still intact. Aya, take this," I handed her the pistol and a spare mag."Do you promise you won't let me die today?" she shouted over the winds. I had to think about that. Aya rammed the pistol and magazine into her medical bag's side pocket. Oaths had their own power and maybe, just maybe, Dot Ishara would help me honor this one."I swear to you, I will not let you die today," I yelled back."Then go and hurry," she hugged me as I cut her loose. "She needs you more than I do. Go!" With that, we separated. Aya slugged forward a few steps, was staggered by another wave then turned and gave me her 'thumbs up'.I turned to the south and the blinding winds and terrible surf. I had to try. Alal kicked in. Jumbo commercial airliners = no help. Shipwrecks = he'd survived a few. I mapped out in my mind the waves, winds and their direction relative to the plane. I could still make out its half-submerged shape.The edge of the runway had a U-shaped seawall which created a peak that channeled the waves. I couldn't see the structure itself due to the high tide, but I could locate the wall by watching the waves break. If I could get to the outside of the eastern peak, I would have an easier time going about this rescue. Also, if Zhen wasn't brought in by the same waves that saved Aya and I, she would be driven to the northwest, parallel to the island.I could intercept them. I'd effective killed everyone else. Maybe, I dove in.'Don't!'“Too late, SzélAnya,” I vaulted off the semi-submerged sea wall, then let the undertow pull me along the broken coral rocks the Navy had put there when they expanded the airfield in the 1960's.I kept my hands on the rocks, rock climbing in reverse. The waves passing overhead tried to pluck me up and return me to the land. I moved as rapidly as I could, until my muscles ached from the water's chill and oxygen starvation. My lungs were on fire. I let the next wave pull me up.Fortune favors the foolish should be my new motto. I broke the surface just after another large wave passed by. I kept my breathing short and steady, despite my burning hunger for air. Gulping air would only earn me a mouthful of salt water. I took the reprieve in the storm's efforts to drown me.The 'foolish' was waiting for me four meters away, slightly behind me and to the East. Zhen was being dragged past the atoll. I kept one eye on her progress and the other on the waves. A monster rolled up, I dove under and thus resurfaced less than two meters away. Zhen had Mu in a classic rescue swim position. He was still likely to suffocate in this downpour.The look in her eyes was, pure confliction. I cut through the last bit of ocean to be at her side. My first action was to point to the next tidal beast heading for us.(Mandarin) "I've got him. Dive beneath the wave," I hollered. Had she resisted, all three of us would have been screwed. She didn't.I took another deep breathe then sort of freaked her out. I clamped my mouth over Mu's and expelled my air into his lungs. My right arm snaked under his left with my hand grabbing the back of his head. I shoved his head tightly against my face, pressing his nose shut, then dove. Zhen was right behind me.After that, we had our routine down. Zhen took Mu every fourth wave. Breathing for both him and me was tough. I'd take him back for the fifth and slowly we made ourselves to the eastern shore. I hit first, fell flat on my face but kept a hold on Mu. I temporarily lost sight of Zhen. One life at a time.I lugged Mu up, staggered his unconscious and my exhausted forms a few feet and then was toppled by yet another wall of water. This time, when I returned to a standing position, I check Mu's breathing. He would make it. I few more steps, another wave. I kept my footing that time. Another, Zhen came careening our way from the North. The waves had swept her passed us.Zhen immediately looped her arm under Mu's right arm. That allowed her, me and our shared burden to slog another meter inland, then the next wave caught up with us. Zhen fell; I stumbled, but righted myself and thus kept Mu from being washed away. Zhen rolled a few feet forward, rebounded up, only to be shoved away when a gust of wind hit us.On her next attempt, she rejoined us. From that point onward, we were far enough away from the land's end so that we were slogging through standing water and could resist the waves that impacted us.(Mandarin) "You came back," she shouted.There were all kinds of romantic, chivalric and very true responses to that. I chose a half-lie. (Mandarin) "I really wanted to see your tits one more time," I yelled. The looks she gave me was priceless. She was convinced I was a lunatic ~ no doubt about it.While she puzzled out her reaction/retort, we chanced upon a Quonset hut. In its lee, we caught a break from the worst of the wind. We also picked up a little Epona who had made the same logical choice (to get out of the wind) as we had. My heart leapt for joy. She was grinning like an impish hellion as she tried to tell me something.I leaned down until her lips were touching my ear."I forgot to pack my swimsuit," she chortled."It's probably sitting at home along with my surfboard," I kissed her on the forehead. "How about we get inside, somewhere?" Aya nodded.(Mandarin) "Let's go," I roared. Zhen nodded briefly. We turned Mu around so we would be dragging him with his back to the winds. The journey to the structure SzélAnya had pointed me at (the J O C building) took over an hour and a half to cover the two kilometers. Along the way, Aya discovered her inner Peter Pan.That was the childish fiction I was going to use to explain what she did when I regaled this episode to her Mother, assuming we made it back. In common parlance, a gust of wind that must have been about 150 kilometers per hour picked her up and off she went. Hell, I'd honored my oath to Zhen. I dropped Mu and raced after my own personal good luck fairy.A freak micro-burst, shot Aya up so high I lost track of her in the rain.'Please'.I saw my tiny human javelin plummeting to earth several meters away. Aya had refused to mitigate her fate by releasing the medical bag. I jumped, caught her and took another hard spill to the ground, Aya on top of me. She said something to me.I made it back to my knees, clutching a standing Aya firmly to my chest."I said 'I've had enough fun for today," she sputtered. "Can we go inside now?"'You now owe me a life, I go,''Thank you'. If she heard me, she didn't acknowledge it. The storm didn't relent its assault, that was for sure.I couldn't risk losing Aya again. I had placed Zhen and Mu on solid ground so she returned to being my top priority. I slogged my way through the typhoon, cyclone, 'what have you', only to find a solid steel door between Aya and safety. I felt volcanic fury building up inside me. Then I remembered I still had a few firearms,The QCW spoke and the door popped opened. I raced around the first interior corner, deposited Aya, ran back to the door, reverse course, raced back to Aya, kissed her cheek then ran back out into the blinding rain and battering winds. Zhen was right where I'd left her. She had relied on me coming back, damn her.(The J S O C Building)Five minutes later, I had the Seven Pillars twins inside and the door wedged shut. We were all temporarily safe. Here and there small puddles of water had formed from leaks above, but otherwise the structure was solid, sound and safe. Zhen and Mu were on the opposite side of the room. After she tended to her brother, she looked my way.I took the medical bag from a wide-eyed and happy Aya."We are down to two of them," she shivered. "Perhaps you should ask her to surrender now, while they still can?" I snorted then chuckled."Do you really think the proud scions of Duan will bow before the Amazons?" I asked her. Aya fatigued mind worked that question over."No, you are right. I don't think they are smart enough to know when they are beat. Cáel, they called me 'Chǒul u de cuüw ', or something like that," Aya kept her eyes on Zhen. "What does that mean?" It took me a second to piece that together. You can tell a great deal about people if you catch them talking about you behind your backs, or when they think you can't understand what they are saying."Ugly Bug," I translated. Aya snorted."That was rude. We can call her 'L s la ninda'," she proclaimed loud enough for Zhen to hear, "and we can call him Amar."I had to applaud her choice of names for our would-be killers.See, L s la ninda roughly translated from Amazon to English as 'cupcake'. Amar was Amazon for 'calf' which was a play on his Mandarin name, 'Mu'."Dumu?" I indicated her. Aya's eyes sparkled. Duma was the diminutive for 'daughter'."Atta," she murmured back. That was 'respectful Father'; a title no Amazon girl had addressed a man with in, well maybe, ever. The term was largely religious and only used in the terms of female divinities referring to divine paternals."Take the gun," I withdrew the QSW-06 from the medical bag. "I'm going to take a look at Mu."I wasn't a surgeon, most of my medical skills were self-taught (I get hurt a great deal), I was personally acquainted with pain and I wasn't easily grossed out. Alal's past granted me beaucoup knowledge to fill in the gaps. Mu was going to be okay.His problems were the bullet hole, blood loss, our mutual damp condition and his complete exhaustion. Zhen knelt close by as I cut open his pants. The bullet was still in him. I was guessing the round had cracked his femur, not broken it. I cleaned out the wound with minimal disturbance to Mu's sleep. The antiseptic came next, followed by the wrapping and finally a syringe of general antibiotic.(Mandarin) "Let's find something to dress ourselves in and then we all need to get out of these wet clothes. If we don't shed these clothes soon, we'll get a chill we don't need," I advised.(Mandarin) "How bad is it?" she asked. She meant her brother's condition.(Mandarin) "He'll be okay. Feel free to try and kill me when you wish. He doesn't need me anymore." That, pretty much confirmed for her what she suspected, I was a lunatic.(Mandarin) "Well, okay. Thank you. I will not kill the child; I have given you my word."(Mandarin) "Are you talking about 'Ugly Bug'?"(Mandarin) "Oh. I thought she didn't know our language either," she blushed then frowned. "She never revealed she understood our words."(Mandarin) "She doesn't. Aya has a phenomenal memory. All Amazons are taught from a very young age to develop a strong eye for detail. This includes remembering words spoken around them, even if they don't know their meaning."That silenced her. The medical kit gifted us with five glow sticks.The women paired up to search the first, second, third and fourth floors; I didn't trust Zhen to find something useful and report it to me. I knew women. She wouldn't kill Aya tonight and Aya would keep her

Danielle and Emily have our first live audience while recording the podcast, it's Sirius' Gotcha week and he eats a cookie like a weirdo. Then Danielle tells the story of Ruben Borchardt.Socials:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mwmadnesspodcast/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/245696000615540 Email: mwmadnesspodcast@gmail.comSources:https://delanirbartlette.medium.com/diane-borchardt-the-murderous-mrs-b-a8ed554afcddhttps://www.oxygen.com/snapped/season-18/diane-borchardt

From Lost In Eros – Book 1The Player's Outdoor GamesIn 10 Parts By BradentonLarry.  Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.Afterward, they all gradually moved toward the area in front of the maze. Three sides of a large rectangle were marked off by a low hedge only about a foot high. The fourth side was marked by a white line that seemed to be painted onto the grass, and the rectangle was divided into right and left halves by another painted line. On the far right end of the rectangle was a table with holes in it. In most of the holes were short rods, or batons, of different colors, and around each baton was a bracelet of matching coloring. In the left half of the rectangle were several women and one man, who were talking idly. While Don chewed an apple, a man entered the right side of the rectangle and took one of the baton-bracelet sets and walked over to the left half, where he offered the bracelet to one of the women there. She took it from him with a smile, slipped it on to her wrist and then jogged off toward the maze. There were two openings that Don could see, and the woman made for the one on the left. As soon as she got to that opening, she sprinted in, and the man suddenly gave chase.“If he can find her and tag her with the baton, they'll play together,” the Player explained. “If she can get back here without getting tagged, she returns the bracelet. The baton will vibrate, so he knows he's lost his quarry.”“Does that happen often?” Toshia asked. “I mean, she didn't have to accept the bracelet, did she?”“Ah, but it's all about the game and the chase,” the Player smiled. “In the maze, you have to win your playmates.”Don grinned, “I like it.”Amy, Keiko, Natalia, Marissa and Jamie all stepped over the hedge into the left half of the rectangle. Peter, Ilsa and the Player all went to the right. Peter offered his bracelet to Amy, who took her time walking to the maze and only started running when she got there. Peter took off after her. Ilsa chased Marissa, and the Player went after Jamie. Igor was sitting on one of the steps behind them, with no apparent interest in the garden or the maze.Don looked to Toshia, “I think we can walk around the maze. If there's a way out, it makes sense it will be in the outer perimeter, right?”She nodded, and they started off to the left. Don noticed that Shelonda was following along. He smiled at her and said, “You can play with the others.”“I can help you look for a way out,” she said simply, and fell into step with them. “Why do you want to get out of the garden, though? You were trying to find the garden, and we just got here.”“Well, we want to find a way to get home,” Toshia explained.“Don't you live in the Manor, with the rest of us?”“No,” Toshia said, “we're just staying here until we can figure out how to leave.”“Don't you like it here?”“It's not that simple,” Toshia said a bit impatiently.“We like it here, Shelonda,” Don tried. “It's just that there are people who aren't here that we would really like to see.”“Oh. Everybody I know lives here.”Don smiled a little, happy to have answered Shelonda's questions without upsetting her.“I am wondering about something, though,” he said to Toshia as they walked along on the grass with the wall of the Manor on their left and the high hedge of the maze on their right. “If you're right about this being a ‘different world', then is it likely that just finding a way out of this particular place will do the trick?”“It might be a start,” Toshia shrugged.“Ah, yes,” Don pointed. “It does look like there's a space between the corner of the maze and that wall of whatever it is.” It turned out to be an exceptionally dense and thorny wall of a hedge, rising up at least twenty feet, and running parallel with this left side of the maze. The three naked searchers kept walking.At the next corner, they found that there was another clearing at the back of the maze, with another fountain and some padded platforms and benches strewn about. There were two maze entrances on this side, matching the ones on the opposite side. Nobody was back here, though. Don and his companions followed along the high hedge wall on their left, which eventually swept back around run parallel to the right side of the maze. In the end, the trio found themselves back in the area at the front of the maze.Oddly enough, it was Shelonda who said, “Well, that's disappointing.”“Why do you say that, Shelonda?” Don asked.“You won't find the people you want to see.”“Well, we're not giving up,” Don said. “We just need to keep looking somewhere else; maybe in the Manor.”Toshia touched his arm and said, “Thanks, Don.”He smiled at her and said, “But after that long walk, I do think we deserve a bit of play.”Shelonda clearly thought this was a good idea, and Toshia said, “Yeah, that would be good. I wouldn't mind giving this maze game a try.”Don watched as Shelonda went to the left side of the rectangle and Toshia got a baton and bracelet, the latter of which she presented to Shelonda, who took it with a happy smile. As the cute young woman headed for the maze, Don called out, “Be careful, Toshia; the girl's got moves!”“So do I, Don,” she called back with a laugh.When Toshia took off after Shelonda, Don considered his options. He thought he might try both pursuing and being pursued, but would rather start with the first. In what he was now thinking of as the “quarry box”, he could see that Keiko and Natalia were gone, and that Marissa was now back, though there was no sign of Ilsa. There were seven other people there. Given the general mores of the Manor, he was surprised that none of these people were having sex, but seemed to be waiting patiently for someone to come and chase them. Don had no interest in chasing one of the four men, so he considered Marissa and the other three women present. One was a tall, thin woman with long, light blonde hair; another was a bit curvier, with slightly shorter light brown hair shading over to blonde; and the last was a small, very attractive black woman with Asian eyes and straight dark hair falling to her shoulders. Don thought it would be fun to have a threesome with this girl and Shelonda, and then worried if that thought was somehow racist. Still, Don really knew his first choice would be Marissa. He preferred leggy brunettes, and Marissa was certainly that, as well as gorgeous, sexy and, well, she had great tits. He hoped he would be able to hook up with the little black girl later, but he had to start with Marissa.He took the closest baton and bracelet set, and offered the latter to Marissa, who accepted it with a smile that was both friendly and a bit haughty. Don thought to himself that he would enjoy fucking her soon. He watched her legs and ass stroll over to the maze, and as soon as she bolted for the right entrance, he ran after her. Don could cover a short distance very quickly, and this was not a long distance at all. He took the sharp right turn in time to see Marissa at the end of another long straight path, and to see that she was turning to the right at the end of it.Don sprinted at full speed down the path, and threw himself around the corner after his quarry, ignoring the path to the left. He was slowed down by a series of turns and switch backs. If Marissa had gone to the left and he was stuck here, Don would have lost a lot of time on her. Then Don came to a junction where he had to decide between three paths. Two of them seemed to lead back toward the Manor side of the maze, if his sense of direction could be trusted, which it usually could, and the third appeared to double back along the way he'd come. He had thought he'd heard someone running back that way on the other side of the hedge just seconds ago, so he quickly moved into the third path. Several turns and another little sprint carried him out into one of the clearings in the maze.In the middle of this opening was another fountain shooting water straight up into the air. Around this were padded benches, several of which had couples busily copulating on them. On one of these, Jamie was straddling a supine man who was not the Player, riding up and down on him while fondling her own big tits. Don might have been distracted by all of this, except that he also saw Marissa leaving this clearing through the exit directly opposite him. Don sprang forward, stepped up onto the unoccupied bench in front of him, splashed right through the fountain and jumped over a pair of lovers on the other side, splattering them with water as he went over. He thought about apologizing but he heard them laughing, so he just tore after Marissa.He had closed quite a bit of the distance between them now, and was frequently catching glimpses of her backside as they twisted and turned through the maze. There was now no need for Don to wonder about which way to go, because he was able to track her by sight and sound quite easily. When Marissa turned sharply to the left and found herself caught in a dead end, Don almost crashed into her. She made an attempt to slip past him, but he tapped her with his baton on her upper arm. There was a buzzing sound, and Don realized the bracelet was vibrating to let Marissa know that she really had been tagged. She stopped and smiled at him, all friendliness now. Don smiled back and admired her now sweaty body and the rising and falling of her tits as she caught her breath. He needed a moment as well; it had been a vigorous chase.Before she was done breathing heavily, though, Marissa dropped to her knees in front of him, and took his cock into her mouth. Don watched from above, and it wasn't long before his cock was fully hard and he was enjoying seeing this gorgeous woman happily bobbing up and down on his thick shaft. The sensations of her warm, wet mouth moving on him were exquisite. He had assumed that they would go and find one of the clearings and a bench, but he couldn't see anything wrong with this little nook in the maze.Thinking back to the all too brief glimpse of Jamie on that bench, Don gently took his cock out of Marissa's mouth and got on his back in the warm grass. He didn't need to say anything; she promptly straddled him and pushed his cock into her hot, slick, tight cunt. She slid down on him slowly, adjusting to his girth as well as enjoying the sensation. Don couldn't help but admire the view as her statuesque body, covered with a sheen of perspiration, moved on top of him. Her dark eyes were half-closed as she began to move up and down on his cock. Don's hands moved from her hips up to her full tits. She smiled down at him and began to ride him a bit more vigorously. Don used his abs and legs to push himself up into her.“That feels so good, Don!” she breathed in her deep voice. After a while, she began to spend more time on the down strokes, grinding herself against his body. Don moved his hands back to her waist, pushing her down on him and moving her back and forth. He watched as she squeezed her tits, and then ran her hands up over her neck and face, before tossing her head back and concentrating fully on the sensations in her clit and cunt. She was rocking herself against him, as Don worked her back and forth, and moving his cock in and out of her. When she came, she arched backward, thrusting her tits up at the sky, and let out a long, low, quavering moan.Marissa held this position for several moments while the orgasm had its way with her, and then as she came back down. When she was done, she sat up and smiled down at him. Moving on his cock still, she said, “I want you to come for me, Don.”Don grinned and said, “I think that can be arranged. Get up and get on your hands and knees.” As she quickly did so, Don said, “I've been chasing that beautiful ass of yours, and I'd like to get up close to it while fucking you.”She cooed her approval, and waggled her behind at him. He wasted no time and pushed himself deep into her cunt. With his hands on her ass, Don began to fuck in and out of her deeply and steadily. Don saw her right shoulder drop a bit, and then felt her fingertips brushing against him as she played with her clit. He felt himself nearing orgasm, and when she pushed back him and started that low moaning again, he gave in and shot jet after jet of hot cum into her. As his cock spasmed inside her, Don felt Marissa's cunt squeezing him while she came again.Don held still in her until she stopped coming and then slowly pulled out of her. He leaned down and kissed her lower back, and then helped her to her feet. She staggered a bit and leaned on him for support. “Thank you, Don,” she said, “that was wonderful. I will let you catch me sooner next time.”“Where's the fun in that?” Don laughed. “No, forget I said that!”She laughed with him, and they began to find their way out of the maze. They soon came to what Don thought must be the central clearing in the maze. There was a large tree in the center of the circular area, as well as quite a few benches. There were a dozen couples in here, including Toshia and Shelonda who were engaged in a 69 at the base of the tree, Keiko who was lying back on a bench as a man Don didn't recognize went down on her, and Peter with a blonde sitting on his lap moving slowly up and down.Fighting the urge to go over to both Keiko and Toshia and Shelonda, Don continued to walk with Marissa back into the maze. It's probably against the rules, he thought, and I can't go to both anyway, plus it would be rude. They eventually came across Natalia getting well and truly fucked by a strapping young man with longish dark hair right in the middle of a four path intersection. While having a hard time taking his eyes off this sight, Don said, “They need a shortcut out of this place for after you've caught your playmate.”It was Marissa's turn to laugh and say, “Where's the fun in that?”When they finally got out of the maze, Marissa said, “I'm going to go for a quick swim. Care to join me?”“Thank you very much for the offer,” Don smiled, “but I think I'll try one more time in the maze.”He replaced the bracelet and baton he'd taken earlier and then took a place in the “quarry box”. The little black-Asian girl was still there, and she smiled at him. “Did you have fun?” she asked.“Yes, I did, thank you. Hello, I'm Don.”“I'm Nicole,” she moved closer to him. “You're new here, aren't you?”“Yes, I am.”“When did you get here?”“Um, two days ago, I guess.”“Fun, isn't it? I've been here for about a week now.”“Wait, you remember being somewhere else?” Don wished Toshia were here for this.“Yeah; funny how nobody else seems to, isn't it? I'm a college student, pre-med,” she smiled as she shook his hand, a formality that seemed silly and funny in the circumstances.“I'm a history professor,” Don said.“Oh, a hot professor; fun!” she said with a twinkle in her eye.Don laughed, and asked, “Have you found any sign of a way back?”“No, but then I really haven't been looking. I love it here! Back home all I ever did was what people expected of me; my parents, my teachers. I had no social life and hardly any fun at all. I had a bit of sex with boys, and once with my roommate, but frankly most of my sex was with my vibrator. In comparison, this is great! Besides, it's summer break anyway.”“Wait, no it isn't. It's winter, and you don't sound Australian.”“No, I'm from Chicago,” Nicole said. “That is weird, isn't it? I suppose I should be more worried about it, and after another week of this I might start getting homesick, but right now I'm having the time of my life. Speaking of which, ” She abruptly walked over to the batons and bracelets and took a set, returning to offer the bracelet to Don. “, Let's have some fun, Professor.”“Um, Okay, but I definitely want to continue this conversation,” he said as he slipped the bracelet onto his wrist, noticing that it seemed a bit elastic and fit over his hand and onto his wrist rather snugly.“Cool, as long as we do it naked,” she smiled. “Now get going. Make me work for it.”Temporarily setting aside the questions that were suddenly jostling for his attention, Don tried to focus on the game at hand. He thought it made sense for him to use the right entrance again, since he had some familiarity with the path that way. He took off into the maze, and quickly made his way through the twists and turns, sticking to the path Marissa and he had followed, not taking any risks of ending up in a dead end. He almost crashed into Jamie and her partner who were trying to find their way out of the maze. Fortunately Jamie saw the finger Don held to his pursed lips and didn't say, “Hi Don!” At the first clearing, with the fountain where he'd seen Jamie earlier, he made his first deviation from the course he'd run earlier, skirting around the fountain and benches and going into a path to the right. After more twists and turns and a few arbitrary choices, Don came to a small widening of the path, in the middle of which was a little bench, about the size of an ottoman. He thought he was near the far right edge of the maze, about half way in. He had no idea where Nicole was, though she was clearly not right on his heels. Don decided there was no harm in stopping for a bit to catch his breath. After all, with the different paths through the maze, there was always a chance that he would actually run right into Nicole. So, Don sat down on the bench, and tried to listen for sounds of pursuit.After a while, he thought he heard the sound of someone walking on the grass in a nearby path. Then there was the sound of someone running, coming from the direction opposite the one he'd come from. He turned to see Amy running straight for him, being chased by Ilsa, both of them with tits jiggling wildly. He made the same shushing gesture that had worked so well with Jamie, but Amy just laughed and shouted, “Hi Don!” as she rocketed past him. Ilsa laughed as she passed him in the next second.“Fuck!” he said under his breath, and got up from the bench, listening for any sign that Nicole had heard his name. Unfortunately, Amy and Ilsa were still nearby, crashing about and laughing. Don looked down the way he'd came, saw nothing, and then turned to look up the other way, only to see Nicole right there, grinning at him. He jumped a little, but before he could make a break for it, her baton hit him in the chest and his bracelet buzzed.“Gotcha!” she laughed. She dropped the baton on the ground and threw her arms around his neck, smiling broadly. “Ravish me, Professor.”Don chuckled and took her in his arms. Her small tits were pressed against his chest tightly, and his cock was rising between her thighs. He ran his hands over her lower back and squeezed her ass as he lowered his mouth and kissed her. She responded eagerly, pushing her tongue into his mouth and then sucking on his when he returned the favor.Holding on to her cheeks Don lifted her easily off the ground. He turned her around and laid her down on the bench. Breaking their kiss, he stood up and then kneeled between her legs, which she spread eagerly. He bent down, put her legs up on his shoulders and then pushed upward, pulling her forward as he did. Nicole was at an angle with her shoulders, neck and back of her head on the bench, and her legs crossed behind Don's neck. This put her cunt right in front of his mouth. He held her ass up in his hands and began to do as she had asked; ravish her with his mouth and tongue. He sank his long tongue into her exposed cunt, reveling in the sweet taste of her nectar, and then flicked his tongue over her clit. Then Don sucked her clit into his mouth, pulling on it. Nicole squealed and squirmed. Soon Don was lapping steadily at her clit, as his chin pressed against the mouth of her cunt.It didn't take much of this to pull Nicole into a violent, and loud, orgasm. Afterward, Don lowered her and stood up. Nicole, seeing his hard cock standing up in front of him, scooted back on the bench, so that her ass was on it again, and then sat up to grab Don's cock and begin sucking on it. If she hadn't had much experience before she got to the Manor, she had certainly made up for it since. Nicole was bobbing her mouth on him like a pro, while stroking his shaft purposefully. This train of thought gave Don another idea.He pushed her away from his cock, and coaxed her up off the bench. He then lied down on it. She quickly straddled him, with her feet on the grass on either side. She took his cock in hand and, holding it up, managed to get the head into her cunt. Very slowly, she sank down on him. Then, leaning forward a bit, she rested her hands on his chest and began to ride up and down on him. “Umm, this feels so good,” she said with a smile.“So, you've been here a week,” Don said as he rocked his hips to help stimulate her, “what's the wildest thing you've done?”She smiled down at him, “Um, well, it's a toss-up really. I think it was my second day, and I found my way into this big steam room. There were a bunch of guys in there. I was being a little coy, still, but I was really turned on by being the only girl in there with all those naked guys. This guy next to me was looking me over and kind of stroking his cock; not really jerking off, just playing with it; and it was pretty big, so I just leaned over and started sucking him. I felt so slutty, but also incredibly hot. Well, I'm there sucking on this guy and I feel hands on me; all over me. There were at least two guys, playing with my tits and squeezing my ass. I spread my legs so they could get at my cunt. I was sucking on this guy's cock, and other guys I couldn't even really see were fingering me. I came right there, and when I was done, I was on my back on a bench in there, and there was a guy getting ready to fuck me. I could have said something, I'm sure, but I really just wanted to get fucked, so I let them. I let every guy there fuck me. Some of them came inside me and a lot came all over my stomach and tits. I think there were like twelve guys in there, and some of them went twice. I must have come like twenty times.”“Wow; good story,” Don smiled.

The Hip-Hop Digest Weekly Pick Hits 01.Blahzay Blahzay – Danger02.Prince Paul – More Than U Know (feat. De La Soul)03.Angie Stone – Brotha04.Gwen McCrae – Keep the Fire Burning05.Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway – Where Is The Love Digital Freekz … Continue reading →

Y'all ever had a houseguest that just wouldn't leave? Now imagine that—but they're dead.

When leaders casually drop by classrooms, do staff feel supported—or scrutinized? In this episode, Phil Boyte and Shyana dive into the subtle yet powerful ways leaders can transform a gotcha culture into one where teachers welcome visitors with confidence. Through tiny moments of presence, intentional encouragement, and shared leadership, we explore how to build a school environment rooted in trust. Tune in for real stories and practical strategies to shift mindsets, strengthen relationships, and create a culture where every visit feels like a celebration of growth. Learn more about building trust with your team: https://learningforliving.com/ School Culture Summit: https://learningforliving.com/school-culture-summit People First Cohort: https://learningforliving.com/peoplefirstcohort Tiny Moment Challenge: https://learningforliving.com/tiny-moment-challenge  

Daily Study: In Mark 11, let's examine the verbal exchange between the Pharisees and Jesus. They asked Jesus a "gotcha" question, and the scripture shows how He handled it. Jesus' response provides insight into how we can handle similar questions. Partner with Us: https://churchforentrepreneurs.com/partner Connect with Us: https://churchforentrepreneurs.com                  

Grab a beverage and let's catch up! Music by: AlexGrohl from Pixabay Sergii Pavkin from Pixabay Music by FASSounds from Pixabay Editing by: Sith-Web

Daddy Matty J is still in the jungle, BUT he needs your help to take home the crown

In this episode, Tara Sands and Steve Yurko interview Tama Hero. Tama is a self described "Pokemon-loving-girl who makes YouTube videos!" She is most well known for videos featuring commentary on the Pokemon series of games and franchise. The videos we talk about in the interview can be found at https://youtu.be/7xlGV8UgmlQ and youtu.be/MWG8frE2kuw as well as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42O_X4rOjW0 Follow her at https://youtube.com/@Tama-Hero on Patreon at https://patreon.com/c/TamashiiHiroka and at https://bsky.app/profile/tamahero.bsky.social 4Kids Flashback is a behind the scenes podcast about the 4Kids era of television as told by the people who were actually there. 4Kids is the company that brought Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, One Piece and many other anime series to English speaking audiences. Our website is https://www.4kidsflashback.com/  Subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/4KidsFlashback for episodes one week early and ad-free plus bonus content! For merch go to https://4kids-flashback.printify.me/products  Leave us a voice message at Speakpipe.com/4KidsFlashback    Autographs for Charity available at https://www.ebay.com/usr/flashback4kids  Watch videos at https://www.youtube.com/@4KidsFlashback.  Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent or of this podcast and/or it's hosts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is nothing wrong with your media device. Do not attempt to adjust the sound. We are controlling transmission... Well, we were for a while. On Libsyn and Patreon versions of today's KITM David Waldman might have recorded a sign off, on others though, if you aren't hearing anything after 1:42:18, that is not a very dramatic pause, you're just out of podcast until Monday morning. Anyhow, are you feeling shocked and awed? That was definitely the intent in Trump's freezing of federal loans and grants, which has been rescinded…  but was the order actually rescinded, or just the memo containing the order? Aha! Gotcha! Expect this bullshit. The Office of Personnel Management “survey” contained a “resign” button that either does nothing or ruins your life. Spinning the wheel will never land you on seven months' pay, just a fork in the eye. The Trump DOJ will now drop prosecution of Trump's henchmen, because they are now the president's henchmen. In the over 1,500 Jan. 6 insurrectionists pardoned several have been rearrested or killed in police shootouts, as well they should. And yet some expect the pardon to carry over to their future crimes. Zuck invested another $25 mil to stay out of Gitmo. FU, FIU. With the show ending early, let me offer something constructive to do with your extra 15 minutes: KNOW YOUR RIGHTS. Make certain that everyone knows their rights. And, if you find yourself with a little extra rights compared to others, spread them around! We now return control of the internet to you, until next Monday at this same time, when Kagro in the Morning will take you to... The Outer Limits.

American politics has become a minefield of "gotcha ”. The media do it to politicians, politicians do it to each other, even the media do it to each other. And it's eroding our entire system, says the man who was once a participant. In this 2006 interview, Lanny Davis talks about his book Scandal. Get your copy of Scandal by Lanny Davis As an Amazon Associate, Now I've Heard Everything earns from qualifying purchases.You may also enjoy my interviews with John Kasich and Andrew Cuomo For more vintage interviews with celebrities, leaders, and influencers, subscribe to Now I've Heard Everything on Spotify, Apple Podcasts. and now on YouTube Photo by Tbenzinger #politics #Democrat #Republican #BillClinton

Today, Dr. Lisa reviews 3 steps to simplify healthy eating for weight loss, longevity, and better health. The first step requires learning to identify "Gotcha Foods," which have become ubiquitous in our society and are fueling the obesity epidemic. As always, the goal is to make changes without beating yourself up. Excess weight is not your fault. There are genetic, environmental, hormonal, and other external factors that contribute to weight gain, but the good news is that you probably have more agency than you realize. Thanks for listening! If you'd like more support during your SMART weight loss & health focused journey, check out our program at: www.SmartWeightLossCoaching.com. We would love to meet you!Also…We'd be grateful if you'd follow us and share our podcast with your friends & family. We're here to help you improve your health, live longer, healthier, and lose weight the SMART way!This episode was produced by The Podcast Teacher: www.ThePodcastTeacher.com.

Daily Study: Today's culture is increasingly hostile toward believers in Christ. Because of this, some people are on a mission to harm you economically by asking “gotcha” questions about your faith. For example, you might be asked about homosexuality, transgenderism, abortion, or other controversial topics. If your answer goes against the culture's viewpoint, they may attempt to ostracize you, get you fired, or pressure other businesses to stop working with you. In today's study, let's learn how to handle these gotcha questions. Partner with Us: https://churchforentrepreneurs.com/partner Connect with Us: https://churchforentrepreneurs.com                  

Can focusing on just ONE aspect of your life or practice truly enhance your overall fulfillment and success? Join me as I delve into a fascinating conversation with my return guest Dr. Avi Patel, an expert in the concept of singular focus. Avi eloquently unpacks the transformative power of honing your energy on one dimension of your life or practice. From personal anecdotes of bettering his marriage through therapy to using this single-minded approach in his dental practice, Avi provides a fresh perspective on achieving unparalleled results through the art of simplification.As we explore this captivating topic further, Avi demystifies the age-old conundrum of juggling multiple goals. His advice? Shift the lens from defining a myriad of large objectives to establishing non-negotiable standards. By laser-focusing on mastering one skill at a time and leveraging consultants or mentors who've tread the same path, we can optimize our efforts and enhance our personal and professional lives. Avi shares his current focus which involves expanding his scope beyond the clutches of conventional dentistry and into the intriguing realm of content creation in the dental industry.What You'll Learn in This Episode:How channelizing your energy and resources into one facet of your life can reap more fulfillment and success.The power of simplifying your goals into non-negotiable standards.The benefits of seeking advice from consultants or coaches who have experienced similar situations.The importance of focusing on one KPI at a time and allowing your brain to problem solve and improve other areas organically.Avi's current career pivot - stepping away from clinical dentistry and moving towards content creation.Ready to dive in and discover the untapped potential of singular focus? Tune in now!‍(This episode originally aired on February 5th, 2024)‍‍You can reach out to Dr. Avi Patel here:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doctor.avi/Avi's Clear Aligner Course: https://www.clearaligneradvisor.co/launchpad‍Other Mentions and Links:‍Podcasts/Publications:438: DR. AVI PATEL | CLEAR ALIGNER ADVISOR‍If you want your questions answered on Monday Morning Episodes, ask me on these platforms:My Newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/The Dental Marketer Society Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2031814726927041‍Episode Transcript (Auto-Generated - Please Excuse Errors)‍Michael: Hey Avi. So talk to us. What's one piece of advice you can give us this Monday morning? Avi: So I, my piece of advice would be to kind of simplify, I. Everything you're doing and focus on one thing. And I think a good place to start is with yourself. So, and then even with yourself, right? There's different aspects.There's your mental self, your physical self, your emotional self. And I think if you first focus on your mental self and you do what you can to get that in order and get that into a place where. You have more control. Uh, I'm not talking about mind control, but something, something close to that. But if you, if you focus on your mental self, everything from that point I believe flows.So, um, for example, myself, about two and a half years ago, I started doing therapy. I was doing it because I wanted to improve. Um. My relationship with my wife. Mm-Hmm. And I just wanted to be a better person. I wanted to be able to support her better, but then also myself, just be better. I think that was like the goal.Mm-Hmm. And what I noticed from that point on was I started creating these habits because my focus was on improving. Essentially my mental health or myself. I started creating a morning routine. And so that morning routine was journaling, meditating, stretching. That then led to me being more organized, more focused during the day, uh, less stressed.so that's kind of how it went into the business way of how it helped me in life. But then physically, um, I got into the best shape of my life. I started being more intentional about what I was eating, what I was kinda spending my time on in terms of working out movement, stuff like that.And so just by starting on focusing on one thing by myself or on my mental health rather, all this stuff flowed. And I think you can translate this to other aspects of your life, your business, and everything. Because whenever you're focusing on too many things, right, and I think especially this time of year in January, everyone's got a million goals going on.Probably by the time this thing airs, most people won't have any of their resolutions continuing. But, ' cause I made the same mistake, right? And everyone hears it. Mm-Hmm. And I think I, I felt. So much relief when I looked at the multiple goals that I wanted to basically achieve this year personally and business-wise.And, uh, I felt so good when I eliminated like 90% of them because. I think people get confused on like, having a goal and then actually having something to do, right? So when you have too many goals, then there's so many things to do to achieve all of those goals. You're never gonna get it done. Mm-Hmm.And I kinda just went back to my roots of like, when was there a time in my life where I was growing rapidly, feeling good about myself, achieving a lot of success, and it's back when I was just doing, or focusing rather on like one thing. and so. I kind of remembered that and then I went back to it. Uh, simplified the morning routine again, these days to we're not trying to do 10 things before I start.It's more so just keeping it very simple, very efficient, because what happens is when you start getting those wins, those wins start to stack, and then next thing you know, when you look at it, you know, a year in review, you've achieved so much more just because you were focusing on one thing at a time and kind of chipping away at it.Michael: Gotcha, man. So right now you're kind of mentioning or you're letting us know that have one thing to focus on. Mm-Hmm. so in a specific aspect, we have to have one thing to focus on or like just in general, like, I want a better life, Avi: I would say. So if you are someone who is trying to, like, if you feel lost and you actually don't have a sense of direction or whatnot.Yes, only one thing because what's gonna happen is you're gonna pour, you know you're gonna pour more resources, more time into that one thing, your one big thing, and then from that other things will flow. Right. So if you wanna have a better love life, if you are spending a lot of your free time, you know, focusing on your business, focusing on your health, and like having all these diets working out and all that stuff, and then you're then trying to find time to like do things that would help your love life, you are, it's gonna take you longer to achieve that.Where is, if you say okay. The priority for right now is my love life. That doesn't mean don't do anything for the rest of your, you know, the other aspects of your life. Yeah. But that should be the thing. That should be the main thing. And then once you have that, you, I. We'll find that when, if that is truly what you want to accomplish and like improve your happiness, and there's almost gonna be like a spillover effect, right?Because we're human beings, we're dynamic. It's things are not just, you know, in solitude, but when you're able to focus on one thing, you're able to see, um. More results in that area. And then from that there will be an overflow. Because if you feel more fulfilled in your love life, you are gonna probably have higher energy levels.When you have higher energy levels, you're going to be able to probably do more things, whether it's in your business or for your own health. but it all flows from that one thing where if you're trying to take your limited resource, which is energy, and then spread it out all over the place, a lot of things are just not gonna really move.Yeah. Michael: Could I ask this this year? Like what is it? You're, the thing you're focusing on. Avi: So it's, right now it is, I'm doing it kind of in, in chapters or phases. So we're expecting our first kid in two months. Oh, nice. Okay. Yeah. So I know that's gonna be a huge change.Um, yeah, so basically I was like, cool, well, since life is gonna look different after that, what do, what do I need to do now to be in a place to where I can, 'cause my big thing is all about optionality. I love having optionality. I love, you know, not having to be limited by things. And so the biggest thing that I hear from parents is, you know, the biggest thing that.They get a a, there's a big crunch in time and your energy because now you are kind of giving to this human being. and, and you, you also, and everyone also says it's the most rewarding thing and it's, they always wish they had more time when their kid was younger and they could be there. So I'm like, cool.I need to simplify. Other things in my life to create that space so that way when the baby is here, I can receive that. So for me, from a business standpoint, I have, or I'm trying to currently simplify all the processes in the business. So right now, um. My business is the online ClearLiner Education Program.and a big arm of that is supporting the doctors in the program, but then also creating content on social media to provide free value for people. So I am working on simplifying the content creation part and also simplifying, um. The program itself, so that way it provides the most value for doctors in it.but then also doesn't take up, an extraordinary amount of my time to deliver that support and that value. Gotcha. Okay. Michael: So this, are you only doing now the online Uh, course, yeah. Or are you also working at a practice still? Avi: Nope. So I, I stepped away from clinical dentistry back in September. I was doing it full-time and then slowly went down to part-time, and then with the growth of the program and I.Content creation, social media and all that. I decided to go all in on it because it's just, it's the passion of mine and it's, I feel like it's my calling to help innovate and, um, help move the industry forward And, mm-Hmm. I feel like a quote that kind of stuck with me, or I don't know if it was a quote, but basically someone told me it's like you're either working in an industry or you're working on an industry.Mm-Hmm. And it's hard to work on an industry when a lot of your time is kind of. While you're working in it, right? Mm-Hmm. I think there's kind of like a balance. So I'm kind of using this chapter in my career to kind of step away from the chair and, and dedicate more time and resources into ways that I can help kind of work on the industry.Michael: Yeah. Okay. Man. I like that though. I like that. Um, part of simplifying goals because I feel like goals is like a, sometimes like a shiny, fast, cool word, right? Like, Hey man, I wanna have these goals when it's more, um. Non-negotiable standards. Right? That's what it is. Like I wanna have a non-negotiable standard.This is it. And then I gotta reverse engineering on how to make it happen. And it's easier to do that if you have one, right? Mm-Hmm. One specific one. Boom. Did it next. Right? But if you have all these big, shiny goals and you're like, man, I wanna lose a ton of weight, and you don't know how to do it kind of thing, right?Avi: Correct. Correct. And even just like. Relating it to dentists, right? Like if you've got a practice and you, you have a goal if you want to increase the revenue, right? Mm-Hmm. Where then it's, everyone always tells you, okay, well cool, you pick a number, then you reverse engineer it. How are you gonna get there?Um, from my personal experience, when it came to just like leveling up as a clinician, I found that when I was trying to learn how to do multiple procedures clinically at once, like when I wanted to become a better clinician, I wasn't like. Immersing myself in it, so I wasn't actually able to get as good as I wanted to.The example here is when I started with like implants and aligners, I pretty much learned them both at the same time. and so I was splitting my time between it. Implants. It was a little bit longer for me to kind of get going just because it is surgery and it just, you know, it's very, I mean, it's surgery, so it's, it's, it's pretty crazy.Mm-Hmm. Yeah. Um, but then with aligners I also just started to see, um, more success with it. And then I slowly started to like, immerse myself in that. And so when I was focusing on that one procedure, it wasn't just about moving teeth. It's how do you talk to the patient? How do you get the team on board?How do you schedule them? What do you do? So I was able to like work through all that by being focused. Where if I was trying to like iron out implants, learn it, implement it, and do aligners and like, you know. Do other procedures and, and work with the team and all that, it would be too much. And I know a lot of dentists probably feel that way, but I think the answer is, is like until you're like proficient in something, you should pick like one skill, whether it's business right, or clinical, and focus on that for the year to grow.You will know when you get to a point where you can kind of now choose a different area to focus on. So that's why it's like. I think a lot of dentists, right? Stress comes into play. There's always a lot of hats to wear. but I think kind of taking the pressure off yourself by just wanting to focus on one thing, knowing that other people are going to tell you, oh, you need to look at the KPIs.You need to look at this. You need to look at that. Yes, you do. But what you have to do in the beginning of anything new is focus on one thing. Get good at it and then move on to the next Mm-Hmm. Gotcha. Michael: So then how does that kind of play a role in, for example, software? Right? They're like, Hey, all these features and everything like that, and you're gonna be able to look at your dashboard and your analytics and then you're like, cool.'cause that contributes to the goal that I wanna make more collections. I wanna make a million dollars this this year, right? Like I wanna be Mm-Hmm. A million dollar in collections this year. And then you look at it. I feel like there's too many features of everything. You know what I mean? To just be like, uh oh, we'll focus on this one thing.'cause then like, what if your new patients drop 'cause of the time, or you know what I mean? And all this other stuff. How do we, I guess, keep our blinders Avi: on? So I would say the best thing to do in that situation is talk to someone who's done it before. Right? Talk to the, there's a bunch of dentists, coaches, consultants, people out there who already know what these like successful practices look like.Talk to them, ask them, Hey, if you were to start over again, or if you had to go back, what is one area that you would focus on for 90 days? What is one KPI metric that you would focus on that you feel like has the highest leverage? Right. When you say that, now you're able to lock in for 90 days, you're able to see that metric.And the thing, what's gonna happen is once you go down that rabbit hole, you're gonna find all these other things along the way. So it's not that other things are gonna drop off, you're just, you're shooting your shot. To get better at one KPI, but then when you're doing that, your brain will start to problem solve for ways to improve that KPI.And when you're doing that, you're gonna touch other parts of your practice. Does that make sense? Yeah, that makes Michael: a lot of sense. I like that question. What's the one thing you, you know what I mean? Like for, for you looking back, right? Starting out? Yeah. Because I think you told me one time we in one, a previous episode, and I'm gonna put a link to it in the show.It's below, but. You were looking to do practice ownership, right? But then you're like, uh, I don't know. Or kind of thing, right. Or an acquisition, I wanna say Avi: no. I don't know if I went that route. I think it was more my, my story kind of high levels. I was always an associate, but I'd worked in a bunch of practices and so it was like I was looking at okay, like what can practice ownership give me that I don't currently have?Mm-Hmm. And also like. Is it worth for me to go down that route with all the resources, time and everything like that? And I think, I don't have a knock on practice ownership. I think it's great if you're, you know, doing it the right way. But for me, this route of going into like education and like uplifting other doctors to learn this procedure was like the bigger kind of pull for me in terms of my career story.Yeah. So Michael: looking back. What's one metric you focus on for 90 days? If you had to start over, Avi: uh, as a dentist wanting to like do aligners or just as like a dentist in general, Michael: as a dentist wanting to do aligners, like what you're doing, education. Going down that route. I Avi: would, yeah, if I knew, if I started back and knew nothing, I would get with somebody that knows how to do it.Pick their brain to know what cases are easy to treat, what should you not do, right? And then, um, how to get patients to do it. I would focus on those three strategies. And then the actual, like metric, I would hold myself accountable to the point where every week I would start tracking how many patients did I talk to about it, and how many patients said yes.Like very simple. And then. I guess over time I would see like how many patients on average am I talking to a week? How many you're saying? Yes. And then from there, try to figure out, okay, why aren't they saying yes or how can we get more patients to say yes, or how can I talk to more patients, you know?Mm-Hmm. Like that's how I would do it, but how many people I talk to and how many people said yes would probably be the two metrics I'd focus on. Michael: Nice. Okay. Awesome. I mean, thank you so much for being with us on this Monday morning episode. If anybody had any questions or concerns, where can they reach Avi: out to you?Uh, Instagram is the easiest. My handle is doctor.avi and uh, yeah, just shoot me a DM and I'd be happy to chat. Michael: Awesome. So that's gonna be in the show notes below. And Avi, thank you for being with me on this Monday morning episode. Avi: Thanks Michael.

In the face of climate uncertainty, growers wonder which grape varieties will flourish in their regions in the future, or if any will grow there at all. Joel Harms, Ph.D. student in the Department of Bioresource Engineering at McGill University in Australia is using artificial intelligence to simulate the potential to grow pinot noire in different regions of the world that are currently considered too cool. The project mapped 1,300 varieties to 16 different points of climate data including temperature, precipitation, and growing degree days. The findings could play a crucial role in identifying the winegrowing regions of tomorrow. Resources:         207: Managing Catastrophic Loss in Vineyards: Lessons from Cyclone Gabrielle in New Zealand Cal-Adapt Development of a generative AI-based model for guiding grape variety selection under contemporary climate dynamics Generative AI for Climate-Adaptive Viticulture Development Joel Harms Google Scholar Page Mapping Global of the Potential for Pinot Noir Cultivation under Climate Uncertainty using Generative AI University of Adelaide Wine Economics Research Center Vineyard Team Programs: Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Donate SIP Certified – Show your care for the people and planet   Sustainable Ag Expo – The premiere winegrowing event of the year Vineyard Team – Become a Member Get More Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss an episode on the latest science and research with the Sustainable Winegrowing Podcast. Since 1994, Vineyard Team has been your resource for workshops and field demonstrations, research, and events dedicated to the stewardship of our natural resources. Learn more at www.vineyardteam.org.   Transcript [00:00:00] Beth Vukmanic: In the face of climate uncertainty, growers wonder which grape varieties will flourish in their regions in the future, or if any, will grow there at all. [00:00:13] Welcome to Sustainable Wine Growing with the Vineyard Team, where we bring you the latest in science and research for the wine industry. I'm Beth Vukmanic, Executive Director. [00:00:23] In today's podcast, Craig McMillan, Critical Resource Manager at Niner Wine Estates, with longtime SIP certified vineyard and the first ever SIP certified winery. Speaks with Joel Harms, PhD student in the Department of Bioresource Engineering at McGill University in Australia. [00:00:42] Joel is using artificial intelligence to simulate the potential to grow Pinot Noir in different regions of the world that are currently considered too cool. [00:00:52] The project mapped 1, 300 varieties to 16 different points of climate data. including temperature, precipitation, and growing degree days. The findings could play a critical role in identifying the wine growing regions of tomorrow. [00:01:07] Want to be more connected with the viticulture industry but don't know where to start? Become a member of the Vineyard Team. Get access to the latest science based practices, experts, growers, and wine industry tools through both infield and online education so that you can grow your business. Visit vineyardteam. org and choose grower or business to join the community today. Now let's listen in. [00:01:34] Craig Macmillan: Our guest today is Joel Harms. He's a PhD student in the Department of Bioresources Engineering at McGill University. And today we're going to talk about mapping global future potential for Pinot Noir cultivation under climate uncertainty using generative AI. [00:01:51] Bye. Bye. This is a really interesting topic. I came across an abstract from a recent ASEV meeting and I was like, I just have to know more about this. This just sounds too interesting. But welcome to the podcast, Joel. [00:02:04] Joel Harms: Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you for having me. [00:02:06] Craig Macmillan: What got you interested in this topic in terms of this wine grape region? Stuff. [00:02:12] Joel Harms: I think it was more about I wanted to build models that are useful, I guess, broadly useful in vineyard management and like establishing new vineyards and like kind of covering some of the base problems. Initially, my thought was, how can we. see which grape varieties are alike. [00:02:32] How can we like make a representation of them in like a latent space. But then I found out , if I do that, that's, you know, somewhat useful, but if I take that just a step further, I could just connect it with climate data already. And then we would have a model that could, be used for prediction and it would be so I guess. How do I say like broad or general enough so that you could apply it in any environment. So like any climate can be used to predict any grape suitability matrix, which is quite nice. And so then I thought, no, let's do it. Let's try that. [00:03:11] Craig Macmillan: So your colleagues and yourself did some simulations, as we just mentioned specifically around Pinot Noir and the potential to grow it in different parts of the world that currently are considered too cool. Tell us exactly how you went about this. [00:03:25] Joel Harms: The abstract is kind of a case study on one application of, These models that we built. So we built very general grape variety recommender systems based on climate. And so we wanted to show a cool application globally. This can be applied to find regions that will be too hot in the future. [00:03:43] So we built the AI models first starting from looking at where grapes are grown and tying that together with what climate is there regionally. Unfortunately, you know, we can't use like very precise climate data because we don't have the exact location of each grape variety in each region. [00:04:02] Craig Macmillan: hmm. Yep. [00:04:03] Joel Harms: Yeah. So therefore, we use larger climate data. So like at 50 kilometer resolution, which is still helpful to, I think, gather overall trends, not so much, you know, to plan an individual vineyard probably, but just to see like in which areas maybe there would be. in the future interesting vineyard sites. [00:04:23] Just like kind of as like a pre guidance sort of model. And then we, tested it. We tried to validate this model and then we presented a first case study with Pinot Noir because we were presenting in Oregon at the ASEV conference. So I figured, you know, might as well do Pinot Noir if we're already in Oregon. [00:04:43] Craig Macmillan: Can you explain to me the artificial intelligence piece of this? I mean, you hear about it and you know, kind of what different types of AI do. I don't think a lot of people realize that, you know, that's a very general concept and people have designed particular tools for particular reasons. [00:05:01] So, in this case, what exactly was the AI component? What's inside the box, basically? How does it work? [00:05:07] Joel Harms: First off, I guess to explain for listeners , cause AI does get thrown around a lot and it's hard to know what that actually means. So when we're talking about AI, it's usually we're tying some sort of input data to some sort of output data. And we're teaching a very complicated mathematical function to map one to the other. [00:05:25] So like kind of a correlation. But it's not a simple correlation. That's why we need these models and that's why they're pretty fancy. [00:05:31] So in our case, we're using an AI that was inspired from the community of medical science, where similar models were used to connect, for example, the ECG measurements of a heart with like scans of the heart. [00:05:50] And then Trying to tie both of those datas together and to reconstruct them again to see if, like, you could find correlations between those and maybe if one of them is missing, you could, , predict what it would look like. And so, since this is a very similar problem, , and we have similar input data in the sense of, we have grapes, which grapes are grown where, and we have what is the climate there, roughly. [00:06:13] So we can tie that together and try to connect both of those types of data and then get an output of both of those types of data so that we can go from grapes to climate and climate to grapes in the same model. So we have these , you could say like four models. that are tied together at the center. So input grapes, input climate, then in the center where they get tied together and then output grapes, output climate. And so we train it to, reconstruct it from this combined space where we like, Scrunch it down, which is what the autoencoder does. [00:06:48] Craig Macmillan: So if, if I understand correctly, what we're talking about is , we know that we have the data and we know where wine grapes are grown, different types for different climates. Then we have the climate data in terms of how things may change over time. And then we're creating a prediction of. How those climates change, and then translate that into what we already know about wine grapes. [00:07:09] Joel Harms: Sort of. Yeah. But in our model for training, we just use the existing ones. So historical climate data and historical grape variety data. Once we have that model trained, we just apply it for new climates that come from like other climate models. So we don't do the climate modeling ourselves, but we extract that information and feed that into it and get the grape varieties output. [00:07:31] Craig Macmillan: So you look specifically, at least reported on areas that currently are considered too cold for growing a high quality pinot noir or growing wine grapes in general. What did you find out? What Parts of the world might be the new leading Pinot Noir regions. [00:07:46] Joel Harms: . So that depends a little bit on the exact scenario and how much the climate is supposed to warm. We have like two scenarios is what we looked at. We looked at a 8. 5 scenario and a 2. 6 scenario and going by the 8. 5 scenario, some of the regions that are improving are for example, Western China. And also Southern California, actually, and Quebec, , like Southern California is in Santa Barbara. I guess that's technically Central Coast, [00:08:17] Craig Macmillan: Yeah, well, that's interesting There's a lot of Pinot Noir in Santa Barbara County in the in the coastal zones Any other regions that popped up? [00:08:26] Joel Harms: Yeah, a lot of Australia seems to be doing better and like Northern France, [00:08:31] Craig Macmillan: Yeah pushing it to the north. Did England pop up? [00:08:35] Joel Harms: England, yes, but England seems to like stay the same in compared to historical. So not like as if it's improving, at least like from this, like rough map that we made. What we want to do is do it a bit more finely. The, this prediction, because we currently just used regions where wine is already grown, but then try to like interpolate just for calculation efficiency. Outward. So like our maps are created not only by the model itself, because that would be too calculation intensive. So for the, for the sake of simplicity, we did it like this, but we're still writing the final paper. So, you know, don't invest just yet, wait a little bit and then, [00:09:17] Craig Macmillan: I was gonna bring that up. Where should I put my money? [00:09:19] Joel Harms: Exactly. So don't do that yet. Wait for the final paper and then we will double check everything over. Oh yeah. Arkansas was one that was improving too. Very interestingly. Yeah. [00:09:28] Craig Macmillan: I was kind of surprised because having talked to guests, many guests from, you know, New York, from Texas, from people who consult in the Southwest Northern California, which can get quite warm. What we've talked about is the question of it getting too hot to grow quality wine grapes. [00:09:49] You know, wine grapes will grow to tolerate quite high temperatures. So, for instance, the San Joaquin Valley in California, produces a lot of wine grapes. They're not considered to be very high quality compared to coastal zones. So the vines do great and produce good crops and all of that. So there's concern that areas that have been kind of in the sweet spot, kind of in the, we call it the Goldilocks phenomenon where climate, soil, time, everything just all kind of fits together. [00:10:12] It sounds like this idea would be applicable to predicting what areas might become too warm for high quality wine [00:10:19] Joel Harms: Yes. Yes. It's definitely the case. Yes. And in our maps. You can see both at the same time because it sees like relative change, positive, relative change to, to negative. Some areas that look like they're not going to do so well in the future or less good in the future, even though they're like really good right now is like Oregon, unfortunately. [00:10:39] And the Azores or Northern Spain, even in Eastern Europe, a lot of areas. Seem to be warming up like in Romania at the coast. Not necessarily just the warming up part, but also because we consider 16 different climate variables, it could be the warming up part, but it could also be, you know, like the precipitation changing things like that, you know. [00:10:59] Craig Macmillan: You said 16 variables, we talked, you got temperature, you got precipitation, what, what are some of the others? [00:11:04] Joel Harms: Yeah, we got the growing degree days, the winter index, we got the Huggins index, we have radiation. Diurnal temperature range, the annual average temperature, for the precipitation, we have it like a three different scales, in the harvest month over the growing season and also throughout the whole year same for the temperature. And then we have the, growing indexes [00:11:26] Craig Macmillan: do you have plans to do this kind of thing again? Or publish additional papers from the work you've already done, because I think, it sounds like you've got a lot of interesting findings, [00:11:35] Joel Harms: Oh yeah. Yeah. The results only came in like right before the conference. We're still analyzing everything, writing everything. So the first thing that's coming up is a paper just on , how did we build the model and like all the validations and does it make sense with like expert classifications of how experts classify suitability for grapevines and things like that in the past to see if. That lines up as it should yeah, and then after that we'll publish some of these predictions and what we can learn from these and more detailed than how we did it right now where, most of it's like interpolated because we couldn't predict for every location, so like we predicted for some locations and interpolated. Just for computational efficiency, I guess, but you know, we're, we're getting there. Unfortunately, academia is quite you know, a slow profession. takes a lot of time. [00:12:24] Craig Macmillan: Yes, yes it does. And then getting it published takes a lot of time with reviews and whatnot. And so I just want to put a time stamp on this. This is being recorded in October of 2024. So, Give it some months, at least several, several, several, several. But it's exciting. This stuff's coming out. It'll be in, be in the literature. That's really, really great. [00:12:43] Joel Harms: And soon what we're trying to do is also release like a tool or something that, you know, where people can input their location and we can, our climate data, like call out the climate data and see what, what some of the predictions would be. Yeah. [00:12:57] Craig Macmillan: Oh, that's neat. [00:12:59] Joel Harms: I might've done that for Niner Vineyards just now to see, to see what, what's a suitable there, but only the current ones. [00:13:08] So I mean, it's kind of is exactly what you're growing. [00:13:10] Craig Macmillan: Funny. You should mention that. There is a a website called CalAdapt that allows you to put in some ranges and some variables specific to your location, you put your location in, and then there's a number of different models that you can run. Some are very conservative, some are not in terms of what the predictions are for climate change globally. [00:13:31] And then gives you a nice report on what the average temperature change might be in degrees Fahrenheit or Celsius also takes a stab at precipitation, although I talked to somebody who was connected to that and they said the precipitation is always kind of questionable. And also looks at things like heat waves, how many heat waves days over 100 or days over 95, you might expect because those can be quite fluctuating. [00:13:55] damaging. Even, even though vines can tolerate heat, if they're not acclimated, getting these big stretches of over a hundred, for instance, can be kind of stressful. I did that and kind of looked at it myself and thought, huh, I wonder if we had better, more, um, detailed information, what that might look like. [00:14:12] Another tool that was mentioned that you used was a deep coupled auto incoder networks. What are those? [00:14:18] Joel Harms: So that was what I described earlier, like these component models , where we have a. The encoder and decoder part, the input part is the , encoder and the output part is the decoder. And in the middle of these we have a latent space and then the coupled part means that we're having multiple of these that share their latent space. [00:14:38] So that's , where we're tying them together so that we can input either climate or grapes and get as outputs either climates or grapes. So it's like very, very flexible in that way and so I quite like that. And it turns out it does better than even some more traditional approaches where you just feed in climate and get out grapes like from a neural network or something like that. [00:14:59] Just like a neural network, because we have technically like four neural networks and all of them have three layers. So that's three layers or more. And so that's what makes them deep. [00:15:08] Craig Macmillan: Got it. [00:15:09] Is this your primary work as a PhD student? [00:15:13] Joel Harms: Well, as a PhD student, I'm still working on modeling. But not so much with grapevines, unfortunately. I'm looking at still climate models. How can we adapt for example, now we're looking more at the Caribbean. There's flooding issues. Particularly in Guyana. And so we're trying to, you know, help maybe the government to plan land use better in order to avoid, you know, critical areas being flooded, agricultural land being flooded and these type of things. [00:15:41] So it's more looking at flooding modeling, there's definitely some overlap in that sort of work, it's definitely still like in the area of using data science to help decision making which is the overall theme of this work. [00:15:55] Craig Macmillan: Yeah, and that was something that also came up in my little mini project was the potential for massive storms and also the potential for drought. Which, wasn't part of your work at this stage. Is that something that you would be able to find a way of including in your modeling that might give you some idea of how things might change? [00:16:15] And it's specifically what I'm thinking of is Cyclone Gabriel, I believe it was called, Gabriella just devastated parts of New Zealand. And raised a lot of concern about how, you know, when we were in these coastal zones, we go, Oh, yes, it's mild. It's great. But we're right near the ocean. [00:16:33] Right. And in October between 24, we've seen a very active hurricane season in the Caribbean and on the East coast and the Gulf. Do you think there's potential for this kind of thing to give us more of a heads up about what might be coming our way in terms of massive storm events? Cause that might affect how and what I do. [00:16:52] Joel Harms: I guess this wouldn't depend really on the grape variety itself. That would be more like a citing issue, right? Like where do you plant? [00:16:58] That's what we're looking at now with the like flooding mapping if there is a storm, where does the water collect? Which roads are cut off? Or, I mean, I guess in the case of vineyards, you could look at like, what would be the likely damage would there be now saltwater maybe even if you're depending on where you are. That's definitely something to look at. [00:17:17] All you need is sufficient, like past data points. So you can calibrate your models and then. You know, look at different future scenarios and what will be important to for the future is to look at what's kind of the certainty of these predictions, right? Like, what are your error margins? What's your confidence interval? [00:17:33] Because that might drastically alter your decisions. If it says, oh, it's probably not going to be too bad, but you're very uncertain about that, then you're probably going to take some more precautions than, you know, not because usually now we have A lot of models where their prediction is very, like is deterministic. [00:17:50] So they say, this is how it will be. And it's hard to tell where, you know, where those margins are of error, which is something to look at in the future for sure. [00:18:01] Craig Macmillan: Yeah, that is a challenge in the the model that I did for a Paso Robles vineyard Precipitation didn't really change very much which I was surprised by so it wasn't gonna become like a drought area completely but the potential ranged from five inches of rain a year to 60 inches of rain a year, which is why I was asking about these massive storms. [00:18:21] Maybe our averages, continuous to what we have now, but it may be a bunch of craziness year to year around that. And I think that is interesting and useful to know. So you prepare for it. [00:18:34] Joel Harms: that's something people are looking at, I think cause you can use some models to calculate sort of new climate indices. To see like from daily data train, like new climate indices to see these big storm events and things like that, and maybe incorporate that. That could help, , maybe with that sort of analysis of where even if it's the same average, the index is different because it measures something else. [00:18:59] Yes, I wouldn't know what they're called, but yes, I believe this already exists and is being improved. . [00:19:05] Craig Macmillan: Yeah. Yeah. With your experience so far, what do you see? Because everybody's talking about this. It's like the future in a world of artificial intelligence and this and that. In this particular area where you're, you're tying one set of variables to climate variables and also to historical weather. [00:19:23] In the big picture, beyond just wine grapes, but in the big picture, any topic, where do you see this kind of work going? You touched on it a little bit, when you close your eyes and open your mind what does the future look like? What, kind of tools are we going to have and what kind of things are we going to be able to find out? [00:19:38] Joel Harms: Yeah, that's interesting. I think it, it really depends on the data we have available and it looks like we'll have more and more data available. [00:19:47] So better disease models, location specific disease models to plan spray schedules better and things like that, they seem to be coming. I think I've seen parts of that already from some companies rolling out. [00:20:00] It's all about kind of the creatively using the data that you have available, because a lot of like my data, for example, that I used for this. This isn't necessarily new data, right? This comes from the University of Adelaide who collects where, which grape varieties are grown all over the world. [00:20:17] And then just historical, climate data. It's not very new, but just to put these together in a meaningful way with AI, that's going to be the challenge. And then also to test, is this reliable or not? Because you could theoretically predict almost anything, but then you need to check, is it just correlation? [00:20:39] Am I taking all the important variables into account? And we're developing AI very, very fast. But maybe we need to spend a bit more time, you know, trying to validate it, trying to see how robust it is, which is a major challenge, especially with these complicated models, because, I heard about this example. [00:20:57] Where in the past, for some self driving cars, their AI that recognized stop signs could be tricked if there was a sticker on the stop sign, and it would ignore the stop sign. Even though there's not a big difference, but you can't test for, you know, all of these cases, what might happen. And that's kind of the same for, , what we are doing. [00:21:17] So improving the testing, that would be, I think, a major A major goal to make sure it's robust and reliable or that it tells you how, how certain it is, you know, then at least you can deal with it, you know, and not just make a decision off of that. Yeah, [00:21:29] Craig Macmillan: Yeah. What the level of uncertainty is. That's always the getcha. [00:21:33] Joel Harms: yes, [00:21:34] Craig Macmillan: That's always the hard part. If you had one thing that you would tell growers on this topic, what would it be? Mm [00:21:43] Joel Harms: Specifically for my models, it would be to take the current results with a grain of salt. And then to sort of use this to, narrow down like a selection of grapes and to still run tests and things like that. Cause it's regional data, right? It's not going to tell you exactly what you should grow in your location. [00:22:02] Cause it's, you know, the weather data is based on four to 50 kilometers around you. You know, that's where we're like assembling the data from. [00:22:10] Craig Macmillan: that a 50 kilometer quadrant? [00:22:12] Joel Harms: yes. Yeah. [00:22:13] Craig Macmillan: Yep. Okay. Gotcha. [00:22:14] Joel Harms: Yes, exactly. So this tool is mainly used or useful if you use it to like pre select some varieties so you can see what might be good, you know, and then decide for yourself what you want. [00:22:27] The take home message is like, it's not supposed to take away grape growing experts and things like that, or replace them in any way, but it's supposed to like support it because. There's so many grape varieties and if climate regions or like regions where we're growing grapes are changing, where the climate is changing, we want to get the best choice. [00:22:47] And so we should probably look at all of them, all of our available options and see what we can do. It will narrow it down for you. And then, you know, you'll still have to see what works exactly for you. What wine do you want to produce? I mean, it doesn't take that into account, right? It just gives you what probably would grow well here. [00:23:03] Craig Macmillan: . [00:23:03] Yeah, then I think that there's going to be a future also in bringing in some either hybrid varieties or varieties that are not terribly well known. I've talked to people from Texas and from Michigan Pennsylvania, where the traditional vinifera only varieties don't do pretty well. Terribly well, often because of cold hardiness because of cold winters, they don't handle it, but there's hybrids that do great and make interesting wine. [00:23:27] And I think that would be an interesting thing to include in a model or if it came out kind of like the winner was something we don't normally [00:23:33] Joel Harms: Right. Usually we have a lot of hybrids in this because we have 1, 300 varieties. [00:23:39] Craig Macmillan: wow. Oh, I didn't realize that. [00:23:41] Joel Harms: so I think we have most of the. commercially used grape varieties, like in all aspects. [00:23:48] Craig Macmillan: yeah, probably, probably. [00:23:49] Joel Harms: Yeah. So it's quite, quite far ranging. We only excluded some where it was never more than 1 percent of any region, because then like our model couldn't really learn what this grape variety needs. [00:24:00] Right. Because it's like too small, even in the largest region where it we cut those out. So, cause else we would have 1700. But then like the 1300 that actually get used commercially at a significant scale. Those we have. The model is actually built like we have a suitability index. [00:24:18] But we're still trying to, , fine adjust so that we can rank not just what's popular and like how much will grow. Cause then you'll always get, you know, the top, the top 10 will look very similar for any region. But then through the suitability index, we actually get a lot of these smaller varieties that would fit very well also ranked in the top 10 or in the top 50 of varieties. [00:24:41] Craig Macmillan: They've mentioned fine tuning the model at this point. Is this particular project or this particular model, is this gonna continue on into the future? It sounds you have ideas for improvements. Is this number one gonna continue on into the future and is there gonna come a point when This will be available for the industry, industries internationally to do their own trials. [00:25:03] Joel Harms: Yes, I think so. So I think when we're publishing the paper latest at that point, we'll have the tool set up where people can try it out, put in, in their location. And I guess we're publishing the methodology. So you could build like a version of this yourself. It's not too crazy. Probably code will be published too. [00:25:24] So, you know, you could build this yourself if you wanted to, or you could just use the models we have trained already. Okay. And just apply them to your case. That's what the tool is for. . Right now it's like all code based. So like, it's not, not so easy where you just, drop your pin, like where you're at and then it gives you some predictions, , that's what we're aiming for. [00:25:44] Craig Macmillan: Fantastic. So our guest today has been Joel Harms. He is a PhD student in the Department of Bioresource Engineering at McGill. University. Thanks so much for being on the podcast. This is really fascinating. I'm really looking forward to how this work progresses. And I think it's very eyeopening for us. [00:26:01] Again, you know, one of the things I thought was fascinating is I've had all these conversations about areas that would no longer be suitable, but a flip on it and say, well, areas that might be suitable in the future. I hadn't thought of that. [00:26:12] Joel Harms: Why not? You [00:26:13] Craig Macmillan: why not? You know, that's, that's, that's a very interesting question, and it applies to other crops as well. [00:26:18] I just had never really thought about it like that. You know, maybe you can grow oranges in Iowa at some point. [00:26:23] Joel Harms: That, that would be nice. I guess. [00:26:25] Craig Macmillan: maybe [00:26:26] Joel Harms: maybe see. [00:26:28] Craig Macmillan: we'll see. We'll see. You never know. Anyway, Joel, thanks for being on the podcast. I appreciate it. [00:26:33] Beth Vukmanic: Thank you for listening. Today's podcast was brought to you by Cal West Rain. Since 1989, Cal West Rain has served growers on California's Central Coast and the San Joaquin Valley. As a locally owned, full line irrigation and pump company, they offer design and construction experience in all types of low volume irrigation systems, whether they're for vines, trees, or row crops. [00:27:03] In addition, CalWestRain offers a full range of pumps and pump services, plus expertise in automation systems, filtration systems, electrical service, maintenance and repairs, equipment rental, and a fully stocked parts department. Learn more at CalWestRain. com. [00:27:23] Make sure you check out the show notes for links to Joel, his research articles, plus sustainable wine growing podcast episode 207. Managing Catastrophic Loss in Vineyards, Lessons from Cyclone Gabriel in New Zealand. If you liked this show, do us a big favor by sharing it with a friend, subscribing, and leaving us a review. [00:27:44] You can find all of the podcasts at vineyardteam.org/podcast, and you can reach us at podcast at vineyardteam.org. Until next time, this is Sustainable Wine Growing with the Vineyard Team.   Nearly perfect transcription by Descript

‍Having trouble hiring and retaining GREAT hygienists?In this episode, we're exploring how to redefine your approach to attracting and retaining valuable team members like dental hygienists. I'm here today with Kari Carter-Cherelus, who shares transformative advice for creating more welcoming and inclusive work environments. By advocating for flexible work schedules, Kari sheds light on how dental offices can better accommodate the diverse needs of their staff, particularly women navigating caregiving responsibilities. From job sharing to customized shifts, our conversation delves into practical solutions that satisfy both employee and employer needs.Kari brings a wealth of insights drawn from her interactions in various professional online communities, where she observes the power of communication and fairness in fostering productive workplaces. She emphasizes the importance of respecting cultural diversity and personal commitments, encouraging dental practices to embrace policies that are not only beneficial but also compassionate.What You'll Learn in This Episode:The impact of flexible work schedules on staff retention.Practical examples of successful job-sharing arrangements.The role of open communication in creating a fair workplace.Strategies for respecting cultural diversity and personal commitments.How to cultivate an inclusive and supportive office environment.Unlock strategies for a happier, more cohesive dental office workforce by tuning in today!‍‍You can reach out to Kari Carter-Cherelus here:Website: Bit.ly/burnoutdentalhygienistEmail: cherelussmiles@gmail.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kari-carter-cherelus-rdh-da-65094b49Instagram: instagram.com/kmc.smilesFacebook: facebook.com/kari.cartercherelus‍Other Mentions and Links:‍TV/Characters:Michael ScottThe Office‍If you want your questions answered on Monday Morning Episodes, ask me on these platforms:My Newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/The Dental Marketer Society Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2031814726927041‍Episode Transcript (Auto-Generated - Please Excuse Errors)‍Michael: Hey Carrie, so talk to us. What's one piece of advice you can give us this Monday morning? Kari: I'm going to say that if offices can be more flexible with their team members, then they probably will be able to attract more and retain more team members. A lot of dentists complain about not being able to find a dental hygienist.Where, statistically speaking, most hygienists are women, even though it is a diverse field, so there are different genders in the field as well. However, that's just the fact of the matter, and most women are caregivers, they may have children they have to take care of, or someone in the house that they have to take care of.So if they can actually make that schedule more flexible, instead of just being straight eight to five or eight to whatever it is, or whatever that time is, and actually maybe job share, then they actually will probably be able to fill that position that they've been trying to fill for a year or two.Michael: Job share. You mean like sharing the position? Kari: Basically. Yeah. for example, I'm a mom. My child is three. I have to drop them off to preschool and pick them up within a certain period of time, or I would have to pay for aftercare before here. And so there's many people in the same positions and they would dream of having a schedule from eight to three where somebody else would like to have a schedule where maybe they could work.12 to five Or seven. So you would be able to have someone who could fill that initial bulk of time that you need. And then if you're trying to accommodate patients by having the office open to a later period of time, then they may be someone who is actually looking for that schedule.Michael: Hmm. Okay. Gotcha. So can you share examples of flexible work arrangements that have resonated most with team members you've worked with or your team members? Kari: Online, I have a Facebook group of about almost 10, 000 people, but I'm in a lot of Facebook groups, and a lot of hygienists would love to have that schedule from like 8 to 2 or 8 to 3, whereas other people need more hours, and so they would like to have a longer period of time I've worked All different types of schedules.And so maybe I've worked full time five days, six days a week sometimes, or I've only worked three days a week. And then there's been times where I had worked from eight o'clock to five. And times when I worked from 11 to seven, sometimes that was broken up throughout the week, and sometimes that was consistent. So when you have different changes in your life, such as being a Becoming a mom or some are widows or different things, then they may need some variations. So not having that cookie cutter schedule, of course, a dental office is a business and they need those hours filled and patients need to be seen. However, just finding something that works. For everyone really has helped a number of hygienists that I've spoken with and dentists have been happy that at least they have someone filling their Chairs, and they're not just having to continue to have temps or to not have patients being seen They're not turning away patients because they have no one to see them.Michael: Got you. sounds awesome would a practice owner or someone be hesitant to do this? Kari: Probably because they just want someone to feel that time. So they just, you would have to be open minded and sometimes in dentistry, not all dental professionals are open minded. They want a certain person to fulfill that job, or sometimes it's a certain look, or a certain gender, and so you would have to actually be open minded to be willing to have a schedule that isn't the normal schedule, and then also we're open Sometimes they're afraid of other employees being upset. Recently I had someone upset in my Facebook group because they had kids and they had to negotiate that schedule. So they felt that the hygienist who had negotiated that schedule, who got off at two 30 to go pick up her kids was a slacker and lazy, so they may not do it because they may feel like other team members may feel jealous.So why does this person get to get off? I have family too. I have kids too. So they're. Jealousy or just treating everyone the same, but in that sense, then you don't have someone who's filling that chair. Now, some practice owners have seen that if they don't do this, then that loyal employee who's been there for a long time is going to leave.They're going to find other employment or they're just going to choose the temp. So it really behooves the office to come up with different ways to make everyone happy, which is pretty, pretty important. Difficult to make everyone happy, you know, that's very hard to do, but to think of different ways to be able to attract and retain team members, because that is hard.People constantly complaining about the dental shortage. instead of just complaining about it. And complaining about maybe having to pay more in wages or not being able to find someone or name calling, actually coming up with different solutions that are going to help the office out as well as the team member and showing that you care that you actually would work with someone allows them to be more loyal to the practice because they see that the office bent over backwards to really help them to maybe have that flexible schedule for whatever the reason is that they've had it.Michael: Yeah, that's true. That's a good point. What happened in your Facebook group too, because I feel like if that starts happening, you start noticing disunity, right? Like, Oh man, the one person's like angry at another person. Is it just because of this reason?Or was there an underlying solution there? Did y'all guys really not like each other this whole time? Kind of A thing, right? Kari: I mean, The whole post got deleted because so many people were like do you just not like the person because of the schedule or are they actually slacking?Like, What is the actual things? Because some people said that's my exact schedule. That's the schedule I have. My doctor bent over backwards. I do a lot of remote work now. And all the different things that I do. So I temp because of having my child, you know, it's very hard to find that schedule.It's very difficult to find it. When I do look online like, what will happen if everything falls apart and I need to get a clinical job? The jobs, they want you to work four or five days a week from eight to seven. So how am I going to raise my child? And that's one reason there is a dental shortage among hygienists because of that offset of the work life balance.Many people feel that they are not actually paying attention. playing an active participant in their child's life or in their own life. So they're wanting to have more balance. So somewhere we got lost in the profession. Quite honestly, I've been in a dental profession for 25 years. One of the reasons I chose it is because it was built to me as a great job for moms.So if everyone wanted to have a kid, then, it was flexible. I can maybe work three days a week and somewhere, maybe because of the insurance industry, I don't know. We kind of lost sight of that and that we are trying to cater to patients so much that we're not really allowing the team to get what they need out of life as well.Michael: that's Something we've been seeing a lot too, but I feel like whenever we talk to a lot of practice owners, hygienists, things like that, right? And dads too. Dads too, but like moms specifically there's a lot of that. Have you heard of mom guilt? Kari: Come on, don't mansplain it. I just gave a course on mommy bird out from mommy dentist and business.Yes, mom guilt is thing, You they have a special thing for my son Friday at his school, he didn't go to school the other day, but I saw the volunteer thing, and they only had three volunteer slots, and it was already filled, and I was like, I would have wanted to go to that, I wish I had, So yeah, we deal with a lot of guilt and a lot of moms who are dentists or hygienists or assistants or whatever, they're missing out on key things with their kids lives.So key events that the office is saying they can't go to, or one dentist she wrote in a Facebook group when I was doing some like research she wrote that she missed the kid's first day of school. And so she asked the kid, how was your first day of kindergarten? And then you're like, Oh, I told dad already, ask him.Michael: no, yeah, you miss out those key moments. You're absolutely right. So then you have to have a team that also wants to support that as well. Not just for the practice owner, but for like the hygienist for even assistant for everybody. Right. Like Understand Hey man, that's, She has to go see her child or something has to happen right, with the child.So how do you train them to be like leaders, to truly support an inclusive and flexible work environment? Kari: It's gonna have to be really having that flexibility. Open communication and then making sure that everyone is on board. So having a positive office environment, does have to be fair, so if other people aren't able to leave or they can't have that schedule, then what are you doing for them?So if they don't have kids, it's not fair that they never get to leave early sometimes too. So how are you allowing them to leave or allowing them to take PTO and things? So that's what's important, making sure that you're there for everyone. Because when I didn't have a trial, sometimes I face like discrimination in a way at the office.Because maybe I didn't get to see a patient that was as productive and I'm, if I'm being paid base and on bonus structure, I was told well, you have a husband, he's got a good job. It's like, what does that have to do with anything? Or I'm a single mom. So it has to be fair because that coin can go both ways.So you have to be able to understand how someone can feel that it's unfair that someone gets to leave every day. But at the same time, do they ever get to leave or can they come in later? How are you accommodating everyone in the office, which although difficult to do, with good communication and making sure that the team, feels that they are part of the practice.They all want the practice to do well. They're invested in the practice almost like an ownership, then they're going to be more inclined to support one another. Michael: Okay. I like that. So then how do you make sure, I guess your diversity and flexibility policies. Are truly felt by the team and not just formalities.Kari: That takes time. So it may be having someone like a coach or consultant come in and make sure that you're actually implementing those different policies, because I'm sure we've all worked in places that said that, Everyone has that little federal guideline that they're supposed to acknowledge as far as we don't discriminate against race or religion or everything like that.But I've been on plenty of interviews where it's not said, but you know, oh, that is actually discrimination going on. So for that to actually not happen or for it to be a diverse environment, then they have to make sure that they're recognizing all the team members. So Think about the holidays.So not just recognizing one particular religion's holidays, recognizing that other team members may celebrate different holidays. If the office has someone, let's say, who's Muslim and they're, dealing with Ramadan, then are you respecting that and what takes place during that time or Jewish or Christian, whatever.So making sure that you're respecting everyone in their Particular beliefs making sure that you're giving people grace just constantly learning about it. One thing that the office could do is to take continuing education courses together, and that way it's not just put all on one person and everyone's not.Awkward and everything, ideally outside of the office, probably, unless you have someone who's training that to come in, you don't want it to be like the office situation with Michael Scott and how it like goes, I love that show, but how it goes contrary to the whole thing. It's like, this is worst uh, example.So actually making sure that everyone feels supported and included. I know even yesterday. I saw on a Facebook post about is it okay for people to take the day off or a mental day and everything? And so sometimes people need to take a mental day. Sometimes what may be affecting one person isn't affecting the other person. Or you may not understand what's going on. you know, there was a lot yesterday since it was the day after election. So just seeing that there are so many different, Thought processes. So recognizing that obviously not everyone may feel like you feel. Just giving everyone grace and being kind is important.So fostering that team is important. Sometimes having team building exercises can definitely help. Going places as a team conferences are the best, making sure that the office is supporting the team. If they're mandatory going somewhere, they should be paid so that you don't have people who are resenting this mandatory.Event is important as well. Michael: Interesting. Okay. Yeah. When you were mentioning the example of different, make sure you acknowledge it. I thought of the office to media was like, Oh yeah. And Michael Scott. So that brings me to one of my last questions besides like the holidays and stuff like that, how do you celebrate different cultures while making everyone feel equally important?Kari: I guess bringing it up, but not bringing it up. I don't know if it's done regularly, then it's not going to be cringe. Because we know it can be cringe around like certain months it's Black History Month. It's like, uh, you know, so why aren't we just doing it all the time?So why are we just celebrating everybody all the time instead of waiting to a particular month and week and it's like, okay, we got that checked off and everything. We got Asian American month checked off. So it's like, stop just checking boxes and actually just living it. So regularly doing it.And One cliche way is to do potlucks, but I don't necessarily like potlucks, honestly, because see on Instagram and TikTok, not everyone has the same standards. So one way is to maybe go to different restaurants. Yeah, you know, they're, the Board of Health has to come in and everything like that.But at least talking about the differences the food and exploring talking about differences and how ones grew up is a way that can be helpful. I think talking about different culture, I've learned from, different colleagues and, talking about different languages, talking about different places that we visited.So just actually being open to having different conversations where we can talk about things that aren't going to be controversial, but just respecting one another, because when we do that, then we can see things from other's side of the coin or different opinion or perspective. Michael: Awesome. I appreciate your time.And if anyone has further questions, you can definitely find her on the dental marketer society, Facebook group, or where can they reach out to you directly? Kari: Social media is really the easiest thing. So they can follow me on Instagram. KMC dot smiles. My name, Carrie Carter Shirelles is on LinkedIn, Facebook, all those different platforms. And then my email is shirellessmiles at gmail. com. And my link is Bitly Burnout Dental Hygienist. Michael: Nice. Okay. So that's going to be in the show notes below. And Kyrie, thank you so much for being with me on this Monday morning episode. Kari: Thank you for having me.

Due to overwhelming demand (>15x applications:slots), we are closing CFPs for AI Engineer Summit NYC today. Last call! Thanks, we'll be reaching out to all shortly!The world's top AI blogger and friend of every pod, Simon Willison, dropped a monster 2024 recap: Things we learned about LLMs in 2024. Brian of the excellent TechMeme Ride Home pinged us for a connection and a special crossover episode, our first in 2025. The target audience for this podcast is a tech-literate, but non-technical one. You can see Simon's notes for AI Engineers in his World's Fair Keynote.Timestamp* 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome* 01:06 State of AI in 2025* 01:43 Advancements in AI Models* 03:59 Cost Efficiency in AI* 06:16 Challenges and Competition in AI* 17:15 AI Agents and Their Limitations* 26:12 Multimodal AI and Future Prospects* 35:29 Exploring Video Avatar Companies* 36:24 AI Influencers and Their Future* 37:12 Simplifying Content Creation with AI* 38:30 The Importance of Credibility in AI* 41:36 The Future of LLM User Interfaces* 48:58 Local LLMs: A Growing Interest* 01:07:22 AI Wearables: The Next Big Thing* 01:10:16 Wrapping Up and Final ThoughtsTranscript[00:00:00] Introduction and Guest Welcome[00:00:00] Brian: Welcome to the first bonus episode of the Tech Meme Write Home for the year 2025. I'm your host as always, Brian McCullough. Listeners to the pod over the last year know that I have made a habit of quoting from Simon Willison when new stuff happens in AI from his blog. Simon has been, become a go to for many folks in terms of, you know, Analyzing things, criticizing things in the AI space.[00:00:33] Brian: I've wanted to talk to you for a long time, Simon. So thank you for coming on the show. No, it's a privilege to be here. And the person that made this connection happen is our friend Swyx, who has been on the show back, even going back to the, the Twitter Spaces days but also an AI guru in, in their own right Swyx, thanks for coming on the show also.[00:00:54] swyx (2): Thanks. I'm happy to be on and have been a regular listener, so just happy to [00:01:00] contribute as well.[00:01:00] Brian: And a good friend of the pod, as they say. Alright, let's go right into it.[00:01:06] State of AI in 2025[00:01:06] Brian: Simon, I'm going to do the most unfair, broad question first, so let's get it out of the way. The year 2025. Broadly, what is the state of AI as we begin this year?[00:01:20] Brian: Whatever you want to say, I don't want to lead the witness.[00:01:22] Simon: Wow. So many things, right? I mean, the big thing is everything's got really good and fast and cheap. Like, that was the trend throughout all of 2024. The good models got so much cheaper, they got so much faster, they got multimodal, right? The image stuff isn't even a surprise anymore.[00:01:39] Simon: They're growing video, all of that kind of stuff. So that's all really exciting.[00:01:43] Advancements in AI Models[00:01:43] Simon: At the same time, they didn't get massively better than GPT 4, which was a bit of a surprise. So that's sort of one of the open questions is, are we going to see huge, but I kind of feel like that's a bit of a distraction because GPT 4, but way cheaper, much larger context lengths, and it [00:02:00] can do multimodal.[00:02:01] Simon: is better, right? That's a better model, even if it's not.[00:02:05] Brian: What people were expecting or hoping, maybe not expecting is not the right word, but hoping that we would see another step change, right? Right. From like GPT 2 to 3 to 4, we were expecting or hoping that maybe we were going to see the next evolution in that sort of, yeah.[00:02:21] Brian: We[00:02:21] Simon: did see that, but not in the way we expected. We thought the model was just going to get smarter, and instead we got. Massive drops in, drops in price. We got all of these new capabilities. You can talk to the things now, right? They can do simulated audio input, all of that kind of stuff. And so it's kind of, it's interesting to me that the models improved in all of these ways we weren't necessarily expecting.[00:02:43] Simon: I didn't know it would be able to do an impersonation of Santa Claus, like a, you know, Talked to it through my phone and show it what I was seeing by the end of 2024. But yeah, we didn't get that GPT 5 step. And that's one of the big open questions is, is that actually just around the corner and we'll have a bunch of GPT 5 class models drop in the [00:03:00] next few months?[00:03:00] Simon: Or is there a limit?[00:03:03] Brian: If you were a betting man and wanted to put money on it, do you expect to see a phase change, step change in 2025?[00:03:11] Simon: I don't particularly for that, like, the models, but smarter. I think all of the trends we're seeing right now are going to keep on going, especially the inference time compute, right?[00:03:21] Simon: The trick that O1 and O3 are doing, which means that you can solve harder problems, but they cost more and it churns away for longer. I think that's going to happen because that's already proven to work. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe there will be a step change to a GPT 5 level, but honestly, I'd be completely happy if we got what we've got right now.[00:03:41] Simon: But cheaper and faster and more capabilities and longer contexts and so forth. That would be thrilling to me.[00:03:46] Brian: Digging into what you've just said one of the things that, by the way, I hope to link in the show notes to Simon's year end post about what, what things we learned about LLMs in 2024. Look for that in the show notes.[00:03:59] Cost Efficiency in AI[00:03:59] Brian: One of the things that you [00:04:00] did say that you alluded to even right there was that in the last year, you felt like the GPT 4 barrier was broken, like IE. Other models, even open source ones are now regularly matching sort of the state of the art.[00:04:13] Simon: Well, it's interesting, right? So the GPT 4 barrier was a year ago, the best available model was OpenAI's GPT 4 and nobody else had even come close to it.[00:04:22] Simon: And they'd been at the, in the lead for like nine months, right? That thing came out in what, February, March of, of 2023. And for the rest of 2023, nobody else came close. And so at the start of last year, like a year ago, the big question was, Why has nobody beaten them yet? Like, what do they know that the rest of the industry doesn't know?[00:04:40] Simon: And today, that I've counted 18 organizations other than GPT 4 who've put out a model which clearly beats that GPT 4 from a year ago thing. Like, maybe they're not better than GPT 4. 0, but that's, that, that, that barrier got completely smashed. And yeah, a few of those I've run on my laptop, which is wild to me.[00:04:59] Simon: Like, [00:05:00] it was very, very wild. It felt very clear to me a year ago that if you want GPT 4, you need a rack of 40, 000 GPUs just to run the thing. And that turned out not to be true. Like the, the, this is that big trend from last year of the models getting more efficient, cheaper to run, just as capable with smaller weights and so forth.[00:05:20] Simon: And I ran another GPT 4 model on my laptop this morning, right? Microsoft 5. 4 just came out. And that, if you look at the benchmarks, it's definitely, it's up there with GPT 4. 0. It's probably not as good when you actually get into the vibes of the thing, but it, it runs on my, it's a 14 gigabyte download and I can run it on a MacBook Pro.[00:05:38] Simon: Like who saw that coming? The most exciting, like the close of the year on Christmas day, just a few weeks ago, was when DeepSeek dropped their DeepSeek v3 model on Hugging Face without even a readme file. It was just like a giant binary blob that I can't run on my laptop. It's too big. But in all of the benchmarks, it's now by far the best available [00:06:00] open, open weights model.[00:06:01] Simon: Like it's, it's, it's beating the, the metalamas and so forth. And that was trained for five and a half million dollars, which is a tenth of the price that people thought it costs to train these things. So everything's trending smaller and faster and more efficient.[00:06:15] Brian: Well, okay.[00:06:16] Challenges and Competition in AI[00:06:16] Brian: I, I kind of was going to get to that later, but let's, let's combine this with what I was going to ask you next, which is, you know, you're talking, you know, Also in the piece about the LLM prices crashing, which I've even seen in projects that I'm working on, but explain Explain that to a general audience, because we hear all the time that LLMs are eye wateringly expensive to run, but what we're suggesting, and we'll come back to the cheap Chinese LLM, but first of all, for the end user, what you're suggesting is that we're starting to see the cost come down sort of in the traditional technology way of Of costs coming down over time,[00:06:49] Simon: yes, but very aggressively.[00:06:51] Simon: I mean, my favorite thing, the example here is if you look at GPT-3, so open AI's g, PT three, which was the best, a developed model in [00:07:00] 2022 and through most of 20 2023. That, the models that we have today, the OpenAI models are a hundred times cheaper. So there was a 100x drop in price for OpenAI from their best available model, like two and a half years ago to today.[00:07:13] Simon: And[00:07:14] Brian: just to be clear, not to train the model, but for the use of tokens and things. Exactly,[00:07:20] Simon: for running prompts through them. And then When you look at the, the really, the top tier model providers right now, I think, are OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Meta. And there are a bunch of others that I could list there as well.[00:07:32] Simon: Mistral are very good. The, the DeepSeq and Quen models have got great. There's a whole bunch of providers serving really good models. But even if you just look at the sort of big brand name providers, they all offer models now that are A fraction of the price of the, the, of the models we were using last year.[00:07:49] Simon: I think I've got some numbers that I threw into my blog entry here. Yeah. Like Gemini 1. 5 flash, that's Google's fast high quality model is [00:08:00] how much is that? It's 0. 075 dollars per million tokens. Like these numbers are getting, So we just do cents per million now,[00:08:09] swyx (2): cents per million,[00:08:10] Simon: cents per million makes, makes a lot more sense.[00:08:12] Simon: Yeah they have one model 1. 5 flash 8B, the absolute cheapest of the Google models, is 27 times cheaper than GPT 3. 5 turbo was a year ago. That's it. And GPT 3. 5 turbo, that was the cheap model, right? Now we've got something 27 times cheaper, and the Google, this Google one can do image recognition, it can do million token context, all of those tricks.[00:08:36] Simon: But it's, it's, it's very, it's, it really is startling how inexpensive some of this stuff has got.[00:08:41] Brian: Now, are we assuming that this, that happening is directly the result of competition? Because again, you know, OpenAI, and probably they're doing this for their own almost political reasons, strategic reasons, keeps saying, we're losing money on everything, even the 200.[00:08:56] Brian: So they probably wouldn't, the prices wouldn't be [00:09:00] coming down if there wasn't intense competition in this space.[00:09:04] Simon: The competition is absolutely part of it, but I have it on good authority from sources I trust that Google Gemini is not operating at a loss. Like, the amount of electricity to run a prompt is less than they charge you.[00:09:16] Simon: And the same thing for Amazon Nova. Like, somebody found an Amazon executive and got them to say, Yeah, we're not losing money on this. I don't know about Anthropic and OpenAI, but clearly that demonstrates it is possible to run these things at these ludicrously low prices and still not be running at a loss if you discount the Army of PhDs and the, the training costs and all of that kind of stuff.[00:09:36] Brian: One, one more for me before I let Swyx jump in here. To, to come back to DeepSeek and this idea that you could train, you know, a cutting edge model for 6 million. I, I was saying on the show, like six months ago, that if we are getting to the point where each new model It would cost a billion, ten billion, a hundred billion to train that.[00:09:54] Brian: At some point it would almost, only nation states would be able to train the new models. Do you [00:10:00] expect what DeepSeek and maybe others are proving to sort of blow that up? Or is there like some sort of a parallel track here that maybe I'm not technically, I don't have the mouse to understand the difference.[00:10:11] Brian: Is the model, are the models going to go, you know, Up to a hundred billion dollars or can we get them down? Sort of like DeepSeek has proven[00:10:18] Simon: so I'm the wrong person to answer that because I don't work in the lab training these models. So I can give you my completely uninformed opinion, which is, I felt like the DeepSeek thing.[00:10:27] Simon: That was a bomb shell. That was an absolute bombshell when they came out and said, Hey, look, we've trained. One of the best available models and it cost us six, five and a half million dollars to do it. I feel, and they, the reason, one of the reasons it's so efficient is that we put all of these export controls in to stop Chinese companies from giant buying GPUs.[00:10:44] Simon: So they've, were forced to be, go as efficient as possible. And yet the fact that they've demonstrated that that's possible to do. I think it does completely tear apart this, this, this mental model we had before that yeah, the training runs just keep on getting more and more expensive and the number of [00:11:00] organizations that can afford to run these training runs keeps on shrinking.[00:11:03] Simon: That, that's been blown out of the water. So yeah, that's, again, this was our Christmas gift. This was the thing they dropped on Christmas day. Yeah, it makes me really optimistic that we can, there are, It feels like there was so much low hanging fruit in terms of the efficiency of both inference and training and we spent a whole bunch of last year exploring that and getting results from it.[00:11:22] Simon: I think there's probably a lot left. I think there's probably, well, I would not be surprised to see even better models trained spending even less money over the next six months.[00:11:31] swyx (2): Yeah. So I, I think there's a unspoken angle here on what exactly the Chinese labs are trying to do because DeepSea made a lot of noise.[00:11:41] swyx (2): so much for joining us for around the fact that they train their model for six million dollars and nobody quite quite believes them. Like it's very, very rare for a lab to trumpet the fact that they're doing it for so cheap. They're not trying to get anyone to buy them. So why [00:12:00] are they doing this? They make it very, very obvious.[00:12:05] swyx (2): Deepseek is about 150 employees. It's an order of magnitude smaller than at least Anthropic and maybe, maybe more so for OpenAI. And so what's, what's the end game here? Are they, are they just trying to show that the Chinese are better than us?[00:12:21] Simon: So Deepseek, it's the arm of a hedge, it's a, it's a quant fund, right?[00:12:25] Simon: It's an algorithmic quant trading thing. So I, I, I would love to get more insight into how that organization works. My assumption from what I've seen is it looks like they're basically just flexing. They're like, hey, look at how utterly brilliant we are with this amazing thing that we've done. And it's, it's working, right?[00:12:43] Simon: They but, and so is that it? Are they, is this just their kind of like, this is, this is why our company is so amazing. Look at this thing that we've done, or? I don't know. I'd, I'd love to get Some insight from, from within that industry as to, as to how that's all playing out.[00:12:57] swyx (2): The, the prevailing theory among the Local Llama [00:13:00] crew and the Twitter crew that I indexed for my newsletter is that there is some amount of copying going on.[00:13:06] swyx (2): It's like Sam Altman you know, tweet, tweeting about how they're being copied. And then also there's this, there, there are other sort of opening eye employees that have said, Stuff that is similar that DeepSeek's rate of progress is how U. S. intelligence estimates the number of foreign spies embedded in top labs.[00:13:22] swyx (2): Because a lot of these ideas do spread around, but they surprisingly have a very high density of them in the DeepSeek v3 technical report. So it's, it's interesting. We don't know how much, how many, how much tokens. I think that, you know, people have run analysis on how often DeepSeek thinks it is cloud or thinks it is opening GPC 4.[00:13:40] swyx (2): Thanks for watching! And we don't, we don't know. We don't know. I think for me, like, yeah, we'll, we'll, we basically will never know as, as external commentators. I think what's interesting is how, where does this go? Is there a logical floor or bottom by my estimations for the same amount of ELO started last year to the end of last year cost went down by a thousand X for the [00:14:00] GPT, for, for GPT 4 intelligence.[00:14:02] swyx (2): Would, do they go down a thousand X this year?[00:14:04] Simon: That's a fascinating question. Yeah.[00:14:06] swyx (2): Is there a Moore's law going on, or did we just get a one off benefit last year for some weird reason?[00:14:14] Simon: My uninformed hunch is low hanging fruit. I feel like up until a year ago, people haven't been focusing on efficiency at all. You know, it was all about, what can we get these weird shaped things to do?[00:14:24] Simon: And now once we've sort of hit that, okay, we know that we can get them to do what GPT 4 can do, When thousands of researchers around the world all focus on, okay, how do we make this more efficient? What are the most important, like, how do we strip out all of the weights that have stuff in that doesn't really matter?[00:14:39] Simon: All of that kind of thing. So yeah, maybe that was it. Maybe 2024 was a freak year of all of the low hanging fruit coming out at once. And we'll actually see a reduction in the, in that rate of improvement in terms of efficiency. I wonder, I mean, I think we'll know for sure in about three months time if that trend's going to continue or not.[00:14:58] swyx (2): I agree. You know, I [00:15:00] think the other thing that you mentioned that DeepSeq v3 was the gift that was given from DeepSeq over Christmas, but I feel like the other thing that might be underrated was DeepSeq R1,[00:15:11] Speaker 4: which is[00:15:13] swyx (2): a reasoning model you can run on your laptop. And I think that's something that a lot of people are looking ahead to this year.[00:15:18] swyx (2): Oh, did they[00:15:18] Simon: release the weights for that one?[00:15:20] swyx (2): Yeah.[00:15:21] Simon: Oh my goodness, I missed that. I've been playing with the quen. So the other great, the other big Chinese AI app is Alibaba's quen. Actually, yeah, I, sorry, R1 is an API available. Yeah. Exactly. When that's really cool. So Alibaba's Quen have released two reasoning models that I've run on my laptop.[00:15:38] Simon: Now there was, the first one was Q, Q, WQ. And then the second one was QVQ because the second one's a vision model. So you can like give it vision puzzles and a prompt that these things, they are so much fun to run. Because they think out loud. It's like the OpenAR 01 sort of hides its thinking process. The Query ones don't.[00:15:59] Simon: They just, they [00:16:00] just churn away. And so you'll give it a problem and it will output literally dozens of paragraphs of text about how it's thinking. My favorite thing that happened with QWQ is I asked it to draw me a pelican on a bicycle in SVG. That's like my standard stupid prompt. And for some reason it thought in Chinese.[00:16:18] Simon: It spat out a whole bunch of like Chinese text onto my terminal on my laptop, and then at the end it gave me quite a good sort of artistic pelican on a bicycle. And I ran it all through Google Translate, and yeah, it was like, it was contemplating the nature of SVG files as a starting point. And the fact that my laptop can think in Chinese now is so delightful.[00:16:40] Simon: It's so much fun watching you do that.[00:16:43] swyx (2): Yeah, I think Andrej Karpathy was saying, you know, we, we know that we have achieved proper reasoning inside of these models when they stop thinking in English, and perhaps the best form of thought is in Chinese. But yeah, for listeners who don't know Simon's blog he always, whenever a new model comes out, you, I don't know how you do it, but [00:17:00] you're always the first to run Pelican Bench on these models.[00:17:02] swyx (2): I just did it for 5.[00:17:05] Simon: Yeah.[00:17:07] swyx (2): So I really appreciate that. You should check it out. These are not theoretical. Simon's blog actually shows them.[00:17:12] Brian: Let me put on the investor hat for a second.[00:17:15] AI Agents and Their Limitations[00:17:15] Brian: Because from the investor side of things, a lot of the, the VCs that I know are really hot on agents, and this is the year of agents, but last year was supposed to be the year of agents as well. Lots of money flowing towards, And Gentic startups.[00:17:32] Brian: But in in your piece that again, we're hopefully going to have linked in the show notes, you sort of suggest there's a fundamental flaw in AI agents as they exist right now. Let me let me quote you. And then I'd love to dive into this. You said, I remain skeptical as to their ability based once again, on the Challenge of gullibility.[00:17:49] Brian: LLMs believe anything you tell them, any systems that attempt to make meaningful decisions on your behalf, will run into the same roadblock. How good is a travel agent, or a digital assistant, or even a research tool, if it [00:18:00] can't distinguish truth from fiction? So, essentially, what you're suggesting is that the state of the art now that allows agents is still, it's still that sort of 90 percent problem, the edge problem, getting to the Or, or, or is there a deeper flaw?[00:18:14] Brian: What are you, what are you saying there?[00:18:16] Simon: So this is the fundamental challenge here and honestly my frustration with agents is mainly around definitions Like any if you ask anyone who says they're working on agents to define agents You will get a subtly different definition from each person But everyone always assumes that their definition is the one true one that everyone else understands So I feel like a lot of these agent conversations, people talking past each other because one person's talking about the, the sort of travel agent idea of something that books things on your behalf.[00:18:41] Simon: Somebody else is talking about LLMs with tools running in a loop with a cron job somewhere and all of these different things. You, you ask academics and they'll laugh at you because they've been debating what agents mean for over 30 years at this point. It's like this, this long running, almost sort of an in joke in that community.[00:18:57] Simon: But if we assume that for this purpose of this conversation, an [00:19:00] agent is something that, Which you can give a job and it goes off and it does that thing for you like, like booking travel or things like that. The fundamental challenge is, it's the reliability thing, which comes from this gullibility problem.[00:19:12] Simon: And a lot of my, my interest in this originally came from when I was thinking about prompt injections as a source of this form of attack against LLM systems where you deliberately lay traps out there for this LLM to stumble across,[00:19:24] Brian: and which I should say you have been banging this drum that no one's gotten any far, at least on solving this, that I'm aware of, right.[00:19:31] Brian: Like that's still an open problem. The two years.[00:19:33] Simon: Yeah. Right. We've been talking about this problem and like, a great illustration of this was Claude so Anthropic released Claude computer use a few months ago. Fantastic demo. You could fire up a Docker container and you could literally tell it to do something and watch it open a web browser and navigate to a webpage and click around and so forth.[00:19:51] Simon: Really, really, really interesting and fun to play with. And then, um. One of the first demos somebody tried was, what if you give it a web page that says download and run this [00:20:00] executable, and it did, and the executable was malware that added it to a botnet. So the, the very first most obvious dumb trick that you could play on this thing just worked, right?[00:20:10] Simon: So that's obviously a really big problem. If I'm going to send something out to book travel on my behalf, I mean, it's hard enough for me to figure out which airlines are trying to scam me and which ones aren't. Do I really trust a language model that believes the literal truth of anything that's presented to it to go out and do those things?[00:20:29] swyx (2): Yeah I definitely think there's, it's interesting to see Anthropic doing this because they used to be the safety arm of OpenAI that split out and said, you know, we're worried about letting this thing out in the wild and here they are enabling computer use for agents. Thanks. The, it feels like things have merged.[00:20:49] swyx (2): You know, I'm, I'm also fairly skeptical about, you know, this always being the, the year of Linux on the desktop. And this is the equivalent of this being the year of agents that people [00:21:00] are not predicting so much as wishfully thinking and hoping and praying for their companies and agents to work.[00:21:05] swyx (2): But I, I feel like things are. Coming along a little bit. It's to me, it's kind of like self driving. I remember in 2014 saying that self driving was just around the corner. And I mean, it kind of is, you know, like in, in, in the Bay area. You[00:21:17] Simon: get in a Waymo and you're like, Oh, this works. Yeah, but it's a slow[00:21:21] swyx (2): cook.[00:21:21] swyx (2): It's a slow cook over the next 10 years. We're going to hammer out these things and the cynical people can just point to all the flaws, but like, there are measurable or concrete progress steps that are being made by these builders.[00:21:33] Simon: There is one form of agent that I believe in. I believe, mostly believe in the research assistant form of agents.[00:21:39] Simon: The thing where you've got a difficult problem and, and I've got like, I'm, I'm on the beta for the, the Google Gemini 1. 5 pro with deep research. I think it's called like these names, these names. Right. But. I've been using that. It's good, right? You can give it a difficult problem and it tells you, okay, I'm going to look at 56 different websites [00:22:00] and it goes away and it dumps everything to its context and it comes up with a report for you.[00:22:04] Simon: And it's not, it won't work against adversarial websites, right? If there are websites with deliberate lies in them, it might well get caught out. Most things don't have that as a problem. And so I've had some answers from that which were genuinely really valuable to me. And that feels to me like, I can see how given existing LLM tech, especially with Google Gemini with its like million token contacts and Google with their crawl of the entire web and their, they've got like search, they've got search and cache, they've got a cache of every page and so forth.[00:22:35] Simon: That makes sense to me. And that what they've got right now, I don't think it's, it's not as good as it can be, obviously, but it's, it's, it's, it's a real useful thing, which they're going to start rolling out. So, you know, Perplexity have been building the same thing for a couple of years. That, that I believe in.[00:22:50] Simon: You know, if you tell me that you're going to have an agent that's a research assistant agent, great. The coding agents I mean, chat gpt code interpreter, Nearly two years [00:23:00] ago, that thing started writing Python code, executing the code, getting errors, rewriting it to fix the errors. That pattern obviously works.[00:23:07] Simon: That works really, really well. So, yeah, coding agents that do that sort of error message loop thing, those are proven to work. And they're going to keep on getting better, and that's going to be great. The research assistant agents are just beginning to get there. The things I'm critical of are the ones where you trust, you trust this thing to go out and act autonomously on your behalf, and make decisions on your behalf, especially involving spending money, like that.[00:23:31] Simon: I don't see that working for a very long time. That feels to me like an AGI level problem.[00:23:37] swyx (2): It's it's funny because I think Stripe actually released an agent toolkit which is one of the, the things I featured that is trying to enable these agents each to have a wallet that they can go and spend and have, basically, it's a virtual card.[00:23:49] swyx (2): It's not that, not that difficult with modern infrastructure. can[00:23:51] Simon: stick a 50 cap on it, then at least it's an honor. Can't lose more than 50.[00:23:56] Brian: You know I don't, I don't know if either of you know Rafat Ali [00:24:00] he runs Skift, which is a, a travel news vertical. And he, he, he constantly laughs at the fact that every agent thing is, we're gonna get rid of booking a, a plane flight for you, you know?[00:24:11] Brian: And, and I would point out that, like, historically, when the web started, the first thing everyone talked about is, You can go online and book a trip, right? So it's funny for each generation of like technological advance. The thing they always want to kill is the travel agent. And now they want to kill the webpage travel agent.[00:24:29] Simon: Like it's like I use Google flight search. It's great, right? If you gave me an agent to do that for me, it would save me, I mean, maybe 15 seconds of typing in my things, but I still want to see what my options are and go, yeah, I'm not flying on that airline, no matter how cheap they are.[00:24:44] swyx (2): Yeah. For listeners, go ahead.[00:24:47] swyx (2): For listeners, I think, you know, I think both of you are pretty positive on NotebookLM. And you know, we, we actually interviewed the NotebookLM creators, and there are actually two internal agents going on internally. The reason it takes so long is because they're running an agent loop [00:25:00] inside that is fairly autonomous, which is kind of interesting.[00:25:01] swyx (2): For one,[00:25:02] Simon: for a definition of agent loop, if you picked that particularly well. For one definition. And you're talking about the podcast side of this, right?[00:25:07] swyx (2): Yeah, the podcast side of things. They have a there's, there's going to be a new version coming out that, that we'll be featuring at our, at our conference.[00:25:14] Simon: That one's fascinating to me. Like NotebookLM, I think it's two products, right? On the one hand, it's actually a very good rag product, right? You dump a bunch of things in, you can run searches, that, that, it does a good job of. And then, and then they added the, the podcast thing. It's a bit of a, it's a total gimmick, right?[00:25:30] Simon: But that gimmick got them attention, because they had a great product that nobody paid any attention to at all. And then you add the unfeasibly good voice synthesis of the podcast. Like, it's just, it's, it's, it's the lesson.[00:25:43] Brian: It's the lesson of mid journey and stuff like that. If you can create something that people can post on socials, you don't have to lift a finger again to do any marketing for what you're doing.[00:25:53] Brian: Let me dig into Notebook LLM just for a second as a podcaster. As a [00:26:00] gimmick, it makes sense, and then obviously, you know, you dig into it, it sort of has problems around the edges. It's like, it does the thing that all sort of LLMs kind of do, where it's like, oh, we want to Wrap up with a conclusion.[00:26:12] Multimodal AI and Future Prospects[00:26:12] Brian: I always call that like the the eighth grade book report paper problem where it has to have an intro and then, you know But that's sort of a thing where because I think you spoke about this again in your piece at the year end About how things are going multimodal and how things are that you didn't expect like, you know vision and especially audio I think So that's another thing where, at least over the last year, there's been progress made that maybe you, you didn't think was coming as quick as it came.[00:26:43] Simon: I don't know. I mean, a year ago, we had one really good vision model. We had GPT 4 vision, was, was, was very impressive. And Google Gemini had just dropped Gemini 1. 0, which had vision, but nobody had really played with it yet. Like Google hadn't. People weren't taking Gemini [00:27:00] seriously at that point. I feel like it was 1.[00:27:02] Simon: 5 Pro when it became apparent that actually they were, they, they got over their hump and they were building really good models. And yeah, and they, to be honest, the video models are mostly still using the same trick. The thing where you divide the video up into one image per second and you dump that all into the context.[00:27:16] Simon: So maybe it shouldn't have been so surprising to us that long context models plus vision meant that the video was, was starting to be solved. Of course, it didn't. Not being, you, what you really want with videos, you want to be able to do the audio and the images at the same time. And I think the models are beginning to do that now.[00:27:33] Simon: Like, originally, Gemini 1. 5 Pro originally ignored the audio. It just did the, the, like, one frame per second video trick. As far as I can tell, the most recent ones are actually doing pure multimodal. But the things that opens up are just extraordinary. Like, the the ChatGPT iPhone app feature that they shipped as one of their 12 days of, of OpenAI, I really can be having a conversation and just turn on my video camera and go, Hey, what kind of tree is [00:28:00] this?[00:28:00] Simon: And so forth. And it works. And for all I know, that's just snapping a like picture once a second and feeding it into the model. The, the, the things that you can do with that as an end user are extraordinary. Like that, that to me, I don't think most people have cottoned onto the fact that you can now stream video directly into a model because it, it's only a few weeks old.[00:28:22] Simon: Wow. That's a, that's a, that's a, that's Big boost in terms of what kinds of things you can do with this stuff. Yeah. For[00:28:30] swyx (2): people who are not that close I think Gemini Flashes free tier allows you to do something like capture a photo, one photo every second or a minute and leave it on 24, seven, and you can prompt it to do whatever.[00:28:45] swyx (2): And so you can effectively have your own camera app or monitoring app that that you just prompt and it detects where it changes. It detects for, you know, alerts or anything like that, or describes your day. You know, and, and, and the fact that this is free I think [00:29:00] it's also leads into the previous point of it being the prices haven't come down a lot.[00:29:05] Simon: And even if you're paying for this stuff, like a thing that I put in my blog entry is I ran a calculation on what it would cost to process 68, 000 photographs in my photo collection, and for each one just generate a caption, and using Gemini 1. 5 Flash 8B, it would cost me 1. 68 to process 68, 000 images, which is, I mean, that, that doesn't make sense.[00:29:28] Simon: None of that makes sense. Like it's, it's a, for one four hundredth of a cent per image to generate captions now. So you can see why feeding in a day's worth of video just isn't even very expensive to process.[00:29:40] swyx (2): Yeah, I'll tell you what is expensive. It's the other direction. So we're here, we're talking about consuming video.[00:29:46] swyx (2): And this year, we also had a lot of progress, like probably one of the most excited, excited, anticipated launches of the year was Sora. We actually got Sora. And less exciting.[00:29:55] Simon: We did, and then VO2, Google's Sora, came out like three [00:30:00] days later and upstaged it. Like, Sora was exciting until VO2 landed, which was just better.[00:30:05] swyx (2): In general, I feel the media, or the social media, has been very unfair to Sora. Because what was released to the world, generally available, was Sora Lite. It's the distilled version of Sora, right? So you're, I did not[00:30:16] Simon: realize that you're absolutely comparing[00:30:18] swyx (2): the, the most cherry picked version of VO two, the one that they published on the marketing page to the, the most embarrassing version of the soa.[00:30:25] swyx (2): So of course it's gonna look bad, so, well, I got[00:30:27] Simon: access to the VO two I'm in the VO two beta and I've been poking around with it and. Getting it to generate pelicans on bicycles and stuff. I would absolutely[00:30:34] swyx (2): believe that[00:30:35] Simon: VL2 is actually better. Is Sora, so is full fat Sora coming soon? Do you know, when, when do we get to play with that one?[00:30:42] Simon: No one's[00:30:43] swyx (2): mentioned anything. I think basically the strategy is let people play around with Sora Lite and get info there. But the, the, keep developing Sora with the Hollywood studios. That's what they actually care about. Gotcha. Like the rest of us. Don't really know what to do with the video anyway. Right.[00:30:59] Simon: I mean, [00:31:00] that's my thing is I realized that for generative images and images and video like images We've had for a few years and I don't feel like they've broken out into the talented artist community yet Like lots of people are having fun with them and doing and producing stuff. That's kind of cool to look at but what I want you know that that movie everything everywhere all at once, right?[00:31:20] Simon: One, one ton of Oscars, utterly amazing film. The VFX team for that were five people, some of whom were watching YouTube videos to figure out what to do. My big question for, for Sora and and and Midjourney and stuff, what happens when a creative team like that starts using these tools? I want the creative geniuses behind everything, everywhere all at once.[00:31:40] Simon: What are they going to be able to do with this stuff in like a few years time? Because that's really exciting to me. That's where you take artists who are at the very peak of their game. Give them these new capabilities and see, see what they can do with them.[00:31:52] swyx (2): I should, I know a little bit here. So it should mention that, that team actually used RunwayML.[00:31:57] swyx (2): So there was, there was,[00:31:57] Simon: yeah.[00:31:59] swyx (2): I don't know how [00:32:00] much I don't. So, you know, it's possible to overstate this, but there are people integrating it. Generated video within their workflow, even pre SORA. Right, because[00:32:09] Brian: it's not, it's not the thing where it's like, okay, tomorrow we'll be able to do a full two hour movie that you prompt with three sentences.[00:32:15] Brian: It is like, for the very first part of, of, you know video effects in film, it's like, if you can get that three second clip, if you can get that 20 second thing that they did in the matrix that blew everyone's minds and took a million dollars or whatever to do, like, it's the, it's the little bits and pieces that they can fill in now that it's probably already there.[00:32:34] swyx (2): Yeah, it's like, I think actually having a layered view of what assets people need and letting AI fill in the low value assets. Right, like the background video, the background music and, you know, sometimes the sound effects. That, that maybe, maybe more palatable maybe also changes the, the way that you evaluate the stuff that's coming out.[00:32:57] swyx (2): Because people tend to, in social media, try to [00:33:00] emphasize foreground stuff, main character stuff. So you really care about consistency, and you, you really are bothered when, like, for example, Sorad. Botch's image generation of a gymnast doing flips, which is horrible. It's horrible. But for background crowds, like, who cares?[00:33:18] Brian: And by the way, again, I was, I was a film major way, way back in the day, like, that's how it started. Like things like Braveheart, where they filmed 10 people on a field, and then the computer could turn it into 1000 people on a field. Like, that's always been the way it's around the margins and in the background that first comes in.[00:33:36] Brian: The[00:33:36] Simon: Lord of the Rings movies were over 20 years ago. Although they have those giant battle sequences, which were very early, like, I mean, you could almost call it a generative AI approach, right? They were using very sophisticated, like, algorithms to model out those different battles and all of that kind of stuff.[00:33:52] Simon: Yeah, I know very little. I know basically nothing about film production, so I try not to commentate on it. But I am fascinated to [00:34:00] see what happens when, when these tools start being used by the real, the people at the top of their game.[00:34:05] swyx (2): I would say like there's a cultural war that is more that being fought here than a technology war.[00:34:11] swyx (2): Most of the Hollywood people are against any form of AI anyway, so they're busy Fighting that battle instead of thinking about how to adopt it and it's, it's very fringe. I participated here in San Francisco, one generative AI video creative hackathon where the AI positive artists actually met with technologists like myself and then we collaborated together to build short films and that was really nice and I think, you know, I'll be hosting some of those in my events going forward.[00:34:38] swyx (2): One thing that I think like I want to leave it. Give people a sense of it's like this is a recap of last year But then sometimes it's useful to walk away as well with like what can we expect in the future? I don't know if you got anything. I would also call out that the Chinese models here have made a lot of progress Hyde Law and Kling and God knows who like who else in the video arena [00:35:00] Also making a lot of progress like surprising him like I think maybe actually Chinese China is surprisingly ahead with regards to Open8 at least, but also just like specific forms of video generation.[00:35:12] Simon: Wouldn't it be interesting if a film industry sprung up in a country that we don't normally think of having a really strong film industry that was using these tools? Like, that would be a fascinating sort of angle on this. Mm hmm. Mm hmm.[00:35:25] swyx (2): Agreed. I, I, I Oh, sorry. Go ahead.[00:35:29] Exploring Video Avatar Companies[00:35:29] swyx (2): Just for people's Just to put it on people's radar as well, Hey Jen, there's like there's a category of video avatar companies that don't specifically, don't specialize in general video.[00:35:41] swyx (2): They only do talking heads, let's just say. And HeyGen sings very well.[00:35:45] Brian: Swyx, you know that that's what I've been using, right? Like, have, have I, yeah, right. So, if you see some of my recent YouTube videos and things like that, where, because the beauty part of the HeyGen thing is, I, I, I don't want to use the robot voice, so [00:36:00] I record the mp3 file for my computer, And then I put that into HeyGen with the avatar that I've trained it on, and all it does is the lip sync.[00:36:09] Brian: So it looks, it's not 100 percent uncanny valley beatable, but it's good enough that if you weren't looking for it, it's just me sitting there doing one of my clips from the show. And, yeah, so, by the way, HeyGen. Shout out to them.[00:36:24] AI Influencers and Their Future[00:36:24] swyx (2): So I would, you know, in terms of like the look ahead going, like, looking, reviewing 2024, looking at trends for 2025, I would, they basically call this out.[00:36:33] swyx (2): Meta tried to introduce AI influencers and failed horribly because they were just bad at it. But at some point that there will be more and more basically AI influencers Not in a way that Simon is but in a way that they are not human.[00:36:50] Simon: Like the few of those that have done well, I always feel like they're doing well because it's a gimmick, right?[00:36:54] Simon: It's a it's it's novel and fun to like Like that, the AI Seinfeld thing [00:37:00] from last year, the Twitch stream, you know, like those, if you're the only one or one of just a few doing that, you'll get, you'll attract an audience because it's an interesting new thing. But I just, I don't know if that's going to be sustainable longer term or not.[00:37:11] Simon: Like,[00:37:12] Simplifying Content Creation with AI[00:37:12] Brian: I'm going to tell you, Because I've had discussions, I can't name the companies or whatever, but, so think about the workflow for this, like, now we all know that on TikTok and Instagram, like, holding up a phone to your face, and doing like, in my car video, or walking, a walk and talk, you know, that's, that's very common, but also, if you want to do a professional sort of talking head video, you still have to sit in front of a camera, you still have to do the lighting, you still have to do the video editing, versus, if you can just record, what I'm saying right now, the last 30 seconds, If you clip that out as an mp3 and you have a good enough avatar, then you can put that avatar in front of Times Square, on a beach, or whatever.[00:37:50] Brian: So, like, again for creators, the reason I think Simon, we're on the verge of something, it, it just, it's not going to, I think it's not, oh, we're going to have [00:38:00] AI avatars take over, it'll be one of those things where it takes another piece of the workflow out and simplifies it. I'm all[00:38:07] Simon: for that. I, I always love this stuff.[00:38:08] Simon: I like tools. Tools that help human beings do more. Do more ambitious things. I'm always in favor of, like, that, that, that's what excites me about this entire field.[00:38:17] swyx (2): Yeah. We're, we're looking into basically creating one for my podcast. We have this guy Charlie, he's Australian. He's, he's not real, but he pre, he opens every show and we are gonna have him present all the shorts.[00:38:29] Simon: Yeah, go ahead.[00:38:30] The Importance of Credibility in AI[00:38:30] Simon: The thing that I keep coming back to is this idea of credibility like in a world that is full of like AI generated everything and so forth It becomes even more important that people find the sources of information that they trust and find people and find Sources that are credible and I feel like that's the one thing that LLMs and AI can never have is credibility, right?[00:38:49] Simon: ChatGPT can never stake its reputation on telling you something useful and interesting because That means nothing, right? It's a matrix multiplication. It depends on who prompted it and so forth. So [00:39:00] I'm always, and this is when I'm blogging as well, I'm always looking for, okay, who are the reliable people who will tell me useful, interesting information who aren't just going to tell me whatever somebody's paying them to tell, tell them, who aren't going to, like, type a one sentence prompt into an LLM and spit out an essay and stick it online.[00:39:16] Simon: And that, that to me, Like, earning that credibility is really important. That's why a lot of my ethics around the way that I publish are based on the idea that I want people to trust me. I want to do things that, that gain credibility in people's eyes so they will come to me for information as a trustworthy source.[00:39:32] Simon: And it's the same for the sources that I'm, I'm consulting as well. So that's something I've, I've been thinking a lot about that sort of credibility focus on this thing for a while now.[00:39:40] swyx (2): Yeah, you can layer or structure credibility or decompose it like so one thing I would put in front of you I'm not saying that you should Agree with this or accept this at all is that you can use AI to generate different Variations and then and you pick you as the final sort of last mile person that you pick The last output and [00:40:00] you put your stamp of credibility behind that like that everything's human reviewed instead of human origin[00:40:04] Simon: Yeah, if you publish something you need to be able to put it on the ground Publishing it.[00:40:08] Simon: You need to say, I will put my name to this. I will attach my credibility to this thing. And if you're willing to do that, then, then that's great.[00:40:16] swyx (2): For creators, this is huge because there's a fundamental asymmetry between starting with a blank slate versus choosing from five different variations.[00:40:23] Brian: Right.[00:40:24] Brian: And also the key thing that you just said is like, if everything that I do, if all of the words were generated by an LLM, if the voice is generated by an LLM. If the video is also generated by the LLM, then I haven't done anything, right? But if, if one or two of those, you take a shortcut, but it's still, I'm willing to sign off on it.[00:40:47] Brian: Like, I feel like that's where I feel like people are coming around to like, this is maybe acceptable, sort of.[00:40:53] Simon: This is where I've been pushing the definition. I love the term slop. Where I've been pushing the definition of slop as AI generated [00:41:00] content that is both unrequested and unreviewed and the unreviewed thing is really important like that's the thing that elevates something from slop to not slop is if A human being has reviewed it and said, you know what, this is actually worth other people's time.[00:41:12] Simon: And again, I'm willing to attach my credibility to it and say, hey, this is worthwhile.[00:41:16] Brian: It's, it's, it's the cura curational, curatorial and editorial part of it that no matter what the tools are to do shortcuts, to do, as, as Swyx is saying choose between different edits or different cuts, but in the end, if there's a curatorial mind, Or editorial mind behind it.[00:41:32] Brian: Let me I want to wedge this in before we start to close.[00:41:36] The Future of LLM User Interfaces[00:41:36] Brian: One of the things coming back to your year end piece that has been a something that I've been banging the drum about is when you're talking about LLMs. Getting harder to use. You said most users are thrown in at the deep end.[00:41:48] Brian: The default LLM chat UI is like taking brand new computer users, dropping them into a Linux terminal and expecting them to figure it all out. I mean, it's, it's literally going back to the command line. The command line was defeated [00:42:00] by the GUI interface. And this is what I've been banging the drum about is like, this cannot be.[00:42:05] Brian: The user interface, what we have now cannot be the end result. Do you see any hints or seeds of a GUI moment for LLM interfaces?[00:42:17] Simon: I mean, it has to happen. It absolutely has to happen. The the, the, the, the usability of these things is turning into a bit of a crisis. And we are at least seeing some really interesting innovation in little directions.[00:42:28] Simon: Just like OpenAI's chat GPT canvas thing that they just launched. That is at least. Going a little bit more interesting than just chat, chats and responses. You know, you can, they're exploring that space where you're collaborating with an LLM. You're both working in the, on the same document. That makes a lot of sense to me.[00:42:44] Simon: Like that, that feels really smart. The one of the best things is still who was it who did the, the UI where you could, they had a drawing UI where you draw an interface and click a button. TL draw would then make it real thing. That was spectacular, [00:43:00] absolutely spectacular, like, alternative vision of how you'd interact with these models.[00:43:05] Simon: Because yeah, the and that's, you know, so I feel like there is so much scope for innovation there and it is beginning to happen. Like, like, I, I feel like most people do understand that we need to do better in terms of interfaces that both help explain what's going on and give people better tools for working with models.[00:43:23] Simon: I was going to say, I want to[00:43:25] Brian: dig a little deeper into this because think of the conceptual idea behind the GUI, which is instead of typing into a command line open word. exe, it's, you, you click an icon, right? So that's abstracting away sort of the, again, the programming stuff that like, you know, it's, it's a, a, a child can tap on an iPad and, and make a program open, right?[00:43:47] Brian: The problem it seems to me right now with how we're interacting with LLMs is it's sort of like you know a dumb robot where it's like you poke it and it goes over here, but no, I want it, I want to go over here so you poke it this way and you can't get it exactly [00:44:00] right, like, what can we abstract away from the From the current, what's going on that, that makes it more fine tuned and easier to get more precise.[00:44:12] Brian: You see what I'm saying?[00:44:13] Simon: Yes. And the this is the other trend that I've been following from the last year, which I think is super interesting. It's the, the prompt driven UI development thing. Basically, this is the pattern where Claude Artifacts was the first thing to do this really well. You type in a prompt and it goes, Oh, I should answer that by writing a custom HTML and JavaScript application for you that does a certain thing.[00:44:35] Simon: And when you think about that take and since then it turns out This is easy, right? Every decent LLM can produce HTML and JavaScript that does something useful. So we've actually got this alternative way of interacting where they can respond to your prompt with an interactive custom interface that you can work with.[00:44:54] Simon: People haven't quite wired those back up again. Like, ideally, I'd want the LLM ask me a [00:45:00] question where it builds me a custom little UI, For that question, and then it gets to see how I interacted with that. I don't know why, but that's like just such a small step from where we are right now. But that feels like such an obvious next step.[00:45:12] Simon: Like an LLM, why should it, why should you just be communicating with, with text when it can build interfaces on the fly that let you select a point on a map or or move like sliders up and down. It's gonna create knobs and dials. I keep saying knobs and dials. right. We can do that. And the LLMs can build, and Claude artifacts will build you a knobs and dials interface.[00:45:34] Simon: But at the moment they haven't closed the loop. When you twiddle those knobs, Claude doesn't see what you were doing. They're going to close that loop. I'm, I'm shocked that they haven't done it yet. So yeah, I think there's so much scope for innovation and there's so much scope for doing interesting stuff with that model where the LLM, anything you can represent in SVG, which is almost everything, can now be part of that ongoing conversation.[00:45:59] swyx (2): Yeah, [00:46:00] I would say the best executed version of this I've seen so far is Bolt where you can literally type in, make a Spotify clone, make an Airbnb clone, and it actually just does that for you zero shot with a nice design.[00:46:14] Simon: There's a benchmark for that now. The LMRena people now have a benchmark that is zero shot app, app generation, because all of the models can do it.[00:46:22] Simon: Like it's, it's, I've started figuring out. I'm building my own version of this for my own project, because I think within six months. I think it'll just be an expected feature. Like if you have a web application, why don't you have a thing where, oh, look, the, you can add a custom, like, so for my dataset data exploration project, I want you to be able to do things like conjure up a dashboard, just via a prompt.[00:46:43] Simon: You say, oh, I need a pie chart and a bar chart and put them next to each other, and then have a form where submitting the form inserts a row into my database table. And this is all suddenly feasible. It's, it's, it's not even particularly difficult to do, which is great. Utterly bizarre that these things are now easy.[00:47:00][00:47:00] swyx (2): I think for a general audience, that is what I would highlight, that software creation is becoming easier and easier. Gemini is now available in Gmail and Google Sheets. I don't write my own Google Sheets formulas anymore, I just tell Gemini to do it. And so I think those are, I almost wanted to basically somewhat disagree with, with your assertion that LMS got harder to use.[00:47:22] swyx (2): Like, yes, we, we expose more capabilities, but they're, they're in minor forms, like using canvas, like web search in, in in chat GPT and like Gemini being in, in Excel sheets or in Google sheets, like, yeah, we're getting, no,[00:47:37] Simon: no, no, no. Those are the things that make it harder, because the problem is that for each of those features, they're amazing.[00:47:43] Simon: If you understand the edges of the feature, if you're like, okay, so in Google, Gemini, Excel formulas, I can get it to do a certain amount of things, but I can't get it to go and read a web. You probably can't get it to read a webpage, right? But you know, there are, there are things that it can do and things that it can't do, which are completely undocumented.[00:47:58] Simon: If you ask it what it [00:48:00] can and can't do, they're terrible at answering questions about that. So like my favorite example is Claude artifacts. You can't build a Claude artifact that can hit an API somewhere else. Because the cause headers on that iframe prevents accessing anything outside of CDNJS. So, good luck learning cause headers as an end user in order to understand why Like, I've seen people saying, oh, this is rubbish.[00:48:26] Simon: I tried building an artifact that would run a prompt and it couldn't because Claude didn't expose an API with cause headers that all of this stuff is so weird and complicated. And yeah, like that, that, the more that with the more tools we add, the more expertise you need to really, To understand the full scope of what you can do.[00:48:44] Simon: And so it's, it's, I wouldn't say it's, it's, it's, it's like, the question really comes down to what does it take to understand the full extent of what's possible? And honestly, that, that's just getting more and more involved over time.[00:48:58] Local LLMs: A Growing Interest[00:48:58] swyx (2): I have one more topic that I, I [00:49:00] think you, you're kind of a champion of and we've touched on it a little bit, which is local LLMs.[00:49:05] swyx (2): And running AI applications on your desktop, I feel like you are an early adopter of many, many things.[00:49:12] Simon: I had an interesting experience with that over the past year. Six months ago, I almost completely lost interest. And the reason is that six months ago, the best local models you could run, There was no point in using them at all, because the best hosted models were so much better.[00:49:26] Simon: Like, there was no point at which I'd choose to run a model on my laptop if I had API access to Cloud 3. 5 SONNET. They just, they weren't even comparable. And that changed, basically, in the past three months, as the local models had this step changing capability, where now I can run some of these local models, and they're not as good as Cloud 3.[00:49:45] Simon: 5 SONNET, but they're not so far away that It's not worth me even using them. The other, the, the, the, the continuing problem is I've only got 64 gigabytes of RAM, and if you run, like, LLAMA370B, it's not going to work. Most of my RAM is gone. So now I have to shut down my Firefox tabs [00:50:00] and, and my Chrome and my VS Code windows in order to run it.[00:50:03] Simon: But it's got me interested again. Like, like the, the efficiency improvements are such that now, if you were to like stick me on a desert island with my laptop, I'd be very productive using those local models. And that's, that's pretty exciting. And if those trends continue, and also, like, I think my next laptop, if when I buy one is going to have twice the amount of RAM, At which point, maybe I can run the, almost the top tier, like open weights models and still be able to use it as a computer as well.[00:50:32] Simon: NVIDIA just announced their 3, 000 128 gigabyte monstrosity. That's pretty good price. You know, that's that's, if you're going to buy it,[00:50:42] swyx (2): custom OS and all.[00:50:46] Simon: If I get a job, if I, if, if, if I have enough of an income that I can justify blowing $3,000 on it, then yes.[00:50:52] swyx (2): Okay, let's do a GoFundMe to get Simon one it.[00:50:54] swyx (2): Come on. You know, you can get a job anytime you want. Is this, this is just purely discretionary .[00:50:59] Simon: I want, [00:51:00] I want a job that pays me to do exactly what I'm doing already and doesn't tell me what else to do. That's, thats the challenge.[00:51:06] swyx (2): I think Ethan Molik does pretty well. Whatever, whatever it is he's doing.[00:51:11] swyx (2): But yeah, basically I was trying to bring in also, you know, not just local models, but Apple intelligence is on every Mac machine. You're, you're, you seem skeptical. It's rubbish.[00:51:21] Simon: Apple intelligence is so bad. It's like, it does one thing well.[00:51:25] swyx (2): Oh yeah, what's that? It summarizes notifications. And sometimes it's humorous.[00:51:29] Brian: Are you sure it does that well? And also, by the way, the other, again, from a sort of a normie point of view. There's no indication from Apple of when to use it. Like, everybody upgrades their thing and it's like, okay, now you have Apple Intelligence, and you never know when to use it ever again.[00:51:47] swyx (2): Oh, yeah, you consult the Apple docs, which is MKBHD.[00:51:49] swyx (2): The[00:51:51] Simon: one thing, the one thing I'll say about Apple Intelligence is, One of the reasons it's so disappointing is that the models are just weak, but now, like, Llama 3b [00:52:00] is Such a good model in a 2 gigabyte file I think give Apple six months and hopefully they'll catch up to the state of the art on the small models And then maybe it'll start being a lot more interesting.[00:52:10] swyx (2): Yeah. Anyway, I like This was year one And and you know just like our first year of iPhone maybe maybe not that much of a hit and then year three They had the App Store so Hey I would say give it some time, and you know, I think Chrome also shipping Gemini Nano I think this year in Chrome, which means that every app, every web app will have for free access to a local model that just ships in the browser, which is kind of interesting.[00:52:38] swyx (2): And then I, I think I also wanted to just open the floor for any, like, you know, any of us what are the apps that, you know, AI applications that we've adopted that have, that we really recommend because these are all, you know, apps that are running on our browser that like, or apps that are running locally that we should be, that, that other people should be trying.[00:52:55] swyx (2): Right? Like, I, I feel like that's, that's one always one thing that is helpful at the start of the [00:53:00] year.[00:53:00] Simon: Okay. So for running local models. My top picks, firstly, on the iPhone, there's this thing called MLC Chat, which works, and it's easy to install, and it runs Llama 3B, and it's so much fun. Like, it's not necessarily a capable enough novel that I use it for real things, but my party trick right now is I get my phone to write a Netflix Christmas movie plot outline where, like, a bunch of Jeweller falls in love with the King of Sweden or whatever.[00:53:25] Simon: And it does a good job and it comes up with pun names for the movies. And that's, that's deeply entertaining. On my laptop, most recently, I've been getting heavy into, into Olama because the Olama team are very, very good at finding the good models and patching them up and making them work well. It gives you an API.[00:53:42] Simon: My little LLM command line tool that has a plugin that talks to Olama, which works really well. So that's my, my Olama is. I think the easiest on ramp to to running models locally, if you want a nice user interface, LMStudio is, I think, the best user interface [00:54:00] thing at that. It's not open source. It's good.[00:54:02] Simon: It's worth playing with. The other one that I've been trying with recently, there's a thing called, what's it called? Open web UI or something. Yeah. The UI is fantastic. It, if you've got Olama running and you fire this thing up, it spots Olama and it gives you an interface onto your Olama models. And t

Our guest this week was in the epicenter and a standout surfer during the years of Studio 54 AKA “ECHO BEACH”. Hanging with the right crew at the right time, alongside Danny "DK" Kwock, John "FIRM" Gothard, and Jeff Parker! These photogenic Surfers had a new approach wearing bright colors and custom wild prints, with matching air sprays on their boards! The sponsors loved it, the Photographers love it, and the Magazines loved it. This crew not only put Newport Beach on the Map, but also put Quiksilver at the forefront of the industry. Maybe it was all the magazine photos and covers shots our guest got as a Professional Surfer, or maybe it was another reason that he ended up working for Quiksilver! He also had a plethora of other industry jobs including Mossimo, Gotcha, and ASR, but eventually ended up in Media in both print and digital magazines for over 25 years. We are pumped to hear his story and welcome to the show, Mr. Preston “PM” Murray!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

President Trump's first day executive orders are detailed in a liberal website review of his last 122 speeches and interviews. Listen to how it is described. Do you agree with his agenda? Vivek dismantles a woke, young, liberal, female reporter's "Gotcha!" question and shines a spotlight on the media's abject crumbling. A CNN anchor proves on live TV that she's in a liberal dreamscape as Good News takes us to a Phoenix classroom where Steve Hartman surprises his most loyal fans.

Blobby trailers, a party stand-off, rude kids, early 90s attitudes, a German woman, a great Gotcha, and a drunk intruder. Join the Iron Filings Society: https://www.patreon.com/topflighttimemachine Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Tom Roland Podcast, we're LIVE from Hawks Cay Marina, celebrating the grand opening of the new marina store. Joined by Aaron from The Qualified Captain and Dave from Gotcha Sport Fishing, we delve into everything from childhood fishing stories to serious discussions on boating safety. Aaron shares insights on how The Qualified Captain started and his mission to educate boaters about safety and proper boat handling. Dave talks about his long tenure at Hawks Cay and shares some of his most incredible rescue stories. We also touch on the challenges of professional fishing, the importance of proper boating education, and some upcoming exciting plans for The Qualified Captain. Check out The Qualified Captain at https://thequalifiedcaptain.com/ Check out Gotcha Sports Fishing at https://gotchasportfishing.fish/ All of my other socials can be found here : https://linktr.ee/TomRowlandPodcast The Tom Rowland Podcast is presented by Star brite! Clean and protect with Star brite, a leading manufacturer of appearance, maintenance, and performance chemicals and accessories, serving the marine, RV, automotive, powersports, hardware, and home care industries for over 50 years. Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, FL, and with its manufacturing plant in Montgomery, AL, the company produces "Made In The USA" products, including its flagship ethanol fuel treatment, Star Tron Enzyme Fuel Treatment. https://bit.ly/48tNW0y 00:00 Introduction and Setting the Scene 00:39 Fishing Adventures and Weather Challenges 01:17 Meet Dave: The Experienced Captain 01:52 Qualified Captain: Crazy Stories and Safety Tips 04:17 The Birth and Growth of Qualified Captain 07:23 Exciting Collaborations and Future Plans 10:47 Diving and Spearfishing Tales 13:29 Exploring Frying Pan Tower 27:54 Challenges and Rewards of Charter Fishing 37:07 Planning the Resort Stay 37:21 Fishing Spots and Regulations 37:41 Exploring the Keys by Boat 39:32 Boat Docking Competitions 42:47 Boat Ramp Etiquette 46:49 Getting Kids into Boating 48:19 Qualified Captain's Future Plans 01:01:23 Fishing in the Keys 01:09:35 Wrapping Up and Future Plans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gotcha! That's the sound of the Special Counsel and Federal Judge Chutkan getting the best of Trump concerning the DC Election interference criminal prosecution and it being dismissed only “temporarily” until Trump leaves office. Michael Popok reports on how Chutkan also provided Jack Smith and his office some cover on any future retaliatory prosecution by Trump's DOJ and Attorney General. Qualia Life: To boost YOUR NAD+ levels up to 50%, Go to https://qualialife.com/TRUTH for up to 50% off and use code TRUTH at checkout for an additional 15% off. Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Coalition of the Sane: https://meidasnews.com/tag/coalition-of-the-sane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices