Podcasts about northwest

We're headed to the Northwest, on the shore of Lake Washington, to chat with Alexa Coyle, Marketing Manager for Seattle Seahawks, Lumen Field, and WAMU Theater + Co-founder of The Female Edge. Alexa oversees event marketing for Lumen Field (concerts, dirt events, WAMU Theater, and conventions), branding and marketing for food and beverage, Seahawks retail marketing, and more. She tells us about many of the unique things about their stadium, which includes the most just-walk-out concession stands of any venue in the world. We talk about innovation within more seasoned venues, elevating premium spaces, and how they are inspired and driven by the technology-forward market of Seattle. As a former professional soccer player, we talk about what it means to her to work at one of the host venues for the 2026 World Cup, as well as early preparations and planning currently underway as they look ahead to next summer. Alexa tells us about her career, from an interest in analytics and creative, and finishing her MBA and co-founding The Female Edge (which provides recruiting support and mentoring to female athletes) while playing professional soccer at Hibernian WFC in Edinburgh, Scotland. You'll love this fun, interesting episode, which is full of interesting strategy and great discussion.Alexa Coyle: Instagram | LinkedInLumen Field: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter/X ––––––ADVENTURES IN VENUELANDFollow on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, or X/TwitterLearn more about Event & Venue Marketing ConferenceMeet our team:Paul Hooper | Co-host, Booking, Branding & MarketingDave Redelberger | Co-host & Guest ResearchMegan Ebeck | Marketing, Design & Digital AdvertisingSamantha Marker | Marketing, Copywriting & PublicityCamille Faulkner | Audio Editing & MixingHave a suggestion for a guest or bonus episode? We'd love to hear it! Send us an email.

What does the Northwest sound like to you? Is it the tide rolling over a rocky beach? The wind across the Palouse? A ferry horn echoing across the Puget Sound? On Soundside, we occasionally ask field recordists about their iconic sounds of northwest. Today, we'll hear from acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton, also known as the Sound Tracker. He brought a recording from inside a driftwood log on the Washington coast. Guest: Gordon Hempton, acoustic ecologist and Emmy Award winning sound recordist Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we discuss the classic 1959 cross-country thriller, North by Northwest. Enjoy.***SPOILER ALERT*** We do talk about this movie in its entirety, so if you plan on watching it, we suggest you watch it before listening to our takes.An MGM Picture. Released on July 1, 1959. Produced and Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Written Ernest Lehman. Starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Martin Landau, and Jessie Royce Landis. Cinematography by Robert Burks. Edited by George Tomasini. Music by Bernard Herrmann. Ranking: 4 out of 52. Ranking movies is a reductive parlor game. It's also fun. And it's a good way to frame a discussion. We aggregated over 70 ranked lists from critics, fans, and magazines North by Northwest got 2,963 ranking points.

Vinho Verde is one of the best-known wines from Portugal. It comes from the Northwest portion of Portugal. The area is green because of its Atlantic Ocean influences as well as denoting the “green” wine that is made from grapes that are less than fully ripe. It comes in both red, white, and rose'. The red wines are mostly consumed locally and is an extremely fruity wine. The white wines are typically blends made from a slew of local grape varieties. The area gets a lot of rain. The proximity to the ocean and the elevation is the two main influences on the vineyards. Tonight, we are enjoying:2024 Roseta Vinho Rose. I purchased at Trader Joe's for $5.99. The Now And Zin Wine website says the wine has a slight frizzante, and nose of ripe red strawberries and cherries, with floral notes in the background. Tastes of red fruit, with delicate citrus coming later. Very refreshing, especially with the slight carbonation.This wine is unique with a slight fiz (carbonation). It's main flavor is strawberry and cherry, but it is a subdued flavor and not over-powering. We both gave the wine a 3-rating. While it is not my type of wine, but I think some people would really enjoy. Next week we will start atwo-week exploration of Portugal.

Quaranteam-Northwest: Part 7 Hillbilly Tactics. Based on a post by Break The Bar. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.   The TV flashed, losing a digital telephone ring, and I grabbed the remote from the table and accepted the call. "Hey, Harrison," said the man on the other end. He was another lab coat, and as best I could tell from the blurry background he was likely in the same facility or even the same room as Doctor Varma had been. This guy looked like he'd stepped right out of a corny television show though; he was blubbery in the way that a guy could be after a couple of decades of slow physical decline, with a burst of thinning silver hair that just needed the black streaks and some smudges on his face to look like he'd been catoonishly blown up. The bit of scraggly, messy scruff on his chin that looked unplanned made me a little self-conscious of my own currently messy beard. Erica had wanted me to grow mine out a bit so she could decide if she liked it longer or shorter, and Ivy didn't care, so I was looking even more like a mountain man than usual. "I'm Doctor McKenna, but you can call me Bill," he continued. "You're on Doc Varma's team?" I asked, putting two and two together. "Yep," he nodded. "I was supposed to do the follow-up interview with you but got caught up with some of the numbers in your case. Charlotte and I have both reviewed the content. Sounds like you had a bit of a wild time, huh? And don't worry, we're all getting pretty used to the graphic nature of our work these days so you didn't offend or embarrass anyone." "Well, that's something at least," I said. "I never thought I'd be having a conversation like that with a doctor. Or anyone." He got a wry grin at this and held up a hand to ease me. "Believe me, Harrison. I've been with the team from the start and we have had more than a few of these sorts of conversations based on the nature of the vaccine. Yours is definitely up there as a novel case of details, but it's only personal for you, not us." I just nodded, not knowing what to say. I hadn't considered how often sex must come up in their day-to-day work if they were specialists. "Now, I have; well, I can't say it's good nor bad news," Doctor Bill said. "Interesting for us, for sure. As I'm sure you're aware, as you have two partners already, the vaccine is supposed to only be transmissible from women to men for the purposes of diluting the effects on men. To be frank, no one here on the team had considered the possibility of transferring and initiating a bonding process from one woman to another through female ejaculate. It doesn't help that most of the science community, those that would even think of it, haven't exactly spent time studying female ejaculate to begin with. So your situation wasn't tested for, but as far as we can tell it still shouldn't have been able to happen." "So what does that mean, doc?" I asked. "It means that you, or one of your current partners, or some combination, integrated with the vaccine and imprinting process in an exceptional way. A variant response is how we're categorizing it at the moment, and to be frank it's not even one of the most surprising ones we've encountered as the testing continues to broaden. As best we can tell from your interview, it's likely that Miss Peters was vaccinated through the oral ingestion of the female ejaculate; all the markers of a normal imprinting process occur when you began actual sex together. "Now, the really interesting part of this on my end is obviously the fact that this happened at all, but following the results of the blood tests from the Testing facility up where you are, and the preliminary tests we've completed on the samples that got flown down to us here, we've found that it isn't likely to be a phenomenon that is worth pursuing. Unfortunately, while Miss Peters is certainly going to be imprinted on you to some degree, it also seems that the efficacy of the vaccine in her system will be well under our current rates. Right now our projection is that she will only have an efficacy rate of about thirty-five to forty per cent, while a woman who has undergone our current best practices has an efficacy of somewhere around the eightieth percentile." I had to rub my forehead and close my eyes for a long moment as I tried to parse everything he was saying. "So what does that mean, Doctor Bill?" I asked. "It means that Miss Peters is now part of your 'Team,' he said. "That's what I've been calling the groups of imprinted people colloquially around here, anyways. But where your other two partners have a high likelihood of staving off the Duo Halo virus, if Miss Peters is exposed she is about half as likely to resist initial infection or gain serious aid in fighting off an infection she catches." "So we've put her at risk by having casual sex with her," I said. "Fuck me, this is exactly the kind of shit that I was worried about when she asked to join in with us." "Yes and no," he said. "To be frank, it's entirely possible that her integration with the vaccine will grow and normalize over time with repeated exposure to you. The staff up there will book some follow-up blood draws to check in on that. One of the many things were are trying to understand about the vaccine is how sex bolsters imprinted partners. Generally, we haven't seen that happen for women, since they can't have more than one imprinted male partner, but the more partners men are in contact with the more efficacy we're seeing." "So you're saying she's stuck with me," I said. "She asked for no-strings-attached, and she got trapped into a sexual relationship." "You could look at it that way," he said. "But,” "But," Doc Varma said, coming into view on his end of the call and hovering over his shoulder. "I would remind you, Mr. Black, that she did choose to initiate a group sexual encounter with you and your partners. And once she is awake from the imprinting process, I would not be surprised if she feels content with the overall situation following any initial panic or shock." I leaned back in my chair and stared at the ceiling for a moment. "You know, when I first heard about this from Erica, I told her it sounded like some sort of brainwashing mind control shit? I couldn't believe she'd gotten the vaccine. But then everything was going so well that I stopped thinking about it. And Ivy was happy, and Erica's brother was partnered and they were both extremely happy. But this,” I sighed heavily and looked at the two scientists on the screen. "This is some fucked up, B-movie supervillain kind of shit. You guys realize that, right? Like, where is James Bond in all of this?" Bill frowned, but Doc Varma smirked just a little. "Yes," she said. "We are aware of how inappropriate many of the factors of the vaccine are, Mr. Black. It is a marvel of modern medicine, but we are still grappling with the necessities that come along with it." Together they ran me through what I needed to expect moving forward. Vanessa was going to be monitored until she woke up, so I would be spending the night where I was at. She'd get a complete physical, and they'd take more blood for testing before she'd be released into my care and we were brought back home. Then, depending on what she wanted, she would either be able to live with Erica, Ivy and I, or she could maintain some distance for the time being and only come to see me for the sexual encounters she would require. We would both receive follow-up check-ins from someone on the Vaccine testing team to draw more blood periodically to check if Vanessa's efficacy was changing, or if mine was. We hit the grocery store next, which ended up only allowing two people inside in a party at once. Dani wanted to look for some specific stuff, and Vanessa hadn't had her own kitchen to cook in for almost two years since she'd been eating cafeteria food on industrial construction sites, so I decided to hang out in the truck while they went in. I sent them with my credit card and reminded them of the staples we needed. They got in line outside the store, and I decided to enjoy the warmth of the afternoon and open the gate of my truck so I could sit outside. I watched Dani and Vanessa from across the parking lot, keeping one eye on them while I could. I could tell they were talking from the small hand motions. Neither of them talked with their hands like Erica or Leo did, but everything seemed friendly between them. "Excuse me?" I turned and realized I'd tunnel-visioned and completely lost track of my surroundings because a woman was standing about ten paces away from me. That wasn't like me at all. She was nervous, wringing her wrists as she stood awkwardly. She was a little scrawny, her clothes hanging off of her, and the eyes above her rough-looking mask were... not sunken, but sort of sad. "I'm sorry to bother you, Harri," she said. "I was just wondering if maybe you could spare a couple bucks? Things aren't really going well right now, and I've got my kids..." Living in Portland, I'd seen my fair share of homeless folks and beggars. Some of them were pushy and agitated, and others entirely shut down from their addictions. This woman didn't look homeless, but she definitely looked down on her luck. And down for enough time that it showed. She wasn't wearing even basic earrings but had the holes in her ears. There was a slightly less tan ring on her finger where I assumed a wedding band used to sit, but it was fading. Every major city in the United States had a homeless population. Some were worse than others, I knew that. The further south along the coast, the warmer it got, and the bigger the population. But out here in the sticks? In Jewell? Sure, we had the occasional drifter moving through. I'd never seen someone begging before. Things were really getting bad. "Uh, yeah, I can," I said, reaching for my wallet in my pocket. "I'm sorry, you know me but I'm not immediately recognizing you. Maybe it's the mask." She took a couple steps forward as I said I could spare her some cash, but looked away as I asked who she was. I kicked myself, realizing that her situation was embarrassing enough as it was. "Maybe you don't remember me," the woman said. "I was a year ahead of you in high school. Mary Duncan?" "Of course I remember you, Mary," I said. "It's just been a long time. You were a cheerleader I think, right? You did all the flips. You were really graceful." "Thanks," she said, and I could tell she was blushing behind her mask. I didn't have too much cash on me compared to what I used to carry for emergencies. I used to be a cash-only guy, at least around town. Knowing what my bank account looked like, I just pulled what I had and slipped down from the gate of my truck and set the bills on it, stepping back. "No offence, I don't think you stink or anything," I tried to joke. Mary's eyes went wide when she saw the bills, and she mumbled something as she stepped forward and I backed off a bit more so she could take them. It was maybe seventy dollars, but as she quickly looked through the bills I saw her get teary, and then she clutched the cash to her chest and collapsed to her knees, crying. I wanted to go and comfort her. Give her a hug. She was clearly overwhelmed and in a bad way, and back when we were in school she'd always been a cute, button-nosed girl with a soft smile and a big laugh. But I couldn't go to her. I couldn't rub her back or pat her shoulder or give her a hug. The best I could do was squat down from several feet away to get closer to her level. "Mary?" I asked. She sniffed hard and rubbed at her eyes. "Oh my God, I'm so embarrassed," she said. "You don't need to be," I said. "You said you have kids, right? How many?" "Two," she said. "Thomas is six now, and looks like his dad. My little girl Charlie is four. She wanted to go to school like her big brother this fall but..." But the schools were closed, and who knew how long they would be closed for? "And their Dad?" I asked. She sniffed hard again. "He went up to Portland to look for work after we both got laid off at the start of quarantine," she said. "I haven't heard from him since." "Fuck," I breathed out, hopefully not loud enough for her to hear. The guy could have abandoned his family like a shit, or just been overwhelmed and trying to find a way to make it right. Or he could be dead. "Mary, I'm sorry you're going through this. And I'm sorry if this touches another sore spot, but is your phone still active?" She nodded, touching the ragged little purse. I asked her to take it out and I immediately recognized that she'd probably downgraded her phone at a pawn shop, it was a beat-up old model barely above a flip phone. I gave her my number. "Call me the next time you need groceries, Okay?" I said. "Or if there's an emergency. Seriously, Mary." "I applied for food stamps, and welfare, but I haven't heard anything back," she said pitifully, like she was trying to explain her shitty situation. There wasn't any explaining. "The system is probably overloaded," I said softly. "Mary. I'm not pulling your leg. Go get groceries for you and your kids. I'll figure something out for you for next week, Okay?" "Harri, I can't just; I don't want to,” It was fucking stupid, but this woman who I remembered as that sweet girl was broken. I stood up and went to her, and pulled her to her feet and hugged her. She was tiny, and bony, in my arms. She'd probably been feeding her kids everything she could and taking the bare minimum for herself. "Stop," I said quietly as I held her, and she cried a little again. "You're doing what you can in a terrible situation, Mary. I'm doing Okay. Let me help." "Thank you," she whispered into my shirt, then sniffed behind her mask again and stepped away. 'Thank you, Harri." "Text me," I reminded her. "So that I have your number." "I will," she nodded. "I will." She left, headed towards the line outside the store, and I watched her go. Hopefully I wasn't going to pay for that moment of kindness with my life. But what was the point of being vaccinated and wealthy if I couldn't help a hurting woman? I sat back on the gate of my truck and saw the two big paper bags holding the meat I'd just bought. Hundreds of dollars' worth. I could have given her some, along with the cash. One of the chickens and some of the sausages. Kids liked sausage, right? Then I could practically hear my Mom's voice in the back of my mind. She'd been the giver in the family before she died. The volunteer. And she'd always said that you couldn't do your best for others without taking care of your family first. Seventy dollars would carry Mary and her kids for a few days at least. I could set up an account with Mason, connect her with Mrs. Branston for eggs, and cover her bill. I doubted I could do the same at the grocery store, but meat was always the most expensive part of meals anyways. I could drop a couple hundred bucks with her to help cover her other staples every few weeks. I looked down at my sweater, hoping again that I wasn't going to pay for this with sickness and death. What did those docs say? Eighty per cent effective, with more for each partner? I had three partners now, so I had to be like ninety per cent covered, right? The rest of my wait in the parking lot, unfortunately, wasn't peaceful. A guy with some parking lot road rage pounded on his horn at a woman who was loading her car. A half dozen teens skated through on skateboards, whooping and hollering and skirting by too close to people. None of them were wearing masks, and I saw a few of them spitting near people or fake coughing just to get a reaction out of them. I was trying to decide if I should call the emergency line, but they were gone as quickly as they arrived. Teens, rebellious and angry at the world, and most importantly bored and left to their own devices. Thankfully since I'd parked at the back of the lot they didn't really come near me. I did end up calling 911 when the fight broke out though. Two women were yelling at each other as they exited the store, both of them with full carts. I had no idea what they were shouting, but they definitely got the attention of everyone in the parking lot and the line. Then one lady pivoted and smacked her buggy into the other lady, and that one grabbed something out of the other's cart and threw it. "911 Emergency Services. Where is the emergency located?" "Yeah, I'm at the Green Grocer in Jewell," I said. "My name is Harrison Black. I need police services, a fight has broken out between two women in the parking lot and it's gotten physical." I could hear typing on the other end of the line. "I've dispatched a cruiser, sir, but the arrival time is at least twenty minutes. Is anyone's life in danger?" "Other than the pandemic?" I sighed. The women were grappled at this point, both of them trying to throw punches. "Hard to say. Neither of them are backing down and they've got a hold of each other and are swinging." "If you can, try to keep anyone else from getting involved, sir," the operator said. "And remember to keep your distance." "Fuck," I said as one of the ladies connected cleanly with the nose of the other. Blood started streaming down that one's face but it didn't stop her from clawing at the other with a snarl. "It's getting worse. There's blood now. Look, I'm not saying you have the authority to let me do this, but I've got my handgun in the truck and could pop one into the ground to spook them and try and disperse the issue." There was a long moment of silence on the other end of the line. "..... I mean, I'm not going to tell you to do that.... But..." "Understood," I said. I gave the operator my number, since I was sure the police were going to want to follow up with me, and then slammed the gate of my truck closed and went to the passenger side. Dani had returned the 1911 to its case thankfully, so I quickly slammed the magazine home and did a quick check to see it had one chambered before walking across the parking lot with the pistol held low and to the side. The women were scrapping on the ground at this point. A crowd had formed, not so close to each other to be shoulder to shoulder, but closer than they should have been. "Hey!" I shouted over the noise in my best military voice, but only the closest few people glanced over at me. One saw my gun and his eyes went wide. I sighed and shook my head, then pointed the muzzle at one of the little end-row barriers that had a sprig of a garden inside the concrete curb and pulled the trigger. The loud popping boom of the discharge quieted everyone real quick, including the fighting ladies as they all looked over at me. "Get the fuck out of here," I shouted. People scattered, including the two fighting ladies as they scrambled to recover their carts. I was pretty sure several items had gone missing from their shopping bags in the ruckus, claimed by other people who felt they needed them more. I just shook my head as I flipped the safety on and tucked the 1911 into the pocket on the front of my sweater. There were still a few people in line at the front of the store, along with an employee monitoring it, so I went over. It turned out to be the same teen as that time I'd been here with Erica and almost gotten in a fight myself. I gave him my name and let him know the police were already on their way. He said it wasn't the first fistfight he'd seen break out this week, let alone in the last month. "Kid," I said. "This job ain't worth your life." He shrugged. "I'm saving for college, and the bonus pay I'm getting as a front-line worker is adding up quickly." "College ain't worth your life either. Just saying." Dani and Vanessa came out of the store a little while later. I'd already returned the 1911 to its case and was sitting on the tailgate of my truck again. I explained to them what happened, both with Mary and with the fight. And I admitted to hugging Mary despite the danger. "I can walk home from here," I said. "We probably shouldn't get into the truck together. I'll need to,” "Harri," Vanessa interrupted me. "Shut up and get in the car. You're not in any danger, right? You're vaccinated. We're both vaccinated." "Yeah, but you are way less covered than the rest of us," I said. "It's not a big deal. It'll take a couple of hours of walking." Vanessa took it into her own hands and practically tackled me. "Oops, too late." "Vanessa!" I said in a panic and looked at Dani for help. "Lady made her decision," Dani shrugged. "We can either live in fear of it, or just do our best." So I ended up driving again, praying that Mary wasn't sick, which would mean I wasn't carrying it. I felt like an idiot all over again for hugging her, for risking everything to comfort her. But then I'd also seen that look on her face and I knew she'd needed it. Our last stop of the trip was Mrs. Branston's, but when I pulled into the front of her long gravel driveway I noticed that she hadn't put the flat of eggs I'd asked for in the usual spot. Frowning, I pulled out my phone and called her, but it went to voicemail immediately. "That's weird," I said. "Mrs. Branston is always home." "You want to go check on her, don't you," Vanessa said, not really a question. "Well, she's seventy and lives alone," I said. "She's not exactly ancient, but she's no spring chicken either." "Alright, let's go see what's up," Dani said. Then turned to Vanessa. "You're staying here though." "What?" Vanessa said. "Why?" "Because you already took one risk today, and I'm starting to like you too much to let you do two in a day," Dani smirked, then pulled up her mask. "Ugh, fine," Vanessa sighed. "Crack the windows for me at least." I did her one better and left the truck running with the AC on. Dani and I walked up the drive. It was long, but nowhere near as long as mine had been. The Branston's had built their house almost forty years ago; Victor Branston had worked at the local lumber mill, and his wife Hailey had started their side business of raising chickens and eggs after they built their single-story ranch house and barn. They'd had a son who had died in a drunk driving accident when I was still a kid, and a daughter who had moved away when I was still in middle school. At the top of the drive I tried calling again, and with no answer, Dani and I went to the front door and I knocked, then stepped back. "Mrs. Branston!" I called loudly. "You home?" Again, no answer. Shaking my head, I frowned beneath my mask and furrowed my brow. Her car was parked in front of the house, so she wasn't out. "Let's check in some windows," Dani suggested. "If she fell and broke her hip or something she might not be able to reach her phone." So that's what we did. It felt rude, peeking in her windows like that, but I let the MP side of me take over. I was looking into her kitchen when Dani gasped and motioned me to the other end of the side of the house. She was holding a gloved hand over her mask. I rushed over and looked in. It was Mrs. Branston's bedroom, and she was lying in the bed completely still. There was a dark stain around her mouth and nose and on the edge of some of the sheets. I recognized the dried blood. It looked like she'd been coughing it up. "Fuck," I sighed, stepping back from the window. Her sallow skin. Her sunken eyes. It was haunting. I called Emergency Services for the second time in less than an hour and reported it. "What do we do now?" Dani asked. "I'd say call her family, but I don't know her daughter's number. I think Mrs. Branston said she moved out east somewhere," I said. "We'll need to leave that to the police. Other than that?" I shrugged and looked around at the property. Hailey Branston had lived here going on forty years. Now there was no one. My eyes settled on the barn. "If nothing else, we should feed the chickens," I said. "No need for them to starve to death." "Good idea," Dani nodded and followed me towards the barn. Now, my worry had been that the chickens might be dead. I really wasn't sure how long it would take for chickens to starve to death, so I was preparing myself for the stink of not only a chicken coop but of dead bodies. What I wasn't prepared for was for the place to be empty. "What the fuck?" "This is weird," Dani said, looking at the rows and rows of empty cages. It was obvious this was a chicken operation. Just the bird poo around was enough to point to that. But there weren't any chickens. "How do fifty chickens just up and vanish?" I asked, wandering deeper into the barn. "It's not just the chickens," Dani said behind me. She was standing at a big bin near the front door with a big 'feed' label on it. She'd lifted the lid. "All their food is gone too except for a bit of mess at the bottom." I just shook my head, frowning as I looked around. Maybe there was some sort of metaphor here about Haily Branston's life, but all I was seeing was a crime scene. "Who the fuck finds out an old woman is dead, and instead of reporting it they steal all her chickens?" "An asshole," Dani said. "Assholes," I corrected. "This would have taken forever if it was just one person. There had to be at least two, probably more." I sighed. "Alright, we need to get out of here. We'll report it to the police when they get here." Dani and I went back down to Vanessa, filling her in on what we'd seen, and then waited. Thirty minutes later I called Emergency Services again on the non-emergency line, asking for an update on when we could expect someone to come out. "I'm sorry sir, but all our services are currently dispatched at the moment with active issues," the operator said. "We've got your report on file, and an ambulance will be dispatched when police are available. We have your name and number on file, we don't need you to stay on location." That was definitely not the norm for someone calling in a dead body, and it made me worried. "Alright," I said. "I just need to add something to the report then. After my previous call we checked in on Mrs. Branston's agricultural livestock. Someone has stolen all her chickens." "I'm... sorry?" the operator said. "Someone stole fifty-odd chickens," I clarified. There was another long moment of quiet from the other end of the line. "Chickens?" "Yeah, chickens," I said. A long sigh. "Alright, I added it to the report. Have a good day, sir." "You,” the operator hung up. "-too." "That sounded like it went great," Vanessa said sarcastically. "Yeah," I said, wondering what the fuck was happening to my home town. "I can't say that it did." Vanessa came jogging down from the office portables when the black sedan came rolling around the bunkhouses. After we'd gotten back from our big run, and Erica had berated me for taking a risk with Mary even while telling me how sweet a man I was, things had settled down. Leo's new partners had slept through the day with their imprinting, but we'd grilled up some extra sausages in case they woke up in the night and were hungry. I'd spent some time late in the afternoon with Ivy, and that night I'd slept with Vanessa on one side of me, and Ivy on the other while Erica spooned up behind her and rested a hand on my chest. We'd all been naked, but nothing overtly sexual had happened Vanessa had gone back to work in the morning, the first to wake up, and as she got ready and dug through her luggage Erica got up and made her coffee. The smell woke me up, and I realized it was 5:30 in the morning. It looked like our schedule was going to be changing with Vanessa in our lives. Breakfast was a quiet affair later in the morning; at least, quiet for us. Leo's RV was visibly rocking, and I had to assume Aria and India were up and the four of them were getting better acquainted. By the time Vanessa came back around for her breakfast break I'd already come in Erica, but Ivy had held off; apparently, the three of them had talked, and Vanessa only had about fifteen minutes for her breakfast break which meant a quicker-than-usual blowjob was necessary if she wanted some fun with her food. By mid-morning things had quieted down over at Leo's RV, and I'd left a platter of food wrapped with tinfoil on a chair next to the door. Ivy was just starting to get handsy with me, sitting on my lap and giggling with that look in her eye, distracting me from my drawing, when the crunch of tires outside the compound perked us up. The sedan ground to a halt, and Vanessa quickly came down to stand with Erica and Ivy and me. Agent Sourpuss was the driver again, and she just narrowed her eyes at us for a moment before turning back and speaking into the back seat. The door opened, and a woman in that same hooded coverall getup stepped out. "Hi," I said, stepping forward and offering her my hand. "I'm Harrison." "Kyla," she said through her mask, taking my hand and shaking it lightly. "I'm not really sure what you were expecting," I said. "I know things are weird and changing a lot for everyone, so if anything sounds like a problem just let us know and we can figure it out. The first of which is that, ah, these are my partners Erica, Ivy and Vanessa." "Allo!" Ivy said, stepping forward and wrapping the woman up in a hug. Ivy was still the shortest and most petite of the women, with Kyla standing around the same height as Vanessa. "Hi," Erica said, smiling warmly but not stepping forward, which I knew was because she knew the secret. In any other circumstance she likely would have been trying as hard as Ivy to be welcoming in an effort to dispel the weirdness. Agent Sourpuss rolled down the window. "Hey, you need to stop being so touchy. Protocol says you need to imprint as soon as possible." I sighed, glaring at her a little. "I hear you. Let's just make sure this is all Okay with her, yeah?" I turned back to Kyla, whose eyes were a little wide as she cautiously accepted the hug from Ivy. "Um, hello," she said, looking around at the construction site, and our ridiculous-looking compound. "There's a lot for us to explain," I said. "I can see that," she said. The more she talked, the more I heard a slight accent. It wasn't strong, not like Dani's, and I had to assume being the daughter of an Ambassador meant she'd grown up at least part of her life in the US or other places. Not to mention any training she'd received. "Are you Okay with this?" Erica asked her. "The idea of sharing space with a group of us?" "For what it's worth, I'm the newest and stumbled into it by accident, but it works for me," Vanessa chipped in. Kyla looked around again, then back at Sourpuss, and finally back to me. "It's the way things are," she said. "I can make it work." "Well, if you change your mind, you have until we start the imprinting process," I said. "Just say something and we can try to find you someone, or somewhere, else." She shook her head, then turned to Sourpuss again. "You can go." "Fine by me," the Agent muttered, raising her window and pulling the car away. I was almost sure I heard her mutter something about never wanting to come back again. "Come in," Erica said, gesturing to the fabric-draped entryway. "We'll show you around and can tell you what's up." Kyla followed Erica and Ivy in, but Vanessa hung back. "I need to get back to work," she said. "I'll come meet her later if you haven't dicked her down yet." I snorted and shook my head at her crassness. The only people who could get close to matching military folks in that way turned out to be construction workers. "Everything going Okay?" I asked. "Yeah, it's fine. Just getting the animals back in order after being away. They're going to be moving workers into the bunkhouses in the next few days so there's a lot to get ready," she said. She reached over and squeezed my hand for a second, but didn't step in for a kiss even though I could see her glance at my lips. "See you later?" "Absolutely," I said, and she started marching back towards the office portables. When I ducked back into our compound, Erica and Ivy had arranged the deck chairs into a semi-circle and Ivy was coming out of our place with a quartet of beers from the fridge. Erica was just gesturing for Kyla to take a seat. "We're all vaccinated," she was saying. "So if you want to get out of that getup you can." Kyla sat and sighed, lowering her hood and then taking off her medical mask. She was gorgeous. Her hair was a natural silky black with that smooth quality that Native Americans and East Asian folks shared, and she had cute little apple cheeks when she smiled softly in thanks as she accepted a beer from Ivy. Her skin was naturally tan, and she'd done her makeup to accent her ethnicity a bit rather than downplaying it, and knowing what I knew about her I wondered if that was a move to try and distract or seduce me. She had espionage training. She knew how to use her assets. "So Harrison," she nodded to me, then pointed at Ivy. "Ivy, and..." she looked at Erica. "Sorry, something with an E, right?" "Erica," my girlfriend clarified for her with a smile. "Right, Erica," Kyla said. "And the other was Vanessa?" "Right," I nodded. "Vanessa is actually a forewoman with the construction crews, so she had to get back to work." "Okay," she nodded. "And you all live in these trailers?" "RVs," I said. "And it's just temporary. My family owned this land for generations, and recently the government leased it from me and is building a residential compound. We'll be getting a house, and for now we've got these luxury RVs. But, uh, we're actually only living in that one. The other one is occupied by my friend and Erica's brother Leo and his partners." "So there's going to be five of us in there?" Kyla asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked over the RV. "Yes," Ivy said with a smile. "It's very nice on the inside. And the bed is very cozy." "The bed?" Kyla said, emphasizing the singular. "That's, uh, another thing," I said. "This is a little rude but, well Erica, Ivy and Vanessa are all bisexual. Are you;?" "I'm straight," she said. Erica just nodded, though I could tell out of the corner of my eye that Ivy was a little disappointed but tried to hide it. "That's perfectly fine," I said. "We'll figure out a sleeping arrangement so that you're comfortable." "I,” Kyla started, then glanced at Erica and Ivy for a moment and seemed to change her mind. "Look, I'm stepping into your thing here already, so I don't want to be a bitch. But could I just... Could I talk for a moment with the guy who I'm going to be bonding DNA with or whatever?" "Yes, absolutely," Erica said. "Do you want to go inside, or should we?" Kyla glanced over at Leo's RV. "Maybe we should," she said and stood up. I stood as well, patted Ivy's shoulder and met a glance from Erica as she tried to warn me to be careful without saying anything. Kyla and I went to the RV, and I opened the door for her and followed her in. "Sorry about the mess," I said. "Vanessa just moved in yesterday and we're trying to figure out what to keep here, and what to move into the storage containers." "It's... fine," Kyla said. She was looking down the length of the RV, through the open door to the bed. I could only imagine what she was thinking. "Let's just sit here," I said, offering her the bench as I took the chair by the Murphey table. I wasn't going to mention that we used the bench for fucking almost as much as the bed. "Ask me anything," I said as we sat. "I know this is all weird, and you must have a thousand questions and concerns." "I do," she said, and leaned back on the leather bench and took a deep breath. I just met her eyes as she looked me over again. Then she took a swig of her beer. "What do you do for money? How does all of this work?" she asked. "Well, up until a few weeks ago, my family house was about fifty yards that way," I pointed. "Right where that first big bunkhouse building is. I worked remotely as a concept artist, and Erica's brother Leo was my roommate. Erica joined us out here for quarantine. The federal government came and wanted to buy my land, but I negotiated a lease with them instead and they paid me a lot of money for it, along with building me, Leo and my sister houses. So if you're worried about finances living out here, you don't need to. I'm not stingy, though I'd prefer if we don't get super extravagant. I'd rather us be wealthy for a long time than super-rich for a short one, and with five people on the team... Well, yeah." "The team?" she asked. "It feels a little weird to call it a family right now," I said. "What with all the changes happening so fast. I think that's how most of us will end up, but I don't want to presume anything." She frowned, looking me up and down again. When she got that look on her face she was fierce and calculating. Focused. Then it broke and she cocked her head to the side just a touch. "Did they tell you I was coming?" "Um, yeah," I nodded. "I got a warning yesterday that you'd be here sometime in the next couple of days." She nodded slowly. "Okay. I mean, obviously we'll need to figure some things out, but I think I can live with... this. I'd like to wait a day and get to know you all a bit more before we do the imprinting though. I'm not really a 'sleep with a guy on the first day' kind of girl." "I'd be happy to wait as long as you like," I said. "But, ah, you may want to talk with the others about that feeling you've got. Apparently, it'll just keep getting stronger." "Right," Kyla nodded slowly. "Okay. I'll keep that in mind." Voices rose outside. Not angry, just a little animated. "Sounds like Leo and his girls are finally coming outside," I said. "I think you'll like Danielle, she's a pretty open book. I can't make any promises about the two new women though, they arrived yesterday and I haven't had a chance to meet them properly." "That sounds good," she said. "Any other questions, or do you want to go meet them?" I asked. "Um, yeah, actually," she said. She was still giving me a slightly weird, considering look. "Do you know?" "Know what?" I asked, trying to poker face without poker facing. She kept eyeing me. "Who I am." I sighed a little. "I was told that you're the daughter of an Ambassador," I said, covering the big lie with a little truth. "Does that bother you?" she asked. "Why would it?" I replied. "I'm part Native, part Japanese, I travelled a decent chunk of the world when I was in the military. In the US, you growing up in another country is about as different as if you grew up in an east coast city." "That's not what I meant," Kyla said, sitting forward and leaning her elbows on her knees, staring right at me. "I meant does it bother you that I'm a spy?" The problem with going toe to toe with a spy was that all of my usual methods of evaluating someone were already going off. As a teen I'd been a bit of a hillbilly, I'd been an athlete, and I'd been a kid from a family with generational grudge issues. Then I'd joined the military and I learned about professional backstabbing and politics, and then I'd become an MP and really saw some of the dumb and vile crap that Man could do to each other. I'd been trained to be aware, alert, and suspicious. Seven years out of the military had softened me, I was sure. But not that much. Maybe Grierson shouldn't have told me about Kyla's background. I was trying my best to not be suspicious, which I bet if I saw myself back on a recording I would have seen as a red flag. If I hadn't known about her, I could have just accepted her and hopefully my natural and trained instincts would have picked up on anything fishy. I sighed a little huff of a chuckle and leaned back in the Murphey chair, looking at Kyla across the RV. I'd been doing my best not to just really stare at her, to make a judgement scan of her to really assess her. Maybe that gave me away. Maybe not. She was beautiful, but I'd already judged that. Her Filipino heritage was strong, but wasn't so different from the natives that I'd grown up around that it seemed out of place or exotic to me. Not to mention the plenty of varied Asians I'd lived around in Portland. She was still wearing the bulky coverall so it was hard to judge her athleticism, but just the way she sat told me she was a physical person. She was sitting on the bench, which wasn't particularly tall, but her feet were pressed to the ground by the balls of her feet and toes, her heels raised. Even though she was leaning forward with her elbows on her knees she also wasn't slouching at all. She was a coiled spring, but with a loose tension. She wasn't on edge, but was a calmly controlled nervous. "It does," I said, answering the question she'd stunned me with for a moment. 'Does it bother you that I'm a spy?' Who asked that? Was it a game, or a test? Was she trying to be truthful because of the situation, or was she running a long con to gain my trust to inevitably betray me? How calculated was this move, and what were the variables? Was it a move at all? "But not the way you might think," I continued. "It's funny, I don't even know how much they told you about me. I think I mentioned outside that I was in the military at one point. I was an MP before I was discharged. You are exactly the kind of person I would have been worried about for an important part of my life. But now? Honestly, Kyla, I just don't want you to fuck up the family dynamic we're trying to build here. I don't want you to put any of the people out there in danger, on purpose or by accident, if you plan on trying to do something for your father or NICA." She gave me a long look back, evaluating what I said. If we were sitting across from each other with a chessboard between us, or cards, I would have said she was trying to read if I was bluffing or not. But this wasn't a game, and there weren't stakes on the line, and I thankfully got the impression she wasn't trying to read me. At least, not like that. She was reading me, but she was trying to form her opinion of me, just like I was trying to with her. "Have you ever killed anyone?" she asked me. I pressed my lips together and nodded. "I didn't see as much combat as others, but I got in a few firefights," I said. "I had a few confirmed kills, and likely several more unconfirmed. And one of my investigations as an MP turned into a shootout with some human traffickers that ended... badly. Fuck, I haven't talked about that with anyone since I got out. I'd prefer you not bring it up with the girls, or Leo. Please." "I won't," she said quietly. "Have you?" I asked. "No," she shook her. "I mean, I have enough training that I could, but that wasn't ever supposed to be my job. I; I'd rather maybe talk about my story if I get more comfortable with you, but I've never carried more than a knife and a can of mace in my purse for self-protection and haven't ever needed to use either of them." "Does it bother you that I know?" I asked her. "I feel like it should, but I don't think it does," Kyla said, pursing her lips a little in thought after she said it. "I just spent the last four years living a secret life, but I've always lived a double life. You know, which means... I don't know what it means. Which is a first." "I told Erica," I said. "I wasn't supposed to, I don't think, but she can read me like a book and I didn't want to keep it from her anyways." Kyla smiled a little. "I could tell," she said. "I only picked up on little things from you because of the way she was acting." That made me chuckle a little. "Well, at least that's something. I'm not a complete waste." "So what now?" she asked. "You know that I know that you know. Do we need to set some ground rules or anything?"

Quaranteam-Northwest: Part 8 Summer Plans Based on a post by Break The Bar. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.  At dinner I checked in with Ivy first, then Vanessa when she had finished for the day and joined us. I also made a point of stopping to check in with Dani to see what she was thinking about her new co-team members, who she thought would work out fine, and Kyla. "I think she's a lot quieter than the rest of us," Dani told me as we sat side by side near Leo's RV. "Which isn't a bad thing, obviously. She isn't as used to being around girls like us though. Erica worked with strippers because of her job, along with all sorts of other crazy people, so it's whatever for her. Kyla obviously isn't used to how open we all are about sex things." I pressed my lips together and nodded, watching her as she sat in a group with Erica, Vanessa and Aria chatting. She was obviously engaged, but didn't offer much to the conversation and seemed happy to listen. "Anything else?" I asked. "Anything weird come up?" "No. Should I be watching for something?" Danielle asked. "No, no," I assured her. "I just; Erica, Ivy, Vanessa; it's working. It's crazy, but it's working. I'm worried about Kyla messing that up." "It should be fine," Dani said, patting me on the shoulder. "Erica will Mom them into shape if things get out of whack, and if she's the problem you can just spank her until she apologizes." That made me snort and shake my head with a grin. "You and her talk too much." "Or maybe we don't talk enough," Dani grinned. We folded ourselves back into the larger conversations, me joining the group with Kyla while Dani went to sit with Leo, India and Ivy. As the sun was setting we busted out the fire pit and Vanessa pointed me towards the nearest brush piles I could harvest some wood from; it seemed she'd handily directed some of her workers to pile it within easy walking distance. Then, once the fire was crackling and we all had our drinks of choice, we told the new women our story. We started with Leo and I, then how Erica had joined us for quarantine. We both teased her about hearing her masturbating, which until that moment she hadn't realized had been the case and made her blush. Then we talked about the land lease, the construction, and the introduction of Dani, Vanessa, and Ivy. Vanessa told us how fucking crazy she thought we were at first, but after that first night around the fire she'd realized something weird but special was going on so she stopped judging and started getting a little jealous. Then Ivy told her perspective, stepping into a life with Erica and me. Then we had to tell the story of Vanessa joining us, which got rushed over really quickly and then had to be retold because even Dani hadn't gotten all the details. I'd purposefully sat beside Kyla around the fire, Erica taking the spot on the other side of me. As India and Aria started ragging on Vanessa for not giving them the full story in the initial car ride when they met her, Kyla leaned over to me. "Can we talk? In private?" "Sure," I said, nodding towards our RV. I leaned back in the other direction to Erica and kissed her cheek, and she met my eye and nodded. Inside the RV Kyla had taken the Murphey seat this time so I sat on the bench opposite her. "You still feeling alright?" I asked her. "No," she laughed. Inside, in the more steady light of the RV, I could see she was flushed even with her slightly darker Filipina skin. "I feel like I've got a fever, but it's concentrated in all my erogenous zones. I don't even like women but that story about Vanessa has me..." She blew out a long breath. "I don't know how much more sex talk I can take before I snap." "I can ask them to stop if you want. Or we can have that conversation if you think you're ready." "I'm; Yeah, I'm ready to talk," she said. She took another deep breath and sat up straighter, putting her hands on her knees like she was trying to focus herself. "You can ask anything you want, and I'll try to answer," I promised her. "I don't have questions," she said. "Well, I actually have lots of questions, but they aren't important right this second. Seeing you with Erica and Ivy, and meeting Vanessa. Hearing the way Leo and Danielle talk about you. I think I know what I'd be getting into if I do this with you. And to be honest, it sounds pretty greater considering the other options that the world seems to be moving toward right now. But I never want to be someone who just takes the easy thing because it's in front of them. I know a lot about you now, but you don't know much about me. And I'll tell you, pretty much anything you want to know, but there's something I need to know if you're Okay with. More than my past, more than whatever your government is worried about." "The only way to know is to ask," I said, trying not to let my own nerves out. Kyla, who had been steady throughout the day, was showing signs of anxiety amidst her hard pressure to keep herself under control. "If I don't like it, we can try and find someone else as soon as possible." "I don't want,” She bit her tongue, cutting herself off, and took a breath. "Harrison. If I do this, if I imprint on you, this is my out. I've been doing everything my father wanted since I was a kid. The only escape I ever had was through dance, and even that he took control of to make sure I was getting the best lessons and tutors and going to the best camps and schools. And even then, he and NICA used it as well. My entire life I've been pushed and trained and taught and used because I didn't matter and my country and my service did. I want a new life, Harri. But I want that life the way I want it. I want a big family. I was an only child, and my parents tolerated each other at best in a political marriage. I want six kids at least, more if we can. Fuck, I'll pop out an even dozen and be happy. Or maybe not, maybe I'll be happy earlier than that, but I know I want a lot of kids to love on and raise in a big, supportive family. "If you can handle that, and if Erica can handle that because I know she's going to need to agree to it too, then I swear to God I'll be loyal to you and only to you. My father, NICA, my country; I can leave them all behind and in the dust if you can promise me we'll try to make my dream life happen. And I promise I'll be the best, hottest housewife I can be for as long as you can keep me barefoot and pregnant. I'll make sure I'm fit and tight and everything I can be for you in between pregnancies, but God I want this, Harri. I've never told anyone this before, but I want it so fucking bad." I didn't know what to say. She was practically sobbing in her earnest desire for what she was asking. I just slid down to my knees on the floor of the RV and wrapped my arms around her and Kyla clutched at me as she panted hard. Not crying, but desperately trying to control herself. "Kyla, I would be an extremely lucky man if I can give that all to you," I said. "And I want to tell you yes right away, but you're right. I do need to check with Erica first. Do you want me to call her in to ask her now?" She hesitated a moment, then nodded and sat back on the chair, sucking in a deep and unsteady breath. I stood up and opened the RV door, sticking my head out. All three of my women looked over to me and I made what I hoped was a reassuring smile, then locked eyes with Erica and motioned her over with a head jerk. She joined us, shutting the RV door behind her. "What's up?" she asked. "Everything Okay?" I looked at Kyla. "Do you want me to ask, or you?" "I; You," she said after hesitating. I turned to Erica and reached out, holding her hand. "So, I know we had our conversation earlier, but I didn't realize this was coming or maybe we would have talked about it more seriously. Kyla is ready to join us, but she has an ask. Because of her own family past, one thing she wants more than anything is to have kids. A whole bunch of them. So she wants to know if you and I are Okay with that and willing for that to happen, or if we should try to find her someone else who can help her get the life she wants." Erica's eyes had widened as I was speaking and her jaw worked a few times before she could find the right words. Then she turned to Kyla and looked at her for a long, long moment before putting a hand on her shoulder. "That's the most important thing for you?" she asked quietly. Kyla nodded, then looked up to meet Erica's gaze. "More than anything else. And I want to do that with Harrison; God, I haven't even known him a day but it's like I can see it right there in front of me. He'd make a great husband and an even better father. I just know he's yours more than either of the others, and I couldn't risk saying yes to him without you saying yes to this." "God, fuck," Erica sighed, and I realized she was tearing up as well. She looked to me. "Yes, obviously, if it's what she needs then yes. But I guess now I need to stop taking the pill because I'm not just gonna sit by and not be in the running for the first mother of your child." Now it was my turn to be surprised. "But we just,” She kissed me to shut me up. "It doesn't matter," she said. "I love you, you love me. If the world implodes and we're all shot off into space, I still won't regret making a kid with you." She turned to Kyla. "Are you going to love him?" "I'm going to try," she said. "And I'll work harder at it than my parents ever did." "Then yes," Erica said. "But, and I'll only ever say this once and you need to listen to me closely, if this isn't the truth and you hurt Harrison or me or anyone else here then I swear to everything in heaven and hell that I will end you. Do we understand each other?" Kyla nodded, taking her seriously. "I do, and I won't." "Okay," Erica said, and leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "You clearly need a fuck, so unless you've suddenly turned Bi then I should leave you to it." She turned to me and kissed me hard, and I hugged her to keep her close. "You're sure?" I asked her in a whisper. She nodded. "Rock her world, babe. Show her why she's one of the four luckiest women on the planet." She kissed my cheek, squeezed my fingers in hers, and then stepped away and out of the RV. Kyla looked like she was going to jump out of her seat. "So,” I started. Kyla stood up abruptly and grabbed me by the face, smashing her plush lips to mine. I naturally grabbed her by the waist as we started making out right there in the middle of the RV. She'd been wearing that bulky coverall the entire day and now she started to scramble to try and get it unzipped and off at the same time as trying to get me to get my shirt off, which just turned into an awkward mess of her hands moving back and forth between us. "Stop, stop," I murmured, pulling my lips from hers. She actually whined a little in her throat and then blinked in surprise at her own reaction. I picked her up and she wrapped her legs around my waist as I carried her back towards the bed. Like this, she was taller than me and she bent down to kiss me some more, making it hard for me to navigate. Thankfully it was a straight shot, and there wasn't a lip at the door to the bedroom area that I needed to duck under or step over. I found the bed with my shin and stopped and lowered her down onto it so we lay somewhere in the middle, me on top of her as we kept making out. Once we were done I pulled away and tugged off my shirt. "Fuck," she groaned, looking at me hungrily. "Not what you're used to?" I asked. She shook her head. "No, so much better." She raised her hands to my stomach and up to my chest, letting her fingers play through my chest hair. I couldn't help myself and I reached down and unzipped the coverall down to her belly button. Underneath, all she had on was a set of black bra and panties. On the one hand, I was starting to get mesmerized by her body very quickly, but on the other, I remembered in the back of my mind that she hadn't arrived with any luggage. I lifted her from under her arms and she let me help her pull the coveralls off, then raised her ass so I could pull them from her legs as well. I crashed back down onto her, now feeling her smooth skin on mine. Her body was everything I would have expected from a dancer; smooth and sleek all over, with toned muscling and a sort of feline grace as she moved around. "Where; are; your clothes; and things?" I asked between kisses. "They said; they would bring; them up; from Cali,” she replied. Then she stopped the kissing and looked up at me. "Seriously, I've got this fucking craving for your cock right now like I can't believe, Harri. I need you to fuck me so fucking bad." "Okay," I said, and then kissed her again as I reached under her to unsnap her bra. When she realized what I wanted she didn't even bother with the snap, she just yanked the black cups off her tits and the whole thing over her head. Her tits were a perfect size for my big hands to palm, a bit bigger than Ivy's but much smaller than Erica's, and her dark brown areolas were smooth and a little puffy, with two perfect nubs for nipples. I sucked on one, feeling how hard they were, but she was stretching to try and get my shorts off of me. She needed the imprinting. We could always explore each other more in the future. I leaned away from her, one hand still on her tit and holding her down, as I shoved down my shorts and boxers. For her part, she pushed her panties down to her knees and I pulled them the rest of the way off. Her cunt was a gorgeous brown, flushed darker than the skin above and slick with her chemically-induced horniness. Even her clit hood was a little pulled back, the softer pink of her clit just visible from being swollen. She was entirely bare, and I wondered if that was a personal choice or a seduction tactic she'd been told to follow. Not that I cared at the moment. I wanted to eat her out and taste her. I wanted to make this last, to wow her like Erica had said. Fuck, let's be real, I wanted to impress the seductive honey trap spy with my sex skills. "Fuck my brains out," Kyla demanded. "Fuck me until I can only ever think of you. Take me and make me yours, you fucking massive wall of American god." I could impress her later. Her cunt accepted my cock like a perfectly tailored suit. I slid in, and even though she was tight and her muscles were firm as hell as they clenched at me she was also extremely willing. That changed when I was almost all the way in though, but not from want of trying. Kyla came, her entire body rolling and arching as her cunt clenched down enough to almost start forcing my cock out. She grabbed me around the shoulder and hugged herself up, clinging to me, and her hips roiled as she thrust hard up and down. Her eyes were squeezed shut, her lips curled in an ugly snarl for a long moment, until the orgasm passed and she let go of me, falling a couple of inches back to the bed with a 'whumph.' "H-Holy fuck," she panted, looking up at me in confusion. "What was that? That,” She blinked rapidly. "Did no one tell you about the first orgasm?" I asked her. She shook her head, still blinking like she was trying to gain her focus. "Fuck me and tell me," she said. I started to slow-thrust, enjoying the delicious warmth of her as I leaned down a bit more, pressing my full body against hers as she spread her legs wider for me. "They told Erica in the information session that she should expect a massive orgasm the first time she ingested a man's precum, and the biggest one of her life when they ingest their actual cum." "She got an information session?" Kyla panted, looking slightly alarmed. "You didn't?" I asked, equally alarmed. We'd both stopped thrusting at each other, not sure what to do. "Fuck it, fucking fuck me," she said and rolled her body to get my cock deeper inside her again. I wasn't going to argue with that. We fucked like that, mutually, for a bit and then I took some more control and went up high on my hands for better leverage and started to fuck her harder. Kyla moaned and panted beneath me, then raised her lips up and sucked on one of my nipples, which was an oddly pleasurable surprise, and then she took some of my hairy pec muscle between her teeth and bit me lightly as she came again. "Ow," I said when she dropped back to the bed again. "Sorry," she panted. "I just; you're really fucking good." Huh, maybe I can impress the spy, I thought. "I'm getting closer," I told her. I'd had... well, not the most amount of sex I'd had in a day, but a bunch, so I wasn't entirely surprised I was lasting as long as I was. "Do you want to try something else?" "I want to try everything with you," she gasped and kissed me. "But... let me..." I disengaged with her, which made her moan like a whore, and she scrambled around on the bed until she was at the bottom corner on her back. Then she spread her legs wide into a full split, and then even wider until she had one leg practically parallel with her torso and the other was way out to the other side. If she was a clock, she would have been showing 10 o'clock. "Fuck me hard. Use my hole," she said, licking her lips. "Get your cock back inside; yes! Oh, fuck, Harrison. Make my cunt fucking squirm. Make your cunt squirm. It's yours now. I'm yours. My whole body. Fuck! I've never felt it like this before. I've never felt anything like this." I was crushing down into her in big, hard strokes and I could feel her cunt squishing with her juices and my balls slapping against her ass cheeks. I was hovering over her and a bead of sweat had trailed down to the end of my nose. Kyla opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out, licking it off of me. I lowered the rest of the way to her and kissed her hard, then hugged her tightly as I started pumping short and quick, barely leaving her cunt. "I can't wait to fall in love with you," I whispered to her. "I can't wait to make babies with you, and start a family." "Do it," she gasped. "Put a baby in me. Make my womb yours forever. Breed me, make me your breeding wife-whore. Love me, may-ari. Oh, fucking; that's what you are, you beautiful big bastard. You're my may-ari. My owner. I choose you. I choose; I,” I couldn't have stopped from coming in her if my life depended on it. She was pushing towards her own orgasm already, and her years of dance and other physical activity had turned her core into a vice that sucked at my cock like a hoover. I came as she lost her grip on her words, chanting about choosing me. She came as well, a scream quenched in her throat as her entire body flexed and tensed. I filled her up, releasing over and over in her, but I finished before she did and just went right back to fucking her since my cock hadn't gone soft yet and she was still coming. I only stopped when she went slack, her legs falling back to a more natural position, and her face went from that clenched teeth-gritting tension to a soft, satisfied smile. "Imprinting. Imprinting. Imprinting." I pulled away from her slowly, making sure she wasn't going to fall from the bed, and found that the entire bottom corner and the edge of the mattress were wet and sticky with juices. Along with my legs, crotch and hips. "Great, another squirter," I sighed. Not that I actually minded, but it just meant we'd be doing even more laundry in the tiny machine the RV held. I stood and, once I felt like I could be coordinated enough, I picked Kyla up in a cradle and lifted her higher on the bed and tucked her in. She was in the fetal position, still mumbling the imprinting sequence with that smile. I had to grab a new pair of shorts since mine had ended up in the splash zone, and I didn't bother putting on a shirt but did wipe myself down with some wet paper towel. Stumbling out of the RV, I was greeted by catcalls and applause. Looking around, the fire was still going and someone had stocked it higher with wood. Erica, Dani and Vanessa were all sitting in the Adirondack chairs, and Ivy was sitting curled up in Erica's lap. "Where are Leo and the girls?" I asked, trying my best not to let them show the embarrassment I knew they were going for with their teasing. "Aria and India were going to fuck, and invited Leo to watch," Dani smirked. "So I assume he's in there either jerking off, or fucking." "I don't need to picture that," Erica rolled her eyes. I stepped over and kissed Vanessa as she leaned her head back and reached up to hug me around the neck. Then I slipped around the circle to Ivy and Erica and kissed both of them. Dani opened her arms to me as well, so I hugged her and she kissed my cheek. "Congrats," she said as I pulled away. "Pops." "Oh, God," I groaned and looked at Erica. "You told them?" "Was I supposed to keep it a secret?" she countered. "I needed to talk it out with someone." Vanessa had stood from her chair and gestured for me to take her seat and went inside the RV, coming back out with some more beers. She passed them around and then sat on my lap similar to the way Ivy was with Erica. We sat that way for a while talking as the night sky played out above us. I'd always loved looking up at the sky out on the property, away from any major sources of light pollution. Now spotlights were lighting up the construction area a hundred yards away, where men and women were working through the night. The view was dimmed, and I wondered if it would ever be as clear again as it had been a month ago. Dani slipped off to bed first, and Vanessa grumbled that she had to be up in the morning for work so the rest of us went quickly. We never had discussed the sleeping arrangements, so I ended up sleeping next to Kyla, with Erica pressing her back to my side and holding my arm under her and around her stomach, with Vanessa spooning up to her and Ivy on the end on her back, snuggled partially under Vanessa. I knocked on the door and set the two big brown paper bags down on the stoop and backed away. The house wasn't 'old' per se, located in a neighborhood that had been developed almost twenty-five years ago, and hadn't been updated since it was first built. To be fair, there hadn't ever exactly been a housing boom in the area, so other than the one-off builds it was probably one of the newest places around. The inner front door opened and Mary looked out cautiously, then in surprise as she saw me. She hadn't texted me like I'd asked her to, and it had almost been a week since I'd seen her in the parking lot at the grocery store. She looked a little better, though not by much, and I wondered how far she'd been able to stretch that $70 I'd been able to give her then. "Harri?" she asked in surprise. "Hey, Mary," I said with a little wave. "How did you; Is this;?" "It wasn't that hard, Mary," I said. "I just made a couple of calls. You never texted me." "I know, I,” she hesitated, and then hung her head. "I was so embarrassed." "You don't need to be," I told her. "You're in a tough spot, and I'm not. I want to help out." "Mom? Who's at the door?" came a little voice from inside. A boy poked his head around Mary's hip, looking cute and curious. "It's an old friend of Mommies," Mary said. "He's just here to say hello." "Hey there buddy," I said, smiling as I pulled my mask down and waved, then let the mask snap back up and played like it had rocked me. The kid giggled. "My name is Harrison, but everyone calls me Harri on account of my big beard and hair." "That's a funny name," the kid said. "If you got rid of your beard, what would they call you?" "Hmm, that's a good question!" I said. "I don't know. Maybe you should ask your Mom, she knew me when I didn't have a beard." "We still called him Harri, baby," Mary said, smiling down at the boy and running her fingers through his hair. The kid had keen eyes and noticed the bags on the stoop and the food inside. "Is that for us?" "It is, kiddo," I said. "Could you help your Mom get it inside?" "Sure!" he said. Mary sighed and opened the screen door for him, and the kid came out in his socks and hefted up one of the bags and started carrying it in. "Harri, you don't need to,” "I made sure there are some snacks for the kids in there," I said, pretending like she hadn't been talking. "I know they aren't nutritious, but I figured you can bribe some good behavior for some Oreos and stuff every once in a while. There's also a bottle of merlot in that other one there, so you may not want the kiddo to lift it. He's a cute kid, by the way. I've got an order in down at the butcher's that I'm supposed to pick up tomorrow, so I'll be by sometime tomorrow afternoon with some meat for you guys too. Maybe I can meet your little girl then? Charlie, right?" Mary looked like she was about to cry, and I didn't want to push her over the edge so I tried to make it all like it wasn't a big deal. "Alright, Mary. See you tomorrow. Let me know if you need anything specific and I'll see what I can do, alright? Tell the kiddo not to eat all the gummy worms at once." I was halfway down the driveway to my truck when the screen door opened again. "Harri," Mary called. I looked back and she was standing on the porch, looking at me with tears brimming in her eyes and a happy frown on her face. From this distance, without a mask, I could still see her as the little button-nosed cheerleader I'd known. "Thank you." I just winked and waved, heading back to my truck. "That was really kind of you," Kyla said as I got in. "It's nothing," I said. "I knew her in high school and her husband's been missing for a while." Kyla took one of my hands from the steering wheel and wrapped her fingers in mine, looking at it. The casual intimacy was still new; the first couple days after her imprinting had been us feeling each other out, and her getting comfortable with the general openness to sex that was our new life. I'd made it a point to spend time with her, both sexually and non-sexually, each day and we were slowly starting to find a soft groove. "That's still kindness, Harri," she said. "You're sure she needs it? I don't want to see you getting taken advantage of." "I'm sure," I said. "Okay," Kyla nodded. "Then we'll help her. Now, let's continue this tour. I want to know everything I can about this little podunk, backwoods town I've been shipped off to." "Well, the first thing you should know is that I'm pretty sure it isn't big enough to be considered a town. Maybe a village?" "Oh, God," she laughed. "Not if you consider all the construction workers moving in." "True. I bet we're close to half-againing the local population at this point. Vanessa said we'll hit a thousand by the end of the week." "With that many," Kyla said. "We should have our house in, what, a few months?" "No idea," I said. "No fucking idea." "Fuck, it's already June," I groaned. It was hot as balls and I was regretting putting on my 'go out into the world' getup. "How did you miss the 1st?" Erica asked, also done up in her gear. "How did we miss Memorial Day?" I countered. "Oh, shit," Leo said, standing up from where he'd been sitting over near his RV. "You're right, we did miss Memorial Day. Should we do something?" "Like what?" I asked. "We could throw a party," Ivy suggested. "We could all dress up fancy and have a dance?" The surveyors had been needing Leo and me less and less lately and I was starting to get a little twitchy with how little I had to do. Quarantine before all of this really kicked off had been one thing, but now we didn't even have our big wide backyard to ourselves. When Erica had mentioned that she wanted to take a drive into Portland to pick up some things from the tattoo parlor and check her apartment I'd jumped on the chance and we'd made the plan. The girls were already starting to excitedly talk about planning our late Memorial Day celebration as I stretched and sighed, checking my watch. We'd been planning to leave right after lunch and it was already 3pm. Vanessa had taken an extended break since she'd worked late the night before and we'd had some one-on-one fun in the RV, which had been sorely needed for her. Where the rest of us were struggling to find things to keep busy and motivated, the last week had seen more and more responsibility and work landing in Vanessa's lap as the construction crews started to show up and move into the barracks. It meant there was an entirely new crew of cleaners, maintenance workers and delivery people under her supervision along with her 'gorillas.' Not to mention her wrangling of the other foremen and administrators on-site as her father handled the top-end details of the job. Every day it seemed like new equipment and supplies were being delivered and a third barracks was quickly being erected as even more hands were around. But an hour with Vanessa had delayed us, and when I was finally ready to go Dani was busy with Leo over at their place, and since she was coming with us Erica and I had to wait. Then Erica and Kyla were ensconced in a private conversation in our RV when Dani emerged ready to go, so we lost another half hour before the three of us were all finally dressed and prepped to leave. "Okay," I said loudly, trying to cut through the multiple party-related conversations. "We're all agreed we'll do a Memorial Day thing, but we're burning daylight. Erica and Dani, let's go." We took my truck, only needing one vehicle since we weren't hauling a ton of stuff like the last time. As we pulled around the site offices I spotted Vanessa walking with one of the other foremen in conversation and gave her a little double honk. She smiled and waved. Driving down the old driveway path there were now a half dozen wide offshoots winding off into the trees and closer to the highway there were big swathes of ground that had been cleared and were starting to get flattened by scrapers and excavators. Vanessa had mentioned that we'd end up with a couple of strip malls worth of stores to help provide for the eventual community; a convenience store, a clinic, a dentist, that sort of thing. Right at the end of the driveway a guard hut had been erected, little more than a fancy roadside fruit stall that could barely fit two people inside. I pulled up next to it and Erica rolled down the window. "Hey Patrick," I said, waving to the construction worker manning the booth and tracking the ins and outs. "Hey folks," the older guy said with a grin. He was supposed to be on the road crews but had arrived earlier than needed. I'd asked him once if standing in the guard booth all day working a clipboard was boring and he assured me that after three decades manning a 'Slow/Stop' sign in the middle of roads through sun, rain and sleet, the booth and the clipboard were welcome. "We'll be out for a few hours," I said. "Sounds good," he replied and made a note on his clipboard. Then he wiped at his eyes and cleared his throat, blinking. "Y'all didn't say anything about how bad the pollen got up here. I think my allergies are kicking up and I didn't bring any of my meds, I thought the North West was supposed to be wet." "It usually is. We'll pick you something up," Erica offered. "We need to stop at a pharmacy anyways." "We do?" I asked. "We do," Erica said, patting me on the knee. "Hah," Patrick laughed. "And here I thought you was some sort of Big Dog, Harri. But you're as whipped by your women as the rest of us." "See you in a bit, Patrick," I said. He waved us off, then covered his mouth to cough a little. "Poor guy," Dani said. "I'd hate if I had allergies like that." "We'll get him fixed up," I said as I pulled onto the highway and started heading in the direction of Portland. "It's been weirdly dry and hot so I'm betting the dust from the brush cutting is doing it to him." And I didn't think anything more of it. Erica unlocked the metal grate that pulled down over the front of the tattoo parlor and lifted it up on the rollers enough to uncover the door. The good news was that the whole thing with the 'Autonomous Zone' seemed to have burned itself out and Portland was no longer hosting big protests at the moment. The bad news was that only happened after a week of riots and several news-worthy moments of violence and vandalism. Thankfully the parlor wasn't on one of the major routes the riots had travelled down and there didn't seem to be any damage other than sprayed graffiti on the grate and some of the glass windows behind it. I'd pulled my truck right up over the curb and parked us as close as possible. The streets were as empty of people moving around as the last time we'd come into the city, except there was more trash. I'd seen old newsreels of when there had been major strikes in New York City back in the early 80s and it wasn't exactly that bad, but another couple of weeks and it might get there. Someone must have been doing collections, they were just overburdened or understaffed or something. I had to nudge a pile out of the way with the front of my truck to wedge into the open space, but it almost immediately proved worth it as a trio of ambulances came burning down the street with their lights running. If I'd parked on the street one of them would have needed to swerve out of the way and who knew if those extra seconds would be the difference between life or death for someone; not to mention the potential of the ambulance not swerving fast enough and clipping my truck. Inside the tattoo parlor Erica went straight to her bay and started unhooking and gathering her equipment. Dani was looking around at the place, grinning as she examined the wild decor. She would call out questions to Erica, who would tell her who had done what mural, or the brief story behind the broken surfboard hanging from the ceiling and the skateboard deck covered in almost a hundred different signatures. I spotted a photo on the wall and realized it was of Erica and all of her staff at the most recent DragonCon where they had put up a booth and done live tattooing. Erica had said beforehand she thought it might be a waste of time, but the owner of the parlor was a huge nerd and wanted to do it so it was her job to organize. I never had found out how it went, but she looked happy in the photo. I grabbed the frame from the wall and brought it over to her. "Do you want to bring this, too?" I asked. She glanced at it and paused her work, then smiled and hugged me. "That's sweet, Harri. Yes, absolutely." She took the frame and put it in one of the boxes we'd brought for her to carry stuff, then turned to me. "Hey, could you just empty all those drawers there into the boxes? Don't just dump them, but there isn't anything particularly fragile. It's mostly inks and cleaner solutions and stuff." "Sure," I said. "Thanks, babe," she said and kissed my cheek. "Dani and I are just going to slip through to next door." "Oh, God," I groaned. I hadn't realized that was her plan. "Don't worry," she grinned. "It'll all be fun for you, I promise." The owner of the tattoo parlor also owned the sex shop next door and had installed a door between the two since the clientele crossed over fairly consistently. Erica led Dani through the door, opening it with her key, and I could hear them laughing and giggling. By the time I was done with the drawers Erica had pointed out, placing what seemed like hundreds of little vials and bottles of inks and other liquids into the boxes along with some other art supplies, they hadn't come back. I went to the door and opened it, looking in. Erica glanced over, grinning as she held another box and Dani was placing something inside. "You want any porn, babe?" "What do I need porn for?" I asked. "I dunno," she said. "Variety?" "Ooh, this one is called 'Big Black Booties 15,'" Dani said, grabbing a DVD from a nearby shelf and waving it at me. "You don't have that kind of variety yet, Harri." I snorted and shook my head. "I'm perfectly happy with the booties at my disposal, thank you." Dani shrugged and put the DVD in the box. "I'll see if Leo wants it." "Gag!" Erica laughed, making them both start giggling. I had a feeling that was a running joke between them. "How are we paying for this stuff?" I asked. "Everything is turned off and we don't have any cash." "Artie told me I could Venmo him at a 75% discount," Erica said. "Plus anything with an expiry date I could have for free. So we've got a lot of lube now, along with a bunch of penis-shaped candy and some candy underwear." I sighed and shook my head. "Oh my God, we should take her with us," Dani said, pointing up on a high shelf where a creepily lifelike sex doll was sitting. "I think you mean rescue her," Erica said. "Harri, help me get her down." "Really?" I asked. "Yes," they both demanded. When we packed up the truck we had two boxes of Erica's tattoo gear and other possessions from the shop, another full box of Sex Shop stuff, and Dani was sitting in the back next to 'Sexy Susan' who had also happened to get dressed in a sexy nurse costume. They thought it was fucking hilarious, I just thought 'Sexy Susan' was a little creepy. Dani stayed down in the truck, taking the front seat as I pointed out that the 1911 was in its case under the passenger seat if she needed it, while Erica and I headed up to her apartment. The elevator had an 'out of order' sign on it, and Erica had to use her key to the building to get into the stairwell which she said she'd never had to do before. That was an immediate red flag to me, but I kept my cool to try and not worry her. "You know," Erica said as we climbed the stairs. All our sex cardio seemed to be paying off because we weren't puffing from the exertion yet. "You haven't officially asked me to move in yet." "What?' I asked. "Leo and I,” "That wasn't asking me to move in permanently," Erica cut me off. "That was just for quarantine." I rolled my eyes, knowing where she was going with this. At the next floor I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to me, pulling down my mask and hers and kissing her hard and deep. "Erica Lacosta, will you move in with me forever and ever?" I asked her. "Yes," she grinned. "Yes, I will." She kissed me lightly to seal it, then sighed and we raised our masks and started climbing more stairs. "With that out of the way, I should really try and find a way out of my lease. Just because you have money doesn't mean I should be wasting mine on a place I'm not ever planning on moving back into." "I'll help with some research," I said. "I know there's all the clamor about halting eviction notices, but maybe there's something that will help. I could text Miriam, see if Captain Bloomberg knows anything offhand." "Hmm, maybe,” Erica started, but stopped as we reached her floor and found that door locked as well. "What the fuck?" she sighed and unlocked it. "Let me go first," I said. "Why? It's just..." As we entered the corridor Erica trailed off, seeing the tracks of dirty footprints in the hall and the spray paint on the walls. She immediately started to move forward, but I grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Wait," I said. "Look." I pointed at the big circles on the walls next to each door, but she clearly didn't understand what I was pointing out. "Those are FEMA search and rescue marks." Erica blinked once and was obviously unsure of what to say. "Let's just take it slow," I said. We walked down the hallway. Some of the doors were shut, but others looked like they'd been kicked in. "What do they mean?" Erica asked me, looking at the circles and the scribbles of letters and numbers on the walls. Each circle had an X dividing it into four parts, and each quadrant was marked. "The top part is the date the location was searched," I said. "5-24 means it happened May 24th, so a little over a week and a half ago. The left side is who did the search, the numbers are probably a military code for a National Guard unit. If it said PPD that would be the Portland police, or CDC or DEA or whoever. The right side is if there are any hazards." I pointed to one of the doors that were kicked in. "NE means 'No Entry.'" Then I pointed to another. "F/W means there's contaminated food and water." I pointed at another door, this one wasn't kicked in. "A 0 means no hazards. "What are the bottom parts?" Erica asked. I frowned and swallowed. "The crossed 0 means no one found. DB or DOA means dead bodies. LB means live people are, or were, inside." Erica looked at the carnage of the corridor, her eyes scanning the doors of her neighbors as she weighed the number of DBs. There weren't many 0s, but about half of the apartments were labelled LB and hadn't been kicked open. Half. We got to Erica's place around the hall corner, passing the old lady Diane's door. It was kicked in and labelled NE, DB. Erica poked the door with her boot and it swung in. Inside, other than the dirty boot prints, it looked generally neat and tidy... other than the pool of dark something that had dried on the kitchen linoleum. I grabbed Erica and held her as she gasped and her knees went weak. I pulled her away from the door and she saw that her own apartment had also been kicked in, but was labelled 0 hazards and 0 bodies. We went in and she sat down on the couch, burying her head in her hands. Kneeling in front of her, I cradled her head on my shoulder and hugged her tightly as the reality of the world settled on her. She cried, though not as long as she probably needed, as I talked her through what had probably happened. Enough people had gotten sick and called emergency services that they came to do a sweep of the building. They knocked on every door, and anywhere someone didn't answer they kicked it in. Then I assumed they had extracted the bodies. "I need to get out of here," Erica breathed. "Okay," I said. "Do you need me to grab anything? Did we forget anything last time?" "No, nothing," she shook her head. "Just get me out of here." I picked her up and carried her out. Erica wasn't Ivy or Vanessa, or even Kyla. She was a full-figured woman. But I carried her every fucking step, down every stair. She stopped me right at the doors to the building and had me let her down. "I don't want Dani to see me like this," she said. "Why?" I asked. "She would understand." "I know," she said, blinking under her ski goggles. "But if she sees me like this, she'll start thinking about what might be happening back home for her, and she doesn't need that." I held Erica's hand at the door for another minute as she breathed deeply and got control of herself, and finally she smiled at me and it actually travelled up to her eyes. "Thanks, babe," she said. "Love you," I said. "You too," she said and touched her forehead to mine since we were both masked and goggled. "Hey, Charlie," I grinned, waving to the little four-year-old as she sprawled in Mary's arms and waved back with her little grin. "Hi," she chirped. "Okay," Mary said, setting her daughter down. "Scoot, you. Let Mommy talk with Harri for a second. Go see what your brother is doing." "Okay," Charlie said and pounded off in the way only a four-year-old could. "You're looking more like yourself, Mary," I said. I was standing off the porch and we kept the screen door closed, but I had my mask lowered so she could see my face. She smiled softly and shrugged. "I don't feel like it, but thanks." "How are the kids doing?" I asked. "Well, I regret letting them eat sugar again," she smirked a little. "But they're good. Better than me, anyways, though Thomas misses his friends from school and keeps asking when he can go back to class." She laughed and wiped under one eye. "He used to hate going to school every morning, now it's all he wants to do." "We'll get there eventually," I assured her. "What about you? How are you doing?"

Send us a textMoe Mylint Than is a student at Clatsop Community College pursuing an associate of arts Oregon transfer degree she was originally from Myanmar one of the Southeast Asia countries where there is a lot of civil war going on. However she studied bachelor of education for five years in Yangon university of education in Myanmar. Due to the military coup everything changed and she had no chance of continuing her education there. The coup shut down the universities and arrested the students who spoke out against the dictatorship and she was one of them.She moved to the United states to continue her education here though there have been so many differences in lifestyle, language barriers, and cultural diversities. She's personally participated in various international programs including ASEAN called the Japan East Asia network of exchange for students and youths in Japan in 2019 where she learned a lot of about natural disaster awareness. She was also the first runner up in the universities open debate tournament in 2019 and had the opportunity to host panel discussions on women empowerment in digital literacy and English roundtable discussions among the universities.She was also a delegate at model ASEAN meetings Myanmar where she discussed issues and solutions her goal is to become a qualified teacher who trains teachers and develops effective education systems in underdeveloped countries particularly.In Myanmar she aims to support young children in refugee camps and promote inclusion and equitable societies worldwide.To achieve this she's planning to pursue a bachelor of education of transfer program at Pacific university in Forest Grove OR in the fall term 2025 where she'll learn from professors and educators while sharing her own cultural knowledge and values and giving awareness about the education opportunities to the vulnerable people and creating a better and empathetic society. Subscribe to the Women of the Northwest podcast for inspiring stories and adventures.Find me on my website: jan-johnson.com

On this episode, after reflecting on the career of Ryne Sandberg we'll continue grading the off-seasons of the 30 teams around the league making our way to the first half of the Northwest — the Trail Blazers and Jazz.

Quaranteam-Northwest: Part 6 Lab Results and Quarantines Based on a post by Break The Bar. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.   The Docs signed off, leaving me alone in the little meeting room again. Not knowing when I would be able to leave, I decided to try and fall back on one of my old military instincts; sleep when you can. So I got comfortable in the chair, closed my eyes, and let myself drift into a fitful, not-quite-soothing sleep. "Harri," someone said, and I woke with a start as my shoulder was touched. "Urm," I grunted, and sniffed in a breath as I blinked rapidly and looked around. I was still in the room, and Miriam was smiling at me. She was dressed in fatigues here in the military office complex instead of her service dress blues and her hair was up in a standard military bun hidden beneath the standard issue cap. "Just like a grunt to take any reason for a nap," she grinned at me. "Come on. We can talk in my office." I stood, yawned and stretched, feeling something pop in my back and my shoulder from the uncomfortable position I'd been in. "Lead the way, Lieutenant Colonel," I said. She rolled her eyes at me a little but didn't say anything, just opening the door and walking through. I followed her back into that hallway where Brent had clocked me. He wasn't in the waiting room at the end of the hall. "Is Brent,” I started to ask. "He's waiting on another floor," Miriam said. "Refuses to leave until he sees his daughter is alright. It's making operations slow down over at the construction site, but I can't blame him." "Neither can I," I said, touching the tenderness of my black eye. Miriam led me through several very plain corridors lined with doors. None of them had windows to see in, and most had nameplate mounts but lacked names, and instead were labelled with numbers. It struck me as secretive, and that meant I was probably in the Air Force part of the building and not the Vaccine Test Center part. If they were trying to make people feel at ease joining an experimental program, these plain walls and doors forming a maze were not the way to do it. Confounding an enemy trying to sneak through this part of the building, though? It was perfect. I followed Miriam until she stopped at a seemingly random door and opened it, leading me into a large office. It had a large bank of windows, but extra-heavy curtains had been hung over them and were drawn shut to the point I wondered if they were nailed in place. One wall was entirely covered in a whiteboard with all sorts of coded writing on it. There were two desks in the room; the main desk was scattered with papers and a computer terminal, with a plush office chair tucked in behind it. The second desk had more stuff on it, but in neater piles, and Captain Bloomberg was sitting behind it at work. She glanced up at us as we entered and gave me a slightly judgmental look, before going back to the printout she was reading. The rest of the office space was dominated by file shelving units, a gun safe, and a leather couch that looked uncomfortable but was probably soft as hell. "Captain, could you give us five?" Miriam asked. "Of course, Ma'am," she nodded, set down the papers face-down and stepped around her desk to the door. She shot Miriam a quick look, and Miriam gave her one back, and the Captain left. If I had to guess it was to do with the fact that the office was probably full of classified material and information and the Captain was silently reminding her superior officer not to let me poke around or leave me alone in there. "Sit, please," Miriam sighed once the door was closed and we were alone, gesturing at the couch. I did, instantly sinking into it, and she sat on the other end and turned to me. "So, now that we know it's not life-threatening, you feel ready to get teased yet?" I snorted a little and scratched at my beard. "It's still a little raw," I admitted. "Just like how you fucked her?" Miriam asked with a grin. "Sorry, that's the only one." I shook my head and chuckled. There were few kinds of people who could be as morbidly crude and insulting, and mean it in the best way, as a military friend. "Seriously, Harri," she said. "I got a briefing on it. She's fine, you're fine. No one is in trouble." "Tell that to her father," I said. "And I can't blame him for probably wanting to kill me." "Yeah, well, tough shit for him," Miriam said. "We've expanded his Need to Know status and gave him some more info on the vaccine to calm him down. He's not happy, but he's not worried anymore. Seriously though, did you have to go and fuck my lead civilian contractor's daughter?" "We were friendly with her," I said, and let out a long breath. "Erica said she thought Vanessa might be a little interested. I don't think either of us expected her to show up on our proverbial doorstep and ask for a foursome." "I always did think Erica was a smart woman after we met," Miriam said. "Though I figured you'd lost a few brain cells since you weren't dating her at the time." "There's a whole story behind that," I said, waving her off. "I'm sure there is," Miriam smiled. "Doesn't mean it's a good excuse though." "Well, Vanessa seems to think you have a crush on me after she met you for all of two minutes," I shot back at her. Miriam flushed for a moment but didn't look away from me, still in command in her own office. "Vanessa might have been doing a bit of projecting," she said. "I'm not into hillbillies with bushy beards and big guts." "Ouch," I laughed, holding my stomach. Sure, I wasn't in the peak physical form I'd been in coming out of the military, but I hadn't gone that soft. Miriam and I continued to chat and laugh for a few more minutes until the Captain came back and then Miriam let me borrow some sound-cancelling headphones and hang out on their couch while they were working. They had food ordered in and Miriam and I ate dinner together while Captain Bloomberg ate as she kept working at her desk. It wasn't until I noticed that the faint bit of light leaking around the edges of the curtains was dimming that it had been a long day and I hadn't been able to contact Erica and Ivy. I asked Miriam if I could have my phone back just to update them, and she and the Captain had to discuss it for a long moment before they decided they could probably do the texting for me, but for security protocols I couldn't be given control of the phone. When my phone powered on it took a long moment for it to connect to service, and then it started buzzing like crazy and a bunch of messages came in. Miriam was holding it, and her eyes went a little wide as the message notification scrolled by. "Um," she said. "Well, it looks like you and your partners are... happy together." "Oh no," I groaned. "What did they send?" "Well, you have a whole bunch of messages from Brent Peters chewing you out, so there's that," Miriam said. "But, uh, well, there are photos from your partners." "Sorry," I shrugged, once again finding my face heating up at the exposure of my sex life. "It's fine," Miriam said. "It was my idea to do the texting anyways." She tapped around on the phone for a moment. "Alright, I'll just say 'Harri isn't allowed to use his phone right now. This is Miriam Abarbanel. He is fine, no trouble. Vanessa is also fine and healthy. They will return tomorrow.'" "That's fine," I said with a nod. I would have liked to tell them more, and that I loved them. And that they shouldn't have been trying to send me whatever scandalous photos they had considering I was in military custody at the moment. Miriam hit send and a minute later another text came through and she opened it, immediately rolling her eyes and setting my phone down. "What?" I asked. "Erica sent another photo, and I think it was for me," she said. "What? Really?" I asked. Miriam opened the photo again and turned my phone around to show me. Erica and Ivy were both sunbathing in the chairs, topless. The third Adirondack had a name tag written on a piece of paper and taped to the back of the chair that red 'Vanessa.' Beside it, they had put out another lawn chair and had quickly put another nametag on it that said 'Miriam.' I couldn't help the little snort of laughter that came out of me, and I covered my mouth to try and stop from giggling a bit. "I'm sorry," I said. Miriam laughed once and set my phone down. "You know, Erica is the right kind of trouble for you I think," she said. "You haven't spent enough time with Ivy," I countered. "That girl is mischievous. I bet the Vanessa one was Erica's idea to try and cheer her up, and the other one was Ivy." "If you've got any pictures from that Danielle woman, I wouldn't mind checking those out," Captain Bloomberg said from over at her desk. "Laura," Miriam said, a little shocked. "What? I told you when we first saw her, that woman could turn a bigoted granny gay," Laura said. "That's fair," Miriam said thoughtfully. "Hey, no arguments from me," I said. Miriam and the Captain ended up finishing their work days, though Miriam told me that she was on call 24/7 anyways and they stayed in apartments lower in the building. She offered to try and find me a free one to rest overnight, but I asked her if I could see Vanessa and stay in whatever medical room she was in. I didn't want her to wake up from the process and be alone. This started a silent conversation of sharp looks between Miriam and Laura, until Laura sighed. "She's not alone. Her father hasn't left her side since we let him see her. This is... let's call it a legal grey area at the moment. Technically you're not even extended family, so he would get precedent on deciding who can be there," she said. "But under the circumstances of the Vaccine imprinting, there's been some debate going around the legal circles of what constitutes a civil union. The matter's still up in the air, but there's a case to be made that you and she are now more intimately connected than she and her father. So I guess the question is do you want to push the issue?" "Oh, fuck," I groaned, and had to massage the bridge of my nose. "On the one hand, yes I want to see her. On the other, Brent deserves to be pissed at me and worried about her. Can I just talk to him?" "Honestly, Harri," Miriam said. "I think you should probably leave that whole conversation to Vanessa and how she wants to have it. Doesn't matter how much you defend yourself, you're still the guy that fucked that man's daughter in a pretty... degenerate seems too strong, but pervy is too weak. Anyways, you fucking her like that brought her here, and he's now aware that she's going to be intimately connected to you for a while." I puffed out my cheeks and let the air blow out slowly, unsure of what to do. "I can try talking to him," Laura offered. "But honestly, I don't know if it would do any good." "It's fine," I finally conceded. "He can be there, just find me another room where I can crash, and let me know when she's awake?" "I'll leave a standing order with the nurses," Miriam nodded. So, as Miriam and Laura finished up for the day, they sent for the night sentry who patrolled the floor and let him know I would be in the staff break room and was allowed to eat out of the cupboards and use the washrooms. Once the airman was gone Laura excused herself and left me with Miriam. "It was nice having you around, Harri," she grinned, dropping her command facade again. She put her hand on my upper arm and grinned, giving me a wink. "And I was joking when I called you fat." "Yeah, well, you really hurt my feelings," I fake-cried, making her laugh. "I'll see you tomorrow before you leave, alright? And I still expect that beer next time I'm up at the site," she said and gave me a peck on the cheek. "You got it," I said, and pecked her back. "And thank you for all of this today, by the way." "Happy to help," she said, and then escorted me to the room where I would spend the next seven hours. The sentry woke me up around four in the morning. I had Cheeto dust on my shirt and fingers, the bag I'd found in the staff room cupboard almost empty and crumpled up on my chest. "Sir, I've been asked to bring you down to the medical wing," he said. "Fuck," I said, blinking awake and standing up. "Uh, give me a second." I went into the men's washroom and quickly washed my hands and my face, and tried to get myself straightened out. Looking in the mirror, I could tell that I'd been running on empty for a bit, but I didn't look as bad as I might have if I hadn't been getting in some light napping at least. The airman brought me to the elevator and punched a button for about a dozen floors down, and when we stepped off of it, it was clear that we were in a more public-facing area, though the number of armed airmen on guard was actually higher. The floor was still quiet, this early in the morning, and generally featured a lot more stuff. There were glass panes and windows everywhere and the place looked like what I would picture a medical bay would in a not-too-distant future medical show. There were a few nurses around, but most of the rooms and beds were empty. We passed by one room that was sealed up with a little yellow light near the handle flashing 'Quarantine Active.' That got me gulping and moving. We turned a corner and I saw her. Vanessa was sitting up in a hospital bed, an IV drip hooked in to one arm. She was in a hospital gown and didn't have any of her usual makeup on, so she looked... sick wasn't the right word. She looked different enough that I noticed it, but it was like seeing Erica without her makeup that first time. It was different but I liked seeing the natural her. "Vanessa, I'm,” I started, but then she threw a magazine at my head. "Harri, I swear to God if you try and apologize to me, I'll throw another one," Vanessa said. She had a stack of a few of them on a little rolling bedside stand, where she also had a tray from a shitty cafeteria meal. "You look good, Vee," I said, changing my mind. She blushed and smiled. "No, I don't. Liar." "Okay, you look as good as someone in a hospital bed can," I said. "Come sit, Harri," she said, shifting herself in the bed and patting beside her. I did, and she took my hand in one of hers and lifted the other to brush a finger against my bruised eye. "The night nurse told me what happened when I woke up." I opened my mouth to apologize again but remembered what she'd said and clicked it shut. She smirked and squeezed my fingers. "Good, you're learning." "So you're not pissed off?" I asked. Vanessa leaned her head back on the pillows propping her up, taking a deep breath. "Maybe at the world, a little. But at you? Or Erica and Ivy? No. I went in there knowing what I was asking for, and you told me the risk. I decided getting off with you three was worth it." She broke into a small smile. "And from what I remember, it was pretty fantastic." "It was," I chuckled. "I mean, wild and filthy, but fantastic." She was looking at me, searching my face for something. I couldn't tell if she found it or not. "I spoke to my Dad. He told me he decked you pretty good but I wasn't expecting a full-on shiner." "He definitely got me," I said, touching my eye. "Wasn't as bad as I felt I deserved." "Yeah, well I told him if he does it again I'll deck him," she said. "And that if he tries to take any revenge on you, he's just punishing me." "Does that mean what I think it means?" I asked. She brought my hand up to her chest and put it over her heart. "Harri, I'm stuck with you no matter what at this point, but if you guys will have me I'd like to move into your crammed RV life. I thought you and Erica were cool since we met, and we know we're sexually compatible. The way I see it, I can either fight this thing just for the sake of fighting, or I can get on board the Harrison train and enjoy the ride." "Vanessa, I; God, I wish I had my phone right now," I said. "There's a picture the girls sent that you'll want to see." Vanessa rolled her eyes and her smile grew. "Oh, I got several pictures," Vanessa said. "I've already seen them. Why don't you have your phone?" "I was up on a secure floor," I said. "Lieutenant Colonel Abarbanel was actually the one to see them when she helped me message back that we were Okay." "Then you have some surprises waiting for you I think," Vanessa grinned. "But for now, you're all mine." She pulled me towards her and guided me into a kiss. Then she whispered into my lips as our noses rubbed against each other. "Pull the privacy screen around us." "Here? Really?" I asked. "My nurse actually encouraged it," Vanessa said. "She said we just need to try and keep it down." I stood up and went to the curtain built into the rolling track around Vanessa's bed and pulled it around us, blocking out the rest of the room, and the hallway beyond the glass observation doors. When I turned back to her, Vanessa was shrugging out of her hospital gown, her cute little tits jiggling. I kicked off my shoes and got up on the hospital bed with her, picking her up a bit and sliding her down into a laying position and tucking my head down to suck on one of her nipples. "Oh, Harri," she crooned, her hand running through my hair. Her nipples got hard quickly as I played my tongue over them, feeling the little boob around it tug and pull as I moved around. I popped off and raised my lips to hers again, giving her a kiss. "I didn't get to spend that much time telling you how beautiful and sexy I think you are," I said between kisses. "Harri, you don't need to lie," she said. "My boobs are tiny. I'm used to; Ah, fuck!" I cut her off by grabbing the tit I hadn't sucked on, squeezing it hard enough to make her hiss a little bit. I'd seen she liked a little rough pawing and play during the foursome, so I used it now to make a point. "If you ever tell me these aren't perfect, I'll spank you so hard you'll have my handprint on your ass for a week." "Fuck, Harri; Fuck," she groaned as I let my grip on her tit loosen, and then bent down and took that nipple into my mouth as well. "Fine. You like my tits. I believe you." "Don't just believe me," I said. "Vanessa, you said you thought Erica and I were cool when we first met. Well, I thought you were fascinating. This gorgeous, tough woman who knew how to take charge and make things happen. Beautiful from head to toe even when you were trying to downplay it for work. Now, you're going to lay back so that I can explore every inch of your gorgeous, perfect body." She looked like she was somewhere between beaming happily and crying, but she nodded. I started back up at her lips and kissed around her jaw and down her neck to her collar bone. Then down to her chest, where I teased her nipples some more, rolling one between my fingers while I tongued and lightly nibbled on the other. Once they were both standing proud and weren't about to go down, I helped her pull the hospital gown off until it was hanging from the arm with the IV in it, revealing the rest of her body to me. I kissed down her stomach to her bellybutton and pressed my forehead against her, kissing her fit stomach softly, then moving lower. I got to the point between her belly button and her mound where her scar was, and the Strength tattoo. I took my time there, kissing it, and tracing my finger along the letters of the tattoo. I turned back to look up at her face and she was pensive, staring at me with this worried look like I was going to change my mind about her. "Perfect," I told her again, "And strong as hell." My lips went further, down onto her mound where a smattering of hairs were poking out. She'd obviously shaved herself in the past, but not as recently as I bet she would have liked. But I didn't care, and I kissed along the stubble of her pubic hair, letting it play against my lips as my beard played against her skin. She spread her legs for me, and I slipped around on the bed so I was laying between them on my stomach, looking up at her. "Do you want me to do this here?" I asked her. "Harri, I want your cock inside me like nothing else," she said. "We'll get there," I grinned, and began to explore her cunt with my lips and tongue. I took my time, softly kissing and licking, searching every nook and cranny of her outer and inner labia. Then I did it again, sucking a little harder, nibbling just a touch, finding the sweet spots that made her legs quiver or her breath catch in a hiccup or gasp. Then I went deeper, peeling her open with my fingers to see the soft pink of her hole, and tasted and teased her. She mewled for me, clawing at the bed. I kept needing to move her leg back as it came up and wanted to curl in towards me until I just planted my hand on her thigh and pushed her open, holding her leg wide. Then I did the same to the other leg, pushing them back further, and I slowly licked from her hole up her lips to her clit hood, teasing the tip of my tongue under it before pushing it back with my upper lip and prodding her clit softly. "Making me... ugh!" Vanessa grunted with a girlish tone, gasping for air. I did it again and watched as another little orgasm rolled through her, her cunt flexing as her abdominal muscles clenched. Moving lower I kissed the inner curve of her ass cheek and looked up from between her legs to meet her gaze. She watched me, a little surprised, as I practically buried my nose in her cunt so that I could drive my tongue against her asshole. Her brow furrowed as I did it, and one eye twtiched as I teased the outer ring, then centered on it and nudged the tip of my tongue a little deeper. "Not here," she gasped suddenly, and I stopped. "I; not here," she said again. "Okay," I said, moving up from her ass and kissing the crook of her thigh. "Just like that?" she asked. "What kind of guys have you been seeing that don't stop when you say no?" I asked back. She blinked. "The kind who don't eat ass, and rarely eat cunt," she said. "So the wrong kind." "Then let me ask you; what do you want me to do now?" She closed her eyes and blew out a long breath through pursed lips, before opening them. "Get your pants off and fuck me while we make out. I want to feel you on top of me." I grinned and slipped off the bed, undoing my belt and kicking my pants off. I was already hard, and she was wet from my exploratory oral, so I got back up on the bed and got over her in a standard missionary position. "Like this?" I asked her. She reached down and got my cock in position, and wrapped a leg around my waist and ass to pull me into her. "Like this," she said with a grin as I slowly penetrated deeper into her. Vanessa was hot and clenched my cock in a rippling sensation as I drove in, slowly fucking into her until I was buried to my root. She grabbed my beard in her hand and pulled me into a kiss as we stayed still and connected. "Ow," I muttered into the kiss. "Sorry," she laughed, releasing my beard. "It's fine," I said and kissed her deeply. We made out, our tongues doing more work than my cock for a long moment, until we started grinding against each other. The rhythm built up slowly, less a pounding than a sensuous back and forth that felt more like dancing. Well, the best kind of dancing where my cock was inside of a beautiful woman. Our kiss broke as we panted against each other. "More," she gasped. "More what?" "More weight," she said. "I want to feel you." I lowered myself from my elbows, letting my body press down against hers like a too-heavy weighted blanket. "Umm," she groaned somewhere at the back of her throat. Her body felt tense under mine, but slowly loosened. I kissed the side of her neck, and she ran the heel of her foot down my leg and then back up to my butt. The soft whoosh of the glass door opening outside of the privacy curtain made us both stop moving. "Vanessa, you good in there?" asked a woman. "Yep," she said. "So good. Perfect." There was a long moment of silence, and then, "Oh. Sorry for interrupting. If you and Mr. Black can finish up, your Father was hoping to see you. I can stall him for ten minutes?" "Thanks," Vanessa called back, biting her lips. Two soft footsteps and the door whooshed again, settling closed. "Oh my God," Vanessa groaned. "I can do a lot in ten minutes," I said with a grin. "No, we have less than that," she sighed. "I need to get cleaned up and dressed first, and you need to be out of here before he gets here. But first I need you to fuck me hard and fast and give me your cum." So that's what I did. I raised up higher again to gain the leverage I needed and I started pounding into her with hard, steady strokes. Vanessa gasped, and soon we were back in that rolling rhythm of our hips except it was way more fucking than dancing. Our eyes never left each other, and when I went in for another kiss she bit my lip as she started to come. That pushed me towards my own edge, and I got myself there by reaching down and strumming my thumb against her clit just as she was coming down, pushing her right back into a second wave of orgasm as her body clenched and I released. "Fuck," I growled, thrusting my hips forward and emptying my balls into her. "Fuck, Vanessa!" She arched her back, silently screaming before she exhaled hard and released the tension. We both lay there panting for a long moment. "I really want to fuck you again," I said. "Right now. I'm still hard as a rock for you." "I can feel that, you fucking caveman," Vanessa laughed, cock drunk for the moment. "But I need to clean up and you need to go." "One more thing," I said, and kissed her again. I got my clothes on first and then helped her find and put on her pants. She hadn't worn underwear when she had come to visit us the morning before when this whole thing kicked off, so now she was going to be leaking my cum into her jeans. Her shirt was there as well, but she was still hooked up to the IV, which meant I had to leave the room and send a nurse to help her. I stopped at the edge of the privacy curtain, looking back at her. "Go," she motioned to me. "I'm not leaving. You can see my tits any time you want." Maybe I was cunt drunk, but I wanted to tell her I loved her. I just grinned and blew her a kiss and a wink before slipping out. Once she couldn't see me, I shook my head. I thought orgasms were supposed to give you post-nut clarity, I thought. I almost blurted that out, and no matter how compatible we were sexually I knew that wasn't the right thing to say at the moment. I found the nurse, who went to help Vanessa, while another one brought me back to the elevator where I was met by the night sentry again. He brought me back up to the waiting room I'd been in before, and I flopped onto the couch. "Harri. Harri, we need to stop meeting like this," Miriam said, and I blinked awake again as she was standing over me and smirking. "Fuck," I grunted. "What time is it?" "Just past 0600," she said. "We've got a couple of cars ready to drive you back home." "A couple?" I frowned. "Brent left earlier in his own vehicle," Miriam said. "But we're sending you back with two more partners for your friend Leo. I already spoke with Vanessa and she said she wanted to ride with them to try and help them stay calm through their vaccination." I closed my eyes again as I parsed what she was saying. "Okay, hold on. Leo is getting two new partners?" "From what I red they are a bisexual couple who wanted to stay together," Miriam said. I wiped the sleep from my eyes and sucked in a big breath through my nose. "Well, at least mine isn't the only RV that's going to be packed to the gills." Miriam brought me down to the underground garage for the building and handed my phone back to me. Two black SUV were idling, the windows all tinted to the point that I couldn't see a single thing inside including the drivers. I turned back to Miriam. "Just another day?" I asked her. "Hell no," she smirked. "You, Harrison Black, as the biggest pain in my ass since I took this posting." Then she pulled me into a hug. "But I wouldn't change a God damn thing about it. I'll see you once our on-site office is up and running." "I'm looking forward to it," I said, giving her a squeeze back. "Lieutenant Colonel." "That's Miriam to you, soldier," she said, pulling back with a smirk and kissing me on the cheek. The elevator bingled and I was shocked, or really mildly surprised, to see Agent Sourpuss leading two women bundled up in hooded jumpsuits with masks on. Sourpuss took one look at me and sneered, directing the two women to the front SUV and climbing in with them. "What was that about?" I asked. "Oh, she's pissed off because she keeps getting seconded to us for transportation detail," Miriam said. "I have no idea why, but she isn't happy about it." "No; Technically I'm pretty sure that was my fault, actually. But I meant the whole bundled up get up." "First, why am I not surprised you're a pain in the ass for other people as well? And second, it's new protocols coming up from California and the first testing area. I guess there have been some questions around whether vaccinated but unbonded women could contract or become carriers for the virus. It's the latest back and forth between the scientists." "Speaking of which," I said. "I know why I don't need to be all bundled up, but why don't you? Are you imprinted on someone?" "Me? No," Miriam said. "Not yet, anyway. I'll do it when they push the order out, for now we're still technically in the testing phase for a bit longer. Everyone who leaves the building and re-enters without being vaccinated is getting blood tested and quarantined; it sucks, but it leaves us able to work functionally instead of talking to each other through hazmat suits." The elevator bingled again, and this time it was Vanessa who stepped out as a sentry gestured her towards the front SUV. She saw me immediately and veered off course, coming to me. I wrapped her up in a hug and noticed Miriam giving me a hard-to-read look. "Hey," I said to Vanessa. "I hear you're playing therapy animal for Leo's new partners." "They asked me to," Vanessa said. "From what I understand, the nurses don't think the woman who is supposed to be doing it does a very good job at calming nerves." Miriam snorted a little but covered it with a cough, looking at me. "Well, I feel like I'm missing out on some more alone time with you, but I understand why," I said. "Do me a favor and try and feel them out a bit, see what they're like." "I will," she smirked and went on her tiptoes to give me a peck on the lips. "They're going to be our neighbors, after all." "Yes they are," I grinned and patted her butt. "See you at home?" "Fuck. Home," Vanessa said, backing away from me. "I haven't had one of those in a while. It's gonna be weird." She turned and strode to the SUV and got in the back. "That one might be trouble," Miriam said. "They're all trouble," I laughed. "See you sooner than later?" "Sooner than later," she grinned and winked. I went to the back SUV, which was apparently my personal chauffeur for the sole reason that Agent Sourpuss couldn't find an ounce of empathy in her. Hopefully there's a partition between the front and the back, I thought. I can check those pictures Erica and Ivy were sending me. When I opened the back door of the SUV to get in I had to stop. "Ah," I said. "That explains a lot." I slid in and shut the door. "Agent Grierson." The craggy-faced Agent smirked and nodded. "Harrison. When I heard there was an anomalous vaccination issue, I decided to check it out and lo and behold, it's my favorite redneck." "Did you just come to check-in, or are you looking to offload some more government cash on me?" I asked. The SUVs started moving, pulling out of the garage and into downtown Portland. "Kid, you know I don't need to come to see you to check in," he said. "And I don't have the time to just come shoot the shit, no matter how much I'd enjoy a good fuckin' day off once in a while. I'm here to ask a favor." "Well now you're just being coy," I said. "You know that I know you didn't have to let that lease thing through instead of a flat purchase, so you've got me cornered." "Well, the good news is that I'm not asking you to do anything underhanded," Grierson said. "I noticed you've recently taken on a security consulting contract and your clearance has been restored. I'm going to open it up a little bit more here, if that's alright with you." "Playful, then coy, then asking my permission? Jesus fuck, what are you about to ask me to do?" "Alright, kid. Here's the deal," Grierson sighed. "Sometime in the next few days you're going to get a new partner delivered to you. What I need you to do is keep an eye on her. She's the daughter of the Ambassador from the Philippines, and officially we've run her through the Oracle matching system as a diplomatic courtesy. What no one else knows, including people in that building we just left, is that her Oracle results didn't matter. I'm placing her with you, and scattering a few other Filipino nationals in safe little corners of the country, as a deal with the NICA." "Wait, that's the..." I had to wrack my brain going back to my Military Police training. "Isn't that the CIA of the Philippines?" "A much lesser version, yes," Grierson said. "On the official unofficial paperwork, it's a spy deal. We're going to take care of some of their valuable people who are here, and they're going to take care of some of our valuable people who are over there. The unofficial unofficial deal is that we don't have anyone over there, and the government of the Philippines is going to let us stage our latest espionage attempts into China from their shores. There's a fucking information blackout coming out of China right now, and other than satellite images we've got nothing on what's going on in there." "Okay, hold on," I said. "So am I taking in this Ambassador's daughter as payment for the US Government?" "No, you're taking her in because Kyla Bautista is also secretly a spy who just graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in dance, and while she was there we suspect she turned at least four different Professors and research assistants into assets for NICA for Intellectual Property espionage. I'm scooping her up and putting her with you because you're so far off the radar that no one would think you're keeping an eye on her, and so that the Chinese can't find her if they figure out what's going on and want some revenge. But most of all, I'm putting her with you because, despite your record and stupid career choices after you left the military, you have the mindset to keep an eye on her without her or anyone else knowing that's what's going on." "This is all well and good, Grierson," I said. "But I've got three women imprinted on me already, one of them by mistake. How the hell am I supposed to add a fourth woman into the mix?" Grierson snorted. "Kid, I got news for you. By this time next year, I'd bet all that money I just put into your bank account that you'll look back and think what a naive question that was." I sighed and shook my head slowly. "What does her father think of her getting matched off like that? Does he even know?" "Oh, he was pissed until he got cut in on an early vaccination as well for his wife, along with his long-time second in command who he's been having an affair with, and his additional American mistress who is very black and very formidable, neither of whom the wife knows about. He seems to think it'll be fine." "Jesus," I sighed, shaking my head. "So what, is the OGA offering to pay me for spy sitting?" "No," Grierson said. "But there is an upside." "What's that?" "Like I said, Kyla Bautista graduated with a degree in dance. If I wasn't too fucking busy being ethical, I'd have just put her in my house. The woman is something else." "That's gross," I said, my face twisting in mild disgust. "It's reality, kid. Game it out; people need to fuck to save their lives. Even before this shit show people put a value on beauty over pretty much anything else. What do you think it's going to be like when the entire country is getting matched up?" "I don't know," I sighed. "That's; I don't even want to think about it." "And that's why they pay me and my people the big bucks," Grierson said. He tapped on the glass partition that separated us from the front seat, and the SUV began to pull over. "I'm not asking you to do anything you wouldn't have anyways. Just keep an eye on her for me, alright?" "Fine," I said. "But if she takes one look at me and asks for someone else, I can't do anything about that. I'm not forcing some woman into this." "Won't be a problem," Grierson said. The SUV came to a stop, and he stepped out. "Grierson," I said, and he turned back. "Miriam said someone pulled some strings to get her assigned where she is. Was that you?" "What?" Grierson raised an eyebrow. "You think I like you that much, kid?" "That wasn't an answer," I said. "Well, if it was me, I think maybe you owe me another one still," he said, then shut the door. Another car had pulled up behind us, which he got into, and it pulled a big U-turn in the middle of the empty street and drove back the way we'd come. The driver of my ride pulled back onto the street and sped up to catch the other SUV in our mini convoy, and I was left to my thoughts. I sighed and opened my phone. I didn't want to think about this Grierson thing. If it happened, then it happened and we'd deal with it. I went to my messages and opened the ones from Erica and Ivy. "Fucking hell," I sighed, looking at the lewd pictures and knowing that Miriam had seen them. "What am I going to do with three women?" Or four? Or more? I was going to need a bigger bed, and quickly. I stretched, feeling several somethings in my back and shoulders pop, as I got out of the back of the nondescript black SUV and felt the gravel of the construction site crunch under my boots. The place was bustling since we'd arrived mid-morning, and I saw more than a few of the workers taking looks over at me and starting to talk to each other. The rumor mill must have been burning hard since Vanessa had gotten carted off in a military helicopter and flown away. First things first, however, was to not unload two vaccinated-but-unbonded women into the middle of a construction site. I flashed a quick thumbs up through the passenger side window at whoever my driver had been; I'd never seen a face or heard a voice; and jogged up to the other vehicle and knocked on the passenger window. Agent Sourpuss rolled it down a moment later, scowling at me from the driver's seat. "What?" "I know you haven't been here for a bit," I said. "But if you drive around to the right over there you'll see our RVs and our little compound. Dropping the ladies off there would probably cause less of a, uh, scene." I could tell she wanted to argue with me but knew I was right. Instead of answering she just stabbed her finger down on the window button beside her and closed it in my face, then pulled the SUV around and headed in the direction I'd pointed. I walked along behind, and we rounded the second big bunkhouse building that was looking just about finished now and headed towards our compound. By the time Agent Sourpuss put the vehicle in park Erica and Ivy were already ducking out from behind the sheets hung between the corner of the RV and the storage container that we'd deemed the 'front door.' Leo and Danielle were right behind them. I wanted to go to my women, but I held myself back and instead opened the rear door of the SUV. Inside I saw that Vanessa was sitting in the middle row bucket seat, and I leaned in and kissed her quickly before offering her a hand down. "Don't go getting all chivalrous on me now, Harri," Vanessa grinned as she accepted my hand and swung out onto her feet. She looked back into the vehicle. "Come on, ladies. Leo's out here waiting for you." The two women, practically swimming in their baggy, hooded coveralls and masked up to boot, unbuckled and started climbing between the seats. I, however, was suddenly a little busy as I was hugged from behind by a small form that could only be Ivy. Beside me, Erica was pulling Vanessa into a hug as well. "I'm so sorry, hon," Erica said, squeezing the shorter woman tightly. "If I'd had any reasonable idea that this would happen,” "It's fine, Erica," Vanessa said, squeezing her back and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Seriously. We'll talk about it, but I'm Okay with it if you are." "Hey you," I said in the meanwhile, turning at the waist to wrap my arm around Ivy's shoulder and hug her to me. "Hello, mon amour," Ivy sighed. "I missed you." "I missed you too, I've," I said, and leaned down and gave the short blonde a quick kiss. The first of the women had reached the door of the car, and Ivy let me go so that I could offer her a hand down. All I could see of her were her eyes and the skin around them; she was white but tanned heavily, and had soft grey eyes that were flicking around. "Let me help, miss," I said. She accepted, her gloved hand taking mine for a moment to step down, and I ushered her directly towards Leo and Dani. "This is Leo, and his better half Danielle." "Hey," Leo scolded me playfully, giving me a little punch on the arm as he grinned. "Hey, hon," Dani said, pulling the woman into a hug that seemed to surprise her. I turned back and Erica was helping the next woman down; she was white and paler than the first, and had dark green eyes. Soon she was getting the same hugging welcome as the first from Dani, as Leo looked both a little bashful and a little excited. "How about we head in and talk?" Erica suggested to everyone. "Ladies, Leo is my brother so I might be biased, but you're in good hands. And if he ends up sucking, then Dani's got you." "Hell yeah I do," Dani chuckled, nudging Leo with an elbow. "I wouldn't mind getting handled by either of you," the tan woman said through her mask. "God damn, girl. Your tits don't quit." "Thanks for noticing," Dani grinned and winked. She took both women by the hand and started leading them into the compound. "Come on, let's get you two fucked and settled." "Now that's one hell of a welcome offer," the other woman laughed. I laughed a little too, hearing the two as Leo quickly jogged ahead to hold the fabric door open for them. "Seriously, those two are gonna be something else," Vanessa said, shaking her head. "You got to talk with them?" Erica asked. "The whole ride here," Vanessa said. "Their names are Aria and India. Aria seems a little sweeter and the more rational one, while India is a hippy kid from hippy parents. They said they've been girlfriends for three years, and up until last year they 'worked' as sugar babies while Aria was finishing up her master's of communications." "Jesus," Erica sighed with a rueful smirk. "They're going to eat Leo alive."

Public broadcasters large and small have been reacting to the unprecedented Congressional vote to pull already-approved funding for public media. In Oregon and Washington, public radio stations face an array of challenges, depending on their size and resources. Some radio stations play nationally-produced NPR content, but not all. Many are squarely focused on covering their local community news with locally produced programs. Tribal stations, rural stations, student-driven stations and classical music stations are among those  hardest hit. Joining us to tell us more are KMUN Station Manager Susan Peterson in Astoria; Northwest Public Broadcasting’s Director of Audience and Programming Sueann Ramella in Pullman, WA; KWSO's Sue Matters on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation; and KLCC reporter Zac Ziegler in Eugene. OPB is among the public media organizations affected by the rescission cuts.

In this no-holds-barred episode of Chakras & Cusswords, we're looking at the astrology of August 2025, while also processing the chaotic, heavy, and revealing energy of July.We start by honoring Ozzy Osbourne — a true rock god whose passing shook the collective spirit. We reflect on the legacy he left and how it mirrors our own relationship with grief and nostalgia. Malcolm Jordan's death also reminded us how real and sudden loss can feel. As for Hulk Hogan? Let's just say not every death deserves canonization. Some flames burn out exactly how they should. Rest is earned — not automatic.We also get into July's hot topics: the cheating CEO scandal, Canelo boldly rejecting a Tesla sponsorship, and the internet's obsession with North West "growing up too fast." Plus, the wild Texas floods and why Mother Nature isn't here to play with us anymore.And on a personal note, I open up about losing my grandmother at 13, and why it's so necessary to have raw conversations around death, final wishes, and emotional closure. Too many people avoid the subject — but silence won't save us from the inevitable.We'll also talk about real men who provide — like Gucci Mane. Because financial support is spiritual support when it's done with love, power, and respect.

Crusaders Charge into Summer Reading is Northwest Christian's annual summer reading campaign.  During the summer of 2025, we're jumping -- with both feet! -- into Tim Kimmel's "Raising Kids for True Greatness - Redefining Success for Your Child".  Throughout Summer 2025, swing by the school's offices to pick up a free copy and join us!Both feet?  Yes!  The school's two podcasts -- Kingdom Culture Conversations and Off the Page -- are each working through the book all summer.On Off the Page, Geoff and G are working through the book chapter-by-chapter, taking a deep dive into the ideas, concepts, and principles that will help us all, as parents, to reframe how we approach raising our kids.Then, on Kingdom Culture Conversations, we are spending time with the "Top 10" list found at the conclusion of each chapter within  the book.  Specifically, we are putting those lists in front of members of the NCS faculty and community that might be able to offer insights based on their role in the school.It's going to be a great summer full of growth!  Take the time to join us!"Kingdom Culture Conversations" is a podcast created through Frameworks, a Biblical worldview initiative of Northwest Christian School.For more information on Frameworks, please visit: https://frameworks.ncsaz.org/For more information on Northwest Christian School, visit: https://www.ncsaz.org/To reach out to Geoff Brown, please email gbrown@ncsaz.org or you can reach him by cell phone: (623)225-5573.

Michael Sugrue, Surgeon at Letterkenny University Hospital in Donegal, reacts

A 37-year-old man has been charged following what police alleged was a targeted shooting during a dispute in St Arnaud yesterday morning.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With more federal assistance available for specialty crop growers of late, the importance of getting a new farm bill completed may have eased, but Riley Bushue, VP at Northwest Horticultural Council, says a new farm bill shouldn't be put off.

Quaranteam-Northwest: Part 5 Lab work. Based on a post by Break The Bar. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.   Time went quickly, but also seemed to go nowhere at all; only three days after the final demise of the house we'd moved the RVs four times and I decided we needed to figure out something at least semi-permanent. Even a week in the same spot would be preferable to constant movement. The space where my house had stood was now full of stacks and pallets of supplies, and Vanessa had a crew of almost two dozen of her 'gorillas' working to erect what would become the first of a dozen temporary bunkhouses for the incoming construction workers. She still seemed to be the only foreman on site, so I went looking for Vanessa. I found her at the water truck, splashing some water onto the back of her neck as she took a quick break. It had turned even hotter over the week, spring slipping fully into summer, and we were all starting to boil when we were outside. I'd quickly abandoned the feeling of needing to 'dress up' for everyone and I was down to athletic shorts and one of my sleeveless workout shirts; one of the few that were still 'mine' considering both Erica and Ivy had taken to wearing them as well. Vanessa was the boss however and had to set the example for the rest of the crew, so she was still wearing the jeans, long-sleeved t-shirt and her reflective vest of a dutiful construction foreman. "Hey, got a second?" I asked. "Oh, hey Harrison," she said, looking up as she continued splashing water onto the back of her neck. "Sorry I haven't come to check with you and the girls today, we had three more loads this morning of barracks pilings I had to get sorted, and the fucking surveyors are still bitching about not knowing where the sewage lines are going to come onto the property, as if I can fucking answer that question for them or something." "When's your Dad supposed to finally get on site?" I asked. Her father was supposed to be the General Manager of the entire construction project, but so far I had yet to have seen him. "Fuck, a few days still at least," Vanessa sighed. "I'm getting tired as shit of the phone tag." "Well, sorry if this is a big ask and causes you more headaches; any chance we could project ahead a bit and figure out where we can stash the RVs and everything where we're not going to need to move them for a while? Moving everything around is annoying by itself, but I've also noticed some of your guys are spending a lot of time wandering by the RVs whenever the girls are outside." "Fucking gorillas," Vanessa grunted and grimaced. "I mean, on the one hand, I get it; they are either cooped up in the motel or here working. I'm not exactly thrilled with the situation either. But they could keep it in their fucking pants too, ya know?" "Look, if we can find a spot, the way I see it we can use the RVs and Containers to set up a yard for us that's blocked from view. Then we can have some privacy and not feel cooped up in the RVs, and your guys aren't tempted to let their eyes wander," I said. "I figure it's a win-win." Vanessa smiled and patted my arm. "Harri, as long as you keep the fucking indoors, I'll see what I can do about getting you guys some more privacy." "What do you mean?" I asked, suddenly a little worried that Erica and I might have gotten caught at the Willow tree after all, or that maybe a surveyor had wandered up near the Spring without us hearing. "Nothing, nothing," Vanessa said. "I just; you know we can see the RVs rocking a bit, right? And I don't know who it is, but someone over in your camp is a screamer. We can hear her when she really gets going. Once the guys even gave you a standing ovation." "Fuck," I coughed, shaking my head. "I'm sorry. I think it's something to do with the vaccine. I've had more sex in the last four days than I have in the last four years. Honestly, I don't even know how I'm doing it; I ain't old, but I'm not a teenager either." "Well, god bless the vaccine I guess," Vanessa smirked. "And good for you. Just do me a favor and keep it inside the RVs 'till we can get you that privacy. We don't need the entire site shutting down to listen to you fucking your girlfriends." I shook my head again with a self-deprecating smirk. "Um, deal. I hope." That made Vanessa chuckle, and we parted ways for the afternoon. The next day, she came back in the morning and explained the plan she had worked out with the Surveyors and one of the tree-clearing crews. By mid-afternoon, a new swathe of the back end of the hill was bare of trees, and a bulldozer scooped dirt into the holes left by ripped-up stumps. By the time Vanessa left that evening, two of the storage containers had been shifted around by the 'gorillas' and positioned in an L-shape for us in the new location, and Leo and I moved the RVs to form the other two sides of a square. When Vanessa came by the next morning we'd hung up some old, heavy blankets at the corners to maximize our privacy, busted out the lawn chairs and barbecue, and were on our way to turning the space into an outdoor living room. Leo and I even went so far as to rig up an old bell we'd salvaged from the barn on a wooden post with a metal knocker on a string to serve as a doorbell. Erica was the one to answer Vanessa's ring of the bell, and she swept aside the blanket curtain. "Welcome to Casa de Black," she declared. "Jesus," Vanessa said, walking into our new home base. "You guys didn't want to wait, did you?" "Why would we?" Leo asked. "We don't know how long we're going to be living like this, so might as well make the most of it." Leo had decided to make one last addition to our current set-up, and had pulled a loose slab of wood from the container holding all his tools and was carving 'Speak Friend and Enter' into it the makeshift sign with his handheld angle grinder. He'd already been talking about using his torch to burn the wood before giving it a clear lacquer coat. "What can we do for you, Vanessa?" I asked. "Need some breakfast?" "Actually?" Vanessa chewed on the inside of her cheek for a second and peeked back outside the yard. "Breakfast would be fucking great. They're feeding us at the motel, but it's been the same instant oatmeal every fucking morning." "Well, we've yet to have our egg hookup dry out on us," I said. Old Mrs. Branston lived about fifteen minutes down the highway and had been selling eggs to three generations of my family; through the pandemic and quarantine we'd set up a system where I called ahead and she dropped off two dozen eggs at the end of her driveway, and I left a ten dollar bill in her mailbox. "How do you like them? I think I'm getting pretty good at using the grill with a frying pan." We hosted Vanessa for about fifteen minutes as I fried her up some over-easy eggs and some toast to go with it, and she started devouring the first two so quickly that I put another two in the pan for her immediately. While I cooked, she shared the most recent gossip running through the construction crews. "So the latest group to come in said they got tested four times before even leaving the airport," she said around a mouthful. "They were basically flown into Portland, put in little hygienic pods inside the terminals until they'd tested negative all four times, then escorted to military transports. I guess the army is our taxi service or something, and there are members of the national guard currently standing watch at all of the motels. It's kind of fucked up and feels like a prison, honestly. We're not even supposed to mingle outside with each other, despite the fact that we all work together here all day." "Who's feeding you all?" Danielle asked. "Just the people already working out there seems like a lot." "Some catering service is making these prepackaged meals," Vanessa said. "The breakfasts are shit, and the lunches are whatever. The dinners are Okay though; microwavable, and waiting for us when we get off shift." "Have you heard anything else out there about the vaccine?" I asked. "Hmm-Hmm," Vanessa shook her head. "But I mean, I spend my time working." "I'm still not seeing much online," Leo said. "Little whispers on social media, but then it disappears before it gets going." "That's kinda fucked up," Erica said. "We know it's real. The government must be censoring the information or something. "Well, whenever it happens, I don't know what I'll do," Vanessa sighed. "I like working too much, being my own woman. I bring in more cash in a year than almost every other person I graduated high school with, I've been doing it for years, and I don't have any debts. I can't just get tied down to some guy." "You would be surprised, Vanessa," Ivy spoke up. "I am this way too, no? I left home to make my way, and I am happy doing it. But now I am happy here, and am also safe from the sickness. It is not how I saw my life going, but c'est la vie, non?" Vanessa shrugged, and we moved on to some other topics until her radio squawked and she had to run off back to her work. By lunchtime I'd already done another two quick guides into the hills for the surveyors and Leo had gotten his nerd-sign carved out and torched, and he was spray lacquering it outside the yard with a facemask and safety goggles on to cut the strong fumes. He stopped the sprayer when he saw me approaching and stepped away from the sign. "Hey, you able to help me out with hanging this tonight?" he asked me. "Of course," I said. "I gotta help you fly your nerd flag somehow." "Yeah, says the guy with the Lord of the Rings concept art cycling as his desktop screen," Leo rolled his eyes. "It's for my work," I said. "Top-notch inspiration." And then I realized I hadn't opened my laptop in days; not since I'd finished the questionnaire that had led to Erica choosing me. And Ivy for that matter. I hadn't checked emails, I hadn't reached out to contacts. Fuck, I hadn't even sent in my last work-for-hire backgrounds. "Whatever," Leo laughed and punched me in the arm. "Look, when you go in there, just know it wasn't my idea, Okay? I only helped them move the stuff." "What does that mean?" I asked. "You'll see," Leo said cryptically. I ducked through the blanket door and immediately saw what Leo was talking about. Space had been cleared in the center of our sheltered yard for three of the heavy Adirondack deck chairs, and laying in those chairs were Danielle, Erica and Ivy. Each of them was wearing a bikini and were glistening with sunscreen and sweat from the sun as they tanned. They had a Bluetooth speaker playing songs from their phones; I suspected Erica was trying to convince the younger two women of the virtues of mid-2000s pop punk. "Oh, good," Erica said, grinning as she saw me coming into the yard. She lifted her glass. "Um, excuse me, waiter? We could use a top-up, please." I snorted and shook my head, walking over. All three of the women were in two-piece swimsuits, though I suspected Danielle and Ivy's were possibly part of their stripping gear rather than actual bikinis. Both of their suits were more string than fabric and left little to the imagination. Erica's was a bit more conservative, though really not by that much because of her swathe of cleavage. "What are we drinking today, ladies?" I asked. "I made up a pitcher of sangria," Erica said. "It's in the fridge in our place. You would be the absolute love of my life if you were to go get it for us, please?" "I thought I already was the love of your life?" I asked with a smile. "You are," Erica smiled back. "But this will get you to the front of the line for my next life, too. How about that?" "Does that go for all of you?" I asked. "Absolutely," Ivy grinned. "I think I could definitely do worse," Danielle grinned. "But I think Leo might have something to say about that." "Harri can take my brother," Erica chuckled. "Don't worry, Danni. Just sell your future soul to Harri, what's the worst that could happen?" "Fine. My future love life for a refill of sangria," Danielle giggled. I fetched the pitcher and poured for the three women, unable to wipe the grin from my lips as I watched and listened to them bantering back and forth happily. By mid-afternoon, the tanning was over and after a quick fuck in the RV Erica and I were lounging in the Adirondacks, each of us with a sketchbook in hand. "What are you working on?" I asked. "I know you've been as frustrated as I have over the last month." "A tattoo design for Ivy," Erica said, her brow creased as she tapped her pencil against her lips thoughtfully. "Now that I have a future canvas, I feel like I can concentrate again. Plus the sex helps a lot." You laughed and nodded. "Got your creative juices flowing, huh?" "Got all my juices flowing, baby," she grinned at me. "What about you? I've got Ivy, and Danielle wants me to design something for her now, too. What's got you drawing again?" I smiled a little and shrugged. "Just figured out my muse," I said. "And what's that?" she asked. "Come on, don't be shy." I turned my sketchbook around so that Erica could see the portrait I had been sketching of her. She looked at it and blushed, biting her lower lip. "Just the most beautiful thing in the world," I told her. "You know," Erica said. "It kinda looks like you're drawing me naked." "That's cause I'm drawing you from the shoulders up," I said. "Yeah, but would you?" she asked. "Would I what? Draw you naked?" "Or Ivy?" "Are you asking me to draw you like one of my French girls?" I asked. Erica barked out a laugh at the reference and threw her pencil at me. "Yes, maybe I am," she said. "Now give me back my pencil." "You threw it at me," I said, fetching it off the ground. "Come and get it." We ended up in each other's arms and making out, me halfway to taking her back into the RV for round two, when someone rang the doorbell. "Who is it?" I shouted over the wall. "It's me," Vanessa called and ducked through the blanket door without waiting for a response. "Sorry, but we've got a problem," she said. "I think I'm going to need you down at the road again." "Fuck," I said. "Is it Kara?" "It's a lot more than that bitch," Vanessa said. I changed and this time Vanessa drove us both down in her company-branded pickup truck. Erica, having already staked her claim on me in front of Kara in her eyes, decided to hang back and let Ivy finish what I'd started. I was sure sending me away with that picture in my mind was done on purpose. As we were nearing the bottom of the driveway, I could hear the noise of the protest through the closed windows and over the engine of the truck. "Fuck me," I said. "Yeah," Vanessa nodded. The end of the driveway was packed with people, shoulder to shoulder, blocking traffic. They were three rows deep and singing a protest chant. Every single one of them was dressed in bright colors, showing their allegiance to the Band and proudly shouting for all they were worth. Opposing them, about ten feet up the drive, was a slim, single row of burly construction workers just watching the protest happen. "Those guys really can't let themselves get baited," I said. "If something happens, it doesn't matter who said what or what can hold up in court. There'll be big, scary motherfuckers showing up wanting to do some damage and I don't think your boys are ready for that." "I know, I already told them," Vanessa said. "But I'll tell them again. You'd be surprised how much threatening someone's big, fat bonus checks can keep them calm and focused." We got out of the truck and I walked down to the line of workers, rubbing at the stubble on my chin as I considered the protestors. There were easily fifty of them blocking the driveway, and there was already a backup of two flatbed trucks on the highway, plus a half dozen cars that looked more like they just wanted to get by rather than come in. Another thirty or so protestors were strung out on either side of the highway in both directions, holding up signs and doing the organizational things to keep the protestors going. "Pretty good turnout," I said offhandedly. "A lot bigger than last time." "When was the last time?" Vanessa asked. "Five years ago," I said. "Kara tried to sue for an injunction on my father's Will, and about a dozen protestors showed up to the courthouse the day she got shot down." "Any chance they'll get tired and go home?" Vanessa asked. I scanned the crowd and the vehicles parked up and down the highway. I already knew there were about thirty military-age males in the protest, and I could see people opening the backs of vans where I spotted supply caches of water and food. I could also see the determination on the faces of the crowd, and hear the declarations of a couple of different women holding loudspeakers. The rhetoric, and emotions, were ramped up more than usual. The anti-government hate was high, and now that they knew they weren't fighting Me but rather the Government it seemed to steel their resolve. "Not a shot," I said. I stepped forward and the shouting got louder. Likely every single person in that crowd knew who I was, while I had no idea who most of them were. But with every step I took, they shouted louder. Finally, halfway between the lines, they seemed to be at a fever pitch and I just stopped and waited. They kept going for a good five minutes before Kara pushed her way through and walked up to me, masked behind those bandanas again. "I told you this would happen," Kara said over the shouting and chanting. "You didn't think I could do it, but look at us. Look at us, Harrison! We will not let this happen to our land." "Kara," I said loudly. "How do you think this ends?" "Only one way," Kara shouted. "The Feds surrender to our rightful claim, and stop their colonization efforts, and we take back what's ours." "This is dangerous, Kara," I said, gesturing at the crowd. "What?" she shouted back. "I said this is dangerous, Kara," I shouted. "Every person here is in danger." "Are you threatening us?" Kara shouted, playing it up for the crowd behind her. "Going to kill us, like your family has done for generations?" "Jesus fuck," I said, shaking my head. "Kara, this doesn't end the way you think it does. I'm going to pray for you, honest to God." Kara just held up her middle finger at me, pointed her other at Vanessa behind me, and turned and walked away to the cheers of her people. I shrugged and went back to Vanessa. "Yeah, they aren't leaving," I said. "I already called my Dad," Vanessa said. "He's coming down and will want to meet with you." "Sure," I nodded. "If they let him through." About thirty minutes later the protesters were still going strong, and another three flatbeds with either supplies or heavy machinery were backed up on the highway, along with dozens of cars. Vanessa was doing as much as she could to keep her workers at least a dozen yards away from the crowd of protestors; the last thing she wanted was for them to need to get quarantined waiting on a half dozen new tests. Or worse, actually catch something. I did my best to help her juggle phones, calling various General Foremen to get incoming trucks rerouted to staging areas and to keep those that were stuck in the traffic in their cabs or else they couldn't enter the site. Eventually she got a call, spoke quickly and then hung up. "Harri, this might be a big ask, but could you do me a favor?" she asked. "The government paid me a lot of money for my land and doing favors," I said. "But you've gone out of your way plenty for me and Leo and the girls. Favors come free to you, Vee." She rolled her eyes. "Who told you my brothers call me that?" "No one, just felt natural," I chuckled. "I call Erica 'E' sometimes, and I'm sure I'll end up calling Ivy 'I've' at some point." "Alright, well, 'H,'" she said. "My dad is parked down at the edge of the property on the highway and doesn't want to get too close to the traffic. Could you hike out to him and bring him back?" "Sure," I said. I looked up at the sun and then out at the woods. "Um, from here... it's probably faster if I grab an ATV. Would he be squeamish about riding double with me?" Vanessa snorted. "He probably wouldn't be, but he's also got a gut the size of your ATVs so it would be a tight fit." "Alright, guess we're hiking. I can rough it and reach him in about twenty minutes," I said. "I'll take a smoother way back for him, so we'll get here in under an hour." "Got it, I'll let him know you're on your way. Thanks," she said, patting my arm. "Try to take it easy on him, he growls like a bear but he's still my Dad." "Hey, he's the big man in charge. Gotta keep him happy or else I'll find myself with the worst workers for my house, right?" "Very true," she laughed. I started hiking back up the driveway a little ways, and then diverted into the woods, hoping that the protestors would miss that I was skirting away from them. I was very glad I had changed from my lounging around clothes; rough jeans and my hiking boots were a lot sturdier in the rocky bush than athletic shorts and sandals. The raucousness of the protestors was quickly muffled by the forest to a dull roar, and it felt good to get away from them. It was weird. After spending months in isolation with Leo and Erica, we'd been getting used to so many people around again with the workers and adding Ivy and Danielle to our weird little family dynamic. But a crowd like that, all packed together? That was exactly what the quarantine orders were warning against. "Harrison!" My name cut through the muffle of the trees and shrubs, and I turned and saw Kara quickly jogging through the woods to catch up with me. "Kara, what the fuck are you doing? You're trespassing," I said. "So throw me off your land," Kara said, coming to a stop about ten feet from me and putting her hands on her hips. "Oh wait, that's right, it's not your land anymore." I rolled my eyes. "You can take off the bandanas if you want. We're fine this far apart." She did so, pulling them down to hang around her neck. Kara was still as beautiful as the day we'd broken up, though she'd grown up a lot. Where I was such a mix that it was hard to tell I had any Native American in my bloodstream, she had that classic warm skin tone and thick black hair. She'd been taking care of herself well, fit and a little thinner than Erica was, but with a similar strong jawline to my girlfriend. Her lips were as full as I remembered though, and I could almost feel her kissing me again like all those years ago behind the corner of the biology classroom in high school, or laying out in the back of my old beater pickup under the stars. "What's going on, Harri?" she asked me. "I thought we'd at least hit a status quo or something." "Oh, the one where you file a lawsuit against me every couple of years, and the judge shuts you down, but I keep having to rack up legal fees?" "No," she said. "Well, sort of. I thought we were keeping things above board. No games, no gimmicks. Not getting historical." I grimaced. "Well, we did," I said. "So what the fuck?" she said, throwing her arms wide. "What the fuck is all of this?" "Kara, think about it for one fucking second without your prejudice. Imagine I'm not just doing this as a 'Fuck You' from my family tree to the Band," I said. "A week ago I wouldn't have thought any of this would be happening. A week ago I was happily living my life and would have stayed that way straight through the end of the world if I had to. Do you seriously think I've done this on some whim?" "Why, then? What are they doing? What are they offering you?" she demanded. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I said. "And even if you did, I think you're too far into this already to walk it back with your people." "Try me," she said. "If you ever cared about me,” "Stop," I interrupted her. "You've used that line twice on me before, Kara. You used it when you broke up with me, and you used it again right after my father died. That line didn't work when I was at some of the lowest points in my life; do you seriously think I'll respond well to that here?" She grimaced, and I saw the realization in her eyes that I was right. That she had used that line before, and it had been pretty fucked up for her to do that. "I'm sorry," she said, and only partially through gritted teeth. "I shouldn't have done that." "Thank you," I said. My heart was pounding in my chest and I felt like I was in combat, just having this verbal sparring contest with her. I fucking hated her, but I also still knew she was the first girl I'd ever loved. The one that had broken my heart. The one that 'got away.' "Just explain it to me," Kara said, trying to be more even about it. "Please." I took a moment to breathe deeply. I wasn't barred from telling her anything. I'd tried to warn her when she'd shown up at the driveway before, but the thought of all those protestors at risk for the virus pushed me over the edge of trying to warn her again. "Kara, the government gave me the choice of accepting a huge payout for the land, or them kicking me out and taking it by eminent domain. Either way, they were going to take it and take it fast. I could either ride it, or die fighting it." "So what are they doing with it?" she asked. "Building homes," I said. "A whole gated community, it sounds like. Part of my payout was housing for myself, Leo and Valerie." "What the fuck? Why do they want a gated community way out here?" she asked. "Worst-case scenario shit," I said. "You mean the pandemic?" she asked. "Are you for fucking serious?" "Serious enough that my house got bulldozed a couple days ago," I said. "Gone. Like it was never even there." "This can't be real," Kara said. "This is absurd." "I told you that you wouldn't believe me," I said. "Well, if you were too much of a cunt to stop them, we will," Kara said, steeling herself again. "We'll have the local news down here by tomorrow, and if the Feds show up we'll have national news coverage by the end of the week." I had to try one more time. "Kara, this doesn't end the way you want it to. You're a dreamer, and I loved that about you when we were teens, but you know the real world doesn't just work like that." Kara narrowed her eyes. "Where are you going right now?" "What does that matter?" I asked. "Because I just followed you out into the woods after your little construction girlfriend was talking to you," she said. "She's not my girlfriend," I rolled my eyes. "Tell her that. She's flirting with you hard enough," Kara said. "I can see her doing it." "Even if she was, what does that have to do with you?" I asked. I knew I'd landed a blow because she got angry again. "Nothing," she said. "But I still want to know what you're doing." "I don't have to tell you that, Kara," I said. "I don't answer to you, I don't owe you anything, and I don't worship the ground you walk on. All I've got to say now is that you should go send all those people home, and hope that you haven't organized some super-spreader event here. For all the shit you've given me and my family, I don't want to see them all dead. I don't want to see you dead." Kara raised her bandanas again. "We're fighting the good fight. We're on the right side of this, Harrison. You're not." She turned and started walking back towards the road. "Fuck me," I sighed, shaking my head. That woman could still push my buttons almost fifteen years later. I pressed through the forest, making for the edge of the property and then diverting towards the road. When I reached it, I found a white and brown heavy pickup identical to Vanessa's idling on the gravel shoulder. The big guy in the driver's seat rolled down his window a crack. "What's up?" "I'm Harrison Black," I said. Another guy got out of the passenger seat and came around, slapping the hood. "Head on back to the motel," he said to the man in the truck. "I'll catch a ride back with my daughter." The guy in the truck nodded and waited for us both to back away before pulling a U-Turn and taking off down the highway. "So, you're the land guy, eh?" the man said, turning and offering me his hand. He was exactly as Vanessa had described; portly to the point of obese, with a gruff exterior that spoke of years handling his business in a rough industry and getting shit done. "I am," I said, taking his hand and shaking it firmly. "Your daughter has been fantastic to work with. Helpful and on task, and she keeps her guys in line." "I have no doubt," he said. "She grew up bossing her older brothers around and got the best of her mother and me. I'm Brent Peters, by the way. I'm sure we'll be speaking every once in a while through this project." "Good to meet you, sir," I said. "And I'm sure we will." I led Brent into the brush and got us through the roughest part until I could get us to one of the more used trails. It got a lot easier for him there, and once he had a chance to catch his breath he seemed to actually enjoy the chance to stretch his legs. He didn't know, or at least wasn't forthcoming, with any more information than Vanessa had been able to give about what was going on, but he did enjoy hearing about the sordid history of the land, my family and the Band. It took a little longer than I'd thought it would to get back to the driveway, Brent needing a couple of breaks, but we made it eventually. Vanessa grinned when she saw her father in a way that made me think she was going to run to him and hug him, but she never made the move. I had to assume that was a hard-trained response from her years working with the man; hugging your pops on a job site would probably lead to taking a lot of shit from your coworkers. Brent quickly got updated on the last hour of developments from Vanessa, and I saw his managerial side take over. Soon the line of construction workers were twenty yards back from the protestors, and he was stride-waddling forward with a medical mask stretched over his face. Kara met him halfway, and whatever they said seemed to go about as well as the talks I'd had with her myself. Again, she ended it by showing off for the protestors by giving him the double-birds. "Well, that went well," Brent sighed as he came back. "You were right, Harrison. They're stuck in. Wouldn't even help us get those trucks room to move or get out of the way of traffic." "She feels like she's got leverage," I guessed. "And they haven't had that on us for years now." "Well, I've officially done what I can," Brent said. "Time to do what every good GM does when shit like this happens." He took out his phone and started walking up the driveway away from Vanessa and me. "What's that?" I asked. "Call the client and tell them to un-fuck the situation," Vanessa smirked. The rest of the afternoon and evening was a long fucking day. There was no good way to get the workers on site off of it, and no good way to get new ones on, so Leo and I ended up walking several groups through the trails to get to the road in places out of sight of the protestors. And since the big crew vans were parked on site, Brent ended up getting access to school buses to come and pick up his guys. The second to last bus dropped off a dozen men who would take over watching the driveway and the protestors overnight; we'd already seen them breaking out tents and lanterns to hold their vigil; and the last bus out had Brent and Vanessa on board. "Client will be by in the morning," Brent said, and winked at me. "Don't you worry, bucko. You hold down the home front tonight, and the cavalry will be here in no time." "You got it," I said. "But whoever is coming, I suggest you make sure they know to take this seriously. The Band is riled up, and now they smell blood in the water. This isn't going away easily." "I'll pass that on to the Lieutenant Colonel," Brent nodded. He shook my hand again and stepped onto the bus. "See you tomorrow, H," Vanessa grinned at me. "Not if I see you first, Vee," I chuckled. She stepped up into the bus and I heard her voice raise immediately. "Alright, you Gorillas. Grab your fuckin' seats and stay there. I swear to Christ if one of you pisses me off, I'll confiscate your fuckin' dinner, got it?" I laughed, and could see the construction workers grinning in their seats as the bus did a three-point turn and pulled away. The sun was getting low when I finally hiked out of the bush and back into view of our little compound. Erica was waiting for me with a smile and a plate of stir fry. "What's the word, Harri?" "They're still down there," I said. "There are some workers keeping an eye on the driveway. Could you throw on a big pot of coffee for me and dig one of the thermoses out of storage?" "Harri, if they've got some of their workers down there, it's not your job to supervise. I'm sure Vanessa and her Dad left someone in charge." "They did," I said. "And I'm not going down there. I'm staying up here." I shoveled the stir fry down, relishing in the spicy kick Erica liked to cook with. Inside our little compound I gave Ivy a kiss, apologizing that I wouldn't be seeing her in bed for the night. Then I went to the storage container closest to my RV. The one with my gun safe. "What's the word?" Leo asked me when he found me. I had a lantern flashlight on and was loading rounds into my father's Model 700. "Jesus, Harri. What the fuck?" I doubted he was commenting on me loading the Remington hunting rifle. We'd used it plenty when we were hunting during deer season; it was a solid, reliable tool. No, I knew he was reacting to the other firearms I had out. My M9 was already holstered on my hip, a copy of my service sidearm that had served me so well through my tour and as an MP, and my DDM4V1 was laid out, waiting for me to do a quick check it was still in good order. "Just taking precautions," I said. I was already trying to get into the right mindset. "What does that even mean? What are you doing?" "There's about a hundred protesters down there, last I counted. More keep arriving," I told Leo, loading the last round into the 700 and checking the safety before setting it down. I fished a handful more.308's out of the ammo box in the safe and fed them into the bandolier shoulder strap for the hunting rifle. "Problem is, they're pissed off. Not just about the construction, but at all the other shit going on right now. And pissed-off people do dumb shit." "So what, you're going to go all Alamo on us?" Leo asked. "For real, Harri. Nothing's going to happen. They're down there, we're up here." "Leo," I said. "I'm not asking you to do anything you don't want to. The Bear shotgun is in my RV. Do me a favor and keep it handy tonight. If I miss something, I'd rather you have it than not." "Harri,” "Dude, just stop," I said. I'd finished with the.308s and started taking apart the DDM4V1 and giving it a quick clean. It was a budget purchase that I'd made prioritizing reliability over flashy shit, and the 'scary one' in my collection when it came to civilians. Erica hadn't even liked the idea of me owning it when we gave her the tour of my firearms and taught her the safety protocols for them. Leo had only ever fired it once. Both of the siblings had said the same thing; 'If you have the rifles and shotguns and the handgun, why do you need a machine gun?' This sort of thing was why I needed it. And it wasn't a 'machine gun.' "I'm not planning, or hoping, to kill someone tonight. If I have to use the DDM4 or my sidearm, something has gotten really fucked," I said. "But I'm also not taking any chances. Sometime tonight, there's going to be people sneaking up into the construction yard to cause mischief, and they aren't going to know the difference between the construction yard and where we're living. Maybe they hear us and they stay clear, or maybe they don't. I'm not taking that chance." Leo watched me cleaning my rifle, and glanced out at the darkening sky, and then back to me. "What should I do?" he asked. A wave of relief washed over me; it had been years since I'd served, and every instinct I had was telling me to do what I was doing, but that civilian part of my brain was second-guessing everything. Leo agreeing told me I was being logical, even if he didn't like it or I turned out to be wrong. "Just be with the girls tonight," I said. "I can handle the yard, you stay with them. Think of it like a shitty tower defense game. If I do my job, you'll never have to do anything." He nodded and left me to my work. Surprisingly, it was Danielle who came to see me next. "What can I do to help?" she asked. Her Australian accent was sounding stronger, the California valley girl part of it dropping with her serious demeanor. "Nothing, I've got it," I said. She'd caught me as I was strapping on my ghillie suit; another item that Leo and Erica had found silly to own considering we didn't need it for hunting deer. It had honestly been more of a gag item in my collection than anything until tonight. "Harrison, I'll remind you that my Dad was military, yeah?" she said. "I grew up outside the city. I know how to work a firearm." I took a breath and looked at her. Even at night, by the light of a lantern, she looked like an elven beauty despite the cutoff denim shorts and zippered knit sweater. "Can you handle a handgun?" I asked. "I've shot the head of an Eastern Brown from ten paces away when it was threatening to bite my dog," she said. "I assume that's a snake?" "A fucking poisonous one," Danielle said. "Alright," I nodded. "Under the passenger seat of my truck is a gun case with my pop's old 1911 and a couple of magazines. Hang on to it for tonight. Try not to freak out Erica or Ivy, and if you hear shots tonight don't let Leo come looking for me, let alone Erica and Ivy. If they leave the RVs it'll just make things worse." "Okay," she said with a serious nod, then stepped towards me, hugged me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks." "For what?" I asked as she stepped back. "For being the man I figured you were," she said. "Leo's all mine and I'm happy with that, but like I told you; you remind me of all the good parts of my Dad. I'm glad I have Leo and you around." She left to fetch the pistol, and I finished strapping on the ghillie suit and slung my two rifles over my shoulders and closed the gun safe. When I was finished slamming the storage container closed, I turned around to find Ivy and Erica both looking at me with their arms crossed. "Both of you, huh?" I asked. "Yes, both of us," Erica said. "United front," Ivy said. "Look,” "Shut up, Harrison," Erica said, and then they were both hugging me while being careful around the firearms. "Just be careful." "Extra careful," Ivy said, burying her face into the strings of the ghillie suit in my chest and then immediately pulling back with a wince. "Ugh, this smells terrible." "Yeah, well it's not exactly the sort of thing you clean very often," I shrugged. "Whatever," Erica said and kissed me. Ivy kissed me as well, looking at me with those big eyes of hers with concern. "So you're not going to try and convince me this isn't necessary?" I asked. "Wouldn't do anything except lead to a fight we couldn't win," Erica said. "You're too stubborn not to do it." "And too brave," Ivy added. "That too," Erica smiled sadly. Then she handed me the big thermos of coffee. "Come back to us in one piece." "I will," I said. "Don't worry. But if you two hear anything tonight, if there's any gunfire, don't come looking for me. Just stay in the RVs and hunker down from the windows. If you come looking for me, you'll add more danger and not take it away, alright?" They both agreed, though I could tell Erica didn't like it. I could only imagine her sprinting across the construction yard, bullets flying everywhere, screaming my name as she worried I'd been shot. Hell, she'd probably pick me up and carry me to safety if it were true, but she'd also likely never get to me in the first place if things were that bad. I kissed them both again, then stalked off into the night. I ended up settling into a nook on the side of the hill to the south of the construction yard, with a clear view of about two-thirds of the yard and most importantly the RV compound. I unslung my rifles and carefully positioned myself in a comfortable prone position I was going to be able to manage for a long time. I'd never gone through Sniper training, but I'd picked up enough from my Bootcamp, talking with other soldiers and from movies to know a thing or two; not to mention years of hunting. So I cracked the thermos and took a sip of the hot, strong coffee, and started my watch. I saw them moving through the trees at around 02:30 in the morning down on the east side of the yard near the driveway. They must have skirted around the construction worker picket line and followed the driveway up, but they were still in the shadows so I couldn't tell how many there were, or what they were carrying. The only reason I spotted them early at all was because someone was flicking a flashlight up occasionally. I had the 700 cradled in my arms, and I slowly rolled into position but didn't sight down the scope yet. I didn't have any night vision gear, and while the simple Leopold scope easily gave me the range to tag anything moving down there, I wouldn't know what I was hitting. They stopped at the edge of the tree line, and I could only imagine the nerves they were feeling looking out over the open area. There were seven portables set up holding various offices now, and half a dozen big crew vans that had been left behind for the night along with some of the company pickup trucks. The pilings and supplies to erect the bigger barracks were also looming in the big, open space. "Just take a look and leave," I muttered quietly to myself, willing whoever was down there to not make this worse than it could be. Five minutes went by before a figure began to creep out of the tree line, crossing the rise of the hill and slipping towards the yard. From the distance I was at, I couldn't see them clearly enough other than to tell they were probably wearing a backpack; not a big deal in and of itself, but my training was screaming at me. 'Anything' meant anything. That backpack could hold weapons, or communications equipment, or even an I E D. I sighted in on the figure. It was a man, military age but young. I couldn't see much of his face between the black bandana over his nose and mouth and a ball cap backwards on his head. My finger tightened just a fraction on the trigger when I saw the flash of metal in his hand, but my hesitation saved his life; he was carrying a can of spray paint. He reached what he thought was the shelter of the first building; and it was shelter if he thought a guard was patrolling inside the yard. But I wasn't inside the yard, and instead I was looking at him dead on along the length of the building as he took off his backpack and then turned, motioning back towards the tree line. A half dozen more figures began quickly creeping across the hillside. I had a choice; if that backpack was full of spray-paint and that was all they were there to do, it would be annoying vandalism at worst as long

Sergeant Preston of the Yukon was one of the greatest juvenile adventure radio series ever - part of a trinity of kids' shows that originated from Station WXYZ in Detroit. (The other two were The Green Hornet and most famously, The Lone Ranger.)  For 16 years on the radio airwaves, Preston the Mountie and his dog Yukon King maintained  law and order in the wilds of the frozen Northwest, racking up hundreds of red-blooded audio dramas before he and his huskies trekked to television. Project Audion has located a MISSING episode's script that originally aired on May 25, 1955 -- just two weeks before show ended its run. What's more, we are delighted to feature 94-year-old Chuck Daugherty, who was actually heard in some of the original Preston series episodes during his time at WXYZ over 70 years ago. He's part of a terrifically talented coast-to-coast cast for this episode, recorded live via Zoom. OUR CAST: Vincent Caruso in New York Chuck Daugherty in Detroit, Michigan Hunter Adkins in Salisbury, Maryland Kyle Bonn in the wilds of Oregon Frank Guglielmelli in Philadelphia Glenn Hascall in Dodge City, Kansas Craig Wichman in New York and Larry Groebe (woof!) in Dallas, Texas

The Art of Pure Cinema: Hitchcock and His Imitators (Oxford University Press) is the first book-length study to examine the historical foundations and stylistic mechanics of pure cinema. Author Bruce Isaacs, Associate Professor of Film Studies and Director of the Film Studies Program at the University of Sydney, explores the potential of a philosophical and artistic approach most explicitly demonstrated by Hitchcock in his later films, beginning with Hitchcock's contact with the European avant-garde film movement in the mid-1920s. Tracing the evolution of a philosophy of pure cinema across Hitchcock's most experimental works - Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, The Birds, Marnie, and Frenzy - Isaacs rereads these works in a new and vital context. In addition to this historical account, the book presents the first examination of pure cinema as an integrated stylistics of mise en scène, montage, and sound design. The films of so-called Hitchcockian imitators like Mario Bava, Dario Argento, and Brian De Palma are also examined in light of a provocative claim: that the art of pure cinema is only fully realized after Hitchcock. Joel Tscherne is an Adjunct History Professor at Southern New Hampshire University. His Twitter handle is @JoelTscherne. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Ann talks with veteran golf writer John Steinbreder, Sr. Editor, Global Golf Post, about golf in the North West of Ireland including playing Ballyliffen, Narin Portnoo, Donegal, County Sligo, and Strandhill, the various course architects who refurbished several of these courses, changes in Irish golf in the last 15 years, seafood chowder and Guinness.

Sonic Summerstock returns with the incredible Larry Groebe and Project Audio and a very special performance! "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon" (actually called "The Challenge of the Yukon" for most of its 16 years on the radio) was one of the greatest juvenile adventure radio series ever - part of a trinity of kids' shows that originated from Station WXYZ in Detroit. (The others were "The Green Hornet" and "The Lone Ranger".) It chronicled the never-ending adventure of the noble Mountie and his wonder dog Yukon King, maintaining law and order in the wilds of the frozen Northwest. While there are nearly 700 surviving recordings of this classic show, Project Audion located a MISSING episode's script that originally aired on May 25, 1955 -- just two weeks before show ended its run. What's more, we are delighted to feature 94-year-old Chuck Daugherty, who was actually heard in some of the original Preston series episodes during his time at WXYZ over 70 years ago.  He's part of a terrifically talented coast-to-coast cast for this exciting episode with original commercials for Quaker cereals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Art of Pure Cinema: Hitchcock and His Imitators (Oxford University Press) is the first book-length study to examine the historical foundations and stylistic mechanics of pure cinema. Author Bruce Isaacs, Associate Professor of Film Studies and Director of the Film Studies Program at the University of Sydney, explores the potential of a philosophical and artistic approach most explicitly demonstrated by Hitchcock in his later films, beginning with Hitchcock's contact with the European avant-garde film movement in the mid-1920s. Tracing the evolution of a philosophy of pure cinema across Hitchcock's most experimental works - Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, The Birds, Marnie, and Frenzy - Isaacs rereads these works in a new and vital context. In addition to this historical account, the book presents the first examination of pure cinema as an integrated stylistics of mise en scène, montage, and sound design. The films of so-called Hitchcockian imitators like Mario Bava, Dario Argento, and Brian De Palma are also examined in light of a provocative claim: that the art of pure cinema is only fully realized after Hitchcock. Joel Tscherne is an Adjunct History Professor at Southern New Hampshire University. His Twitter handle is @JoelTscherne. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/performing-arts

Sonic Summerstock returns with the incredible Larry Groebe and Project Audio and a very special performance! "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon" (actually called "The Challenge of the Yukon" for most of its 16 years on the radio) was one of the greatest juvenile adventure radio series ever - part of a trinity of kids' shows that originated from Station WXYZ in Detroit. (The others were "The Green Hornet" and "The Lone Ranger".) It chronicled the never-ending adventure of the noble Mountie and his wonder dog Yukon King, maintaining law and order in the wilds of the frozen Northwest. While there are nearly 700 surviving recordings of this classic show, Project Audion located a MISSING episode's script that originally aired on May 25, 1955 -- just two weeks before show ended its run. What's more, we are delighted to feature 94-year-old Chuck Daugherty, who was actually heard in some of the original Preston series episodes during his time at WXYZ over 70 years ago.  He's part of a terrifically talented coast-to-coast cast for this exciting episode with original commercials for Quaker cereals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maple Park Church Sermon - July 27th, 2025 by Maple Park Church

Marcia Franklin talks with Idaho outdoor writer and photographer Michael Lanza about some of the best backcountry trips in our region. Lanza, the former Northwest editor for Backpacker magazine, has written three books about hiking, as well as many articles chronicling his worldwide adventures backpacking, climbing, skiing and paddling. “Before They're Gone,” his book about his family's adventures hiking through some of the national parks in America most threatened by climate change, won an honorable mention in the National Outdoor Book Awards. Franklin talks with him about why he wanted to write the book, and what it was like to backpack with his young children. Lanza also runs the website thebigoutside.com, which was chosen by USA Today readers as one of the top 10 hiking and outdoors blogs. Originally aired: 07/10/2015

Quaranteam-Northwest: Part 4 The House. Based on a post by Break The Bar. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels. The pounding on the front door echoed through the house again, and I literally fell out of the bed trying to disentangle my foot from the mess of the sheets. Erica and I had stumbled inside late as fuck, trying to be quiet and not wake up Leo and Dani, and now I could see we'd tracked in dirt and grass with us. The sheets were filthy. I got shorts on and stood, shaking Erica by the shoulder. "What?" she groaned. "Someone is at the door, and it's sun up. The worker might need to start working. I'll close the door and give you as much time as I can, but could you at least put on a top in case anyone pops in here by accident?" "Let 'em look," Erica grunted. "What happened to those being my tits, and mine alone?" I grinned. "..... Fine," she said and held up a hand in the air. I found her a shirt and put it in her hand, and she started trying to get it on without lifting her head from the pillow or opening her eyes. I shut the bedroom door behind me and met up with Leo in the hallway; he was only slightly more dressed than I was, with a single sock and an undershirt over his shorts. "Mornin'" he grunted. "Yep," I said, and we headed for the door. When I opened it I was expecting Vanessa and her big 'gorilla' work crew, but instead it was Agent Sourpuss. It was even earlier in the day than I had expected. "What took you two so long?" she said, sneering at the two of us. "Never mind, come with me." She started walking around the house, so Leo and I followed barefoot. Just as we were stepping out and shutting the front door, the crew vans started pulling in, ferrying the surveyors and workers. A few of them called and waved, taunting us for looking like we were getting called to the Principal's office. "We have solved the temporary housing issue for you two," Agent Sourpuss said as we rounded the corner, and she presented us with the new additions to the backyard. Hunkered up next to the two sea cans that all of our stuff was being loaded into for storage were two brand new, state-of-the-art, still gleaming chrome and white from the lot, RVs. The two fuckers were huge. I had no idea how anyone other than an 18-wheeler truck driver could pilot one of them. They had to be worth at least a couple hundred thousand dollars each. "God damn," I said, coming awake. "One for each of us?" Leo asked. "You and your partners," the Agent said. "Follow me." We did, crossing the backyard as the Agent told us that we would need to be ready to move them at a moment's notice; our presence couldn't be allowed to slow down the construction process. We were also in charge of maintaining them, and organizing with the construction general manager when they arrived on site to make sure they were getting properly emptied (the septic) and filled (the fuel). "Mr. Lacoste, you have the one on the left," the Agent said, handing a set of keys to Leo. He actually giggled with glee, taking the keys and darting to his new home. "Mr. Black, yours is clearly the right. As is your new partner waiting for you inside," she said. I blinked. "I'm sorry, what?" "Your second partner drove with us this morning. She's waiting inside for you and is ready for imprinting. I suggest not making her wait too long." Agent Sourpuss then began to walk away, back to her car at the front of the house. "Wait, wait, wait," I said, following her. "I already have a partner. Erica and I are bonded or whatever." "Not how it works, Mr. Black," the Agent said, still walking. "You're rated at Tier Four, and you must have been somewhat open to a non-monogamous relationship, as is Miss Lacoste. Your new partner is suited to the two of you. You shouldn't keep her waiting." There wasn't any stopping her, so I diverted and headed back into the house. "Erica!" I called, heading for the stairs. "What?" she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes but coming out of my room dressed in my shirt from last night, and a pair of her shorts. "The Agent just dropped off the big ass RVs we're living in," I said. "And a woman who I'm supposed to bond with." "Oh, shit. That was fast," she said. "What do you mean, that was fast?" I asked. "You knew about this?" "I mean, they said at the information seminar that it was possible people would begin getting partnered into existing relationships based on the matchmaking and available matches," Erica said. We were heading down the stairs again. "I assumed since I'm Bi, and you're a guy, it wouldn't be unlikely we'd get someone else eventually. I didn't think it would be day three, obviously. Why would this person pick us over a single guy?" We got outside and to the RV, and I knocked. "It's open," called a voice. It was light and feminine, but with a distinct accent. I opened the door and mounted the steps, stopping when I saw the woman within, only for Erica to push me the rest of the way up so she could see as well. She was dark blonde, almost brunette, and her hair hung in waves down just past her shoulders. The woman was slight, and obviously so because all she was wearing was lingerie made up of thin mesh through which I could see her rosy pink nipples on her smallish tits, and lots of buckles for straps. The right side of her body was fresh and clean, though down the center of her abdomen, from under her chin all the way to her pubic mound, was a thin black line of a tattoo splitting her in half. On the left side of that tattoo her body was designed with black ink in floral tribal patterns, fleur-de-lis motifs and other designs. She was smiling demurely despite her dress and the fact that she was lounging in the sitting area of the RV, her legs splayed as she absently rubbed her twat through her mesh thong. "Bonjour," she said, grinning even brighter as Erica followed me in. Her accent was distinctly French Canadian and she couldn't be older than twenty-three. "My name is Ivy Gauthier, and I was expecting just a cock, but I am more than happy to make Mommy happy too if she wants to sit on my face." "Fuck," Erica said, and looked at me. "Can we keep her?" Ivy Erica, as usual, took to the rapidly changing social situation a little faster than I did. "So you're sure about all of this?" she asked the girl, Ivy. We were sitting in the lounge area of the RV that the government had delivered to us that morning. "Well, it is too late for me to back out now," Ivy said. She was French Canadian, with that very specific Quebecois accent that extended vowels and clipped some consonants. I only really knew the difference between hers and a traditional French-from-France accent because I'd once drank with a unit of French soldiers while I was deployed in Germany. "I have already been poked with the needles. I chose Harrison because he reminded me of a sexy version of the boys I grew up with in the north of Quebec. Very sexy lumberjack, yes?" Erica smirked, glancing at me and patting my knee. "Yes, very sexy woodsman." "As I said, I was not expecting a sexy woman as well, but I am the bisexual," Ivy continued. "In fact, Erica, you are very much my type." "And what type is that?" Erica asked. Ivy grinned but blushed, biting her lip for a moment as if she were embarrassed, but I could see the hunger in her big, expressive eyes. "Most girls in my job, they have what you call the 'Daddy Issues', yes? Well, my father made many mistakes, but was always very good to my sister et moil. An ex I have, she said I have 'Mommy Issues' instead. I like strong women, older than me, with tits and ass like yours." The little minx actually reached out and caressed the side of Erica's tit when she said it. "What job is it you've been working?" I asked, though I had a feeling I knew the general field. "I am a dancer," Ivy said, turning back to me and looking all the world like a worried teenager, rather than the seductive woman clad in mesh lingerie that was sitting between Erica and me. "I hope that is not so bad to you, Harrison. I know some men, they think it means I am dirty or spoiled. But I am not." Then she got another little lascivious smirk as she tilted her chin down looking up at you through her lashes. "Well, I could also be a very dirty girl for the right man. Or woman." She touched Erica's leg without looking. "Okay, seriously Ivy," I said. "Unless this is really who you are, and who you want to be, you can tone down the seduction. Erica and I aren't going to turn you away, but you have got to be real with us." Ivy frowned, and it was like she went through a little transformation as she absorbed what I said and metabolized it. She bit the inside of her cheek for a moment, then nodded and stood up, crossed to the murphy table that was in the kitchenette and pulled a robe I hadn't even noticed from where it was hanging. She wrapped it around herself quickly and then sat back down. "I am sorry," she said. "I am; this vaccine is making me very horny. I did not know what to expect, yes? I thought it best to treat you like private clients." "Oh, sweetie," Erica sighed. "I know. The nervousness, that little itch all over?" Ivy nodded. "Maybe let's start from the beginning," I suggested. "Just be honest with us." "I was being honest," Ivy said. "My name is Ivy Gauthier, I was born in a little town in northern Quebec and raised by my father and grandmother, along with my sister. I am an exotic dancer. I started in Montreal, and decided to try and do a tour of the USA. My visa was running out when the Quarantine happened. They said it would not be a problem if I took the experimental vaccine." "Wait, hold on," I said. "Fuck. Would you have taken the vaccine if you weren't worried about your visa?" Ivy thought about it and then shrugged. "I don't know? Maybe? I never had to think about it without the visa on the table." "This is fucked up," I said. "And it's too late to change anything," Erica said. "Harri, you know it's too late." "I know," I grunted. "But that doesn't mean I have to like it." "And you know if it's not you, it'll be someone else." I took in a long breath and nodded. "Ivy, I assume you went through the whole set of meetings and videos that Erica did, but I just have to ask; are you absolutely sure you want this?" Ivy pursed her lips, looking between Erica and me. Her hands were in her lap, most of her tattoos covered by the worn, velvet red robe she was wearing. She looked younger and older at the same time. She ended up looking to Erica. "Is he a good man?" "The best," Erica said immediately. "And is she a good woman?" Ivy asked me. I took Erica's hand in mine. "Better than anyone could ever deserve." "Then I am fine with this," Ivy said. "It is the end of the world, oui? Why should I not be with two sexy people who love each other, and will share their bed with me?" Erica laughed. "Well, she's direct." "Alright. You know what the next steps are?" I asked Ivy. "You fuck me, and I will become your; how did they say.? Umm, bonded something?" "We haven't figured out the right word yet either," Erica said. "For now, it might be easiest if you're just our fuckbuddy." "I like this," Ivy said. "You two are a couple, and I will be your fuckbuddy." The way she said it made it sound a little sillier, a little naughtier. This girl would have been dangerous if Erica and I weren't in the current situation. "You have some time," I said. "Would you rather wait a bit, or do it now?" "Now," Ivy said. "I would very much like to taste you, Erica. While Harrison fucks my ass." "Wow, that's very hot and specific," Erica said. Ivy smiled. "I am what you would say is an 'Anal Queen.' My father, he had children with three different women. It made me afraid of pregnancy, so I learned as a girl to prefer it in my butt." "Well, I guess you're getting to crush some ass, babe," Erica said, smirking and then kissing me on the cheek. "Hey, you know what?" I asked. "However you want it, Ivy, I'm happy to provide. Is there anything else you'd like us to know before we go to the bed?" Ivy stood up, slipping the robe back off of her and hanging it back up. "I can be very loud," she said. "Just a warning. And I like many things, but this time, I think we keep it to a simple threesome, yes? I will suck cock and eat cunt, and I would very much like to be fingered, and fucked in the ass." "So simple," Erica chuckled. "Ivy, I think Harrison is still a little hesitant; he is a natural protector, so don't think he's timid. He's just worried and doesn't want to take advantage." "Oh," Ivy said, looking at me for a moment with a cocked head, taking my measure. "Now I; Okay, yes, I understand." She came forward and pushed me back by the shoulders until I was sitting fully upright on the cushioned bench seat instead of leaning forward. Then she crawled into my lap, on her knees with them outside my legs, and sat her perky bum on my legs. "Harrison, I have told you I think you are sexy, yes? Well here, I will prove it." She took my hand and brought my fingers to her lips, taking my pointer and middle fingers and sucking on them lewdly, then bringing them down between us to her crotch. She pulled the mesh panties aside and put my fingers against her hole and pivoted, taking my two thick fingers into her clenching cunt. "I want to fuck you. And I will tell you another thing about me; I like a man who takes me how he wants. Throw me on the bed, put my legs behind my head. Make me your little pretzel girl as you fuck my ass. I am sure I will love this 'big brother' you in time, too. But I need you first to be my man." Then she kissed me, grinding on my fingers. I breathed in through my nose, and she pressed her chest against mine, and I reached around her with the hand that wasn't busy at her cunt and grabbed her ass firmly. "Umm, yes," she mumbled into my mouth. "Like that." "God, I hope I didn't look that fucking horny when I kissed you that first time," Erica said. She was still sitting on the other end of the L-shaped bench from us, watching me get frenched by the little French minx who had just fallen into our lives. I pulled back from the kiss, and Ivy looked at me with concern, searching my face. "Go kiss Erica," I said. She grinned and slipped from my lap, my fingers leaving her cunt, and slid right onto Erica's lap and pulled my girlfriend into a hard kiss as their disproportionate tits pressed together. Erica was much bustier than Ivy, though the younger woman's figure was just as sexy. As they started to make out I stood up, walking to the back of the RV and surveying the space. The back of the vehicle was dominated by the bedroom, which had what looked like a bed that was too big for the space. I pulled the blanket and top sheet off of it, knowing how Erica had a tendency to leave wet spots after fucking, and then kicked off my boots and returned to the women. "Alright, come here," I said, and lifted Ivy off of Erica and tossed her over my shoulder so I was carrying her ass forward. She howled a laugh, kicking her legs, and I offered Erica my other hand up. "She is going to be a lot of fun," Erica said. "I know," I said. "But I need to ask you, too. Is this what you want?" Erica smiled, almost sadly, and shrugged. "I told you I'd introduce you to a lot of strippers. I just didn't know it would happen so fast. Like she said, it's the end of the world, at least as we know it. Why not?" I nodded, and then bounced Ivy on my shoulder and gave her a soft spank on the butt. "What are you giggling so hard for?" "Nothing," she said. "Everything." "Crazy French girl," I said, and carried her to the end of the RV and tossed her on the bed like she wanted. She landed and immediately twisted and turned, biting her lip as she positioned herself on her stomach, looking at me eagerly as she slowly kicked her legs and her little bum bounced, humping the air a little. "Oh, I think she wants to suck your cock," Erica said, coming up behind me and resting her cheek on my shoulder. She reached around my waist and started lowering my shorts. "Is that what you want, Ivy?" Ivy nodded, grinning. "Well, I've got a surprise for a naughty girl. You are very lucky, because you picked a man who happens to have a very nice, fat cock." Erica said, and dropped my shorts, letting my mostly-hard cock out. "Oh, fuck," Ivy said, her eyes going happily large. "It is a very good cock." She looked up at Erica. "May I please suck the very good cock?" "Good manners," Erica said. "Yes, Ivy, you may suck Harrison. But from now on you should call it his fat cock." "Yes, mo" the rest of what she was saying became garbled as she leaned forward and spoke with the head of my cock between her lips, and came. She hadn't been expecting it, and her legs started to kick as she tensed up and pulled away from my cock, lowering her face to the bed. Then her body released all its tension and she sucked in a deep, ragged breath. "Woah!" she exhaled, loud and wordless, as a second wave of the orgasm passed through her. Erica reached around and ran her fingers through Ivy's hair as the smaller, younger woman rode a third and final wave of the vaccine-induced orgasm. She was left panting, and rolled over onto her back and looked back up at us in confusion and what looked like drunken delight. "What was that? I have never come so fast," she said in wonder "Didn't they tell you to expect that?" Erica asked. Ivy shook her head. "Huh, that's weird. They told my group," Erica said. "That was the imprinting process starting. Can you feel that ache, down in your clit? That's the vaccine too. Soon you'll feel it on your tongue, aching to get Harri's come anywhere you can inside you." "I already wanted this," Ivy said, her grin not slipping. She rolled back over onto her stomach and opened her mouth, but then hesitated. "Does this,” "No," I said, "Not every time." "Too bad, but also good," Ivy said. "It would be very hard to suck your cock if this happened every time." Then she took me back into her mouth and began bobbing her head quickly. I had a feeling she was actually a brunette and dyed her hair up to the dirty blonde she wore it. The dark undertones were more real than the light ones. Erica came around me now and slipped out of her shorts, going down to her panties and my shirt she'd been wearing, and got on her knees on the bed next to Ivy. She sat tall, and I kissed her as Ivy suckled on my cock. "Enjoy yourself, babe," Erica assured me. "We both want this." I raised an eyebrow and reached around her, grabbing her meatier ass. "You don't need to keep reassuring me, E. Or does 'mommy' need a good seeing to as well?" "Oh, I always need a good seeing to," Erica grinned. She started to lower down slowly, maintaining eye contact with me. "But first I think I need to make sure our naughty girl here knows how to treat you properly. Let me see you suck his cock, Ivy." Ivy beamed up at me, eyes flicking between my face and Erica's as the older woman leaned close. "Good, really slobber on that cock," Erica said softly, stroking Ivy's hair. "It's going to be cracking that cute little ass of yours open soon, so it needs to be very hard and very slippery." Ivy mumbled something unintelligible. "But don't forget his balls," Erica said. Ivy immediately took my cock from her mouth and lifted it with a hand, trying to take my sack between her lips but only fitting one nut as she tongued and worked her mouth. Erica took Ivy's place at my cock, putting her lips around the head and starting to blow me. "Oh, fuck, that's new," I groaned, looking down at both women staring up at me with smiles in their eyes. I put a hand on each of their heads. Ivy didn't let up, switching from one ball to the other as my cock rubbed across her face, but Erica popped off of the end and grinned at me before sliding back on the bed and taking up a position behind Ivy. "Now, what do we have here?" Erica asked, wrapping her fingers into the elastic band of Ivy's mesh panties. "Someone is a very naughty girl, dressing so slutty. Look, I can see everything! So what could possibly be the point of this?" She started pulling the panties down over Ivy's ass, and the younger woman shifted her hips eagerly, letting her do it. "Back to my cock now," I grunted, and Ivy followed my orders. Once I was back in her mouth, I ran my fingers down the side of her face, just watching as she looked up at me with adoringly needy eyes. Erica had gotten Ivy's panties off, and she tossed them aside as she knelt next to the pale girl and started to massage her upturned butt. "Ivy, you have a very cute ass," she said, stroking the girl's smooth skin. Just like her front, Ivy had a thin black line running down the middle of her spine, bisecting her from her hairline all the way down to her ass crack. On one side of the line her pale, smooth skin was flawless. On the other, she sported a collection of black tattoos; most of them flowery and nicely designed, a few of them more 'witchy' like flying crows and a jagged, leafless tree. "M'ank 'oo," Ivy mumbled around my cock, and wiggled her butt. Erica quickly sucked two fingers into her mouth and, biting the inside of her lip as she grinned, slipped them down between Ivy's legs and began slowly, teasingly fingering the younger woman's cunt. Ivy immediately responded by shuddering and starting to blow me faster, bobbing her head as she moaned with my cock in her mouth, pressing against the inside of her cheeks. "For a girl who prefers it in the ass, our naughty little girl gets very wet," Erica said to me. "Is that right?" I asked, and looked down at Ivy and her big eyes. "Do you get wet and ready for a cock even if you don't want one in that hole?" "Umm hmm," she hummed and nodded, then pulled her lips from my cock. "When I am ready, the right man will have a very good time with my naughty cunt." Erica leaned forward, bringing her lips to Ivy's ear from behind. "And what about Harrison? Is he the right man?" I could see the conflict warring in Ivy. She didn't know; her instincts were to shy away. But the vaccine, that need and horniness it had put in Erica, was in Ivy as well. She wanted me, wanted my cum. Wanted it inside her, to match with the vaccine. Chemically, she wanted to say yes. "You don't need to answer that," I told her reassuringly, stroking the side of her face again. Then I glanced at Erica, who raised an eyebrow at me, but I just shook my head. Ivy, a thankful look in her eyes, quickly went back to blowing me while Erica played with her cunt. Eventually I pulled away, and in one move picked up and flipped Ivy over onto her back. She giggled, and I was glad that she'd been honest with me about wanting to be thrown around in bed; I would have likely asked, or maybe told, her to move. Instead she seemed to really enjoy the manhandling. "Get the rest of the lingerie off," I said. The mesh bra did nothing to hide her perky, small boobs from me, but I wanted her naked. There was a practical element; once the bonding process was completed, she was going to zonk out and having that strappy lingerie on for hours and hours wouldn't be good for her or it. But there was also a primal thing in me that just wanted this strangely innocent, strangely filthy girl naked for me. She stripped quickly, and Erica took that time to peel off my shirt that she was wearing as well, revealing her bigger, heavy tits. "Oh, my," Ivy said, and sat up, reaching for Erica's chest. "You are so beautiful, Erica." Erica grinned and leaned forward a bit, allowing Ivy to press her face into Erica's cleavage. "She's like a horny teenage boy," Erica laughed. Ivy was kissing and licking her cleavage all over. "So am I, when it comes to you," I said, and slipped off the bed to stand behind her, kissing her on the cheek and then down to her neck while I reached around and cupped her tits from below, lifting them for Ivy to feast on. "Oh, god, this is heaven," Erica moaned, leaning her head back on my shoulder. "Have you ever done a threesome before?" I asked her quietly. "Once. Three women," she mumbled. "Not that great, really." "Too much fake cock?" I asked. "That, and tribbing is stupid. Doesn't do anything for me, and they both loved it." "Hear that, Ivy? No tribbing," I said. "But can I eat her cunt?" Ivy asked, coming up for air from the bounty of tits she was enjoying. "I think my answer is 'whenever you want,'" Erica laughed. "First I want more of your mouth," I said to Ivy. "Lay back down. And Erica, I'd love to see you eat her out." Erica grinned. "Ever seen a lesbian act in person before?" "Nothing more explicit than two drunk girls kissing to rile up some guys at a party," I said. Ivy had lain back, spreading her legs, and Erica knelt between them and slowly brought her face down to Ivy's bare cunt. It was pretty, almost like the clean and clinical specimen you would see in a biology textbook. "Do you want me to lick your cunt, Ivy?" Erica asked teasingly. "Yes, please," Ivy said and grabbed the bedspread in her fingers in anticipation. Erica went to work, and Ivy moaned loudly and wordlessly as her body tensed and then relaxed into the sensations. "Is it good," I asked. "Uh-huh," Ivy nodded and moaned. I knelt down next to her head and turned her face sideways, tapping my cock against her lips. She immediately opened them, and I slid between her lips and she began suckling. Then, after looking down and seeing the smile in Erica's eyes as she watched me getting blown while she ate cunt, I began to thrust lightly into Ivy's mouth. The dirty blonde dropped her jaw, and worked her tongue, and soon I was pumping steadily, treating her lips just roughly enough to feel divine. I reached down and palmed her tit, which so far had been almost entirely ignored. I happened to grab the tattooed side of her, where the boob itself was still a blank canvas but was surrounded by them dark patterns. Her nipple was a firm little nub in my palm, and her moaning on my cock changed to a higher pitch when I grabbed her more firmly, and then began playing with her nipple between my fingers. Erica, seeing the change in Ivy, mimicked me and reached up for her other tit and grabbed it as well. "Muh," Ivy moaned, but didn't try to pull away from my thrusting. She whined on my cock, thrusting her hips up and down, grinding against Erica's face. Then, seeing her coming to a peak, I thrust in and held my cock deep in her mouth, but not to the point of gagging her. I pinched the nipple I was holding, and Erica focused on her clit, and Ivy went off with a long shudder and another muffled howl. I pulled my cock from her mouth when she was coming down. "Keep going," I told Erica. "Get her there again." Then I stepped off of the bed and behind Erica, whose panty-clad ass was up in the air at the edge of the bed. I pulled her panties down to her thighs, set my cock against her puffy cunt, and thrust inside firmly, claiming her as mine again. "Yes, babe," Erica gasped into Ivy's cunt. "Fuck, yes, my fucking stud." "Oh, fuck," Ivy groaned, eyes half-closed as she grabbed at her own tits harshly and watched me fucking Erica from behind. Within five thrusts I was burying deep into my girlfriend at a good, steady pace. "You two are so fucking hot," Ivy said breathily, her accent turning every croon into a delightful sentence instead of something that might have come across as crude. I fucked Erica steadily, one hand on her hip and the other keeping hold of her wonderful ass, and she thrust back at me while trying to keep her lips and tongue working. I wanted Erica to feel how desirable I found her, even in this threesome with a brand new woman between us. I wanted her to know she wasn't just forced on me; she was a choice. She chose me, and I chose her back. Leaning forward, I let go of her waist and ass and grabbed her tits hanging below her, palming them and lifting their weight as she remained ass up and face down in Ivy's cunt. "I fucking love you, E," I said. "I love your body, I love your personality, and I love your mind. And right now, I really love how fucking sexual you are." "Fuck," Ivy groaned. "Fuck, that is so hot." Erica was starting to falter in her fucking back at me, which I knew meant she was getting close but I wanted to push her farther. "Ivy," I said. "It's almost time. How much prep does your ass need?" Ivy licked her lips, that carnal need growing inside of her with every passing minute. "For most guys, two fingers would be enough. But for you, I think three, if Mommy will do it for me?" "What do you think, 'mommy,'" I grinned. "Are you up for prepping her?" Erica slurped off of Ivy's cunt and flipped the girl onto her stomach, then spread her ass cheeks and spit onto her asshole. "For her, and to watch you fuck this cute little ass, absolutely," Erica said. I really couldn't see all that much of the oral portion of the prep, since I continued to fuck Erica. I slowed, and thrust deep and firm instead of faster and harder, and gave her the chance to work. Soon enough, Erica had two fingers in Ivy's ass and was adding a third. "Oh, mommy, yes," Ivy moaned. "Finger my ass. Spread my asshole for our man. God, I want that fat cock up my ass so badly. Harrison, please don't make me wait. Please don't back out, I need it so badly." "Who does this ass belong to now, Ivy?" Erica asked her. "Fuck, fuck," Ivy gasped. Erica slapped the side of her ass cheek. "Who does this ass belong to now, dirty little girl?" "Harrison," Ivy moaned. "Oh, fuck, Harrison. Fuck my ass. Take my ass. Take it. Take it." I pulled out of Erica, watching for just a moment as her cunt was split by me and didn't want to let go, then hopped back up on the bed. Erica pulled her fingers out of Ivy's hole, and I spun the younger woman around on the bed and pulled her up onto her hands and knees. Ivy dropped her face to the mattress as she reached back and held her ass cheeks open, her butthole winking at me. "Fuck my ass. Please, Butt fuck me. Own my butt," she panted. I placed my cock to her asshole and pressed forward. "Oh, fuck yes," Ivy almost howled. "Oh, it is so good. Merci, merci, oh fuck yes." I was halfway in when she finally clenched and I stopped. Erica, meanwhile, had shifted her seating on the bed so she was on her ass, and she spread her legs in front of Ivy's face. "Hey, now it's time for you to lick my cunt, dirty girl," she said. Ivy lifted her head and groaned as she tasted Erica for the first time, and as she did Ivy's ass relaxed, and I pushed in the rest of the way. "Yes," she mumbled. "Yes, fuck, so good. So full." I slowly pulled back out, then pushed back in. I'd tried anal before, once with a German girl I met off base, but it had been tough going. With Ivy, it was like she was just built different. She squeezed back at me, pushed to get me deeper. "She really is an Anal Queen," I gasped to Erica, who opened her eyes and grinned savagely at me. "I can't believe you're fucking her in the ass right now," she said. "Neither can I," I said, and started to properly thrust into that tight but forgiving asshole. "She's fucking good with her tongue, too," Erica groaned. "I can feel myself getting soaked." "Careful," I snickered. "There are the only sheets we have right now." "Oh, fuck off," Erica laughed. I had just started fucking into Ivy harder still, and she was sucking in deep breaths and moaning like a pornstar, when there was a loud banging on the main door of the RV. There was absolutely no way they couldn't hear what was happening in here, let alone that I had to assume the RV was rocking a bit. "Don't stop," Ivy gasped, lifting her face from Erica's cunt and begging me over her shoulder. "Please, keep fucking my ass. You can't stop. I need you to keep going." "Fuck, I was so close," Erica groaned, and the knocking happened again, banging on the door. Erica rolled off the bed. "You can't stop now, you might break her mind. I'll deal with this." "Yes, Harri, fuck me. So good, fuck my ass. Fuck my ass!" Ivy moaned, even fucking louder now that she didn't have Erica's cunt to muffle her. Erica stalked naked out into the main area of the RV, and she slipped on the robe that Ivy had been using earlier. She pulled it closed in the front and opened the door. "Hey, so this is awkward,” I could hear Vanessa say, but then I was shocked when instead of going outside to talk to her, Erica reached out and pulled her inside the RV. "Fuck, E! You didn't shut the door," I said. "Oh, shit. Sorry!" Erica called, and I only half believed her. There was one long moment of chaos where Vanessa was inside, looking down the length of the RV right at me as I was thrusting away, my nuts slapping against Ivy's cunt as I fucked her ass at speed. "Fuck," I grunted, and I made to pull out. "No, please, merde. Don't stop fucking my ass. Don't stop. Fuck my little ass. Come inside, I need you to come inside. Rempli-moi, mon homme. Mon cher. Fuck, mon amour!" I couldn't stop. I was so fucking close to coming, but I also had to move. So I did the only thing I could do; I wrapped my arms around Ivy's torso, fucked my cock as deep into her ass as I could, and picked her up and lifted her off of the bed. "Fuck, mon amour. I love you fucking my ass. Own my ass, mon amour. Fill me, fuck me," she babbled. I got us out of direct line of sight, pressing Ivy against the wall of the RV just next to the door to the bedroom, and I fumbled with one hand and slammed it shut as I kept thrusting into her. "Fuck. Fuck! I want you, I want it inside. Je veux croquer la pomme. Je suis très mouillée pour toi, mon amour. Fuck me. I love you?" she gasped the last words, like she was unsure, but enlightened by the idea. And then I came, pressing her up against the wood paneling and carpet of the RV walls. I came deep inside her ass, and she leaned back into me as her entire body shook. Her jaw was clenched tight, a small whine coming through almost like one of those dog whistles. "Sorry about that, Vanessa," I heard Erica talking through the walls. "We got a new vaccine partner who moved in with the RV. We were just, um, going through the bonding process." "That is; I mean, I'm sorry?" Vanessa mumbled. "It was obvious what was... happening, but we kind of need to get to work again. I wasn't expecting you to..." "That's totally my fault," Erica said. "I was a little fuck drunk; Harrison is very capable, and our new partner Ivy has a very skilled tongue." ".....Okay," Vanessa exhaled. That was when it felt more like I was holding Ivy up, rather than her standing on her own, and I carefully pulled my cock from her still-clenching butt and scooped her up in my arms. "Imprinting. Imprinting," she was mumbling. "Still fucking creepy," I grumbled, shaking my head as I looked at her in my arms. She was all woman, but like this I couldn't help but feel protective of the young woman who'd been forced into making choices that led her to my bed. The whole experience was amazing, but it was still... ugh. I set Ivy down on the bed and lay the sheet over her, and she curled up around a pillow and continued to mumble. This let me find and pull my shorts back on and exit the room. Erica was sitting on the murphy table, which she'd folded down, and Vanessa was sitting on the L-bench. "Vanessa, I am so sorry you got an eyeful of me like that," I said. "No, it's fine," Vanessa said, raising a hand. "You guys explained some of it last night, and Erica was just telling me again about the whole vaccine process and stuff. I didn't realize that's what this was and you couldn't, ah, interrupt the process." I nodded, and during the following brief conversation I apologized a couple more times. We quickly went through the plan for the day; which included finishing up all the rest of the moving out of the house so that it could be demolished the next morning. "And that's it," Vanessa nodded. "Uh, before I go; could I see her?" "You mean Ivy?" Erica asked. "Yeah," Vanessa said. "I mean, not if she's in a compromising position or whatever. But last night you and Leo talked about the 'imprinting' thing, and I'm probably going to have to do that eventually. I'd like to see it beforehand." I sucked my teeth for a moment, then nodded. "Sure, I think she should be decent." I led Vanessa to the back of the RV and opened the bedroom door. Ivy was still where I'd left her. Vanessa scooted around the outside of the bed, leaning forward and watching Ivy's face as she smiled and mumbled 'Imprinting' over and over. "That's freaky," Vanessa whispered, standing back up and coming out of the room. "But she's also gorgeous." "Just wait until you see her tattoos," Erica said. "She has some really interesting work done." "Yeah?" Vanessa asked. "Cool. I'm looking forward to meeting her." Erica smiled. "So, uh, how long before you need us?" "Like, twenty minutes ago," Vanessa smirked. "No," Erica shook her head. "I mean, how long until you need us." "Oh!" Vanessa said again, her eyes going wide. "Um.. another... fifteen minutes?" Erica smiled and winked. "I'll make it work." Vanessa, blushing, left the RV and shut the door behind her, while Erica turned and dropped the robe, revealing her naked body to me again. "I need you to fuck my orgasm back to life, babe," she said, staring hotly. "Fuck me fast and hard." I pulled her into my arms, laughing along with her as I glanced around the RV, deciding which part of the big luxury vehicle we should christen first. With Ivy safely tucked away in the back of the RV, and Erica and I working the knots out of her system quickly, it really was time to get to work. While Erica and I had been busy, Leo had been equally busy, going to wake up Danielle and show her their new temporary home as well. "Come on, rabbits," Erica called, knocking on the back window of their RV. "You would have been so pissed if he did that to you," I said. Erica laughed and shrugged. "Yeah, so?" "You two have a very different relationship than me and my sister," I said. The curtain on the window pulled aside a little, Leo glancing out and glaring at Erica. "Fuck off," he said, flashing her the finger. "We need to get to work!" Erica called again. Leo looked like he was about to say something snarky, but was pulled away and Danielle was now in the open corner of the window. "Sorry," she said, barely audible through the glass and over the sounds of construction work happening nearby. "I'll make sure we're quick." Her angelic face flashed us both a smile, and then she dropped the curtain. "Did you see what I saw?" Erica asked, turning to me. "You mean her whole naked tit?" I asked. "God damn, it's like that girl was manufactured to be 'Sexiest Woman Alive," Erica chuckled. "I don't know about that," I said, taking her hand and leading her away. "You'd give her a run for her money." "Compliments will serve you well, boyfriend," Erica smiled, squeezing my hand and winking. It turned out that the surveyors didn't need major tours again yet, so I was more free to help with the packing and the moving. Once Leo and Danielle joined us; letting us know the water pressure in the RV showers was pitiful at best; the work went quickly. We moved our clothing and things we knew we'd need sooner than later into the RVs, everything else got moved into the storage containers. A third container was dropped off to help with housing Leo's woodworking equipment, which gave us more space to start organizing things as well. How long did a house take to build? How long until they even started on our houses? These were the sorts of questions we just didn't have answers to, so we had to guess we would probably be in the RVs at least through the fall and winter and into next year. It was around the middle of the afternoon, and I was busy securing my father's old gun safe in the storage container with the woodworking tools, when I heard the telltale sound of another vehicle pulling up the driveway. Not three days ago, that sort of commotion would have had me wondering who it could be, and why they were out here in the middle of nowhere. And that wasn't just because of the pandemic quarantine; it had been that way my whole childhood. There were three kinds of visitors to the Black family ranch; expected, in need, and unwanted. Now I heard vans and trucks moving almost constantly, and there must have been thirty or more people working just within fifty yards and I'd only met half of them. It was strange. "Excuse me, Mr. Black?" A man asked. I turned from the gun safe and found a scraggly-looking kid, maybe all of twenty and looking like he was all bones and unkempt facial hair. He was wearing a reflective construction vest and had a hard hat tucked under one arm. "Just Harrison is fine," I said, shutting the safe and spinning the dial to lock it. "What can I do for you? Is Vanessa looking for me?" "Who? No, I don't think so," the kid said. "I'm with the grading crew working on the highway? There's, uh, some people who showed up demanding to talk to you." I took a breath and nodded. It could have been a couple of different people. "What did they look like?" "Well," he hesitated. "There were two women and three men, and they pulled up in a green pickup truck and a white panel van." "Kid, are they all Natives?" I asked. "Um, yeah," he said, clearly uncomfortable. He'd likely grown up somewhere far from a reservation, and probably in a major city, so his experience was limited to a little bubble. "Alright, I know what this is," I sighed. Part of me considered opening the gun safe back up, but I ended up figuring it would just make things worse. Guns usually did. It was tempting, though. I followed the kid out to the front and waved down Erica and Vanessa as they were talking on the front stoop of the house. "Hey, I need to head down to t

07-26-25 Full show full 7302 Sat, 26 Jul 2025 18:01:58 +0000 WErNbQUZJFnMtwGZy4frweCVwnrSFvsj sports Sports Talk Saturday with Derek Kramer sports 07-26-25 Full show The best sports talk in WNY keeps rolling on the weekends. Whether it's the Bills, Sabres, or anything else in the world of sports, our team of hosts give their opinions and take your calls every Saturday from 11 AM – 2 PM. On Demand Audio Presented by Northwest Bank. For what's next. Get started at Northwest.com 2024 © 2021 Audacy, Inc. Sports False https://player.amperwavepodcasting.com?feed-link=https%3A%2F%2Frss.amperwa

Welcome to Caching in the NorthWest! This is THE podcast from the birthplace of geocaching, right here in the great Pacific NorthWest.  It's Thursday at 7PM Pacific, they call me Chris Of The NorthWest and we are going to talk about geocaches and geocachers from here and around the globe. So while you're looking to sell your Coldplay concert tickets, we'll be Caching in the NorthWest.   We want you to call in your Geocache Log of the Week! Send an email to feedback@CachingNW.com, call into 253-693-TFTC. Call us with your feedback at (253) 693-TFTC Or visit the website at https://CachingNW.com

Quaranteam-Northwest: Part 3 Change of Pace, Change of Place. Based on a post by Break The Bar. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.   I'm pretty sure it was only for a moment, but it could have been a couple minutes. When I came to, I was still inside Erica, and still mostly hard. I pulled out and was quickly followed by our leaking mess spilling onto the sheets. Erica didn't move, except for heavy breathing. Then she rolled onto her side, legs coming up into a fetal position, ass pointed back at me. Her messy, cummy twat peeked at me between her legs and butt cheeks. Sitting back on my ass, I blinked a few times and tried to re-center myself until I gave up and fell backwards, breathing hard and looking up at the ceiling. "God damn, E," I said. "That was something fucking else." No response. I rolled over, dragging myself up to lay next to her. "Erica?" Her eyes were closed and she was looking comfortable, if a little cold laying over the sheets. Her lips were moving, and when I got close enough it sounded like she was whispering, "Imprinting," over and over. "That's kinda fucked up," I said quietly, looking at her otherwise still face. She sounded like a computer program reporting on a status. The only thing that kept me from freaking out was the big, contented smile on her lips. I kissed her forehead, trying not to think about quite how fucked up things were, and then I rolled off the bed and stood up. Underwear and pants went back on, and I crossed the hall to the bathroom where I got a wet, warm washcloth and a towel. I returned to the room and carefully wiped down Erica's twat and ass of our mixed fluids, then wrapped her in a towel and picked her up. I carried her down the hall to my room and managed to get her under the covers. I'll admit, I also gave her tits another soft grope, just to convince myself this was all real. God, they're awesome. Leo was out of the house, which on second thought made me realize what I'd just done. I'd fucked his sister, and we hadn't really held back at all. If he and I had been hearing the 'biz' and soft moans of Erica masturbating I can only imagine the sounds that had been coming down through the old wooden timbers of the house. "Fuck," I sighed. Hopefully he had gone out to the workshop before we'd gotten started. It was still the middle of the afternoon so I went back to packing. It was weird, sorting through everything in the house. Also fucking annoying because I didn't even have many boxes to pack with, and I couldn't exactly just run out to the liquor or hardware store to get some. It was strange; I'd lived in the house for much of my life, and I'd lived in it with Leo for the past five years, but I still found traces of my parents and grandparents I hadn't thought about in ages. It had to have been an hour or two later when Leo came back into the house. He had rings of sweat on his t-shirt and looked like he was ready to punch something. "Hey," I said. I was kneeling down in the living room, busy scooping old VHS tapes out from the back of one of the big cupboards. They hadn't seen the light of day in probably twenty years, but I also felt like it was a waste to throw them out. Leo just looked at me from the doorway, kicking off his boots. "That was fucked up," I said. "Yeah, it was," he said. "You know I wouldn't just pump and dump her," I said. Leo twisted up his face in revulsion. "Fucking of course not. Jesus, Harrison. You're not an animal." "So why the fuck would you make her hold on to a high school agreement when she and I might have been good for each other, Leo?" "She told you that?" Leo's face dropped. "Yeah. She did," I said. "She shouldn't have. Not talking about it was part of the deal, too," Leo grunted. He peeled off his sweaty shirt and threw it towards the stairs, then headed towards the back of the house. "Where is she now?" "Upstairs. That's another thing we need to talk about, but I'm not done with this." Leo was pouring himself a drink from the tap. My father had gotten a new well drilled a couple of years before I was born, and then when I hit high school we'd gotten a pump system; I still couldn't believe we'd lived on hand-pumped well water until I was fourteen. Now, with a whole filtration system set up in the back shed we - It doesn't matter. It's all going away. That realization almost shook me out of the conversation. "What's left to talk about?" Leo asked me, leaning on the doorsill from the kitchen. "Leo, I've always liked your sister. This whole thing just... forced the issue. You get that, right? She's not betraying you. I'm not betraying you." Leo didn't answer at first, buying time by taking a drink from his glass before sighing. "Yeah. I know." "So what are you pissed about?" "Dude, she's still my sister. And you're my best friend. That's not how this is supposed to go! She's supposed to meet some guy that I don't really like, but I learn to tolerate him, and we make fun of him together behind their backs and talk about how she could do so much better." "Why is that how it's supposed to go?" I asked. "I don't know, man. That's just; That's how it was with my parents and aunts and uncles. My dad was an only child, but all my mom's sisters settled for mediocre guys. My parents tolerated them, and I got to hear all the family gossip and that's just how it was." "Leo," I said. "That's kind of fucked up that you would want that for Erica." "I don't want it for her, it was just... Look, I hear how stupid and dickish it is, as it's coming out of my mouth, Okay? But now it's going to be you two. He-man and... I don't know. Who's the lady in He-man?" "Dude, I have never watched He-man," I laughed. "Well, whatever. You're you. She's her," Leo said. "By the end of this quarantine bullshit you'll be together and I'll be out." "Leo. You're thinking glass-half-empty here," I said. "Erica and I get together, what else does that mean?" "I dunno," Leo said. "What?" "What does that make us?" Leo blinked. "Brothers-in-law?" He rolled his eyes, but I could see the smirk growing. "Brothers, Leo. Even better than best friends. Better than best friend roommates!" "Fine, fine," Leo sighed. "Okay, there's an upside. Just don't expect me to just... be Okay with you two getting frisky everywhere or something. You can be happy or whatever, just not right in my face, alright?" The sound of a car pulling up outside on the newly-widened gravel driveway crackled through the house. I stood up and headed for the door. "What was the other thing?" Leo asked me. "Something about Erica being upstairs?" "Yeah, yeah," I said, slipping on my sneakers. "She's in my room right now, kinda sleeping but not? This whole Vaccine thing has more to it, dude. Let me figure out what this is first." He grunted, giving me a questioning eyebrow raise and turned back to the kitchen to refill his water. Outside I found the same blacked-out, now dust-covered, town car that had dropped off Erica. The door opened and I blinked hard as a woman I could only describe as a cross between an elf and an angel stepped out of the back seat. She had long, wavy brunette hair and a face that I could only guess had matched up with Helen of Troy, with soft, full lips and wide eyes with a playful spark. She was wearing a simple, baggy white t-shirt that looked like it belonged to a guy my size, and with her slight frame she was practically swimming in it but somehow she made it look like a diaphanous dress. I couldn't even tell if she had anything else underneath it since the t-shirt came down low on her bare thighs. "Hey there," she said, grabbing what looked like a solid camper's backpack from inside the car and walking over to me. When she got closer she only somehow got more beautiful, but I also saw... something. That look in her eye. The way her lips were slightly parted, and she was breathing a little more shallow. "You're Leo?" she asked. She had an accent, but I couldn't place it. "No. Harrison. Leo's inside," I said. She eye fucked me for a moment, took in a breath and breathed it out through pursed lips, then headed past me into the house without another word. "God damn," I said. "Yeah, she's running a little hot," Agent Sourpuss said. She'd gotten out of the driver's seat of the car and came around. "Got the shot at the same time as Miss Lacoste, but it turned out the guy she was originally going to be paired with got infected sometime in the past few days. We found him dead in his penthouse when we tried to drop her off." "Fuck," I said. And not because of the story. The woman had walked up the front steps of the porch, slung her bag onto it and had been stripping off her shirt as she walked into the house. I didn't see anything but bare back and a pair of tight booty shorts painted onto a slim, perky ass, but I was fucking jealous. "How is Miss Lacoste?" The agent asked. "Did the bonding process work?" "Um," I said, shaking my head and turning to the woman. "Uh, yeah. If you mean she didn't really tell us much but made it clear she needed sex, and now she's upstairs asleep in my bed muttering 'Imprinting' over and over." "Good, good," the Agent said. "Working as intended, then." "No," I said, shaking my head. "Not good. I said she's muttering 'imprinting' over and over. What the fuck is up with that?" "Look, Mr. Black, it's a long fucking story. And one you're not cleared for," the Agent said. "I'm sure one day you'll read a book about it or something. For now, just get out of my face. Alright?" "You can't seriously expect people to just go along with this. It sounds like... like,” "Brainwashing?" The Agent asked. Then snorted and started heading back to her car. "I don't have time to hold your hand through this. Like I said, just do what they say and enjoy your new fucking world. We'll be in touch." She slammed the door, the engine turned over, and she peeled out and drove back down the driveway. "What the fuck," I said. "What the fuck? What. The fuck?" I headed back into the house and stopped before kicking off my shoes. "Oh, fuck yes!" the woman shouted. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God," Leo yelled. They were upstairs. It hadn't been more than two minutes. I could hear them clearly. Fuck. Doesn't have a problem when it's not his sister, I thought, shaking my head. I went for a walk. I made dinner an hour later, and Leo managed to come downstairs to eat. He mumbled something about getting struck by lightning, but once he'd gotten some food in him he'd shrugged. "I dunno, man. She just walked up to me, holding her shirt, and said, 'Take me up to your room and fuck me.' I didn't even get her name. Now she's doing that 'imprinting' thing and it's freaking me out a bit." "Yeah," I nodded. "Yeah. Erica was doing that too. That lady agent dropped off your girl, didn't want to talk about it, and just said we should do what the ladies tell us." "Hey, that's all fine with me," Leo said. "She can tell me anything she wants. I mean... Harrison. God damn!" We called it an early night and I found myself climbing into bed next to Erica. She was still out of it, but at least she wasn't murmuring anymore. It felt weird, and kind of creepy, to try snuggling up next to her. She was still naked under my sheets, and totally out of it. I ended up putting on an undershirt and gym shorts and managed not to feel like a perv for long enough to fall asleep. The rumble of trucks woke me up, and I met Leo at the stairs as we headed down. He went to start making coffee while I checked outside. Two big trucks were hauling in a pair of trailers onto what had once been my front lawn and workers in bright fluorescent vests were directing them as others set up some concrete blocks. The trailers looked like they were the start of whatever construction HQ was going to get set up. "So it begins," I sighed. We brought out the coffee; it was an entirely different crew of guys, but they didn't have any new information for us. They appreciated the coffee, but when I went in to make more I realized we were running out quickly. Hopefully one of those trailers was going to be a break room for those guys because they were going to drink my wallet dry if it was on me to feed their caffeine addictions. The trailers were quickly set up, and the workers were gone, but a 14-seater van arrived so quickly that I figured they must have passed each other on the driveway. Inside were a solid dozen Surveyors, along with boxes of topographical maps and all sorts of equipment. I couldn't offer them coffee, but they'd come with their own travel mugs. They weren't much for conversation, though they weren't bad men and women; they just had a very large job to do. "We've done what we can ahead of time with the satellite imaging," the Head Surveyor said to me. "But we've got to plan out the development of this entire area in the most efficient building plan possible. They want houses built and livable ASAP." And that was where I came in. That promise I'd made to Agents Grierson and Walters had included my help with the surveying. Now it was time to give the grand tour. "I'll head out with them this morning," I told Leo. "I'll start with the front loop trails down to the highway and back. You want to show them the Arrowhead trail after lunch, and I'll take them up the ridge after that?" "Yeah, works for me," Leo said. "I'll go check on Erica." "Um... maybe I should do that," I said. "Why? Is something wrong?" Leo asked. "No, dude... she's just, uh..." I stammered. Leo's eyes went wide and he clapped his hand over his ears. "Nana nana" he sang, heading back out of the house towards the barn. I checked in on Erica; still asleep. I hesitated a moment, leaning over her in the bed, but went for it and pressed my lips to her forehead in a soft kiss. She mumbled something, pulling the sheets closer to her, and she smiled. It almost kicked my adrenaline, and I could hear my heart in my ears as I walked back down the hallway. When I passed Leo's room I realized that his door was cracked open, and I could see a shapely and naked leg and foot sticking out from his own sheets. I was tempted to peek further, but that feeling of creepiness from last night struck me again and I closed the door instead. I was kicking myself an hour later, deep into the trails with a half dozen surveyors following along and taking notes as I pointed things out and they asked me questions. It was the slowest I think I'd ever walked the trails, and the question kept flaring up in the back of my mind of what I'd missed out on seeing. Leo's girl was living in my head rent-free right alongside Erica, but now I knew what Erica was like; the mystery of what I hadn't seen was tantalizing fodder for a brain that didn't want to think about the overwhelming weirdness of the whole situation. We were back to the house around 1pm, and by the time we'd been gone a third trailer had been set up and there were two more of those big passenger vans, along with a couple of pickups, lined up in a makeshift parking lot. I didn't notice any of it, or the people working, and I didn't even answer the last question one of the surveyors was asking me because I was jogging for the house. Erica was standing there on the porch in low hip-hugging jeans and a tight band t-shirt under one of my unbuttoned flannel shirts. She had a beer in each hand, one opened and half empty, the other cold and sealed. I could see the emotions play across her face for a moment as I walked up quickly, and she opened her mouth to say something but I didn't want to hear a smart remark or a question. I wrapped my arms around her and I kissed her. She kissed me back, her arms crossing behind my neck as she pulled me deeper to her. Her tongue and mine met and teased for a long moment, and I reveled in the feeling of her in my arms. Her chest crushed against me, soft and firm, and her belt buckle pressed into my crotch as she melded herself to me. A whistle, sharp and catcalling, sounded from somewhere behind me and I could feel Erica shift both beer bottles to one hand. I had no doubt she was flashing them the finger with her free hand, and the laughter from the construction workers confirmed it. Eventually we had to stop, and I held her by the waist as our faces pulled away. "Well, I guess that answers most of my questions," Erica smirked at me. "I've got a few of my own, but you're not slapping me so that answers most of mine," I said. She pursed her lips and brought her beer hand down between us. "Leo said you've had a long morning. Up for a nooner?" "God yes," I said. "But I've always had a different definition of 'nooner.'" "What, you think I mean the beer?" Erica asked. "No, baby. I want you to,” "Ahem," a voice interrupted, and I turned to see who had approached us. "Sorry to interrupt." The girl, and I couldn't call her more than that because she looked like she couldn't have been more than twenty-three despite the tattoo across her neck, was wearing a rough sweater and one of those orange construction vests, along with a dinged-up blue hardhat with about dozen peeling stickers on it and her jeans tucked into her steel-toed work boots. She had some vaguely Latina features, mostly in the lips, but was pale where she wasn't tattooed. Erica's arm immediately went around my waist, and I lowered mine to hers as we held each other. "No problem," Erica said. "What can we do for you?" "I'm Vanessa," the girl said. "Are you Harrison Black?" "Yeah, you found me," I nodded. "Alright, cool," she said, looking me up and down. Erica's hand at my waist scratched my side playfully, and I lowered my own from her hip down to her ass, slipping my fingers into the back pocket of her jeans and cupping it firmly. "Well," Vanessa continued, "I'm the Foreman for the general laborers on site right now, and we've already gotten a laundry list of our daily jobs done so I need to start getting my guys into the house." "I'm sorry?" I asked. Vanessa sighed and then smiled in a knowing sort of way. "No one's talked to you about the day or week plans, have they?" "Not really," I said. "I've been out with the surveyors all morning." "Yeah, that sounds about right for this clusterfuck," Vanessa shook her head. "Well, orders are that everything that's currently in this house, and that barn, and anything else on the property that needs to, is hitting those sea cans in the backyard by sundown tomorrow. Demo on this place hits bright and early the next morning and everything not packed up is getting carted the fuck off." Vanessa, it turned out, was a straight shooter. It just took me a second to wrap my head around everything. Erica took charge while I followed along. I'd figured I had weeks, maybe months, before demolition. This wasn't the hurry-up and wait I'd been expecting. This was all hurry, all the time. Leo went out with the surveyors, and I started answering a million questions for Vanessa while she directed five big, burly guys as they began unloading my house into boxes, and hauling those boxes out to a pair of storage containers that had been brought in on trucks and plopped down near the back of the wide clearing that had been the 'backyard' for generations. Erica, I realized, was helping manage me more than anything else. Keeping me on task, keeping me focused. She helped me reminisce quickly a couple of times, helped me make decisions about what actually needed storing and what could get thrown out. I was getting a brand new house, fully furnished, courtesy of my contract. Did I really need the shitty TV stand or the ratty couch sitting on the back porch? No. Did I want to keep my grandmother's freestanding jam cupboard? I couldn't picture it anywhere else other than where it was in the house, I'd never even seen a piece of furniture like it in another house before. But it was an heirloom piece. Was I supposed to keep that? Yes, Erica helped me. Yes, keep the heirlooms, even if they seem odd or silly. Just know what's an actual heirloom and what's not. "You're doing well," she told me, stopping me at the foot of the stairs. "You're a good boss," I smiled, reaching my free hand around to hug her to me. I was carrying a pair of bedside lamps in the other. She frowned and shook her head. "I'm not your boss. And I don't want you to think I'm being bossy, and I definitely don't want you to start thinking of me as some nagging mother figure." I laughed and shook my head. "Never. E, you're just a natural manager. Of people, or situations. I needed a minute, not an hour, and you helped me get on track way faster than I would have without you. Plus," I grinned, and let my hand slide up from around her waist to softly take her tit in my hand and squeeze playfully, "Ain't nothing of a 'nagging mother' about you." She smirked and bit her lip as I squeezed her braless tit a little more firmly. "Well, good," she said, and rubbed the front of my pants. "And thanks for the very weird compliment from my b,” She stopped short, eyes going a little wide. I chuckled and leaned down to kiss her cheek, then her lips. "You can say it. I'd be happy to." "I've never said that so fast before. It hasn't even been a day," she said. "Not officially," I countered. "But we've also been living together for a couple of months. And before that we went on casual group dates. We just didn't know it at the time." She rolled her eyes but her grin was everything to me. "Well, if you put it that way..." I kissed her again. "God, I want to fuck you," I said. "Yes, please," she hummed back. We separated. I watched her walking away, the way her ass moved. The way my shirt hung on her. An hour or so later we'd gotten a lot of the preliminary stuff cleared up, and after a quick conference with Vanessa, we decided that the big guys on her team were probably going to be most useful getting all of Leo's woodworking equipment safely moved out to the storage containers from the barn. I'd helped Leo move all of those heavier tools into the barn over the past five years and each one was a son of a bitch, and we didn't have any forklifts to make it easier. The guys hadn't been out of the house for more than fifteen minutes when I was busy taking old pictures off the walls of the living room while Erica was getting to the ones in the front hall. "Hmm, morning," a warm, honeyed voice said from Erica's direction. "Uh.... hi," Erica said, her tone of voice a little shocked but with a weird cadence. I turned to see who was in the house and nearly dropped a glass picture frame holding a collage of photos my mother had put together of my sister and me. The elf/angel girl, Leo's imprint-person, was wandering into the living room and looking around curiously. She was as beautiful as the first time I'd seen her, and I figured she must have taken a minute to touch up her makeup. She had beautiful, pale porcelain skin, and her wavy chestnut brown hair still had a bit of a messy 'just got fucked' look. She also happened to be completely naked except for a pair of sheer panties that left it very obvious she was shaved to the wood down below. Her tits were so perfect and perky, big enough on her thin frame to look almost fake but somehow still natural; either the best boob job ever or the perfect genetic lottery. Her areolas and stubby nipples, puffed and firm in the cool spring air even in the house, were the same soft shade of pink as her lips. "Hey there," she said, giving me a little smile and a wave. "I think I almost fucked you yesterday, yeah?" I coughed. "Um, no. Definitely not that close." "Hmm," she smiled, looking around the chaos of the house. "Well, maybe not, but I definitely remember wanting to jump your bones. Where can I get some water?" "Through there," I pointed her towards the kitchen. "Hey, we didn't actually meet. I'm Harrison, Leo's roommate." "Oh, right," the woman said, then stepped forward and pulled me into a hug. A naked-lady hug. While I was looking over her shoulder at Erica, who was staring from the hallway door with an expression between utter confusion and the kind of stare I could only imagine a 13-year-old boy would have when looking at this same sight. I made a 'what am I supposed to do?' face at Erica, and slowly hugged the naked woman back with one arm, trying not to think about those perfect tits pressing into my side and chest. "I'm Danielle," the woman said. I was struck again by that strange accent that I couldn't place, elongating some of the vowels and with just a touch of different intonation. "I got told all about you and Leo by that government lady on the way here. I guess I didn't realize you wouldn't have gotten the full story." "Yeah, no. She isn't really one of our biggest fans," I said. Danielle stepped back from the hug, with a warm smile. "This is Erica, Leo's twin sister and my, ah" "Girlfriend," Erica said, stepping forward. She opened her arms and Danielle happily stepped in for a hug with Erica as well. Erica looked at me over Danielle's shoulder and mouthed, 'Oh my God!' "And vaccine partner." "Oh, god," Danielle said, leaning away. "Fuck, I wasn't even thinking about that. Are we supposed to still be careful? We're all vaccinated, right?" "Very vaccinated," Erica said, then looked at me again and smirked. "Very, very vaccinated." "You too, huh?" Danielle asked. "Those orgasms,” "Out of this fucking world," Erica nodded. "Let me get you that water," I said. I left the two in the living room and went to the kitchen, taking a moment to adjust my cock in my pants before fetching a cup. Erica was attractive as all hell, and while I might not have been in love with her yet, I knew I was going to get there and fast. The physical and the personality just synced with us like that. But this girl. Woof. She was that unattainable attractive tier that you saw in movies, or on Instagram. When I was coming back, Danielle was slipping on my flannel shirt. "I'm really fine with it," she was saying. "I like being naked, and I'm a stripper so I'm used to it. Honestly, it kind of turns me on." "Yeah, well there's about twenty construction workers outside right now and I don't think anything is going to get done if they catch a look at you, Dani," Erica said. Danielle laughed and shrugged while she brought the sides of the flannel shirt up and tied them between her tits. I don't think my shirt had ever looked better, and somehow she just effortlessly made it a perfect, teasing shape that hugged her cleavage and slim torso. "You're a stripper?" I asked, offering her the water. "I thought most women in that business preferred 'dancer' or something like that "Hmm, only the ones who are embarrassed about it deep down," Danielle said. She took a sip from her glass. "But I made $300k American last year as a stripper, so why should I care what other people think of me? I'm a businesswoman and entrepreneur, and I work hard to make sure my product is amazing. And my product happens to be stripping off my clothes and making guys cream their pants." I almost choked on my own spit as Danielle casually dropped her tax bracket. "You made that much?" "Oh, you must not be a strip club boy, are you?" Danielle smiled at me. "He will be," Erica said, chuckling. "I will?" "Oh yeah, baby," Erica said. "Half of my best clients are strippers. I'm a tattoo artist, by the way," she said to Danielle, then smirked at me again. "Once the world opens back up, I know some babes who are going to rock your world. I can't wait to see the look on your face!" "Well, it's always nice to find a discerning lady-fan of the art," Danielle said. "Honestly, women always make the best fans. Guys shell out more cash, but women just appreciate us more." The front door of the house opened and Vanessa walked in, stopping as she saw Danielle standing between Erica and me in nothing but my shirt and her panties. "Fuck, sorry," she said, and she looked like she was going to head right back out the door, then re-thought that and stayed where she was. "Um, Harrison, we could use your help out in the barn. Any shot we can get that old tractor running to move the planer?" "We can try," I said. "I didn't need it to plough the past couple of winters since the ATVs did the trick. I'll see if it'll turn over." I left Danielle in Erica's hands; something which both brought chub-inducing pictures to mind, but also just a touch of jealousy considering the open lust my now-girlfriend was showing for her twin's vaccine-fuck-friend. We really need to figure out some terms and definitions, I sighed. The tractor, in fact, did not turn over. It was deader than a doornail. With enough leverage and muscle power, we managed to get Leo's big planer; which he had thankfully already prepped for moving; onto a trailer we used with the ATVs and carefully towed the sucker with two guys on either side to keep it balanced and upright. Vanessa shooed me away after that, telling me to go keep packing up the valuables and let her paid gorillas do the heavy lifting. The big laborers all grumbled good-naturedly at her name-calling, and as I was leaving them I heard one trying, "Me Tarzan, you Jane." "Yeah, and I'll Jane you right in the mouth if you start trying to hit on me, Tarzan," she replied. "I don't shit where I eat, unlike you goddamned animals." Back in the house, Erica was helping Danielle start packing Leo's things up in his bedroom, so I went back to work cleaning out all the corners of the house. The one thing I realized was that I didn't actually need to be neat about anything. The last time I'd moved, when Leo and I had left our place back in Portland and come up to the homestead, half of the bother was cleaning everything up to make sure we got our security deposits back. This place was gonna get knocked over in two days, so what was the point of cleaning? I'd been trying to find time to sneak Erica to somewhere private, and maybe to fool around a bit now that that was part of our relationship, but Danielle was too full of questions. If she wasn't chatting with Erica, she was asking me all sorts of questions about the house, my family, and the deal with the land and the vaccine. I was happy to chat with her as we packed up the kitchen, or while she helped me as I handed her things out from the little root cellar under the house, but that smile and those eyes were hard not to get distracted by. Not to mention the braless cleavage in my shirt and her toned, bare midriff and legs since she only bothered to slip on a pair of booty shorts to complete her outfit. It turned out that Danielle had known about the vaccine longer than any of us by about a day and a half. The Government, whichever agency was running the whole thing, had gotten her contact information from a couple of the strip clubs in Portland where she'd been scheduled to work before the lockdown. Danielle was the kind of girl who took risks, so she immediately signed up to be a Phase 2 tester for the vaccine; Portland was one of three secondary trial locations across the country in 'Phase 2.' She'd asked around once she got tested and entered the Quarantine Hotel, and it turned out most of the women who'd been contacted had been sex workers of one sort or another; strippers, dancers, Only Fans models, high-end call girls, even a few honest to god porn stars. Danielle figured whoever was in charge had decided the sexual nature of the vaccine lent itself more easily to openly sexual people. It seemed... Well, it seemed weirdly logical to me, but also shady as hell. She'd received the same briefing Erica had, which she said had felt more like a meeting selling timeshares in Boca than anything else, had done the questionnaire and then picked a guy out of a list of twenty photos of her top 'matches'. She remembered seeing Leo on that first list but didn't remember why she picked the guy she did. They drove her to a big building in downtown Portland, but she never got out of the car. Her escorts came back about twenty minutes later and told her the guy wasn't a valid partner anymore, and she had to pick again. She got a new list, and Leo was on it. "I can't help but notice you aren't asking about him," I said to her as we were carrying the dining room table across the backyard towards the storage containers, each of us on an end. "You've gotten half my life story at this point. You're not curious about the guy you're, well, imprinted on?" Danielle smiled and shook her head. "Naw, I had my guy pegged the minute I saw him. I have all the time in the world to learn the details, I know what I need to know. He's sweet and boyish, and honest. You should have seen him blush when I walked up and kissed him. Hah! He didn't know what hit him." "Neither would I," I said. "You're quite the woman, Danielle. Leo's a lucky guy." "Well thanks, hun. But I have a feeling you'd know just what to do with me. I could see it in the way you were standing when I got out of that car yesterday." "The way I stand?" I asked. "Oh, for sure. You're a big guy. Muscly, but not a bodybuilder. You have that mountain-man vibe with the longer hair and the beard, but even after a couple of months of quarantine you still keep it trimmed and neat. And your eyes were looking at everything all at once. My Dad had eyes like yours, and he was Australian military back home. A man like you, if he isn't a prick, well... let's just say I've known a couple of gals with guys like you, and they are quite happy." We'd set the table down outside the storage containers and were headed back for the chairs now. "Well, thanks I guess. Hopefully Erica feels the same." "Oh, she does," Danielle smirked. "She may not realize it completely yet, but the way she's grinning to herself when she didn't think I was looking? She does." That little nugget of information made my heart sing. "Sorry if it's a button, but I noticed you said your Dad had eyes like mine. He's gone now?" I asked. "Hmm," Danielle nodded. "Years ago, so don't worry about it. Cancer. I was fifteen and it hit me hard. Mum got a boyfriend the next summer and within six months of that she moved us to California and I finished high school in the Valley. I hated the new guy, and then the guy after that, so I moved back to Sydney as soon as I could and was planning to go to school there. But then I took a job at a strip club to pay the bills, and the rest is history. I've been doing it for five years and did a tour up the east coast of the US last year, so I figured I'd do the west coast this year." "Oh, well, I'm still sorry to hear that. It all sounds tough," I said. "But I guess it's good you found your... calling?" "Hah," she laughed. "Something like that. I'm not like other girls who have specific ambitions. I've just been banking as much money as I can, while I can, and having fun doing it. I'm not looking to go to med school, or become a lawyer or something." We were carrying the last of the chairs, and Danielle was telling me a story about her senior year in high school when Leo came back. It turned out Danielle's accent, a bastard amalgamation of Aussie twang and Valley girl, was the one thing she disliked about herself but she was just plain terrible at trying to fix it and it was because of some traumatic bullying while she'd lived in the Valley. As soon as Leo came out of the mouth of one of the trails, the chair Danielle was carrying was forgotten as she dropped it in the middle of the yard and began sauntering over towards Leo and the surveyors. She looked like a lioness on the prowl, and Leo stopped when he saw her coming. The surveyors, about two-thirds of whom were men, all moved aside to let her past them, watching with big eyes as she stalked up, knocked Leo's baseball cap off his head and molded herself to him as she planted a kiss on him that I could feel searing from across the yard. And she didn't stop. They were kissing a solid thirty seconds, hands wrapped around each other, before the surveyors backed away and came towards me, shaking their heads and grinning. "We need fifteen minutes, then are you ready to head out again?" one of them asked as they got near me. "Sure, sure," I said. "How many are coming out?" "All of us," one of the ladies said. "About... fifteen?" "Jesus Christ," I said, shaking my head. "Hey, big project at speed. Most of the time you pick quality, quantity, or speed. The government wants all three, and they are throwing around the kind of money needed to make it happen right now," the first guy said. "We'll be working like crazy for the next two weeks getting all the info, then another two handing it all off to the developer team, then back on site again to make sure everything is being built in the right place." I headed back to the house to get my hiking gear back on. Danielle and Leo had stopped making out and were talking now, but I could see Leo was holding Danielle's hand while she had her other on his chest, and he was grinning and nodding along with whatever she was saying. I smiled, happy for my friend, and went inside. "Hey," I said when I found Erica upstairs, cleaning out my closets. "I need to head out in about ten minutes on another tour." "Oh yeah?" Erica asked, turning to face me. She was still wearing that tight t-shirt, her sweat from hard work making it stick to her a little more. It cupped under her tits, making them stand out just that touch more, and I could see the bumps of her nipples in the black fabric. "Yeah," I said lowly, and stepped beside her, offering her a hand to help her up. "And Danielle and Leo are out in the backyard talking right now." Erica's eyes lit up as she let me help her up. "Well why didn't you say so?" she asked, and I pulled her in to kiss her, feeling her tits press against my chest. She hummed happily into my lips and slid her tongue across mine. I picked her up without breaking the kiss and brought her over to the bed, and she lifted her legs up to circle my waist and cling to me as I laid her on her back. I was leaning over her and she wrapped her arms around my neck, keeping me close as we made out. "Hmm, I want you," she whispered between kisses. "Yeah?" I asked. "Good. I want you, too." "How bad do you want me?" Erica asked me. "Utterly. Totally. Bad to the bone." She snickered and pulled up her top over her tits, freeing them, and I shifted to quickly mouth over them, kissing as much of them as I could all at once and as quickly as I could. "Ooh, baby, baby," Erica crooned. "God, you make me feel so sexy." "You are sexy," I said, pulling away from her tits and mauling them with my hands as I lifted my lips back to her. "Deadly sexy. Femme fatale. Boss bitch." "You say the nicest things," she laughed. "I'm glad you aren't freaked out by all of this." "Oh, I'm freaked out more than enough," I said to her, pausing our kisses to press my forehead to hers and looking down, meeting her eyes. "The entire world stopped, and now it's going faster than it ever has before, but you Erica Lacoste are enough to make me not care about any of it." She cupped my cheeks with her hands, then ran her fingers through my beard and pulled me down to her, kissing me hard as she kept her eyes open, looking at me through the soulful, hungry kiss. There was a bang downstairs, the back door opening and closing, and we could just hear the muffled sounds of Leo talking with Danielle. "Fuck," I said, as Erica let go of my beard and our kiss ended. "Fuck," Erica groaned. "Fucking Leo." Erica straightened herself out, getting her shirt back on properly and standing back up, while I straightened my hair a moment and pulled it back and then changed into a new shirt. I caught Erica eyeing me up from across the room while I was shirtless, and she didn't even blush or look away. "Yummy," she said and winked. "You're trouble like this," I said with a smirk. "You don't know the half of it," Erica said. "I feel like I've been set free. The only thing keeping me from tearing your pants off is the thought of my brother being in the next room." That made me laugh, and as I got myself together and was ready to head out I kissed her one more time, one hand squeezing her ass and pulling her into me as I held the back of her head with the other. "Ugh, you bastard," she said when we separated. "You keep getting better at kissing me." "Just taking your cues," I said. "Fuck you like I hate you, right?" "Did I say that?" Erica thought. "God, everything yesterday went so fast." "Actually, I think you said you wanted someone to love you, but who fucks you like they don't. I figured that went for steamy kisses, too." "Oh, it certainly does," Erica said, one finger tracing down her boob and nipple over her shirt. "But now I'm going to need to change panties, you bastard. God, you're leaving me here soaking wet." "I prefer to think of you as simmering for later," I smirked, and she scoffed and threw a sock at me as I left the room. The tour with the Surveyors was slow going, but it was late in spring and we had plenty of light left to us. Leo had taken them along a bunch of the lowlands areas, so I took them up the other side of the property, pointing out some of the ponds and a couple of old growth copses of trees. There was a solitary Redwood on the property which they all agreed would be a shame to lose, and I pointed out some other big, ancient trees that served as landmarks. Deep into the hike we reached the Spring Pond, high on one of the rolling hills near the back of the property, and I showed them where I wanted mine, my sisters and Leo's houses to be built. I didn't much care how they organized the lots, but the Spring Pond fed down as a stream into the Nehalem River that bordered the property, and it had sweet, pure water that had been a swimming hole for my family for generations. Other than the old House itself, this was where the Black family had made their mark. It helped convince the Surveyors when I pointed out that my family graveyard, dating back more than a hundred and fifty years, was an acre up the slope overlooking the pond. At the mention of a Native burial ground I could almost see all of them shudder, not in fear of spiritual consequences but of Red Tape. I had a feeling this particular project wouldn't actually care one shit if they came across potential burial grounds, but all of these folks had horror stories of major projects getting stalled for months, or even years, by old bones in the ground. The sun was setting over the hills when I led them back down, having reached the very far edge of the property and pointing out the markers my great-great-grandfather had erected prior to the first World War. It was twilight during the last few minutes of the hike, and despite being veterans of their work I could tell the long day of heavy walking, questions, and note-taking on the move had drained them all. As they left, trudging around the house back to their work trailers to file away their notes, I saw Vanessa just shutting off the light in the barn. "Hey, how'd it go today?" I asked. "Good. Better than I hoped, actually," she said, grinning widely. "How's it going in the house with your wife and... who was that?" "Erica's my girlfriend, and that's kinda new, and Danielle is; well, it's a long story. How's a beer sound?" I asked. "That sounds fucking great, actually," Vanessa said. She checked her watch and then nodded. "I've got some time. I'm technically off shift already, we just don't have any time clocks or anything set up yet. I sent the boys back in the van about fifteen minutes ago, I'll take my truck back to the motel when we're done." I fetche

Gav suggested this pairing of two Zygon stories: in this episode the four part 4th Doctor story from 1975 which starts Season 13 - Terror of the Zygons, which we'll pair next time with 2015's two part 12th Doctor outing The Zygon Invasion / Inversion from Series 9. We'll decide whether these stories make you feel like lairds or a bunch of suckers. Joining Gav for the discussion are Paul, Giles and Richard. Please like or share our podcast with people who will enjoy it, so we can build our listener base high for happiness. You can rate us directly on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser.com Gav's excellent YouTube series Terry Nation Army can be found here: https://youtube.com/user/Dalek6388. Also, next time you're in the North West, check out his new venture - West Kirby Escape Room: The Jurassic Factor westkirbyescaperoom.co.uk Head over to https://www.bigfinish.com/, where we all love Paul's stories. You can find his latest Companion Chronicle The White Ship here as part of the Families box set: https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-the-companion-chronicles-families-3001 Giles is a published author with many books, primarily related to science and astronomy. check out his work here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Giles-Sparrow/author/B001IXOESC, at all good bookshops, and a few bad ones too. Richard's other podcast "If It's Hurting, It's not Working" is currently on hiatus, but it's a fun and informative look at work - why we work, how we work, and what makes a great job. And also what makes a great workplace, how to turn things round when we're not enjoying our work and, in the end, how we can all make our work better. For all episodes, go to https://ifhurtnotwork.podbean.com/ and https://ifhurtnot.work. The Something Who logo, which features prominently on all our cover art was designed for us by Bea Garrido. She's a really talented artist, who you can find by following this link: https://beagarridoart.weebly.com/, where you can buy prints of some remarkable paintings of characters from Doctor Who. The opening music is Three Guitars Mood 2 and, yes, that is Richard playing the ukulele and kazoo on possibly the worst ever version of the Doctor Who theme tune at the end.

With more federal assistance available for specialty crop growers of late, the importance of getting a new farm bill completed may have eased, but Riley Bushue, VP at Northwest Horticultural Council, says a new farm bill shouldn't be put off.

Quaranteam-Northwest: Part 2 The Start of Something New Based on a post by Break The Bar. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels. Grierson finally sat forward, meeting me energy-to-energy as he kept my gaze locked in. "And yet, here we are, Mr. Black. We can either come up with a deal, or I swear to Christ and all the Saints that the government will seize this land for eminent domain under the emergency provisions of the pandemic and you won't be able to do a fucking thing about it." "Sell, or die," I said. "So you can build a 'resettlement camp?' Jesus Christ, yourself. If you know so much about my family history, you know building a fucking 'camp' of any sort on this land would be the absolute last thing I would bend over for." "I didn't say 'camp.'" Grierson said. "No matter what your Native, and Japanese, forebears had to go through, listen to me; this is the farthest thing from that." I was 1/32nd native from my father's side and 1/16th Japanese from my mother's side. Again, not the hardest thing to dig up, but while I had the black hair of both those ancestries, I mostly just looked like a tall white guy with a pretty generic last name. No one ever assumed I was anything else in passing. "What does that even mean?" Erica asked. "It means we aren't building concentration camps," Grierson said, glancing over at her. "We aren't building a reservation, or an internment camp, or any of the other shitty things our and other governments have done to people." He looked back at me again. "We're going to develop this land into a neighborhood. The God damned fanciest kind of gated community you can think of. Big houses, big properties, for people who do or did important work to settle in safety and stability as we try to survive this shit show virus." "None of this answers why," I said. "Why should I agree to this? Why shouldn't I make it so fucking annoying that you go find a different patch of land and leave me alone?" Grierson frowned, though I had the feeling he'd been planning this from the start. He wanted me to work to peel back the layers of information, to earn the answers because that would make me believe them more. It would tick off boxes in my psychology and experience. The fucking problem was even though I knew he was doing it, it was also working. "Because you'd be saving lives," Grierson answered. "Our pilot development down in California is called New Eden; the place is only two-thirds built to starting specs, and we're already out of room on the next five phases of development once it's opened. Now it's my job to set up the next locations and get them rolling because our current projections are that within the next six months, the death toll is only going to skyrocket. We can't even get a grasp on what the numbers might reasonably be because the range is so fucking staggering. Millions is the easy number, Mr. Black." It was my turn to say it. "Fuck." "Now, you're not going to hear that on the TV," Walters said. "You won't hear it from the CDC, or the other health agencies. The only reason we are cleared to tell you this is because folks in our circles have developed the preference to work with reasonable people when they are useful. And also, who would fucking believe you?" "Here's our offer," Grierson said, pulling out a slip of folded paper from inside his suit jacket and putting it on the coffee table. "That's the hard cash number we've designated for this deal. No taxes. Straight transfer from us to you. There will also be other perks, including homes inside the settlement for you and Mr. Lacoste. Things are about to get really weird in the world. Have you heard anything about the Tier system?" "Nothing," I said, but Leo spoke up. "I saw some rumors. It's supposed to be some kind of a terrifying triage, right?" he asked. "Who's the most worthy kind of shit. People started protesting, but I thought it got debunked." Grierson nodded. "Oh, we stopped the protests, but it's all too real. I won't hide it; I find the entire thing absolutely un-American. It's the kind of shit the Chinese government operates, but it is what it is." Walters drained the last of his coffee and set the mug onto the coaster on the coffee table politely. "Suffice it to say, it's a sort of social karma system. The more important you are to society, the more protections and comforts you're afforded as we roll out our limited resources on quarantine defenses. There's 5 tiers, one being the lowest and five the highest. Most of society will land in the 1's and 2's, including all three of you. This development we'll be building is mostly going to house 3's and 4's. As part of the deal, we'll place Leo at tier 3 for resettlement purposes, and you Harrison would be placed at tier 4 despite your lack of qualification in the matter." This entire conversation felt like I was running downhill trying to keep up with an avalanche. "That sounds an awful lot like a really great way to set up for corruption," I said. "A fucking caste society? Really?" "It's already done," Grierson said. "Believe me, there were a lot of in-the-know people against the idea. But it's the only idea that works in this situation. We've gamed it out to the Nth degree. Leo, your description is pretty much the best that we were able to make internally. We're triaging society to make sure it stays together and can weather this hurricane." "What would we tier at without this?" Leo asked. "Leo Lacoste," Grierson said, talking as if he were reading directly off of a portfolio even though he rattled it off without referencing anything. "Positives: Early thirties age bracket, relatively fit and healthy. Low-to-Mid career path; carpentry skills of moderate qualification. No criminal record. Negatives: No community investment. Likely rating: Tier 1." "Harrison Black," he continued. "Positives: Early thirties age bracket, relatively fit and healthy. Former military service including Military Police service, honorable discharge at the rank of MP Investigations Special Agent, no known psychological impacts. No criminal record. Negatives: No community investment, null-rank career; freelance artist. Likely rating: Tier 1." "To be fair, there is a big question mark on your file that we couldn't fill," Walters said. "Your honorable discharge happened mid-tour, without any reported incidents or injuries. It's surprising you haven't been called back into at least reserve service with the Emergencies Acts. A decent answer would probably bump you up to tier two." "I can't talk about it," I said. Erica snorted and rolled her eyes, and both men looked at her. "Erica," I warned her. "What?" she demanded. "They just called you 'low tier,' Harri. If you're not going to tell them then I will." "I can't talk about it," I said again. "Harrison knocked out an Air Force bigwig when he was an MP and stationed in Germany," Leo cut in. "The guy was abusing and trying to blackmail a female subordinate into sex. The only reason we know is because she tracked Harri down a few years ago and we met her in a bar in Portland." "The bigwig was politically protected and nothing happened in the end," Erica said. "At least, that's what she said. He got shuffled around, and Harrison got the boot." "I got an honorable discharge instead of a court martial for striking a very superior officer of a different branch," I said. "And part of that deal was that I not talk about it." "Well that explains some things," Grierson said. "It wouldn't change anything though. If you were doing something more useful with your life than painting little pictures, you might have made tier two or three without this offer." "Says you," Erica scoffed. "Art is useful. And important!" Grierson pursed his lips slightly. "Erica Lacoste. Not an official resident of the property, but I know enough. Positives: Early thirties age bracket, relatively fit and healthy. Negatives: Criminal record, including battery, two counts of public drunkenness, and public urination. No community investment. Null rank career; tattoo artist. Likely rating: Tier 1." "Hey, fuck you too," Erica said, and pointed her middle finger at Grierson, along with a scowl to go with it. Honestly, none of that was surprising news about Erica for me except for the Battery charge, I definitely needed to get that story out of her. "Okay, we get it," I said, interrupting what I had a feeling was about to become a degenerating path of conversation. "You know about us. You do realize this is all a little much, right? It comes across as insane." "Of course it does," Grierson sighed. "But a year ago, only bored analysts tripping on LSD were asked to think about these kinds of situations. Now we're in it, right in the damned middle of the clusterfuck." "You should really look at the offer," Walters said, gesturing to the folded paper I hadn't looked into yet. It sat on the coffee table like an accusing finger pointed at me by my father, and his father before him. How dare I even consider this? "So it's a butt load of cash," I said, still not opening the paper. "And we get treated like what, royalty? And in exchange, I lose my family legacy." "Royalty is a stretch; you're selling us land, not curing cancer. We'll take care of you like valued members of society. You'll also get early access to the vaccine," Grierson said. "There's a vaccine?" Leo immediately asked. "Social media has been wild with rumors but,” "It's still experimental," Walters said. "And undergoing trials. But it's functioning, with some unconventional side effects. They're still doing long-term tests down in California, but we're going to start rolling it out down there any day now once the doctors are happy with the plan. That's how bad we need it, FDA bullshit be damned." I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Flipside, stick. If I don't cut a deal, you'll use the might of the US government to bend me over and rip my family legacy right out of my ass." "You got it. But like I said, we prefer working with people. There's always a silver lining to making friends," Walters said. "Fuck," I said again. Then I flipped one half of the paper open and looked at the number written on the inside. There were a damn lot of zeros. "I need to call my sister," I said. "But pending her approval, I'll lease it to you. All 560 acres, for a hundred years less a day; that's what people do, right? And Leo and I get to pick where our houses are built." "That's not how this works," Walters said. "It's my counter offer," I said. "Hold on," Grierson said, raising a hand to his partner. He narrowed his eyes as he looked me over again. He was a man who made judgment calls on the fly, despite his ability to reel off memorized facts like he'd been living with them for years. I could practically see the rusty old gears turning behind his grizzled facade. "Fuck it," he finally said. "We need to survive the next six months, year, five years and decade before anyone will be worrying about next century. Make your call." "You're really doing this?" Leo asked me as I stood up and fished in my pocket for my cell. "My family has had to defend this land from everything and everyone except the federal government," I said. "Up until now, they might be the only people who haven't thought they had some claim to it. Obviously, this will all need to be in writing before I make a final agreement, but look at the news; everything they're saying makes some sort of terrible sense. And I'd rather get the carrot than a stick so far up my ass it's tickling my brain stem." I went outside to the porch to make the call to Valerie, my older sister. It was quicker than I thought it would be; Val and her husband Brad were hearing horror stories from their nursing friends in the local hospitals, and she immediately understood the position we were in. We hadn't always gotten along the best growing up, but if Val had one thing it was a practical head on her shoulders. When I came back inside, I nodded to Grierson. "Add in another house for my sister and her family, and we've got a deal." "In exchange for the Lease, and the extra house," Walters said, "We're going to need your help in identifying the landscape. I assume you know it fairly well; we'll want you to walk our surveyors through to show any odd landscape elements, seasonal issues like flood areas, that sort of thing." "Done, as long as I can point out the shit they shouldn't fuck with and they actually listen," I said. "There are some pretty big old growth trees out there that would be a fucking shame to cut down." "I understand your concerns, son," Grierson said, as he stood and offered his hand. "But believe me when I say this; we aren't looking to build any high rises or pave over the place. These developments are for people important to society for one reason or another, and that means we're making sure to give them the best we can. Landscape included." One last deep breath and I reached out and hovered my own hand near his. "In writing before it's official." "The contract will be done by this afternoon and we'll email it over. Our lawyers work on our timeline, not their own," he said and grasped my hand in his. We both had larger hands than most, but I could immediately tell he had the grip of a man made from the iron bones of a hard life. I'd like to think he felt the same in my grip, but I had a feeling he'd shaken hands with much harder and scarier people than me. "When can we get vaccinated?" Leo asked. "If we're going to be working with surveyors and shit, shouldn't we all be as safe as we can?" "We have a testing site opening up in Portland as we speak, so it can get done as soon as possible," Walters said. "Though, as I mentioned, things are a little bit unorthodox right now. Harrison and Leo, you'll need these codes. Get online this afternoon, go to the website and fill out the questionnaire. It's extremely important you are entirely truthful. Your answers will affect how your tier ranking will play out for you as we roll it out over the next few months across the west coast." He pulled out two business cards from a pocket, each with their names, an URL and a twenty-five-digit passcode, and handed them to Leo and me. "What about me?" Erica asked. "Vaccination side effects and implementation are different between men and women," Grierson said. "Just like the virus is overly affecting men, the vaccine has different effects. If you want your vaccine immediately, Miss Lacoste, you're going to need to fly with us back up to Portland and attend the information session this afternoon that some of our volunteer human guinea pigs are doing. Then, if you agree to the risks and side effects, we can have you immunized as soon as tomorrow morning." Things moved quickly after that. Erica went to pack an overnight bag and put on her 'going out into the world' gear that she usually wore for grocery trips into town; she'd be put up in a quarantine hotel while in Portland for the night before she returned the next day. Within ten minutes she was ready to go and Walters was escorting her out, and the helicopter was warming up its rotors with a whining hum in the front yard. "I'm glad you agreed to the deal," Grierson said, offering his hand to me again, which I shook. "You may not fully understand what you've agreed to yet, but when you do I expect a more enthusiastic thank you. I get that the cash wasn't the important factor with you, son. I grew up on a ranch in North Dakota, I know what family land means. This place is going to do a lot of good for people." "Are you managing the development?" I asked, raising my voice to be heard over the rising thrum of the helicopter. "Not a chance," he said. "It'll be managed by the Air Force, they've been spearheading with the CDC on all these efforts. I'm just the pre-show, but I'll be around to check in on the progress every once in a while, and do the problem solving other people can't handle." "What does that look like?" I asked. "Any way it needs to," he grinned, and I saw the look that all veteran soldiers had. An acceptance that violence could come easily into the life of a person, and that they knew how to handle it when it came. "And don't be alarmed, but we've already had a crew starting to widen your driveway down at the highway. They'll work through the night and probably make it up here by tomorrow morning." "What's the rush?" I asked. Grierson barked a laugh as he started backing away from me towards the open helicopter door. Sour-puss lady was leaning out, holding onto the door and looking like she was about to try and scold Grierson for keeping them waiting. "Kid, in two weeks' time there's going to be well over a thousand lumberjacks, construction workers, surveyors and architects up here. Government moves slow, but OGA were designed to do the opposite. Your life is about to get a little crazy, I'd strap in." I had too many questions to even start one as Grierson hopped into the dark interior of the helicopter. The door slammed, the motor whined at a higher pitch, and it leapt into the sky and started heading north. "Hey, does this questionnaire strike you as way too fucking personal?" "Hmm?" I asked. I was sitting on the front porch with my laptop open, but I hadn't even keyed in the website URL. Instead, I'd been sitting there for over an hour just looking out at the trees, wondering if I'd just betrayed six generations of my family in under thirty minutes. "These questions," Leo said, holding up his own laptop. He'd stepped out the front door and had a look of confusion plastered on his face. "It's like... sex stuff. Shit I wouldn't talk to you about, let alone the government." "What?" I asked. "Are you sure you're on the right site? It's supposed to be about the tier thing." "Yeah, I'm sure. Dot-Gov link and everything." "Fucking OGA," I grimaced. "You and that Agent dude kept saying that. What does it mean?" I sighed. "Other Government Agency. It's kind of a military meme for when someone from the CIA doesn't want to say they are from the CIA. Or, if you're into conspiracies, it's completely separate from the CIA but they're so secretive they don't even have a name." Leo just shook his head and sighed before sitting down in the other deck chair. He joined me in looking out at the forested hills that had surrounded us for the last five years. "Did I fuck everything up?" I asked him. "What? No," he said. "Well, I mean, it's hard to know. But no, I don't think so." "This is all going to go away," I said, gesturing out to the wilds that had been my childhood, and our shared backyard. "My family has been on this land for over a hundred and fifty years, and I just agreed to let the government wipe it out." "It's not like you had much of a choice, Harrison. Carrot and stick, like you said. And whether those guys were CIA or something else, they definitely seemed to have a really big fucking stick. They flew in on a damn helicopter." "Still," I said. "I feel like I'm selling out my childhood." We talked for a while, reminiscing. Leo let me tell some old family stories he'd already heard a half dozen times before. We joked about the shit we'd gotten up to, living out in our backwoods paradise. "Maybe it's time for a change," I sighed. "This was never going to last forever." "Felt like it though, didn't it?" Leo asked. "Yeah, it did." Poing! Leo's laptop, sitting forgotten, made a horrible noise. He glanced at it, "Ah, shit. I timed out. Now I gotta start all over again." He started typing away, and I finally opened my own laptop. The first thing I did was open my emails, and sitting right at the top, already marked with an 'important' star, was the email with the contract. Everything is as discussed. Print and sign, someone will be by tomorrow to collect. Make sure you fill out the questionnaire!; Walters. "Jesus," I muttered. "They really are putting a lot of emphasis on this thing." I opened up the website, starting by filling out all the basic information. Then, just like Leo said, it started to get weird. It was like filling out the most invasive and specific dating app ever. "I feel like they're going to try and 3D Print me a girlfriend," Leo laughed at one point. "Maybe it's cloning," I snickered. "That's fair. I wonder if they can clone me an Angelina Jolie?" "Gone in 60 Seconds Jolie, or Wanted Jolie?" I asked. He snorted. "Mr. and Mrs. Smith Jolie will always be my peak. Or Tomb Raider." "Ugh," I scoffed. We went back and forth like that, laughing at the ridiculousness of the questions and suggestions. The list of kinks we were attracted to, or turned off by was immense. We had to help each other even figure out what some of them were. I found myself ticking off some that surprised me because I'd never considered them before but they sounded hot. Other stuff I down voted hard, and I couldn't believe someone would ever admit to the government that they were into them. Hell, one of the suggested kinks was the government. Who the fuck got hot under the collar about bureaucracy and paperwork? I mean, I guess someone would, somewhere, or it wouldn't have been on the list. "What did you put for that last one?" Leo asked me as I was closing my laptop. "The relationship style scale?" I asked. "Yeah. I put a full 10, polyamory all the way. How hot would it be to be some sheikh with a harem of ladies?" "I went for a 6," I said. "I'm not going to turn down a threesome or anything if that's what my girl wants, but I'm also not into the idea of sharing with another boner." Leo shrugged, closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair. "I don't know, my dude. The Agents did say the world is changing. Maybe the norm will be great big orgies next year, and we'll all be smashing like it's our jobs." I snorted and smirked. "Yeah, sure. Society threatens to collapse and we all devolve into Eyes Wide Shut perverts." "One can dream," Leo laughed. We spent the evening starting to pack. It was tough, since we weren't really sure what the actual plan was. The contract fully outlined that we'd be getting new residences in the development, which was being called 'Valhalla,' but it wasn't exactly clear what the timeline was. I pushed for Leo to get packing sooner than later. My days in the military had me trained to expect 'hurry up and wait' to never mean waiting on the little guy, and right now we were definitely the little guy. We were woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of machinery, and we got dressed and rode the ATVs down the driveway. The gravel trail stretched about a half mile from the highway up to the house, but we only made it around a couple of bends before we came to the lights and action. "Stop right there," someone with a megaphone called to us, and we pulled our rides to a halt and cut the engines. "Who the fuck are you?" the voice asked. "Harrison Black. You're on my,” I had to stop myself. As of that evening, I'd signed the contract. It wasn't mine anymore. "We live here," I corrected. "Oh, it's you," said the voice. One of the workers stepped forward. He had on a big, bright orange reflective vest, and had a clipboard in one hand and the megaphone in the other. "Keep working, boys!" he shouted, and the machinery ground into action again. He approached us and stopped about ten feet away, despite needing to shout to be heard over the machinery. "Sorry about the noise. We've got orders to get this road done up to your house by tomorrow." "We heard," Leo said. "How does this all work?" I asked. "Shouldn't you guys be in quarantine gear or something?" "We got tested twice over the last two days in preparation for the job," the guy said. "Everyone on the crew is clean, and we all damn well needed the work. Fastest turnaround and the highest pay I've ever seen. Still, we're supposed to keep our distance from anyone other than the team. You guys get tested?" "No," I shouted back. "But the Government guys who set this up didn't seem to care." "Yeah, they did that with us, too. Acted like they were immune. Hell, maybe they are," the worker said. "You hear about what that idiot in the White House said yesterday?" We traded some stories we'd heard. It was strange, usually Leo and I were pretty private with strangers, but after so long in isolation with just each other and Erica, and the fucking weird encounter with the Agents, it was nice to just shoot the shit with someone new and normal. Even if it was shouting over the sound of machinery. Williams was the foreman of the operation that was clearing the trees to either side of the road. Another crew was working behind them, and trucks were already dumping off heavy set gravel at the entrance to widen it into a three-lane road. By morning they expected to have all of the trees, stumps and all, ripped out and stacked up for processing, and the driveway would be graded and levelled by lunch. The speed at which the crew worked was almost frightening. They were all experienced hands and did everything safely, but it was clear that they were motivated. While we were talking, Leo and I had to back up our ATVs twice to clear space for the crew to move ahead. Eventually, we said good night to Williams and headed back up to the house. I went back to bed, wondering if I'd made a terrible mistake. True to their words, by the time Leo and I woke up in the early morning, the clanging and crashing was just fifty yards from the front door. We made a couple big pots of coffee and brought it out to the guys, and one at a time they all walked over to the stump we used as a table and poured it into their thermoses while we stayed back. I had to make two more trips with more fresh coffee to cover everyone; in the dark it had been hard to tell how many people were working stretched out along the driveway. The clearing crew itself had to be thirty people, and a tired but thankful Williams said the gravel grading and levelling crew was probably just as big. "I'm sure we'll see you around," Williams called as the workers started packing up their equipment and prepping their heavier machinery for transport. "Supposed to be lots more work to do up here, yeah?" "Guess so," I called back. "Where are you guys headed now?" "They set us up in a motel about 20 minutes south. We've got guys on the crew from all over; they recruited all of us to fly out for this work, all expenses paid. Gotta tell you, it felt like hitting the lottery after sitting around in quarantine with my savings siphoning away." They left behind stacks of logs and stumps along the side of the now widened driveway area, and soon Leo and I were prepping a whole new serving of coffee as the morning wore on and the grading crew made its way up my old driveway. The guys on that crew were a little more hesitant to chat since they felt like they were running behind schedule, but they were happy enough to take the hot coffee after a whole night of work. It was around noon when one of the grading crew came up and knocked on the front door of the house. I'd been busy cleaning out the attic; one of those jobs I'd always had on my list of things to do around the property but never got around to. If there was anything up there worth saving, I hadn't found it yet, but it was worth the look. I came down to the front door covered in dust. The guy took one look at me from where he'd backed to 'social distance' and started laughing. I took one look at him, covered in gravel dust with rings of sweat from where he'd taken off his hard hat, and laughed right back. "Sir," he finally said after a minute, "We just thought you should know that the crew down at the far end of the road said someone in a green pickup truck drove by real slow a few times. The third time they pulled over and asked what was going on, but the boys down there followed orders and didn't tell him anything, so he peeled out. Just figured we'd let you know." "I appreciate that," I said, and sighed in the way that only old family history could make me sigh. Deep, long and aggravated. "And I think I know who it probably was. Thanks for letting me know." He nodded and went back to work. I didn't even think to ask what all was going on down at the end of the new road they had installed until he was already at the other end of the yard. "What's up?" Leo asked when I went to join him in the barn. "One of the crew guys said they saw a green pickup doing drive-buys." "Hah! Well, I guess that's not going to be your problem anymore, is it?" Leo laughed. I smirked. "Not legally. I'm sure I'm still going to be on Kara's shit-list and get a fucking earful though." I ended up spending the early afternoon helping Leo pack up a bunch of his woodworking equipment. The smaller stuff was fairly easy, but he needed the extra body for some of the larger presses and table-mounted saws. It felt like we'd barely made a dent when the double-honk of a car broke our concentration. We both headed around the side of the barn to find Erica getting out of the passenger seat of a black town car that had eaten a whole lot of the fresh gravel dust and now looked like someone had dusted it with flour. Sour-puss Agent Maggie was getting out of the driver's seat. "Hey, sis, how was it?" Leo asked. "Umm-Hmm," Erica said, shaking her head and holding up a finger to keep him from hugging her. "I need to talk to both of you inside." She had nervous energy going on, bouncing her weight on one leg and chewing on the corner of her lower lip. "Give me twenty; no, give me thirty minutes." "Is everything alright?" I asked. Erica was already moving quickly into the house. She'd had a look on her face like she was sick, and flushed with a fever or something. I turned to Agent Maggie. "Did something happen? She didn't catch the virus, did she?" "No," sour-puss said, that permanent sneer never breaking. "She knows everything she needs to, and needs to talk. Just do what she says." "What are you talking about?" I asked. Leo had followed Erica inside to make sure she was Okay. "Look, prick. Your little 'send her to the car' thing yesterday made me look bad, and now I'm stuck as a glorified cab driver while my boss and my partner are off to another shitty corner of the country like this one to bribe someone else into handing over their property to the government. Just fuck off inside and enjoy your new fucking world, you Mamoa-wannabe jerk." She got back in her car and slammed the door closed, then started to peel away and spin the car around before slamming the breaks and rolling down the window. "I'll be back again in a few hours with Lacosta's partner. He needs to be here waiting." "What?" I asked. She just flashed me her middle finger as she drove away. God damn woman, I sighed, watching her kick up dust and loose stones as she drove way too fast down the brand new gravel road. I shook my head and went inside. Erica was already upstairs and I could hear the shower running. Leo just shook his head and shrugged, "She wouldn't say anything. Just muttered about needing to get ready for something." "This is weird," I said. "I'm really fucking hoping this whole thing isn't going to blow up in our faces." "If it is, we might as well take it head on. Too late to do anything else," Leo said. "That's too fucking true, my friend," I said. Thirty-five minutes later Erica, dressed in a pair of her tight jeans with all the holes 'stylishly' cut into them down the legs and a black Metallica hoodie, strutted down the stairs and immediately began pacing and fidgeting with the strings of her sweater hood. She had done her full makeup, and seeing her like that was almost as shocking as the first time she'd gone without it; it had been a month since she had bothered with makeup at all, since even when she went out on grocery runs she was entirely covered up. "Sit," she demanded when we joined her in the living room, pointing me to my usual chair and Leo to the couch. He furrowed his brow as he watched his sister's nervous energy, but I wasn't sure it was because he was worried or didn't like her ordering him around. Their whole twin thing had always been more bouncing off each other than working in parallel. "Alright, alright," I said, hands up as I went to sit. "What's going on, E?" She stopped pacing and looked at both of us, transferring her energy into tapping her foot. I'd only ever seen her like this once before, right before we'd had our big group conversation about her staying indefinitely through the quarantine. Later, she'd elaborated to me a little bit more as to why she'd been so nervous; beyond the pandemic dangers, and feeling alone if she left, Erica had been chipping in for groceries with us, but that was it; the woman couldn't work during the pandemic, and tattooing hadn't exactly fueled her savings accounts. Everything all piling on at once had turned her into a nervous wreck, the opposite of her usual self. So what was doing this to her now? "Erica," Leo said, snapping her out of the train of thought she'd lost herself in staring at me. Her gaze was intense, only added to by her sexy post-punk look. It was like she'd erected a wall of armor around herself, or was taking on a persona that she'd let drop. "Right, sorry, I'm just really fucking distracted," she said. "Look, there's no way to say this easily without sounding sort of crazy at first, Okay? So I'm just going to say it, and you both need to listen cause I'm only explaining it once, alright?" Leo and I both nodded. "Alright, so the vaccine isn't just like, a shot. Well, it is for women. I got it this morning, and I'm something like 97% immune to the virus. But for men it isn't a shot. I did that information session and they showed us a bunch of research I only half-understood thanks to my AP bio classes back in high school, but I definitely got the video. The vaccine is pretty much lethal for men, and it has some weird side effects for women. They couldn't remove those aspects, so they modified it in other ways to try and adjust." "So how are we supposed to get vaccinated?" Leo asked. Erica licked her lips, and I realized she was sweating slightly. She glared at her brother, then looked at me and her eyes softened, then hardened, and I couldn't tell if she was angry at me or what. Then she glared back at her brother again. "They basically turned the vaccine into an STD, and it's the only way for men to get vaccinated. It's not permanent and needs frequent upkeep in both men and women, and it turns women fucking horny as hell if they go without for too long." "I'm sorry, what!?" Leo burst out. "And you took the shot?" "Just shut up, Leo!" Erica tried to shout him down. "I heard all the evidence, I weighed my options, and I decided this was the best thing to do. The whole tier system thing? I did the same questionnaire as you guys did, and they gave me a list of good matches. People I could go become a partner of. Like, sexually, and maybe romantically. We'd live together in quarantine, screw each other into immunity, and be that way for the foreseeable future until they fix this vaccine." "That's so fucked up," I said. "They wanted you to just shack up with someone you didn't know?" "Yeah, except someone I did know was on my list," she said. "Who?" Leo asked. "Are you moving back to Portland?" Erica turned from her brother and looked right at me. "Oh, no," Leo said. "No, no, no. You two are not becoming fuck buddies. We discussed this, Erica!" "Wait, what?" I said. "You discussed,” "Not important!" Leo shouted. "It's not important. It's not happening." "It's too late, Leo," Erica said. Then she turned to me. "At least, it is if you're into it. Look, Harrison, you can say no. I can't make you do this. What's-her-name will come back and get me, and I'll pick someone else on that list they gave me, and I'll go stay with them wherever they are. No hard feelings, you've done so much for me already that I can't even start to say thank you properly. But fuck I really want to fuck you. I've been getting off thinking about you almost exclusively for weeks, and the only reason I never asked you out in all these years is because I promised Leo back in high school I wouldn't ever date his friends." "And this is better?!" Leo squawked. "Shut up, Leo!" Erica shouted back at him. "You're not seriously considering this, are you?" Leo asked me. "You can't; Why; Come on, dude. She's my twin sister, it would be like... ugh!" He threw his hands up in the air in frustration. I rubbed my face with both hands and took in a deep breath before looking back at the siblings. "Alright," I said slowly. "First off, Erica, is this the vaccine talking? Just try and focus, cause this sounds an awful lot like some crazy date-rape drug and not a vaccine." "God, fuck. Why do men have to make things so hard?" she said. "I've wanted to fuck you for ages, Harrison. You being on my compatibility list at the vaccine center just made the decision fucking convenient instead of a fantasy." I turned to Leo. "Would you rather it be me, or some freak you know nothing about?" "I'd rather it be no one!" Leo said. "That's not an option anymore," Erica growled. "I've already got the shot. I'm just going to get hornier and hornier until I fucking snap, Leo. Then I'll fuck anything that fucking moves, that's the way it works. I need to bond with someone or I'll lose my goddamn mind. There are still a few days before I apparently go full-on bitch-in-heat feral, but I'm already feeling an itch all over and the only thing that I know, I know, is going to relieve that itch is cock." "Jaysus," I muttered, sitting back. Erica turned back to me, hugging herself. "Please, Harrison? Just; just tell me yes or no. Standing here without an answer is killing me, cause I don't know if I need to fight the feeling or I can give in." "I; Erica, you are absolutely gorgeous. I always assumed you weren't interested in me, or just wanted a friend. Honestly, I sort of thought you were gay with the comments you make about the women you work on in your shop. You're always talking about perky tits and firm asses and stuff like that," I said. "I'm Bi," she clarified. "And I work with people's bodies all day. I know what's hot and what's not for me, and Harri, you've fucking revved my engine since that first weekend Leo introduced us. I just want to rub my body all over,” "Erica!" Leo interrupted her. "Sorry, sorry, too much," she said. "I told you, this fucking vaccine is damn distracting right now. I need some relief here." "I'll do it," I said. "I just; this feels like the drug or whatever talking, Erica. Are you absolutely sure?" She was on me, straddling my lap and pressing her mouth to mine. Erica grabbed my head in her hands as she started forcefully making out with me, muttering 'Thank you' over and over into my lips. Her tongue pushed against mine, and then she grabbed my hands with hers and pulled them around to grab her ass. It was wonderfully firm, with a good amount of muscle that kept it looking full even if it wasn't particularly plump. "At least go get a room," Leo growled loudly. I pushed Erica back far enough that we could look each other in the eyes. Hers were bright, lucid, and silently pleading with me in a way that made her seem smaller and more vulnerable than the tough chick I'd come to know. "Let's go upstairs," I said to her. "I didn't mean literally get a room, right now," Leo said. "We need to talk this over! You made me a promise, Erica." "Shut up, Leo," Erica said. "I'll make it up to you, this isn't the end of the world. Probably. I think." She grabbed my hand, scrambled out of my lap and started pulling me up out of my chair. "What the fuck am I supposed to do?" Leo asked. "How am I getting vaccinated?" "Whenever they find someone who actually wants to fuck you, dorkus," Erica told her brother. "That lady agent said she'd be back in a few hours with your 'partner,'" I told him as I passed by, still getting pulled by Erica towards the stairs. "I didn't know what she meant at the time, but I guess;?" "Is she hot?" Leo asked me. I was already getting pulled up the stairs. "How am I supposed to know?" I yelled down to him. It's funny how energy can rise and fall at the drop of a hat. Erica pulled me into the guest bedroom she'd been using as her bedroom, slammed the door shut and turned to me; and stopped. She bit her lip, one leg bouncing at the knee as she shifted her weight. "Second thoughts?" I asked. "No, no," Erica said, shaking her head. "Definitely not. God, fuck, no. I didn't want to get into it in front of Leo like that, but you're also just being so you that I feel like I need to explain myself more." "So tell me," I said, sitting down on the bed. Erica started pacing again but stopped after one back-and-forth. "Okay, look. What I said down there is true. I would have asked you out years ago, after that first time we met at Burleson's when Leo brought you around." "The pub around the corner from your shop? That wasn't the first time we met," I said. "I know," she replied. "That was when you were moving into Leo's apartment. We passed each other in the building lobby and I saw you glance at my tits. I thought you were just another fuckboy asshole." "Wait, I don't remember that," I said. "Why didn't you ever tell me that happened? I thought the first time was when you gave Leo the fish tattoo on his side." "That's the first time we actually spoke," Erica said. "And you had an uphill fucking battle to try and change my mind about my first impression of you. You only made it far enough that I didn't bitch about Leo bringing you to the pub a couple nights later. That was when I got to actually focus on talking to you instead of chatting while I was at work. I also remember being super fucking pissed at Leo that night, because I asked him if I could go back on our deal from high school and hook up with you, and he said no." "Okay, whoa; we could have been having sex for seven years and you held to an agreement you made in high school? What was this fucking thing, a treaty ratified by the Pope?" Erica snorted a laugh and ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. "No, it was stupid. And honestly, looking back, we probably would have had a lot better of a time if he and I had agreed on the opposite. But Leo was a jock, and I was a scene girl, and we made an agreement that we didn't want each other messing with our friend groups. So no dating, no crushing, no nothing if the other twin claimed them first. We wanted to guard what we had, instead of helping each other out." I huffed a soft laugh. "Sounds like teenage bullshit to me." "Yeah, well, I'll just claim twin loyalty, Okay?" Erica said. "But that's not the really fucked up thing about this. When you invited me down from the city to stay with you guys, Leo and I had a separate talk. Harrison, my brother fucking loves you. Not like in a sexual way, but you're the best friend he's ever had. Period. No doubt about it. And he may not have ever said it to you but he was really worried that I would screw up the dynamic you guys have; and now here I am doing it." Erica squeezed her eyes shut and tilted her face to the ceiling. "Shit, maybe this was a bad idea after all. Fuck, he's never going to forgive me, I,” "Hey, hey," I said, standing and pulling her into a hug. Erica was a tall woman, easily 5'9 or a bit more, but I still towered over her with my 6'6". She clung to the sides of my shirt instead of hugging back, but buried her face into my chest. "I didn't know any of this, E. But we're all adults, we can handle this better than making promises we don't want to keep." "I know," she mumbled into my shirt, and slowly let go of my sides and slid her arms around until she was hugging me back. "You should know that I would have asked you out in a second if I thought you were interested," I said. "I'm still not exactly comfortable with the big picture on all of this, but this right here? I will definitely take this silver lining." "God, you make me so hot, Harrison," Erica said, and she looked up into my eyes. I kissed her as we held each other. Her considerable chest was pressing against my sternum, and as she shifted her arms up to wrap them around my neck and pull me closer to her, I lowered mine until I hooked my fingers into the belt loops of her jeans. We held that for a while, eyes closed and enjoying the feeling like we were teenagers again. God, we're both over thirty, I laughed in my head. We should be a lot bet

President Donald Trump has spent his first six months back in the White House using broad executive orders and aggressive raids and deportations to overhaul longstanding immigration practices. The unpredictability of these actions has stoked fear and confusion among immigrant communities across the country – and in Oregon.On this week’s OPB Politics Now, reporters Conrad Wilson, Troy Brynelson and Alex Zielinski help us understand how federal immigration policies under this administration are impacting the lives of Oregonians – and how advocates, lawyers and the courts are stepping in.

This week, we talk through the Terry McLaurin hold out situation. We also discuss the latest Commanders Training Camp news & could the Redskins name come back? We also answer fan submitted questions.

On this episode, we're reporting from the Broadband Communities Summit in Houston, Texas, where we sit down with Molly Weiner, Director of Local and Regional Planning for Connected Nation. Molly shares insights from a new telehealth study focused on seven rural counties in northwest Colorado, conducted in partnership with Colorado's eHealth Innovation Office.We explore why many residents still aren't using telehealth, what's holding them back, and how education, awareness, and digital skills can bridge the gap.Recommended Links: See the study HERECN Telehealth Research

The Casuals discuss Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959)

#NHRA #DragRacing #nhraresults Get ready for an exciting episode of WFO Radio NHRA Nitro, featuring 4X Funny Car champion Matt Hagan, fresh off his thrilling first win of the season at the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals! Hagan outran Ron Capps in a wild, edge-of-your-seat showdown, and now he's joining WFO host Joe Castello to break down every heart-pounding moment. Plus, Hagan will share an exclusive preview of the upcoming DENSO Sonoma Nationals, offering insider insights on what's next in the NHRA nitro chase! In addition, NHRA's Jason Galvin, will recap the race, dive into the results, and spotlight the other standout winners who lit up the Northwest Nationals. Don't miss this high-octane livestream and podcast—Rev up and tune in! #NHRA #WFOradio #MattHagan #NHRA nitro 🎙️🚨 Don't miss out! Subscribe to WFO Radio for weekly NHRA updates, driver interviews, and exclusive motorsport content. Hit the bell 🔔 for notifications!

BOSSes, Anne Ganguzza and Tom Dheere dive into a lively and often debated topic for voiceover professionals: industry awards. Prompted by Anne's multiple Award nominations, they explore whether these accolades are simply vanity projects or powerful marketing tools. This episode delves into evolving perspectives on awards, the true meaning of a nomination, and practical strategies for leveraging any recognition to propel your voiceover business forward. They emphasize understanding the subjective nature of awards and how to use them for credibility, even beyond winning.   00:40 - Anne (Host) Hey everyone, welcome to the VO Boss Podcast. I'm your host, Anne Ganguzza, and I'm here with real boss, Tom Dheere. Woo-hoo, hi, Tom Dheere. I feel like there's pomp and circumstance for you, Tom Dheere, because it's that season again. Do you know what season it is? Deer season.  01:00 - Tom (Guest) Get it Tom Dheere, Deer season oh my God, that is really funny actually. That was terrible. It was not funny.  01:04 - Anne (Host) Well, okay, in addition to being deer season, right, it's award season. Woo-hoo, that's right it is award season. And I know there's always there's always always discussions about awards, and I've had discussions about awards before. I think we've probably talked about them before, but let's talk about them again, shall we? Because I think it's an ever-evolving thing and there are some people who are really for awards and some people who really detest awards.  01:32 - Tom (Guest) Yes, the reason why we're having this conversation, Anne, is because you got nominated for how many One Voice Awards.  01:41 - Anne (Host) Five why,thank you.  01:43 - Tom (Guest) Yes.  01:43 - Anne (Host) Why, thank you.  01:46 - Tom (Guest) I'm very excited about that. Wow, this is exciting and it's for all of the amazing work that you have gotten out of your students.  01:54 - Anne (Host) Yeah, for demos. 01:55 - Tom (Guest) That's amazing. Congratulations to you and all of your students. I'm very excited.  01:59 - Anne (Host) Yes, thank you, thank you. I like awards. I am one of those people that I actually endorse awards and I know some people think they're a vanity thing and in reality, for me it's always been about the marketing aspect. Tom, what are your thoughts?  02:15 - Tom (Guest) I used to be part of the anti-awards crew. I thought it was an exercise in vanity. I thought it was a money grab by the voiceover organizations that were hosting the awards, and my thoughts have evolved on the subject. Okay, I'd love to hear that. Well, I really do see now that it is truly a marketing tool and that is okay. All awards in all industries, from the Oscars all the way down to, you know, dog Catcher of the Year, these are all marketing. It's all about marketing. Is it about recognition? Yes. Is it a celebration of the industry in question? Yes. Is it to shine a spotlight on excellence, either from an individual or a group of individuals or a company, or whatever? Yes, is it to shine a spotlight on excellence either from an individual or a group of individuals or a company, or whatever? Yes, all of that is good and it should be supported. Is it an exercise of vanity? Yeah, sure, it's okay. There's nothing wrong with wanting to get dressed up and have people applaud you. There's nothing wrong with that, it's totally cool, it's totally cool.  03:22 - Anne (Host) Any excuse to get dressed up.  03:24 - Tom (Guest) Well, especially as voice actors who are stuck in closets in our pajamas all day,  03:27 - Anne (Host) Exactly exactly.  03:28 For me, it's always been marketing. First, because we have this whole conversation that awards are subjective. Right, I watch the awards, I watch the music awards, I watch the Emmys, the Oscars, I watch them all. Some people just they have so much to say about the awards, but honestly, I enjoy them if there's entertainment involved and I actually feel like it's wonderful when people get recognition that I feel deserve recognition. But of course, there's always the times where you're like I don't know how that person won or I don't know how that person didn't win, and so it is so very subjective and I think, first and foremost, we all need to remember that that is a fact. Right, it is very subjective and if you do not win an award, it has no bearing whatsoever on your worth or your quality at all, absolutely.  04:17 - Tom (Guest) It's interesting because the prism that most people look through all awards through is the Oscars. Right, and it's like Billy Crystal said it's an evening for three hours where millionaires are handing each other gold statues, which is pretty funny and accurate. But here's the thing I just realized about all this is that if you are a member of the Academy the Film Academy and you get your screeners, you know that Daniel Day-Lewis is up for best actor and you're watching the movie, or whatever excerpts of the movie that they sent you for you to cast your vote for him or somebody else.  04:50 - Anne (Host) Right or anybody else in any other category, or if you're not a voter right, you're a person going. Oh, hmm, somebody thinks that movie's credible, maybe I'll go see it. Guess what that resulted in Purchasing right, purchasing right, purchasing a ticket to go see that movie. So marketing, it worked, so marketing.  05:05 - Tom (Guest) But here's the interesting Anne that I just realized when it comes to the One Voice Awards which we both got, I got nominated for a little one, just one, yay, congratulations.  05:13 - Anne (Host) Tom Dheere.  05:13 - Tom (Guest) The commercial category.  05:14 - Anne (Host) Oh, that's right. That's right, Tom, that's awesome.  05:25 - Tom (Guest) So for your performance, but it's really nice. It's just being like, hey. But here's the thing about it is that when you submit, it's my understanding that when they listen to these demos that you help produce or these voiceovers that I did, they don't know who they're listening to.  05:41 - Anne (Host) Yeah, theoretically.  05:43 - Tom (Guest) So it's theoretically, I mean.  05:44 - Anne (Host) In a closed industry. Sometimes, like I know Tom De're listening to yeah, theoretically, so it's theoretically, I mean In a closed industry. Sometimes, like I know Tom Dheere voice.  05:48 - Tom (Guest) Well, that's exactly what I was about to say. I would like if there were three or four or five, if there were five people who were listening to these, I think that maybe two or three of them would probably be like that's Tom.  05:58 - Anne (Host) Yeah, yeah, yeah, but they don't talk to one another.  06:01 - Tom (Guest) But they don't talk to one other so it's generally anonymous and it's generally done in isolation.  06:06 - Anne (Host) I can say that for certain because I've been a judge prior.  06:09 - Tom (Guest) Right, oh, okay, so.  06:10 - Anne (Host) I can say for certain that it is closed and that you do not know who the entry is. You don't know who submitted it, right, and it's isolated.  06:18 - Tom (Guest) So for the five lovely voice actors whose demos were nominated that you produced. They didn't know who they were and they didn't know that necessarily that it was you that produced it. I mean, after a while, if you listen to enough demos, you can be like that's a Chuck Duran demo, that's a Nancy Wolfson demo because there's just like styles, there's styles you know what I mean, but for the most part they're not going to know who these voice actors are, who are nominated for any of these or for the demo.  06:43 So I think it's more of a pure. There's a level of purity in it that there isn't in the Oscars, for example.  06:48 - Anne (Host) Yeah, there's a combination for that particular category of not just the demo but the performance in the demo and hopefully, if you have created that demo and produced that demo, that has lent itself to a wonderful performance. And just being nominated, I want to say to anybody out there, just being nominated is a win. It doesn't matter, honestly, if I win, and I've been entering awards for years now. There's been many, many years where I didn't win and so I have to like always talk to myself and talk to my students to make sure that if I don't win it doesn't mean that I'm not worthy, it doesn't mean that that nomination wasn't really a win, because you can still believe it or not, you can market a nomination just like a win.  07:28 - Tom (Guest) Absolutely, and the Oscars— it sounds pretty darn similar. The Oscars do it all the time.  07:32 - Anne (Host) Mm-hmm. Award-nominated versus award-winning.  07:35 - Tom (Guest) Right. Did you ever watch the Secret Life of Walter Mitty?  07:38 - Anne (Host) That's the one that Ben Affleck wrote, and directed and starred in.  07:42 - Tom (Guest) I thought that movie was exceptional and I swore I was going to get all these nominations. It didn't get a one.  07:48 - Anne (Host) And.  07:49 - Tom (Guest) I don't know if it's because they didn't think it was off to snuff, if it was too past the deadline, or if they just chose not to submit it, because that's the other thing. We choose to submit ourselves for these awards. Now for actors in Broadway and television and film. They have their production companies or networks or whatever deciding to do these. Oh, we think these people have the best chance and they still have to pay submission fees as well, application fees for the nominations, just like any other nomination, which I think is-.  08:16 - Anne (Host) Well, there's a cost to running an award show. There's a cost to having people judge the awards. There's a cost for people's time, absolutely. So paying to enter yourself into an awards is. I don't find anything necessarily wrong about that.  08:33 - Speaker 2 (Announcement) No.  08:33 - Tom (Guest) Maybe how much you pay, I don't know I mean if it's a for-profit scheme, then you know, okay, I mean people who organize awards. Should they or do they deserve to make a profit, Like I don't know if, like the Oscars, if that's a nonprofit situation where they don't make any money off of it, they just want to celebrate the industry and recognize people for it, and they don't make a dime. And they make the fees just enough to cover the cost to produce the show and print and, you know, make the gold statues.  08:59 - Anne (Host) Well, it becomes a marketing effort for the venue. It becomes a marketing effort for the people who put stuff in the swag bags. It becomes a marketing effort for so many things really. And it's like it's not always obvious, but in reality it really does lend itself to marketing quite a bit.  09:17 - Tom (Guest) One of the other questions. One of the anti-award swath of the voiceover industry says winning award isn't going to book you more work. And for the Oscars? We know that's not true, because when actors or actresses win an Oscar, they get a lot more scripts on their desk. They've all said that they just get more acting opportunities. So in that context it's 100% true. Is it true for voice actors? I'd say it probably isn't, because your typical explainer video production company has never heard of the One Voice Awards. But that's not the reason that you do it. But yeah.  09:52 - Anne (Host) However, let's just go beyond it, because if you market yourself as an award-nominated voice actor or an award-winning voice actor, right, if somebody happens to find you or find your website, right, it lends some credibility. I believe it lends some credibility to who you are. So if I'm a person and I don't know the voices and I have two equal voices that I like if I see that one has won an award or has a history of winning awards or being nominated for awards, I'm going to feel like, oh, maybe they've been in business a little bit longer, maybe they're considered by others to be top of their field, and so I would maybe sway toward an award nominated or award winning. And again, it really depends on how people, given equal circumstances, award winning, award nominated versus maybe not.  10:42 - Tom (Guest) I think that's a very fair point. Now, where my mind was going where Tom Dheere, the VO strategist, business and marketing guy, was going is what's the SEO value of?  10:53 - Anne (Host) the terms award-winning.  10:55 - Speaker 2 (Announcement) Like how is that what's the?  10:56 - Tom (Guest) score. Yeah, what's the keyword score? You know what I mean. So actually, I want to make a note of that. I want to look that up when we get off of this.  11:03 - Anne (Host) I'll tell you, when I look for a company to purchase from right, what's the criteria? I want to make sure that that company's been in business for a while. I want to make sure that they put out a quality product and I want to know that there's testimonials of other people who have used that product that are actually saying yes, it helped me, it was wonderful, it was quick and painless. And think about that. This could be right. Anybody who might have won an award and has testimonials on their website. Right, If you've award winning, then that gives it a little bit of credibility that maybe other people have listened to this person. They're definitely a professional in the industry, right? You don't submit for an award unless you're a professional, so sometimes you just don't know who you're working with. It can help people, I think, to get to know you a little bit better, or really, I think, put that credibility forward first when people are making a buying decision.  11:58 - Tom (Guest) Yeah, I mean, and now that I'm thinking about it as we're talking about it, what's a better testimonial than an award nomination? Right, yeah, I mean, and now that I'm thinking about it as we're talking about it, what's a better testimonial than an award nomination?  12:04 - Anne (Host) Right, yeah, I mean really.  12:06 - Tom (Guest) Right, what's a better endorsement?  12:07 - Anne (Host) That was kind of my point right, it's a wonderful way. So if I buy because of they've been in business, they're not going to just go out of business and take my money and steal it. They're credible, right? They have a good product, right? Well, if they're award nominated, award-winning, that lends me to think that when I look for a beauty product, hello, I'm going to go back to you know award-winning award-winning formulas.  12:28 If I have no knowledge whatsoever of the product, right, I'm going to tend to look there first and after I look there, right, I'm going to look for it. Actually, if I do my shopping on Amazon or I do shopping on anything, right, I'm looking for the number of stars, the ratings, right, A lot of times they go hand in hand. Right Ratings and reviews.  12:46 Ratings and reviews and so award nominated best beauty product of 2024 by Elle magazine, that kind of thing. That kind of means something to me. I'm like, well, somebody did their research right and so therefore, if it's talking about a voice talent that's award-nominated and award-winning, I would feel like, oh okay, maybe there's some credibility there. Now I can go ahead and listen. Let me listen to the voice and see if it's something that I want.  13:10 - Tom (Guest) Yeah, yeah. And of course the capitalist in me thinks oh and if you're an award-winning voice actor, maybe you can charge more.  13:18 - Anne (Host) Well, I right, that's very true, but I also know like if people come to me for a demo, right, they're like I want to win an award. I always try to say to them well, that shouldn't be like I really have people say that to me.  13:28 That shouldn't be the goal. However, they're like I want an award-winning demo. What are they saying to me? They're saying to me that they want the absolute best demo that is valued by the community or valued by others in the community. So they want a valuable product. That's what they're saying to me and I'll kind of say, well, okay, I don't design demos to win an award. However, I want to design a demo to get you work right and if it wins an award, that's a great bonus. And they're like yeah, I know, but I still want an award winning right? People will say that to me, so it's kind of human nature, I think, to want to lean toward a product that is award-winning.  14:05 - Tom (Guest) Right, Because nobody says I want to eat something that's been not approved by the FDA. Yeah right, Exactly, I will never. I will eat at no restaurant that's ever won a Michelin star. I refuse, it's like no, that's ridiculous.  14:17 - Anne (Host) Because it's not just the recognition, it's what the recognition represents. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely so. For me that's where the awards have always sat and I did have issues for years until I explained to my students who I said I think you should enter this into the awards. I will always say, hey look, I think it's an award worthy product, right. And so they're like oh really, and that gives them like a sense of worth or a sense of like pride. Hopefully I wouldn't say it if I didn't think it had a chance of getting some recognition.  14:52 So if I say that to someone, then I've given them a sense of accomplishment, I'm giving them confidence in their product so that they can then represent themselves and sell it better, and that's basically how that'll work. But I will always explain to them look, if you do not win, remember awards are very, very subjective. There have been some amazing, just like there have been some amazing movies that didn't win the best picture of the year. There have been some amazing actors that have not won best actor or best actress, and so you know, you have to really make yourself aware, even though in your heart you might be disappointed if you don't win right or don't get nominated. But you do have to realize that it is very, very subjective especially if you've got an award show that it doesn't cost anything to enter. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. You're not losing out on anything really by submitting.  15:46 - Tom (Guest) I mean, take a chance. It's like playing the lottery, right. Take a chance, Absolutely. So, with all that in mind, what do you do from a marketing stance? And I've got my own ideas too, about how we could tell VO bosses. You've got a thing, whether it's a spot that I did for a college or if there's a demo that you produce with a student.  15:59 - Anne (Host) What are the?  16:00 - Tom (Guest) steps to use it, to use the award, nomination and hopefully the win, as a marketing tool.  16:05 - Anne (Host) Well, absolutely put it on your website right.  16:08 Absolutely throw it on YouTube, put it on your website. Label it as being award nominated, award winning, like. Make sure the text is in there, because that's SEO value. Make sure that it's on your website, make sure that it's on every single profile, make sure that it's in every single description, make sure that it's literally like SEO optimized. And then make sure that wherever you're describing it as an award nominated, right, award winning entry or whatever that might be, make sure that you're also giving information about the industry that you're in best performance voice actor, corporate narration, right or whatever, or best performance demo, reel, animation so it then allocates the other words that are important. So when people are searching for animation, voice, right and then all of a sudden, this will come up, as I'm so excited that my award-winning entry or award-nominated entry or whatever if something comes up or shows up in their search, that's going to lend its credibility and also hopefully lead to your website so that they can then inquire further or get an audition from you or find out more and contact you.  17:14 - Tom (Guest) Yes, I'll layer on top of that, like, for example, when I found out I got my One Voice nomination, I wrote a blog about it.  17:22 - Anne (Host) Yep, that's wonderful.  17:24 - Tom (Guest) So what that does is a number of things. Every time that you write a blog, you publish a blog, it adds another page to your website and All of the content on that particular website is saying voice over, this voice acting, that voice talent, this voice artist, that. So it's got all of the keywords that would further enrich the search engine optimization of your website, to make it more searchable and for it to rank higher. So just writing about it is extremely important on a technical SEO level. However, you don't want to turn it into a self-aggrandizing. Oh, look at me. It could be about a number of things.  18:05 - Anne (Host) It could be about the company that created the one voice in this situation, or about the company that you voiced for.  18:11 - Tom (Guest) Or about the company that you voiced for exactly. So a couple years ago I got a one voice nomination for a public service announcement I did for the Humane Society. Remember those 4,000 beagles were rescued from a lab in Virginia. A few years ago.  18:25 And then the American Humane Society got all 4,000 beagles adopted. So I auditioned and booked the voiceover for the public service announcement announcing that all 4,000 beagles were adopted. So when I blogged a few years ago back then about hey, I got this award nomination, it wasn't about the award, it wasn't about the nomination, it wasn't about me, it was about bringing awareness, it was about the beagle puppies. That's what it was about. I made it about the puppies.  18:53 - Anne (Host) And that's wonderful, because what's a better draw than animals, your fur babies, right?  18:59 - Tom (Guest) Yes.  19:02 - Anne (Host) Which is I lead all my award nominations with my cats there you go.  19:04 But that's an actual great idea, like somehow, let's just say, my Bengal Manx mix Sebastian, who everybody's gotten to know because they have their own Facebook and Instagram and TikTok right. So we could just say, oh, they're in my studio listening and then all of a sudden you can silently incorporate or just in the back end, incorporate that performance or that particular working on a demo for blah blah, blah blah blah For me on my website, because I advertise that I do demo production. Under the demo page, the landing page, I have all the awards and nominations that I've ever done and received, and for the VO Boss, because we've won awards for the VO Boss podcast and nominations. I also have it on my VO Boss website as well, as well as writing a blog on VO Boss about it. So absolutely trying to garner an award-winning podcast.  19:49 - Tom (Guest) Yeah, the other thing that I do is I make sure that I reached out to the production company that cast me for it, so my nomination this time was for North Idaho. College just a real tiny, tiny little postage stamp-sized college in the Northwest of our country and that one got nominated and it's a great. It's a great ad. It's beautifully shot, the editing is just superb. The music is perfect. You know, I'm probably the worst thing about the whole thing.  20:16 - Anne (Host) I love how generous you are. I think that's the way you need to approach it. They could just break apart and say it's your voice, but in reality, when you're presenting a product or a piece for an award, it's the whole darn shebang. If you think about it, that helps with that presentation. It's the media, the music behind it, the voice. It's all like a beautiful symphony in reality.  20:36 And so paying it forward and having gratitude for the other parts of it that helped you to win that award or that nomination, I think is a wonderful way to not appear to make it like a vanity thing, because you're showing appreciation for all of the components that help make it happen. I mean, whenever I make an announcement by the way, the other thing that I do to market is on social media, right so I'm highlighting the demo clients of mine that their voice has been nominated, and I'm also giving thanks to my audio engineer and in reality, it's like I could not have done it without you, to be quite honest, and so that then lends it to be a little less vanity ridden or sounding, I should say.  21:16 - Tom (Guest) Right, I mean in the Oscar Awards, do they go up there, accept the award, thank themselves and then get off the stage?  21:21 - Anne (Host) No, they're always thanking the people that helped them make it possible, really Exactly Also just from a technical and SEO perspective.  21:28 - Tom (Guest) Another reason why I like to let the production company know is because now they have the opportunity to use this nomination as marketing fodder for their own campaigns on their website and social media and newsletters and things like that.  21:43 So it's just paying it forward also on a marketing level. So the production company just has because all the voice seekers are as desperate to come up with quality content to put on their website and social media and their communications as us voice actors are. So to give them saying, hey, here's a free nugget of marketing gold that you can go do something with it helps everybody.  22:05 - Anne (Host) Absolutely. I actually got a statue. I got one of the awards for one of my partners on the podcast and shipped it. When I won this podcast I'm trying to think a couple years ago I also ordered an award for the person that I interviewed on that show and I shipped it, and that was actually for Alex Srdjak from Respeecher, so I shipped it to. Ukraine.  22:27 So I literally and that's how grateful I was. And it was really cool because when he received it, of course, what did he do? He took a picture of it with him, right, and then he used it for his own marketing, which I thought was really wonderful. So it kind of was like it all works for everybody involved.  22:42 - Tom (Guest) See, haters. There are so many great things about a voiceover award nomination and a win. There's so many great things that you can do, not just for yourself, but for the people that made the nomination possible.  22:53 - Anne (Host) Absolutely. You know what do you say to the haters? I mean you don't have to enter and you don't have to watch. I mean you don't have to enter and you don't have to watch awards and you don't have to participate. If you don't agree with it, that's completely fine. It's completely fine in reality, but for those that do, there's value to it beyond the award. Really, it's beyond the award and, like I said, even if you don't get nominated, if your coach or somebody says you should submit that for an award, consider that a win. Really. If you have a colleague that listens to this and say, oh my God, that was amazing, you should submit that. Right, there is an award for confidence, for somebody believing in you and believing in your work and thinking that it is worthy of an award, and that, to me, is a win right there.  23:36 - Tom (Guest) Absolutely.  23:37 - Anne (Host) So good stuff. Tom Dheere, Congrats on your noms.  23:42 - Tom (Guest) Congrats on your noms.  23:43 - Anne (Host) Yeah, thank you. And bosses out there, utilize this for good, for marketing efforts. And even if you just want to submit your work to your colleague and say, what do you think right, consider that your award submission for a job well done. And if you don't win, don't let it affect you. It has nothing to do with your worthiness, with your performance. It basically is something that you know. What if you don't win, try, try again. What is it If you don't?  24:09 - Tom (Guest) If at first you don't succeed try, try again.  24:12 - Anne (Host) Well, yeah, well, if you don't win, try, try again. That's what I say. I always think there's something good in a little bit of competition, right? That keeps us motivated and keeps us inspired to want to be better and do better. So allow that to help you further your career. So, whether or not you win an award, allow it to inspire and motivate you. So good stuff. All right, Tom, thank you so much. I'm gonna give a great big shout out to our sponsor, ipdtl. You too can connect and be award-winning bosses. Find out more at IPDTLcom. Tom, thank you so much, and bosses have an amazing week.  24:54 - Speaker 2 (Announcement) We'll see you next time. Bye, join us next week for another edition of VO Boss with your host, Anne Ganguzza, and take your business to the next level. Sign up for our mailing list at vobosscom and receive exclusive content, industry revolutionizing tips and strategies and new ways to rock your business like a boss. Redistribution, with permission. Coast to coast connectivity via ipdtl.   

Northwest Regional Wildlife Manager Blane Klemek recaps spring turkey season, previews bear, elk, deer and more....and talks about his solo trip to Isle Royal.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Rural news and events from Tasmania and the nation.

Crusaders Charge into Summer Reading is Northwest Christian's annual summer reading campaign.  During the summer of 2025, we're jumping -- with both feet! -- into Tim Kimmel's "Raising Kids for True Greatness - Redefining Success for Your Child".  Throughout Summer 2025, swing by the school's offices to pick up a free copy and join us!Both feet?  Yes!  The school's two podcasts -- Kingdom Culture Conversations and Off the Page -- are each working through the book all summer.On Off the Page, Geoff and G are working through the book chapter-by-chapter, taking a deep dive into the ideas, concepts, and principles that will help us all, as parents, to reframe how we approach raising our kids.Then, on Kingdom Culture Conversations, we are spending time with the "Top 10" list found at the conclusion of each chapter within  the book.  Specifically, we are putting those lists in front of members of the NCS faculty and community that might be able to offer insights based on their role in the school.It's going to be a great summer full of growth!  Take the time to join us!"Kingdom Culture Conversations" is a podcast created through Frameworks, a Biblical worldview initiative of Northwest Christian School.For more information on Frameworks, please visit: https://frameworks.ncsaz.org/For more information on Northwest Christian School, visit: https://www.ncsaz.org/To reach out to Geoff Brown, please email gbrown@ncsaz.org or you can reach him by cell phone: (623)225-5573.

What was it like to learn from Dr. Deming himself -- a decade before his name became legend in U.S. business circles? In this deeply personal episode, William Scherkenbach shares with host Andrew Stotz what it was like to sit in Deming's classroom in 1972, join him for late-night chats at the Cosmos Club, and help ignite transformational change at Ford and GM. Learn how Deming's teachings shaped a lifetime of purpose, and why Scherkenbach, now in his 80th year, is stepping back into the arena with lessons still burning bright. TRANSCRIPT 0:00:02.3 Andrew Stotz: My name is Andrew Stotz, and I'll be your host as we continue our journey into the teachings of Dr. W. Edwards Deming. Today, I'm here with featured guest William Scherkenbach, and he is known as one of the men who has spent a huge amount of time with Dr. Deming, as he mentioned to me previously, starting from 1972, over a thousand meetings and many other activities that he's been involved in. So, Bill, welcome to the show. Why don't you give us a little background about you?   0:00:39.5 William Scherkenbach: Oh, okay. Good to be here, Andrew. Well, I'm going to start with, since it's about Deming, in '72, I was newly married in April, but had been accepted to NYU Graduate School of Business, and I don't know, I never found out who wrote the course syllabus, but whoever did wrote something that it sounded like a darn interesting course, sampling, manufacturing. I was a protocol officer at the United Nations at the time and was going to night school at the New York University Graduate School of Business. So, I said, this sounds like a good course, interesting course. Had no idea who Dr. Deming was, and I walked into the first class, and there was an old, I'm 26, so he was 72 in 1972, and he was one of the first, one of the only old person who didn't say, I used to be, and I don't want to stereotype all of my peers now that I'm 79, but hopefully I don't fall into the, well, I used to be and what happened. But he did tell, I mean, statistics can be a very technical subject, and the way he taught it, I had courses in some theory of sampling, which was one of his books.   0:02:52.2 William Scherkenbach: He had three, I said three courses. The other course that I took was based on his lectures in Japan in 1950, and in fact, two of them. The third course was an extension of that. So, he was, he would teach the statistics, but he was able to tell the history of the people behind all of the thoughts and the formulas and approaches, and I found that extremely, extremely interesting. And he handed out tons of papers and material, and it was just a very, very good experience. I know he had, and he had, in my opinion, a great sense of humor, but then statisticians, what's our status? Yeah, we're like accountants, in any event. .   0:04:12.2 Andrew Stotz: Why was he teaching? I mean, at 72, most men, you know, maybe women also, but most of us are like, it's the twilight of our years, and we now know he had 30 more years to go, but why was he teaching? And also, what's interesting is when I think about Deming, I think about his overall system of what he's teaching, whereas it's interesting to think about how he taught one relatively narrow subject.   0:04:43.7 William Scherkenbach: I'll get to that as to why I think he was teaching. But yeah, back then there were no 14 Points, no glimmer of Profound Knowledge. It was, not theoretical statistics, but applied statistics with a theory behind it. And he still was really expanding on Shewhart 's work with the difference between enumerative and analytic. He used his own. Now, why he was teaching, years later, probably 1987, so yeah, a bunch of years later, when I was at Ford and I had attended at the time, I attended a senior executive week-long get-together in order to get constancy of purpose or more continuity in the senior executive group. One of the people we brought in was Dr. Peter Kastenbaum. And I found as I attended his lecture in that week-long meeting, he was a student of CI Lewis. And CI Lewis, Deming learned about from Walter Shewhart and his work in the epistemology theory of knowledge. And in any event, Deming, when he was asked, and at the time it was still in the '30s, I think, when he was at the School of Agriculture, or the agriculture department, and bringing in Shewhart, he had tried to get CI Lewis to come talk. And CI said, I would love to, but I have a commitment to my students. And so I can't adjust my schedule.   0:07:33.9 William Scherkenbach: And the students, the people who wanted to learn were sacred. And I think that had a huge impact on Dr. Deming. I mean, he spoke about it a lot. And the way, you know, in a lot of the videos that Clare Crawford-Mason did, lovingly called the old curmudgeon. But for students, he had the greatest empathy and charity for, he just didn't suffer fools gladly. If you showed him that you weren't willing to learn, he took great joy in letting them know where they, where they stood.   0:08:43.1 Andrew Stotz: And one of the things when I went into my first Deming seminar in 1990, so now we're fast forwarding 30 years from when you first met him. It was almost like there was a safe harbor for workers, for young people, for people with open minds. I mean, I didn't, I watched as he didn't suffer fools, but I'm just curious, when you go back to 1972 in those classes, I'm assuming that he was pretty gentle with the students, encouraging them and all that was...   0:09:19.0 William Scherkenbach: Oh, absolutely. In my experience, I mean, if you were by, you know, in a student in graduate school, even though the graduate school of business in New York, down on 90 Church Street, Wall Street area, there were very few people going directly from your bachelor's to the master's program. And so these were people that had probably 10 years experience in business doing stuff. And yet by going to the class, absolutely were willing to learn, listen to different points of view, which is absolutely crucial. As you progress with theory of knowledge to be able to get different perspectives on whatever it is you're trying to look at.   0:10:23.2 Andrew Stotz: I would like to continue on this period of time just because it's a snapshot we don't get that often or that easily. You mentioned CI Lewis, a man who lived from about 1880 to about the year I was born, around 1964-65, and he was known for his understanding and discussion about logic and things like that. But why was CI Lewis someone that was interesting to Dr. Deming? What was the connection from your perspective?   0:10:59.6 William Scherkenbach: Well, my understanding is Shewhart referred to him, and Lewis was a professor at Harvard, and he was in the Peirce, I believe it's called. It looks like Peirce, but it's Peirce School of, or Chair of Philosophy, and Charles Sanders Peirce was a huge, huge influence in epistemology. And so that whole chain of thought or train of thought interested Deming, but it really was, he was introduced to it by Walter Shewhart.    0:11:48.3 Andrew Stotz: There's a famous quote, I believe, by Deming about CI Lewis and his book Mind and the World Order.   0:11:56.0 William Scherkenbach: Mind and the World Order, yeah.   0:11:59.9 Andrew Stotz: Deming said he had to read it six times before he fully understood and could apply its insights. And sometimes I think maybe Dr. Deming was truly inspired by that because when I think about his work, I'm still reading it and rereading it. And just listening to the video that you did many years ago with Tim talking about reduced variation, reduced variation, what he was talking about. Sometimes when we see the big picture, there's many different components of Deming's teachings. But if you had to bring it down to kind of its core, you know, he mentioned on that video that I just watched this morning, he mentioned reduced variation, and that will get you lower costs, happier customers, more jobs. How would you say, after you've looked at it from so many different angles over so many different years, how would you say you would sum up Dr. Deming's message to the world?   0:13:01.5 William Scherkenbach: Well, that's a difficult thing to sum up. Back then, when we did the video, which was in the early '80s, maybe '84, again, he had his 14 Points by then, but he hadn't, it hadn't really, the Profound Knowledge part of that wasn't there. Now, he had used what Shewhart said, and he had read, tried to read CI Lewis, and when he spoke about the connection between theory and questions, that's what he got from Shewhart and, well, and from Lewis, and a bunch of other pragmatist philosophers. So, he, you know, he was influenced by it, and, well, that's all I can say.   0:14:27.5 Andrew Stotz: So, let's go back in time. So, you're sitting in this classroom, you're intrigued, inspired. How did the relationship go at, towards the end of the class, and then as you finished that class, how did you guys keep in touch, and how did the relationship develop?   0:14:51.0 William Scherkenbach: Well, that is an interesting story. I usually am, well, I am introverted. So I had, after I moved from New York, I got a job at Booz Allen and Hamilton in Washington, DC. So in '74, when I got the degree from NYU, we moved to Silver Spring. And obviously, he's lived on Butterworth Place since there was a Butterworth Place. So we were able to, one of the things, and this is, well, I will say it, one of his advice to me, although he gave everyone an A, I later kidded him, he didn't remember that he gave me a B. No, he gave me an A. In any event, but one of his piece of advice was, you really don't need to join ASQC. You know more about quality than any of those inspectors. And so he had learned from the '50s in the past 20 years from the 50s that inspection wasn't going to do it. Well, I didn't take his advice, and I joined ASQC, and I was reading...   0:16:36.1 Andrew Stotz:Which for those who don't know is the American Society for...   0:16:41.6 William Scherkenbach: Quality Control, back then, now it's just the American Society for Quality. I had recommended when we did a big recommendations and forecasts for the year 2000 that quality, it should be the Society for Quality worldwide, but it's ASQ now. Let's see.   0:17:07.7 Andrew Stotz: So he recommended you don't join and you didn't follow his recommendation.    0:17:12.1 William Scherkenbach: I don't join, and I read an article, and it was by a professor in Virginia Tech, and he was showing a c-chart and the data were in control, and his recommendations were to penalize the people that were high and reward the people that were low, which is even back then, Dr. Deming was absolutely on track with that. If your process is in control, it doesn't make any sense to rank order or think that any of them are sufficiently different to reward or penalize. And I had never done this, but it was, I wrote a letter to quality progress. I sent a copy to Dr. Deming, and he said, "By golly, you're right on, that's great." And so I think it probably was '75, yeah, 1975. So I had been a year or so out, and he started inviting me over to his place at Butterworth, and we would go to the Cosmos Club. And that was a logistical challenge because at the time he had, well, his garage was a separate, not attached, it was in the backyard and emptied onto an alley. And he had a huge Lincoln Continental, the ones with the doors that opened from the center.   0:19:29.0 William Scherkenbach: And he would get in and drive and then park it in back of the club and someone would watch over it. But those were some good memories. So that was my introduction to keep contact with him. As I said, I had never done that. I don't think I've written a letter to an editor ever again.   0:20:04.8 Andrew Stotz: And you're mentioning about Butterworth, which is in DC.   0:20:12.6 William Scherkenbach: Butterworth Place, yeah.   0:20:14.7 Andrew Stotz: And Butterworth Place where he had his consulting business, which he ran, I believe, out of his basement.   0:20:18.3 William Scherkenbach: Out of the basement, yep, yep, yep.   0:20:21.2 Andrew Stotz: And just out of curiosity, what was it like when you first went to his home? Here, you had met him as your teacher, you respected him, you'd been away for a little bit, he invited you over. What was that like on your first walk into his home?   0:20:38.5 William Scherkenbach: Well, went down the side, the entrance to the basement was on the side of the house, and Seal had her desk set up right by the door. And then, I don't know if you can see, this is neat compared to his desk. It was filled with books and papers, but he knew where everything was. But it was a very cordial atmosphere.   0:21:25.2 Andrew Stotz: So when you mentioned Cecelia Kilian, is that her name, who was his assistant at the time?   0:21:36.3 William Scherkenbach: Yes, yes.   0:21:38.0 Andrew Stotz: Okay, so you...   0:21:38.8 William Scherkenbach: Yeah. For Jeepers. I don't know how long, but it had to be 50 years or so. So I don't, I mean, back in the '70s, I don't know of any other. He might have had, well, okay. He, yeah.   0:22:01.1 Andrew Stotz: I think it's about 40 or 50 years. So that's an incredible relationship he had with her. And I believe she wrote something. I think I have one of her, a book that she wrote that described his life. I can't remember that one right now but...   0:22:14.2 William Scherkenbach: Yeah. A lot of, yeah, it contained a lot of...   0:22:16.6 Andrew Stotz: The World of Dr. W. Edwards Deming, I think was the name of it, yeah.   0:22:20.6 William Scherkenbach: Okay. It contained a lot of his diaries on a number of his visits to Japan and elsewhere.   0:22:32.1 Andrew Stotz: So for some of us, when we go into our professor's offices, we see it stacked full of papers, but they've been sitting there for years. And we know that the professor just doesn't really do much with it. It's just all sitting there. Why did he have so much stuff on it? Was it incoming stuff that was coming to him? Was it something he was writing? Something he was reading? What was it that was coming in and out of his desk?   0:22:55.7 William Scherkenbach: A combination of stuff. I don't know. I mean, he was constantly writing, dictating to seal, but writing and reading. He got a, I mean, as the decades proceeded out of into the '80s, after '82, the NBC white or the '80, the NBC white paper calls were coming in from all over, all over the world. So yeah, a lot of people sending him stuff.   0:23:35.8 Andrew Stotz: I remember seeing him pulling out little scraps of paper at the seminar where he was taking notes and things like that at '90. So I could imagine he was just prolific at jotting things down. And when you read what he wrote, he really is assembling a lot of the notes and things that he's heard from different people. You can really capture that.   0:23:59.0 William Scherkenbach: Yeah. He didn't have an identic memory, but he took notes and quite, you know, and what he would do at the end of the day before retiring, he'd review the notes and commit them to memory as best he could. So he, yeah, very definitely. I mean, we would, you know, and well, okay. We're still in the early days before Ford and GM, but.   0:24:37.6 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. And I want to, if I shoot forward to '90, '92, when I studied with him, I was impressed with his energy at his age and he was just on a mission. And when I hear about your discussion about the class and at that time, it's like he was forming his, you know, System of Profound Knowledge, his 14 Points. When do you think it really became a mission for him to help, let's say American industry?   0:25:09.0 William Scherkenbach: Oh, well, I think it was a mission when Ford began its relationship with him. The ability of a large corporation, as well, and Ford at the same time Pontiac, the Pontiac division, not the whole GM, but Pontiac, was learning as well. But the attachment to Ford was that you had Don Peterson at the time was president of Ford, and he was intellectually curious, and he and Deming were on the same frequency. Now, I don't want to jump ahead, but if anyone has, well, you've read my second book there, you'll know that I have mentioned that the way to change is physical, logical, and emotional. And when you look at the gurus back then, there was Deming, who was the logical guru. You had Phil Crosby, who was the emotional guru. You go to the flag and the wine and cheese party, and Deming would say, "No," and Joe Juran, who was interested in focusing on the physical organization, you report to me kind of a thing. And so each of these behemoths were passing each other in the night with the greatest respect. But, but, and so they had their constituents. The challenge is to be able to broaden the appeal.    0:27:33.8 Andrew Stotz: So we've gone through '72, and then now '75, you've written your piece, and he's brought you into the fold. You're starting to spend some time with him. I believe it was about 1981 or so when he started working with Ford. And at that time, the quality director, I think, was Larry Moore at the time. And of course, you mentioned Donald Peterson. Maybe you can help us now understand from your own perspective of what you were doing between that time and how you saw that happening.   0:28:13.4 William Scherkenbach: Well, I had, my career was, after Booz Allen, mostly in the quality reliability area. I went from Booz Allen and Hamilton to, I moved to Columbia, Maryland, because I can fondly remember my grandfather in Ironwood, Michigan, worked at the Oliver Mine. There's a lot of iron ore mines up in the UP. ANd he would, and his work, once he got out of the mines later on, was he would cut across the backyard, and his office was right there. And so he would walk home for lunch and take a nap and walk back. And I thought that really was a good style of life. So Columbia, Maryland, was designed by Rouse to be a live-in, work-in community. And so we were gonna, we moved to Columbia, and there was a consulting firm called Hitman Associates, and their specialty was energy and environmental consulting. So did a bunch of that, worked my way up to a vice president. And so, but in '81, Deming said, you know, Ford really is interested. He was convinced, and again, it's déjà vu, he spoke about, when he spoke fondly about his lectures in Japan in 1950 and onward, that he was, he was very concerned that top management needed to be there, because he had seen all the excitement at Stanford during the war, and it died out afterwards, because management wasn't involved.   0:30:42.8 Andrew Stotz: What do you mean by that? What do you mean by the excitement at Stanford? You mean people working together for the efforts of the war, or was there a particular thing that was happening at Stanford?   0:30:51.7 William Scherkenbach: Well, they were, he attributed it to the lack of management support. I mean, they learned SPC. We were able to improve quality of war material or whatever, whoever attended the Stanford courses. But he saw the same thing in Japan and was lucky to, and I'm not sure if it was Ishikawa. I'm just not sure, but he was able to get someone to make the call after a few of the seminars for the engineers to make the call to the top management to attend the next batch. And he was able, he was able to do that. And that he thought was very helpful. I, I, gave them a leg up on whatever steps were next. I'm reminded of a quote from, I think it was Lao Tzu. And he said that someone asked him, "Well, you talk to the king, why or the emperor, why are things so screwed up?" And he said, "Well, I get to talk to him an hour a week and the rest of the time his ears are filled with a bunch of crap." Or whatever the Chinese equivalent of that is. And he said, "Of course the king isn't going to be able to act correctly." Yeah, there are a lot of things that impacted any company that he helped.   0:33:07.6 Andrew Stotz: It's interesting because I believe that, I think it was Kenichi Koyanagi.   0:33:15.8 William Scherkenbach: Koyanagi, yes, it was.   0:33:17.8 Andrew Stotz: And it was in 1950 and he had a series of lectures that he did a series of times. But it's interesting that, you know, that seemed like it should have catapulted him, but then to go to where you met him in 1972 and all that, he still hadn't really made his impact in America. And that's, to me, that's a little bit interesting.   0:33:44.4 William Scherkenbach: Yeah, and quite, my take, I mean, you could tell even in '72 and '3 in classes, he was very frustrated that he wasn't being listened to. I mean, he had, his business was expert testimony in statistical design of surveys. He did road truck, truck transport studies to be able to help the interstate commerce commission. And made periodic trips back to Japan, well known in Japan, but frustrated that no one really knew about him or wasn't listening to him in the US. And that was, I mean, for years, that was my, my aim. And that is to help him be known for turning America around, not just Japan. But it's usually difficult. I mean, we did a great job at Ford and GM and a bunch of companies, but it's all dissipated.   0:35:25.9 Andrew Stotz: It's interesting because it's not like he just went as a guest and gave a couple of guest lectures. He did about 35 lectures in 1950. About 28 or almost 30 of them were to engineers and technical staff. And then about seven of them were to top level executives. And, you know, one of the quotes he said at the time from those lectures was, "the problem is at the top, quality is made in the boardroom." So just going back, that's 1950, then you meet him in 1970, then in '72, then you start to build this relationship. You've talked about Booz Allen Hamilton. Tell us more about how it progressed into working more with him, in particular Ford and that thing that started in, let's say, 1981 with Ford.   0:36:22.0 William Scherkenbach: Well, again, he was very enthusiastic about Ford because Peterson was very receptive to this, his approach. And again, it's, I think the British philosopher Johnson said, "there's nothing like the prospect of being hung in the morning to heighten a man's senses." So he, Ford had lost a couple billion bucks. They hadn't cashed in like Chrysler. GM lost a bunch too, but that, and Japan had lost a war. So does it take a significant emotional, logical, or physical event? For some folks it does. So he was very encouraged about what he was seeing at Ford. And he had recommended that Ford hire someone to be there full time to coordinate, manage, if you will. And I was one of the people he recommended and I was the one that Ford hired. So I came in as Director of Statistical Methods and Process Improvement. And they set it up outside, as Deming said, they set it up outside the quality. Larry Moore was the Director of Quality and I was Director of Statistical Methods. And that's the way it was set up.   0:38:08.0 Andrew Stotz: Were you surprised when you received that call? How did you feel when you got that call to say, "Why don't you go over there and do this job at Ford?"   0:38:18.6 William Scherkenbach: Oh, extremely, extremely happy. Yeah. Yeah.   0:38:23.1 Andrew Stotz: And so did you, did you move to Michigan or what did you do?   0:38:27.7 Andrew Stotz: I'm sorry?   0:38:29.4 Andrew Stotz: Did you move or what happened next as you took that job?   0:38:32.0 William Scherkenbach: Oh yeah, we were living in Columbia. We moved the family to the Detroit area and ended up getting a house in Northville, which is a Northwest suburb of Detroit.   0:38:49.9 Andrew Stotz: And how long were you at Ford?   0:38:53.8 William Scherkenbach: About five and a half years. And I left Ford because Deming thought that GM needed my help. Things were going well. I mean, had a great, great bunch of associates, Pete Chessa, Ed Baker, Narendra Sheth, and a bunch of, a bunch of other folks. Ed Baker took the directorship when I left. That was my, well, I recommended a number of them, but yeah, he followed on. Deming thought that there was a good organization set up. And me being a glutton for punishment went to, well, not really. A bunch of great, great people in GM, but it's, they were, each of the general managers managed a billion dollar business and a lot of, difficult to get the silos to communicate. And it really, there was not much cooperation, a lot of backstabbing.   0:40:25.0 Andrew Stotz: And how did Dr. Deming take this project on? And what was the relationship between him and, you know, let's say Donald Peterson, who was the running the company and all the people that he had involved, like yourself, and you mentioned about Ed Baker and other people, I guess, Sandy Munro and others that were there. And just curious, and Larry Moore, how did he approach that? That's a huge organization and he's coming in right at the top. What was his approach to handling that?   0:41:02.1 S2  Well, my approach was based on his recommendation that the Director of Statistical Methods should report directly to the president or the chairman, the president typically. And so based on that, I figured that what I would, how we would organize the office, my associates would each be assigned to a key vice president to be their alter ego. So we did it in a, on a divisional level. And that worked, I think, very well. The difficulty was trying to match personalities and expertise to the particular vice president. Ed Baker had very good relations with the Latin American organization, and, and he and Harry Hannett, Harold Hannett helped a lot in developing administrative applications as well. And so we sort of came up with a matrix of organization and discipline. We needed someone for finance and engineering and manufacturing, supply chain, and was able to matrix the office associates in to be able to be on site with those people to get stuff, to get stuff done.   0:43:09.5 Andrew Stotz: And what was your message at that time, and what was Dr. Deming's message? Because as we know, his message has come together very strongly after that. But at that point, it's not like he had the 14 Points that he could give them Out of the Crisis or you could give them your books that you had done. So what was like the guiding philosophy or the main things that you guys were trying to get across?   0:43:35.9 William Scherkenbach: Well, I mean, he had given in, I think, Quality, Productivity, Competitive Position back in the late '70s, and he was doing it through George Washington University, even though Myron Tribus at MIT published it. But it was a series of lectures, and he didn't really, even in the later 70s, didn't have the, the, the 14 Points. And so those came a couple years later, his thinking through, and Profound Knowledge didn't come until much later over a number of discussions of folks. But the, I mean, the key, I mean, my opinion of why it all dropped out is we dropped the ball in not working with the board. And at Ford, we didn't, weren't able to influence the Ford family. And so Peterson retires and Red Poling, a finance guy, steps in and, and everything slowly disintegrates. At least not disintegrates, well, yes. I mean, what was important under Peterson was different. But that happens in any company. A new CEO comes on board or is elected, and they've got their priorities based, as Deming would say, on their evaluation system. What's their, how are they compensated?   0:45:46.8 William Scherkenbach: And so we just didn't spend the time there nor at GM with how do you elect or select your next CEO? And so smaller companies have a better, I would think, well, I don't know. I would imagine smaller companies have a better time of that, especially closely held and family held companies. You could, if you can reach the family, you should be able to get some continuity there.   0:46:23.5 Andrew Stotz: So Donald Peterson stepped down early 1995. And when did you guys make or when did you make your transition from Ford to GM?   0:46:38.5 William Scherkenbach: '88.   0:46:39.6 Andrew Stotz: Okay, so you continued at Ford.   0:46:42.1 William Scherkenbach: The end of '88, yeah, and I left GM in '93, the year Dr. Deming died later. But I had left in, in, well, in order to help him better.   0:47:07.8 Andrew Stotz: And let's now talk about the transition over to General Motors that you made. And where did that come from? Was it Dr. Deming that was recommending it or someone from General Motors? Or what...   0:47:21.4 William Scherkenbach: Yeah, Deming spoke with them and spoke with me. And I was a willing worker to be able to go where he thought I could be most helpful.   0:47:41.9 Andrew Stotz: And was he exasperated or frustrated that for the changes that happened in '95 when Peterson stepped down, he started to see the writing on the wall? Or was he still hopeful?   0:47:55.4 William Scherkenbach: No, Deming died in '93, so he didn't see any of that.   0:47:58.9 Andrew Stotz: No, no, what I mean is when Peterson stepped down, it was about '85. And then you remain at Ford until '88.   0:48:08.0 William Scherkenbach: No, Peterson didn't step down in '85. I mean, he was still there when I left.   0:48:14.0 Andrew Stotz: So he was still chairman at the time.   0:48:17.3 William Scherkenbach: Yeah.   0:48:17.6 Andrew Stotz: Maybe I'm meaning he stepped down from president. So my mistake on that.   0:48:20.3 William Scherkenbach: Oh, but he was there.   0:48:24.3 Andrew Stotz: So when did it start...   0:48:25.9 William Scherkenbach: True. I mean, true, he was still there when Deming had died.   0:48:31.3 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, okay. So did the whole team leave Ford and go to GM or was it just you that went?   0:48:39.1 William Scherkenbach: Oh, just me. Just me.   0:48:42.8 Andrew Stotz: Okay. And then.   0:48:44.0 William Scherkenbach: Yeah, because we had set up something that Deming was very pleased with. And so they were, everyone was working together and helping one another.   0:48:59.5 Andrew Stotz: Okay. So then you went to General Motors. What did you do different? What was different in your role? What did you learn from Ford that you now brought to GM? What went right? What went wrong? What was your experience with GM at that time?   0:49:16.5 William Scherkenbach: Well, I've got a, let's see. Remember Bill Hoagland was the person, Hoagland managed Pontiac when Deming helped Pontiac and Ron Moen was involved in the Pontiac. But Bill Hoagland was in one of the reorganizations at GM was head of, he was group, group vice president for Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac. And so I went over and directly reported to him and each of the, I mean, Wendy Coles was in, Gypsy Rainey, although Gypsy was temporary, worked for powertrain and Pontiac and still, but powertrain was where a lot of the expertise was and emphasis was, and then Buick and Cadillac and so, and Oldsmobile. So we, and in addition to that, General Motors had a corporate-wide effort in cooperation with the UAW called the Quality Network. And I was appointed a member of that, of that and, and helped them a lot and as well as the corporate quality office, but focused on Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac.   0:51:18.6 Andrew Stotz: And then tell us about what was your next step in your own personal journey? And then let's now get into how you got more involved with Deming and his teachings and the like.   0:51:32.8 William Scherkenbach: Well, I mean, he would be at GM two and three days a month, and then every quarter he'd be here for, just like Ford, for a four-day seminar. And while at Ford and at GM, I took uh vacation to help him as he gave seminars and met people throughout the world. Even when he was probably 84, 85, I can remember, well, one of the, he always, not always, but he would schedule seminars in England over the Fourth of July because the English don't celebrate that, although he said perhaps they should, but right after the Ascot races. And so he would do four-day seminars. And on one case, we had one series of weeks, the week before Fourth of July, we did a four-day seminar in the US and then went to London to do another four-day seminar. And he went to South Africa for the next four-day seminar with Heero Hacquebord. I didn't go, but I went down to Brazil and I was dragging with that, with that schedule. So he was able to relish and enjoy the helping others. I mean, enjoy triggers a memory. We were at helping powertrain and Gypsy was there, Dr. Gypsy Rainey.    0:53:59.2 William Scherkenbach: And she, we were talking and goofing around and he started being cross at us. And Gypsy said, "Well, aren't we supposed to be having fun?" And Deming said, "I'm having fun." "You guys straighten out." Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy, yeah.   0:54:40.6 Andrew Stotz: And for the typical person to imagine a man at the age of 80, 85, traveling around the world. And it's not like you're traveling on vacation in London, you're walking into a room full of people, your energy is up, you're going and it's not like he's giving a keynote speech for an hour, give us a picture of his energy.   0:55:09.5 William Scherkenbach: And over in London, it was brutal because the hotel, I forget what hotel we're in. When he started there, I think it was Dr. Bernard that he wanted to help. And Bernard wasn't available. So he recommended Henry Neave. And so Henry was a good student, a quick learner. So he helped on a few of them. And I can still remember, I mean, the air, it was 4th of July in London and the humidity was there. There's no air conditioning in the hotel. I could remember Henry, please forgive me, but Henry is sitting in his doorway, sitting on a trash can, doing some notes in his skivvies. And it was hot and humid and awful. But so it reminded Deming a lot of the lectures in Japan in 1950, where he was sweating by 8 AM in the morning. So, yeah.   0:56:30.6 Andrew Stotz: What was it that kept him going? Why was he doing this?   0:56:39.5 William Scherkenbach: I think he, again, I don't know. I never asked him that. He was very, to me, he was on a mission. He wanted to be able to help people live better, okay, and take joy in what they do. And so he was, and I think that was the driving thing. And as long as he had the stamina, he was, he was in, in, in heaven.   0:57:21.1 Andrew Stotz: So let's keep progressing now, and let's move forward towards the latter part of Dr. Deming's life, where we're talking about 1990, 1988, 1990, 1992. What changed in your relationship and your involvement with what he was doing, and what changes did you see in the way he was talking about? You had observed him back in 1972, so here he is in 1990, a very, very different man in some ways, but very similar. How did you observe that?   0:57:56.6 William Scherkenbach: Well, toward the end, it was, I mean, it was, it was not, not pleasant to see him up there with oxygen up his nose, and it just, there had to have been a better way. But Nancy Mann was running those seminars, and they did their best to make life comfortable, but there had to have been a better way to, but I don't know what it was. He obviously wanted to continue to do it, and he had help doing it, but I don't know how effective the last year of seminars were.   0:59:01.1 Andrew Stotz: Well, I mean, I would say in some ways they were very effective, because I attended in 1990 and 1992, and I even took a picture, and I had a picture, and in the background of the picture of him is a nurse, and for me, I just was blown away and knocked out. And I think that one of the things for the listeners and the viewers is to ask yourself, we're all busy doing our work, and we're doing a lot of activities, and we're accomplishing things, but for what purpose, for what mission? And I think that that's what I gained from him is that because he had a mission to help, as you said, make the world a better place, make people have a better life in their job, and help people wake up, that mission really drove him.   0:59:57.8 William Scherkenbach: Yeah, and it, it really did. But for me personally, it was just not pleasant to see him suffering.    1:00:09.6 Andrew Stotz: And was he in pain? Was he just exhausted? What was it like behind the scenes when he'd come off stage and take a break?   1:00:18.7 William Scherkenbach: Yeah, yeah.   1:00:20.8 Andrew Stotz: And would he take naps or?   1:00:23.2 William Scherkenbach: In the early days, we'd go to, well, at Ford and GM, we would go out to dinner just about every night and talk and enjoy the conversation. We'd, my wife Mary Ellen, went many, many times. He enjoyed Northville, some of the restaurants there, and enjoyed the Deming martinis after the meetings at the Cosmos Club. So very, very much he enjoyed that, that time off the podium. So, but he couldn't do that in the, in the later years.   1:01:28.7 Andrew Stotz: And let's now try to understand the progression as you progress away from General Motors and did other things. How did your career progress in those years until when you retired or to where you are now? Maybe give us a picture of that.   1:01:51.4 William Scherkenbach: I tried to help. I've developed my view on how to operationalize change, worked for, was vice president of a company in Taiwan, spent a couple of, and before that had helped Dell, and would spend probably ending up a couple of years in PRC and Taiwan, and growing and learning to learn, in my opinion, there's too much generalization of, well, Asians or Chinese or whatever. There are many, many subgroups, and so change has to be bespoke. What will work for one person won't work for another. For instance, trying to talk to a number of Chinese executives saying, drive out fear, and they will, oh, there's no fear here. It's respect. And so, yeah. But that was their sincere belief that what they were doing wasn't instilling fear. But it broadened my perspective on what to do. And then probably 10 years ago, my wife started to come down with Alzheimer's, and while we lived in Austin, Texas, and that I've spent, she died three years ago, but that was pretty much all-consuming. That's where I focused. And now it's been three years. I'm looking, and I'm a year younger than Deming when he started, although he was 79 when he was interviewed for the 1980 White Paper.   1:04:36.3 William Scherkenbach: So I'm in my 80th year. So, and I'm feeling good, and I also would like to help people.   1:04:46.6 Andrew Stotz: And I've noticed on your LinkedIn, you've started bringing out interesting papers and transcripts and so many different things that you've been coming out. What is your goal? What is your mission?   1:05:02.3 William Scherkenbach: Well, I also would like to take the next step and contribute to help the improvement, not just the US, but any organization that shows they're serious for wanting to, wanting to improve. On the hope, and again, it's hope, as Deming said, that to be able to light a few bonfires that would turn into prairie fires that might consume more and more companies. And so you've got to light the match somewhere. And I just don't know. Again, I've been out of it for a number of years, but I just don't know. I know there is no big company besides, well, but even Toyota. I can remember Deming and I were in California and had dinner. Toyoda-san and his wife invited Deming and me to a dinner. And just, I was blown away with what he understood responsibilities were. I don't know, although I do have a Toyota Prius plug-in, which is perfect because I'm getting 99 miles a gallon because during my, doing shopping and whatever here in Pensacola, I never use gas. It goes 50 miles without needing to plug in.   1:07:00.6 William Scherkenbach: And so I do my stuff. But when I drive to Texas or Michigan, Michigan mostly to see the family, it's there. But all over, it's a wonderful vehicle. So maybe they're the only company in the world that, but I don't know. I haven't sat down with their executive.   1:07:26.4 Andrew Stotz: And behind me, I have two of your books, and I just want to talk briefly about them and give some advice for people. The first one is The Deming Route to Quality and Productivity: Roadmaps and Roadblocks, and the second one is Deming's Road to Continual Improvement. Maybe you could just give some context of someone who's not read these books and they're new to the philosophy and all that. How do these books, how can they help them?   1:07:58.8 William Scherkenbach: Well, the first book, Deming asked me to write in, I think it was '84. And I don't remember the first edition, but it might be '85, we got it out. But he asked me to write it, and because he thought I would, I could reach a different audience, and he liked it so much, they handed it out in a number of his seminars for a number of years. So.   1:08:40.7 Andrew Stotz: And there's my original version of it. I'm holding up my...    1:08:47.0 William Scherkenbach: Yeah, that's a later version.   1:08:49.7 Andrew Stotz: And it says the first printing was '86, I think it said, and then I got a 1991 version, which maybe I got it at one of the, I'm sure I got it at one of the seminars, and I've had it, and I've got marks on it and all that. And Deming on the back of it said, "this book will supplement and enhance my own works in teaching. Mr. Scherkenbach's masterful understanding of a system, of a process, of a stable system, and of an unstable system are obvious and effective in his work as well as in his teaching." And I know that on Deming's Road to Continual Improvement, you do a good amount of discussion at the beginning about the difference between a process and a system to try to help people understand those types of things. How should a reader, where should they start?   1:09:42.8 William Scherkenbach: Well, not with chapter six, as in CI Lewis, but well, I don't know what... I don't remember what chapter six is. As I said, the first book, and a lot of people after that did it, is essentially not regurgitating, but saying in a little bit different words about Deming's 14 Points. What I did on the first book is arrange them in the order that I think, and groupings that I think the 14 Points could be understood better. The second book was, the first half was reviewing the Deming philosophy, and the second half is how you would go about and get it done. And that's where the physiological, emotional, and all of my studies on operationalizing anything.   1:10:55.4 Andrew Stotz: And in chapter three on page 98, you talk about physical barriers, and you talk about physical, logical, emotional. You mentioned a little bit of that when you talked about the different gurus out there in quality, but this was a good quote. It says, Dr. Deming writes about the golfer who cannot improve his game because he's already in the state of statistical control. He points out that you have only one chance to train a person. Someone whose skill level is in statistical control will find great difficulty improving his skills.   1:11:32.1 William Scherkenbach: Yeah. Well, yeah, I mean, well, you're old enough to know the Fosbury Flop. I mean, for all high jumpers did the straddle in jumping and made some great records, but many of them had difficulty converting their straddle to the Fosbury Flop to go over backwards head first. And that's what got you better performance. So anything, whether it's golf or any skill, if you've got to change somehow, you've got to be able to change the system, which is whether you're in production or whether it's a skill. If you're in control, that's your opportunity to impact the system to get better.   1:12:40.3 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, and this was Dick Fosbury in 1968, Mexico City Olympics, where he basically went in and blew everybody away by going in and flipping over backwards when everybody else was straddling or scissors or something like that. And this is a great story.   1:12:57.0 William Scherkenbach: You can't do that.   [laughter]   1:12:58.8 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, and it's a great story of something on the outside. An outsider came in and changed the system rather than an existing person within it. And that made me think about when you talked about Ford and having an outsider helping in the different departments. You know, what extent does that reflect the way that we learn? You know, can we learn internally, or do we need outside advice and influence to make the big changes?   1:13:29.7 William Scherkenbach: Yeah. I mean, we had a swim coach, Higgins, at the Naval Academy, and he was known for, again, following in Olympic swimming. And I'm probably going to get the strokes wrong, but there was no such thing as a butterfly stroke. And he used it in swimming the breaststroke, and supposedly the only criteria was recovery had to be underwater with two hands. But I'm screwing up the story, I'm sure, but Higgins rewrote, rewrote the book by doing something a little bit different or drastically different.   1:14:25.4 Andrew Stotz: I'd like to wrap up this fascinating discovery, or journey of discovery of you and your relationship also with Dr. Deming. Let's wrap it up by talking about kind of your final memories of the last days of Dr. Deming and how you kind of put that all in context for your own life. And having this man come in your life and bring you into your life, I'm curious, towards the end of his life, how did you process his passing as well as his contribution to your life?   1:15:08.1 William Scherkenbach: That's, that's difficult and personal. I, he was a great mentor, a great friend, a great teacher, a great person, and with, on a mission with a name and impacted me. I was very, very lucky to be able to, when I look back on it, to recognize, to sign up for his courses, and then the next thing was writing that letter to the editor and fostering that relationship. Very, very, very difficult. But, I mean, he outlived a bunch of folks that he was greatly influenced by, and the mission continues.   1:16:34.1 Andrew Stotz: And if Dr. Deming was looking down from heaven and he saw that you're kind of reentering the fray after, you know, your struggles as you've described with your wife and the loss of your wife, what would he say to you now? What would he say as your teacher over all those years?   1:16:56.3 William Scherkenbach: Do your best.   1:16:59.0 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, wonderful.   1:17:01.4 William Scherkenbach: He knows, but he knows I know what to do. So, you need to know what to do and then to do the best. But I was, I mean, he was very, he received, and I forget the year, but he was at Ford and he got a call from Cel that his wife was not doing well. And so we, I immediately canceled everything and got him to the airport and he got to spend that last night with his wife. And he was very, very appreciative. So I'm sure he was helping, helping me deal with my wife.   1:17:56.4 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. Well, Bill, on behalf of everyone at the Deming Institute and myself personally, I want to thank you for this discussion and opening up you know, your journey with Dr. Deming. I feel like I understand Dr. Deming more, but I also understand you more. And I really appreciate that. And for the listeners out there, remember to go to Deming.org to continue your journey. And also let me give you, the listeners and viewers, the resources. First, we have Bill's book, which you can get online, The Deming Route to Quality and Productivity. We have Deming's Road to Continual Improvement, which Bill wrote. But I think even more importantly is go to his LinkedIn. He's on LinkedIn as William Scherkenbach and his tagline is helping individuals and organizations learn, have fun, and make a difference. So if you want to learn, have fun, and make a difference, send him a message. And I think you'll find that it's incredibly engaging. Are there any final words that you want to share with the listeners and the viewers?   1:19:08.9 William Scherkenbach: I appreciate your questions. In thinking about this interview, we barely scratched the surface. There are a ton of other stories, but we can save that for another time.   1:19:26.1 Andrew Stotz: Something tells me we're going to have some fun and continue to have fun in these discussions. So I really appreciate it and it's great to get to know you. Ladies and gentlemen.   1:19:36.7 William Scherkenbach: Thank you, Andrew.   1:19:37.7 Andrew Stotz: You're welcome. This is your host, Andrew Stotz, and I'm going to leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Deming, and that is that "people are entitled to joy in work."    

In this Episode: A piece of Film History, Jon Burgundy reports on the industry, North by Northwest (1959) review, and much more. Starring: Jamal Davis Alec Douglas Jonathan Garcia Produced By: Joshua Martinez Edited by: Alec Douglas Recorded: 04/11/2025

We tend to take clean water for granted, assuming that if it comes from the tap, it must be safe. But the truth is, "safe" by legal standards doesn't always mean healthy. Contaminants like heavy metals and industrial chemicals can still be present at low levels, flying under the radar while slowly impacting our health. It's unsettling to think that the water we rely on every day might be quietly doing more harm than good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGETqvGFv5Y Cydian Kauffman, owner of Pure Water Northwest, is a water treatment specialist serving Western Washington. With a background in property management and a passion for clean water, he helps clients identify and fix contamination issues in both municipal and well systems. Today, he exposes the hidden dangers in everyday water sources and explained why legal limits don't always mean safe levels. He breaks down treatment options and highlights the real health risks many families unknowingly face. Stay tuned! Resources: Pure Water, Perfected – Your Trusted Water Experts Follow Cydian Kauffman on Facebook Connect with Cydian Kauffman on LinkedIn

07-19-25 Full show full 7488 Sat, 19 Jul 2025 18:02:03 +0000 UoZKG7OUsO9TKVmzksF72OL0QAzKwk9G sports Sports Talk Saturday with Derek Kramer sports 07-19-25 Full show The best sports talk in WNY keeps rolling on the weekends. Whether it's the Bills, Sabres, or anything else in the world of sports, our team of hosts give their opinions and take your calls every Saturday from 11 AM – 2 PM. On Demand Audio Presented by Northwest Bank. For what's next. Get started at Northwest.com 2024 © 2021 Audacy, Inc. Sports False https://player.amperwavepodcasting.com?feed-link=https%3A%2F%2Frss.amperwa

Welcome to Caching in the NorthWest! This is THE podcast from the birthplace of geocaching, right here in the great Pacific NorthWest.  It's Thursday at 7PM Pacific and we are going to talk about geocaches and geocachers from here and around the globe. So while you're kicking the kids off the slip and slide, we'll be Caching in the NorthWest.   We want you to call in your Geocache Log of the Week! Send an email to feedback@CachingNW.com, call into 253-693-TFTC. Call us with your feedback at (253) 693-TFTC Or visit the website at https://CachingNW.com

✅ Why weakness connects you deeper with your kids than strength ever could ✅ How to transform your dinner table into sacred space ✅ Ancient practices that can revolutionize your modern family ✅ The power of prayer retreats for busy dads   SUMMARY What if your family isn't broken and doesn't need fixing—but is actually a garden that needs nurturing? In this episode, Dave Brickey shares how shifting from a mechanical mindset to an agricultural approach transforms fatherhood. You'll discover why your weaknesses connect you deeper with your kids than your strengths ever could, and how simple practices like prayer retreats and sacred family meals can become life-changing rhythms. Plus, Dave opens up about his wife's miraculous healing and how walking through valleys as a family creates unbreakable bonds. Top 5 Quotes: "My strength points my kids to me as their savior, but my weakness points them to who my savior is." "Our families aren't broken and need fixing—they are gardens in need of nurturing." "The beauty of parenting is marked more by weakness than strength. No one has a bird's eye view into the messiness of someone's life other than a spouse and children—they see it all." "You can change behavior through control, but you cannot change a heart." "Isolation puts a magnifying glass on pain, and us guys—some of us are professional isolators." Key Takeaways: The depth of relationship you experience with teenagers was built during their childhood years through consistent presence and creating a safe space An agricultural approach to family life focuses on long-term nurturing rather than quick fixes and immediate results Ancient practices like prayer retreats, sacred meals, and singing together can transform modern family life Weakness and vulnerability in parenting creates deeper connection than always being the strong hero Spiritual family—mentors, spiritual grandparents, and community—multiplies the impact of seeing, knowing, and celebrating your children Isolation magnifies pain, while community provides perspective and hope during difficult seasons GUEST Dave Brickey is a lead pastor in the Northwest suburbs of Minnesota and father of four children in the graduation phase. He and his wife Stephanie describe their family life as a "beautiful mess." Dave is passionate about helping families shift from mechanical thinking to agricultural approaches in parenting and faith. He advocates for ancient practices like prayer retreats, sacred family meals, and building spiritual community as essential elements of thriving family life. Links: Send a Voice Message to DadAwesome Apply to join the next DadAwesome Accelerator Cohort  awesome@dadawesome.org Subscribe to DadAwesome Messages: Text the word "Dad" to (651) 370-8618 Pacem in Terrace Prayer Retreat Center https://www.paceminterris.org/ Wilderness Fellowship Prayer Center https://www.wildernessfellowship.com/ Dave Brickey's "Machines to Gardens" message (church resource) -  (start at 45 minutes)

#NHRA #DragRacing #Fastcars Get ready for an electrifying WFO Radio livestream hosted by Joe Castello, as he previews the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals, happening July 18-20, 2025! This high-octane episode features special guests Matt Hartford, a standout Pro Stock driver fresh off his GETTRX Pro Stock All-Star Callout win, and Funny Car rookie Dylan Winefsky, bringing fresh energy to the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. Join Joe as he dives into the excitement of the upcoming event, kicking off the NHRA's Western Swing with nitro-fueled action, including Friday night qualifying under the lights and the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge. Expect in-depth race insights, driver interviews, and Joe's signature motorsports passion, all set against the thrilling backdrop of Pacific Raceways. Tune in to WFO Radio on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform to catch the action and get pumped for one of the most exhilarating weekends in NHRA's 36-year history at this iconic venue! 🎙️🚨 Don't miss out! Subscribe to WFO Radio for weekly NHRA updates, driver interviews, and exclusive motorsport content. Hit the bell 🔔 for notifications!