Podcasts about plexiglas

Matt Forbeck is all that and so much more. He grew up in Wisconsin as what he describes as a wimpy kid, too short and not overly healthy. He took to gaming at a pretty early age and has grown to be a game creator, author and award-winning storyteller.   Matt has been designing games now for over 35 years. He tells us how he believes that many of the most successful games today have stories to tell, and he loves to create some of the most successful ones. What I find most intriguing about Matt is that he clearly is absolutely totally happy in his work. For most of Matt's career he has worked for himself and continues today to be an independent freelancer.   Matt and his wife have five children, including a set of quadruplets. The quadruplets are 23 and Matt's oldest son is 28 and is following in his father's footsteps.   During our conversation we touch on interesting topics such as trust and work ethics. I know you will find this episode stimulating and worth listening to more than once.     About the Guest:   Matt Forbeck is an award-winning and New York Times-bestselling author and game designer of over thirty-five novels and countless other books and games. His projects have won a Peabody Award, a Scribe Award, and numerous ENnies and Origins Awards. He is also the president of the Diana Jones Award Foundation, which celebrates excellence in gaming.    Matt has made a living full-time on games and fiction since 1989, when he graduated from the Residential College at the University of Michigan with a degree in Creative Writing. With the exception of a four-year stint as the president of Pinnacle Entertainment Group and a year and a half as the director of the adventure games division of Human Head Studios, he has spent his career as an independent freelancer.   Matt has designed collectible card games, roleplaying games, miniatures games, board games, interactive fiction, interactive audiobooks, games for museum installations, and logic systems for toys. He has directed voiceover work and written short fiction, comic books, novels, screenplays, and video game scripts and stories. His work has been translated into at least 15 languages.   His latest work includes the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game Core Rulebook, the Spider-Verse Expansion, Monster Academy (novels and board game), the Shotguns & Sorcery 5E Sourcebook based on his novels, and the Minecraft: Roll for Adventure game books. He is the father of five, including a set of quadruplets. He lives in Beloit, Wisconsin, with his wife and a rotating cast of college-age children. For more about him and his work, visit Forbeck.com.   Ways to connect with Matt:   Twitter: https://twitter.com/mforbeck Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forbeck Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/forbeck.com Threads: https://www.threads.net/@mforbeck Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mforbeck/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/forbeck/ Website: https://www.forbeck.com/     About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes:   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset today. We get to play games. Well, not really, but we'll try. Our guest is Matt Forbeck, who is an award winning author. He is a game designer and all sorts of other kinds of things that I'm sure he's going to tell us about, and we actually just before we started the the episode, we were talking about how one might explore making more games accessible for blind and persons with other disabilities. It's, it's a challenge, and there, there are a lot of tricks. But anyway, Matt, I want to welcome you to unstoppable mindset. We're glad you're here.   Matt Forbeck ** 02:02 Well, thank you, Michael for inviting me and having me on. I appreciate it.   Speaker 1 ** 02:06 I think we're going to have a lot of fun, and I think it'll work out really well. I'm I am sure of that. So why don't we start just out of curiosity, why don't you tell us kind of about the early Matt, growing up?   Matt Forbeck ** 02:18 Uh, well, I grew up. I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I grew up in a little town called Beloit, Wisconsin, which actually live in now, despite having moved away for 13 years at one point, and I had terrible asthma, I was a sick and short kid, and with the advent of medication, I finally started to be healthy when I was around nine, and Part of that, I started getting into playing games, right? Because when you're sick, you do a lot of sitting around rather than running around. So I did a lot of reading and playing games and things like that. I happen to grow up in the part of the world where Dungeons and Dragons was invented, which is in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, about 30 miles from where I live. And because of that I was I started going to conventions and playing games and such, when I was about 12 or 13 years old. I started doing it when I was a little bit older. I started doing it professionally, and started doing it when I was in college. And amazingly enough, even to my own astonishment, I've made a career out of it.   Speaker 1 ** 03:17 Where did you go to college? I went to the University   Matt Forbeck ** 03:21 of Michigan over in Ann Arbor. I had a great time there. There's a wonderful little college, Beloit College, in my hometown here, and most of my family has gone to UW Milwaukee over the years. My parents met at Marquette in Milwaukee, but I wanted to get the heck out of the area, so I went to Michigan, and then found myself coming back as soon as we started having   Speaker 1 ** 03:42 kids well, and of course, I would presume that when you were at the University of Michigan, you rooted for them and against Ohio State. That was   Matt Forbeck ** 03:50 kind of, you know, if you did it the other way around, they back out of town. So, yeah, I was always kind of astonished, though, because having grown up in Wisconsin, where every sports team was a losing team when I was growing up, including the Packers, for decades. You know, we were just happy to be playing. They were more excuse to have beers than they were to cheer on teams. And I went to Michigan where they were, they were angry if the team wasn't up by two touchdowns. You know, at any point, I'm like, You guys are silly. This is we're here for fun.   Speaker 1 ** 04:17 But it is amazing how seriously some people take sports. I remember being in New Zealand helping the Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind. Well now 22 years ago, it's 2003 and the America's Cup had just finished before we got there, and in America beat New Zealand, and the people in New Zealand were just irate. They were complaining that the government didn't put enough money into the design of the boat and helping with the with the yacht and all that. It was just amazing how seriously people take it, yeah,   Matt Forbeck ** 04:58 once, I mean, it becomes a part of your. Identity in a lot of ways, right for many people, and I've never had to worry about that too much. I've got other things on my mind, but there you go.   Speaker 1 ** 05:08 Well, I do like it when the Dodgers win, and my wife did her graduate work at USC, and so I like it when the Trojans win, but it's not the end of the world, and you do need to keep it in perspective. I I do wish more people would I know once I delivered a speech in brether County, Kentucky, and I was told that when I started the speech had to end no later than preferably exactly at 6:30pm not a minute later, because it was the night of the NCAA Basketball Championship, and the Kentucky Wildcats were in the championship, and at 630 everyone was going to get up and leave and go home to watch the game. So I ended at 630 and literally, by 631 I timed it. The gym was empty and it was full to start with.   Matt Forbeck ** 06:02 People were probably, you know, counting down on their watches, just to make sure, right?   Speaker 1 ** 06:06 Oh, I'm sure they were. What do you do? It's, it is kind of fun. Well, so why did you decide to get started in games? What? What? What attracted to you, to it as a young person, much less later on?   Matt Forbeck ** 06:21 Well, I was, yeah, I was an awkward kid, kind of nerdy and, you know, glasses and asthma and all that kind of stuff. And games were the kind of thing where, if you didn't know how to interact with people, you could sit down at a table across them and you could practice. You can say, okay, we're all here. We've got this kind of a magic circle around us where we've agreed to take this one silly activity seriously for a short period of time, right? And it may be that you're having fun during that activity, but you know, there's, there's no reason that rolling dice or moving things around on a table should be taken seriously. It's all just for fun, right? But for that moment, you actually just like Las Vegas Exactly, right? When there's money on the line, it's different, but if you're just doing it for grins. You know, it was a good way for me to learn how to interact with people of all sorts and of different ages. And I really enjoyed playing the games, and I really wanted to be a writer, too. And a lot of these things interacted with story at a very basic level. So breaking in as a writer is tough, but it turned out breaking as a game designer, wasn't nearly his stuff, so I started out over there instead, because it was a very young field at the time, right? D and D is now 50 years old, so I've been doing this 35 years, which means I started around professionally and even doing it before that, I started in the period when the game and that industry were only like 10 or 15 years old, so yeah, weren't quite as much competition in those   Speaker 1 ** 07:43 days. I remember some of the early games that I did play, that I could play, were DOS based games, adventure. You're familiar with adventure? Yeah, oh, yeah. Then later, Zork and all that. And I still think those are fun games. And I the reason I like a lot of those kinds of games is they really make you think, which I think most games do, even though the video even the video games and so on, they they help your or can help your reactions, but they're designed by people who do try to make you think,   Matt Forbeck ** 08:15 yeah. I mean, we basically are designing puzzles for people to solve, even if they're story puzzles or graphic puzzles or sound puzzles or whatever, you know, even spatial puzzles. There the idea is to give somebody something fun that is intriguing to play with, then you end up coming with story and after that, because after a while, even the most most exciting mechanics get dull, right? I mean, you start out shooting spaceships, but you can only shoot spaceships for so long, or you start out playing Tetris, and you only put shapes together for so long before it doesn't mean anything that then you start adding in story to give people a reason to keep playing right and a reason to keep going through these things. And I've written a lot of video games over the years, basically with that kind of a philosophy, is give people nuggets of story, give them a plot to work their way through, and reward them for getting through different stages, and they will pretty much follow you through anything. It's amazing.   Michael Hingson ** 09:09 Is that true Dungeons and Dragons too?   Matt Forbeck ** 09:13 It is. All of the stories are less structured there. If you're doing a video game, you know you the team has a lot of control over you. Give the player a limited amount of control to do things, but if you're playing around a table with people, it's more of a cooperative kind of experience, where we're all kind of coming up with a story, the narrator or the Game Master, the Dungeon Master, sets the stage for everything, but then the players have a lot of leeway doing that, and they will always screw things up for you, too. No matter what you think is going to happen, the players will do something different, because they're individuals, and they're all amazing people. That's actually to me, one of the fun things about doing tabletop games is that, you know, the computer can only react in a limited number of ways, whereas a human narrator and actually change things quite drastically and roll. With whatever people come up with, and that makes it tremendous fun.   Speaker 1 ** 10:04 Do you think AI is going to enter into all that and maybe improve some of the   Matt Forbeck ** 10:09 old stuff? It's going to add your end to it, whether it's an ad, it's going to approve it as a large question. Yeah. So I've been ranting about AI quite a bit lately with my friends and family. But, you know, I think the problem with AI, it can be very helpful a lot of ways, but I think it's being oversold. And I think it's especially when it's being oversold for thing, for ways for people to replace writers and creative thinking, Yeah, you know, you're taking the fun out of everything. I mean, the one thing I like to say is if, if you can't be bothered to write this thing that you want to communicate to me, I'm not sure why I should be bothered to read this thing well.   Speaker 1 ** 10:48 And I think that AI will will evolve in whatever way it does. But the fact of the matter is, So do people. And I think that, in fact, people are always going to be necessary to make the process really work? AI can only do and computers can only do so much. I mean, even Ray Kurzweil talks about the singularity when people and computer brains are married, but that still means that you're going to have the human element. So it's not all going to be the computer. And I'm not ready to totally buy into to what Ray says. And I used to work for Ray, so I mean, I know Ray Well, but, but the but the bottom line is, I think that, in fact, people are always going to be able to be kind of the, the mainstay of it, as long as we allow that, if we, if we give AI too much power, then over time, it'll take more power, and that's a problem, but that's up to us to deal with?   Matt Forbeck ** 11:41 No, I totally agree with that. I just think right now, there's a very large faction of people who it's in their economic interest to oversell these things. You know, people are making chips. They're building server farms. A lot of them are being transferred from people are doing blockchain just a few years ago, and they see it as the hot new thing. The difference is that AI actually has a lot of good uses. There's some amazing things will come out of llms and such. But I again, people are over the people are selling this to us. Are often over promising things, right?   Speaker 1 ** 12:11 Yeah, well, they're not only over promising but they're they're really misdirecting people. But the other side of it is that, that, in fact, AI as a concept and as a technology is here, and we have control over how we use it. I've said a couple times on this this podcast, and I've said to others, I remember when I first started hearing about AI, I heard about the the fact that teachers were bemoaning the pack, that kids were writing their papers just using AI and turning them in, and it wasn't always easy to tell whether it was something that was written by AI or was written by the student. And I come from a little bit different view than I think a lot of people do. And my view basically is, let the kids write it if with AI, if that's what they're going to do, but then what the teacher needs to do is to take one period, for example, and give every student in that class the opportunity to come up and defend whatever paper they have. And the real question is, can they defend the paper? Which means, have they really learned the subject, or are they just relying on AI,   Matt Forbeck ** 13:18 yeah, I agree with that. I think the trouble is, a lot of people, children, you know, who are developing their abilities and their morals about this stuff, they use it as just a way to complete the assignment, right? And many of them don't even read what they turn in, right, right? Just know that they've got something here that will so again, if you can't be bothered to read the thing that you manufactured, you're not learning anything about it,   Speaker 1 ** 13:39 which is why, if you are forced to defend it, it's going to become pretty obvious pretty fast, whether you really know it or not. Now, I've used AI on a number of occasions in various ways, but I use it to maybe give me ideas or prepare something that I then modify and shape. And I may even interact with AI a couple of times, but I'm definitely involved with the process all the way down the line, because it still has to be something that I'm responsible for.   Matt Forbeck ** 14:09 I agree. I mean, the whole point of doing these things is for people to connect with each other, right? I want to learn about the ideas you have in your head. I want to see how they jive with ones in my head. But if I'm just getting something that's being spit out by a machine and not you, and not being curated by you at any point, that doesn't seem very useful, right? So if you're the more involved people are in it, the more useful it is.   Speaker 1 ** 14:31 Well, I agree, and you know, I think again, it's a tool, and we have to decide how the tool is going to be used, which is always the way it ought to be. Right?   Matt Forbeck ** 14:42 Exactly, although sometimes it's large corporations deciding,   Speaker 1 ** 14:45 yeah, well, there's that too. Well, individuals,   Matt Forbeck ** 14:49 we get to make our own choices. Though you're right,   Speaker 1 ** 14:51 yes, and should Well, so, so when did you start bringing writing into what you. Did, and make that a really significant part of what you did?   Matt Forbeck ** 15:03 Well, pretty early on, I mean, I started doing one of the first things I did was a gaming zine, which was basically just a print magazine that was like, you know, 32 pages, black and white, about the different tabletop games. So we were writing those in the days, design and writing are very closely linked when it comes to tabletop games and even in video games. The trick of course is that designing a game and writing the rules are actually two separate sets of skills. So one of the first professional gig I ever had during writing was in games was some friends of mine had designed a game for a company called Mayfair games, which went on to do sellers of contain, which is a big, uh, entry level game, and but they needed somebody to write the rules, so they called me over, showed me how to play the game. I took notes and I I wrote it down in an easy to understand, clear way that people had just picked up the box. Could then pick it up and teach themselves how to play, right? So that was early on how I did it. But the neat thing about that is it also taught me to think about game design. I'm like, when I work on games, I think about, who is this game going to be for, and how are we going to teach it to them? Because if they can't learn the game, there's no point of the game at all, right?   Speaker 1 ** 16:18 And and so I'm right? I'm a firm believer that a lot of technical writers don't do a very good job of technical writing, and they write way over people's heads. I remember the first time I had to write, well, actually, I mentioned I worked for Kurzweil. I was involved with a project where Ray Kurzweil had developed his original omniprent optical character recognition system. And I and the National Federation of the Blind created with him a project to put machines around the country so that blind people could use them and give back to Ray by the time we were all done, recommendations as to what needed to go in the final first production model of the machine. So I had to write a training manual to teach people how to use it. And I wrote this manual, and I was always of the opinion that it had to be pretty readable and usable by people who didn't have a lot of technical knowledge. So I wrote the manual, gave it to somebody to read, and said, Follow the directions and and work with the machine and all that. And they did, and I was in another room, and they were playing with it for a couple of hours, and they came in and they said, I'm having a problem. I can't figure out how to turn off the machine. And it turns out that I had forgotten to put in the instruction to turn off the machine. And it wasn't totally trivial. There were steps you had to go through. It was a Data General Nova two computer, and you had to turn it off the right way and the whole system off the appropriate way, or you could, could mess everything up. So there was a process to doing it. So I wrote it in, and it was fine. But, you know, I've always been a believer that the textbooks are way too boring. Having a master's degree in physics, I am of the opinion that physics textbook writers, who are usually pretty famous and knowledgeable scientists, ought to include with all the text and the technical stuff they want to put in, they should put in stories about what they did in you bring people in, draw them into the whole thing, rather than just spewing out a bunch of technical facts.   Matt Forbeck ** 18:23 No, I agree. My my first calculus professor was a guy who actually explained how Newton and Leipzig actually came up with calculus, and then he would, you know, draw everything on the board and turn around say, and isn't that amazing? And you were, like, just absolutely enamored with the idea of how they had done these things, right? Yeah. And what you're doing there, when you, when you, when you give the instructions to somebody and say, try this out. That's a very big part of gaming, actually, because what we do this thing called play testing, where we take something before it's ready to be shown to the public, and we give it to other people and say, try this out. See how it works. Let me know when you're starting out of your first playing you play with like your family and friends and people will be brutal with you and give you hints about how you can improve things. But then, even when you get to the rules you're you send those out cold to people, or, you know, if you're a big company, you watch them through a two way mirror or one way mirror, and say, Hey, let's see how they react to everything. And then you take notes, and you try to make it better every time you go through. And when I'm teaching people to play games at conventions, for instance, I will often say to them, please ask questions if you don't understand anything, that doesn't mean you're dumb. Means I didn't explain it well enough, right? And my job as a person writing these rules is to explain it as well as I humanly can so it can't be misconstrued or misinterpreted. Now that doesn't mean you can correct everything. Somebody's always got like, Oh, I missed that sentence, you know, whatever. But you do that over and over so you can try to make it as clear and concise as possible, yeah.   Speaker 1 ** 19:52 Well, you have somewhat of a built in group of people to help if you let your kids get involved. Involved. So how old are your kids?   Matt Forbeck ** 20:03 My eldest is 26 he'll be 27 in January. Marty is a game designer, actually works with me on the marble tabletop role playing game, and we have a new book coming out, game book for Minecraft, called Minecraft role for adventure, that's coming out on July 7, I think, and the rest of the kids are 23 we have 423 year olds instead of quadruplets, one of whom is actually going into game design as well, and the other says two are still in college, and one has moved off to the work in the woods. He's a very woodsy boy. Likes to do environmental education with people.   Speaker 1 ** 20:39 Wow. Well, see, but you, but you still have a good group of potential game designers or game critics anyway.   Matt Forbeck ** 20:47 Oh, we all play games together. We have a great time. We do weekly game nights here. Sometimes they're movie nights, sometimes they're just pizza nights, but we shoot for game and pizza   Speaker 1 ** 20:56 if we get lucky and your wife goes along with all this too.   Matt Forbeck ** 21:00 She does. She doesn't go to the game conventions and stuff as much, and she's not as hardcore of a gamer, but she likes hanging out with the kids and doing everything with us. We have a great time.   Speaker 1 ** 21:10 That's that's pretty cool. Well, you, you've got, you've got to build an audience of some sorts, and that's neat that a couple of them are involved in it as well. So they really like what dad does, yeah,   Matt Forbeck ** 21:23 yeah. We, I started taking them each to conventions, which are, you know, large gatherings gamers in real life. The biggest one is Gen Con, which happens in Indianapolis in August. And last year, I think, we had 72,000 people show up. And I started taking the kids when they were 10 years old, and my wife would come up with them then. And, you know, 10 years old is a lot. 72,000 people is a lot for a 10 year old. So she can mention one day and then to a park the next day, you know, decompress a lot, and then come back on Saturday and then leave on Sunday or whatever, so that we didn't have them too over stimulated. But they really grown to love it. I mean, it's part of our annual family traditions in the summer, is to go do these conventions and play lots of games with each other and meet new people too well.   Speaker 1 ** 22:08 And I like the way you put it. The games are really puzzles, which they are, and it's and it's fun. If people would approach it that way, no matter what the game is, they're, they're aspects of puzzles involved in most everything that has to do with the game, and that's what makes it so fun.   Matt Forbeck ** 22:25 Exactly, no. The interesting thing is, when you're playing with other people, the other people are changing the puzzles from their end that you have to solve on your end. And sometimes the puzzle is, how do I beat this person, or how do I defeat their strategy, or how do I make an alliance with somebody else so we can win? And it's really always very intriguing. There's so many different types of games. There's nowadays, there's like something like 50 to 100 new board games that come out and tabletop games every month, right? It's just like a fire hose. It's almost like, when I was starting out as a novelist, I would go into Barnes and Noble or borders and go, Oh my gosh, look at all these books. And now I do the same thing about games. It's just, it's incredible. Nobody, no one person, could keep up with all of them.   Speaker 1 ** 23:06 Yeah, yeah, yeah, way too much. I would love to explore playing more video games, but I don't. I don't own a lot of the technology, although I'm sure that there are any number of them that can be played on a computer, but we'll have to really explore and see if we can find some. I know there are some that are accessible for like blind people with screen readers. I know that some people have written a few, which is kind of cool. Yeah.   Matt Forbeck ** 23:36 And Xbox has got a new controller out that's meant to be accessible to large amount of people. I'm not sure, all the different aspects of it, but that's done pretty well, too   Speaker 1 ** 23:44 well. And again, it comes down to making it a priority to put all of that stuff in. It's not like it's magic to do. It's just that people don't know how to do it. But I also think something else, which is, if you really make the products more usable, let's say by blind people with screen readers. You may be especially if it's well promoted, surprised. I'm not you necessarily, but people might well be surprised as to how many others might take advantage of it so that they don't necessarily have to look at the screen, or that you're forced to listen as well as look in order to figure out what's going on or take actions.   Matt Forbeck ** 24:29 No, definitely true. It's, you know, people audio books are a massive thing nowadays. Games tend to fall further behind that way, but it's become this incredible thing that obviously, blind people get a great use out of but my wife is addicted to audio books now. She actually does more of those than she does reading. I mean, I technically think they're both reading. It's just one's done with yours and one's done with your eyes.   Speaker 1 ** 24:51 Yeah, there's but there's some stuff, whether you're using your eyes or your fingers and reading braille, there's something about reading a book that way that's. Even so a little bit different than listening to it. Yeah, and there's you're drawn in in some ways, in terms of actually reading that you're not necessarily as drawn into when you're when you're listening to it, but still, really good audio book readers can help draw you in, which is important, too,   Matt Forbeck ** 25:19 very much. So yeah, I think the main difference for reading, whether it's, you know, again, through Braille or through traditional print, is that you can stop. You can do it at your own pace. You can go back and look at things very easily, or read or check things, read things very easily. That you know, if you're reading, if you're doing an audio book, it just goes on and it's straight on, boom, boom, boom, pace. You can say, Wait, I'm going to put this down here. What was that thing? I remember back there? It was like three pages back, but it's really important, let me go check that right.   Speaker 1 ** 25:50 There are some technologies that allow blind people and low vision people and others, like people with dyslexia to use an audio book and actually be able to navigate two different sections of it. But it's not something that is generally available to the whole world, at least to the level that it is for blind people. But I can, I can use readers that are made to be able to accept the different formats and go back and look at pages, go back and look at headings, and even create bookmarks to bookmark things like you would normally by using a pen or a pencil or something like that. So there are ways to do some of that. So again, the technology is making strides.   Matt Forbeck ** 26:37 That's fantastic. Actually, it's wonderful. Just, yeah, it's great. I actually, you know, I lost half the vision of my right eye during back through an autoimmune disease about 13 years ago, and I've always had poor vision. So I'm a big fan of any kind of way to make things easier,   Speaker 1 ** 26:54 like that. Well, there, there are things that that are available. It's pretty amazing. A guy named George curser. Curser created a lot of it years ago, and it's called the DAISY format. And the whole idea behind it is that you can actually create a book. In addition to the audio tracks, there are XML files that literally give you the ability to move and navigate around the book, depending on how it's created, as final level as you choose.   Matt Forbeck ** 27:25 Oh, that's That's amazing. That's fantastic. I'm actually really glad to hear that.   Speaker 1 ** 27:28 So, yeah, it is kind of fun. So there's a lot of technology that's that's doing a lot of different sorts of things and and it helps. But um, so for you, in terms of dealing with, with the games, you've, you've written games, but you've, you've actually written some novels as well, right?   Matt Forbeck ** 27:50 Yeah, I've got like 30, it depends on how you count a novel, right? Okay, like some of my books are to pick a path books, right? Choose Your Own Adventure type stuff. So, but I've got 35 traditional novels written or more, I guess, now, I lost track a while ago, and probably another dozen of these interactive fiction books as well. So, and I like doing those. I've also written things like Marvel encyclopedias and Avengers encyclopedias and all sorts of different pop culture books. And, you know, I like playing in different worlds. I like writing science fiction, fantasy, even modern stuff. And most of it, for me comes down to telling stories, right? If you like to tell stories, you can tell stories through a game or book or audio play or a TV show or a comic, or I've done, you know, interactive museum, games and displays, things like that. The main thing is really a story. I mean, if you're comfortable sitting down at a bar and having a drink with somebody, doesn't have to be alcohol, just sitting down and telling stories with each other for fun. That's where the core of it all is really   Speaker 1 ** 28:58 right. Tell me about interactive fiction book.   Matt Forbeck ** 29:01 Sure, a lot of these are basically just done, like flow charts, kind of like the original Zork and adventure that you were talking about where you I actually, I was just last year, I brought rose Estes, who's the inventor of the endless quest books, which were a cross between Dungeons and Dragons, and choose your own adventure books. She would write the whole thing out page by page on a typewriter, and then, in order to shuffle the pages around so that people wouldn't just read straight through them, she'd throw them all up in the air and then just put them back in whatever order they happen to be. But essentially, you read a section of a book, you get to the end, and it gives you a choice. Would you like to go this way or that way? Would you like to go beat up this goblin? Or would you like to make friends with this warrior over here? If you want to do one of these things, go do page xx, right? Got it. So then you turn to that page and you go, boom, some, actually, some of the endless quest books I know were turned into audio books, right? And I actually, I. Um, oddly, have written a couple Dungeons and Dragons, interactive books, audio books that have only been released in French, right? Because there's a company called Looney l, u n, i, i that has this little handheld device that's for children, that has an A and a B button and a volume button. And you, you know, you get to the point that says, if you want to do this, push a, if you want to do that, push B, and the kids can go through these interactive stories and and, you know, there's ones for clue and Dungeons and Dragons and all sorts of other licenses, and some original stories too. But that way there's usually, like, you know, it depends on the story, but sometimes there's, like, 10 to 20 different endings. A lot of them are like, Oh no, you've been killed. Go back to where you started, right? And if you're lucky, the longer ones are, the more fun ones. And you get to, you know, save the kingdom and rescue the people and make good friends and all that good stuff,   Michael Hingson ** 30:59 yeah, and maybe fall in love with the princess or Prince.   Matt Forbeck ** 31:02 Yeah, exactly right. It all depends on the genre and what you're working in. But the idea is to give people some some choices over how they want the story to go. You're like, Well, do you want to investigate this dark, cold closet over here, or would you rather go running outside and playing around? And some of them can seem like very innocent choices, and other ones are like, well, uh, 10 ton weight just fell on. You go back to the last thing.   Speaker 1 ** 31:23 So that dark hole closet can be a good thing or a bad thing,   Matt Forbeck ** 31:28 exactly. And the trick is to make the deaths the bad endings, actually just as entertaining as anything else, right? And then people go, Well, I got beat, and I gotta go back and try that again. So yeah, if they just get the good ending all the way through, they often won't go back and look at all the terrible ones. So it's fun to trick them sometimes and have them go into terrible spots. And I like to put this one page in books too that sometimes says, How did you get here? You've been cheating there. This book, this page, is actually not led to from any other part of the book. You're just flipping   Speaker 1 ** 31:59 through. Cheater, cheater book, do what you   Matt Forbeck ** 32:04 want, but if you want to play it the right way, go back.   Speaker 1 ** 32:07 Kid, if you want to play the game. Yeah, exactly. On the other hand, some people are nosy.   Matt Forbeck ** 32:15 You know, I was always a kid who would poke around and wanted to see how things were, so I'm sure I would have found that myself but absolutely related, you know,   Speaker 1 ** 32:23 yeah, I had a general science teacher who brought in a test one day, and he gave it to everyone. And so he came over to me because it was, it was a printed test. He said, Well, I'm not going to give you the test, because the first thing it says is, read all the instructions, read, read the test through before you pass it, before you take it. And he said, most people won't do that. And he said, I know you would. And the last question on the test is answer, only question one.   Matt Forbeck ** 32:55 That's great. Yeah, that's a good one. Yeah,   Speaker 1 ** 32:57 that was cute. And he said, I know that. I that there's no way you would, would would fall for that, because you would say, Okay, let's read the instructions and then read the whole test. That's what it said. And the instruction were, just read the whole test before you start. And people won't do that.   Matt Forbeck ** 33:13 No, they'll go through, take the whole thing. They get there and go, oh, did I get there? Was a, there's a game publisher. I think it was Steve Jackson Games, when they were looking for people, write for them, or design stuff for them, or submit stuff to them, would have something toward the end of the instructions that would say, put like a the letter seven, or put seven a on page one right, and that way they would know if you had read the instructions, if you hadn't bothered to Read the instructions, they wouldn't bother reading anything else.   Speaker 1 ** 33:42 Yeah, which is fair, because the a little harsh, well, but, but, you know, we often don't learn enough to pay attention to details. I know that when I was taking physics in college, that was stressed so often it isn't enough to get the numbers right. If you don't get the units right as well. Then you're, you're not really paying attention to the details. And paying attention to the details is so important.   Matt Forbeck ** 34:07 That's how they crash from those Mars rovers, wasn't it? They somebody messed up the units, but going back and forth between metric and, yeah, and Imperial and, well, you know, it cost somebody a lot of money at one point. Yeah. Yeah. What do you   Speaker 1 ** 34:21 this is kind of the way it goes. Well, tell me, yeah. Well, they do matter, no matter what people think, sometimes they do matter. Well, tell me about the Diana Jones award. First of all, of course, the logical question for many people is, who is Diana Jones? Yeah, Diana Jones doesn't exist, right? That's There you go. She's part game somewhere? No, no, it doesn't be in a game somewhere.   Matt Forbeck ** 34:43 Then now there's actually an author named Diana Wynne Jones, who's written some amazing fantasy stories, including Howell's Moving Castle, which has turned into a wonderful anime movie, but it has nothing to do with her or any other person. Because originally, the Diana Jones award came about. Because a friend of mine, James Wallace, had somehow stumbled across a trophy that fell into his hands, and it was a pub trivia trophy that used to be used between two different gaming companies in the UK, and one of those was TSR, UK, the United Kingdom department. And at one point, the company had laid off everybody in that division just say, Okay, we're closing it all down. So the guys went and burned a lot of the stuff that they had, including a copy of the Indiana Jones role playing game, and the only part of the logo that was left said Diana Jones. And for some reason, they put this in a in a fiberglass or Plexiglas pyramid, put it on a base, a wooden base, and it said the Diana Jones award trophy, right? And this was the trophy that they used they passed back and forth as a joke for their pub trivia contest. Fell into James's hands, and he decided, You know what, we're going to give this out for the most excellent thing in gaming every year. And we've now done this. This will be 25 years this summer. We do it at the Wednesday night before Gen Con, which starts on Thursday, usually at the end of July or early August. And as part of that, actually, about five years ago, we started, one of the guys suggested we should do something called the emerging designers program. So we actually became a 501, c3, so we could take donations. And now we take four designers every year, fly them in from wherever they happen to be in the world, and put them up in a hotel, give them a badge the show, introduce them to everybody, give them an honorarium so they can afford to skip work for a week and try to help launch their careers. I mean, these are people that are in the first three years of their design careers, and we try to work mostly with marginalized or et cetera, people who need a little bit more representation in the industry too. Although we can select anybody, and it's been really well received, it's been amazing. And there's a group called the bundle of holding which sells tabletop role playing game PDFs, and they've donated 10s of 1000s of dollars every year for us to be able to do this. And it's kind of funny, because I never thought I'd be end up running a nonprofit, but here I'm just the guy who writes checks to the different to the emerging designer program. Folks are much more tied into that community that I am. But one of the real reasons I wanted to do something like that or be involved with it, because if you wander around with these conventions and you notice that it starts getting very gray after a while, right? It's you're like, oh, there's no new people coming in. It's all older people. I we didn't I didn't want us to all end up as like the Grandpa, grandpa doing the HO model railroad stuff in the basement, right? This dying hobby that only people in their 60s and 70s care about. So bringing in fresh people, fresh voices, I think, is very important, and hopefully we're doing some good with that. It's been a lot of fun either way.   Speaker 1 ** 37:59 Well, I have you had some success with it? Yeah, we've   Matt Forbeck ** 38:02 had, well, let's see. I think we've got like 14 people. We've brought in some have already gone on to do some amazing things. I mean, it's only been a few years, so it's hard to tell if they're gonna be legends in their time, but again, having them as models for other people to look at and say, Oh, maybe I could do that. That's been a great thing. The other well, coincidentally, Dungeons and Dragons is having its best 10 year streak in its history right now, and probably is the best selling it's ever been. So coinciding with that, we've seen a lot more diversity and a lot more people showing up to these wonderful conventions and playing these kinds of games. There's also been an advent of this thing called actual play, which is the biggest one, is a group called Critical Role, which is a whole bunch of voice actors who do different cartoons and video games and such, and they play D and D with each other, and then they record the games, and they produce them on YouTube and for podcasts. And these guys are amazing. There's a couple of other ones too, like dimension 20 and glass cannon, the critical role guys actually sold out a live performance at Wembley Arena last summer. Wow. And dimension. Dimension 20 sold out Madison Square Garden. I'm like, if you'd have told me 20 years ago that you know you could sell out an entire rock stadium to have people watch you play Dungeons and Dragons, I would have laughed. I mean, there's no way it would have been possible. But now, you know, people are very much interested in this. It's kind of wild, and it's, it's fun to be a part of that. At some level,   Speaker 1 ** 39:31 how does the audience get drawn in to something like that? Because they are watching it, but there must be something that draws them in.   Matt Forbeck ** 39:39 Yeah, part of it is that you have some really skilled some actors are very funny, very traumatic and very skilled at improvisation, right? So the the dungeon master or Game Master will sit there and present them with an idea or whatever. They come up each with their own characters. They put them in wonderful, strong voices. They kind of inhabit the roles in a way that an actor. A really top level actor would, as opposed to just, you know, me sitting around a table with my friends. And because of that, they become compelling, right? My Marty and my his wife and I were actually at a convention in Columbus, Ohio last weekend, and this group called the McElroy family, actually, they do my brother, my brother and me, which is a hit podcast, but they also do an actual play podcast called The Adventure zone, where they just play different games. And they are so funny. These guys are just some of the best comedians you'll ever hear. And so them playing, they actually played our Marvel game for a five game session, or a five podcast session, or whatever, and it was just stunningly fun to listen to. People are really talented mess around with something that we built right it's very edifying to see people enjoying something that you worked on.   Speaker 1 ** 40:51 Do you find that the audiences get drawn in and they're actually sort of playing the game along, or as well? And may disagree with what some of the choices are that people make?   Matt Forbeck ** 41:02 Oh, sure. But I mean, if the choices are made from a point of the character that's been expressed, that people are following along and they they already like the character, they might go, Oh, those mean, you know that guy, there are some characters they love to hate. There are some people they're they're angry at whatever, but they always really appreciate the actors. I mean, the actors have become celebrities in their own right. They've they sell millions of dollars for the comic books and animated TV shows and all these amazing things affiliated with their actual play stuff. And it's, I think it, part of it is because, it's because it makes the games more accessible. Some people are intimidated by these games. So it's not really, you know, from a from a physical disability kind of point. It's more of a it makes it more accessible for people to be nervous, to try these things on their own, or don't really quite get how they work. They can just sit down and pop up YouTube or their podcast program and listen into people doing a really good job at it. The unfortunate problem is that the converse of that is, when you're watching somebody do that good of a job at it, it's actually hard to live up to that right. Most people who play these games are just having fun with their friends around a table. They're not performing for, you know, 10s of 1000s, if not hundreds of 1000s of people. So there's a different level of investments, really, at that point, and some people have been known to be cowed by that, by that, or daunted by that.   Speaker 1 ** 42:28 You work on a lot of different things. I gather at the same time. What do you what do you think about that? How do you like working on a lot of different projects? Or do you, do you more focus on one thing, but you've got several things going on, so you'll work on something for one day, then you'll work on something else. Or how do you how do you do it all?   Matt Forbeck ** 42:47 That's a good question. I would love to just focus on one thing at a time. Now, you know the trouble is, I'm a freelancer, right? I don't set my I don't always get to say what I want to work on. I haven't had to look for work for over a decade, though, which has been great. People just come to me with interesting things. The trouble is that when you're a freelancer, people come in and say, Hey, let's work on this. I'm like, Yeah, tell me when you're ready to start. And you do that with like, 10 different people, and they don't always line up in sequence properly, right? Yeah? Sometimes somebody comes up and says, I need this now. And I'm like, Yeah, but I'm in the middle of this other thing right now, so I need to not sleep for another week, and I need to try to figure out how I'm going to put this in between other things I'm working on. And I have noticed that after I finish a project, it takes me about a day or three to just jump track. So if I really need to, I can do little bits here and there, but to just fully get my brain wrapped around everything I'm doing for a very complex project, takes me a day or three to say, Okay, now I'm ready to start this next thing and really devote myself to it. Otherwise, it's more juggling right now, having had all those kids, probably has prepared me to juggle. So I'm used to having short attention span theater going on in my head at all times, because I have to jump back and forth between things. But it is. It's a challenge, and it's a skill that you develop over time where you're like, Okay, I can put this one away here and work on this one here for a little while. Like today, yeah, I knew I was going to talk to you, Michael. So I actually had lined up another podcast that a friend of mine wanted to do with me. I said, Let's do them on the same day. This way I'm not interrupting my workflow so much, right? Makes sense? You know, try to gang those all together and the other little fiddly bits I need to do for administration on a day. Then I'm like, Okay, this is not a day off. It's just a day off from that kind of work. It's a day I'm focusing on this aspect of what I do.   Speaker 1 ** 44:39 But that's a actually brings up an interesting point. Do you ever take a day off or do what do you do when you're when you deciding that you don't want to do gaming for a while?   Matt Forbeck ** 44:49 Yeah, I actually kind of terrible. But you know, you know, my wife will often drag me off to places and say we're going to go do this when. Yes, we have a family cabin up north in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan that we go to. Although, you know, my habit there is, I'll work. I'll start work in the morning on a laptop or iPad until my battery runs out, and then I shut it down, put on a charger, and then I go out and swim with everybody for the rest of the day. So it depends if I'm on a deadline or not, and I'm almost always on a deadline, but there are times I could take weekends off there. One of the great things of being a freelancer, though, and especially being a stay at home father, which is part of what I was doing, is that when things come up during the middle of the week, I could say, oh, sure, I can be flexible, right? The trouble is that I have to pay for that time on my weekends, a lot of the time, so I don't really get a lot of weekends off. On the other hand, I'm not I'm not committed to having to work every day of the week either, right? I need to go do doctor appointments, or we want to run off to Great America and do a theme park or whatever. I can do that anytime I want to. It's just I have to make up the time at other points during the week. Does your wife work? She does. She was a school social worker for many years, and now as a recruiter at a local technical college here called Black Hawk tech. And she's amazing, right? She's fantastic. She has always liked working. The only time she stopped working was for about a year and a half after the quads were born, I guess, two years. And that was the only time I ever took a job working with anybody else, because we needed the health insurance, so I we always got it through her. And then when she said, Well, I'm gonna stay home with the kids, which made tons of sense, I went and took a job with a video game company up in Madison, Wisconsin called Human Head Studios for about 18 months, 20 months. And then the moment she told me she was thinking about going back to work, I'm like, Oh, good, I can we can Cobra for 18 months and pay for our own health insurance, and I'm giving notice this week, and, you know, we'll work. I left on good terms that everybody. I still talk to them and whatever, but I very much like being my own boss and not worrying about what other people are going to tell me to do. I work with a lot of clients, which means I have a lot of people telling me what to do. But you know, if it turns out bad, I can walk I can walk away. If it turns out good, hopefully we get to do things together, like the the gig I've been working out with Marvel, I guess, has been going on for like, four years now, with pretty continuous work with them, and I'm enjoying every bit of it. They're great people to work with.   Speaker 1 ** 47:19 Now, you were the president of Pinnacle entertainment for a little while. Tell me about that.   Matt Forbeck ** 47:24 I was, that was a small gaming company I started up with a guy named Shane Hensley, who was another tabletop game designer. Our big game was something called Dead Lands, which was a Western zombie cowboy kind of thing. Oh gosh, Western horror. So. And it was pretty much a, you know, nobody was doing Western horror back in those days. So we thought, Oh, this is safe. And to give you an example of parallel development, we were six months into development, and another company, White Wolf, which had done a game called Vampire the Masquerade, announced that they were doing Werewolf the Wild West. And we're like, you gotta be kidding me, right? Fortunately, we still released our game three months before there, so everybody thought we were copying them, rather than the other way around. But the fact is, we were. We both just came up with the idea independently. Right? When you work in creative fields, often, if somebody wants to show you something, you say, I'd like to look at you have to sign a waiver first that says, If I do something like this, you can't sue me. And it's not because people are trying to rip you off. It's because they may actually be working on something similar, right already. Because we're all, you know, swimming in the same cultural pool. We're all, you know, eating the same cultural soup. We're watching or watching movies, playing games, doing whatever, reading books. And so it's not unusual that some of us will come up with similar ideas   Speaker 1 ** 48:45 well, and it's not surprising that from time to time, two different people are going to come up with somewhat similar concepts. So that's not a big surprise, exactly, but   Matt Forbeck ** 48:56 you don't want people getting litigious over it, like no, you don't be accused of ripping anybody off, right? You just want to be as upfront with people. With people. And I don't think I've ever actually seen somebody, at least in gaming, in tabletop games, rip somebody off like that. Just say, Oh, that's a great idea. We're stealing that it's easier to pay somebody to just say, Yes, that's a great idea. We'll buy that from you, right? As opposed to trying to do something unseemly and criminal?   Speaker 1 ** 49:24 Yeah, there's, there's something to be said for having real honor in the whole process.   Matt Forbeck ** 49:30 Yeah, I agree, and I think that especially if you're trying to have a long term career in any field that follows you, if you get a reputation for being somebody who plays dirty, nobody wants to play with you in the future, and I've always found it to be best to be as straightforward with people and honest, especially professionally, just to make sure that they trust you. Before my quadruplets were born, you could have set your clock by me as a freelancer, I never missed a deadline ever, and since then, I've probably it's a. Rare earth thing to make a deadline, because, you know, family stuff happens, and you know, there's just no controlling it. But whenever something does happen, I just call people up and say, hey, look, it's going to be another week or two. This is what's going on. And because I have a good reputation for completing the job and finishing quality work, they don't mind. They're like, Oh, okay, I know you're going to get this to me. You're not just trying to dodge me. So they're willing to wait a couple weeks if they need to, to get to get what they need. And I'm very grateful to them for that. And I'm the worst thing somebody can do is what do, what I call turtling down, which is when it's like, Oh no, I'm late. And then, you know, they cut off all communication. They don't talk to anybody. They just kind of try to disappear as much as they can. And we all, all adults, understand that things happen in your life. It's okay. We can cut you some slack every now and then, but if you just try to vanish, that's not even possible.   Speaker 1 ** 50:54 No, there's a lot to be there's a lot to be said for trust and and it's so important, I think in most anything that we do, and I have found in so many ways, that there's nothing better than really earning someone's trust, and they earning your trust. And it's something I talk about in my books, like when live with a guide dog, live like a guide dog, which is my newest book, it talks a lot about trust, because when you're working with a guide dog, you're really building a team, and each member of the team has a specific job to do, and as the leader of the team, it's my job to also learn how to communicate with the other member of the team. But the reality is, it still comes down to ultimately, trust, because I and I do believe that dogs do love unconditionally, but they don't trust unconditionally. But the difference between dogs and people is that people that dogs are much more open to trust, for the most part, unless they've just been totally traumatized by something, but they're more open to trust. And there's a lesson to be learned there. No, I   Matt Forbeck ** 52:03 absolutely agree with that. I think, I think most people in general are trustworthy, but as you say, a lot of them have trauma in their past that makes it difficult for them to open themselves up to that. So that's actually a pretty wonderful way to think about things. I like that,   Speaker 1 ** 52:17 yeah, well, I think that trust is is so important. And I know when I worked in professional sales, it was all about trust. In fact, whenever I interviewed people for jobs, I always asked them what they were going to sell, and only one person ever answered me the way. I really hoped that everybody would answer when I said, So, tell me what you're going to be selling. He said, The only thing I have to really sell is myself and my word, and nothing else. It really matters. Everything else is stuff. What you have is stuff. It's me selling myself and my word, and you have to, and I would expect you to back me up. And my response was, as long as you're being trustworthy, then you're going to get my backing all the way. And he was my most successful salesperson for a lot of reasons, because he got it.   Matt Forbeck ** 53:08 Yeah, that's amazing. I mean, I mean, I've worked with people sourcing different things too, for sales, and if you can rely on somebody to, especially when things go wrong, to come through for you. And to be honest with you about, you know, there's really that's a hard thing to find. If you can't depend on your sources for what you're building, then you can't depend on anything. Everything else falls apart.   Speaker 1 ** 53:29 It does. You've got to start at the beginning. And if people can't earn your trust, and you earn theirs, there's a problem somewhere, and it's just not going to work.   Matt Forbeck ** 53:39 Yeah, I just generally think people are decent and want to help. I mean, I can't tell you how many times I've had issues. Car breaks down the road in Wisconsin. Here, if somebody's car goes in the ditch, everybody stops and just hauls them out. It's what you do when the quads were born, my stepmother came up with a sign up sheet, a booklet that she actually had spiral bound, that people could sign up every three three hours to help come over and feed and bathe, diaper, whatever the kids and we had 30 to 35 volunteers coming in every week. Wow, to help us out with that was amazing, right? They just each pick slots, feeding slots, and come in and help us out. I had to take the 2am feeding, and my wife had to take the 5am feeding by ourselves. But the rest of the week we had lots and lots of help, and we were those kids became the surrogate grandchildren for, you know, 30 to 35 women and couples really, around the entire area, and it was fantastic. Probably couldn't have survived   Speaker 1 ** 54:38 without it. And the other part about it is that all those volunteers loved it, because you all appreciated each other, and it was always all about helping and assisting.   Matt Forbeck ** 54:48 No, we appreciate them greatly. But you know every most of them, like 99% of them, whatever were women, 95 women who are ready for grandchildren and didn't have them. Had grandchildren, and they weren't in the area, right? And they had that, that love they wanted to share, and they just loved the opportunity to do it. It was, I'm choking up here talking about such a great time for us in   Speaker 1 ** 55:11 that way. Now I'm assuming today, nobody has to do diaper duty with the quads, right?   Matt Forbeck ** 55:16 Not until they have their own kids. Just checking, just checking, thankfully, think we're that is long in our past,   Speaker 1 ** 55:23 is it? Is it coming fairly soon for anybody in the future?   Matt Forbeck ** 55:27 Oh, I don't know. That's really entirely up to them. We would love to have grandchildren, but you know, it all comes in its own time. They're not doing no well. I, one of my sons is married, so it's possible, right? And one of my other sons has a long term girlfriend, so that's possible, but, you know, who knows? Hopefully they're they have them when they're ready. I always say, if you have kids and you want them, that's great. If you have, if you don't have kids and you don't want them, that's great. It's when you cross the two things that,   Speaker 1 ** 55:57 yeah, trouble, yeah, that's that is, that is a problem. But you really like working with yourself. You love the entre

Eine hohe Mauer aus Plexiglas, Stacheldraht, dahinter ein Gebäude. In dem sitzen Frauen, die schwere Straftaten begangen haben - von Brandstiftung bis Mord. Doch alle sind sie freigesprochen worden. Sie sind schuldunfähig, weil sie eine psychische Erkrankung haben. Mein Kollege Oleg war zwei Tage in der Frauenforensik. Er hat sich angeschaut, wie es dort ist, mit Menschen gesprochen, die dort Patientinnen sind und mit denen, die dort arbeiten. Heute gibt er uns einen Einblick hinter diese Mauern und eine Antwort auf die Frage: Wie ist es wirklich in der Frauenforensik?

Eine hohe Mauer aus Plexiglas, Stacheldraht, dahinter ein Gebäude. In dem sitzen Frauen, die schwere Straftaten begangen haben - von Brandstiftung bis Mord. Doch alle sind sie freigesprochen worden. Sie sind schuldunfähig, weil sie eine psychische Erkrankung haben. Mein Kollege Oleg war zwei Tage in der Frauenforensik. Er hat sich angeschaut, wie es dort ist, mit Menschen gesprochen, die dort Patientinnen sind und mit denen, die dort arbeiten. Heute gibt er uns einen Einblick hinter diese Mauern und eine Antwort auf die Frage: Wie ist es wirklich in der Frauenforensik?

Fredag! Det blir äckliga tanter, ljudporr, jägare, gåshud, slavar och poliser. Har du ett skvaller som fler borde få höra? Maila det till kafferepetpod@gmail.comMissa inte vår månatliga systerpodd Cigarrummet. Bli prenumerant på www.underproduktion.se/cigarrummet9:37 - När alla andra hör14:30 - En misslyckad taxiresa hem22:41 - Inger och slavhandeln26:00 - Stelt på jobbet29:47 - Historien om Dynamit-Harry37:00 - Brända kakor of shame39:28 - Mormor hjälper till45:43 - Den kreativa pizzametoden och en kamp mot tiden54:00 - Plexiglas skyddar inte bara mot Covid-partiklar Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Discover the latest global real estate trends and untapped investment opportunities. Keith uncovers high-yield new build rental properties that can deliver impressive returns, even in today's challenging market. Don't miss your chance to build lasting wealth through strategic real estate investing. Tune in now to get the insider insights you need to get ahead. The podcast dives into dramatic global real estate trends, with home prices skyrocketing over 10% in countries like Colombia and the Netherlands. It also examines the alarming rise in U.S. homelessness, driven by factors like housing shortages and inflation. To counter these challenges, the show spotlights compelling new-build rental properties that could offer attractive returns for passive investors. GRE Free Investment Coaching: GREmarketplace.com/Coach For access to properties or free help with a GRE Investment Coach, start here: GREmarketplace.com Show Notes: GetRichEducation.com/536 Get mortgage loans for investment property: RidgeLendingGroup.com or call 855-74-RIDGE  or e-mail: info@RidgeLendingGroup.com Invest with Freedom Family Investments.  You get paid first: Text FAMILY to 66866 Will you please leave a review for the show? I'd be grateful. Search “how to leave an Apple Podcasts review”  For advertising inquiries, visit: GetRichEducation.com/ad Best Financial Education: GetRichEducation.com Get our wealth-building newsletter free— text ‘GRE' to 66866 Our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/c/GetRichEducation Follow us on Instagram: @getricheducation Complete episode transcript:   Automatically Transcribed With Otter.ai    Keith Weinhold  0:02   Welcome to GRE. I'm your host. Keith Weinhold, we look at global home price change, the asset class rundown, then the homelessness crisis is mega bad. It just reached new, unprecedented levels, and real estate and inflation has a lot to do with the homelessness surge today on get rich education.   Speaker 1  0:28   Since 2014 the powerful get rich education podcast has created more passive income for people than nearly any other show in the world. This show teaches you how to earn strong returns from passive real estate investing in the best markets without losing your time being a flipper or landlord. Show Host Keith Weinhold writes for both Forbes and Rich Dad advisors, who delivers a new show every week since 2014 there's been millions of listener downloads of 188 world nations. He has a list show. Guess who? Top Selling personal finance author Robert Kiyosaki, get rich education can be heard on every podcast platform, plus it has its own dedicated Apple and Android listener phone apps build wealth on the go with the get rich education podcast. Sign up now for the get rich education podcast or visit get rich education.com   Corey Coates  1:13   You're listening to the show that has created more financial freedom than nearly any show in the world. This is get rich education.   Keith Weinhold  1:29   Welcome to GRE from Kent Washington to Tashkent, Uzbekistan and across 188 nations worldwide. I'm Keith Weinhold, and you are listening to get rich education. One reason for a not just national, but global, rise in real estate prices is that you can't fake it. Real property is not a derivative, yeah, you can't fake it. So this really emphasizes the word real in real estate. It's not a crypto within infinite supply. It's not an NFT. You can't fake construction. You can't fake real materials put into property, from concrete to kitchen cabinets. So in the year recently ended, as we catch up to global home prices and select nations, per Fitch Ratings. Let's do that because it was not just a US centric thing. In the Netherlands, the home price change last year was 13% you had that much appreciation in the Netherlands. Colombia, 10% Mexico up 9.3% Brazil had 8% home price appreciation. Australia, 5.2% Australia has just seen year over year home price appreciation for such a long time. The UK had 5% appreciation. Spain, 5% as well. The USA, 4% just like I predicted at the end of 2023 for 2024 It did indeed come in at 4% Canada also had exactly 4% home price appreciation last year, just like the USA did. Denmark 3% Italy and Japan each at two and a half percent. Germany home prices were up just one and a half percent. And France had home prices that fell 3% China had home prices that fell 7.8% that supply versus demand thing in China, where they massively overbuilt, that's why home prices are down there. And as I unveil the depths of the USS homelessness crisis later here on the show, you will see that, yeah, those appreciated real estate prices, like I just mentioned, they have a lot to do with it. Now you might think of the youngest generation, the generation after Gen Z, as generation alpha, and that is true. However, they are no longer the youngest generation, because the babies born on New Year's Day of this year not only got to be featured in feel good local news stories. You know what? They are, also the first members of generation, beta, yeah, which will include children born from 2025 through 2039 so that is the future and the future demographic that's going to demand housing. But first of all, let's look at a year that was yes for years here on the show, we have our asset class rundown shortly after most quarters end, and certainly after a year ends. And today is no different, and this is because at times you've got to compare real estate with the other investment options that are out there. We now have music to play for our asset class rundown feature each time for today and. Future shows. And I know the GRE sound engineer has got to like this. He's also a DJ dropit, Vedrand. Here is GRE 's asset class rundown for the 12 months of last year, residential real estate values were up 4% per the NARS. Single Family existing home price, like I said earlier, single family rents up about 2% per core logic, apartment rents pretty flat, down six tenths of 1% for the year per apartment list, office buildings were down in value 9% the 30 year fixed rate mortgage. It started last year at 6.6% everyone, I mean, everyone, thought that they would go lower, but nope, they ended at 6.9% a little higher. That's per Freddie Mac survey. The s5&p 100 index was up over 23% topping out at 6100 last year. That is the first time the s&p has been up 20% plus in back to back years since 1998 and the s&p is meant to represent 500 companies, but it has become so concentrated due to the rise of the Magnificent Seven stocks that its effective diversification is less than 60 stocks. Morgan Stanley just announced that they expect the SP500, 100 returns to be flat for the next decade due to lofty valuations. Do you know that since 2000 gold has outperformed the s&p last year, gold shot up from about $2,000 peaked near $2,800 and then ended up about 30% for last year, the yield on the 10 year T note was up 63 basis points last year, basically rising from four up to 4.6% by year end. What that means is that that signals higher inflation expectations. Bitcoin up an astounding 111% to end last year around 95k and it topped out at an all time high of 108k oil up just 2% to 72 bucks and a wild card for you. Through October, Bible sales were up 22% compared to the same period versus the previous year. That is GRE 's asset class rundown. It was.    This is get rich education. Let's drop back and do some learning before I update you on housing and the homelessness crisis. Now, a lot of Americans don't really know history that well, and not very many have a good financial education either. But you know, it is quite possible that even the next person you spot in a Trader Joe's aisle has heard of Adam Smith in his landmark 1776 book The Wealth of Nations. Did you know that Adam Smith is the one credited with actually inventing the very concept of supply and demand? Yeah, Adam Smith, a Scotsman is credited with that. He is known as the father of modern economics. You might have already known that. Well, of course, supply versus demand seems to be a more relevant concept than usual. Here with the housing shortage crisis, Adam Smith, he proposed the idea of what he called an invisible hand, that is the tendency of free markets to regulate themselves using competition, supply and demand and self interest, a Darwinian sort of struggle. Really, did you know that he also created the concept of gross domestic product? Yeah, prior to Adam Smith's work, most people considered a nation's wealth based on the amount of gold and silver reserves that they had stored. But Adam Smith said no, it's more about productivity quantified in this GDP in a lot of his work. It also discusses the evolution of human society from a hunter stage with no property rights and no fixed residences, to nomadic agriculture with shifting residences. And then the next stage after that is a feudal society, where laws and property rights are established to protect privileged classes. And finally, that modern society is characterized by laissez faire or free markets, so a good chunk of Adam Smith's work revolved around real estate. Now, the history of economics like that is a phrase that sounds boring. Maybe it is to some people, but as an investor, the least that you should know about Adam Smith's landmark book The Wealth of Nations from the year 1776 is that to review, he invented the supply demand concept. He created the GDP concept, and he championed free markets. That's something you're going to appreciate knowing in your investor life. And also supply demand, as I discussed that in the homelessness problem shortly.    we are a real estate show, and, you know, I just don't hear other real estate shows talk about, well, the unfortunate, I guess, absence of real estate in an increasing number of people's lives now, even if you have a home, learn about how homelessness is gonna make your life worse, too. In fact, it already has. I'm not sure if you've noticed, I will get into that as well. First listen to these two spots, freedom, family investments for an eight to 10% return on your liquid capital and Ridge lending group, they specialize in income property loans. They can really help you, and I would know, because I use them both my self. I'm Keith Weinhold. This is get rich education. Here you go.   Oh, geez, the national average bank account pays less than 1% on your savings, so your bank is getting rich off of you. You've got to earn way more, or else you're losing your hard earned cash to inflation. Let the liquidity fund help you put your money to work with minimum risk, your cash generates up to a 10% return and compounds year in and year out. Instead of earning less than 1% in your bank account, the minimum investment is just 25k you keep getting paid until you decide you want your money back. Their decade plus track record proves they've always paid their investors 100% in full and on time. And you know how I'd know, because I'm an investor in this myself earn 10% like me and GRE listeners are. Text family to66866, to learn about freedom. Family investments, liquidity fund on your journey to financial freedom through passive income. Text family to 66866    Hey, you can get your mortgage loans at the same place where I get mine, at Ridge lending group NMLS, 42056, they provided our listeners with more loans than any provider in the entire nation because they specialize in income properties. They help you build a long term plan for growing your real estate empire with leverage, you can start your pre qualification and chat with President Caeli Ridge personally. Start Now while it's on your mind at Ridge lendinggroup.com that's Ridge lendinggroup.com   Ken McElroy  12:41   this is Rich Dad advisor, Ken McElroy. Listen to get rich education with Keith Weinhold, and don't quit your Daydream.   Keith Weinhold  12:57   Welcome back. You're listening to get rich education Episode 536, I'm your host. Keith Weinhold, it is bad. America just hit a record high homelessness number, and it is up double digits, over 18% in just one year. It is even worse when we look at family homelessness and the rise in that and gosh, get this unaccompanied youth homeless, meaning like a 15 year old kid homeless and drifting by themselves. And this is all in the most powerful nation in the world. And even if you have a home. Homelessness is gonna make your life worse, too. We'll also look at how Trump wants to address this. It is major. And finally, are there any solutions to the homelessness crisis in America today? Well, there are now over 771,000 homeless in America, that's up from 653k just last year. And yes, the homeless can be hard to count, but as long as the methodology stays the same, I mean, there you go with the 18% increase. And here's the thing from all the years, from 2007 to 2023, all 16 of those years, we only saw a total increase of 19% during that entire span, and now 18% in just one year this latest year. I mean, talk about exponential and accelerating homelessness growth. And before I tell you about why this is happening, let's get a better idea of the gravity of this sad situation here, and this is all from HUD's newly released annual homelessness assessment report to Congress among subgroups families with children saw the biggest increase as. At 39% year over year. You think that's sad, but consider how sad this is. Unaccompanied homeless children, they're up 10% in just a year, and that was only up 3.4% all of the previous 16 years combined. Veterans are the only group to see a decrease, and the number of homeless people over 65 so we're talking seniors here that is expected to almost triple by 2030 that is just five years away, and it is just widespread too. I mean, nearly no US geography is immune from this spike in homelessness, from Florida to Maine to California to Alaska. Now, even if you have a home, the shoes of that are pretty good, if you're listening to me, you know, why does this even make your life worse? Well, of course, first of all, homelessness can make your city blighted. But beyond that, just think about how many ways it's just changing your week in and week out routine. I mean, have you noticed, like, just take, for example, when you or I walk into some grocery stores anymore. I mean, I notice how different things are than they were just say, five years ago. I mean, you've got to notice some of these things now, more often than there was just a few years ago, there's an armed guard when you walk into a store near the entrance. Well, someone is paying for that security, whether it's the store passing the price along to you, or whether it's a government or municipality paying that, well, that's where your tax money goes. And what about when you're shopping the aisles of a supermarket, or, say, CVS? Well, now even kind of moderately priced items like bottles of moisturizer, they are under lock and key behind a Plexiglas case. That's inconvenient while you're shopping if you need to use the bathroom, oh, now you need to go get a key or learn the door code to access the bathrooms. That's inconvenient when you're done and as you walk out of the store now, they are more likely to have an attendant that checks your receipts on the way out, and this is just one example at the supermarket. I mean, so many of your patterns are changing due to poor people getting poorer, and the homelessness crisis, if you're in a rural area, it probably affects you less. But just take a look around and notice the change. We're not talking about the change from your parents era, but just in your own life over the past, say, three to five years, homelessness is not good for an area's crime rate either. I mean, it is not good to have desperate people, hungry people, these people have nothing to lose if you're homeless and you commit a crime and go to jail. Hey, that might be an upgrade for some people now you've got a warm, clean place to stay in jail. So now that you and I understand more about why this even affects you and I let's talk about why is homelessness growing at this alarming rate, well, higher prices for real estate, which really accelerated in 2021 and they are not going to relent. As I've said elsewhere, home prices are not going to go down in a meaningful way anytime soon as just three weeks ago. Here on our forecast episode, I forecast another 5% of national home price appreciation this year. And it's not just higher prices, it's higher rents. Rents really started taking off in 2021 as well. Well. Higher rents, that means more evictions, and an eviction is the start of homelessness for a lot of people. And a third reason for this surge in homelessness is just that overall lack of housing. I have covered that extensively elsewhere. Yes, the housing supply crisis, and as I'm known for saying, the housing crash already occurred. Did you miss it? It was a supply crash that occurred about five years ago, and a lot of agencies think we're under supplied by 3.7 million housing units. Now, when you look at the new HUD supplied map of homelessness by state, you can very much see that it is about housing, because those regions with the highest home prices generally have the most homelessness. We're talking about the Northeast, the West Coast and Hawaii. And the fourth reason for the homelessness surge is that, of course, inflation started accelerating about four years ago, and people just cannot make ends meet anymore. CPI inflation peaked at 9.1% back. In June of 2022 and year over year, prices are still going up 3% today. Prices are not going down. They're just rising at a slower rate. And of course, inflation hurts the poor and actually helps the wealthy, exacerbating the inequality Canyon the wealthy have assets. Those assets float up in value with inflation and the prices at the grocery store are just a tiny part of a wealthy person spending. But the poor don't own assets that float up with the inflation and higher grocery prices and things like electric bills, well, they comprise a big part of a poor person's income. And fifthly, the massive arrival of immigrants pushed up homeless numbers these past, oh, three or so years. And it remains to be seen how many of those people really get deported. And you know, a sixth reason for homelessness. It's not something new, it's what I'll call all of these background reasons that have been there for decades and are not going away, like how a medical emergency can even drain a middle class person's savings and things like ongoing substance abuse. I mean, drug users often cannot stay employed. So there you have it. What was that? Six big reasons that I've identified for surging homelessness now let's see what Donald Trump has to say and understand that, due to last June Supreme Court decision, Trump now has got more power to clear out encampments and make life for the homeless more difficult, opening the door now to be criminally charged for trespassing and illegal camping. I mean, you really don't want to be homeless today as part of what Trump calls his agenda 47 his plan to tackle homelessness. Here is his preamble.    Donald Trump  21:57   Our once great cities have become unlivable, unsanitary nightmares surrendered to the homeless, the drug addicted and the violent and dangerously deranged. We're making many suffer for the whims of a deeply unwell few, and they are unwell. Indeed, the homeless have no right to turn every park and sidewalk into a place for them to squat and do drugs. Americans should not have to step over piles of needles and waste as they walk down a street in a beautiful city, or at least once beautiful city, because they've changed so much over the last 10 years.    Keith Weinhold  22:40   So that's the problem. Here's the solution. I'll boil down the meat of the Trump agenda, 47 homeless statement to just the most salient 40 seconds for you here. Just listen to this, and as you listen in closely, note that this is not a housing first plan for the homeless. Instead, it's treatment first.   Donald Trump  23:03   Under my strategy, working with states, we will ban urban camping wherever possible. Violators of these bans will be arrested, but they will be given the option to accept treatment and services if they're willing to be rehabilitated. Many of them don't want that, but we'll give them the option. We will then open up large parcels of inexpensive land, bring in doctors, psychiatrists, social workers and drug rehab specialists, and create tent cities where the homeless can be relocated and their problems identified. But we'll open up our cities again, make them livable and make them beautiful.   Keith Weinhold  23:43   Okay, it's not housing first, because, see, he wants to ban urban camping, something that parallels the Supreme Court decision. What this is not is that it is not giving the homeless hotels in the city, like some cities have recently done, converting their hotels into homeless shelters. Instead, this is designating large parcels of cheap land for tent cities, but outside the urban core, like in a big grassy lot, and then bringing in social workers and rehab specialists for them, and that way, his solution is that this city is free of homeless people, and really that is the crux of Trump's plan. But what are some other solutions here? And these are now my insights, not Trump's, that is, build more housing. That's really simple. I mean, this will naturally slow down, accelerating home prices and spiking rents, and we've got to relax regulation and zoning. We had a zoning expert, Nolan gray on the show here last year. Some scholars believe that we should just eliminate zoning in America completely. And one. One way to relax regulation is to Gosh, revisit some of these over the top safety concerns. I mean, look, it increases the cost of the most basic entry level housing when every home needs to have all these thick, fire rated doors and smoke detectors all over the place, and carbon monoxide detectors everywhere, and GFCI electrical outlets all over the place. I mean, hey, it sounds kind of funny to say out loud, but all this stuff contributes to making affordable housing impossible. And another solution is that you've got to kill nimbyism in a lot of cases, yes, that not in my backyard. Ism, you know, a person can act like they're all pro development, and like they're all free market, and they want to have their home built just how they want it, where they want it, but you know what, as soon as their home was built, they don't want others moving near them, yeah, somehow the free market's not so great anymore, okay? And they sure don't want apartment buildings nearby. Well, that is what we need, allowing taller structures to be built. That is called up zoning. It doesn't have to be a gigantic apartment building either. We need more, mmm, properties, multi families, missing middle. That means building more two, three and four unit structures in single family neighborhoods, duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, because a lot of those can be built so that they look like single family homes. But yet it's something affordable and it helps with density. Another solution to deal with homelessness is to, of course, bring down inflation. The government needs to stop printing, say, $1 trillion to pay for a program, whether that's sending aid to foreign nations or whatever that program is. When more dollars are created like that, it debases the currency everyone else is holding on to, including your dollars, and it makes everyone from landlords to grocers have to raise their prices. And you know, here's the funny thing in the last election for president that we had last year, well, that administration got voted out of office, and many say that the number one reason was due to high inflation, but yet, look at what they voted for with the incoming administration. Everyone expects higher inflation. So there's a real paradox there.    On our YouTube channel, you can watch videos of me going out outdoors and interviewing the homeless. In fact, I'm surprised at how many homeless let me into their tents, and they wanted to show me their makeshift shelters and tell me about their life. I mean, that's kind of the good news. They were open. They were friendly people. I think they really wanted that to get exposed, because they were hoping that people would see that to come do something for them. I think that's why they've been so open with me. So that was good on the flip side, oh gosh. One thing that they have in common is that they all seemingly want to blame somebody else for the condition that they're in other than themselves, like the government or including telling me that landlords are greedy. But it really is fascinating to see from our get rich education YouTube channel, which is different content from this show. Just search the word homeless there on the get rich education YouTube channel and you can see it.    Hey, I want to ask you something. What is your on ramp to real estate investing? Like, how did you approach it? Or how did you get into it? I mean, mine was as a disgruntled employee. That's it. I didn't come from a complimentary professional place. I mean, that's how I became an investor, and there was nothing wrong with my job position. Specifically, I worked with good people and everything. In fact, I had an easy and safe job, and it paid a little bit well. But, you know, safe is not the place to be. Safety is the opposite of freedom. As an employee, you know, I could see that 401 K type plans. They were designed so that you don't get income from them until you're old. It's a salary reduction plan all those working years as well. Well, no wonder that your employer encourages participation in them. That way they're going to keep you working as an employee until retirement, because that's when they're designed to generate income. But see my point here, really is that I did not have a complimentary skill set to real estate investing, and if you do, it can be to your advantage. So you know what I mean. Let's take a couple of friends of. The show here, Robert Helms, host of the terrific real estate guys radio show. He came from a real estate agent family. His dad was an agent. Well, that can help you find deals. How about Ken McElroy, another frequent guest on the show here, very successful real estate investor. Well, he was a property manager before he became a real estate investor, totally complementary skill set. And by the way, two months ago in New Orleans, I was invited to participate in a collective inner circle mastermind group session that Robert and Ken help run. That was cool, but getting back to complementary skill sets, Michael Becker, a former guest here on the show, he was a lender, so he got to see the paperwork of all these successful investors. So he became one himself. I mean, as a lender, you keep seeing savvy investors leverage themselves with debt and then do cash out refinances, a tax free windfall event, all while they keep the asset too well. He wanted to get in on some of that. And I also know real estate investors that started out as handymen, okay, a hands on trade that can totally help when you're starting out as a real estate investor. So do you have a complimentary skill set that can help make you a successful real estate investor. If you don't, then don't despair, because you know what? I don't have one myself. I was just a former employee that wanted something else. I don't have a complimentary skill set to real estate investing. No transferable professional skill. Instead of that, I just became a reader, but not a massive reader. Of course, I was a learner before I was a teacher. I enjoyed learning this stuff, and I also got a good grasp on the numbers and how that works. But importantly, my advantage was I take action, I just keep adding property to my portfolio. You just got to keep doing that, regardless of what's happening in the larger economy or what prices are or what interest rates are.    And as you know, last week, I discussed the advantages of owning and building with brand new build rental property today, and you know, new build and these build to rent properties, those are things that that really wasn't even available when I started out investing. Well, it wasn't. I mean, with new build, oh, your maintenance repair costs are going to be low. You tend to attract a high quality tenant that also tends to stay for a while. Insurance costs tend to be lower on new build. And there's a bigger advantage than all of that in the market cycle right now that I'll get into shortly. Well, historically, the long run average. Do you have any idea what proportion of homes for sale are new build homes? Any guess, like, what share of those homes are new? It's only about one in eight. Yeah, the Census Bureau and the NAR tell us that it's 13% historically. Okay, well, what do you think it is today? Well, today, that number is up. Existing homeowners, they're not selling those homes aren't getting on the market as often due to the lock in effect, and we have to add supply. So in order to do that, we are building more new there's just no other way to bring it to market. Well, today, the proportion of new build homes for sale among all homes for sale is fully double that, at 26% although we're still undersupplied of homes in the US by about 30% you know there are pockets where they've overbuilt with new builds, including in Florida and Texas. So the time could really be right to expand your income property portfolio in one of those places, because builders that we work with at GRE marketplace are really willing to give you a deal now you've got them right where you want them if you're looking for a deal. How does a four and three quarter percent interest rate sound? Yes. Rates on non owner occupied property are about eight right now. They're about seven on owner occupied property, but we've got builders willing to buy your rate down to 4.75% and they're also offering one year of free property management and three months of rent guarantee protection in case your property is not occupied right away. The first one is a brand new build duplex in Inverness, Florida, two beds, two baths, each side, price of 420k projected rent from both sides at $2,830 and the size is 2100 square feet. I mean the. That sounds like it could make your cash flow thin, until you consider that 4.75% fixed mortgage rate the property tax is about one and a half percent and insurance get this projected at just $1,155 a year for an entire new build duplex, and now you might ask, what could the rate of return be on this Florida duplex new build? Well, I projected 5% appreciation for this year. New builds tend to appreciate better than existing property, but let's just use 5% if you have a 25% down payment, that's four to one leverage. So you've got a 20% return on your money. And let's just keep it conservative. When we look at monthly cash flow, that results in a 5% cash on cash return. Add that to your 20% leverage appreciation, you're up to a 25% ROI already. Add in the fact that your tenant is paying down your principal for you by $405 every month. That's 4860 annually, divided by your 105k down payment. That means you've got another four and a half percent return here. Let's just call it four. You're up to a 29% total ROI we haven't even added in yet, your tax depreciation benefit, and now you're up to a return in the mid 30s. Finally, your inflation profiting benefit on your fixed amortizing debt, and you are well into the 40s for a percent return on an annual basis. And of course, most of these are only projections. It could disappoint you at 30 or less, still a nice return, or it could over perform at 50% or more. I mean, this right here is how wealth is built. I mean, this is how you do something that disrupts your entire family tree that was the new build duplex. Then I'll share one other one with you. Here from GRE marketplace. Is a single family rental. This one is in Locust Grove, Georgia. Gosh, it looks really good in the photo here with a two car garage and some brick facing, its price is 339k rent is 2350 The size is 2164 square feet, so only a little bigger than the duplex here in this new build, Georgia, single family rental, four beds, two baths, beautiful looking new construction on the inside, open floor plan, stainless steel appliances, I can't tell whether the floor is LVP or wood laminate, but it's got a flooring type that's resilient, that tenants like, and your rate of return is going to be similar to the duplex ROI that I laid out, though probably not quite as high as the duplex. I mean, with these interest rate buy downs, these could very well be the property types where, in just five years time, maybe even as little as two or three years time after owning them, you look back and you consider how opportunistic you work in this part of the market cycle where there are now more new builds that you can choose from, and a builder was willing To make you a deal to keep their product moving, because they build a little too much in some pockets of Florida, for example. So yes, these and more like them are available, and there are more in Florida, Georgia, Alabama and a number of other states. And you know, something I don't think I shared with you earlier, it's convenient. You can get a spot with one of our GRE investment coaches right on their calendars, you can look at their calendar and pick a date and time that's convenient for you. For a free coaching session, they will learn about you. They'll let you know where the real deals are, if they're right for you at all, all you've got to do is visit GRE marketplace.com, and click on the free investment coaching area. There you are with some real opportunities and an actionable resource. Until next week, I'm your host. Keith Weinhold, don't quit your Daydream.   Speaker 2  39:17   Nothing on this show should be considered specific, personal or professional advice, please consult an appropriate tax, legal, real estate, financial or business professional for individualized advice. Opinions of guests are their own. Information is not guaranteed. All investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss. The host is operating on behalf of get rich Education LLC, exclusively you   Keith Weinhold  39:45   The preceding program was brought to you by your home for wealth, building, get rich, education.com    

The Artistic Legacy: JD Shultz's Colorful World Beyond CanvasOn this captivating episode of The Travel Wins, we dive into the vibrant world of JD (Joshua Dimitri) Shultz, an artist whose creative path was no surprise given his family's rich artistic heritage. With both parents, Carole Shultz (a renowned sculptor and painter) and Jack Shultz (a pioneering multi-media painter), making waves in Southern California's art scene during the '70s and '80s, JD and his siblings grew up immersed in an atmosphere where art wasn't just a profession but a way of life.From a young age, JD and his siblings, Adam and Rachel, channeled their creativity, shaping what would become a family legacy cherished worldwide. Today, the works of all five family members adorn homes and offices across the globe, bringing a touch of their artistic spirit to life. JD's unique style stands out through his playful yet intense compositions—what he describes as "complexity at its most whimsical." His innovative approach includes painting on the reverse side of Plexiglas with acrylics, producing vivid, three-dimensional works that leap off the surface.From dreamlike cityscapes to surrealistic, thought-provoking abstracts, JD's art invites viewers into a world where imagination knows no bounds. Celebrities such as Larry King, Ryan Seacrest, Dr. Drew Pinsky, and members of the rock band Rush are among the many who have added JD's striking creations to their private collections.In this episode, JD shares insights into his creative process, his family's profound influence on his work, and how he continues to evolve as an artist while navigating the business side of the art world. Tune in as we explore how JD Shultz's work captivates the mind, soul, and inner spirit, offering an unforgettable artistic journey.

Kurzes Update zu Promi Big Brother Tag 4, damit du auf Stand bist.  Jungs rauchen Shisha und reden über Escort Ladies, Leyla zweifelt alles an und endlich gibt es Prinzenrollen Kekse. Verwirrend war, dass Plexiglas abgeleckt wurde… Trash TV Gold! Für Details hört einfach in die Folge.  Sprachi kriegst du jetzt jeden Tag

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 9, 2024 is: coruscate • KOR-uh-skayt • verb To coruscate is to give off or reflect light in bright beams or flashes. Coruscate is used as a synonym of sparkle and may also be used to mean "to be brilliant or showy in technique or style." // She placed a bid on a classic car from the 1950s, replete with yards of coruscating chrome. See the entry > Examples: "The show is beautifully laid out. It's installed in a small, dark, semicircular gallery, with jewelry in vitrines spotlighted against a black acetate and Plexiglas. The diamonds glint and coruscate as you move across the displays." — Seph Rodney, The New York Times, 2 Sept. 2024 Did you know? "You're a shining star / No matter who you are." So sang the band Earth, Wind & Fire on their 1975 hit "Shining Star," which is not only a coruscating gem of funk and soul but one that serves as a handy (and catchy) way to remember the dual uses of the verb coruscate. This formal-sounding synonym of sparkle comes from the Latin verb coruscare, meaning "to flash." Originally, coruscate was used only literally, applied when things—such as, well, shining stars—glitter or gleam, as when Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote in his 1852 short story about a scarecrow, "Feathertop," that "the star kept coruscating on Feathertop's breast…." Eventually, coruscate gained figurative use, applying to those human shining stars who may be said to have a "coruscating wit" or "coruscating brilliance," or to things (such as satires, performances, or prose) that are metaphorically brilliant.

Nyheterna Radio 17.00

Ein Meilenstein für den medizinischen Fortschritt: Die erste funktionierende künstliche Herzklappe wird 1952 einer Patientin eingesetzt. Moderatorin Sarah Brendel schaut zurück auf eine erfolgreiche Operation am offenen Herzen.

Artist @ForrestLawsonArt Forrest Lawson's work explores memory, space, and queerness, featured in The Bureau of Queer Art's first-anniversary exhibition at Dama Gallery in Ventura, CA, and on Artsy.net from June 1 to June 29. His latest piece, “Dick Den,” a transparent Plexiglas dollhouse filled with BDSM furniture, symbolizes the fragile nature of queer visibility. Lawson's art critiques the hypersexualization of queer spaces and incorporates elements of queer architecture and community. Discover more about his work in our feature interview and podcast episode.. Discover more about this powerful narrative in our feature interview and podcast episode and download the magazine for FREE at ArtGalleryStudios.com Apply today to be apart of the community of contemporary Queer & Allied artists! ArtGalleryStudios.com #AlliedArtists #SupportQueerArtists #ArtWithPurpose #LGBTQArtists #ArtWithoutBorders #SupportLGBTQArt #DiversityInArt #ArtForChange #CulturalDialogue #ArtActivism #QueerCreatives #ArtGalleryStudios #ArtistsForEquality #QueerArtMatters #QueerArtistsUnite #InclusiveArt #QueerVisibility #PinkTidePride #DamaGallery #ArtExhibition #Artsy #LGBTQArt

Andreas ist zu Gast im Tropenhaus und gemeinsam gehen wir auf Tauchstation. Was sind Deepdives, warum schauen wir sie so gerne und was es alles über Schlangestehen, obskure Cartoonserien und Reisen mit gigantischen Stofftieren zu lernen gibt, erfahrt ihr in der neuen Folge. Techniktagebuch Tv Tropes: Web TV Vanity Fair: Best TV Shows of 2024 TH 54: LARP Pop Culture Happy Hour Lindsay Ellis BreadTube Jenny Nicholson The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel Friendship is Witchcraft My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic THE Vampire Diaries Video Evermore: The Theme Park That Wasn't Well, I guess SOMEBODY had to read “Trigger Warning” A needlessly thorough roast of Dear Evan Hansen (2021) Oh no! The Rise of Skywalker was real bad :( The Church Play Cinematic Universe An Excruciatingly Deep Dive into the Avatar Theme Park Suicide Squad Sale Pitch SPIDERQUEST: Quest for the Man-Sized Spider Defunctland DefunctTV: The History of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Defunctland: The History of Ghostbusters Spooktacular Disney's FastPass: A Complicated History HBomberGuy Vaccines and Autism: A Measured Response YouTube and Plagiarism Dismaland ContraPoints TH 01: Harry Potter JK Rowling | ContraPoints Twilight | ContraPoints The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling | ContraPoints Envy | ContraPoints Jordan Peterson | ContraPoints TH 22 Encanto Scratch-Soundeffekt: https://pixabay.com

Caner Gerek: Cüneyt Bey nedir bu fahiş fiyatın tanımı iktisatta? Hatta mümkünse İngilizcesini de paylaşabilir misiniz? (exorbitant price değil herhalde) fahiş kelime anlamıyla ölçüyü aşan demek ve fahiş dendiği anda ölçünün ne olduğuna dair iktisadın net bi fikri olması gerekir ki çok iddialıhttps://x.com/canergerek/status/1784176713523425663Yayında adını hatırlamadığım Plexiglas hikayesi: 1940'larda Rohm and Haas adındaki kimyasal şirket dişçilikte de kullanılan Plexiglas (methyl methacrylate) adlı maddeyi dişçilere 22 dolardan, diğer sanayi firmalarına ise 85 kuruştan satar. Sanaycilerin bu maddeyi alıp dişçilere daha ucuza satmalarını engellemek için de içine arsenik koymayı düşünürler. Tabi hukuki problemlerden korktukları için arsenik koymazlar ama bunun dedikodusunu yayarlar. (Kaynak: The Armchair Economist, S. Landsburg)Keyifli dinlemeler.[Kayıt tarihi: 30 Nisan 2024]Güncellemelerden haberdar olmak ve daha fazlası (bölüm notları, soru ve yorumlarınız) için: tersaci.substack.comTwitter: @trscbrs Get full access to Ters Açı'dan at tersaci.substack.com/subscribe

This is an oral testimony of Captain Frank Murphy from The Frank Murphy Collection at the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force. Throughout our episodes, you have been hearing audio clips from this interview.  Here is the interview with Frank Murphy in its entirety. Sitting on jeep, left to right: Lt. Frank Murphy and Lt. Charles Cruikshank. Standing far right is Capt. Albert “Bucky” Elton, 418th Sq. Operations Officer. Others kneeling and sitting, left to right: Lt. Augie Gaspar, Lt. Glenn Graham, and Lt. Burr, 418th Sq. Intelligence Officer. Murphy Collection. Frank Murphy survived German POW camps after being shot out of his B-17 Flying Fortress. His bravery earned him the Prisoner of War Medal, Purple Heart, and Air Medal. The incredible stories of Murphy and his 8th Air Force's 100th Bomb Group is now being featured in the Apple TV+ Series, Masters of the Air.  Murphy's story documents his order of assignments, the everyday adversity of war, his downing and his custody--all told with unembellished, yet searing objectivity. Members of the 100th Bomb Group at RAF Thorpe Abbotts on August 17, 1943.  Frank D. Murphy is kneeling on the left with a dagger in his pocket. Below is an excerpt from his memoir, Luck of the Draw: On Monday, June 28, 1943, along with seventeen other [100th Bomb Group aircrafts], and three other 4th BW groups equipped with Tokyo tanks, Crew No. 31 set out to attack the German submarine pens at Saint-Nazaire, France. Because of the large number of antiaircraft guns ringing the port, it was known as “Flak City.” Out of respect for this formidable array of defensive weaponry, our bombing altitude would be twenty-eight thousand feet, the highest bombing altitude of our combat tour. With our long-range fuel tanks, it was not necessary for us to fly over France; instead, we departed the English coast at Land's End at the southwestern tip of England, flew entirely over water around the Brest Peninsula, and made our bomb run from the sea over the Bay of Biscay. It was a beautiful sunny day, but as we turned to our bomb run at the IP, I saw antiaircraft fire for the first time. It horrified me. The flak was easy for me to see since my navigator's table was immediately behind the bombardier, whose position was in the Plexiglas cone that formed the nose of the bomber. I could easily see past the bombardier and, of course, I had windows of my own, so getting an eyeful of flak bursts was unavoidable. When we entered the flak, it was an almost uninterrupted cloud of swirling black smoke filled with angry red explosions. Plainly, any one of those exploding shells could obliterate an aircraft and its crew without warning. When the group ahead of us entered this inferno, they all but disappeared. My heart felt as if it would stop. It did not appear possible that anyone or anything could fly into that hell and come out alive on the other side. But somehow, despite being buffeted by thunderous explosions and the incessant clinking, clanging, and pinging of shell fragments striking our airplane, we made it through. I quickly learned to hate flak—it frightened the life out of me. We could not see it coming, nor could we fight back as we could with enemy fighters. The German gun-laying radar was incredibly accurate. The standard German antiaircraft gun, the 88 mm flak cannon, was capable of hurling an eighteen-pound shell to a maximum slant range of nine thousand yards. It took the shell twenty-five seconds to cover this distance, and during this time, its target would move almost two miles. Yet we seldom knew we were under fire until the antiaircraft shells began exploding in proximity to us, usually in simultaneous bursts of four black puffs from a single battery if it was light, or in thick concentrations of random explosions if several batteries were zeroed in on us. We couldn't take evasive action until we were already in the middle of it, and on a bomb run, we took no evasive action regardless of how intense the flak was. We had to fly straight and level so the bombardier could drop the bombs on target. The din inside the airplane was horrific—the continuous roaring of our four Wright Cyclone engines was almost deafening. Still, we could easily hear the muffled explosions of nearby flak bursts, and if they were really close, they made loud, cracking sounds like near-miss lightning strikes or breaking tree limbs. If German fighters attacked us, the airplane shook and vibrated violently from the operation of our flexible machine guns and power turrets, sounding much like someone thumping on washtubs with sticks. Dust and threads of insulation flew about the airplane, and shrapnel from flak, which varied in size from as big as baseballs to as small as gravel, rained on and often penetrated the thin skin of the airplane. Inside the Plexiglas nose of the airplane, it was as if we were in a fishbowl in a shooting gallery five miles up in the sky in an already-unforgiving environment. It is difficult to describe how exposed and unprotected we felt. Wreckage of Frank Murphy's B17, shot down over Münster, Germany Mission 21, Münster, Germany The Battle over Munster was a pivotal moment in the war, and it played a significant role in the eventual Allied victory. By targeting the railroad marshalling yards, the Allies were able to disrupt the flow of supplies and reinforcements to the German front lines, weakening their position and ultimately helping to turn the tide of the war. Shot down During this hazzardous mission near Münster, on October 10th 1943, Frank (on his twenty first mission) was aboard the B-17 Flying Fortress "AW-R-Go" (#42-30725) when the plane was shot down. Crew members B-17 Flying Fortress "AW-R-Go" Captain Charles B.Cruikshank, Pilot, POW 1st Leutenant, Glenn E.Graham, Copilot, POW Captain Frank D.Murphy, Navigator, POW 1st Leutenant, August H.Gaspar, Bombardier, POW T/Sergeant Orlando E. Vincenti, Radio operator, KIA T/Sergeant Leonard R.Weeks, Top Turret, POW  S/Sergeant Robert L.Bixler, Ball Turret, POW S/Sergeant James M.Johnson, Waist gunner, POW S/Sergeant Donald B.Garrison, Waist gunner, POW Sergeant Charles A.Clark, Tail gunner, KIA Atlanta Journal Constitution Article from early November 1943 after Frank Murphy and his crew were shot down. Taken prisoner Captain Frank D. Murphy (22) was taken prisoner of war for the remainder of the war, which lasted for another nineteen months. He was first sent to Stalag Luft III in Sagan, a prisoner of war camp for captured airmen. In January 1945, as the Russian Army advanced on the camp, the prisoners were moved to Stalag VIIA in Moosburg, which was a work camp for Allied prisoners of war. After enduring a grueling march in sub-zero temperatures, with little rest or food, many soldiers did not survive the journey. Frank even traded his shoes with a fellow soldier to survive. They were then crammed into boxcars for two days and three nights with no access to sunlight or fresh air. Preparing to depart Stalag Luft VIIA on May 10, 1945.  Frank D. Murphy standing third from the left. Liberation Upon arrival in Moosburg, where he was assigned to Work Camp 3324-46 Krumbachstrasse and later to Work Camp 3368 in Munich, the conditions were horrific. Frank referred to it as a "living hellhole of all hellholes." However, on April 29th, 1945, General George S. Patton's American Third Army liberated over 100.000 POWs, including Frank. He had lost over 50 pounds, weighing only 122 pounds at the time of liberation. During his time in service, Frank earned among others, the Air Medal, The Purple Heart, The US Prisoner of War Medal and the European Campaign Ribbon.

Dans cette carte blanche réalisée en partenariat entre Canal B et les Champs Libres, une personnalité du monde des arts et du spectacle se promène au deuxième étage de la Bibliothèque des Champs Libres et nous rapporte quelques CDs, livres et DVDs qui l'ont marqué. L'invité de ce 5è numéro est Antoine Philias, jeune écrivain Rennais et par ailleurs animateur de l'émission Tri Sélectif sur Canal B. Au micro de Yann Barbotin, il parle de quelques-uns de ses films et écrivains préférés et, bien sûr, nous régale d'une riche sélection musicale. Il présente également son dernier roman en date, "Plexiglas" paru chez Asphalte en août dernier. Antoine Philias fait partie des auteurs invités de Jardins d'hiver 2024, le festival littéraire des Champs Libres.

Difficulty with unexpected changes or routine disruptions is a pivotal part of being Autistic and even small changes can result in a surge of irritation. In regards to routine or plan changes, Dr. Neff described her feelings as an Autistic person: "Once I'm, like, emotionally checked out of something, I'm out." Patrick Casale shared his experience saying that it's very hard to get back into a place where he feels mentally regulated, and he just gets very irritated, very easily. In this episode, Dr. Megan Anna Neff and Patrick Casale, both AuDHDer mental health professionals, share their own struggles, experiences, and feelings around routine disruptions, being over- or under-stimulated in day-to-day life, and learning to better understand their reactions to small and big changes through the lens of their diagnosis. Top 3 reasons to listen to the entire episode: Understand the challenges faced by ADHDers and Autistic people when it comes to sensory stimulation and emotional regulation. Identify the difference between Autistic-ADHDers and pure Autistic people around routine disruption and routine changes. Learn strategies to cope and self-soothe emotions such as anxiety caused by routine disruption. It can at times feel frustrating or shameful for Autistic people to experience strong emotions or feel upset by what others see as seemingly insignificant things. However, by recognizing these feelings and understanding that they are part of our neurodivergent nature, we can help combat self-criticism and better advocate for our needs.   Transcript PATRICK CASALE: Hey, everyone, you are listening to the Divergent Conversations Podcast. We are two neurodivergent mental health professionals in a neurotypical world. I'm Patrick Casale. MEGAN NEFF: And I'm Dr. Neff. PATRICK CASALE: And during these episodes, we do talk about sensitive subjects, mental health, and there are some conversations that can certainly feel a bit overwhelming. So, we do just want to use that disclosure and disclaimer before jumping in. And thanks for listening. MEGAN NEFF: Patrick, you just asked if I could start it off and now I'm trying to remember the script of how we start. But maybe [CROSSTALK 00:00:39]- PATRICK CASALE: No, no. We don't need a script because we already recorded it. MEGAN NEFF: Okay. So, here's a tale of how I am. We've recorded several episodes and this is the first one where I'm sitting. So, to me, that's a to tell, like, I know, I'm not feeling well. PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, usually, you're kind of standing [CROSSTALK 00:00:26]- MEGAN NEFF: Like, usually, I'm standing, I'm moving. Today. I'm like, sitting. I have all the weight on me which means I'm also overheating. Do you ever do that where it's like, you want weight but then, you're overheating? PATRICK CASALE: Yep. MEGAN NEFF: So, I'll probably be, like, sweating through today's episode because I want the weight. PATRICK CASALE: Megan is not feeling well, so let's give her a lot of credit for being here. MEGAN NEFF: No, I did something kind of mean to you today that I would have hated if it was the opposite. I texted you and I was like, "Hey, can we skip recording because I'm not feeling well." And then, I was going to try to get some more sleep, and then, I texted you, and I was like, "Never mind, let's record." Which I sort of like schedule change once I'm like, emotionally checked out or something I'm like out. So, I don't know, I'm just curious. PATRICK CASALE: Thanks for that, yeah. Yeah, I was emotionally checked out because I had a podcast before this that I was doing with someone else. And then, I was like, "Oh, my day is done. Like, I'm just going to go eat lunch." And then, I don't look at my phone when I'm podcasting, obviously. And then, like, I looked at it, and I was like, "Oh, shit, we can record." So, I wanted to because I've been away, it helps us get back in a groove, and like, we're running out of episodes. So, I was like, "I'm just going to switch my brain around and task switch." And just feels, at first, a little disorienting, you know? Because like, you're like, I was going to go outside, and yell at my dogs to come inside, figure that out, that whole situation out, yeah. MEGAN NEFF: And then you saw my text like five minutes before 9:00 or 12:00 your time. So, yeah, like this is a pivotal part about being autistic, is difficulty with unexpected change or routine disruption. I know I experience a lot of things around this. We haven't really talked about that before, though. Like, yeah, do you, like, I think I would have felt a surge of irritation. Were you irritated or something? PATRICK CASALE: No. MEGAN NEFF: Or maybe not with me, but with the routine change? PATRICK CASALE: Actually, in some instances, I think, in situations like that I probably would be irritated. I'm not irritated at all. I actually was like because I don't have a lot to do today, the only two things on my schedule were to do this other podcast, and then, do this. So, it actually doesn't feel that disruptive to me because I had already in my mind, like, committed to it, you know what I mean? So, it wasn't that easy to switch back to a place where I was like, "Yeah, okay, we're doing this." So… MEGAN NEFF: Okay, yeah. In general, like, because I also think this is different for, like, autistic ADHDers than pure autistic people, like routine disruption, routine changes. In general, like, what has your experience around those things been? PATRICK CASALE: I do think it's challenging. You know, when you're kind of already, you're assuming or you've committed that mental energy to something happening, right? Or participating in something, or committing to something, in general, and then, all of a sudden something switches, or something comes up, or someone cancels, or whatever the case may be, it's very challenging to then get back on track to say, like, okay, I can just move on to the next thing I was supposed to do. For me, a lot of the times it looks like, I end up falling into a place of like nothingness, which is basically binge-watching shows or doom-scrolling on my phone. Like, I can't actually then say, "Oh, I have to also do this errand or do this thing." It's very challenging for me. I don't know about your own experience in that. MEGAN NEFF: So, wait, just so I'm tracking, like you collapse into doom scrolling when there is a routine disruption? PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, yeah. So, like, it's really hard for me to then say, "Okay, we're not doing this meeting, now what do I do?" It's hard for me to switch to something else. MEGAN NEFF: To something else? PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, yes, it's always been challenging. And I can get irritated for sure if something goes awry, gets canceled, whatever the case may be. So, I mean, honestly, I happen to travel constantly, where flights get delayed, canceled, things get moved around, and it's very hard for me to then get back into a place mentally where I feel regulated. I will just get very, very irritated very easily. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, yeah. No, same. And I think this is one of the sources I see of internalized shame for a lot of autistic people and myself included. Like, before I knew I was autistic little things, like, change, and it could be a subtle change of plan like maybe a friend invites another friend to a social event, but I didn't know that that other person was going to be there. So, it could also be like little social differences of expectations and I would get so irritated. But I'm a people pleaser, right? So, I would do my best not to show it so it just simmer, and then, a narrative would start around like, why are you frustrated by this? This is so silly, this is so petty, this is no big deal. So, then, the whole shame narrative around why am I so upset by something so small kicks in. And I see that a lot with autistic people where like little changes to routine can cause big emotions and irritation, but it's like our rational mind knows that's not rational, so then, we can get pretty down on ourselves for having those emotions, especially, before we understand that it's part of being autistic and it actually makes sense. PATRICK CASALE: So, when that's happening to you, like, you know, you're going out with a friend and then, all of a sudden so and so is also there, and you're having that disruption, and you're saying, "I'm a people pleaser, so I'm going to go along with this." What's happening, like in the moment for you while you're there? Are you kind of checked out from this [CROSSTALK 00:07:10]- MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, I think my way of responding is kind of like low-grade dissociating. So, I'm checked out, and then, that's what I call my, if I can say the word, Plexiglas, Plexiglas, how do you say that word? PATRICK CASALE: You said it right the first time, Plexiglas, yeah. MEGAN NEFF: Plexiglas moments of like, I'll be there, but I won't be there. Like, I won't emotionally be there. And I'll be like, "Why can't I get into this experience? Why can't I be here? Why can't I get out of my head?" And so, those are the situations, yeah, where I'm there, but I'm not there. I'm not there emotionally, I'm not there, like, I don't feel present. PATRICK CASALE: Does it ever come out where like, maybe you become short in your responses or kind of like the irritation, or frustration shows through the interaction? MEGAN NEFF: Like, probably not with friends, but maybe with family, like people, I feel a little bit closest to or I am thinking, you know there was a group project I did back in my doctoral program, and there were some, I really didn't like this project because it involved like interviewing a family. It was a family therapy class, but like, it means you had to ask a family to like do something that, I don't like making social asks of people, I think, because I don't like when people make social asks of me. So, there's a friend of mine, the family, and we were interviewing them, and the person I was going to interview with them, like, the co-interview swapped, were a group of three, and they decided to swap places. And I, like, had all kinds of feelings around that. And I think I was trying to make some logical argument for why it shouldn't be swapped. So, it'd be an example where like, I think I behaved low-key irrationally, and was way more upset than made sense by the swap of like, who was going with me to interview the family. And it was because it was a unexpected change. And so, that would be the other thing, I think, okay, I'm thinking on the spot here. When I would become irritated by an unexpected change I would try to figure out why it made sense I was irritated and it's like I would come up with reasons to justify my irritation, if that makes sense. PATRICK CASALE: Yeah. MEGAN NEFF: But then I'd be, yeah. PATRICK CASALE: It's almost like a way to kind of soothe yourself, too, right? To like give yourself permission to feel the way that you're feeling. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, yeah, exactly. PATRICK CASALE: I know and- MEGAN NEFF: Then can look like looking for things in the other person to be upset by. PATRICK CASALE: Right. Yeah, that's really true. I know when I've been in social situations, like kind of like what you're describing I will also have that Plexiglas-like moment where I will basically be non-existent. Like, in physical form I'm certainly sitting there, right? But like I'm not contributing to the conversation. If I am it's like, very much from a distance or like disconnected from it, and not really feeling involved in it, and then, trying to figure out ways to leave it. And then, you are, like you said, having that internal dialogue, trying to figure out like why you're feeling the way that you're feeling? And almost, yeah, absolutely shaming and beating yourself up for it, and just being like, why are you so upset by something so insignificant? And trying to figure out the why behind that as we so often try to do, it's really a frustrating experience because you're almost trying to talk yourself out of feeling the way that you're feeling, but you can't get to that place, you just kind of get back to a place of like, regulation, and then, all of a sudden, everything is out of whack, and you almost beat the hell out of yourself mentally because it feels like it's something so small that caused such a major disruption. MEGAN NEFF: Well, and it can be small. Like, what I did to you this morning, if that happened where… and partly, for me, I feel a lot of relief when things get canceled. I think that's my demand avoidance. So, someone canceled on me, and then, they were like, "Just kidding, I could meet." Like, yeah, to most people that's small, but like that would actually cause, I don't want to say significant irritation because again, I don't think the person would see it, but it would cause irritation, and then, I would do all of the things to talk myself down, and then, I'd be irritated that I was irritated. Like, that secondary emotion. So, yeah, it can be really small things that causes big emotional spikes. This is one of the places that I think identification and diagnosis is so helpful. Like, this, I see be a big aha moment for a lot of people. I think, for anyone, it's helpful to know why we're feeling what we're feeling. I think, especially, for autistic people it's really important. It helps, you know, there's all these cheesy things in psychology, but they're not cheesy because they're also like really true, like, name it to tame it or name it to contain it. Like, when we have a name for something it's more contained. And so, this is where, I call it free-floating anxiety, like free-floating routine disruption anxiety. And I often find with people that I'm working with, if they're anxious, and they don't understand why, and we kind of start exploring, we can typically trace it back to some sort of routine disruption. And just having that language of free-floating, like anxiety from routine disruption I know for me has been really helpful the last couple of years. PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. And I do think that's why diagnosis is so important in so many ways because it allows you to almost give language to something that you're searching for. And it allows you to have clarity into a why and I think so often, like, for deep thinkers, and for a lot of autistic people, like, we're questioning everything, and trying to figure out the meaning of everything. It gives some relief in a way to say like, "Okay, this is why." That doesn't always change what's happening behind the scenes, but at least it gives you some comfort or understanding into this is why. Like, okay, I'm losing myself and what I'm trying to say, I think for myself- MEGAN NEFF: Like, that happens for autistic ADHDers? PATRICK CASALE: Like, for ourselves, like, we've talked about this, being mental health professionals gives us a different lens than a lot of people into our own inner world, which is unique. And I think for myself, like, questioning the why as it's happening, and then, associating it to being like, oh, it's because I'm autistic a lot of the times is actually like, it doesn't solve how I'm feeling or anything like that, but it gives me some understanding on a different level that I didn't have before because it almost is like permission to be like, oh, like I'm feeling the way I'm feeling because I'm autistic. It's giving me permission to feel the way I'm feeling in a lot of different ways. MEGAN NEFF: I love that. Someone needs to work that into a hashtag, like diagnosing autism, like permission to feel the way you're feeling, and ADHD. It's interesting, I noticed you and I talk a lot more about autism and ADHD in this podcast. PATRICK CASALE: Just mind melded on that for sure because that's exactly what I was just thinking as we're talking, yeah. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, absolutely. I do the same thing of now I'm able to be like, oh, that's my autism or that's my ADHD whereas before what I was left with is character-based labels like I'm messy, or I'm… actually, lazy wasn't, that's not been one for me, but like I'm too much, or I'm… definitely some of my self-talk was, and a lot of these are words that wouldn't be appropriate, but I'm just sharing my self-talk. Like, you're an idiot or you're incompetent. Like, a lot of really negative judgments I was making about myself that I now have a different framework for. It's actually interesting just yesterday, so I have like three sets of AirPods because I use them all the time for my work. And then, I lose them all the time because of my ADHD. And I was going into an afternoon of sessions, and I was looking for one of my three sets of AirPods. I've actually lost most of them by now, and I find my phone, and the most recent location was a park, that adventure with my son over the weekend playing tennis, which made me realize, I realized, oh, they're in a vest jacket. I'm like walking you through the process of finding my AirPods, what is happening? Anyways, I had washed them because I put them in a vest when I was playing tennis and I washed them. And either scenario was equally likely that I would have lost them or I would have washed them. And my spouse he was like, "Do you want me to order you a few other pairs." And I was like, "Yes, thank you." It was really interesting. He was like, "You know, a couple years ago this sort of thing, like, would have really irritated me. And now I'm just like, 'Yep, that's her brain.'" And we've had probably like 10 interactions like that, especially, as we're moving right now, of where I've lost things, or misplaced things, or broken things, where he's also able to reflect how earlier in our marriage that would have caused him a lot of emotion and now he's able to see it as part of how my brain works. PATRICK CASALE: That's such a great perspective from both sides. Like, it sounds like for you it's almost like permission or acceptance of, "Oh, that's my ADHD, I lost them again, and that's my reality." And for him, it's like, "This is how Megan's brain works and this is going to happen." And I think that's so interesting, as you learn more about yourself, as you learn more about your neurodivergence. It also helps your neurotypical [CROSSTALK 00:17:28]. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, like, it's weird all my kids are very neurodivergent, I'm very neurodivergent, and like, we refer to him as like the boring neurotypical, and we're like, "Oh, you poor thing. Like, you don't have any fun flavors with you." PATRICK CASALE: Right and he's like, "Yeah, and I've also never lost my AirPods, so [CROSSTALK 00:17:47]-" MEGAN NEFF: Also like, he, and okay, sorry, can I diverge, and then, we'll go back to him? PATRICK CASALE: We can always diverge, yes. MEGAN NEFF: Someone asked me this and I was like, "Oh, my gosh, I should add this to my…" Like, you know how sometimes, especially, in training we like list our privileged identities as a way of thinking through our privileges. Like, I should list as a privileged identity that I'm married to someone who has really good executive functioning skills. And someone asked me that, they were like, "Do you…" Because they were wondering how I'm as productive as I am? And they're like, "Is it okay if I ask? Like, does your…" I think they asked, like, "Is your partner neurotypical?" And it was a really interesting aha moment of they are and I borrow his executive functioning all the time. That's been a joke long before we realized I was autistic ADHD, was how much I borrowed his executive functioning and the kids will say it like, "If dad died we'd fall apart." And it's kind of true, like… PATRICK CASALE: Shout out to dad. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah. PATRICK CASALE: This is going to be the type of episode today is… So, here's an interesting thing for me that I'm realizing as we're processing what's happening right now when my executive functioning is diminished because I'm usually the one who is like orderly, and structured, and like turning things back, my brain cannot do that where I'm like, "Wait, what is happening?" It's almost like this fugue state where I just know that I'm running on very little sleep, and jet lag, and travel transition. So, my brain is just not functioning as optimally as I would like it, too. And I notice how much effort it takes to then do A, B, C, D, and E in comparison to where like, most of the time some of these, like, or structuring, and conversation, and task switching are actually quite easy for me. MEGAN NEFF: So, you're feeling the executive functioning low today? PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, I didn't sleep not last night, the night before. Like, woke up at 4:00 AM and complete overwhelm, panic. MEGAN NEFF: Wait, was this is after you got home that you woke up at 4:00 AM and panicked? PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Panic attack/meltdown while laying in bed trying to figure out how to get myself back to sleep. MEGAN NEFF: Was the panic attack because you weren't sleeping or? PATRICK CASALE: No, it was all existential crisis/like, what am I doing with my life, nothing is successful, everything is about to crumble mentality which- MEGAN NEFF: Wait. PATRICK CASALE: …yeah, there's no rationale there. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, I didn't know you were prone to existential crisis. PATRICK CASALE: I feel like I am in existential crisis every moment of every day. I think that is like my natural state is questioning my purpose, and what I'm doing, and does it feel fulfilling, and is everything about to collapse? Then I started thinking… my brain is diverging a lot right now, then I started thinking about like death and dying, and like shortness on the planet, and it just really intensifies, which I notice like when I say my brain is about to diverge, and like this is all happening I'm much more in my ADHD state right now than my autistic self. So, it's very interesting for me. MEGAN NEFF: Is your existential self like more connected to one of those parts? PATRICK CASALE: That is a good question. I think that my existential self is connected more to the ADHD side. I really think that it's like about the creativity, and the romanticizing. And when that part is not feeling fulfillment, or it's feeling like things are not in alignment, everything starts to feel very fragmented, and disjointed and falls apart. So, I ended up at a coffee shop yesterday at 7:00 AM doing work so I could satisfy my autistic side of crossing things off lists and being like, done, done, done, and I had three coffees by 8:00 AM. And I was like, "Oh my fucking God, today is going to be a nightmare." Yeah. MEGAN NEFF: So, this is kind of different than existential crisis, I definitely have those too. But when you talked about the ADHD self you reminded me of it. I don't know if I've shared this on this podcast before, but I often talk about it as the Goldilocks of stimulus. And I feel it so deeply. Like, I've seen, like, if I'm under, okay, if I'm overstimulated, which I am a lot it's too much. But if I'm understimulated, I'm really discontent. And if I look back to the times in my life where I've had, like, just intense discontentment, and some of the questions you're describing of like, what am I doing with my life? Is it meaningful? What new, like, trip can I play on? Or can I plan another move? It's one of understimulated. And I think that is one of the pain pieces of being an autistic ADHDer, particularly, is yeah, like, I'm picturing just like a thin sheet of ice, which is our ideal window of stimulus. And it's a very, I would imagine, for a lot of us, it's a very narrow window when we're in our ideal stimulus. PATRICK CASALE: [INDISCERNIBLE 00:23:22] being understimulated for the ADHD [INDISCERNIBLE 00:23:27] and how much disruption that causes the autistic side. And it's so challenging. It feels like this tug of war constantly of like, under-stemmed verse over-stemmed, and trying to desperately find that thin sheet of ice that you seemingly only have access to, like one hour of your life every month, that might be an exaggeration, but that's often how it feels. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, I mean, I think that's why hyper-focus feels so good to me, is I'm typically hyper-focused with a weighted blanket on my lap, at home. Like, my environment is sensory soothing, and then, the creativity of creating something is typically enough stimulus for me. PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, yeah, so that for you is like that perfection, that zone where it just feels like this is as comfortable as I can be. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah. PATRICK CASALE: Yeah. I so often I'm seeking that, you know? And I don't know, sorry, my Basset Hound is like laying on my cord about to rip my sound system out, and no care in the world about how that was feeling to her. Yeah, so often I'm seeking that and I think that's really a struggle for me of feeling like where can I really feel comfortable? Where do I feel comfortable? And I do feel comfortable, like you're mentioning when I'm in creation mode when I'm in hyper-focus mode. That is a comfort place, for me. And I think so often I'm like, trying to force myself back to that place when I can't access it, and that's where things get really, really chaotic and disrupted. MEGAN NEFF: When you can't access creativity, yeah. PATRICK CASALE: Mm-hmm (affirmative.) MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, I mean, I think that's when, and I know we're going to do an episode on it, and we keep saying that, so we probably should do an episode, like substances. I think that's when we're really vulnerable to substances of like the liquid dopamine or when we don't have access to creativity, looking for, like that, I would call it faux ideal stimulus window through chemicals and substances. PATRICK CASALE: All right, y'all, this is us holding ourselves accountable that we are going to do an episode on substances because I think it's just so, so important, and you know, has a major impact on my life still, to this day, where I, unfortunately, still so often have to rely on alcohol for so many things and caffeine, too. But, yeah, I think that is what I was feeling and experiencing. Now, my Basset Hound just got up and knocked my garbage over and is just yawning like she didn't do anything, just a clumsy, like, large mammal. But I do think that was a struggle. I think I've come out of that after, you know, what ended up happening, if I can walk you through this process at 4:00 AM was that I had to then start putting, I was feeling very overwhelmed by all the to-dos, as well of like, the different segments of my life. So, I had to really compartmentalize because I was feeling like I was going to lose track of everything. And what I had to do was start making to-do lists for my group practice, for my other business, for my podcast, for my retreats coming up, for something else, so I had to start putting everything in its place to soothe my brain because my brain was so overwhelmed at that point where I was just really struggling. And I mean, yeah, those days are challenging. They're thankfully not, they're few and far between. But those days are challenging. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, yeah. And to-do lists are so containing. Like, in middle school and high school, I'd sit in class, not paying attention, making to-do lists, just to organize the chaos. And I actually had this thought about you this week, Patrick. Like, people tell me I do a lot, and it's true, I do. But like, I don't think I do nearly as much as like, yeah, I honestly don't understand how you do it between the podcasts, and the retreats, and like owning a whole group practice. I could never, never do that. Yeah, you have a lot on your plate. PATRICK CASALE: Thanks. I think, one, thank God I have good support in those businesses and two, I don't have kids, you know? So, I give you credit, too because so often we often overlook, like, people will say that to me, "How do you do so much? How do you create so much?" You know, and I'm like, "I don't have any children I don't have anything to do. I'm just like working. You know, like, if I'm not playing soccer or socializing, I'm just working." So, it's a good and bad thing. I think my capacity can often get me into trouble because it's like, okay, in one instance, when you're feeling really creative, and you're feeling really hyper-focused, and you're feeling really energized, my capacity is like a massive, massive asset for me. But the flip side of that, of having that capacity is that now you have all of these things start to unravel, or that you have to maintain, or that you have to do for the week. And I've created that for myself, it's difficult sometimes. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, I mean, we've talked about this on your, this might have been one of our first conversations on Private Practice Podcast, like how our ADHD parts will create projects, and then, like our autistic part will have to maintain. I've been feeling that. Okay, another episode we should do at some point is like health and autism. So, again, diverging here, I got COVID in 2020, like March of 2020, the month interrupted, and my autistic child and I got lung COVID, and the two non-autistic people in our family did not. And I'm seeing that lung COVID is a lot more common among autistic people. This spring, pretty sure we got the newest variant. We were testing negative but like, I'm pretty sure it's COVID. And then, my child and my lung COVID has come back. So, I think the last like six or seven episodes we've recorded I've been sick. So, I'm feeling that right now of like, I've committed to making a workbook once a month, I'm writing a book in four months for Simon and Schuster, which I'll maybe talk about at some point. So, I'm in the middle of like a really fast manuscript, we're moving, and I'm feeling that right now. Like, I don't have any energy reserves to give, but I've committed to all these things. And for me, it's less about ADHD or autism, I think it's more about the health stuff that's come up for me because usually, summer is my most productive time of year. And so, now, I feel like it's getting robbed by lung COVID. PATRICK CASALE: Which is a thing that I imagine brings up some emotion too, of like feeling robbed. I also can relate to the summer being very productive for me, and in more ways than one, not just professionally, I feel like I'm my best self in the summer and the fall. And I feel like I'm almost hibernating the rest of the year. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, same. PATRICK CASALE: Like recharging, you know? Like, and just trying to replenish. It's really hard when, you know, there's nothing to pull from. And you also did mention that you also see clients and do assessments, and, you know, you may have a lot going on. MEGAN NEFF: I have put assessments on pause till I get healthy because that's a big lift. But yeah, I mean, there's a lot. Yeah, I found myself like just kind of trying to do bare minimum, which doesn't feel great to me. But there're seasons where that's all you can do. PATRICK CASALE: I think that's what I'm experiencing right now is that it may, to the outside world, feel like I'm doing a lot. But for me, it feels like bare minimuming because of throat surgery in October, I changed my life around pretty drastically. So, I think I'm at that point now where my energy is coming back but I'm not doing anything with it. Or at least I feel like I'm not doing anything with it apart from like resting in between retreats. Like, recharging every two months, or six weeks, or whatever, to be able to do another one. And then, I'm like, my rational brain's like, "But you are doing something, you're resting, you're like recharging you're, you know, doing whatever." But that's what I've been feeling, I need something to be working on. And that's what's missing in my life at the moment. MEGAN NEFF: And does it feel connected to meaning? Like, you need something meaningful to be working on? PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, it has to be meaningful, it can't just be like a task that I have to do, like, so, I think you can't force that, that's the struggle is like, I can't force it. I keep trying to find it. But wait, let me diverge again, this is meaningful. What you and I are doing is meaningful. MEGAN NEFF: I was literally just going to say that, like, when we decided to start this we were both so busy and we're like, this is ridiculous, and we were both looking for meaning, we were both, like, I wanted an avenue where I was more personal than I am on, like, Instagram and my website, you were looking to dive more, specifically, into autism, ADHD stuff. So, yeah, I was just associated back to one of our personal conversations about like, let's do this because it sounds like a really meaningful project. PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, thank you for reminding me of that. And I was thinking about that. You know, we've been apart for a couple weeks from me traveling and not connecting via podcasting. But we're still like, attuned, which is cool because I think that's what we were seeking. Like, are we going to find our rhythm? Are we going to find our balance? You were right, this is super meaningful. And the feedback has been phenomenal. And maybe we'll do an episode where we explicitly talk about some of the feedback we've received and some of the things that y'all want us to talk about, too. Because I think that we have a lot of good topics in store and we have a lot of good topics on the list. It's just, you know, we have these topics, and then, we get together and we just start talking. In true neurodivergent fashion, we don't end up talking about them or discussing them, so we will get to them, we promise, maybe, I don't know if we promise that. MEGAN NEFF: Do you feel… so this is one of the first, I mean, I think, we've recorded once or twice since this was live. But do you feel more pressure like seeing the feedback, seeing how many downloads there are? Do you feel more pressure when we come into this space down here and we're recording? Because I remember like the first day we recorded, I like forgot it was a podcast. I was like, I'm going to have tea with my friend Patrick and have an interesting conversation that, you know, now thousands of people get to listen to. PATRICK CASALE: Damn, I wasn't thinking about that until right now. Yeah, I think so. Probably, I mean, yes and no. Like, I feel pressure to continue to create, but I feel it for, like, a good reason because I think what we're doing is valuable, and people are getting a lot out of it. So, that feels like good pressure. I think if we had sponsorship in place that would feel like a different type of pressure where you're like, because my other podcast has sponsorship in place and I do feel pressured to have constant episodes coming out because you can't really skip a week or two when you've committed to a contract of like 52 episodes in a year. So, I don't feel that pressure here. I feel the pressure of knowing that 15,000 people have listened to this podcast in less than two months. And just the fact that that means something. Like, I think that feels like a good pressure. But it also feels like a lot of weight and responsibility sometimes. What about you? MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, I think maybe a little bit of like pressure to say something profound in each episode or to like have a cohesive conversation, even though I think a lot of the feedback we're getting is like, "Oh, my goodness, this is like the kinds of conversations I have." So, there's probably something to the Divergent Conversations we have that is actually quite helpful. But yeah, I think a little bit to like, have it be some really meaningful poignant conversation. And reality is, like all human conversations, the conversations we have won't always be like these super aha meaningful pieces. PATRICK CASALE: Yeah. And I want them to naturally manifest instead of trying to force them to. So, if there's a topic we're talking about, and then, we diverge from it, I think that's meaningful in a lot of ways because the goal with this was to highlight and showcase like in real time what autistic ADHD brains and communication are often doing, and how we're experiencing in the moment examples. So, I think, you know, that is poignant in itself. Yeah, so [CROSSTALK 00:37:01]- MEGAN NEFF: So, trying to wrap it, like, is your brain right now like, okay, we've got a lot of weaves out here. We've talked about existentialism, we've talked about, like, work, and fatigue, and sickness, we've talked about routine disruption. PATRICK CASALE: Yep.  MEGAN NEFF: Is there pressure to like, let's wrap it up in a nice, tiny bow? PATRICK CASALE: I think that's just my own pressure of like, feeling like, are we at the end without asking, are we at the end? MEGAN NEFF: You can always just ask. PATRICK CASALE: I know, one day, Megan, one day. I think we've talked about a lot of good stuff today. And I think given that you're not feeling well, and I am jet-lagged, this feels pretty good to me. And I think my brain is now vacant, so… MEGAN NEFF: Can I share one silly story before we go? So… PATRICK CASALE: Absolutely. MEGAN NEFF: I think this is an ADHD-dyslexia thing. But there's so many words that like I've just been saying my whole life that are just flat-out wrong. So, I just found out like a month ago, my husband and daughter went to England and came back. And I asked them if they were jet lagged. And I always thought it was jet leg. And they were like, "No, it's jet lag." And like, my nine-year-old was explaining this to me. I was like, "No, it's jet leg." And my son was like, "How did you think it was… Like, how does that make sense? Like, how did you think it was jet leg? Like, it's lag." And like, I don't know why that made sense for me. Probably, in the same way that like I thought for years hat hair was cat hair. When people were like, "Oh, you have hat hair." I was like, "Someone told me like, 'Oh, you have cat hair.'" So, anyways, when you say jet lag it's just a fun reminder that me and words have a fun relationship. PATRICK CASALE: Megan and words do have a fun relationship. MEGAN NEFF: Which I've been realizing as I've listened to this podcast back. PATRICK CASALE: I think I told you this, like, when you were using the word, what was it? MEGAN NEFF: Claustrophobic? PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, yeah. MEGAN NEFF: Wait, how do you actually say that word? PATRICK CASALE: As long as I'm accurate in saying like, are you saying claustrophobic? MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, claustrophobic. PATRICK CASALE: I think someone asked us on our Instagram page, too? MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, someone who was like, because like, their voice memo wasn't picking it up. They're like, "What was this word you're saying because like my voice translator won't pick it up." So, how do you say that word? PATRICK CASALE: Claustrophobic. MEGAN NEFF: That just sounds gross to me. Like, I really prefer claustrophobic. PATRICK CASALE: So, when you're saying claustrophobic, claustrophobic, I legit, in my head, I thought, I think what Megan means is claustrophobic but I don't want to be rude and say, "Megan, are you saying a completely different word?" And for a second, I thought, I have to look up the definition of claustrophobic and see if there is a word, and if it means what she's saying because I am now believing that this is a different word and term. MEGAN NEFF: So, this was my friend at seminary and I went to Princeton Seminary, so you know, pretty like Ivy League, so pretty smart people. And one thing she told me was that I love, she was like, "You're really smart, but then when you talk in class, you'll say these words and like, because you sound smart people will like believe you, but the words don't make sense." And I think because I speak with confidence, and because, generally, I know what I'm talking about then when I totally misuse a word people are like, "Oh, maybe that is a real word." No, like it's not, it's just me and my relationship with words. PATRICK CASALE: [INDISCERNIBLE 00:40:54] like create some social media graphics of Megan's words that she's used in this podcast or just in life that come up pretty regularly. MEGAN NEFF: There's a lot. PATRICK CASALE: I like that you can laugh at it, you know? And just own it. Yeah, that's definitely what was happening for me. I was just sitting there like, what the hell is she talking about? I don't know. Maybe she's, I mean, then you convinced me that that was a word so I just never questioned it. MEGAN NEFF: Well, I was using it so confidently because in my mind that is how you say it. PATRICK CASALE: All right, y'all, if you're still with us, we appreciate it and hope you can get something out of today, and just the realization that this is what a lot of days look like, and feel like, and this is how they're experienced by two folks that are neurodivergent. So, we appreciate you listening. And to everyone listening, there are new episodes of the Divergent Conversations Podcast out every single Friday on all major platforms and YouTube. And you can like, download, subscribe, and share. And we really appreciate your support. And, goodbye.

Travel and the act of experiencing people and places is something that is generally talked about with excitement, but for Autistic people, it can be a much more complex experience. Patrick, who hosts entrepreneurial retreats for therapists all over the world and travels often for extended periods of time, shared that despite loving to travel, the experience of hosting retreats and being away from home could also feel torturous at times, like having exposed nerves that were shocked by all things sensory. When talking about travel and social interactions, Dr. Neff expressed that it "feels like the decision is to have a really small life or to lean into experiences, but to be constantly confronted with the too-muchness of the world." In this episode, Patrick Casale and Dr. Megan Anna Neff, both AuDHD mental health professionals, share their diverse experiences and feelings about travel, social interactions, and sensory overload. Top 3 reasons to listen to the entire episode: Understand the challenges and experiences of neurodivergent individuals while traveling and in stimulating social spaces. Identify ways that travel can provide positive stimulation for Autistic individuals through new experiences. Learn ways to manage and do self-care and self-advocacy when feeling sensory overload during travel. Travel and social situations can be challenging for neurodivergent individuals, but through vulnerability and a commitment to self-care, it is possible to find strength and joy in the pursuit of exploring new places and experiences.   Transcript PATRICK CASALE: Hey everyone, you're listening to another episode of Divergent Conversations. I'm your cohost, Patrick Casale. DR. MEGAN NEFF: And I'm Dr. Neff. PATRICK CASALE: And today we are going to talk about traveling and our neurodiverse experiences while traveling. I just got back from 30 days in Europe and work retreat mode. And I know you and I were talking on Instagram a lot about what the experience was like, and how I was showing up, and impacted. And it was a lot. DR. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, yeah. It's interesting because, you know, from the Instagram messaging we were doing, I could tell, like, the drain that you were experiencing over there, and I'd love to hear more, like, in person, well, in Zoom person, what your experience was of traveling. I know you love traveling, and we've talked about that before, but I also got the sense that this trip… I don't know, was this trip different for you? PATRICK CASALE: It was really testing for a lot of reasons, you know? Like, 30 days abroad, away from home, away from my partner, and my dogs, and my bed. Like, those things, I think, would be challenging for anybody in a lot of ways. I think the things that were like, really evident for me and really challenging for me was, one, I traveling with a friend and business partner. So, like, I did feel- DR. MEGAN NEFF: Oh, the whole time?  PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, the whole 30 days. So, I felt like a lot- DR. MEGAN NEFF: My daughter and I were just talking about this, about how, like, being alone versus being with someone else you're tracking makes a world of difference. I thought you were alone. I didn't realize you were with someone. PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, yeah. So, tell me a little bit about what came up when you and your daughter were talking about this? Because I'm sure it's very relatable and similar to what I was experiencing. DR. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, I mean, it was interesting. My husband had taken them to Olive Garden, which is their, like, favorite restaurant. And I, typically, don't go. And it's kind of a sweet moment, my daughter had just had a meltdown, and was having a lot of kind of shame around that. And I was, like, reminding her, like, you know, this is your body having a response, this is outside of your control.  And she was asking me about, like, meltdowns. I was like, "I have more shutdowns." And I was like, "You know, that's, like, why I didn't go to the restaurant with you all because I know, like, I wouldn't be there." And so, we were talking about shutdowns, and then we were talking about how… she's like, "Yeah, you know, I noticed it's easier for me to be in public or to be like…" She's like, "That's what I liked when I wasn't in person schools, is I only had to track myself. I wasn't tracking, like, what my brother was doing, or you, or dad." And I was just relating to that. Like, yeah, like, it's so much easier for me to travel alone, to go to a coffee shop alone, just to be in the world alone. When I'm tracking my children, when I'm tracking my dog, when I'm tracking my spouse, it's too much. PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, and it's multi-faceted, right? Like, that's very layered. Like, there's a tracking, I imagine as a parent, where it's like, this is kind of my responsibility to track, and then, like, the tracking that goes on when we're constantly tracking body language, and absorbing energy, and just responding to, and kind of almost like anticipating, and trying to attune, and trying to be connected, and trying to respond appropriately, and all the things that go into relational dynamics.  DR. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, yeah.  PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, it was so hard in so many ways. But I think I anticipated that. Like I knew going in like, this is not going to be an easy 30 days. Like, for most people on the outside looking in, if you're saying like, "Oh, I'm traveling from Greece to Italy, to Spain, to Portugal." People are like, "That's fucking amazing." And I don't want to discount that either because there were amazing moments. But man, it was just constant tracking, and energy absorption, and overwhelm. And you're talking like planes, trains, automobiles situation where you're living out of a suitcase, you can't get settled. DR. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, that's a ton of transitions you did in 30 days.  PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, we stayed in 10 different rentals in that 30-day [CROSSTALK 00:04:24], in four different countries. So- DR. MEGAN NEFF: Is that how you typically travel?  PATRICK CASALE: No, this was very specific because we were there to host a retreat in Spain at the end of April, but we were also there to find venues for 2024, retreat destinations, and confirmations. So, we were meeting with, like, hotel managers, and venue hosts, and [CROSSTALK 00:04:52]- DR. MEGAN NEFF: And see your people then as well. PATRICK CASALE: …and peopling all the time. So, it was like going on tours to not only, like, highlight this is what we're going to do when all of you come here next year, but also, to meet people, and build connections. And so, it was constant.  And I found myself significantly more quiet than I usually am. And I'm usually quiet in general, and then, feeling really disconnected, and also just like, really having to be very intentional about energy. So, there were days where I was like, I'm not peopling today and I would tell my friend, "I can't commit to what we're going to do tomorrow, I'm just going to stay in the Airbnb."  There was a night at the retreat in Spain where I was just over it. Like, we had gone to Barcelona. There was a group of 32 of us and I was very often, like, the one who was like tracking, but also for safety purposes, like, making sure we have our group, making sure everyone's together, like all the things in a very, very crowded, overstimulating city in Barcelona, with people everywhere.  And, you know, I just was like, I got back to the venue that night, and they were getting ready for dinner. And I was like, "I'm going back to our Airbnb. Like, I'm just going to walk down the hill, go into my room, watch Netflix, like, not do this thing." And thankfully, having the ability to do that was an option, but holy shit, a lot. DR. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, that, like, I feel kind of overwhelmed just hearing about all your… Like, I knew you were looking at retreat sites, but I guess I didn't think through kind of the logistics of how much transitions, and peopling, and yeah, that wasn't really a vacation, huh? PATRICK CASALE: No, not at all. I don't think we had many restorative, like, relaxing days. And it's a matter of, like, being on the go then having to attend to someone else, and attune to someone else, and track someone else when I wanted to just be alone, and just be like, I don't want to talk to anybody.  And I will say my friend and business partner did a great job of acknowledging like, I can tell this is where your energy is, and I'm not going to push that. And that was helpful. But there were definitely days where I was rendered pretty, like, unable to do anything besides get out of bed, and like eat, and take care of my basic needs.  And for me, I think that brings up a lot of shamefulness still to this day, where I'm like, "Why can't I push through this?" And it's really nothing to push through, it's like you're overstimulated, and you need to really ground and regulate. And I think that, for me, it still brings up some psychological and emotional like thought processes and experiences where I'm like, "Why can't you just fucking do this? Like, why can't you get up and go have this good time with this group." And I'm like, "I can't do it. There's no way I can do that." And asking for what you need in these moments is crucial, but I know it's also challenging for a lot of people as well. DR. MEGAN NEFF: That experience right there, that moment of like, why can't you just push through this and like, go enjoy this group, I feel like now I understand it. But before I knew I was autistic, I would have that experience so much. It's what I called years ago, with my therapist, before I knew I was autistic, the Plexiglas of like, I cannot get into my experience.  And I'd be in these, whether I was at a family gathering, or especially, like an extended family vacation, or a social gathering, or a group dinner. Like, I would be sitting there in my head being like, "Get into this experience, get into it, get into it, get into it." And unable to. And I'd have so much confusion around why I kind of get into my experience, so much shame around it. I would start, like, doubting kind of my key relationships of, does this mean there's something wrong with my relationship, that I can't be in this experience?  But that to me, that kind of when the body puts the brakes on, and it's like, no, like, you're staying in bed today or like you just can't go do that group thing, like you were talking about that experience in that hotel, to me that is like one of those grief moments when I talk about grieving my autism. Like, that is a moment where I grieve being autistic. Those are fucking painful. PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, yeah, they're really fucking painful. And in your moments, like, your body is then saying, like, having that like, "Finally, like, this is what I needed." But your brain is not saying that to you when you're laying in bed and trying to like recover. What my brain is saying is like, "How can you trick your body into continuing to push through even you don't have anything [CROSSTALK 00:09:48]." DR. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah. How can you bypass this thing your body's doing? Yeah. PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, exactly. Like, how can I do these, like, mental gymnastics of, "Oh, it's okay." Because you're going to, like, fuel up on caffeine, or like, you're going to, like, numb out on alcohol. And that's how you're going [CROSSTALK 00:10:05]. DR. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, the two options, yeah.  PATRICK CASALE: Yeah.  DR. MEGAN NEFF: Oh, gosh.  PATRICK CASALE: And, you know, I definitely paid attention to that throughout the 30 days, like, well, you drank a lot in 30 days. And I thought, if I didn't, in those moments, like, it would have felt so overwhelmingly terrible to feel that constant buzz of like anxiety, and tension, and like, constant overwhelm. It was almost [INDISCERNIBLE 00:10:31] and I know we're going to have to do an episode on substance use at some point, but- DR. MEGAN NEFF: I was literally just thinking that. I was like, we've got to talk about alcohol.  PATRICK CASALE: Yep, but it was challenging. And, you know, as someone who hosts these events, I will find myself defaulting to like, movement, you know, which is like, cleaning up after 30 people. Like [CROSSTALK 00:10:53]- DR. MEGAN NEFF: Oh my gosh, yeah, that is always my… partly it gives you a role. PATRICK CASALE: Yeah and it's allowing you to like, just be in motion, you know? And not having to talk or process what's happening, which further creates exhaustion and exacerbation in your body because your body is like… And what I was noticing and I wanted to message you this while I was noticing it was like, everything was intensified, right? So, like, the throbbing of your feet is intensified, the pain in your back is intensified, your frustration tolerance and irritability are massively intensified, everything's heightened.  And my friend said it to me one day in like one of our last days in Portugal when I was describing, like, how torturous this experience feels like because she's neurotypical, and she's like, waking up bubbly every day. And I'm like, "How the fuck do people do this, first of all?" And she was like, "It sounds like your experience in life is like a open nerve ending that is just being, like, shocked all the time by everything." I was like, "Yeah, that feels pretty freaking accurate."  DR. MEGAN NEFF: That's so interesting. So, again, before I had the autism, the way I used to describe my daughter was as if her nervous system was on the outside of her skin, like just a live wire of nerves. And there is something that so viscerally captures the artistic experience with that idea of an open nerve. Yeah, that feels really relatable. PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, and I think, like, once you're able to, like, relate to that, and kind of create that picture for somebody else who doesn't get it, it offers a lot of, like, insight into what day-to-day is. But I think, again, circling back to what you said about that grief is that creates an enormous amount of grief because there's no protective like armor that you're putting on and when you have to go out into the world, so it's one of those things where in that moment when you're like, Yeah, that does describe my experience, that is how it feels. And then, my brain's like, "What is the alternative?" DR. MEGAN NEFF: My life. PATRICK CASALE: My life. DR. MEGAN NEFF: I rarely leave my house, yeah. Yeah, I mean, I could get emotional talking about this. Like, it does feel like the decision is to have a really small life or to lean into experiences but to be constantly confronted with the too-muchness of the world. I don't like either option. But that's kind of what we have. PATRICK CASALE: I can feel like emotion for you knowing that our worlds are vastly different in terms of how we're experiencing them. And I think you're right, there's no middle ground here. Is there? Like, I don't know who's found it? I would like to know. DR. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, and I guess, now, my, like, I don't know if it's guilt or my protective instincts are coming in of like, I'm sure there's a middle ground, and I'm sure that's my all or nothing thinking saying like we've got two terrible options here. I think there is, I think nature actually provides a middle ground. Like, the one place I can go outside my home and feel restored in nature.  And I'm Oregon, so whether that's the coast or I live near a forest, so going on walks in the forest. And it not only doesn't take… I mean, yeah, it's the one place I can go out in the world and it recharges me.  And so, I think nature and green space can be that sort of in between space or like for me, I can't really do restaurants but if I'm eating outside at a restaurant that works so the outdoors. I really live in the wrong state. I mean, it rains, like six months out of the year here. Ever since we got married I've been asking my spouse like, "Can we move to California? I miss the sunshine." PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, that's fair. I think that's a good point, like nature is a good middle ground, such a good regulatory place for people and grounding space. I think that's what was challenging is like, big city, followed by train/planes/chaos of airport or train station. And then like, having to show up, and do the agenda, or the itinerary, or meet with the tour guide, or this person, and like, one I hate being boxed in by fucking scheduling. And that just creates even more immense pressure, I think. But ultimately, it also is just so tiring, like, for any human being, but it was just unbelievably overstimulating. And I just felt so overwhelmed throughout those 30 days.  And before I left, I told my therapist, I said, "I know these 30 days are going to be really fucking hard, and here's what I would like my goal to be, is that I would like to go into it knowing that most days are going to be a challenge. But I would also like to somehow be able to acknowledge the little things, like the beautiful scenery that I get to see, and the good food, and the good conversations that come up with random people that I meet, and I'd like to be able to have both exist and be true." And I do think that was captured because although I would say the extent of the 30 days was unbelievably overwhelming, and I don't think I could ever put myself through another 30 days like that, there were good moments, too. There were definitely moments that I can anchor into, and remember. And I think that's the way that I can get through those experiences is to acknowledge like, all right, this sucked, but one glimpse of like, positivity, and solid connection, and food that was good, or like beautiful stuff. And I think that was helpful for me, for sure. DR. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, that ability to hold the both ends and to intentionally be like bringing into mind the sensory pleasurable moments and the delight. Yeah, yeah. PATRICK CASALE: Such a therapist way of thinking, too. Like [CROSSTALK 00:17:36]- DR. MEGAN NEFF: It really is, yeah, yeah. I'm doing… in a couple months, my workbook on gratitude. So, I've been diving into the gratitude research of it. It's been a good reminder of like, yeah, like, what we're priming our brains to see, like, we will see, and the power of that. I'm kind of diverging, I guess, it's literally called Divergent Conversations. So, I guess I don't need to ask permission for that.  But this idea of gratitude and sensory overload, also I'm processing as I'm talking, this doesn't always go well. But I think that's part of what makes travel for me a more okay sensory experience, is it feels like it's selective sensory overload. Like, I know I'm opting into that and I know why I'm doing it. And it's because of the value of, like, having a new experience and engaging with other cultures. Like, these are such high values for me, that I've somehow psychologically prepared for the sensory overload. And so, then when it happens, it feels like I have, like a sturdiness, psychologically, to hold that. Like, if I go to the grocery store, and I get sensory overloaded, the narrative that starts running is like, "Dammit, I can't even go to the grocery store." And then, it starts running this narrative of, like, the shame, and the grief, and the like, throwing myself a pity party for how limited my body is. But if I get sensory overloaded when I'm, you know, in Germany, with my son having an awesome experience, it's like, yeah, I signed up for this, I chose this.  So, there's a more empowering narrative that comes on my mind around it. And my travel experience last summer was a really powerful realization of, I mean, sensory overload is sensory overload, but also, and also, the narrative we tell ourselves about that sensory overload impacts our experience of that sensory overload. And that was a really powerful discovery for me after Germany of like, okay, I can handle this more than I thought I could. And just, I mean, yeah, I can use accommodations and there's some things I can do to manage sensory overload, but there's a lot of that that's outside of my control. But I can have some influence over the story I'm telling about the experience, if that makes sense. PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. I think that feels somewhat freeing in a way to know like, there is the ability to almost train your brain or at least prepare your brain, and strengthen it to say, like, I acknowledge that this is going to be overwhelming, but the payoff is worth in a lot of ways, too.  And I think that's what travel is for so many of us, you know? Like, this romanticized idea of like, what life can be like, but then also, it is like, new sights, new scenery, new smells, new sounds, new people. And that stuff is on the positive end of the spectrum for me, in terms of stimulation, opposed to the opposite side, where it's like, everything is just too much all the time. But you're right, if I go to the grocery store, it's a fucking nightmare for me. So, like [CROSSTALK 00:20:58]- DR. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, it's like the mustard was not worth that or whatever.  PATRICK CASALE: Exactly. I mean, so being able to select and, you know, you and I have talked about time, and energy, and how important these things are, and maybe that's a big part of it, too, is just the acknowledgment of the intentionality behind the planning, and the trip, and, and knowing that, yeah, it's going to be overwhelming, but here's what's important to me in life. And I know that if I'm going to spend X amount of energy, I'd rather do it doing than leaving my house to run errands or whatever the case may be. DR. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that kind of selective and value-based choice around… And that's, again, where, like, you know, the conversation of privilege comes back in, right? You and I both have the privilege of being able to work from home. So, some people are using all their sensory spoons on work and that's it. And then, they're coming home, they're crashing, they're waking up to an end. Before I was working from home, all my sensory spoons was going to work and I was, like, going into deficit. So, it's also, like, not always a choice for people. It's all going towards survival. PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. It's a great point to make, and just to remember, as well, and reframe. Yeah, you know, it's an interesting topic. But I use the platform in a lot of ways, like, one of my talks was on neurodiversity at our retreat. And that was really powerful to have 30 people sit there, and like, experience that, not only those who don't know, me or who do, but like people's spouses who came on the event, and like, speaking of folks, I thought that was really fucking cool.  So, those things energize me. So, I was trying to like, okay, if your battery is at 28%, you know, how can you give X amount of that to this talk, and then crash afterwards? So, I was trying to get permission to like, and I will say that in my talk too, like, after I'm done today I'm done.  And another thing I noticed for myself is task switching is so challenging, like, at the end of three days of this trip we went from Spain to Portugal, and the retreat was over. And I noticed as soon as the retreat was over, I was like, "I'm done. Like, why am I continuing on this fucking trip? "And I just realized, like, okay, in preparation next time, once the event is over, everything's got to come to an end because in my mind everything is now finalized and wrapped up. And I'm trying to convince myself, like, to be able to get through the next three days in a new country.  So, it was very interesting experience. And I met some people along the way. Like, I was on a food tour one night in Spain. And this woman, it was just my friend and two other people that seemed to be the gist every time we went on a tour, it was just either my friend and I, or one or two other people. Must have been shoulder season.  But after two or three hours, she looked at me and we were, like, walking across this bridge, was like 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock at night. And she's like, "Are you autistic?" And I was like, "Hmm, strange question, but ballsy." And I was like, "Yeah." And she's like, "Oh, my daughter is two and I just noticed a lot of similarities here." And then wanted to pick my brain about a million things about how I can help her daughter.  But I thought that was very cool because like, I am trying to do everything in my power to support her and have a relationship with her, and you know, I don't know what to do, and it was just, I think, it felt like a great moment of connection to just be able to be transparent, and vulnerable, and also, offer some guidance as well, and some feedback, and support. DR. MEGAN NEFF: This happens too. That happened at the parade. Well, I think you may be self-disclosed at the parade with the kid who is, I think, autistic, ADHD. That's a really interesting… So, the idea of like, being visibly autistic, Devon Price talks about that in his book a lot as like that's a form of self-advocacy. I guess I've made some assumptions of where I wouldn't think you would be visibly autistic to where a stranger on a train would be asking, "Are you autistic?" That's really interesting to me.  Do you think you present like, what am I trying to ask? I guess I'm trying to ask, yeah, like, do you feel like you present visibly autistic? What's that experience like for you? PATRICK CASALE: I think that when I'm not in the mood to do something, I probably present pretty visibly autistic. DR. MEGAN NEFF: Through stimming or through like, in what…? PATRICK CASALE: Stimming, very short answers, not making eye contact when I respond to things. Really not… and I'm very, like when I don't want to be somewhere it's pretty well known that like my body language, and my facial expressions, and probably affect gets flatter, but I didn't want to be there at that food tour. Yeah, I was exhausted, and I was like, "I don't want to fucking go." I'm glad I did. But like, yeah, I think it's one of those situations where… But I thought that was an interesting question. You know, we were also in a small group all night, so there was some, like, conversation going on and there was some socializing going on, too. But it was just very interesting to me to be, like, out of the blue as we were, like, finishing up and wrapping up. Like, "Oh, by the way, is this a thing?" And I was like, "Okay, yeah." But you know what's interesting, if we would have had that conversation earlier in the night, I would have been all into the experience. Like, I would have been, like, yeah, way less removed from it instead of just being, I'm just here, I don't want to fucking do this. DR. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, yeah. Okay, I feel like in public I'm the same way, short answers, like, yeah, flat affect. I think it just gets coded as like, for women as like bitchiness, or mean, or standoffish, but then again, she had an intimate knowledge of autism because of her kid. That's really interesting.  So, my son just switched to at-home learning, but he was going to school before that. And there's a parent who I'd often see at drop off and pickup. And I was like, "Okay, I can tell they're autistic." And I thought about like, do I go up and ask them, and like, make this connection? But then, I was like, but will they experience that as offensive? Like, it was this really interesting moment of like, when I can kind of tell someone's autistic, and I want to make that connection, but then I have no idea how they are… A, if they're aware they're autistic, B, where they are in their process of like, integrating that as an affirming part of their identity.  So, it's always an interesting experience of also not just being visible, but then, also when you're kind of tracking other people who are visibly autistic, and then whether or not to ask, or, yeah. PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, I agree. I mean, I think that once you have a very good understanding of yourself and what to look for in people, it becomes much more apparent in a lot of relationships. And I feel the same way where I'm like, "Oh, do I want to have this conversation?" But, usually, opt not to until someone brings it up. But like at the retreat, even, I was paying attention to people around me, like, because I was like, I have a sense that some of these folks are probably not aware that they're either autistic, or ADHD, or autistic ADHD.  And I was just paying attention to their social interactions, and their body language, and how they were moving through the experience. And then, some of them came up to me afterwards and self-disclosed and was like, "Thank you so much for just talking about this openly all the time because I can't do that. "And I think that, you know, hopefully, that's the goal of this podcast for us, for people is just to be able to talk about it more openly together. DR. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, that's probably one of the top themes in like DMs or emails is people, especially, people in our profession, the mental health profession who are autistic or ADHD, but want to be, like, financially safe, or career safe, to be out there. Like, number one thing is like thank you for being visible, which, honestly, I don't know how much, like, I think it was a combination of, like, privilege and naivety, and impulsivity, that I, like, just came out as autistic, and yeah, changed my life around. But yeah. PATRICK CASALE: I think it is a privileged place to be able to openly talk about it all the time. But I'm glad that it is impactful too, you know, because I know at one point we're going to have a different conversation on the podcast about stuff you and I have been DMing about and in terms of self-diagnosis, and social media influence on [INDISCERNIBLE 00:30:37]. And, you know, it is something to think about too, about like, being openly outed, and on social media, and doing that in a way where you don't have a lot of control over the narrative either. DR. MEGAN NEFF: What do you mean by that? PATRICK CASALE: So, if you're putting it out to the world, like, I applaud you, and 100%, but you don't always have control over the impact or the fallout that can cause from doing that well. Like, family, friends, colleagues, you know, unfortunately, there can be a lot of trauma that is inflicted too. So, it's just a challenge to figure out, like, when is the right time, and is there a right time for everybody? And I think it's important to have these conversations. DR. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. I kind of tend to caution people post-diagnosis discovery, like, sit with it before you kind of start disclosing. PATRICK CASALE: Yeah because I think there's such a desire to like, claim, right? And identify. And I think it's really powerful and empowering. But I think there can be ramifications that you're not looking for, unfortunately, and… DR. MEGAN NEFF: Oh, absolutely, absolutely. And you've got to have the confidence in the diagnosis to withstand all the people in the life. They will often say like, "No, you're not." And then compare you to like their seven-year-old white nephew. So, that's one. And then, you've got to have like, energy spoons to educate people as you disclose so that… there's so much, yeah, and then the, like, unexpected fallout. Sometimes it's really beautiful. Like, sometimes there's that ripple effect of like, many people in the family system then get identified or diagnosed. And it's this like, beautiful new lens that brings people together. But yeah, sometimes it goes really sideways and becomes this divisive thing.  PATRICK CASALE: Well, that's good foreshadowing for a future episode. So, I don't know why my brain diverged there. But you know, that's on my mind as well. And I think that it's just something I feel good about right now in terms of being able to have spoken about that, and have private inside conversations with some people over the last couple of weeks. And it's been cool, because I mean, it's just great to see more and more people talking about neurodiversity in general. And it feels good that there seems to be a really proactive advocacy movement right now. DR. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, yeah. I started in this space almost two years ago, and like, oh, my gosh, in the last few years a lot has happened. PATRICK CASALE: You're a big part of that, too. DR. MEGAN NEFF: It's weird. I don't, like, see myself that way. Like, I think I somehow objectively know that's probably true, but like, I don't experience it that way or I don't know, it's weird.  PATRICK CASALE: Yeah. Well, we're in that awkward transition time, so… DR. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah, is it our time to do our awkward goodbye? PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, I think it's time to do our awkward goodbye. And, you know, I think, also, just really excited to be releasing on Friday, not that anyone who lives is going to know that but… DR. MEGAN NEFF: But yeah, but this Friday we'll be releasing episode one, and two, and then, yeah. Oh, wait, okay, before we leave, yeah, I'm actually curious, like, how are you feeling about us releasing? Can we talk about that here? PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, for sure. Nobody's going to hear this for weeks anyway. DR. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah. That's why I think it'd be kind of interesting, actually. PATRICK CASALE: I think it's, you know, I already have a podcast that has a following, but this is a different type of podcast, you know? Like, the other one is much more entrepreneurial and focused on like mindset stuff, and the episodes that I've done with you, or with other neurodivergent entrepreneurs have always been hits. And I've enjoyed them quite a bit.  But I think there's a added layer here of vulnerability and intimacy. And like, this is a topic that is our reality, right? Like, and I also think I also acknowledge the fact that these types of conversations are going to be really impactful and emotional for a lot of people who listen, and I think that feels like some layer of responsibility there in a way of, like, how we show up. I don't know. I feel like it's complicated, but I'm excited for it to get out there. And I've enjoyed our process for figuring out how to best do this together, and how to navigate timing and scheduling, and the trip, and just trying to stay in a rhythm together, and honoring what we both need when we don't feel up for it. Like, I think it's been a cool experience so far. What about you? DR. MEGAN NEFF: Yeah. It's interesting. I mean, I'm really excited about this project. I think when we started talking about doing it, I was really intentional of like, I want to move beyond education, which I should probably think about, like, do I actually have the luxury of doing that as someone who's a psychologist. But anyway, back to intent, I was very aware, like on Instagram, on my website, it's pretty educational. And I'm not doing a lot of reflection of my experience as been autistic. So, I think you mentioned this in the DMs of like, it feels kind of like a vulnerable thing to put out there.  And yeah, I mean, I guess that will be interesting of depending on, like, for example, when I say that there's moments I grieve my autism, I imagine that some people will really… I think, for some people to give them permission, I think for some people that will make it sound like I'm not neurodivergent affirming.  And so, I think that would be a hard like, if my experience becomes a pain point in the autistic community, I think that will be harder because I'm talking about my experience versus myself as an expert. And I think that's muddy, right? Because sometimes I am bringing in research, and I'm talking from an expertise, sometimes I'm talking from my experience, and we're going to get feedback on all of that. And I think that's going to feel really vulnerable. And I will probably not read a lot of the comments for that reason, or like, ask you, or like my VA to kind of filter the comments because those things I know can kind of hijack my nervous system when there's a wave of stuff around that. PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, for sure. Well- DR. MEGAN NEFF: So, excitement and vulnerability. PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, it sounds like we're in the right place, then. Excitement and vulnerability. So, hopefully, when we circle back after this episode is released we have more to say about that. But I agree, 100%. And I've got your back in that. And I know that we can rely on the people that we hire, and help support our businesses, help with stuff like that as well. So, yeah, I'm excited and I'm nervous and now all the things, so… DR. MEGAN NEFF: What's our awkward goodbye tagline? We like had a tagline once upon a time, a place where we, like, are okay with awkward goodbyes. PATRICK CASALE: Yeah, I think it was just like, we'll see you next week. Bye. DR. MEGAN NEFF: I love the directness of that. PATRICK CASALE: Yep, so everyone that's listening to the Divergent Conversations Podcast on all major platforms out every single Friday. We'll see you next week. Goodbye.

Wood Green and Broadstairs, 1903, from Gower Sketchbook, graphite and watercolour on wove paper, Art Gallery of Ontario, Gift of Jane and John McNicoll, 2002, 2002/9441. Displayed on a table and under Plexiglas, this is one of 8 sketchbooks at the centre of the last room in the exhibition. This room displays the two artists' works in their own right. A series of five colour prints on paper by Cassatt are on one wall, and on the others are paintings from McNicoll's travels of landscapes and figures. The vertically oriented sketchbook is 20 cm tall by 16 cm wide and is open to a small watercolour sketch and life drawings of figures in pencil on both of its off-white pages. In the right upper half of the top page is the watercolour which is slightly larger than a business card. Two thirds is of a dramatic sky with towering grey clouds and one patch of pastel blue near the top. The lower third is a landscape with still waters on the left and a sandy beach and an escarpment rising on the right. Patches of grey, blue and brown dot the beach and indicate bathers at the shore. Under the watercolour is a sketch of the rear view of a child holding a pail and walking in the sand wearing a sunhat with a ribboned band. In a sketch to the left, another child, also seen from behind, sways in a swimming dress with horizontal stripes. To the top left and bottom right of the bottom page are inscriptions. The writing at the top left reads: Wood Green May 1903. Under this are three rear view sketches of a barefoot adolescent figure in a skirt. One is standing with their arms in front of them, presumably carrying something. The remaining two sit perched on a ledge, with one facing left with their left knee raised to also rest on the wall. Writing at the bottom right reads Broadstairs 1903. Spaced around the bottom page are 6 walnut sized sketches of scenes that the artist would have seen during a trip to Broadstairs, on the coast of England. Two depict a child in a sun hat playing with a bucket on the beach. Four are of a person in what resembles a long wool bathing dress and beret-shaped swimming cap. They alternately sit up and recline, leaning on an elbow in the sand, with two sketched as outlines with only a few short strokes of pencil. Around 60 additional images from all the sketchbooks are shown on a monitor mounted on the wall nearby. The other sketchbooks in the case are opened to show drawings such as: sketches of models, females in the nude and males wearing only loincloths, seaside landscapes and village scenes, pencil portrait sketches, a young boy leaning on a staircase, women beside an easel talking in an art class, and a man standing behind a tripod with a surveyor's instrument called a Survey Transit Telescope.

We meet leading artist TOM BURR from his studio in Connecticut, USA!In his spare, enigmatic, mixed-media sculptures and installations, Tom Burr explores the ways in which we imbue the spaces and things by which we are surrounded—like clothing, furniture, or the patterns in wood—with our memories and emotions. As he explains: “I know that objects retain the stain of people and that our memory can be physically located out of longing or grief.” Though his work is grounded in his own memories, it is deliberately ambiguous, allowing viewers to invest it with their own life experiences. He uses what he calls a “focused spectrum” of humble materials and found objects, including plywood, old blankets and t-shirts, radiators, doors, books, and bits of hardware. By draping a pair of nylons over a radiator, encasing sneakers in yellow Plexiglas, or constructing stripped-down rooms, Burr makes his (and our) memories material.Tom Burr (b. 1963 in New Haven, Connecticut) lives and works in New York. He has shown extensively throughout Europe and the United States. He most recently was the subject of a solo exhibition entitled Hinged Figures at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT. His work was recently featured in Queer Abstraction at the Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA.Burr's work has been collected by major museums internationally, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Migros Museum, Zurich, Switzerland; MOCA, Los Angeles, CA; MuMOK, Vienna, Austria; New York Public Library, New York, NY; Sammlung Grasslin, Germany; Sammlung Verbund, Vienna, Austria; Ludwig Museum, Koln, Germany; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; FRAC, Champagne Ardenne, France; FRAC, Nord-Pas de Calais, France; Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD; and the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel. Burr attended the School of Visual Arts and the Whitney Independent Study Program in New York.Tom Burr's forthcoming solo exhibition runs from 10th March 2023 at Bortolami in New York.Follow @BurrTomBurrVisit: Maureen Paley, London, Bortolami, NYC and Galerie Neu, Berlin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In October, 1966, the singer Nico began a residency at a bar in the East Village. She wore a white pantsuit and wielded a tambourine; her drawn vowels hung in the smoky air. She was still playing occasional shows with the Velvet Underground, whose first album would be released the following year. But, to Nico's dismay, the band's leader, Lou Reed, refused to play guitar at her solo shows, and barred the rest of the group from joining her. Onstage, she was forced to sing to a prerecorded backing from a small cassette player. “The tears would roll down her face because she just couldn't remember how the buttons worked,” Andy Warhol, who managed the Velvets, recalled. Humiliation was a theme: four months later, at a club called the Dom, Warhol tried to make her perform inside a Plexiglas box.Nico was used to being treated as a physical spectacle. At the Dom, Leonard Cohen was a regular guest, and he began writing songs in hopes of seducing her. Her improbable bone structure, and her role in “La Dolce Vita,” intrigued prominent rock managers like Albert Grossman, who worked with Bob Dylan. But her songs were less appealing, and the Dom's clientele often laughed through her set. She was eventually accompanied on guitar by Tim Buckley, and then by Jackson Browne, who had just arrived in New York. Browne became enamored with Nico, and before they fell out—she accused him of harassing her with obscene phone calls—he gave her two songs: “The Fairest of the Seasons” and “These Days,” both of which appeared on her 1967 début, “Chelsea Girl.”Few songs so beautifully misrepresent a singer as “These Days.” The clarity of Browne's fingerpicked guitar lines, and the delicacy of Nico's languor, is rendered just alien enough by her vocals, a more tuneful version of the stentorian drawl she used with the Velvets. “Please don't confront me with my failures / I had not forgotten them,” she sings. Since its inclusion in Wes Anderson's 2001 film “The Royal Tenenbaums,” where it accompanies a kohl-eyed Gwyneth Paltrow, “These Days” has become Nico's best-known song, a hymn of stifled glamour. It reinforces her popular image, which has been confected from late-sixties publicity stills, bits of blank-stare footage from Warhol films, and photographs of her with Reed and John Cale, the Velvets' Welsh savant. She migrates in the mind between fashion and folk, downtown bohème and Fellini-sponsored stardom. And always, in case you don't know, there is the spectre of her heroin addiction, the protracted ruin of her personal life.  -The New Yorker

Wie gesund ist Schwimmen?; Meeresschutz - wie geht es unseren Ozeanen?; Was Naturschutz gegen Fluss-Niedrigwasser leisten kann; Kurzsichtig: Darum brauchen wir immer öfter eine Brille; Plexiglas - Seine unbekannte Geschichte und wie es die Welt verändert; Was tun bei Histaminunverträglichkeit?; Alarm - so bekommst du Kathastrophen-Infos wirklich mit; Moderation: Marija Bakker. Von WDR 5.

Show Notes You can support our Patreon Find out more at https://three-minute-modernist.pinecast.co Auto-Generated Transcript   SiliGoneValley-TapPlastics Tue, 8/16 10:34AM • 3:46 SUMMARY KEYWORDS plastics, cray, tap, display, clientele, measurements, replaced, computer history museum, stores, alameda, supercomputer, mountain view, unevenly, cut, work, plexi, trimming, individual, shrunk, task SPEAKERS Christopher Garcia   Christopher Garcia  Come with me. We're going to Silicon Valley   Christopher Garcia  TAP plastics, the fantastic plastic place. TAP plastics was a chain of stores that specialized in providing plastics for pretty much everything. They built. trophy cases they did. Replacement Windows, it was everything you needed. That was plastic or Plexiglas you would go to tap plastics for I only ever use two of them one in just outside of downtown San Jose, on the Alameda, or Yeah, the Alameda. Or maybe it was San Carlos, no, the Alameda. Stop questioning yourself, Chris. And the other one in downtown Mountain View. And what's impressive about places like tap plastics, is how thoroughly they have been replaced by online services. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It does make it a little harder when you have something in hand that you want to get replaced. And you don't have the tools to actually do the measurements, for example. But I used that plastics a lot when I worked at the Computer History Museum, most notably for the Cray one. So I was given a task more busy work than anything of putting new side panels on to the Cray one supercomputer so that we could display it and actually have people sit on it. This was a fun task. I did all the measurements and sent it in, went and picked it up and none of them fit. And I couldn't figure out why. And we brought it back again, and they cut a little slice, little off, they put it in. And again, it didn't fit out four or five different back and forth. We did until I realized what had happened. The original plates have actually shrunk. And we're actually almost completely loose of their side aluminum holdings. But when you measured them, you couldn't actually get them to be right in because they had unevenly warped. So some were much narrower than others. This was annoying. But that plastics bless them. They went back and they read cut and they retrained four or five times without annoyance, which is amazing, because I wasn't thinking about TAP plastics was it was a drop off and pickup sort of situation most of the time. Yeah, they had things on the shelves, things like Plexi, cleaner, all that sort of thing. Individual pieces, like if you wanted the display piece, you could almost always get it from the floor. But for the most part two was about trimming and cutting. And that's what I used it for excessively and I wished today, I have a display case I want to get a new panel for but there's no easy way to do that. And that's what tap plastics and other stores like that, that did things like plastic and wood cut paneling and so forth that were local, made possible was to not necessarily do it yourself, but to interact directly and to go back and forth with an individual spot. And I think we need more of that. I think losing that has been hard. I think TAP plastics is what I think of when I think of a store that recognized its customers and customer base and focused on them as their clientele so that they could keep a loyal audience and you know what, to this day me they have Find out more at https://siligone-valley.pinecast.co

I turned off my Big Ben alarm clock at 0230, the usual wake-up time for our Linebacker mission. When the scheduling board simply indicated “Special”, we knew it would be a 0400 mass briefing at Wing Headquarters for a bombing mission over North Vietnam. We wouldn't know our target until the mission briefing. The schedule was normally posted at the end of each day's flying, and the previous day I had seen my name listed for the number four position in Jazz Flight for today's Special. My Weapon Systems Officer would be Bill Woodworth. F-4 pilots quickly become creatures of habit mixed with ritual, and I walked the short distance to the Ubon Officer's Club to have my standard breakfast: cheese omelet, toast with butter, and coffee. I had successfully flown thirty-one Counters – missions over North Vietnam – and I wasn't about to change anything without a pretty compelling reason. A few weeks earlier, the Thai waitress had misunderstood me when I had ordered, and brought me a plain Omelet. I politely ate it, and the mission on that day was the closest I had come – up until then – to getting shot down. After breakfast, I walked to the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing Headquarters building, and performed my usual routine of stopping by the Intel desk and checking the Shoot-down Board. The Shoot-down Board was a large Plexiglas-covered board that listed the most recent friendly aircraft losses, written in grease pencil. We could tell, at a glance, if any aircraft had been shot down the previous night, the call sign, aircraft type, and survivor status. There were no friendly aircraft losses over North Vietnam to enemy action in the previous day. That was not surprising. The Special for the previous day had been canceled when the strike leader, my Squadron Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Brad Sharp, crashed on takeoff when his left tire exploded at 160 knots. He aborted, taking the departure end barrier, and his aircraft caught fire when pieces of the shredded tire pierced his left wing fuel tank. Brad's emergency egress was delayed when he got hung up by his leg restraint lines. As he sat in his seat, seeing the canopy melting around him, his WSO, Mike Pomphrey, ran back to the burning aircraft and pulled him out, saving his life. As Mike dragged him to a drainage ditch 100 yards away to hunker down, the ejection seats, missiles and, eventually, bombs cooked off. Ubon's only runway was out of commission, and the entire Linebacker mission, for all bases, was canceled. Overnight, the runway at Ubon was repaired, and our mission was on for this day. The mission briefing was in a large auditorium. The Wing Commander led the Mission Briefing, followed by an Intel Briefing and Weather Briefing. Slides were projected onto the screen to show the targets on a map of North Vietnam, then reconnaissance photos of the individual targets for the strike flights. Jazz Flight's target was POL (Petroleum, Oil, Lubricants) storage near Kep Airfield, north of Hanoi. During the briefing, we all received our mission line-up cards, showing our Estimated Times Enroute (ETE), fuel computations, strike frequencies, and flight de-confliction information. A mass strike over Route Package Six, the area of North Vietnam covering Hanoi, Haiphong and points north, required a massive orchestration effort. The run-in directions, Time Over Target (TOT), and egress plan for each of the sixteen four-ship strike flights, plus all of the same information for support flights, such as MiG-Cap, were designated to exacting specifications. After the mass briefing, we assembled in our respective squadrons for our individual flight briefings. When I walked into the 25th Tactical Fighter Squadron, my first order of business was to check the Flight Crew Information File Book. The FCIF was a book that had last-minute changes to procedures and other instructions for aircrews. After reading the latest entries in the book, each crewmember would initial his FCIF card and turn the card over in the vertical card file so that the green side of the card was facing out, instead of the red side. That way, the Ops Officer could instantly see if all the crews were flying with the most current information. The briefing for Jazz Flight lasted about 45 minutes. Our Flight Lead briefed engine start and check-in times, flight join-up, frequencies, tactics, and our munitions load. Today we would each carry two 2,000-pound Mark-84L laser-guided bombs. After the briefing we waited our turns for the most important part of the preflight. The building that housed our squadron had not been designed for a mass launch of 32 crewmembers all needing to use the latrine at the same time. It was a three-holer, and everyone always badly needed to use the facility before a mission up north. It was a major bottle-neck to our individual plans. After that essential stop we went by the Life Support section to leave our personal items, such as wedding rings, wallets and anything else we wouldn't need for the flight, in our lockers. The only thing I would carry in my pocket was my ID Card and my Geneva Convention Card. And, of course, I had my dog tags around my neck. Then we would pick up our G-suits, helmets, survival vests and parachute harnesses and board the “bread truck” for transportation to the flight line, with a quick stop at the armory to retrieve our .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolvers. Our Thai driver always had a cooler stocked with plastic flasks of cold water, and we would grab several and put them in leg pockets of our G-suits. I also grabbed several piddle packs. The F-4 did not have a relief tube, so we carried piddle packs. The piddle pack was a small plastic bag with a 2 inch by 6 inch sponge inside and a spout at one end. When you used this portable urinal, the entire assembly would expand to about the size of a football. This flight was scheduled to be a bit longer than the standard mission, so I grabbed three piddle packs. There were two ways to get to Pack Six from Ubon: right turns and left turns. With right turns, the missions are about 45 minutes shorter. Head north over Laos, refuel on Green Anchor, make a right turn at Thud Ridge and proceed to the target. Left turns takes us to the east coast of Vietnam, and proceed north “feet wet”, then make a left turns toward Vinh to strike our targets. Today we would make left turns. We launched off at dawn and headed into the rising sun. Our route of flight took us east across Laos to DaNang, then north to the Gulf of Tonkin, then northwest to our target in the area of Kep. Our refueling would be along Purple Anchor as we headed north for pre-strike and south for post-strike. One of my rituals during every refueling, in between hook-ups, was to break out one of the water flasks, finish off an entire pack of Tums, and fill one of the piddle packs. Using the piddle pack in the seat of the Phantom was easier said than done. It required a bit of maneuvering.  I handed the jet over to Bill, my WSO, as I loosened my lap belt, loosened the leg straps on my parachute harness, and unzipped my flight suit from the bottom. Then I did my best to fill the piddle pack without any spillage. Our route was already taking us feet wet, and I wasn't looking forward to becoming feet wet in any other respect. Bill flew smoothly, and I finished my business with no problem, and took control of the airplane again for our refueling top-offs. We conducted our aerial ballet in total radio silence as our four airplanes cycled on and off the refueling boom, flying at almost 400 knots, as we approached the refueling drop-off point. When we finished refueling, we switched to strike frequency and headed north-northwest to the target area. Typical for a Linebacker mission, strike frequency was pretty busy. There were “Bandit” calls from Disco, the Airborne Early Warning bird, an EC-121 orbiting over the Gulf of Tonkin. And SAM breaks. And, of course, the ever-present triple-A (Anti-Aircraft Artillery)that produced fields of instant-blooming dandelions at our altitude. We pressed on. In the entire history of the Air Force, and the Army Air Corps before it, no strike aircraft has ever aborted its mission due to enemy reaction, and we were not about to set a precedent. Weather in the target area was severe clear, and Flight Lead identified the target with no problem. We closed in to “fingertip” formation, with three feet of separation between wingtips.  “Jazz Flight, arm ‘em up.” We made a left orbit to make our run-in on the designated attack heading. Then a left roll-in with 135 degrees of bank. My element lead, Jazz Three, was on Lead's right wing, and I was on the far right position in the formation. Our roll-in and roll-out was in close fingertip position, which put me at negative G-loading during the roll-out. During negative-G formation flying, the flight controls work differently. I was on the right wing and a little too close to Element Lead, so I needed to put the stick to the left to increase spacing. Totally unnatural. At the same time, I was hanging against my lap belt, which I had forgotten to tighten when I had finished my piddle-pack filling procedure. My head hit the canopy, as dust and other detritus from the cockpit floated up into my eyes. But I maintained my position. We rolled out on the correct run-in heading, and reached our delivery parameters right on profile. Five hundred knots at 20,000 feet. Lead called our release.  “Jazz Flight, ready, ready, pickle!” We all pushed our Bomb Release “pickle” buttons on our stick grips at the same time, and eight 2000-pound bombs guided together to the target that was being illuminated by the laser designator in the Lead's Pave Knife pod, guidance performed by his WSO.  Immediately after release, we performed the normal 4-G pullout. And I was instantly in excruciating pain. I screamed out in pain on our “hot mike” interphone.  “Are you okay?”  Bill called.  “I think I've been shot in the balls!” I screamed. Then, I realized what had happened. I had carelessly neglected to tighten my lap belt and parachute harness leg straps after relieving myself during the refueling. My body had shifted, and my testicles had gotten trapped between the harness and my body. With a 4-G pull, my 150-pound body was exerting 600 pounds of pressure on the family jewels. As soon as I knew what the problem was, I unloaded the aircraft to zero Gs, to try to readjust myself. But I was still headed downhill, and Mother Hanoi was rushing up to me at 500 knots. And I was getting further out of position in my formation. So I gritted my teeth and pulled.  When we got onto the post-strike tanker, I adjusted myself, but the damage had been done. I was in agony all the way back to Ubon. As soon as I landed, I went to see the Flight Surgeon and told him what had happened. He told me to drop my shorts and show him my injury. “Wow! I'd heard you guys had big ones, but these are even larger than I expected.”  I looked down, and saw that my testicles were swollen to the size of large oranges. The Flight Surgeon put me on total bed-rest orders, telling me I could only get out of bed to use the bathroom until the swelling subsided. While I was flat on my back, waiting for the pain to subside, I couldn't get that stupid old joke out of my head, the one where the kid goes into a malt shop and asks for a sundae with nuts, and the clerk asks, “Do you want your nuts crushed?” And the kid has a wise-crack answer. All of a sudden, it didn't seem so funny. After about five days I was feeling much better.  The Flight Surgeon had offered to submit my injury for a Purple Heart, but I declined. For starters, my injury was not due to enemy action, it was due to my carelessness. And I wasn't too keen on standing in front of the entire squadron at my next assignment while the Admin Officer read the citation to accompany the award of the Purple Heart. “On that day, Captain Nolly managed to crush…”. No thanks! A few months later, the Flight Surgeon showed up at our squadron.  “You're famous, and made me a famous author,” he beamed, as he held up the current issue of Aerospace Medicine magazine. In the article, he recounted how a 27-year-old pilot had experienced a strangulation injury to his testes that came very close to requiring amputation. Castration!  “There was no use in telling you and making you worry, when there was nothing we could do for you other than bed rest, and wait to see if you healed,” he commented. Well, it's been 41 years now, and I'm at an age where I don't embarrass as easily. More important, I sired three healthy children several years later, so the equipment works just fine, thank you.  Lots of guys have great “There I was” stories of their time in Vietnam. I racked up 100 missions over the north, and had some exciting missions.  This mission was not the most exciting, but was certainly the most memorable.

Leute, da kommen wir also, bretagnebraun und laylageil, aus der Sommerpause. In den Haaren noch den Wind eines möglichen Wandels, auf der Haut noch das Meersalz der Hoffnung. Diesen leichten Film der Verklärung. Und prallen dann, unsanft und ungebremst, gleich wieder gegen die rote Mauer der Wirklichkeit, gegen das Plexiglas der Langeweile. Weil mit den Bayern auch die Dominanz zurück gekehrt ist. Fünf Tore in Leipzig, eines davon hinein gelächelt, die anderen leichtfüßig über die Linie getanzt. Mit Bambi in Bestform. Und Julian in Jubellaune. Die Pfeile, sagte Domenico Tedesco hinterher, kamen von überall. Und er klang dabei, als stünde er gar nicht in der Mixzone der roten Bullen, sondern knietief im Mekong, in den Büschen die roten Khmer. Die Tyrannei, schrieb die SZ, geht weiter. Die elfte Meisterschaft in Folge, sie ist bereits jetzt nur noch Frühformsache. Und Leverkusen? Verliert in Elversberg. Und Dortmund? Denkt an Cavani. Nun ja. Die Saison, so scheint es, ist gelaufen, bevor sie überhaupt richtig beginnen durfte. Als hätte der Fußballgott mal eben das Land verlassen und die Tür zum Abschied mit dem Arsch in die Angeln geknallt. Umso wichtiger, dass die Frauen parallel das zum Sommer passende Märchen aufgeführt haben. Mit Torrekorden zum Einrahmen und Schnurrbärten zum Ankleben. Mit all den Postillion-Pointen einer plötzlichen Popp-Kultur. Auch wenn das Happy-End leider ausblieb und sich Huth am Ende nur Silber, Bronze aber Gold um den Hals hängen konnte. Der Traum in Tränen ertrunken. Was jedoch bleiben wird, von diesen wilden Tagen im Juli, ist der glänzende Eindruck. Und die große Euphorie um eine Mannschaft, die sich niemals die Mannschaft nennen würde, aber vielleicht genau deshalb genau das war. Lange dachten wir ja, man hätte uns um ein Turnier betrogen. Jetzt wissen wir, dass man uns eines geschenkt hat. Mit dem nötigen Raum zur Entfaltung und endlich auch genug Zeit zum Kennenlernen. Die Namen, Magull und Schüller, Frohms und Brand, werden wir uns mit Sicherheit merken. Und vielleicht, so die leise Hoffnung, hallen sie ja länger nach als der nächste Ballermann-Refrain. Und damit, liebe Freunde und Freundinnen, wünschen wir euch nun viel Vergnügen mit dieser neuen Folge Fussball MML.

Leute, da kommen wir also, bretagnebraun und laylageil, aus der Sommerpause. In den Haaren noch den Wind eines möglichen Wandels, auf der Haut noch das Meersalz der Hoffnung. Diesen leichten Film der Verklärung. Und prallen dann, unsanft und ungebremst, gleich wieder gegen die rote Mauer der Wirklichkeit, gegen das Plexiglas der Langeweile. Weil mit den Bayern auch die Dominanz zurück gekehrt ist. Fünf Tore in Leipzig, eines davon hinein gelächelt, die anderen leichtfüßig über die Linie getanzt. Mit Bambi in Bestform. Und Julian in Jubellaune. Die Pfeile, sagte Domenico Tedesco hinterher, kamen von überall. Und er klang dabei, als stünde er gar nicht in der Mixzone der roten Bullen, sondern knietief im Mekong, in den Büschen die roten Khmer. Die Tyrannei, schrieb die SZ, geht weiter. Die elfte Meisterschaft in Folge, sie ist bereits jetzt nur noch Frühformsache. Und Leverkusen? Verliert in Elversberg. Und Dortmund? Denkt an Cavani. Nun ja. Die Saison, so scheint es, ist gelaufen, bevor sie überhaupt richtig beginnen durfte. Als hätte der Fußballgott mal eben das Land verlassen und die Tür zum Abschied mit dem Arsch in die Angeln geknallt. Umso wichtiger, dass die Frauen parallel das zum Sommer passende Märchen aufgeführt haben. Mit Torrekorden zum Einrahmen und Schnurrbärten zum Ankleben. Mit all den Postillion-Pointen einer plötzlichen Popp-Kultur. Auch wenn das Happy-End leider ausblieb und sich Huth am Ende nur Silber, Bronze aber Gold um den Hals hängen konnte. Der Traum in Tränen ertrunken. Was jedoch bleiben wird, von diesen wilden Tagen im Juli, ist der glänzende Eindruck. Und die große Euphorie um eine Mannschaft, die sich niemals die Mannschaft nennen würde, aber vielleicht genau deshalb genau das war. Lange dachten wir ja, man hätte uns um ein Turnier betrogen. Jetzt wissen wir, dass man uns eines geschenkt hat. Mit dem nötigen Raum zur Entfaltung und endlich auch genug Zeit zum Kennenlernen. Die Namen, Magull und Schüller, Frohms und Brand, werden wir uns mit Sicherheit merken. Und vielleicht, so die leise Hoffnung, hallen sie ja länger nach als der nächste Ballermann-Refrain. Und damit, liebe Freunde und Freundinnen, wünschen wir euch nun viel Vergnügen mit dieser neuen Folge Fussball MML. + + Werbepartner dieser Folge: Kickbase. Mache es wie Schlotterbeck, Müller, Raum, oder Hummels und zocke Kickbase, den beliebtesten Bundesliga-Fantasy-Manager Deutschlands: go.kickbase.com/mml Du möchtest deinen Podcast auch kostenlos hosten und damit Geld verdienen? Dann schaue auf www.kostenlos-hosten.de und informiere dich. Dort erhältst du alle Informationen zu unseren kostenlosen Podcast-Hosting-Angeboten.

Leute, da kommen wir also, bretagnebraun und laylageil, aus der Sommerpause. In den Haaren noch den Wind eines möglichen Wandels, auf der Haut noch das Meersalz der Hoffnung. Diesen leichten Film der Verklärung. Und prallen dann, unsanft und ungebremst, gleich wieder gegen die rote Mauer der Wirklichkeit, gegen das Plexiglas der Langeweile. Weil mit den Bayern auch die Dominanz zurück gekehrt ist. Fünf Tore in Leipzig, eines davon hinein gelächelt, die anderen leichtfüßig über die Linie getanzt. Mit Bambi in Bestform. Und Julian in Jubellaune. Die Pfeile, sagte Domenico Tedesco hinterher, kamen von überall. Und er klang dabei, als stünde er gar nicht in der Mixzone der roten Bullen, sondern knietief im Mekong, in den Büschen die roten Khmer. Die Tyrannei, schrieb die SZ, geht weiter. Die elfte Meisterschaft in Folge, sie ist bereits jetzt nur noch Frühformsache. Und Leverkusen? Verliert in Elversberg. Und Dortmund? Denkt an Cavani. Nun ja. Die Saison, so scheint es, ist gelaufen, bevor sie überhaupt richtig beginnen durfte. Als hätte der Fußballgott mal eben das Land verlassen und die Tür zum Abschied mit dem Arsch in die Angeln geknallt. Umso wichtiger, dass die Frauen parallel das zum Sommer passende Märchen aufgeführt haben. Mit Torrekorden zum Einrahmen und Schnurrbärten zum Ankleben. Mit all den Postillion-Pointen einer plötzlichen Popp-Kultur. Auch wenn das Happy-End leider ausblieb und sich Huth am Ende nur Silber, Bronze aber Gold um den Hals hängen konnte. Der Traum in Tränen ertrunken. Was jedoch bleiben wird, von diesen wilden Tagen im Juli, ist der glänzende Eindruck. Und die große Euphorie um eine Mannschaft, die sich niemals die Mannschaft nennen würde, aber vielleicht genau deshalb genau das war. Lange dachten wir ja, man hätte uns um ein Turnier betrogen. Jetzt wissen wir, dass man uns eines geschenkt hat. Mit dem nötigen Raum zur Entfaltung und endlich auch genug Zeit zum Kennenlernen. Die Namen, Magull und Schüller, Frohms und Brand, werden wir uns mit Sicherheit merken. Und vielleicht, so die leise Hoffnung, hallen sie ja länger nach als der nächste Ballermann-Refrain. Und damit, liebe Freunde und Freundinnen, wünschen wir euch nun viel Vergnügen mit dieser neuen Folge Fussball MML. + + Werbepartner dieser Folge: Kickbase. Mache es wie Schlotterbeck, Müller, Raum, oder Hummels und zocke Kickbase, den beliebtesten Bundesliga-Fantasy-Manager Deutschlands: go.kickbase.com/mml Du möchtest deinen Podcast auch kostenlos hosten und damit Geld verdienen? Dann schaue auf www.kostenlos-hosten.de und informiere dich. Dort erhältst du alle Informationen zu unseren kostenlosen Podcast-Hosting-Angeboten.

Leute, da kommen wir also, bretagnebraun und laylageil, aus der Sommerpause. In den Haaren noch den Wind eines möglichen Wandels, auf der Haut noch das Meersalz der Hoffnung. Diesen leichten Film der Verklärung. Und prallen dann, unsanft und ungebremst, gleich wieder gegen die rote Mauer der Wirklichkeit, gegen das Plexiglas der Langeweile. Weil mit den Bayern auch die Dominanz zurück gekehrt ist. Fünf Tore in Leipzig, eines davon hinein gelächelt, die anderen leichtfüßig über die Linie getanzt. Mit Bambi in Bestform. Und Julian in Jubellaune. Die Pfeile, sagte Domenico Tedesco hinterher, kamen von überall. Und er klang dabei, als stünde er gar nicht in der Mixzone der roten Bullen, sondern knietief im Mekong, in den Büschen die roten Khmer. Die Tyrannei, schrieb die SZ, geht weiter. Die elfte Meisterschaft in Folge, sie ist bereits jetzt nur noch Frühformsache. Und Leverkusen? Verliert in Elversberg. Und Dortmund? Denkt an Cavani. Nun ja. Die Saison, so scheint es, ist gelaufen, bevor sie überhaupt richtig beginnen durfte. Als hätte der Fußballgott mal eben das Land verlassen und die Tür zum Abschied mit dem Arsch in die Angeln geknallt. Umso wichtiger, dass die Frauen parallel das zum Sommer passende Märchen aufgeführt haben. Mit Torrekorden zum Einrahmen und Schnurrbärten zum Ankleben. Mit all den Postillion-Pointen einer plötzlichen Popp-Kultur. Auch wenn das Happy-End leider ausblieb und sich Huth am Ende nur Silber, Bronze aber Gold um den Hals hängen konnte. Der Traum in Tränen ertrunken. Was jedoch bleiben wird, von diesen wilden Tagen im Juli, ist der glänzende Eindruck. Und die große Euphorie um eine Mannschaft, die sich niemals die Mannschaft nennen würde, aber vielleicht genau deshalb genau das war. Lange dachten wir ja, man hätte uns um ein Turnier betrogen. Jetzt wissen wir, dass man uns eines geschenkt hat. Mit dem nötigen Raum zur Entfaltung und endlich auch genug Zeit zum Kennenlernen. Die Namen, Magull und Schüller, Frohms und Brand, werden wir uns mit Sicherheit merken. Und vielleicht, so die leise Hoffnung, hallen sie ja länger nach als der nächste Ballermann-Refrain. Und damit, liebe Freunde und Freundinnen, wünschen wir euch nun viel Vergnügen mit dieser neuen Folge Fussball MML. + + Werbepartner dieser Folge: Kickbase. Mache es wie Schlotterbeck, Müller, Raum, oder Hummels und zocke Kickbase, den beliebtesten Bundesliga-Fantasy-Manager Deutschlands: go.kickbase.com/mml Du möchtest deinen Podcast auch kostenlos hosten und damit Geld verdienen? Dann schaue auf www.kostenlos-hosten.de und informiere dich. Dort erhältst du alle Informationen zu unseren kostenlosen Podcast-Hosting-Angeboten.

Leute, da kommen wir also, bretagnebraun und laylageil, aus der Sommerpause. In den Haaren noch den Wind eines möglichen Wandels, auf der Haut noch das Meersalz der Hoffnung. Diesen leichten Film der Verklärung. Und prallen dann, unsanft und ungebremst, gleich wieder gegen die rote Mauer der Wirklichkeit, gegen das Plexiglas der Langeweile. Weil mit den Bayern auch die Dominanz zurück gekehrt ist. Fünf Tore in Leipzig, eines davon hinein gelächelt, die anderen leichtfüßig über die Linie getanzt. Mit Bambi in Bestform. Und Julian in Jubellaune. Die Pfeile, sagte Domenico Tedesco hinterher, kamen von überall. Und er klang dabei, als stünde er gar nicht in der Mixzone der roten Bullen, sondern knietief im Mekong, in den Büschen die roten Khmer. Die Tyrannei, schrieb die SZ, geht weiter. Die elfte Meisterschaft in Folge, sie ist bereits jetzt nur noch Frühformsache. Und Leverkusen? Verliert in Elversberg. Und Dortmund? Denkt an Cavani. Nun ja. Die Saison, so scheint es, ist gelaufen, bevor sie überhaupt richtig beginnen durfte. Als hätte der Fußballgott mal eben das Land verlassen und die Tür zum Abschied mit dem Arsch in die Angeln geknallt. Umso wichtiger, dass die Frauen parallel das zum Sommer passende Märchen aufgeführt haben. Mit Torrekorden zum Einrahmen und Schnurrbärten zum Ankleben. Mit all den Postillion-Pointen einer plötzlichen Popp-Kultur. Auch wenn das Happy-End leider ausblieb und sich Huth am Ende nur Silber, Bronze aber Gold um den Hals hängen konnte. Der Traum in Tränen ertrunken. Was jedoch bleiben wird, von diesen wilden Tagen im Juli, ist der glänzende Eindruck. Und die große Euphorie um eine Mannschaft, die sich niemals die Mannschaft nennen würde, aber vielleicht genau deshalb genau das war. Lange dachten wir ja, man hätte uns um ein Turnier betrogen. Jetzt wissen wir, dass man uns eines geschenkt hat. Mit dem nötigen Raum zur Entfaltung und endlich auch genug Zeit zum Kennenlernen. Die Namen, Magull und Schüller, Frohms und Brand, werden wir uns mit Sicherheit merken. Und vielleicht, so die leise Hoffnung, hallen sie ja länger nach als der nächste Ballermann-Refrain. Und damit, liebe Freunde und Freundinnen, wünschen wir euch nun viel Vergnügen mit dieser neuen Folge Fussball MML. + + Werbepartner dieser Folge: Kickbase. Mache es wie Schlotterbeck, Müller, Raum, oder Hummels und zocke Kickbase, den beliebtesten Bundesliga-Fantasy-Manager Deutschlands: go.kickbase.com/mml Du möchtest deinen Podcast auch kostenlos hosten und damit Geld verdienen? Dann schaue auf www.kostenlos-hosten.de und informiere dich. Dort erhältst du alle Informationen zu unseren kostenlosen Podcast-Hosting-Angeboten.

Leute, da kommen wir also, bretagnebraun und laylageil, aus der Sommerpause. In den Haaren noch den Wind eines möglichen Wandels, auf der Haut noch das Meersalz der Hoffnung. Diesen leichten Film der Verklärung. Und prallen dann, unsanft und ungebremst, gleich wieder gegen die rote Mauer der Wirklichkeit, gegen das Plexiglas der Langeweile. Weil mit den Bayern auch die Dominanz zurück gekehrt ist. Fünf Tore in Leipzig, eines davon hinein gelächelt, die anderen leichtfüßig über die Linie getanzt. Mit Bambi in Bestform. Und Julian in Jubellaune. Die Pfeile, sagte Domenico Tedesco hinterher, kamen von überall. Und er klang dabei, als stünde er gar nicht in der Mixzone der roten Bullen, sondern knietief im Mekong, in den Büschen die roten Khmer. Die Tyrannei, schrieb die SZ, geht weiter. Die elfte Meisterschaft in Folge, sie ist bereits jetzt nur noch Frühformsache. Und Leverkusen? Verliert in Elversberg. Und Dortmund? Denkt an Cavani. Nun ja. Die Saison, so scheint es, ist gelaufen, bevor sie überhaupt richtig beginnen durfte. Als hätte der Fußballgott mal eben das Land verlassen und die Tür zum Abschied mit dem Arsch in die Angeln geknallt. Umso wichtiger, dass die Frauen parallel das zum Sommer passende Märchen aufgeführt haben. Mit Torrekorden zum Einrahmen und Schnurrbärten zum Ankleben. Mit all den Postillion-Pointen einer plötzlichen Popp-Kultur. Auch wenn das Happy-End leider ausblieb und sich Huth am Ende nur Silber, Bronze aber Gold um den Hals hängen konnte. Der Traum in Tränen ertrunken. Was jedoch bleiben wird, von diesen wilden Tagen im Juli, ist der glänzende Eindruck. Und die große Euphorie um eine Mannschaft, die sich niemals die Mannschaft nennen würde, aber vielleicht genau deshalb genau das war. Lange dachten wir ja, man hätte uns um ein Turnier betrogen. Jetzt wissen wir, dass man uns eines geschenkt hat. Mit dem nötigen Raum zur Entfaltung und endlich auch genug Zeit zum Kennenlernen. Die Namen, Magull und Schüller, Frohms und Brand, werden wir uns mit Sicherheit merken. Und vielleicht, so die leise Hoffnung, hallen sie ja länger nach als der nächste Ballermann-Refrain. Und damit, liebe Freunde und Freundinnen, wünschen wir euch nun viel Vergnügen mit dieser neuen Folge Fussball MML. + + Werbepartner dieser Folge: Kickbase. Mache es wie Schlotterbeck, Müller, Raum, oder Hummels und zocke Kickbase, den beliebtesten Bundesliga-Fantasy-Manager Deutschlands: go.kickbase.com/mml Du möchtest deinen Podcast auch kostenlos hosten und damit Geld verdienen? Dann schaue auf www.kostenlos-hosten.de und informiere dich. Dort erhältst du alle Informationen zu unseren kostenlosen Podcast-Hosting-Angeboten.

Topic: Restaurants Have Lavish Setups for Outdoor Winter Dining   A Latin fusion restaurant in Queens will serve crispy arepa cups and ropa vieja at an outdoor dining chalet with rustic wood beams and sparkling chandeliers. 紐約皇后區一間拉丁無國界料理餐廳，將在有鄉村風木梁和閃亮枝形吊燈的戶外用餐木屋裡，提供杯裝的酥脆玉米餅和燉手撕牛肉。 In the Bronx, an Italian place has winter-proofed its back patio with Plexiglas walls and electric heaters, along with festive vines with pink flowers. 在布朗克斯區，一間義大利餐廳在後院築起塑膠玻璃牆並放上電熱器防寒，同時飾以帶有節慶氣氛的粉紅花朵藤蔓。 And a Manhattan bistro is handing out silver space blankets to shivering diners. 曼哈坦區一家餐酒館還發放銀色太空毯，讓冷得發抖的客人保暖。 A pandemic that has upended much of life in New York is now ushering in something the city has never really tried: dining by snow and ice. Or, as some restaurants are telling customers, the new BYOB is bring your own blanket. 新冠肺炎疫情大大顛覆紐約人的生活，如今又把這座城市從未真正試過的東西引了進來，就是在冰天雪地中用餐，或者就像一些餐廳告訴客人的，「請自帶酒水」變成了「請自備毛毯」。 The explosion of outdoor dining has been a savior for more than 10,000 restaurants and bars that have taken over sidewalks, streets and public spaces to try to keep their businesses afloat. It has been so popular that Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council are making outdoor dining permanent. 戶外用餐激增，拯救了紐約逾萬家餐廳和酒吧，這些店家占用人行道、大街和公共空間以求生。戶外用餐大受歡迎，以致市長白思豪和市議會決定讓它合法化。 But year-round dining outside is untested in the city's bone-chilling winters, and has created daunting challenges for an industry fighting to survive. 不過，戶外用餐還沒接受紐約寒冬的考驗，對奮力求存的餐飲業是可怕的挑戰。 “Are we going to have a mild winter or a harsh one?” said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, an industry group. “It's a gamble. With so much uncertainty about the weather and diner behavior, it's a risk.” 同業團體紐約市餐飲業聯合會主席里吉說：「今年冬天會溫和還是很冷？只能賭一賭。關於天氣和客人行為有這麼多不確定性，這是在冒險。」 While a financial imperative for restaurants, enclosing outdoor areas for winter has raised health concerns as coronavirus cases in New York have started to rise again. Protecting patrons from the elements has led some restaurants to create shelters that lack sufficient ventilation, raising the risk of transmission. 餐廳把戶外用餐區圍起來以免客人受寒，雖然對生意非常重要，卻在紐約新冠病例再度激增之際引發公共衛生疑慮。一些餐廳為保護客人不受惡劣天氣影響而圍出通風不良的區域，提高了疫情傳播的風險。 Outdoor heaters — including propane heaters that had been banned in the city but are now permitted as a way to help restaurants — could also pose fire hazards. 戶外暖爐，包括紐約原本禁用、為幫助餐廳經營而暫且開放使用的丙烷暖爐，還可能引起火災。 Still, with restaurants having few options to make money, New York and other cities are forging ahead with winter outdoor dining.Chicago held a design challenge that drew ideas like a Japanese-style heated table and a modular cabin inspired by ice-fishing huts that fits on a parking spot. 不過，由於餐廳賺錢方式非常有限，紐約等城市仍大力發展冬季戶外用餐。芝加哥辦了場戶外用餐設計比賽，吸引的點子包括：日式暖爐桌和模組小屋，以冰釣小屋為靈感，占地相當於一個停車位。 In New York, the multibillion-dollar restaurant industry, one of the city's most important economic pillars, has been decimated by the pandemic. Indoor dining has resumed, but at only 25% capacity. 營業額數十億美元的餐館業是紐約經濟支柱，受到疫情重創，雖然已恢復內用，但只能開放25%的座位。 Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/359491/web/   Next Article   Topic: A Scary Energy Winter Is Coming. Don't Blame the Greens.   Every so often the tectonic geopolitical plates that hold up the world economy suddenly shift in ways that can rattle and destabilize everything on the surface. That's happening right now in the energy sphere. 有時候，承載世界經濟的地緣政治板塊會突然移動，把地表每樣東西搖得嘎嘎作響。這種事現在就在能源領域發生。 Several forces are coming together that could make Vladimir Putin the king of Europe, enable Iran to thumb its nose at America and build an atomic bomb, and disrupt European power markets enough that the upcoming United Nations climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, could suffer blackouts owing to too little clean energy. 有幾股勢力正在匯聚，能使俄國總統普亭成為歐洲之王，使伊朗有本錢不把美國放在眼裡，進而造出原子彈，並足以打亂歐洲能源市場，讓即將登場的英國蘇格蘭格拉斯哥聯合國氣候大會可能會因為潔淨能源太少而停電。 Yes, this is a big one. 沒錯，問題很大。 Natural gas and coal prices in Europe and Asia just hit their highest levels on record, oil prices in America hit a seven-year high and U.S. gasoline prices are up $1 a gallon from last year. If this winter is as bad as some experts predict — with some in the poor and middle classes unable to heat their homes — I fear we'll see a populist backlash to the whole climate/green movement. You can already smell that coming in Britain. 歐亞兩洲的天然氣和煤價剛剛達到史上最高，美國原油價格創七年新高，而汽油價格每加侖比去年上漲1美元。如果今年冬天跟一些專家預測的一樣糟，一些貧窮和中產階級人家負擔不起取暖費用，我擔心會出現針對整個氣候和綠能運動的民粹反彈。在英國已經可以嗅到這個跡象。 How did we get here? In truth, it's a good-news-bad-news story. 我們怎會走到這一步？其實，這是個好消息壞消息都有的故事。 The good news is that every major economy has signed onto reducing its carbon footprint by phasing out dirtier fuels like coal to heat homes and to power industries. The bad news is that most nations are doing it in totally uncoordinated ways, from the top down, and before the market has produced sufficient clean renewables like wind, solar and hydro. 好消息是，每個主要經濟體都已同意，透過逐步淘汰煤炭這類比較髒的燃料給家庭取暖和給產業供電，減少碳足跡。壞消息則是，多數國家這麼做的時候完全沒有互相協調，由上而下執行，而且市場還沒製造出足夠多的風力、太陽能和水力等清潔能源。 But how did the bad-news side of this story emerge so fast? 這個故事的壞消息面為何這麼快出現？ Blame COVID-19. First, the pandemic erupted and signaled to every major economy that we were headed for a deep recession. This sent prices of all kinds of commodities, including oil and gas, into downward spirals. 要怪新冠肺炎。首先，疫情爆發，對每個重要經濟體而言意味我們正走向深度衰退，使原油、天然氣等各類大宗商品價格走軟。 This, in turn, led banks to choke off investment in new natural gas capacity and crude wells after seven years of already declining investments in these hydrocarbons because of lousy returns. 這進而使銀行停止投資擴充天然氣產能和油井。銀行已減少投資這些碳氫化合物達七年，因為報酬率很差。 As Bill Gates points out in his smart book “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster,” the only way to reach our climate targets is to shift production of all the big heavy industries, like steel, cement and automobiles, as well as how we heat our homes and power our cars, to electricity generated from clean energy. Safe and affordable nuclear power has to be part of our mix because, Gates argues, “it is the only carbon-free, scalable energy source that's available 24 hours a day.” 就像微軟創辦人蓋茲在他那本睿智的書「如何避免氣候災難」指出的，達成氣候目標的唯一方法是，改變所有重工業如鋼鐵、水泥、汽車業等的生產方式，以及我們在家取暖和為愛車提供動力的方式，轉而用潔淨能源發電。蓋茲主張必須接納安全可負擔的核能，因為「這是唯一不產生二氧化碳又能擴增的能源來源，每天24小時供應」。Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/5820545   Next Article   Topic: About Winter - Alaska faces 'Icemageddon' as temperatures swing wildly   Extreme weather in Alaska that has brought record high temperatures and torrential downpours has left authorities in the far northern US state warning of "Icemageddon". 阿拉斯加出現的極端天氣帶來破紀錄的高溫和豪雨，使這個美國遙遠北方州的政府警告「冰雪末日」。 Hours after thermometers on Kodiak Island in the south reached 19.4 degrees Celsius － the warmest December temperature ever recorded in Alaska － the interior of the state saw 25 millimeters of rain fall in just a few hours, a downpour unseen in decades. 在南部科迪亞克島的溫度計達到攝氏19.4度（阿拉斯加有記錄以來最溫暖的12月溫度）數小時后，該州內部在短短幾個小時內就下了25毫米的降雨，這是幾十年來從未見過的傾盆大雨。 Then when temperatures plummeted again, it all froze. The state's transportation department has coined the neologism － a play on "Armageddon" － to describe the chilly impasse. 然後，當氣溫再次驟降時，一切都凍結了。該州的交通部門創造了這個新詞 - 一個關於"世界末日"的戲劇 - 來描述寒冷的僵局。 "We're experiencing an unprecedented series of winter storms," the department tweeted. "我們正在經歷一系列前所未有的冬季風暴，"該部門在推特上寫道。   Next Article   Topic: In Denmark, a snow storm means people overnight in an IKEA 在丹麥，一場暴風雪讓民眾在一間「宜家家居」過夜 In northern Denmark, an IKEA showroom turned into a vast bedroom. Six customers and about two dozen employees were stranded by a snowstorm and spent the night in the store, sleeping in the beds that are usually on show. 在丹麥北部，宜家的陳列室變成了一個巨大的臥室。六名顧客和大約二十多名員工被暴風雪困住，在商店裡過夜，睡在通常展示的床上。 Up to 30 centimeters of snow fell, trapping the customers and employees when the department store in Aalborg closed on Wednesday evening. 週三晚上，奧爾堡的百貨公司關閉時，高達30釐米的積雪困住了顧客和員工。 “We slept in the furniture exhibitions and our showroom on the first floor, where we have beds, mattresses and sofa beds,” store manager Peter Elmose told the Ekstra Bladet tabloid. People could “pick the exact bed they always have wanted to try.” "我們睡在傢俱展和一樓的陳列室里，那裡有床，床墊和沙發床，"商店經理Peter Elmose告訴Ekstra Bladet小報。人們可以「選擇他們一直想嘗試的確切床」。 Elmose said they spent the evening watching television and eating, adding it went “super well. It's been a good night. All fun.” 埃爾莫斯說，他們晚上看電視和吃飯，並補充說它「超級順利」。這是一個美好的夜晚。一切都很有趣。Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1497858 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1488145

  Now that the Fall 2021 half of the regular school year has come to an end and all the students on my caseload are on Winter Break, I'm taking advantage of the break from back-to-back Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings to reflect on the most serious issues I've had to deal with so far during this first half of the current school year.   While I've had to deal with a lot of different challenges, it is the impact that the lack of appropriate services during shutdown, from March of 2020 to August or September of 2021, that has hit hardest. It's been the absolute most hardest on my students with intensive behavioral services in their IEPs who have suffered the most regression and lost educational benefits. School districts all over Southern California, and likely elsewhere throughout the State and beyond, refused to provide in-person services to children on IEPs who required them in order to continue learning during shutdown.   This was in spite of explicit changes to State law that mandated in-person services for those special education students who needed it and compensatory education for any special education students who lost educational benefits during shutdown. Not only were in-person services denied, compensatory services are still being denied as school districts act like their students' regression has nothing to do with the fact that the districts failed to provide in-person services to these children during shutdown.   What was done instead? Aides employed originally to provide direct, in-person support to these students in the classroom setting were put on Zoom, Google Meets, Microsoft Teams, or whatever else platform their employers were using for distance learning as remote participants. How in the Hell an aide on Zoom was supposed to provide the supports necessary to facilitate the student's participation in online learning via Zoom was anyone's guess. It consistently failed to work.   Further, even though the new laws clearly made it an option, only one of my students' districts hired a non-public agency (NPA) to provide in-person behavioral support services in the student's home during distance learning so the student's behaviors could not be permitted to allow him to escape/avoid the instruction. Instead, they rewarded his participation and prompted him to return to task when his attention wandered, so he was able to make excellent academic progress during distance learning.   What he wasn't able to work on was his social skills with peers and adults in normal everyday settings. When he returned to on-campus learning, his classroom behaviors became increasingly challenging and the behaviors of the other students in the class became escalated in response. It eventually got so bad that the other students in his non-public school (NPS) classroom assaulted his NPA behavior aide because they blamed her for keeping him in their class. He triggered them that badly.   We ultimately changed his placement right before Winter Break started and a due process case for the involved district's utter failure to offer or deliver a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) for the last two years is now pending. Settlement is entirely possible, which I can't discuss in detail, and the IEP team has come up with a strategy to hopefully salvage his education for the moment, but this is a student who is able to meet academic standards in spite of his grossly impaired social skills.   Our concern is that he will graduate with a diploma and get arrested the next day for acting out in public. His behavioral needs have been exacerbated by shutdown because he didn't get any instruction or practice in behaving in socially appropriate ways when in-person with peers or adults at school. In part, this was because the NPS he had attended had a “philosophy” that failed to conform with the evidence-based scientifically valid practices of the NPA that was providing his behavioral interventions.   As such, NPS staff regularly failed to abide by the Behavioral Intervention Plan (BIP) in the student's IEP, much to the frustration of the NPA experts who had designed it and much to the danger of the Behavioral Intervention Implementation (BII) staff who was assaulted by my student's classmates because he made them so upset. Rather than work collaboratively with the experts hired to address his behaviors using methods proven to work by science, the NPS staff would engage in ad hoc interventions based on whatever ideas popped into their science-denying minds in the given moment, none of which worked.   Most of the students in the NPS had mental and emotional health needs, many of which arising from past trauma, but our student had autism and just didn't know how to read the room. It was dubious as an appropriate placement from the outset, but the ecological factors of the on-campus setting weren't a problem during distance learning.   It wasn't until our student, who not only has autism, but also ADHD, started attending on-campus, which required him to be in transport between home and school for a total of five hours per day, and then attempt to behave in a socially appropriate manner among other students with serious mental and emotional health needs, that things really fell apart. He might as well have been put into a rocking chair in a room full of long-tailed cats.   The harm was inevitable. And, as always, he's being blamed and vilified while no one from his school district offers something appropriate to his needs. We're hoping the interim placement he has for now will benefit him more than where he's been, but it's still less than ideal. It may take a judge to figure it all out.   I've had two other students on my caseload face expulsion just within the last few weeks. One student's case just recently settled after the involved school district attempted to assert that behaviors that were clearly associated with the student's disabilities somehow magically were not, during a Manifestation Determination (MD) IEP meeting.   The only way for a parent to appeal an MD IEP meeting outcome is to file for due process. Because the student is facing expulsion, the hearing is automatically expedited. This gives parents very little time to prepare for hearing, much less find adequate representation.   I was able to refer this family to an attorney right away who was able to handle the MD appeal via due process. We were lucky to find a really good attorney who could take the case right away and handle it. Most of my attorney colleagues are overwhelmed with the volume of cases they are getting, right now. The violations are everywhere, evidently, and this failure to provide in-person services during shutdown when they truly were needed seems to be a recurring theme.   This case settled because we were able to move quickly through the process and find a good attorney who could handle going to an expedited hearing if necessary or otherwise negotiate an appropriate settlement. Not everybody is having that same experience, these days. This family was lucky. The violations in this student's case were pretty egregious and the attorney was able to convince the involved school district that it wasn't worth going to hearing.   My other student facing expulsion still awaits a decision from school site administration as to whether the principal should just let the IEP team effect a change in placement for special education reasons rather than subject this student to expulsion proceedings. Again, the involved school district tried to claim that the student's disability had nothing to do with the behaviors, which was simply ridiculous.   The student already had behavioral interventions built into his IEP to address the very kinds of behaviors for which he was in trouble. He had a history of escalating to the most outlandish behaviors he could think of to come right up to the line and just barely cross it enough to get himself kicked out of school to avoid the instruction. He hated it that much.   He had transitioned to his current placement in a Special Day Class (SDC) for special education students with behavioral challenges from a special school where all the students had behavioral challenges at the start of the 2019-20 school year and had been largely successful for most of that school year, until the shutdown started in March 2020. During that time, his targeted behaviors of work refusals and avoiding the classroom setting altogether were entirely reinforced by being stuck at home on the computer while the aides from his SDC were also in their own homes using their district's online meeting platform.   There was no one in his home trained in the interventions that were necessary to compel his compliance with teacher directions. There was no one who could make him even login. He had a baby sister at home and his mother was not about to have him triggered into angry outbursts in the home by trying to convince him to participate in the instruction with a baby in the house. Further, his mother was medically fragile and required multiple surgeries throughout the shutdown and afterwards. She was in no position to handle the angry outburst of a frustrated teenager with no impulse control due to ADHD struggling with the work because of a co-morbid learning disability.   We have a complaint pending before one of his school district's regulatory agencies in response to its mishandling of his behavioral needs to date. He is now pending expulsion for a behavior we're fairly convinced he engaged in so as to be kicked out of school. We don't believe he ever had any intent to hurt anyone, but he did enough wrong for someone who doesn't understand the function of his behaviors to think he might pose a credible threat. Law enforcement determined he posed no threat. It appears that district personnel may have exaggerated the severity of the behavior on purpose to justify expulsion.   All that said, the expulsion case may be dismissed if the district agrees to simply let the IEP team refer this student back to his previous placement at the special school. It was successful in preparing him for his transition to a comprehensive high school placement before shutdown; it should be able to return him to that state and help him transition back, again, with success. We also have a ton of new assessments pending to figure out what the most appropriate IEP for him should be, going forward.   This situation may deescalate before it has time to turn into a full kerfuffle. If we can all just agree to work together to address this student's serious behavioral regression through the IEP process and avoid the expulsion process altogether, particularly given that this district is being looked at very closely by one of its regulators right now for failing to adequately support this student thus far, already, we can implement a solution that will eliminate the parent's need to pursue accountability.   The goal isn't to nail the school district's hide to the wall; the goal is to get the student appropriately served as quickly as possible. Nailing hides to walls should only take place if it's absolutely necessary to get a student appropriately served as quickly as possible. It's a last resort option.   I have yet another student whose case is pending settlement, hopefully. It would be foolish on the part of his school district to allow it to go to hearing. I can't discuss much about it while it's pending settlement, but suffice it to say his school district totally blew it by failing to provide in-person behavioral services and supports during shutdown.   He has a host of learning challenges including partial vision loss, severe autism, intellectual disability, a seizure disorder, extremely limited communication skills, and self-injurious behaviors that frequently result in property damage in his home. His windows now have Plexiglas® panes and the dry wall in his home has been replaced so often, his family has lost count. He has made frequent trips to the emergency room and urgent care for medical treatment after hurting himself during an outburst. He has hurt his petite mother by accident.   He's now a young adult who is still eligible for special education and he's had these behavioral challenges his entire life. He's been a student of the same school district his entire public education career. It's not like they don't know what he needs. Before shutdown, he received intensive 1:1 and 2:1 behavioral supports throughout the school day to keep him safe and engaged in the instruction. He got none of that at home during shutdown.   His mother was left to be his 1:1 aide support during distance learning over a computer while his actual aide support staff stared back at him from the screen from their own homes. He was immediately triggered into violent outbursts because he didn't understand why he wasn't at school with these people instead of looking at them on a computer screen. His participation in distance learning had to stop immediately for his own safety and that of his mother. It's been a struggle ever since to get an offer of appropriate services in his IEP as a prospective matter of FAPE, much less with respect to all of the compensatory remedies he's due.   This student's case has been referred to a different attorney than the one mentioned above, but also an amazingly talented and smart one. Because settlement terms are still being discussed, I can't speak much further to the matter, but I think the point is made that this is happening way too much. We've got too many kids who didn't get what they needed during shutdown who are now owed compensatory remedies and they have until March 2022 to file for due process on their claims.   Special education attorneys who represent families are working at capacity with respect to their caseloads. That said, there have now been enough cases litigated and settled since the increase in claims began that openings are starting to come on many caseloads. Others are bogged down by appeals, which are largely occurring in the federal District Courts.   Some attorneys are having an easier time these days than others, just depending on whether they get good judges at the due process level, or have to work the appeals system before they get to someone willing to take the time to really listen to the arguments and examine the evidence relative to the rule of law and applicable science. That's always the chance that attorneys take with these cases, and it's not fun to work the appeals, I promise you.   I've provided paralegal support on cases all the way up to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and there is nothing more tedious than a Table of Uncontroverted Facts, because there are always facts that become controverted between the parties. The back-and-forth between the parties about what facts were agreed to, which ones were disputed, and all the references to the evidence and testimony on the existing record from the original due process case and previous appeal to the District Court that supposedly supported each party's asserted facts, became one of the most exhausting exercises I've ever engaged in as professional. I have ADHD – Inattentive Type, myself, so trust me when I say it was grueling.   Litigation should always be the very last resort to solving a special education problem, but these days it's been necessary. For those of you finding yourselves in similar circumstances, I'd like to share a decision from the California Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH).   I downloaded the PDF of this decision just in case it ever gets taken down in the future, and have uploaded it to our site. Click here to download the PDF of this due process decision from California in which the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) found in favor of a student who was deprived of educationally necessary in-person behavior services during shutdown, if the link to the OAH site doesn't work. In this case, the ALJ ordered compensatory services as remedies to the student.   If this decision can help you argue for resolution to your own child's lost educational benefits during shutdown, whether via due process or just a sensible discussion with your school district's representatives, it will have served its purpose as a persuasive authority on the subject. If you find it necessary to hire an attorney to file for due process over shutdown-related deprivation of educational benefits, be sure to share this authority with your attorney. They may have very well already seen it, but if you can relate the facts of your own child's case to the facts of this due process case linked to here, you will help bring your attorney up to speed regarding your child's claims, so you can timely file your case before March 2022.   You may also choose to use this decision to support your arguments as you advocate for your own child in the IEP process as a parent. If you share this decision with your school district's IEP team members and relate the facts of your child's situation to the similar facts in this due process case, presuming your child's case follows a similar pattern of a denial of behavioral services from his/her IEP during shutdown, your school district may be compelled to work with you rather than have you lawyer up and then have to deal with the costs of a legal action.   Parents' attorneys' fees and costs can be recovered from the offending school districts as a condition of settlement or upon prevailing in due process or appeal. School districts are smart to work things out through Informal Dispute Resolution (IDR) Agreements or Confidential Settlement Agreements, if they can. The costs of due process and any subsequent litigation are far too great for taxpayers to fund when those dollars could be spent on educating children, instead. Spending education dollars on fights over the deprivation of educational benefits just adds insult to injury, honestly.   The evidence is increasingly making clear that far-right politics have way too much influence on public education at various levels of government, from local to state to federal education agencies. This is how public service was infiltrated at its weakest point. Extremists would get elected by an uniformed or misinformed electorate, then hire their cronies to work for them within their agencies, undermining the efficacy of local government while mishandling the finances in order to “prove” that government doesn't work while arguing for increased local control and reduced regulatory oversight.   Then they pay themselves more than they'd ever earn in the private sector where job performance matters as they slash resources to those expected to actually deliver on the agency's mandates who work beneath them. This is the climate in which special education violations occur. This is why public agencies defy the regulations to the detriment to some of our most vulnerable children, many of whom coming from low-income households whose parents are often at a loss as to how to fight back. Most parents won't do anything because they don't know what to do and don't realize how badly their children are being hurt in the long run.   If you are a parent whose child did not get appropriate services during shutdown, and who has regressed and may require compensatory services to be brought back to where he/she should be in school, right now, you're not alone. Whether you negotiate resolution on your own with you local education agency or hire someone to help you, know that many other parents have already started to fight this same fight before you, and some really helpful decisions are coming out of the various venues that can help bolster the arguments you and/or your representatives make on behalf of your child.   I hope this helps you put your own child's situation into perspective and gives you some ideas on how to go forward in the most constructive and least adversarial way possible. I can only imagine the other families' stories that out there similar to the ones I've described and the case captured by the decision linked to above. All of you are in my heart and I'm praying for you all.

Talk Art HOLIDAYS SPECIAL!!! This very special episode was recorded from Pace Gallery, New York!!! We are proud to collaborate again with BMW to bring you a conversation with iconic artist Jeff Koons. We discuss Jeff's passion for art which he discovered at an early age, we discuss his student years in Chicago and working for Ed Paschke, whose technicolor renderings of superheroes and other pop icons were an early source of inspiration. We learn of Koons's first job at the Museum of Modern Art, and his first major works that invoked commodity fetishism: titled The New, they comprised vacuum cleaners displayed on or in Plexiglas boxes over grids of fluorescent light. We explore why he chose stainless steel and reflective surfaces within his most celebrated sculptures and how art can truly change lives.Jeff Koons' latest collaboration with BMW is THE 8 X JEFF KOONS, a hand-painted limited interpretation of a BMW M850i xDrive. The special edition BMW will debut in spring, but we met with Koons to discuss how and why this exclusive vehicle came into being. And as we soon learned: It's about more than just the car. The 8 Series Gran Coupe will be for sale in a limited collector's edition after its world premiere at Frieze Los Angeles in February 2022. In 2010, Koons created a unique BMW M3 GT2 Art Car which performed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. The Koons BMW M3 GT2 is now part of the BMW Art Car collection (➜ Read also: The history of BMW Art Cars), placing the artist in the same category as fellow BMW Art Car creators like Andy Warhol, Alexander Calder, Roy Lichtenstein, and David Hockney, to name a few.That same year, the rock singer Bono from U2 wrote in an editorial for the New York Times that Jeff Koons should have a part in designing the car of the future. BMW and Koons continued the conversation and are now proud to announce their latest collaboration at the invitation of Angelika Nollert, director of Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum, in Munich's Pinakothek der Moderne.Follow @JeffKoons and @PaceGallery for more information. Visit http://www.jeffkoons.com/ and for more information on his new car with BMW: https://www.bmw.com/en/design/bmw-8-x-jeff-koons.htmlSpecial thanks to @BMWUK and @BMWGroupCulture for this extraordinary trip to see such inspiring art! And happy birthday to @BMWGroupCulture for 50 years of cultural engagement. We can't wait to see more exciting projects in the new year… Thanks for listening everyone!! Have a wonderful holidays... see you for more Talk Art adventures in 2022!!!!For images of all artworks discussed in this episode visit @TalkArt. Talk Art theme music by Jack Northover @JackNorthoverMusic courtesy of HowlTown.com We've just joined Twitter too @TalkArt. If you've enjoyed this episode PLEASE leave us your feedback and maybe 5 stars if we're worthy in the Apple Podcast store. For all requests, please email talkart@independenttalent.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Pokémon bedeutet Nostalgie, Freude und ruhige Spieleabende. Für manche zumindest. Andere finden das Franchise furchtbar. Konnte das neue Remake uns begeistern?

In this episode, Physical Therapist at Kelly Hawkins Physical Therapy, Meagan Duncan, talks about creating safe spaces for the LGBTQ+ community. Today, Meagan talks about trauma-informed care, navigating trauma during the subjective exam, and the importance of consent. How can PTs make clinics safe spaces for the LGBTQ+ community? Hear about the discrimination faced by the LGBTQ+ community, doing community advocacy work, and get Meagan's advice to her younger self, all on today's episode of The Healthy, Wealthy & Smart Podcast.   Key Takeaways “Gay men can undergo sexual violence at twice the rate of straight men. 50% of transgender people will experience some kind of sexual violence in their life. It's even more if they're a minority.” “Being trauma-informed is important in any discipline because you don't know what somebody has been through.” “I think it's about really small gestures.” “Starting with paperwork, gender has every option you can think of. If it's a paper form, gender's a blank space.” “We have small flag stickers for every flag that you can think of with all the colours that represent different parts of the LGBTQ+ community.” “Be more vigilant about asking for consent.” “Asking for consent is something that should be ongoing and all the time.” “Education is a big part of asking for consent, because in order to consent to something, people have to understand what it's going to entail.” “Providing options Is a really important part of consent.” “It's not patient-directed care. It's patient-centred care.” “Don't just go around touching people without consent.” “Find a niche. If you can find a niche that you are passionate about and that is needed, you are never going to struggle for work or for satisfaction.”   More about Meagan Duncan Meagan Duncan is a Chicagoland native who earned an associate degree as a Physical Therapist Assistant in 2013 from Kankakee Community College. She then worked for six years in an orthopaedic setting while earning a Bachelor's in Interdisciplinary Studies from Governor State University in Illinois. Later, she moved to Las Vegas to earn her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from the University of Nevada Las Vegas in 2020. As a PTA, she developed and ran a pro bono clinic at her first post grad job in her hometown of Joliet, Illinois. She now practices in Las Vegas and specializes in pelvic health after completing a specialty clinical rotation with the VA Hospital in Las Vegas. Duncan currently works at Kelly Hawkins Physical Therapy, a prominent outpatient physical therapy company in the Las Vegas area. At Kelly Hawkins, she built a successful pelvic health program that she has overseen and grown over the past year and a half. Duncan also works for NPTE Final Frontier, a premier national physical therapy exam preparation company that works with domestic and foreign trained students to help them pass the board exam. In this role, she tutors PT and PTA exam candidates and assists them with content development. She advocates for students and professionals to balance life outside of physical therapy. Outside of her profession, Duncan enjoys hiking, biking, paddleboarding and anything she can do outdoors with her husband and dog. She is excited to welcome a new addition to her family soon, as her first child is due in a month.   Suggested Keywords Healthy, Wealthy, Smart, Physiotherapy, LGBTQ+, Inclusion, Trauma, Pain, Discrimination, Sexual Violence, Advocacy, Consent, Pelvic Health,   To learn more, follow Meagan at: Email:              mduncan@kellyhawkins.com Website:          https://www.kellyhawkins.com LinkedIn:         Meagan Duncan   Subscribe to Healthy, Wealthy & Smart: Website:                      https://podcast.healthywealthysmart.com Apple Podcasts:          https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/healthy-wealthy-smart/id532717264 Spotify:                        https://open.spotify.com/show/6ELmKwE4mSZXBB8TiQvp73 SoundCloud:               https://soundcloud.com/healthywealthysmart Stitcher:                       https://www.stitcher.com/show/healthy-wealthy-smart iHeart Radio:               https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-healthy-wealthy-smart-27628927   Read the Full Transcript Here:  00:02 Hey Megan, welcome to the podcast. I'm happy to have you on.   00:06 Hey, Karen, awesome to be here. Thank you for having me.   00:09 Yes. And like I said in the intro, today, we're going to be talking about creating physical therapy space, a safe spaces for the LGBTQ plus community. So before we talk a little bit more about that, can you let the listeners know where your passion for this community comes from?   00:27 For um, so I guess I feel like I'm just kind of a fan of the underdog in any situation. And I can't say that I have personally experienced, like so much in this community, aside from having a lot of relationships with people, and seeing what they go through and what life looks like on that side of our world, because it's a very different experience from what I've had as a heterosexual, white female. So when I was in high school, I just kind of ended up best friends with a gay man. And he kind of brought me into the circle of his friends, which ended up being just a really large, wonderful welcoming circle of people on all spectrums of the LGBTQ plus community. So I got really interested in just kind of gay rights and things like that went to marches and did all of that. Tried to advocate for the community as whatever I need to do as a 16 year old, which was not very much. And now I found myself in this position that I can do something which is awesome. And it's not even necessarily something I thought about when I went into the niche that I'm in. But I am really happy to be able to finally say that there's like some baggage behind this lifelong commitment that I kind of said that I had towards the community, but was never really doing anything about it other than like, your like Facebook posts here and there that talk about, you know, advocacy or supporting a community that's not well supported. So I'm happy to be able to do something about it now.   01:56 And let's talk about what you can do, or what we can do as physical therapists to help support this community, because I'm sure a lot of people may be listening to this and say, Well, what does the community need? That's so different from the rest of of other communities? So what is it about this community in particular, that perhaps they're more exposed to certain things? Or do they not get the care that they need? So go ahead, I'll pass the mic over to you.   02:27 Yeah, absolutely. So just discrimination in general, it's a problem in so many realms of social issues, being gender and sexual preference, of course, is one of those huge ones. So people feeling like or actually having less access to healthcare, getting denied health care, or getting given less than optimal treatment, or not really getting the best of their provider because of discrimination or because of biases that those providers have. Likewise, they might be afraid to go to facilities or go get treatments for things that are going through because they've experienced poor care before. So my niche actually, is pelvic floor physical therapy. And in this, there is so much that I can do for the community and physical therapists as well. And I was thinking about this podcast and thinking, what actually makes my job so different from the way everybody should be treating everyone. And I think there's a lot to learn, aside from just treating in pelvic floor PT. But in pelvic floor PT, I see a lot of people in the community because they are much more exposed to sexual violence and sexual trauma. And that correlates really significantly with pelvic floor dysfunctions. So we know from studies that gay men can undergo sexual violence at twice the rate of straight men, transgender people will usually experience about 50% of people will experience some kind of sexual violence in their life, which is a huge number 50%. And then it's even more if they're a minority. So that's a huge community of people where like, most of them need our help or need pelvic floor PT, or need more support than they're getting. So I think that we can play a big role in advocating for people and making spaces where they feel like are welcome. Or be that person that they can come to and after bad experience, bad experience or bad experience in healthcare, they can come to you and feel comfortable. And that's a really great feeling from my end. And I hope that other physical therapists out that out there feel better experienced that because it's awesome.   04:29 And you know, when you're talking about sexual trauma, or sexual assault within this community, I mean, the thing that sticks out to me is trauma. And so there is more and more research. And I think more and more people are now aware of trauma informed care. So can you share with us some of the principles of trauma informed care and why physical therapists should care?   04:56 Yeah, so this is kind of one of those things I was thinking about. trauma informed care and pelvic floor physical therapy is like, every class every time, we're always talking about every continuing ed course, because the nature of the work is so intimate, and very personal. And we're asking questions that make people uncomfortable, and hopefully not too much, but putting people in uncomfortable positions a lot of times, and it takes a lot for somebody to even come into my office to tackle these issues. But I think we should all be kind of treating in that same way. Because we don't really know like, of course, I know, when people come in for pelvic floor PT, they're probably uncomfortable. Like most of the time, people don't really like, want to be there. They're there because they need it. But that goes for a lot of things in physical therapy, right? Like people don't want to have back pain and come in and like, a lot of people don't want to get like touched and massage like, that's not what they intended on doing. But here they are, because they need it. So being trauma informed in any discipline is really important, because you just don't know what somebody has been through. So talking about trauma informed care, I think understanding a little bit more about trauma is probably a good place to start. So I do kind of think everybody should   06:10 reflect a little bit on what that means. So I was thinking of a good example. And I think that trauma can be kind of like pain, where we don't have a measurable, like objective measure for like, what pain is or what trauma is. So I know if a patient comes in says they're in six out of 10 pain, I have a patient with that same diagnosis that might say they're in two out of 10 pain. Or maybe I see, let's say I see somebody with a knee replacement. And I know that like a good healthy knee should have zero degrees extension, right. Or before they leave the hospital, we want them to have 90 degrees of flexion. But like I can't say to somebody, like you have a 15 degree trauma contracture. Like that doesn't make sense. There's no reference point that we know of other than what that person's experienced. So it's important to understand that trauma is different for each person. And some people could be really traumatized by an event. And some people could not really be traumatized by the same event. And that could depend on what factors they have in their cultural background in their other life experiences or the lens that they see things through. So somebody could experience their parents getting divorced, and maybe they came out of that fine. And they're like, Well, I came out of that fine. I don't know why it's so hard for everybody else. But you don't know what it was like to experience that with these other issues around you with being a minority or having financial distress or anything else like that. So understanding traumas is the most important part first. And then when we talk about trauma informed care. And this is from a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, there's kind of the principles of trauma informed care, what does that mean? So the first part of that is to realize that trauma is a widespread issue. And it is invasive, and pervasive, and it affects people in a lot of different areas of their life. And then also realizing that there are pathways to potential recovery. After that, we should be able to recognize the five signs and symptoms of trauma. So recognize what is trauma look like? Sound like? How does that patient act? How can we pick up on if they're a traumatized individual. So seeing a patient being uncomfortable in your clinic, they might not make eye contact with you, they might not want to face you directly, you might see their body language is a little bit off, their arms are crossed. Things that we've all seen. We all have patients probably every day ranging anything from like that super bubbly, happy patient to the one that comes in and has done PT before and had bad experiences, and they're really unhappy. So recognizing what does that look like, and then responding by implementing that knowledge into practices and policies within just not just yourself, but the the facility as well. So using what you know, to actually change or adopt practices better, going to be more inviting or more informed and make more comfortable spaces for people that are traumatized. And then we have resisting retraumatization. And this, I think, is the most important part for us as clinicians. So thinking about what we can do to make an environment that does not correlate with any kind of trauma, anybody has had to make them have to revisit that. So and that could be anything again, like there's traumatic events that range from, you know, like really terrible sexual violence, and these are maybe things I hear about, but then there's also the trauma of like, having been misdiagnosed or having been told this or that by that provider or getting a hopeless diagnosis or being told that there's nothing that can be done for them. Those are things that we can actively try to resist re traumatizing that patient in. So being on honest and informative, making sure that we're not making false promise promises, but also that we're providing hope. And then thinking about what our space is like. And this is probably relative, maybe a little bit more for like LGBT, t plus LGBT plus community, where I am making sure that my space has signs that say All are welcome here. And things that make people feel invited, because they very possibly have had an experience before where they walk into a facility and like, immediately feel discriminated against or immediately feel like, this is not a place that I want to be here, this is not a place that's going to give me good care, and maybe the Carolinas without a dentist, but at any rate, they've experienced that and probably are very likely more than once. So I want to make sure that whatever I'm doing is not recreating any of that for them.   10:54 And when you are, understanding what trauma is, and really trying to understand the trauma of the person sitting in front of you, right, I would assume a lot of that comes through our subjective exam. So do you have any advice for therapists who are navigating these waters, even newer therapists perhaps are navigating or who maybe aren't, are not as well practiced in the art of the interview? Or in that process of, of that subjective exam? So do you have any like, what types of questions do you ask that kind of stuff?   11:34 Yeah, sure. Um, so I asked a lot of questions and pelvic floor PT. But I think the more important concept around that is, um, sometimes instead of asking questions, I, and that's not that we're talking at patients. But I do take a moment to do this. And if I am getting a sense from a patient, that they may have experienced trauma, that they're not going to share that with me. And that is probably more likely than not, especially on the first day, when I'm doing my initial evaluation, they don't know me, they don't trust me, they don't really want to share any of this with me, let alone even be there. So, a lot of times, I'll take the opportunity to talk about how trauma or how other experiences can relate to pain. So I might say to, let's say to my pelvic floor patients, I don't need to know or I don't need you to tell me any details or anything. But I am aware that trauma increases pelvic floor dysfunction increases pain, and it can really affect the way that people recover. So if there's anything that I can do during this treatment to make you more comfortable in any way, let me know if we need to stop anything. We're doing them, you know. So I might just take it as a piece of information, instead of asking a direct question, like making them tell me, maybe they'll do that later on in another session or two. Maybe I might need to know more at some point. But I've really never ran into that situation. A lot of patients will tell me the extent of it right there. They might do it another session or two. But it's not something that I really want to force out to people like day one, because if if I do that, like are they going to come back? Because that re traumatizing them? Have they been forced to talk about it before. I'm not a psychologist, I'm not a psychiatrist. I'm maybe not the person that they want to share all that with. So I want to make sure they have the open door to tell me about it. But I'm not like dragging it out of them.   13:22 Yeah, that's, that's wonderful advice. I really love that. And the other thing is, that I heard a couple of times during kind of these principles is creating that safe space, creating that space, where like you said, Everyone is welcome. How do you have any other tips and it could be from the person at the front desk all the way to, to the therapist and every employee in between? So are their conversations with the all the employees who work at the within that space? And and this may seem kind of like a silly question, but I think it's important, but colors on the wall artwork, things like that. I think it makes a difference. Right. So what do you what do you think?   14:10 Yeah, so I think that maybe places are a little bit hesitant to, like, fly this giant rainbow flag outside their door, right? Like, I would totally do it if I have my own clinic, but I recognize that I'm like, you know, working we're still working in a world that like from a business model. Maybe we don't want to do that because we want everyone to feel welcome, right? But it doesn't really take much. I think it's about really small gestures. So in our clinic, starting from paperwork, like they fill out paperwork online. And gender, for example, has every option that you can think of. If it is a paper form, gender is a blank space, so that blank space leaves people the option to write how they identify. And I love that option because That's even better than having to choose from like an overwhelming amount of options, or not finding the option that you're looking for. So a blank space for gender is fantastic. And then what we have in our clinic, like I said, small gestures, I think small gestures are really the thing, we have very small little flag stickers, like on the Plexiglas from our front office. Just little flag stickers for like every flag that you can think of, or it has like all the colors that represent different parts of LGBTQ plus community. So that little flag makes such a big difference, because I'll tell you, a lot of our patients are not going to notice it, like your patients that don't identify in any of those ways are not even going to notice it. But those people that do are going to see it, and they're going to love it. And we get compliments on that all the time. They think like, Oh, my God, people are so thankful for this little tiny sticker, we got like four pack on Amazon for like, probably a couple bucks, you know, just doesn't take much. And then another thing that we have in our waiting area is a sign that says All are welcome here. And that's such a simple thing, because that's not offending anybody that's making all people feel welcome. And people that are looking for that in their space, they know exactly what you're talking about when they see that fine. And everybody else is just like, oh, that's a nice thing. And they might not think very much of it. But it's certainly still a good thing to hear like, older people are welcome. Younger people are welcome. Everybody's welcome here. So it's really easy option.   16:29 And I love that these are all really easy, inexpensive, and accessible ways to show that you are working hard on creating a safe space for everyone. And like you said, a safe space for the LGBTQ plus community who oftentimes can't find those safe spaces.   16:48 Yeah, yeah. Another another small thing that I do personally, because I want my patients before I even go into their room maybe to like understand that I'm an advocate, I just have like a rainbow water bottle. And that's what I drink out of that work. And they see that sitting on my desk, and maybe some other stickers on like my laptop and stuff like that. But something that they might see like, Oh, that's my therapist, and they see like a rainbow water bottle. And it's just like a little thing that makes them feel more comfortable. I love it. I love my water bottle, so everybody's happy.   17:19 And do you go out physically into the community for advocacy work or as part of the clinic just so that people know that you're there? You know, like, how, how does that work within your community? Because I'm sure there are people who I mean, I'm in New York City, right? So I talk about like a large amount of people, right? So how do people know how to find? So how do people, especially in these marginalized communities know how to find the people who are creating spaces for them? Yeah,   17:49 so most communities, I'm in Las Vegas have support centers or community centers that support or provide or refer to services like my own or other providers that they know, create these safe spaces. So we have a support center here in Vegas, I've spoken to a little bit, I'm not necessarily within everybody's insurance providers. So that makes things a little bit harder. I'm in pelvic floor PT, I get so many patients from all over. And I've had a very long wait time, it's been tough to go out and mark it. And I'm also leaving for maternity leave actually in a couple of weeks. So I have plans for when I come back to reach out a little bit more, but I have been swarmed with what I have. But going out into these community centers, just letting them know who you are dropping off some cards, I have done that. And that is a really good way to at least get started. Get your name or your clinic out there. And maybe you're not what every person is looking for. But if they have your card handy, and they are providing social services to somebody, they might say, it sounds like you could benefit from this I know a great physical therapist that you could go to. And then, of course, we're a little bit bound by insurances. And that's definitely something I see in my future is trying to provide a little bit more preventive care to people that are uninsured or under insured. But that's probably a future problem for me at the moment. Right.   19:18 Right. And I think that's great advice. So if you're in a city, reach out to local community groups, community centers, things like that, and I think that's a great way for you to get out and in the community and really make a difference. And now there's one more thing that I want to talk about before we start wrapping things up. And that is the importance of asking patients for consent. So you touched on this a little bit, right? But especially in the pelvic floor world. Where does this explained explain to the to myself and to the listeners, how you go about asking for consent And why this   20:01 is yeah, this is definitely like if we can take home anything from if listeners could take home anything, it's to be more vigilant about asking for consent. And I can kind of trace this back to like how I've evolved in asking for consent. And I think about an IC O I think probably hope I'm probably not the only one guilty of this. But when I started, I started as a physical therapist assistant. So way back, when I graduated as a PTA, I went to work at a facility where the, the clinic was pretty manually aggressive, a lot of manual therapy, a lot of kind of aggressive manual therapy, which can be a little jarring for patients that are maybe not prepared for that. But I think about how many patients, I just went into the room and like started palpating, or like, Okay, I'm going to check this and then just like put my hands on them. And I think now about like how strange it would be to just like, grab somebody like psi SS without like telling them where you're going, like grabbing the back of their hips or having them like face a wall and then touching their back. And that can be like a very, that can like reiterate some traumatic events for people being grabbed from behind. That's, it's, I can't believe that I did this being the person that I am now. But I did, I did it every day all the time. And I never really thought about consent, I just figured the patient was there, maybe the provider before me had probably done similar the same things as a PTA, so I assumed PT had done the same. And I just think how crazy that is. Now, to me, it just is like so out there that I would have done that. Um, but asking for consent is something that should be ongoing and all the time. So from the initial evaluation, and education is a big part of asking for consent, I think too, because in order to consent to something, people have to understand what it's going to entail. And for me and pelvic floor, that's certainly relevant because I do do internal pelvic floor exams. So they need to know exactly what I'm going to be doing. And I use a model to demonstrate and to talk about what that's going to entail, and then discuss that they have the option to consent to that or to not consent to that, if they don't, there's other things that I can work on that I can help with. So I don't want them to feel pressured, that they have to consent to anything that I asked for. So consent, those should be informing the patient pretty much every step of the way. So instead of saying, I'm going to check your pelvic alignment, nobody knows what that means, like our patients don't know what that means. So I might ask, Is it okay with you if I touched the front of your hips, and then that's how I started just kind of simple and explaining in layman's terms, what I'm going to do. And a lot of times, I'm asking a patient or giving a patient options. And this is kind of part of trauma informed care is enabling or empowering the patient to make choices or have options. So instead of saying, say I want to do soft tissue work, instead of saying, I will be right back, I'm going to go grab some lotion, and then the patient knows I'm going to do soft tissue, but they didn't get an option to consent to that. I just went to go grab it. And now they feel like they're stuck there. And I'm going to come back with lotion and they're going to get a massage and they don't have a choice. So I might say, I would like to work on this. This is why. So we can do that. If you don't want to do that. We can work on mobility in this other way. So that way they have an option for what they want to do or how they want to do it. So providing options, I think is a really important part of concern. Um, I think yeah, I think that's mostly what I mean with consent.   23:42 Perfect. Yeah, I think that's great. And listen, I used to do the same thing. And I can't believe I did that either. Yeah, just like walking into a room and just like touching. Like, I wouldn't want someone to do that to me. I can't believe I did that.   23:55 I know. And I wonder is that like, a time? A time thing? Like 10 years ago? Was it just more like then we're just more informed now? Or was I just like totally oblivious? Because that's certainly   24:05 possible. I think it's just we're more informed now. I'm gonna I'm gonna go with that, you know, and yeah, and and maybe a little bit of a being oblivious? I don't know. But you're right. Like, I would just come first of all stand up and you just be like, hands on the pelvis. And it's like, what is like, how, what, what was?   24:25 And like next to I think, like, we were just yeah, like not grabbing,   24:30 grabbing onto people's heads and everything. What's that about? I would never do that. Now. You know, even if I'm just going to touch someone's arm. I was like, I'm just gonna put my hands here if that's okay. And we're gonna. Yeah, it just makes so much more sense. And I love the fact that you tied that in with the patient education component. Because I think like you said, you can't have one without the other. It's just so important.   24:55 Right? And I think that we underestimate like how much the patient wants to be educated about things. So and that's a lesson, I think I've learned pelvic floor PT, because so many people did, like they don't even know they have a pelvic floor or what it does. So education's been a huge part of my practice, like the whole first session is really education and training, and bladder and bowel training and things like that. But patients want to know, they want to know all the details, like they love it, tell them so they know what you're doing. So they know if they want that done or not.   25:24 Yeah, absolutely. At your right patients want to know, and it doesn't matter the age, they want to know, what's going on with their bodies and and what they can do to be a part of it. So it's also a great way to empower your patient to understand and take control over their, over their bodies. You know, and and give, give the patient some autonomy and some confidence.   25:49 Yeah. And to give that the patient the opportunity to, like collaborate with you, instead of be told what's happening. So to have the opportunity for them to feel involved and to have a voice in their decision making and understand even why they're making a decision, like so that they might know. Yes, I do want this internal pelvic floor exam done. Because I want to know more about the tone of my pelvic floor so that I can know why I have pain or why I have difficulty emptying my bladder. I want them to be able to make that connection in their head and be able to consent to it. Knowing why.   26:21 Yeah. And it's all part of patient centered care. I mean, that's what we're all supposed to be doing. Right? Yeah, absolutely. It's not patient directed care. It's patient centered care.   26:33 Right. And just as relevant as it is for me and pelvic floor. I think it's the same anywhere else across the board.   26:39 Yeah, across the board. Absolutely. Well, I, you know, I want to thank you. I think this was a great conversation. I feel like I've definitely learned a little bit more about trauma informed care. So I thank you for that. Now, where can people find you? If let's say they have questions, they, you know, they want to know how they can implement some of the things you're doing in your clinic in their own clinics.   27:06 Yeah, sure. So I typically use my work email for anything like that. So that is M Duncan at Kelly hawkins.com. And I like I said, I'm not much of a social media person I wish I could say I was that's probably not the best way to contact me.   27:24 I know you're not missing anything. Don't worry about it.   27:27 Yeah, but I'm always happy to check emails and respond that way. For people trying to figure out where to start. I did want to mention CSM has a lot of great topics on this, I've certainly gotten a lot of information, or directed myself onto what things I'd like to learn more about by going to CSM and going to these discussions. There is some information on trauma informed care at CSM this year, as well as introductions to pelvic floor PT, for those that are interested. And there are always platforms and other lectures on what we can do for the LGBT Q plus community. Excellent.   28:04 Thank you so so much. And before we wrap up, I'll ask you the question I asked everyone. And that's knowing where you are now in your life and in your career, what advice would you give to your younger self?   28:14 That's fine to not just go around touching people.   28:18 Yeah. That advice to each other.   28:21 I think I'm fortunate that never really panned out to be anything too negative, but I would love to go back and not do that. But what I do tell people and recommend as far as career is to find a niche. So my niche is pelvic floor PT. Within that my niche is being passionate and treating the LGBTQ plus community treating patients that are transgender, that is a great niche to be in, not everybody is doing it, it is so needed. If you can find a niche that you're passionate about, and that is needed, you are never going to struggle for work or for satisfaction. Um, it really is kind of been if you build it, they will come situation. And people told that to me when I began pelvic floor pt. And that's what I did, I built a pelvic floor program, the company that I work for now. And like I said, I am very busy, very satisfied with the way my career has gone in. So find a niche and it's not something that every new student is going to know right away. But get out there and explore like go shadow and go find places that are outside your comfort zone. Like I wasn't I didn't think I was going to go into pelvic floor PT. I don't think a lot of us that end up in it do. It's maybe not something I would have thought to shadow I would have been like, that does not sound good. I don't want to do that. But again, outside your comfort zone, go shadow and find therapists that are doing things that you don't think you would ever do, and see if you can find somewhere that you're going to land and be successful.   29:50 I love it. That is great advice. Thank you so much, Megan. I really appreciate your time and your knowledge sharing with myself and the Audience So thank you so much yeah thank you and everyone thanks so much for tuning in and listening have a great couple of days and stay healthy Wealthy and Smart

President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on Friday, November 22, 1963. There was a chance that the horrific events of that day might not have happened at all had the weather been different. The day started out grey and overcast as the President arrived at the Airport in Dallas early that morning. A small amount of rain had fallen first thing in the morning with more forecast likely later in the day. That would have likely meant that a plexiglass bubble would have been used on the President's 1961 Lincoln Convertible to keep him and the First Lady dry. Those coverings were generally bullet-proof. As the motorcade was set to leave for the cross-town journey at 11:50am the weather turned bright and sunny and even warm for late November. The temperature climbed to near 70. Because of the break in the weather and the crowds that where lining the street the President decided not to go with the Plexiglas covering. Since the ride would only take less than an hour President Kennedy wanted to be able for the crowds to see him. Just as the motorcade slowed as it drove through Dealey Plaza at 12:30pm before turning onto a road that would allow the motorcade to speed up shoot rang out killing the 35th President of the United States and seriously injuring Texas Governor John Connally. Had the weather remined cloudy with light rain the whole scenario might never have taken place. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Den vollständigen Tagesdosis-Text (inkl. ggf. Quellenhinweisen und Links) findet ihr hier: https://apolut.net/warum-brauchen-corona-installationen-keinen-tuev-von-peter-haisenkoEin Kommentar von Peter Haisenko.In Deutschland darf man nicht einmal ein DIXI-Klo aufstellen, das keine TÜV-Zulassung hat. Dagegen ist keine der übereilt aufgebauten Installationen zum “Schutz gegen Corona” auf technische Sicherheit überprüft, ebenso wenig wie die “Schani-Gärten” am Straßenrand.Das “Corona-Jahr” 2020 war das Traumjahr für die Hersteller von Plexiglas. Noch nie war die Nachfrage für das durchsichtige Material größer. Jetzt hängt es überall herum und es lässt einen schaudern, wie es angebracht worden ist. An der Supermarktkasse wurde es zumeist einfach an der Deckenverkleidung angehängt, ohne zu prüfen, ob diese das tragen kann. In kleinen Geschäften an der Kasse sieht man Konstruktionen aus Holzklötzchen, die in abenteuerlicher Weise mit ein paar Schrauben und Klebeband das Plexiglas halten sollen. Sinnlos sind diese Konstruktionen auch noch, denn nach meiner Erfahrung laufen die Verkaufsaktionen neben diesen Wunderscheiben.Manche Restaurants haben Plastikscheiben zwischen Tischen oder Sitzplätzen installiert. Die werden schon oft nur mit Klebeband irgendwo fixiert oder stehen ebenfalls auf wackeligen Konstruktionen aus Holzklötzchen. ... hier weiterlesen: https://apolut.net/warum-brauchen-corona-installationen-keinen-tuev-von-peter-haisenko+++Apolut ist auch als kostenlose App für Android- und iOS-Geräte verfügbar! Über unsere Homepage kommen Sie zu den Stores von Apple, Google und Huawei. Hier der Link: https://apolut.net/app+++Abonnieren Sie jetzt den apolut-Newsletter: https://apolut.net/newsletter/+++Ihnen gefällt unser Programm? Informationen zu Unterstützungsmöglichkeiten finden Sie hier: https://apolut.net/unterstuetzen/+++Unterstützung für apolut kann auch als Kleidung getragen werden! Hier der Link zu unserem Fan-Shop: https://harlekinshop.com/pages/apolut+++Website und Social Media: Website: https://apolut.net/ Odysee: https://odysee.com/@apolut Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apolut_net/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/apolut_net Telegram: https://t.me/s/apolut Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/apolut/ Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/apolut Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

700   600 im Sept 2019 – da war die Welt noch weitestgehend in Ordnung ;) „Was wir vom Sterben lernen können – der Umgang mit der Ressource Zeit.“   100 Episoden sind ca. 2 Jahre gewesen. Was ist nicht alles in der Zeit passiert?!   Im Podcast habe ich sehr viele neue und geniale Gäste gehabt, von denen ich viel lernen durfte. Mein Projekt „Millionär werden in einem Jahr“ ist gestartet. (Warum habe ich dieses Projekt gestartet? => Simulierter Neustart)   Und wohl einer der einschneidensten äußeren Umstände die wir alle je erlebt haben. Ein Virus, der die Welt zeitweise einfach mal angehalten hat und so einen großen Teil unseres Lebens völlig auf den Kopf gestellt hat.   Was hätte ich anders gemacht, wenn ich das vorher gewusst hätte? – mal abgesehen von ein paar Investitionen in Firmen, welche Plexiglas, Handschuhe und Masken herstellen, hätte ich vermutlich nicht viel anders gemacht.   Wie schaut´s bei Dir aus? Hättest Du was anders gemacht? Wenn ja, was?!   Ich denke, dass wir auch aus diesem Szenario wieder lernen konnten, Dinge nicht zu lange aufzuschieben. Es muss ja nicht gleich der Fall sein, dass man Dinge nicht mehr tun kann, weil der Tod plötzlich zuschlägt. Nein, es kann auch einfach das Lieblingsrestaurant sein, welches plötzlich geschlossen hat. Ein lieb gewonnenes Urlaubsziel, welches man nicht mehr besuchen kann. Ein eigenes Unternehmen, welches man jetzt nicht mehr gründen kann.   Aber heißt das, dass jetzt alles schlecht und unmöglich ist? Nein, ganz sicher nicht. Aber es ist anders. Es ist „nur“ eine geänderte Lage. Wenn auch eine wesentliche. Aber jede Lageänderung bietet auch wieder neue Chancen. Die Frage hier ist, ob Du nach neuen Chancen Aussicht hältst oder ob Du der „guten alten Zeit“ hinterher trauerst?! Und dann stelle ich mir immer die Frage: Was kann ich JETZT tun, um in der Zukunft nicht der heutigen Zeit hinterher zu trauern?   Wir haben unseren Vater-Söhne-Tag eingeführt. Einmal pro Woche unternehmen mein Bruder und ich was gemeinsam mit unserem Papi. Denn je älter man wird, desto wertvoller wird unsere Zeit. Denn sie wird knapper. Und unser Papi ist schon 83 Jahre alt und noch top fit – hier ist die Zeit schon extrem wertvoll. Dazu kommt auch noch, dass in meinem Fall ja auch die räumliche Trennung vorhanden ist. Daher möchte ich die wenigen Wochen, welche wir jedes Jahr in Deutschland sind, so intensiv wie möglich nutzen. Unser Ziel ist es, gemeinsame Erlebnisse zu schaffen, an die man sich gerne erinnert. Kurz: Qualitäts-Zeit mit Menschen, die einem viel bedeuten. Denn oft sind es leider genau diese Menschen, die wir vertrösten, weil die am ehesten "dafür Verständnis" haben und "man es ja später immer nachholen kann". Doch irgendwann wird es kein später mehr geben...   In diesem Sinne hoffe ich, dass ich Dich mit dieser Episode wieder ein wenig inspirieren konnte und vielleicht führst ja auch Du jetzt einen regelmäßigen Termin mit Menschen ein, die Dir viel bedeuten.   Die nächsten 4 Episoden gibt es wieder spannende Interviews und im nächsten Solo berichte ich wieder vom Projekt „Millionär werden in einem Jahr“. Denn dort haben wir in einem Geschäftsbereich vor 2 Tagen unseren Beta Test gestartet und es gab auch gleich einige gravierende Probleme… aber dazu mehr in der nächsten Episode.     Erfolg kann man lernen. Jeder. Im Erfolgspodcast TomsTalkTime von Tom Kaules lernst Du in inspirierenden Interviews und einzelnen Storys die Strategien von erfolgreichen Unternehmern und Prominenten. Du lernst in Experten-Interviews wie erfolgreiche Menschen erfolgreich geworden sind und warum sie erfolgreich bleiben. Wie sie den richtigem Umgang mit Erfolg und auch den Umgang mit Niederlagen gelernt haben. Das richtige Mindset ist wichtig, um richtig viel Geld zu verdienen, glückliche Beziehungen führen, mit sich selbst im Einklang zu sein und dadurch Beruf und Familie bestens miteinander vereinbaren zu können. Einschalten. Zuhören. Sich motivieren und Inspirieren. Lernen. Tun. Erfolg haben.

Plexiglas, masques, millions de bulletins de votes postaux : une élection fédérale inédite by Radio Victoria

Joel Anderson, Stefan Fatsis, and Josh Levin talk about the end of the Tokyo Olympics. They also discuss NFL players who've refused to get the COVID vaccine, and what the league should do about it. Finally, author Simon Kuper explains the tearful end of Lionel Messi's brilliant career at F.C. Barcelona.   Olympics (3:31): The troubled 2020 Olympics could reset how fans view athletes and the games.   NFL (22:32): Kirk Cousins would rather surround himself with Plexiglas than get vaccinated.   Lionel Messi (42:12): Why did it have to end this way? And what's next for Messi and his longtime club?   Afterball (57:53): Joel on the tiny countries that bagged Olympics hardware for the first time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joel Anderson, Stefan Fatsis, and Josh Levin talk about the end of the Tokyo Olympics. They also discuss NFL players who've refused to get the COVID vaccine, and what the league should do about it. Finally, author Simon Kuper explains the tearful end of Lionel Messi's brilliant career at F.C. Barcelona.   Olympics (3:31): The troubled 2020 Olympics could reset how fans view athletes and the games.   NFL (22:32): Kirk Cousins would rather surround himself with Plexiglas than get vaccinated.   Lionel Messi (42:12): Why did it have to end this way? And what's next for Messi and his longtime club?   Afterball (57:53): Joel on the tiny countries that bagged Olympics hardware for the first time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wenn Magazine über die Preise von Spielen berichten, dann meist nur, um dem Leser einen lukrativen Affiliate-Link zu irgendeinem Versender unterzujubeln. Doch neulich war das anders. Jemand hatte Super Mario 64 für 1 Million 560.000 Dollar (1,32 Millionen Euro) ersteigert. Wahnsinn. Warum? Besteht dieses Spiel aus Gold statt aus Bits und Plastik? Keineswegs. Es handelt sich um ein ganz normales Exemplar, das vor 25 Jahren im Laden zum Verkauf hätte stehen können. Was es mit damit auf sich hat, möchte Onkel Jo mit Eurogamer-Chefredakteur Martin Woger aufklären. Der passionierte Kenner der Videospieleszene gibt euch einige spannende Einblicke. Welchen Einfluss Corona darauf hat und ob es sich jetzt lohnt, Spiele im Keller zu bunkern – nach diesem Podcast wisst ihr Bescheid. Auch darüber, weshalb einige Sammler den Zustand ihrer Spiele in den Vereinigten Staaten bewerten und sie hinter Plexiglas versiegeln. Durch die Sendung führt wie immer das „Fast perfekte Inhaltsverzeichnis“™: 0:03:30 Vorstellung Martin Woger 0:05:35 Wieso ist Martin bei 1,1 Millionen Dollar ausgestiegen? 0:06:46 Eingeschweißte Spiele: die Glaubensfrage 0:08:47 Martin schnuppert live teure Retro-Luft 0:13:01 Fabrikneu bedeutet keineswegs Topzustand 0:15:03 Die aktuelle Entwicklung und Super Mario 64 0:18:23 Weshalb verkauft sich ein Spiel für 1,5 Millionen Dollar? 0:24:43 Youtube und das Alter der Sammler 0:27:50 Viele glauben Gold im Keller zu lagern 0:30:24 So werden Preise manipuliert 0:38:40 Was ist dieses "Graden" von WATA oder VGA? 0:57:54 Die Definition von Sammler 1:05:04 Ein vorläufiges Fazit 1:08:04 Märchenstunde: „Eine Studie in Schwarz-Weiß“ von Fiona Schulz 1:10:20 Der Abschied für heute

Dans l'épisode d'aujourd'hui, nous avons partagé vos histoires où la météo vous a joué des tours et nous avons partagé ce message viral d'un résidant de la Gaspésie qui fait une mise en garde aux touristes qui se croient plus forts que le fleuve ! Une jeune fille croyait bien faire en identifiant les mauvais produits aux caisses libre-service et pénurie de motoneige en juillet ! Bonne écoute.

Nearly everything is fine in moderation. Plastics exploded as an industry in the post World War II boom of the 50s and on - but goes back far further. A plastic is a category of materials called a polymer. These are materials comprised of long chains of molecules that can be easily found in nature because cellulose, the cellular walls of plants, comes in many forms. But while the word plastics comes from easily pliable materials, we don't usually think of plant-based products as plastics. Instead, we think of the synthetic polymers. But documented uses go back thousands of years, especially with early uses of natural rubbers, milk proteins, gums, and shellacs. But as we rounded the corner into the mid-1800s with the rise of chemistry things picked up steam. That's when Charles Goodyear wanted to keep tires from popping and so discovered vulcanization as a means to treat rubber. Vulcanization is when rubber is heated and mixed with other chemicals like sulphur. Then in 1869 John Wesley Hyatt looked for an alternative to natural ivory for things like billiards. He found that cotton fibers could be treated with camphor, which came from the waxy wood of camphor laurels. The substance could be shaped, dried, and then come off as most anything nature produced. When Wesley innovated plastics most camphor was extracted from trees, but today most camphor is synthetically produced from petroleum-based products, further freeing humans from needing natural materials to produce goods. Not only could we skip killing elephants but we could avoid chopping down forests to meet our needs for goods. Leo Baekeland gave us Bakelite in 1907. By then we were using other materials and the hunt was on for all kinds of materials. Shellac had been used as a moisture sealant for centuries and came from the female lac bugs in trees around India but could also be used to insulate electrical components. Baekeland created a phenol and formaldehyde solution he called Novolak but as with the advent of steel realized that he could change the temperature and how much pressure was applied to the solution that he could make it harder and more moldable - thus Bakelite became the first fully synthetic polymer. Hermann Staudinger started doing more of the academic research to explain why these reactions were happening. In 1920, he wrote a paper that looked at rubber, starch, and other polymers, explaining how their long chains of molecular units were linked by covalent bonds. Thus their high molecular weights. He would go on to collaborate with his wife Magda Voita, who was a bonanist and his polymer theories proven. And so plastics went from experimentation to science.  Scientists and experimenters alike continued to investigate uses and by 1925 there was even a magazine called Plastics. They could add filler to Bakelite and create colored plastics for all kinds of uses and started molding jewelry, gears, and other trinkets. They could heat it to 300 degrees and then inject it into molds. And so plastic manufacturing was born. As with many of the things we interact with in our modern world, use grew through the decades and there were other industries that started to merge, evolve, and diverge.  Éleuthère Irénée du Pont had worked with gunpowder in France and his family immigrated to the United States after the French Revolution. He'd worked with chemist Antoine Lavoisier while a student and started producing gunpowder in the early 1800s. That company, which evolved into the modern DuPont, always excelled in various materials sciences and through the 1920s also focused on a number of polymers. One of their employees, Wallace Carothers, invented neoprene and so gave us our first super polymer in 1928. He would go on to invent nylon as a synthetic form of silk in 1935. DuPont also brought us Teflon and insecticides in 1935. Acrylic acid went back to the mid-1800s but as people were experimenting with combining chemicals around the same time we saw British chemists John Crawford and Rowland Hill and independently German Otto Röhm develop products based on polymathy methacrylate. Here, they were creating clear, hard plastic to be used like glass. The Brits called theirs Perspex and the Germans called theirs Plexiglas when they went to market, with our friends back at DuPont creating yet another called Lucite.  The period between World War I and World War II saw advancements in nearly every science - from mechanical computing to early electrical switching and of course, plastics. The Great Depression saw a slow-down in the advancements but World War II and some of the basic research happening around the world caused an explosion as governments dumped money into build-ups. That's when DuPont cranked out parachutes and tires and even got involved in building the Savannah Hanford plutonium plant as a part of the Manhattan Project. This took them away from things like nylon, which led to riots. We were clearly in the era of synthetics used in clothing.  Leading up to the war and beyond, every supply chain of natural goods got constrained. And so synthetic replacements for these were being heavily researched and new uses were being discovered all over the place. Add in assembly lines and we were pumping out things to bring joy or improve lives at a constant clip. BASF had been making dyes since the 1860s but chemicals are chemicals and had developed polystyrene in the 1930s and continued to grow and benefit from both licensing and developing other materials like Styropor insulating foam.    Dow Chemical had been founded in the 1800s by Herbert Henry Dow, but became an important part of the supply chain for the growing synthetics businesses, working with Corning to produce silicones and producing styrene and magnesium for light parts for aircraft. They too would help in nuclear developments, managing the Rocky Flats plutonium triggers plant and then napalm, Agent Orange, breast implants, plastic bottles, and anything else we could mix chemicals with. Expanded polystyrene led to plastics in cups, packaging, and anything else. By the 60s we were fully in a synthetic world. A great quote from 1967's “The Graduate” was “I want to say one word to you. Just one word. Are you listening? Plastics.” The future was here. And much of that future involved injection molding machines, now more and more common. Many a mainframe was encased in metal but with hard plastics we could build faceplates out of plastic. The IBM mainframes had lots of blinking lights recessed into holes in plastic with metal switches sticking out. Turns out people get shocked less when the whole thing isn't metal.  The minicomputers were smaller but by the time of the PDP-11 there were plastic toggles and a plastic front on the chassis. The Altair 8800 ended up looking a lot like that, but bringing that technology to the hobbyist. By the time the personal computer started to go mainstream, the full case was made of injection molding. The things that went inside computers were increasingly plastic as well. Going back to the early days of mechanical computing, gears were made out of metal. But tubes were often mounted on circuits screwed to wooden boards. Albert Hanson had worked on foil conductors that were laminated to insulating boards going back to 1903 but Charles Ducas patented electroplating circuit patterns in 1927 and Austrian Paul Eisler invented printed circuits for radio sets in the mid-1930s. John Sargrove then figured out he could spray metal onto plastic boards made of Bakelite in the late 1930s and uses expanded to proximity fuzes in World War II and then Motorola helped bring them into broader consumer electronics in the early 1950s. Printed circuit boards then moved to screen printing metallic paint onto various surfaces and Harry Rubinstein patented printing components, which helped pave the way for integrated circuits. Board lamination and etching was added to the process and conductive inks used in the creation might be etched copper, plated substrates or even silver inks as are used in RFID tags. We've learned over time to make things easier and with more precise machinery we were able to build smaller and smaller boards, chips, and eventually 3d printed electronics - even the Circuit Scribe to draw circuits. Doug Engelbart's first mouse was wood but by the time Steve Jobs insisted they be mass produceable they'd been plastic for Englebart and then the Alto. Computer keyboards had evolved out of the flexowriter and so become plastic as well. Even the springs that caused keys to bounce back up eventually replaced with plastic and rubberized materials in different configurations.  Plastic is great for insulating electronics, they are poor conductors of heat, they're light, they're easy to mold, they're hardy, synthetics require less than 5% of the oil we use, and they're recyclable. Silicone, another polymer, is a term coined by the English chemist F.S. Kipping in 1901. His academic work while at University College, Nottingham would kickstart the synthetic rubber and silicone lubricant industries. But that's not silicon. That's an element and a tetravalent metalloid at that. Silicon was discovered in 1787 by Antoine Lavoisier. Yup the same guy that taught Du Pont. While William Shockley started off with germanium and silicon when he was inventing the transistor, it was Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce who realized how well it acted as an insulator or a semiconductor it ended up used in what we now think of as the microchip. But again, that's not a plastic… Plastic of course has its drawbacks. Especially since we don't consume plastics in moderation. It takes 400 to a thousand years do decompose many plastics. The rampant use in every aspect of our lives has led to animals dying after eating plastic, or getting caught in islands of it as plastic is all over the oceans and other waterways around the world. That's 5 and a quarter trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean that weighs a combined 270,000 tons with another 8 million pieces flowing in there each and every day. In short, the overuse of plastics is hurting our environment. Or at least our inability to control our rampant consumerism is leading to their overuse. They do melt at low temperatures, which can work as a good or bad thing. When they do, they can release hazardous fumes like PCBs and dioxins. Due to many of the chemical compounds they often rely on fossil fuels and so are derived from non-renewable resources. But they're affordable and represent a trillion dollar industry. And we can all do better at recycling - which of course requires energy and those bonds break down over time so we can't recycle forever. Oh and the byproducts from the creation of products is downright toxic. We could argue that plastic is one of the most important discoveries in the history of humanity. That guy from The Graduate certainly would. We could argue it's one of the worst. But we also just have to realize that our modern lives, and especially all those devices we carry around, wouldn't be possible without plastics and other synthetic polymers. There's a future where instead of running out to the store for certain items, we just 3d print them. Maybe we even make filament from printed materials we no longer need. The move to recyclable materials for packaging helps reduce the negative impacts of plastics. But so does just consuming less. Except devices. We obviously need the latest and greatest of each of those all the time!  Here's the thing, half of plastics are single-purpose. Much of it is packaging like containers and wrappers. But can you imagine life without the 380 million tons of plastics the world produces a year? Just look around right now. Couldn't tell you how many parts of this microphone, computer, and all the cables and adapters are made of it. How many couldn't be made by anything else. There was a world without plastics for thousands of years of human civilization. We'll look at one of those single-purpose plastic-heavy industries called fast food in an episode soon. But it's not the plastics that are such a problem. It's the wasteful rampant consumerism. When I take out my recycling I can't help but think that what goes in the recycling versus compost versus garbage is as much a symbol of who I want to be as what I actually end up eating and relying on to live. And yet, I remain hopeful for the world in that these discoveries can actually end up bringing us back into harmony with the world around us without reverting to luddites and walking back all of these amazing developments like we see in the science fiction dystopian futures.

Weil wir immer so gut organisiert sind, haben wir verpennt euch zu sagen, dass wir anstatt einer Sommerpause in den nächsten Wochen nur 14tägig den Podcast veröffentlichen - Sorry und so. Dafür geht's in dieser Folge wieder gefühlt um 243 Themen

Les conditions de travail dans les abattoirs; le retour sur le sommet Biden et Poutine; l'absence de plan pour conserver ou disposer de tous les panneaux de plexiglas après la pandémie; le point sur la situation de COVID-19 à Montréal; la nomination du nouveau juge à la Cour suprême; la gare de L'Épiphanie partie en fumée dans l'indifférence; une cyberattaque au CIUSSS de l'Est-de-l'Île-de-Montréal; l'histoire de la fatigue en cette ère de déconfinement; et les mesures sanitaires après la pandémie.

The Big Opening (0:40) Rick is a happy guy as sports are back and he is now planning his day around the games he is betting on; the NHL Correspondents maybe Martingale Betting (4:08) Tim attempts to fix NHL Hockey, it doesn't last long... he uses it to justify the NHL Picks that DD, Sasha Anne and Ricky are putting all over twitter (8:42) Dan got to attend a real live sporting event last week, the Last Chance Baseball Tournament in New Jersey (12:34) Dan forgets to tell you about the most famous attendee to his high school... everything you need to know about Dan (14:00) Intrepid Breaking News Reporting Whit Story gives us update from his last assignment to Vegas, we talk what casinos are open, smoking with masks, poker rooms, Plexiglas, full contact Craps, table minimums, Slots O Fun, Zip Lining, risk of COVID on a Zip Line, Rio, Sports Books, No Bars, No Video Poker, Alcohol, 115 degrees, (23:45) The Current Vegas crowd report and a guy gets arrested while Whit is renting a car (26:00) Update on the Nevada Government plan for re-opening (28:20) PGA Championship Preview with our thoughts on the course, contenders and selections (32:46) Best Golfer Never to Win a Major.... Recency Bias Kicks In (38:52) We debate the winners score, variation is significantly wide and then give out winners (54:59) No ONE is doing better NHL coverage than we are, check it out on twitter and listen to our pod (56:25) SOHLER FLARES!!!! Flyers, Bucks and NFL Coronavirus .... Dan goes 1 -5. (1:11:00) We attempt to cash the 4 team parlay and we lose Dan's leg of the bets on his 1-5 performance on Sohler Flares

Fellow listeners, I hope you all doing well! America is going through some tough times. The last three months we've been dealing with a pandemic that has completely thrown our country into a terrible place. We've been quarantined to our homes, a lot of us have lost our jobs (about 40 Million to be exact), and a lot of us are still afraid to go out and interact with others. Our daily routines are changed forever, and going out in public couldn't be more uncomfortable with masks, gloves, and Plexiglas being commonplace. But as if this wasn't enough... the country has been thrown into a state of madness. George Floyd is black man who was murdered by a cop who knelt on his neck for 9 minutes and killed him. There is absolutely no reason he should be dead today, and the police officer as 100% at fault. The other police officers with the main cop who was kneeling on his neck, are also 100% at fault and should be dealt with. There is absolutely no doubt that justice needs to be served. The peaceful protesting is also warranted, and it's beautiful to see Americans of all nationalities and cultures come together to protest this. However, what we are seeing is a peaceful protest hijacked by looters and anarchists. No one knows how to fix this, we only have ideas and theories that we share on the podcast. It is our hope that through all this we can find peace and come out the other end being a little more accepting and loving of all people. We hope you enjoy the podcast, and we'll see you next week! The Pesce & Lanzillotta Team, at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Office: 516-888-9711 Email: info@pl-team.com www.PL-Team.com

Les ajoulots Jules Bédat et Dimitri Schweizer proposent un superbe projet electro intitulé Plexiglas Academy. Des sons du quotidien mis en musique...

Find out your options to protect your kitchen wall from getting damaged when the lid of your foot-pedal trash can pops up. Get tips on using Plexiglas on the wall, a felt bumper on the lid, or rubber childproof edging on the lid. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices