Let me just preface this by saying this is NOT a Denver Nuggets slander post. They're an extremely talented and well coached team that can easily sweep the heat if we play like we did in games 4-6..
This is just some thoughts (perhaps biased) on our matchup with them.
The Denver Nuggets are NOT a successful basketball team
Let me explain..
It is common knowledge that the Nuggets have never made a finals, so with that, it can be assumed that the core players of the Nuggets are extremely unsuccessful in the playoffs and have little to no finals experience. This is their first year where they have had actual success. Let's look back the last few years..2022 was a swift 1st round exit in 5 games against the Warriors. 2021 was a 2nd round sweep by the Suns. 2020 was a 5 game WCF exit against the Lakers. Their is no playoff tenure from any of their main players, they have yet to prove they can consistently succeed in the playoffs.
The Heat are extremely experienced and battle-tested
Much of the Heat core has been to the finals once or multiple times prior to this season, or has experience from our 2022 run. Lowry and Love are proven finals winners, being a top 2 or 3 player on their team during their runs. They are very experienced.
Let's look back a few years like we did with the Nuggets..
2022 was 1 shot away from being ECF champs again in a crushing game 7 defeat. 2021 was a 1st round sweep exit. 2020 was a trip to the NBA finals, losing in 6 to the goat himself (the Nuggets lost in 5 the round prior)..
As you can see, we've had a crazy amount of success the last few years, especially when we are usually not considered a contending team, or a super team by any means.
We packed up both the Bucks and C's this season, both of who were in the same tier as the Nuggets, if not better, coming in to the playoffs. We've been favored to lose all 3 of our series and it just hasn't happened yet.
My point is...what the media says does not matter...What ESPN and analysts says does not matter...We have overcome these exact odds twice already these playoffs, this time is no different...they’ve been doubting us this whole time, time to prove them wrong for a 4th time.
We started to get a flow going again last game, holding the celtics to only 84 points. Herro comes back soon as well, and I know people have concerns about messing up the rhythm, but I'm not concerned. Having a playmaker like that available to score while also freeing up more space for Jimmy and the shooters can NOT be a bad thing (unless his hand isn't right and he just can't hit shots).
Heat Nation... WE UP!!!

My (20s F) best childhood friend Alexandra (20s F) is getting married in the deep American south in early December. I live in the northeast, but we are both from the west coast, and grew up together as best friends. Around ten years ago after I moved out here, we naturally grew apart due to distance etc, but I still care about her very much.
As we got older though, Alexandra's political opinions started to heavily differ from mine and became a lot more conservative. I honestly didn't mind it so much as long as we rarely talked politics, but in the last couple years she got engaged to B (20s M), who is essentially a Q-anoner and conspiracy theorist, and she has now taken on all of his same opinions as him. This includes being extremely anti-vax.
I know COVID isn't considered as big of a deal anymore, but I still need to be careful, as my grandmother is over a hundred years old and my mom is diabetic. The fact that they have chosen to get married right before Christmas (the only time of year I go home to my family) and have an indoor wedding where NO ONE will be vaccinated is very concerning to me.
I brought this up to Alexandra a few months ago and she got really upset, stating she would be absolutely heartbroken if I decided to not attend her wedding, to the point where it felt like our entire friendship was on the line. I asked if I could just wear a mask the whole time and B interjected and said that would make people 'uncomfortable'. That attitude honestly cemented that I just really don't want to go to this thing if it means risking my mother's and grandmother's health. (It's especially sad too, because my mom was also like a second mom to her, and it feels really weird that she doesn't seem to care about her health in the grand scheme of things.) Still, whenever I've asked advice from even my most liberal-leaning friends, I get a bit of a side-eye and essentially am told that it would be pretty selfish of me not to attend, and that I should just suck it up and wear a mask if I really care about Alexandra.
She now keeps hitting me up to RSVP over and over, and I haven't responded yet because I just don't know what to do. I need to give her an answer by mid-June and am really struggling - I don't want to ruin my friendship with her, but I don't want to risk my family either. If I say I can't go, WIBTA?
(edited for formatting)

42': Uzbekistan U20 0-0 Israel U20

Venue: Malvinas Argentinas (Mendoza)
Auto-refreshing reddit comments link
LINE-UPS
Uzbekistan U20
Asrorbek Kenjayev, Abduqodir Khusanov, Jakhongir O'Rozov, Abubakir Ashurov, Diyor Ortiqboyev, Bekhruzbek Asqarov, Saidafzalkhon Akhrorov, Zafarmurod Abdirahmatov, Shakhzodjon Nematjonov, Abbosbek Fayzullayev, Sherzod Esanov.
Subs: Nodirbek Abdurazzokov, Shakhzodbek Rahmatullayev, Shakhzod Akramov, Pulatkhuja Kholdorkhonov, Makhmudjon Makhamadjonov, Rustam Turdimurodov, Edem Nemanov, Izzatillo Po'Latov, Otabek Boymurodov.
^{____________________________}
Israel U20
Tomer Zarfati, Or Alon Israelov, Stav Lamkin, Roy Revivo, Ilay Faingold, Tai Abed, Roy Navi, Ilay Madmon, Dor Turgeman, Ariel Lugasi, Omer Senior.
Subs: Anan Khalaili, Noam Ben Harush, Hadar Fuchs, El Yam Kancepolsky, Ahmad Ibrahim, Nitai Greis, Shon Edri, Hamza Shibli, Ofek Melika.
MATCH EVENTS via ESPN
^{Don't see a thread for a match you're watching? Click here to learn how to request a match thread from this bot.}

Hey Sportsfans — it's time for Week 9 of baseball Power Rankings: It may be Tuesday, but still thought about how much we dislike your favorite team 8 Days a Week. Also pool side blackjack is now my favorite part of Las Vegas. John Fisher, please ignore.
Every voter has their own style / system and the only voting instructions are these:

"To an extent determined individually, you must take into account how strong a team is right now and likely to be going forward. You must, to some degree, give weight to the events and games of the previous week."

TRANSPARENCY: This link will show you who voted each team where and has added neat statistics!
New Voter Chance: Are you a fan of the Dodgers? Why? We have a new voter oppening. Please see the info in threa ddetails that will be posted shortly and a link added here. when up.
If something is a little messed up, feel free to pester me let me know.
Total Votes: 28 of 29. So close.

#		Team	Δ	Comment	Record
1		Rays	0	Everyone's favorite myliobatiformes played another good week of baseball with the return of Tyler Glasnow. The Rays took an exciting series against the Dodgers after recharging during a weird mid-series rest day against the Blue Jays. Wander Franco is making his case to be starting SS in the All-Star Game, just make sure you don't accidentally vote for one of his brothers. It's still super weird to watch the offense carry while the bullpen struggles, but with guys coming back it should be f--, wait, Fairbanks is hurt again.	39-17
2		Rangers	+1	Series wins against both the Pirates and Orioles the last week has the club holding the 3rd best overall record in the majors. Go Stars. We're still having fun.	34-19
3		Braves	-1	3-4 last week and we started this week off with a loss against the Oakland "Triple A's" which is not good Bob. On the VERY brightside, we saw Soroka pitch from an MLB mound for the first time in almost 3 years. He pitched well and we need him to perform as we are absolutely depleted by injuries. Riley is starting to come to life. We hold a 4 game lead on the scond place MARLINS. Our division doesn't want to take advantage of our recent struggles, that's fine by me.	32-22
4		Dodgers	+1		33-22
5		Orioles	-1	A few weeks ago, I said if the Orioles can go at least .500 in May then they are for real. They wrapped up a winning month yesterday and have three games to go. They continue to play well, even though they lost the series against the Rangers, and seem to play better away from Camden Yards. They did, however, send Grayson Rodriguez down this week to AAA. He just has some stuff to figure out. He was getting crushed in his past few starts, and it was the right move to make. This solidifies the fact they need a frontline starter if they are going to make a serious push to get to and make noise in the post-season.	34-20
6		Astros	0	Jose Abreu finally hit a home run. All is right with the world. Unless the world's name is Lance McCullers Jr., who had another discomforting setback and we have no idea when we will see him this year. I still blame his hair. Anyway, our other Jose hit a grand slam at MMP this weekend. Where have we heard that before?	31-22
7		Yankees	0	It certainly would’ve been nice to take 2/3 from Baltimore, but it’s very hard to be mad at the Yankees’ month of May. Since May 1, the Yankees are 18-9, a huge turnaround from a .500 April. As we enter the dog days of summer, the top of the AL East is tightening up, but the Yankees don’t face either of the teams ahead of them again until July. The Yankees have to keep playing at this pace, and a Stanton (and maybe Rodon??) return could seriously help that.	33-23
8		D-Backs	+1	The Diamondbacks had a decent week, barely missing out on a sweep of the Phillies before dropping a series to the Red Sox. The offense gets on base but has been allergic to driving in RISP, and the starting rotation continues to be a merry-go-round, as none of the rookie pitchers on the team seem to be able to string together several good starts in a row without getting blown up once or twice.	31-23
9		Blue Jays	+1	The Jays' first series win since May 14th pulled us out of a bad-vibes tailspin the likes of which this fanbase hasn't seen since, well, the last time everybody freaked out over a losing streak. The usual suspects' continued confounding slow starts (Manoah, Kirk, Varsho, etc) have dropped us 10 games back from TB, last place in the best division in baseball. And YET, hope springs. Berrios (3 or fewer ER in 8 of his last 9 starts) finally appears to be pitching to the level expected of him when he was signed, and is pumping out quality starts along with Gausman and Bassitt. Kikuchi has slipped as Kikuchi does but has been very solid for a #5. We don't have the depth to send Manoah down for some needed alone time, but he's pushing it. Vladdy has been scuffling, Springer is heating up, and Bichette is an MVP candidate. With a little bit of lucky regression to the mean with abysmal RISP numbers, this team is just a few turns away from being very good. As long as we don't have to play too many games vs AL East teams. That should be fine.	28-26
10		Twins	-2		28-26
11		Mariners	+4	Just what the doctor ordered - 6-1 in the homestand so far. Some momentum is just what this team needs before two big series with teams they're chasing for playoff spots. If the M's can handle business over the next week, they'll be right back in the thick of it. Bryce Miller, do your thing. Up next: 3 vs. Damn Yankees, 3 @ Globe Life ParkFieldStadiumGardensArenaDomewhatever they're calling it these days	28-26
12		Red Sox	-1	Scoring four runs total while getting swept by the Angels isn't a great look. This team is in many ways aggresively mediocre, always making sure that every win streak is followed up by an equally painful gut-punch. This is mainly due to the reliance on the offense to carry us to victory (2-17 when scoring <=3 runs), when the bats get cold, you're safe to turn off the game. Whitlock returning from injury and Bello/Sale both stepping up their game in May (2.74/2.42 ERA respectively) are good steps towards this team becoming Actually Good™ though. We'll see what June brings us...	28-25
13		Brewers	-1	Taking two of three from the Astros was nice. Barely avoiding a sweep from the Giants was not so sweet. Milwaukee has some issues with hitting in "close" situations. The Brewers either lose after having multiple opportunities to tie it up, or get absolutely blown out.	28-25
14		Angels	0	Did I travel out of state and all the way to Anaheim just to watch the team get swept by the Marlins? Perhaps. Was that objectively worse than what the Reds voter is going through? It's impossible to say.	29-26
15		Mets	-2	The Mets, who I proclaimed to be "good at baseball" last week, ended up dropping 2 of 3 against the Cubs and doing the same against the Rockies. I just don't know what to believe anymore. The only thing I know for sure is that Francisco Alvarez has got that fucking dawg in him, he's GOATed, he's him, he's on fleek, he's poggers, he's a proper legend, he's got an .885 OPS, he's a top bloke, he's got swag, he's fresh, he's Gen Z Mike Piazza, he's lit, he's making me feel old because he was born after 9/11, he's Francisco Alvarez.	27-27
16		Gigantes	+4	The Giants won yesterday, but strictly talking about last week, they went 5- 2 on an extremely acceptable road trip without any off days. Defeating two competent teams like the Twins and Brewers should feel good. On both losses, they gave up 7 runs, on every win they gave up 3, 1, or 0 runs. So, they threw two games out of 7 – that’s allowed. In the bad news department, Joc, Joey, and Thairo all not expected back until June 6th. I think we’re okay with more Bailey Patrick and this also means another look at unpredictable slugger David Villar. Slater continues covering for Joc. Let’s look a the numbers: 13th in MLB in Run Diff (+6 spots), 12th in RS / G (+6), 15th in RA / G (+2), 23rd in Bullpen ERA (+5). All of that is good and especially the bullpen is promising recently. The Giants continue at home vs the Pirates and wrap the homestand with 3 against our orange and black brothers in Baltimore.	28-26
17		Pirates	-1	Would I have been happy to learn on Opening Day that the Pirates would be around .500 at the end of May? Yes. But if you told me they got there after starting 20-8 I would be pretty disappointed. Here's hoping the pendulum swings the other way in June.	26-27
18		Marlins	+3	Yet another appearance of sweepy, the meme that was promised. After a rough series against the rox, we sweep the angels to settle into the third NL wild card spot. Our starting pitching is coming along after a bumpy start to several of our starters. Eury perez is gonna be a stud, just wanna remind yall. Also, shout out to Jorge Soler, who has been crushing baseballs the last week and change. In other miami sports related news, boston is the first city ever to lose two game 7s at home in both the NHL and NBA playoffs in the same year. Go Heat and go Panthers!	28-26
19		Phillies	-2	After losing 2 to the Diamondbacks and going down 5-0 in the 3rd game, the Phillies season looked as bleak as it could in late May while only being 4 games under .500. However, the team rallied and Trea Turner tied it in the 9th before going onto win it in 10. Then, they went down to Atlanta and split a 4 game series. It could've gone far worse. The Phillies most pressing need is now seemingly a 5th starter who isn't a guaranteed loss, as this week they trotted out Dylan Covey, who hadn't started a game since 2019. He got 2 outs and gave up 7 runs. He took the spot of Bailey Falter who, after a surprisingly productive 2022, started the season 0-7. Falter is the far better option, but Dave Dombrowski will likely be looking to upgrade until Andrew Painter can finally return. This week, the NL East road trip continues with their first 3 games against the Mets and 3 in Washington. Here's hoping June Schwarber shows up again this year.	25-28
20		Padres	-1	My Dad tells me it’s ok that the Dad’s lost 2 / 3 to NY; the Dodgers lost 2 / 3 to the Rays! The Pads aren’t in the same stratosphere as the Dodgers right now, though. 5 games under .500, 10th in the NL standings, 3 games out of the last wildcard slot. Of course there’s quite a bit of time to change it, there’s plenty of time to go on a run, or a slow and steady good month to gain ground. With every day that passes however, that goal becomes a bit harder to reach; I don’t think Pads fans were hoping for a wildcard spot by the end of this season, but that’s the position the team has to get to before even thinking of catching LA. The Padres are 4th in the NL West, and only a half game out of last.	24-29
21		Cardinals	-3	2-2 @ CIN; 1-2 @ CLE; 0-1 v KCR; another struggle week for the Cards. The fandom's been a bit kneejerk because of two good weeks before this. Their mistake. I'll say it a third time, the Cards playing at or beyond their expected level doesn't change the rotten FO. Yeah Marmol's pretty close to being fired, that's not a fix when the problem is John Mozeliak.	24-32
22		Tigers	+2	The most fun part of this past week has been watching the resurgence of Akil Baddoo. His energy is infectious and adds an exciting dimension to the lineup. As we head into the last few days of May, Baddoo has sported a .302/.405/.508 slash and a 155 wRC+ this month. Although he's still been hitting mostly in the 6 hole, if this keeps up he might find himself much higher in the order real soon. This week: 2 more vs. TEX and 3 at CWS.	25-27
23		Guardians	0	The Guardians won a series this week. I would like to see them win some games by more than one run, but it's clear this season, we have to take what we get.	24-29
24		Cubs	-2	Another terrible week for the Cubs, as a promising series win against the Mets was followed up by an embarrassing sweep against the Reds. The starting rotation was terrible, and the bullpen was somehow worse. Fans have had enough of David Ross, and Jed Hoyer is starting to come under pressure. Barring a dramatic turnaround, the Cubs will be sellers for the 3rd trade deadline in a row	23-30
25		Reds	+1	Okay guys, I’m here to be calm this week. I have been told by my wife’s attorney, Tom, that they are “aware” of my online activity regarding our impending divorce, so today let’s have a nice, calm, relaxing, perfectly fine, good old fashioned talk about Reds baseball. The Reds are just sorta middling. They’re not great but they’re not horrible. Unlike my marriage. Our starting pitching has resgressed, just like my marriage, and it’s very unfortunate to see, because our bullpen has been quite reliable unlike my wife. We still can’t hit home runs for some reason, but overall unlike my marriage the Reds on the upturn. There, are you happy Tom? I didn’t mention all the crap that’s been going on lately. I didn’t mention how I had to leave the Motel 6 I was at because I found a used needle in the bathroom, and by the way Tom, I know that you’re trying to use that as evidence that I can’t take care of my kids. I don’t even know who’s needle it was, it was like wedged behind the toilet. Believe me, I only found it because I dropped my phone while using the toilet. It wasn’t even visible, I had to like get on my hands and knees and crawl behind the toilet to grab my phone. So it puts the image in my head of some heroin addict or whatever sitting behind a toilet at a Motel 6 trying to get high, which honestly that just seems like an even worse situation than the one i’m in. Do I think it’s a coincidence that the day after I left the Motel 6 because of this, you’re requesting a drug test from me before I can see my kids? Huh Tom? How did you know about this incident Tom? The only people that know are the Motel 6 staff I notified, I don’t think any police showed up, so either you questioned them like i’m some criminal, or you’re following me. I know you’re reading this Tom, you’ve made several references to my posts on the baseball power rankings insinuating it’s me writing them, and yeah Tom you’re right it is me, can everybody in the comments give praise to Tom for being a regular Sherlock Holmes? Yeah everybody come on, Congratulations Tom! You’re the man! I’m gonna let you go home and fuck my sister, oh wait Tom I forgot, YOU ALREADY ARE. When you get home tonight tell Caitlin her brother says hi. Alright, I think I got that out of my system. Anyway, I think once more of our prospects are called up, probably around June or July, we may get hot and finish more closely to .500 than initially thought, and if this division stays like it is, and those prospects can deliver on their promise, it's entirely possible we could be in contention for the division. But a lot of this is gonna depend on if our Starting Rotation can get things back under control. Also we swept the Cubs so lol.	24-29
26		Nationals	-1	Week after week, I expect this Nats team to take a nose dive. I expect them to crumble and slip into a double-digit losing streak but it just isn't happening. They lead the NL in batting average (.267), are third in OBP (.330) and have the lowest strikeout rate in MLB. They still have their own troubles, but this team is alive (4 games out of a WC spot)	23-31
27		Rockies	+1	I don't have time to write a real blurb this week so you don't have to print this. Actually, you probably don't read these, I'm not sure anyone really reads them anyways besides the Reds guy's life breaking down, and this will probably get printed regardless.	24-31
28		White Sox	-1	Liam is back. I can't overstate how great that is to hear. He is one of the best people in the game and it's nothing short of amazing for him to be pitching in May. If you missed it, it was recently revealed that he had stage 4 lymphoma, not an early stage. He started treatment just over 3 months ago! Nothing on the field matters for this team, but at least there's that silver lining.	22-34
29		Royals	0	As of the time that this blurb is being written (Monday at 11:39 AM), only two teams in the majors have a record below .400. Yup, the Royals are there with the A's. I suppose the positive is that the team figured out that they can get rid of useless players in Hunter Dozier, but they still have a lot more work to do.	17-38
30		Atléticos	0	The A's have given up 10+ runs in a game 7 more times than they've won. It's a mix of bad roster building (the bullpen), under-preforming vets (Ramon Laureano 74 wRC+, Tony Kemp 38 wRC+), injuries (Seth Brown and Paul Blackburn are just now returning), and no fans in the stands since 2019. It's soul crushing to watch and the national media's constant condecention toward this particular poor team and it is even more annoying this year.	11-45

1- Re-sign Reaves, Rui, Schroder and Dlo
These guys are essential to Lakers making a deep playoff run and getting a top 4 seed in the regular season. D'angelo should only be traded for someone like Spencer Dinwiddie, who's a better player in the playoffs than Dlo and makes less money. Lakers should not destroy their depth for Kyrie. The full MLE should go to Schroder. He carried Lakers throughout the regular season when Lebron was out and is the best backup PG in the league.
2- Sign 2 vet min backup centers
AD's most consistent season was 2020, where he played the 4 and Lakers started Javale Mcgee and Dwight Howard came off the bench. Thats not a coincidence, guarding centers and being the only rim protector makes AD tired and his offense crashes. In the playoffs, Lakers were getting destroyed in the minutes AD was out because they had no playable centers. Bamba wont be playable again in the 2024 playoffs.
The Nuggets loss showed how badly Lakers need centers. AD was burned out guarding Jokic and had nothing left in the tank in Game 4. Denver also succeeded in bringing AD out the perimeter, as their role players were scoring easy buckets at the rim. The closer AD is to the basket, the harder it is for opponents to score. In hindsight Dwight Howard was Lakers 4th best player in the 2020 WCF. He was able to play physical with Jokic (even draw fouls!) which gave AD relief. A few FA vets that can play that role: Andre Drummond, Alex Len, Frank Kaminsky and Thomas Bryant. Drummond and Len would be ideal.
3- Trade Beasley, Bamba and pick 17 for a guard/wing defender
Lakers need a wing defender to guard the Booker's and Murray's of the league. The perfect fit in my opinion is Dorian Finney Smith on the Nets. He's versatile enough to defend big 2 guards and has to be respected at the 3 point line (shot 40% from 3 in last full season). Schroder defending Murray will not work. Murray shot over him a million times and had his best series ever (33 points on 53%). I thought Troy Brown should've defended Murray, since he's bigger and wont be bullied on post-ups. Other wings that would fit are Royce Oneal and Alex Caruso.
TLDR: If the Lakers keep Reaves/Rui/SchrodeDlo, trade for a wing defender (DFS ideally) and sign 2 backup centers, they'll have the roster to play any style of ball in the playoffs. Against the Nuggets they can go Reaves/DFS/Lebron/AD/center, the Warriors SchrodeDlo/Reaves/Lebron/AD.

If your reading this I had to split my post in two because Reddits chracter limit is 40,000 and ive gone well over that. anyway have fun.
​
John Wick Chapter 3 – Parabellum
John Wick 3 starts directly off of John Wick 2 with john running through the streets. The opening clock shot gives us the time as 5.10pm on Friday Day 13.
Friday Day 13 5.10pm
· 5.10pm john running through the streets.
· Winston arrives back at the Continental at 5.11pm “I’d say the odds were about even”.
· “John Wick. Contract starts at 6pm” is announced.
· John runs into an alley (the watch makes it 5.12pm) “Tick Tock Mr Wick”.
· John gets in a cab to the NY public Library. The clock in the cab makes it 5.38-5.39pm.
· John leaves his dog and runs to the library.
· “John Wick excommunicardo 20 minutes” in the exchange.
· John enters the library at 5.41 thanks to the clock above the clerk.
· John gets directions to his book and finds it at 5.45pm
· Big Ukrainian guy appears.
· John kills big Ukrainian guy with a book in 5 mins. Time is 5.50pm.
· John leaves and runs to the Doctor “john Wick excommunicardo in effect 10 minutes”.
· The Doctor must be 5 minutes away. John arrives “I still have 5 minutes”.
· Doctor treats john and stops dead on 6pm. Contract on john goes live and texts go out.
· John finishes up and shoots the doc as requested.
· John leaves at 6.05pm
· John runs through China Town
· Chinese thugs see him and chase him into the museum.
· John reassembles the revolver.
· John kills lots of people (best scene in the film). Whole fight takes about 10 minutes.
· John leaves.
· The dog arrives at the hotel around 6.10pm which fits with the film.
· John is hit by 2 cars and runs into the stables.
· John kills lots of people and rides off on a horse (about a 20 minute fight).
· John rides on the horse and kills the motorbike assassins.
· The contract gets raised in the exchange around 6.40pm
· John makes it to the Tarkovsky Theatre at around 6.50pm.
· Conversation with the desk when he removes things and meets the director. We learn johns name is Jordarni Jonovovich (I might have that slighty wrong). They talk and she agrees to give him transport to Casablanca. Probably an hour has passed since arriving at 7.50pm.
· John leaves on a life boat.
Saturday Day 14 9.00am
· Next scene. Morning The adjudicator arrives at the hotel at 9am judging by the daylight.
· The adjudicator meets Winston at 9.10am 5 minute conversation and they view santinos body. The whole conversation was about 20 minutes.
· The adjudicator gives him 1 week to get his affairs in order. This is the first clear timeline that is established. Therefore the films big shoot out must be Saturday Day 21.
· The adjudicator then vists the Bowery King (assuming she left Winston and went straight there it probably took an hour. She seems the type).
· Adjudicator with the King “you see rats with wings but I see the internet”.
· Adjudicator brings out the gun from John Wick 2 (the one the Bowery King gave him). She could have got it before seeing Winston or after. I think before. Bowery King also gets 7 days. The time is roughly 10.30 am
Monday Day 16 3.50am USA 9.50am Casablanca.
Cut to Casablanca. Google tells me that New York to Casablanca by boat at 40 knots takes 3.7 days by sea. Seeing as it’s a shady world and the fastest boats can travel at 80 knots and, assuming they are using that boat, takes 1.3 days for john to reach his destination (32 hours) making it Monday Day 16 3.50 am. However Casablanca is 6 hours ahead so its 9.50 am when John arrives at the port which fits the film.
· John walks through the port
· Cut to evening/Night obviously it’s a very long way to the hotel from the port and hes a man of focus.
· John kills 2 guys in an alley and meets an assassin who offers him amnesty “welcome to casablanca Mr Wick”.
· John enters the continental and meet Sofia. I estimate that the time is 8pm
· Conversation with Sofia and the marker.
· Sofia gets ready “We leave in 10 minutes”. The whole thing was probably 15 minutes. Therefre 8.15pm Casblanca and 2.15 pm USA.
Cut to the next scene at night where the Adjudicator meets Zero. This is most likely during the time that Johnwas travelling so this is either Saturday Day 14 or Sunday Day 15. Im inclined to Saturday at 8pm. She seems efficient.
Saturday Day 14 8pm
· Adjudicator recruits Zero. There a continuity error where the Adjudicator says “he killed scores of men this week alone” which if youre still following is actually 13 days although can be considered vaguly accurate. I suspect she was reffering to John wick 2 though which would fit. They talk for 5 minutes.
· Next scene is back at the Tarkovsky Theatre where zero and his men attack the Russian and Director. It’s still raining so it can be assumed that it’s the same night probably an hour later. So 9pm.
· The directors conversation with the adjudicator where Zero stabs her hands. The whole thing probably was 30 mins to kill all the guards and 30 mins to talk and get stabbed so its 10pm.
Monday Day 16 8.15pm Casablanca and 2.15pm USA.
· Cut to John and Sofia. 5 min conversation and 30 minute trip to meet berrada.
· Conversation about Markers, coins and social contracts “Do you know where the word assassin comes from”.
· John learns how to meet the elders.
· John and Sofia kill lots of people.
· Berrada survives and probably 30 mins have passed.
· John and Sofia fight their way out through the gold melting vats eneterance (about 10 minutes since Berrada conversation and fight). The fight is fairly straight forward so probably on 20 minutes through there. They enter the courtyard and kill lots of people and escape in the cars. It’s a very long fight so very likely and hour and a half passes which makes the time 11.10pm casa and 5.10pm USA.
Tuesday Day 17 8am Casablanca and 2 am USA
· The next scene is john and Sofia arriving at the desert. Google tells me that Dawn in Casablanca is at 8am. Its safe to assume that they both shared the driving and got some rest for the previous 9 hours. The car is also quite a distance into the desert I assume so they’ve likely used the night to follow the dog star and get a head start on meeting the elder.
· Sofia drops john off in the desert, waters her dogs and john leaves with a thimbleful of watered backwash. John begins his walk.
· He walks all day and night and collapses around 10am Casa (judging by the sun in the sky) on Day 18 (Day 16 4 am USA).
Saturday Day 21 9am USA.
· The next scene is early am for the Bowery King and Zero guards are killing all his men. Juding by the light and that we know he had 7 days it has to be Saturday Day 21 about 9am.
This scene presents a small problem because they haven’t been seen since maiming the director on Saturday Day 14 at 10pm but maybe the adjudicator has had other duties to attend to in that time.
· The adjudicator and Bowery King talk and he gets 7 cuts at 9.30am assuming the conversation took 30 minutes.
Tuesday Day 17 11am Casablanca and 5 am USA
· Cut back to an unconious John who probably been out for an hour. Hes picked up and taken to the elder and spends time in the tent (say 2 hours (1pm)).
· The conversation took an hour (2pm) where he chops off his finger and gets a mission to kill Winston. Zayer helps prepare for Johns departure giving him a change of clothes and, its implied, help to get back so this takes longer (another 4 hours to treat his finger and recover? 7pm?). Its likely that they have methods of getting through the desert but its still a long journey but its likely they took 2 days to get back to Casablanca. Say 48 hours (because he got a car a fair way in to the desert and camels are slower) making arriving back in Casablanca Day 19 7pm Casa. If he then got the 80 knot boat back that’s then another 32 hours travel making it Day 21 3am which means that he arrives back at 9pm Saturday Day 21 usa.
Saturday Day 21 10pm
· The next scene is John getting off the train and meeting Zero and the assassins which was probably an hour later at 10pm which fits with the film.
· John conversation with Zero and escape on the bike 10 minutes.
· Bike chase across the bridge with swords. John kills lots of people. John arrives at the continental and escapes Zero on the consecrated ground after about 40 minutes making the time around 10.50.
· John meets Winston after a 10 minute wait and after talking to Zero. Zero is ruined for me at this point when he becomes an obsessive fan boy all of a sudden which doesn’t fit with his character up to this point. So its 11pm when John and Winston talks in the room of glass.
· Winston convinces John to change sides and “go to war with the high table”.
· The Adjudicator arrives 10 minutes later (11.10) “Mr Wick it is a pleasure to meet you”.
· The adjudicator deconsecrates the Contenital. The process probably takes 10 minutes to get the file and do. Adjudicator leaves and summons a kill squad which, judging by the way they arrive, she had tooled up and ready just in case.
· John, Winston and Choron the concierge tool up. The guests leave and the decronsecration order is processed. This probably took around an hour (movie land reasons for being so quick) and the kill squad arrived after everyone has left say another hour so the time is Sunday day 22 at 1.20am.
Sunday Day 22 1.20
· John and Charon attempt to kill lots of people but cant due to lack of firepower. The staff are all killed very quickly within 10 minutes of the kill squad arriving.
· It was approximately 30 seconds for john to realise that he needs more firepower and 29 minutes and 30 seconds to be able to be in a position for him to be able to get back and rearm.
· They arm up again (probably 30 minutes) and head back out hunting again.
· John and Charon kill lots of people.
· They’ve probably been fighting for an hour when the adjudicator makes her phone call to Winston where he hands up at 3.30am.
· John enters the room of glass at 3.35am and fights the two assassins who smash him into display cases. Zero taunts him and 5 minutes later the assassins are killed.
· Zero beckons John to come upstairs.
· The two respectful assassins from the raid (great films watch them both) attack and talk with Mr Wick.
· The fight lasts about 40 minutes. John leaves them alive and goes to face Zero.
· John faces Zero (fanboy worship 4.20am). The fight lasts another 40 minutes.
· Charon returns to the vault and the Adjudicator calls Winston at 4.55am.
· Zero dies at 5.15am after him and John talk “That was a pretty good fight”.
· Winston and Adjudicator are on the roof they look like they have been talking for a short while whilst the light (pre dawn) makes it about 5.30am when John arrives.
· Winston betrays John and shoots him off the roof at 5.45am. The Adjudicator leaves.
· Clean up and sorting the continental appears to start immediately but its likely the Adjudicator went to her room and packed before leaving so the time is more 7am when the adjudicator realizes Johns body is missing.
· John is picked up by Tick Tock man and taken to the Bowery King. If this is around the same time then he meets the King at 7am. The conversation lasts about 5 minutes “cos im really pissed off”.
John Wick 3 ends on Sunday Day 21 at 7.05am.
John Wick Chapter 4
We know this film starts 6 months after Chapter three which has allowed John to heal from his injuries of falling off the roof in the last film. This one is harder to pace properly because of all the travelling between places so my timeline may be out here and there but generally it should be fine. 6 months is equal to 183 days ish so John Wick 4 starts on Monday Day 205 (because John Wick 3 ended on day 22 and nothing good ever happens on a Monday (p.s it’s only a Monday because I can’t be bothered to properly work out what the actual day of the week it would be)).
Monday Day 205 7.20 pm
· Bowery King gives a speech and walks through to John walking Johns dog. John is training on a Makawara Board Which is a traditional way of making strong punches and toughening up your hands (I study martial arts and used to have one, he’s also punching with reasonable form but with a Shotokan method with the reverse hand at the hip instead of the chest). New York skyline shows its sunset which the internet tells me is about 7.20 pm in April which is 6 months from October and fits the film later on. “You ready John?”.
Thursday Day 208 6am
·Sunrise in the desert. John kills 3 people on horse back and meets the elder. This must be the desert near Casablanca from Chapter 3. Google tells me that NY to Casablanca by boat at 40 knots takes 3,7 days by sea and seeing as it’s a shady world and the fastest boats travel at 80 knots it takes 1.3 days foe John to reach Casablanca then he has to get into the desert which takes 48 hours to find the elder making it 3.3 days later or Day 208. It probably takes an hour to kill the three horsemen. John meets the elder and they talk for 5 minutes and john kills him at 7.05am. John leaves. “No one escapes the table”.
Saturday Day 210 Evening probably around 5pm
· Back in New York Continental Hotel. Assumption that news of the Elder has been notified to the relevant people and its say, two days later. The Harbinger arrives and asks Charon to speak to the manager. Approx 10 minutes later he meets Winston delivers his letter and gives a 1 hour time limit to evacuate the hotel and then leaves. They get to it.
· Next scene is in the Marquis tower Winston has obviously got things going and he and Charon have gone pretty much straight there. They meet the Marquis and talk for 10minutes and Marquis blows up the continental exactly 1 hour after the hourglass notification was given so it is 6.05 pm. Marquis kill Charon 30 seconds later. “It has been an honor my friend” and leaves a minute after that asking for Chidi (his main guy) to find Caine at 6.07ish.
Sunday Day 211 9am
·The next scene is Paris. New York to Paris is 7.5 hours by plane. The assumption is that the Marquis left and took 1 hour to airport, straight on to the plane and the straight to Paris in another hour meaning it took 9.5 hours making it 3 am in the USA. France is 6 hours ahead of America making the time 9am which fits the film. Caine is sitting listening to his daughter play violin. He then is seen going to see the Marquis so im assuming this is an hour later. They talk and Caine gets his name. It takes 10 mins and Caine leaves at 10.10 am.
Monday Day 212 10 pm
·Cut to Osaka Japan. Paris to Osaka flight time is 15 hours,1 hour to the airport and then to the hotel. The time difference is that Japan is 7 hours ahead of usa so it makes it 11 am but the scene is night so say 10 pm and say than rather than a continuity error there was a flight delay because of movieland reasons. Mr Nobody enters the Continental and meets Akira the concierge and checks in. We meet her and the manager.
Note here: There’s cherry blossom on the trees. Cherry blossom season in Japan is roughly march to April which fits with the 6 months since October but if you don’t think that then the trees are artificial or genetically altered to bloom all year round.
Nobody takes a seat after checking in (10mins) and checks his dairy. The Manager and Akira walk and talk about 20 minutes through the LED museum and the manager goes out to meet John a further 10 mins later at 10.30pm. They talk for 30 minutes.
·Chidi arrives with Caine and asks to see the manager. Nobody notices when they arrive at 11pm.
The evacuation starts immediately. Akira runs up to see the manager so it must be 5 mins later when she sees him. John waits. The manager gets his staff ready which takes about 10 mins ish and meets Chidi at 11.20 pm.
·The manager and Chidi and Caine talk for 10 minutes and it erupts into a massive rumble.
·The manager kills lots of people. The first part of the fight takes about 10 minutes until the kill squad arrives and the fight enters round 2 at 11.45 pm.
Tuesday Day 213 00.00 am
Back on the roof the kill squad find John and Akira. Must be about 15 minutes later making it 00.00am.
·John and Akira kill lots of people. Interesting note: you can clearly see John aiming for the breaks and chinks in the kill squads armour which is still bullet proof like John Wick 3.
The fight takes 20 minutes. (00.20am)
· Cut to the kitchen and the Manager. Caine is slurping noodles which take 5 minutes to make. Incidentally slurping noodles is a Japanese thing and Donnie Yen is Chinese (00.25). Caine kills lots of people.
·Cut to John and Akira killing lots of people at about the same time and Caine finishes his fight. Its quite a long fight (30 mins). The Manager arrives and saves Akira and John leaves. “Kill as many as you can”.
·John enters the LED museum and about 5 mins later is attacked by the kill squad. John kills lots of people. Another long fight which takes about 45 minutes especially with the nunchucks making the time about 2am.
·Caine arrives and they talk and fight which takes about 15 minutes until Mr Nobody arrives and tries to kill them. Note: Caine loses his sword cane sheath here because you don’t see it again from now on.
Cut to the exchange which must be the same time and Johns bounty is increased.
·Cut to John outside in a bamboo area. Its about 15 minutes since he escaped Caine so about 2.30 am. John is attacked. John kills lots of people. Takes about 5 minutes.
· John and Nobody and his dog talk for 5 minutes and john leaves. “Take better care of yourself”.
Cut to the Manager and Akira trying to leave. Caine has beat them to it and its around the same time as Johns escape. Caine and the Manager fight which takes 10 mins and Caine kills the manager at 2.50 am and Akira leaves.
·John is at the station and most likely has been for 10 minutes. He gets on the train. Akira arrives, they talk for 5 minutes and Akira leaves next stop,
·Cut to New York in the rain likely 2pm. Winston and Bowery king talk for 10 mins likely at the same time John was escaping.
Friday Day 215 12 pm
·Next is Marquis and the Harbinger in Paris. Its bright day time so likely midday. Caine and Nobody are there so they must have travelled straight from Japan. So 1 hour to airport, 15 hour flight to France and 1 hour to Paris makes it 17 hours Since Japan but its Midday because it should be 8 pm so the plane had an engine fault and there was a delay.
· Nobody and the Marquis talk and Marquis stabs Nobody and makes a deal. Note here: Why do they shake with their left hands in this scene? Marquis leaves and Cut to
Saturday Day 216 12pm
·John in New York visiting Charons grave site. Its Midday and Paris is 6 hours ahead so it has to be the following day so its Saturday Day 216. 6 days have passed since Charon was killed. I could have this slightly wrong but movieland reasons for burying him so quickly. John and Winston talk for 15 minutes. “They’re cold hard facts”. John heads to Berlin.
Monday Day 218 8 pm
·Next scene is John in Berlin at night. NY to Berlin is 8 hours ish. 1 hour to the airport, flight and 1 hour to Berlin is 10 hours. Berlin is 6 hours ahead of USA which means the time should be 6am which doesn’t fit with the film therefore there must have been another flight delay and it’s the day 218 Monday say 8pm.
·Nobody watches John enter the safe haven Church.
·John unburdens his guns and enters. He speaks to the priest who shoots him and gets taken away. “Nice Suit”. Prob 5 minutes so its 8.05pm
·Cut to Marquis at the ballet. My Nobody calls him to give him Johns location so it must be the same time.
·John awakes with a noose around his neck. He been there about 30 minutes with everyone surrounding him. Katia arrives and talks to John about age and Uncle Petior whilst continuously stringing him up. “We have a common enemy”. They make a deal to kill Killa and the whole thing took about 15 minutes. Claus smacks John. “I am Claus”.
·About an hour later John and Claus are in the club to see Killa. Note: Scott Adkins is brilliant as Killa. Claus delivers a letter. Killa and John talk. Caine arrives and joins them. Conversation about family and personal feelings and discord between old friends. Mr Nobody joins them and takes a seat. Converstaion on who wants to kill who.
·They play cards. Interesting note: Caine here looks at his cards and says what he has so therefore he must have some actual vision. By the time Killa lays his cards on the table about 30 minutes must have passed. Once he does-
·John, Caine and Nobody kill lots of people.
·Killa runs into the club and john follows.
·John kills lots of people. It’s a drawn out fight against all the men and Killa but doesn’t last that long say about 30 minutes whilst Caine and Nobody kill everyone else in Killas office.
·John kills lots of people and Killa dies at 10.40pm
·The whole club empties 5 minutes later. Nobody tries to shoot John but Caine stops him. John leaves.
·Back at the Church an Hour later (11.45pm). John gives Killas tooth to Katia and we cut to John’s welcome back ceremony. It takes time to prepare and melt gold so its another 2 hours later making it 1.45am on Day 219 Tuesday. The ceremony probably takes an hour with them burning their arms ala David Caradine from Kung Fu style. Jordani is accepted back at 2.45 am
Wednesday Day 220 12.00 pm
·Winston visits the Marquis who we know is in Paris. Theres no time difference between Paris and Berlin and theres no way to know what time it actually is so im saying midday. John is likely traveling to Paris because he shows up in a bit. Winston delivers the message and formal challenge and they talk about the old ways and rules. It’s a detailed conversation and likely takets 20 minutes. “Such is life”.
·Next scene is John walking across themarble in front of the effiel tower. Its dull so say early evening say 5 pm.
·John, the Marquis and Harbinger discuss terms of the duel. We also get a finishing time of sunrise on day 221 which is Thursday for the duel and film ending. Whole thing takes about 15 minutes. John leaves with Winston.
·Caine and Marquis talk for 5 minutes and Caine leaves.
·Cut to John in a church say 30 mins since. Caine is there and they talk and share a moment together. John leaves after 5 minutes at 5.35 pm.
·Cut to the Marquis and Harbinger talking. Its now night at about 8 pm and the conversation takes about 5 minutes.
·John arrives at the safe harbour probably at the same time and eneter the station and meets Winston and the King at 8.10. John gets his suit.
·Chidi and the Marquis talk and there a brief shot of a large clock on the wall saying the time is 11.50 so that’s the time.
Thursday Day 221 00.00am
·Chidi puts out the contract to the exchange and the radio station at 00.00am.
·All the assassins tool up. Things are going to get very busy for John.
·John gets his gun at 00.00am. “This Viper has ferocious fangs”.
·Some time later they get on the boat and 20 minutes journey to Johns destination. Converstaion about grave stones. We also discover sunrise is at 6.03 am.
·John enters the road in front of the Effiel tower at about 4.30 am. At this time the exchange informs everyone where he is.
·John kills lots of people. Some in a mustang (love that car) whilst getting his gun. 15 min fight (4uilding site house at 5.37am.45am).
·John arrives at the arc de triumpth 15 mins after that (5.00).
·John kills lots of people in a car, on foot, between traffic at the arc de triumpth. (long fight 30 minutes).
·Marquis takes a phone call from Nobody at 5.33 am (clock behind him).
·John continues to kill lots of peopleand escapes on a bike heading to the Sacre Coeur at 5.35.
·John kills lots of poepl on a bike and enters the building site house at 5.35.
·One of the best fight scenes in the film. Nobody enters.
·Nobody and john kill lots of people. Marquis call Nobody at 5.40 (Clock behind him again).
·John and Nobody continue to kill lots of people.
·Marquis calls Nobody at 5.43 $40 million.
·More assassins arrive. John kills lots of people. (top down fight love this so much).
·Nobody and john kill lots of people.
·Nobody and John fall through a hole in the floor at 5.45.
·john saves nobodys dog at 5.46.
·John escapes out the window. He looks at his watch which shows the time is 5.50am. John heads to the steps.
·John starts up the steps. The time is 5.55am. He has 7 minutes to get to the top.
·John kills lots of people.
·John gets almost to the top and falls back about half way when Chidi attacks him.
·John and Chidi fight and john falls to the bottom.
·Caine arrives at 5.59.
·Caine and John kill lots of people back up the steps.
·Nobody shoots Chidi at 6.00am. Chidi is killed by the dog and Nobody at 6.01am.
·John and Caine arrive at the church at 6.03am. Cain stabs johns hand.
·The Duel commences. It takes approximately 5 minutes. Nobody and the dog watch.
·John kills the Marquis at 6.08am.
·The Harbinger makes his announcements and takes his leave at 6.09 am
·Cain leaves after talking to John at 6.10am.
·Winston talks to John. “Will you take me home?”.
·John passes out on the church steps thinking of his wife at 6.11 am on Thursday Day 221.
Thursday Day 228 12.00pm
·Back to New York a few days have passed so im assuming a week later at midday. Bowery king and Winston are standing at Johns Grave. They talk and leave after 5 minutes .
·After credits scene assuming this is the same time as the graveyard scene. Caine is visting his daughter. Akira is going to kill him.
John Wick Chapter 4 ends on Thursday Day 228 12.00pm.

Part One:
https://www.reddit.com/nosleep/comments/13v4lju/please_help_me_i_think_im_being_stalked_by/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
Part Two:
It came again. Last night at exactly 10pm.
I don't even know how I'm going to tell you what happened. Or why I'm telling you. I guess I'm just hoping that somebody somewhere will help me to find a way to make it stop.
I packed my bags last night, shortly after writing to you guys on here. I thought that if I could get away from this place before 10pm, I would be able to find sanctuary away from this 'thing'. It took me ten minutes to grab everything that I own, shove it in a suitcase and throw it in the back of my truck, but deep down I knew it wouldn't let me leave.
The tyres on my banged out fiesta had been slashed completely. All four of them! Ripped to shreds like a beast had used them as a chew toy. There was an overwhelming smell of petrol as I walked around the car, desperately thinking of what I could do. Not wanting to admit the real and present danger of the situation I was in, I retreated back to the cabin and searched for my phone. It wasn't much use as I hadn't been able to get any signal at this place for the last three months. It really was an 'unplugged' adventure.
There's a land line in the Main Reception!
Resisting the urge to cry, I forced every bit of bravado I could muster up inside and walked slowly to the Main Reception building, giving every faint noise my complete attention.
The door was locked.
In my haste to leave my cabin today, I had totally forgotten that the season was now at an end and that all of the teens would have been packed on to the coaches earlier this afternoon ready to depart their woodland adventures. This would only leave myself, Roger and Pendle, as skeleton staff for clean up and pack away.
Maybe Roger will have a key?
Walking to Roger's cabin would be no small feat. He preferred to be sited in the more secluded area of the forest, away from the 'reckless, annoying brats' as he called them. Making the journey to his cabin would take at least half hour and there was no obvious path through the trees. It was already 9.30pm and that would mean that I would be getting there just before that 'thing' comes. I know Pendle, our caretaker, didn't sleep on the grounds on the night. He preferred to make an hours commute down the mountain to the little shack that he called home. He was dead against staying overnight, even when we were short staffed and he was offered double pay to be Night supervisor. I thought that was weird at the time, but now I'm wondering if he knows more than he is letting on?
I grabbed my torch and decided that I'd walk to Roger's cabin. I would be safe there and if I was quick, I would get there in good time. Roger wasn't a big man, but he was still company and if I needed anything, I needed company.
About ten minutes into the walk through the overgrown pathway to Roger's cabin, I began to feel myself trembling. The air seemed to be cooler in amongst the trees and I found myself making small clouds of steam with every breath. I folded my arms in front of me and cursed myself for not dressing more appropriately for the cooler temperatures. My ripped jean shorts and vest top were more suited to a summer beach party than a late night hike and I looked like one of those ladies that would offer to wash your car at a service station for charity. It's funny, even when you're in the midst of the most dangerous situation you've ever been in, you still find yourself judging your own aesthetics.
As I walked deeper into the forest, I started to feel like the trees were getting closer to me, enveloping me in an abyss of darkness. They seemed to be growing larger, making me feel small and isolated in their shadows. I quickened the pace, noticing that it was now getting closer to that dreaded time.
Then, in the distance, I saw a welcoming orange glow from the window of Roger's cabin. For a moment I felt safe. Untouchable. And I smiled.
I ran the last 150m or so and began frantically knocking on Roger's door. It didn't take long for him to open the door and pull me inside, with a look of deep concern on his face.
"What's going on? Are you Ok? What's happened?' He blurted out questions with such urgency and such genuine concern, that it made me cry. I seriously opened the floodgates and grabbed on to him with every bit of strength that I could find within me. I didn't realise just how much these past few occurrences had exhausted me. Now that I was safe, I didn't want to explain, I just wanted to stay safe.
Somewhere along the line, Roger had realised that I wasn't ready to divulge the reasons as to why I had turned up hysterically at his cabin door at night, and he stopped asking questions and just hugged me. I wanted that moment to last forever, however my eyes deceived me and began to search Roger's lounge area for a clock. And when I found it, that all too familiar sharp stab of fear penetrated through me. It was 10pm.
Roger must have felt my body tense up completely as he grabbed my arms and held me outstretched in front of him.
"Please tell me what is going on. I can help you", he said in such a calm, soothing voice. He forced a smile through the worry as his eyes pleaded with me to let him in.
Just as I was about to explain, there was a sudden loud bang from the kitchenette area.
"IT'S HEREEEEE, IT'S HEREEEEEEE......." I shrieked as I grabbed on to Roger's arm and pulled him towards me.
Another loud bang drove through the silence. This time from down the hall.
"Oh God, Roger, you need to HELP MEEEEEE!"
An even louder bang came from the bedroom...then another...then another....until bangs surrounded us, each from different areas of the cabin. Sometimes on the wooden walls, then on the windows, then on the roof. It was as though a buffalo stampede was encircling the house and even running over the roof.
I screamed and held on to Roger so tightly as he began to shake and look in the direction of each bang. Then there was one final bang and the front door flew open.
It was the 'thing'. He stood right in front of us and stared, as if he was calculating his next move. His head twitched rapidly from side to side as a foamy substance fell slowly from his drooping lips. His pale, elongated face almost shone through the darkened background of the forest behind him and I found myself staring at his long, thin limbs and his spiny stature. I didn't dare move a muscle as I felt Roger's grip on my arm become tighter.
The 'thing' glided slowly towards us until his face was mere inches away from mine, then he quickly shot his head in Roger's direction and slowly opened his mouth. An extremely high pitched scream-like noise was unleashed from the blackness of his mouth, making Roger fall to the floor in fear.
I just stood there. I didn't help.
I didn't help as the 'thing' raised it's long bony arm and then thrashed down against Roger's skull, tearing away a strip of flesh from his forehead that dangled around his eye socket.
I didn't help as Roger screamed, as the second blow ripped his eye ball out of the socket and tore away two of his fingers that had been used as a shield from the attack of the unnaturally sharp talons.
I just stood there as Roger crawled on the floor, gargling on his own blood and gripping his neck after that humanoid creature had buried it's nails into his throat and scraped through his jugular.
Before he died, he looked up at me. He looked right into my eyes and it looked like he was asking 'why?'
I just screamed. And screamed. And screamed.
The 'thing' didn't even look at me. It just turned away and glided out of the front door. Before it exited completely, It raised its arm in front of it and I could hear what sounded like a slurping noise. I didn't even want to think about what it was doing, but I'm sure that what I heard was that humanoid freak sucking Roger's blood off it's claws.
Then it was gone.
I don't know how long I stayed there, but I must've said sorry a hundred times. I didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't understand why it was happening. I still don't.
But I do know that I can't get anyone else involved in this nightmare. I need to deal with this myself. I can't risk anyone else getting hurt.
But maybe Pendle knows something?

Hey everyone. I'm pulling my hair out trying to decide which of these three cards to pair with my Venture X. I'm looking for a 2 card rotation, with the Venture X being my catch all. Outside of travel (which I would prefer to use the VX on) my main points of spend are groceries and dining, and admittedly I don't spend a ton on either. I'm no stranger to the points transfer game, so I want to build up and hold onto those points. My family and I travel 6 ish times a year, always one international, the rest domestic. I work remotely so we digital nomad maybe one third of the year. I've got a spreadsheet, I've ran numbers, and I still can't figure out which of these 3 cards to mainly use (I have all of them already). The way I see it:
SaverOne: 3% on groceries and dining, no FTF, can transfer cash back into C1 miles, no AF.
Amex Gold: 4% on groceries and dining, no FTF, earn MR points, has the $250 AF, I use roughly $120 ish of the $240 UbeGrubhub credits, I got this card for the SUB. I do think it might be nice to have a foot in the Amex MR mainly for travel partners like Delta and ANA. Otherwise, I would pool points from MR and C1 into the same transfer partner. Is it dumb to try and use two separate travel portals?
Amex BCP: 6% on groceries, but has an FTF, $95 AF, I do use the $84 Disney/Hulu/ESPN bundle credit, is cash back instead of points. I mainly included this one as the 6% on groceries would make for decent cashback, and I would hover right around 6k annually on grocery spend so I'm not too worried about going over. I guess I would just take the cashback from my statement credit and put it into my travel savings account or something and get 4.2% interest on it until I use it.
Sorry for the novel, and thanks in advance! Also, sorry for the messed up formatting below on the template.
***
Current cards: Venture X, 2023, 40k CL; SavorOne, 2015 as Quicksilver and upgraded in 4/23, $5,750 CL; Amex Gold, 10/2022; Amex Platinum, 4/23; Amex Delta Platinum, 2/23, 5k CL;
Amex BCP; 2015 as Everyday Clear and upgraded 10/22, 30k CL; Venmo, 1/23, 13k CL; Chase Freedom, 2016, $4,400 CL (AU on my wife's card, we never use this because she doesn't like rotational spending)
FICO Score: 775
Oldest account age: SavorOne (from Quicksilver) & Amex BCP (from Everyday Clear) both 2015
Chase 5/24 status: Do they count charge cards and card upgrades? If so, 7/24. If not, 3/5.
Income: $90,000 annually
Average monthly spend and categories:
Dining $250
Groceries: $500
Gas: $100
Travel: $1,000
Other: Bills and Mortgage roughly 4k
Open to Business Cards: e.g. Sure
What's the purpose of your next card? Travel
Do you have any cards you've been looking at? I own all of these cards listed, currently.
Are you OK with category spending or do you want a general spending card? I would prefer non-rotating, with an emphasis on groceries first, dining second.

For me, see below....
DSD's... DSD's are rock-hard boner fuel. It seems like every other year, my peers with DSD experience are getting promoted over those that aren't.
Some sort of "Joint Service" experience. Those that don't promote due to DSD, seem to promote the following years with some sort of joint, sister services experience.
These are the two big standouts to me. Other feedback I have received from supervisors is:
- Award wins for you and your Airmen, the level that they won them, and the consistency of wins
- Process improvement initiatives
- "Continued Education" This one is hit and miss depending on who you talk to. Some say just attending a PDS is good, some say SEJPME completion is good, and others say academic-level education is important.
- Mentorship. How you are capturing it, what you are doing, and what it leads to. Going along with this I also received a "It does not matter how good you are at your job, it's all about how you show you are taking care of Airmen" schpeel.
- Capturing the "Filled E7 billet for XX months" is good.
- Duty title is subjective. Some SNCO's say it makes a difference, some say it doesn't. Only one peer has been promoted without an NCOIC/Superintendent position title.
When it comes to Squadron pushes, I think that is subjective based on the amount of time the SNCO has been in. I was able to use my powers for evil and see how the Squadron board scores, who they rated score-wise, and who sat on the board. From what I could gather, the younger masters (those in rank for less than 2 years) seemed to favor the "shiny" bullets. Those things that one generally associates to one "Playing the game". Sitting on councils, establishing PDS's, volunteerism, etc. The older ones (Close to retirement) favored direct mission impact. Those things that us crusty Techs are used to...how did the X individual directly assist in successful mission generation...
Finally, I was told I would make it just off of a "P" and that anything else would guarantee me a promotion. I got an MP and still didn't make it. The individual who stated this oversaw the only individual in my squadron who made it, if thats saying anything.

I wanna try and put my opinion on what actually happened to kunigami in the wildcard. Physically, Emotionally and mentally.
First I wanna go over physically. Besides rigorous training in the wildcard to copy Noel Noas physique, I don't think anything else crazy happened. Yes he looks tired and obviously is a lot more bulky and big but besides constant training that he and many others in the wildcard had to go through I don't think he went through too much. Especially since his physique was already near perfect for a Noel Noah copy.
Next is Emotionally. This is definitely one that had such a major effect on Kunigami. Kunigami was a nice guy and was always playing fair. Even wanting Kuon to celebrate with the team after team Zs victory even after his whole sabotaging. And Kunigami decided to split his steak with Isagi acknowledging he couldn't have done it without an assist. Even though he was the one to score he knew that isagi was a key element to that and many others most likely wouldn't have done this. In the wildcard I feel that what truly Emotionally drained kunigami was the fact that since it was probably a free for all (Most likely no teams being made) he most likely had to watch his old team mates fall to his skill and much more. Beating his old allies and many other foes who's whole career was thrown out the trash because of him it went from him extending a hand of some sort to why even bother caring? Especially after beating his old teammates which would go against his Superhero mentality.
Now Mentally. This is the biggest one that I believe had the most powerful effect on Kunigami. Of course we know his superhero philosophy on playing fair and only being that. However as I said in the emotional category a superhero wouldn't even dare get rid of his friends. If Kunigami truly was/wanted to be a superhero he wouldn't have beat the other players in the wildcard. He would've sacrificed himself so others could carry on. However he couldn't stick to this mentality forcing himself to play much more selfishly, abandoning that superhero self he aspired to be.
I like to think that Ego either knew kunigami wouldn't make it so far without having such a big ego. Thus leading to him crafting the wild card for kunigami to prosper on as a copy of Noel Noah or maybe he was targeting kunigami once he made it to the wildcard. If he did target him it may have been because he was upset kunigami made it decently far in the blue lock program without having such a big ego. However these are just my own ramblings and while it's very unlikely it's interesting to me

Set 2:
Format: Bo6 (3 WE / 3 SP)
Starting: 3 PM PST / 6 PM EST / 7 PM BRT / 10 PM GMT / 12 AM CEST / 6 AM JST
Scrim Groups + Dropspots: Tempo ALGS Excel (second tab) + Tempo Calendar
Teams: 100T 2R1C ACE ALL ATH AUR COL DZ ETH FLS FRBV FUN GOSU HVND JL LG LNW NOC OG
Teamstream: teamstream.gg/ (Command Center - contains all 40 teams - will not go bad)
Notes:

1. Teams are set ~30 mins prior to scrims starting.
2. Not all teams will stream. If they are streaming, they will have a green circle in Teamstream.
3. Scores will be released through the Oversight bot (mostly NA players). They are also tweeted after. Feel free to post scores in the thread. twitter.com/_minustempo
4. Possible Watch Parties:
   1. twitch.tv/nicewigg
   2. twitch.tv/greek

​
T2 Scrims are starting at 7 PM EST. Teq Tweet. You are on your own for streams though.
Teams: MEAT, SEN, AJC, NXS, BS, LTC, ILL, FF, SQUI, TEN, SCS, HOF, MPIRE, NONAME, CCE, CSS, RISE, MOST, KSR, APOR

Mid-50’s, don’t get to the big city often. But I scored tickets for a concert next weekend, and figured I’d make a weekend of it.
I’m well aware of 6th street and all that it offers. I’m looking for something ‘walkable’ on a June evening along the south side near Congress.

Over 25 years ago, a little boy named Andy received a Buzz Lightyear action figure in the 1995 Pixar film Toy Story. Now, all these years later, audiences will finally see the movie that inspired that action figure in the Toy Story spin-off movie, Lightyear, which is soaring into theatres this weekend.

Download ➤ ► 🔴🧿⭕👉WATCH Shin Kamen Rider OnLine Free

This is not the Buzz Lightyear you know and love—the one who is best friends with Woody and voiced by Tim Allen. This is the original Buzz Lightyear, a bonafide space ranger voiced by Chris Evans, who is stranded on a hostile planet that is 4.2 million lightyears from Earth, alongside his commander and crew. The Lightyear cast also includes the voices of Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, James Brolin, Taika Waititi, Dale Soules, Uzo Aduba, and Isiah Whitlock Jr.
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With this new Toy Story adventure coming to theatres, you may feel the urge to revisit the classics. The decider is here to help with that. Read on to find out what Toy Story movies to watch before Lightyear and how to stream the Toy Story.
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20 Movies That Are So Good, They’re Almost Perfect
Can I Stream Shin Kamen Rider?
You can’t stream Lightyear yet — but you’ll be able to soon. As a Disney movie, you can expect Lightyear to drop on their streaming service, Disney Plus, in the coming weeks, but the exact date of when that might happen hasn’t been announced yet.
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Generally, with their cinematic releases, Disney and Pixar tend to follow either a 30-day release window or a 45-day release window. We don’t know which one they’re going with yet for Lightyear, but this means that given the movie’s global release date is June 17, we can expect Lightyear to be on Disney Plus sometime between July 21 and August 3, 2022.
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Movies That Are Considered to Be Almost Flawless
Where To Watch Shin Kamen Rider Online
With a new Lightyear coming out very soon, you may want to rewatch all the movies. Or, if you haven’t given the animated adventure films a shot, now is your chance.
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Just click the link below to watch the full movie in its entirety. Details on how you can watch Shin Kamen Rider COUGHING for free throughout the year are described below. If you’re a fan of the comics, you won’t want to miss this one! The storyline follows Shin Kamen Rider Coughing as he tries to find his way home after being stranded on an alien planet. Shin Kamen Rider COUGHING is definitely a Shin Kamen Rider Coughing movie you don’t want to miss with stunning visuals and an action-packed plot! Plus, Shin Kamen Rider Coughing online streaming is available on our website. Shin Kamen Rider Coughing online free, which includes streaming options such as 123movies, Reddit, or TV shows from HBO Max or Netflix! Shin Kamen Rider Coughing Release in US Shin Kamen Rider Coughing hits theaters on September 23, 2023. Tickets to see the film at your local movie theater are available online here. The film is being released in a wide release so you can watch it in person.
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Lightyear can all be streamed using an HBO Max or Hulu subscription. If you’d prefer to rent the movies, only the first two are on Prime Video. Otherwise, all three films can be rented on YouTube, Apple TV+, or Google Play Movies & TV.
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The second film in the franchise, Lightyear, will be released on June 17, 2022. Right now, it’s not confirmed where the movie will be streamed after its big-screen release.
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Is Shin Kamen Rider on Netflix?
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Lightyear is not available to watch on Netflix. Suppose you’re interested in other movies and shows. In that case, one can access the vast library of titles within Netflix under various subscription costs depending on the plan you choose: $9.99 per month for the basic plan, $15.99 monthly for the standard plan, and $19.99 a month for the premium plan.
​
Is Lightyear on Disney Plus?
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No sign of Lightyear on Disney+, which is proof that the House of Mouse doesn’t have its hands on every franchise! Home to the likes of ‘Star Wars, ‘Marvel’, ‘Pixar’, National Geographic’, ESPN, STAR, and so much more, Disney+ is available at the annual membership fee of $79.99 or the monthly cost of $7.99. If you’re a fan of even one of these brands, then signing up to Disney+ is worth it, and there aren’t any ads, either.
​
Is Lightyear on HBO Max?
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Sorry, Lightyear is not available on HBO Max. There is a lot of content from HBO Max for $14.99 a month, such a subscription is ad-free, and it allows you to access all the titles in the library of HBO Max. The streaming platform announced an ad-supported version that costs a lot less at $9.99 per month.
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Is Lightyear on Hulu?
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They’re not on Hulu, either! But prices for this streaming service currently start at $6.99 per month or $69.99 for the whole year. The ad-free version costs $12.99 per month, $64.99 per month for Hulu + Live TV, or $70.99 for the ad-free Hulu + Live TV.
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Is Lightyear 2022 on Amazon Video?
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Unfortunately, Lightyear is not available to stream for free on Amazon Prime Video. However, you can choose other shows and movies to watch from there as it has a wide variety of shows and movies that you can choose from for $14.99 a month.
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Is Lightyear on Peacock?
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Lightyear is not available to watch on Peacock at the time of writing. Peacock offers a subscription costing $4.99 a month or $49.99 per year for a premium account. Like its namesake, the streaming platform is free with the content out in the open. However, limited.
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Who Is in the Shin Kamen Rider Cast?
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Captain America himself, Chris Evans, will be the voice of the film’s titular Space Ranger. Apart from Evans, Keke Palmer (Scream Queens), Dale Soules (Orange Is the New Black), and Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit) have also been announced as part of the cast, lending their voices to other ambitious recruits at Star Command. The voice cast includes Uzo Aduba, James Brolin, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Efren Ramirez, Peter Sohn, and Isiah Whitlock Jr. Bonus: Check out this featurette where the cast talks about what Buzz Lightyear means to them.

WAYS TO MAKE MYCAREER BETTER
Just a couple personal opinions. What are some things you’d like to see change in MyCareer to make it better?

1. Your Myplayer can be given an actual other than MP. Like your actual name if you wanted.
2. Your player starts out at a 70OVR when drafted (what top prospect 1st round pick is a 60ovr??)
3. The storyline is better, you have a good thorough backstory, with options you can pick that will take you down different storylines and career paths.
4. Make cutscene shorter and skippable the first play through.
5. Get rid of the neighborhood/city. Shits kinda lame.
6. Give us the option to be a first rounder, destined for greatness, or pick an underdog, late second rounder who has to work his way up.
7. YOUR OWN CUSTOM SHOES SHOULD BE FREE
8. Injuries: your player shouldn’t be invincible, no human is. A few ankle sprains or even major injuries would add some realism to the story and game.
9. The game actually acknowledges big games. Why does nobody say a word when you score 105 points in a game?
10. Stop adding a trade storyline every year. I don’t want to be traded, that’s why I picked the team I play for, because I wanna play for them.

Hi folks, looking for a mix or rational/value + perception here on a new car purchase.
I’d like to buy a new family car. We have one infant, two small dogs, and expect to drive around a couple of grandparents on occasion. We live in a big city and don’t put a ton of miles on the vehicle outside of occasional weekend trips.
I’d also like the car to be perceived well at work. Not that it has to be a flex, but something about our 2015 Subaru Forester just doesn’t say that I fit in with the other management members at work. My family is pretty hippie though, so Hummers aren’t an option (for example).
Since it is a family car safety does matter to me a great deal.
I’ve got some budget flexibility (up to $60k), but I’ll admit that I’m a little miserly. Anything cheaper is better, but I am looking for value + a decent perception.
Honestly, the cost parts that bother me are high maintenance, expensive insurance (we live in SoCal), fuel economy, etc. I recognize that I am even potentially irrational here willing to spend tens of thousands on a car, but ongoing costs really bug me from a budget standpoint.
No hard rush on purchase, so if there are ‘24 or ‘25 models I should wait for, I’d love to hear those too.
Thanks!

FT: Cagliari 3-2 Parma

1st Leg
Cagliari scorers: Zito (68', 89'), Gianluca Lapadula (85' PEN)
Parma scorers: Adrian Benedyczak (10'), Simon Sohm (26')
Venue: Unipol Domus
LINE-UPS
Cagliari
Boris Radunovic, Gabriele Zappa (Alessandro Di Pardo), Alberto Dossena (Edoardo Goldaniga), Paulo Azzi, Giorgio Altare, Nahitan Nández, Antoine Makoubou, Marco Mancosu (Nicolas Viola), Marko Rog (Alessandro Deiola), Leonardo Pavoletti (Zito), Gianluca Lapadula.
Subs: Antonio Barreca, Nik Prelec, Nunzio Lella, Simone Aresti, Christos Kourfalidis, Adam Obert, Vincenzo Millico.
Parma
Gianluigi Buffon (Leandro Chichizola), Woyo Coulibaly, Yordan Osorio, Elias Cobbaut, Enrico Del Prato, Luca Zanimacchia (Ange Yohan Bonny), Nahuel Estévez (Stanko Juric), Franco Vázquez, Adrian Bernabe, Adrian Benedyczak (Valentin Mihaila), Simon Sohm (Dennis Man).
Subs: Alessandro Circati, Roberto Inglese, Vasilios Zagaritis, Gabriel Charpentier, Botond Balogh, Antoine Hainaut, Edoardo Corvi.
MATCH EVENTS via ESPN
10' Adrian Benedyczak Goal
26' Simon Sohm Goal
29' Nahuel Estévez Yellow Card
45' On: Leandro ChichizolaOff: Gianluigi Buffon
45' On: ZitoOff: Leonardo Pavoletti
45' On: Alessandro DeiolaOff: Marko Rog
45' On: Stanko JuricOff: Nahuel Estévez
58' On: Dennis ManOff: Simon Sohm
62' Franco Vázquez Yellow Card
62' On: Nicolas ViolaOff: Marco Mancosu
65' Leandro Chichizola Yellow Card
68' On: Valentin MihailaOff: Adrian Benedyczak
68' Zito Goal
69' On: Alessandro Di PardoOff: Gabriele Zappa
69' On: Edoardo GoldanigaOff: Alberto Dossena
72' Valentin Mihaila Yellow Card
85' Gianluca Lapadula Penalty - Scored
88' On: Ange Yohan BonnyOff: Luca Zanimacchia
89' Zito Goal
90'+1' Dennis Man Yellow Card

Sometimes when you look into the mirror, the mirror looks back.
William Bailey's forehead shattered the mirror like a sledgehammer. The last thing he remembered before he blacked out was the feeling that he was falling through the mirror. Sub-cranial hematoma, a concussion, maybe even a cracked skull--that had to be the reason for the strange feeling. The mirror was mounted on the wall just to the right of the bar, four feet tall by about three feet wide. As consciousness slipped away, common sense and his strong belief in the rational world told him that he couldn't fall through the mirror. He must have bounced his head off the wall and be falling toward the floor.
It seemed like just a second or two before William's eyes popped open. He lay on his back, on the hard wood floor of Fausto's, with Johnny Davis towering over him. Big Johnny probably wanted to finish him off, maybe kill him, and finally end their twenty-year-old feud. Either Big Johnny Davis and the ceiling lights above him were spinning, or William's head was spinning, but either way something wasn't right.
He raised his head and looked to his left, toward the bar. Except the bar wasn't there. Instead, he was staring at the bathrooms. That didn't make sense. It must be his brain that had gotten spun around. William turned his head and peered over his size-ten wingtips at the busted mirror. The wooden frame and most of the glass still clung to the wall, the rest sat broken on the ground. The bar had to be on his left. He looked again, and still saw the bathrooms. A brain bruise, maybe some fluid pressure building up might be the cause of it.
"Get up!" Big Johnny Davis said.
William looked up at him. Johnny stood behind him, just beyond his shoulders. Perfect place for him to stomp my head into the plank floor. Except Johnny Davis was holding out his hand.
"Come on, we've got to get out of here."
Davis looked scared. It was the first time William Bailey could ever remember Johnny Davis looking scared. William had always been scared of Big Johnny, but Big Johnny wasn't scared of anything or anyone.
Police sirens wailed in the distance.
Johnny glanced over his shoulder. William craned his neck to look where Johnny was looking, saw he was staring at the front door like a man terrified something bad was going to come through it. Big Johnny looked down at him again and pumped his hand. "Come on, get up. They'll be here any second."
"Who?" William asked. "Who'll be--" But before he finished, Big Johnny Davis reached down, grabbed him by both arms, and jerked him to his feet.
As he was dragged toward the door by the only man in town who truly hated him, William glanced up and saw the rusted metal sign nailed above the door. He had to have a concussion, probably severe; that had to be it, because the letters on the sign were backward. It said TUO.
As Johnny Davis pulled him out the door, William heard tires skid on the pavement.
"Where's your car?" Johnny asked.
William twisted away from the big man's grip, then turned to his left. "In the alley." He started to run, still not sure exactly what he was running from.
Behind him, Big John shouted, "The alley's over here."
William kept running but turned his head back toward Johnny. "I know where the alley--"
Something hit him across the midsection and toppled him to the ground. He got his hands up just in time to break his fall and managed to keep his head from slamming into the sidewalk. When he looked up he saw a shopping cart tumbled onto its side.
Once again, William found himself lying flat on his back, this time amid the spilled contents of the cart. It had been filled with junk: paper bags full of dirty clothes, canned food, bags of potato chips, a diamond shaped, orange road sign, and other trash that looked like it had been collected from back alley garbage bins.
The homeless man who'd been pushing the cart was scrawny, and wafer thin. His skin was the color of old shoe leather, and he wore a long gray beard, tangled and matted with food and bits of filth. He was sprawled on the ground next to his cart, half sitting up, staring at William with his bright blue eyes.
Car doors slammed, men shouted.
"You better get going," the homeless man said, as he cocked his head. "The police after you?"
Police!
Before William could assure the old man that the police weren't after him--he was a respected businessman and family man--someone behind him grabbed him under both arms and pulled him to his feet. William turned and found himself staring into the face of Johnny Davis. "The alley's that way," Johnny said, pointing to the other side of Fausto's. With one hand gripping William's jacket, Johnny dashed across the front of the bar toward the alley. The alley--right there, plain as day--on the other side of Fausto's, right where it shouldn't be, where it couldn't be. William had been here a thousand times. As you stepped out of the bar, the alley was on the left, Brockton's Ace Hardware on the right. Now everything was mixed up and in the wrong place.
Johnny Davis turned down the alley, dragging William behind him. After just a few steps, a spotlight flashed in front of them.
"Stop!" a voice commanded. "Get on the ground."
William couldn't see because Johnny was in his way. "Who's that yelling?" he asked.
Big Johnny stopped and William plowed into his back.
"Get on the ground," the voice boomed again.
William poked his head out from behind Johnny Davis's back. The blinding white light was in his face. He couldn't see a thing.
POP! POP! POP!
Gunshots.
Big Johnny sagged, then crashed to his knees. Instinctively, William bent forward and grabbed hold of Johnny. "What's the matter?"
More pops.
Johnny's big hand reached out and shoved William back toward the street. "Back door," he wheezed, then plunged forward onto his face.
William stood alone. Behind the white spotlight he saw blue police lights flashing. He was totally exposed.
POP! POP!
He saw flashes--little yellow spurts of flame--as something tugged at his jacket.
William had said "back door." What back door? Fausto's had a back door, but it didn't lead anywhere except to the open space behind the building used for trash and deliveries. Twenty feet of asphalt between the bar and the back of the building on the next block. William had parked his car at the end of the alley, but the police cars--or whatever they were--had the alley blocked off. The building behind Fausto's also had an alley that ran alongside it, but the owner had closed it off to keep the bums out. He'd put up a gate, padlocked it, and topped it with razor wire. It was a dead end.
Two more pops. Dead end or not it was better than standing here and getting shot. William turned and ran. He burst through the front door of Fausto's, dashed through the bar, past the shattered mirror, hit the back door at a dead run, and was outside behind the bar within seconds.
He could see the tail end of his car sticking out from the corner of the building, but with the cops blocking the alley, his car was useless to him. William glanced across the open space to the alley that ran next to the other building. The gate, the padlock, the razor wire--all still in place. To his right an overflowing garbage dumpster sat beside the back of Fausto's, jammed against the fire ladder.
The fire ladder.
An iron ladder bolted to the cinderblock wall.
William looked up. The top of the ladder was lost in shadow, but he knew it went up two stories to the roof. Last summer, when the toilet had stopped up, he'd come out back to take a leak and had stood behind the dumpster, peeing against the wall like a kid, one hand draped over the bottom rung of the ladder.
He slipped behind the dumpster. The smell made him gag. The bottom of the ladder was four feet from the ground. William reached up as high as he could, grabbed hold of the third rung, then hauled himself up.
Through the partially open back door came the sounds of heavy feet pounding on the hard wood floor of the bar.
Halfway up the ladder, he was exhausted--and scared. Shaking, he white-knuckled the ladder. Being more than ten feet off the ground terrified him. He needed a break, just a second or two to catch his breath. There was enough moonlight so he could see into one of the second story windows. Inside, junk was piled everywhere. Old barstools, a busted jukebox, furniture stacked almost to the ceiling. Years ago, old man Fausto lived on the second floor, but Jake, who'd bought the place from the old man and had decided to keep the name, used it for storage.
Below him, William heard the back door thrown open so hard it banged against the wall. He scrambled up until he reached the top of the ladder, then hoisted himself over the edge of the roof. Down on the ground a voice shouted, "There he is, up there."
Another gunshot. What the hell was going on?
The unmistakable sound of feet--fast feet, in shape feet, boot shod feet--scurrying up the ladder. Standing on the tar and pebble roof, William glanced around for something he could use as a weapon, shocked he was even thinking of such a thing. A five gallon plastic bucket was all there was. It stood upright, filled with rainwater. He picked it up and peered over the edge. A uniformed policeman was three quarters of the way up the ladder. Two more cops were right behind him.
William looked at the heavy bucket in his hands, thought about just dumping the water onto them but knew it wouldn't stop them. There was only one way to stop them, and that was to knock them off the ladder. He thought about warning them, maybe trying to scare them away. But they were cops. You couldn't scare them away.
So why had they shot Johnny Davis, and why were they shooting at him?
The first officer looked up and saw William staring down at him with the bucket in his hands. Their eyes locked for just a second and the cop stopped. In those eyes that stared back at him, William saw an almost maniacal determination that sent a shiver down his spine. The officer held his grip on the ladder with his right hand while his left dropped to the pistol resting in his gleaming leather holster. In one smooth motion he drew his gun and raised it toward William.
William Bailey tossed the bucket down the ladder. A shot rang out an instant before the heavy bucket thudded into the cop's head. Like a gruesome traffic accident happening before his eyes, William couldn't help but watch as the policeman fell, taking his two partners down with him. The last thing William saw before he turned away was a jumbled heap of black uniforms resting on the concrete below the ladder.
* * *
Hiding in the shadow of a telephone booth, thinking. Home. He had to get home. Had to get back to Marge and the kids. Maybe somehow he could explain what had happened. Vincent, his attorney, he would know what to do--maybe--but he was a civil lawyer not a criminal attorney. He wrote contracts and did personal injury on the side; he didn't get people out of jail who'd killed a cop by dropping a bucket of water on his head and knocking him and his buddies off the side of a building.
As the cab he'd been waiting for pulled up, William stepped out from the dark and climbed into the back seat.
The driver turned around. "Where to?"
William pulled the door shut. "Uptown. 1721 Audubon Court."
"Fare's gonna be about fifteen dollars. After dark, I gotta have the money up front."
"What?"
"Company policy." The cabbie shrugged. "A lot of drivers been getting stiffed."
William opened his wallet, pulled out a twenty and handed it across the seat. The driver took it and almost slipped it into his cash box, then took a second look at the bill. His face tightened. "What the hell is this?"
"Huh?"
With the bill stretched between his hands, the cabbie stared at it for a second then looked up at William. "You're either the dumbest counterfeiter who ever lived or you've been had."
"What you are talking about?"
The driver faced the bill toward William but didn't hand it back to him. "It's printed backwards."
William looked at the twenty-dollar bill in the man's hand. It looked like--it was--an almost brand new bill, nothing wrong with it as far as he could tell.
"Get out of my cab," the driver said.
William didn't know what the man was talking about but knew he didn't want to get out. This cab was his only way home. He reached for the twenty. "If you don't like that one I've got another--"
The driver pulled his hands away. "I ain't giving this back. I got to turn it in to the police." He dropped one hand behind his seat back, then came up clutching a pistol, an old German Luger by the looks of it, the muzzle aimed straight at William's face. "In fact, I bet they give me a reward if I bring you in with it."
William jerked the door handle and rolled out into the street. He sprang to his feet and ran, the driver's yells just background noise. Has everyone gone crazy or is it just me?
Home. He had to get home.
* * *
Rain. Driving, relentless rain. William was just two blocks from Fausto's. In two hours, that's as far as he'd gotten--one block an hour. Police cars prowled the neighborhood, shinning spotlights into every nook and cranny, lighting up every shadow. Everyone in Fausto's knew his name. He'd been going there three or four nights a week after work for years. The cabbie had his address. William had given it to him when he told the hack driver where to drop him.
Ten o'clock at night, with nowhere to go and no way to get there, William sat behind the closed Goodwill store, under an overhang that barely kept the rain off of him.
Huddled in the dark, head sunk between his knees, he hadn't heard anyone approach.
"You don't look so good."
Startled, William looked up, prepared to run again. It was the homeless man he'd knocked over outside the bar. The one with the shopping cart and the leathery skin. William relaxed a little. "Excuse me?"
The man pushed his cart closer. "You're not supposed to be here."
William looked around. "Why not?"
The old man grinned, half his teeth gone.
William found it nearly impossible to tell his age. The guy could be forty and maybe had lived a hard life, or perhaps he was a well-preserved seventy, pickled by a lifetime of booze. William waved him off, expecting a plea for money. "I can't help you."
The old man stopped just a few feet away. "Everything's out of place isn't it?" He had a strange lilting voice. Almost like an accent.
And he was right. Everything was out of place--from Johnny Davis to the cab driver--everything was wrong.
Strapped to the back of the old man's shopping cart was a plastic sign about the size of a loaf of bread. William recognized the sign, the words, the colors, the logo of a local supermarket chain, all were familiar to him, but the letters were backward, unreadable.
Rainwater ran down William's face. He pointed to the sign. "Why's it written like that?"
The old man looked at the sign then back at William. "Like what?" he said, then shuffled away behind his basket.
* * *
The rain came down even harder. William slouched in a darkened doorway across the street from Fausto's. Nothing made sense. Everything was messed up, backward, out of whack. Almost like this wasn't his home, like he was a stranger seeing it for the first time.
But that was crazy. He'd grown up here, gone to Brother Martin High School, dated Jenny Underhill who went to Cabrini, lost her to Johnny Davis, then got her back only to lose her again the first year of college to some kid who drove a Mustang. Two years later William married Marge at Saint Luke's. They had two kids.
This town was his home. He recognized it. He knew the people here, Big Johnny and Zeke, the bartender at Fausto's. But things were different, little things. John Davis for one. In trying to help him, the big man had gotten himself killed. That wasn't John Davis--at least not the one William Bailey had known since seventh grade. Everything looked the same but wasn't. Nothing was quite right.
But they knew him--or someone like him.
A strange sensation crept over him that made the hair on the back of his neck rise. Maybe he didn't belong here. Maybe everything wasn't as it appeared. Maybe this wasn't his home. But if that were true, then whose home was it? Another thought, even scarier seeped through his brain. If he was here, who was there--at his home?
Crazy.
William dropped his head into his hands. Just considering such nonsense was a waste of time. Yet, here he was scanning the street, thinking of going back inside Fausto's, back to that mirror.
Not much time to think about it. The bar closed at three AM and it was already two-thirty. When he'd left--run for his life with Big Johnny--most of the mirror was still in the frame hanging on the wall.
Something about that damned mirror.
But Fausto's was dangerous, so a couple of hours ago William had found another mirror. In the men's room of a twenty-four hour gas station. The Chevron on North Rampart.
He had approached it cautiously, afraid he was going mad. As he peered over the sink into the mirror, he saw what he always saw, his own reflection. Holding up his left hand, he looked at the image in the mirror, at the watch strapped to his wrist. He noticed that the man in the mirror wore his watch on his right hand. Just the opposite.
William stood in the gas station bathroom for twenty minutes before he worked up his nerve. Finally, he took a deep breath, leaned back, then slammed his forehead into the dirt-streaked mirror. The glass shattered and cut his head. Blood dribbled off the tip of his nose into the sink. His reflection stared out at him from the other side of the mirror, blood running down his face, too.
I have gone crazy!
So the gas station hadn't worked out. Ducking police cruisers, William had wandered the streets, his head reeling. What was he doing?
On the sidewalk, he found a sopping wet magazine that the wind had blown up against the side of a newspaper machine. The cover caught his eye. He picked it up. It was printed backwards, the letters reversed, words running right to left. The spine was on the right. As he flipped through the pages, he couldn't read a thing. Then William had an idea.
In the bathroom of an all night restaurant he held the wet magazine up to the mirror. Perfect. The reflected image was normal, spine on the left, words running left to right, all the letters printed correctly. He could read it clearly. But what did it mean?
Then he drove his head into that mirror. The glass cracked. Someone walked in, a skinny waiter wearing an apron. He stood gawking as William leaned over the sink with tears of pain filling his eyes.
The waiter looked at the broken mirror, then jabbed a finger at William's bloody forehead. "What the hell are you doing?"
"An accident," he mumbled, pressing his fingers against the fresh cut.
The waiter turned. "I'm calling the cops."
William Bailey ran.
Now he was huddled in the rain staring at Fausto's across the street. Because he had nowhere else to go.
He stood and walked toward Fausto's. When he was halfway across the street, a police car glided around the corner, headlights reflecting off the wet pavement. The cops in no hurry, just cruising. William forced himself to keep walking, not to run. One foot in front of the other. In the downpour, odds were that the cops wouldn't even recognize him.
But they did recognize him.
The police car slid to a stop as its high beams clicked on and its blue strobe lights started popping. Both front doors flew open.
Like a sinner seeking the sanctuary of a church, William ran straight for Fausto's door. As he burst inside, Zeke looked up from behind the bar. "William! What the hell are you doing here?"
He ignored the bartender, running right past him, eyes focused on the broken mirror and its busted frame hanging on the wall.
Zeke again, "The cops been looking all over for you. Say you killed two officers and--"
Behind him the front door banged against the wall. "Police!" a voice behind him commanded. "Stop."
But William didn't stop. He kept running--running straight for the mirror. Reflected in its fragmented pieces he saw two uniformed police officers behind him, heard their boots pounding on the wooden floor. Just ten feet separated him from the mirror. At full speed he took two strides then dove. He stretched his arms out overhead and tucked his chin into his chest as his feet left the floor.
He felt one hand hit wall and the other strike broken glass. Then his head hit. More glass cracked, more skin split.
Darkness.
* * *
William's eyes popped open. He was staring at the ceiling. Rough voices, even rougher hands. They rolled him over onto his stomach and jerked his arms behind his back. He felt cold steel on his wrists and heard the metallic ratcheting as the handcuffs tightened and bit into his skin.
He tilted his head up and rested his chin against the floor. Blood poured down the side of his face; he watched it pool on the floor then seep between the wooden planks. By rolling his eyes up he could just see the empty spot on the wall where the mirror had hung. Lying on the floor, three feet from his head, was the broken frame and the rest of the glass.
The two cops grabbed his arms and yanked him to his feet, sending waves of pain through his shoulders and wrists. As they spun him toward the door, one of the officers said, "You're under arrest."
"Why?" William asked.
The officer pressed his face into William's. "Murdering your family for starters."
"My...my family." William felt his stomach cinch and his bowels turn to ice. A thought he'd had earlier in the night echoed inside his head. If he was here, who was there--at his home.
As the cops dragged him across the floor, William glanced up and saw the rusted metal sign nailed above the door.
OUT.
He was home.

I joined reddit a few months ago, specifically for this sub, because I have struggled for years qutting caffeine. I have gotten on and off the wagon probalby a hundred times. Caffeine has always made me feel like crap. The fact that I didn't have the “willpower” to quit, drove me absolutely nuts. In the past couple weeks I've noticed something, and wanted to share it with you all. But a little background first.
I have had a very traumatic past 3 years, including losing a child and going through cancer. My nervous system has always been on high alert (I had a rough childhood), but after these two events it was absolutely through the roof. After all these events, my sensitivity to caffeine increased ten fold. Even a couple sips of caffeine would make me shaky, insanely irritable, make my chest feel tight, etc. But for some reason, I STILL drank the stuff. It became a strain on my family life, because the stuff truly makes me a different person. But try as I might, I had such intense cravings for it, daily.
Since my cancer treatment ended I have been doing a lot of work on “feeling my feelings”. That was something I never practiced as a child or adolescent. But my trauma finally caught up to me and not feeling my feelings/grief was causing me added anxiety and depression. So in this journey of allowing my feelings to come out on a daily basis, I noticed my caffeine cravings lessening significantly. But the biggest key was feeling my feelings not so that they would go away, but being my own safe space for my trauma and grief. My mentality for years had been “go away, get rid of this, I hate this feeling”. When a craving came on, I slowed down and watched my thoughts. I started to see that for some raeson, my brain chose caffeine as a way to avoid these big, uncomfortable feelings, hence the very intense and irrational cravings.
For the past two weeks I have been setting time aside daily to visualize myself holding my grief, and trauma in my arms and telling it, that its okay now, wer'e going to be fine, etc. My cravings have gone from a 10 to a 2. Completely managable, fairly easy to say no to a cup.
I wanted to share this in case this resonated with anyone else. It's been a total game changer for me. I'm amazed at how the brain will go to such great lengths to avoid feeling uncomfortable feelings.
Anyway. Hope this helps someone. It might not be your willpower, it might be your brain trying to avoid something that you desperately need to face/accept/feel.
P.S. Some of you might be saying, how do you just "feel your feelings"? It's definitely a learning curve. A book called “The One Thing Holding You Back” by Raphael Kushnir was huge in helping me understand how to do this.