Hi all,
My dog was attacked tonight at the NW corner of W 16th Ave & Heather St. The attack was unprovoked and my dog just came home from the hospital. He's got a week of recovery ahead of him, and I've got a sizable hospital bill and another bill on the way for a check-up.
I have the other owner's phone number and texted them about an hour ago - no response. Hopefully just because it's late and they'll respond in the morning. There was another person standing there throughout the whole incident, but he refused to be a witness in case it was needed.
My friend suggested I should post here and see if anyone was driving near the intersection and might have dashcam footage of the attack.
Location: W 16th Ave & Heather St Date: Wed May 31st Time: 6:50-7:00PM

Hi all,
My dog was attacked tonight at the NW corner of W 16th Ave & Heather St. The attack was unprovoked and my dog just came home from the hospital. He's got a week of recovery ahead of him, and I've got a sizable hospital bill and another bill on the way for a check-up.
I have the other owner's phone number and texted them about an hour ago - no response. Hopefully just because it's late and they'll respond in the morning. There was another person standing there throughout the whole incident, but he refused to be a witness in case it was needed.
My friend suggested I should post here and see if anyone was driving near the intersection and might have dashcam footage of the attack.
Location: W 16th Ave & Heather St Date: Wed May 31st Time: 6:50-7:00PM

Just got back from 10 days in Japan and wanted to type up a trip report to hopefully help others that are trying to plan a trip!
Our trip was 5/16 - 5/28 including travel days. This was my 2nd time in Japan (first time was study abroad for 5 weeks in May/June 2016), but it was my mom & sister's first time, so the goal was to include as many must-see activities as we possibly could in the short time we were there. Our days were packed to the brim however all 3 of us are fairly active and healthy so despite being absolutely exhausted by the end of each day, in retrospect we wouldn't have changed a thing in our itinerary.
That being said, our itinerary would be much too busy for the average person's first trip to Japan so keep that in mind if you use this information to plan your own trip. For example, we usually only had time to sit down and eat for one meal per day and had to eat on the go for the other meals in order to have enough time to go to all the places we wanted to go to. There was very little downtime in our trip.

Tourist Tips

• Luggage
  • We each traveled with 2 checked luggage since they were included in our flight. I had one full sized suitcase and one slightly smaller suitcase which both only had one side filled when I left the US. The plan was to fill the other half of the suitcases with souvenirs to bring home. Last time I went to Japan, it cost me ~$200 to ship two large boxes of souvenirs back home, so despite having to bring a lot of luggage this saved me a significant amount of money and I will be doing this for future trips as well.
  • Within our luggage we also packed a duffel bag to hold all our purchases on heavy shopping days and a daily backpack to hold things like our trash bag, hand towel, hand sanitizewet wipes, body wipes, small purchases, etc. My carry-on was a 40L backpack that I took with us when we stayed overnight in Kyoto.
• Money
  • I brought $400 cash to exchange at the airport. I had gotten a Charles Schwab debit card before leaving which has no foreign transaction/ATM fees so I planned to use my card for whatever purchases I could then use cash for everything else. I ended up withdrawing another ¥20000 which was just enough cash to last me the rest of our trip.
• Walking
  • Last time I went to Japan I survived wearing flat gladiator sandals basically the whole trip, but this did NOT work this time around for whatever reason (I guess we walked a lot more this time?). BRING COMFORTABLE SHOES TO WALK IN. I ended up having to buy sneakers on day 2 because I stupidly didn't think I would need them. I was more concerned about looking cute for pictures (ha) but I quickly realized that all the girls in Japan wear sneakers with their cute skirts and dresses, so I blended right in. I would also recommend bringing a second pair of shoes with you each day (in your backpack) to swap into if the shoes you are wearing start giving you blisters.
• Masking
  • We saw a lot of people not wearing masks, but the majority of people still wear masks. I would say the ratio of people wearing masks to not wearing masks was about 80:20.
• Trash
  • As many have mentioned on this subreddit, due to the lack of public trash bins I would highly recommend bringing a reusable trash bag to store your trash while you're out and about until you can find a bin. We found these cool black fabric ones with a waterproof liner on the inside that you could rinse out when it got dirty and could clip to the outside of your backpack so it wasn’t with your other belongings.
• Restrooms
  • Due to the lack of hand dryers/paper towels in bathrooms we also brought hand towels as recommended, but found ourselves just air drying our hands way more often than using the hand towels as it was often more cumbersome to remove our backpacks and fish out our hand towels to use.

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Accommodations

• Sakura Hotel Jimbocho in Tokyo
  • I stayed in this hostel when I studied abroad in college in 2016, so it holds a special place in my heart. You can get a single room here for cheap, and although the rooms are extremely small, I don’t travel to Japan to spend time in my hotel so when looking for accommodations price is my #1 factor, not comfort. Toilets and showers are shared in this hostel and the rooms are set up coming off of a square hallway with sinks/restroom facilities in the center. The facilities don’t appear to be very modern and pretty, but the water pressure of the showers is the BEST. They have other room types as well, like bunk-beds, double rooms, etc. They have a 24 hour cafe downstairs and breakfast is included in your stay. All their staff speak English & Japanese (and other languages as well). They host some cool events like language exchanges and walking/jogging groups if you are more of a social person. I really enjoy the location of this hostel. You are within walking distance from the Imperial Palace and it still feels like you are in the city without it being so loud and busy like if you were to stay in Shibuya, etc. They do have other locations if you’re looking for somewhere with more nightlife.
• The Millennials Hostel in Kyoto
  • This is a really modern looking hostel in Kyoto, 2 streets over from Pontocho. The facilities are gorgeous and look brand new. They are set up similar to a capsule style hotel with a bunch of rooms coming off a hallway. Your bed takes up your entire space, and you have about 18 inches at the foot of your bed to stand. You pull an opaque privacy screen down to make your room private - there is no door. You can control your bed’s incline and lights through an iPhone in your room. There is storage space under your bed and on a shelf above your bed. Restrooms are shared but the showers are in one room and toilets in another. There are a lot of shared common spaces including a full stocked kitchen you can cook your meals in, but we literally only stayed here to sleep so we didn’t explore those spaces. I was worried about other guests being noisy but that wasn’t the case - everyone was super respectful. The price and location was great so I would definitely come back here.

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Daily Itinerary

Day 1 & 2: Travel

• We flew out of Chicago O'Hare International Airport. Our direct flight to Narita was around $1600 after taxes, fees, and flight insurance. I had one layover the last time I flew to Japan and in the future I will only be buying a direct flight as I found this to be way easier than having a layover.
• Once we arrived in Narita we turned on our e-sim. We chose Ubigi after reading many positive reviews on this subreddit and I highly recommend them. We had some issues getting iMessage to work despite following Ubigi's instructions to a T, so we ended up just using WhatsApp to message during the trip, however, iMessage did start working later on.
• We decided against picking up our JR passes & seat reservations at the airport because the line was long and we didn't need them for another 5 days.
• Going through customs/immigration and grabbing our luggage only took about 20-30 minutes. There were many staff to guide you and we found the whole process to be really smooth.
• We exchanged our currency and went downstairs to buy our tickets for Narita Express at a ticket vending machine. We got round trip tickets for ¥3460 (keep in mind that the return ticket needs to be used within 14 days). We had purchased our Suica before leaving and put them in our iPhone wallets and they came with a balance of ¥2000 so we didn't load money onto our cards until the following day.
• We took the Narita Express to Tokyo Station then took a cab to our hostel in Jimbocho. We each traveled with 2 checked luggage, so we found the short and inexpensive taxi ride to be a better option than lugging 6 giant suitcases on local trains to get to our hostel.
• We checked into our hostel. The total price per person for 11 nights was ¥49500 (about $380).

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Day 3: Imperial Palace/Ueno

• We woke up and walked to the Imperial Palace/East Gardens. We got there right when they opened and spent about 90 minutes there. We walked back to Jimbocho to go to my favorite tempura place in Jimbocho. This place has gotten quite famous since I was last there in 2016. We were first in line at 10:45am and by the time they opened for lunch at 11:30, there was a line of 20+ people. Our lunch cost only ¥800.
• After lunch we took the train to Ueno and spent some time in the Tokyo National Museum and Ueno Park. We also visited Shinobazu No Ike Bentendo Temple which is a cool temple right inside Ueno Park. While at Ueno Station, we picked up our JR passes & seat reservation tickets and also put ¥5000 on our Suica. We really enjoyed the fact that you could charge your mobile suica at a convenience store using cash - we didn’t have to worry about finding the machines in train stations with the phone holders.
• After that we walked through Ameyoko and did some shopping - I bought a super cute used Coach purse for around $65. Ameyoko seemed to have a lot more products than when I was there in 2016… but I also had more money this time around so maybe I was just paying more attention!
• We took a train back to our hostel to drop off our shopping bags and change. We took a train to Shinjuku to go to New York Grill for our dinner reservation. New York Grill is on the 52nd floor of the Park Hyatt hotel in Shinjuku and the views were incredible. We got the Spring Harvest 5-course dinner which included wagyu and it was easily the best beef I have ever eaten in my life - so juicy and buttery. The cost was ¥23100 per person (~$175).
• 25,138 steps on this day.

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Day 4: Shibuya/Akihabara

• We woke up and took a train to Shibuya to see Hachiko, go to the Starbucks near Shibuya Crossing, and shop at Shibuya109 and Uniqlo. It was hard for me to find any clothing that would fit me at the stores in Shibuya109 (I am a US 8/10 which is basically considered plus size in Japan) however I was able to find a cute t-shirt at Punyu's in Shibuya109 and two dresses at Uniqlo. I also bought sneakers at the Skechers store.
• I also went to the Mega Don Quijote in Shibuya and spent about $102 on candy and snacks to bring home. Lots of fun KitKat flavors here but it was very crowded and hard to walk around with my extremely full baskets.
• We took a train back to our hostel to drop off our shopping bags and had a quick lunch via conbini.
• We took a train to Akihabara and bought some souvenirs and gachapon, and walked all the way back to Ameyoko where I spent another $90 on candy and snacks to bring home.
• We took a train back to our hostel to drop off our shopping bags and change. We took a train to Ginza to go to Tempura Kondo for dinner (a Michelin starred tempura restaurant). We got the Yomogi dinner which was ¥23100 per person (¥25410 after fees, ~$195). The staff were amazing - they noticed that my sister was left-handed and set up her plates/silverware as such which was really observant. We loved the dinner, however there was WAY too much food for us; the staff recognized we were starting to get full, and asked us if we would be able to eat the next course which was ten-don. I was really concerned about being disrespectful and wasting food, so I was really glad that they noticed and asked!
• 19,445 steps on this day.

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Day 5: Asakusa/Ginza/Omoide Yokocho

• We woke up and took a train to Asakusa to see Sanja Matsuri. We shopped at the small souvenir shops on Nakamise-dori and had street food at the festival for lunch. I bought an awesome goshuincho here with a wooden cover and foxes on it.
• After being completely overstimulated, we took a train to Rikugi-en Garden to escape the crowds. This garden is a little off the beaten path, just outside the big city, but it is completely gorgeous and so worth the trip.
• After the garden, we took a train to Ginza to window shop and go to our reservation at Higashiya Ginza for wagashi & tea pairing. We had 5 wagashi paired with 5 teas that were amazing. It cost ¥4500 per person.
• After this, we walked to Mitsukoshi Ginza to explore the basement food floor and grab dinner. They start to discount the food as the stores near closing time, so going for a late dinner can save you a couple yen! After eating on their rooftop terrace which was beautiful, we walked to Patisserie Sadaharu Aoki Paris Marunouichi to grab dessert then headed back to our hostel to drop off our shopping bags.
• After we ate, we took a train to Shinjuku to walk down Omoide Yokocho. We had a drink on the third floor of Bar Albatross - highly recommend! The alleyway is a lot shorter than I imagined, and very crowded as you would expect. I probably wouldn’t go back here in the future but I am glad we visited!
• 25,002 steps on this day.

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Day 6: Harajuku

• We woke up and took a train to Harajuku to visit Meiji Shrine and got our first goshuin.
• After visiting the shrine, we walked back to Takeshita-dori to get lunch at Afuri Ramen. They’re known for their ramen with yuzu in their broth and this was one of our favorite meals during our trip. We got there about 20 minutes before they opened and were ~8th in line. By the time they opened, the line was stretching around the building!
• We walked down Takeshita-dori and shopped, then went to our reservation at Mipig Cafe (mini pig cafe). This place was so cute! You can make reservations for 30 minutes or 1 hour where you sit on the floor and miniature pigs will come and sit on your lap. You weren’t allowed to pick the pigs up and the staff were super kind and handled the pigs well. A 30 minute reservation was ¥1800 per person.
• After the pigs, we walked down Omotesando and took the train to Shinjuku to get dinner on the food floor at Isetan.
• After we ate on the rooftop terrace (beautiful once again), we headed back to our hostel to drop off our shopping bags. We took the train to Shibuya to go to our reservation at Shibuya Sky. We got the package where you get an admission ticket including a 50 minute reservation for the sofa seats and a choice of a mini bottle of champagne or 2 beers per person, which cost ¥5900 per person. The views were unreal and I recommend reserving the sofa seats so you can get amazing pictures. This was a highlight of our trip.
• 21,719 steps on this day.

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Day 7: Kawaguchiko

• This was our first travel day. We woke up early to take the highway bus from Busta Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko. The bus was ¥4400 per person. We were able to get some super clear pictures of Mt. Fuji while we were on the bus and right when we arrived at the station.
• We bought the daily unlimited bus pass for ¥1500 which ended up not being worth it for us because we spent so little time seeing things on the bus route. First, we went to the Panoramic Ropeway. We got there about 15 minutes before they opened and there was already a really long line. By this time, Mt. Fuji was already completely covered in clouds but the ropeway was really cool and we still got some awesome panoramic pictures. They have a shop at the top where you can get ice cream and sit on some swings and take pictures.
• After the ropeway we took the bus back to Kawaguchiko Station to get on the train to go to Chureito Pagoda. The gnats here were INSANE. We climbed up the ~400 or so steps to the top and got some cool pictures as well as our goshuin.
• We walked back to the station and took the train to Fuji-san Station and walked ~30 minutes to Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine. The wooded walk up to the shrine is absolutely gorgeous. We got goshuin here as well.
• After the shrine, we walked and took a train back to Kawaguchiko Station to eat a conbini dinner, do last minute shopping, and catch our bus back to Tokyo.
• 19,374 steps on this day.

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Day 8: Kanazawa

• We woke up early to catch our 6:16am shinkansen to Kanazawa. Once we arrived, we bought the daily unlimited bus pass and took the bus to Omicho Market where we bought some souvenirs and food.
• We walked from Omicho Market to visit Ozaki Shrine and Oyama Shrine and got goshuin at both places. My sister realized she lost her wallet at this point, but a kind soul had turned it in to the staff at Ozaki Shrine!
• We took the bus from Oyama Shrine to Kenroku-en Garden, where we walked around, took lots of pictures, and sat down for lunch at a local restaurant.
• After lunch, we took the bus to the Higashi Chaya district where we shopped and took pictures.
• After that, we took the bus back to Kanazawa Station to catch our 5:57pm shinkansen back to Tokyo.
• 20,192 steps on this day.

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Day 9: Kyoto Day 1

• We woke up early to pack our overnight bags and catch our 6:21am shinkansen to Kyoto, where we would be staying for one night. We decided to keep our reservation at our Tokyo hostel because 1) it was super cheap and 2) we would be able to leave all our suitcases and belongings in our rooms for when we returned to Tokyo.
• When we arrived in Kyoto, we headed straight to our hostel to have them hold our bags before we could check in later that day.
• After that, we took a local bus to the Arashiyama area. It was absolutely packed with school groups and tour buses. We walked up Saga-Toriimoto Preserved Street to Adashino Nenbutsu-ji Temple where it was much quieter. We got goshuin and visited the small and private bamboo grove behind the temple. We walked back down Saga-Toriimoto Preserved Street towards Togetsukyo Bridge where we stopped and sat down for lunch then continued shopping along the way. I got lots of uji-matcha here.
• We walked back to Arashiyama Station and took a train to Kiyomizu-dera where we got goshuin, then walked to a small rooftop bar overlooking the Hokan-ji temple and pagoda and got awesome pictures and had dinner.
• After eating, we walked back to our hostel and checked in, then slept for the night. Our 1 night stay cost ¥5000 per person.
• 21,545 steps on this day.

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Day 10: Kyoto/Nara Day 2

• We woke up super early to check out of our hostel and head to Fushimi Inari. Our hostel held our bags while we went sightseeing for the day. We arrived around 6:45am which was so worth it - it wasn’t crowded at all and we got lots of pictures of the shrine and torii gates without any people in them. We walked for about 30 minutes up the mountain then headed back to Inari Station to head to Nara.
• Once we arrived in Nara, we spent some time with the deer then visited Todai-ji and got goshuin.
• After that, we took a train back to Fushimi Inari to visit the souvenir shops which had not opened yet when we had gotten there earlier that day. We shopped and got goshuin, then headed to Sannenzaka/Ninenzaka to shop. We visited Ryozen Kannon to get pictures (they had closed by the time we got there) and walked down Ishibei-koji Lane and Hanamikoji Street.
• After that, we walked back to our hostel to pick up our bags. We took a taxi to Kyoto Station to catch our 7:36pm shinkansen back to Tokyo.
• 27,861 steps on this day.

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Day 11: Tattoo

• My mom and I went to a tattoo shop near Shibuya to get matching tattoos on our wrists, then my mom spent the rest of the day shopping in Shibuya with my sister while I got another large tattoo on my shoulder.
• After my tattoo was finished, we all met up in Ikebukuro to get gyudon for dinner.
• 9,879 steps on this day.

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Day 12: Yokohama/Kamakura

• We woke up and took a train to Yokohama where we walked the Minato Mirai 21 area and shopped and had lunch at World Porters.
• After lunch, we took a train to Kamakura. First, we visited Hase-dera and got goshuin. I got lots of pictures of the hydrangeas even though they weren’t in full bloom yet.
• After that we walked up the road to Daibutsu and got goshuin. We walked back to Hase Station and took a train to Kamakura Station and walked the pedestrian pathway in the center of the road to Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu. We got our goshuin and were able to observe a small part of a traditional Japanese wedding that was happening at the shrine, which was really cool.
• After that, we walked back to Kamakura Station and took a train back to Tokyo.
• We spent the night packing. I ended up completely filling my suitcases with my souvenirs and had to put even more in my carry-on bag.
• 21,131 steps on this day.

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Day 13: Travel

• We woke up and headed back to Senso-ji to grab our goshuin, since it was too busy when Sanja Matsuri was happening the week before.
• We took a train back to our hostel and checked out around 11am, then made our way to Tokyo Station to take the Narita Express back to the airport.
• We arrived at the airport with plenty of time before our flight so we could get last-minute souvenirs. I found a couple flavors of KitKat and Hi-Chew here that I could not find in Donki/Ameyoko - but I could not find Beni-Imo KitKat which is the flavor that I was looking for! :(
• We flew back to O’Hare and drove home from there.

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Trip Cost

• Total trip cost: ~$5462.73
  • Total spent before I left Japan (flight, JR pass, highway bus ticket, tattoo deposit, pay-ahead reservations, suica, car rental): $2562.73
  • Total I spent in Japan (souvenirs, snacks, accommodations, transportation, meals, activities/admission, reservations, tattoo): ~$2900

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Cost Breakdown

Airfare

• Total (USD): $1600

Accommodations

• Total: ¥54500
  • ¥49500 (Tokyo hostel/11 nights) + ¥5000 (Kyoto hostel/1 night)

Transportation

• Total: ~¥64470
  • ¥33610 (JR pass) + ¥4400 (highway bus) + ¥3460 (N’EX) + ¥18000 (local trains/bus) + ¥5000 (taxis - approximate)

Meals

• Total: ~¥88510
  • ¥40000 (breakfast/lunch/dinner) + ¥48510 (meal reservations)

Souvenirs

• Total: ~¥150000
  • Goshuin, charms, matcha powder, candy, jewelry, clothing, purses, shrine offerings, postcards, etc.

Activities/Admission

• Total: ~¥9800
  • Pig Cafe, tea/wagashi tasting, shrines/temples, etc.

Tattoo

• Total (USD): $604.66

A day late but we're here, my little cheeto eaters! Remember as always to grab your bingo cards and let's get our little long weekend slumber party going. This whole fucking thing is FORTY MINUTES LONG, you're all lucky that my sibling who was supposed to spend the day chilling at my place has apparently forgotten that plan.
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• There's a new opening style than all her other vlogs. Not sure if that's because of Morgan but also I don't care enough to go hunt down exactly which influencer she cribbed this style from. It features a lot of horse butts. Also her using her phone in bed, which I thought she didn't do because she's mindful.
  • The music she uses is this song, which is DEFINITELY not copyright-free, so have fun learning how actual copyright law works, Paige! The lyrics playing over the are "there are times when/it feels right to/run away, run away/when you ask the same old questions/every day, every day/Why do I set the stage?/Why do I find my place on the pedestal?", because I guess Paige went to the Love is Blind school of "make sure the lyrics of whatever song you use are really, REALLY literal"
• Giveaway winners! Congrats to the three people who won a pile of Paige's old garbage! Don't worry though, if you didn't win her trash, she'll be doing a lot more of these because she "appreciates [us] guys so much" and "wants us to experience some of the things that I'm so grateful to get".
  • Nothing says grateful like giving away your extras to strangers and instead of doing anything to promote them like you were supposed to in return for getting them for free, using the existence of this stuff as a way to leverage yourself up on the algorithm.
    • There's also Dairy Boy in the giveaways, of course, because no one's buying it organically.
• She explains moving Louie, it's the same stuff she said on Instagram. Weirdly horses are like the only animal I've never gotten super obsessed with, so I have no idea how BS this is, but it's almost word-for-word her IG explanation, so it's the same level of BS that was. She does word this though as it being a "charity project" and "passion project" she "donated to", because there was a dearth I guess of places to keep your horse in the rich people part of Connecticut.
  • She has to first run to get a grazing muzzle so Louie doesn't overeat in the pasture. This sets off my internal bad animal treatment alarms in a huge way, but again, don't know enough about horses to know if this is warranted.
• Just kidding! Don't let Paige into a Tractor Supply unsupervised, she's too much of a ~country girl~ to not come out with "so much shit". She also got this beef jerky that looked "so good". It's Iowa Smokehouse beef jerky.
  • It apparently looked good because all she had for breakfast was coffee. Why she only had coffee I'm not sure, since it's not like she didn't have the time to get something better. Coffee and beef jerky for breakfast sure is a choice, and one I'm sure her intestines didn't make her pay for later. This summer is all about ~hot girl indigestion~.
  • Story time! This looks like "legit, real beef jerky", which Paige knows because when Paige was in boarding school she stayed with a family who had a lot of cows and they made their own beef jerky, which Paige was of course intimately involved in, I'm sure. Anyway this makes her have such high standards, which is why she loves when somewhere like Tractor Supply (an enormous fucking chain, Paige) or a "local country mart" sells jerky because it's always better.
    • Fun fact that took me less than thirty seconds to Google, this "real" beef jerky is also available on Amazon
• More of the same definitely not copyrighted song as she packs up Louie's stuff and moves him. There's a lot of woman laughing alone with salad shots as she packs up and pretends to talk to... someone and "carry stuff" (ie: stand around touching her own body awkwardly)
• Some weird things about this whole sequence - 1) the "farm" she moves Louie to appears to have very poor, dilapidated fencing, red flag for me. 2) Paige is wearing a white shirt and then a white cardigan the entire time while DEALING WITH A HORSE and it never gets stained or dirty, which tells me she did fuck all, 3) the only guy with her is this big bald much older man who I assume is the guy starting this venture, meaning he's almost certainly who films her cantering around on Louie without her wearing a helmet laughing, which is so unbearably awkward. Like imagine asking a random older dude to film you doing that in a pure white sweater, 4) when Paige brushes Louie he sheds SO MUCH. Is that bad? It feels bad. When a dog sheds that much, even in the spring, it usually means no one's been brushing it regularly, 5) Louie has such a dip in his back and it makes me wince every time, especially when Paige shows him next to another horse. I don't know what that's from, but I hate it and it doesn't look comfortable for him.
• Nance and Baloo are at home when Paige gets back so she's just going to "throw on a little outfit" and they're going to go out for Mother's Day in Brooklyn. Paige really, really didn't want to go into the city because I guess she's suuuuch a country girl (nice, Paige) but she's doing it for her mom and to see her sister
  • Oh my god she DOESN'T CHANGE HER SHIRT FROM THE BARN, she wears a white henley, what look like blue pajama pants, and a leather coat.
  • Nance steals some of Paige's clothes (how I don't know since they're totally different sizes) and according to Paige is"slaying the boots", a phrase I will pay actual cash money to never hear Paige say again
• Next morning, return of the out of focus camera, though it may have been by accident this time because it stays out of focus. Anyway serious business Paige with her serious business glasses is starting the day with some "desk work". Is that a thing? A phrase? What the fuck is "desk work"? Has anyone who actually does work at a desk ever called it that?
  • When she's in Europe it's definitely harder for her to sit and do computer work even though she has a laptop but starting the day on her desktop at the same time as her "whole team" (WHO) it really makes a difference for them being all on the same page.
    • Okay so my actual job in real life is doing shipping and order management for a small creative goods company. I know very intimately what goes into product development, order fulfillment, etc, and Paige is just straight up saying nonsense. Like I paused and gave serious thought to what possibly she could be talking about, and I don't know what all this "work" is. If she was making everything in-house that's one thing, but that's not work she could possibly be doing or overseeing from Europe. But if she's outsourcing stuff, having it sent to a warehouse, and, then paying someone to ship it out for her, I guess she's doing... development? But that makes no sense because again, she outsources everything. She isn't doing wholesale, there isn't a lot to arrange for pop-ups if everything is outsourced and pre-made and she's only supposedly having one this summer, she only has eight products so the website maintenance is pretty easy, as is accounting, and she only really sells stuff around a drop which she does maybe twice a year.......... like genuinely I'm baffled here. It's my job to do this exact same thing every day with products that aren't jeans or sweatshirts or whatever and I'm so, confused about what her "work" is.
    • Allegedly they're on the "final push" for so many big projects and you know what, if any of these projects involve Paige actually doing anything besides feeling three different samples of denim swatches or deciding which vendor she's going to outsource oven mitts to and saying "I like this" or "I don't like that", I will issue her an apology. I feel safe in the idea that I won't have to issue her an apology, but I will keep on on offer in the off-chance I'm wrong.
    • She just finished making a line sheet (genuine lol once I looked up what that was) and apparently we are going to freeeeak out when we see her new merch - sorry, elevated lifstyle products.
    • It's denim. She's been working on denim. She shows us the final washes but it's in direct sunlight so it's all blown out and out of focus so they look mostly white? But she got the "perfect color". IDK, it's a light wash. I prefer dark wash, actually. It's a lot more flattering and forgiving. But we've already determined my aesthetic and Paige's aesthetic are not the same aesthetic. She's nobly pushed back production six months because she refused to do a full run unless the wash was absolutely perfect. It was so expensive but she needed to love love love the denim, because it's really what she's passionate about and what she wants to do, she wants to be the best denim brand out there. You know, because she's hand-making this denim herself, not just sending instructions to low-wage Chinese workers while being afforded the privilege to fuss over the perceived quality for six months because she has parents who are willing to flush money down the toilet on this. Also, for the record, but denim is like... a choice? Like what is the vision, exactly, because every clothing retailer has some version of denim and people are already super married to their faves, so how exactly is this business model working for her, here. And it doesn't look like stretch denim either, which means it's going to fit a very, very narrow group of body types. Like speaking from ample experience crying in GAP dressing rooms over my "freakish" (read, not built like a popsicle stick) as a teenager in a time before jeggings, jeans are not forgiving and easily worn by everyone. The thing about what Paige is doing so far is that it's universal enough. You don't have to really tailor an oversized sweatshirt or trucker hat to fit you. Everyone can make room for another overpriced candle. But denim??? IDK girl, you do you.
• Paige makes Olivia a latte. Olivia comes in and say it's story time about coffee. Paige asks if she should turn off the camera for this and Olivia says no so Paige continues to film herself preening while Olivia tells her a story about how messy she is frothing milk. Paige spends the entire time interrupting her to go "no! No! No! No!"
  • They look at buttons and rivets and embossed leather patches for the back, and then sweatpants leg panel samples. Baloo hangs out with them and Paige tells him he's stinky. She eats toast.
    • WHAT IS THE POINT OF ANY OF THIS. She's not DESIGNING anything, she's just doing that thing like, you know when you're choosing your racer in Mario Kart and there are a couple hundred variations of wheels and chassis and you just choose the unique combos you want to put together? She's doing that but with generic clothing. I've been jokingly referring to her stuff as "elevated Zazzle" but this isn't even Zazzle because Zazzle you UPLOAD ACTUAL ARTWORK TO. Why is she re-inventing the wheel? What improvements does she think she's making TO A PROVERBIAL WHEEL.
• Not sponsored showing off gifting time! It's not in focus at all so we can't really see any of the products (professional!). One of the products she mentions is that she's friends with CYNTHIA ROWLEY'S DAUGHTER who has nepo baby'd her way into dropping oven mitts and aprons that look like Strawberry Shortcake's rejects. Like they're cute, but they're again little strawberries on white. Like tell me none of you silver spoon-ass bitches cook without telling me by making WHITE OVEN MITTS. Those will turn yellowish and burnt after, what a single batch of brownies? Taking a piece of toast out?
  • This haul includes her tennis Tommy bag. Not sure how she got it since she brags about it being "sold out everywhere even Poshmark and depop"
  • There is sooooooo much of this free bullshit. How does she even get this much free bullshit. Why do companies waste so much money sending this to people like Paige who don't fucking care and openly give it away. What is the point of an influencer. IDK at this point I'm spiraling, this vlog is like a third of the way through and nothing has happened.
• Paige unpacks with Nance. She has so many clothes and I don't think she's worn any of them. Full disclosure that this was the point I actually got annoyed and had to take a break and play some video games for fifteen minutes because while growing up comfortably or on the upper end of middle class in a generational wealth type of town has taught me a lot of patience for people with too much money, there is at some point a limit to how conspicuous over-consumption and waste I can handle, and that point for me came when I saw how many sweaters Paige has that look like they've never been worn. And the on top of this she has a giant suitcase of stuff she's going to depop! The environment? Never heard of her.
• Paige is going to get groceries. She's needed Nance's help to do all the hard stuff she's had to do today like going grocery shopping and having soooo many clothes. She goes to Trader Joe's, then goes to a horse shop and of course buys MORE SHIT SHE DOESN'T NEED. I'm not condoning what the French did when they invented the guillotine, like that was really violent and horrible, but the point is that the longer I watch this vlog the more I'm understanding their motivations.
• Paige goes on a sunset ride with her friend Lauren, this song plays in the background as a flagrant copyright violation, I realize at this point that there's no way this video is going to stay up without Youtube copyright striking it so I have to be extra detailed for posterity and we still have so much to go and this is going to take forever. Louie's back still looks horrible and as someone with inherited lordosis, I feel for him.
• Tommy facetime! He says exactly one sentence and catches a tiny fish, for those of you keeping track on your Bingo cards.
• Nance is still over Paige's house when Paige gets back because she never leaves. Paige is wearing old Dairy Boy sweats. At this point when I scrolled down to press the play button again I realized that Nance has posted a comment about how proud she is of Paige within seconds of the video being uploaded. I live with my mother and sometimes I still need her help on stuff like yelling at health insurance until they cover stuff for me and even I am confused by how codependent their relationship is. Like doesn't Nance have her own house? A husband? Other children? Paige has spent this entire vlog needing Nance's help to do everything from grocery shopping to folding laundry and acting like a teenager. It's a rich text for a therapist to one day unpack.
  • It's Taco Monday, this is just a dumb and boring version of Paige performing the white people taco night song. Also bewildering, Paige seemingly DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO MAKE TACO STUFF. It involves almost no cooking! She even bought the spices pre-packaged! She needs Nance's help on this too!
  • Undisclosed new cooking knife brand product placement. They are amazed that it............slices.
    • OH NO SHE SAYS SLAYING WITH BOOTS AGAIN ABOUT THE KNIFE END THIS MISERY
  • Ahahhahah the reason they're so impressed is because they've apparently been cooking with unsharpened knives. Like Paige didn't know you could sharpen knives. A master chef, ladies and gentlemen!
• Oh god we're only halfway through. Paige wakes up the next morning. She got so freckly yesterday (read: she's courting melanoma and is going to age like a raisin). She's going to go play tennis at a club in Greenwich her parents are members at (Note, she shows the logo which means you can spend five seconds googling to discover it's this club. Membership is invite only and it's gauche apparently to discuss how much membership costs, but the estimate is EIGHTY GRAND A YEAR. To be clear, that is nearly THREE TIMES the average American household income. Paige is the child of people who spend more in one year to play tennis a few times a week than most people do getting fucking doctorates, which clears up a few things for me: one, I've never gotten those texts where she casually demands Morgan Wallen pay her back tens of thousands of dollars like it's $50, but I guess to her it is like $50, and two, why everything about Paige and how she acts towards people and money in this video is a million times more effective at radicalizing people on economic policy than anything Bernie Sanders has ever lain awake at night dreaming of.
  • Camera going in and out of focus during this explanation.
  • Ah she's doing it with her mom. Again. Heaven forbid Paige breathe without Nance.
  • Oh also she has to shoot an ad in the tennis dress, but she definitely likes and would go to play tennis anyway.
• More unboxing undisclosed adver- I mean PR.
  • I'm so serious, tthe flagrant wealth being thrown around in this video and the amount of free stuff a trust fund baby with absolutely no merits or skills whatsoever is getting because she has 300K followers on Instagram that she probably bought half of is like the best argument for socialism I have ever seen.
• .Paige gets dressed in the third outfit of the day to go to the dentist. The pants are pointedly too big on her so they don't stay up in the waist and create this weird enormous kangaroo pouch around her crotch. She pairs that with a toddler sized medium t-shirt for a football team she's probably never heard of, a choker that looks like something a boy band member in the early 2000's would wear but out of fake pearls, and cowboy boots. It's... the look sure is looking, let's just say that.
• Paige opines on how much she prefers to do vlogs at home, but don't worry, she won't stop doing travel vlogs for us! (Oh thank goodness, where would we be without the insights we get from them.) She feels like they add variety to her channel (what, no, we LOVE coming with you to the barn to watch you ride without a helmet over unsourced music! five times a vlog!). Sometimes she feels like there's this pressure to show us as much as she can, which explains why all we see in her travel vlogs is hotel room bathrooms, tennis matches, and the tops of various tabletops in restaurants. Anyway she feels like there's pressure because in reality she's there for Tommy. Which we KNOW, that's the entire PROBLEM, Paige. If you were HONEST about the fact that being a WAG on tour sucks and you don't get to actually see the places you're pretending to really go and immerse yourself in, we WOULD HAVE FEWER COMPLAINTS AND YOU'D FEEL LESS ANXIETY, the problem is that you have to keep compulsively lying about how cultured you are and how you really ~got a feel~ for the location. Just stop lying!!! Stop!!! Lying!!! Challenge!!!!! The anxiety you feel and the reason you have to monitor this subreddit comes from your CONSTANT LYING.
  • Ugh she would NEVER have gone to ROME if it weren't for Tommy. I think this is a ploy for authenticity but boy is it coming across as privileged.
    • I do think in her own Paige way though this entire monologue she has is about something I've noticed her talking around a lot - I think she's afraid if she stops travelling and being a WAG no one will care about her. I think she's terrified of doing what makes her happy, which is being home, hanging out with her mom, riding her horses, and spending her parents' money. But if she just let herself do the things she actually liked and stopped trying to always pretend to be cooler and more interesting than she is, no one would keep paying attention to her, because it's not like she has a sparkling personality or wit or unique point of view. Like I'm an interesting person to talk to, but if I tried to make a vlog of my life it would be pretty boring. I work a 9-5 M-F job and the most interesting part of my life is when I go to a concert or craft fair on the weekend or one of my neighbors goes out of town and I watch their cat. It's not riveting, but I also don't need to be doing fascinating things in order to be or feel like an interesting person. But people like Paige who need to always be travelling and going to events and flaunting how busy they are are often really sad and empty people. They're not doing any of the little mundane things that make people happy and spending time connecting with the people around them, they're just always moving around because they're afraid if they stop for five seconds, people will see that the only thing they have going for them is all that movement and travelling. I think Paige is constantly torn between the anxiety that comes with constant travel and isolation and putting herself on display and removing herself from the things that bring her a sense of calm and security, and the anxiety that if she allows herself to feel calm and secure, she'll lose the attention she craves. IDK seems like a thing she shouldn't keep indirectly admitting to in vlogs, seems to kind of undercut half of her material, but what do I know.
  • Also she really is going to positively contribute to Tommy and his life and career, ie: she needs to go home and feels comforted by home because that's where her mom and Amanda wait on her hand and foot and everything is about her, which she misses when she's with Tommy because when she's on tour with Tommy she has to accept that he's the center of attention and she's not.
  • Her home vlogs have been performing the best, like, significantly. Since she probably buys views and comments, this just means she likes them better and therefore buys more engagement for them.
  • Apparently her analytics are telling her that 30% of her views are coming from the "explore" feature, which she says is YouTube rewarding her for being consistent, and, uh. No. Not how that works.
    • I mean yes if you buy engagement it will put you in the algorithm more, but this is the time in the video where she accidentally self-owns. If you're an actual channel getting actual views from people who actually enjoy watching you, then VERY LITTLE of your viewership should be coming from the "explore" feature, MOST of it should be coming from subscribers or regular viewers or people who watch similar content. That's how the majority of people watch YouTube or find new videos to watch. But if fully a third of your viewers are coming from what's essentially a randomizer button, that pretty much confirms Paige is buying views and/or that a lot of viewers leave after a minute or two. Because if her content was good on its own, people would see it and subscribe, and then she wouldn't need to rely on the "explore" feature. But if she, as she says, is consistently getting a third of her viewership from that feature, than that means that a third of people are just randomly watching whatever YouTube puts in front of them and not engaging with her at all, meaning the ONLY POSSIBLE explanation is that she's essentially buying enough engagement to keep appearing on the explore page, but buying the opportunity to be put in front of people isn't actually getting her a larger audience because what she's serving them is a warmed-over turd.
  • Anyway Paige is counting on you not knowing the extreme basics and trusting that she "knows someone who used to work at YouTube who told her that's how the algorithm works"
    • Um if you don't know about social media - no one who works at YouTube or any social media company knows how their algorithm works unless they're the ones writing it, and if they do know, they're not going to tell you because that's extremely valuable, proprietary information and also there's like a lot of papers and NDAs and non-competes they'd be breaking if they did. They're telling you to upload consistently because it's good FOR THE MEDIA COMPANY. The company is trading in being a content hub, so they need people to consistently be uploading content, ie: raising the value of their site in a way they don't have to pay for. That's the entire business model of every. Single. Digital media platform. Heck, that's how most dating apps work too. The product is data. They want you to be giving them free product.
  • "I don't know, like I don't like doing things just for social media anymore?" HAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAH
    • And a week later you spent a weekend attending influencer parties in the Hamptons for....... what exactly. The scintillating conversation?????
    • She's very quick to say that's not the case if she has to shoot an ad! Loves shooting ads! Please keep sending her free stuff!
    • God this is taking me multiple hours but at this point I've sunk too much time in and also am convinced this won't stay up for copyright issues, so I'm taking a break to like, stretch and clean the bathroom, anything to get me moving and listening to my own thoughts which are in complete sentences.
• I'm back after cleaning the bathroom. I've been at this so long that my sibling has shown up. But I only have ten minutes to go and I REFUSE TO GIVE UP. This whole completely unhinged and unintentionally revealing rant has approximately a trillion uses of the word "like" is from 21:00 to 26:00 and if you want to watch it you can. I probably should have transcribed it for a full AP Lit level analysis, but I'm tired. If we're lucky, when Paige tries to re-upload this with copyright-free music, she'll have kept that in there.
• Paige ordered a shed! She's so excited!
• The fence looks mildly less jacked up when they go back. Paige is brushing Louie constantly in this video. Fourth time I think we've seen her do this. I feel like there's a lot more to horse care than brushing them and she only shows us this part because it looks aesthetic and she doesn't do any of the actual hard or necessary parts like shoveling horse shit, but what do I know.
  • This sequence uses unsourced but definitely copyright song number three!
  • Fun fact: Paige is the same fake brown color as Louie's dappled neck. Aw, you know how pets eventually look like their owners? Cute.
  • Shout out to Paige's friend (perhaps Amanda? Olivia? Can't keep the preppy brunettes straight anymore) who actually wears a helmet riding.
• Next day, we open with a bit of this song (not sourced, copyright infringement number four, possibly more that at this point I no longer notice tbh). Paige puts on boots to go to the new shed and realizes the vlog is going to be so long because she's never done a whole week at a time before. Because I've made it this far, I'm the best. (Aw.)
  • Paige calls Tommy to wish him happy birthday and films it, which seems... odd. Especially since she doesn't film it in a way where he can see she's filming.
  • Paige gets tea for breakfast (nutritious) and a coffee for the guy at the barn we must have seen earlier. His name is Aaron. I could do some google sleuthing and find him probably, but I don't care. Paige met him going on trail rides at her old barn. Do middle aged men usually hang out at barns doing trail rides? Just scoping out young idiots with disposable income? The whole thing seems sus. Apparently he has like seven kids.
  • Paige never realized how expensive pre-made sheds were, but it's a local business that makes it by hand! I assume the local business is called Costco And Sons.
  • More uncredited The Shins plays as Paige only loads the shed with blankets and nothing heavy or unpicturesque.
  • Another Tractor Supply run, at this point they're who really should be sponsoring Paige
  • Paige goes to say goodbye to Louie and he HIDES FROM HER IN THE WOODS
    • Girl.
    • Oh my god no wonder he's mad at her, they've been staying somewhere WITHOUT A STRUCTURE. He's been sleeping OUTSIDE. It got into the 40's every night in New England last week!!!
• Out of focus Paige talking about how she had suuuuuch a long day "running errands". Olivia didn't get to join Paige on her little horse girl excursions because she had to be at the warehouse and onboarding a new DB employee. Anyway Paloma is in town now
  • Paige learns that apparently you're supposed to be washing veggies as she prepares things to grill. PAIGE HAS BEEN COOKING THIS WHOLE TIME NOT WASHING VEGGIES. I.......... I am going to need to be sedated after this.
• Paige exfoliates and puts on a definitely not sponsored face mask
  • She's wearing skiing pajamas. In case we forgot she was a skier. Did you know she was a skier????
    • PSYCH, these are from previous ads with PJ Place but actually she really likes these and this one ISN'T an ad she just loves the product so much
• Paige is doing her makeup! We're at the end stretch! I'm almost there!
  • She took a day off of vlogging to go see her grandparents, but immediately segues into her Ulta trip. Because of her stupid grandparents, she didn't get to go to the barn, frankly how can she survive in these conditions.
  • Dairy Boy phone case plug! She was soooo specific about what she likes in phone cases and definitely didn't just choose between Zazzle, Redbubble, or (insert other brand here)
    • It's a shitty thin cover that looks like it protects your phone from approximately nothing and should cost $10 but I estimate she'll sell it for at least $40
    • Of course because Paige was so super particular about the details and business-minded when it comes to quality it took a long time to make........phone cases.......
  • Tommy calls and says hi
  • Paige rambles about her day and makes coffee. Tommy sent her peonies because he's "so cute". We see the phone cases and they're weird and ugly. More "gifting" (undisclosed advertising) that came in the mail
• Paige makes pickled red onions, every time she does it she changes the recipe a little bit even though she totally has a recipe and isn't googling. She starts pickling carrots which she says are going to "go bad soon" (that takes like six months, how do carrots even go bad?) She also does it in a water glass which, good luck ever drinking from that again without it tasting like vinegar.
• And then with no warning, it cuts off. That took me three and a half hours. It's been a journey and I hate it. If there is ever a vlog this long, I'm doing it in segments across multiple days because I'm exhausted by this much wealth and inanity. Time to go touch grass, start dinner, wash my vegetables before I do so. You know. The little things.

Currently FIREd with a “succession” shortest giant size NW, in Silicon Valley, which means while by normal standards would be considered fat, doesn’t really work here. Nice forever house will cost 3-4M+ and I already have a condo set up with a super low mortgage, making it unpaleteable to bump up to 5-6%.
Where are some places that Bay Area fatFIRE people consider moving to that helps beef up how far your money goes? We want to be near ocean, and have access to quality restaurants, hopefully walkable and in a place that values education. We considered Hawaii and OC, but haven’t quite found what we’re looking for. I’m worried our roots here are getting stronger and if we don’t move I may get drawn back into the rat race. Having 5M+ does not feel like it is what it used to be, but in last 7 years housing has nearly doubled and I didn’t double my FIRE target.
What are some places fatFIRE folks moved to beef up their buying power but maintain the Bay Area feel.

Link to item at Amazon https://a.co/d/faiHeeu
It's an older monitor, but still works well. I'm hoping for $50 or best offer. I'll include a power cable, and a VGA cable, if you want it.
For pickup purposes, I live in NW Gainesville, near 43rd and 39th Ave. Please message me if you're interested.

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Re:
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Over the past year and a half, following my complaint to the EEOC, I have continuously been subjected to harassment and retaliation by my former employer. The situation escalated when I came across an audiotape revealing the company's VP of Finance discussing financial fraud. I have attached my EEOC complaint and rebuttal to provide you with a better understanding of this situation. The company has embarked on a campaign of retaliation and attempts to cover up the truth. Recently, I discovered that my phone was under surveillance by private investigators hired by my previous employer, Socure Inc. As mentioned earlier, this harassment began at my local YMCA, where multiple individuals were instructed to participate in a planned campaign targeting me. Socure extended their actions beyond the YMCA by continuously tracking my cellphone's location wherever I went. Initially, I suspected I was being followed, but I later realized that my phone had been compromised. My messages and calls were being monitored, and even my home internet seemed to be tapped into. Furthermore, I have reason to believe that my bank transactions were being monitored as well. I am being targeted because I disclosed illegal activities involving the VP of Finance, which he was afraid to share. I’m one hundred percent certain that Socure hacked into my cellphone to eavesdrop on all conversations. Any and all things that I discuss with my wife would later be discussed amongst gym goers, at multiple Mosque, and random places I often visit. I have attached my EEOC compliant for further assessment of this situation.
​
The following individuals, whom I suspect were compensated, were involved in collecting information about me and fabricating false allegations:
* Sonia Atherly, the Director of the YMCA
* Stephin Roberts, a YMCA member who became a friend
* Ade A. (last name unknown), a YMCA member who became a friend
* Andre Nelson, a friend from Downtown YMCA Brooklyn whom I haven't spoken to in two years
* Austin Hill, a YMCA member who accompanied Andre Nelson
* Ethan, a YMCA member (last name unknown)
* Torell Taylor, a YMCA member
* Multiple neighbors: units 5A, 5F, and 2X PHE
* Serdar Cam, former neighbor and new neighbor at 322 Gates Ave
* Trevor (last name unknown), a YMCA member
* Justin (last name unknown), a YMCA member
* An unidentified female YMCA member who unexpectedly appeared at a restaurant where my wife and I were in Puerto Rico
* Gavin Tseng, a former friend who orchestrated a scheme involving real estate and a startup concept
​
Retaliations took place at the following locations:
* Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA: 1121 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11216
* Brooklyn Mosque Khalifa: 120 Madison St, Brooklyn, NY
* Islamic Mission of America/Dawood Mosque: 143 State St, Brooklyn, NY 11201
* Airport Travels: JFK AirTrain
* Puerto Rico Vacation: Hilton Hotel
* Trip to Milwaukee: Airbnb rental at 1028 East Juneau Avenue, Unit 416, Milwaukee, WI 53202
* Supermarket in Brooklyn: 1420 Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY 11216
* Multiple Banking Institutions: Chase at 1380 Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY 11216 & TD Bank at 957 Marcy Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11216
* Multiple NYC Train Platforms: Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets station & 125th Street Station
* Apartment Building: 322 Gates Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11216
​
Types of framing and allegations being built against me:
* Resume fraud
* Real estate fraud
* Influencing people to file lawsuits
* Influencing neighbors to complain
* False restaurant reporting
* False robbery attempt
* And more...
​
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Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA Director, Sonia Atherly - Staged Office Phone Video Recording:
Sonia Atherly, the director of the Bedstuy YMCA, participated in a retaliatory campaign. On September 29, 2022, she requested a meeting with me in her office. During our conversation, she pulled out her phone and began recording from her work monitor, alleging that a masked individual had entered the gym. She even asked me to view the video footage. While I complied, her phone continued recording, capturing my voice in the process. This action appears to be an attempt to counter the accusations made by the VP of Finance regarding fraudulent activities and manipulate my voice recordings to paint a negative picture of my behavior. In response to my concerns, the YMCA director provided the following reply: "Hi Lou. I believe that it was on Tuesday, and I was actually taking photos, so no, your voice would not have been captured in any way. To be clear, we do not record conversations at the Y in any way, shape, or form unless we have signed event waivers. I hope this clarifies the matter for you." On September 30, 2022, Sonia orchestrated an incident where the same individual showed up at the front desk as I was leaving, hoping to provoke a response from me and involve me in their investigation. For months, non-members of the YMCA were allowed to come into the facility and harass me while surveillance cameras were purposely turned off to destroy any possible evidence.
​
Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA Program Coordinator, Jeff (Damian Best):
Upon my arrival at the basketball gym, Jeff, the program coordinator, and a parent with her child were already present. After requesting Jeff to wait a few more minutes, the parent engaged in a heated argument with him, demanding to know why her child couldn't participate since no one else was there. I reassured her that while I didn't mind, Jeff was responsible for setting the rules. She eventually left the gym in an angry state. Their intention was to have me report the incident to management and portray me as someone who constantly complains. On October 4, 2022, I sent an email to myself for record-keeping purposes.
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Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA Member, Ade (last name starting with "A"):
On Saturday, October 8, 2022, Ade and I agreed to meet for a late lunch at "The Green Place" in Brooklyn. I noticed that he kept referencing financial figures related to specific people he worked with. I suspect he has also been recruited to participate in Socure's retaliation against me. Their goal is to capture recordings of me to use them against me, claiming that I habitually record people. Ade also expressed dissatisfaction with the YMCA's adult open gym times during Saturday's basketball hours. He mentioned having discussed it with the front desk. On October 9, 2022, Ade sent me a screenshot of the YMCA's response to his request. It's important to note that I never made any complaints. As someone who lives near the YMCA and often wakes up early, I told him, "I don't want to play." Once again, Socure is attempting to build a case portraying me as someone who incessantly complains and records people to divert attention from their own misconduct. Multiple members were instructed to complain to me so that my name can be implicated. I believe that individuals are being compensated to assist them. In early May 2023, both Ade and Stephin Roberts repeatedly interrupted my workout in an attempt to initiate a conversation with me.
​
Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA member, Stephin Roberts - Staged information gathering:
Stephin Roberts, a fellow YMCA member, unexpectedly called me after we crossed paths at the gym, which was an unusual occurrence. We exchanged brief greetings, and I proceeded with my workout. I suspect that his intention in calling me was to record our conversation and use it against me, falsely claiming that I frequently record people, which is entirely untrue. Given that my cellphone was being tracked, it seemed that whenever I left my home, I would coincidentally encounter Mr. Roberts. He had been instructed to fabricate a false DUI incident to elicit personal information from me regarding a case on my record that had been expunged. During our conversation, I shared a past experience of mine involving a car accident I had when I was younger while dating someone, as well as my advice on expungement, recounting a personal incident that happened to me. At the time, I thought Mr. Roberts was a genuine person with good intentions. I believe Socure will be attempting to coordinate and get me arrested for theft or burglary based on the previous expunged records, trying to paint a negative image of who I am. I believe Stephin Roberts has been recording me as a tactic instructed by Socure's private investigator.
​
Friend from Downtown YMCA Brooklyn whom I haven't spoken with in two years, Andre Nelson at Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA:
I haven't had any communication with Andre Nelson for more than two years. However, he unexpectedly appeared at the gym I regularly attend on a Wednesday evening, despite it not being in close proximity to his residence. Subsequently, Mr. Nelson started frequenting the gym with his friend Austin Hill. Together, they began coordinating with YMCA members, informing them about my situation with Socure. Within one week, one of Austin Hill's Facebook friends reached out to me, mentioning a potential collaboration with someone they knew, namely Austin Hill. As I stated, I've never met Mr. Hill nor had any connection with people he knew outside of Mr. Nelson. When I encountered Mr. Hill during the following open gym session, he acted as though nothing had transpired, and I played along. Additionally, Austin requested certain documents from me for his business, but I never fulfilled his request. To confirm my suspicions that Austin was attempting to set me up, I orchestrated an event by telling him, "Yeah, man, girls don't care if you have a ring on. They will approach you. Come to this bar tonight." Upon my arrival at the bar a few minutes later, a woman wearing a wedding band tried to get my attention. However, I sensed that it was a staged occurrence. When Andre Nelson and Austin Hill arrived, they infiltrated the group of members, instructing them to provoke me during the basketball game while secretly recording my reactions. At one point, a member named Justin threw a water bottle, and the situation escalated.
​
Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA member, Trevor - Staged information gathering:
Trevor started asking and mentioning multiple work-related questions. On October 7, 2023, he mentioned having a quarterly review and asked for suggestions. Within weeks later, Trevor asked me if I knew any lawyers as he was dealing with a housemaid who was suing him. This same situation happened with more than two other members (Stephin Roberts, Kadeem Kirsten) in which they asked me attorney-related questions. I believe he was instructed to record our conversations.
Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA member, Torrell Taylor:
As previously mentioned, I believe that the YMCA's Director is monitoring my interactions with other gym members in order to collaborate with them. Their objective is to falsely claim that "Lou is influencing people to document incidents," all with the intention of tarnishing my reputation. Additionally, Socure allegedly requested Torrell to open a restaurant in downtown Brooklyn as part of their scheme to build a case against me. YMCA member Justin repeatedly approached me, informing me that Torrell had opened a restaurant with poor-quality food and suggested I visit. Upon receiving this information from Torrell himself, I decided to pay the restaurant a visit. However, Torrell was not present during my first visit. I attempted a second visit, only to discover that the restaurant was closed. When I texted Torrell to inquire about the closure, he responded that there had been an issue with the owner's licensing. It is apparent to me that this was a staged event orchestrated by Socure to fabricate a case against me by falsely claiming that I reported violations against Torrell's restaurant. As mentioned earlier, I strongly believe that my phone was being tracked, and it is possible that a separate line was used to make false reports under my information.
Furthermore, my emails were also subjected to hacking.
​
Wireless Earbuds Planned at the Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA open gym by Kadeem Kirsten - early 2022:
To ensure my privacy and personal space during the YMCA open gym sessions, I started choosing a spot away from others. I made sure to thoroughly clean the area where I sat, removing any bottles, wipes, or other items. After finishing my workout, I briefly went to the bathroom, and upon my return, I noticed a wireless earbud near the window close to my chair. I suspect that Khadim Kirsten intentionally placed the earbud there as he kept watching me closely. Mr. Kirsten also asked me for legal advice as well as a UX Designer, the same exact topic that Gavin Tseng asked me. Mr. Kirsten is one of those new members who never came to the YMCA. Upon rejecting Socure's settlement offer in January 2023, that's when all of these new members started coming to open basketball nights.
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Mosque Khalifa on Bedford Ave: Sept 2, 2022, at 120 Madison St, Brooklyn, NY, United States, New York:
During the service at Mosque Khalifa on Bedford Ave, the preacher persistently addressed a specific topic related to my case. He made references to "a brother within this community, one of our own, who made a recording" in an apparent attempt to divert attention to the tape I had recorded. Following my complaint to the EEOC through email, the recording was promptly deleted on the same day, which I later submitted to the EEOC. I started attending Islamic Mission of America/Dawood Mosque at 143 State St, Brooklyn, NY 11201, and immediately, I was followed by an individual who repeatedly tried to have a conversation with me. I was also followed to a Mosque in Harlem, NY.
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T-Mobile Visit Tracking / Unauthorized new number added at 574 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217:
Concerned about the security of my internet connection with Verizon, I visited T-Mobile to add a new line specifically for internet access. To my surprise, shortly after arriving at the store, a male approached the same register I was standing at and started asking questions. A few days after leaving the store, I discovered that a new phone line had been added to my T-Mobile account without my knowledge or consent. I promptly contacted T-Mobile customer service to inquire about the data usage associated with that particular number, but unfortunately, I did not receive the requested information. I believe Socure hacked my home network, such as my laptop, tablet, Television and home camera. For the past year and a half, Socure has managed to view all of my browsing history. I believe they kept contacting lawyers that I reached out to after every visit I made on their website to avoid me from being represented. In additional, after noticing that my email accounts were hacked, I wrote a statement indicating that my emails were hacked in which I got notarized at TD Bank.
​
​
Grocery Shopping Brooklyn:
During my visit to the local supermarket, I noticed several individuals following me closely, paying particular attention to the food items I was selecting and the card I used for payment. I believe I was being followed long before I started to notice.
* May 8, 2023, at 1420 Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY 11216
* May 1, 2023, at 1420 Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY 11216
​
Online Job Targeting:
I have been repeatedly targeted for specific jobs and companies, which I believe are staged by Socure, just as they did by involving me in a company backed by their investors to stage multiple events against me while interfering with my employment. I was lured into Plural, formerly known as Civic Eagle, where multiple African American candidates who did not qualify were being hired without my knowledge. All whom I’ve never spoke with. I suspect that Socure somehow gained access to my T-Mobile account and requested my entire call history to monitor my communications. Furthermore, I believe that when I sought legal counsel after receiving the EEOC's authorization to file a lawsuit, Socure clandestinely intervened in my calls to every law firm I contacted.
​
Puerto Rico Vacation on Dec 23, 2022:
Upon our arrival at our room in Puerto Rico, we noticed a black male who entered a room adjacent to ours shortly after us. However, after a couple of days, we did not see him again.
During a visit to a restaurant in Puerto Rico, I recognized the hostess as the same woman I had encountered multiple times at the YMCA. She had her head covered with a white scarf. As I was seated facing the entrance, she deliberately made eye contact with me, seemingly aware that I recognized her. After finishing lunch, this same woman followed us to the waterfront and watched us closely.
​
Neighbor Tracking Movement at 322 Gates Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11216:
Every time I left my building, I noticed a consistent pattern where the neighbor from 5F would coincidentally head towards the elevator, wait in the lobby, and enter the building exactly at the same time. This behavior raised suspicions and led me to believe that individuals from 5A were strategically positioned next door, potentially tapping our walls to eavesdrop on our conversations. The neighbor in 5A, whom I knew through the YMCA, repeatedly complained about the building while urging me to submit a work order. I also suspect that Socure assisted one of my former neighbors, Serdar Cam, in moving into the building after they discovered my text messages about potentially moving there. Immediately after moving in, Serdar started complaining as well. I believe Socure was involved in placing a previous female tenant in the building, who also complained to me on multiple occasions about the building.
​
Uber License Training:
Once again, Socure monitored the location of my phone and deployed individuals to the classroom where I was attending classes in Long Island City in early March 2023. After completing the classes, I became too afraid of potentially facing false rider allegations.
​
New Open Gym Invitation by Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA member Ethan, Andre Nelson was present on March 2, 2023, at 300 Adelphi, Brooklyn, NY 11205:
Ethan, a fellow YMCA member, invited me to join him at a nearby gym. To my surprise, Andre Nelson was also in attendance. While playing on the court, I noticed one of the players guarding me had a conspicuous microphone attached to them, and an Asian woman diligently captured footage from different angles with a video camera. I believe they were recording my voice and actions on the court. Additionally, it seems that after complaining about what happened at the YMCA, members are being instructed to engage me outside the YMCA to diffuse the situation. This incident further raised my suspicion that our apartment might be under surveillance, as I had previously mentioned Andre Nelson's presence at the open gym to my wife. Moreover, during the open run, I noticed the unexpected presence of multiple YMCA members from the Downtown Brooklyn location, whom I hadn't encountered in the past four years. I firmly believe that Andre Nelson orchestrated their participation and that they were strategically placed as collaborators by Socure.
​
New Gym Invites
After fully understanding that I knew about all of the plans in place at the YMCA, with the help of the YMCA Director, Sonia Atherly, multiple members were told to invite me to other gyms to built a campaign of “ this is Lou everywhere he goes”. Over six plus individuals were asked to invite me to new open gyms and men’s league to play in. This is all to avoid further problems at the gym.
​
Real Estate / Startup Venture Inquiry by Gavin Tseng:
Due to ongoing targeting, I decided to distance myself from everyone for months. However, my friend Gavin Tseng, whom I knew while living in Downtown Brooklyn, repeatedly invited me to his upstate home and wanted me to see properties he was interested in purchasing. It was quite unusual that Mr. Tseng would frequently text me, asking about my availability on specific days. I suspect that Mr. Tseng was recording our conversations during the trips and multiple phone calls, where he sought my help with UX Designing for his apartment rental car service. I believe Socure conducted research on my past work history, including my involvement in a Delegate campaign in Maryland for a real estate professional. I suspect that Socure fabricated false accusations against this individual and used my information to create misleading claims, leveraging my network and devices.
​
Subways / Stores Staged Evidence Building:
Regardless of the subway station I find myself in, I consistently experience being followed by random individuals who are instructed to approach me closely while holding their cellphones up to my face and posing questions. On multiple occasions, I recall three females approaching me seeking guidance regarding subway directions, and I willingly offered my assistance. However, I have recently become aware that individuals, including camera operators, have been capturing these interactions on film as part of what appears to be a deliberate campaign to discredit me.
​
March 28, 2023 - Travel to Milwaukee:
While traveling to Milwaukee for a getaway from my wife after several disputes, I noticed that I was being followed at the airport. The surveillance continued throughout my stay at the Airbnb located at 1028 East Juneau Avenue, Unit 416, Milwaukee, WI 53202, from March 28, 2023, to April 11, 2023. I also experienced being followed at the Hertz car rental at 804 Vel R. Phillips Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53203, on April 6, 2023, and at the Pleasant Prairie Premium Outlet at 11211 120th Ave, Pleasant Prairie, WI 53158, on the same day.
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April 12, 2023 - Returning back from Milwaukee:
Immediately after arriving back in New York City from my two-week vacation, at around 3:45 pm ET, just two minutes after landing, I received a text message from a YMCA member whom I hadn't communicated with in over three weeks. The message mentioned something along the lines of "See you tonight," which I promptly deleted. This unmistakable occurrence served as a clear indication that my phone was under surveillance and being tracked.
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April 21, 2023 & May 7, 2023 - Vitamin Shoppe at 12 4th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217:
As I entered the Vitamin Shoppe in Downtown Brooklyn on Atlantic Ave, I noticed that I was being followed. While at the checkout counter, an African American gentleman positioned himself next to me, seemingly eavesdropping on my account information and the items I was purchasing. I strongly suspect that a similar incident occurred during my previous visit on April 21, 2023, although I was not actively observing at that time.
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On May 6, 2023, between 11:30 am - 12:45 pm - JFK AirTrain:
Once again, I became aware that my phone was being tracked. I accompanied my wife to the airport as she was departing for Milwaukee. Upon arriving at the station, an assertive African American woman in her late 30s hurriedly approached us, despite the presence of multiple station operators. She aggressively stopped us and began asking for directions. Sensing something amiss, I promptly distanced myself from the situation while my wife attempted to assist her with the directions.
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Friday, May 11, 2023 at Costco Eyewear at 517 E 117th St, New York, NY 10035: While I was sharing my information, a woman in her late 50s approached the counter and closely observed my personal details. I have come to believe that Socure has someone at Chase informing them of my location whenever I use my Chase bank card. The day before, I made purchases with my Chase card at Costco.
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Friday, May 11, 2023 at Costco at 517 E 117th St, New York, NY 10035: While conversing with a product representative at Costco, a young female employee in her late teens or early twenties approached with an older Senegalese gentleman in his late 60s. The gentleman sought assistance with a product due to his limited English proficiency. As he showed me his phone up close, I noticed someone recording our interaction from a distance. Once again, I felt as though I was being followed. It seems that a private investigator was aware of my recent purchase of fish oil at Vitamin Shoppe on May 7, 2023, as well as my pursuit of becoming a personal trainer. They orchestrated the scenario with the gentleman asking me specific questions about fish oil. It's worth noting that the material I was studying for personal training explicitly states that trainers should not recommend any medication to individuals.
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Saturday, May 13, 2023, at Hoyt Station in Brooklyn: Once more, I found myself being followed into the train station. While I was waiting there, a woman approached me once again, seeking directions. Without hesitation, I gestured towards someone else nearby and firmly replied, "No, ask her." Interestingly, there was a man across the platform holding two cameras, capturing the entire interaction between us. Following the unsuccessful attempt, the woman conversed with the man briefly before they both boarded the train.
Saturday, May 13, 2023, at Bedford and Quincy in Brooklyn: As I neared my apartment building, I noticed two cameramen once again attempting to record me. Sensing their presence and their intention to cross the street, I quickly changed course and crossed over to the other side, putting some distance between us.
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Saturday, May 13, 2023 - TD Bank at 957 Marcy Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11216: While I was withdrawing cash from the ATM, a white male in his late 20s, accompanied by a dog, was recording me from outside. I also believe Socure did some digging into all of my transactions at my local banks, such as Chase and TD Bank.
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Saturday, May 13, 2023 - Credit Card information altered: When I logged into my Discover Credit Card account, I observed that my information had been modified.
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Monday, May 14, 2023 - Best Buy Brooklyn at 625 Atlantic Ave Ste A7, Brooklyn, NY 11217: Upon reaching the printing department at 12:14 pm ET, I was harassed by an African American woman in her late 60s. I ignored her and left through the opposite side, but she continued to follow me and tried to engage in a conversation.
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Tuesday, May 16, 2023, at Target 517 E 117th St Suite 201, New York, NY 10035, at 10:46 am ET: Upon realizing that I was aware of the cover-up occurring, where individuals were tailing me and inquiring with their phones in hand, Socure strategically positioned an African gentleman near the entrance of the targeted bathroom. They had been closely observing my actions. Remarkably, this man was dressed identically to me during the incident that unfolded on Friday, May 11, 2023
​
While waiting in line, I believe a Senegalese couple were instructed to chat about illegal activities intentionally while I was behind them and they absurdly moved to another line.
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Tuesday, May 16, 2023 - Cohen’s Fashion Optical at 86 W 125th St, New York, NY 10027: While retrieving my reading glasses from Costco, I discovered that the prescription was stronger than what was indicated in the eye examination. The lenses ended up negatively impacting my vision. I requested to review the physician's notes from the exam, but despite waiting for over 30 minutes, they were unable to provide any documentation as the physician was acting very strange. Instead, they gave me evasive responses, leading me to ultimately leave without a resolution.
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May 18, 2023 - Chase Bank at 1380 Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY 11216 @ 12 PM ET: Around 12 PM ET on May 18, 2023, at Chase Bank on Fulton Ave in Brooklyn, I experienced another incident I believe involves Socure. An individual was sent to tail me, and it began at TD Bank where this person approached the teller in an ostentatious manner, loudly expressing their intentions. I suspect this encounter was being recorded in an attempt to frame a robbery on me. It seems that Socure is continuously monitoring my activities, possibly as a diversion from the fact that their former CFO was untrustworthy. Regardless of where I go, I am constantly being followed, with new tactics being devised every time I step outside my home.
I’m writing to put a stop to this targeting and ongoing harassment.

Our last day of full time work was yesterday! We’re pleased to share our news and experience with this sub, which has been a great source of reference, tips, and motivation throughout our journey.
Us: dual income couple, no kids, early 40s. Working in the health field, involving a lot of travel. Earned good salaries, but our key strategy was optimizing savings through combination of remote work, geoarbitrage and managing our spending well below our means.
NW: $3.5MM
$300k - cash / short term treasuries
$2MM - post tax brokerage
$900k - pre tax retirement
$100k - Roth / HSAs
$200k - real estate equity in $700k property. Now rented and rent covers mortgage and costs, and brings in a small profit. (We have chosen to include real estate equity in NW, but understand others may not.)
Annual spending: $80k
Planned SWR: 2.5-3%
We learned about FIRE in 2013, and have been planning, working hard, and saving toward our FIRE goal ever since. We have made many, many decisions to keep this plan on track including moving to LCOL countries for several years to optimize savings (dropping annual spending down to $50-60k) and reduce taxes through foreign earned income exclusion (first $100k of income per person is not taxed, which was nearly all of our otherwise taxable income during those years).
Drawdown plan is to spend our cash / treasuries, dividends, then sell taxable account bonds over the next 10 years without touching our equities (rising equity glide path). We also plan to make a large expense ($300k home renovation) in the next couple years and have therefore saved more than our base FIRE target ($80K @ 2.5% = $3.2MM + $300k) and are starting our FI journey with a large cash / treasuries position.
We are planning to spend our first FI year backpacking in LCOL countries, spending even less than our ave $80k and experiencing the full freedom of our new life.
Posting this to express our gratitude for those of you on the sub who have been our guiding lights and add one more story to the growing collection. You can do it!

Continued from Part 3

Fuck Tha Police Pt 1 – Best Buy Disappears

Best Buy was a huge problem for the detectives. First, how the hell did Adnan get there? Jay denied seeing Hae’s car in the lot and he was not sharp enough to later put together the fact that the Sentra was already at the Park N Ride when he picked up Adnan from the Best Buy. Hae’s car was sitting in the same spot where Jay would see it for the first time later close to 7 PM that evening. This indicates the involvement of at least one other accomplice who drove Adnan from the Park N Ride to the Best Buy. Second, it’s a fucking Best Buy. There were certainly security cameras covering the parking lot. This was 1999. Thomas Edison had taken credit for inventing the movie camera more than 100 years earlier. There was a national news story in 1997 when a security camera at a Louisiana Walmart captured a guy who murdered his ex in the parking lot. Florida Today, August 3, 1997, p. 19A (and several other papers). Yeah, Walmart with its inventory of low-end shitty merchandise. Not judging–I’ve shopped there. That’s how I know. Compare that to Best Buy’s mid-range electronics/appliances. Just saying that Best Buy had at least as much interest as Walmart with regard to security. The Baltimore Sun reported the installation of security cameras covering the parking lots in malls and other locations almost 2 years before Hae’s murder. The Baltimore Sun in Carroll, April 18, 1997, p. 5B; The Baltimore Sun in Howard, February 13, 1997, p.4B. Sure, this is anecdotal, but as you will see, there is specific evidence in the police file proving that the cops were treating any security camera footage from Best Buy like it was radioactive.
Fifteen years after Hae’s murder, Sarah Koenig stated in Episode 4 of Serial that “there probably weren’t security cameras in the Best Buy parking lot back in 1999. And that there certainly is no mention of any security footage in the police reports.” (emphasis added). Having recently gone back and found that part of Sarah saying this in the podcast made me realize even more how the cards were stacked against her. I don’t think Sarah had the same police file that I have. Props to SSR and Frankie Hellis for the MPIA requests and making them available in their native format instead of fucking them up by robbing them of the context in which they were produced by organizing them in timelines that seem helpful to the uninitiated, but only add to the confusion and background noise. Sarah may have only been working with the cherry picked information that Rabia Chaudry shared with her. Otherwise, she would have mentioned the subpoena to Best Buy that is in the police file, which we will discuss shortly. If Sarah had this subpoena, she should not hold herself out as an investigative journalist. Actually, that’s not entirely fair. The subpoena by itself is suspicious, but it is the context and timing of the subpoena that are damning. Even decent investigative journalists could miss that. The bottom line was that any security camera footage from Best Buy would create more questions than answers. If the footage shows Adnan getting picked up by Jay with Hae’s car nowhere in sight, how did he get there? If the footage showed Adnan getting dropped off by an unknown accomplice but the footage is too grainy to see who or make out a license plate, who is this person?
This is where Ritz and Macgillivary show that they attended Bilal’s seminar on fabricating evidence. Fortunately for us, they were shitty students. The detectives needed a story from Jay that would precede Adnan’s subsequent alibis. A story that would put Jay’s viewing of Hae’s body before Adnan was seen by anyone at track practice. A story that would shrink the time between when Hae was last seen alive and when the only witness they had saw her dead. Shrinking that window and putting Adnan in possession of Hae's body shortly after she was last seen alive would improve the case for making Adnan responsible for the murder. This new story would change Adnan’s situation from likely avoiding a misdemeanor charge for unlawful disposal of a body to almost certainly being convicted of 1st degree murder. Before you read on, take a moment to review the judge’s instructions to the jury in Adnan’s trial for the requirements to determine if a person is guilty of 1st degree murder–particularly the importance of intent. Trial Tr. 2/25/1999, 36:25 - 38:8. This will provide context for Jay’s emphasis about Adnan supposedly announcing his plans to kill Hae that Jay somehow never shared with Jen.
Jay’s inclusion of Best Buy almost guaranteed that the case would never close. The cops had no leads on how Adnan got there. No leads on who dropped him off. To make matters worse, any security camera footage would only serve to confirm the participation of an unknown accomplice.
Thus, the cops told Jay to FORGET Best Buy.
Like it never happened. They moved the location where Jay picked up Adnan after school to the strip on Edmondson Ave. near where Adnan dumped Hae’s car after disposing of her body. The cops didn't make Jay move the pick up to the Park N Ride because, like Jay, they did not put it together that Hae's car was sitting there since about 3 PM on January 13th. Morons. They had Jay change the story to have Adnan specifically tell him that he was going to kill Hae earlier in the day on January 13. MPIA 233. If that had happened, Jay would have shared it with Jen. They made Jay lay it on thick by making him say that Adnan proudly declared that he murdered Hae when he popped the trunk open at Edmondson Ave. MPIA 238. Recall that Jen never said that Jay told her that Adnan admitted he did it. It was now BCPD’s turn to make Jay do their bidding under the threat of dire consequences. And Jay, having waived his rights and lacking the means to defend himself, had no recourse and again was compelled to play along. I mocked Susan Simpson quite a bit for the tapping sounds that could be heard during Jay’s statement, because if the cops were going to entirely invent Jay’s version as Susan alleges, why not simply give him a script? Contrary to Susan’s assertion, the detectives made up parts of Jay’s testimony. Parts that required their prompting him. Parts that would fit with some of what actually happened. I might have come to that conclusion sooner if Susan wasn’t so goddamn annoying.
What the cops did here is particularly fucked up because they effectively coerced Jay into falsely admitting to increased involvement in Hae’s murder. Also, his statement read like Jay was a legal scholar who understood the importance of establishing intent to secure a murder1 conviction. While forcing him to change his story, the detectives also increased the probable cause that would normally compel them to lodge charges against Jay. They had everything they needed to put the bracelets on him but they didn’t. “Ok, you’ve admitted to being an accessory in a murder we’ve been investigating for the past few weeks. Can we give you a lift home?” At one point during the 2/28/99 interview while the recorder was off, Jay asked the detectives how he can go about getting a lawyer. Trial Tr., 2/10/1999 at 49:5-10. Jay stated during trial that the detectives asked why he would want one and gave him no guidance. Id. at 52:7-12. Of course, they were not going to charge Jay after that. If they did, he could ask for a public defender and that’s the end of their puppet. They liked that Jay was putty in their hands. They liked that they could leave their options open and force him to say whatever was necessary whenever it was necessary to make their case. Thus, Jay continued to be batted around as a plaything for the next six months by the cops with no charges brought against him and no lawyer representing him. Placing Jay in legal limbo for that length of time is beyond cruel and truly a shit situation.
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FUCK THA POLICE PT. 2 - The PAPERWORK SNAFU RE BEST BUY

Remember all that shit I wrote about a dozen paragraphs earlier about the purpose and process for police progress reports? Here is where they come into play. Because the detectives conjured a sizable portion of Jay’s testimony, they hedged on committing it immediately to paper. They needed to be sure that they had the best version of the story before they started sending out grand jury summonses for witness testimony. Thus, after faithfully and promptly documenting the progress of the investigation, they sat on preparing reports of Jay and Jen’s recorded statements for more than two weeks. The dumbshit detectives were so enthralled at their manipulation of Jay Wilds and the story that they invented for him that they apparently forgot the entirety of Jen’s statement. That includes not only the substance of her interview but also the fact that she was less pliable than Jay because she retained a lawyer. On March 15, 1999, the day before grand jury subpoenas would be served, the detectives prepared their progress reports for Jen and Jay’s recorded statements from February 27th and February 28, respectively. The progress report for Jen’s statement has to be seen to be believed.
First, not one fucking word about Best Buy. You know, the place where she said Jay told her that Adnan killed Hae. Jen literally referred to Best Buy a dozen times during her statement. It was the only location that Jay told her about specifically besides Kristi's apartment that she shared with the detectives. Instead, the report mentions several places that Jen never spoke of. The 600 Block of Franklintown Road. The 4400 block of N Franklintown Road. The report mentions Adnan burying Hae in a shallow grave after she repeatedly stated that Jay told her that he did not know where the body was buried. Then there is the description of Hae’s car. You know. The one that Jen said she never saw before and knew nothing about. Despite her explicitly telling the cops that she had no knowledge about the car Hae drove, the report explicitly mentions the 1998 Nissan Sentra. Despite Jen stating that she did not know the trunk of which car Jay saw Hae’s body, the report about her interview puts it in the Sentra. The report about Jen’s interview also indicates that Hae’s car was parked near 600 Edgewood Street.
For those who attempt to argue that the report was intended to be a composite of information that was collected from both Jay and Jen, look at every other fucking progress report in this case. MPIA 15-105. When multiple things happen in a single day, there is a separate report for each task/incident. Each report covers a separate and discrete subject. Also, if the report of Jen’s statement was intended to be a composite of Jen and Jay’s statements, then why the fuck is there a separate report for Jay’s statement that was prepared on the same day as Jen’s? And why in the name of Circuit City is there no mention of Best Buy anywhere in the report? For those who are not scholars of big box electronic store history, Circuit City stores began disappearing around the time of this case because they could not compete with Best Buy. Yep, nothing makes an already mediocre joke worse than having to explain it.
The detectives sat down with the prosecutor on the morning of March 15 after preparing the bullshit progress reports to go over next steps for the grand jury proceedings. Whether it was because the detectives were ignorant, sloppy or both, someone finally thought to check the report on Jen’s interview against the actual transcript. The morons realized that most of the report chronicling Jen’s recorded statement was fan fiction. Jesus. I don’t even like saying that about other people’s writing when it actually applies. But what made them shit themselves was remembering that Jen had legal representation. That meant that they were stuck with what she said in her recorded statement. They were stuck with fucking Best Buy.
While Jen’s statement was etched in stone, Jay, who was still uncharged and still lacked legal representation, was still pliable. Thus, the detectives dragged Jay back to the homicide office to fix their fuck up. Their story is that they brought him back in because his story did not match the location data from Adnan’s phone. That is complete horse shit. While it is true that the cops were in possession of the location data from Adnan’s phone, the ignorant, lazy fucks did nothing with it. Actually, they had the location data before Jay’s first interview too. At any rate, take a look at Jay’s March 15, 1999 interview transcript and tell me how many times the detectives refer to the location data. I’ll save you some time, but feel free to confirm: ZERO. The subsequent communications with AT&T suggest that the location work was not done until closer to when Jay was finally charged in early September 1999. MPIA 1477-1480. And look at the timings of Jay’s March 15, 1999 interview. He was brought in at 3:05 PM and signed the waiver of his right to counsel at 3:15 PM. MPIA 265. His recorded statement did not begin until 6:20 PM–more than three fucking hours later! Yeah, I know, Susan…thank you, but shut the fuck up because you were still way off.
To eliminate the fact that Adnan was dropped off at the Best Buy lot by an unknown accomplice, Hae’s car now magically appeared at the Best Buy. The trunk pop that never happened during the day time moved from Edmondson Ave. to the Best Buy parking lot too. Hae’s car was now driven from the Best Buy to the Park N Ride while Jay followed in Adnan’s Honda. Even the dumbest plot would have had Jay meet Adnan at the Park N Ride instead of doing this idiotic convoy from the Best Buy to the Park N Ride. For the record, that is not “come and get me.” There was no one to “get” if Adnan had Hae’s car. It’s “come and follow me for no fucking reason.” What could the detectives do? Jen had saddled them with Best Buy and this implausible story is the best they could come up with in a few hours. Remember, they not only had to invent major parts of Jay’s story, but they also had to make it consistent with Jen’s locked version and drill it into Jay’s head so that he could regurgitate it on tape.
In their overzealous effort to paint a target on Adnan, the cops made Jay say that Adnan told him the day before on January 12, 1999 that he was going to kill Hae. MPIA 310. But then the detectives’ “stupid Bilal” went into overdrive and they made Jay say that he told Jen on January 12th that Adnan was going to kill Hae. MPIA 312. This was the detectives making like music producer Bruce Dickinson where they kept demanding more intent like it was cowbell.
To conceal the fuck up of their March 15, 1999 progress reports, the detectives subsequently prepared new reports dated April 27, 1999 to cover Jen and Jay’s recorded statements from February. MPIA 66-67. Yeah, two fucking months later. This time the cops learned their lesson and were more careful to not include any substantive information. What if they needed to change the story again? No explanation is provided for why these duplicative reports were prepared. My guess is that they were supposed to borrow Rabia Chaudry’s paper shredder and destroy the March 15, 1999 reports but got sloppy and forgot. When you never get called out for this shit, why bother? Alternatively, these sanitized duplicate reports may have been prepared for trial purposes so that they would not have to share the fan-fiction one with the defense. Gutierrez would have torn Macgillivary a new asshole if she was given the 3/15/99 version of the progress report about Jen’s 2/27/99 interview. The 4/27/99 version of the report gave her nothing.
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FUCK THA POLICE PT. 3 - THE BEST BUY SUBPOENA

Having “fixed” Jay’s statement while forcing him to make fantastically ridiculous explanations for the wild changes that are directly attributable to the detectives’ incompetence while making us think it was due to Jay’s dishonesty, they were ready to hand out grand jury summonses. The first set went out on March 16, 1999 to Jen, Saad Chaudry and Bilal Ahmed ordering them to appear the next day. What is really interesting from this point forward is the information that the cops sought and, more importantly, what they did not seek.
Both Jay and Jen told the cops about several pieces of evidence that were tossed in dumpsters during the evening of January 13, 1999. These included Hae’s keys, wallet, shovels and clothing. On March 19, 1999, more than two months after all that shit went into the dumpsters, Macgillivary contacted BFI waste management service to inquire about the following info:

• Pickup schedule for the locations where they were told the items were discarded;
• The drivers’ manifest that logs details about the pickups;
• The date when each dumpster was emptied;
• The location where the contents were disposed.

Given that most commercial dumpsters are emptied weekly, those that allegedly contained the items sought by the cops were emptied at least 9 times by March 19, 1999. Also, Maryland of 1999 was big on incinerating trash with over 100 incinerators located throughout the state. The Baltimore Sun, June 14, 2000 at p. 1A. Not good for the environment and really not good for evidence you hope to recover. Anything that went into the dumpsters 9 weeks earlier was likely reduced to ash. Yet the detectives pressed on with this quixotic quest. They might as well have subpoenaed hell demanding the production of the proverbial snowball. You would think that there would be other, more readily available evidence of high relevance that they should seek. Oh, they did seek testimony of other individuals and served subpoenas to gather additional information, including:

• On April 3, they also served subpoenas on the news programs for five different TV stations for all news, videos, reports, etc. about the case. MPIA 92. They clearly are aware that the such a thing as video footage exists.
• Adnan’s bank records were also subpoenaed on April 3rd. MPIA 96.
• On April 7th, subpoenas were served on Jay’s employers at Southwestern Video and the drug store for his work records. MPIA 95 and 99.
• Jen’s employment records were subpoenaed the same day as Jay’s. MPIA 100.
• Also on that day, the detectives conferred with Assistant States Attorney (ASA), Vicki Wash, and served additional subpoenas on Yaser Ali, Imran Hasnuddin and Adnan’s brother, Tanveer. MPIA 101.

April 13, 1999 was a busy day for the detectives and prosecutors. They dragged Jay in at 7:00 AM for yet another interview early in the morning to get the final details of the story straight. MPIA 104, 336. This interview was not recorded and, according to Jay, the detectives did not even take notes. Trial Tr. 2/10/1999 at 154:3-14. Of course, no charges were brought against Jay and he waived his right to counsel. After violating Jay’s rights again, the detectives reviewed their progress reports with ASA Wash and presented the case to the grand jury after which Adnan was indicted for first degree murder. MPIA 104.
The description above of the evidence that was requested before Adnan was indicted on April 13, 1999 underscores a glaring omission. If you’re paying attention, you already know what it is, but I’m gonna build it up anyway. The detectives and the prosecutor obviously realized the omission themselves and–taking a page from Bilal–tried too hard and revealed their scheme. Recall that the bullshit the cops were pushing was that Adnan murdered Hae in the Best Buy parking lot. And, of course, Adnan then inexplicably popped the trunk open in broad daylight in a ridiculously public spot to show Jay Hae’s body. The cops and prosecution should have left well enough alone and not concerned themselves with optics. But, like Bilal, they could not stop themselves. They thought that it would look weird if they never subpoenaed Best Buy when all this ridiculous criminal activity was supposedly happening at that location. Thus, on the same fucking day that Adnan was indicted, a subpoena was served on Best Buys [sic]. MPIA 105 and 1250-1253 (the AdnanSyedWiki does not include the fax coversheet showing the time the fax was sent). But did these corrupt fucks request footage from security cameras? No. They requested “all journal rolls, records and employment records for January 13, 1999.” That’s like serving a subpoena on AT&T for Adnan’s dental records. Four weeks earlier, they asked for locations of garbage from dumpsters that were emptied nine times and likely incinerated but were not interested in requesting whether there was any security camera footage that, according to their bullshit narrative, would have captured the actual murder and presentation of the victim’s dead body. Oh, and they did this after Adnan was already indicted. The subpoena to “Best Buys” was faxed at 4:20 PM. MPIA 1253. Are you fucking kidding me? Because such footage would have been toxic to their bullshit narrative. If anyone later asked them if they subpoenaed Best Buy, they could now say, “yeah, but they didn’t have anything.” Because what the cops and prosecutors should have asked for was so obvious, no one would inquire, "what did you specifically request?"
The footage would have been problematic for the defense as well. If it was requested and showed Adnan getting dropped off by an unknown accomplice and subsequently picked up by Jay, Adnan would not exactly come off looking like the golden boy they hoped the jury would see. Because Adnan was already on record telling the cops that he went to track practice after school with no mention of a detour to Best Buy. MPIA 814. Neither the prosecution nor the defense wanted any part of any security camera footage from Best Buy. It was the evidentiary equivalent of Bilal Ahmed.
At the same time, Gutierrez could have used the failure to seek let alone show footage from Best Buy to skewer the detectives. She raised it to Ritz who basically accepted the existence of such footage:

Q: And that at that time -- at the time that he was at Best Buy, at the time the video would have been filming, he had never said that he had done anything criminal?
A: He knew that he had done something wrong.

Trial Tr. 2/27/1999 at 85:5-8 (emphasis added).
Oddly, no objection from Urick: No "assuming facts not in evidence;" no "lack of foundation." I would have expected Kevin to jump all over that. Instead we have one of the investigating detectives accepting the premise of the question that video of the Best Buy lot exists. This was too big a point for Gutierrez to assume that the jury picked up on it through her subtle inference. It seems like a ridiculously obvious thing to request given the importance of what the prosecution alleged went down at that location. Emphasizing the police and prosecutor’s failure to pursue or present that evidence was a prime opportunity to hammer reasonable doubt into the heads of the jury. Actually, Cristina could have done that during closing arguments. She even mentioned Jen suggesting that "there's a camera at Best Buy." Trial Tr. 2/25/2000 at 91:1-2. But Gutierrez used it in the context of Jay changing his story. Damn, she could have won the case on that issue. Imagine if she had hit it like this:

Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, the state's case hinges on the testimony of a single witness. A sole eye witness whose story changed by the minute. That witness said that Adnan told him that he murdered Hae Min Lee. He said that Adnan proudly popped open the trunk of a car in the Best Buy parking lot and showed him the victim's body. Remember, the state wants you to believe that Adnan Syed strangled the victim in the vehicle and then dragged her dead body out of the car in broad daylight in the parking lot of a location for the busiest consumer electronics retailer in America during business hours and placed it in the trunk. Not one witness noticed that. Not a single shopper. Not a single employee. Only Jay Wilds.
But who needs a witness when you have security cameras! Do you remember seeing state's presentation of security camera footage of all this happening in broad daylight? Do you remember the footage of the victim's car pulling up to the Best Buy lot? Do you remember the footage of the car shaking suggesting the physical struggle that took place inside? Do you remember the footage of the victim's body being dragged out of the car and dumped into the trunk? Finally, do you remember seeing the footage of Adnan Syed popping the trunk open to show the victim's body to the state's sole eye witness? Yeah, neither do I.
The state did not show you any such footage, did they? But this was a Best Buy parking lot in the middle of the day. Surely, the first thing the investigating officers did was request the security camera footage, right? No. They waited until after Adnan Syed was indicted and that afternoon, they faxed a subpoena to "Best Buys" for optics. How do we know it was optics? Because the subpoena only requested, and I quote, "all journal rolls, records and employment records for January 13, 1999." Not a single word about security camera footage. They did not request it because they did not want any security camera footage. Because they knew what their sole eye witness with the ever-changing narrative told you did not happen. As you deliberate whether this 17-year old boy should be found guilty of murder, you must ask yourselves why the state did not want you to see the security camera footage from Best Buy.

I'm not sure that a judge would allow that because you're not supposed to talk about evidence that was not presented. But that's not exactly the same thing. You're not talking about what the security camera did or did not show, just that it was obvious evidence that the state inexplicably failed to present. That is, if the state actually believed its own case. At any rate, this is hindsight and it was a strategic call that could have blown up in Gutierrez’s face. She was not privy to the information that we have today. She didn’t know what the tape would show. It would've been insane for her to suggest evidence that could help the state make its case if there ended up being a new trial in the future. Accordingly, I don’t see that as a fuck up. One thing is clear though: the state wanted no part of any Best Buy security camera footage.
As to the footage itself, it likely would have been too grainy to identify the person who dropped off Adnan at the Best Buy parking lot. Let's focus on that for a moment to see if we can get a more clear picture.
On to Part 5...Hang in there!

Top 10 Most Important Roads In Indy

1. Sam Jones Expwy/Raymond St. East/West running road spanning city. Main and (practically only) east/west thoroughfare through south half of city. Freeway on west and central portions. Interchanges/exchanges with: I-465, I-70, I-65, (also very close to I-465/I-74 interchange), #3, #5, #6, Emerson, Shadeland, Kentucky Major destinations: Airport, main industrial sector
   
2. 56th St/Kessler Blvd (east-west) East-west running road spanning city from Eagle Creek/Brownsburg to Lawrence. Intersections/interchanges with: I-465(x2) #2, #3, #5, #6, #7, Shadeland, Ronald Reagan Pkwy, Major Destinations: Glendale Mall, Fort Harrison, also close to Broad Ripple Village
   
3. 82nd/86th St. East/West running road spanning city on north side just inside I-465. Interchanges/intersections: I-465, I-69/#7, #2, #3, #5, #6, Allisonville, Shadeland Major destinations: Castleton Square Mall, Keystone Fashion Mall
   
4. Fall Creek Pkwy/Binford Blvd Winding northeast-southwest oriented parkway 2-3 lanes for its entirety with a middle lane changing direction based on time of day, running from north of Downtown to I-465 where it becomes I-69. Intersections/interchanges with: I-465, I-69, #2, #3, #4, #5, #8, #9, 30th, (sort of) Shadeland Majors destinations: Indiana State Fairgrounds, Castleton Square Mall, Ivy Tech
   
5. Lafayette Rd./White River Pkwy/Harding St. Runs NW-SE from Eagle Creek to Near West Side near Downtown. From there runs north-south to I-465 where it becomes SR 37/I-69. Interchanges/intersections with: I-65, I-70, I-465, I-69, #1, #4, #8, #9, #10, 30th, 16th, 10th Major Destinations: Lafayette Square Mall, Zoo, Also close to IMS, IUPUI, Riley/Eskenazi/VA Hospitals, Downtown
   
6. Keystone Av/Rural St North-south running road spanning city from Southport through Near East Side to Carmel and Westfield Major intersections/interchanges: I-465, I-65, I-70, #1, #2, #4, #7, #8, #9, 96th, 30th, 16th, 10th Major Destinations: Indiana State Fairgrounds, Keystone Fashion Mall, Glendale Mall
   
7. 38th St. East-west oriented road spanning city from Clermont to Far East Side Intersections/interchanges include: I-465, I-65 (overlaps for about a mile), #2, #3, #5, #6, #7, Emerson, Shadeland Major Destinations: Lafayette Square Mall, Indiana State Fairgrounds, Crown Hill Cemetery, IMA Soon to have Purple Line BRT Line
   
8. Bluff Rd./West St./Dr MLK Jr St/Michigan Rd. NNW/SSE-oriented road spanning entirety of city. 2-3+ lanes for most of its span except on south side. Intersections/interchanges with I-465, I-70, I-65 (x2), #1, #4, #8, #9, 10th, 16th, 30th, 96th Major Destinations: downtown, IMA, Crown Hill, IUPUI also close to Riley/Eskenazi/VA Hospitals
   
9. East St./Madison Av/Meridian St. Major north-south thoroughfare running through center of city from Westfield and Carmel through Downtown down to Greenwood Intersections/Interchanges with I-465 (x2), I-70, I-65, #1, #4, #7, #8, #9, 10th, 16th, 30th, 96th Stretches of freeway south of downtown and outside 465 on north side. Major Destinations: Greenwood Park Mall, Broad Ripple, Downtown, Ivy Tech, Children’s Museum, Broad Ripple Includes Red Line BRT line for large stretches
   

Honorable Mentions:
Shadeland Av Emerson Av 96th St 30th St. 16th 10th St.

1. Washington St. Main east-west thoroughfare running through center of city from Plainfield through Downtown to Cumberland Intersections/exchanges with I-465 (x2), I-70/65, #2, #3, #5, #6, Shadeland, Emerson, Harding, Holt Major Destinations: Downtown, Zoo, Airport, Perry Crossing Mall, Irvington, Washington Square Mall Soon to have Blue Line BRT Line

Notes:
A. All 10 of these roads cross the White River, except Fall Creek Pkwy. Outside of Downtown and interstates, there are only 12 places to cross the White River in Indy. So this top 10 list features 8 of those 12 such crossings. The other 4 are Westfield Blvd., 16th St., 30th St., and College Ave.
B. This list does NOT include interstate highways.

I'm in upper NW near a tangle of streets that sees some of the most irresponsible and dangerous driving I've seen apart from certain parts of Wisconsin and Connecticut and highway on-ramps. There's a two lane road parallel to Wisconsin that people absolutely fly down, though the city is reportedly adding some traffic calming measures, but then there's a little pass-through people take to get from that road to Wisconsin. The pass-through is where things get worrisome. When people exit the parallel two-lane road, they fly down to a three-way intersection that has no crosswalks despite being a big pedestrian thoroughfare. Also, it has only one stop sign, so folks cutting through are basically unencumbered by anything pesky requiring them to maintain a sensible speed. These people cutting through take a left where the only stop sign is. Sometimes, though, they continue straight, which is a dead-end. Once they notice they've made a mistake, many seem to accelerate to insane speeds, whip around in the cul-de-sac, and then speed right back down. For those who take the left at the correct time, more than half of the people take a crazy apex to the point where they couldn't see people crossing the street or even cars coming the opposite direction. On top of that, people coming from the opposite direction rarely stop at the stop sign. It's a perfect mess and I'm surprised no one (that I know of) has gotten seriously injured or killed. I can't tell you how many times I've almost been hit and had drivers look right through me like I was just some obstacle. It's infuriating.
If that all sounds confusing and dangerous, it's because it is. I'm wondering if anyone has successfully advocated for traffic calming measures, like additional stop signs, speed bumps, new crosswalks, clearer signage, and maybe even some sort of rubber or plastic bollard installation in the place where people take the dangerous apex on the left turn. I'd like to put together a plan, get a bunch of folks along these roads to sign on, and then present it to the ANC. I assume that's the best approach.
If you have any suggestions on what one could reasonably argue for in terms of traffic calming, suggested process, etc, I'd be most grateful. Thank you.

I'm not sure where exactly to post this but I need help from fellow avian enthusiasts!
Some background info: I have a few tarantulas and have justified buying crickets from PetSmart because they're only a couple dollars a month. However I went into the PetSmart location today in Hillsboro, the one on 185th near Burgerville and saw a Sun Conure dying on full display in the store. I'm not talking it just look at little sad, this bird was fluffed near the bottom of its cage, eyes barely opening in a busy store, and it hardly even made note of me as I approached it and gave it a look over. I cannot stop thinking about that poor animal, sun conures have the mental capacity of a toddler, and that creature is suffering and dying slowly, while probably being treated like absolute trash. I told the cashier, a woman with brown haiblonde highlights, that the bird need a vet immediately and that it was clearly dying. She looked around like I had said a slur and then proceeded to treat me like a problem customer. I sent a report to the humane society and I'll be calling Washington animal control in the morning but I don't know what else to do. I'm almost positive they're just going to throw this poor bird in the dumpster, rather than do right by it. Please, if anyone can help this bird or even help me pressure the General manager into forfeiting it to a rescue I would be endlessly grateful. Imagine a three year old being treated that way, and no one doing anything. Im quite literally loosing sleep over it. That baby should have 30+ years of life left ahead of it, it's absolutely gut wretching.
This is the store info:
(503) 645-5104 1295 NW 185th Ave, Hillsboro, OR 97006
I'll be stopping by in the morning when they open to get the name of the general manager and speak to them again, as well as to get some photos of the bird (I was so upset I didn't even think about it unfortunately)
Thank you in advance for any advice/aid
UPDATE 5/24:
Washington county animal services has confirmed they're going to send an officer to check on the sun conure! I'm not sure if I'll know the resolution but I'll absolutely be back to share if I do get another email from them. Thank you to anyone who called and gave advice.

Most of my friends live near me in NW Austin, but I go to a lot of events in south and central Austin, such as Broadway shows, art exhibitions, and such. Sometimes I just want to try a restaurant in another part of town or go to South Lamar Alamo Drafthouse to watch indie movies. How do I find people to do these things with? None of the friend-finding apps are done via location, and all the location-based apps are all dating apps.

I'm trying to make a list of all of the things to do in Denver for this summer. Does anyone know of anything I should add?
DOUBLE CHECK BEFORE YOU GO. THIS LIST MAY NOT BE UP TO DATE

Music Festivals

• Saturdays 05/27-09/02 Swingin Under the Stars - 7:30PM-10PM FREE All Ages Swing Dancing, Lessons, Ice Cream, Live Music Little Man Ice Cream, 2620 16th Street Denver, CO 80211
• 06/03 Denver Day of Rock - 1:15PM-9:30PM FREE All Ages 15 Bands, 3 Stages; Mainly Rock; Food Trucks LODO Denver
• 06/07 Holiday Theater Music and Poetry Showcase - 7PM FREE All Ages Guitar, Low-Rock, Spoken Word, Poetry, Jazz MCA Denver at the Holiday Theater 2644 West 32nd Avenue Denver, CO 80211
• 06/10 Five Points Jazz Festival - 12PM-8PM FREE All Ages 140+ Jazz Performances Five Points, Denver
• 06/17 First Harvest Music Vestival - 4PM-8PM $10 12 and Below; $35 1+ All Ages Various Musicans Including the Flobots, The Snakes, and Brothers of Brass; Foodtrucks, To Show Solidarity for Refugees DeLaney Community Farm 170 South Chambers Road Aurora, CO 80017
• 07/14-07/16 Compost Heap Music Festival - Times TBA FREE (Suggested Donations) Underground Music of Various Genres Seventh Circle Music Collective, 2935 W 7th Ave, Denver CO
• 07/15 Blues & BBQ Festival – 10AM-6PM $10 All Ages Live Blues Music and BBQ Citizen’s Park, 5560 W 24th Ave, Edgewater, CO 80214
• 07/21-07/22 Global Dance Festival – 3PM-11PM $99/Day All Ages EDM, Art Installations, Circus Performers, Silent Disco. Performers Include Kaskade, Deadmau5, Loud Luxury, Surf Mesa, Troyboi, Zedd and Many More! Empower Field. 1701 Bryant St, Denver, CO 80204
• 07/28-07/30 Underground Music Showcase - 3PM-12AM $120 Weekend Pass *Independent Music of Various Genres - Broadway // 6th Ave to Alameda, 21 S Broadway, Denver, CO 80209
• 08/25-08/27 Meow Wolf Vortex Music and Art Festival - 2:30PM-?? $60-$100 / Day, -$229 Weekend Pass Electronic Music Festival Feat. Griz, Armani White, BLOND:ISH and many more The Junkyard, 2323 W. Mulberry Place, Denver, CO 80204
• 08/12 Ghost Canyon Fest – 6PM-12AM $50 21+ Noise, Punk, and Post Punk Bands Hi Dive, 7 S Broadway, Denver, CO 80223
• 09/09 Sunnyside Music Festival – 12PM-7:15PM FREE All Ages Local Bands, Food, Vendos Chaffe Park near 2001 W 44th Ave, Denver, CO 80211
• 09/16 Viva Southwest Mariachi Fest – 4:30PM-10PM FREE All Ages Mariachi Bands, Food, Vendos Levitt Pavilion, 1380 W Florida Ave, Denver, CO 80223

Culture Festivals

• 06/02 Chrom - 5PM-10PM FREE All Ages A Pride Queer Art Showcase and Vendor Market, Live DJ Skylight, 833 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, United States
• 06/09-06/11 ayA Con - F 4PM-7PM; Sa 10AM-6PM; Su 10AM-5PM $15-$30 All Ages Indigenous Comics, Art, Fashion, Performance, Film, and Music McNichols Civic Center Building, 144 W Colfax Ave, Aver, CO 80202
• 06/09-06/11 Denver Greek Festival - F 11AM-11PM; Sa 11AM-12AM; Su 11AM-7PM FREE All Ages Celebration of Greek Heritage with Food, Music, Vendors, and Art Assumption of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 4610 E Alameda Ave, Denver, CO 80246
• 06/17-06/18 Juneteenth Festival - 12PM-8PM FREE All Ages Celebration of Black Culture and Liberation with a Parade, Live Music, Vendors Five Points, Denver
• 06/17-06/18 Cherry Blossom Festival - 5k Sa 8AM; Parade Sa 9:30AM FREE All Ages Celebration of Japanese Heritage with Taiko Drumming, Teriyaki Chicken, Sake, Japanese Art Sakura Square, Denver
• 06/24-06/25 Denver Pridefest - Sa 11AM-6PM; Su 11AM-4PM FREE All Ages Celebration of LGBTQ+ Culture with 5k Run, Parade, Venors, Concerts, Drag Events Civic Center Park, 101 W 14th Ave, Denver, CO 80202 (Parade Starts at Cheeseman Park)
• 07/07 -07/09 Colorado Black Arts Festival - F 1PM-8PM; Sa 11AM-8PM; Su 11AM-7PM FREE All Ages * Celebration of Black Culture with Performances, Visual Art, Scavenger Hunts, Food, Parade, Vendors* City Park, 2001 Colorado Blvd, Denver, CO 80205
• 07/15-07/16 Mile High Global Bazaar - 11AM-7PM FREE All Ages Cultural Exhibits and Vendors from around the World Skyline Park, Denver, CO 80202
• 07/22-07/23 Colorado Dragon Boat Festival – Races Start 8AM; Festival Sa 10AM-7PM. Su 10AM-5PM FREE All Ages *Dragon Boat Races, Food, Vendors, Performances – FREE – Sloan's Lake Park W Bryon Pl, Denver, CO 80212

Food / Drink Festivals

• W-Th 05/15-09/?? Civic Center Eats - 11AM-7PM Free All Ages 10-20 Food Trucks of Various Cuisines Civic Center Park, 101 W 14th Ave, Denver, CO 80202
• 05/14, 06/04, 07/09 A Taste of Colorado 10AM-6PM Free All Ages Live Music, 6 Food Trucks, Drinks, Live Music, Kids Activities, Vendors Civic Center Park, 101 W 14th Ave, Denver, CO 80202
• 05/27-05/28 BBQ Fest 11AM-8PM $35 Under 20; $109 Adult All Ages * All You Can Eat BBQ, All You Can Drink, Cooking Demos, Live Music* Empower Field at Mile High, 1701 Bryant St, Denver, CO, 80204
• 05/27 Taste Around the World! Spring Wine Event - 3PM-6:30PM $90 All Ages * Tastings for 25 Bottles of Wine with Help From Wine Experts* Ironton Distillery (RiNo) - 3636 Chestnut Pl, Denver, CO 80216
• 07/20 The Big Eat - 6PM-9PM $85 21+ 50+ Restaurants All You Can Eat, Live Music* Denver Performing Arts Complex, 1400 Curtis St, Denver, CO 80204
• 07/22 - Summer Brewfest - 1PM-10PM $55 Advance, $60 Day of Only Allowed Half of Time) 21+ *Unlimited Tastings of Local Beer Brews Mile High Station, 2027 West Colfax Avenue, Denver Co 80204
• 08/03 Denver Burger Battle - Price TBA 21+ 20+ Restaurants Best Burger Competition; Unlimited Drinks and Burgers* Tivoli Quad, 1000 Larimer St, Denver CO 80204?
• 08/19 Sloan’s Lake Beer Fest - $5 DD, $35 if Drinking 21+ 1970s Themed Beer Tasting with Live Music* 1610 Raleigh Street Denver, CO 80204
• 08/26 Denver Summer Whiskey Tasting Festival - 2:30PM-6PM $45 21+ Tasting of 20+ Whiskey, Tasting Lessons, Live Music, Food Location TBA
• 09/06-09/09 Denver Food and Wine Festivals 11AM-8PM $60-$95 21+ * Food and Wine Showcase, Tastings, Seminars, Cocktail Competition* Tivoli Quad on the Auraria Campus, 1000 Larimer St, Denver

Art / Crafts / Shopping Festival

• 05/05, 06/02, 07/07, 08/04, 09/01 Sante Fe First Friday Art Walks - 5:30PM-9PM FREE All Ages Galleries , Vendors, Food Trucks, Music Sante Fe // 5th Ave to 11th Ave, Denver, CO 80204
• 05/05, 06/02, 07/07, 08/04, 09/01 RiNo First Friday Art Walks - 5:30PM-9PM FREE All Ages Art,Vendors Larimer St // Broadway to Downing
• 05/05, 06/02, 07/07, 08/04, 09/01 Dairy Block First Friday Art Walks - 5PM-9PM FREE All Ages Art, Vendors 1800 Wazee St, Denver, CO 80202
• 05/05, 06/02, 07/07, 08/04, 09/01 Lakewood First Friday Art Walks - 6PM-9PM FREE All Ages Galleries, Drinks, Music 6501 W Colfax Ave, Lakewood, CO 80214
• 05/20-05/21 Spring Bazaar - 12PM-6PM FREE All Ages 80+ Vendors, Live DJ, Food Hall Outside Zeppelin Station, 3501 Wazee St #100, Denver, CO 80216
• 05/27-05/28 Denver Arts Festival - Sa 10AM-6PM, Su 10AM-5PM FREE All Ages Local Art Conservatory Green, Central Park, 8304 E. 49th Pl. Denver 80216
• 06/08-06/11 Denver Fringe Festival - Hours Vary $15 (Some FREE Street Performances) All Ages 55+ Shows of Performance Art, Plays, Comedy, Improv, Cabaret, Magic, Dance, Aerial, Immersive Experiences, & More Across 12 Venues RiNo and Five Points Denver
• 06/10-06/11 Denver Chalk Art Festival - Sa 10AM-10PM; Su 10AM-8PM FREE All Ages Chalk Art on the Street 123 W. 12th Avenue, Denver, CO 80204
• 07/01-07/03 Cherry Creek Arts Festival Sa-Su 10AM-8PM; M 10AM-6PM FREE All Ages Art Vendors Cherry Creek North, 2401 E 2nd Ave #150, Denver, CO 80206
• 07/22-07/23 Cheeseman Park Art Festival – 9AM-5PM FREE All Ages 150+ Artists, Live Music, Food & Drinks Cheeseman Park, 1599 East 8th Avenue, Denver CO 80218
• 05/14, 05/22, 06/11, 06/25; 07/09, 07/23, 08/13, 08/27 Thrift Pop – 12PM-5PM FREE All Ages Vintage Clothing, Thrifting, Collectibles Denver Central Market 2669 Larimer St, Denver CO

Other Festivals

• 05/18-05/21 Somebody’s Friend Movement and Music Festival – Times Vary FREE All Ages Dance and Live Music Festival Denver Central Market 2669 Larimer St, Denver CO
• 05/20 Rocky Mountain Tree Festival – 12PM-6PM FREE All Ages Live Music, Art Vendors; All Funds Go to Planting Trees New Terrain Brewing Co, 16401 Table Mountain Pkwy, Golden, CO
• 05/12; 06/04; 07/09; 08/06 !Viva! Streets – 8AM-2PM FREE 3.5 Miles of Car Free Streets; Food; Crafts Broadway, Denver From Alameda to 20th
• 06/10-06/11 Unicorn Festival – 10AM-5PM $25 All Things Fairy and Unicorn Including the Unicorns Themselves Clement Park, 7306 W Bowles Ave, Littleton, CO 80123
• 06/10-06/11 Big Gear Show – Sa 10AM-6PM; Su 10AM-4PM FREE Outdoor Goods Consumer Show Colorado Convention Center, 700 14th St, Denver, CO 80202
• 06/30-07/02 Fan Expo – F 4PM-9PM; Sa 10AM-7PM; Su 10AM-5PM $38-$58 / Day; $90 3-Day Pass All Ages Convention for Fans of Comics, Sci F, Horror, Anime, Gaming Colorado Convention Center, 700 14th St, Denver, CO 80202
• 07/15-07/16 Lavender Festival – 9AM-5PM $13 Adults, $11 Seniors, $9 Children All Ages Lavender Fields, Artists, Live Music, Demonstrationsof Dye Garden and Blacksmith ShopDenver Botanic Gardens - Chatfield Farms, 8500 W Deer Creek Canyon Road, Littleton, CO 80128

Farmers Markets

Sundays

• Sundays 05/07-11/12 South Pearl Street – 9AM-1PM 1527 S Pearl St, Denver, CO 80210
  
• Sundays 06/25-10/08 Central Park – 8:30AM-12:30 PM South Green 7601 29th Ave, Denver, CO 80238
  
• Sundays 04/07-10/29 Metro Denver Famers Market - Highlands Ranch – 10AM-2PM 9288 Dorchester St, Highlands Ranch, CO 80126
  
• Sundays 06/04-09/24 Arvada Farmer’s Market – 9AM-1:30PM Olde Town Square, 5702 Olde Wadsworth Blvd. Arvada, CO 80002
  
• Sundays 05/21-10/15 HighlandsSquare – 9AM-1PM 3600 W 32nd Ave, Denver, CO 80211
  
• Sundays 05/14-10/29 Parker – 8AM-1PM – 19565 Mainstreet, Parker, CO 80138
  
• Sundays 05/28-10/15 Festival Park – 9AM-2PM – 300 2nd St, Castle Rock, CO 80104
  
• Sundays 06/04-09/24 People + Produce – (Food Trucks Beer Garden Live Music) - 9AM-1PM – 4190 S Newport St, Denver, CO 80237
  
• Second Sundays May-Aug Stanley Summer Series Farmer’s Market - 1PM-6PM Stanley Marketplace, 2501 Dallas St, Aurora, CO 80010
  

Tuesdays

• Tuesdays 05/30-09/26 Evergreene – 10AM-2PM 1036 El Rancho Road, Evergreen, CO 80439

Wednesdays

• Wednesdays 06/07-08/30 Green Valley Ranch – 5PM-8PM Green Valley Ranch Town Center Park, 4890 Argonne St., Denver, CO 80249
  
  • Wednesdays 06/14-08/16 Cherry Creek – 9AM-1PM Cherry Creek Shopping Center, 3000 E 1st Ave, Denver, CO 80206
• Wednesdays 06/14-09/27[Littleton]((https://www.denverfarmersmarket.com/) – 10AM-2PM 7301 S Santa Fe Dr, Littleton, CO 80120
  

Thursdays

• **Thursdays 05/11-09/3140 - Real Farmers Market - Erie – 5PM-8PM – Briggs Street // Wells and Moffatt, Erie 80516

Saturdays

• Saturday 05/06-11/04 Cherry Creek Fresh Market – 9AM-2PM Cherry Creek Shopping Center, 3000 E 1st Ave, Denver, CO 80206
  
• Saturdays 05/13-10/28 University Hills – 9AM-1PM – 2500 S Colorado Blvd, Denver, CO 80222
  
• Saturdays 06/10-09/30 [Lakewood]((https://www.denverfarmersmarket.com/) – 10AM-2PM Mile Hi Church. 9077 W Alameda Ave, Denver, CO 80226
  
• Saturdays 04/06-10/28 Southwest Plaza – 8AM-2PM 8501 W Bowles Ave, Littleton, CO 80123
  
• Saturdays 05/13-09/30* Southland – 8AM-1PM – 6155 S Main St, Aurora, CO 80016
  
• Saturdays 06/03-09/16 Union Station – 9AM-1PM 1701 Wynkoop, Denver, CO 80202
  
• Saturdays 5/13-10/28 City Park – 8AM-1PM 2551 E Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80206
  
• Saturdays 06/03-10/07 Golden 8AM-1PM 1019 10th St, Golden, CO 80401
  
• Saturdays 5/13-10/14 Real Farmer’s Market - Louisville – 9AM-1PM 824 Front Street, Louisville, CO 80027
  
• 1st and 3rd Saturdays 5/13-10/21 Rebels in the Garden - 9PM-1PM Activist Group Rebel Marketplace, S Del Mar Circle, Aurora, CO, USA
  

Denver.org List of Farmers Markets

Concerts

LIST OF ALMOST ALL CONCERTS AND LIVE MUSIC IN DENVER SUMMER 2023
Free Outdoor Concerts

• Sundays 06/04-08/06 City Park Jazz - 6PM-8PM FREE All Ages Jazz, Blues, Brass, and More City Park Pavilion, Denver
  
• Dates Vary 05/19-09/29Levitt Pavilion Free Concerts Series - Times Vary FREE All Ages Free Concerts, Various Genres Levitt Pavilion, 1380 W Florida Ave, Denver, CO 80223
  
• Central Park Concert Schedule - 6PM or 6:30 PM FREE All Ages Central Park, Denver
  
• Green Valley Ranch Sunday Concerts in the Park - 4PM-6:30PM FREE All Ages Green Valley Ranch Town Center Park, 5050 Argonne St, Denver, CO 80249
  
• Downtown Lakewood Summer Concert Series - 6PM-8PM FREE All Ages Belmar Shopping Center, Downtown Lakewood, 7337 W Alaska Dr, Lakewood, CO 80226
  
• Orchard Town Center Til’ Dark 3rd Friday’s Concert Series - 6:30PM-8:30PM FREE All Ages The Orchard Town Center, 14697 Delaware St, Westminster, CO 80023
  
• Highlands Ranch Community Association Summer Concert Series - 6:30PM-8:00PM FREE All Ages Highland Heritage Regional Park, 9651 S Quebec, Highlands Ranch, CO 80129
  

Outside Paid Venues

• Red Rocks Event Schedule 303-319 CO-8, Morrison, CO 80465
  
• Empower Field Event Schedule 1701 Bryant St, Denver, CO 80204
  
• Fiddler’s Green Event Schedule 6350 Greenwood Plaza Blvd, Greenwood Village, CO 80111
  
• Denver Botanical Gardens Music at the Gardens Schedule Denver Botanic Gardens, 1007 York St, Denver, CO 80206
  
• Evenings El Pastor at the Denver Botanic Gardens Small Ensembles Hidden Throughout the Gardens Denver Botanic Gardens, 1007 York St, Denver, CO 80206
  
• Civic Center Park Concert Schedule Civic Center Park, 101 W 14th Ave, Denver, CO 80202
  
• Dick’s Sporting Goods Park Concert Schedule Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, 6000 Victory Way, Commerce City, CO 80022
  
• Arvada Center Outdoor Amphitheater & Front Porch Concerts Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd, Arvada, CO 80003
  
• Shady Grove Concert Series at Four Mile Historic Park - 6:30PM $15 Four Mile Historic Park, 715 S Forest St, Denver, CO 80246
  
• Mile High Music Series - 6:30PM-10PM Ticket Comes with 1 Free Frink Four Mile Historic Park, 715 S Forest St, Denver, CO 80246
  

Paid Indoor Venues

• List of Venus in Denver

Concert Lists (by Genre, Search, Etc)

• Songkick
  
• Concertfix
  
• Concertful
  

Parks / Nature

National Parks

• Rocky Mountain National Park $15-$35; $70 Annual; $80 Interagency All Ages 415 Square Miles of Mountain Environments FREE DAYS: 08/04, 09/24, 11/11
  
• Mesa Verde National Park $15-$30; $55 Annual; $80 Interagency World Heritage Site of Pueblo Ruins FREE DAYS: 08/04, 09/24, 11/11
  
• Great Sand Dunes National Park $25; $40 Annual; $80 INteragencyFREE DAYS: 08/04, 09/24, 11/11
  
• Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park $15-$30; $55 Annual; $80 Interagency FREE DAYS: 08/04, 09/24, 11/11
  

State Parks

• Barr Lake
  
• Cheyenne Mountain
  
• Crawford
  
• Eleven Mile
  
• Jackson Lake
  
• John Martin
  
• Lake Pueblo
  
• Mancos
  
• Ridgway
  
• St. Vrain
  
• Staunton
  
• Steamboat Lake
  
• Trinidad Lake
  

City Parks

• City Park Lake, Science Museum, Zoo, Golf 17th and York, Denver, CO
  
• Skyline Park * Beer Garden, Ice Skating Rink in Winter* 16th and Arapaho, Denver, CO
  
• Civic Center Park * Lots of Festivals, Art Museum, Library, Government Buildings* 101 W 14th Ave Pkwy, Denver, CO, 80203
  
• Confluence Park Aquarium, Children’s Museum, Elitch Gardens, S Platte River 2250 15th St, Denver, CO
  
• Centennial Flower Gardens Gardens, S Platte River, Elitch Gardens 1101 Little Raven St, Denver, CO
  
• Commons Park S Platte River, Sand Prairie 17th and York, Denver, CO
  
• Sloans Lake Park Lake, Festival 1700 Sheridan Blvd, Denver, CO
  
• Washington Park Lakes, Boat Rentals, Gardens, Playgrounds, Sports, Tennis Courts, Soccer Field Virginia Ave and Downing St, Denver, CO
  
• Cheeseman Park Paths, Playgrounds 1599 E 8th St, Denver, CO
  
• Bear Creek Park 2,600 Acres, Hiking, Biking, Horseback Riding, Swim Beach, Boat Rentals 15600 W Morrison Rd, Lakewood, CO
  
• Paco Sanchez Park Hilly expanse with unique playgrounds 1290 Knox Court, 3240 W 14th Ave, Denver, CO 80204
  
• Ruby Hill Bike Park 7 Acre Park for Bike Riders with Ramps and Tracks W Jewell Ave, Denver, CO 80223
  
• Smaller / More Distant City Parks include: Berkeley Lake Park, Rocky Mountain Lake Park. McDonough Park, City of Cuernavaca Park, Benedict Fountain (Triangle) Park AND MANY MORE…
  

Hikes

• Day Hikes Near Denver Great List with Many Categories to Sort From
  
• Top 10 Day Hikes Near Denver * Made by guides at Day Hikes Near Denver .com*
  

Water Activities

Beaches

• Cherry Creek State Park Swim Beach Smoky Hill Trail, Aurora, CO 80015
  
• Aurora Reservoir Swimming Beach S Powhaton Rd, Aurora, CO 80016
  
• Aurora Reservoir SCUBA Beach E Reservoir Dam Rd, Aurora, CO 80016
  
• Platte River Highlands Bridge and Swimming in Confluence Park 2250 15th St, Denver, CO 80202
  
• Soda Lake Beach in Bear Creek Lake Park Near 15600 W Morrison Rd, Lakewood, CO 80228
  
• Chatfield Park Swim Beach Near Perimeter Rd, Littleton, CO 80128
  

Pools

• List of Public Denver Outdoor Pools
  
• List of Public Denver Indoor Pools
  

Splash Parks

• List of Splash Parks in the Denver Metro Area May be out of date

Water Parks

• List of Water Parks in the Denver Metro Area May be out of date
  
• 05/29-09/04 Island Kingdom Waterpark at Elitch Gardens - Varies between 9AM and 8:30PM (Closes at Dusk) $50/Day, $75/Season All Ages Water Park with Thrill Slides, Family Slides, Wave Pool, and Lazy River; Attached to Theme Park (No extra cost) 2000 Elitch Cir, Denver, CO 80204
  
• 05/26-09/04 Water World - Varies between 9AM and 6PM $28-$55 Adults, $24-$45 Children All Ages Water Park with Thrill Slides, Family Slides, Wave Pool, Lazy River, and Surf Wave 8801 N Pecos St, Federal Heights, CO 80260
  
• 05/27-08/13 The Splash at Fossil Trace - 10AM-5:30PM Park; 10AM-5PM Pools $12.50 Day Pass, $194 Season Pass All Ages Pools and Water Slides 3151 Illinois St, Golden, CO 80401
  
• 05/27-09/04 Pirate’s Cove - 10AM-5:30PM $18 Day Pass; $120 Season Pass All Ages Pools and Water Slides 1225 W Belleview Ave, Littleton, CO 80120
  

Amusement

Theme Parks / Roller Coasters

• Year Round, Dates Vary Elitch Gardens - Varies between 9AM and 9PM $50/Day, $75/Season All Ages Theme Park and Water Park 2000 Elitch Cir, Denver, CO 80204
  
• 05/13-09/10 Lakeside Amusement Park - Varies between 1PM and 11:30PM $30 All Ages Theme Park Built in 1908 4601 Sheridan Boulevard, Lakeside, CO 80212
  

Themed Festivals

• Saturdays & Sundays, 06/17-08/06 Colorado Renaissance Festival - 10:30AM-6:30PM $28 Adult, $12 Child All Ages Renaissance Themed Food, Drink, And Entertainment including Comedy, Sword Swallowing, Fire Breathing, Music, Jousting, and More 650 Perry Park Ave, Larkspur, CO 80118

Outdoor Movies

Local Projections

• Denver.org List Mostly not announced yet List of Outdoor Movie Showings in Denver Including: Avanti, Town Center Park Auditorium, Ironton Distillery & Crafthouse, Elitch Gardens (in the Wave Pool), South Green in Central Park
  
• Denver.org List Mostly not announced yet List of Outdoor Movie Showings Near Denver Including: Red Rocks, Stanley Marketplace, Parfet Park in Golden, Parks Across Westminster, Backcountry Base Camp in Littleton, Memorial Park in Northglenn, Infinity Park in Glendale, Citizen Park in and Edgewater
  

Drive Ins

• 88 Drive In - 7PM $12 Double Features Drive in Theatre, Film Schedule 5 Days in Advance 8780 Rosemary Street, Commerce City, CO 80022

Theatre / Opera / Symphony Shows

• Denver Center for the Performing Arts Big Performing Arts Complex with Several Auditoriums for Plays, Concerts, Symphonies, Shows, and More 1350 Curtis Street, Denver, CO 80202

• 04/14-06/18 The 39 Steps- Singleton Theatre
  
• 05/31-06/04 Riverdance - Buell Theatre
  
• 06/13-06/18 Aladdin - Buell Theatre
  
• 06/21-07/02 Book of Mormon - Buell Theatre
  
• 08/16-08/19 Jagged Little Pill - Buell Theatre
  
• 09/01-10/08 A Little Night Music - Wolf Theatre
  
• 09/15-09/17 Beetlejuice - Buell Theatre
  

• Miners Alley Playhouse Local Children’s Theatre 1224 Washington Ave, Golden, CO 80401

• 05/19-06/11 The Oldest Boy
  
• 05/27-06/24 Robin Hood
  

• Adams Mystery Playhouse Full-time Murder Mystery Theatre 2406 Federal Blvd, Denver, CO 80211

• 05/02-05/27 Bootlegger’s Murder
  
• 05/13-05/31 A Dark and Stormy Murder
  
• 06/02-08/03 Mystery in Pirate’s Cove
  
• 06/02-08/05 Murder on Pirate’s Island
  
• 08/10- 09/16 An Artful Murder
  
• 09/22-09/30 They Came From Below
  

• Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities Local Playhouse for Concerts and Plays 6901 Wadsworth Blvd, Arvada, CO 80003

• ** 09/08-10/15** Beautiful: The Carol King Musical

• Vintage Theatre Local Play House Specializing in Revival and Contemporary Musicals and Play 1468 Dayton St, Aurora, CO 80010

• 06/02-07/09 Driving Miss Daisy
  
• 07/22-07/30 In the Heights
  

• Firehouse Theatre Company at The John Hand Theatre Performance Art Group 7653 E 1st Pl, Denver, CO 80230

• 06/03-07/01 A Mexican Trilogy: Charty

• Curious Theatre Company Cutting Edge Theatre 1080 Acoma St, Denver, CO 80204

• 05/18-06/15 Cullud Wattah

• 06/11-08/13 Colorado Shakespeare Festival Prices Vary; $18 For Standard Bundle **Festival Showing Many of Shakespeare’s Plays Over a Few Weeks 972 Broadway, Boulder, CO, 80302
Theatres Without Current Shows That You Should Still Keep an Eye On
• The Source Theatre Company Local Performing Arts Theatre 721 Santa Fe Dr, Denver, CO 80204
• Lone Tree Arts Center Contemporary Center Which Hosts Plays, Concerts, and Events 10075 Commons St, Lone Tree, CO 80124
• Cherry Creek Theatre Performance Art Center 350 S Dahlia St, Denver, CO 80246

Dance / Performance Art / Burlesque / Etc

• 05/18-06/04 Strange Natures - TH-Su 7PM $20 Immersive Dance Theatre Show 1801 Brentwood St., Lakewood, CO 80214
• 07/05-08/13 Cirque du Soleil: Kooza - 7:30PM $54- $64 All Ages Circus and Gymnastics Show Ball Arena, 1000 Chopper Circle, Denver, CO 80202
• 07/06-07/08 Colorado Burlesque Festival - 7PM-10PM $25- $35 / Day, $75 / Weekend 18+ Burlesque, Drag, Aerial, & Variet Performance Reelworks, 1399 35th St, Denver, CO
• 07/02 -07/31– Central City Opera’s 2022 Festival – (Opera and Theatre) – Central City Opera House

Museums / Exhibits / Gardens

Art

• Denver Art Museum - 10AM-5PM $12-$19 ALL AGES Daily 10AM-5PM General Art Museum 100 W. 14th Avenue Pkwy Denver, CO 80204 - FREE DAYS: 05/09, 05/14, 06/13, 07/11, 07/30, 09/09, 09/12, 10/10, 11/04, 11/14, 12/12)
  
• Museum of Contemporary Art Denver - T-F 12PM-7PM; Sa-Su 10AM-5PM $7-$10 All Ages Contemporary and Modern Art 1485 Delgany St Denver, CO 80202 - FREE DAYS: 06/03, 07/01, 08/05, 09/02, 10/07, 11/04, 12/02
  
• Meow Wolf - Su-Th 10AM-10PM; F-Sa 10AM-12AM $40-$55 ALL AGES Psychedelic Immersive Alien Art Experience 1338 1st St, Denver, CO 80204
  
• Spectra Art Space: Spookadelia - 11AM-9/10PM $12-$30 ALL AGES * Psychedelic, Immersive Local Art Experience* 1842 S Broadway Denver, CO 80210
  
• Clyfford Still Museum - 10AM-5PM $6-$10 ALL AGES Art by the Artist Clyfford Still 1250 Bannock St Denver, CO 80204 - FREE DAYS: 05/31, 06/25, 07/23, 08/18, 09/06, 10/05, 11/04, 12/03
  
• Museo de las Americas - 12PM-5/6PM $5-$8 ALL AGES Latin American Art 861 Santa Fe Dr, CO 80204 - FREE DAYS: 06/02, 07/07, 08/04, 09/01, 10/06, 11/03, 12/01
  
• American Museum of Western Art 10AM-4:30PM $5 All Ages Art Depicting the American West from 1800s to Present 1727 Tremont Place, Denver, CO 80202
  
• Kirkland Museum of Fine and Decorative Art- T-Sa 11AM-5PM; Su12PM-5PM $10-$12 All Ages Fine and Decorative Art 1201 Bannock St Denver, CO 80204
  

History

• History Colorado Center - 10AM-5PM $14 ALL AGES General History Museum with Emphasis on Colorado History 1200 Broadway Denver, CO 80203
  
• Four Mile Historic Park 10AM-4PM $6-$8 ALL AGES Celebration of Denver’s Western Heritage 715 S Forest St, Denver, CO 80246 - FREE DAYS: 05/26, 06/23, 08/25, 09/22, 10/27, 11/24, 12/22
  
• Black American West Museum - 10AM-2PM $10-$15 All Ages History of Black and African American in the Wild West 3091 California St Denver, CO 80205
  

Science / Nature

• Denver Museum of Nature and Science - 9AM-5PM $17-$23 All Ages Nature, Science, Technology, and History; Planetarium; Laser Fantasy 2001 Colorado Blvd Denver, CO 80205 - FREE DAYS: 06/28, 08/16, 09/06, 09/18, 10/15, 12/04
  
• Botanical Gardens - York St (Downtown) - 9AM-8PM $15 Gardens with Plants from All Over the World 1007 York St, Denver, CO 80206 - FREE DAYS: 06/06, 07/05, 08/15, 11/24
  
• Botanical Gardens - Chatfield Farms) - 9AM-8PM $10 Gardens and a Full Working Farm 8500 W Deer Creek Canyon Rd, Littleton, CO 80128 - FREE DAYS: 06/06, 07/05, 08/15, 11/24
  
• Plains Conservation Center M-F 8AM-4PM; Sa 9AM-5PM $10 All Ages Prairie Conservation Center / Activities / Educational Experiences 21901 E Hampden Ave Aurora, CO 80013
  

Animals

• Denver Zoo - 9AM-5PM $24 Adults, $18 Kids All Ages Animals, Conversation, Education 2300 Steele St, Denver, CO 80205 - FREE DAYS: 10/07, 11/07, 11/12
  
• Butterfly Pavillion - 10AM-5PM $15 Adults, $10 Kids All Ages Butterfly Garden, Insect Exhibits, Tarantula Holdings, Education 6252 W 104th Ave, Westminster, CO 80020
  
• Denver Downtown Aquarium - M-Th 10AM-8:30PM; F-S 11AM-10PM; Su 11AM-8PM $19-$25 Plus Add-ons All Ages Aquarium / Restaurant / 4D Theatre / Mermaid Shows 700 Water Street Denver, CO 80211
  
• Wild Animal Sanctuary - 10AM-5PM $50 Adults, $30 Kids All Ages Learn About Wildlife Rescue and See Animals from Elevated Platforms - Stresses It's Not a Zoo but you can see many "zoo" animals 2999 Co Rd 53, Keenesburg, CO 80643
  

Things to Do Year Round

• WIP of Places to Eat, Drink, and Have Fun Around Downtown I'm still building this. Please let me know if you have anything to add or change!
• Eat Around the World in Denver Join us over at /denverfood where we're trying to make a list of restaurants that represent each of the world's countries all in the larger Denver area!

Other Resources

General Compilations
• Mile High on the Cheap
• 303 Magazine Events Calendar
• Colorado.com Events Schedule
• Denver-Co Events
• Vesta Events
• AllEvents
• Metro Denver
• Dairy Block Event Calendar 1800 Wazee St, Denver, CO 80202

Source https://cptdog.com/blogs/monroe-college-student-experience

​

Introduction

First, let me give you a brief introduction to my background. I am a Master's graduate in the humanities and, after using my OPT for a year, I chose to maintain my legal status as a student working in the US by using CPT. At that time, I sought help from GoElite for school selection and application and finally settled on the MBA program at Monroe College in New York. As is well known, an MBA is relevant to most professions because all fields involve some knowledge of management, which makes it easier to demonstrate the relevance of the degree to one's future career.

Academic Structure and Attendance 📅

The MBA program at Monroe College is accredited by ACBSP, making it relatively stable in terms of qualifications, which is why I chose this program. The entire program takes about two years to complete, with three semesters per year: fall, winter, and spring.

• Students are required to attend classes on campus 3-4 times per semester
• Usually at the beginning, middle, and end of each semester
• Onsite classes are usually held on one day of the weekend
• With morning sessions from 10:30-1:00 and afternoon sessions from 1:30-4:30. Professors may also end class early on occasion

In addition to live and recorded online classes, the school has strict attendance requirements for onsite classes. However, this also means that, in the event of an H1B RFE in the future, having strict attendance records can be helpful.
One thing I'd like to mention is that, after completing three semesters of coursework at Monroe, students can apply for a one-semester leave by filling out a semester leave form. Moreover, during this break, students can still apply for CPT as usual and work, making it a good opportunity to increase the chances of obtaining an H1B visa. An additional semester may also cover the H1B lottery in March of the following year.
For course selection, I referred to GoElite's internal rating system for professors, which allowed me to choose the most suitable professor for my learning style.

Course Selection System📝

Academic Pressure: 🧐
In my opinion, the intensity of the program is moderate, and spending four or five hours per week on coursework is completely manageable.
In the first semester, several one-credit foundation courses are grouped together, which may be slightly more tiring because the assignments for the three courses combined can make the workload seem larger than a three-credit course. However, after overcoming this stage, the three-credit courses in subsequent semesters will be much easier.
Regarding assignment submissions, I certainly do not advocate passing the due date, but overall, the teachers are quite understanding. If an assignment is submitted late, just send an email to the teacher and explain the situation, and it should not be a problem.
Also, it's important to note that for online courses where there is no need to video chat with the teacher, the teacher will post the assignment on the school's Blackboard platform. So, students should remember to check for new assignments posted on Blackboard.

I-20 Application🎯

Schools prefer to have 1-2 weeks to process the I-20 application before the start of the semester, which is about 15 days. For example, if the start date is January 6th, your previous school should send the release form and SEVIS transfer date to Monroe on December 24th of the previous year. This way, the school has enough time to ensure that you can receive CPT on the first day of enrollment. Monroe can only start issuing CPT to students after your previous school has transferred your release form and the new school has received the document.
As a negative example, I procrastinated and missed the deadline for applying to a CPT program. I found Go to help me with an expedited application when I faced the desperate situation of my OPT soon expiring. Fortunately, I encountered a very professional and helpful education institution. GoElite cooperated with Monroe's admission process, so I received an offer within 4 working days, with the application fee waived, smoothly enrolled, activated CPT successfully, and maintained my work status.
In case anyone needs similar help, scan the QR code at the end of the article to consult with GoElite's professional consultant teacher.👇

CPT Application ⛳️

After completing enrollment, to apply for CPT, you only need to：

1. register for the internship course
2. fill out the application form, and
3. sign the employer agreement.
4. once you have prepared the above materials, submit them to a teacher named Diana for review

Her response is usually fast, and you can receive CPT one or two working days after the employer signs the agreement. By the way, there is no requirement that the agreement must be sent from the employer to the school. You can prepare it yourself and send it directly to the school. It is better to take the initiative than to passively wait for the employer.
Some students from large companies, such as Google, are not provided with an employer agreement. However, this issue can be solved easily. I have encountered classmates who asked for a separate offer from a Director with good relations, stating that they need it for CPT. This offer can look different from the official letter, and you can use it repeatedly when renewing CPT every semester by changing the date.
Many students complain that other schools allow CPT to be renewed once a year, so why can't Monroe do the same?
Personally, I think Monroe's approach is based on a serious and responsible attitude. Continuously renewing CPT also consumes the school's human resources and time, so why bother? Ultimately, it is to provide more legally compliant documents for H1B or green card applications in the future. When renewing each semester, the required documents and application process are the same as the first time. I believe that the smart reader who has read this far can handle the subsequent process smoothly.
In addition, if you do not want to interrupt your CPT, you can work normally during the one-month break between semesters, as long as you communicate with the school in advance.

Transportation 🚗

The Professional Experience Track campus provided by Monroe College is located at the New Rochelle Campus, which has very convenient transportation. The New Rochelle Campus is located in the center of New Rochelle, a city in the north of New York City.
The MBA program that I attended was located at the New Rochelle Campus, which is only about a 20-minute drive from the central station in Manhattan. The frequency of the schedule is also quite high, so if you live in Manhattan, commuting is very convenient. During non-class hours, you can also take the opportunity to explore Manhattan, combining learning and relaxation.
Students who live nearby can easily come and go on the same day. The parking problem is easily solved. There is a free ground parking lot on campus, and there are also garages around the school that require payment, but the price is not too expensive.

Vaccination 💉

According to the school's regulations, if you haven't received the MMR vaccine, you cannot register for classes normally.
I found that some of my classmates encountered this bottleneck during the same period and were in a rush to find out that they couldn't register for classes at the beginning of the semester. In fact, the solution is very simple.
I believe that everyone has received the MMR vaccine in their previous school. You can find the vaccination record issued by the previous school's hospital, upload the materials to Monroe, and then waive this hold!
Dining 🍗
For students who attend classes at the New Rochelle Campus, be sure not to miss the desserts handmade by culinary students and the restaurant The Dining Lab, which is completely operated by students. The restaurant's menu is updated twice a semester, aiming to provide diners with the freshest local seasonal ingredients. The average cost per person for dinner is only $29.95 before tax. If you take a look at the menu, you will know that what I said is not exaggerated. This set menu includes starters, main courses, and desserts.thedininglab.com/menu
Accommodation🏨
Students who fly in to attend classes may also consider the issue of accommodation. I usually stay near the Grand Central Station.
Here are some hotels that I recommend for their low price (around $100), proximity, and value for money. You can consider them according to your personal preferences:
Hyatt Grand Central New York
Address: At Grand Central Terminal, 109 E 42nd St, New York, NY 10017
Website🔗
Hilton Garden Inn New York/Midtown Park Ave
Address: 45 E 33rd St, New York, NY 10016
Website🔗
The Tuscany Hotel by LuxUrban
Address: 120 E 39th St, New York, NY 10016
Website🔗