In the beginning, God created the universe. And that was pretty neat. And then He made other stuff. Most of that was pretty neat too. Then he created Man. And everyone was a little dubious on that, but we all wanted to see where He was going with this.
But then he gave Man a gift. Alcohol.
...that's when things really started going downhill.
I'll hand it to you apes. I love the crazy things you all come up with. We never would have come up with fried ice cream without you. So never let it be said that I don't love you. Most of you. Okay, some of you. Mostly the pretty ones with the dimples. Because that's where the real evil hides. In the dimples.
But a lot of you people are kinda douchebags. Sorry, not sorry. Hashtag Yeah I Said It.
Anyway, so here I am, once more serving out my sentence for that whole "tried to take over Heaven" thing, stuck here working a hotel job. Dealing with Karens. And drunken idiots. Which brings me to tonight's tale.
It's Thursday. Which means it's not Friday. So things shouldn't be that bad, right?
Heh.
Cast: Me, Security Guy(SG), PU(that's a surprise acronym that will be relevant later), Drunk Guys Three. Any names mentioned have been changed to protect the moronic.
SG is my weekend relief auditor. Works a couple weekday shifts as security as well. He patrols the halls, and walks the parking lot, on the lookout for Trouble™. And tonight, he found it. He comes back in from a walk around the lot, then goes out to the patio. Moments later, he returns.
SG: "I just caught a guy pissing on the patio."
Me, internally: "Oh joy. So this is how tonight's gonna be, huh?"
Me: "A guest?"
SG: "Yeah, he's in room 762. Will you confirm for me that there's someone in that room?"
Me: "Yup. Looks like there is indeed a guy in there. Checked in tonight."
SG: "So, what do we do?"
Me: "I'm inclined to call the cops, but I know tonight's MOD is still awake, so I'm gonna let him decide."
MOD tells me that as per AGM - yeah, he called her - we're to give them one chance to return to their rooms. She'll see about charging them a damage fee tomorrow. If they don't go? Cops. Alright. Fine.
We make sure the desk is secure, and SG follows me outside.
Me: "Evening gentlemen. So, I just got off the phone with my boss, and I've been instructed to inform you that the patio is closed because some people don't know how to behave like adults in fucking public. This is your one and only chance to go to your room."
Public Urinator: "Oh come on, it's not that bad. It's not like there were any kids out here..."
SG: "The spot you chose to do your business is visible from several of those rooms up there."
PU: "But they didn't see me..."
Me: "That's immaterial. The fact of the matter is that public urination is a crime in this state. Now I'm going to reiterate that I am giving you a chance to clear out and go to your rooms. You might be contacted by my manager in the morning either way, but if you go now, the police will not be notified."
DG1: "So the cops haven't been called?"
Me: "Not yet. But we're quickly approaching that inevitability.
DG2: "We're just trying to have a good time and relax..."
Me: "So, you're not going to take me up on my offer and go to your rooms?"
DG1: "No, we're going. Come on, Frank."
DG2: "I'm just saying..."
DG3: "Shut up. You're going to get Ted arrested."
PU: "Yeah, I guess I should have gone up to my room to pee. Sorry."
SG: "Or used the lobby restroom."
PU: "Oh, I didn't think of that. Sorry. You're really not calling the cops?"
Me: "I'm going back to my desk now. If you aren't on your way up to your rooms by the time I reach the desk, I will be calling them. I'm done with this conversation. I hope your mothers are all proud of you."
So yeah, maintenance is probably gonna have to pull out the pressure washer in the morning. My manager sounded set on fining PU for it. But I'm not sure she's gonna get a chance.
You know, it's pretty lucky that there's no one in 760, 764 and 662. One might even call that the Devil's own luck.

Made an attempt to go camping at Savanna Portage State Park this weekend. As soon as my wife and I pulled up in front of the office at the entrance, my vehicle got swarmed by bees. Slowly drove around the park, then several miles out of the park, then back into the park in an attempt to ditch them. Got to our campsite and attempted to wait them out, but they kept swarming my car. Drove to a nearby town and got a car wash in an attempt to wash off whatever pheromones might've got on my vehicle. Went back to the park and as soon as we drove past the rangers office, vehicle got swarmed again. When we drove past other vehicles, it looked like they didn't have our problem. We couldn't even get out of my vehicle because they were so bad.
Ended up leaving and having a campfire and grill out at our home and going visit a different state park tomorrow. I know this park is notorious for it's bugs, but jeez that was bad.
Anyone have any similar stories of a trip ruined by bug or the local wildlife?

I remember getting From The Mars Hotel from the local library when I was in early high school. Then I got American Beauty. Then I got Live/Dead. I used to get DMB, Phish, and SCI CDR B&Ps but did not get into a lot of live Dead until the Internet Archive had shows. I found a list of concerts I went to from 2000-2013. Since then I have seen one Levi's Stadium Fare Thee Well type shows with Trey on guitar, 5 Dead and Company Shows, 2 Santana, and 1 Bob Dylan. Here is a link to a Bob Dylan show in Louisville I recorded recently. A Santana show in Evansville is on the same youtube account. There is a BB King June 2013 Evansville show I recorded on Sugarmegs and a 2013 Dark Star Orchestra Bloomington, Indiana show on archive.org (I used to work for the Internet Archive in SF in 2008.)
https://youtu.be/Zf8UKMGB5j4
List of some concerts I attended
1999_June_W.C. Handy Blues Festival (John Lee Hooker)
2000_06_22_Dave Matthews Band_Noblesville, Indiana_Deer Creek
2000_06_23_Dave Matthews Band_Noblesville, Indiana_Deer Creek
2000_06_24_Dave Matthews Band_Noblesville, Indiana_Deer Creek
2001_04_20_Fugazi_Indianapolis, Indiana
2001_04_26_SCI_Louisville, Kentucky_Palace Theater
2001_04_27_SCi_Louisville, Kentucky_Palace Theater
2001_06_23_Sick-O_Fest_Winslow, Indiana
2001_07_15_String Cheese Incident, Phil Lesh and Friends_Noblesville, Indiana_Deer Creek
2001_07_22_Trey Anastasio Band_Noblesville, Indiana_Deer Creek
2001_11_02_Bob Dylan_Terre Haute, Indiana_Hulman Civic Univeristy Center
2001_11_03_Oysterhead_Lafayette, Indiana_Elliot Hall of Music
2002_June_Bonnaroo Music Festival_Manchester, Tennessee
2002_10_29_Trey Anastasio Band_Louisville, Kentucky_Palace Theater
2002_12_30_Umphrey's Mcgee_Chicago, Illinois_The Vic
2002_12_31_Moe._Chicago, Illinois_Aragon
2003_02_20_Phish_Chicago, Illinois_Allstate Arena
2003_02_21_Phish_Cincinnati, Ohio_U.S. Bank Arena
2003_02_22_Phish_Cincinnati, Ohio_U.S. Bank Arena
2003_05_09_Jammin' On Jersey_Murat Theatre Parking Lot_Indianapolis, Indiana
2003_June_Bonnaroo Music Festival_Manchester, Tennessee
2003_07_21_Phish_Noblesville, Indiana_Deer Creek
2003_07_22_Phish_Noblesville, Indiana_Deer Creek
2003_07_23_Phish_Noblesville, Indiana_Deer Creek
2003_08_02_Moe., Bob Dylan, The Dead_Joliet, Illinois_Route 66 RaceWay
2003_08_05_Bob Dylan, The Dead_Noblesville, Indiana_Deer Creek
2003_08_24_Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks, Radiohead_St. Louis, Missouri, UMB Bank Pavillion
2003_August_Moe.Down music festival_Turin, New York
2003_10_31_Moe._Chicago, Illinois_Aragon Ballroom
2003_12_30_Moe._Philadelphia, Pennsylvania_Electric Factory
2003_12_31_Maceo Parker and Moe._Camden, New Jersey_Tweeter Center
2004_02_03_Moe._St. Louis, Missouri_The Pageant
2004_02_20_Yonder Mountain String Band_Louisville, Kentucky_Headliners
2004_02_21_Galactic_New Orleans, Louisiana_Tipitinas
2004_May_Summercamp Music Festival_Chillicothe, Illinois
2004_June_Bonnaroo Music Festival_Manchester, Tennessee
2004_06_23_Phish_Noblesville, Indiana_Deer Creek
2004_06_24_Phish_Noblesville, Indiana_Deer Creek
2004_06_25_Phish_East Troy, Wisconsin_Alpine Valley Music Theatre
2004_06_26_Phish_East Trey, Wisconsin_Alpine Valley Music Theatre
2004_07_25_The Dead_Noblesville, Indiana_Deer Creek
2004_08_10_Phish_Mansfield, Massachusetts_Great Woods
2004_08_11_Phish_Mansfield, Massachusetts_Great Woods
2004_08_12_Phish_Camden, New Jersey_Tweeter Center
2004_08_13_Phish_Coventry, Vermont_Newport State Airport
2004_08_14_Phish_Coventry, Vermont_Newport State Airport
2004_08_15_Phish_Coventry, Vermont_Newport State Airport
2004_10_31_Moe._Nashville, Tennessee_Ryman Auditorium
2005_02_25_Moe._St. Louis, Missouri_The Pageant
2005_04_15_P Funk_Nashville, Tennessee_Cannery Ballroom
2005_05_04_P Funk_Chicago, Illinois_House of Blues
2005_05_05_Widespread Panic_St. Louis, Missouri_Fox Theatre
2005_May_P Funk_Salem, Missouri_Camp Zoe
2005_May_Summer Camp Music Festival_Chillicothe, Illinois
2005_June_Bonnaroo Music Festival_Manchester, Tennessee
2005_07_16_Les Claypool_Louisville, Kentucky_Jillians
2005_07_27_Widespread Panic_Noblesville, Indiana_Deer Creek
2005_08_18_Neil Young_Nashville, Tennessee_Ryman Auditorium
2005_08_19_Neil Young_Nashville, Tennessee_Ryman Auditorium
2005_09_24_Comes A Time A Musical Tribute to Jerry Garcia_Berkeley, California_Greek Theater
2005_10_14_Widespread Panic_Nashville, Tennesee_Starwood Amphiteatre
2005_10_29_Todd Snyder, Yonder Mountain String Band_Nashville, Tennessee_War Memorial Auditorium
2005_11_05_Ravi Shankar Festival of India_Chicago, Illinois_Symphony Center
2005_11_25_Phil Lesh and Friends_Chicago, Illinois_Chicago Theater
2005_11_26_Phil Lesh and Friends_Chicago, Illinois_Chicago Theater
2005_11_27_Phil Lesh and Friends_Milwaukee, Wisconsin_Eagles Ballroom
2005_12_12_Phil Lesh and Friends_Atlanta, Georgia_Fox Theater
2005_12_13_Phil Lesh and Friends_Atlanta, Georgia_Fox Theater
2005_12_30_Moe._Ashville, North Carolina_Orange Peel
2005_12-31_Sound Tribe Sector 9_Atlanta, Georgia_The Tabernacle
2006_01_25_Moe._Lousiville, Kentucy_Jillians
2006_02_03_Moe., The Disco Biscuits_Chicago, Illinois_Aragon
2006_02_17_Phil Lesh and Friends_New York, New York_Hammerstein Ballroom
2006_02_18_Phil Lesh and Friends_New York, New York_Hammerstein Ballroom
2006_02_19_Phil Lesh and Friends_New York, New York_Hammerstein Ballroom
2006_02_25_Larry Coryell_Lousville, Kentucky_Jazz Factory
2006_03_11_Ricky Skaggs_Lousiville, Kentucky_Palace Theater
2006_03_11_Railroad Earth_Louisville, Kentucky, Headliners Music Hall
2006_03_19_P Funk_Cincinnati, Ohio_Bogarts
2006_04_07_Project Object_Louisville, Kentucky_Headliners Music Hall
2006_04_15_Toots and the Maytalls_Bloomington, Indiana_Bluebird Nightclub
2006_05_18_Phil Lesh and Frends_San Francisco, California_Warfield Theater
2006_05_19_Phil Lesh and Friends_San Francisco, California_Warfield Theater
2006_05_20_Wavy Gravy's Birthday Concert_Berkley, California_Berkley Community Theater
2006_06_23_Radiohead_Berkeley, California_Greek Theater
2006_06_24_Zappa Plays Zappa_San Francisco, CA_Warfield Theater
2006_07_14_Phil Lesh and Friends_Columbus, Ohio_Lifestyles Community Pavillion
2006_07_15_Phil Lesh and Friends_Indianpolis, Indiana_White River State Park
2006_07_18_Phil Lesh and Friends_Louisville, Kentucky_Palace Theater
2006_08_02_Widespread Panic_Louisville, Kentucky_Palace Theater
2006_09_22_The Mars Volta_Chicago, Illinois_Aragon Ballroom
2006_09_30_Roger Waters_Noblesville, Indiana_Deer Creek
2006_10_17_Widespread Panic_Evansville, Indiana_The Centre
2007_P Funk_San Francisco, California_Fillmore
2007_05_18_Wavy Gravy's Birthday Concert_San Francisco, California, Grand Ballroom
2007_09_20_Donna Jean and The Tricksters with Bob Weir_Marin, California_Sweetwater Music Hall
2007_09_23_Phil Lesh and Friends_Berkeley, California_Greek Theater
2007_11_27_Phil Lesh and Friends_San Franciso, California_Warfield Theater
2007_12_31_Mars Volta_San Francisco, California_Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
2008_01_25_Phil Lesh and Friends_San Francisco, California_Fillmore
2008_01_26_Phil Lesh and Friends_San Francisco, California_Bill Graham civic Auditorium
2008_02_04_Deadheads for Obama_San Francisco, California_Warfield Theater (listened to the concert from the side door)
2008_05_13_Phil Lesh and Friends with Bob Weir_San Francisco, California_Closing of the Warfield
2008_05_14_Phil Lesh and Friends with Mark Karan_San Francisco, California_Closing of the Warfield
2008_05_16_Hot Tuna_San Francisco, California_Great American Music Hall
2008_05_17_Phil Lesh and Friends with Sikiru Adepoju and Henry Kaiser_San Francisco, California_Closing of the Warfield
2008_05_18_Phil Lesh and Friends with Bob Weir_San Francisco, California_Closing of the Warfield
2008_07_Smashing Pumpkins_San Francisco, California_Fillmore
2008_June_Harmony Festival_Sonoma, California
2008_July_Oregon Country Fair_Eugene, Oregon
2008_11_03_Experience Hendrix Tour_San Francisco, California_Masonic Center
2008_11_Rubber Soldiers_Berkeley, California_Ashkenaz
2008_12_13_Rex Foundation Concert_San Francisco, California_Grand Ballroom
2008_12_30_Phil Lesh and Friends and Ratdog_San Francisco, California_Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
2008_12_31_Phil Lesh and Friends and Ratdog_San Francisco, California_Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
2009_June_W.C. Handy Blues Festival_Henderson, Kentucky
2010_03_03_Furthur_Chicago, Illinois_Auditorium Theater of Roosevelt University
2011_08_02_Bob Dylan_Evansville, Indiana_Roberts Stadium
2011_11_21_Furthur_Indianapolis, Indiana_Murat Theater
2013_02_06_Dark Star Orchestra_Bloomington, Indiana_Buskirk Chumley Theater
2013_06_05_Boscoe France Band, B.B. King_Evansville, Indiana_Victory Theater
2013_06_14_W.C. Handy Blues Festival_Henderson, Kentucky

Hello. I am a landlord and trying to figure out what is legal and FAIR to deduct from the security deposit. When my tenant moved in to the house it was professionally cleaned. When I went in for the inspection (5 days late because they asked for extra time and I agreed to 5 days) the house smelled like cigarette smoke and the carpet smelled like dog pee. There was trash in the backyard and trash that did not fit in the trash can as well as in the refrigerator. (I have photos of all of this). They parked on my covered back porch (which is clearly not for parking) and there are oil stains on the pavement. The house was relatively clean but not move in ready. (I do not mind whatsoever to do a couple hours of cleaning and not charge for it). I am really not wanting to charge them for the new carpets that I possibly need because they are old carpets. I am considering charging them for a carpet steam job but not even necessarily wanting to go that far. Like I said, I am trying to be fair and legal. I spent several hours of my own time scrubbing the back porch, cleaning the floors, refrigerator, oven, fans and general deep clean things. The lease said the house needs to be in the condition it was on move in day. (Professionally cleaned). I truly would not have cared about my time in doing so. I had many of my own cleaning supplies, I only purchased extra supplies because I thought it would help with the cigarette smell and oil stains on the back porch. Below are a list of things I am considering deducting from the deposit.
- $90 for the cleaning supplies I purchased to cover the smell of dog pee, cigarette smoke, and the oil on the covered back porch. (I have a receipt). This is not including the cleaning supplies I purchased to make it move in ready. As I said, I am not worried about that.
-$100 for trash removal. I had a car load of trash that I had to remove and take to the dump. This was trash left in the yard and trash that was incorrectly placed in the trash can. When the trash collector came it was not all collected because of it not fitting in the cans.
-5 days of prorated rent for staying 5 days passed when the lease ends. When I agreed to allow them to stay the extra 5 days I was not planning on charging, however this was never discussed. The reason I am thinking of charging them for it is because I am almost certain the carpets need to be replaced, as the smell of dog pee and cigarettes is terrible. This will go towards that cost but most certainly will not come near covering the cost.
-$200 pet fee. In the lease it states there is a $200 non refundable pet fee for each pet. They had 2 dogs and only paid a $200 pet fee. I figured this extra $200 for the 2nd dog that they did not pay for would cover the cost of a steam job. I do believe that I will have to replace the carpet instead. However, I am trying to be fair because the carpet is old and I do not think its fair they purchase brand new carpet and I come out on top.
This is a total of $700. I just wanted to hear some opinions to make sure that I am being fair and legal. Thank you in advance!

Hello. I am a landlord and trying to figure out what is legal and FAIR to deduct from the security deposit. When my tenant moved in to the house it was professionally cleaned. When I went in for the inspection (5 days late because they asked for extra time and I agreed to 5 days) the house smelled like cigarette smoke and the carpet smelled like dog pee. There was trash in the backyard and trash that did not fit in the trash can as well as in the refrigerator. (I have photos of all of this). They parked on my covered back porch (which is clearly not for parking) and there are oil stains on the pavement. The house was relatively clean but not move in ready. (I do not mind whatsoever to do a couple hours of cleaning and not charge for it). I am really not wanting to charge them for the new carpets that I possibly need because they are old carpets. I am considering charging them for a carpet steam job but not even necessarily wanting to go that far. Like I said, I am trying to be fair and legal. I spent several hours of my own time scrubbing the back porch, cleaning the floors, refrigerator, oven, fans and general deep clean things. The lease said the house needs to be in the condition it was on move in day. (Professionally cleaned). I truly would not have cared about my time in doing so. I had many of my own cleaning supplies, I only purchased extra supplies because I thought it would help with the cigarette smell and oil stains on the back porch. Below are a list of things I am considering deducting from the deposit.
- $90 for the cleaning supplies I purchased to cover the smell of dog pee, cigarette smoke, and the oil on the covered back porch. (I have a receipt). This is not including the cleaning supplies I purchased to make it move in ready. As I said, I am not worried about that.
-$100 for trash removal. I had a car load of trash that I had to remove and take to the dump. This was trash left in the yard and trash that was incorrectly placed in the trash can. When the trash collector came it was not all collected because of it not fitting in the cans.
-5 days of prorated rent for staying 5 days passed when the lease ends. When I agreed to allow them to stay the extra 5 days I was not planning on charging, however this was never discussed. The reason I am thinking of charging them for it is because I am almost certain the carpets need to be replaced, as the smell of dog pee and cigarettes is terrible. This will go towards that cost but most certainly will not come near covering the cost.
-$200 pet fee. In the lease it states there is a $200 non refundable pet fee for each pet. They had 2 dogs and only paid a $200 pet fee. I figured this extra $200 for the 2nd dog that they did not pay for would cover the cost of a steam job. I do believe that I will have to replace the carpet instead. However, I am trying to be fair because the carpet is old and I do not think its fair they purchase brand new carpet and I come out on top.
This is a total of $700. I just wanted to hear some opinions to make sure that I am being fair and legal. Thank you in advance!

Hello. I am a landlord and trying to figure out what is legal and FAIR to deduct from the security deposit. When my tenant moved in to the house it was professionally cleaned. When I went in for the inspection (5 days late because they asked for extra time and I agreed to 5 days) the house smelled like cigarette smoke and the carpet smelled like dog pee. There was trash in the backyard and trash that did not fit in the trash can as well as in the refrigerator. (I have photos of all of this). They parked on my covered back porch (which is clearly not for parking) and there are oil stains on the pavement. The house was relatively clean but not move in ready. (I do not mind whatsoever to do a couple hours of cleaning and not charge for it). I am really not wanting to charge them for the new carpets that I possibly need because they are old carpets. I am considering charging them for a carpet steam job but not even necessarily wanting to go that far. Like I said, I am trying to be fair and legal. I spent several hours of my own time scrubbing the back porch, cleaning the floors, refrigerator, oven, fans and general deep clean things. The lease said the house needs to be in the condition it was on move in day. (Professionally cleaned). I truly would not have cared about my time in doing so. I had many of my own cleaning supplies, I only purchased extra supplies because I thought it would help with the cigarette smell and oil stains on the back porch. Below are a list of things I am considering deducting from the deposit.
- $90 for the cleaning supplies I purchased to cover the smell of dog pee, cigarette smoke, and the oil on the covered back porch. (I have a receipt). This is not including the cleaning supplies I purchased to make it move in ready. As I said, I am not worried about that.
-$100 for trash removal. I had a car load of trash that I had to remove and take to the dump. This was trash left in the yard and trash that was incorrectly placed in the trash can. When the trash collector came it was not all collected because of it not fitting in the cans.
-5 days of prorated rent for staying 5 days passed when the lease ends. When I agreed to allow them to stay the extra 5 days I was not planning on charging, however this was never discussed. The reason I am thinking of charging them for it is because I am almost certain the carpets need to be replaced, as the smell of dog pee and cigarettes is terrible. This will go towards that cost but most certainly will not come near covering the cost.
-$200 pet fee. In the lease it states there is a $200 non refundable pet fee for each pet. They had 2 dogs and only paid a $200 pet fee. I figured this extra $200 for the 2nd dog that they did not pay for would cover the cost of a steam job. I do believe that I will have to replace the carpet instead. However, I am trying to be fair because the carpet is old and I do not think its fair they purchase brand new carpet and I come out on top.
This is a total of $700. I just wanted to hear some opinions to make sure that I am being fair and legal. Thank you in advance!

Hello. I am a landlord and trying to figure out what is legal and FAIR to deduct from the security deposit. When my tenant moved in to the house it was professionally cleaned. When I went in for the inspection (5 days late because they asked for extra time and I agreed to 5 days) the house smelled like cigarette smoke and the carpet smelled like dog pee. There was trash in the backyard and trash that did not fit in the trash can as well as in the refrigerator. (I have photos of all of this). They parked on my covered back porch (which is clearly not for parking) and there are oil stains on the pavement. The house was relatively clean but not move in ready. (I do not mind whatsoever to do a couple hours of cleaning and not charge for it). I am really not wanting to charge them for the new carpets that I possibly need because they are old carpets. I am considering charging them for a carpet steam job but not even necessarily wanting to go that far. Like I said, I am trying to be fair and legal. I spent several hours of my own time scrubbing the back porch, cleaning the floors, refrigerator, oven, fans and general deep clean things. The lease said the house needs to be in the condition it was on move in day. (Professionally cleaned). I truly would not have cared about my time in doing so. I had many of my own cleaning supplies, I only purchased extra supplies because I thought it would help with the cigarette smell and oil stains on the back porch. Below are a list of things I am considering deducting from the deposit.
- $90 for the cleaning supplies I purchased to cover the smell of dog pee, cigarette smoke, and the oil on the covered back porch. (I have a receipt). This is not including the cleaning supplies I purchased to make it move in ready. As I said, I am not worried about that.
-$100 for trash removal. I had a car load of trash that I had to remove and take to the dump. This was trash left in the yard and trash that was incorrectly placed in the trash can. When the trash collector came it was not all collected because of it not fitting in the cans.
-5 days of prorated rent for staying 5 days passed when the lease ends. When I agreed to allow them to stay the extra 5 days I was not planning on charging, however this was never discussed. The reason I am thinking of charging them for it is because I am almost certain the carpets need to be replaced, as the smell of dog pee and cigarettes is terrible. This will go towards that cost but most certainly will not come near covering the cost.
-$200 pet fee. In the lease it states there is a $200 non refundable pet fee for each pet. They had 2 dogs and only paid a $200 pet fee. I figured this extra $200 for the 2nd dog that they did not pay for would cover the cost of a steam job. I do believe that I will have to replace the carpet instead. However, I am trying to be fair because the carpet is old and I do not think its fair they purchase brand new carpet and I come out on top.
This is a total of $700. I just wanted to hear some opinions to make sure that I am being fair and legal. Thank you in advance!

Hi All, I would appreciate suggestions for some state parks in eastern Nassau for hiking on Saturdays where we don’t have to pay $8 parking/entry fees.

I am 22M and I still live with my parents, I believe my father is a narcissist and that would be the tamest term I would use. Also, big disclaimer that this will be a dump of some of the things that bother me the most about my life until now as it relates to my parents. I am afraid some of this stuff is gonna sound like massive 1st world problems but honestly, if it's not here and through a secondary account, when where else could I vent about it?
I also feel like I brought this upon myself because I'm still 22 and still living with them, and get reminded of how pathetic I am every single day for that fact. I returned from graduating uni a few months back, and unfortunately, I haven't managed to find a full time job despite my efforts. I honestly don't know how I'm supposed to afford to move out now, and the average emancipation age in my country is over 30 years old, it'd be a fucking miracle.
At 18, I got the chance to study my entire degree in a foreign country, and I didn't even blink. Just the idea of having 3 entire years, which seemed like an eternity at the time but then came and went in a flash, 3 entire years when I would be able to finally have any sort of privacy in my life, that I wouldn't have to put up with my father's unpredictable mood swings and obsession with making everyone else feel like shit, plus they would be super-willing to help me financially through it, it seemed like a dream.
And it was. All my life I have had to share rooms with my brother, who is just over a year younger. It's not because we couldn't afford two separate rooms, in fact, we shared one where we slept and changed clothes, and one where we'd study and entertain ourselves. I don't know, I guess my parents thought it would be an amazing idea to force two brothers of close age to share everything, and to keep them like that despite them being like oil and water. My brother would bully me from the moment he was able to do so. Every time I'd meet new kids at the park or when we went somewhere, we would then manage to turn them all against me just to make me miserable. He would break my stuff, he would embarrass me in front of others, and he would also physically attack me, as I am a pacifist. Nowadays, he likes to belittle me for being less fit, for having friends he deems "weird" because some of them happen to be autistic, and also belittles my career (finance) for not being a STEM field, despite him being stuck in 1st year of engineering for the 3rd year in a row. Also threatens to beat me up if I ever stand up to him, and he could.
So with that context, after spending 3 years not having to deal with that shit, I come back. Suddenly, I remember all the bullshit. I cannot close the door, my father has threatened with removing it twice now. My brother likes to sit behind me and peep into my laptop for hours at a time, and I am not allowed to set it up anywhere else. I still have to sleep in a bed one meter away from someone I have hated my whole life.
My father is a fucking asshole. All he has ever cared about is his fucking bicycle. If it rains and means he can't do his route this Saturday, then he unloads that frustration on us. Same with any frustrations he has but he really cares too much about that specific thing. Only thing he ever did to bond with us was teach us to ride a bike, since then he has been disappointed every time our preferences didn't align. Never cared about the things me or my brother liked, like video games, astronomy or music. In fact, he has literally stated that he'd rather me being taking drugs under a bridge than playing an online game with my irl friends. There are some things we actually have in common, like he loves skiing but since I'm not as good as him and my brother, and being around him normally already feels like walking on eggshells, then imagine that but skiing. And he and I are also big Metallica fans, and he took me to a concert recently, but I will never go to anything with him again. He blew his chances at being liked or even tolerated beyond necessity.
He is the worst person I know to be around. Every misstep you make, every minuscule inefficient movement you perform, everything you do that isn't up to his particular way of doing things, he will turn into a fucking lecture, remind you of every single instance, talk you down to and essentially make you feel like you're a useless piece of trash. What else, he fucking hates to see a door that is close. The door our room where I have my stuff set up goes out to the entrance of the apartment, for some fucking reason, and yet, I am not able to have it closed. Every time he sees it he has to open it, remark on how he doesn't like the temperature in a room HE NEVER USES, and leave it open. Lately also threatening to remove the door altogether. And he installed a magnet to keep the door fully open as well.
Another example, from just today. For some reason, he wants to mess around with the home telephones, which all connect to the same number and I have one on my desk. Well, he decides he wants to mess around with this shit without telling me beforehand, so of course he yells at me because I didn't clear the space, because god forbid there are things on my fucking table, because it is hotter in a room containing a human and a laptop than in the other empty rooms, which obviously is my fucking fault, and I also had an important online meeting scheduled for that precise time. Of course, it ends up with him storming out yelling about whatever the fuck annoys him, which is absolutely everything you can think of.
When I returned to our home town from uni I had to get surgery, which in short, left me with a pretty big wound in an awkward place, which needed healing. I followed all of what the doctor said, but my father disagreed. He fucking belittled the doctor because he hated seeing that I would spend time playing video games at some point when I was supposed to stay home and let it heal. He thinks he knows more than the freaking doctors man.
Another quirk of the man is he's a fucking Karen, and racist to boot although he wouldn't act racist in public. He often comes bragging about how he yelled or insulted a random person on the street or on the road because they "didn't follow the rules". Like a girl not wearing a mask in the metro for a minute (already in 2023 btw), or someone didn't use their blinkers properly or whatever. Like minor stuff you would be annoyed about, ignore and go on with your life. He likes to talk a lot about how we should be careful in the streets and avoid trouble, yet he is constantly buying tickets to get his ass handed to him with the way he treats others.
My mother suffers a lot, yet she won't try anything to solve the situation. She basically gets as much shit as I do, and instead of supporting each other because we love each other, she get angry at me because I did some otherwise normal or minor thing that got my father fired up, and she had to "defend me". Many of us in the family, including myself and her sister, have asked her to consider divorce, but it's like she never listens. Last year my father didn't talk to us for like 2 weeks after he ruined my brother's 20th birthday by being an asshole and making everyone uncomfortable at what should have been a nice lunch, and my mother supposedly "made things clear" to him after that, (btw he never apologised), yet now it's like that never happened at all. She will be miserable at how he treats her and us, in one moment, he will storm out of the place with a door slam, and then next day they seem to have forgotten that, its seriously fucking uncanny.
Lately, I have tried leaving the room whenever I couldn't be bother to up up with his shit, but he chases me around the apartment. I have even left meals without finishing because his beer-fueled ramblings start to push my buttons. One day, when my mother was out of town I left the food he prepared on the table and went to spend the entire afternoon to my grandparents (mother's parents), because he kept acting like an asshole towards me even after the 5th time of "stopping". He threatened to beat me (has never done so), but I didn't give a shit, left and spent such a chill evening with 2 people who actually care for each other and their family, until my brother told me we went to sleep. I ignored his messages through that day, and he sometimes still brings up that I still have to answer. I didn't tell him where I had gone, though I thought it was pretty obvious, it was also a rainy day. Apparently he was "worried", good fuck him.
Other times, I try to actually stand out for myself and match his tone, or just reply to his bullshit. It either ends in a competition to see who can yell loudest, him declaring how everything I own is "his", how he is going to kick me out, and would only end by him starting to yell how I'm an idiot, how I'm an ignorant, with absolutely no arguments, just denial of the truths I speak to him.
Honestly, I can't wait to move out ASAP. I have good friends but they got shit to deal with of their own, and I don't feel like I deserve the hospitality of other family members. My grandfather (father's) treated him similarly, and of course he did the mega infinite IQ strategy of repeating the cycle, because he's a fucking idiot. But now my grandfather will defend my father and always be on his side, so I can't even count on them.
I want to have kid(s) at some point, I hope I'm not stupid enough to engage on that cycle myself.
If you read all the way here, I'm honestly impressed. Thanks.

I’ve been in the food truck biz for ten years and here’s how I book events with commentary. I hope this helps someone starting out.
Food Truck Parks: Be careful with these people. Usually a bar owner with an empty lot and a slow bar asks a monthly rent of $1000 PER TRUCK…and then schedules 5-10 food trucks at a time. “We like to give our customers a variety”, they often state, while paying their own bills with your money. Look at the customer parking lot. Is it big enough to be able to generate the sales you need? If you see more food trucks than parking spots, you probably won’t make money vending there.
-Catering: 50% due at booking, balance due 1 day prior to event. Get everything in writing and always remember that you should be agreeable to moving the date in case of weather or other unplanned circumstances. Catering customers should be treated with care. It’s profitable.
-Small Event w/Vending: Only vend with a minimum guarantee of sales and get a credit card on file before you book. Lots of well-meaning office workers do this. Their boss just wants a truck at some office party, but they don’t want to pay. Try to convert these to catered pre-paid events and give them a price.
Monster Event Vending: even if it’s a “monster” event like SXSW or some festival… always negotiate your fee to be based on 10% sales, with no down fee. I’ve done these and it’s rarely worth it. Lots of times the bookers aka “volunteer staff” keep your booking fee and consider their commission. If they want $800 for a parking space, you’ll need to be able to sell 8k. Also, don’t accept tickets. That’s a sign you’ll lose money.

I would like to start by saying this is an honest review. I was an extremely loyal Carvana customer and the first to defend Carvana from anyone saying how bad they were. I have purchased 2 cars from Carvana over the past 5 years. I am going to provide an honest review of both experiences because I want to outline exactly how much the customer experience has degraded in my personal opinion.
If you finish reading this and have any questions, please feel free to AMA about my experiences.
​
1st Vehicle Experience (2019) 5 Stars, amazing experience
I purchased a 2018 Ford Fusion. This vehicle arrived as advertised, all exterior markings were clearly listed on the site and I could find no issues on the exterior that weren't marked. They delayed my shipping which I was perturbed about as I had paid good money for shipping. When the car arrived, the driver had a gift card he gave me for some restaurants which I thought was an amazing gesture. The driver unloaded my vehicle and scrapped the front and back bumpers off the ground because the car was low and the ground uneven. I was assured this would be fixed. I got the car home and realized there was dog hair all through the back seat. I contacted Carvana about both issues. They sent me $250 to get the car cleaned and footed the entire bill for repairs (almost $2000) to get it fully repaired. This earned my loyalty to their brand and decided I'd buy cars from Carvana in the future.
TL;DR; Amazing experience, driver was incredibly respectful and Carvana fixed every complaint I had and I felt actually went above and beyond to ensure I was happy including a swag bag.
​
2nd Vehicle Experience (2023) 1 Star at best, awful experience lost a customer
I purchased a 2021 Chevy Silverado RST 6 1/2 FT bed with DFM from their site. There were a few usual delays during purchasing nothing major. Delivery day comes. I receive a text from the driver with a 15-minute time frame for their arrival. Wait a full hour before texting the number, I get a response when the driver pulls into the parking lot 1 hour and 10 minutes after the arrival time they gave me. I'm out of their market so this involved me sitting in a parking lot for a full hour. No apologies, just a joke about how they needed to stop for an energy drink. I ignore it, shit happens... they unload the vehicle and I take it for a test drive. Everything seems fine, I sign for the vehicle and drive it home. At this point, I have a few parts waiting for the truck including a bed cover which oddly does not fit. I start doing some decoding of the VIN number and realize the truck is actually a 5 3/4 FT bed. I also notice there are some deep gouges in the paint that weren't marked (one side had no scratches at all marked) and there's also a dent in the tailgate. At this point, I'm a bit nervous but I've had good experiences in the past so I assume it'll all work out. I open a complaint about the bed, I wait to hear back. They offer me a $100 check which I feel honestly is a slap in the face. I ask to have the shipping fees waived as this clearly wasn't my fault and would like to return the truck. They refuse. At this point, I'm either out around $1200 ($190 to get it to my state, $520 to get it to me, and $520 to get it back for the return) or I take the $100 and just forget about it. I ask to have a manager call me. They assure me a manager will call in 24 hours as now it is getting close to my 7-day return window and I am pretty displeased. A manager never called me and today I finally just accepted this is my truck now and took the $100 as I didn't want to lose $1200 out of pocket.
As a side note, the truck was listed with DFM but does not have DFM. Another feature they miss annotated but I've decided contacting them about it is not worth the extra $100 as each time has been a significant hassle. I had seen this feature was missing and actually didn't want it anyway so it worked.
So now I move on to the next issue the gouges in the paint and the dent that weren't disclosed. I take pictures and submit a claim request through their website. The pictures are sent to their insurance company. In about 3 hours I am informed that these scratches while not disclosed anywhere are "normal wear" and are being refused to be covered.
TL;DR; The delivery driver was extremely disrespectful. The customer support has mocked me and belittled my problems. They sold me a truck with a 5 3/4 FT bed as a 6 1/2 FT bed that has multiple scratches and a dent they had no pictures of and did not disclose in any way. Their solution was to offer me $100 dollars and refused to allow me to send the truck back without losing money.
​
Safe to say I will NEVER purchase another vehicle from Carvana. It's a shame really, they're usually cheaper than dealers around here and in the past have shown amazing customer response. However, the customer experience is horrible now. An online retailer that can't get the simple facts correct or mark obvious imperfections while refusing to work with the customer in any way does not deserve anyones business.
​
EDIT: Corrected information about when I saw they mis marked the DFM feature.

I’ve lived in my apartment since September 2019 and every September 2019 our rent goes up by the maximum allotted amount- I think like 10%. Since signing our lease in 2019, we haven’t had to sign another one- we’ve reached out but they’ve never given us an updated agreement so we just assumed we became month to month after the first year and would learn of our increases in the form of fliers posted on our door annually. Out of nowhere- they’ve requested updated IDs and emails a few weeks ago and sent us an updated rental agreement. We’re the only tenants in our little quadrant that have been there prior to 2022, the two below us pay a lot more than us and the one beside us is vacant after our neighbor moved out, so they’re renovating. The updated agreement said we now only have one assigned parking spot and had no further details about a second spot- I thought maybe the rest of the previously assigned spots were a free-for-all now but they just texted me and let me know my spot would now be an additional fee. Our rent would also go up in September. Is this not a rent increase in disguise to charge additionally for previously included amenities just so they get more money out of us to match our rent to our newer neighbors? Is this allowed since it would supersede the annual 10% legally allotted to increase our rent? The spot which was previously included in our rent is $60 now, and our current rent is $1254 ( started at $1050 in 2019) and I expect it to be increased again in September in addition to the $60 for the parking spot. This $60 for the spot also was not in the Adobe document we signed, just that only one assigned spot is included. When my roommate asked prior to me signing (she already signed) they ignored her inquiry. Is this legal?
TL;DR: landlord sent us an updated lease agreement randomly, months before our annual increase, stating now only one of two previously assigned spots are ours. We assumed second spot is unassigned and a free for all. Landlord texts me and tells me the spot is $60 in addition to the rent we pay and rent will still increase in September. The $60 wasn’t mentioned on paper anywhere at all.

Husband and I are visiting your city for the first time and (wearing masks) spent yesterday walking around historic neighborhoods, at parks, outdoor stuff but today we'd like to try indoor. Not interested in the Aquarium (and it's $50 entrance fee) and already spent hours in the Walters Art Museum. Heading to the Museum of Visionary Arts in a while. Any more ideas, please?

Hi these are my stats and the colleges I want to apply to:
Rising Senior
Race/Ethnicty: 17 F, Hispanic, first gen, Dominican
School: Magnet School, Science Park High School, Newark, New JERSEY
(you had to apply to get in its a selective public school)
Major: Urban Planning, and or Policy/Law in regards to Sustainability
Weighted GPA on 5.0 Scale: 4.69
Unweighted on 4.0 Scale: 3.7
Rank: 5/200
Newark, Nj
Income: Lower Middle Class, parents income combined before taxes: 40,000
Qualified for Free Lunch type beat 😜😜
Coursework:
Maxed out Honors Classes freshmen and sophomore year, could only take APs junior and senior year
Junior Year: AP Comp Science Principles, AP Language and Composition, AP Statistics, AP United States History, Honors Precalc, Honors Chemistry
Senior Year: AP Human Geography, AP Lit, AP Calc AB, AP Government and Politics, AP African-American History, AP Environmental Science
Test Scores: bombed the SAT with a 1190 🥹 (i didnt prep before then though because I was getting burnt out🥹)
Extracurriculars

• First Job: Newark Museum Explorer, 2022-2024

(Life and college readiness program, you get paid $14.13 USD, community projects, internships, trips, workshops, 2-3 days a week)

• Second Job: Assistant to CEO of One10Ten, a race-car sustainability nonprofit, 2023- (hopefully forever because they are a badass nonprofit)

($16 USD hr, Corporate job, meetings with CEO and board, research into future partnerships, networking opportunities, for now virtually only 1-2 days a week)

• Secretary and Coordinator of ENERGY DIAMOND SUSTAINABILITY AMBASSADORS

(all girls sustainability club, show everyone different majors/fields of study in the STEM field) we have FREE two week summer camp for anyone interested at our school SPHS, networking connections, trips, workshops, we recently hosted a Recycled Fashion Show last week!!)

• Co-founder and member of Youth Leadership Club

(Social Justice Activities, we hosted a thrift store in May, collab (with my help 😜😝) with the EDSA, this June we are doing Pride month make your own pins :)) )
Awards:

• None 😞but EDSA got nominated for Edison Award

Summer:

• 2022, Stevens Institute of Technology Summer Precollege program, costs 3k USD but got a full ride because im poor and studious 😏
  
• 2033 USC Bovard Scholars, precollege program, full ride for everyone because its meant for low income high achievers (I am CoHort 7 😌), SAT PREP too
  
• 2022, 2023 EDSA (Energy Diamond Sustainability Ambassdors) 2 week, in person, summer camp
  

Ok those are my stats ik im not impressive in this sub so be critical yet merciful:
I want to apply to 20-30 colleges because I get fee waivers 😗😗 pls let me know any colleges i should consider, apply, or take out
Reach:
BROWN ON 🔝 (love their open curriculum policies~)
University of Southern California (lovely elite connections 🤔😝)
University of Chicago ( i love big beautiful cities 🌃)
Harvard (🥹) (it would be great bc i get to network and make real revolution (im a commie btw) in Capitalist America)
MIT (🥹 best for my major, and boston is so walkable and gorgeous)
Columbia (🥹) (cmon, idc if its not t20 its still NYC babyyy 😜😜)
Upenn (Philadelphia is so drop dead beautiful)
Targets:
UC San Diego (gonna be with my fellow hispanics 🤓)
UWashington Seattle (seattle and pacific northwest is 😫😫😫)
UC Davis (love bikable and sustainable universities)
Safety:
Rutgers New Brunswick (great state school, nj and fasfa will give me a good aid)
Stevens Institute of Technology (i love their staff and location, expensive as shit but im hoping for scholarship there since i did precollege there)
Please lecture me about any colleges you think I need to reconsider, apply, or take out
Thank you 😘

Hi,
my gf is on Work&Travel in the US. I'm joining her for the travel part.
I was wondering, how much money will we need for one month?
We will have 4 domestic flights, I know they aren't so expensive, when I checked it was below 80$.
We will also rent a car for let's say 3 weeks.
This is the list of things we are planning to see:
-Miami
-Aligator farm
-Keywest
-Flight from Miami to SF
-SF to Hawaii (It's the most expensive part, we could drop it)
-Back to SF and then to Big Sur
-Then Tahoe
-Yosemite
-Redwood National and State Parks
-1 day LA
-Joshua Tree
-Flight to LV
-Valley of Death and Grand Canion
-Zion National Park
-Flight to Washington
-Olympic National Park
-Flight to NY
-Two days in NY and going home
We already have flights, so I'm just wondering about cost in the US. We will sleep in cheapest hotels and eat cheapest food, but still, how much will it take?
Thanks

PART EIGHT HUNDRED AND FORTY-TWO
[Previous Chapter] [The Beginning] [Patreon+2]
Friday
Thomas had no idea how Miss Webber did it, but by the time his phone pinged with her message less than ten minutes later, he was directed to the resort’s front entrance, where a town car would be waiting for him.
Thomas had showered, shaved and packed his duffle within the seven minutes he’d said he needed and had spent the next few minutes moving silently through the resort. As a licenced bodyguard (albeit an out-of-work one), he still had a valid multi-state CCW licence for all of his weapons, some of which he wore, and others were stashed in his bags.
The first thing he’d done after leaving the apartment he’d shared with Donald with everything he owned in garbage bags was go to the nearest army surplus store and buy himself an oversized duffle and shoulder pack. The guy behind the counter barely glanced at his CCW licence, already knowing a war vet when he saw one. Thomas also loaded up on ammunition and spare knives because one could never be too careful. He was offered a substantial discount for his service, but he declined and paid for everything with a swipe of his card.
Later that day, he had booked into a hotel where he’d considered his next move. There were a couple of brothers from the military who had started a security firm in Chicago that would welcome him with open arms. He also had a few favours owed to him inside the military, provided those people were still in the service. He hadn’t exactly had a lot of downtime to chase up old friends working for the Portsmiths.
In the end, after drinking half a bottle of vodka, he decided an overseas vacation would be the best thing for his frayed nerves. Especially when he thought if he stayed, he might be running into Sam … or the monster that was watching over him. It had to be a monster. Before that day, he’d only ever believed in the two-legged kind of monsters. Even as a kid, he was convinced everything had a weakness and could be killed.
And every time he convinced himself he’d been drugged into thinking it (which only took seconds because the concept was insane), he’d look at his chest or a reflection of his chest, see the lie for what it was and freak out all over again.
Now wasn’t the time to think about that. So he’d covered his chest in a black t-shirt and pulled on olive-green cargo pants and combat boots. He knew it was a long way from what he would be expected to wear around Mr Portsmith, but the clothes he’d been assigned had remained with Donald right along with all his electronics since they’d come with the job.
Sure enough, a dark green sedan with tinted windows was waiting for him in the loading bay with a driver standing at the back door. “I’ll sit up front with you,” he said as he tossed the duffle and his pack across the back seat.
“Very well, sir,” the driver said, shutting the back door while Thomas opened the front passenger door for himself.
The drive across the island to Grand Bahama International Airport took under five minutes, and Thomas knew for the price Portsmith Electronics had paid for this fancy cab fare, he could’ve saved them that money and run that distance in thirty. Maybe longer since he was lugging his overweight kit and his days of hauling ass while fully loaded up were a decade behind him, but still, he shook his head at the excessive expense.
A woman in a sharply pressed flight attendant’s uniform stood at the foot of the stairs of a seven-windowed jet with Reno Air Express painted across the sides in green when they pulled onto the tarmac. As soon as the car drew to a halt, Thomas removed his seatbelt and climbed out of the passenger seat before the driver could reach the door. He went to the back door and hauled out his gear, throwing his duffle onto his shoulder and carrying the backpack by the straps out of habit since that left his strongest arm free to handle the rifle he wasn’t currently carrying. Some things were just ingrained like that.
“Mister Cole,” she said as he approached her.
“Yes,” Thomas answered, snapping back into the professional façade he’d been using for almost a decade. He walked past her and climbed the stairs, ducking inside. As his eyes scanned the nineteen seats of the small cabin, he found himself biting the inside of his cheek in amusement. For the last nine years, he’d been flying in private jets set up for those who had more zeroes in their bank accounts than some small countries. After all that time, it was something of a step back to go from that to a basic commercial model.
“We’ll be taking off just as soon as you’re buckled in, sir,” the flight attendant said, hauling the stairs up and locking them into place. “Would you like me to stow your bags?”
Thomas shook his head, tossing his duffle across the two seats on the opposite side of the aisle from the pair he claimed for himself. As ingrained as it was for him to keep his gear with him wherever possible, it was just as hammered in to put himself as close as possible to the cockpit and the door in case of a problem.
Besides, with the equipment he had in that duffle, there was no way she could lift it. The two chairs groaned and sank under the weight. It was why he’d gone to the army surplus store to buy it. That sucker could carry over four hundred pounds without breaking if it had to. In comparison, the commercial versions fell apart just thinking about triple-figured weights.
After clipping the seatbelt through the handles and under the duffle to secure it to the seat, he threw his smaller pack in the overhead storage and took his front aisle seat. He strapped himself in, then watched the flight attendant do likewise in a rear-facing seat beside the cockpit door. She pressed a button on the wall that probably notified the pilot they were ready, and within seconds, they were taxiing onto the main runway.
“Where will we be putting down?” he asked just as soon as the jet leveled out and both he and the attendant unbuckled for comfort.
“We’ll be flying directly to the Pensacola International Airport and landing just before seven-thirty, sir. A car will be waiting for you there.” She stood up with a smile. “Are you hungry, sir? A hot breakfast has been supplied by one of the local hotels.”
Thomas tried really hard not to let his surprise show. Clearly, whoever wrote Marvel’s Pepper Potts character had met Miss Webber! Within ten minutes, she had a car and jet and a hot breakfast ready to go … on an island soooo not set up for any of that!
Note to self … stay on Miss Webber’s good side, Thomas reminded himself, for perhaps the millionth time since first meeting the scary executive assistant that had not been given her position to sit on the boss’ knee and look pretty. Tucker Portsmith and Martin Laurier were dangerous in their own right, but Miss Webber was like so many staff sergeants he’d worked with. Fuck with her at your own peril.
“Breakfast would be great, thank you.”
The woman beamed and moved down the seats, stopping in the hallway to open some manner of bag that had been strapped into the seat like a passenger.
She returned with a large tray with two domed lids. “Apple juice or coffee, sir?” she asked as he lifted the first lid and breathed in the sausages and scrambled eggs on toast.
He paused mid-whiff and suspiciously lifted his eyes to her.
“We were informed of your beverage preferences, sir.”
It was more than a preference. Thomas was allergic to citrus fruits. It was why he always carried at least two epi-pens on him, even though he was able to use the excuse of carrying it for Miss Geraldine since she had her own food allergies. He huffed without a word and went to work cleaning up the meal before him.
“Also, in case you wish to change before our arrival…” the woman stood up and made her way to the rear of the plane, returning with a sealed garment bag. “I believe these are your measurements.”
Thomas fought hard to curtail his reaction. Jesus Christ! A car, a jet, a breakfast that took his allergies into consideration, AND a semi-fitted suit?! The fuckin’ US military isn’t this organised!
It was novel to be the sole focus of the flight attendant. Normally he was the muscle that the plane staff ignored in favour of the family, so having her offer a range of beverages and even a few simple snacks like he was a VIP, despite the journey only taking a little over two hours, was a treat.
The ascent and descent were the most time-consuming parts of the flight, and about five minutes before he’d need to be buckled in for the second time, Thomas stood up and took the suit that had been draped over the back of the second set of seats.
“I’m about to get changed,” he said over his shoulder, more to give the woman time to do whatever the hell she needed to do. It wasn’t as if he was shy, though he’d react badly to being touched without being asked. That was a no-go.
He moved to the centre of the plane still facing the rear, unzipped the garment bag and unhooked it from the shoulders. As he expected, there was an undershirt, a long-sleeved grey silk shirt and a dark jacket with matching silk tie. Behind it were the long pants. “I assume there’s shoes somewhere too?” The combat boots he was presently wearing didn’t really cut it.
“Yes, sir. I have them in the overhead storage.”
With a nod of approval, he untied each shoe and kicked them off, then wedged his knees into the armrests on either side of the narrow aisle and hauled his t-shirt over his head.
Twenty minutes later, after taxiing into the private hangars, the stairs were lowered, and Thomas strode down them. In his left hand, he held the duffle over the thin rail that most would need for balance, while his right held the smaller backpack the same way. He still hadn’t allowed the hostess to kill herself trying to lift his duffle, and the pack offered him a small measure of counterbalance. He wouldn’t allow either to crease his suit. At the foot of the stairs stood two men, who broke apart as he descended with their hands up to relieve him of his bags.
One look at their sizes, and Thomas told them to switch.
“Why?” the much smaller of the two asked.
“There’s over a hundred and forty pounds in that duffle.” He knew that because it had cost him a small fortune to fly it to the Bahamas. “Are you good with lifting that kind of dead weight?” Tiny Tim? the snarky part of his brain added.
The only person of minute stature who Thomas had seen hold his own without batting an eye was a little blond bullet from Texas who’d been temporarily attached to his unit back in '03. Kelsey could also toss the biggest of them on their asses too, but this guy clearly wasn’t him.
“One forty?” the bigger guy repeated, then looked at his colleague. But instead of switching as Thomas suggested, that guy took the small pack and slung it onto one shoulder, then went the other side where both men shared the weight of the duffle between them back to the SUV parked a short distance away.
Thomas shook his head at them. They were both in their mid-twenties. The bigger of them should’ve been able to handle that duffle on his own for the twenty feet they had to cover to reach the car. Wherever Miss Webber dug them up from, they clearly weren’t former military.
But then, that’s what he was there for.
He followed them to the car, almost laughing when the bigger one put the duffle down (forcing his smaller companion to just about face-plant) and moved quickly to open the rear passenger door for him. “I sit in the front, bud. You take the back.” He actually preferred to drive, but that wouldn’t be up to him. Not when the company was paying him four-fifty an hour for however many hours he was needed.
* * *
((Author's note: I don't know how many of you are aware of this, but Reddit is attempting to force out 3rd party apps at the end of this month, and many, many sites across Reddit are undertaking a self-imposed posting ban from 12th June to the 14th June.
I'm talking very big hitters as well as little ones are joining this fight. I don't personally agree with Reddit's decision to charge each of the 3rd party companies 20 million dollars a year to maintain their programs either, so for those three days, I'll be withholding BtH posts in solidarity with the heavy hitters. Every little bit helps.
I'm not sure if it will only affect one or two posts yet, depending on if the timing of the 'strike' is all going to happen at the same time around the world or if everywhere is doing it according to their local timetable. I'll be watching some of the bigger AU sites to find out.
I hope you all understand my reasons, and I'll be back soon after that, as per usual.))
((All comments welcome. Good or bad, I'd love to hear your thoughts 🥰🤗))
I made a family tree/diagram of the Mystallian family that can be found here
For more of my work including WPs: Angel466 or an index of previous WPS here.
FULL INDEX OF BOB THE HOBO TO DATE CAN BE FOUND HERE!!

I like to travel freely with my trailer and camp overnight where I can park. There's a fantastic app you can use called 'park4night' which allows you to skim areas using a google-maps style view and locate both known campsites and user generated spots they've discovered that you can visit. Handy if you just want to point in a direction and go, and not having to plan ahead on where you have to stay that night.
I was skimming through a few and the comments section in some of the areas I wanted to go to this year. A few years ago people were saying things like "fantastic spot, roomy, quiet night, recommend" however when you get to the top you'll typically find "no overnight parking" or "no overnight parking sign now in force"
A lot of the entries from late 2022 > 2023 are now showing this. It seems Scotlands fed up with people parking and camping where they please.
I'm not gonna say it isn't warranted. I know that when there's a good free spot available, it attracts a lot of people - a lot of the wrong type of people - and what looks like a nice spot to spend the night can become a late night rave with all the antisocial behaviour that comes with it (looking at you Ardentinny Beach)
It's not an isolated incident. It's this kind of behaviour that's warranted action with things like barriers, signs and fees being introduced to deter this.
I'm not saying they should reverse what they've done.. I'm just saying it sucks. We've ruined it for ourselves and others. When you compare it to the states where they have massive national parks with many free to park spots purpose designed for this.
If I want to go somewhere, I need to plan. I need to pay. I just liked having a hobby that doesn't cost anything to do, we're few and far between things we can do for free in this world.

Here's the second part of Act IV. Sorry for the double post but I had no choice due to the website's limitations.
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Act IV: The Clouds Burst (2/2)

To the Panic room
Frightened by the new attack, Biosyn's board of directors leave the auditorium and, guided by their escort, they head for the panic room. Meanwhile, the employees finally manage to rush out of the burning cafetaria and while some surrender to the Italians and the Austrians, others rush to the metro station or the garages in order to flee to the Biosyn village, and a fraction try to make a run for the panic room but their way is blocked by a group of guards.
On their way to the panic room, the board of directors is partly caught in a stampeding crowd. Zoe Murdoch is pushed on the ground, trampled and left behind while Nathan Quinn abandons his fellow board members.
The wage of treachery
While she also started heading to the garages, knowing that Dodgson must be there, Bigelow is attacked by Massoud. They fight but despite her skills, Massoud is a stronger opponent and he overpower Bigelow. But just as he is strangling her, the grey guard is tased by Kayla and falls unconscious. The smuggler helps the CIA agent get up and they hurry to the garages.
The raiders
Meanwhile, the mysterious soldiers have reached the laboratories, killing everyone in their path, be they Biosyn guards and mercenaries, scientists who tried to save their work, or besiegers (including Luis Olivares).
They cross the different labs. In Dr Lesser's, Wu hides from them as he is still locked up. The raiders ends up reaching their objective: The locusts' lab. When they see the nine empty rooms, the raiders seem worried and frustrated, implying they came to do something with the locusts. They then has the remaining group gassed and we see the locusts taking flight and then starting to drop dead on the floor. While some of the raiders then raid and destroy the rest of the Locusts' lab, other squad members then free the animals contained in the cages of another lab.
In the lower levels
While crawling and climbing in the vents towards the top of the Citadel, Claire sees Owen running past her as he rushes to the kennels. But the alarms' blare prevent The Raptor Whisperer from hearing his fiancée.
In the lower levels, Mia Everett is trying to capture Victoria, intending to save her from the chaos and Biosyn's clutches, but the young Achillobator attack her, biting and clawing at her throat. Grievously injured, the scientist fall and Victoria lets her bleeds to death. When Owen finds Mia, she just has the time of uttering a few words before passing away. The Raptor Whisperer sees a number of animals running in the hallways, including Victoria. But just as he plans to catch her, Biosyn employees are being chased by some of the most dangerous escapees (like the dilophosaurs). Some of those animals prevent The Raptor Whisperer from going after Victoria and he is forced to hide in the first room he can find.
Tu quoque mi fili
On their way to the garages, Ramsay and Dodgson have an argument, during which the first say he no longer want to follow the second due to his recent fits of madness (filling Maisie's head with lies; the locusts' threats; literally declaring war with the Italians and the Austrians; behaving like a dictator...), even though he believed in his vision when he was recruited years ago (Ramsay genuinely believed that Biosyn's breakthroughs could improve the world etc...). When Ramsay admits having helped Wu with discovering the truth about Charlotte's videos and breaking Maisie out of the Citadel, Dodgson seems genuinely hurt by the betrayal of his son-like figure. One too many, after those of Wu, Drummond, and Pellegrino. Their argument worsens, up until they come to blows. At one point Dodgson pulls out a pistol and shoots Ramsay in the belly by accident. While the younger man bleeds out, the CEO is dazed and runs away while predators' growls can be heard nearby.
Near the garages' entrance, Dodgson is found by Bigelow and Kayla. The CIA agent asks about Ramsay and he answers that he didn't make it due to an attack on the way. The three take the last available vehicle and exits the Citadel, driving into the valley. Their objective is the same mountain path towards which Maisie and Drummond are heading.
Duel
On the way to the courtyard, one of the mysterious soldiers has a sword fight with a grey guard (Cesare oand Papadopoulos). During it, his opponent tear a part of his sleeve, revealing a tattoo which depicts a snake hieroglyph (actually a symbol of the god Apep). The soldier manage to climb aboard their helicopter, which take off and leave the valley with one of the attack helicopters. Confused, the grey guard wonder who those attackers were.
The dam busters
Meanwhile, the other has moved to the other end of the valley, where it's in the middle of a fight with one of the Special Forces' helicopters, just by the dam. During their battle, the dilapidated dam is destroyed and its unleashed frozen waters follow the valley's main river, flooding everything in their path, including the battlefield on the road and the area just in front of the Citadel. A number of animals, Carabinieri and Biosyn employees aboard a fleeing vehicle are carried away and many of them drown while Dodgson's vehicle is almost caught by the waters.
The flood reaches the south-eastern limits of Biosyn's lands, where it's momentarily stopped by the wall found there and which separates the Sanctuary from the nearest village. But under so much pressure, the wall breaks down and the flood continues, destroying parts of a riverside village after that, catching some of the inhabitants.
With its main power source gone, the electricity goes off within Biosyn's lands and the surrounding areas, deactivating the invisible fences and stopping the metro full of passengers in the middle of the tunnels.
Road accident
While in the part of the valley spared by the flood, Dodgson's vehicle nearly collide with a loose black billy goat (the same which ran away in the prologue) and in its attempt to bypass it, it tumble down a slope (with Bigelow being ejected in the bushes in the process) and ends up on its roof (like the vehicle carrying the original trio and Maisie in Trevorrow's version).
Aftermath
The attackers gone and most of Biosyn troops neutralized or routing, Vuillier, Dougal, Nyamu, Viscontini, and the surviving grey guards, the officers of the Carabinieri and the Special Forces, along with Pellegrino and Nathan Quinn starts organizing the evacuation of the remaining Biosyn employees and taking the wounded (as the grey guards' medic, Papadopoulos will tend to them) to a provisional secure location within the Citadel (the auditorium could be such a place). In the control room, all the technicians but a few were killed or badly injured by the helicopter's attack while the grey guard's team dispatched there is in a hardly better state as Isabella Perez was also injured. Al-Damiri orders their comrade to take her out of the tower, and give similar orders to the uninjured technicians, asking only one to stay just in case. The Egyptian grey guard and the remaining technician then assess the damage.
As power need to be put back on for various purposes (allowing the three grey guards continue their search in the archives; deactivating the valley "aerial defense" to let helicopters come in the Citadel and evacuate people; reactivating the metro; reactivating the invisible fences to prevent the animals from leaving the valley...), people are sent activating the emergency generators.
They want to send men after Dodgson's but while the valley's known exits are watched, they fear he knows a secret one.
Dodgson's demise
When Bigelow awakes amidst the bushes, she notices that the vehicle is surrounded by a group of Nasutoceratops (or some other buffalo-sized herbivores). Inside the crashed vehicle, Dodgson and Kayla regain consciousness and know they have to wait for the herbivores to leave before exiting the vehicle. Suddenly, the herbivores get agitated and leave. They caught the scent of a predator and the latter shows itself: It's the InGen-bred Acrocanthosaurus.
Ensue a scene where Dodgson, just like his novel version with Sarah Harding, tries to save his own skin by pushing Kayla from the vehicle so the Acro can eat her instead of him, deeming her expendable, but the opposite happens. When the CEO is shaken between the jaws, his precious hard-drive falls on the ground and Bigelow sees this and tries to reach it before it's crushed by the animal. Kayla tries to hold the CIA agent back, saying she'll get herself killed and that the hard-drive isn't worth it. Bigelow rushes towards her objective anyway. When it takes a still screaming Dodgson in the woods, the acro steps on the hard-drive, destroying it.
The black billy goat responsible for the road accident watches Dodgson being devoured by the dinosaur.
Meanwhile, a depressed Bigelow is looking at the destroyed hard-drive and Kayla is forced to shake her so they can move away and head for the mountains in order to leave the valley.
Drummond's confession
Walking above the surface and not in the tunnels in order to not reiterate the traumatizing experience with the pectinodons even if it's equally dangerous due to the other valley's predators, Drummond and Maisie are heading eastward, following the peripheral rim of mountains.
During their trek, Drummond tells Maisie about the Hunting activity in the Sanctuary and how its profits financed his research at Biosyn, explaining part of his self-loathing. He admits he's glad that Claire put an end to it, even if he wished less blood was spilled.
To add some light amidst those dark hours, the teenager and the palaeontologist have a peaceful encounter with some dinosaurs (probably herbivores).
While watching them, Drummond tells Maisie about his late wife's wish of having children, implying to the teenager that she has a roof under which to sleep if she doesn't want to return to Orick and leave the Lockwood name behind her in order to finally have a normal life.
At the opposite end of the valley, they see fire and smoke rising from the Citadel and wonder what happened there.
Zobie la Mouche/Whac-a-Mole
Another danger is spotted near the Citadel. Coming from the now-flooded area at the base of the building, comes Brontes, one of the Argentinosaurus.
After the battle and the flood, he just seeks a place to have some rest and thinks the Citadel's courtyard would be a decent choice. The characters in the atrium hide as he crosses the now destroyed hall. It's seen during that scene that the sauropod has many scars on his skull, implying some human abuse (probably for medical experiments). The sauropod's suite of small carnivores take off from it and land in the atrium, investigating the hall as they caught the scent of dead or wounded humans.
On his way, Brontes sees something moving on the ground. It's Murdoch, who's trying to crawl away despite the injuries she got after being trampled by a crowd. Brontes looks at her with curiosity and then crushes her under his foot. Murdoch now squashed, Brontes loses interest in her and enters the courtyard while some members of his suite eat the remains of Biosyn's vice-president. The Argentinosaurus stands in the middle of the courtyard, just in front of the tower's entrance, and starts to sleep while standing (a bit like elephants). A part of his suite is on the lookout, hearing noise all around within the Citadel.
Distracting Brontes
Our protagonists are bothered as Brontes and his suite are preventing them from going after Dodgson by the shortest way and reaching the archives' entrance. They can either make a long detour through a series of hallways or confront the dinosaur. As time is running against them, they take the second option and while some of the grey guards (Cesare, Massoud, Kapakas) are attracting Brontes and his suite towards a ruined part of the Citadel (and from the control room, Al Damiri help them by shooting on the beast), Vuillier and Nyamu run to the tower and reach it in time. At the archives' entrance, they join Chapuy and his two comrades.
Burning the Hydra's heads
In the dark hallways, Claire stumbles upon Betty Chapman (or whatever her real name is), who's pushing a cart with hydrogen cyanide canisters. At that moment, the audience also notices for the first time that Chapman has the same snake hieroglyph tattoo on her arm as the soldier who had a sword fight with the grey guard.
Claire first intends to stop the guard and bring her to the invading force so she can be put with the other Biosyn employees, but Chapman tells her that they should be allies as she's also an enemy of Biosyn. Claire demands precisions and while pushing the cart, the guard reveal that she infiltrated the company and was the one who sabotaged the Sanctuary in the last few months, by temporarily deactivating the invisible fence and allowing one of the Quetzalcoatlus to escape in order to accelerate the destroying of Biosyn's reputation, and sending intel to the raiders, whose objective were to destroy the locusts before their shipping abroad. When Claire asks who she and the raider are, Chapman only gives an enigmatic answer (something like "Chaos in the service of a greater good"). When she tells Claire that Wu made those locusts, the former director of Jurassic World thinks about finding the geneticist and follow through with her threats from three years earlier.
On the way, Claire has to scare off some escaped predator which wanted to attack them. Chapman tells her she's heading to the panic room, where the board of directors so foolishly trapped itself. The felon guard explain Claire they can't take the risk of having the board members leaving the panic room and escaping the valley and that she could help her giving a deadly blow from which Biosyn will never recover while they still can. Claire agrees to help her and looking at the canisters, she remembers what Doctor Karim Depéret, one of InGen's geneticists, told her during the Lockwood Estate incident, that Hydrogen Cyanide is a poison.
The emergency generators
As having a full suspenseful scene dedicated to restoring power like in Trevorrow's version would be too much of a retread of JP's bunker scene, the scene where power is restored is either much shorter or happening off-screen.
However, the emergency generators alone are not enough to provide power for all the needed tasks (the invisible fences and the aerial defense system are quite energy-intensive) and another black-out occurs. Power is once again put back on but our protagonists are forced to make choices. In order to keep the invisible fences on and the archives' power running, they are forced to keep the "aerial defense" system on and stop the evacuation's helicopters from going and coming between the Citadel and the camp outside the valley in order to not trigger pterosaurs' attack.
Dracul
Reaching the part of the Citadel where the panic room is located, Claire and Chapman bring the cart to a maintenance tunnel, prepare the canisters and neutralize the guards in front of the panic room, using darkness to their advantage. They block the door, preventing the board members from escaping. They return to the maintenance tunnel and Chapman lets Claire introduce hydrogen cyanide in the panic room's aeration, poisoning the board members. Finally, the Chapman gives Claire a box of matches. She takes it, lights a match, throws it in the right vent and while the gas catches fire, the two women run away. The panic room is destroyed in a violent explosion which finishes the board members off. It's heard and felt within most of the Citadel.
A wounded Biosyn guard sees Claire fleeing the panic room's area and notices the blood on her clothes. When he discovers what's left of the panic room and the board members (charred corpses at best), he utters with dread the following word: Dracul (Dragon in Romanian. The guard, a minor character, is established to be a Romanian immigrant in an earlier scene depicting the daily life of the facility's employees).
Claire tries to find Chapman after that but the other woman disappeared like a ghost and is not seen for the rest of the Dolomites Incident.
In the Archives
Vuillier, Nyamu and the three grey guards with them are still searching the archives for every incriminating document.
Reuniting
After discovering that Victoria and other animals escaped the citadel through a door and are now in the valley, Owen heads for the control room, aware that it must have some sort of tracking system. On the way, he reunites with Claire and soon, they are found by Dougal. As the Argentinosaurus is still posing a threat in the central courtyard, they pass under it in order to access the tower. They climb to the control room, meet Al-Damiri and the last technician there, get access to the tracking system and Victoria's current coordinates. They find a tracking tablet and Claire volunteers to stay in the control room and be their eyes.
While Owen and Dougal grab some capture equipment in a room near the kennels, Claire searches through the CCTV footage and finds Wu in Maisie's cell, within Dr Lesser's lab. She heads for the laboratories, telling the others she found the geneticist.
Following Victoria's signal thanks to their tracking tablet, Owen and Dougal leave the Citadel and head for the nearby forest, crossing the flooded area between the two.
Wu-ing for redemption
Claire reaches Dr Lesser's lab and opens its cell. Wu steps out but his old enemy brutally grabs him and interrogates him about the locusts. As he once again fucked up, she's about to strike him when pity hold her hand back. Wu tells her that they can still cancel Dodgson's apocalypse, by passing as the CEO himself and giving Biosyn's abroad agents the order to destroy the locusts, and just begs her to offer his help. After a moment of hesitation, Claire help the geneticist stand and give him his cane, the one Lockwood offered to him at the end of TRQ. Together, they then head immediately to the central tower and once in Dodgson's office, Wu turns the CEO's computer on but discovers it's empty. Claire's aggressiveness starts to return when Wu remembers that Dodgson kept some of his most precious information on paper and not necessarily on his computer as he feared being hacked. They start searching the office and the adjacent bedroom. Wu notices a framed picture of Dodgson as a child with his mother at some science fair (in an earlier scene, before he sent the containers, Dodgson could be seen closing the frame while Wu just stepped in his office). Wu opens the back of the frame and discover that Dodgson hid small pieces of papers between the picture and the frame itself. When he sees one paper with Hexapod Allies written on the top; a series of names, phone numbers and email addresses below; and a series of secret codes for the different orders on the back; he knows they put their hands on the jackpot. Wu and Claire hack Dodgson's email account (the password is Liddell, the maiden name of Dodgson's mother) and write the message to the agents involved in the Hexapod Allies operation, including the secret code for the Destroy order, but when they want to send it, the computer notify them that they can't due to internet connection issues. Wu realizes it's because the antenna on top of the control room might have moved following the helicopter's attack. Someone has to climb on the roof to properly realign it and since Wu can't because of his lame leg, the task goes to Claire.
Tracking Victoria
In the woods, Owen and Dougal hear Victoria's calls for help. The young Achillobator still thinks her mother might show up.
They find her and try to capture her but fails. They wander deeper in the woods.
Realigning the antenna
Claire climbs on the control room's roof and communicates with Wu through the radio, she ends up finding the right antenna.
However, just as she begin fixing it, the Argentinosaurus' suite start harassing her as the sauropod is just below. From the auditorium's entrance, Viscontini notices that. Learning through Wu what Claire is doing, Viscontini orders the grey guards to attack the Argentinosaurus so his suite will turn away from Claire to instead defend him. Wu also urges the AISI head to send men after Theo, Maisie and Drummond, as they're carrying very important data about the locusts, enough to destroy Biosyn.
Defying a Titan
Round two between the grey guards and Brontes start, and most of Claire's harassers go help him. This time, the sauropod actively chases his human attackers across parts of the Citadel, destroying walls and roofs with his sheer weight, letting out deafening bellows, passing his neck and head into breaches to try get access to the characters while his suite can reach them where he can't. Massoud ends up grabbed by the herbivore mouth and then thrown against the tower or any other surface, killing him instantly. An additional idea could be the titanosaur provoking small "earthquakes" when he strikes the ground with his forefeet, destabilizing Claire on top of the tower (she even almost falls).
Depending on the pace, there could be at the same time a suspenseful scene in the archives involving some creatures from the labs or the kennels. If the archives are low enough, maybe they'll get inundated because of the flood and the threat could be a semi-aquatic creature contained in the Citadel or brought by the flood (like the temnospondyl; while Nothosaurus, which had a small appearance in my JW rewrite, could be an alternative choice, with individuals housed in the kennels).
Prometheus' fate
After giving a few kicks while repelling her last harassers, Claire manages to properly realign the antenna and Wu successfully transmit the Destroy order to the Hexapod Allies agents. We cut to them as they destroy the locusts in their containers. When he receives their confirmation, the geneticist is relieved. But just as Claire is about to return to Dodgson's office, she sees a *Variraptor (*if it's chosen as Brontes' suite. If not, it will be some relatively large feathered coelurosaurian from the labs in order to make the parallels with Prometheus work) getting to its entrance first. Wu just has the time to barricade himself in the bedroom adjacent to the office but he knows the door won't hold long. Something (Brontes passing his head through a window and trying to attack her?) prevents her from reaching the office. She tells Wu to hold while she tries to save him but he asks her to instead save herself, wishing her a long and happy life. He bids her farewell and wait for his death while Claire escapes the tower. The raptor ends up breaking through the door and it pounce on Wu. While the predator starts devouring him, his cane falls on the ground and its amber pommel shatters.
Owen's decision
Just as the Owen and Dougal are about to start a new attempt in capturing Victoria, a pack of Achillobators (the same one which allied with Claire in the previous night) shows up and our duo hide while the raptors spot Victoria. At first, Owen fears they'll hurt or even kill her. He thinks about intervening, even if he might risk his own life, but after sniffing the young and scared Achillobator, the pack leader gently guides her towards her pack. Owen and Dougal watch the raptors disappear in the darkness. Dougal ask Owen if he'll do something but the Raptor Whisperer says nothing, willing to let Victoria live with a pack and without unnecessary human interference in her life. They head back to the Citadel.
The tower and the tyrannosaur
Kayla and Bigelow arrive by one of the observation towers, the one closest from the mountain path they're heading to. Nearby, the Special Forces' helicopter shot down by that of the raiders and the surrounding vegetation still burns. Just as they are about to climb to its observation bay in order to raid the tower for anything useful before starting the mountains' ascent, they are surrounded by a pack of small carnivores (just like Claire with the dilophosaurs in Trevorrow's version). Before they attack, a horn blast is heard. It's Drummond and after the palaeontologist insists with his portable horn (similar to the one Nigel Marven use against the velociraptors in The Giant Claw), the small carnivores scatter. He asks the two women if they're friends or foes, if they count among Dodgson's friends. Kayla answers that since Dodgson tried to sacrifice her to an Acrocanthosaurus, the answer is no for her, before adding that it ate Dodgson instead. Drummond is glad to hear that and he tells Maisie she can come. The teenager, hidden until there amidst the vegetation, joins them. Having heard Dodgson complaining about Maisie's escape, Bigelow is aware she must be very important but still wary, Drummond whisper to Maisie to not say a single word about the flash drive she's carrying. The two duos talk about their objectives and discover that they're the same. For better chances of survival, they decide to head together for the mountain's path.
But a tyrannosaur, the same one which Claire released earlier, makes its appearance while they're walking away from the tower. It saw them and they know that they better seek refuge in the tower than attempt to run from the predator. At first, they try to stay still, in order to not trigger its attack, but when he notices that the predator wouldn't mind eat one or two of them, Drummond tells Maisie and the two women to run. While they rush to the tower, he distracts the rex by agitating a burning branch. Afraid of the fire, the rex seek to avoid the branch and see the three other humans climbing the tower's ladder. The predator bypass Drummond and in its dash towards the tower, it sends the palaeontologist flying away with its tail. As such thing would have easily killed someone, Maisie fears the worst for him and when his motionless body falls into a ravine, the audience think it's over for him. Maisie panics while the rex has its jaws locked around the ladder's protective cage. What follows is pretty much similar to the Giganotosaurus' attack on the tower scene from Trevorrow's version, except that the final outcome will be quite different. As the observation towers' power has been turned off from the control room in order to save power for more urgent systems, our three protagonists can't have the observation bay rise to the top of the tower, where they would be safe from the rex. To make matters worse, another threat arrive.
I haven't decided which yet but the idea I'm having now is a group of pterosaurs, probably pteranodons, which targets our trio and chase the rex away from the tower by pecking at his head. Another manages to grab Maisie and take her out of the tower. However, the pterosaur let her go before it can be above the canopy due to some incident (another harassing it probably) and Maisie falls into dense bushes at a certain distance from the tower, out of the two women's sight. In the meantime, a mist has started descending from the mountains. Bigelow and Kayla exit the tower and begin searching for Maisie in the area, fearing she got herself hurt in the fall. To cover a maximum of ground before the mist reaches them, they decide to split up.
The end of a line
We see Maisie managing to stand up and while she got bruises**,** she seems relatively fine and still in walking condition. Now lost and alone in the middle of the woods, she's very scared though and starts screaming to help. In the silent forest, Kayla hears her voice and follows it. Just as the mist is about to reach Maisie, the smuggler sees the teenager in the distance and calls for her. But when she hears heavy footsteps and a rumble coming from just behind Maisie, in the mist, her heart stops and she's aghast when she sees the tyrannosaur's silhouette closing to the girl's. Before Maisie can flee, the predator open its maws, grabs her and swallow her whole before disappearing in the forest's shadows (the scene is meant to be a mirror of one from my JW rewrite, where the death of a little girl during the pterosaurs' attack on the main hub is concealed by smoke while Claire watch helplessly). Thus ends Lockwood's line, indirectly destroyed by Claire Dearing.
Bigelow arrives in her turn and sees the smuggler kneeled on the ground, speechless, too shocked by the scene she just saw. Understanding what happened, the CIA agent has an "Oh. Shit..." face and tells Kayla they have to leave the valley while they still can, as she doesn't know what the Italians will do with it once it's taken, even fearing that it might be firebombed in order to destroy the perpetrators of the various incidents of the past months.
While the two women head for the mountain's path and the mist passes away, Drummond is seen climbing out of the ravine and starts to call for Maisie, in vain. Seeing the destroyed observation bay empty, he looks around for clues about Maisie's or the women's whereabouts. He ends up stumbling on the rex's tracks and follows them up to the spot where the teenager last stood. There he finds Wu's flash drive and seeing some blood stains around, he realizes she is no more. This deeply saddens him and this loss and failure just add another load on his self-loathing, as he would have gladly died between the jaws of the king of the dinosaurs if it could have saved Maisie's life. Instead of trying to follow Kayla and Bigelow, he goes in the opposite direction, towards the valley itself.
Leaving the Sanctuary
While looking to reach the auditorium, Claire is forced to hide in one of the labs from dilophosaurs roaming in the area.
In the archives, Vuillier and Nyamu finally put their hands on the documents they were looking for and take them. They and the grey guards' archives team then leave the room and head to the auditorium, in order to reunite with Viscontini and co. On the way, they have to pass between the legs of Brontes while he's distracted by the grey guards. When they reach the auditorium, Viscontini tells them that helicopters are waiting for them. One of the aircrafts is on its way to pick up the Owen and Dougal.
Escorted by the Carabinieri and the Special Forces, the surviving Biosyn employees are evacuated from the Citadel and when the grey guards retreat from their confrontation against Brontes, Vuillier asks them if they've seen Claire coming back but they answer that no. He contacts her and she tells him that she's being delayed.
We see her evading the dilophosaurs which were about to discover her and leaving the labs. Now, start for her an Uncharted-esque race through the Citadel where she has to cross various obstacles and avoid/outrun the loose creatures within it (including the dilophosaurs mentioned above). Still pissed, Brontes targets her and chases her up to her extraction point. Before the Argentinosaurus can close his mouth on her, she jumps into one of the helicopters where Owen and Dougal are waiting for her. The two men help her get inside and their helicopter fly away from the Citadel while the sauropod lets out a mighty bellow.
The protagonists leave the valley and the helicopters which drop them off at Biosyn employees' village, which has been taken over by the Italians and the Austrians in the meantime.
A bitter dawn
While the first sun rays reach the valley, Drummond stumble upon the monstrous Acrocanthosaurus Quasimodo in the area devastated by the flood, in sight of the now destroyed south-eastern wall. Surprised by the waters near the road battlefield, the predator was carried on a certain distance before ending up blocked by rocks and then impaled by a tree. When the palaeontologist finds him, he's dead. Disgusted by the animal, Drummond first tries to ignore him and continue towards the wall, intending to reach the village beyond it, but he turns back and carefully approach him. Tired from his night-long trek, Drummond sit on a rock just next to Quasimodo's head and still quite shaken by Maisie's death and the disaster, Drummond start to ramble about various topics (about the evolution of palaeontology since the San Diego incident, his wife, working at Biosyn, Theo's and Maisie's death...) before breaking down in tears and he can't hold himself from calling Quasimodo a Manmade abomination which deserved to be destroyed by Nature. While looking towards the destroyed wall, the palaeontologist start to regret those harsh words and pulls out a flask of whisky from his bag. After drinking a sip, he puts it back in the bag and just sit silently by the dead animal for a few minutes, up until some Quetzalcoatlus land nearby. The gigantic pterosaurs walk up to the dead Acrocanthosaurus and ignoring Drummond as a way bigger meal is just in front of them, they start feasting. While they do so, Drummond follows the flood's desolation towards the Citadel and he is soon spotted by the men tasked with finding him.
Of rivalries and world-saving
In the morning, Claire steps out of the accommodation assigned to her and Owen within Biosyn's Village. She sees Drummond giving Wu's flash drive to Vuillier before taking his leave. After joining her boss, Claire ponders about her relationship with Wu, on how both destroyed Jurassic World five years ago and how they pretty much saved the world that night. She and Vuillier have a respectful moment of silence for their deceased enemy.
In the abandoned citadel, it's revealed that one of the locusts survived. It's seen crawling on the ground, towards one of the vents. But just before it could reach it, a Mononykus (freed from one of the cages during the raid) swoops on it and devours it.
League of Dragons
As she is crossing the village, Claire passes by one of the remaining Biosyn guards. It's actually the Romanian one, the one who saw her by the panic room. Frightened as hell, he moves away from her while yelling "Dracul! Dracul!", still traumatized by the past night's events. Claire briefly wonders why he is yelling and running away before she gets surrounded by other Biosyn guards and Lucrezia Pellegrino. The Citadel's head of security explains that he called her a dragon because of what he saw and some of the guards start throwing insults at Claire, calling her a monster and a butcher, and she realize that they and their superior want to avenge those she killed. Pellegrino adds that by sending dinosaurs on people who oppose her, Claire is no better than Dodgson on that matter.
Nearby, Owen sees his fiancée surrounded and when one of the Biosyn guards throws a stone at Claire, he gets furious, tackles him on the ground and starts to beat him up. As another guard pulls out a knife (which he hid when they had to give their weapons to the authorities) and is about to stab Owen, the surviving grey guards suddenly intervene, getting the couple out of the Biosyn ambush and then confronting the attackers, standing by Claire's and Owen's side. The grey guards retort to their opponents that their comrades could have denounced the Sanctuary's illegal activities, surrendered, deserted or arrested Dodgson while they could but did nothing, before adding that without Claire, they would have all eaten nothing but locusts in a near future. The Biosyn guards feel insulted however and as an ugly fight is about to break out between both groups, the Carabinieri are forced to intervene and assign them to opposite parts of the village.
The press, who just entered the Biosyn's lands, has witnessed the confrontation and so did Vuillier and Nyamu. The latter tells the Frenchman that since Claire pretty much saved the world, Odegaard could give her a well-deserved break, literally and figuratively.
Debate
In the village's equivalent of a community centre, a meeting about the incident's consequences and what to do with the Sanctuary and its animals is held. Among the attendees, are:
- The WDMC and the people directly affiliated to it: Claire, Owen, Dougal, Vuillier, and Nyamu.
- Representatives of the Italian government: Viscontini, Giovanni Pazzi, and a few local politicians.
- The surviving Biosyn executives and top researchers: Drummond, Pellegrino, Quinn.
During the meeting, we learn that:
- Dodgson was found, or at least five or six pieces of him.
- Some of the Sanctuary's denizens managed to flee the valley and are now somewhere in the Italian countryside. Among the escapees are Victoria and her new pack of Achillobators.
- Exterminators led by the surviving grey guards are about to be sent in the amber mines to slaughter the pectinodons down to the last individual and the species will be soon classified as a pest in Italy, Austria and probably other countries.
Several solutions for the valley, its denizens and the Citadel are discussed:
- Cull the animals, cleanse the valley of Biosyn's traces, and give it back to the inhabitants expropriated by the corporation when it decided to have the entire valley and some of the surrounding lands for itself and no one else.
- Abandoning the valley, let the animals fend for themselves and hope that "life will find a way", even if it poses huge risks for the local populations and ecosystems.
- Dispatch the surviving animals to zoos and other entities which can legally house dangerous captive animals. Proceeding like this will allow de-extinct creatures to no longer be in the ownership of a single entity like Biosyn or InGen.
- Round up the loose animals, cleanse the battle's and the flood's damages, and turn the place into a real Sanctuary for de-extinct animals. Not a "Kruger with dinosaurs" like the Five Deaths but more like a non-profit place with enclosures (akin to many sanctuaries for wild animals across the globe). It will be a public-private joint-venture, with the sanctuary co-managed by the UN's WDMC and the Italian government while private partners will help finance it (Nathan Quinn propose to be one of those but Vuillier, Dougal and a few others distrust him and prefer to not have some of Dodgson's former collaborators on the project). And in order to ensure good relations with the local communities, jobs will be offered to the area's inhabitants and some lands given back to them. Shall this solution be adopted, Vuillier proposes to have Claire Dearing as its manager, Owen Grady its head warden, Rod Drummond its chief researcher, and Laurenzo Cesare as head of security, if they accept. Pellegrino storms off at this moment, disgusted that they're about to leave her without a job and rewarding Claire, an unrepentant psychopath in her eyes. In a moment of consultation amidst the meeting, Claire tells Vuillier she'll probably refuse becoming the sanctuary's manager if this solution is adopted, telling him that she has the feeling that her future lies elsewhere and that she'll continue work as a field agent if he don't mind. Vuillier, who clearly saw how Claire evolved since she started playing spies back in 2019 and decided to close his eyes on her exactions, suggest her to settle for a quieter less-violent life and declares that managing the Sanctuary could be the ultimate redemption for her. Still shaken by the amount of violence she had to commit in order to stop Biosyn and desiring to spend more time with her son, she ends up being persuaded and accept the idea.
The different solutions are being debated for weeks if not months within the Italian government and the UN.
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End of Act IV.
See you tomorrow for the final Act and the Epilogue.