Aberdeen md weather

....and I'm terrified. TL;DR at the bottom since I'm a bit of a rambler.
First time posting, so quick intro but my situation isn't particularly unique. The pandemic drastically accelerated my descent into full-blown (if functional) alcoholism, though if I'm really honest with myself, I was already leaning that direction for a year or two before that. That one-two depression and anxiety combo made chasing a buzz whenever I could extremely appealing, and we all know the pandemic didn't do much to decrease general levels of depression and anxiety.
Somehow, no one in my life knows. I used the usual tricks, hiding my own separate bottles and/or refilling the bottles in our liquor cabinet after I'd done particularly noticable damage to them. I'd even stash empties and take them to throw away in public bins just so no one would see them at home. I've been working from home while my husband hasn't, so it was always easy to run to one of the three(!) liquor stores that are at the closest intersection to my house. We also have multiple doorbell cameras so I would always leave/enter through the garage so he wouldn't see me bringing in the telltale plain brown paper bags on the camera app. And, of course, being home alone all day also meant I was free to drink as much during the day as I wanted. I swear my coffee mug was used more for straight whiskey than coffee. I hated myself every single time, and yet...
Anyway, lately I've been having troubling physical symptoms that I know I shouldn't ignore. An occasional dull pain in my upper abdomen. Itchy skin. Bruises, sometimes with no real idea how they got there. Fatigue. Symptoms, potentially, of liver disease, if you were to find yourself doom scrolling around WebMD.
The thirsty "friend" in my head, naturally, wants to tell me that it's just my anxiety talking. The pain in my midsection is just because I sit a lot for my job and that's where my body bends when I'm not paying enough attention to my posture, so it's just soreness from that. I'm just itchy because I've been outside more with the nice weather and doing yard work, so I'm coming into contact with allergens and being bitten by mosquitoes. The bruises are from getting bumped around more with all the landscaping stuff I've been working on. Fatigue? Ha, I've always been tired regardless of whether I've been drinking. "And think of all that hard, sweaty work you've been doing," it says. "You deserve a nice cold drink."
Maybe it's right. Not about the drink thing, but about the source of my physical issues. I've catastrophized my health before only to find out I'm totally fine. But I need to know for sure. So, I've got a doctor's appointment this week. First time in years. She'll be the first person I'm going to be completely honest about with my drinking. Of course even if I were to downplay it, the blood tests won't lie.
Even if I somehow get a (relatively) clean bill of health, I'm done. I know if I continue the way I have been, my life will be cut short. I'll never see all these trees (seriously, so many fucking trees) we've been planting grow. I recently got my passport for the first time in my mid thirties, so now I think about all the places I want to see that I won't be able to if I don't stop. And not to mention the most obvious: leaving behind the person who I love most in this universe, all because I couldn't find the strength to put down the bottle and confront my problems in a healthy way.
I recently made it a full week without drinking, before I allowed myself to accept a beer from a friend. Which then turned back into a couple cocktails a night...at least. So there's the proof that I CAN just completely not drink, but I can't just have one little drink and be done. It's all or nothing.
Today, I choose nothing.
TL;DR alcohol can suck my farts and IWNDWYT

The Airbus A300 is a wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Airbus. In September 1967, aircraft manufacturers in the United Kingdom, France, and West Germany signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a large airliner. West Germany and France reached an agreement on 29 May 1969 after the British withdrew from the project on 10 April 1969. European collaborative aerospace manufacturer Airbus Industrie was formally created on 18 December 1970 to develop and produce it. The prototype first flew on 28 October 1972.
The first twin-engine widebody airliner, the A300 typically seats 247 passengers in two classes over a range of 5,375 to 7,500 km (2,900 to 4,050 nmi). Initial variants are powered by General Electric CF6-50 or Pratt & Whitney JT9D turbofans and have a three-crew flight deck. The improved A300-600 has a two-crew cockpit and updated CF6-80C2 or PW4000 engines; it made its first flight on 8 July 1983 and entered service later that year. The A300 is the basis of the smaller A310 (first flown in 1982) and was adapted in a freighter version. Its cross section was retained for the larger four-engined A340 (1991) and the larger twin-engined A330 (1992). It is also the basis for the oversize Beluga transport (1994).
Launch customer Air France introduced the type on 23 May 1974. After limited demand initially, sales took off as the type was proven in early service, beginning three decades of steady orders. It has a similar capacity to the Boeing 767-300, introduced in 1986, but lacked the 767-300ER range. During the 1990s, the A300 became popular with cargo aircraft operators, as both passenger airliner conversions and as original builds. Production ceased in July 2007 after 561 deliveries. As of March 2023, there were 228 A300 family aircraft in commercial service.
Origins:
During the 1960s, European aircraft manufacturers such as Hawker Siddeley and the British Aircraft Corporation, based in the UK, and Sud Aviation of France, had ambitions to build a new 200-seat airliner for the growing civil aviation market. While studies were performed and considered, such as a stretched twin-engine variant of the Hawker Siddeley Trident and an expanded development of the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) One-Eleven, designated the BAC Two-Eleven, it was recognized that if each of the European manufacturers were to launch similar aircraft into the market at the same time, neither would achieve sales volume needed to make them viable.[2] In 1965, a British government study, known as the Plowden Report, had found British aircraft production costs to be between 10% and 20% higher than American counterparts due to shorter production runs, which was in part due to the fractured European market. To overcome this factor, the report recommended the pursuit of multinational collaborative projects between the region's leading aircraft manufacturers.[3]: 49 [4][5]: 2–13
European manufacturers were keen to explore prospective programs; the proposed 260-seat wide-body HBN 100 between Hawker Siddeley, Nord Aviation, and Breguet Aviation being one such example.[2][6]: 37–38 National governments were also keen to support such efforts amid a belief that American manufacturers could dominate the European Economic Community;[7] in particular, Germany had ambitions for a multinational airliner project to invigorate its aircraft industry, which had declined considerably following the Second World War.[3]: 49–50 During the mid-1960s, both Air France and American Airlines had expressed interest in a short-haul twin-engine wide-body aircraft, indicating a market demand for such an aircraft to be produced.[3][8] In July 1967, during a high-profile meeting between French, German, and British ministers, an agreement was made for greater cooperation between European nations in the field of aviation technology, and "for the joint development and production of an airbus".[2][9]: 34 The word airbus at this point was a generic aviation term for a larger commercial aircraft, and was considered acceptable in multiple languages, including French.[9]: 34
Shortly after the July 1967 meeting, French engineer Roger Béteille was appointed as the technical director of what would become the A300 program, while Henri Ziegler, chief operating office of Sud Aviation, was appointed as the general manager of the organization and German politician Franz Josef Strauss became the chairman of the supervisory board.[2] Béteille drew up an initial work share plan for the project, under which French firms would produce the aircraft's cockpit, the control systems, and lower-center portion of the fuselage, Hawker Siddeley would manufacture the wings, while German companies would produce the forward, rear and upper part of the center fuselage sections. Addition work included moving elements of the wings being produced in the Netherlands, and Spain producing the horizontal tail plane.[2][6]: 38
An early design goal for the A300 that Béteille had stressed the importance of was the incorporation of a high level of technology, which would serve as a decisive advantage over prospective competitors. As such, the A300 would feature the first use of composite materials of any passenger aircraft, the leading and trailing edges of the tail fin being composed of glass fibre reinforced plastic.[5]: 2–16 [10] Béteille opted for English as the working language for the developing aircraft, as well against using Metric instrumentation and measurements, as most airlines already had US-built aircraft.[10] These decisions were partially influenced by feedback from various airlines, such as Air France and Lufthansa, as an emphasis had been placed on determining the specifics of what kind of aircraft that potential operators were seeking. According to Airbus, this cultural approach to market research had been crucial to the company's long-term success.[10]
Workshare and redefinition:
On 26 September 1967, the British, French, and West German governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding to start development of the 300-seat Airbus A300.[6]: 38 [11]: 43 [12]: 57 At this point, the A300 was only the second major joint aircraft programme in Europe, the first being the Anglo-French Concorde.[9] Under the terms of the memorandum, Britain and France were each to receive a 37.5 per cent work share on the project, while Germany received a 25 per cent share. Sud Aviation was recognized as the lead company for A300, with Hawker Siddeley being selected as the British partner company.[2] At the time, the news of the announcement had been clouded by the British Government's support for the Airbus, which coincided with its refusal to back BAC's proposed competitor, the BAC 2–11, despite a preference for the latter expressed by British European Airways (BEA).[9]: 34 Another parameter was the requirement for a new engine to be developed by Rolls-Royce to power the proposed airliner; a derivative of the in-development Rolls-Royce RB211, the triple-spool RB207, capable of producing of 47,500 lbf (211 kN).[13] The program cost was US$4.6 billion (in 1993 Dollars).[14]
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In December 1968, the French and British partner companies (Sud Aviation and Hawker Siddeley) proposed a revised configuration, the 250-seat Airbus A250. It had been feared that the original 300-seat proposal was too large for the market, thus it had been scaled down to produce the A250.[5]: 2–14 [8][15] The dimensional changes involved in the shrink reduced the length of the fuselage by 5.62 metres (18.4 ft) and the diameter by 0.8 metres (31 in), reducing the overall weight by 25 tonnes (55,000 lb).[10][16]: 16 For increased flexibility, the cabin floor was raised so that standard LD3 freight containers could be accommodated side-by-side, allowing more cargo to be carried. Refinements made by Hawker Siddeley to the wing's design provided for greater lift and overall performance; this gave the aircraft the ability to climb faster and attain a level cruising altitude sooner than any other passenger aircraft.[10] It was later renamed the A300B.[9]: 34 [15]
Perhaps the most significant change of the A300B was that it would not require new engines to be developed, being of a suitable size to be powered by Rolls-Royce's RB211, or alternatively the American Pratt & Whitney JT9D and General Electric CF6 powerplants; this switch was recognized as considerably reducing the project's development costs.[11]: 45 [15][16]: 16–17 To attract potential customers in the US market, it was decided that General Electric CF6-50 engines would power the A300 in place of the British RB207; these engines would be produced in co-operation with French firm Snecma.[8][10] By this time, Rolls-Royce had been concentrating their efforts upon developing their RB211 turbofan engine instead and progress on the RB207's development had been slow for some time, the firm having suffered due to funding limitations, both of which had been factors in the engine switch decision.[5]: 2–13 [15][16]: 17–18
On 10 April 1969, a few months after the decision to drop the RB207 had been announced, the British government announced that they would withdraw from the Airbus venture.[6]: 38–39 [15] In response, West Germany proposed to France that they would be willing to contribute up to 50% of the project's costs if France was prepared to do the same.[15] Additionally, the managing director of Hawker Siddeley, Sir Arnold Alexander Hall, decided that his company would remain in the project as a favoured sub-contractor, developing and manufacturing the wings for the A300, which would later become pivotal in later versions' impressive performance from short domestic to long intercontinental flights.[5]: 2–13 [9]: 34 [16]: 18 Hawker Siddeley spent £35 million of its own funds, along with a further £35 million loan from the West German government, on the machine tooling to design and produce the wings.[6]: 39 [15]
Programme launch:
On 29 May 1969, during the Paris Air Show, French transport minister Jean Chamant and German economics minister Karl Schiller signed an agreement officially launching the Airbus A300, the world's first twin-engine widebody airliner.[2] The intention of the project was to produce an aircraft that was smaller, lighter, and more economical than its three-engine American rivals, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar.[10] In order to meet Air France's demands for an aircraft larger than 250-seat A300B, it was decided to stretch the fuselage to create a new variant, designated as the A300B2, which would be offered alongside the original 250-seat A300B, henceforth referred to as the A300B1. On 3 September 1970, Air France signed a letter of intent for six A300s, marking the first order to be won for the new airliner.[6]: 39 [10][16]: 21
In the aftermath of the Paris Air Show agreement, it was decided that, in order to provide effective management of responsibilities, a Groupement d'intérêt économique would be established, allowing the various partners to work together on the project while remaining separate business entities.[2] On 18 December 1970, Airbus Industrie was formally established following an agreement between Aérospatiale (the newly merged Sud Aviation and Nord Aviation) of France and the antecedents to Deutsche Aerospace of Germany, each receiving a 50 per cent stake in the newly formed company.[3]: 50 [6]: 39 [10] In 1971, the consortium was joined by a third full partner, the Spanish firm CASA, who received a 4.2 per cent stake, the other two members reducing their stakes to 47.9 per cent each.[10][16]: 20 In 1979, Britain joined the Airbus consortium via British Aerospace, which Hawker Siddeley had merged into, which acquired a 20 per cent stake in Airbus Industrie with France and Germany each reducing their stakes to 37.9 per cent.[3]: 53 [5]: 2–14 [6]: 39
Prototype and flight testing:
Airbus Industrie was initially headquartered in Paris, which is where design, development, flight testing, sales, marketing, and customer support activities were centered; the headquarters was relocated to Toulouse in January 1974.[8][10] The final assembly line for the A300 was located adjacent to Toulouse Blagnac International Airport. The manufacturing process necessitated transporting each aircraft section being produced by the partner companies scattered across Europe to this one location. The combined use of ferries and roads were used for the assembly of the first A300, however this was time-consuming and not viewed as ideal by Felix Kracht, Airbus Industrie's production director.[10] Kracht's solution was to have the various A300 sections brought to Toulouse by a fleet of Boeing 377-derived Aero Spacelines Super Guppy aircraft, by which means none of the manufacturing sites were more than two hours away. Having the sections airlifted in this manner made the A300 the first airliner to use just-in-time manufacturing techniques, and allowed each company to manufacture its sections as fully equipped, ready-to-fly assemblies.[3]: 53 [10]
In September 1969, construction of the first prototype A300 began.[16]: 20 On 28 September 1972, this first prototype was unveiled to the public, it conducted its maiden flight from Toulouse–Blagnac International Airport on 28 October that year.[6]: 39 [9]: 34 [11]: 51–52 This maiden flight, which was performed a month ahead of schedule, lasted for one hour and 25 minutes; the captain was Max Fischl and the first officer was Bernard Ziegler, son of Henri Ziegler.[10] In 1972, unit cost was US$17.5M.[17] On 5 February 1973, the second prototype performed its maiden flight.[6]: 39 The flight test program, which involved a total of four aircraft, was relatively problem-free, accumulating 1,580 flight hours throughout.[16]: 22 In September 1973, as part of promotional efforts for the A300, the new aircraft was taken on a six-week tour around North America and South America, to demonstrate it to airline executives, pilots, and would-be customers.[10] Amongst the consequences of this expedition, it had allegedly brought the A300 to the attention of Frank Borman of Eastern Airlines, one of the "big four" U.S. airlines.[18]
Entry into service:
On 15 March 1974, type certificates were granted for the A300 from both German and French authorities, clearing the way for its entry into revenue service.[18] On 23 May 1974, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification was received.[16]: 22 The first production model, the A300B2, entered service in 1974, followed by the A300B4 one year later.[8] Initially, the success of the consortium was poor, in part due to the economic consequences of the 1973 oil crisis,[6]: 40 [8][9]: 34 but by 1979 there were 81 A300 passenger liners in service with 14 airlines, alongside 133 firm orders and 88 options.[18] Ten years after the official launch of the A300, the company had achieved a 26 per cent market share in terms of dollar value, enabling Airbus Industries to proceed with the development of its second aircraft, the Airbus A310.[18]
Design:
The Airbus A300 is a wide-body medium-to-long range airliner; it has the distinction of being the first twin-engine wide-body aircraft in the world.[8][9]: 34 [12]: 57, 60 [19] In 1977, the A300 became the first Extended Range Twin Operations (ETOPS)-compliant aircraft, due to its high performance and safety standards.[6]: 40 Another world-first of the A300 is the use of composite materials on a commercial aircraft, which were used on both secondary and later primary airframe structures, decreasing overall weight and improving cost-effectiveness.[19] Other firsts included the pioneering use of center-of-gravity control, achieved by transferring fuel between various locations across the aircraft, and electrically signaled secondary flight controls.[20]
The A300 is powered by a pair of underwing turbofan engines, either General Electric CF6 or Pratt & Whitney JT9D engines; the sole use of underwing engine pods allowed for any suitable turbofan engine to be more readily used.[12]: 57 The lack of a third tail-mounted engine, as per the trijet configuration used by some competing airliners, allowed for the wings to be located further forwards and to reduce the size of the vertical stabilizer and elevator, which had the effect of increasing the aircraft's flight performance and fuel efficiency.[3]: 50 [16]: 21
Airbus partners had employed the latest technology, some of which having been derived from Concorde, on the A300. According to Airbus, new technologies adopted for the airliner were selected principally for increased safety, operational capability, and profitability.[19] Upon entry into service in 1974, the A300 was a very advanced plane, which went on to influence later airliner designs. The technological highlights include advanced wings by de Havilland (later BAE Systems) with supercritical airfoil sections for economical performance and advanced aerodynamically efficient flight control surfaces. The 5.64 m (222 in) diameter circular fuselage section allows an eight-abreast passenger seating and is wide enough for 2 LD3 cargo containers side by side. Structures are made from metal billets, reducing weight. It is the first airliner to be fitted with wind shear protection. Its advanced autopilots are capable of flying the aircraft from climb-out to landing, and it has an electrically controlled braking system.
Later A300s incorporated other advanced features such as the Forward-Facing Crew Cockpit (FFCC), which enabled a two-pilot flight crew to fly the aircraft alone without the need for a flight engineer, the functions of which were automated; this two-man cockpit concept was a world-first for a wide-body aircraft.[8][16]: 23–24 [20] Glass cockpit flight instrumentation, which used cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors to display flight, navigation, and warning information, along with fully digital dual autopilots and digital flight control computers for controlling the spoilers, flaps, and leading-edge slats, were also adopted upon later-built models.[19][21] Additional composites were also made use of, such as carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP), as well as their presence in an increasing proportion of the aircraft's components, including the spoilers, rudder, air brakes, and landing gear doors.[22] Another feature of later aircraft was the addition of wingtip fences, which improved aerodynamic performance and thus reduced cruise fuel consumption by about 1.5% for the A300-600.[23]
In addition to passenger duties, the A300 became widely used by air freight operators; according to Airbus, it is the best selling freight aircraft of all time.[20] Various variants of the A300 were built to meet customer demands, often for diverse roles such as aerial refueling tankers, freighter models (new-build and conversions), combi aircraft, military airlifter, and VIP transport. Perhaps the most visually unique of the variants is the A300-600ST Beluga, an oversize cargo-carrying model operated by Airbus to carry aircraft sections between their manufacturing facilities.[20] The A300 was the basis for, and retained a high level of commonality with, the second airliner produced by Airbus, the smaller Airbus A310.[19]
Operational history:
On 23 May 1974, the first A300 to enter service performed the first commercial flight of the type, flying from Paris to London, for Air France.[6]: 39 [18]
Immediately after the launch, sales of the A300 were weak for some years, with most orders going to airlines that had an obligation to favor the domestically made product – notably Air France and Lufthansa, the first two airlines to place orders for the type.[3]: 50–52 [18] Following the appointment of Bernard Lathière as Henri Ziegler's replacement, an aggressive sales approach was adopted. Indian Airlines was the world's first domestic airline to purchase the A300, ordering three aircraft with three options. However, between December 1975 and May 1977, there were no sales for the type. During this period a number of "whitetail" A300s – completed but unsold aircraft – were completed and stored at Toulouse, and production fell to half an aircraft per month amid calls to pause production completely.[18]
During the flight testing of the A300B2, Airbus held a series of talks with Korean Air on the topic of developing a longer-range version of the A300, which would become the A300B4. In September 1974, Korean Air placed an order for four A300B4s with options for two further aircraft; this sale was viewed as significant as it was the first non-European international airline to order Airbus aircraft. Airbus had viewed South-East Asia as a vital market that was ready to be opened up and believed Korean Air to be the 'key'.[8][16]: 23 [18]
Airlines operating the A300 on short haul routes were forced to reduce frequencies to try and fill the aircraft. As a result, they lost passengers to airlines operating more frequent narrow body flights. Eventually, Airbus had to build its own narrowbody aircraft (the A320) to compete with the Boeing 737 and McDonnell Douglas DC-9/MD-80. The savior of the A300 was the advent of ETOPS, a revised FAA rule which allows twin-engine jets to fly long-distance routes that were previously off-limits to them. This enabled Airbus to develop the aircraft as a medium/long range airliner.
In 1977, US carrier Eastern Air Lines leased four A300s as an in-service trial.[18] CEO Frank Borman was impressed that the A300 consumed 30% less fuel, even less than expected, than his fleet of L-1011s. Borman proceeded to order 23 A300s, becoming the first U.S. customer for the type. This order is often cited as the point at which Airbus came to be seen as a serious competitor to the large American aircraft-manufacturers Boeing and McDonnell Douglas.[6]: 40 [8][18] Aviation author John Bowen alleged that various concessions, such as loan guarantees from European governments and compensation payments, were a factor in the decision as well.[3]: 52 The Eastern Air Lines breakthrough was shortly followed by an order from Pan Am. From then on, the A300 family sold well, eventually reaching a total of 561 delivered aircraft.[1]
In December 1977, Aerocondor Colombia became the first Airbus operator in Latin America, leasing one Airbus A300B4-2C, named Ciudad de Barranquilla.
During the late 1970s, Airbus adopted a so-called 'Silk Road' strategy, targeting airlines in the Far East.[3]: 52 [18] As a result, The aircraft found particular favor with Asian airlines, being bought by Japan Air System, Korean Air, China Eastern Airlines, Thai Airways International, Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Philippine Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, China Airlines, Pakistan International Airlines, Indian Airlines, Trans Australia Airlines and many others. As Asia did not have restrictions similar to the FAA 60-minutes rule for twin-engine airliners which existed at the time, Asian airlines used A300s for routes across the Bay of Bengal and South China Sea.
In 1977, the A300B4 became the first ETOPS compliant aircraft,[24] qualifying for Extended Twin Engine Operations over water, providing operators with more versatility in routing. In 1982 Garuda Indonesia became the first airline to fly the A300B4-200FFCC.[25] By 1981, Airbus was growing rapidly, with over 400 aircraft sold to over forty airlines.[26]
In 1989, Chinese operator China Eastern Airlines received its first A300; by 2006, the airline operated around 18 A300s, making it the largest operator of both the A300 and the A310 at that time. On 31 May 2014, China Eastern officially retired the last A300-600 in its fleet, having begun drawing down the type in 2010.[27]
From 1997 to 2014, a single A300, designated A300 Zero-G, was operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), centre national d'études spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) as a reduced-gravity aircraft for conducting research into microgravity; the A300 is the largest aircraft to ever have been used in this capacity. A typical flight would last for two and a half hours, enabling up to 30 parabolas to be performed per flight.[28][29]
By the 1990s, the A300 was being heavily promoted as a cargo freighter.[16]: 24 The largest freight operator of the A300 is FedEx Express, which has 65 A300 aircraft in service as of May 2022.[30] UPS Airlines also operates 52 freighter versions of the A300.[31]
The final version was the A300-600R and is rated for 180-minute ETOPS. The A300 has enjoyed renewed interest in the secondhand market for conversion to freighters; large numbers were being converted during the late 1990s.[16]: 24–25 The freighter versions – either new-build A300-600s or converted ex-passenger A300-600s, A300B2s and B4s – account for most of the world's freighter fleet after the Boeing 747 freighter.[32]
The A300 provided Airbus the experience of manufacturing and selling airliners competitively. The basic fuselage of the A300 was later stretched (A330 and A340), shortened (A310), or modified into derivatives (A300-600ST Beluga Super Transporter). In 2006, unit cost of an −600F was $105 million.[14] In March 2006, Airbus announced the impending closure of the A300/A310 final assembly line,[33] making them the first Airbus aircraft to be discontinued. The final production A300, an A300F freighter, performed its initial flight on 18 April 2007,[34] and was delivered to FedEx Express on 12 July 2007.[35] Airbus has announced a support package to keep A300s flying commercially. Airbus offers the A330-200F freighter as a replacement for the A300 cargo variants.[36]
The life of UPS's fleet of 52 A300s, delivered from 2000 to 2006, will be extended to 2035 by a flight deck upgrade based around Honeywell Primus Epic avionics; new displays and flight management system (FMS), improved weather radar, a central maintenance system, and a new version of the current enhanced ground proximity warning system. With a light usage of only two to three cycles per day, it will not reach the maximum number of cycles by then. The first modification will be made at Airbus Toulouse in 2019 and certified in 2020.[37] As of July 2017, there are 211 A300s in service with 22 operators, with the largest operator being FedEx Express with 68 A300-600F aircraft.[38]
Variants:
A300B1 - The A300B1 was the first variant to take flight. It had a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 132 t (291,000 lb), was 51 m (167 ft) long and was powered by two General Electric CF6-50A engines.[16]: 21 [39]: 41 Only two prototypes of the variant were built before it was adapted into the A300B2, the first production variant of the airliner.[6]: 39 The second prototype was leased to Trans European Airways in 1974.[39]: 54
A300B2 -
A300B2-100:
Responding to a need for more seats from Air France, Airbus decided that the first production variant should be larger than the original prototype A300B1. The CF6-50A powered A300B2-100 was 2.6 m (8.5 ft) longer than the A300B1 and had an increased MTOW of 137 t (302,000 lb), allowing for 30 additional seats and bringing the typical passenger count up to 281, with capacity for 20 LD3 containers.[40]: 10 [41][39]: 17 Two prototypes were built and the variant made its maiden flight on 28 June 1973, became certified on 15 March 1974 and entered service with Air France on 23 May 1974.[39]: 27, 53 [40]: 10
A300B2-200:
For the A300B2-200, originally designated as the A300B2K, Krueger flaps were introduced at the leading-edge root, the slat angles were reduced from 20 degrees to 16 degrees, and other lift related changes were made in order to introduce a high-lift system. This was done to improve performance when operating at high-altitude airports, where the air is less dense and lift generation is reduced.[42]: 52, 53 [43] The variant had an increased MTOW of 142 t (313,000 lb) and was powered by CF6-50C engines, was certified on 23 June 1976, and entered service with South African Airways in November 1976.[39]: 40 [40]: 12 CF6-50C1 and CF6-50C2 models were also later fitted depending on customer requirements, these became certified on 22 February 1978 and 21 February 1980 respectively.[39]: 41 [40]: 12
A300B2-320:
The A300B2-320 introduced the Pratt & Whitney JT9D powerplant and was powered by JT9D-59A engines. It retained the 142 t (313,000 lb) MTOW of the B2-200, was certified on 4 January 1980, and entered service with Scandinavian Airlines on 18 February 1980, with only four being produced.[39]: 99, 112 [40]: 14
A300B4 -
A300B4-100:
The initial A300B4 variant, later named the A300B4-100, included a centre fuel tank for an increased fuel capacity of 47.5 tonnes (105,000 lb), and had an increased MTOW of 157.5 tonnes (347,000 lb).[44][42]: 38 It also featured Krueger flaps and had a similar high-lift system to what was later fitted to the A300B2-200.[42]: 74 The variant made its maiden flight on 26 December 1974, was certified on 26 March 1975, and entered service with Germanair in May 1975.[39]: 32, 54 [40]: 16
A300B4-200:
The A300B4-200 had an increased MTOW of 165 tonnes (364,000 lb) and featured an additional optional fuel tank in the rear cargo hold, which would reduce the cargo capacity by two LD3 containers.[40]: 19 [42]: 69 The variant was certified on 26 April 1979.[40]: 19
A300-600 - The A300-600, officially designated as the A300B4-600, was slightly longer than the A300B2 and A300B4 variants and had an increased interior space from using a similar rear fuselage to the Airbus A310, this allowed it to have two additional rows of seats.[42]: 79 It was initially powered by Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7R4H1 engines, but was later fitted with General Electric CF6-80C2 engines, with Pratt & Whitney PW4156 or PW4158 engines being introduced in 1986.[42]: 82 Other changes include an improved wing featuring a recambered trailing edge, the incorporation of simpler single-slotted Fowler flaps, the deletion of slat fences, and the removal of the outboard ailerons after they were deemed unnecessary on the A310.[45] The variant made its first flight on 8 July 1983, was certified on 9 March 1984, and entered service in June 1984 with Saudi Arabian Airlines.[40]: 42 [39]: 58 A total of 313 A300-600s (all versions) have been sold. The A300-600 uses the A310 cockpits, featuring digital technology and electronic displays, eliminating the need for a flight engineer. The FAA issues a single type rating which allows operation of both the A310 and A300-600. A300-600: (Official designation: A300B4-600) The baseline model of the −600 series. A300-620C: (Official designation: A300C4-620) A convertible-freighter version. Four delivered between 1984 and 1985. A300-600F: (Official designation: A300F4-600) The freighter version of the baseline −600. A300-600R: (Official designation: A300B4-600R) The increased-range −600, achieved by an additional trim fuel tank in the tail. First delivery in 1988 to American Airlines; all A300s built since 1989 (freighters included) are −600Rs. Japan Air System (later merged into Japan Airlines) took delivery of the last new-built passenger A300, an A300-622R, in November 2002. A300-600RC: (Official designation: A300C4-600R) The convertible-freighter version of the −600R. Two were delivered in 1999. A300-600RF: (Official designation: A300F4-600R) The freighter version of the −600R. All A300s delivered between November 2002 and 12 July 2007 (last ever A300 delivery) were A300-600RFs.
A310 (A300B10)-
Airbus had demand for an aircraft smaller than the A300. On 7 July 1978, the A310 (initially the A300B10) was launched with orders from Swissair and Lufthansa. On 3 April 1982, the first prototype conducted its maiden flight and it received its type certification on 11 March 1983.
Keeping the same eight-abreast cross-section, the A310 is 6.95 m (22.8 ft) shorter than the initial A300 variants, and has a smaller 219 m2 (2,360 sq ft) wing, down from 260 m2 (2,800 sq ft). The A310 introduced a two-crew glass cockpit, later adopted for the A300-600 with a common type rating. It was powered by the same GE CF6-80 or Pratt & Whitney JT9D then PW4000 turbofans. It can seat 220 passengers in two classes, or 240 in all-economy, and can fly up to 5,150 nmi (9,540 km). It has overwing exits between the two main front and rear door pairs.
In April 1983, the aircraft entered revenue service with Swissair and competed with the Boeing 767–200, introduced six months before. Its longer range and ETOPS regulations allowed it to be operated on transatlantic flights. Until the last delivery in June 1998, 255 aircraft were produced, as it was succeeded by the larger Airbus A330-200. It has cargo aircraft versions, and was derived into the Airbus A310 MRTT military tanketransport.
Airbus A300-ST (Beluga)
Commonly referred to as the Airbus Beluga or "Airbus Super Transporter," these five airframes are used by Airbus to ferry parts between the company's disparate manufacturing facilities, thus enabling workshare distribution. They replaced the four Aero Spacelines Super Guppys previously used by Airbus.
ICAO code: A3ST
Operators:
As of March 2023, there were 228 A300 family aircraft in commercial service. The five largest operators were FedEx Express (70), UPS Airlines (52), European Air Transport Leipzig (23), Iran Air (11), and Mahan Air (11).[46]

I fish water that’s stained murky sometimes clear I use mostly senkos and jigs I was thinking about chatter bait what colors should I use?

Company Name	Title	City
United States Secret Service	Criminal Investigator	Baltimore
Pine Dentistry & Braces - a Benevis company	Endodontist - Unlimted Earning Potential	District Heights
US LBM Holdings	CDL Driver	Gaithersburg
ATR Arena Technical Resources	Test Engineer I [15642]	Aberdeen
Kaiser	Pharmacy Technician II, On Call, Baltimore	Abingdon
Harford County Government Department of Public Works	Civil Engineer (perm/ft/benefits)	Abingdon
Kaiser	Pharmacy Technician II FLOAT- 40 hrs, Abingdon (North)	Abingdon
Harford County Government Department of Public Works	Plant Operator - Drinking Water (perm/ft/benefits)	Abingdon
Kaiser	Clinical RN - Endocrinology, On Call, Falls Church MOB	Accokeek
Kaiser	Pharmacy Technician II- 40 hours, Largo	Aquasco
Kaiser	Pharmacy Technician I- 40 hrs, Tysons Corner	Ashton
Innova Solutions	Marketing Coordinator / Hospitality	Baltimore
Ascendion Inc.	Tax Manager	Baltimore
Erickson Senior Living	Marketing Aide	Baltimore
Kaiser	Pharmacy Technician II- 24 hours, Halethorpe- Evening Shift 3:30pm- 12am	Baltimore
SimVentions, Inc	NAVAIR SEDSS Systems Test Engineer - Professional Development Opportunities	Barstow
SimVentions, Inc	NAVAIR SEDSS Program Analyst - Professional Development Opportunities	Barstow
CenterWell Home Health	Physical Therapist Assistant, Home Health Full Time	Beltsville
Frederick National Laboratory	Animal Caretaker II	Bethesda
Ushealth	Junior Account Manager	Bethesda
EMCOR Group	Facilities Maintenance Technician (Third Shift)	Bethesda
Saitech Inc	Proposal Manager	Bethesda
Beacon Hill Staffing Group, LLC	Admin. & Outreach Coordinator - $20/hr-$23/hr - Bethesda, MD	Bethesda- Md
Kaiser	Pharmacy Technician I FLOAT- 32 hrs, Capitol Hill, Evening Shift (12pm- 1:30am)	Brinklow
Kaiser	Pharmacy Clerk- 30 hrs, Sterling	Brinklow

Hey guys, here are some recent job openings in md. Feel free to comment here or send me a private message if you have any questions, I'm at the community's disposal! If you encounter any problems with any of these job openings please let me know that I will modify the table accordingly. Thanks!

The whirring blades of my MD-902 throbbed against the warm evening air, and I smiled.
From 5,000 feet, the ground flew by in a carpet of dark forests and kelly-green fields. The sun hung low on the horizon in a picturesque array of dazzling orange and gold, and I could make out the narrow strip of the Ohio River to my left, glistening in the fading daylight. This time of year, the trees would be full of the sweet aroma of fresh blossoms, and the frequent rains kept small pockets of fluffy white mist hanging in the treetops. It was a beautiful view, one that reminded me of why being a helicopter pilot trumped flying in a jumbo jet far above the clouds every day of the week.
Fourteen more days, and I’m debt free.
That made me grin even more. I’d been working as a charter pilot ever since I obtained my license at age 19, and after years of keeping my nose to the grindstone, I was closing on the final payment for real-estate in western Pennsylvania. With no debt, a fixer-upper house on 30 rural acres all to myself, and a respectable wage for a 26-year-old pilot, I looked forward to the financial freedom I could now enjoy. Maybe I’d take a vacation, somewhere exotic like Venice Italy, or the Dominican Republic. Or perhaps I’d sock the money back for the day I started a family.
“Remember kleineun, a real man looks after his own.”
My elderly ouma’s voice came back from the depths of my memories, her proud, sun-tanned face rising from the darkness. She and my Rhodesian grandfather had emigrated to the US when they were newlyweds, as the violence against white Boer descendants in South Africa spiraled out of control. My mother and father both died in a car crash when I was six, and it had been my grandparents who raised me. Due to this, I’d grown up with a slight accent that many of my classmates found amusing, and I could speak both English, and Afrikaans, the Boer tongue of our former home.
I shifted in my seat, stretched my back muscles, and glanced at the picture taped to my console. Both my parents flanked a grinning, gap-toothed six-year-old me, at the last Christmas we’d spent together. My mother beamed, her dark hair and Italian features a sharp contrast to my father’s sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. Sometimes, I liked to imagine they were smiling at me with pride at how well I flew the old silver-colored bird my company had assigned to me, and that made the long, lonely flights easier to bear.
A flicker caught my eye, and I broke my gaze away from the photograph.
Perched in its small cradle above the controls, my little black Garmin fuzzed over for a few seconds, its screen shifting from brightly colored maps to a barrage of grey static.
Did the power chord come loose?
I checked, ensuring the power-cable for the unit’s battery was plugged into the port on the control panel. It was a brand-new GPS unit, and I’d used it a few times already, so I knew it wasn’t defective. Granted, I could fly and navigate without it, but the Garmin made my time as a pilot so much easier that the thought of going blind was dreadful.
My fuel gauge danced, clicked to empty, then to full, in a bizarre jolt.
More of the gauges began to stutter, the entire panel seeming to develop terrets all at once, and my pulse began to race. Something was wrong, very wrong, and the sludge inside my bowels churned with sour fear.
“Come on, come on.” I flicked switches, turned dials, punched buttons, but nothing seemed to fix the spasming electronics. Every gauge failed, and without warning, I found myself plunged into inky darkness.
Outside, the sun surrendered to the pull of night, the sky darker than usual. A distant rumble of thunder reverberated above the roar of my helicopter’s engine, and I thought I glimpsed a streak of yellowish lightning on the far horizon to my left.
Calm down Chris. We’re still flying, so it must just be a blown fuse. Stay in control and find a place to set her down.
My sweaty palm slid on the cyclic stick, and both feet weighed heavy on the yaw pedals. The collective stuck to my other hand with a nervous vibration, and I squinted against the abyss outside.
Beep.
I jumped despite myself, as the little Garmin on my panel flared back to life, the static pulling aside to reveal a twitching display. Each time the screen glitched, it showed the colorful map detailing my flight path over the ground below, but I noticed that some of the lines changed, the names shifting, as if the device couldn’t decide between two different versions of the world.
One name jutted out at me, slate gray like most of the major county names, appearing with ghostly flickers from between two neighboring ones.
Barron County.
I stared, confused. I’d flown over this section of southeastern Ohio plenty of times, and I knew the counties by heart. At this point, I should have been over the southern end of Noble County, and maybe dipping lower into Washington. There was no Barron County Ohio. I was sure of it.
And yet it shown back at me from the digital landscape, a strange, almost cigar-shaped chunk of terrain carved from the surrounding counties like a tumor, sometimes there, sometimes not, as my little Garmin struggled to find the correct map. Rain began to patter against my cockpit window, and the entire aircraft rattled from a strong gust of wind. Thick clouds closed over my field of vision like a sea of gray cotton.
The blood in my veins turned to ice, and I sucked in a nervous breath.
Land. I had to land. There was nothing else to do, my flight controls weren’t responding, and only my Garmin had managed to come back to life. Perhaps I’d been hit by lightning, and the electronics had been fried? Either way, it was too dark to tell, but a storm seemed to be brewing, and if I didn’t get my feet on the ground soon, I could be in real trouble.
“Better safe than sorry.” I pushed down on the collective to start my slow descent and clicked the talking button for my headset. “Any station, this is Douglass Three-One-Four-Foxtrot, over.”
Nothing.
“Any station, this is Douglass Three-One-Four-Foxtrot, requesting emergency assistance, over.”
Still nothing.
If the radio’s dead, I’m really up a creek.
With my hand shaking, I clicked on the mic one more time. “Any station, this is—”
Like a curtain pulling back, the fog cleared from around my window, and the words stuck in my throat.
Without my gauges, I couldn’t tell just how far I’d descended, but I was definitely very low. Thick trees poked up from the ground, and the hills rolled into high ridges with flat valley floors, fields and pastures pockmarking them. Rain fell all around in cold, silvery sheets, a normal feature for the mid spring in this part of Ohio.
What wasn’t normal, were the fires.
At first, I thought they were forest fires for the amount of smoke and flames that bellowed from each spot, but as I swooped lower, my eyes widened in horror.
They were houses.
Farms, cottages, little clusters that barely constituted villages, all of them belched orange flames and black pillars of sooty smoke. I couldn’t hear above the helicopter blades, but I could see the flashes on the ground, along the road, in between the trees, and even coming from the burning buildings, little jets of golden light that spat into the darkness with anger.
Gunfire. That’s rifle fire, a whole lot of it.
Tiny black figures darted through the shadows, barely discernable from where I sat, several hundred feet up. I couldn’t see much, but some were definitely running away, the streaks of yellow gunfire chasing them. A few dark gray vehicles rumbled down one of the gravel roads, and sprayed fire into the houses as it went. They were fighting, I realized, the people in the trucks and the locals. It was horrific, like something out of war-torn Afghanistan, but worse.
Then, I caught a glimpse of the others.
They didn’t move like the rest, who either fled from the dark vehicles, or fired back from behind cover. These skinny figures loped along with haphazard gaits, many running on all fours like animals, swarming from the trees by the dozens. They threw themselves into the gales of bullets without flinching, attacking anyone within range, and something about the way they moved, so fluid, so fearless, made my heart skip a beat.
What is that?
“Echo Four Actual to unknown caller, please respond, over.”
Choking back a cry of shock, I fumbled at the control panel with clumsy fingers, the man’s voice sharp and stern. I hadn’t realized that I’d let go of the talking button and clicked it down again. “Hello? Hello, this is Douglass Three-One-Four-Foxtrot out of Pittsburgh, over.”
An excruciating moment passed, and I continued to zoom over the trees, the fires falling away behind me as more silent forest took over.
“Roger that Douglass Three-One-Four-Foxtrot, we read you loud and clear. Please identify yourself and any passengers or cargo you might be carrying, over.”
Swallowing hard, I eyed the treetops, which looked much closer than they should have been. How far had I descended? “Echo Four Actual, my name is Christopher Dekker, and I am alone. I’m a charter flight from PA, carrying medical equipment for OSU in Columbus. My controls have been damaged, and I am unable to safely carry on due to the storm. Requesting permission to land, over.”
I watched the landscape slide by underneath me, once catching sight of what looked like a little white church surrounded by smaller huts, dozens of figures in the yard staring up at me as I flew over a towering ridgeline.
“Solid copy on that Douglass Three-One-Four-Foxtrot. Be advised, your transponder shows you to be inside a restricted zone. Please cease all radio traffic, reduce your speed, climb to 3,000 feet and proceed north. We’ll talk you in from there. How copy, over?”
My heart jumped, and I let out a sigh of relief. “Roger that Echo Four Actual, my altimeter is down, but I’ll do my best to eyeball the altitude, over.”
With that, I pulled the collective upward, and tried my best to gauge how far I was by eyesight in the gathering night, rain still coming down all around me. This had to be some kind of disaster or riot, I decided. After all, the voice over the radio sounded like military, and those vehicles seemed to have heavy weapons. Maybe there was some kind of unrest going on here that I hadn’t heard about yet?
Kind of weird for it to happen in rural areas though. Spoiled college kids I get, but never saw farmers get so worked up before. They usually love the military.
Something moved in the corner of my eye, and I turned out of reflex.
My mouth fell open, and I froze, unable to scream.
In the sky beside me, a huge shadow glided along, and its leathery wings effortlessly carved through the gloom, flapping only on occasion to keep it aloft. It was too dark for me to see what color it was, but from the way it moved, I knew it wasn’t another helicopter. No, this thing was alive, easily the size of a small plane, and more than twice the length of my little McDonald Douglass. A long tail trailed behind it, and bore a distinct arrow-shaped snout, with twig-like spines fanned out around the back of its head. Whatever legs it had were drawn up under it like a bird, yet its skin appeared rough and knobby, almost resembling tree bark. Without pause, the gigantic bat-winged entity flew along beside me, as if my presence was on par with an annoying fly buzzing about its head.
Gripping the microphone switch so tight, I thought I’d crack the plastic, I whispered into my headset, forgetting all radio protocol. “T-There’s something up here.”
Static crackled.
“Douglas Three-One-Four-Foxtrot, say again your last, you’re coming in weak and unreadable, over.”
“There’s something up here.” I snarled into the headset, still glued to the controls of the helicopter, afraid to deviate even an inch from my course in case the monstrosity decided to turn on me. “A freaking huge thing, right beside me. I swear, it looks like a bat or . . . I don’t know.”
“Calm down.” The man on the other end of the radio broke his rigorous discipline as well, his voice deep, but level. “It won’t attack if you don’t move too fast. Slowly ease away from it and follow that course until you’re out of sight.”
I didn’t have time to think about how wrong that sounded, how the man’s strict tone had changed to one of knowledge, how he hadn’t been the least surprised by what I’d said. Instead, I slowly turned the helicopter away from the huge menace and edged the speed higher in tiny increments.
As soon as I was roughly two football fields away, I let myself relax, and clicked the mic switch. “It’s not following.”
“You’re sure?”
Eyeing the huge flapping wings, I nodded, then remembered he couldn’t see me. “Yeah, I’m well clear.”
“Good. Thank you, Mr. Dekker.”
Then, the radio went dead.
Something in my chest dropped, a weight that made my stomach roil. This wasn’t right, none of it. Who was that man? Why did he know about the thing I’d just seen? What was I supposed to—
A flash of light exploded from the trees to my right and shot into the air with a long finger of smoke.
What the . . .
On instinct, I jerked the cyclic stick to one side, and the helicopter swung to avoid the rocket.
Boom.
My world shook, metal screeched, and a dozen alarms began to go off inside the cockpit in a cacophony of beeps and sirens. Orange and red flames lit up the night sky just behind me, and the horizon started to spin wildly outside. Heat gushed from the cockpit door, and I smelled the greasy stench of burning oil. The safety belts dug into my shoulders, and with a final slip, the radio headset ripped free from my scalp.
I’m hit.
Desperate, I yanked on the controls, fought the bird even as she spun toward the ground in a wreath of flames, the inky black trees hurtling up to meet me. The helicopter went into full auto-rotation, the sky blurring past outside, and the alarms blared in a screech of doom. Panic slammed through my temples, I screamed at the top of my lungs, and for one brief second, my eyes locked on the little black Garmin still perched atop my control panel.
Its screen stopped twitching and settled on a map of the mysterious Barron County, with a little red arrow at the center of the screen, a few words popping up underneath it.
You are here.
Trees stabbed up into the sky, the belts crushed at my torso, glass shattered all around me, and the world went dark.
Copper, thick, warm, and tangy.
It filled my mouth, stank metallic in my nose, clogged my throat, choking me. In the murkiness, I fought for a surface, for a way out, blind and numb in the dark.
This way, kleineun.
My ouma’s voice echoed from somewhere in the shadows.
This way.
Both eyes flew open, and I gagged, spitting out a stream of red.
Pain throbbed in my ribs, and a heavy pressure sent a tingling numbness through my shoulders. Blood roared inside my temples, and stars danced before my eyes with a dizzying array. Humid night air kissed my skin, and something sticky coated my face, neck, and arms that hung straight up toward the ceiling.
Wait. Not up. Down.
I blinked at the wrinkled, torn ceiling of the cockpit, the glass all gone, the gray aluminum shredded like tissue paper. Just outside the broken windows, thick Appalachian bluegrass and stemmy underbrush swished in a feeble breeze, backlit by flashes of lightning from the thunderstorm overhead. Green and brown leaves covered everything in a wet carpet of triangles, and somewhere nearby, a cricket chirped.
Turning my head from side to side, I realized that I hung upside down inside the ruined helicopter, the top half burrowed into the mud. I could hear the hissing and crackling of flames, the pattering of rain falling on the hot aluminum, and the smaller brush fires around the downed aircraft sizzling out in the damp long grass. Charred steel and burning oil tainted the air, almost as strong as the metallic, coppery stench in my aching nose.
They shot me down. That military dude shot me out of the sky.
It didn’t make sense. I’d followed their orders, done everything they’d said, and yet the instant I veered safely away from whatever that thing in the sky had been, they’d fired, not at it, but at me.
Looking down (or rather, up) at my chest, I sucked in a gasp, which was harder to do that before.
The navy-blue shirt stuck to my torso with several big splotches of dark, rusty red. Most were clean slashes, but two held bits of glass sticking out of them, one alarmingly bigger than the other. They dripped cherry red blood onto my upturned face, and a wave of nausea hit me.
I gotta get down.
I flexed my arms to try and work some feeling back into them, praying nothing was broken. Half-numb from hanging so long, I palmed along my aching body until I felt the buckled for the seat belts.
“Okay.” I hissed between gritted teeth, in an effort to stave off my panic. “You can do this. Just hold on tight. Nice and tight. Here we go . . .”
Click.
Everything seemed to lurch, and I slid off the seat to plummet towards the muck-filled hole in the cockpit ceiling. My fingers were slick with blood and slipped over the smooth faux-leather pilot’s seat with ease. The shoulder belt snagged on the bits of glass that lay just under the left lowest rib, and a flare of white-hot pain ripped through me.
Wham.
I screamed, my right knee caught the edge of the aluminum ceiling, and both hands dove into a mound of leaf-covered glass shards on the opposite side of the hole. My head swam, being right-side-up again enough to make shadows gnaw at the corner of my eyes.
Forcing myself to breath slowly, I fought the urge to faint and slid back to sit on the smooth ceiling. I turned my hands over to see half a dozen bits of clear glass burrowed into my skin like greedy parasites, red blood weeping around the new cuts.
“Screw you.” I spat at the rubbish with angry tears in my eyes. “Screw you, screw you, screw you.”
The shards came out easy enough, and the cuts weren’t that deep, but that wasn’t what worried me. On my chest, the single piece of cockpit glass that remined was almost as big as my palm, and it really hurt. Just touching it felt like self-inflicted torture, but I knew it had to come out sooner or later.
Please don’t nick a vein.
Wiping my hands dry on my jeans, I gripped the shard with both hands, and jerked.
Fire roared over my ribs, and hot blood tickled my already grimy pale skin. I clapped a hand over the wound, pressing down hard, and grunted out a string of hateful expletives that my ouma would have slapped me for.
Lying on my back, I stared around me at the messy cargo compartment of the MD-902. Most of the medical supplies had been in cardboard boxes strapped down with heavy nylon tow-straps, but several cases had ruptured with the force of the impact, spraying bandages, syringes, and pill bottles all over the cluttered interior. Orange flames chewed at the crate furthest to the rear, the tail section long gone, but the foremost part of the hold was intact. Easily a million-dollar mess, it would have made me faint on any other trip, but today it was a godsend.
Half-blind in the darkness, I crawled along with only the firelight and lightning bolts to guide me, my right knee aching. Like a crippled raccoon, I collected things as I went, conscious of the two pallets of intact supplies weighing right over my head. I’d taken several different first-aid courses with some hunting buddies of mine, and the mental reflexes kicked in to help soothe my frazzled mind.
Check for bleeds, stop the worst, then move on.
Aside from my battered chest and stomach, the rest of me remained mostly unharmed. I had nasty bruises from the seatbelts, my right knee swelled, my nose slightly crooked and crusted in blood, but otherwise I was intact. Dowsing every scratch and cut with a bottle of isopropyl alcohol I found, I used butterfly closures on the smaller lacerations that peppered my skin. I wrapped soft white gauze over my abused palms and probed at the big cut where the last shard had been, only stopping when I was sure there were no pieces of glass wedged inside my flesh.
“Not too bad.” I grunted to myself, trying to sound impassive like a doctor might. “Rib must have stopped it. Gonna need stitches though. That’ll be fun.”
Pawing through the broken cases, I couldn’t find any suture chord, but just as I was about to give up, I noticed a small box that read ‘medical skin stapler’.
Bingo.
I tore the small white plastic stapler free from its packaging and eyeballed the device. I’d never done this before, only seen it in movies, and even though the cut in my skin hurt, I wondered if this wouldn’t be worse.
You’ve gotta do it. That bleeding needs to stop. Besides, no one’s coming to rescue you, not with those rocket-launching psychos out there.
Taking a deep breath, I pinched the skin around the gash together, and pressed the mouth of the stapler to it.
Click.
A sharp sting, like that of a needle bit at the skin, but it didn’t hurt nearly as bad as the cut itself. I worked my way across the two-inch laceration and gave out a sigh of relief when it was done.
“Not going to bleed to death today.” I daubed ointment around the staples before winding more bandages over the wound.
Popping a few low-grade painkillers that tumbled from the cargo, I crawled wriggled through the nearest shattered window into the wet grass.
Raindrops kissed my face, clean and cool on my sweaty skin. Despite the thick cloud cover, there was enough constant lightning strikes within the storm to let me get glimpses of the world around me. My helicopter lay on its back, the blades snapped like pencils, with bits and pieces of it burning in chunks all around the small break in the trees. Chest-high scrub brush grew all around the low-lying ground, with pockets of standing water in places. My ears still rang from the impact of the crash, but I could start to pick up more crickets, frogs, and even some nocturnal birds singing into the darkness, like they didn’t notice the huge the hulk of flaming metal that had fallen from the sky. Overhead, the thunder rumbled onward, the feeble wind whistling, and there were other flashes on the horizon, orange and red ones, with crackles that didn’t sound quite like lightning.
The guns. They’re still fighting.
Instinctively, I pulled out my cellphone, and tapped the screen.
It fluttered to life, but no matter how I tried, I couldn’t get through to anyone, not even with the emergency function designed to work around having no service. The complicated wonder of our modern world was little better than a glorified paperweight.
Stunned, I sat down with my back to the helicopter and rested my head against the aluminum skin of the craft. How I’d gone from a regular medical supply run to being marooned in this hellish parody of rural America, I didn’t know, but one thig was certain; I needed a plan. Whoever fired the missile could have already contacted my charter company and made up some excuse to keep them from coming to look for me. No one else knew I was here, and even though I now had six staples holding the worst of my injuries shut, I knew I needed proper medical attention. If I wanted to live, I’d have to rescue myself.
My bag. I need to get my go-bag, grab some gear and then . . . head somewhere else.
It took me a while to gather my green canvas paratrooper bag from its place behind the pilot’s seat and fill it with whatever supplies I could scrounge. My knee didn’t seem to be broken, but man did it hurt, and I dreaded the thought of walking on it for miles on end. I focused instead on inventorying my gear and trying to come up with a halfway intelligent plan of action.
I had a stainless-steel canteen with one of those detachable cups on the bottom, a little fishing kit, some duct tape, a lighter, a black LED flashlight with three spare batteries, a few tattered road maps with a compass, a spare pair of socks, medical supplies from the cargo, and a simple forest green plastic rain poncho. I also managed to unearth a functioning digital camcorder my ouma had gotten me for Christmas a few years back, though I wasn’t sure I wanted to do any filming in such a miserable state. Lastly, since it was a private supply run from a warehouse area near Pittsburgh to a direct hospital pad in Ohio, I’d been able to bring my K-Bar, a sturdy, and brutally simple knife designed for the Marine Corps that I used every time I went camping. It was pitiful in comparison to the rifle I wished I had with me, but that didn’t matter now. I had what I had, and I doubted my trusty Armalite would have alleviated my sore knee anyway.
Clicking on my flashlight, I huddled with the poncho around my shoulders inside the wreck of the chopper and peered at the dusty roadmaps. A small part of me hoped that a solution would jump out from the faded paper, but none came. These were all maps of western PA and eastern Ohio. None of them had a Barron County on them anywhere.
The man on the radio said to head north, right before they shot me down. That means they must be camped out to the north of here. South had that convoy and those burning houses, so that’s a no-go. Maybe I can backtrack eastward the way I came.
As if on cue, a soft pop echoed from over the eastern horizon, and I craned to look out the helicopter window, spotting more man-made flashes over the tree tops.
“Great.” I hissed between clenched teeth, aware of how the temperature dipped to a chilly 60 degrees, and how despite the conditions, my stomach had begun to growl. “Not going that way, are we? Westward it is.”
Walking away from my poor 902 proved to be harder than I’d anticipated. Despite the glass, the fizzling fires, and the darkness, it still held a familiar, human essence to it. Sitting inside it made me feel secure, safe, even calm about the situation. In any other circumstance, I would have just stayed with the downed aircraft to wait for help, but I knew the men who shot me down would likely find my crash site, and I didn’t want to be around when they did.
Unlike much of central and western Ohio, southeastern Ohio is hilly, brushy, and clogged with thick forests. Thorns snagged at my thin poncho and sliced at my pant legs. My knee throbbed, every step a form of self-inflicted torture. The rain never stopped, a steady drizzle from above just cold enough to be problematic as time went on, making me shiver. Mud slid under my tennis shoes, and every tree looked ten times bigger in the flickering beam of my cheap flashlight. Icy fear prickled at the back of my neck at some of the sounds that greeted me through the gloom. I’d been camping loads of times, both in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, but these noises were something otherworldly to me.
Strange howls, screeches, and calls permeated the rain-soaked sky, some almost roars, while others bordered on human in their intonation. The more I walked, the softer the distant gunfire became, and the more prevalent the odd sounds, until the shadows seemed to fill with them. I didn’t dare turn off my flashlight, or I’d been completely blind in the dark, but a little voice in the back of my head screamed that I was too visible, crunching through the gloomy forest with my long beam of light stabbing into the abyss. It felt as though a million eyes were on me, studying me, hunting me from the surrounding brush, and I bitterly recalled how much I’d loved the old Survivor Man TV series as a kid.
Not so fun being out in the woods at night. Especially alone.
A twig snapped somewhere behind me, and I whirled on the spot, one trembling hand resting on the hilt of my K-Bar.
Nothing. Nothing but trees, bushes, and rain dripping down in the darkness.
“This is stupid.” I whispered to myself to keep my nerves in check as I slowly spun on the spot. “I should have went eastward anyway. God knows how long I’m going to have to—”
Creak.
A groan of metal-on-metal echoed from somewhere to my right, and I spun to face it, yanking the knife on my belt free from its scabbard. It felt so small and useless in my hand, and I choked down a wave of nauseas fear.
Ka-whump. Creak. K-whump. Creak.
Underbrush cracked and crunched, a few smaller saplings thrashed, and from deep within the gloom, two yellow orbs flared to life. They poked through the mist in the trees, forming into slender fingers of golden light that swept back and forth in the dark.
The soldiers . . . they must be looking for me.
I swallowed hard and turned to slink away.
Ice jammed through my blood, and I froze on the spot, biting my tongue to stop the scream.
It stood not yards away, a huge form that towered a good twelve feet tall in the swirling shadows. Unpolished chrome blended with flash-rusted spots in the faded red paint, and grime-smeared glass shone with dull hues in the flashes of lightning. Where the wheels should have been, the rounded steel axels curved like some enormous hand had bent them, and the tires lay face-down on the muddy ground like big round feet, their hubcaps buried in the dirt. Dents, scrapes, and chips covered the battered thing, and its crooked little radio antenna pointed straight up from the old metal fender like a mast. I could barely make out the mud-coated VW on the rounded hood, and my mind reeled in shock.
Is . . . is that a car?
Both yellow headlights bathed me in a circle of bright, blinding light, and neither I nor the strange vehicle moved.
Seconds ticked by, the screech-thumping in the background only growing closer. I realized that I couldn’t hear any engine noises and had yet to see any soldiers or guns pointed my way. This car looked old, really old, like one of those classic Volkswagen Beetles that collectors fought over at auctions. Try as I might, I couldn’t see a driver inside the murky, mold-smeared windows.
Because there wasn’t one.
Lightning arched across the sky overhead, and the car standing in front of me blinked.
Its headlights slid shut, as if little metal shades had crawled over the bulbs for a moment and flicked open again. Something about that movement was so primal, so real, so lifelike, that every ounce of self-control I had melted in an instant.
Cursing under my breath, I lunged into the shrubs, and the world erupted around me.
Under my shoes, the ground shook, and the car surged after me in a cacophony of ka-thumps that made my already racing heart skip several beats. A weather-beaten brown tow truck from the 50’s charged through the thorns to my left, it’s headlights ablaze, and a dilapidated yellow school bus rose from its hiding place in the weeds to stand tall on four down-turned axel-legs. They all flicked their headlights on like giants waking from their slumber, and as I dodged past them, they each blared their horn into the night in alarm.
My breaths came short and tight, my knee burned, and I crashed through thorns and briars without thought to how badly I was getting cut up.
The cheap poncho tore, and I ripped it away as it caught on a tree branch.
A purple 70’s Mustang shook off its blanket of creeping vines and bounded from a stand of trees just ahead, forcing me to swerve to avoid being run over, my adrenaline at all-time highs.
This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening, this can’t be happening.
Slipping and sliding, I pushed through a stand of multiflora rose, and stumbled out into a flat, dark expanse.
I almost skidded to a stop.
What had once been a rather large field stood no taller than my shoestrings, the grass charred, and burnt. The storm above illuminated huge pieces of wreckage that lay scattered over the nearly 40-acre plot, and I could just make out the fire-blackened hulk of a fuselage resting a hundred yards away. The plane had been brought down a while ago it seemed, as there weren’t any flames left burning, and I threw myself toward it in frenzied desperation.
Burned grass and greasy brown topsoil slushed underfoot, and I could hear the squelching of the cars pursing me. Rain soaked me to the bone, and my lungs ached from sucking down the damp night air. A painful stich crept into my side, and I cursed myself for not putting in more time for cardio at the gym.
Something caught my left shoelace, and I hurtled to the ground, tasting mud and blood in between my teeth.
They’ve got me now.
I clawed at the mud, rolled, and watched a tire slam down mere inches from where my head had been. The Mustang loomed over me and jostled for position with the red Volkswagen and brown tow truck, the school bus still a few yards behind them. They couldn’t seem to decide who would get the pleasure of stomping me to death, and like a herd of stampeding wildebeest, they locked bumpers in an epic shoving match.
On all fours, I scampered out from under the sparring brutes, and dashed for the crumpled airplane, a white-painted DC-3 that looked like it had been cut in half by a gargantuan knife blade. I passed a snapped wing section, the oily remains of a turbo-prop engine, and a mutilated wheel from the landing gear. Climbing over a heap of mud, I squeezed into the back of the ruined flight cabin and dropped down into the dark cargo hold.
Wham.
No sooner had my sneakers hit the cold metal floor, and the entire plane rocked from the impact of something heavy ramming it just outside. I tumbled to my knees, screaming in pain as, once again, I managed to bash the sore one off a bracket in the wall.
My hand smeared in something gooey, and I scrabbled for my flashlight.
It clicked on, a wavering ball of white light in the pitch darkness, and I fought the urge to gag. “Oh man . . .”
Three people, or what was left of them, lay strewn over the narrow cargo area. Claret red blood coated the walls, caked on the floor, and clotted under my mud-spattered shoes. Bits of flesh and viscera were stuck to everything, and tatters of cloth hung from exposed sections of broken bone. An eerie set of bloody handprints adorned the walls, and the only reason I could tell it had been three people were the shoes; all of them bore anklebones sticking out above blood-soaked socks. It smelled sickly sweet, a strange, nauseas odor that crept into my nose and settled on the back of my tongue like an alien parasite.
Something glinted in the beam of my flashlight, and my pulse quickened as I pried the object loose from the severed arm that still clung to it.
“Hail Mary full of Grace.” I would have grinned if it weren’t for the fact that the plane continued to buck and roll under the assault from the cars outside.
The pistol looked old, but well-maintained, aside from the light coating of dark blood that stained its round wooden handle. It felt heavy, but good in my hand, and I turned it over to read the words, Waffenfabrik Mauser stenciled into the frame, with a large red 9 carved into the grip. For some reason, it vaguely reminded me of the blasters from Star Wars.
I fumbled with a little switch that looked like a safety on the back of the gun and stumbled toward a gap in the plane’s dented fuselage to aim out at the surrounding headlights.
Bang.
The old gun bucked reliably in my hand, its long barrel spitting a little jet of flame into the night. I had no idea if I hit anything, but the attacking cars recoiled, their horns blaring in confusion.
They turned, and scuttled for the tree line as fast as their mechanical legs could go, the entire ordeal over as fast as it had begun.
Did I do that?
Perplexed, I stared down at the pistol in my hand.
Whoosh.
A large, inky black shadow glided down from the clouds, and the yellow school bus moved too slow to react in time.
With a crash, the kicking nightmarish vehicle was thrown onto its side, spraying glass and chrome trim across the muddy field. Its electro-synth horn blared with wails of mechanical agony, as two huge talon-like feet clamped down on it, and the enormous head of the flying creature lowered to rip open its engine compartment.
The horn cut out, and the enormous flying entity jerked its head back to gulp down a mass of what looked like sticky black vines from the interior of the shattered bus.
At this range, I could see now that the flying creature bore two legs and had its wings half-tucked like a vulture that had descended to feed on roadkill. Its head turned slightly, and in the glow of another lightning bolt, my jaw went slack at the realization of what it was.
A tree trunk. It’s a rotted tree trunk.
I couldn’t tell where the reptilian beast began, and where the organic tree components ended, the upper part of the head shaped like a log, while the lower jaw resembled something out of a dinosaur movie. Its skin looked identical to the outside of a shagbark hickory but flexed with a supple featheriness that denoted something closer to skin. Sharp branch-like spines ranged down its back, and out to the end of its tail, which bore a massive round club shaped like a diseased tree-knot. Crouched on both hind legs, it braced the hooked ends of its folded wings against the ground like a bat, towering higher than a semi-truck. Under the folds of its armored head, a bulging pair of chameleon-like eyes constantly spun in their sockets, probing the dark for threats while it ate.
One black pupil locked onto the window I peered through, and my heart stopped.
The beast regarded me for a moment, with a curious, sideways sniff.
With a proud, contemptful head-toss, the shadow from the sky parted rows of razor-sharp teeth to let out a roar that shook the earth beneath my feet. It was the triumphant war cry of a creature that sat at the very top of the food chain, one that felt no threat from the fragile two-legged beings that walked the earth all around it. It hunted whenever it wanted, ate whatever it wanted, and flew wherever it wanted. It didn’t need to rip the plane apart to devour me.
Like my hunter-gatherer ancestors from thousands of years ago, I wasn’t even worth the energy it would take to pounce.
I’m hiding in the remains of the cockpit now, which is half-buried under the mud of the field, enough to shield the light from my screen so that thing doesn’t see it. My service only now came back, and it’s been over an hour since the winged beast started in on the dead bus. I don’t know when, or how I’m going to get out of here. I don’t know when anyone will even see this post, or if it will upload at all. My phone battery is almost dead, and at this point, I’m probably going to have to sleep among the corpses until daylight comes.
A dead man sleeping amongst friends.
If you live in the Noble County area in southeastern Ohio, be careful where you drive, fly, and boat. I don’t know if it’s possible to stumble into this strange place by ground, but if so, then these things are definitely headed your way.
If that happens . . . pray that they don’t find you.

Hi All,
I just received a tentative job offer with the National Weather Service for a GS 13 position.
How does this work? There’s a link to click accept, decline, or have an HR Rep contact me.
For the record the salary is much more than I currently make at my current company. I’m leaning towards to have the HR rep reach out to me. Should I ask for more?
Also, I’m in the process of selling my house and moving back home. Relocation is not authorized (no biggie) and my current company was allowing me to work remote anyway. So, I’ll have to go into the office at College Park, MD one day out of the week if I do accept.
If I were to accept, what are the next steps? I know the TJO is not final but it’s a huge step and I’m wondering what I need to know since this is the first time I’ve gotten this far.
Thanks for all help everyone.

##D100 Trinkets list
I'm building a list of trinkets for Morticians TTRPG. Trinkets in the game are superstitious items the players pick up to buff abilities. They also can be cursed items.
Currently, I have

1. A Bead (Once per day, reroll a failed roll)
2. Rainbow Earrings (Once per combat, reroll a failed roll.)
3. A Button (+1 MD).
4. Lucky Rabbit's Foot (Once per day -1d10 to any Skill check).
5. A threadbare, bloodied patch that reads “Keep on Trucking,” but the Tr on trucking has been written over with a sharpie “F” (+1 to healing rate).
6. Marble of Luck (+5 to Critical).
7. Marble of Fate (Once per day, it will roll in the direction the owner should go.).
8. A Quarter (Upon losing all HP, flip coin and call it to see if you are resurrected in full health. It cannot be used to reverse Infection stage death.).
9. A half dollar that always lands tails up.
10. Rad Shades (+10 to Speech).
11. Lucky Rabbit's Foot
12. Lucky Silver Coin (been kept in someone's pocket so long, all the markings have worn off. No one knows what the actual nationality or denomination of the coin is)
13. a Bible (or Torah or Quran) that still has a bullet lodged in it from when it saved its owner's life.
14. a Dream Catcher
15. a Meteorite ore pendant necklace
16. a Lock of Hair
17. a Large Brass Key
18. A travel guide that updates with the best restaurant, safest inn, best tavern, and points of interest/plot hooks for whatever city the players are in.
19. A blanket that will keep them warm in any weather and provides resistance to cold damage.
20. A stuffed animal that protects the owner from fear.
21. A coin that always comes up tails.
22. A pen that can mimic anyone's handwriting.
23. Paper that, when folded into an airplane, never lands.

I am at a crossroads in my life and I need to make a final decision on where I should raise my son. It’s hard to plan for the long term future when I don’t know where we will physically be. The issue is, I don’t really have a “home”.
Backstory: I was born in Virginia, and moved to California with my Mom at 13. The rest of my family remained on the east coast. I “came of age” in California and loved living there. I moved away due to being priced out (Bay Area 2014 was the last time I lived in CA).
I have moved nearly 40 times in my life, and I’m currently in Texas, which is the 8th state I have lived. My child was born here but I really don’t foresee staying here forever. I moved here on a whim in 2020, I have no friends or family close by, I’m not a fan of the weather and I’m worried it’s not the best place for my kid to grow up.
My family is scattered all over the east coast- VA, MD, FL… and my son’s father’s family is in Southern California. So Texas is a good central location between extended family.
Here are more details: I don’t think we could afford to live in California, but we have family and friends there. My kid’s dad doesn’t want us to go to the east coast because it’s so far away from his family.
I lived in Oregon for years, have strong friendships there, and loved it, but it’s so far from both families.
If we live away from a coast, I would prefer to live closer to a large city, if I’m on a coast, City proximity doesn’t matter.
I have thought about staying somewhere in the central US but with different weather and more left leaning policies(let’s not get into why). A city I have highly considered is Ft. Collins, CO.
My job is remote and very secure, I make over 70k, and I don’t plan to buy a home in the immediate future or maybe at all. So I make a decent income and I am looking to rent long term.
If you have any advice or recommendations of where I should bring my family, I appreciate the input.

Company Name	Title	City
Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington DC	Medical Assistant (HCA I)	Montgomery Village
Key Point Health Services	Adult Therapist	Aberdeen
AnaVation	SAP Program/Financial Analyst	Aberdeen Proving Ground
SP Plus Corporation	Attendant	Annapolis
Diamond Medical Laboratories	Phlebotomist (Contract/Part time) Annapolis area	Annapolis
Eddie Bauer	Sales Associate - US	Annapolis
Northrop Grumman	Staff Cyber Software Engineer, DB (EC)	Annapolis Junction
Aces Incorporated	Mid Systems Engineer	Annapolis Junction
Aces Incorporated	Senior Software Engineer	Annapolis Junction
Northrop Grumman	Principal Engineer Software	Annapolis Junction
Northrop Grumman	Staff Superconducting Digital ASIC Design Engineer, Transformational Computing	Annapolis Junction
AB Staffing Solutions LLC	Lcsw/lpc (c)	Arbutus
FutureCare	Licensed Practical Nurse LPN	Arnold
Cellular Sales	Verizon Sales Consultant	Arnold
Club Staffing	Computed Tomography Technologist - (CT Tech)	Bel Air
Laurel Pediatric & Teen Medical Center	Medical Assistant	Bel Air
SESI Schools	Assistant TeacheBehavior Aide	Belcamp
Jiffy Lube	Automotive Courtesy-Greeter	Beltsville
Blue Balloon ABA	ABA Scheduling and Intake Coordinator	Beltsville
Robert Half	BuyeSr. Buyer	Beltsville
Ally Behavior Centers	Behavior Technician	Beltsville
Eastern Shore Physical Therapy	Billing Assistant/Patient Care Representative	Berlin
Rubino & Company, Chartered	Audit Senior Manager	Bethesda
Bonobos	General Manager	Bethesda
Fusion Dental	Dental Office Assistant - Business Assistant	Bethesda

Hey guys, here are some recent job openings in md. Feel free to comment here or send me a private message if you have any questions, I'm at the community's disposal! If you encounter any problems with any of these job openings please let me know that I will modify the table accordingly. Thanks!

Ok so— got rejected/waitlist by all of my reaches, thought I would have a miserable time at my cheap state flagship (Rutgers-a strike, a missing kid, and a repeat of high school?) Got accepted off the waitlist to a T3 LAC across the country. Didn’t put some documents into my Non-Custodial parent’s CSS (makes >$125k but pays child support.) Mentally prepared to go to the LAC, put in the info in my NPC and resulted in $9k after aid. (FAFSA EFC is 0)
Just got my official financial aid letter today, and it’s $36k.
They gave me like 24 hours to pay the $500 deposit after receiving my package, but nevertheless I will try and appeal my offer. For a really nice school that demonstrates 100% financial need, has a very high med school acceptance, and good weather all the time (it’s Pomona lol), I didn’t expect it to be so expensive. As stated, I want to go into medical or dental school, and I want Pomona’s accessibility to their pre-health resources, grade inflation, as well as its ability to explore the 5cs and become independent. I dislike how large Rutgers is, asbestos in the dorms, and not much interaction with other professors. But it is the cheaper option after all…
Pomona also has the prestige (in terms of grad school), and I want to pursue an MD/PhD path. Not sure if Pomona is known to be good with appealing financial aid. It’s the better opportunity overall, unless someone says that it is not.
Have not decommitted to Rutgers, said that I will accept my offer to Pomona but have not paid the fee waiver. Scared to let the best opportunity fly by.
What’s my best bet? Do off campus dorming? Loan options?

he International Scoliosis Research Society defines early onset scoliosis (EOS) as the various types of scoliosis that occur within 10 years of age (1). EOS leads to distortion of body appearance and reduced heart and lung function, which often limits the development of the chest and even oppresses the spinal cord, resulting in paralysis (2). A large-scale demographic study showed that an increase in altitude negatively correlated with newborn birth weight. Moreover, neonatal body weight shows obvious changes when the altitude exceeds 2500 m (3, 4). Based on relevant studies, we defined an area with an altitude above 3000 m as a high-altitude area and an area with an altitude below 500 m as a plain area (5). High-altitude environments consists of low air pressure, hypoxia, and cold weather, all of which impact the cardiopulmonary function and structure of the human body. Such high-altitude environments increase cardiac output, pulmonary ventilation, pulmonary capillary hyperplasia, and other compensatory reactions (6, 7). However, there are limited studies on the effects of high-altitude environments on cardiopulmonary function in patients with EOS. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effects of high altitude on the respiratory and circulatory systems of patients with EOS by comparing blood gas analysis results and cardiopulmonary function between the high-altitude and plain area groups. In addition, we explored how scoliosis affected patients' cardiopulmonary function by analyzing the correlations between scoliosis imaging parameters and cardiopulmonary function measures. We aimed to provide an improved preoperative evaluation and postoperative rehabilitation for EOS patients living in high-altitude areas.
Inclusion and exclusion criteria A retrospective cohort study was conducted to identify patients with EOS between June 2013 and June 2021. The inclusion criteria were: (1) EOS patients with a long-term living altitude >3000 m or living area altitude <500 m; (2) full-length anteroposterior and lateral radiographs of the spine showing scoliosis of mainly the thoracic curvature type; (3) patients with an aggravated Cobb's angle >45°; (4) no treatment with braces or growth rods before evaluation; and (5) all patients knew of the study procedures and agreed to participate. The exclusion criteria were: (1) incomplete spinal radiography data; (2) patients who could not cooperate with the completion of pulmonary function examination, blood gas analysis, and cardiac color ultrasound; and (3) patients with congenital cardio-cerebrovascular diseases, syndrome scoliosis, and previous spinal surgery. Evaluation methods Patient records and relevant data were collected retrospectively. All patients underwent full-length anteroposterior and lateral spine radiographs, blood gas analysis, lung function examination, and heart color ultrasound examination. Imaging parameters Preoperatively, whole-body and lateral spinal X-rays were performed on all patients, and both shoulders were flexed anteriorly during X-ray examination to ensure the most natural state of lumbar lordosis. The imaging parameters were as follows: (1) kyphosis angle of the thoracic (kypho), (2) upper thoracic curve (UT), and (3) main thoracic curve (MT). MT measures the Cobb angle from the head side of the T3 upper endplate to the T12 lower endplate. The UT measures the Cobb angle from the T1 upper endplate to the T3 lower endplate on the cephalic side. Kypho measures the Cobb angle from the upper endplate of the cephalic T2 vertebral body to the lower endplate of the caudal T5 vertebral body. All measurements used the Cobb method. The picture archiving and communication system was used by two independent observers. To test agreement among the observers, two orthopedic spine surgeons measured the imaging parameters twice independently, and the intraclass correlation coefficient was analyzed. Doppler echocardiography Color Doppler echocardiography indices were collected and recorded, including those of the pulmonary artery internal diameter (PAID), left ventricular end-systolic dimension (LVISD), ascendant aorta inner diameter, right ventricular basal diameter (RVBD), left atrium left-right diameter (LALRD), right atrium left-right diameter, left atrium longitudinal diameter, left atrium vertical diameter, peak late diastolic flow velocity (A peak), left ventricular early diastolic peak flow velocity (E peak), interventricular septum extent (IVSE), left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), right atrium vertical diameter, and interventricular septum thickness. A color Doppler ultrasound instrument (Vivid E95, GE Healthcare) with an m5S probe was used. Patients were positioned in the left lateral decubitus position, and their electrocardiograms were recorded synchronously to obtain apical four-, 2 three-, and two-chamber heart section images for three consecutive cardiac cycles and acquire spectral Doppler images of the mitral and aortic valves. Routine parameter measurements were performed according to the American Society of Echocardiography guidelines, and the LVEF was determined using the biplane Simpson method. The patients’ imaging results were jointly rated by two experts in ultrasound imaging. Pulmonary function examination The indices of pulmonary function examination included forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory flow in 1s (FEV1), percentage of predicted value, vital capacity (VC), and maximum ventilation (MVV). Preoperative pulmonary function examination was performed using the JAEGER Oxycon Pro with a unified baseline (CareFusion Germany 234 GmbH, Hochberg, Germany). A lung function detector (JAEGER Master Screen PFT, CareFusion Germany 234 GmbH, Hochberg, Germany) was used for measurement. A lung function detector was used for measurement, and the measurement module included pulse oscillation lung function, conventional lung capacity, velocity loop, residual gas function, dispersion function, and MVV rate. Lung function test results were obtained using JLab 5.7 software (CareFusion Germany 234 GmbH, Hochberg, Germany). Blood gas analysis Blood gas analysis indices included blood oxygen saturation (SO2%), hematocrit (Hct), partial pressure of oxygen (pO2), total hemoglobin (Hb), and partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2). Two independent observers recorded these indices. To test for inter-rater agreement, the reported outcomes were recorded twice independently by two orthopedic surgeons, and the recorded data were reconciled. Statistical methods The data were analyzed using SPSS 23.0 software, and the data were expressed as`x±s, where`x and s stand for the mean and standard deviation, respectively. An independent sample t-test was used to compare the measurement data between the two groups, and the χ2 test was used for counting data. Differences were considered statistically significant at P<0.05. The correlation among the parameters was determined using Spearman’s correlation coefficient and analyzed using Origin 2021 software. General data Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 38 and 66 EOS patients were enrolled in the high-altitude and plain area groups, respectively. The high-altitude group comprised 20 boys and 18 girls, with a mean age of 8.42 years (range, 6–10 years). The plain area group comprised 26 boys and 40 girls, with a mean age of 8.77 years (range, 4–11 years). The average age of the high-altitude group was not significantly different from that of the plain area group (P>0.05). The body weight and height of the high-altitude group were significantly lower than that of the plain area group; however, there was no significant difference in the body mass index between the two groups. The average Cobb’s angle was 79.65°, and the average thoracic kypho was 60.16°. There was no significant difference in the degree of other spinal deformities between the two groups. The thoracic spine curves of both the groups were mainly on the right side, and the proportion of right kyphosis in the high-altitude and plain area groups was 63.16 and 66.67%, respectively, with no significant difference (P>0.05). There were 48 cases of idiopathic scoliosis, 16 of congenital scoliosis, two of 3 neuromuscular scoliosis, and 24 cases of idiopathic scoliosis in the plain area group; there were 14 cases of congenital scoliosis in the high-altitude group. There was no significant difference in the proportion of patients diagnosed with idiopathic scoliosis between both groups (P>0.05). Color Doppler echocardiography examination The PAID, LVEDD, and IVST in the high-altitude group were significantly lower than those in the plain area group (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in the other cardiac color ultrasound indices, and were within the normal range. Pulmonary function examination The results of the pulmonary function examination showed that the FVC, VC, and MVV in the high-altitude group were significantly lower than those in the plain area group (P<0.05). The average predicted FVC% values in the high-altitude and plain area groups were 77.81 and 73.77%, respectively, and the average predicted FEV1% values were 78.65 and 73.05%, respectively (P>0.05), showing mild restrictive and obstructive ventilatory dysfunction. Blood gas analysis The Hct levels of the plain area group (38.49±2.89%) were significantly lower than those of the high-altitude group (40.85±4.47%; P<0.05). Hb levels in the high-altitude group (13.67 ± 1.46 g/L) were significantly higher than those in the plain group (12.85±0.94 g/L; P<0.05). The pCO2 levels of the high-altitude group (33.44±4.7 mmHg) were significantly lower than those of the plain area group (35.92±4.66 mmHg; P<0.05); however, there was no significant between-group difference in pO2 and SO2% levels (P>0.05). Correlations of parameters The correlation analysis between the spinal parameters and cardiopulmonary function measures in the high-altitude group is significant. In the high-altitude group, there was a significant correlation between the angle of the main thoracic curvature, the angle of the upper thoracic curvature, and kyphosis (rho=0.692, rho=0.484). There was a significant correlation between the kypho and upper chest curvature angles (rho=0.519). There was a significant correlation between LVISD, IVSE, RVBD, LALRD, and the MT (rho=-0.399, rho=0.565, rho=-0.358, rho=-0.371); however, there was no significant correlation between the angle of kyphosis and echocardiography index. PO2 and SO2% levels correlated with the angle of the MT (rho=-0.400, rho=-0.406). The upper chest bend angle was significantly correlated with VC, MVV, FVC, and FEV1 (rho=-0.498, rho=-0.451, rho=-0.513, rho=-0.588), while the upper chest bend angle and kyphosis bend were not significantly correlated with the pulmonary function index. There was a significant linear correlation between the UT and FEV1, FVC, and MVV in the high-altitude group. FEV1=1.623-0.011*UT, FVC=1.858-0.012*UT, MVV=54.646-0.286*UT. The results of the correlation analysis between imaging indices and cardiopulmonary function indices indicated that in the high-altitude group, UT showed a clear negative correlation with VC, FEV1, FVC, and MVV. In contrast, UT showed a clear positive correlation with these indices in the plain area group. In the high-altitude group, MT showed no obvious correlation with lung function indexes, whereas in the plain area group, MT showed a negative correlation with lung function indices. Scoliosis is a complex three-dimensional deformity that leads to distortion of body 4 appearance and reduced organ function, often causing irreversible damage to cardiopulmonary function (8, 9). Scoliosis due to rotation and thoracic scoliosis leads to a decrease in thoracic volume and asymmetry between the left and right thorax, which seriously affects the normal development of cardiopulmonary function in patients. The thoracic volume is vital for the development of cardiopulmonary function in children. Studies have shown that the critical period of alveolar and thoracic development in children occurs before the age of 10 years. Alveolar development in children approximately 10 years old is as prevalent as in adults, and the thoracic volume can reach half of that in adults (10, 11). Therefore, alveolar and thoracic development in EOS patients is critical since scoliosis and thoracic deformities can lead to pulmonary dysplasia. Most researchers believe that poor cardiopulmonary function in patients with scoliosis is caused by mechanical compression of bone tissue (12). Tsiligiannis et al. (13) showed that scoliosis changes the position of thoracic organs and affects normal respiratory movement, resulting in restrictive ventilation disorders. Campbell et al. (2) indicated that congenital scoliosis in patients with rib deformities could cause thoracic deformities, affects the normal development of heart and lung function and often leads to thoracic insufficiency syndrome. However, other studies have suggested that lung function is mainly affected by the limited development of the heart and lung caused by scoliosis rather than the mechanical compression caused by simple thoracic deformities (14). Davies et al. and Berend et al. (12, 15, 16) performed autopsy studies on EOS patients. They showed no obvious abnormality in the shape of alveoli, a decreased total number of alveoli, and no decrease in the size of alveoli due to thoracic compression and no decrease in the size of alveoli due to thoracic compression (the size was found to be compensated). Koumbourlis (17) et al. studied the relationship between scoliosis and patients’ circulatory and respiratory functions. They discovered that scoliosis-related deformities prevent patients from exercising like their normal peers, which reduces the number of chest breaths and compensates for the number of abdominal breaths. Regarding the thoracic structure, scoliosis limits the normal development of the chest, causing deformation of the important cardiovascular compression, leading to cardiopulmonary dysfunction. High-altitude areas exhibit a unique geographical environment comprising factors such as low pressure, low PO2, and low air content. Living in low-oxygen and thin-air environments over a long period impacts the development of cardiopulmonary function. An independent risk factor for low birth weight in newborns is the high-altitude environment, which leads to fetal growth restriction and affects the function of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems (5, 18). When the altitude increases by 100 m, the ambient atmospheric pressure decreases by 5 mmHg. Because the oxygen concentration in the atmosphere is constant, the oxygen partial pressure will decrease by approximately 1 mmHg. At sea level, the average pO2 is 150 mmHg. When the altitude is between 3000 and 5500 m, the PO2 decreases between 80 and 100 mmHg. When exposed to hypoxia and a hypobaric environment, people living in a plateau environment will have compensatory regulatory responses to restore the body's internal homeostasis. Over the course of natural selection, this compensatory response may be passed on to offspring through genetic material. The compensatory responses of people at high altitudes to hypoxia and hypobaric environments include increased pulmonary blood perfusion, erythrocytosis, blood viscosity, lung tissue compliance, and a slight increase in 5 pulmonary artery pressure. Studies have shown that people in high-altitude environments have symptoms of right ventricular hypertrophy and pulmonary hypertension, and elevated Hb levels in the body (19-21). In this study, the chest curve was the main bend in EOS patients in plain and high-altitude areas, with Cobb's angle of the main bend >45° in all patients. There was no significant between-group difference in the direction and severity of scoliosis and kyphosis. Idiopathic scoliosis is the primary classification of scoliosis. Excluding congenital cardiac developmental abnormalities, pulmonary artery diameter, LVEDD, and inter-ventricular septum thickness in the high-altitude group were smaller than that in the plain area group. This may be due to structural abnormalities of the heart and lungs caused by long-term low pressure and lack of oxygen in high-altitude areas. To explore the relationship between scoliosis, cardiopulmonary function, and the effect of high altitude on cardiopulmonary function, a correlation analysis was performed. The UT angle in the high-altitude group was correlated with the pulmonary function examination indexes (VC, MVV, FVC, and FEV1), while the UT angle in the plain area group was not significantly correlated with these indexes. Long-term exposure to high and cold climates, low pressure, and low oxygen environments impact the cardiopulmonary structure of patients in high-altitude areas. Therefore, the reduction in thoracic space caused by changes in spinal structure will cause more serious damage to the cardiopulmonary function of patients in high-altitude areas compared to patients in plain areas (22). Therefore, patients with severe scoliosis in high-altitude areas require active surgical intervention to reduce cardiorespiratory impairment associated with scoliosis. The results of pulmonary function tests showed that the average values of FEV1% and FVC% in both groups were < 80%, and there were mild restrictive and obstructive ventilation disorders, indicating that scoliosis and thoracic deformities limited the normal respiratory function of patients. The FVC, VC, and MVV indices of the high-altitude group were significantly lower than those of the plain area group. This could be due to the following: the low temperature at high altitudes contracts the small airways of the lungs and increases ventilatory resistance; the hypobaric and hypoxic environment forces the patients to breathe more times per unit time, increasing the load of respiratory muscles and causing respiratory muscle fatigue; the nutritional status of patients in high-altitude areas is worse than that of patients in plain areas; and the thoracic volume is smaller in patients in high-altitude areas than that of patients in plain areas. Scoliosis with thoracic deformity is often accompanied by limited diaphragm function and decreased chest volume, which leads to a decrease in lung tissue pressure and compliance, pulmonary hypertension, and even serious diseases such as cor pulmonale and respiratory failure (23). Studies have shown that pulmonary dysfunction before surgical treatment increases perioperative respiratory complications such as respiratory insufficiency, atelectasis, and pneumonia (24). Therefore, during clinical treatment, more attention should be paid to evaluating pulmonary function in EOS patients before surgery. For patients at high altitudes or other EOS patients with significantly impaired pulmonary function, it is necessary to carry out preoperative respiratory function training to improve respiratory function (25) and surgical safety and reduce postoperative complications; the comprehensive evaluation of pulmonary function in combination with other disciplines is also possible. 6 Because of the lack of studies comparing lung function between EOS patients in high-altitude and plain areas that are similar to our patient population, it cannot be ruled out whether the decline in lung function indices is affected by spinal deformities. In this study, the number of patients in high-altitude areas was less than that of patients in plain areas. Our results may not be comprehensive enough as there were only a few categories of imaging parameters; therefore, it was difficult to analyze the correlation between other imaging parameters and cardiopulmonary function. Conclusion EOS patients in high-altitude areas had poorer cardiac and pulmonary functions than those who live in plain areas. Cardiopulmonary function and the degree of scoliosis interact with each other. We should pay more attention to preoperative evaluation and postoperative rehabilitation for EOS patients living in high-altitude areas. References: 1.Fletcher ND, Bruce RW. Early onset scoliosis: current concepts and controversies. Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med.(2012)5: 102-10. doi:10.1007/s12178-012-9116-0 2.Campbell RJ, Smith MD, Mayes TC, Mangos JA, Willey-Courand DB, Kose N, Pinero RF, Alder ME, Duong HL, Surber JL. The characteristics of thoracic insufficiency syndrome associated with fused ribs and congenital scoliosis. J BONE JOINT SURG AM.(2003)85: 399-408. doi:10.2106/00004623-200303000-00001 3.Mortola JP, Frappell PB, Aguero L, Armstrong K. Birth weight and altitude: a study in Peruvian communities. J Pediatr.(2000)136: 324-9. doi:10.1067/mpd.2000.103507 4.Zhou L, Yang H, Hai Y, Hai JJ, Cheng Y, Yin P, Yang J, Zhang Y, Wang Y, Zhang Y, Han B. Scoliosis among children in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau of China: A cross-sectional epidemiological study. Front Public Health.(2022)10: 983095. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.983095 5.Jensen GM, Moore LG. The effect of high altitude and other risk factors on birthweight: independent or interactive effects? AM J PUBLIC HEALTH.(1997)87: 1003-7. doi:10.2105/ajph.87.6.1003 6.Ostadal B, Kolar F. Cardiac adaptation to chronic high-altitude hypoxia: beneficial and adverse effects. Respir Physiol Neurobiol.(2007)158: 224-36. doi:10.1016/j.resp.2007.03.005 7.Maggiorini M. Cardio-pulmonary interactions at high altitude. Pulmonary hypertension as a common denominator. ADV EXP MED BIOL.(2003)543: 177-89. doi:10.1007/978- 1-4419-8997-0_13 8.Kadoury S, Shen J, Parent S. Global geometric torsion estimation in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. MED BIOL ENG COMPUT.(2014)52: 309-19. doi:10.1007/s11517 -013-1132-8 9.Charles YP, Dimeglio A, Marcoul M, Bourgin JF, Marcoul A, Bozonnat MC. Influence of idiopathic scoliosis on three-dimensional thoracic growth. Spine (Phila Pa 1976).(2008)33: 1209-18. doi:10.1097/BRS.0b013e3181715272 10.Boyden EA. Development of the pulmonary airways. Minn Med.(1971)54: 894-7. 11.Karol LA, Johnston C, Mladenov K, Schochet P, Walters P, Browne RH. Pulmonary function following early thoracic fusion in non-neuromuscular scoliosis. J BONE JOINT SURG AM.(2008)90: 1272-81. doi:10.2106/JBJS.G.00184 7 12.Day GA, Upadhyay SS, Ho EK, Leong JC, Ip M. Pulmonary functions in congenital scoliosis. Spine (Phila Pa 1976).(1994)19: 1027-31. doi:10.1097/00007632-199405000-00004 13.Tsiligiannis T, Grivas T. Pulmonary function in children with idiopathic scoliosis. Scoliosis.(2012)7: 7. doi:10.1186/1748-7161-7-7 14.Branthwaite MA. Cardiorespiratory consequences of unfused idiopathic scoliosis. Br J Dis Chest.(1986)80: 360-9. doi:10.1016/0007-0971(86)90089-6 15.Berend N, Marlin GE. Arrest of alveolar multiplication in kyphoscoliosis. PATHOLOGY.(1979)11: 485-91. doi:10.3109/00313027909059026 16.Davies G, Reid L. Effect of scoliosis on growth of alveoli and pulmonary arteries and on right ventricle. ARCH DIS CHILD.(1971)46: 623-632. doi:10.1136/adc.46.249.623 17.Koumbourlis AC. Scoliosis and the respiratory system. PAEDIATR RESPIR REV.(2006)7: 152-60. doi:10.1016/j.prrv.2006.04.009 18.Krampl E, Lees C, Bland JM, Espinoza DJ, Moscoso G, Campbell S. Fetal Doppler velocimetry at high altitude. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol.(2001)18: 329-34. doi:10.1046/j.0960-7692.2001.00542.x 19.Hulme CW, Ingram TE, Lonsdale-Eccles DA. Electrocardiographic evidence for right heart strain in asymptomatic children living in Tibet--a comparative study between Han Chinese and ethnic Tibetans. Wilderness Environ Med.(2003)14: 222-5. doi:10.1580/1080-6032(2003)14[222:eefrhs]2.0.co;2 20.Huicho L. Postnatal cardiopulmonary adaptations to high altitude. Respir Physiol Neurobiol.(2007)158: 190-203. doi:10.1016/j.resp.2007.05.004 21.CANEPA A, CHAVEZ R, HURTADO A, ROTTA A, VELASQUEZ T. Pulmonary circulation at sea level and at high altitudes. J APPL PHYSIOL.(1956)9: 328-36. doi:10.1152/jappl.1956.9.3.328 22.Penaloza D. Effects of high-altitude exposure on the pulmonary circulation. Rev Esp Cardiol (Engl Ed).(2012)65: 1075-8. doi:10.1016/j.recesp.2012.06.027 23.Sacks D, Baxter B, Campbell B, Carpenter JS, Cognard C, Dippel D, Eesa M, Fischer U, Hausegger K, Hirsch JA, Shazam HM, Jansen O, Jayaraman MV, Khalessi AA, Kluck BW, Lavine S, Meyers PM, Ramee S, Rufenacht DA, Schirmer CM, Vorwerk D. Multisociety Consensus Quality Improvement Revised Consensus Statement for Endovascular Therapy of Acute Ischemic Stroke. INT J STROKE.(2018)13: 612-632. doi:10.1177/1747493018778713 24.Zhang JG, Wang W, Qiu GX, Wang YP, Weng XS, Xu HG. The role of preoperative pulmonary function tests in the surgical treatment of scoliosis. Spine (Phila Pa 1976).(2005)30: 218-21. doi:10.1097/01.brs.0000150486.60895.a1 25.Liang J, Qiu G, Shen J, Zhang J, Wang Y, Li S, Zhao H. Predictive factors of postoperative pulmonary complications in scoliotic patients with moderate or severe pulmonary dysfunction. J SPINAL DISORD TECH.(2010)23: 388-92.doi:10. 1097/BSD.0b013e3181b55ff4

Here a List of Mods that are not needing the NVSE(Made for the Epic Store to mod). Some of those Mods are personally tested.
If you install Mods with Vortex Mod manager that do not require the NVSE and you do not have the Script Extender Downloaded on Vortex, than modding is possible (like 50% of Mods)
​
Too many mods for me to find time to personally test. A Tutorial Video(Youtube) and Showcase of the Mods working here:
https://youtu.be/gHCj6mIJNVQ
​
I installed all of the tested Mods with the Vortex Mod Manager, make sure that the NVSE is not downloaded or just delete it or you will get an Error text when launching from the Manager
​
List of Mods who don't need NVSE, Tested by myself:
​
A World Of Pain (Quest and Adventures)(new Lands, Dungeons, Caves and Locations)
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/38719?tab=description
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All Someguy2000 Mods(like New Vegas Bounties)(Quest and Adventures)
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/users/2159825?tab=user+files
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All Millenia Mods(Weapons, like Ak47)
https://www.nexusmods.com/users/431125?tab=user+files&BH=0
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Better Game Performance V5
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/51871?tab=description
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More Perks
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/35979?tab=posts
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The Couriers Cache (Quest and Adventures)
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/49531?tab=description
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DK Female Face Textures
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/38788
A Better Veronica
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/41617?tab=description
​
Angelic Veronica
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/45165?tab=description
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Beauty Pack PLUS -Project Mikoto- Hair - Eyes - Presets
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/35878?tab=description
​
Wasteland Flora and Terrain Overhaul
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/39856?tab=files&file_id=1000068193&nmm=1
​
Autumn Leaves (Quest and Adventures)
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/50146?tab=description
​
Interior Lighting Overhaul
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/35794?tab=description
​
ELECTRO-CITY - Relighting the Wasteland
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/37908?tab=description
​
NV Animated EDE Face
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/66625?tab=description
​
Sprint Mod
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/34943?tab=description
​
Dramatic Mojave Outpost (Higher Mountains, easy light mod to test if modding works)
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/81316?tab=description
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Weapon Mods Expanded - WMX
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/39651?tab=description
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List of Mods not tested, no NVSE needed as seen from Requirements(No Red Flags too like a bunch of bug reports or no info/description):

• Yukichigai Unofficial Patch - YUP

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/51664
​

• Weapon Animation Replacer WAR

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/38527

• Weapon Mesh Improvement Mod

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/65052

• Weapon Retexture Project - WRP

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/38285

• Asurah Reanimation Pack

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/64339

• Enhanced Blood Textures for NV v2_22c

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/34917

• WME - Weapon Mod Expansion

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/37576

• OJO BUENO Texture Pack

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/39755

• Unlimited Companions

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/34870

• The N.V. Interiors Project (Buildings)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/43534

• MGs Neat Clutter Retextures

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/42551?tab=description

• Monster Mod (New Creatures)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/41361

• Official Pipboy Readius - New Vegas Edition

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/36646

• Fellout NV (Removes the Mexico filter or so)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/34888

• aMidianBorn NV Book Of Water (Brotherhood of Steel Testures)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/39873

• Beyond Boulder Dome (Quest and Adventures)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/46907

• Populated Casinos

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/35369

• Fallout - New California (Quest and Adventures)(Started from perssing New Game in Menu!)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/45138

• NCR Trooper Overhaul_beta (armors)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/52721

• Underground Hideout New Vegas V4-4 (Player Home)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/37884

• Improved Robots Textures

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/56759

• IMPACT (Weapon Sounds Ballistic VFX overhaul)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/57113

• POCO BUENO Texture Pack

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/42028

• Uncut Wasteland ( Restores a huge amount of scenery and little random things which were patched out of the game post-release, better PC needed)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/56625

• ADAM - A Definitive Armor Mod ( Outcast, Nemesis, NCR Patrol and Trooper armours)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/43192

• The New Bison Steve Hotel and Lucky Casino (Quest and Adventures)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/40433

• Textures Over Time (Rocks Mountains more)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/41101

• Advanced Recon Stealth Armor

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/34683?tab=description

• CAGE - Continue After Games Ending

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/42428

• Nick Cage Moon (No Requirements info)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/63716

• Nicolas Cage NCR flag (Nicolas Cage Republic)(No Requirements info)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/74194?tab=posts

• TGs Armor Collection for New Vegas (new armors)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/35740

• NCR Rearmament (New armor replacement for NCR forces)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/40139

• Improved LOD Noise Texture

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/46451

• Realistic Weapons Damages - New Vegas

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/35335

• New Vegas Restoration - NVR (A Strip with less Trash on the ground)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/35100

• Fallout New Vegas Redesigned 2 - Open Source (Hair and Face Modules)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/39218

• Reinforced Chinese Stealth Suit - NV v2dot2

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/35130

• Hall Of Equipment (Textures)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/44879

• Mobile Truck Base

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/50978?tab=description

• Delilah- Mojave MD (Female Companion voiced)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/50641

• Gas Masks of the World

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/49475

• FNV Project Reality MkI (Weather, lighting, visual effects and immersion features)
• https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/42180
  
• Mojave Raiders (Overhaul of New Vegas's raider factions, balancing their loot and adding more of them to fight)
  

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/64660

• Run The Lucky 38

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/40531

• For the Enclave

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/39531

• Sunny Smiles Companion (Could not test it, killed her...)

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/37281

• Realistic Headshots

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/35037
​
​
If you find and tested any Mods on your own(Epic Game Store) post it in the Comments.
I will try to edit more to this List if a lot of people want more, no promises tho

Company Name	Title	City
DCS Corp	Senior Acquisition Logistician	Aberdeen
DCS Corp	Operations Analyst - Action Officer	Aberdeen
DCS Corp	Mechanical Engineer	Aberdeen
Martek Global Services	Linux SME/System Administrator	Aberdeen Proving Ground
Capital One	Senior Software Engineer, Full Stack - Enterprise Data	Annapolis
Department of General Services	Director of Operations	Annapolis
Capital One	Manager, ES Risk Regulatory Change Management	Annapolis
Capital One	Manager, Software Engineering, Back End	Annapolis
Livanta LLC	Business Development Analyst	Annapolis Junction
Capital One	Safety and Security Director	Baltimore
ClarkDietrich	Manufacturing Team Member	Baltimore
ClarkDietrich	2nd ShiftMaintenance Mechanic	Baltimore
Capital One	Director of Technical Program Management - Shopping	Baltimore
Department of General Services	Chief, Project Cost Center (Program Manager III)	Baltimore
Futrend Technology Inc	Accountant 1	Bethesda
Apexon	M365 Platform Developer	Bethesda
Beacon Hill Staffing Group, LLC	HR Specialist - $27/hr-$32/hr - Bethesda, MD	Bethesda- Md
Beacon Hill Staffing Group, LLC	Director of Individual Giving - $85K-$90K - Bethesda, MD	Bethesda- Md
Beacon Hill Staffing Group, LLC	Recruiter - $28/hr-$30/hr - Bethesda, MD	Bethesda- Md
Stellantis	Ram Area Manager - Philadelphia	Columbia
Spectraforce Technologies Inc	Sales Representative (REMOTE)	Columbia
Information Management Group	Junior Hardware Technician with TS/SCI Full Scope Polygraph	Columbia
Cumberland Times News	Multimedia Account Executives	Cumberland
Cumberland Times News	Night-side District Manager	Cumberland
Cumberland Times News	Advertising Assistant	Cumberland

Hey guys, here are some recent job openings in md. Feel free to comment here or send me a private message if you have any questions, I'm at the community's disposal! If you encounter any problems with any of these job openings please let me know that I will modify the table accordingly. Thanks!

I wanted to have a control deck I could play on ladder sometimes, was wondering if there were any suggestions. I have been trying to do research into control decks but been having a hard time finding a nice list of all the ones I can play in MD. Altergeist and Weather painters seemed pretty neat but I found both rarely mentioned on control lists, so I was just wondering if there are any I am missing out on as well that are fun.
Tldr looking for a fun control deck