I'm gonna be a comp sci and eng student in the fall and have started considering what calculator to get. I've been told to get a TI-89 which looks good, but I thought I'd ask here. My main want is ideally the calculator being one which would last me at least my 4 years of college, but not one that wouldn't be allowed in an exam. Other than that I'm not to strict with stuff like weather it's battery powered or charged, or a color screen.
The only calculator I've used in highschool has been a Casio fx-570ES plus, so I've accepted the fact I'm likely gonna get a calculator I'm not familiar with
Massive thanks in advance <3

Part 1
Percy handed Gary the list and he looked it over, then handed it to Inanna. She glanced down and quickly counted the locations on it.
"Yeah. I'll get a wizard and two security operators to each one. Percy, Beth, can you guys call them and let them know? I don't want any surprises when a weirdo and two heavily armed mercs show up at these people's homes."
Percy and Beth both nodded. "Yeah. Is there anything else you need from us?"
Gary and Inanna glanced at each other. Both of them knew what they needed, but neither particularly liked it. Gary gave her a slight nod. He'd say it. He squared himself up to Percy.
"You an' yer wife should go find a different place to sleep tonight. But not Suzanne."
"Why not?" Beth asked as Percy winced, understanding.
"Because," Gary explained. "We need her here to make sure this thing has something here to target. We don't want it following you guys elsewhere, expanding its territory."
"You want to use her as bait?!" Beth gasped. Gary held up both hands, but Inanna stepped forward.
"We will keep her safe, I promise. Gary is a retired green beret, who's since been imbued with a perfect, and I mean literally perfect, knowledge of all combat arts to have ever existed, in addition to being a powerful sorcerer in his own rights."
Sorcerers were what most of the world knew demigods as, Gary knew. It was yet another effect of Sookie's show, which had chosen that word as it was 'less confusing' than demigod.
"I'm a sorcerer as well, in addition to being a former goddess. My earliest memories predate the construction of the pyramids, and I've seen these kinds of spirits before. I know how to handle them."
Beth and Percy glanced at each other uncertainly.
"I swear on my life, on my husband's and daughter's lives that I will die before I let anything happen to that girl of yours," Gary said. Percy looked at him so Gary fixed his eyes on the other man's, letting him see the sincerity in his declaration. After a moment, he looked at Beth, who felt the weight of his gaze and met his eyes.
Percy nodded. Beth sighed and took his hand.
"Okay," he said quietly. "Let me go talk to Suzanne."
----
Inanna and Gary hopped out of Old Bess at the nearby park. "I think this will work," she said. Gary looked around, noticing a few people. Some teenagers, hanging out at one of the picnic pavilions, smoking cigarettes and chatting and playing on their phones. A couple of mothers, sitting on the benches, watching their kids as they played on the playground, or else hanging around the two obvious fathers, smiling and chatting.
"It does seem to have a similar vibe," Gary said. He glanced at the sign and noted the lack of posted hours. There was no obvious place to lock the gate of the fence that surrounded it, either. Both were good signs, meaning that any cop driving past would be unlikely to disturb them. Of course, it also meant Gary might have to chase people off later, but he was confident in his ability to do that.
"We'll have to do the ritual here first," Inanna said. "At sunset would be best." Gary nodded. He pointed to a flat area of grass between the pavilions and the playground. "That gonna be big enough?"
"Yup," Inanna confirmed.
"Now for the real question," Gary asked, turning to face her. "Are you up for this?"
Inanna sighed. "I mean... I know that I have all my bases covered, but the difficulty I'm still having doing magic is worrying. But honestly... Gary, this is mostly on you. I've upgraded my buttplug to conceal magic and heat, and the ring I have for Suzanne will do the same for her. The illusion is on you to power, I'll just be shaping it. If something goes wrong and the spirit attacks us, I'm sure I can fend it off long enough for you to teleport back and take over."
Gary winced. Inanna had always been someone he'd known as a powerhouse, both magically and physically. She still was in the latter category, but a spirit like this required one to imbue their body with magic to fight it. And Inanna had been open about her difficulties using magic ever since she'd been taken by Sarisa.
The sad truth was, she was weak now.
Her body healed far more slowly than those of the other demigods. Her ability to draw magic from her wells was increasing as she practiced daily, but it was still nowhere near what it was. Even compared to human wizards, who had to draw in trickles of magic from their environment to power their spells, she was a lightweight.
Sure, she could beat the tar out of a whole bunch of normal people, even trained fighters, even all at once. Her martial skills had been untouched. But normal people were rarely the kinds of threats the Group dealt with. She'd moved over to Investigative services for that exact reason. Her magical senses still worked just fine. She could investigate, and her prodigious knowledge of all things supernatural helped her a lot in that regards.
Speaking of her prodigious knowledge...
"So fill me on on this spirit," Gary said. "I know ya didn't want to talk about it in front of them, but we're alone now."
Inanna gestured to an empty table under one of the pavilions and they both walked over and sat.
"Okay, so this is a bugbear. They're actually an offshoot of the Yokai, but clearly they don't look anything like them, so-" She stopped as she noticed Gary giving her the stink eye.
"Uh, most Yokai are kinda like pig-men. Bodies of men, but with really thick chests and faces like wild pigs. It doesn't matter. Bugbears can change their form at will, and they often choose forms designed to engender terror. In this case, I think this one is going off Slenderman."
"That's the one the internet made up, right?"
"Yup. It's an obvious choice. Slenderman steals children, bugbears feed on children's deaths. So dying in fear produces a lot of energy, and this energy is a bugbear's favorite nourishment. They sniff out children living in fear and give them nightmares to 'fatten them up', so to speak. Then, when they've become scared enough, they strike, ripping the fear and soul out. That's what causes the torn heart tissue. The body's desperately clinging to the soul, but the fear is giving the bugbear enough strength to kill."
"So they eat souls?"
"No, they eat the fear that's clinging to the soul. There isn't much that can even damage a soul."
"Jerry's got one in his sword," Gary pointed out.
"Yeah, well, that's Jerry. I have no idea how he did that, and I'm not sure I want to know."
"I'm scared to ask," Gary admitted. "Mostly because I know he'd answer." Inanna laughed.
"So what do I need to know as far as weaknesses and strengths about this thing?"
"Well, they're not particularly tough, as I recall, but bear in mind that I was a goddess, the last time I dealt with one. That being said, I don't foresee you being unable to take it down. They don't have any particular weaknesses, except fearless resolve. Children have chased them off before, by confronting them that way. You can physically injure it, so long as you're flooding your body with magic, which I think you'd be doing as a matter of course, right?"
"Ayup. Being able to benchpress a Buick does come in handy in a fight." Inanna nodded.
"Good," she said. "Specific strengths are that they can get in your head. Like, real easily. And they have a certain degree of precognition. That being said, they're not intelligent, though they can speak."
"So what advice do you have?"
"Hmm," Inanna said, rubbing her chin. "Don't plan to keep it out with a mental shield, because it'll slip right around it. Instead, let it in, then confront it with fearless resolve. I don't think that'll be an issue for you. Inside your head, you can hurt the thing. In fact, it's more vulnerable there than physically, because it can make its form incorporeal, which makes fighting it tricky. Fire was the preferred method, back in the day. If you fight it physically, I strongly suggest using a wet blanket on it, right off the bat. That will keep it from going incorporeal entirely, but its ability to do so is very deeply seated, so it'll still be able to thin its form out as a tactic."
"Make my bullets pass right through it?" Gary asked. Inanna nodded and tapped the tip of her nose. "Like I said, fire works. I know you figured out how to throw a fireball, so that. Your sword and shield should be pretty effective, too. The magic in them should bypass its abilities, and you can ignite the blade, in any event.
"If you fight it in your mind, it's much simpler. Just don't be afraid, do be determined and beat the shit out of it. It'll put up quite a fight, because it knows how to work in a mental landscape, but I'm sure you can handle it."
Gary nodded. "All righty. Sounds good. So we're agreed that this is the place we'll redirect the thing to?"
"Yeah. We don't want to leave the sort of magical carnage behind in that house. All sorts of spiritual creepy crawlies might spring out of it."
Gary stood. "Let's go explain the plan to them, and then we can get started." Inanna stood as well.
----
They pulled back into the park just before sunset. The ritual at the house had been completed. Suzanne was sitting between them, her foster parents gone to spend the night with one of the other foster families, safe and sound under the watchful eye of a wizard who knew what to look for and two hardasses from the security division, just in case.
"Awwright, now you just wait right here, Darlin'," Gary said to Suzanne. He unclipped his troll doll and handed it to her. "This is Tootsie. Now, he may not look like much, but he's a real shit-kicker, you hear me?" He finished with a wink that made Suzanne smile briefly.
"He'll keep you safe. We're gonna be right out there, working some magic. You'll be able to see us the whole time. I'm gonna lock you in, but leave the windows cracked. If anything bad happens, you just go ahead and scream at the top of your lungs, and we'll come running, and lay down some justified hate on whoever's doing you wrong. Assuming, that is, that Tootsie ain't ground 'em into sausage by the time we get here."
Suzanne took the troll doll with another quick smile. "Okay," she said.
Gary and Inanna got out.
There was a young lady still in the park, all by herself. She was talking on the phone and sipping some kind of iced coffee drink from a Starbucks cup.
"Want me to ask her to leave?" Inanna asked.
"Naw, I got this. Ya might wanna listen though," Gary said with a mischievous wink. He walked over to the bench the girl was sitting on and sat next to her, leering. She recoiled a little and pressed her phone to her shoulder.
"Can I help you?" she asked, her voice snobby.
"Are you from Mississippi?" Gary asked. "Cuz' yer the only Miss whose piss I wanna sip."
"Fucking pervert!" the young woman cried with a disgusted expression. She quickly stood and hurried out of the park, chased down the block by Inanna's laughter.
"You were right, I'm so glad I listened to that."
"Heh," Gary chuffed. "Last time I had to do that, I just rubbed my beard and told her that her kids were cute. Real fucking cute. Worked just as well, though. I think I like this way, better."
Inanna shuddered and shook her head sadly. "Gary, if I didn't know you were a teddy bear, that one would disturb me." Gary chuckled as she began to undress for the ritual. She peeled her shirt off to reveal a surprise; she was wearing a bra. After kicking off her shoes, Gary got a another shock when she peeled her pants down to reveal a pair of underwear.
It was lacy, tiny underwear with a string instead of a back, but still.
"Sheeit," Gary said. "Never thought I'd see you wearing drawers. Or an over-the-shoulder-boulder-holder, neither."
Inanna chuckled. "Well, Jerry rubs off on me just as much a I rub off on him. And we rub each other off plenty. Besides, things got a little weird when Swaim and Aaina became friends. Both of us ladies in the house have taken to wearing underwear, the past year or so."
"How's she doing? She still having nightmares?" Gary asked. Inanna pulled her bra off and then her panties followed, and she neatly folded all of them and placed them on the bench next to Gary.
"Yeah, she is," she said with a wince. "I think they're getting less common. But it's still most nights."
"Can't blame her," Gary said. "She got blooded by accident. Has reason to believe one of the men she killed maybe didn't deserve it."
"She's got a lot of guilt over both," Inanna said. "But she's open about it, which is good. Her and Jerry have gotten a little closer, if you can believe that's possible."
"I hardly can," Gary quipped. Inanna nodded. "They've been having long talks on the back porch from time to time. They seem to be helping."
"You got yourself a damn fine man, Inanna."
"I really did," she said with a wistful sigh. "And I can't fuck his brains out tonight, because we're busy."
"I feel that," Gary said, picturing Chris' face, contorted in ecstasy in his mind. Oh well. They'd just have even more fun, tomorrow night.
"I asked Sookie to come over," Inanna went on. "She's the only one he'll fool around with when I'm not there."
"That don't make you jealous none?" Gary asked. Sookie regularly hit on Chris, and though Gary knew Chris would never betray him, he still felt a twinge every time she did.
Inanna shrugged, an evil grin spreading on her features. "It does, but a little jealousy hurts less than the thought of giving him the slightest reprieve."
Gary barked another laugh out. "I feel a pang of pity for him, from time to time."
"Don't bother. He protests all the time, but I know he loves it. Hell, when he lost his memory, the first thing he did was run off and start a sex cult."
"Point taken. So that's what it is, then? You think he's got a bigger libido than he lets on?"
"Oh yeah. Even when we first met, and he was acting terrified. He begged Sarisa for help, and instead of trying to calm me down, she offered to make sure he could keep up with me, and he jumped at that opportunity. And he's only gotten a bigger appetite, since. He's just too shy to admit it."
Gary shook his head. "Girl, I swear, I don't really get where you two are coming from. But I love the both of yas, and ya both love each other, and that's all I need to know."
Inanna smiled and kissed him on the forehead. "You're the best, Gary," she said.
"Ugh, girl cooties," Gary responded with a wink.
Inanna walked over to the open space and spread her arms, so Gary dug into his wells and began to push power into her. She paced around, muttering to herself and waving her arms around. Gary didn't really get what she was doing, but he could see the effects. She was leaving a complex weaving of magic behind her. It was magic that felt like a home, full of warmth and love, but with an undercurrent of fear. It was a home in which something horrible had happened, and a family was trying to move on, relying on each other to do so.
When she finished the first weaving, she began to move again, this time around a smaller area. Gary saw the result with both his physical and magical eyes, this time. A child's bed, with Suzanne curled up in it. It was a masterful illusion, something that probably even Yarm couldn't match, thanks to Inanna's incomparable experience.
Gary continued to feed her power as she took her time, getting every detail right. When she finally seemed satisfied with the bed, she stood and quickly wove the last part. A trap, that would bring any spiritual being that triggered the magic back at the house to this place. The illusion she had woven would keep it here, thinking it was still in the home, long enough for Gary to kill it.
"Okay," she said. Gary noticed that she was dripping with sweat, despite the cool night.
"Took a lot out of ya?" he asked quietly as she held a hand out to him. He produced a towel from hammerspace and handed it over.
"Yeah, thanks," she dried herself off, then sat on the bench. "I'm gonna let my core cool off a bit, or I'll just sweat through my clothes."
"Take your time," he said, glancing over at Old Bess, where he could see Suzanne holding up the troll doll and speaking to it. She seemed contented enough.
"God, that kills me," she said between deep breaths. "I can't wait for Jerry to figure out what's wrong with my magic. Getting it back the human way is such a pain in the ass."
Gary put a hand on her knee in comfort, thought twice about that, and then moved it to her shoulder.
"Got me excited there for a second," Inanna said with a wink.
"Heh. As I understand it, the last time Jerry thought you and I might bump uglies, that turned into quite the shit-storm."
"Yeah," Inanna sighed. "I was a lot more insecure back then. Plus, the fact that it was Sarisa..."
Gary bit his tongue, thinking of more recent events. Inanna glanced at him, then narrowed her eyes.
"What," she demanded.
"Nothin," Gary said. "And just cause you know it ain't actually nothing don't mean you can pry it out of me, so don't make shit weird."
"Oh for fuck's sake," Inanna said. "Come on, Gary. I know about the bro code, but just... Fuck."
A light bulb veritably lit up over her head. "Wait, is this about Avarisa?"
Gary looked away.
"Ahh," Inanna said with a sigh of relief. "I already knew about that." She chuffed a laugh. "Imagine Jerry trying to keep that kind of secret."
"Heh, good point. You okay with it, though?"
"Well, I mean, it bothers me a lot more than the thought of him sleeping alone or slamming Sookie up the shitter, but I mean... He thought I was dead. And she was... Well, she couldn't resist. I hate to say it, because I think I mistreated her, but I'm kinda glad she's gone. It's easier, this way."
Gary nodded. "Well, I'm glad you knew, I guess."
"I made myself look like her, a couple weeks ago," Inanna said. "He wouldn't touch me till I changed back."
"Fuckin' hell," Gary laughed. "I guess that sounds like Jerry."
Inanna stood and gave herself another wipe down with the towel. She picked up her bra, pulling it on and adjusting herself. It took a lot of adjusting, because there was a lot to adjust. Then she pulled her panties on. She quickly got her pants, shirt and shoes back on, and then adjusted her gun to sit comfortably.
"Okay, let's get back before it gets too late."
"Ya forgot yer buttplug," Gary said mildly. Inanna laughed.
"I can't believe you didn't notice just now, but I've been wearing it all day, Gary. Come on, I thought you knew me?"

Je n'ai pas une vision manichéenne du monde avec des méchants et des gentils à la façon d'un film de SuperHeros. Le propos n'est pas ici d'affirmer qu'Elon Musk est parfait ou qu'il a toujours raison.
Par exemple, je pense qu'il comprend mal l'urbanisme et les transports en commun et il me semble idiot de nommer son enfant X Æ A-12. D'ailleurs en général, j'ai arrêté d'essayer de comprendre sa vie privée.
Je pense que sur d'autres aspects de sa personnalité, les critiques sont injustes et ne prennent pas en compte une réalité américaine que nous connaissons mal en France.
Par exemple, Elon Musk s'est plaint des restrictions liées au COVID, mais on ne sait pas forcément qu'en Californie, elles étaient beaucoup plus sévères qu'en France. Les chaînes de production de mon usine ont été fermées une semaine, mais Elon Musk a dû forcer la main de l'état californien pour rouvrir partiellement sa chaine de production après deux mois de fermeture complète. Et c'est pareil pour l'école: mes enfants en école primaire ont raté au total moins de 3 mois de cours, la plupart des écoles en Californie sont restées complètement fermées 1 an et demi.
Je ne veux pas trop parler de politique ici, car on connait très mal la politique américaine, mais j'aimerais par exemple signaler qu'en 2021, Elon Musk a voté Joe Biden et pas Donald Trump, ce qui doit amener à se poser des questions sur l'image de red neck neo-nazi qu'on lui donne parfois.
On peut aussi discuter de son style de communication, direct, et parfois excessif. Dans un monde où la plupart des puissants manient la langue de bois, je trouve le style direct d'Elon Musk rafraichissant, et je suis près à lui pardonner quelques blagues de collégien médiocres de temps en temps plutôt que d'avoir de grandes phrases ronflantes remplies de mots creux.
Mais ce pour quoi je l'apprécie, évidemment, c'est pour son rôle de fondateur et de dirigeant de SpaceX et Tesla. Pour résumer, on parle de deux entreprises qui ont révolutionné leur domaine, plus que le grand public ne l'imagine parfois.
Cela commence par la performance technique: la fusée Falcon 9 est une merveille: fiable, peu chère, elle permet aussi la récupération du 1er étage, c'est à dire de 9 moteurs sur 10. Sur les 5 premiers mois de 2023, il y a eu une Ariane 5 lancée, et 40 Falcon 9.
Les Tesla sont bourrées également d'innovations. Certaines sont visibles, par exemple l'excellent système de divertissement, les aides à la conduite ou encore les superchargeurs, l'innovation qui fait qu'une voiture électrique peut être une première voiture. Et Beaucoup d'autres innovations sont moins visibles, mais aussi impressionnantes (architecture électrique révolutionnaire, moteurs électriques très performants, batteries à très longue durée de vie, et qui utilisent de moins en moins de terres rares, nouvelles méthodes d'assemblage 'giga-casting'). Et se combine à cette excellence technique une communication extrêmement efficace.
Alors certes, ce n'est pas Elon Musk qui visse les fusées, ni lui qui dessine les éléments du chassis des Teslas. Toutefois, je pense qu'il a une patte magique pour gérer les projets de développement ambitieux. Et ces projets dépendent beaucoup des directions stratégiques: il faut savoir donner les bons objectifs aux différentes équipes, ne pas paniquer quand des problèmes sont rencontrés, faire en permanence les bons choix technologiques, choisir les ingénieurs à qui on laisse gérer les éléments stratégiques.
J'ai travaillé pendant plus de 20 ans sur des projets de développement, et j'ai beaucoup écouté Elon Musk parler de ses projets, je suis convaincu qu'il est extrêmement compétent pour les gérer. Par exemple j'aime beaucoup son adage "la physique est une loi, tout le reste, ce sont des recommendations.", quand on sait à quel point les entreprises s'imposent, par habitude, des règles et des façons de faire suboptimales qui s'accumulent avec le temps.
Alors vous pourriez me dire que les voitures électriques et les fusées, ça ne sert à rien, que ce n'est pas ce qui va sauver la planète, et honnêtement, je n'en sais rien. Je suis extrêmement modeste sur notre capacité à prédire l'avenir technologique, et si, par exemple, nous serons capables de fabriquer ou pas quelques milliards de véhicules électriques. Le domaine progresse tellement vite qu'il est difficile de dire quelles sont les limites. Il est difficile de dire également quel sera l'effet d'une technologie comme Starlink, qui permet d'avoir un internet de bonne qualité partout.
En tout cas, j'admire beaucoup Elon Musk pour avoir dirigé ces gros projets d'innovation technologiques, et l'avoir fait extrêmement bien.
Note 1: techniquement, Elon Musk n'est pas le fondateur de Tesla, mais au moment où il a racheté l'entreprise, elle n'était rien.

Hi,
My dad decided to upgrade his graphics card from GTX 970 to RTX 3060. His motherboard is MSI X99S SLI PLUS MS-7885 which has 4 PCIe 3.0 x16, power supplier is Corsair 750W.
IMO it should handle RTX 3060 without any problem, yet after turning everything on we get no signal on monitor from the beginning, so we can't see even BIOS. We tried all HDMI and Display Port ports, tried all PCIe slots, took out CMOS battery for 5 minutes, tried to switch PCIe version to 3 in BIOS, nothing helped.
When switching back to the old GPU, everything works with the same cables.
I took his RTX to my home to check it out with my computer and it works fine, so I wonder what else we can go wrong in his setup, what else we can check. Drivers shouldn't be a problem at this early stage, right? Even with wrong drivers I should still see some pre-system loaders and optionally some problems would occur on system loading phase.
Looking forward for your ideas!

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.

Local is Ventura/Santa Barbara area
Aokzoe A1 - 512GB/16GB/large battery. This is the "blue" color model, although it looks more like purple in person. Selling because I was never really into the color variants that they offered, but bought it anyway, and then the Onexplayer 2 came out and I decided to get that instead. It's a comfortable console to hold and play with though. The screen looks great and performance is good too. Factory installed screen protector is still installed. Comes with the original charger, carrying case, and box. Asking $600 shipped.
Onexplayer - 2TB/16GB. This is the original Onexplayer and I love this thing despite the so called "Intel driver issues". The only reason I decided to go with one of the newer devices, is that they improved the ergonomics of the new ones. I have pretty big hands though and I've heard others say that the grip was not as much of an issue for them. Would love to keep it, but I need to clean house and have too many of these devices. I did upgrade the internal ssd to a 2 TB drive and I did re-paste and add thicker thermal pads at one point to try and help with the cooling (it didn't help much). There is also a slight defect with the screen where it is slightly shifted to the right. It's only a few pixels and generally isn't noticeable unless you are looking for it. I added pictures of both sides of the screen to show it. It has a matte screen protector installed and I am including extras as well as clear screen protectors if you would like to switch them out. I'm also including the original charger, carrying case, magnetic keyboard, and the box. Asking $400 shipped.
Razer Kishi telescopic phone controller (usb-c) - Includes aftermarket carrying case. Asking $30 + shipping
I also have 2 cases for Raspberry Pis. Both look like NES Classic consoles, the 4 case is for Pi 4's and comes with a cartridge that you can mount an SSD in and the power adapter. The other is for a Pi 2 or 3 and comes with the power adapter. Asking $25 for the Pi 4 version and $20 for the Pi 3 version not including shipping.
I'd be open to trading any of the above for a gpu (nothing I'm specifically targeting) + cash if needed to make it even. I'm also looking to pick up a Miyoo Mini handheld (the small one, not the plus).
Timestamps

J'ai remarqué que j'avais certaines réponses traumatiques liées au jugement des autres. J'ai des réactions d'évitement face à certaines choses, par exemple depuis toujours mon rêve est de faire de la batterie mais je n'ai jamais demandé à mes parents de prendre des cours ou de m'en acheter une non pas parce que c'était cher mais parce que j'avais peur de partager mes goûts et c'est toujours le cas. Dès que mes parents n'avait plus accès à mon compte en banque l'année dernière, ça m'a libéré d'un certain poids. J'ai pu m'acheter des T-shirts de groupe que je voulais depuis toujours, je n'avais plus besoin de leur demander pour acheter quoi que ce soit. Mes sœurs ont aucun problème à faire ça et ça me fait du mal. Si jamais c'est déstructuré c'est parce que je j'écris cela avec la commande vocale. Je ne sais pas d'où peut venir cette peur ou même ce traumatisme. Je me suis renseignée et ça correspond à ce terme là. Je suis autiste asperger peut-être que ça peut aider à la réflexion, mais je pense que tout ça est une stratégie pour éviter certaines remarques des sur certaines choses que j'aime et je n'ai pas envie qu'on critique cela. Par exemple, j'ai une passion pour la licence Zelda, quand on en pose des questions sur le dernier qui vient de sortir, ça me met mal à l'aise pourtant j'adore ce jeux. Les réflexions du type A est-ce qu'il est bien est-ce qu'il est plus dur que l'ancien tu as combien d'heures dessus et cetera, je suis très gêné quand on me pose cette question et je ne sais pas pourquoi. Du coup j'évite de partager mes passions surtout à ma famille. Normalement j'ai un style extravagant depuis le lycée, mais depuis que je n'y suis plus, je m'habille presque de manière normal. Je déteste quand les gens me regardent dans la rue, j'ai toujours l'impression qu'on me juge, j'ai peur d'aller dans les magasins car j'ai peur qu'on juge ce que j'achète, j'ai peur d'aller dans certains lieux car j'ai peur qu'on me juge par rapport à ça... j'ai même peur de manger à l'extérieur de chez moi. Vous allez peut-être connaître ce que je vais dire car je pose beaucoup sur ce sub, mais quand j'ai raconté tout ça à ma psychologue, elle m'a dit de mieux respirer. Foutage de gueule. Bref, j'hésite à aller voir une autre psychologue parce que ça ne va pas en s'améliorant

Bonjour la redditerie ! Je(21M) pose ma situation, hier soir, je me suis fait incruster par mon colocataire à une soirée avec ses collègues de travail, chez eux qui plus est (ils habitent a 4 dans un grand appart et on devait être une dizaine à la soirée). Arrivés là bas, je fais la connaissance de tout le beau monde, et mes yeux se posent sur une charmante demoiselle qui m’avait l’air forte avenante.
On discute on discute, tout se passe à merveille, je m‘bourlingue mais fais bien attention à ne pas laisser ressortir le côté beauf qui sommeille en moi.
Mon coloc, brave comme il est, vient m’informer que la charmante demoiselle est locataire des lieux pour commencer, et qu’elle est en couple avec un autre locataire de l’appart pour finir. Bref… c’est mort pour moi… mais pas de quoi se mettre la rate au court bouillon, c’est la vie et en plus je suis ivre!
A savoir que dès que j’ai su qu’elle était en couple, j’ai tout de suite pris la décision de plus aller lui parler par moi même, comme ça, aucun risque d’embrouille, oupa.
Quelques minutes plus tard, cette même charmante demoiselle revient me voir et me demande d’un air intéressé : « c’est quoi ton style de filles ? ». Pour la vanne avec un grand V, je réponds une description qui se rapproche de la sienne. (Problème, j’ai appris plus tard que personne n’avait pris ça pour une blague) insérez les bruits de batteries pour blagues qui flop
Ce bide, n’étant pas tombé dans l’oreille d’un sourd, ni d’un muet d’ailleurs, a été rapporté aux oreilles du fameux mec de la charmante demoiselle. Il semblerait que les bruits de couloirs aillent plus vite que la vitesse du son, parce qu’avant même d’avoir échangé un mot avec son mec à propos de ma vanne, je savais qu’il voulait me faire bouffer du pissenlit par la racine.
Pas con pour un sou, je me dis que je vais aller m’expliquer avec la charmante demoiselle pour commencer, au cas où elle ait mal pris la situation (on me dit dans l’oreillette qu’elle s’en foutait), et ensuite envers son mec pour lui dire : « chill frérot en vrai j’vous souhaite le meilleur ». Je m’attendais à ce que ça s’arrête là mais lui il avait vraiment envie d’en découdre, je suis donc parti suite à sa demande.
Bon, j’ai beaucoup rédigé, mais tout ça pour dire, est-ce que j’ai mal agit et j’aurais juste du ne plus avoir de contact avec la fille dès que j’ai eu l’info ou est-ce que ce fou furieux est un peu trop possessif ?
Merci de m’avoir lu et grosses bises.

I took the boat to the lake last weekend and the outboard wouldn't start. I thought maybe the battery was bad. I took it to the local auto store so they could test it and they said it was good. So I started cleaning off the contacts for the battery and the starter.
I took a cable off the bottom of the starter to clean the contact and water started dripping from the stud.
That's not good. I can't even figure out how water go up there and under the cover.
So I took the starter in, had it tested and found out it's shot.
The shop quoted me $210 for a remanufactured starter. Another shop quoted me $270.
I looked online and found a starter from DB Electrical out of Tennessee and they have them for $78 plus tax. They have very good reviews and they sell through Amazon.
I could understand locals being a little higher, but $200 more?

SELECT DISTINCT entity_id FROM ltss WHERE entity_id LIKE '%flood%'; 

SELECT last_updated_ts, state FROM states_meta JOIN states s ON states_meta.metadata_id = s.metadata_id WHERE states_meta.entity_id = 'binary_sensor.flood_sensor_1_water_leak_detected'; ┌───────────────────────┐ │last_updated_ts │state│ ├─────────────────┼─────┤ │1685636813.159489│off │ │1685636846.969435│on │ └─────────────────┴─────┘ 

ltss: db_url: postgresql://username:[email protected]:5432/homeassistant include: domains: - sensor - binary_sensor 

I have not been riding for exactly a year due to health reasons, but the weather was so nice today I decided to take the Ducati Super Sport out. It had not even been started in a year but is kept indoors covered and with non-ethanol fuel & stabilizer plus a battery tender.
It started up, and blue smoked some (L twins tend to do that from sitting a long time) then ran perfectly. I aired the tires, checked all the fluids and brakes and everything was good.
Rode off to the gas station to top it off and when I got there it was already full (no fuel gauge on this bike and I didn't pop the cap - oops). Fired it back up and hit 3 stop lights in a row. After I left the 3rd one, I noticed it took a little more throttle to go 60mph than I remembered. Then it started slowing down, and I had to give it more throttle. Then it REALLY started slowing so I pulled in the clutch and man, it was like I was trying to do an ENDO! Not even joking. Thank God there was a turn lane because the front wheel locked up as I stopped, and I had to drag it off of the road!
The lever was hard as a rock. This bike has Brembos and everything was serviced before I rode it the last time. I do all of my own work. Fluid is clear, pads and rotors perfect. BIKE WILL NOT ROLL.
No problem must be a stuck piston or two, I'll just pop the seat off and grab my tool kit. IT'S NOT THERE. I guess I never put it back. Idiot!
Now I found a crushed beer can put under the kickstand, so it doesn't fall over in the sand, and I am searching the roadside for something to repair my bike with. I've been here before cars many times and have ALWAYS lucked out, don't ask me how! I find a 2"x2" by 12" piece of wood. Perfect, now I have a mallet. I whack away on the calipers and keep checking but nope, pads on both sides are hard against the rotors. Aha! Not a caliper problem, it's higher up. If I only had a wrench or a socket, I could crack a line at the master and bleed it down to release the wheel. I bang away at the master and nope, wheel still locked.
After probably 100 cars passing me (I am right at an intersection), ONE guy finally asks if I need help and pulls over. I asked him if he had any tools, and he brings me a pair of wire crimpers and a shelf bracket. I had to laugh, but the guy was trying to help.
He's like, "Well we can pick it up and put it in my truck". There is no way my back can do that, and he wasn't a big dude. He says he's sorry and grabs the brake lever and instantly the brakes release!
I am telling you; I pulled that brake lever 50 times and it never released for me. He grabbed it once, and the brakes released???
I thanked him and he drove off. I rode it home with the rear brake and will go through the system again.
But I gotta wonder... did God send me an angel today?
Before you laugh, this is about the 4th time in my life I have been in an impossible situation and a random person shows up and everything turns around.

Lenovo Thinkpad T470
Selling the following Thinkpad T470 in excellent condition. It's an offlease laptop from my work.
Here are the specs:

• Intel i5-7300U Processor
• 8GB DDR4 RAM
• 256gb nVME SSD
• 14" FHD 1080 IPS Display
• 720P Standard Webcam
• MicroSIM Card slot for WWAN 4G/LTE Connection (WWAN card not included)
• Dual battery (internal and external)*
• Wifi and Ethernet connectivity
• 3x USB 3.0 Ports, 1x USB Type C with Power delivery, 1x HDMI, SD Card reader, Headphone/mic jack
• Windows 10 Pro

The Laptop is in excellent condtion with minimal wear. *The only issue is that the external battery is completely depleted and no longer charges, but the internal battery is still good. Internal battery has about 73% capacity left according to battery report. You can use it with just the internal battery, or purchase a new external battery if you want longer battery life.
Comes with 45W Lenovo charger.
Price: $150 plus shipping
Timestamps
Thinkpad E460 AS-IS
I also have a Lenovo thinkpad E460 14" Laptop that has seen better days. It's in rough condition but still boots up, Selling AS-IS for parts/repairefurbishing or whatever you want to do with it. Seeing if anyone is interested here before I post it on ebay.
It has an i5-5200U processor with 2GB DDR3 RAM.
Condition:
Very dirty, could use some cleaning Has sticker residue on the lid of the laptop (Goo gone should remove this) top left corner of the lid is cracked off, but the display seems to be ok (see timestamps) Only tested to boot to bios, no other tests performed. Keyboard is missing a key and other keys have stickers on them. A piece of the bottom cover where the one of the feet are is cracked and broken off (see timestamps) Includes drive caddy, but no hard drive/ssd No charger included What you see is what you get, and nothing else.
SERIAL #: PF0CM6YH
SOLD AS-IS for parts/repairestore. NO RETURNS OR REFUNDS
Price: $25 plus shipping
Timestamps (older timestamps, but I can provide new ones if you need)
Willing to do FREE shipping if you buy both laptops
PM and comment below if interested. Local is Toronto, Canada
Thanks for looking.

I’ve had my Rebel Phone gen 3 case on my iPhone 13 (work phone) for just under a year and it is falling apart. I have the gen 4 case on my 14 pro + (personal phone) and it is holding up fine so far but it is 2-3 months newer. Rebel phone said since my case is more than 6 months old they will just give me $20 off my next purchase. I am considering if I should stick with the new gen 4 for it or if I should switch. I really like the idea of the magbak but haven’t looked into cases in around 8 months. What recommendations do you all have. I use a peak wallet and a mag battery fairly regularly so strong magnet is a plus.

I've written a few of these trip reports and when I woke up on the 30th, I expected this to be a largely standard post on the logistics of the day and general timing of queues as it would pertain to Splash Mountain's last day. But, as it turns out, this isn't that kind of story.
It starts off simply enough though. Early morning flight, dwindling Splash LL availability, getting into the park at 10:30am just in time to snatch a 9:30pm return time.
The morning was spent bouncing between Single Rider, Splash, back to Single Rider where wait times started at 45 minutes and edged up to an hour. Sprinkled throughout the Single Rider line were some influencers, recognizable by their selfie rigs, charging batteries, and live streams on their phone as live chats scrolled by onscreen. A sight that would be all too familiar around Critter Country as the day progressed.
As I waited, I began noticing pockets of people coming together with those around them. It'd start innocently enough, a compliment about a shirt or ears, something about Splash, talking about people getting off soaking wet, or just lamenting the line wasn't moving quickly enough. Whatever the case, people were making use of the time in line by bonding with complete strangers. You'd get off the ride and head back to single rider and soon after, you'd see the same people again in line with you.
At 5pm, I happened upon one such group. I can't remember how it started but someone would say something and someone else would chime in. Someone nearby would overhear, add something to the conversation, and suddenly a group of us were just clicking. We chatted the full hour plus in the standby line sharing stories, strategies for the Int'l parks, and talking about a variety of things. As it was single rider, we were of course split into different flumes. I told them I'd see them back in the single rider line before heading to my assigned flume. By 6pm I was off and headed back to the single rider queue only to be informed the line had closed and that they didn't think it would re-open the rest of the day. By that point, the standby wait ballooned to 220+ minutes and I had no intention of waiting the nearly 4 hours, but stood in line anyways until I could figure out what to do (as I had some LL's stacked up for use).
As I pondered my next move, I saw two plaids slowly coming across the bridge. Lo and behold, it was none other than Disney Legend and Splash Mountain creator, Tony Baxter. He was shaking hands with some guests so I hopped out of the queue and lined up along the railing in front of the direction of where he was going. He was nice enough to take a quick selfie with me and I gave him a quick thanks for giving us two of my favorite rides: BTMRR and Splash.
By the time 9pm rolled around, there were rumblings that the Splash standby queue might close early. Those rumors intensified with each passing minute and I began stressing about whether or not they would close the standby while I was using my 9:30pm Splash LL. I promptly entered at 9:25pm (using the fact that each LL has leeway on either side of the return window: 5 minutes before, 15 minutes after). As I made my way on the second level, through the final tunnel to the boarding area, I saw the same group from the single rider line that I clicked with from earlier that day. Admittedly I was shocked that they had stuck it out together in the 4 hour standby line. We exchanged quick pleasantries and expressed how it was fate that we would run into each other again at the end of the evening. We decided we wanted to finish the night, the 5 of us, together in one flume (CM's were only seating 5 guests to a flume so it would work perfectly) and agreed to meet at the end of the standby queue when we were all off. I quickly said "see you in a bit" before proceeding in the LL line.
At 9:40pm, I de-boarded my flume and bolted for the back of the standby line. By this point, CM's were telling anyone who asked that the line was closing "soon" or "any minute" and that if you wanted to get in line, you needed to do it now. The line wrapped all the way in front of Haunted Mansion. My stress levels intensified. I didn't have anyone's phone number, social handles, or anything. As each minute ticked by I worried they wouldn't make it in time. At one point, the Splash queue curved behind a nook that obstructed my view and I worried that they'd pass me like two ships in the dark of the night. Shortly, I re-emerged onto the bridge way and just as I did, I recognized a sweater, then another. I called out a name, I could sense the stress and uncertainty as they too were worried that the line might have closed before they could reach the back. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. It was happening, we were closing out Splash together. 5 strangers when the day started, now bonded by this moment. (At this point, I'd like to acknowledge a sin committed: yes, they cut to be with me. Yes, I was fully prepared to let everyone pass me so I could just join them at the end. The chaos and uncertainty of the whole situation is where my moral compass caved. I acknowledge the Disney sin and hope I can be forgiven under the circumstances.)
The standby line closed at 10pm with a posted wait of 4 hours. The actual wait was 2 hours, but felt like 30 minutes because we were just chatting and recounting the day we had. Throughout some portions, the queue would run alongside the ride path. As a flume would go by, there would be collective cheers from the queue and the guests in the flume. The scene in front of the barn was full of influencers and guests alike waiting for the doors to close. Waiting for Splash to take one final bow. There was more cheering, more celebration. I was inside on the second level, past the view of the barn, when the last people in line stepped inside. When the doors closed and the ovation from everyone outside echoed through the tunnels.
Meanwhile, the 5 of us figured out our row orders. I took row 2. Too many times I've gone as a single rider. Too many times I've sat in row 6, emerging from the flume dry. One last time I wanted to bathe in the murky waters of the briar patch. One last time I wanted to feel the surprise of the wave come over the side of the flume in the dark inside drop. One last time I wanted to have a zip-a-dee-do-dah day. But the mountain had one more surprise for us. As we climbed the penultimate drop, near the top, our flume stopped and shuddered. We collectively screamed in terror before the lift found traction again and nudged us to the crest, tipping us over the edge...one last time.
Back at the boarding area, the last guests had been sent off. Cast Members who had earlier been managing the outside portion of the queue were streaming in and lining up to take their own last splash. We had cheered as other guests went by. We had cheered for ourselves. Now, we cheered for the CMs. As our flume pulled up and we prepared to de-board, we pumped our fists in the air, hollered in appreciation, and gave thanks to their tremendous efforts. Back out in front, we watched empty flumes drop. And then in the din of the opening, we could hear yelling as the CMs flumes approached. There was an eruption of cheers from those gathered on the bridge as each CM flume dropped into the briar patch, followed by silence as we waited for the next flume to arrive. Cheers. Silence. Cheers. Silence. And then the flumes were empty. The house lights came on. And soon after that, nothing at all. No riders. No flumes. Just the sound of rushing water and security guiding us to the park exit.
I walked out with my new friends. We exchanged social media contacts, airdropped group photos, and talked about visiting the parks together in the future. We even threw out the idea of riding Tiana's for the first time as a group when it opens. The day was an experience unlike any other and I'm so grateful to have met and gotten to know people who share the same passion for the parks as myself. Going in to the day, I thought it was going to be a tense and stressful day. Large crowds of strangers in confined spaces waiting hours on end will wear on a person. Instead it was a celebration and coming together of like minded fans getting each other through the slog of massive queues. I think a lot of us found our laughing place that day and I'm so glad that I made the quick trip down to say goodbye and enjoy one last Splash.

BANGGOOD Deals Compilation (1.6.2023)!
Check products in compilation image: https://i.imgur.com/e2heVRB.jpeg or https://i.ibb.co/L0d1BV9/ed7cb35ba2d5.jpg
-1- 18Inches Eagle Carbon Fiber Birds Flapping Wing Flight DIY Model
✌️ https://bit.ly/42i9dXq
⭕️ Price: 6.99 USD / Lowest: 7.99 USD
-2- SONOFF SNZB-03-ZB Motion Sensor
❗️ https://bit.ly/45Ewlm5
✌️ Price: 7.49 USD / Lowest: 8.99 USD
📌 Coupon: BG6edee4
-3- USB3.1 HDMI 4K Type C Cable 2m
✳️ https://bit.ly/43xNixr
🔹 Price: 8.59 USD / Lowest: 9.99 USD
-4- 5V LCD Display 18650 Lithium Battery Capacity Tester
👌 https://bit.ly/3C6GLNS
💰 Price: 9.99 USD / Lowest: 8.99 USD
▪️ Coupon: BGcbd315
-5- 75pcs Electrical Connectors
✌️ https://bit.ly/3vOCfAF
🔹 Price: 10.99 USD / Lowest: 11.88 USD
💵 Coupon: BG6443da
-6- LILYGO T-Display-S3 ESP32-S3 1.9 inch ST7789 LCD Display Development Board
🌐 https://bit.ly/3WGLCyI
🥇 Price: 11.99 USD / Lowest: 14.99 USD
✂️ Coupon: BG724912
-7- XY-UDP Digital USB DC Converter
🌍 https://bit.ly/3WL5u3D
👉 Price: 12.99 USD / Lowest: 12.99 USD
⏳ Coupon: BG3aa3e2
-8- Lenovo Thinkplus TU110 USB3.2 Flash Drive 128GB
👌 https://bit.ly/44yD9Rz
👉 Price: 13.59 USD / Lowest: 13.99 USD
-9- WOLF TF270 104 Keys Wired Gaming Keyboard Mouse Combo
🌍 https://bit.ly/3oLDdxd
👉 Price: 13.99 USD / Lowest: 14.99 USD
-10- Battery Energy Storage Spot Welding Machine with Shell
🌍 https://bit.ly/43fr175
📉 Price: 14.99 USD / Lowest: 24.85 USD
⏳ Coupon: BGab3790
-11- Microdrive MD223C USB3.0 Type-C 256GB Pendrive
❇️ https://bit.ly/3MJ7oOR
💰 Price: 15.19 USD / Lowest: 14.99 USD
-12- M.2 NVME SSD Case USB3.0 x2 Type-C M2 NVME SSD Enclosure 10Gbps
🛒 https://bit.ly/43D7IV9
🚨 Price: 15.99 USD / Lowest: 15.99 USD
-13- DIGOO Weather Station with Projection
✅ https://bit.ly/3C6DMop
💥 Price: 15.99 USD / Lowest: 17.99 USD
🔓 Coupon: BG20e8e7
-14- Mibro Earbuds 2 Earbuds Bluetooth 5.3
🌐 https://bit.ly/3N4DaGk
💲 Price: 15.99 USD / Lowest: 18.99 USD
-15- SONOFF 4CH Pro R3 10A 2200W 4 Gang WiFi Smart Switch
🛒 https://bit.ly/45JFjP8
⭕️ Price: 16.99 USD / Lowest: 22.79 USD
-16- GUUDGO 10 LED 1080P IP Camera
🌍 https://bit.ly/3N2MKtb
✌️ Price: 17.99 USD / Lowest: 22.99 USD
❤️ Coupon: BGe15a29
-17- 2pcs Baofeng Walkie Talkie BF-88E PMR 0.5W
👌 https://bit.ly/43kN9Nl
⭕️ Price: 23.49 USD / Lowest: 23.49 USD
🔑 Coupon: BG589b2e
-18- LILYGO T-Display-S3 Touch Glass Edition 1.9inch LCD Module
👌 https://bit.ly/3oFKTBk
💥 Price: 23.99 USD / Lowest: 31.99 USD
✌️ Coupon: BG77e3d7
-19- Geekcreit UNOR3 Basic Starter Learning Kit
🌍 https://bit.ly/42jsckG
⭕️ Price: 24.99 USD / Lowest: 21.54 USD
👌 Coupon: BG5c0144
-20- S3 Monitor Light Bar Computer Eye Protection Lamp
❗️ https://bit.ly/42fZdyc
✌️ Price: 25.99 USD / Lowest: 26.99 USD
-21- FOXSUR 12V 24V 10A Car Battery Charger
🌐 https://bit.ly/3pY31GE
💰 Price: 27.99 USD / Lowest: 27.99 USD
✂️ Coupon: BG0807b0
-22- Geekcreit DIY Imitate Glow Clock Kit
❇️ https://bit.ly/3OLTltd
🔹 Price: 28.99 USD / Lowest: 29.99 USD
📌 Coupon: BG59602d
-23- Royal Kludge RK71 Bluetooth Mechanical Keyboard Ice Blue
✅ https://bit.ly/3mHM6Hh
🚨 Price: 29.99 USD / Lowest: 31.99 USD
✏️ Coupon: BGc9e8ad
-24- Royal Kludge RK61 Keyboard
🌀 https://bit.ly/3VfKJMD
👌 Price: 29.99 USD / Lowest: 29.99 USD
⏳ Coupon: BGe0abc1
-25- UGREEN HiTune X5 Bluetooth 5.2 Earphones aptX
❗️ https://bit.ly/45KbrSr
✌️ Price: 33.99 USD / Lowest: 43.7 USD
-26- Royal Kludge RK61 Triple Mode Mechanical Keyboard
🌐 https://bit.ly/40QfUiO
👌 Price: 35.99 USD / Lowest: 35.99 USD
📌 Coupon: BG349d32
-27- 600x2400x5mm Marine Flooring Faux Teak EVA [EU]
🔗 https://bit.ly/3qmkqJx
🔹 Price: 36.78 USD / Lowest: 37.3 USD
💵 Coupon: BGSCM11
-28- SDR Transceiver Receiver Switch Antenna Sharer TR
🌍 https://bit.ly/3LJbEh8
〽️ Price: 39.99 USD / Lowest: 41.99 USD
✌️ Coupon: BGa5d988
-29- Mohoo Woodworking Sharpening System Honing Guide Sharpening Holder [EU]
✌️ https://bit.ly/3MHAuNr
💲 Price: 40.94 USD / Lowest: 41.99 USD
👉 Coupon: BGwhtghst4
-30- ACMER Laser Equipment Honeycomb Working Table 400x400mm [EU]
🛒 https://bit.ly/43UbQjN
⭕️ Price: 41.99 USD / Lowest: 44.99 USD
✏️ Coupon: BG6c3711
-31- UNI-T Digital Clamp Meter UT202BT
❇️ https://bit.ly/3WHRl7s
💣 Price: 45.99 USD / Lowest: 45.99 USD
💎 Coupon: BGc1b87f
-32- ACMER-C1 Air Pump Assist System for Laser Engraving Machine [EU]
👌 https://bit.ly/43bFOPz
💣 Price: 54.99 USD / Lowest: 59.99 USD
👉 Coupon: BGb0d31a
-33- YK75 84 Keys Mechanical Keyboard Tri-Mode OUTEMU
❇️ https://bit.ly/3oA9SpI
👌 Price: 55.99 USD / Lowest: 55.99 USD
💵 Coupon: BG84a1da
-34- Dancing Wings Hobby E31 J3 FireBird 600mm PP RC Airplane KIT+Power Combo
✅ https://bit.ly/45IyBbS
〽️ Price: 59.99 USD / Lowest: -1 USD
-35- ACMER R10 Laser Engraver Closure with Vent [EU]
🌀 https://bit.ly/3OQ5aib
💰 Price: 64.99 USD / Lowest: -1 USD
❤️ Coupon: BGfe6af1
-36- WPL C54-1 1/16 LC80 RC Crawler
✳️ https://bit.ly/43ckVUW
📉 Price: 70.99 USD / Lowest: -1 USD
-37- ANBERNIC RG35XX 64GB Handheld Game Console
🌀 https://bit.ly/3JUFvku
〽️ Price: 74.99 USD / Lowest: 74.99 USD
💵 Coupon: BG044486
-38- Alldocube iPlay 50 Mini T606 4/64GB 8.4 Inch Android 13 Tablet
✌️ https://bit.ly/42ubjVa
🔹 Price: 95.99 USD / Lowest: 89.99 USD
💎 Coupon: BG60dc43
-39- VolantexRC Mini Mustang P-51D V2 EPP 400mm RC Airplane
✳️ https://bit.ly/3ORq8gM
👉 Price: 97.99 USD / Lowest: -1 USD
-40- Happymodel Mobula6 65mm 1S Drone BNF Nano 3
👉 https://bit.ly/43DOnTt
🔹 Price: 105.99 USD / Lowest: -1 USD
-41- XIAOVV 4CH 3MP Security Camera System H.265+ P2P 5X Zoom
🌐 https://bit.ly/3Xv9i9j
✌️ Price: 119.99 USD / Lowest: 129.99 USD
🔓 Coupon: BG933ce1
-42- OWON XDM1241 Digital Multimeter
🌍 https://bit.ly/3ct2xBR
🔹 Price: 125.99 USD / Lowest: 115.99 USD
-43- N-One NPad Plus MTK8183 8/128GB 10.4 Inch 2K Android 12 Tablet [EU]
👌 https://bit.ly/42O1aDw
👌 Price: 129.99 USD / Lowest: 129.99 USD
✏️ Coupon: BG62de66
-44- DarwinFPV BabyApe II Analog 156mm F411 FC 30A 4S / 6S Drone
🌀 https://bit.ly/3qp2td3
💲 Price: 148.99 USD / Lowest: 148.99 USD
-45- Blackview Tab 11 T618 8/128GB 4G 10.4 Inch Tablet [EU]
👉 https://bit.ly/43z0wZZ
💣 Price: 169.99 USD / Lowest: 169.99 USD
-46- MINGDA Magician X 3D Printer [EU]
❗️ https://bit.ly/3NFYZcj
🔹 Price: 279.00 USD / Lowest: 289.99 USD
✂️ Coupon: BGeadd3f
-47- ACMER P1 Laser Engraver 10W [EU]
👉 https://bit.ly/3oNUmGb
🚨 Price: 299.00 USD / Lowest: 332 USD
🖍 Coupon: BG08cf08
-48- ATOMSTACK S10 PRO Flagship Laser Engraving Cutting Machine
🔗 https://bit.ly/3B09xjo
🥇 Price: 302.00 USD / Lowest: 359 USD
🔖 Coupon: BG8a33b4
-49- Mankeel MK083 8.5inch 350W 36V 7.8Ah Electric Scooter [EU]
🛒 https://bit.ly/3qhOeqC
⭕️ Price: 319.99 USD / Lowest: 319.99 USD
👌 Coupon: BGa6d311
-50- SYL 13 5000mAh 36V 600Wx2 Electric Skateboard [EU]
✳️ https://bit.ly/3M8cSmB
💥 Price: 369.99 USD / Lowest: 369.99 USD
📍 Coupon: BG6c2fe9
-51- X7 36V 5Ah 350W 8.5inch Electric Scooter [EU]
🌍 https://bit.ly/3Wlafkp
💥 Price: 399.99 USD / Lowest: 409.99 USD
🔖 Coupon: BGa22de6
-52- X7 36V 5Ah 350W 10inch Electric Scooter [EU]
✳️ https://bit.ly/3N6nG4s
💲 Price: 409.99 USD / Lowest: 419.99 USD
⏳ Coupon: BGf1719a
-53- MEGAWHEELS A5 36V 7.8Ah 350W 9inch Electric Scooter [EU]
✌️ https://bit.ly/3myPcNL
〽️ Price: 439.99 USD / Lowest: 439.99 USD
👉 Coupon: BGbd74e4
-54- X8 36V 10Ah 350W 10inch Electric Scooter [EU]
👉 https://bit.ly/3IxlXCN
🔹 Price: 449.99 USD / Lowest: 459.99 USD
🎯 Coupon: BG5bc26c
-55- MEGAWHEELS A11 36V 7.8Ah 350W 10inch Electric Scooter [EU]
🌍 https://bit.ly/3ACcRjB
🔹 Price: 449.99 USD / Lowest: 467.99 USD
❤️ Coupon: BGb86cab
-56- MINGDA Magician Pro 3D Printer [EU]
👉 https://bit.ly/3uZBoNh
🚨 Price: 499.00 USD / Lowest: 561.19 USD
💵 Coupon: BGc42fec
-57- Xming Q3MAX Projector 1080P
✳️ https://bit.ly/3pPzU8x
💣 Price: 512.99 USD / Lowest: 512.99 USD
📌 Coupon: BGProjcc
-58- Dogebos K202 48V 15Ah 500W 10inch Electric Scooter [EU]
✅ https://bit.ly/3zgBeD1
💲 Price: 549.99 USD / Lowest: 559.99 USD
✌️ Coupon: BG393c8b
-59- MEGAWHEELS D12 36V 10.4Ah 350W 9inch Electric Scooter [EU]
✌️ https://bit.ly/3Vyn8H7
👉 Price: 569.99 USD / Lowest: 569.99 USD
🔓 Coupon: BGc372f1
-60- ACMER P2 Laser Engraver 20W [EU]
🌍 https://bit.ly/3MKhcqD
💥 Price: 579.00 USD / Lowest: -1 USD
📍 Coupon: BG2958aa
-61- GTS 01 7.5Ah 36V 1200Wx2 Electric Skateboard [EU]
❗️ https://bit.ly/3N4vQcH
🚨 Price: 579.99 USD / Lowest: 579.99 USD
🔓 Coupon: BG9d5de7
-62- H1 250W 36V 10Ah 14inch Electric Bicycle [EU]
❗️ https://bit.ly/3C7pAfa
〽️ Price: 589.99 USD / Lowest: 599.99 USD
👉 Coupon: BGe47ce6
-63- X9 PLUS 36V 15.6Ah 500W 10inch Electric Scooter [EU]
👌 https://bit.ly/3om1dHb
📉 Price: 649.99 USD / Lowest: 669.99 USD
🖍 Coupon: BGe44bf9
-64- Mankeel MK089 36V 10.4Ah 500W 10inch Electric Scooter [EU]
🌐 https://bit.ly/3MMsqMq
〽️ Price: 719.99 USD / Lowest: 739.99 USD
🔖 Coupon: BG53c8cb
-65- X9 PROMAX 48V 15.6Ah 550W 10inch Electric Scooter [EU]
📌 https://bit.ly/42VfE49
🚨 Price: 729.99 USD / Lowest: 739.99 USD
👉 Coupon: BGbb228e
-66- KAISDA K7 36V 12.5Ah 350W 20inch Electric Bicycle [EU]
❇️ https://bit.ly/42i79yE
📉 Price: 829.99 USD / Lowest: 779.99 USD
💵 Coupon: BGf99a53
-67- FAFREES 20F054 36V 250W 10Ah 20inch Electric Bicycle [EU]
✌️ https://bit.ly/44pyRMu
💥 Price: 849.99 USD / Lowest: 859.99 USD
🎯 Coupon: BG2b6bd8
-68- Accolmile 36V 10.5Ah 250W Electric Bicycle [EU]
👉 https://bit.ly/423mUd1
🔹 Price: 969.99 USD / Lowest: 999.99 USD
👉 Coupon: BG87e8f4
-69- FAFREES FF91 48V 1000W 10Ah 26x4.0inch Electric Bicycle [EU]
✳️ https://bit.ly/3bBlEZR
〽️ Price: 1029.99 USD / Lowest: 1069.99 USD
⏳ Coupon: BGd3a9cf
-70- KETELES K820 1000W 48V 18Ah Electric Bicycle [EU]
📌 https://bit.ly/43BbIoS
⭕️ Price: 1049.99 USD / Lowest: 1049.99 USD
👉 Coupon: BGb5e996
-71- GUNAI MX60 500W 48V 15Ah 27.5 Inch Electric Bicycle [EU]
❇️ https://bit.ly/3MObnbI
〽️ Price: 1189.99 USD / Lowest: 1199.99 USD
👌 Coupon: BG92155d
-72- K2-P PRO 48V 15Ah 750W Electric Bicycle [EU]
❗️ https://bit.ly/3ZnoMeZ
✌️ Price: 1199.99 USD / Lowest: 1199.99 USD
✏️ Coupon: BG421dd2
-73- BURCHDA R8WS 48V 20Ah 800W 20x4.0inch Electric Bike [EU]
🌀 https://bit.ly/439RbYO
💰 Price: 1219.99 USD / Lowest: 1265.99 USD
🏆 Coupon: BG451617
-74- Friend 10.5Ah 48V 750W Electric Bicycle [EU]
🌍 https://bit.ly/3OKgNqM
💰 Price: 1235.99 USD / Lowest: 1255.99 USD
🏆 Coupon: BG6fb81f
-75- DYU FF500 48V 14Ah 500W 20inch Electric Bicycle [EU]
🔗 https://bit.ly/43m0WmP
🚨 Price: 1449.99 USD / Lowest: 1466.99 USD
💎 Coupon: BGc236b6
-76- YUME M10 60V 22.5Ah 2400W 10inch Electric Scooter [EU]
🌐 https://bit.ly/3qD8zna
💣 Price: 1529.99 USD / Lowest: 1549.99 USD
🔖 Coupon: BGcf9221
-77- DYU King 750 48V 20Ah 750W Electric Bicycle [EU]
🌐 https://bit.ly/42Zwu1O
💰 Price: 1599.99 USD / Lowest: 1649.99 USD
✏️ Coupon: BGc7e234
-78- YUME X11+ 60V 30Ah 3000Wx2 11inch Electric Scooter [EU]
👉 https://bit.ly/3IRsEj5
✌️ Price: 1859.99 USD / Lowest: 1859.99 USD
Products compilation image: https://i.imgur.com/e2heVRB.jpeg or https://i.ibb.co/L0d1BV9/ed7cb35ba2d5.jpg