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When we left off,.Terra had just worked a deal with Fortune - In exchange for Terra’s aid to several of Fortune’s gods, Fortune agreed to give Toby the resources he needs to build her name, and agreed to facilitate the final conflict between Terra and Gaia. The path is set - but will Terra be ready when the time comes?
I didn’t look back. Alice reached out as we fled, grabbing the hood of my cowl that had fallen down and tugging it back up over my head. I flashed her a quick smile, settling it more surely about my face. I wasn’t about to look around any more than I wanted to look back, but I could see the figures lining the edges of the courtyard surrounding Fortune’s makeshift casino. We weren’t alone. And if Heracles had wisened up to my being very much not dead and gone, other people could too.
The last thing I wanted was Gaia getting the jump on me. Not when I’d gone and put myself into servitude for a chance to turn the tables on her. The bangles around my wrist shifted, jingling softly. I gritted my teeth, bringing my other hand around to clamp down on them.
“It’s good,” Alice said, but her voice was more timid than normal. “It’ll- You’ll be able to find other gods, mistress. Friendly faces.”
“Right,” I muttered, in no mood to be soothed. I’d made my decision, and now we had work to do.
“Perhaps out there, you might find-”
“Are you coming with me?” I said, interrupting her before she could circle back around to how this was something other than me signing away my immediate future to an aspect I barely knew.
She froze like a deer in the headlights. “W-What?”
“I need to see Toby,” I said, glancing around furtively. No one seemed to care all that much about us, and Heracles hadn’t shown up again.
But when I glanced up, risking showing my face if it meant actually getting a proper look at the courtyard around us, I did see a red-haired figure leaning against the far wall of Fortune’s compound. His loose silk jacket drifted merrily in the breeze around him.
The fox that had managed to stay silent all through Fortune’s negotiations chirped once. Happily.
I afforded Inari only the barest of nods, swallowing a sigh and turning back to Alice. “I don’t want to handle this in a dream. So I’m going. Are you coming with?”
“I think your time would be better served by-”
“Didn’t ask what you thought,” I said. Damn it, I was too tired to argue this with her, and my legs ached from the strain of having wooden feet. “I appreciate it, Alice. But if Fortune is actually helping us, I need to make sure he knows. And I need to make sure he makes the most of it.”
“Of course, mistress,” Alice said, pulling her clipboard higher to hide the bottom half of her face. Her eyes glared at me over the top, baleful and dark. “I will, of course, remain at your side. My purpose is to ensure your success.”
Except when it meant going up onto Mount Olympus. I quashed my irritations, nodding at the arbiter instead. “Okay, then. I’m...going to head back.”
“I will follow.”
Nice and simple. Yeah. I closed my eyes, trying to remember what exactly I’d done. Once upon a time, this place had seemed...fake. It’d seemed gaudy, too over-saturated and overblown. Finding reality again had been a simple enough task.
To my horror, I found that the Sleepless Realms were beginning to feel all too familiar. That, I did not like. I licked my lips, sucking in one last gasp of air and then holding my breath.
Toby’s apartment. I could see it. Smell it. Hear the click-clack of his fingers against the keyboard, the tapping of his mouse. I focused on the details, holding his face in my mind.
I wanted to go home.
The ground was moving under me by then, twisting and warping and becoming somehow more intangible than before. I leaned into it, letting the currents of the air pull me under and into the fray.
Alice’s fingers laced around mine, one final contact as I slipped away.
A smell. It hung in my nose, stringent and sharp. Before, his apartment had smelled like trash, bagged up and left to sit in corners. This...wasn’t it. It wasn’t a pleasant smell, but it was not trash. More like...printer paper? Ink?
I opened my eyes.
Well, he’d cleaned up his apartment, at least. The trash was gone - and had been replaced with shelves that sat around the edges of his living room. My old violet sat in the window, gleaming blue-purple in the moonlight shining down through the glass. He’d found a new pot for it - something that looked an awful lot like an owl, beautifully worked into a shape I’d probably have gravitated to on a store shelf. It was exactly my kind of thing, which, of course, Toby would know.
I sighed. Somewhere in the back of my mind, the first whispers chimed in that maybe this whole “Tara got reincarnated as a goddess” business wasn’t the healthiest thing for Toby and his moving on. I stepped closer, my eyes pricked down to watch every footfall. I was stumbling less, sure, but one encounter with a neglected grocery bag would send me crashing to the floor. Not very fitting for a goddess.
And then I came to a stop, reaching a hand out to the desk to steady myself.
Pictures. There were pictures, sketched across notebooks and left in neatly organized stacks. Pictures of me - or rather, pictures of Terra.
“Toby has been busy,” I heard Alice say quietly behind me. My mind was still on those sheets of paper, pamphlets and brochures and handouts.
I heard something else, too - a low, urgent mumbling, growing louder and louder now that I heard it. Before it’d fully registered, I was back to shuffling, staggering toward Toby’s room.
The door creaked open at my touch to reveal him sitting in front of his PC, his head cradled in his hand and his fingers twisting through his hair. Spreadsheets covered the screen, filled with numbers that meant nothing to me. He flipped through them faster than I could follow, murmuring something under his breath all the while.
“Busy?” I said, letting my knuckles hit the door.
Toby jumped, his hands jerking across the desk. The can of pop at his side tumbled, spilling. “Jesus,” he hissed, grabbing at it and thrusting a handful of kleenex onto the mess. He looked back over his shoulder, his eyes widening at the sight of me standing in the doorway. “Tara?”
“Sorry,” I said, wincing. Alice sighed, just a few steps behind me. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Oh. Oh, yeah, I mean…” He fumbled with the sodden pile with one hand, brushing his hair out of his face with the other. “You didn’t scare me.”
I let his lie pass without comment. “Anyway. Sorry. I know I kind of left you hanging here, but-”
“Jesus, what the hell are those?” he said, his eyes going perfectly round.
A groan slipped from my throat. He was staring at my legs - still bristling with tiny buds and blossoms and leaves. “It’s...don’t worry about it.”
“Are those wood?”
“Yeah. So-”
“Woah,” he said, reaching out to tap his fingernails against one. “That’s so weird. Cool, but weird. How’d you get them?”
My legs got cut off. Somehow, tossing that in his face seemed...too mean. Maybe I was getting soft in my old age. I reached down, taking Toby gently by the wrist, and pulled him upright.
“They’re new. No, they don’t hurt. And you’re welcome to use them in your...propaganda, if you think it’d help,” I said slowly, holding his gaze. I knew him too well, could read the questions on his lips. “I’m told...it’s kind of like being a dryad. Something like that.”
“Oh, yeah,” Toby said, whirling to scrawl a quick note on a notebook. “Yeah, I can use that.”
Perfect. At least he was happy with it. “So things...are going well?” I said, casting a look around the room. I had to hope it was going well, given the sheer chaos around us.
“Totally. It’s good you stopped by,” Toby said, tossing the heap into a trash can sitting at the end of his desk. He leaned over his keyboard in another instant, typing like mad. “I’ve got- there’s a lot of stuff we’ve got going. I’ve been trying to keep busy. That subreddit’s grown a lot - I figured, the whole meme thing worked well enough, so why not keep going?”
I watched over his shoulder, torn between amusement and horror as Toby started pulling up image after image. “You wanted to go for a survival of the fittest thing, right?” Toby said. “So I’ve started bringing you into stuff.”
The pictures flashed past, little more than colored blurs. Each had a little tagline, a scrap of text attached at the bottom. Pictures of Terra, leering from the dark shadows of an alley with pithy lines about self-defense. I snorted.
“It’s cheesy, I know,” Toby said, beginning to frown. “But, I thought, it’s somewhere to start. They’re common-sense principles - take care of yourself, don’t be a dumbass, overcome bad situations.”
“There are worse tenants for a goddess to stand behind,” Alice said, and to my disbelief, I saw her nodding along.
Again, Toby flinched. “Who’s that?”
“Think of her like my assistant,” I said with a muffled groan. “She’s here to keep me from fucking up too bad.”
“Oh,” Toby said, wincing. “Ouch. Good luck.”
“Fuck you too,” I mumbled, looking down.
“But. Yeah,” Toby said, turning back to the sheets. “Up until now, it’s all been niceties and pretty words, but I don’t think that’s going to be enough. We need something more substantial.” He dropped his hands to his sides, looking up to me with bloodshot eyes. “I can do something like a Church of New Terra, but…” He shook his head. “The only way I can see to get through this without being seen as some kind of cult is if the ‘church’ thing is just...an aside. A tool, a symbol, while we’re doing bigger things.”
“And you had things in mind?” Alice said, creeping closer.
He looked to her, then made a face. “It’s...I’ve got ideas, yeah. Nutrition programs, maybe, but that’s not very exciting. I was thinking I could put together some self-defense classes. I’d like to do a vaccine drive, too. It’d be easy enough to link that back to you, and I think most people wouldn’t be caught up in wondering if we’re up to something if we’re doing good.”
“I could see that,” I said slowly. The root cause of this whole mess was still weighing heavily on me - how the hell was I supposed to get the average person to put their belief and faith behind an abstract idea like me being a goddess? In the dark ages, sure, I could probably just pull a trick on them and they’d come flocking, but people nowadays were skeptical. I loved it, but it’d make my life a lot more difficult than it needed to be.
“Yeah. I can work it out with the local hospitals,” he said, returning to his spreadsheets. “People are glad to do stuff like that - but someone’s got to pay for it, Tara.” He looked back over his shoulder, his expression mournful. “I’m trying. I really am. I’m stretching for every inch I’ve got, but I just can’t come up with that kind of money.”
“Just...hold on a second,” I said, raising one finger. He stopped, his brow wrinkling. I smiled thinly. “I...might be able to help with that, now.”
Explaining took a while. It took even longer when he kept running around like a chicken with his head cut off, asking me for clarification and answers and information. I was glad Alice came with me on this jaunt - and that she’d seen fit to join me in the flesh. Or, well, at least not be a ghost. I didn’t have half the answers Toby was looking for, when it came right down to it.
But with her help, we muddled through the most of it. And by the end, Toby’s eyes glittered. His fingers drummed across his desk, rattling the cans sitting alongside his monitors. “So what- You’re saying-”
“We’ve been through this already,” I mumbled, wrinkling my nose. “Look. I don’t know exactly what she meant, and I don’t know exactly how this is going to play out.”
“So I should just go buy a lottery ticket tomorrow, is what you’re saying,” Toby said.
I chuckled. “That probably wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
Alice hadn’t said a word since we’d finished explaining the situation. I couldn’t quite tell if she was comfortable with all of this - hell, I didn’t know if I was comfortable with all of this - but we needed to get our shit done. “We’ll just have to hope that whoever looks back on all of this doesn’t wonder at the fact my religion’s founder just happened to win the jackpot,” I said, keeping my tone light.
“Yeah, that’d be a bit suspicious, wouldn’t it?” Toby grinned, still fixated on the keyboard. “Might ask some questions. Not like they’d figure out about you, though.”
“And you don’t think they’d wonder about the fact you’re here starting some religion based on Terra, after your ex-girlfriend Tara gets smeared across a bridge pier?” I retorted.
Almost immediately, I regretted saying it. His expression twisted, going carefully neutral before the look could sink in. His shoulders drooped, though, and the carefree joy from just a few moments before was gone.
I didn’t want that. The realization sank in faster than I would have thought. I rested my hand against his shoulder, squeezing gently.
I didn’t want to be the person who kept taking away people’s happiness. Not anymore. “Seriously, though,” I said, keeping my words light. “I can’t tell you how much I owe you. For all of this. For helping me.”
“It’s life or death, isn’t it?” Toby said. His voice sounded cheerful too - but the sniff lingering at the end of his words ruined that facade. “I owe you that much, Tara.”
No, he didn’t. “If you get the cash...you think you can handle it?” I said quietly. “I could have Alice help you. She’s good with that sort of thing.”
“Mistress,” Alice hissed, shooting me an irritated look, but I didn’t break eye contact with Toby. The sort of bureaucratic paperwork Toby was nose-deep in seemed right up her alley. Assuming she could come visit Toby without me, but...well, I’d never asked. She’d pretty much always done whatever she wanted, so I wouldn’t put this past her.
“I wouldn’t mind the help,” Toby said, perking up - for real, this time. He looked to Alice with actual interest in his eyes. She shrank a step back, as though she was trying to hide behind my shoulder. And then he returned his stare to me. “Really, though, Tara, I think I’m fine. This stuff…” He nodded toward the screen. “It’s not so bad. It...makes sense, in a lot of ways.” He shrugged. “I kind of like it.”
Again, the worries screamed in the deepest recesses of my thoughts. Toby should be moving on. Finding a new girlfriend, leaving the skeletons in the closet, and letting me stay a memory. I didn’t quite know what to make of everything that was happening, but letting him entrench himself deeper and deeper in my goals didn’t seem...fair.
But he was happy. And this was an important skill too, wasn’t it? Practicing this sort of thing would be valuable for him. Besides, if he wound up walking away with a chunk of change courtesy of my hard labor for Fortune, that’d be a fair trade for his time.
Probably.
In the end, I found myself nodding, smiling back at him. I wasn’t in a position to be picky, and I needed every ounce of passion I could pull out of him. “Cool,” I whispered. “Well. I, uh. I have to go now.”
“You have to go earn a miracle,” Toby said, still smiling.
I groaned. “Something like that. Remember. Fortune. She’ll work with you, so start looking for ways to get your hands on some cash.”
“Right,” Toby said, stiffening.
“You may pray to her, as well,” Alice said, peeking out from around my arm. “If you need to reach her. She will hear.”
“Well, that’s a new trick,” I muttered.
Alice gave me a sidelong look. “It’s not, mistress. You merely never bothered to learn.”
And she hadn’t taught me. The irritation grew, sinking in deeper and deeper. She hadn’t taught me anything, and it was getting old.
More and more, I was starting to feel like I’d been set up. And I didn’t like it.
“Get out of here,” Toby said, breaking through my fugue. I looked up. He stood, one hand on the back of his chair. “You’ve got work to do, right? Go earn me some cash.”
I chuckled, my stony expression softening a fraction. “...Right. Be hearing from you, then. I guess.”
He nodded, but I’d already felt it - the ties binding me to reality, the ones keeping me in this flesh-and-blood shell enough for Toby to see me. They loosened, like they’d heard me speak and understood this was my goodbye. I sucked in a lungful of air, watching the moonlit apartment start to blur around us.
Toby was right. We had a job. If he was working hard, then I couldn’t sit down and rest on his laurels.
Time to earn a miracle.
Part 31

ULTIMATE ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK THREAD.

In 2019, a major war between Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio is raging, and the entire city of New York has been converted into a giant maximum security prison. When the MTA is hijacked by fat upstate cats and ceases to operate well, your sanity is taken hostage by a myriad of high pressure stresses. The asknyc mods, former Special Forces soldiers turned criminals, are recruited to develop a fool proof plan help you...Escape from New York ^{^city}

Quickies

The Town of Milford Connecticut

A cute downtown harbor area with a number of bars and restaurants and beautiful colonial architecture. The train station is right downtown and mercifully the post road is farther north" taarok

Cold Spring

Cold Spring is on the Hudson and is a quaint river town with good hiking on nearby trails and "mountains".
See below for a tiny write up from weizenbock

The Poconos

"Indoor Water parks!" tmm224

"Mount Airy Lodge, where all you have to bring is your love of everything." timspc

"There's also a casino and a shooting range in the area. My friends took me away for a birthday weekend. Very affordable. Very fun." ravelight

Ithaca

If you're willing to go a little further than 3 hours (more like 4 or so) It's a nice college town with lots of good restaurants and shops and has a lot of cool hiking trails with waterfalls nearby. It's also located at the bottom of one of the finger lakes with a bunch of wineries to go wine tasting at along the lake. u/drjimmybrungus

Saratoga Springs

"it's a spa town. If you're an American history buff, the Battle of Saratoga took place about 15 minutes outside of the present-day town." chengjih

Adirondack Trailways Bus , plenty of B&Bs to choose from, quaint city with a bunch of options for side-trips. carpy22

The Berkshires!

Lenox and Great Barrington are nice, great dinner spots, hiking outdoor activities, plus museums like the Mass MOCA and the Norman Rockwell museum for indoor adventures. Chesterwood is a fantastic outdoor sculpture park with light hiking and outdoor installations, and Tanglewood for amazing music (mostly classical) if they haven't yet closed for the season. lizzyism

Delaware Water Gap, NJ

"1.5-2 hours by car. Worthington State Forest is a good campsite with shower. Hike Red Dot Trail for a good view, or Tammany Trail. Kayaking in the river is fun, too." consuellabanana

Peekskill

There is an old motel there which you can walk up the hill to. The rooms were built in the 50s and are kinda small but most have views of the Hudson Valley. Also, it's a discount place so ask for a remodeled room (room 39 is very nice) and there are bunches of great restaurants in the area. I think you can get discounts from Hotels.com for the room. You can spend a day walking around the city of Peekskill. Great bookstore, old shops, art district etc. If you want, you can hop a train for a side trip to a number of smaller towns and cities like Sleepy Hollow. Anonymoustard

Long Branch

1:30-1:50 from city- Take the NJ Transit train down to Long Branch. From the station its a short walk east to the beach and Pier Village. Make sure to take a stroll to hit up the Windmill, Max's, Surf Taco or The Inkwell for lunch, Lighthouse for ices. Good bars w/ local crowd on Brighton Ave. Beginning Memorial Day weekend, you can also change trains in Long Branch and head down to Asbury Park. Walk down Cookman Ave. to the Boardwalk & beach area. You can do this out-of-season as well but it's quiet and trains run less frequently. sokpuppet1

Bear Mountain state park

"For hiking / picnicking. Also possible to get a bus from NY17 on the other side of Harriman at Arden Valley Rd. Hike from Bear Mountain Inn to that point on the Appalachian Trail is ~25 miles." frankiepoops

The Highlands

Ferry from Wall Street Pier 11 to the Highlands and taking a quick Uber to Donovan's in Sea Bright (in the summer). Beach bar and easy to get to/from. Can be a day trip! Flaythemall

Harriman State Park

Drive down Seven Lake parkway and choose whichever lake suits you best. Some have sectioned off swimming areas, and the first lake tends to be the most crowded, but further down the parkway is usually quiet. If you can manage to get up during the week, it is virtually empty. There are a few lakes that have some tucked away little coves that are good for swimming, though it is not allowed and park rangers will yell at you if they see you (or so I have heard...personally, never ran into one). Its about 1.5 hrs outside nyc. roboecho

Storm King

Storm King, the largest outdoor sculpture park, is great. It's an easy drive, about an hour and half. Then you could possibly continue on to Peekskill (~30min from Storm King) and have drinks/snacks at the Peekskill brewery. And I love Hudson Valley, great restaurants/scenery and lots of nice charming towns to visit like Milton, the aforementioned Peekskill, Cold Spring, or Kingston are all worth checking out. Read this NY Times article. And if you're going up this weekend, you might be able to get tickets to the "Jack O'Lantern Blaze" at Van Cortlandt Manor in Cronton-On-Hudson. Check out these pics. You could visit the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park and get a meal at one of the campus restaurants staffed by the students. Bear Mountain is another nice outdoorsy getaway OIlberger

Vanderbilt on Long Island

Really nice grounds for the kids to run around, you can all tour the old house(where if I remember right they have a mummy) and there's a planetarium. Also on Long Island you can go to Sagamore Hill which is Teddy Roosevelt's house. Its pretty cool to tour since he was an avid hunter. FirstLadyofBeer

Delaware Water Gap

" The Martz Bus is frequent and convenient. carpy22

Troy, New York

"Historic downtown along the Hudson, the home of Uncle Sam." carpy22

Nyack, New York

I love Nyack! I live here now actually. You can get there by taking the Metro North to Tarrytown and then take the Hudson Link across the River.
Lots of little shops and restaurants. On the weekends there’s lots of bikers around. Monthly there’s a pretty big street fair that garners a lot of visitors.
Strawberry place is the best for breakfast (cash only). UP Lounge or OD’s for dinner. The Local or Karma for drinks.
Piermont is very close (biking or cheap bee distance). They have cute stores and restaurants. You can rent kayaks and kayak in the Piermont Marsh, or walk out on Ferry Road which is the furthest you can get to the middle of the Hudson without being on a boat or ferry. nakedrottweiler

Longies

Virginia Beach
Burlington, Vermont
Providence, RI

What's your favorite getaway for a weekend or short trip out of the city?
Help us form this wiki by sharing your favourite location and answering these questions.

Can you get there by public transit?
How long does it take to get there?
Do you have a favorite B&B or hotel to stay?
What are your favorite things to do there?

Send user rave-light a DM with the information.
We thank you for your help!

[B&SVerse] Casino Battle Royale, ch10

List of Structures & Landmarks ( Fantasy World )

Structure / Landmark Names:
Abattoir (slaughterhouse)
Abbey
Academy (+ alchemist, arcane, artificer’s, bards, healers, mages, military, naval, royal, science)
Ale House (tavern)
Alley
Altar (deity, element, power, environment, luck, magic, old one, outsider, sacrificial, spirit, etc)
Amphitheater
Aquarium
Aqueduct
Archives
Archway
Arena (+ gladiatorial, music, performance, racing, sports)
Asylum
Auction House
Aviary
Bakery
Bank
Bar
Barn
Barracks
Bathhouse
Battle Ground
Bazaar
Black Market, Underground Market
Board (+ message, quest)
Boom Chain - harbor chain or river chain used to block boats. Operated from a chain tower
Breakwater
Brewery
Bridge (Covered Bridge, Draw Bridge, Living Root Bridge, Rope Bridge, Sky Bridge)
Brothel, House of Ill Repute
Bungalow
Burial Mound
Cabin
Cache (+ pirates, rebel, smugglers, thieves)
Caer / Cair (stronghold)
Cairn
Canal
Cantina
Caravan (wagons)(+ merchant, military, nomads, pilgrims, prison, refugee, settlers, slavers)
Caravanserai (inn / outfitter for caravans)
Casino, Gambling Hall
Castle
Catacombs
Cathedral
Causeway
Cellar (+ root, storm, wine)
Cemetery
Chain Tower - tower used to raise or lower a boom chain (harbor or river chain)
Chapel
Chateau
Church
Circle of Stones
Circle of Wagons
Circus
Cistern
Citadel
City
Cliff Dwellings
Coach House
Coffeehouse
College (+ alchemist, arcane, bards, healers, mages, naval, of artificers, of science, royal)
Colosseum
Conservatory (greenhouse)
Convent, Nunnery
Corral (cattle, horse, livestock)
Cottage
Courthouse
Covered Walkway
Croft (rented farmhouse & land)
Crypt, Mausoleum, Sepulcher, Tomb
Dam
Den (+ assassins, drug, gambling, hookah, opium, smugglers, thieves)
Dig Site (fossils, minerals, ruins)
Dike
Dock (boat, ship, airship)
Dockyard
Dojo, Sparring Hall, Training Hall
Dome
Drug (+ den, lounge, parlor)
Dugout, Pit-House
Dungeon, Jail, Prison
Embassy (+ country, race, realm, world)
Estate
Executioners Block
Fairgrounds
Farm (animal, crop, dairy, share croppers)
Ferry
Fighting Pit
Flotilla (+ town, village, city)
Forge
Fort, Fortress (+ coastal, island, mountain, sea / wooden, stone, metal)
Fortifications (cheval de frise, moat, palisade, towers, trench, wall, wooden stakes)
Fountain
Freehold
Gallows, Gibbet
Gambling (+ den, hall, lounge, parlor), Casino
Garden, Gardens (+ crop*, flower, hanging, herb, mushroom, rock, rooftop, sculpture, zen)
Garrison
Gate, Gates
Gate House
Giant (+ construct, golem, idol, mecha, statue)
Gibbet, Gallows
Granary
Grange - farmhouse & outbuildings
Grave (+ fresh, marker, mass, open, site, stone, vacated, yard)
Grave Yard
Grounds (+ burial, fair, parade, sacred, tourney, training)
Guard House
Guard Post
Guild, Guild Hall, Guild House
Hall (+ city, gambling, guild, mead, meeting, music, opera, town, training)
Hanging Tree, Hangmans Tree
Harbor
Hatchery (animal, beast, monster)
Hedge Maze
Henge
Hideout
Hold
Home
Homestead
Hookah (+ bar, den, lounge, parlor)
Horreum (warehouse)
Hostel (bed & breakfast)
House (+ bath, boat, coach, coffee, farm, guard, guest, guild, long, manor, opera, ritual, safe, smoke, sod, summer, tea, theater, turf, winter)
House of Ill Repute, Brothel
Hovel
Hut, Huts (adobe, cloth, earthen, grass, hide, ice, mud, snow, stone, straw, wood)
Idol
Inn
Jail, Dungeon, Prison
Keep
Labyrinth
Library (+ arcane, great, royal)
Lift (wench & platform)
Lighthouse
Lock, Locks (waterway)
Lodge (+ hunting, masons, medicine, porters, safari, secret society*, sweat, wardens)
Lyceum - hall for public lectures
Machinery (from bygone age or civilization / size – cart, building, town)
Magical Construct (energy construct, giant levitating crystal, moving sculpture, rune stones, sigil stones)
Manor
Marker
Marker Stone (border stone, boundary stone)
Market, Market Place, Market Square
Market Stall, Street Stall
Massage Parlor
Mausoleum, Crypt, Sepulcher, Tomb
Mead Hall
Memorial
Messenger Pigeon Loft
Mews (row or courtyard of stables and carriage houses with living quarters above them)
Midden (+ heap, mound, pile)
Mill
Minaret
Mine, Mines (coal, crystal [normal, magic], gem stone [normal, magic], guano, metal [normal, magic], mineral [normal, magic], salt, substance)
Mission (place for missionary work)
Moat (+ dry, lava, mud, quicksand, spiked, tar, water)
Monastery
Monolith
Monument
Mosque
Mound (+ burial, ceremonial, midden, shell, temple)
Museum
Music Hall
Nunnery, Convent
Obelisk
Observatory
Opera Hall / Opera House
Opium Den
Orchard
Orphanage
Outfitters
Outpost
Paddock
Palace
Palisade
Parade Grounds, Training Grounds
Park
Parlor, Parlour (drug, massage, tattoo)
Pen, Pens (+ animal, monster, slave)
Pier
Pillar, Pillars
Pit (+ dwelling, fighting, monster, prison, slave)
Plantation
Plazza
Port
Portal
Prison, Dungeon, Jail
Pub
Public Square
Pueblo
Pyramid
Pyre (+ funeral)
Quarry (crystal, magic crystal, metal, mineral, stone, substance)
Ranch (animal, monster)
Redoubt (temporary fortification)
Reflecting Pool, Reflection Pool
Road, Roads (cobblestone, dirt, paved / + abandoned, cross, main, rural)
Root Cellar
Ruin, Ruins
Rune Stone
Sally Port (secure, controlled entry way to a fortification or prison)
Sanctuary
Sauna
Sawmill
Scaffolding
School
Sculpture (+ large, giant, garden, scale city model)
Sea Gate
Sea Wall
Sepulcher, Crypt, Mausoleum, Tomb
Sewer, Sewers
Shack
Shanty Town
Shelter
Ship Graveyard
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Districts:
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Location - canal, (n, s, e, w) gate, harbor, hill, plateau, under town, waterside
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Useful Links:
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Edit - last edit 02/12/2021

[EDU][FF][RST] Conned Again, Watson: In which Sherlock Holmes teaches John Watson about logical fallacies and Bayesian reasoning

This is a crosspost from rational.
Conned Again, Watson, a work of officially-sanctioned and traditionally-published Sherlock Holmes fanfiction, consists of twelve short stories. Each story has a paragraph or three of explanation (sometimes including book recommendations) in the book's afterword.

1. The Case of the Unfortunate Businessman

Framing story

After inheriting a cab business, Watson's cousin James attempted to emulate "how the Americans have reduced company management to a science". However, he botched it so badly that his company was nearing bankruptcy. He then was taken in by a con man. Watson encourages him to go to Holmes regarding the con, and Holmes informs James that he was such a perfect "mark" that the con man probably will approach him again, at which point Holmes will aid in the criminal's capture. Holmes then inquires as to how James actually implemented the "modern American management methods".
Afterward, Holmes points out how Watson has replicated his cousin's errors on a smaller scale in his shopping for groceries.

Topics

Author's book recommendations

Quote

[Sherlock:] "I really must congratulate you, Watson. In the course of one morning's ordinary domestic decisions, you have managed to replicate on a small scale every one of the errors that brought your cousin's business to its knees!"

2. The Case of the Gambling Nobleman

Framing story

A woman affianced to a nobleman seeks Holmes's help. Her husband-to-be is low on cash, but has thought of a ""foolproof"" system to get a new fortune at the roulette table.

Topic

Regression toward the mean vs. the gambler's fallacy

Author's book recommendation

Taking Chances

Quote

[Sherlock:] "Perhaps people unconsciously assume that Fortune has a finite number of outcomes in the sack of black and white pebbles she arries. Then the more black pebbles you are dealt, the higher the proportion of white remain in her sack, and the more likely you are to get white. But in truth her supply is infinite, and she can always continue to give black or white at perfect whim. Failure to understand that is the first great human fallacy in misunderstanding the Laws of Chance.[…]
"The second great fallacy is to think that you can ignore a very tiny change of a very large loss or gain. A mathematician would warn you of the meaninglessness of multiplying zero by infinity, but we did not have to venture into such abstractions to see that the Marquis's second system would have come to grief eventually."

3. The Case of the Surprise Heir

Framing story

The ageing (and seemingly-benign) leader of a small cult seeks Holmes's help. According to her faith, she must bequeath her "church" to a descendant of her great-grandfather (the cult's founder). She has 61 candidates. However, the 61st, an infidel who mocks the cult, lives in Canada, and has written back to say that there are 59 more descendants in Canada. The cult leader must choose which candidate is the best, based on which of them has a particular mystically-significant birthday.
The Canadian relative sends over a list of birthdays, but refuses to give the corresponding names and addresses. Instead, the Canadian insists that the cult leader must tell the mystically-significant date to the Canadian, after which the Canadian will contact whichever American relative matches it. However, it's the cult leader's suspicion that there are no other American relatives, and the Canadian is plotting to take over the church (using a non-relative accomplice with a fake birthday) and milk its followers for money. The cult leader wants to know whether or not the Canadian's list of birthdays looks fake, and gives to Holmes two lists of birthdays—one for the 60 British candidates, and one for the 60 alleged American candidates, but neither is marked. She expects Holmes to tell her which one "looks suspicious in its very nature".

Topics

Quote

[Sherlock:] "Not a bad simile, Watson: real randomness is a sharp and spiky place, which will cut the unwary as surely as sharp rocks rip apart the boots and hands of the ill-equipped cave explorer. We are unaccustomed to such roughness because processes human and artificial so often give nonrandom pattern to the world we encounter, and uniformity is a simple pattern to generate, and therefore commonplace."[…]
Holmes raised a long finger. "Never mistake uniformity for the product of randomness.[…] But you are not alone in your error: mistaking a uniform distribution for a random one is a common blunder. Indeed, it is worthy of being tagged as the third great human fallacy in misunderstanding the Laws of Chance! You had better start making a list. It is as ever most instructive to talk to you, Watson."

Compare the following sentence, which wouldn't look out of place in Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality:

Harry's brain complained that it never would have encountered a random distribution in the ancestral environment.

4. The Case of the Ancient Mariner

Framing story

A drunken sailor whom Holmes and Watson saw "walking a perfect mathematical Drunkard's Walk" in Chapter Two apparently fell off a pier and drowned shortly after they observed his stumbling. However, he recently took out a large life insurance policy, with his sister as the sole beneficiary. The insurance company suspects fraud, and refuses to pay out. Inspector Lestrade is sympathetic toward the sister, and has asked Holmes to investigate.

Topics

Quote

"Why, confound it, Holmes, I have once again drawn Napoleon's hat!"
"Quite so, Watson. You have indeed chosen a fitting name for the Normal Distribution. Just as Napoleon sought to conquer all the populations he encountered, so the 'Napoleon's hat' curve tends to dominate all random populations encountered in nature. But remember this: Napoleon ultimately failed in his quest—he never ruled all of Europe, despite his ambition. And similarly, not every imaginable population conforms to the normal distribution, although student mathematicians sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that all must."

5. The Case of the Unmarked Graves

Framing story

Watson goes to visit an old college friend who wants to undertake some excavations in order to uncover possible Arthurian artifacts. (The friend, named Prendergast, thinks that he may be a descendant of King Arthur Pendragon.) However, the friend's father (whose line has held the title of "Mage" since before the Norman Conquest) has forbidden any excavation unless Prendergast can prove that the chance of turning up something important is better than one in two. Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) also has been invited.

Topics

Author's book recommendations

Quote

The Mage looked at [Dodgson] scornfully. "One-half to two-thirds," he said savagely. "That seems to be your theme song, Reverend."

6. The Case of the Martian Invasion

Framing story

After seeing a horrific face on the surface of the Moon, hearing about crop circles in nearby fields, and finding the message "ARES COMES" in the Bible, an aspiring engineer thinks that a Martian invasion is imminent.

Topics

Compound probability
Dependency of events
Redundancy in engineering

Quote

[Holmes] ticked off points on his fingers. "First, you showed us how the human eye and brain can detect pattern where there is none. It is understandable design by evolution, for it is better to be frightened by ten shadows than to overlook one actual tiger, but it often trips us up in modern life.
"Second, there is the fallacy of retrodiction—conducting a blanket search of a great number of possibilities, and claiming subsequently how unlikely it is to get just that message in just that position. It is more often done by numerology: measure every possible dimension of the Great Pyramid, say, in every system of units known to you, and then try dozens of possible numerical combinations of the results to see whether any of the numbers that emerge seem significant, such as being a famous year in the Christian calendar. But your Bible messages have that beat all hollow."

7. Three Cases of Unfair Preferment

Framing story

First, Watson reads about a parlor game in which three people must pretend to be historical figures (e. g., Newton, Caesar, and Socrates) and argue over which of the three should be thrown out of a sinking hot-air balloon. Second, Lestrade calls Holmes out to investigate the murder of a philanthropist, in which three attractive young women whom he was considering for a scholarship are suspects. Third, the woman from Chapter Two writes to ask for advice, as her husband-to-be, while having vowed to stay away from casinoes forever, has fallen in with a peculiar gentleman's club that supposedly deals solely in games of skill.

Topics

Quote

I shook my head. "Really, this seems like black magic, Holmes."
"Not so, Watson. But it does go against a false intuition that Nature has hard-wired firmly into our brains: the fallacy of judgement, that people or objects can always be ranked in order of value, from best to worse, in a sort of beauty contest. Let us be thankful that it is not true."

8. The Execution of Andrews

Framing story

The lone survivor of a 10 000-man army killed by ambush in the backwoods of British Burma is being slaughtered by the newspapers just as badly as his comrades were by the Burmese, and is expected to be convicted of desertion and hanged.

Topic

Bayes's theorem, with helpful visualizations that continue to be presented in later chapters

Author's book recommendation

Bayesian Decision Problems and Markov Chains

Quote

"Bayes's theorem sets out formally the criteria for calculating probability ratios such as those we have been encountering today."
"I will be sure to credit him if I write up today's events. If you show me it, perhaps I should reproduce his formula to illustrate the point."
Holmes turned the book toward me to reveal, I must say, a rather intimidating piece of algebra.
"I would not advise it, Watson. I have heard it said that every equation appearing in a popular book halves its sales: your fear of algebra is not unique. I confidently predict that if this formula appears in all its glory, your sales will be decimated—and in the modern sense of the word! No, you should confine yourself to illustration by example. Those window-frame-shaped diagrams I have been drawing for you summarize Bayes's approach exactly."

9. Three Cases of Relative Honor

Framing story

First, Mycroft calls in Holmes to investigate a diplomatically-sensitive burglary at the French Embassy, in which two suspects have been caught but refuse to talk. Second, an officer about to be court-martialed for indirectly causing the deaths of the men under his command asks Holmes whether or not he made the correct decision under the circumstances in which he found himself. Third, Holmes contemplates the similarity of the officer's situation to Holmes's own decision in The Final Problem—of whether, in attempting to flee to the continent, he should have gone directly to Dover or left the train at Canterbury after he learned that Moriarty was chasing him in a special train.

Topics

Author's book recommendations

Quotes

I blinked at the complex array of figures.
[Sherlock:] "Henderson wants to choose a column that maximizes his chance of survival. But the Mauras will pick the row that minimizes it. Hence arises the concept of the minimax, beloved of game theorists. We must look for the column in which the lowest value is as high as possible."

"Well, it does not matter now, Holmes. As it turned out, you went to Canterbury, and survived; Moriarty is dead, and can never tell us on what basis he chose Dover. All else is moot."
Holmes looked at me without seeming to see me, his gaze focused somewhere beyond infinity. "Is it, Watson? Do you remember the many-worlds view of reality, endorsed by Challenger and many other clever physicists, that arises out of quantum theory?[…]
"In that case, the original Sherlock Holmes who tossed a coin on the way to Canterbury gave rise to a huge (but not infinite) number of subsequent versions. Call that number a zillion if all had survived. If I had rolled a die as I should have done, a third of a zillion would be alive now. As it is, there are only a quarter of a zillion. One-twelfth of those other versions of myself were killed by my stupidity."
I gazed into the fireplace for some time, musing like Holmes on philosophical realities almost impossible to grasp.

The prequel to this book, The Einstein Paradox, focuses on physics and involves Professor Challenger.

10. The Case of the Poor Observer

11. The Case of the Perfect Accountant

The afterword advises that these chapters "should be taken together".

Framing story

A businessman (the son of a person who died in The Einstein Paradox, this book's prequel) comes to Holmes for advice on how he should manage his business.

Topics

Misleading observations and statistics
Benford's law

Author's book recommendation

How to Lie with Statistics

Quote

From the afterword:

[These chapters] deal with the same problem: How do you construct an accurate picture of the world, given that your subjective impressions may be misleading, and second-hand reports deliberately selective?

12. Three Cases of Good Intentions

Framing story

First, someone is poisoning people accused of criminal deeds with butterscotch sweets, in a procedure that looks something like Russian roulette. Second, Watson has discovered that nightshade extract seems to be an effective treatment for Baird's disease—but it seems to help only half of the patients to whom he prescribes it. Third, Reverend Dodgson (fron Chapter Five) has devised a way to extend "I cut, you choose" to disputes between three or more parties, and offers his services to help in a territorial dispute between three nations in the Balkans who are negotiating under British oversight.

Topics

Author's book recommendation

The Win/Win Solution

Quote

From the afterword:

Game theory and related branches of mathematics have made great strides in recent decades. Perhaps where the visionaries of the early twentieth century fell short in their attempts to design new and better societies in which war and want would be unknown, those of the twenty-first, equipped with better knowledge, may yet succeed.

The URL given for the author's site in the book's afterword has been dead for quite a few years, but the Internet Archive has a copy saved.

[EDU][FF][RST] Conned Again, Watson: In which Sherlock Holmes teaches John Watson about logical fallacies and Bayesian reasoning

This is a slightly-edited repost from 2017-02-25.
Conned Again, Watson, a work of officially-sanctioned and traditionally-published Sherlock Holmes fanfiction, consists of twelve short stories. Each story has a paragraph or three of explanation (sometimes including book recommendations) in the book's afterword.

1. The Case of the Unfortunate Businessman

Framing story

Topics

Author's book recommendations

Quote

[Sherlock:] "I really must congratulate you, Watson. In the course of one morning's ordinary domestic decisions, you have managed to replicate on a small scale every one of the errors that brought your cousin's business to its knees!"

2. The Case of the Gambling Nobleman

Framing story

A woman affianced to a nobleman seeks Holmes's help. Her husband-to-be is low on cash, but has thought of a ""foolproof"" system to get a new fortune at the roulette table.

Topic

Regression toward the mean vs. the gambler's fallacy

Author's book recommendation

Taking Chances

Quote

[Sherlock:] "Perhaps people unconsciously assume that Fortune has a finite number of outcomes in the sack of black and white pebbles she arries. Then the more black pebbles you are dealt, the higher the proportion of white remain in her sack, and the more likely you are to get white. But in truth her supply is infinite, and she can always continue to give black or white at perfect whim. Failure to understand that is the first great human fallacy in misunderstanding the Laws of Chance.[…]
"The second great fallacy is to think that you can ignore a very tiny change of a very large loss or gain. A mathematician would warn you of the meaninglessness of multiplying zero by infinity, but we did not have to venture into such abstractions to see that the Marquis's second system would have come to grief eventually."

3. The Case of the Surprise Heir

Framing story

Topics

Quote

[Sherlock:] "Not a bad simile, Watson: real randomness is a sharp and spiky place, which will cut the unwary as surely as sharp rocks rip apart the boots and hands of the ill-equipped cave explorer. We are unaccustomed to such roughness because processes human and artificial so often give nonrandom pattern to the world we encounter, and uniformity is a simple pattern to generate, and therefore commonplace."[…]
Holmes raised a long finger. "Never mistake uniformity for the product of randomness.[…] But you are not alone in your error: mistaking a uniform distribution for a random one is a common blunder. Indeed, it is worthy of being tagged as the third great human fallacy in misunderstanding the Laws of Chance! You had better start making a list. It is as ever most instructive to talk to you, Watson."

Compare the following sentence, which wouldn't look out of place in Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality:

Harry's brain complained that it never would have encountered a random distribution in the ancestral environment.

4. The Case of the Ancient Mariner

Framing story

Topics

Quote

"Why, confound it, Holmes, I have once again drawn Napoleon's hat!"
"Quite so, Watson. You have indeed chosen a fitting name for the Normal Distribution. Just as Napoleon sought to conquer all the populations he encountered, so the 'Napoleon's hat' curve tends to dominate all random populations encountered in nature. But remember this: Napoleon ultimately failed in his quest—he never ruled all of Europe, despite his ambition. And similarly, not every imaginable population conforms to the normal distribution, although student mathematicians sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that all must."

5. The Case of the Unmarked Graves

Framing story

Topics

Author's book recommendations

Quote

The Mage looked at [Dodgson] scornfully. "One-half to two-thirds," he said savagely. "That seems to be your theme song, Reverend."

6. The Case of the Martian Invasion

Framing story

Topics

Compound probability
Dependency of events
Redundancy in engineering

Quote

[Holmes] ticked off points on his fingers. "First, you showed us how the human eye and brain can detect pattern where there is none. It is understandable design by evolution, for it is better to be frightened by ten shadows than to overlook one actual tiger, but it often trips us up in modern life.
"Second, there is the fallacy of retrodiction—conducting a blanket search of a great number of possibilities, and claiming subsequently how unlikely it is to get just that message in just that position. It is more often done by numerology: measure every possible dimension of the Great Pyramid, say, in every system of units known to you, and then try dozens of possible numerical combinations of the results to see whether any of the numbers that emerge seem significant, such as being a famous year in the Christian calendar. But your Bible messages have that beat all hollow."

7. Three Cases of Unfair Preferment

Framing story

Topics

Quote

I shook my head. "Really, this seems like black magic, Holmes."
"Not so, Watson. But it does go against a false intuition that Nature has hard-wired firmly into our brains: the fallacy of judgement, that people or objects can always be ranked in order of value, from best to worse, in a sort of beauty contest. Let us be thankful that it is not true."

8. The Execution of Andrews

Framing story

Topic

Bayes's theorem, with helpful visualizations that continue to be presented in later chapters

Author's book recommendation

Bayesian Decision Problems and Markov Chains

Quote

"Bayes's theorem sets out formally the criteria for calculating probability ratios such as those we have been encountering today."
"I will be sure to credit him if I write up today's events. If you show me it, perhaps I should reproduce his formula to illustrate the point."
Holmes turned the book toward me to reveal, I must say, a rather intimidating piece of algebra.
"I would not advise it, Watson. I have heard it said that every equation appearing in a popular book halves its sales: your fear of algebra is not unique. I confidently predict that if this formula appears in all its glory, your sales will be decimated—and in the modern sense of the word! No, you should confine yourself to illustration by example. Those window-frame-shaped diagrams I have been drawing for you summarize Bayes's approach exactly."

9. Three Cases of Relative Honor

Framing story

Topics

Author's book recommendations

Quotes

I blinked at the complex array of figures.
[Sherlock:] "Henderson wants to choose a column that maximizes his chance of survival. But the Mauras will pick the row that minimizes it. Hence arises the concept of the minimax, beloved of game theorists. We must look for the column in which the lowest value is as high as possible."

"Well, it does not matter now, Holmes. As it turned out, you went to Canterbury, and survived; Moriarty is dead, and can never tell us on what basis he chose Dover. All else is moot."
Holmes looked at me without seeming to see me, his gaze focused somewhere beyond infinity. "Is it, Watson? Do you remember the many-worlds view of reality, endorsed by Challenger and many other clever physicists, that arises out of quantum theory?[…]
"In that case, the original Sherlock Holmes who tossed a coin on the way to Canterbury gave rise to a huge (but not infinite) number of subsequent versions. Call that number a zillion if all had survived. If I had rolled a die as I should have done, a third of a zillion would be alive now. As it is, there are only a quarter of a zillion. One-twelfth of those other versions of myself were killed by my stupidity."
I gazed into the fireplace for some time, musing like Holmes on philosophical realities almost impossible to grasp.

The prequel to this book, The Einstein Paradox, focuses on physics and involves Professor Challenger.

10. The Case of the Poor Observer

11. The Case of the Perfect Accountant

The afterword advises that these chapters "should be taken together".

Framing story

A businessman (the son of a person who died in The Einstein Paradox, this book's prequel) comes to Holmes for advice on how he should manage his business.

Topics

Misleading observations and statistics
Benford's law

Author's book recommendation

How to Lie with Statistics

Quote

From the afterword:

[These chapters] deal with the same problem: How do you construct an accurate picture of the world, given that your subjective impressions may be misleading, and second-hand reports deliberately selective?

12. Three Cases of Good Intentions

Framing story

Topics

Author's book recommendation

The Win/Win Solution

Quote

From the afterword:

Game theory and related branches of mathematics have made great strides in recent decades. Perhaps where the visionaries of the early twentieth century fell short in their attempts to design new and better societies in which war and want would be unknown, those of the twenty-first, equipped with better knowledge, may yet succeed.

The URL given for the author's site in the book's afterword has been dead for quite a few years, but the Internet Archive has a copy saved.

I posted a few photos from the first week of a road trip around the USA I'm doing at the moment. Some requested a write up, so here's part 1 for anyone interested!

OK, so bear with me because I'm not the greatest with formatting. But I'll try my best!
As the title suggests, I posted some photos of the first week and a bit of a 6 month solo road trip I am currently undertaking around the USA and parts of Canada. They were received relatively well, and some people asked if I could do some updates along the way. So here's the first one and hopefully it can inspire some people to do similar!
Why?
Firstly, some background on the trip. Around about 4-5 years ago I had a pretty shitty bout with anxiety and depression. This isn't a sob story so don't feel bad for me, I'm actually quite good now. But anyway, after a few trips to a Psychologist, we both decided that it would be a good idea to set a goal that would actually get me through the days. As a university student coming to the end of my degree, starting work didn't really excite me.
So after some deliberation it was decided the only thing that excited me was travel, and no matter what type of work I got upon graduation, I would do it for about 2-3 years and save everything to put towards a 6 month road trip across North America. I actually studied American History at uni, so obviously that's what drew me here. More topical to current events, I actually took a lot of inspiration from Anthony Bourdain. Sounds made up now, but RIP.
Where?
I started planning this trip as soon as the decision was made. So if you're wondering why things are so detailed, that's probably why. Originally a lot was focussed around things with historical significance, like American Revolutionary sites, or Civil War Memorial, etc. But I've also always had a love for nature and hiking so that's where the National/State/Regional Parks come into play.
Then the love of food travel shows started to seep in. Anthony Bourdain being the main one, then a bit sillier shows like Man Vs. Food, and yes, even Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives played a role, for as much shit that Guy Fieri (deservedly) cops here. This drew me to certain cities.
I had already done a 5 week trip to the USA in 2013/14 for Christmas and NYE where I hit the main touristy spots like NYC, Vegas, LA, etc. So this trip was to focus more on the small towns, national parks, and open road.
When?
My previous trip was over Winter, so this trip had to be warmer weathegreener pastures. Originally planning to start in June, it just so happened that a sale popped up around January for return flights from Melbourne to LAX for AU$850 leaving in May and returning in November. Too good not to pass up and not that far from what I had planned anyway. Only problem is I cut it a little short because my cousin is getting married on November 10th and I couldn't miss it, so I arrive back in Melbourne the morning of... Cutting it fine, I know.
Itinerary
Now to the stuff that people will probably actually care about. My general direction that I'm heading in is a loop from LA, back to LA. That was the best looking map I could make out, but it gives you the idea. The good thing is I only have things booked about a week in advance at this stage, so it's more a 'rough' itinerary than anything.
I arrived in the country on May 20th and have a ticket home on November 8th. It was best to have a return ticket because otherwise those border guards will be on your back and you put yourself at risk of getting turned back at the airport.
May 20th - June 8th
So now to the actual good stuff, with pictures and all! Going through each place I've been, what I enjoyed there and recommendations. This will probably be the way each subsequent post will be set out, if I commit to doing them (which I have a tendency to be terrible with commitment).
Los Angeles, CA. 20/05 - 21/05:
OK, now when I say Los Angeles, I didn't actually spend any time in LA outside of the Airport. I got my car and took it straight to a place called Santa Paula, CA. I've been to LA before, spent about a week there, did everything touristy, and didn't particularly enjoy it. Not to say others wouldn't find it enjoyable, just not for me. Santa Paula itself isn't much to write about, but the drive from Santa Paul to Fresno had some cool parts.

Took the coastal route to Santa Barbara, up to San Luis Obispo, and on to Fresno
Santa Barbara is a pretty expensive beach town with million dollar houses in the hills looking over the coast. I didn't spend long here but I did take a stroll through Paseo Nuevo, an outdoor mall which has a pretty cool Spanish vibe to it. Bought some US$150 Ray Bans here and then subsequently left them on a tram in San Francisco days later... nice

Fresno, CA. 21/05 - 23/05:
Now I know what you're thinking, "Who the hell would go to Fresno?" I say this, because basically everyone I encountered in Fresno asked me that question. I went because it was a good base to explore the Sierra National Forest. Can't say much about Fresno, though. Also, a little side note, I'm not that proud of my photos early on. Everything is shot with my iPhone and it's taking me a little time to figure out how to get the best shot. Still in the process.

Driving from Fresno to Lakeshore, my first stop was at Shaver Lake. Not sure if the depleted water levels are from the drought, but wouldn't be surprised. The drive through pine forest was pretty good to this point, but got better as you got further into the forest.
A short hike to Rancheria Fall was definitely the highlight of the day. It started raining on me whilst walking to the falls, but by the time I was there it was hard to tell if it was rain or spray from the falls.
On the way back I stopped in Shaver Lake Village for a veggie burger at Shaver Coffee & Deli. Friendly service and a good burger, can't complain

Santa Cruz, CA. 23/05 - 26/05:
Originally, I wanted to stay in Monterey for this portion. However, everything was either way too expensive or booked out, so I settled for Santa Cruz. Or more specifically, Felton, which is out the back of Santa Cruz. I was happy with the decision.

I was staying right near Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, which had 100+ year old Redwoods everywhere and also a cool floor of clovers Funny story about the park, its namesake was actually an industrialist who cut down the majority of the original redwoods for profit. After he died the govt wanted to buy the land to preserve the forest, so the family agreed on condition it was named after him. A preservation park named after a guy who did the complete opposite
Big Sur is where it's at. The coast drive is phenomenal. I believe there were landslides recently so I could only really make it to Pfeiffer-Big Sur State Park, but that was enough
Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park backed up what Big Sur started. Just walking along the river was an experience in itself. And yes, the water was that cleablue.
Monterey was mostly on the list for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. More specifically, the otters. My photos/videos are terrible, but they are freaking adorable

Sausalito/San Francisco, CA. 26/05 - 29/05:
I stayed in a hostel across the Golden Gate Bridge which I believe fell under Sausalito, but was in the Marin Headlands. I'd been to San Francisco previously so didn't feel the need to spend all my time in the city. I would park on the outskirts and catch the BART to downtown.

I'm a big fan of Sausalito. Something about the town itself has a really nice vibe to it and they have fantastic views back on the city. I had a nice dinner at Poggio Trattoria, which was probably a bit upscale for me but was super nice. Also enjoyed a beer at No Name Bar with a local who had retired and filled in as a bar tender. We watched one of the Golden State finals, good fun.
Onto the city itself. Most of the things I did were touristy. If you're not into crowds I would stay away from Pier 39. That was in May, remember. I can only imagine what July/August would be like. But it was pretty cool to see the sea lions at the pier.
I made my way up Coit Tower, which had some pretty amazing views of the city. Again, though, if lines aren't your thing I'd recommend not coming here. Probably waited around 40 mins to get up there for a total of 5 mins. I was fine with it, but can imagine not everyone would be.
I originally wanted to see a San Francisco Giants Baseball game, however they weren't playing. So I went across to Oakland to see the Athletics play. I don't know much about Baseball, but I'm an A's fan now.
And of course, how could I forget the good old Golden Gate Bridge?!. It might just be a bridge, but it is pretty incredible close up. Also the little spot that GIF is from is a nice viewing platform away from the crowds.

Lake Tahoe, CA. 29/05 - 31/05:
I didn't know how I was going to like Lake Tahoe, because having Nevada there and casinos around I thought it might be a little much for me. Can confirm, it's a lovely spot that far exceeded expectations.

The drive in from San Francisco alone was enough to get me excited for Lake Tahoe
Emerald Bay has to be at the top of your list if you are going to Lake Tahoe. From above or below, you really can't go wrong.
Driving from Lake Tahoe to Redding I went the scenic route and stopped at Truckee, CA. It allowed me to take the lovely drive along the river out, and then through the rest of Tahoe National Forest as well. In Truckee I ate at Coffee And, which was a classic little diner with a lovely waitress and homestyle food. Exactly what I want in a small American town.
Also stopped briefly at Lake Spaulding, which was a cute little lake on the way.

Redding, CA. 31/05 - 2/06:
Another baffler for some people who didn't understand why I would go to Redding. This was my gateway into Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Also was an interesting little town with the giant Bethel Church) centred here.

Would highly recommend doing the Black Butte Trail near Mt Shasta. Has some incredible views of Mt Shasta itself and although a pretty strenuous hike uphill, it involves some cool rock scrambling, if that's your thing. Despite all this, the highlight of basically my life so far was making friends with this guy. He was even nice enough to pose for me.
On the drive from Redding into Oregon, I passed Mt Shasta again around Dunsmuir and got some nice views along the way

Crater Lake National Park, OR. 2/06 - 5/06:
Based myself about 20 miles outside of Ashland, OR whilst exploring Crater Lake National Park. Stayed with this total hippie family at an Airbnb which turned out to be on a Weed Farm. I'd forgotten that it was legal in Oregon. But they were the best.

I was surprised to hear from a lot of people local to the area that they hadn't made it to Crater Lake yet. They need to get there, NOW. It's hard to describe or even capture in pictures the beauty of the lake. The deepest lake in the USA, and also has 0 tributaries, meaning that it has just been filled by rain and snow over millions of years. I hiked Garfield Peak, which still had some snow on it and was technically closed, but should open soon.
The equally as beautiful, but in a different way, Umpqua National Forest neighbours Crater Lake National Park and has some incredible waterfalls to visit. Clearwater Falls, Whitehorse Falls, Watson Falls, and my favourite, Toketee Falls. I missed out on the Umpqua Hot Springs, which are supposed to be cool

Eugene, OR. 5/06 - 7/06:
Back when I was at university, I seriously considered transferring to the University of Oregon for a year. I kinda regret not doing it, especially after being in Eugene and seeing the town/campus. I didn't take a lot of photos, mostly just walked around and took it all in.

Firstly, I would recommend checking out the University of Oregon campus. I've never seen a place be so passionate about their college, although I think that's a normal thing for a college town. Check out Hayward Field if you get there before they tear it down. An Olympic runner called Steve "Pre" Prefontaine went to the U of O and he's pretty famous around there. They call themselves Tracktown, USA because of their Track & Field program at the university
Other than going up Skinner Butte, where I got a nice view of the town, I got some beers at Beer Garden. They had a huge selection of different beers/ciders and they also had a beer garden (go figure) that was surrounded by food trucks. Also got pizza at Track Town Pizza, which I would recommend just for the fact that it seemed like the entirety of Hayward Field went there after an NCAA meet during the day

Portland, OR. 7/06 - 9/06:
Currently in Portland and to be honest I haven't actually checked out the city itself at all. I'm planning to on my way out tomorrow, so here's what I've done so far anyway.

The Colombia River Gorge is an incredible drive only minutes from Portland itself that I would recommend to anybody. Unfortunately for me, the Eagle Creek fire that went through last year is still showing its effects and therefore a lot of the trails I wanted to hike were closed. Despite this, the drive itself and the stops along the way were still beautiful
The places I stopped at included Vista House, Latourell Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, and Multnomah Falls. Multnomah is probably the most popular stop along the way, and I can say that because I tried to go in the morning and the car park was closed because it was full. So I had to come back later in the afternoon
I spent some time in Hood River, which was a cute little town that had a lot to offer and was a good place to stop and turn back. I had lunch at Double Mountain Brewery, which I'd recommend. There's micro-breweries galore though all across Oregon, so feel free to try the like 3 others just in this small town

Summary
If anyone makes it this far, I bloody salute you. I can say already though that the last 2 and a bit weeks have been amongst the best of my life. From here, I head to Seattle tomorrow, before crossing into Canada and doing the Rockies. I'll try to make these a bit more regularly so it's not a huge chunk of writing that is terribly written and hard to read. If anyone has any questions or wants to know more, please reach out! I want to help in any way I can if you're planning a similar trip or a trip to an area I am going/have been.
Cheers!

[EDU][FF][RST] Conned Again, Watson! In which Sherlock Holmes teaches Watson about logical fallacies and Bayesian reasoning.

(I mentioned previously that I would make a post about both this book and its prequel, The Einstein Paradox. As it turns out, however, The Einstein Paradox focuses entirely on physics (the final chapter deals with many-worlds theory), and only Conned Again, Watson! is relevant to this subreddit.)
Conned Again, Watson! consists of twelve short stories. Each story has a paragraph or three of explanation (sometimes including book recommendations) in the book's afterword. (The Einstein Paradox follows the same format.)
Somewhat interestingly, this is officially sanctioned fanfiction. The Einstein Paradox says:

Use of the Sherlock Holmes and Professor Challenger characters by arrangement with Dame Jean Conan Doyle.

And Conned Again, Watson! says:

Use of the Sherlock Holmes characters by arrangement with the late Dame Jean Conan Doyle.

1. The Case of the Unfortunate Businessman
Framing story: After inheriting a cab business, Watson's cousin James attempted to emulate "how the Americans have reduced company management to a science". However, he botched it so badly that his company was nearing bankruptcy. He then was taken in by a con man. Watson encourages him to go to Holmes regarding the con, and Holmes informs James that he was such a perfect "mark" that the con man probably will approach him again, at which point Holmes will aid in the criminal's capture. Holmes then inquires as to how James actually implemented the "modern American management methods".
Topics: The cab-driver's fallacy, being penny-wise but pound-foolish, the sunk-cost fallacy
Author's book recommendations: Decision Traps, The Big Con
Quote:

[Sherlock:] "I really must congratulate you, Watson. In the course of one morning's ordinary domestic decisions, you have managed to replicate on a small scale every one of the errors that brought your cousin's business to its knees!"

2. The Case of the Gambling Nobleman
Framing story: A woman affianced to a nobleman seeks Holmes's help. Her husband-to-be is low on cash, but has thought of a ""foolproof"" system to get a new fortune at the roulette table.
Topic: Regression toward the mean vs. the gambler's fallacy
Author's book recommendation: Taking Chances
Quote:

[Sherlock:] "Perhaps people unconsciously assume that Fortune has a finite number of outcomes in the sack of black and white pebbles she arries. Then the more black pebbles you are dealt, the higher the proportion of white remain in her sack, and the more likely you are to get white. But in truth her supply is infinite, and she can always continue to give black or white at perfect whim. Failure to understand that is the first great human fallacy in misunderstanding the Laws of Chance."[...]
"The second great fallacy is to think that you can ignore a very tiny change of a very large loss or gain. A mathematician would warn you of the meaninglessness of multiplying zero by infinity, but we did not have to venture into such abstractions to see that the Marquis's second system would have come to grief eventually."

3. The Case of the Surprise Heir
Framing story: The ageing (and seemingly-benign) leader of a small cult seeks Holmes's help. According to her faith, she must bequeath her "church" to a descendant of her great-grandfather (the cult's founder). She has 61 candidates. However, the 61st, an infidel who mocks the cult, lives in Canada, and has written back to say that there are 59 more descendants in Canada. The cult leader must choose which candidate is the best, based on which of them has a particular mystically-significant birthday. The Canadian relative sends over a list of birthdays, but refuses to give the corresponding names and addresses. Instead, the Canadian insists that the cult leader must tell the mystically-significant date to the Canadian, after which the Canadian will contact whichever American relative matches it. However, it's the cult leader's suspicion that there are no other American relatives, and the Canadian is plotting to take over the church (using a non-relative accomplice with a fake birthday) and milk its followers for money. The cult leader wants to know whether or not the Canadian's list of birthdays looks fake, and gives to Holmes two lists of birthdays--one for the 60 British candidates, and one for the 60 alleged American candidates, but neither is marked. She expects Holmes to tell her which one "looks suspicious in its very nature".
Topics: The birthday paradox, randomness vs. uniformity
Quote:

[Sherlock:] "Not a bad simile, Watson: real randomness is a sharp and spiky place, which will cut the unwary as surely as sharp rocks rip apart the boots and hands of the ill-equipped cave explorer. We are unaccustomed to such roughness because processes human and artificial so often give nonrandom pattern to the world we encounter, and uniformity is a simple pattern to generate, and therefore commonplace."[...]
Holmes raised a long finger. "Never mistake uniformity for the product of randomness.[...] But you are not alone in your error: mistaking a uniform distribution for a random one is a common blunder. Indeed, it is worthy of being tagged as the third great human fallacy in misunderstanding the Laws of Chance! You had better start making a list. It is as ever most instructive to talk to you, Watson."

("Harry's brain complained that it never would have encountered a random distribution in the ancestral environment.")
4. The Case of the Ancient Mariner
Framing story: A drunken sailor whom Holmes and Watson saw "walking a perfect mathematical Drunkard's Walk" in Chapter Two apparently fell off a pier and drowned shortly after they observed his stumbling. However, he recently took out a large life insurance policy, with his sister as the sole beneficiary. The insurance company suspects fraud, and refuses to pay out. Inspector Lestrade is sympathetic toward the sister, and has asked Holmes to investigate.
Topics: The Drunkard's Walk, the normal distribution
Quote:

"Why, confound it, Holmes, I have once again drawn Napoleon's hat!"
"Quite so, Watson. You have indeed chosen a fitting name for the Normal Distribution. Just as Napoleon sought to conquer all the populations he encountered, so the 'Napoleon's hat' curve tends to dominate all random populations encountered in nature. But remember this: Napoleon ultimately failed in his quest--he never ruled all of Europe, despite his ambition. And similarly, not every imaginable population conforms to the normal distribution, although student mathematicians sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that all must."

5. The Case of the Unmarked Graves
Framing story: Watson goes to visit an old college friend who wants to undertake some excavations in order to uncover possible Arthurian artifacts. (The friend, named Prendergast, thinks that he may be a descendant of King Arthur Pendragon.) However, the friend's father (entitled "Mage" by William the Conqueror) has forbidden any excavation unless Prendergast can prove that the chance of turning up something important is better than one in two. Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) also has been invited.
Topics: Deductive reasoning, the Monty Hall problem, probability trees
Author's book recommendations: How the Mind Works, The Origins of Virtue, What Counts
Quote:

The Mage looked at [Dodgson] scornfully. "One-half to two-thirds," he said savagely. "That seems to be your theme song, Reverend."

6. The Case of the Martian Invasion
Framing story: After seeing a horrific face on the surface of the Moon, hearing about crop circles in nearby fields, and finding the message ARES COMES in the Bible, an aspiring engineer thinks that a Martian invasion is imminent.
Topics: Compound probability; dependency of events; redundancy in engineering
Quote:

[Holmes] ticked off points on his fingers. "First, you showed us how the human eye and brain can detect pattern where there is none. It is understandable design by evolution, for it is better to be frightened by ten shadows than to overlook one actual tiger, but it often trips us up in modern life.
"Second, there is the fallacy of retrodiction--conducting a blanket search of a great number of possibilities, and claiming subsequently how unlikely it is to get just that message in just that position. It is more often done by numerology: measure every possible dimension of the Great Pyramid, say, in every system of units known to you, and then try dozens of possible numerical combinations of the results to see whether any of the numbers that emerge seem significant, such as being a famous year in the Christian calendar. But your Bible messages have that beat all hollow."

7. Three Cases of Unfair Preferment
Framing story: First, Watson reads about a parlor game in which three people must pretend to be historical figures (e.g., Newton, Caesar, and Socrates) and argue over which of the three should be thrown out of a sinking hot-air balloon. Second, Lestrade calls Holmes out to investigate the murder of a philanthropist, in which three attractive young women whom he was considering for a scholarship are suspects. Third, the woman from Chapter Two writes to ask for advice, as her husband-to-be, while having vowed to stay away from casinoes forever, has fallen in with a peculiar gentleman's club that supposedly deals solely in games of skill.
Topics: Nontransitive dice, Penney's game
Quote:

I shook my head. "Really, this seems like black magic, Holmes."
"Not so, Watson. But it does go against a false intuition that Nature has hard-wired firmly into our brains: the fallacy of judgement, that people or objects can always be ranked in order of value, from best to worse, in a sort of beauty contest. Let us be thankful that it is not true."

8. The Execution of Andrews
Framing story: The lone survivor of a 10,000-man army killed by ambush in the backwoods of British Burma is being slaughtered just as badly as his comrades in the newspapers, and is expected to be convicted of desertion and hanged.
Topic: Bayes's theorem, with helpful visualizations that continue to be presented in later chapters
Author's book recommendation: Bayesian Decision Problems and Markov Chains
Quote:

[Sherlock:] "Bayes's theorem sets out formally the criteria for calculating probability ratios such as those we have been encountering today."
"I will be sure to credit him if I write up today's events. If you show me it, perhaps I should reproduce his formula to illustrate the point."
Holmes turned the book toward me to reveal, I must say, a rather intimidating piece of algebra.
"I would not advise it, Watson. I have heard it said that every equation appearing in a popular book halves its sales: your fear of algebra is not unique. I confidently predict that if this formula appears in all its glory, your sales will be decimated--and in the modern sense of the word! No, you should confine yourself to illustration by example. Those window-frame-shaped diagrams I have been drawing for your summarize Bayes's approach exactly."

9. Three Cases of Relative Honor
Framing story: First, Mycroft calls in Holmes to investigate a diplomatically-sensitive burglary at the French Embassy, in which two suspects have been caught but refuse to talk. Second, an officer about to be court-martialed for indirectly causing the deaths of the men under his command asks Holmes whether or not he made the correct decision under the circumstances in which he found himself. Third, Holmes contemplates the similarity of the officer's situation to Holmes's own decision in The Final Problem--of whether, in attempting to flee to the continent, he should have gone directly to Dover or left the train at Canterbury after he learned that Moriarty was chasing him in a special train.
Topics: Game theory, the minimax, the prisoner's dilemma--all with helpful diagrams
Author's book recommendations: The Selfish Gene, Game Theory: A Non-Technical Introduction
Quote:

I blinked at the complex array of figures.
[Sherlock:] "Henderson wants to choose a column that maximizes his chance of survival. But the Mauras will pick the row that minimizes it. Hence arises the concept of the minimax, beloved of game theorists. We must look for the column in which the lowest value is as high as possible."

Quote:

"Well, it does not matter now, Holmes. As it turned out, you went to Canterbury, and survived; Moriarty is dead, and can never tell us on what basis he chose Dover. All else is moot."
Holmes looked at me without seeming to see me, his gaze focused somewhere beyond infinity. "Is it, Watson? Do you remember the many-worlds view of reality, endorsed by Challenger and many other clever physicists, that arises out of quantum theory?[...]
"In that case, the original Sherlock Holmes who tossed a coin on the way to Canterbury gave rise to a huge (but not infinite) number of subsequent versions. Call that number a zillion if all had survived. If I had rolled a die as I should have done, a third of a zillion would be alive now. As it is, there are only a quarter of a zillion. One-twelfth of those other versions of myself were killed by my stupidity."
I gazed into the fireplace for some time, musing like Holmes on philosophical realities almost impossible to grasp.

10. The Case of the Poor Observer 11. The Case of the Perfect Accountant (The afterword advises that these chapters "should be taken together".)
Framing story: A businessman (the son of a person who died in The Einstein Paradox) comes to Holmes for advice on how he should manage his business.
Topics: Misleading observations and statistics; Benford's law
Author's book recommendation: How to Lie with Statistics
Quote (from the afterword):

[These chapters] deal with the same problem: How do you construct an accurate picture of the world, given that your subjective impressions may be misleading, and second-hand reports deliberately selective?

12. Three Cases of Good Intentions
Framing story: First, someone is poisoning people accused of criminal deeds with butterscotch sweets, in a procedure that looks something like Russian roulette. Second, Watson has discovered that nightshade extract seems to be an effective treatment for Baird's disease--but it seems to help only half of the patients to whom he prescribes it. Third, Reverend Dodgson (fron Chapter Five) has devised a way to extend "I cut, you choose" to disputes between three or more parties, and offers his services to help in a territorial dispute between three nations in the Balkans who are negotiating under British oversight.
Topics: Double-blind experiments, moving-knife procedures
Author's book recommendation: The Win/Win Situation
Quote (from the afterword):

Game theory and related branches of mathematics have made great strides in recent decades. Perhaps where the visionaries of the early twentieth century fell short in their attempts to design new and better societies in which war and want would be unknown, those of the twenty-first, equipped with better knowledge, may yet succeed.

The URL given for the author's site in the book's afterword has been dead for quite a few years, but the Internet Archive has a copy saved.

FA Caramel

Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.17 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: FA Caramel @ 2%, 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 9 days.
Flavor Description:
Gritty caramelized sugar, not really a smooth caramel sauce or full-on caramel candy. Tastes quite a bit like caramel without having anything approaching the kind of mouthfeel you'd expect. Overall a bit thin and sharp, almost approaching unpleasant solo. Definitely a caramel for mixing as opposed to a primary note.
Inhale is sweet, almost raw sugar. Mouthfeel is a bit thin for the actual taste. Strange kind of gritty vibe fitting with the raw sugar thing. Caramel comes out in the exhale. Sugar is moderately caramelized with no real dark, burnt notes. Mouthfeel never really gets smooth, still fairly thin. Really light creamy notes, almost a margarine type of taste in the middle of the exhale. Raw sugar comes back on the tail-end of the exhale with some gritty exhale that lingers.
Off-flavors: A handful of raw sugar that somehow managed to get caramelized without turning into a syrup. So the entire thing? Not bad, just not really a smooth caramel flavor.
Throat Hit: Moderate.
Uses & Pairings: Lower percentage use is basically going to be a sweetener. Creams, custards, darker fruits, nuts, tobaccos. It's too dark of a flavor to blend well with anything particularly bright and you're really going to want to have some cream or density to round the edges and grittiness off.
If you start increasing percentages, you move into more of a candy caramel flavor if not texture. This concentrate has a tendency to sit on top of other flavors when used a bit higher. Casino Pier by enyawreklaw/ uses it up at 3% with a whole lot of cream backup to get a caramel coating on an apple. Would also work well for a caramel sauce with something to clean up that mouthfeel.
Notes:
S&V Concentration testing, this is a warm carmelized type flavor at .5% percent. Sweetness is a bit muted, and the flavor is pretty indistinct, but the effect is nice. 1% starts to get you into that gritty mouthfeel along with a pronounced sweetness. 1.5% has even more grit, and by the time you hit 2% you're definitely going to need something dense or creamy to chill this out a bit. 3% gets pretty intense, with a good caramel flavor but the mouthfeel is pretty distracting. Just seems to dry out after that, with that raw sugar taking on an aggressive sugar-alcohol sweetener note. I'd mix at .5% for a subtle boost to darker flavors. 1% is probably the max you'd want as strictly a sweetener. The use as an actual caramel is going to depend on heavy and creamy your actual recipe is. 2% seems like a good starting point, and then work up seeing just how much of the weird mouthfeel issues your cream base can handle.
Worth noting, I didn't get any real noticeable coil gore solo testing this.
Similar in construction to FLV Caramel, but a lot less roasted. Good middle of the road sweetener, but it's going to need a lot of help with creams to get a smooth caramel.
Second Opinions:
Obligatory HIC notes:
"More like caramel ice-cream topping than a hard-candy flavor. It never tastes burnt or cracker-jacks-like. It is sweet, but less sweet than other brands.It will add rich caramel flavor to tobaccos without transforming the mix into a candy flavor.Mix FA Caramel with FA Butterscotch (and perhaps sweet, creamy flavors) for a candy-like caramel.
Adding nut flavors can produce buttery effects as a mix ages."
Used in a metric fuckton (technical term) of ELR Recipes. Notes are pretty sparse though. Does have some of Flavour Art's website copy which is suuuuuper creepy:
"Indulge yourself in the forbidden world of vaping pleasure, but be warned, you might never leave! How can one man give so much pleasure to so many people? This smooth, delicious, creamy Caramel creation oozes onto the palate and languishes shamelessly!" I'm simultaneously a little turned on and scared reading that.
ECX reviews basically say to use it low, it mixes well, and it's a bit dry.
DIY_eJuice Flavor Reviews

Why the V in GTA V stands for the Holy Grail. Chiliad Mystery. And dragon references from every GTA listed

The St. Valentine's Day Deadbeat Massacre: Which neighbors you should consider purging now that Origin has a new interface.

Origin has been the bane of a lot of EA players. But if you were like me and resisted having EA's Origin program get its tentacles on your home computer, the Valentine's Day update finally provides an alternative. This is actually good considering I've been keeping a list of folks who's towns didn't participate in Halloween or Christmas events last year.
But if you're a veteran player (I.e. you've been steadily playing the game over a year now or have achieved level 30 on up), you know how much it burns you to visit a neighbor's Springfield only to collect money instead of special items.
So here's a few landmarks you should keep your eyes open for to determine which neighbors should be purged:

The recent superbowl blimp. Not everyone may have played this special assignment two weeks ago, so if they don't have it, it doesn't mean they are delinquent.
The metal Christmas tree beacon. Anyone who's played within the past two months who has this item (which still makes money) will have it. There's a good chance that if you don't see it, they don't play anymore. The only exception to this point would be if you have rookie players (who have low levels) who just started playing this year.
The Turkey. While the Christmas Tree's existence is a sure sign that the player is still active, if you've got neighbors who didn't complete Thanksgiving 2013, they probably don't have the turkey. Ditto in the case of Halloween 2013's zombies and Christmas 2013's racoon. The Casino was a premium item, so if you don't see that, don't worry. (Personally, I didn't buy it.)
Pumpkin House, House of the Future, Freak Show. These three buildings were earned in the Halloween 2013 missions. Having marge dress up as a witch has been around since Halloween 2012, so don't assume that she's there that players were there last year. Also, if you have Marge the Witch you can use her to speed up a crop for practically everything but corn. Marge's powers are only really effective on plants grown at Cletus' farm for anything that takes 24 hour or less to grow. Anyone using her to grow rose bushes for Valentines 2014 will notice that her work only shaves 4 hours off rather than 12 hours with Moonshine which with out her takes 24 hours. Also, don't assume Shauna's presence is a sign of active play. She's been around for about a year now. (Remember: New items = still playing.)
Krustyland. Veteran players may recall Krustyland being a new addendum to Tapped Out last summer. But if you have veteran neighbors who don't have it, or didn't earn Kang's Twirl-and-Whirl from Halloween 2013 or the Happy Little Elves Ride from Christmas 2013, you might want to consider letting them go.
Squidport. And expansion as of early summer 2013, the high cost (both in time and money) may have had some folks putting off pier expansions. While developing plenty of houses is a great way to generate revenue, the just having the Squidport Entrance should indicate that anyone--say level 10 on up--is committed to continuing playing the game. Yes, things take a lot of time to build. And yes you will be tempted to blow all your donuts at once to make things happen immediately especially if you are a new player--but you shouldn't! Remember in games like TSTO, it's a MARATHON not a sprint. That can be said for other games like Clash of Clans which I'm also playing right now.
Land Development. Unlike IRL ("In Real Life"), urban sprawl is a good thing in TSTO. In fact, when you start playing, you should spend as much as you can to build more houses, buildings, and other money/XP making items. But remember to mind your budget. Land expansion is key to financial wealth in TSTO and building houses and other buildings secures it. TSTO doesn't just teach that patience is a virtue but that earning and saving up your money is important. The Boy Scouts have a name for these skills Personal Management. Even if you're not in (or were never in) the Boy Scouts, you'll find that the goal of this game echos alot of the requirements of this merit badge. Many of the neighbors I've had to purge so far never continued land expansion efforts. They're at level 22 and haven't earned the land along the seashore (which was one of the game expansions in late spring of 2013); they have bought all the land available but never developed it; they've bought land but it's overdevelopped with houses!
Over-development. As I mentioned at the end of that last point, some people bought all the land they could and overdevelopped it with nothing but houses. The pitfall with this is for some peole, it may be disorienting. Overdevelopped neighborhoods made me realize the importance of building subdivisions into block of 24, 27, or 30 houses in a group. The idea of "cramped quarters housing" more or less is the result of the influence of Urban Public Housing Projects in real life since the latter half of the 20th Century. However, like IRL, TSTO encourages players to add decorations and greenspace. Roads and Rivers are also encouraged. In fact, if you have neighbors who just have buildings but no roads (or at least pavement), you'll notice your Springfielders will just orbit around the latest building or along whatever few roads you do have. For anyone after Level 10, overcrowding and having no roads or greenspaces is inexcusable. After level 20, it should be grounds for unfriending.
Clean up your Springfield! with the exception for the burning bushes, Homer and Lisa should be picking up every piece of trash and debris in Springfield and as much as possible in Krustyland. Trash cleanup is important and in many instances is rewarded with Donuts especially if Lisa and Home are doing it simultaneously. So clean up your Springfield! Don't keep your radwaste lying around as art. (You earn no vanity keeping it and definely won't see your tree-hugging increase your overall average.) If your neighbors have been doing this, especially when combined with point #8, they're missing the point of the game. Some people may consider this an unfriendable offense.
The Car Keeper. In many towns where I've noticed Points 7, 8 and 9 not followed, they've used pleanty of donuts on vehicles. While it's OK to have vehicles to express your love of automobiles, why did you spend 300 donuts (which is $20 IRL) for premium objects that take up land space and have no premium missions attached to them. In app purchases can be expensive, and even if you are cheating in this game to give yourself a billion dollars and a million donuts, what's they point of applying these cheats, or even spending real money on fake objects if you can't do nothing with them? If you want to indulge yourself with these items, don't buy 10 of them because there's no refunds on premium items in the game, and no refunds from EA on real money IRL. Also, what's the pointmof buying all those "parking lots" if you can't park anything on them? Maybe in the future this will change and that snow plow you won or bought during Christmas will do something useful like plow snow. A good rule of thumb for most premium objects would be "if it's a premium object and it doesn't serve any objective or earn any reward, don't buy it!" Save your donuts and your IRL money as much as possible.
The Cheat Who can resist cheating in a game that charges $20 for 300 donuts that you'll be tempeted to spend it all in less than 5 minutes? While cheating can become handy for grabbing that over priced premium item, cheating at everything just sucks. Again, TSTO is a Personal Management Game. It's suppost to be long, slow, and tempt you to wreck your IRL finances. But as I've said about three times today, it's a marathon not a sprint. Having cheating neighbors (not in the Desperate Housewives sense, mind you) kinda sucks after a while. It's great that they have all that stuff at their beck and call, but then one day that guy will eventually stop playing and they won't give back in return when a game mission requires exchanging items with neighbors. If at some point, the guy who has everything doesn't show signs of mutuality for special missions, you might want to consider dumping that person. TLDR: If you must cheat, cheat wisely.

That seems to be all I can think of. This post may, and probably will change as time goes on. Most importanly, HAVE FUN!
FOLLOW UP: Sadly, the Reddit Bourgeoisie have bashed this thread under the opinion that the advice I've given is the opinion of autocracy and mandate. These were merely SUGGESTIONS. But reading still doesn't seem to be Reddit's strongsuit no matter what subreddit I visit. Still, it can't be any worse that the assholes who run /StLouis.
I have no regrets of what I've wrote, especially since I've made over $10,000,000 in this game without jailbreaking the game and without spending more than $20 each month in real life. Most of the money was made in the past three months. I played the game fairly and without spending all day playing it except when there were some special short missions.
I posted what I said because it is effective, organized, and lucrative (at least in the game). If I made $10,000,000 in real life this way, you would have called my advice part of some money scam like I was some Wall Street crook.
My advice was to be applied upon people who have abandoned the game, epecially "friends" who when you went to their town, you could still hear the Halloween gremlin grumbling. Hence the adjective "DEADBEAT".
It's a shame there aren't more videos on YouTube to express how much Reddit Sucks at times.
I look forward to the jerks who bashed this thread defriending me. For every jerk who leaves me, there's always someone else to take their place. I'll be rolling in the fake money while you slave the day away at this game.
PEACE!

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[EDU][FF][RST] Conned Again, Watson: In which Sherlock Holmes teaches John Watson about logical fallacies and Bayesian reasoning

1. The Case of the Unfortunate Businessman

Framing story

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2. The Case of the Gambling Nobleman

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[EDU][FF][RST] Conned Again, Watson: In which Sherlock Holmes teaches John Watson about logical fallacies and Bayesian reasoning

1. The Case of the Unfortunate Businessman

Framing story

Topics

Author's book recommendations

Quote

2. The Case of the Gambling Nobleman

Framing story

Topic

Author's book recommendation

Quote

3. The Case of the Surprise Heir

Framing story

Topics

Quote

4. The Case of the Ancient Mariner

Framing story