Fire in east village san diego

I am currently in the ready pool on my application. Anyone on this subreddit employed at SAN? Do you guys need anyone right now or are actively hiring? I don’t want to sit in the ready pool for a year

Nature of Predators is created by u/SpacePaladin15, whom was willing to let his horde of fans write fanfiction.
I'd like to give my thanks to u/SavingsSyllabub7788, the creator of Death of a Monster, and one of my favorite birbs. for giving me an odd bit of inspiration, and the discord at large for shaping this story with theories and random discussions. This one shot didn't even conceptually exist last week.
Also referenced u/Acceptable_Egg5560's Nature of a Giant in this one.
Tell me how you feel about this story. I'm content with where it ends, but others' insight always helps me figure out my flaws.
.*~*.
Memory Transcription Subject: Barkim, forsaken krakotl veteran.
Date: December 20, 2136
.~*~.
I came before Captain Sovlin and Captain Kalsim. I remember watching Kalsim train. I doubt he remembers me. My career made me into a captain pretty fast. Faster than most. I had repelled five Arxur raids while in control of the bridge. My crew were brave enough to trust me and my insane methods. Letting a colony world fall was unacceptable in my eyes. We were the vigilant, always ready to warp in ten minutes or less. The federation as whole didn't seem to understand how much value a few extra minutes bought for the settlers meant. Even if I had to order a retreat, tens of thousands would survive because they managed to find a place to weather the raid while the Arxur were distracted.
I was a hero.
Rumbling laughter and howls make my slow trod falter, and I look though a window into the recreational room. There's several humans at a table holding scraps of paper and barking in a jovial mood. They're not masked, and my feathers ruffle looking at them. A flicker of movement on the table catches my eye, and I finally spot the Dossur in their midst, almost completely hidden in a bunker of coins.
A Dossur beating an entire group of pack predators by himself. I never would've believed it, but I'm still not surprised it would be Alvin of all people.
That little runt was the only reason I've managed to hold onto my sanity for so long. He was braver than I, and he brought me back even when I was at my worst, again and again and again. He was the first to run to our predatory saviors back at the facility. And he was the last to leave, running back into the fighting and leading a human doctor to me to stop the stray bullet from taking me into Inatala's grace.
I left him to his card game, faintly overhearing one of the humans complain about being a several years running Texas Holdem champion. Alvin's response sounded very much like him, asking if he wanted to bet the actual crown next to add to his growing wealth.
Eventually I found myself in front of a door. Inside was a small room. One wall contained a wooden desk carved with enough craftsmanship to rival old Krakotl wood carvers. The desk was cluttered with cylinders and writing apparatuses, and a primitive writing board resting on the wall above it displayed several print outs of various people. Relatives. Descendants. People that had enough empathy in them to take back the few lucky souls that still had people they could trust. The computer underneath it was not active, but if it where I'd imagine there would be encrypted communication logs trying to reconnect with those few love ones. Plans to reunite them. Promises to protect them under this faction's umbrella.
It was strange, that this group of humans wasn't desired by the rest of their kind. They take more direct, brutal action than their leaders, but they act to save lives.
On the opposite wall was a locker. Inside were several firearms of Human make, and multiple emergency atmospheric suits. Many were for human use, but some were Federation standard. A pair of boots and engineering equipment rested on the floor before it, scuffed and well worn. There's a strange logo of an orange planet on the back of a jacket hanging from a hook nearby, and an even stranger article of cloth called an 'arm band.' The arm band has a large tree sewn into it, flanked by two prey animals and a river. The human I'm visiting was part of that arm band group, named after a tree of all things.
You couldn't get me to harbor a guess as to why they'd name themselves after a tree.
The far wall was rather simple. A faded green paint coat, covered in various anti-predator posters. One was of a human in a blue space suit, the visor open and revealing an endless pit of teeth. Another depicting a feral, over-proportioned human salivating over a dressed, screaming krakotl on a dinner plate. A third poster depicted some venlil collared and chained in place, stuck in some multi-colored wrapping that went up its legs halfway.
There was a mirror beside the posters, and I winced at the terrible shape I was in. I'd abused myself too much after I was freed. Even after stopping, I was still recovering. Looking past the mirror, there is a large banner of a green Terran letter. A few paper photos are plastered around it of smiling humans in strange places, and my eye always lingers over those photos despite the many times I've seen them. Earth looked lovely. I wished Kalsim had called off his mission.
Feeling like an intruder, I turned my attention to the last part of the wall. A set of black out curtains were flush with it, concealing a human roost built into the structure itself. If I was lucky, she would be there.
"Hope?"
Come on, you're better than a chicken.
Carefully, I lifted the curtain. "Hope?"
There she was. The one human I wasn't bothered by on this station. I can hear the music playing now that the curtain is out of the way, and the thick visor over her eyes tells me she's watching a video or simulation of some kind. I hesitate, watching her in her own world. What fur she does have is short and remarkably dense, and she has such a unique coloration that I would swear she was one of a kind if she hadn't mentioned having family. A tan complexion, painted over by splotches and stripes of white and violets that humans can't see with their own eyes. Her face is relaxed, mouth slightly open in wonder.
The human that helped staunch my bleeding, and gently broke the news to me of everything that had happened while I was locked up. The same one that kept me from pulling myself apart immediately after, and tried to find a way to keep me busy as my whole world went up in flames. A stern, capable person that could make decisions under pressure and wanted to save lives. While not a leader, I could see it in her. She had mettle.
She was completely exposed. Had I been the old me and not the one that woke up in a PD cell after a Sillis conference, I might've followed Kalsim's path. A talon in the right spot, and humans die fast.
"Hope?" Even raising my voice, she didn't hear me right in front of her. "Hope!"
As much as I respected her, coming this far in my state was exhausting. I, being a former fleet captain, hero, and outstanding Federation officer, decidedly acted like a child in that moment and pecked her.
"AAAAAAAH!"
"AIIIIIIIIIEEEEE"
I let out the most undignified shriek in my life and fell over backwards, landing on my tail feathers and sending a jolt up my spine. I forgot that since Hope was human, by extension she could be loud. Really, really, unfathomably loud.
There was a blur of limbs and Hope was sitting up, visor wielded as a bludgeon. She made eye contact with me, and I realized all my remaining feathers had poofed up.
"Blu!" She scolded, face curling in frustration. "What in the matter is- Blu?! You're not in your room?"
Shock, this time. I felt some shame in how low my standards had fallen, and smoothed down my feathers properly. My poor heart was already recovering and I stood, puffing out my chest.
"I... I wanted to go for a walk. See what you humans could do with a dated station like this."
"You're in my room."
"That appears to be the case." I pushed a ball of dust across the floor with a talon and regarded it absently, turning my head and keeping an eye on Hope. "It needs cleaning."
With speed I was anticipating, she hurled a pillow at me. I caught the assault and rerouted it, catching her in the face. She leaned back and laughed, a noise that calmed what was left of my quaking heart as I hopped forward. She offered a hand that I accepted, and she helped pull me onto the edge of the bed.
"You offered to show me your skies." I began, feeling uncertain. "Is that possible?"
"Yeah," she said. "Here-"
Grace put a hand on my chest and pushed down. A profound sense of horror washed over me as my back hit the soft bedding. She wouldn't- no. She can't- is it even- when have I last- Inatala please-
I realized with a start that Hope leaned past me, grabbing her pad. She plugged an odd attachment into it and fastened it to the wall by her head, and flopped over beside me. My immediate terror faded into embarrassment, and my face warmed at my own stupidity as she pulled the curtain closed. It became dark, and I felt her shift slightly until the ceiling above us started to slowly glow. Her pad booted up and began to project an image up there, and I felt my initial problems fade as a blue sky opened up before us.
"Oh wow." I breathed, realizing it was a video as a plane flew overhead. I forgot myself for a moment, looking up into an alien sky as clouds blew by at a lazy pace. The jet stream slowly lost its uniformity and stretched out, facing away as other clouds replaced it. I could hear wind and alien birds chirping, and for a long moment I was there. I was really there.
Storm clouds, massive weather fronts, all began drifting by. There was a dull rumble of thunder. I started as a bird flew very close overhead.
"What was that?"
"Woodpecker. Some can get pretty big back home. Not as big as you, Blu."
"Is it really this serene? Where was this taken?"
"My backyard. There was a massive hill out back. I used to lay there for hours when I was younger. Lived at the edge of a village. The only noise back there was the odd combustion engine or farming drone. Sometimes someone firing off a gun or listening to music loudly."
"You lived in the countryside? You're a pilot!"
Hope chuckled softly. "Surprise! There's some pretty sharp people that don't live in the cities, Blu. Especially us humans. My father could repair any farm equipment you threw at him going back a hundred years. Of course, I also have an uncle that thinks the Queen of England doesn't exist, so it probably levels out." She finished, sighing and reaching up. She swiped her finger across the ceiling and suddenly the skies changed.
They were orange now. More clouds. I felt a familiar pang in my chest thinking of a Nishtal sunset, but I kept quiet as the skies gradually changed. I was surprised to see such a vibrant shade of orange, then a sharp streak of violet bleed into it. There was red as well. A lot of red.
"Why red?"
"Oh, that. Massive forest fire in Canada. That's a country above mine. The smoke changed the colors for a little while. It made for a nice view."
That it did. I got lost in the footage, and started losing track of time. Only the occasional creak of the bedding kept me from forgetting where I really was. Hope seemed content watching the skies, and it dawned on me how close I was to her.
I'm acclimating well. Maybe I'll be like Alvin in no time.
When the skies slowly turned to night I was amazed at the stars that came out. Constellations I was unfamiliar with, patterns and swirls of light that could never be seen from a Federation city. I heard Hope inhale and reach out, changing the scene before it could linger anymore. "How about a time lapse. I've got some good ones."
"I don't know what that is."
"Really? Someone sets up a camera in a nice spot and records hours or days of footage. They take everything they've documented and then speed it up to a couple minutes." Hope starts a new video. I'm taken back by it, how a cloud bank flows around a mountain pass like water. It looks like a stream, where the clouds shift with each wind current change, flowing back and forth as minutes are turned into seconds.
It's stunning. Hope switches to another one, and another. I'm struck dumb with wonder, baffled at how not one other creature out of the hundreds of species thought to do anything similar over the course of the Federation. Massive mountain tops, where humans blur through trails like plasma. Prairies with storm cells moving in, lighting and rain sweeping through and giving it new light as the terrain is rapidly drenched. A large road where thousands of human vehicles streak by and leave brief paint trails in their wake.
"Thank you, Hope."
She nods, an odd gesture of acknowledgement, before changing the video back to a more slow paced skyline. After several minutes of silence, I feel a weight forming in my chest. Slowly, my wonder begins to crumble.
"How many confidants were you able to find? For the others?"
Hope shifted to look at me, turning her head and making my feathers tingle slightly at how close her face was to me. She looked back up at the sky. "Seven."
"There were forty that wanted to leave as quickly as they could. What happens to them?"
"We're letting them go. Even if they don't want anything to do with predators, they're going to find out avoiding my species is pretty hard. We're going to give them access to the network anyways, in case they want our help down the road."
"And the rest of us?"
"I'm helping the ones that want to go back to a somewhat normal life find that. There's several planets they can go to, and countless colonies. They'll be placed close to the support network in case there's trouble and they need to come back, or need financial assistance or help integrating."
Hope had mentioned something about 'shelters being a safe place' for us break outs, but had never elaborated on that.
"And what about the others that want to stay?" I noticed Hope scowl at the skies, her face forlorn.
"The ones that want to stay and help us fight are welcome to. It's not all dangerous- being part of the network isn't as risky. Helping the ones that wanted to go back to living, or finding others that got lost or fell through the cracks. It... it feels wrong asking anyone we rescued to fight and die for us. We don't want clouded judgement and people thinking they owe us that. But, there are a lot wanting to join our ranks in more aggressive operations. We're making them combat ready, teaching them how we wage wars so that they don't turn into their overseers."
I lay there for a long moment, staring at the open skies above us. "What about me?" I asked quietly.
"You're not excluded from those choices, Blu."
"You read my file. You know who I was. What I would've done if I didn't end up in that place. You'd really just let me go?"
"If you wanted to go, then yes."
The simple way in which she states it confused me. Like such a choice wouldn't cause issues or risks.
"But, we've been thinking about a better choice for you."
Oh?
"The Mazics are turning into the next Paltan Combine. Their newest influx of refugees were the released Krakotl."
My chest tightens. Nishtal is no more, razed to the bedrock and dead. We had been abandoned by our neighbors, our home slaughtered well before our true nature was revealed. And in the same year, the Federation deploys over forty thousand ships to take back a world that left behind their rule. Billions of loyal citizens captured and destined for a bloody fate were worth less than billions that seceded peacefully.
And then the humans brokered a deal with the Arxur and saved their souls. This was yet another time they did the impossible.
"We were thinking they could use a strong anchor to roost against. Someone that they might remember. A leader that they can trust."
I turned my head to directly face Hope, but she was still looking at the skies.
"I... they hate you humans."
"They do."
"I can't try and lead them, and sell out anyone that still doesn't believe in the UN's cause. I can't betray them." I chirped, dread worming into my gut.
"We wouldn't expect you too. We don't want you too. Blu-" Hope turned her gaze on me, her voice sincere. "We want them to find the right path. They deserve peace and security. They don't deserve to live in fear and rot with hatred. We don't... my group does not want yours to suffer over what your government did, even if the masses supported it at the time. We think you can lead them to a better future, where this hell can have a chance to heal and fade."
She looked back up at the artificial sky above us. "You don't even have to talk to us again if you choose this. If you do your best to ensure your species can coexist with mine, that would be more than we could ever hope to see happen."
"You think that's possible? That I could get that far? It seems so far away."
Hope bared her teeth in a smile. "You're more than capable. You love your people with everything you have, Blu. They'll see that. They'll believe in you. When you stand firm for your people, they'll follow you, too. We'll help where we can- peacefully. This can happen, I know it."
I found myself looking up at Earth's sky once again, apprehensive above this new burden. There was no way I would turn this down. If the Wolverines thought it was possible, then it was possible. A future where my people were both free in body and spirit was one I would fight for until my weary body gave out.
"How do we start?"

We have decided that one hotfix in the last few days just simply isn’t enough, and that we had to have another one. But in reality, some fairly significant bugs affecting majors slipped through the last release, so here’s round two of the fixes for you all!

• The KR4 team

Changes
Notable Additions

• Implemented Intro Screens for more countries, with the eventual aim to have unique screens and images for every country in the mod.
• Converted several Intro Screen texts to be now over multiple pages.
• Added Path Guides in the intro screens for Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, the Commune of France, the French Republic, Greece, Ireland, Italian Republic, Jabal Shammar, Japan, Liangguang, Lithuania, Netherlands, the Ottoman Empire, Poland, the Qing, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Shandong, Sichuan, South Africa, Ukraine, the Union of Britain, United Baltic Duchy, White Ruthenia and Yunnan - more will be added in following patches, with the intention of all countries eventually having them.

GFX

• New portraits
  • Austria: Franz Böhme
  • United Baltic Duchy: Archibald von Keyserling
  • Cuba: José Agripino Barnet
  • Commune of France: André Boris
  • Hunan: Tang Shengzhi
  • Left Kuomintang: Wang Jingwei
  • Poland: Aleksander II
  • Taiwan: Jiang Weishui
• Added new intro pictures for Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Patagonia, Uruguay.
• Added a new flag for Papua.
• Tweaked the country selection screen.

Other Changes

• Western & Southern Europe
  • Added French endonyms to Catalonia.
  • Added André Boris to the general roster of the Commune of France.
  • Adjustments to skills and traits of the Commune of France's Diego Brosset, Louis Buisson, Georges Catroux, Henri Frenay, Aubert Frère, Maurice Gamelin and Jean-Edouard Verneau.
  • Reworked the Socialist Republic of Italy's "End of the Cultural Revolution" event to give player agency over if Mussolini dies.
• Eastern & Southeast Europe
  • Reduced the weekly stability loss from Bulgaria’s Royalist Resistance spirit.
  • Clarified the “What is a Hetmanate” event for Ukraine, stating that it refers to the Hetmanate as it currently exists, not in its earlier forms.
  • Added a tooltip about the consequences of when Ukraine arrests Petliura.
  • Improved the tooltip for a NatPop Ukrainian national focus.
  • Nerfed Ukrainian consumer goods bonuses.
  • Reduced Ukrainian war support and stability bonuses from advisors.
  • Changed the bonuses for Ukraine’s "Autarkist Revolutionary" advisor trait.
• East Asia
  • Anqing’s Sun Liren will now prefer to go to an anti-concessionist Qing, rather than the Left Kuomintang, should Anqing have been defeated.
  • Dzungaria is now transferred to Mongolia if Xinjiang fails to contain their raids, instead of granting a wargoal that could potentially trigger a war between two major factions.
  • Shanghai is now always AutDem after the Legation Cities collapse.
• South Asia & Oceania
  • Added 100 convoys to Insulindia’s naval tree.
• Miscellaneous
  • Added a new loading screen quote by Dmytro Dontsov.
  • Clarified the requirements in several game rules.
  • Removed several typos and text inconsistencies.

Fixes
Notable Fixes

• Fixed Germany kicking itself out of Mitteleuropa.
• Fixed Hungary not being released after the Treaty of Budapest for PatAut Austria.
• Fixed imperial Russia not being able to complete its focus tree.

Other Fixes

• North America
  • Fixed reference to dead Smedley Butler in a Combined Syndicates of America post-war event.
  • Fixed Combined Syndicates of America demobilisation mission remaining active even if attacked by the Entente.
• Central America & the Caribbean
  • Fixed a bug with Puero Rico’s game rules.
• Western & Southern Europe
  • Fixed not being able to give Malta to a puppet Italy in the Fate of Malta.
• Central & Northern Europe
  • Fixed Czechia giving Slovakia back to Austria when Austria is PatAut.
  • Fixed not being able to give Croatia to Hungary in the Fate of Croatia.
  • Fixed Poland not starting as part of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society.
  • Fixed the United Baltic Duchy getting an instant core on Latgale.
• Eastern & Southeast Europe
  • Fixed Bulgaria’s research slot focus bypassing if the “National Catastrophe” national spirit was removed elsewhere.
  • Fixed a bug with Ukrainian volunteer recruitment, should they already have the division template.
  • Fixed Ukraine’s post-war national focus tree not unlocking if Transamur reformed Russia.
  • Fixed Ukraine getting the wrong industrialisation spirit when its industrial score is above 90.
  • Fixed a broken tooltip in Ukraine’s “A Visit from the VSZV” event.
  • Fixed Ukraine not always being able to remove Nationalist Agitation.
  • Fixed Ukraine not getting the Small Pact national spirit.
  • Fixed the "Promises of Land Reform" mission for Ukraine giving far more stability than it should.
  • Fixed Revolutionary Bloc Ukraine being unable to start a revolution if France fell in the war, even if other Internationale members were still fighting it.
  • Fixed socialist Ukraine not being able to join the Internationale if socialist Russia had already merged its faction with the former.
• Africa
  • Fixed Ethiopia getting blocked off in its Railway event chain.
  • Fixed Natal not turning into South Africa if a player Entente took Cape Town in the Third Boer War peace conference.
  • Fixed David Ivon Jones’ description being too long.
• Caucasus & Middle-East
  • Fixed Karabakh being given to Azerbaijan instead of being retained so it can be decided by the Fate of Karabakh event.
  • Fixed not being able to give Karabakh to Russia if both Armenia and Azerbaijan were given previously.
• East Asia
  • Fixed the French endonyms for Guangzhouwan.
  • Fixed Guangxi getting a wargoal against itself.
  • Fixed broken tooltips in a few Chinese events.
  • Fixed Chen Jiongming not being correctly moved to Sichuan when he forms his government in exile.
• South Asia & Oceania
  • Fixed the Dominion of India Balanced Economy spirit being an inferior version of the Five Year Plan spirit.
  • Fixed two Dominion of India foci having identical effects.
• Miscellaneous
  • Fixed several endonym mismatches.

We hope you enjoy playing Kaiserreich as much as we did making it!
- The KR4 Team: 84F8D8, Alpinia, Arvidus, Augenis, Blackfalcon501, Carmain, Chazem, Chiang Kai-shrek, Chiron29, Cody, Conchobhar, DuoDex, El Daddy, Fedex, Flamefang, Gaboemi, Gideones, Hamfast, hildagrim, Ido, Igor050301, JazzyHugh, Jeankedezeehond, Jonny BL, Juliet Wehrwolf, Kano, katieluka, Kennedy, kergely, KFateweaver, Klyntar King, Krčo, Luwofe, Matoro, McOmghall, ~mw~ // miwaco, NukeGaming, Owenomaly, PPsyrius, Pelmen, RagnoStrangeros, Rnk, Shiroe, Sonny O’Cad, SuperGreenBeans, suzuha, The Alpha Dog, The Irredentista, The Italian Jojo, Vidyaország, and Zimbabwe Salt Co.

A controversial ordinance pushed by Mayor Todd Gloria and downtown Councilman Stephen Whitburn aiming to ban camping at all times near homeless shelters could dramatically shift East Village, San Diego County’s longtime homeless service hub.
https://voiceofsandiego.org/2023/06/06/proposed-camping-ban-aims-to-transform-san-diegos-homelessness-epicente

I trust this message finds you well and in good spirits. My name is Daniel, and I am writing to you from the heartland of Oaxaca, Mexico, where we’ve been cultivating the wisdom and practices of traditional plant medicine. I am excited to announce that I will be journeying to New York City, carrying with me the Oaxaca Awakening Retreat experience. From June 14th through 10th, I will have the honor of sharing our transformative Kambo Ceremonies right from the comfort of a home setting.
For those of you unfamiliar, Kambo is a powerful healing ritual involving the medicinal secretions of the Amazonian tree frog. It is a sacred rite that has provided people with profound spiritual, emotional, and physical healing. The Oaxaca Awakening Retreat will also be available, which provides an immersive experience in plant medicine and indigenous traditions. Our aim is to guide individuals toward personal awakening and a deepened connection with nature and self.
After my stay in NYC, the journey continues southwest towards San Diego, California, and finally back home to Oaxaca. If you’re residing anywhere in the USA and are interested in exploring the realm of plant medicine, please don’t hesitate to connect. Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned in this kind of work, I would be more than happy to engage with you.
For more detailed information, you can visit my website: https://www.myplantmedicinejourney.com/nyc May you have a beautiful day filled with peace and light, and I look forward to potentially meeting some of you on this journey. In warmth and wellness, Daniel Rios Romero

A controversial ordinance pushed by Mayor Todd Gloria and downtown Councilman Stephen Whitburn aiming to ban camping at all times near homeless shelters could dramatically shift East Village, San Diego County’s longtime homeless service hub.
https://voiceofsandiego.org/2023/06/06/proposed-camping-ban-aims-to-transform-san-diegos-homelessness-epicente

Morning and evening stroller walks with my 6 week old and dog have been life saving. But I’ve been worried since we currently have air quality alerts because of the fires in Canada (live in the north east USA). Does anyone have any advice for still getting outside time with the air quality in mind? I don’t know if I’m over thinking things!

Was thinking about the drive from New york to LA when I realized not only are they on the exact opposite side of the country east to west, but also New York is pretty north while LA is very south.
I know wateports probably play a big part in it, but if the east coast has been established longer and theres plenty of water access all along it, it seems weird that a city that developed so much later on the complete opposite side of the country would become the second largest rather than a second east coast city.
Is there also a reason The north/south factor plays into it? Why didnt San Francisco or a city like Seattle that both have fantastic water access, thats more north on the coast like New York is become the second largest?
Is there actual geographic reasons for this? Or is this the result of something else like idk people moving out towards california for gold mining rather than seaport life? Is there any reason at all or is this just a coincidence?

I'm considering a move to the East Coast from the San Francisco area, I currently specialize in corporate work, events, lifestyle shoots, and interviews. I'm aware that New York City is known for its narrative indie culture, but I'm curious if there's also a significant amount of corporate work available. Would it be more beneficial for me to focus my job search in New York City, or should I explore opportunities in Washington, DC instead?
I have never been to the east coast and plan to travel before the move. How would you describe the lifestyle variations between San Francisco, New York City, and Washington, DC?

I have seen a lot of posts about San Diego restaurants with comments about the poor quality of food. It got me thinking, SD reddit, what is your favorite restaurant in San Diego?
I know people don't like to follow rules, but let's try.

• Submit 1 restaurant name per post (preferably your favorite restaurant)
• Everyone else will upvote/downvote in agreement/disagreement
• No comments on the restaurant that was put forward. VOTING ONLY

I have the California-specific Themis books (outlines, PT, etc.) to give away in San Diego (north county).
If someone is interested, shoot me a message!

Saga like many here, applied in March, still “in process,” marked urgent, senator’s office calling etc etc. DOT is Sunday, so we took an appointment in San Diego tomorrow morning. Expensive, inconvenient, but better than losing 8k on non refundable tickets. My question is, since appt. is Wednesday and travel is Sunday, will we get our passports in hand? Or will this be a nail biter where we still have to have it shipped??

[PC] hears word of a forest set ablaze, several people were injured. But the town nearby doesn't care about the smoldering amazon next to them. Instead, they imprisoned most of the people who were injured in the fire. [PC] decides to go investigate, finding people flourishing in the village. When [PC] asks what happened, the villagers just say "Don't worry, just pray that you don't run into him."
[PC] then hears a large explosion in the distance, none of the villagers even look in the direction of the blast.
What does [PC] do?
​
Rewards:
Soul of Hatred: a rare crafting material used in weapons that give strength boosts.
Smoldering Maul: A medieval maul that burns bright with flames, it deals blunt and fire damage. 20 flat blunt damage with a burning effect that deals 1d10 damage every turn for 5 turns.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65819591
Thousands of people are being evacuated downstream of a major dam which has been blown up in Russian-held Ukraine.
President Zelensky said 80 towns and villages were at risk of flooding after the destruction of the dam at Nova Kakhovka, which he blamed on Russia.
Water is surging down the Dnipro river and is said to pose a catastrophic flooding risk to the city of Kherson.
Russia has denied destroying the dam - which it controls - instead blaming Ukrainian shelling.
Neither Ukraine or Russia's claim has been verified by the BBC.
The Kakhovka dam is crucial in the region. It contains a reservoir, which provides water to farmers and residents, as well as to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. It is also is a vital channel carrying water south to Russian-occupied Crimea.
Video footage shows a torrent of floodwater gushing through a breach in the dam. Several towns are already flooded, while people in areas further downstream were forced to flee by bus and train.
Around 40,000 people need to be evacuated, Deputy Prosecutor-General Viktoriya Lytvynova said on Ukrainian television - 17,000 people in Ukraine-controlled territory west of the Dnipro River and 25,000 on the Russian-controlled east.
Also speaking on Ukrainian television, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said about 1,000 people had been evacuated so far and "24 settlements" had been flooded.
He accused Russia of shelling the southern region of Kherson, where people were being evacuated from, and issued a warning about the dangers posed by mines being exposed by the rising water levels.
One local resident Andrei, who lives close to the dam - which has been under Russian control throughout the invasion - said he believed Russia wanted to "drown" his city.
In Kherson, a woman called Lyudmyla - who was loading her belongings including a washing machine onto a trailer that was attached to an old car - said: "We're afraid of flooding. We're taking our things a little higher up."
She called for Russian forces to be "kicked out of here... they're shooting at us. They're flooding us or doing something else".
Another resident of the city, Sergiy, said he feared "everything is going to die here".
The city of Kherson is 50 miles downstream of the dam
"All the living creatures, and people will be flooded out," he said, gesturing at nearby houses and gardens.
On the Russian-controlled riverbank, Vladimir Leontyev, the Moscow-installed mayor of Nova Kakhovka where the dam is located, said the city was underwater and 900 people had been evacuated.
He said 53 evacuation buses were being sent by the authorities to take people from the city and two other settlements nearby to safety.
Nova Kakhovka's Russian-installed mayor said water levels had risen to over 11m (36ft) and that some residents had been taken to hospital, but gave no further details.
The Kazkova Dibrova zoo on the Russian-held riverbank has been completely flooded and all 300 animals are dead, it said in a post on its Facebook page.
There are concerns about the impact on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which uses water from a reservoir behind the dam for cooling.
The situation there is said to be under control and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said it is monitoring the situation closely.
The UN agency said it saw "no immediate nuclear safety risk" at Europe's biggest atomic plant.
It is not yet clear what caused the breach in the dam, but Ukraine's military intelligence has accused Russia of deliberately blowing it up early this morning.
This seems plausible, as Moscow may have feared that Ukrainian forces would use the road over the dam to advance into Russian-held territory, as part of their counter-offensive.
For Russia, anxious to defend conquered territory in southern Ukraine, the dam represented an obvious problem.
Just as Ukrainian forces attacked road and rail bridges further downstream last autumn in a successful effort to isolate Russian forces in and around Kherson, Russia may have decided to destroy the dam to hold up Ukraine's counter-offensive, which it fears could come from multiple directions.
However, a Russian official claims Ukraine carried out the attack on the dam to detract from what they said were the failures of its counter-offensive and to deprive Crimea of fresh water.
A major Ukrainian push has long been expected. Kyiv has said it would not give advance warning of its start but a recent increase in military activity is being seen as a fresh sign that the counter-offensive may have begun.
Senior Ukrainian military commander Serhiy Naev said the dam blast would not stop Ukraine from advancing.
On Monday, Ukraine's deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian forces had advanced around the "epicentre of hostilities" in Bakhmut, but did not say whether the counter-offensive had begun.
Bakhmut has for months been at the heart of fierce fighting. It has little strategic value - but is important symbolically both for Kyiv and Moscow.
In the aftermath of the attack on the dam, Mr Zelensky said he had called a meeting of the country's security and defence council.
Blaming "Russian terrorists" for the partial destruction of the dam, Mr Zelenksy said "it's only Ukraine's victory that will return security".
Yuri Sak, an adviser to Ukraine's ministry of defence, told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme that phone intercepts have suggested Russia wants to target more dams.
"They're actually calling to blow up more dams on the Dnipro river," he said.
Ukraine has branded the attack on the dam "ecocide" and said that 150 tonnes of engine oil has spilled into the Dnipro river.
Ukraine's hydroelectricity operator has said that a power station linked to the dam had been "completely destroyed... the hydraulic structure is being washed away".
World leaders have laid the blame for the blast at Russia's door, with some calling it a war crime.
UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly branded the attack an "abhorrent act", adding: "Intentionally attacking exclusively civilian infrastructure is a war crime. The UK stands ready to support Ukraine and those affected by this catastrophe."
The head of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, said the destruction of the dam demonstrated once again the brutality of Russia's war in Ukraine, while Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, said he was "shocked by the unprecedented attack".
The Geneva Conventions explicitly ban targeting dams in war due to the danger it poses to civilians.