I have all the patches needed to play fallout NV installed and am able to start and play it for a bit up till I leave Doc Mitchells office and shortly after that the game camera freezes, stutters, and acts out sometimes freezing the game with it, sometimes continuing the game but only showing the frozen / stuttering screen.
The game works all right it seems except for this problem which is causing me a headache I was wondering if any of you more experienced mod users had any solutions for this? Almost all my mods were downloaded using Vortex except Fallout New Vegas Limit Fix which I manually installed with the instructions provided in the description.
( I installed it with Vortex before yet it doesn't seem whether I manually installed it or not matters much)
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Load Order
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FalloutNV.esm
DeadMoney.esm
HonestHearts.esm
OldWorldBlues.esm
LonesomeRoad.esm
GunRunnersArsenal.esm
ClassicPack.esm
MercenaryPack.esm
TribalPack.esm
CaravanPack.esm
YUP - Base Game + All DLC.esm
Sortomatic.esm
BraveNewWorld.esm
FreesideOpen.esm
MoreMojave.esm
TGMIO.esm
ELECTRO-CITY - CompletedWorkorders.esm
FCOMaster.esm
TLD_Travelers.esm
NVInteriors_Core.esm
NVInteriors_ComboEdition.esm
Less Empty Primm.esp
ELECTRO-CITY - Highways and Byways.esm
SomeguySeries.esm
Niner.esm
The New Bison Steve Hotel.esm
Kidnapped by Fiends.esm
More Perks.esm
Courier's Radio.esm
YUP - NPC Fixes (Base Game + All DLC).esp
Unofficial Patch Plus.esp
CombatEnhancer.esp
Vurt's WFO.esp
Logic and Consistency Fixes.esp
EasierMassPurifiedWater.esp
KMGL_Main.esp
EmptyWeapons.esp
B42Inertia.esp
FCO - NPC Changes.esp
JSawyer Ultimate.esp
The True Revival of Luxury - An Ultra-Luxe Overhaul.esp
FreesideOpenPatch.esp
TopsSuiteUpgrade-Main.esp
Mojave Raiders.esp
Bathroom Doors Overhaul - All IN ONE.esp
EVE FNV - ALL DLC.esp
VanGraffOverhaul.esp
TopsToVault21.esp
WeaponModsExpanded.esp
More Perks Update.esp
All Weapon Sounds Overhaul .esp
Saucy Sink.esp
WMX-DLCMerged.esp
Mojave Arsenal.esp
WMX-EVE-AllDLCMerged.esp
IMPACT.esp
Realistic Lead - Bullet Ballistics.esp
Realistic Lead - Bullet Ballistics - IMPACT Patch.esp
Mojave Wildlife (Vanilla-Style).esp
HiddenValleyOverhauled1.2.esp
BraveNewWorld-FCO.esp
CourierCacheWSE.esp
ArizonaArmy.esp
BLMedical.esp
NevadaSkies.esp
The New Bison Steve Hotel.esp
Advanced Recon Armor.esp
SecuritronsOnAlert.esp
NCR Ranger Helmet Neck Cover.esp
RetrievableThrowables.esp
Casino Exchange All.esp
HeinzTrenchShotgun.esp
Watter Putter Outter.esp
Alsatian NCR Guard Dogs.esp
NCR Battle Rifle.esp
RangerSequoiaSafehouse.esp
Living_Lucky.esp
The Tops Restaurant New Menu.esp
ImmersivePickupSoundsFNV.esp
JSawyer Ultimate - Mojave Arsenal Patch.esp
cleanatomicwrangler.esp
JSawyer Mod Vanilla Number of Perks.esp
Show Pickpocket Success Rate.esp
Loot Unconscious Victims.esp
hz_Empty Clicks.esp
IRNPC.esp
Shorter Chem Wear-off Effects.esp
Pyromaniac.esp
TBz Atomic Wrangler VIP Suite.esp
NewVegasBounties.esp
NewVegasBountiesII.esp
TheInheritance.esp
1nivVSLArmors.esp
HuntingRevolver&Sequoia.esp
JSawyer Ultimate - FCO Patch.esp
JSawyer Ultimate - Mojave Raiders Patch.esp
Russell.esp
LFox Bottle That Water.esp
FuckableCompanions.esp
Bash_Stealthboy.esp
NPCs Can Miss.esp
The Mod Configuration Menu.esp
MuchNeededLOD.esp
Nights are Darker - Ultimate Edition.esp
FCO - The New Bison Steve.esp
LiveDismember.esp
lonesome_firetrucks.esp
NVDLC04 Allegiance w Duster.esp
UniqueThinkTank.esp
Lucky38Overhaul.esp
RebreatherRestoration.esp
Simple DLC Delay.esp
Restoring Hope Quest Morale Fix.esp
Project Reality Footsteps.esp
MCPipBoy2000MK6_clock.esp
NVFeralGhoulChildren.esp
NPC Use Aid.esp
NPCsSprint.esp
MigNammo.esp
Immersive Hit Reactions.esp
ImmersiveRecoil.esp
Lobotomitess.esp
GhoulRadTweaks.esp
GhoulRadTweaks - JIP.esp
Female White Glove Society Mask.esp
BetterNCRSupplyCache.esp
Beyond The Beef Tweaks.esp
CloudGrenades.esp
Diagonal movement.esp
CoverOfDarkness.esp
JoeCobbIsFiend.esp
BraveNewWorld-JSU.esp
BraveNewWorld-UncutWastelandNPCs.esp
BraveNewWorld-YUP.esp
TrooperOverhaul-Dragbody.esp
NCRTrooperOverhaul.esp
Splint.esp
ThisMachineKillsFascists.esp
AutumnLeaves.esp
MeleeReachFixed.esp
FCO - Russell.esp
FCO - OHSB NPC Edits.esp
BraveNewWorld-ArizonaArmy.esp
BraveNewWorld-MojaveRaiders.esp
BraveNewWorld-NCRTrooperOverhaulDist.esp
NCRCF Reinforcements.esp
FCO - Niner.esp
KingOfTheRing.esp
GomorrahProstituteEnable.esp
Skip Doc Mitchell's Exam.esp
SaveCass.esp
CourierRangerArmorV2.esp
RangemasterNV.esp
Enhanced NPC Awareness.esp
DIM TYPE3clothesRETAIL.esp
Explosive Sounds Overhaul.esp
ThrowableFixes.esp
Ammo Count Memory.esp
BartonThornTrigger.esp
LootMenu.esp
JIP Improved Recipe Menu.esp
I Got Spurs.esp
ScottmackImprovisedPPSh.esp
Bunk beds.esp
WesternRifles.esp
JustDynamicCrosshair.esp
FNVLODGen.esp

DCNext Proudly Presents…!

STARMAN

Issue #8: Storm Force

Arc II: Fire Opal

Written by Fortanono
Edited by VoidKiller826
<< Previous | Next >> (coming February)
-=-=-=-= 🌟 =-=-=-=-
Part 1: Jennifer Knight
”Now!” Ted barks through my earphone. I dash between the rooftops of a series of old brick buildings and look down. Courtney and Jack are shooting blasts of energy through the dense pale-green fog that fills the streets around us; Rick is looking around, clearly bored but unable to actually do anything. Darrell is above the arena, making sure everything goes smoothly, and Aunt Sandra is somewhere around here but I have no actual idea where. I jump down, twisting my dial to the “Bubble” mode as I land. Quickly, I summon a purple-black bubble around me, trapping just a bit of the Mist’s fog in it. I’ve successfully separated part of the Mist from the rest of him, but I’ll have to be quick about what comes next.
The small tendril of fog in my bubble seems to realize what’s happening as I dart as far as I can down the street. I see it bend and contract, diving into my throat. I start choking; it becomes harder and harder to breathe, but I just have to go a bit further out. Eventually, as I begin to get light-headed, I release the bubble and switch my dial to “Panic.” A burst of energy surrounds me, knocking the fog away from me and out of my mouth. I cough a bit before straightening myself and speaking into my microphone.
”He’s gonna try to reassemble himself,” I say. ”Darrell, it’s your move.”
”Right,” Darrell says. I can’t see him above the battlefield, but I immediately notice his presence as dozens of tiny blue-and-red drones drift down from the sky, each one with fans. They surround the Mist’s missing piece, keeping him in one place, still separate from the cloud that Jack, Rick, and Courtney are dealing with.
”Fantastic,” Ted radios in. ”Mist’s primary goal will always be to keep himself together. It’s a sort of side-effect to his powers. Keep him there, and the rest of him’ll follow eventually, no matter how hard he resists.”
It takes a few seconds, but the giant cloud of fog slowly starts drifting to meet up with the smaller one. Courtney and Jack rush over to the area with the fans, both concentrating fire on the one position where they’re merging. I turn my dial to “Energy Blast” and add my own energy to the mixture. Slowly but surely, the green fog begins to get thicker, and soon enough, the figure of the Mist begins to take hold.
“I was hoping you guys still thought I was in Gotham,” he mutters in a raspy voice. I stare at the face of the villain that Ted had been so worried about, remembering how we had prepared for this battle for over a month before he felt comfortable sending us out. He looks old, weak; in his eyes, I see a man who knows he’s been defeated, a man who may have once been a titan but whom old age has gotten to. I smile as Aunt Sandra decloaks and cuffs him with a pair of power-dampening handcuffs. Nearby, a police car pulled up and Clarence, one of the older O’Dare brothers, escorts him away.
“I will be back,” he hisses. “You should all know that.”
I know that it’s still possible for him to come back once again, that he had even come back when the world thought he was dead. There is a sincere promise in his words. But even so, seeing the frail figure of Opal City’s legendary villain once again defeated, I smile.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Rick, Darrell, Courtney, and I re-enter Ted’s workshop once again; Jack and Sandra split from us and went back to the Stargazer. As we descend the stairs, I could tell that Ted was over the moon.
“Wow,” he says to himself. “Just… wow. I’ll be entirely honest; I was certain we would have had to retreat at some point during that battle. I did not expect this to be one and done.”
“Well,” Rick chuckles, “I think the guy’s just a fucking pansy. No offense; I get why you couldn’t beat him or whatever, but like, the dude tries to make us go to Gotham so he didn’t have to deal with us. Again, no offense; I’m sure you were, like, a great hero in your time, of course.”
Ted laughs heartily. “None taken. I’m sure that as he’s gotten older, he’s had to rely more on cheap parlor tricks like the one in Gotham. I, for one, definitely knows how the aging process can take a toll on your abilities. I’m just… so happy that bastard is behind bars again.”
Courtney nods. “Here here.”
“Anyway,” Ted says, “I’d like to let you know that our little merry band of heroes is going to get a fifth member fairly soon.” His tone sours as he continues to speak. “My sister… she’s a vapid idiot, so you can understand that we haven’t talked in a long time, but her son started developing metahuman powers. And he started going out as a hero. She told me that she couldn’t stop him, so she wants him to at least have more support.”
“Ah, great,” Rick laughs. “Because I was just thinking that we didn’t have enough people who sucked at being heroes on this squad.”
“Rick,” Ted glares. “Please cool your behavior. I’ve seen what you’re able to do on the field and I must say: it’s pretty bad too.”
The door to the workshop slides open once again, and a new kid walks down the stairs. He’s got dark brown hair that’s just barely covering his eyes and is wearing a grey T-shirt and jeans. He waves to us as he walks down the stairs to meet with us.
“Hi,” he says. “Name’s Aaron. Aaron Munro. I’ll be working with you guys for a while.”
“He’s been helping people in his hometown of Liberty Hill as the great ‘Iron Munro’ for the past few months now,” Ted explains. “Unfortunately, Aaron, when you decided to do that, you perhaps made the worst mistake you could have made in this line of work. You made your identity public. Tell me, why’d you do that.”
Aaron sighed. “I… I just thought it was a small town, and I figured we all knew each other already, and… I guess I wanted to be recognized for my deeds or something.”
“I’m sure you’ll feel sufficiently recognized when your mother gets a bullet in her skull,” Ted says bluntly. “Let’s be clear: I hate the lady, but not that much. Come with me.” Ted beckons Aaron to the far corner of the workshop.
I stare blankly at what’s happening in front of me; Ted’s a hardass, but this is… a bit much even for him. Clearly, this was about more than just business. I had heard small things about Ted’s sister before but never met her or her family. Whatever happened to separate them had to have been a big deal.
Ted shows Aaron to a costume on a stand in the corner; it consists of a brown-and-grey bulletproof bodysuit with metal accents and a full face-mask made entirely of metal. “This,” Ted says, “is going to be the new you. I’m calling it: ‘Metalsmith.’”
“Th-thanks,” he says. He looks frustrated; I can tell that he’s not happy to be here, but he’s holding it all in. “I--I just have to say that… this really isn’t my style. I’m trying to go for a friendly hometown hero vibe, and having my whole face covered up… It just doesn’t seem right.”
Ted grimaces. “You did the hometown hero thing, and you failed. You showed your face to everyone. Metalsmith isn’t the friendliest guy around, but he’s safe and so is his family. If you wanna talk about alterations, feel free to tell me. But keep in mind that I have to work to preserve your safety first.”
Aaron nods. “Fine,” he says.
I look around the room; all of my teammates are either looking at the spectacle in front of them, or looking at their phones. Starved of anything else to look at, I turn to look at Rick’s phone. He’s responding to a text message from someone named Luisa; I think she’s a girl in his class or something. It doesn’t quite look like a message about normal things teenagers talk about, though.
hey, so I have a confession to make, the message begins. John and Maya and i, we knew about you being hourman and everything before we met you. we’re still your friends, we always were, but we also want to get your help with something we’re working on. a project that involves metahumans, basically. let us know if you’re interested.
I immediately turn away from the message on the phone. Clearly, this is something I’m not supposed to know about, but now that I do, I can’t stop thinking about it. Some other people want Rick to help them with… something related to his powers. It sounds really shady; should I tell Ted about this? It could be a conflict of interest, whatever it is. On the other hand, Ted doesn’t seem like the most level-headed person to deal with this. Who knows; maybe it’s for some sort of superhero stunt show or something really cool, and I’d be denying him access to that.
Whatever. It’s not my problem right now. It was never meant for me.
“Hey,” Aaron says. “You here? You listening?”
I look up; Aaron is standing right in front of me, his hand outstretched. “Sorry,” I say, shaking his hand. “My name’s Jennifer. It’s nice to meet you.”
-=-=-=-= 🌟 =-=-=-=-
Part 2: Sandra Knight
“Well, that could’ve gone a lot worse,” I say, currently on the back of Jack’s Star-Cycle. Jack apparently figured out that he could make his motorcycle fly if he used his Cosmic Rod, which is both hilarious and something that neither Ted nor David would ever begin to consider trying out. Which is why Jack is so great; he’s questioning everything, figuring out new ways of doing things, and making a motorcycle fly.
Feeling the wind rush against my face, I’m taken immediately back to my rebellious college days and my early stints as the Phantom Lady. It’s nice, almost nostalgic, but still different enough. We come to a descent in the back of the Stargazer, and Jack locks up his motorcycle.
Hope comes out the back door to greet us. “Glad you could make it,” she says. “Cutting it a little close, though, I gotta say. The meeting’s in less than 5 minutes.”
Oh, right. The meeting with our potential client. The Mist tends to give a lot of people tunnel-vision; I had completely forgotten about this.
“Sorry about that,” Jack chuckles. “You know how it is, going out, saving the day. Maybe someday, you should give it a--” He cuts himself off as I glare at him. His expression turns more serious. “I’m so sorry,” he finally says. “I forgot about what happened with you and the Mist.”
Hope sighs. “It’s fine,” she says. “We can deal with this another time. He’s behind bars yet again; he can’t hurt anyone else. That’s the best news anyone could hope for.”
We walk into the office; Jack takes a seat, ready for the meeting. “So, this new client. What’s the deal with them, again? Missing kid? Brother’s a supervillain?”
“She has some information on who might have been behind the prison break a few months ago,” I say.
“Okay, wow,” Jack responds. “That’s sort of a big deal.”
We hear the door swing open. A young woman with light brown skin and shoulder-length black hair walks in. She’s wearing a sleeveless white shirt and black winter coat; on her left hand is a tattoo of the Superman “S” sigil. “Look who’s here,” Jack smiles. “Glad you could make it.”
The woman sits down in front of Jack, putting her coat on the back of the chair. “Yeah, well, me too,” she sighs. “Listen, if you have any witness protection-type deals or whatever, can you hook me up with one of them? I’m honestly… I’m honestly terrified right now.”
I nod. “Well, there are a few options there. My cousin can easily create a fake ID and get you out of the city without anyone noticing. If you want to go through a more legitimate program, Hope here has contacts with the police who can get you into proper witness protection.”
“I’ll take the first one,” she says. She reaches out and shakes Jack’s hand. “Name’s Sarah. I’ve been working for Maxie Zayas for the last few months; I needed work, and he seemed really nice at first.”
Maxie Zayas. That’s going to be a tough one. A big-time club owner and crime boss, following in the footsteps of his father; I was personally involved in putting his old man behind bars. All of Opal City’s heroes know about him, but we’ve never been able to really do much about it. A few years ago, David flew into Maxie’s club and arrested him straight-up for drug trafficking. Not 12 hours later, he was out, cleared of all charges.
This isn’t going to be a battle we can fight with force.
I walk closer to the table where Sarah and Jack are seated. “And you believe that Zayas is responsible for the recent breakout?”
Sarah nods. “At some point, I began to hear whispers that he was planning some meteoric takeover of Opal City. He said he needed something to distract the local heroes in the meantime. And then, a few days before the big event happened, I saw him talking to that card guy who broke them all out.”
“Jeremy Tell,” Jack says.
“I… I couldn’t be a part of whatever he was doing,” Sarah says. “I grew up in Opal City. Believe it or not, I loved you guys.” She points to me. “I actually had a poster of you in my room. I thought Zayas was a harmless dude who just sat around. It wasn’t a big deal, whatever he was doing. The people he broke out… I remember seeing what they did on the news. I had to talk to you.”
“Glad you did,” Jack says. “Hey, that’s awesome that you had a poster of Phantom Lady. Wait, why aren’t we selling posters?” He turns to me. “Can we do that?”
I laugh. “Topic at hand,” I smile.
Mia leaves, and Hope walks up to us. “So… what’s the plan then? We can’t both take down Zayas and the people he released, right? Those are two huge undertakings.”
“That may be so,” I say. I pause for a second. “We may not need to. If we can get the All-Stars to handle the escaped convicts, we could divert all of our attention towards figuring out what Zayas is planning.”
“Okay,” Jack says, “but how are we going to take him down? David tried, and he failed miserably. The guy’s just super well-connected. We can’t just storm in there, can we.”
I smile. “Jack, sweetie. There are other ways to do this kind of work that don’t involve punching all your problems away.”
-=-=-=-= 🌟 =-=-=-=-
Interlude VIII: Hour of Espionage
”Positions, everyone,” Al Carlyle said through the microphone. ”We need to set the scene just right.”
Carlyle stared at the multitude of cameras around him. He watched as Luisa, Maya, and John made their way to the docks. Turning to another monitor, he watched as several stealth-agents readied their sniper rifles, hiding on rooftops, in windows. He pressed a button on the console in front of him; a series of machines around the docks whirred to life; to the outside observer, they looked like they were doing nothing, but Carlyle knew that they were the key to this mission.
“I have to say,” Luisa said apprehensively. “I’m really worried about this. These snipers… if he doesn’t show up, they will kill us, right?”
”11:49 PM,” Carlyle reiterated. ”Unfortunately, for this to work, the snipers have to be steadfastly committed to their mission. The dude doesn’t get visions about things that could happen. He gets them about things that will if he doesn’t intervene. But don’t worry; we’ve run several experiments with the energy emitters. Every time, he shows up right on cue.”
Luisa nodded. ”Okay. And what’s the deal with those machine things? You’ve explained them to me before, but I’m not good at remembering all the science stuff. Just isn’t my thing.”
”They emit a specific frequency of radiation that, for reasons unbeknownst to us, seem to massively increase the likelihood that Rick gets a vision in that area. We found residual traces of it naturally occurring in almost half of Rick’s usual visions; when we massively crank up the numbers, he always seems to show.”
The three kids sat down at the dock. After a few seconds, Carlyle spoke up. ”We’ve gotten confirmation that Rick has now left his house. The snipers can now evacuate the area. The three of you, just act normal. It’ll take the better part of the hour for him to get here, so get comfortable.” As soon as they had settled in, the masked snipers quickly ran off, lowering their weapons and quickly changing into civilian wear like clockwork.
John was the first to speak up after Carlyle went silent. “So, what, we’re gonna wait, like, 58 minutes until he gets there? Well, this will be boring.” He pulled out a couple of joints from his pocket. “Anyone want some?”
“We’re on duty,” Maya said. “I don’t think it’s worth it.”
John shrugged. “What? We have to sit around, pretend like we’re doing something, and then act all buddy-buddy with him when he shows up. It’s not like we’re taking down Basilisk; this is easy shit. It’ll be fine.”
Maya shook her head. “We should wait.”
John chuckled. “Alright, fine, you win. But we’re popping these babies out as soon as the man of the hour gets here. Got it?” He shoved the joints back into his pocket.
“Alright, whatever you want,” Maya smiled. “Just don’t come running to me when Carlyle yells at our asses for being high on the job.”
Carlyle watched the security footage, smiling and shaking his head to himself. Behind him, William Vickers walked up. He was the same age as the rest of them, but he had proven himself remarkably more mature than the others, quickly becoming the group’s de facto leader.
“Sorry to bother you at this time,” William said. “I gotta talk to you about another developing situation.” Carlyle hesitated, before standing up and dusting himself off. The two of them walked into the next room, where they began to talk.
“Basilisk activity’s been at an all-time high for the past few months,” William finally said. “Just recently, they’ve opened up 3 new cells in Germany, and are pulling in a remarkable number of recruits in Indonesia and Malaysia, to name a few. There’s also been a lot of restructuring; several smaller cells have been suddenly relocated to South America for some odd reason. If the ASA’s gonna be able to keep limiting their spread, we need more agents, and they need to be trained.”
Carlyle nodded. “Yes, yes,” he said. “I’ll remind you that you’re looking at only a small piece of the bigger picture. We are only a tiny fraction of what the ASA has to offer, and the adults are well aware of these issues. That said, you’re not wrong; we need all the help we can get. That’s what we’re working on right now.”
“Rick Tyler,” William affirmed. “He seems strong; he’d be a great start. But one metahuman won’t be enough. We need more metahuman soldiers, or at least, soldiers equipped with energy weapons and similar tech. The capes have been doing it for years; it works. But somehow, we can’t seem to find nearly enough people willing to serve. Maya’s the only metahuman on our squad right now, and her powers are still very much a wild card in combat scenarios.”
Carlyle nodded. “Yes,” he finally said. “Well, I don’t think that just recruiting a bunch of people is the right way to go. If we do that, we run the risk of potentially exposing ourselves to a large number of double-agents. But… if this lead pans out, there might be a way to enhance the prowess of the agents we already have.”
William perked up. “Yes? Do tell.”
“Presumably, Rick could gain access to the technology that Starman and his companions use to fight crime. Luisa could take a staff, you could take the blacklight…”
“I’m not the type of guy to stay in the shadows,” William said. “Have you seen my attempts at infiltration? Not my strong suit. Appreciate the offer, though.”
Carlyle nodded and smiled. “Well, whatever happens, this new member could help us more than we initially thought.”
-=-=-=-= 🌟 =-=-=-=-
Part 3: Jack Knight
I pull up to a street corner a few blocks away from what many Opal City residents affectionately refer to as the ‘Zayas Strip.’ Hope is sitting in the back seat, done up to look like a completely different person, and Sandra’s already run off to do some good old-fashioned sleuthing. The prosthetic nose I’m wearing feels so uncomfortable already; couldn’t we just have gone for the blond hair dye and nothing else?
Sandra materializes on the hood of her green convertible, startling the bejeezus out of me. “Password for the night is ‘Prometheus,’” she mutters.
“Alright, alright,” I say. “Hey, I know it’s technically your car and all, but maybe don’t jump on the hood, okay? That was probably the biggest scare I’ll have all night unless Grant decides that the Olympia is his new favorite haunt.”
Sandra ignores me. “You two head into the bar; I’ve given you fake IDs for the absolute worst-case scenarios, but you shouldn’t need to wave them around. I’ll never be too far behind, but as usual, you won’t see me. Got it?”
“Clear as ever,” I smirk.
“So,” Hope says from the back seat, “you ready to raise some hell?” Her usually-red hair is now jet-black, and she’s wearing these bright blue contact lenses that accentuate her eyes. If I didn’t know who she was, I would never have recognized her in the first place. Let’s just hope my disguise is just as good.
Sandra vanishes and we walk a few blocks further down Harris Street. As we walk down the street, the quiet townhouses are quickly replaced with a completely different atmosphere of bustling nightlife and flashing neon lights. On both sides of the street are a series of Zayas-owned businesses: strip clubs, brothels, bars, casinos, even a fight club at the far end of the street. It’s almost disorienting; look, I’m not the nicest guy in the world, never pretend to be, but I promise I’ve never been in a place like this. Not quite like this, at least.
Nestled in the middle of the brilliant signs and faint bouncing of club music is a single building not illuminated by lights. The top floor is taken up by some sort of high-end brothel with a sign reading ‘The Elysian Fields’ on it. The stairs that lead down to the bottom floor are guarded by a dude who seems absolutely ripped--like, probably-a-meta ripped--and a sign at the front reads “Olympia Nightclub.” Zayas’ personal shining gem, for those who were affluent enough to get an invitation.
I walk up to the bouncer and am immediately taken aback as I realize who exactly it is. Tony Woodward, aka Girder. Former Flash villain who got in a few fights with David before being broken out. As I get closer, it becomes clear that this dude’s entire body is made of rusted metal. He speaks up in a deep voice as we approach. “What’s the code?”
“Prometheus,” I say.
Girder bows his enormous metal head and steps to the left. “Enjoy.”
As we walk in, the last trace of the booty-bounce music that I could hear vanishes as it’s replaced by a classical violin tune from a distant speaker in the corner. The walls are blue plaster; segmenting the walls are a series of white column-like decals meant to invoke ancient Greek architecture. The bar in the center of the room is also surrounded by similar white columns. On the far end of the club is a wooden stage, currently unoccupied, and a few poker tables. Still not nearly half as good as my restaurant’s interior design.
The bartender walks up to us as we take a seat. His head is completely shaved; from what I can tell from the rest of his body, he appears covered in tattoos of vines and flowers. “Don’t think I’ve seen you lovely pair before around here,” he says.
“No, you wouldn’t have,” I smile. “We’re new in town. Heard about this place from an old military buddy of mind, and as it turns out, we got just enough money to spend on a nice place like this.” I reach out my hand and he shakes it. “David Vosberg. This is my girl, Rita.”
Hope offers her hand as well. The bartender shakes it. She turns down towards the cocktail menu, looking over the options. Her face shifts a bit as she reads over the various options; each one seems to be based on various tragic events that Opal City has suffered through. Down the list, I see the ‘Swift Hydro Plant’ as their fancy new drink, the ‘Prison Break,’ the ‘Doll Killer’--complete with a miniature doll in Martha Williams’ likeness--a drink simply labeled ‘The Mist,’ and, the final drink on the specialty list, the ‘Fallen Hero.’ The description listed it as ‘a tribute to the asshole who tried to bust us finally kicking the bucket. May aliens continue to do what we never can.’
My stomach drops. Fuck, while we go out and bust our balls to make this city a better place, the people in this club turn around and laugh at our failures. Laugh when one of us dies. I feel my blood boiling. I need to stay in character. I can’t blow this for all of us. Gritting my teeth, I take a few deep breaths before sucking it up.
“What’s the matter?” the bartender asks. “Can’t take a couple of dark jokes? Lighten up, man.” He gives me a pat on the back like I would ever be okay with that.
“Sorry,” I say. “It’s just… Well, let’s just say I lost someone personal in the hydro plant attack. One of, uh, those flying shadow things cut my brother open. I’ll take… I’ll take a Fallen Hero, I guess.” At this point, I’m flying by the seat of my pants. I’m definitely excited to get that drink.
“And I’ll take a Mist,” Hope says.
“Damn,” the bartender says. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t realize that you could… I’m sorry to hear about your brother.”
“It’s fine,” I say. “You couldn’t have known.”
The bartender serves our drinks and we quietly sip at them. Aside from a few regulars, nothing much seems to really be happening.
I feel a slight breeze on the back of my neck. I turn around; nestled in my suit is a small piece of paper. The writing on it reads, ”Can’t find Zayas, but did find something else big. Meet me outside? -Sandra”.
“Hey, uh, Rita?” I clear my throat and put my arm around her, subtly passing the note over to her. “This place is getting really stuffy; I think we need to step out for a second. Whaddya think?”
Hope shrugs. “Oh, alright,” she says, covertly reading the note. “But we’re coming back; this place is just fabulous, don’t you think?”
“Definitely,” I say. We walk outside, brushing past Girder’s cold metal form as we do. Sandra’s waiting on the corner of the street, fully visible.
Sandra turns to us as we approach, and her voice turns to a whisper. “So,” she says, turning to Hope. “Before I bring this up, I figure it’s worth asking. How much do you know about what your brothers work on in the Force?”
Hope takes a deep breath. “Well, you know what’s going on with Mason, Clarence is in the same precinct as me, Barry just got a promotion to Major Crimes, and Matt works… well, I think he works around here, actually.” Her face turns bright red. “What’s going on?”
“I managed to get into one of the back rooms,” Sandra says. “And… well, Zayas is there, and he’s talking to a bunch of associates. One of them was Tell. And I think one of them may have been Matt.”
Hope nods. “Okay,” she finally says. “I… I guess I’m not surprised. He’s always been really secretive about what he’s doing, he’s denied promotions before… but I didn’t really think about it before.”
Sandra sighs. “I know this can be hard to hear, but I, unfortunately, have to ask you for one more favor. We’re here to watch Zayas over an extended period of time, figure out what he’s planning. For that reason, you can’t tell your brothers about our suspicions.”
Hope nods. “Got it,” she says hurriedly. “My… my lips are sealed.” As she speaks, I can tell she’s not fully convinced.
We walk back to the car. This was a short mission, but if this goes right, it will be one of many. And once we’re done, I’m almost certain, we’ll be able to take Maxie Zayas down.
-=-=-=-= 🌟 =-=-=-=-
Part 4: Rick Tyler
“Okay,” I snarl as I pass Luisa in the hallways of my school. She’s currently putting her bag into her locker. “I need to know what the fuck is going on, and I want you to tell me everything. What do you want from me?”
“Rick, calm down,” Luisa says. “Look, there are reasons why we had to do what we did, why we couldn’t just tell you everything as soon as we met you. We’ll explain everything soon enough.”
I shake my head. “Again with the secrets. Just fucking tell me what I need to know, alright? You guys pretend to be my friends, stage some sort of chance meeting with me--I got no idea how you did that. You pay some guys to shoot your heads off if I didn’t show up?”
“More or less,” she whispers. “Look, keep your voice down, okay? What we’re involved with isn’t something we can talk about in public.”
Oh, for Jesus fucking Christ’s sake.
Luisa bows her head. “Meet me out front of the Valor Building, this Saturday at 3 PM. All three of us will be there. Once you get there, there’ll be no more secrets. You’ll get to know everything. Promise.”
I sigh and throw my hands up. “Okay, fine,” I whisper. “I’ll be there.”
As I make my way to class, I shake my head. Fuck this. Clearly, they don’t trust me any more than anyone else seems to. But still, for some reason, I still want to meet with them. Just to figure out what’s going on. And then I’ll be done with them.
I nod my head. That seems fine. Find everything out, then leave. I can handle that.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The Valor Building is one of Opal City’s oldest brownstone skyscrapers; it’s not even close to the tallest anymore, but it’s right in the middle of the city center, and it’s one of the most iconic buildings here. To those who actually give a fuck about Opal City, I guess. I remember that when Dad and Mom were still together, we ended up going for a weekend trip to Opal City. Dee and I were taken aback by the Valor Building and all of the dazzling skyscrapers in the city center; it felt so much nicer than Baltimore did. Then I moved here and discovered that like every other city, it’s full of shit. Tourists just like to hide the shitty parts from view.
I walk up to the front steps of the building. John is leaning against one of the pillars near the entrance, and Luisa and Maya are waiting for me up front.
“Yo, glad you could make it,” John smiles. “We were placing bets as to whether you’d actually show up. Seems like Luisa here owes me ten dollars.”
“Trust me,” Luisa laughs. “If you’d have been there, you’d have agreed with me. He didn’t seem like he was in the mood to keep putting up with our bullshit.” She turns to me. “Regardless, glad you could come. Sorry to put you through all of this.”
“Sorry,” I say, shrugging. “I can let my nerves get the best of me at times. I’m feeling better now, don’t worry.”
“So,” Maya says. “Are we ready to go?”
Luisa nods. Maya turns to the keypad next to her and types in a code. 7, 8, 4, 4, pound sign. The door clicks open. Immediately, as I walk into the lobby, I feel like I’m in a place I’m not supposed to be. The floor is made up of elaborately-patterned stone tiles; large windows to the sides let in a lot of sunlight as I walk to the elevators.
“So, uh, what do you do here?” I ask. “This is just, like, an office building, right?”
“Just, like, 10 seconds left,” Luisa says. “Then you’ll get to know all our secrets.” She calls the elevator, and we walk in. I push my way to the back as John and Maya get on.
“Alright,” John says. “I think it goes without saying that what we show you here today, you can’t mention to another living soul that we don’t approve of. Not even your hero pals. Got it?”
“Yeah, of course,” I say nonchalantly.
“Okay.” John reaches up above the panel of buttons on the elevator and opens up a small compartment. Inside is a fingerprint scanner; John jams his thumb onto the pad and the elevator begins to go down. After a few more seconds, the doors open. We’re in a pristine grey room; computers line every wall, and dozens of people look up as we walk in. Immediately, it reminds me of Ted’s workshop, but on a much bigger scale.
A man is waiting for us in the middle of one of the hallways. He’s wearing a neatly-ironed grey-green suit, with combed-over white hair. He reaches out his hand for me to shake.
“Al Carlyle,” he says. “Director of the American Security Agency. Nice to meet you, Rick. I’ve heard so many great things about you.” I turn around. All three of my so-called “friends” have deserted me, leaving me with this weird dude.
“Uh, nice to meet you too,” I mutter, shaking his hand. “So what exactly is going on here?”
“Well,” Al smiles, “what isn’t going on here? I suppose you’re a bit confused, a bit overwhelmed, so I’ll try and give you the long and short of it. We’re like the CIA, sort of. But a bit more secret. We’re the CIA when the CIA can’t be involved. Take, for example, metahuman agents. Do you know much about the Freedom Fighters?”
I shrug. “Heard of them. The original Starman was working with one of them, I think.”
Al nods. “Come,” he says. “Walk with me.” I sigh and follow him through the convoluted halls and terminals of this absolutely massive underground base.
“Now,” he says, “the Freedom Fighters were a truly amazing group of people. They were a UN task force composed of one sergeant, a handful of regular soldiers, and three metahumans. Well, they fought long and hard for the values that we hold dear to us today, but in the end, the UN saw them as a threat. What’s to stop our enemies from conscripting metahumans too? It’d be another cold war, one that many countries were all-too-eager to stop. So, metahumans were banned from serving in combat.”
He clears his throat and lets out a hearty chuckle. “Well, you see, terrorists don’t tend to follow by our rules. I suppose that’s what makes them terrorists, don’t you think? So that’s where we come in. One of many examples, I suppose, of where we come in. We use many of the techniques superheroes use to fight against potential threats to the land of the free and the brave. And I’ve had my eye on you for a while. I think you’d make a great addition to our cause.”
I pause and look around me. This place is huge. It’s bound to take up more than a few city blocks. When I intercepted the battle Jack was having with Swift, this base was underneath it all, computers typing away. Our school is only a few blocks west of here; it’s very possible the base extends that far too. I haven’t even been in Opal City for a year yet, but I had felt like I knew everything about it. Clearly, I was wrong.
I’ve never been the type of person who hated the government and everything they did. I followed the news, though, and they’ve clearly done some questionable things in the past few years. With Cale as President, that’s just going to get worse and worse. Do I want to be a part of this? Clearly, I don’t think I do. I was just here to get answers, and I got mine. That’s as far as this goes.
‘Take your time,” Al laughs. “We’d love to have ya, but no pressure either way.”
Before I can tell him no, my vision flashes white. A man walking down a run-down section of Snejbjerg Street. Nearly bald buzz-cut, blue eyes, wearing a grey hoodie. A car pulls up to him, firing three rounds in his chest. The blood splatters over the sidewalk. I snap back to reality.
“I have to go,” I say, my voice strained. “How do I get out of--”
Al gives me a knowing smile. “What’s going to happen, and where will it be?”
I sigh. “Some dude in a grey hoodie is gonna get shot on Snejbjerg Street. Drive-by shooting. It was a black sedan, I think. Just let me go, okay?”
Al turns on a radio on his jacket. “I want a dozen soldiers placed across Snejbjerg Street within the hour. Look out for black sedans, check each one for weapons. And get Rick Tyler here a tall glass of water.”
Immediately, the people around me start getting up and gearing into action. A young woman who was manning a computer earlier walks up to me and offers me a glass of water. I drink from it.
“Thanks,” I finally say.
Al hands me a burner phone from his pocket. “If you ever get any visions at an inconvenient time, text me from this phone. We’ll have it handled, and you can focus on the things in life that matter.”
I smile. “Wow, thanks.”
Al nods. “Look, Rick, I know that everything must be really disorienting for you right now, but trust me when I say that we’re here for you. From what I’ve heard from my agents that have been interacting with you, that doesn’t seem to be the case with the other team you’re on right now. They see you as a loose cannon. Maybe they’re right, who knows. But here, we need loose cannons. You can beat up as many terrorists as you want here--or don’t, whatever floats your boat. But you’re welcome here as you are, no matter who that is.”
I pause, looking around for a second. He’s right; in the few seconds I’ve met him, Al has made me feel at home more than I’ve ever been with the All-Stars.
I reach out and shake Al’s hand. “I’m in.”
“Fantastic,” he smiles. “Well, let’s meet the team then.” He brings me to a room with a circular table. Around the table are John, Luisa, Maya, and another kid I don’t remember. White kid with neatly-trimmed brown hair.
“Well,” Al says, “this is one of our finest covert ops units. We’re calling them the ‘Force of July.’ Right now, they’re mostly doing international missions, but we’re planning on bringing them into the spotlight as superheroes to handle domestic matters in the near future.”
He gestures to John. “You’ve already met John Trujillo, Jr., alias: ‘The Black Condor.’ His dad was one of our finest officers before sadly meeting his fate protecting our country. He piloted a one-of-a-kind wingsuit that his son now uses.”
“Besides that,” Al continues, “the Campoverde sisters have been fantastic assets. Luisa first came to us because she needed help with her sister’s metahuman powers. That’s right: she found us. Always a good metric for future success. Turns out, her sister has a bit of a way with plants, and it was a bit out of her control. Now, the two of them serve us as Lady Liberty and Mayflower.”
The last kid, the one I haven’t met, reaches over to shake my hand. “William Vickers,” he says. “Also known as Major Victory. My teammates have been telling me a lot about you. It’s good to finally get to meet you in the flesh.”
“The feeling’s mutual,” I say. And somehow, surprisingly, I mean it.”
Al nods and smiles. “Now that we’ve gotten to know each other, Rick, I have a special mission briefing for you and only you. I can tell that this will be the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership.”

i had a table today mid rush, they got 2 waters, a merlot, a prosecco, a calimari, chicken parm, and orichiette. i explained the wines by the glass to them and where to find them on the menu, they saw prices etc and ordered. we only have one merlot and prosecco by the glass so there’s NO confusion about what they ordered.
i got busy (2 casino tribal members with discounts that require manager approval, split checks, gift cards, voids for DNL, takeout, and endless questions, a 6 and a 2 cashing out and boxing at the same time, and then got sat an 8 top). i was still checking in, glasses never empty, food prompt, correct mise en place, checking in within 2 min/2 bites, polite and prompt. i even apologized for being busy and not being more available, and they said it was fine.
i drop their check before getting the 8-top’s order because it was 8 drunk guys and i knew they’d be taking up my time, and i was cut so they were my last and only table besides this 2 top. i run their check, drop drinks for my 8 top, and go to pick up the signed copy and the woman GOES OFF. i will preface her complaint with the fact that our wine prices are insane, but our wine director hand picks them to compliment the food we serve.
“you’ve been rude all night, and you didn’t tell us the price of the glass of wine, $30 is insane for a glass, i could buy a bottle of it for that price” (you can’t for that wine, it’s a $50 bottle of wine at a store). i apologized, her husband looked embarrassed and said it wasn’t my fault, to which she said “well actually it is because she didn’t tell us the price” like MA’AM YOU HAD THE MENU THAT CLEARLY LISTED PRICES.
i’m now hauling ass through the restaurant trying to find a manager to talk to them before they leave bc i had just been written up for not involving a manager about complaints, and i can only find our director of ops who is the most senior manager there is. the woman is rude to him, and doesn’t accept any comps or anything and laughs at his apology.
like lady, what the actual fuck.

My load order is as follows
​
FalloutNV.esm
DeadMoney.esm
HonestHearts.esm
OldWorldBlues.esm
LonesomeRoad.esm
GunRunnersArsenal.esm
ClassicPack.esm
MercenaryPack.esm
TribalPack.esm
CaravanPack.esm
YUP - Base Game + All DLC.esm
Sortomatic.esm
BraveNewWorld.esm
FreesideOpen.esm
MoreMojave.esm
TGMIO.esm
ELECTRO-CITY - CompletedWorkorders.esm
FCOMaster.esm
TLD_Travelers.esm
NVInteriors_Core.esm
NVInteriors_ComboEdition.esm
Less Empty Primm.esp
ELECTRO-CITY - Highways and Byways.esm
SomeguySeries.esm
Niner.esm
The New Bison Steve Hotel.esm
Kidnapped by Fiends.esm
More Perks.esm
Courier's Radio.esm
YUP - NPC Fixes (Base Game + All DLC).esp
Unofficial Patch Plus.esp
CombatEnhancer.esp
Vurt's WFO.esp
Logic and Consistency Fixes.esp
EasierMassPurifiedWater.esp
KMGL_Main.esp
EmptyWeapons.esp
B42Inertia.esp
FCO - NPC Changes.esp
JSawyer Ultimate.esp
The True Revival of Luxury - An Ultra-Luxe Overhaul.esp
FreesideOpenPatch.esp
TopsSuiteUpgrade-Main.esp
Mojave Raiders.esp
Bathroom Doors Overhaul - All IN ONE.esp
EVE FNV - ALL DLC.esp
VanGraffOverhaul.esp
TopsToVault21.esp
WeaponModsExpanded.esp
More Perks Update.esp
All Weapon Sounds Overhaul .esp
Saucy Sink.esp
WMX-DLCMerged.esp
Mojave Arsenal.esp
WMX-EVE-AllDLCMerged.esp
IMPACT.esp
Realistic Lead - Bullet Ballistics.esp
Realistic Lead - Bullet Ballistics - IMPACT Patch.esp
Mojave Wildlife (Vanilla-Style).esp
HiddenValleyOverhauled1.2.esp
BraveNewWorld-FCO.esp
CourierCacheWSE.esp
ArizonaArmy.esp
BLMedical.esp
NevadaSkies.esp
The New Bison Steve Hotel.esp
Advanced Recon Armor.esp
SecuritronsOnAlert.esp
NCR Ranger Helmet Neck Cover.esp
RetrievableThrowables.esp
Casino Exchange All.esp
HeinzTrenchShotgun.esp
Watter Putter Outter.esp
Alsatian NCR Guard Dogs.esp
NCR Battle Rifle.esp
RangerSequoiaSafehouse.esp
Living_Lucky.esp
The Tops Restaurant New Menu.esp
ImmersivePickupSoundsFNV.esp
JSawyer Ultimate - Mojave Arsenal Patch.esp
cleanatomicwrangler.esp
JSawyer Mod Vanilla Number of Perks.esp
Show Pickpocket Success Rate.esp
Loot Unconscious Victims.esp
hz_Empty Clicks.esp
IRNPC.esp
Shorter Chem Wear-off Effects.esp
Pyromaniac.esp
TBz Atomic Wrangler VIP Suite.esp
NewVegasBounties.esp
NewVegasBountiesII.esp
TheInheritance.esp
1nivVSLArmors.esp
HuntingRevolver&Sequoia.esp
JSawyer Ultimate - FCO Patch.esp
JSawyer Ultimate - Mojave Raiders Patch.esp
Russell.esp
LFox Bottle That Water.esp
FuckableCompanions.esp
Bash_Stealthboy.esp
NPCs Can Miss.esp
The Mod Configuration Menu.esp
MuchNeededLOD.esp
Nights are Darker - Ultimate Edition.esp
FCO - The New Bison Steve.esp
LiveDismember.esp
lonesome_firetrucks.esp
NVDLC04 Allegiance w Duster.esp
UniqueThinkTank.esp
Lucky38Overhaul.esp
RebreatherRestoration.esp
Simple DLC Delay.esp
Restoring Hope Quest Morale Fix.esp
Project Reality Footsteps.esp
MCPipBoy2000MK6_clock.esp
NVFeralGhoulChildren.esp
NPC Use Aid.esp
NPCsSprint.esp
MigNammo.esp
Immersive Hit Reactions.esp
ImmersiveRecoil.esp
Lobotomitess.esp
GhoulRadTweaks.esp
GhoulRadTweaks - JIP.esp
Female White Glove Society Mask.esp
BetterNCRSupplyCache.esp
Beyond The Beef Tweaks.esp
CloudGrenades.esp
Diagonal movement.esp
CoverOfDarkness.esp
JoeCobbIsFiend.esp
BraveNewWorld-JSU.esp
BraveNewWorld-UncutWastelandNPCs.esp
BraveNewWorld-YUP.esp
TrooperOverhaul-Dragbody.esp
NCRTrooperOverhaul.esp
Splint.esp
ThisMachineKillsFascists.esp
AutumnLeaves.esp
MeleeReachFixed.esp
FCO - Russell.esp
FCO - OHSB NPC Edits.esp
BraveNewWorld-ArizonaArmy.esp
BraveNewWorld-MojaveRaiders.esp
BraveNewWorld-NCRTrooperOverhaulDist.esp
NCRCF Reinforcements.esp
FCO - Niner.esp
KingOfTheRing.esp
GomorrahProstituteEnable.esp
Skip Doc Mitchell's Exam.esp
SaveCass.esp
CourierRangerArmorV2.esp
RangemasterNV.esp
Enhanced NPC Awareness.esp
DIM TYPE3clothesRETAIL.esp
Explosive Sounds Overhaul.esp
ThrowableFixes.esp
Ammo Count Memory.esp
BartonThornTrigger.esp
LootMenu.esp
JIP Improved Recipe Menu.esp
I Got Spurs.esp
ScottmackImprovisedPPSh.esp
Bunk beds.esp
WesternRifles.esp
JustDynamicCrosshair.esp
FNVLODGen.esp
​
Total active plugins: 167
Total plugins: 168
​
Any reccomended fixes? I already have the 4GB patch and other such things installed

The catalyst I'm most excited for is the day when you can order oils, edibles and infused drinks from restaurants and the room service menu in your Las Vegas Hotel. We will see custom strains and products developed for each restaurant casino and hotel.
Although recreational cannabis use is legal in Nevada and has been since 2017, public consumption is not, and this includes at most hotel and casino properties. The safe banking act will get us one step closer but federal legalization will be required to allow casino hotels to allow this to happen.
Federal legalization will have a huge impacts on states that already allow recreational MJ products. Established producers will have a head start on getting partnerships with these large companies. Once a power house like MGM can be invested into its own supply chain of these products it will be rocket ships for all.
Covid will fade away and travel will return.
Biden/Harris will get the safe act through and follow Canada in full federal legislation.
My bet is on AMA, aka https://www.1933industries.com/ It has been a horrible performer and is currently beat down to all time lows. I predict they will be one of the biggest turn around good news stories over the next 3 months.

https://www.zippia.com/advice/largest-companies-in-nevada/

Las Vegas MGM properties:

• Bellagio) (owned by The Blackstone Group and leased by MGM Resorts International)
• CityCenter (50% joint venture with Dubai World)
  • Aria Resort & Casino
  • Vdara
• Excalibur
• Luxor
• Mandalay Bay
  • Delano Las Vegas
  • Mandalay Bay Convention Center
  • Mandalay Bay Events Center
• MGM Grand Las Vegas
  • MGM Grand Garden Arena
  • Skylofts at MGM Grand
  • The Mansion at MGM Grand
  • The Signature at MGM Grand (50% joint venture with Turnberry Associates)[185]
• The Mirage
• New York-New York
• Park MGM
• T-Mobile Arena (42.5% ownership stake)

Wanted to get a local's perspective on this - my girlfriend and I are looking to "staycate" on the strip the week after Christmas and for NYE. As you might expect, room rates are amazingly reasonable, and coming from the Pacific NW, the idea of going somewhere warmer is pretty compelling at the moment. We've got a flight and suite booked (cancelable if necessary). Our safety plan is more or less as follows:

1. 100% masking indoors and outdoors when not in our room, unless we're in a *really* isolated area
2. No unprotected interactions - we don't know anyone well enough to visit in home anyway, and won't be inviting any visitors to the room (indoor, er, entertainment is *definitely* off the menu)
3. Avoid casinos and indoor dining/drinking; no live shows (are any shows even running?)
4. No lingering in the hotel lobby - stay in room unless we're going out
5. Order most meals delivered, or make meals in the suite kitchen. Restaurant dining only when there is outdoor seating.
6. Ring in the new year from the terrace of our room :)

In general, we're looking to spend most of the time outdoors - driving out to the Hoover Dam, possibly a Grand Canyon helicopter tour, and otherwise driving/walking around to see the sights.
That said, the local friends that we've shared our plans with have more or less recoiled in horror. I feel that the perception of risk is probably a lot greater than actual risk, but I wanted to test the temperature among locals. What do y'all think? Are we crazy to plan something like this right now?

Las Vegas. and elsewhere..

Applebee’s- FREE meal for veterans on Veterans Day, Wednesday, November 11th.
Arizona Charlie’s Boulder: Free buffet for all active-duty military and veterans on Nov. 12.
Bandana's Bar-B-Q free meal.
BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse – On Wednesday, November 11, all military members who dine-in restaurant receive a complimentary entree up to $14.95 plus a free Dr Pepper beverage.
Buffalo Wild Wings is offering a free order of 10 boneless wings and fries for all veterans or active-duty service members on Veterans Day.
California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) is offering veterans and active military a complimentary meal from a select menu.
Cattlemens Steakhouse Cattlemens Steakhouse offers current and former military members a complimentary 8 oz. Sirloin Steak dinner on Veterans Day.
Chili’s is offering free meal for veterans and active military members.
Cicis Pizza offers a free adult buffet to active and retired military with ID.
City Barbeque on Wednesday, November 11, for Veterans Day to get a free sandwich platter.
Defense CASINO Veterans Day Buffet: All veterans eat free on Nov. 11.
Denny’s: A FREE Build Your Own Grand Slam breakfast from Denny’s is available for all veterans, active, non-active or retired military personnel from 5 a.m. to noon on Monday, November 11.
Dunkin will be saluting vets with a free donut on Veterans Day.
Einstein Bros. Bagels is giving away a free hot or iced medium coffee to any active or retired veteran.
Evel Pie, 508 Fremont St.: Free slice of cheese pizza for all active and inactive military, starting at 11 a.m. Nov. 12.
Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, multiple locations: Coupon for free combo meal, redeemable through Nov. 30.
Golden Corral is offering a free meal and beverage card between Nov. 1 and 30, while supplies last. Military personnel can then redeem their card once for lunch or dinner Monday through Thursday from Nov. 1 to May 31.
Huddle House honors active duty, retired, and veteran military members this year with a free MVP Platter on Veterans Day.
Krispy Kreme is offering a free doughnut of choice and coffee to veterans.
LaMar's Donuts and Coffee location to get a free donut and 12 oz. coffee.
Little Caesar’s– Offering all United States Armed Forces veterans and active military a FREE $5 HOT-N-READY Lunch Combo November 11th from 11am-2pm.
O’Charley’s Get a free meal from the Veterans Thank You Menu, or $10 off any meal on the regular menu, on Wednesday, November 11.
Olive Garden is having a Veterans Day free meal for all active-duty military and military veterans on Wednesday, November 11.
On the Border: Simply present proof of military ID or service on November 11th, and enjoy a FREE Combo Meal Pilot Flying J: Pilot Flying J is offering those who serve a FREE breakfast November 9th to 15th.
RED ROBIN is offering all veterans and dynamic obligation military individuals a FREE Red’s Tavern Double burger with Bottomless Steak Fries on Veterans Day, Sunday, Nov. 11.
Romano's Macaroni Grill is offering free Mom’s Ricotta Meatballs & Spaghetti meals.
Shoney’s. Free All You Care To Eat, Breakfast Bar from 6 am - 11 am.
Sizzler Free Lunch Sizzler is proud to honor and celebrate United States veterans and active-duty military personnel with a free lunch and beverage before 4 p.m. on Veterans Day.
STATION CASINOS In recognition of Veterans Day, Station Casinos says thank you to the individuals who served in the United States Armed Forces. Station Casinos is offering a free smorgasbord dinner to all dynamic obligation military and veterans with a legitimate Station Casinos military Boarding Pass. Accessible on Nov. 12, simply swipe military Boarding Pass card at any stand to get a voucher for a free breakfast, lunch or supper buffet.
THE SOURCE The Source cannabis dispensaries will respect the military with an expanded military markdown out of appreciation for Veterans Day from Nov. 10 to Nov. 11.
Studio B Buffet, M Resort: Free brunch buffet for all past and active-duty service members, 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Nov. 12.
Starbucks: On Veterans Day, November 11, Starbucks will offer a free tall (12-oz) hot brewed coffee.
Tap House Grill free meal offer for dine-in only on November 11.
Texas Roadhouse Texas Roadhouse will hand out dinner vouchers at store parking lots on Wednesday, November 11, from 11 am – 2 pm. Veterans and active military can redeem their dinner vouchers when they choose in-store until June of next year.
TooJay's when they choose from a special Veterans Day menu on November 11.
Grace For Vets provides a free car wash to all veterans.
Fee Free Days– National Park Service offers Fee Free Days this Veterans Day Wednesday.
Twin Peaks on Wednesday, November 11, for a complimentary Veterans Day meal.
Village Inn Village Inn will offer a free Village Inn Breakfast (V.I.B.) on Veterans Day.
Wendy’s is offering active military and veterans with military ID a free small breakfast combo.
White Castle White Castle is giving out a free Combo Meal (#1-#6) or a free Breakfast Combo Meal to veterans or active duty military on Veterans Day.
WIENERSCHNITZEL Wienerschnitzel is regarding all veterans and those in dynamic and hold military obligation with a free Chili Dog, little fries and 20 oz. drink on Nov. 11

There have been a number of individual posts about businesses that are permanently closing as a result of COVID. I thought it might be useful to have a central list of the ones that have been announced so far. I've tried to get it started below. Post the ones I've missed and I will add them.
EDIT: been trying to keep up with all the comments. I think I have them all updated. I tried to do a quick google check but if something is incorrect then my apologies.
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• Highlander Pub
• Smoque Shack - menu will continue at the Beyond The Pale Smoque House
• Tucker's Marketplace - couple things have listed it as closing, apparently now saying suspending operations
• Grow Your Roots Cafe
• Don Cherry's
• Stoneface Dolly's
• The Morning Owl - bank street location
• Blurry Pixel
• Carte Blanche Salon and Spa - Barrhaven location
• Casino Cabaret on Bank st
• GoodLife Fitness at March and Terry Fox
• Red Room on Kent Street
• Bowman's on Bank
• Kinki
• Chinese valley in Carp
• Texture Hair Salon closed their Dalhousie location
• Nando's in Orleans
• Gina’s Café on Gladstone
• UVU Fitness on Bank Street
• Tracey's Dairy (ice cream factory) in Renfrew
• FIITHouse on Colonnade
• Divine nails on Merivale road
• Nuvo Mexican Restaurant
• Water Spa Hair Salon - Riverside
• Ralph’s sports bar on Laurier and O’Connor
• The Royal Oak pub on Echo Dr
• The Fish Market, Coasters Seafood Grill and Vineyards Wine Bar Bistro.

I shared this on facebook so might as well share it here
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Mission tips: I have been grinding a lot of missions so I would like to share some tips and tricks that I follow. Hope it helps

1. Increase general/rides/restaurant/shop satisfaction I purposely keep costs of 3-4 rides/restaurants/shops to the max so that when the mission comes, I make them 0 to complete the mission. Before claiming the rewards of the mission, I REVERT THE COSTS TO THE MAX so that the next time the mission comes, I can repeat it again.
   
2. Buy rides/restaurants/shops Sell the current cheapest ones you have and buy them again. The loss of coins is minimal in comparison to the value you get by completing a mission.
   

Preferences: Joystick Arcade for rides, Lemonade stand for restaurants, Tshirt shop for shops.

1. Increase/Buy number of activities Place the cheapest activities and complete the mission. Remove them before claiming the rewards so that the next time the mission comes you can place it from your storage box again. Don't forget to remove the activities you just added to keep the count from increasing every time the mission comes. For buying, buy the cheapest and sell them before claiming rewards so that you can buy them again next time.

Preferences: Maple tree under foliage for increasing, Palm tree under theme > adventure

1. Increase peep count I usually have my entrance fee to the high end of 'Good Value'. To complete this mission, reduce your entrance fee to 0 for the temporary surge in number. Revert the cost to the original value before claiming rewards.

TRICK: (Not recommended for slow devices/connections) After making the cost 0, exit the park. When you enter again, the peep count will already have been increased. You don't have to wait for them to increase one by one. Revert the cost to the original, exit and and enter again to reset the peeps count before claiming rewards. If your device/connection is slow the time it takes to enteexit is simply not worth it. Best wait.

1. Collecting coins from buildings EDIT: The trick I was using was not necessary. So removing it.
   
2. Purchase cards from mall(hardest/worst mission) Simple objective. But the costs of cards keep on increasing every time you buy. After completing this mission 2-3 times, spending the resources to buy those cards at high cost is simply not worth it. I refresh the costs once using 10 tickets and skip it using 20 tickets thereafter.
   
3. Gathering coins This is a hard one as well. Completing other missions and claiming coin rewards help. Then I go and play arcade games which give a decent amount of money. Last I go to the casino and spin the wheel if I have tokens/tickets to spare or I am stuck on another mission too(opening card packs, finding cards, etc)
   

TRICK: Coins earned in arcade games are doubled for the progress of this mission. If anyone knows why this happens please mention it in the comments.

1. Opening packs Tricky and hard but doable. Simple objective. Open three card packs. First I open the free cards that we get every 4 hours(watch ad to get two). Then completing missions. On weekends it's easy because we get double the rewards so two packs. Even some trophies give extra card packs so you might want to hold off to claim those unless you really need the tickets. If still stuck then go to the shop and buy the basic pack costing 10 tickets. Last option is the casino. Note trading multiple cards at the fair and opening them is not counted. But the end reward in the six flag weekly challenge is counted 📷

TRICK: Hold off on claiming the rewards from the mission which gives card packs unless necessary. Wait for this mission to appear and then claim. Also try exiting the park and enter again. See if a friend has sent you a gift

1. Gather hearts Fireworks are the easiest. If you have unlocked the security guard then awesome too. Else grind and collect manually. You can also find it in the casino if you want.
   
2. Spend hearts I usually spend it on the park office with another mission. I used to spend it in the mall but after the costs keep increasing it's not worth it. The trading fair is a better deal. I also use it for sending the helicopter if it's idle.
   
3. Buy land expansion There is nothing you could do about it except to skip it using 20 tickets. It gives 10 tickets as a reward so it only costs you 10. On weekends you get double rewards so you get 20 tickets back. Free xp Yayyy!
   

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I think the rest of the missions are self explanatory and there is nothing much to be done. If you have any doubts please let me know in the comments below. Thanks 📷
General advice: Do the least important/dependent mission first so that you can get missions where you can finish/spend resources together. E.g Use park office and spend hearts, spend coins and increase park value, Spend hearts and buy from the mall etc etc. This will increase your efficiency and save time and resources.
Don't launch a peep train/campaign/helicopter as soon as they are available. You will get a mission for that. So don't miss out on the free rewards. I haven't got a mission for watching the cinema so I guess you can watch that when available.
General Tricks: If you want to collect coins from a building which does not have a coin pop up, simply move it to a different location or change its price. It will turn in its coins before doing so.
For changing color missions, if you don't want your park to look like a rainbow, select a building, open the color menu, select a different color and select back the original/default color and exit menu. It will still count but technically your color will be the same as before.
I am on level 73 now with 247M main park value. And I did complete the week3 and week4 six flag weekly challenge over 30 times. That's around 2000 missions. Therefore I hope this helps. And yes I just installed this game last week. You can believe now 📷
That says I am still fairly new to this game and have a lot to learn. So if you have some tricks of your own please let me know. Happy hunting!

Last time on Hell’s Kitchen...
The final four each got a visit from their siblings, who became judges in their final Black Jacket Challenge. Tamina‘s dish left a bad taste in the judges’ mouths, including her brother’s. In the end, Brett scored a nearly perfect score of 22, and won the challenge. At dinner service, each of the chefs took a turn to run the kitchen to become the Co Head Chef at Hell’s Kitchen Lake Tahoe. Tamina’s performance on the appetizers...led to a hault. And so did Rod’s undercooked chicken. However, Brett performed the best in leading his brigade, while Tamina was a hot mess throughout the night, and during the elimination Ceremony, Chef Ramsay has eliminated Tamina, ending her dream of becoming Co Head Chef at Hell’s Kitchen Lake Tahoe.
After Intro
Bella was surprised as she made it to the final three, and found out that she was excited to go far in the competition, and was close to getting to the finale and winning the competition. Brett was in the same mood for getting into the finale as he firstly got the Black Jacket, and then got into the final three, and the other two things on his list that he wants to get done is getting into the final two/the finale and winning the competition so he can go to Hell’s Kitchen Lake Tahoe to become a Co Head Chef.
Later that day, Chef Ramsay asks the final three chefs to meet him by his office as there was a special present waiting there. Chef Ramsay revealed the first surprise coming out the door was members of Bella’s family, which had her husband, Alejandro, and her oldest children, Ricardo and Sofia. Bella was excited to see her husband, and she walks up to him and hugs him. She also walked to her children and kisses them.
The next surprise revealed through the doors were members of Rod’s family which had his mom, Carole and his girlfriend, Kate. Carole was crying in tears, and went up to hug Rod, saying that she missed him, and Kate asked Rod how he was doing, and Rod answered that he was doing great.
Brett was still waiting for his surprise, and Chef Ramsay reveals the final one from the open door, which surprised Brett, as he saw his wife, Tammy and his infant son, Jon. Brett mentioned that he was missing his one year old son’s birthday from making it get far in the competition, and Tammy told him that he can do better.
Chef Ramsay had the chefs spend a quality time with their families, and as the final four spend some time with their families, Tammy asked Brett who his biggest competition was, and he pointed to Bella and her family, and mentioned that she was the love of his life, and Tammy said that he was already married, and cannot get a second girlfriend, and Brett also learned about the fact the she was married, as he saw her husband through the doors.
When Carole, Kate and Rod talk about getting far in the competition, Kate was asking if he can cook better than the other competitors he was going against, and he said that he definitely can, despite being arrested twice. The first time since he was 18, and the second time when he was 21. Carole said one fact about her life, that she has been away from her husband, who served in the Navy, and Carole felt like it was a difficult time hanging by herself, and wished to talk to him.
Bella, Alejandro, Ricardo and Sofia have their conversation about getting far in the competition, and Bella said that she was the only one left in the competition so far, who has yet to be nominated and mentioned that she never will. Ricardo told her if she has faced a difficult time during the competition, and Bella mentioned that she has faced some difficulties while working in the kitchen, especially when some people were making mistakes during dinner service.
After twenty minutes of talking, and spending quality time with their families, Chef Ramsay tells the final four to say goodbye to their families, as they have a different surprise awaiting their journey. Chef Ramsay has told them that their family members will be arriving to see a show at Lake Tahoe’s theatre, but he tells them that they have a different approach. Chef Ramsay gives them tickets to go to Lake Tahoe.
Semi - Finale Trip
Chef Ramsay sent the final three chefs to the airport to board their plane to Lake Tahoe, and Chef Ramsay finds out that there are a couple of fun and surprises there when they arrive there, and Chef Ramsay jumped on his helicopter leaving the chefs at the airport to catch their plane to head to Lake Tahoe.
When the final three get on the plane, Bella had no idea what surprises that she, Rod nor Brett were going to experience. Were they going to a restaurant for dining. Brett told her to relax, and mentioned that she will find out what it is, when they get there.
The first part of the final three’s break, is that they head to the mountains to ride snowmobiles, and Bella got excited as she never been on a snowmobile before. When the final four begin their snowmobile ride, Rod sees the lake on the right side, but said that it was blocked by the trees, and Brett mentioned that it was nice to get out of Hell’s Kitchen for a day, as he felt like it was a challenge win for him. Bella called it a thrilling ride.
The next part of their final three break is that they head to Harrah’s hotel and casino, and when they enter the suite, Rod called the suite gorgeous, and Bella felt that there was a bar, filled with sushi, caviar, and more fancy foods, and when the final three made a toast to getting to the semi-finals, Brett mentioned that he wanted to go snowmobiling again, as it was very nice, and wondered if they had snowmobiles in Philidelphia, and Bella said that he was from the Northeast, so they might have them there, and Brett said that Lake Tahoe was the better place to go snowmobiling, and felt like he wanted more tickets.
Final Tasting Challenge
Later that day, Chef Ramsay arrives with Sous Chefs, Christina and Jay, and asked them if he had a good time, and Brett mentioned that he liked it, including the snowmobile ride, impressing Rod, who called him crazy. Chef Ramsay said that for the Final Tasting Challenge, they will each have a mentor, but Chef Ramsay said that there was three contestants left, and three staff members, but Chef Ramsay said that he will not be mentoring, instead Chef Ramsay invites back Season 19 winner, Kori, as Bella was excited to see her again, and runs up and hugs her after seeing her during the Signature Dish Challenge Reward back from the beginning of the competition, and Bella was hoping that she would be getting her as a mentor, as they both had Latin backgrounds, and Chef Ramsay told her to wait and see what card she got, and he mentioned that each mentor has a diamond card, an ace card, and a Jack card.
Chef Ramsay decides that Bella would go first, as she was hoping to get Kori. The card that she pulls out is an ace, and Chef Ramsay had mentioned to the mentors to show who had the ace card. Christina showed the ace card, disappointing Bella, but she felt fine with Christina as she worked with her, due to being the red team’s sous chef.
Chef Ramsay then had Brett go. The card Brett pulls out is the diamond card, and Brett had Kori as his mentor, thus leading Rod with Jay as his mentor.
For the Final Tasting Challenge, each chef had to recreate a menu which featured a cold appetizer, a hot appetizer, and three entrees that featured seafood, chicken and red meat for one hour, and has the Sous Chefs help them with their cooking, and Chef Ramsay announced that the person with the lowest number of points will automatically be eliminated and not advancing to the final 2. Each chef will be judging from a scale of 1 to 10.
(Skips cooking)
First up, Ben Ford will be tasting the cold appetizer. Bella presents a Rattitouille Zuchinni Bruschetta, and Ben asked Bella if she was on a diet, and Bella said no, she was going to be in the finale. When Ben tastes the appetizer, he found out that there was good flavour, and he awards her 7 points. Next, Rod presents his marinated goat cheese, and Ben finds it too rich, and Rod gets 5 points. Next, it is Brett who judges his Fava and Ricotta toast, and Ben finds the melting in his mouth, and Brett gets awarded with 9 points.
Bella - 7, Rod - 5, Brett - 9.
Next up, Bobby Flay will be tasting the hot appetizer. Bella presents her Beef Taco Roll-ups, to present her Mexican Roots, and Bobby finds that flavour is there, and he gives it a 9. Rod presents his squid risotto, and Bobby finds that it had a lot of flavour, and the rice is perfectly cooked, and gives him an 8. Brett presents his Sausage stuffed mushroom caps, and found that the presentation is underwhelming, and Brett is given 6 points.
Bella - 16, Rod - 13, Brett - 15
The next chef to judge the seafood entrees will be Ina Garten. Bella presents her buttermilk fried lobster with fried rice, and a salsa to go on the lobster. Ina liked the combination of salsa going with the lobster, but it looked more of an appetizer than an entree, and Ina gives Bella 6 points. Rod presents his balsamic glazed salmon with asparagus and polenta. Ina told him that the fish is glistening, and Rod is given 8 points. Brett presents a pan seared sea bass with fettuccine in a pesto sauce, and Ina tells Brett to taste the pasta, as it was lacking salt, and Brett was given 5 points.
Bella - 22, Rod - 21, Brett - 20
The next chef judging the chicken dishes is Giada DeLaurentiis. Bella presents her chicken roulade, and Giada finds that the chicken is juicy, and Bella was awarded 8 points. Rod presents his chicken Parmesan with noodles in a butter sauce, which was given praise, and also was given 8 points. Lastly, Brett presents his General Tao Chicken which was too sweet and Giada gives it 6 points.
Bella - 30, Rod - 29, Brett - 26
The final person who will be judging the red meat dish, will be a guest who judged the International Soup Challenge. It is Wolfgang Puck. First, he tries Bella’s hangar steak with a mushroom gravy, mashed sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts. Wolfgang finds the steak cooked medium-rare, and her gravy tastes good. Bella garners a perfect score of 10. Next, Rod presents his NY strip with a mint pea risotto, and Wolfgang gives praise, gaining a score of 7. Lastly, Brett presents his beef stew served with fresh garlic bread, which needs a perfect score of 10 to tie, and while Wolfgang finds it tasty, he gives it a score of 9, eliminating him, leading Bella and Rod to be the finalists.
Bella - 40, Rod - 36, Brett - 35
Chef Ramsay congratulates Bella and Rod for making it to the final 2, and told Brett that he was just too close to tying but it was not that good to get a score of 10. Chef Ramsay told them in order to run a brigade to become he Head Chef at Hell’s Kitchen Lake Tahoe, they have to run a brigade of other people, and he welcomes back the returning chefs...
...Chloe, Tabuki, Arabelle, Becca, Marvin, Erykka, Tamina, and told Brett to join them.
Since Bella had the most points in the Final Tasting Challenge, she gets the first pick for her brigade. The first person Bella picks for her brigade is Brett because she knows that he was a talented person to have a brigade, and that his cooking is decent. For Rod’s first pick for his brigade, he chose Becca, as she was a strong woman, and felt like her cooking was on point.
The next person that Bella wants on her brigade is Tabuki because she does not want any drama kings or drama queens in her kitchen, and felt that Tabuki had the level to grow and mature. The next person that Rod picks on his brigade is Marvin because he’s got a good palate.
Next for her brigade, Bella picks Tamina as she was very creative, while Rod picks Erykka for his team, as she had a few bumps, but was hoping not to be left with Arabelle on his team.
The last pick is between either, Chloe or Arabelle, and Bella did not want either of them, as Chloe makes a bunch of mistakes during service, and with Arabelle, she felt like she was not a team player, and had the drama. Bella has decided to pick Chloe as her last choice, leaving Rod with Arabelle, as he felt his team would be anybody but Arabelle.
Bella (red kitchen) - Brett, Tabuki, Tamina, Chloe
Rod (blue kitchen) - Becca, Marvin, Erykka, Arabelle

• 18th place: Jake
• 17th place: Irene
• 16th place: Angelina
• 15th place: Gabby (ejected)
• 14th place: Harry (hospitalized)
• 13th place: Chas
• 12th place: Blake
• 11th place: Scottie
• 10th place: Chloe (Cook for your Life)
• 9th place: Tabuki
• 8th place: Arabelle
• 7th place: Becca (2nd round of Black Jackets)
• 6th place: Marvin (3rd round of Black Jackets)
• 5th place: Erykka
• 4th place: Tamina
• 3rd place: Brett (Final Tasting Challenge)
• Finalists: Bella and Rod

Next time on Hell’s Kitchen...
It is the last episode, and the finale gets to the boiling point, where either a red jacket or a blue jacket pulls it off, to win the competition, and become the Co-Head Chef at Hell’s Kitchen Lake Tahoe.

Become linecook. Three days in watch someone die. Continue to learn the line and menu. Work real hard to be the best I can be. Work harder every day after. Chef nervous about virus and outcome. Casino closes.... Re open. Rules. Masks. All that. Still work hard. Work is now top tier difficulty. 600-1000 covers every night not including togos. I'm one of the strongest on the line even though I've only been there 3 months maybe plus a week or two. Unlike other noobs I was trained on the most difficult station first and learn all others with a quickness... Now... My lead is being put on opening shifts and I'm expected to take his place.......
I have never worked in the industry before my buffet job prior to the relocation to the restaurant...... But they trust me enough to be head of the line and make sure shit comes out of the kitchen beautiful..... I have never felt more stressed than the time I dislocated both my knees and thought I would never walk again......
Edit: some guy killed himself using are parking garage as his exit. I just so happen to have the best luck ever and pulled up to work the same time he hit the pavement.

Hello! I just started as a sous chef at a local casino and I must say that it was not what I expected. The hours are fine, and the crew in each restaurant seems to be really good at executing the menus that have been presented to them, but there is a new F&B director that started roughly the same time as I did. This new director has brought some alarming things to my attention regarding food costs (50%) and labor (60%) that are egregiously high. My first week here and he has given the ultimatum of either cutting these costs dramatically in the near future, or shutting it down. I have been working to retool the menu and could get costs down to around 34% without changing any menu prices or actually changing the menu, but my fellow sous' and executive don't seem very receptive to any of these measures. Fellow chefs, how would you go about accomplishing these things in an environment that is fairly chaotic and overall unproductive in terms of meaningful change?

Just got to watch the Pillow Talk for the episode, so I'll start with the venue. It's weird that it was inside a Casino location, normally we'd go for restaurants, ballrooms or generally locations that can hold such parties and events. Yep, the furniture looks outdated when compared to the weddings I see happening in America or other countries, but if you want modern stuff you'll also need a more modern rather exclusive venue. To be honest, I've seen furniture similar to that in most Romanian weddings and it wasn't much of a problem. In Romanian weddings you don't get to sit around for hours until 5 am, you mainly only take breaks from dancing when they bring the food over. Clearly nobody will remember the color of your tablecloth or the flower arrangement on the table by the end of the night.
Now onto the food. Believe it or not, rabbit steak is actually consistent and rather big, my grandma makes it for Easter or special occasions (it's pretty difficult to find rabbit, unless you know a hunter, or a legit source, plus it's rather expensive). The "maize" thingy is polenta, or as we call it mamaliga, it's basically made of corn maize, boiled, you can add egg, cheese or cream on it and it's a side dish most of the time to the meat. It sucked that they had no food available for tasting, but to be honest, seeing how Lib reacted to only the pictures, she wasn't going to like the food regardless.
Also seriously? Burgers and fries for a wedding? The people there would legit call you weird and poor, fast food here is like 1$ for the smallest menu ever at McDonald's, and a large size one is 5$ or less. Weddings here are always full of food you normally eat on Christmas or Easter, lots of different meat, fish, garnishes etc. I'm sure your family will at least be willing to try a boiled or baked potato with some fish file for once in their life, Libby. I don't like Andrei but his McDonald's joke was well placed to be honest.
As for the baptism, I'm not that religious so I'm not familiar with the meanings exactly, I just know that she didn't really convert to orthodoxism just through that. It's more of a way of being recognized by God or something. What I'm curious about is the wedding ceremony itself though. Normally it can take up to 2-3 hours for the religious ceremony to end and most of the times you can't really sit down (I only attended them as a kid when going to weddings, I know that mostly the elderly got to sit down, or young children; in recent weddings me and my family tend to avoid the church ceremony). Unless Andrei slips the priests some extra money to make the ceremony shorter, then I'm afraid Libby's parents and sisters will have to stand around for 2 hours, having no idea what the priests are saying or singing about. "They will skip over the Church", doubt it. Given that they went as far as baptizing, I think Andrei's family are highly religious (as all old Romanian/Moldavian people), so of course they'll want a church ceremony. Most people here look at you weirdly if you don't go through the ceremony.
So that's my takeaway from this episode. Still eagerly waiting for the actual wedding and Libby's disgusted family.

we had 5 servers on, i opened (at 3:30pm), i worked 5 hours, i had 3 tables, a total of 7 guests, $210 in sales, and made $40 after tip out.
i did well for what i had, but my lordy it was so painfully slow. does mercury being in retrograde or a full moon make people not go out to eat at casinos?? we went from painfully busy to excruciatingly slow.
i asked if i could be a back server at the busier restaurant today and they said no, again, bc yesterday i slipped up and forgot there was dairy in the meatballs, and even tho i rectified it immediately (i went to the kitchen before i rang it in, worked it out, but a miscommunication happened that made the chefs still think i fucked up), they’re still not convinced i know the menu. i HATE IT HERE.
all the servers at the busier restaurant want me over there as a back server bc they know i know my shit, but management won’t let me for some reason.