Hello, I'm Ruben Sines Jr. Bishop of the North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church. May God's peace be with your spirit today. We'll gather for annual conference at Christ United Methodist Church in Plano in June. We'll discuss several important topics during the conference, including legislation and resolutions. Understanding the difference between legislative items and resolutions is important before the conference begins. Legislative items are binding and have operational and financial implications. These items include setting budgets, for example. When the body votes on a legislative item, it votes to approve a proposal and then take action. Resolutions on the other hand express the ideals and opinions of the legislative body on an issue. A resolution must be aspirational, not prescriptive, and it cannot negate, ignore, or violate provisions of the discipline. A resolution can express support or opposition for a particular issue or commemorate a person or event. Resolutions can encourage particular actions within the annual conference and on behalf of the annual conference, we've seen resolutions serve as powerful signals of our shared beliefs, values, and hopes as United Methodists. Both types of works are essential to our annual conference's purpose and witness. You know, it's part of our West Indian heritage to encourage and engage in holy conferencing, seeking God's will for our church to spirit-led dialogue with one another. By making space for honest and thoughtful discussion, we can model to society what it looks like to listen well, grow in our understanding, collaborate to affect change, and even disagree without becoming disagreeable or disrespectful. So when we gather in June, may we arrive with a spirit of humility, open a hear one another, grow stronger in our faith and love for one another, be encouraged and place our hope in the Lord. See you then. Peace be with you.


welcome to the condo insider show where we discuss all things pertaining to condo living. Today we are going to be discussing the consequences of not adhering to your your governing documents. I'm your host today Cheryl Franklin and today Jane Sugimora and I will be discussing those consequences. Many of you are familiar with Jane. She is an industry expert and so we're just gonna dive right in. Hi Jane. Hi Cheryl. How are you? Good good good. So let's talk about some of the consequences. What prompted the show was I've you know I've experienced instances where properties move from one management company to the next and in particular a conversation that I was having recently the Association did not have an annual meeting for years and I just thought you know that's unacceptable and that's an example of not adhering to your governing documents. So I think all your governing documents that include your declaration, your bylaws, your house rules, any policies or resolutions that the board has adopted over the years and you know all governing documents fall for an annual meeting of the Association and you know that's when the owners get you know a chance to basically participate in in in this overall plan you know for the project and you know if you don't have an annual meeting and there's a lot of consequences on number one can't choose directors or officers that means that the old board and the old officers continue to run the show and you know in a lot of places that's not a good thing you know because the owners have a right under their governing documents every year to elect officers and you know usually on a condominium there are nine board members and and typically what it is is they have three-year terms and it's staggered so you have three people running every year you always have six people who are like part of the old you know who are carryovers and three incumbents yeah you know so so so you know so if you don't have the board meet annual board meeting then you don't have the election of officers or directors and there's this thing that they do at every annual meeting it's a rollover resolution for IRS purposes in other words because at the end of the year most associations have some extra money left over and if you don't do the rollover resolution that says we you know we resolve and we take this extra money and we're going to roll it over and use it to pay expenses for the next year that money is taxable right yeah right yeah and so they you don't do the rollover then I guess you have a tax liability because you know you're supposed to pay taxes on that amount and I guess if you're a small association it might not be significant but you know that the IRS wants to come after you they can absolutely that's something and then management these are usually the the declarations or the statute 514b says at the annual meeting you will confirm who your managing agent is so if you don't have an annual meeting the old managing agent or you know this is a property management company like Hawaiian a touchstone associate right they continue they automatically roll over and there might be some people in the building who are upset with the management you know of the building and they maybe wanted a new manager yeah they don't get that opportunity because there's no annual meeting yeah well it happens a little too often but let's let's take a step back and let's talk about some of those governing documents and where and what they stipulate for example the bylaws and the declaration and things like that the declaration is the document that creates the condominium and you know the condominium is created by statute which means that it doesn't exist until you have a declaration the declaration is the one that basically says this is our condominium it is a one-story building it has 34s and on each floor we have 10 units and we have this many two bedrooms and this many one bedroom and this many three bedrooms and these are our common elements and they list all the common all the common elements all the limited common elements and they list all the limited common elements so if you're if there's an issue about you know what is your condominium you say look at the declaration that tells you what our condominium is and that gets registered filed with the state of Hawaii it gets recorded with the DCCA the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and when that happens the doc of the condominium is created right and in it it basically tells you the rules it says that the the management of the condominium is to be done by border directors at a border directors shall mandatory shall hire because board board directors you're talking about it is 30 story building and you know and your board of directors are volunteer okay volunteer owners they have they don't have a clue on how to manage this building so how are they gonna manage it right yeah so that that lends itself to the bylaws which is the declaration say you shall hire a professional management company and they're the ones who do the day to day they hire your help they hire your contractors and you know they they make sure that everything runs and make sure the bills get paid and then your bylaws basically tell you how do you operate this entity has the rules how do you elect your officers how do you elect your board and what do the board what does the board do what does the officers do when you have your annual meetings and it says you have to have annual meetings and and it this is your roadmap that tells you how to do the day-to-day right and then you have your house rules which are rules that the board probably you know develops and establishes and then circulates to all the owners and all the owners you know have to comply with these rules and regulations called house rules and regulations and sometimes you know the the board comes up with design criteria in other words if you want to fix your apartment you want to close your line I this is how you do it and and and you know they all have this in the standard terms you have to have license contractors and if it requires a permit you've got to comply with all sitting counting rules and so you know and but you know if you want to do put in a floor these other specs this is how you know you have to put in a padding and it has to be this big and has these many requirements right and if you want to put in carpet this is what you do and if you want to put in tile this is what you do yeah you know but something and some buildings have committees that establish establish these design criteria as to what you can do in your unit and and you know so there are all these you know different rules that the board will review and doc and then it affects everybody who lives in the building yeah so let's talk about when that goes awry first of all yeah everyone every owner receives a copy of their governing document yes they do when they buy their unit when they buy their unit and if they don't read it or they lose it they have access to obtaining their governor a copy from the now many associations have online access right right they have websites I know a lot of the management companies have websites or they out they will help you set up your website and one of the things that they put on this website are you're coming back right your declaration all the amendments your file laws and all any amendments your house rules your design rules any type of rules you got right so the information yeah website it's all it's all there so in lieu of the fact that all the information is there all of the governing documents are there that you should adhere to let's talk about some of the consequences when you do not adhere to those governing documents and in the case that we're speaking of where they are not conducting annual meetings let's talk about some of the consequences when you don't do that and your ownership kind of takes a look at these things and they decide to do something about it well in the draft in the most drastic case and I can tell you this without naming the condominium there is a condominium in town and the board president kind of ran it like his own feet you know like he was paying those condominium and he owned several units in it and he was acting as own property manager but he was the board president for like 18 19 years oh and and and there was this huge lawsuit that got generated and he ended up the association lost ended up with a whole lot of attorney's fees and naturally the owners had to pay for it say they had to pray and they were not happy yeah and you got one owner who had an adoption to organize and and they went three years without any annual meeting and I was told there were no board meeting no monthly board meeting so there were he was just running it and and the owner basically took over he managed to get an annual meeting run and he got himself elected as kind of straighten things out and and he hired a lawyer who was Terry here you know yeah no and Terry went after the board president and management company and at that in that instance the previous president becomes personally liable there's something called fiduciary duty fiduciary duty is a is a legal it is a legal concept and it means that if you're you know you know it's a it's you're in a situation of trust if you're the fiduciary and let's say and and in in a condo land the board has a fiduciary duty to the association and that's the the group the association means a unit owners as a group I don't old if I'm the board member I don't know fiduciary duty to you if you're a unit owner but I owe it to you if you're part of the association so if I do something to screw up something that affects the company let's say the maintenance fees right that how we set the maintenance fees is a board function because we do the budgeting but if I screw that up so that all of a sudden there's this huge debt and the only way you pay the debt is you go after the unit owners and say okay now we have to do a special assessment because we don't have enough money in the classroom problematic right and so if you're if you're you're going to be really angry at the board yeah you're going to get upset because it's a special assessment it's something extra that you have to pay on top of the maintenance fees that you're already obligated to pay and so that's how other so condominium functions they collect maintenance fees from everybody and if there's not enough money you have to do a special assessment and so in this case you know if you do a special assessment uh and you know that would affect everybody in the in the building and in that sense the board owes the fiduciary duty to everybody to make sure that when that happens it is happening for the right reasons right for something that was catastrophic let's say you thought you were taking care of the building and your pipes right you know and and and you hire the engineer and the engineer says oh you got to replace all your pipes yeah well that's unexpected and you don't have the money in the reserves so you've got to do a special assessment yeah I mean that's nobody's fault right you know you people are always looking for a while whose fault is how come you didn't tell us why didn't you plan for this yeah most of us are not quite avoid it well yeah and you are best you are best because you know the board is charged with taking care of the building and you do your best and if you do your best then you can't be personally liable but you still do your best and you and and and you know to when I teach the class after the sherry duty I tell people you know it's really easy if you're a board member most board members we know have no clue right they are unpaid volunteers yeah they live in the building they're owners they have a stake and they care about the building that's why they're on the board yeah we know that they're not engineers and lawyers right the things like that so if you got a plumbing problem what do you do so this is just a rule says we know you don't have a clue you hire you hire a plumber you follow in the experts you hire an attorney yeah and if you have a financial problem you hire a cpa and you pay that for their written opinion right how do we fix this and then you're protected and then you protect it you take you you can follow their opinion and because they have you know every mission if they have they give you the wrong information or the wrong opinion and you follow it yeah you are not liable and that's what this is judgmental all right I'm getting a message this is a great time for a break lots more to talk back please come back and join us thank you I'm Rusty Kamori host of beyond the lines I have a tv show based on my book which is also called beyond the lines it's about leadership creating a superior culture of excellence and building winning teams we are having a fun drive for think tecawaii and please please please please help us keep these shows going please go on our website think tecawaii.com to donate thank you and thank you for returning we're going to just continue the conversation with Jane here I believe before the break Jane you were speaking to some of the consequences of not adhering to your governing documents and we'll just continue down that line I just want to ask a quick question here I know that in the instance where they're not having annual meetings they're not adhering to their bylaws but they're making decisions or one board member in this case a president is making all the decisions those decisions can be challenged yes they can or are they even valid they can they can be challenged that's why you know board members you know have to you know remember that they have a fiduciary duty when they make a decision they're making a decision on behalf of every member of the association so they have to think what is what when I make a decision it's got to be for the best interests of the group and and and if you don't know the you know the statute says you use the business judgment rule you hire an expert and the expert you say well this is the issue how do I solve the problem how do I address it okay you get a written opinion and then as a board you discuss it and if if if everybody agrees that you follow what the consultant says then fine you make that's how you make your decision in other words you can't just pull stuff out of thin air you can't decide oh I want to I want to do this job and my uncle Joe right it was not a license plumber but yeah he's been doing it for years and so yeah he knows what he's doing you don't do you don't make decisions like that because first of all you know they're not based on the business judgment rule you're using an unlicensed plumber to do repairs on a building that doesn't really belong to you it belongs to everybody in the building so that's why when you make a decision you have to make sure that it's got to be good for everybody and you have to use license contractors right you have to and the repairs that you do you have to make sure that an expert has looked at it and the attorney has looked at the contract and maybe the cpe has looked at the finances you have to all these consultants look at this and say oh yeah this will work and then then if if that decision turns out to be wrong all those experts have errors and omissions go ahead and sue them but you are not liable right but if if you don't do that and you decide i'm going to do it by myself because i know better you know i i know i you know i'm the king and i know everything and i'm going to do it this way and if you screw up you can be personally liable yeah yeah and you know people say you know that well i'm on the board and there's dno insurance right that's directors and officers right but what does that do but directors and officers insurance does which and most condos have it it means that if you get sued or somebody makes a claim the insurance company has to come in and defend it doesn't mean that you're off the hook right because if they if they you know if it turns out that you screwed up and the way you made your decision was not supported by the business judgment rule or by any solid you know basis you could be held personally liable yeah because you know because number one you have a new share duty you have an obligation to follow the business judgment rule if you didn't follow the decision-making processes that are in place that you should be following and you just make it on your own and something bad happens and rather why why should the association meaning all of the members who live there pay for your mistake right they'll come after you and that's what's happening with this association that didn't have any meetings for three years well even starting right there if you're not having meetings you're not even documenting the decisions right to demonstrate that you're doing your due diligence you're not you're basically a lone ranger and that's a two-edged sword right yeah and and and that's what happened in that case the owners rebelled they got there's a certain point you can probably do this but at some point you're going to get somebody so angry yeah because they're paying out of their pocket and they're saying why am i doing this right this is crazy and i'm going to put a stop to it and that's what usually does it and and and and you know and now you have litigation with this conduit no board meetings or annual meetings for three years and they're going after the board president for you know personal liability and they should and they should and i'd venture to say that in doing so i would i can only assume that that means that he made all the decisions regarding the budget right and the maintenance fees and things like that so they're probably not fiscally stable right right or fiscally sound and so they have to go back and try to repair all that damage to make sure that they're they're planning and adhering to their fiduciary duty so you basically need an entire new board because you haven't had your meeting in a couple of years which you know i don't even know how you do that but it's it's being done unfortunately right and they're little by little they're you know they're clawing their way back to a normal level where things are supposed to be happen happening in a normal way where you have monthly board meetings where the owners can select their board members and their officers and they're having you know budgets that are being discussed in front of the owners and approved and implemented and they're trying to claw their way back and it's going to take them time but i think they're going you know i'm very sure that they're going to make it and the problem is is that you know now they've got this uh this issue of you know trying to recover from the board president for the losses that this association occurred yeah yeah so in many cases do homeowners know where to start when there's a situation where they feel that their board has gone rogue if you will um do they even know uh where they can go to i don't know if they they they know where to go but you know one wonderful resource is the state of hawaii uh real estate commission website and i think if in the way you know if you you know want to google it it's hawaii real estate commission and they have a page that talks about all the issues that if you live in a condo that you you know it has you know a legislative page and that you know of the new legislation how to resolve disputes of budgets and research it's all out there and it's free and it's on the internet and so anybody and and and it will tell you if you have a dispute with your board this is what you can do and they even on they even have subsidized programs where where money is paid by all condominium owners into a condominium education it's been happening for 25 years and now the state well if you have a dispute with another owner and now you or with the board or if you have a board member who's mad at the other board members you can do that never happens no but you know you can you can do media but the value of mediation and the state will put subsidize it they will pay for it there's money out of the and you can go to the the you know these mediation organizations and you know they're not free you have retired judges who act as mediators and arbitrators and you know their fees are anywhere from three to four hundred dollars an hour and that's subsidized by this fund in order for you to participate in in a dispute resolution and you gotta be with a board member or another unit owner or if you're a board member and you're mad at the other board members you couldn't go to you know this the the the real estate commission and say I want to mediate this tell me where to go and they'll tell you yeah they have you know you go to the website and it tells you the the contracts contractors that are hired by the state and you go and say I have a dispute and they will set you up for mediation or a voluntary binding arbitration it's just that simple huh and and it is paid for by the state of Hawaii and it's not taxpayer money it's money that it's sitting there yeah that all of us if you live in a condo you've been paying for over 25 years and when it started off the the the cost was something like a hot a dollar and a quarter per unit every other year every other year as of last year i was told it's almost ten dollars per unit every other year yeah yeah so you know everything else but you know if you look at the number of condos in the state of Hawaii and you're talking millions of dollars in this fund right so you know so you know if you have a dispute there's money there that won't get you professional assistance to try to help you resolve the issue well we definitely need to get the word out on that um i don't know the website yeah but even the accessibility to the website like how do we really educate boards for one um is there anything coming down the pike in fact that's um we we are now working as as we speak there is a resolution that is circulating for uh to establish a task force uh to come back to the next legislative session with uh some kind of a bill that will mandate that all board members have to be educated in order to serve in other words because you know we the legislature and the real estate commission they've had so many complaints over the years about abusive boards and boards you know who just don't have a clue and who you know are just beating up other owners that you know and and these are the guys who don't go to the seminars that CAI has or Hawaii council or all the management companies when they do board training and it's not that there's no resources there's plenty of resources and a lot of it is free like i told you the the the DCCA the real estate commission website is a treasure trove of information and all you have to do is find a computer you go to the library get on the computer and just google it and do Hawaii real estate commission yeah and you zoom right into this page that has all kinds of information it even has a map of all the contos in the state you know where so if you want to know where a particular condominium is there it is it's all out there have a list of every condominium that's registered with the state of Hawaii and who their contact person is and it's usually the the managing agent right right and so so you know there is just a treasure trove of information for anything you might want and then they have a list they have a calendar of events so if you want to go and be educated they have the seminars some of them are free some of them you pay for right but the calendar is there and if you want to know where to go you just go to the calendar but when that bill passed you definitely have to come back and talk about that right there's there's a lot to consider with that I think it's a great idea um my only other word you know in other words you know the concept behind it is you know if you make it mandatory some of these guys who are on the board that are bullies yeah they'll get off the board because they don't want to you know sit for four hours or whatever and and and and get certified yeah as having educated being educated or they'll have to sit there and then when it comes time when they're sued they can't claim they can't because you know what you can't anyway but yeah right now they can can claim ignorance and they don't say oh well you're an offender so i'm not going to hold you liable but they won't be able to do that once you know we make it mandatory and and so once we make it mandatory they don't have that excuse they will be personally liable for anything harm that they you know they uh you know bring to the owners in the buildings that they're supposed to be serving yeah well thank you we could go on yes and we'll continue on another show but thank you again for joining us and please come back for more discussion on everything pertaining to condo living okay aloha thank you


Narcissists are desperate for attention. They are desperate for people to take notice of them. They are desperate for people to regard them as interesting or important. It makes them feel as though they are something valuable and significant.  And people will do anything to get it. It has become more valuable than money or success. For many businesses, attention is essential to their survival. So there is no money or success without people's attention. But people who are seeking your attention are usually the ones who have the least to give. And that is why they are seeking your attention. Because you have something that they want, which they are trying to take from you. But people who are desperate for attention really have very little to give to you. They engage in attention seeking behaviours because deep down they feel as though they are not enough. So they engage in these behaviours in an attempt to establish some level of significance in a situational environment. Narcissists need constant attention and admiration. They need people to regard them as impressive or worthy of respect. They need people to approve of them. They need people to view them as something desirable or attractive. They feel dead without it. Getting attention and validation is their main priority. There is nothing more significant or important. Everything they do is self-serving. Everything they do is designed to gain them attention. It's all that really matters to them. And they will do whatever it takes to get it. Attention has a very strong effect on the narcissist. For a moment it makes them feel alive. But they can't get enough of it. They are never satisfied. They always want more. And they will do whatever it takes to get it. In their pursuit of attention, the narcissist will engage in irrational and immoral behaviours. They will act in very foolish and unwise ways without showing any care for the consequences of their actions. Because all they can think about is what they need in that moment. Which is attention. When you are attention junkies, the focus always has to be on them. And that is why you will notice whenever you are engaged in something, they will always interrupt you. They always need your time and attention to be on them. When you are having a conversation with them, they will always interrupt you. They will always change the topic to something about themselves. Because the only thing they're interested in is attention. People taking notice of them. People regarding them as something interesting or important. Desirable and attractive. If people don't notice or regard them in this way. Or if they believe that someone has out chimed them. They will be quick to insult people before they even know them. Because they expect people to only focus their attention on them. Even though they have no real qualities or abilities. Even though they have nothing that is even worthy of anyone's attention. They demand and expect it just because they want it. Narcissists are desperate for attention. And they don't want to wait to receive it. When they want something, they want it now. And this creates so many problems for them in work and relationships. Because those things take time to build. It's not something that develops overnight. But when you try to rush the process. You end up with something that has a weak foundation and structure. Something that is easily damaged. And liable to collapse under pressure. Because these things take time. But narcissists don't want to wait. They need attention. They need instant gratification. And this often results in them finding themselves in undesirable situations. Due to irrational thinking and detentions to behaviors. Which they never take responsibility for. So it just repeats the cycle. They do the same things again and again. Expecting a different result. But they never find what they were looking for. They're never satisfied. Because they don't want to invest their time and energy over a long period of time. Which means that they never get to experience love. Because love takes time to build. They just want attention. They want instant gratification. Anything that takes time. Or where they have to wait. It only causes them to feel bored. Disgusted. Or sexually repelled. They don't want things to happen slow. It makes them anxious. They want it right now. If you want to wait. If you understand that anything of real significance or value. Takes time to build. In their minds. You're just causing a disturbance or problem. You're just disrupting the flow. Of how it's supposed to be. Because in today's society. It is generally accepted. That everything is supposed to happen quickly. There is no need to wait for anything. When you want it. You can get it. It makes people very entitled. It makes people believe. That they are inherently deserving. Of privileges or special treatment. As though they should expect. To have whatever they want. Whenever they want it. Instead of desperately seeking attention. And instant gratification. Instead of always wanting more. And never being satisfied. With anything they have. They should learn to practice gratitude. They should learn to be thankful. Because it is very easy. To take things for granted. Especially when they are given to you. So readily and quickly. When you feel entitled. And you receive things so fast. And without taking the time to be grateful. And thankful. And to appreciate what you have. They can almost feel like. You never received anything. Because they're too busy. Thinking about what's next. They're too busy. And the next thing. And it just never stops. But they're never grateful. For anything that they've received. The only time they ever realize what they had. Is when it's taken away from them. Or when they see it. With someone else. But by that time. They're too busy being angry. And resentful at the thing. Than to realize and accept. Everything that was done for them. Everything that they were given. Because they were never really grateful. For what they had received. They took it for granted. And the only time they really recognize it's worth. Is when it's no longer around. As the old saying goes. You don't know what you got. Until it's gone. Thank you for watching. I hope this video wears neat with you. Please like, comment, share and subscribe. Click the bell icon. Receive notifications. For my future videos. If you are like today. My PayPal link is in the video description. Culture and Choirs. You can email me. Thank you for watching and I'll talk to you soon.


What's going on, everyone? Sam here with late and sports cards, ripping 23 top Star Wars, Return of the Jedi, Chrome Sapphire Edition, Hobby 5 box break number 5, random pack style. We're gonna do the random. So again, the way this will work is we have box one, two, three, four, five, took them out of the case just like that. The other half cases behind me, it's all in a row like this, just like one of them. This will be packed one through eight, nine through 16, 17 through 24, 25 through 32, and 33 through 40. That's how that will work. So just so you know, bring it over to the random, we're gonna roll the dice. We're gonna go 11 times, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11. Jason R down to John H. And then we've got 11 times on our numbers. Again, that's gonna be represent what pack number you get one through 40 11 times one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 27 through 16. So I'll just I'm just going to go through and read off everybody's numbers. That's the way it'll be the easiest. Jason R 27 will K 37 John H 21, Justin W seven Dallas P 11 Scott M 25 Jeremy S 34 Joshua G six Jeremy S 39 Dallas P two Justin W 32 Jason R 26 Kerry R 15 Justin W 23 will K five Jared S 31 Kyle R 29 Justin W one John B 19 Jonathan L 28 Justin W 38 will K 20 Shiginori you 35 Justin W three Jason R 18 Phil K 24 David 12 John H 14 Phil K 36 Jason R 9 Justin W 10 Michael S 33 Jonathan L 8 Dallas P 40 Phil K 13 Justin W 17 Scott M 30 Jared S 4 Dallas P 22 John H 16. So let me get these copied over really quick. We'll keep the break going. I'm going to go ahead and organize these in order of number really quick. Again, guys, just nine to go on the next one. Hey, chill. Yeah, I'm gonna control f the numbers. So here comes your results. Like I said, before we get started, I'm gonna drop the results. So you guys can see what numbers you have again. The easiest way is just going to control f to find yourself. Like I said, that'll be most likely the easiest way to do things. Um, we're going to sort sort range B, A through Z. All right. So again, we're going to start box number one right here. This is going to contain packs number one through E and mine. Here we go. Again, I'll just take them out of the pack as they fall generally with sapphire. They're all on the bottom. So this is the top again, you can see I'm just my hand under them, taking them out and putting them down. So that is an empty box. I'm putting the packs down. Justin w number one. Here we go. Good luck, Justin. We've got the red like exclusive, the netted droid green Luke Skywalker's destiny 10 of 60. Nice one there. The benevolent river. That's going to be soldiers of the empire. Nice one there. Not numbered. And then the red exclusive, the rescuer, the rescuer. So there you go, Justin. Nice first pack there, buddy. Number two, Dallas P. Good luck here, Hawkdog. We've got trapped by the emperor is a pondering the raid. Nice one there pondering the raid. That is a sail barge battle. Cool one. And a sin snoodles or sea snoodles. I'm just going to bring up the checklist really quick. That's a secret trick, okay. We're at the anniversary. Checklist. I just want to know what those reds are called. The um, series two. Oh, there's, there's two parallels. So far parallels, normal ones, the onyx, aqua to 75 green, orange, gold, purple, red onyx. I guess the reds, like the red top ones are just like the exclusives. I forget force told me what they were called. I don't remember now. Got to take notes, man. I know, I know. But all right. Number three, we've got Justin W. Number three as well. Love, Justin. That is the baby Ewok. That's cool. A father versus son. Red of, is that salacious? Salacious in this? You have to let me know if that is. I'm pretty sure. Oh no, that's a hundred percent salacious. You got to do it then. No, I know. Half the destiny. It's not numbers. This guy, Jared S. with number four. Future Webri Baker autographs. Oh, Clay Guida, that's cool. Imperial biker scout. Gamorian guard profile. That is a salacious crumb. That's an actual salacious crumb card. Oh, he's got multiple. He's got multiple. Yeah. Okay, wait, wait, wait, wait. And victory celebration. Yes. Victory celebration. Sticker SP. Thank you, Bill. Sticker SP. Oh yeah, I forgot to do the sticker things. Will Kay at number five. Good luck, Will. That is 132 cards. 33 stickers. Return of the Jedi. That's like a checklist card kind of thing. That is going to be an Aqua to 75. Fury of the Jedi. That's cool, man, with Luke on it. 75 of 75. Last one stamped. There's a Lando Calrissian. Cloud City Legend. And facing the Emperor. Luke and Vader. All right. Two to go at number six. Thank you to Dennis with two. That's awesome. Antoine picking up a spot in Tribute Finest. Jeremy with one. And Hawkdaw Dallas with another four. Thank you, buddy. All right, Joshua G at pack number six. Good luck. Here we go, Joshua. Darth Donnie. He walks to the rescue. A Scythe Noodles in the Rebel Band. The Court in Chaos. And Boba Fett attacks. Honestly, even if I wanted to, I think I could do my crumb laugh tonight because my throat's like three. Justin W now at seven. Although now that I know. True. Toward Brighter tomorrows. A monstrous guess. There's Mission Destroy the Death Star. And Village of the Ewoks. That's awesome. And Jonathan L rounding out box number one. It didn't even occur to me that the Galatians would be in this product, even though they're the Return of the Jedi. True. Heroes in Disguise. A close call. Under attack. And master of his court. All right, going on to packs nine through 16. Nine through 16. Guys, if I'm top loading on another night when we do this, we roll some salacious. I'll give you guys, I'll give you guys a laugh, even though it's going to sound bad. I'll still do it. Pack number nine is Jason R. I love Jason.  Yeah, Donnie didn't do his vocal warm-up style as it was. I didn't, no, I didn't. Oh, we got a purple. The Confederation. Princess Leia, Organa. Purple. Princess Leia to the rescue. Eight of ten. Nice one, Jason. Congrats, man. Nice. Eight of ten. Princess Leia to the rescue on the purple sapphire. That's nasty. And Jabba the Hutt on the sail barge. Justin W. at ten. That is Time out for Love. A Beto and Jawa. Princess Leia's Smile. And the Arrival of Boush. Adam Rank, Pat Fryming, Miles Sanders, and Brisker. Nice. Number 11, Dallas. HawkDock. Let's see it, buddy. Let's see it, Dallas. Got the Heroic Droids. Droopy McCool. The Skywalker Factor. That's a beautiful card. And Battle of the Bunker. Number 12, David A. David A. There's a 88 cards, 22 stickers. The Rancor Pit. Darth Vader is down. That's a nice one. And Serious Situation. Number 13 is going to be Phil K. Good luck, here, Phil. Where's he at? Addable Aquar. That's a good one. Deadly Plunge. That is an Aqua Victory Celebration. 74, 75. I saw one there, Phil K. That's Kyle. Kyle's Droopy McCool. Horrendous Creature. And the Ultimate Mission. That's Sean, Horrendous Creature. And Ultimate Mission. John H. At number 14. Hit an Orange of those last night. That's sweet, Jonathan. What is that? 25, I'm assuming. Fury of the Jedi. There's the Jaws of Death. That's cool. A Full-Fledged Jedi. And Break for Freedom. Jaws of Death. What's the creature's name? Carrie R. At 15. Disappointment. What is it? It's a Rancor, man. Rancor. Thank you. Come on. The Deciders. Alert to Danger. A Message for Job of the Hutt. And Checklist. One through 66. Nice one there. Return of the Jedi. Jack, can you believe this guy doesn't know what a Rancor is? John H. 16. Just absurd. Blasting a speeder bike. That's funny. I love that. That was such a classic scene. Oh yeah. A Mother Ewok and Child. A congratulating wedge. And the sail barge and the desert skip. All right. Rounding us out was John. We're on to box number three. So pack 17 through 24 here. How old was I when this movie came out? What year did it come out? I don't know. Not come out. When did I see it? I was going to say, you weren't born yet. Yeah, I know. I probably can't really Justin Doubly. Justin Doubly. I'll get this guy out of here. I don't even think I was 10 last year. Oh, we got an orange. Chewbacca Triumphant. That's a checklist. Orange. Alert to Danger. Nine of 25. There you go, Justin. Congrats, man. Nine of 25. Alert to Danger. So cool. Came out in 83. Okay. And ready for action. That orange is sweet. Yeah, I think I've seen this when I was probably like less than 10. Yeah, that would make sense. Jason already 18. I remember watching the Emperor Lightning Luke and it scared me as a kid. The Emperor. Speaking of the Emperor, there you go. The Emperor. I'm not five anymore, see. I'm over it. There's Walking the Plank. Bizarre Alien Creature. And the Friends of the Park. There you go, Jason. Number 19 is John B. John B at 19. Gamoran Guard. Sailbarge Creatures. They were weird. Confronting their destiny.  Yeah, Imperial Guards are awesome, yeah. Job of the Hutt, new dancing girl. Drippy McCormick. What's Kyle on with this? He's like infatuated with it now. Number 20, Will Kay. Will Kay will get us halfway through the breakthrough. That is the demise of Job of the Hutt. That is the nearly completed Death Star. That is a curious Ewok and Princess Leia to the rescue. I think they're just super, super rare, Jonathan. 21, John H. 21, John H. Yeah, I don't think it's like K-Series. We got an Aqua. Aqua that is Arrival of the Emperor is Deadly Plunge, 26 of 75. Nice one there. Congrats, John, on that one. That is the approach of Wicket and the Bounty Hunter Boush. We are on to 22. That's Dallas P. again. Good luck here. Hawkdog, Dallas. Facing Job of the Hutt. Lando Calrissian disguise. He looked dope, dude. Lando Calrissian on the, what was it, on the barge? What's that on that scene? The Victors. Nice one there. I think Forest pulled, Forest was, I think Forest pulled the purple of that last night. And Court of Evil, Justin W at 23. So, Salacious, is there a little bit? Kenneth Walker, Raquel Rodriguez, and Braun. Oh, geez. Four Reds in this. That's watched by Boba Fett. A, Toward the Desert Palace. A, The Death Star Raid. And Luke Skywalker. Nice. There you go, Justin. Congrats, buddy. And 24, rounding out box number three is Phil K. We've got a Captured, Bib Fortuna. A, Battle in the Forest. And the Allies Meet. That's a cool one. All right. 25 through 32 now. Box number four, that is. Just pulling them out just like that. There you go. 25. We're starting with Scott M. Scott M. Or Aqua. Luke Skywalker, the Jedi. Aqua is Han Solo's in trouble, 31 of 75. Nice. That's so clean. Battle of the Jedi. And Han Solo.  Jason R at 26 and 27. Good luck here, Jason. Both these packs, 26, starting off is The Battle Begins. Got aboard the sail barge. The Victorious Rebels. And a word with Ben, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Those Reds out there, it looks so, so clean. Jason R again at 27. Good luck, Jason. That is going to be Luke Skywalker's surrenders. Yoda, the Jedi Master. ATSD, All Terrain Scout Transport. And the Imperial Fleet. I always wanted an ATSD. Yeah. The coolest things ever. What's the big ones? AT-AT are they? Yeah. The big, big ones? Yeah. 28, Jonathan L.  That's true. But then they do the thing where you fly around and trip them. There's a Gamoran Guard emerges. That's a great LEGO Star Wars level. Oh, God. Classic. Don't get me started on that. Droid's on the move. A Forest of Endor. And give in to your heat. Good. Kyle R at 29. Dude, so, no, to go back on the toe cable on Snow Speeders, on the Super Nintendo on the Empire Strikes Back, that level, I can't get past. It's so hard. It's so hard. Awaiting His Majesty. I think we have a green in here. All Hail. C3PO. That's going to be a green. Awaiting His Majesty. One of 60. First one stamped. Kyle, that's awesome, dude. Congrats, buddy. Dale C. I think we're sold out, everybody. We are. We are sold out. Thank you, Dale, taking the last two spots. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Thank you all. And entering the throne room. Scott Emmett 30. That is a gorgeous card. That green is absolutely beautiful. Yeah. We've got their secret revealed. The Droid and the Ewok. Luke Skywalker. Now a Jedi. And Wil Han Solo be dinner. That's funny. Is that when they were, they were on Endor for that one, right? Yeah. That was the Ewoks. The Ewoks were roasting him. Jared S. at 31. Jared S. Then Luke told C3PO to use his magic. The Young Jedi Knight. That is the Emperor's Shuttle. Rescuing Han Solo. And a red of Luke Skywalker's Destiny. There you go, Jared. And we got Justin W. again at 32. Rounding us out on box four. That will be Prisoner's Rebel Cruiser. That is the courageous Ewoks. And corridors of the Imperial Destroyer. Nice one there. Good little pack. All right. On to our last box of the break. Box five. Packs 33 through 40. This will round us out. I've got no recap on this one. We obviously don't want to mix up anybody's cards. Yeah, they're like, Forrest told me what the reds were called today. And I just, I forgot, dude. It's because Sam's a bot. I am, dude. Yeah, Chromium versions of the 1983 base cards, including series one and series two. So that's what they are. They're like the Chromium. Yeah, they still do have reds to five. So we're starting at 33, which will be Michael S. Michael S at 33. Good luck, Michael. That is, we got a teal in here. Inside Job of the Hunts Palace. Red, the deadly cannon. That's going to be Salacious Chrom to 75. You got to do it now. You got to do it now. There you go, Michael. And headquarters. That's way too high-pitched. Series two is red. Series one is blue. Thank you, Forrest. That's what it is. That's what it is. Thank you, Forrest. Jeremy S at 34. It's too high-pitched. I'm ashamed of it. It's not good enough. The Ewok leaders. Is Han Solo giving up? Okay, that's fair, Forrest. I didn't mean that. R2-D2 hit. And checklist. Return of the Jedi presents. 35. Shigenori U. Good luck, Shigenori. 35. We've got Biker Scout in the battlefield. A hulking Gamorian Guard. That is a Friends of the Alliance. And Princess Leia swings in action. 36 is going to be Phil Kay. Good luck, Phil. Is the Forest Fighters. This is what I'm about to be, the Forest Fighter. Ooh, nice. That is going to be, um, what's it called? One of the, like, portraits. Nice one there. SSP Stickers. Face of Terror. And Princess Leia strikes back. Forrest heard the Donny B. Crom and disappeared. Will Kay at 37. Ooh, Gold. That's Portrait of Chewbacca. Gold. A Concerned Princess Leia. 12 of 15. Nice one there. Congrats on that, yeah. SSP Sticker Luke. That's pretty nasty. Nice one there. Concerned Princess Leia. 12 of 15. That is going to be Princess Leia has the Force. And a red. Princess Leia apprehended. There you go, Will. 38's Justin W. C3PO and R2G2. The Emperor's Offer. It's going to be above the Sarlacc pit. And Han Solo's Plight. That's cool. Number 39 now is Jeremy S. Good luck, Jeremy. Let's do it, Jeremy. Is Intergalactic Gangster. That's cool. Within the Death Star. Nice one there. That is going to be the Emperor's Arrival. That's another nice one. And Boush's Captive. And rounding out the break, Dallas. HawkDoc at 40. Good luck, Dallas. Got it, baby. Decarbonized. That is Mon Mothma. No problem, Jeremy. Thank you. Courageous Jedi. And the New Death Star.  Thank you guys again for getting it filled up. Do appreciate it. Like I said, that was a lot of fun to rip. Love ripping the Star Wars. Especially the Sapphire. Next up, number six.


Hello, my name is Rameka Mito and I'm a postdoctoral researcher from the Flory Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health here in Melbourne. I'm going to talk a little bit about concussion and about the research we've been doing at the Flory to investigate brain changes after concussion. So concussion is a mild form of traumatic brain injury, which is induced by biomechanical forces transmitting through the head. People who suffer a concussion may lose consciousness, although they don't necessarily have to to have suffered a concussion. What all of these individuals will experience is neurological impairment and symptoms over the hours to days following injury. Now there are a whole range of neurological symptoms that an individual who has a concussion may experience. And these include things like headaches, nausea, memory problems, mood changes or sleep disturbances. In most cases these symptoms will have completely resolved by a week or two following the injury. However in some individuals these symptoms persist for weeks to months following the injury, which can be really debilitating. So when someone suffers a concussion, we currently cannot predict whether the symptoms will disappear in a given individual after a few days, or if that individual might suffer longer terms, consequences or longer term symptoms. One of the reasons we cannot predict an individual person's outcome is because we can't actually see that concussion injury in the brain. So we don't really know where and what the injury to the brain is. Now what I mean by this is if we were to perform a brain scan in an individual who had just suffered a concussion, a standard brain MRI scan would not show anything abnormal in that individual's brain, at least not unless they had suffered a more serious brain injury. So if we can't see what the brain injury is after a concussion, it makes it really hard to say when that brain has recovered, and it also makes it incredibly hard to predict whether an individual will suffer longer term symptoms. What we really need is advanced neuroimaging techniques that can detect concussion in the brain. At the flurry we develop advanced brain imaging techniques using magnetic resonance imaging or MRI. We apply these MRI techniques to examine various neurological conditions and disorders. Over the past few years we've been using these advanced MRI techniques to investigate brain changes that arise as a result of concussion. And we've done this by comparing groups of individuals who had recently suffered a sports-related concussion to similar individuals who had not suffered a concussion. One of the techniques we've been using is called diffusion MRI, and this is a technique that can be used to examine the brain's white matter or the brain's wiring. So behind me I have some images depicting the brain's wiring, and we've been examining changes to this brain wiring after concussion. What we've found is that there are really subtle changes to the brain wiring in the first two weeks following concussion. But these changes do not seem to persist beyond two weeks, at least in most individuals. So this is a really promising indication that we might have a technique that can detect concussion at the acute stages of injury. But this research we've performed has so far just been in group studies, and what we really need to be able to do to translate this technique into the clinic is to use these techniques to detect concussion in individual people. So with the help of the Brain Foundation, we hope to further our advanced brain imaging techniques so that we can use these technologies to detect concussion in individual people. Thank you very much.


Part of what the CGR research program on livestock and fish has been doing is around capacity development, so it's capacity development of the non-gender scientists on how to integrate gender into their work. Another piece has been around building up the institutional architecture to support gender integration, so that means incentivizing interdisciplinary teams where gender and non-gender scientists are working together. Part of that is having a gender initiative representative on the program management committee, and we've seen that happening. There's also a gender tax being put in place, so that's a percentage of the overall budget for each of the flagships, which will go towards gender activities, gender research, and various other mechanisms, so that's been quite interesting to see how it's been developing over the course of kids' engagement with livestock and fish. And we've really seen, as we start shifting towards phase two for the CRP fish and separately the CRP livestock, a lot of that learning from the CRP livestock and fish around gender integration and what's needed for that to effectively happen is being brought into the phase two planning and the phase two proposals. So for example, ways of systematizing the gender budgeting, which is done across the CRP, and ensuring that gender scientists are supported in terms of their time that they're putting into the gender integration work, into the non-strategic gender research, that they're also represented in the authorship and in the full process of the gender analysis and interpretation and so on. So it's been an exciting journey and I think the next steps into phase two are really building on this foundation, not just of the results of the findings from the coach projects and from phase one, but also in terms of how to do research differently in order to effect change. I think we've got some robust agendas moving into phase two, both for the CRP fish as well as for the CRP livestock.


This happens when you reject a narcissist. This happens when you dismiss the narcissist as inadequate or unacceptable. This happens when you fail to show due affection or concern for them. You get to a point in the relationship where you've had enough. You don't want to deal with them anymore. You realize that you have to move on. You realize that it is in your best interest. But the narcissist is not going to see it in the same way. They see it as though you're being very inconsiderate. They cannot deal with rejection. They want to be seen as something special and important. Someone who is superior to everyone else. Someone who is deserving of privileges and special treatment. Someone who should be admired. Someone who is always right. They have a very strong sense of entitlement to your supply. They feel that you exist to serve them. To cater to their needs. To prop up their false self. And when you are around them for a long period of time. It can cause you great mental distress and discomfort. It can create a person who is constantly miserable and discontented. You feel like it's impossible for them to understand you. You feel defeated. You're tired of the arguments. You're tired of the constant differences of opinions. They're always criticizing you. They're always trying to humiliate you. They're always trying to make you feel fear or shame. They're always rejecting you. They're always dismissing or effusing your proposal or idea. So you get to a point where you realize that you need to move on. When you try to reject the narcissist. They will try to take you off your intended course of action. They will try to interrupt and confuse you. They will try to mislead you. So that you go off course and no longer follow your intended route. So that you are unable to understand or cope with the situation. If you take a step back. They will sense this. And they may even reject you first. When you tell the narcissist that you are not happy with the situation. And you want to move on. They're not going to self-analyze or self-examine. They're not going to examine or consider their own ideas, thoughts and feelings. You would like to sit down and talk with them. To try to get them to understand. But in their minds there's nothing to understand. They know everything they need to know. And you just need to follow their script. You just need to listen to them. If you reject them. They will be shocked to think that you have the audacity to do something like that. They exaggerate their own worth and importance. They will show an offensive attitude of superiority. They will behave as if they are better or more important than other people. And they will see it as though something is wrong with you for not realizing that. They will be very afraid. They will be worried that something undesirable will occur or be done. But they're not going to tell you that they're afraid. Their fear comes out as anger. As a strong feel of annoyance, displeasure and hostility. They get angry because they're trying to control the situation. They're trying to intimidate you into submission. They're trying to get you to see them as a superior force or authority. Because when you reject them. They feel very insecure. They feel uncertain and anxious about themselves. Because their self-confidence is heavily dependent on what you think of them. When you reject them. It demolishes their inflated view of themselves. It causes a narcissistic injury. Which will then be followed by narcissistic rage. When you reject them. They feel like you are trying to attack them. They feel vulnerable as though they are at risk of danger or harm. And that is why they're afraid. That is why they get angry. Because they're trying to protect that inflated view of themselves. They fear that you will no longer attend to them or admire them. They fear that you will no longer be their supply. So they will get very angry.  They will take self-protective measures. They will attempt to explain and justify the behavioural attitude. With reasons that are not appropriate. They will try to defend themselves. They will try to tell you why they're better than everyone. And why they're more intelligent than you are. And how their way is the right way to live. They will try to demonstrate that they have more experienced knowledge and good judgment than you do. They will attempt to explain and justify where it's okay for them to behave in such a narcissistic manner. And when you see this. Rather than listening to everything that they have to say. Rather than listening to everything that they have to say. It will just make you realise why you need to move on. Because they can't give up their control. They can't let go of their interest in the distorted views and beliefs. When you reject the narcissist. They will subject you to dismissive language and behaviour. They will mock you. They will provoke and challenge you with insulting remarks. They will be sarcastic. They will make accusations about you. If you deny the accusations or try to point out something in them. They will come at you with even more accusations. They will criticise you. They will bring up stuff from the past. Because they cannot deal with rejection.  Rather than using this opportunity to self-analyse or self-examine. They will refuse to listen to what you are saying. They will say that you were never serious about being with them. They will instantly go from being someone who is meant to be supportive and encouraging. To someone who feels nothing but hatred for you. And that is how you know that they were never serious about you. They were never really there to help or defend you. They were never looking out for your best interest. And that is how they can change so quickly. They can take away their loyalty and commitment in an instant. In some situations they may even stalk you. They will be tracking your movements to see where you are going or who you are with. They may harass you. They may continue to annoy and upset you. They may publicly humiliate you. They may assassinate your character and start a smear campaign against you. These are the consequences of rejecting the narcissist. Many people may advise you to go no contact. But you need to understand that it's not going to be so simple when you are dealing with a narcissist. Narcissists don't know how to go forward in a healthy manner. They will not take responsibility for their actions. They will not learn from their mistakes. And they have no care or concern for how you feel. They cannot lower their inflated view of their own importance. They cannot be respectful or submissive.  They don't take the time to self-analyze or self-examine. They cannot be fair. They cannot make a judgment that is not based on their personal feelings or opinions. They cannot be vulnerable. They cannot deal with emotional pain. They cannot deal with their shame. Which is why they are always trying to project it onto you. They always have to think in a way that is characterized by conflict or opposition. They can't accept that a situation could be understood in more than one way. They cannot deal with you in a sensible and tactful way. They lack the skill and sensitivity. That is required to deal with difficult issues. So when you reject the narcissist and you decide to move on, you need to prepare yourself for some of the difficult and unpleasant. Because everything that I've mentioned in this video is likely to occur. When you move on for the narcissist, you need to avoid falling into their traps. You need to avoid being tricked and deceived. You need to avoid being involved in difficulties or complicated circumstances from which it is difficult to escape. Don't focus on trying to get the narcissist to understand you. Remind yourself what you need to move on. You know that you deserve better. You know there's more to life than being someone's source of supply.  The narcissist will keep coming back as long as they think they can control you. They pre-selected you to be someone who fulfills their orders and requests. But you need to decide that you don't want to be someone who is used and exploited by a narcissist. You need to decide that you're not going to be someone who willingly changes everything about themselves for another person's personal gain or pleasure. You have the necessary ability, knowledge and skill to do this on your own. You can take control of your own important duties and independent decision making. You can exist in a more organic way of life, rather than having to experience these mental, emotional and physical reactions that are drastic and irrational to manage another person's automatic and unconscious effort to manage deep anxiety. Rather than having to engage in these obsessional thoughts and compulsive acts and always being frightened or worried about things that you consider to be unimportant. Because the narcissist is always going to be narcissistic, they're never going to change. They have to keep you in a condition of fear and threat to keep you under their control. The narcissist may not conform to the accepted standards of respectable and moral behaviour, but that is not a puzzle that you need to solve. Thank you for watching. I hope this video resonated with you. Please like, comment, share and subscribe if you would like to donate. I pay up our link, it's in the video description. Coaching inquiries. You can email me at coaching.narcsurviver.co.uk. Thank you for watching and I'll talk to you soon.


We also have seamless offline support in sync. If you remember, some of you might have used the old app where you basically have to click a button every time you would like to upload data which is stored locally on your device while you are offline. In the new app, the sync process is automatic so there's no button to click. You will just get this little nice icon in the top bottom right bar which tells you that now the data is synced to your server and everything is saved on the server. If you have data locally, it will also tell you that you have data stored locally but once again, there's no need to click any buttons to push the data up to the server. So this should help. We know that some people forgot to click updates or save and so on. So this should make the whole process more smooth.


Welcome to Microterrorz. Scary stories for kids, where it's always the spooky season, full of chills, thrills, and spine-tingling spooks. Microterrorz are family-friendly frights for those ages 8 and up, and while our stories are for younger years, we are still talking about things that go bump in the night, and some children may not be able to handle what others can. Parental consent is recommended. Now for tonight's Microterrorz. Most concernedly, the cemetery had clearly killed their electronic devices, cut their power, and sent home in Ohio back into the Stone Age. I don't see your father, Barbara said, squinting out her son's bedroom window. She only saw Jim and Selena standing in the yard, as well as a few others, congregating in the street, a couple of houses down. He crossed the road to the cemetery, but now I don't see him. Peter could tell his mom was becoming more anxious by the second. Peter leaned over her shoulder and saw exactly what she did. He took note, however, of the misty fog that seemed to grow out of the cemetery. It had become thicker and was slowly drifting its way down to the street. He could barely see the iron bars anymore, not to mention the people who his dad saw wandering around behind them. As Barbara continued to try and see through the darkness and ever-expanding foggy landscape, Peter left his room, using the moon's glow beaming through the windows of his house to make his way to the back bedroom, a spare room that the Dixons rarely used. On the far wall was another window. Peter pulled the dusty curtains apart and looked out at his friend Sean's house. Sean sat on the window sill of his upstairs bedroom with his legs dangling down the side of the house, a vivid LED camping lantern beside him. Took you long enough, Sean, a boy of Peter's same age, yelled across the yards. Are you and your dad okay over there? Peter called back. Yeah, my dad went down the street to try and get some answers from Sheriff Eros, Sean said. Why do dads feel the need to launch their own investigations so quickly? Peter laughed. Mine went to the cemetery. The cemetery? Sean seemed surprised. Why would he go there? He saw some people walking around in there after that lightning strike. He thought they might have been trying to see what happened. People walking around the cemetery after a mysterious lightning strike? On Halloween? Sean questioned. Your dad better pray they aren't zombies. Peter knew his friend was clearly joking. Zombies were a thing of fiction. There was no way on earth that the dead could rise. Sure, it was common in the grainy black and white movies they watched, but not in real life. However, even still with that mindset, Peter couldn't help but shake the familiar formula. Mysterious power from space. A power outage. Strange figures lurking behind the gates of an old cemetery where the most violent criminals had been buried. Sure seemed like a convenient and convoluted setup for a zombie invasion story. And just then, almost on cue, a woman's blood-curdling scream ripped through the silence of the night. The scream was sharp enough to chill both Peter and Sean. They could just look at each other, each of them praying Sean's joke hadn't turned out to be real. Below them, between the yards, a woman ran for her life. It was Selena. He's dead! Jim's dad! Somebody help me! She screamed. Hey, Mrs. Selena! Peter yelled down to her. She came to a quick stop between the yards and looked up, seeing Peter in one window and Sean in another behind her. What happened? Peter asked. Jim's dad!  She screamed. My dad! Peter must have heard that wrong. His dad wouldn't have... No, he couldn't have done something so horrible. What are you talking about? Peter aggressively questioned her, ready to defend his dad at any cost. Your dad came back from the cemetery. Selena sobbed. Jim went to see if he was okay. Then your dad bit him on the arm and the neck. It was overkill. Jim died right there and now your dad is coming after me. Peter and Sean immediately looked at each other. No, they both thought individually, this can't be real. This has to be a prank. A painful groan off to Peter's left made him turn his attention to a shadowy someone staggering between the yards. Selena gasped at the sight of the man. Peter squinted and saw it was his dad, but he looked sick. He was walking like he didn't know how to walk. There was some kind of red liquid smeared on his face and clothing, one of his arms too. Dad, Peter called out. His dad stopped moving, buying Selena enough time to run away. Hearing Peter's voice, George stopped where he was, jerking his head back and forth like a confused bird, looking for where the voice had come from. Up here! George finally snapped his head in the right direction, staring at his son in an upstairs window of their home. He opened his mouth groaning loudly until something in his throat gurgled. In the vivid light of Sean's lantern, Peter noticed his dad's eyes didn't look right. They were yellow with red in the center. His skin had lost most of its color, now making it look gray or dead. George hissed.  He's a zombie! Sean yelled. Peter couldn't deny it now. All signs were pointing to it. The cosmic storm that struck Holman West Cemetery had reanimated the dead, and now it was spreading. Peter urged his mom downstairs, explaining what he thought was happening. She laughed at first, but her panic in the situation generally made it difficult to keep up her own denial. He grabbed the extra flashlight from the junk drawer and told his mom to stay put. Barbara had succumbed to her fear and sat down at the kitchen table in a mostly catatonic state. Her lips trembled, her teeth chattered. I'm just going to get Sean and bring him over here until his dad gets back with the sheriff, Peter said, boldly rising to the occasion. Barbara nodded, although she was still lost in her own mind. Be careful, she barely got out. Peter rushed to the back door and peered through its small glass window. He didn't see his dad out there anymore, but did see the light of Sean's lantern at his back door. Peter unlocked the door and slowly opened it. He felt the brisk temperatures of the night rush in against his face and body. The air had a strange scent on it. It didn't smell right to him, not like it had earlier in the day when burning cedar, dry leaves, and pumpkin spice were more prominent. Peter crept outside and closed the door behind him. The wind blew between the yards. The dead trees scraped against the houses, a feeling of uneasiness crept into the back of Peter's mind. He looked both ways, like he was crossing a busy street and determined the coast was clear. He jogged across the grass and to Sean's back door. Sean opened it and the two friends finally stood before each other. Still in shock, neither of them knew exactly what to say first. Zombies, Sean simply stated. In his head, Peter agreed, but also that zombie happened to be his own dad, which meant his dad was no longer alive. Peter tried to push past thoughts of grief and deal with the problem at hand. There would be time to grieve, but he needed to make sure he stayed alive long enough to do so. How widespread do you think it is? Sean asked. Peter didn't know how to respond. He assumed, though, that if the corpses in Holman West had risen, that meant there would be dozens. And if the infection had already spread to his dad and with the potential of Jim as well, then it was going to continue to spread like wildfire. I don't know, Peter said, but if this is like any movie we've seen, it's going to get much worse. Sean felt a knot in his stomach. What if this is the start of the zombie apocalypse? The thought had already crossed Peter's mind. The closest city or town to Holman was at least 25 miles away, so there was always the possibility of somehow getting the situation contained or under control. That's only if the citizens of Holman banded together and quickly came up with a plan of action, but it had all just begun. We need your dad to come back with Sheriff Eros, Peter said. We have to figure out a way to stop this from getting a sudden snarl discharged behind Peter, and he was grabbed by two cold, dead hands. He screamed, wriggling himself away from his attacker. Zombie! Sean screamed. Peter stumbled into Sean's house and turned around to see Jim, Selena's husband, lumbering in the doorway with his arms outstretched. His skin was gray, his eyes were yellow and red, and he moaned dreadfully. Give me that, Peter said, tearing a lantern from his friend's hand and smashing it over the zombie's head. With a single loud grunt, the monster crumbled to the ground. The fog rolled in, snaking its way between the two homes. Within it, Peter and Sean saw more shadowy figures. They were all slow moving and moaning in sync with one another, a harmonic song of the dead. One of them sprung from the fog and directly at the boys. They both screamed. Peter tried to shut the door, but the zombie had crammed its body inside just enough to prevent it from shutting. Sean joined his friend, both of them trying to force the monster back. Two more zombies pounded against the outside of the door, making Pete and Sean's job even harder. The decomposing corpses were stronger than they looked. Peter swung the lantern again, blasting one of the monsters in the side of the head. A second swing struck it directly in the face, and that was enough for it to cower. Peter and Sean forced the door shut and locked the deadbolt. I need a weapon too! Sean shouted. He scanned the kitchen, immediately spotting a pizza cutter sitting next to the empty Fazzini's box. He snatched it off the counter and held it up like he was accepting an Oscar. The lantern light reflected off its stainless steel circular blade, giving it the appearance of an epic legendary weapon instead of just an average kitchen utensil. Peter nodded, agreeing to Sean's weapon of choice somehow seemed right. Lanterns and pizza cutters were going to have to do the trick. Through the house, the boys heard the front door open, although rather loudly. Dead! Sean called out, running from the kitchen to the adjoining living room, but he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw what had really entered the house, and it shouldn't have been that much of a surprise. Zombies, four of them flooded in, their ghastly wails and harrowing groans chilling the boys to their bones. Peter wasted no time, he lunged at the closest zombie, smacking it against one side of its head and then the other. He finished it off by coming straight down on the top of its head. The zombie collapsed, but the problem was far from over. There were still three more. Sean stiffened up in fear, unable to bring himself to assist in the undead onslaught. His pizza cutter remained idly raised over his head. Peter smashed another one until it was incapacitated on the floor and then went straight for a third. Peter was filled with berserker-style aggression, smashing zombies left and right with the lantern, and as soon as the fourth and final one was down, Peter dashed out the front door to make sure the coast was clear, if only for a few minutes to regroup. What happened next in Holmen happened fast. Beneath the reanimated walking corpses and screams of the citizens, the sky erupted in a blue glow, giving the illusion of daytime for only a brief moment. But within that moment, spiraling lights shot down all around the outskirts of Holmen, like squiggling bolts of lightning and connected like a chain. Then, like magic, a blanket of translucent light flooded back up into the sky to the original point of origin and created what could only be described as a force field. Holmen had been cut off, quarantined. It wasn't for a few more surreal moments that Peter saw something else. Something in the sky, within the mystical enclosure, was suspended silently in the air directly above Holmen, and it didn't take a genius to recognize what it was. A zombie invasion was already an unbelievable event on its own, so why not add a flying saucer from outer space to the mix? Tune in next week for part 3 of our 4-week Microterror's Halloween event, Halloween Night of the Living Dead. Thank you for listening to Microterror's. Join us each Saturday for another scary story. For more fun, visit our website at microterror.com We will also have spooky games you can print out and play, like wicked word searches, mysterious mazes, and more. Microterror's.com is also where you can find us on your favorite social media, and even send in your own scary story for us to tell. Plus, you'll learn more about our author, Scott Donnelly, who has other horrors for both young and old. I hope you'll join me again soon for Microterror's Scary Stories for Kids.