Quote by S7williams

You just inspired me…

I'm not sure what I inspired you to do, but yay me! 😊

I have a garage...with a door...that opens automatically.

I have a garage...with a working side-by-side fridge and freezer.

I have a garage...with shelves and hooks and a place for all our stuff.

I have a garage...with an electronic bike lift to keep our bikes up off the ground.

I have...normalcy back in my life for the first time since September 26, 2024. (16 MONTHS AND ONE DAY)

ALL DRINKS ON MY TAB FOR THE REST OF THE DAY! 🍷🍺☕️😎😊❤️

Quote by S7williams

I have a Sears Kenmore garage refrigerator that has lasted 30 years. I thought I would look them up to perhaps make a recommendation for you. Of course Sears is out of business. Probably because they made such a good product.. What shocked me is that at Home Depot garage refrigerators cost about $1000. Wow. I hope you are successful in finding one that is good and affordable.

They don't make ‘em like Sears’ Kenmore anymore.

But we found a used Whirlpool full sized side-by-side for $399 at the used appliciance store. Perfect for our garage, and our pockets. 😎

Welcome, btw. I'm Kat, a reader, writer, story and group mod, and lover of buttercream cuppycakes. I've been a patron of Rumps since page one. It's a great place to be. 🥰🍻

Quote by JamesLlewellyn

And it's a cold and snowy Moan-Day.

Toronto got a record-breaking amount of snow yesterday – about 50 cm = 20". Plus they've had a record-breaking January for snowfall.

And it's cold.

We got snow here, but only about 8" – enough to frolic in, and close the schools, but not paralyzing.

And I understand Kat's expecting some harsh weather as well – temperatures down into the 30sF!

Those poor, poor people!

Anyway – let's get things rolling…

Lights on, Lady Dryad has cleaned up and we’re ready to roll.

Tea Kettle is refilled and ready. There are pots of Yorkshire and English Breakfast teas available on the sideboard, plus all the other fine teas in the box. Sachets of Swiss Miss are available, along with the usual mound of mini marshmallows.

Big Bertha has been cleaned, rinsed, and refilled, and is now perkin' away.

Today we're using Kick Ass Coffee blend from Kicking Horse Coffee Roasters.

There are donuts.

Plus I've got some coffee flavoured buttercream cuppycakes to help Kat with her modding chores – plus Coke Zero, of course.

Take care out there, 'K?

The weekend was nice, but the cold weather is creeping back in for the next two weeks. It sadly means no swimming for my brother, but it is better than him being up north in the frozen tundra.

Thanks for the cuppycakes and Coke Zero. Though I'm not big into coffee flavour, I won't turn down a nice gesture.

We are going fridge shopping after lunch. Need to find a good dented or scratched one for my garage. I can't believe we will finally be able to do bulk shopping again at Costco. The last time we did that was 5 days before Hurricane Helene (and lost all of that food). Normal never felt so good! 😎

Congrats, David!😘

Quote by JamesLlewellyn
Kat, you should be OK. The systems looks to be passing well north of you, although temperatures are going to drop in the aftermath. I believe you're getting highs today in the mid-70s. By Tuesday, you'll be back to nighttime lows near freezing.

Yes! It wasn't supposed to, but it got up to 80 today! So, once we were done moving all of our stuff (2 pods worth) into our new garage, we took advantage and had some pool and hot tub time.

But yes, the chillier weather is coming back soon. It is winter, but when the temps dip to near freezing, I wonder if I should have moved farther south...LOL!

It feels amazing to have a garage again, to know where things are again, to even know what the hell we have! I found boxes with old memories and nearly cried. I didn't know that they had survived the storm.

A few of our neighbors moved into their garages today, too; some will come tomorrow. We need the pods to be picked up so we can resurface the parking lot. Then, phase 2 will be mostly done! It's been a long journey. But the outcome is amazing.

We managed to fill Kevin's van with bags upon bags, which he took to the donation center. I also cleaned out my shoes and purses and whatnot, and managed 3 bags alone with that stuff. Yes, I could sell stuff on Marketplace or eBay, but I'd rather donate things that will help fund the women's shelter.

Anyway, now I've got my sword, and I'm modding, doing my best to slay the queue!

Hope everyone is having a great Saturday!

IT’S GARAGE MOVE-IN DAY!

Yes, I am incredibly excited. So much so that all drinks are on me today (on my tab not on me.)

🎉🎉🎉😎🍺🥤🍷🍹🍸🍻☕💋🥰😻

Quote by fuzzy1954

Guess you're more familiar with "rednecks" in your area.

Happy to see ya in Rumps btw get you a cuppa coffee and a doughnut or cuppycake?

I'm Fuzzy a anicent lion on my journey that enjoys spinning tunes here

I'm sure Bear will be by and give you the nickle tour of Rumps

Enjoy

Cheers

☘️

I may have absconded with the last of the cuppycakes. 🫣

I will have to do a little baking to make up for that.

Hubby comes home this afternoon. It's been a long week. But I did a lot of writing, so there will be stories coming soon. Just trying to spread them out judiciously.

I also did a lot of story modding. But mod math is a tricky thing. It's a realm where 10-5=12. 🙄🤪

TGIF all y’all. I will be moving out of the storage pods and into my new garage. It's a little emotional. I'm not even 100% sure about all of what was saved and what didn't make it in the storm in 2024. But this much I know. The return to normalcy brings with it great relief. 😎

Bearkeep, newbies to the bar can have their drinks on my tab. 🍻🍺🍷🍹🍸☕🥤😎

Quote by WannabeWordsmith

But it does potentially put real models with 12 fingers and random extra limbs sprouting from their bodies out of work.

You should’ve seen what I came up with when I asked the AI generator to give me a picture of a redhead with a man between her leg legs 🤪😹

Quote by paddlingincognito

Thank you for the detailed responses, techgoddess and GreyMatter. I know this is a challenging and sensitive topic.

I apologize for completely derailing this forum post.

It was a good question. And all of this does affect story verification times, so it's all good! 😎

Quote by paddlingincognito

I am curious… Why?

If you feel certain that some stories are AI written (or heavily AI assisted), why are mods letting them slide through? Why don’t you shut those stories down and/or ban those authors from the site?

I know you didn't ask me, but I'm going to answer anyway because I've been modding like a madwoman all week, trying to slay that queue. (Hence my new avatar).

I can tell you that I've learned a lot about identifying tells and patterns of AI writing, but I'm not trained to do so, and neither are most of the mods. We are all volunteers. Sometimes lines from stories by really great writers can look like AI-generated patterns because AI analyzes human writing and mimics certain styles. Which means we sometimes can't be sure. So, we do our best, but it takes extra time to review stories that we suspect are not completely written by humans.

My personal feeling is that if a story has so many tells that it reads more AI than human, I will send it back to the author. But if I am not sure, I will sometimes approve a story while suggesting that an author not overuse certain patterns or literary devices that make a story read as inauthentic or robotic.

Jen has flat-out said that AI stories will not be accepted. But that doesn't stop authors from submitting them anyway. And since we don't have formal training or the time to scan every story, some are going to slip through. We do our best.

Looky, looky! Our very own Kis has a story in the Classics section on the first page. It's a fabulous story and got a well-deserved Recommended Read! In case you missed it, here's the link: Kimberly Has A Ball

Good morning Rumpies! I have a garage door AND a handle/lock! So, it looks like we are all set to move out of the two pods sitting in the parking on Saturday. We will help our neighbors move their stuff, too. We have been without garages since September 2024, thanks to Hurricane Helene. It is exciting to be returning to normal.

Except for the parking lot repaving and a few follow-up items, Phase 2 reconstruction is just about completed. Phase 3 will be discussed next month. That involves rebuilding our pier. Fingers crossed.

Hope all y'all that are getting that winter storm are ready to hunker down with supplies. Stay warm and safe!

Quote by Mandapanda2025

what is the polite wait time? I pulled the third story to wait 2 days? three?

2-3 days is helpful. 4-5 if you can be patient. 🥰

Quote by Hughtheman

I admit to being a little gung-ho when I first started on Lush. For some reason, I thought I needed to do that in order to keep readers interested. But I likely just annoyed people instead lol

I've also been guilty of that in the past. Once I realized I was bombarding my readers with stories, I eased back. LOL.

Quote by MC1982

As a mod, based on my experience, I'd like to offer two tips to get your story passed quicker: 1. Proofread it yourself using grammarly or ms word. It costs nothing and saves both you and the moderating team time. 2. Keep stories under 4k words. Moderators have jobs and lives and limited time for a site they volunteer to help on. A 10k word story takes a long.time to read and a mod is more likely to pick up and pass four 3k stories in an evening than one 10k.

If I could add to this:

Please don't submit a new story immediately after having one approved. It clogs the queue and slows down the moderating process. Give it a couple of days before submitting the next one.

I know people are anxious to get their stories published. But your readers are likely reading more than just your story. You need to give them time to read and appreciate what you and other authors have written. 😎

For your reading pleasure...

His To Use is a Flash Erotica piece about a Dom and his sub enjoying a hotel romp.

Quote by KimmiBeGood

Morning, Rumpies

Big snow… and I really mean BIG SNOW… hitting the Bluegrass this weekend. I’m freakin’ a little. If it comes, we’ll all be snowed in for days which causes me some anxiety. Loading up on supplies today…

Stay warm!

It's finally going to start warming up here this weekend. I know it's not as cold as where y'all are, but when the feels-like temps dip down to 30 F, it's not what I signed up for when I moved to Florida. 😳

So, the locks and handles are supposed to be installed today on the garage doors. We shall see. I'll believe it when I see it.🙄

Did our own Kat bring snow to Florida

I say NO

Glad you’re not gonna try to pin that on me!

It’s really cold here for Florida. I know that y’all in colder places think we are wimps down here. But we don’t have the cold weather gear like y’all do. It’s currently 42 with a feels-like temp of 30. 😳🥶

So, my garage door excitement was short lived. The installers didn’t include handles or locks. 🙈It’s always something. I’ve been told they will fix that. The question is when. 😫

Hot tea please and thanks. 😘

Just stopping in to say hi and to tell the Bearkeep to put all drinks on my tab today...truly MY tab (Not Ping's or Bear's).

I'm celebrating! I HAVE A GARAGE WITH A GARAGE DOOR!

It's been a long time coming, but phase 2 construction (after the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene and her pal Hurricane Milton in the fall of 2024) is nearly complete. MY garage was the first to have a door installed. So, I forgave them for starting the work at 6:45 am. LOL.

Looks like we will be moving out of the pods this weekend when Kevin gets home. I'm so excited!

And since I'm doing Dry January, make my drink a Coke Zero over ice. But let's get fancy and put it in a wine glass and throw a lime in it! 🤣

Congrats! It's in my queue! Now I'm gonna skip over a bunch of other stories and read it this afternoon! 😘

Going for the Omnium Badge (a story in every category) made me stretch a lot and helped me try out new things. Even if you don’t aspire to write in every category, pick a few different ones and challenge yourself. 😘

Fabulous tunes and buttercream cuppycakes! What a great way to start off my Saturday.

The big task on my to-do list today is buying a new bed and mattress. 😊

But this morning, I'm off to do some modding. So, I'll take my cuppycake and a Coke Zero to go. Yes, I realize it sounds counterintuitive, but there is some sugar I can resist (sodas) and some I cannot (frosting). LOL

If y'all want to read my latest, it's a love story about two 60-something-year-olds who not only still enjoy each other's company, but who still burn for each other, called All My Love. (Maybe that's why they need a new bed...but I shan't tell).

Have a great Saturday, all y'all!

Congratulations, KimmiBeAwesome!

All My Love is a story I wrote for my husband and decided to share on Lush. It's a snapshot of a weekend when there were no special plans, no major events, just us being us together.

I've been told it's a lovely mix of tenderness and heat. I hope you will check it out and enjoy reading it. 😘

Stopping in for some hot tea with lemon. And to check on all my favorite Rumpled miscreants. Been a lil busy readjusting to my caretaker role with my brother back for three months. It was a little harder this week (and will be again next week) with my hubby traveling for work again. But it’s all good.

It just means less time to enjoy storeroom 4. 😉

But I’m still writing and modding. By the way, the queue is outrageous at the moment so if you’re submitting stories, please be patient. 🤪

Hope all y’all are doing well. It’s 40 degrees here on the beach with a feels like temp of 30. That’s Fahrenheit- so yes it’s damn cold here. At least there is no snow. ❄️

So keep the hot tea coming please. I’m gonna grab some breakfast and then come back with my moderator sword and do some queue slaying! 😘

Congratulations to the winners and all the rest of the top 15. What a wonderful bunch of stories to be recognized! Fabulous contest. Thanks, Jen, for another fun comp.

Quote by Ragdenwrites

I find it a little hard to believe its that random. I thought there was some review and consideration for content and reader response incorporated into that decision. But I guess this is a... "fair" way to do it? Complete luck of the draw seems a little wild to me. Maybe i'm just old fashioned and silly.

She was kidding. 😉

Happy Belated Birthday, Kis!

Congrats to the winners!

Thanks for doing this challenge, Kimmi. Sorry I never for around to sharing mine. Life has been busy! 😎😘