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Lindsay Herford studied singing at the Royal College of Music. She joined the Glyndebourne Chorus and had a variety of interesting parts - including a boy, chicken and haystack! She also met her husband Henry there. She left Glyndebourne to join the Swingle Singers and during the next three years she toured extensively around the world. She left the group to get married and start her family, but she continued to sing as a session singer in London for many years - recording everything from opera to film and pop music. She founded the Abingdon Summer School 21 years ago with her husband Henry, Robin Bowman and Susan McCulloch, and has been the administrator since the beginning. Away from music she runs a highly successful holiday accommodation business in Oxford.

https://abingdonsummerschoolforsolosingers.co.uk/lindsayherford.html

Our goal is simple: to give you a better chance of success by providing easy to use, cost-effective, credit card processing options for your collection agency. We believe that you deserve to have accurate and useful information upfront, which is why we want to discuss some platforms that will suit your business and allow us to set up effective payment processing. One of these excellent platforms for debt collection agencies is Wix. If you’re a veteran of the debt collection industry, you’ve no doubt come across more than your fair share of challenges to overcome. It’s far easier today than it once was to find a suitable platform where you can launch your debt collection agency. We’ll discuss why Wix is a great platform for your business and how we can make it easy for you to accept credit cards from debtors on Wix. It might seem obvious to some of you but it’s essential to go over the basics now and again. We help many debt collection agencies, from home-based debt collection businesses to larger agencies, with their online processing issues. Very often, processing problems stem from inadvertently breaching the Terms and Conditions of the various software and platforms agency owners use. While we make it possible for collections companies to process payments again successfully, these issues can be avoided entirely. The reason why it’s so important to have the right platform from the outset is that debt collection businesses are classified as high-risk. Unfortunately, the same goes for merchant services. As a high-risk business, your debt collection agency will not have the same freedom and wealth of options when it comes to merchant service providers. This is because you need payment processing services that specialize in catering to high-risk. At AcceptDebtPayments.com, we have the expertise in the high-risk payment processing field you need. We’re intimately familiar with the platforms and software that suit debt collection agencies. If you need to start accepting credit card debt payments for your agency, please contact us today. We’re happy to talk through your options and provide a free quote. From our experience, Wix is a decent choice for debt collection agencies. Wix makes high-risk credit card processing somewhat straightforward – at least when compared to other drag and drop builders. We can set you up with excellent payment gateways that work smoothly for Wix-run debt collection agencies. Their site builder is very robust, and it’s generally a great fit for high-risk sites – when using the simple workarounds that we have learned over the years. The Wix platform boasts many great features. At its core, it’s a template-based site builder that makes it simple for site owners to create great-looking, professional websites without coding expertise. This also allows you to avoid additional costs, since you won’t need to hire a developer, for example. Wix also comes with plenty of plugin options you can use to expand on the functionalities and features of your site. This gives you the power to improve and maintain your online debt payment collection service. Should you choose to use Wix for your debt collection agency, we can integrate the payment gateway you need. The site builder does come with built-in shopping carts that work great for some business types. However, you’ll want to make sure it’s set up for high-risk processing at the back-end. A simple addition in order to make Wix high-risk friendly is Foxy.io, which is a simple addon. Making this all pull in the same direction, and ensuring that you have the right payment gateway, is where we come into the picture. Are you planning on launching your large or local home-based debt collection agency on Wix? Then we can help you process credit card payments. If you already have your Wix debt payment website up and running, but would like to see if we can improve your payment processing, get in touch with us here. At AcceptDebtPayments.com, we have one goal: to make online payment processing simple and easy to manage for debt collection agencies. With our experience and familiarity with Wix, we’re uniquely positioned to help debt collection agencies with Wix websites. If you need help with your online debt payment processing, or you’re curious whether we can provide you with a more affordable alternative, you can always reach us here. We look forward to offering debt payment processing that will enable you to grow and profit. Credit card processing doesn’t need to be more expensive than necessary. Nor does it have to be challenging to manage. With AcceptDebtPayments.com, you’re in good hands.

https://acceptdebtpayments.com/platforms-software/wix/

If you’re like me, maybe you don’t find Regency romances interesting and you avoid fantasy. If you love both of those things – and even if you don’t, keep reading. Why? Because it turns out that sometimes, when you put two things together that you don’t like – they produce something you might love. Of course, this isn’t always true (and the opposite isn’t true – after all, I love mint and I love chocolate, but I certainly don’t like them together). But if you give me a Regency (or Edwardian/Victorian) setting and sprinkle it liberally with magic? I love it (unlike that mint chocolate chip cookie you’re thinking about right now) and maybe you will, too. If you already like those genres, together or separate, you’ll certainly find something to like in this series. Alyxandra Harvey’s new series, The Lovegrove Legacy, is set in 1814 London (in the middle of the Regency period). It’s the story of three cousins; Gretchen, Emma, and Penelope. Unbeknownst to the three girls, they are descents of a very strong magical family, but as the three cousins soon find out – there’s a reason their abilities have been hidden. The first book, A Breath of Frost follows the three cousins, but primarily focuses on Emma as she tries to figure out why their magic has been hidden from them. The second book, Whisper of the Dead, picks up where the first left off, but instead of focusing on Emma, we change to Gretchen. Although the primacy focus of each of the these first two books is on a particular cousin, Harvey provides us with plenty to read about the other two – along with the love interests that flit throughout their lives. In many ways, The Lovegrove Legacy is a Regency romance — there’s a season, there’s swooning and handsome men and beautiful dresses. But there’s also magic, lots of magic, and danger. Harvey’s world is similar to our own, but with a twist of magic that will leave you excited for the third book. . Check out both of these books from the library! If you like them, you might also enjoy the Ceclia & Kate trilogy by Patricia C. Wrede (previously reviewed on ROPL). Sometimes what you’re missing is a little magic. If you’ve ever felt that way and enjoy a good mystery (or three) plus a whole lot of fun – keep reading! Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer trilogy, Cecelia and Kate, is exactly what you’ve been waiting for. Beginning in 1817, Sorcery and Cecelia follows the story of two cousins: Kate and Cecelia and their adventures in magic, growing up and falling in love. The first of the three books, Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, is told in letters between the two cousins. We follow Kate as she spends the season in London, while Cecelia is stuck back at home. Enduring their aunts, irritating boys, Kate’s cousin Georgy and promise of magic, the two girls write back and forth, giving us a fun and entertaining look at their daily life and adventures. The novel comes to a satisfying and fun end, good enough to stand on its own, but definitely leaving you wanting to spend more time with the two cousins. The second novel, The Grand Tour, picks up not long after the first. Though this novel, too, is told through the written word, unlike the first, the two girls are traveling together so there’s no need for letters. Instead, we’re treated to Cecelia’s deposition and Kate’s journaling. While the format is slightly different, The Grand Tour measures up very well against Sorcery & Cecelia. Newly married, Kate and Cecelia are off on a honeymoon – across Europe! But being that they’re both intimately involved in magic (one way or another), nothing’s ever simple! But, of course, it is quite a lot of fun. The third, and sadly final, novel of the trilogy is The Mislaid Magician: or Ten Years After. Here, as with Sorcery and Cecelia we return to the letter writing format. But unlike the previous two, we’re treated to the letters of Cecelia and Kate’s husbands, which prove to be equally entertaining as the two girls’ letters. Set back in England and ten years after the events in The Grand Tour, the third book follows up on Cecelia and her husband’s attempt to find a missing magician and a startling discovery – related both to magic and the newest mode of transportation in England – the steam engine! Kate and her husband take charge of Cecelia’s children and have their own, related, adventures. This time, though, Kate’s sister Gerogy has her own entertaining storyline. At the heart of each of these three novels is a combination of magic and mystery. Wrede and Stevermer manage to weave these two concepts together with ease and humor. If you’re looking for a fun romp through the early 1800s, look no further. Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus and books by Robin McKinley and Tamora Pierce.

https://aclockworksub.wordpress.com/tag/reviews-ropl/

In January 2017, Marcin Kroll was made partner at BSWW Legal and Tax. Marcin Kroll is a patent attorney and partner at BSWW Legal & Tax as well as a European trade mark and design attorney. He specializes in the protection of intellectual property. He provides comprehensive services in terms of protecting and combating infringements in matters related to trademarks, industrial designs, patents, copyrights and unfair competition acts. Marcin prepares and implements IP protection strategies for his clients, also with international reach. He represents clients before the Polish Patent Office, EUIPO and the International Bureau of WIPO. He advises in terms of transfer and commercialization of technology, which in particular includes preparing and negotiating contracts transferring exclusive rights and license agreements. He is also interested in new technologies and personal data and privacy protection. He also advises on advertising law, e-commerce and commercial law. Marcin speaks English fluently and has an intermediate command of German. Marcin is a graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw. Marcin has also completed a course in American Law organized by the University of Warsaw in cooperation with the University of Florida Levin College of Law, as well as postgraduate studies about intellectual property rights at the Grocjusz Intellectual Property Rights Centre, Cracow. His Master’s thesis was recognized in the 10th Edition of the Contest for the Best Master’s Thesis on Intellectual Property organized by the Polish Patent Office.

https://actlegal-bsww.com/en/marcin-kroll-made-partner-at-bsww-legal-tax/

On Wednesday, 28 January, the Science and Technology Group gathered at Erica’s house to hear a presentation by Harry Shepherd-Cross, Director of Haymaker Energy based at Quainton. Harry explained the development of solar energy technology since 1976 and the way in which the government (on all sides of the political divide) had initially encouraged private companies to enter the market but subsequently confounded the entrepreneurs by changing the terms on which they could do business with consumers, thus undermining the potential interest in solar energy of house-owners and commercial enterprises alike, leading to the collapse of some businesses which had come early to the market. However, as solar energy technology has developed since that time and the cost of producing of photovoltaic panels has decreased (mainly by China entering the market), it has been estimated that the cost to the consumer of either solar power or gas will have reached parity by 2030 whilst the total reserves of oil and gas are likely to be exhausted in approximately 80 years’ time. Furthermore, other means of generating electricity, (notably: tidal, wave, geothermal, hydro and wind) will certainly not meet increasing demand for electricity in the future. An international project called “Desertec” was explained. The project aims to develop a series of electricity generating installations throughout the world (i.e., solar power in deserts, wind power in coastal areas, hydro power in mountainous regions), which would feed electricity into an ‘international grid’ to be distributed as required to participating countries. However, at the moment, the project is confounded by political constraints! The development of a solar farm in Broughton by Haymaker Energy was also explained which, when completed, will generate sufficient electricity for 60,000 homes. It will comprise a series of solar panels placed approximately 8 ft. off the ground at an appropriate angle to maximize capture of the sun’s energy during daylight hours. The design will allow sheep to graze among the panels and also provide shelter for them in adverse weather conditions. It was emphasized that the installation will be surrounded by hedges of sufficient height to shield it from sight. Following the presentation, there was a Question and Answer session. At the close, refreshments were served. Erica’s apple cake was delicious and much appreciated.

https://acu3a.weebly.com/s--t---solar-energy.html

Making the hits that keep on hitting. It’s writing, playing, recording, mixing and any other musical endeavor I can be a part of. 1/4th of Saints Analogue . 1/2 of BadTruth Podcast. 1/2 of Yellow Dog Studios. Buy some music, see a concert, support the arts!!! Cliff. That’s all you have to say.

https://adamjodor.wordpress.com/about/

Creating a new list is simple – just click the ‘+’ button on the bottom left of the AddressLabels Window. You will then see the Create New List screen. You can select from the dropdown or type in a suitable name. If desired, you can select a year from the year dropdown. This can be especially useful for lists which are used on a yearly basis e.g Christmas lists. Note: although you can use the same list each year, e.g. for Christmas, it may be preferable to create a new list each year, as this will allow you to track if you are getting replies from people.

https://addresslabels.app/create-a-new-list/

When we finally got back to the hotel, it was close to midnight. The place was hoppin. Apparently, we’d landed in ‘the place to be,” on a Saturday night in Manhattan. Funny thing about that, the older I get, the more I want to be as far from ‘the place to be’ as possible. Music throbbed through the lobby and far too many bodies for my middle-aged comfort filled the dark space. A line wound around the entrance to the bar – or club, or lounge, or whatever one calls such things these days. We made a bee line for the elevator. The elevator car was packed as we made our way to our floor. And there it was that my girl said to the crowd, “I suppose you all know why I’ve gathered you here tonight,” just before the doors opened and she ran out into the hallway, leaving me to follow up with, “That’s my girl.” She giggled, deliciously self-satisfied, the entire way to the room. After a couple of hours of sleep, we gathered our things and headed out for the day. The first order of business was meeting Katie’s pen pal. Well, a text pal, I suppose, as modern technology has all but made actual pens obsolete, but you get the idea. A few years ago, I met another mom through the blog and we, along with a group of other mamas of autistic kiddos, became friends. At some point, Katie and her daughter began texting one another. A lot. Turned out they have a lot more in common than autistic siblings, most saliently creativity and imaginations gloriously unrestricted by insecurity. Over the course of their friendship, they invented entire worlds together – planets and creatures and all of their back stories. When I told Katie that we’d be going to New York, one of the first things on her agenda was meeting Nicole. As it turned out, Nicole’s 13th birthday had been the week before, so we decided to celebrate with breakfast at American Girl. The girls connected immediately. As a birthday gift, Katie had sewn two of their imaginary alien creatures into existence for Nicole and, just because she’s awesome, Nicole had sewn one for Katie, all without either knowing about the other. Nicole brought Katie a copy of her favorite book so that Katie could see why she loves it so much. They read the question cards on the table and mused about what they’d take to a desert island and what chore they’d choose never to do again. They looked like they’d been friends forever. After breakfast, Katie asked if we could cancel the rest of the day and just hang out with Nicole. As happy as she was in the moment, I knew she’d be heartbroken if she missed out on everything else on her list. I promised that we’d be in touch and they could, ya know, text each other within like a minute and a half of leaving. Katie had two main priorities for the day – The Strand and Katz’s Delicatessen.The Strand because I’d made the mistake of showing her their website and Katz’s because, just as I’d grown up on their pastrami and pickled tomatoes, she’d grown up on stories of their pastrami and pickled tomatoes. We hopped in a cab and headed downtown. There are bookshops. There are amazing bookshops. There are really, really cool old independent bookshops. And then there is the Strand. The numbers alone are staggering – eighteen miles of books. Two and a half MILLION books. New books, used books, rare and collectible books. Beautifully bound treasures – books with stories well beyond those told within their bindings. Katie was rapt. She didn’t say a word. I tried to show her something. She shushed me with an outstretched hand. A shop clerk said hello. She walked by him in a daze. “She’s bookdrunk,” I said. He smiled. “Happens in here,” he said. She walked straight to the closest bookshelf and did this. I became a little concerned about our pace. At this rate, were we to see all 2.5 million books, it would take us, well, let’s see … carry the one, multiply by twenty-seven and, um … eight years. Slowly, she pulled herself away. But we didn’t get far. It soon became clear that she had no intention of leaving any time soon. With six books on her lap, she looked up at me with wide eyes. “May I get one?” she asked. I said that it would depend on the price. This wasn’t a place to give my kid carte blanche. “How many?” she asked. “One,” I said. She looked at her lap as though I’d just asked her to choose one child to save from a fire. “One?” she asked. “One,” I said. “And one for good luck?” she asked. I told her that I’d think about it. i LOVE buying my kid books, particularly used books, but we had a couple of factors working against us. One, the expense. She wasn’t looking in the bargain bin. Two, the fact that we’d have to carry whatever we bought around the city all day and finally home. She was undeterred. “I’ll think about it,” is totally two,” she said. Wise guy. Eventually, she made it into the stacks, where I snuck what might just be my favorite picture ever. I told her that I’d seen some really cool t-shirts on the way in and that if she wanted one, I’d buy it for her. Off all the places in New York to get her a wearable souvenir, I couldn’t imagine a better one. Her face lit up. “Can I still get a book though?” she asked. I told her she could. She headed back to the Classics and, after a long and difficult debate, chose a beautifully bound copy of My Antonia. She clutched it to her chest as we went in search of the t-shirts. En route, we found this .. On the way to the t-shirts, she discovered a messenger bag that she loved, which set off a string of high-level negotiations that ended with her agreeing to buy herself the t-shirt and me paying for the bag and the book. I’ve never been so happy to shell out money for “stuff” on a trip. It was the right stuff. It was perfect. Thank God they didn’t sell Strand ponies. “I know where it is,” the cabbie responded. “Of course you do, sir” I said. Katie looked at me with a smirk. “You sound like Papa,” she said. “You talk like him when you’re in New York,” she said. “Say, ‘water,'” she said. “Water?” I asked. I sat back and smiled at my girl as we drove the eighteen blocks into my childhood. I have loved all of your posts about the trip, but this is by far my very favorite. My most very favorite. I love that Katie loves to read, and I love how you nurture that love. It’s just so….lovely. Bookdrunk… What an amazing term. I must admit, I’ve been book drunk a time or two. Or possibly every time I’ve ever walked into a library! I’m glad you two have had such an amazing trip so far. I can’t wait to read more about it! I think your father gave Katie the best present ever. I have really never wanted to go to New York but now I really want to go lol . The gift of the love of reading; priceless! Love this and love the book store. Such a lucky girl and mama!! Memory lane…a great place to visit! we drove the eighteen blocks into my childhood. That’s lovely. Thank you for writing it. My Antonia – what a perfect choice. I can get “book drunk” at “Half Price Books”, I’d probably spend a few days in that place! Such a beautiful series of posts. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your time in New York! I love this line: “I’ll think about it,” is totally two,” – that is totally my kid, too. These NY trip posts have been simply delightful, thank you!

https://adiaryofamom.com/2015/01/22/new-york-part-five/?replytocom=58389

Azul Systems and Microsoft announced a new strategic partnership that will allow Java developers on Azure and Azure Stack to build and run production Java applications using the commercially supported edition of Azul's flagship Java runtime, Zulu Enterprise. "We have been delivering certified builds of OpenJDK to Microsoft for several years now," Sellers told ADTmag. "The announcement in 2014 was the first time we named our Zulu offering. With today's announcement we're extending our partnership to deliver fully-supported builds of Zulu Enterprise to the community of Azure-based Java developers. And it's free for those Azure customers. Azul has published a countdown clock on its Web site that is marking time until the end of free public updates for Java 8, which Oracle has set for January 2019. There's more information about Java on Azure on the Microsoft Azure page.

https://adtmag.com/articles/2018/09/26/azul-microsoft.aspx

Volunteer, donate or share with us your story. It could be a story about your victories, struggles, or information that you have had access to. There are many ways, both big and small, that you can get involved to help fight cancer in Africa. Citizen TV’s Mercy Oburu has been appointed as a Board member for the National Cancer... Governor Nyong'o's sweet message to wife after winning global award..... Kisumu First Lady Dorothy Nyong'o when she took part in the cancer awareness... Pharmacy board approves Janssen's prostate cancer drug for early treatment..... State to roll out cervical cancer vaccination..... "My mother is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer, and I have also lost two friends to cancer. If there's one thing I have noticed, it is that people still do not have adequate information about cancer hence there's need for raising awareness to educate people. ACF is providing that opportunity and I would be glad to be a part of it."

https://africacancerfoundation.org/index.php

If you have been found guilty of a crime in the state of Pennsylvania, you may be stressed and frightened from the experience. For most, it is a difficult process to get through. You should know you don’t have to accept the guilty charge you were given. It should be noted that if you plead guilty to the crime, you cannot appeal the sentence in Pennsylvania. You still have choices to consider, however. If you were talked into pleading guilty, but you do not agree with the findings brought up in court, you will be able to appeal the conviction and seek a new judgment from getting a new trial. You will begin by making a motion to the court to withdraw your guilty plea. Only those with convictions can apply for the appeals process. To do this correctly, hire a Philadelphia criminal defense attorney to help. The appeals process in Pennsylvania is a long and complicated ordeal that often requires the help of an experienced attorney. Without professional help, you will increase your risk of missing deadlines, making mistakes and forgetting critical details that could have had a positive impact on the outcome of your case. To get started with the process, you and your hired attorney will need to work together and come up with a reason for the appeal. Examples include inadmissible evidence being included in your original trial that was obtained illegally or hearsay from witnesses not based on facts. The next step in the appeals process is filing a post-sentence motion with the court. During this time, you will also file your notice of appeal with the help of your attorney. They will ensure your paperwork is submitted promptly and with accurate information. When all your paperwork is received and the appellate judge vacates, it means they’re ruling in your favor to start a new trial. Most appeals begin in the mid-level appellate court. Because of this, you will be able to appeal to higher courts if you lose this appeals process. To appeal to the federal court, the crime you are being charged with must involve federal level violations. Even if you are successful at winning the appeal, it does not mean your charges are going to be dropped. The prosecution will also have their right to file an appeal and seek a new ruling with a higher court. In some cases, the prosecution might offer a defendant a plea deal. A plea deal means a defendant will agree to plead guilty to receive a lighter sentence than they would have if they lost the case when pleading innocent. A reputable attorney can help you decide if an appeals process is best for your situation.

https://aggressivedefense.com/can-you-appeal-a-sentence-if-you-plead-guilty-in-pennsylvania/

I have worked with the visual arts most of my adult working life. My experience started in newspapers in Minneapolis, MN, moved to Fargo ND, where I worked in print and TV., winning numerous local and regional awards for my work. I started a film career by working on the feature film Wooly Boys. From this experience I was inspired to form a film production company in Los Angeles, Opal Films. Myron’s Movie our company’s first feature went on to numerous film festivals including Ciniquest one of the top ten film festivals in the world. Today I am Development Director for The Forum Communications Company one of the largest family owned media companies in the U.S. I also am president of Kototama Publishing a book publishing company. I am a father of three girls and live with my wife, Chris Linnares in Fargo, where I am finishing my first novel Scars; It’s a Matter of Life and Death. I have also just started production on my 2nd photography book. Beautiful Women of North Dakota. A book capturing women’s inner beauty.. It has been said a photograph is worth a thousand words. Great photography is not merely described by words. Great photography is felt. Great photography tells a story. As you look at my photos I believe they also tell a story. Stories that have been dipped in the history of some of photography’s masters. I have just finished my first solo show at Rourke Art Museum where I broke a record held for 41 years of most photography sold. I have a BS in Communications from the University of North Dakota, 1989. I have been involved in some aspect of photography for many of the last 25 years. I have worked as a photographer for a daily newspaper, sold commercial work for a photo studio, photographed and designed award winning advertising campaigns. Over the years I have traveled much of the world photographing life’s everyday pain, sadness and joy. This is my life’s passion. I look forward to hearing from you about my photography.

https://altpick.com/billy

Born and raised in Southern California - this California Kid wishes he could wear his shorts, sun glasses and flip flops everyday of the year. Well he can - just not when he spends most of his time in San Francisco. Since 2005, Christopher Kern has had the pleasure of calling San Francisco home. It's always been a place of inspiration to Kern and it only made sense for him to pack his bags and make the move from Orange County to the Bay. He currently lives in San Francisco with his wife Nikki, and spends much of his time in his truck traveling Interstate-5 full of gear - back and forth from Los Angeles and San Francisco. During his MFA studies at the prestigious Academy of Art University - Kern discovered that there is no separation of himself as a photographer or as an individual - his photography is personal. It's about his dreams, memories, emotions and a reflection upon history. Prior to completion of his MFA in Photography - he was awarded in 2006 and 2007 "best of show" at the Academy of Art's spring show. His work has also been featured by CMYK Magazine, PDN and the International Photography Awards. Kern's fashion spreads have been seen in the pages of San Francisco Magazine, Sactown, LE Magazine, Orange Coast Magazine, ZooZoom, and his advertising work has included Hewlett Packard, Sony Vaio, Benefit Cosmetics, Sephora, Mac Cosmetics, AliveCor, Bauer Hockey, Mission Inline Hockey, Goorin Brothers and a hand-full of designers. Aside from working full-time as a freelance photographer - Kern finds time to educate MFA and BFA students at his alma mater Academy of Art University. Specializing in portfolio development, thesis project, and elevating the overall production and conceptual value of students work to compete in the current market while still expressing a personal artistic vision. In their free-time you can find Mr & Mrs. Kern enjoying the amazing food that the bay area has to offer, people watching, and jumping into our truck taking spontaneous road trips.

https://altpick.com/heykern

Duke undergraduate students report that they are cheating less in the classroom than five years ago, according to the 2005-06 survey on academic integrity at Duke. But there is still cause for concern, administrators say. Duke's rate of cheating is generally comparable to other universities with honor codes. However, although the rate of unauthorized collaboration and falsifying lab data has dropped, it is still higher than that at the other universities surveyed, the report stated. Judith Ruderman Ph.D. '76, vice provost and chair of the Academic Integrity Council, says the survey has been conducted at Duke every five years since 1995 and is compared with a national survey done by Rutgers University professor Donald McCabe, founder of the Center for Academic Integrity, which is affiliated with Duke's Kenan Institute for Ethics. Ruderman and students involved in presenting the data express optimism about the results. The previous survey, in 2000, caused concern when nearly half of the students reported unauthorized collaboration or plagiarism—well above national averages. Administrators redoubled efforts to engage students and faculty members in discussions about the issue. Those efforts appear to have produced positive results. Students reported that faculty members talked more about integrity issues compared with 2000; however, much of that discussion focused on plagiarism. Reports of plagiarism have dropped from 46 percent in 1995, to 38 percent in 2000, to 26 percent in the most recent survey. Rates of unauthorized collaboration fell from 45 percent in 2000 to 29 percent in 2005. But that rate is still higher than the average of 24 percent reported by other universities with honor codes, senior Joe Fore, Duke Student Government executive vice president, notes. Twenty-one percent of students reported they falsified lab data, nearly twice the average rate at the other universities. The survey showed that 40 percent of students characterized the practice as "trivial cheating." Ruderman says faculty members need to state clearly at the start of the semester what constitutes unauthorized collaboration. In the survey, only 30 percent of students said faculty members discuss guidelines on group work or collaboration. The lab data results reveal a more complicated problem. Ruderman says the best guess about the survey numbers is that students learn to approach lab work as "busy work" that is expected to lead to a particular result. "We think the solution here is to look at how the labs are designed," she says. "I think we need to think about how to give the students ownership of the lab. We need to teach them that the lab isn't about coming up with the correct result but to learn research techniques and thinking skills."

https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/cheating-good-news-bad-news

The Mission of the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra is to provide music education and performance opportunities to youth with demonstrated musical ability. Founded in 1972, the GDYO program fosters musical excellence, cultivates learning, encourages creativity, inspires self motivation, and develops social skills. Dallas and North Texas and from more than 120 schools. Throughout our history, our core goals have remained the same: developing musicians and building their character. doubles in a tour year. The next international tour is planned for 2019.

https://alumnispotlight.gdyo.org/about/

Chancellorsville arguably marked the high tide of Confederate success in the Civil War. The Union had far more men, horses, factories, railroads, and farmland than the South. However, most of the best officers in the prewar army hailed from the southern aristocracy, starting with Robert E. Lee. The resulting conflict manifested into a pitched battle whose outcome remained in doubt for years. Although some historians consider Lee's "perfect battle" a pyrrhic victory, President Lincoln found himself stunned by the defeat.

https://americanactionnews.com/articles/3-battle-of-chancellorsville

Boilers play a crucial role in your HVAC system in Avondale, especially during the winter. As soon as you want to start begin heating your home, you can switch on your boiler and you will begin to feel heat. While there are different types of boilers, they all have the job of transferring heat to water to help make your home comfortable. The general boiler process is the same regardless of the type of boiler that you have. As soon as your home’s thermostat senses a drop in temperature, it calls for the boiler to turn on. Your boiler uses either oil, gas, or electricity to create heat and increase the temperature of the water inside of the boiler. From there, the heated water or steam is transferred to different parts of your home via a radiator or radiant floor systems, where they give off heat to warm the air. As the water begins to cool off or the steam starts to condense, it travels back to your boiler so it can be reheated. This is a continuous process until your home reaches an ideal temperature. Boilers are categorized based on many different factors, including fuel type, pressure, temperature, form of heating, heating method, draft method, size, capacity, efficiency and more! Gas boilers utilize either a pilot light or an electric start in order to ignite oxygen and gas inside of a combustion chamber. A combustion chamber is a safe and secure place where gas is burned in order to produce heat. Generally speaking, gas boilers are the most common and they are the cheapest to operate compared to other boilers. Another type of boiler is an oil boiler. They perform the same way that gas boilers do, as oil burns inside of the combustion chamber and heats up the heat exchanger, turning heat into water. The difference between gas boilers and oil boilers is that oil boilers need an oil storage tank, as the oil must be delivered to your home and stored until it is needed. Oil boilers are less eco-friendly than gas boilers, but depending on the model, they may run more efficiently. Electric boilers are used in homes where natural gas isn’t available, and it creates heat by using electrical power to heat the elements. These heated elements then transfer heat directly to the water. This is a cleaner way to heat your home, but they typically are not as efficient and are more expensive to operate. Are you in need of HVAC services in Avondale? Contact our team at American Home Heating today to learn more!

https://americanhomeheating.com/heating/boilers

NBC has picked up on the Parvez Sharma documentary I’ve told you about, “A Sinner In Mecca” — I commend the interview to those interested in Islam — which one projection puts at 3.5 billion followers out of the 9.5 billion humans expected to share the planet by 2050. Meanwhile, Rachel Maddow reported two nights ago on the situation in Texas. Yes, there’s Rick Perry’s “oops” moment (and the footnote that he’s now the first ever to run for president while under indictment — but who cares? he’s not gonna be the nominee). And, yes, there’s a piece of Barbara Jordan’s wonderful 1976 keynote to the Democratic National Convention (if only she’d lived to see 2008!). But the important part begins 10 minutes in, showing how Texas Republicans sprang into action when the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act and — that very day — set about making it harder for likely Democratic voters to vote. You have a student ID or a Medicaid ID? No good. A concealed handgun permit? Step right up! Wait til you see how hard it’s become for some people to vote. Have a great weekend — but watch. And if you have time, watch Secretary Clinton’s address yesterday in Houston on this same topic, calling for reform. . . . like every woman who has run for national office in this country in the last four decades, I stand here on the shoulders of Barbara Jordan and so does our entire country. And boy do we miss her. We miss her courage, we also miss her humor, she was funny and most of all her irresistible voice. I remember talking to her and Ann Richards one time. And between the two of them, forget trying to get a word in at all. And they were telling me about how they would love to go to the University of Texas women’s basketball games. Right, and Barbara would be there by that time in her wheelchair and Ann would be holding court right next to her. And Barbara would be yelling directions like she was, you know, the coach. “Why are you doing that? Jump higher! That’s not a pass!”, you know all of those kinds of sideline comments. And so Ann was telling me this, with Barbara right there and I finally turned to her and said, “Barbara, encourage these young women, don’t just criticize them.” And Barbara turned around and said to me, “When they deserve it, I will”. We sure could use her irresistible voice. I wish we could hear that voice one more time. Hear her express the outrage we feel about the fact that 40 years after Barbara Jordan fought to extend the Voting Rights Act, its heart has been ripped out. For the father who’s done his time and paid his debt to society but still hasn’t gotten his rights back. Now we know, unfortunately, Barbara isn’t here to speak up for them and so many others. But we are. And we have a responsibility to say clearly and directly what’s really going on in our country – because what is happening is a sweeping effort to disempower and disenfranchise people of color, poor people, and young people from one end of our country to the other. Because since the Supreme Court eviscerated a key provision of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, many of the states that previously faced special scrutiny because of a history of racial discrimination have proposed and passed new laws that make it harder than ever to vote. North Carolina passed a bill that went after pretty much anything that makes voting more convenient or more accessible. Early voting. Same-day registration. The ability of county election officials to even extend voting hours to accommodate long lines. What possible reason could there be to end pre-registration for 16-and 17- year olds and eliminate voter outreach in high schools? We should be doing everything we can to get our young people more engaged in democracy, not less. In fact I would say it is a cruel irony – but no coincidence – that Millennials, the most diverse, tolerant, and inclusive generation in American history, are now facing so much exclusion. And we need look no further than right here in Texas. You all know this far better than I, but if you want to vote in this state, you can use a concealed weapon permit as a valid form of identification – but a valid student ID isn’t good enough? Now, Krystal Watson found out the hard way. She grew up in Louisiana but came to Marshall, Texas to attend Wiley College. Krystal takes her responsibilities as a citizen so seriously that not only did she register to vote in Texas where she was living and would be for a number of years, she even became a deputy registrar to help other people vote as well. But this past year, when she showed up at her local polling place with a Wiley College ID, she was turned away. Experts estimate that hundreds of thousands of registered voters in Texas may face similar situations. And while high-profile state laws like those in Texas and North Carolina get most of the attention, many of the worst offenses against the right to vote actually happen below the radar. Like when authorities shift poll locations and election dates. Or scrap language assistance for non-English speakers – something Barbara Jordan fought so hard for. Without the pre-clearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act, no one outside the local community is likely to ever hear about these abuses, let alone have a chance to challenge them and end them. It’s not a surprise for you to hear that studies and everyday experiences confirm that minority voters are more likely than white voters to wait in long lines at the polls. They are also far more likely to vote in polling places with insufficient numbers of voting machines. In South Carolina for example, there’s supposed to be one machine for every 250 voters. But in minority areas, that rule is just often overlooked. In Richland Country, nearly 90 percent of the precincts failed to meet the standard required by law in 2012. Instead of 250 voters per machine, in one precinct it was more than 430 voters per machine. Not surprisingly, people trying to cast a ballot there faced massive delays. Now there are many fair-minded, well-intentioned election officials and state legislators all over this country. But this kind of disparity that I just mentioned does not happen by accident. Now some of you may have heard me or my husband say one of our favorite sayings from Arkansas, of course I learned it from him. “You find a turtle on a fence post, it did not get there on it’s own.” Well all of these problems with voting did not just happen by accident. And it is just wrong, it’s wrong to try to prevent, undermine and inhibit American’s right to vote. Its counter to the values we share. And at a time when so many Americans have lost trust in our political system, it’s the opposite of what we should be doing in this country. This is the greatest longest lasting democracy in the history of the world, we should be clearing the way for more people to vote, not putting up every roadblock anyone can imagine. Yet unfortunately today, there are people who offer themselves to be leaders whose actions have undercut this fundamental American principle. Here in Texas, former Governor Rick Perry signed a law that a federal court said was actually written with the purpose of discriminating against minority voters. But Governor Perry is hardly alone in his crusade against voting rights. In Wisconsin, Governor Scott Walker cut back early voting and signed legislation that would make it harder for college students to vote. In New Jersey, Governor Christie vetoed legislation to extend early voting. And in Florida, when Jeb Bush was governor, state authorities conducted a deeply flawed purge of voters before the presidential election in 2000. Thankfully in 2004 a plan to purge even more voters was headed off. So today, Republicans are systematically and deliberately trying to stop millions of American citizens from voting. What part of democracy are they afraid of? I believe every citizen has the right to vote. And I believe we should do everything we can to make it easier for every citizen to vote. I call on Republicans at all levels of government with all manner of ambition to stop fear mongering about a phantom epidemic of election fraud and start explaining why they’re so scared of letting citizens have their say. Yes, this is about democracy. But it’s also about dignity. About the ability to stand up and say, yes, I am a citizen. I am an American. My voice counts. And no matter where you come from or what you look like or how much money you have, that means something…. In fact, it means a lot. I learned those lessons right here in Texas, registering voters in south Texas down in the valley in 1972. Some of the people I met were, understandably, a little wary of a girl from Chicago who didn’t speak a word of Spanish. But they wanted to vote. They were citizens. They wanted to exercise all the rights and responsibilities that citizenship conveys. That’s what should matter because when these rights are denied, it doesn’t just hold back the aspirations of individual citizens. It holds back our entire country. That’s why, as a Senator, I championed a bill called the Count Every Vote Act. If it had become law, it would have made Election Day a federal holiday and mandated early voting opportunities. Deceiving voters, including by sending flyers into minority neighborhoods with false voting times and places, would have become a federal crime. And many Americans with criminal convictions who had paid their debt to society would have finally gotten their voting rights back. Well today, with the damage to the Voting Rights Act so severe, the need for action is even more urgent. First, Congress should move quickly to pass legislation to repair that damage and restore the full protections that American voters need and deserve. I was in the Senate in 2006 when we voted 98 to zero to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act after an exhaustive review process. There had been more than 20 hearings in the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. Testimony from expert witnesses. Investigative reports documenting continuing discrimination in covered jurisdictions. There were more than 15,000 pages of legislative record. Now that is how the system is supposed to work. You gather the evidence, you weigh it and you decide. And we did 98 to nothing. We put principle ahead of politics. That is what Congress needs to do again. Second, we should implement the recommendations of the bipartisan presidential commission to improve voting. That commission was chaired by President Obama’s campaign lawyer and by Governor Mitt Romney campaign’s lawyer. And they actually agreed. These are common sense reforms, including expanding early, absentee, and mail voting. Providing online voter registration. Establishing the principle that no one should ever have to wait more than 30 minutes to cast your vote. Third, we should set a standard across our country of at least 20 days of early in-person voting everywhere – including opportunities for weekend and evening voting. If families coming out of church on Sunday before an election are inspired to go vote, they should be free to do just that. And we know that early in-person voting will reduce those long lines and give more citizens the chance to participate, especially those who have work or family obligations that make it difficult to get to the polls on Election Day. It’s not just convenient — it’s also more secure, more reliable, and more affordable than absentee voting. So let’s get this done. And I believe we should go even further to strengthen voting rights in America. So today I am calling for universal, automatic voter registration. Everyone, every young man or young woman, in every state in the union should be automatically registered to vote when they turn eighteen – unless they actively choose to opt-out. But I believe this would have a profound impact on our elections and our democracy. Between a quarter and a third of all eligible Americans remain unregistered and therefore unable to vote. And we should modernize our entire approach to registration. The current system is a relic from an earlier age. It relies on a blizzard of paper records and it’s full of errors. We can do better. We can make sure that registration rolls are secure, up-to-date, and complete. When you move, your registration should move with you. If you are an eligible voter, and want to be registered, you should be a registered voter – period. Now, Oregon is already leading the way modernizing its system, and the rest of the country should follow. The technology is there. States have a lot of the data already. It’s just a matter of syncing and streamlining. Now, all of these reforms, from expanded early voting to modernized registration, are common sense ways to strengthen our democracy. But I’ll be candid here, none of them will come easily. It’s going to take leadership at many levels. Now more than ever, we need our citizens to actually get out and vote for people who want to hear what is on their minds. We need more activists working to expose abuses, educate Americans about their rights, and hold authorities accountable for protecting them. Some of the worst provisions in recent laws have been blocked or delayed by tireless advocates raising the alarm and filing legal challenges. But they can’t do it alone. We need more grassroots mobilization efforts like the Moral Monday movement in North Carolina to build momentum for reform. We need more Justices on the Supreme Court who will protect every citizen’s right to vote, I mean the principle underlying our Constitution, which we had to fight for a long time to make apply to everybody, one person, one vote and we need a Supreme Court that cares more about protecting the right to vote of a person than the right to buy an election of a corporation. But of course, you know what we really need? We need more elected leaders from Houston to Austin to Washington who will follow in the footsteps of Barbara Jordan and fight for the rights and opportunities of everyday Americans, not just those at the top of the ladder. And we need to remember that progress is built on common ground, not scorched earth. You know, when I traveled around the world as Secretary of State, one of the most frequent questions I was asked was: How could you and President Obama work together after you fought so hard in that campaign? People were genuinely amazed, which I suppose is understandable, considering that in many places, when you lose an election or you oppose someone who wins you could get imprisoned or exiled – even killed – not hired as Secretary of State. And it’s true, I was surprised when the President asked me to serve. But he made that offer, and I accepted it, because we both love our country. So my friends, here at this historic institution let us remember that America was built by people who knew that our common interest was more important than our self-interest. They were fearless in pursuit of a stronger, freer, and fairer nation. As Barbara Jordan famously reminded us, when the Constitution was first written, it left most of us here out. But generations of Americans fought and marched and organized and prayed to expand the circle of freedom and opportunity. They never gave up and never backed down. And nearly a century ago on this very day, after years of struggle, Congress finally passed the 19th amendment to give women the right to vote in the United States. So that is, that is the story of progress, courageous men and women, expanding rights, not restricting them. And today we refuse, we refuse to allow our country or this generation of leaders to slow or reverse America’s long march toward a more perfect union. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to fight just as hard as those who came before us did. To march just as far. To organize just as well. To speak out just as loudly. And to vote, every chance we get for the kind of future we want. That’s what Barbara Jordan would do. That’s what we should do in honor of her.

https://andrewtobias.com/sinners-in-texas-and-mecca/

The Candida Fungus is a natural part of the human gut biome and is found on healthy human skin, and as part of the digestive system. However, it can grow too much and cause problems throughout the body. Candida fungus infections are extremely common, as it is a frequent cause of both vaginal yeast infections and thrush (an infection of the mouth and throat). A Candida fungus can also cause very serious systemic infections in other parts of the body. It is a part of a healthy gut, but in times of mental or physical stress it can grow out of control. Invasive candidiasis can have many different symptoms depending on the part of the body affected, but the most common is persistent fever and chills. However, even without infecting the rest of the body, a Candida fungus can cause significant problems. Candida overgrowth is known to inflame and weaken the lining of the intestines, which can cause a host of full-body problems even without an infection. Candida overgrowth is linked to an increasing number of conditions as a systemic cause. Even without infecting other organs, it can damage your digestive system and exhaust your immune system. Symptoms can often be vague and not obviously connected to digestive health, as nutritional absorption and immune strength are crucial to all parts of the body. Candida yeast infections are rarely serious in otherwise healthy people. However, in rare cases, it may spread through other parts of the body. Contact Ann Arbor Holistic Health in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to schedule your appointment and find out how you can get help for Candida yeast overgrowth and other conditions. The team at Ann Arbor Holistic Health is here to help you.

https://annarborholistichealth.com/candida-fungus/

and how we bring your ideas to life. In working with Anne Architecture, you find an engaging partner that puts your vision, your story, and your design dilemmas first. We believe our role is to create the home, club, resort, or community of your dreams, not ours. We dedicate ourselves to solving complex problems that support your goals, and we relish finding the solution that unlocks possibilities. Instead of dictating our ideas, we walk beside you and bring you on a journey from inception to execution. We are out of the box thinkers who see challenges as opportunities and eyesores as daydreams. And at the end of the day, we like to have a good time, too. You'll find many experienced architects out there, but not all of them are as fun to work with as we are. With over 30 years of experience, Anne's architectural knowledge spans a variety of design styles and project types. Prior to beginning Anne Architecture in 2010, she held several positions within NCG Architects ranging from managing partner to owner/principal. Her time with NCG took her across the Southeast and internationally designing clubs, communities, homes, and resorts. While she prides herself on getting the construction details right, the heart of Anne's work lies in helping clients transform their environments into spaces of expression - a true testament to her imagination and creativity. She is a licensed architect in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Arizona, and Texas and is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional. The breadth of skills of the team members of Anne Architecture allows us to provide a broad spectrum of services to our clients. As a 2012 graduate of Auburn University, Laura assists in the design development and documentation of all projects. She enjoys the daily opportunity to problem solve and to create spaces that make an impact on people and their communities. Believe it or not, Laura is also our resident beekeeper; she and her husband started a beehive just a few years ago and we love getting honey from her! So sweet! As our project manager, Beth is involved with all aspects of projects from start to finish, but her specialty is dealing with the many jurisdictions in Metro Atlanta and beyond. She holds a master's degree in architecture from Georgia Tech and her first architectural job was working with Anne at NCG! Our clients might be surprised to learn Beth is our resident geek - a lover of all things Star Wars and Harry Potter. The newest member of the Anne Architecture team, Bevin is a graduate of the University of Tennessee. She assists with all phases of projects, helping to keep projects on track while enjoying the process and production of the design. She has a fun sense of humor and is our resident fashion consultant. A surprising fact about Bevin, she recently lived in Dublin, Ireland for two years! An integral part of the Anne Architecture team, Kelley has over 25 years of accounting experience with a focus on the architectural, engineering, and interior design industry. She brings her knowledge of the business of architecture to the table and manages to keep the team in line. We're a small firm with big ideas, and we're ready to collaborate with you.

https://annearchitecture.com/firm-profile/

1. remain alive. 2. make one’s home in a particular place or with a particular person. When residents move into an apartment at one of APAH’s properties, the key that they are handed comes with more than just four walls and a roof. That key symbolizes the beginning of a new era in their life. APAH resident services programming helps those who live at our properties grow their skills, knowledge, and capacity so their futures can be stable. APAH provides eviction prevention assistance and programs that promote stability. When families have a home they can afford, they can afford other basic needs.

https://apah.org/live/

Space rockets use thrust in order to get them up into space. Thrust is the sudden, propulsive force of a jet engine, and is based on Newton’s third law. In the rocket, thrust is created from the solid rocket boosters and the main engines. The solid rocket boosters and the external fuel tank are eventually dropped from the rocket in order to reduce mass once in space. The rocket is slowed down a little because of the force due to gravity and the drag force when in the Earth’s atmosphere. NASA has been working on a new way to launch rockets into space: the EmDrive. It is an electromagnetic propulsion drive that generates thrust by bouncing microwaves in a closed container. According to physics, this would be impossible because of the conservation of momentum and that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. However, a group in NASA has been able to generate thrust from the EmDrive in a vacuum. The power of the EmDrive allows spaceships to travel much faster, allowing humans to explore more of space than ever before. If the EmDrive does end up working, the great space exploration could be back on! So for now, we wait.

https://aplusphysics.com/community/index.php?/blogs/entry/31256-spaceships-emdrive/

Barn Wedding Venues are all the rage these days and WE LOVE IT! So to help in your search of the perfect venue, we’ve comprised a list of some of the best barn venues in our area as well as some rustic wedding venues. If you are considering having your wedding at a barn or a similar rustic venue please consider contacting some of the top venues in our area. Here is a little bit about each venue to help you in your search. Freedom Barn at Hope Center: The Freedom Barn at Hope Center Indy is a historic 5,000 square foot, 2 story brick barn tucked away inside the city limits of Indianapolis. Designed for weddings, corporate events, private events, ministry functions and more. The Freedom Barn provides an affordable, romantic blank slate space to build the wedding or event of your dreams while supporting a great cause! Mustard Seed Gardens: Mustard Seed Gardens is a unique setting, rich in heritage with roots dating back to the 1800s. Originally, President Andrew Jackson deeded the property to George Metsker, in exchange for his military service during the War of 1812. For decades, the property served as a farmstead & home to the Metsker family. The Barn at Zionsville: The Barn in Zionsville is located on a family owned barn wedding venue just off of 146th Street at 8556 E 300 S in the beautiful countryside of Zionsville, Indiana. The family kept over 20 horses in the barn over the course of the past 20 years and have transformed it into a stunningly elegant venue for weddings. The 1,800 square foot barn is complete with concrete floors, 5 hanging chandeliers, vintage bulbed lights, 9 authentic whiskey barrels, a pallet bar, wood slices for centerpieces, tables and 150 gold chiavari chairs for your reception, 150 white padded resin chairs for your ceremony, and gorgeous 14 foot chiffon drapes. The property has a great fire pit to add some fun to the end of your reception too! Barn at Bay Horse Inn: Celebrating in a barn setting is nothing new to Amanda Cottingham as she grew up in a barn, (well 8 to be exact) Her childhood home was a combination of 8 barns merged into one very unique family home. As you entered the home was an etched glass window “Bay Horse Inn”. The Cottingham family loves to celebrate with family and friends and it was in this home Amanda learned the value of family & friendships and being a part of something bigger than herself. Fast forward years later Amanda and her family now own 35 acres in Greenwood, Indiana. Living their dream of having their own land with their horses Shiloh, Prancer and Kelly. They’ve shared their land by hosting weddings and events for friends and family and thought about how they’d like to make their property available to more. Zyntango Farm: We started Zyntango Farm to learn about farming organically and as a tool to help teach our children about self sufficiency, work ethic and the value of a dollar. It is becoming more than we had expected. The Barn at Zyntango Farm was built in the late 1800’s. When we purchased the farm in 2013 the barn was about ready to fall over. We couldn’t tear it down and had to save it. We are so pleased with how it has transformed into a gorgeous mix of old and new. The barn is also home for our produce stand in the summer and fall. Avon Wedding Barn: To many people all over the world, the wedding day is the most anticipated, romanticized and memorable day of their lives. To pledge your life to another and commit to a loving life together truly calls for a great moment, a unique experience. The Avon Wedding and Event Barn offers exactly that!Located on a beautiful, 6-acre private property (only 6 miles west of Indianapolis, Indiana) the authentic 100-year-old Amish built Avon Wedding Barn offers a truly beautiful and one of a kind wedding experience, combined with prime scenery for photography. Rich in history with roots dating back to the 1910’s, the Avon Wedding Barn offers a one-of-a-kind wedding and event facility complete with country charm and modern conveniences.Offering you different outside wedding ceremony options, the Avon Wedding Barn provides great property for an outdoor wedding or inside the beautiful handcrafted Amish Barn. JLH Wedding Barn: In 2007, John & Lindsay Harrison were married on this property owned by Lindsay’s parents. After realizing the blessing that this land was, they first opened it up to friends and family for weddings. In 2016, they decided to completely renovate the barn and open it to the public. Their mission is to share God’s beauty and their blessings with other couples and families by making their special day as memorable as possible. Morgan Acres: The farmstead was originally constructed in 1840 by the Ploenges family, one of many German families who emigrated from Prussia to the United States in the early 1800’s. (Pre-Civil War, pre-Abraham Lincoln Presidency construction.) It was originally part of a 1000-acre farmstead reaching from Cumberland Road into Hancock County. The house & main barn were built from the trees grown on the property. The original hand-hewn timbers still comprise the beams, columns, flooring and siding. The Grand Barn has been restored to maintain its original integrity and design. The property remains a historically significant piece of Indiana history and is eligible for the Indiana Historic Registry. The Barn at Crystal Spring Farm: The Barn at Crystal Spring Farm is located on our family farm just off of I-65 South in Franklin, Indiana. With seating for up to 200 guests, our newly constructed post and beam barn is a perfect mix of old and new. Our farm provides a casual setting to host your wedding and special events. These are just a FEW of some of the wonderful venues in our area. If you know of another that perhaps wasn’t mentioned, or you own/run a Barn Wedding Venue and you’d love to be mentioned, please feel free to leave a comment below and we’d be happy to post more information about it. And as mentioned, we not only have some beautiful barn weddings in Central Indiana, but some gorgeous Rustic Wedding Venues. So here is a list of just a few of them. The Greenhouse Wedding & Event Venue: We built the GreenHouse to offer an upscale event space for residents of Northern Indiana. We also believe that being connected to Zao Island offers hosts a unique ability to keep guests entertained with our various different attractions. At the GreenHouse your privacy is our top priority. All guests will enjoy exclusivity within the GreenHouse confines and have the ability to venture off into Zao Island for amazing attractions. Bash: A rustic/chic space with unlimited potential, BASH is Carmel’s newest and most EPIC venue for your wedding or event. You will even get your very own Client Concierge & Coordinator. Let Hayley know we sent you! INDUSTRY: INDUSTRY is an industrial-chic venue located in downtown Indianapolis. Founded in 2017, INDUSTRY can seat up to 300 guests, and features included farm tables and metal chairs, an open vendor policy, 24-hour rentals, and no curfew. Additionally, proximity to nearby parking, restaurants, shopping, hotels and entertainment make INDUSTRY the ideal location for any type of event. INDUSTRY is under the 828 Venue Management Co. umbrella, the nation’s fastest growing network of inspiring event venues. Biltwell Center: Whether you’re getting married, planning a company gathering or recognizing a milestone, you know the importance in celebrating the pieces, both big and small, that make up our lives. Our building was first built in 1922, that is 5 years before we even had television! Your guests will love the rustic atmosphere, while being surrounded by your transformative decor. So what are you waiting for? We know that you are ready to start putting your plans into motion, and we will be here guiding you every step of the way. It’s obvious how much we love photographing at these Barn Wedding Venues, so please contact us to see if we might be the right photographer for your big day. Again, we certainly hope you found our article helpful. If you know of a place that should be added to our list, please let us know by commenting below or emailing us directly. Also, if you have a venue owner or coordinator and would like to be featured on our blog we would love to speak to you!

https://aprilandjayphotography.com/barn-wedding-venues/

An installation about feeling secure even though you’re not, and being secure even though you don’t feel it. In Smile! You’re on CCTV the visitor enters a room with several hidden IP cameras and one central video surveillance monitor placed on a desk. On several sticky notes placed on the walls and the floor, the visitor can read quotes on the subject of privacy, CCTV, security, safety and the rise of the ‘politics of fear’. The video monitor shows several (delayed) video streams of the cameras capturing the image of the visitor. Because of this delay, the visitor can watch himself on the monitor walking around the room, while he was reading these quotes. Exhibition ‘10 jaar 911’, Vrede van Utrecht. Curated by Willem Westermann. In the video below (in Dutch), I explain a bit more about the conceptual motives for this project.

https://arnoldhoogerwerf.net/portfolio_page/smile-youre-on-cctv/

Samuel Drummond was born in London; he joined the navy when he was fourteen and served for seven years. He is said to have been present at three engagements, which could well be true as he was serving at the height of the American War of Independence. When first practising as an artist he worked in pastels, later turning to oils and concentrating on portraits, genre scenes and naval battle pieces. He exhibited over 300 works at the Royal Academy between 1791 and 1844 and was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1808, later becoming Curator of the Royal Academy Painting School. He died in London in 1844.

https://artcollection.culture.gov.uk/artwork/14966/

The Department of Art History at the University of Toronto is devoted to investigating the ways in which individuals (celebrated or unknown) and whole civilizations have expressed themselves through the ages in architecture and town planning, in painting and sculpture, and in printmaking, photography, and the various arts of design. The Department of Art History at the St. George campus offers Graduate and Undergraduate degrees in Art History. Founded in 1934, it was the first model for such department at a Canadian university and over seven decades has achieved an international reputation for scholarly and creative excellence. At the undergraduate level, students take courses that explore a wide chronological and geographic scope, ranging from the Bronze Age to the present, from Europe to Asia to the Americas. In 2006, the undergraduate program requirements were changed to enable students to pursue subjects of interest in more depth. Graduate courses are offered by faculty drawn from all three campuses: St. George, Mississauga, and Scarborough. Finally, extensive library resources, extensive on-campus art collections, and a Federated Academic Digital Imaging System (FADIS)—developed completely within the Department of History of Art/Graduate Department of Art and now used widely at other Canadian Universities to offer web-based access to an extensive library of visual images—are enhanced by access to the country’s most vibrant, diverse, and well-represented art community. Explore our website and learn more about our department. Canada’s oldest Department of Art History was established on May 31, 1934 after the University of Toronto applied for and received a grant from the Carnegie Corporation to hire its first Chair and pay for his salary for the next five years. After an extensive six-year search, John Alford (1890–1960), a British lecturer from the Courtauld Institute of Art at the University of London, was appointed. During the first year, a “pass course” was offered; however, demand was great enough that an honours course was added the following year. In 1936, the Carnegie Corporation gave the University additional funds to hire an additional lecturer, Peter Brieger (1898–1983), a German refugee then working at the Courtauld. Artist-educators were hired shortly thereafter to instruct studio courses, the first being led by Frederick S. Haines (1879–1960), then principal of the Ontario College of Art. In 1938 distinguished Canadian artist Charles Comfort (1900–1994) joined the Department, and, with John Alford, designed a series of basic studio courses that were among the earliest of such programs offered in a Canadian university. The Department was situated on the 3rd floor of the south-east corner of University College and consisted of two offices, a large reading room, and a storage area. In addition to the Carnegie “Arts Teaching Set” (comprised of books, prints, mounted photographs, and textile samples that the University had received in 1925), the Art Library (which was more of a reading room back then) was further established with a gift from prominent Toronto portrait painter J.W.L. Forster (1850–1938), who donated $2,000 to purchase additional books. During the early years, the Department established excellent relationships with other departments such as Architecture, Archaeology, Anthropology, and Philosophy and with sister institutions including the Royal Ontario Museum, the Ontario College of Art, and the Art Gallery of Ontario. In 1946 the Department of Fine Art merged with the Department of Archaeology to become the Department of Art and Archaeology. In 1957, the Department and its specialized Library moved to temporary quarters in the former residence of the University President at 86 Queen’s Park Crescent (now the site of the Planetarium) and finally to its present location on the 6th floor of the Sidney Smith Building which opened in 1961. A Master of Philosophy (MPhil) degree was instituted in 1964 and the PhD program in Fine Art History, the country’s first, was established in 1968. The Art Library’s collection development policy (focusing on exhibition, permanent museum holdings, and commercial gallery catalogues, photographs, and other materials to support the graduate curriculum) was formalized in 1970.

https://arthistory.utoronto.ca/about-us/department-art-history-st-george/our-department

HAMILTON MESTIZO (Colombia) - Obsolets (unintelligent objects), 2019. Photo: Courtesy of Fanguito eStudio. FILIO GÁLVEZ (Cuba) - Marinas GS, 2018. Google Street views printed on towels. Photo: Courtesy of Fanguito eStudio. NINA COULSON (UK) - Drawings, 2019. Photo: Courtesy of Fanguito eStudio. VUK ĆOSIĆ (Slovenia) - Turing Test, 2019. Photo: Courtesy of Fanguito eStudio. RODOLFO PERAZA (Cuba) - I'm the Wojak, 2019. Web Augmented Reality. Photo: Courtesy of Fanguito eStudio. The methodical behaviorism of the Internet leads and absorbs users to the social media. Different neurotransmitters are activated within your system, as simple as the sound of notifications (…). Regular users of the social media are forming part of a unique global competition: the domain of attention. A behavior conditioned by the profitability of views, likes, followers, in short, fame. An empire for rent that has validated statuses that favor it: the vultures, the trolling[1], the manufacturing of (fake, aggressive) content, the manipulation of information, the display of power, the fake communities. The big technology houses (Facebook, Google) depend on these statutes, other giants (Microsoft, Amazon and Apple) just resort to them occasionally. They are distinguished depending on the increase of the cast of film actors, as if it were Bollywood. They have a remarkable number of extras, ghost entities, favored within the Reddit and 4chan communities. A new crisis of governability has emerged, a parallel effect of what is now known as social media warfare. The Are you an NPC? chain of 4chan, started by an anonymous user on a videogame board (July, 2016), triggered the trolling campaign on the Twitter social media. As part of a fake maneuver, with slogans and call to action, in relation to the presidential elections in the United States, the NPC accounts (pro-Trump and con-Trump / liberals and right wingers / Democrats and Republicans) were intentionally propagated with more than 1,500 bots on the platform. The term NPC (Non Playable Character) originally comes from the gamers community. It refers to a role within videogames controlled by Artificial Intelligence or codes. On Twitter, it was adjusted to people who autonomously followed the thoughts and social tendencies of the group. During 2018 it prevailed as the flagship meme of the ideological campaign in the digital kingdom. It was a war that had been embraced by hordes of trolls dressed –with gray skins[3]– as political adversaries. A significant fact that favored its growing acceptance was the strategy of Alex Jones,[4] the spokesman for the U.S. extreme right’s conspiracy theories, who offered 10,000 dollars to anyone who made the most original meme. After the #Black lives Matter (2013)[5] campaign, NPC has been the pitched battle in the most destructive and humanely lacerating digital field. The meme showed the social media’s political polarization and dehumanization. Its implosion expressed another social tendency: openly “cut and paste” criteria. In keeping with this fact, and taking into account the recent social opening to the Internet in our country, during the 13th Havana Biennial the collective exhibition NPC: Non Playable Character was held in the Fanguito eStudio (artist Rodolfo Peraza’s space). The list of participating artists was headed by Vuk Ćosić (Slovenia, founding father of the net.art movement), Yucef Merhi (Venezuela, pioneer of net.art), Hamilton Mestizo (Colombia, new media artist focused on the intersections between biology and technology), Christian Oyarzún (Chile, net.art, linked to Cyberpunk culture), Nina Coulson (United Kingdom, net.art), El Diletante Digital (Cuba, website dedicated to Internet culture), Filio Gálvez (Cuba, net.art), Rewell Altunaga (Cuba, pioneer game-art in Cuba), Naivy Pérez (Cuba, net.art), the Serones duo (Cuba, net.art, game-art), Rodolfo Peraza (Cuba, pioneer new media, game-art, net.art). The works that were part of NPC… explored how the culture of videogames and the Internet have radically modified politics, information and art today, especially in its production, distribution and reception. They referred to emerging digital communities and the Internet as a surveillance site, ideological battles and resistance policies, circulation and control of fake news and lost information. NPC… did not intend to be placed under the umbrella of “new media show,” it had an open purpose. It made clear the foundational slogan of the net.art movement: “Art was a substitute for the Internet,”[6] on the internet anything goes, its platforms (social media) are a reflection of human nature. A meritorious exhibition if the levels of cultural alienation are taken into account with respect to the dynamics of functioning within the public Internet space in Cuba. [1] In Internet jargon, a troll, plural trolls (from the Norwegian troll), describes a person who posts provocative, irrelevant or out-of-context messages in an online community, such as a discussion forum, chat room, blog comments, or similar spots, with the main intention of annoying or provoking. [2] A bot (apheresis of robot) is a computer program, imitating human behavior. In terms of the social media, “ghost users,” those that are only used to add followers to your profile, are called bots. [3] Gray because the meme had a gray face. A modification of the Wojak meme, used to express regret or melancholy. [4] Recently blocked from Facebook, YouTube and Spotify. [5] 5 International political movement originated within the Afro-American community against violence towards black people that caused great stir and strong positions of confrontation within social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. [6] “Art was a substitute for the Internet.” Vuk Ćosić. Defining net.art. Net art Painters and Poets (2014). Catalogue. Bachelor in Art History, University of Havana. Her research has been focused on the field of New Media, specifically in Game-Art. She has worked as specialist in the Museo de Arte Colonial of the City Historian’s Office and in Collage Habana Gallery. She has been founder, and gallerist, of the editorial project and exhibition space El Oficio. At present she works as a curator in Fanguito eStudio (Rodolfo Peraza), a place dedicated to the research and promotion of projects linked to the intersections between art, Internet and technology.

https://artoncuba.com/article/social-media-an-empire-for-rent/?fbclid=IwAR1mv0i6miCE-noROl5nKt8Em3rXNil8xgxwTepfC4Rv7LG6CkI4empgx2M

Nonprofit organizations, government entities, and public libraries can apply for grants of up to $2,500 to provide hands-on arts instruction and participation for K-12 students in Oklahoma public schools. Programs must take place in schools during normal school hours. (See Arts Learning in Communities Grants for programs that take place outside of normal school hours). Arts education programming involving disciplines such as dance, literary arts, media arts, music, storytelling, theater, traditional, and visual arts. Programs must assess student learning. Capital improvement projects, fundraisers, field trips. We cannot fund projects that involve fiscal agents. What expenses cannot be paid for using grant funds? Equipment, computers, software, cameras and/or other arts related hardware, food or beverages, awards such as ribbons, trophies and plaques, travel for students (including field trips), or as a substitution for regularly budgeted funds. Grant amounts are determined by a formula based on organization?s revenues, panel review score, and amount of funding available. For more information please contact our Director of Arts Education Programs. The Teaching Artist Roster is a resource list of Oklahoma artists who have been vetted by the Oklahoma Arts Council and are available to schools and organizations for arts education and learning programs. Teaching with Capitol Art online resources offers comprehensive information, activities, and reading and writing assignments based on the Capitol Art Collection. Resources are aligned with the Priority Academic Student Skills (PASS) for Oklahoma History and Visual Art as well as the Oklahoma History textbooks used in classrooms.

https://arts.ok.gov/Arts_in_Schools/Arts_in_Education_Grants.html

This year, beloved reader, the Liturgy of the Passion is the entire story from the Last Supper through to the Crucifixion of Jesus as told by the gospel of Luke. Other lectionary years one of the other gospels is used – either Mark or Matthew. The gospel of John is used during Holy Week. And abbreviated section may be used instead of the entire story. The point I think to the lectionary creators was to bring before the readers the story from each gospel within the complete three year lectionary cycle. I could, as has been my practice numerous times, insert comments and reflections. But the passage is long enough. As I moved through it taking out the verse numbers as is my habit, it was tempting to insert small comments. I may regret not taking that opportunity. Let me add though, the headings are directly from the NRSV. I could have chosen to use the abbreviated section which is Luke 23:1-49. But I want to honor the full intent of the lectionary. We will, of course, look more closely at each step and event of the passion story during Holy Week. So may be reviewing it as a whole would be helpful. If you would prefer, feel free to defer reading the entire story, and instead walk with me event by event during Holy Week. “A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. But he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. “Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. Did you read through it all beloved reader? There are so many things I could have and wanted to say. But I kept silent. I may yet find a way to give voice to what I was thinking. May you, beloved reader, in your own heart, ponder these events. Selah! This entry was posted in Lent 2016, Revised Common Lectionary Year C 2016 and tagged Character of Jesus Christ, Gospel Passage, Nature of Jesus Christ, Passion Story, Revised Common Lectionary.

https://asimpledesire.wordpress.com/2016/03/19/liturgy-of-the-passion-gospel-passage-the-full-passion-story/

What is the meaning of Shechina? Question: Can you please counsel me on the subject of Shekina? What are the main levels of spiritual realms? Here is a broad “roadmap” of the range of spiritual levels, from “above to below.” This involves some deeper spiritual topics which are discussed in Chassidic teachings. [1] It may seem like an abrupt introduction with several new terms and concepts. But if you study it carefully detail by detail, it should make sense as a logical process. If the Garden of Eden is spiritual, did it exist on Earth? The original Garden of Eden was on Earth, because Adam and Chava were created as immortals and G-d was dwelling together here with them. If they had not sinned, the state of ultimate spiritual bliss would have always existed in the physical world, as G-d desired it to be. Their sin brought death into the world, by which the soul is separated from the body. Until the culmination of the future Messianic Era with the Resurrection of the Dead, when the world will reach its ultimate state of perfection (may it come speedily in our days!), the souls of the departed must suffice with receiving their reward in the levels of the “Garden of Eden” as it exists in the spiritual worlds.

https://asknoah.org/faqs?cat=188

Among the many things I love about India, and particularly here at the beach, is living outdoors. Reinforcing this is the climate: dry and sunny for eight to nine months of the year, while the remaining months are monsoon rain. Our room opens on to the shared balcony that wraps around the upper story of the guesthouse, and during the day the door is always open. Meals on the balcony and in the evening walking down the long road bordering the beach to our choice of outdoor restaurants. And after dinner, again the leisurely walk home to the guesthouse. Growing up in a climate where for the majority of time it was too cold or too wet to leave doors open, we lived buried deep within walls, walls that had rising damp…walls with peeling paint and plaster…walls surrounding rooms that were dark and gloomy. I always wanted to escape, any excuse to pace up and down the small steep high street of Totnes, monotonous but outdoors. Now, in New England at least we have a summer- spent in the garden or sitting on the front stoop – but too much of life is still indoors. To me it has always felt more natural to live outside. And by some miracle, we find ourselves back here again in Agonda “plein air”! Last year we talked about “a fine balance”. Well, there’s no balance anymore. Tourism dominates. More restaurants and guesthouses have crowded in. Not the flashy high rises and discos in other parts of Goa, but commercial none the less. The proprietors complain the tourist traffic has not increased accordingly although Gerard thinks there are more people on the beach this year. But our end of the beach remains for the most part unchanged. Same guesthouse, even the same room! Our friends the two couples from England are here again, as is an elderly Swedish couple. In our guest house is the usual group of French suspects. At breakfast when they are all sitting in the garden before mounting their motorbikes and taking off for the day, the animated conversation makes us feel we’re in France. It’s possible to strike up a conversation in English with the men, and especially Jamaal who’s originally from Morocco and loves music as much as Gerard. But the lack of English among the women bothers me because my French is no longer adequate. One night, Gerard and I ran into a Dutchman married to a Russian who lives in Siberia during the summer and spends winters in India. We first met him in a small restaurant in the Himalayas where the food was passed up through a hole in the floor from the kitchen below, which we all found very entertaining. His story was so unique it was easy to remember and so exciting to see him again. Divanshu (his Buddhist name) had also been to the KuluValley where we discovered the Russian painter, Roerich, last year. He not only knew about the artist but is a big fan. Also like us, Divanshu is going to Darjeeling and Sikhim for the first time, surprising for someone who’s been coming to India for the past 20 years. He’ll be there before us and promises to give us the lay of the land. It would be repetitive to describe Agonda yet again (this is our fifth visit here, and third staying at Dominic and Rita’s). So instead, I’ll provide links to earlier entries for those who may be interested. Train rides in India are never a constant and this one is no different. Boarding early in the morning we’re surprised to find an empty compartment and stretch out knowing the solitude will be short-lived. Sure enough, an hour later, a family of several adults and children crowd on to the train and burst into our space. All very excited to begin their Goan holiday, they break open their suitcase full of home-made food and share. Within the confines of their limited mastery of English and our total lack of Hindi we make acquaintance. Their boisterous playing reminds us of the Pictionary games the Wiggins family and friends would play at Christmas many years ago. I try to embrace the fracas as an entertaining diversion on an otherwise long train ride! Not having our own food we order from the onboard kitchen – plain but filling veg biryanis. Eating is a delicate balancing act to avoid everything landing in your lap or on the floor. An urchin with a broom appears crawling along, sweeping up the trash. The boy stops at our feet, holds up his hand and Gerard drops in a 10 rupee note. Then before tedium can set in, the chai wallah arrives, carrying a huge metal urn, a tower of paper cups sticking out of his back pocket. Balancing the urn under his arm, he deftly pours chai from a spigot into paper cups. The tea is rich and sweet, tasting more like hot chocolate. Long train rides in India require a state of mind, one the Indians adopt naturally. You know you’re not going to get anywhere fast, with constant and often lengthy stops in and outside of stations. Surrender is the only option. So you settle in, meditate, sleep, read and watch the landscape roll by. The nostalgic sound of the engine whistling through the night intermingles with our dreams. Over the two days, the ever changing landscape stretches out – the gritty grayness of cities, with their shanty towns hugging the railway tracks, tin roofs littered with satellite dishes (poverty now includes a mobile and a battery operated television), dry dusty planes give way to sub tropical lushness as we approach Goa. The Fat Man Laughs…and we can too! My eyes glaze following the rotating baggage carousel round and round. It seems as though I’ve watched the bags tumble down the chute and on to the carousel for hours. When Gerard’s bag arrived and mine failed to follow, I mutter “I have a bad feeling about this.” “That attitude won’t help,” he admonishes. I continue to scrutinize the carousel until the last few bags dribble out. We head outside into the cold night air – smoky and damp. Even for Delhi in January it’s abnormally frigid. It’s 2 am but I shouldn’t be surprised to see the crowd thronging outside the terminal, to greet arriving family and friends. Delhi is like New York, even in winter it never sleeps. Our main reason for beginning our trip in Delhi is to spend time with Kamal and Bhushan Mahajan, who welcome us as part of their family. It’s a very special relationship that has grown over the years since we first met their daughter, Shruti, in Boston. They treat us with the same kindness and generosity as they do their own family…perhaps more! And family ties are very strong in India. Bhushan is as concerned about our needs and travel arrangements as if it was Shruti setting out on a journey alone. Above all, we feel comfortable and welcome in their house even at times of sickness or upheaval. And this is the case right now. While winter days can be a pleasant reprieve from the heat of summer, no one is enjoying this intense cold. With no central heat in the house, we all sit around with our coats on, wrapped in shawls. Concrete houses are notorious for retaining heat in the summer and cold in the winter. Father and grand-daughter have terrible coughs. Hacking away and with nose streaming, four-year old Simrita wants to play, her hands reaching out to grab mine. Being an ardent believer in the germ theory, I’m continually washing my hands. It’s not an easy time for the family right now. With great reluctance, they must move out of their house by the end of the month and leave a neighborhood they’ve lived in their whole married life. Kamal recently retired from government work (Bhushan retired several years ago) and they have to give up their government accommodation. Many years ago, they bought a small house needing work, in Gurgaon, a now rapidly growing suburb of Delhi. At the time they bought, it was open countryside, quiet and unpolluted. Since then a modern city has sprung up, characterized by mile after mile of huge shopping malls. For years they left the house untouched; now the renovation necessary for them to move in, is progressing slowly and become a huge source of tension, the more so since they’re dragging their feet on going to Gurgaon – and time is running out. They take us there to review the work – a number of men are standing around, some languidly painting the walls, some just watching. A stout man rides up on a scooter. Bhushan explains that he cannot speak English, and then introduces him (in English) as the contractor: “this fat man doesn’t know his responsibility.” Not understanding anything, the “fat man” laughs…we all laugh. Gerard wishes Bhushan had taken him up on his offer to act as a site manager (with translator). I wonder how much success he would have had changing work habits, but at least he could have diverted costly mistakes before they were made. Once the house is ready it will be very nice, but hard to believe it will be finished in time for them to move in at the end of the month. We’ve become familiar with the area of Delhi they now live in, and are also sorry that this is the last time we’ll be here. Returning to the optician we used last spring, we are greeted by the gentle young Sikh, smiling broadly at seeing us again. He promises he will do his best to make me new progressive lenses that are accurate and of the thinnest material possible. No mean feat since my bad eyesight demands high magnification. And he can turn it around in two days! For Gerard he agrees to put sunglass lenses in a fragile gold frame that he’s had for a number of decades, and no optician in Boston could be bothered to work on them. Two days later we return and he’s done perfect work for both us. My lenses are markedly thinner, and Gerard’s happy to have his old frames again. (They may not last long but he doesn’t care.) And all at a price that is far lower than what the work would have cost in the US, plus we have a discount because we are staying with his long time customer, Mr. Mahajan. Big smiles all around! The dentist is less successful. We returned to have our teeth cleaned again and consultations for possible dental work. The dentist insisted on x-rays first. Since they only cost $6 we agreed. But the full mouth x-ray was a joke. The x-ray looked like the mouth of a monster fish – all the teeth were visible but in a blurry blue haze and without any detail. The dentist insisted that there was nothing wrong with the teeth we thought needed work and concentrated on the empty space in both our mouths where teeth have been pulled and we’ve never bothered to have work done to fill the space (mostly because of the cost). He gave us several options for an implant or a variety of bridges that could be made in his own lab in a couple of days, and again at price a lot lower than the US. But we decided to wait and try another dentist on our return to Delhi in April. The x-ray had put us off. We have little time for sightseeing, but do visit the tomb of Humayan, the father of Akbar the Great. Built in the 16th century it is a magnificent monument of sandstone and marble, symmetrically designed. The building is surrounded by landscaped lawns and flower beds. The Agha Khan helped fund its restoration beginning in the 1990s. There has been a huge reaction in India and throughout the world to the recent rape and death of a young girl in Delhi. People even asked me, how can you go traveling in India when something like this happens? Well, yes it does happen, and many other terrible things. They happen in India and elsewhere in the world with unfathomable frequency. Nevertheless, it was disturbing to see a large white bill board on the roadside in Gurgaon announcing in black bold print: WAKE UP DELHI. SHE’S DEAD! Brutally direct, but also encouraging that perhaps Delhi won’t forget this event and the multitude of others, and that the current protests and demonstrations won’t be in vain. Bhushan’s comment was “It’s not a question of India waking up; it’s more an issue of if she will stay awake! Too many times, critical issues are raised with much fanfare and promptly forgotten about a few weeks later.” Doesn’t sound too different from back home. With only three days before leaving, our train tickets for Goa are still not confirmed. We made them two months ago, but even then could only be wait listed. With the ever-growing population and increasing wealth of India’s middle class, the train system has become even more crowded. 1.2 billion on the move! Now we have been upgraded to RAC – (reservation against cancellation) which boils down to at least we can board the train, but we don’t have a berth! RAC begins to sound like the rack. Another hurdle along the way – in this case a thirty-two hour one! Bhushan contacts a friend who might have some influence to try to get us upgraded. He says he’ll do what he can but can’t promise anything. We’re not overly optimistic. Checking the Indian Rail computer site frequently – no change. Then on Sunday morning, four hours before we board the train, our status is upgraded: we both have sleeping berths. Suddenly the confirmed berths in 2AC become such a prize! We’ll be traveling in comfort after all. Squeezing into our seats aboard a small tired old plane was not an auspicious beginning to our journey half-way around the world. American Airlines could have done better on our first leg to Heathrow. But oh what a relief! We can relax. We’re on our way! The weeks – and in my case months – of planning and preparation are over. I’d managed to forcibly cram into one small case, everything I needed to give me an illusion of security for the next four months. It’s not the first time…I should be a pro, but after six consecutive years, it doesn’t get any easier. I plead my case: traveling through the many different temperature zones of India, requires a corresponding variety of outfits. But why carry warm clothes for three and a half months in the warmer climes? Gerard nonchalantly says, “We can buy warm clothes when we get to Darjeeling”, a town renowned not only for its tea but for being one of the wettest places in the world. Far too risky for me! I need to be prepared for any eventuality. This questions whether I’m really a traveler – or am I just tagging along? A few weeks ago, when searching for the strongest DEET based mosquito repellent, the young REI shop assistant but with the persona of a seasoned mountain climber, asked where we were going. We described our four month trip across India and he exclaimed with awe, “You’re real travelers!” I felt a fraud! Would I do this without Gerard’s planning and guidance? Wouldn’t I be happier staying home, safe in the confines of my everyday life? St Augustine says, “The world is a book and those who do not travel, read only one page.” And like the moth is drawn to the light, I know that even if it means having my wings singed, I need to travel. The dye was cast almost 40 years ago when Gerard took me to North Africa for the first time. I’ll never forget the exhilaration of standing on the road outside Paris waiting for a ride – we hitchhiked everywhere in those days. It was a pivotal moment – I was experiencing the here and now in a way I never had before. Traveling helps me let go. I remember our first trip to India as travelers ten years ago. Without the protected guidance of the organized meditation retreats that took us from Delhi far into remote Rajasthan for many years in the 1980s. I was fearful – would I get sick… robbed…trampled…lost in the vortex of a culture so mysterious that someone from America can never really fathom? But getting sick, having your pocket picked is just part of everyday life whether you’re in India or on Boylston Street in Boston. So the question is where is the fear coming from? If you believe, as I do, that the quantity of life is determined, then the ultimate fear of death is abated. Therefore the fear has to do more with the unpredictability. Consciously or otherwise I think many of us, like me, spend a lot of time making our lives predictable. We take out health insurance to ensure our health…we save money to ward off poverty…we spend a fortune on beauty products to keep our youth. But in the end, the only thing predictable is change. Meanwhile back in Heathrow, the highlight of our five-hour lay over is a hot chocolate, rich and creamy the way it’s supposed to be…it used to be. Even though the café manager has a distinctly French accent; so what – it was Heathrow. And then our second 747 plane to Delhi compensates for the previous apology – the middle row all to ourselves is luxuriously spacious. My failure to remember to book us vegetarian meals in advance no longer matters. “Madam,” the Indian air hostess laughs, “Going to India, we never have a problem with “Veg”….it’s the chicken we always run out of.” Ah, how comforting – we’re back in the land where vegetarians rule! “Non Veg” is the exception, the afterthought! All is right with the world…for now.

https://asmallcaseacrossindia.blog/2013/01/

Leo is the fifth of the 12 signs of the zodiac, which begins its cycle mid-summer every year during Leo season—which falls around July 23-August 22. Ruled by the proud and fierce Lion, Leo energy is expressive and flamboyant in nature. It makes us fiercely protective of our passion projects and our loved ones. Bold, intelligent, warm, and courageous, fire sign Leo is a natural leader of the Zodiac, ready to blaze a trail, vanquish injustice, and make a name for themselves along the way. Blessed with high self-esteem, Lions know that they possess enviable traits—and they’re proud of them. They don’t believe in false modesty and will be the first to praise them for a job well done. This sign knows that in order to be respected and admired, he or she needs to put in the effort worthy of a leader. Leo inspires us to lead from the heart and wear our emotions on our sleeves. Under a Leo planetary transit, we can get swept away in our personal theatrics and romantic affairs, fully opening ourselves to the splendor of our desires and self-expression. The essence of Leo energy is courageous, kind, generous, loyal, protective, nakedly honest and entertaining. Negative manifestations of Leo energy can be arrogant, greedy, sloppy, cold-hearted, jealous, aggressive and vain. Leo energy can cause us to upstage those around us, forgetting that each and every person is a valuable member of a team. However, we can direct the Leo flair for powerful leadership and let everyone have their spot in the sunshine. Used properly, Leo energy leaves others awakened and revitalized in an empowering way. Chief among the traits of a Leo is their fierce need for self-expression. A Leo has a strong personality and a desire to take the stage(both literally and proverbially). They are proud and will wear their heart on their sleeve, but can often get swept away in personal theatrics. A Leo can upstage others, forgetting that each and every person is a valuable member of a team. Yet, Leo’s flair for powerful leadership can also let everyone have their spot in the sunshine. Leo is the sign of a hopeless romantic. As the zodiac’s fifth sign, Leo loves to be the center of attention. Domineering and always in the center of attention, Leos don’t mind taking charge of the situation in which they’re involved. They believe in themselves and are similar to Arieses because they also want to be leaders and feel the happiest when in a position of authority. Just like the lion in the jungle, Leos can rule and love to see the big picture, making all kind of grandiose acts when with others. Sometimes they can scare others and have problems because they’re too controlling. Having high ideals and a philosophical view on life, they’re also very intelligent and usually respect traditions because they have a devotion that can’t be equaled. What makes them great leaders is their ability to see the root of problems and to find solutions faster than others. Many of their subordinates will admire and respect them for who they are and what they are doing. They need to be loved just as much as they need to be in the middle of things. Their energy and vitality are incredible, which means they’ll be successful most of the time. Many are inspired to be like them, so the more they see others want to copy their style, the more energetic and optimistic they become. Always loyal and warm, Leos have many good friends that love them for being funny and great problem solvers. No matter how difficult the times, they will always respect people and won’t step on toes in order to get what they want. Just like any other sign, Leos have also weaknesses. For example, they’re too domineering and overconfident, which means they can become arrogant and superficial. It’s very possible for them to be unproductive as well, especially when thinking they’re not appreciated at their true value. It’s very important for these natives to have a good image, this meaning they’re self-centered and need to be having the power more than anyone else. As a matter of fact, their need to be recognized and appreciated for their talents can be sometimes too much. Leos love excited life and to do things in a big way, which means they don’t like ordinary people and everyday life. If they don’t pay attention to their emotions, they can become annoying and not aware of their own heart. When lacking compassion, they become demanding and no longer know what their responsibilities are. It’s impossible to criticize them because they become impulsive and believe they’re the only ones right. In a conflict, they rarely back down and their temper seems to sometimes spin out of control. However, they’ll never do something to hurt anyone in order for them to achieve their goals. When things don’t go as they want them to, they become tired, weak and they start to complain. Leo is one of the three zodiac signs ruled under the fire element. The other two fire signs are Aries and Sagittarius. Since Leo is the second fire element in the zodiac, it turns the flame into a roaring fire with the intensity of its heat felt by all. Many Leo people are magnetic performers and natural-born leaders. Under the influence of a Leo planetary cycle, we’ll all feel the burning desire to steal the spotlight and shine, shine, shine! When the fire element is present, there’s a warm radiance, a trust in life’s journey and a willingness to take risks. Any party or celebration is made better with the presence of a fully charged fire sign. They’re great catalysts for play, liable to unearth the spontaneity of those around them. Because they sense a golden thread of destiny and potential running through their lives, they have a knack for leading others to theirs. Fire signs act on instinct, or “sixth sense,” which makes them look reckless to more cautious types. They’re following a powerful intuition that keeps them at the leading edge of fresh experiences. Fire is infused with the divine spark, which can spread like wildfire to everyone around them. Their lust for life is enviable. Those who are weighed down might try to toss a wet blanket on their enthusiasm, so the fire must vigilantly guard its beacon. It’s important for them to have cheerleaders to fan the flames of their interests. But fire who thinks only of itself learns the wisdom of the other elements the hard way. They’ll keep coming up against resistance until there is a willingness to see there are no shortcuts. Each of the other elements has something to offer, and in return, fire gives off a glow that is as nourishing as the rays of the sun. Leo is ruled by the great ball of fire that is the center of our universe, the Sun. Typically, the Sun represents the ego and the masculine life force energy found in humans. In Ancient Greek and Roman Mythology, Apollo was the Sun god who drove his chariot of flaming horses around the Earth during the day time, setting the skies afire with bright light. It’s no wonder that Leo has such fierce and fiery fervency! As the sun puts forth light, so it brings forth life. This planet (also known as a luminary and a star) represents the self, one’s personality, and ego, the spirit and what it is that makes the individual unique. It is our identity and our face to the world. The sun also speaks to creative ability and the power of the individual to meet the challenges of everyday life. The sun is majestic, and in keeping with its regal air, it rules royalty and higher office. This orb also lords over our health and well-being. The sun’s golden glow is a vital life force which imbues us with strength, energy and a will to succeed. It is the sun that gives strength to the other planets, which is why this planet occupies a key role in astrology. The sun spends about a month visiting each sign and takes a year to journey through the 12 signs of the zodiac. It is masculine energy and rules Leo and the Fifth House. The Sun Tarot card radiates with optimism and positivity. A large, bright sun shines in the sky, representing the source of all life on Earth. Underneath, four sunflowers grow tall above a brick wall, representing the four suits of the Minor Arcana and the four elements. In the foreground, a young, naked child is sitting on top of a calm white horse. The child represents the joy of being connected with your inner spirit, and his nakedness is a sign he has nothing to hide and has all the innocence and purity of childhood. The white horse is also a sign of purity and strength. The Sun represents success, radiance, and abundance. The Sun gives you strength and tells you that no matter where you go or what you do, you’re positive and radiant energy will follow you and bring you happiness and joy. People are drawn to you because you can always see the bright side and bring such warmth to other people’s lives. This beautiful, warm energy is what will get you through the tough times and help you succeed. You are also in a position where you can share your highest qualities and achievements with others. Radiate who you are and what you stand for; shine your love on those you care about. The reversed Sun is calling to your inner child to come out and play! As adults, we get so lost in the hustle and bustle of everyday life that we forget how to have fun. But spend just a few minutes watching a kid play, and you realize how wonderful and carefree life can be when you learn to let go of your worries and concerns. When you see the Sun reversed in your Tarot reading, see it as your permission slip to leave behind your work and responsibilities, even just for a moment, and play. Dance like no-one is watching, sing like no-one is listening, and let your heart and soul fly free. Leos are highly energetic and tend to always be busy, no matter the need for their employment. They are ambitious, creative and optimistic and once they dedicate to their work, they will do everything just right. The best possible situation they can find themselves in is to be their own bosses or manage others with as little control from their superiors as possible. Jobs that allow open expressions of artistic talent, such as acting and entertainment, are ideal for a Leo. Management, education, and politics are also a good fit, as well as anything that puts them in a leadership position which naturally suits them. Leos love to be surrounded by modern and trendy things, and although money comes easy to them, they spend it less responsibly than some other signs of the zodiac. Extremely generous, they could provide many friends with financial help, supporting them through bad times. Although this doesn’t always prove to be wise, it always makes them feel good. These were the major details about Leo. Also, you may like to read about Taurus- the bull.

https://astrotalk.com/astrology-blog/leo-the-leader/

Marian University invites prospective nursing students to its “Yes, Becoming a Nurse is Possible!” event, taking place Wednesday, May 11, from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm, at the off-campus site for its Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing, or ABSN, second degree program. Located at 9002 Purdue Road, Suite 301, on the Northwest side of Indianapolis, the site houses the high-tech skills and simulation labs where students of the 16-month ABSN program gain the hands-on training associated with the didactic coursework they complete online. Individuals who attend the “Yes, Becoming a Nurse is Possible!” event will have the opportunity to meet with university staff, participate in a facility tour, and listen to current nursing students describe their experiences in the ABSN program. Designed to address the nursing shortage, the accredited ABSN program at Marian University has the capacity to enroll more students per class than neighboring nursing schools due, in part, to its clinical partnership with St. Vincent. The full-time program is for individuals who have a bachelor’s degree in a non-nursing discipline and want to get on the fast track to becoming a registered nurse. While a rigorous approach to learning, data shows that health care employers, in general, place high value on graduates of accelerated nursing programs as they tend to bring more dedication, skills and knowledge to the workforce. To register for the “Yes, Becoming a Nurse is Possible!” event, please visit http://mariannursing.com/events/may-open-house. Space is limited, so early event registration is recommended. Founded in Oldenburg, Indiana, in 1936, Marian University has called Indianapolis home since 1937. As a nonprofit learning institution, Marian University’s overall mission is to provide students with a faith-based, high-quality education that profoundly transforms lives, society and the world. With respect to its accredited Leighton School of Nursing, the university has rich, well-respected history in nursing education, offering students the opportunity to engage in holistic patient care across a variety of disciplines. For more information, please visit marian.edu/academics/school-of-nursing.

https://athletics.marian.edu/newsroom/2016/2016/04/27/marian-university-to-host-special-event-for-prospective-nursing-students

​​I am writing today to let you know how much I appreciated doing business with your company. I usually get a number of opinions and prices before I begin any project. However, after meeting with you, I felt comfortable not getting any quotes. Your sales presentation and explanation/recommendation of what I needed for my home was very upfront and easy to understand. From this point to final install, I was very pleased with the service I received. You said that you’d send me one of your most experienced installers, and it was obvious that you did just that. He was great—a very pleasant gentleman. His workmanship and attitude were above and beyond. Please extend my gratitude to your entire staff. It is refreshing to deal with people of such caliber and work ethic. ​I first should apologize that you tried to call me and were unable to get a hold of me. I want to let you know that your service technician who came to my home was very courteous and is a true professional and I must commend your company on how well you provided service to your customers. It is truly rare anymore when attempting to contact and set up for work —of any kind, whether car or home—to be done, and it is wonderful when you are able to receive such willingness to take care of a customer. When I placed my call, the weather was so hot, so I figured it would be several days to a week before someone would be able to come to my home. The person on the phone took the information and got back with me right away just to let me know when they could have someone out. The very next day, your technician was out and, due to my error, he had to wait for me to have someone meet him there; I had to apologize to him. He called and informed me what I would need for the air conditioner, how long it would take for the part to come in and the cost of the part. He was able to install the part the next day. I am pleased with your company and would recommend them to anyone anytime. I also like the fact that you require an adult to be at home. ​A to Zoff replaced the air conditioner—a complicated job, as part of unit is in attic with difficult access. The work was estimated quickly; the installation carried out promptly and professionally. The same company replaced a steam boiler a few years ago and does all our boiler and air conditioning maintenance. We have complete confidence in A to Zoff. Highly recommended. ​​A to Zoff performed two separate functions in our home (December 2007/January 2008). First, they corrected our fireplace system. Our fireplace is hooked up to the boiler (we use hot water heating in our home). We have searched forever to find someone to work on it, and no one would touch it. They were always professional and did a superb job. The workers were young men that showed the utmost respect for our property at all times. We had them come back many times for adjustments with no problem. The price was around $4,400. It was an expensive fix so that we could use our fireplace to heat our home in the winter. The second job we had them do was to install air conditioning in our tri-level home. They also performed excellently. We do not have ductwork in our home, which made this job a little more costly and difficult with limited attic space, but they managed to do it. Although we have yet to use the air conditioning, I feel they are a reputable company with a long history of quality customer service. We are pleased with their professionalism and customer service. They came back many times to adjust the output for our fireplace system. And, of course, we had many questions as we were using the system. It’s the type of job that has no manuals for since our home was custom built by the previous owner in the '70s. The air conditioning took them about two weeks to install, and they were ready to explain everything they were doing. The young men that came to install were nice and very respectful at all times. I could’t have ask for a better attitude from someone I hired. When we turn on the air conditioning for the first time, they are ready to come out here and show us all the ins and outs of it. I wish all companies were this easy to work with. A to Zoff installed new a 92% efficiency Payne (Carrier) gas furnace and a central air conditioner, moved the furnace location into the basement from the first floor and modified ductwork, gas line and wiring accordingly. They added condensate drain and side furnace vent. It was an excellent overall experience, and I was very pleased. The work crew was very pleasant and professional both in demeanor and in job knowledge and execution. All questions I had were answered well and answered in layman’s terms. They came over to give me an estimate about two days after I first called them and started work a week after that. Work was expected to be done within three days, and it took two. The amount I was quoted and I paid, $4,286, was less than I was expecting. The only unsettling thing was we were given a bill with a 10% surcharge, as they thought we were paying a day late. Once we went over the schedule they quickly discovered they were wrong, and we paid the originally agreed upon quote. Both the furnace and air conditioner work beautifully and are whisper quiet.

https://atozoff.com/testimonials/

Los Angeles — An exclusive assortment of items from the estate of the late National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Administrator Thomas O. Paine, who oversaw the U.S. space program during the first manned missions to the moon, will be auctioned on Oct. 6 by Abell Auction Company in Los Angeles. Live bids will be accepted online and at the gallery (2613 Yates Ave.) starting at 10 a.m. PST. The Oct. 6 sale also will feature the estate of Mario Zamparelli, a marketing genius and designer who gained fame creating the corporate identity of Trans World Airlines for aviation billionaire Howard Hughes. Zamparelli developed iconic design identities for companies such as Capital Records, Universal Pictures, Nissan, Hunts Foods, Mattel and Suzuki. For those interested in his unique personal effects, featured items include a small Auguste Rodin bronze and period mid-century modern furniture by Finn Juhl, Hans Wegner, Florence Knoll, Eero Saarinen and many more. Abell is also pleased to offer a stunning collection of fine art, antique and contemporary furniture, 20th century design, jewelry and exotic sports cars from prominent Southern California estates. Vehicles include a 2017 Ferrari 488 Spider, 2017 Ferrari California T Handling Special and 2015 Bentley Flying Spur 12. An auction preview will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Oct. 2 to 5 at the Abell gallery, 2613 Yates Ave., Los Angeles. Call |||PHONE_NUMBER||| for more information or visit www.abell.com to view a complete catalog.

https://auctiondaily.com/press-release/fine-books-collections-apollo-11-memorabilia-heads-to-auction-on-oct-6/

According to a statement by the Ministry of Emergency Situations in Russia, the incident occurred during the early hours of Sunday after the Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane crashed in the Siberian region of Irkutsk, where a wildfire has been raging for weeks. “During the search mission, body fragments and one of two black boxes have been found at the site of the Il-76 crash site in a remote area of the Irkutsk Region,” the headquarters said. Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency confirmed the incident and said six bodies had been found at the scene of the crash. The fire fighters were struggling to control forest fires in the region after hundreds of hectares were burnt earlier last month. RIA Novosti said the death toll could rise as it is believed that there were 10 people on board the plane, but efforts to find the rest of the bodies were hampered due to smoke and the rough terrain. A source with the Russian aviation agency told RIA Novosti that the cause of the incident could have been the loss of control due to hot air generated from the huge fire. “It’s possible that hot air from the wildfires got into the engines, the plane lost propulsion and could not gain altitude, hit the top of the trees and fell,” the source was quoted as saying. Last year, a wildfire around the Irkutsk region caused huge ecological damage, with local authorities estimating that about 400,000 hectares of forest were lost.

https://aviationvoice.com/six-people-were-killed-in-a-russian-plane-crash-on-fire-fighting-duty-201607041004/

You have been added to our mailing list and will now be among the very first to hear about our new creations, limited editions & big events. Don’t worry, we will only be in touch when we have something meaningful to say, we know you are busy (and so are we!).

https://baudoinlange.com/pages/thank-you-newsletter

Eugene ‘Gene’ Davis, age 80 of Lima, answered his last alarm at 8:15 a.m., Monday, January 13, 2020 at Lima Memorial Hospital. He was born February 16, 1939 in Lima, Ohio to the late Cecil O. and Lenore G. Miller Davis. On July 21, 1961 he married the love of his life, Ann Paull, who survives. Gene is also survived by a daughter – Debra (Mark) Pierce of Lima; a son – Jeffrey (Joyce) Davis of Lima; a sister – Celia Hay of Arvada, Colorado; 7 grandchildren – Brandon Smith, Danielle’ (Larry) Clabaugh, Justin (Jay) Logan, Aaron (Chelsi) Smith, Brent Smith, Sam Davis, and Sydney Davis and 8 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by in-laws – Mabel and William Paull, a sister – June (Pat) Donahue, and a granddaughter – Rachel Ann Davis. Gene attended Perry School until the 9th grade and finished his schooling at Shawnee High School where he graduated in 1957. He served his country in the U. S. Army as a Specialist and then continued in the active reserves beginning in 1957 through 1963. Gene retired from the Ohio Power Company after 44 years of service. He then devoted his life to firefighting, beginning at the age of 13 when he would ride his bicycle to fire scenes. He and several fellow firefighters, together, established ambulance service in Perry Township. He formally started the Perry Fire Department Arson Investigation bureau and was the first Arson Investigator on the department. Gene was also a member of the Allen County Arson Team. He served as Assistant Chief for several years and was elected Chief from 1983 until 1986. Gene retired from the Perry Township Fire Department in 2005 and then assisted Westminster Fire Department after his retirement, until his passing. He taught numerous firefighting classes, arson classes, and propane classes across the region for over 25 years. He was a Special Deputy with the Allen County EMA in 2005 and remained active. He loved to spend his spare time working in his wood shop creating several projects that he gave to friends and family as well as displaying them at the Allen County Fair. He was an avid Dale Earnhardt fan and enjoyed NASCAR. A celebration of Gene’s life will begin 12:00 p.m., Friday, January 17, 2020 at Bayliff & Son Funeral Home, Cridersville. His son, Jeffrey will officiate the service. A funeral procession will follow past the Perry and Westminster Fire Departments. The family will receive friends from 2:00 – 4:00 and 6:00 – 8:00 p.m., Thursday and from 10:00 a.m. until time of service Friday at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Westminster Fire Department or Perry Fire Department. The family has requested plaid or Flannel shirts and jeans be worn at the funeral. To Ann and Family, We express our deepest condolences in this time of sorrow. Gene was a great friend to myself and the members of our Department. Many of our members received Gene's guidance and training and are better Firefighters for it. He was especially important to myself whenever I was investigating a Fire, Gene was my guidance and mentor if I had questions. Our area was blessed to have such a person that cared so much about whatever he was involved in and the people he was working with. Farewell my friend, "Adios" Chief Rick Miller and the Members of the Cridersville Vol. Fire Co. Inc. So sorry for your loss! My Dad (Ed) and 2 brothers Dave & Dan Wade worked with your Dad on the Perry Fire Dept. My Dad was chaplin. I am sorry to hear of Gene's passing. My condolences to Ann and family. He will be missed. Help tell the story of Gene by contributing to the Life Event Timeline. Upload the photo of an event...

https://bayliffandson.com/obituary/eugene-davis/

Hipster beards may be all the rage, but good old-fashioned barber shops are also making a comeback in Budapest, as David Holzer discovers. The Barber Shop Budapest Museum. It was the queue of young guys with beards outside Barber Shop Budapest on Dob utca that first intrigued me a year or so ago. There must have been at least 15 of them. I didn’t have the courage to go in for a haircut myself. My idea of the perfect barber shop is one where the décor hasn’t changed for 50 years and the barber is old enough to be my father. I’ve applied this principle in barber shops all over the world with mixed results. A barber in New York’s Little Italy almost cut my throat when I started chatting gaily away about all the mafia movies I’d seen. Another, in Tangier, Morocco, who must have been 90 and had violently shaking hands had to leave the door to his shop open while he cut my hair because there was no electricity. Once again, I almost got my throat cut. That makes sense. It also explains the vogue for pumped up Arnie arms and full sleeve arm tattoos that make every second guy below the age of 40 look like Popeye. But for someone of my vintage, for whom beards were inherently scruffy things worn by hippies and teachers, the notion that a man would groom his beard and rub in beard balms, waxes or oils kind of defeats the object. If the whole point of beards is to look macho, why make them smell like a beard bordello? I realize I may well be in the minority here. There’s been an enormous growth in the men’s skincare and hair product market in the past couple of years. In 2016, it was estimated that the gents grooming industry would bring in USD 21 billion in revenue. Men have fallen in love with spending time and money on their appearance. And the Barber Shop Budapest company is in the right place at the right time. Barber Shop Budapest was started by the three Gellei brothers with their father around four years ago. The Gellei family is a hairdressing dynasty that dates back to 1930, when grandfather Gellei took up the scissors and straight razor. But the idea for a traditional barber shop was born in Melbourne, Australia where oldest brother András was a Golden Crown award-winning hairdresser. After ten years in Australia, the brothers grew homesick for Budapest. They decided to bring everything they’d learned about traditional barbering in Australia back with them, and opened their first shop here in summer 2014. I found all this out when I interviewed Aaron, the youngest of the brothers, at the new Barber Shop Budapest at Bajcsy-Zsilinszky utca 64, which has a neat little barbers’ museum attached. A charming young man with an impeccably styled beard, Aaron told me that his father designed the museum and all the shop interiors. The mix of classical wooden furniture, artistic displays of brushes and razors and memorabilia is nicely done. Today, there are five Barber Shop Budapest hairdressers in the city and five more across the country, but that’s as big as the empire will grow, according to Aaron. The company is now focusing on training young dudes to become barbers and cut hair and beards, wield straight razors with aplomb and use hot towels. There’s a barber shop academy above the shop on Bajcsy-Zsilinszky. Demand for a proper shave with a straight razor is growing again after it all but vanished in the 1980s because it was believed that straight razor cuts spread the AIDS virus. Barber Shop Budapest is also making sure it takes advantage of the male grooming boom. Their own Australian Barber brand is excellent, and the shops also stock a wide range of high quality gents’ products, including American Crew. They do gift packs and vouchers as well. After speaking to Aaron and seeing the care and attention that have gone into creating an open, well-lit and friendly environment that nods to the classic barber shop, I’m a convert. I’ll be heading to a Barber Shop Budapest hairdresser for my next haircut, shave and hot towel treatment. Find a location near you and see what’s on offer at www.barbershopbudapest.hu. When I first saw the name Gellei, it rang a bell but I couldn’t quite figure out why. Then I realized I was thinking of Uri Geller. Was the psychic spoon bender Hungarian? Of course he was. Although he was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, Uri’s father was Hungarian-Jewish. His mother, incidentally, is supposedly a distant relative of Sigmund Freud. Uri is proud of his Hungarian heritage and speaks the language well. I wonder if he can bend a straight razor?

https://bbj.hu/bbj/beards-and-barbers-and-budapest_139029

Waste Reduction Week (WRW) engages and empowers Canadians to reduce, reuse and recycle waste. WRW is currently held in the third week of October each year. WRW's "take action" message calls on all Canadians to adopt more environmentally conscious choices. The Waste Reduction Week educational resources provide information and ideas to reduce waste in all facets of daily living. Reducing waste is 1 solution to the many environmental challenges we face: climate change, water pollution and preservation of natural resources. Recycling and Waste Reduction Weeks started in the mid-1980s, when a number of recycling councils and environmental organizations began holding provincial events. In 2001, these organizations came together, pooled their resources and expanded their efforts into a national event called Waste Reduction Week in Canada. Since 2001, Waste Reduction Week in Canada has been organized by a coalition of non-government, not-for-profit environment groups and governments from each of the 13 participating provincial and territorial jurisdictions across Canada.

https://beaumont.ab.ca/168/Waste-Reduction-Week

The study Proposes a method to detect the appearance of moon phase in a video serial (AVI) . The proposed algorithm of photographic and videoing treatment presents a method to trace the appearance of moon phases through the analysis of image texture using Co-Occurrence matrix after reading the video file followed by the representation of texture features in the form of histogram followed by the segmentation of image depending on the values of histogram to obtain the detection of the target , i.e. , the moon in order to trace the appearance of moon phases within a video serial and then know the area of the lighted part of the moon surface via sun rays through which the geometric shape of the lighted area of the moon along the video serial can be estimated in each stage . then the moon phase may be expected as it is a ratio of the estimated area of the geometric shape in relation to the total area of the circular disc of the full moon . the purposed method can be applied whenever a video film of the moon is available. Powered by eJournalPlus.

https://becos.iraqjournals.com/article_163929_0.html

FMLA leave can be requested to cover a continuous period of absence or you may take FMLA leave intermittently (taking leave in separate blocks of time for a single qualifying reason), or on a reduced work schedule (temporarily reducing your usual weekly or daily work schedule). You must have worked at the university for a period totaling 12 months. Periods of employment prior to a break in service of less than seven years are allowed to count towards eligibility. Under the D.C. Act, you must have been paid for at least 1,000 hours during the 12 month period immediately preceding the beginning of your leave. Under the Federal Act, you must have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 month period immediately preceding the beginning of your leave. Federal FMLA and DC FMLA run concurrently and cannot be used consecutively if leave is covered under both laws.. Under the D.C. Family and Medical Leave Act eligible employees are permitted up to 16 workweeks of unpaid family leave and 16 workweeks of unpaid medical leave during a 24 month period. Under the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act eligible employees are permitted up to a total of 12 workweeks of unpaid family and medical leave during a 12 month period or up to 26 workweeks during a single 12 month period for military caregiver leave. An eligible employee is limited to a combined total of 26 workweeks of leave for any federal FMLA-qualifying reason during the “single 12-month period. Employees in New York State may also be eligible for job-protected paid family leave to bond with a new child, to care for a family member with a serious health condition or to help relieve family pressures when a family member is called to active military service. New York Paid Family Leave will run concurrently with FMLA leave when the reason for leave qualifies under both New York Paid Family Leave and FMLA. Eligible employees must apply for both New York Paid Family Leave and FMLA. In addition, employees may supplement New York Paid Family Leave with accrued paid time off in order to receive full pay during their absence. Applications for New York Paid Family Leave can be submitted to Lincoln Financial. If your family leave is foreseeable, you must apply at least 30 days in advance. If the event was not foreseeable, you must apply as quickly as possible. To apply for New York Paid Family Leave, call Lincoln Financial at 1-800-213-5609 or apply online and follow the instructions for Reporting New York Paid Family Leave (PDF).

https://benefits.gwu.edu/fmla

Excerpt: The Principal Financial Group, the nation's 401(k) leader, commissioned Harris Interactive® to conduct online research with employees (ages 18+) of small and mid-sized U.S. businesses (firm size 10 - 1,000 employees) about their attitudes and perceptions regarding their financial well being. Harris Interactive conducted The Principal Financial Well-Being Index survey with over 1200 employees online from August 19 to September 2, 2004.

https://benefitslink.com/news/index.cgi/view/20041011-031352

Denmark does, despite its flatness, offer some interesting trails for hiking. We will continuously post detailed descriptions of various hiking trails in Denmark with attached GPS-routes. The GPS-routes can be downloaded for free and used for easier navigation with GPS devices (Garmin, Magellan, Satmap), Smartphones (app required) and certain hiking watches (Suunto, Garmin).

https://besthiking.net/category/hiking-trails/hiking-denmark/

The Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History continues the colorful, springtime tradition of the 59th annual Wildflower Show, the most comprehensive and spectacular array of wildflowers in the Northern and Western Hemispheres. Joining forces with the Monterey Bay Chapter of the California Native Plant Society (CNPS), the museum hosts this cherished event on April 17-19, showcasing more than 600 species and varieties of wildflowers. Held each day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Wildflower Show is the largest and longest-running event of its kind — one that has captivated generations of families. More than 30 members of the Native Plant Society spent many days scouring Monterey County and beyond to collect the finest specimens of wildflowers blooming that spring. Botanists, garden enthusiasts, and people just looking for flowers for their gardens will all appreciate this collection. Tickets to the Wildflower Show may be purchased at the museum on the days of the show. In 1883, our museum opened its doors among the first wave of natural history museums in America. Naturalists of this era, such as John Muir And Louis Aggasiz, began a national tradition of hands-on science education and nature preservation. The museum has continued this tradition for 130 years. The museum’s mission is to inspire discovery, wonder, and stewardship of our natural world. It envisions a community of curious minds, engaged in discovering the natural heritage and cultural legacy that exist today on the Central California Coast. The museum is a catalyst for conservation and a valued learning resource in this region, facilitating active inquiry for all ages.

https://besttraveltale.com/destinations/australia-nz-south-pacific/pg-museum-of-natural-history-hosts-annual-wildflower-show/

Ample Organics founder and CEO John Prentice. During a gold rush, there's often as much money to be made selling picks and shovels as digging in the dirt. One year out from the legalization of recreational marijuana, a number of Canadian companies are betting that this logic holds true for the country's cannabis rush. With weed producers rushing to list on the TSX and other stock exchanges, investor interest has focused mostly on companies that can supply the drug. But the ancillary parts of the industry, based on intellectual property, technology and logistics, could ultimately be where Canadian companies shine on the global stage. "Everyone wants to have a million square feet growing, but you need software to do that, you need monitoring equipment, you need good genetics, you need products that are going to come out the other side that are efficient and replicable and have consistent taste," said Scott Walters, co-founder and chief executive officer of Molecular Sciences Corp., which designs software to connect cannabis producers with labs and develops its own cannabis pharmaceutical products. Between 7 per cent and 13 per cent of all money spent in the cannabis economy is on technology and research, Mr. Walters said. He's hired a team of six scientists, including Dr. Steven Rothstein, head of molecular and cellular biology at the University of Guelph, to find and trademark novel uses for cannabis molecules. Those could be in pain-relieving gel caps, bandages for sprains, tinctures, patches and drinks. "We're developing commercially ready products that we own the formulations and processes for, that others will manufacture," Mr. Walters said. "I own the code in the data, I own the code in the genetics, I own the code in the formulations, I own a portfolio of recipes and software code that we think is going to be very valuable." The company's intellectual-property approach – similar to traditional pharmaceutical companies – attracted seven-figure investment from Howard Goldman, a major investor in Canopy Growth Corp., Canada's most valuable listed cannabis company. "We rode that wave last summer and into the fall, with Canopy becoming a billion-dollar unicorn," said Mr. Goldman, of soaring cannabis stock prices. "By springtime and early summer, things have fallen off. But the curve of the medical industry is still a long way from where it's going to be." It's not just pharmaceutical companies such as Molecular that are poised to make significant money. Companies on the monitoring and logistics side are already reaping the benefits of servicing an industry that's seeing explosive growth. Ample Organics, which provides growers with seed-to-sale software that tracks everything from crop yields to shipping, is perhaps the best example. Founded three years ago, the company's software is used by around 70 per cent of licensed producers in Canada, according to founder and CEO John Prentice. "There was no operating system for conducting business in a regulated market," said Mr. Prentice, who describes his company's product as "the Microsoft Windows of weed." "There's a lot of pieces of information to track, in terms of what regulators rely on as well as regular business requirements of record keeping," he said. Because the Canadian medical-marijuana market is heavily regulated and the bar is high in terms of record keeping, companies such as Ample have had incentive to develop industry-leading products that are highly exportable. Ample is now selling its product to Australia, Germany, South Africa, and into the Caribbean. Mr. Prentice said it's just getting started. "Some of the new jurisdictions are still in [their infancy], but the focus is getting to compliance and traceability. Australia, for example, is very much Canada in 2013," Mr. Prentice said. Canadian cannabis tech isn't only developing fast on the supplier side. Consumer-side technology is also seeing growth, as medical-marijuana users try to figure out what works for their ailments and recreational users search for the strains that make them feel a certain way. "It's not just about patients saying, I want to go and get stoned. It's about, 'I'd like to try this for my tendinitis, or I'd like to try this for nausea for my cancer treatment,'" said David Berg, whose company Strainprint Technologies Ltd. has developed an app to help marijuana users track how different strains affect them and help doctors and researchers gather data to help with prescription and product development. The app tracks over 300 medical conditions, cross-referencing user experience with all legally grown Canadian strains, broken down by chemical composition, producer and even by batch. It's free for patients and physicians, but the 18-month old company makes money by selling data-set subscriptions to researchers and partnering with producers to use Strainprint data for branding purposes. "People are rushing to grow, because it's very sexy and it's the promise of the Green Rush," said Mr. Berg, Strainprint's chief technology officer. "The reality is, there's a million and one different ways you can go wrong in a [growing operation] and the cost of compliance is very high. Technology is the key piece that helps growers comply with Health Canada regulations, and it's the key tool to distribute the product more efficiently to patients." He sees a bright future for Canadian companies in the marijuana-tech field. "Canada is in a unique position, because we are the only country that has a national access program, and as such, it provides us with a certain level of critical mass and quality control for research." Or, as Mr. Walters puts it, "While everyone is busy being a farmer, we're busy building science teams."

https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/startups/entrepreneurs-bet-canada-will-be-a-leader-in-marijuana-technology/article35986159/

These chapters refer in turn to the last five kings of Judah: Josiah (22:15, 16), Jehoahaz or Shallum (22:10-12), Jehoiakim (22:13-19), Jehoiachin or Coniah (22:24-30), and Zedekiah (21). Zedekiah’s hope was that God would work a miracle, as he had done in the days of Hezekiah, a little over a century before (21:2; 2 Chr. 32:20-22). What was Jeremiah’s answer, and what light does this throw on ‘unanswered prayer’? Cf. 7:16; 11:14; 14:11, 12; Is. 59:1, 2. Chapter 22. Why did Jeremiah condemn injustice and outrage? Consider the contemporary application of this word from the Lord. Are we guilty of conforming to any current social iniquities or sharp practices? 22:21. (The northern kingdom behaved in the same way – see 3:25.) Reflect upon this verse as depicting the pattern of Judah’s history. 22:6. Gilead and Lebanon typify prosperity. 22:20. ‘Abarim’: a mountain range to the south-east of Palestine. 22:22. ‘Shepherds’: see 2:8 and mg.

https://bethelbaptistchurch.in/2017/08/18/

Using a curriculum that focuses on the speaking and listening skills found in the new common core English-Language Arts standards, students will engage in communication in new ways as they compete with teams from across the city, state, and country. Within the realm of speech and debate you will have the opportunity to engage your mind by writing your own speeches in the platform events, act out your favorite story by performing an interpretative piece, speak your mind on relevant domestic and international issues in the limited prep events, or use your brain power to have a battle of the wits in the world of debate. No matter what interests you, we will find a way to bring out the exceptional speaker in you. Each area will have separate requirements within them. Students will be expected to attend a work session (during lunch or after school) for a minimum of one hour of work time per week. Each student will be responsible for personally checking in with Mr. Cummings to ensure that they receive credit for the week. Students may not make up previous weeks, or earn extra weeks by working extra hours during the week. However, extra time is a great way to get better at your event, and I’m always happy to see your smiling faces. Participation will also require students to actively recruit judges for the tournaments that we attend. Finding judges is incredibly simple. Just ask your mother, father, a sibling who is over the age of 19 and has graduated high school, friends who are over 19 and have graduated high school, a teacher, an administrator, a college student, etc… Virtually anyone over the age of 19 who has graduated high school is eligible to judge. For each tournament we attend we are responsible for attempting to bring judges, and with your help we will be able to fulfill that. The final requirement to receive a full participation credit is to be prepared to work in preparation for the state debate qualifier that will be held at Buchanan high school during the second semester. Students will be expected to help with preparation for the event, recruiting of adult volunteers to run the tournament, and finding and recruiting judges for the tournament. For this tournament students will NOT be allowed to ask teachers as I will personally be contacting them. I am hopeful that we will be able to solicit donations from the local community to help offset the cost of running the tournament. Please be prepared to help. Three weeks after the topic is released public forum students must provide a complete rough draft of the case for both sides, and LD students must provide a completed rough draft case for either the affirmative or the negative side. Four weeks after the topic is released the Students must have complete cases that integrate coach feedback from rough drafts. Students will compete in practice rounds during which other students will provide feedback about case, and presentation. All students will be expected to perform in front of the class. This is a crucial way to get past your public speaking fears, and to better engage yourself in your performance. The final part of your grade will come from performance. In order to earn full credit you will be required to compete in at least two tournaments each semester. This means you could compete at one debate tournament and one speech tournament, two speech tournaments, or two debate tournaments. However, I am sure that once you see how much fun the tournaments are, you will want to attend even more of them! There are three specific areas within Forensics/Speech, they are: Platforms, Interpretations, and Limited Preparation Events. Within each of these areas there are a number of different events; Platforms are created by the student, Interpretations are written by another and performed by the student and Limited Preparation is created by the student, off the top of their head within a limited timeframe. Debate, in any category, is an event that is initially prepared from research and current events, but blends the drama and the extemporaneous speaking. All are welcome to try! As you are writing your pieces, you must keep a copy of all information used while researching the topic, regardless of whether or not it is quoted material. These must be included in your MLA Works Cited page. Note that any script turned in without proper MLA format will not be allowed to compete. A memorized acting exercise written and performed by the performer. This event is the culmination of both writing and acting; the student can create any story, one from personal experience, the next movie plot line … literally anything and then tell it to an audience within a ten minute timeline. Once you have chosen your script, you must provide two copies for the coach. The first copy is to be left completely blank; however, you must attach your introduction. On the second copy, you must highlight all spoken words (no stage directions, no character cues, etc.) as well at attach a highlighted introduction. A ten- minute memorized presentation of a serious or contemplative selection of literature conveyed through character voices, movement, and facial expressions from the student. There is a (7) minutes maximum for the student to speak, but speakers will be allotted 30 minutes to prepare their speech. Speakers should analyze the topic adequately, after having been given a choice of three different topics, they are to choose one and then prepare to present. Everything deals with International issues. The debate events are separated in a way that provides all students the opportunity to participate in an event that makes the most sense for them. Whether you want to fly solo in the philosophical world of Lincoln-Douglas Debate, or partner up to battle through the Public Forum or Parliamentary Debate ranks, there’s definitely a debate event for you. With a heavy focus on philosophical quandaries, Lincoln-Douglas is the sole style of debate that allows competitors to work independently. Cases focus on upholding a value within a debate (i.e. justice, morality, equality). Competitors will use evidence to support their claims, and ultimately achieve their value within the round in order to receive the win. Public Forum Debate was designed as a more casual style of debate in light of the overwhelmingly evidence-based world of policy. In Public Forum speaking time is minimal, but the opportunity to have an impact is high. Students write new cases each month on current event topics. Using a weighing mechanism, students prove how they better fulfill their case within the round. Arrive on time to all tournaments. For local tournaments this will almost always be 7:00am. If you are running late you MUST contact me (prior to 7:00am), failure to do so will result in being dropped from the tournament. Non-local tournaments requiring the use of buses or vans may leave earlier or later. Gentlemen, a basic traditional suit is best, but dress slacks with a dress shirt and tie are also “ok”. Pants should not be baggy or hang low on the hips. Shoes should also be appropriate to the outfit. Ladies, appropriate means a skirt or dress (knee length!) or nice pair of dress slacks, with a blouse or button up dress shirt. A blazer or cardigan must be worn if your blouse does not have sleeves. Dress shoes should be worn. Heels are acceptable as long as you can walk in them. We will discuss outfits more before the first tournament. Entry fees for local tournaments add up to thousands of dollars each year. In order to help pay for these fees, each student is asked to make a one-time donation of $50.00 to offset competition cost. Donations would be appreciated at the beginning of the year (prior to the first tournament). This money is used to pay for entry into local tournaments for the school year and membership in the National Speech and Debate Association. There may be an opportunity to attend invitation tournaments outside of our league. These tournaments are not required. Invitational tournaments are expensive and students wishing to attend may be asked to pay part of or the entire cost of the tournament. Cost for these tournaments in the past has ranged from $150-$300. You should never let money be a reason for not attending a tournament; we can always work something out. If you have difficulty in paying any of the fees, please let me know. Fundraising is necessary in order to cover tournament expenses. Each member will participate in fundraising events. Should students wish to “buy out” of participating in fundraisers, an option will be provided. We are always looking for sponsors for the team. If you know anyone that would like to be involved in bettering your education please let Mr. Cummings know.

https://bhs.cusd.com/ForensicsandDebate.aspx

BlackStone was created by the City of Fort Worth to provide an exclusive panel of healthcare providers for the care and treatment of the employees who sustain on-the-job injuries while working for the City. BlackStone has contracted directly with healthcare providers who have been identified as those with expertise in treating occupational injuries and diseases. The goal of the City of Fort Worth, by creating BlackStone, is to improve the quality of health care benefits provided to the employees. These improvements include the efficiencies of the referral process from the treating physician to a specialist and for obtaining diagnostic, physical therapy, surgery and other services necessary to treat the on-the-job injury or illness. City of Fort Worth injured workers are required to obtain treatment from BlackStone healthcare providers except in a medical emergency in which the employee may seek appropriate treatment from an emergency treatment facility. Preauthorization is required for certain medical services and the preauthorization list can be found here. WellComp will provide BlackStone with medical case managers who will work closely with the injured worker, the treating physician(s) or other providers, the injured worker’s supervisor/manager, and the claims adjuster to assure a successful return to work or alternate duty program where medically prudent. Political subdivisions [City of Fort Worth] are authorized by §504.053 of the Texas Labor Code to provide workers’ compensation medical benefits to injured workers by contracting directly with health care providers. BlackStone was created pursuant to Chapter 791 of the Texas Government Code to enhance the ability of the City of Fort Worth to contract directly with health care providers.

https://blackstonecfw.com/about/

Marriane Mayfield was a singer and bassist. She was beloved in the Portland jazz scene for decades. Her performances drew diverse crowds, and she played many jazz and blues festivals. Beginning in the late 1970s, Mayfield led her own groups in Portland nightclubs that included Parchman Farm, the Prima Donna, the Jazz Quarry, and the Village Jazz. She appeared at the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival and the Waterfront Blues Festival, and in 1991 her performance at the PDX Jazz Summit was televised by Oregon Public Broadcasting. In 1994, she released the CD, Close Your Eyes. In addition to her career in music, Mayfield was a fifth grade teacher at Glenhaven and Jason Lee schools. She had put herself through college playing at night and had earned her bachelor’s degree and teaching certificate from Portland State University in 1972. She also served as a member of the Metropolitan Arts Commission. Marriane Mayfield died in 2004.

https://blackthen.com/marriane-mayfield-renowned-singer-bassist-well-loved-educator/

Well, it’s finally here! I’ve been a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for four years, and they have been the best four years of my life. Here I found my true passion in writing and a girlfriend I can see a legitimate future with. But most important, I was afforded the opportunity to get an amazing education at one of the finest public institutions in the country. Just take this all in, kids. People come from all over the world and pay well over the in-state tuition because they recognize the merit of receiving a bachelor’s degree from this university. That is amazing, and when I think about the fact that I am about to be permanently cemented in that legacy of individuals who have attended and graduated from this great institution, I tear up a little bit. I am truly fortunate and grateful to have been able to attend college here. I grew into a man here, I learned so many amazing things here, and I am about to step into the world as a contributing member of society because of what I will be able to take away from here. It’s an experience like no other, and I truly wish that all of you who have decided to come here can one day feel as elated as I do now. I-L-L!!! What a great writer you are, please continual with your blogs. I am predicting a great future in your career/life.

https://blog.admissions.illinois.edu/?p=22778

Duthu began his involvement in the project as a consultant. “Dawnland” tells the story of indigenous child removal in the United States during the 20th century — when child welfare authorities forced Native American children to live in non-Native foster care, adoptive homes or boarding schools. The documentary follows the first so-called Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the United States for the contemporary Wabanaki community in Maine. Currently leading a the Native American Studies Domestic Studies Program in Santa Fe, NM, Duthu said he regretted that he was not able to join his team at the awards ceremony in New York City, but he described the ceremony as “wonderful,” adding that he was later told that many Wabanaki people featured in the documentary were present at the ceremony. Duthu said that his involvement with the project began when he was brought on as a consultant to help the production team with legal and policy aspects of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act. Later on, as Duthu continued to help the team with research, fundraising and resource connections, he was invited to become a co-producer. “Dawnland” co-director Adam Mazo said he was introduced to Duthu by Native American studies professor Colin Calloway and expressed his gratitude for having Duthu on the team. “His way of distilling complex ideas into more easily digestible pieces is super helpful for us, as we are not academics,” Mazo said. According to Duthu and Mazo, one of the most important accomplishments during the production of “Dawnland” was finding the footage of a U.S. Senate hearing on the Indian Child Welfare Act that occurred in the 1970s. At the hearing, Native American witnesses testified that children were abused and forced into foster homes. Duthu said that when the team was reading through the transcript of the hearing, they noticed that a senator asked a witness if the light was too bright. That was when the team realized the hearing had actually been videotaped. Following an extensive effort from many members inside and outside of the film team, they finally were able to discover the footage at a local television station in Boston. “This took a lot of patience from the team, and a lot of hard work,” Duthu said. Mazo said he was inspired to direct “Dawnland” after he first heard about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2013. He added that this commission was “historic,” as it was the first of its kind in the United States sanctioned by the state and tribal governments. He also noted that “Dawnland” was related to a 2010 documentary he directed, “Coexist,” about forced reconciliation after the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Newell, who is now involved in multiple educational projects focusing on the education of Native American history, said he valued the opportunity that “Dawnland” provided to tell the story of the Wabanaki people to a larger audience. “I was just part of a team that helps tell the story, but the story belongs to the people that told their truth and they are the ones that this recognition should really reflect,” Newell said. Native Americans at Dartmouth co-president Elsa Armstrong ’20 said she watched some “Dawnland” clips in Duthu’s class NAS 30.3, “Native American Literature and Law” last winter. She said she appreciated that the clips were able to show history from an indigenous perspective. Evan Barton ’20 described Duthu’s teaching as “phenomenal,” saying that Duthu was able to “challenge [students] appropriately” to “inspire creative processes.” Though he has not watched “Dawnland,” Barton said he was really eager to see the film to learn about the impact of child foster care on indigenous communities. Although Duthu said that he was not a filmmaker and does not currently plan to pursue more filmmaking, he added that he was open to new opportunities. “I never expected to be involved with something as significant as ‘Dawnland,’ so I am always open to opportunities where I might be able to be helpful,” Duthu said. “Dawnland” was screened on the Dartmouth campus last October in Loew Auditorium. They Hid Him from Residential School, He Grew to B... 16th Annual Gathering for Our Children & Returning... Work continues to identify children who died at th... The U.S. stole generations of Indigenous children ... Missing Chapter: A new series about hidden histori... How the US stole thousands of Native American chil...

https://blog.americanindianadoptees.com/2019/10/dawnland-wins-emmy.html

The comic book would release in early September 2003, and the entire line would fold almost immediately after our storyline concluded — but I had been bitten by the bug. I had already moved on to Iron Man, which led to Simpsons and Star Wars work. I continued moonlighting for several years, until I finally began writing full time in 2007. With a release-filled 2012 of comics and prose work ending — and a busy 2013 on the horizon with Star Wars: Kenobi as well as some announcements to come — I am again working this week between Christmas and New Year's. But I have no complaints — and am glad I was in the office to take the call years earlier, on the Friday before New Year's. If I'd gone to Vegas, I might still be scribbling in sketchbooks. For this happenstance, I am thankful — and I am looking forward to more years writing for you fine folks. You are all appreciated! Lost Tribe of the Sith - Spiral: The Kesh-crushing conclusion! I've been living on Tatooine for the last couple of months, writing Star Wars: Kenobi — but the Sith will not be ignored! And so today sees the release of Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith - Spiral #5, the end of the Lord Dreypa arc and a comic book full of Sithy revenge and destruction. It's the last release in a pretty busy year for me, which included... • and a short story in Baen's Armored collection. Say, that bullet-pointed list looks almost indistinguishable from a holiday gift suggestion list, doesn't it? An amazing coincidence! And, of course, I've been busy writing Kenobi, which has had me in the desert even when there's snow outside. There'll be more information about that, coming soon, as well as some announcements I'm looking forward to making. Be sure to follow me on Twitter and Facebook for the latest. Well, back to the Hutt — er, hut. Happy shopping! Lost Tribe of the Sith - Spiral: The Kesh-crushing...

https://blog.farawaypress.com/2012/12/

Industrial Info is tracking $2.6 billion of capital spending on the construction of fluid catalytic cracking units (FCCUs) that is scheduled to begin in 2019, at 50 petroleum refineries around the world. A majority of the projects, approximately $1.9 billion, are planned to occur in the Asia market region, with Indonesia and Iran projected to see more than $900 million and $600 million, respectively. The second largest region is North America, with more than $500 million planned.

https://blog.industrialinfo.com/2019/01/31/fccu-2019-spend-to-total-2-6-billion/

Freshwater Pearls are created using fresh water mussels who live in a non-saline water found in lakes, rivers and ponds. The pearls are produced mainly in China using a farming technique. Japan and the US can produce them too, but on a much smaller scale and pollution has played an unfortunate part in the demise of the industry in these areas. When produced on a large scale Freshwater Pearls have to be referred to as ‘fresh water cultured pearls’ as stipulated by the US Federal Trade Commission. China is believed to have harvested pearls from as early as the 13th Century and now produces 1500 tons of the freshwater pearls with the Hyriopsis cumingii mussel and several hybrids. Outside of Asia, a pearl farm in Tennassee was able to cultivate the freshwater pearls. However this became unsustainable and is now a tourist attraction. The farming technique is a process involving the grafting of a donor mussel carried out by a technician, this can be carried out up to 50 times per shell. The Chinese prefer to use the triangle shell which is the Hyriopsis as although the volume of pearls are lower, they are considered of better quality. The molluscs are returned to the fresh water where they are tended for 2 – 6 years. More information on the freshwater pearl industry can be found on the forum of Pearl-Guide.com, 'Innovation continues in Chinese Freshwater Pearl Culture'. At a first-stage factory the harvested pearls are cleaned and sorted by size and shape. At the processing factory they are pre-treated in a warm and cold chemical solution and bleached. If the pearls have a strong colour, they do not get bleached. The pearls are then drilled and polished with a wax and cornmeal mixture. To keep the pearls in good condition for onwards sale they are placed onto temporary strands and matched into hanks (a composition of 5 – 10 temporary strands). Freshwater Pearls appear in a wide variety of natural colours and shapes. They are less expensive than the salt water variety and are popular with young people and designers because of this. They are solid and durable, giving a longer life with more resistance to chipping, wear and tear.

https://blog.internationalcraft.com/2013/04/what-are-freshwater-pearls.html

The impact of long-term partnerships are not always captured in numbers, but in the stories of people whose lives have been changed. Noonday has partnered with Luis and Marina in Ecuador for five years, and through this sustained relationship, they have flourished. And dream bigger they did! During a recent Ambassador trip to Luis & Marina’s home in Ecuador, Ambassadors saw how the couple’s big dreams have now true! Luis & Marina’s home and family are thriving. With the income earned from Noonday’s orders, they have made improvements to their home by adding a second story to provide more room for their family and their home has more decorations and comfort. They have also built a new and bigger workshop next to their house, a space that provides a more comfortable place for the Artisans who work there making Noonday’s jewelry. Finally, they have been able to help their son pursue his dream of studying music! The income from Noonday’s orders has not only helped pay for their son’s school fees but has also allowed them to send him to special music classes and purchase instruments. This is a celebration of flourishing – of how long-term partnerships empower Artisans to make investments that improve not just their own lives, but lives of their families and colleagues, too. Meet some of the Artisans who are now flourishing because of this long-term partnership! Sarita is an ambitious young woman. She started working as a general Artisan at Luis and Marina’s workshop in Ecuador and quickly advanced to the role of design assistant. Sarita loves the creativity of her job and making things with her hands for customers across the world. She says her work is “crossing borders” and it makes her proud. With her income, Sarita is financing her degree in business administration, a dream she and her family were unable to afford before working with Noonday’s Artisan Business Partners. Sarita is also pursuing another life long dream – to have her own business. Together with her family, Sarita is growing a small tourism business that shares the unique culture of Otavalo and Ecuador with visiting tourists. Marisela has worked with Luis and Marina making pieces for Noonday for five years. Marisela has used her income to support the education of her five children and has been able to send her oldest son, now 24 years old, to university! In addition to the income, she loves her job because of the flexibility – which has allowed her to not only earn an income but also care for her children as they grow up. She loves her job and hopes that all of Noonday’s customers can feel her love in their products.

https://blog.noondaycollection.com/monthly-artisan-story-the-impact-of-long-term-partnerships-in-ecuador/

The Boston Globe spoke to Brindha Muniappan, a health science educator at Boston's Museum of Science. Muniappan has a PhD in genetic toxicology and taught at the University of Guam before coming to the U.S. Now, Muniappan's job is to organize lectures and speak to lay audiences about developments in current health science -- subjects like breakthroughs in asthma or cancer research. This month, she has organized a series of public interviews at the museum with women doing exceptional work in technical fields, with the aim of inspiring girls to think about the career options that can come from earning, say, a doctorate in genetic toxicology. "A lot of girls turn away from science," she says. "So the more young girls we can inspire, the better." Dr. Pauline Barmby (May 6), astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, she studies how galaxies are formed and is a member of the instrument team for the Infrared Array Camera on the Spitzer Space Telescope. Amy Brodeur (May 6), criminalist from the Boston Police Crime Laboratory and faculty member in the Biomedical Forensic Sciences Program at Boston University. Dr. Kathleen Dudzinski (May 6), a marine biologist and director of the Dolphin Communication Project at the Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut. Dr. Dudzinski is also one of the lead scientists featured in the large-format film, Dolphins. Dr. Michelle Potashman (May 13), medicinal chemist at Amgen who holds four patents through her work there. Dr. Rachelle Reisberg (May 20), director of Women in Engineering Programs at Northeastern University and co-founder of a startup company specializing in speech recognition software. Erika Ebbel (May 27), MIT chemistry graduate and Miss Massachusetts 2004, who currently is a Ph.D. candidate at Boston University Medical School and CEO of WhizKids Foundation. Dr. Eva Schernhammer (May 27), associate professor and epidemiologist at the Harvard Schools of Medicine and Public Health, who studies the relation of circadian rhythms and melatonin to cancer risk. Visit the Museum of Science web site for more information. Oh thank you thank you thank you!!! Im going to start a student science outreach group this fall when I start grad school, and Im totally stealing this idea!! We even have a local zoo/science center that might help us with it! Great idea ERV. It's fantastic that people like you are willing to organize these events.

https://blog.sciencewomen.com/2007/05/inspiring-minds-meet-women-in-science.html

Today, we pay tribute to all Veterans. We thank you for your service, dedication and sacrifice, especially those who gave The Ultimate Sacrifice. We would also like to salute all of the military nurses that we don’t always hear much about. Nurses in the military provide nursing care for wounded and ill soldiers wherever they are stationed anywhere in the world. In combat, they provide this care on the front lines and on the field. In non-combat assignments, they work providing ambulatory, maternal/child, acute and rehabilitation care. They can serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines. When a nurse enlists in the military, it is for a set period of service and they are assigned a position based on ability and need. They may travel to different countries and climates where they face new and challenging clinical situations. In combat, military nurses manage battle trauma that is unimaginable – land mine injuries, vehicular accidents and blast injuries. In recent times, because of the improvement of protective gear such as body armor and Kevlar, the number of thoracic injuries has been reduced but there are still an incredible amount of limb injuries. Caring for these wounded warriors is a very special mission with awesome responsibility. These are not just soldiers and sailors; they are dads, moms, son, daughters, brothers and sisters. Although it can be heartbreaking, it is also extremely rewarding. Military nurses can also be assigned to duty at facilities in the US or on foreign bases. Here they deliver care to recovering personnel. The also provide care to the families of the military including maternity and pediatric care. Entering into military nursing is a commitment and is not been immune to the nursing shortage. There are age limitations and you must be in good medical and physical shape. There are four branches of the military and each have nursing opportunities. If you are considering it, be sure to understand everything explained to you at the recruiting office. Since most recruiters aren’t nurses themselves, seek out someone who is and talk to them about everything and get all of your questions answered. In military nursing, not only will you come in contact with heroes from previous generations but also those that prove that our current generation is also great; and you will be one of those heroes yourself! Thanks to all nurses today! Truly amazing people!!! Thanks Greg! Appreciate the reblog!

https://blog.uniformadvantage.com/2014/11/11/paying-tribute-to-our-military-nurses/

Assertiveness is often misunderstood. People might think it means being confrontational or strident; they might assume it’s about having to sound powerful. In truth, assertiveness comes in many different styles, and sometimes involves vulnerability. At its core, it’s about expressing yourself–your feelings, your perspective, your beliefs–in a respectful way that allows you to be truly heard. Being specific is ideal. It might be that in some work situations, you express yourself (like one-on-one) and some where you don’t (like in meetings.) Or perhaps it’s more global and you feel like you’re not using your voice in any setting, with anyone. Either way, improvements are possible. Remember that assertiveness is a skill, which means it’s something you can get better at over time. Practice is key. Identification can be aided by recognizing which situations/relationships leave you most frustrated, resentful, irritable, and/or anxious. Your emotions can guide you. Sometimes the reason people don’t express themselves is because they have a vague sense that things aren’t as they want but they aren’t able to be more specific than that. This is often a sign that you’re experiencing an emotional blockage. Emotions can be scary, and suppression is a way to handle that fear. Unfortunately, it also means that you’re missing out on some of the most crucial information: what comes from your gut, and your deepest self. Emotions tell us where to focus our attention. They’re an alarm system. Don’t disconnect yours; respect it. Or if you have trouble speaking up at work but less trouble at home, then tackle home first. Or vice versa. This is where specifically identifying situations is most helpful. It lets you rank and prioritize. It allows you to ramp up. Or you might want to write a letter. Letter writing is still assertive expression. Sometimes people think it’s lesser somehow, but it can be a great way to open. You’ll want to do a follow-up conversation later. In terms of a script, this means thinking about what you most want to get across and the most effective way to do it. Consider what you know about your target audience. Think if you’ve seen other people assert themselves successfully to that person and perhaps emulate their style. In order to develop your own assertiveness style, try it on in the mirror first. Say things a number of different ways and decide which one you want to lead with. You don’t need to use the exact words if you think you’ll sound rehearsed. And be proud! It’s brave to speak up. There’s risk involved. You could be misunderstood or rejected, but if there’s no risk, there’s no reward. And the reward of being truly known is a valuable one. Feeling truly accepted and heard, and having more control, can be life-changing. But to get there, you have to be kind to yourself. You need to recognize that there will be a learning curve, and there will be stumbles. Tell yourself you’re doing great and you’ll get there. It’s a muscle. Just keep using it.

https://blogs.psychcentral.com/bonding-time/2016/10/finding-your-voice/

I obtained my PhD from Durham University in May 2014. The PhD was on the motivations of technology use by older adults. I then became a KTP research associate in Digital Health at the University of Salford in January 2015. This journey has allowed me to extend the research experience I already had; I have learnt a lot about processes in the health context and I have also had great opportunities to attend courses and conferences. I studied for my PhD at Durham University Business School, however, my interests have always been in the well-being of people and how behaviour change can improve health and lifestyle. It therefore felt like a natural step to move more into the public health domain. I am now working with GPs and healthcare professionals on a particular digital health product for patients with long term conditions. This move has meant that I’ve learnt a lot about the research process in public health in a very short period of time. Being thrown into the deep end, I quickly learnt about the intricacies of local approvals, CCGs, CSUs and the IRAS website, which were all completely alien terms before I started at Salford. I can now, however, take confidence that I understand a little but more than I did before. The KTP has provided me with great opportunities to attend conferences and courses. Having previously undertaken an unfunded PhD, this was a very exciting prospect and like a kid in a sweet shop, I definitely made the most of it. I’ve present at the 40th Anniversary KTP conference in Glasgow and at workshop on Digital Innovation in Health at the University of Salford. I’ve also attended courses on management, systematic reviewing, academic writing, digital health and the behavioural science of self-control. Alongside being a research associate in Digital Health, I also teach online MBA and MA modules at Durham University Business School on a part-time basis. I have been teaching since 2011 and as a result I’ve taught on a wide variety of topics from methods of inquiry to social media strategies, improving management decision making and crisis management. I really enjoy both teaching and research and hope to continue these to a high level throughout my career. The research that I am currently undertaking is part of a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) between Dynamic Health Systems (DHS) and the University of Salford. The initial brief was to evaluate the effectiveness of VitruCare, a digital health service, at helping patients self-manage their own health. As the project has progressed, the research has also and we now have three different versions of VitruCare to evaluate. The first is VitruCare for people with Long Term Conditions (LTCs): this service involves patients setting goals and action plans on how to achieve these goals. It provides a health tracking service for any measure the patient chooses; blood pressure, weight, food intake, exercise, time spent watching TV etc, with the idea that the patient can visualise their progress as they strive for a healthier lifestyle. The research on this cohort involves measuring patient health, symptoms, well-being and self-efficacy of managing chronic disease across an 8 month time period at baseline, 4 months and 8 months. Satisfaction is also being measured (4 months, 8 months) and focus groups are being held with both patients and healthcare professionals (HCPs). The second version of the system is VitruCare Lite, which is intended for patients with hypertension or diabetes. The aim of this system is to provide the patient with pre-set goals and action plans so that they can move quickly to adding in values to their health trackers. It is essentially a time saving version of the system. These patients are being measured in the same way as the LTC cohort and results will be compared to see if there is a benefit to the goal setting and action plan creating process. The final version of VitruCare has been designed for patients in palliative care and is more centred on the well-being of the patient. As a result, the system provides the patient with trackers for mood, energy, symptoms and pain, an online space for a diary and a secure messaging service that can be shared with their HCPs. The benefit of this system on patients nearing the end of life is being investigated through repeated measure questionnaires at baseline and 3 months, focus groups, satisfaction questionnaires and extraction of information entered into the system. The three different versions of the system that have emerged over the past 12 months may have reduced the numbers for a large quantitative study but we can look at the service development journey for three different cohorts and explore what worked and what didn’t work. Using the research gathered, principles from behavioural economics and journey mapping the service implementation will be evaluated and recommendations developed for the future of VitruCare. University of Salford, School of Nursing, Midwifery, and Social Work & Social Sciences. Given my age and lack of formal educational qualifications I’d have called you insane had you suggested two years ago that I’d be sharing the campus at the University of Salford with hundreds of bright young people. However, that’s exactly what has happened and the University has become my second home claiming that honour from another venerable Salford institution, Salford Royal Hospital. Apart from the occasional truly dreadful cup of coffee my experiences of the University have invariably been positive and inspiring.

https://blogs.salford.ac.uk/health-and-society/category/ltc-research/

All entrepreneurs have a dream of starting a business, watching it grow and making their millions, but to do that in this day and age without using the internet would almost unthinkable. The internet is a global phenomenon with an estimated 3.2 BILLION users. 45.9 Million in the UK alone, 89.8% of the population! If that isn’t the perfect playground for entrepreneurs I really don’t know what is. Nothing even comes close to the reach the internet has. The internet can be used in almost every aspect of an entrepreneur’s journey to success. The thought that you can come up with an idea, check to see if there is a market, find someone to develop/produce your idea, then sell it to a potential customer base in the billions without even leaving the comfort of your own home never ceases to amaze me.

https://blogs.salford.ac.uk/searchmarketing/category/search-engine-marketing/

Fjords: the tactical battle for the best land! Between the 8th and 11th centuries, the Vikings had the world holding their breath. Always on the lookout for new land, they aren't above fighting their own countrymen. In this game, two clan leaders fight each other, using the right tactics, for a fruitful plot of land along Norway's coast. They quickly build up villages at strategic locations and fight with anything they can to ensure the larger portion of the region for their clan. There comes a time when a good Viking has had his fill of the sea, of visiting foreign lands for a little rape and pillage, and of Spam and parrots. When that happens, he settles down to become a good farmer and make the most of the rich meadowlands that lie between the mountains and turbulent waters of the fjords of Scandinavia. This is the theme of Fjorde, a Carcassonne-like game from Hans im Glück in which two players work to open up the lands along the fjord and secure the most strategic spots to establish their farms. From these, each farmer can develop and expand his fields, claiming land with the aim being to have the most fields at game’s end. This is a tile-laying game, area-control consisting of forty landscape tiles, plus four farms and twenty field markers split between two colours. All of these components are high quality, the wooden being either dark or light, and the tiles in thick card. They are hexagonal in shape, and depict three types of terrain. The blue of the sea, the green of the meadowlands, and the black of the mountains. Fjorde is played in three rounds, each consisting of two stages. The first stage is Discovery, with players taking it in turn to lay tiles starting out from the three starting tiles, each indicated by their dark backs. Tiles must be played so that two sides must connect and match the tiles it is laid against. If a drawn tile cannot be placed, it is put aside until it can be put down on a subsequent turn. A new tile is drawn and placed instead. Once a player has placed a tile, he can also put a farm on the newly placed tile, though only on the meadowland section of the tile. The Discovery stage lasts until as many tiles as possible have been placed. It is possible to leave gaps or lochs in the layout, but this and having tiles left over is infrequent. The second stage is Land Claim in which the players cultivate their farms. Beginning with the player that laid the penultimate tile, the players take it in turns putting down field markers. These can only be put down on empty meadowland that is adjacent to a farm or existing field marker of the same colour. This continues until all of the field markers have been placed. Both players count the number of markers and the scores noted. Another two rounds are played with the highest of the total points across the three rounds determining the winner. Fjorde has a nice tactile feel to it, much like the publisher’s Carcassonne. Similarly, the laying of the tiles has a jigsaw-like quality. Tactically, game play centres on the placement of fields and farms to block and deny your opponent access to fresh meadowland. In this, players need to make best use of the terrain as they add new tiles. One tactic is to try and create choke points – between the mountains and the sea – upon which a player can place his farms and from there expand his fields and block access to for his opponent. Simple and enjoyable, Fjorde can be played in half the listed time, and also be seen as pleasing, but quick alternative to Carcassonne. That said, it does not bear a great deal of replay as it perhaps a little too light. To counter that, it would be interesting to see an expansion for the game that adds more tiles and playing pieces, first to allow for more variety, and second, to add more players. Add a Review for "Fjords"

https://boardgaming.com/games/board-games/fjords

It's that time of year! 2019 is officially here and everyone is sharing how they're going to do better, be better or just not do anything at all when it comes to resolutions. A listener called into the show and asked The Bobby Bones Show what their resolutions were. Bobby, Amy, Lunchbox, and Eddie shared the things they want to do for the new year. Bobby was focusing on maintaining and keeping his eyes on the prize. Amy's resolution is more of an intention to be more present and more organized. Lunchbox shared that he wants to learn more music by listening to artists and songs that are new as well as keep his car clean so it's not as difficult having Baby Box ride along with him. Eddie has a big new years resolution, he wants to be debt free. They currently have $18K to pay off, but he thinks they can accomplish paying it back this year.

https://bobbybones.iheart.com/featured/bobby-bones/content/2019-01-03-show-members-share-their-new-years-resolutions/

D-aspartic acid (DAA) supplements are taken for their testosterone- and libido-boosting effects. Its found in many testosterone boosters. Research is also underway to evaluate its cognitive-enhancing effect. D-aspartic acid is a type of amino acid that plays a role in increasing the release of a hormone in the brain that spurs the production of testosterone. It is believed to stimulate the production and release of testosterone through multiple pathways of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. D-aspartic acid boosts testosterone in some studies. In a 2009 study, 23 men were given a daily dose of D-aspartate for 12 days, while another group of 20 men were given a placebo. Rats were also tested in the study and were given a solution of D-aspartate or a placebo for 12 days. Researchers discovered that in humans and rats, D-aspartate effectively regulated the synthesis and release of luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone by 33 percent and 42 percent respectively (1). LH is produced and released in the anterior pituitary gland. It stimulates the production of testosterone from Leydig cells in the testes. Testosterone, in turn, stimulates sperm production. In a 2015 pilot study, researchers evaluated the impact of a supplementation of D-aspartic acid, sodium nitrate and vitamin D3 on blood testosterone and nitrate/nitrite levels in middle-aged, overweight men. Ten overweight or obese men were given supplementation either one or two times a day for 28 days. Testosterone and nitrate/nitrite levels were measured before and after day 14 and 28 of supplementation. Researchers also evaluated other health indicators, such as libido and energy level. The results showed that supplementation increased total and free testosterone a modest 5 to 10 percent; men with relatively low basal testosterone values, however, experienced higher increases exceeding 20 percent. In addition, blood nitrate/nitrite increased and participants reported improved feelings of vitality and libido (2). Not all studies had a positive effect. In a 2015 study of 24 resistance-trained young males, daily supplementation of 6g for two weeks actually resulted in a decrease in testosterone (3). In a follow-up study, researchers set out to evaluate the effects of supplementation in resistance-trained men over a longer period of three months. All participants performed 12 weeks of supervised resistance training with a program focusing on all muscle groups. They were given 6 g of supplement each day. The results indicated that supplementation is ineffective at changing testosterone levels, or positively affecting training outcomes even when taken for a longer testing period (4). D-aspartic acid may improve male fertility. In a 2012 Italian study, researchers investigated the impact of supplementation of sodium D-aspartate on sperm quality and motility. Thirty sub-fertile patients were treated for 90 days with a daily dose of sodium D-aspartate. At the conclusion of the study, it was noted that due to supplementation, there was an increase in sperm concentration and motility. As a result, there was also a significant increase in number of pregnancies in the partners of the tested patients (5). D-aspartic acid may play a role in fertility of women. Samples of pre-ovulatory follicle fluid were obtained from 20 patients undergoing IVF in England and tested for concentrations of D-aspartic acid. Results show that this amino acid is present at a relatively higher concentration in younger women than in older patients and there appears to be a relationship between the concentration of D-aspartic acid and fertility outcome parameters. In younger women aged 22-34 years the amino acid was found at a concentration of 19.11 nmol/ml, whereas in patients aged 35-40 years it decreased to 10.86 nmol/ml. In addition, this amino acid was linked to oocyte quality. An oocyte is the immature female reproductive cell prior to fertilization. Poor oocyte quality could be the key reason for unsuccessful pregnancy outcomes during IVF. These findings suggest that follicular D-aspartic acid concentration may be considered as an alternative or additional biochemical marker for oocyte quality in patients undergoing IVF (6). D-aspartic acid may be a memory and learning booster. In a 2010 study, researchers evaluated the effect of oral administration of sodium D-aspartate (40 mM) on improving rats’ cognitive capability. Rats were given supplementation for 12 to 16 days or placebo and assessed on their ability to find a hidden platform in the Morris water maze system. A significant increase in the cognitive effect was observed in the treated group compared to the placebo group. Five further sessions of repeated training, involving a change in platform location, also displayed a significant treatment effect. It was also noted that 20 randomly selected rats possessing relatively high concentrations of D-aspartic acid in the hippocampus were much faster in reaching the hidden platform, suggesting a correlation between high concentrations of D-Aspartic and an increase in learning and memory (7). Some studies show that when taken short term (up to 90 days) there are no adverse side effects. In another study, some men reported irritability, headaches and nervousness. Most studies using D-aspartic acid supplements did not report whether side effects occurred; long-term studies have not yet been performed using D-aspartic acid. More research is needed to confirm its safety. Current recommendations based on a study published in Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology suggests using 3.12 g per day (8). Some manufacturers of products containing D-aspartic acid recommend using the product for periods of four to 12 weeks followed by a period of cessation from the product lasing two to four weeks. Further study is needed to determine whether it should be cycled. D-aspartic acid is an amino acid occurring primarily in the pituitary gland and testes and has a role in the regulation of the release and synthesis of LH and testosterone. It is taken as a supplement to boost testosterone, libido and to improve the quantity and quality of sperm in men with infertility. Limited studies also show a correlation between the concentration of this amino acid and oocyte quality in women. Although abundant research has investigated the hormonal effects of D-aspartic acid in rat models, there is limited research on humans. Research on the effects of D-aspartic acid on raising testosterone levels in men has produced mixed results. While it has been shown to increase testosterone in inactive men, it has not been shown to boost testosterone in men who weight train. This amino acid is also being investigated for its role in improving memory and learning.

https://bodynutrition.org/d-aspartic-acid/

My take: I confess to knowing virtually nothing about Nero going into this novel – save a visual of him playing the fiddle while Rome burned. As usual, Margaret George brought me up to speed in a most entertaining way. Her historical fiction novel played out in the form of Nero’s autobiography with additional viewpoints from his first love, Acte, and Locusto, his poisons consultant. It’s a story of political plots and intrigue, living with rumors and innuendo, and never quite knowing who was worthy of Nero’s trust. I’ve read Margaret Georges’s previous novels about Cleopatra and Helen of Troy so I was unsurprised by the 500+ pages it took to tell Nero’s story. I also knew it would be meticulously researched and presented in her usual engaging style. The Afterword is very interesting and I appreciated the family tree and maps included at the beginning of the book. I think fans of the author and historical fiction will enjoy and learn from this story. I certainly did. Margaret George is the New York Times bestselling author of seven novels of biographical historical fiction, including The Confessions of Young Nero; Elizabeth I; Helen of Troy; Mary, Called Magdalene; The Memoirs of Cleopatra; Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles; and The Autobiography of Henry VIII. She also has coauthored a children’s book, Lucile Lost.

https://bookfanmary.wordpress.com/2018/11/20/

I love debut novels. They are such a lottery. They can be dire and finishing them can feel like wading through treacle. They can be okay and you sense some promise and defer ultimate judgement until the next one. Or they can completely blow you away. I couldn't put this book down and I mean that literally. Everything was put on hold until I finished it. I hesitate to use the word brilliant because it is overused and my response is subjective but for me this wasn't far short. It’s a deceptive book and more substantial than it seems at first. And yet curiously there is a danger that this substance could be overlooked as the reader focuses purely on the crime aspect because it is so well done the attention doesn't stray. The plot is tight, well constructed with a veritable shoal of red herrings to lure the reader into believing they have solved this crime. The characters are believable. There is no holding back when highlighting some of today’s contemporary issues; internet bullying so endemic nowadays, the morality of the media, or their lack of it, the dynamics of a police force pressured into delivering results unreasonably quickly to satisfy the bureaucrats and social commentators as if catching a murderer is so easy. And throughout the book how hard it is to be a young person in today’s world. I could go on the book has such a lot to offer. There were imperfections; the story uses a dual narrative technique and there were a couple of inconsistencies, for example a character developed in the first narrative was suddenly mentioned in the second with no exposition. Some of the descriptive passages were so typical of a debut novel, that desire to demonstrate all at once the writer’s abilities. But I’m nit picking and this book doesn't deserve it. I’m very excited by this writer and I do hope there are more tales of this calibre to issue forth from her pen. Alice Clark-Platts? I am a fan.

https://bookphace.blogspot.com/2018/12/retro-reviewing-bitter-fruits-alice.html

Welcome to the video enriched ebook edition of The Gospel of Thomas with easy to play video scenes of all the Sayings of Jesus integrated within the text. Read as you go and with one touch instantly bring the text alive with an audio visual film clip of the Saying of interest. Professionally filmed with professional actors and enhanced with new levels of interactivity, there has never been a better way to read, view and enjoy this Gospel. There are many translations of the Gospels and no two read alike. This disturbs many Christians since they believe that their salvation depends upon the correct interpretation of the truth and want to know which is the most reliable translation that has the least bias. As a result many translations can be discounted. However, in reference to the Gospel of Thomas, it should be recognised that Coptic words do not have a direct correspondence with English words in terms of their meaning nor the same sentence structure nor style. Therefore, bias does not necessarily enter into it and as such there is room for legitimate variation in translation, provided that each translation is truthful. However it is crucially important that the translation is as accurately meaningful to the source text as is possible and accomplished by an acknowledged scholar in their field of expertise. Perrin (2002) – Nicholas Perrin, Thomas and Tatian, the Relationship between the Gospel of Thomas and the Diatessaron. Especial thanks to Nicholas for allowing the use of his most respected translation and to the pioneers Qmorphic for providing their technology and enabling resources for this new type of presentation and Apple for this new platform with which to learn and enjoy. Wonderful!

https://books.apple.com/au/book/the-gospel-of-thomas-enhanced-version/id422570419

work among local authorities in a hopeless sort of maze so that no one has any power or money to do anything effectively. Maryland, up to 1909, extended the same absurdity to State supervision by dividing authority for construction between the State Geological Survey and the State Highway Commission. By way of contrast Wisconsin, having adopted the war cry, "A dollar's worth of road for every dollar of tax," is showing how to make money work miracles. In 1907 as v "h as $10,000 was appropriated for the of the State Geological Survey in ex, . .imental road building and in advising local road authorities. As there are fifteen hundred of these local road bodies, the contract was rather a large one. But the Survey engineers did the best they could by addressing public meetings and distributing pamphlets, and by establishing a correspondence school for road builders. In order to make every dollar count they managed to induce some localities to build roads graded to a width of twentyfour feet with a stone surface only nine feet wide. Everybody knew that such a narrow roadway would not answer at all, but after they had tried them they wanted no other kind. These nine-foot roadways answer the purposes of light traffic and they cost but $1,800 to $3,500 per mile, while the 14-foot stone surface, which allows two teams to pass and which is used for heavier traffic, costs from $3,000 to $5,000 per mile. and raises the money to pay for them does not get what it wants. Some counties in California paid for good roads, or thought they did, but the work was so badly done that the good roads movement received a setback. On the other hand there was Pike County, Alabama, which raised money to pay for gravel and macadam roads, but wisely sent to the U. S. Office of Public Roads for an engineer to build them. lie. found sandclay roads, costing one-fifth of what macadam would cost, better suited to the locality. In Kansas sand-clay roads cost from $707 to $1,183 per mile, which seems to bring them well within the limit required to interest the average farmer in highway improvement, according to the opinion of the (rood Rpads Convention which met at Cleveland in 1909. This does not prove that sand-clay roads should be built everywhere under all conditions. The true moral to be drawn from the experience of l'ike County is always and under all circumstances to employ a highway engineer to direct operations. Road building is an art that calls for something more than good intentions. An interesting feature of the highway situation is the passing of macadam construction, for many years regarded as the highest type of road. But the advent of the automobile has utterly destroyed the reputation of the macadam road. It has been found by costly experience that no ordinary water bound macadam is capable of withstanding for any length of time the action of excessive automobile traffic, and in Massachusetts actual count shows that automobiles make up forty-two per cent, of the traffic on the highways of the State. The speeding rubber tires whirl away the rock dust, thus destroying the bond of the wearing surface, then ravel out the*larger fragments of stone. Some sort of binder that will hold material, both fine and coarse, together is absolutely necessary. The question is so important that the American society of Civil Engineers has appointed a special committee to investigate. Various combinations of tar, asphalt, and crude petroleum have been tried in various localities with different degrees of success. It is already evident that a bituminous binder that will work well under one set of conditions will not answer at all under other conditions. The difficulty is to suit the binder to the requirements of the traffic and the climate. The minimum width of roadway should be 19 feet 8 inches. The camber should be the least that will allow the proper run-off of rain water. Grades should be moderate, with as little difference as possible between minimum and maximum. Curves should have as great a radius as possible, but not less than 164 feet. Curves should be connected with tangents by parabolic curves. Curves should be slightly raised at the outside, but not enough to interfere with ordinary vehicles. The view at curves should not be obstructed. should be signalled night and day. Wherever possible tracks should be provided for bicyclists and paths for horsemen. The sides of roads should be defined by trees wherever possible. Binding material should be used in the construction of metalled (broken stone) roadways, "special attention being given to determining the character of the binder best suited to local conditions. Superficial tarring may be considered as definitely accepted in practice. Emulsions of tar, oil, or hydroscopic salts have a real but not a lasting efficiency. Therefore, their use should be limited to special cases such as race courses. Cross and longitudinal sections of roads and gutters should facilitate the flow of trickling water and prevent infiltration. That maintenance is quite as important as construction is well understood in Europe where fourteen nations spend $160,000,000 annually for the maintenance of 994,000 miles of road which cost $5,000,000,000 to build. In the United States, unfortunately, the importance of constant care has not been realized as clearly as it should have been. But in this particular, too, marked improvement is noticeable. New York, which leads the Nation in the magnitude and comprehensiveness of its highway improvement programme, has copied the patrol system that has made the roads of France so famous. The road patrolmen in New York furnish their own horse, cart, and tools and keep the highways in first-class condition at a cost of $75 per mile per year for labor and $25 per mile for material. Oil is successfully used to lay the dust, the plague due chiefly to the automobiles, at a cost of $422 per mile of sixteen-foot roadway per year. To sum up the situation in a sentence, there are so many hopeful signs of improvement everywhere that it seems safe to predict that within ten years the administration of the public roads will be established upon a satisfactory basis. * t X T ELLO! Is this New York?" | I "Yes." JL JL me the Flatiron Building." All of this as the result of an invention just patented by Major George O. Squier, of the Signal Corps, United States Army. He has made a free gift of it, however, to the American people, and anybody is at liberty to use it without paying a cent for the privilege. The invention does not merely promise to provide a means whereby one may telephone for a distance almost indefinite. It also makes practicable the employment of a single wire for the simultaneous sending of a number of messages, wnether by the voice or by the telegraph. Briefly described, the method adopted is one whereby wireless messages are sent over a wire—a sort of "wire wireless," as Major Squier calls it. A paradox, one might say. But the matter will be better understood when it is explained that the messages travel not through the wire itself, but through a thin layer of etber surrounding the wire. All that the wire does is to act as a guide. Everybody is familiar with the enormously tall poles erected for wireless telegraphy. Such an "antenna," as it is called, sends out electro-magnetic vibrations which expand like the circles made by a stone which a small boy throws into a pond. It follows, of course, that their effect at any particular distant place is relatively infinitesimal. But, if all of these vibrations were bunched together and sent in a single direction, it is obvious that they could be rendered a million times more efficient, so far as the carrying of vibrations to a given point is concerned. WHERE THE EXPERIMENTS WITH THE MULTIPLEX TELEPHONE WERE CONDUCTED. Signal Office Research Laboratory at the Bureau of Standards, Washington. At the bottom of the idea upon which the invention is based lies the fact that the electro-magnetic rays which pass over a telephone wire are audible only within definite limits of frequency. If the vibrations are fewer than sixteen to the second, they transmit no impression to the human ear. On the other hand, if they number more than 20,000 to the second, the human auditory apparatus is unable to respond to them, and so perceives nothing'. In other words, our ears are deaf to vibrations above 20,000 per second, and below- sixteen vibrations. To carry his messages. Major Squier employs high-frequency waves, far above the limit of human hearing. Obtaining them from a dynamo, he tunes them to various pitches, so that each conversation carried on over the wire is based upon a separate and particular number of vibrations per second. Inasmuch as the talks are on different electrical tunes, they do not interfere with one another in the least. frequency waves, suitably tuned, are traveling along the telephone wires—not in the wire itself, but in a layer of ether surrounding it. They cannot be called sound waves, because they are too rapid to produce an impression upon the human ear. Major Squier calls them "ultra-sound vibrations." Nevertheless, each voice that speaks into the transmitter affects these waves differently, and every spoken word is faithfully carried by them. W hen, therefore, at the other end of the line, they are retranslated back into sound waves, the message becomes audible to the listener. JS to get out of the wire itself. The ordinary battery telephonic current is largely a conduction current through metal, and the ohmic resistance of the wire is one of the principal obstacles to long-distance telephoning. On the other hand, in wireless telegraphy, frequencies from 100,000 up to several millions per second are used, and the energy is chiefly radiated into the ether of space. ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND CYCLE GENERATOR FOR ELECTRIC WAVES USED BY MAJOK SOWER IN HIS EXPERIMENTS. There is, however, an intermediate range, in which the vibrations are from 20.000 to 100,000 per second, and wherein the electro-magnetic energy is still sufficiently linked to the wire to prevent excessive radiation into the ether. The wire, while carrying but a small part of the energy, nevertheless acts as an efficient guide for the high-frequency waves. Accordingly, use is made of these steered ether waves as a vehicle to carry telephonic or telegraphic messages. ceiving stations, which is the ordinary custom. The circuits are ordinary telephonic circuits, such as are now utilized in wire telephony and telegraphy. "In fact," says the inventor, '"the regular twistedpair paper-insulated lead-covered telephone cable serves the purpose very well, the energy being conveyed principally in the minute layer of ether separating the two metallic conductors. By this means a most efficient system of high-frequency telephony or telegraphy is maintained, and, at the same time, any interferences between neighboring circuits operated by the system are eliminated, so that many such circuits may be brought to the same switchboard without interfering effects."

https://books.google.com.bd/books?id=-QjOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA34&vq=fact&dq=editions:UOM39015075032303&output=html_text&source=gbs_search_r&cad=1

Adding to a year that will see the final installment in the episodic Star Wars saga, a new book provides a chronological, pictorial essay documenting the step-by-step creation of the most recent Star Wars movie, Solo: A Star Wars Story. When original Solo: A Star Wars Story directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller tapped Rob Bredow as a producer and visual effects supervisor, he stepped onto the studio lot realizing he was the only person with a camera and photography access. He got the approval of the directors and executive Kathleen Kennedy (and later, approval from replacement director Ron Howard) and was soon filming everything and anything related to the production, from location visits to candid shots. Industrial Light & Magic Presents: Making Solo: A Star Wars Story is a collection of selections of the best from his photo album, 25,000 photographs later, taken on his personal camera and camera phone. Unlike the J.W. Rinzler “making of” books on the original Star Wars trilogy featuring comprehensive stories and analysis from the entire production teams, or other Abrams “The Art” of books featuring The Force Awakens, Rogue One, The Last Jedi, and Solo full of concept art and design, Making Solo: A Star Wars Story is more of a visual assemblage showcasing one Star Wars crew member’s job (which included allowing his family on the film set to film in as extras). The closest book like this is Jaws: Memories from Martha’s Vineyard, a book piecing together photographs and accounts from the making of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, only put together years later. It has all those bits and pieces assembled into books from the original trilogy that fans would call rare gems today, the difference being this time someone was paying attention, in the moment. More so than any other book released on the film, Making Solo: A Star Wars Story provides an account of the film’s production process from pre-production, production, and post-production, documenting how this film came to the big screen. Readers will find never-before-seen close-up images of all the new worlds, aliens, droids, and vehicles, with emphases on making the train heist on Vandor, Phoebe Waller-Bridge′s droid L3-37, filming the Kessel Run, and deconstructing and re-designing an early version of the Millennium Falcon. Last weekend San Diego Comic-Con spotlighted women costume designers and the creations of more than a dozen women designers created for actresses for some of the decade’s biggest genre films. The Costume Designers Guild presented a panel Saturday featuring members Sanja Hays (costume designer, Captain Marvel, Star Trek: Beyond, Star Trek: Insurrection), Amanda Riley (costume designer, Supergirl, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), and Laura Jean Shannon (costume designer, Iron Man, Titans, Black Lightning, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) who provided highlights and anecdotes about their careers designing costumes for some of the most popular current and recent productions on television and in film. A big high point for attendees was Hayes, whose new Captain Marvel costume will be the next benchmark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, to be worn next year by Brie Larson in Captain Marvel–the first Marvel film with a woman in the title role. Hayes commented that she found working on Marvel movies different from past projects in that many details of design and even minor changes require extra levels of approval from Marvel’s continuity side. Each of the designers stated they have arrived at a stage in their careers where they now have the power to cherry pick costumes to personally dive into from their projects and assign other production team members for the rest. They also stressed the value of having close-knit and exceptional artists on their teams that can work together to meet the requirements of production. At the giant Marvel Studios area on the convention floor, attendees could get up close to several key screen-used superheroine costumes from the past ten years, from Anna B. Sheppard‘s World War II Agent Carter uniform worn by Hayley Atwell from the beginning of the franchise to Evangeline Lilly‘s armor from The Wasp from this summer’s Ant-Man and The Wasp, created by Louise Frogley. Eight other costumes bookended one side of the Marvel stage, including another four costumes opposite them in glass display cases–twelve heroines in all: Lupita Nyong’o‘s Nakia, Danai Gurira‘s Okoye, and Letitia Wright‘s Shuri costumes from Black Panther, created by Ruth E. Carter, Tessa Thompson‘s Valkyrie armor created by Mayes C. Rubeo for Thor: Ragnarok, Scarlett Johansson‘s Black Widow costume from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Zoe Saldana‘s Gamora costume, Karen Gillan‘s Nebula costume, and Pom Klementieff‘s Mantis costume from Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, all created by Judianna Makovsky, Elizabeth Olsen‘s Scarlet Witch costume from Avengers: Age of Ultron, created by Alexandra Byrne, and Jaimie Alexander‘s Sif armor from Thor: The Dark World, created by Wendy Partridge. A separate giant display elsewhere was created for Karl Urban‘s Skurge armor created by Mayes C. Rubio for Thor: Ragnarok. DC Entertainment displayed Leah Butler‘s Shazam! costumes for Asher Angel‘s Billy Batson and his superhero alter ego, played by Zachary Levi. And Lucasfilm presented David Crossman and Glyn Dillon‘s costumes from Solo: A Star Wars Story (a little more out of reach than the rest, posed high at the top of their exhibit), including screen-used costumes from Alden Ehrenreich‘s Han Solo, Joonas Soutomo‘s Chewbacca, Emilia Clarke‘s Qi’ra, Donald Glover‘s Lando, Erin Kellyman‘s Enfys Nest, and Paul Bettany‘s Dryden Vos. And it wasn’t just about costumes, as many displays included the corresponding screen-used prop weaponry for the character. Costume designers Laura Jean Shannon, Sanja Hays, and Amanda Riley at the costume designers panel at San Diego Comic-Con Saturday, July 21, 2018. Fans of the original Star Wars trilogy and the new film Solo: A Star Wars Story should take note of the fourth installment of Abrams Books’ Star Wars artbook series. The Art of Solo: A Star Wars Story by Phil Szostak not only looks behind the scenes of the production of the second of the modern anthology movies and fourth of the modern sequels, it reveals the finest and the most evocative Star Wars-styled concept art created since The Empire Strikes Back. Taking a different path from the episodic sequels, the creators that imagined the look for Solo took their inspiration directly from the work of Ralph McQuarrie (original trilogy production illustrator and concept artist), Joe Johnston (original trilogy ILM art director), Harry Lange (original trilogy art director and set decorator), and Colin Cantwell (the first Star Wars spacecraft designer), concept artists behind the original Star Wars movie. Including artwork both used for the final creation of sets, effects, and costumes, as well as imagery that didn’t make it to the final cut, The Art of Solo provides visuals fans back to the 1970s have only dreamed about. Solo is also the first movie of the post-Disney period of Star Wars to draw back to the actual input from George Lucas for more than merely sketches and early descriptions of his earliest ideas from 1973. Lucas was involved from the beginning, planning a Han Solo movie since before the Lucasfilm sale, and so this sequel has inspiration and concept direction from the creator of the franchise himself. Lucasfilm/ILM lead concept designer James Clyne, production designer Neil Lamont, costume designers Glyn Dillon and David Crossman, Neal Scanlan‘s creature department, and Rob Bredow and Pat Tubach‘s visual effects team were aware of the unique challenge facing this film–creating something faithful to the original trilogy and beloved characters while also taking the look and feel of the space fantasy into new territory. The result is a film full of different worlds that still feels “Star Wars-y,” as the designers call it. For this film, that meant a Western homage mirroring the American journey of settlers from the East Coast to the West Coast, and also importing story elements found in Akira Kurosawa’s Westerns, among many other classic films. Many of the portraits and landscape paintings are poster-worthy. Earthbound physical locations were tracked down to define new worlds Corellia, Mimban, Vandor, Kessel, and Savareen, along with CGI renderings, all to look like they belong in the Star Wars galaxy. As Star Wars was created in the 1970s–taking place ten years prior to the original Star Wars–the artists looked for styles and ideas from the 1960s via movies, bands, computers and technology, and other cultural influences for costumes and set decorations. So before Emilia Clarke was cast as Qi’ra, images of the character needed to establish her locations and costumes included drawings that look very much like Grace Kelly. Incorporating images of younger versions of both Harrison Ford and Billy Dee Williams were obvious choices for creating their first looks, like the duo at the gambling table where Lando would lose the Falcon to Solo. But soon Alden Ehrenreich’s image became the face of Han Solo. All along, Chewbacca was Chewbacca, only the crew aimed to convey a different view of the Wookiee, where having all his hairs styled in place was no longer important–this was the young, wind-blown companion from the past, the one quicker to tear someone’s arms off. Unlike yesterday’s sneak peek, everyone gets coverage in this trailer, and it definitely has a Blade Runner feel with its music, and the story clip seems like an “assemble the team,” Seven Samurai/The Magnificent Seven story concept (the very first expanded story concept for Star Wars, originally published in the 1978 Marvel Comics), or maybe a Firefly ship crew-focused story. We have first looks at a young Han (Alden Ehrenreich), Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo), and Lando (Donald Glover). More Millennium Falcon. New characters played by Emilia Clarke (Qi’ra pronounced Kira) and Woody Harrelson (Tobias Beckett). The droid that looks like Qi’ra or Lando’s partner is called L3-37, voiced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. And that’s Thandie Newton as a new character named Val. And, in case you missed them, trailers for Avengers: Infinity War and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom are all below. At last Star Wars fans finally have their first look at Ron Howard’s prequel movie Solo: A Star Wars Story, and there’s plenty to see. We have first looks at a young Han (Alden Ehrenreich), Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo), and Lando (Donald Glover). And even a younger Millennium Falcon! And new characters played by Emilia Clarke (Qi’ra pronounced Kira) and Woody Harrelson (Tobias Beckett).

https://borg.com/tag/emilia-clarke/

Boulder City High School’s flag football team opened the season with a win, dominating Western 28-6 on Tuesday, Dec. 3. (Robert Vendettoli/Boulder City Review) Boulder City High School senior Emily Rinella rushes up field against Western in the Lady Eagles’ 28-6 victory on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2019. (Rich Viera) Boulder City High School senior Curtis Brown finished first in the 145-pound weight division during the Boulder City Duals on Saturday, Nov. 30. The Eagles tied for first place with rival Virgin Valley High School. Despite playing a far from perfect game against the Warriors, the Lady Eagles gained momentum from the victory, as well as the promise that better days are ahead when they play flawlessly. Leading the way for the Lady Eagles was senior Emily Rinella, who flashed her dynamic play-making ability rushing for 150 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. She also caught three passes for 83 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore Paeton Carver threw a 60-yard touchdown pass, while catching a 35-yard touchdown pass. She also rushed for 20 yards on four carries. Senior Emily Taggard caught three passes for 22 yards and senior Jasmyn Curl rushed for 16 yards on three carries. Also throwing a touchdown pass, senior Makaela Perkins completed 3 of 9 passes for 57 yards, but struggled with three interceptions. Giving his quarterback a vote of confidence, Ruth said he expects Perkins to bounce back quickly. Playing lights out on defense, Rinella and Taggard each made six tackles, along with senior Clarrisa Sitcko. Junior Chloe Payne made four tackles. The Lady Eagles will travel to Mojave today, Dec. 5, followed by a home game against Valley on Monday, Dec. 9. Hosting their annual Boulder City Duals on Saturday, Nov. 30, the Eagles tied for first place with rival Virgin Valley, winning three matches, with one tie. Tying with the Bulldogs 42-42 in their last match, the Eagles defeated 4A Desert Oasis 45-36 and 3A Pahrump Valley 45-36. They dominated 2A Laughlin 78-6. Finishing first in their respective weight classes were seniors Ladd Cox (195 pounds), Curtis Brown (145 pounds) and Justin Bonar (138 pounds), who each finished with a 4-0 record. Placing second with 3-1 records were senior Jason Krumm (160 pounds) and freshman Hunter Moore (152 pounds). Prepared to wrestle out-of-state competition, the Eagles will head to California to participate in the La Costa Canyon Classic on Friday, Dec. 6. Results from the Eagles’ Tri Dual with 4A Durango and Laughlin on Wednesday, Dec. 4, will appear in next week’s issue.

https://bouldercityreview.com/sports/roundup-lady-eagles-dominate-western-on-gridiron-55824/

Take as a dietary supplement. Always dilute with a carrier oil before internal use. Caution:�Keep out of reach of children. If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition, consult a health professional prior to use. Storage:�Keep in a cool, dark place. *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Young Living products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

https://brainadvance.org/inc/sdetail/rosemary_15_ml/2187/8525

Are you after some inspiration for what to do this weekend or for your next holiday? Check out our new video about the ways you can cruise the UK’s iconic inland waterways. British Marine has launched an exciting new video highlighting the many benefits that cruising the UK’s inland waterways has to offer. From day trips on the River Thames to holidays on the Kennet & Avon Canal, the film offers inspirational ideas for newcomers from some of the most iconic destinations in the UK. With over 400 British Marine member companies operating in the inland sector, the video will benefit the many businesses surrounding our beautiful waterways enticing more people into the world of inland boating. The film is designed to support the many British Marine members who will be involved in the wealth of inland events taking place throughout the forthcoming boating season both here and abroad, such as the Crick Boat Show and this weekend’s open days organised by Drifters. Furthermore, visitors to the newly launched Boating & Watersports Holiday Show at the 2018 London Boat Show, will have the chance to explore a range of breaks from luxury charters in the Med to inland and coastal cruising in the UK and adrenaline filled holidays in some of the world’s most far flung places. The video is part of British Marine’s continued efforts to promote inland boating. In addition to this project, the organisation is also working in partnership with VisitEngland to operate and grow the highly valued Quality Accredited Boatyard (QAB) and Boat Grading Scheme.

https://britishmarine.co.uk/Membership/Our-Associations/Group/British-Marine-Inland-Boating/Your-next-undiscovered-adventure

It’s academic in how thorough of an exploration it is it but not (always) academic in tone. It’s more like your cool clued up uncle telling you stories about back in the day and yelling, ‘What do you know about this one?’ whenever one of his songs come on. Instead of chapters, it’s divided into a 50 song tracklist. In each section, Boakye unpacks a song that is part of the journey of the development of Grime. He sometimes breaks into slang, occasionally rhymes and then flits back into ‘Doctorate of Grime’ mode. He starts from ‘Amen, Brother’-The Winstons (1969) and ends with ‘Can’t Go Wrong’ by Wiley (2017). But it’s not just a book about these songs. Hold Tight is about history and music and the history of music. He walks us through the usual socio-political issues including race, gender and class. But he also touches on African- American and Black British relations, London youth culture, video games, sound clashes and Channel U/AKA. Somewhere in the book, we find out he’s a secondary school teacher, which makes a lot of sense. You start learning from page one. In the book, Boakye calls himself an ‘outsider-insider’. He may not be a Grime artist himself but he’s been part of the Grime journey for most of his life. He’s not a newcomer or a wave surfer (not that there’s anything wrong with being a new fan). But he has ‘the knowledge’. He’s in love and you can feel it. And so you trust him. Boakye’s writing is as energetic and lively as the genres he describes. His excitement to school you shines through on every page. Plus, it’s very current. He spends many paragraphs dragging Drake through the mud and makes references to the moment ‘Pow’ comes on in a rave. I just couldn’t help but smile at reading something so close to home. It may feel unusual to write or read non-fiction about Grime. However, regardless of how you feel about the genre, it’s important to have a written record of everything to do with Black British culture. In decades to come, having books like this to refer to is important.150 years from now our great-grandchildren can pick this up and learn about the soundtrack of Black British life so many years before them.

https://britsandpcs.com/5-reasons-why-you-should-read-hold-tight-by-jeffrey-boakye/

Aquamarine is the Latin word for “water of the sea” and is considered an ‘eternal colour’ as it is the colour seen on the horizon where the seas turn into the sky. According to legend Aquamarine originated in the treasure chest of beautiful mermaids and has been regarded as the sailors’ lucky gemstone.

https://brownsjewellers.com/jewellery/18ct-white-gold-aquamarine-diamond-drop-earrings/

Dave is single and turning 30. He’s stood at the bar. Eurydice is a tree nymph. And Bruce Springsteen is on the jukebox. Orpheus is an ancient story of love and loss and adventure. A story of this world and the next. Of how far we’d go for the people we love and what happens when we come back empty handed. From the depths of the underworld to the tops of the highest mountains, Orpheus is an epic tale of gods and challenges and love re-imagined for the modern day. From the back rooms of pubs to terraced houses and cab journeys, Alexander Wright and Phil Grainger transform this ancient myth in to a modern day epic about people, our relationships and what we’ll do to try and stay together. A tale of impossible, death-defying love told through hair raising spoken word and soaring soul music. The Flanagan Collective and Gobbledigook Theatre weave a world of dive bars, side streets and ancient gods. Brought specifically by the Hippodrome for A Matter of Life and Death festival it is part of their Fresh Fridays programme. Stick around after the show for a FREE post-show talk with the company and BrumYODO team members.

https://brumyodo.org.uk/event/orpheus-hippodrome/

The government has introduced two new online services, aimed at helping everyone get to grips with their finances. A new ‘mid-life MOT’ website launched in February 2019¹. This aims to help people understand whether they are saving enough for retirement and what they can do to make sure they are prepared for the future in terms of their job, money and health. The site provides links to further information on all three topics. Three government-sponsored services offering financial guidance have also been merged into a single online service. The Money Advice Service, The Pensions Advisory Service and Pension Wise will now join forces under a single brand, which will be known as the Money and Pensions Service (MAPS). The merger started to take place at the beginning of 2019 under the name of the Single Financial Guidance Body (SFGB)². However approval for the change was delayed by other government business, such as the Brexit negotiations. Parliamentary approval was finally granted on 4 March, and the new name will take effect from the 6 April. Until 6 April, MAPS will continue to be known as SFGB. MAPS will offer information, tools and guidance on a wide range of financial topics, from managing debt and how to budget, through to tax management and pensions options. It’s free for anyone to use and is a great source of information and help, both in its own right and to provide background information prior to seeking regulated financial advice. And when you do need to seek professional financial advice, you know where to come! At Brunsdon we are specialists in all aspects of wealth management, pensions and financial planning. Please do not hesitate to speak to a Brunsdon Financial Adviser if you need help or advice.

https://brunsdonfinancial.co.uk/news/time-to-hit-the-road-with-maps

An unseen invasion: the ultimate threat... When a mysterious spacecraft is uncovered in the North Carolina mountains, agent Pat Vogt’s life begins to look increasingly alien. Betrayed by her own government, she’s forced to unravel a conspiracy that holds implications for existence on Earth...and beyond. Years later, Vogt returns to find the mountain town of Waynesboro fostering secrets much darker than she’d ever imagined. Even her closest ally, Dr. Allen Pritchard, withholds crucial information, and his desire to mend a painful past may jeopardize the human race. Who is genetic engineer Fredic Homlin, and what connection does the Biogentrix Corporation’s chilling technology touted as the ‘play dough of life’ represent? Can one headstrong woman reveal the truth in time, or will something else be sown? Beginnings is the shifting shape of much that lies ahead... Orrin Jason Bradford’s style has been compared to the “early works of Dean Koontz and the late great Michael Crichton.” Freeform: Beginnings is the first novel in the action-packed, sci-fi Freeform series. If you’re a fan of fast-paced sci-fi novels with exciting storylines and unforgettable characters, get your hands on this thriller by Orrin Jason Bradford! Orrin Jason Bradford is the pen name for speculative fiction author W. Bradford Swift. It's also where Swift allows his freaky imagination to take wing through his series of science fiction thrillers often with a genetic engineering theme. OJB also writes fantasy for adults who want to be entertained and engaged while also being inspired. He's the author of the genetic engineering science fiction thriller FreeForm series. The helicopter swooped low over the crest of the mountain, and Pat Vogt held her breath and her stomach. "Ease up, James," she said as soon as she could take another breath. "If we catch a downdraft off one of these mountains, we're likely to be wearing those trees." James, an ex-Gulf War copter pilot, often flew as though he was being pursued by some unidentified enemy aircraft. Pat suspected he occasionally experienced flashbacks of those grueling war years. "In fact, climb a couple hundred feet, and let’s take another pass from a different perspective." James nodded affirmatively and gave her a sly wink, which Pat ignored. Her five-foot, two-inch frame of muscular curves had stopped plenty of men in their tracks, but they didn’t around Pat long without discovering she was a woman with whom you did not fool around. She knew she was attractive, even sexy. Pat had spent many long hours in the gym and karate dojo in the pursuit of a healthy frame, but it wasn't for her shape she worked so hard. It was the desire for excellence in everything she took on in her life, especially her career. "We're getting low on fuel, sweet thing!" James shouted to her over the whirl of the blades. "We'll have to take it in for refueling." "One more pass,” Pat replied. "I thought I saw a glint over the ridge. It could be a metallic surface reflecting the sun." "These babies don't stay afloat long when the blades stop rotating,” James answered. Pat turned and stared at him for a long few seconds. "One more pass,” she mouthed slowly. "Whatever you say. You're the boss." The helicopter eased over the ridge. Pat placed the set of binoculars to her eyes. She studied the rough terrain below, looking for the scar in the thick growth of trees she'd noticed on the previous pass. It looked like someone had selectively cut a thin line through the dense growth. A fast-moving object striking the surface at an acute angle as the report had suggested could have caused such damage. Yet with heavy snowfall, it could go unnoticed. She lowered the glasses for a moment. There, to the left—a long thin line angled obliquely across the crest. She raised the glasses back to her eyes and traced the scar, shouting to James as she did. "Turn east about fifteen degrees and come in a little slower! I think I see something." She felt James make the adjustment quickly. As she studied the defect in the landscape, her gaze stopped at the end furthest from the crest. As they passed over the area, a flash like a flashbulb, momentarily blinded them; or was it the reflection of the noonday sun? But from what? "See that thin break in the trees we passed over? I want you to put down there." "No way, babes,” James replied. "Not with this wind and us sucking on fumes. One little hesitation and we'll be eating those trees." "I thought you were the great Gulf War copter pilot with ice water flowing through his veins." "I'm not interested in picnicking in these woods for several days while a search party tries to find us. Not even with a gorgeous dame like yourself." “Okay, fine. Set me down with the crane. Note the spot on the map and return for fuel. Bring the others back in the other copter while this one is being refueled." I can't lower you—" James stopped short as he noticed Pat already strapping the rigging around her slender frame. "Lower me as close to the ground as you can, and I'll cut myself free. Don't worry, I'll take full responsibility." "Our orders were to return to base and report anything we found to the rest of the search team. Not to investigate on our own!” James shouted. "I'm in charge here, James!" Pat shouted back. "Your orders were to follow my directions. We haven't found anything to report. I'm simply going down to take a closer look. If there is anything there, you'll be back with the team. I'll be hanging around waiting. Don't worry, I'll be fine." Pat patted his arm. "Lower me down." "What in the world could be down there worth risking your neck?" "Oh, nothing except the most likely candidate for a bona fide UFO in the last several years. I intend to be the first person to set eyes on it." She placed the glasses under her seat and picked up her camera, slinging it around her neck by its strap. She left the passenger seat and scurried to the rear of the chopper. She clipped the crane rope to her rigging and waited for James to give her the go-ahead. As James made a final pass over the site (a second pass beyond what the fuel gauge indicated was possible), James signaled for her to ease out of the door. As they approached the narrow gully in the trees, Pat wondered if she'd made a wise judgment call. Who was this James character, anyway? She'd only met him a few hours ago. How good of a pilot was he? Hell, she couldn't even remember his last name; she'd known him for such a short time. How did she know if he had really flown in the Gulf War? For all she knew, he could be as new at flying copters as she was at investigating UFO reports. She wasn't comforted by the thought as she glanced down at the Longleaf Pines reaching their long fingers to tickle the bottoms of her feet. Pat hung from the undercarriage of the copter as James continued to lower her with the crane while dropping the helicopter closer to the trees. A gust of wind started Pat turning slowly on the end of the thin fiberglass cord. He better know what he's doing, Pat told herself as she tried to slow the spin, growing more uncomfortable with her situation by the moment. Just as she was sure James was about to plop her into the thick growth of trees, dashing her body against the pines, the thin break appeared, and she was deftly lowered into it. Heavy tree limbs whizzed by on both sides. She felt like she could reach out with either hand and grasp a handful of needles. Despite a reduction in the wind gusts, she continued to spin out of control. She thought on one pass that she could see the gleaming metallic object at the end of the thin canyon formed by the trees, but she couldn't be sure. She estimated that she was a good thirty feet in the air when she felt the shudder of the helicopter through the line. Oh, shit, James is running out of fuel, Pat thought as she glared up at the copter's underbelly. She continued to hang as though suspended in the web of a monstrous spider, waiting for the spider to return home for his evening meal. She had to do something and quick. She couldn't count on James. She realized you couldn't rely on anyone when the chips were down—only yourself. She continued to hang for several seconds trying to decide what to do. She stared below her at the rough terrain of the mountainside; she estimated there was a good twenty-five feet to the ground. The copter shuddered a second time. Enough was enough. She'd take control of the situation herself. She punched the safety release on her chest and felt the familiar rush of free fall. She'd spent a summer between her sophomore and junior years of college skydiving her heart out. In a three-month time span, she'd made over fifty jumps, most of them free falls. The training paid off as she fell toward the irregular surface of the mountainside. As the ground came up fast, she held her feet and knees firmly together. She did not stay on her feet but rolled to one side, her hands and arms clasped tightly across her chest. She rolled down the mountainside, picking up speed as she fell until her left shoulder struck a large rock embedded in the ground. She came to an abrupt and painful stop. She lay there for several seconds, wincing in pain, then staggered to her feet to give James the okay sign, but the helicopter had already sputtered over the crest, dragging the line behind it. Pat dusted herself off with her right hand and felt a sharp pain shoot through her left shoulder. She gently moved her left arm to be sure it wasn't dislocated and was rewarded with another shock of pain which threatened to black her out. Not dislocated, she thought, but sure as hell not one hundred percent, either. Pat stared in the direction where the helicopter had disappeared. I sure hope he makes it back to camp, she thought. He's my ticket out of here. Having had the thought, she placed it out of her mind. There was nothing else she could do about it right now, so why worry? It was time to go looking for a UFO. Before setting off in the direction where she anticipated finding the UFO, she made a thorough inspection of her camera. A bit scuffed and dirty. Still serviceable. She snapped a picture, relieved to hear the familiar click-click of the shutter. She picked her way across the terrain, occasionally stopping to enjoy the rugged scenic beauty of the mountain. She took a deep breath of fresh air and let it out slowly. What a great job. No sitting behind a desk all day for her. Being a part of the new team assigned to explore the highly secretive "Waynesboro NC UFO Case" was a little hard for her to believe. She had finally found a position that fit all of the passions she'd inherited from her parents. Her interest in investigative work was passed down from her father's thirty-year career as a police detective in Atlanta. She had undoubtedly inherited her love of science and speculation from her mom's career as a science fiction novelist. It was quite an accomplishment to be the newest member of B.I.U.F.O. (the Bureau of Investigation of Unidentified Flying Objects) and to be assigned to a field case, particularly one as juicy as the Waynesboro case. She'd been with B.I.U.F.O. only three months, and she knew her being on the case had irritated some senior investigators back in Washington. Well, as her dad had said, "Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke." She'd earned the opportunity, and it wasn't by sleeping with some high-level politician as she knew several of the other investigators suspected. She had worked her butt off for this chance, and if people would stay out of her way, she'd make sure the hard work paid off. The early spring thaw and rain had been a good omen, although the wet ground made walking a slippery mess. Since the initial reports from the Strategic Air Command over three months ago of a high-speed UFO originating from outside the earth's atmosphere, no one had had any luck locating where it might have gone. North Carolina had suffered one of its worst winters ever, with a heavy burden of snowfall that surpassed all previous records. It had been two days after the radar sighting before anyone could investigate the report. By that time, a good eight inches of snow had fallen in the region. If the UFO had struck the earth, it had been buried under a heavy blanket of white. B.I.U.F.O. had spent several days of reconnaissance and several thousand dollars of taxpayer money with no results, so they had called off the search until the spring thaw. The thaw had come early, and in the interim Pat had joined the investigative team. She was about to make all that hard work worthwhile. As Pat neared the end of the thin clearing, it became more apparent how the UFO had avoided detection. Evidently, the object had come in low and hard, burrowing its way into the side of the mountain, leaving behind a thin gully covered by the snow. The sides of the ravine had partially collapsed, leaving only the upper few feet of the dull gray dome exposed. Pat ignored the patches of the last remnants of snow, strolling straight through the slush to reach the alien object. I may be the first human to ever see an alien spaceship, she thought. She didn't believe it. More likely she had joined the club of a select group of other humans who had witnessed similar objects, although she suspected few people had been as close to one as she was at this moment. Most UFO sightings were of strange objects streaking across the sky. There were much fewer reports of people visiting crafts that had landed. As she reached the metal dome poking out of the side of the mountain like a giant cold sore, she strolled around it, looking for a way in. There's no question; it's man-made—oops, alien-made. She stopped. Could it be man-made? What if this wasn't an alien vessel but one from some foreign country or even a top-secret American project? Standing next to the craft, her bold move to explore the ship on her own didn't look like such a wise decision. I could have asked James to loan me his revolver. The Colt .45 he wore strapped to his waist wasn't Pat's favorite weapon, but it sure would be comforting to have in case the inhabitants of the ship proved less than cordial. She stopped long enough to be sure the knife, a present from her dad, was securely strapped to her left leg. Small comfort if she met a foreigner with an automatic rifle or an alien with a death ray, but better than nothing. She turned her eyes casually to the trees around her but could see or hear nothing except the usual sounds of the forest, the chirping of the first spring birds mingled with the rustling of the trees. She started walking around the metallic dome again, searching for a way into its interior. She strolled around the complete circumference, finally arriving on the other side of the deep channel. She peered over the edge of the channel. She thought she could make out a slight irregularity at the base where the ship's exterior disappeared into the side of the mountain. Pat scooted down the steep side of the gully, struggling to maintain her balance on the slippery mud, but within a few yards she found herself sliding on her backside out of control. Within moments, the wet mud had soaked through her jeans. As she reached the bottom of the chasm, she threw her right arm out against the ship and caught herself, sending another lightning bolt of pain coursing down her left side. She found the ship's surface surprisingly warm. Could it be from the sun's radiation or did the heat come from within? She regained her footing and squinted her eyes, trying to pierce the dark shadows created by the sides of the channel. What was that in the dark hole next to the ship's surface? An irregularity or dried mud packed against the smooth side? She stumbled over to the short tunnel, finding it difficult to balance on the rocky, muddy surface. It was mud caked on the side—and an irregularity. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she could make out a raised circular pattern. She dug into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out the small flashlight, another present from her father. She twisted the head to turn it on and shone the light beam into the dark recess. "Yes!" The word slipped from her lips with a hiss that sounded eerie as it bounced off the metallic surface. An entrance, it had to be. Did she dare enter the ship before help arrived? It was an insane thought. Her orders from Oliver had been specific. Do not investigate any findings on your own. Wait for backup from the rest of the team. She should climb out of this dark muddy ditch, back to the sunny surface where she belonged, and wait for James to bring Oliver and the rest of the search team. She had had enough heroics for one day. Already, she would receive top recognition for finding the alien vessel, if that's what it turned out to be. Please, dear God, let it be alien. She would get credit for the discovery, whatever it was. Yes, it would be best to wait. She shrugged her shoulders in one of her favorite gestures and winced at the pain on the left side. “Daddy said I didn't know what was best for me.” She slid into the dark tunnel.

https://bublish.com/bubble/stream/orrinbradford/beginnings-freeform-1-19471

Here’s the image wrap cover in the flesh. This is my first attempt at this format. It was a good day yesterday. Two deliveries, three books – one extra copy of Veni Vidi Pici Vol. 1 and two copies of Cinta Bali. There it is in its image wrap cover form. I thought this meant soft cover, but it’s a hard cover, which I like. They really make a superb job of the printing and binding. There’s nary a thing to criticise. Here’s the shelf now. I must make edge labels for them. Note the slip case for the first white one. It’s a $21 option. I’ve just had a call from DHL. Another delivery tomorrow. That’ll be the Japan books. Thick and fast. Later: yet another delivery! Another copy of this book arrived at midday – that makes three copies. I only ordered and paid for two, so that’s a bonus. I had a lot of hassles with this order, inability to log in, being told my files haven’t uploaded two or three times, having to upload again and again. I deserve this free copy. I’m also looking forward to going to the post office to collect another new camera this morning. What, another one? Yes, ‘fraid so. It’s a bit special, this one. It’s a Sigma DP1 Merrill. This is the version I’m getting, with the top mounted optical viewfinder, a $150 extra. Strange name you say? Yes, an American guy called Bob Merrill invented a different type of image sensor called a Foveon sensor. The Japanese company Sigma bought the US company and now are the sole producers of this type of camera, and they named the models after the inventor. The thing is, the design of the camera is a bit clunky compared to the big names – no image stabilisation, slow writing to the card, slow to clear the buffer, slow autofocus, poor battery life. But! The fixed 35mm 28mm equiv. lens (it’s not a zoom) is supposed to be absolutely superb, the equal of Leica, flawless across the frame. And the images it makes have a richness of detail and colour like no other digital camera produces. I’ll post samples soon. It just means you have to operate the camera like a film camera – assume you have limited shots, hold the camera dead steady, work slowly, carry a spare battery (which I ordered). More to come. Why did I buy? They used to be $999, too expensive for what you got, but there’s a new model out so they’re discounting the old model to $699. I took the bait. Later: it arrived and it turned out that there were two batteries in the box to start with. My added battery ($15) makes three. That’s OK, they are very small and light, so I’ll carry them with me. It’s too dull and wet to take photos today. I’ll try another day. The White House says Barack Obama authorised the mission earlier this year and is believed to have been carried out by several dozen special forces troops. Wow, they must have been crowded around him. Did they use a stretcher? Was he sick? The latest addition takes shape. I assume it’s going to be a cafe/restaurant. It was a very dull afternoon. My house is behind it, to the left of the spindly pine tree. The pub is just to the left. If it’s a coffee place, they’re going to shake up the existing Italian cafe that I criticised a few days ago. Ciao. Speaking of exciting, I got a flyer yesterday addressed to me at this address from iiNet – “Upgrade to iiNet Fibre.” If it’s addressed to me, then I must assume fibre is available here. Wow. They say plans start at $24.95 $49.95 per month, and I know the installation cost for the interface boxes is around $800, I think. I’ll check it out. If the fibre comes right to my house, I’ll be able to thumb my nose at Minister for Communications Malcolm Turnbull who is trying to restrict fibre to nodes nearby, using the existing copper wires for the final connection. Fibre all the way to the house (ftth) = potential 1Gb/s. Using the copper wires (fttn) = 100Mb/s or less. Good one Malcolm. You are crippling Australia to save money. This is the typical approach – oh, we can’t afford it now, we’ll do a sub standard job and maybe fix it later. Like the three lane (2+1) bridge over the freeway at Warwick, forever restricting Reid Highway to one lane each direction. One lane! For a major highway in Perth! Fools.

https://bullsroar.me/2014/08/21/

If your business phone system can be referred to as “retro,” “old school,” or “vintage” then it may be time to seriously consider an upgrade. For small and medium sized business owners, wearing multiple hats and juggling a variety of disciplines is just another day. Because of this, an outdated phone system is pretty low on the priority list. If it rings and you can answer it, then nothing to worry about – right? Unbeknownst to a lot of entrepreneurs, their phone systems are actually sapping money away from their bottom line. Today we’re sitting down with Shana Mallin, Director of Customer Premise Equipment at Frontier. She leads a team that provides voice, data and Wi-Fi solutions to all types of businesses. She has supported hundreds of customer applications, overseen hundreds of installations and solved multitudes of real-world use cases involving voice networks. So you could say she knows a little something about how phones and businesses interact. Presenter: Welcome to “Gain Your Edge,” the podcast created for IT professionals, business owners and leaders looking to sharpen their edge over the competition. Our ever-perceptive host, Skip Lineberg, introduces you to industry thought leaders. Listen and learn from their insights as Skip gets inside the mind of our guest gurus, revealing new ideas, opportunities and insightful updates for you. It’s all sponsored by Frontier Business Edge, your edge in success. Now, here’s our host, Skip Lineberg. Skip: Welcome to Episode 27 of “Gain Your Edge,” a twice monthly podcast on all things IT. I’m your host, Skip Lineberg, senior marketing manager with Frontier Communications. Our goal with “Gain Your Edge Podcast” is to help you gain a competitive edge for your business. I wanna remind you that you can find all 26 prior episodes of “Gain Your Edge” our full content archive at frontier.com/gainyouredge. We’re on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I have so much respect for folks who run small and medium size businesses. That’s one reason I love doing this podcast. Any small way that I can give those business leaders and entrepreneurs an inside view into how to make IT work for them is a win in my book. And I know that every person who runs or helps run one of those businesses has to be a professional juggler. They have so many things in the air at once, so many things to keep track of in a wide range of disciplines, from financials to personnel, and of course, IT. With so many things happening at the same time, it’s easy to let things that aren’t emergency sit on the back burner even if they need attention. And for a lot of folks today that non-emergency is an old outdated phone system, you know, the one that’s paid for and when you pick up the receiver you still hear a dial tone. The only problem with the backburner approach, though, is that unbeknownst to a lot of business leaders their phone system is actually sapping money away from the bottom line and kicking the can down the road on updating your phone system is only making it worse. My guest on “Gain Your Edge Podcast” today is Shana Mallin, Director of Customer Premise Equipment at Frontier. She leads a team of account executives and products specialists who provide voice data and Wi-Fi solutions to businesses, nonprofit organizations and other institutions. Shana has supported literally hundreds of customer applications, overseen hundreds of installations and solved for multitudes of real-world use cases involving voice networks. So, yeah, you could say she knows a little something about how phones and businesses interact. Good morning, Shana. Thanks for joining me on the show, or, I suppose I should say, welcome back. Shana: Well, thank you. Good morning. Skip: Well, Shana, today, you know, we’re talking about old phone systems. And I wanna just start big picture and ask you a painfully obvious question to get us started here, why are we even talking about phones today? Shana: I guess, you know, there’s a lot of neat technologies, Skip, out there and we support most of it, but the idea of replacing a phone with, let’s say, a cell phone or a PC to communicate is a great idea, but we see that our customers, more often than not, always go back and choose an actual phone, an actual key set. Shana: The technologies out there, yeah, it works, but I’d say the handset wins. You know, going back to maybe changing the question just a little bit here, going back to voice. You know, my kids would disagree with me if I were to say this, but I would say voice is king, you know. There’s a lot of emailing going on and texting, and chat as well. And there’s a great place for that, very effective, it’s a great way to communicate, but in our business world, Skip, we’re trying to build relationships, move forward, solve complex business issues and make important business decisions. And when we do things like that, voice is still the most effective way of doing that. We’ve got those different tools, like screen sharing, and video and chat, and they add value. And I would still say that voice wins. Skip: Yeah. Well, you know, one of the other things that we’re trying to do in the business world today is to provide incredible care for customers and with empathy, a lot of times. And how can you do that without voice? Shana: Right, exactly. Absolutely. Skip: You know, Shana, your statement there, which I love, how many times have you said, where you took something offline and you went to voice, whether you were solving a problem or settling a disagreement, or making a decision, how many times have you said to the other person, “Boy, I’m glad we had a phone call about this”? Shana: When there was an issue, or an important decision, every single time, because it’s really the most authentic way to communicate, because in email and text you don’t hear the intonation, so it’s up to, you know, your interpretation. Skip: Absolutely. Okay, so let me play devil’s advocate for a second. Say I’m a small- or medium-sized business owner, and my phone works. Now, it’s not new by any means, and definitely doesn’t have any bells or whistles, and the old white plastic is turning a little beige, but, you know, I don’t think I need bells and whistles, and I’m not so concerned that the color is fading. But, you know, when I pick up that receiver, Shana, I still hear a dial tone, and everything’s working, and that’s about all I need, isn’t it? Why should I think about upgrading? Shana: You know, that’s a great question. And I would say that is probably our most important job as salespeople when we go in to talk to a customer, because it’s our job to go in and help them to talk about their business and identify how we can help them grow. Sometimes our customers don’t really know what needs they have and what problems they’re having until we actually go in and roll up our sleeves and talk to them. There are so many ways that we can help them. Let’s say, my favorite here, increasing revenue, we can help decrease cost, we can help improve customer service with our solutions, but we’ve got to go in first and do a deep dive, and then we can help bring that out, help identify the need. Skip: Okay, so the reasons for the upgrade, you touched on a few of them, and I know we’re going to get deeper into these, but increasing revenues, driving productivity, operating more efficiently, increasing customer experience, I think those are very high-level business objectives for most companies, aren’t they? Shana: Absolutely. Do you want me to give you a few examples? You know I love examples. Skip: Please, I’d love that. Shana: Okay, cool. So, how can a system increase revenue? So, one way we can do this is making sure that a company’s sales rep, or even customer service reps, never miss a call. So calls today can follow you or sales reps, let’s say, for example, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, if they’d like, and being in sales myself, I don’t wanna miss any calls. So, you know, one missed call can result in losing a future opportunity, or an opportunity that I could help my customer and provide them with an exceptional after-hours experience, and both of those are very important to our business. The other one is decreasing cost. So, there’s no more, “he said she said.” Like, for example, calls can be recorded today for quality service, and we say, “Calls will be recorded for quality service,” but really, that’s an opportunity for us to bump up, let’s say, an order that was taken over the phone against a recorded call so we can make sure there’s accurate information being taken. So no more like giving away the farm because of a “he said she said” situation. And I’ve got one more for you if you want it. Skip: Yeah. Oh, please. Shana: Okay. So, improving customer service which is one of my favorites, because the tools that we have available on our phone systems, and these are imbedded tools, many of them. They really help improve a customer’s experience, and that’s one of the biggest goals of besides increasing revenue, right, that businesses have. So, calls, for example, can be routed to the first available person, or even routed to the best available person based on their skills so that your customers don’t have to wait and they can have a positive experience. We can also integrate a business’ CRM tools their phone solutions so that every time a customer calls, their account can pop up on an employee’s screen so that they can see all the details of the customer, their history, and what products they have, or who they’re even talking to. They don’t wanna be transferred around from person to person till they get the right representative. So, all of these things can really help to improve customer service. Skip: Yeah, and that’s awesome. You’re gonna tell me next that if someone has been transferred that the history of the call, the conversation that the customer has engaged in, thus far, can be transferred with that call, that data can go with it. Shana: Believe it or not it can. Shana: It really can. It all adds to a great experience, and, you know, it saves time and increases our reps’ productivity. They don’t have to pull up accounts and do the research before they can have a valuable conversation. Skip: Yeah, and if I put myself in the customer’s shoes, I don’t have to start back at ground zero and explain everything all over again to a new person, and that’s really frustrating when I have to do that. Skip: So, Shana, let’s shift gears for just a second. We’re going to come back to customer experience because it’s so vitally important. But for now, I’d like to pick your brain a little bit about this scenario of a fatal failure, because that phone system that we described earlier, the one that still works, and, you know, some of the keys are chipped and the plastic has faded, no bells and whistles, let’s say that’s 20 years old or more. I have to believe, when that thing fails, and it will fail, that it’s going to fail hard. And when it fails it’s going to shut down that business’ communication for probably weeks. Is that a fair assessment, Shana? And help us think through the steps involved in that fatal failure scenario. Shana: Well, it is possible, absolutely. And I would say, first of all, what’s most important here is to be prepared. Preparation, preparation, preparation. You know, it’s technology. It’s so much better to be prepared, to have a plan, and to have an upgraded system that actually has tools that’s gonna help you improve the business. Skip: I can see that. So, Shana, some of these old systems that we’re talking about in a hypothetical here, some of those manufacturers are out of business, right? Shana: Yes, absolutely. Skip: And are there markets like…can I just Google the part that I need and hope that I can find it somewhere? Or is that a pipe dream? Shana: Oh, no. You will find the parts. You can go to Craigslist and eBay and find the parts. The problem is, you don’t know what’s that part been through, and who is gonna install that, and the person who installs it, are they certified? Shana: I wouldn’t do that at all. I think for me, the main thing would be a warranty, or, you know, any type of maintenance support after the fact. So I just wouldn’t recommend it. Skip: Okay. And so, Shana, let me just ask you one more question in this situation. What is the typical timeline there from first call, whether it’s planned or unplanned, to installation? I know there’s going to be a range, it’s not going to be a specific answer, but how many weeks are we talking about in a typical scenario? Shana: Sure. So, I would say if it’s something that’s planned, where there’s no emergency here, we ask for between six to eight weeks, but there are so many moving parts in that, Skip. Each situation is completely different. Skip: Okay. Thank you, Shana. That’s great. Great information to have. Let me ask for the customer who’s listening today who has that old phone system, it’s 20 years old, you know, they’ve been putting off upgrading for year after year. I’m going to ask you to share with us some names of these really old obsolete systems that really concern you that they may be impossible to repair. Could you share some names with us? If a customer were to look down at their phone system, the handset, and see a certain name, what are these red flag ones? Shana: Well, for me, personally I would say the Meridian, Merlin, Minx, Kixx, BCMs, Telrad. And those are the ones that come to mind. Skip: Okay. And elaborate a little bit on why those are particularly risky in terms of a failure, and getting those to come back in service if something were to fail. Skip: That says a lot right there, Shana. The fact that we won’t sign off on it. Can I just infer from that, and maybe make a recommendation to the listeners who own such an old phone system? Is it fair to say to them that they are accepting an undue measure of risk? Shana: This is a livelihood of their business. You know, God forbid, their email goes down for a little bit. You know, lights go out, the air conditioning goes out, they’ll survive for an hour or two, but when your phone system goes out, you need your phones. That is the backbone of your business. So, I would say, don’t mess around with that. Skip: Hey, Shana, there’s another cost associated with this than simply customers being able to get in touch with you, and that’s the cost of productivity, or compromise productivity. Like we said before, newer phone systems have a ton of features that business owners may not even know exist. But for the dial tone diehards out there, why are these features important in terms of productivity? Shana: Oh, wow, I like that question. Skip, you know, I believe that 9:00 to 5:00 is obsolete, and after hours are just as critical to your business as the traditional working day. And as an employee, I expect to be able to function and support my customers and grow my book of business 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So, the tools today give us access to our voicemail, our email, incoming calls before and after business hours, and clearly, my productivity is going to increase, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. And guess what? You’re not paying me to work after hours, but it’s what I need to do to grow my business. I have a few things that come to mind here. One of them is one number reach. You know, one number reach makes me available to support my customers or win business when my customers are ready to buy. And, again, that’s not always between 9:00 and 5:00. Skip: Well, that sounds cool. Tell us a little bit about one number reach. Shana: Okay. So, one number reach is basically when someone calls my phone number, my direct number, it’s going to ring all my devices simultaneously, dynamically, and then I can see who’s calling me, and I can choose to answer or not, and if it’s a customer of course I’ll answer it. But let’s say I don’t get to it in time, it’ll go back to the voicemail at my office, so I can go in and I can retrieve that message, or the message can be sent to me in an email, but I have the opportunity after hours to answer that call on any device. Skip: From what you’re telling me, one of the great new things about all this, is you can sort of direct the flow of all this information. It’s not a cookie-cutter one-size-fits-all solution anymore, is it? Shana: No, absolutely. You know, maybe somebody from accounting, they don’t want their calls to follow them after 5:00 o’clock at night, so that’s not the way that their phone would be programmed. But I do. And let’s say I have my phone programmed like that, and now I’m off to a cruise in the Caribbean. Well, I’m not gonna get any calls coming through some of that time because of limitations, right, of what the cruise can offer me. So what I would do is I would just reprogram my phone from home or at the office. It takes me about 10 seconds to do it, it’s very intuitive. And I would just turn off my one number reach so that my calls can be routed appropriately while I’m on vacation. Skip: That’s cool. That is so cool. Shana: Yeah, yeah. Another one, Skip, is unified messaging. And that’s another way of saying voicemail to email. So during business hours, before and after, any message that’s sent to my voicemail can be sent to my email as a wave file. And that’s really great for me, because I no longer have to depend on, you know those little pink slips that say, “While you were out…”? Shana: And someone writes down a message? Okay. Skip: I still see those. I still see those today. Shana: No. Really? Shana: Okay. Well, wait, if you’re using those, we need to talk, really. Because if someone hands me a slip that says, “So and so called and please call him back.” I don’t have the opportunity to hear the intonation of my customer. I don’t get to know the details of why they’re calling. And now I’ve got to call them back. What if they don’t answer the phone? And it takes us three days to get in touch with each other going back and forth? If they can have an opportunity to leave me a voicemail, and I can hear immediately and call them right back with the information they’re looking for, it’s not a, you know, phone tag, “Oh, you know what? I didn’t know you were calling about that. Let me do the research and call you back.” That’s all gone. So that unified messaging, or voicemail email we call it, that is such a game changer. Skip: Well, I think you’ve just contrasted productivity in the one case, versus complete inefficiency in the other. The old pink slip, wait to call back, hope that they’re there when you call back. In fact, you know, what I was thinking about the pink slips is what if the paper is lost, you know, that pink slip blows off the desk, or it gets misplaced, or I take it with me and tuck it in the console of my car, and then somehow it disappears. That’s not great customer service, is it? Shana: No. And as a sales person, what if it’s that one deal you’ve been waiting for? You know. Skip: Oh, yeah, absolutely. Shana: I would say a huge game changer. And you know the last one, this is one of my favorites, I’ve got to throw this one in is chatting, instant messaging. When I’m on a call, I can actually answer someone else’s question. Like if someone is pinging me, and they’re asking me a question about something. I can answer their question and help them move forward and with their business. So I can ping somebody and ask them a question to help my customer in that moment. So I don’t have to hang up, get the information, call them back, put them on hold, or transfer them to get to speak with someone else. I can answer questions immediately. It increases my productivity. It gives my customer a great experience and it saves the cost, too. I mean, time is money, is it not? Skip: Absolutely, absolutely. Hey, let’s talk about one of my pet peeves. And I think maybe I share this with a lot of people who regularly spend time on the phone, the endless robot runaround. You know when you call someone, hoping to get a real human being in one or two steps, and instead you’re stuck in limbo, you’re wasting time. I’ll be honest. Sometimes I’ll just hang up and never call back to that business again. Is that a cost with outdated phone systems in your experience, Shana, that this compromise customer experience? Shana: Well, first, I’d love to have the phone numbers of the businesses that you would hang up on because I really do know somebody who they should talk to. Skip: Yeah, okay. Shana: So, you know, it’s our business to make sure that the phone systems are programmed in a way that supports your business and provides your customers with the great experience, that means the ring timers, the hunt groups, the re-call programming and so on. That shouldn’t happen. Your customer shouldn’t get lost in a voicemail hoop or loop or anything like that. We have to do a thorough discovery and program it so your customers have a great experience and in position. One thing I’ve noticed, Skip, is that we’ve seen a shift from using automated attendant, going back to live answer. Shana: It’s still there. Yeah, yeah, it’s still there, and people still use it. Some just use it for after hours, some use it all day, but I do see a shift as compared to years ago. But I do agree, I also hang up when I’m put into that loop. And here’s an interesting scenario. Have you ever gotten a call back when you hang up? Skip: No, I haven’t. Shana: Okay. So this is really a great tool that we have for our phone system. So let’s say you’ve got a customer and they call, and they go through the voicemail loop, or let’s just say you don’t answer the phone at all, there’s no one to answer the call. They hang up. Nobody calls them back. You can have a report that is sent to you as a manager or as a sales rep or customer service. It could be sent to you once a day, it could be to you every hour with all of the “abandoned calls” so that we have an opportunity to call our customers back and see how we can serve them. That is also a huge game changer right there. You can miss out on an opportunity, you can miss out on, you know, supporting your customer. Skip: Yes, of course. Shana: And, you know, there are other reports, Skip, besides that that can actually analyze call volume, and they can help business owners adjust staffing to support high and low call volumes. And we’re not talking huge contact centers here, huge call centers. Any business small or large, if you have a group of people, or two people, three people that answer calls, many calls at a given time, there’s an opportunity there that we can help, and we can route calls appropriately based on availability, scale. We can show you reports where you can say, “You know what, we don’t get any calls between 1:00 and 3:00 so we can probably have just one person answering the phone there, but we get all of our calls between 11:00 and 1:00, and we need to at least have four people answering the call.” So you can staff appropriately. Skip: That is so valuable. Wow. You can certainly move people around. It’s not like you’re going to hire less people, or you’re going to lay people off, but you’re just going to redirect resources, right? So someone that’s filling orders or involved in order entry, or shipping during a certain part of the day, could be reassigned for an hour or two to help out with incoming calls. Shana: Yeah, and as you know, and I’ve worked first small businesses for many years, that we all wear multiple hats and in a smaller business. And so, I might be entering calls at one time to support the call flow, but my main job could be something entirely different. But I can certainly add value during those times and just be placed into a hunt group to answer calls. Skip: That’s neat. You know, drilling down into a customer experience further, I would imagine, you got my wheels turning here, but with the modern phone technology that a small business could even have day of the week or seasonal intelligence built into their phone system so that the phones would know when it’s a holiday, the phones would know when the businesses are open or closed. Does that really exist or am I dreaming? Shana: No, no. I would say, hey, if you can think of it, we can make it happen. It can’t make coffee, but we can get pretty darn close. Shana: So what you’re talking about is basically…I’m not going to use the acronyms here, but we can pre-program the automated attendant to answer based on time, day, and it can say different messages for different holidays. So when we program a system, you can give us a list of all your holidays, and we can have, you know, your Christmas or Thanksgiving, or New Year’s greeting, for, you know, that specific day from… and start at 8:00, ends at 5:00 and then it goes back to the regular greeting. We can program all of that for you ahead of time so that you don’t have to the day before a holiday call us and say, “Hey, can you call in?” Or, “Can you roll a truck out to program this? We’re gonna be closed and we want our customers to know.” All of that can be done ahead of time, and it’s so intuitive. We can teach you how to do it yourself so that if you wanna change it, or make a modification, you can. But, yes, it’s all programmable and we can even program like a day and night ring. So if you start every day at 6:00 am, the phones can all go off of auto attendant at 6:00 a.m., and go back on auto attendant, let’s say, 7:00 p.m. or whatever your hours are. Skip: I love it. That’s going to translate directly into a better customer experience. Shana: Always, yeah. Skip: Okay, Shana, so, assuming that we’ve convinced some listeners out there of the merits of upgrading their old outdated phone system now instead of waiting until the voicemail hits the fan, so to speak, how should they go about making positive changes? How can they get started? Shana: You know, I would say, give us a call. We can visit with you, we can learn about your business, and like I said earlier, you know, the conversation is no longer about, “How many phone lines do you have? How many phones do you need?” It’s really about your business. What do you do? What do you need? How do you grow? We roll up our sleeves, and we go and we take a consultative approach, and we develop a solution that’s going to help you grow your business before your system tells you that it’s time. I’m confident, I am 100% confident that we can show you how we can help you to increase your revenue, decrease your cost, and improve your customer’s experience. Skip, I hope I’ve got you sold. Skip: I’m sold. I’m sold. Shana, thank you so much for joining us today, coming back on the show and sharing your insights. I know you agree that anything you or I can do to help corporate technology managers and small business owners out there in the trenches save money and operate more successfully, well, that’s been a good day, hasn’t it? Skip: Thanks again. Shana: You’re welcome, and thanks for having me. This was really fun. Skip: That’s a wrap on Episode 27 of “Gain Your Edge.” Today, we’ve learned a lot about old outdated phone systems, how those can cost your business money. I hope this has been valuable for you today. I encourage you to download this podcast and share it with a friend. You can do that on our website frontier.com/gainyouredge, or on iTunes. Please join me, Skip Lineberg next time on “Gain Your Edge.” Until then, be careful especially if you’re kicking an old can down the road. Stay sharp everyone.

https://business.frontier.com/blog/podcasts-podcast-your-phone-system-isnt-retro-its-hurting-your-business/

It’s not a serious piece of kit, but you can have some serious fun with this little camera. When I read the review, I thought it was a little gimmicky. Then I saw the Stuff TV video review, and I couldn’t wait to buy one. The Canon D10 is the best companion on wet holidays.

https://buyousef.net/tag/swimming-pool/

President Donald Trump used to warn us against rising crime rates again and again in the course of his election campaign. However, in reality, the overall picture is much brighter than what is seems. It turns out that crime rates in California and in the United States as a whole are, in fact, decreasing. Based on data from recent years gathered by official authorities, in the years 2010-2015, U.S. imprisonment rate went lower by 8.4%. Violent and property crime rates declined by 14.6% combined. 2015 crime rates are half of what they used to be in 1991. California experienced a more moderate decline of 1.1% in property and violent crime rate. True, in 2015, there was a rise in crime rate, but if we compared it to the previous decade, the situation is far from being alarming as Donald Trump tried to present it. Violent crime rate in 2015 stood at 426 for 100,000 residents. In 2010 it was 439.2. In 2005 it was 527. The most noticeable improvement occurred in imprisonment rate which shrank by 25% all over California. This was the direct result of passing and implementing the 2011 Assembly Bill 109 (also known as thePrison Realignment Plan) according to which non-serious offenders would be sent to jail instead of state’s prisons. In 2012, Proposition 36 was approved. From that moment on, life sentence for “third strike” was implemented only when it came to especially severe crimes. Proposition 47 from 2014 reduced many felony offenses to the status of misdemeanor crimes. These propositions led to significant reduction in inmate population and, thus to a decrease in the number of California arrest records issued by the state’s law enforcement authorities.

https://californiacriminalrecords.org/blog/crime-rates-in-california

Forensic interviews with children in Scotland: A survey of interview practices among police. La Rooy, D., Lamb, M. E., & Memon, A. The present study surveyed 91 police interviewers in Scottish police forces about their perceptions of how well they adhered to the Scottish Executive (2003) guidelines. Almost all respondents (97%) received the appropriate national training and overwhelmingly indicated (again 97%) that their training equipped them either quite, very, or extremely well for conducting their interviews. Not surprisingly, therefore, most interviewers (88%) believed that their interviews allowed them to obtain full and complete accounts of the events being investigated. However, aside from this positive self evaluation there are reasons to be concerned about some aspects of the interviews being conducted; 1) Most interviewers (78%) received no refresher training, 2) no interviewers received formal feedback about the quality of interviews that they conducted, 3) practice interviews were reportedly not included in most interviews, 4) the use of open-ended prompts were not widely used with 20% of interviewers indicating that they were rarely used, and 5) interviews are not currently being electronically recorded. These results are discussed with respect to the context of child interviewing in Scotland and recommendations for future training.

https://calio.dspacedirect.org/handle/11212/1365

Marc Mendelman is a HR Process Consultant and a passionate of Business Development, Branding and Customer Relationship Management. His main responsibility is to raise the creativity for companies that hire him so that they decide themselves what measures need to be taken. Marc is, amongst other things, a Content Editor for Today Assistant, which is your personal guide through the internet and provides information about logging in into diverse types of accounts. He was born, raised and now lives in Seattle, Washington.

https://career.noomii.com/author/mmendelman/

Is there something that you’ve been dreaming about doing? Something that you visualize, imagine and think about constantly? But you don’t actually take any kind of action on? Maybe it’s to leave your current job, start a brand new venture or decide to start dating again. Whatever it is, so many people get stuck in the “thinking” stage and don’t actually do anything about what they say they want. It’s usually because they are afraid of failing or succeeding. They are too attached to the result and that scares them out of taking any kind of action at all. If you’re struggling to go for what you want, I’ve got an awesome tip for you. Watch this week’s video to learn how to spring into action with one simple step. What have you been dreaming about doing, but haven’t taken action on yet?

https://carlycoopercoaching.com/how-to-spring-into-action/

The Amsterdam School of Economics (ASE) of the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) has a Tenure track Assistant professorship in Behavioural Economics, especially Neuroeconomics. The position is within the Microeconomics section of ASE. This section covers three different research programs: Experimental & Political Economics (CREED), Human Capital, and Markets & Organizations. The Microeconomics section is responsible for teaching most microeconomics related courses at the BSc and MSc level. Candidates are expected to contribute to both research and teaching. Teaching will be at the undergraduate and the graduate level. Non-Dutch speakers are free to teach in English. Research should be aimed at international top journals, in line with the research fellow criteria of the Tinbergen Institute (meeting these criteria is a condition for tenure). A large part of the teaching will be in neuroeconomics related courses that are part of the Neuroeconomics track of the MSc in Business Economics; yet candidates are expected to be able to teach other microeconomics courses as well. Candidates should have or be close to completing a PhD in Economics and have strong skills in Neuroeconomic methods. Candidates with a PhD in one of the core disciplines of Neuroeconomics (e.g., Psychology, Neuroscience) and with a demonstrably strong background in Economics are also encouraged to apply. All candidates will be evaluated on their potential for and/or record of excellence in research and teaching.

https://carriere.nrc.nl/vacatures/universiteit-van-amsterdam-uva/tenure-track-assistant-professorship-in-behavioural-economics-especially-neuroeconomics-05437

Following the recent general elections in the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Theresa May is rebuilding her government and has appointed Tariq Mahmood Ahmad, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, as Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He replaces Baroness Anelay of St. Johns, who is now Minister of State for the Department for Exiting the European Union. Premier Alden McLaughlin said in a press release that the appointment of Lord Ahmad is positive for the Cayman Islands since he had a 20-year career working in banking and finance in the City of London. This included a stint at the NatWest Group, where he was a senior manager in corporate banking and financial markets. He was also vice president and marketing director of Alliance Bernstein and strategy and marketing director at Sucden Financial before he joined the government, where in the past year he was the minister for aviation.

https://cayman.finance/2017/06/local-uk-government-appoints-new-fco-minister/

No problems, Programmer_P. I am going to exercise the option of placing you on my ignore list, so I will not see your replies or any further posts. You got help because you got lucky, not because of any good aspects of your approach in the forum. You did not make effort to find the actual problem, since you assumed it was in a particular place. If you had actually put in effort to remove code, to make a smaller example that compiles, links, and exhibits your problem, you would probably have found it yourself. By removing code unrelated to your problem, I am not suggesting all you needed to do was post the one line where you thought the problem is. I am advocating a problem solving approach that is more robust than "I think the problem is here, but here's the rest of my mess for you to sift through while I go and look at other things". If you had removed (or commented out) some lines, recompiled, run again you would have been able to narrow down on the actual cause. And, if you had done that and still not understood why the problem was occurring, other people would have had a more tractable problem to address. This forum exists to help people with problems, true. But the art of asking for help in forums is that you contribute to solving your own problem, through effort to narrow things down, through investigations in which you might find the problem yourself. Not just being lazy, giving up when things aren't immediately obvious, and expecting others to sort through your mess. That is where your logic is faulty. People contribute to forums to help people who help themselves, but get in trouble. They do not participate to help people who expect others to do the hard yards that they should do. And yet, if I had done what you seem to think I hadn't, and "removed aspects unrelated to my problem", no one would have been able to discover the real cause of the problem, now would they have? Seeing as the real problem was to be found in struct 'S_browser'...not in the code that was producing the symptoms of the problem (i.e. in int main() ). I get maybe two dozen requests for help with some sort of programming or design problem every day. Most have more sense than to send me hundreds of lines of code. If they do, I ask them to find the smallest example that exibit the problem and send me that. Mostly, they then find the error themselves. "finding the smallest program that demonstrates the error" is a powerful debugging tool. In other words, besides making it easier for help to be given to you, it also makes it easier for you to help yourself. Consider: if you remove that code, then you don't have a problem. Hence, you have an inkling that the problem lies in the code that you removed when trying to simplify. This is a tool that you can take with you no matter how skilled you become because there is always something that you do not know about programming. Right. Ok, you read my mind...I assumed it was in a particular place. However, I'm reading your mind now, and saying I did NOT assume that it was in the same place as where the problem first appeared, as you believe. YOU assumed I assumed. It is because of posters like you that I actually worded my posts the way that I did to start with, because I have had experiences with poster named 'grumpy' before (aptly named too...). I figured you would react the way that you reacted, and assume I didn't go to any effort to fix my problem. And how dare you say I didn't go to any effort...as if you're seeing through my eyes, and thinking with my mind. You can only speculate and conjecture, going from some words someone has spouted forth. As a matter of fact, I DID go to more effort than you think I did. I didn't just look in the original place of the problem. I looked elsewhere too. But still I did not spot the problem, because I didn't know the right place to look. Ohh...right. And I didn't do that??? Again, this is only your conjecture talking. The real truth of the matter is, I...and I will emphasize this....DID...COMMENT OUT LINES AND RECOMPILED and RUN AGAIN...etc. Do you really think I did not think to do that, or was simply too lazy to do that? That is some bull........, man, because that is not so. I did do all that, but still was not able to locate the real cause of the problem. I knew it was related to attempting to add elements to the vector inside of the map, but all the references I looked at on segfaults showed things like doing things with pointers to objects that don't exist anymore, or attempting to dereference a pointer that was previously deleted, etc. All of the things it said could be the cause, I looked for in my code, but still did not spot it. But that was because I didn't know how the internals of the std::map worked. But now I know a little more about it, thanks to kdmv. Again, this is something you think I did not do, but I did. But I see there's no point in trying to convince you that I did...you're stuck on that same mindset that everyone who asks help for a problem should have gone to incredible amounts of effort to fix the problem themselves before even thinking to ask for help or advice. Yeah...keep telling yourself that one. And maybe one of these centuries, someone will actually believe it. And as if I was actually thinking like that... Man, you don't even know WHAT I'm thinking right now. And I don't know what you're thinking right now...nor do I want to know. Last edited by Programmer_P; 01-07-2013 at 11:03 PM. You are right, but only to an extent. I think people have taken the whole concept of "the smallest and simplest program" a little too far...and now basically want those who ask for help to do unrealistic things, and make the code only a few lines in length, even when one is trying to do somewhat more complicated operations than simply outputting a string... Yes, and that is what basically led to this thread. 1. I wrote code. 2. My code compiled and ran, but then "ended unexpectedly". 3. I immediately went to the debugger, and ran it again, and this time discovered that the reason it ended prematurely when I ran it normally, was because of a segfault. 4. I googled "segmentation fault" or something to that effect, and looked at the results, and read other people's problems with segfaults, and explanations of why they occur. 5. I then looked at my code for any use of any of the things that might produce segfaults. I found none. 6. Several days...and weeks...went by. Each day (ok...maybe that's an exaggeration; some days...), I re-examined my code, commented out lines, rebuilt it and rebuilt it, etc...and looked at information online about segfaults and other things I thought might be the problem causing the segfault, and tried to find out what was causing the problem, but wasn't able to locate the real source of the problem. 7. So I tried to reproduce the problem on codepad.org, using simplified code, and narrowed it down to what I posted in this thread to start with. 8. Then, I created this thread.... And maybe one of these centuries, someone will actually believe it. You don't deserve even a second of the time these folks have spent helping you. I invite you, Programmer_P, to observe that you are the one factor in common to all of your threads, most of which follows this exact same progression. Once again, you've gotten luck in finding help despite how poorly you behave and present your problem. I really hope people remember you this time. Well, I wasn't born perfect. But I guess you think you were. Some are born perfect, some achieve perfection, and some have perfection thrust upon them. Hahaha...and you know this HOW?? Judging from what I've seen of other people all the time, I really don't think that's the case at all... Maybe on the 12th night. This thread is clearly not useful anymore. Problem using a vector iterator in a loop.

https://cboard.cprogramming.com/cplusplus-programming/153537-problem-vector-iterator-post1143888.html?s=bee9f12521a887647ea58b0f788caa3c

A man and woman have been charged with murder over the deaths of two boys in Sheffield, and will appear in court on Monday. The boys, aged 13 and 14, died in what police described as a ‘serious incident’ in the Shiregreen area. Four other children needed to be treated in hospital after the incident at a house on Friday. Police previously said a man, 37, and a woman, 34, had been arrested on suspicion of murder. The woman has also been charged with three counts of attempted murder. South Yorkshire Police said today: ‘Two people arrested on Friday May 24 from a house in Shiregreen have now been charged and will appear at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court on Monday May 27.’ The force has previously said the four other children who were ‘rescued’ from the house had been released from hospital. They were aged 11, 10, three and seven months and cannot be named for legal reasons. Officers were called to the semi-detached house in Gregg House Road at around 7.30am on Friday. Detectives have given no indication about the nature of the incident, but have confirmed it was not a shooting, and said it was confined to the one property. A spokesman said detectives are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident. People living nearby saw more than a dozen police cars and four ambulances arrive on the tree-lined road, and an air ambulance landed in the grounds of the nearby Hartley Brook Primary Academy school.

https://cbtvn.com/man-and-woman-charged-after-boys-died-at-house-in-sheffield/

First published in the Financial Times on 24th June 2014. Are entrepreneurs happy souls? They should be, because in a sense they define what makes us happy. According to research by economists and psychologists, the key to happiness is to find your own path in life. After all, entrepreneurs know that it is autonomy and freedom – the ability to determine one’s own destiny, rather than the money – that is the critical reason why they do what they do. Many of the self-employed earn less than they could working for someone else. But they choose to be their own boss because it gives them more satisfaction and control over their career. This latter aspect is a crucial factor in achieving fulfilment: mastering your own direction in life, rather than letting others do it for you (parents, teachers, bosses and so forth), really matters. Recent research appears to confirm these views. Earlier this month, Babson College published the results of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor study for 2013 in the US. It states: “ On the whole, those who choose a path of entrepreneurship end up . . . more likely to see their lives as ‘excellent’ and ‘close to ideal’ than those who do not become entrepreneurs.” Indeed, on average entrepreneurs rate their well being more than twice as high as the rest of the population. For the first few years of their career, young entrepreneurs do not have bumper scores in the contentment stakes. Improvements in well being come over time. I can empathise: when I was in my 20s, and searching for opportunities, I often felt lost and frustrated. Sometimes I felt a failure, and unlikely ever to reach my ambitions. Almost all entrepreneurs strive in the early days until they adjust to their circumstances or change them. It may be that by nature entrepreneurs tend to be optimists, and unsurprisingly as a breed they are happier than pessimists. Studies indicate that about 40 per cent of one’s happiness is decided through genetics rather than circumstance or nurture. This predisposition can typically be boosted by choosing to plough your own furrow and pursue your passion, rather than conform and simply do what others expect of you. Another factor may be that humans appreciate earned success – they favour an appropriate linkage between merit and reward. Entrepreneurship offers this direct connection. Those who take a risk by inventing something or starting a business can expect just deserts if they win in the marketplace; whereas those who battle their way to the top in a large corporation or institution have to deal with the capricious tendencies of office politics, where triumph may be nothing to do with talent. In many large organisations credit for great ideas is stolen by senior managers – leading to enormous bitterness from junior team members. And this feeds into another conclusion of research into happiness: humans flourish when they are active, and have purpose. Idleness, permanent relaxation and apathy are a path to a misery. I think the vast majority of us have an inbuilt need to be busy, productive and wanted. The important things take effort, and will test you: but the sense of achievement gained thereby is far greater than any enjoyment or gain derived from sheer luck, inheritance or consumption. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “the high prize of life, the crowning glory of a man is to be born with a bias to some pursuit, which finds him in employment and happiness – whether it be to make baskets, or broadswords, or canals, or statutes, or songs”. There are other reasons, too, why entrepreneurs are more likely to be happy than most. For example, they know well, through the exertion of building an enterprise, that the journey is the thing, not the destination. And they also understand that no undertaking is ever close to perfect – it is always a series of pragmatic compromises. This is actually positive news; for we all need fresh goals, and the chance to do better. Entrepreneurs live and work in the real world, and yet they are dreamers at heart, struggling with the rollercoaster of victories and defeats. To me, that is a marvellous combination, and why I am happy to be an entrepreneur.

https://centreforentrepreneurs.org/happiness-is-to-follow-your-own-way-in-life/

Here is another failed query that worked — after two years of trying. My profile based on this pitch, originally drafted in 2012, is scheduled for publication later this month. Its subject is working on a second cookbook, which made for an ideal opportunity to revisit the query and send an updated version to markets I hadn’t tried in the past. For more strategies on following up, you can also check out my recent guest post on Carol Tice’s blog, Make a Living Writing. Profile Subject began her career as a restaurant entrepreneur at the tender age of 22 when she opened a business in her hometown of Starkville, Miss. The restaurant and catering company specialized in Southern food with global influences. Owning a thriving business was an impressive accomplishment for a woman in her twenties, but it was a request from a catering client who wanted to host a Japanese-inspired party in sushi-starved Starkville that ignited Subject’s true passion and encouraged her to explore far beyond her culinary comfort zone. That exploration began in earnest when Subject closed her businesses and moved to Memphis to work as a pastry chef before enrolling in the professional sushi chef program at the California Sushi Academy. While there, she studied under respected sushi chefs and sake sommeliers, taught classes, catered events and observed and worked in restaurant kitchens on her way to becoming the first female African American graduate of the school. Subject then returned to Memphis where she worked at a now-defunct sushi restaurant and refined her specialty of creating sushi with a Southern twist using local and sustainable ingredients. After three years, she decided to leave her position and focus on teaching sushi classes, catering and occasionally creating “tsushi” for the restaurant where she had once worked as a pastry chef. She also shared her passion for Southern-inspired sushi through her book. Would you be interested in a story about this entrepreneur and author who has created innovative rolls that include Southern staples like pickled okra but also shares basic recipes easy enough for anyone to follow? The story could be expanded to include other restaurateurs creating innovative ethnic cuisine or focus on Subject’s and other authors’ adventures with cookbook publishing and promotion. I would be happy to provide a source list that fits the angle of most interest to you. As for my professional credentials, I have 15 of experience as a writing teacher as well as years of reporting experience as a freelancer and staff writer at publications around the country, including The Dallas Morning News. Most recently, I have been working on stories for publication by national magazines and blogs including SUCCESS, Eating Well, DRAFT Magazine, The FruitGuys Almanac and Organic Gardening. Once I know which angles are of most interest to you, I would be happy to provide sidebar ideas, an estimated word count and a working title. Meanwhile, I have included a link to my resume and some writing samples should you be interested. Thanks! I have to admit I was very happy to place this story. As a half Japanese person who grew up in the South, spreading the love of sushi is a pursuit close to my heart.

https://charleneoldham.com/2015/02/17/failed-queries-dont-give-up-on-a-good-story/?replytocom=2995

Southern Living’s Taste of Charleston will be held on Sunday the 25th at Boone Hall Plantation. This 36th anniversary of the Lowcountry’s culinary event of the year, the Taste of Charleston, will showcasing taste-tempting delights served by Charleston restaurants. Historic Boone Hall Plantation is transformed into a sea of culinary enchantment! 40 of the Lowcountry’s favorite casual and fine dining restaurants serving sample size portions + beer and wine. New to the Main Event, with a partnership with the South Carolina Hospital Association, is the Cooking Well Village. There will be cooking demos, hospital chefs around the state competing and much more! Highlights of the Main Event include: specialty and imported beer tasting tent, live music on the main stage by Cowboy Mouth, the legendary “Waiters’ Race” and the “Kid’s Kitchen Sideshow.” Food and drink tickets are sold separately. Children 10 and under are free. Rain or Shine. No Pets, Coolers or Tailgating. Free Parking. Please Carpool. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the following charities:The Ronald McDonald House, Hollings Cancer Center, Shriners Hospitals for Children and Charleston County Schools Science Materials Resource Center.

https://charlestonlowcountryboil.com/tag/taste-of-charleston/

REP Trade Union Leader In Biaroza: I Am Glad That Belarusians Want "To Be Called People" It gives hope for the future. Biaroza human rights activists traditionally celebrated the International Day of Human Rights Protection in the main street of the town, Radio Racyja reports. Along with oral congratulations, residents received a special issue of the newspaper "Narodnaya Volia". 300 copies of the newspaper were distributed in just an hour. This means that people are interested in human rights, Tatsiana Tarasevich, an activist of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Hramada), head of the local branch of the REP trade union, ex-candidate to the "deputies" of the "house of representatives," says. "I am very pleased that people were pleased to take the newspaper. They liked the theme of the day. People are tired of being treated like dirt. They want, as our poet said, to be called people. Even young and middle-aged people don't know about their rights, so they were happy to take the newspaper to "fill the gap," - Tatsiana Tarasevich explained. "There is simply not enough information in the media. People are not informed, they are not told enough." "It never even occurred to me to find out my rights. I have heard that they are guaranteed by the Constitution," - Biaroza residents say. According to Tatsiana Tarasevich, only three people refused to take the newspaper. This is good news and gives hope for the best.

https://charter97.org/en/news/2019/12/11/358661/

Jose Vigo, an IT admin with more than 20 years of experience shares 10 habits that have served him well in his career. This is analogous to the central role of an administrator, whereby having such unfettered access to many or in some cases all systems in an organization, one slip could leave systems and networks inaccessible and unusable, and ultimately wreak havoc on the company’s productivity and most importantly, the bottom line. About 25 years ago, IT management was a completely different animal. Most organizations would not support any device that did not have IT’s stamp of approval, and many IT support teams ruled with an iron fist. Over the years, I’ve caught flak from my peers for my insistence on documenting processes. I assure you it’s not a compulsion or goody-two-shoes complex that drives me. No, it’s actually much simpler and more logical than that. You never know when an incident will occur and, more importantly, where you’ll be when said incident is occurring. If it’s up to you alone to salvage the network and you’re not available, there will be losses all around. However, if a fellow team member or contracted vendor/MSP must be brought in to correct the ship, they should have everything they need to make sure it is done correctly and expeditiously based on your documentation. Plus, it serves as a great refresher, particularly for services that aren’t managed or changed frequently, such as network, controller, and router configurations, for example. Hence, the backup plan. It’s always important to have a backup plan should the initial course of action be impeded by an obstacle. The backup plan should help you to either get the rest of the way there or help to revert back to a working state to minimize downtime. To be as effective as possible, it only makes sense to continue your education—whether it’s formal, through experience, or self-studying—but never stop learning about your craft. The wealth of knowledge will only serve to make you a better admin and can help you work smarter, not harder. It may even help you keep your job or get a newer, more desirable position to go with those shiny new skills. This may seem like a no-brainer, but I’m still surprised when I see some admins moving forward with projects and having never relayed one iota of information regarding what will be taking place or even as a courtesy “heads up” to the users. Additionally, supervisors, managers, and C-suite staff should be included in this communication strategy so that everyone can be on the same page moving forward. Plus, it’s always better to have management on your side, isn’t it? Flexibility does not equal weakness. Be too flexible, and yes, you will find it difficult to get projects off the ground or even completed in the scheduled time frames. But being too strong may result in never getting projects approved ever again–you could come across as too impetuous or bull-headed. It’s best to view strength and flexibility as a sliding scale instead of as a pro vs. con. A certain sense of strength is required to ensure that the network remains stable, secure, and performs exceptionally well, while the flexibility leverages availability, automation, and a little bit of compromise in order to complete the project in a timely manner. It’s interesting that as an IT pro goes up the ranks from help desk to field support to admin and higher, the work ultimately remains the same: We’re still fixing problems essentially, but the scope changes drastically. But users’ perspective doesn’t change much–they’re still concerned with their issues and nothing more. As an admin, you always need to have a clear view of the big picture since most of the changes enacted at your access level have a large-scale impact. It’s important to never lose sight of that, for both the projects being developed as well as the ramifications of our actions, be they helpful or not. Be mindful of the details. Don’t gloss over details in an effort to complete a project or, worse, drive a point home. Thoughtful care and due diligence put toward assessing the viability of the details, as painstaking as it may be, will pay dividends when a project or task is completed with little or no issues. Do not be content running systems as is. What I mean is to not fall into the trap of being comfortable and letting IT become reactive to work orders or requests as they’re made. While that is a style of administration, it does not translate well to change. It will be harder to get projects initiated, let alone completed correctly if not vetted properly. While the network can remain stable and performing well, for now, that is transitory. Over time, new technology will be available, and that facilitates changes to be made unless you wish to run the equipment until it dissolves. No, admins like technology and testing out new gear, verifying how it works with our environments, eventually implementing it, and monitoring it to see how it continues to work long-term. That’s all part of the job until we have to upgrade it again, of course. If I had to pick a most important habit, I’d most certainly pick owning up to your mistakes and learning from them. No one ever sets out to make a mistake, but it happens. There are three parts to a mistake: The act that caused or is the mistake; whether or not we own it; and where we go next with it. What we choose after each step reveals a bit more about us as people and how well (or not) we will handle future situations. There isn’t anyone in any industry who hasn’t made a mistake or two during their career—I know I certainly have. And while owning up to it and learning from it may not necessarily clear you of any wrongdoing, regardless of the scale of the mistake, if it serves as a learning tool for you and a turning point for you to better your skillset (hard and soft skills), then it will make you a better admin.

https://chicorporation.com/10-habits-of-good-network-administrators/?pk_campaign=feed&pk_kwd=10-habits-of-good-network-administrators

CONGRATULATIONS to Pauline Books & Media on being featured on BBC Songs of Praise on Sunday 10th October. They appear approximately 21 minutes into the programme, introduced by Pam Rhodes, as part of the episode’s focus on St Paul. The programme also features the Rt Revd Tom Wright, former Bishop of Durham and, as most readers are no doubt aware, author of many books on Paul and early Christianity. Watch and enjoy the reminder that ours is a faith of the book, spread by the written word: despite all the challenges faced by the trade right now, Christian bookselling is still alive and well.

https://christianbookshopsblog.org.uk/2010/10/11/pauline-books-media-on-bbc-songs-of-praise/

Today marks the release of the comic book epic, 300, about the Battle of Thermopylae. While critics may end up panning the movie for its loving depiction of muscular, nearly-naked caucasian warriors decapitating a faceless army of swarthy foes, the story behind the movie is certainly worth of note. At Thermopylae, 300 Spartan warriors fought to the last man against a Persian army of over a million soldiers, delaying the advance of the army long enough to allow the Greeks to regroup and ultimately defeat the Persians. In doing so, the Spartans, led by King Leonidas, won everlasting fame and glory. Well, at least the last sentence is correct. You see, nearly everything about the story we all remember and believe is wrong. The Persian army probably numbered around 250,000. A Greek army of several thousand, led by the Spartans managed to delay the Persians for three days, before the Persians managed to outflank them (a covering force of Phocian troops inexplicably abandoned their post, sealing the defeat). Leonidas and his men chose to stay and die, possibly in order to fulfill a prophecy from the Oracle of Delphi who had stated that Sparta would burn unless a Spartan king died. At any rate, the sacrifice of the 1,000 bought the Greeks exactly one additional day, as they were quickly overwhelmed by fighting superior armies on two fronts. While Thermopylae was a tactical victory (the Greeks inflicted perhaps 100 times the casualties that they suffered), it was a strategic defeat, and the Persian army continued to advance. Ultimately, the Greeks won the second Persian war because of the Athenian general Themistocles, who correctly reasoned that the Persian army was dependent on the sea for resupply, and managed to inflict enough damage on the Persian fleet during the battle of Salamis to force the Persians to end their campaign. Yet in the end, few people remember that the Greeks won because of their understanding of Persian logistics. They remember, even 2,500 years later, that 300 Spartans gave their lives to defeat the Persians. That, my friends, is the essential story. Storytelling isn’t about conveying a sequence of events. It’s about making an impression and being memorable. It’s about stripping out the extraneous information and focusing on a simple core message that has the power to compel. Freedom. Honor. Glory. As you attempt to persuade, simply using the weight of facts isn’t enough. You need to tell a story that taps into our universal emotions, that takes us on a journey. Don’t just talk about the benefits of your product–help the prospect paint a picture in their mind, both of their struggle, and (with the help of your product) their eventual triumph. In this larger sense, Thermopylae was a strategic triumph. The sacrifice of the Spartans, while of negligible military value, served as the core of an extremely persuasive story, a story which the Greeks told to themselves to boost their morale and hearten them for the struggle, a story which still resonates with us today. Previous Didn’t The RED Campaign Work? Even if the implied cause and effect are erroneous? I guess this is true. Example: Google. The story goes… “Google is succesful because they make simple apps that work”. Google is successful because they decided to embrace an advertising approach that the founders derided as being “evil” a few years prior. Many of the most memorable stories are false. George Washington never chopped down a cherry tree. Pierre Omidyar did not start eBay to trade Pez dispensers. The truth, like life, is usually messy and complicated, and that doesn’t make for a memorable story! One must not forget that Themistocles also played a major role at Thermopylae. If it wasn’t for Themistocles holding off the Persian fleet at Artemesium the Persians would have flanked Leonidas on the first day. Themistocles was actually the real hero in all this; it was his long-standing lobbying on the part of the Athenian navy that built up that force, and his inspired leadership that allowed the Greeks to win tactical and strategic victories at Artemesium and Salamis.

https://chrisyeh.com/2007/03/finding-essential-story.html

Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease in which the inner lining of the large intestine (colon or bowel) and rectum become inflamed. Inflammation usually begins in the rectum and lower (sigmoid) intestine and spreads upward to the entire colon. Ulcerative colitis rarely affects the small intestine except for the lower section, the ileum. The inflammation causes diarrhea, or frequent emptying of the colon. As cells on the surface of the lining of the colon die and slough off, ulcers (open sores) form, causing pus, mucus and bleeding. Although many theories about what causes ulcerative colitis exist, none has been proven. The cause of ulcerative colitis is unknown and currently there is no cure, except through surgical removal of the colon. A theory suggests that some agent, possibly a virus or an atypical bacterium, interacts with the body's immune system to trigger an inflammatory reaction in the intestinal wall. There is little proof that ulcerative colitis is caused by emotional distress or sensitivity to certain foods or food products or is the result of an unhappy childhood. Who is affected by ulcerative colitis? Although children and older people sometimes develop ulcerative colitis, it most often affects people ages 15 to 40. It affects males and females equally and appears to run in some families. Why is ulcerative colitis a concern? Ulcerative colitis requires long-term medical care. There may be remissions - periods when the symptoms go away - that last for months or even years. However, usually symptoms eventually return. Only in rare cases, when complications occur, is the disease fatal. If only the rectum and lower colon are involved, the risk of cancer is not higher than normal. However, the risk of colon cancer is greater than normal in children with widespread ulcerative colitis. The symptoms of ulcerative colitis may resemble other conditions or medical problems. Consult your child's physician for a diagnosis. Biopsy - removal of a sample of tissue (from the lining of the colon) to examine under the microscope. Barium enema - a procedure performed to examine the large intestine for abnormalities. A fluid called barium (a metallic, chemical, chalky, liquid used to coat the inside of organs so that they will show up on an x-ray) is given into the rectum as an enema. An x-ray of the abdomen shows strictures (narrowed areas), obstructions (blockages) and other problems. The child's age, overall health and medical history. The child's tolerance for specific medications, procedures or therapies. The expectations for the course of the disease. While there is no special diet for ulcerative colitis, children may be able to control mild symptoms simply by avoiding foods that seem to upset their intestines. Medication - Abdominal cramps and diarrhea may be helped by medications that reduce inflammation in the colon. More serious cases may require steroid drugs, antibiotics, or drugs that affect the body's immune system. Hospitalization - Children with ulcerative colitis occasionally have symptoms severe enough to require hospitalization to correct malnutrition and to stop diarrhea and loss of blood, fluids, and mineral salts. The patient may need a special diet, feeding through a vein, medications, or, in some cases, surgery. Surgery - Most children with ulcerative colitis do not need surgery. However, about 20 to 40 percent of ulcerative colitis children eventually require surgery for removal of the colon because of massive bleeding, chronic debilitating illness, perforation of the colon or risk of cancer. Sometimes, removing the colon is suggested when medical treatment fails or the side effects of steroids or other drugs threaten the patient's health. Proctocolectomy - The most common surgery is the proctocolectomy (removal of the entire colon and rectum) with ileostomy (creation of a small opening in the abdominal wall where the tip of the lower small intestine, the ileum, is brought to the skin's surface to allow drainage of waste). Ileoanal anastomosis - Sometimes, ileoanal anastomosis ("pull-through operation"), can be performed. The diseased portion of the colon is removed and the outer muscles of the rectum are preserved. The ileum is attached inside the rectum, forming a pouch, or reservoir, that holds the waste. This allows the patient to pass stool through the anus in a normal manner, although the bowel movements may be more frequent and watery than usual.

https://chw.org/medical-care/gastroenterology-liver-and-nutrition-program/conditions/ulcerative-colitis

The “Predator” franchise is one of those series that some believe has gone on too long and others wish had a new installment every few years. While often seen as a companion franchise to “Alien” (in fact two crossover movies were made exploring this relationship) the “Predator” movies have been less popular that the “Alien” films and there have been fewer “Predator” films released to date. That said it’s been eight years since the previous movie “Predators” debuted in 2010 and 20th Century Fox saw fit to produce a new project based on the eponymous alien hunters. Thus we have “The Predator”, the fourth film in the “Predator” franchise and sixth to feature the character on the big screen. Directed and co-written by Shane Black, who played one of the soldiers in the original film, “The Predator” is one of those odd sequels that was demanded but some question if it’s really needed. So does this film succeed in bringing the “Predator” series new life or is it the waste of time some believed it would inevitably be? Let’s take a closer look. This is my review of “The Predator”. “The Predator” takes place years after the first two films as a Predator crash lands on Earth while being chased by a hybridized and advanced Assassin Predator through space. The first Predator’s ship crashes on Earth and the creature’s escape pod is found by Army Ranger Quinn McKenna (Boyd Holbrook) who procures one of the creature’s gauntlets and its helmet as well as a device that allows him to turn invisible. Quinn sends the helmet and gauntlet to his autistic son Rory (Jacob Tremblay) for safekeeping before being arrested and sentenced to psychological evaluation with other misfit soldiers. Meanwhile scientist Casey Bracket (Olivia Munn) is called in by Predator expert Will Traeger (Sterling K. Brown) to help research the captured Predator but they soon learn the aliens may be collecting specimens to produce a super race of Predators using the DNA of humans and other creatures. As the superior Assassin Predator arrives friend and foe come together to try and fight off a threat stronger than ever before. So I’m going to be blunt…this movie is just so…bland I guess is the word I’m going to use. I didn’t despise it but I have no reason to ever watch it again. The acting for me is a big part of that. “The Predator” sports an extremely bland script (I’ll touch on that more later) which doesn’t really allow any character’s personality to shine. The cast isn’t horrible really. You’ve got Boyd Holbrook who played a great villain in “Logan” and takes on an anti-hero role here. Olivia Munn is a capable actress when she’s actually given good material and underrated performers like Keegan-Michael Key, Thomas Jane and Jacob Tremblay (you know the kid from “Room” and “Wonder”) are also on board. On paper this looks like an awesome cast but the result is not what I expected. Due to a poor script and a story structure that’s all over the place none of these characters have time to breath and thus it feels like every actor is trying to forcefully summarize everything we need to know about their characters into mere minutes of screen time. Normally I’d break down specific performances here but despite some attempts at great characterizations, especially in regards to mental illness, no one really shines at all in this movie. It truly feels like everyone is a bit over the top. The characters swear and flex their muscles seemingly just to look tough or add some forced levity to the film. I think one of the biggest sinners in this regard is Sterling K. Brown as Predator expert and agent Will Traeger. I’m not as familiar with Brown outside of his brief role as N’Jobu in “Black Panther” but here he’s the stereotypical egomaniac government agent who thinks his authority makes him better than anyone else. Now this is a character trope that can sometimes work really well, especially in this kind of movie, but in “The Predator” Brown just comes off as that high school bully who swears because swearing is bad and picks on those he sees as below him even though he himself is a bigger loser in the grand scheme of things. It’s just an unlikable character in all the wrong ways. He’s not even a fun villain to embrace. But this performance kind of defines the issue I have with pretty much every actor in this movie. Whether it’s because of poor writing or the actors’ attempts to force some kind of personality into their roles to makes their characters stand out everything is so over the top that it’s actually ridiculously unbelievable and makes the characters at to be more lame than awesome. I will give credit where its due though to a few actors. Brian Prince portrays the Predator and his acting is pretty spot on. Ironically this has a lot to do with the fact that the Predator doesn’t talk, again showing how the script is probably one of the biggest flaws of this movie. Instead it’s the precise movements used to capture what we have come to accept as the typical Predator mannerisms and style. If you came into this movie to see the Predator you know and love you’ve got it thanks heavily to the actor inside the suit. I also give credit to Jacob Tremblay who has already proven to be a capable and talented young man in front of the camera. Of all the actors in this film Tremblay’s performance is probably the most subtle and layered in terms of how his character deals with his autism and the Predator attack. It’s still flawed, in my opinion mostly due to poor directing and writing, but it’s a standout performance in a cast filled with more experienced actors who fail to come anywhere close to matching the young prodigy. “The Predator” overall is an absolute mess but that doesn’t mean it’s all bad. As I said above, if you’re going to the movies to see the Predator in action you get what you paid for. When the humans and Predator interact and fight it out it is pretty cool even if you can’t really tell where anyone is in relation to each other and it takes the entire movie to get to that point. There’s plenty of gore and brutal kills from the well-designed Predator and Assassin Predator and even a few Predator Dogs in the mix too which adds a nice touch to the creature’s lore. Throughout its history the “Predator” series has pretty much always been about the creature’s penchant for creative and brutal kills and the gruesome visuals associated with those deaths. “The Predator” is no different earning its R rating in visuals alone and killing off characters you fully expect to die, but they’re killed in ways you may not have predicted. It’s a lot of fun and I wish the film had more of this because that’s really what I was looking for in a modern “Predator” movie. Despite its sloppy execution “The Predator” also doesn’t feel unnecessary. It does, in fact, add to the mythos of these creatures by exploring how the Predators are advancing themselves and even explores ever so slightly why these aliens continue to return to Earth time and time again. In better hands I dare say the idea of a super powered predator coming to Earth would actually have been an intriguing story. Adding in the Predator Dogs was a nice touch to expand on the species and further develop the idea that the Predators are utilizing DNA of other creatures to improve upon themselves. And while I have my reservations I can’t help but credit the filmmakers for adding in characters with mental illnesses. All of Quinn McKenna’s crew suffer from different issues, many the result of action on the battlefield. Thomas Jane’s character has Terrets and while it’s played off as a joke from what I understand about the disorder Jane presents the disorder pretty accurately. There’s even times where their mental disorders get in the way of their survival and times where their disorders prove to give them an advantage. These are great ideas that I think would have been suitable for a much better film. While they’re not presented in a way that I found enjoyable or pleasing the fact that these little details were added in at all gives at least something credible to “The Predator”. The problem is I feel like these mental illnesses weren’t respected as much as they were played off for humor. As I said in my “Acting” segment there’s not enough time given to any character to really develop them properly and even some of the mental disorders are phoned in to the point where it’s hard to tell exactly what’s wrong with these people. I don’t know, even for someone like me whose most pressing mental issues are extreme anxiety and depression I found it a bit insulting that these illnesses were used more as levity than to actually create complex characters worth investing in. Add to that a horrible script which seems to lean more on putting it as much vulgar language as possible in the movie than actual human dialogue and you have a film that tries way too hard to be funny and action packed at the same time without truly committing to either approach. Characters swear for absolutely no reason other than to justify the R rating (Olivia Munn calls a Predator a mother f#%*&r just because when she first sees it on the operating table) and their conversations and exchanges are as bland, boring and cliché as action movies ever tend to get. We even get that father/son moment to add some heart to the picture with no developed relationship between the two. On top of all that the pacing is really wonky and the story feels extremely bland with the entire thing revolving around retrieving an item the first Predator in the film brought to help humanity. That item ends up being nothing more than a McGuffin and when we finally find out what it is it’s not only underwhelming but feels like it was created to push this franchise in a direction I for one would hate to see it go. And if all that wasn’t enough for me I just didn’t find “The Predator” to be as much fun as it should have been. Yes, there’s plenty of action and some new elements to embrace but overall I felt the film was a contrived and uninspired attempt to continue the “Predator” franchise for a new generation of unthinking, uncaring mindless moviegoers simply satisfied with explosions, blood and a few decent quips. It panders to the lowest common denominator of this franchise’s fan base which is sad when you consider it shouldn’t be THAT hard to create an engaging and enjoyable “Predator” movie. “The Predator”, to put it bluntly, was a huge disappointment even if it was a disappointment I was fully prepared to experience. It leans heavily on tired clichés, underdeveloped characters, a bland script and what felt to me to be an uninspired story that tries too hard to be one thing or the other without ever successfully mashing genres like the original. It does sport some decent characters, as underdeveloped as they are, who suffer from mental illness which begs to question how such people would survive with a super powered hunter on their tails, but it never really makes good use of these aspects and instead feels more insulting than anything else. Still I can’t say it wasn’t a bit of harmless fun. The gore, weaponry, and creature designs were all pretty neat. The final showdown with the Assassin Predator was predictable but awesome and there are some added aspects that DO in fact build on the Predator lore properly. All things considered it’s a bland action movie and while the “Predator” series has never been the pinnacle of cinematic perfection I can’t help but feel like it’s seen better days. My take: I would even go so far as to call this the least enjoyable standalone movie in the series to date.

https://cinemaspotlightblog.com/2018/09/14/review-the-predator/

Morning/evening practice: Fifteen minutes. Repeat the idea slowly, just once. Then watch your mind; observe your thoughts. As each thought crosses your mind, give it to the Holy Spirit. Then listen as He gives it back in purified form. What He will do is take your thought and strip away all the egoic elements in it, leaving only whatever light that was contained in it: the love, the kindness, the pure intentions, your desire for peace and for God (for teaching on this idea, see T-5.IV.8:1-6). For example, let’s say the thought you give Him is “I’m running out of time to get this task done.” The purified version that you receive back from Him might be “I really want to do this right. I want to do right by the people this affects.” In other words, you will be giving Him thoughts that are very mixed bags—patterns of darkness interlaced with threads of light. When He gives them back, however, only the threads of light will be left. They will be pure light, and so will reveal the light in you. And you will see them come together into a single, perfect thought, which will shed its blessing on everyone. Remarks: This process of purification of your thoughts will resurrect your mind, making today your personal Eastertime. It will also inaugurate your ministry. For your ministry is simply to extend your purified thoughts, which will release everyone from guilt and teach them their sanctity. Repeat the idea (which basically means that you can see in all things—in the world and in your mind—the interpretation that the Holy Spirit has given that thing. You can experience all things as echoes of the Voice for God). Thank the Holy Spirit for the purified thoughts He gives you, and trust that the world will happily accept those thoughts as its own. This seems to imply that on the hour you will do a miniature version of the longer practice—perhaps giving a thought to the Holy Spirit and listening for Him to give you back a purified version of that thought. The world as we see it seems to bear unrelenting witness to separation, sin, death, hatred, and the transient nature of everything. The world seen with the vision of Christ, as the Holy Spirit sees it, bears witness to the truth, to unity, holiness, life, love, and the eternal nature of everything. Everything is echoing the Voice for God, all the time, but we do not hear it. We hear the ego’s voice with relentless consistency. The two views could not be more stark in their contrast. Why do we display such a prejudice for the ego’s view? It is like the line in Shakespeare’s Hamlet: ” The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” It is the behavior of someone who is trying to shout down their doubts with protestations of absolute certainty. So, to the Holy Spirit, our very “certainty” of the world’s reality is a proof of underlying doubt! We are certain even when it is unreasonable to be certain, and that is a certain evidence of hidden uncertainty. We who study the Course are used to the idea that we project our guilt and anger onto others. Here, however, the Course introduces the idea that there is a way in which our egos project themselves onto us. The ego doubts. The ego condemns itself. The ego alone feels guilt. Only the ego is in despair (see 5:1-6). But it projects all of these things onto us, and tries to convince us “its evil is your own” (6:2). It plays this trick on us by showing us the world through its eyes, and introducing the things of the world as witnesses to our evil, our guilt, our doubt and despair. The ego is desperate for us to see the world as it wants us to because the ego’s world is what proves to us that we are identical with the ego. For instance, it leads us to evaluate our own spiritual progress and to find ourselves wanting; it induces us to despair. Why? Because it [the ego] is feeling despair. It knows (without admitting it) that it is going to lose. This is why spiritual despair so often strikes after a major spiritual advance. The ego feels despair, and projects that despair onto our minds, trying to convince us the despair is ours rather than its. This is why the ego is so insistent on convincing us of the world’s reality. It needs the world to build its case. The lesson asks us to raise all our evaluations, which we have learned from the ego, to question, and to doubt the evidence of our senses. It asks us to let the Holy Spirit be the Judge of what we are, and of everything that seems to happen to us (8:1; 9:6). If we try to judge things by ourselves, we will be deceived by our own egos, and the way in which we see ourselves and the world will become a witness to the ego’s reality. If, however, we let go of our judgments and accept the judgment of the Holy Spirit, He will bear witness to our beautiful creation as God’s Son. Everything we see, if we look with Him, will show us God. Read the eleventh paragraph; it describes perfectly just how the Holy Spirit accomplishes this retranslation of everything. When we give Him our thoughts, He gives them back as miracles (14:1). Let me, then, give my thoughts to Him today. Let me not hide my thoughts from Him, nor try to alter them myself before I expose them to His sight. Let me ask Him to work His alchemy on them, to transmute the lead into gold before my eyes. That is His job. Every thought has elements of truth in it, to which we have added falsehood and illusion. The Holy Spirit strips away the false, and leaves the golden kernel of truth. He does not attack our thoughts; He purifies them. He shows “the love beyond the hate, the constancy in change, the pure in sin” (11:3). He does this with our very thoughts, and so reveals to us the gentle face of Christ as our very Self.

https://circleofa.org/workbook-companion/lesson-151/

$380 early registration December 3 $415 late registration December 10 Player fee: $10 Nampa residents, $15 Non-residents Games will be played at West, South, East Valley or Lone Star Middle Schools. Nampa Recreation Department is offering an Adult Basketball League beginning in January. Each team will play eight games followed by a double elimination tournament. All games will consist of two 20-minute halves. Non-competitive leagues will play on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday evenings. Competitive leagues will play Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday evenings. Teams may be moved divisions after they have played four games. Game times will be 7pm, 8pm or 9pm. League play will begin the week of January 6, 2020. Informational Meeting December 4 at 6pm (in the Senior Center).

https://cityofnampa.us/Calendar.aspx?EID=3401

Helena Arroyo’s first trips as a naturalist. If you had told me in 1992 that I would work as a naturalist guide and that I would be doing presentations in front of 300 people, I wouldn’t have believed you. Because at that time, and for many years, I was quite the shy girl. I wasn’t especially eager to talk in front of people. Sometimes, I wonder what made me change that much. To me, what seems to have triggered my newfound personality was all the traveling I had done – especially the first ones, when I was still a biology student – and during which my fellow classmates and I were on the road for short to long travels all across Argentina. The funny part is that we didn’t have money… It’s not that we had a little bit, we were just penniless. There have been long weekends spent camping during which the only thing we would buy was ice cream on the way back home. How did we manage? We hitchhiked, we ate rice, noodles and vegetables that we had cooked on a small fire and we slept in a small tent or wherever we could find the same night. It went from in bell towers, trucks, gas stations, parks, caves, mobile homes to cemetery entrances! It wasn’t easy either to find somebody who would let us into his or her vehicles, as sometimes we would be a big group of girls. It was precisely the need to talk to so much people we didn’t know, to truckers, park rangers that me less of a timid person. Also, we would find a speedy transport or we would spend another night at a gas station. And the experience was truly amazing: we met so many nice people, so many truckers who told us that they would drop us off at the bus station because it would be too dangerous otherwise! We also met others who would let me know when they were leaving, and ask us we would like to join them and see other provinces. There were also ladies who invited me in their home after they learned that my bus was only leaving the next morning, and who would treat as if I were family. All that made me change. That and the fact that the first job I had in Montreal after graduating was that of a guide, so I guess there was no other option for me than to face my timidity! My Montreal audience looks at me like I’m strange. My penniless days are over and all my savings are used for traveling now. But never do I forget how difficult it is to travel in poor conditions, and I’m always grateful when I have somewhere to spend the night… even though I do miss those days.

https://clanimal.com/2016/06/08/first-trips-helena-aroyo/