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Oh, hi.
Welcome to chapter 33. It originally was going to be one giant chapter, but the mood broke halfway through, so I decided to make it into chapters 33 and 34. Maybe it's better, because I was already approaching 9,000 words here…
I originally wanted the Professor and Laura to journey to New York, but I realized I know nothing about the place. I could have researched and made it all up, but…you know, I know and love Chicago more, so that's what it changed into.
After this chapter, there will be one more brief chapter focusing on Laura and Layton, and the rest goes into major story changing events. We're moving out of the middle portion and into the final stretch. So if you're bored, you won't be, very soon.
I apologize again for my absence. I've been very very busy at work, and I now manage a portion of a warehouse for a scrub/nurse and doctor uniform company. It's…stressful, as we supply scrubs nationwide, and in huge volumes. But I listen to Layton and Itou Kanako music during the day and think of new developments for my stories all the time…Haha.
I WHOLLY APPRECIATE THOSE WHO REVIEW, INCLUDING GUEST REVIEWERS. While I wish the guests had accounts so I can reply back, I still appreciate your time and thoughtfulness. I ENCOURAGE YOU ALL TO EMULATE THAT. I really do love reviews and to know my readers are actually there! So please, even if just a small blurb, say something! And I DO accept critiques if they are intelligently written…
Reinventing gluten-free baking,
London was too big and Painswick was too small.
Laura wanted to get lost in the crowd, for the sole purpose of no one being able to pay her any mind. So, a large population wasn't so bad in that regard. But she didn't want to be suffocated and poked and prodded while merely visiting the grocery either, so perhaps it really was as bad as she originally thought.
London was out of the question.
And when it was the opposite—smaller population, not having her own carbon dioxide shoved back into her nostrils because her face was smashed between someone's shoulder blades—everyone knew everyone, down to the last and latest gossip, and that was just too much social pressure.
Little villages, like Painswick, were out too.
Now that things around her had settled down, the brooding girl had time to think, and now that she thought about it, Chicago might be a bit too much, but… Gripping the handles of her plane seat, she realized it too late. Off and on, in and out anger was all she'd been experiencing and now, it was the brass tacks of the Professor's surprise that made her squirm.
"Chicago, why Chicago. Why anywhere? What's your gain?" she started, first as a groan, then morphing into a hiss; her emotions transitioned into different phases as the ride continued, and her current expression was nothing short of livid. Any time she'd finally relax, it was only a matter of minutes before the feelings would storm across her features once more, a tempest across the ocean. "This is conducive to nothing. Such a waste of time, such a waste of money…waste of life, basically."
"I can't quite decide what I enjoy more: a conversation while you're composed, or mercilessly pestering you whilst incensed. It's still up for debate. I'll let you know the verdict in a while." Top hat falling down over closed eyes, Layton leaned back as much as he was allotted space to move. Laura held back the feeling of wanting to grate her knuckles across the part of his face still visible—the ridiculing, smiling part.
"Inconceivable. You are no gentleman."
"Any other lady would quite enjoy the gift of travel, so why are you so upset?"
"And any other gentleman would not partake in my suffering."
His snickering got caught in his throat and he coughed lightly. "It's 'suffering' now? Hmm…a ha ha ha."
"I'm. Not. On. Holiday." If ears smoked, she might have been arrested for breaking flight rules. "We're not on holiday."
He thought perhaps the third time might be the charm; after all, he'd already tried twice to validate his cause. "It's two days, two nights, I told you. We'll settle in, do a bit of leisurely sightseeing, rest up, go to a few sites tomorrow, and welcome the new year at night. You'll be well fed, and you have nothing to bother about. It's all been taken care of. And then on the afternoon of January 1st, we'll be back to puzzles and mysterious moguls back in Stabilnon—"
"—which reminds me," she cut him off abruptly, "can you please inform me of what you know exactly? You got all excited back at the hotel, and now you're just keeping information to yourself. Not exactly the fairest thing…"
"Hmm, I'll let you know as soon as I'm certain."
"How about you stop withholding information and just be honest with me?" Her eyes picked at him, but they didn't break him.
"I don't want to appear secretive, but in a way, I need to research my…findings. And it's a bit early to celebrate…"
"Oh! And yelling on the phone, all riled up with Luke isn't 'early celebration'?"
He was quiet as he thought a moment, guilty as charged. "I apologize for showing such excessive mirth at that time, but…you really must wait. Trust me. You need to go about your living, and be yourself. It may serve us better that you function normally. You'll have a clearer mind that way, you won't be biased, and your mind won't settle on a conclusion."
"Are you saying I'm not capable of separating fact from speculation?" she growled, her voice bordering on demonic. The Professor tried to think of an excuse before feeling the burn of her smoldering eyes.
"Listen, it's not that at all. One of us needs to keep a clear mind, and since you're the one dealing with Leopold, you need to analyze his every move without jumping to an assumption, an end. Since you won't have any information to even involuntarily assist in coming to a hypothesis..." It must have been a large enough deluge of logic as he felt her anger dissipate, her eyes now only warm with silent thoughts. "Do you understand?"
"…yes. Doesn't mean I like it."
"Before you know it, we'll be back in London. The least you can do is enjoy yourself now. I daresay you deserve it. And perhaps I deserve it as well, for helping you out?" He casually lifted his hat and gave an almost imperceptible wink.
No luck, and no cigar.
"Helping me out? Ludicrous. Absolutely ludicrous…" And that's all she said.
Professor Layton had it all planned, down to the minutest of details. From touch down to departure, everything had been prepared carefully and precisely to make the most of their limited adventure. Although admittedly uncharacteristic of him, the idea of breaking away from the investigation struck him early on, something enjoyable to fantasize about while on the flight from London. But the follow-through didn't come to fruition until he was journeying through cobbled streets in Stabilnon. Somehow, his mind was abnormally sluggish, and he was having a harder than usual time talking himself out of fleeting thoughts and wanton wishes. His wallet might not have liked it (especially the financial fact that securing two seats on a flight—in the very midst of the holiday season—was enough to force a man of average budget to dine on beans for half a year) but…he'd bought the tickets when Laura was away engineering, and the deed was done. Regardless of the occasional trollish grunts seething from the passenger next to him, he was glad he arranged the thing.
O'Hare International Airport, an adventure all on its own, somehow allowed Laura the luxury of relaxation, and she practiced a long silence while gazing around thoughtfully. They made their way along bright tiled floors with the rest of the crowd. The smells of dozens of baked goods and freshly prepared meals spread as quickly as the people. It was a bit difficult to decipher which smelled the best: cinnamon and chocolate sweets from one side of the thoroughfare, or the spicy and savory lunches being served on the other. Although the Professor thought she'd grow more irate with the hustle and bustle, Laura instead grew talkative, smiling and pointing, neon lights and flashy departure signs reflecting in her eyes like an awe-struck child. The conversation was for the first time personable, no words or thoughts of investigations or oil rigs (or angry reprimanding) in sight.
"People are so funny, aren't they?" Laura giggled, humming to herself as she pulled her suitcase along. "That one's about four times my girth, and his friend about three times, and both of them are whining about that little bakery kiosk being closed! They might stand to lose some…"
"That's hardly polite. You're rather bold," Professor Layton said with a chiding tone, yet he couldn't suppress a smile. "Come, let's find the train. It has frequent departures, but I'd like to catch the next one if possible."
"Oh my! Trains, planes, automobiles. I quite like this bit of the trip."
Standing on the platform was a chilly experience, one spent pulling up their coats around their necks, blowing clouds of steam into the air and watching them dissipate into nothingness. Unconsciously they stood closer to each other, the prospect of warmth stronger than old feuds or awkward feelings between them. Just when their joints ached too much to properly bend, finally, the metallic, rickety clack of the intercity train careened off of every hard surface as the machine screeched to a stop. The doors slid open and a few people got out, but more rushed to get on, each passenger hungrier than the next to find a much-coveted seat. The Professor and Laura hadn't noticed how many were standing on the platform along with them but they now knew, as they instead had to fight to board, and then only to stand.
Layton held the cold handle bar and positioned Laura in front of him so she would have less of a chance of falling.
"You're suffocating me, you dolt," she puffed angrily, glaring up at him with dark eyes. "I can't see anything but your stupid coat buttons and your luggage is on my foot! You're too close."
"The ride won't be smooth, and I don't want you falling. You're safer this way."
"What do I look like, an invalid? I can stand and hold the bar just fine…"
"You're a lady, and it's my duty to keep you safe. The closer you are, the easier I can keep you steady." He smiled at her, which softened her expression. "There was a time when you wouldn't have minded this proximity."
"And…you call me bold," her voice stammered, and she stared down at a brass button as the train lurched forward. He was right: the thing was very bumpy, and each rise and fall of the track—even if it was slight—made the ride more like a children's roller coaster. As small as it was, she saw her reflection in the round coat button, and she tried hiding her smile.
She'd started to doze off to the drone of the overhead intercom voice announcing each stop, Each time that the doors would open and close: This is Montrose, this is Cumberland…Doors opening, doors closing… They continued to stand until the voice broadcast the next stop as "Doors open on the right at Clark and Lake."
"Our stop," Layton whispered, and it was only then that she noticed his arm loosely draped about her left hip, separating her from a new passenger who'd sardined his way into the crowded car. Skin prickling, she wanted to slap the Professor, but she weighed what was worse: his touch, or the stranger's. She glanced up to give him a look, but he was too busy steadying himself for the breaking of the train, and in a flurry of men, women, and children, they exited the train.
The platform was dim, the underground lighting giving the former passengers enough light to walk safely down the pathway. As they walked, the train zoomed off to its next stop, and the warm air rushed past them, sending Laura's hair flying messily about her shoulders. Up a flight of stairs, through the turnstyle, all while ignoring the dirty and dingy walls and floors, they were finally at ground level. They'd entered a lobby of some sort, its ceiling high above them, windows extending from the ground to the very top. The reflective floors were much cleaner and shinier than the dank, gray mausoleum of a subway below. In the lobby space, small eateries dotted the perimeter, a fair share of Drink 'n Donuts, Jungle Juice, and other chain restaurants that Laura knew from home, but never frequented. Their bright colors were quite vivid against the dark décor marble of the room. A slow-moving flow of people spotted and hurried towards the food and drink.
And the busy outdoors, visible from the tall windows, contrasted it all with excited shoppers, walking from the left and right, bags and smiles in tow. The Professor saw Laura shy away slightly, all traces of excitement fading into reluctance.
"It's quite alright, Laura. You're with me," he said confidently.
"Um, that's what I'm worried about." Her voice was dull and drained.
"Come now, we'll keep to ourselves, and all will be well. Do you not trust me?"
It only took a moment—a surprising moment—and she pushed past him, taking the lead. "Well… I might as well make the most of it, hmm?"
"Er…are you alright? You just looked like—"
"Yes, let's go. I'm too tired to grumble and think of pithy comebacks anyway." She started towards the glass doors. "Well? Aren't you coming?"
Layton's planning made short work of finding their hotel, only a few blocks away. Fighting through lively crowds and scissor-like wind was the toughest part. Laura tugged and pulled on her hat endlessly to keep it secure against her head, luggage wheels whirring and grinding from behind as they walked. The Professor merely led the way a few paces ahead, as debonair as he would have been in London. He crossed streets and dodged the crowd effortlessly, and still managed to keep a pace comfortable enough for his company, who was already worrying about how she'd keep up with such a crowd current.
Now, as the crowd diminished, Laura looked around with open eyes, comfort low, but curiosity high. These strange people of all types—the wealthy with their fuzzy, long trench coats and handbags worth half of a small country's coffers; the homeless strewn about in cold vestibules, almost drowning in dirty blankets; the tourists, pretending that they knew their way around without a map, but were clearly lost…
'And here I am, in their midst, foreign and small. I hear them all, I see them. My senses are fine, but my mind is numb. I don't know why I'm here, why I agreed to this…
'I really do have a problem on my hands, and it's like I'm on holiday! Is this a life hint, to just relax…? No, no. I have a problem to solve.
'Aha, life hint. If only I'd had a lot of those, I might actually listen…'
It'd already been several hours later when the girl finally bothered to glance at a large clock on a building overhead. Where had the time gone? She barely had time to admire their lodging; they'd dumped their luggage in the hotel room when the Professor hurried her out the door, leading them back into the traffic of downtown once more. She'd barely even had enough time to grumble (that she was being treated like herded cattle). They'd walked for blocks, slipping in and out of stores they found sufficiently interesting to browse along their trek, and Laura might have admitted that the mere shuffling about with the crowd and talking with an old friend might be pleasant enough to enjoy.
Perhaps it was a smile plastered to her face, but somehow Layton could read her as easily as a text book.
"Don't have fun, Laura. You might actually enjoy yourself," he chuckled lazily as they passed by a park sign engraved in stone. Laura was too self-conscious to even bother reading it, and she looked away, hiding her red face. It was then that she spotted the strangest and most thrilling thing she'd seen in a while. On their right, after they ambled up the ascending sidewalk, sat an ominous shiny sculpture, perhaps 20 feet high, shaped like a bean. An enormous mirrored bean, reflecting the sky and the surrounding skyscrapers, as well as the gathering of people that were swarming the spectacle. Most had a camera in hand, snapping pictures and posing with friends against the mirrored backdrop. Others stood under the bean, looking up at their reflections within the concave portion of the underbelly.
"What in the world," Laura whispered, eyes wide and glassy. She wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry with delight. "It's a giant bean!"
"Indeed." Layton smiled as if he had expected it to appear in the middle of the park like magic.
"Well, what's it doing here? In the middle of a park?!"
She half-stumbled, half-ran towards the rounded behemoth, the Professor following. Gloved fingers splayed like fans, Laura smashed her palms against the bean, her smile watery in the mirror.
"Aha! I can't believe it. Who came up with such a thing? It's huge! Sculptures of pulses, what is this place…." Layton's explanation was lost, as she toured around the perimeter two, three times, her smile never faltering. She'd give the bean its space, then edge close enough to see her image, then retreat again. She was like a kitten gauging the caliber of her prey, knowing well that she couldn't handle it, but she could dream about it.
After sizing up the thing and granting her approval, both she and Layton entered the arched cave and became dizzy, staring up at their mirror counterparts underneath the bean. They appeared as stretched and distorted creatures, and even the Professor laughed heartily at their spaghetti-like images. It was the first time in a while that Laura felt completely at ease.
To her chagrin, they finally had to depart from the silver bean, bidding farewell as nothing else remained to be seen. She might have been able to stay all day, and the girl looked back over her shoulder a couple of times, shaking her head in amused disbelief.
Professor Layton rubbed his hands together. "It's amazing. I didn't think that that would be the landmark to change your demeanor," he finally spoke up after signaling a taxi. "It seems you've found something interesting?"
A cab raced in front of that one that was flagged down, prompting the cut off vehicle to lay on an echoing horn blast. Laura continued the conversation with a giggle. "Well, as I said before, I suppose I have to make the best of it, and that giant bean in the middle of everything just made my day."
"I see. It's all so grueling and awful, you'll just have to grin and bear it, make the most of your time with me. And yet…you're amused most by a giant mirror bean…"
Once they'd entered the car and buckled up, Layton politely addressed the driver and rambled off a destination, although Laura was too busy with her thoughts to hear it. The little cab whisked off and wove daringly in and out of traffic like a wild thread on a loom.
"Your first time in Chicago?" the driver asked huskily. The voice startled the Professor a bit; it didn't match the slight figure of the young man behind the wheel. He expected something a bit softer.
"Hmm, yes, yes it is," Layton responded, grinning awkwardly from his seat in the back. He was struggling to keep his hat from grating against the roof of the interior. "We're on a small holiday for the new year."
The driver nodded his approval. Laura saw his pearl-white teeth smiling in the rear-view mirror. They looked like perfectly arranged gum tablets; she wondered if perhaps they were…
"Well, you'll have a nice little time there on the Pier. I'm sure you know of the main attraction?"
"Absolutely," Layton said matter of factly. He asked the driver casually about his job, whether he had any customers waiting to be picked up, or whether he merely waited on the next eager tourist to signal his service. After a brief conversation, the Professor directed his attention to the linear blur of people, buildings, and lights outside the window.
Just when Laura began to feel carsick, the rough taxi barreled around a circular road and stopped brusquely to a halt at the curb. Layton paid the fare, bid the driver farewell, and stepped out calmly, but Laura only gave a curt 'Bye' before hauling herself bodily out of the vehicle, all too happy to be in the cool air, feet on stable unmoving ground. With a splutter from the exhaust, the car whisked off along the road and back into city traffic, out of sight.
"Do you feel the need to converse and ask questions of everyone now?" Laura mumbled, pulling her hat over her ears. "We aren't investigating here. Don't make talk with the driver, for goodness' sake…"
"No, but I like to be polite." He smiled assuredly, but Laura wasn't having any of it. Her eyes somersaulted.
They were now located outside of a tall metal fence with an open gate. Dormant hedges spanned the length of the fence, the dormant brown stems appearing dead without their green leaves; those had to sleep until the spring, still several months off. Beyond the fence was a promenade paved in concrete bricks. The spaces between the bricks made a criss-crossing grid that stretched towards forever. At least, until it ran headlong into the perimeter's edge, somewhere out of sight.
A tall, long building ran along the entire left side of the area. Throngs of people entered and left out of several doors that dotted along the side. On the right, there were a few roofed areas, the metal coverings supported by beams at each corner. Each space housed a couple of vacant kiosks, none of them in use now. Perhaps when it was warm, but winter seemed to kill everything except for the crowds.
People laughed and talked, walked around leisurely, some carrying bags, others carrying sandwiches or hamburgers. Some sat at patio tables, despite the cold, possibly waiting for someone they knew to show up; the men were most likely waiting for their tardy wives, and they had the chiseled grimaces to match. Others raced to taxis, and they had their pick, as an endless line of cabs lined the rounded curb.
As Laura stared around, the Professor stepped toward a tall, lit up information sign. He read, and Laura saw the name of the place where they now stood.
"Navy Pier? Hmm. Seems like a neat little…place…" She'd forgotten to look up, and now she saw the structure that towered over everything on the busy 'pier': the Ferris wheel. "Wow, they really do have everything here, don't they?"
"That's not the best part." Layton shoved a paper map deep into his coat pocket and casually draped his arm about her lower back, coaxing her through the open gate. She made to flinch, but instantly decided it might not be so bad.
'Hmm…or maybe it is.' She gave him a reproving look but continued onward. And then she saw what he'd been talking about. How could she have missed something so obvious?
Seemingly endless like the ocean, Lake Michigan, pastel and bright, met the matching horizon hundreds of yards away. One boat threatened to reach it, but it wouldn't venture out that far today, for anyone with ears knew a snow storm was expected to blow in.
Tiny lapping waves crested and attempted to sparkle in the dying daylight, and each one plapped as it broke against the walls of the pier. Laura approached the edge, and found the sound and sight dangerously mesmerizing. Staring down, there was no reflection to look back at her, like the bean had had. The lake only offered an opaque, cold abyss, and an equally cold death should she fall in and feel the clench of liquid winter.
"I bet it's dreadfully cold…"
'I wonder what it's like to drown…not that I want to find out.'
"Don't get too attached. You'll have a better view later," Layton said awfully close to her ear. She jolted from her reverie and spun around, exhaling a single puff like an angry steam train.
"Okay, where from here?" Her voice was more nervous than angry.
"I thought we could get a bite for dinner, and look around the shops a bit before riding." He pointed upward at the huge wheel. "Unless you're afraid of heights."
She laughed.
"Me? Afraid of heights? The only thing that frightens me about heights is the compulsion to jump."
"And why in the world would you have that sort of compulsion?!" the Professor chuckled, a tinge of worry cloaked in his laugh.
"Because…I'd like to fly." She roughly linked one of her arms with his, the other reaching out to the sky. Her hand arched against the evening glow, outlining some sort of flying trajectory. Stunned, he might have been able to listen better if she hadn't just grabbed him bodily and pulled him close. The wind picked up, almost intuitively understanding the situation, and left her hair sloppily scarved about her neck. Her smile and energy were undeniably contagious. "Wouldn't it be fun to just up and go? No gravity strong enough to pull you down, no weight on your feet. Just you and the air and the sky, wind pulling at your limbs. And that's it."
"Yes…that…sounds quite pleasant…" He cleared his throat. "I know I asked earlier, but are you okay?"
"I'm plenty okay." She never let go of his arm. "Now, where's that meal I was promised?"
"Hmm. I might have known that's all you'd bother about…" Holding onto his hat, he led her inside the building that housed the shops and restaurants, prepared to blame his pink cheeks on the bone-chilling cold.
Stomachs stuffed and topics of interest close to exhausted, the couple ventured back into the cold towards the now brightly lit Ferris wheel. It was like a beacon, leading mariners back to land. It shown beautifully against the dark evening sky as they approached the line of anxious soon-to-be riders, people as crazy as they were, riding in the night freeze.
It was cold, but Layton never noticed. He eased into a rather comfortable flow of intellectual conversation and jocular sarcasm, his company more glowing than he'd ever realized before. Maybe it was their surroundings. Maybe it was the lack of pressing responsibilities. All he knew was the energy of the city and Laura. There were occasions during their talking when he'd just stare, his ears hearing words but brain not comprehending. Laura never seemed to detect his lack of interest; he really had become too good at mimicking attentiveness while tucking into his own mental discussions.
And before he had a chance to start paying attention to time, they were boarding their own enclosed car, the attendant dictating some sort of instruction. He sat across from Laura, clean and neat in her navy dress coat and soft faux fur hat, white as fresh snow, but as warm as a frothy bubble bath. She said something. And something again.
"Hello? Earth to Hershel, are you afraid of heights?" Laura laughed haughtily, hoping to find a chink in the armor.
"Perhaps you think you've got me on something, but no, I am not." As he replied, the wheel began to revolve slowly, and their car ascended as quickly as molasses above the loosely assembled crowd. The people looked like spilled salt and pepper as the car went up. "I'm glad we were able to secure our own car. These seat six, but we'd be cramped…"
Laura continued as if not hearing, her smile honest. "Are you afraid of anything?"
Slightly miffed, Professor Layton wasn't sure he ever had to entertain such a question from her. "I…" His eyes darted around their cabin, as if someone had graffitied a fitting answer. "I'm not sure I've ever thought about it."
"But I'm not lying. Answer it now for yourself."
She sat silent. The Ferris wheel groaned a bit, and the car swayed ever so slightly as the wind embraced it. "What am I afraid of?"
"Mmhmm," he hummed, leaning his elbows on his thighs.
"I'm afraid of people."
"Of…people?" It wasn't the answer he was expecting, and she said it so surely, it had to be truthful.
"Well…what is it about people that frightens you? You seem to get along fine in life, you went to school, you have a job, and—"
"That doesn't mean it's easy for me, Hershel," she said, somewhat sadly. "I have to force myself through every social action. Literally every conversation. It doesn't come naturally, as it does for you, obviously…" His neck craned to the side, Layton looked at her curiously. "I mean, you have no problem guiding others, being around them. Teaching. Lecturing. Those things involved direct interactions. I have goals that involve people, and a need to help others too, but…it's more of a background, behind the scenes sort of thing. It's indirect. That's what makes it easier."
"Well, you had no problem ever talking to me. At least, no problem I could ever detect," he said with a small shrug.
"That's just it. To me, you were an enigma, because I couldn't figure out why I didn't have such a hard time talking to you. You were…different." And then her tone changed, from sadness to bitter frustration, as if she was having trouble explaining herself. She'd sigh, then grin nervously, then shake her head. Her mouth would open to speak, but she'd only repeat the whole process again. "You just…you don't understand, you can't understand. I literally have to talk my way through, like…how to socialize, how to communicate. In my head, I just follow a pattern, follow cues. I only appear somewhat normal because I analyze all of you and mimic actions, phrases…how people behave. Of course, not everything, because many things that people do are just so inane…"
He thought she sounded a bit like some extraterrestrial life-form from the way she was going on about her social observations. It was as if she were analyzing them all on earth, and was striving to assimilate.
'Is she really that handicapped?'
"Are you having a hard time now?" he asked.
"I…not as badly as if I were saying this to someone else but…I suppose I never told you any of this…have I..."
"No. I expected your fear to be something different."
"Well, and I fear connecting with people too." Her hands wrung around and around, a nervous habit that never died. "It hurts, to know there won't ever be any legitimate, deep understanding between me and another person. It's like…I'm someone apart. It all ends with my lack of ordinary emotion. I tend to…feel things deeper than basic, bland emotion, and I don't quite get that understanding with anyone. Well, I suppose I did, but…well, I thought I did. And…you know…"
The silence might have exploded the little box capsule that they sat in, it was so pressurized and heavy. Suddenly, the gentleman in the tall hat felt sorry, and he wasn't so tall or gentlemanly anymore. He felt traitorous. He felt low and foul and flat and wormish. The whole ride was supposed to be enjoyable, and it turned sour with a simple question.
'What am I afraid of…'
"Laura, I—"
"You don't need to say anything, I know I'm painfully awkward."
"No, you're not, you're very pleasant to be around, and there's nothing wrong with you." He tried to continue when he was met with a very specific snort. Her demeanor was all of a sudden embittered and cynical.
"Oh okay. That's what I tried telling myself for quite a long period of time, just to have a semblance of sanity after…yeah, never mind."
"No, I'm being honest, completely serious, Laura," the Professor tried reassuring her. He grabbed her hands, all this time cupped over her knees, and his grip shook her small wrists slightly. "I would never lead you to think something that wasn't the truth. You still don't have anything to fear around me, that never changed."
"Oh really?" she grimaced, sarcasm leaking through her every pore. It was chilling, if not treacherous, those dark eyes of hers. She may have struggled internally with emotions, but sarcasm was something she was quite skilled at, and with the pointed wit she wielded she was often able to draw a hazardous amount of mental blood.
"Laura, I assure you, I—"
Screams erupted, the Ferris wheel frame groaned, and the gondola creaked as it shook and swayed. Laura gasped as the Professor fell forward a bit before catching himself, leather loafers firmly planted against the metal floor; the last thing he needed was to injure her physically by headbutting her in the jaw. The conversation terminated, whether they liked it or not, Layton stood up as much as the clearance allowed and looked around him out of the surrounding windows.
Their position was almost directly at the top of the wheel. How many times they'd made the revolution trip was unknown, if they'd even made the entire trip at all, but they were now at the apex, over a hundred feet from the ground. It was easy to see a great majority of the surroundings from the birds' eye view, but difficult to tell specifically what was going on at ground level. The lake, black as a patch of midnight, and the actual night sky were one where the horizon line would have been, a single empty void. In the other direction, the downtown skyscrapers were still set against the black sky like bright battlements, a testament of civilization, but out of reach now.
Nothing seemed amiss. Everything looked as it did before they boarded.
"I don't see anything out of the ordinary," the Professor stated matter of factly. Laura sat, unmoving and mumbling, but otherwise taciturn. "What on earth is going—on—"
They shook once more, swinging back and forth, and the shouting of the other riders and the grounded onlookers chorused up to their airborne gondola. It felt as if the entire wheel was tilting on its axis, coming loose from its center mechanism. The Professor steadied himself and held fast onto his hat's brim as Laura's eyes, large orbs glassy like a cornered cat in an alleyway, were furtively looking around for something to protect her.
"Malfunctioning machinery, terrorist attack, God only knows!" she hissed and spluttered, to herself rather than to the Professor. He looked at her, hoping for an answer, but realized that was quite out of reach. What would she know that he didn't?
"Laura, don't lose your head," came the soft admonishment. Subconsciously, he said it to calm himself, rather than her. "Hold onto me and—"
Stunned to silence, Layton and Laura gawked at each other for a split second, in that time hoping the other would understand and explain the situation. A cackling, grating sort of voice had boomed from outside, from below. The question now became not what was going on, but—more pressing—how did the source of the voice know the Professor, and how did it know his location?
"Professor, this is very odd," Laura whispered, lips quivering. Layton wished she was cold, but it was more than obvious she was scared. She hid it well to the unobservant eye, but…some things, he just knew. "I wonder if Leopold has caught on to us, what if it's him?! He's really up to something!"
Trying not to shake the only thing keeping them in the air, Layton moved around delicately to look out of the windows; they encircled the two, giving a clear view around the entire perimeter of the car. The door was short—about half the height of the car—which left the upper portion completely open. One could get a clearer look but…leaning out of the car didn't seem like the most intelligent of ideas at the moment. The voice still bouncing in his ears, Layton tried to place the source, hoping to find a person to match with the out-of-place yell. It seemed futile; he could only see the cold metal beams coming from the frame's center, spokes sprouting from the middle and connecting each car to the ride. It looked much like a bicycle tire.
'I can't see anyone, but…'
That voice: he knew it; it wasn't the first time. Nor the second. It wasn't so much the sound or the musicality of the voice that was familiar, no, but the tone… The bitterness…
"No, it's not your employer, Laura," the Professor snarled, as gentlemanly as he could. His face was pressed to the window, vying to get a glimpse of the disembodied voice. "I believe that it's just an old friend…"
"Friend?! What sort of friend jokes during a plight like—"
Shrill and chittering, like wind-rattled bones, the voice was heard again. And it laughed.
"I know you can hear me, Professor…" it chortled above the breeze, over the cacophony of people crying and yelling. The person (who, by the sound of the voice, must have been a man) must have had a formidable command of the vocal chords to reach such a pitch.
Near the wheel's center, on a maintenance platform, stood a tall figure. The person was barely visible in the darkness, and almost impossibly so from the Professor's vantage point directly above. He had to bend his neck awkwardly, smash his shoulder against the window, and strain his eyes at a downward and sideways angle to see, but now he saw him.
"Huh. So it's the taxi driver," he mumbled, half to himself, half to Laura.
"The taxi driver?!"
"Indeed. That's his attire, and his smile is the same. Well, perhaps more of a leer. Hard to tell given our height and the pitch black…"
But it was definitely him. Like a fresh blade of grass, the driver was young and lean. And while he would have appeared handsome otherwise, his face was wild, and his grimace brooked a hint of obsession. In the man's hands was an enormous, borderline obnoxious, plumber's wrench, measuring almost half of his body. What exactly was done with the tool was unknown, but Layton guessed he'd used it to dismantle something important on the wheel's engine or gears, perhaps a crucial bolt. It didn't matter, as it was now being wielded insanely by the very person who had just brought them to this place mere hours ago…
'What on earth is he doing?!' thought the Professor as he briefly labored over the possibilities.
"Can you see him, are you certain? What's he trying to gain, and…how does he know you?" Laura asked hesitantly, as if the answer was more frightening than their circumstances.
"Yes, I can just make him out. And how…I don't know for sure…" He was busy analyzing the frame holding the car aloft.
"Well! What do we do now?!"
"I suppose it's all I can do."
"H-Hershel, what are…what are you doing?!"
Before her eyes, he managed to shove open the door that served as both their entrance and exit, opening the two of them up completely to the void outside. He had had the smart idea of removing his top hat, for when he stuck his head out, the wind flipped around a few locks of his hair and slapped his skin bitterly. His eyes obeying gravity, he chanced a look downward. Solid, cold, uncompromising concrete was all that lay below. Well, and the panicking crowd, which could serve as an unwilling audience, should the Professor make one wrong move…
Trading places with his hat, he sat it down in his seat and reached out of the car. He grabbed the nearest white metal pole of the frame; it was cold, and almost felt wet against his palms and curled fingers. Proceeding with the utmost caution, he gingerly slid down a couple of feet of the vertical portion before resting his feet on a horizontal bar. The rest resembled a ladder, albeit one with a split-inducing distance between the rungs. Ducking beneath the gondola, he slowly began descending the remainder of the frame, his feet struggling to manage each bar.
Still safe inside, Laura had sat glued to her seat, her face now devoid of all color and nerve function as she gaped, slack jawed and unbelieving of what she just witnessed.
"What the bloody hell are you doing, Hershel?!" she shrieked as she finally gathered the courage to peer outside. She tried her best to look out of the doorway while maintaining stability; she was mortally afraid any one movement would make the car shift just enough, and she'd join the fledglings of the universe that hadn't paid heed to the 'survival of the fittest'. The black and sharp air tore through her hair, her coat, her skin. Piercing her ears inside and out, the cold wind kept her from hearing the conversation clearly, but she made out enough of it. Anxiously, she watched his brown head and shoulders disappear from her sight. "You've lost it, you've gone mad and just lost it!"
"I can hear and see you quite well!" the Professor's voice boomed. Laura thought she was speaking to her, but then realized he must have been addressing the rogue taxi driver. "Don't think for a second that you will be successful in your goal here!"
The man called back. "Not any more successful than you ever have been, you rocks-for-brains twit! It's just enough success to get what I came for…"
"And tell me, what would that be?" Layton yelled again. "What is it this time?"
'This time…? Does he know who he is? Has he met him before?' Laura asked herself, eyebrows stitched at the center of her brow. "Why are you entertaining him with conversation?" she butted in, calling from above. It felt stupid, talking to the darkness, but somewhere below the Professor was negotiating the apathetic wheel's frame. "Get back in here this instant! There's nothing you can—"
"Doesn't this remind you of something?" Layton's voice sliced through the tension, ignoring Laura's pleas. There was a moment of silence between the two men when only the cries from onlookers below was able to be heard. Police had entered the scene, and more squad cars and emergency vehicles could be heard wailing from farther away, most likely making their way to the Pier. Laura hadn't noticed it, but there most certainly were people in the other gondolas, and they were just as frightened as she. But now, she was wondering why the police weren't already swarming the mad cab driver. Perhaps they were deterred…
"…remind me of what, Layton?!" the driver retorted to the question. "You're just trying to buy more time as you climb about like a monkey and distract me from my work! Don't think I can't hear you clambering around up there!" He placed the wrench back onto a portion of the wheel and turned, the metal-on-metal contact issuing a terrible crunching squeal. More screaming from the riders, as the wheel jolted a bit.
Professor Layton merely chuckled, abnormally calm and enjoying the exchange of words. "Well, it should remind you of—"
"Oh, of all the things, do NOT say it—" Laura groaned, almost in tears.
"—a puzzle…"
"DAMN YOU, LAYTON!" the man bellowed. His voice trailed through every single bar and beam of the ride, the resonance causing the thing to vibrate and clatter. Layton felt it tickle his hands as he continued to move down the frame; he was now halfway to the center mechanism's platform, and hoping the man couldn't see him quickening his pace. "I come here to get revenge and you offer me a puzzle?!"
"Well, you aren't going to reject it are you?" the Professor said coaxingly, goading the other.
The driver twisted his face and grumbled and cursed. "Go ahead and dish out your puzzle, Layton. I'll have this thing undone before you can make it down here alive!"
Layton halted, resting for a moment against a bar. "Then, how about making this a bit more interesting, and having a challenge, my good man?"
The Professor's offer was well met, for the wrench was still. A throng of police officers had collected several yards away from the platform and started screaming out threats to the man through a heavily locked entrance. It apparently had been secured tightly by the taxi driver after he'd entered the maintenance area, and the officers had begun to dismantle the gate and climb the metal fence. The barbed wire at the top proved tricky, but the mad man at hand was proving to be trickier.
"Hershel, you're playing a dangerous game," Laura whispered to the wind.
As expected, Professor Layton remained composed. As composed as if he were conducting a class. "If you fail to solve my puzzle," he proffered, "you reveal your identity, leave this Ferris wheel alone, and turn yourself over to the police."
"And if I do solveit?" the man countered with barred teeth.
"…You can continue your 'work', as you call it, without my interfering."
Everything was set in ice, stock still and mute, as if the world was waiting for the answer. Triumphant, the man smiled. "Let's have it then!"
"Very well. I find this one fitting:
Not only solid when I churn,
One small sniff, and you'll soon learn.
Keys and wheels need a force to turn,
But I—yes, I—will turn on my own.
What am I?"
'Rage' was an understatement, as the once composed taxi driver, wrench in hand, swung it at the nearest bar repeatedly. It dinged loudly and reverberated through the cold multiple times.
"What sort of rubbish is that?!" he shrieked. "It's a stupid riddle, so stupid! I hate your idiotic puzzles!"
As the maniac threw his fit, Professor Layton was almost upon him. He reached his foot out, testing a final portion of the frame that was thinner than the rest, and leapt onto the maintenance platform surrounding the engine box and gear housing. He hadn't considered himself a heavy man, but his weight made a loud enough bang to surprise him, as well as the taxi man.
"Do you have an answer?" he asked before a pause, straightening as he stood up, tall and confident. "If not, remove your mask."
"Eh heh heh heh…speak for yourself, you selfish coward…" The other man lowered his weapon, and only now could the Professor see the tiredness in his eyes. He didn't look so young anymore. "I suppose I don't have an answer. No time to think it over. And I don't care about it anyway. I don't negotiate with the likes of you."
"Then reveal yourself. Confirm my suspicions, Don Paulo." He thrust out a pointed finger, a trace smile tugging at his lips. "That is who you are, correct?"
In a flurry, the man's right hand flew to his neck, latched onto what appeared to be a flap of skin, and tugged. The handsome young man's face peeled off and was now only a ghoulish and eye-less semblance of a real face, floating in air as the person held the mask aloft. And indeed, the harsh and gritty countenance of Don Paulo was revealed, crooked nose, pointed hair, scoffing smile and all.
"Are you happy now, Layton?" he hacked, tossing the mask aside. It hit the ground with a light slap. "You just have to be right. Always right. I'm only glad your blasted hat isn't mocking me from that block head of yours…"
"I'm merely trying to stop you from harming innocent people," Layton said nonchalantly, dismissing the insult to his precious attire. "Whatever issue you have with me should not involve those around us. And now you'll hold up to the rest of the bargain, as we had dis—"
"I don't negotiate. Or 'discuss'…"
It just so happened that at that moment, the police managed to break through Don Paulo's barricade, SWAT members rushing the platform in a black wave. It looked like a section of the darkness had mobilized and swept towards them like a swell on the ocean. Guns were brandished and in an instant they'd locked on to the now shocked machinist. Don Paulo growled under his breath as they forced him to raise his arms and come with them slowly. It was pure theatrics, for when a pair of handcuffs was issued, confusion struck as a cloud of smoke blinded them all, every officer striving to get a grip on the culprit in a mad dash. Only an uninhibited cackle filled the air as they all waved their arms, a futile attempt to get rid of the haze.
By the time the cloud cleared, Don Paulo had gone.
"Strangest thing I've ever seen in my entire life," one of the head officers exclaimed tiredly, rubbing his forehead with a shaky hand and coughing heavily. He'd asked Professor Layton several questions, including but not limited to his knowledge of the man behind the chaos, how he had gotten involved…not to mention how he'd descended the Ferris wheel unscathed. It took a good hour and a half to find a mechanic who could get the wheel moving again, allowing each rider well deserved freedom in succession, and the entire time was used to interrogate the only person who'd made it down from the ride. None of them could believe it, but the Professor stood as testament in front of them, humble and willing to comply.
Finally, after half of the riders were released, Laura's gondola approached the ground and came to a halt. Layton had been freed from the barrage of questions and had already made his way to the exit platform to meet her. After that whole ordeal, he hadn't been happier to see her in all his life. He was more than grateful for her chiding yet noticeably relieved smile.
"You are a lunatic, do you know that?" came her greeting.
"Certainly not the first time I've been told, but we must be confident with ourselves regardless."
She laughed. "Oh, okay. But you can stop being confident about climbing the Ferris wheel. It's a Ferris wheel, not a roundabout! Vertical, it's vertical, Hershel…" She handed him his top hat slowly, almost unwillingly. Laughing, he took it.
"I almost forgot…" Atop his head once more, the hat made him feel whole again.
He led her away from the scene, one that was supposed to be fun and exciting. They'd certainly gotten the exciting part, and more than he'd paid for. As they made their way towards a taxi, both looked at each other and laughed.
"I'm not so sure I want to trust another taxi driver," the girl giggled while eyeing each car warily. "Not after all that."
"You know, I thought it was odd that the taxi didn't wait after dropping us off earlier." Judging each blue and red and yellow taxi with stronger scrutiny, the Professor became exceedingly contemplative and crossed his arms as he walked. "A taxi driver typically waits at such a busy place for a new customer, yet this one drove off, and rather quickly. I asked him his schedule before we left and he said he didn't have any immediate clients, yet…off he went."
Deeming it safer to take public transportation, they used a bus to get back to their hotel. Laura felt worn-out and drained from the events of the evening, and by the time they'd returned to their room, she had missed out on half of what Layton was continuing to go on about.
Ending the day right, she settled into her own bed and almost drifted off instantly, but had one thing worming through her mind.
"Who was the driver, really, Hershel? I heard you talking to him, as if you knew…"
"Oh, yes…" His hands were behind his head, and he was leaned back into a mountain of down pillows on his own bed. The room was quiet except for his sigh. It sounded more like an outlet of sorrow than a release of tension. "An old acquaintance, from my younger days. Known now strictly as 'Don Paulo,' but…"
"Oh, your younger days. I forgot you were so old."
"Laura…" She chortled weakly, like the dying coo of a mourning dove, as the Professor rolled his eyes. "Anyway, yes, Don Paulo. Quite the genius with machines. Were he a bit more…stable, you and he would get along quite well, I'm sure of it."
"I suppose we would." Her voice became more and more faraway and jaded. "The thing with the Ferris wheel was still odd. I suppose it's not the first time for you though, huh? Huhuh."
"No, I…suppose not…"
Intrigued, Professor Layton sat up and looked over at his companion, but she had already fallen asleep.
Hmm...that's a bit weird, isn't it! Don't forget to review! And the next chapter should come quickly, as it's already close to being finished. Also, if you have an answer to the riddle, go ahead and PM me. Haha. I won't reveal it otherwise.


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Artist: Joey Fatone
Album: Miscellaneous
Genre: Pop
Joey Fatone
You Took Your Love Away From Me
It's all because of you,
I'm feeling sad and blue
You went away,
Now my life is just a rainy day.
And I love you so,
How much you'll never know
You've gone away and left me lonely
Untouchable memories
Seem to keep haunting me
Now the love so true
That once served all my gray skies blue
But you disappeared (You disappeared)
Now my eyes are filled with tears (tears)
And I'm wishing you were here with me
Soaked with love, all my thoughts of you
Now that you're gone, I just don't know what to do
If only you were here
You'd wash away my tears
The sun would shine,
Once again, you'll be mine oh mine
But in reality (reality)
You and I will never be (be)
'Cuz you took your love away from me
ooh ooh
Girl, I dunno what I did to make you leave me,
But what I do know, is that since you've been gone,
There's such an emptiness inside
Im wishing you'd come back to me
ohh, baby...
You took your love away from...me
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
This was his very first travel game. This is Gavin taking a lead for the first time in his baseball history.... I thought I was going to vomit!
In their first tournament they finished 2nd overall! That is awesome for a group of kids who had never played a game together before then! Somehow after 3 games Gav still has good hair. LOL!
This was a tournament out of town. It was a rough day at the plate for Gavin, but it teaches him a lot about staying the course and hanging tough. God has great things in store for this kid!!!
This one is Gav and his buddies playing in between the final game of the day. Still super important for these guys to have fun!!!


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Explore The ITF
procircuit ITFITF
14 Feb 2014
News Article
Nick Fishpool
Photo: TD Sport SocietyLing Zhang (HKG)
NONTHABURI, THAILAND: For the first time since April 2010, Varatchaya Wongteanchai & Ling Zhang (pictured) reunited as a doubles partnership and, after having dropped their only set of the tournament, came from behind to claim the doubles title with a 26 62 [12-10] victory over Chinese second seeds Hao Chen Tang and Ran Tian.
This title win for the fourth seeded pair is their second together and comes just over six years since their first although this was also still only the third time they have ever teamed up.
You can catch the singles final from 10am on Saturday (local time) via the live scoring feature online here.
Battling it out for the title will be the unseeded Xin Wen from China and Thailand's fifth seed Nudnida Luangnam.
Wen is aiming for a second career singles title on the ITF Pro Circuit whilst victory for Luangnam will be her sixth, with the former WTA Top 200 ranked player's last coming in August 2010.
12 Feb 2014
News Article
City in process of staging ITF Pro Circuit tournaments for first time since late 2010...
© 2018 International Tennis Federation


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By Charlie Brown, Delmar, DE (5/19/12) – H.J. Bunting has hit his stride early in the 2012 season. In Saturday night's 25-lap NAPA Big Block Modified feature Bunting wasted no time getting to the front and avoided a near tangle with lapped traffic on the final lap to post his third win of the year.
Robert Dutton led the first two laps of the Big Block main before Bunting charged to the front. Beau Wilkins was running in the third spot with Matt Jester jumping from seventh to fourth by lap two and Matt Hawkins running in fifth.
Jester worked his way by Wilkins and went to work on Dutton for second. He was able to secure the spot on lap 11 as Jamie Mills, who started in eighth, followed into third. At the halfway sign the top five were Bunting, Jester, Mills, Wilkins and Dutton.
The race would be all green from lap ten on and Bunting was able to maintain a comfortable advantage. Jester and Mills locked into a good wheel to wheel battle for the second spot. Mills edged Jester at the line for second on lap 21 but Jester regained the spot one lap later.
The lead pack got into lapped traffic with three to go. On the final lap the trio was bumper to bumper. Down the back straight Bunting started to go on the outside on a lapped car but the car drifted to the outside nearly pinning Bunting to the wall. He was able to recover however and held off Jester by a car length to take the win. Mills finished in third with Wilkins fourth and Howard O'Neal coming on strong in the closing stages to finish in fifth.
"I thought he was going to stay down and he didn't", commented Bunting referring to the lapped car. "We got lucky there with the starting spot because we – not we – I ran off the top there in the heat." Heats were won by Mills and Jester.
NAPA Big Block Modified Finish: 1. H.J. Bunting; 2. Matt Jester; 3. Jamie Mills; 4. Beau Wilkins; 5. Howard O'Neal; 6. Robert Dutton; 7. Dale Hawkins; 8. Dana Walker; 9. Michael White; 10. Matt Hawkins; 11. Tim Trimble; 12. Shawn Ward; 13. Scott VanGorder; 14. Brad Trice; 15. Kyle Fuller; 16. Donny Radd.


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MICHAEL Jordan is the latest big name celebrity rumoured to be in Wales for the Ryder Cup.
Twitter was buzzing with speculation this morning that the basketball superstar had been spotted at Cardiff's Revolutions bar last night.
A message on the Castle Street bar's website this morning said: "Still not getting over the fact that Michael Jordan, the basketball legend himself, was here to party last night! Amazing!"
Dozens of tweeters, including Welsh rugby star Jamie Roberts, also claimed they had seen the former Chicago Bull enjoying himself in the capital.
Jordan is famously a huge golf fan and was an assistant captain at last year's President's Cup.
He is also a close friend and mentor of Tiger Woods and has been known to attend Ryder Cups whenever possible.
Jordan joins Hollywood stars including Samuel L Jackson and Denzil Washington as the ever growing list of celebrities grows.


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This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Ron Rifkin's Saul Holden in Brothers & Sisters has recently revealed that he is gay. Perhaps that ought to be added? The killer in Green Arrow: Quiver wasn't actually gay. He just told Ollie that story to win his trust, with reasoning that seemed more than a little offensive. Invader Sin: Changed the bit about The Drew Carey Show—the other guy wasn't Burt Ward. Billjac: There are nothing but exceptions to the trope in the examples, so many that I'm not convinced this trope even exists. Maybe we ought to revise this entry. Johnny E: That's deliberate; how could we have a list of every example of a work that doesn't have any gay old people in it? Must...not...add...lemon party! Warriorseadra: So....just throwing this out there, but what about Albus Dumbledore?? He's definitely over 50 years old (perhaps above 100 is more like it), and J.K. Rowling honestly says that he's gay.


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Google's Growing Brand
In the past decade, Google has become pervasive across any online experience. They have launched dozens of products – some very successful (eg. Gmail) and some not so successful (eg. Knol).
Many of these launches showcased their impressive innovation capabilities. This week Google took two steps to further entrench their brand into your internet experience. The first was the launch of Google Buzz and the second was the announcement that Google will move into the ISP sphere with a super high-speed network.
Initial reviews of Google Buzz, which seems to be getting more attention than the ISP news, haven't been great. Users say it is just another tool that doesn't add much value, and competitors have highlighted that Google is late to the Social Media game. Both of these points are true. What is intriguing is future potential of Google Buzz. The Google brand is not about one time innovation, but about ongoing improvements through innovation. Buzz might be a bust now, but if the Google brand lives up to its promise it could be trouble for Facebook and Twitter down the road. I know this hasn't happened with all their launches (eg Knol), but social media is too important and too lucrative for Google to ignore. It is at their own peril that they ignore Buzz.
Google becoming an ISP has even bigger implications for internet users. Google makes their money almost entirely through small, targeted ads. The obvious benefit is that with a better connection, people will be online more and thus click on more ads. But equally important is that controlling the network will give Google access to mounds of data that competitors don't have. Google's ads have been successful because they are so targeted. This additional data will make that targeting even better, and will likely produce products that we can't imagine yet. Either way, a big win for the Google brand and their consumers.
This has been a big week for Google. They are integrating forward and backward: forward from a platform to find information into the conversation between users and backward into the underlying infrastructure and technology.
What do you think? Will Google Buzz eventually be a success? Will you sign up to an internet connection provided by Google?
Written by benwisebranding
February 10, 2010 at 9:47 pm
Posted in Social Media, Tech
Tagged with brand stretch, Buzz, Google, ISP, Social Media


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On Flag Day, groups providing proper disposal
CHAMPAIGN — Today is Flag Day, which honors the U.S. flag, and is a good time to dispose of a tattered flag in the proper way.
American Legion Post 24 in Champaign will host a flag disposal ceremony at 4 p.m. at its post at 705 W. Bloomington Road, C.
The public is invited to attend, but can bring flags for proper disposal any time, said Post Commander Mark Friedman.
"We do enough business, for lack of a better way to put it, in disposal of used flags that we (burn them) two or three times a year," he said.
Those wishing to dispose of worn flags don't have to go inside the building. The post keeps an old U.S. Postal Service mailbox (painted red, white and blue and clearly labeled) around the back of the building for easy drop-off.
When the post fills a storage container with flags, it disposes of them through a basic ceremony, which Friedman called "no muss, no fuss."
For Flag Day, Friedman will conduct a more intricate ceremony. It will include the post's Color Guard, which will fire a salute to honor the flags.
Chuck Zelinsky, who is the Americanism chairman at Post 24, said a flag should be disposed of if it's ripped or tattered. Other service clubs and some Boy Scout troops also accept flags for proper disposal.
It's a myth that flags that have touched the ground must be destroyed, Zelinsky said, and they can indeed be cleaned.
Champaign-Urbana is a "flag-aware" community, Zelinsky said, and Post 24 has been honoring one business each month for the last eight years for properly displaying the U.S. flag.
Friedman and Zelinsky also said Flag Day is a good time to contact legislators to express support for a constitutional amendment that would allow Congress to prohibit the desecration of the American flag.
News-Gazette.com embraces discussion of both community and world issues. We welcome you to contribute your ideas, opinions and comments, but we ask that you avoid personal attacks, vulgarity and hate speech. We reserve the right to remove any comment at our discretion, and we will block repeat offenders' accounts. To post comments, you must first be a registered user, and your username will appear with any comment you post. Happy posting.


text:
Samsung's chairman has had an emergency operation after suffering a heart attack.
Lee Kun-Hee, 72, was admitted to a hospital near his home in Seoul on Saturday night after experiencing respiratory problems which were later diagnosed as "acute cardiac infarction".
He received emergency treatment before being moved to the Samsung Medical Centre in Gangnam-Gu, Seoul, to recover. The procedure involved the placement of a stent, a tube inserted to unblock blood vessels, according to South Korean media.
"He is now recuperating in a stable condition after undergoing an operation," the facility said.
Mr Lee - South Korea's richest man with a net worth of around $10.8 billion (£6.4bn) - is the chairman of Samsung Electronics, the group's flagship firm and the world's largest technology company in terms of revenue.
He underwent lung surgery in the late 1990s and has been suffering from respiratory complications since then. Because of his medical history, Mr Lee stays overseas during the winter to prevent respiratory problems.
He is credited with turning Samsung - founded by his father in 1938 - into a global brand which is now the world's top chip and smartphone maker.
Mr Lee - who took over the company after his father's death in 1987 - resigned as group chairman in 2008 after being convicted of tax evasion but returned to the post in 2010 after receiving a presidential pardon in 2009.


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Manchester Pride's the Big Weekend Tickets
You are in the loop for Manchester Pride's the Big Weekend! We'll email you before tickets go on sale in your area.
Have more than just one favourite artist? Let My Ticketmaster keep track of all of them for you.
Has your taste changed? Use My Ticketmaster to find some new favourites!
Manchester Pride's the Big Weekend Tickets and Concert Dates
The Big Weekend – which includes The Manchester Pride Parade and The Candlelit Vigil – is shaping up to be another unforgettable, joyful and positive festival event. It takes place at Manchester's famous Gay Village over the August bank holiday weekend. Among this year's featured performers are three sensational female vocalists – Melanie C, Louisa Johnson and Saara Sofia Aalto.
Last updated: February, 2017


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S: The De Wilds and The De Jongs
BC: Albert De Wild 1883-1979 | Jelte De Jong 1866-1962
FC: The De Wilds and The De Jongs Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future. ~Gail Lumet Buckley
1: Roy & Charlotte De Wild June 8, 1934
2: Roy | Sophia | Albert | Minnie Van Oostrum | Robert De Goey | Gerritze Vander Streek | Hendrick De Wild | Johanna Sneller | Herman Vander Streek | Hendreika Stomphorst | Albert De Wild | The De Wilds | Tuintje Herwynen | Feike Willekes | Jan De Goey | William Van Oostrum
3: Minnie | Janigje De Koning | Willem Van Gorp | Charlotte | Jelte | Grietje Thijmens Dykstra | Albert Jelles De Jong | Minnie De Hister | Jacob Van Gorp | The De Jongs | Tijmen Kornelis Dykstra | Sjoukje Johannes Bosma | Dirk De Koning | Annigje Luijendijk | Wietske Zoethout | Jan Jelles De Jong
4: Grandmother | Alvin
6: Al & Marla
8: Al & Marla
9: Roy & Charlotte | Al & Roy
10: Cracking the Whip When Al was in 4th grade, living at 215 E 1st St., he road his bike to old Lincoln School. He went home for lunch everyday. One day, on his way back from lunch, a transport truck had over turned at Washington & Main and started to burn. Al was very interested and stopped to watch the firemen put out the fire. School had already resumed when he finally got to school. He didn't want to get in trouble for being late, so he headed to the pony pasture for the afternoon at University & Prairie. He returned home as if he'd been at school all day. This worked so well, he repeated the routine the next two days. The third afternoon, his teacher, Mrs. Ver Steeg, called home and asked Charlotte where Al had been the last three afternoons. When Al arrived home that afternoon, Charlotte was waiting for him with a pony whip that he had made from a broom stick and leather straps. She chased him around the neighborhood and struck each time she got close to him. The next day he was sent to see the Principal, who was rumored to use a rubber hose. While no rubber hose was used, Al never skipped school again...at least until he was in high school. Above: Blossom, Marla on Diamond & Al on Colonel
11: Tony the Pony | Al & Marla with Diamond and her colt Cherry
12: Mrs. Albert DeWild Born: Hendreika Stomphorst May 27, 1827 Nijkerk, Gelderland, the Netherlands Died: December 8, 1916 Hendrik's Mother
13: Hendrick De Wild Family Back: Albert, Johanna & Helemina Middle: Jeanette, John & Henrietta Front: Hendrick, Louis, Trynie & Gerritje
14: Albert & Sophie De Wild January 31, 1907
15: Albert with Roy, Grace, Sophie & hired hands
16: Grace & Roy
18: Four Generations: Mrs. Hendrick De Wild (Gerritze Vander Streek) Albert De Wild Roy De Wild Alvin De Wild
20: Albert & Sophie De Wild
21: Four Generations | Roy, Michael, Alvin & Albert
22: William & Tuintje (Herwynen) Van Oostrum William 1826-1897 Tuintje 1836 - 1899
23: Henry Van Oostrum Family (Sibling of Robert) Back: William, Tina & Hattie Front: Henry, Minnie, Jennie & Jane (Van Roekel) holding baby Gertrude. Approximately 1907
24: The Robert De Goey Family Back: Tina, Jennie, John & Sophie Front: Robert, Andrew, Bertha & Minnie
26: Robert & Minnie De Goey
27: Minnie
28: Sophie & Grace De Wild Minnie & Robert De Goey John De Goey in Model T
29: Four Generations | Charlotte (De Jong) De Wild, Sophie (De Goey) De Wild, Alvin De Wild & Robert De Goey | Robert De Goey, Roy De Wild, Alvin De Wild & Albert De Wild
30: Jelte & Minnie De Jong
31: Charlotte & Margaret
32: The De Jong Children Back: Cornie, Albert & Bill Front: Charlotte, Jennie & Margaret
33: The De Jong Family Back: Bill, Cornie & Albert Front: Jelte, Minnie, Margaret, Charlotte & Jennie
34: Jelte & Minnie De Jong
35: Minnie, Cornie, Jelte, Margaret & Charlotte De Jong
36: The William Van Gorp Family Back: Jake & Dick Middle: Minnie, Maggie, Kate & Anne Front: Peter, William, Janigje & Hattie
37: The William Van Gorp Family Back: Julius Uitermarkt (Maggie), Jennie De Jong, Anne Van Gorp, Albert De Jong, Hattie Van Gorp, Kate & Henry Vande Noord, Maggie Uitermarkt, Hattie (Jake), Cornelia (Dick), and Josie (Pete) Middle: Bill De Jong, Jelte De Jong holding Charlotte, Minnie De Jong holding Margaret, Janigje & William Van Gorp, Jake, Dick and Pete


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Trump's graphic late-term abortion description is also known as a 'C-Section!'
The final 2016 Presidential Debate had Donald Trump offering up a graphic description on a late-term abortion, which was TMI for some?
As the final 2016 Presidential Debate played out last night, there were a few graphic descriptions offered up by #Donald Trump when it came to late-term abortion that the audience could have done without. As a man who stands for pro-life the act of an abortion is just wrong in his book and the audience gets that, but that would have been enough.
Trump offers graphic description
When Hillary Clinton was asked about abortion, she said she believes that the Roe v. Wade should not be overturned, but that is when Trump jumped in about the use of #Late-term abortions. He said to Wallace and the audience that Hillary just said that it is OK to "rip a 9-month baby from the womb." He repeated this again and when it looked as if it was coming around a third time it appears he caught himself.
Scare tactics
Calling Trump's words on "ripping the baby" nothing but "scare tactics," Hillary told Trump she doesn't believe that the government has any business with what a woman does with her health care.
She went on to say there are countries around the globe where abortions are forced upon women and other countries where abortion is against the law.
All around the world?
While it sounded as if she was keeping within the discussion, it really didn't matter what was going on around the world. People want to know about what she plans on fighting for with the abortion issue here at home! It was evident that Hillary wasn't ready for this question. It was a toss-up when it came to Trump having some rehearsal around answering this. As Patheos.com suggests, lately Hillary defends late-abortion as something that comes with a tragic story behind it and she offers no definition of the word "late" as far as a timeline is concerned.
Long overdue at debates?
Late-term abortion is not a subject that has traditionally come up in presidential debates, so it was probably time for this to happen.
According to Fortune Magazine, Trump's comments on abortion caused a commotion online between pro-life advocates and those who support abortion.
Maybe Trump was describing a 'C-Section?'
Some wrote in to say that Trump may be misinformed about late-term abortions, with one person putting it in a way he may understand it. They offered another description for what Donald Trump was talking about when saying a baby is ripped from the womb when the mother is 9-months pregnant. They gave it another name -- a "C-section." Others took to the social media sites to blast Hillary's stand on abortion.
Trump: Ripping the baby out the womb, may be okay with Hillary, but is NOT OKAY WITH ME #debatenight #prolife #neverhillary— Matt Batzel (@MattBatzel) October 20, 2016
At first Trump jumped around about his stand on the subject, but he finally did say that he would appoint pro-life judges to the Supreme Court and they may very well overturn Roe v. Wade. This gave pro-life advocates all the validation they needed, evident by the social media posts that popped up.
#2016 Presidential Debates
There. Its incredibly clear. Trump's goal is to overturn Roe v. Wade. #debate— John Iadarola (@johniadarola) October 20, 2016


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Oscar-winning actress Shirley MacLaine was honored on Sunday night with the America Film Institute's 40th Life Achievement Award, and Downton Abbey fans were treated to an unexpected clip.
The celebration aired on TV Land as Elizabeth McGovern, who portrays Downton Abbey's Lady Cora, presented the award to MacLaine, who has been cast as Lady Cora's mother, Marth Levinson, in Downton's highly anticipated third season.
TV Land used the opportunity to premiere a sneak peek clip of Martha's return to the Downton estate and first edgy rapport with Lord Grantham's sharp-tongued mother, Violet the Dowager Countess of Grantham, played by the incomparable Dame Maggie Smith.
The third series is set to broadcast stateside in January 2012 on PBS, following its U.K. premiere in September 2012 on ITV.
Is MacLaine's Martha a match for the acerbic Dowager Countess?


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What does rabbitry mean?
Definitions for rabbitry
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word rabbitry.
an enclosure where rabbits are kept, and often bred.
Webster Dictionary
a place where rabbits are kept; especially, a collection of hutches for tame rabbits
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of rabbitry in Chaldean Numerology is: 6
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of rabbitry in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5
Images & Illustrations of rabbitry
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Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
"rabbitry." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2018. Web. 22 Mar. 2018. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/rabbitry>.


text:
Perfect for social media campaigns and blogs. Web photos (up to .5 MP). 1 Seat.
Learn More
Build a high res library or promote your brand. Up to Large (2.5-4.5 MP). 5 Seats.
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Get more high res photos and more. Up to Large (2.5-4.5 MP). 25 Seats.
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no people, horizontal, studio shot, extreme close up, single object, ice, beauty in nature, fragility, natural pattern, snowflake, crystal
snow flake


text:
Privacy and Freedom of Information
The RNCM Is committed to protecting the rights and freedoms of individuals with respect to the processing of their personal data in accordance with The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). The DPA was passed in order to implement the European Directive on data protection and applies to all personal data which are held either electronically or in a manual filing system. For more information please see the Data Protection Policy.
The Data Protection Act provides individuals with the right to see their personal data which is held by the College, subject to certain exemptions. If you would like a copy of your personal data please complete and send a Data Subject Access Request Form. There is a maximum charge for this service of £10.
Your privacy is important to us. We will only use any personal information you send us for the purposes for which you provide it, or where allowed by law. We will only hold your information for as long as necessary for these purposes and will not pass it to any other parties unless this is made clear to you.
All employees who have access to your personal data or are associated with the handling of that data are obliged to respect the confidentiality of your personal data.
Freedom of Information
The Freedom of Information Act (2000) provides a general right of access to information held by public bodies, including colleges and universities, subject to certain exemptions; this is to promote openness and accountability. See our Freedom of Information Policy and further details here.


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United Nations The world powers are prepared to provide Iran with advanced technology and possibly even nuclear research reactors if it agrees to suspend uranium enrichment under a package of incentives revealed in full for the first time Thursday.
The package - put together by the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - was given to the Iranians on June 6 and some details were leaked at the time.
But the full proposal showed a broader range of economic, political and energy incentives. They include promoting Tehran's membership in the World Trade Organization, and the possible lifting of U.S. and European restrictions on the export of civilian aircraft and telecommunications equipment.
Under the incentives, the six powers are prepared to help Iran build state-of-the-art light water nuclear power reactors and to give legally binding guarantees that nuclear fuel will be provided for these civilian reactors meant to produce energy.
This would be done by making Iran a partner in an international facility in Russia where all Iranian uranium could be enriched, and establishing a five-year buffer stock, it said.
The six would authorize the transfer of goods "and the provision of advanced technology to make (Iran's) power reactors safe against earthquakes."
The package confirmed that a demand by the U.S., France, Britain and Germany that Iran commit to a prolonged freeze on uranium enrichment was softened to require only suspension during negotiations with Tehran.
"We propose a fresh start in negotiations on a comprehensive agreement with Iran" which would be deposited with the International Atomic Energy Agency and endorsed in a Security Council resolution, the six powers said.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. We strive to uphold our values for every story published.


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Listed by Kevin Henderson of First New England Real Estate
Call Four Seasons Sotheby's International Realty Real Estate for more information.
Lot Size: 381.18 acres
Price/Acre: $2,038
Property Description
Located on Dunbar Hill Road in the Town of Grantham,New Hampshire. This land is located on the boundaries ofof the Old Farms Subdivision and boarded on the backsideby Corbin Park Wildlife Preserve providing protection andprivacy. Thirty Minutes to Dartmouth. Potential for largesubdivision development with views ,private Estate,Horse farm. Hardwoods, Pines and old stone wallsaccent the land with old Pond. A rare large parcel.Thirty Fiveminutes to Dartmouth.
- Property Type: Land
- Zoning: RRD
- Acreage: 381.18
- Lot description: Alternative Lots Avail, Country Setting, Farm - Horse/Animal, Mountain View, Pond, Pond Frontage, Pond Site, Secluded, Stream, Timber, View, Water View, Wooded
- Date Showings Begin:
- Delayed Showing: No
- State: NH
- Street: Dunbar Hill Road
- Building Number:
- Development/Subdivision: 0
- Zip Code: 03753
- County: NH-Sullivan
- Town: Grantham
- Area Description: Near Snowmobile Trails, Rural, Valley
- Elementary School:
- Junior High:
- High School:
- Water: None
- Sewer: None
- Electric: At Street
- Services: Cable - At Site, High Speed Intrnt -AtSite
- Land Restrictions:
- Taxes: $465
The New England Real Estate Network provides Multiple Listing Services (MLS) in the States of New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Maine.
Copyright© 2018 The New England Real Estate Network. All rights reserved. This information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. The data relating to real estate displayed on this Site comes in part from the IDX Program of NEREN. The information being provided is for consumers personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing. Data last updated on 03/17/2018.


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May 2012, by By Tim Yopp and Mark Eckhaus
So you're looking for a few pickups, vans or sedans to add to your fleet and you're thinking about buying used. Generally, the best prices are found in the wholesale auto auction lanes. It would be great to cut out the middle man and get a piece of that action. But can you? If you run a fleet and you're thinking about waltzing into an auction to buy cars, you can't — you need a dealer's license. And if you're thinking about getting a dealer's license, think again. Dealer's licenses are designed for businesses that will be selling cars. While requirements vary from state to state, obtaining a dealer's license requires passing a test with the DMV, having a properly zoned location for auto sales, appropriate insurance and a performance bond posted with the DMV, among other hoops to jump through. Insurance alone could run $20,000 a year. In short, getting a dealer's license to buy fleet cheap just doesn't add up. But what about those public auctions, the types that sell government surplus vehicles and government-seized property? Your business should have no business at public auctions. The majority of those vehicles are ones that couldn't sell on dealer lots; they have no warranties or guarantees and are at the end of their lives. If you've seen the customs or U.S. Marshal's sales that advertise late-model, high-line vehicles, you can bet there will be competition — experienced competition — bidding against you.
Though you'll most likely be shut out of buying at auction yourself, don't despair. You can still buy vehicles from them — you just need someone to do your bidding for you. Auto dealers, licensed brokers and major fleet companies can provide that service, if you can convince them to help you. How do you do that? The first step is to go to your source of new cars. If you have a good relationship with any of your dealers, ask them if they'd be able to pick up units at auction for you, for a negotiated fee, of course. If they don't want to bother, ask them if they'd refer you to a broker they've worked with. Fleet companies such as Eckhaus Fleet operate similarly to a dealer or fleet management company and can work to source used cars for you. You may think you're back to the middleman you wanted to cut out. Yes, a fleet company will also take a fee; however, its buying power at auction offers advantages, such as a lower fee structure, the ability to sometimes buy before the sale and the ability to source vehicles from closed auctions only available to franchised dealers of a certain manufacturer.
If you're lucky enough to have a representative to buy vehicles for you, don't worry about accompanying them to the auction. It's getting harder and harder for non-licensed buyers to get on an auction floor. Trust your representative, but understand the process this person must work through. While the general processes are similar for all auctions, each is a standalone business with separate policies. Here are things you should educate yourself on before selling or buying from an auction:
Hi I am a wholesaler new in the business and I would like to know where I can buy step vans at auction in California, any information would be highly appreciated.
Call me I have a broker contact who is there now
Determine the actual cost of owning and running a vehicle in your fleet. Compare vehicles by class and model.
Bernie Kanavagh from WEX will answer your questions and challenges
Todd Ewing from Verizon Connect will answer your questions and challenges
Jack Firriolo from Merchants will answer your questions and challenges
In 1964, Henk Bosman started Vehicle Lease and Management Services with no cars and a modest promise that he "might be able to add a few more in time."
Read more
In 1964, Henk Bosman started Vehicle Lease and Management Services with no cars and a modest promise that he "might be able to add a few more in time."
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text:
Branco Simonetti – Disco Love (2013)
Date: 29.11.2013 | House | Tags: Muzik X Press, House, 2013, Branco Simonetti | Download Branco Simonetti – Disco Love (2013) for free.
Branco Simonetti – Disco Love (2013)
House | Muzik X Press (MXP386)
320 kbps | MP3 | single | 2013 | 06:24 | 14 Mb
Uploaded: turbobit.net, rapidgator.net, ul.to
01. Branco Simonetti - Disco Love (Original Mix)
All references to music (video) are presented only for fact-finding listening and located not on our server. All files lay on foreign servers to which site Freshremix.ru irrelevant. Our site is only site on which Users spread references to these files which are publicly available. After listening you must delete the downloaded file and get a legal copy.


text:
Granite versus Marble Pastry Board
While hunting bricks for a baking stone, I noticed some very nicely poslished stone slabs. They were fairly thick, at least one inch, perhaps a bit more. I was told they were granite. So I am curious if I had a 24 inch by 18 inch piece cut, would it work as a viable pastry board? I understand that many bakers prefer to use wooden boards/tables for preparing their bread doughs, but that chilled marble is commonly used for pastry dough. Since pastry dough is NOT available where I live in the Philppines, making it myself is the single alternative if I want some. I have never made it before and I have been watching tutorials on youtube along with reading here and elsewhere for a better idea on what I should be doing. If a good cool stone would increase the chances of success for a good pastry dough, I'll work it into the budget down the road. I have a small-ish freezer I can use to chill the stone. But would grainte suffice? Marble is available in large squares, but not nearly so thick as the granite slabs I found. They are rather thin marble tiles, about 24 x 24 inches, commonly used on headstones here, Which would be the better alternative?


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Wedding Songs for Vocal Duet
By Various
Vocal Duet
Composed by Various. Arranged by Donald Sosin. Piano/Vocal/Guitar Songbook. Love, Wedding. 120 pages. Published by Cherry Lane Music (HL.2500735).
Item Number: HL.2500735
ISBN 157560762X. 9x12 inches. Arranged by Donald Sosin.
Add a celebratory tone to your special day with this unique selection of love songs. These duets are arranged for high voice/low voice combinations so any type of vocal pairing will work. Includes 23 great wedding classics: Ave Maria • Flower Duet • Sunrise, Sunset • Through the Years • We've Only Just Begun • and more.


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Complaint Review: Capital One
- Capital One
- Phone: 1-800-955-6600
- Web: www.capitalone.com
- Category: Banks
Capital One Fraudulent Accounts Fraudulent Accounts Internet
Ripoff Report
About you?
Ripoff Report
A business' first
line of defense
on the Internet.
If your business is
willing to make a
commitment to
customer satisfaction
Click here now..
Someone opened a Capital One account in my name a year and a half ago. They maxed out the card in a month. I didn't know anything about it until I ran my credit report 4 months ago. They account was not delinquent, but payments had not been made and it was maxed out.
I reported it to Capital One and did the paperwork they requested. I was told the account was closed and that the charges would be removed from my credit report in 30-60 days. When I ran my credit report again after 3 months, I then had the account listed as delinquent and my credit score had plummeted. When I called Capital One, the Fraud division informed me that I was responsible for the charges. They offered me no alternatives for disputing their results. When I called back the same day I was again told that the account was closed and I was not responsible for the charges.
Another month passed and I received a bill in the mail (the first piece of correspondence I received from Capital One requesting payment) that said I was 5 months delinquent. I called them again with the same results.
Ultimately, I decided to pay them off because I was tired of dealing with it. They refused to remove it from my credit score, but they did remove the late fees they applied while I was disputing the account.
If you receive "preapproved" offers from Capital One, call them immediately and ask for them to stop sending them. I received offers from them on a daily basis telling me open an account. I shredded all of them I received, but I have not doubt that this is how someone opened the account in my name. Capital One is a predatory credit agency with not ethical dilemmas about ruining people's lives.
This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 05/02/2014 07:05 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/capital-one/internet/capital-one-fraudulent-accounts-fraudulent-accounts-internet-1143491. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content
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text:
Originally posted by andrewglass25:The ball was in the air when bowman was still tackling roddy white, thats not really questionable though. Look a the replay of the crabtree play. Look at jimmy smith reaction to hitting the ground, He's begging for a call. He was pushed. Thats not really questionable either though. I'll leave you with a quote from torrey smith...
"I got grabbed and held all night and almost nothing got called. That's how it went. They just let us play. And that's what they did to the end"
On flacco's roll out from 3rd and goal on the 2 he was very clearly hit a good yard and half out of bounds by the 49ers lineman... they even showed a replay and pointed it out during the game.. That would of been first and goal from the 1 with a chance to seal it. They let the players play the game. It was a over all well called game. They let alot of things go but it was on both sides. If crabtree is called or smith is called or whatever it's not for sure they get a TD. If they do the ravens have plenty of time and a hot QB moving easily on that D and only in need of a FG. This game was called the same both ways.
Have you ever watched a football game before? Do you know anything about it? Just because things weren't called both ways doesn't mean it was well officiated... The refs let things get out of hand early and did a terrible job the rest of the game. Now, I'm not blaming the loss on the refs but, they were horrible.


text:
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Jonathan Banks has signed up for a guest role in Modern Family.
TV Line reports that Banks will play Jay's brother Tommy in an upcoming episode of the show.
Tommy is described as a "working class" man who sometimes resorts to violence to resolve conflicts.
Banks recently appeared as Mike in Breaking Bad and has had guest roles in shows including Dexter, ER, Castle and Lie To Me.
He is expected to make his Modern Family debut in February or March. The show airs on Wednesdays at 9/8c on ABC.
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Buttercups for Jesus: Reflecting His Light in Your Life by Nancy Marie
Booklocker, 1591132991, $11.95
Perhaps you did it quondam as a kid. You and a friend romped in the grounds or through a grassy boil at a neighbouring parkland and came decussate a maculation of brilliant wan flowers. Your playfellow plucks a kingcup from the terrain and holds it lower than your out of true chin, superficial for the ashen reflexion that indicates your penchant of butter. An irreproachable scene, yet one omnipotent ample to shake Christian critic Nancy Marie to generate an apologue linking these fields of flowers and her feeling to finer ladle the Lord. In her pious Buttercups for Jesus, Marie touches upon diverse points in her Christian existence and how she struggles to imitate Christ's love, thereby fashioning the expression herb something much than the vascular plant furthermost comprehend it to be.
Buttercups is not a long-range book, duration in about 100 pages, yet in this proceeding terseness is supreme sure enough an desirable quality. Marie comes direct to the constituent in the cardinal vignettes utilised to elaborate her in progress tramp beside Christ, from the of their own (including one individualised fiction with reference to Marie's prideful, unChristian conflict near different correspondent) to the fable. As near remaining devotionals, all subdivision concludes with a under consideration worship titled for the Lord's direction in day by day life.Post ads:
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In one favourite hall of Buttercups, the writer compares herself to a chapped pot, weak yet able to spoon over God's purpose. This figure unsurpassed serves to exposit what Marie hopes to relay, that scorn our flaws our activities can create the perfectible reflection of Christ in our lives. Anybody sceptical this will poorness to choice up Marie's stimulating Buttercups for Jesus.Post ads:
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text:
A mysterious odor on the criminal court floor of Du Page County`s new $53 million courthouse caused lightheadedness and other symptoms among employees and occupants and led to the evacuation of the building Tuesday afternoon.
Wheaton and Carol Stream Fire Department ambulances took 10 people to the nearby Central Du Page Hospital in Winfield, but all were expected to be released. All reported mild symptoms, such as headaches and nausea.


text:
Sergeant Neely training for a spill
Hazardous substances pose a significant threat to health and safety by their very nature and require an emergency response regardless of the circumstances surrounding the release.
Any one of the following criteria designates an emergency situation:
- The situation is unclear to the person causing or discovering the spill.
- The release requires evacuation of persons.
- Fire, suspected fire, explosion or other imminent danger
- Conditions that are Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health without direct contact.
- High levels of exposure to toxic substances.
- Endangering the environment (e.g.- by entering the sewer or soil)
If the spill meets the definition of an emergency as described above, execute the following:
- Pull the fire alarm
- Call 911 from a safe location
- Contact Security Services at 337-6911 and the chemical hygiene officer at 337-6813 or 752-5219
- Isolate the spill area and close doors to the room where the spill occurred
- Remove ignition sources and shut down equipment
- Establish exhaust ventilation to the outside of the building only
- Evacuate
Attend to victims for a body splash:
- Remove person(s) from spill area to fresh air only if attempts to rescue victim(s) does not present a danger to the rescuers.
- Remove contaminated clothing while under an emergency shower.
- Flood affected area with cold water for at least 15 minutes or longer if pain persists.
- Wash skin with mild soap and water - do not use neutralizing chemicals, creams or lotions.
- Contact Security Services at 337-6911.
Attend to victims for an eye splash:
- Remove victim(s) from spill area to fresh air only if attempts to rescue victim(s) does not present a danger to the rescuers.
- Lead the victim(s) immediately to an emergency eye wash facility.
- Hold eye lids open.
- Flush eyes for at least 15 minutes or longer if pain persists.
- Contact Security Services at 337-6911


text: A Twentynine Palms couple was arrested Sunday morning after their 2-year-old child was found wandering on Utah Trail. According to a Sheriff's report, a passer-by found the boy walking with a German shepherd dog in the 3300 block of Utah Trail about 8 a.m., and could not find the child's parents. The deputy finally found the boy's home in the 3800 block of Utah Trail and determined that the inside of the home was "a disaster" with several potential hazards for a small child. The report states the mother, Samantha Shaw, 22, forgot to tell her husband, John Shaw, 22, to secure the door behind her when she left for work, and the child wandered off. John Shaw and Samantha Shaw were arrested for investigation of child endangerment, booked at the Morongo Basin Jail, with their bail set at $100,000 each.