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By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks in major markets fell on Monday and oil prices fell as investors positioned for a Federal Reserve meeting this week that could see the U.S. central bank raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade.
Further weighing on risk assets, growth in China's investment and factory output missed forecasts in August, adding to softer data that raised the chances that economic growth may dip below 7 percent in the third quarter and for the first time since the global financial crisis.
The U.S. dollar closed little changed after hitting a near three-week low against a basket of major currencies, with investors squarely fixed on whether interest rates would be kept at their record lows until at least December.
Wall Street fell with commodity-related sectors weighing the most. The only S&P 500 industry sector in the black was utilities (.SPLRCU), which is often bid when government bond yields seem unattractively low.
The combination of worries about slowing Chinese and global growth and the prospect of higher U.S. borrowing costs have weighed on markets for weeks, although concern about the potential impact on economic health has many in markets thinking the Fed won't begin to tighten just yet.
However, others expect the Fed to raise rates as a confirmation that the U.S. economy is in a strong enough position to not warrant emergency measures from the central bank.
"Because of the volatility in the market and the conflicting data points on the U.S. economy it is really difficult to get a firm handle on what the Fed's likely to do," said David Spika, global investment strategist for the GuideStone Funds in Dallas.
The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) fell 62.13 points, or 0.38 percent, to 16,370.96, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 8.02 points, or 0.41 percent, to 1,953.03 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) dropped 16.58 points, or 0.34 percent, to 4,805.76.
Volume on Wall Street was the lowest in nearly a month.
The FTSEurofirst 300 (.FTEU3) index of top European shares finished 0.5 percent lower and a broad gauge of stocks across the world <.MIWD00000PUS> was down 0.3 percent.
The U.S. dollar hit an almost three-week low against a basket of currencies (.DXY) before rebounding to stay little changed from Friday's session.
The greenback dipped 0.3 percent against the yen (JPY=), which last traded at 120.17 to the dollar. The euro (EUR=) was down 0.2 percent at $1.13152.
U.S. 30-year Treasury bonds
"This is probably one of the most anticipated meetings of the Fed, and people don't know where to go, and the messages from the Fed have been very ambiguous," said Robbert van Batenburg, director of flow strategy at Societe Generale.
Brent crude oil (LCOc1) fell 3.5 percent to $46.47 a barrel and U.S. crude (CLc1) dropped 1.1 percent to $44.12, dragged down by a tumble in gasoline prices, although data indicating the biggest draw since June at the delivery point for U.S. crude tempered some losses.
Gasoline futures (RBc1) slumped 4.7 percent.
Copper fell on worries over demand from China and caution ahead of the Fed meeting. Three-month copper (CMCU3) slipped 1.1 percent to $5,309.15 a tonne.
Gold (XAU=) ticked up less than 0.1 percent to $1,108.55 an ounce.
(Additional reporting by Sinead Carew, Sam Forgione, Richard Leong and Barani Krishnan; Editing by Nick Zieminski and James Dalgleish)


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Hang in there!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
I love meeting God during my runs. It never fails to give me a lift, and always makes me feel better.
Today I met him as a runner, but I've also seen him dressed up as the colors of a beautiful dawn, or a solitary bush in the winter with pink berries.
Like love, he is all around you.
You only have to take notice.
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August 31, 2010 | Photoblog
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After a lot of shooting through the month, I finally took a day off on Sunday. And what do I do on days off? Um, take pictures…
This was down at the Military Odyssey at Detling showground. With horses charging everywhere, explosions going off and lots and lots of people with guns, they like to keep the public at arms' length. It would be easy to take a long lens and shoot from the sidelines. But where's the fun in that? I took my 24-70 mid range zoom to make sure I got in close to the action.
Like this picture of a couple of members of Regia Anglorum ready for a marching display which sadly got pretty much rained off.
Mind you, it was all I could do not to shout "Romanes eunt domus" at them….
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Watch Vice President Cheney's reaction to MoveOn.org's Petraeus 'betray us' ad.
KANSAS CITY, Missouri (CNN) - Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday waded into the week-old controversy over a newspaper advertisement that criticized the top U.S. commander in Iraq, using a speech at a Republican fund-raiser to call the ad "an outrage."
Republicans have blasted the full-page New York Times ad by the anti-war activist group MoveOn.org, which questioned whether Gen. David Petraeus was "cooking the books" in his report to Congress last week. GOP lawmakers have demanded that Democrats disavow the Sept. 11 ad, which was titled "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?" (Related video: Strategy Session: Was MoveOn out of line?)
"Like most Americans I admire the integrity and the candor that General Petraeus showed in his hearings before Congress," Cheney said during a fund-raiser for Missouri Republican congressman Sam Graves. "The attacks on him by MoveOn.org in ad space provided at subsidized rates in the New York Times last week were an outrage."
The Times said last week that MoveOn.org paid $65,000 for the page - the normal rate for an advocacy ad from a non-profit group, according to newspaper spokeswoman Catherine Mathis. The newspaper had no additional comment Monday.
Cheney was one of the leading advocates of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and remains one of the now-unpopular war's most outspoken supporters. Fellow Republicans have used the MoveOn.org ad to attack Democrats who now support withdrawing American troops from the conflict.
"It's bad enough when politicians turn their backs on a war they voted for and supported when it was popular," Cheney said Monday. "But no one in politics, regardless of party, should hesitate to object when an American soldier at war is mocked and insulted."
Democrats have repeatedly attacked the vice president's credibility on Iraq. He told CNN in 2005 that the now 4-year-old insurgency was in its "last throes," and said in 2001 that it was "pretty well confirmed" that Mohammed Atta, the lead hijacker in the al Qaeda attacks on New York in Washington, had met with an Iraqi intelligence official in the Czech Republic.
The independent commission that investigated the attacks later found that Atta was in the United States when the meeting was supposed to have taken place.
Well i'm sorry for the fools that still trust Cheney. There's two more lies exposed. Somebody please argue with that without incinuating some ridiculous conspiracy. The general didn't cook the books, the White House took the data and spun it. He had to serve as a mouthpiece because the President is his commander.
"The attacks on him by MoveOn.org in ad space provided at subsidized rates in the New York Times last week were an outrage."
The outrage is the fact that we went to Iraq! You and your puppet "W" are responsible for the biggest mistake in American foreign policy. When you were the SecDef you fired General Dugan for speaking the truth, same would have happend to Petraeus.................
Its a joke that this draft dodger and a war monger is even opening his mouth to the controlled audience. Its a known fact that the Petraeus's reduction of 30,000 troops is a spin by the 'W'. As the military at current level can't sustain that many troops without bringing them home. Its a hogwash on American people and distraction to put the blame on moveon.org and to the democrats. Everyone knows how much this joker cares for his country! He and 'W' want to extend the war as much as possible and blame democrats when they come on power.
Cheney advised against going into Iraq in 1994, knowing the dangers that we would face, even though we had a 500,000 man Army, only hours from the boarders of Iraq, after defeating the Iraqi Army. But in 2003, the dangers were still the same but with less than 200,000 soldiers Cheney was gung-ho, to send American Soldiers into battle, this from the 5 deferment man.
The only outrage is that Congress and the American public have not demanded impeachment for Cheney and Bush for lying our country into a war that has made their friends even wealthier while trashing America fiscally and globally, for willfully breaking FISA laws, and for fighting tooth and nail to block the 9-11 Commission from even forming, then hog tying it to avoid the whole truth coming out. We MUST impeach them both before we wake up to a headline that, as we slept, they launched yet ANOTHER pre-emptive war against an oil rich Muslim nation, this time Iran. How both men look in the mirror or sleep soundly at night utterly escapes me.
Let's send Cheney to Iraq.
Cheney is a traitor to this country. Anytime he opens his mouth it only helps the people who oppose him.
Our soldiers are dying because of Bush Cheney WMD lies, and this nutcase is bothered by a couple words.
This guy needs to be wiped out of office.
I agree with you Mike 100%. The problem is if democrats try to impeach these crooks, they will loose in general election in 2008.
Given the fact that VP Cheney has been wrong about virtually everything he has predicted about the war in Iraq, and Move 0n has been for the most part right on the money, I`m gonna have to say.... if the shoe fits....
Cheney has argued that he isn't part of the Executive branch anyway so who cares what he thinks? Also, I had no idea that "most Americans" admired the "integrity and the candor that General Petraeus showed in his hearings before Congress." I'm willing to bet that most of us didn't watch the majority of those hearings because "most Americans" actually work during the day instead of sitting around and watching CNN or Fox News.
Cheney "rears his ugly head" only when it's not about "him" but when it is about him he has "no comment". The majority of Americans believe Gen. Petraeus is an honorable man.
Leave it to Cheney and the Neocons who got us into this unnecesssary war, to change the focus of attention away from themselves and onto anyone but them. It can't come soon enough that these BUMS are out of power and back on the Board of Haliburton making profit from dead soldiers.
Disaster George Bush, D. Cheney and Company cooked Gen. Petraeus report the same was they cooked the reasons for going to war in Iraq. Someone should be accountable for the death of over 3760 GIs, the finest of AMERICAN BOYS, over $600 billion of money siphoned from our tax money, thousands of disabled and thousands of broken families. How could G. Bush, D. Cheney and Company sleep at night, when America"s hemorrhage is going worse? Who knows, may be republicans think that they are better citizens than the rest of the U.S. citizens, WE, THE PEOPLE.
Oh my God! How will MoveOn.org raise money, now that they have been sanctioned by Cheney! This is terrible, the end of era! All they can do now is hope for Carl Rove to come to the rescue.
I have an idea. How about we send Cheney to Iraq without any body armor and see how long he lasts. I'm sure the Iraqis would give him the appropriate reception.
How on earth do people trust "moveon.org" more than General Petraeus. I do not understand the huge distrust people have for the military; maybe if more people participated in it they'd understand the HONOR of such an institution.
When we entered World War II it was hugely unpopular and many were against participation. We imprisoned every Japanese and German national we could find without due process, and it was one of the most essential actions to shaping the world today and defeating Nazism. Now we have a similar fight, and everyone is worried about the rights of the terrorists and too scared to commit to the war. Bush and Cheney should've drafted 4 years ago and done this right, instead of pandering to the liberals.
Saddam was a NUTCASE. If ANYONE has one good reason for leaving him alive instead of allowing him to be convicted in a trial by HIS OWN PEOPLE please bring it forward. Only in America can you topple a dictator and be viewed as a war-monger for it.
By the way, we haven't taken a DROP of Iraqi oil.
Tell Cheney it is called Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press. We don't like him telling us we are winning the war in Iraq either. Does Betray Us want another star
Anything Cheney says, reverse it and you'll get the truth. He's wrong on the war, he was wrong on Atta, he was wrong on whether the Republicans would hold on to the House and Senate, and he's wrong about MoveOn.
The vice president is about as popular here as he is everywhere else. Is it possible to have an approval rating BELOW ZERO?
Cheney is firing up his lie machine again. He is/has positioned America to go to war with Iran very soon. His behind the scenes activity is already yielding open conflict within the boundaries of Iran with U.S. Special Forces and he is pressing hard for support to begin overt bombing within Iran by U.S. forces. NOTHING makes him happier than to see a strong diversionary story like moveon.org occupy the mainstream media and keep the focus off the real story. Note that very soon he (with the help of Rice and Gates) will expand his rhetoric beyond the Iranian nuclear issue to something saying 'the war in Irag can never be won without expanding it to include a strong military incursion into Iran'. And watch to see how he pulls in Kurd special forces and British special forces. Some form of smoke and mirrors attack or skirmish to get the fear campaign going in the U.S.
ANYTHING Cheney says should be considered a cornerstone for 'the rule of the hidden agenda.'
Cheney also said Ahmaad Chalabis was "our guy". And then there was the 5 times he told his local Draft Board that he was too busy to fight Communism w/a gun.
The right wing, and their chief hit man Cheney continue to attack the Move-On ad, and Move-On itself as a distraction from their bankrupt policies in Iraq. They do not attack the facts of the ad, they cannot. They instead, in typical right wing fashion, attack the ad itself. Where were they when the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" lied about John Kerry? Where were they when the Georgia Republican Party equated Mx Cleland with Osama Bin Laden? AWOL, that's where, just like when their time came to fight in Vietnam.


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Zim's Crack Creme (2 oz)
Sorry this item has been discontinued. Try our Skinlasting Super Hydrator.
Zim's Crack Creme is a natural liquid herbal formula that softens and moisturizes dry, cracked heels, feet, elbows and knees. Stop sock snags in winter and show off your cuticle-free toes and soft heels in the summer. This formula INSTANTLY banishes cracked skin and cuticles without a greasy residue. Construction workers and firemen use it on cracked hands and fingers! Developed by a pharmacist! And Zim's is healthy! No fragrance, parabens, pthalates, synthetic colors or animal testing!
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Community Protection
With our servers, our community are always first. Our servers usually use the Mee6 and Dyno bots as Autmoderators - two of the finest auto-moderation Discord bots that automatically delete any posts they detect as spam. All of our servers are also set to the 'Medium' verification level, which means users have to have registered with Discord for longer than 5 minutes and have a verified email attached to their account to be able to post. We also employ a system consisting of Administrators and Moderators from the community.
As stated, with our servers, community comes first. We are always supportive of our community and their well-being is our #1 concern. With our severs we always provide a #venting-serious-talk channel. This is because, for many people, expressing what's on their mind to people that care is heavily important. Any abuse towards our members is not tolerated at all, and any violators will be warned and/or banned. We also provide #community-content channels for communities to show off their collections, memorabilia, fan-art, etc.
Level System
Our community servers are all attached with a level system system that is built-into the Mee6 bot. As users rank up (which is done via sending messages) they unlock special bonuses. Most are unlocked at level 1 as an anti-spam precaution (such as the ability to send images and embed links), However bonuses such as accessing certain channels can only be achieved at certain levels (such as #venting-serious-talk channels being unlocked at level 4 and VIP channels unlocking at level 75).
As well as essential auto-moderator bots, we also use bots to bring fun to our servers, such as FredBoat and DabBot for music, NotSoBot for memes and image distortion and YAGPDB.xyz for fun little quirks. Some exclusive bots may even be limited to advanced levels. You may even see some events take place in our community, such as competitions, game nights, and more.
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Whenever a server reaches 100 members and/or has an attached entity that has reached another Discord specification (such as a subreddit with 8,000+ members), we will always apply for the Discord Partners programme. This programme allows the server access to exclusive benefits such as upgraded voice channel servers, custom splash screen and more.
We are always looking to expose our communities. For example, our servers for The Beatles, The Killers and Michael Jackson are attached to the /r/Beatles, /r/TheKillers and /r/MichaelJackson subreddits respectively. This means we can build communities that we can ensure have a common interest. We also take advantage of websites such as discordservers.com and discord.me which list discord servers and provide an effective searching system so that our servers are easy to find.
Tailored Experience
Our servers are not exact clones of eachother. If you join the Michael Jackson server, expect Michael Jackson-themed emoji, channel names (such as #neverland-ranch), bot names (Billie Jean, Dirty Diana), ranks (Thriller, Bad, Dangerous) etc. This again helps to create that fun community environment that we aspire to. We want our servers to seem friendly and inviting and inspire conversation.
So now that you know what we stand for, why not see our list of servers or apply to become a part of the programme?


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There are severe train delays in Calderdale this afternoon (Monday) because of a fallen tree on the line.
Leeds to Manchester and Leeds to Blackpool North services are disrupted in both directions.
A Network Rail spokesperson said: "Just after 3pm, a driver reported having struck a tree on the line between Leeds and Manchester just outside of Mytholmroyd station.
"All trains on the line are currently stopped whilst Network Rail workers visit site to investigate.
"Mytholmroyd Fire service will also be attending. We'd like to thank passengers for their patience and apologise for any disruption which they are experiencing."
Rail replacement coaches are running between Bradford Forster Square Station and Hebden Bridge.
Services between York and Blackpool will operate between York and Halifax, restarting at Hebden Bridge through to Blackpool.
Replacement buses have been requested to operate between Halifax and Hebden Bridge.
Calder Valley services will operate between Leeds and Halifax, restarting at Hebden Brdge. Services via Brighouse are currently not operating.
Northern Rail says it is not known when normal service will resume.


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Thursday, November 3, 2011
The Fisherman
9 comments:
The water has to be getting cold by now. Did he catch anything?ReplyDelete
i didn't see anybody catching anything!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 3, 2011 at 7:32 AM
I've never been to the greenway in Salem. Looks like maybe I need to!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 3, 2011 at 8:17 AM
Wonder what he's fishing for... up here it would be steelhead. Love the shot, his colorful jacket add that pop to your shot!ReplyDelete
Whether he caught anything or not, it looks like it was a pleasant day for fishing.ReplyDelete
Peaceful scene. Hope he catches his dinner!ReplyDelete
Very nice shot! Hope he caught some fish!ReplyDelete
Thanks for sharing;o)
Hope you are having a nice and happy week****
Fabulous shot.ReplyDelete
This is a good one.ReplyDelete
I am sure he must be catching a few daily.
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"I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing — that it was all started by a mouse."
First Mickey Mouse Comic Strip Released (1930)
Mickey Mouse's first incarnation of sorts was as Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, created by Walt Disney for Universal Studios. When Disney was fired for asking for a bigger budget to produce Oswald cartoons, he created Mickey Mouse to keep his company afloat. Mickey was somewhat mischievous in early cartoons, but later evolved into a well-meaning Everyman. Today, Mickey is one of the most recognized symbols of American culture. More
pictures : dingle, ireland; 1930 mickey from google images


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Hi All,
Hope you like my scale version of the 17n, Mr Marty Perovich. Big thanks to Joel Goff at Killer Image for the graphic and of course the man himself, Marty for organising it.
Marty Perovich 17n
Show Off Your Finished Sprint Cars
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Re: Marty Perovich 17n
Can anyone else open these photo's????
Re: Marty Perovich 17n
Cant see anything from my end mate
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Half Day Tour of London with St Paul's Cathedral and Guard Change
More information about Half Day Tour of London with St Paul's Cathedral and Guard Change tickets
Additional Information
What's Included in the tour
- Panoramic tour of London
- Entry to St Paul's Cathedral
- Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace
- Luxury Coach
- Professional Guide
What's Excluded in the tour
- Gratuities
- Food and beverages unless stated differently
Please Note:
- You must bring the e-ticket provided to gain entry to this tour
- The Guard Change may not be operational in bad weather conditions. On these occasions we will visit the Horse Guards for a photo stop instead
- The Whispering Gallery remains closed with our revised schedule aiming to reopen it by Easter 2020.
Comprehensive Panoramic TourSt. Paul's Cathedral
Enjoy a whistle stop tour of London's famous monuments and marvel at the history of London's modern masterpieces from the comfort of your seat. Have your cameras ready for the spectacular Westminster Abbey and many other landmarks.
Towering high over the City of London, magnificent St Paul's Cathedral is widely considered to be Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece. Enter the Quire and marvel at the beautiful mosaics inside. (On Sundays due to church services, there is no guiding inside the cathedral).á
Buckingham Palace and Changing of the Guard
As iconic an image of London as red telephone boxes and double-decker buses, the Changing of the Guard is a not-to-be-missed royal feast of bearskin hats and red tunics. (We will visit Horseguards Parade when the ceremony is not available.)
We will visit Horseguards Parade when the ceremony is not available.
This tour will finish at approximately 11:30am outside Buckingham Palace.
- Panoramic half-day tour of London
- Entry to St Paul's Cathedral
- See the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace
- Luxury air-conditioned vehicle
- Free Wi-Fi On Board Our Coaches*
Days of Departure: Daily
Return(approx): 11.30am
Departure Point:á4 Fountain Square, 123-151 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 9SH
Return Point: Buckingham Palace


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Fender 2 inch Guitar Strap, Black with Yellow Fender Logo
This Fender 2 inch Poly Guitar Strap is made from black poly-webbing and features the Fender logo embroidered in yellow.
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- Fully adjustable guitar strap
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- This product is in stock and ready to ship
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UK Non-Mainland: £ 12
Rep. of Ireland and Mainland Europe: from £ 15 (calculated at checkout).
Order this item before 4pm and receive it on the next working day ( Mon-Fri excluding bank holidays ), mainland UK only*
Additional Information
On demo in store No Brand Fender Condition New


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Anaheim has plenty to hang its hat on, the playoff bound Ducks, the Angels and of course Disneyland, but the yearly Taste of Anaheim does not have to take a back seat to any of them. The food and music extravaganza that is the Taste of Anaheim took place on Thursday, May 8th at the Anaheim GardenWalk and was once again one of the best restaurant showcase events in all of Orange County.
The Taste of Anaheim always showcases some of the best restaurants in the city, allowing guests to sample dishes that showcase some of the favorites of Anaheim as well as some restaurants that are new and trying to introduce themselves to the city. The two-level GardenWalk makes for a beautiful setting for the Taste of Anaheim and for those in attendance they learned quickly that by the time you finished tasting all that one level had to offer you, you were likely to be full but you would be oh so tempted by the treasures of the level of GardenWalk you had yet to experience.
Everyone at the Taste of Anaheim is always excited to see some of their favorite restaurants such as Slater's 50/50, Roy's Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine, ESPN Zone, and of course if you get a VIP ticket you can enjoy cocktails and food at FiRE + iCE Grill + Bar . Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill was on hand making introductions as they are soon to be joining the GardenWalk family. Anaheim can't wait to get a look at this once it opens as it sounds like it will be an energetic dining experience with some amazing barbeque on the menu. Just in time for the hot Southern California days, Rita's of Anaheim was sampling their fantastic Italian Ice that is soon to open right on Euclid Street. Hangar 24 was serving up its amazing craft beer and it was so good the line just continued to grow and grow with repeater tasters! A personal favorite of mine was the shrimp taco that came wrapped in a tortilla grilled with cheese from Rubio's, just amazing! If you were looking for a great way to finish your dining experience off, the mango parfait from Tangaroa Terrace, was sweet and refreshing.
While the House of Blues on Sunset Strip seems to steal the headlines, Anaheim has its own version right in Downtown Disney. The House of Blues, home to iconic Sunday Gospel Brunch, was not only showing off the fantastic menu that they have, but they were also treating guests to concert tickets. Dave & Busters was also treating guests, they had a ton of prizes to hand out including an entire party if you were lucky enough to spin the wheel just right. The steak and cheese subs were pretty awesome as well from Dave & Buster's. The Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery girls were serving up amazing sandwiches from the famous Anaheim sports bar and pub. UltraLuxe Cinemas was giving away a variety of prizes to their beautiful theater located right inside of GardenWalk. The LA Kiss also had cheerleaders taking pictures to help promote the Arena Football season that recently kicked off.
As dizzying as the amount of food that you try is, plenty of people might just rank the musical lineup even higher than the spectacular food. This year the Taste of Anaheim lineup included; WANTED: The Bon Jovi Tribute Band, No Duh – The Ultimate Tribute to No Doubt and DSB, a Journey Tribute Band. Tribute is right when it comes to all three of these bands as they seemed to get every note, song and lyric as close to the original versions as you can get. WANTED and No Duh were no to the Taste of Anaheim this year and they did not disappoint, guests heard every hit that they could think of from these two groups. DSB has been a staple of the Taste of Anaheim for years and once again brought the hits of Journey to Anaheim and had everyone dancing or singing along and wishing that they would play just a few more songs to close out the night.
While you can find tasting events in a number of cities, those who have attended the Taste of Anaheim can attest that this version really sets the standard. Incredible restaurants who serve up amazing food and servings that are more than taste, an incredible musical lineup all brought together with guests who are incredibly nice and friendly and make this event one that you will be wishing was not another year away.
For more information visit the Taste of Anaheim


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|04:29 PM - beau159 quoted Sharpie in post House breaking
One thing I am not seeing he...
|03:42 PM - LindyPhoebeRuby quoted Sharpie in post Not sure what I'd like to do..... (trading horses)
I've said it before and I am...
|07:22 AM - Sharpie quoted Prinella in post Saving up for another horse..
I think tinylilly is right. ...
|09:26 PM - Allison Finch quoted Sharpie in post
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Sort of... my guy's tail gro...
|02:36 AM - ls6firebird quoted Sharpie in post downgrade
Why keep em nice? I bought m...
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"Does he do this more in one...
|11:31 PM - shaggy quoted Sharpie in post Big Change and Wasn't informed!
"Those shouldn't be my only ...
|02:21 PM - Sharpie quoted Left Hand Percherons in post Can someone please pinpoint what this guy did wrong? (somewhat graphic, angry horse)
The horse is calculating and evil and the...
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For some people struggling with payments on their homes, a short sale option is worth exploring. A short sale involves selling your home for less than what you owe as a means to avoid mortgage foreclosure. Today, many lenders are considering a short sale as a viable option, because owning your property is an expense for them.
Many homeowners having financial difficulties are considering doing a short sale a little too late. The time to explore doing a short sale is before you start missing house payments or soon thereafter. The reason is because the whole process for doing a short sale is time consuming. You need time to market and find a buyer, time to work with the bank(s) in approving the short purchase price and finally, time for the buyers to process their new mortgage to purchase your home and close. Time is critical to the success of short selling your home.
If you're considering a homes short sale, you need an expert in local real estate and one who is experienced with short sales. Although it is true that you can accept an offer for less than your mortgage and present it to your lender yourself, the likelihood of success is slim to none. Having a REALTOR® who is experienced and knowledgeable in short sales helps considerably – he knows the process well, he's developed relationships with many of these banks and he know how and when to communicate with them. Because the banks are overwhelmed with these short sales, having an experienced short sale team to file all the paperwork in a timely fashion and follow up with your lenders daily is critical. Remember, if you're trying to avoid mortgage foreclosure, time is of the essence!!!
It is understood that in a foreclosure you can expect your credit score to drop an average of 200-300 points. A short sale will reduce your credit score drop to 150 points. However, some homeowners have only seen their score drop around 100 points. It's important to note that every situation is different.
Perhaps the best part of all is that with a short sale, rather than being on your credit report for seven years, it only appears for 24 to 72 months. It should also be noted that with a short sale, you might find that attaining reasonable credit happens much quicker than in a foreclosure.
Like many Americans trying to avoid mortgage foreclosure, you're probably feeling anxious and stressed. You may feel there are no other options left to avoid mortgage foreclosure. Contact us today to discuss your situation. We'll be happy to explain the short sale process with you to see if a homes short sale may be an option for you.
Stephen Sexauer
Real Estate Broker/Mortgage Broker
Sexauer Real Estate International
Direct: 727-641-3644
Toll-free: 888-813-8113
Fax: 813-464-7733
Email Stephen
Professional Affiliations:
Greater Tampa Bay Association of REALTORs®
Florida Association of REALTORs®
National Association of REALTORs®
The Tampa Bay International Real Estate Council
Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers
Graduate REALTOR® Institute


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Many Americans remain ignorant about the way their clothes are made. Many do not even know the countries in which their clothing is made. All they care about are the designer brands they wear, having bought the clothes from prestigious shops and franchises.
Most of the clothes that are sold in America are made in factories based in third world countries. The labor used is more controversial since it is child labor.
Case in point is Bangladesh, its capital being Dhaka. More than 4.7 million children work in cloth factories there. Most of them have never been to school and those who have had any form of education drop out in the early stages of learning.
The average age of these factory children is between 10 and 14 years. Their minimum wage is just $39 per month. They live in very poor conditions. The main means of travel is overcrowded ships for commuting to the factories. Most have no homes or places to sleep and end up spending their nights in the factories where they work.
Their work shifts range from 11 to 14 hrs per day. One of the children says he works 12 hours per day and handles more than 1400 shirts in the work shift. He is only 10 years old and has been in the city for four months.
The future of these children in the garment factories is bleak. They have nowhere else to go or to earn their living. Continued purchase of these garments supports the vice of child labor by providing a market that has to be satisfied.
Many countries employ child labor to some extent with some being more notorious than others. The worst hit places are third world countries in Africa and the lawless countries such as Somalia and close neighbors Eritrea.
It is upon every self-respecting person to do what they can to prevent the spread of child labor and see how these children whose future is being destroyed can be helped.


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Zing Zing are always on our list come Easter time for their Cadbury Creme Egg wontons but this year they've come out with Christmas Dinner Wontons - we're not sure which win as both are amazing.
If you want a little taste of Christmas crossed with a bit of Chinese, before Christmas is truly upon us then you need to get yourself ordering some. Filled with a Christmas Dinner style sausage meat stuffing and a cranberry sauce dip the wontons are a brilliant little taste of the festive season.
Zing Zing also have melted Lindor wontons at the moment and you can grab some on your order free with the code LINDOMG. These are equally wonderful though be careful eating them, they are fully melted in there.
So - if you're not feeling like you've started to overdo it on the festive foods yet these need to be in your firing line.


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Dr. Maggie Peterson,
My name is Dr. Maggie and I was born in Enderlin, ND. I graduated in 1997 from North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota. I graduated in 1998 from Utah College of Massage Therapy. In 2002, I graduated from Palmer Chiropractic College in Davenport Iowa. I am certified in pediatrics, and wellness. I have trained in TBM and NET, Acupuncture, Cranial Sacral Therapy and Structural Integration as well as functional physiology. My son, Tommy was born in 2005. I love to ride motorcycles. I also enjoy learning new things, playing board games, and spending time with friends and family.
I was led to be a healing practitioner at the age of 16. I knew that I was to help people heal. I am greatly blessed by God to have received training and wisdom that can help others on their journey of health. That is why I have chosen to devote my life to the healing arts. I am grateful I did so because I have the chance to bring love, joy and health to the people of our community, which impacts everyone's life.
Tammy Hursman LMT
Tammy Hursman, has been a massage therapist and a CranioSacral Therapist for almost 20 yrs.
She studied at the Utah College of Massage Therapy, Salt Lake City Campus. She has continued her education through the Upledger Institute studying CranioSacral Therapy. CranioSacral Therapy is performed on a person fully clothed. Using a light touch – generally no more than the weight of a nickel – the practitioner monitors the rhythm of the craniosacral system to detect potential restrictions and imbalances. The therapist then uses manual techniques to release those problem areas and relieve undue pressure on the brain and spinal cord.
Tammy owns and operates Heart & Hands Massage based in Casselton. She works in Enderlin on Mondays.
"My focus on your needs start the day you become my client.", Tammy
Heather Jorstad
Heather is a 1999 graduate of The Institute of May-Therapeutic Studies, and is a member of the American Massage Therapy Association.
She has owned and operated Relaxing Moments Massage Therapy Inc. in Bismarck since April of 2005. Since July of 2017 she has been expanding her business to the Enderlin area. Heather is providing massage every other Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; with hopes to grow and expand business in Enderlin and the surrounding community.
Whether it be deep tissue, cupping therapy, helping to gain range of motion or just a relaxing massage; Heather will focus on helping your body feel better. She has integrated using Young Living Essential Oils into her massage and provides Raindrop Technique using those oils leaving you feeling rejuvenated and relaxed.
"Come experience a massage for the Health of it!" Heather


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Jet.com launches today, a new ecommerce startup founded by Marc Lore. Whether or not it succeeds this is a business founded on the premise of vision (like Amazon and Jeff Bezos). Below is a great interview with Lore talking about ecommerce, business, life and more. Must watch.
Lesson: Whatever you're doing, go all in.


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The last few days can be viewed as a total disaster or as a bit of a joke. It depends on how I am able to think and feel about it.
I leave you to judge for yourself.
A journey that could have taken me 10 minutes in a car to get the medication I needed from Penn hospital took over 7 hours, 7 long painful distressing hours, necessitated numerous phone calls and two car trips. What would have I done if my husband had not be there for me?!?
I had a much more comfortable Sunday and Monday, thanks to the 'holding' medication. Tuesday, no news of my emergency appointment so have to chase it up and am told to report to Corner House at 11.00am on Wednesday morning to see my consultant. By then, I have run out of medication so I am starting to feel very ill again. Never the less, get myself to Corner House, on time. When I get there, I am told a mistake has been made - my consultant isn't there. I am already highly agitated because bi-polar flips destructive impulses backwards and forwards, from 'within' towards oneself to 'without' towards the outside world, so walk out of the place because I am genuinely afraid to blow and hurt somebody.
My husband then calls Corner House and I am referred to my GP to get a top up of the medication I need to help me over the next two days, whilst waiting for the 'emergency' appointment with my consultant. My GP surgery tells my husband I can collect my emergency prescription after 1.00pm. When I get there at 1.30pm, my GP has left without signing my prescription!!! I am then sent back to Corner House who then issues me with an emergency prescription. Why could they not have done that straight away, especially since the appointment mistake was their own **** up!!!
The system let me down spectacularly and very dangerously. What happens to the poor sods who have nobody to support them through this mess? I find the whole thing totally unacceptable, not only because of what it did to me but also because of what it did to my husband.
I have to say that I got numerous apologies, and that's nice, BUT apologies don't keep a seriously ill patient safe and do absolutely sod all to support the patient's family at the time where they need it the most.
I called it a joke but to call it a farce would be more appropriate. And a dangerous farce at that....
PS: Eventually saw my consultant on Wednesday morning and was prescribed a new 'cocktail' treatment, subject to blood test results. He promised to come back to me by the middle of next week for final decision. Let's see what happens....
A very witty male member of my family (I will keep his identity hidden to respect his privacy) was angered and disgusted by what I have described in my blog entry. After he had finished expressing his anger and disgust, he said something that made me laugh to tears. Because laughter is such a precious gift in my circumstance, I want to share his humour with you. This is what he said: "For God's sake! What the system expects you to cope with is appalling: even a healthy person after an eight hour sleep, a blow job, and a baloney sandwich could not put up with that!!!". Just writing it is making me laugh again. Thank God for the wonderful men in my family and for the gift of laughter :0).
In the middle of all that mental health system madness (and I am supposed to be the crazy one!), three women made a big difference. I will keep their identity hidden to respect their privacy but they know who they are: M, J, and G. All three are IN the system but they are not OF the system. None of them could make a difference to the way the system operates but all of them made a difference to me: they CARED. Sometimes, when we feel overwhelmed by the sheer size of a human problem, it's easy for us to forget that ONE human being caring for another human being can have a huge impact. Let's pay hommage to M, J and G by never forgetting that all of us have The Power of One.
This morning at Penn Hospital, I found out quite by chance, that my consultant psychiatrist has retired since I saw him two weeks ago (remember the screwed up 'emergency' appointment?). Officially, no other consultant has been named as his replacement so nobody is available to take over my care and authorise the start of the new 'drug cocktail' treatment my now retired consultant prescribed for me when I last saw him. I have waited two weeks (I was originally told 3 to 4 days) for blood results that finally became available to me this morning because one caring individual (another wonderful J) within the psychiatric system busted a gut to get hold of them for me, and I am still suffering greatly whilst waiting for another caring individual in the system (the ever wonderful M again) to bust her gut to get my treatment authorised ASAP. They call this a psychiatric CARE system?!?
Dear Gabrielle, I cannot imagine how you were able to write so lucidly about what happened to you on that particular Saturday, for it must have felt unspeakably bad.
I pray that the CARE has improved since then or at the very least that what you wrote has found its way into the NHS feedback system.
I am also writing to say that I watched your video on BPD (parts 1, 2 and 3 in the public speaking section) and cannot find the words to adequately describe how good your presentation is. You have such a special gift for sharing your insights, and speaking up for others. It's so lovely to also see your talented son and husband helping to bring your ideas and words to life. You are a class act!
I also want to say how much I love the way that your caring shows through in all that you write and say - your caring for ... care givers, for family, for other sufferers, and, most of all, for yourself.
With love and affection to you old friend,
from across the Atlantic x x x
Hello Old Pal :D Thank you so much for your encouraging feed-back - you made my day :D :D :D xxxxx


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High Quality Meets Value.
"Excellent roofing job. Very professional and helpful, We were very impressed with the final costs and we love our new roof. A++++"
High Quality Meets Value.
"They do quality work and they have very good prices. I've worked with them for a number of years, and they're very responsive to my needs."
High Quality Meets Value.
"Excellent roofing job. Very professional and helpful, We were very impressed with the final costs and we love our new roof. A++++"
High Quality Meets Value.
"Use them. They're skilled, on time, professional, and they do exactly what they promise they'll do. I've had no problems at all with them."
Solar panels can lower your utility bills by more than 50% almost immediately. Solar tiles are so durable, they are warrantied for the lifetime of your house, or infinity -- whichever comes first. Click here to turn your home into a personal utility.
Ross Roofing's licensed, bonded, fully insured and BBB accredited workers specialize in repairing roofs as quickly and inexpensively as possible. No matter if it's an old roof or just some repairs, see why we are better than the rest at getting in and getting it done.
There are a lot of variables involved in making your old roof new again -- pricing, product availability and more. Why go with a roofing contractor who may submit a low-cost bid, then piles on repeated change orders and empties your bank account balance? Click here to see why Ross Roofing is the better alternative!
Unlike other roofing companies, we've been around for 69 years. How many other roofing companies can say that? Click here to check out the many reasons why Ross Roofing gives you comparatively, competitively better service than most other roofing companies in the area.
About Us
|Diamond Certified's rigorous 12-step company certification process is the most reliable anywhere. DS surveys a large, random sample of REAL customers by telephone to get the most accurate rating and verify only actual customers are responding. By surveying from a company's entire customer base, it ensures the results of its study, good or bad, truly represent the company's customer satisfaction level. All responses for each Diamond Certified company are displayed on its Diamond Certified Company Report page.
Each respondent is identified by first name and last initial to protect their privacy. If a response is overtly negative or a respondent's first name is easily identifiable because of uniqueness (either due to its rare use in American society or because of small respondent sample sizes), the name will be altered using a strict formula. This is to protect the anonymity of the respondent while including their feedback for other consumers to review.
Companies must score Highest in Quality and Helpful Expertise™ (a 90+ on a 100 scale) and pass all our credential-based ratings to earn Diamond Certified. By requiring such a high score to qualify, DS cuts out mediocre and poorly performing companies. It then conducts ongoing research and ratings to ensure all companies maintain their high performances. Click here for more information.
The new BBB rating system relies on an A+ through F letter grade scale. The grades represent BBB's degree of confidence that the business is operating in a trustworthy manner and will make a good faith effort to resolve any customer concerns filed with the BBB. The ratings system relies on a proprietary formula that takes into account 17 factors based on objective information and actual incidences of a business's behavior that have been verified and evaluated by BBB professionals. Click here for more information.
When a review is labeled 'TrustLink Verified Review', it means that the customer who wrote the review was engaged in some type of business transaction with the company. This label is added to the review only if we can verify that the experience in the review took place. Potential customers reading a 'TrustLink Verified' review can use the information to help them decide which reviews are helpful in their decision to do business with the company. If a review is not marked as 'TrustLink Verified Review', it doesn't mean that the customer didn't have that experience with the company. It simply means that we weren't able to verify that the transaction took place because the customer did not go through one of our channels of communication with the company. Click here for more information.
Owens Corning Roofing Platinum Preferred Contractors are the top tier of the Owens Corning exclusive network. They meet strict standards for professionalism, reliability and unparalleled craftsmanship. Only they can offer Owens Corning's best roofing system warranty.
Unlike low-cost commodity-driven roof systems, a high performance FiberTite roof is part of an overall roofing system that requires a higher level of product knowledge. Even the most experienced FiberTite single-ply roofing contractor can benefit from a refresher course.
Meet the Monterey Peninsula's Most Trusted Roofing Company
Ross Roofing is a family owned and operated roofing & solar business that has been in business since 1950. We service both commercial and residential areas. With an excessive amount of competitors in the industry, it can be difficult to distinguish one roofing and solar company from the next, let alone compare services and make an educated decision.
Ross Roofing is aware that the contracting–or to be specific– the roofing and solar industry is extremely competitive, and there are multiple options to choose from. As a result, we have developed some very important processes to distinguish ourselves from the marketplace.
In an industry that rarely changes its approaches and processes, Ross Roofing is a different breed of company, utilizing technology and its latest conveniences to further enhance our customer service levels and the overall way that we service out clientelle.
The general marketplace and the typical customer have changed greatly in the past 20 years. Since Ross Roofing has a long history of serving the community, we have seen these changes, and that has allowed us the opportunity of innovating and adapting with the marketplace, according to the new customer's needs. We are always implementing the latest technology and finding ways to improve our strategies, concepts and ideas to ensure the most satisfaction possible for the customer.
"Our main philosophy has always been to treat the customer right, fairly and with a Christian themed 'do unto others' philosophy."
- Mike Ross, Owner
And with 68 years of experience, we have had an extended amount of time to build an exceptional legacy–something that we intend on keeping and exceeding over the next few years. That length of time has awarded us with an excellent reputation which is one of the biggest factors to pay attention to when choosing a roofing company.
Mike Ross, Owner
Mike Ross comes from a roofing family and is the third generation owner of Ross Roofing & Solar which was founded in 1950 by his grandfather. He holds a Bachelor's of Science in Construction Management from Brigham Young University (1995). Mike enjoys the fast pace of the roofing world and delighting his customers by providing top quality roofing installations. Mike successfully added the ability to install single-ply roofing (PVC), standing seam metal roofs and also all types of solar installs to the company's skill set. In his free time Mike enjoys his family and also fishing, spending time in a hammock under the stars by any river, surfing, and golf. He is a scoutmaster for Troop 187 in Seaside and gets a kick out of helping the boys step away from their video games by getting them outside to breathe fresh air.
Monique Maldonado, Administrative Assistant
Monique has worked for Ross Roofing since 2016. She handles the majority of office paperwork, data entry and customer service. She works directly with entire office staff, including the owner, Mike Ross. She prepares billing, statements and work orders. She coordinates permit submittals and proper completion. She has a strong knowledge of how counties and city ordinances operate and keeps up with the numerous changes within those areas. She keeps the staff up to date on the latest safety changes and regulations in the roofing world. She attends numerous seminars for administrative, office management and financial training. Most importantly, she plans our Taco Truck parties! Monique loves working with the 110% genuinely ethical people who love & treat everyone like family & with the upmost respect. MOnique lives in Marina (so she gets to bike to work)!
The Ross Advantage
Put Us to the Test!
|California requires residential roofing contractors to be licensed. Before hiring a contractor, make sure the company has a valid license in good standing.
|Required Licenses
|All Ross Roofing employees are licensed and bonded.
|Roofing contractors should carry two types of insurance: workers' compensation insurance and liability insurance. Without workers comp, you are responsible for paying for any injuries which occur on your property.
|Insurance Coverage
|All Ross Roofing employees and subcontractors carry both workers comp and liability insurance.
|Roofing contractors should have an established history of doing excellent work in our area. Without that history, you have no way of knowing if a roofing contractor has the skills, experience and results you deserve
|Ross Roofing is a family owned and operated roofing & solar business that has been in business since 1950. We service both commercial and residential areas.
|Not only is choosing the right roofing contractor critically important, but also choosing the right roofing product, with the right materials and workmanship warranty, is crucial as well.
|Our salespeople are experts in what materials work best in our Monterey Peninsula climate. With 68 years experience, we know what materials work best in any local city.
|You need to be able to easily communicate with the contractor. Roofers should willingly answer your questions and provide the information you need to make an informed decision about your roof.
|Communication Skills
|We pride ourselves on being proactive, positive communicators. We love to keep you in the loop about your roof, so you don't have to guess where we are in the building process.
|Many roofing warranties are one-sided -- against you, the homeowner. Even many years from now, you could be stuck with a roof repair bill and very little (if any relief) per your warranty's terms and conditions.
|Click here to see why Ross Roofing's warranty is one of the best around, and protects you, the homeowner!
|Ask the roofing contractor if their employees/subcontractors are trained to do high-quality work. Insufficient training increases the risk of injuries, and may even delay the completion of your roof.
|Trained Employees or Subcontractors
|Our offices are lined with our employees' training certificates of completion. Ask us who will be working on your roof, and about their training depth!
|Always insist on a written contract which protects both parties and reduces the financial risk of making such a big investment. Then before the contractor does any work on your roof, ask for a work plan. It will list all the materials to be used, the anticipated start and end date of the project and other details about your roofing project.
|Written Contract / Work Plan
|Ross Roofing insists on written contracts and work plans, because it ensures we are both working off the same page -- literally!
|Talk with roofing contractors with a positive reputation in your community. Absent a personal referral, read online reviews or check with the Better Business Bureau. And check their references, too.
|Positive Reputation
|Ross Roofing's 5-star rating, plus its A+ BBB rating, makes us a very credible business to bid on your roofing project!
|Commissioned salespeople will often price gouge you, leaving you to pay more (so they make larger commissions).
|Non-Commissioned Sales
|Ross Roofing's salespeople are on salary, not commission, so you can be assured that you're getting the best deal possible.
Our Capabilities
Ross Roofing provides a variety of residential and commercial roofing services for clients in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties, including new construction roofing, repairs, reroofing, waterproofing and real estate roof inspections.
Our family-owned and operated company has decades of experience working with all types of high-quality roofing materials, including:
- Single ply PVC FiberTite
- TPO membranes
- Asphalt shingles
- Metal, wood, synthetic blends
- Concrete
- Two-piece clay tile roofing
We are also Monterey County's only certified Owens Corning Platinum Level Shingle Installer. Our employees are factory trained and certified FiberTite, DuroLast, Metal Roofing and Tile Roofing Institute product applicators.
Our Roofing Specialies
- New Roof Construction: We make roofing one less component of your building project that you have to worry about.
- Re-Roofing: We install all types of retrofit and recover roof systems. All products covered. Over Six decades of experience.
- Roof Repair: Have a nightmare leak that no one else has been able to solve? Bring it on! We have one of the highest success ratios of leak-busting in our area. Yes, we are that confident.
- Gutters: Our gutter installations are second to none.
- Sheet Metal Fabrication Shop: We can handle nearly all custom sheet metal fabrication roof applications. We employ trained and experienced sheet metal workers at our company so that we can avoid unnecessary subcontracting whenever possible.
- Foundation Waterproofing: We specialize in critical below grade foundation waterproofing applications. We have a proven track record of success that alleviates building owner anxiety with this critical component of construction.
- Walkout Decks: We install all types of walk out decks from DesertCrete and Gaco Western to Bituthene waterproofing below tile and also other walk out deck solutions.
- Real Estate Inspections: There are Roof Inspections, and there are "roof inspections". Most roof inspections on today's market are several paragraphs filled with roofing jargon that you might not be able to accurately understand. Not at Ross Roofing. You will receive a report with many photographs and an explanation as to what is right or wrong in the picture you are looking at. We are well known on the Peninsula for our professional photo documented inspections and proposals. Our inspections are affordable, accurate and honest. If you are a real estate pro looking to significantly upgrade what you provide your clients with for a roof inspection, call us today and be prepared to be impressed.
Here's a secret in the roofing warranty industry:
Many basic roofing warranties are worthless to the consumer.
Most are prorated with a nebulous "reduction figure" for today's dollars to protect the manufacturer. For example: if you paid $5,000 for a roofing shingle product today, and 11-15 years later the product failed, the manufacturer might only pay out the prorated amount of 1/600 per month left on the warranty tied to an allotted dollar figure.
That means for a typical 3,000 square foot home with basic product, you might get back a couple hundred dollars!
Why Ross Roofing's New Roof Warranty is Better
Ross Roofing's new roof warranties are a good example for consumer protection:
- There is no nebulous "reduction figure" to be prorated.
- All labor, roof tear off costs, material, disposal fees, roof removal, and installation of materials are completely covered at no cost to the building owner.
- If your roof leaks for any reason due to faulty workmanship, that leak will also be repaired at no cost to you. In most cases, Ross Roofing will waive the cost of this extended warranty.
How long does this warranty last, you ask? 50 years in most cases!
If you are in the market for a new roof, please ask your Ross Roofing Pro to explain your warranty options. They can be complex and confusing, but a good roofing contractor who is an expert in his field will be able to help you make perfect sense of every facet of your warranty options.
Take the Next Step!
Click here to see why working with Ross Roofing is a better deal for you than working with another roofing contractor. Then click here to contact us today!
For BIG Reasons to Switch to Solar Roofing
With energy costs continually increasing, switching to alternative power sources like solar energy is more sensible than ever!
As a roofing company that specializes in solar roofing, we've seen at least four reasons why you should switch to solar roofing:
- You Enjoy Significant Energy Savings: A solar roof works by charging a high-capacity battery -- your home's primary energy source. Your home only switches back to the electrical grid when the battery needs to charge. If your average daily consumption is significantly less than the battery's full capacity, you can even sell your excess power back to your provider.
- Your Property Value Increases: Some homeowners hesitate to have solar panels installed on their residential roofing because of the perceived loss in curb appeal. While the aesthetic of solar panels is not for everyone, the energy savings still boosts your home's overall value. The National Appraisal Journal states that for every dollar saved in annual utility bills through solar energy systems, your home's value increases by approximately $20.
- You Become Eligible for Tax Credits or Rebates: In addition to savings on energy costs, you can be eligible for up to a 30% federal tax credit if your home uses a solar-based energy source, resulting in even further savings. Certain states and counties also offer rebates to incentivize homeowners and businesses to invest in solar energy. In fact, it is entirely possible for your solar roof to pay for itself in less than a year.
- It Makes Your Home Greener: Power from the grid is generated using fossil fuels. Not only is it a finite energy source; it also fluctuates depending on the market. Solar power, on the other hand, is a clean and sustainable energy source and with a minimal carbon footprint. If you're looking into getting a LEED certification for your home, having a solar energy source is the right way to go. And the best part is, it makes your home virtually blackout-proof.
Take the Next Step!
Don't wait to experience all four of these advantages. Contact Ross Roofing today for your personalized, no-obligation solar energy audit!
You've Got Questions? We've Got Answers!
Californians pay a premium for energy. California's electric utilities are often listed among the top 10 most expensive utilities in the United States. However, a typical California family can pay off their solar power system within an average of five years, equaling savings of more than $80,000 within 20 years. Additionally, there is no better…Read More
My roof looks funny… What are some aging signs in shingles? And what's with those roofing warranties?
Roofs are funny things. I have spent hours with clients and some times days with others in the roof type and color selection phase of re-roofing. I have been known to explain on more than one occasion that the color and type of roof really matters right now… but 3 months after the new roof…Read More
Your roof protects your from the moisture and heat that is in the elements. You might think that roof venting would be the last thing that you would expect a roof to have. Besides, aren't we trying to keep the elements out? Opening the roof to expose ourselves to the open air seems counterproductive. Believe…Read More
There are roofing systems that are made from wood, metal, clay, slate, concrete, cementious fiber, asphalt, plastic and modified materials. Each system has unique properties that assist in longer lifespans for various roofing scenarios. A good way to determine how long you can expect your roof to last is to check with the manufacturer's warranty.…Read More
Each roof is different in pitch, hips, gables, undershots, access, flashing detail, transitions, etc. I often get the phone call where a fellow wants to know "just ball park, you know?" how much a roof will cost. They'll tell me square footage but when I ask if that includes overhang, pitch, waste and garage there…Read More
So, you made the decision to do your roofing project, you feel good about who you chose to do the roofing work. When you hire a roofing professional to work on your roof, you should ask them if you need to be home while they work. Typically, they will tell you that you do not…Read More
When you are considering hiring a roofing contractor for your roofing project, it is important to obtain an estimate. Usually people elect to contact several roofing professionals and then compare estimates. They may feel that it is best to obtain several estimates while they are at work and then compare the estimates at a later…Read More
I see this question from the client's perspective. If they are a homeowner, they want to know some things about any given roofing company's re roofing philosophy. Will they be exposed to the elements? Why? Is there a way to lessen this risk? Are they insured? How much? What type of insurance do they have?…Read More
Water is not supposed to come inside your building. When it does, this can be more than alarming. The first response is typically to panic. Thoughts of having the roof entirely replaced and what that might cost begins to add to the stress. However, some of the time, a professional roofing contractor can repair the…Read More
Location: 742 Neeson Rd Suite D, Marina, CA 93933
Office: 831-394-8581
Fax: 831-394-4943


text:
Go vote!!
Just a quick reminder for everyone in the US today – get out and vote. This election is going to be a close one, make sure your voice is heard!
Just a quick reminder for everyone in the US today – get out and vote. This election is going to be a close one, make sure your voice is heard!
I bake a lot. I'm regularly bringing things I bake to work or to friends, since part of the fun of baking is being able to share, and seeing other people smile when they eat your yummy creations. Last time I brought something to work, one of my coworkers asked me how long I had been baking. I answered without thinking, "I've been baking seriously for about 15 years." Her response "what's seriously baking?"
Good question, and one I had to think about. I believe I did give the right response. I've been baking my entire life, but for years and years I was like most people and just pulled out a random chocolate chip cookie recipe or something every once in a while. But 15 (or so) years ago, it all changed.
It wasn't really intentional, I didn't set out to become a baking geek. A friend of mine had a bread machine, I saw what it could do, and thought it was the greatest thing ever. I bought a second hand machine off of Ebay for next to nothing, and discovered I could bake very good bread very cheaply. Financially, bread baking made a lot of sense for me at the time. I joined a bread maker Yahoo! Group, and found that the science behind baking was really interesting and fun to play with.
I still think I tend to approach baking as more of a science than an art – most bakers would agree (in fact, "if cooking is an art, baking is a science" is one of my favorite quotes). I tend to think about what I want as the end result and back into a recipe from there. I think that's different than what most chefs do, which seems to be more adding ingredients to see what the end result will be, playing with various combinations that seems like they'd work well together. Baking is a bit more complicated.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I'm a perfect baker. I screw up ALL the time. That's part of playing around. I always have a couple of recipes I'm working on perfecting, and more and more I tend to make "kitchen sink" bread where I open the fridge/cabinets and throw stuff in randomly. I made an awesome loaf last night this way (and will share the recipe below), but often have disasters. My recent explorations into ciabatta baking have resulted in a number of disasters. My one successful loaf looked like ciabatta, but was fairly tasteless – there is a lot more perfecting to do.
These days, if I want to bake something specific and don't know how, I tend to read a bunch of recipes and combine them into something I like. But if it's totally unfamiliar (like ciabatta) I will follow the recipe to the letter until I get the technique and procedure down.
Enough blabbering, onto the recipe. I fully intended to make a pizza for dinner last night, but when I started pulling together the dough, got a bit carried away, and it mutated into something else. This obviously isn't a tested recipe by any sense of the word, seeing as I only made it once (I wouldn't put it up there with my perfect French bread or anything), but it is good, healthy, whole-wheatyish sandwich bread. I am out of real sugar at home, which is why the splenda, substitute real sugar if desired.
3 cups white bread flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 tsp salt (this made for a slightly salty bread, which I think worked well with the other ingredients)
heaping 1/4 cup splenda
dash of honey (this was for the yeast more than anything else, there isn't enough for flavor)
2 tbs olive oil
1/4 cup non-fat milk powder
1/2 cup seeds & grains (I use this – I love everything about KA's harvest grains blend except for the poppy – this lets me make my own).
2 tsp yeast
Throw all the ingredients in your bread machine set to dough, OR…mix the yeast, honey and water, let sit. Mix all the dry ingredients, then add the yeast/water mixture and olive oil.
Once the dough is kneaded (if by hand, about 20 minutes kneading should do it), let it triple for the first rise. In my case, this means I have to pull it out of the bread machine – the machine will automatically knock the rising dough down before it can fully triple. Took about an hour.
Now to decide what to do with the dough! I made this into 4 rolls (for dinner that night), and 1 big loaf. The rolls baked at 450 for 15, the loaf at 375 for closer to 30. Both batches were sprayed with water 5 and 10 minutes into baking.
Allow to cool off completely before slicing, then enjoy!!
A few weeks ago at BlogHer, the University of Phoenix was offering a learning assessment you could take to find out what your learning style was to win an iPad (which I did win – holy cow – but more on that in a future entry, there's a funny story to share). As you can see from my results here, I tested nearly completely as aural, with a big chunk of logical, some solitary, and a teeny weeny bit of visual. I was told that was pretty much dead opposite of the rest of BlogHer attendees, which I found pretty fascinating. I knew my learning style was considered more masculine than feminine, but I would have said it was because I was visual/spatial (or what I thought of as left brain vs right). Mind you, spatial isn't on this learning style chart, could mean the same thing as visual, and maybe one doesn't exclude the other (anyone know?), but I barely registered as a visual learner.
I have always been very musically oriented, from starting to play the piano when I was 4, to learning a bunch of other musical instruments just because (not saying I was good at them, but they were fun to play with), to singing in any chorus, choir or musical that would have me. And of course, if you know me, you know my love for Broadway. A good song, or even just an amazing voice will easily bring me to tears, but I never really thought about whether or not that meant anything.
I was staying with my parents while I was in NYC at the conference, and when I told my mom (who's a lifelong academic/educator, now a college professor and school superintendent) what the test said, her response was simply "of course!" Oh. Revelation to me, known fact to her.
Some people have eidetic (photographic) memories, where they can take a quick look at something and recall every single element of it. I can do something similar where my brain takes single snapshots of certain moments and can recall details of those snapshots, no matter how old they are. My memories are full of mental pictures. If I'm remembering notes on a page, I have to remember where those notes are on the page before I can remember the content of the notes. I'm also terrible at foreign languages, and thought all of this made me a visual learner.
Now with the learning assessment results in mind, I realize that my "visual snapshot ability" (it's in quotes because I don't think it's considered any kind of "real" ability) doesn't even come close to what I do with audio. People with eidetic memories can remember every single detail of something they've seen for a brief moment, which I can only do on occasion, and I can't make it happen, as much as I've tried to "train" it. It just happens, sometimes due to an emotional event associated with the moment, and sometimes for no good reason at all.
However, I can recall audio I've heard for a brief moment down to the most minute detail, sometimes with visuals, sometimes without. I know the proper pitch, the vocal tone, I can identify single notes in chords in my head, I often remember the lyrics, and although I may not be able to accurately recreate the audio due to my inability to play the piano or sing even half as well as I used to (I mentioned all of this briefly in the 25 things you don't know about me post/meme/thingy), I know the tune inside and out. It used to drive my piano teachers crazy (they call it "playing by ear"), if they made the mistake of playing a song for me before I learned it by reading the music, I would never look at the music again and play from audio memory. I've always thought that was due to a lot of training (both vocal and instrumental), and music theory classes, but I now think it's more than that. In hindsight, the learning assessment results make perfect sense. Why else would I still be able to recall every single helper verb I had to memorize in 6th grade to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star ("be being as is have has could, do does did, may might must…." and so on). My teacher said we would never forget, and she was right.
I also learned years ago that I cannot do much of anything without sound in the background. It doesn't really matter what the sound is, just something my mind can grab on to so the rest of me can concentrate on something else. When I was younger, this was a pretty big problem due to the common belief that you must have silence to be able to study. Once I got older and figured it out, concentrating became much easier. I blamed that on my general tendency towards hyperactivity (or ADHD, or whatever you want to call it). I've never been good at sitting still, and have never grown out of the "ooh, shiny!" distractibility.
The same goes with me in the office and at home. If I'm at home, the TV is on, no matter what I'm doing. CNN is on right now, has been for hours, but it's just background noise. I do know part of my head IS listening, though, for example, I just heard the words "Clay Shirky" and looked up. And now (it's probably hours later, I've been doing other things while writing/editing this entry) I just recognized a voice, looked up, and it's Marc Saltzman, who used to work with us at Pseudo years ago, wow, hey Marc! How on earth is possible that he looks younger now? I sure don't. But he's on CNN! See, random bits and pieces catch my attention. But is my attention being swiped by the TV ADHD, or my ability to learn almost subconsciously through audio?
At work, if I'm trying to concentrate, my headphones are on. I'm not really paying attention, but just like CNN right now, I will be affected by what I'm listening to. I tell you, there's nothing like fighting tears while writing a spec (I swear, I'm not crying over specs, even if Jira does love to suggest that I tag all my specs "pain"). And nothing on earth will keep me from falling asleep more than a sound I can just barely hear, no matter what it is, my mind will not stop trying to interpret it into something I can recognize, put to a pattern, and end.
Everyone gets a song or a jingle stuck in their head every once in a while. I'm the same, except in my situation, I cannot get the tune out of my head until I completely memorize it. I will hear commercials as I'm wandering around the house (I fast-forward through them when I'm actively watching TV) and end up memorizing them, or even worse, memorizing bits and pieces. It doesn't matter what the song or jingle is, anything musical has to have an ending, otherwise it gets stuck on a loop in my head.
That is also why I tend to listen to full musicals or albums that run together (like Queensryche's Mindcrime) while I'm working (and monotonous TV when I'm reading or writing or something), I don't notice the switch from one song to another as much, and am able to easily stop in the middle, since it can then continue through to the end in my head.
If I don't know the ending of a song or jingle, or if it ends on a discordant note or in the middle of a beat or something (like nails on a friggin chalkboard to me!), I'll end up mixing it in my head with a song I do know that hits the same note or a complimentary one in the same key.
Fortunately, I tend to forget the mix once I learn the song, since I do come up with some really weird ones, I don't know how my head pulls the songs together. I've wondered before if really good DJ's train that ability to select songs that match, and that's how they mix music so well (I don't do it intentionally, and have never tried), but that's another blabber for another time. I do get well done mash-ups (ones that match more than just a beat) stuck in my head pretty easily, and tend to avoid them as a result.
As a silly example, last September when I was on vacation to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, we kept hearing "See You Again" by Miley Cyrus everywhere. It has a funky chorus with off beat lyrics, and got hopelessly stuck in my head. I bought the song as soon as possible (I think I got it from iTunes while I was still at the Vegas airport), put it on repeat many times over a few days, worked out the piece of the song I was having trouble memorizing, even looked up the lyrics I couldn't clearly understand, and was done with it. I can still run though the whole thing in my head, it's actually a cute, catchy song, but the point is…I don't have to.
For the most part, I discover interesting music this way. The annoying piece is when I get bits and pieces of TV jingles stuck in my head, or songs I really don't like – the solution is still the same as with the Miley Cyrus song. I'm also often amused when I discover what song goes with what tv commercial, there's rarely any relation between the lyrics of the song and what the commercial is pitching.
Strangely enough, this all started out as an entry about my trip to South Africa, but it's safe to say that this is already far too long of a single blog entry from a girl who's already been told her entries get too long. Oops.
Until an actual "all about my trip to Cape Town" entry (of which there will be many), I leave you with this…gorgeous, isn't it?
Disclosure: I wrote most of this entry on an iPad I won from the University of Phoenix at BlogHer because I took the learning assessment described in this entry. I think I'd be writing this entry anyway, because the findings were really interesting to me, but maybe it wouldn't be quite so rambly if I hadn't had the iPad on some very, very long plane trips. You decide if that is a good or bad thing. I'm too jet-lagged to care. There ya go, FTC – full blogger disclosure.
Still at the Dubai Airport and still have not found wifi. So more random blabbering from me. I did get today's New York times downloaded, which is something I suppose….yes, the Kindle's world 3G really is world wide. I'm at the gate waiting for my flight now, this was a much more pain-less checkin than in SF, primarily because I was already checked in. My luggage (hopefully) went straight through to South Africa.
I had a really interesting conversation with a woman from New Zealand who is on her way home from Afghanistan. She had spent the last 4 months there as a relief worker, and was on the 12th hour of her layover. Some random facts she told me about: no smoking anywhere in public during Ramadan, the Irish pub at the airport here is the only place that serves alcohol during the holiday and they have free wifi (will check it out on my return, I'll have four hours to kill), shopping here is out of control – the time to come is the first two weeks in January, but duty free isn't bad here end either. She definitely convinced me to take a longer layover if I'm ever here again – i would love to explore.
What else. Burkas are omnipresent here, but not so much so in rural Afghanistan, near Iran. Women there do not wear the full deal, some of them may wear the head piece, but she made a point of saying its personal choice. It's not quite as required as it may be elsewhere. Of course, that said – no shorts, no skirts unless they hit the floor. No short sleeves, no cleavage. Strangely enough, heavy, heavy makeup is ok – its strange to me to see these gorgeous women wearing pounds of makeup covered from head to toe. All you see are smoky eyes. She pointed out a woman wearing a tank top and said that someone was going to ask her to please "cover herself for decency."
I suspect I will have a lot more to say about the gender stuff once I'm not quite so sleep deprivand have had time to process. It has definitely been an experience. Nothing bad, though, I want to emphasize that.
Ok, I think we're boarding soon. Next stop Cape Town, where although it is winter, there is nothing wrong with a woman in a tank top.
..and this year it's in New York City, which is about as cool as things can get, since I'm from here.
I'm waiting for the first session to begin right now, so while I'm waiting, here are some random tips on BlogHer and NYC:
– If anyone asks you for money, to buy crap, or whatever on the street, glare at them with narrowed eyes and snark "Do I look like a fucking tourist." Guaranteed to work.
– Don't get overwhelmed with all the sessions. You can't attend them all, and that's OK!
– Be friendly. People are more than open to talk (I do get the irony that I'm sitting staring at my computer telling other people to be friendly. But I will be friendly later, I swear), and are here to meet people like you! I finally did talk to the woman sitting next to me, awesome blog I need to read: One Woman's Eye.
– It's hot. Very hot out. And chilly inside. Wear as little as possible while still being decent.
Woops, this will be shorter than intended, session starting now. More later!
I am a fan of things. By that, I mean that while I do "like" some things, I also, always, have been that person who, when I really like something, I REALLY get in to it. I become obsessed with one thing after another, maybe it's what happens when you cross an addictive personality with ADD? I am fairly monogamous in my addictions, though, I tend to only have one obsession at a given time.
Stargate is probably the longest-running fandom I can claim to belong to. I'm not head over heels obsessed, in fact, there is only one reason I'm up to date on Stargate Universe right now, and his initials are MS, but it's definitely something I love. I listen to multiple Stargate podcasts, I've seen all there is to see, and keep up on the news and blogs. I've never been to a Stargate convention (as much as I would love to go, it's one of those "if I won the lottery" things) and while I wouldn't go chasing Michael Shanks across the country, I wouldn't say no to seeing him at some convention if it was in SF. Which it never is, mind you.
That said, I'm still not a casual fan of anything. My favorite way to watch a tv show is start to finish, as in, watch the whole season start to finish. I will often not watch a show while it's airing so I can do this. I get really into the show for about two weeks, crank through it, and then I'm done. For some reason, I find that much more satisfying than watching an episode a week for 20 weeks, although I definitely do feel a difference in the show's pacing – in some cases, the storyline significantly changes in your mind if you go through a season too quickly. This also works well since I tend to prefer shows that are complex enough that it's impossible to jump in midway through, I just wait for them to finish airing and then watch it all.
I will rewatch exceptional tv shows, listen to commentary, watch extra features, and read analysis online. If I really like a tv show, I want to learn as much as I can about it. I'm currently rewatching Babylon 5, and it amazes me how much more I notice about the show now that I know how it all ends. I'm even re-reading the episode guide as I rewatch the episode. Great shows do that…leave you amazed at the end about things they did in the first episode. They give you a reason to want to be a fan girl, to want to learn more, because there actually is more to learn! I definitely prefer shows and stories that are multi-threaded, that give you things to think about. Simple is boring.
I don't think there's anything negative about being a fangirl. It simply means I like complex things that require thought and invoke emotion. So what if I have a new obsession every week? It keeps life interesting, and I have a lot more fun being REALLY involved in things than minimally.
What about you? Do you keep all things at a distance? Or do you bury your head until you're done?
I have always had a great sense of direction. I never knew how, or why I had it, but if you asked me at any given time where something was, I could point in the right direction. I wouldn't necessarily know north or south or street names, just…"that way." It's definitely come in handy, every time I move, I need to learn streets and directions all over again, which means lots of getting lost trying to find my way around. I like going on instinct, it's a great way to explore an area, and as long as I know "I need to be over there" I'll end up at the right place.
That is, until I moved to San Francisco. I had a feeling this city was going to throw off my sense of direction, but I had assumed that was because of the hills. I was right about the sense of direction thing, but so wrong about the reason.
As it turns out, the hills don't make a difference, the height of a street does not effect my perception of its length. What did screw me up, though, was my apartment building. My building sits in on the corner of the street. I enter my building on one street, and my window looks out onto another perpendicular street. However, when walking around that corner, I am able to cut it slightly by walking under the building, essentially walking catty corner instead of straight to the corner and turning 90 degrees. Doing this means that while walking from point A (under my window) to point B (entrance to my building) instead of only turning once in complete 90 degrees at the corner I turn twice, 45 degrees or so each. This is evidently a HUGE thing to my sense of direction.
When I first moved here, I was positive that the two streets surrounding my building were parallel to each other. Three turns must mean there's another street, right? Just…the street is only 2 feet long and is actually a way to walk around the corner. I figured out my mistake quickly enough, but knowing and feeling are two different things.
This is where it gets interesting for me. I have lived here for over a year. Logically, I know the two streets I live on run perpendicular to each other, but it makes no difference. My mind – my "sense of direction" still insists that the streets run parallel. Even last night, someone asked me for directions, and I had a horrible time trying to point them in the right direction. I had to remember that "this street goes that way," and even then confused myself but good.
Clearly, a "sense of direction" is related to feelings and perception more than logical thought, and changing the way your "gut" thinks is not simple. Logic does not enter into a gut reaction, and directional ability seems to be exactly the same. This is probably the first time that I remember trying to actively un-learn something because my perception is all screwy as a result, and it's extremely hard.
What does it say about the human mind? How much of what we do is perception or gut-based, and how much is logical? My struggle with directions here in SF would suggest that I act a lot more from instinct than I do from logic, even if I don't know that I'm doing it. I find that fascinating.
I haven't found a second example where my gut thinks something that my head knows is wrong, but I'm absolutely keeping my eye out. I want to understand more about how this works, it's a really neat mental, well, bug, that I want to fix.
Has this ever happened to you? Did you fix the bug?
I didn't write this, but it's too good not to share. Source unknown.
You didn't get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President.
You didn't get mad when Cheney allowed Energy company officials to dictate energy policy.
You didn't get mad when a covert CIA operative got outed.
You didn't get mad when the Patriot Act got passed.
You didn't get mad when we illegally invaded a country that posed no threat to us.
You didn't get mad when we spent over 600 billion(and counting) on said illegal war.
You didn't get mad when over 10 billion dollars just disappeared in Iraq.
You didn't get mad when you saw the Abu Grahib photos.
You didn't get mad when you found out we were torturing people.
You didn't get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping Americans.
You didn't get mad when we didn't catch Bin Laden.
You didn't get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed.
You didn't get mad when we let a major US city drown.
You didn't get mad when the deficit hit the trillion dollar mark.
You finally got mad when… when… wait for it… when the government decided that people in America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are sick.
Illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, are all OK with you, but helping other Americans… well f*ck that. That about right?
The government did a really good thing this past weekend. It's not perfect, but it's a start. Here's to being optimistic about the future!
Back in November, I left my position at MySpace to move to San Francisco and work for a teeny weeny startup. I definitely missed the startup world, and really enjoyed working in a 6 person company. After Yahoo!, AOL, and MySpace, it was like getting back to my roots.
But, things change, I am no longer working on Operation Turtle, and find myself in one of those funny "wow, I could almost do anything" situations. I wish the best for the folks left at OT and hope that they do get to show the world how incredible the product truly is. I'm moving on, though.
What do I do next. I've been emailing various folks, applied for a few positions online, but have saved most of the applying for jobs until I'm back from BlogHer in chicago next week (there's nothing worse than applying for a job and then being unavailable). I'm a product person, so obviously, that's what I'm looking at, but this is one of those moments where, theoretically, anything can happen.
In what is a sick twist of, I guess it'd be irony, I had been thinking for months now how much I missed writing, and how cool it would be to take a year and do nothing but write. Write the 'great american novel,' so to speak. Now, while it's safe to say that whatever I write will most likely not be publishable in any form, it is still good for me and my own sanity to get something down on paper. I feel better when I write. And, well, let's face it, it takes a little while to find a new job. While I hope I find something great and wonderful soon, I'm still gonna have some free time on my hands.
So I'm, slightly unexpectedly, back on the job market. Who knows what I'm going to do. But as always with me, it's sure to be an adventure.
We've lost a lot of celebrities in the recent weeks, and a death is like an emergency – you don't really know how you're going to react until it happens.
My reaction to two of the celebrities who died – Michael Jackson and Billy Mays – surprised me.
Billy Mays passed away right in the middle of the Michael fever (same with Farrah Faucett, who died the same day as Michael). I don't think I realized what a connection I had in my head to him until he died. I read about Billy dying on Twitter, turned on the TV, and there he was selling Kaboom.
We all let Billy, more than anyone, into our houses every single day. It's near impossible to watch anything without seeing him. I don't watch commercials, I've never bought something from an ad on tv (I do own a snuggie, but I bought it at Walgreens), I DVR everything, either on the TiVo or the DirectTV thingy, and yet…I still know Billy Mays.
I've also been watching, and loving, Pitchmen, which anyone interested in consumer marketing really should watch. Invaluable stuff. People have heard me rant many times about "knowing your market" and not making a product for YOU, but for your users. Billy (and his partner on the show, Anthony Sullivan) knew better than anyone else I've ever seen how to make sure you were selling products to your market. It was really fascinating to me to see them turn down (what I thought were) really neat products because they weren't appropriate for their market, and select really strange stuff, because their market would like it…even if they personally did not.
Billy came off as a really nice, sweet guy. A guy who you truly would trust to tell you "hey, buy this thing." Who you want to sit down and have a beer with. And I discovered that I really expected to see him on tv every day, and that seeing him was somewhat comforting. Some psychologist could tell me what that means.
The idea that I won't see him anymore, ever again, is unsettling. It's not true, of course, they're still running his commercials, and I understand a new season of Pitchmen has been ordered. But still. He's gone, just like Michael Jackson, at 50.
Michael Jackson was the first VHS I ever saw (Thriller), and the first CD I ever bought (Dangerous). His music is associated with my life. I don't know how to say it better than that. I hear his music, I remember the time in my life where it came out. It's just always been there. And suddenly, it won't be. I'm still a little stunned at that.
Two people who were always there suddenly are not. RIP Michael Jackson and Billy Mays, you both meant more to me than I ever knew.