text:
Borek Sipek
$1,800 purchase
Works by Czech designer Borek Sipek for the Italian company Driade show his extravagant approach to traditional design. Trained as an architect and working mostly with glass, his rich design ethos is seen in this candelabra's playful relationship to space, its exuberance in form and neo-baroque style.
made by Driade, Belgium / Italy, 1988
material silver plate
size 15 ½ dia × 18 h in
description Signed with impressed manufacturer's mark to underside: [Driade].
condition Light bends and indentations to some elements. Overall good, vintage condition.


text:
Culture Awareness for College Instructors
Success in college doesn't happen by accident. It happens when a student is prepared for the academic rigors of college, has strong academic and personal support systems, and practices consistent, academic diligence. When a student possesses all of these, they are positioned for success in college. This is a very simplified version of why I believe students succeed in college.
However, I do yield to the many other valid arguments of why students succeed in college… the means of success are as varied as the students themselves. Yet, there is one common thread when discussing the success of minority students, specifically American Indian students, in college. The specific thread I am talking about is the importance of their traditional culture in both their academic and personal lives.
Being a Native American myself, I can assure you that our varied and unique tribal cultures are very important to us. They are threaded into our lives as an integral part of who we are. As with our ancestors, our unique cultures serve as a link between who we were, which is also who we are, and then, ultimately, who we will become. A little confusing if you are not familiar with Native American cultures… but here it is: The culture helps us stay connected to each other and to the world around us.
This brings us back to the topic of success at college for American Indian students and the importance of traditional culture in that experience.
I believe that it is important for post-secondary instructors to have a foundation of cultural awareness when working with students from diverse backgrounds. This is important because it helps create an enriching educational, and interactional experience for the students and faculty alike. Often times, having instructors that possess an awareness of the traditional culture of their students can make the difference between students experiencing an engaging and positive college career, or dropping out because they feel alone and isolated from the rest of the student body. It is a victory for everyone when colleges have instructors who possess cultural awareness and understanding.
The American Indian Education Foundation, a program of National Relief Charities, works to integrate this factor for success by having a scholarship committee that is very aware of the importance of traditional culture for American Indian students. Every year, when selecting recipients for our American Indian Education Foundation scholarship, the committee works diligently to select students who are ready for the academic rigors and stress of college.
Collectively, our AIEF Scholarship Selection Committee brings decades of experience in American Indian education, as well as a strong Native cultural awareness, to the selection process. This is truly beneficial in selecting the right students. And this is evidenced by a 95% completion rate of the college year by the students we select to receive AIEF scholarships. This is an astounding percentage! The norm is about 21%.
The American Indian Education Foundation, along with our Scholarship Selection Committee, is honored to play a part in the success of our scholarship recipients. But, we understand that the true stars of our scholarship program are the students. The desire and dedication these students have toward enriching their lives through education is wonderful. And when they can enrich their peers by sharing their traditional culture in a positive, interactional, college environment… well, that is pretty good too!
One Comment
Very nice – love to hear about one of these folks. Thanks!
Post a Comment
Hot Topics

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Responding to Macmillan Cancer Support's new report Under Pressure, Joe Gannon, Carers Trust Director of Policy and Research, said:
"We know how tough being a carer is and that they can't always take the best care of themselves because of time and all of life's other commitments. However, every carer is entitled to an assessment of their needs and should speak to their local council about how to get one.
"They can also get help and support via our Carers.org online service where they can connect with someone with 24/7."
Further info:
Read the report: Under Pressure - The growing strain on cancer carers
Visit our community, Carers Space to connect with other carers


text:
Chapter Meeting
- Details
- Published on Saturday, 03 March 2018 07:43
- Written by Administrator
Please join us at our first Chapter Meeting of 2018!
We have lots of ideas, it's going to be a busy year, and we need you!
REI Classroom, Monday March 12th, 7-9 pm.
17559 Haggerty Rd, Northville, MI 48168
Click below to add to your calendar!


text:
Workshop at Carnegie Hall
As part of Weill Music Institute, Carnegie hosts a workshop in small group composition and improvisation. This is an opening for twelve to fourteen player/composers to work in New York for a week, fully funded, and participate in two final performances. Click the link for application details – the deadline for applicants is September 15, 2009.
It will be a pretty hands-on, intimate forum to create new work. Aside from directing the workshop, I have invited the members of my Quintet to be a part of the workshop and performances: Donny McCaslin, Uri Caine, James Genus, and Clarence Penn will all be there. I'm working on new music of my own that will be workshopped as well. We're looking for a small group of inspiring musicians to take part – please check it out at the link above.


text:
by Tootyfruity
Hi, I have been in a relationship with my boyfriend for almost 2 years now. We live 2,5 hours away from each other so I only see him once a week this doesn't help!
Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Signs of Cheating Spouse Forum.


text:
MOA is seeking friendly, responsible and enthusiastic personalities to be part of our outstanding team. We have a diverse selection of part-time and full-time job openings throughout our unique company that either interact directly with our visitors or work behind the scenes to "Make Someone Happy Today." Mall of America® is devoted to creating a unique and positive experience for everyone.
Come visit our Job Table on March 25th from 3 – 5 p.m.
by Sweet Treats in Nickelodeon Universe! Talk to us about our current
opportunities and get set up for an interview for Ride Operators,
Nickelodeon Universe Cashiers and Wetzel Pretzel Cashiers. Hope to see
you there!
If you're having difficulty applying, please call us at 952.883.8560. We're here to help!
*Mall of America is an EEO/AA employer: women, minorities, the disabled and veterans are encouraged to apply.
Contact Employment Services:


text:
Alamo Rent A Car is inviting Facebook users to dream big with its new Alamo® Ultimate Escape Sweepstakes on Facebook. Alamo Facebook fans can click on the "Make Your Escape" tab and create their Ultimate Escape to be entered to win $5,000 toward their dream vacation.
Launched July 15, the Alamo sweepstakes follows a recently released 2011 Summer Travel Intentions Survey that found that while 86 percent of survey respondents plan to take a vacation this summer, 70 percent said they have not yet booked a vacation.
"People are obviously thinking about their ultimate escape, and this is a fun way to plan that trip and even discover new vacation ideas," said Susan Madigan, director for the Alamo Rent A Car brand. "The best part is that someone is going to win $5,000 toward their dream vacation."
To enter the sweepstakes, Facebook users need to click the "like" button on the Alamo Facebook page, then click on the "Make Your Escape" tab in the left column. On the tab, users can develop their Ultimate Escape by selecting their favorite destination, hotel, car, activity and food. Users then can share their "Ultimate Escape" with others on their Facebook wall.
The Alamo Facebook sweepstakes also features an interactive instant-win game, with winners receiving prizes such as car rental vouchers and gas cards.
Alamo Facebook fans can enter once per day, and members of Alamo Insiders can enter twice per day. The simple process to become an Alamo Insider can be initiated on the Alamo Facebook page. Alamo Insiders who book through Alamo.com are guaranteed a 10 percent discount or more off retail rates.
The sweepstakes ends Aug. 29, 2011, and the grand prize winner will be selected at random on Aug. 30.


text:
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Memorial Day Weekend
What is Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a federal holiday observed annually in the United States on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War. (Southern ladies organizations and southern schoolchildren had decorated Confederate graves in Richmond and other cities during the Civil War, but each region had its own date. Most dates were in May.) By the 20th century Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died in all wars. Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. As a marker it typically marks the start of the summer vacation season, while Labor Day marks its end.
We still have available homes for this weekend if your planning a last minute trip to celebrate this national holiday, give us a call @ (866) 372-2246 and we'll make your reservation over the phone.
Have a great weekend :)
Posted by Mike Flaherty at 12:50 PM
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Writing Around the Web is a monthly series highlighting guest posts I've written on blogging, business, SEO, social media, and other topics!
Featured Post – How to Optimize Social Media Profiles for SEO
This month's featured piece just went live today and is part of the 2011 Bad-Ass SEO Blogging Contest.
How to Optimize 7 Popular Social Media Profiles for SEO covers how certain social networks use specific elements of information that you supply in your profile to optimize each profile on their network. This post will guide you to the right fields to optimize for the best possible search optimization of your social media profiles on Google+, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more!
What's at stake in this blogging contest? A nice cash prize of $1,000!
So if you're interested in
helping me become the next bad-ass SEO blogger finding out how to optimize your social media profiles for search for better personal and professional branding:
- Check out this post and follow the step-by-step directions.
- Leave me a comment with any questions or thoughts – I'll be happy to help!
- Tweet, Like, and vote on Blog Engage using the buttons below!
As always, any comment and social love will be greatly appreciated – especially since I made this a late entry and only have a few days to promote it! 🙂
- Creating a Successful Blog Post – From Idea to Promotion – So how do you create a blog post? And not just any blog post, but a successful one? It's about having a plan, from idea to promotion and everything in between. Here is my blog post process in stages.
- 7 Tips for Creating Posts that Will Spread on Social Media – If you want a post that is going to spread like wildfire, you have to consider the following when creating your content to ensure that your post will be given extra social media love.
- 5 Essential WordPress Plugins For Comments – One of the best things about using the self-hosted version of the WordPress platform (i.e. not WordPress.com) is the plugins. Sure you get great functionality with the base system, but you can enhance it using plugins, and the comment system – the heart of the community of your blog – is not excluded from enhancement. These are my favorite WordPress comment plugins.
- 5 Tips for Better Affiliate Product Reviews – Better reviews lead to increased affiliate marketing commissions. Learn how to make yours awesome with these 5 tips!
- 50 Google Analytics Resources – The 2011 Edition – 50 resources to help you get to know Google Analytics inside and out, from the new version, latest updates, social engagement tracking, advanced hacks, and much more!
- How to Set Up Google Analytics on Your Website – This post will help you set up Google Analytics in a few simple steps.
- How to Use Google Analytics – This post will show you how to use Google Analytics to analyze important website metrics like visits, pageviews, traffic, and more. Use this data to fine-tune your website, and to make sure you're reaching your target audience.
Social Media
- Digg Marketing Guide – This post will help you learn to use Digg for sharing your awesome content with a larger audience.
- Displaying Social Proof – What the Marketing Experts Use – Here are the common tools, apps, widgets, buttons, and platforms the experts use to demonstrate social proof.
- 20 Most Influential People in Social Media – Take a look into the world of social media – the who's who of people you have probably seen around the social media-sphere a time or two while demonstrating their expertise in a variety of fields and others who you might just be hearing about for the first time.
- The Power 150 Real Numbers Revealed – Being the statistics junkie I am, I thought I would take a peak into the real numbers behind the AdAge Power 150. Here's what I found, along with some other stats I like to use to measure the strength of a blog when doing a little competitive analysis
- How to Use Twitter for Local Business – If you're operating a local business, you can use the interactive nature of Twitter to find and engage local tweeters who are interested in your brand. Here are some tools and tips to help local businesses do just that.
To keep up with my latest posts from around the web, you can subscribe to my writing RSS feed or visit my portfolio to see samples of my work. Also, be sure to contact me via email or on Skype at kristi.hines if you need a writer for your website, blog, or business.


text:
Destiny Training is an interactive, modular leadership training programme. It is based on six books or modules written by Pastor Cesar Castellanos of International Charismatic Mission in Bogota. It covers key themes such as Christian foundations, the fundamentals of the G12 Vision, successful leadership and the Holy Spirit.
Destiny Training comes after LifeClass when a person has been consolidated as a new believer. It is the beginning of the Discipleship stage in the Ladder of Success of the G12 Vision. It is where every member of the church has the opportunity to learn what it takes to lead a cell group and eventually form their own team of twelve.
The six modules of Destiny Training are:
- Pastored in His Love: lay the foundations for healthy Christian Living
- The Power of a Vision: learn the fundamentals of the G12 Vision and how to put them into practice
- A Winning Strategy: learn to effectively win others to Christ and into the cell group
- Families with a Purpose: discover God's plan for the family and how you can raise a godly family
- Effective Leadership: learn what it takes to become influential leaders
- The Holy Spirit within me: learn to develop the greatest relationship available to man, which enables you to reach the very heart of God
Structure & Methodology
Each classroom session has been custom-designed to be as engaging, creative and interactive as possible, with full participation from each and every student. It is designed to follow a three-stage teaching process: connect, conceive and create.
- CONNECT engages the students with the subject matter using activities & media.
- CONCEIVE is the main body of the lesson where the students begin to conceive the truths and principles of the subject matter within themselves.
- CREATE is the last stage, which helps the students apply the subject matter learnt and/or produce something with it.
Destiny Training Module One (DT1)
Title: Pastored In His Love
1. Jesus is my Shepherd
2. Cultivating a Relationship with God
3. The Power of Praise and Worship
4. Strengthened in God
5. Spiritual Warfare
6. The Redemptive Power of the Blood
7. The Bible will Transform Your Life
8. The Anointing of the Holy Spirit
9. The Blessing of Prosperity
10. Building My Church
Textbook: Pastored In His Love by Pastor Cesar Castellanos
Destiny Training Module Two (DT2)
Title: The Power of a Vision
1. What is Vision?
2. The Principles of G12
3. A Firm Foundation
4. The Vision of the Government of Twelve (G12)
5. Forming the Best Team
6. Successful Leadership
7. The Art of Winning
8. Blessing through the Cell Group
9. Ready to Consolidate
10. The Power of the 144
Textbook: The Power of a Vision by Pastor Cesar Castellanos
Destiny Training Module Three (DT3)
Title: A Winning Strategy
1. The Present Glory
2. Key Principles of Winning
3. The Power of Evangelism
4. Effective Evangelism
5. The Anointing to Win
6. Compassion
7. Generosity
8. Faith
9. The Cell Vision
10. Cell Structure and Development
Textbook: A Winning Strategy by Pastor Cesar Castellanos
Destiny Training Module Four (DT4)
Title: Families with a Purpose
1. God's Plan for the Family I
2. The Roles of Parents & Children
3. God's Plan for the Family II
4. Inner Healing for the Family
For the Married only
5. Strengthening Communication in Your Marriage
6. Seven Pillars for a Godly Marriage
7. The Blessings of Fatherhood/Woman in Ministry
8. Strengthening Marital Love (for Men/Women)
For the Singles only
5. Is this the Right Person (Living to Please God)
6. True Love
7. Seven Steps for Successful Courtship I (Sexual Purity)
8. Seven Steps for Successful Courtship II (Courtship & Marriage Preparation)
Textbook: Families with a Purpose by Pastor Cesar Castellanos
Destiny Training Module Five (DT5)
Title: Effective Leadership
1. A Leader of Faith
2. The Leader's Love for the Sheep
3. A Leader that Builds
4. A Leader with the Heart of a Servant
5. A Leader Controlled by the Holy Spirit
6. The Leader and Preaching of the Word
7. The Leader and Counseling
8. The Leader and Supervision
9. The Price of Leadership
10. The Leader and the Formation of Disciples
Textbook: Effective Leadership by Pastor Cesar Castellanos
Destiny Training Module Six (DT6)
Title: The Holy Spirit within Me
1. Immersed in His Spirit
2. Preparing to Receive the Holy Spirit
3. Knowing the Holy Spirit
4. The Fruit of the Holy Spirit (Part 1)
5. The Fruit of the Holy Spirit (Part 2)
6. The Fruit of the Holy Spirit (Part 3)
7. Introduction to the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
8. Gifts of Revelation
9. Gifts of Power
10. Gifts of Inspiration
Textbook: The Holy Spirit within Me by Pastor Cesar Castellanos
To check available course(s) & register, click here


text:
I got to spend the last two days at the Chrome Dev Summit (Thanks Paul Kinlan for inviting me!) I made some notes of a few things that caught my eye.
There was a brief mention of the manifest.json file, which I had never heard of. Apparently it's a Chrome thing that is important for extensions and such, but (is? could be?) brought to the web.
The idea is that you could put a lot of what goes into the
<head> in there. Non-vital stuff like the title, meta tags, and whatnot. I suppose it cleans up the document a little bit (at the cost of a request), but most importantly, it means you can fit more into that "first 14K" - which is a big deal for critical path loading.
Speaking of meta tags, here's a new one:
<meta name="theme-color" content="#db5945">
Just a simple way to make your site's look bleed into the browser UI (Chrome on Android, anyway). That's inline with current design trends (e.g. all the transparency / color-bleed-through stuff going on in Yosemite.)
Probably the most exciting thing for me was talk of transitioning elements across page loads.
1. Tell the current page what you intend to transition:
<meta name="transition-elements" content="#move-me, .move-all-these">
2. Link up a special CSS file just for these transitions:
To transition before the exit happens:
<!-- I imagine you'd defer loading of this one -->
<link rel="transition-exiting-stylesheet" href="page-transitions.css">
Or to transition an element to the new place on the entering page:
<!-- But this one you'd want to link up right at the top -->
<link rel="transition-entering-stylesheet" href="page-transitions.css">
3. Use @keyframes to move the elements
@keyframes moveToNewPosition {
from { /* where ever it was before */ }
to { top: 0; }
#move-me {
animation: moveToNewPosition 0.5s;
Surely there was bigger, way more important things being talked about that affect the future of the web. But hey, I like tricks. Apparently this shipped behind a flag in Chrome 38, but I haven't had time to try to get it to work yet.
One prevailing theme, which is all over the industry these days, is that if we want the web to "win" (we do, it's good for the world) we need to make sure it's competitive against native apps. That means things like "installable" sites (presence on home screens), offline capabilities, and real (push) notifications.
Of the latter two, Service Workers is the ticket. It's mostly over my head, but as I understand it, it's access to some lower level web stuff than we've ever had before. Like far better control over offline/cache than we've had before (it's not just "a list of files to store locally" as previous attempts were).
Service Workers will be where you register notifications (i.e.
navigator.push.register()) So even if a website is closed, you can still get notifications (somehow). Desktop Safari has them, but it's a propertitary thing I think. Because there will be multiple ways, I'm sure middlemen like Roost will become a way to take advantage of them with less complexity.
The idea is to blur the line better between native apps and websites, and then the all the rest of what makes the web great (cross-platform-ness, URL's, ubiquity...) will lead it to victory.
It was cool to hear Paul Lewis talk about designing a real site (the Chrome Dev Summit site itself). I think we've all seen some "material design" stuff by now, like expanding regions. But it's mostly on mobile apps. It's neat to see it working here in responsive design.
The goal everywhere for a non-janky feel is "60fps". Sixty frames-per-second. Paul talked a lot about getting to that on this site, including little interesting bits like the fact that you don't need 60fps all the time, you just need it when things are moving, so if you can shuffle around expensive operations, do them when nothing is moving.
Paul animated the (deprecated)
clip property in CSS to do a lot of this. I talked to him about that, and he said he got better performance out of it than the newer
It's not a pure CSS endeavor though. Each animation is handled basically like:
- Gather a bunch of information information about the current element, via
- Animate those positions to new positions
Clever, since you don't have to hard-set anything in CSS (or know anything in advance) to do these animations. The page flow can remain totally normal. I suspect we'll see a lot of this kind of thing going forward. Figure out what's up in JS, animate with CSS.
Here's his talk (and you can get to all the others from there):
Don't miss the bit about using DevTools to inspect and control animations. Like slowing them down, seeing which elements are being affected, and scrubbing through the entire animation with a range slider.
I might be wrong about animations remaining mostly in CSS, since the Web Animations API is coming around.
One author-facing thing it has is
.animate() - which is pretty much just like jQuery (or Velocity)
.animate() in that you pass it some CSS properties and values and it animates to them. It's just native now instead of requiring a library. I imagine stuff like GSAP will start detecting for native support and using that or falling back to rAF or further.
I talked with Alex Danilo about it and got a stronger understanding. I guess the important bit is that this isn't just a new API for us authors to use, it's a whole animation engine under the hood. So rather than three different animation engines (CSS transitions, which was a different thing that CSS animations, which was a different thing from SMIL), it's just one engine that everything uses.
I've been hearing rumors of SMIL support being ripped out of Blink's SVG support, and kinda wanted to hear about that. Apparently the root of it is that it just kinda sucks that it is it's own whole animation engine and it's the source of quite a few security issues. So now there is apparently a guy who was hired to see if he can make SMIL use the Web Animations API under the hood. If he can, great, if not, SMIL is used so infrequently (and on somewhat unimportant things, like spinners) that it might get ripped out.
My worry is that SMIL can do some pretty cool things that I'm not 100% sure Web Animations API can, like shape morphing and having events (or other animations) trigger animations.
There was lots of Polymer talk. They are in an interesting place with Polymer as far as developer-understanding. I think a lot of people thing of it as "a web components polyfill", but:
- Web components is really just an umbrella term for four different technologies: templates, custom elements, shadow DOM, and HTML imports. (good tutorial by Google's Rob Dodson).
- Each of those technologies has a different polyfill
- None of those polyfills is Polymer
Polymer is:
- A library that makes web components stuff easier and more powerful
- Actually really small: 6K gzipped.
A custom element with a custom shadow DOM has a boundary on it. Kinda like an iframe, where the parent page styles don't leak in and styles within don't leak out. That's really cool, but it also might not be ideal all the time, since if you're architecting a whole site around these components, you might want your styles to penetrate these boundaries and style things, like the CSS we're used to.
There has been several attempts at shadow DOM penetrating CSS selectors, like
.outside ^^ .inside, some pseudo selector I forget exactly, like
.outside:shadow(.inside). There is one that actually works in Chrome now like
.outside /deep/ .inside, but apparently that one won't be the answer either (hard to make fast, was one reason I heard.)
I'm anxious to get to a solution here, because it will affect styling SVG
<use> through the shadow DOM boundary that happens there which should be pretty dang interesting.
There was a lot of "material design" talk too. I always feel like putting it in quotes for some reason. I quite like it, but I feel like it's just the name of a thing, not a Real Thing. It's a pattern library. It's a set of guidelines. It's just simple, tasteful design. I agree with Khoi Vinh here:
I'm not sure Material Design would attract much notice apart from the Google connection. For the record, I find Material Design to be a nice bit of work and it's certainly attractive, but the rhetoric around it strikes me as a lot of hot air.
A huge company like Google, with a zillion properties, needs a coherent system to tie it all together, and now they have it and that's awesome. You and I can learn from it, but we don't need to use it directly or start weirdly slipping it into casual conversation. Feel free to not use this at your next cocktail party:
"Like, I feel like this material design movement parallels the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th century in that its all about simple forms. It's about being economic and careful about what we have. It's about going back to what's simple and important, man."
Chris Palmer talked a lot about Transport Layer Security (TLS). I always called it SSL, but apparently that's like the old version. Basically, URL's that start with https://.
There is a big push to make the whole internet that, and Chris was firmly in support of it. Without it, anybody in the middle of web requests (lots of people) can mess with what goes across. It's become kind of a standard practice for some ISP's to insert their own Google AdSense ID in the HTML of sites in replacement of the owner of the site's. That's insane. Can't be done with HTTPS, because what goes across the wire is encrypted gibberish.
One push-back on this is that HTTPS is "slow", and like all good myths, there is some bits of truth in there. There is some parts of it that can take milliseconds to do. But a lot of it can be mitigated through just doing generally smart things (like concatenating requests). Plus a lot of modern stuff, like the very-awesome stuff in HTTP2 and Service Workers, requires HTTPS, so it's really time to do it.
I think I can easily enough on CSS-Tricks, but on CodePen, anybody can easily link to non-secure resources, so we'll need to evaluate what the UX for that is like on an all HTTPS setup.
PHEW! That's a lot of learning. There was a lot more going on there than this little bit of stuff I covered. And I'm fresh off the heels of two days at An Event Apart so my brain is pretty full.


text:
Calgary MX National | Photo Report
June 21, 2017
Photos by James Lissimore
Some of the best racing we have seen is taking place in the Rockstar Energy Canadian MX Nationals this summer and Calgary was the icing on that cake. Never have we seen such intense, bar-to-bar action as we did this past weekend. The hunt for the points chase is seeing a number of riders riding on the edge of their comfort zone in both the MX1 and MX2 classes. This makes for some pretty wild racing. Lets see how things shaped up at Wild Rose MX park.


text:
Credit unions continue to face significant headwinds and challenges to performance. Regulatory issues, weak loan growth, and an uncertain interest-rate outlook are weighing heavily on margins and net worth.
As credit union managers struggle with this environment, it's helpful to remember a few simple rules for prudent balance-sheet management.
1. Keep assets deployed
In the past two years, credit unions have experienced a substantial change in their asset mix, moving away from loans and into investments.
Simultaneously, share growth has continued to be steady or strong at most credit unions. As a result, average loan-to-share ratios for U.S. credit unions are now lower than they've been in at least five years, and the trend may not reverse soon.
In the midst of this excess liquidity, credit unions need to keep assets productively deployed to avoid a drag on revenue.
Over the past two years or so, large balances sitting in Fed funds have amounted to a painful and mistaken bet on rising interest rates. It's better to keep the balance sheet fully engaged and hitting on all cylinders rather than sitting on a large funds balance earning nearly nothing.
2. Manage cash flow and liquidity
It has always been our contention that managing interest-rate risk on a credit union balance sheet is largely a function of cash-flow management.
Traditionally, there's no better hedge against rising interest rates than a steady stream of predictable cash flow that can be redeployed into new, higher-yielding assets.
In terms of the investment portfolio, cash flow and the volatility of cash flow also determine such things as duration and convexity, key measures of price risk for bonds. In a very real sense, financial assets are simply streams of cash flow to be managed for optimal reward and acceptable risk.
Along those same lines, credit unions should always remember the role of the investment portfolio as a vehicle for managing liquidity. Proper identification of bonds and bond-types that provide reasonably consistent and predictable cash flow, as well as securities that are readily sold in the secondary market, is critical.
The risk/reward relationship for securities should be viewed with an eye toward liquidity risk. When purchasing a bond or considering alternatives, portfolio managers should take a hard look at the cash flow uncertainty or optionality, as well as the underlying price sensitivity.
3. Focus on balance-sheet risk
A credit union can be thought of as a system of interrelated functions. The three primary functions are lending, funding, and investments.
Any decision or strategy that impacts one of these areas will necessary affect the other two. For example, if an illiquid bond is purchased, it can become a drag on net worth and a constraint on the overall balance sheet, including the ability to make loans to members.
Therefore, look carefully at the asset/liability posture of the balance sheet with respect to interest-rate risk before putting an investment strategy into place.
4. Don't reach for yield
Credit unions continue to operate in a historically unprecedented rate environment with excess liquidity and increasing margin pressures. This is when credit union managers can be tempted to reach for yield without adequate regard for the cost in terms of price or liquidity risk.
In this kind of environment, there are many types and structures of bonds that show attractive nominal yields, but often they contain greater risk than is desired or acceptable. Think through the risks of long-maturity callable or step-up structures, for example.
Now is when investment officers and portfolio managers should concentrate on high-grade credit and reasonable returns rather than high nominal yield and unreasonable options risk. Often, the highest "stated" yield doesn't produce the best all-in return.
To use a baseball analogy, hit singles and doubles right now. Don't swing for the fences.
JEFFREY CAUGHRON is associate partner for The Baker Group LP. Contact him at 800-937-2257.


text:
Krispy Kreme Uses Glaze To Barcode A Doughnut. Sort of.
We came across this incentive on the Adweek website. Scan the attached image for an incentive for Krispy Kreme doughnuts. It's a buy a dozen, get a dozen deal. Sure, we'll be there.
Other important barcoding news:
- Scandit Introduces Ergonomic Scan Case for iPhones to Revolutionize Data Capture
- GlobalSign Previews New Cloud Identity Assurance Service and GSMA Mobile Connect Capabilities at Gartner Identity and Access Management Summit
- Consumer Electronics & Auto OEMs/Integrators Invited to MEMS & Sensors at 2016 CES
- Nypro Healthcare Named a Thermo Fisher Scientific Supplier of the Year
- Internet of Things World Forum Showcases Smart City Technology
- Janam Fuels Safety Inspections for ExxonMobil
- Digimarc to Present at Investor Conference on December 10
- Omni-ID Named Emerging Technology Award Winner for 2015
- IID Predicts Massive Botnet Takeover of IoT Devices by 2017
- Visage Demonstrates Barcode Mobile Enhancements at RSNA 2015


text:
Time for another round up of my recent wears in my #irregularchoicechallenge. I keep thinking that I must be running out, but I had a speedy count up lately and there are still quite a few more to go. I have certain pairs earmarked for particular outfits, as since I'm getting closer to the end I feel as though I am thinking more about what to wear the pairs with.
So, in this batch we have one of my very first bought pairs of Irregular Choice - the bikini kitten heels which I wore on Day 115. I have hardly worn them, but have fond memories of their first wear on a first date with my college boyfriend. (About 10 years ago).
Days 116 (Pixie Dust) and 117 (Little Tipple) are relatively new additions to the collection, although I have been quite lucky on eBay in the recent week or so and have a couple more pairs en route.
Day 113 was Burmese, the cat heels, which I bought more than a year ago, but hadn't got around to wearing. I've discovered a few more pairs in storage under the bed, which I'd forgotten about as well!
An aside, but I also like that looking back on these outfits, 5 days out of 9 were wearing handmade dresses, so I think I've definitely managed to incorporate me-made into my wardrobe.
If you want to see previous round-ups, the links are below:


text:
NYC Edition Round 122: Let the Healing Begin (Infinity War Review)
A Review 10 years in the making and on the Eve of the 2nd Rounds 3rd Anniversary, the NYC crew finally sits down talk about Avengers Infinity War. Joined by Becca, we explore whether or not it lived up to the anticipation 18 films created for it.
Be sure to follow us on all social media platforms @2nd Rounds


text:
Our Practice Areas
Working with business owners on all aspects of business formations, contract negotiations and drafting, operations, compliance, employment matters, strategic and tax planning, buy-sell arrangements, mergers and acquisitions, succession, dispute resolution, and business closures
Real Estate
Handling the purchase, sale, lease, finance, title review, gifting, and management of real estate, working with clients on due diligence matters including environmental, inspection, engineering, and appraisal matters, dispute resolution, and representing real property owners regarding property tax reassessments and exclusion planning.
Estate Planning
Preparing revocable and irrevocable trusts, insurance trusts, wills, powers of attorney, health care directives, Medicare and MediCal planning, drafting premarital agreements, transfer of assets to fund trusts, gifting, and providing advice and assisting fiduciaries with compliance requirements.
Performing tax planning for businesses and individuals, represent clients in tax disputes and audits, and work with CPAs and financial advisors on comprehensive income and estate tax planning.
Probate & Trust Administration
Advising trustees and fiduciaries on administering trust and probate estates, preparing accountings, represent clients in court on trust and probate matters, assist with administering estate assets after death, and management of all sizes of estates from large and complicated estates to small estates, including by sometimes serving as trustee or administrator.


text:
Protect all your family's devices
3 users / 1 year
Your savings:
A Bitdefender Family Pack 2015 license offers coverage to all devices in a household, through three or five MyBitdefender accounts. Each MyBitdefender account covers an unlimited number of PCs, Macs and Android-based Smartphones or Tablets.
Winner of both awards. January - December 2013
Independent IT Security Institute AV-Test.
Best Protection. 3 Straight Years.
(on a scale of 0 to 6 and 6 being the highest protection)
more dead-accurate and silent than everCEO Andreas Marx, AV-TEST
Lowest Impact on Performance
(on a scale of 0 to 6 and 6 being the lowest impact)
Bitdefender Family Pack 2015 protects all PCs, Macs and Android Smartphones and Tablets within a household. With a single key.
Create a myBitdefender account so you can keep track of all the devices that have
Family Pack installed and use services like Anti-theft or Facebook protection.
"Perfect example [of a] mega-suite"
PC MAG / July 2014 / Bitdefender Total Security 2015
PC Users
Bitdefender Total Security builds on #1 ranked anti-malware technology to secure online transactions,
protect mobile devices from loss/theft, automatically back up files, and Tune-Up PCs.
Bitdefender Total Security 2015 automatically detects when you Work, Play or Watch movies, and temporarily prevents apps from popping up or slowing you down.
Provides a hassle-free experience by making optimal security-related decisions with no input from you. This means no pop-ups, no alerts, nothing to configure.
Make online transactions from a unique, dedicated browser, that secured your accounts from fraud. Bitdefender Safepay(tm) can now also automatically fill credit card details in billing fields.
The two-way firewall continuously monitors your Internet connections and prevents unauthorized access, even over a Wi-Fi network.
Stops unwanted e-mail from reaching your Inbox, now fully based on Cloud technology.
Active Virus Control is a proactive, dynamic detection technology. It monitors processes' behavior in real time, as they are running, and tags suspicious activities.
If e-threats, such as rootkits, cannot be removed from within the Windows operating system, the computer is re-booted in Rescue mode - a trusted environment which is then used for cleanup and restoration.
With a single click, the vulnerability scanner automatically warns of vulnerable or outdated software, missing Windows security patches, and potentially unsafe system settings.
Displays your overall security status for the past week, as well as the total issues fixed by Bitdefender since installation. Includes freed up space, optimized apps and remaining available storage.
Enables you to keep track of all of your security-related tasks, plus lets you quickly and easily drag-and-drop files for quick scanning for viruses - right from your desktop!
MyBitdefender offers quick online access to your local Bitdefender software, allowing you to run scans, check security statuses for each device, extend your services or easily access support.
Remotely scan and fix security issues on all of your Bitdefender-protected devices from anywhere, using MyBitdefender.
Immunizes any Flash Drive from viruses when they're connected to your computer so you never worry again about USBs infecting you or your friends.
Bitdefender Safego™ filters social-networking specific e-threats by scanning links you receive from your Facebook friends, monitors your privacy settings, and much more!
Tells you if a link is safe even before you click it in Google and Bing search results. Furthermore, it blocks access to infected links that you have already clicked.
Bitdefender Wallet is a secure tool that speeds up online shopping by autocompleting credit card details within payment fields. Apart from purchase details, Wallet can also safely organize credentials for favorite websites, messaging applications, or frequently-used WI-FI networks.
Blocks inappropriate content, restricts Web access between certain hours, and helps you remotely monitor your children's online activity - even on Facebook!
Locks, wipes or even locates your laptop from any Internet-connected device you have at hand.
Prevents critical data (such as anything even resembling your social security number) from ever leaving your computer.
Analyzes and blocks websites that support various scams or credit card phishing attempts.
Ensures that no traces of your deleted sensitive files remain on your PC.
Locks up confidential files in an encrypted vault.
Innovative, exclusive technology that visibly improves speed and performance in a matter of hours by gradually adapting to each PC.
Your anti-malware software isn't slowing down your computer. So what is? Bitdefender OneClick Optimizer is a new feature in Bitdefender Total Security 2015 that automatically speeds up your system and frees up disk space by running every known optimization. All in one click.
Stores your important files in a secure online location so you can safely manage them from all your devices - iPhones, iPads, Android phones or PCs. The first 2 GB free!
Mac Users
Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac proactively protects Macs against the new breed of Mac viruses. Plus, it
destroys Windows viruses (which don't affect Macs) so that you don't accidentally pass them on to your
family, friends and colleagues using PCs.
When it comes to online scams everybody is vulnerable, Mac or PC user alike. Our antiphishing solution scans the webpages you browse and warns you when you accidentally visit an unsafe one.
Turn it on and forget about it. All changes to the files and system are monitored so nothing bad goes through. And the best thing is that you won't even notice any slow downs of your Mac. Try it and see for yourself!
Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac uses Notifications or Growl to keep you informed about updates or any event that requires your attention. When we say "Designed for Mac" we mean it.
You can always call Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac up for a fast antivirus scan when you have files to transfer.
Android Devices
Bitdefender Mobile Security provides smart antivirus and web security for devices running Android. Its
in-the-cloud scanning technology detects even the latest threats without
putting a strain on the battery.
Bitdefender Mobile Security for Android uses the Bitdefender Cloud services to alert users, when browsing, about webpages that contain malware, phishing or fraudulent content.
Thanks to its cloud-based threat detection and top-of-the-line security services, Bitdefender Mobile Security for Android secures your browsing experience and prevents installation of malicious applications with virtually no battery life impact.
An on-demand scan may be run at any time to make sure that all the applications installed on the device or kept in the phone's storage are legitimate and safe. Bitdefender Mobile Security will also make sure that the Android device stays clean by automatically scanning any application immediately after its install.
Product Screenshots


text:
We use cookies to ensure that you are getting the best experience on our site.
We never store personal data in cookies. If you'd like to you can read more about our cookie policy and privacy policy.
I am the Chief Financial Officer for Community Health Partnerships Ltd (CHP). I suppose that I occupy a similar role to most with the same job title. My key responsibility is providing strategic financial advice to the board whilst also ensuring that the company discharges all its financial obligations. With CHP there is a layer of complexity resulting from the fact that, although a limited company, it is wholly owned by the secretary of state for health and derives the vast majority of its income from the NHS meaning that we operate with the 'government accounting boundary'. This means additional governance and two sets of accounts and a challenge explaining our position to different sets of stakeholders.
It would be good for me and all our partner organisations if we were able to reach decisions more quickly; spending our time on implementation rather than talking about what needs to be done. We've got good people who are well equipped to deliver but their energy is drained by what remains a complex and disjointed healthcare system that often lacks the confidence to take risks and move forward.


text:
Cat got your tongue? This Chesire Cat ejuice by Vaping Rabbit certainly will. The Staff at Vapor Delight highly recommend The Vaping Rabbit's Chesire Cat as your next favorite all day vape because of it's tangy flavor: orange pineapple upsidedown cake with brown sugar glaze.
As always, come into our Luxury Vapor Bar and Lounge for a free taste or get your bottle here.
More about The Vaping Rabbit
The Vaping Rabbit is made in small batches in Los Angeles California. The Vaping Rabbit master uses local flavoring businesses but also give the line a special and unique taste through a process called steam distillation. Steam distillation is basically a process where you extract the flavors of all real fruit, herbs, and spices by boiling them and capturing the concentrated flavor via steam an ingredient gives off when you boil it. Thats what gives the Vaping Rabbit such a unique and palatable taste.


text: We aim to exceed all of our clients' expectations. From creative designs to actual construction we provide the resources necessary for a successful efficient project. Our efficiency is just another way of showing we know how important your operating budget is to us. Our goal is to provide quality service and materials on time and within budget.


text:
A plasterer's footie skills have got him all the way to the final of a competition to find a tradesman with the talent of a professional.
River Humphreys, from St Helens, has made it through to the final of the Fiat Professional Tradesman Trials - a nationwide search to find a current tradesman who has the talent to make it as a professional footballer in The Football League.
The 25-year-old is one of 20 entrants who were deemed good enough to have been invited to the exclusive trials day at Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre on Friday, June 24.
A talented centre back, River has previous experience in football competitions, having finished as runner up in Wayne Rooney street striker. Before that he played as a youngster for Wrexham FC and currently plays his football for the semi-professional team Runcorn Linnets.
Former tradesman turned professional footballers Stuart Pearce (electrician), Dean Windass (hod carrier) and Geoff Horsfield (builder) will put the 20 finalists through their paces at Bisham Abbey, testing every aspect of their football ability, before eventually selecting one deserving winner that day.
The winner will receive a one-month pre-season trial at a choice of one of the 29 opted in Football League clubs, which include Championship giants Nottingham Forest, Fulham FC and Ipswich Town. The winner will also recieve a £2,000 prize.
The move from the trades to professional football is a well-trodden path. There is a long list of past and present players starting out as tradesmen including current Southampton striker and ex-Burnley and Queens Park Rangers striker, Charlie Austin who was a builder and former Wigan midfielder, Jimmy Bullard, who worked for his father's painting and decorating company before he hit the big time.
Former electrician and England legend Stuart Pearce said: "It's a brilliant idea. Could it change your life?
"In this day and age, yes. I'm convinced there is enough talent out there to find a player to go to a pro club for a month and get a contract. There are people out there in the trades who could play in the league."
Andrea Patti, Fiat Professional marketing manager, said: "Fiat Professional has a proud history of working closely with tradesmen and satisfying their varying needs in terms of mobility and transport. We know that a large percentage of them are football fans and we are proud to be a partner of The Football League.
"Our aim is to find the next big name that has the footballing ability, but just hasn't had the right opportunity. We look forward to welcoming the selected entrants to Bisham Abbey and can't wait to follow the eventual winner on what I am sure will be an incredible experience during their one month trial. Let's hope we've found the next Jamie Vardy!"


text:
|Reviewed By
|Room Note
|Mild to Medium
|Very Mild
|Mild to Medium
Very pleasant, excellent for a beginner. No tongue bite whatsoever. An excellent choice for the beginner having a relatively low price, but still of decent quality . I would recommend a 10 minute drying of the freshly opened ribbon cut tobacco, than it will burn beautifully, and produce a nice, pleasant, sweet smoke, leaving white ashes behind. Tastes like a warm Christmas evening by the fire: mild, yet sweet, a perfect day to day tobacco for an average Hungarian pipe smoker with a sweet tooth, yet it does not have the squishy feel of aromatics. The room note is enjoyable, I got several positive comments from baristas, while smoking on a terrace. Like with every pipe and tobacco, you must be patient, study its properties, learn its virtues and it will reward you with a cavalcade of earthly pleasures.
Pipe Used: bent Real Briar pipe
Age When Smoked: fresh from pouch
Purchased From: http://pipatorium.internettudakozo.hu/
4 people found this review helpful.


text:
Starter Plan: 8 hours per month for $99
Curious about working with Virtual Assistants? VH247 is proud to offer the Starter Plan, a perfect way to test out our services with a very low monthly cost. You get access to our full team, with unlimited projects and skillsets, for 8 hours per month.
What can you accomplish with the Starter Plan?
Buy the Starter Plan
Starter Plan (8 hrs) | Standard Plan (40 hrs) | Professional Plan (80 hrs) | Premium Plan (160 hrs)


text:
Here are my posts involving Thailand. If I've missed any – please let me know! Updated 11/9/2017.
First Taste – Bangkok, Thailand
Foto Friday – Thailand, the Elephant and I
Airline Review – Air Asia, Thailand
Trip of a Lifetime Part Two – Thailand and How it all Worked
Markets, Trains, Temples and Bangkok
Wild Orchid Villa – Accommodation Review, Bangkok


text:
Balance Exercise for Seniors: There are so many little ways you can challenge your balance. For example, stand on one foot when your chopping your vegies, hanging out the clothes, putting petrol in your car - just be imaginative - challeng it constantly.
Here you will find further examples . If you feel that you have extremely poor balance, begin with the first two examples and perhaps you can have a table nearby to grasp if you feel too unsteady. Challenge yourself as you improve
Balance happens in the brain through a bio-feedback system. For example if you're having a go at the first exercise below, you'll feel all sorts of muscle activity happening in your feet.
Your brain is sending muscle contraction signals to all these small muscles to get working. You're not consciously doing it yourself...
TIP !! ALWAYS do these exercises BAREFOOTED.
This exercise for seniors is a good place to start. Make sure you have something suitable to grasp if needs be such as a sturdy chair. Lift one leg and hold for a count of 10. Then do the same on the other foot.
This balance exercise for seniors is a little more complicated. The reason we twist arms and legs like this is the crossover - left brain & right brain co-ordination which will add to the balance challenge and improve your results.
Remember balance happens in the brain as well as the body!
Then there is a lovely yoga position which will challenge you further – although, try it first on the sand: leave balancing on the log for a little bit longer perhaps......
This balance exercise for seniors exercise is more challenging again. Each times you practice your exercises, try doing them for a little longer.
And then of course, there is plenty of variety using the stability ball. This exercise below begins with your trunk well supported and the ball under the thighs.
As your strength develops, challenge yourself with the ball under your knees, then the lower leg, and when you become very adept, under the feet. Do this progression slowly.
This one is an advance balance exercise for seniors who like a challenge. Try it only when you feel very confident. TIP: The wider your feet are on the ball, the more stability you'll have. It's a long way to fall!
Check out our collection of DVDs or Download for phone or computer - you're sure to find one that is just right for you. There are 4: Core Strength Exercises, Stability Ball Exercises, Resistance Band Exercises & Stretching Exercises.


text:
Homemade vs. Store Bought Pet Food: Which Should You Choose?
Not sure if homemade or store-bought food is best for your pet? Consider these important factors.View Article
You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.
We strive to provide complete care for our patients. Learn more about all the services we provide.
Town & Country Veterinary Hospital in Pleasanton offers excellence in veterinary care to clients in the Tri-Valley area including: Pleasanton, Dublin, Livermore, Sunol, San Ramon, Castro Valley, San Leandro, Hayward, and Tracy.
We are a dedicated group of professionals who strive to help your pet live a longer, happier life. We pride ourselves in providing personalized veterinary care and boarding services for your animals, in a welcoming and comfortable environment for you and your beloved companion.
Our mission is to treat you as family and your pets as if they were our own. Our experienced licensed veterinarians, Dr. Donald Gardner, Dr. Coleen Dossey, Dr. Lisa Mason, and Dr. Jeanne Rosato, and our highly trained staff will tend to every need of your cherished pet. We offer comprehensive veterinary care and professional support to you as an owner.
Town & Country Veterinary Hospital provides wellness and preventative medicine, integrative medicine including acupuncture and Chinese Herbal medicine, dentistry (including digital dental xrays), digital radiology and in house laboratory, therapeutic cold laser, a full-service pharmacy, and modern surgical facilities with both traditional and laser surgery.
Please give us a call at 925-462-1666 if you have any questions, or would like to schedule an appointment or boarding reservation. We look forward to meeting you and welcoming you to our facilities.
At Town & Country Veterinary Hospital, we treat your pets like the valued family members they are.
In honor of National Pet Dental Month we created a video on how to brush your pets teeth....
Dr. Donald Gardner
Pleasanton Veterinarian | Town & Country Veterinary Hospital | 925-462-1666
923 Main St
Pleasanton, CA 94566


text:
David L. Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP, FACLM is the founding director (1998) of Yale University's Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center, Immediate Past-President of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, and Founder/President of the True Health Initiative. Katz earned his BA degree from Dartmouth College (1984); his MD from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (1988); and his MPH from the Yale University School of Public Health (1993). The recipient of many awards for his contributions to public health, he has received three honorary doctorate degrees. Katz was named one of the nation's top nutrition experts for 2017-2018 by DietSpotlight.com (https://www.dietspotlight.com/n/david-katz/). He holds 5 US patents, with others pending. He invented the research method known as "evidence mapping;" is the principal inventor of the Overall Nutritional Quality Index (ONQI™) algorithm; and invented the dietary intake assessment method called Diet Quality Photo Navigation (https://www.dqpn.io/). He has authored roughly 200 peer-reviewed publications and many hundreds of health columns both on-line and in print. Katz is recognized globally for expertise in nutrition, weight management and the prevention of chronic disease, and has a social media following of roughly 900,000.
David L. Katz
United States


text:
Former Credit Suisse Broker Who Fled Is Nabbed In Spain
Julian Tzolov, a former Credit Suisse Group broker who was declared a fugitive by federal prosecutors in June, has been apprehended, prosecutors said Wednesday. People familiar with the matter say he was caught by Spanish authorities in Marbella, Spain.
Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's office in Brooklyn, which first brought securities fraud against him and another former broker last year, submitted a letter to the court Wednesday saying that Tzolov (pictured) had been apprehended. (For prior coverage of the $1 billion fraud case by LB colleague Amir Efrati, click here, here and here.)
Benjamin Brafman, a lawyer for Tzolov, said his client "made a terrible mistake when he fled the jurisdiction. All he has succeeded in doing is further compromising his already fragile legal position."
Tzolov, a native of Bulgaria, was charged for failure to appear and visa fraud, according to an indictment made public Wednesday.
In a letter to U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein in June, prosecutors said Tzolov, who was free on bail and subject to home confinement with electronic monitoring, left his home without permission May 9 and they haven't been able to locate him. An arrest warrant for Tzolov was issued May 11 and remained under seal until last month, according to the government's letter.
Tzolov and Eric Butler, both formerly of Credit Suisse, were accused of engaging in an alleged fraudulent scheme to obtain higher commissions by selling clients higher-risk auction-rate securities backed by mortgages, but marketed them as lower-risk securities backed by student loans. Butler is set to go to trial on those charges beginning Monday. [End of Post.]


text:
The enjoyment starts even before you're on the boat. The pier from where you depart is in the peaceful north east of Phuket is surrounded by green hills and beautiful seascapes. I found myself transfixed by the sea eagles whilst waiting others to arrive at the pier.
I watched them graciously circling on thermals whilst looking for a tasty snack, suddenly diving towards the water every now and then, often rising with a fish in their grasp, I was in awe of their hunt.
- Phuket FantaSea Cultural Theme Park
- Phi Phi Islands Tour with Express Boat
- James Bond Island Full-Day Tour via Big Boat
- Coral & Racha Islands Full-Day Tour
- Whitewater Rafting & 4-Wheel-Drive Adventure
- Sea Kayaking at Ang Thong Marine Park
- Flying Hanuman Ziplining Experience
- Canoeing Excursion in Phang Nga Bay with Thai Buffet Lunch
- Introduction to City Tour
- John Gray's Cave Canoeing Tour in Phang Nga Bay
I didn't have much information about the ambitiously named 'Ideal Cruise' that I'd agreed to participate in so I sought more information from Khun Tuk Tuk, a sea canoe guide, "The Ideal Tour is popular with older people as it's very relaxing, you see all the beautiful sights in the bay without much effort". This was music to my ears, beautiful scenery with a large portion of relaxation, perfect.
Many had signed up for the tour on the day so we were switched to a larger, more comfortable for the numbers we had and aesthetically more pleasing vessel. I had a quick glimpse at the boat usually used and it seemed more than satisfactory. The new boat was a Chinese junk Ayodhaya that had just been refitted; the down side was that the junk was a little slower; however that was more than offset by her charm and comfort.
The bay to which Khun Tuk Tuk was referring is Phang Nga Bay, which is mostly a protected marine park. The whole area has the most amazing geology, the limestone islands rise vertically from the water 200 to 300 metres high with foliage growing awkwardly out of what appears to be bare rock. Roots are clearly visible as trees desperately cling on to sheer cliff walls with their trunks growing horizontally instead of the more conventional vertical. Koh Phanak, the first island we passed is a very good example, from afar it looks like the Loch Ness monster with its four camel-like humps. When you get close the uneven erosion, or karstification, of the limestone becomes apparent with beautiful karst rockfaces that overhang the sea by several meters.
In many places what appears to be stalactites dramatically hang from the cliff walls and overhangs, however these aren't stalactites, erosion is the process by which these odd shapes were created. We passed through Koh Hong next, an eerie group of small jungle capped islands that rise high out of the water close together with channel through the middle. As we passed we saw some sea canoeists exploring some interesting looking caves.
James Bond Island
You know when you're approaching James Bond Island (Koh Ping Kan) as the many long tail boats that ferry tourists to and from can be seen congregating whilst waiting for their passengers. Once close our anchor was set and two of the largest longtails that I've ever seen came alongside to take us ashore. 40 foot plus in length with 6 cylinder lorry engines perched on the shafts humming noisily, I counted my blessings that I wasn't the one driving.
The island itself is two individual tall hunks of rock with a sand isthmus bridging the two. Once on the island you're drawn to the visually arresting ancient geology then swiftly whisked back to the present by the souvenir sellers trying to tempt you with their treasures of all shapes and sizes. As you walk onto the very beach where Britt Eckland donned that white bikini, the realisation of exactly where you are hits you. It's surreal, you find yourself awestruck in front of Koh Tapu (Nail Island), the infamous rock that juts up out of the water - defying gravity by not falling over. One after another, the tourists takes each other's photo in front of the towering rock stack. The whole island is spectacularly beautiful with different rock formations everywhere you look.
Koh Panyee
Moving on in our longtail we make way towards the stilt village at Koh Panyee, en-route our passage was via a tunnel bored through an island by tides thousands of years ago. Next was seemingly endless mangroves, their roots spreading out in all directions, one tree intertwined with the next like a bird's nest. The scenery had a Jurassic feel to it, nothing has changed here for many eons, I felt like I was looking into the past with a time machine.
Once we were clear of the mangroves the golden dome of the mosque on Koh Panyee could be seen glimmering in the sunlight. The village is more of a town, more concrete than wooden, it's surroundings of mangroves are the reason for it's existence. Although tourism now provides a major source of income, traditionally fishing was the only source and mangrove tree roots are a perfect nursery away from predators for fish and prawns to mature. Lunch was served at Panyee Seafood Restaurant, a tasty range of Thai dishes suited to the western palette followed by fresh fruit.
Wandering around the village there are many opportunities to buy souvenirs and some more unusual items such as dried fish and prawns, the smell of which occasionally wafts around. The call to prayer from the mosque could be heard echoing around and once prayers were finished I passed many worshippers making their way back to their work. Many younger children could be seen playing happily; accidentally I stumbled across the school.
Here I briefly watched pupils reciting numbers in Thai with many tourists looking on. Much of the student's work is proudly displayed outside the classrooms for all to see. I was pleased to see the standard of living was higher than I expected and tourism embraced warmly. A surprise was to see a coffee shop and an internet cafe (for local's use).
Koh Lawa
We were then ferried us back to our mothership by longtail where we promptly set sail for our final destination, Koh Lawa. Conveniently situated half way back to where we started from, most welcomed the cooling off opportunity to swim and explore the sandy beach.
Initially I thought 'Ideal' to be an odd name for this cruise however after leisurely making my way around the sights of Phang Nga Bay I find that ideal is very fitting.


text:
Team Thames Valley raise awareness for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research and promote Sponsored Walk and Charity Bingo Night at the JLD BB&O's Pimms on the Lawn Event.
The JLD BB&O held a Pimms on the Lawn event for members on Thursday 9 May 2013. Despite the weather,which as you can see from the pictures scuppered the "Lawn" element of the night, 28 people attended and it was a fantastic evening!
Team members collected £7.00 in donations and talked to JLD BB&O members about the work of Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research and their upcoming fundraising events. Thank you to everyone who donated and took the time to hear more about the charity and the team's fundraising activities! We hope to see you at one or more of our events.


text:
|Alabama head coach Nick Saban with QB A.J. McCarron.
Wall Street Journal sports columnist Rachel Bachman is tired of Alabama and its winning ways. Bachman recently wrote an "open letter" to Auburn head football coach Gus Malzahn calling him and the Tigers "Our Last Chance" to stop a third consecutive Crimson Tide BCS title.
Bachman describes Alabama as being " simply so good, so methodical, that they seem to remove the element of chance." in other words, she's tired of 'Bama being so fracking dominant, and is ready for someone to try to knock them off. It looks as though she's tapped Malzahn to be her white knight in blue and orange in her crusade against a third straight 'Bama BCS title.
"Coach, this is where you come in.
Your Tigers host Alabama on Nov. 30, and could be the only thing standing between the Crimson Tide and yet another appearance in the national title game—which, I think we can agree, is getting a bit tedious. That's why you need to prevent it from happening. You need to take back the state of Alabama."
Bachman goes on to praise the Malzahn for his bringing back Auburn to national prominence in his first year as the Tigers' head coach after the team all but fell off the map when Cam Newton left for the NFL. She also gave a shout out to first-year starting QB Nick Marshall.
"Your quarterback, first-year starter Nick Marshall, steamrolled the Volunteers with 214 rushing yards while passing almost not at all: He completed three passes for 35 yards, a touchdown and an interception. That is the power of zone-read plays: Marshall repeatedly fooled Tennessee about whether he would keep it, pass or hand it off to running back Tre Mason."
True, Marshall did well against Tennessee, another SEC program crawling from the wreckage of a couple of dismal seasons. However, that's something totally different than competing against an Alabama rolling on full cylinders. Bachman might want to look instead to Florida State, Ohio State, or Baylor to stop Alabama, which probably won't happen, either.
Bachman's anti-Alabama column reminds me that I go to The Wall Street Journal for my sports news and opinion in the same way I go to former Arkansas head coach John L. Smith for financial advice. Which means I don't.
(via The Wall Street Journal, HT: AL.com)


text:
Monday, May 9, 2011
The Hidden Flame by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke - A Review
Two suitors desire the lovely Abigail's hand in marriage. Ezra, a successful Hebrew merchant and widower with important connections among the Sanhedrin, is looking for a mother for his children. The Roman soldier Linux is fascinated by her winsome charm and possibly could offer the sanctuary--maybe even the love--for which she yearns. But her heart has been captured by neither of these. Will her faith and courage survive a heartbreak beyond comprehension as the followers face a gathering storm of persecution they never could have foreseen?
A glimmer of hope beckons Abigail forward.
This is the second book in this series but the authors did a good job of catching the reader up on the events that were missed in the series debut. It is always interesting to me to read historical fiction set in Biblical times. I knew Stephen was going to die when he was introduced but hearing two author's interpretation on his life and the lives of the followers of The Way was intriguing and interesting.
I enjoyed this book very much and am looking forward to going back to read the series debut The Centurion's Wife and will anticipate future books in this series.
***I was provided a copy of this book by Bethany House publishers. All opinions expressed are my own.
For His Glory, Mrs. K 1 more thought(s) Links to this post
Labels: Book Reviews
In Constant Prayer by Robert Benson
I've been intriguied by fixed hour prayer since I started reading Ann Voskamp and I've made feeble attempts when I've fasted. I grew up in an Anabaptist church and am very unfamiliar with formal liturgy, although Benson assures me that every church service has its own liturgy.
To be fair I must disclose that I shudder at rote prayers, the call-and-response prayers that I grew up with leave a vile taste in my mouth and a self-righteous annoyance washes over me when someone reads a prayer, particularly one that they themselves did not write.
But in case you hadn't noticed by the heavy quoting I did last month (and most likely copyright-law breaking in the sheer volume of selections), this book has really made me think and changed my outlook on this topic.
Let me put it to you this way. It has been a very long time since I have put sticky notes in a book that I read. I have never used an entire pad of sticky notes and had to go back and rip them into tiny pieces in order to have enough markers to go throughout the entire book.
Benson advocates that you do not do anything important: a job change, vacation, house purchase, nor anything unimportant: a trip to the grocery store, dinner out, a workout without setting an appointment time, having some sembleance of order, and carrying through. Why, then, do we approach the very most important thing of our day - approaching the Creator of the universe with our desires and needs, as haphazardly as we do?
The Jews had fixed hours of prayer, our Lord and Savior had fixed hours of prayer "As for me, I call to God, and the LORD saves me. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice." Psalm 55:16-17
"At some point, all of this high-minded discussion about our life of prayer has to work its way into the dailyness of our lives. It has to be stuck in and around and up next to the meetings and the schedules and the packing and the leaving and the coming home of our lives.
At some point, we have to move from talking about prayer to saying our prayers. If the marvelous that is possible in our lives of prayer is to have a chance to appear, it will because we have done the mundane."
So, how do you begin to say the office? "You begin the same way you begin to do anything else that matters in your life. Ask some questions; take some notes; do some research. Get pracical here; make a list."
This book has opened a wide, gaping hole in my prayer life and spiritual life in general. You would likely be aghast or chuckle at the titles of the books sliding across the library check-out counter towards me. I'm being stretched and I'm questioning.
***Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com, book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255
For His Glory, Mrs. K 1 more thought(s) Links to this post
Labels: Book Reviews, BookSneeze, Daily Office
Friday, May 6, 2011
Not a Sparrow Falls - Book Review
I. am. so. glad. I. did.
Full of twists and turns, unexpected connections and every emotion you can think of, Nichols weaves loveable characters you can't bear to hate and hateful characters you can't help but love into this story.
From the book jacket:
Mary Bridget Washburn is tired of running, tired of being haunted by the empty shell her life has become. How in the world did the little girl she once was become a woman on the wrong side of the law? Determined to make a new start, she escapes to the quaint city of Alexandria, Virginia, where she takes on her mother's identity and finds sanctuary in the shadow of a decades-old church. But a little girl's plea proves to be her undoing, and the reverend...well, someone's got to open his eyes before disaster comes calling. Can Mary Bridget and her tainted past stay hidden long enough for her to bring hope to a family falling apart?My favorite line? "You can't out-sin the cross." Reminds me of Beth Moore's closing sentiments in Believing God (my paraphrase), He's the God who raises people from the dead! If you have something more pressing than needing a dead person to be raised to life, you're out of luck but if it's anything less than that - HE CAN DO IT! This book just echos that sentiment over and over.
Those who have been forgiven much, love much!
*I was provided a free copy of this book by BethanyHouse Publishers without further compensation. All opinions are mine.
For His Glory, Mrs. K 0 more thought(s) Links to this post
Labels: Book Reviews
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)


text: Looking for a great Honda deal? Find all of our Honda specials below for a great bargain. We regularly hold offers on our new cars, used vehicles, service and parts. If you want a particular deal then please fill out the form below and one of the team can structure you a deal.


text:
Triangle OST Part 2!
Heo Young Dal's theme song
and Jaejoong wrote the lyrics of this song ♥
A brief synopsis about the drama from Wikipedia :
Jang Dong Soo, Jang Dong Chul and Jang Dong Woo are three brothers who got separated at a young age after their parents died in an accident. They meet again twenty years later, but unaware of their blood ties, their ill-fated paths converge on casino territory where they find themselves at odds with each other.
Middle brother Jang Dong Chul grew up as a petty thug on the streets, using his fists and wits to survive until he climbs to the top of a crime syndicate. Now a gang boss, he conceals his real identity and uses the name Heo Young Dal.
*update : watch/download the Official MV here*


text:
First time user (Free/Basic version)
First of all, thank you for using our plugin!
Please follow the steps below to set up your support desk.
Step 1: Installing the plugin
Once you have downloaded Sola Support Tickets the plugin from wordpress.org, upload this zip file in your wp-admin section under Plugins -> Add New -> Upload. Once uploaded, please ensure that you have activated the plugin.
Step 2: Getting to know the Submit Ticket page on your website
Once the plugin activates, a new page is automatically created on your website:
- Submit a ticket page
The submit a ticket page is pretty straight forward – it allows users to submit support tickets to yourself.
To modify or customize this page, navigate to Pages in your left navigation and find the relevant page.
Step 3: Setting up your agents
In the free version, only one support agent is allowed – this is defaulted to the superadmin of the site.
Step 4: Add "Submit Ticket" to your website's menu
You may need to add the two new pages to your website's menu if it hasn't been done so already. To do this, go to Appearance -> Menus in your left navigation and simply drag and drop one or both of the pages into your menu. Having both the "Submit Ticket" and "Support Desk" pages in the menu is not necessary as the Support Desk page has a link to the "Submit Ticket" page.
Step 5: Test that everything is in working order
Ensure that everything is in working order by browsing to the front end of your website and submitting a support ticket. As the administrator, you should receive notifications of new support tickets.
You may need to make slight CSS changes. We've conveniently assigned unique classes to every element on the "Support Ticket" page. If you need help, please contact us.


text:
American Civil War doctors called it hysteria, melancholia and insanity. During the First World War it was known as shell-shock. By World War II, it became combat fatigue. Today, it is clinically known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a crippling anxiety that results from exposure to life-threatening situations such as combat.
The HBO special Wartorn 1861-2010 brings attention to the invisible wounds of war. Drawing on personal stories of American soldiers whose lives and psyches were torn asunder by the horrors of battle and PTSD, the documentary chronicles the lingering effects of combat stress and post-traumatic stress on military personnel and their families throughout American history, from the Civil War through today's conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The HBO Documentary Films presentation debuts on Thursday November 11th, only on HBO in the US.
The documentary shares stories through soldiers' revealing letters and journals; photographs and combat footage.
"Combat fatigue" was considered a character flaw in World War II. In a famous story, Gen. George S. Patton slapped a soldier hospitalized with nervous exhaustion, ordering "that yellow SOB" back to the front. It took 50 years for WWII vets to be diagnosed with PTSD. Today, in the documentary, a group opens up publicly about their traumas for the first time. Al Maher, who was a Lieutenant in the Army Air Corps, laments the toll his war experience took on his family life – he became abusive and took to drinking. As a result, he has not spoken to his sons in 25 years. Abner Greenberg, a corporal in the Marines who lost two best friends in Iwo Jima, kept his wartime traumas pent up and never shared them with his children until he joined a PTSD group and discovered what was wrong with him. Former Army sergeant Bill Thomas remembers shooting four Germans, and being moved when the sole survivor showed him a family photo. "How do you explain the horrors?" Greenberg asks. "It consumes you."
For more information visit the HBO site.
Beaufighter Boys - Graham Pitchfork
1 month ago


text:
CPARC is offering Social Skills learning groups for Middle School and High School Students. The middle school group will be for students who have autism (only) and the high school group will be for students with intellectual disabilities. The purpose of the groups is to complement skills that your student may be learning in school and take the learning out of the classroom, providing a focused approach to social skill building in a different environment.
Two six week sessions are planned during which the following will be included:
The groups will be led by Ms. Shari Brenizer. Shari has 15 years' experience in special education. She has extensive experience teaching students in autism support, learning support and emotional support classrooms. Shari has a Masters in Human Services and Education, and is certified in Special Education K-12. Ms. Brenizer will have an assistant during the sessions. Both will be CPR/1st Aid certified and will have all background clearances. These include a police check, a ChildLine check and a FBI check.
The classes will meet as follows:
Middle school students (autism only)
Day of the week: Wednesdays, beginning July 11, for 6 weeks (7/11, 7/18, 7/25, 8/1, 8/8, 8/15)
Time: 6 – 7 pm
Location: S. Wilson Pollock Center for Industrial Training
262 Silver Springs Rd. Mechanicsburg Pa. 1705
High school students (intellectual disabilities)
Day of the week: Tuesdays, beginning July 10, for 6 weeks (7/10, 7/17, 7/24, 7/31, 8/7, 8/14)
Time: 6 – 7 pm
Location: CPARC Administrative Office
71 Ashland Ave Carlisle Pa 17013
There is a minimal fee of $5.00 which we will use to help off-set snacks, small reinforcers, etc.
Question should be directed to Cindy Adams, Special Education Advocate, via phone atI 717-249-2611 or email to email@example.com.
If you are interested in one of the above groups for your child, please contact Cindy Adams as soon as possible to complete registration information.


text:
Look and feel different with Hotcards Custom Soft Touch Cards.
In order to create a card that is truly memorable - sometimes it's not enough to just look different. Sometimes a card needs to FEEL different - and that's exactly what our Custom Soft Touch Cards do.
- Custom sized cards just begging to be touched.
- These cards are so soft you'll want to snuggle up with them!
- Eco-friendly and made in the USA by happy people
We LOVE that you LOVE us!
~ Lawrence Craft, Pictureman Photography & Graphics, OH
Cards with an immediately distinguishable quality and feel.
A handshake only goes so far - give them a custom-sized card as memorable as the first impression you made. Adjust the size and increase the all-around appeal of your cards by adding a soft, velvety texture that looks and feels like no other card.
Available Paper Stocks:
- 32pt Soft Touch Cover Stock
This soft, velvety finish will make you feel like you're holding a card straight from the King himself!
Vibrant colors are produced using a full four color build of cyan, magenta, yellow and black. This method allows for any number of colors to be printed, ensuring stunning results!
Interested in a custom sized piece? Just call or email us today!
At 32pt, this is one of our thickest paper stocks, ever! You are sure to get noticed!
Our products are made to last! This is why we use only the most durable materials.


text:
bee notes
For the past 5 weeks, Siri has recorded my bee notes for me. A good idea in theory, BUT I'm going to switch to an old-fashioned paper and pen notebook. Aside from my cell phone getting streaked with bee's wax, its hard for me to translate what Siri records. Here's my best translation from yesterday's hive check:
I'm checking my beehives. It's early Monday morning, Memorial day. An over overcast morning and the smells are so amazing. The smell of flowers is heavy in the air (and burgers??). I'm going to check the beehives.Most of these notes, I could translate or revise to make sense, but Siri can't distinguish when I say "food' and "brood". Well, she just doesn't know the word "brood" I think, and she will substitute random things. Sorry Siri.
White hive: The top box has 3 1/2 frames build out it looks like they're all food frames. The bottom box has 3 1/2 frames of food. There are five full frames of brood. I can see eggs and larvae of all stages. I was getting afraid that it had so much food that there would be no brood. I did not see a queen - this hive has a marked queen so I should have seen her, but did not. Certainly plenty of evidence she is here and active. There are a lot of ants on top of the inner cover. I swept them out.
Green hive has the equivalent of two frames of food in the top box. The bottom box has equivalent of two frames of food, two empty frames and the rest brood. I can see eggs and all stages of brood, but again I did not find a queen.
Flowers blooming today are honeysuckle, ajuga and wild phlox. The temperature is about 60-80F.
Here's a comparison of my two hives five weeks after installing them. (Both had a second box added 2.5 weeks ago and their frame feeders removed the following week, so they each have 20 frames total now.):
Labels: bee keeping, bees


text:
Godzilla spawned a bunch of corny sequels with different nemeses like Mothra and Megalon, but I'd like to introduce a much superior one:
This is Bertha Mason. I adopted her from a guinea pig shelter (yes, those actually exist!) as a companion for Beaver, whom I introduced in a previous post.
Bertha's not really into classic films. She prefers Nicholas Sparks adaptations. The Notebook is her favorite (also that one with Miley Cyrus). When she's not binge-watching Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead, she likes to read James Patterson novels while jammin' out to Kenny G. on her iPod.
Sadly, she and Beaver didn't get along. He's laid-back and Bertha has a dominant personality, so she drove him crazy (hence the name). Thanks to an unexpected new roommate, though, everything ended happily. But that's for another post. Now back to the film.
The original Godzilla came like a kick in the gut for its target audience, which was still reeling from the Hiroshima disaster and operation Castle Bravo. Hydrogen bomb tests destroy a harmless sea creature's natural environment. Radioactivity deforms it into a giant voracious monster that emerges on land to forage for food — i.e., humans, and a couple of cows. Daisuke Serizawa, the eye-patched scientist, refuses to kill it with his top-secret formula. Kyohei Yamane, a prominent archaeologist, wants to keep Godzilla alive for research … which would make sense if they had any way to contain it. Yamane's daughter, Emiko, goes around crying (although it looks more like she's trying not to laugh), and tripping at crucial running-away-from-Godzilla-moments.
I love the top-secret formula's name: "The Oxygen Eliminator." Serizawa insists it can be used for good … in spite of the fact that it removes oxygen from the environment and then liquefies its victims' flesh. That kind of thinking happens when you're holed up in a basement lab for years. Plus in its present form, he argues, it'll be manipulated by politicians. Newsflash: nothing's safe from that in any form. When the others attempt to persuade him to use it, he tries to destroy it — in a scene that reminded me of this great Mitchell and Webb skit:
I thought ———— SPOILER ALERT!!! ———– Serizawa's sacrifice in the end was needless. They could have pulled him up with the rope after he detonated the Oxygen Eliminator. Maybe the producer was trying to make a point — the scientific community suffers when its discoveries are manipulated for personal gain.
Godzilla surprised me. I walked in expecting a goofy, B-type film with no substance, just shots of a monster terrorizing Tokyo. Instead I saw a sombre, dialogue-driven film denouncing war and atomic weapons. The acting is powerful, the dialogue thoughtful, and the special effects — for the most part — are impressive for the time. Godzilla depicts the toll weapons take on society, regardless of their shape. If ever there was a film promoting peace, this is it.


text:
Marjan Delavar
Marjan was admitted to the Law Society of Upper Canada in 2002 after receiving her Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School in 2001. While at Osgoode, she was a member of the winning Goodman and Carr's mooting team and volunteered in its Community and Legal Aid Services Program.
Prior to entering law school, Marjan received her Honour degree in Bachelor of Arts (Cum Laude) from York University. She joined the law firm of Danson, Recht, Voudouris LLP in 2002 after completing her articles in the Legal Department of Toronto Transit Commission. In 1993, Marjan was the recipient of Governor General of Canada Bronze Medal.
Since joining the firm, Marjan has successfully appeared before various levels of Courts and Administrative Tribunals including the Financial Services Commission of Ontario and the Workplace Safety Insurance Appeals Tribunal representing both Canadian and American insurance companies and Plaintiffs with serious personal injury claims. Marjan has extensive experience in handling catastrophic personal injury claims and has represented Plaintiffs throughout Ontario in a variety of serious personal injury claims involving mild, moderate and severe brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, quadriplegia, amputations, burns and chronic pain/fibromyalgia. Marjan's practice is devoted to complex personal injury litigation including motor vehicle collisions, accident benefits claims, fatalities/wrongful deaths, tavern liability, occupiers' liability, slip and falls and dog bites.
Bachelor of Arts (Honours – Cum Laude), York University (1998)
Bachelor of Laws, Osgoode Hall Law School (2001)
Practice Areas:
Personal Injury
Insurance Litigation
Professional Affiliations:
Canadian Bar Association
Ontario Bar Association
Iranian Legal Professionals of Ontario


text:
Cheese Grater
- Product Details
- Delivery & Returns
- Reviews (0)
- Write Review
Cheese Grater
No more grated fingers with this easy to use, handheld grater. Just pop a piece of cheese into the see-through container, turn the handle and the cheese will be grated.
Cheese Grater Features
- Height approx 16cm (6'')
- Handle removes for easy cleaning
- Can also be used for grating onions and other vegetables
Standard Delivery to the UK £4.99
We deliver to all UK postcodes, including Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Scilly Isles and Channel Islands.
Currently we are unable to deliver to Eire
Orders are despatched by our courier 'Hermes' usually within 72 hours and normally delivered to your door within 7-14 days
Click here for our full delivery terms


text:
Equestrian Trailblazers
Two pioneering women encourage local equestrian trail riding and camaraderie by sharing their considerable knowledge of the Central Sierra Nevada equestrian trails experience through guide books and Internet networking. Click photo to read their story.
a Culture
The Mono Nation Trade Route Hike is a story
which exemplifies the value of communications to reviving the
culture and traditions of the Mono People. Click the
picture to share Lou Beihn's personal journey.
Grizzly Century
few friends with a passion for riding came together
to create an upbeat fundraising event to benefit
their community in a downturned economy.
As We Were Told, Interview with Jesse Bigelow
Terms of Use |
Website Privacy Policy | Subscriber Privacy Policy | ©
2014 Ponderosa. All
Rights Reserved.


text:
The debate over controlling access to the Internet took center stage in the U.S. Senate this week during a hearing that focused on "network neutrality" and possible new legislation that advocates say would protect the Internet from being fractured by special interests.
The crux of the issue is a growing interest among telecom and cable companies, including AT&T and Comcast, which are the primary broadband service providers in the U.S., to charge content and service providers, such as Google, Yahoo, and Vonage, for use of those high-speed networks.
At a hearing held Tuesday by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Walter B. McCormick Jr., president and CEO of the U.S. Telecom Association, told lawmakers that the future of the Internet requires a multi-billion-dollar investment in advanced broadband networks...
Click Here for Full Article (Yahoo News)


text:
Strength for the Family
"Prayer is far more than begging God for what we want. In prayer, we acknowledge God's power and goodness and admit our own neediness and dependence on him. When we pray, we express our faith and hope in God. Through prayer, we obtain grace and elevate our minds and hearts to a greater knowledge and love of God. The more we pray, the more we come to know and love him." ~Strengthening Your Family: A Catholic Approach to Holiness at Home, Chapter Eight: Lord, Hear Our Prayer
How often do we hear about someone's misfortune or suffering and respond by promising to keep him or her in our prayers? When a friend has an important opportunity on the horizon, don't we usually show our support by offering our prayers? We say we'll pray for others, but how do we stick to those promises?
Straws for the Crib
Put aside ten minutes today for prayer. Find a quiet room, even a quiet corner, and take a break from the rest of the world. Think about all the people (as far as you can remember) for whom you've promised to pray. Then say a prayer (or two…or three…) for them with sincerity and reverence.


text:
Of course I've been a little more tired each day, but considering it's FebYOUary, I've been focusing on eating healthy foods that will provide me with enough energy to get through the day, avoiding coffee and taking some time out for myself each day (more on that to come). I still have to go in today, but not until the afternoon, so I thought I'd post what I've been eating for lunch each day! When I say 'lunch', all this food really has to last me from the early morning until the afternoon.
Monday: A sandwich (quinoa and flaxseed wholegain bread) with mushrooms, hummus, alfalfa sprouts, rocket, tomato and mango and ginger chutney. Carrot sticks with hummus, a berry muffin and almonds.


text:
LORETTO, Pa.— The Sacred Heart University Softball team used timely two-out hitting to earn the 7-2 win over CCSU in the opening round of the 2018 Northeast Conference Softball tournament.
After an hour and 51-minute rain delay to interrupt the first inning, the Pioneers (31-23) picked up six runs to pull ahead of the Blue Devils (19-29) at Red Flash Softball Stadium.
The Scoring…
Top of the 2nd inning… With two runners on and two outs, All-NEC First Team honoree Hailey Desrosiers lined a three-run home run over the left-center field wall to get the Pioneers on the board. A single by Stephanie Mangiameli and walk by Kelyn Fillmore extended the inning for SHU. Fallon Bevino stepped in from the cleanup spot and delivered a double to the gap in left-center to solidify the Pioneers lead. An error at second base in the next at bat pushed the 6-0 lead.
Bottom of the 5th inning… The Blue Devils got on the board off the leadoff home run by Gianna Hathaway to bring the score to 6-1.
Top of the 7th inning… Katelyn Christian picked up the two-out double to right center field. Lauren Delgadillo lined a single up the middle to drive her in.
Bottom of the 7th inning… CCSU recorded its second run of the game as Giuliana recorded a single home run to left field for the final score of 7-2.
The Numbers…
- The Pioneers outhit the Blue Devils 8-6 in the game with the top five batters in the lineup contributing a hit.
- Fallon Bevino and Lauren Delgadillo contributed two hits each to pace the offense.
- Desrosiers recorded a home run in back-to-back games, after hitting a three-run home run in her two-home run performance at Mount this past Sunday.
- Emily Orosco struck out eight batters in six and two-third innings for her 14th win of the season.
- SHU's six runs in the opening game is the second highest run output in the four NEC Tournament appearances.
- The Pioneers improve to 3-1 in NEC Tournament opening contests.
Up Next…
The Pioneers matchup with Saint Francis U in the opening game tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. The winner advances to Championship Saturday and the loser will meet the winner of game two tomorrow at 4:00 p.m.