text:
Some folks asked about the long silence since our last Koan. But is not the silence also speaking? If you do not think so, please go back to Koan 1 ... where the Buddha gave up on his talk and went back to bed ...
So ...Case 30 never ends, yet now comes ...
Case 31: Ummon's Free Standing Pillar
Another Koan on the dance of Relative and Absolute ... Ummon sings of Buddha and a stone pillar mingled, one. In response to the rhetorical question "what level of insight am I expressing", the Koan is filled with many images just the most natural happening, conveying how natural it all is ... . This is not the first time that Ummon (aka Yumen) responded with a very concrete worldly object, for in other Koans he described Buddha as "a garden of flowers", "the five senses and the mind", "the hedge surrounding the privy", and of course, a "dried shit stick".
The Verse sings ...
It has never been concealed ... it's affirmed without affirmation (for what affirmation is needed or possible when we transcend relative views and opinions) ... it is adequacy without adequacy ... it is three feet or sixteen feet (or any feet at all), according and fitting all kinds, sizes and situations.
- Tell me about somebody or something in the world that you have a very hard time experiencing as "Buddha". Next, tell me why you are mistaken!
- Express how, in life, inadequacy is quite adequate. Give an example from your life.
- Now, express what is both and neither adequate or inadequate, fully transcending yet holding all adequate and inadequate human views and stone pillars.
Gassho, J
PS - I will be in Korea for the next two weeks, but will still be checking into the Forum daily.


text:
Associated Press – 2013-07-07 00:59:06
ORANGE, Calif. (July 4, 2013) — Vast war letter collection shows sacrifice – US Army Staff Sgt. Horace Evers was setting up a command post in Munich with other Allied soldiers in the final days of World War II when he stumbled across sheets of Adolf Hitler's personal stationery in the dictator's abandoned apartment.
Evers, just barely 26, crossed out Hitler's name below an embossed swastika, scrawled his own name — "S/Sgt. Evers" — and then sat down to write home about the stacks of hollow-eyed corpses he had seen the day before at Dachau.
"The first box car I came to had about 30 what were once humans in it. All were just bone with a layer of skin over them. Most of the eyes were open and had an indescribable look about them," he wrote in the May 2, 1945 letter.
"How can people do things like that? I never believed they could until now."
The pages, now browned and creased, are part of a stunning collection of 90,000 wartime letters stretching from the Revolutionary War to modern-day conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan that will be housed in a new Center for American War Letters opening this fall at Chapman University in Southern California.
Private collector and author Andrew Carroll, who began gathering war correspondence 15 years ago, began a nationwide speaking tour this week to unearth more historical gems gathering dust in the closets and attics of veterans and their descendants. A play based on the letters, "If All the Sky Were Paper," will also tour this summer.
The war letters, some flecked with blood or coated with a fine layer of sand, bring history to life in a way that little else can. One from World War II is pierced by a bullet hole that hit the soldier's backpack but didn't kill him. Another is enhanced by an elaborate cartoon done by an airman who was supposed to work for Disney upon his return, but was killed in action.
"It's about real people and what they go through, whether it's frontline combat, whether it's on the home front: combat letters, love letters, last letters," Carroll said. "The thing about war letters is, because they're written in these life and death circumstances, almost by their nature they tend to be more vivid and vibrant. Everything is more intense."
The collection, which Carroll dubbed the Legacy Project, covers the vast sweep of US history as seen through the eyes of the people who lived it.
One passionate letter was written by Spotswood Rice, a freed slave who joined the Union Army and realized his unit was passing within miles of his former master's home, where his daughter Mary was still enslaved by the man's wife.
"I want you to understand … that where ever you and I meets we are enmays to each orhtere," he wrote the woman.
"When I get ready to come after mary I will have … a power and authority to bring (her) away and to execute vengencens on them that holds my Child," wrote Rice, who was a private with the 67th US Colored Infantry. "You will then know how to talke to me."
Another letter, raw with a different kind of emotion, is a last goodbye scrawled by a World War II POW on the back of two family photos he had carried with him throughout the war. Lt. Thomas R. Kennedy died shortly after he wrote the January 1945 note from aboard a Japanese prison ship.
"Momie & Dad: It is pretty hard to check out this way without a fighting chance but we can't live forever. I'm not afraid to die, I just hate the thought of not seeing you again," he wrote.
"Take care of my nieces and nephews don't let them ever want anything as I want even warmth or water now."
Other letters provide a narrative of historical events in the unadorned language of scared young men.
One such account was penned by a seaman trapped aboard the USS New Orleans during the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The ship was undergoing repairs and had no power for its guns and no way of leaving port.
"We're trying to get underway if possible. We were just struck by a bomb near the bow," Ensign William Czako wrote to his sister on Dec. 7, 1941, as Japanese bombers screamed overhead.
"I don't know why I am writing this because if we are hit with a bomb here — they won't find enough of me and the rest — let alone this letter. I imagine it is to show myself that I can be calm under fire," wrote Czako, who survived the war and went on to work in a Virginia shipyard.
The collection has just a few letters from the Revolutionary War, where paper was scarce and mail service almost nonexistent. In one extremely rare letter, however, a teenage soldier writes to his "honored parents" to say he was shot in the head but hopes that "With the Assistance of god that I Shall git wel again."
The young private, Henry Johnson of New Jersey, survived and became a shoemaker, according to Carroll's research.
Carroll, 43, got interested in collecting letters after his family home burned to the ground while he was in college. The fire destroyed his family's letters and memorabilia and deeply affected Carroll, who became obsessed with ways to preserve connections to the past.
Sensing his need, a distant cousin who had fought in World War II gave him a war letter, saying he was considering throwing them away. In it, the cousin, then 23, wrote to his wife about the horrors of Buchenwald concentration camp just hours after touring it with his squadron.
"I was just shocked that he would just throw this away. There was real modesty with him and other veterans I spoke with who would say, `I was just a young guy. Who cares what I wrote?' They were tossing their letters, too," Carroll said. "I realized we were really losing something here."
After another decade collecting a handful of letters from veterans through word of mouth and chance encounters, Carroll penned a plea for old wartime correspondence that was published in Dear Abby on Veteran's Day 1998.
The response was immediate — and it was tremendous. Within a year, Carroll had received 15,000 letters; one couple alone sent 2,000 love letters they had exchanged during World War II.
"There were bins and bins of letters coming in and this was just the tip of the iceberg," Carroll recalled.
In the years since, Carroll has continued to gather letters and, more recently, emails to and from soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has published four books of selected war letters from his collection and also took a 40-nation tour to collect correspondence written by foreign soldiers who have fought alongside — or even against — US troops.
Until now, Carroll used profits from the books to fund his ongoing efforts to preserve the war letters, which were kept in a storage unit near his Washington, D.C. home. He also donated proceeds to veterans' organizations, but will now draw a salary as the director of Chapman's new war center.
Now that Carroll's collection has found a permanent home, he is determined to expand it before it's too late.
Evers, the staff sergeant who wrote home on Hitler's stationary, died in 2011 at age 92 and more veterans die every day, taking their memories with them. If their families don't know about their letters, they may be lost forever, he said.
"We have such a sense of urgency. A big part of our mission is to tell people, please, please go through what you have," he said. "You have no idea what might be hiding in your own personal archive."
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Practice management software keeps the medical office running smoothly, and the wrong package can wreak havoc with billing, scheduling, and other essential business processes. A closer look at KLAS' top-ranked systems will help you choose the one that best fits your practice.
Practice management (PM) software runs the business side of healthcare, from scheduling patients to billing to generating monthly reports, so picking the right system is crucial for any size medical practice. Unlike with electronic health records (EHRs), selecting and overseeing a PM system isn't typically the physician's domain. In a large practice, it typically falls on the office manager's or IT manager's shoulders.
While physicians may have little to say about choosing a PM system, they sure do pay attention to it when problems occur. When they don't get paid, or they receive constant complaints from back-office staff, these programs suddenly become top of mind.
[ Update available: 10 Medical Practice Management Systems For 2014.]
But how do office or IT managers know if they're choosing the right PM software system for their business? Rosemarie Nelson, a principal with the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) tells InformationWeek Healthcarethat a major decision point is picking a PM system that works well with the practice's EHR.
"Oftentimes it isn't which EHR to buy or which practice management system to buy; sometimes it's which bundle to buy because the physician wants a tightly integrated solution," Nelson said. She added that the EHR is more the driver than the PM system. "You pick the EHR that fits you because billing is billing, so chances are the PM systems that works for that EHR will be just fine," said Nelson.
However, when choosing a PM software system it's still a good idea to determine if you want to go with a single vendor system that's natively integrated with an EHR, or a best-of-breed system that requires an interface.
Physician practices large and small often turn to the Best In KLAS Awardsfor software and services as a guide when selecting a PM software vendor. KLAS independently monitors vendor performance, with the assistance of thousands of healthcare organizations. KLAS ranks PM software vendors for applicability to various practice types, from single practice to 150-plus physician groups.
According to Mark Wagner, senior director of ambulatory research at KLAS, PM software is one of the highest scoring segments that KLAS examines. Wagner told InformationWeek Healthcarethat most leading PM systems have similar core functionality.
"Functionality is important to providers. However, if you're hung up on functionality and that's all you've got, and you're not taking care of the relationship [with the healthcare provider] and you're not making sure [the providers] feel like their success matters to you as a vendor, they are going to score you poorly when you start measuring their overall experience and satisfaction," said Wagner.
Industry insiders point out that a leading challenge for physician practices is how long it takes to implement the PM system. Getting all the physicians in a large group up to speed on software can be a real headache. That headache will only be made worse if, after the practice buys the license, the vendor isn't helpful in getting doctors over the speed bumps.
Here's a look at 10 of the top PM software vendors, as ranked by KLAS, along with an overview of the features that office and IT managers want.
About the Author(s)
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text:
Porting DirectFB
DirectFB porting to RTS7751R2D (SH-4/SM501) platform
Development Environment
SH-4 target platform environment
Item | Element | Resources |
Hardware | Renesas `RTS7751R2D` (Renesas SH-4 processor board) | RTS7751R2D Handling Manual |
Silicon Motion Inc SM501 (Renesas platform on board graphics) | ||
Software | kernel = CE-LINUX-2.4.20 | Tool Chains |
loader = SH-LILO | ||
DirectFB = DirectFB-0.9.20 | http://www.directfb.org/download/DirectFB/DirectFB-0.9.20.tar.gz | |
freetype = freetype-2.1.3 | http://heanet.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/freetype/freetype-2.1.3.tar.gz | |
libjpeg = jpeg-6b | ftp://ftp.uu.net/graphics/jpeg/jpegsrc.v6b.tar.gz | |
libpng = png-1.2.2 | http://keihanna.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/libpng/libpng-1.2.2.tar.gz | |
zlib = zlib-1.1.4 | http://www.zlib.net/zlib-1.1.4.tar.gz |
x86 host machine environment
Item | Element | Resources |
OS | Linux ( Redhat 7.3 ) | [1] |
host compiler | gcc 2.9.6 | [2] |
cross compiler | gcc 3.2.3 ( CELF sh-4 compiler posted by Lineo Solutions ) | Tool Chains |
Install DirectFB
Prepare libraries used in DirectFB
- Extract each source code
- Set environment variables for cross compile
CC = /usr/local/bin/sh4-linux-gcc CPP = /usr/local/bin/sh4-linux-cpp CXX = /usr/local/bin/sh4-linux-g++
- create libjpeg
modify configure file for cross compile line 548 : change "gcc" to "sh4-linux-gcc" # ./configure --enable-shared # make # cp .libs/libjpeg.so* /usr/local/sh4-linux/lib
- create zlib
# ./configure --shared modify Makefile for cross compile line 24 : LDSHARED=/usr/local/bin/sh4-linux-gcc -shared -Wl,-soname,libz.so.1 line 28 : LIBS=libz.so.1.1.4 # make # cp libz* /usr/local/sh4-linux/lib
- create libpng
# cp scripts/makefile.linux Makefile modify Makefile for cross compile line 11 : change "gcc" to "sh4-linux-gcc" # make # cp libpng12.so* /usr/local/sh4-linux/lib
- create freetype
# ./configure --host=sh4-linux # make # cp objs/.libs/libfreetype.so* /usr/local/sh4-linux/lib # cp -r include/* /usr/local/sh4-linux/include
- Cross Compile DirectFB for SH-4
adopt patch upon DirectFb source directory # gzip -d -c DirectFB-0.9.20-ftpath.patch.gz | patch -p0 # ./configure --host=sh4-linux \ # --disable-sdl \ # --with-ftpath=/usr/local/sh4-linux # --with-gfxdrivers=sm501 # make If error occurs modify interfaces/IDirectFBFont/Makefile line 86 : remove "-lfreetype"
- We use CELF SH-4 root_fs image posted by Lineo Solutions.
- We expect this root_fs is already bootable.
- We expect root_fs is mounted on /mnt.
- We add /usr/local/lib?/usr/lib to /etc/ld.so.conf
- Prepare directory for DirectFB installation
# mkdir /usr/lib # mkdir /usr/local/share # mkdir /usr/local/share/directfb-examples # mkdir /usr/local/lib/ # mkdir /usr/local/lib/directfb-0.9.20 # mkdir /usr/local/lib/directfb-0.9.20/gfxdrivers # mkdir /usr/local/lib/directfb-0.9.20/inputdrivers # mkdir /usr/local/lib/directfb-0.9.20/interfaces # mkdir /usr/local/lib/directfb-0.9.20/interfaces/IDirectFBFont # mkdir /usr/local/lib/directfb-0.9.20/interfaces/IDirectFBImageProvider # mkdir /usr/local/lib/directfb-0.9.20/interfaces/IDirectFBVideoProvider # mkdir /usr/local/lib/directfb-0.9.20/systems
- copy libjpeg
move to libjpeg's directory # cp .libs/libjpeg.so* /mnt/usr/lib
- copy zlib
move to zlib's directory # cp libz.so* /mnt/usr/lib
- copy libpng
move to libpng's directory # cp libpng12.so /mnt/usr/lib/libpng.so # cp libpng12.so.0 /mnt/usr/lib/libpng.so.0 # cp libpng12.so.0.1.2.2 /mnt/usr/lib/libpng.so.0.1.2.2
- copy freetype
move to freetype's directory # cp objs/.libs/libfreetype.so* /mnt/usr/lib
- copy DirectFB
move to DirectFB's directory # cp src/.libs/libdirectfb.so /mnt/usr/lib # cp src/.libs/libdirectfb-0.9.so* /mnt/usr/lib # cp gfxdrivers/sm501/.libs/libdirectfb_sm501.so /mnt/usr/local/lib/directfb-0.9.20/gfxdrivers # cp inputdrivers/joystick/.libs/libdirectfb_joystick.so /mnt/usr/local/lib/directfb-0.9.20/inputdrivers # cp inputdrivers/keyboard/.libs/libdirectfb_keyboard.so /mnt/usr/local/lib/directfb-0.9.20/inputdrivers # cp inputdrivers/ps2mouse/.libs/libdirectfb_ps2mouse.so /mnt/usr/local/lib/directfb-0.9.20/inputdrivers # cp inputdrivers/serialmouse/.libs/libdirectfb_serialmouse.so /mnt/usr/local/lib/directfb-0.9.20/inputdrivers # cp inputdrivers/sonypi/.libs/libdirectfb_sonypi.so /mnt/usr/local/lib/directfb-0.9.20/inputdrivers # cp interfaces/IDirectFBFont/.libs/libidirectfbfont_*.so /mnt/usr/local/lib/directfb-0.9.20/interfaces/IDirectFBFont # cp interfaces/IDirectFBImageProvider/.libs/libidirectfbimageprovider_*.so /mnt/usr/local/lib/directfb-0.9.20/interfaces/IDirectFBImageProvider # cp interfaces/IDirectFBVideoProvider/.libs/libidirectfbvideoprovider_*.so /mnt/usr/local/lib/directfb-0.9.20/interfaces/IDirectFBVideoProvider
Prepare Demo software
Through previous steps, you have installed DirectFB to SH-4 Linux environment. To confirm everything created and installed properly use DirectFB demo program. You can download these demo program from DirectFB project website, that name is "DirectFB-examples". We used version 0.9.18. You can download from following Web site.
DirectFB-examples used in this tutorial.
As we faced some problem compiling these demo program for SH-4 Linux, we installed to x86 Linux first, then retarget to SH-4 Linux using following step.
Modify Makefile in src directry as "CC = gcc" to "CC = sh4-linux-gcc" "LIBADDS = -L/usr/local/lib -ldirectfb -lpthread -ldl" to "LIBADDS = -L/usr/local/sh4-linux/lib -ldirectfb -lpthread -ldl" Adopt same modification to each Makefile in src/df_knuckles?src/df_neo?src/spacedream
Do make in src directory ( If you do make at the upper directory, it seems not works correctly )
Install Demo program
Now demo program binary images was generated in src directory, you can copy manually these binary to target root_fs's your preferred location. Then copy all data file located under data directory to /usr/local/share/directfb-examples It seems you do not maintain/modift these file (just copy) except Makefile.
Benchmark program
Demo program named df_dok is DirectFB benchmark. If you run this without any options, it automatically runs set of benchmark program using graphics acceleration capability, and display result as graph. We use this benchmark score to tune DirectFB library for SM501.
Cross compiling
Like other Linux application program, DirectFB is designed to compile only on x86 Linux. We struggled this time to compile DirectFB for SH-4 Linux and finally we success this cross porting. However we think this is a kind of handwork way. When you try to run demo program on non-x86 Linux, x86 reference looks mandatory. I suggest you start DirectFB implementation from x86 Linux.
Writing DirectFB driver
Graphics driver detection procedure
Graphics chip drivers are located under /usr/local/lib/directfb-0.9.20/gfxdrivers There is no special installation procedure to add your own driver. DirectFB checks all drivers in driver_probe routine. When DirectFB detect correct driver in this process, DirectFB enables this driver. If driver does not works then move to next driver check, if all drivers does not much, DirectFB runs software mode without dedicated graphics driver. We have tentatively modified this process force to use SM501 driver.
Enabling hardware graphics acceleration capability
Drawing routine set command parameters to use 2D acceleration capability. Graphic driver returns TRUE or FALSE as return-value. If FALSE returned, DirectFB thinks hardware acceleration does not built-in, and use whole software drawing. Not all drawing routine has this acceleration detection mechanism, it is sure to define in `CheckState` routine. You can write your own driver as you like except command parameters and return value.
SM501 driver development
reference driver
We use i810 graphics driver as a reference, because it is small and looks easy to implement. Finally we need to refer other drivers because i810 has limited numbers of draw routine. If you want to support full drawing capabilities, Matrox driver may be better reference.
Drawing API prepared for SM501
API | Operations |
`sm501_set_src` | Set source address for BLIT operation. You need to assign VRAM physical address to source address. |
`sm501_set_dest` | Set destination physical address and color depth for BLIT and drawing operation. |
`sm501_set_colorkey` | colorkey setting, it defines transparent color for colorkeyed BLIT operation. Color compare regiser is used in SM501 to enable this operation. You can define transparent color to the SM501 color compare register, then SM501 does not transfer this color when doing BLIT operation. So it looks transparent. |
`sm501_set_color` | Define drawing color setting |
`sm501_set_clip` | Save clipping coordinates value to the structure, and set SM501 clipping register as well |
`sm501CheckState` | This bit returns hardware acceleration capability. You need to refer each graphics spec, and you also care for color format that graphics supports |
`sm501SetState` | Do pre-process for acceleration |
`sm501FillRectangle` | Do fill rectangle, using SM501 2D drawing engine |
`sm501DrawRectangle` | Draw rectangles. SM501 does not have rectangle drawing capability, so draw four lines to draw rectangle in this driver |
`sm501Blit` | Do BLIT operation, using SM501 2D drawing engine |
`sm501StretchBlit` | Do Stretch BLIT To avoid SM501 2D engine stretch function limitation, we use CSC (color space conversion) function instead. Colorkeyed stretch BLIT can not be support in this driver. |
`sm501DrawLine` | Draw line, using SM501 2D drawing engine. Use shortstroke command for simple vertical / holizontal line,and use line command for other kind of line. |
`sm501fill_tri` | Draw triangle with filling inside. As SM501 does not have hardware triangle drawing capability,we draw triangle by software. However we can use horizontal line draw capability in SM501, so seems to achieved a little better performance than all software drawing. |
`sm501FillTriangle` | Fill triangle, actual operation execute in subroutine sm501fill_tri |
`driver_get_abi_version` | Returns version information |
`driver_probe` | This should return check result of expected graphics chip is exist or not. At this moment, this driver retunes always TRUE (=SM501 exist) |
`driver_get_info` | Returns driver's information |
`sm501_release_resource` | Do close operation |
`driver_init_driver` | Initialize SM501 2D engine and create function table |
`driver_init_device` | Initialize device structure |
`driver_close_device` | Do nothing at this moment |
`driver_close_driver` | Do nothing at this moment |
DirectFB porting notes
DirectFB requires display resolution capability built in frame buffer driver. So initially we modify SM501 generic frame buffer driver to support resolution and color depth setting. We did not care for pixel_clock, left/right margin and vertical/horizontal sync, because DirectFB does not works when frame buffer drivers return FALSE to these parameter. It looks no problem using without these parameters.
Initially we modify reference gfxdriver (=i810) source code so that SH-4 gcc compiler can compile properly. Actually we maintain filename, display character and source code comment to fit SM501. And commented out driver code that operate 2D graphics engine. After you compile SM501 driver, copy it to the proper location so that DirectFB can load this new driver. If DirectFB boot message does not comes driver location missing nor driver_probe process returns error.
Then merge 2D engine sample program that works. In SM501 initialization call 2D engine initialization and modify simple graphics API like line. You need to activate bit in `CheckState`, that has hardware acceleration in SM501. Remove unused program in driver_init_driver, to eliminate unexpected initialization.
Once SM501 hardware acceleration works, replace other drawing API. If SM501 command support DirectFB drawing API, just use SM501 command. If SM501 does not support it, you need to find out alternative way to implement this API. If your reference driver does not support required API, you need to refer other graphics driver and you need to add this function by yourself.
If you added new hardware drawing API, you need to enable bit in `CheckState` and need to maintain function table list. Due to the limitations of graphics controller if some hardware acceleration can not be used, you need to disable corresponded bit in `CheckState`. For example SM501 can not handle ARGB format. If BLIT source format does not much target format, SM501 can not use hardware BLIT capability. In such case you need to disable bit in `CheckState`.
To achieve better performance, we modify to use /dev/mem access instead of usual ioctl call, that was originally used in reference driver. After we maintained to read/write 2D engine register directly use /dev/mem, drawing performance increased dramatically especially `FillRect` type simple parameter command.
Finally we removed un-used function built in reference driver. For example i810 driver include UMA setting. PCI initialization does not need when SM501 connect to SH-4 using SH-BUS. So we remove these portion.
Unfortunately we can not find any useful information to DirectFB port to SH-4 Linux. So we do it using step-by-step way using printk(). For 2D acceleration portion, sample program and device document were helpful. But sometime it is difficult to understand actual drawing limitations. So x86 DirectFB is mandatory as a reference when you port DirectFB to the Linux runs on embedded CPU like SH-4.
You can download original source, patches and pre-compiled DirectFB program for `RTS7751R2D` platform
source archives
NOTE: The versions listed below are very old. Newer versions are recommended.
- DirectFB DirectFB-0.9.20.tar.gz (1277kB)
- Freetype freetype-2.1.3.tar.gz (1021kB)
- libjpeg jpegsrc.v6b.tar.gz (599kB)
- libpng libpng-1.2.2.tar.gz (488kB)
- zlib zlib-1.1.4.tar.gz (177kB)
- DirectFB SM501 patches DirectFB-0.9.20-sh4-sm501.patch.tar.gz (21kB)
kernel, root_fs
- CELF kernel Media:celinux.tgz | celinux.tgz (42MB) - NOTE that this file is too large to upload. See the old CELF Wiki and search for celinux.tgz or email the admin.
- root_fs for `RTS7751R2D` platform Media:rootfs.tgz | rootfs.tgz (36MB) NOTE that this file is too large to upload. See the old CELF Wiki and search for rootfs.tgz


text:
How to Choose a New Furnace
New furnaces are up to 40 percent more energy-efficient than 20-year-old furnaces. That translates to less environmental impact and lower energy bills. An efficient furnace can pay for itself in just a few years; then you will start saving money. Below are shopping tips for buying a new energy- and cost-efficient furnace, and some good options.
What to Look For
Look for the annual fuel utilization efficiency rating, which is the percentage of fuel energy converted to heat. New furnaces are rated from 78% to 96%, up from the 60% for older models.
Also look for the Energy Star label and a Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE) rating. Both require more than 90% efficiency. CEE-approved models may qualify for rebates from your utility or regional energy organization.
What Makes Them Efficient?
Furnaces that exceed 90% efficiency save fuel by condensing and reusing the water vapor that goes to waste in most furnaces. Variable-speed fan motors save electricity.
These upgrades can make the furnaces significantly more expensive, so they are often only cost-effective in extremely cold climates. In milder climates, the cost savings and energy savings may be negligible.
Other Considerations
Most furnaces are oversized. Conduct an ACCA Manual J analysis to make sure a new furnace is properly sized for your square footage and heat-loss levels. Oversized equipment uses excessive energy, is noisy and may wear out faster by cycling on and off frequently. Also, install the furnace in an insulated, conditioned space with plenty of room for access and airflow.
The Most Efficient New Furnaces
The CEE rates the Coleman Echelon at 98% efficiency. Johnson Controls also manufactures similar models under the Luxaire Acclimate and York Affinity brands. While condensing water vapor and using variable-speed fan motors, these furnaces also generate heat in one-percent increments to optimize comfort levels with minimal energy.
Other Options
- Wood pellet furnaces efficiently burn biomass, such as agricultural waste or scrap wood. They are ideal for homes in rural or remote areas with abundant biomass and access to wood pellets but without easy access to natural gas or heating oil lines. Pellet furnaces are typically less efficient and may be more polluting than other furnaces.
- All-electric furnaces are the only models that reach 100% efficiency. However, the higher cost of electricity in most areas makes them cost-prohibitive. Moreover, standard coal-fired electric plants are closer to 30% efficiency, so it is probably better for the environment to efficiently and directly convert cleaner-burning natural gas to heat.
- Solar-powered electric furnaces in off-grid homes may be the exception to the no-electric rule. However, they require large solar arrays, which are expensive. They also require backup power sources because sunlight hours are shortest in winter, when you need the most heat.
- Geothermal furnaces are another renewable option with zero emissions and high efficiency. They draw underground heat and distribute it throughout the house. Like solar power, geothermal power is free, but it involves sizable up-front costs.
Look for highly efficient furnaces. They can pay for themselves in short order through lower utility bills. Also consider renewable power options for some circumstances.
Looking for a Pro? Call us(866) 441-6648


text:
Honeycomb walls:
A page of the book. Christy Turlington in Prada. SO perfect 90's minimalism.
And these stairs that sprout out of the sidewalk:
Are these paparazzi holding up cameras or are they people in really cool headpieces?
Unfortunately cameras, one of which got this picture of Dasha's beautiful outfit and my "oh hi I found out I was going to this 3 minutes ago" one. Really glad I decided to pack these Miu Miu shoes that Sheba handed down to me at last minute. Actually I was feelin' kinda Weetzie Bat while putting this together, knowwhatimasayin? This dress that totally reminds me of Joni Mitchell's drawings in the Ladies of the Canyon liner notes, the surfnskate Proenza print, the hairbow I got on Olvera Street.. and reading that book totally made me want to move to LA and raise a witch baby and always wear feathered headpieces.
And on a somewhat unrelated note, with words like "feelin'," you take off the g to make it sound more breezy and cool and effortless, right? But then you have to add an apostrophe to make it grammatically correct, but all of a sudden it becomes lame and trying-too-hard and something that might be heard said by an elderly Bar Mitzvah attendee that dances with his fingers pointed up to the ceiling and arms moving up and down, or by an aunt that also uses words such as "funky" and "hip," and who wears earrings not unlike those of Ms. Frizzle.
These are the thoughts that trouble me.
Oh right, outfit. Vintage dress underneath, gift. Proenza Schouler top. Thrifted purse via Salvation Army. Tsumori Chisato socks. Miu Miu shoes. Hairbow from Olvera Street market in LA. Watch from this one year at summer camp where I found it under a chair and no one claimed it so I took it.
And Shala looked fantastic as per usual.
On the ground outside the store were these holes filled with books and mannequins wearing the (amazing) Fall line.
I wouldn't have minded falling in and spending the entire night and next day looking at all the books, but turns out they were simply BOXES.
People people blah blah, see if you can spot a peak of somebody's tighty whiteys (classy!)...
It was fun. But the very best part of the night was without a doubt meeting Miss Miuccia Prada herself. She was wearing a turban, and a dress from Spring 2010 that had that creepy snowy-looking beach print I really loved, and though we exchanged very few words, her presence was quickly and quietly overwhelming. She's one of those people of which you are in complete awe upon seeing, because you go through in your mind everything that they've created, and sort of think "All of this came from this one person's ideas..." and it's hard to fathom that anyone can be that amazing.


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10 Nights | BAJA & THE RIVIERA
About Topolobampo, Mexico
You will visit the following 7 places:
Mazatlán is a Nahuatl word meaning "place of deer". It is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, and serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding ''municipio'', known as the Mazatlán Municipality. The city was founded in 1531 by an army of Spaniards and indigenous settlers. By the mid-19th century a large group of immigrants had arrived from Germany. These new citizens developed Mazatlán into a thriving commercial seaport, importing equipment for the nearby gold and silver mines. It served as the capital of Sinaloa from 1859 to 1873. The German settlers also influenced the local music, banda, which is an alteration of Bavarian folk music. The settlers also established the Pacifico Brewery on March 14, 1900. Mazatlán is a socially and economically diverse city. It is a popular vacation and retirement destination for Europeans, Canadians and Americans, and also provides opportunities for working immigrants.
Cabo San Lucas
Cabo San Lucas, commonly called Cabo in American English, is a city at the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula, in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. Cabo San Lucas together with San José del Cabo is known as Los Cabos. Cabo is a varied destination that captures the essence of Baja Peninsula in its many resorts, championship golf courses, world-class dining and amazing outdoor activities. The city also houses a range of wildlife including rays, sharks, birds like eagles and a range of fish like mahi-mahi (dorado) and stripe marlin. For much of its history, Cabo was a sleepy, remote fishing port which was generally accessed either by ship or a three-hour drive from La Paz. In 1977, the airport to the north of San Jose del Cabo was expanded to handle jet aircraft and international flights, thereby launching the transformation of Cabo into one of the most popular resort destinations in Mexico.
La Paz
Nuestra Señora de La Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia, as well as the departmental capital of La Paz Department, and the second largest city (in population) only after Santa Cruz de la Sierra. It is located in the western part of the country on the department of the same name. It is located at an elevation of 11,942 feet, above sea level, making it the world's highest "de facto" capital city, or administrative capital. The official capital of Bolivia is Sucre and it is the seat of Justice, La Paz has more government departments, hence the "de facto" qualifier. The city sits in a "bowl" surrounded by the high mountains of the altiplano. $$https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JG8cghKVL8$$
Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta is a Mexican beach resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas. The 2010 census reported Puerto Vallarta's population as 255,725 making it the fifth largest city in the state of Jalisco, and the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area. The City of Puerto Vallarta is the government seat of the Municipality of Puerto Vallarta which comprises the city as well as population centers outside of the city extending from Boca de Tomatlán to the Nayarit border (the Ameca River). Around the Bay, marvellous beaches, lush jungles and sparkling waterfalls offer many opportunities for the adventurous while five star resorts, world-class shopping and gourmet restaurants satisfy even the most sophisticated traveller. Stretching from the south end of Old Town to central downtown, a newly extended and refurbished boardwalk along the ocean, called the Malecon, passes by any number of shops, restaurants, and hotels, and often plays host to mimes, break-dancers, clowns and artists.
San Diego
San Diego, named after Saint Didacus, is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California after Los Angeles, with a population of 1,306,300 (Jul 2009) within its administrative limits on a land area of 372.1 square miles (963.7 km2). The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California. The urban area of San Diego extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 2,880,000. San Diego is also the county seat of San Diego County, the 5th largest county, by population, in the United States.
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, Spanish for "The Angels", is the most populous city in California and the second most populous in the United States, with a population of 4.06 million on a land area of 498.3 square miles (1,290.6 km2). It is the focal point of the larger Los Angeles-Long Beach Riverside combined statistical area, which contains nearly 17.8 million people. This makes it the 12th most populous metropolitan area in the world. Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated and one of the most multicultural counties in the United States. The city's inhabitants are referred to as "Angelenos".


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A few excerpts for some tips and hints I've posted from time to time for those who want to dip into a bit of Shobogenzo ...
In my own "in a nutshell" description of how to approach Shobogenzo ... I often describe Dogen as a Jazzman, bending and re-livening the "standard tunes" of Zen Buddhist philosophy. He is the Coltrane or Miles Davis of the Dharma ... Sometimes, with Dogen, it is not the "point" he is trying to make through reasoned words, but "the sound, man, the feeling of the music" ...
Thus, a good grounding in traditional Buddhist, especially Mahayana and Zen, philosophy and perspectives is important, as those were the "standard tunes" that Dogen was note-bending and syncopating in his "Shobo-jazz". We might also say that Dogen did to "standard teachings" what Picasso did to a picture of a table (helping us really 'get' its tableness).I often describe Dogen as a rule bending, transgressing Jazz musician, a Dharmic Miles Davis who was working with the basic "standard" tunes of Hongzhi, the Five Ranks and the rest of the Soto tradition of his day. Miles (like Dogen) syncopates time, merges and splits notes, bends phrasing, makes harmonious what was disharmony and disharmonious where there was harmony (and that's the Miles' Harmony!). But the thing about appreciating Miles is that (1) by doing so, Miles makes his own musical expression the same but different from the standards it is based upon (he captures truths in ways that nobody could before ... and makes new "truths" in the process ... but you also should not forget that that "standard" tune is in there too, and keeps popping up as the theme); (2) you can't analyze it too much in words, and just need to listen or play along.
Hongzhi was like a "square" Irving Berlin who wrote a lovely standard melody like "Blue Skies", and Mile Davis the mad genius who bent that into something the same but all new ...
The Shobogenzo, for example, is a rather thick and thorny maze. But once Dogen's basic ways of expression and thinking (and "non-thinking") are understood, one can read the entirety with a bit more ease (though never easy ... between you and me, as Dogen, the wild Jazz musician, may even have sometimes let the notes and feeling lead him where they would, and may not have been always quite sure where the music was taking him -- or what he himself "meant" -- each and every moment in his writing/playing! 8) But, like Miles or Coltrane ... all great stuff, man. ).
A video talk by Jundo on this same theme is here:
SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Dogen - A Love Supreme
There are a couple of other things to keep in mind about Dogen too. One is from the last point above: Like any Jazz musician lost in following just riffing, I think there are many passage where even Dogen did not know where the "sound" had carried him, what it "meant". For some reason, we assume that every word has to "mean" something, as opposed to merely expressing a feeling of Truth. I think Dogen really lost himself in a musical corner from time to time.
So, for that reason, it is important to approach Dogen, sometimes, as one would approach T.S. Eliot's The Waste land or James Joyce's Ulysses . Here is what some professor wrote of understanding The Waste Land ...
T.S. Elliot was sometimes quoted as saying that he himself did not know exactly what he "meant" by various passages of that poem.We cannot understand the poem without knowing what it meant to its author, but we must also assume that what the poem meant to its author will not be its meaning. The notes to The Waste Land are, by the logic of Eliot's philosophical critique of interpretation, simply another riddle--and not a separate one to be solved. They are, we might say, the poem's way of treating itself as a reflex, a "something not intended as a sign," a gesture whose full significance it is impossible, by virtue of the nature of gestures, for the gesturer to explain."... The Waste Land appears to be a poem designed to make trouble for the conceptual mechanics not just of ordinary reading (for what poem does not try to disrupt those mechanics?) but of literary reading. For insofar as reading a piece of writing as literature is understood to mean reading it for its style, Eliot's poem eludes a literary grasp.
From Discovering Modernism: T.S. Eliot and His Context. Oxford University Press, 1987
That does not mean that diving into Shobogenzo ... like developing an ear for John Coltrane or Eliot or eye for Picasso ... ain't worth every minute! (we sometimes say in the Zen world ... hear with the eyes, see with the ears! :shock: ) I am rereading Shobogenzo cover to cover right now (my third time, not including bits and pieces readings). 8)
I do usually recommend a couple of things for folks who want to dive headlong into the thick and thorny maze which is Shobogenzo (not to be confused with Dogen's Shobogenzo-Zuimonki, which we recently read in the bookclub)
Before reading and really 'digging Dogen', the best intro is to read Okumura Roshi's look at Genjo Koan ...
Much denser, but worth the effort, are the two Dr. Kim books (He wrote them a few years apart, and changed interpretation slightly over the years just a drop ) ... Each can be rather heavy going at points, but worth it.
Also ... I VERY strongly recommend... Visions of Awakening Space and Time: Dogen and the Lotus Sutra (Paperback) by Taigen Dan Leighton (Author) ... about how Dogen wild-ed and bent the already wild and bent Lotus Sutra into something even more bent and wild ...
You probably want to read a good translation of the Lotus Sutra first, to see the "tune" that Dogen was working with. This by Reeves is very readable and a fantastic tale, right up there with "Alice in Wonderland" and such ...
In fact, you might start with Taigen and the Lotus Sutra --before-- reading Dr. Kim, as Taigen is short and easier going to read.
Here is an essay available online, a part of Taigen's book. It will give you a taste ...
Nishijima Roshi also has a helpful short booklet on "Understanding the Shobogenzo", although in his later years he has been too too enthusiastic (in my view) about trying to place each sentence of Shobogenzo, in a nearly one to one correspondence, into each of the four categories of view that Nishijima Roshi suggests. It is not a comfortable fit (I feel that Nishijima Roshi went overboard with his very helpful, very insightful perspective on 3 Philosophies and 1 Reality, by his trying to stuff Dogen into that almost line by line and overlooking anything that does not fit. It is much like trying to stuff all of Coltrane into 4 chords or all Picasso into 4 types of brushstroke) .
There is a "logic" to Dogen ... although a kind of "Buddhist-Mahayana-Dogen" logic. So, was Dogen "logical"?
Here is a little taste of some Dogen passages, which an analysis of how he played his "jazz" variations on the standard tunes ...Yes, that is so ... but not yes too. (Which is a kind of example of Dogenesque "Zen logic" right there!)
Even the great Jazz musicians I mentioned, like Miles and Coltrane, were usually following pretty "logical" forms and patterns of "getting where they were going", which most other good musicians can follow and which stayed within certain musical rules. Musicologists can follow it all with almost mathematical precision. (Only the radical "Free Jazz" guys like Ornette Coleman, who would stand on stage blowing wildly into the wrong end of the trumpet, really smashed the rules ... to the point of cacophony) ... Even Coltrane, when he went "free", usually was grounded in good musicianship and "chord progressions" and was working from that (sometimes by resisting the standard progressions).
There really are a lot of parallels to different "players" in the Zen world ... including the old "Free Jazz" Zen teachers who would just bang on the table or draw circles in the air (although even those guy tended to follow some fairly rigid rules for that ... a subject for another day).
MY POINT (BEFORE I LOSE MY MUSICAL TRAIN OF THOUGHT MYSELF) IS THAT Dogen was a very highly educated, intellectual, "head like a library of old Zen/Buddhist books", surprisingly conservative (as were most Zen teachers, in fact) guy who was highly trained and conversant in the "classics" and was working from them (the Shobogenzo is wall to wall references and quotes from Sutras, old Koans, obscure but important bits of Tendai Buddhist teachings, old poems, Confucian classics, and the like).
There --IS-- a logic to Dogen most of the time, although a Zenny "Anti-logic logic" ... Dogen-Think-Not Thinking, a kind of "Alice in Wonderland" logic sometimes. It is more than simple "sound for sound's sake" expression or trying to abandon "intellectual analysis" at every turn. Dogen wanted to be understood on all levels. Thus (as in listening to Jazz), it is --both-- a matter of letting the sound and feeling wash over one, --and-- having some musical understanding of where the musician was "coming from" what he was "trying to do" and how he "got there". (In a sense, Jazz was always music by musicians playing for other musicians who were familiar with the chords).
Here are just a few examples of "Dogen-logic", very different from ordinary logic while yet faithful to classic Mahayana perspectives ...
For that reason, the truth is that Dogen was not trying to defy "intellectual analysis" or "classical Buddhist/Zen philosophy", so much as find his own language and way to express it (in later years, represented by his Eihei Koroku, he actually seems to have abandoned much of the "musical experiment" that was the Shobogenzo, and gone back to being a pretty classical musician playing the "old Zen standards" in the usual way ... though never without his special touch). So, the book I recommended by Taigen Dan Leighton (coupled with a reading of the Lotus Sutra) ... and the Dr. Kim books (though themselves hard going in parts) should not be overlooked by someone really hoping to "Grok" where that Dogen cat was coming from. 8)A = Buddha Enlightenment B = Flowers in the sky (a classic Zen reference to delusion)
A is A, B is B ... and A is not B. (Enlightenment is not delusion, an ancient Buddhist idea)
But A is B. A is also C. ... (a variation on the original theme, much as stodgy ol' Nagarjuna might play)
And, in fact, A is so much A that A is not A, and was merely B all along.
We might say that A is just ∀. B is merely
And that just makes A into Super-Aness at each turn, B into Be Bee BB "To be or not to be" "Be my love" "B is for Buddha" ... etc. etc.
Smell them luscious Flowers in the Sky! That's purely A through and through, though not.
I found a great, short example of this, of Dogen at his wildest and best. Thought to post it for folks who might not get what the fuss is about.
The great 'Dogenologist' translator and historian, Prof. Carl Bielefeldt, has just released his brand new translation of Shobogenzo Bussho (Buddha-Nature) for the Soto Zen Text Project.
I have been slowly reading it to compare with the Nishijima-Cross version (which, so far, seems to come out very well. The two versions are incredibly close, and I find Nishijima-Cross often captures the "feel of the music" a bit better).
Anyway ... here are a couple of paragraphs that are playing with the famous phrase "all living beings in their entirety have Buddha Nature". Dogen first plays with an ambiguity in the grammar to change that to "all living beings in their entirety are Buddha Nature". But he does not stop there ...
If you can hear the perspective that "Buddha Nature" is not a "thing" that we become or have or develop ... but is radical, existential being that leaves nothing out, whole beyond whole, the reality of reality (something like that ) ... you might get a feel for what Dogen is going for here ... It is everything leaving nothing out, yet beyond categories (something like that ) ...
The Professor's footnotes clear things up a bit ... (emphasis on 'a bit' :shock: )What is the essential point of the World Honored One's saying, "All living beings in their entirety have the buddha nature"? It is turning the dharma wheel of the saying, "what is it that comes like this?" One speaks of "living beings," or "sentient beings," or "the multitude of beings," or "the multitude of types." The term "entirety of being" refers to "living beings," "the multitude of beings." That is, the "entirety of being" is the buddha nature; "one entirety" of the "entirety of being" is called "living beings." At this very moment, the interior and exterior of living beings is the "entirety of being" of the buddha nature. This is not only the "skin, flesh, bones, and marrow" singly transmitted; for "you have got my skin, flesh, bones, and marrow."
We should realize that the "being" that is here made the "entirety of being" by the buddha nature is not the being of being and non-being. The "entirety of being" is the word of the buddha, the tongue of the buddha, the eyes of the buddhas and ancestors, the nose of the patch-robed monk. Furthermore, the term "entirety of being" is not initial being, not original being, not marvelous being; how much less is it conditioned being or deluded being. It has nothing to do with the likes of mind and object, nature and attribute. Therefore, the circumstantial and primary [recompense] of the "entirety of being" of living beings is not by any means the generative power of karma, not deluded conditioned origination, not of its own accord, not the practice and verification of spiritual powers. Were the "entirety of being" of living beings generated by karma, or conditioned origination, or of its own accord, then the verification of the way of the nobles as well as the bodhi of the buddhas and the eyes of the buddhas and ancestors would also be the generative power of karma, conditioned origination, and of its own accord. And this is not the case
"Essential point" (shūshi 宗旨): A common expression for the "purport," or "message" of a statement.
"Turning the dharma wheel of the saying "what is it that comes like this?" (ze jūmo butsu inmo rai no dō ten bōrin 是什麼物恁麼來の道轉法輪): I.e., presumably, a Buddhist teaching equivalent to the famous question put to the Chan master Nanyue Huairang 南嶽懷讓 by the Sixth Ancestor, Huineng 慧能. The question is likely a play on the term "Thus Come One" (nyorai 如来; tathāgata), an epithet of the buddhas.
The Chan Master Dahui of Mt. Nanyue (descendant of Caoxi, named Huairang) visited the Sixth Ancestor. The Ancestor asked him, "Where do you come from?"
The Master said, "I come from the National Teacher An on Mt. Song."
The Ancestor said, "What is it that comes like this?"
The Master was without means [to answer]. After attending [the Ancestor] for eight years, he finally understood the previous conversation. Thereupon, he announced to the Ancestor, "I've understood what the reverend put to me when I first came: 'What is it that comes like this?'"
The Ancestor asked, "How do you understand it?"
The Master replied, "To say it's like anything wouldn't hit it."
The Ancestor said, "Then is it contingent on practice and verification?"
The Master answered, "Practice and verification are not nonexistent; they cannot be defiled."
The Ancestor said, "Just this 'not defiled' is what the buddhas bear in mind. You're also like this, I'm also like this, and all the ancestors of the Western Heavens [i. e., India] are also like this."
"Sentient beings" (ujō 有情); "the multitude of beings" (gunjō 群生); "multitude of types" (gunrui 群類): Terms regularly used as synonyms for "living beings." The point here would seem to be that all these terms (as well as the synonymous "multitude of beings" [gun'u 群有] in the following sentence) may be referred to as the "entirety of being."
"The term entirety of being" (shitsu'u no gon 悉有の言): Dōgen here creates a neologism from the adverb shitsu and the verb u in the phrase shitsu u busshō 悉有佛性, translated in the quotation as "in their entirety have the buddha nature." The word play relies on the fact that the term u 有 means both "to have" and "to exist" and is regularly used in philosophical discourse as a noun for "being." The resultant expression might also be rendered "all existents" or, more simply, "everything."
"One entirety of the entirety of being" (shitsuu no isshitsu 悉有の一悉): Presumably the point is that "living beings" represent but one type within the "entirety of being" — with, perhaps, the added suggestion that any one type is in some sense one with the entire set.
"Skin, flesh, bones, and marrow" (hi niku kotsu zui 皮肉骨髄): An expression, very common in Dōgen's writings for the essence or truth or entirety of something or someone, as handed down in the Chan tradition; from the famous story of Bodhidharma's testing of four disciples, to whom he said of each in turn that he (or, in one case, she) had got his skin, flesh, bones, and marrow. For the story, see Supplemental Note 2.
"Singly transmitted" (tanden 單傳): A term commonly used in Chan to describe the passing down of the dharma from master to disciple; here, no doubt a reference to the transmission from Bodhidharma to Huike. Though the term suggests (and in some cases is used to indicate) a lineage in which there is only one representative in each generation (e.g., see below, Note 48. "Single transmission"), it regularly appears in contexts where the graph tan is better understand as "unique," "pure", or "simple" (e.g., see below, Note 29. "Singly transmit it"); closely related to the notion of direct transmission "from mind to mind" (ishin denshin 以心傳心).
"For you have got my skin, flesh, bones, and marrow" (nyo toku go hi niku kotsu zui naru ga yue ni 汝得吾皮肉骨髄なるがゆゑに): Quoting Bodhidharma's statement, "you have got" to each of his four disciples (see above, Supplemental Note 2). Presumably, the implication here is that the statement concerns not just Bodhidharma's "single transmission" to Huike but the affirmation of the buddha nature in all beings (as proposed, e.g., in Shōbōgenzō keiteki 正法眼藏啓迪 2:185).
"The being that is here made the entirety of being by the buddha nature" (ima busshō ni shitsuu seraruru u いま佛性に悉有せらるる有): An odd locution, presumably meaning something like, "the term 'being' in the expression 'entirety of being' that is here being identified with the buddha nature."
"The tongue of the buddha" (butsuzetsu 佛舌): No doubt here used as a figure of speech for the speech of the buddha.
"The nose of the patch-robed monk" (nōsō bikū 衲僧鼻孔): The term "patch-robed monk" (nōsō 衲僧) is a playful self-reference used by Chan monks. The "nose" (or "nostril"; bikū 鼻孔) is often used in Chan texts to indicate (a) the person, especially (b) that which is essential to the person, or (c) the very essence or identity of someone or something; a term occuring frequently in the Shōbōgenzō.
"Initial being" (shi'u 始有); "original being" (hon'u 本有); "marvelous being" (myō'u 妙有); "conditioned being" (en'u 縁有); "deluded being" (mō'u 妄有): A series of terms expressing modes of existence discussed in Buddhist thought. The first, "initial being," while not itself particularly common, is here contrasted with the familiar "original being," a term used to express the fundamental reality from which the phenomenal world emerges. The expression "marvelous being" is probably best known in the phrase "true emptiness and marvelous being" (shinkū myō'u 眞空妙有), where it expresses the ultimate emptiness of phenomena. The term "conditioned being" suggests that which exists as a result of conditions — i.e., the conditioned dharmas of dependent origination (engi 縁起; pratīya-samutpāda); "deluded being" suggests that which exists as a result of deluded thoughts — i.e., the false objects of our misguided discrimination (funbetsu 分別; vikalpa).
"Mind and object, nature and attribute" (shin kyō shō sō 心境性相): Two standard pairs in Buddhist thought: the mind, or thought (citta), and the objects of thought or of the senses (viṣaya, ālambana); and the nature, or essence (svabhāva), of a thing, and its attributes, or characteristics (lakṣana).
"Circumstantial and primary recompense" (eshō 依正): A standard Buddhist term for the results of past karma reflected respectively in the circumstances into which one is born and the mental and physical makeup of the person; an abbreviation of ehō shōbō 依報正報. Here, perhaps to be understood as "the quality of the experience" of living beings as the "entirety of being."
"The generative power of karma" (gō zōjō riki 業増上力): I.e., the power of karma to produce phenomena; adhipati.
"Deluded conditioned origination" (mō engi 妄縁起): An unusual expression, probably indicating phenomena that arise as a result of deluded thoughts. Given the apparent distinction, above, between "conditioned being" and "deluded being," one is tempted to parse the expression "deluded or conditioned origination."
"Of its own accord" (hōni 法爾): A loose translation of a term indicating what is true of itself or by necessity, what is naturally or inevitably so; used to translate Sanskrit niyati ("destiny").
"Practice and verification of spiritual powers" (jintsū shushō 神通修證): I.e., mastery of the "supernormal knowledges" (jintsū 神通; abhijñā); here, presumably, the ability in particular to manifest oneself in diverse bodies and circumstances — one of the powers known as the "bases of spiritual power" (jinsoku 神足; ṛddhi-pāda).
"Verification of the way of the nobles" (shoshō no shōdō 諸聖の證道): I.e., the spiritual attainments of advanced adepts on the Buddhist path. The phrase "verification of the way" is a somewhat forced translation of shōdō 證道, a common expression for Buddhist spiritual awakening; here, as in many other contexts, the term dō 道 could be taken as a rendering of bodhi. The translation "nobles" takes shoshō 諸聖 in its Buddhist sense of ārya, those who have transcended the state of the "commoner" (bonbu 凡夫; pṛthagjana); the term could also be rendered in a more "Chinese" idiom as "the sages" or "holy ones."Originally Posted by Jundo
Gassho, Jundo


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This tool will help you find your target heart rate based on your age, resting heart rate, and activity level. Your target heart rate can guide you to how hard you should exercise so you can get the most aerobic benefit from your workout.
Do not use this target heart rate measurement if you are taking medicine that affects your heart rate, such as beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, or digoxin. Talk to your doctor before you start an exercise program.
How does this tool measure your target heart rate?
Target heart rates can be measured in slightly different ways. In this tool, your target heart rate is measured using your maximum heart rate (based on your age), your resting heart rate, and how active you are. The calculation used in this tool is accurate for all activity levels, from inactive to very active.
How can you take your resting heart rate?
You can easily take your own pulse to find your resting heart rate. You can check your resting pulse the first thing in the morning, just after you wake up but before you get out of bed. Or you can sit or rest quietly for at least 10 minutes and then take your pulse.
What is your activity level?
Your target heart rate depends on how physically fit you are. For example, if you are not active and not physically fit, your target heart rate is a little lower than the target heart rate of someone who exercises every day. This tool gives you a range of what your target heart rate is, based on how much you usually exercise.
To find your target heart rate range, you will choose the category that best matches your level of physical activity. The categories are:
- Not active. You do less than 30 minutes of light activity no more than 2 times a week. Cleaning house, slow walking, and playing golf are examples of light activity.
- Moderately active. You do up to 30 minutes of light to moderate activity 3 to 5 times a week. Brisk walking, jogging, riding a bike, swimming, and playing tennis are examples of moderate activity.
- Very active. You do more than 30 minutes of moderate activity at least 5 times a week.
How can you use your target heart rate?
You can use your target heart rate to know how hard to exercise to gain the most aerobic benefit from your workout. You can exercise within your target heart rate to either maintain or raise your aerobic fitness level. To raise your fitness level, you can work harder while exercising to raise your heart rate toward the upper end of your target heart rate range. If you have not been exercising regularly, you may want to start at the low end of your target heart rate range and gradually exercise harder.
To take your heart rate during exercise, you can count the beats in a set period of time (for example, 30 seconds) and then multiply by a number to get the number of beats per minute. For example, if you count your heartbeat for 30 seconds, double that number to get the number of beats per minute. You can also wear a heart rate monitor during exercise so you do not have to take your pulse. A heart rate monitor shows your pulse rate continuously, so you see how exercise changes your heart rate. Then you can work harder or easier to keep your heart working in your target heart rate range.
Target heart rate is only a guide. Each individual is different, so pay attention to how you feel, how hard you are breathing, how fast your heart is beating, and how much you feel the exertion in your muscles.
Try to make physical activity a regular and essential part of your day. But if you haven't been active, start slowly and be sure to talk to your doctor before you add regular exercise to your day. For more information, see the topic Fitness: Getting and Staying Active.
Other Works Consulted
- Anspaugh DJ, et al. (2011). Increasing cardiorespiratory endurance. Wellness: Concepts and Applications, 8th ed., pp. 75–97. New York: McGraw-Hill.
- McArdle WD, et al. (2010). Training for anaerobic and aerobic power. In Exercise Physiology: Nutrition, Energy, and Human Performance, 7th ed., pp. 451–489. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
Current as of: May 5, 2019
Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:Adam Husney, MD – Family Medicine & Kathleen Romito, MD – Family Medicine & Richard B. Kreider, PhD, FACSM, FASEP – Exercise Physiology
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated, disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. Learn how we develop our content.


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It will take 2-6 business days (M-F) to process (for us to ship) your order, regardless of the shipping option selected at checkout. We ship Monday through Saturday, Please allow up to 7 business days for orders to process (for example, if you order on Monday, your order should ship out on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday). You will receive a confirmation e-mail with the tracking link once your order ships.
Kindly note that if inaccurate or incomplete addresses are provided, or if there are unverified details with your order, it may delay processing by an additional 1-2 business days. We encourage all customers to thoroughly review their shipping and billing information prior to checking out to ensure any possible delays are avoided.
Your package may or may not require a signature. Most packages are delivered to the mailbox or front door of the address provided, however, it is up to the delivery courier to decide if the package is safe being left in the open. If they deem it unsafe, they will hold the package at a local post office or re-schedule another delivery. Our recommendation is to input a shipping address where you know you or someone else will be available to accept the package (a work address or a friend's address).
You will receive a confirmation e-mail once your order has been processed to the e-mail address provided at the time of checkout, which can take up to 72 hours. You will receive a second e-mail once your order has shipped, which will include your tracking number and a link to follow the journey of your package. If there is a problem with your tracking number or package delivery, please contact the courier directly prior to contacting us. Please allow 1 - 4 days for the tracking information to show. In some rare case, the tracking information may not update but you will still receive your order. Please contact us after the estimated delivery time.
Before you check out there is an option to get updates via SMS cell phone. Please use this option to get detailed delivery information as your package moves.
It is the responsibility of the buyer to make sure that she or he enters the shipping address correctly. We do our best to speed up processing and shipping times, hence there is a very small time gap to cancel/change your order or to change the address of your order. If you decide to cancel your order or change your shipping address, please write to us at firstname.lastname@example.com as soon as you place your order. We will do our best to make the change, however we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so, as there are varying time limits in which we are able to do so.
If it's too late for our team to cancel your order, you can return your order to us once you've received it. The only thing we can do is wait to see if the package gets returned back to us. If it does get returned back to our store, we can then ship it to the correct address and charge for reshipping, or provide you with a full refund minus the shipping charges.
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All of our shipments include tracking with delivery confirmation. If the tracking information confirms that the item has been delivered to your order address but you have not received your order, please contact USPS at 1-800-275-8777 in order to investigate this issue. If it is with UPS please call 1-800-742-5877. We cannot be held accountable for packages where tracking information states the package has been delivered to your order address. We have built in insurance in the form of encased that is AUTOMATICALLY in your cart. If you pay for this, it protects your packages from theft and being lost in delivery. In case of it not being delivered a simple claim with USPS will start the process so we can verify the USPS or UPS has made an error.
If you have previously experienced lost or stolen packages where you reside, we encourage you to instead have your package delivered to a work address to ensure that you receive it safe and sound.


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Cherry, Rose and Coconut Ice Cream
Before I start waxing poetic about this delicious Cherry, Rose and Coconut Ice Cream, it is high time I announced the winner of Michel Roux's Pastry picked at random by my better half: congratulations Sadiya! If my memories serves me right from an email baking question last year, the book is going all the way to Bahrain!
I meant to post this much earlier than today but it has been a very strange week, complete with a computer virus in the middle of it. I think my funky little computer is back up and running correctly. With no one at McAfee, Gateway, Microsoft, Comcast able to help us out unless we forked $100, we blindly relied on internet forums to find the solution. If you are going to go into your computer without really knowing what you are doing, I strongly suggest having this Cherry, Rose and Coconut Ice Cream nearby. Made everything less stressful. Fun even. In a geeky sort of way.
The end of the intructions to our problem read "Now restart your computer. The problem should be fixed". Suspended to this line as if we were flipping the last page of a murder mystery book, we starred at the screen with our spoons up the air, ice cream lingering on our tongues. Barely breathing. Finally a huge sigh of relief came over us and we released that one bite down our bellies. "Sweet!" was uttered by both and I know we meant a lot more by it than just getting the computer running again.
Life with a scoop of this ice cream becomes smooth and comforting. The scent of dried rose buds infusing coconut milk and cherries is intoxicating and invigorating all at once.
The other day at the store, I was fiddling with the bulk teas, dried chamomille flowers and dried rose buds to make my own concoction when I realized that rose and cherries were quite lovely together. How did my thought process get to associate those together with cream, coconut milk and ice cream, I do not know. Actually I partially do: having several containers with "un fond de ", or a wee bit of something left over (and a strong dislike for waste).
I am not a great fan of rose essence or rose water which I find give me slight headaches, unless toned down by surrounding flavors. But I had a handfull of cherries and coconut milk left from a couple of previous desserts and set out to make a simple ice cream with all three ingredients.
I love custard base ice creams, but I find myself drawn to the most simple flavors of milk and cream when dealing with delicate flavors such as rose, herbs and spices as I find the scents come forth better, clearer.
Such a simple process and such wonderful results! I cooked the cherries with a little sugar, water and a few dried rose buds then let them sit to infuse for about an hour before removing the rose buds. In the meantime I prepared the ice cream base by heating up some coconut milk, whole milk and heavy cream and sugar. After an overnight stay in the fridge, I processed the ice cream and added the cherries and some of their syrup towards the end. I couldn't help but dig into the soft ice cream at this point and felt all happy at the prospect of how delicious it would be after another to hours in the freezer. Homemade ice cream can't be rushed but the results are so rewarding that you forget about the process as you scoop.
One year ago: A Citrus Sugar High Friday Round Up.
Two years ago: Lemon Macarons
Cherry, Rose and Coconut Ice Cream:
Makes a little less than a quart.
Notes: don't just go use any dried rose for this! Make sure to get food grade, organic and non treated rose petals or rose buds. Most can be food at health food store in the bulk spices and tea section and are quite cheap. I got about 1 cup for $1.50.
For the rose infused cherries:
1 cups (145gr) pitted and halved cherries
1/4cup (60ml) water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
6-8 food gradedried rose buds (more or less depending on your own liking)
For the ice cream:
1 cups (250ml) heavy cream
1 cup (250ml) whole milk
1 cup (250ml) whole coconut milk
1 cup (200gr) granulated sugar
Prepare the cherries:
Place all the ingredients in a heavy saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Turn the heat off and let steep one hour (longer for an even intense rose flavor). Remove the rose buds and refrigerate until ready to use.
Prepare the ice cream:
In a large saucepan set over medium low heat, bring the cream, milk, coconut milk and sugar to a simmer, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and let it cool to room temperature. Refrigerate, preferably overnight.
Process the mixture into your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's intructions.
Once the ice cream has reached soft serve consistency, pour into a freezable container. With a spatula, swirl in the cherries and a few tablespoons of their liquid. Freeze a couple of hours.
No ice cream maker? No problem! Pour the cream into a freeze proof container and freeze for a couple of hours. Take it out and whip it with an electric mixer or immersion blender, freeze it again, whip it again….do that four or five times. The mixture won't be quite the same but pretty darn close.
Note: I receive quite a few email regarding the milk bottles I used for props and I am happy to share my sources:
– You can find the one pictured here at Farmhouse Wares, impeccably ran by the lovely Betsy.
– The small milk bottles featured here and there are from WallMart and labelled as "bud vases", but you know I can't get stuck by labels so they went to be used for milk and cream instead.
– The bottle with the closing cap featured here once contained wonderful Vermont Maple Syrup sent to me by the ever so creative Deb from Bonbon Oiseau.
Lastly, the cute fabrics used here are from another budding creative mind: Michelle from Cicada Studio.


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Children who are going through their parents divorce are vulnerable and need their parents support. I found this article that I thought would be of assistance to any parent in that situation.
Every Family Is Different
What's the best way to help your family get through a divorce? Every situation — and every family — is different. But some stress reducing guidelines might make the adjustment a bit easier.
These suggestions can make the process less painful for kids, teens, and families. Parents will need to interpret them in their own ways; honesty, sensitivity, self-control, and time itself will help the healing process. Be patient — not everyone's timetable is the same.
Helping Kids Manage Their Feelings
Encourage kids to openly discuss their feelings — positive or negative — about what's happening.
It's important for divorcing — and already divorced — parents to sit down with their kids and encourage them to say what they're thinking and feeling. But you'll need to keep this separate from your own feelings. Most often, children experience a sense of loss of family and may blame you or the other parent — or both — for what is going on in their lives. So, you'll really need to be prepared to answer questions your kids might raise or to address their concerns.
Make talking about the divorce and how it's affecting your kids an ongoing process. As kids get older and become more mature, they might have questions or concerns that they hadn't thought of earlier. Even if it seems like you've gone over the same topics before, keep the dialogue open. If possible, sit down with the other parent and plan how you're going to talk to your child or children about what is going on.
If you feel like you may get too upset, ask someone else (a relative, maybe) to talk to them. It's OK for kids to see their parents feel sad or upset, but getting very emotional can make kids feel responsible for their parents' feelings. Group programs for kids of divorce run by schools or faith-based organizations are an excellent resource for kids and families who need some help to get through these early stages.
It's natural for kids to have many emotions about a divorce. They might feel guilty and imagine that they "caused" the problem. This is particularly true for the many kids who overheard their parents arguing about them. Kids and teenagers may feel angry or frightened, or worried about their future.
Although kids may struggle with a divorce for quite some time, the real impact is usually felt over about a 2- to 3-year period. During this time, some will be able to voice their feelings but, depending on their age and development, other kids just won't have the words. They may instead act out or be depressed. For school-age kids, this is usually evident when their grades drop or they lose interest in activities. For younger children, these feelings are often expressed during play, too.
It may be tempting to tell a child not to feel a certain way, but kids (and adults, for that matter) have a right to their feelings. And if you try to force a "happy face," your kids may be less likely to share their true feelings with you.
Taking the High Road
Keep adult conflict and arguments away from the kids
This is one of the hardest things to do. But it's important never to say bad things about your ex in front of your kids, or within earshot. You'd be surprised at how good kids can be to picking up on these things. Research shows that the single biggest factor in long-term adjustment for kids of divorce is the level of parental conflict they are exposed to. It puts kids in really difficult positions if they want to or have to take sides, or listen to negative things said about one of their parents.
It's equally important to acknowledge real events. If, for example, one spouse has simply abandoned the family by moving out, you need to acknowledge what has happened. It isn't your responsibility to explain the ex-spouse's behavior — but if your kids want to ask you questions, it's important to answer as neutrally and as factually as possible.
Try not to use kids as messengers or go-betweens, especially when you're feuding.
Even though it is tempting, don't use your kids as messengers. There are plenty of other ways to communicate with your ex-partner. Also, resist questioning your child about what is happening in the other household — kids resent it when they feel that they're being asked to "spy" on the other parent. Wherever possible, communicate directly with the other parent about relevant matters, such as scheduling, visitation, health issues, or school problems.
Expect resistance and difficulties as kids adjust to a new mate or the mate's kids.
New relationships, blended families, and remarriages are among the most difficult aspects of the divorce process. A new, blended family can add more stress for a while, and can cause another period of adjustment. Keeping lines of communication open, allowing one-on-one time for parents and kids, and watching for signs of stress can help prevent problems developing.
Getting Help With A California Divorce
Figure out how to reduce stress in your life to help your family.
Support from friends, relatives, church and religious groups, and organizations such as Parents Without Partners can help parents and their kids adjust to separation and divorce. Kids can meet others who've developed successful relationships with separated parents and can confide in each other. Getting support can help parents find solutions to all kinds of practical and emotional challenges.
Whenever possible, kids should be encouraged to have as positive an outlook on both parents as they can. Even under the best of circumstances, separation and divorce can be painful and disappointing for many kids.
Parents also need to remember to take care of themselves. Find your own way to reduce stress in your life by finding supportive friends and asking for help when you need it. Try to keep some old family traditions, while building new memories to share. Showing your kids how to take good care of mind and body during difficult times can help them become more resilient in their own lives.
Click on the link below the see the full article.


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Online Alcohol Class offers the most comprehensive online alcohol awareness classes available in Concord California. We offer a Level 1 (8 hour), Level 2 (16 hour), and Level 3 (24 hour) online Drug and Alcohol Awareness and Education Courses.
Our classes have been designed and written by industry experts. We have designed our course to be both easy to use and educational. The course contains the course materials that meets Concord California requirements.
These Concord California online classes are ideally suited to fulfill a court alcohol awareness class requirement, or just for personal growth. Our classes are completely self-paced and can be taken from any computer. A completion certificate is awarded at the end of the course. Get started today! Click here to enroll.
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For the complete 8 hour Concord California online alcohol class the cost is $149. This cost is slightly higher for the 12 hour ($199), 16 hour ($249) and 24 hour ($319) Concord California classes.
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Your Completion Certificate for the alcohol awareness course will be sent to you by first class mail. Finish the course by 1pm Mountain Time (Mon-Fri) and your Concord California Certificate will be processed the same day! Express overnight delivery is also available.
The amount of course materials for the Concord California online alcohol awareness class depends on which version of the class your purchased. The class comes in 8 hour, 12 hour, 16 hour, and 24 hour lengths. This is course which is completely self-paced, and can easily fit into your schedule!
No. The Online Alcohol Class Concord California alcohol awareness quizzes are meant to help prepare you for the Concord California final exam, and they do not count against your overall score. You must score 80% on the Concord California exam in order to pass. However, you may re-take the Concord California exam as many times as necessary in order to pass, at no additional charge.
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Halloween's Strange Origins — 5 More Things You Might Not Know
If you still haven't had your fill of Halloween trivia, we have a few more fun and eyebrow-raising spooky holiday facts for you. October 31 is a day—and especially a night—full of spine-tingling surprises. With a bit of Halloween knowledge under your belt, you can impress your friends, as well as the ghost and ghouls wandering around your neighborhood, with your detailed knowledge of jack-o'-lanterns and creepy, All Hallows' Eve history.
Turnips Instead of Pumpkins
For folks living in the British Isles, jack-o'-lanterns were a fairly well-known commodity, but they weren't carved out of pumpkins. Rather, they were made from turnips. While that may not sound like Halloween to today's fans of the costumed celebrations (turnip pie will probably never replace pumpkin pie), turnips used to be the real deal. Immigrants to the New World began using pumpkins as a less expensive alternative, and ever since, these large orange squash have become a symbol of Halloween.
Converting Pagans
Even a cursory look into the history of Halloween will let you know that there are lots of pagan, pre-Christian elements to this holiday, which celebrates the return of the dead. All Hallows' Eve and All Saints' Day used to come on the first and second of November, respectively. The Christian Church wanted to bring pagans into the fold, so they moved these celebrations to the end of October, in order to take away some of the spotlight of pagan holidays taking place at the same time. It seems the various traditions, in many ways, have now melded into one.
Harry Houdini Halloween Death
Harry Houdini, the Hungarian-born escape artist and illusionist, defied and "escaped" death many times. Ironically, his ultimate demise came on Halloween night in 1926. A student hammered him in the stomach one night in late October, before he was able to brace himself to properly withstand the blows. A fever took hold of him, as well a serious case of appendicitis. He continued to perform more shows, but a little more than a week later, on October 31, he died from his injuries.
Backwards Clothing May Give You 'Witch Vision'
If you really want to see a witch, there might be a trick to help you with your search. Supposedly, if you wear your clothing backwards, or inside out, and can walk backwards at the same time, you just might catch sight of witch zooming by on Halloween night. If you don't see a woman on a broomstick flying through the sky after a few minutes, you'd better give up, otherwise you might accidentally stomp on some poor trick-or-treaters (or fall down and hurt yourself).
Halloween Bonfires
Reaching way back into the past, when Halloween was known as Samhain, setting light to a bonfire was a kind of sun worship, preparation for the long, dark winter ahead. Animal bones were often thrown onto the huge blazes as a sacrifice. Thus, "bone" fires became "bon" fires. Embers from the fire were carried home in turnips (sound familiar?) after the huge blaze died out. Bonfire embers were signs of good fortune.


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If you are looking to lose some weight fast in Staples and start the PURE Garcinia Cambogia Extract Diet then I think you will find that we can provide some useful suggestions. Choosing the correct "PURE" Garcinia Cambogia Extract can be a tough decision, but it is good to know all the facts, so you can be certain you have chosen the best PURE source of Garcinia Cambogia Extract and maybe even be able to find it in Staples stores.
Garcinia Cambogia is a pumpkin-like fruit grown in most parts of Asia, Africa and South America. For several decades, this nutritious fruit has been useful in the life of people who wish to shed some extra fats Fast! Prior to advancements in technology which have made extractions possible, this fruit was used as a spice in the preparation of local dishes because its aroma was said to reduce hunger pang intervals in humans. In some Asian countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia, this fruit was eaten raw for the same purpose. Though the working principle of Garcinia Cambogia in the human body was not known at that time, yet people found it useful for controlling their calorie intakes.
Texas Weight Loss Research
Several researches carried out by some reliable authorities in the health and fitness world found out that this fruit's ability to reduce hunger pang intervals and control appetite is as a result of its potent active ingredient known as Hydroxycitric acid. This naturally occurring acid is known to hinder the formation of new fat cells in the human body and get rid of stored fats. In today's health and fitness market, Garcinia can be found in several Staples stores as dietary supplements for weight loss. Tests conducted on obese and overweight people using this natural weight loss supplement showed that this product is about the most effective weight loss supplement in the Texas market today.
Many people in Texas who have weight issues are turning to Garcinia for their much needed weight loss solutions. The popularity of this weight loss product was given a huge boost when some health experts who are respected for their in-depth knowledge on weight loss products and tips endorsed this weight loss product as one of the best in the Texas market today. Garcinia was found to help people lose as much as 20 lbs within two weeks of usage with neither a change in diet or strenuous exercises.
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There are very few weight loss products out there today in Staples that come with little or no known side effects. "PURE" Garcinia Select is one of such products whose intake is not associated with any negative effects. Taking this weight loss supplement in Staples is quite safe because it was extracted from the natural Garcinia fruit without any additives. With Garcinia Cambogia, you are not just guaranteed an accelerated weight loss, but also guaranteed of your safety. This wonderful product for weight loss offers you in Staples a fast and stress-free solution for anyone wondering how to lose weight fast.
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I adapted Red Star Yeast's recipe just slightly. I needed more flour, used 1 1/2 teaspoon salt instead of 2, braided it and baked it at a temperature I am accustomed to at 350F for 35 minutes. The original recipe calls for 400F for 20-25 minutes.
This post is part of my professional collaboration with Red Star Yeast.
1 cup water
2 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 tablespoon canola oil
3 cups bread flour (I needed an additional 1/2 cup)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (RSY asks for 2 tsps I used less)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 1/4 oz packet)
Combine yeast, 1 cup flour, and other dry ingredients. Combine water and oil; heat to 120º to 130º F.
Combine dry ingredients and liquid ingredients in mixing bowl with paddle or beaters for 4 minutes on medium speed. Add eggs; beat 1 minute. Gradually add remaining flour and knead with dough hook(s) 5 to 7 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place dough in lightly oiled bowl and turn to grease top. Cover; let rise until dough tests ripe.
Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; punch down to remove air bubbles. Roll or pat into a 12 x 6-inch rectangle. Cut into two 3 x 12-inch strips. Twist the strips together. Place in a 9 x 5-inch greased bread pan or on a greased cookie sheet. Cover; let rise until indentation remains after touching. For a shiny crust, brush with a combination of 1 slightly beaten egg and 1 tablespoon water. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, if desired. Bake in preheated 350º F oven 35 minutes. Remove from pan; cool.
Red Star Yeast Series:
Cinnamon Buns
Yeast Pancakes
Multigrain Oatmeal Bread
Marbled Rye Bread
Dark Pumpernickel Rye Bread
Jalapeno Cheddar Bread
Challah Posts:
Honey Challah
Spelt Honey Challah anc Chocolate babka
Quince Honey Challah Knots


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I've learned many valuable lessons these past 18 months of blogging. Some have warmed my heart and others have sent me to my knees in thanks. Then there are those that have been a bit more painful – but just as important none-the-less.
When I first began this journey, I had NO idea what I was getting into. NO IDEA. I was in the early stages of this "writing" path, and jumped in with both feet, holding my nose in one hand and my laptop in the other.
Throughout this process of growth I've learned that there are four (or a billion) VERY valuable lessons that I am compelled to pass on to others who are blogging, AND hoping to keep their jobs.
Most of you know about the "Sharp Right Turn" that my life took when the "powers that be" in my school district (here in South Dakota) found out about my blog. I did, however, make it VERY EASY for them to find me. I, well, let's see, I used my REAL NAME, the NAME OF MY SCHOOL, and managed to slip in the real names of some of my kids a couple of BILLION times.
"I am never being mean, or hurtful," I thought. "It doesn't matter if I don't change my name.
Guess What?
It does.
It was in the middle of the day while teaching, that I received "the call" that shook me to the core, and forced me to evaluate what I was doing, and why.
(Here are a few posts from then, if you care to catch up.)
What have I learned up to now throughout this healing process? I would LOVE to share. (And because I LOVE lists, here's the "crap I learned" list. Feel free to print and post in the "teachers who blog" newsletter.)
1. Never, never, NEVER use the name of your school, town or state while writing your blog. There are no first amendment rights for teachers. Did you hear that? No. First. Amendment. Rights. Just accept it, and move on.
2. Do NOT use your own name, or the names of ANY CHILDREN in your classroom on any blogposts. Don't ask, just do it.
3. Do not blog, or check other blogs while at school. A school/writer friend of mine looked me in the eye (when I was crying the blues) and told me, "Vodka, they are not paying you to blog. They are paying you to teach." And you know what? He was right. So, when you don't hear from me between the hours of 7:30 and 4:00, and do not see any tweets, it's because I am fully present at work. I am re-committed to that job that I love, and will not jeopardize it - no matter what hopes and dreams are alive in my heart.
4. Do not say anything in your blog that you wouldn't want your co-workers, your friends, your FAMILY members and your loved ones to see. Because guess what? One day they WILL see it. I write with that knowledge tucked deep into my soul, and it keeps me honest, and real.
In a nutshell, I think what I keep close to my heart are these truths- be authentic, be who you are, and be anonymous.
Your blog reflects who you are, what you are made of, and what you hold in your heart.
And I, for one, always strive to be proud of it.
(By the way - thank you all so much for your votes over at Babble. I am honored to be in the top ten. There are some big names pushing some of the others up the ladder, and I promised my friends and relatives that I wouldn't beg anymore. I can't offer donations, or any more chidlren, so I bow to you all, and tip my hat. Some days it's just better to let the chips fall where they may. As long as they're bar-b-qued and land in my BOWL, I'm a happy camper.)