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As mothers, I think we've all felt that little bit of "mum-guilt" when it comes to taking time for ourselves. I myself felt it for years before I realised that yes, I was a mother however how am I meant to perform at top speed if there's no fuel in the tank? There's no trick answer, I just plain old couldn't.
I used to think that if I took out and had time to myself that the world would stop. The kids wouldn't get fed, they'd tear the house apart and life just wouldn't function if you quickly ducked to the bathroom for a wee or even to jump in the shower and wash your own bloody hair. In the past I've taken it on as a challenge to see how many days I can go without washing my hair because I simply didn't have the time needed to wash, dry and then style but I was feeling shitty because I like to take care of myself when I can yet I was walking around looking like a bit of a scrag. These are the realities of a parent.
There's one thing that I now love doing for myself on a weekly basis when the kids are in bed, and that's pamper myself. Rub a bit of somethin' somethin' on my skin, lay back with a hair treatment while reading a good book that will teach me something. I don't have the money to go out and pay someone else to do these things, so I make sure that I'm always stocked up with an at-home treatment that I whack on in no time and then lay back while it does it's thing. However now that Madi is nearly 5, she's technically an adult and what mummy does, Madi does.
Most recently I tried the new La Bang range which I had always been curious to try, but like most of us, never get around to it when we intend to. Now I've tried many brands of hair treatments and body oils, but I shit you not, I was literally blown away. I am one of those lucky ones who uses an oil hair treatment and comes out with oilier hair than I first had, but not with La Bang. After letting it rest and showering, I was walking around like I'd just walked out of a hair commercial and making that sound similar to an orgasm because my hair looked and felt so bloody good. Oh and guess what, the world was still turning when I was done. Crazy hey.
Us mothers have the right to feel good about ourselves and take care of ourselves too! Our kids need us to be in fine form, so if we perform fine and also feel damn fine as well, we can conquer the world. It's even better when we find an affordable way to do so, which is why La Bang have given me a discount code for your all LOVELAUREN at the LaBang checkout for you to use when you finally make the time to pamper yourself!


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The well-regarded industry trade journal Biotechnology Healthcare has an excellent article by Patrick Mullen on The Arrival of Average Sales Price. In it, Mr. Mullen interviews several top industry experts (yes, including me) on the rationale for and impact of Average Sales Price (ASP) and how health plans are following Medicare's lead:
Health plans are beginning to adopt the average sales price method of paying oncologists and other specialists for office-administered drugs. ASP is more transparent and has a smaller markup than its much maligned predecessor, average wholesale price. The speed of ASP uptake will affect everyone who makes, sells, prescribes, and takes these medications.
Average Sales Price and Drug Reimbursement:
In 2005, as part of the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA), the way Medicare Part B reimbursed physicians and clinics for biologics and other physician-administered injectable drugs changed fundamentally. Medicare Part B, the nation's largest payor of injectable drugs, started using Average Sales Price (ASP) to base payments for most drug products covered by Part B fee-for-service.
Using a new, tighter, and more accurate definition of ASP, drug manufacturers must report the Average Sales Price of each of their products. CMS, through its Part B claims processing contractors, reimburses physicians for covered drug products administered to Medicare benies at 106% of ASP, adjusted for volume.
Wide Ranging Impact of ASP in Marketplace:
Physician offices, particularly oncologists, have seen significant drops in Medicare revenue. While the impact on drug makers is mixed, overall the switch to ASP has tightened profit margins and required many manufacturers to revise projections.
Also, like the move of Medicaid to a new and publicly reported version of Average Manufacturer Price (AMP), the ASP reforms are another way drug prices are becoming transparent and flatter or less variable. The transformative effect on business practices and strategy should not be underestimated.
For Medicare Part B, the switch to ASP-based payment has saved billions of dollars and dramatically slowed the growth in Part B prescription drug spending. Beneficiaries have benefited as well, since they are paying the 20% Part B copay on lower prices. However, there is some evidence that some docs are switching drug therapies (which may or may not be clinically optimal for patients) or forcing patients to receive injections from other settings, such as outpatient hospitals. The behavioral effect on physician practices is still hard to discern beyond the realm of anecdote but is something worth monitoring closely, especially in light of low Medicare rates for professional fees.
To Learn More About ASP:
In addition to the article in Biotechnology Healthcare mentioned above, here are some MedPAC resources to understand ASP, Medicare spending on drugs and biologics, and Medicare reimbursement of physician services:

subset: commoncrawl


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After weeks of Twitter users demanding Congress #ReleaseTheMemo, the House Intelligence Committee, chaired by Republican Devin Nunes, disclosed the contentious four-page report to the public Friday, after President Donald Trump signed off on its release. And while, as expected, the document alleges that federal law enforcement officials abused their surveillance powers in investigating the Trump campaign's ties to Russia, national security experts see something very different. In fact, they see almost nothing at all—or at least not enough to make any definitive judgement calls.
As had been rumored, the memo details supposedly improper actions by law enforcement officials in seeking a warrant to wiretap Carter Page, one of Trump's campaign advisors. But understanding what the memo says—and, critically, doesn't say—requires familiarity with the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which governs requests made under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, better known as FISA. Those who know the law best say the memo is largely bunk.
"We don't know anything more than we knew before. Certainly we don't have evidence of a scandal," says Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of the Liberty and National Security program at New York University School of Law's Brennan Center for Justice. "If there's a scandal here it's the fact that this has been built up in a way that will allow Trump to try to discredit the Mueller investigation."
Between the Lines
What no one disputes: In October 2016—several weeks after he had left the Trump campaign and months after the Russian investigation had began—the Department of Justice obtained a warrant to surveil Page. It did so under Title 1 of FISA, nicknamed "traditional FISA," which requires law enforcement demonstrate probable cause to a judge on the FISC court that a potential target is an agent of a foreign power.
That means the government had to show Page was acting as an operative for Russia. That would have required an extensive application, which would have been reviewed by a number of Department of Justice lawyers in the National Security Division. Here's where the memo comes in.
'The dossier and Steele and all that—it's cherrypicking a piece of what was probably a 50, or 60, or 100 page application.'
William C. Banks, Syracuse University College of Law
Nunes alleges the Page application leaned on information gleaned not directly from the FBI, but from a dossier written by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele. Yes, that dossier, made public last year and subsequently revealed to be financed in part by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign.
This is the controversy: Purportedly unverified research, funded by Democrats, led to the surveillance of an advisor to a Republican presidential candidate. Nunes alleges that the FBI and the Department of Justice did not tell the FISA judge who approved the warrant that the information may have come from a biased source, despite having numerous opportunities to do so.
But the memo also doesn't say several things. It doesn't accuse anyone at the Department of Justice or the FBI of violating the law. It doesn't claim that the entire dossier is false—just that the FISA warrant application to surveil Carter Page relied on portions of it. And most importantly, the memo doesn't say whether law enforcement corroborated the Steele dossier claims that appeared in that warrant.
In fact, those who follow FISA law closely say that even if the Steele dossier was considered as part of the application, there's no way that it was the only intel. Because the FISA warrant is confidential, no one knows what other information was included. But FISA warrant applications require incredible rigor and thorough documentation. The Nunes memo itself acknowledges that the Steele memo formed only a "part" of the application.
"The dossier and Steele and all that—it's cherrypicking a piece of what was probably a 50, or 60, or 100 page application," says William C. Banks, founder of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism at Syracuse University College of Law.
FISA applications also have to go through an in-depth protocol known as the "Woods Procedure," during which the intelligence community needs to verify every single fact. For example, if the application says a person was on a specific train at a specific time, the agent would need to show Department of Justice lawyers how they found out that information. There are other oversight mechanisms as well. For example, applications need to be first certified by the Director or Deputy Director of the FBI, as well as the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, or Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division. In other words, FISA warrants are reviewed at the highest levels, which is part of the reason Nunes' allegations are so explosive—they implicate multiple parties at the very top of the US intelligence apparatus.
A FISA warrant also needs to be renewed every 90 days—the Nunes memo says Page's warrant was renewed three times. A renewal generally indicates that the existing warrant has been in some way useful; Nunes does not mention anything about any evidence that might have found its way into subsequent applications. "He seems to be talking about what was in the first application, he doesn't really talk about whether the Steele application was re-submitted every time," says Goitein.
'Despite what this memo tries to imply, it's not like the Steele dossier turned the FBI onto Page.
Elizabeth Goiten, Brennan Center for Justice
The Nunes memo further neglects to mention that Page has been of interest to intelligence officials since 2013, long before Trump began his campaign and the Steele dossier was written. At that time, FBI agents reportedly obtained recordings of Russian foreign intelligence officials talking about soliciting Page for recruitment. They later warned him that Russia had targeted him. "They had a full investigation open on him,"says Goitein. "Despite what this memo tries to imply, it's not like the Steele dossier turned the FBI onto Page."
All of which makes the Nunes memo's focus on Page all the more confounding. The intelligence community targeted him independently of the Trump campaign, and would have needed substantial evidence to surveil him for any period of time.
"FISA judges under the law take into account a whole variety of factors including past and current activities of a target," says Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu. "Typically, when people submit these FISA applications they're really thick documents. This Nunes memo is four pages."
As for any suspected FISA court partisanship, every one of its judges were appointed by Chief Justice Roberts of the Supreme Court, who was himself appointed by Republican president George W. Bush. And though the court does approve most warrant requests, it approved the Page wiretap during 2016—a year in which the court denied many more applications than it had in past years.
"I can't recall any instance in 40 years when there's been a partisan leaning of a FISA court judge when their opinions have been released," says Banks.
The memo does at least succeed in making Steele as well as Glenn Simpson—the founder of Fusion GPS, the firm Steele worked for—look bad. "There is a scandal here that doesn't really touch on the Justice Department and the FBI,"says Stewart A. Baker, a former Assistant Secretary of Policy at the Department of Homeland Security, referring to the allegation that they had leaked information about the dossier to the media. "[Steele] was using his knowledge of the national security apparatus to do things that he probably shouldn't have done. To make those things public in the hopes that it would have a particular affect on our election."
And some national security experts argue that the memo does reveal legitimate lapses in the FISA system. "Part of the reason FISA was passed by Congress is to prevent against things like what just happened," says Donna Bartee-Roberston, a former National Security Agency attorney and an adjunct professor at George Washington University Law school, where she teaches FISA law. Bartee-Roberston believes that intelligence officials acted inappropriately by not telling the FISA court about the true origins of the Steele dossier, especially when they had an opportunity to do so with each warrant renewal application
"If you look at that memo, if the memo is true factually, the court did not have all the facts in front of it," says Bartee-Robertson, adding that she would not be surprised if an Inspector General investigation was opened to examine what exactly happened during the Page warrant application process.
Burning Down the House
Ultimately, the memo doesn't amount to anything near the bombshell Nunes and other House Republicans hyped it as. It does, though, make public information that law enforcement considers extremely confidential, in a way that seems engineered to intentionally mislead. Releasing the memo will likely sow distrust between intelligence agencies and potential sources, and serves to widen the gulf between the White House and the law enforcement community.
And yet some of even Trump's staunchest supporters in Congress have downplayed its broader significance to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.
"The contents of this memo do not in any way—discredit his investigation," Republican Congressman Trey Gowdy said in a tweet.
Democratic leaders still worry, though, that the memo's release serves as a pretext to firing Mueller or others involved in the Russia investigation, like Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. "Firing Rod Rosenstein, DOJ Leadership, or Bob Mueller could result in a constitutional crisis of the kind not seen since the Saturday Night Massacre," Senate Democrats wrote in a letter to President Trump after the memo was released Friday.
The FBI, House Democrats, and some Republicans, including Senator John Thune of South Dakota, had all urged for the document to remain confidential or for the disclosure process to slow down. President Trump had the chance to block the memo's release on national security grounds, or request that some material be redacted, but decided to make the entirety of the document public.
The FBI said in a statement that it had "grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy," and House Democrats have authored a counterpoint memo that has yet to—and many never—be released. On Monday, the Republican majority on the House Intelligence Committee blocked the counter memo from being disclosed to the public.
"I would urge my colleagues to take another vote, to release the Democratic memo. We'll see what they do next week," says Congressman Lieu. "If the Republican White House does not release the Democratic memo it significantly undercuts the Nunes memo and will make many Americans wonder what they are hiding."
Those reading the memo closely already do.
The Memo, Released


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With the simple scan of a traveler's facial features, many air travel hassles could be eliminated or at least reduced. But we may not be as far away from that reality as you think. According to a survey conducted by air transport communications firm SITA, 29 percent of airports and 25 percent of air carriers are working toward implementing this technology in order to streamline passenger navigation through security, customs, and boarding by 2020.
We reported last month about the test runs of fingerprint scanning to alleviate time spent waiting in lines at several American airports, but due to the steady increase in travel worldwide — a 7.4 percent increase from 2015 to 2016 — the need for more efficient processes to move the masses as well as enhance security is only too obvious.
Here's how it may work, as Sumesh Patel, SITA's Asia Pacific president, explained to CNBC: Travelers would go to a face-scanning kiosk upon arriving at the airport. The captured biometric information would be matched to the person's passport specs. At that point, an electronic token would be created and inputted into the airport's system. At subsequent security checkpoints, the technology would be used again in order to match the passenger's identity with the electronic token.
The major boon for travelers would be the elimination of the current, intrusive nature of the security system. The current challenge, however, is integrating the existing systems such as retinal and fingerprint scanning and facial recognition into one secure operating network that will not only help customers but provide sufficient data for border protection for countries. You only have to hear about all the data breaches at major retailers and even credit scoring agencies to know how important this is.
While this may sound futuristic, Dubai International Airport's CEO Paul Griffiths, head of the world's busiest airport, is absolutely convinced a system of this nature will be a reality within the next 10 years.
"Most of the touch points that we currently loathe about airports today — the security and immigration — will disappear. And technology will enable all of those checks to be done in the background," Griffiths told CNBC.
What do you think about this new technology? Are you for it, or a little concerned? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below, on our Facebook page, orin our Twitter stream.
Photo credit: Gerald Nino/CPB (Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)


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We always do our very best to please clients...
I have been having my nails done by Naomi with OPI gel since it was first introduced into the salon. I have always found her cheerful and helpful, ready to chat if I want to, but if I wish to sit quietly she will respect that. She has often encouraged me to try new and interesting colours, but always something which is suitable for my colouration and lifestyle. As a result, I now frequently receive comments on how nice they look. Mrs Martin
I love going to Colin John Hair. It's a real treat. The staff are so friendly and welcoming. I'm always really pleased with my hair too; I'd like to go more often if only I could get in, book well ahead especially if you want Colin!! I would recommend the Salon to everybody. My husband and son won't go anywhere else except the Barber Shop either!! Kim Harris
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Charlotte has done my hair for years now and she never disappoints; whether it is a new style or colour, she always keeps it fresh and modern. Susie Brennan
How lucky I was the day I met Patsy at Colin John Hair nearly 8 years ago. I look forward to my weekly visit and Patsy works wonders with my fine hair. We have lots of laughs and I come home feeling so much better for my visit, with a lovely 'hair do' too! Audrey Young


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The day I murdered Picasa Twelve months of close association, Picasa and me, in my Active Rain blogs, providing my pictorial content often to complement my foreign idiom. Single pictures and collages (70 or more of them over the year) gone in a keystroke. Really, I don't know which stroke. A brig...
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An "out of the box" movie Today my wife took me to A Dolphin's Tale, in 3D even with all the splashes and action straight at the viewer. This movie should appeal at many levels. The heroine of the movie is Winter (playing herself), a tail-less dolphin, adapting to a prosthetic tail. It is certain...
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A rare opportunity The clear early morning hours today provided a great view of a brilliant full moon. On schedule the upper part of the moon in the western sky started to darken as the earth's shadow consumed its brightness in this lunar eclipse. All of the moon disappeared to a faint crescent a...


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Among landscaping woes, few things are worse than possessing a half-finished-looking yard. Budgeting is essential for avoiding financial snafus that could hinder a landscaping transformation project's completion. Draft an overall plan, conduct appropriate research, and account for unexpected costs to create a landscaping transformation budget that works for your Dutchess County, NY home.
Create a Landscaping Transformation Plan
Before you begin budgeting, make a prioritized list of key elements you'd like to include in your landscaping transformation project. Take a walk around your property and construct a vision of what is needed, where it should be implemented, and how each individual feature will work together. Developing a cohesive design not only produces gorgeous aesthetic results, but gives purpose to every part of your landscaping, meaning no dollar will go wasted. A transformation budget should take into account the size of your yard and how much square footage you can realistically cover. Determine whether you'd like to focus on specific areas of your landscape or the entire area, and stick to it. Related: 3D landscape design helps homeowners visualize their project.
Do Your Research
Unless your landscaping transformation project involves new plantings and a simple fence or two, it's generally a good idea to harness the help of professional. When creating a budget, think beyond visible additions, as irrigation and drainage systems, electrical wiring, permits, and building codes can drive up necessary costs (a qualified landscaping professional would know all of the necessary components). Obtain quotes from several professionals to get a sense of how much various elements of your project should cost. Landscape transformation experts agree that factoring in an additional 15-20% will offset any unexpected costs, which are almost often bound to happen.
Common budget considerations include:
Landscape flooring installation can be as simple as laying down a new patio to complexly uprooting and replacing your property's walkways, entranceways, and any outdoor rooms' foundations. Select which areas you'd like to target, asking yourself whether it is more practical to tackle them all at once, or break the project up into multiple undertakings. Be sure to budget for future repairs and maintenance, contingent upon the type and quality of your flooring materials. Related: "Can I Just Install the Pavers Myself?" Here is why the answer is NO!
Depending on the intricacy of your garden design, a professional can help you budget for the proper mix of shrubs, small plants, and perennials to create a landscaping transformation, as well as advise about long-term cost-saving irrigation, drainage, and soil erosion prevention. Keep in mind that plants can drastically vary in cost depending on how large you'll need them upon installation.
Landscape Lighting.
Landscape lighting systems vary in scope and complexity, so be clear about the purpose yours should serve when budgeting. Functional task lighting, for instance, keeps your yard safe at night, while entryway, accent, and architectural lighting are utilized for aesthetic purposes.
Retaining Walls and Fencing.
If your landscaping transformation budget involves walls or fences, understand local building codes, such as height and distance regulations, to prevent unaccounted costs later on. If your wall design is particularly complex, you're best off getting a quote from an experienced professional. Related: Does hiring a 'landscaping' company for your patio and retaining wall project make sense? It depends.
Above all else, don't cut corners when creating a landscaping transformation budget. Get quotes, speak with professionals, and acquire help when needed to make sure your budget remains realistic throughout the entire process.
Related: Transform Your Hudson Valley Backyard with These 3 Landscaping Design Ideas


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==== ==== Tom Fischer is a Life Insurance Specialist in Scottsdale. Purchase life insurance in Scottsdale, keeping in mind that life insurance does not insure lives. Seat belts insure lives. A life insurance specialist in Scottsdale can insure a standard of living, a way of life dependent upon continuity of income that will someday stop. http://arizonafinancialplan.com/life-insurance/ ==== ====
Many of us buy life insurance because we want to make sure that our loved ones, especially dependents, remain financially secure after we die. Income replacement is the No. 1 reason people buy life insurance. Non-earning caregivers also have an important - and often overlooked - economic value that should be covered by life insurance. Life insurance is also purchased by those interested in achieving specific business or estatetransfer goals. There are many types of life insurance policies depending on your goals, and there are huge price differences among different companies offering identical coverage. Policies are available from hundreds of life insurance companies in the United States. Most financial planners recommend that each family income provider carry no less than 10 times their annual income in life insurance. Here's an orderly way to go about shopping for life insurance:
1) Assess your needed life insurance amount..
2) Decide on the most appropriate policy type for your goals.
3) Choose possible companies by setting high standards for financial stability ratings.
4) Shop until you find the best price.
5) Look at ways to get the best possible life insurance rate.
Life insurance is a long-term proposition, so you should pay particular attention, at time of purchase and throughout the life of the policy, to the financial stability ratings of your life insurance company. Ratings indicate a company's ability to pay claims. Assessing your life insurance needs The first step in life insurance planning is to analyze your life insurance needs - meaning the economic needs of dependents left behind. A great way to determine your coverage needs is to use an online calculator like Insure.com's Life Insurance Needs Estimator Tool.
Before purchasing a life insurance policy, consider your financial situation and the standard of living you want to maintain for your dependents or survivors. For example, who will be responsible for your final medical bills and funeral costs? Would your family have to relocate or otherwise change their standard of living after losing your income? The assumption of immediate death is necessary to determine the current life insurance needs for a family or individual.
Add in the longer term financial needs of the remaining family members, such as: children's expenses, income for the surviving spouse, mortgage and other debt payoffs, college education funds and an additional emergency fund.
Because life insurance needs change over time, your life insurance amount should be reevaluated periodically. We recommend a review at least once every five years or whenever you experience a major life event such as a change in income or assets, marriage, divorce, the birth or adoption of a child, or a major purchase such as a house or business. In theory, you should have a declining need for life insurance as you age because fewer people remain dependent upon you for income support. Exceptions would be protecting a business entity or paying taxes on a large estate for heirs. If the purpose of buying life insurance is to pay estate taxes, then you'll need permanent life insurance, which is in-force as long as you live and pay premiums. Policy choices Life insurance policies [http://www.insure.com/quotesmith/controller?REF=99998&reqid=qstermindex&redirx=x] are divided into two main types:
Term life insurance, which provides only death protection without any side funds or "cash values" (offering the least expensive cost per $1,000 of death coverage purchased).
Permanent life insurance, which has "cash value" accounts in which a return-on-investment component becomes an often complex and expensive part of the policy (most expensive cost per $1,000 of coverage). Term life insurance The simplest of all life insurance to understand and the cheapest to buy: Term life insurance provides death benefit protection without any savings, investment or "cash value" components for the term of the coverage period. Term life insurance is available for set periods of time such as 10, 15, 25 or 30 years. With "annual renewable term life," your policy automatically renews each year and premiums increase as you get older. Choose "level term insurance" if you want your premium to stay the same for the duration of the policy. Also available is "decreasing term insurance," where premiums remain level but your death benefit declines over time. This is good if you want to cover only a specific debt that decreases, such as a mortgage or business loan. As long as you pay your premiums, the company cannot cancel you. Term life insurance is a popular choice because of the long rate-guarantee periods and because of the ability to get a low cost life insurance policy. However, if you get to the end of your policy term and still need life insurance, you'll need to shop for a new policy, which will then be priced based on your older age and health status. Choosing an initial rate-guarantee period is easy: Match the period of time your dependents need your income to the available rate-guarantee periods. For example, if your children are young and you have decades to go on your mortgage, try 30-year term life. If your children are leaving the nest and your home is paid off or nearly paid off, 10-year term might fit the bill. Other policy provisions that drive the popularity of term life insurance are guaranteed renewal and guaranteed convertibility.
Guaranteed Renewal. Before you buy a term life policy, ask the agent or company to confirm to you that the policy contains a guaranteed renewable option, which grants you the right to continue coverage beyond the initial rate-guarantee period without a medical exam. This feature, found in most term life policies sold today, is extremely important should you become sick and uninsurable toward the end of your rate-guarantee period.
For example, say that you've been paying $800 per year on a $500,000, 20-year level term life policy and develop cancer near the end of the 20-year period, thus making you uninsurable. Assuming that you want to continue the coverage, a guaranteed renewable clause would allow you to continue the coverage beyond 20 years on an annual renewable basis without an exam, albeit at a much higher annual premium of, say, $8,000 in year 21, $11,000 in year 22, and so on.
You may have sticker shock right now but these premiums don't look so high when you are very sick and uninsurable but still in need of coverage.
Guaranteed Convertible. Another built-in feature of most term life policies is the right to convert your coverage to any cash value policy that the company might offer at current rates without having to take another physical exam. This feature may be of use in the future if you decide you want cash value life insurance.
If you'd like term insurance to cover you for a certain period of time but you're confident you'll outlive the policy, consider a "return of premium" (ROP) term life insurance policy. Under this type of policy, if no death benefit has been paid by the end of your insurance term, you receive all your premiums back (tax-free). Return of premium term life insurance generally costs 50 to 150 percent more than a comparable term policy but it provides a way to hedge your bets no matter what happens. Term life insurance is widely available on the Internet, from direct-to-consumer life insurance companies and from insurance agents and brokers. Cash value life insurance If you want more than a death benefit from your life insurance policy and like the idea of a longterm savings account (not insured by any federal agency) or stock market investment, you might consider cash value life insurance such as whole life, universal life or variable life. But be prepared to pay much higher premiums per $1,000 of coverage precisely because you are now funding a cash value account and paying fees and expenses. In many cash value policies, the annual premium does not increase from year to year. Universal life policies allow you to fluctuate or even skip premium payments, which in turn adjusts your death benefit amounts. Unlike term life insurance, which is easily compared online, cash value insurance is often marketed by agents and brokers in a face-to-face setting, where needs and strategies can be discussed. Because of the complexity and dizzying array of possible outcomes for permanent life insurance, regulators insist that cash value insurance be sold using pre-approved illustration formats. These illustrations can run to 15 or more pages. Cash value life insurance illustrations are divided into two major sections: guaranteed values and projected or "illustrated, non-guaranteed" amounts. Illustrations can be complex and hard to compare in an apples-to-apples way. Pay particular attention to the guaranteed death benefit and premium-payment sections because these columns contain the actual company promises. If you don't like what you see there, walk away. Another caveat: Many cash value policies contain harsh penalties for surrendering the policies in the early years. Changing your mind within the first few years is an expensive decision.
Whole life insurance Ordinary whole life insurance offers "permanent protection" with a cash value account that grows over time. Whole life provides a level death benefit and level premiums throughout your life and for as long as you continue to pay the premiums. For example, a healthy 40 year-old female might pay $4,200 per year for a $500,000 whole life policy. The premium remains level at $4,200 per year for the rest of her life and, in the event of death at any age, the policy will pay $500,000 to her beneficiary. Whole life also contains a cash value account that builds over time, slowly at first and gaining steam after several years. You can withdraw your cash value or take out a loan against it, but remember, if you die before you pay back the loan, the death benefit paid to your beneficiaries will be reduced. For example: Susan has a $500,000 whole life policy in force and, over the years, has borrowed continually from the cash value. Her total loan amount and accrued interest totals $300,000. When Susan dies, her beneficiary will receive $200,000 because the life insurance company will first pay itself back from the death benefit. Understand what your beneficiaries will receive upon your death. If you have a traditional whole life policy, your beneficiaries receive only the death benefit no matter how much cash value you've built up. Other payout options available for higher premiums are:
Death benefit plus cash value
Death benefit plus return of premium
Whole life policies can be issued as "participating" or "nonparticipating." Participating policies typically cost more but may return annual dividends if the insurer has a good financial year. Dividends are never guaranteed. Nonparticipating whole life insurance offers no dividends. Buyers of whole life insurance like the certainty of fixed premiums with a known death benefit for life. They also appreciate the "forced savings" component and watching their cash value account build up. Universal life insurance This kind of policy offers greater flexibility than whole or term life. Universal life has many moving parts to understand before you buy. After your initial premium payment, you can reduce or increase the amount of your death benefit. Also, after your initial payment, you can pay premiums any time and in any amount, as long as you don't miss a minimum payment level. In some cases, there are limits to how much extra you can pay in advance. If you choose to increase your death benefit, you may have to provide medical
proof that your health has not deteriorated. You will need to manage these policies to maintain sufficient funding, especially because the insurance company can increase charges. Some new universal life policies perform like term life insurance: They can be configured at the time of purchase to provide both level death benefits and level premiums that are guaranteed for life as long as you pay the scheduled premium. Variable life insurance Variable life offers a death benefit with a side fund that operates like an investment account. It shifts the uncertainties of investment gains and losses to the policyholder. The insurance company invests your premiums and offers you a choice of funds in which your money will be invested. Returns are not guaranteed. The amount of money your beneficiaries will receive and the cash value of your policy depend on how well the underlying accounts perform. Theoretically, the cash value can go down to zero and, if so, the policy will terminate. Some variable life policies will guarantee a minimum death benefit. Other permanent life insurance considerations When your cash value account grows large enough, it can be used by the insurer to pay your premiums for the rest of your life. This is known as being "paid up." You can still withdraw your cash value, but you'll have to resume premium payments to keep the policy in force or settle for a reduced benefit that the remaining cash value can support. Your policy illustration will show you how long it may take for your whole life policy to be "paid up." If you no longer want your whole life policy, you can surrender it to receive the current cash surrender value or convert it into an annuity, but keep in mind that cashing in a permanent policy after only a couple of years is an expensive way to get insurance protection for a short time. Riders add benefits You can add riders to your life insurance policy that guard against a number of unpleasant situations. Your insurer will have its own list of available riders, but here are a few:
Accelerated death benefit rider (aka living benefits rider): Pays the benefit early if you become terminally ill.
Accidental death benefit rider: Pays an extra benefit if you die as the result of an accident.
Long term care rider: Pays for long term care expenses should you not be able to do some of the "activities of daily living," such as dressing or toileting.
Waiver of premium rider: Waives premium payments should you become totally disabled. How life insurance is priced Your life insurance rate is based on your life expectancy, the face amount you request and the length of the policy, whether it's the duration of your life (whole life) or a specific period (term life). Obtaining a low cost life insurance policy depends, in large part, on your current and past health. Because your current and past health conditions impact your life expectancy, insurers want to know as much as possible about your health condition. Common conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, cancer and depression can all raise your life insurance rate or even result in a declination. Based on your medical history, you'll be grouped into a category such as "preferred plus," "preferred," "standard" and "substandard." Your category ultimately determines your premiums. Insurance buyers with severe health conditions or a combination of conditions can find it hard or impossible to find life insurance. They are known as "impaired risks." Local agents may not be experienced enough to find a company that specializes in insuring people with certain medical conditions. Fortunately, impaired-risk specialists have expertise in knowing where to direct applications for folks with medical conditions. The life insurance buying process The life insurance applications process is paper-intensive, can take weeks and often seems intrusive for people who value their privacy. A face-to-face paramedical examination is generally required for policies in excess of $100,000, which means, at minimum, giving of both blood and urine samples to the paramedical professional. Expect questions in detail regarding your lifestyle, intended foreign travel destinations, your family health history and your personal health history. Do you intend to scuba dive? Have you had parents or siblings with heart disease or cancer before age 60? Have you ever taken any medicine for anxiety or depression? These, and more, are the kinds of questions to expect. Sometimes multiple interviews are required in order to verify your information. The paramed examiner typically asks these questions face-to-face and often insurance companies will conduct follow-up telephone interviews so that you can verify the first set of answers. Regardless of the type of life insurance you buy, most policies require you to meet certain guidelines regarding your lifestyle and health history. If it sounds tempting to shortcut this process by fudging on an answer or withholding information,
don't do it. It's a crime in all 50 states to lie about or conceal information on a life insurance application. Besides, policies obtained through fraud can be voided at claim time. Insurers will likely report your medical exam results (reported as numbered codes) to the Medical Information Bureau (MIB), which maintains a database of those who have applied for life insurance in the last seven years. If you've given different answers to medical questions in the past, it will raise a red flag with the MIB. The goal of the MIB database is to reduce fraud. All standard life insurance policies generally cover death by any cause at any time in any place, except for death by suicide within the first two policy years (one year in some states). If you don't care to go through the underwriting process, you have two other, more expensive, options:
Simplified issue life insurance can be purchased after answering only a few medical questions. There is no medical exam required. However, if you report health problems, you will likely be declined. Also, if you are healthy, or even if you have some negative medical history, an underwritten policy is still going to be your least expensive.
Guaranteed issue life insurance is sold to anyone who applies (up to an age limit) and is by far the most expensive way to purchase life insurance. This should be considered only by those who are declined for everything else but still need life insurance. These policies have graded death benefits, meaning your beneficiaries won't receive the full death benefit until several years into the policy.
In naming a beneficiary, keep in mind that the life insurance company will want to see only the names of those who are financially dependent upon you. An acquaintance, friend or relative, absent of a financial relationship, will not do. Working with an agent After reviewing the various life insurance policies available, you might still be unsure about which best meets your needs. The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) recommends consulting an insurance agent. ACLI spokesman Jack Dolan says an agent can recommend policies that will meet your needs. "Look at the recommended policy with care to be sure it fits your personal goals," Dolan says. Carefully study your agent's recommendations and ask for a point-by-point explanation. Make sure the agent explains items you don't understand. Because your policy is a legal document, it is important that you know what it provides. Insure.com offers these recommendations for deciding which type of life insurance to purchase:
If your agent recommends a term life policy, ask:
What is the Standard & Poor's, A.M. Best, Fitch, Moody's and Weiss ratings of this insurance company?
What is the initial rate-guarantee period? Is this policy renewable past the initial rate-guarantee period without a physical exam? If so, what are the premiums?
Is this policy convertible to permanent insurance without a physical exam? If so, for what period of time do I have the right to convert?
If your agent recommends a cash value policy, ask:
What is the Standard & Poor's, A.M. Best, Fitch, Moody's and Weiss ratings of this insurance company?
Can you tell me, in writing, why you are recommending cash value insurance for me at this time?
Why should I combine my life insurance protection needs with my investment objectives?
Can you please prepare an analysis for me that shows the true cost of this cash value insurance policy over 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years vs. buying term life and investing the difference in long term bonds over those same time periods?
How much is your first-year commission on this proposed cash value policy vs. your commission on an equivalent term life insurance policy?
Are these proposed annual premiums within my budget?
Why do you think that I can commit to paying these premiums over the long term, perhaps decades?
How much will I receive if I surrender the policy? Additional Resources
Consumer Federation of America's Insurance "Rate of Return" Service
Insurance Information Institute: Learn about life insurance
Your state's department of insurance may also have life insurance buying guides online
For a free life insurance quote or more information on the types of life insurance available, please visit Insure.com.
Amy Danise is a staff writer for Insure.com. Visit Insure.com for a comprehensive array of comparative auto, life and health quotes, including a vast library of originally authored insurance articles and decision-making tools that are not available from any other single source. Insure.com is dedicated to providing impartial insurance information to consumers. Visitors can obtain instant quotes from more than 200 leading insurers, achieve maximum savings and have the freedom to buy from any company shown.
Article Source:
==== ==== Tom Fischer is a Life Insurance Specialist in Scottsdale. Purchase life insurance in Scottsdale, keeping in mind that life insurance does not insure lives. Seat belts insure lives. A life insurance specialist in Scottsdale can insure a standard of living, a way of life dependent upon continuity of income that will someday stop. http://arizonafinancialplan.com/life-insurance/ ==== ====
Tom Fischer is a Life Insurance Specialist in Scottsdale. Purchase life insurance in Scottsdale, keeping in mind that life insurance does n...
Published on Feb 16, 2012
Tom Fischer is a Life Insurance Specialist in Scottsdale. Purchase life insurance in Scottsdale, keeping in mind that life insurance does n...


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Astak -- the company looking to give Amazon's Kindle a 'run for its money' -- gave us a little bit of a shock when it unveiled its attractive 5-inch EZ Reader Pocket PRO back in August. At the time, the company said that the units would be shipping by the end of September, and, lo and behold, they're now shipping from Newegg. The Reader features a 400MHz CPU, 512MB of memory, an SD card slot, an 8-level grayscale E-ink screen, a replaceable battery good for 8,000 page turns per charge plus MP3 player that can operate in the background, and it'll run you $250 if you want to get in on the e-reader action.
[Via E-reader-Info]


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Organic Broccoli Production Manual
Organic Broccoli Production Manual
Each summer, the Twin Cities experiences a shortage of locally grown, organic broccoli. So a team of local, organically-certified farmers worked to scale up organic broccoli production to meet the needs of wholesale accounts in the region. This guide provides steps that the Twin Cities farmers took in an attempt to scale up organic broccoli production.
Want more information? See the related SARE grant(s) FNC10-840, Scaling Up to Meet Market Demand for Local, Organic Broccoli .
Product specs
How to order
Only available online
This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.


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"Why are we doing this?"
The more I think about this, the more I am starting to believe that this is a question that we should endeavor to avoid being asked at all costs. More specifically, if we are doing what we need to do in terms of engaging learners, it is a question that should never NEED to be asked. I think this applies to our students in our classrooms. I think this applies to our teachers in our faculty meetings. In fact, I think this applies to nearly every participator (administrators, parents, the public, whoever) in the education system.
Perhaps this seems lofty and ethereal. And to this end, I can tell you without equivocation that I have had to explain 'why we are doing this' on dozens and dozens of occasions to students and to my staff. And I can also tell you that the need for this explanation did not originate in any way, shape or form with the party that was asking "Why?" in these situations. It was because I was trying to provide the right solutions rather than reframing my approach to ask the right questions.
As a leader in your school, perhaps you are looking at the math results at your school and they are not up to par. Maybe you should look into the latest math remediation program coming out of a place like Alberta or Finland?
I might suggest there would be better ways to go about this.
You notice that your staff is struggling with differentiating instruction and assessment. Perhaps you should bring in an expert on differentiation to do a set of threaded professional development sessions over the course of a year?
I wouldn't.
Maybe your success rates are high in certain classrooms and low in other ones. How about implementing collaboration time so that teachers can get together and work on effective pedagogies, or starting Instructional Rounds so that teachers can observe themselves and each other in other classes?
Don't do it.
As much as a highly-regarded education system such as those in Alberta or Finland might have some tremendous math remediation program, or that having threaded and frequent professional development is highly effective, or that creating time for teachers to collaborate is research-based promising practice, I believe that these and other tried and true strategies will struggle to reach their maximum level of effectiveness if they are "brought in" as a silver bullet that will slay a problem.
The reason I feel this way is because in the past, I have made this mistake with initiatives. I examined data at the schools I have been at. I saw what I thought to be some of the areas for improvement. I read the books, blogs and the articles of those who have had similar issues. And I attempted to implement many of the solutions that were suggested.
And as a result I also got a heavy dose of "Why are we doing this?".
Recently, I was accepted to attend Harvard University at the end of April to study Instructional Rounds. One of the key ideas behind Instructional Rounds is the development of a "problem of practice". After reading this book, I have realized that the most important thing that I can do as a Principal is to help our school and our departments discover and develop "problems of practice". Lee Teitel, one of the authors of Instructional Rounds in Education, characterizes the problem of practice in this way:
* it focuses on the instructional core.
* it is directly observable.
* it is actionable (is within the school/district's control and can be improved in real time).
* connects to a broader strategy of improvement (school, system).
* it is high-leverage (if you acted on it, it would make a significant difference for student learning).
But perhaps more importantly, the problem of practice is something that the school or departments "are already working on or think they might need to work on". It is "not a whim and does not emerge out of thin air. It comes from data, dialogue, and current work" (City et. al, 2009). So rather than jump straight in to some sort of 'math program', or bring in some sort of expert on differentiation, or create a new timetable that allows teachers to collaborate during the work week, it is much more effective to start by engaging the people who are working with the students in that learning situation to develop this problem of practice.
For example, starting with a couple of key questions to a given department such as
- What do you find is a major struggle point that students have in your area?
- What makes you believe that this is an issue in your department?
- Why are you interested in looking into this issue further?
- What do you know about this issue? Is there a historical context to this? Have you seen it before?
"When trying to solve word problems in junior math, not all of our students are able to apply what they have learned in their math lessons. Some of the students are able to make connections between the lesson and the task they are to solve on their own, but more of them are not. Teachers are not differentiating for the varying abilities of their students in their classes.
- How do teachers determine what strategies will work with the different learners in their class?
- What would all students know and be able to demonstrate from the math lesson that you see?"
Now, perhaps one of the team members suggests that one of the pieces here could be increasing the capacity of the department in differentiation. And if we don't have that capacity within our building or district, maybe we need to bring in someone to help us out over the course over the next couple of years.
Instead of "Why are we doing this?", we have re-framed the question to be, "When can we find some time to work on this as a collective?".
Maybe now, another team member suggests that we could look at something like creating time for learning teams to collaborate on their problem of practice, or find a way to have teachers observe other teachers and classes to see what is working in this area.
Instead of "Why are we doing this", we have re-framed the question to be. "Are there other jurisdictions who are having success with students in this area that we might be able to collaborate with?"
At this point, perhaps a team member has a connection or is aware of another school, district or jurisdiction that has positive math results (maybe a neighbouring district, or Alberta or somewhere we hear is doing well in this area) to see if they have anything to offer to our conversation?
In each of our schools we have bright and talented teachers. These people have many good ideas, and are they are acutely aware of struggle points for students, and the areas where they need assistance as teachers. By engaging them in the conversation and re-framing problems rather than looking right away to solutions, I believe we can dramatically reduce (and maybe nearly eliminate???) the question
"Why are we doing this?".
City, Elizabeth A. (Eds.) (2009) Instructional rounds in education: a network approach to improving teaching and learning Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard Education Press,


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I do not think that money can buy happiness but I do think that material things in our lives can bring us joy -- I have been loving these items I picked up this month and wanted to share!
These sweatpants have been my go-to loungewear and the softest, comfiest things ever! I am so scared to wash them incase their softness decreases. Yes, fast fashion is not good. Yes, I want to invest in more quality pieces. Yes, I think capsule wardrobing is amazing - but these are the best sweatpants I have ever owned! And at $20 I feel ok about that.
Talking about investing in quality pieces - I knew I needed to buy a quality pair of low brown boots. I have had a cheap pair that I liked to pull out that were unsupportive to my feets and having had podiatrists yell at me for said pair of cheap boots I knew the money would be worth it to upgrade. Surprise, surprise - I didn't have to spend $200! This pair from Dr. Scholl's was an amazing deal on Zappos and fit everything I was looking for!
And three-- everyone wants to start out the new year organized and ready to go, so I was thrilled when I found this Simplified Planner at Frances! I love how each day you can write out your schedule AND your to-do list and it's spiral bound -- SPIRAL BOUND! This is the key for me people. It is just so much easier to write in!
Anything you guys have recently discovered that I have to know about? I would love to know!


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Add the "bgproperties="fixed" to the body statement. I don't know if this works on all browsers though. E. >-----Original Message----- >From: Walter Ian Kaye [SMTP:firstname.lastname@example.com] >Sent: Monday, October 05, 1998 1:22 PM >To: email@example.com >Subject: Re: non tiling backgrounds > >At 9:54a -0700 10/05/98, dreamwvr wrote: >>hi, >> does anyone know or remember how to force the backgrounds to >>do a non tiling effect without loading a enormous image? It has >>been so long i can's seem to remember how to do anything but >>tile background images... > >I don't believe HTML supports this, although CSS might (I don't >know offhand; you'll have to look it up). > > >>Reuters, London, February 29, 1998: >>Scientists have announced discovering a meteorite which will strike the >>earth in March, 2028. Millions of UNIX coders expressed relief for being >>spared the UNIX epoch "crisis" of 2038. > >Hehe. Hopefully the "unices" will be revved for a longer integer... > >-Walter > whose Perl DateToTime() goes to 2100 > > >Received on Tuesday, 6 October 1998 14:08:48 UTC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.1 : Wednesday, 7 January 2015 15:05:48 UTC


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Sunrises should be explanatory enough, however, each morning I find the sky completely painted in different hues from the last. Here you will find a jumbled collection from all times throughout the year. I make it a priority to come out each morning, not because I feel the need to have to take a photograph to share on social media... But finding peace and beauty of each day dawning allows the rest of the day to unfold a bit easier. The ability to share with others who can't be in the moment with me for one reason or another is wonderful bonus.
Images provided by The Asbury Park Mermaid®. All rights reserved.
Wanderings and musings of The Asbury Park Mermaid in her City By The Sea.
Copyright © 2025 The Asbury Park Mermaid. All rights reserved.


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80 jobs? - The Life and Thoughts of Zach — LiveJournal
Jul. 15th, 2007
11:01 am - 80 jobs?
Why doesn't the state of Indiana just go shoot 80 people from Michigan or Wisconsin or Illinois and take their 80 jobs?
(Sorry for two posts from slashdot in a row but they both really screamed general interest to me.)
Current Mood: cranky


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প্রকাশিত হয়েছে : ২:০৮:৩৮,অপরাহ্ন ১৪ ডিসেম্বর ২০১৭
Muslim Aid appeals to Londoners of all faiths and none for foodstuffs for a Food Drive Friday (15 December), a flagship interfaith event to launch the charity's Winter Campaign
East Londoners carrying items of food for those who go without over the Christmas and winter period will give their donations to Muslim Aid outside the East London Mosque this Friday, 15 December, between 12 and 2pm. Muslim Aid has teamed up with the East London Mosque and Crisis for the collection which the charities hope will beat last year's record of 10 tonnes.
Nozmul Hussain, Chief Executive Officer of East London Mosque, Laura Janner-Klausner, Senior Rabbi of British Reform Judaism, Leon Silver, President of East London Central Synagogue, Siddika Talukdar, Secretary of the London Central Mosque Trust Ltd & Islamic Cultural Centre (Regents Park Mosque) and The Revd Bernadette Hegarty of St Pauls, Bow Common Church will join Muslim Aid staff and volunteers to accept donations for the Food Drive.
The Food Drive is a major component of Muslim Aid's Winter Campaign, which has been happening annually since 2011 and this year is entitled Share the Love.
"We are absolutely delighted to be working with Crisis, and to know that all of the food our supporters donate from this collection will go to Crisis at Christmas," says Muslim Aid Chief Executive Officer Jehangir Malik OBE. "As British Muslims, we enjoy the Christmas spirit of sharing love and giving, which resonates with our Islamic values of compassion and charity."
He continues: "We are shocked about the record high figures from Crisis that 4,134 people slept rough in England alone on any given night in 2016 and, while as a global relief and development agency we are committed to raising millions of pounds for overseas aid, we at Muslim Aid also have a responsibility to help desperate people here at home. The Prophet Muhammad said: "He who sleeps on a full stomach whilst his neighbour goes hungry is not one of us."
Crisis UK quote:
A call for donations such as rice, pasta, cereal and tinned goods was announced to the 7,000 people attending Friday prayers at the East London Mosque last week. Pupils from the local secondary school, the London East Academy, and the Islamic cultural weekend school, the Rashidun Supplementary School, will attend to donate and help collect donations. Local businesses such as Taj Stores in Brick Lane and the Pride of Asia caterer will also make donations. The food will be transported over the weekend to a Crisis at Christmas warehouse.
Muslim Aid's winter campaign Share the Love will also include:
- Similar food drives at mosques in Balham (12 December) and Tooting (13 December). (A collection has already taken place last weekend at Croydon mosque where the response was phenomenal and the congregation doubled what they gave last year. Although not yet officially verified, organisers estimate the collection was between four and five tonnes).
- Distributions of rucksacks containing a sleeping bag, gloves, scarf, and cutlery to the homeless and elderly in Bethnal Green, Deptford and Ilford.
- Soup kitchens in North West London (5 January 2018), Walthamstow, London (21 January 2018), and Exeter, and one run by students at the London School of Economics.
- Provision of draught excluders and radiator reflectors for The Heat Project in Waltham Forest, helping the elderly and alone to keep warm.


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Dave Barry: Blowing in the wind in Iowa
I was in the mood for some excitement, so I drove out to Newton, the county seat of Jasper County, to hear Hillary Clinton. I got here early, so I ate lunch at the Midtown Café, in the heart of downtown, where the clientele was mainly older ladies (by which I mean ladies roughly my age) and large agricultural-looking men in bib overalls.
The menu had an item called the Pancake Challenge: "$14 if you fail, no leaving of table and no help." I asked the waitress about it, and she said the pancakes are gigantic. "Only one person ever beat the Pancake Challenge," she said.
So I went with the daily special, which was cream chipped beef on biscuits. It came in a portion the size of a four-person life raft. It was a meal suitable for working men, men in bib overalls who perform hard agricultural labor such as baling soybeans or neutering heifers. It was not suitable for a newspaper columnist whose most strenuous physical activity is typing in the Wi-Fi code. But it tasted good, and it will be lodged in my stomach for years to come.
After taking the Chipped Beef Challenge I staggered over to the Clinton event, which was held in the Berg Middle School gymnasium. There was a banner with the Hillary logo and the slogan "Fighting for us."
Clinton was introduced by a slick video, which listed the many achievements she has accomplished in her lengthy career of holding positions while at the same time being a woman. Then Clinton came out and delivered her speech, which contained a LOT of specific policy information, and statements such as "I'm proposing something called the National Infrastructure Bank." At one point, talking about wind power — Wind power is important! — she informed us how many parts are in a turbine. It was something like 900, which I think we can all agree is an impressive number of turbine parts, but it's not the kind of thing that excites people. The crowd, which was very pro-Hillary, applauded at the right times and even emitted some "Whoo!"s, but they didn't seem really fired up.
I am no political consultant, but I think Clinton's main image problem is that, while she wants us to believe she's Fighting For Us, the main vibe she gives off is that she's Way Smarter Than Us. (To be fair: I think Ted Cruz has the same problem.)
From the Hillary event I drove back to Des Moines to see the Donald Trump Show. He was boycotting the Republican debate because it was run by losers who disrespected Trump because they are stupid and by the way also idiots. So he was holding his own event, which was a tribute to veterans, in the same sense that an Elvis concert was a tribute to Elvis' backup band. I mean, the event did raise a bunch of money for veterans, which is a fine thing, but the true focus of the evening, as the crowd repeatedly let everybody know by standing up and yelling it, was TRUMP! TRUMP! TRUMP! TRUMP! etc.
The crowd was much more animated than at the Hillary event. Also there was a far larger press corps, including many foreign press people who LOVE the Trump story because it confirms everything they believe about Americans.
In his remarks, Trump made these points:
▪ He's a winner who knows how to do deals.
▪ The stupid idiots running our government have made terrible deals with China and Iran.
▪ He loves the Chinese, personally, but he would never let them make these terrible deals.
▪ He has made a LOT OF MONEY making deals.
▪ He has a beautiful wife and incredible family.
▪ Wind power is very important.
No, I'm kidding about that last one. Trump made no mention of wind power, although there's no question that if the nation needs turbine parts, he would definitely get a great deal on them.
Driving back to my hotel, I listened to the official Republican debate, which sounded like the standard festival of nitpicking over who is most opposed to illegal immigration. So I was glad about my decision not to attend. Although I am starting to deeply regret the chipped beef.
Join Dave & Carl
What: Pulitzer Prize winner Dave Barry and award-winning columnist Carl Hiaasen will discuss the 2016 presidential election campaign. They'll discuss other topics, too — such as why is Florida so weird — and attempt to answer audience questions, provided they don't involve math.
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 1
Where: Miracle Theater, Coral Gables, Fla.
Tickets: $25
Register online: davecarlelection2016.bpt.me


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Monthly Archives: January 2015
Another Record Year in Sales for Testek!
Testek would like to thank all our customers for making 2014 a record-breaking sales year for Testek. At Testek we are committed to long-term relationships; that belief is the reason why we have been in business for over 45 years now, and it will be the reason why we will continue to be in business.


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Drink with the Pros
Elaine Chukan Brown | Photo: Eva Kolenko | September 15, 2014
Napa has a new industry clubhouse.
In a region not lacking in wine industry hangouts, Cadet has managed to stand out since its early-July opening. To begin with, there's its pedigree: It's the creation of Kelly Fleming Wines vet Colleen Fleming and former French Laundry sommelier Aubrey Bailey. Then there's its insiders-only location, announced by a glowing neon sign at the end of a pedestrian alley in downtown Napa.
But most of all, there's its selection of beers and approximately 150 bottles of wine, which, despite the loss of some $5,000 worth of inventory in the quake, remains superlative. Aided by a roster of well-edited bar snacks and regular industry and winemaker nights, Fleming and Bailey have created a community center of sorts. "There were great restaurants in Napa, and people sharing meals in their backyards," says Fleming, "but there wasn't a set location." Although the word "cadet" refers to someone in training, it's clear that Bailey and Fleming are consummate pros.
930 Franklin St. (Near 1st St.), 707-224-4400
Drink With the Pros: A new industry clubhouse.
Stomp the Hell out of Some Grapes: Tap your inner Lucy.
Assess the Aftershocks: How to lend a hand to the recovery.
Eat Killer Grub: Don't let the quake quell your appetite.
Thank the (Mostly) Merciful Wine Gods: Why it could have been worse.
Toast to Unharmed Bottles: Warm-weather drinking at its finest.
Find Serenity on the Silverado Trail: The newest attractions not on Highway 29.
Party Like a Pro: The Best Wine Events
Originally published in the October issue of San Francisco
Have feedback? Email us at firstname.lastname@example.com
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Sign & Thrive!
How to Make Six Figures as a Mobile Notary & Signing Agent for the Mortgage Industry
Life as a mobile notary and signing agent is all about flexibility. You can work full time and build your own business, or you can work part time (or full time) as an independent contractor for existing signing companies. Or do both! The options are endless. Whichever you decide, the Sign & Thrive Course by Notary Coach will give you the blueprint for success.
Do you dream of working only when you want to? As a signing agent, you decide when you'll work and where. Spend evenings with your family. Make it to daytime appointments. Work 3 weeks, take 1 week off. You decide. It's all about having flexibility and options.
Whether you aim to make $2,000 a month, or $20,000 a month, working as a mobile notary and signing agent can get you there. NOW is a great time to be in business, especially real estate and the professional notary business. You can make as much, or as little, as you want!
It feels GOOD to be in a business you can be proud of. As a Notary Public, you are sanctioned by the State in which you reside, and you perform duties that are critical in the prevention of mortgage fraud. This business matters! Grow your business as you please. No products to sell. No team to recruit. This is all about you and the quality of service you provide.
What are you waiting for?
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By the Numbers: Monte Kiffin vs. Rob Ryan
By the Numbers: Monte Kiffin vs. Rob Ryan
If you respect Larry Lacewell's opinion—and a certain owner obviously does—you have reason for optimism. The former scouting director has told several reporters that Kiffin will have no trouble making his mark in Dallas.
Meanwhile, Rob Ryan will reportedly become defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams. One of several reasons cited for the change in Dallas was that the defense under Ryan simply lacked discipline.
There will be plenty of time to debate the pros and cons of this move, but here are a few numbers to consider.
Age at the Beginning of the 2013 Season
Kiffin: 73
Ryan: 50
Experience as NFL Defensive Coordinator
Kiffin: 15 years
Ryan: 9 years
Defensive Philosophy
Kiffin: 4-3 in a relatively simple system known as the Tampa-2
Ryan: 3-4 with a relatively complex system of blitzes and coverages
Number of Teams Coached (Before Dallas)
Kiffin: 3
Ryan: 3
Number of Playoff Seasons While Defensive Coordinator
Kiffin: 8
Ryan: 0
Number of Seasons with Winning Records While Defensive Coordinator
Kiffin: 7
Ryan: 0
Number of Times Defenses Finished in the Top 5 in Yards Allowed
Kiffin: 8
Ryan: 1
Number of Times Defenses Finished in the Top 5 in Points Allowed
Kiffin: 6
Ryan: 0
No, these numbers don't mean everything, but there is a good chance fans won't have to put up with so much hype that surrounded Ryan.
By the Numbers: Monte Kiffin vs. Rob Ryan | Know Your Dallas Cowboys:
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By the Numbers: Monte Kiffin vs. Rob Ryan Reviewed by Mr. DCStands4 on 8:16:00 PM Rating:


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Today the Booth welcomes guest poster Kenna Lee, who reflects on a month of just saying "NO."
Don't ask me how I was so lucky as to be the one to receive this divine revelation, but there I was, racing down the road of my overly-scheduled, hectic life, when I suddenly saw this mental billboard: November starts with N.O.
Like most great discoveries (electricity comes to mind), it's been there all along. No. Nooooo-vember. A whole month of "no," just waiting for someone to come along and grab it. And guess what? That same month comes around every year. Just when you need it most.
This year we needed it more than ever, as this is the year that I finally embraced my inner environmental activist and started running around getting arrested at the White House and hanging up big signs at community events, doing teach-ins, and generally spending too much time posting updates on the Keystone XL pipeline for all my Facebook friends. Not to mention my usual school garden volunteering, which included the rash promise to post recipes every week on a school garden blog. Oh, and also not to mention my full-time job as a night nurse. And did I say I'm a single mom?
Each week this fall, I would lie down on my chiropractor's table, finally exhale, and say the same thing: "I never stop."
So in late October, I declared that November would be a whole month of N.O. Long exhale. A whole month of freedom. No activist events, no craft fairs, no social events that we don't all absolutely positively want to go to. No going to the farmer's market where I always spend too much money, no going out to eat. No throwing parties. No calling the White House or my senator, no keeping petitions to sign in my inbox, no responding in any way to mass emails. And no guilt.
I've been busy, and I'm taking a month off, and all these no's mean I have some big yeses for my kids. Not very visible ones, but we all feel them: yes, I can help you with those moccasins you started back in August, yes, we can make chow-chow and can it, yes, we can sit on the couch and read, yes, we can build a door for the hole you cut in the wall. Yes, we can stay in our pajamas all day. No looking through catalogs for good deals or gift ideas—straight to recycling, along with every single one of the direct-mail pleas for end-of-year donations. I usually keep those, stack and sort them according to priority, and try to send what money I can. But if I think about it, I know which charities I want to donate to, and I know how to donate online, and I don't need the clutter or the attendant guilt that I haven't sent the donation in yet.
The most radical "no" has been this: no grocery shopping. This was not part of my original plan, but honestly, all the running around in the past few months had my bank account in scary territory.
How to recover in time to buy an organic turkey for the holidays: stop shopping! We get a veggie box from our CSA farm each week, and honestly, often I end up letting a few items get old and rot. The CSA box comes with milk, half & half, and butter, and I can pick up a loaf of bread at the farm when I pick up my box. Funny thing I noticed: when I'm not supplementing with other groceries, nothing gets old and rots. Hmmmm. During all the other months, when any given foodstuff runs out, I replace it. This means that behind the front layer of dry and canned goods in my pantry there is a collection of dusty, seldom-seen items. These got taken out and dusted off right after Halloween this year, thanks to a food drive at the kids' school. Unnoticed by me, most of our canned goods had collected small rust spots, past-due expiration dates, or some sticky coating resulting from a leaking, improperly preserved jar of marinated figs. Which obviously rendered them unfit for donation to the food drive. And once I'd noticed, I couldn't really put them back into the pantry. Stacking a bunch of aging cans of kidney beans, hearts of palm, and coconut milk on my counter turned out to be a powerful motivator to get out of my cooking rut, get creative, and get rid of the cans. So for a month, we have survived on fresh vegetables and random canned food. Surprisingly, the kids have enjoyed the more creative meals, even if there have been occasional complaints about the dearth of quesadilla ingredients in the fridge. Plus, as a total surprising bonus, none of us got botulism (whew!).
As for the "no activities," it's not that we didn't do anything all month, it's just that any offers that came along had to be compelling enough to override the automatic "no." So, although we skipped many, many cool and interesting local events this month, I did go to see my friend's lamps at a pre-holiday craft fair, and even bought one. But I didn't have to go. The lamp is funky and captivating, hanging in a previously too-dark corner of my living room, its light shining out through multiple layered images of an apple with one bite taken out of it. For the artist, the apples refer to our local apple producers and the "eat local" imperative (which is also emblazoned across the lamp), but to me, it's more a symbol of how often we succumb to the temptation to take one more, and one more, and one more bite, until we have more than we can chew. Furthermore, the lamp has a switch, as a reminder that anytime I want, I can turn it all off.
Now that NO-vember is almost over, I am looking forward to adopting the same practice every year. Without any further effort than the implementation of "no," we are all rested, our house has less dust bunnies than it has since my youngest was born, we have multiple craft projects racing toward completion, my pantry is clean and spare in readiness for the holidays.
And to me, the space created by saying "no" echos with a resounding "yes." Yes to NO-vember. Now that seems like a tradition worth keeping.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Reflecting on the month of "NO"vember
2 comments:
- Dea-chan said...
Brava! This isn't something that I have a problem with it my life, but if I ever do, I now know what to do!
But seriously, congrats. That's amazing -- both figuring out what's the problem, and SOLVING it!
- December 3, 2011 at 9:38 PM
- Green Bean said...
I love this post! I feel exactly the same way. Too many yes'es to too many things. Thank you for this reminder during this very busy time of year.
- December 8, 2011 at 1:28 PM
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Tag: farming, Nemo's Garden, real Nemo's Garden, Sci-fi, underwater, underwater farm, underwater vegetable farm, underwater vegetable garden
The Future Is Now: Nemo's Garden Is a Real Underwater Vegetable Farm in Italy that Might Fix World Hunger!
C. LucianoSep 30, 2015Like
WOW! That was all I had to say after learning about the innovative and completely revolutionary farm people in Savona, Italy created: an...


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Imagine that you are an experienced movie director. The writing team gave you an amazing script. You were able to cast the perfect set of actors and special effects gurus. The filming went exceptionally well and you are even happy with the editing and music. The studio's marketing team is doing a great job and you hear that presales of the related merchandise is at record levels.
Your job is done -- or is it?
The movie opens in two days and your team is still testing the interactive component of the film. Using personal sensors worn by audience members, your movie adjusts on the fly based on the audience's emotional response in real time. Not scared enough? Add a bass beat in that particular showing to match a faster heart rate and some subsonics to make the skin crawl. If heart rates and other stress indicators show the audience is too scared to follow the plot... bring down the bass and make other subtle changes.
This is not science fiction, but rather how I think the application of biomedical sensors to entertainment (and entertainment is just the tip of the iceberg) could go given the players already in the field.
Irish innovators from Shimmer Research are developing a variety of wearable wireless sensors. Shimmer has worked with filmmaker and new media consultant Gawain Morrison of Filmtrip as Morrison's team develops, "Sensum," an emotional response system that can easily be worn by audience members. Filmtrip makes movies more engaging and has gained acclaim for their work at South by Southwest and other new media festivals.
This level of engagement with our own reactions, our customers, clients, and colleagues is available today. You may already be involved in some level of engagement through sharing your workouts, blogging your interests, or tweeting about your work. Filmtrip gets to the leading edge by creating a film, a work, that is better due to the engagement with its actual audience at the moment, not just with what they thought the audience would be like during production.
We all need and can have this level of engagement in our work.
We may not all have biomedical sensors to show how we are connecting with our work, but we all need to think about how else we can get 20/20 insight into:
- Our own work
- The work of our teams
- Our organizations
- The organizations we cross paths with
And then, how to use that insight such that our work, no matter our industry, is improved.
This is 2020 Engagement
Greater transparency, greater responsibility given the trust offered along with the transparency, and a supporting need for continued professional development. Do you have an example to share?
For more on the Shimmer technology see Kieran Daly's (VP Business Development) recent post on using the technology during the Allianz Business to Arts Awards -- tracking his biomedical responses as Shimmer won!
To follow Gawain Morrison, Filmtrip, and Sensum, please visit their blogs at http://www.filmtrip.tv/ or http://sensumco.tumblr.com/


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South Carolina Wedding Invitations
Each element of your wedding should be chosen with your theme and feel in mind. One fantastic way to give your guests a taste of what is in store is your wedding invitation suite! These South Carolina wedding invitations designers, calligraphers, and stationers can create a romantic stationery set for your garden fête, a modern invitation for your ceremony in a downtown loft, or a nature-inspired pocketfold for your outdoor mountain wedding.
Whatever your vision, you'll be able to showcase it with the talent of these vendors!
If you sell or design South Carolina wedding invitations and you're not on the list, let's fix that. Just email us your information at email@example.com or use our contact form.
ALF Promotions: invitations and personalized items. 204 Wild Turkey Way, Greenville, South Carolina 29617. (864) 275-2999. firstname.lastname@example.com. Region: Upstate.
Alicia's Gifts and Invites: personalization on invitations, stationery, and more. 3020 Devine Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29205. (803) 730-5898. Region: Midlands.
Avenue Twenty-One: calligraphy services, laser cut decor, and gifts. Charleston, South Carolina. (843) 732-8171. email@example.com. Region: Lowcountry.
Blue Bird Notes: invitations. (864) 214-6128. Region: Upstate.
Brooke Holden Calligraphy: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. (843) 457-8864. firstname.lastname@example.com. Region: Grand Strand.
Budget Print: 510 Carteret Street, Beaufort, South Carolina 29902. (843) 524-3442. Region: Lowcountry.
ByFarr Graphic Design: 504 Gervais Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29201. (803) 200-1004. Region: Midlands.
Charlotte and Lily: 7821 North Kings Highway, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 29572. (843) 945-1552. Region: Grand Strand.
Columbia Printing and Graphics: 1204 Sumter Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29201. (803) 779-1299. Region: Midlands.
Dearly Creative: Charleston, South Carolina. (610) 306-5187. email@example.com. Region: Lowcountry.
Dodeline Design: invitations and design services. 1051 Johnnie Dodds Boulevard, Suite E, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina 29464. (843) 860-8308. firstname.lastname@example.com. Region: Lowcountry.
DPK Invitations: 808-A Lady Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29201. (803) 695-2655. Region: Midlands.
ElisaBella Weddings: 22 Wentworth Street, Charleston, South Carolina 29401. (843) 801-3228. email@example.com. Region: Lowcountry.
Extras by Emily: Calligraphy services and custom vintage stamps. firstname.lastname@example.com. Region: Lowcountry.
Image to Impact: Irmo, South Carolina. firstname.lastname@example.com. Region: Midlands.
The Ink Basket: 110G West Wesmark Boulevard, Sumter, South Carolina. (803) 774-260. email@example.com. Region: Midlands.
Invitation Station: 4525 Forest Drive, Columbia, South Carolina 29206. (803) 790-7797. Region: Midlands.
M+M Printing and Graphics: invitations and business printing. 1300 West Darlington Street, Florence, South Carolina 29501. (843) 662-2412. firstname.lastname@example.com. Region: Pee Dee.
Mac and Murphy: 74 1/2 Cannon Street, Charleston, South Carolina 29403. (843) 576-4394. email@example.com. Region: Lowcountry.
Memorable Moments: 812 Brookline Drive, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 29579. (843) 450-9936. Region: Grand Strand.
Oh La La: 6912 North Kings Highway #B, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 29572. (843) 449-8040. firstname.lastname@example.com. Region: Grand Strand.
The Olive Shoe: 3300 North Main Street, Suite #176, Anderson, South Carolina 29621. (864) 221-6554. firstname.lastname@example.com. Region: Upstate.
ONBB: complete planning services, design assistance, and invitations. PO Box 171133, Spartanburg, South Carolina. (864) 809-2539. firstname.lastname@example.com. Region: Upstate.
Palmetto Pizazz: invitations and gifts online. (864) 908-1039. email@example.com. Region: Upstate.
Paisley and Paper: invitations and gifts in a boutique setting. 1818 Augusta Street, Suite 103, Greenville, South Carolina 29605. (864) 242-1466. email@example.com. Region: Upstate.
Peaches and Cream: 522 Broadway Street, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 29577. (843) 424-4514. Region: Grand Strand.
Pink Pineapple Art Co.: Charleston, South Carolina. Region: Lowcountry.
Pretty Papers and Gifts: 1000 William Hilton Parkway #E7, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina 29928. (843) 341-5116. Region: Lowcountry.
Rossignol's: 817 Bay Street, Beaufort, South Carolina 29902. (843) 524-2175. firstname.lastname@example.com. Region: Lowcountry.
RSVP Shoppe: 3324 South Highway 17, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina 29576. (843) 299-1145. firstname.lastname@example.com. Region: Grand Strand.
The Scratch Pad: invitations, stationery products, and gifts. 409 Mill Street, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina 29464. (843) 884-3433. firstname.lastname@example.com. Region: Lowcountry.
Silver Starfish Stationery: custom designed invitations and paper products. 237 King Street #2a, Charleston, South Carolina 29401. (843) 818-4292. email@example.com. Region: Lowcountry.
Sofia Invitations and Prints: letterpress, invitation design, and custom paper products. 250 Mill Street, Taylors, South Carolina 29687. email@example.com. Region: Upstate.
Tin Can Paper Boutique: 103 West College Avenue, Hartsville, South Carolina 29550. (843) 861-1828. email@example.com. Region: Pee Dee.


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Direct: 250-477-9947 | Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Valerie Edwards
|Purchase Amount:
|Down Payment:
|Interest Rate:
|Payment Interval:
|Mortgage Term (Years)
|Closing Costs ($):
|Closing Costs (%):
For instance, I can provide access to the SmartEquity Program (worth $1600) which will be provided free when you obtain your mortgage through my preferred mortgage broker. His services are free so you have everything to gain and nothing to lose. Not only will all financing options be clearly explained and the best possible interest rate obtained, the Home Equity Program will enable you to pay off your mortgage in almost half the time, SAVING YOU TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS!!
Another program available is the Canadian Home Renovation Program (CHRP), which provides a creative financing option for considering more suitable homes than you may have thought possible.
I would be happy to explain more about these and other programs and information.
If you are not currently working with a REALTOR®, just call or fill out the form below or email me with your complete contact information so I can send you more information and we can begin a conversation about how you can best achieve your real estate goals.


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IDTechEx Show! USA 2017 Highlights. Watch Now.
A must attend event for anyone with even a slight interest in printed electronics - absolutely the most comprehensive industry representation of any printed electronics conference
It is refreshing to note this conference continues to grow in both the number of attendees, and it's relevance to the emerging printed and flexible electronics industry innovations." Therefore we find the annual Printed Electronics USA Conference offers us ideal timing for the announcement and promotion of our new product introductions, because we know key decision makers will be attending the event.
The networking event for printed electronics!
Glad to see the growth. We plan to attend next year as well.
The Printed Electronics USA show was very successful for our company. We were met with great interest and already know after one week that several of the potential customers we met are very serious. Thank you IDTechEx for your good organization and service.
We thoroughly enjoyed this year's event. The conferences were very informative and we were exposed to plenty of new and exciting technologies that we believe can help our company reach the next level. Looking forward to next year.
For Printed Electronics, there is no other event that holds a candle to this one.
Excellent! So many partners and customers.
This event is led by IDTechEx analysts who have studied the topic since 2002.
We cover the most important topics and invite key companies to present to showcase end user needs, case studies and genuine technology breakthroughs.


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LED Sign - Nails ( Pick Up Only )
- 4375
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( Pick Up Only )
Color: Red, Blue
Indoor LED Signs are high quality LED signs with years of reliable operation.
These 2-in-1 LED signs feature static (non-flashing) mode of display with a push of a rocker switch.
Comparing to conventional neon signs, these LED signs are much more superior in many aspects which include effectiveness, durability, energy efficience, safety, and maintenance.
•Super bright, wide viewing angle LED bulbs provide strikingly visual impact and draw customers' attention.
•Very long life up to 100,000 hours of usage suitable for round-a-clock advertising.
•Low power consumption with only 10 watts of power.
•Low voltage (12-24V) shattered proof and light weight housing.
•Major maintenance is nothing more than cleaning dust on the housing.
•Solid construction of the LED sign withstand against damage and breakage during shipment.
•Built-in steel chain hanger.
•One year limited warranty.
Demension Size: 26.8 x 11.4 x 0.75"


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I was in Waterstones a few months ago and after my usual lengthy deliberations I made my way to the checkout. Then this book caught my eye.
First off, it has to have one of the most beautiful covers that I have seen. The colours, title and imagery seem to jump off the page. The look and feel of this book are a taste of the magic that lies within. Purchasing it must be the quickest decision that I have ever made with a new book buy.
Allie Esiri has achieved greatness here with her astute selection of poems. Far too often, poetry anthologies reach beyond the needs and understanding of the everyday reader. I still remember my own experiences of poetry during my teenage years where frustratingly a lot of high art poems were forced upon me and only went over my head. I was given these poems because they were supposed to be 'classics' but when I back at those experiences now I see that they were given to me out of context.
What Allie Esiri has done here is selected a mixture of poems that can be easily grounded into the everyday life. There are lots of fun poems here that play on words or ideas such as Edwin Morgan's 'The Loch Ness Monster's Song' or Kenn Nesbit's 'Xbox, xbox.' They are poems linked to special days or historical events so they jump from their historical context straight into your imagination. Eleanor Farjeon's 'Pencil and Paint' links well with the changing of the seasons as does Ted Hughes 'Leaves.'
Poems such as 'Lord Ullin's Daughter' and 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' tell stories that will stay with you. Then there is a mixture of all the old favourites from Shakespeare, Rudyard Kipling and Wilfred Owen to name but a few. The table of contents reads like a who's who of distinguished poets but what Esiri does with aplomb is refrain from forcing them down our throat. She selects them to suit the mood and time of year that they are most appropriate for
This is not just a selection of the editors favourite poems or those poems that we 'should know' but instead it is an excellent guide that both informs and supplements life as we know it. Esiri's choice of poem and poet is almost uncanny. For example, I read John Jarmain's 'El Alamein' literally days before I happened to view the war memorial at Stonehaven in East Scotland and this definitely enhanced my experience.
This is a book that shows how poetry should be both enjoyed and loved. It shows how poetry should be shared and used for inspiration. Already I have used this book to create simple art and creative writing projects of my own. This book can be read as a good night story or a late night reflection.
I would recommend that you buy one copy for yourself and one for a friend. This anthology is pure gold.
The Social Book Company offer a free price comparison service for this and all books. To get this book at the best possible price from all major retailers click here:
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This project was my first test in the professional field. The program called for a small generator expansion building for an office in Oak Brook, Illinois. The building would include a generator, fuel storage, loading dock and access to existing storage areas on the interior of the building. Design was an important consideration because the existing building was designed by Mies van der Rohe. We had to incorporate the critical equipment necassary into a design that would respect the sensitive existing architecture. This project was an excellent learning oppurtunity for me because of my deep involvement with it from design concept through construction documentation to completion.
2007- 2009 – Professional


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Gas is Cheap in Lufkin, By Comparison Anyway
Sure, California has its benefits. The weather is gorgeous, movie stars abound, and there are plenty of hotties walking up and down the street.
But how can anyone afford to live there? Be glad you live in East Texas, where drivers are enjoying some of the cheapest gas in the country. Believe it!
Gasbuddy.com says the average price in Lufkin right now is around $3.60. That's about $1.00 cheaper than a gallon of gas in California.
Gas prices have topped $5 at some stations in California. Yikes.
Gasbuddy.com says there was one station in Long Beach, CA over the weekend that listed its price at $6.65 per gallon. Some quick math says filling up a 20 gallon tank at that price would cost you $133. Would that even be worth driving to work? Perhaps if you're a movie star.
Some of California's price climbs are related to power outages and tight supplies along the west coast, and that's not expected to spread to us here in the south.
It seems strange to say it, but we can be happy about paying $3.62 at the Shell at Champions Drive and US 59. (That was Gasbuddy.com's price Sunday night, of course that may change today.)
Sure, $2.20 would be great, but things could be worse. Just crank up the tunes and enjoy the ride.


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Create an Account - Increase your productivity, customize your experience, and engage in information you care about.
July 19, 2018, 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM @ VC Community Building and Library
Common Ground is a mobile market that delivers fresh picked fruits and vegetables from Pearson's Farm and other local growers to senior centers across Sedgwick, Harvey and Butler County. The market targets food deserts and low income areas where residents have little to no access to fruits and vegetables. All forms of payment are accepted. OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.


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i decided to go with the brown ruffle instead of searching around for more blue yarn. my sweet friend (who doubles as my fashion consultant) and i both agreed it would flow better if the ruffle were brown. and it does. but i do love the blue stripes. my next goal is to learn how to knit/weave in the yarn ends as i am knitting. most of the the stripes are only two rows in width so i had lots of yarn ends to weave in!
but it is warm and lovely. the wool is chunky and smooth. and, though the pattern is simple, i really like it. i look forward to knitting it up again with totally different yarns and colors. surgery is a week away, so i have not worn the shawl yet. the plan is to wear it home. i can't wait...or maybe i can.
(and, in case you were wondering, no, i don't have a model fetish. this room doubles as the sewing room so the pictures in the background are of fabrics and styles and the cuts of clothing that i like even if i don't dress anything like the pictures.)