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Suppose you find your IDS instance hung? There are users waiting and you need to run some diagnostics quickly.. what information do you collect? Hopefully you'll never be in that situation thanks to IDS's legendary uptime but it's good to be prepared..
A new Technote is available which includes a (UNIX) script to gather information that will be useful to Technical Support: What to collect if a IBM Informix IDS server gets hung. Give it a try and see what you think. You can enter feedback directly, or put it here and I'll forward it to the author.[Read More]
Administrating and Developing with Informix
What to collect in a hang situation..
gbowerman 100000B5T0 Tags:  unix troubleshooting 1 Comment 10,236 Views
IDS 10.0 supports multiple MSC VPs
gbowerman 100000B5T0 Tags:  performance 2 Comments 8,797 Views
Until Informix Dynamic Server 10.0 the number of MSC (or Miscellaneous) Virtual Processors was limited to one. With IDS 10.0 multiple MSC VPs can be configured using the VPCLASS onconfig parameter (e.g. VPCLASS msc,num=2), or added dynamically using onmode -p 1 msc.
What does that mean and why would I want to use it?
The MSC VP is a type of AIO VP, executing operating system calls on behalf of other threads. While the AIO VP mainly takes care of filesystem I/O calls the MSC VP executes some network and authentication calls like getpwnam(), gethostbyname(), gethostbyaddr() etc. (It also maintains some statistics like VP CPU usage.) The MSC VP gets used at client connection time for the operating system part of user validation, and in most cases one is sufficient.
Get to the point
In some cases, for example when a connection pool creates a large number of client connections at once, and/or when a PAM (Pluggable Authentication Module) implementation causes the operating system part of user authentication to take longer, the MSC VP can either be very busy serving the new connections or waiting for the OS to respond. When this happens new client connections can take longer to service and users will see a longer delay when connecting for the first time. Situations like this might benefit from having an extra MSC VP. Running onstats like onstat -g iov, onstat -g glo and onstat -g stk <tid> can help show what the MSC VP is doing but keep in mind there are other possible causes when new connections experience delays (such as operating system and network problems) so some troubleshooting (and tech support assistance) would generally be required, but at least dynamically adding a VP is an easy test to make if you suspect this might help.[Read More]
IOD Conference, Anaheim, Oct 15-20 2006
gbowerman 100000B5T0 Tags:  iod conference 5,819 Views
The classes and presentations are being finalised for the IBM Information on Demand conference at Anaheim on October 15-20. Here's the flash:
The main Informix related topics can be viewed here: Data Servers - Informix, also scheduled are some pre-conference technical education courses on Sunday 14th, including a one day Informix Dynamic Server Problem Determination Class. I'm scheduled to talk about "Rapid Development using Java Server Pages (JSP) and IDS" on the Wednesday, though I hope I get to attend the rest of the conference. Entertainment will be provided by Wayne Brady and Gladys Knight! among others.
Here's a link to the conference blogs.[Read More]
IDS on Windows Series at jgp.net
There are some useful "getting started" articles about installing IDS on Windows at Jean Georges Perrin's website: IDS on Windows Series. Every step of the installation includes a picture so it's worth a look for anyone wanting a little more graphic detail than the IDS Installation Guide for Windows. Note these articles have been linked from IIUG website since June.[Read More]
Update on IDS Security Fixes
Following the recent IBM disclosure concerning the IDS security fixes, David Litchfield of NGSS announced the vulnerabilities at Black Hat 2006 this week.
At the risk of sounding biased, here are a couple of quotes from the SearchSecurity.com write-up that to me illustrate the differences in the approach of IBM and certain other database companies when it comes to fixing security vulnerabilities:
"The good news, Litchfield said, is that IBM has already addressed the flaws in versions 7.31.xD9, 9.40.xC8, or 10.00.xC4. Unlike his often strained exchanges with Oracle, Litchfield said IBM has been responsive."
"While the Informix problems have been addressed, Litchfield said they point to a larger issue: Database flaws are pervasive throughout the industry. He again used Oracle as an example, noting how the database giant has fixed more than 100 serious flaws but has yet to address another 400-plus vulnerabilities, which is the estimated number of unpatched flaws according to his work and that of other researchers."
A key lesson that NGSS often repeats is to make use of the existing security features available in your data server and operating system to restrict unauthorized access and hence minimize the opportunity for malicious use. For IDS look out for Jonathan Leffler's Paranoid DBA presentation and note the new Security chapter in the IDS 10.0 Administrators Guide.[Read More]
The rise of Informix
gbowerman 100000B5T0 Tags:  sales 4 Comments 8,546 Views
The Q2 numbers are in and Informix Dynamic Server experienced another large increase in revenue to build on the growth of Q1. As usual the details are not released publicly but I am officially allowed to say, and I quote..
IDS license revenue grew by double digits in the first half of 2006
Important security fixes announced
Please note the new Flash Alert on the IDS Support website reporting security vulnerabilities addressed in the recent interim releases of Informix Dynamic Server.
The end results of an investigation by Next Generation Security Software (NGSS), who provided IDS Tech Support and Development sufficient time to fix all the issues they found before making any announcements, are tested and toughened interim releases of IDS across all current code branches (7.31, 9.40, 10.0). Upgrading to the latest interim is, needless to say, recommended.[Read More]
Bay Area - Informix Tech Fair - Free!
gbowerman 100000B5T0 Tags:  conference 2 Comments 9,737 Views
Back in May I mentioned there may be a tech fair in Menlo Park later this year. I was a few miles out but if you're based in the California Bay Area mark your calenders for September 14th - the Bay Area Informix Tech Fair is going ahead in San Jose. This is an opportunity to spend a day learning about Informix topics from Advanced Support and Development engineers and meet other Informix users in the area. If you'd like to attend or have questions please RSVP..
FREE Informix Tech Fair
IBM Informix Advanced Support & Development Speakers:
Ajay Gupta, Guy Bowerman, Joaquim Zuzarte, Santosh Sajip, Suma Vinod,Vijay Lolabattu
Technology Demos
Come and see demos integrating several application technologies.
Free Consulting
Having a problem or question about Informix? Talk to an engineer and get free advice about your specific issue. Time is limited.
WHEN: September 14, 2006 9:15am - 4:30pm
4400 N 1st St, Suite 100
San Jose, CA 95134
RSVP: firstname.lastname@example.com
[Read More]
Setting up HDR on a single instance - new article..
gbowerman 100000B5T0 Tags:  unix hdr windows 2 Comments 11,398 Views
A while back I briefly discussed how to set up High-Availability Data Replication (HDR) on a single Windows machine for testing purposes. One of my compadres has just written a much more in-depth guide to doing this which was published today - see: Setting up HIGH AVAILABILITY DATE REPLICATION (HDR) on a single installation of IBM Informix Dynamic Server on Windows.
If you prefer to do your HDR testing on UNIX try this older article instead: Setting up HIGH AVAILABILITY DATA REPLICATION (HDR) and ENTERPRISE REPLICATION (ER) on a single installation of IDS 9.40 for testing purposes.[Read More]
Plug for IDUG EU 2006
gbowerman 100000B5T0 Tags:  conference idug 6,869 Views
Received a speaker marketing kit for the IDUG 2006 Conference in Vienna today so now might be a good time to post a flyer for it. Note there is a chance to win a free registration on the website.
There's a diverse range of sessions listed. I'm signed up to deliver five presentations - IDS Internals for Windows, Application Performance, and three talks on Informix and Java - JDBC, JSP and J/Foundation - what was I thinking?
Conference aside, it's always a pleasure to take in some Austro-Hungarian architecture and a litre or two of Gold Fassl.[Read More]
Solano is Documented!
gbowerman 100000B5T0 Tags:  krakatoa solano java 2 Comments 9,597 Views
A few months ago I logged a bug requesting that Solano be documented.
Solano has been in Informix Dynamic Server since around 9.30 and is the best IDS feature that no-one has heard of. (Ok there may be lots of better features no-one has heard of but lets not get bogged down in epistemology.) I wasn't holding my breath since I didn't provide a business case or customer request, just the argument that it's a potentially useful feature people should know about.
When a new interim version of IDS is released I'm sure the first thing you do is check the Documentation Notes for the J/Foundation Developer's Guide right? but for some reason I only just noticed that a reference to Solano makes an appearance in the 10.00.xC5 docnotes...
Dynamic Server has the ability to host a JAVA application server, such as an EJB container or custom HTTP server,within the database server by using a Solano-style database server connection string. For example:
So what does that mean?
It means that you can use Krakatoa (aka J/Foundation) to run a Java application that doesn't return, such as a webserver or application server, inside IDS. For example if you define a Java method that launches your app server and map it to a user defined routine, you can execute that routine to start the server and the application can listen on its own port, running in the IDS address space, and make internal database connections to the database of its choice. Another method (or the same one with a different argument) can be mapped to shut the server down.
This may not appeal to application developers used to the 3 tier client - app server - db server model but in some circumstances it can be useful. For one thing network overhead between the application server and data server is eliminated. Deployment can be simplified; you can write a self-contained application that can be installed by running an SQL script, rather than relying on installing and maintaining a third party application server. Security can be improved, for example you could reduce possible attack vectors by disabling socket connections into the data server and having all database access go via the Solano application which makes internal database connections. The most obvious disadvantages to this kind of application would be that you may not want to write your own application server, and having all your client network connections going to the data server may not fit your performance model, scalability is untested as far as I know.
At this point I should probably come up with some example code to show how this works, and contribute to the official documentation to make it more expansive. Will endeavour to do both of these in the near future.[Read More]
Unofficial oninit blog
Was pleased to find another Informix blog, the Unofficial oninit blog.
You might want to learn some Japanese before reading it though. Being somewhat linguistically challenged I didn't understand much, but I understand a gargoyle saying "GA-HA-HA!!" when I see one. Or is that an Onigawara..
Update 7/20/06: I get it now, it's a Shisha![Read More]
ESQL/C script for Cygwin GCC - final
Here's a 3rd revision of an ESQL/C script for Cygwin GCC on Windows. It's a bit neater with a case statement and some basic error checking thanks to some feedback from Jonathan Leffler. His feedback went much further in error checking, including calling an ESCAPE routine, for which he provided the source. For now I've left it as a standalone script with limited error checking but accept that a more production-ready version should have better error checking. If you're curious about the ESCAPE code, Jonathan will shortly be uploading it to IIUG.
This version adds support for some more ESQL/C arguments, and makes it easier to add new ones as required.
if [ $# -lt 2 ] ; then echo "$USAGE" exit 1fi
if [ -z $INFORMIXDIR ] ; then echo INFORMIXDIR not set exit 1fi
for i in "$@"do case "$i" in -ansi|-thread|-n|-nowarn) # pass some flags to pre-processor ECFILES="$ECFILES $i";; *\.ec) # select .ec file arguments for pre-processing BASE="$(basename "$i" .ec)" CFILES="$CFILES $BASE.c" ECFILES="$ECFILES $i";; *) OTHERARGS="$OTHERARGS $i";; # other arguments go to compiler esacdone
# pre-process .ec fileseval esql -p $ECFILES || exit 1
# pass processed files to compilereval $CC -I$INFORMIXDIR/incl/esql $CFILES $OTHERARGS \ $INFORMIXDIR/lib/isqlt09a.lib $INFORMIXDIR/lib/igl4n304.lib \ $INFORMIXDIR/lib/iglxn304.lib $INFORMIXDIR/lib/igo4n304.lib -mno-cygwin
Review of recent Informix developerWorks articles
There have been a few new Informix developworks and support articles in the last month or three. Here are my favourites:
Web development
Improved Windows ESQL/C script for GCC
Update (7/10/06): Latest version here.
Here's an improved script to compile ESQL/C programs in a Windows Cygwin environment using GCC. This one takes multiple arguments such as .ec, .c, .lib files, and handles the -ansi, -n, -nowarn, -o and -thread options. It doesn't handle all ESQL/C specific arguments, though it would be easy to adapt it to handle most of them. If no -o option is specified the output executable name will be the basename of the first argument if it is an ec file or otherwise it will be a.exe.
[Read More]
Compiling ESQL/C programs on Windows using GCC
Q. How do you build an esql/c program on Windows without using the Microsoft Visual Studio compiler?
Jonathan Leffler recently posed this challenge, and here's one possible solution using Cygwin GCC..
2. Compile the .c file using gcc, specifying the Client SDK link libraries.
Here's an example Cygwin shell script that takes a .ec filename (without the extension) as an argument and creates an executable:
esql -p $1.ecgcc -o $1.exe -I$INFORMIXDIR/incl/esql $1.c $INFORMIXDIR/lib/isqlt09a.lib \ $INFORMIXDIR/lib/igl4n304.lib $INFORMIXDIR/lib/iglxn304.lib \ $INFORMIXDIR/lib/igo4n304.lib
It generates some syntax warnings for sqlproto.h but the resulting executable appears to work fine. The executable will have a dynamic dependancy on the cygwin1.dll file. This dependancy can be avoided by statically linking the cygwin library using the -mno-cygwin switch, e.g.:
esql -p $1.ecgcc -o $1.exe -I$INFORMIXDIR/incl/esql $1.c $INFORMIXDIR/lib/isqlt09a.lib \ $INFORMIXDIR/lib/igl4n304.lib $INFORMIXDIR/lib/iglxn304.lib \ $INFORMIXDIR/lib/igo4n304.lib -mno-cygwin
This example has plenty of room for improvement. Is anyone already doing this? Any suggestions for a better version of the above script?
Update (7/10/06): Latest version here.
[Read More]
Connecting with an invalid username can be slow on Windows
If you have a Windows domain installation of Informix Dynamic Server, and there are a large number of trusted domains in your network, connecting to IDS with a non-existant user it can take a long before the expected -951 error is returned. This happens because the Windows API function to lookup the account name can check all trusted domains if a domain name is not specified. The larger the domain forest, the longer the failed connection can take.
This problem has been logged as APAR 34657782 and it should be fixed very shortly. A workaround is to always fully qualify the user name by specifying domain\username at connection time.
Random grainy cellphone snap of the day:
Roppongi at night[Read More]
Notes from Shibuya
gbowerman 100000B5T0 8,093 Views
Spending a week in Tokyo assisting with a competitive migration along with a colleague from Development. Being in a new place makes me snap-happy so expect some poor photography..
Random grainy cellphone snap of the day:
A view from the IBM office in the Shibuya district, with the high rise Shinjuku district in the distance.
[Read More]
Informix JDBC Connection Pool - a minimalist tutorial
The first post to this blog was a minimalist tutorial on setting up a JDBC connection pool with Tomcat, but until now I hadn't looked into implementing a connection pool for a standalone JDBC application.
The Informix JDBC driver comes with a connection pool demo that compares connection times for a series of pooled and non-pooled connections. In order to get it to work I had to get hold of the following JNDI jar files and include them in my CLASSPATH: jndi.jar, providerutil.jar, fscontext.jar.
The Informix connection pool demo is a good way to see the benefits of connection pools, but I find the code, which involves three separate data source properties files, a little difficult to follow. Having the attention span of a drunk hoverfly means I need tutorials and examples to show me the minimum information necessary, then I might just comprehend before I lose interest.
Here is a minimalist guide to implementing and using a standalone JDBC connection pool for Informix Dynamic Server (IDS). It makes the assumption that you already have IDS and JDBC installed and working together.
1. Create a connection pool data source properties file.
Here is an example file called myCPDS.prop - change properties as needed:
2. Create and register a data source and a connection pool data source
This example, regcp.java, creates and registers a data source called myDS.
import java.io.*;import javax.naming.*;import com.informix.jdbcx.*;Note that Context.PROVIDER_URL was set to a Windows style directory - on UNIX you'd set this to a UNIX-friendly path.
3. Write code that uses the connection pool
This program gets one connection from the (pooled) data source and then disconnects.
import java.sql.*;import javax.sql.*;import javax.naming.*;
Once this is working, connections can be opened and closed at will, which causes connections to be taken from and added to the pool. See the IBM Informix JDBC Programmer's Guide for further information.
One word of caution, make sure your PROVIDER_URL directory is secure as binding information is stored there. If you don't want your password in this file, don't put your username and password in the .prop properties file, but specify them at connection time by calling ds.getConnection() with user and password arguments.[Read More]
Scripting Dbaccess
The dbaccess user interface might not have changed much since the invention of the abacusbut it's very flexible when it comes to running scripts. For example to execute a file containing SQL commands against a database called mydb:
dbaccess mydb sql_file.sql
Or if the SQL commands already include a database connection statement:
dbaccess - sql_file.sql
If you wish to enter SQL statements interactively without the menu, enter
dbaccess - -
Suppose you want to integrate a series of SQL statements within a UNIX shell script or Windows batch file. A simple method would be to pipe commands one at a time into dbaccess, e.g.:
echo select col1 from tab1 | dbaccess mydb
Or you could chain a series of SQL statements together to send to dbaccess. This is a typical methodwe'd use to create a self-contained bug reproduction. An engineer can then reproduce the problem byexecuting the shell script.
Here's a UNIX shell script that creates a database, inserts data, queries a table, and drops thedatabase:
#!/bin/shdbaccess - <<EOFcreate database test;create table t1(col1 serial, col2 char(20));insert into t1 values(0, "hello");select * from t1;close database;drop database test;EOF
Can this be done with a Windows batch file? Yes.
Here's the equivalent batch file:
echo create database test; ^create table t1(col1 serial, col2 char(20)); ^insert into t1 values(0, "hello"); ^select * from t1; ^close database; ^drop database test | dbaccess -Although it lacks the power of UNIX shells I can't help enjoying the simplicity of the Windows command language - 10 commands are easy to remember.
While I'm on the subject of integrating shell scripts with SQL, it's worth mentioningMarco Greco's Structured Query Scripting Language (SQSL). An open source project that provides a method of integrating SQL statements withreporting and formatting commands.[Read More]
Inside Role Separation on Windows
gbowerman 100000B5T0 Tags:  windows security 4 Comments 12,036 Views
Informix Dynamic Server Role Separation can be important for data server installations where clearly defined security roles exist. This post describes how to disable Role Separation on Windows if you decide you don't need it after all, and how to partly enable it - maybe you no longer wish to maintain separate users and groups for specific DBA tasks, or maybe you don't want to add valid users to the ix_users group before they can connect to the database..
The Informix documentation for configuring Role Separation on Windows states quite clearly:
You cannot turn off role separation once you have enabled it. To remove role separation,you must uninstall the database server and reinstall it without role separation.
This is for a good reason - to disable role separation without reinstalling involves editing the registry, and if that goes wrong it is back to reinstalling. It is better to follow the policy that if a task requires direct edits to the registry it is not supported.
With suitable disclaimers in place here's how Role Separation can be disabled on Windows without reinstalling IDS. The required edits are presented in the form of a regini script. In order to use you would need to modify it to set "ol_myserver" to your INFORMIXSERVER value. If anyone knows how to specify an environment variable as a registry key in a regini script please let me know..
; Regini script to disable IDS Role Separation; Last modified 6/6/06 - Guy Bowerman
Once a customized version of this script is run, check the changes were made correctly, and then manually delete the ix_aao and ix_dbsso Security groups that were created at install time. When IDS restarts it should be back to its default un-role separated state.
What this registry structure implies is the possibility of having a partial role separation implementation. For example, suppose you don't want separate DBA roles, but do want to improve security by only allowing members of an ix_users group to access the data server. You could implement this by creating an operating system group for your users, and then setting the
value from "*" to the name of your group.[Read More]
How do you see stdout when IDS runs as a Windows Service?
Generally it shouldn't be necessary to see oninit output to standard out or standard error - informational and error messages go to the online log or the console log. Even assertion failures and access violations are trapped and recorded in the log and assertion files. Possible exceptions to this rule are:
On UNIX oninit output to standard out will appear in the console window where oninit was launched. On Windows, since IDS runs as a Windows service, the output is lost. One way to see this output is to run oninit in foreground on Windows (see an earlier post), but suppose the problem you're trying to investigate only occurs when IDS runs as a service?
The solution is to set the environment variable ONINIT_STDOUT to point to a file where the stdout and stderr output are to be printed. This needs to be set as either a system-wide environment variable or a user environment variable for the informix user.
For example if I set ONINIT_STDOUT to c:\temp\oninit_out.txt in Control Panel and start IDS in verbose mode with:
The c:\temp\oninit_out.txt file will contain the full verbose output from the IDS initialization.
I was fairly sure this feature was documented - it's been in the product since 9.30.TC7, but a quick search draws a blank - will try to get this added to the documentation.[Read More]
Trouble with locales
gbowerman 100000B5T0 29 Comments 48,647 Views
If you've recently installed Informix Dynamic Server (IDS) 10.00.UC4 and have ODBC or other client applications, you might notice an error message like this when connecting to IDS:
[Informix][Informix ODBC Driver] Database locale information mismatchThe problem is related to a an IDS bug fix in 10.00.xC4. The defect is:
Prior to this bug fix IDS would not complain if the DB_LOCALE environment variable was set to en_US.CP1252 on the client and set to EN_US.8859-1 or EN_US.819 on the database server. This is a mis-match which is now correctly flagged as an error.
The problem is the default DB_LOCALE value on Windows in the United States used to be set to en_US.CP1252, so if you didn't specify otherwise there would be a locale mismatch between the client and server by default. The correct fix to this problem is to set the default DB_LOCALE value on the client to the same as the default value on the server. You can specify this in the ODBC connection string or when creating the DSN.
With IBM Informix Client Software Development Kit (CSDK) version 2.90.TC6 and higher the default United States DB_LOCALE is now set correctly and matches the server value. The related defects are:
The latter fix makes it easier to set up a DSN without worrying about locales.
If you really need this working and cannot wait for a CSDK fix, and cannot change your application to specify a DB_LOCALE that matches the server in the connection string, you can set the IDS server environment variable IFMX_UNDOC_B168163 to 1 (ignore the fact that "168163" does not match any of the above defect numbers). The server will then revert to the old behavior of accepting the mismatched locales - however it is much better not to do this - mismatched locales, even when similar, can potentially lead to data corruption.[Read More]
New Features in IDS 10.00.xC5
gbowerman 100000B5T0 6,048 Views
A transfer of information to Technical Support took place at an uncivilized hour this morning detailing some of the new features in the IDS 10.00.xC5 interim in preperation for general release around the end of the month. Here are the highlights:
The following new features are described in the 10.00.xC5 release notes...
You can use the IFX_FOLDVIEW configuration parameter to enable viewfolding, which can significantly improve the performance of a query thatinvolves a view. When the IFX_FOLDVIEW configuration parameter isenabled, views are folded into a parent query instead of the queryresults that are put into a temporary table.
To switch it on set the FASTPOLL onconfig parameter to 1.
[Read More]
Settlement Program Interfaces
While perusing the Microsoft Settlement Program Interfaces - a set of under-documented API calls that Microsoft agreed to make public to settle an anti-trust case with the Government and nine State Attorneys - looking for a recursive directory create function, I realised the code in my last blog entry on identifying whether a Windows user is an Administrator or not could have been greatly simplified with the IsUserAnAdmin()function. Using this function a program to identify whether a user is an administrator or not could be written as simply as:
The Settlement Program Interfaces contain other code-savers that I forget to use.. file path manipulation functions like PathGetShortPath(),PathIsExe(),PathResolve(), ShCreateDirectory() - the directory create function I was looking for.
Other functions to do with cryptography, shells, and unicode strings look interesting too - just have to remember to look there from time to time.[Read More]
Identifying administrators in a native Windows domain
One of our partners recently pointed out an authentication problem with the IDS install program on Windows...
If you install IDS on a Windows Server 2003 native domain, and you're an indirect member of the local Administrators group - that is you're a member of a group which is a member of the local Administrators group - the IDS install program will complain that you are not a local administrator and exit. Strangely this only happens on a native Windows Server 2003 mode domain (see this Microsoft Technet Article for an explanation of domain functional levels). If IDS is installed on a mixed mode domain a nested/indirect local administrator user is validated ok.
A little debugging showed the problem is down to a change in behaviour of the Win32 NetUserGetLocalGroups() network management function. The install program passes a user name to this function to enumerate the local groups the user is a member of, and sets the LG_INCLUDE_INDIRECT flag to make sure indirect group membership is included. For some reason in a Windows Server 2003 native domain this flag no longer appears to work.
What I'd normally do at this point is report this problem to Microsoft and await an explanation, but this needs to be resolved in a hurry and fortunately there is more than one way to enumerate the groups a user belongs to. A workaround is to get a Token handle for the current process, and call GetTokenInformation() to enumerate the groups, e.g.:
OpenProcessToken(GetCurrentProcess(), TOKEN_READ, &hToken);...GetTokenInformation(hToken, TokenGroups,(LPVOID)grpInfo, dwLength, &dwLength);
The token doesn't care if a user is a nested member of a group, so to determine if a user has local Administrator rights, each token can be compared with the local Administrator Security Identifier (SID). For example, get the Administrator SID:
AllocateAndInitializeSid(&sia, 2, SECURITY_BUILTIN_DOMAIN_RID, DOMAIN_ALIAS_RID_ADMINS, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, &pAdminSid);Loop through each group and compare sid's:
for (i = 0; i < (int) grpInfo->GroupCount; i++) { if (EqualSid(pAdminSid, grpInfo->Groups[i].Sid)) { isAdmin = TRUE; break; } }This workaround seems to be ok, so although it looks like a problem with NetUserGetLocalGroups() we'll probably change our code.
Update: 5/23/06 - I forgot about the Settlement Program Interfaces and the IsUserAnAdmin() function. We'll probably just call that..
In case anyone runs into this problem, the bug reference is:
It should be fixed in the first 10.00.TC5W1 interim release, but if you need this fixed beforehand use this bug reference and contact Informix Technical Support.[Read More]
IDS and Terminal Server/Remote Desktop
With XP and Windows Server 2003 having Remote Desktop functionality built-in it's become a standard way to maintain lab machines and to work remotely. I tend to use a combination of VNC for Windows 2000 and Remote Desktop (which I'll refer to as Terminal Services from now on) for W2K3 and 64-bit windows.
To support multiple sessions, applications running on terminal services clients need to specify Global namespaces when connecting to server objects (such as shared memory). When the APIs changed, a few fixes were required to Informix Dynamic Server to fully support terminal services.
Some people may run into problems using terminal services on XP as there are various trialware copies of IDS 9.40.TC2 for Windows floating about, including one downloadable from IIUG. The last terminal services bug was ironed out in IDS 7.31.TD9 and 9.40.TC5. (IDS 10 fully supports terminal services.)
For the completist, here are the bug fixes (with links to technotes where relevant):
151637 'ONSTAT -' IN 'TERMINAL SERVICES' SESSION REPORTS 'SHARED MEMORY NOT INITIALIZED ...' - fixed in 7.31.TD5 and 9.30.TC6 and higher
161355 SERVER INSTALL ON A FRESH XP MACHINE REPORTS THAT THE SERVER WAS NOT INITIALIZED CORRECTLY EVEN THOUGH THE SERVER INITIALIZED SUCCESSFULLY - fixed in 7.31.TD9 and 9.30.TC6 and higher
162925 SERVER INSTALLED ON .NET MACHINE REPORTS THAT THE SERVER WAS NOT INITIALIZED CORRECTLY EVEN THOUGH THE SERVER INITIALIZED SUCCESSFULLY - fixed in 7.31.TD9 and 9.40.TC4 and higher.
165897 ONBAR CAN FAIL WITH 'NO RESPONSE WAS RECEIVED FROM THE DATABASE SERVER' ON WINDOWS WITH TERMINAL SERVICES - fixed in 7.31.TD9 and 9.40.TC5 and higher.
[Read More]
New features since IDS 10.00.xC1
gbowerman 100000B5T0 4,646 Views
Though IDS interim releases are usually regarded as bug-fix releases, every interim release since 10.00.xC1 has included a set of new features.
I plan to look at some of the upcoming 10.00.xC5 features later this month, but should first mention the xC3 and xC4 features (note 10.00.xC2 was not a general release). The following list is mainly borrowed from one of ScottishPoet's recent comp.databases.informix newsgroup posts:
New Features in Version 10.00.xC3
- to this I should add support for multi-threaded multiple listener threads on Windows (catching up with the UNIX 10.00.UC1 feature), and Tivoli TDP for Informix support on Windows.
New features in IDS 10.00.xC4
Some of these, particularly TRUNCATE TABLE can have a huge performance impact. There are more performance improvements on the way in xC5 too, along with security and Windows-specific features.[Read More]
Informix Tech Fair Report
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The Informix tech fair took place today here in a pleasantly cool and sunny Beaverton. The main events were:
Informix Application Development Overview - my survey of the available Informix drivers and code examples in various languages. I was surprised to learn how much Informix open source activity there is out there when researching this talk, and thank Jonathan Leffler for providing some very useful material.
A surprise demo of a phpIDSAdmin - an IDS admin tool we've been putting together which demonstrates some of the new server administrative features coming up in IDS 10.5.
Sun Technology Talk. Greg Kriekenbeck from Sun spoke about IDS 10 on Solaris 10 and shared some results from recent benchmarks they've been running. He highlighted some of the performance and tracing features in the open source Solaris 10 OS. The Sun team reminded us of the competition to Win a free $20K Sun AMD Opteron 64bit Server.
Free pizza and a chat with some of the local IDS developers.
Ian Ilsley's Introduction to IDS Extensibility - covering UDRs, datatypes, blades and some of the newer extensibility features in IDS 10.
Rekha Nair from the Migration Team showed us a demo of the latest IBM Migration Toolkit (MTK) which now includes tools to migrate from Oracle and Sybase SQL Anywhere to IDS, with more features coming soon.
Hyun-Ju Vega's IDS Fragmentation (Table Partitioning) talk - including defining fragmented tables, altering, attach/detach, monitoring and new fragmentation features in IDS 10.
The day ended with a quiz to win a glamorous IBM laptop briefcase thing. Overall it went well, there are even rumours there might be a tech fair in Menlo Park later in the year.[Read More]
Informix Driver for Ruby
Just as I was wishing there was more Informix support for Ruby, one of my colleagues unearthed this open source Informix driver for Ruby project. Kudos to Gerardo Santana for creating it.
Check out the Driver site for some programming examples and installation instructions.[Read More]
IDS Marketing
gbowerman 100000B5T0 5,646 Views
Informix marketing can be a contentious topic amongst Informix aficionados, the feeling in some quarters being that there should be more of it and it should be better, or to paraphrase Stuart Litel: "if Informix sold sushi they'd have called it raw dead fish".
I saw some interesting sales numbers this morning. The exact numbers are not public information but I can say with my clear technical support conscience that IDS sales and revenue experienced impressive growth in the last quarter, and that marketing is being stepped up.
All I've heard officially on the Q1 revenue is (and I quote):
"IBM is investing to grow the IDS business into the future. It is now a strategic server in the Information Management Portfolio. We have embarked on several initiatives including ISV revitalization and business partners enablement. Along with renewed customer confidence in IDS' future, we have seen very positive Q1 results in our efforts to grow the IDS business."
I've also seen the number of IDS development engineers grow (including many senior engineers coming back to IDS) recently, several of them here in Beaverton which is great for us, so right now I'm experiencing mildly elevated serotonin levels on the subject of where IDS is going, though that could be the cup of tea I just had.[Read More]
Who is DBA?
Currently trying (without much success) to ignore all distractions and work on my presentation for the Informix Tech Fair next week.
Question of the hour
Q. Is there an easy way to see which users have been granted dba privileges for a database?
A. Connect to the database and run the following query:
select username from sysusers where usertype = 'D' and username != 'informix';[Read More]
Ways to start IDS on Windows
gbowerman 100000B5T0 Tags:  windows 3 Comments 11,905 Views
There isn't much to starting IDS on UNIX - set your environment (INFORMIXSERVER, INFORMIXDIR, ONCONFIG, PATH) and run oninit as user informix or root.
Making IDS start automatically when the machine is started can be a little more challenging as you need to edit the /etc/rc.d files to set the environment and launch oninit.
On Windows IDS is designed to run as a Windows service and there are more ways to start it. At least making IDS start automatically is easier, just locate the IDS service in Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Services and modify the Properties to set Startup Type to Automatic. Another good thing is that for most startup methods, there is no need to set the environment.
Here's a look at the methods of manually starting IDS on Windows and their relative merits:
The GUI method - fine for starting manually with GUI access to the machine.
net start %INFORMIXSERVER%
The standard command line method for starting a Windows service. Disadvantage: doesn't let you pass command line arguments to oninit.
%INFORMIXDIR%\bin\starts %INFORMIXSERVER%
Does what net start does but allows oninit command line arguments. For example to bring an IDS instance to quiscent mode:
starts %INFORMIXSERVER% -s
Run oninit from the command line.
The oninit.exe process can be launched in foreground by setting the IDS environment and running oninit directly. Unlike on UNIX where it will fork and return you to the command prompt, it will run in foreground and not return the DOS prompt to the command line. Generally this is not recommended but can be useful when:
1. Troubleshooting a problem with the IDS service - sometimes if the IDS service won't start, launching oninit in foreground can help eliminate possible causes - for example if the IDS Service informix user password is set incorrectly.
2. Launching IDS in a relative directory to run HDR between two instances on the same machine (see an earlier post).
Update June 9 '06:Run oninit.exe from a command shell in background.
I hadn't thought about this method until I saw a comp.databases.informixthread that mentioned it. If you start a command shell as informix (or use runas) and run start /b oninitthe oninit.exe process will be launched in a background command window. This is a way to see verbose output from oninit, but still keep the process running in background. Because it's not running as a Windows service, oninit will not get its environment from the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Informix/Online/%INFORMIXSERVER%/Environment registry key but from the user's environment. This is not necessarily a disadvantage as long as it is understood - in fact sometimes it can be an advantage. The only inconvenience is the need to be the informix user when you run it. You could work around this by wrapping it in a runas script like this:
runas /env /user:informix "start /b oninit"
I typically use the starts method. For example the following batch file shuts down and re-starts IDS (assumes you have a gnu, Cygwin or equivalent tool like sleep installed), and takes command line arguments:
onmode -yksleep 4starts %INFORMIXSERVER% %*[Read More]
Informix Tech Fair - May 2
Back from vacation to find a nice brew of problems awaiting... meanwhile here's the flyer for the next Informix Tech Fair here in Beaverton:
Informix Tech Fair
FREE Informix Tech Fair
Talks include the following topics:
IBM Informix Advanced Support & Development Speakers:
Guy Bowerman, Ian Ilsley, Hyun-Ju Vega, John Miller
Technology Demos
Come and see demos integrating several application technologies.
Free ConsultingHaving a problem or question about Informix? Talk to an engineer and get free advice about your specific issue. Time is limited.
WHEN: May 2, 2006 between 9:15 – 4:30
WHERE: IBM Beaverton
Rhein Building
15300 SW Koll Parkway
Beaverton, OR 97006
RSVP: firstname.lastname@example.com
If you're in the area drop by. If you have any questions post a comment here or RSVP.[Read More]
Taking a break
gbowerman 100000B5T0 4,688 Views
I'll be out on vacation for a few weeks. This blog will be back on April 19th.[Read More]
Hacking HDR on Windows
Setting up High-Availability Data Replication (HDR) is well documented, but users of IDS on Windows have to jump through one extra hoop compared to UNIX users.
When IDS is installed and initialized on Windows it puts the dbspaces in a path which contains the INFORMIXSERVER name. For example c:\ifmxdata\my_server1\rootdbs_dat.000.
A requirement for setting up HDR between two servers is that they both have the same dbspace paths, so in this example if the secondary server is called my_server2 the IDS instance will need to be re-initialized with a new root dbspace location to match that of my_server1.
Setting up HDR on a single machine
Suppose for testing purposes you want to operate HDR between two instances on a single machine (something our QA department likes to do from time to time)..
On UNIX this can be done by setting the onconfig parameter ROOTPATH to a relative value (as opposed to an absolute path), for example "rootdbs". This will cause oninit to look for a root dbspace in a path relative to its current working directory (which is wherever oninit was started from). If the primary and secondary HDR servers are installed in different directories but have the same relative path settings for dbspaces the standard set up method can be followed and the instances can connect and replicate successfully even on the same machine.
On Windows IDS is generally started as a Windows service... so what is the current working directory of the oninit process?
The answer is %INFORMIXDIR%\bin - so to set up HDR between two instances on a single Windows machine:
1. Install two IDS instances in separate directories.
2. Create an empty root dbspace file somewhere under %INFORMIXDIR%\bin for each instance.
3. Set the ROOTPATH onconfig parameter to the relative location under %INFORMIXDIR%\bin for each instance.
4. Follow the standard HDR set up steps.
Having to put a dbspace under the bin directory is a bit of a kludge and a bug (176568) was recently logged to address that.
A colleague reminded me there is one way you can choose the current working directory for the oninit process on Windows, and that is to run oninit in foreground - it will pick up the cwd from the location of the command line prompt as it does for UNIX - following this method you wouldn't require the IDS instances to be installed in different directories - just start them from different directories. The only downside is you are left with two windows running oninit.exe in foreground on your desktop.[Read More]
Python API InformixDB-2.2 released
gbowerman 100000B5T0 2 Comments 7,218 Views
As of March 26th version 2.2 of InformixDB - the open source Python extension module for connecting Python applications to IBM Informix database engines - is available. New features include support for BOOLEAN types and improved support for DECIMAL and MONEY as well as various bug fixes.
For more information on how to use InformixDB check out the InformixDB manual, and the README.[Read More]
5 Minute Informix RSS Feeds
gbowerman 100000B5T0 Tags:  apache java php 2 Comments 12,080 Views
RSS feeds provide a convenient way to display up to date information directly in your Firefox browser toolbar. I for one spend more time perusing the BBC News and Slashdot feeds than I should.
Implementing an RSS feed that displays database information is very simple, hence the 5 minute Informix RSS feeds..
These two examples, for JSP and PHP, display a summary of the last 20 orders from the IDS stores_demo database. They both use the following IDS 10.0 SQL query:
Five Minute JSP Informix RSS Feed
If you have a working Tomcat installation setting it up to work with Informix JDBC drivers is as simple as copying the JDBC jar files into $CATALINA_HOME/common/lib and restarting.
Customize the machine, Informix Server and links in this code and create a new Tomcat webapp. The resulting URL can be added to the Firefox toolbar as a Live Bookmark.
Five Minute PHP Informix RSS Feed
Here's the equivalent code in PHP. This example uses the Informix PDO Driver.
This should result in the same output as the JSP example.
What next?
The look of the XML output when viewed from a browser can be improved by using an XSL stylesheet, and various parameters such as refresh interval (TTL) can be tweaked. There are some good RSS tutorials and books available, or it can be fun to reverse engineer the stylesheet of your favourite news feed to see what they do.[Read More]
Windows Annoyance Fixed!
If you've ever used dbaccess on Windows and have your Command prompt screen buffer height set to greater than the old default of 25 lines, you've probably seen the screen buffer corrupted after exiting from dbaccess. A typical symptom is getting a directory listing by running 'dir' and seeing the listing obscured by fragments of earlier screen output.
I'm pleased to report this problem is finally resolved, with the fix of product defect 175362:
With the fix in place, the screen buffer is saved when dbaccess is started, and correctly restored upon exit. Look for this in the next IDS interim version, 10.00.TC5, or for those who can't wait, the fix is already available in the 10.00.TC4W2 post-interim drop.
So, you might be wondering, when is IBM going to offer a fully featured interactive GUI SQL editor for Informix?
There are some interesting projects currently underway in this area, I hope to provide more updates soon.[Read More]
Setting up a Tomcat Connection Pool
gbowerman 100000B5T0 Tags:  java apache 13 Comments 19,918 Views
Firstly, welcome to the Informix Application Development blog coming to you from rainy Beaverton, Oregon. I plan to use this blog mainly for Informix application development technical notes and tips, and anything else pertaining to Informix that crosses my mind.
I needed to set up a connection pool for a JSP application using Tomcat 5.5 and the Informix 3.0 JDBC driver recently and had a hard time finding any Informix specific instructions, so thought I might aswell start with that..
Since connection is an expensive part of a JDBC application it makes sense to maintain a connection pool, particularly for simple applications which connect/disconnect each time the page is viewed. Tomcat 5.5 comes with the Jakarta Commons Database Connection Pool implementation built-in so configuring a connection pool to work with any JDBC driver is fairly straightforward, and can be divided into 3 steps. In the following notes $CATALINA_HOME is assumed to be the path where you installed Tomcat, the application under webapps is called jspdemo, the INFORMIXSERVER is ol_myserver on mymachine:
1. Add a Context entry to conf/server.xml.
The Context entry goes in server.xml before the end of the Host definition </Host>. Add a Context entry for each connection URL required.
Edit $CATALINA_HOME/conf/server.xml and add:
Read the Tomcat documentation for more information on the resource parameters such as maxActive and maxIdle.
2. Add a Resource reference to WEB-INF/web.xml.
If the application directory is jspdemo, the web.xml file will be:
$CATALINA_HOME/webapps/jspdemo/WEB-INF/web.xml - If you don't have one a Tomcat tutorial should guide you through creating a basic one. Before the </web-app> tag add the following:
Note the res-ref-name is the same as the Resource name defined in server.xml.
3. Modify the JSP application to get the Connection from the connection pool.
Add javax.naming.*,javax.sql.* to your JSP page import tag.
Replace the old
Connection conn = ...with:
Restart Tomcat to re-read the server.xml settings and the connection pool should be operational. After a few connections run onstat -u at the database server to see the pooled sessions.
[Read More]


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Road Travelled: Bangkok, Thailand
Before I left, others that had travelled here before told me that two days in Bangkok was more than enough. Unfortunate news for me, considering I had planned to spend two weeks in the city.
Let me set the record straight. Two days in this bustling city would pass in the blink of an eye. There is always something interesting happing, something surprising or odd to see. With an adventurous spirit and wandering feet the city offers up so many hidden gems.
After leaving our apartment every morning, set on exploring some temple or palace, I am always happily interrupted by something intriguing happening down some street. Before I know it I'm deep into some back allies exploring all sorts of hidden paths.
The street food is so diverse - and sometimes so smelly- but find the right stall and your taste buds will be salivating. The mango sticky rice is delish! And the pineapple is heavenly. I've resolved to never pass up a street snack that looks yummy….When in Bangkok right?
We spent the day yesterday wandering through a few of Bangkok's temples. From afar I thought the wats looked like they were painted in gold.
But a few steps closer and I realized the detail put into their construction. The colors are made up of small glass mosaic tiles, no bigger than an inch wide.
The colors here are so vivid. From the red and blue dragons decorating the outsides of temples to the majestic orange robes of monks shuffling from one prayer room to the next. It is a sensory overload.
We climbed to the top of Wat Arun this afternoon. What a rush. The steps are precariously steep, the kind where you know better than to look down as you're climbing. But the view from the top makes it worthwhile, even for those with a fear of heights.
The temple, which sits off the Chao Phraya River, dates back to the golden era of Ayutthaya. It was named the Temple of The Dawn after a royal fleet of King Taksin arrived at the temple precisely at dawn to pay homage to the Emerald Buddha that was once housed there. It's one of my favourite places I've seen so far. Peaceful, eclectic, colorful.
Only one of many amazing cites in the city…. Out to see as much more as I can.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Trademark 'Yak Karpatia' manufactures wooden doors according to the latest technology of laminated saw timber of natural wood (oak, pine, beech) of any size for any purpose. We offer front and interior doors, office and balcony doors, hinged or pull-out doors, solid or with stained glass embedding, dyed in any colour or covered with some transparent lacquer. The wooden doors of the TM 'Yak Karpatia' are going to be an excellent addition to the interior of either a big house or a small apartment for many years. Even your grandchildren will still enjoy their perfect look.
The doors of the TM 'Yak Karpatia' are made of laminated Euro saw timber which preserves its natural wood characteristics, at the same time it keeps its shape and size, doesn't warp with temperature drop, does not crook, bend, shrink and has an excellent heat proof.
We manufacture doors specially for you that is why every customer's order is individual and is separately calculated. You have a wide range of architectural glass, various finish hardware of German manufacturers and a wide palette of colours of finish water-based lacquers Cetol WF 956, as well as semitransparent lacquers which underline the wood structure at your disposal.


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Eight Martinis Remote Viewing magazine – Issue 14 – April 2016
This issue is packed with great insights, Remote Viewing examples and articles on a large range of Remote Viewing and ESP topics from some of the key people within Remote Viewing and is packed with 68 pages.
It contains the following:
• Moving Sideways in Time – Lyn Buchanan
• WWC Group sets the pace in Associative Remote Viewing – T.W.Fendley
• 18 Years of Excitement: CRV Stories from a Professional Remote Viewer – Lori Williams
• An interview with Angela Ford – A Project Star Gate Remote Viewer – Daz Smith & Angela Ford
• Archetypes, Atoms & Alchemy Remote Viewing in a (Quantum) Nutshell – Dr. David Shaver
• CIA Sponsored American Institutes of Research (AIR) Remote Viewing Report in 2016: The View From Under The Bus – by Teresa Frisch
• Remote Viewing Example: Rock Hewn Churches, Lalibela, Ethiopia – Hitomi Akamatsu
We hope you enjoy this Issue and feel free to email us with and comments & feedback.
Click here to download for FREE or to order a printed copy.angela ford, CRV, daz smith, esp, lyn buchanan, meditation, paranormal, PSI, Psychic, remote viewing, RV, science


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It's been a busy few weeks for me between work, birthday parties and the usual day to day things that keep me hopping. But I have had some time for craftiness! Today I'm going to wax poetic about the Patterns for Pirates Sunshine Dress* that I sewed up for this year's Maxi dress sew along. The Sunshine Dress hadn't even been on my radar at all despite being released a year ago and suddenly I was completely smitten and had to make it.
|It has pockets, just as any good dress should have! :)
The reason it suddenly popped onto my radar was that I have a slight obsession with the custom fabric shops that are all over Facebook these days. I joined one group, Blended Threads, which somehow led me to another group, True North Fabrics, that led me to Kiss My Stash, which led me to Elevated Fashion Fabrics which led me to Sew Sew English. (I clearly need help. Send some sort of intervention now!!!!)
The common things I kept noticing throughout all the groups was mention of DBP. Now what the heck is DBP??? Double Brushed Poly, or as I've seen it referred to as "Unicorn fur" or something along those mythical lines. I was skeptical. Polyester? Brushed? Twice? It made me think of the old nighties and pjs from the seventies and early eighties that were definitely polyester - sort of scratchy on the inside, but kind of soft and fuzzy on the outside. Everyone was raving about it though. And the prints that I was seeing coming up in the various groups were stunning. So finally I bit the bullet. I am so absolutely and easily led. I bought a couple of yards on a pre-order from Blended Threads. I'd bought a few different fabrics this spring from her already and been really impressed with the quality and the customer service. Plus she's practically local being in Saskatchewan, so I felt like she wouldn't lead me astray at all.
|(PS: I'm walking here, not practicing standing like a flamingo...)
The fabric came and it is glorious. Soft and luxurious. Nothing like those old pjs and nighties at all. But then I wasn't sure what to make with it. It seemed too special to make just anything. I was flummoxed as to what would be suitable. Then a sew along showed up for the P4P Sunshine dress in the Sew Sew English Facebook group and I kept looking at all the gorgeous finished dresses. The cut seemed to flatter so many different figures and everyone seemed to be on the DBP bandwagon, so I hopped on too. The more the merrier!
And boy am I glad I did. First off, the pattern is fabulous. No adjustments nor muslin for that matter were made, I went on blind faith alone. Oh! I did cut a smaller skirt size just because of fabric constraints and well, quite frankly I didn't feel my hips needed quite as much width of fabric as the pattern called for. But that's more a size blending thing than an actual pattern adjustment in my books. So fit is spot on out of the package (Ok, off the printer, if we're going to quibble), and now lets talk about ease of sewing. Nothing challenging about it at all. Instructions were top notch. Everything lined up beautifully. The end result looks like it is a lot harder to acheive than it actually is. Easy peasy lemon squeezy as my little boys would say.
And Double Brushed Poly? Well, it's safe to say I've drunk the Koolaid. Not only does it feel luxurious, but it sews like a dream. It doesn't shift or slip and slide while sewing like other drapey knits would! So I'm in. I've got a couple more yards headed my way from Sew Sew English and just received a couple from Elevated Fashion Fabrics.
After sewing up my dress I can definitely say I'm thoroughly impressed with Patterns for Pirates and am really looking forward to sewing up the other patterns I have since bought from them! But first? I think I might have to make another DBP Sunshine Dress or two...


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WHEN Dave Walker went under the surgeon's knife to avoid life in a wheelchair all thoughts of sporting glory were hanging in the balance.
But now the former Olympian is just days away from flying out to Toronto, Canada, for the world masters judo championships - against doctor's orders.Related content
And the former member of the British Olympic team will be looking to add to his impressive tally of 18 medals.
Dave, who runs a landscaping and construction business in Old Hill, has competed in the championships every year since they started seven years ago and has won three golds.
Last year was the first time he did not come away with a medal from the event, so he went under the knife for the second time in January and now has two steel hips. His first bout of surgery was about 12 years ago when he had his right hip "resurfaced" with a new ball and socket.
Dave, aged 54, from Romsley, near Halesowen, said: "I had been doing judo since I was 14 and by the time I was 35 I could barely walk.
"I was forced to give up judo for seven years and my movement was so bad I feared I would end up in a wheelchair."
His osteopath Peter Dutton referred him to top Birmingham orthopaedic surgeon Derek McMinn who set him back on the road to medal glory with pioneering surgery.
"I was able to resume judo after that, but five years ago I started having trouble with my left hip," he said.
"For the first time I did not win a medal at last year's masters judo championships so I decided to go under the knife again in January.
"The doctors don't really want me to take part this time but I am going to anyway. We can fight until we are 75 so hopefully I have many years in front of me."
Dave, who lives with his wife Pam, uses the exercise he gains from his work as part of his judo training.
Putting up garages or temporary buildings, digging up concrete, hard landscaping to redesign gardens and shifting hardcore from the back of a lorry is all part of a day's work for Dave.
And after a day's hard labour he leaps on to his bike for a quick 26-mile cycle ride. He has lost almost two stone in a few weeks preparing for the championships, which will see him competing in 18 to 20 fights over three days.


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dylan marquez
Audio Engineer
Lighting Programer/Operator
Visuals Technician
What is your hometown and what did you love the most about it?
I was born in San Diego, California but I consider Las Vegas, Nevada my hometown. I love that you can see a house show one night and then a major act the very next in an area.
What is the best concert you have ever been to?
It's a tie between Circa Survive and Minus the Bear, both shows were at the Marquee in Mesa.
If you could pick the theme song to your life what would it be?
'I Built This Pool' by Blink 182.
What is your favorite thing about your job/career?
Helping people create memories at an event.
If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
The rainiest patch of the forest in Oregon.
If you could meet and have dinner with anyone from past or present who would it be and why?
It would be awesome to have dinner with Nikola Tesla, I would like to hear about all of his ideas that were shot down by society.
If you could tour with any band or musician who would it be?
I would love to tour with The Devil Wears Prada.
What is one thing on your bucket list?
I would love to video jockey for a major festival.
Who or what inspires you?
I love seeing what is possible in the production world by watching concerts and festivals.
Who do you admire most and why?
I would have to say Joe Rogan, he has a lot to say about our universe and how strange it could be.


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Bühler Service Station
Quality within reach.Bühler Service Stations help to conserve the value of your plants and equipments and ensure their maximum availability over all phases of lifecycle.
Due to the local presence of the Bühler Service Stations easy and speedy access to spare and wear parts as well as sophisticated maintenance services is guaranteed. For highest availability and maximum yield.
Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande Service Station - Our specific offerings:
- Expert services
- Spare and wear parts on stock
- Roll Services
- Pelleting die refurbishment Service
Min. inner diameter: 450mm
Max. outer diameter: 1200m
- Press roll service
- Training and test facilities
- Other preventive service solutions such as scale service, plant service, service agreements etc.


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Getting Out of the Audience
With Jonathan Kay
- Getting Out of the Audience, Glastonbury September 12-13
- Fooling on the Heart of Catalonia September 20-25
- Getting Out of the Audience, Leeds October 10-11
- The Twin Five Day Workshops, Berlin – Workshop One October 19 - 23
- The Twin Five Day Workshops, Berlin – Workshop Two October 26 - 30
- Getting Out of the Audience, Frome September 14-15
- Getting Out of the Audience, Bristol September 28-29
- Find Your Fool Five Day Workshop, London December 9-13
Jonathan Kay is a 21st Century Fool
Having spent over 30 years developing and teaching his structure of Fooling, Jonathan is an adept master at this work. He will cajole, caress and crack open The Fool residing deep within all of us. He will take you gently by the hand and lead you into a discovery of your inner world.
Getting Out of the Audience is an introductory workshop where you can 'dip your toes into the water' and find out what it means to Fool on a stage. It gives you the opportunity to experience this foolishness. Once tasted it draws you in to discover a huge world, which you get to play in, create in and find your Fool in.
Whilst performers, clowns, storytellers and musicians will all find inspiration for their stage-craft, the workshops offer a space for anyone to meet their inner fool and benefit wholeheartedly from the boons to be found in those inner landscapes - lawyers, farmers, nurses, and facilitators have all found their personal pot of gold on these workshops.
The best thing about the workshop is that you don't have to have performer aspirations. This suits everyone with an interest in exploring themselves and the world of the Fool within a performance space. It can be a wonderful catalyst for change, knowledge, growth and fun.
Jonathan Kay has been teaching and leading workshops for more than 30 years, he brings a wealth of experience and insight into the human condition as well as a storehouse of tangible tools, games and exercises to entice you out of the audience of your life.
For information about upcoming workshops with Jonathan, click here.
Join our Meetup group for updates on all our events.


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Impeccably Restored English Cottage with Designer Finishes, no detail left untouched. Grand 2-story wood beamed living room with dramatic staircase and also spectacular media room. New chef's kitchen with granite counter-tops and Sub-Zero/Viking/Bosch appliances. Outdoor living in lush gardens with fountains, al-fresco dining patio with outdoor bar/grill/kitchen and new salt-water swimming pool/spa. Must see. Represented the Buyer.
- Status: Sold
- Address: 1029 S Hi Point
- Location: Carthay
- Price: $1,595,000
- Bedrooms: 3
- Bathrooms: 2.5
- Square feet: 2,700 s.f.


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MaiOtaku.com Announces Anime and Manga Database
IOWA CITY - 12-29-2009 - MaiOtaku, the newest and fastest growing fan-made otaku social network and dating website, is excited to announce a new anime & manga database feature open for public beta today.
The database allows anime fans to keep a public list of the anime they've watched, which also will allow MaiOtaku to do a better job of pairing them with anime fans of the same interests. The database currently contains only a handful of the most popular anime titles, but MaiOtaku's developers say that it is currently being expanded by a team of volunteers.
"There are hundreds of thousands, millions once you include OVAs and manga, of titles out there," said Ryan Kopf, senior developer of MaiOtaku. "We'll be adding more every day for a while."
The anime & manga database will give users the opportunity to learn more about each other and what kind of anime they are interested in. MaiOtaku also emphasizes the database's use for finding legal anime to watch, with links to websites such as Hulu and Amazon.
"It's great to add a title you are currently planning to watch and finding out that it's on Crunchyroll," said Kopf.
MaiOtaku users can already keep a list of anime conventions they've attended, and the anime list is a natural extension of that idea. Users can keep track of convention attendances and even find convention roommates with the current system.
About MaiOtaku.com: MaiOtaku is a unique social network and dating website for anime fans, launched in 2009. Users can keep lists of conventions attended, anime watched, manga read, along with freely communicating with other users through public comments and private messages all for free. On average nine new users join MaiOtaku every day.


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Guide to Relocating to Clark County
Moving is a very busy time that involves coordinating a lot of details but relocating to a new city entirely adds another layer of research and planning. If you're planning relocating to Clark County, give me a call. I can provide a lot of background information to support the following step by step guide, so you are ready to get settled into this beautiful part of the Pacific Northwest.
Step #1: Schedule a time to visit the area.
If you're planning on a move to Clark County, set aside a time to visit the area and do some exploring. This will allow you to get familiar with where things are and what activities and amenities exist. It will also give you a chance to drive around and get a feel for what living areas might suit you best.
Step #2: Start researching Clark County neighborhoods.
Whether you love being in the middle of city living, or you are looking for something more rural so you can be closer to country life, the first step in your search is to find an area of town that is accessible to the things that are important to you. Research what places are close to public transportation, grocery stores, restaurants, activities, or hospitals. If you plan on commuting to work, determine which neighborhoods are closest and if you telecommute, be sure you know how you'll get that done in your new location. Next, look for neighborhoods that demonstrate pride of ownership, so you can ensure that you're in a place where homes are well taken care of and neighbors look out for one another. Not sure where to begin? I can help take you with a tour of some neighborhoods that can fit your specific request.
Step #3: Start home search.
Knowledgeable real estate agents can help you find the right home that fits your specific needs and desires. I have more than two decades of experience helping clients of all kinds helping find a home that fits their unique requirements. I am happy to sit down and talk to you about your budget, the type and size of house you prefer, and help you narrow down some options to make your search more efficient and less stressful.
Step #4: Get pre-approved.
If you're planning on purchasing a home in Clark County, it's important to talk to a mortgage professional early in the planning process. This gives you a clear idea of what you can afford to buy and will help you determine which loan is right for your situation. I am happy direct you to reliable companies and individuals that work in the mortgage industry to help get you started.
Relocating can be an exciting process and doing some planning ahead of time can help make the moving process go smoothly. As a Realtor®, I can help you start the process and can provide tips before, during and after your relocation. I am glad to help you with the information you need to start your adventure.


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CLEVELAND (AP) Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving is playing against Golden State despite missing the morning shootaround because he was sick.
``Kyrie is good to go,'' Cleveland coach Byron Scott said in his pregame press conference.
Irving, who was named an All-Star reserve last week, has been dealing with a lingering bug for several weeks. Scott said he told his young star to stay home Tuesday morning and get rest. Irving was on the court taking shots about an hour before the game as the Cavs try to extend their season-high winning streak to four games against the Warriors.
Irving averaged a league-best 35.7 points in three wins last week and was named Eastern Conference player of the week on Monday. Irving hit a 3-pointer in the final second on Saturday night to beat Toronto.


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July-like heat to bake northeastern US this week
By Alex Sosnowski for AccuWeather
July-like heat will make a comeback over the Northeast this week as temperatures hit 10-15 degrees above average.
Temperatures from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., and Richmond, Virginia, will hit 90 F or higher each day through Friday.
New York City and Hartford, Connecticut, will experience 90-degree temperatures during the latter part of this week.
Average highs for early September range from the middle 70s in Boston to the middle 80s in Washington, D.C.
More from AccuWeather: 2016 US fall forecast: Northeast to dodge season's chill
AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures will climb past 100 for several hours during the afternoon. The pattern will also make for warm nights, when compared to the past week or so.
In terms of humidity, conditions will not be quite as extreme as that of early August and July.
However, people should take precautions during hot and humid weather. Stay hydrated and minimize vigorous physical activity during the hottest part of the day.
More from AccuWeather: Warm fall may jeopardize foliage displays in northeastern US
During this weekend and into early next week, a couple of fronts will slice southeastward into the hot, humid air.
The fronts will bring an uptick in showers and thunderstorms.
More from AccuWeather: Rough surf to batter northeastern US coast as Hermine closes in on New England into midweek
The most notable relief will be across the interior mid-Atlantic and New England, where temperatures can be slashed by 10-20 degrees. However, along much of the mid-Atlantic coast, temperatures will remain near or above average during next week.


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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – (June 14, 2017) Starr Hill Brewery ecstatically presents the release of Summer Jam, their first ever can variety pack hitting the road for the season of music festivals, barbeques and pool parties. The 16-pack showcases four different Starr Hill beers in 12 oz. cans, three of which make their debut in the can format for this limited release package.
Remastered Grateful Pale Ale headlines the Summer Jam set, newly remixed with more citrus hop flavor and balanced with a fuller body. The full lineup of the variety pack includes:
"We're thrilled to release this unique package as our first can variety pack just in time for summer," says Jack Goodall, Marketing Manager at Starr Hill Brewery. "As the temperatures rise and craft beer fans hit the road for their own summer tours, these cans are the perfect companion for any outdoor adventure."
To pump up the summer jams, the Starr Hill team has also curated a collaborative Spotify playlist of their favorite songs for the season on their website at www.StarrHill.com/Summer-Jam. The two-hour setlist mixes new releases with classic hits and covers a wide range of musical stylings to pair with these refreshing beers and summer fun.
Summer Jam Can Variety Pack is now available in retail locations across Starr Hill's distribution area. To find Summer Jam and other Starr Hill beers in your area, visit www.StarrHill.com/Beer-Finder.
Born in a Charlottesville music hall in 1999, Starr Hill is an independent, regional craft brewery founded out of a passion for great beer and live music. Among the most award-winning craft breweries on the East Coast, Starr Hill has won 22 Great American Beer Festival, World Beer Cup and Great British Beer Festival medals. Starr Hill beer is distributed throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions.


text: Many Miami residents have probably had the same thought at some point over the last decade: "hey, what happened to that store on the corner?" In many cases, the answer likely is "the internet made it obsolete." Physical retail space is under attack by what some news outlets are dubbing the "Amazon Effect," which is the process of large-scale companies closing stores because the internet marketplace has turned such physical spaces into financial sinkholes.


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Notice that I put a period at the end of the title because I honestly truly mean that. When I usually talk about the NBA 2016-17′ MVP race, I get into a heated debate with 3,4, or even 5 people telling me how crazy I am because I think Westbrook shouldn't win MVP. Telling me a
Tag: Thunder
Here's the scenario, you have tickets to an intriguing matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Cleveland Cavaliers in November, it all sounds good right? We all know who the big stars are on both of those teams, LeBron James (he happens to be on the Cavs just in case you've been living under a rock) and


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Membership includes:
- Membership for 12 months with HCP evidence on SKGA server (Slovak Golf Association). The cost includes SKGA entry fee.
- Free entry on driving range and training greens of both resorts.
- 20% discount on green fee at all courses of Black & White Golf Resort.
- Reciprocity discounts in our partner clubs (updated throughout the year).
Home club membership:
Price: €72


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Rosslyn Gateway
Luxury real estate branding
Rosslyn Gateway is a planned mixed use real estate development located at the foot of Key Bridge in Rosslyn, VA. Developed by JBG Companies, and designed by Doug Hocking of Kohn Pederson Fox, the project features world class architecture and a prominent location as the gateway to Arlington County.
With its towering skylines, innovative architecture, impressive amount of retail space, and exclusive rooftop signage with visibility from across the Key Bridge and even from planes flying above, Rosslyn Gateway offers more than your average skyscraper. These towers are game-changers that will elevate businesses' and individual dwellers' profiles unlike any other place.
Each tower features floor-to-ceiling glass, spectacular rooftop views of DC's most iconic monuments, spacious outdoor terraces, and a two story trophy lobby.
The 25 story, 320,000 square foot Hotel/Residential tower will feature a 148 room, four-star hotel topped by 133 luxury residential units. The building combines the highest level of finishes and amenities with unparalleled views of the Potomac River and Washington, DC.
Target Audience
For the residential tower - upscale, young professionals; for the office tower - Fortune 500 companies and law firms.
Modern, fresh, bright, vibrant.
Concept Rationale
With brilliant design, dazzling location, and unmatched visibility from all over Metro DC, Rosslyn Gateway doesn't just give businesses and individuals a new prominent address; it gives tenants an edge up on the competition.
The modern, geometric nature of the logotype is inspired by the angularity of the building's architecture, while the fragmented, specular movement and color scheme of the supporting graphic elements is suggestive of light as it refracts through the building's glass towers and sparkles across the Potomac River at sunrise.
Designed while working at HZDG.
Logo system
Graphic elements
Examples of branding usage
What do you think?
atomicvibe would love to know your thoughts on this project!


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Book Recommendation: Framed Ink/
I'm two days into Doodle-a-Day May. If you haven't sent me a request yet, feel free to do so here, on Twitter, Facebook, or in person.
What I love most about art is how big it is. How there's always something more to learn and improve on. To that end, I'm always on the lookout for new art books. I've been reading one recently that I'm sure will have an influence on how I approach my daily doodles (actually, it already has).
Framed Ink by Marcos Mateu-Mestre is a phenomenal book about visual storytelling. A few years ago I had my portfolio critiqued by an art director at a SCBWI conference. He told me too many of the images in my portfolio looked like standalone pictures. It would be better, he said, to have pictures that looked as if they were part of a scene. They should make the viewer wonder what would happen next. They should be part of a story, and tell a small story on their own.
Framed Ink is all about the story. Marcos Mateu-Mestre is clearly a talented and thoughtful artist. Just read the text in these examples.
Amazing right? I never would have thought of things like eye level of the characters, or the subtle acknowledgement of power. The book is packed with neat stuff like that. Framed Ink is available on Amazon if you're interested. I highly recommend it.


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In 2014, we opened 96 new suites, designed by the famous Danish architect, Henning Larsen.
The design of the suites takes its inspiration from Lanzarote's unique white stone houses and contrasting black lava, in combination with the world-famous Scandinavian design culture.
The suites are modern and spacious with stylish interiors and furniture and with large terraces. Many of the suites have stunning views of Lanzarote's breathtaking volcanoes, the lagoon and the roaring Atlantic Ocean.
All the other apartments have been renovated in recent years.
We also opened the new beautiful "El Lago" restaurant, where you can enjoy your coffee or meal overlooking the ocean, as well as a new exclusive conference centre for business meetings and lectures.
Lots of new facilities for your active holiday
See the new Club La Santa being built in only 2 minutes!
The bright and modern suites offer views of Lanzarote's breathtaking volcanoes, the lagoon and the roaring Atlantic Ocean. The suites are located in a quiet area in the middle of the many new facilities, and each one is adapted and designed specifically for wheelchair users and people with reduced mobility.
The rooms are all comfortably furnished and have plenty of space for your holiday essentials such as books, games, magazines, laptop, mobile phones, etc., and there are sockets for chargers.
The bedrooms have twin beds, a spacious wardrobe and a work area that allows you to use your computer, tablet, etc., in a comfortable seating area.
On the spacious terraces you will find outdoor furniture and a sports bench where your shoes and sportswear can air and dry after the day's activities.
The modern kitchens have a raised breakfast bar with toaster, coffee maker, microwave and kettle. The large bathrooms are equipped with shower, toilet, sink and hairdryer, while the second bathroom has a shower, toilet and hairdryer. A second sink is located in the hall area.
All suites are equipped with telephone, TV, air conditioning and free WiFi, and a safety deposit box for storing valuables.


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Myth–busters for the Common People.
with this pseudo–Darwinian
between "winners" and "losers"
in sexual matters!
It's a trick, can't you see that?
Contrary to common belief,
sex is not nuclear physics, my friend;
it is not the privilege of the "capable",
it's something that even crippled dogs can do.
Take a look around you.
Do you see ugly people?
How about stupid ones?
Well, there you have it!
Living proof that we
–the ugly and the stupid–
can procreate.
Feeling better?
Labels: ΕΜΠΡΙΜΈ, ΚΑΚΟ-ΠΟΙΗΣΗ, ΞΕΝΙΤΕΊΑ


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The new 2020 Infiniti Q60 will offer many modern features and excellent performance. This new SUV will be a good auto SUV. Infiniti is Nissan's premium brand for its exclusive cars. As a result, the new Infiniti 2020 Infiniti Q60 will be special in terms of style and performance. This new SUV should be something remarkable and legendary. This new Infiniti SUV will be loved by many people. Some changes inside and outside the 2020 Infiniti Q60 will make the new Q60 better than its predecessor. Some of the new features and technologies for the interior will make the cabin of the 2020 Infiniti Q60 luxurious and comfortable. The performance of the 2020 Infiniti Q60 engine will be better in terms of power and fuel consumption.
Shortly after the big races of last year, an 2020 Infiniti Q60 presents this year its new attractive design. We are all outside is superior to very good, it's beautiful. Just in front, the chrome formed by ice hockey includes increasing the duration of anti fog lights in the form of square grids in which the 2020 Infiniti Q60 is articulated with a shape that its predecessors could not. The entire back is an essential and scattered hide and seek, with a main spoiler hanging around the Infiniti logo. At the bottom, any perspective only on the car is usually located on the reduced dashboard, which gives wider rear tires a broader appearance for the road and, in addition, small outboard motors complete usually chromium. of silk through the red sport. We learned that all front seats are very variable. We therefore assume that many types of bodywork will not encounter any problem when discovering an organic situation in the driver's seat that people present first. The external awareness of the 2020 Infiniti Q60 is generally high and also exceeds the front tires, which should help people detect all the front wheels despite the long hood of the coupe. The bracket makes it possible to overcome more massive roof support beams at the back of any car. However, most of us discover the presence to get a typical total.
Not much has changed in comparison to a different 2020 Infiniti Q60 this year, which may be expressed, but it's an extremely useful coupe that can keep pace with much of what exactly comes from Germany. The 400 horsepower of the double turbo 2020 Infiniti Q60 Red V-6 can have a lot of interest, but we are much more concerned about how a coupe is treated at official rates. Most people admit that people could be influenced simply by this tune of 3. liters of turbo, even so. In sports, this 3 liter tends to generate 300 hp, plus Red Sport reaches the actual body of 400 hp. Any significant difference of 100 horses can be associated with only two variables: the funds (by natural means), as well as all the improvements made to your engine. All sports, not to mention red sports, are generally similar, this second element is only turning into its fuse.
The base model 2020 Infiniti Q60 will cost about $ 43,000, while the hybrid version will cost about $ 60,000. This is not the official fixed price. We have to wait for the official Infiniti information to know the launch date and price. The next 2020 Infiniti Q60 will be launched in early 2020.


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Nursing home residents have rights and protections under the law. Residents have the right to be informed about their medical condition, medications, to see their own doctor and the right to refuse medications and treatments. www.medicare.gov/resources/resident-rights.html
• A Guide to Your Rights as a Resident of a Nursing Facility in the State of North Dakota. https://www.nd.gov/dhs/info/pubs/docs/nursing-facility-resident-rights.pdf
• Minnesota Department of Health, Combined Federal and State Bill of Rights for Residents in Medicare/Medicaid Certified Skilled Nursing Facilities or Nursing Facilitieshttp://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/fpc/consumerinfo/combinedbor_eng_reg.pdf
• South Dakota Long Term Care Facility, Resident's Bill of Rights. https://dss.sd.gov/docs/asa/longtermcarefacilities.pdf


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in 2004 we visited cuba. it was an all inclusive resort, (the whole) stoddard family attended, pre children vacay and let me tell you it was a "what happens in cuba, stays in cuba" kind of trip. my love of mojitos evolved from that trip along with cigars (i've dropped the cigar part since then). memorable...you bet. che's (our oldest daughter) name came from that vacation and that country has held a latin music, smoke filled, mint and rum flavoured spot in our hearts since then!
so this november we decided to revisit cuba, mostly out of fear that in 10 years with america getting the green light to travel there, it will eventually become americanized. we wanted to show the girlies what we got to experience minus the cigars (and endless travel mugs filled with booze, dancing, riding scooters with out helmets and topless sun bathing etc!) this trip would be the PG version, the family version (insert hubby's sad face emoji!)!
side note- no offence USA, but after our return home- right after the election had taken place...i'm now suspecting you may now be getting the RED light on your travel plans to cuba! due to your orange coloured, narcissistic new president elect!
this hotel was rated a 4.5 star resort, looked good online, reviews were fine so we decided to book it!
we arrive to our room and i spot a cot outside, clearly by it's shape, it's been used for the homeless (nope! that's our second child single bed apparently! let's make this clear, i have seen abandoned mattresses in my urban exploring adventures that look better then this thing. you know when you walk in to your room and that you have a "situation" when your kids look around and say "i think gordon ramsay needs to come here and do an episode of hotel hell" or when the 8 year old says "is this a motel daddy"? fuck.
it was most certainly a 4.5 star 15 years ago, you know, when it was first built! not anymore.
portuguese germaphobia and OCD have now joined me for our 7 day stay here in varadero, welcome guys it's been a while!
for the people that know me well, i have some issues with outhouses, airplane toilets, public washrooms, hotel bed beds, spreads and pillows, there's more but lets not!
Btw-if you want to read about some of my other "bathroom adventures", click on these two blog posts : portuguese women don't use airplane washrooms and portugal part four : fear of the unknown.
greg kept reminding me "you're in a third world country dina!"
survival mode for 7 days it is...
"kids don't put any of your shit on the ground, you're both sleeping in that one single bed that appears to be "less homeless looking" and made of that hard substance called cement (now double wrapped with the other clean top sheet) and if your tooth brush hits the inside of that sink...it's going in the trash and your getting tooth decay this week kids".
all you can drink, sounds divine right! well if your a lushy adult (you can't see it but my hand is raised in the air) the idea of afternoon cocktails on a beach in the warm sun is a no brainer). i can handle my sugar intake but sadly an 11 and 8 year old CAN NOT. the sheer gluttony of the NEVER ENDING "congo", "san francisco", "slushy lemonade" and "pina colada virgins", consumed in a canadian dollarama, 1 pint mason jars proved to be "overload" by day 5.
the straw that broke the camels back was when che' was so hyper, she kicked her flip flop three feet high high in the air landing on our table, nearly causing a tragic death to an innocent mojito and a cuba libre.
WHAT THE FUCK!!! (i know that's in caps lock and your all thinking i was yelling this at her, i didn't...i whispered it real creepy like in her ear. didn't want to make a bigger scene then the aerial show che just put on and there were loads of people all around us!)
you're both cut off! NO MORE SUGAR! (she claimed it to be an accident as she sat twitching from the sucrose high, no matter my wee addicts, the sugar enabling train has ended. consider this your intervention!
FOOD (buffet- all you can eat)
if you've ever been to cuba or have read up on the resorts, you will know that the food is odd and pretty boring and for a lack of better words BAD, and exceptionally bad if your a foodie! 10 + years later, nothing has changed - it was still bad.
but my kids, LOVED it.
i don't even know what to say about that!? is this a burn on my cooking or is my cooking so ethnic, flavourful and sophisticated that the boring food is a cleanser for their young palate's? i'm was so confused and a little disappointed that they didn't hate it! mostly, this is an ego based comment of motherly disappointment.
i did taste the pasta that they ate EVERY NIGHT (because it was the BEST PASTA they had EVER HAD) and guess what folks. mother fucking chef boyardee!! my kids don't eat that ever at home, shocker...sugar and tomato paste for the win!
last time we did a private small bus tour with way to much history for my right brained head. this time was our mini test for which child could do europe in the next couple of years. we opted for a (westjet vacation) hired tour guide in a vintage car sounds great as we could create our own adventure.
That morning we were met by a beautiful young lady (our tour guide) with our vintage car (with owner and driver who looked like pit bull the singer, not the dog). it was a stunning chevrolet bel air (from the 50's I would imagine?), red and white, in pristine condition! i slide into it's plastic covered bench seat and slip my hand in between the seats to locate my "airplane" seatbelt, I know these vintage cars well as my dad still has his duster 340 from the 70's! no belt! odd? it must be wedged in there somewhere. my hand is now so far down in the seat i think i can feel the trunk. NO BELTS.
the tour guide must deal with many canadian mothers with the look of terror on their faces as they realize these cars DON'T HAVE SEAT BELTS and reality of a four hour drive with MY CHILDREN not being buckled in on a highway in a foreign country.
she responds quickly - "these cars didn't have belts back in the 50's, the law says we don't have to use them! Michelle (they female version of the name) is a good driver, don't worry!"
me- "ya, that would never happen in canada" (insert uncomfortable laughter).
i'm confused, they changed all these old cars to run on diesel but they didn't think a seat belt was a good upgrade!? i love how when your married for a long period of time how you can say nothing and your spouse is reading your mind. this time he saw ...my wife is about to lose her shit.
greg whispers to me- "are you going to be ok?"
me- "oh ya for sure, i will just be visualizing all of us exiting the car through the windshield for our four, fucking hour trip there and back - if we make it back! i think that might fall under not ok"!
greg's expression back to me ( because i am, as well, a marriage mind reader) was - "third world country dina" but what he said back to me was "it will be ok".
me - death stare, *correction* a portuguese death stare.
i would like to mention that my kids loved the slippery non belted bench seat (that comfortably held all four of us), where they could lay down or rotate or stretch for the four hours. i on the other hand had to practice my surrendering to the universe, praying to god and wishing we didn't go in a vintage car for four hours. there wasn't even a holy shit handle, who makes a car with NO holy shit handle, oh i know, the ones that don't make seat belts!!! the only thing i could grip would have been the door handle leaving me as road kill on the highway. i think this was called panic attack boot camp, if you can make it through that with out needing a paper bag to breathe in then consider yourself cured!
havana was amazing. we got out guide to take us to where the people live, real places not the government tourist buildings. it was poverty. photography eye candy everywhere, real people- kind people and true moments of people living - my favorite! i asked the girls about havana and what their thoughts were...
che'- " i love living in canada and i LOVE our house"!
yep. our plan for them becoming humble and grateful is working!.
The trip was filled with many great memories, learning experiences and a few extra layers to the girls onions that i'd rather they didn't get this time around but we are alive and well. the ocean was stunning, very safe and filled with ocean treasures! the resort staff were awesome and the weather was great for being the winter season. we met some amazing people (one family from victoria bc!) and a lovely younger couple from germany (who paid us a huge compliment by asking us a question- "tell me how you raised your kids to not be annoying"!). parenting win right there folks!
the check in to go home was a mess, we were the last to get through security due to the cuban westjet airport staff not knowing how to check through a visa passport family that was a head of us (25 minutes later we make it to customs/security and the staff there also had a "I don't give a shit how long it takes to process you through" kind of attitude. the funny part was the whole trip greg was fine with all of our "misfortunes" but this folks is where the hubby was LOSING his mind. BIG TIME.
i grinned and reminded him...
"you' re in a third world country greg!"
Our family video
Photo gallery


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Back by popular demand, it's Vault of Midnight's franken-toy extravaganza! Spend an afternoon with our hobby gurus breathing life into your very own, 100% original creation. All the craft supplies your little heart could desire and the expertise to boot will be provided, all for a meager $20 entry fee.
The event will be run and guided by Vault of Midnight Owner and Proprietor Curtis J Sullivan, as well as our resident hobby guru Brandon M. Sapp. This highly qualified duo will guide you gently and expertly through the following techniques:
- Planning out your custom toy! The Key To Success is Planning!
- Learn how to use super glue the "Curtis way!"
- How to properly use a hobby knife and avoid serious injury to yourself or others.
- Painting Your Creation 101
- Best Practices for taking a selfie with your new creation.
Bring the kids, bring your friends, and spend a day building with your hands and MIND. Don't miss it.


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Your shopping cart is empty!
This lovely hand quilted Doll Carrier is truly the finest you will find anywhere.
Completely adjustable with a handy buckle and padded, movable straps allowing for the perfect fit. Can be worn on the front as a snuggly or on the back as a backpack carrier. Little Mommy's love being able to pack their baby with them. The ease of the side buckles makes this a favorite of Big Mommies too!
Fits a wide array of dollies.
100% Made in the USA
Please note; There is a VERY limited quantity of these and they will sell our FAST


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Iraq local election results
The results of the local election announced yesterday indicate that the Iraqi people are voting for those who showed that they got some agenda to improve the living standard and services. This a major progression from the first election in which the voting was chaotic and was based on the ethnic and sectarian issues. There is drawback and dissatisfaction with those who mislead the people and used only slogans and sectarian issues as a way to gain votes. The Iraqis started to understand the game of the election and the results indicates that they will vote for those who would be honest and trying to rebuild the services and improve the life standard rather than to those who try to gain votes on ethnic or sectarian issues.
The results indicates that Al-Hakeem party and his group are now pushed back while there are gains for new groups and independent individuals who are more liberal and non-seatrain. Al-Malki group had some gain in some provinces in the South and in Baghdad. Similar thing happened in Anbar and Diyala where the voters went away from the religious parties towards the liberal and secular groups who concentrate on services and life standard rather than ethnic issues.
All over the results gave no over all majorities to any particular group and therefore they are thinking about collations to be able to get majority. If there is any good results out of this election it was the maturation of the voters and the realisation of the parties that they need to change their way of dealing with things. They now know that people will keep monitoring them according to what they are doing and not what they are saying.


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WHITE HALL � Georgia Lee Baugh, 87 of White Hall, died Monday, August 20, 2012.
WHITE HALL � Georgia Lee Baugh, 87 of White Hall, died Monday, August 20, 2012.
Born January 8, 1925 at Paris, Ark., she was a daughter of the late Rafard Efird and Holly Hisaw.
A homemaker and member of Kearney Baptist Church,
Mrs. Baugh�s time was consumed by quilting, gardening and raising grandchildren.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband of 36 years, Leo Baugh; a son, Roy Lee Baugh; and six brothers.
She is survived by a daughter, Leora Jean Wilson; son, Cleburn Ray Baugh; sisters, Mary, Evelyn, and Rita; nine grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; and many other loving family and friends.
Funeral services will be Wednesday, 2:00 p.m. at Kearney Baptist Church.
Burial will follow in Redfield Cemetery.
Visitation will be Tuesday from 6-8 p.m. at Fuller Hale-South Funeral Chapel.
Online condolences: FullerFunerals.com