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Adrenal glands - paired endocrine glands. Humans are in close proximity to the upper pole of each kidney. Play an important role in the regulation of metabolism and adaptation to adverse conditions (reaction to stress conditions). The adrenal glands consist of two structures - the cortical substance of the brain, which are regulated by the nervous system.
In the cortical layer are formed hormones that regulate metabolism. Some of them contribute to the conversion of proteins to carbohydrates and increase stability of organism to adverse influences, others regulate salt metabolism in the body. Hormones produced in the cortical substance, are corticosteroids.
In cerebral layer of the adrenal gland produces adrenaline. This hormone increases and ucamae heart contractions, increases blood pressure, dilates the pupils, regulates carbohydrate metabolism. Cages of brain substance of adrenal glands produce catecholamines - epinephrine and norepinephrine. These hormones increase blood pressure, strengthen the heart, enhance the openings of the bronchi, increase the sugar level in the blood. At rest they continuously release small amounts of catecholamines. Under the influence of stress, the secretion of adrenaline and noradrenaline cells of the cerebral layer of the adrenal glands increases. Addition of adrenaline and noradrenaline in the brain cells of the layer to produce peptides that performs a regulatory function in the Central nervous system and gastrointestinal tract. Among these substances: substance P, vasoactive putting peptide; somatostatin; beta-enkephalin.
The role of the adrenal glands peptides
Optimal functioning of the adrenal glands is directly related to the condition of the cells of the tissue of the adrenal glands. Modern scientific knowledge to prove that the health of the body depends on the health of individual cells. Function cells are well, then organs and organ systems work well. In order for cells worked well, they must continuously and in sufficient quantity to supply the necessary nutrients. But this one, in accordance with the latest scientific knowledge, is not enough.
For over 30 years, as scientists, doctors discovered that, for the normal functioning of cells, among other things, necessary and peptides. Peptides are small data molecules, short chains of amino acids, the address coordinates of genes. Peptides are formed in the cells of various tissues of the body during protein metabolism. Their main function is to activate the reading of the genetic information in DNA. Thus they initiate protein synthesis in cells and regulate their proper functioning. Scientists have found that deficiency of peptides in the body resulting in impaired functions in cells, cellular dysfunction, accelerated "wear" fabrics, development of pathological conditions and accelerated aging of the body. At the same time, they many studies have shown that the use of peptides and remove deficiency of peptides in the body not only contributes to the regulation of cell functions but even lost cell function can thus be restored.
For normal functions will require the cells of the adrenal glands, among other things, tissue-specific peptides (peptides of the adrenal glands tissue) that support and regulate their functions. In a small number of these peptides can be ingested with food, but the main part is formed in the cells, namely the cells of the tissue of the adrenal glands.
The cells of the tissue of the adrenal glands produce different types of proteins. Some of them are responsible for the generation of peptides that regulate the cells of the adrenal glands. The peptides of the adrenal glands are components of the protein molecules of the tissues of the adrenal glands. In the metabolism of proteins (the protein fraction) they are removed. One of the most important tasks of the peptides of the tissues of the adrenal glands is to activate the reading of the genetic information of the DNA in the cells of the adrenal glands. Thus peptides play a role in "key DNA". The peptides of the adrenal glands start protein synthesis in tissues of the adrenal glands, regulate metabolism in these cells and regulate their activity. Peptides cause the cell to function as biologically necessary. As a young, healthy body. When the cells of the tissues of the adrenal glands are functioning well, and adrenal glands, as the body work well. If the normal functions of cells of adrenal disorders occur, respectively, and the adrenal glands do not work well. This leads to the interruption of the main functions of the adrenal glands - the regulation of metabolism and adaptation of human organism to stressful situations. Therefore, adequate availability of peptides tissues of the adrenal in the body is very important.
In the young organism peptides, as a rule, are formed in sufficient quantity and cells of the adrenal glands work well. But with age, especially under the influence on the organism of a large number of different negative and stress factors (illness, stress, physical stress, bad and insufficient food, and so on) occurs in the body, as is known, the decrease in protein synthesis. As a result of this peptide tissues of the adrenal gland produces less. The more intense is the load, the faster is depleted in the body the level of peptides. The result of this is the lack of regulatory peptides. This leads to disruption of cell function, development of pathological conditions and accelerated wear of the main systems of the body. The more extreme working conditions of the adrenal glands, the higher the load and the need for tissue-specific peptides (peptides tissue of the adrenal glands) and the faster arise in cells of the adrenal errors and failures of their functions, if this requirement is not covered properly. This, in turn, can lead to the loss of some important functions of the cells of adrenal glands and accelerated wear or aging tissues of the adrenal glands.
In such situations it is useful to purposefully support the cells of the tissue of the adrenal glands. One of the most effective methods for this is the use of peptides of the adrenal tissue of animal origin. In all mammals, the peptides are the same. In numerous studies, scientists have shown that if you take the peptides isolated from the tissues of the adrenal glands of animals, for example from calves or pigs, and enter them into the body of another animal or person, they are accepted by the body as its own substance. Peptides have tissue-specific function. That is, they apply only in the tissue from which they were originally allocated. Through the use of the peptides of the adrenal in the body is enriched pool of regulatory peptides, secreted by the adrenal glands. Thus, the use of peptides of the adrenal glands helps to normalize and maintain a physiologically normal levels of peptides in the cells of tissue of the adrenal glands and the normalization of their functions to physiologically normal levels. Normalization of cell function of the adrenal glands leads to normalization of the functions of the adrenal glands is the regulation of metabolism and adaptation of human organism to stressful situations.
Peptides of the adrenal glands - clinical studies
In a clinical study established the efficacy of the peptides of the adrenal glands in the complex restoration of hormonal status in its violations of various origins, including the effects of extreme environmental factors, with long-term professional or emotional stress, poor nutrition, and ageing to support the functions of the endocrine system. The use of peptides of the adrenal glands causes no side effects, complications or contraindications.
Peptides of the adrenal glands - recommended applications
- professional or psycho-emotional stress
- defective, inadequate nutrition
- disorders of hormonal status
- during aging to maintain the function of the endocrine system
- complex restoration of hormonal status in disorders of different genesis
Areas of applications based on the biological effects of the active substances, included in this product based on scientific evidence and practical experience.


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I had some time to myself yesterday, my husband took the kids out to the mall then to visit his family. So I decided to tackle a project I've been saving for when I had a few hour chunk of time- organizing and preparing pictures of our little guy since his birth. We are really a photo-album type of family (I know. We are practically dinosaurs). So as I dug around memory sticks and computer files I had a chance to review our life, and Sophie's development over the past 17 months.
Pictures are good reminders of things you forget (stated Ms. Obvious). They're just there, snapshot of time. Whenever I look at pictures of Sophie I am struck by how unchanging she is. It's like our life happens around her as she is fixed in time. Essentially, on the outside she doesn't seem to have changed much at all in the past 2 years. She has grown, her body has gotten bigger and more stable, her face leaned out. But behaviourally she is still Soaps- watching Thomas, lounging on her chair. I often think of those photos where there is a subject in focus and the background is a swirl of lights and action indicating being lost in chaos (that's how I interpret them anyway). Or sci-fi shows in which a character is living at a different speed of time than everyone else (Star Trek Voyager had a great episode which had their ship get stuck in orbit of a planet with a different rate of time than the rest of the galaxy. While their ship was being repaired for 3 weeks, they witnessed the planet undergo thousands of years of civilization. My favourite episode). Sophie is kind of existing in a parallel universe at a slower rate of time.
It is never more apparent than when viewing her with the contrast of the seemingly accelerated development speed of her younger brother. First crop of pictures, he is a newborn. Then a chubbier newborn gazing around, waving fists. Then he is grasping, chewing on toys. Then he's sitting up, cruising, crawling, and so on. Now he is running after his older siblings and insisting on being included in their games. In comparison, Sophie is static next to him- sitting, watching, sucking fingers... Here she is 2, here 2.5, now 3.5... Same old Soaps.
|Sophie through the past year. Happiness, love, timeless, eternal ,
When I was pregnant with her, my third (and we thought last, ha!) baby, I kept saying that I will cherish every moment of her babyhood. My older daughter was a lot like my youngest, always eager to grow up, reach the next level, be "big". I felt cheated out of her babyhood in a way, it felt as if I blinked and she was a big, capable girl all of a sudden. I thought maybe it was my fault, in my harried state I forgot to be mindful, in the moment, savouring those fleeting stages. And so when I found out another girl is on the way, I thought this was my chance to redeem myself. "I will cherish every week, I will record every milestone. I will be present for it all". And yes I did enjoy the first year and a half immensely. Sophie was the most beautiful, lovely-dispositioned baby on the planet. Like a gift from angels, almost otherworldly. I savoured every nursing, every diaper change, every cuddle with my life size doll-baby.
When she was slow to reach milestones I didn't worry. I thought it was part of the gift, an extended babyhood because that is what I wanted. Many mothers of several kids told me stories of how their youngest forever remained a "baby". And that is what I thought it would be- Sophie would develop slower, be a baby longer and what a lovely way to wrap up my mothering tenure!
The rest is history, it's been recorded in these pages as it happened. This post isn't about what would've been. It is about what it is- a little girl, existing in the present, living each day same as the one before and the one yet to come. A real life Peter Pan... minus the evil pirates.
We don't know what her future holds. She isn't completely static, she is inching along ever so slowly. She is learning PECS, playing her Thomas game on the ipad. But it seems her unique brain can't hold more than a few skills at a time and needs to drop one to make room for a new one. The most drastic example of this was of course when she stopped talking within a month of learning to walk- was it a coincidence? Perhaps not.
Be careful what you wish for you might just get it. A saying with a haunting truth to it. I said more than once I wanted my baby to remain a baby for longer. And I got a baby who might remain one indefinitely. Or maybe I got a spirit child who is here to teach me lessons of patience, love and simply being present and mindful. And always, the meaning of time. Slow and steady wins the race? She just might. Or maybe there isn't a race at all.
The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.~ C.S. Lewis

subset: commoncrawl


text: Lucille Lortel Award and New York Innovative Theatre Award winning company Rising Phoenix Repertory was founded in 1999 by Artistic Director Daniel Talbott. The phoenix takes the energy of the old, combines it with the new, and soars into the future. By learning from the traditions of the past and the teachings of the present, we want to rediscover the craft of a raw and vital living theatre. Rising Phoenix Rep started by producing an ongoing reading series of new plays as well as workshops and festivals, and now produces both in the Indie Theatre and Off-Broadway. Rising Phoenix Rep serves as a home base for a company of theatre professionals that encourages an open exchange of work and ideas within the greater theatre community. RPR is the recipient of the 2007 Caffe Cino Fellowship and a proud member of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York.


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Lots of people don't pay much attention to balcony design in our lives. They just consider the balcony as a space for drying clothes and stacking debris. In fact, the balcony not only can be used as a place to wash clothes, place potted flowers, but also can be designed into a reading area, a small study room, an entertainment and fitness area, etc. No matter what kind of design, it can best meet the needs of the owner.
It doesn't even take much effort to make your balcony look good. Just a bit of innovation and little elements of creative decor can make a huge difference, glorifying even the smallest of balconies, just like these 51 Awesome Small Balcony Ideas!
Looking for beautiful small balcony ideas? Get inspired from our ideas to create your perfect balcony. Just take your time and find more! Hope you will like these ideas and try them next time. Don't forget to pin the ones you like the most to show your home design list.


text: One of the main responsibilities I have in my profession is to keep inquiry, knowledge, and skills moving forward. My particular slice of inquiry, knowledge, and skills that I am committed to moving forward is the use of technology in higher ed teaching and learning. One channel for doing this academic and professional development conferences. I had the opportunity to speak at one such conference this week in Boston. The conference is Campus Technology Summer Conference 2015. I gave a talk about using technology effectively in large lecture classes where students bring their own devices (bring your own device, or BYOD). Here are the slides to my presentation, and here is a recording of the presentation (slide capture only). Overall, it was a good conference, and I made some great contacts. I look forward to returning to CT Summer Conference in the future.


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Phyllo pastry was introduced to Europe by the Turks, who made it as far as the gates of Vienna before their armies were turned back for good. Their influence is seen in the much-loved strudels of Austria and Hungary, which are wrapped in dough made by a similar technique. The dough is most widely used in the Mediterranean, where the Turkish influence was more powerful and lasted longer. Phyllo is well suited to finger foods, but it also makes a flaky and durable crust for sweet or savory pies.
Things You'll Need
- 1 box phyllo pastry
- Pie pan, or baking dish
- Plastic film wrap
- Melted butter
- Pastry brush
- Pan spray or vegetable oil (optional)
- Bread or cake crumbs, or ground nuts (optional)
- Sweet or savory filling
- Beaten egg (optional)
- Sharp knife
Video of the Day
Open the box of phyllo and unwrap the sheets of pastry. Lift out the first sheet, and cover the rest with a piece of plastic film wrap to keep them from drying out.
Place the first sheet of pastry in the bottom of the pie pan or baking dish. Brush it lightly with melted butter, covering the entire surface. Sprinkle lightly with crumbs or ground nuts, if desired. Vegetable oil or pan spray -- which reduces the calories but also the flavor of the finished product -- may be used in place of butter.
Repeat until the desired number of layers is reached, usually five or six for a small pie or 10 to 15 for a large pie. If you are using crumbs, sprinkle them lightly between every second or third layer. Finish with butter, to provide a moisture barrier between the filling and the dough.
Fill the pie pan or baking dish with your choice of sweet or savory filling. Spread the filling, if desired, to make an even surface. The pie will have a more attractive appearance if it is slightly mounded in the middle.
Add a top crust by following the same method used for the bottom crust. Use water or a beaten egg to seal the top crust to the bottom crust. Trim any excess dough from the edges of the pan. Brush the top of the pie with beaten egg, if desired, for a deep golden finish. Some recipes call for the top crust to be slashed with a sharp knife, to allow steam to vent.
Bake as directed in your recipe, or until the filling is hot and the dough is crisp and golden. Remove from the oven and serve either hot or cold, as appropriate. Phyllo will tend to lose its crispness after a few hours but may be refreshed by a few minutes in a hot oven.


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Avenue G
This spec home is located in the North Loop neighborhood and takes advantage of outdoor living by using an operable wall that opens into the backyard. It also incorporates an outside flex space that extends the feeling of spaciousness. This covered space can be used as a carport or covered porch area that can be sealed off for privacy by a garage door. The bright green door, bookcase and columns produce a creative continuity felt throughout the home.


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Appreciate the inviting charm of seedy glass shades decorating this three-light brushed nickel bath light.More Details >
A beautiful upgrade for the vanity, the light delivers a brushed nickel frame finish. Three hurricane-style seedy glass shades offer detail and style, this three-light bath light is a lovely design from Franklin Iron Works. Featuring a horizontal silhouette, while providing plenty of illumination for daily rituals.


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IBPS Clerk Mains Study Plan – Exam Pattern and Study Material
The Prelims exam of IBPS Clerk got over the past weekend (on 04 December 2016). The next stage for selected candidates is the mains exam. This year it is the last opportunity for many candidates to get a bank job. So we have compiled the IBPS Clerk mains study plan. Further IBPS Clerk Mains study material has been suggested to prepare for the mains exam. Moreover links to best books and exam pattern have been provided.
The mains exam for IBPS Clerk recruitment is scheduled to be conducted on 31 December 2016 and 01 January 2016. Approximately 25 days are left for the mains exam. So to increase your success chances in the mains exam it is better to study with full effort each day from today itself.
Roughly about 10 hours should be allotted to dedicated study each day. Candidates who are currently employed somewhere should study for at least 3 to 6 hours. Moreover the need of the hour is to put HARD WORK and SMART WORK into practice.
(हिन्दी में इस नौकरी की जानकारी के लिए यहां click करें)
IBPS Clerk Mains Pattern
Before getting into the details of each of the topics it is necessary to know the exam pattern. Consequently after understanding the pattern you can formulate the exam strategy to score more. Here's a brief account of the IBPS Clerk mains pattern.
The important points to notice about the IBPS clerk mains pattern is that the time duration is 135 minutes and maximum marks are 200.
Candidate earns 01 mark for every right answer while 0.25 marks are deducted for each wrong answer.
Candidates who score above the post-exam cutoff as decided by IBPS will be selected. The concept of sectional and overall cutoff will be put into practice. So you need to score enough overall in the exam and cross the minimum marks barrier in each of the five sections.
Since there are no interviews, final selections will be purely based on the main exam scores. The merit list so prepared is used to fill 19243 clerk vacancies across India.
IBPS Clerk Mains Study Plan
We had already discussed the need of smart work and hard work. However there is more that is needed to be done. To succeed at anything there is need to have a plan. A sample IBPS Clerk Mains study plan has been given below. Yet you can make a different plan as suitable for you. However ensure that your IBPS Clerk Mains Study Plan is realistic and workable.
The daily study time and topics are given below for each section.
1) English Language – 01 hour per day
- Reading Comprehension
- Cloze test
- Sentence Errors
- Para jumble
- Fill in the blanks
- Vocabulary
2) Quantitative Aptitude – 3 to 4 hours per day
- Number series
- Approximations
- Simplifications
- Quadratic Equations
- Data Interpretation& Data sufficiency
- Profit and loss
- Compound & Simple Interest
- Speed & Distance
- Probability
- Permutations & combination
- Ratio & proportion
- Average
3) Computer Knowledge – 01 hour per day
- Computer Basics/ Fundamentals
- Software and Hardware
- Security & Networking
- Data management
- Microsoft Office
- Internet/ Email
4) Reasoning – 3 to 4 hours each day
- Arrangement problems
- Syllogism
- Input & Output
- Puzzles
- Inequalities
- Coding Decoding
- Statement & Assumptions
- Action & Arguments
5) General Awareness – 1 to 2 hours everyday
- Current affairs/ Latest events
- GK questions
- Banking & financial awareness
It is not compulsory for you to follow the study duration as advised above. You may make a different plan as per your need. However it is necessary to be consistent and hard working. Only a few days are left, so just give out your best.
If you are comfortable in some particular section then dedicate less time to study that. However revising is very important. Extend your study timings for the sections in which you are weak.
Some Important Tips in the IBPS Clerk Mains Study Plan
1) Practice Mock Tests – The most important plus point of giving mock test is that it will help you to get a real feel of the exam. You can also analyze which sections to attempt first and how much time to devote for answering a question.
At this stage, appearing for about 10 mock tests will help you understand your own strengths & weaknesses .Thereafter you can fine-tune your practice accordingly. So invest in good online mock tests.
2) Manage Time, Speed and Accuracy – In IBPS Clerk main exam, accuracy is necessary but you must also attempt maximum number of questions.
3) Study from Qualitative Books – The preparation gets strengthened when you use reliable books with authenticated IBPS Clerk study material.
Because of sectional time limit, you need to manage time properly. Staying on one question for long will only put more stress on you while answering other sections.
For more information about IBPS Clerk examination you can visit our website. We have explained many aspects such as eligibility, exam pattern, salary structure, job profile, call letters and results.
You can share your exam strategy or IBPS Clerk Mains study plan in the comments below. The discussion forum is open to resolve your queries.
Daily Govt. Job alert on Whatsapp – Click here.


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Sunday, January 17, 2010
Air Pollution Alerts - January 17th, 2010
News & Information; Every Sunday
(Last on January 10, 2010)
Wheels Unplugged, January 16th, 2010
Commercial vehicle manufacturers upbeat on 2010.
International News, January 16th, 2010
Minister to Focus on Soil, Water, and Air Pollution in Pakistan.
Treehugger, January 16th, 2010
Developing Cities from India to Colombia Leapfrog Ahead With Clean, Green Bus Rapid Transit Systems.
Business Standard, January 15th, 2010
India, US to deepen cooperation in urban development.
U-Reader, January 15th, 2010
DOT Signals Major Shift On Public Transportation Policy.
Science Daily, January 14th, 2010
From the Ancient Amazonian Indians: 'Biochar' as a Modern Weapon Against Global Warming.
Science Daily, January 14th, 2010
Heat and Moisture from Himalayas Could Be a Key Cause of the South Asian Monsoon.
Metro Magazine, January 14th, 2010
Indian BRT system honored for improving mobility, cutting emissions.
News 24, January 14th, 2010
Car tax: A cash cow?
Daily Yonder, January 14th, 2010
How Do You Kill a Mountain?
Times of India, January 14th, 2010
Ahmedabad City BRTS best in South Asia, bags award.
Ukiah Daily Journal, January 13th, 2010
County Ozone Levels Low, but Increasing.
New York Times, January 13th, 2010
Hong Kong's Air Pollution Problem.
New York Times, January 12th, 2010
Report Links Vehicle Exhaust to Health Problems.
HEI, January 12th, 2010
Traffic-Related Air Pollution: A Critical Review of the Literature on Emissions, Exposure, and Health Effects.
Climate-L, January 12th, 2010
Role of Biodiversity in Addressing Climate Change.
Climate-L, January 12th, 2010
Healthy people, healthy planet.
PR NEwswire, January 12th, 2010
Ahmedabad, India Wins 2010 Sustainable Transport Award.
India, January 10th, 2010
Schoolkids to help forecast air quality during Games.
Los Angeles Times, January 10th, 2010
Maldives: Paradise threatened?
NPR, January 9th, 2010
Tighter Smog Rules No Longer Just An Urban Concern.
Sify News, January 8th, 2010
Expert group formed to prepare roadmap to low carbon economy.
China Daily, January 7th, 2010
China's power generation goes greener with total capacity up 10%.
China Daily, January 6th, 2010
China's power consumption grows 6% in 2009.
China January 3rd, 2010
China extends alert against cold wave, heavy snow.
ACSE, December 2009
Ten Years of World Bank Action in Transport: Evaluation.
Harvard Magazine, October, 2008
Greening China - Market-based policies for air-pollution control.
Posted by Sarath Guttikunda at 9:42 AM
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Latest Photos:
August 19, 2017 – Performance at Glenwood Avenue Arts Festival
Glenwood Dance Studio took the South Stage at Glenwood Avenue Arts Festival and did a performance and demonstration. Check out these photos and be sure to check our Events + News page for the latest at GDS!
August 12, 2017 – In Studio Event: "Hip Hop House Party", an All Level BYOB Dance Class and Party!
Glenwood Dance Studio threw its first ever Hip Hop House Party, with GDS Instructor Gloria Mwez leading the night! Dancers enjoyed their favorite adult beverages while learning some groovy moves to Bruno Mars' "That's What I Like" and learned the basics of a top rock! Take a peek into our night and be sure to keep an eye out for our upcoming events and performances!
June 24. 2017 – In Studio Event: "How To Fake It At A Wedding", an All Level BYOB Dance Class and Party!
Glenwood Dance Studio proudly hosted an all level BYOB dance class, "How To Fake It At A Wedding"! GDS Instructor Brennen Renteria led dancers through wedding reception classics such as the Electric Slide, Cha Cha Slide, as well as some basic ballroom steps – all perfect moves for owning the dance floor this wedding season. Take a look at some photos from the event, and keep a sharp eye out for our next in studio event!
Summer on the Plaza (July 24, 2015)
Untitled Project: The Show performance (December 3, 2014)
At the studio and in the neighborhood
Credit: David Potter


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This blog is about the most important thing in my life: my family. In many ways it is a fairly ordinary family – one husband, one wife, three kids (two girls, one boy), two guinea pigs, dad working full-time, mum working part-time. In many ways we are also fairly privileged: decent income, decent house, decent lifestyle.
Our second child, our son, was born profoundly disabled. Benjamin's condition has no formal diagnosis, his condition is described by what his brain looks like under MRI: microcephaly with simplified gyrae and lissencephaly (i.e. a small, smooth brain with none of the usual folding). His symptoms include a very small head, hypertonia, gastro-oesophageal reflux, visual impairment, severe developmental delay and epileptic seizures. He is non-mobile, non-verbal, incontinent and fed through a tube into his intestine.
As a mother, this has changed my life in many ways, from my daily routine to my future career prospects to my outlook on life. I want to share those changes: how I feel, how they impact on me, on us, how we deal with them. It's partly for my own benefit (I've always been the type of person who finds things are clearer and solutions appear when problems are written down). I also hope my readers will find something they might relate to or something to ponder.
This blog is called "the long chain," a quote from Dickens' Great Expectations:
"That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me. But it is the same with any life. Imagine one selected day struck out of it, and think how different its course would have been. Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day."
Our lives are now a long chain of many links. The day we chose to keep Benjamin (we were offered a termination at 38 weeks pregnant. Yes, you read that right, 38 weeks) was a day that changed our lives and led to me starting this blog. All three of our beautiful children have changed our lives, and I wouldn't have it any other way.


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Cupcake Friday: Pumpkin Mocha Cupcakes – LivingWithPurple Edition
This is a red letter blog post. It's the first time I've turned a Cupcake Friday cupcake into a LivingWithPurple Edition! Huzzah! I'll confess that the photos on Jamie's blog are prettier, but I'd challenge her to prove that her cupcakes were tastier! These turned out amazingly well – we ate most of them at the Super Bowl party, and the rest were demolished the next day at work.
[Note: I did discover that while pumpkin coffee makes these amazing cupcakes, it does not make amazing coffee. So I'm hoarding the rest of the beans for when I have another pumpkin coffee recipe I'm enthralled with.] (more…)
Cupcake Friday: Gingerbread Cupcakes – Framed Cooks
Dear loyal LivingWithPurple followers,
First off, let me apologize for the past two and a half weeks of absenteeism. I started off the new year with a 1-post bang, and promptly got totally distracted and left you all to your own devices for almost three whole weeks. I've missed TWO Cupcake Fridays! I've failed you. But don't give up on me yet. Let me make it up to you!
Today's long-awaited cupcake is brought to you from Framed Cooks, a blog I've been following for quite a while because of the incredible recipes and amazing leaping girl in the header image.
Gingerbread is one of my favorite things, but gingerbread cookies are typically harder than I want them to be – I'm a big fan of the soft and chewy cookie, not as much the snap (although don't get me started on Trader Joe's Triple Ginger Snaps" – best snack ever). So gingerbread cupcakes seem like the perfect solution – guaranteed to be soft and fluffy, and conveniently served with frosting!
I'm half-consciously starting to plan our Super Bowl party, and I think these would be perfect. (But then again, so would the Pumpkin Mocha cupcakes, which I still haven't made even though now I have the pumpkin coffee.) (Maybe we'll just have lots of cupcakes.)
What are your favorite gingerbread things?
Cupcake Friday: Better-Than-Box-Mix Cupcakes
Happy Cupcake Friday!
I made these cupcakes ages ago, and somehow managed to save them until I had started a Cupcake Friday feature on my blog. How appropriate! Don't they look delicious? Now I want to make more this weekend… (more…)
Cupcake Friday: Halloweeny Pumpkin Cupcakes with Pumpkin-Cinnamon Icing
Happy Friday everybody. :) Turns out I never posted my Halloween cupcakes post, and how better to celebrate the coming weekend? So here they are! Halloweeny pumpkin cupcakes with pumpkin-cinnamon cream cheese icing!
Inspired by Katie, created by Miz Purple, iced and eaten by Helper Hubby.
It's never the wrong time to make cupcakes, but cupcakes in the fall get high marks, especially if they're pumpkin. (more…)


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200 Years after Darwin and Lincoln: Freedom, Choice, and Human
Survival in the Contemporary American Democratic Society
Lecture by Dr. Reed Tuckson
Friday, Feb. 20, 7 p.m.
National Academy of Sciences
2100 C St., N.W., Washington, D.C.
Free; Photo ID required.
Metro: Foggy Bottom
People make complex behavioral choices about health care that are
informed by their social, political, and cultural reality. African
Americans have a well documented disparity in health status and clinical
outcomes. Dr. Reed Tuckson's lecture will explore the intersection
between social issues and individual accountability in healthcare.
Tuckson is a graduate of Howard University, Georgetown University School
of Medicine, and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania's
General Internal Medicine Residency and Fellowship Programs. Tuckson is
currently Executive Vice President and Chief of Medical Affairs at
United Health Group where he is responsible for working with all of the
Company's business units to improve the quality and efficiency of health
services. Most recently, Tuckson was named one of Modern Healthcare's
"Top 25 Minority Executives" in Healthcare for 2008 and to Ebony
magazine's "2008 Power 150: The Most Influential Blacks in America"
Co-sponsored by the African American History Program Committee of The
National Academies, the Koshland Science Museum, and the Cultural
Programs of the National Academy of Sciences


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Today I took you through the process of making one of our favorite recipes – German Potato Soup.
This is an easy slow cooker recipe that is filled with all sorts of great vegetables. It has almost no added fat, making it incredibly healthy as well as delicious. I also shared the tip for cleaning leeks.


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5 years ago
THE HEEBIE GEEBIES1 comments Posted at 01:06
Barry took the tab at breakfast with his coffee. He skimmed through the mail: now he was fifty he could have £100 off his next car insurance and might win a trip around the world. He didn't drive. He had timed everything perfectly but the delivery - expected at 9 - was late. The drug was already kicking in and he was beginning to feel light and strange in his own room as the man with the large ears and little nose unpacked boxes and complained about yesterday's customers.
'Not a jot on the floor, naked kids running about and the latest wide screen and all the works.' Barry tried to keep up with the man's dark eyes, which shifted around too quickly in their sockets. 'Have you got sweets in?' Barry thought he heard and when he shrugged was told, 'for the kids tonight. Little beggars won't leave you alone.'
Barry said there was no need to set it up, he worked in an electrical shop and could manage but by then the man was on all fours laying cable and squatting to demonstrate the various sound options.
'Hall. Live. Rock. You name it. Orchestral.' He waved the remote like a baton. He talked as if he lived here and Barry was the visitor.
Wasn't it good now though to hear Hendrix as he'd never heard him, from five speakers. The lazy guitar of Hey Joe. He lay back on the sofa and dropped through to other sofas and rooms he'd lain in and been at ease. Way back on the green settee with Nina, his girlfriend for two months, when her parents were out. Parties where everybody reclined on scatter cushions, conversation limited by the bass heavy reggae and not much dancing either, you had to be cool, only getting up to kneel over the huge bong when it came round. At weekends there was sometimes dancing, after acid or mescaline in pills or on blotting paper. He remembered tripping on the flare of his loons (which had to touch the floor) and making it into a dance move. Girls had whirled skirt and hair out in circles to Zep or Cream or Caravan; and later under stairs or in bathrooms he got handfuls of tit and tastes of them.
The re-grouping in pubs and cafes the following weekend, pubs closed at 2pm, to discuss what happened after, how they got home in such a state, breathless and dodging skinheads. How they had outwitted drunken lungers, and negotiated dangerous roads where cars were out to eat you. How this one spent the night in the brand new toilets of the motorway service station – 'excellent facilities', and that one was nearly fucked by a donkey when he slept in a barn; how all somehow had seen the sun rise from the side of a road or under a hedge, the fields and back lanes, the edge of town of his youth.
When Barry and Maxine moved in together, they tried to get more sophisticated: instead of getting out of their heads immediately they would have dinner parties with candles, meals of nut roast and sweet potatoes and play Dylan and Roxy Music until they finished the Viennetta and got out the big rizlas and put on Peter Tosh or Burning Spear.
He remembered Maxine's fads, how she grew out of fringed leather jackets and boots quickly, on to the multicoloured waistcoats. When she only wore that. How she got into Greek food when the restaurant opened in town; the stray cats she fed out the back; her languor on Sundays lying the length of the sofa, like him now, bringing her chocolates and drinks and rewarded with sex.
He tried to read the free paper pushed through the door but the headlines merged: Queen Eats Ambassador's Son; Freed Man Topples Bridge, and little wavering flames flared up from between the lines of print to print him with burns.
He lay on turf with dripping water nearby and a hidden but throbbing power station, the leaning tower of Nina helped him with his tea.
The doorbell rang a second time and it was Tom. 'Howdy pardner.' He was panting from the bike ride across town and pushed his vehicle in straight through to the kitchen.
'Didn't know if you'd be in.'
'"I'm from the National Blonde Transfusion Service," she said to me,' Tom said to him leaning back on his chair and stretching out long legs. Barry could hear the faint pops and cracks of sinews and gristle and saw how they coloured the air around Tom. His friend's head went back when he exhaled as if pushed back by the smoke, an elephant's trunk of it, he still had hanks of hair hanging either side of his head, left from the days when it was abundant and flowing.
'People on top of the world,' said Tom, 'how do they keep their balance?' Then he stopped to lift and blow into an imaginary saxophone as Mirror in the Bathroom broke out; nodding in praise of the new system.
They tried to make packet soup but ended up eating rubble with gulps of warm water instead. Luckily there was a lot of chocolate.
'You prepared well, captain,' said Tom, eyeing the bars in the fridge, and turned to salute him.
'Danke-shun, mein heir.' He didn't know why he'd turned German.
They bumped into each other on the stairs. They talked as if they'd met in the countryside, on the stairs there, as if wind was ruffling their hair and they had ruddy complexions.
Finally Barry bundled him out, bike and all, both vowing they would grow up soon, glancing up and down a street that seemed to come out of fog and concertina in and out around him, for the next interruption. The second phase of the drug was settling in, one that went right to his extremities, and he wanted to wank, wank longingly over Maxine and Nina both. Maxina. Mixed up together for him, and with only his pleasure in mind. But he'd only got to the first imaginings, Maxine with Nina's legs, when the doorbell rang again.
Maxine. She walked in as if out of a cubist painting both eyes on the same side of her angular face, which was wrong because if Maxine was known for anything it was the roundness of her face. He couldn't be sure it was her who he'd been picturing so recently. A voice came from her that was the same, similar, but he couldn't place the tone or manner, even the accent.
'OK, OK,' he heard himself say to himself and turned away from her dark maroon patterned clothes with yellow buttons like beams of light, torches into his room. First time he'd seen her she was in a yellow top, blouse with wide cuffs, some kind of matching hair band too, in the days when those things were worn.
He sat opposite her and momentarily his back slipped into place so that the pain he'd been experiencing, even through the drugs, seemed turned off. The room stopped tilting. Maxine's presence seemed to tighten the paintings above her, colours began to brim, the carpet seemed to breathe too, beneath its crust of dust, as if someone had finally cleaned it properly now she ran her eyes over it and around the crowded, smoky room. Each object she looked at sprang to attention.
'Good sound system.
'Came today.'
She had long curtains of hair then, everyone did, John Lennon style. He could see her coming through a crowd. Her large pink mouth, slight Elvis curl to it, her little blue eyes, magnified by glasses, too little she said but he liked them, cheekiness there and something else besides, held back in them. Now her hair is a bob, shortish but still thick, grey dyed out, curling at the ends. Her glasses almost invisible. Her mouth pursed, thinner of course, but not as thin as his, like lines drawn he'd been told.
The I'm fine thank yous put out into the room, the settling down of each, the drawing of herself upright as if drawing a line for him to look at, slumped, unshaven and drugged across from her.
Of course after awkwardness they got deep into everyone they mutually knew and how they were doing and who had died, heart attack, lung cancer, overdose, starting with their inner families and working outwards. When he talked back to her he kept tonguing the inside of his front teeth, the curve of the gum, that's where the taste was. They laughed about his mother, still singing Shirley Bassey songs off key and scowling at the clatter of the letterbox, the ring of the doorbell. I do that, he said, did it when you called, must be hereditary. They went through friends, married and divorced, rich, relatively, and poor. Did she still see Stephen and Alice? She didn't.
She'd cut herself off, self-employed, when her new husband and then her lover left. Craft job, did some teaching at an FE college. Teaches the poor darlings to bury treasure he thought he heard her say. He said he was doing the same as when she left which was almost true. Same job, slight promotion, different shop.
Next was books and films they'd watched and read and snapped fingers over the same things like Alice Sebold and Goodfellas, even Blade Runner – had you left by then? He asked incredulously. Aaa-ceed! Chemical Brothers – they both put their hands in the air. She didn't get on with Britpop though, Oasis, turned her nose up.
To make her wrinkle it again he said he liked jazz but he only had one compilation, 'Music For Pleasure' at that, and he laughed at her reaction and confessed straight away that he didn't, but got out Sufjan Stevens and Sparklehorse CDs to show he'd kept up. He played Chicago, but said he should play something from then, maybe the group Chicago (postcard of Chicago he'd had, Sears tower in his head), something you could think of as their song, something off After The Goldrush, but he couldn't find it, and she said anyway their song had to be Slade, C'Mon Feel The Noize because that's the first song they'd danced to.
'At the Y.M. disco?' 'At the Y.M. disco.'
She accepted a joint from him confessing it had been a while as their fingers touched, thumbs and indexes. She had come, she didn't tell him, to hear him play music again, smell and see him across a room, to put a box around a past that was coming up from pavements and found around corners, how pictures were forming of him and them all the time.
There was a sweet oil in the room she must have brought with her. Perfume maybe. There were bright two-foot beings sat either side of her bathing the room in light from their smiles. He could see the shape of her silhouetted in the light. Her shin the same, the one visible, and her knees, just showing below her dress. The calves too looked familiar, behind the shin and the knee never changing.
He put on Setting Sun to 'change her mind about Noel Gallagher' and the room was full of the sweeping music. He had to blur his fingers and wave his arms and she laughed and got up to join him. They danced in slow motion/fast motion like the crazed cops on the video, falling into one another at the end.
When she sat down he put on Curved Air's Back Street Luv, which he'd found again recently and downloaded. 'Wow!' she said and when he put on Gregory Isaac's Loving Pauper and the voice started up she said, 'you bastard.'
When he got up to shuffle to the kitchen he moved as if Rebel Rebel was still playing even though the music had stopped and she followed to the room where little sunlight penetrated but which seemed sun-filled now. It had leaked in from the angels who were dissolving away in the other room. She tapped his shoulder and touched his side, was to the front of him, to the side of him, helping him with cups and kettle and turning on taps, tutting at his fridge, moving with jar and spoon as if she'd often done that here. As if he'd opened his eyes in a place where things persisted.
They ate toast in there and recalled their cat, not the strays, the one that stayed with its fat stripey tail like a racoon's. At the door at night they'd call 'here, child substitute, here subby, subby.' He remembered it wasn't long after its flattened death on the road that she left, some guy had been parked up around the corner for months, some guy she went to meet in a lounge bar of a near-empty pub on the newly built ring road.
The taste of it like soap and salt came back to him and he turned away, pretending to cough, particles of Marmite and crust spat into his hand. Then he started back and collapsed, shaking. The floor tiles where so many things had smashed cooled the length of him. He shuffled up, back against the wall and drew his knees up.
'It's OK, OK,' he said, his body had shuddered at her touch but now calmed. 'I'm OK. It's the drugs. I'll be there in a minute.'
When they got back in the front room and put down drinks and food, she sat on the sofa and asked if she could take off her shoes which he helped her do and felt again the slopes of her feet and the knobs of her toes and the curl under them.
The light had diminished, fog-rain at the window, the house swaddled in cloud. He felt for her leg then and she let him.
His fingertips were alive with this new Maxine, the same Maxine, the same stretch of moles and freckles along the inside of her thigh to the centre of her. She moved to let him try things, to move her back and undo and sit back to take her in, what was the same, what was different, nipples grown and spread the same pink as her lips, her skin generally darker though and the belly protruding, nicks and bumps acquired without him, marking her up but under it the same Maxine that he put his fully clothed arms around and felt contact with along the length of him, the same Maxine he clung to back in days more raw and fresh.
They moved upstairs, why had he taken her to the box room that smelt of damp and had crumbled or coming apart books on the windowsill and ledge, posters stacked in cracked frames in a corner, ash and dust laden, the bed cold and resisting as they tried to get in but lay on top of instead, shivery and laughing while she leant to undress him finally.
Would she keep from laughing when she saw his uncut toenails, his patch of greying pubic hair? Maybe his beer belly will hide it, that new fixture he'd built on himself since she'd been gone. He hadn't flossed since 1992. Only now did he worry about the toilet she would use, the spider in the bath, the ring of dirt, the odour from the towel, the soap she would have to tug free of its recess.
He moved into her embrace, her breasts so much bigger now burgeoning under his ribs, he'd forgotten just how small she was. He looked down at her eyes clear as ever but with that depth, looking up at him through blackened lashes, the subtle pinkish eye shadow on the creases of her lids when she blinked.
He remembered fucking her, how she joined in his conceits pretending to be his secretary – very bourgeois, they'd laughed – or strangers meeting in a pub, maybe that planted the seed, the boots and lingerie she wore for him, but now was nothing like that, it was her wrapped around him strongly, pulling him deep as she could. It was a feeling out beyond the drugs but taking those with it, pushing him deep and flat out, everything in him. Their bones bumped, their flesh stuck together; smells of him and her, seaweed and baked bread, sweet sweat, deodorant entered the sterile unadorned room and made it different. Every time he came into this room, he was thinking, as he felt her all over him, her grasp and thoughts and flesh around him, she would be there.
He didn't want to collapse on her, but felt like it after climax like a flare gun going off in him, ripped him up, and he managed to fall back away from her. Everything in him was suddenly mute, gone, and he woke up to find his ex-wife and recent lover slapping him gently. 'You blacked out,' she said, and for the second time, 'You OK?'
They lay back then side by side, eventually covering up their aged and pushed out, mottled and dented body and flesh, half covering up: he could still see and touch her grown, flopping breasts. How the bulb light curved around her face, that cheek-and-nose shape, the tiny point of the nose like an apple pip in sight again.
'I remember when you got the heebie-jeebies,' she said, 'you wouldn't let anyone talk to you, not even me.' He nodded at it, but they didn't pursue any obvious trails of mutual memory, meeting, special signals, parting, not past one or two sentences about a place and a time.
It had puzzled her this insistence on him she'd thought she'd left behind, but in the clinch she couldn't kill it. She had shaken him because she couldn't, he must have noticed the change in her, she thought, but she saw how he was oblivious, high and away from her. She hadn't got what she'd come for, and couldn't name it anyway and now felt content to have him coming down beside her, his speech and movement slowing down.
'Thought of you on your 50th,' she did tell him, 'was out of the country but you know I can't forget the date.'
They moved together again, him stroking her, and promising to cook a curry later, a skill he hadn't lost, when there were three rings on the bell downstairs. Maxine laughed when she realised it was trick-or-treaters and curled into him when he complained about Americanisation, and lay like grace had descended in a warmth remembered and different. Outside the fog thickened as groups of skeletons and monsters and vampires laid siege to the street. Barry and Maxine got closer, balled up in each other, intertwining rough old flesh as kids outside started egging the house, spraying it with paint and flour, and letting off early fireworks, jumping jacks and bangers.
DOWN, BUT BY NO MEANS OUT!2 comments Posted at 06:29
As we are now beginning to see some of the early effects of the first of many of the promised, budgeted and singeing government spending cuts. I thought I may attempt to spread a little hope among a few of you, my readers, by relating this story of a significant highlight in my business calendar...
Now as you may or may not know already, I don't like to go to many business lunches these days. I find a lot of them to be a waste of my time, and so I don't go to them. But I went to this one last week that I do try to attend every year – despite all of the inherent difficulties this ensues. You see, it's always hosted right in the centre of London, and for some reason, my trips into the heart of the capital seem to be perpetually jinxed.
I mean, in the days when I was foolish enough to try to get there by car, any number of unlikely circumstances would often conspire against me to ensure that my journey was as unpleasant and stressful as possible.
One year there was an armed stand-off involving the police on the hard shoulder of the M1 which understandably closed down the motorway for a while. Another year there was a suspected bomb alert, which did the same thing. And then soon after that, some other bloke was inconsiderate enough to choose that very day to end it all by jumping from a motorway bridge into the path of an HGV. Did I mention the year when a horse got loose on the outside lane? Well even that happened too. And the M6 or A1 aren't much better than this either.
So since deciding to abandon the car, in favour of having my bank accounts cleared out by National Express Coaches, Virgin Rail, or whoever runs the extortion racket that is the national public transport services network these days, things have gone somewhat a little smoother. Yes it costs more than an average transatlantic flight to America, to travel the 200 or so miles to London, and you will invariably find yourself sitting next to some 20 stone, sweaty local authority administrator with personal freshness issues, but at least you usually get there on time. But even rail travel isn't 100 percent foolproof.
Last year for example, and I swear this is a true story, I almost missed the train when the taxi driver taking me to the station was forced to make an emergency stop at a high street branch of Costa Coffee to empty his colostomy bag.
See? These are the things a high flying entrepreneur like I, just simply can't ever plan for.
So what is so special about this oh so troublesome lunch, that I go through such hassles and hardships to attend? I hear you ask... Well go on then... Ask me...
Well it's a gathering of the great and the good (and some not so good!) of the direct selling business. And why do I like it so much? Well there are two things really.
The first is that, like me, the people who attend aren't really 'proper' business people. They don't go in for long term business plans, they don't borrow money from the bank, they don't invest money in plant and machinery, they don't employ loads of people, they don't run factories or fancy offices, and they don't keep regular business hours. In many ways, they are mavericks, living by their wits and entrepreneurial flair, and because of that, you don't get the same tedious conversations you might get at regular business meetings.
And while we are still all aware of such things, you don't hear much about the state of the economy, or about interest rates or exchange rates for example. You don't hear about what the government should or shouldn't be doing to help small business. You don't hear people blaming the government, the tax man, the local council or anyone else for the failure of a project or idea.
What you do hear though, is a lot of people talking enthusiastically about their next product, project or venture almost as if they operate in a recession-proof bubble. It's often as though external factors and influences simply don't exist – and the truth is that for most small enterprises, in effect, they don't.
You see while the big businesses are inevitably buffeted by an economic ill-wind, small ones are protected by – well, their size.
For example... Let 's say you have a 20% share of the £1 Billion a year market for widgets, and the widget market is hit by a 10% fall in demand because of economic conditions. Well that's about £20 million worth of widget sales you're likely to lose, and that's going to take some making up.
But if you're a £500,000 a year widget business and the same 10% fall occurs, then you've only got to find £50,000 of widget sales from a £1 Billion market to be back where you started. That sounds a lot more than possible, doesn't it?
So what these people at that lunch meeting in Central London knew, was that they were only very small fish in an immensely huge pond. And the overall condition of the pond need not concern them that much because they don't need a big percentage of the resources of the pond to survive and prosper in like the bigger fry do.
What they also know is that they have amazing flexibility. When you have a huge organisation to look after, all your time effort and resources are often locked into serving one market in a particular way. Making big changes takes time – maybe too much time. But when you are a lone maverick, there are no such restrictions. Economic recession creates new opportunities as well as problems, and if you're light on your feet, you can quickly change direction in good time and follow those latest opportunities.
So that's why you won't ever hear a mass chorus of moans and groans at one of these events. You won't find people who are waiting for the economy to improve before making their next move. Rather, what you will find; is a group of people who enthusiastically and positively push forward at every opportunity, knowing that an economic downturn is not a barrier to success. In fact it can often be the catalyst for it.
And if something doesn't quite work out, as things have quite an annoying habit of doing, there'll be no blame, no recriminations, no woe-is-me… just a simple acceptance that not every product, promotion or venture is successful, and that each failure simply moves you one step closer to something that will work. The people in that room last week have had more failures than anyone you'll probably ever meet. And I too am a fully paid up member of that same club. But they've had a lot more successes too (and made mountains of cash in the process) and realise that the one, rarely comes without the other.
Their response to any failure is to simply say 'next'… and move on.
The other thing I like about this lunch meeting is that, although it's attended by some of the fiercest of competitors – selling similar products into the same market place – they almost universally recognise something which few proper business people ever do…
Focussing on grabbing market share is just silly!
When you put a group of competitors together in most industries; and yes, that's how they see themselves… competitors fighting over a slice of a pre-determined pie. One man's gain is often measured as another's loss. But this group don't see it that way at all. Their target is not another competitor, it's the market itself. And they see that by expanding the current market, and building its appetite together, they know that everyone will ultimately benefit.
This is surely a much healthier approach to things. It's one that shuns the idea of scarcity and embraces the idea of a potential market without limits – provided you work together. And when you have that kind of approach, everyone is much more willing to share their ideas, information and trade secrets. And that's what happens here. Newcomers to these meetings are often astonished how openly information that would be fiercely protected in other industries is freely bandied around. But that's what happens when you stop targeting a competitor and start targeting the market together.
Well I started out on this piece trapped on the motorway, and I fear I may have gone off road a little bit but as I was about to leave the lunch last week, (mentally preparing myself for spending the next two hours being unwilling party to dozens of phone calls, all of which start out with "I'm on the train" in a Dom Jolly kind of way) when...
A man on my table who I've known for many years raised the subject of interest rates. But this time it was a little different. "If I can get another 1% on my money, it's an extra £400,000 a year to me" he said to uproarious laughter.
They might not be proper business people, this lot, but they don't do too badly all the same!
CASH COW GOLDFISH2 comments Posted at 02:02
I went to a funfair quite recently, and noticed that at most of the stalls there, it was quite difficult to win anything. The 'games of skill' appeared at first glance to be easy, but when you tried them out, it was far much harder than it first looked, and most people went away a couple of pounds poorer and empty handed...
But one stall there was somewhat different...
Yes, it was another game of skill... simple darts... but instead of having to hit a tiny target, all you had to do to win was hit a playing card. And even then, the cards were larger than the ordinary run of the mill cards we would expect to find in a casino. Even a blind man with the shakes while standing on one leg could have done it. And sure enough, everyone who paid their pound to have a go, hit a playing card and won themselves a prize.
Bad news for the stall owner then?
Well not quite. You see, the prize for hitting a playing card on this site was... a common or garden, somewhat ailing and solitary goldfish. Now goldfish aren't very expensive at wholesale, probably about 20p each if that, but even then you're never going to make much money 'selling' them to people for a pound.
But this stall owner was a bit cleverer than that...
You see, he knew that the people who had 'won' a solitary goldfish at his stall, hadn't gone to the fair expecting to go home with a new pet. He also knew that they probably had nowhere back home to keep it and nothing to feed it on... Bad news for the goldfish... but really good news for the stall holder. He now had you trapped by your compassion for your new found pet.
Which is why, at the back of his stall he just happened to have a 'Tank & Food Package' available for the inflated price of £15!
I stood there and watched with some amazement as punter after punter handed over an extra wad of money to the stall owner to help solve the new problems created by their 'skill' and good fortune. And I dare say the stall owner made far more money from the sale of his 'Tank & Food Packages' than he ever made from people paying a pound to try and win a goldfish...
And I dare say he made a lot more money than the other stall owners who were laughing at him, those who made their games a lot more difficult and were tighter with their prizes.
This really simple example of one man's enterprise demonstrates one of the most powerful business profit making secrets of all... the power of back end sales. You see this particular stall owner had tapped into one of the biggest secrets for making money... his own back end sales.
Let me give you another example you're probably more familiar with.
Have you ever recently bought a domestic electrical appliance? And did you manage to get out of the shop without someone trying to sell you an extended warranty of some kind on it? I thought not.
I was amused (but not surprised) to have someone in Currys try to sell me an extended warranty insurance plan on an item costing just £60 for an additional £25! Can you even begin to imagine the extra profit realised on that? Far, far more than the measly profit they would have ever realised on the purchase of the original item I'm sure.
You see that's the power of back end sales for you, and it's what transforms many unprofitable businesses into remarkably profitable ones.
Here's another example that I know a little about...
Have you ever received a mail shot invitation from Readers Digest to enter their massive prize draws and subscribe to the magazine for free or buy one of their books? Of course you have. They're lavishly produced promotions, which even in the numbers which The Digest print and mail out across the land, are still very very expensive.
But do you think they make a profit on them... yes or no?
While I don't have access to the Readers Digest mailing list results, I'd stake every last penny I have that these mailings never ever make them an instant direct profit. In fact I'd be astonished if they ever break even. But they're not expected to...
You see, Readers Digest know (like all direct response companies) that the profits in the business are in the back end. Once someone becomes a subscriber or customer, they become very likely to buy more and more products and services from the company, and over time these will eventually yield them a tremendous profit.
With a company like Readers Digest, that period before the back end sales start to offset the cost of acquiring any new customers can be as much as 3 years or more... something which only those with incredible patience and deep pockets can reasonably tolerate. But that period can also be much shorter in other similar businesses. Quite often, it can be as soon as a second transaction transpires.
The fact is that the profit making heart of a lot of businesses isn't as obvious as it might first appear. Most car dealers make more money on their finance packages, subsequent servicing and repairs than they do on simply selling cars. Currys, Dixons and the like make more money selling warranties and repeat prescriptions of batteries than they do in selling electrical goods. Most mail order businesses make far more money on repeat orders than they do on initial sales. And our fairground friend makes more money selling his tanks and food than he does from his initial £1 a game entry fees.
I think there are several things you can take away from this, which could either make or save you an enormous amount of money... depending on which side of the sales fence you are actually sitting on...
The public, overt face of any business will rarely reveal where the real money and profit from their sales comes from.
When you're considering purchasing from any business or money making opportunity, it's vital that you look below the surface, and dig down to where the real profits are being made. Time and again, they are in the 'back end' somewhere, and not in what's immediately obvious.
When analysing any business, it's definitely worth looking at their back end. No, not the salesman's (although for some this could be an added bonus) but the company's. If they don't have one, or it isn't very good, then they're probably doing all the hard work in initially getting customers and then allowing the really easy profits to slip right through their fingers. Just like the first of our fairground stall holders – the ones without the 'tanks and food' add-ons.
You see in any modern business there's a shift in the emphasis from making a one-off 'hit' on a customer, to treating the initial sale as a simply non-profit making ice-breaker to start a long term relationship with you, and this could produce massive dividends for them over the long haul.
If any businesses these days have just one product or service to offer the customer, they need to quickly develop some new ones in order to survive. They have to think about what complementary or add-on products and services might their customers ever want, need or use? When they've finally got a relationship with you and they're going to be regularly communicating with you. Doesn't it make sense for them to fully capitalise on that?
The key to making a great deal of money in any business these days can rarely be found in what happens in the first transaction. What really matters is what happens after that. The difference between a struggling business, and a fantastically profitable one, is often nothing more than a solid back end of complementary and add-on products and services where premium prices can often be commanded.
But why stop there?
The real stars in marketing are the businesses that once they have you will never let you go. They have an in-built method for generating a 'residual income'. Simply put, that means repeat business.
Again, here's an illustration (a pet hate of mine) that you're probably all familiar with...
To read this piece, you will be sat a computer and with most computer set-ups there is usually a printer of some sort running in the background.
These days you can pick up a really good quality printer for next to nothing, which is pretty amazing when you consider all the technology, research and skilled labour that often go into producing such an item. But why do you think this is so?
Once again the businesses producing the printers know they can afford to give away their product to help lure you into their long term business plans. They know that once you have purchased their product, you will have to go to them every time you need inks and premium papers to service their printers and these items don't usually come cheap. The printer company now has you trapped into a long term relationship of additional opportunities for extra sales.
So I'll leave you with a couple of questions now which could set you off on a path to discovering some of the massive hidden profit making mechanisms in any modern business.
When dealing with any form of business, you should always ask yourself what are the 'Goldfish' in this business? Are these businesses supplying you the 'tanks and food' at a premium, or are customers allowed to get them from somewhere else at a much more reasonable price?
And if you are allowed the freedom to shop around, are you really making the best savings in your purchasing you possibly can do when opting for an all-in-one package supplier?
And finally...
No goldfish were or ever will be harmed, in the writing of this blog.
SLIM FAST0 comments Posted at 08:58
In the days of old, when the knights were bold, and toilets weren't invented... Yes when I was growing up... There was only a couple of products I can remember being marketed as 'diet foods'. They were Nimble and Slimcea loaves of bread. In fact, if you were sitting here with me now, and I was feeling particularly acrimonious towards you, I could sing you the soundtracks of their TV ads all the way through.
Fast forward now by about 30 years and there are now hundreds (if not thousands) of diet related foods, potions, drinks and tablets on offer. And guess what?
We're all getting fatter than ever before!
When I was at school, the fat kids (including me) could be counted on the fingers of one hand. They had a torrid time, and I'd imagine like me, they have carried the scars of PE lesson humiliation well into their later life. At least, these days, the fatties aren't so isolated - because they've got plenty of company.
It doesn't take a genius to work out that something doesn't quite add up here. And a great deal of time money and effort has been spent trying to find out just exactly what it is.
Because nobody is ever to blame for anything anymore, a lot has been made of the role of a so called 'fat gene'. The fat gene and his ugly sister 'Big bones' is great news for your average bloater because he can now simply carry on eating, secure in the knowledge that his resemblance to Michelin Man's portlier brother is now beyond his control.
Sadly for our Mr Blimp though, this is something of a red herring. If there is such a thing as a fat gene, it will have existed back when Nimble was flavour of the month and we were all relatively slim. That's the thing about gene's you see… they're passed from generation to generation. I'm no scientist, but I do know that much.
So, if there's a fat gene now, there had to have been a fat gene then. And yet we were not as fat! The obvious conclusion then, is that we're getting fatter because of something we're doing. It's not because of a gene. In other words… steel yourself now, because you might not be able to comprehend what I'm saying at first…
We have to take responsibility for our own blubbery bodies.
Well I suppose we already do up to a certain point. But you see the combination of confusing (and conflicting) advice from the so called food and diet experts, together with the burgeoning output from a multi-billion pound processed food industry has rendered most of us unsure about what we should and shouldn't be eating, and uncertain of the nutritional value of what we're being sold.
And with that in mind, I would now like to share with you some very simple rules I came across this last month or two, while giving up smoking of all things, which I reckon would do an enormous amount to solve the problem if we all lived by them:
Eat food by all means, but stop before you're full.
Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognise as food.
Avoid those products made from any ingredients you can't pronounce.
Eat the so called 'bad' foods only as often as you are prepared to fully cook them yourself.
Hide your television remote and turn your heating down.
And finally, I can't resist adding one more piece of advice from Billy Connolly of all people…
Never eat anything that comes in a bucket!
So there you go, I reckon if we all made a stab at following those few basic rules, the obesity epidemic would be all-but over in next to no time at all. And the diet guru's would be forced to drag their scrawny arses (as you see I'm completely non-discriminatory in my insults) down to the job centre.
Seriously though, If losing weight and getting in shape is what you truly desire, I implore you to follow my revolutionary new diet techniques and watch that weight simply fall off. Oh and don't forget to tip me for the assistance in my words of wisdom.
After all, I've probably just saved you thousands on liposuction, tummy tucks and dietary supplements.
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Valence battery systems are designed to be user friendly. Toolkits are offered to allow installers, operators, and end users the ability to glean as much information out of the batteries as possible for successful operation. Valence offers a CANbus toolkit and a Diagnostic toolkit.
The CANbus toolkit is designed to connect the U-BMS to a USB port of a PC/Laptop computer. This allows Valence Configure & Monitor software to be run to display all parameters and real time values of the battery system. This works with packs made from either U-Charge® XP series or Power Modules.
The Diagnostic toolkit is primarily used to connect the PC/laptop computer directly to a module. With Valence software, the user can see the all of the parameters of an individual module (i.e. cell voltages, temperatures, current, state of charge, error codes, etc.) as well as reprogram a module's identification number. This is a great diagnostic tool and can be used on the all Valence batteries, including the U-Charge® XP & RT series, as well as the Power Module.
The U-Charge® Battery Discharge Indicator (U-BDI) is used with the U-Charge® RT series batteries to display pack level State of Charge. It is required on any system with more than 1 battery in series, as it determines inter-module balancing.
U-Charge® XP & P40-24 Modules Accessories
- Battery Management System
- CANbus Toolkit
- Diagnostics Toolkit
- 5VDC Enhancement Kit (used in systems with greater than 12 in series)


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Gross price (0% VAT), plus delivery
The wrought iron forged bars represent the constitutive elements of any wrought iron construction, be it a fence, a stair railing or an intricate model of gate construction. Usually mounted upright, these provide continuity and represent the body of the construction. Sizes and colour vary of course, and, as usual, you may find with us different models of forged bars with which you will be able to piece together stylish models. Our array of wrought iron bars range from 400 mm, usually used for sections to a generous 1000 mm in height, for wrought iron fences. For added security and durability, girth of the the bars top out at 16 by 16 mm.
Forged Bar 024
£2.03 *
Delivery weight: 0.768 kg
Forged Bar 088
£4.37 *
Delivery weight: 1.08 kg
Forged Bar 094
£3.84 *
Delivery weight: 1.05 kg
Gross price (0% VAT) plus delivery


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Coyote Gold Project
The Company's Western Australian tenements contain many highly prospective targets identified from previous exploration programs and recent target generation studies. These targets include high grade vein intersections located immediately below the current Coyote Mine workings, down-plunge extensions to lode style deposits in the Bald Hill area and advanced regional prospects hosting significant gold mineralisation within trucking distance of the Coyote treatment plant.
The exploration potential of the entire Central Tanami Project tenement holdings is considered by the Company to be exceptional. Over and above the mineralised trends within the current Mineral Leases, the Exploration Licence areas host in excess of 90 strike kilometres of favourable host lithologies that have been subject to minimal historic deep sub-surface exploration. These areas are prospective for both high grade lode gold and bulk tonnage deposits and will be intensively explored in line with the Company's target ranking and prioritisation process.


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New design for AGO.net launched today
September 30th, 2008
For many people, a visit to the Art Gallery of Ontario starts with a visit to www.ago.net. To ensure you enjoy a more intuitive, informative and accessible website experience, we are in the process of redesigning www.ago.net. The first release of the new design was launched today. It is the result of collaboration with Devlin eBusiness Architects. Click here for more information about the AGO/Devlin partnership.
The project began early in 2008 with community consultations, comparative research and user testing. A new architecture and user interface were developed and are being launched today in the spirit of a public beta site. We welcome your feedback as we seek to continually improve the site and help you to plan your visit to the new AGO. The site will continue to be released in phases over the coming months. Some of the features we are working to introduce include page-level comments, RSS feeds, sharing, feedback as well as a new event calendar. Many people have asked for web access to images of AGO's digital collections. This is something that we are working towards for early 2009.
We'll continue to post updates as this project progresses. Stay tuned and let us know what you think.


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Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Ollie joined Full Contact as a Football Consultant in the summer of 2015 and is based in Perth, Western Australia. A former police officer, he became heavily involved in Australian youth football as a result of the careers of his two sons – Joel and Liam Driscoll.
In joining Full Contact, Ollie works with our Football Agency team in identifying and supporting talented young Australian footballers who wish to ply their trade in the United Kingdom. Familiar with the immigration, international transfer certificate and training compensation rules, Ollie is well placed to assist those families who wish for their sons to make the bold move ; indeed, his son Liam Driscoll was the first example of this when he signed for Reading FC aged 16.


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This family-owned outdoor store has been a staple of Downtown since 1919, and its iconic neon sign outside its storefront is hard to miss. Inside you'll find a huge stock of products inspired by the Old West, including cowboy boots and hats, along with horse saddles, tacks, blankets and grooming supplies.
Location - 304 S.W. 3rd Ave., Portland, OR 97204
Neighborhood - Downtown, SW Portland
Categories - Shop, Gifts/Souvenirs, Men's Apparel, Outdoor Recreation, Women's Apparel


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Most of us who live on the North Shore have the privilege of living in towns where this country's history was shaped. There seems to be a story on every street corner or behind the doors of brick buildings. The towns of Danvers, Newburyport, Georgetown, and Beverly are experiencing an influx of new homeowners and with that, home sellers. So how are they selling so fast and such a high rate?
After speaking some of the homeowners who have recently sold, they mentioned finding a historical connect to the street, town, or area and adding that to their house was a major selling point.
"We went to the town hall and found that our street was the mill road to an old tannery in the late 1800s. When the tannery was leveled and houses were built, we lost some of the history. So, after finding out about the tannery, we started looking for tools, materials, objects, anything that we could use in home decor. We found an old machinery wheel and had a glass table mounted as our coffee table. Old signs from the tannery we found through the Town Hall became part of the home. All sold with the house."
Another couple I spoke with had learned their home was originally built by a founder of vinyl record player company. They used that as a theme for their home crafting wall art out of patents of the record player and vinyl records from the era of the original house.
It's stories like this that make potential buyers excited and interested in being a part of history living on. So, do some research, find something special, make your home and extension of something that once was. Then either cash in...or own a piece of something unique. But, just be honest.


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I put together a fun Norwex gift guide for my customer sale and huge giveaway for Black Friday. I can't spill the details here, so if you want info, leave your email address :)
I hope this helps you think of unique, useful gifts your friends and family will love!
Special thanks to FastGreenClean.com for the different category ideas! :)
So, what Norwex product would you like to unwrap this Christmas?
*I suggest you search Norwex.com for a local consultant. They'll show you the cloths and take care of you! If you would still like to order from me, visit my website at AshleyNielsen.Norwex.Biz or email me at email@example.com
*I am a Norwex Independent Sales Consultant. All information shared is my own and does not represent Norwex*


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Having James Patterson's name on a book cover is enough to intrigue some readers to pick it up. For those of you who don't fit into this fan-base, and don't know where to start in the multitude of books available from this author, I wanted to highlight a fairly new series which caught my attention after hearing a rave review from our office manager. The series started in 2010 with Private, which introduces former Marine helicopter pilot Jack Morgan now running a private investigation company. The second book in the series is Private: #1 Suspect, and the third, coming out on February 13th 2012 is called Private Games (ISBN 9780316206822).
The upcoming book is part of the series, but can stand on its own since it had mostly new characters. The story is set in London leading up to and during the 2012 summer Olympic Games. If you're looking for a book to take your mind off the dreary winter weather, check this one out!


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CNN's Token Brit Arrested for Meth
Richard Quest, the most unpleasant "funny" on-air CNN correspondent EVER, was arrested this morning (like last night "this morning") outside Central Park for violating park curfew. As they arrested him he said to the cops, presumably with his trademark "hilariously" over-emphasized British accent, "I have meth in my pocket." Not the best line maybe? Quest, host of CNN Business Traveler, is openly gay, btw, which is maybe why he was hanging around the park at 3:40 a.m. with meth in his pocket. CNN had no comment. (After the jump, a truly odd clip of Quest interviewing Ritchie Blackmore.) [NYT]


text: 5 Pc. Scottsdate Brown Cherry Wood Finish Platform Queen Bedroom Set. The classic lines of this unique bedroom group are accented by the padded leatherette headboard. Finished in a Brown Cherry, the matching case goods have brushed gold hardware and bold design. The bed has drawers in the footboard for extra storage. . Made of solid woods, veneers and mdf. . The set contains: (1) Queen Bed 109.75"L x 64.5"W x 68"H, (1) Night Stand 30"W x 17"D x 30"H, (1) Chest 44"W x 18"D x 55.75"H, (1) Dresser 69"W x 18"D x 42"H, (1) Mirror 45.5"W x 45.25"H x 3.5". Some Assembly may be Required. Also available in Cal King and King sizes at additional cost.


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Taking two rooms and combing into one large stunning bathroom was definitely the right choice here!
New walk in shower with body jets & rain head, new drop in Jacuzzi tub, and a surprise exposed red brick and mortar wall; all aligned with the homeowners impeccable colour and tile choices. This one was a lot of fun along with the ideal clients.
Jeremy and his crew were very efficient, knowledgeable and neat. From start to finish Jeremy kept us updated on the progress and discussed with us any issues as they came up. Jeremy's work ethic is unsurpassed. Our new bathroom is beyond our expectations.
Don & Lynn


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Parents and Carers
Parents, and other people who combine work with caring for dependents, have some specific rights protected by law. These include various types of leave and the right to be considered for flexible working.
If you are an employee but also have caring responsibilities for children, elderly relatives or dependants did you know...?
- You can apply for flexible working.
- You are entitled to time off for dependents to deal with unforeseen circumstances.
Parents are also entitled to time off for dependents and the right to apply for flexible working. There is more information about the rights of parents - such as parental leave, maternity, paternity and adoption leave - on the other pages within this section.
Helping with:
- Adoption leave and pay
- Flexible work
- Maternity
- Parental leave and pay
- Part-time work
- Paternity
- Time-off for dependants
- Working hours


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There are 2 more weeks to go until MWC, and we already have a leak for what looks like will be a Galaxy S 2 Plus phone that will be unveiled by Samsung there. Some believe this is not the Galaxy S 2 Plus because it doesn't fit some benchmarks, but unless the picture is fake, this looks exactly like a Galaxy S 2 Plus would look like.
This trend for Samsung worries me a bit. They are messing with a good thing, which was releasing one great phone every year, and are starting to offer a new model every few months with a few improvements. This can only mean that once the Galaxy S 3 is unveiled just a few months from now, it might not look as spectacular, specifically because they've been releasing every single technological improvement that might make the next-gen Galaxy S be head and shoulders above the previous version.
Also, other rumors say that Samsung might at least announce, if not release, the Galaxy S 3 in April. An April release is certainly possible, but in the light of releasing Galaxy S 2 Plus in February, if not later, it would seem crazy to release them with such close launch dates. Even if it's in June, it would still seem pretty close.
I'm not completely opposed to the idea of having a Plus version at exactly the middle of the lifecycle for a phone. Google does it, too, with 2 major versions of Android per year, and chip manufacturers do it, too (if not more often, which I also find pretty crazy – there's no reason to release a chip with +200 Mhz every 3 months).
So the point is, I could see how this would work out, if say Galaxy S 3 gets released in June, then a Galaxy S 3 Plus in December, which would have everything upgraded by 30-50%, but keep most of the looks the same (it just needs to be a beefed up version for those of us buying it late in the lifecycle), and also come with a newer version of Android than the original, which should be mandatory.
This should be good enough for new buyers who are looking at competing offerings as well, and the original just doesn't seem as powerful anymore, while in the same time it doesn't completely annoy the original buyers, because the improvements are not that great to warrant getting the Plus version, and they would be better off waiting for the next major release another 6 months. Then, release the Galaxy S 4 in June 2013, which should be about twice as good as Galaxy S 3 in everything, and also has the latest major version of Android. And then continue this cycle.
The Galaxy S 2 Plus rumors seem to be almost on par with what I'm asking for, considering it's supposed to feature Android 4.0, only a slightly changed design, and most likely a dual core 1.5 Ghz Exynos 4212 (30% faster CPU, 50% faster GPU). There's just that problem I mentioned in the beginning. The timing is absolutely terrible. This should've been announced in November or December, at least in the rest of the world. I guess the US launch completely messed up their launching plans, too. But if that was the case, then they should've just discarded the GS 2 Plus, and start this process with Galaxy S 3.


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Let's Actually DEFINE "Miracle."
Today is a short one.
OK, here's my gripe about "Miracle on 34th Street." By my understanding, this time of year, Santa is busy as hell. Would he really have time to sit in some frickin' department store in New York all day? I'm not nearly as busy as the fat man, and I don't have time to sit ANYWHERE all day at any point in December.
Given, he's a figurehead, and the elf union keeps him out of the workshop until he's loading up the sleigh, but it just seems like a big waste of time.
Call me jaded, but if the little brat doesn't believe in Santa, forget her. She's the one missing out, and likely spoiling it for everyone at the schoolyard. At that rate, not only will she get a lump of coal, but probably a shiner.
Next, the creepy lawyer dude using the annoying brat girl to get to her uptight mom. Dude. Dude. You're in New York City. You're a good looking lawyer, you can do much better than some stuck up single mother who works at Macy's. Seriously. And shame on said mother for letting her daughter spend this much time with a weird stranger who happens to be a grown-ass man who believes in Santa.
Here's another one. The man can fly around the whole world in one night, but has to stay at a senior center uptown so he can get to work at Macy's every morning? Really? Really?
And finally, in the courtroom scene, why didn't he just bust out some Santa magic and blow their minds? That would have cut 20 minutes out of the movie, so I could get back to my real favorite, "It's a Wonderful Life." Sheesh.
That's the rant.
Originally published on my old humor blog, Kwam's Rant.


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Katie Holmes bonds with George Clooney
Los Angeles: Actress Katie Holmes reportedly enjoys the company of actor George Clooney after bonding at a friend's dinner party.
The 34-year-old actress was a guest at the premiere of Clooney's latest movie Gravity in New York.
"Katie and George have known each other for years. They met through her ex-husband Tom Cruise and have always got on," contactmusic.com quoted a source as saying.
"Katie has had a crush on him for ages. They're both single and have met up a couple of times since the dinner party. Katie really has her sights set on him. There is a genuine connection," the source added.
However, the source insists that the romance is not serious.
"Katie and George are having a lot of fun. They are enjoying their new flirtation. He's a fun guy with buckets of charisma and Katie loves his company," the source said.


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samallen's Cheat Happens Profile
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the ps3 is awesome
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What is mobile?
When we think about mobile we think about someone that's on the go consuming content on their iPhone. But, so much of what we do with our smartphones takes place on the couch, in bed and at the office, when we're not out and about. When we talk about the mobile marketing landscape, it's almost 100% focused on the ad offerings presented on a 4.5″ diagonal screen. Gosh, that seems limiting.
There's simply too much fixation on 1 screen on 1 type of device. This isn't about about screens or screen sizes. The real opportunity, the real upside will come from not think about the idea of mobility, not mobile. What makes our smartphones such valued devices is that it's keeps us connected to all the things that interest us. It's the portability of information and content that makes our phones powerful; not the other way around. Think about something as basic as the music you enjoy. It's the ability of platforms like Spotify and Pandora to let us listen to our playlists on our desktops, iPads, Smartphones, game systems, TVs and more that enthralls us. It's the service, not the device, regardless of how "magical" those devices are.
As I wrote in 2011:
Your car will be able to sync with platforms like Groupon Now, fourSquare and Google Offers. When you pull into a Best Buy, Starbucks or McDonald's the car will automatically check you in, publish your check-in to your networks and serve you up an offer if one exists. Additionally, you'll be able to use your GPS to find local and real-time offers.
We're seeing this get closer and closer to reality with cars becoming wirelessly connected, app powered, personalized "devices. I think Ford is really on to something with their AppLink program. It's where the future is headed.
If you're planning mobile by screen, you're missing the big picture…yes, even those of you who own a Phablet.
When we evolve from "mobile," a screen, to a mindset of mobility, we'll see the full potential of this space. Efforts like Google Glass, Pebble and Nike+ are giving us glimpses of what's possible. But, we're just scratching the surface. Content, be it recipes, your playlist, the photos from that great BBQ or dinner reservations, wants to be liquid and free flowing. It wants to be where you need it to be. And, isn't that what you want too?
The mobile way isn't going to take place on your smart phone; it's just one battleground. Granted, it's an important battleground, there are many more battles to be fought.
You don't need a mobile strategy. You need a mobility strategy.
when you elevate the conversation to mobility, things become more complex. You need to think, not just about the devices, but also the content that flow to them. But, perhaps more importantly, you'll need to consider the mindset of your consumer. That's the most interesting aspect of all of this…what's old is new again. It's not about screens, technology or services. It's about how they deliver the right experience at the right time to the right consumer. The "Bored In Line" moments are different than the "just woke up and I'm reading my emails in bed" moments. Both of them are different than the "I just got engaged" moment.
Content, not "content marketing" is going to be ever more important as we think about mobility. Great content fills in the gaps of time, but leaves you wanting to pick up the experience at another moment in time. That's what makes platforms like Facebook and Spotify so interesting. I can start the experience with one mindset on one device at 6:30 AM when my alarm goes off and I'm still in bed…then complete the experience at 7:00 PM when I'm in the gym. That's mobility. That's the present. That's the future. That's what I'm focused on.


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Sad to see that Steve Jobs passed away.
Anybody remotely connected with the IT industry will have heard of him; those that have a fuller understanding of where the IT industry was born will know he was a one of the key players in making your computers look and feel the way they do today.
One of the main reasons I admire Steve Jobs is that he started his business in his parents garage... he lived through exciting times and is a part of computing history.
Check out this link at TechRepublic for an interesting and informative tribute.


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- Download and install the firmware update application using Server Admin, the softwareupdate command, or Software Update via Screen Sharing or Apple Remote Desktop.
- Log into the Xserve as an administrator via ssh.
- Run these commands:
cd /Applications/Utilities/Xserve\ EFI\ Firmware\ Update.app/
sudo ./Contents/Resources/RemoteEFIUpdater
- Follow the instructions provided by the updater.
- If your firmware needs to be updated, you will need to press 'y' to confirm, then shut down the Xserve. To shut down you may use Server Monitor, Apple Remote Desktop, Screen Sharing, ipmitool, or the 'shutdown -h now' command via the ssh session. Note: Choose Shut Down, not Restart.
- After shutting down, your Xserve will automatically power up and flash the firmware. Flashing will take a few minutes. DO NOT INTERRUPT the Xserve while flashing!
- After the Xserve restarts, repeat steps 2 and 3 to confirm that your firmware is up to date.
Learn more
As an alternative, you may use this extended sudo command in step 3 to automatically answer 'y' to confirm that you want to update your firmware and shut down your Xserve:
sudo ./Contents/Resources/RemoteEFIUpdater -y -shutdown
Use 'RemoteEFIUpdater -h' to see more usage information.