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Airplay Paragliding School
Airplay has merged with Eagle Paragliding. Please visit the Eagle Paragliding Website for current news, information and products.
If you want to paraglide, and you want excellence in instruction, then you want Airplay! Airplay is based in sunny Santa Barbara, California and enjoys teachable, flyable and fun weather year 'round for paragliding. If a school isn't available in your area, please consider coming out for the time of your life in a beautiful environment that is fun for the whole family! Founded by the late Dixon White (the first USHPA Instructor of the Year award recipient), the school continues its tradition of excellence. Instructor of the Year Rob Sporrer, along with the rest of our USHPA certified instructors, will lead you through a carefully designed syllabus combining complete academic and athletic progression from beginner through your tandem and instructor levels. Airplay programs have become the standards in the paragliding industry and the basis for the leading training manual, "The Art of Paragliding" and the paraglider video/DVD training series, "Starting Paragliding", "Weather to Fly", "The Art of Kiting", "Paraglider Towing" and "Lifting Air".
Our training hill is wonderful! You can start out on level ground, and be kiting and flying solo from over 200' often on your first day! Our students love the easy rides up the hill making multiple training flights daily.
Great new and used paragliders, specializing in Airwave, UP, and Windtech
With hundreds of letters of recommendation you can be assured the very best education in paragliding.
Airplay serves as an apprenticing center for new and re-certifying instructors and you'll enjoy meeting the variety of top notch pilots/teachers who regularly join Airplay classes.
We invite you to research other schools, call the United States Hang Gliding Association, or Contact Us for referrals. You will appreciate the concern for safety and the focus on developing paragliding fundamentals that will help provide you a more secure future in the sport.
All About Paragliding
Paragliding is the newest and fastest growing form of foot-launched flying. Below are answers to frequently asked questions about Paragliding. Contact us if you have any other questions.
Q. What is it like to paraglide, what is a paraglider?
Q. Is paragliding the same as parasailing, parachuting, or BASE-jumping?
Q. How is paragliding different from hang gliding?
Q. What can I do with a paraglider?
Q. Is it safe to paragliding?
Q. Is it scary to paraglide?
Q. Who can do paragliding?
Q. How much does a paraglider cost? How long does a paraglider last?
Q. What do I need to know when purchasing my first paraglider?
Q. How do I get started?
Q. Do I need a license to fly?
Q. How long does it take to learn to fly?
Q. What should I look for when signing up for a lesson?
Q. What is motorized paragliding or powered paragliding?
Q. What is it like to paraglide, what is a paraglider?
A. Paragliding is the simplest form of human flight. A paraglider is a non-motorized, foot-launched inflatable wing. It is easy to transport, easy to launch, and easy to land. The paraglider itself is constructed of rip-stop nylon from which the pilot is suspended by sturdy kevlar lines. The pilot is clipped into a harness and oriented in a sitting position for maximum comfort. With a paraglider, you actually fly like a bird, soaring upwards on currents of air. Paraglider pilots routinely stay aloft for 3 hours or more, climb to elevations of 15,000 feet, and go cross-country for vast distances.
Q. Is paragliding the same as parasailing or parachuting?
A. "No", "No", and "No". Parasailing is what you do at a beach, in a modified parachute tied to a boat, often in Mexico after you've had one too many cocktails. You get dragged around the harbor like a sack of potatoes, not like a pilot. (If you want to offend a paragliding pilot, refer to their sport as "parasailing".) Parachutes are designed to be deployed during free-fall from an airplane and to then descend to the ground. By contrast, paraglider pilots launch from gentle hillsides with their gliders already opened for flight; if the glider isn't flying properly, the launch can be aborted before leaving the ground. Since paragliders do not have to withstand the stresses of free-fall deployment, they are much lighter and aerodynamic and are designed to go up rather than down.
Q. How is paragliding different from hang gliding?
A. Paragliding and hang gliding are very similar in terms of the pure joy of flight. The sensation of flying either craft is very birdlike. Many pilots enjoy both sports equally, you should consider learning both. There are aspects that make each a little easier in some situations and more difficult in others. A paraglider is a bit faster to set up and put away, it folds up into a 30 lbs. backpack in about five minutes and can be easily transported in the trunk of a car, whereas a hang glider requires a roof rack for transport and takes at least twice as long to set up and take down, they generally weigh twice as much as a paraglider. Pilots commonly carry their paragliders to the tops of peaks in the Cascades, Alps, Andes, and Himalayas, this would be difficult with a hang glider. It's also easier to check the paraglider as luggage with the airlines or bus, or even just to hitch a ride back to launch. Paragliding launches are not as "committing"; if you want to stop your launch, you just stop running and the canopy floats down behind you. BUT, a hangglider can be launched from smaller spaces, i.e. narrow openings in a treed ridge line, and more easily in higher winds. Because hang gliders fly slightly faster, they can cover greater distances more easily and can fly up-wind more easily. But paragliders, which have advanced rapidly over the last few years, can now cover distances almost as great and, due to their tighter turning radius, can often stay aloft in light lift when hang gliders can't. Both paragliders and hang gliders can be towed into the air by winches and can use auxiliary motors to launch. Hang gliders, due to their slightly higher speed range have the unique advantage that they can be towed by motorized ultralights thousands of feet above the ground where they can then release to fly freely, just like a sailplane, this is very fun. Paragliders can more easily be landed back on top of a mountain or the side of a hill and use much smaller landing areas, This makes cross country flying less stressful. A hang glider is controlled through weight shift and the feeling of carving turns is similar to riding a roller-coaster head first. A paraglider is controlled through weight shift and application of brakes which deform the back edge of the glider, there is a similar feeling of carving turns, but there's not as much speed and you're upright in a sitting position. They both have similar safety records.
Q. What can I do with a paraglider?
A. Paragliders are designed to soar. The duration record is over 11 hours and the distance record is 300 kilometers. In training you will start out just skimming the ground. As you progress and become more skilled and confident you will probably want to go higher and use the wing for its designed purpose -- soaring! Average recreational pilots, utilizing thermal and ridge lift, routinely stay aloft for 3 hours or more, soar to altitudes of 15,000' and travel cross-country for great distances. In addition, paragliders can be easily carried and launched off of most mountains. Paragliders have been flown off of almost every major peak in the United States and Europe as well as off of Mt. Everest.
Q. Is it safe to paraglide?
A. You can make paragliding, like most adventure sports, as safe or dangerous as you want. It is of course crucial that you receive instruction from a certified professional and use safe equipment -- professional schools will create as controlled a learning environment as possible. But paragliding is still an outdoor sport and Mother Nature is unpredictable -- the primary safety factors are personal judgment and attitude. You must be willing to learn gradually and to think with your head not with your ego. If you don't, then you can get injured or killed; if you do, then you can paraglide until you're 90.
Q. Is it scary to paraglide?
A. Paragliding is the simplest and most serene way to fulfill humankind's oldest dream -- free flight! The pilot runs down a gentle slope and glides away from the mountain. There is no free-falling or jumping off of cliffs. The launches and landings are slow and gentle and, once in the air, most people are surprised by how quiet and peaceful the experience is. Even a fear of heights is rarely a factor, as there is no sensation of falling. The solo lesson requires more effort (physical and mental) than the tandem lesson, but it lays the basic groundwork necessary to become your own pilot.If the idea of watching the sunset from a comfortable seat in the air, supported by the buoyant evening air, with perhaps an eagle or hawk joining you off your wing tip, appeals to you, then paragliding is for you.
Q. Who can do paragliding?
A. Paragliding is about finesse and serenity, not strength and adrenaline. As in rock climbing, women often do much better than men because they don't try to muscle the paraglider around. In Europe, where the sport is immensely popular, you will see pilots as young as 10 and as old as 80. If you choose to hike to launch then you'll want to be in good physical condition, but you can also drive to most popular flying sites. More important than physical conditioning, is being physically and mentally alert and prepared. To be a successful paragliding student and pilot, you need to be able to think clearly and to listen well.
Q. How much does a paraglider cost? How long does a paraglider last?
A. A new paraglider, harness and reserve will cost somewhere between $4,500 and $5,500. After four years of fairly active usage and exposure to UV light from the sun, a paraglider is generally in need of replacement. This of course varies with how you care for your wing. It's easy to test your lines and sailcloth for strength and thus determine your need to replace your paraglider long before it becomes unsafe. Harnesses and reserves should last indefinitely with good care. Most pilots who get into the sport also purchase a two-way radio and a variometer (which tells you whether and how fast you are going up or down) for an additional $500 altogether. Good used equipment is often available for half as much though it will have a shorter life-span. In addition, because the sport is evolving rapidly, newer paragliders can have significantly better performance and behavior than older ones.
Q. What do I need to know when purchasing my first paraglider?
A. First, you need to know how to fly. No would-be pilot should purchase a wing before learning at least the basics of paragliding. It is your instructor's job to help you select your first wing. Different paragliders have different characteristics and require different skill levels; your instructor will match the glider to your particular interests, strengths, weaknesses, and skill level. Develop a solid relationship with an instructor you trust before purchasing equipment. "Good deals" generally end up costing the naive new pilot a great deal of money. Most instructors rely on referrals and repeat business so they are very determined to help you make the right decisions. See our advice on buying paragliding equipment for more information.
Q. How do I get started?
A. The best way to start is with an Introductory Course designed to give you a taste of real flying. Under radio supervision, you will fly solo from the training hill and progress to higher flights, all in two days. The basic techniques of paragliding -- launching, turning, landing -- are fairly easy to learn. The length of the course is designed to compensate for weather constraints and different learning curves. If after your introductory flights, you want to continue with paragliding, the next step is to enroll in a Novice (Para 2) Certification Course which will teach you about micrometeorology, different launch and flying techniques, safety procedures, etc. You should try and complete the Novice Course in a concentrated period of time.
Q. Do I need a license to fly?
A. Paragliders are regulated under the Federal Aviation Regulations Section 103 and therefore a license is not required to paraglide. In essence, paragliding is a self-regulated sport under the auspices of the United States Hang Gliding Association (USHGA) To keep it self-regulated, pilots and instructors alike adhere to the policies and guidelines of the USHGA. Local flying regulations may require the pilot to have certain USHGA certified ratings, such as Novice (Para 2) or Intermediate (Para 3) in order to fly a particular site. When purchasing equipment, a responsible dealer will always require some proof of certified rating.
Q. How long does it take to learn to fly?
A. You'll be flying solo during your first day of paragliding instruction, which is one of the advantages of the sport. However, in order to acquire the basic skills necessary to fly on your own without instructor supervision, you need to take a Novice (Para 2) Certification Course, which generally takes a total of 7 to 10 days and a minimum of 25 flights. During such a course, you will complete the USHGA-mandated amount of ground-school time, flights, and flying days, and will learn about high altitude flight, advanced maneuvers and reserve parachute deployment. Whether you complete your training in consecutive days or spread out over several months is up to you, although the more concentrated your training, the better.
Q. What should I look for when signing up for a lesson?
A. When selecting a school for paragliding instruction, first make sure that the instructors are certified by the United States Hang Gliding Association (USHGA). Things to look for include: What USHGA ratings do the instructors have? (The highest rating is called Advanced Tandem Instructor.) How many instructors are at each class, what is the student to instructor ratio? Are the flights radio supervised? Will the training proceed gradually up progressively higher hills? Does the school have hills to accommodate more than one wind direction and thus more flying days? What is the safety record of the school and of the instructors? How many students has the school taught, how many of its students receive certification each year? Does the school operate full-time to fit your schedule? You may call the United State Hang Gliding Association at 719-632-8300 for the names of instructors you may want to interview.
Q. What is motorized paragliding or powered paragliding?
A. With a gas-fueled motor unit attached to the pilot's back by means of a special harness, it is possible to paraglide in areas where, and at times when, flying sites or conditions are limited or non-existent. With thorough training a backpack motor pilot can use the motor to launch and then spend the rest of the day ridge soaring or thermaling, using the motor only when necessary to keep from landing. All of the same general considerations discussed about paragliders apply to motor units.
Since the pilot will be launching and landing with 45 lbs. to 100 lbs. of additional weight, it is extremely important that the pilot be competent in evaluating the conditions and have the appropriate skills. There has been a serious problem at this end of paragliding with the distribution of inferior equipment by individuals with little or no formal training. These companies prey on the naive and are a threat to the longevity of our sport in the United States due to the number of accidents and airspace and other legal violations. This sport is far more complicated than a "sports catalogue" will lead you to believe. You should secure a USHGA Novice license before using a motor unit. The information and training provided in a Novice course is crucial to your long term success with a motor.
It is our opinion that you want the most lightweight, durable, and powerful motor you can purchase. Electric start is an unnecessary option that only adds weight and the potential for equipment failure. Large fuel tanks are heavy, yet are rarely filled to the brim due to the added weight. Portability is an important consideration. Although you will hear otherwise from some motor distributors, you do not usually need a larger glider than the one you would fly without a motor. We actually want you a little heavy on your glider. The glider you would normally fly without a motor should be fine for motorized flying. Some paragliders are more user friendly than others when combined with motors. Develop a solid relationship with an instructor experienced in motorized paragliding before purchasing equipment. "Good deals" generally end up costing the naive new pilot a great deal of money.


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About Soil Conservation Services
The Soil Conservation Service (SCS) is a commercial entity within Local Land Services (LLS). The Soil Conservation Service is an environmental consulting and soil conservation business specialising in land rehabilitation, erosion control, project management and resource protection. We offer a complete range of professional and technical services in erosion and sediment control, soil and water testing, land assessment, farm water supply, rehabilitation and re-vegetation techniques.
For over 80 years, Soil Conservation Service has built a strong reputation as providers of reliable, practical solutions to natural resource management issues. Operating from 26 centres across the state, our technical and operational expertise and experience is readily available. Our plans and recommendations are based on a sound understanding of effective and practical land management techniques making us a valuable partner in developing and implementing natural resource management solutions.

subset: commoncrawl


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Mystical Black Cat Figurine With Swarovski Crystal
Handcrafted, sophisticated black cat figurine with high-gloss finish, genuine Swarovski crystal, 9 sparkling simulated "gems." Limited edition.
Measures 16.5 cm L
- Price:
- s&s◇
This item is part of a collection. Subscribe to receive each issue in the collection by clicking "Add Collection to Cart."
- Price:
Black cats are surrounded by an air of mystery. Their elegant sophistication is undeniable! Now you can share your love for these loyal and affectionate feline friends with this striking cat figurine. One look and you'll see why she is the cat's meow. This black cat figurine strikes a regal pose with one paw on top of the other and a contented curl to her tail.
This limited-edition cat figurine is handcrafted with a high-gloss finish to capture the cat's graceful style, and is exclusively from The Hamilton Collection. The black cat figurine showcases a genuine Swarovski crystal dangling from her collar that is also bejewelled with 9 sparkling, simulated gems. The cat's collar is inscribed with the word "Mystery." Strong demand is expected, so order now!
California Residents click here for Proposition 65 notice.
- Sophisticated cat figurine celebrates the regal beauty of these special companions, exclusively from The Hamilton Collection
- Handcrafted in artist's resin, this black cat figurine is hand-painted with a high-gloss finish to capture the cat's graceful style
- Elegant cat figurine showcases a genuine Swarovski crystal dangling from her collar that is bejewelled with 9 additional simulated, sparkling gems
- Cat's collar is inscribed with the word "Mystery"
- Edition is limited to 95 casting days, so order now
- Hand-numbered with matching Certificate of Authenticity
- Measures 16.5 cm L
- Buy This Item Now:
- Mystical Black Cat Figurine With Swarovski Crystal
Mystical Cat Figurine with Swarovski® Crystal! Black Cat Figurine Showcases 9 Sparkling Simulated Gems!
- Price:
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- Item no:
- 114904001


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The following Weekly Idol Episode 272 Eng Sub has been released. Kshow123 will always be the first to have the episode so please Bookmark us for update.
Watch other episodes of Weekly Idol Series at Kshow123.
Watch other episodes of Weekly Idol Series at Kshow123.
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PIERCE, Nebraska (Reuters) - America's love affair with the automobile was on full display Saturday as thousands of people converged on a muddy field in rural Nebraska for the auction of one of the nation's largest collections of vintage Chevrolets.
Antique car buyers mingled with history buffs and ordinary folks who just wanted to show their kids the cars of days gone by at the weekend sale of some 500 vehicles owned by Ray Lambrecht, 95, who was the local Chevrolet dealer for 50 years.
Until his retirement in 1996, Lambrecht stored any unsold new vehicles in a shed, outbuildings, and behind a grove of trees outside of town.
Locals knew about all the cars and pickup trucks, but people in auto circles and history buffs did not until the family decided to put them up for auction earlier this year.
"From the road, you would have never guessed that all of this was here," said family member Cassie Wondersee of Dwight, Kansas, as she stood in the mud with her Mastiff dog.
More than 430 "new" cars and pickup trucks were pulled out from among the trees. Another 50, in better shape, were moved out of the sheds.
Among those up for auction were a 1958 Cameo Pickup with the odometer showing it had traveled only one mile, a 1964 Chevrolet Impala with four miles, and a red 1963 Impala with 11 miles.
People peered into and poked around the engines, doors and interiors of row after row of cars and trucks. One enthusiastic bidder called it the car geek equivalent of the Woodstock rock music festival of 1969.
Food vendors pulled their trailers into the field, and portable toilets lined every exit. Soft drinks and beer were readily available.
Motel rooms were impossible to get anywhere near Pierce, with some attendees staying as far away as Omaha, 145 miles to the southeast.
In Norfolk, Nebraska, 14 miles south of Pierce, workers in fast-food restaurants and convenience stores were renting out rooms in their homes to accommodate the weekend crowd.
"Yeah, things like this don't happen much," said Brandon Wagner, a contractor who runs Wagner Excavating.
Wagner had a front-row seat right from the start of the auction, as he was the one who moved the vehicles out of the trees and into the muddy lot for the auction.
Breaking up the collection was tough for the family, said Wondersee, but she hoped the new owners would restore the cars and get the vintage Chevys back out on the road.
"I hope people are not disappointed. They are not all perfect. Some have rust from sitting outside all these years," she said.
(Corrects paragraph 2 to reflect that former dealer is alive)
Reporting By Michael Avok; Editing by Greg McCune and Gunna Dickson


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Extra virgin olive oil evokes images of pretty olive groves. Eco-foodies, however, know all too well that not all EVOOs are environmentally friendly. At Grist, Tom Philpott points out that industrial-scale olive production causes serious ecological destruction — and that some cheap olive oils are cut with cheap sunflower and hazelnut oil!
Thanks to my farmers market, I'm able to avoid these olive oil-related eco-worries entirely. I simply get my EVOO fix from Adams' Olive Ranch in Strathmore, Calif., which offers a few different local olive oil options as well as very tasty whole olives!
Once in a while, though, I want to try something different — since olive oils, like wines, each have their own unique flavors and characteristics. Here are a couple I've enjoyed:
Alter Eco Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil: For olive oil with serious environmental and ethical creds, go with Alter Eco. This fair trade company works to counter all the bad news about war, conflict and razed olive groves by working with family farms in Palestine.
Alter Eco's gourmet olive oils are organic and fair trade certified — and also technically carbon neutral, since an Alter Eco cocoa farming co-op in the Amazon plants trees to offset the amount of carbon emissions created in making these products. According to Alter Eco, these fair trade olives mean "an over 30 percent increase in farmer revenue over conventional prices" that go toward "financing scholarship funds, micro loans for women's empowerment programs, and olive tree planting."
I loved the buttery flavor of the "Robust" olive oil made with Rumi olives — perfect as a high-quality finishing oil. A mild flavor made with Nabali olives is also available. A 12.7 oz. bottle costs $19.99 and can be found at Alter Eco's web store as well as many Whole Foods, local co-ops and health food stores.
Gaea Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Organic. Give Greek olives a try by tasting this organic olive oil, made from handpicked olives. Gaea is an olive company that has made some eco-friendly moves, like buying carbon offsets through myclimate and incorporating what the company calls "non-depletion policy on wild products, recycling policies, and integrated crop management" — but details on these policies remain a little vague, and only a few their many products are organic certified.
Still, Gaea's organic EVOO is definitely worth a try for those curious what Greek olive oil tastes like. The slightly fruity flavor of this everyday oil drew raves from Steve Balogh of Groovy Green. Gaea products can be found in many supermarkets. A 17 oz bottle costs $13.99 at MyBrands.


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A woman who lost her grandma, mum, twin sister and youngest sister to breast cancer is to join a charity walk with her surviving sister – who is also battling the disease.
Christine Lugg, 67, of Holme Hall was just 10 when her grandmother died from the illness. Eight years later, her mum passed away.
In 1998, Christine's twin sister Carole succumbed to the disease and last year, her youngest sister died just months after being diagnosed.
"It's very, very difficult," said Christine, whose remaining sister, Evelyn Goad, 65, recently underwent a double mastectomy.
"We know thousands of people are affected by cancer, but we would like to put a positive spin on it.
"Most of what you hear is negative, but you also have to remember all those people who have come through it all, and support them.
Christine and Evelyn – who lives in Norfolk – will be taking part in Breast Cancer Care's Pink Ribbon walk at Chatsworth House.
It is the first time the walk has come to the Peak District stately home.
The Derbyshire Times is an official media partner for the event, which will take charity walkers on either a 20 or 10-mile route from the estate andthrough the Peak District.
Fighting back tears, Christine added: "I am walking in memory of the people I have lost.
"It will bring back memories of everyone, but I just want to do something to help someone else by raising money."
Registration for the event costs £30, with a fundraising target of £100 per person. Each participant will get a T-shirt, training guide and meal, medal and massage at the end of the walk.
To sign up for the Chatsworth walk or to find out more information about the event visit www.breastcancercare.org.uk


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By Matthew Heimer
In the Wall Street Journal today, E.S. Browning finds a silver lining in the financial struggles of the Baby Boomer generation: The boomers' kids are getting their acts together. Americans in their mid-30s or younger are more likely than they were 10 years ago to be taking part in their workplace 401(k); they're less likely to have credit card debt, and card balances are smaller among those who have them. What's motivating them, in many cases, is having watched their parents lose their jobs and hit bottom in the Great Recession. (Browning's most succinct generation-gap moment, for my money, is this quote: "'What if life throws me a curve ball like that?' said the 27-year-old radio DJ.")
Some point/counterpoint in the Comments section about how if these kids were really smart, they'd be stockpiling gold and silver and preparing for the government's looming Debtpocalypse. Pithiest reader comment, from one "Donald Dewitt": "Deferred gratification is difficult – unless the fear of scarcity is greater."


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Friday, September 24, 2010
A Third Look
The imagery and sounds that come from our busy shifts must haunt some of these visitors not familiar with the day-to-day workings of an ER.
Better yet, I wonder what these same patients and their families think when they see our staff's occasional blase' attitude. It has to be something pretty remarkable and out of the ordinary to get us to cringe or flinch or react, it seems. Which, I'm sure, comes across as uncaring to some. Trust me, though, it's not that the staff doesn't care, it's just that with the constant bombardment of these scenes, we have become somewhat immune to being caught off-guard.
When was the last time I did a double-take, you ask? Easy. It was two weeks ago. I had been standing at a counter in the nurses' station, finishing a chart, when I looked up to find one of our male techs helping a female patient stand from her cot. She had needed to go the bathroom and had insisted on using the hallway bathroom. She was a short but heavy woman, mid-forties, frosted blond hair, wearing a gown and nothing else. I presumed it had been tied up in the back.
As the tech helped this woman out of her room and down the hallway, away from me, I glanced to make sure she was steady on her feet. She was. But after what I saw, I wasn't. This woman's very robust ass was hanging out of her gown. Evidently, her gown hadn't been tied correctly. Now, I can handle the robust ass part. That's not a problem. If I've seen one robust ass in my career, I've seen a hundred. But what made me look twice at this one was the very tiny triangular patch of bright orange at the small of this patient's back.
"Noooooo," I thought to myself, "that can't be a thong. Can it?" A small part of me, although not a fan of them, hoped it was a "tramp stamp," a tattoo. For some reason, I would have accepted this a little better. As much as I hate tramp stamps, I hate thongs even that much more.
So, what did I do next? Heck yeah--I looked a third time. And disappointingly, I realized that the itsy-bitsy patch of orange was fabric. No tramp stamp for this classy patient. Straining my eyes, I couldn't see the rest of the thong, though, as it seemed to disappear among the fleshy cheeks.
With my mouth gaping, I watched the tech and the patient arrive at the bathroom, where he helped the patient in before stepping out and giving her some privacy. Afterwards, I looked behind where I was standing, only to find one nurse, one radiology tech, and two family members from another room (they had been asked to step into the hallway while a portable chest x-ray was being taken) standing in the hallway, watching the same scene I had just witnessed.
Their mouths were gaping, too.
I walked to the tech waiting outside the bathroom for this patient. "Hey, Mike," I said, "you have to cover up this patient when she comes out. Her backside and thong are hanging out for everybody to see."
"A thong?" he asked, "No way." I understood his amazement--this patient wasn't our typical, narcissistic thong wearer. "Trust me," I answered, pointing down to the family members looking our way, "they got a free show."
Mike ran and got one of our scratchy hospital-issued blankets and tried to cover up this patient's backside as she exited the bathroom, but she refused. "Get that thing off me," she yelled, "I don't care who sees me!" Good for her for being proud of her robust ass. If only we could all be that confident.
Mike earned his paycheck that day. As the patient walked back to her room, Mike grasped her elbow for support while using his other hand to hold the back edges of her gown together. No easy feat on his part, but he handled it like a champ. Single-handedly, he got this movie's rating reduced from an "R" to "PG.
Sometimes, the noise can be just as disturbing. Just a few days ago, we had a pleasantly demented elderly woman sent to us from a local nursing home for a variety of medical complaints. Usually, if we can, we place this type of patient near the nursing station to keep a closer watch on them (in the event they try to climb out of their beds). Unfortunately, though, this patient was prone to frequently screaming out "Help me!" Every few minutes. In a loud, high-pitched, shrilly voice. For three full hours. Behind her partially-closed glass doors.
Imagine being one of the patients or families who bore witness to these screams. After a few minutes, the staff easily got used to them (although I'm sure most of them would have preferred a little more quiet). I'll bet, though, that it was probably somewhat disconcerting for several families to think a patient was screaming out for help and not finding the staff reacting.
Unbelievably, about forty-five minutes before Ms. "Help me!" was discharged back to her nursing home, an elderly demented man was brought to our ER and placed in a parallel hallway near the same nursing station. And can you guess what he was prone to yelling out? "Owww!" Yes, "owww!" Drawn out in a raspy, deep, masculine voice.
Suddenly, we had these two patients prompting each other. "Help me!" was followed by "Owww!" "Owww!" was followed by "Help me!" This duo had impeccable, precise timing in their forty-five minutes of togetherness.
We all shook our heads. The hilarity of the moment, unfortunately, was tinged with some sadness to the reality of their situations. In another thirty years, I thought, that could be me uncontrollably yelling out something. Something suave, I can only hope.
After the woman was discharged, the elderly man continued with his "Owww"s for a few more minutes before tapering off completely. Maybe he realized, through his dementia, that he was Simon without his Garfunkel. Or Hall without his Oates. Better yet, Ike without his Tina.
As for the patients and families that heard this duo's chorus, we offered several reassurances that these patients were okay and not in any pain. Hopefully, the families we didn't get a chance to offer an explanation to won't be scared off from returning the next time they need emergency care.
The families that saw the orange thong, though? I don't expect we'll ever see them again...
As always, big thanks for reading. Any of you have a funny story to share? I hope you have a great weekend...
26 comments:
- 911RN said...
Yup, me too! Thong hater- agree- WAY worse than a tramp stamp. Never ceases to amaze me when I have to pull the pants off of some emesis covered drunk/OD female and behold, the thong! Usually lacey- black or red. Eeew!
Have not come across orange (yet)- guess those are reserved for the over 40, robust ass crowd!
Will say they require very little cutting with trauma scissors.Snip- things nearly spring off like a rubber band:)
Yes, seasoned ED folks have few "double take" moments but it DOES still happen. Thanks for great post.
- September 24, 2010 at 6:22 AM
Fifteen years, ago thongs were not so pervasive in America, and I was a visiting wound care nurse in Florida. Stopped to make several visits in a downtown "senior living" high-rise along with a orientee. We worked our way from floor to floor, changing infected surgical dressings and putting Una boots on ulcerated legs, meeting our usual assortment of seniors determined to stay OUT of the dreaded "nursing home".
Our final visit was the evaluation of a sacral wound on a little lady who could not have weighed 80 lbs, who met us on an August day in a heavy fleece sweatsuit and HAT in her un air-conditioned little apartment. After doing the usual assessment and moving on to the wound, I was very concerned when I saw a flash of red.....could this be a bleeding stage 4???
You guessed it....just a tiny little red lace thong covering the dressing on the boniest, saggy little butt in the universe. Ithought my student would need CPR from holding in his choked laughter on the other side of the bed!
Pattie, RN
- September 24, 2010 at 6:49 AM
- WarmSocks said...
Vividly descriptive!
I've witnessed those outbursts you tell of, and you're right. Initially, it seems callous for medical personnel to ignore an old person's pleas for assistance. The nursing home we visit has quite a few dementia patients. It's quite disconcerting to walk up to the building and hear "Help me! Help me! Somebody help me!" over and over again through the open windows. It doesn't come across as appropriate, compassionate care when you then walk into the building and find all the staff ignoring those cries for help. It's a different story once you realize what's really going on, though. I've been in the same room with those patients yelling for help, and discovered that they really don't want or need help. The words just spring out involunarily. So sad.
- September 24, 2010 at 6:58 AM
- Sharp Incisions said...
I've been spending most of my time with cancer patients, so funny stories have all been erased from my memory by the sad ones lately.
But I did want to comment and say, to any non-medicos who read this, that the 'blase' attitude is actually a good thing. It's less embarrassing for the patient to be treated by a team who've 'seen it all before', especially for 'below the belt' exams. And as far as we're concerned, if we're unfazed, we think more clearly and react faster and more appropriately - which is ultimately what's best for the patient.
As a medical student, I've deliberately tried to cultivate that 'seen it all' attitude. The first patient I saw naked had no idea that she was the first naked patient I'd seen. I'm sure it helped that she was comatose ;) - but even if she hadn't been, I hope that my practiced nonchalance would have been up to the task.
It actually didn't take too long for pretense to become reality. I haven't done even a mental double-take in a long time! (Though I'm not in the ED full time.)
Thanks for another great post, Dr Jim!
- September 24, 2010 at 7:10 AM
It's not just the ER - when a friend of mine was hospitalized, for several days the elderly man in the room next to her would incessantly call out "Nu-ur-ur-ur-ur-ur-ur-urse... Nu-ur-ur-ur-ur-urse". My husband on the one said "He sounds like a sheep". Actually, we sort of missed him after he left (I don't think the nurses did though).
Also, once at medical offices, consisting of many floors with the offices around the edges and the center entirely open, a handicapped young person at neurology would just shriek like a wild animal - his cries rang through the whole place, floors away. Patients and families really raised some eyebrows at that one.
Does that orange thong remind me of the orange that highway workers wear - perhaps a sort of hazard sign?
- September 24, 2010 at 7:52 AM
- SilverNeurotic said...
When I was in college I had a fainting spell about a week before finals due to stress. Since I was living at home, my mother, a nurse, insisted on taking me to the local ER. It was really busy that night, and while I was given a bed right away-it was in the trauma area instead of a normal "room". A few minutes after I was settled into bed, an ambulance brought in this guy who had been involved in a Friday night bar fight...he got attacked by a machete. It was sad, but the commotion kept my mother and I pretty amused for awhile.
- September 24, 2010 at 8:46 AM
- kristi said...
Thongs are just nasty, aren't they?
- September 24, 2010 at 9:21 AM
- rlbates said...
Love the post and the comments!
- September 24, 2010 at 10:05 AM
- tracy said...
Oh, dear.
My great shame is that i have been a horrible, screamiming, obnoxious (drunk, od'd and cut up) patient in my time. :*(
i think i would rather have had my a$$ hanging out.
i am sorry.
- September 24, 2010 at 10:24 AM
- CeeCee said...
I'm old enough to remember when a thong was a sandal. :)
I wouldn't worry too much about what other patients are thinking. We live in a society where almost nothing phases us. Just about everyone I know has been to a nursing home or has cared for an elderly person with dementia before.
Thanks for being concerned though.
I hope you have a great weekend!
- September 24, 2010 at 10:54 AM
- Kate said...
Thongs! On robust ass! Spectacular!
- September 24, 2010 at 11:29 AM
- Katie said...
How about a school cafeteria story? Picture the president of the university speaking with an elderly woman who gets to audit (aka sleep through) any classes she desires and eat in the caf for free. A friend of mine caught him bent over lost deep within conversation while zealously picking his seat.
Or yesterday I stood to realize there was a huge rip in the rear of my jeans. How long at that been there? I don't even want to know.
<>< Katie
PS: I didn't memorize those sentences. I wrote them down. I don't like the "I'm going on an airplane and I'm taking..." game because let's face it, my name's Katie. I can take a kangaroo, a kiwi, and Kool-aid but that's about it.
- September 24, 2010 at 12:12 PM
- emmy said...
I've recently been the family member walking through the emergency room and then the ICU. Neither is pleasant. Would it be too much bother to offer the patient two gowns, one to cover the front and one to cover the back? I always ask when it's me, but not everybody knows that they can ask.
- September 24, 2010 at 12:34 PM
- Marc Bernard said...
Thanks for the great story - keep on singing for the sake of the thong. :)
- September 24, 2010 at 1:22 PM
- terri c said...
Hmmm as to the two gowns, I think there are a lot of folks in the ED who don't want to wear ONE gown let alone two. So you could offer but the folks who need that second gown most might be the ones who would not want it! Sort of the reverse of Speedos, where the ones who want most to wear them are the ones who should not. Good post. My funniest story as a patient was listening to another patient in the ED who had been brought in by police. At one point he yelled, "I just want someone to treat me like a human being. I am NOT DUMB!! D-U-M!!! No!!! N-O!!!" Um, yeah.
- September 24, 2010 at 1:28 PM
- Cal said...
I have not been in a regular ER for many years (knock on wood), thankfully. I did take my daughter a few times to a wonderful pediatric ER, and felt very guilty when once all the doctors suddenly rushed into one room where there was a very sick baby, as I knew my daughter was not terribly ill.
- September 24, 2010 at 2:09 PM
- coulrophobic agnostic said...
I feel bad for giggling at the poor demented couple, but that's the kind of shit you just can't make up, you know?
Last time I was in the ER (a couple of years back), there was a patient who kept removing his clothing (hopefully not all of it; I couldn't really see) and climbing into bed with the other patients. That was pretty awkward. Oh, and the guy across from me (that ER didn't have those fancy private roomlets...one big room with 20 or so beds shoved practically on top of each other) loudly informed someone, over the course of a conversation, that if you have a sudden attack of diarrhea, looking at something orange will make the urge go away.
I wish I hadn't been essentially strapped to the bed, because I missed a lot of awesome goings-on. Sigh. The IV dealie was above my right shoulder and plugged into the awesome tunnel-like vein in my left arm. The pulse ox thingy and blood pressure dealie (I'm not a doctor, okay!) were on my left side and, of course, attached to my right arm. Basically I had to lie back or risk potentially ripping everything loose and pissing off a bunch of really nice nurses. (Also, I swear, not having insurance would have helped me that day. I had a kidney infection. A dog could have diagnosed it. I'd had UTI symptoms for about a week prior but my GYN said me pee was okay, so I ignored it. You'd think that would be a clue. But the doctor, who looked about 12, insisted on getting a contrast CT JUST IN CASE the lower back pain, high fever and mild but still embarrassing incontinence were caused by some kind of infected thing in my spine. Or my gallbladder. Or...you get my point. Obviously I'm being facetious; I'd rather be insured than not and get too much care than not enough, but holy fuck it was frustrating! It didn't help that I also had the flu, thanks to accidentally drinking someone else's beverage thinking it was my own. Apparently my white cell count was more than twice what someone who "just" had the flu's should be, so that necessitated MORE tests. They ended up admitting me at around 3 am, and guess what? By 7 or 8 or whenever they were doing the morning go-rounds, my blood tests were reasonable, my fever was gone and they sent me home without the spinal imaging whatever they wanted to do on me. Shocker!)
- September 24, 2010 at 3:40 PM
Funny Story Jim!! I have one for ya. So, I volunteer in my local ER department for the past couple of years, and have seen some pretty funny moments. And like you and your ER staff, it takes a lot to really ruffle my feathers so to speak. But there have been a few times where I even took a double take.
So as a volunteer its my job to first greet the pt's that come into the ER, get their name, age, and reason for visit to give to the triage nurse. Its also my responsibility to perform basic first aid if there is a line to see the triage RN. Like quickly put a dressing on a bleeding finger, get ice for the broken leg, etc..
So anywho, One nite Im doing my usual shift, and this young girl comes in (around my age of 22) and she is dressed in a very short mini skirt, Really tight tight TIGHT shirt, gross hair extensions and her make up is streaming down her face from crying. She is holding her hand in a blood soaked towel. I ask her name, and age, and then asked what happened to her hand. Her response was "Well I got really drunk, and I was making a margarita in the blender with frozen strawberries, and one of the strawberries got stuck, so i tried to 'unstick' (swear to god thats the word she used) it with my finger while the blender was going, and well the blender got my finger." OMG!! like how do you react to this. My first response was like OW!! then my second response was like "are you stupid" (in my head of course) and then my third response was that i wanted to burst out laughing at her stupidity/drunkenness. But I was really nice and said "omg my dear, that must be throbbing like heck, lets get you into triage" and because I like gore I stayed around and helped the triage nurse with bandaging it. Lets just say that finger was like hamburgur meat. Dont think she will ever stick her hand in a running blender again, drunk or not.
So yes, I see your point as to how it takes a lot to get us ER folk ruffled. But the ones that do make us be "ruffled" provide the best stories, so i guess thats good. Anywho, thanks for the awesome post as always!!!
- September 24, 2010 at 4:49 PM
- Heather said...
I bet she was wearing white pants too wasn't she?
I had my students to the nursing home for clinicals and we had a patient who screamed, "Ed, I'm dying!" over and over and over and over. Ed showed up, and she still screamed. My poor kids. They're still too green to see any humor in any of it! ;)
- September 24, 2010 at 4:53 PM
- BC Cook said...
"Imagine...a half-naked patient, his gown loosely-tied and his junk hanging out, walking at you from the other direction. Or seeing an unresponsive [person] on a cot being rushed into a room with a paramedic sitting on top of him, performing CPR. Or hearing the drunk...in the next room violently vomiting and gagging while filling-in the space between with obscenities."
I don't have to imagine it. It sounds like a typical Thanksgiving.
- September 24, 2010 at 5:24 PM
- Wren said...
Wonderful post! You had me giggling over the woman with the thong--my goodness. People are so delightfully odd, aren't they. And the old lady and old man yelling ... what a hoot. Thanks for another great story, doc. :o)
- September 24, 2010 at 11:01 PM
- CottonLady said...
Great post!! Back in the '80's when I was working in a nursing home, we had a gentlemen that had had a stroke. He could not talk at all EXCEPT when he needed something or couldn't sleep, he would yell "Ho Hum Harry!!" very plainly! That was all he ever spoke, but he could sure speak it loudly and often!
- September 24, 2010 at 11:54 PM
- SeaSpray said...
Great post Jim!
You have such a way with writing ..that I was staring at her too. :)
Gosh ...I'd want to become one with the floor and disappear.
Saying Thank you and covering up would have been nice. Gee!
Years ago we had an ED doc come to the cafeteria one night for dinner and he couldn't get over how this one patient had these sexy panties on because they did not match his perception of her.
Dementia is just so sad. My mother got it severely the last 5 mos of her life but she didn't do that. And it had started earlier that year but her doc acted like it was not important. She called the staff by my name and forgot our names. But the worst thing was that she suddenly didn't remember how to use the remote, read, write or do anything but feed herself. She'd have bursts of recognition. they think she had mini stroKes that wouldn't show up on a CT, but they never took her for a CT.
And it was so sad to see the alzheimers patients, particular one woman was always in crisis mode. I wondered if it was because she had been a medical administrator and so somehow in that mode of constant tension.
I would just go along with them when they'd ask why we didn't go to that bank or tell me it was Christmas.
And your right ..we don't know how we will be in 30 years. It is an unnerving thought.
You'd be the storytellERdoc everyone would love. :)
I had an inpatient experience a few years ago in which I was desperate to get sleep because I had been awake almost 24 hrs at that point after the long nite in the ER. I git up there around 5:30 am and birds were beginning to sing. Just as the nurse had finally finished her intake info with me and left ..my roommate began stirring, then the getting ready for change of shift and with the sunlite now coming in the windows ...an elderly woman nearbu began making consistant loud nonverbal sounds ..like every 3 seconds. Then from what sounded like the bottom outside corner of my room ..behind my stretcher and older man was calling out "Hellooooo!" "Hellooooo" non stop.
Not feeling well, exhausted, pain, and miserable from being on NPO when I hadn't had anything to eat 33 hours at that point because I didn't eat that day before I ended up in the hospital, I asked the nurse that just came on if I could have a sleeping pill and she said "Oh noooo..they won't want your sleep patterns messed up."
I was exhausted and could NOT sleep with all the commotion and noise.
All I wanted was to be knocked OUT!
- September 25, 2010 at 11:49 PM
- G-31 Toastmasters said...
Grateful to say that I've only been in the ER a few times, but it seems like they were colorful episodes.
One visit for allergic reaction to bee sting (I got to be the "stat"... for a few minutes), a maniac came in wielding a gun and threatening every one in the place. Oh my, the excitement of my bee stings were pale compared to that excitement.
Another time I came to the ER via ambulance from an eye Dr's appt because I couldn't stay conscious or keep my BP up. I was in an ER that didn't have rooms but just bed after bed only separated by curtains. That day one of my neighbors was a police-guarded, venom-shouting, very loud, angry person. (Maybe it was the same guy as the bee sting day... but no gun!) Any way, I heard that, but the only thing I could REALLY hear was my five month-old ravenous nursling who wanted MAMA.
My husband asked if he could come see us. (Baby was not mollified by sips of apple juice dripped from a straw.) He could see me, but not with the baby. Um, what was he supposed to do with the baby? Hand it to a stranger in the waiting room? I asked if I could please nurse the baby (engorgement HURTS) and the docs said "NO WAY. TOO MANY GERMS IN HERE. BUT WE CAN GET YOU A PUMP FROM THE WOMEN'S/BABY'S HOSPITAL AND YOU CAN PUMP FOR THE BABY." Um, right. Like it's going to be any less germ-ridden to pump milk here in the ER (and have hubby feed Baby in the waiting room from a bottle) than it would be to put Baby directly on the spigot. Finally the doc's got a WOMEN'S/BABY'S Hospital Doc to come consult; that doc was delighted to meet a full-time nursing mom. She gave the approval for me to feed Baby in the ER. Baby was happy. I was happy. Hubby was happy. The whole ER was a lot quieter because Baby was happy.
I still remember the date... 9/7/01. Four days later my blood pressure issues seemed like NOTHING to worry about. :-(
- September 26, 2010 at 3:17 PM
- type1medic said...
I have cut way to many thongs off!! uggh! and it is never on the young teen or young adult, ohh no it is some middle aged woman who def. needs to visit A drug rehab facility. Seriously what is the point of the thong? How is that cute??
- September 27, 2010 at 10:25 PM
- Rogue Medic said...
In order to develop a classy chant, for the future (if there is not a cure/prevention for dementia first), I practice yelling, Pardon me. Do you have any Grey Poupon?
- September 28, 2010 at 6:52 AM


text:
Ear emergencies include objects in the ear canal and
Children often stick objects into their ears. These objects can be difficult to remove because the ear canal is a tube of solid bone that is lined with thin, sensitive skin. Any object pressing against the skin can be very painful. In many cases, a doctor will need to use special instruments to examine the ear and safely remove the object.
Pain, hearing loss, dizziness, ringing in the ear, and
- Inserting cotton swabs, toothpicks, pins, pens, or other objects into the ear.
- Sudden changes in pressure, as from an explosion, blow to the head, flying, scuba diving, falling while water skiing, or being slapped on the head or ear.
- Loud percussions, such as a gun going off.
- Bleeding from the ear
- Bruising or redness
- Clear liquid coming out of the ear (brain fluid)
Dizziness Earache Loss of hearing Nausea and vomiting Noises in the ear
- Sensations of an object in the ear
- Swelling
- Visible object in the ear
First Aid
Follow the steps below, depending on the type of ear emergency.
Calm and reassure the person.
- If the object is sticking out and easy to remove, gently remove it by hand or with tweezers. Then, get medical help to make sure the entire object was removed.
- If you think a small object may be lodged within the ear, but you cannot see it, DO NOT reach inside the ear canal with tweezers. You can do more harm than good.
- Try using gravity to get the object out by tilting the head to the affected side. DO NOT strike the person's head. Shake it gently in the direction of the ground to try to dislodge the object.
- If the object doesn't come out, get medical help.
DO NOT let the person put a finger in the ear, since this may make the insect sting.
- Turn the person's head so that the affected side is up, and wait to see if the insect flies or crawls out.
- If this doesn't work, try pouring mineral oil, olive oil, or baby oil into the ear. As you pour the oil, pull the ear lobe gently backward and upward for an adult, or backward and downward for a child. The insect should suffocate and may float out in the oil. AVOID using oil to remove any object other than an insect, since oil can cause other kinds of objects to swell.
- Even if an insect appears to come out, get medical attention. Small insect parts can irritate the sensitive skin of the ear canal.
The person will have severe pain. Place sterile cotton gently in the outer ear canal to keep the inside of the ear clean.
- Get medical help.
- Do not put any liquid into the ear.
Apply direct pressure until the bleeding stops.
Cover the injury with a sterile dressing shaped to the contour of the ear, and tape it loosely in place.
Apply cold compresses over the dressing to reduce pain and swelling.
If part of the ear has been cut off, keep the part. Get medical help immediately.
Place the part in a clean cloth and keep it on ice.
- Cover the outside of the ear with a sterile dressing shaped to the contour of the ear, and tape it loosely in place.
- Have the person lie down on the side with the affected ear down so that it can drain. However, DO NOT move the person if a neck or back injury is suspected.
- Get medical help immediately.
Do Not
- DO NOT block any drainage coming from the ear.
- DO NOT try to clean or wash the inside of the ear canal.
- DO NOT put any liquid into the ear.
- DO NOT attempt to remove the object by probing with a cotton swab, pin, or any other tool. To do so will risk pushing the object farther into the ear and damaging the middle ear.
- DO NOT reach inside the ear canal with tweezers.
Call immediately for emergency medical assistance if
The following symptoms, which may indicate significant trauma to the ear, should be evaluated by a physician:
- Pain in the ear
- Ringing sounds
- Dizziness (vertigo)
- Hearing loss
- Drainage or blood from the ear
- Recent blow to your ear or head
- Never put anything in the ear canal without first consulting a health care provider.
- Never thump the head to try to correct an ear problem.
- Teach children not to put things in their ears.
- Avoid cleaning the ear canals altogether.
- After an ear injury, avoid nose blowing and getting water in the injured ear.
- Treat ear infections promptly.
If you tend to feel pain and pressure when flying, drink a lot of fluid before and during the flight. Avoid the use of alcohol, caffeine, or tobacco on the day of the flight. Chew gum, suck on hard candy, or yawn during take-off and landing. Talk to your doctor about taking a decongestant or using a nasal spray before you fly.


text:
Last week marked the beginning of the turtles-crossing-streets-to-lay-eggs month.
In Monday's Newsday, Roy Still of Patchogue alerted us about the need to look out for turtles on the road. To my knowledge this is the first time that Newsday has taken an interest in turtles and their safety. Chris Chapin, a local naturalist, told me Friday that he had already counted two run-over box turtles. He continued sadly, "they were probably older than me." Johnson Nordlinger, assistant to the East Hampton Town supervisor was nearby and she chimed in, "I saw one dead on the road coming from Montauk this morning."
Most of the turtles crossing roads to lay their eggs are box turtles, some of which live to be more than 100 years old. Perhaps, living outside of the fast lane is conducive to great longevity, but once in the fast lane, if you are a turtle, your life is at stake. Bunny rabbits, which run a thousand times faster, only live to be 9 or 10 years old. As Aesop told us millenniums ago, even though rabbits are quick, the slow-moving turtle often wins the race.
They had dirt trails and chariots in Aesop's day, not paved highways and motorized vehicles. Turtles were not likely to become roadkills. Think about it, the box turtle with its carapace on top and hinged plastron below in front can close up tight, almost hermetically so, it doesn't have any natural enemies like the rabbit. Its only enemy is the motorized vehicle.
This June got off to a bang. I've been keeping track of roadkill turtles for years, and last Thursday I counted two on the way home from work, an adult female box turtle on Ferry Road in North Haven and an adult female painted turtle on Noyac Road. The latter was puzzling, as the freshwater closest to the scene of the accident was about 200 yards away. Why was she traveling so far away from her home pond?
On the way to work the same day I was traveling slowly along Northwest Road in East Hampton's Northwest, when I passed a young man standing at the edge of the pavement looking perplexed. I pulled over, and walked back to take a look. There was Slav Soroka of Elizabeth's Cleaning Service standing inches away from a foot-long snapping turtle. He was standing guard while trying to figure out who to call.
"The Riverhead Foundation?" he asked. The turtle was partly on the pavement with her posterior hanging over the edge of the dirt shoulder. Her eyes were watery. We decided to move her into the Springy Banks woods at the shoulder's inner edge. When we picked her up and looked in the hole she had dug, there were three of four eggs, which we covered up with soil. They had a very slim chance of making it. One tire passing over the top of them, just an inch off the pavement, would certainly do them in.
On Memorial Day weekend Ronn Pirrelli counted two box turtles and two snapping turtles in the Noyac area. One snapping turtle was so close to the pavement he had to gingerly steer it onto the shoulder using his shod foot as a guide. The other snapping turtle happened to be laying eggs right next to a monument in the Oakland Cemetery across Jermain Avenue from Otter Pond. The eyes of that female turtle were also watering, Ronn observed. Apparently, for turtles, laying eggs can be as trying as giving birth is for human females. Life doesn't come easily.
On the South Fork we have six native turtle species, maybe seven, that are now leaving the water to lay eggs in a burrow on land — the snapping turtle, box turtle, painted turtle, spotted turtle, musk turtle, and diamondback terrapin, the only one that lives exclusively in salt water.
The seventh is the red-bellied turtle, which is not supposed to be here, but definitely is according to Chris Chapin, who found them here and there in the Sag Harbor area as a teenager, and Jean Held, who photographed a female laying eggs in the old Bridgehampton-to-Sag Harbor railroad right of way next to Long Pond several years ago.
Turtles have a long evolutionary history, much longer than ours, and should be respected for the wonderful creatures that they are. They are quite obvious when crossing streets and a driver paying attention to the road should be able to avoid hitting them.


text:
- 1.5 lbs ground beef Melanie uses Black Angus
- McCormick Grill Mates' garlic & herb seasoning
- BBQ Sauce something a little sweet
- 1 sweet onion thinly sliced
- blue cheese crumbled
- 12 slices of bacon
- Fry or grill bacon until crisp, drain and set aside.
- Make burger into 6 patties.
- Season patties with grill seasoning.
- Grill, basting both sides with BBQ sauce as they cook.
- While burgers are grilling, sauté onions in a small skillet with a little butter until they are soft and caramelized. Stir in a spoon of the BBQ sauce as onions are cooking.
- Butter the buns and toast under the broiler.
- When the burgers are done, serve on warm buns, topped with two strips of bacon, onions and about 1 Tblsp. of crumbled blue cheese. No other toppings needed.
- Melanie says that if you know all your guests will enjoy the blue cheese, you can put the cheese inside the patties before you grill then. They were delicious either way.
- It's a juicy combination of sweet, tangy, salty, a bit of crunch. SO tasty!!
Terri's Notes
~ Key is a garlic seasoning, sweet barbecue sauce, bacon and blue cheese, each ingredient brings its own sass and there is a flavor symphony going on here!
Share this Recipe


text:
How Allfirst Trader Fudged DataBy Sean Gallagher | Posted 2002-03-14 Print
Online update: Lack of integration allowed a currency trader to pass bogus data to Allfirst's back office, parent company AIB reports.
Allied Irish Bank on Thursday spelled out its accusations against former Allfirst Financial currency trader John Rusnak in the wake of a scandal that lost the AIB subsidiary $691 million.
AIB's report of an internal investigation accuses Rusnak of "manipulating the weak control environment in Allfirst's treasury; notably, he found ways of circumventing changes in control procedures throughout the period of his fraud."
It also concludes that there was no internal collusion with Rusnak. Eugene Ludwig, former U.S. Department of the Treasury Comptroller of the Currency, led the investigation.
Allied Irish Banks officials said that Rusnak passed bogus trading data to employees in the back office, giving them different values for trades than the actual values entered into his Reuters trading desk software. Since the back-office employees didn't have access to the Reuters system data, they couldn't check the accuracy of the information passed to them.
Rusnak is also alleged to have provided forged Bank of America transaction slips to cover some of his trades.
The report details how Rusnak was able to exploit the configuration of Allfirst's back office software. He allegedly created bogus option trades with a one-day expiration period: "Mr. Rusnak's bogus options were designed to exploit weaknesses in the control environment around him. Allfirst prepared no reports listing the expiring one-day options. And so no one at Allfirst paid any attention to them.
"In part, this was due to the fact that the system being used by Allfirst for options did not automatically alert supervisors if such options were not exercised."
This gambit was aided by the fact that the back office didn't bother to check for confirmations of these trades. Rusnak initially used forged confirmation documents but stopped doing so in September 1998 when he "apparently managed to persuade an individual in the back office not to seek to confirm the purported pairs of options," says the report.
"There was no need for confirmations, he apparently argued, because there was no net transfer of cash," the report continues. "Perhaps this practice suited the convenience of the back-office staffer; the bogus options were purportedly with the Tokyo or Singapore branches of major international financial institutions, and to have made confirming telephone calls would have required the employee to work in the middle of the night."
AIB was apparently first made aware of Rusnak's trading activities by Bank of America last May, when an official at BofA brought Rusnak's complaints by e-mail about the terms of an options trade to their attention. In the e-mail, Rusnak made it clear that he was using the tradewhich was in essence a $200 million loanto finance further currency trading. As a result, AIB CEO Michael Buckley questioned Allfirst's executive vice president and treasurer, David Cronin, about the volume of Allfirst's currency trading.
Cronin reportedly reassured him that everything was in order. According to reports in the Irish Times, Rusnak told the FBI Cronin had him review the reply to Buckley before he sent it. Cronin started requesting profit-and-loss statements from the currency trading desk a month later.
As a result of the investigation, Cronin has been fired, as have Robert F. Ray, senior vice president of treasury funds management and Rusnak's immediate supervisor; Jan N. Palmer, senior vice president of investment operations; and Allfirst's Head of Internal Audit, Michael Husich.
Larry Smith, a clerk in the bank's operations unit, has also been dismissed. Smith, according to a report in the Financial Times, told the FBI that he was told at one point by Ray and Cronin not to bother to confirm any trades with Asian banksthe banks with which the majority of Rusnak's bad trades were made in bets on the value of the yen.
In addition, Allfirst Chairman Frank Bramble will take early retirement as a result of the scandal. Rusnak has already been fired and continues to cooperate with the FBI in its fraud investigation.
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We've put up our iPad mini event preview, where we went through all the stuff we think Apple may announce tomorrow at their October event. So now it's your turn! What are your predictions?
Since we keep calling it the iPad mini event, we really kind of hope that'll be on the official Keynote list, but what else do you expect to see? Updated iPad 3? A new iMac and Mac mini? What about a 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro? Any chance for a new Mac Pro or Retina MacBook Air? Too soon? To physically impossible?
Any updates on deck for peripherals? Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad 2? A newer, better keyboard maybe? New Thunderbolt displays with USB 3?
And how about software? iTunes 11 seems almost certain, but could there be more to it than we've seen so far? Could iOS 6.1 make an appearance? What about iOS 6.0.1? And what features would you want to see?
Could there be a new version of iLife and more urgently, iWork for Mac? Aperture, Final Cut Pro, or Logic due for an update?
iBooks 3.0 should get shown off, but will iBooks for Mac? Will any brand new apps debut? Anything exclusive to the iPad mini?
We're less than a day away, this is your last chance to weigh in -- what to do you expect to see at Apple's Oct. 23 event? Vote in the poll up top and then give me your full predictions in the comments below!


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New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck thought Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick was the fastest player he'd ever faced. Then Robert Griffin III showed up with the Washington Redskins.
Now ...
"I was quoted as saying Vick was the fastest player I'd ever seen with the ball in his hands," Tuck told The Star-Ledger on Thursday. "I don't know. I'm going to have to back up on that now, because RG is something special."
Vick ran a 4.33-second 40-meter dash at the 2001 NFL Scouting Combine. Griffin hit the 4.38 mark.
"I would like to see a race between those two. I really would," Tuck said. "A young Vick and RG now? That would be insane to watch. I'd pay to see it."
Tuck and the Giants didn't have to deal with a young Vick twice a year, though. They'll be chasing Griffin for years.
Follow Kareem Copeland on Twitter @kareemcopeland


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Honey-Nut Chicken Stir-Fry
In Roswell, Georgia, Tammi McDonald combines honey, ginger and orange juice in a delightful sauce for sliced carrots, celery and strips of tender chicken. She tops off her delicious stir-fry with chopped peanuts for a fun crunch.
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 3/4 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 cups sliced celery
- 1-1/2 cups sliced carrots
- 4 teaspoons canola oil, divided
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch strips
- 1/4 cup coarsely chopped peanuts
- Hot cooked rice, optional
- 1. In a small bowl, combine the first five ingredients until smooth; set aside. In a nonstick skillet or wok, stir-fry celery and carrots in 2 teaspoons oil until crisp-tender. Remove and keep warm. In the same skillet, stir-fry chicken in remaining oil until no longer pink.
- 2. Return vegetables to the pan. Stir orange juice mixture and gradually add to the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Sprinkle with nuts. Serve with rice if desired.
Nutrition Facts
1 cup: 348 calories, 11g fat (1g saturated fat), 66mg cholesterol, 636mg sodium, 34g carbohydrate (0 sugars, 3g fiber), 30g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 vegetable, 1 fruit, 1/2 fat.
Jun 3, 2011
This recipe was kind of lacking in flavor, and there was too much celery in it.
© 2019 RDA Enthusiast Brands, LLC


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B-R Pipeline Company
Original Volume No. 1
Contents / Previous / Next / Main Tariff Index
Effective Date: 05/01/2004, Docket: RP04-224-000, Status: Effective
Original Sheet No. 34 Original Sheet No. 34 : Effective
4.1 Unit of Volume.
The unit of volume for the purpose of measurement shall be one (1)
cubic foot of gas at a base temperature of 60F. and at a base pressure
of 14.73 psia. Such measured volumes, converted to Mcf, shall be
multiplied by their gross heating value per cubic foot and divided by
1,000 to determine Dth received and delivered hereunder. The unit of
volume for the purpose of balancing total receipts and deliveries of gas
hereunder shall be one Dth.
4.2 Computation of Volume. The volumes of gas measured hereunder
shall be computed in accordance with specifications prescribed by the
American Gas Association, applied in a practical and appropriate manner.
The absolute atmospheric pressure used for volume calculations shall be
the average atmospheric pressure determined by calculations based on the
actual elevation above sea level of the meter at the place of
4.3 Meters or Measurement Equipment. For purposes of this Section,
Meters or Measurement Equipment shall mean the primary measurement
element (i.e., orifice plate, turbine meter, etc.), and recording
instruments. Gas delivered to Transporter at the Receipt Point(s)shall
be measured by measurement equipment installed, operated and maintained
at or near such Receipt Point(s). Gas delivered by Transporter at the
Delivery Points shall be measured by measurement equipment installed,
operated and maintained at or near such Delivery Points. Where orifice
meters are used they shall be installed and operated in accordance with
the specifications prescribed in ANSI/API 2530 as supplemented and
modified from time to time, applied in a practical and appropriate
manner. Where positive displacement meters, turbine meters, or other
measuring devices are used, they shall be installed and operated in
accordance with recommendations of the American Gas Association, where
available. The respective meter, meter readings and meter charts shall
be accessible at all reasonable times to inspection and examination by
the non-operating party. Calibration and adjustment of meters and
changing of charts shall be done only by the party owning and operating
the measurement facilities, unless otherwise agreed to by the parties.


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Drafthouse Films Acquires Action Film I DECLARE WAR
Drafthouse Films, the film distribution arm of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, announced their acquisition of US rights to 2012 Toronto International Film Festival favorite and Fantastic Fest Audience Award winner I DECLARE WAR, directed by Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson. Produced by Lewin Webb, Robert Wilson and Patrick Cameron from SamaritanEntertainment, the film centers on an epic game of capture-the-flag. In their quest for victory, a group of adolescents pushes beyond the game and the boundaries of friendship into an adventure where fantasy blurs with reality. A VOD and theatrical campaign is planned for the second half of 2013.Directors Lapeyre and Wilson set out to construct an action film from the darker side of a 13-year-old's mindset, while also examining sincere conflicts of enduring friendship. Using the kids' overactive imaginations, a neighborhood forest setting becomes a full-fledged woodland battlefield: sticks transform into guns, water balloons into grenades and eyeballs can shoot lasers. Charles Webb of MTV Geekhas praised the film for "vividly capturing a point in time as a kid where everything was important, even the imaginary things." "Not since Stand By Me have we experienced such a poignant and sincere film about kids for adults," says Drafthouse Films CEO/Founder Tim League, "Armed with an arsenal of extremely talented child actors and combining shades of Full Metal Jacket and Lord Of The Flies, Jason and Rob have created a one-of-a-kind action film that we couldn't be more excited to handle in the US."Producer Lewin Webb noted, "We are thrilled that Drafthouse Films have picked up I Declare War and a wide US audience is going to have the opportunity to see it. We are proud to be part of the Drafthouse Family of films."
"Drafthouse Films is our ideal partner for I Declare War in the US. From Fantastic Fest on, they have been a huge supporter," says director RobertWilson. "Drafthouse are the most progressive of US based distributors and we know that they will deliver the widest and best audience for the film." The deal was negotiated by Drafthouse Films COO James Emanuel Shapiro on behalf of Drafthouse Films and Andrew Herwitz of Film Sales on behalf of the film's producers.I Declare War is available for festival bookings until the 3rd quarter of 2013. Please contact Festival Coordinator Jon Stobezki at email@example.com. For theatrical bookings contact VP of Theatrical Marketing and Distribution Sumyi Antonson at firstname.lastname@example.com more information on I Declare War and Drafthouse Films:
http://youtube.com/drafthousefilms About I DECLARE WARA group of 13-year-old friends play an innocent game of Capture the Flag in the neighborhood woods, arming themselves with nothing more than sticks, their imagination and a simple set of rules. One afternoon the game takes on a more serious tone and the quest for victory pushes the boundaries of friendship, giving the would-be warriors a glimpse of the darker side of human nature as their imaginations take them beyond the rules of the game and into an adventure where fantasy blurs with reality. About Jason Lapeyre: Co-Director & WriterJason is an award-winning filmmaker currently living in Toronto. In 2011 he made three feature films. His gritty crime thriller Cold Blooded won Best Canadian Feature Film at Fantasia. In addition to I Declare War, he directed a documentary about mental illness called Faceless. He also found time to produce a short film called The Captured Bird, which is executive produced by Guillermo Del Toro. He has directed music videos, short films and short documentaries that have played in over 25 film festivals across the world and been broadcast in Canada and the UK. He is also a regular contributor to the magazines Wax Poetics and Rue Morgue on the subjects of music and film.About Rob Wilson: Co-Director & ProducerRob is an experienced film, television and music video director, writer and producer. As the co-owner of 235Films Inc., Canada's most successful producer of music video and related content, he has been responsible for the creative development and physical production of countless videos for innumerable international and Canadian performers. Wilson has also produced and directed numerous independent films and made for TV movies including the critically acclaimed cult horror film Dead Mary with Dominique Swain (Lolita, Face/Off) and Warriors of Terra. Rob recently completed photography on You Bury Your Own with Mykelti Williams (Forrest Gump) and John Glover ("Smallville"), which he both wrote and directed. You Bury Your Own won Best Feature at the Art of Brooklyn Film Festival. He currently leads Samaritan Entertainment's creative development operations. About Samaritan EntertainmentSamaritan Entertainment Inc (SEI) is an entertainment company that produces feature film, television, home entertainment and New Media content for sale through traditional and new distribution platforms. The company derives its revenues by developing, financing and physically producing content to be sold and licensed to established worldwide film & television distributors and broadcasters.About Drafthouse FilmsDrafthouse Films, the film distribution arm of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, is a curated brand of provocative, visionary and artfully unusual films new and old from around the world. Following the earnestly simple motto of "sharing the films we love with widest audience possible," Drafthouse Films debuted in 2010 with the theatrical release of Four Lions which was named of Time Magazine's "Top 10 Films Of The Year." The 2012 release slate includes the acclaimed Best Foreign Language Oscar) Bullhead, the internationally celebrated Danish comedy Klown (currently slated for a Warner Bros/Todd Phillips produced US remake), Quentin Dupieux's Sundance 2012 favorite Wrong, the 40th anniversary restoration of landmark Australian thriller Wake In Fright, the Werner Herzog/Errol Morris produced documentary The Act Of Killing, and together with producing partners Magnolia Pictures and Timpson Films, the much-anticipated anthology horror film The ABC's Of Death featuring 26 different directors that Fangoria calls, "a stunning roll call of some of the most exciting names in horror across the world." Drafthouse Films distributes films theatrically, through home video, VOD and their direct-to-consumer platforms integrating into the ever-growing Alamo Drafthouse entertainment lifestyle brand, which along with the Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas includes: Mondo, the collectible art boutique; Fantastic Fest, the largest international genre film festival in the US; and the pop culture website Badass Digest.


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WASHINGTON — The first time Barack Obama ran, the euphoria that attended his election captivated Kamilah Aquil. Then came his presidency, a bracing reality check.
Hope faded. Not enough changed. But for Aquil, that doesn't make Obama a disappointment.
It does make this second inauguration Monday a landmark she never expected and one she considers even more profound than the first. He's not just the first black president, but a man Americans trusted enough, missteps and all, to give another shot at shepherding our country.
That's one reason Aquil, a Los Angeles County probation officer, was headed for Washington last week with her 13-year-old son, Makhi Garvey.
I met them on the flight from Los Angeles, and questioned her — as I have dozens of black strangers in the last few weeks — about her verdict on Obama, who drew a record turnout of black voters in November, but less enthusiasm than in 2008.


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Announcing Photoshop CS6 Essential Training by Julieanne Kost on Lynda.com
If you're a beginner to Bridge, Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop or, if you simply need to brush up on some of the features that you use less often, then this is the perfect training course for you! With 150 crisp, concise videos, Julieanne makes it easy to find information on exactly the topic you're looking for so that you can get professional results as soon as possible. To see a table of contents and more information, click here.
For more information on how to become a Lynda.com member, click here.


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The Powers of Pressure
by Stephen James O'Meara
Feeling pressured? Don't worry, so too is everyone else across the globe. It's a fact. Each day, every day, all day, Earthlings wake up under pressure. What's more, for most of us, it's inescapable—even when we sleep. Of course, most of us wouldn't want it any other way, because without this kind of pressure—air pressure, that is—life, as we now enjoy it, simply wouldn't exist.
It's Everywhere!
Ever feel like you're walking on air? Well, you do it every day. From the tip of your head to the bottom of your feet, air surrounds you. Air molecules are invisible, but they still have weight and take up space—and their weight is pressing against you. You're so used to this air pressure that you don't feel it.
If we could weigh a column of air one inch square that extended all the way to the "top" of the atmosphere (about 500 miles), it would weigh approximately 14.7 pounds at sea level. Thus, atmospheric pressure at sea level is approximately 14.7 pounds per square inch (psi), which equals one atmosphere. Pressure does not stop at sea level. It increases as depth below sea level increases. (The opposite, of course, happens when you climb in altitude—by approximately 1.0 psi for every 2,343 feet.)
The pressures inside the Earth are tremendous—so tremendous that we have to leave behind human experience and try to picture the forces with our imaginations. Consider, for instance, that oxygen—a simple, colorless, odorless gas at sea level—would crystallize under a pressure of 55,000 atmospheres! If you could descend about two miles toward the geometrical center of the Earth, you would feel a thousand times more pressure on you than you would at sea level. If you could journey about 3,700 miles to the very core of the Earth, you'd experience a pressure of some 3.5 million atmospheres! You wouldn't have to worry about gym class anymore, because even the thought of doing a sit-up under these conditions would be painfully impossible.
Light Pressure
You could escape "air pressure" by fleeing into space, which is a vacuum. But that doesn't mean that air particles aren't zipping around space, any more than being in a vacuum means that you've escaped "pressure."
Just look at a comet. It has two tails: a dust tail and a gas tail. Both always point away from the sun. Why? The pressure of sunlight, weak as it is, can exert a pressure on dust particles flaking off a comet, blowing them downwind to form its gently curving dust tail. The comet's gas tail, on the other hand, is composed of gas being blown straight behind the comet by the solar wind—a flow of charged particles (ions, electrons, and neutrons) that continuously streams out from the sun at speeds of about one million miles per hour (about 400 kilometers per second).
Pressure: It's Waaaay Out There!
Speaking of the sun, did you know that its very stability is a consequence of a battle between pressures? In any given layer of a star, there is a balance between the pressure of gravity trying to compress the star, and radiation pressure (an outward flow of hot gases) trying to expand it.
But this balancing act doesn't last forever. Once a star uses up its nuclear fuel—turning its hydrogen into helium—gravitational contraction wins out over the radiation pressure and the star collapses. At the end of its life, a star like our sun will ultimately collapse into a white dwarf—a tiny sphere about the size of our Earth, but with a mass a million times greater than it. A star such as our sun is not massive enough to collapse further.
Now, if you could stand on the surface of a white dwarf, the gravitational pressure you'd experience is the stuff that sci-fi movies are made of. A teaspoonful of white dwarf material would weigh five and a half tons; one cup of white dwarf stuff would outweigh 24 elephants!
A star four to eight times more massive than our sun is under even greater pressure. When its core collapses, the gravity is so intense that all the electrons and protons that form normal matter are squeezed further into neutrons and other exotic subatomic particles. The result is what astronomers call a neutron star—the densest form of matter known to exist. So a neutron star is supported by a repulsion pressure equal to a million billion times that of water. The pressure is exerted by neutrons in the nuclei of the heavy atoms forged in the neutron star's core.
Neutron stars measure only about 9 miles across, the size of a tiny city. A teaspoonful of neutron star stuff would weigh about 10 million tons! Theoretically, you could hold in the palm of your hand a piece of neutron star surface weighing as much as a fleet of battleships. If you could stand on this star, the gravitational pressure would be immense—300,000 times that of Earth.
What is the ultimate pressure machine? You might say a black hole. Indeed, a black hole is so massive that when its core collapses there is no pressure that we know of—not even on the subatomic level—that can prevent the core from collapsing to infinity, a mind-boggling concept indeed. A black hole's gravitational pressure is so intense that not even light can escape its pull.
But what about a supermassive black hole! That's the big kahuna! While a black hole measures big on the stellar scale, it's peanuts to a supermassive black hole, which we measure on a galactic scale! Take M87, a galaxy in Virgo, for instance. The Hubble Space Telescope has found evidence for a supermassive black hole at its core—one so massive that it weighs as much as three billion suns, but is concentrated into a space no larger than our solar system! And M87 is but one of countless other galaxies—including our own Milky Way—that might contain such a "central beast."
It's useless to even try to fathom the pressure that our galaxy and its star stuff are under. So the next time you stumble out of bed, and feel so heavy that you can hardly shuffle your feet across the floor, just be thankful that your floor is on the surface…of Earth!
- exert:
- To apply.
- repulsion:
- The act of driving back or repelling.
- subatomic particle:
- Any of various units of matter that are smaller than the size of an atom.
- What are the two pressures at work on the Sun? How do these pressures work together?
[anno: The two pressures at work on the Sun are opposing pressures. One of the pressures is gravity that is pushing in on the Sun. The other pressure is radiation pressure that is pushing out from the Sun.]
- What is a white dwarf?
[anno: A white dwarf is a star that has collapsed in on itself.]
- What are two things that change when a star becomes a white dwarf?
[anno: The star's diameter becomes smaller and the amount of gravity that the star exerts becomes greater. The star also becomes denser.]
- Why would a teaspoonful of a neutron star weigh so much?
[anno: A teaspoonful of a neutron star would weigh a lot because a neutron star is very dense.]


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Justice For All
FBI Special Agent Lukas Breyer has a problem: a series of grisly killings and no clue as to who the killer is, or how to find him or her. Patrick J. "PJ" O'Reiley Jr., the King County Prosecutor and son of a US Senator, also has a more-than-passing interest in the case. With each new body, the public panic climbs even higher; will the killer be found before he strikes again?...


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This is an activity about measurement. Learners will label key points and features on a rectangular equal-area map and measure the distance between pairs of points in order to calculate the actual physical distance on the Sun that the point pairs... (View More) represent. This is Activity 5 of the Space Weather Forecast curriculum. (View Less)
Audience: Elementary school, Middle school, High school
Materials Cost: Free
Materials Cost: Free