text:
I have the unfortunate duty of using this blog to announce the death a couple of weeks ago of Professor Leon B Lucy, who had been a Visiting Professor working here at Imperial College from 1998.
Leon got his PhD in the early 1960s at the University of Manchester, and after postdoctoral positions in Europe and the US, worked at Columbia University and the European Southern Observatory over the years, before coming to Imperial. He made significant contributions to the study of the evolution of stars, understanding in particular how they lose mass over the course of their evolution, and how very close binary stars interact and evolve inside their common envelope of hot gas.
Perhaps most importantly, early in his career Leon realised how useful computers could be in astrophysics. He made two major methodological contributions to astrophysical simulations. First, he realised that by simulating randomised trajectories of single particles, he could take into account more physical processes that occur inside stars. This is now called "Monte Carlo Radiative Transfer" (scientists often use the term "Monte Carlo" — after the European gambling capital — for techniques using random numbers). He also invented the technique now called smoothed-particle hydrodynamics which models gases and fluids as aggregates of pseudo-particles, now applied to models of stars, galaxies, and the large scale structure of the Universe, as well as many uses outside of astrophysics.
Leon's other major numerical contributions comprise advanced techniques for interpreting the complicated astronomical data we get from our telescopes. In this realm, he was most famous for developing the methods, now known as Lucy-Richardson deconvolution, that were used for correcting the distorted images from the Hubble Space Telescope, before NASA was able to send a team of astronauts to install correcting lenses in the early 1990s.
For all of this work Leon was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 2000. Since then, Leon kept working on data analysis and stellar astrophysics — even during his illness, he asked me to help organise the submission and editing of what turned out to be his final papers, on extracting information on binary-star orbits and (a subject dear to my heart) the statistics of testing scientific models.
Until the end of last year, Leon was a regular presence here at Imperial, always ready to contribute an occasionally curmudgeonly but always insightful comment on the science (and sociology) of nearly any topic in astrophysics. We hope that we will be able to appropriately memorialise his life and work here at Imperial and elsewhere. He is survived by his wife and daughter. He will be missed.
Cosmology fans in and around London: Please come here my colleague Jean–Philippe Uzan, visiting us from Paris, who will talk about " Harmony in the Universe: between science and music" this coming Thursday, 25 October 2012 in the Huxley Building here at Imperial College. It's free, but please contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com if you're going to come.
Urban Sputnik, our collaboration with Vanessa Harden and Dominic Southgate of Gammaroot Design is currently on display at Imperial College in the main entrance of the Norman Foster-designed business school, located on Exhibition Road in London, just up the street from the Science Museum, the V&A Museum and the Natural History Museum. I've discussed the pieces that will be on display before, and if you're anywhere near South Kensington in London over the next few days, please come and see them.
If that piques your interest, you can hear more from us directly: on Tuesday evening, November 8, we'll be hosting a short presentation — with drinks and snacks — talking about the creation of the pieces and the science behind them.
I've just finished another term, in fact the heaviest teaching load I've ever had at once: a twenty-six hour lecture course, three hours a week as one of several computer lab "demonstrators", and another four hours or so per week in first-year student tutorials.
For those from outside of the Imperial system: our tutorials are small group meetings during which we go over a selection of the problem sheets handed out during the week in the lecture courses; here, like most of the UK, these are not explicitly marked, but instead the students get the solutions a week or so after they are handed out. The tutorial session is one of the few chances for any sort of discussion or feedback.
The tutorials can be fun and even challenging (but I'm glad I get to see the answers before the students). It is heartening to see the students trying — sometimes struggling — to really understand the problems. However, the fourth hour in a week going over the same problems can get repetitive; there aren't that many different questions the students ask.
On the other hand, lab demonstrating doesn't offer much intellectual at all. I have mostly supervised computer labs, which involves standing around while the students work their way through a "script", writing programs and (we hope) learning about programming. I admit that I don't think this is a particularly efficient use of my time: although considerable overall high-level organization is needed, the labs themselves could be (and indeed are, partially) monitored by graduate students. Unfortunately, they don't get more than beer money for their trouble — and postdocs don't get paid at all.
The best part of undergraduate teaching for me, though, is lecturing. When it goes well, it can be a remarkably effective way of communicating. Of course, it doesn't always go well. Sometimes I'm not as well-prepared as I would like, or sometimes I don't even understand the material as well as I need to. Sometimes the students don't have the background that I thought they did. And sometimes the material is just hard, too hard to really get the first time through. Even problem sheets and studying for exams isn't always enough: I certainly admit that I didn't really understand much of the material that I now use every day until I was in graduate school, applying it in the course of my research. And some stuff I didn't understand until I had to teach it (which implies that there is plenty of physics that I still don't understand, so still much more to learn).
This term's Cosmology course felt pretty good: after three years not only do I understand the material, but also I understand something about how to explain it to not-yet-expert upper-level physics students. The downside of this is that my explanations get a bit longer every year, so it gets harder and harder to squeeze in the most exciting material which inevitably has to come at the end, building on the foundation of the rest of the course.
This year, the Physics Department has an artist-in-residence, Geraldine Cox. Among her many other cool projects, she has been lurking in the back of our lecture theatres, sketching furiously. Many thanks to her for these pictures of me at the blackboard, in one of my favorite striped shirts:
(The graph on the upper left is labeled "Do we live in a special time?" — We seem to live at a time labeled by the vertical line, just as the Universe is transitioning from being mostly made of "matter" — the middle of the three plateaus in the graph — to mostly something very like Einstein's cosmological constant, or the so-called "Dark Energy" — the rightmost plateau, which may go on infinitely far to the right. So we might have expected to find ourselves near a plateau rather than a one of the few times in between. This is an anthropic argument, and must be treated with care.)
As always, I welcome feedback, anonymous or otherwise, from any of my students on this course or any other. (When I asked for some comments a few weeks into the term, the most amusing came from the student who praised my voice and asked if I was a singer — which doesn't jibe with the other, less positive, comments on my American accent….)
Finally, today was one of the high points of post-graduate teaching: one of my students, Jude Bowyer, passed his PhD viva with his thesis, Local Methods for the Cosmic Microwave Background. Well done to the soon-to-be Dr. Bowyer!
My colleagues and I spend what is probably an inordinate amount of time complaining about the occasional lapses of the basic skills of our students, their inability to take notes, their obsession with marks and what's going to be on the exams. Because, like everyone else, we like to complain.
But pretty often I get the chance to see them at their best. In the Physics department at Imperial, we interview students who are on the boundaries between final "degree classifications", the British system of awarding degrees as First Class, 2.1, 2.2, etc. Last week, I was on the panel for this year's cohort. And it was a pleasure to sit in front of a few of our students and watch them, in real time, thinking like physicists. Of course this means making the occasional mistake, but it also means that delicious "aha!" moment when they figure something out and (this is the best part) they know that they have, whether it's finding a sign error in their derivation of the motion of a pendulum, or a thought experiment explaining why Einstein's relativity makes sense.
For the interviews, I was paired with one of our external examiners, UCL particle physicist and fellow-blogger Jon Butterworth. On the same day as our interview, the Guardian published Simon Jenkins' latest in a series of risible anti-science screeds, and Jon decided to take him to task neither with reasoned argumentation nor with a counter-polemic, but with parody. As with many great ideas on the internet, this one got picked up and built upon, so that the Guardian, to its credit, eventually gave Jon his own space to reply. Jenkins likely thinks we're producing too many scientists (Imperial only trains scientists, doctors, and engineers, after all!) but I hope that Jon was pleased with the ones he saw.
So my congratulations to this year's graduating students, and the best of luck to them whatever they go on to do. Pace Jenkins, the world needs more well-trained scientists like them, not fewer.
I've just finished teaching my eleven-week winter-term Cosmology course at Imperial. Like all lecturing, it was exhilerating, and exhausting. And like usual, I am somewhat embarrassed to say that I think I understand the subject better than when I started out. (I hope that the students can say some of the same things. Comments from them welcome, either way.)
It's my second year, and I think I am slowly getting the hang of it. It's hard to fit all of the interesting and up-to-date research in cosmology into 26 lectures, starting from scratch. This time I spent a little more time in the early lectures trying to give a heuristic explanation of some of the more advanced background topics, like the interpretation of the metric in Einstein's General Relativity, and the physics behind the transition of the Universe from and ionized plasma to a neutral gas.
In a way, much of this was prelude to some of the most most exciting research in modern cosmology, the growth of large-scale structure from its first seeds into the pattern of galaxies we observe in the Universe today. Explaining this requires a lot of background: early-Universe thermodynamics and why the Universe started out hot, dense, and dominated by radiation; enough relativity to motivate how structure grows differently on large and small scales; and the generation of the initial conditions for structure, or at least our best current idea, inflation, which takes initial quantum randomness and blows it up to the size of the observable Universe (and solves quite a few other problems besides). All of this, and the background required even to get to these topics, barely fit into those 26 lectures (and I admit I was a little rushed toward the end…). And it was even harder to compress them down into four hours of postgraduate lectures.
Alongside this, I decided that none of the available textbooks had quite the right point of view for my discussion, at least not at the undergraduate level I was aiming for (and there are some very good textbooks out there, including Andrew Liddle, An Introduction to Modern Cosmology; Michael Rowan-Robinson, Cosmology; and Peter Schneider, Extragalactic Astronomy and Cosmology: An Introduction). So I also wrote a hundred or so pages of notes (which are available from my Imperial website, if you're interested in a crash course).
I'm often puzzled by exactly what students want from the 26 hours of lectures themselves. Many, it seems to me, would prefer to merely transcribe my board notes without having to pay close attention to what I am actually saying; perhaps note-taking is not a skill that students perfect at school nowadays. I hope at least that those written notes make it a bit easier to both listen and think during the lectures. (Again, constructive criticism is more than welcome.)
This week I'll be giving a review (just half an hour!) of cosmology at the IOP's High-Energy and Astroparticle Physics 2010 meeting. And then I get to indulge in some of my hobbies, like doing scientific research.
I spent a few hours last week with a bunch of science fiction writers, giving them a tutorial on modern cosmology as part of the (first) "Physics for Fiction" workshop organized by my Imperial Astrophysics Colleague Dave Clements. The participants were some very big names in modern Science Fiction, and some hot up-and-coming writers, including Stephen Baxter, Pat Cadogan, Jaine Fenn, Paul McAuley, Hannu Rajaniemi and Alastair Reynolds. There are some photos, including a couple of me in full-on lecturing mode, by photos by Simon Bradshaw on Flickr.
Science fiction writers are a tough crowd: many of them are technically literate (there were a few science PhDs among them) but it's also clear that, for their writing at least, they don't just want to know the facts, they want to know what's cool, and what can be relevant on a human scale, and how they can pass that along to their readers. If it can be vaguely realistic, all the better. So there was perhaps more interest in planets and quantum cryptography than in the origin of the Universe (although that's a subject that some of our participants who dabble in the grandest "space opera" could sometimes touch on.
I've been busy the last few weeks, writing documents for the Planck SGS RR, grant proposals, getting ready for the exam season, and (I know I can't complain), travelling to the Aegean.
But this afternoon I took a few hours off and attended the Imperial College postgraduate degree ceremony. In and amongst the several hundred students received their degrees were all three of my first students (I celebrated their successful PhD vivas here, here and here). There were a couple of short speeches, and a few honorary degrees awarded (the morning ceremony gave one to F1 head and infamous labour donor Bernie Ecclestone), but most of the time was taken up by the students marching up one at a time and shaking the hand of an Imperial luminary. In addition to my students, their were a few other astrophysics PhDs awarded, including to Dr Brian May, who got (by far) the biggest cheer of the day. Me, I got the rare honor of sitting on the stage of the Royal Albert Hall, in my academic regalia (American PhDs robes are heavier than those from the UK, for reasons that escape me, not ideal for a couple of hours under stage lights — and it now appears that my hood wasn't even the proper maroon and black combo that my Chicago degree apparently calls for).
I admit I was inordinately proud of my students, in my meagre supervisory role as Doktorvater (to use the excellent Germanic term for supervisor): they've all done fantastic theses, important science, and most importantly by the end I was able to just get out of the way while they did the hard work. Congratulations again to each of them.
If I've got any longtime readers, they may recall that I spent a week paired with Anne Snelgrove MP in the UK Parliament a couple of years ago, as part of a program connecting scienctists with Members of Parliament (described here and here). This week, Anne kept up her side of the bargain and visited us here at Imperial; our press office has done a better job describing it than I could do.
Right now, I am in Paris, attending a meeting of the Planck Surveyor Satellite High Frequency Instrument Core Team, doing my meager bit planning for what we'll actually do once the data starts flowing in a year or so. Also, enjoying as much French wine and food as I can manage in about 48 hours.
Congratulations to Dr Brian May, PhD, for successfully defending his PhD thesis, "Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud". At the time of his defense, I was up in Durham, lecturing to the mostly younger incoming class of STFC-supported UK grad students. Best of luck to them, too, and let's hope they can finish before their funding runs out in three or four years and so won't have to make do with a less interesting career like Brian's.
Combining as it does my vocation with my avocation, it's impossible to resist an easy post about our favorite rock-star PhD student, especially when he's made the Guardian's Leader (aka Editorial) page and the front of the BBC News site (complete with a spiffy pic of the rock star with our new head of group). Less than three nervous weeks for Brian to prepare for his PhD viva! Of course, I should point out that, like parents and their kids, we love all of our students equally, even the ones who haven't made platinum records, written West End musicals and books on astrophysics, and inspired Wayne's World.
I've just finished my lectures for the course in Fourier Series and Fourier Transforms that I've been teaching.
It was an intense, exhilarating and ultimately frustrating three-and-a-half week adventure —and I fear that it didn't go very well. It's tough material, probably the first stuff that these second-year students have seen in their undergraduate career that's really brand new to them. And, of course, this was my first time teaching it so our combined inexperience didn't exactly presage a "positive learning outcome".
What did I learn, then?
- Precision counts: I made my fair share of mistakes, mostly just typos, but those are easy for me to correct or even ignore, much harder for the 180 other people in the room who don't already understand the material.
- Organization counts: actually, my lectures were highly structured, but I don't think that always came through as I spoke. Explicit (numbered sections, bullet points, real sentences) is better than implicit.
- Preparation counts: In principle all of us lecturers know what the student have already learned, but just because something has been on on a syllabus doesn't mean they really understand. Particularly with math, I think we often expect a level of facility that comes with years and years of practice doing integrals, solving equations, getting used to unfamiliar notation, that the students don't yet have. (Needless to say, we're usually convinced that things were better when we were in their place, but I'm not always so sure, as we look back with our rose-tinted shades.)
Feedback is, of course, welcome.
p.s. On a more amusing note (purposely buried down here, free of links), it looks like Imperial Astrophysics is going to be getting a very special new (-ish) graduate student soon.
Today I started teaching my first real lecture course (as pointed out in the comments, the link is only accessible within the Imperal network).
I am teaching the second-year physics students mathematical techniques of Fourier Series and Fourier Transforms — this is the theorem that you can represent any function as a sum of so-called sinusoidal waves. That bit I think I explained all right. But then we had to start getting down into the mathematical details. Unfortunately, I think I lost them somewhere trying to make the analogy between vectors (i.e., arrows in space) and functions; you can describe a vector by giving its value in three perpendicular directions (x, y, z, for example), just like you can describe a function f(t) by giving its value at each value of t. A full set of these directions (x, y, z in the case of spatial vectors, or the individual values of t for the function) is called a basis. But we can rotate our vector to describe it any basis that is convenient.
The idea behind Fourier Series is that there is a specific basis made of sine and cosine waves — and expanding our function in this basis lets us understand things like sound and light in terms of frequency: light as a mixture of colors or sound as a mixture of pitches. For many problems in physics, these mixtures (with the somewhat more technical name of "linear superpositions") are described by very simple formulae. Indeed, in addition to his laws of motion, Isaac Newton is famous for the first description of light this way (although he didn't have the mathematical technology that Joseph Fourier would only develop in the 19th Century).
Indeed, there are some mathematical formulae behind all of this — not too complicated technically, but I'm not sure I was able to get the concepts behind them through to the students. It's hard to calibrate to exactly what the students already know (which may not be the same as what they've already seen in their coursework!). Also, I worry that I may have drowned them in a sea of notation without actually explaining what I meant in quite enough words.
(In the unlikely event that any of Imperial's second-year students are reading this, feel free to leave an anonymous comment and let me know what you thought!)
- Last week I participated in a collaboration between the Dana Centre (the adult wing of the Science Museum) and some artists, entitled "Big Ideas."
- Imperial College is to be leaving the University of London.
- Fantastic late-night Dinner last weekend, with (among many others!) Kosso, Rachel, Imp, Deirdre, Sophie, Barry, guest of honor Robert Scoble, and, amazingly, subsidized food and, yes, really, I'm not making this up, free champagne from Microsoft. The latter was captured by Ian, including a picture in which I look very louche indeed. I also seem to have volunteered to do a podcast with Gia for her work with the new movie, Sunshine, and finally repaid my free-wine debt to Jason and Nick from Stormhoek vineyards by explaining all of cosmology to them in about half an hour (lubricated by wine, of course).
Next week, I need to account for my time down to about 15 minutes, as part of Imperial's TOAST (The Original Academic Staff Time) Survey. This will let the College figure out exactly how we (collectively and anonymously, or so we're told) spend our time. Which, I presume, lets them figure out how to best get money from the government, and allocate it internally. Last time, one of my colleagues included his bathroom visits, but I think they are trying to avoid such fine-grained reporting this round.
Maybe I'll post my results.
Also, we've got a new dress code "in the light of security concerns raised by the terrorist incidents which had occurred over the Summer": ID Cards must be visible at all times (sort of a test run for the government?); and "Clothing that obscures an individual's face is not allowed on any of the College's campuses" -- no hoodies, no veils.
Regular readers may have noted a slackening of my posting pace over the last couple of weeks. For the first time in life, I'm earning my keep doing what most people think a "University Lecturer" (a.k.a. "College Professor" in the US) gets paid to do: teaching (in fact, most of our professional stature and advancement is based upon research, but that's another story).
So far I've taught a few sessions of our first-year ("freshman") Seminars in Communication and Teamwork -- it's a joy to see these exciting and excited students thinking, speaking and working together. Next week I dive into one of the unique -- and somewhat daunting! -- aspects of the UK University system: tutorials, just me with three or four students.
So, if any of the students I'm teaching see this, I'd love to hear from you -- leave a comment if you're willing to do it in public, otherwise send an email.
p.s. I haven't been able to bring myself to watch Supernova, the BBC's new sitcom revolving around the life of (wait for it) an astronomer... Has anyone out there seen it?


text:
Bowering History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
The distinguished surname Bowering emerged among the industrious people of Flanders, which was an important trading partner and political ally of Britain during the Middle Ages. As a result of the frequent commercial intercourse between the Flemish and English nations, many Flemish migrants settled in Britain. In early times, people were known by only a single name. However, as the population grew and people traveled further afield, it became increasingly necessary to assume an additional name to differentiate between bearers of the same personal name. Occupational surnames were derived from the common trades of the medieval era. The surname Bowering is an occupational name for a chamber-servant. The surname Bowering is derived from buring, which is a derivative of the Old English word bur, which means cottage, chamber, or bower. [1] The name may also be a local surname applied to someone who lived at such a cottage or chamber.
Alternatively, it could have originated in Beaurain, near Cambrai, Flanders as Wybert de Beaurain was later listed occurs in the Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae (1180-1198) in Normandy. [2]
Occasionally, Bowering is a patronymic surname derived from the Flemish personal name Beauring.
Early Origins of the Bowering family
The surname Bowering was first found in Somerset where Walter Bowryng is considered to be one of the first records of the family. He was listed there as holding lands 1 Edward III (during the first year's reign of Edward III.) [3]
Another source notes another early record of the family in Cheshire, Henry Bourying as holding lands there in 1302. The same source notes Walter Bowryng in the Subsidy Rolls of Somerset in 1327. [4] This could indeed be the same as the aforementioned.
In Devon, "Bowringsleigh was the property and residence of the ancient family of Bowring." [5] It is noted that the family were lords of the manor from about 1330 to the early sixteenth century. By example, Thomas Bowring (c.1440-1504), the English-born lawyer and judge who was Lord Chief Justice of Ireland held an estate near West Alvington, Devon and also acquired lands in Somerset and Gloucestershire.
Like many Newfoundlanders from Devon, the famed Benjamin Bowring (1788-1846) moved to St. John's, Newfoundland in 1811 and founded Bowring Brothers Ltd. (Bowring) which later became one of the most prestigious group of Canadian retail stores.
Early History of the Bowering family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bowering research. Another 165 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1200, 1327, 1516, 1778 and 1846 are included under the topic Early Bowering History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Bowering Spelling Variations
Flemish surnames are characterized by a large number of spelling variations. One reason for this is that medieval English lacked definite spelling rules. The spellings of surnames were also influenced by the official court languages, which were French and Latin. Names were rarely spelled consistently in medieval times. Scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded, rather than adhering to specific spelling rules, and people often had their names registered in several different forms throughout their lives. One of the greatest reasons for change is the linguistic uniqueness of the Flemish settlers in England, who spoke a language closely related to Dutch. The pronunciation and spelling of Flemish names were often altered to suit the tastes of English-speaking people. In many cases, the first, final, or middle syllables of surnames were eliminated. The name has been spelled Bowering, Bowring, Bawering, Bawring, Bowerin, Bowrin, Boweren, Bowerring, Bourring and many more.
Early Notables of the Bowering family (pre 1700)
Another 38 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bowering Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Investigation of immigration and passenger lists has revealed a number of people bearing the name Bowering:
Bowering Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
Bowering Settlers in United States in the 20th Century
Some of the first settlers of this family name were:
Bowering Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century
Bowering Settlers in Canada in the 20th Century
Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:
Bowering Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

subset: commoncrawl


text:
All Soundlib sofware products are available as trial version. Customers are encouraged to fully evaluate the software prior to purchasing a software license. Evaluation software may be downloaded from the Soundlib web site and includes the user manual. During the evaluation period, technical support is available by contacting Soundlib Support. We do this to help customers make an informed purchase decision and avoid buying the wrong product for their needs.
After we have successfully received your payment, your product information with download link will be sent to the email address you provided. Orders are typically processed within minutes. If this is your first time ordering a product from us, we will open a Soundlib account for you and give you a login and a password. This account will allow you to download the software and updates and to retrieve your license keys should you have lost your registration email. If you do not receive your registration email after placing an order, first check your SPAM folder then contact us.
We stand behind our products and your satisfaction with them is important to us. However, because our products are digital goods delivered via Internet download we generally offer no refunds.
If you change your mind about your purchase and you have not downloaded our product, we will happily issue you a refund upon your request.
In rare instances and only within 30 days of purchase, if due to technical difficulties or platform incompatibilities the software will not function and we are not able to solve your problem within a reasonable timeframe, we may, at our discretion, issue a full refund. Refund requests, if any, must be made within thirty (30) days of your original purchase.
It is your responsibility to familiarise yourself with this refund policy. By placing an order for any of our products, you indicate that you have read this refund policy and that you agree with and fully accept the terms of this refund policy.
Please contact us should you have any questions regarding our refund policy.


text:
I apologize, dear readers, for my 2 week absence… it's been quite eventful. I was finally promoted to the position at my company I've been vying for for the last few months. While I'm ecstatic about the opportunity this position presents, the reality is that overtime is now the norm, and I find myself wondering where the days and weeks disappear to. I'm so glad I have the Sunday cooking habit well ingrained, because it's very handy to just come home after a long day and have a delicious, healthy meal ready to just heat and eat.
I have to admit, I didn't quite make it to a Whole 30 this time… it was more like a Whole 20, but when someone orders a cake to celebrate your promotion, you don't say no to it. Plus our son's birthday was a few days later, and I made our favorite Paleo chocolate cake… sigh, willpower crumbled.
But, I did manage to lose a few more pounds to where I can pretty much wear any Medium or size 10 off the rack, and as long as I can curb the sugar intake, I'm feeling pretty good about where I am. A subject did come up this weekend, though, about one of the challenges of the Paleo lifestyle being the limitation of tasty side dishes to go with the copious amounts of protein that we enjoy. I admit, the idea had crossed my mind as well. As we move into the final month of our first year of healthier eating, I do see that we tend to eat a lot of the same side dishes every other week or so:
- roasted asparagus
- baked/roasted sweet potatoes
- cauli-rice or roasted cauliflower
- mashed cauliflower (potatoes sub)
- zucchini noodles
- grilled or roasted squash
- sauteed mushrooms
- instant pot beets
- roasted Brussels sprouts
- roasted or steamed broccoli
These are pretty easy recipes and don't require a lot of prep or thought on my part, but it can get a bit boring when you're eating the same things regularly
Here are some additional sides I've tried lately that may be a little more interesting:
- Asparagus wrapped in Prosciutto
- Creamy Paleo Parsnip Gratin
- Paleo Coleslaw – I used Avocado Mayo in this and just 1 teaspoon of honey drizzled in
- Southern Squash Casserole (I added some cooked, crumbled sausage to this)
- Paleo Plantain Chips – my friend Elaine made these and they were awesome
I'm all for eating for health, but to me, food should never be boring!
Have you found any good side dish gems? Please share!!


text:
The One Trillion Euro Idea
Austrian economists are proposing a European Silk Road.
Postcard from the New Silk Road: Happy Commuters
In Serbia and the Western Balkans, ordinary people hugely appreciate the convenience of using the new Chinese-built bridges and highways. The political impact is palpable.
Big, Empty, But Full of Promise?
The Great Stone industrial park outside Minsk currently feels like an empty monument to political ambition, but with Beijing's backing it still has potential.
Exploring the Physical Reality
Our author has embarked on a journey to investigate how China's BRI is being implemented on the ground.


text:
Your cart is currently empty.Continue browsing
Enable cookies to use the shopping cart
What's not to like about Pineapples? While this phone case won't give you vitamin C, it will be a sweet treat for your smart phone! So go on and grab our custom crafted Yellow Pineapple Dayz phone wallet.
Made with Environmentally-friendly, leather-like case material with a durable hybrid strap. Keep your Credit cards SAFE with built in RFID protection. Nice included pocket to stash your cash too. Built in locking phone slide for making picture taking a breeze.
We Ship these worldwide. Please allow approximately 14 - 21 business days for delivery depending on your country. Ships worldwide. Please allow 2 - 4 weeks for delivery.
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
With PAYPAL® & STRIPE® Card Payments.
On MOST item, so you can follow your package updates.
Tracking included with every order so you know where your items are!
Made from only the best materials we can find.


text:
5 ways yoga is good for your mental health
Ever notice how good you feel—mentally—when you're practising yoga regularly?
Yoga teacher and licensed psychotherapist Ashley Turner, who is launching a groundbreaking new Yoga Psychology 300-hour advanced yoga teacher training, says yoga is the key to psychological and emotional healing as well as resolving issues with self-confidence, relationships, a family of origin issues, and more.
"Yoga is a psychology—the whole practice helps us work with the nature of the mind, the nature of being a human, how emotions live in our bodies, how they affect our behavior and our minds," says Turner, who reveals that yoga helped her recognize and cope with her own low self-esteem. "This course is reclaiming the deeper roots of the practice, not just asana—the mental and emotional benefits."
Below are 5 ways that yoga can benefit your mental health and well-being and even improve your relationships, according to Turner.
5 Ways Yoga Benefits Your Mental Health
1. It moves you from the sympathetic nervous system to the parasympathetic nervous system, or from flight-or-flight to rest-and-digest. You typically have less anxiety and enter a more relaxed state. As soon as you start breathing deeply, you slow down out of fight-or-flight and calm your nervous system.
2. It helps you build your sense of self. Through yoga, you get to know yourself and cultivate a more nonjudgmental relationship with yourself. You are building self-trust. You exercise more and eat healthier, because your unconscious mind tells you, "I'm worthy of this me time, this effort." At the end of the day, everything comes down to your relationship with yourself. When you get more confident and become more rooted in your sense of self and your center, you develop a healthy, balanced ego, where you have nothing to prove and nothing to hide. You become courageous, with high willpower. You're not afraid of difficult conversations—you know you're still going to be OK at the end of the day.
3. It improves your romantic relationship. When you're more centred and more peaceful with yourself, you'll be the same way with your partner—you'll view them through the same lens of compassionate, unconditional love. You're less reactive—for example, you may know that snapping at your partner is not a wise choice.
4. It helps you become aware of your "shadow" qualities. The yoking of solar and lunar (light and dark) in yoga makes us recognize qualities in ourselves that we were not aware of, helping us be more mindful. A lot of my work centres on the shadow concept from Carl Jung. How do we look at those places in our bodies where we hold tension, tightness, knots of energy? That's typically where we are holding our psychological or emotional energy. We work from the outside in, so asana is so important. A backbend will open your heart and release the stiffness between the shoulder blades—at some point, you will have some sort of emotional release, which you may or may not be conscious of. It's about doing the inner work to shift or change and be open to doing your best with your weaknesses and faults.
5. It helps you deal with the family of origin issues. Essentially that's our karma—we can't give back our family, we're born into it. It's about owning what I call sacred wounds (rather than blaming) and taking them on more mindfully. You're the only one that can change—the only thing you can do is control your actions and your behaviour. Other people will inevitably be forced to show up in a different way you're showing up in a different way. Think of the Warrior poses—yoga helps you rise up and do your best.
Original Blog Link:- https://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/5-ways-yoga-is-good-for-your-mental-health


text:
Sub-theme 60: Sustainable Careers: A New Paradigm for the Contemporary World of Work?
Call for Papers
Careers form a complex mosaic of objective experiences and subjective evaluations. They unfold over time within an increasingly
complex environment. Organizations play an important role in the sustainability of careers through providing different work
experiences, opportunities for development and support for work-life balance. These practices might not only contribute to
the sustainability of individual careers, but also to the continuity of the organization. In this way, the sustainable career
differs from career concepts such as protean (Hall, 2002), boundaryless (Arthur & Rousseau, 1996) and customized careers
(Valcour et al., 2007), which are somewhat uncoupled from organizational career management, whereas the sustainable career
might particularly serve the concerns of both employees and employers. Yet, many questions remain to be answered as regards
the potential mutually beneficial outcomes of sustainable career management.
The rich variety of careers implies that individuals may encounter both 'positive spirals' wherein career episodes over time become enriched, and 'negative spirals' wherein career episodes are characterized by demotivating and/or unrewarding experiences. The complexity of our world today entails many opportunities for individuals to make choices in line with their inner drives, yet there is also an ample list of factors that might put careers 'at risk'. Moreover, what might appear to be a 'successful' or 'satisfying' career in the short run does not always remain so in the long run.
This sub-theme addresses the drivers that contribute to the sustainability of careers at multiple levels. Sustainable careers refer to sequences of work experiences which are characterized by the development, conservation and renewal of individuals' career-related resources over time (Van der Heijden & De Vos, 2015). There are challenges pertaining to the sustainability of careers for individuals in all key stages of the career life cycle: career starters, mid-career employees with carer responsibilities and older adults (Greenhaus & Kossek, 2014). Furthermore, as workers have moved away from an expectation of life-time employment towards a need to protect their employability, it is important to increase our knowledge of elements that contribute to sustainable careers for all workers, and to further our understanding of the factors at different levels that affect this sustainability (De Vos & Gielens, 2015).
Against this backdrop, we invite papers which address pertinent questions with respect to the sustainability of contemporary careers. We are especially interested in three questions:
- How can organizations facilitate the sustainability of individuals' careers? How can they be "good" with respect to the careers of their employees, and how can such an approach be beneficial for the individual and the organization?
- What factors distinguish sustainable careers from less sustainable ones, recognizing the complexity of the current career context and applying a time perspective?
- What is the role of the individual career actor, which individual factors affect the sustainability of careers at different career stages and in different organizational settings?
Papers can have a theoretical, methodological or empirical focus or combine them. Examples include, but certainly are not limited to conceptual papers on the notion of sustainable careers, its dimensions, antecedents and boundary conditions, methodological papers on how the sustainability of careers can be researched, and empirical papers answering questions related to sustainable careers. We particularly welcome papers addressing sustainable careers from the organizational perspective, consistent with the colloquium theme of "the good organization".
Through the paper presentations and discussions, the debate set up in this sub-theme should result in new insights related to what sustainability of careers entails both from an organizational and individual viewpoint, how the complexity of the current career context provides both opportunities and obstacles for both parties pertaining to the sustainability of careers and how individuals can be engaged in their own career development across career stages and organizational settings, in view of sustainability. The theme of sustainable careers is complex and contains many tensions, the outcomes of the debate within this sub-theme will provide answers to the challenges above both in terms of avenues for future research and actions for stakeholders involved.
- Arthur, M.B., & D.M. Rousseau (eds.) (1996): The Boundaryless Career: A New Employment Principle for a New Organizational Era. New York: Oxford University Press.
- De Vos, A., & Gielens, T. (2015): "An integrated and multi-level approach for facilitating sustainable careers." White paper prepared for the European Network on Career and AGE (Age, Generation, Experience) final event, Brussels, Belgium. Antwerp: Antwerp Management School, February 2015.
- Greenhaus, J.H., & Kossek, E.E. (2014): "The Contemporary Career: A Work-Home Perspective." Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 1 (1), 361–388.
- Hall, D.T. (2002): Careers In and Out of Organizations. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.
- Valcour, M., L., Bailyn, L., & Quijada, M.A. (2007): "Customized careers. " In: H.P. Gunz & M.A. Peiperl (eds.): Handbook of Career Studies. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE Publications, 188–210.
- Van der Heijden, B., & De Vos, A. (2015):
"Sustainable careers: Introductory chapter." In: A. De Vos & B. van der Heijden (eds.): Handbook of Research on Sustainable
Careers. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 1–19.


text:
What on earth could mourning the many-years-ago passing of a sports store have to do with autism?
Bear with me. There are a bunch of factors. But they essentially amount to:
When I first began acquiring my own equipment for working and playing outdoors at age 16, ABC Sports Store on Yonge St. in Toronto was my favourite place to get gear.
ABC wasn't a large place (at its biggest, it was the width of two small old-city store-fronts).
ABC wasn't a flashy place (the high ceilings allowed gear to be stashed from floor height to well above reach, and dust bunnies weren't strangers).
ABC wasn't a trendy place (the latest colours weren't their concern; instead, they focused on function and durability).
But ABC cared. They chose their goods after testing out what was there (and often improving on existing designs in their own little manufactory). They chose their staff for knowledge. They took the time for things like showing you how to keep a fritzy tent zipper holding the bugs out until you could get it fixed or replaced.
You know. They did the kind of stuff that has you sending blessings their way for YEARS after the store has closed.
Where do the materials come from, in your outdoor gear? Are they derived from petrochemicals (nylon, polyester, fibrefills, etc>)? What are the wastes from manufacturing them?
And how long do they last? I've got a knapsack from ABC sports store that's still going strong after 3 zipper replacements, and a summer sleeping bag that still sees me through indoor and couch-surfing adventures handily. Both were purchased in the late 1970s. Let's see… that's almost 40 years of use.
If your old gear IS being recycled, what are the waste products in air, water, and soil that aren't getting rebuilt into living ecosystems, and how far from its original usage are the secondary uses? Can it be re-used for the same purposes, cradle-to-cradle?
If your old gear isn't getting recycled, why not? And what impact is this having on the air, water, and soils which are under increasing struggles to sustain the conditions that maintain our health?
Judith Bluestone (neurological expert and autistic spectrum adult) had the same experiences I've had with synthetic (plastic) fabrics. They disrupt our electrical signals, our cell communication, and we feel off-kilter when wearing them.
There are a couple of reasons this autistic experience with wearing synthetics might be so. First, plastics are insulators, and there is increasing evidence that we're meant to jive with the earth's electromagnetic field — and that when we don't, there are mental, emotional, and physical health consequences.
As a woman, it's getting harder to find any kind of wear (including outdoor wear) that isn't partly if not entirely synthetic. In contrast, ABC had leather boots with rubber soles, wool socks and sweaters, canvas tents (until nylon started to replace these), oiled cotton rain gear, and other stuff that didn't smell like too many plastic bags in one place.
Second, every one of us autistics that the Autism Research Institute has tested have demonstrated that we have impaired detoxification, and much higher toxic body burden than is normal in the rest of the population.
Dr. Claudia Miller's book about TILT (toxicant induced loss of tolerance) explains that when we're over-exposed to certain classes of chemicals, our likelihood of having adverse reactions goes way up when our accumulation of these chemicals crosses certain critical thresholds. Petrochemicals (which these clothes are made from) are a likely over-exposure because of how many of them we use.
In addition, most of ABC's gear could be trusted to compost when it finally stopped being useful. However, it was designed to last. The 3 high-quality cotton turtlenecks I acquired at that store lasted me up to 20 years — recent ones from Marks' Work Wearhouse didn't last a year before the neck stitching began to fall apart.
Even given that these turtlenecks are cotton and will compost (assuming the GMO pesticides in every cell of cotton don't stymie the bacterial and fungal recyclers), what cost to the environment does a 1-year turtleneck have that a 20-year one spreads out over time? And what kind of impacts are the cotton GMOs having on me through my skin?
I love spending time in nature, especially wilderness. It is a constant thorn in my side that it's so hard if not impossible to find outdoor gear that isn't actually harming the environment I love… and isn't harming me, or causing harm to others like me.
Most of us who have autism have heightened sensory perception for one or more senses. We may see more differentiations in colours. If we aren't tone deaf, we often have perfect pitch. We often notice smells faster than anyone else being exposed. We may feel the seams and tags in our clothing the way other non-autistics might notice a new shoe rubbing a blister.
Many modern warehouse-type stores are a sensory nightmare when you're taking in more sensory information, from the echoing spaces and background "muzak" to the flickering fluorescent lights; from the massive, mapless layouts to the milling crowds; and from the toxic, synthetic "new smell" fabric finishes to the "air freshener" in the bathrooms.
The loss of small, neighbourhood stores has hit us autistics particularly hard, because the big-box alternatives are just so much more painful from sensory overload to toxin-intake.
NOTE: The fastest path into the bloodstream is through the airways (think asthma inhalers). Autistics, who have high inflammation, invariably have impaired gut-blood barriers, which means the blood-brain barrier is also compromised. As a result, anything getting into the bloodstream is affecting the brain within seconds. Fragrances, which dissolve into our bloodstream, are in the same class of chemicals as neurotransmitters (the chemicals our nerves and brain use to communicate) and many are also hormone mimics (hormones are the chemicals our body uses to keep its systems in balance). Non-autistics usually experience relief immediately on return to fresh air, and have no idea how much this effect is magnified for those of us with autism.
As a result, we autistics tend to want to get into big box stores fast, and get out of there fast — or not go near them at all.
Small, locally-sensitive store-owners have the capacity to be highly responsive to the needs of their customers, and their customers have the capacity to appreciate that responsiveness by continuing to show up and purchase.
In contrast, franchise owners for big-box stores are driven by profit expectations from elsewhere, and cannot afford to take actions such as setting aside one quiet morning per month as a fragrance-free time for autistics and other chemically-sensitive people to visit (the way a local hair-cutting spa sometimes does).
Franchise owners for big-box stores cannot switch their "muzak" for recorded water and bird sounds.
Franchise owners for big-box stores can rarely take the time to get feedback from their customers at all.
Finding help in a big-box store is by guess, by golly, and by luck, even when you go just before their high-volume sales times begin. And the help isn't likely to be able to tell you much beyond where to locate the item you're seeking.
In a big box store, you'd never get someone like ABC Sport Store's Sam, who would smile and wave when he saw me, signal how many customers he'd have to see to before he could get to me, and take all the time I needed in his quiet, friendly store, explaining my choices, teaching me maintenance and repair tips, and generally helping me avoid costly mistakes and make enduringly helpful choices.
I feel fortunate in this area to be able to access places like Bailey's Local Foods, Full Circle Foods, Hybrid Hair and Detox Spa, Ontario Seed Home Hardware (yes, Home Hardware is a franchise, but it's made up of all the little neighbourhood hardware stores teaming together so the big guys didn't put them out of business), and the Princess Cinema.
Do you know which of the businesses in your area are small enough to be responsive to the needs of people with extra sensitivity? If you aren't supporting them now, would you consider changing that, so those of us with autism will continue to have places we can go without undue trauma?
If you're interested in decreasing autistic sensory sensitivities and reactivity to toxins, consider joining one of my Heal The Gut programs, or the Reach For Potential program to optimize the gifts and minimize the challenges of autism.
Start lifting straws off the camel's back!
Tell me a little bit more about your organization and what topic you are most interested in learning about.
Tell me a little bit more about yourself and what you are most interested in learning about.
Oops! We could not locate your form.
Please fill out the following form, so I can send your FREE report,
The Five Root Causes of Autism – What's Causing the Symptoms You're Dealing With?
Submitting this form subscribes you to my mailing list…
Since you're looking for better support and answers (or you wouldn't be here), it's important to me to know that you'll only stick with me if you feel inspired and informed. If you don't find we're a good fit, please unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of any email.
Thank you for caring about someone with autism…
For every 5 people helped at full price, Jackie supports one who couldn't otherwise access her materials and guidance.


text:
Hoffman Estates, IL– May 25, 2017 – This spring, through a grant and scholarship program with the Collision Repair Education Foundation, the Nashville I-CAR Committee is awarding three TCAT Livingston students with a $3,000 tool grant each and four Lincoln Tech students with a scholarship toward their post-secondary collision repair education.
This year's recipients are as follows:
Three students at TCAT Livingston will be awarded $3,000 tool grants.
• Derrick Hammond
• Dylan Eads
• Reid Null
Four students from Lincoln Tech in Nashville, Tennessee will be awarded scholarships for direct educational expenses like tuition, room and board, and materials and equipment.
• Crystal Burt will be awarded $2,500
• Peyton Boyd will be awarded $5,000
• Sean Kimble will be awarded $5,000
• Morris Rothfeldt will be awarded $2,500
"As the Vice Chairman for I-CAR Nashville Committee, I am so proud of our committee's continuous commitment they have put into raising money to support the improvement of several Middle Tennessee technical schools and students," said Kayla Williams, Vice Chairman for the I-CAR Nashville Committee. "It's important for committees like ours to make sure the students entering this industry are successful, and one small way we can do that is through these tool grants. I know how much each of the students and schools appreciate our support and our committee looks forward to watching the continued success of these recipients."
Those interested in working with the Collision Repair Education Foundation to support secondary and post-secondary collision repair students, instructors, and their school programs should contact CREF Director of Development, Brandon Eckenrode at 847.463.5244 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
|In stock
The Palm Cove Can Holder is made from an insulated neoprene fabric that is designed to keep your drink ice cold. With our Salt Life can holders, you won't have to worry about the warm weather making your drink room temperature again. We'd rather you be focused on landing that big fish.


text:
Throughout South Carolina's history, rural schools have struggled with academic performance. South Carolina State University is dedicated to making a change for students in those areas while helping fill the need for more teachers across the state.
Orientation for the Minority Access to Teacher Education (MATTE) Bridge Summer Program at South Carolina State University was held Wednesday, June 23. Approximately 65 juniors and seniors from high schools along the I-95 corridor are participating in the five-week campus residency program.
"This program is to establish and encourage more teachers from those areas of the state where schools are either failing or underserved," said Dr. Learie B. Luke, SC State provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. "I think SC State is one of the best places for them because we can mentor them and help them to achieve their full potential."
All participants of the summer program can earn six credit hours in math and English courses from SC State and enroll in dual credits. The cost of the program, along with meals, books and other learning materials are covered by MATTE Bridge Program scholarships.
Students are required to stay on campus for the duration of the five-week summer program. They will be provided with on-campus enrichment activities, mentoring and counseling.
"SC State is committed to preparing students from schools along the I-95 corridor for successful careers in the teaching profession," said Dr. Janice Owens, acting dean for the College of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences. "Many students from these schools enter college with hopes of completing a degree in teacher education and becoming teachers. Unfortunately, some of these students enter college lacking the basic skills needed to pass the entrance examination required by the state of South Carolina to be admitted to a teacher education program."
The MATTE Bridge Program was funded from a $1.4 million grant awarded to SC State's Department of Education by the South Carolina Legislature in 2019, largely through the efforts of State Senator John W. Matthews Jr. Because of the high demand for educators in the I-95 area, SC State was adamant about using these funds to create a program that could help improve the teacher education profession in the state.
"The College of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences was indeed grateful to receive this award from the S.C. legislature, through the efforts of Senator Matthews, to offer minority high school students access to teacher education programs," Owens said.
During orientation, Matthews and SC State President James Clark were recognized for the roles they played in securing funding for the project. Luke was also presented with an appreciation award for all the hard work he contributed to the program.
"It is always good to be appreciated, but it is good that the plaque is associated with a program that is working with young people and helping to increase the number of teachers in South Carolina," Luke said.
The MATTE Bridge program will provide a seamless transition to full admission status for the fall semester for recent high school graduates enrolled. Once enrolled at the university, all participants of the Teacher Preparation Program who maintain a 2.5 grade point average (GPA) are eligible to receive a four-year scholarship and graduate debt free.
"This scholarship will help me with loans and money, so my parents won't have to pay out-of-pocket. It's going to help me get through school, especially with the laptops we're getting. So that's less money they have to spend. It's basically like going to school for free. I'm extremely excited about that," MATTE Bridge participant Jada Marsh said.
Marsh, 17, is originally from Albany, Georgia, and recently graduated from Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School. She initially learned about the program from her dad who is an SC State alumnus. Several members of her family are teachers, so she was eager to follow in their footsteps.
"I'm very excited for program. I want to teach elementary kids and make a change to their lives because there's not a lot of teachers in the South Carolina school districts now. They need more teachers and people who are going to change the kids' lives," Marsh said.
After the summer program, Marsh will continue at SC State as a freshman with six credit hours in elementary education.


text:
Denominación de Origen Navarra, located in the northeastern corner of Spain, nearby France, shares a border with Rioja, and a close knit history as well. Like many Spanish regions, Navarra has produced wine for thousands of years. The medieval Kingdom of Navarra stretched from present day Bordeaux to Barcelona, and wine production was in the Middle Ages by pilgrims on the route to Santiago de Compostela. Cultivation of grapevines and wine production continued through the 19th Century, when Navarra and Rioja benefited from the arrival of the phylloxera to Bordeaux. Both regions sold huge quantities of wine to France until the phylloxera arrived in 1892, decimating the viticultural and winemaking industry.
Although Navarra recovered relatively quickly compared to the rest of Spain, by 1990, only a third of the region's area was cultivation compared to a century prior. Navarra's most important indigenous variety is Garnacha, which has been cultivated here for centuries, and in modern times, is typically fashioned into rosé. D.O. Navarra is split into five subzones, Jorge Ordóñez Selections has worked for over 20 years with Bodegas Nekeas, located in the Valley of Valdizarbe, one of the warmest of the five zones. In this warmer zone, Garnacha, a slow ripening grape, can reach levels of maturity that are suitable for high quality red wines. The expression of these reds, such as El Chaparral de Vega Sindoa, are Atlantic Garnacha with a distinct white pepper note.
(click to explore the many regions where our wines are from)


text:
I love the country roads of old Florida leading to quaint small towns, the cutest shops & bistros, AND vintage treasures! Micanopy and Cedar Key are two of my favorites!
With plenty of benches and comfy pillows to just be still, surrounded by a downtown and homes from the 1800's, it's easy to let your imagination drift back to days gone by. Time just kinda comes to a stand-still sitting under the moss draped trees of Micanopy or basking in Cedar Key's seaside views!
With the cutest shops just ready for the vintage lover...I am full of delight! Here's a few of my latest treasures.
This vintage gathering bucket! I haven't decided yet what I will do with it, but my first idea is to fill all things with flowers! Can't you just picture Spring stems peering out of it!
I came across this old, redwood trellis with the perfect aged patina. I actually got two of them. I could use them for the obvious in the garden, but I want to do something more creative.
And then there's this delightful treasure. A moss covered vase. I definitely see some spring blooms rising in a stately fashion to announce spring from this nature elegant vase.
You'll have to check back in for the next blog to see what emerges with those vintage treasures as a before and after for some great diy ideas for you!
One of the home decor vibes i've found myself drawn to lately is a mix of elegant and rustic.
Of course, a stop at one of the wineries of old Florida is a must on the way home. After gathering up all these treasures, I'm thirsty! I love the Dakota Winery!
And a sunset over Payne's Prairie is the perfect ending to a day full of all kinds of treasures!
Be sure to check back to see what these vintage treasures become!
Happy almost spring!
Live beautiful from the inside out,
Nan xoxo


text:
What Can I Expect at a Worship Service?
Service will last around 1 hour.
Our 8:30 Worship is more traditional with hymns and responsive readings.
Our 11:00 Worship is blended with a praise band and some traditional elements.
A nursery is available.
We typically celebrate communion on the first Sunday of the month.
(Methodist understanding of communion)
What Should I Wear?
You can expect people to be wearing anything from casual clothes to their "Sunday best."
Wear what you think is appropriate and comfortable, and we will be glad to have you!
When are the Services?
Sunday Morning Worship at 8:30 a.m. (traditional) and 11:00 a.m. (contemporary/blended)
Where Are You Located?
We are on the corner of Parks Road and DeWitt Road,
a few miles southeast of Saint Johns, Michigan.
Our Address is:
2965 West Parks Road
St. Johns, MI 48879
How Do I Join the Church?
Pastor Andy leads a membership class twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall. Sign-ups are available just outside the sanctuary prior to the beginning of membership classes. Membership class lasts for 5 weeks and in it we cover the book, "Key United Methodist Beliefs." If you have any other questions on membership, feel free to contact us.
We typically have two times during the year when we baptize: once on All Saint's Sunday (the first Sunday of November) and the other on Holy Saturday (the Saturday before Easter Sunday). Prior to baptism, those being baptized will meet with the Pastor. If you have been baptized in another Christian denomination, then you have already received a Christian baptism. If you have any questions on the United Methodist Church's beliefs on baptism, you can read more here.


text:
Leaking Fukushima containers could lead to hydrogen explosions
Containers holding contaminated water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant are at risk of hydrogen explosions, with 10 percent of them found to be leaking. As many as 333 containers may be defective, according to TEPCO.
The first leak was discovered by the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), on April 2. The discovery prompted an inspection of other containers at the site.
Twenty-six of the 278 containers examined by May 20 had some sort of leak or were bleeding from their lids. There are a total of 1,307 containers at the plant.
According to TEPCO, the leaks and bleeding were likely caused by hydrogen and other types of gases that resulted from the water's exposure to high levels of radiation. Those gases appear to have accumulated in sediment at the bottom of the containers, expanding the volume of the liquid.
READ MORE: Japan takes S. Korea to WTO over Fukushima food restrictions
TEPCO reported its findings during a Friday meeting with a study group from the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), which expressed concern about the potential hazards of accumulated hydrogen build-up in the containers.
"If the concentration level is high, a spark caused by static electricity could cause a container to [explode]," an NRA official told The Asahi Shimbun.
Although all the container lids were supposed to be fitted with pressure-release valves to allow gases to escape, the inspection determined that one did not have that mechanism. Further review of the delivery records showed as many as 333 others may also be defective, a TEPCO official said.
However, TEPCO stated that no radioactive water was found to have escaped outside the concrete structures that encase the containers.
"We think the possibility of an occurrence of hydrogen explosion from these storage facilities is extremely low, since there is no fire origin, or anything that generates static electricity nearby," TEPCO spokeswoman Mayumi Yoshida told the Telegraph.
READ MORE: Fukushima pressure relief system failed at Reactor-2 after disaster, TEPCO reveals
Stressing TEPCO's efforts to deal with the issue, Yoshida added: "For temporary measures, we have been removing the leaked water, installing absorption materials, monitoring by patrol, keeping water level inside those facilities lower than set and keeping equipment which may generate fire away. In the long term, we're going to lower the water level of current facilities so as to prevent further leakages."
She also stated that in the long-term, TEPCO will lower the water level of current facilities in order to prevent further leakages.
The containers, which are made of polyethylene, are 1.8 meters (5.9ft) high and have diameters of 1.5 meters (4.9ft). They store wastewater from the ALPS (advanced liquid processing system) equipment that removes radioactive substances from contaminated water.
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant suffered multiple reactor meltdowns following an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. As of March, TEPCO and the Japanese government had already spent 590 billion yen (US$4.8 billion) on decommissioning the reactors and tackling the accumulation of contaminated water.
TEPCO 'underestimated tsunami risk'
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a report that TEPCO failed to implement adequate safeguards at Fukushima – despite being aware of the tsunami risk. The document was obtained by Kyodo news agency on Monday.
READ MORE: TEPCO must focus on long-term radioactive Fukushima waste management – watchdog
According to the 240-page report, several analyses carried out between 2007 and 2009 predicted the possibility of an 8.3-magnitude earthquake on the coast of Fukushima, which could result in the plant being hit by a tsunami of around 15 meters.
However, TEPCO and Japanese authorities delayed responding to the predictions, feeling that "further studies and investigations were needed."
"TEPCO did not take interim compensatory measures in response to these increased estimates of tsunami height, nor did NISA require TEPCO to act promptly on these results," reads the text.
The report, prepared by 180 experts from 42 countries, will be presented at the annual IAEA meeting in September, if approved by its board of directors in June.


text:
A play that gives the audience an intense, sometimes bumpy ride ultimately wins through with superior storytelling.
A play that gives the audience an intense, sometimes bumpy ride ultimately wins through with superior storytelling.
There's an old adage about sins of the father being visited upon the children. Can a dysfunctional relationship cause ripples in subsequent generations? This broad theme is explored in Bromley Bedlam Bethlehem currently playing at the Old Red Lion Theatre in Islington. It tells the story of Eamonn (Dan Mullane) and his chequered relationship with daughter Sarah (Madeleine Bowyer). Eamonn had a rocky marraige exacerbated by heavy drinking; but enjoyed a close sometimes tense relationship with his daughter. Sarah's marraige to Gerrard produced a son, Ben (Daniel Rainford) who becomes the family's star turn, winning a place at Cambridge to study law. However, Eamonn's death re-opens old wounds as mother and son reconstruct the past and brood on the future.
The story builds at a nice pace with clear flashbacks to fill in character history. A strong narrative presents the audience with a familiar conundrum; are relationships with our children affected by those we had with our parents. Do we learn from experience or continually repeat the same behaviour? In life the answer can rarely be black or white; it's annoyingly somewhere in the middle. We are largely the product of our upbringing; and will seep into our future relationships, however hard we try to do otherwise. It's risky to generalise, but this is the play's greatest strength insofar it portrays a basic truth. Curiously, the exchanges in flashback were between Eamonn and Sarah; but not Eamonn and Ben. It might have been helpful to witness the practical impact Eamonn had on his grandson; however, this may be deliberate on the author's part; more to emphasise the vicarious effect Eamonn had on Ben's emotional frailty. This inadvertently adds greater dimension to Eamonn and Sarah, who are fully developed characters. Ben meanwhile lacks depth purely because he has fewer lines and consequently know less about him.
Even so, it's a very well written play utilising an excellent cast. A special mention must go to Daniel Mullane, who stepped in at a week's notice to play Eamonn and mastered the role with apparent ease. In all truth, it wasn't exactly a light hearted cantor through family life, but that was never the intention. It makes us face uncomfortable truths about the human condition; and for better or worse we are still our father's son or mother's daughter.
Author: Rachel Tookey
Director: Thomas Martin
Producer: Voxie
Box Office: 0333 012 4963
Booking Link: https://www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk/bromley-bedlam-bethlehem.html
Booking Until: 25 May 2019


text:
Webinar Recording Overview
The power of smart controls can make a world of difference. On Wednesday, October 26, 2016 iFormBuilder hosted a free 60 minute training session on Smart form design. During this hour-long session, Jonathan Hsu built on the knowledge of basic form building from last month's webinar. Enjoy this webinar as Jon takes you under the hood of the inspection form to learn about conditional values, validations, and modifications. Understand how to use Page-level JavaScript, how to dynamically fill elements, and much more. To assist you, Jon has attached the form packages below so that you can import them into your own account and take a closer look!
The webinar is designed for members of the iFormBuilder community who are:
- Form Builders who would like to start adding Smart Control functions within their form.
- Form Builders who would like a refresher course on how to add Smart Controls.
Topics explored
- What a 'Smart' form looks like
- Best Practices for Form Building
- Demo of a Form with a "Smart" workflow
- Defaulting form fields
- Conditionally show and hide elements
Training Resources
*For more resources on this course, please review the downloadable Slide Deck PDF for this webinar located under this list. There are links to all of the topics that were discussed.
- *Form Builder Certification Program*
- Free Training Schedule and Recordings
- iFormBuilder Academy
- Training Course catalogue
- Customer Success Center
- iFormBuilder Support Services
- Help us make our training webinars better by completing our Training Feedback Form!
Form Resources
Here is the Form Package containing both the basic and enhanced versions of the Elevator Inspection demo forms. Feel free to import the package, deconstruct it, or build off of it. Use the URL below with the iFormBuilder Package Import to load the form onto your own profile. Copy the URL, then paste it in the Select from URL section of the Package Import interface.
Basic Elevator Inspection Form Package
Advanced Elevator Inspection Form Package
About the Presenter
Jonathan Hsu is a Solutions Engineer at Zerion Software. He designs and delivers training content for both iFormBuilder and the Dataflow Automation. Jonathan has practiced martial arts for over 20 years and enjoys teaching anything and everything. He is always excited to answer any questions about iFormBuilder or Dataflow Automation. Email Jonathan at firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
For a son who never ceases to amaze you, wish a happy birthday and day lived to the fullest! Send a birthday greeting card to your son that will leave a lasting impression. Our messages are sincere, heartfelt, and long remembered. Let yours son know how much you love him and have loved watching him grow into the man he is today-a man who brings so much joy to the lives of everyone around him.
A single, candle-topped cupcake with mounds of blue frosting is a sweet way to wish your son a happy birthday from the both of you. Filled with colorful lights in the background to create a festive party setting, this card is a reminder to him that he makes the world brighter for everyone around him and has so many wonderful gifts just waiting to be shared. Whatever age he's turning, he's sure to be touched by this heartfelt greeting.
A blue sky background with shimmering stars is the best way to let your son know that he's the biggest star of all! This meaningful birthday card from both of you is an opportunity to let him know how you feel: that you're proud of the kind, thoughtful person he is and that there's no one, in your hearts, who is as special. With its touching words, this card is one he'll turn to not just on his birthday but any day he needs a reminder of just how much he's loved.
This touching and heartwarming birthday card depicts a mother walking along the beach with her young son, leaving footprints in the sand together. Perfect for an adult son, it's a loving reminder that no matter how much he's grown, or how much physical distance there is between you, in your heart, he will always be your little boy, and the special bond you share as mother and son will always remain strong.
A stretch of open road ahead, with the sun warmly shining down, will let your special son know that the next year" hold endless possibilities" for him...starting with this important birthday celebration! Maybe he's starting a new career, or getting married, or becoming a dad for the first time. Whatever memorable milestones are awaiting him, he'll always have your love, support and encouragement, which are the best gifts of all.
This cheerful birthday card is perfect for a son of any age, a reminder that no matter how many candles he's blowing out on his cake this year, he "never lets go of his fun, carefree spirit"! The image of a father and son riding together, hands playfully waving in the air, is a celebration of the special relationship you will always have with each other!
A father and son playing together with cars on the floor captures the special moments of childhood, where he got to spend time doing what he loved with the man he looked up to most. And whether he's not done growing yet, or is now a father with a son of his own, this nostalgic birthday card will remind him to make time for the things that make him smile on his big day!
The son you've raised has "grown into an amazing man", and on his birthday, you want him to know of all the possibilities that lie ahead of him in the year ahead. This moving birthday card, with the image of a man appearing to be standing on top of the world, brings a very touching message: of hope, encouragement and most important of all, love.
Wish your son a happy birthday with this geometric birthday card. It's an optical illusion for the eyes as stars burst between 3D boxes. A fantastic birthday card for your handsome son. Send your dear son a birthday card to wish him a wonderful day and a great year. Remember your son's birthday with this simple, thoughtful birthday greeting card.
What an incredibly sweet way for a mother to celebrate her "incredible son" on his birthday, while getting a chance to tell him how you feel about him every day. The touching image of a mom holding up her little boy as the sun beams down behind them, is supported by the beautiful message below: "You are the light of my life, who lifts me up every day!"
It's always the thought that counts. Celebrate your son's birthday and amazing life with this simple, stunning birthday card. Send this attractive birthday greeting card to warm your son's heart on his special day. No matter the miles between you, the gift of a thoughtful birthday card is always a good idea. Easy to send and fun to receive! Send a special birthday greeting card to your son today.
What would life be like without your amazing son? Send your son this thoughtful birthday card to let him know how much you care about him, and how blessed you feel to have him in your life. Wish your son a very happy day with a super fun birthday card and heartfelt birthday message today. Celebrate the day of your son's birth with an epic birthday card!
A birthday full of fun—just like your son! He's always there to make you smile and make you laugh. Wish your son a fantastic birthday with this fun-loving and heartfelt birthday card. Send good cheer and smiles this year to your son on his birthday with this awesome birthday greeting card. Your son will love it, and you'll love how quick and easy it is to send heartfelt wishes!


text:
On the first of July, we got the keys to our very first place together. We have been living in the same house for about a year and a half prior to this, but we had separate rooms and resided with two other housemates at a four bedroom house. While it has been great living with our closest friends, I felt like this moment really marks the start of "the-rest-of-forever". It was this milestone that inspired me to begin this blog. I mean, this is a HUGE step! This new place is actually the first space that is truly our own. And I take pride in making sure it was representative of us.
When we first started talking about finding our first REAL place together, Mike did not seem too excited about buying a cookie-cutter home with multiple bedrooms in a suburban area. I grew up with people telling me that the ideal home has white walls, two floors, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a formal dining room, a backyard and a patio, a family room and a living room, a kitchen with an island, and located in a great neighborhood surrounded by other families. But Mike was just so disinterested in it all.
So I stepped back and tried to really think and analyze what was more representative of us. I mean, we get along so well because we have a lot of similar likes and dislikes. I revisited every restaurant, hotel, city, and home we have ever been to and I realized that the house I was envisioning was actually not for us at all. The places we were drawn to included coffee houses with hipster vibes, breweries in industrial warehouses, and spaces in grey, black, and white. We love clean lines and structure, Edison light bulbs, and re-purposed pieces. So we started looking into industrial loft-like spaces, and I was surprised (and extremely happy) to see how interested he became in researching a place for us! I loved walking into his room and seeing him searching the web for lofts for sale and for rent in the Orange County area. We started watching HGTV and took mental notes of items from couples' wishlists in House Hunters, or ways to renovate the space like in Fixer Upper (Joanna Gaines is my life-goal, by the way).
But finding a loft in Orange County was no easy feat! Industrial vibes are seemingly everywhere in large cities such as Los Angeles and San Diego, but they were almost impossible to find in Orange County. After months and months of browsing the web, we learned that lofts were few and far between, and were usually snagged within a week. We began looking for realsies right after I graduated USC. One weekend, we decided to look at a few "lofts", and had lined up to visit three in one day. The first two were called lofts, but they really felt like apartment homes with 9 foot ceilings. Although they were new and had an industrial feel to the appliances, we were pretty disappointed to say the least. And all of the lofts and apartments we were looking for had no garages, which was one of Mike's key items on our wishlist. The third house was almost $1000/mo above our price range but we said we would check it out, "just to see what it was like". Well, so much for that! I was so excited the minute we walked in, and I could also tell that Mike was too. He kept saying "This is pretty nice…" and I kept squealing "OMGilovethis". The real estate agent couldn't help but grin at the both of us, and I don't really blame him. We were pretty doggone ridiculous!
It had a lot of the things we were talking about and just the right amount of space for a couple. The exposed lam beams and wooden beams on the ceiling, exposed vents over the kitchen, and metal railings on the stairs are just some of the things we loved!
And this light fixture, I mean, c'mon!
The vaulted ceiling in the living room made it feel even more spacious, but the best feature about the space is that glass door in the living room! We are talking a glass door that literally has a chain pulley system and raises the door up the entire 25 feet.
Plus Mikey and I had different ideas about the best type of flooring and we got a compromising solution. The first floor has a cool stained brown cement, perfect for an office space. His computer chair just glides across the floor so easily! The second floor has dark stained hardwood floors which are gorgeous to look at but easy to clean when we host future parties. The third floor grants him his carpet in the bedroom, the soft and fluffy heaven he always dreamed of!
And the best part for him (besides his own personal video game room/office, the carpet, and the large glass door) is the two car garage included with the space! (I was honestly more excited about the six range gas stove and upgraded appliances…)
The rest was history! We put an offer that day, we were the first to look at the space and within the next few days, other offers were already coming in. We had to make a decision quick. So I pretty much poured my heart and soul to our agent telling him how much we would love to live in this space. It seemed like forever (it was only one week) before we got the confirmation e-mail. I was sitting at my parent's house (where recent graduates without jobs are forced to reside), and I get a text from Mike saying, "Check your inbox." I just knew! I freaked out and texted him back, "WHAT DO WE DO NOW OMG!" Apparently, I have no idea how to adult.
The first day we were there together, all we had was a record player, a handful of Mike's favorite vinyls, a laptop and wifi, and each other. But it was absolutely perfect. Day two, in comes my dining table and living room coffee table from college, the couch I bought from my old college roommate, and some outdoor chairs I borrowed from my parents. Our proudest pieces were delivered, which included a Restoration Hardware desk and chair, and a Restoration Hardware bed frame and matching, brand new California King mattress, ordered with extra-firm support for Mikey. Gone are the days when he has to sleep diagonally in order to fit on the bed. I mean, this is some SERIOUS upgrade guys! Oh, and off course, the bed is surrounded by two Restoration Hardware nightstands. Can you figure out my favorite furniture store yet? Yeah, if I could, I would fill this place top to bottom with Restoration Hardware stuff, I totally would (future blog to come).
Oh, and then our friends came to shower us with love on our move-in day! If this is a sneak-peak into our future, I CANNOT WAIT for the rest of our lives.


text:
Kathryn L. Maschhoff, MD, PhD
Phone: 215-590-1653
Skip to content
I am a neonatologist interested in cardiac development, particularly in the development of the conotruncal region of the heart. Neural crest cells, which migrate to the developing heart from the neural tube, are essential for normal conotruncal development. Disruption of the normal migration or function of these cells in animal models recapitulates many of the features of DiGeorge syndrome seen in humans, including conotruncal cardiac defects such as persistent truncus arteriosus and interrupted aortic arch.
One focus of my research program is to understand how neural crest cells interact with other cells in the developing outflow tract during conotruncal development. A second focus of my research program is to elucidate the role of members of the Sox family of transcription factors, particularly Sox4 and the closely related transcription factor Sox11, in cardiac development. I have recently cloned the Sox4 gene and am using a variety of techniques, including in situ hybridization and expression of sense, antisense and dominant negative Sox gene transcripts by adeno- and retroviruses to study the function of Sox4 and Sox11 during cardiac development.
MD - University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX
Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
University of California at San Francisco, CA
Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine – American Board of PediatricsPediatrics – American Board of Pediatrics
Attending Neonatologist
Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Luo J, Shepard S, Nilan K, Wood A, Monk HM, Jensen EA, Harrington AT, Maschhoff K, Kirpalani H, Feng Z, Zhang H. Improved growth and developmental activity post tracheostomy in preterm infants with severe BPD. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2018 Jul 3. doi: 10.1002/ppul.24087. [Epub ahead of print] Read the abstract.
The Patient Experience Rating is an average of all responses to the care provider related questions shown above from our nationally-recognized Press Ganey Patient Satisfaction Survey. Patients that are treated in outpatient or hospital environments may receive different surveys, and the volume of responses will vary by question.
Responses are measured on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the best score.
We are committed to true transparency. However, to ensure the comments are fair and correctly attributed, we review each one before posting to the website. We exclude entire comments that disclose patient's protected health information, are off-topic, or include other confidential or inappropriate content. Comments will appear on provider bios only if providers have a minimum number of comments.
Comments are shared internally for education purposes to ensure that we are doing our very best for the patients and families for whom we are privileged to care.
The comments are submitted by patients and families and reflect their views and opinions. The comments are not endorsed by and do not reflect the views of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.


text: Coming from a very poor upbringing, I carried around the "poverty mentality." I watched my mom, who was a single parent of 5 at that time, spend way too much at birthdays and Christmas to "make up" for the rest of the year. As a teenager we spent the tax return to go to Florida for 2 weeks, Disney for a week. It was much cheaper then, but we shouldn't have been doing it. I carried these habits into my adulthood and passed them to my children. Fortunately, my son and his wife have taken a financial course and do much better. My daughter is getting better. We not only had horrible spending habits, but it was generational. Thank God it is ending in our children's generation, and we are getting help!!


text:
|Glen Tilt Near Blair Atholl
|River Tilt
|Glen Tilt Near Blair Atholl
|River Tilt
Ah the midge, one of God's little jokes on mankind. :-(
You wonder why considering the loss in revenue the little buggers inflict on Scotland, that they haven't a way to wipe them out.
And thus the Trailstar.
And Midges
And why I bought the Oooknest to go with it.
Also, why the Challenge is in May :-)
A shame really, because Glen Tilt is a wonderful valley, and sitting out with a dram in the evening looking at the sunset is a joy.
CHALLENGE application in the next issue if TGO mag. Oct issue. Should be out about Sep 6th. Good luck. Go for it, you'll love it.
By the way.
Good write up :-)
Thanks for the comments, Andrew and for the link to the superby, moody picture of Glen Tilt.
I subscribe to TGO and will be ripping out and filling in the application form when it arrives. Whether I will get beyond Mr Manning's vetting of applications is another matter. But one thing is for certain, by this time next year I will have more Scottish experience come what may. I hope to be up there again in a couple of weeks, this time with the Akto until the Oooknest arrives, and an anti midge repellant spray, of course.
PS in your first comment the line "And thus the Trailstar" reads like the start of a poem. Was that intended? Is the W in your surname short for Wordsworth?
Not intended as such, although I have penned the odd ode. Well about 200 actually.
Must get round to publication one day.
So, probably won't.
Could be an interesting blog post though.
Glen Tilt is rather fine isn't it.
That was on this years challenge from my camping spot. Wonderful.
You won't be dissappointed by the Oookstar.
Well, I wasn't.
He does a double one now.
David Lintern was testing it on the challenge this year.
On insect repellent, although I have NOT tried it with apocolyptic size midge hordes.
Alan Hardy suggested A.Vogel insect repellent.
Mind you, he walks in shorts all year round, and I think he is immune to insects.
I'm sorry David, but I was rolling around mission Control, giggling!
I forget about Scotland June - September. April & May are wonderful. No midges...
Have a chat with Sean at Oookworks for your salvation.
Mission control, Alan? That's not your big hospital visit is it? If so good luck.
I'm glad to have amused you. The experience for me was all part of life's rich tapestry, which is easy to say in retrospect.
I was in touch with Sean at Oookworks almost as soon as I got home but your advice re visiting Scotland in April / May sounds wise. Despite this I may try again in September and hope for more breeze.
I love reading accounts of backpacking in different places to see the differences in perspectives and trials. Great report and congrats on the semi-retirement. Please keep the midges off ships, planes...they are not welcome in the Rockies of America. Thanks for warning me away from Scotland in August, I shall remain a Scottish virgin.ReplyDelete
As a user of a tarp all year round in the Highlands I find the following are useful in the Midge season:-
1) Bug spray
2) Head net
3) Mosquito coils strategically placed
4) Chain smoking
5) Camp as high as possible - turn your usual sheltered pitch on it's head and go for maximum exposure to the breeze. Do not camp in the glen.
PS It helps to wear light coloured clothing as the little sods seem to cluster on black or dark items. Make that 200 Woodbines.
Anon (rhymes with John)
Camp high in September, or have an inner. Last September I bleed in the forests making for high ground. Midge time is hell. Idiots say you get used to them. Truth is you get an inner from Sean.
Good luck with the TGOC application. Might see you on it next May.
Having recently had a similar midge experience on the Minigaig (and we should know better, we live in the highlands!) this made me giggle! Don't use bright colours, thry loved the orange Paramo, pink Thermarest and even pale grey trousers. In fact, colour is irrelevant, they like flesh!! The Challenge is the dog's do dahs, you'll love it. Good luck in the draw!ReplyDelete
Thanks Louise. TGO should arrive in the post anyday now with the entry form. In the interim I hope to get back up to Scotland for a few days. Will take the Akto this time and lots of DEET although I suspect my saviour might be the forecast wind and rain...Delete
Oh dear. Yes we can laugh, we have the T shirt. But seriously, NO repellant stops them. Its only the females that bite btw, the males just land and cause irritation running round your skin. Midge jacket or midge hat is needed in these months but the most important thing , unlike what many of us do in the south of the border is to camp in a relatively exposed windy spot and not too close to water or trees. They don't fly when the wind is over 5mph and you should be ok. He says!
I agree with others, get an Oookworks inner.
Well, Alan, there is no way I am going to make the obvious comments in reply to your statement that "it is only the females that bite...whilst the males just...cause irritation". Mrs Fellbound may be reading this!
Sean should be sewing my Oookworks inner as we speak.
What a wonderful post and you are ahead of me in the TGOC entry, I will be trying for 2014 due to an unforseen mishap in the lake district. I am now following in your footsteps and find your writing very witty, entertaining and gratifying. You will be having the experiences I will not need to endure, I'll just pick the good bits and have the perfect walk on the perfect day in the perfect glen. Seriously many thanks I will follow you more closely and take heed of your superior experience. Many thanks.ReplyDelete
Hi Paul
Thank you for your very kind comments. They have given me some impetus to think about some more posts as I am not updating this site with the regularity I ought. I have done a few splendid day walks recently, albeit they were rather uneventful. I am not certain about the "superior experience" bit. I have masses of day walking experience but much more limited backpacking.
Good luck with planning for the TGOC in 2014. I am formulating plans in my head for alternatives if I do not obtain a place on the 2013 crossing. I am now going to check out your site and find out more about your "mishap" in the Lakes!
I laughed at this , last time I was up Scotland it was October I think so missed out on this wonderful experience, just ordered my trailstar and no nest lined up yet, I have a Bivvy with a net on but you've talked me out of that idea I think.ReplyDelete
A nest should do the trick, Dave. I got mine from Oook Works. Well made but a long lead in time from order.ReplyDelete