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Content/Net Weight:
24 vegecaps
Directions for Use:
For better sleep, take 1-2 capsules one hour before bedtime.
Being a natural functional food product, some people may need to take 1-2 capsules for at least 2 weeks in order for Rilax to begin regulating their sleep quality.
Each capsule provides:
Alpha S1-Casein Tryptic Hydrolysate - 150mg
L-Theanine - 50mg
I used to have problems sleeping until I was introduced to Rilax by my friend. It takes just a while to make me feel sleepy after I take it. I can then sleep through the night, without waking up in the middle of the night and staring into the dark for hours. Thanks to Rilax, I can now wake up bright and full of energy!
— Carole Chai, Malaysia
I work as a real estate consultant and my lifestyle is normally very hectic. I have to meet clients and sometimes this occurs late into the night. Because of my busy lifestyle, I often end up sleeping late and having to wake up early everyday. However, sometimes when I sleep, I find that my brain is still active and there are a lot of thoughts running through my mind. On some mornings, I will wake up feeling very tired rather than well rested. After I started taking Rilax, I find that it helped to calm me down before bedtime. Even though I only have a few hours of sleep, with Rilax, I could wake up feeling well rested and energized. I like Rilax because it's in a capsule form, which is very easy to swallow.
— Sherilyn Wong, Real Estate Consultant, Singapore
For a person who travels, finding Rilax was like finding a hidden treasure. One night I had too much caffeine and I was sure it would be another sleepless night. My friend had passed me Rilax and so I thought I'd try it out even though I knew it would be another hopeless frustrating night of losing sleep with restless tossing and turning from too much caffeine. Before I knew it I was feeling so nice and relaxed and then I was off to sleep. Thanks Rilax for sweet dreams!
—Petra Rose, Writer/Social Worker, U.S.A.
The first time I tried taking Rilax, I followed the instructions to take one capsule an hour before bedtime. I was expecting the capsule to make me feel sleepy or sluggish, but I really didn't feel drowsy in the hour before bed, and when I finally went to sleep I didn't feel 'knocked out' like I was expecting to. I felt relaxed and calm, and rested peacefully through the night. Best of all, I woke up feeling bright-eyed and energetic the next day. One thing I like about Rilax is that I don't have to take it regularly; I can just take it on a night where I would need help relaxing before bed — OR on an occasion that I would need to be especially alert the next day. I also feel at ease knowing that the ingredients are all natural (as opposed to chemical), and I have found that Rilax works especially well when I get about 8 hours of sleep.
— Azzura Hassan, Writer, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
My daughter uses Rilax. I bought it purposely for her to ease away her anxiety during her examinations in order to help her stay calm so that she will not panic over those subjects which she worries most. And YES, it really works! She can always pass with flying colours every time by taking one capsule about half an hour before the commencement of each examination! I am very satisfied with Rilax because it is safe, non-habit forming and this really helps a teenage student like my daughter to focus more and stay calm during an exam.
— Wong Sow Har, Malaysia
I wish to inform you that Rilax is amazing and wonderful and I really have a very deep and nice sleep throughout the whole night which I have been deprived of for such a long period!!!
— Ir Yau Ho Hu, Malaysia
This supplement does work to put me to sleep. Tonight will be my 3rd night. Surprisingly it works. I was at first, very, very reluctant to purchase the Rilax until my friend coaxed me to give it a try because I don't want to frustrate myself if it doesn't help like the rest of the supplements which I have tried. It can be very frustrating.
At first I swallowed one capsule and took a warm shower hoping to feel drowzy, but I felt nothing. I quickly switched on the air-cond and climbed into bed, praying that I will get a good night's sleep. My mind was alert and my eyes was tense as usual but feeling calm. I took a 2nd capsule and it took me quite a while and at last I dozed off. I slept. It's wonderful and in the middle of the night, I went to the toilet and went back to sleep. AMAZING!!! This improved Rilax capsule is better than the old one.
Thank you again for giving me back my sleep. I am much happier today. All I needed was a good night's sleep for the rest of my life. No more sleeping deprivation.
— Lucy Chang, ex-chronic insomniac, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
My wedding day was near and I was feeling stressed, trying to juggle work and my wedding preparations. A friend recommended Rilax to me and I took it for the first time, just a few days before the actual wedding day. I felt its calming effect within 15 minutes after consumption. It helped ease my anxiety and I was able to fall asleep quicker.
— Ivy Tan, Bank Manager, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
I am a 30 plus year old mother with 3 school going children and a 2 month old baby whom I'm breast-feeding on demand. All this means that I've very little sleep and am exhausted all the time, until a kind friend introduced me to Rilax. The effect was immediate because the very next day I woke up feeling more refreshed and more rested even though I was feeding the baby throughout the night. Nowadays, I never fail to take Rilax every night to ensure that I get the rest that I need.
— Ellie Sim, Full-time Mother, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
For the last few months, I have not been sleeping well and at times do not get a deep sleep. This is because of the late nights I've been having due to entertaining guests and attending events. I would often wake up in a restless mood. After taking Rilax, I feel that my mind and body are more at ease. I have a deeper sleep and I feel fresh and energetic in the mornings. I like Rilax because it's a natural health supplement without any side effects after consumption. It's a great product for easing the mind after a long day at work.
— P. Yong, Businessman, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
I started to take Rilax when I had trouble sleeping. I noticed the effects immediately i.e. whenever I take Rilax I do not wake up in the middle of the night; even if I do, I get back to sleep almost immediately. Also especially when I travel, I take Rilax because I have difficulties falling asleep on hotel beds due to the 'unfamiliarity' of the surrounding. When I take Rilax, I fall asleep very quickly and do not wake up in the middle of the night. I like Rilax because it has no after effects and is not addictive – I can choose whether to take Rilax before I go to bed or not each time, without suffering any 'withdrawal' symptoms.
— Claire Ho, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
How does Rilax Zzz work?
Rilax combines the relaxing properties of two safe ingredients scientifically proven to promote relaxation and restful sleep.
How often should I use Rilax Zzz? Should I take this product only when I am having trouble sleeping or should I take it every night?
Rilax can be taken as needed, or every night.
Is Rilax Zzz addictive?
No, Rilax provides a safe way to get a restful night's sleep without worrying about addiction or after-effects.
Will I feel drowsy after I take Rilax Zzz?
Even at higher doses, Rilax has no sedative effect. People who take Rilax feel more relaxed and sleep better or fall asleep easier at bedtime. One can remain awake and attentive if there is a need to.
How long does the Rilax Zzz effect last? What if I want to sleep for six hours, or 12 hours?
We recommend that you allow for a full night's sleep, which for most adults, is about 8 hours. However, Rilax should not prevent you from waking up earlier if necessary.
When your body is getting the sleep it needs, it should take about 15-20 minutes to fall asleep at night and you should be able to wake up easily in the morning. If you have not been sleeping well, do not be surprised if your body wants more than 8 hours a night when you first return to a healthy sleep pattern.
Does Rilax Zzz have side effects?
Rilax does not have any negative side after-effects, such as grogginess, headaches or lack of mental clarity following a night's rest. It is formulated to promote relaxation and good sleep.
Will Rilax Zzz be effective from the first time I take it?
Rilax will have some positive effect on sleep from the very first time it is taken. However, it is not a drug and therefore different people with different sleep problems will experience benefits differently.
I'm a chronic insomniac, will Rilax Zzz work?
If you are suffering from severe sleeping issues, we recommend seeking advice from a physician or medical professional. However, it is worthwhile to try a natural product such as Rilax. A recent clinical study published in The Open Sleep Journal (2009;2) showed that Rilax's active ingredient, Lactium, helped a majority of participants to fall asleep faster, as well as significantly improve various aspects of sleep disorders. Results indicated improvement in sleep quality after two weeks of supplementation, along with decreases in sleep latency and daytime dysfunction after four weeks of supplementation.


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The search found 268 results in 0.011 seconds.
Since the 1980s, leading U.S. firms have announced massive downsizing plans in the name of maximizing shareholder value, but some observers are skeptical about how serious firms are in implementing these plans. Building on political theories of corporate governance, I examine how conflicts of interest and alignment among investors, workers, and top managers affect the implementation of announced downsizing plans.
Conventional research in organizational theory highlights the role of board interlocks in facilitating business collective action. In this article, I propose that business collective action affects the evolutionary path of interlock networks. In particular, large market players' response after a collective action to the classic problem of the "exploitation" of the great by the small provides a mechanism for interlocks to evolve.
Community reactions against organizations can be driven by negative information spread through a diffusion process that is distinct from the diffusion of organizational practices. Bank panics offer a classic example of selective diffusion of negative information. Bank panics involve widespread bank runs, although a low proportion of banks experience a run. We develop theory on how organizational similarity, community similarity, and network proximity create selective diffusion paths for resistance against organizations.
What factors affect a scientist's choice of research problem? Qualitative research in the history and sociology of science suggests that this choice is patterned by an "essential tension" between productive tradition and risky innovation. We examine this tension through Bourdieu's field theory of science, and we explore it empirically by analyzing millions of biomedical abstracts from MEDLINE. We represent the evolving state of chemical knowledge with networks extracted from these abstracts. We then develop a typology of research strategies on these networks.
Organization scholars since Max Weber have argued that formal personnel systems can prevent discrimination. We draw on sociological and psychological literatures to develop a theory of the varied effects of bureaucratic reforms on managerial motivation. Drawing on self-perception and cognitive-dissonance theories, we contend that initiatives that engage managers in promoting diversity—special recruitment and training programs—will increase diversity.
A pressing problem for the social sciences is to understand the processes leading to commitment within organizational settings. Toward this end, we argue for the stability of rewards derived from groups as a key dimension of commitment. We present a theory that links reward stability to justice evaluations and corresponding emotional reactions, which in turn predict group commitment. From this theory, we derive several hypotheses, the key one being that justice evaluations and corresponding emotional reactions explain the effect of reward stability on commitment.
Social capital theorists claim that belonging to a densely knit social network creates a shared identity, mutually beneficial exchange, trust, and a sense of belonging in that group. Taken together with the empirical research on the importance of social support and social integration for individuals' well-being, there is reason to expect that the density of one's personal social network should be positively related to well-being.
Numerous studies document that higher education is associated with a reduced likelihood of depression. The protective effects of higher education, however, are known to vary across population subgroups. This study tests competing theories for who is likely to obtain a greater protective benefit from a college degree against depression through an analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and recently developed methods for analyzing heterogeneous treatment effects involving the use of propensity scores.
This paper contrasts two money-related stressors—debt and economic hardship—and clarifies where debt fits into the stress process model. Debt may be a direct or indirect stressor, as something mediated by psychosocial resources, and may be a potential buffer, interacting with economic hardship. The analyses use data from a two-wave panel study of 1,463 adults. One way debt is distinct from economic hardship is that debt is more common among economically advantaged groups.
A growing literature posits the importance of boundaries in structuring social systems. Yet sociologists have not adequately theorized one of the most fraught and consequential sites of boundary-making in contemporary life: the delineation of the official edges of the government—and, consequently, of state from society. This article addresses that gap by theorizing the mechanisms of state boundary formation. In so doing, we extend culturalist theories of the state by providing a more specific model of how the state-society boundary is produced.

subset: commoncrawl


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CAM System Tackles Swiss-Type Complexity
Partmaker CAM software helps this shop cope with the increased complexity of the medical parts processed on its similarly complex Swiss-type lathes.
When C&A Tool first began producing medical parts on its Swiss-type lathes, the company typically programmed the machines manually on the shop floor. However, as the capabilities of these machines increased along with the complexity of the parts processed on them, it became clear that this strategy would no longer be feasible. Rather, the key to success would be to quickly and efficiently develop manufacturing processes—and by extension, NC programs—that push these complicated machines to reach their full potential.
To that end, the company created a dedicated Swiss-type programming department and invested in CAM software from Partmaker (Fort Washington, Pennsylvania) to automate programming. That CAM system has since become the central nervous system of the shop's Swiss-type business, says Nathan Esslinger, manufacturing engineer who is responsible for Swiss-type programming. "The job is made or broken in the process," he says. "Partmaker's been a big help in assisting us to develop that first process, simulate the part and obtain a better idea of whether that process will work." He adds that the software has also improved productivity and made it easier to deal with a lack of qualified machinists.
Since its founding 40 years ago in a rural Indiana garage, C&A Tool has grown into a 530-employee organization occupying a campus of buildings with a total of 750,000 square feet of manufacturing space. Its main manu-facturing plant and headquarters is located in the northern Indiana town of Churubusco. Richard Conrow, C&A's founder and president, says the company's growth has been driven by a commitment to reinvest in the business and develop its employees. In fact, the manufacturer has grown an average of 20 percent per year for the past 25 years in terms of both personnel and company sales.
C&A's Swiss-type operations are carried out on a bank of 27 multi-axis machines from Star CNC Machine Tool Corp. (Roslyn Heights, New York). Equipped with more than 12 programmable axes, these machines can perform 3D surface machining and use angled toolholders to cut inclined features, among other capabilities that weren't available until relatively recently. "We don't even call them Swiss lathes," Mr. Esslinger says. "We call them Swiss machining centers because some of the parts we make on them don't ever see a turning tool."
The manufacturing process for these parts begins with importing an engineering design into Partmaker. Although C&A typically programs from solid models, the software accepts 2D drawings, as well. After importing the geometry, programmers assign machining operations in order to calculate the tool paths. During programming, the software employs a patented "divide and conquer" approach that involves breaking a complex part into individual face windows, each of which contains features being machined in a particular plane. For example, one window might be used to graphically program all turning operations on the machine's main spindle, and another might be dedicated to C-axis milling operations with a horizontally oriented tool. Yet another window might contain a group of features machined with a vertically oriented Y-axis tool.
This approach makes it easier to cope with the increasing complexity of the shop's medical parts. Additionally, it has made the company more productive, says Mark Simpson, the supervisor of the Swiss machining area. "We can take a complex part and program it in a couple of hours," he says. "There is no way this could be done on the floor anymore."
The company's successful foray into medical parts has led to significant growth in its Swiss machining capacity. When it started this work in 2002, it had eight Swiss-type lathes, compared to 27 today. While plans for further expansion are in the works, growth has so far taken place against the challenging backdrop of finding skilled Swiss-type lathe operators, Mr. Simpson says.
One reason Swiss-type capacity continues to grow despite this lack of qualified personnel is that Partmaker makes it easier to do more with less, Mr. Esslinger says. That's primarily a function of the software's 3D simulation capability. Simulation enables programmers to closely evaluate a process before committing machining resources. Exact models of both the part and machine ensure that they can see precisely how operations will proceed and detect any collisions or other problems before setting up the job—all from a PC located away from the shop floor. "The more time you take with the software, running the collision detection, the less time you spend in setup," Mr. Esslinger says. "An extra 20 minutes on Partmaker can save 8 hours on third shift in the middle of the night, when no one is here to help."
With these capabilities, the company has reduced programming time by half, Mr. Esslinger estimates. Additionally, the company increasingly takes on jobs it would have turned away in the past. However, the software also provides benefits before a single tool path is programmed for any given part. By making the quoting process more efficient, the software enables the company to take on more jobs.
These time savings are partially due to the software's knowledge-based machining approach, which stores data about commonly used tooling, materials, feeds, speeds and other commonly used parameters for reuse later. This capability enables the company to apply the machining expertise of its people from one job to the next. It also enables generating more accurate time studies for parts as a byproduct of the programming process. Using the software to develop time cycles for quotations ensures that any particular part is already programmed when the job is awarded. "When we get a solid model, instead of taking hours, quoting takes minutes," Mr. Esslinger says. That's important because as he points out, "You don't get paid to quote."
Understanding NURBS Interpolation
The right way to program curves? A solution to yesterday's problems? The truth is probably somewhere in between.
The Costs and Benefits of Horizontal Machining
The shift from vertical to horizontal machining was even more expensive than this shop anticipated. It was also more valuable. Most of the shop's machining centers are HMCs now—here's why.
There Are Apps For That, Too
These two iPhone apps provide manufacturing professionals and students with quick access to helpful cutting tool information directly from their smart phones.


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Consignments will also be taken if you have a set of china or other quality items to sell but no time to do so. I charge 50%/50% commission. All fees for the website and credit card fees for payments are paid by you, deducted from your payment. They amount to about 13% of the sale price. I pack and ship. You do nothing but send me the dinnerware you want sold. I do all the work for you and you get the check when the items sell.
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Black Scottie Dog with Red Hat Ceramic Cookie Jar. It is 11.5 in. high. Made by Earthenware. He has on a red Santa hat and scarf and is really cute.
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Hello you guys! What's up? It's November and it's freaking cold. Moreover, Christmas is coming and I am NOT a big fan. What about you? Do you celebrate Christmas? Are you excited about this time of the year? And more importantly did you begin your Christmas shopping?!
I got one week off work this month and with my sister we just couldn't stay in one place! So we decided to spend a few days in Heidelberg, Germany. And you know what? I totally fell in love… Since you guys couldn't travel with us, here's my thoughts about this little weekend away.
As you must know by now (or not), we live very close to Germany (like half an hour by car…don't you love Europe?) so it was the perfect destination for just a few days away. Plus, the Heidelberg pictures on Google were SO pretty, it looked like a city you could find in a fairytale story or something. Located in Baden-Wüttemberg on the river Neckar in South-west Germany, Heidelberg is actually a college town. It is also a very popular tourist destination due to its romantic cityscape.
We started our trip with the Old Town (Alstadt). I really enjoyed our walk in the Hauptstraße, the longest pedestrian walkway in Europe. It expands over a mile east and west, parallel to the Neckar river. We came across a lot of shops, coffee and gelato shops. It made us hungry for sure…
Then, we headed over to the Old Bridge (Alte Brücke) and took in the view of the castle and the Neckar river. It's impossible to miss it since this area is always busy with tourists taking selfies (yeah I was one of them…). There are also cruises you can take. But even if the sun was out, it was way too cold for that kind of activity. It should be a lovely thing to do during spring or summer if you don't mind all the tourists.
After crossing the bridge, there's a steep climb up to the Philosopher's Walk (Philisophenweg). Apparently, it's tough, but the view is totally worth it. Unfortunately, we didn't have time for this one, we were on a tight schedule. Next time for sure! By the way, it's called Philisophenweg because during the Romantic Period many philosophers walked the path to clear their minds. Maybe they found inspiration up there, who knows?
Last stop but not the least : Schloss Heidelberg! My favorite I must admit. Dating back to the 1200s, this castle is located 80 metres (260 ft) up the northern part of the Königstuhl hillside, and dominates the view of the old downtown. After a climb, we came face to face with that magnificient castle. Surrounded by a park, the architecture is a mix of styles from Gothic to Renaissance. We took a little break and enjoyed the view of the city. The sun was shining and it's wasn't too crowded. All in all, this is probably the prettiest ruins I have ever seen!
Truth to be told, we ate a lot of Italian food during those few days (blame those delicious pizzas!) but if you ever go to Germany, here's a few specialties you MUST try.
German food makes perfect comfort food. Of course each region has its own speciality dishes but here's a top 3. Guten Appetit!
Spätzle are a kind of pasta, but the dough consists of eggs, flour, salt and a hint of fizzy water (in order to fluff up the dough). We also find it a lot in our hometown, probably because we're right next to Germany. All I have to say is : holy mother of god, it's SO good!
2. Currywurst
There are more than 1 500 different types of sausage made in Germany! Invented in Berlin, the Currywurst is usually made of a pork sausage and covered in a mix of Ketchup and some curry powder. Traditionally, you will eat it with some french fries or a plain white bread.
3. Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte
You'll find lots of cakes and tarts to tempt you in Germany, commonly made with fresh fruits. Very few can resist a huge slice of the most famous of German cakes. This Black Forest cherry cake is alternating layers of rich chocolate cake, cherries and whipped cream are topped off with more cream, maraschino cherries and chocolate shavings. Yum!
Did you ever go to Heidelberg ? What did you think? If not, would you like to go?Did you already visit Germany?
What's your top 3 destinations in your travel bucketlist? What are your culinary specialities in your country? Do you want to try this GORGEOUS CAKE?!!
Let's chat in comments 💬


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Oklahoma Sooners WR Trey Metoyer -- Alleged Serial Masturbater
Oklahoma Sooners WR Alleged Serial Masturbater
Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Trey Metoyer has a problem -- he can't stop masturbating in public ... this according to police docs obtained by TMZ.
The sophomore -- who was a 5-star recruit out of high school -- was charged with 2 counts of felony indecent exposure after allegedly throwing a J in public on 2 separate occasions.
Here's the breakdown, according to cops:
8/29/13 -- Someone called police in Norman, OK to report a man wearing a blue shirt and blue pants pleasuring himself inside of a red Pontiac Grand Am.
9/17/13 -- A woman called police saying Metoyer approached her while she was walking her dog and asked to borrow a pen. She went inside her apt. to grab it and when she returned outside, Trey was outside of her front door"masturbating in front of her apartment."
The woman said Trey then asked her "if she would want the pen back."
We're guessing she declined his offer.
Cops say Metoyer initially denied the allegations -- but later acknowledged them and said " the incidents were a mistake and he was not thinking clearly at the time.''
Metoyer has since left the football team -- so he'll have a lot of time on his hands. Hope he'll keep them in his pockets ...
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Apple's app store concept is certainly taking hold in other areas of the consumer electronics industry, with TV manufacturer Samsung announcing a centralised app store for its various mobile phones, TVs and other consumer tech devices.
You can check out how the new mega app store is going to work when it launches later this spring over at Samsungapps.com
The new fridge magnets
The downside is of course that you will have to only own Samsung devices (or 'live the Samsung lifestyle' or whatever other embarrassing marketing slogan they decide to brand it with) in order to get the best use out of it. Despite that, we have to admit that it is a canny idea – being able to use the same app on your phone, your TV and, potentially, your fridge in the kitchen!
Samsung Apps is basically a major expansion of Sammy's Internet@TV service which was launched for its range of online HDTVs in 2009.
Watch out for the first free apps later this spring and then the paid-for premium apps later in the summer.
For more head over to the Samsung Apps website.


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I have a question that came up in an assignment. The question is kind of ambiguous as to what it is asking, but here it is:
"What molecules are responsible for bacteria having various colours"
For me the obvious answer would be pigment molecules. But i wasn't sure if they wanted specifics. For example green algae have Chlorophyll as their pigment molecule. But I wasn't sure if they wanted us to state a specific molecule since we would have to find the pigment molecule for several different bacteria as well as a species of fungus (Penecillium notatum).
But the problem with this part is that i don't think these bacteria are phototrophs, so why do they have pigments.
The question right afterwards asks what purposes do these bacterial pigments have ( so does that mean the previous answer IS pigments?)
A few examples of the bacteria we are looking at include : Bacillus cereus, Kocuria rhizophilia and Pseudomonas chlororaphis.
If anyone can answer this that would help out a lot!!
If you can't answer this question can you name a directory that shows all types of bacteria and other microorganisms?
Green algae are not bacteria and the question was regarding bacterial pigments, not pigments in skin.
Some bacteria do produce pigments of photosynthesis but these microbes are not among the ones you mentioned.
Of the bacteria offered, Kocuria rhizophilia (formerly Micrococcus luteus) yellow pigmentation is due to carotenoids the function of which here is not real obvious. Carotenoids do confer some degee of photoresistance and can function in photosynthesis. Pseudomonas chlororaphis greenish pigmentation is due to pyoverdin, a compound that helps the bug acquire iron. I'm not so familiar with B. cereus pigmentation. I've seen some vague brown, yellowish stuff and it does produce characteristic pigmentation on special media.
almost all bacteria and fungi that are exposed to the sun must produce some kind of colored or opaque protein to protect it's organelles from UV light, it might be that these pigments have no other functions in the organisms you listen than protection from the sun.
Dave – I'm not aware of such data – and all microbes are exposed to the sun at one time or another.


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This is the first of a new format on Genomes Unzipped: as we acquire tests from more companies, or get data from others who have been tested, we'll post reviews of those tests here. The aim of this series is to help potential genetic testing customers to make an informed decision about the products on the market. We're still tweaking the format, so if you have any suggestions regarding additional analyses or areas that should be covered in more detail, let us know in the comments.
Lumigenix is a relative newcomer to the personal genomics scene: the Australian-based company launched back in March this year, offering a SNP chip-based genotyping service similar in concept to those provided by 23andMe, deCODEme and Navigenics.
The company kindly provided Genomes Unzipped with 12 free "Comprehensive" kits, which provide genotypes at over 700,000 positions in the genome, to enable us to review their product. We note that the company offers several other services, including a lower-priced "Introductory" test that covers fewer SNPs, and whole-genome sequencing for the more ambitious personal genomics enthusiast. This review should be regarded as entirely specific to the Comprehensive test.
Continue reading 'Review of the Lumigenix "Comprehensive" personal genome service'


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Research Data Management from A to Z
German: Archivierung
Archiving means the unchangeable, long-term storage of your data. It is therefore very important you choose a suitable medium for storing your research data – saving your files on an external data carrier and keeping it in your drawer is not an option here!
For smaller amounts of data that are not personal, we recommend simpleArchive. For regular archiving of larger or personal data, the RWTH IT Center's archive service is a suitable option.
Documenting your data correctly is very important for archiving and you should ensure contain all the essential information, such as metadata, are included.
The RWTH IT Center's archive service offers the assignment of ePIC persistent identifiers as an archiving option.
Please refer to our Instructions on Archiving Data for a Publication, which are in German.
German: Urheberrecht
You can find information on copyright in the Fact sheet on the Copyright Protection of Research Data.
Data Management Plan
German: Datenmanagementplan
A data management plan, DMP for short, means the systematic and targeted documentation of your research data. A DMP takes into account the handling, storage and archiving, access and use of your data and metadata. Creating a DMP means much thought has got into the quality of your data, your resources, and your intellectual property right from the start of your project.
The following online tools can help you create a DMP:
- RWTH Aachen University's own DMP template
DMPonline is a tool developed by the British Digital Curation Centre, DCC for short, and hosted at the University of Edinburgh. It provides different templates from funding organizations as well as a generic template that is suitable for every research project. DMPonline helps you create a DMP according to EU guidelines. �
The DMPTool is offered by the California Digital Library. It contains instructions for certain funding organizations that have already made DMP a requirement today. Integrated resources and services from certain partner institutions make it easier to complete a DMP in some cases. The tool also offers a generic DMP template and is freely accessible to everyone. In addition, the website offers some examples of DMPs.
Domain Model
German: Dom�nenmodell
Different domains, as well as working environments, can be identified within a research project. The domains differ in the type of data exchange, the circle of exchange partners, and the type of use.
- ��� The private domain indicates each researcher's working environment.
- ��� The group domain denotes the research group's common working environment.
- ��� The permanent domain means the working environment for long-term archiving.
- ��� Access and reuse is the cross-project interdisciplinary working environment of all researchers around the world.
Every research project involves at least the first three domains over its duration.
The critical points are the transitions between the domains. Extensive planning, for example via a data management plan, is therefore required for this to be a smooth process.
- It is important to lay the foundations in the researcher's private domain using an overall concept that will also be applied for the later transitions.
- In order to transition to the group domain, basic specifications for the common use and creation of research data are necessary.
- If permanent storage is required and publication is planned, information for cross-disciplinary understanding and reuse should be elaborated.
- �You should bear in mind that data are often not only relevant to one sole research context. There are frequently overlaps to other fields and the data from one discipline today form the basis for research in another tomorrow. In order to create these new opportunities, it is important to create access to research data.
German: Formate
The spectrum of data types and formats of research data is very diverse.
Examples of data types are:
- ��� Models: statistical, 3D modeling
- ��� Multimedia data: JPEG, TIFF, MPEG
- ��� Numerical data: Excel, SPSS, CSV
- ��� Software: Java, C++
- ��� Text documents: Word, PDF, XML
Good Academic Practice
German: Gute wissenschaftliche Praxis
Good academic practice implicates storing research data for at least ten years.
Institutional Policy
German: Institutspolicy
Institutional policies can help you and your employees create security and orientation. In the RWTH Institutional Policy template, you will find proposals that are not binding and can be individually adapted to your working group, institute, et cetera. Institutional policies include the handling of data management plans, usage rights, copyright, and the storage and archiving of research data.
Long-Term Archiving
German: Langzeitarchivierung
Long-term archiving generally means ensuring data availability for a period of over ten years. Besides preserving the data content at the bit level, you should also bear in mind the following requirements for the future interpretability of data:
- Is the data format suitable for long-term archiving?
- Is special software required for interpretation?
- Are the metadata complete?
Technical and descriptive metadata are particularly important to ensure it will be possible to use the data in technical infrastructures of the future.
You can find more detailed information on the long-term archiving of research data in the NESTOR manuals: Long-Term Archiving of Research Data or Digitial Curation of Research Data, or via the nestor wiki.
One option for long-term archiving, which the RDM team has tested, is Ex Libris' Rosetta software.
German: Metadaten
The term "metadata" denotes further information about your research data. They describe your data in more detail and make them interpretable at any time. Metadata are particularly important for the documentation, management, and classification of digital research data, since they are essential in answering the following:
- ��� Where does the data come from?
- ��� Who created the data, when, and how?
To ensure the exchange and reusability of metadata via digital information systems, you should use standardized metadata schemata as consistently as possible.
Jisc infoKit provides an introduction to metadata. This guide informs you about the most important metadata goals and concepts and is suitable for those who do not have any prior knowledge in the area.
A very short introduction to documentation and metadata can be found in the presentation Explain It.
The interactive Mantra course offers training on documentation and metadata. You will quickly understand why it is important to document your own research – both for you and for others. In addition, you are taught when and why to use metadata.
Metadata Schema
German: Metadatenchema
A metadata schema means compiling permitted data elements to uniquely describe a resource. A suitable metadata schema for you depends on a number of factors, such as the data type or the context in which it was created and used.
There are a variety of metadata schemas for data from different disciplines. The first step to take when designing� your research data descriptions is to check whether a suitable schema already exists for your discipline. You can find an ever-growing list on FAIRsharing.org, for example, while Dublin Core and RADAR are two of the best-known standardized metadata schemes.
The MetadataManager lets you fill in metadata according to a schema created for your institution. The schema not only specifies which metadata fields, for example author and� subject, need to, and even can be, registered, but also allows you to use controlled vocabularies. Selecting or creating a suitable metadata schema is by no means trivial and the RDM project team will be happy to assist you here.
Once you have decided on a metadata schema, you must define the content of the data fields. To ensure the greatest possible chances of reusability and to optimally support research, we recommend you use controlled vocabularies, thesauri, and classifications. You can also find a large number of both interdisciplinary and discipline-specific solutions for this.
You can find an overview of controlled vocabularies, thesauri, and classifications on the BARTOC and Taxonomy Warehouse websites.
Persistent Identifier
German: Persistenter Identifikator
An identifier signifies the unique denotation of a resource, usually digital. A classic example of an identifier in printed resources is the International Standard Book Number, ISBN for short. The Uniform Resource Locator, URL for short, is often used for digital resources. URLs have a half-life of around 100 days. Due to this short lifespan, URLs are not a suitable identifier for the permanent and distinct citation of research data.
This is where persistent identifiers, PID for short, come into play. PIDs represent a middle layer between the reference and the object, whereby the object is uncoupled from the "electronic" location. This results in a reduction of broken links, or the "Error 404: Page not found" message, or, in other words, this increases the stability of references, even if the data's storage location changes.
PIDs give research data a permanent and unchangeable identifier, called a Uniform Resource Identifier, or URI for short, which is assigned throughout their lifecycle and beyond.
The best-known example of a PID is the Digital Object Identifier, DOI for short.
RWTH offers its members ePIC PID assignments.
Personal Data Management
German: Pers�nliches Datenmanagement
To implement data management according to your plan, you must carefully organize your general research activities on a daily basis. You should consider matters such as documentation, labelling samples, and organizing the data structure. You should therefore specify the following as early as possible:
- ��� Data organization, storage structures, versioning
- ��� Documentation, metadata
- ��� Data, backup during the project period
- ��� Responsibilities, access rights, collaboration rules
- ��� Archiving or publishing after the end of project
The Data Management Plan or Institute Policy tools are suitable for supporting your personal data management. The Research Data team also advises you in individual or group consultations, where� you can develop solution strategies tailored to your subject and the conditions at your institute using RWTH's technical services.
German: Publikation
There are both discipline-specific and institutional repositories. You can find a good overview of research data repositories on the Registry of Research Data Repository, re3data for short, which is funded by the German Research Foundation, DFG for short, and offered as a service by DataCite. Furthermore, you can also use the institutional repository RWTH Publications.
Many research data repositories, including RWTH Publications, can assign a Digital Object Identifier, DOI for short, to your data. The University Library RWTH Aachen University is already registered with the Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology and University Library, TIB for short, as a data center that assigns digital objects.


text:
Antonio Dechent
Delegado del gobierno
Synopsis: The Culebra and Cabesa, a pair of criminals, decide to take a bank at gunpoint, dressed as penitents. The plan is simple: Get in, get the money, take off all the loot quickly and catch the first flight to Brazil. But things get complicated when a man on his fifties, victim of the economic crisis goes into the bank loaded with explosives, threatening suicide. What would be the easiest shot in history, becomes a nightmare carnival
No Articles Found
No Videos Found


text:
An all alert from Gossip Cop just came into my mailbox. Headline:
Taylor Swift NOT Dating Alexander Skarsgard, Despite Reports
It was inevitable. They're working on The Giver together. He's hot and her reputation is "boy crazy" so it was only a matter of time before people tried to make it happen. You think she minds? Come on. Would you mind? She doesn't look like she minds. Check her out leaving the gym yesterday. There's no minding on that face.
What about him? You think he minds? Well, he really minded it when he was with Kate Bosworth and the paps showed up every time they went to the movies. And Kate Bosworth is a gnat on the fame food chain compared to Taylor Swift.


text:
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Emma and Momma
She's doing a better job of recognizing when she's anxious and out of control and she's getting better at stopping the anxious-upset-more anxious-more upset cycle and taking herself out of the situation. And that means that, sometimes, I'll call home and my dad will answer with a cheerful "Emma's here!" and that's really all that needs to be said.
And when she is at Mom and Dad's house, she's generally fine. She'll talk with my mom - a little - about what is upsetting her and spend a little time watching a movie or shopping with me or Meg (or both of us) and she'll get a decent meal or two and she'll be able to go back to school in a day or two and she'll be okay.
I would be lying if I said that I didn't do the exact same thing when I was in college. Sometimes, college was too much and I just needed to go home and sleep in my own bed and have pancakes that weren't made from a mix.
Emma isn't going home. Not technically. She isn't going to the house that she grew up in. But I think that she's going to the place that feels most like home. Which is the place where my mom is.
My mom has said before that she feels like Emma and Anna - but Emma especially - are her children, too.
A few weeks ago, my mother asked Meg if she felt neglected by her because all of the time and effort she put into caring for Aunt Marie and mothering Emma. It was a question spurred on by marriage counseling. I'm sure of it.
I hope that my father wasn't suggesting that my mom's heart isn't big enough for our immediate family and our (needy) extended family, too. Because that is bullshit. To me, anyway. I've never once felt that my mom was pushing me away to deal with her ill sister or her daughters. If anything, I've felt lucky. Lucky that I have this mother who can and will fight tooth and nail for the right things for the people who she loves.
It has taught me a lot.
I'm a better person for simply witnessing her driving my aunt to her physical therapy appointments after her amputation. For watching her pack Emma's belongings in her car and take her to college. For knowing how exhausted she often was but never showed it when it counted.
Emma and Anna are so lucky to have my mom. And I know that they know it. They're always so sweet and thoughtful. They remember her birthday and buy her presents and, on Mother's Day, they send her cards.
Cards that always make her cry.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Coffee with Colleen
There were no tears and no shouting and no lectures and no awkwardness. I didn't want – and I hadn't planned – for any of that. There was no point. She wanted to make amends. I wanted to let it go. There wasn't anywhere to move but forward and so forward is where we went.
...after a Cliff's Notes update of my life in the last 90 days (the acquisition of an iPhone and a head of super blond hair, playing soccer in a league that Colin runs, crazyinsaneunexpected work drama, a job interview, kicking things off with The Coach, several amazing dinners with Lucy, landing the job, jetting off to Switzerland, starting the job – it's been a crazy three months!).
...and a Cliff's Notes update of Colleen's life in the last 90 days. Not having a job. Getting a kitten. Taking her boyfriend's dog to the vet and, yep, I think that covers everything she's done.
I'm clearly not the one who has been missing out due to her absence.
It is nice that we could pick up where we left off with ease. I'm glad that we have that sort of friendship.
At the same time, I'd rather not know that about our friendship. I'd rather that she not be the type of friend who disappears for no reason for months at a time.
But that isn't how friendship works. She's my friend. I'll take her as she is, for who she is. Disappearing act and all.
Friday, May 27, 2011
So Midwestern, So in the Kitchen: April & May
But I'm still finding time for the kitchen. And - more than anything else - it is because I genuinely like taking the time to make one new, fun, decent meal every week than because I made the committment on December 31.
Top left: Week 1's Stir-Fried Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes
Top right: Week 2's Crusty Macaroni and Cheese
Bottom right: Week 4's Low Fat Baked Ziti with Spinach
Bottom left: Week 3's Spinach and Cheddar Strata
I wasn't totally wild for the Low Fat Baked Ziti with Spinach. It may have been too healthy. I may have had too much spinach. It didn't help that it was a busy, busy week and I ended up eating it cold at my desk more than once. No meal can shine when it is being consumed at the wrong temperature and merely for sustanance.
Confession: I cheated oh-so-slightly in May because I did not cook myself one big meal per week, as dictated by my 2011 Resolution. What I did do, instead, was host both sides of my family for Mother's Day and leave for Switzerland the very next day and then come home and start a new job and make a few other meals. Good enough.
Top left: Buttered Rosemary Rolls was one of my contributions towards Mother's Day dinner, which I cooked with my sister and my cousins Liz and Danielle
Top right: more from dinner on Mother's Day. I rosted those Brussels Sprouts that you can't really see.
Bottom right: Week 4's Chicken Salad.
Bottom left: Week 3's Creamy Artichoke Pasta
I'm officially a big fan of all of these recipes. Not a loser in the bunch.
I made a few cakes in May, too.
Left: The Chocolate Truffe Cake that my former boss told me looked like shit.
Right: Lemon Cake for our Mother's Day Extravaganza
I've been making the Lemon Cake for several years now and it never fails to please the crowd. May marked the second time this year that I made the Chocolate Truffle Cake and it - despite not being the fanciest or most beautiful cake out there - is a really good standby for when you need a really decent cake without dumping tons of time and effort into baking it.
And that, friends, is what has been going on in my kitchen for the last two months. Just do me a favor and don't judge the recipies by my crappy iPhone photos. Click through to see something pretty. Or, better yet, try them. No picture is going to look as good as it is on a plate sitting in front of you.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Schedules and such
It feels a little like I threw every part of my life into the air and now I'm just watching it rain down around me. The variety is nice (I took a 9 am yoga class on Monday morning!) but I am missing the consistency of my old life.
This adjustment will take a little time.
I will work until 9:00 pm on two weeknights. Which requires me to determine how late I stay up on those nights I work late and how early I should be getting up on the days that I work in the afternoon and if I should run errands or just go to the gym.
Last night, I worked until 9. And then I went to the grocery store on my way home. I decided to make the recipe that I bought the ingredients for and then all of a sudden it is past 11 and I haven't blogged and I haven't had a chance to read and I swear it feels like I have less free time than when I was working 60 hours a week.
I'll settle in eventually.
It doesn't help that, in just this first week at my new job, life is finding me plenty of fun little extras that are keeping me from finding a rhythm. Not an evening to clean my bathroom and balance my checkbook to be seen! Instead, it has been drinks with my old coworkers last Wednesday. A visit (ahem) from The Coach on Monday. Dinner with the extended family on Tuesday night.
My summers always feel full of those casual, unplanned gatherings. Where you throw on a sundress after work and gather on a patio somewhere and the nights slip away because the weather is mild and the company is fantastic and it gets dark so gloriously late.
In the interest of perfect summer nights, I will embrace the unscheduled chaos. But only through September.
At which time I will be creating a comprehensive spreadsheet that precisely accounts for every minute I spend working, sleeping, blogging, socializing, eating, online shopping, jogging, commuting, baking, dreaming and, of course, Facebooking.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Poor attempts at standing in
Family went to Aunt Marie's house for dinner.
(Side note for new readers: Aunt Marie died in November, 2009 of complications from her juvenile diabetes.)
We went to Aunt Marie's house for dinner because it is her husband's birthday. I think that my grandma was trying to make a grand gesture to show Uncle Bob that he is still very much a part of the family.
Having the party at his house was the biggest gesture of them all. Uncle Bob might not know, but I know. I know that my grandma hates being in that house without Aunt Marie in it. I know that my mom feels the same way.
And so my grandma coped with her feelings by dousing them in wine.
She was drunk before dinner - she's tiny, it doesn't take much - when I walked into the kitchen and she's standing between the open oven and the kitchen counter, using her hands to get our meat from a skewer. And then she's standing on her toes, wobbly, trying to use tongs to get corn from the boiling water on the stovetop and I was just trying to help her as best I could so that she wouldn't hurt herself and so that she wouldn't ruin dinner and so that I wouldn't need to enlist the help of my mom. And it was just so sad.
I didn't say anything to my mom because she was outside on the deck and I didn't want her to worry and I was maybe in a little bit of denial and didn't realize exactly how plastered my grandma was.
Really plastered.
My mom eventually said something to her about it, which I didn't hear, and my grandma insisted that she could keep drinking and my mom let it go until my grandma did a very ungraceful stumblewobbletip. Mom said to her as she took the wine glass from her hands, "Mother, you're either drunk or you have vertigo." And that was funny at the time but it really wasn't.
It really wasn't. It wasn't funny. It wasn't funny watching my grandma struggle to cut her meat. Or listing to her sniffle as she helped me dry dishes. Or watching my mom - oh, my poor mother - watch her mom.
That's the hardest part. Knowing how much tonight will hurt my mom's heart. My mom's heart, which - just like Grandma's - has been broken since 2009.
It's just impossible for me - truly impossible - to understand how my mom can take all of this burden. It is always something. She is always taking on something. Fixing something. Holding something together. Her mother. Her marriage. Her nieces. Her daughters. Her friends.
I do what I can to take the pressure off of Mom - tonight it was getting dinner safely on the table and doing the dishes and quietly asking Grandma if I could help her cut her meat. All of this hurt and sadness sits so heavy on my chest and it burns my eyes. I don't handle it with her ease and her grace.
I am not a saint. I am not my mother. I am not built for this.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Crow's Feet, party of two
We get to the picture below, which is of Liz and me on the train to Milan. I didn't think it was the most adorable picture of me ever taken. Even before Mom and I looked at the pictures, I had untagged myself.
"You two REALLY look like cousins in this picture," my mom remarked. "You also both REALLY look like you could start using eye cream."
I should probably point out that she didn't make the statement maliciously. It wasn't mean. It was just my mom, half kidding and half making a suggestion.
"I noticed the same thing," Liz told me when I broke the news of my mom's observation. "I was hoping that we were just really tired."
I'm just hoping to find a magical erasing eye cream that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
A visit from the ghost of Colleen
And Colleen has just been - well, she's essentially been missing from my life since the end of February.
I - as I tend to do - wrote it out and came to the conclusion that I needed to let her make her own mistakes and figure out her messy, messy life when she was ready to do so. I wanted to shake her. I wanted to guide her. I wanted to fix her. But I promised myself (and Lucy) that I would continue to be her friend while resisting the urge to meddle in her life.
But then she completely disappeared.
Lucy and I invited her along for a while: to the dog park or to see a movie or to dinner or to our favorite so-weird-it-is-awesome dance club. At some point, we stopped asking because we knew the answer. Always no. Always electing to stay at home with her boyfriend, doing whatever it is that a couple would do when both parties are unemployed and one has extreme social anxiety. Get high on a regular basis and eat junky food? I'm not really sure because Colleen fell off of the face of the earth. No appearances. No calls. No emails. No Facebook posts. Absolutely nothing. She was gone.
At one point, Lucy deleted Colleen's number from her phone. "If I have it in here, I will feel obligated to call and check on her." Lucy and Colleen have been friends since elementary school. "I just can't do it."
I didn't feel that same tug. Maybe it was selfish, but I didn't want to call to make sure that she was alive and listen to her problems. I wanted to have dinner with her. I wanted to sit in Lucy's living room and drink wine and retell all of our favorite stories. I wanted a friend, not a charge.
But I got nothing. Nothing until an email that I received when my plane landed in Detroit on Tuesday evening.
First and foremost, I would like to apologize for being a shitty friend. I've missed some big events in your life lately and I feel terrible that I wasn't there to congratulate and support you along the way. I wish I had a good reason for my disappearance, but I don't... All I can do is apologize for being self-absorbed and hope that my apology isn't too late. I really miss you. When you have some free-time, please give me a call. I would love to hear about your new job and your trip, and anything else that I have missed.
Love, Colleen
The email was not unexpected. She had emailed Lucy a week or so before. And - though I didn't know it at the time - they had met for coffee the weekend that I was in Milan.
I read the email from Colleen as I was disembarking the plane. I wanted to be mad, but I couldn't. I wanted to be sad, but I couldn't. I wanted the desire to email her back immediately, but I didn't have it.
I sat on the email for a few days. Eventually, I sent her back a very generic "good to hear from you. Give me a call when you want to catch up" email.
She hasn't called. She hasn't emailed. I'm not surprised. Just disappointed. Which is absolutely no different than how I've felt towards her for the past three months.
I'm tempted to just write her off. But I keep returning to the days and the weeks after my dad's cheating scandal broke, when Colleen and Lucy held me up, and I know that I'm not quite ready to give up on her yet.
And I really, really hope that she decides to be a friend again before I decide that I can no longer be hers.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
I'm just going to take a moment to ramble
My parents totally had an appointment with their therapist on Monday morning, which explains why my dad was acting like a complete freak show when he picked me up from the airport on Tuesday. I thought we were over his weepy-emotional-needy post-cheating stage but apparently we are not. I thought we maybe needed some family time with the four of us, so I arranged for us all to go to dinner tonight and to see Bridesmaids. A nice, wholesome movie to see with your parents, right? Perfect. Just what I was looking for.
The Athlete recently proposed to his girlfriend. It isn't like he and I have much contact (when I quit my job, I kind of knew that I would not likely see him again), but it seemed like he was setting this girl up to be The One. After an excellent season with his team in which everything seemed to go right for him, it probably only made sense to top it off with an engagement. I am certainly happy for him even though when I found out I felt a little like the wind had been knocked out of me. But just for a moment.
I do not feel fit. Looking forward to finding a new routine and cashing in a yoga Groupon and shaking this thick feeling that I picked up somewhere between the scrumptious fondue in Switzerland and the sinful risotto in Milan.
So, despite putting in for my vacation before quitting for my job and having the appropriate number of vacation days to cover it, my old boss didn't pay me after my last day. We never discussed it (my bad!) but I assumed (my bad, again!) that he would do the right thing since I had worked for him for six years and kicked all sorts of ass and everything. But did he? No. I'm not mad or really all that surprised but I'm slightly insulted and if those fuckers think that I'm going into that office to help them with a single thing, they are sorely mistaken. If you're going to be cheap with me, I am going to be cheap with you.
I am subbing at my old 'brary today and I had a patron tell me that I have beautiful eyes. I cannot recall ever being told that before.
I would like to write something about The Coach but I would probably have to do a lot of analyzing and I'm just having fun, right? Right.
I'm not really quite sure what to think of my new job.
Since my return, I've spent a ridiculous amount of time researching a dessert that Liz and I had in Switzerland. I almost have it figured out.
I'm hungry. (Like always.)
Friday, May 20, 2011
The Look
For a moment, I thought he was looking at me. And then I saw his eyes. And it was clear that he was not. You don't look at a stranger with those eyes.
I've seen that look on a man's face before. When he's watching his bride walk down the aisle.
And this man was standing on the street on a Friday. His eyes radiating love and adoration so strongly that a stranger - a stranger from another country, at that - could feel it.
I couldn't help myself. After I passed him, I stopped. I stopped and turned on my heel and, sure enough, he was no longer alone. As he pulled her in with an embrace that appeared as strong as his glance seemed loving, my heart melted.
And I wanted the same for myself.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
First Day
So nice, right? I was really fired up about it until I told Lucy and she said "oh, I went to a management training that told us to do just that!" So then I was slightly less excited about it but still excited because a present is a present is a present. And I like presents.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
The Bitch is Back In Town
And I'm really annoyed with my father!
So, my dad drove me to the airport and that was great and I assumed that he was picking me up and that was great, too. I was hoping a little bit that my mom would go with him or maybe the dogs or something but it was just him and that was fine.
By the time I cleared customs and all of that, I had been traveling for more than 20 hours and I smelled a little bit and also I was tired even though I got some fairly decent sleep on the plane. So, sorry, Dad, when I wasn't TALK TALK TALK and YAY YAY YAY and STORY STORY STORY. We'll get to that eventually. I will also give you your present. (Which I may or may not have purchased at the airport, but you don't need to know that ever.)
So, he repeats the same small talk three times over ("aren't you glad you came back to this weather?") and asks me the same questions twice over ("what was the best part of your trip?") and I just kind of want to punch him in the face.
The trip was long enough that I was going to be a bit of a raging bitch no matter what. But, ever since my dad's whole cheating scandal broke at the end of last summer, I have less tolerance for him. That is probably wrong, but it is true. The weird shit that he does used to just be part of the whole that was my crazy dad. I find the weird shit significantly less charming these days.
Anyway, at one point in the drive back to my apartment, he grabs my hand to hold it. TO HOLD MY HAND. And I was like "um, seriously, what the fuck?" I think I told him that it was weird (it is) and stuffed it into my purse or something and I think I might have made him cry because when I turned to look at him a few minutes later, I'm pretty sure I saw moisture on his cheek. Whoops.
My mom called to welcome me home and she was like "your dad was texting me today and he said 'our girl comes home today!'" Was there any question that I wasn't? Also creepy and weird.
And then Dad and I get back to my apartment, where he left me good-luck-on-your-first-day roses and also a card that he signed from both him and my mom and I guess that was nice except that meant that he made a special trip to my apartment to drop those off and that is also almost weird and unnecessary as the hand holding. (HAND HOLDING! WTF?)
So, I'm like "thanks for dropping me off, but you have to go because I need to go to the grocery store even though it is 9:30 pm." And he is all shocked because I'm going to go to the grocery store and I'm like "dude, I have no milk and no food to bring to work tomorrow, it isn't like I have any choice."
And then I get to my car - which he had driven a bit while I was gone (totally cool with me) - and obviously the tank was mostly empty so I got to go to the gas station, too.
The whole thing was really fucking weird and, honestly, if you'd like to do something nice for me when I get home from vacation (other than pick me up from the airport, which is seriously really f'ing nice), just buy me a gallon of skim milk and leave me with a bit of gas in my car. And don't try to hold my hand.
To Myself and My Tastebuds
Life is too short to pack crappy sandwiches that you won't eat anyway.
Monday, May 16, 2011
And now I find myself in France
The hotel sits on a lake; after breakfast this morning, I spent an hour this morning jogging twice around the lake. I needed it. Oh, I so needed it. (When I post pictures of what I ate in Milan, you will understand.)
I could go to Geneva today, but I may just stay around the hotel and in this quaint little town and just relax. Tomorrow will be a marathon day of travel (from here to Geneva to Zurich to Amsterdam to Detroit to my little apartment in the suburbs), followed my first day at my new job. I think that it may serve me well to conserve a bit of energy and read my book and drink coffee and burn a few brain cells on Facebook.
The majority of this trip has been exquisitely perfect and the parts that have been less than perfect were irritating but manageable. And the irritations mostly stemmed from my lack of planning (flying in and out of Zurich, for example, was a foolish mistake even if I did enjoy my day there) and a lack of control (Liz is working in the suburbs and, thus, we stay in the suburbs) and I just had to get over it. Letting go and moving on is a lesson that I need to learn over and over and over again.
And now for a few photos:
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Money and Things
As a result, I'm not quite sure when I will post this. But I have to get it out.
Because I've spent so much of this trip worrying about the amount of money that I'm spending and, when you're traveling with two others who don't appear to care the slightest, it gets old. So, that is where I am. In Milan and feeling poor - probably poorer than I really am.
It just sucks to be in a situation where others are spending with abandon and you don't really feel that you can do the same.
And they're doing all of this shopping while I'm doing all of the spectating and then we go to dinner and whose meal doesn't go on the company card? Mine.
I hate when I feel like this. Materialistic and poor and envious are all things that, honestly, I am not but, in this moment, I totally feel.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Euro Slow Down
I ate a lot of cheese. Spectacular cheese. Other things, too, but had I permitted myself to do exactly as I desired, I would have eaten my weight in that spectacular, spectacular cheese.
I drank a lot of coffee. I'm on vacation. Fuck the two coffees per day resolution while I'm here. (Did you know that I legitimately haven't had more than two cups of coffee per day since the beginning of the year? This caffeine is going to hit me hard.)
I took my sweet ass time. I just chillaxed at the table, engrossed in the book that I'm reading. Sipping my coffee and nibbling at my meal. Completely unlike my everyday routine, which consists of eating breakfast in the car every morning and oftentimes downing an entire cup of coffee in the five minutes I have left at one job before leaving to go to the other.
Truthfully, I am tempted to spend this vacation like I spend my life: going 100 miles per hour, squeezing every second out of every day, afraid to sit down because the inactivity could cause me to miss something. That is how I spent yesterday. After getting off of the plane at the Zurich airport, I took the train into the heart of Zurich. I stowed my luggage in a locker and I set off into the city, determined to see Zurich despite the very, very little sleep I'd gotten (maybe eight hours between my late Sunday night and Monday night on the plane) and the monstrous blister on my heel (which had developed before I'd even left Detroit Metro Airport) and the fact that I had no idea where I was going or what I should see or do.
After getting my fill of Zurich, I had to board a train to Lausanne, which took a few hours, and then take a taxi to where Liz is staying. We aren't right in Lausanne, which is sort of a bummer and, thus, will require a bit more time/funds/effort/energy for me to go out and do things. Which I'm finding may be a good thing. Like, maybe I could just slow down a touch and enjoy doing a little bit of nothing over a book and some cheese and a carafe of coffee. It worked for me this morning.
I'm going to go to the fitness center and, annoying blister willing, go for a bit of a run. I'm not sure if working out fits the definition of a relaxing vacation, but I think I need it. I didn't see the gym at all in the craziness of last week (though I did fit in a pair of soccer games) and I would really like to jog off this layer of inactivity. I just find it uncomfortable.
And then I will come back to the room and get ready for the day and maybe head out to see something (I suppose I'll be spending a bit of time with my guidebook) for a couple of hours. I just need to get back in the early evening, when my cousin Liz is finished with work for the day; we're going into Lausanne for dinner and whatnot with some of her coworkers.
Which, I think, will make for a day that feels productive enough to my inner overachiever (which is afraid that I will have come all of this way only to waste my time on lame crap such as eating and relaxing – activities that I could do at any random hotel in any number of cities that don't cost a grand to fly to) but calm enough that I could, for once, be considered somewhat sane.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Again on the 8th
I'm pretty sure that I know better. It is possible that I just don't care. Or maybe I'm simply weak.
It wasn't the first. Or the second. Or the third time he suggested it in the month since our last encounter.
I held off for as long as I did because I am not accustomed to permitting myself such frivolous fun. To letting chance reign. To letting boys into my life who are adorable and risky and intriguing and far too capable of hurting me.
And I sort of feel like I have to make excuses for this thing that we have going on. Yet another place where I suspect I'm going wrong, too.
Maybe I should stop the analysis and stop the excuses and just let it happen.
I can proclaim it stupid later (if need be). I can make excuses for my decisions later (if need be).
It's okay to hope there isn't a need for either, right
Monday, May 09, 2011
Hi from DTW
I am at the airport.
And done with my job.
Life can change with astounding speed.
Saturday, May 07, 2011
The tight grip of time
I keep looking at my phone. Looking at my phone and expecting a phone call or a text message and, when I inevitably have neither, I am left with the time staring back at me. And then I calculate. How long it has been since the last phone call or the last text message. The number of hours until I am due at the airport. How long I've been stuck at an intersection. How many minutes it took to get through the checkout at Trader Joe's. The amount of time I have before I'm due to pick up Lucy to see a movie and whether I can squeeze in time to go to the grocery store, bake a cake, have dinner and pack within that tiny window. How many hours of sleep I got (or didn't get) last night. Exactly how long I will be at work on Monday and whether or not I have any chance at all of finishing the dozen tasks on my to-do list. The time I'll need to leave for the airport. The number of hours of the flight.
Time. Everything these days is about time and how much I can accomplish within each and every segment of time. A shower in five minutes. A trip to the mall in under an hour.
I am a slave to the clock.
Until Monday at 6:15 pm. At which time I will become a slave to vacation.
Thursday, May 05, 2011
Travel Thursday: South Africa Day 11, part 2
After our tour to Soweto, we went back to our hotel for a few hours. After eating and showering and changing and email checking and all of that, we didn't have time for the long and luxurious naps that we wanted/needed.
Instead, we headed to a night game at Soccer City. We were seeing the Round of 16 matchup between Mexico and Argentina.
Meg and I both wore Argentina colors. The Mexican fans weren't terribly nice to us. Plus the blue of Argentina's jerseys match our eyes.
When you look at our pictures from the trip, you can see me looking shittier and shittier and shittier as the days go on. I was, of course, getting sicker and sicker and sicker.
(And seriously: who has an eye cream recommendation?)
I loved the Round of 16 games that we attended. They were more intense. There was more anticipation in the air. While I could sit and watch group play for days upon days upon days, they didn't compare to the games in the knockout rounds. It was do or die for Mexico and Argentina.
Argentina won, 3-1.
And, at the stadium, Meg and I ate meat pies.
And then we had to go home.
Well, that isn't entirely true. We went back to the hotel. We packed. We squeezed in one last shopping trip. We traveled and traveled and traveled and got our biltong confiscated at customs and and thought that maybe we'd never arrive at home.
But we did.
Mom was waiting for us just past security. She looked so excited to see us and, of course, we gave her big hugs.
And do you know what she told us?
"You two stink."
I guess that's what 22 hours of travel will do to you.
Chances and Confessions
It is Ashley's favorite thing to say to me.
"Just stop thinking so much and take a chance!"
We were sitting at the bar last night – she's home from North Carolina for a few days – when she reminded me that it was okay to take a few more chances. The new job is great, yes, but I should not stop there.
At one point in our conversation, she asked me if I'd taken any other chances lately. If I had broken from my mold and did something risky and uncharacteristic.
"I've been meaning to tell you," I began. I bit my lip and, in a few short sentences, spilled about me and The Coach.
It is complicated, you see, because Ashley made out with The Coach a couple of years ago. And she knew that he had been texting me and calling me and she told me to go for it – way more than once – but I'm not exactly sure how excited she was when I told her that it actually happened. Not that she was mad or anything. But I don't think that she was thrilled.
I'm glad that I told her, though. I felt like a horrible friend for not calling and confessing to that situation the minute it happened. So at least that part is done with.
But is that enough chance for her? No. A new job and a random bad decision of a boy and STILL she expects more from me.
And then she asked me about my trip to Switzerland and I could deliver.
I am not packed, I told her. I don't really even know what the weather is going to be.
And I need to find my passport. Which I think might be at Mom and Dad's house.
And I'm flying into Zurich and, eventually, I need to make my way to Lausanne and I have not even glanced at so much as a train schedule. Nor have I looked at a guide book or a forum or called to give my credit card company the heads up that I'll be leaving the country. I haven't researched the train that Liz and I will be taking from Lausanne to Milan, where we'll be spending the weekend. I think that I want to go to Geneva for a day but I don't have even a vague plan of what I would want to do there. Or anywhere else in Switzerland. Or Milan.
I spent a year planning last summer's trip to South Africa and, for this trip: nothing. Absolutely nothing. Isn't that a chance? Isn't that a refreshing departure from the norm?
I still have a ways to go, Ashley insists. But the new job and the random-bad-decision-boy-who-may-or-may-not-be-in-a-relationship and the unplanned trip are a fine start.
"I told you that 2011 was going to be your year," she said.
Seems like a lot of people are telling me that.
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Customer service extravaganza
It was a smart move. With my trip overseas and starting a new job and all of the general craziness of my life, it made sense to take the opportunity and check that obligation off of the list.
I chose a cast iron casserole and a few matching trivets, which I'll give her along with something small and pretty and not registered for (I'm thinking stationary with her new last name on it). I hauled it to the register along with a Mother's Day present that I grabbed on the sly: a flex edge beater for her KitchenAid.
After I bought all of that, I had a bag and my coffee in one hand and the casserole (weighing in at approximately two tons) in the other and – oooh! Look, Mommy! Look at those dishes. I love those dishes.
And so we bought those dishes. They were a total steal and I'm pretty sick of the dishes that I have and, oh, why not? So we pick out the place settings and the accessories and get them purchased and then we find out that Macy's no longer has package pickup services. Nor do they have carts or baskets or lackeys to utilize to get your merchandise to your car. And also we were on the third floor. And had two, maybe three, trips of merchandise just sitting on the counter.
So, we were totally screwed and apparently this was our problem? Like, they were totally doing us the favor of selling us the goods and their responsibility ended there. What do they care if we ever make it to the car? And shouldn't we be thanking them for the opportunity to get a bit of extra exercise?
Here's what we had to do in order to get the dishes and the accessories and the casserole and the trivets out to my car:
1. Wave down another mother-daughter duo who had a pair of tabletop grills on some sort of rolling contraption.
2. Beg mother-daughter duo for use of their rolling contraption, which apparently they had to beg the fine folk in the fine china department for use of.
3. Follow mother-daughter duo to the elevator and out to their car. (First going to the wrong parking lot, of course.)
4. Bring rolling contraption back to the third floor.
5. Go back down to the first floor.
6. And then we were supposed to deliver the cart straight back to fine china on the third floor, but, seriously, like that was even going to happen. We just brought it back inside the store.
It was a lot of hoops to jump through in order to have the pleasure of giving Macy's our money.
Monday, May 02, 2011
Lacking in filter, but not in cake
We had quite a few people from outside of the office in the building this morning, so the cake that I made didn't go quite as far as it usually does. We had just enough pieces to cover everyone. Minus me. There were two pieces left when I left the lunchroom (where we'd gathered to sing and be merry) with a piece of cake in my hand. Being a good little minion, I was delivering a piece to my boss, who was stuck on a conference call.
I ran right into a coworker who had just arrived. I put the plate into his hand. I took the one slice left and gave it to my boss and do you know how many pieces of cake that means that I got? ZERO.
I decided that it was okay that I didn't get a piece of cake because I did take a generous spoonful of frosting and shove it directly into my face at approximately 6:28 this morning and also it is the right thing to do. I brought the cake. I probably should have brought more cake. But I didn't so, as a result, I went without. No big deal. I would raid the candy dish to compensate.
My boss emerged from his office a while later. "That was good cake," he said. "Lots of frosting," he continued. "When you brought it in, I thought that it sort of looked like a pile of doggy doo."
"That's really nice," I retorted, running my mouth because I could. "I certainly appreciate you telling me that the cake I made looks like shit..."
"Not shit! Doggy doo."
"Same thing," I replied. "Do you know that I didn't even get a piece of that cake that you told me looks like shit?"
Who says that? Who tells somebody (in front of other people, I should add) that the cake that she made looks like shit? He has no filter. And I am honestly going to miss the guy when I don't miss him anymore, but seriously. What a tool.


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IGN has the scoop on the story, and notes that Cobain will be a playable character, and will be performing the classic "Smell Like Teen Spirit" and "Lithium."
"Kurt Cobain is one of the most recognizable frontmen in rock 'n' roll history and it's an honor to have two of Nirvana's masterpieces included in Guitar Hero 5," Tim Riley, Vice President of Music Affairs for Activision said in a statement.Guitar Hero 5 drops into our lives on September 1st in the States.
"This is the first time the original recording of 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' has ever been licensed in an entertainment property," Riley continued. "And we're thrilled to offer Guitar Hero fans exclusive access to the unreleased live version of "Lithium."
Bryn says: Let's try and think of more deceased music icons that we'd like to see arrive in the game. I'll start. What about Joy Division's Ian Curtis (Love Will Tear Us Apart) or how about a little Frank Sinatra?
And then of course there's Weird Al... yeah, he's not dead, but it'd be awesome to play his eBay song in Guitar Hero 5!


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2001 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN Review - Base Price $24,275
America's minivan.
Since the introduction of the Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager in November 1983, more than 8.5 million-including the Chrysler Town & Country-have been produced. Imitators have been many, trying either to outflank or outdo the original, but the Dodge Caravan, and the long-wheelbase Grand Caravan tested here, remains the king of minivans.
While the Chrysler Voyager starts at $19,800 and the Town & Country Limited has a base price of $38,000, the Dodge Caravan and Grand Caravan stake out the middle ground, offering the most popular options at an affordable price.
Dodge Grand Caravan
's popularity comes from its family friendly attributes: an ability to carry mom and dad and half the little league team while delivering a smooth car-like ride and reasonable fuel mileage, and offering the features and flexibility America wants. That's not a paid commercial, just the reason they sell so darn many of them. In fact, 350,000 of them: The Dodge Caravan accounted for just shy of a quarter of all minivans sold last year.
Of course, with the competition in hot pursuit, DaimlerChrysler can't rest on its laurels. So the 2001 Dodge Caravan (as well as the Chrysler Voyager and Town & Country) are new from the ground up. There's a new look, more interior room and a host of features, including optional dual sliding doors and a power liftgate.
Despite nearly two decades of making minivans, DaimlerChrysler is still finding ways to improve comfort, usability and safety. Side impact airbags for front seat passengers are now optional on Caravan models, and front airbags have multi-stage inflators for differing severity of accidents. Front seats also have pretensioners to remove slack from seat belts during a collision. Middle and third row seats include child seat anchors for installation not requiring the vehicle's seat belts. And finally, the energy absorbing properties of lateral interior surfaces have been increased.
Both Caravan and Grand Caravan can accommodate seven passengers in a 2/2/3 arrangement. Our Grand Caravan Sport came equipped with the middle row bench replaced by twin bucket seats and the rear bench replaced by a 50/50 split rear bench as part of the Customer Preferred Package 25K. The middle row buckets raise the second row passengers to front seat passenger comfort. The third row bench seats two adults rather admirably, but is a bit short of shoulder room for three adult males. The split rear seat eases removal of the rear seat, halves being easier to lift than a whole. The rear bench and the middle row seats, however, are all on "Easy Out" rollers to facilitate conversion of the van from people to cargo hauler. Seats removed, the Grand Caravan can haul 4x8-foot sheets of plywood. It offers 158.5 cubic feet of cargo space. That's 16 cubic feet more than Caravan.
Up front there's a new dash, restyled with what the designers call a crisper appearance. The instruments are new, with white faces and black numerals that illuminate in green at night. The dash is canted slightly forward; the designers claim this provides better visibility. Controls for the sound system and HVAC are intuitive and easy to use, though the audio system's on-off/volume knob is obscured by the gearshift lever when in Drive. Our test vehicle had the 4-CD in-dash changer, a nice feature even if separated from the AM/FM/cassette unit by the HVAC controls. Speaking of the HVAC, package 25K includes rear heat and A/C ventilation with three-zone control: driver and front passenger can set their own temperature and there's a single control for the rear of the cabin for the kids to fight over.
However, there is a place for everyone's cup. The Grand Caravan is brimming with cupholders, the third row of seats having multiple holders for drinks of different shapes. Seatbacks can also be folded flat to make tables, complete with molded-in cupholders.
Everyone also has easy access, with a power right sliding door included in package 25K (a left sliding door is also available, but not on our test vehicle). Our test Grand Caravan did have the new optional power liftgate. The power doors may seem like an extravagance, until your arms are full and it's raining. The power doors and liftgate can also be controlled from the driver's seat, a real boon around kids who may not have the strength or height to open or close the door. And yes, for safety's sake, the doors and liftgate will reverse if they strike an object when opening or closing. The power liftgate also keeps you from having to touch the liftgate when it's all gorpy with road sludge.
Not on our test vehicle were the optional pop-up paper grocery bag holders for the cargo compartment, though like all DaimlerChrysler minivans, the rear seatbacks had hooks for those plastic grocery bags that otherwise scatter your oranges and rutabagas all over the place at the first corner or stop sign. We didn't get to test the new optional moveable and powered center console that can be placed between the front or middle-row buckets as it wasn't on our test vehicle, but we found the net between the front seats to be a handy place to toss things-a favorite was mail-so it doesn't slide around the van's flat floor.
It's no secret that the minivan was the mom-mobile of the 1980s and 1990s. So when stylists went to work on the Dodge minivan for the new millennium, they began by beefing up the image of the Caravan. They made it stouter up front, with a heavier cross-hair grille with honeycomb inserts, one that looks tough enough for a pickup truck. From the side, the Caravan is sleeker, with stronger horizontal lines to make it look longer and lower.
The track for the sliding doors-one on each side is standard-is disguised under the rear side window for a cleaner appearance. The D-pillars and backlight are also more inclined for a sportier look, with a discrete spoiler added to the trailing edge of the roof. Flared wheel openings add a stronger touch. Headlamps and taillamps are larger, the latter wrapping around to the sides. The roof rack is lowered closer to the roof, stylistically less obtrusive and perhaps less likely to generate wind noise, but also offering less clearance for the thicker hooks of some tie-downs.
Under the hood of our Grand Caravan Sport was the model's standard 3.3-liter V-6. The conventional overhead-valve 60-degree V-6 was massaged this year for a useful increase in horsepower, up to 180 horsepower from 158 last year. Torque also received a nudge. The engine runs happily on regular unleaded fuel or, where available, E-85 ethanol, and meets Low Emissions (LEV) requirements in all 50 states. With this engine, the Caravan is rated to tow a 2000-pound trailer.
A four-speed adaptive electronically controlled transmission is standard with the V-6 (the 4-cylinder in the SE comes with a 3-speed automatic).
A 3.8-liter V-6 is optional in the Grand Caravan. This engine is rated at 215 horsepower, but more importantly, can generate 245 pound-feet of torque. We recommended it for anyone regularly carrying a heavy load of passengers or towing a trailer. An optional towing package is available with the 3.8-liter engine that raises its trailer towing rating to a 3500 pounds. The big engine is also required to get all-wheel drive.
Less obvious changes for 2001 include heavier disc brake rotors for improved feel, performance and durability. To improve the steering wheel's tendency to return to the center and to gain a more precise feel, the front suspension is tuned with additional caster and an improved steering gear has been added. An all-new body structure is 20-percent stiffer, while also being designed for more energy absorption, especially for offset frontal impact protection.
Front suspension is by MacPherson struts, rear by a beam axle on single-leaf springs. Brakes are discs in front, drums at the rear, with ABS standard. The fwd Caravan Sport comes standard with 15-inch diameter stamped steel wheels with full wheel covers. Cast aluminum 16-inch wheels are optional.
At 200.5 inches long and under 5 foot, 10 inches tall, the Caravan will fit just about where any full-size sedan will fit.
The most common phrase spoken in the ordinary minivan might be, "What? I didn't hear you." Ambient noise frequently interferes with conversation, especially between passengers in the front and rearmost seats. But on the 2001 Grand Caravan, all sorts of things reduce wind noise, from additional underhood padding to gaskets between the outside mirrors and the body and around outside and inside door handles. Roof rack crossbows were reshaped in wind tunnel tests to reduce wind noise. It's paid off. Road noise and wind noise are minimal in the Grand Caravan, making it a veritable chat room on wheels.
Handling for most minivan owners is how well the vehicle maneuvers in a parking lot and tracks down the highway rather than how fast it can slalom through a series of cones. So we tested it in parking lots and discovered that it had a small enough turning radius to get into parking spaces easily, though with the front corners of the van blocked by the cowl, it wasn't always easy to tell where the front really was. It was easy to tell where the rear was, on the other hand, but the height of the windows blocked the view of cars or other low objects. This is typical of most minivans, however, and something that one must learn to live with.
With the Grand Caravan, one won't be tempted go racing. Even with the extra horsepower, it's two tons the 3.3-liter V-6 has to pull about. Still, the 3.3-liter has enough power to climb hills without breathing hard, and merging onto the freeway doesn't give you visions of your life insurance salesman.
Highway ride, considering the rather basic nature of its underpinnings, is supple and well controlled. The rack-and-pinion steering was improved this year and winding roads show dividends in the precision of the steering and the feedback through the wheel. The Grand Caravan also tracks true on the interstate. It may not have sports car-like cornering limits and the bias is toward understeer, but within its performance envelope, it's super.
The Grand Caravan Sport combines the slightly higher seating position that enables even short drivers to see over traffic ahead without the nosebleed climbs of some more truck-like minivans or sport utilities. Nature didn't cooperate by giving us a snowstorm to drive in, but the windshield wiper deicer that comes with the Sport trim level, heating elements on the glass where the wipers park, are an excellent addition for anyone who must drive in wintry precipitation.
A minivan isn't something that usually sets passions aglow. Rather it's the appliance that becomes part of the family, loaded with kids going to a soccer game, or kids and stuff for vacation, or even with three couples who'd rather travel together while following the high school marching band to a distant competition. That's where the Grand Caravan Sport excels. Try that in your Porsche, pal.
At just over $30,000, out test Grand Caravan Sport wasn't cheap, nor hardly the most expensive minivan one could buy. But members of the family, especially one as useful as the Grand Caravan Sport, are worth every penny.
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This is a little winge – but it also exposes another unintended consequence.
These days financial institutions are much more concerned about their debt spreads than their stock price (though the two are correlated). They would however generally like people who short the stock and go long the distressed debt.
I desperately wanted to do so with WaMu today. WaMu common was trading at 4.25. The preferred was trading at under a quarter par.
I can't see the common quadrupling from here. But I can see the preferred going back somewhere near par. [That would happen for instance if Citigroup purchased WaMu.]
So I so wanted to do the arb – short WaMu, long the preferred.
I was not allowed and that sucked.
Moreover as the common is liquid my shorting wouldn't have changed the price much. The pref is illiquid and my going long would lower WaMu's perceived cost of funds.
The rules (a) denied me a trade, and (b) made it incrementally harder for WaMu in this case.
Not the best outcome all round.
John Hempton


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Besides the sparkly dress I showed you all on Wednesday, I also took photos in my favorite dress purchase of the year, this tie dye number from Forever 21. As an after thought, I decided to pack a really casual outfit to change into as well and while I love these shots too, these remind me more of just everyday (really pretty everyday) pictures. I guess that's not necessarily a bad thing though.
Tie Dye Dress – Forever 21l Shoes – Red Valentino; Accessories – DIY by me and Michael Kors; Sweater – Target; Jean Shorts – H&M Maternity; Tennies – Converse
A couple of people asked me some tips for getting prepared for a maternity photo shoot, and while I may not be the best person to dole out advice since I frantically ran out to Target, the closest store to home, 2 hours before the shoot to get Art a new shirt for our family pictures (see the whole series here and here), there are a few ideas I have in mind:
– Treat this is a very special photo shoot, because it is! Don't feel silly about buying a new dress, or even a ridiculously fancy dress, for the occasion. Get your hair done, and/or your nails. You will never regret spending the extra time on yourself for this occasion, but you may regret not spending the extra time making it special.
– Plan at least 2 outfit changes to make it more fun and interesting. If you're going to spend the time booking the appointment, make it count.
– Get your family involved – just because it's a maternity photo shoot doesn't mean it's only about you. Get pictures of this special time with your husband and any older siblings. You're usually so busy ahead of time getting ready for baby that you may not have stopped to get any pictures of you all together, so now's the time to do it!
– If possible, get outdoors! Our first two maternity shoots were done inside a studio. Being outside this time was a refreshing change of pace and made for such a pretty backdrop and amazing lighting!
– Most importantly, wear what you feel comfortable in! And when I say comfort, I don't mean your yoga pants. I mean wear the most flattering outfit you own so that you feel at your best when the photographer is shooting away. If you a buy a new dress, make sure you try it on ahead of time and plan out your shoes and accessories so that you're not scrambling at the last minute if your dress is too short or the bust is too tight. Bottom line, you want to feel pretty, not self-conscious because it will come across in these pictures. And consider undergarments! I wore my favorite Forever 21 dress, which I usually wear with a thin strap t-back bra since the straps are so thin. Normally I don't mind if a bit of my bra strap shows while out and about, but for the pictures I knew I was going to be tugging at it the whole time, trying to hide the straps. Miranda told me to just take it off for the shoot and I'm glad I did. My girls were drooping a bit for a short time, but because the flowy nature of the dress I don't think you noticed it at all…ahem, at least I hope you don't!
Well I guess I did have more advice to give than I thought! Let me know if you have any questions. If you live in the LA/Orange County area and need a photographer, hit up Miranda. She has never failed me yet for a photo session and her relaxed nature really puts everyone at ease. Have a good weekend everyone!