text:
Midwinter Alchemy
by London Lampy
Part 2
Seated next to her at the well used kitchen table Dawn lent over and pressed down lightly on her daughter's swollen stomach to feel the movements of the small body under Marni's clothes and skin. "It's lively today," she said with a smile, then took a sip of her rapidly cooling tea.
"And all last night," Marni yawned, "I hardly got any sleep."
"Good practise for when it's born and you're up and down feeding in the night." Dawn thought back to the nights she had spent in this kitchen with first her daughter and then her son when they were tiny babies. Getting out of her warm bed had always been hard but her husband Mack hadn't wanted to be disturbed so she'd taken them downstairs to feed. Once she was fully awake she'd come to rather enjoy the still, quite times alone with her babies. Now one of her babies was due to have a baby herself in the spring, the other was living many miles away and Dawn shared the farmhouse with just her husband. "How are you getting on for names?" she asked, pushing down the feelings of sadness she had at her once full, lively family home now being solely occupied by her for most of the day.
"If it's a boy we're set on Henry after Adrian's grandfather, and if it's a girl I really like Daisy, but Adrian wants Susan because he thinks a girl called Daisy will turn out flighty. Whatever it is we thought we'd give it the middle Sam though." Marni looked over at her mother with a small smile.
"Oh," Dawn put her hand to her mouth, "that would be lovely, but what about your father?"
"I don't care what he thinks," Marni's face hardened. "I don't have to put up with him anymore and seeing as because of him my baby will never know its uncle it's the least I can do."
Marni marrying Adrian had been bitter sweet for Dawn. She knew that her daughter hadn't been in love with the butcher's son when they'd wed. However he was a nice boy from a good family and Mack had wanted his daughter married off quickly in the hope that she'd produce a son to replace Sam as the heir to the family dairy farm. What he hadn't bargained on was his daughter not only falling in love with her new husband but his family too to the extent that Marni now barely acknowledged her father at all. While Marni was living at home on the farm she'd seemed to accept her father's iron discipline, even if she was distraught when her brother ran away from home after a particularly savage beating from him. Now however it was as if she were a simmering pot whose heat had been turned up and since her marriage all the anger toward her father that she'd kept in had suddenly come bubbling out.
"Perhaps next year after the baby's born you and Adrian could go to the city to visit Sam," Dawn suggested. At first she hadn't told Marni that she was in contact with Sam for fear that the girl wouldn't be able to keep it to herself and the information would get back to Mack. It was a few days before Marni's wedding when Dawn had finally decided to tell her because Marni had started to cry about her brother not being there for her big day. Ever since then Dawn had let Marni read Sam's precious letters home so that she could see for herself that he was safe and happy in the city.
"Maybe," Marni agreed, "but we shouldn't have to do that, Sam should be here in Dovedale with his family." She put a hand on her pregnant belly and stroked it.
Dawn nodded, but she privately felt that although she missed her son terribly he was probably better off where he was. He'd found a caring substitute family and was romantically involved with another boy, something that would not easily be tolerated in their small village. But at this time of year, with the snow thick on the ground, the days shorting to no more than a few hours of daylight and Midwinter next week she too longed for Sam to be home.
Sam didn't believe in ghosts, not one bit, or so he told himself as he walked through The Empress' deserted auditorium on his way around the building to padlock all the fire exit doors shut for the night. He'd personally been through one of the most terrifying experiences imaginable when he'd come within a whisker of becoming a human sacrifice for a sick, crazy old man, so a supposed haunting in the theatre couldn't possibly scare him. As he crossed the upper circle, the place where the elderly lady stage door keeper named Meggie had died and whose ghost was now supposedly causing all kind of trouble, he heard the sound of a door creaking. He walked a little faster, feeling utterly stupid for the way his heart had started to beat faster and his palms had suddenly dampened. He had one more chain and padlock to put on before he finished and could make his way down to the stage door where Fran would be waiting to throw the master switch and cut off all the lights in the building before locking the stage door and going home. A thud from somewhere deep within the building made Sam speed up further and by the time he reached the door at the top of the staircase that he needed to descend to find the last unchained door he was almost running.
Sam pushed the door open and stepped through, the door banging shut loudly behind him making him jump. The stairway ran all the way to the street level but it curved halfway down so he was unable to see to the bottom and Sam got the sudden unpleasent feeling that something was lurking down there, waiting for him. If he had needed to descend the stairway for any reason more trivial than locking up he would have abandoned the job and gone back into the auditorium, but he knew that he would be in no end of trouble with Fran if he knowingly left a door unchained.
The exit stairway was freezing cold, not being a part of the building people normally used it wasn't heated. Also the stairs weren't carpeted, just simply bare polished concrete so every step he took echoed around him unnervingly. Sam held the cold metal bannister with one clammy hand and began to descend, the chain and padlock gripped tightly enough in his other hand to dig in painfully. As he got closer to the turn in the stairs he swallowed hard, knowing how foolish he was to be thinking that around it was anything more sinister than more stairs and an unchained door. Sam took one more step down then stopped, he could swear that he had just heard heavy, wet breathing coming from further down. He strained to listen but couldn't catch the sound again and he decided that it had to have been something from the street beyond and not inside the building at all. Holding his nerve he continued to descend, his legs starting to feel like wet string. He rounded the corner with trepidation and as he did it seemed as if his worst, wildest imaginings had come true as a white shape suddenly appeared in the dimly lit well at the bottom of the staircase. He heard a moan coming from it then it hissed his name in a low, raspy voice. Without stopping to consider who or what he was seeing Sam yelped loudly and threw himself back up the stairs two at a time.
The thing seemed to be giving chase and as he crashed through the doors back into the auditorium it called his name again, only this time the voice wasn't raspy or low, it was an ordinary girl's voice, a voice he recognised very well. He didn't stop running though and he was now half way across to the other side of the circle. As the thing came through the doors he turned to look over his shoulder at it and saw Fudge holding one of their dust sheets, waving to him and calling his name.
"What the fuck!" Sam stopped running and rounded on her as she approached.
"Oh my gods!" she giggled. "You should have seen your face, I though you were going to die of fright."
"I might have done, I might have had a heart attack and died and it would have been all your fault because you played a stupid trick on me!"
"Sorry," she tried to stifle her giggles, but failed. "Were you really scared?"
"Yes, of course I bloody was!" Sam leant against the wall and tried to get his breath back. "Just for that you can go back down there and put the chain on." He threw the padlock and chain at Fudge's boot clad feet.
She picked up the chain and left, letting herself back through the door that led to the stairway. As Sam waited for Fudge to return he found that there was an unusual smell wafting through the auditorium, it was the smell of pipe smoke and it seemed to be both fresh and coming from somewhere nearby. He knew that everyone said one of the ways you could tell if the ghost of Meggie was around was by the smell of pipe smoke suddenly appearing in the upper circle.
"You didn't light a pipe while you were down there, did you?" Sam asked Fudge as she came back through the door with a clatter.
"No, why?" the girl's dark features contorted in a puzzled frown.
"Can't you smell it?"
Fudge sniffed the air and her expression rapidly changed to one of wide eyed fear. "Gods, if that's really pipe smoke then Meggie must be in here!" she looked around wildly, her bobbed black hair swishing around her face as she turned her head.
"Let's go," Sam said firmly, grabbing Fudge's wrist and pulling toward the way out. A sound like claws being dragged over metal suddenly seemed to come from somewhere above their heads and this was followed by a muffled screech.
Without a word they both started to walk quickly, then jog, then finally run through the building until they were hurtling together through doors and down stairs and along empty corridors only stopping when they reached Fran at the stage door.
"What the hell's going on?" Fran asked as they came to a panting halt beside him.
"Meggie…" Fudge gasped, "she was…in the upper…circle…"
"You saw her?" Fran frowned.
"No," Sam shook his head. "We smelled pipe smoke and then…"
"She screamed at us!" Fudge butted in.
"Screamed?" Fran looked sceptical.
"Yes…like this…" Fudge attempted to make the sound they'd heard.
"No, it was more like this…" Sam tried, thinking that Fudge had got it all wrong.
"You sound like a pair of cats being strangled," Fran sighed. "Are you sure the noise wasn't people shouting outside?"
"Yes," Sam said at the same time as Fudge.
"It was real, it was really Meggie!" Fudge insisted.
Fran looked at Sam with his brown spaniel's eyes, he looked tired and exasperated, but then he often did. "Do you believe it was Meggie too?" he asked.
"I…" he thought about it, the whole thing had been weird and scary, but did he really believe that they'd encountered the theatre's ghost? "I don't know, but it was very strange and I'm sure the scream wasn't didn't come from the street, it was kind of above us."
"Where ever it came from and whatever produced this screaming sound I'm sure it was of a perfectly normal, non supernatural origin," Fran said. "Come on, let's go home and for the god's sake don't go putting it around to the rest of the staff that you encountered Meggie or they'll resign on mass."
Sam did feel a little reassured by Fran, but between the strange noise and Fudge's earlier prank he was jumpy and his pulse rate didn't return to normal until he was safely snuggled up in bed with Ed.
The next day one of the cleaners marched into Fran's office and handed in her resignation on the spot, claiming that she'd heard a disembodied voice speaking to her as she cleaned the gentlemen's toilets in the upper circle. When he'd asked her what the voice had said the cleaner had told Fran that she couldn't make out any actual words, but she was quite sure that they were something unholy and evil and under no circumstances was she ever coming back.
"This is now well beyond a joke," Fran grumbled to Ozzy. "How the hell can I get them all to stop thinking that every little creak or rattle the building makes is caused by Meggie? Even Fudge and Sam have been sucked in." Fudge he wasn't that surprised at, the girl had always been quite suggestible, but he'd though Sam had more sense.
"Are you sure that there isn't actually a ghost boss?" Ozzy asked, clicking away on their adding machine with his strange, flat visk fingers.
"Yes! I've never been more sure of anything in my life. There are no such things as ghosts!" Fran banged his hand down on his desk to make his point.
"Just checking. Perhaps you should have the place exorcized anyway, if you're wrong and there is a ghost it'll go away, and if there isn't when you tell the staff what's been done they'll think it's gone, either way the result will be the same."
"You know Ozzy, crazy as it sounds that's not a bad idea," Fran mused, "use the power of suggestion to my advantage. Didn't you say your priest did exorcisms, would he do one here?"
"Not unless your ghost is a visk's spirit, no." Ozzy blinked his pure black eyes rapidly.
"Well, seeing as my ghost is a figment of everyone's imagination it wouldn't make one shred of difference if the exorcist was visk, human or monkey, but seeing as everyone knows Meggie was a human I'd better find someone who specialises in exorcizing human spirits."
An event that happened shortly after Fran's conversation with Ozzy led Fran to decide that getting the place exorcized was the only way to end this ridiculous situation. Sam, thinking he'd get his own back on Fudge for scaring the life out of him the previous night had crouched down and hidden behind the counter in the stalls bar, waiting for the girl to come in. When she entered he'd jumped up with a loud shout, and succeeded in thoroughly terrifying her. Unfortunately she happened to be carrying a tray of clean beer glasses at the time and she'd thrown the tray into the air in fright, and the net result of this was broken glass everywhere that took the pair of them over an hour to clean up.
Fran also passed a new company rule, from now on any member of staff deliberately setting out to scare any other member of staff would have two hours pay docked off their wages.
"It is not an exorcism, it is a cleansing ritual," the woman said, looking around the auditorium from the stage. When her gaze reached the exact spot where Meggie had died it seemed to linger for a few seconds before moving on, Fran told himself that this nothing more than a coincidence.
He'd found Lady Zerelda through an advert in the back of the evening newspaper and had Ozzy locate her straight away to see if she was interested in taking on the job of "exorcising" Meggie's ghost from The Empress. Fran was familiar enough with the concept of stage names and performers in general to know a good act when he saw one, and Lady Zerelda certainly seemed adept in playing the part of someone who could communicate with the dead. She was a tall, imposing woman of around sixty with iron grey hair swept up into a bun, a stern hawkish face and dark, searching eyes. She was currently clad all in black, her dress reached down to the ground although the look was slightly spoiled by her hem being soaked in grimy Parnell street runoff. Around her shoulders was a shawl that had been crotched in a pattern that looked very much like a spider's web and she was wearing a small jewellers worth of silver jewellery around her neck, her wrists and on her long fingers.
"Yes, there certainly is an unquiet spirit in here," she said in a low, portentous voice once she'd taken in the whole room. "I can assist you with moving it on and restoring peace to your theatre if you wish."
"I do wish," Fran replied, struggling a little to keep a straight face. "What do you need to do?" He was very much hoping that she would say a few incantations, wave her hands around a bit and that would be that and he could tell everyone Meggie was gone for good.
"I shall need to perform the ritual at midnight, as that is when the barrier between the world of the living and the world of the dead is at its thinnest. I will need you to be in attendance along with a few other trusted souls who know the theatre well to aid in providing a conduit for me, and I shall need you to tell no one of our plans."
"But the point of all this is for my staff to know that there's going to be an exor…" Lady Zerelda frowned at him, "…a cleansing ritual. If they don't know it's happening then they won't believe that the ghost has gone."
"The point of all this, as you put it, is to move on a poor, trapped spirit." Lady Zerelda suddenly reminded Fran of Fudge's headmistress telling him off for letting his niece miss yet another day of school to work in the theatre. "And feel free to inform your staff after the ritual has been successfully completed, if you wish I can tell them for you."
"Thank you, that would be perfect." If the staff didn't believe Lady Zerelda that Meggie was gone then they weren't going to believe anyone. "But why can't I tell them before the…" he caught himself in time this time, "…cleansing ritual?"
"They will gossip about it and the spirit may become forewarned, and therefore more resistant to my powers."
"Oh, I see." What Fran really felt like saying was bullpoo, but that would be a very bad idea.
"So we will be keeping this just between ourselves and those who you chose to attend the ritual until the place is cleansed, won't we Fran?"
"Yes," he mumbled.
"Good. I'm available in two nights time, shall we talk about my fees?"
"And just how much is this charlatan charging you?" Mulligan grumbled from the armchair.
"That's not important right now," Fran replied quickly. "What is important is that you're all happy to do this, so are you?" He looked at the small group assembled in his living room. He well knew Mulligan's feelings about those who plied their trade by claiming to be able to see into the future or communicate with the dead and he hadn't expected any other kind of response from him. He also knew that if he asked him Mulligan would be at the cleansing ritual so it wasn't him that Fran was most concerned about agreeing to Lady Zerelda's demands for a select few people who knew The Empress well to be present. Seated on the couch were the rest of his household along with their part time member Earnest, and it was them Fran was really talking to. "I'm not going to force any of you to be there, and even if you don't come Lady Zerelda said that for this to work we weren't to tell the other members of staff…" he ignored a derisive snort from Mulligan "…but you are the best placed people to do this." And the ones he trusted most to both keep their mouths shut and generally do what Lady Zerelda told them.
"It sounds scary," Fudge said from her seat on Earnest's lap.
"I think it sounds kind of exciting," Earnest responded, "and if you get scared I'll protect you." He put his arms tightly around Fudge's middle, making her giggle. Fran had to restrain himself from telling Earnest to get the hell off his niece, the pair of them might have been together for nearly a year now but at times he still wasn't entirely happy at Fudge having a boyfriend.
"I don't mind," Ed shrugged. He was seated at the other end of the couch with Sam next to him. "After living with my gran I'm not scared of old ladies, even ghost old ladies."
"Maybe it is your gran haunting The Empress," Sam put in, ruffling Ed's rust coloured hair. "Maybe she's floating around up there telling the cleaners and ushers about how they're all going to hell if they don't mend their evil ways."
"Gods, do you think so?" Fudge looked at the two boys with wide eyes.
"Fudge," Fran sighed, "There isn't a ghostly Mrs Anglemol in the theatre, there isn't a ghostly Meggie in the theatre, ghosts do not exist. We're doing this to persuade the rest of the staff that the imaginary ghost has gone so things can go back to normal. Now, are we all happy to assist Lady Zerelda, or do I need to find someone else?"
No one except Earnest seemed to be excited by the idea of attending the cleansing ritual, but they all agreed that they would, and that was all Fran wanted.
"Thank you," Dawn said gratefully, taking the envelope off Mr Harper and tucking it into the inside pocket of her coat. The inn's small yard was several inches deep in snow and she could feel the cold seeping through her boots into her feet.
"As always, it's nothing," the inn keeper smiled at her warmly from the doorway, his pipe glowing red in the darkness. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to come in for a hot drink, we've got a vat of mulled cider on the go?"
Dawn would have dearly loved to go into the inn and enjoy a hot drink. Through the open door she could see into the backroom where several of Mr Harper's enormous brood of children were sitting on the floor playing a game of cards together. The smell of the mulled cider mixed with that of supper cooking floated out into the cold air and the whole place just seemed so warm and homely she wanted to go in and never leave. However she needed to get back to her own house, a place that hadn't felt homely since her children had left it, and cook supper for her own husband, who as usual probably would say no more than a handful of words to her between the time he got in from the farm and the time she retired to bed.
"Sorry, I'd love to but I can't. Mack will be wanting his supper soon," she smiled at Mr harper, hoping that he wouldn't take offence at her refusal.
"I'll bid you a good night and see you at the Midwinter festivities then," he said with a nod.
Dawn left by the back gate and hurried away from the inn into the cold darkness before anyone saw her leaving. She desperately wanted to take Sam's letter from her inside pocket, rip it open and read her son's words straight away, but she knew better than to do that in public. If Mack found out that she was receiving letters from Sam she knew that he'd forbid her from ever communicating with or receiving letters from their son again, and she'd be powerless to stop him.
Sitting on the edge of Fran's desk Sam watched Ed's freckled face screw itself up into an annoyed frown as he read his letter. It was the night of the cleansing ritual and Ed had come to The Empress to watch that night's show then stay on afterwards for a very different sort of show. The two of them were in Fran's office because Fran had accidently picked up a letter for Ed amongst that morning's post and he'd left it on his desk for Ed to collect. Sam was pretty sure the letter was from Ed's parents, not because they wrote frequently, they didn't, but because the postmark was from the town that they'd moved to.
"Fucking hell!" Ed swore, crumpling the letter into a ball and throwing it into the waste paper bin. "Do you know what they want?"
"No," Sam shook his head, looking down at Ed who was seated in Fran's chair.
"They want me to send them Gran's wedding ring so that they can sell it. That's all, no how are you, or hope you have a good Midwinter."
"Sorry," Sam sighed, wishing that he could make Ed's parent's care more about their eldest son. While Sam never wanted to see his father again in his life he missed his mother very much, and always eagerly looked forward to receiving her long, chatty letters.
"Well fuck them! If they want it they can come to Parnell to get it, but they'd better bring a shovel because we buried it with Gran."
San dropped down off the edge of the desk onto Ed's lap. "I love you," he said, kissing him on the temple.
"Yeah," Ed wrapped his arms tightly around him, "love you too."
Sam found Ed's mouth with his and they started to kiss one another deeply, their embrace changing from supportive to something more sexual. He felt Ed's hand tunnelling inside his shirt until his fingertips located a nipple and pinched hard, just the way he liked. Sam made an appreciative sound and wriggled on Ed's lap, rubbing himself against Ed's swelling erection.
"Boys!" The pair of them stopped what they were doing and looked round to find Fran standing in the office doorway scowling at them. "How many times do I have to tell you to keep that sort of thing to when you're in private?"
"But we were in private," Sam pointed out as Ed took his hand out of his clothing, "until you came in."
"Sam, my office is not a private place. What if I'd brought someone else up here with me for a meeting, and they saw you all over each other in my chair? It wouldn't look very professional."
"They might have enjoyed the show," Sam suggested.
Fran rolled his eyes at him. "Come on, get out of here the pair of you and go and make yourselves useful somewhere."
"Do you think he's cross with us?" Ed asked as they descended the stairs from Fran's office.
"Not really, at least not as cross as the time he caught us doing it in the kitchen," Sam giggled.
"I thought it was us wasting the butter that got him annoyed that time," Ed replied with a frown.
Although Fran had told them to make themselves useful there wasn't really much to do as it was the quiet time of day when everyone took a break before the show. They made token round of the theatre's bars to make sure that they were set up for the evening, then ran out of ideas so they decided to find somewhere private to carry on doing what they'd been doing in Fran's office.
"Have you ever been in here before?" Sam asked Ed, watching his boyfriend looking around the small storage room.
"No," Ed shook his head.
"Look," Sam undid a catch at the back of what looked like a blacked out window and pushed it open. It let out into the auditorium and Sam peered out.
"What's that for?" Ed asked, sticking his head out of the hole. "It's a crappy view of the stage from here, but you can see into the boxes really well, is it for spying on the rich people in the boxes?"
"No," Sam laughed. "It's so you can reach out and change light bulbs, look," he pointed to a small brass candelabra fixed to the wall just below the opening.
"Oh," Ed pulled his head back in. "That's really dull."
"Yes," Sam agreed, shutting the catch again. "But the thing is, no one ever comes in here except to change light bulbs." He put his arms around Ed's neck and pulled him in for a kiss.
There were times when Sam still couldn't quite believe his luck in having Ed as a boyfriend. Their relationship hadn't got off to the best of starts to say the least, with Ed punching him the very first time Sam had tried to kiss him. However that was a very long time ago, in fact almost a year had passed now since that eventful night. A lot had changed since then, Sam was blissfully happy about being with someone he both loved and desired very very much and that fact that Ed and him got to enjoy the occasional threesome with Victor was just the icing on an already tasty cake.
As they kissed Ed undid Sam's belt then his fly buttons, Ed certainly wasn't sexually shy anymore. Once everything was undone he pushed Sam's trousers and underwear down to around his ankles then squeezed his ass and pushed a finger inside him.
"That feels good, but we don't have any lube," Sam said as Ed's finger went deeper.
"I know," Ed grinned at him. "I'm going to suck you off, but I thought you'd like a finger in your ass first."
Sam nodded in agreement at this, Ed knew him very well indeed. They kissed for a while longer while Ed teased Sam with his finger, then he knelt down in front of Sam, took his erect cock in his hands and looked at it.
"I love this," he said, swirling his tongue over the head to lick up the wetness that had formed there.
"Mmm," Sam replied, burying his hands in Ed's hair and leaning back against the wall.
With one hand Ed rubbed Sam behind the balls while his other hand held Sam's shaft as he began to suck it. They had quickly discovered that Ed couldn't cope with anything going too far into the back of his mouth so he always wrapped his hand around Sam to stop too much of his cock going inside. Because of this Ed tended to concentrate on licking and sucking the head of Sam's erection while stimulating him with his hands. It was a slightly unusual technique but Sam certainly had no complaints about it and he groaned quietly as Ed got to work on him. The two of them had recently been experimenting with seeing how long they could last before coming and Sam was actually getting pretty good at holding off when his body wanted to explode, but as they were in the theatre and it wouldn't be long before the audience would start to be allowed in to find their seats right now wasn't the time for that. He did nothing more than let his desire build to the point where orgasm was imminent then hurriedly told Ed it was about to happen as his boyfriend wasn't fond of getting a mouthful of spunk either. He came with a gasp, shooting strings of white over Ed's face and wrist and when he had finished Ed looked up at him, his freckled face covered in his come. Sam smiled, feeling his heart skip with a perfect combination of love and lust.
"You need to prop all the doors open so that the spirit has means to leave the building. Once that is done I shall need you to turn off the lights, Meggie will respond better to our advances by natural candlelight than by electric light," Lady Zerelda said to the assembled group who were packed into Fran's office. Once again he had to admit that the woman made a lot of effort to look the part of someone who communed with the dead on a regular basis. For tonight's ceremony she had let down her hair so it formed a river of shining grey all the way to her rather ample hips and on her head she was wearing a black lace veil held in place with carved jet combs. She had on a similar long black dress to the last time Fran had seen her but over the top Lady Zerelda had added a midnight blue velvet cape fastened at the neck with a clasp in the shape of a pair of back to back crescent moons, and if anything she seemed to be wearing even more heavy silver jewellery than before.
"Obviously," Mulligan muttered from his seat behind Fran's desk. "Everyone knows that ghosts can't open doors and hate electric lights."
Fran shot him a warning look, wondering if it had been a good idea to include the magician in tonight's ceremony. He was a rock steady presence compared to the youngsters, but he was also a deeply sceptical man who had spent the afternoon regaling Fran with all the tricks that those who claimed to be able to speak with the dead used to con their paying clients. Fran really didn't care if Lady Zerelda was the biggest fraud in the business so long as she did a convincing enough job of persuading his staff that she had got rid of the "ghost" though.
"You doubt my powers, Mr…?" Lady Zerelda fixed Mulligan with a hawk like stare.
"Just Mulligan, and yes, I do," he looked back at her challengingly.
"Perhaps we should move into the auditorium now?" Fran suggested, frowning at the magician. The last thing he wanted to happen was for Lady Zerelda to walk out in a huff over something Mulligan said to her.
The auditorium was in its typical post show state, although the ushers picked up the worst of the rubbish before they left for the night the floor was still littered with spilt candied peanuts, squashed pieces of chocolate and old tickets. The air retained the smell of the audience too, a mixture of a hundred different perfumes, stale tobacco smoke and sweat and the huge room that had held several hundred people less than an hour ago still held the lingering feeling of their presences. To Fran it always felt as if the theatre was holding its breath now, just waiting until it was filled again.
"We should go to the place where the old lady died," Lady Zerelda said as they entered the stalls.
"So the ghost is Meggie?" Fudge asked breathlessly. Fran wasn't at all surprised that his niece was impressed by the woman.
"I believe so, but I shall need to speak with the spirit to confirm my beliefs. Being the place where she passed will help to open up the channels of communications."
Fran elbowed Mulligan sharply in the ribs at the snort of derision he made on hearing this. "Meggie died upstairs in the upper circle," Fran said, "I'll show you the way while the others go round and wedge the doors open."
It was strange how different the placed felt when the only light source was a handful of candle lanterns that Lady Zerelda had produced out of a large tapestry bag worked with a pattern of white funereal lilies on a black background. She had set them in a rough circle on the steps beside the row of seats where old Meggie had breathed her last and once that was done she'd loaned Fran and Mulligan one of her lanterns to find their way back through the building in the dark after they'd turned out the lights. Fran didn't actually need Mulligan to come with him, but neither did he want to leave him alone with the woman. When they returned Fran seated himself on the step below Lady Zerelda thereby forcing Mulligan to sit one more step down from her. At the far end of the circle from Lady Zerelda were Sam and Ed, sharing a step, holding hands and having a whispered conversation. One step up from Ed and opposite Mulligan was Fudge, clutching onto Earnest's arm tightly, her dark eyes looking huge in the candlelight, and above her and flanking Lady Zerelda on the left hand side by the wall was Earnest. To Fran this was a good thing, as out of all of the youngsters his niece's boyfriend was the one least likely to cause any kind of trouble.
"Now we are all here I'm going to use salt to create a circle to bind us all safely inside," Lady Zerelda said in her portentous voice, removing a screw top jar from the depths of her bag. Mulligan snorted once again, and once again Fran elbowed him, but he also noticed Sam looking up sharply to stare at the woman, his eyes seeming to linger on the crescent moons of her cloak's fastening.
"Do you have to?" Sam asked, sounding concerned.
"Yes, it is necessary for our own protection," she replied smoothly.
Fran mentally kicked himself as he realised that he should have never suggested Sam got involved with tonight's ceremony. It simply hadn't occurred to him up until that moment but with the darkness, the candles and all the quasi mysticism this was undoubtedly bringing up memories Sam would rather have stay buried.
"Sam, would you and Ed like to go home?" Fran asked softly as Lady Zerelda stood and began to pour a thin stream of salt from her jar around them.
"No," Sam shook his head, "I'm fine here."
Fran wasn't at all sure he was, Sam's eyes now looked almost as wide as Fudge's and though it was hard to tell by candlelight he seemed to have gone pale. He didn't get a chance to say anything else though as Lady Zerelda had finished her salt circle and was retaking her position on the highest step while telling them all to join hands as she was about to begin making contact with Meggie.
When Dawn had arrived back at the farmhouse from her trip to pick up Sam's letter she'd found her husband already home, seated by the fire trying to get the feeling back into his hands and feet after the walk back from their cow barn. She felt nothing but bitter disappointment at the sight of Mack's brawny body hunched over the grate as now she couldn't read her letter because she couldn't risk him catching her taking it out of her pocket. Even though he had no idea she was receiving post from their son if he saw her with an envelope he'd immediately want to know its contents and she couldn't risk taking it out while her husband was around.
All through supper she'd had to work hard not to glance at the peg by the door where her coat was hanging. After they'd eaten and she'd cleaned the kitchen Mack had demanded a bath so Dawn spent over an hour heating the water to fill their tin bath which she set out in front of the fireplace for him. In the end she'd had to wait until he was asleep and snoring in the bed beside her to creep down the stairs by the light a single candle to retrieve the letter.
With the fire now having died away to nothing more than glowing embers Dawn had wrapped the overcoat over her flannel nightdress for warmth and seated herself on the floor by the hearth. The envelope wasn't as thick as she'd like, Sam's letters were never long, but she knew he was busy and that a boy of his age wasn't going to sit down and write several pages of news to his mother. Even a few lines were a thousand times better than not hearing from him, those weeks after he'd run away when she hadn't known where he was or even if he was still alive were the worst of her life.
Dawn read the letter once through quickly to check that everything was well with her son, then again slowly to take in everything he had to say. She was concentrating so hard on gleaning every last drop of information about Sam's life from his words that she didn't hear the bedroom door opening upstairs, or the tread of feet in knitted bed socks on the staircase. The first she knew that her husband was in the room with her was him asking in a harsh voice what exactly she was holding in her now trembling hands.
Fudge shrieked, pulled her hand from Ed's and threw herself into Earnest's arms. "Something…something breathed on me!" she squeaked.
"Do not break the circle, I am about to make the connection!" Lady Zerelda snapped at her.
"Maybe we should call a halt to this now?" Fran suggested. He'd begun to feel that the whole endeavour had been a terrible mistake on his part. Firstly he'd put Sam into a situation that was rather too reminiscent of his brush with becoming a human sacrifice for comfort, and now his niece was clearly terrified out of her wits. He looked over at her cowering against Earnest's chest then down to where Ed and Sam were. He would have expected them to at least be looking a bit scared by the girl's outburst, but instead a giggling Ed was whispering something to Sam that made him giggle too.
"What's so funny boys?" Fran asked, wondering if some kind of hysteria had gripped them.
"Sorry Fudge," Ed laughed, "that was me blowing on your neck, I couldn't resist."
"Ed, you absolute shit!" Fudge exclaimed, punching Ed in the arm, while Mulligan began to laugh too.
"For the god's sake!" Fran interjected. "Let's give this up as a bad job and go home. We'll simply tell the staff we did it, they won't know the difference."
"I'm sorry Fran, but I cannot be a party to that kind of deception," Lady Zerelda said sternly. "There is an unquiet spirit here and it is my duty to cleanse this theatre."
"Fine," Fran sighed. "All right, everybody let's be sensible this time, no pranks," he glared at Ed and Sam, who were both still grinning impishly, "and no sarcasm," he looked at Mulligan, who gave him a "who me?" kind of shrug.
They began again, Lady Zerelda had them all hold hands once more and she started to impel Meggie's spirit to come to her. At first there was still a certain amount of supressed giggling from their small group but then Fran felt the atmosphere palpably change and soon all he could hear was Lady Zerelda's deep intoning voice and their own breathing. He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination but the air around him seemed to be getting colder by the second, he would expect the room to cool as the heating had long been switched off, but this was happening rapidly. Fran looked up at Lady Zerelda, her eyes were half closed now and her body was swaying as she called out for Meggie to come to her. Everyone except Mulligan was staring up at the woman with wide eyes, however the magician was looking up the stairs and over the woman's head with a frown on his face. He seemed to be sniffing the air and Fran briefly wondered why, then he smelled it too, a faint whiff of fresh pipe smoke was now clearly detectable.
"Gods," Fran breathed to himself. He'd never once believed that Meggie's ghost was anything more than a product of people's imaginations until that instant. He felt his skin pebble with goose bumps and his palms were suddenly slick and cold against the two hands he was holding.
The sound was hardly perceptible at first, it was just at the edge of his hearing and Fran wasn't quite sure it was there at all. Soon it grew louder though and everyone turned to look in the direction it was coming from except for Lady Zerelda who seemed to have slipped into some kind of trance. It was a scratching, tapping noise like metal against metal and it appeared to be originating from the back wall of the upper circle in the walk way behind the seats. The sound was growing louder and closer, once again Fudge let go of Ed's hand and clung to Earnest while the two boys looked like they were glued to the spot in fear.
"That's it, that's what Sam and me heard before!" Fudge said in a panicked tone.
"Yeah," Sam agreed, never once taking his eyes off the wall.
"And…and I can smell pipe smoke, oh gods, OH GODS!" Fudge moaned, hiding her face in Earnest's chest.
"She is here…Meggie is here!" Lady Zerelda announced loudly, her whole body now rocking backward and forward on the step.
Another noise made Fran's heart rate double, it was a not quite human screech but what happened next was worse than any sound. A large, dark shape suddenly appeared from the top of the wall in the air above them and began to bear screaming down out of the darkness toward the small group.
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Women's Aid Dundalk
Comments : Off
Women's Aid Dundalk is an organisation which believes in the basic rights of women who are, or who have lived with domestic violence. Refuge and support is available to all women and their children on an open door basis.
Long Avenue
Dundalk, Co Louth

subset: commoncrawl


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CozIR®-A is a low power CO2 sensor, which makes it ideal for battery powered systems, including portable, wearable and self-powered applications. Designed for measuring low levels of CO2, the sensor also offers optional temperature and RH% sensing. CozIR®-A is built on our unique patented LED technology platform and optical designs. It's this solid-state technology that enables best-in-class power consumption, lifetime and durability.
CozIR®-A is designed for low concentration CO2 environments, with measurement ranges from 0-2000ppm, 0-5000ppm and 0-1%. The sensor is suitable for battery applications, and systems where low power consumption is required. This includes IoT applications, such as 'smart homes' and 'smart cities'. Examples of markets where CozIR®-A CO2 sensors are being successfully used:
- Indoor air quality (IAQ) • HVAC
- Building control • Horticulture & agriculture
- Food packaging
- Instrumentation
- Automotive
- Aerospace
- Safety


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Learn how COVID-19 is impacting your local children's hospital at KidsCantWait.org!
Where does my money go?
Donations stay local to fund critical treatments, healthcare services, pediatric medical equipment and charitable care.
Team Captain
The Platinum Warriors
Extra Life 2020
(milestones will be done once restrictions are lifted as I need friends to help with most of them. Thanks for understanding)
This is my 10th year participating in Extra Life. That's a decade of helping sick kids and their families. It's humbling, honestly, to be a part of this for so long. I am grateful for each year and all the money I have helped raise to make a positive difference in the lives of those in need.
I really want this year to be special and huge! Help me by clicking the donate button and giving, even just $5. I want this year to be my highest total yet, and I want my team The Platinum Warriors to be the biggest it has been, with a ton of members all raising money. So join up if you are a gamer and then become a part of The Platinum Warriors and help me make 2020 the best Extra Life ever!
But money isn't the only way to help, you can share my page with your friends and family and spread the word about Extra Life. More people raising money, means more kids that get help. So what do you say?
Your donation is tax-deductible and will make miracles happen for families who desperately need them. Simply click the "Donate" button at the top of this page to help.
Copy link to clipboard


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- Secure Shipping Containers in Wood Dale, IL.
- All Steel Container Products.
- Rent or Purchase.
Rent Or Buy High Quality Cargo Containers in Wood Dale
When you need shipping containers in Wood Dale you can count on Cork'd to get the best prices, selection and customization you need. Whether you are looking to rent or need a used shipping container for sale in Wood Dale you don't need to go anywhere else. Cork'd helps you quickly research storage container pricing faster than ever before. Pick up the phone or send us your request now!
We offer:
- WWT Steel Cargo Containers in Wood Dale, IL
- Used Shipping Containers For Sale in Wood Dale, IL
- Shipping Container Rentals in Wood Dale, IL
- 10-40' Conex Containers in Wood Dale, IL
Completely Customizable Shipping Containers For Sale in Wood Dale
When you need outdoor storage in Wood Dale, nothing beats wind and watertight shipping containers for sale. Used ISO sea containers completed completely insulated, are highly durable and can include rollup doors, locks, lights, shelves, ventilation and more. Additional modifications include double sided doors, a ramp or lockable windows. Most Wood Dale shipping container companies provide cheap 'as is' containers with water proof seals, dings, dents and some rust and no frills like storage racks or shelving. Make sure it doesn't leak, put some paint on it and it is good to go.
Tips For Getting The Right Steel Container
- Large shipping containers for construction sites in Wood Dale come with a minimum service contract of 30 days. If you need them for longer periods you can get them at auction or ask the manufacturer about rent to own options.
- Make sure you have enough space for the delivery truck to drop off the shipping container. A 20 foot shipping container in Wood Dale needs fifty feet of space, while a 40 foot container requires one hundred feet of space.
- Condition of containers will depend on its prior usage and range from 'like new' to 'as is'. One trip containers have only crossed the ocean once and are nearly new.
Pick up the phone now to request info on Wood Dale shipping container sizes that will suit your every need. It takes just two minutes, get started now!
Non-Verified Shipping Containers Companies
Way-Ken Contractors Supply Co.
4640 W Belmont Ave
Chicago, IL 60641
United Rentals Inc.
3233 W 36th St
Chicago, IL 60632
United Rentals Trench & Safety
4330 W 41st St
Chicago, IL 60632
Hertz Equipment Rental Corp.
4039 S Peoria St
Chicago, IL 60609
Chicago Storage Containers Chicago
716 S Carpenter St
Chicago, IL 60607
Chicago Storage Container HQ
33 N LaSalle St Ste 3400
Chicago, IL 60602
Hertz Energy - Forces Inc.
31W350 Diehl Rd
Naperville, IL 60563
First Place Rental
1608 W Church St
Sandwich, IL 60548
First Place Rental
Oswego, IL 60543
United Rentals Pump & Power
603 Airport Rd
North Aurora, IL 60542
What's the price of a 30 ft. shipping container for nearly a year?
Caroline R.
Wood Dale, IL, 60191
30 Ft Container Rental
$ 88/unit per month
I wanted a container to store surplus products beside our distribution center.
Annika G.
Bensenville, IL, 60106
40 Ft Container Purchase
$ 204/unit per month
Please include price to buy a 20 ft . container in good shape.
Henrick S.
Itasca, IL, 60143
20 Ft Container Purchase
$ 2532/unit
Sealed shipping container taken to a school.
Charlie O.
Wood Dale, IL, 60399
20 Ft Container Purchase
$ 5433/unit
I want a container to keep excess merchandise beside our store.
Cassidy T.
Bensenville, IL, 60105
10 Ft Container Rental
$ 82/unit per month
I wanted a container to keep tools on a job site.
Connor B.
Elk Grove Village, IL, 60009
30 Ft Container Rental
$ 127/unit per month
How much for three 10 feet shipping containers sent to Wood Dale?
Jenn P.
Addison, IL, 60101
10 Ft Container Purchase
$ 1691/unit
Do you have shipping containers with locks & windows?
Alise S.
Elk Grove Village, IL, 60007
40 Ft Container Rental
$ 193/unit per month
I'm trying to see what the widest shipping container in Wood Dale, IL will cost, trying to get a car within the unit.
Glen A.
Chicago, IL, 60666
10 Ft Container Rental
$ 97/unit per month
Construction site needs a container for less than a month all through the build out.
Derek D.
Medinah, IL, 60157
20 Ft Container Rental
$ 4968/unit


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宗旨目標 / History
In December 1991, National Chung Cheng University established the Adult Education Center as a means of serving the local community and promoting lifelong learning. As the University expanded and evolved, in April 1995, the Center was renamed the Adult and Continuing Education Center, to serve the school's endeavors in promoting research, teaching and continuing education. In May 2000, the Center was renamed Ching-Jiang Lifelong Learning Center to commemorate Dr. Lin Ching-Jiang, the first President of the University, for his contributions to the promotion of lifelong learning
With the advancement and progress of information and educational technology, e-learning is gradually becoming the new mode of learning. In January 2002, to welcome the age of e-learning, National Chung Cheng University established the Internet Learning Studio, under the Audio-Visual Center, to solve the problems of multimedia design technologies and meet the requirements necessary for professional platforms. Then, in August 2004, the Internet Learning Studio was reformed as the e-Learning Center, to support the design of on-campus e-learning programs, and focus on on-the-job training, and continuing education. In the same year, "Cyber CCU" was launched, and was approved by the Ministry of Education to offer three e-learning programs at the Master's level: "Information and Communications Engineering," "Professional Teaching Development," and "Accounting, Information and Law."
In December 2008, as part of National Chung Cheng University's reorganization, the Center expanded to integrate e-learning and lifelong learning, when the e-Learning Center and the Ching-Jiang Lifelong Learning Center combined their resources to become the Ching-Jiang Learning Center, with three divisions: Continuing Education, e-Learning, and Learning Systems.
The Ching-Jiang Learning Center was established to honor National Chung Cheng University's first president, Dr. Lin Ching-Jiang, and his promotion of lifelong learning to all citizens. Located on Shixian Road in Chiayi City, the Center provides a diversity in learning to people from young to old, with the hope to "Learn, Change and Empower."


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Efficient hiring and training of personnel calls for a combination of hands-on experience and knowledge of trainers with tools, services and technologies, contrived for streamlining the process, especially when it comes to cooperation with offshore employees and distributed development teams.
Here much prominence should be given to a selection of tools that totally corresponds the needs of trainers and trainees and experts of Copler did their best to scope out necessary set.
Thus Copler turns to account the most efficient communication tools that appropriate for team working and platforms for collecting and sharing information, saving time and building pulled-together team of specialists.
Tools for project and task management deserve special mention as they are result-oriented and help to boost productivity, save time and make both employer's and employee's life easier.
Here you will find out what tools are used by Copler's experts to get the most of their work.
7 TOOLS FOR MANAGING A REMOTE TEAM.pdf


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International Women's Day was first proposed by socialist leader Clara Zetkin at the International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen on March 19, 1910.
The following year, the first International Women's Day event was held. More than one million women and men across Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland attended rallies calling for the equality of women in society and government.
Now International Women's Day is celebrated every year on March 8th. It is commemorated by the United Nations and designated in many countries as a national holiday.
It's also an annual opportunity for women and men from all over the globe to come together, address important issues, and recognize and celebrate the achievements of women.
In celebration of International Women's Day,
here are some of the highlights from the past year:
Some good books:
And some good eats:
If you haven't yet, find me on Facebook.
Wishing you an International Women's Day
filled with inspiration, laughter and joy,
Sarah Cimperman, ND


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I had this for breakfast…don't judge me. Come on, it's not that bad, plenty of dairy, fruit, some carbs, a little sugar to get that blood pressure up, add in a cup off coffee and you're ready for an epic day. Anyways… **Watch us make this grilled cheese on live television!**
Entries Tagged as 'breakfast'
Caramel Apple & Brie Grilled Cheese
April 12th, 2013 · 1 Comment · breakfast, Cheese, Dessert, Fruit, grilled cheese, Lunch, National Grilled Cheese Month, Sandwich
Tags:2013·Apple·april·breakfast·Brie·caramel·cheese·cinnamon·dessert·dip·granny smith·Grilled·national grilled cheese month·sauce·sugar
Brie & Pear Grilled Cheese
April 6th, 2013 · 8 Comments · Easy, Fruit, grilled cheese, National Grilled Cheese Month, Sandwich
The day has arrived. The day I venture into the uncharted waters of grilled cheese sandwiches. Bob is the leader of the grilled cheese nation, so it's time I join forces with him with my first creation: The Breakfast Brie & Pear Grilled Cheese Sandwich. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty nervous. Bob's […]
Tags:2013·april·bread·breakfast·Brie·cheese·cinnamon·Grilled·national grilled cheese month·pear·raisin·toast
The Breakfast Grilled Cheese
April 4th, 2013 · 10 Comments · breakfast, Cheese, grilled cheese, National Grilled Cheese Month, Sandwich
Whenever "ooey gooey, runny egg yolk" is involved in a recipe, say no more! I WANT IT! Not to mention, bacon AND cheese! Like seriously, what am I doing to myself?! Now I was having a bit of an internal struggle with this grilled cheese, deciding, hmmm should I put a hashbrown in it, or […]
Tags:2013·april·Bacon·breakfast·cheese·egg·Fried·Grilled·grilled cheese·hashbrown·morning·national grilled cheese month·Potato·runny·yolk
Smoked Salmon Bagel Grilled Cheese
April 1st, 2013 · 7 Comments · breakfast, Cheese, Dinner, Fish, Grilled, grilled cheese, Lunch, National Grilled Cheese Month, Panini, Sandwich, Seafood
Let this mark the beginning of our month long ode to the almighty Grilled Cheese! As part of National Grilled Cheese Month (possibly the best month ever), we are going to be posting a new grilled cheese EVERY DAY, yes you read that right! Every day tune-in to BS' in the Kitchen and treat your […]
Tags:bagel·breakfast·capers·classic·cream cheese·dill·grilled cheese·gruyere·lox·national grilled cheese month·recipe·red onion·salmon·smoked salmon
Collard Green Scrambled Egg Wrap
March 2nd, 2013 · 1 Comment · breakfast, Egg, Healthy, Vegetable, Wrap
Being new to collard greens, I am quite the fan, the large, hearty leaves make a great vegetable side dish, or a great vehicle for other ingredients! Although I kind of failed at this being a healthy recipe (see: bacon & cheese), using a collard green as a wrap instead of your typical tortilla style […]
Tags:alternative·Bacon·breakfast·cheese·collard·collard greens·egg·green·healthy·low carb·onion·recipe·scrambled·vegetables
Blood Orange Greek Yogurt with Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar
February 27th, 2013 · No Comments · breakfast, Dessert, Easy, Fruit, Healthy, Snack, Snack
As with most people, what I eat is often dictated by what I have left in my fridge. In this case it was Greek yogurt and blood oranges. Peeling the orange, and tossing them into a bowl, I sweetened it with some honey and added a drizzle of chocolate balsamic vinegar for some pizzazz, and had myself […]
Tags:Balsamic·blood orange·breakfast·chocolate·chocolate balsamic·dessert·easy·greek yogurt·honey·orange·quick·vinegar·yogurt
Blueberry Buttermilk Coffee Cake
February 19th, 2013 · No Comments · breakfast, cake, Dessert, Fruit
Nothing says Valentines Day like coffee cake right? Well for me, it's a simple equation, COFFEE = LOVE, so when my girlfriend Megan (The Microwave Master) had to figure out what to get me for Valentines Day, she settled on baking me a coffee cake! Given that she has only baked for me once during our […]
Tags:baking·blueberry·breakfast·buttermilk·cake·Coffee·coffee cake·dessert·morning·recipe·streusel
Feta Eggs Florentine on Hashbrown
February 5th, 2013 · 7 Comments · breakfast, Easy, Egg, Lunch, Potato, Vegetable
Although this isn't necessarily a traditional Eggs Florentine (as it doesn't have any sauce to go with it), it does stay true to "Florentine" which is used to describe a dish with spinach. Regardless of semantics, this was one tasty combo! I mean, I was expecting it to be good; crunchy hashbrown topped with sauteed […]
Tags:breakfast·brunch·cheese·crispy·egg·eggs florentine·Feta·feta cheese·fried egg·Garlic·hash·hashbrown·Potato·recipe·russet·spinach
Dark Chocolate & Cranberry Stuffed French Toast
November 18th, 2012 · 2 Comments · breakfast, Dessert, Fruit, left overs, Sandwich
It has been quite the weekend for food blogging! In an effort to prepare for BS' in the Kitchen's first TV appearance (CTV Morning Live Saskatoon – we're on air shortly after 8:30AM Friday, November 23rd so tune in if you're local!), Carlene and I have been brainstorming a number of holiday inspired recipes, this […]
Tags:breakfast·chocolate·cranberry·cranberry sauce·cream cheese·dark chocolate·decadent·dessert·french toast·stuffed
Baked Apple-Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Pie (Gluten Free)
October 4th, 2012 · 6 Comments · breakfast, Easy
I've been looking for a solid breakfast oatmeal pie recipe for a while ever since trying it at our local farmer's market. After stumbling across this recipe on Pinterest, I knew I had to give it a whirl. I changed it quite a bit, using the Pinterest recipe more so as a platform to create a […]


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Erstwilder Halloween Raven Mad Brooch
Erstwilder Halloween Raven Mad Brooch
Another spooky creation from the Erstwilder Orange and Black Halloween collection!
A most excellent fancy, and a feathery fellow of jest. We know him well, his songs and his gambols.
Please be aware that resin is akin to ceramic and glass and therefore may be damaged if dropped or knocked. Keep your Erstwilder companion neatly tucked away in the box when not being worn, avoid contact with perfumes, lotions, water and excessive sunlight and you'll have a trusted friend for years to come!


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Lewis Edward Totherow, age 88, died Tuesday, September 25, 2018, at his home. The family will receive friends from 10 a.m. until 10:45 a.m., on Thursday, September 27, 2018 at Wolfe Funeral Home. The funeral service will be at 11 a.m. with... View Obituary & Service Information
The family of Lewis "Ed" Totherow created this Life Tributes page to make it easy to share your memories.
Lewis Edward Totherow, age 88, died Tuesday, September 25, 2018,...View More
A comforting word from you means a lot.Share a Memory
Send flowers to the Totherow's family.Send Flowers
Telephone: (803) 547-7575
Fax: (803) 547-7769
Email: Click Here
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Apple's wearables rivals need Watch to be a winner: IHS
Research firm predicts 2,700% surge in smartwatch market over next five years
The Apple Watch will drive a 2,700% surge in the smartwatch market over the next five years, according to analyst firm IHS.
The company expects smartwatch shipments to grow from 3.6m in 2014, to 101m in 2020. It also predicts that smartphones will represent a far greater commitment among smartphone vendors, as compare with their handsets.
"Apple Watch success will drive the overall smartwatch market," said Antonios Maroulis, analyst at IHS Technology.
"The smartwatch will become a key accessory device offered by most leading smartphone manufacturers seeking to dominate this new profitable market. We forecast the ratio of smartwatch shipments to smartphone shipments will increase from 1:500 to 1:20 between 2014 and 2020."
IHS said the Apple Watch will leave "an enormous addressable market untapped" because of the high entry price and the need for a recent iPhone model to get the most out of the wrist-wear's functionality. IHS cited 2bn Android smartphone users and even Apple users reticent to pay the $349 for a basic Apple Watch, as potential customers for cheaper Android Wear-based smartwatch vendors.
IHS projects 19m units, or 56% of the total smartwatch market for Apple this year, but expects this share to drop to 38% by 2020 as other manufacturers enter the fray and the consumer base grows. Google's Android Wear will ship 96m units over the next five years, according to IHS, and if the search giant elects to support iPhones this figure could be much greater.
"Should Apple stumble with its foray into smartwatches, the smartwatch market will suffer similarly. Smartwatches could then follow the fate of Google Glass," said Ian Fogg, senior director of Mobile and Telecoms at IHS. "Without Apple and its marketing strength, the smartwatch category needs greater marketing spend from other smartwatch makers to overcome damage to consumer perceptions. Apple's smartwatch competitors need the Apple Watch to succeed."
The key to Apple's success lies in the apps resident on and downloadable to the Watch. Early adopters have already decried the slow operation of those apps and critics have written of their frustration with everything from calendars to maps.
"Delivering a wide range of apps will be critical for smartwatch success," Maroulis said. "Apple's and Google's success with existing smartphone application stores will give them an invaluable head start over challengers."
Because of weak app ecosystems, IHS forecasts other smartwatch OS devices, excluding Apple and Android Wear, to amount to just 40 percent of smartwatch shipments in 2020.


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Mebie Baby Stretch Swaddle, Rust
The Mebie Baby Rust stretch swaddle is such a great deep orange color. Our swaddles are designed with both parents and babies in mind. Modern yet adorable colors and stripes great for all babies and toddlers. The lightweight stretch fabric is perfect for swaddling, nursing, or use in the car seat. The stretch swaddle blankets measure 47"x47".
- Fabric: Mix of Rayon + Spandex
- Size: 47x47
- Wash in Cold Water
- Tumble Dry Low
Customer Reviews
Mebie Baby swaddled are super soft and stretchy. I was kind surprise when I opened the box how good quality they are.
Swaddle is exactly what I was looking for! Soft as butter and super stretchy, perfect for swaddling my new babe!


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Andreas began his career at CLOSER when he wrote his master's thesis in Supply Chain Management at Chalmers, and has since worked at both Volvo and Accenture Strategy before returning to CLOSER.
What work will you be conducting at CLOSER?
"Initially, I'll be concentrating on CLOSER's focus area for sustainable energy supply, more specifically a demonstration project for liquid biogas (LBG). In the project, we'll analyze the demonstrators based on the environmental impact of the entire chain, total cost and how LBG affects the logistics set-up, with the goal of creating a unique system-level understanding of how an LBG system works for heavy vehicles."
What is your background?
"Most recently, I was employed at Volvo Cars, where I worked on a number of different projects in digitalization, analytics and logistics procurement. Before that, I worked for over two years as a management consultant at Accenture Strategy, where I focused on projects related to organizational change, sustainability and purchasing. I have a Master's in Supply Chain Management from Chalmers University of Technology and in 2013, I wrote my thesis at CLOSER, so now the circle is complete."
What major challenges do you see moving forward?
"We're all facing a gigantic challenge in phasing out the fossil fuel energy supply and switching to renewable alternatives, especially within the transport sector. I'm very personally engaged in these issues and want my work at CLOSER to increase our collective knowledge so that the right decisions for achieving a sustainable society can be made. The least we can do is as much as possible, to quote Pär Holmgren."


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Elan IIe, tripod
Canon 75-300 at about 100mm
Fuji Provia 100
Exposure unrecorded
|Early Bird
Up well before sunrise to photograph a nesting area in Florida, I was walking around at first glimmering light, checking out camera angles, when I spotted this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias). I think it was still dark enough for him not to be able to see me. This is a long exposure, and thankfully my subject held quite still throughout. I had a few other frames where he hadn't, and he had two ghostly heads.
The pond next to a church gave some nice framing elements, but I have to admit this picture is altered – it also gave me some power lines and a streetlight in the sky above the church. Nothing I could do to keep them out of the frame.
The regular Florida birders might well recognize this setting – it's right alongside the Venice Audubon Society Rookery. Definitely a place to check out.


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Here are Indivisible's actions for this week!
Upcoming Events
Take Action for Immigrants
This Thursday, join Indivisible and the National Immigration Law Center on Facebook Live to talk about what you can do to support immigrant families. On Thursday, April 27 at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT, join Indivisible and the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) for a Facebook Live event where we will discuss the upcoming May 1 Rise Up marches in support of immigrant families. Immigration experts will be on hand to answer your questions about Trump's efforts to tear families apart, sanctuary cities, and how you can support immigrants. RSVP to get a reminder and other streaming options now. Submit all of your questions here or by sending an email to firstname.lastname@example.com
May 1, Rise Up: The attacks against immigrants and refugees have been nonstop, from the Muslim ban to Trump's mass deportation force. It's time we rise up and show our support for the immigrants and refugees who are fighting back. That's why we've teamed up with the Fair Immigration Reform Movement for Rise Up, a nation-wide action on May 1 for immigrants and allies to stand together and resist. Rise up with us by attending an event near you!
Any attack on immigrants is an attack on all of us. Together we can shine a light on the path to freedom and end the cruelty against immigrants and refugees.
If you are interested in joining us to promote the Rise Up events across the country on May 1, here's a digital toolkit to get you started.
New Immigration Ally Toolkit: In response to the Trump administration's escalating attacks, we've created a new Immigrant Ally Toolkit, developed in partnership with the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM), Local Progress, National Immigration Law Center, Reform Immigration for America, and United We Dream. Check it out for more information on the May 1 day of action and how you can work in your communities to rise up, unite, and protect immigrant families—and share it broadly
April 29, March for Our Climate: The Trump administration's first 100 days have also been filled with unprecedented attacks on the health and safety of American families and have decisively shown that his administration is siding with polluters over people at every turn. (For more on what's at stake, see our new policy brief: Defend the Environment).
On April 29, we encourage Indivisible groups to join the People's Climate March in DC and sister marches across the country. Get started with the People's Climate March toolkit and spread the word on social media using these images.
The Week Ahead in Congress
Zombie TrumpCare: Trump just won't let his awful healthcare bill die. This week, he renewed his demand that Congress pass an ACA repeal bill. But as the White House and congressional Republicans continue working on their bill, they've only managed to make it worse. What hasn't changed is the devastation the bill will cause: at least 24 million Americans would lose their coverage, premiums would increase, and people with pre-existing conditions could face astronomical premiums.
That's why it's critical that your Representative continue to hear from you. Tell them that you don't want them wasting any more time on TrumpCare. For additional resources and talking points, see our "Obamacare is the law of the land" guide.
The Budget: Now that your MoCs are back in Washington this week, they have to pass a stopgap funding bill, known as a "CR" (Continuing Resolution), to fund the government past April 28. But with his 100-day report card looming on that same day, Trump is desperate for any legislative win he can get—so much so that his cronies in Congress may be willing to risk a government shutdown by including unpopular policy riders in the funding bill, such as:
- Defunding of ACA cost-sharing subsidies (CSRs) that millions of Americans rely on to keep coverage affordable
- Defunding Planned Parenthood and other family planning initiatives
- Additional funding for Trump's mass deportation force, including his border wall, detention facilities, and more ICE agents
- Restricting federal funding for cities that take up sanctuary policies
- Defunding the EPA and other climate protection programs
Ask your MoC not to risk a shutdown and to oppose any of these policy riders in any funding bill.


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Cal State L.A. launches ÂMOREÂ graduates into doctoral programs
Carlos, Martinez along with 12 other students are M.D., Ph.D. bound
Recognized for developing and training students for careers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, the Minority Opportunities in Research (MORE) Programs at Cal State L.A. is a launching pad for students seeking to pursue doctoral degrees with a research focus. This year, 12 MORE Programs students have been admitted into prestigious doctoral programs, including Kathleen Carlos, a biology major, and Michael Martinez, a chemistry major.
Kathleen Carlos
Ever since she was a little girl, Kathleen Carlos dreamed of becoming a doctor. However, with family obligations and financial challenges, it might seem like a daunting goal for Carlos.
Being the first in her family to even go to college, Carlos had to take on odd jobs and figure out on her own the steps needed to take in order to achieve what others might have perceived as unattainable.
But, through her participation in the MOREÂs Bridges to the Future while at Pasadena City College, the doors of opportunity begin to open up for Carlos. The program is geared toward developing the pool of talented minority students who will eventually become leaders in biomedical research.
But, she notes that credit also goes to her mom for motivating her along the way.
Inspired by the Bridges experience, she transferred to Cal State L.A. and was accepted then into the MOREÂs MBRS-RISE Program, which prepares juniors and/or seniors enter research-oriented fields.
Under the program, she studied the effects of serotonin depletion in rats on cognitive flexibility in CSULA Professor Alicia IzquierdoÂs laboratory. Her collaborative research was even published last year in the Behavioral Brain Research journal.
Paving the path to her respective field, she was also able to take advantage of the chance to conduct a summer research project at KingÂs College in London and another at Johns Hopkins.
Now a MARC-U*STAR Fellow, Carlos is studying the basis of muscle development in Professor Sandra SharpÂs laboratory. MARC-U*STAR research training program offers a full tuition scholarship to juniors and seniors. She is also is a member of the Golden Key and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies.
Evidence that dedication and hard work do pay off, Carlos has recently been accepted to a M.D./Ph.D. program at UC Irvine with a paid fellowship along with monthly stipends.
ÂIdeally, when I am all done with my doctoral study, said Carlos, ÂI would like to spend a few days of the week treating patients at a clinic, and other days teaching at a molecular neuroscience lab at a college or university. I want to make a difference in research and medicine.Â
Michael Martinez
Fascinated by scientific experiments, such as making a volcano with baking soda, or creating a geyser with soda and menthol, Michael Martinez at a very young age was drawn to the mystery of how things work.
He was also interested in tackling problems in a systematic way, so he explored his interests by taking introductory science classes at a city college while he was enrolled in middle school.
From there, Martinez knew that he wanted to skip high school, go to college and pursue a career in the sciences. At age {15?}, he applied and was admitted to CSULA through the Early Entrance Program (EEP) under the auspices of the Honors College.
With focus and determination, Martinez was eventually selected as a fellow of the Minority Access to Research Careers-Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research (MARC-U*STAR). The MARC-U*STAR, he described, is the premier undergraduate honors research training program on campus.
Martinez is currently conducting research on the ÂIdentification of Benzo[a]pyrene Diones as Net Sensitizers of Singlet Oxygen with CSULA Professors Krishna Foster and Matthias Selke. The study attempts to identify net sensitizers of singlet oxygen in the lower atmosphere. Remarkably, his research was one of 12 to be recognized at the 2013 annual Cal State L.A. Symposium on Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity.
MartinezÂs accolades also include the CSULA Department of Chemistry and BiochemistryÂs Freshman in Chemistry Award, the Rashad E. Rasouk Scholarship, and the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) Outstanding Undergraduate Research Presentation Award. A DeanÂs List student, he is also a member of the CSULA Chemistry and Biochemistry Club, EEP Club, G.E. Honors Program, SACNAS and the American Chemical Society.
After graduating from CSULA this June, Martinez will pursue a Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry at the Scripps Research Institute. Utlimately, he hopes to focus on a career specializing in finding treatments for diseases.
ÂI greatly appreciate the help and support from EEP and CSULA MORE Programs faculty for bringing me to CSULA and giving me the research training to be effective in graduate school, said Martinez.
Here is a preliminary list of MORE Programs grads and their doctoral destinations:
Judith Alvarado, University of California, San Diego
Irvin A. Coria, University of California, Santa Barbara
Eli Espinosa, University of California, Riverside
DeVonna Gatlin, University of Cincinnati
Steve Halaby, Cornell University
Nancy Lainez, University of California, Riverside
Michael Mendoza, University of California, Riverside
Amber Paasch, Richard Gilder Graduate School at the American Museum of Natural History
Mariah Paula Rincon, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Raquel Rodriguez, Boston University
Adwoa Sasu, University of Arizona
Matthew Ward, University of Southern California
Find out more at the following links:
- MORE Programs at CSULA:
- Early Entrance Program at CSULA:
- Office of Graduate Studies and Research at CSULA:
- Department of Biological Sciences at CSULA:
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at CSULA:
- College of Natural and Social Sciences at CSULA:


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DISCRETE MATHEMATICS (2 Credits)
Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of this course, student will be able to: Explain the logic of compound and quantified statements, Explain the counting method; Explain set theory; Explain Function, recursion, fuzzy set and relations; Explain Graph, Trees, Finite Automata and its applications.
- The Logic of Compound Statements;
- The Logic of Quantified Statements;
- Counting;
- Set Theory;
- Function, Recursion, and Fuzzy Set;
- Relations;
- Graphs and Trees;
- Finite Automata.
Published at : Updated


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Vitori allowed to resume bowling in international cricket
- If the Zimbabwe left-arm fast bowler is reported again, it will be deemed as his first offence
The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced that following remedial work and reassessment, the bowling action of Zimbabwe's Brian Vitori has been found to be legal, and the left-arm fast bowler can now resume bowling in international cricket.
As Vitori has cleared an independent reassessment of his bowling action after serving a 12-month suspension, if he is reported again, it will be deemed as his first offence.
Vitori was originally suspended from bowling in January 2016, but he was reassessed and permitted to resume bowling in June 2016. He was again reported during the Bulawayo ODI against Sri Lanka on 29 November 2016 and was subsequently suspended for 12 months in December 2016 after an independent assessment revealed he had employed an illegal bowling action.
On 8 January 2018, Vitori underwent a reassessment of his bowling action at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria where it was revealed that the amount of elbow extension in his bowling action for all his deliveries was within the 15-degree level of tolerance permitted under the ICC Illegal Bowling Regulations.
The umpires are still at liberty to report Vitori in the future if they believe he is displaying a suspect action and not reproducing the legal action from the reassessment. To assist the umpires, they will be provided with images and video footage of the bowler's significantly remodeled legal bowling action.


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huunuu legal
Our online legal portal, enables you to create essential documents, such as a will and LPA's or manage your digital accounts. There is also an executor toolkit to help you navigate your responsibilities if you're accountable for processing someone else's estate.
huunuu legal has been created by solicitors with years of experience, so you can rest assured you're in good hands. Even better, you'll be covered in the time it takes to do an online shop!


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Cold weather brings along with it stiff joints and body aches. With the help of battery heated body wraps we can now ease and relieve stress, stimulate blood circulation
Why Heat Therapy?
- Relieves pain
- Improves blood circulation
- Reduces tension and stress
- Helps remove toxins
- Improves immune system
We all have dealt with pains, aches and stiffness in our body due to cold weather. It seems too good to enjoy that delicious chicken soup and hot chocolate milk but cold weather also bring with its indispensable pains and aches. We use warm clothes to avoid this thing but are we really able to do so with it. Don't you suffer from stiff neck, numb hands and non-flexible body? Well let's admit it. At some or the other point of time we all have suffered this. But we never look up for any advanced solution to our problems. To ease our pain there is a complete advanced solution to our problem. Have you ever thought of something that allows you to take control of your body temperature? A jacket or glows or any warm wear that gives you perfect control of the heat that is required for your body. Well definitely not. As a matter of delight there is a system that can give you charge of the temperature that you want to stay in.
There is a whole new range of battery heated thermals. And there are other natural herbal wraps that can bring ease to your daily pains. Now you would be eager to know that what is battery heated thermals. Well they are just customized thermals attached with a small battery that stores energy in it and produce heat from it. Yes you are reading it right. And in addition most of these clothes are rain proof and snow proof so external water and snow would not wet your thermals. They are specially designed by a few firms that deal with it. Generally it requires 12 volts of power to function. You can find it in range of Apparels such as women's fleece jacket and Mens fleece jacket also in hand gloves and hoodies. It gives flexibility to the body; it is also suitable for sports people who can perform well in the cold. Out of all the other thermals these types are best fleece jacket. There is also another way that helps you target aches and pains specifically that is herbal body wraps. Now these are wrapped made up of herbal material you can microwave it so they can retain heat for few hours and you can apply them on your body. Herbal heat wraps will soothe your pains and aches.
Now you can deal with cold weather with an upper hand. You do not need to wear 2 to 3 jackets or inner thermals and sweaters to keep your body warm. Here you have your own unique solution for the cold weather. Now you would not feel those stiff hands or those aches in the back due to cold. In addition it would relieve the stress that you have gone through all the day.


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Which metals are the most reactive?
Question by Guest | 28.09.2018 at 19:40
Does anyone know which metals are above average reactive or even the most reactive? I know that there is maybe no pat answer to this question, because it also depends on the reaction partners. But there is certainly a tendency to recognize the most reactive metals.
Defining a general rule is really a bit difficult, but it can be derived from the periodic table. The fewer electrons in the valence shell, the more reactive a substance is.
Thus, the alkali metals would be the most reactive since they are in the 1st main group of the periodic table and thus have only one electron in the valence shell. This makes it very easy to bond with other substances and thus react with these substances.
The alkali metals include the chemical elements lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, cesium and francium.
29.09.2018 at 19:22
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17thStreet High Heel Race ~ Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Published: November 8th, 2013
Over 20 years ago some guys in drag were doing a bar crawl. They stopped at Annie's restaurant and got even drunker. Instead of sashaying one block to the next bar, they decided to race to it in high heels! That bit of drunken silliness started Dupont East's 17th Street annual tradition held on the Tuesday night before Halloween. The race may be the excuse, but it is over very quickly. The real fun is seeing those in costume parade before the race and pose afterwards, as can be hinted at in these images. –Phil Carney, photographer.


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This post may contain affiliate links, see disclosure policy for details.
Keto buffalo chicken dip is a great recipe if you're on a Keto or low carb diet or even if you're not! Not only is this buffalo chicken dip recipe a 100% keto-friendly appetizer, it's also customizable! You can also lighten up certain ingredients to make your clean eating friends happy too!
Save Time & Money with My Free Easy, Healthy Weeknight Meals Cookbook
Keto Buffalo Chicken Dip – The Perfect Tailgating "Healthy" Food!
It's football season! Who doesn't love all of the yummy football food?
But – if you are trying to eat healthy or following a specific diet like the ketogenic diet, sometimes navigating food choices can be hard!
I've found that bringing my own recipe to a party helps me to be able to find something to eat! This recipe is great because chicken wing dip is definitely a fan favorite.
But the best thing is – no one will ever know they are eating a "healthy" appetizer recipe! This keto buffalo chicken dip recipe tastes just as good as the usual recipe.
Other Momma Fit Lyndsey Keto Article and Recipes
- Keto Crockpot Recipes
- Budget Friendly Keto at Aldi
- Keto Donuts
- Keto Fat Bombs Peanut Butter Chocolate
Skinny Buffalo Chicken Dip – How to Lighten up Buffalo Chicken Dip
This keto chicken wing dip has very few ingredients. That makes it super simple and quick to make! If you are looking to lighten up the recipe and make it more of a skinny buffalo chicken dip – here is what to do!
Swap 1 – Sour cream for plain greek yogurt
Swap 2 – Cream cheese for Neufchatel cheese
That's it! these two swaps are going to cut down the fat and calories making this keto buffalo chicken dip also a lightened up recipe! And it still tastes incredible. No one will be the wiser!
Spoon University had some great ideas on what to serve with buffalo chicken dip besides chips.
This is the #1 Most Popular Recipe on Momma Fit Lyndsey
Keto Buffalo Chicken Dip
- 1 8 0z block cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup Frank's Red Hot more for more bold flavor
- 2 cups cooked chicken shredded
- chives snipped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all cream cheese, sour cream, and Frank's Red Hot until well incorporated. Add in chicken.
Transfer mixture to an 8X8 Pyrex or casserole dish and bake for 20-25 minutes or until bubbling. Broil for up to 5 minutes (watch carefully!) to brown and crisp the top.
Serve with low carb veggies like celery!
Like to shop Keto on a Budget? Download your FREE Aldi Budget Friendly Keto Shopping List below!
My list of Best Resources for How to Start a Keto Diet
Are you ready for tailgating season? What are your favorite tailgating appetizers? Tell me about it in the comments!
Join 20,312 other followers and subscribers in getting more healthy family recipes right to your inbox! Download your FREE Keto grocery list belo
Download the FREE Keto at Aldi Grocery List
Enter your info to get the FREE Keto Aldi grocery list plus other healthy lifestyle tips!


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If you have ever attended a Punjabi wedding in your life, you might have seen it is quite common for us to shower currency notes at people out of love. In every Indian Baaraat, there has at least one uncle who throws money on the Baaratis and dances with joy.
But this happens only in India and with Indian people. Ever wondered what if foreigners also join you in this note showering tradition? We brought a video for you! It is a typical Punjabi video where a group of Punjabis are dancing high on loud music. And what caught our attention is the foreigners can be seen doing something not common for them. The video shows Punjabi boys throwing money in the air and foreigners quickly coming to grab it.
Punjabis throwing dollars while dancing and firangis picking them up ? ? pic.twitter.com/BL0AIu9PC1
— Pakchikpak Raja Babu (@HaramiParindey) August 3, 2018


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Mods - Music is from Farming Simulator 15 - Focus Home Interactive - All rights reserved.
[2012 Focus Home Interactive - All rights reserved - We are fine with YouTube monetization using recorded video material from our games as long as the video is somehow related to the game(s) in question (e.g. review, preview, a Let's Play, or some other similar type).
Also, it is allowed to use the music from the games in connection with videos related to our games. However music used outside of videos of our games is not allowed.]
Community Member


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Registration for Safety Town begins May 14
Registration for York County's award-winning Safety Town program, which teaches pre-kindergartners various aspects of life safety, will begin for county residents on Monday, May 14, 2012, and end as soon as all available spaces are filled.
Registration will also be open to non-county residents beginning Monday, May 21 if spaces are still available at that time. Registration will take place Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Community Services office in the York County Administration Building, which is located at 224 Ballard Street in Historic Yorktown.
Now in its 18th year of operation, this summer program seeks to reduce childhood injury by introducing four- and five-year-old children to basic safety concepts through the use of interactive experiences. Registration form and fee will only be accepted by hand-delivery to the address listed above, and only during the registration time period.
Set up to resemble a small-scale "town," with portable buildings, sidewalks, roads, and street signs, the appealing Safety Town learning environment is used as a practice area for several of the safety lessons. Each session lasts one week, running Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. All lessons and activities relate to a specific topic each day, such as Traffic and Pedestrian Safety, Fire Safety, Personal Safety, and Home Safety.
Parents will accompany their children to Safety Town on Friday, attending a Safety Fair and Completion Ceremony, at which each child will receive a certificate, a Safety Town t-shirt, backpack, and a bicycle helmet. Funding for Safety Town is provided by the generous contributions and sponsorship of area businesses, community agencies, civic organizations, county government, and individual citizens.
The schedule for the 2012 Safety Town is as follows:
Date Location
July 9 - July 13 Mt. Vernon Elementary School
July 16 - July 20 Mt. Vernon Elementary School
July 23 - July 27 Mt. Vernon Elementary School
July 30 – Aug 3 Magruder Elementary School
Registration forms and information are available at all York County Elementary Schools, the York County Public Library, Parks and Recreation, the Griffin-Yeates Center and online at www.yorkcounty.gov/communityservices. For further information about Safety Town, please call Katie Meis, Department of Community Services, at 890-3880. Safety Town spaces are limited to 50 children per week. The cost is $25 for York County residents and $35 for non-county residents.
Safety Town seeks youth and adult volunteers
York County's popular Safety Town program, a summer activity for pre-kindergarten children, has a number of volunteer opportunities for middle school and high school students, and adults.
This award-winning program seeks to reduce childhood injury by teaching five-year-old children basic safety concepts through hands-on, interactive learning experiences.
Youth and adult volunteers are needed to serve as "Leader Assistants," responsible for helping staff group leaders monitor and supervise an assigned group of 10 children. Volunteer hours will be 8:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m., Monday through Friday, according to the following schedules for 2012:
Date Location
July 9 - July 13 Mt. Vernon Elementary School
July 16- July 20 Mt. Vernon Elementary School
July 23 - July 27 Mt. Vernon Elementary School
July 30 – Aug 3 Magruder Elementary School
All Safety Town volunteers receive a Safety Town t-shirt and recognition at the weekly completion ceremony. Interested volunteers must be available to attend the volunteer training on June 22 at the Public Safety Conference Room at 301 Goodwin Neck Road from 10-11:30 am. For the purposes of scheduling and consistency, Safety Town coordinators are requiring all selected volunteers to commit to one entire week of the program this summer. Space is limited, as only 60 volunteer slots are available.
Interested youth and adults should contact York County Parks and Recreation, at 890-3500 to receive a Safety Town volunteer application or get them online at www.yorkcounty.gov/communityservices. Applications are now being accepted until all spots are filled or until the deadline of Friday, June 1, 2012.
If you no longer wish to receive notices from this list, simply unsubscribe here


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It was a leaf.
One singular leaf.
And it fell.
Speaking only in a whisper as it went. Its last cry carried on the wind that took it from its place, its home. It was just the one leaf, falling through the breeze. Calling to me, warning me, as it did.
He is not the same.
That's what the leaf said.
He is not who you think him to be.
Was the echo the wind gave. Words that spoke of fall, of seasons changing. Words that carried truth to them. A resounding, hollow ring.
I will tell you something that few know:
A forest on the verge of death can only speak truth. It has been that way since always. Since forever. An ancient law, as old and bright as the sun. Which is how I knew:
He was not who I thought he was. Continue reading "Cold Comes the Lie"


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The Cardassian Science Ministry was a government department of the Cardassian Union responsible for scientific research and exploration on behalf of the Cardassians. The department fell under the Cardassian military instead of the civilian government.
The Ministry was given several maxims from the military, one of which was to not to make any project appear too dangerous. This could result in reporting on computer simulations to only include likely outcomes instead of all possible ones.
The Ministry was largely female-dominated in the mid-24th century as most males joined military branches which were more combat-oriented. This also led to a stereotype that males did not have the capability of pursuing science.
In 2371, the Ministry was tasked with helping a joint team develop communications through the Bajoran wormhole. The team included Ulani Belor and Gilora Rejal. (DS9: "Destiny")
External link
- Cardassian Science Ministry at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works


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Contact Us
Texas Plains Roofing is the fastest growing commercial roofing and residential roofing contractor in the Texas Panhandle. In addition to roofing, we also provide quality home exterior services. We are conveniently located in Amarillo TX and Pampa TX.
Commercial Roofing Services
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The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) guided the believers to, in absolute awe, humility, fear and hope, to sincerely call upon Allah for whatever lawful their hearts desire, and Allah promise to answer.
Allah says: "And if My servants ask you (O Prophet) concerning Me, tell them that I am quite near to them. I hear and answer the prayer of the supplicant, when he calls on Me. So let them respond to My call and believe in Me, perhaps they may be guided aright!" [Q2:186].
The Prophet (PBUH) said: "Any Muslim who makes a supplication containing nothing which is sinful, or which involves breaking ties of relationship, will be given for it by Allah one of three things: He will give him swift answer, or store it up for him in the next world, or turn away from him an equivalent amount of evil." Those who heard it said they would then make many supplications and he (PBUH) replied that Allah was more ready to answer than they were to ask.
[Al-Tirmidhi 2257] Abu Hurayrah (radiyallaahu anhu) reported that the Prophet (PBUH) said: "Your supplication will be answered if you are not impatient, and if you do not say, 'I supplicated but my supplication was not heard'." [Narrated by Malik.] Therefore when asking for wealth or anything of the world, make sure you beseech Allah to provide you with 'halaal' and bestow upon you the ability to spend of what He has provided you in His cause.
You should also be careful not to always and only ask for wealth or things that are useful in this world. Balance the supplications with imploring Allah to also give you the good of the Hereafter; that would be closer to piety and righteousness in the Sight of Allah. In light of the guidance of the Qur'an and the Sunnah, each and every supplication a believer makes to Allah is heard and answered, except three:
1- A supplication which involves or contains something which is sinful.
2- 2- A supplication which is made from a careless or inattentive heart.
3- 3- A supplication where the one making the supplication is impatient.
Salam alaikum waramatulahi wabarakatu.
Have something to add? Please comment below and subscribe.


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Rancho Santa Fe Weddings
Balboa Park Wedding
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Rancho San Diego Wedding
Rancho Santa Fe Wedding
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San Marcos Wedding
Santee Wedding
Scripps Ranch Wedding
Tierrasanta Wedding
Vista Wedding
Rancho Santa Fe is an unincorporated area located in the North County of San Diego. The "ranch" as it is fondly called is a California Historic Landmark and is known for its large lots, rural ambiance and celebrity residents.
A truly unique and gorgeous place to have your wedding!
Rancho Santa Fe is home of the landed gentry, reminiscent of the Montecito area of Santa Barbara. Its roots are with the Santa Fe Railroad, which had used this ranch land to grow eucalyptus trees for railroad ties and started developing the land for exclusive housing in the early 1920s. Horses are common and polo is nearby. There are several local golf courses, and a charming village at the intersection of State Highways 8 and 9.
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