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PASADENA – After a year on hiatus, Pasadena's traditional Celebration on the Colorado Street Bridge again drew thousands to the historic landmark.
Food vendors tempted guests with the aromas of cooking confections, live bands provided dance music and classic cars were on display at the party, held on the bridge overlooking the Arroyo Seco.
"This is the best night Pasadena has to offer," Margaret Germond, 57, of Pasadena said. "The view of the mountains, the bridge; it's quintessential Pasadena."
Germond met with old friends and made new ones at the party, like Erlinda Fantauzzi, 63, of San Gabriel.
The former strangers shared a table, and some wine, as they listened to live bands.
Fantauzzi said she loved attending the event because of the friendly spirit the celebration brings out in people.
"That's what I love, that's what Pasadena has," she said. "That people connection."
In a new feature of the event, attendees were invited to stop by a booth and leave a video message relaying what they like about Pasadena. The top 10 videos chosen will be displayed on the Facebook page of party host Pasadena Heritage the city's historical preservation society on Monday, organizers said.
The celebration was hosted by Pasadena every two years between 1979 and 1989, when the bridge was closed for renovation, Pasadena Heritage Executive Director Sue Mossman said.
The party was then held every year since the bridge reopened in 1993, with the exception of last year, when the celebration was canceled because of financial concerns.
The party on the bridge is a principal fundraiser for Pasadena Heritage, Mossman said, which is dedicated to preserving the city's historically significant features.
"In the early days, we did it to call attention to the fact that the bridge needed to be upgraded," Moss said. "Now we just do it to celebrate all of the preservation successes. It's our number one time to get together and have fun."
Pasadena Heritage has played roles in helping preserve the Colorado Street Bridge, the City Hall building, the Rose Bowl, Old Pasadena and other historical aspects of Pasadena, she said.
More than 400 volunteers helped make the bridge celebration possible, event chairwoman Maggie McDermott said.
"I think of it as Pasadena's largest block party," she said.
McDermott added that "It's a great way to celebrate what's so great about Pasadena, and the importance we put on preservation."
626-962-8811, ext. 4586


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Blindspot Season 1 Episode 7 at CouchTuner
Posted by couchtuner on November 3, 2015 – 9:30 am at Blindspot
Couchtuner Desc:
One of Jane's tattoos sends the team to a remote location where they find themselves face to face with a dangerous criminal in a case that puts Jane and Weller's strained relationship to the test and threatens to expose Mayfair's secrets. Meanwhile, Patterson breaks the rules to solve a tattoo puzzle.
Watch it here : Blindspot Season 1 Episode 7

subset: commoncrawl


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Wednesday, May 1, 2013
A Peaceful Wednesday
36 comments:
oh, i'm SO glad the end to the work schedule was for a good reason! made me worry for a second, there!ReplyDelete
so glad cissy is doing really well - considering. hope next week will bring a good medication, too.
Looks like Cissy and Todd are hitting it off. I hope the vet can figure out her meds. She seems like a lovely dog. Have a great time at the cabin, you really deserve it. You and Carl have been through a lot this year.ReplyDelete
We hope you have a wonderful vacation!ReplyDelete
Hi Kim, I am so thankful that you and Carl are getting away to beautiful Tennessee. We love that state. Glad you have someone to take care of the pack too. I've missed connecting with you lately. I hope that you both have a restful and fun time away.ReplyDelete
Hugs, Noreen
Enjoy that well deserved vacation Kim!ReplyDelete
I'm so happy that your trip has worked out for you. Sounds like Carl is mending well. Todd looks as if he is wondering if he is going to be a left-behinder.ReplyDelete
The photos of where you live are gorgeous, so pretty!ReplyDelete
Enjoy your very well deserved break - you'll have a rapturous welcome upon your return, that's for sure!
ps Cissy is looking absolutely amazing, a different dog to the poor little soul of a few weeks ago. Well done for making such a difference to this sweet girl's life!
Your dogs are cute, and how good the trip to the cabin will work out. I think it will be very restorative to your health, for both of you.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousWed May 01, 12:37:00 PM
Hope your vacation is wonderful, and the pack does alright, see you when you get back!ReplyDelete
The Mad Scots
HAve fun on your vacation and glad to hear that Cissy is doing so well...and learning much needed stuff from Todd!! :-)ReplyDelete
Todd, you are very handsome!!
Happy May Day
Jazzi and Addi
It is always good to get away for a bit, even if it is a day or two. Some 'down' time can really recharge the old batteries. That Cissy--she makes me smile. Look at that happy face--what a complete switch from her first day. And even that sweet bald butt makes me smile. She looks very, very happy.ReplyDelete
Enjoy your trip to the cabin, sounds great!ReplyDelete
Cissy looks better and better with each week. What is that pretty blue bird on the food block? It is very pretty. My favorite photo is the landscape witht he fog. So pretty, I can see why you love it there... snowed here again yesterday.
Have a lovely time and a change of scenery.ReplyDelete
I would so love to live out in the country. I tell my husband all the time, we need to sell this house and buy in the country. Very peaceful and quiet. Here in the big city of Miami there is no peace and the people rude rude rude. YUCK. Hate it here.ReplyDelete
If this new job does not go well for him, he will take me up on my offer to sell here and buy in another completely different state and start over. I don't care the size of the home, I just want peace and quiet and tranquility. I don't even mind going back to work for this.
Have fun on your vacation. Ana
It's wonderful when things work out..meant to be! We know you'll have a fantastic time away.ReplyDelete
XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy
Love Todd teaching Cissy to stalk the cat.
Hi Kim, oh I am so happy for you and Carl to have a little getaway, you deserve it so much....sounds heavenly.......Cissy looks so much better, taking lessons from Todd, cute..........enjoy time at the cabin, take lots of pictures, Hugs Francine.ReplyDelete
oh dear heart.ReplyDelete
if ever there was a person who needed a vacation and deserved one
it's you and carl!
and look at that little cissy face.
i agree with the other tammy on here. the difference in her earlier pictures and these now are like night and day.
and todd still suffers from a huge case of adorability!
happy trip dear hear! xoxo
I'm so glad that you and Carl are getting a vacation! I can only imagine how much logistics go into planning for one, with all of your dogs. Have a wonderful and restful one!ReplyDelete
I love it that you just made these arrangements for you and Carl to have a nice little vacation!ReplyDelete
I hope the weather is perfect for you and that you have lots of fun, a good relaxing time!
Cheers and hugs,
Jo, Stella and Zkhat
Your dogs always have such expressive faces,Cissy`s eyes are so soulful looking...ReplyDelete
My best friend lives in Tenn on 90 acres & it is the most beautiful spot,in Kyles Ford.Hope you & Carl enjoy your retreat,you deserve it,your place at Golden Pines looks pretty special too!phyllis
Aren't those reminders so unexpectedly beautiful? Have a great time on the vacation.ReplyDelete
What everyone else said. Have a wonderful, blessed vacation. ♥ReplyDelete
Hope things go well for Cissy, too. ♥
Oh, Dear Kim...everything looks so peaceful and the dogs so dear...they are so blessed to have you and your loving care, dear friend!ReplyDelete
I hope you have a wonderful, relaxing getaway!
Have a great vacation. It is always so nice when the day starts out peaceful. Todd always looks like he has everything under control.ReplyDelete
Thanks for being a friend
Sweet William The Scot
Have a good time with your Hubby Kim!!!!ReplyDelete
We will be thinking good thoughts for you two!!
Hi KimReplyDelete
Enjoy your vacation! It's wonderful to see Cissy getting around - paws crossed that her infection will be cured soon.
Nadine & goldens Neeli & Elle
Enjoy your much needed break.ReplyDelete
Cissy is looking much better :0)
So happy to hear you two are able to get away for a vacation. Relax and enjoy.ReplyDelete
Certainly a well deserved break for both of you! Have a wonderful, relaxing time. Re-energize cause you know those left behind will be ever so over-excited when you return!ReplyDelete
How wonderful, have a lovely break and may the sunshine enhance each day with the joys of colours of Spring.ReplyDelete
Have a fabulous time Kim. You deserve it!ReplyDelete
We are sending lots of wishes that you and Carl will have a good time at the cabin.ReplyDelete
Cissy is so adorable and looks like she has cat watching perfected,, and I think Todd agrees.
Oh so glad you are getting some time away. I hope it is a wonderful time and both of you return renewed and refreshed. The last photograph is awesome!ReplyDelete
Safe travels.ReplyDelete
Have a chillaxing pawliday!ReplyDelete


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BRASILIA, March 6 (Reuters) - The Brazilian government is discussing a new fuel pricing policy with state-controlled oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA, Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles said on Tuesday.
His remarks follow a 16 percent surge in cooking gas prices in 2017 which corroded consumers' spending power. In an interview with CBN radio, Meirelles said discussions on a new pricing policy that does not hamper consumers nor Petrobras, as the company is known, are ongoing. (Reporting by Marcela Ayres; Writing by Bruno Federowski, Editing by Franklin Paul)


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Please be aware that this product needs to be stored at 75 degrees or below. If it is exposed to higher heat it can change the consistency, causing it to liquify. If this happens please place in fridge overnight. Be aware this may also occur in shipping during high heat summer months.


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After all my kids are tucked into bed, I love to break out my nail polish and play! The act of slowing down and taking time for myself is very therapeutic and helps me unwind at the end of a stressful day.
Follow me on Instagram- @midnight_stamper
Born Pretty 10% discount code: RACHX31
Saturday, May 27, 2017
City of Rome ft. MoYou London Scandi
Today's #clairestelle8challenge prompt on instagram was one that really made me stop and think, browse through my pinterest board of the stamping plates I own to find inspiration, and even do light research on google. I knew I wanted to choose a specific city for the "cities" prompt, rather than doing a generic city look, but I had no idea which city to choose!
In the end, I was inspired by the Colosseum image on my Scandi plate to base my mani after the famous city of Rome. I decided to pair my images with a marble pattern you might expect to see there, as well as a flower popular in Roman mythology as well as the city itself: the poppy.
I started most of my nails with two coats of Sinful Colors "Snow Me White". On my ring finger, I have 4 coats of "Cinderella" for my base.
The Colosseum image comes from the MoYou London plate "Scandi 03", which has a lot of great landmark buildings from around the world. I've used a few of them already in previous manis; the Golden Gate Bridge, La Basilica de la Sagrada Familia, and some of the textures, so I wanted to choose something I hadn't done before.
spring daffodil look.
To get the marble texture, I used a different Bundle Monster plate from the Blogger Collaboration plate; this time the Twi_Star plate with all the mermaid stuff. It's supposed to be a kind of water texture, but I thought it would also be perfect to do an easy marble look.
I finished the look off with a couple of studs. I hope you enjoyed this look! If you'd like to see more city themed manis, you can find them on the #clairestelle8may tag on instagram.
6 comments:
I loved how you used different pattern and design to create a beautiful manicure for the cities prompt :)ReplyDeleteReplies
Thank you so much! I've never done a marble look before, and I really enjoyed trying it this time!Delete
Gorgeous and such a stunning mani. I love Rome and wish I could travel there more than I do!! You captured it perfectly.ReplyDelete
Vicky x
Thank you!! I think Italy is such a beautiful country; I've always wanted to visit it, especially Venice, and I've never had the chance to but hopefully some day!Delete
Wow once again another stunning manicure! I really love the thought behind your manicure too, I think you Rome proud with this one :DReplyDeleteReplies
Aw, thank you so much! You always have the sweetest things to say. It was so much fun to dive into this project and learn some new things about Rome!Delete


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The front ends were also hit or miss depending on which car you had. The Tamiya front end was pretty durable, and fairly adjustable if you threw the Exotek parts on it. It still had limitations. Speedpassion had some good ideas, but it was hard to set with the shims and graphite plate..maybe a bit complicated for what it did. Some others like CRC and VBC tried to be a little more straightforward yet functional.
So now there has been a sudden swarm of cars based on the "Xray layout" - transverse battery, graphite plate front end parts, and often, a bellcrank steering system.


text:
|Message view
|« Date » · « Thread »
|« Date » · « Thread »
|Roman Shaposhnik <...@apache.org>
|Re: hadoop-2.0.4-alpha bug-fix release
|Thu, 28 Mar 2013 23:56:14 GMT
On Wed, Mar 27, 2013 at 1:33 PM, Arun C Murthy <email@example.com> wrote: > Thanks to Bobby we might have narrowed down the issue to a change needed in > Oozie, I'll start preparing to make the 2.0.4 release later this week. Here's an update. I filed https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/MAPREDUCE-5117 which feels like a true blocker since Kerberos with Oozie used to work in previous releases of Bigtop. I would really appreciate all the help with figuring out what could be wrong there. Thanks, Roman.
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As the day draws closer to its end, and with it, the end of 2016, I find myself thinking back. This past year has been a mixed bag of good, bad, and WTF moments.
I first want to address my darkness of this year. Actually, for last three years. I've lost a lot of people, and in July of this year, my wonderful Wolfound, Fawn, succumbed to bone cancer. My mind snapped and I allowed myself to plummet.
I got comfortable in the dark places of my mind. I didn't have to think, feel, do, or be. I just flipped the switch to auto pilot and went through my days–most times not even knowing how I got from point A to B. I'm really good at being 'okay', it's a skill I learned as a child and honed as a teenager. It's a place very few know how to navigate in order to find me. One who could with absolutely no difficulty was my sister Berta.
Her death in 2014 gutted me. And I've yet to recover. I still look for her, wait for her, listen for her, and call for her. My mind tries to block out the pain, but not having her overwhelms me. 2016 I began to work through that pain. And it hurt like hell. So, when it got too much, I retreated to that place. And yet, I managed to write, and self published five books—told you, I have mad coping through the darkness skills.
And now, for the light that refused to die. I did publish five books—FIVE and they're good books (well, I think so!) I met some amazing people through Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms. I homeschooled my son for the 2015/16 school year, and we had a blast. 2016 saw Middle Girl graduate grade 8, and Eldest Girl become a lifeguard and get her learner's permit. I reconnected with cousins, and discovered that I'm still pretty good at my job. We also welcomed (well, most of us did) a new member to our family: Albus the Cat. I won't elaborate….just follow the hashtag: #AlbustheCat
Sometimes it's hard to remember that there is good in the world, and that we need the bad—and yes, the pain, to appreciate the light that finds us. I am grateful that I made it through this year. There were moments I truly thought I wouldn't, that the demons would win. Thank you to all of you, you fought for me when I couldn't fight for myself. Much love to you.
Happy New Year.


text:
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The following is the most current GOES-13 to GOES-16 Transition Schedule.
GOES-13/GOES-16 upcoming schedule:
11/30/2017 – GOES-16 will start drifting 1.14° a day to the east.
12/07/2017 - GOES-13 GVAR and LRIT will be patched through GOES-14, users at this time should point their antennas at GOES-14, located at 105° West.
12/11/2017 – GOES-16 will arrive at 75.2° West, beginning a 3-week period co-located with GOES-13.
12/14/2017 - GOES-13 DCS, EMWIN, LRIT and SARSAT will be disabled @1532 UTC. Nominal GOES-13 GVAR will be disabled, but still re-routed to GOES-14.
12/14/2017 - GOES-16 GRB, DCS, HRIT/EMWIN and SARSAT will be enabled @1545 UTC. All data distribution will be turned on and GOES-16 will be the operational GOES East satellite.
01/02/2018 – GOES-14 re-routed GVAR and LRIT will be disabled, GOES-13 will start drifting to the east.
01/22/2018 - GOES-13 arrives at 60° West.
An EMWIN broadcast on GOES-14 will be available for a 6-month overlap past GOES East transition on December 14th, 2017. The broadcast from GOES-14 provides GOES-East users an additional opportunity to continue to use their existing EMWIN satellite receivers and software, while making preparations for transitioning to the new HRIT/EMWIN broadcast which is scheduled to become operational on December 14, 2017, when GOES-16 replaces GOES-13 at the GOES-East station at 75.2° West longitude. GOES-14 is expected remain in its present geosynchronous orbit at 105° West longitude, throughout this service period.
The EMWIN broadcast characteristics:
Frequency: 1692.7 MHz
Modulation: Offset QPSK
Data rate: 19.2 kbps
Data format: EMWIN Quick Block Transfer (QBT) packets
Please visit http://www.nws.noaa.gov/emwin for more information.
Any questions or comments may be addressed to email@example.com.
The first of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series (GOES-R) series of satellites was launched on November 19, 2016, as GOES-16 and will become the primary GOES East satellite on December 2017. NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) plans to launch the follow up satellite GOES-S in spring of 2018 of which will ultimately become the operational GOES West satellite at a later date to be identified.
All GOES West LRIT users are reminded when GOES-S replaces GOES-15 in the west location of 135 degrees, users will need to modify legacy equipment to become HRIT/EMWIN compatible.
More information about the HRIT/EMWIN service and prototype receiver.
All questions regarding HRIT/EMWIN and the legacy LRIT broadcast can be forwarded to email@example.com.
Special Bulletins Page — This page contains the latest, updated information on satellite operations; including LRIT.


text:
Post by Lαrα on Oct 7, 2013 2:21:37 GMT -8
Ive done some interesting reading this morning on treating bladder infections so I'll share what ive found...
We all know that doctors will be very quick to prescribe an antibiotic as this is mostly the only solution to an infection that they will use...however..antibiotics may eliminate the infection at that time but they don't solve the underlying problem...its a merry go round constantly.
How useful is cranberry?
Cranberry juice is traditionally used as a home remedy for assisting in the prevention of Urinary Tract Infections, many people take cranberry as either a juice drink or tablets but still this does not offer an efficient solution.
Mutated strains of organisms cause continuous problems and are often caused by the regular use of antibiotics over time...and now these organisms are often not responding well to antibiotocs or cranberry juice.
Cranberry juice, once it is digested and "burned" by the body, leaves an acidic ash or residue - which means it is creating more of an acidic environment for the organism. In other words, it feeds the organism, causing it to stop the pain, but not really fixing the problem at it's core.
Still....that said..cranberry taken on a regular basis may still help prevent infections but not as effectively as we believe.....Studies have shown that the tablet form is more effective! Certain sugars and a type of enzyme called flavanol found in cranberries have been thought to prevent infections by keeping bacteria from clinging to cells in the urinary tract/bladder wall.
Though i think the tablet form could still be a useful supplement it should probably not be relied upon as a truly effective form of urinary tract infection prevention for us Spinal Cord Injured peeps on its own.
I do believe that we need to adopt a much more proactive regime and lifestyle to truly try to combat recurrent infections and find what works for us individually.
On an important note..do not drink cranberry juice whilst taking warfarin as it can make blood even more thinner than it should be.
So what about Lemon juice?
It sounds like reducing the amount of acid in the body is a good start to creating a healthier bladder environment....So as we already know, drink lots and lots of water to flush an infection out. Adding lemon or lime juice or liquid minerals to water can help to alkalize the water.
I have read that drinking warm water at the start of the day with half a squeezed lemon is a good cleanser for the bladder and will help rid the bladder of toxins.
If you have been needing regular antibiotics for regular infections, then it may be an idea to take some probiotics, because the antibiotics kill all these beneficial bacteria along with your infection. Probiotics can help put some of that healthy bacteria back!
Your adrenals are small organs that sit on top of your kidneys and if the urinary system is stressed, often the adrenals are also. Taking supplements that support your adrenals and help with stress can also be beneficial. B vitamins fall into this category as to adaptagenic herbs such as Suma, Astragalus, Ashwagandha, and Eleuthero.
Some herbs have diuretic properties and can help to flush the bladder as well to help remove the infection. Herbs such as parsley, dandelion, juniper berries and uva ursi all have diuretic effects and will make you urinate more as they push the urine, the acid and infection out. It is often optimum to take one of these while drinking all that water so that your body has a fresh supply of clean water to help flush with.
Bicarb of Soda (this has worked for me and was recommended by my doc!)
You can also make your urine less acidic by drinking half a glass of water with one teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) dissolved in it, two to three times a day.
Avoid drinking other soda drinks/pop, tea, coffee and alcohol..but we mostly know this already.
Keep very clean
Also along my reading different sources..reference is made to washing around your anus after a bowel movement and washing your genetal area before sexual intercourse and urinating within 15 mins after...
Spicey Foods
Whether you top your nachos with jalapeños, sprinkle your pizza with red pepper flakes, or love your spicey curries, you really should avoid the spice when you have a UTI. Spicy foods are known to cause bladder irritation and worsen UTI symptoms, so reduce the spice and opt for blander choices while you're treating your urinary tract infection.
Other fruits
Fruit juices such as grapefruit and orange are acidic and can irritate your bladder. They are best avoided if you have regular UTIs or an overactive bladder.
Peroxide bladder flushes
Il be honest in saying that i could not find a really good source of information on peroxide bladder flushes that goes into the pros and cons (please add in a reply if anyone has a reliable and suitable source please) I would therefor discuss this option with your urologist and discuss all advantages and any complications with him/her.
Avoid leaving residue urine sitting in the bladder
Lastly i just wanted mention the importance of managing an effective way of emptying your bladder...catheter or void regular..ensuring that you are not retaining to an unhealthy level. If your bladder retains 150ml of urine or more after voiding, it's highly recommended that you catheterize in order to clear out the bladder completely. Residue urine is growing grounds for bacteria which is why it's important to keep your bladder emptied to help prevent urinary tract infections.
Feel free to add any tips that you find work for you


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HD Power: Sweat, Run, Jump, Push, Press, Row and Curl your way to a highly invigorating workout to improve your strength, speed, agility, power, and flexibility. A fun mix of HIIT, Circuit Training, Strength and Resistance Training combined with intense cardio. You'll work all muscle groups to become a strong athlete. This class is a high-energy, total-body workout that focuses on every muscle group at an intensity that will simultaneously improve your cardiovascular strength and endurance. Performed to motivating music and inspired by any and every sport, incorporates a variety of exercises and equipment to always keep you on your toes and eager to see what is next. You're an athlete, so train like one!
HD Performance: A raucous mashup of cardio, strength, core, speed, agility, & power. You'll never know what to expect in this high speed, fun-filled sports performance training class. Open to everyone! Bring a smile, water, towel and willingness to safely push yourself beyond your limits!
HD LunchExpress: This HD Class will incorporate high intensity movements, explosive power and super strength. The workout will include strength training, plyometrics, speed and agility work. You're an athlete, so let's train like one! You'll sweat and have a great time and be back to work before the boss knows you're gone!
HD TRXtreme: Super Fun & Challenging Head-to-Toe TRX suspension program that will develop strength, balance, flexibility, and core stability. You'll use body-weight suspension exercises with an intense combination of muscle conditioning to include traditional bootcamp and plyometric exercises. Total body workout in a small group setting will promote significant results!
HD 8-weeks to Spartan Fenway: Join Spartan SGX Certified Trainer Tracy Riley for an 8 week program designed to prepare you for Spartan Fenway in November. This class is great for those interested in competing in adventure races or looking for a physical or mental challenge. You don't have to compete in the races to be part of this exciting and challenging Spartan Class! You don't have to be at all 8 classes to be part of the program.
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Visited 227 Times, 1 Visit today


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NSX Redux. Will It Be As Good Or Another CR-Z Like Disappointment?
Hot on the heels of the impending ninth-generation Civic come reports out of Japan that Honda has confirmed the manufacture and development of the next NSX. Rumors about an NSX redux have been doing the rounds for a while. You've probably read all about it by now. Takanobu Ito-san, when asked about an NSX replacement, did not vehemently deny it for the first time. Unconfirmed reports also abound of this vehicle packing a hybrid system keeping in tune with Honda's current direction.
Details are scarce as of now. There is no confirmation of the drive train this car will pack or whether it will be based on the reverse Accord platform. Whatever the case may be, we think Honda has an uphill task ahead of them.
The original NSX bears a lofty pedigree. Ayrton Senna and Satoru Nakajima helped develop the car under the leadership of Shigeru Uehara. Back then, it packed everything needed to compete with the exotics of that time, while also going a step further. The original NSX was a civilized steed to drive around town, unlike its competition. It inspired Gordon Murray to create the McLaren F1. In short, Honda established a new benchmark against which exotics were measured. Reliability, hitherto a factor that was unknown to exotics, became par for the course, courtesy of the NSX.
Tomorrow's NSX will not only have to compete with the competition on price, but must also strive to set a new benchmark as its predecessor did. Whether that will be something that can be done by Honda is the million dollar question.
Should Honda succeed in hitting the proverbial nail on the head, then we have no doubt that, buoyed by the success of the NSX, they could very well give us another S2000, and that is why we are excited to hear news that development has resumed on the NSX. Our fingers are crossed, hoping there is no disappointment this time around.
What about you? Do you think Honda will be able to succeed with the new NSX? Should they call it an Acura or sell it as a Honda? Do you think it increases the chances of another S2000 from Honda?
Image: Courtesy of Wikipedia
NOTE: S2KI welcomes the opinions of its members on the S2000 and on all topics related to the S. Should you feel the creative urge to pen a few words then by all means do so and PM Energetic, Aashish2, Onehots2k OR GavinSSAP1 OR send us links to what you would like us to write about and we will feature you (or your community) on the S2KI Home Page.


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Want a better Minecraft server? Read about SpigotMC here!
Separate names with a comma.
Spectate your killer briefly before respawning, similarily to most FPS games
Should've been 1.3.1, oh well. This just "fixes" a couple of "issues."
Minor stuff for the most part.
Added hit sound, death sound, which both don't play normally for obvious reasons (canceled/player never "dies.")
some more compatibility and debugging for race conditions(?)
Fixed yet another typo, this time with the "compatibility" feature
Potential compatibility with 1.10, 1.9, 1.8 and below(?)
Fix typo in check for items with vanishing_curse enchant.
If you are using the DeathSpectatingTitles addon, please remove it before updating!
Other changes noted in the download link
changelog in download link


text:
Director: Sarik Andreasyan
Cast: Anton Pampushnyy, Sanjar Madi, Sebastien Sisak, Alina Lanina, Stanislav Shirin, Valeria Shkirando
Run time: 94mins
Guardians is the kind of movie that is easy to hate against as it has clearly been made as a cynical attempt to cash in on the mega-success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that said it is not without its charms.
The basic premise here is that during the Cold War a group of superhumans were created under the auspices of a USSR sponsored program called Patriot. These superhumans were cut loose when the program was shut down and all of them subsequently went into hiding but due to the resurfacing of one of the scientists involved in the program, who had a lab accident and is ironically turned into an evil super villain, it is up to Major Elena Larina (Valeria Shrikando) to assemble a group of these very same superhumans from all across the former Soviet states… You know a bit like the Avengers…but in Russia.
Each of the recruited heroes is a bit like a Marvel hero. Khan (Sanjar Madi) looks just like the Winter Soldier, except Kazakh, with added Nightcrawler type powers. Arsius (Anton Pampushnyy) is a "Were-bear" which is kind of unique but his character is really just like the films version of the Hulk. Kseniya (Alina Lanina) is basically Susan Storm and finally Ler (Sebastien Sisak) has telekinetic powers over rocks which when he is wearing them like armour is reminiscent of The Thing but welded onto the personality of Colossus although maybe a bit more on the quippy side. Finally Valeria Shrikando as Major Larina gets to be both Black Widow and Nick Fury at the same time. That said the team are a likable bunch and easy to cheer on. Also the intro scenes for each character are nicely done.
Despite the relatively short running time for a superhero flick, a svelte 94 mins, we do actually get to delve a little bit into the backstories of each character. As is typical for this sort of film the women get shorter shrift than the men. As it seems, at times, that Kseniya is largely there so we can get close-ups of her bottom. On the other hand while Major Larina maybe all skintight clothing and cheekbones she does get some of the better lines. Generally though the writing is far from top drawer with some of it positively laughable. For example a scene where Arsius warns Major Larina about not allowing him to go "full bear" included several ludicrous lines, all played with maximum solemnity from both actors, and caused ruptures of laughter at the screening I attended.
It is not all so laughable though, far from it. For a movie which was made for a paltry, by Hollywood standards, $5 million the CGI is generally very impressive throughout. In fact the film generally looks good; seemingly taking visual inspiration from the Nightwatch/Daywatch films. There is also a bunch of standout action sequences. The main villain too, while a generic mad scientist who wants to take over the world and who comes on like an even more roided up Bane crossed with Magneto, is played with absolute relish and dementedness by Stanislav Shirin. Also despite its current IMDB
score (3.9!) it is roughly 10 times better than any Asylum "Mockbuster" or a lot of the other blockbuster rip-off movies that are out there.
Verdict: It is a Marvel rip-off through-and-through even down to the sequel-bait ending and post-credit scene and it is nobody's idea of a great, or even particularly good, film but it an entirely watchable one with some very good effects and some decent action. Plus there is a Bear with a Gatling-gun in it which is a recommendation in itself.
words by Scott Murphy


text:
|The Forward Look Network
| Trip to Mt. Rushmore
Moderators: Lancer Mike
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|Lancer Mike
Location: The Mile High City
|We just returned from a Memorial Day weekend trip to Mt. Rushmore and the Black Hills of South Dakota. It was a lot of fun. Here are a few shots of the DeSoto.
(Mt Rushmore 2010 019.jpg)
(Mt Rushmore 2010 020.jpg)
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(Mt Rushmore 2010 012.jpg)
(Mt Rushmore 2010 014.jpg)
Mt Rushmore 2010 019.jpg (188KB - 99 downloads)
Mt Rushmore 2010 020.jpg (118KB - 104 downloads)
Mt Rushmore 2010 030.jpg (101KB - 99 downloads)
Mt Rushmore 2010 031.jpg (133KB - 95 downloads)
Mt Rushmore 2010 012.jpg (157KB - 82 downloads)
Mt Rushmore 2010 014.jpg (197KB - 88 downloads)
Posts: 2613
Location: Parts Unknown
| Thanks for postin these !!! The car looks GREAT !!!!
|Lancer Mike
Location: The Mile High City
|Thanks, B/G - you viewed those quick! I think your reply was up before I posted the last photo!
We had a great time. We saw Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, the Jewel Cave, Reptile Gardens, Story Book Island, and Dinosaur Mountain. The kids loved it. I washed the exterior of the DeSoto as soon as we arrived home. The interior is a mess though! With two little kids, well - it is just going to take a bit of time to clean it up. That's what they are made for.
Board Moderator & Exner Expert 10K+
Posts: 11800
Location: Southern Sweden - Sturkö island
|Totally stunning pictures Mike, that car in that place looks too cool!!! Thank's for sharing!
Posts: 3444
Location: Quebec, Canada
|Fabulous car, and great destination for a family trip! Thanks for sharing the pictures!!
|Kenny J.
Inactive by user's request
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
|Great destination and a great car for the trip.
Did Teddy say, "Bully!" when he saw that magnificent finned machine?
Just a bit of trivia. U.S. Highway 16, which passes not too far away from the park, used to stretch across Minnesota, Wisconsin, then cross Lake Michigan via car ferry to Michigan, then on to Detroit.
Now it only exists as a U.S. highway across part of South Dakota and to the eastern edge of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.
|Lancer Mike
Location: The Mile High City
|Thanks, guys! If you have ever seen North by Northwest, Mt. Rushmore provides the backdrop for some of the best suspense scenes. The Black Hills are a wealth of family-friendly places and things to do. It was a lot of fun to take the DeSoto up there and it is always a conversation starter! We met lots of very nice folks.
|58 Ray
Location: Colorado
|Fantastic Mike! You have a great car and you enjoy it with your family. It doesn't get any better than that!
Posts: 270
Location: Los Angeles, CA
|Excellent shots! Thanks for sharing!
|Lancer Mike
Location: The Mile High City
|Thanks, Mel and thanks, Ray.
Ray, good to hear from you! It has been a while. How are you and your Plymouth?
|1959 Belvedere Conv
Elite Veteran
Posts: 1069
Location: Arvada, Colorado (NW Denver Metro Area)
|Mike, you did bring your family with you didn't you??? Or was it just you and your De Soto for a romantic get away?? try to include them in your pictures like last year at Yellowstone. LOL
You did not post any Mechanical Horror stories, so it must have done well!
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 452
Location: Southern California
|Great pics Mike! Your car looks stunning under those presidential faces. Great place to find yourself on Memorial Day!
PS: We were at Teddy Roosevelts home at Oyster Bay, Long Island, called Sagamore Hill the same day, minus the Beast!
Edited by Gidman 2010-06-08 1:23 PM
|Lancer Mike
Location: The Mile High City
1959 Belvedere Conv - 2010-06-07 10:19 PM
Mike, you did bring your family with you didn't you??? Or was it just you and your De Soto for a romantic get away?? try to include them in your pictures like last year at Yellowstone. LOL
You did not post any Mechanical Horror stories, so it must have done well!
Ha! Yes, the wife and kids were along for the trip! We have tons of photos of the family and the sights, but I had to sneak away to snap these photos with you guys in mind. My only beef with the family is that they don't like driving with the top down as much as I do! Usually, when I go on these trips, I never want the top up - but the tide of wind complaints always catches up with me.
No major mechanical horror stories, thank goodness! It was missing just a bit and backfiring through the tail pipes, but Tony is going to sort that out next week.
I got lucky this time because I left my usual big trip road repair kit behind. I just had a small set of Craftsman tools and a full safety gas can in the trunk.
|Lancer Mike
Location: The Mile High City
Gidman - 2010-06-08 11:19 AM
Great pics Mike! Your car looks stunning under those presidential faces. Great place to find yourself on Memorial Day!
PS: We were at Teddy Roosevelts home at Oyster Bay, Long Island, called Sagamore Hill the same day, minus the Beast!
Great to hear from you, Gid! It was a great trip! Among all of those attractions in the Black Hills, Mt. Rushmore is still the most majestic - so that's where I went to get a few shots of the Firedome solo. It is a funny coincidence you were at the Bull Moose's home that weekend! I bet that was a real treat! He was truly a great American! My understanding is that he sneaked his way on to Mt. Rushmore because he was the sculptor's favorite President. If I were doing the work today, it would be a tough choice between Jackson, TR, and maybe Eisenhower - mainly because of his WWII leadership.
How's your Firedome doing? The last I heard it was temporarily sidelined. Do you ever take an out-of-town trip with it, or just stick to the around-town drives?
|Lancer Mike
Location: The Mile High City
Kenny J. - 2010-06-02 10:23 AM
Now it only exists as a U.S. highway across part of South Dakota and to the eastern edge of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.
Hi, Kenny - I did not know that about US 16! Wouldn't that be a fun trip - from Rushmore to Yellowstone! You would need at least two weeks to do it right, though. There is so much to see at both destinations and places inbetween too.
I am trying to convince the family to take the DeSoto to Yosemite in California next year...
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 452
Location: Southern California
I finally had my booster rebuilt and it's stopping fine now, thanks for asking! We've been doing some nice evening drives in the lower desert here. Out around Joshua Tree National Monument, a couple of hours away. Sometimes she has a tendency to steer real loose. From what I understand the bushing at the end of the steering column needs replacement.
Posts: 109
Location: Aurora, Co
|Howdy Lancer Mike. I met you in Sept at the Sonic Cruise in Aurora. Recognized the Car. SWEEEET!
Your trip to Mt. Rushmore brought back memories of my last Trip in Deligihtful Delores Desoto. Sidelined by Trans & Stuck Lifter Problems, I have not driven her since. The Year was 2002 & the reason, other than a place to go, was the Desoto Owners Convention in Rapid City, SD.
I have owned the car since 1996. I spent all my time on the Brakes, Suspension, Tires & Electrical. I drove around town for a couple of years & then it was motor time. She only had 78K Miles but the Cam no longer had bumps & the Cylinders were egg shaped. A motor rebuild & recommissioning took over a year. I got her back together & rewired just in time for the Rapid City Trip.
It was the 1st time I had driven her any distance & I was a little apprehensive. It was June & of course no A/C. We experienced the wonder of Flow Through Ventilation. Hood Scoop, Frount & Rear Wind Wings open. Quiet as a ghost & comfortable. So comfortable my wife fell asleep & my son was playing a game on his Laptop.
After leaving the Metro Denver Area, the highway speeds are 80 to 85. We crusied along with the traffic & enjoyed the puzzled looks as we passed people in their SUVs.
Once you get to the Northern border of Colorado & cross over to Wyoming there's no Speed Limits. I took the oppertunity to "let her out". After about 15 minutes at 100MPH my wife woke up & asked how fast we were going. I said "100". She said, "Doesn't feel like it at all. Slow down anyway." Well, I did but we hit the Century Mark 3 more times on the trip & she, the car, never even broke a sweat. She, my wife, came to enjoy the experience.
The Event was a real eye opener. My 1st at a Classic Car show. 85 Desotos from 1928 to 1961 showed up. All Body off 75K Restorations. My car was rusty & unpainted. They created a class for me & 2 others, the Diamond in the Rough class. The Regulars at these shows were absolutely stunning. I felt like the poor Church Mouse.
As a group we visited the Mt Rushmore, Crazy Hourse & Mt Rushmore Carvern. We also toured several "Antique Car Salvage Yards" while we were there. THe East Coasters were floored by the Rust Free condition of the cars in the yards. Oh Yeah, Wall Drugs, "Free Ice Water at Wall Drug", was another point of interest.
We returned by a different route & saw Devils Tower. More tme in Wyoming encouraged a few more Speed Runs & then it was time to go home. 8 days out & not a single sputter or hard start. A stop at several gas stations showed 16 / 17 MPG at 85. My neighbors Suburban couldn't match that.
When we got back I had to do a long series of Business Trips; then it was Winter; then more travel & the next thing I knew it had been over a year since I had driven Delores. Late in the Spring of 04 I decide to get her rolling again. I cranked her up & she started, Faithful as a Lab. Then, a terrible clanking from the back driver side Cylinder Head. Stuck Cam Follower, but it was the same thing that happened just before the Cam got smooth. Then I discovered the Powerflight was stuck in Neutral. The same problem I had right after I bought her. That cost 1,600 & took 2 weeks. I see Rock Auto has many of the Trans Parts we couldn't find at the time.
I'm afraid I allowed my Practical Pig side let me bury my head in the sand & I went back to work. Work continued to expand until there was no time or energy to tackle what could be serious troubles in the Engine Bay. Now things have slowed down a bit & retirement is not so far away. I want to make a seriuos effort at getting Delightful Delores Desoto running again. I'm working out of the house now & can actually devote time to the project.
I include here some pics of my Delores Desoto in Rapid City & at Rushmore, no where near as fine as Lancer Mikes 59, But she has good bones. I plan to get her running again & then consider my next step. I am leaning towards a Resto-Rod approach as I was put off by the "just like it rolled off the Show Room Floor" crowd. I just want something cool to drive not a Hanger Queen. I don't mind if it's not "Period Proper" to put a Holly 4 BBL & Dual Exhaust on her.
THanks Mike for the ref to Forward Look.Net. I hope to learn a lot from you guys.
Colorado Firedome
1956 Desoto Firedome. 4 dr Sedan.
"Holy Moly, You could live in the Back Seat! I've had apartments smaller than that."
(1Delores Desoto.JPG)
(2Mount Rushmore Parking Lot.JPG)
(3Queing Up for the Drive.JPG)
(Crazy Horse Monument.JPG)
1Delores Desoto.JPG (243KB - 93 downloads)
2Mount Rushmore Parking Lot.JPG (249KB - 88 downloads)
3Queing Up for the Drive.JPG (249KB - 88 downloads)
Crazy Horse Monument.JPG (231KB - 91 downloads)
|1959 Belvedere Conv
Elite Veteran
Posts: 1069
Location: Arvada, Colorado (NW Denver Metro Area)
|Wow! Mike barely spent any time at the Sonic/ Aurora show....
Nice car Colorado Firedome! Looks like a dream to drive! Hope to see more of it his fall and into 2011 around the Denver area.
Posts: 109
Location: Aurora, Co
|THanks Belv. I wish it was running again, it was a gas to drive.
|Lancer Mike
Location: The Mile High City
|Fantastic, Robert! I was hoping you would join and post! What a great DeSoto! Great pictures too. Crazy Horse looks pretty much the same Makes you wonder if it will ever be done!
Your '56 looks like it is in pretty good shape in the photos. I hope you can get it running again - it does look like a lot of fun. I am not the most technically proficient, but John knows his way around all the mechanical stuff.
As you probably know, I had some strange experiences at Sonic - but your post makes it all worthwhile!
Posts: 109
Location: Aurora, Co
|THanks Mike. Your Convert spured me into action. It was a gas to drive & I'm looking forward to getting her on the road again this Fall/Winter.
I got the old girl running this week end but the weather shut me down. Wallowing in the snow while bad gas runs down your arm is not the best enviornment.
I had a bit of trouble getting her to light up but all of a sudden there she was. THe current problems are listed in the Engine & Fuel Forum. (Unhappy Sounds in the Valley) Once that is under control it's the Trans. I can get a little motion in D but nothing in R.
1st the motor then the Trans, then the Paint & Body then the Interior.
Posts: 109
Location: Aurora, Co
|THanks. I'm struggling to reawaken the dreamer. (a request for help in the Engine & Fuel Thread)
Suspension Bushings, Springs & Shocks were replace in 2001. Motor was rebuilt that winter & the wiring loom was replaced then as well. Previously, I had replaced a rear Axle Seal (dumped Axle Oil all over the rear brake drum) I also had the MAster Cylinder & all Wheel Cylinders sleeved by White Post in VA that winter. She stops in a hurry, if I an only get her moving again.
|1959 Belvedere Conv
Elite Veteran
Posts: 1069
Location: Arvada, Colorado (NW Denver Metro Area)
|Bob turned me down today at the Richards place for $650 to take the problem off his hands...But noooooo! He declined with a chuckle! LOL
Good meeting you to day Robert! Hope to see your car in the spring cruising around Denver!
Posts: 2524
Location: Upplands Väsby, Sweden
|Thanks for nice pics at trip. Looks great
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Matthew Ashford
Matthew originally played the role of "Jack Deveraux" on NBC's soap opera "Days Of Our Lives" since 1987, and regained the role in 2001. Ashford worked many odd jobs in order to attend the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. After college graduation, Matt moved to New York City where he was quickly put on a holding contract with ABC, which led to the role of Drew Ralston on "One Life to Live." His career in daytime television continued with roles on "Search for Tommorrow," and "General Hospital." He has also been featured in the films "Species," "Bonfire of the Vanities," and "Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss," starring Sean Hayes (NBC's "Will & Grace"). Ashford guest starred on the hit comedy "Dharma and Greg" and he remains an active member of the Interact Theatre Company in Los Angeles. Ashford and his wife are the parents of two daughters, Grace and Emma. Ashford is a spokesperson for Retinoblastoma International, an organization the Ashfords were instrumental in forming after Emma was diagnosed with the rare form of infant eye cancer, from which she is now in remission. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, camping, having outdoor adventures, and above all, being with his family. Matthew was born on January 29, in Davenport, IA. One of eight children, Ashford spent his formative years growing up in Fairfax, VA.
The actor has been married since 1987 to actress/singer Christina Ashford, and they share two daughters, Grace and Emma.
Matthew Ashford: Matters of Life and Death
Back in October of 2003, Matthew Ashford's long-running DAYS OF OUR LIVES character, Jack Deveraux, was bludgeoned to death by the Salem Stalker. Less than two months, later, the actor resurfaced on ONE LIFE TO LIVE, where he'd begun his daytime career two decades earlier and would soon be revealed as the serial murderer who'd been terrorizing Llanview!
It's an irony that isn't lost on Ashford. "I feel like jack has left one alternate universe for another, says the actor, who originated his DAYS role in 1987 and returned in 2001 after an eight-year absence. "I have scenes with Bree Williamson (Jessica) where I keep saying [the name of his DAYS wife] Jennifer, or Salem university instead of Llanview University. I've had to bit my tongue on many occasions."
And we'd be remiss not to mention Stephen Haver's mother, Marlena, who shares the same name as DAYS' killer doc! "Isn't that something?" the actor laughs.
Coming Home
In many ways, Ashford's career has come full circle with his return to OLTL. "It's really wonderful to be back her again," says the actor, who played Drew Ralston from 1982-1983 in his first television role. "I worked with Bob Woods (Bo), Erika Slezak (Viki), Robin Strasser (Dorian) and Phil Carey (Asa) before, and I'm getting the chance to work with a whole group of new, talented people as well.
"But," he continues, "I'm in a slightly different place now. I had been through four years of a professional training school [earning a BFA in theater from the North Carolina School Of The Arts] when I arrived in 1982, and yet I still basically didn't know what to do. Everyone has so much on their plate that you really can't wait for someone to direct you. You have to look at your own work and make strong choices; I didn't.
While Drew met a sad fate, Ashford found new life on other soaps (see FYI box below), and returned to Llanview with a new perspective. "I learned from different mistakes," he relates. "Coming back here now, this character is wide open, and i said, `I'm going to do my own thing and keep bringing things for the directors, producers and writers to look at.'
"Back then," he continues, "I didn't always know what to do with it and thought, `It's just another day -- when in fact every day is this great opportunity. Maybe that big movie is out there, but who knows? You better not wait to do your best acting until you get there. Whatever you're given here, you should make something of it, because it will help you be the kid of actor that can take all kinds of material and make something of it. I wish I'd been able to figure that out back then."
Seizing The Moment
While the the handwriting seems to be on the wall for his killer character, LA-based Ashford is keeping an open mind. "Although [Stephen] sounds like he's not so long for this world, it's hard to tell," he says. "I'm also talking to people at the network about other projects. I'll be back in L. A. for pilot season, but if something comes up here, I'll be back in New York, too."
After being on the West coast for so long, Ashford even was able to relish the East Coast's harsh winter weather. "I actually liked the snow because i hadn't been in it for so long," he relates. "I got a good dose of it this time, and I got to wear clothes I haven't worn in years!" It's a beautiful city, I've reconnected with old friends and made new friends, I got to see Broadway theater, the symphony and the opera."
Like the weather, Ashford acknowledges that the soap business is ever-changing -- and that's all the more reason to make every day count. "In 2020, people will be looking back to the good old days of 2004 and saying, `Remember when we were there?' This business is so volatile, who knows what we'll be doing then? So we've got to enjoy this."
Matthew Ashford: Take Five
What are your favorite things to do with your daughters?
"Camp, hike, wrestle, and have adventures."
What is the biggest challenge of fatherhood?"
"Remembering that it is not about me."
How have your daughters surprised you?
"They are much more intuitive than me and much more attuned to their gifts and their possibilities than I was at their age."
What values do you hope to instill in Grace and Emma?
"Belief in themselves, in their potential and in their creativity."
What has having two daughters taught you?
"That one is one and two is like having five! Seriously, I have had to become a more patient person and learn to appreciate everything in the moment as a child would."
Matthew Ashford's Power of Faith
DAYS' Matthew Ashford reveals his daughter's struggle with
retinoblastoma -- and how it changed his family's perspective on life
WITH THE LOVE AND SUPPORT of their family and friends and the power of faith, Matthew Ashford (Jack, Days of our Lives), his wife, Christina Saffran, and their daughters, Grace, 10, and Emma, 5, survived a harrowing ordeal in June. Emma, who had been diagnosed with retinoblastoma (an eye cancer that effects children) at the age of 4 months, was brought in for a checkup, and her ophthalmologist discovered a tumor that ultimately led to the removal of her left eye.
"It was a blow. It was horrific," reflects Ashford. "But it's nothing that we can't handle. If it's right there in front of you, [you have no choice] but to deal with it."
The nightmare began after a year and a half of positive feedback from Emma's doctors. Having survived chemotherapy and nearly 40 laser surgeries in her young life, Emma had frequent check ups. "Every now and then they would find another tumor cell. Doctors get it with a laser when it was tiny," says Ashford, noting that Emma was seen every three weeks until she was 3. "By then the retina is pretty much developed. Most kids are out of the woods, and Emma was looking good."
The span between follow-up doctor visits increased "to four weeks, then five, then six," adds Ashford. "Eventually, it was up to two months, three months.... This was the first six-month period. During that time everything was going great. Emma was being a normal little kid. We were trying to be normal parents."
All that changed, however, when Emma was preparing to go on a road trip with her mother. "It was time for a checkup," recounts Ashford, "and no one expected that there was going to be any problem. But when the doctor [examined Emma], a tumor had been growing an infinitesimal cell to six millimeters. That is huge inside the eye. If we had waited another three weeks, who knows what would have happened. It had to be dealt with." The tumor was too big to laser, and the Ashfords decided against radiation. Instead, they opted for a freezing treatment called cryotherapy, which was performed immediately at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. "Emma came home that night," recalls Ashford. "She was in some pain, but she didn't show it."
When the Ashfords took Emma in for a follow-up checkup, they learned that while cryotherapy had destroyed Emma's tumor, "it had also detached her retina fully. So what little vision she had was gone in her left eye," he says. "Emma told me herself. She put her had over her right eye and said, `Daddy, I can't see you when I cover this eye.'"
The loss of her sight was only a small part of the problem. "The doctor could not see to the back of Emma's eye. He was concerned that there may be something else back there, other possible tumors," explains Ashford. "Plus, the retina was folding up. Eventually, Emma's eye would have shrunk and she would have been in pain. The only thing to do was remove [the eye]."
It was a heartwrenching decision, but the Ashfords found a strong support system. "We called Michael and Hunter Tylo (Taylor, The Bold and the Beautiful) right away," remembers Ashford. (The Tylos' daughter Katya, 4, had endured the same surgery years earlier.) "We called relatives. [My wife and I] are both Buddhists, and we had a lot of support from friends in faith who changed with us, for us, and for Emma. We realized that this is another step in the mission -- where we're going and where Emma is going."
The Ashfords refused to wallow in self-pity. "There are a lot of people hurting out there with all sorts of pain, whether it be spiritual, physical or emotional," muses Ashford. "Everyone is going through something or has gone through something. Everyone has a strong desire to be haply. How we go about that is what is important. Emma is a reminder of that for me.
So the family counted their blessings. "There are people in worse situations," Ashford points out. "Children who have already had one eye removed and are fighting to save the vision in their last eye. There is a possibility that you will gamble to keep your child's vision and you'll lose the child, because the tumor cells might grow right up the optic nerve and into the brain. That is a hellish situation to be in. We were not in it."
Still, the Ashfords did have the daunting task of preparing Emma for her operation. "We did that with the help of counselors," says Ashford. "They [explained to Emma] that there were some bad cells in her eye that needed to come out. The point is to actually tell them what is happening and what is going to happen. Emma dealt with it well and is continuing to deal with it."
She did have some concerns about the prosthetic eye she would be receiving, however. Particularly, the fact that her "new and beautiful eye," as everyone was referring to it, wouldn't be able to see. "Emma didn't think that as fair states Ashford. "But I pointed out that her old eye wasn't seeing anyway, which she couldn't argue with."
Ultimately, Emma's left eye was removed, and an implant was inserted into the socket. "It's a relatively simple operation. It took two hours," says Ashford, adding that while Emma was heavily sedated, she was treated as an outpatient. By the next day, she was pretty much pain-free.
Some six weeks later, after the swelling subsided, Emma went for her first fitting for her prosthetic eye. "That was difficult," admits Ashford. "It's like a huge contact lens that has to go in and come out from under the eyelid about seven, eight, nine times, because the ocularist is shaping and shaving it and seeing how it moves. Emma had reached her limit and did not want anyone messing with her."
Finally, after three visits, Emma's new eye was finished. "The ocularist put it in, and Emma hopped off her seat, went over to the mirror, and said, `Oh! I look like me again,'" Ashford smiles. "Emma went to the ocularist and gave him a big hug. He started to cry. Christina started to cry. Emma was so pleased.
"We are so fortunate because Emma's eyesight in her right eye is good. Emma will have to adjust, but she'll be fine. The point is to realize it's a lifetime thing now. People have to look after their contact lenses or any number of things. That's what Emma will have to do. It's not a big deal."
Meanwhile, physicians will monitor Emma's right eye more often. "The murmurs in that eye are scars. It responded differently. It responded much better, because we caught it sooner. Once again, it goes back to early detection."
And that is why Ashford agreed to do this interview. "I'm not here to sit and talk about [poor] Emma. Emma is doing fine, assures Ashford. "She started kindergarten in September and was excited."
Instead, Ashford is anxious to use this opportunity "to remind people to have their baby's eyes dilated.... to have their grandbaby's eyes dilated by their pediatrician or pediatric ophthalmologist. And, once again, to say that we are working toward early detection. If Emma's eyes had been fully dilated and check at six weeks, I know we would have seen something. That is what we (at Retinoblastoma International) are pushing."
(Ashford and his wife serve on the board of directors for Retinoblastoma International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the world about the disease and available treatments.)
"There are drops now that can be put onto a baby's eyelids to dilate their eyes. You do not even have to open their eyes to put them in," continues Ashford. "[Afterward], a doctor can look in there. He might find a cataract. He might find amblyopia. He might find cancer. There are all sorts of vision things that need to be addressed."
Aside from raising awareness, the Ashfords are also dedicated to raising funds for the organization. "Occasionally, we do events. We try to get grants. We are always in desperate need of money," he stresses. "Right now we are selling faith, hope and charity bracelets and lariats via our Web site, Retinoblastoma.net. (Checks can be made payable to: Retinoblastoma International, c/o Children's Hospital Los Angeles, 4650 Sunset Blvd., Mail Stop 88, Los Angeles, CA 90027.)
Having endured their own personal battle with Retinoblastoma via young Emma, the Ashfords have emerged stronger, wiser and determined to spare other families from the rough road they have traveled. "It keeps things simple and straightforward as to what is important," declares Ashford. "We appreciate each other, and we have this wonderful focus of Retinoblastoma International. If we have energy or anger or desire to do something, we can reach out and make a difference.
Soap star Matthew Ashford focuses on retinoblastoma
As an actor, Days of Our Lives star Matthew Ashford is used to the pain and drama of terrible tragedies. But nothing could prepare him for the real-life soap opera he experienced when his four-month old daughter, Emma, was diagnosed with retinoblastoma (Rb).
"My wife, Christina, discovered this. We thought it was a lazy eye. Our pediatrician, who also had an infant, said it was possible. But she suggested we go to a pediatric ophthalmologist. She said, 'No rush.'"
The Ashfords were able to get Emma an appointment at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles the following day. But the subsequent diagnosis was heart-wrenching.
"We were told that Emma had six tumors in each eye, which is common," recalls Ashford. "In the past, I'd go to CHLA as a celebrity. This was so different."
Retinoblastoma is a malignant tumor of the retina — the light-sensitive layer of the eye that allows us to perceive images. Rb develops from immature retinal cells in one (unilateral) or both eyes (bilateral) of the developing fetus, newborns, infants, and children under five. Boys and girls have the same chance of occurrence.
There are only about 350 Rb cases each year in the USA, with about 8,000 cases reported worldwide, although precise world statistics do not exist.
"If you take the number of kids at risk, there are anywhere between 13 and 15 cases per million. It's not huge, but the problem is that 90% of the births in the world are in the developing countries," reports Dr A. Linn Murphree, director of the Retinoblastoma Center at Childrens Hospital, Los Angeles, who is also the Ashfords' pediatric ophthalmologist. "There are probably as many as 19,000 cases in the developing world. It becomes a huge World Health Organization problem."
If untreated before it escapes the eye, Rb is fatal. But with improved detection, less than 10% succumb to the disease.
Murphree is currently involved with a group in Belgium to educate people in developing countries about Rb and its symptoms — which include:
* Red, painful eye
* Poor vision
* Inflammation of tissue surrounding eye
* An enlarged or dilated pupil
* Crossed eyes
The average age of diagnosis is about 13-15 months for the 40% of Rb patients with bilateral involvement. For the 60% of Rb patients with unilateral involvement, the average age increases to 24 months.
"The big push is to find these kids earlier," says Murphree."We are working with the American Academy of Pediatrics to teach pediatricians to find Rb earlier by dilating the pupils as part of well-child care. There's a misconception of how difficult it is to put in drops. It's very simple, especially in a baby."
Children and infants with Rb are typically diagnosed by an eye exam called a red reflex test, in which a light is shined directly into the eye.
"The parents usually describe the child's eye with a 'g' word — glow, gleam, glare," says Murphree. "It's also called leukocoria or cat's eye. You can see it momentarily in dim light. When you turn on the light, the pupil comes down and you don't see it."
Biopsies are often avoided to prevent the eye cancer cells from spreading outside the eye. Instead, CAT scans, ultrasounds, and MRIs are often used to confirm an Rb diagnosis and detail the extent of the tumors.
"The first MRI, is a hellish situation for a parent to see their child strapped down," says Ashford. "Some people think hell is somewhere you go after you die. Well, it exists right here."
Rb exacts a heavy toll not only on the children afflicted with the disease but parents and families as well. "Eighty percent of marriages break up," says Murphree. "It is a terrible blow to parents that their child may lose their eye or their life. Communication breaks down. Siblings act up because the focus is on the sick child."
Murphree and a counselor spoke with the Ashfords about Emma's potential eye loss and chemotherapy.
"We were basically saying goodbye to Emma's eyes because we thought they'd be taking them out," says Ashford. "We didn't know whether she'd live. Because it was in both eyes, she's got it genetically in every cell of her body."
A century ago, Rb was 100% fatal. Today, in most cases, new therapies and treatment combinations save both eyesight and lives.
Treatments include:
* Enucleation — Removal of the eye.
* Photocoagulation — Using laser light to destroy blood vessels that feed the tumor.
* Cryotherapy — Extreme cold is applied to destroy cancer cells.
* Chemotherapy — Drugs are injected into the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord.
* Internal beam radiation — Radioactive material is placed into or near the tumor.
* External beam radiation — Radiation is directed from a machine outside the body.
"Chemotherapy is a terrible way to treat a tumor," says Murphree. "It's like killing a fly with a sledgehammer. It's so non-specific that you are doing lots of damage. We're trying to find a way to target only cancer cells." Murphree pioneered chemoreduction, a combination of chemotherapy and laser treatment that is now used worldwide.
"There's a lot of research going on regarding giving agents like chemotherapy (locally) outside the eye, under the white of it, so it passes and diffuses into the eye," says Murphree. "The two eyes only account for about 1% of the mass of the body. With chemotherapy, we're treating 99% of the body that doesn't need it."
Emma endured chemo for four months and had 34 surgeries. Fortunately, the Ashford's story has a happy ending.
Emma made it to three years, when the retina fully developed, and was able to keep both her eyes. She is legally blind in the center of her left eye, but she has peripheral vision in it.
"This is part of our lives now," says Ashford. "We'll be monitoring Emma intensely through all the time she is growing up.
To raise awareness and funds for families less fortunate than themselves, the Ashfords and friends, Hunter and Michael Tylo, formed Retinoblastoma International. The Tylo's daughter, Katya, also had Rb.
"We called Hunter and Michael and asked what we could do together," says Ashford. "We decided this was an opportunity to turn this into something good. We can do something. We can make a difference."
The Keys To Matthew Ashford
GH's Tom Hardy is standing on a precipice as he wrestles with his unresolved relationship with his late father -- actor Matthew Ashford is thrilled that his character is getting a psychological twit to dd to the steamy love scenes with Kristina Wanger (Felicia) that have been garnering him so much attention.
"Tom went in to Steve's office to confront him at long last, but he was dead, gone," says Matthew. "It was like who had the last laugh? Who had the final say? The answer: Steve did.
"Steve wanted Tom to take over the hospital one day," he points out, "and I'm excited about having all these people from Alan Quartermaine to Monica, to Dr. Dorman, Kevin Collins and Tony Jones in the mix -- not to mention the nurses and my mother. There's room for a major battle here," he laughs.
Last Christmas, the father-son relationship between Tom & Steve took on real-life importance. "John Beradino (Steve) was supposed to tell the Christmas story to the kids, as he'd done for years and years," Matthew recalls. "But he suddenly got too sick to do it, so they called me the night before and said they needed me to do it."It was six pages long, so I said, 'Ooooooookkkkay.'
"I found out later that John had specifically asked that I do it because he said, 'He's my son. I think I'd ask him to do it.'
"John Beradino was always into the show and Very much its cheerleader," Matthew adds.
After a year of playing the part, Tom Hardy is still something of an enigma, Matthew confesses, but he enjoys the challenge of unearthing the gold.
"There's something about Felicia that sets him off, so that he's doing things he's never done before, taking chances and doing things in fron of other people that society says you shouldn't be doing," he acknowledges.
"Is this a dangerous kind of game that can get out of hand?" he considers. "I'm not sure. Some people like what's going on, but others say, "'It's a bit much.' I've heard a bit of everything.
"I enjoy working with Kristina Wagner (Felicia), and anything's fine as long as it's attached to a story and doesn't become gratuituous," he adds.
Matthew reveals that he's urged his real-life actress wife -- whose name also happens to be Christina ("It's good they have the same name. I can get away with murder," he jokes) - not to watch the show.
"I've talked to other people who've experienced this," he says. "What good is it going to do to watch? Christina did see me one day when she was getting her nails done. They turned on the TV and of course it was, 'Hey watch this...'
"I've watched Christina kiss guys on stage," he adds. "I understand that it's part of our job as actors. I suppose if she constantly had to rehearse that I'd start to be... well, that would be different."
Matthew grew up in Virginia in a family of eight children, says he and Christina are thinking about expanding their family (which includes 4-year-old daughter Grace).
But he admits he's not tempted to expand it to quite the size group that he was raised in.
"I think about a large family, but like ost people in America now, we make choices about what kind of life it would be with a whole buch of kids," he points out. "If I were a multimillionaire who could live anywhere I wanted, I think it would be great to have a bunch of kids. At this point, though, we're not looking towards a big family, just a slightly larger one."
Matthew hopes he can provide the pleasures his parents gave him and his siblings. "The 10 of us used to go camping on family vacations," he recalls. "Looking back, I'm sure it was very difficult to do, but those times were enjoyable for me. But I didn't have to fix the flat tire. And there was always food -- i just had to eat it.
"Now I realize how hard it was for my parents, but I see that's where we created so many memories," he adds. "It's work to created memories, but that's what I want to do for my children.
Matthew Ashford: Spider Man
"I'M THE VICTIM OF THE WEEK," GRINS MATTHEW ASHFORD (Tom, General Hospital), who gets to play dead in the July 27 [1995] episode of Burke's Law. Ashford portrays tennis superstar "Spider" Arthur, an old college pal of Peter Burke (Peter Barton, who played Scott Grainger on The Young and the Restless), who meets his demise prior to a tournament when he's bitten by an Atrax spider that had been placed in his shoe.
While few tears are shed over the cocky, volatile pro's passing, Peter feels the most remorse since he only remembers the pre-celebrity Spider. Together Peter and Amos (Gene Barry) work their way through a web of suspects to find the killer.
According to Ashford, with Spider's emergence as a tennis star, "he got more and more nasty, and he alienated just about everybody around him. Then, of all things, he dies a horrible, nasty death from a spider bite," he says, noting that the character actually collected the creepy crawlers. "And it was one of his own spiders that bit him."
Ashford describes Spider as "a pretty wild guy... a pretty racy character. He kind of ran around and did whatever he wanted to do, saw who he wanted to see. He had a girlfriend (Stephanie Romanov, who played Teri Stevens and Monique Duran on Models, Inc.), but she didn't have that much of a hold on him."
Since tennis was the character's specialty, Ashford had to reacquaint himself with the sport. "I had not picked up a tennis racket in 15 years, so I tried," he laughs. Fortunately, he did have a double for the tennis-court scenes, which are shown in flashbacks throughout the episode. "But the double was right-handed, and I'm left-handed, so I ended up having to double the double. I had to pretend I was right-handed, so he could shoot well."
Apparently, the show wasn't able to film Ashford's death scene on location, as was originally planned. The management of the country club where they were shooting that particular episode wouldn't allow actors on its premises. "The were pretty hoity-toity," he explains. "So we had to go back to the studio to shoot the scene."
Aside from not having played tennis for a long time, Ashford also notes that it had been quite some time since he had to expire on-camera. "I landed right on it -- perfectly. The crew was ecstatic. I guess it meant that they got out earlier. So they gave me a big round of applause."
While Ashford meets his maker in Burke's Law, he narrowly escapes death in the feature film Species -- a science-fiction thriller starring Ben Kingsley.
"It's kind of an Aliens meets Looking for Mr. Goodbar," sums up Ashford. "I have a tiny part in that. It's one of those 'don't blink' kind of roles. I play a guy in a bar about to be picked up by an alien creature who has adopted the form of a lovely young woman. At the last minute another drunken girl falls into my lap, takes my attention away from the alien, and I'm spared."
As for the character's billing in the film, Ashford says: "He was either Guy in the Bar, or Good-Looking Guy in the Bar. But I think they dropped the good-looking," the actor grins.
Burke's Law [aired] on CBS. Species is an MGM release [at the time of the article was] currently in theaters nationwide.


text:
Sunday, August 20, 2017
Sunday Pics - The Pawn Shop
And this...I'm not sure what to call her except that supposedly her name is Zelda.
This boat is pretty neat, but hard to clean, as I can attest to having been given the task of dusting her out.
One of my favorite things to do is to arrange things as illustrated by this display...
I especially like what I did with the top shelf.
But by far the best thing that's come into the shop lately has been this guy
His name is Skippy and he's a chug (chihuahua/pug) and the cutest damn thing ever. This is him with his bunny...
As you can imagine, work has been very difficult lately.
19 comments:
Zelda sure is ugly, and so are the alligator heads, the new nightguard is cute, thoughReplyDelete
Skippy's a cutie. Great name, too.ReplyDelete
Love that Paris photo!
Great photos! What a doll of a pup, too. Thanks for the smiles.ReplyDelete
Skippy? Always makes me think of a television program of that name about a 'bush kangaroo'. Skippy's namesake is a total cutie.ReplyDelete
Dolls, like clowns, frequently weird me out. Dolls called Zelda invariably weird me out.
That is the most adorable puppy I've ever seen. I want one.ReplyDelete
If I was a refurbishing type of person, remaking that boat into a desk would be so cool (and possibly offend the boat immensely as I do know it's meant to be on the water!) :)ReplyDelete
You get some pretty cool stuff in there. It must make you job rather interesting. Of all the cool stuff, the coolest has to be that puppy, though. He's a cutie.ReplyDelete
Did somebody pawn Skippy?ReplyDeleteReplies
Interesting to read, thank you I really like your article. I love your beautiful blog and enjoy your post. Good workReplyDelete
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United States District Court, E.D. Virginia, Richmond Division
June 16, 2017
JOAN C. HARRUP, Plaintiff,v.ASHTON B. CARTER, Secretary, Department of Defense, Defendant.
matter comes before the Court on Defendant Ashton B.
Carter's Motion to Dismiss.[1] (ECF No. 10.) Plaintiff
Joan C Harrup, proceeding pro se, [2] has responded
to the Motion to Dismiss, (ECF No. 19), and Carter has
replied, (ECF No. 21). Accordingly, the matter is ripe for
disposition. The Court dispenses with oral argument because
the materials before it adequately present the facts and
legal contentions, and argument would not aid the decisional
process. For the reasons that follow, the Court will grant
the Motion to Dismiss.
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) Standard
In a
motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
12(b)(1)[3] challenging the Court's
subject-matter jurisdiction, the burden rests with the
plaintiff, as the party asserting jurisdiction, to prove that
federal jurisdiction is proper. See Int'l
Longshoremen's Ass'n v. Va. Int'l Terminals,
Inc., 914 F.Supp. 1335, 1338 (E.D. Va. 1996) (citing
McNutt v. Gen. Motors Acceptance Corp., 298 U.S.
178, 189 (1936); Adams v. Bain, 697 F.2d 1213, 1219
(4th Cir. 1982)). A motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule
12(b)(1) can attack subject-matter jurisdiction in two ways.
First, a Rule 12(b)(1) motion may attack the complaint on its
face, asserting that the complaint fails to state a claim
upon which subject-matter jurisdiction can lie. See
Int'l Longshoremen's Ass'n, 914 F.Supp. at
1338; see also Adams, 697 F.2dat 1219. Insucha
challenge, a court assumes the truth of the facts alleged by
plaintiff, thereby functionally affording the plaintiff the
same procedural protection he or she would receive under Rule
12(b)(6) consideration. See Int'l Longshoremen's
Ass 'n, 914 F.Supp. at 1338; see also
Adams, 697F.2datl219.
A Rule
12(b)(1) motion may also challenge the existence of
subject-matter jurisdiction in fact, apart from the
pleadings. See Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac
R.R. Co. v. United States, 945 F.2d 765, 768 (4th Cir.
1991); Int'l Longshoremen's Ass 'n, 914
F.Supp. at 1338; see also Adams, 697 F.2d at 1219.
In such a case, because a party challenges the court's
'"very power to hear the case, '" the trial
court is free to weigh evidence to determine the existence of
jurisdiction. Int'l Longshoremen's
Ass'n, 914 F.Supp. at 1338 (quoting Mortensen v.
First Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n, 549 F.2d 884, 891
(3d Cir. 1977)). No presumptive truthfulness attaches to the
plaintiffs allegations, and the existence of disputed
material facts will not preclude the trial court from
evaluating for itself the merits of jurisdictional claims.
See id; see also Adams, 697 F.2d at 1219.
Procedural and Factual Background
the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(the "EEOC") denied consideration of her Petition
to Review a final decision of the Merit Systems Protection
Board (the "MSPB"), Joan C. Harrup filed a
Complaint in this Court against Ashton B. Carter, the former
Secretary of the Department of Defense. The facts underlying
Harrup's claim arise from the implementation of the 2013
Federal Government Furlough, which she claims applied to her
in violation of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C.
§§ 701 et seq[4] (Compl. 1, ECF No. 4.)
2013 Challenge to the Furlough
alleges that, in February 2011, she began working a
reasonable accommodation schedule to comply with her
neurologist's orders following an injury sustained in a
car accident. Under that schedule, Harrup contends she worked
only thirty-four hours per week, with reduced hours on
Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Defense Logistics Agency
("DLA"), a component of the Department of Defense,
recorded the hours she did not work as Leave without Pay
an upcoming furlough, the DLA negotiated a Memorandum of
Agreement ("MOA") with the American Federation of
Government Employees, Council 169 ("AFGE"), a union
to which Harrup belonged, regarding application of the
furlough to union members. The DLA and the AFGE signed this
agreement on May 1, 2013. (See Mem. Agreement
Between the DLA and the AFGE Administrative Furlough, ECF No.
4-3.) On May 29, 2013, the DLA issued a memorandum to its
affected employees informing them of a proposed furlough
("Furlough Notice"), which would be implemented
"not earlier than 30 days from receipt of [the]
notice." (May 29, 2013 DLA Memo. 1, ECF No. 11-1.)
In July
and August 2013, due to budget constraints, the DLA
furloughed many of its civilian employees, including Harrup,
for six non-consecutive days. The DLA required that employees
record furlough hours as LWOP and that they take the hours on
Mondays or Fridays during the furlough period. Prior to the
first week of the furlough, the DLA allowed employees to
choose which day of the week they wanted to serve as their
furlough day, but required employees to maintain that choice
throughout the furlough period.
to the MOA, "[t]hose employees who currently have an
alternative work schedule with a scheduled regular day off
will have the option of retaining their current day off as
their weekly furlough day." (Mem. Agreement Between the
DLA and the AFGE Administrative Furlough ¶ 3.) It also
provided that part-time employees should work with their
"supervisors ... [to] compute a pro-rated number of
furlough hours per pay period commensurate with that
part-time schedule." (Id. ¶ 6.) Both the
DLA and the AFGE "agree[d] to abide by applicable laws,
rules, and regulations regarding furloughs" in
implementing the upcoming furlough. (Id. ¶ 15.)
receiving the Furlough Notice and in accordance with the
procedures within it, Harrup sent a letter to the DLA's
Deciding Official asserting that the furlough would cause her
financial hardship due to pay reduction and continued medical
payments, stating that it "d[id] not promote the
efficiency of the service, is unwarranted, and is
unprecedented." (Joan Harrup Mem. for Deciding Official
¶ 3, ECF No. 11-2.) On June 27, 2013, the Deciding
Official responded on behalf of the DLA by issuing a
"Notice of Decision to Furlough Due to Lack of
Funds." (ECF No. 11-3.) In that notice, the DLA rejected
any claim that the furlough was "unwarranted" or
lacked legal support. (June 27, 2013 DLA Mem. 1-2, ECF No.
11-3.) The DLA also deemed the furlough "valid."
(Id. at 2.) Recognizing that the furlough might
"create a financial hardship for employees, " the
DLA stated that it had attempted to limit the impact
"across-the-board for all employees, " and referred
Harrup to resources within DLA to assist with financial or
other issues. (Id.) Finally, the DLA instructed
Harrup that she, and other employees, could pursue various
avenues of appeal depending on the basis of their claim, or
on their employee status.
August 2.2013 Appeal to the MSPB
August 2, 2013, Harrup appealed the furlough to the MSPB
asserting again that the furlough did "not promote the
efficiency of service, is unwarranted, and
unprecedented." (MSPB Form 185-2, ECF No. 11 -4). Harrup
charged that she "knew" the furlough would be
deleterious to "the DLA mission." (Id.)
She reiterated that the proposed furlough would cause her
financial hardship due to pay reduction and continued medical
November 3, 2014 Notice to Appellants
November 3, 2014, Administrative Law Judge Nicole DeCrescenzo
(the "ALJ") issued a Notice to Appellants on behalf
of the MSPB. (See ALJ's Notice to Appellants
(the "ALJ Notice"), ECF No. 11-5.) The ALJ Notice
informed Harrup and approximately thirty others that their
appeals had been consolidated. The ALJ notified Harrup's
appeal group that she would consider at least the following
four issues under their appeals: "[f]urlough was
arbitrary, unfair, or inconsistent with the efficiency of the
service; [f]urlough was unnecessary because agency had
sufficient funds and/or the agency could have utilized other
cost saving methods without furloughing employees; [f]urlough
caused me financial hardship; [and, w]orking Capital Fund
employees should not have been furloughed."
(Id. at 4.)
The ALJ
Notice also ordered all appellants "to file a written
notice specifying the arguments or affirmative defenses
[they] intend[ed] to raise" and cautioned them that
"[a]ny allegations or affirmative defenses not listed
above that are not specifically identified in response to
this order may be deemed as waived and may not be considered
further." (Id.) Harrup did not identify any
affirmative defenses, nor did she submit anything indicating
that she intended to pursue a disability discrimination claim
or otherwise rely on the Rehabilitation Act. Indeed, for
roughly nineteen months between August 2013 and January 2015,
the gravamen of Harrup's claims rested on concerns about
efficiency, arbitrary action, lack of procedure, or lack of
need to save funds. Similarly consistent were Harrup's
complaints of financial hardship stemming from reduced income
as she continued to incur medical bills. This focus-including
the absence of specific reference to any disability
claim-persisted despite at least one formal opportunity to
add claims or affirmative defenses to the record.
before the ALJ in 2015
In the
ALJ's January 12, 2015 Order and Summary of Conference
Call, the ALJ noted that Harrup and several others had
preserved their appeals by, among other things, participating
in the agency-ordered January 8, 2015 conference call. The
ALJ explained that, with one exception not applicable to
Harrup, "[n]o appellant has preserved an affirmative
defense." (O. & Summ. of Conference Call 1, ECF No.
11-6.) After articulating the applicable law and burdens of
proof, the ALJ instructed appellants, including Harrup, that
"[a] 11 evidence and argument must be filed by"
February 16, 2015, and that anything filed after that date
"will not be accepted." (Id. at 7.)
submitted material in support of her claim. On January 23,
2015, she argued that the furlough was not applied to her in
a "fair and even manner." (Harrup's Jan. 23,
2015 MSPB Submission 3, ECF No. 4-2.) Harrup stated that she
was "denied due process in not being allowed to
continue" her reduced hours on Tuesday and Thursday,
which complied with a "Reasonable Accommodation Request
from [her] neurologist." (Id.) Because the
furlough allowed only a Monday or Friday off, Harrup stated
that she had to take medical leave in order to maintain her
medical treatment as directed. (Id.) Personal
financial hardship ensued. (Id.) While Harrup
mentioned a Rehabilitation Act term of art by ...
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Chinese Medicine
Often, people assume that Traditional Chinese
Medicine, a science encapsulating 2500 years of research and clinical
practice, consists simply of acupuncture and herbal teas. "TCM"
is actually an ancient holistic medicine that treats the entire
person- in all aspects-body, mind and spirit. Harmony and balance
are the primary goals of TCM and understandably, one of the first
tenets of TCM is preventing illness by making conscious lifestyle
health is maintained through a combination of diet, exercise,
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text:
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Diamond Daisy Cluster Ring. Art Deco circa 1930. 18 carat yellow gold marked 18ct. A central old cut diamond surrounded by a further eight old cut diamonds, with two diamonds set to each shoulder. Total diamond content measures approximately .60 carat. Diamonds H colour, VS/SI clarity. Diamonds are in a rub over millegrain setting. Decorative gallery leading to a plain band shank.
To the reverse the diamonds are set into open backed settings, this allows the light to shine through.
The head of the ring measures approximately 16mm width.
Ring size UK…N FRENCH...54 GERMAN...17 USA…6 1/2
The majority of our rings can be resized. Resizing will be done at our expense and can take up to five working days. We suggest that a ring size is confirmed by a jeweller who has taken a ring measurement, given that there can be a difference in ring sizes on each hand.