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Categories > Games > Dynasty Warriors > Eternal Warriors
Chapter 3: Entrance0 Reviews
Back to the future...
Gregory P. Wong
Chapter 3: Entrance
"Uhh..." Nobunaga groaned as his eyes opened. He sat up. "What the..."
He has been lying on some type of bed. He last remembered the white light crawling over him...
"Noh?" He called as he spotted his wife next to him on a bed right next to his. She was just awakening.
Then he noticed that she wasn't wearing a purple night robe. What she was wearing was purple, but certainly not a robe. It looked like an ornate Japanese dress. It showed a bit of cleavage and plenty of leg. He examined himself.
To his surprise, he was dressed completely in tight black leather. Frowning, he got to his feet. The leather was tight, but didn't inhibit his movements. Then he noticed that some type of high orange collar was over his shoulders. He felt behind him, and felt a flowing cape that was fastened at his waist by a-big surprise-black leather belt.
"Nobunaga? Where are we?" he head Noh say.
"I don't know. Probably where that stranger wants us."
"That's a nice thought," his wife snorted.
Shrugging, he took a look around. The room had steel walls, and was pretty bare except for the beds and overhead lights. What looked to be a door was at the far end.
He strode over to his wife and helped her up. They looked each other up and down.
He spoke first. "I like the look. Purple brings out your eyes."
Noh chuckled softly. "I have always been impartial to violet." Her mouth arched into a small grin. "That outfit fits your personality. And it makes you look so... squeezable."
He laughed. "I don't think now is the appropriate time, Noh. I think it would be best if we find a way out of this-" He halted himself when the door whooshed up and open.
He and his wife stared out the door and into a long steel corridor.
"Humph... Interesting," he muttered.
The corridor continued on for about twenty blank feet, and began to curve to the right. He couldn't see what could be at the end.
"Shall we take a look?" Noh asked him.
"Yes... why not?" he asked rhetorically.
Staying close together, they left the plain room, and walked down the corridor.
Surprise, surprise, they came to another door. It looked like the room's twin. He looked at his wife, and shrugged.
Then, it slid open.
He peered past the door, into a large room. The chamber beyond was about sixty feet from the door's edge to the open door at the other end... where another couple came walking in. The man looked young, and was clad in red armor and a red headband. The women was about the same age-he estimated at around twenty-and was clad in what looked to be purple short pants that cinched at the knee, a clinging midriff-bearing tank top stamped with a floral design, and a sash that was knotted on the young woman's waist on the right side.
He and the armored man caught each other's eye. Frowning, he walked forward into the room.
It looked like he and Rong had just entered a really weird costume party. Bad enough Huo was dressed in some type of barbarian-king outfit, but his wife was dressed up like some Amazon princess. Seriously.
Shifting his gaze from one person to another. There was a scarred kid dressed in green armor and a tall helmet with a ceremonial crescent-crest; next to him was a young, pretty woman with large eyes, dressed in a white blouse and miniskirt. There was another couple, this time a large man with volumes of wild hair and a flashy crimson outfit with armor plates sewn onto the shoulders, bells tied to the waist, and some pretty weird looking shoes. That man stood next to a stunningly attractive young woman in a red dress and sleeveless shirt. There were others, but his attention wavered when he saw the Mindlancer kid-now completely solid-looking-walk into the room from yet another door. The kid jogged over to the center of the room.
"Hey, we gotta move! A Sraida ship managed to covertly drop off its forces, and they're heading here!" he called.
"Hell, no," he muttered. He was just dragged-or whatever-to this screwy place, wearing weird garb, and he damn wanted answers... "Hey, you! Mindlancer boy! I ain't leaving until I get some information."
The kid turned to him. "We don't have much time. A Sraida force of three hundred is inbound. We have to move /now/!"
"Maybe you didn't hear me, kid... I'm /not moving/."
There was a blur of black, and he suddenly found the Mindlancer in front of his face.
But he had been fifty feet away just a split second ago... how the hell...?
"Meng Huo, we don't have time."
"I don't care... you tore us from our homes. Answer!" called one of the men, this one in spiffy green armor. That guy was accompanied by an athletic looking woman clad in red shorts and red-and-white shirt who could probably give Rong a run for queen of hot Amazons.
The Mindlancer sighed. "I guess I do owe you some answers. But I'll have to make them quick. The transports that'll take us to the main base will be here in five minutes.
"To start off, I'm General Zachary Adrian of the Mindlancer Corps. I'm also sixty-seven years old."
All eyes stared at the officer. The Mindlancer smiled.
"I've aged quite well, haven't I? It's a side effect of so fully harnessing my psionic powers. I age ten times slower than the average person. Objectively, I'm sixty-seven. Biologically, I'm eighteen. Which I'll stay for a couple more decades."
He, his wife, and everyone around the room were speechless.
"I'm not that surprising. All psi-warriors have a far-extended lifespan. But, then again, so do you people. All you need to do is-" The Mindlancer jerked as a small black box strapped to his right wrist chimed."
"Urgent message from HQ!" a female voice piped from the box.
"Report," The Mindlancer said tensely.
"A Sraida marauder detachment has interdicted and eliminated the rescue unit. This facility is now isolated. Marauder force ETA is ten minutes. Main dropship force incoming in eighteen minutes."
The sixty-seven year old kid let out a string of expletives. The black box continued talking.
"HQ recommends that the inhibitor nannites be unlocked ASAP. Generals Resathel and Diakrestis are moving in for support, but they'll make it here in thirty minutes. Message ends."
The general didn't say anything. The officer's lips pressed together to form a white, bloodless line. The man's head snapped to the left, and he seemed to be concentrating.
He saw his wife look in that direction, and followed her gaze. He gaped open-mouthed as a procession of objects floated into the room.
He stared as a pair of metal boar's heads set down in front of him. They looked hollow, and there was an opening at the back of each head. He looked over at his wife, and saw her staring quizzically at some type of hollow triangle with sharp protrusions. He looked up. The Mindlancer was typing furiously as computer terminal. His fingers were moving at a supernatural speed. The Mindlancer typed in a final dozen commands, and then threw some type of switch. He felt and heard a humming in the room.
Then, he felt something like cold liquid metal invade his mind. His vision blacked out.
His eyes popped open.
Nothing about him changed. But everything changed. He was...
Yukimura Sanada, vassal of Lord Shingen Takeda, defender of Ueda Castle, the Immortal Legend. But he was also Yukimura Sanada, who had grown up in New York City, living as a martial arts teacher for the past two years...
He turned to the person beside him. Kunoichi, his bodyguard, his loyal friend, the Moon Goddess.
She was also Makie Sanada, a seventh grade public school teacher and his wife.
He and Kunoichi stepped away from each other as if the other was aflame.
"Luh... Lord Yuki... Yukimura?" the young woman stammered. For perhaps the first time for as long he could remember, she couldn't think of something witty to say.
"I... I..." He faltered. This couldn't be... female ninja were not supposed to fall in love like this.
He felt a weird something brush his mind.
"Dammit..." he heard the Mindlancer growl. "This is why I wanted you guys back at base. As if I we didn't have enough problems already. Christ..."
He blinked, and looked around the room. Several people were unknown to him, but he recognized Nobunaga Oda, the Demon Lord, Lady Nouhime, the Demon's Wife, Keiji Maeda, the Unbelievable, Mistress Okuni, the Diva, Lady Oichi, the Light of Hope, and Nagamasa Azai, Lord of Azai.
This was too much. At one moment, he knew the intricacies of sword forging; at another, he knew how to drive a car. The onslaught of information from two lifetimes, one real, one not, brought him to his knees.
He looked at Makie... Kunoichi. The little girl that had shown up at his father's doorstep had abandoned her real name when she swore service to his father.
"NO!" /I'm not your wife! I can't be/!" she broke into completely un-Kunoichi-like sobs. "I don't... know what... happened. I'm so sorry... Lord Yukimura!" she gasped between sobs.
"There's nothing to be sorry for, Kunoichi. I..." He couldn't think of anything to say. He just watched her sobbing form as her head drifted up. He saw Kunoichi's eyes fix on a pair of oddly-shaped daggers.
He leaped forward before the ninja could slash her throat with her own Kushinada daggers. He knocked the weapons out of her hands.
"Stop!" he yelled as the crying Kunoichi collapsed in his arms.
He was sure that his crimson armor wasn't the best thing to press against, so he did his best to present the softer padding to the weeping woman's cheek. The embrace reminded him of when she had learned that her friend had died in a horrific automobile accident, and he had hugged and comforted her.
Kunoichi probably had the same thought, and pushed him away. She fixed him with a red-eyed stare.
"Lord Yukimura, I've violated my honor, code, and most importantly, your honor. Let me commit seppuku, and end this blot on your character."
He reached out and grabbed hold of her shoulders. That was completely unlike the woman he knew... whether she was a ninja or his... his... wife.
"/No/," he said firmly. "I'll never allow that. You can't-"
"/You can't let me live with this dishonor, Yukimura/!" she screamed. He noted that she had left out the honorific.
"No, you haven't," he said firmly. "I don't feel like my honor has been violated, and I don't think yours has been, either."
She stared at him with her dark brown eyes which were quickly filling with tears again.
"Lord Yukimura, how can you say-" her voice was cut off as a powerful rumble reverberated through the room.
He heard the Mindlancer general mutter, "Damnation, they're early."
Before Kunoichi could say anything, he shook her. "Vow to me now that you will not attempt anything against yourself."
As her eyes misted over again, he lifted her chin so she stared directly into his eyes. Unconsciously, the ninja's hand grabbed at the round scar on her shoulder, a legacy not from surgery, but from a Tokugawan musket ball from a sniper's rifle she had taken to save him. "We still need to watch each other's backs."
Kunoichi's lips trembled. "Fine, Lord Yukimura. I won't try anything like that... yet. We'll talk about this... and then I'll make my decision."
He just nodded.
When he had been younger, when he spied the same-aged girl taken in by his father, he was struck by her good looks and lively character. When he learned that she was to be his bodyguard, any hope of a real relationship evaporated. Thus he settled for being a comrade of hers, even if was technically her superior. They watched each other's backs, they had saved each other's lives countless times, they had grown as close as friends possibly could.
Now... He wasn't sure how to proceed. One part of his mind wanted their marriage to hold fast... yet another part of him knew that a samurai did not marry a ninja... especially if the ninja in question was his bodyguard.
A crack rumbled through the room, and a section of wall screeched as it was torn apart. A mob of gibbering, nightmarish creatures flooded through.
He snatched up his cross-bladed spear, the mighty Susano, and charged the horde.
Insane... that was the best word for it. A group of over seventy of the Sraida things had charged into the room through a tear in the wall and seemed to be intent on feeding Keiji his own entrails.
He lowered his fork-bladed spear as a Sraida charged at him. With a jolt, the creature impaled itself on the blades... and still reached for him with claws the size of butcher knives. With a grunt, he twisted his body and catapulted the Sraida over his shoulder. He watched the corpse sail through the air and smash into another bug that was going head-to-head with the chick wielding bladed discs.
He liked insane.
With a sweeping motion, he slashed through a knot of charging creatures in a welter of black ichors. Sensing danger, he whipped the weight on the end of his weapon into the face of another Sraida charging from behind, caving it in. The bug dropped.
A tangle of three Sraida flew past him. He looked back, and saw Okuni brandishing that umbrella of hers. She was knocking back these alien things, all the while dancing away from claws, and she still looked great.
He was jolted out his train of thought when another Sraida made a lunge for him, claws reaching. He knocked away the arms with the shaft of his weapon, and sent a left uppercut directly into the monster's chin. It flew in the air.
He presented the blades to the falling creature, and was rewarded with a jerk as the body sank unto the dual blades. Black blood spurted. He catapulted this one forward and heard a satisfying smack as the body crunched into a knot of creatures converging on Noh.
Finding a lull in the battle, he ambled over to his wife.
"Y'okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine, Keiji. A lady can deal with oversized insects." She winked.
There was final screech as a surviving Sraida became a not-survivor, and all was quite. He spied several piles of chopped alien at the feet of the Mindlancer guy.
/Strong fighter/, he thought. /Gotta take him on one of these days/...
" Another transport unit is coming down. We should move south, where we can meet up with them."
He groaned. Running wasn't his favorite activity.
Liu Bei nodded to Shang, and dashed back to the spot where his swords' scabbards lay. When the Sraida had flooded into the room, he had unsheathed his twin swords and fought.
He gathered a sheath and strapped it behind him on the waist, the opening facing to his left. The other scabbard followed, this one put on his left, opening facing forward. He slid his two swords into their respective sheaths.
"Are you okay?" he asked his wife.
"I got scratched," she replied, showing a slightly oozing wound on her cheek. "It's nothing, really."
"It should be treated," he said back. He reached for the wound and wiped off some of the blood that had dripped down.
Shang grinned as she grabbed his hand and pressed it onto her cheek. He massaged the side of her face.
"That's why I love you so much," Shang said.
"You always care for others before yourself. And that's what got me to vow that Sun Quan wouldn't kill you."
He looked into her emerald eyes. "And your courage and liveliness were what attracted me... though those aspects intimidated me at first."
His wife was about to say something, when the Mindlancer called out "Hey! We have to move /now/!"
She rolled her eyes, and let go of his hand. They smiled at each other, and made their way over the bodies to the Mindlancer.
"Okay, now that we're all here, this is the situation. A whole swarm of Sraida warriors are converging on this position, coming from the northwest. Our ride, a squad of C-48E Armadillo APCs, is coming from the south. It'll be close, but if we leave now, we'll be able to make it to the rendezvous point before we get swarmed."
He heard two audible groans from behind. He looked back, and saw that the originators of the noise were Meng Huo, king of the Nanman, and a tall warrior with volumes of pale hair.
"I hate running..." grumped the Nanman king. "But fine, I'd rather run than get swamped by those bug things, anyway."
The officer nodded. "All of you, get going. I'll watch your backs."
The thought of several hundred Sraida spurred him to action. He gave his wife a look, and made his way for the tear in the metal walls.
Outside, he noticed that the ground was a dead brown color, with nothing growing for miles around. Swallowing deeply, he looked behind him.
The Nanman king and the Japanese fighter with the dual-bladed spear looked as if they couldn't run very fast.
"We stay together. I do not want any one of you getting separated and taken down."
One by the one, the other fourteen people nodded, accepting. However, the young woman with the floral-designed tank top looked at him with red eyes. She looked as if she had been crying.
"I'll scout ahead," the woman said emotionlessly. "I know enough tricks and I'm fast enough to avoid a fight if I have to. I'll-" she was cut off by the spear-wielding man in crimson armor.
"Kunoichi, you can't! I know how good you are, but if something goes wrong..."
The ominous looking man in black leather smirked. "Why not let her, Lord Sanada? She is only a servant of yours. Or is she?"
Sanada's-he wasn't sure if that was a first name or surname-eyes flashed as he whirled on the speaker.
"What would you know of such things, Demon Lord!" the spear-wielder spat. "If you couldn't be found massacring villagers, you could be found trying to kill your /wife/!"
The "Demon Lord" gave a sneering chuckle. "Perhaps, Yukimura. Nouhime and I have come to a mutual understanding concerning that." The man laughed. "Oh, my. I thought it was against the ninja's code to get involved with her master."
He drew his sword in time to block the spearhead thrusting towards the Demon Lord. His other sword stopped a couple of inches from the Demon's throat. The black-clad man's hand drifted away from his own sword hilt.
"Settle any arguments later, you two. We do not have the time for squabbles."
The two men stared at each other. Yukimura drew back his spear. He lowered his sword that had been blocking the weapon.
"This can wait for later, Nobunaga." The warrior in red turned looked at him, the impromptu mediator. "Perhaps with words, not blades."
Yukimura stepped away.
He looked at "Nobunaga".
"Humph. We will settle this in the future, Lord Sanada. Perhaps with words, perhaps not."
Nobunaga stepped back. He lowered his other sword.
He looked at the young woman called Kunoichi. "I believe it would be best if you stayed with the rest of us. We don't know what kind of ambushes these Sraida are capable of setting.
Kunoichi was looking down at the earth. She kicked a small pebble, nodding somberly.
He sheathed his weapons, and pointed towards the west.
"We are heading in that direction. I suggest that we go /now/."
"That was well handled, my lord," Zhuge Liang said to Liu Bei as they marched south.
"I thank you for your praise, Minister Liang," the Shu ruler replied. "I hope a surge of hatred will not manifest itself at the wrong time."
"Yes," he answered his lord. He thought for a moment. "While the two of them seem calmed down, I cannot be sure. Perhaps someone should stay next to them. Ying and I can do that, Lord Liu Bei."
He saw Liu Bei shake his head. "Stay here, Minister. Shang and I will deal with it." Bei turned to Shang Xiang. "Shang, watch Yukimura. I'll watch this Nobunaga."
Shang offered a wink. "What, you don't think I can handle this Demon myself?" she asked rhetorically.
"I have every confidence in you, sweetheart." Bei offered a wink back. The two of them sped up, taking up their positions behind their charges. Shang's chakrams stayed within easy reach, and Bei's left hand rested on the hilt of the sword fastened horizontally across the back of his waist.
As they marched on, he felt his wife stride up next to him.
"Since when did Lord Liu Bei call his wife 'sweetheart', and when ever did he start to /wink/?"
He looked at his wife, dressed in armor and wielding her scythe-spear. "Most likely it is a result from living in the modern world for two years." He winked at her.
Ying cocked an eyebrow. "It seems modern life has affected you as well, husband."
He chuckled. "It would seem so, my wife."
He turned away from her and focused on the travel ahead. The land was stark and plain. Nothing except a few stunted shrubs grew for miles around. In the east, the horizon was broken by a mountain range that extended to their intended destination.
"Interesting. I hope this facility we need to defend is nestled in either those mountains or behind them. Our forces will have a strategic advantage up there."
He saw his wife nod, accepting the fact. "I only wonder if the technological-"
She was cut off as the ground exploded in front of them.
"Yaaah!" Oichi cried as a Sraida burst out of the ground. She stumbled as the dirt churned beneath her. The Sraida that had appeared in front of her leaped into the air, as if it wanted to crush her beneath its spiny bulk. She scrambled to get her kendama into play, but a spear flew from behind her and impaled the alien's head. The force of the spear arrested the forward momentum of the creature, stopping it in midair. The creature dropped like a rock. She looked behind her and saw Nagamasa dodging the claws of a Sraida. She delivered a kick to the kendama's crystal ball, and it flew forward, snapping the Sraida's neck. Her husband dashed past her, and snatched up his battle spear just in time to block a descending Sraida claw. Shifting his body right, Nagamasa forced the alien to stumble, and finished the shambling Sraida with a thrust to the throat.
She picked herself off the ground in time to witness the very ground around the group split apart as nightmarish monstrosities burst out of the soil.
A Sraida fixed her with a multi-eyed stare and charged her. With her kendama in an awkward position, all she could do roll out of reach of the monster's claws. She wasn't quite fast enough, though, to completely avoid the reaching blades. She felt something tear, and saw that a rip had appeared on her miniskirt. She cursed.
She liked that skirt, dammit.
As the Sraida plunged its claws for her again, she rolled out o the way, kicked the monster's arms, and somersaulted back to her feet. The off-balance alien screeched, but that didn't stop her from snapping its neck with a spinning kick.
"That felt so baddass," she muttered to herself as she entangled another Sraida's legs with the kendama string and yanked back. The alien toppled over, allowing her to deliver a fatal overhand blow to the fallen creature's head.
As she drew back the crystal sphere from the caved-in skull, she kicked backwards and connected with another yammering creature's face. She felt the carapace give under her heel, and the alien dropped with shards of shell in its gray matter. Or whatever color it was.
Waaaaay baddass.
Then a Sraida body-checked her and knocked her to the churned soil. Before she could be stabbed , she twisted out of the way. She was intent on feeding the buglike bastard its left foot when a sword neatly decapitated the alien. She looked to the sword's owner to thank him... and found herself speechless.
The sword belonged to one handsome dude. Silky, neck-length brown hair held back by a red headband, perfect features, and a nice-looking body from what she could see under clothing that was at both ceremonial and martial. He reached down with his left hand, offering her a hand.
She took it and the man pulled her to her feet.
Then he raised his left palm to her. A high-five? Now!?
Then a fireball flew from the hand and struck something behind her with a sizzling crack.
Scratch the high-five.
Suddenly aware of more Sraida she whirled around, whipping the kendama ball around. The crystal ball broke a Sraida's leg, snapped another's neck, and knocked another one ten feet away.
Before the first body hit the floor, another mob of creatures were heading for her. She crouched and somersaulted, whipping the kendama crystal in a wide circle as she spun. She heard a series of satisfying crunches. As she revolved, she found the sword-wielding man engaged in an intricate dance that slashed Sraida left and right.
Gorgeous and skilled.
She landed, and just for the heck of it, she gave a nice little flourish, just as if she had finished one of her gymnast routines. Pointless gesture, sure, but satisfying.
Seeing one last Sraida charging her, she rolled her eyes and kicked the kendama crystal, propelling it through the bug's chest in a welter of black gore. She pulled the sphere back, and dragged it in the dirt to get some of the ichors off. Unfortunately, there was precious little clean soil. She spied the red-dressed man, long saber sheathed at his side, walking towards her.
"Thanks for the save," she said without a waver. After the initial shock of the man's handsomeness, she didn't give it too much though.
"My pleasure," he said. "I don't believe I know your name."
Oh, man. He was trying to hit on her. If she hadn't met Nagamasa, she wouldn't have minded the attention; since she was already married to a wonderful and good-looking guy, she didn't want it. She frowned a bit as she called up a memory. He had seen him in the facility with that pretty woman who didn't look too much older than her. She was about to tell him to step off when the man raised his hands in a disarming gesture, perhaps seeing the look in her eyes.
"I just want to know your name. I'm married, too."
"Oh. So am I," she said, a bit sheepishly. "Sorry about the suspicion. I'm Oichi Azai. You?"
"I'm Zhou Yu. By the way, that is in traditional Chinese form, with my surname first. You can call me Yu."
She was going to reply when Yu visible stiffened. She looked behind her, and noticed that Nagamasa was behind her. She blinked as she thought about the situation. Husband finds pretty wife speaking with handsome stranger.
If they had been a normal couple, things would have been tense. But, she and Masa were faithful to each other, one-sex-thought-per-fifteen-seconds notwithstanding. Masa shifted his battle spear to his left hand and extended his right. Yu took the proffered hand and shook.
"The name's Nagamasa Azai," her husband said. She was relieved when she noticed that he hadn't put any sort of emphasis on the word "Azai".
"Zhou Yu," said Yu. He suddenly looked off to his right, and waved. She looked, and saw that the young woman in red and tan was walking over to them. She noticed that the newcomer was very pretty. She suddenly felt a bit self-conscious.
"Hi." The woman said, giving a wide smile. "I'm Xiao Qiao, Yu's wife."
"I'm Nagamasa Azai, and this is my wife, Oichi," Masa said, extending a hand again. The Qiao woman shook it.
Shrugging, she extended her own hand to the stunning women. They shook.
"I assume you two are from Japan?" Yu asked. "Your names sound Japanese, anyway," he added.
"Yep," said her husband. "I'm assuming you two were from somewhere, somewhen in China."
"Yes... with emphasis on the /when/," Qiao spoke with a shrug.
"This might be a bit of an assumption, but do you two know the other Chinese people?" Masa queried.
"Yeah," came Qiao again. "Well, that gigantic man over there is Meng Huo, king of the Nanman, she said, gesturing towards an extremely wide man in barbaric garb. The other woman then motioned towards a wide-shouldered woman in skimpy clothing. "The Amazon chick is his wife, Zhu Rong. Um... the man in green armor is the Shu king, Liu Bei, and the athletic woman in red is his wife, Sun Shang Xiang."
She and Nagamasa waited for the older girl to continue, but Yu took up the conversation.
"The man with the war fan is Zhuge Liang, the chief military adviser and prime minister to Liu Bei. He's considered to be the most gifted strategist to ever be born; of the people I know, they only approached Liang, never equaling or surpassing him. Sima Yi was the only person I know of to come close to his genius."
After the man finished, Qiao rolled her eyes and dug an elbow into Yu's ribs.
"He's being modest. He neglected to tell you that he was our kingdom's best strategist. He gave Zhuge Liang a run for his money a couple of times."
"But, I lost..." Yu muttered.
"Sure. But, like you've said, Liang is phenomenal. Making him think twice is compliment, Yu."
"I guess it is..." the other man said contemplatively. He motioned to a woman who stood next to Liang, clutching a scythe-bladed spear. While the woman wasn't a mind-blowing beauty, she had a lively attractivess, was well in shape, and had a regal aura to her. "She's Yue Ying, Zhuge Liang's wife. If Liang is the best strategist ever born, Yue Ying would be one of the best tacticians ever born. They work very well together."
She nodded, taking in Qiao's and Yu's information. She decided to introduce her "companions."
"Well, the man in the red armor is Yukimura Sanada, a samurai from the Kai region. He's a fearless and skilled warrior, and he's a good tactician, too. The ninja-girl following him around is known only as 'Kunoichi,' which means-"
" 'Female ninja.' I know a bit of Japanese. All those games Yu buys, y'know?" interrupted Qiao.
"Yeah. She's incredibly loyal to Lord Yukimura, though she has a very pronounced sense of humor. But, she's a good fighter and an excellent spy." She frowned. "Though I don't know what's been up with her lately. It's not like her to be this... melancholy." She decided to not dwell on the obviously distraught ninja for too much longer. "Um... The man with the blond bush for hair is Keiji Maeda, easily the best warrior for his era. All I can say about him is that he loves competition, and he lives for the fight, and the fight alone. The pretty woman with him is Okuni, one of the best dancers I have ever seen. And, apparently, a good fighter to boot."
Before she could continue, her husband took over.
"The man in black leather is Nobunaga Oda, Oichi's brother," Masa said softly. "I... I can't say too much about him, besides that he is probably the most ruthless person I've ever met. He... He's not a very kind person."
She looked deep into her husband's eyes as he finished describing her brother. He looked away. After all, Nobunaga was still her brother.
She laid a hand on his arm. After all, she was his /wife/.
"I know Masa. That's how he is."
Perhaps seeing an awkward situation, Zhou Yu cleared his throat.
"I think we best be going. It looks like the others are moving out."
"You think that's the convoy that the general was talking about?" Nobunaga asked his wife.
"I can't think of anything else it could be. Well, I could, but that would be much too depressing."
He grunted. "No, it's a convoy. It looks like a duo of hovering vehicles."
The group stopped and waited for the floating vehicles to approach. He squinted as a sudden gust of wind sprayed his face with dust.
This was truly a revolting world.
The armored personnel carriers-he couldn't think of what else they could be-stopped in front of them and popped a hatch at their rears.
A set of futuristic-or, more likely, up-to-date-combat armor tromped out of the APC and beckoned to them. Since the helmet was visored, he couldn't see what gender the soldier was.
"Let's go! We don't have much time!" came a rumbling baritone.
Giving his wife a glance, he stalked over to one of the open doors and climbed inside. Watching out of the open door, he watched the other temporally misplaced warriors clamber into other carrier.
Presently, he was joined by Keiji, Okuni, the Chinese man in green armor and his wife, and...
Yukimura and the girl ninja poked his head through the door, and froze.
"Maybe I'll take another one," Yukimura ground out from behind a frozen smile.
He grinned back at the samurai. He was sure that his grin was not a friendly one.
"As much as I would like to avoid your company, I do not think there's much room left in the other carrier."
The crimson-clad samurai said nothing and climbed in, followed by his ninja.
"Still with your... ninja, I see. I'm surprised you haven't let her commit seppuku yet." Kunoichi jerked as if she had been struck by a mace. "Oh, the dishon-"
"That's enough, 'Demon Lord'," the Chinese man cut in quietly.
He snorted in disdain. "By what right-"
"By no right but mine. This upcoming battle looks to be a bloodbath, and it will be more so if continue to antagonize him. Why not just show some human courtesy and drop this petty bickering?"
He bristled at the rebuke, but stopped when Noh laid a hand on his arm. She drew her mouth close to his ear.
"Let them alone. Please. I'm not an expert on this sort of thing, but Yukimura and the ninja seem to be suffering enough already."
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Apparently content, the Chinese leaned back on the headrest of the seat and offered a shoulder to his wife. A moment later, the two were asleep.
Seeing no point in saying more, he laid his head back on the rest and began to slumber.
"I hope, uh, that this wasn't too big a problem," Zhu Rong heard Huo mutter sheepishly.
"For the last time, Huo, it's all good," Qiao said exasperatedly.
The APC was a bit cramped, owing to her husband's massive broadness. At least his belly was gone though, or the ride would have been much worse.
"Okay, okay. I'll stop."
The Japanese duo, introduced as Nagamasa and Oichi Azai by Yu and Qiao, chuckled. Her husband blinked.
"Well, I do pride myself in my wideness."
She giggled. "Huo, just a moment ago you were worrying about your-"
"Hey, lady, let my self-contradictions rest in peace."
The compartment echoed with laughter.
Her husband seemed ready to start another meandering monologue on the sexiness of his muscular girth-well, she did like that body-when the pilot of the armored vehicle called out. She couldn't tell it was a woman until she spoke, since her face was hidden behind a visored helmet. Facing her, she could make a bit of facial featured through the opaque-blue shield.
"We're coming up on the outpost. We'll be there in ten."
She turned around and peered through what must have been a firing port and caught a glimpse of what must have been the largest citadel she had ever seen.
There was a long, narrow pass, about two miles long and a quarter wide that led through the mountains. The pass was overshadowed by a sure lot of outcroppings, most of which seemed to be filled with towerlike constructs. They had to be guard towers.
Jeez, there had to be over two hundred towers. Serious towers.
She also noted that the towers were connected to those on a lower level by what had to be zip lines.
In addition to the towers, it looked like piles of boulders were rigged to drop onto the pass.
Serious defenses... but those weren't all, she saw.
At the end of the pass, there was a wide open field, easily four miles in diameter. At the end of the hilly field, directly across from the pass' exit, was a... wall.
Jesus Christ, it was a huge wall. It made the Great Wall look like... well, Qiao to Huo.
It had to be over two hundred feet tall. The great barrier seemed to be constructed of solid metal of some sort, and there seemed to be no visible welding lines or seams, not counting a band of holey metal at the bottom of the wall. The top of the wall was dotted with towers identical to those in the pass, and she could spot more boulder piles that seemed rigged to fall down.
The bottom section of wall, a band raising fifteen feet from the ground, was dotted with holes, probably to allow soldiers to push spears and pikes through the wall.
As the APC closed with the wall, she could see a huge door, over thirty feet high and fifty wide. Adjacent to the great door were several smaller gates, no more than ten feet square.
In front of the wall, stood another massive building. It was so huge she hadn't really noticed it as a structure.
The tower's main unit was a vague bullet shaped, pointed parallel to the ground, at least 300 feet long, 125 feet tall and 140 feet wide. Centered on the main unit on either side were rounded off rectangles nearly one hundred feet by thirty feet, and about fifty feet wide. Two bars of metal, one on each side, nearly fifty feet long, twenty-five wide, and twenty broad, were connected to the protruding cubes, angling down and out from the main pod. Connected to those were units that were composed of a bar of metal 150 feet long, fifty feet high, and fifty feet wide connected right to another hunk of metal 125 feet long and at least thirty feet high and broad. Along the back of the bullet-shaped pod were two cannon-like constructs easily 275 feet long. Good Lord, the openings on those things had to be at least ten feet in diameter, at least.
The bullet was connected by a "waist" to another unit, this 150 feet long and 60 feet tall, and nearly 100 wide. Connected to that were two support pylons, both strangely double jointed and articulated. The columns themselves stood 225 high. At the bottom were two more cubes, one for each column, each sixty feet long, fifteen high, and seventy-five wide. From those protruded four twelve foot long claws, three in front in a splayed fashion, and one on the back.
The whole damned thing was at least three hundred-fifty feet tall!
The color scheme was a camouflage hue mixing patches of brown, tan, and light gray, and she was sure the dots spread all along the pod were some types of weapons. On the two cubes stuck on the main pod were identical pictures of a black sphere floating in a pool of dull red blood. A drippy "9" was centered in the sphere in the same dull red blood.
What the hell was that thing? Could it be a-
"GAHHH!" she screamed as the pod rotated on its "waist" towards them. The "arms", now revealed to be a battery of cannons, tracked their APC.
Now, a bit closer-which meant about half a mile away-she could see there were three glowing strips of light running across the upper front of the pod, one on top of the other. Like eyes...
"Hey, ma'am, relax. That's just Nineball," said the pilot with a laugh.
"Here, lemme open up a commlink. Don't worry, he's a real gentleman," said the man next to the pilot.
She was about to ask what the hell that woman meant when the APC's communication equipment crackled.
"Titan CAW 19999-Nineball on station," came a smooth, heavily accented Russian voice. "Hello Gunnery Sergeant Robinson, Corporal Nyland. I assume you have four of our Special Forces warriors on board?"
"Righto, big guy," said the man, whom she presumed Robinson. "Talk to 'em."
"I would be glad, to, Gunnery Sergeant. To those who do not know me, I am Titan Continental Assault Walker 19999, designation Nineball. I'll be your massive robotic guardian for your stay here."
Despite herself, she let out a little chuckle.
"A comrade of mine, CAW 23485-Cobalt, is off on patrol. She is currently 16.071 miles from this base, where she has excellent conditions to probe the oncoming Sraida assault force.
"I thought technology can't hurt Sraida," commented Liang with a frown.
"You are correct, sir. However, Sraida ships are very vulnerable to anti-ship weapons. Both my comrade and I have the capabilities to engage starships from 5.25 light seconds out with dual singularity lasers, and mid-orbital ships with main weapons systems, two batteries of eight 155mm ultravelocity cannons. Atmospheric ships can be engaged with our gauss gatling guns, standard antiaircraft missiles, micromissiles, heavy blaster batteries, and, perhaps if we get lucky, our 305mm mortars."
She was sure her jaw was hanging open. It had to be. It was. She slowly drew it back up.
"Um, 'Nineball,' you said you pack 155mm ultras. Does 'ultravelocity' mean supersonic or relativistic?" she heard the Azai guy say. After he said that she noticed that his wife was looking at him funny.
Probably a sci-fi fan. Then again, they were living in a damned sci-fi novel.
"Both. Usually, my main batteries utilize-"
"Hey, Nineball. Ain't this classified?" interrupted the Gunnery Sergeant.
"Shouldn't be, Gunny," answered the driver. "After all, these people are basically Mindlancers, right? 'Sides, Nineball probably cleared it with HIGHCOM."
"Correct, Corporal. I took the liberty, once you opened up the link, to clear this information with High Command."
She could almost hear the frown in Robinson's voice. "Really? How'd you know they'd ask you questions?"
"I didn't. It seemed like a good idea at the time."
Then the Gunnery Sergeant laughed. "I keep forgetting how intuitive and humanlike you mechanical monstrosities are."
"Of course, Gunnery Sergeant," said Nineball with a sniff.
That elicited another nervous laugh from her and the other APC occupants.
"As I was saying, sir, my ultravelocity cannons can accelerate projectiles to significant fractions of C. My usual payload is a 50-pound carbon steel slug accelerated up to 379.03567 miles per second. The kinetic energy upon release, in joules, in accordance to kinetic energy formula E=½MA2, is approximately 4.2284 · 1012, which is slightly more than a one kiloton proton-shift explosive.
"You... you hurl tactical nukes around!?" yelped the Azai guy.
"Usually, no. My gauss-coil/linear rail systems' capacitors are rapidly drained when I use the energy to accelerate the slug to that velocity. I can sustain, with a single ultravelocity cannon, a three-slug-per-second firing rate for six seconds before my cannon system requires critical recharge. Normally, I accelerate the slugs to Mach 54, or about 11.932 miles per second. With that velocity, the steel slugs will impart a joule count of about 4.176 · 109, which comes to approximately the energy released in a one-ton bomb. Of course, I can tailor the velocity of the incoming rounds to meet battlefield needs."
"Uh..." she heard her husband mumble.
"However, I also carry another type of ammunition, a 145-pound steel-jacketed, depleted-uranium-cored discarding-sabot penetrator that I use to engage ships in orbit. This projectile, because of its specialized structure, can be accelerated to .5C, resulting in a total joule count of 7.3654 · 1017, which is approximately 175.7856 megatons. Because the velocity is so immense the cannon capacitors are completely drained, requiring me to charge them. Approximately 9.7542 minutes under normal recharge allows me to fire that particular cannon again. My depleted-uranium penetrators are only used to engage orbital craft, as the uranium dust that would follow such an energy release cannot be metabolized by Terrans and most human foodstuffs. On the other hand, carbon steel is a combination of iron and carbon, which are both completely acceptable to the Terran body."
Well, the APC was pretty quiet at that. She just stared up-since the APC was pretty close to that walking mountain right now-and waited.
"The gate's opening now. See you later, Nineball. Out here," said the Gunnery Sergeant.
"A pleasure to speak with you all. Unit 19999 over and out."
The comm crackled, and she felt the APC glide forward, towards the opening gate.
"You have very developed defenses here," Zhuge Liang said to the lizard-woman.
Once they had gotten past the gates, the APC's hatch opened, allowing the occupants to debark. The slowly setting sun beat down from the east, since this world rotated in the opposite direction of Earth.
The open field the vehicles had stopped in was very large, giving sortie parties the room to maneuver. The field was enclosed by more walls, though none nearly as high as the main monstrous barrier.
Almost immediately after exiting, he had found himself face to face with a visored helmet, belonging to an armored soldier. The man was unarmed.
"Sir, I'm sorry that we can't let you rest much, but my superiors request your assistance." The soldier quickly added, "Your wife is requested, as well."
He had looked at his wife, read her nod, and had said "Lead the way."
The armored trooper, who stood well over six and a half feet, probably near six foot eight, led them into one of the walls, down several corridors, until they came in front of a door. The trooper stood silent for a few moments, and the door opened. The had soldier departed after being dismissed, and he had caught a glimpse of the room's three occupants.
The previous fifteen minutes had helped get over the initial shock.
Actually, the correct name for the alien's species was "Arcone," but he thought Lizard-woman fit much better. It really looked as if a slender model's body was combined with several aspects of a saurian one.
The being was about seven feet tall, and had a six foot long tail. The female alien's scales were the color of jade, and the belly-as he could see the stomach through the midriff-bearing skintight sleeveless top and four-flapped skirt-was a light gray. The alien's hair-yes, it had to be hair; what else could it be?-was dark red. The saurian head was reminiscent of a velociraptor's, with a projecting snout, two eyes that could see forward, two nostrils on the end, and no discernible outer ears. The snout of the Arcone was a bit shorter than a same-proportioned dinosaur-assuming that the Discovery Channel got those details right-and was almost completely flat on top. The pupils of the alien were heart-shaped and scarlet.
The clothing that the alien was clad in was clearly a military outfit, though it wasn't something human's wore.
Even though the alien was so human and yet so different, he could see a sense of feminine beauty, in a nonhuman sort of way.
"I would hope so," said the alien without any hint of malice. "The combined tactical knowledge of three species went into fortifying this place. Now that we have you, I hope it can become nigh impenetrable."
"I'm only a government official," he said with a slight bow.
The alien-her name was Krydeesa-Cordev-smiled, and bowed back.
"That's not what I hear. From what your recorded histories say, you are, for lack of a better description, brilliant."
"Thank you... er..."
"Grand Claw. The rank's equivalent to about a Terran colonel. But, since we're going to be working very closely together, you can just call me Krydeesa, or even Dees."
"Oh. You'll be working with my husband?" Ying asked.
"Yes... um..."
"You can call me Ying. I'm sure my husband would have no objections to you calling him 'Liang'."
"Of course, Ying. However, Ground Force Commander Leeharodin Vir'lok and Colonel Kelly Ryan," she gestured to another alien and a tall, blonde woman, "will also be joining us. Of course, your skill as a tactician is equivalent with Zhuge's skill with strategy; as such, you're with us too"
"I cannot," he heard his wife say. He looked at her. She appeared to be blushing a tiny bit. "My husband is too-"
"Convinced of your abilities," interrupted the Gryth officer, Leeharodin Vir'lok.
For lack of a better description, A Gryth looked like a mythological werewolf. The body was vaguely human, with two arms, two legs, a head, and a very humanlike torso. The alien was dressed in what shockingly resembled traditional Arabian pantaloons and a low-collared, long-sleeved shirt, dyed a navy blue and piped with gold. The sleeves of the top were wide along the arm, but tapered to a cuff at the wrist.
Though he could see little of the alien's skin from the image, he could see that the Gryth was covered in short, soft-looking, tan fur, furthering the werewolf similarity. The alien's muzzle was a little wider than a dog's of the same proportions, and it had two stiff, pointed ears that seemed very mobile. The alien's thick, muscular arms ended in four-fingered hands. A short tail jutted out from behind the Gryth.
But other features clearly made the Gryth alien. The eyes had a dark brown pupil, with a slit of an iris like a cat's or snake's eye. The legs of the Gryth had an extra joint.
In contrast to the Arcone, the Gryth was heavily muscled, abdominal muscles pressing up against the fabric of the clothing.
"Really, everyone has confidence in your abilities as a tactician. You should too."
He gave a smile as his wife sighed.
"If you say so," she said apprehensively. "I hope I can meet the expectation of everyone present..."
"Which you'll have to very, very soon," came a familiar voice. He turned around and saw the Mindlancer General walk in.
Adrian returned the salutes of the three officers, and unceremoniously collapsed into a chair.
"Put all stations into Code Red status. CAW Cobalt reports that over three thousand heavy transports are inbound. She estimates, after subtracting the ships she and Nineball will be able to neutralize, that one-fifty thousand Sraida are going to make planetfall."


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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Just as he had predicted, as soon as the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad put on his special Anti-Zionist glasses, Israel disappeared.
Propelled by success, Sweetland attacked the rest of the season like a hungry dog after a bone, but paid the price physically and mentally. So far this season she's raced in one World Cup event, finishing fifth in Tongyeong, South Korea. Now she is anxious to race again in Vancouver at the World Championships. Sweetland needs a top-eight finish in the June 8 world championship race to punch her title to Beijing.
Ford says it plans to sell F-Series trucks "at employee-discount prices this month," according to Bloomberg, but that's too late to help Ford return to profitability this year.Declining pickup sales contributed to Ford's announcement last month that it would abandon a target of returning to profit by next year. The company had combined losses of $15.3 billion in 2006 and 2007, mostly because of its North American unit.
The automaker is slashing North American production for the rest of 2008 in response to the lower truck sales.
GM, the largest U.S. automaker, said that it will close four truck plants, build more small cars, and may drop its Hummer brand of large sport-utility vehicles. The company's May sales fell 28 percent, including a 37 percent plunge for pickups, SUVs and vans.
In March, simultaneous installations in two Chelsea galleries – one called The Assassination of Barack Obama, the other The Assassination of Hillary Clinton – were canceled "due to extreme legal pressures." This morning the artist, Yazmany Arboleda, again attempted to hang his work in an empty storefront across from the New York Times building and got as far as putting up the name of the exhibit in the window before the NYPD, Secret Service, and – who would have guessed – the major media rushed to the scene.The Secret Service ordered the show's title in the window papered over to protect the politicians. And Arboleda was detained and finally released, albeit outraged at the crackdown:
"Just when I was about to change that and wreck my life, the cops came and saved me! I was saved by the bell, by the guys in the Seventh Precinct."
His children honored his request. Part of his remains was buried in a Pringles can - along with a regular urn containing the rest - in his grave at Arlington Memorial Gardens in Springfield Township.
Fredric J Baur, died on 4 May at the age of 89.


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Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Paul Pierce finished with 22 points, including the game-sealing 3-pointer in the closing seconds, as the Boston Celtics held off the Los Angeles Clippers, 106-104, at TD Garden.
Jeff Green and Leandro Barbosa added 14 points apiece, Jason Terry netted 13 with six assists and Kevin Garnett posted 12 points and five rebounds for Boston, which won its fourth straight game.
"Balance is the formula for our success, you know we got to do it by committee," said Terry. "We got to make sure everyone gets involved and everybody's into the game."
Eric Bledsoe had 23 points and 10 assists, while Blake Griffin had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Clippers, who have dropped two in a row and six of their last eight overall. Jamal Crawford poured in 23 points and Caron Butler finished with 18 in defeat.
The Clippers trailed, 92-77, entering the fourth quarter after falling behind by as many as 19 points on several occasions over the second and third quarters, but opened the final frame with a 21-9 run to get back within 101-98 on Crawford's layup with just over three minutes left in the game.
Crawford then had a chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer following a Courtney Lee turnover at the other end, but his attempt from the top of the key rimmed out.
The teams would trade a Terry fadeaway jumper and a Bledsoe 3-pointer to make it a 103-101 game with 56 seconds to play, but an offensive foul on Crawford after a missed Terry three gave the ball back to Boston with 26.6 seconds remaining.
Los Angeles, however, decided not to foul on the Celtics' ensuing possession and Pierce let the shot clock run all the way down before drilling a triple from the left wing for a 106-101 lead with 2.5 seconds showing on the clock.
Crawford's 3-pointer at the buzzer accounted for the final margin.
"I thought we fought back well," Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. "They made some tough shots, which sometimes you expect. Paul hit a big three obviously, but you know we battled, we had our chances and we just weren't able to execute there down the stretch."
The Celtics battled back from an early 11-6 deficit to knot the game at 15 on consecutive baskets by Pierce and Garnett, but they could not take the lead until Terry later capped a string of six straight points with a shot from beyond the arc to hand Boston a 25-23 advantage with just under four minutes left in the first quarter.
Boston held a 33-30 edge heading into the second, and then netted the first six points of the frame as the Clippers failed to record a basket for over four minutes to stretch its lead up to nine.
Lamar Odom's jumper snapped the drought for Los Angeles, but the Clippers' offense remained cold in the frame as the Celtics recorded the next six points to go on top by double digits, 45-32.
The Clippers would get no closer than 11 points for the remainder of the first half as Boston outscored them, 26-10, in the second quarter while Los Angeles shot just 4-for-18 from the floor and 0-for-5 from three-point range en route to a 59-40 deficit at the break.
Los Angeles opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run to get back within 59-48, but could not get within single digits and fell behind by as much as 19 points before Barbosa's runner at the buzzer gave the Celtics a 92-77 advantage heading into the fourth.
Clippers guard Chris Paul missed his seventh straight game with a bruised
right kneecap ... Los Angeles fell to 4-11 in its last 15 trips to Boston ...
The Clippers held a 41-29 advantage on the glass ... Boston scored 33 points
off 21 Los Angeles turnovers ... The Celtics turned the ball over 17 times,
resulting in 17 Clipper points.
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Red wines that are more fruit-forward and lighter in tannin and body.
Medium bodied reds that go down easy, with smooth tannins and supple fruit.
Wines where earthy and/or spicy dominate the flavors – typically medium to full body.
Full bodied wines that have concentrated fruit and are higher in alcohol and/or tannins. Some need age.
Garnet red in color, of good tonal intensity, complex in aroma with notes of red fruit and spices, full and velvety on the palate with a long finish and aftertaste. Its structured and full-bodied character make it an excellent match for meat dishes and for cheese. Serve at a temperature of 17° centigrade (62° Fahrenheit)
"The 2009 Barbaresco blossoms on the palate with dried herbs, tobacco, crushed flowers and sweet red berries. The aromas and flavors are those of a warm vintage, yet there is considerable structure underpinning the fruit. Although likely to be a relatively fast-maturing wine, the 2009 should probably be cellared for another year or two to allow the tannins to soften. This is quite impressive for an entry-level Barbaresco. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2021.
This is a terrific set of new releases from Prunotto. In particular, this year I was impressed with the quality and consistency of the entry-level offerings.
92 Points
The Wine Advocate
"Aromas of peaches, plums and strawberries with hints of flowers. Medium to full body, with hints of cocoa, berry and orange. It builds on the finish. Very subtle and intriguing wine. Drink or hold."
91 Points
James Suckling
"Charming and accessible, this smooth red evokes cherry, herb and underbrush aromas and flavors. Tightens up on the finish, where the muscular tannins take over. Shows good balance overall. Best from 2015 through 2025."
90 Points
Wine Spectator
"This opens with aromas of sweet marzipan and bright forest berry, with subtle tones of ginger, cola and chopped herb filling in the background. It is tight and firmly astringent; drink after 2018."
90 Points
Wine Enthusiast
"Pale amber-red color. Pretty aromas of dried flowers and menthol. Quite closed at present, showing moderately deep juicy red fruit and mint flavors and modest flesh. Finishes with firm, dusty tannins. This very young Barbaresco gained weight with aeration. I'd wait a year or two before pulling the cork."
89 Points
International Wine Cellar
Following World War II, Alfredo Prunotto and his wife took over and restored an old cooperative winery called Vini delle Langhe, establishing a new era under the Prunotto name. Prunotto imposed new standards on production, elevating the level of quality and succeeding in exporting his wines to several countries. Prunotto was the first winery to individually select grapes from the...Read More About Prunotto
(PEED-mont) Piedmont is located in the Northwest area of Italy, hugging the Mediterranean coast. The regional capital, Turin, is situated smack in the middle of the province. Being close to the alps, the area enjoys a high altitude, with the best vineyards benefiting from the hills and elevation. Known for its famous sub-districts, Piedmont delivers some of the most...Read More About Piedmont
The King of Piedmont
Nebbiolo is the key grape in the wines of Barolo and Barbaresco. It is not the
most planted variety, but it does make the most distinctive and age-worthy wines. Native to
Nebbiolo is a bit of a soil snob - it's finicky about where it grows and has
long been the honored red grape of Northern Italy...Read More About Nebbiolo
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Vietnam | Glory Obscured Beta Tester: Popular Vietnam War fan, and has been for a few years. I also like real time strategy games, such as C&C Generals Zero Hour. But over time the online got boring, so I decided to look into game mods. Then I came across V|GO. It was excellent. After a month or two of playing the mod I decided to apply for Beta Testing. A few days later, I was accepted. Then the next month, I began Testing. That's where we are now.
Just a load of random grenadiers firing smoke grenades everywhere over a group of around about 80 men.


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BR assessment- (in the UK ) on 13th April 2012. Scared and excited- help!!!!
- Deb uk
- 2 years ago
Hello there! Can anyone help? As i have stated above, i have my assessment and like most women on here (i've been reading your messages for months now) I am excited and terrified at the same time. A colleague at work had a BR in Jan 2012 and said it was worth it, which gave me the green light to get it sorted. Any advice or words of encouragement would be very appreciated. I think i am worried i wont get through the op or they will be too big afterwards or worse still, they will grow back.... I am 47 and had 2 planned C-Sections which were ok- not as bad as i thought (although i was terrified at the time) but now i am older i am really scared. I dont smoke or take the contraceptive pill and i weigh around 12st at 5ft 7 so i hope that weight wont be a factor. What is worse is my hips and legs are fine - i can fit in a size 12 (UK) -I dont know what size this is in the US-(sorry) but my rib measurement is 34 inches. I have to wear a size 20 top which meaks me look huge as my breasts are a 34GG. People always comment on how big and top heavy i look and it makes me upset. I so want to wear nice bras and get married in a strapless dress and wear nice things instead of struggling to buy tops and wearing black tops all of the time. I have always been top heavy even when i lost alot of weight following a nasty divorce, my boobs stayed a GG but i was 28 inches GG!! Horrible! Can anyone offer me some words of encouragement? I think the procedure is the same here in the UK as the US only we dont have a mammogram just a physical examination to check of lumps etc. I am paying for this myself and my only worries are about post op pain, will i survive (yes i am a wuss) and will they grow back and end up big again?? Silly I know but i am mworried about having to go through another op if something goes wrong. Can anyone help me please??? Thank you Debs UK x x
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"I'm a 'just do it' kind of wuss as i want it so much and i know the freedom it will bring. I am just scared of that small window of time between being in pre-op anaesthesia room and waking up. I will just have to deal with it i think as i know its going to be hard but its also a short amount of time compared with a life free of pain and normal sized boobs. "
I almost cried. That's EXACTLY the scariest part for me. The damned GA. I have no idea whatsoever what's so comforting about knowing others share our fears, but there's SOMETHING. I'm not all that worried about the pain (drugs, thank you very much) or the scars (please, I'm 55...there's no part of my body that doesn't reflect SOME sort of living!) But when it comes to the GA and going under...that's when I hit a mental wall. Can't really imagine the sheer exhaustion afterwards either, but that's another thing entirely. I figure that the one place I will just have to take a giant leap of faith...the one thing I will truly not be able to even PRETEND I can control, is the GA. So, if this boils down to the several seconds between the IV going in and us "going to sleep", well, we can just close our eyes and take that ONE leap, right? Everything else we have some form of control over. I'll be following your journey closely; best of luck!
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I am glad it helped you. I am a wuss- the biggest wuss in the world!! I agree with you about the 'giant leap of faith'. I am going to keep thinking 'just do it' and wake when its done.
I have many reasons for the fear of GA and i dont want to put them on here as i dont want to scare anyone reading this site. All i will say is a c-section i had went wrong and i lost alot of blood. I didn't have a GA it was a spinal for the C-Section and i suppose seeing and hearing all that went on didnt help me. If i had the choice sleep is better as we are not hearing what is going on!
What is also helping my fear is my boobs are a 'pedicle'!! They are not 'in' my body if you understand what i mean? For a c-section, the Dr cut my muscles and was 'inside' my body... for a BR is all 'out of my body' as breast is glandular and fatty tissue which is on my chest using skin. (i'm being simplistic i know but in essence it is a pedicle)
During PMT my boobs hurt like hell and if i trap part of my boob in my bra, the nipple is sore when i take it off. It really hurts and its given me some idea of how it may hurt post op BR. If its like that i can handle it. I've bought Oil of Evening Primrose capsules which are good for breast pain and i am taking them before and after BR with my Dr's blessing.
I'm 48 piggles and i have waited so long for this.
I will post as soon as i am back in my room post op as they have wi-fi. I will reassure you and anyone else as i do 'say it like it is.' I can describe things really well!
Yes we can close our eyes and leap babes, that's exactly what i am going to do and trust in god/universe/fate and whatever else governs our existence. Then i will wake up with a lighter chest and a new life free of heavy boobs....then i will really live!
Glad i can help and being on here DOES help. I read this site as often as i can- usually each day to keep my spirits up! We can do this piggles.
Lots of love Debs xx
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xoxo Peg in NY
(but living in Toronto)
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Oh, and updating this forum on my recovery details. I cannot wait to be a 'post op'!
I am so in awe of all of you who have had it done.
x x x x
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How are you in your recovery?
X x x x
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That is a relief! Is it normal for surgeries to be done on the weekends in the UK?
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I thought exactly the same when I read my letter. When I saw '30th June' i looked in my diary what day that was and it was a saturday. I checked with my PS and he said he sometimes does his private work at the weekends so yes i think our private hospitals do use a weekend maybe to get their waiting list down.
I know in the NHS we sometimes do procedures on a bank holiday on in patients if the list for investigative procedures is getting too long. Staff are paid a bit extra, usually time and a half or double time depending on the hospital.
So i will go in for 7am and my PS will mark up my boobs. I will then go for my anaesthesia... the time i am marked up to anaesthetic will be my 'terrified time' and my nervousness will get the better of me. Thats where i am really scared- that short period of time where you go to sleep... i really dislike it!! I want to wake up and its all done. I'll be ok then!! I can deal with pain with meds and i will be having a long (very long !!) discussion with my anaesthetist . I can deal with pain as long as i know i will have meds to calm it down!! Yes you may have guessed my nerves are kicking in as i know now its all booked and its a countdown... x x x x
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I have wondered about the Saturday thing because I've seen a couple other girls had theirs on that day, including one from Ireland and I don't know of that happening anywhere here. Will you be allowed to have someone with you between the time that you are marked and the time you are taken back for anesthesia. My husband was allowed in with me so that made the time go much faster. I also had a book...not something that required a lot of concentration though, because I think my brain had truly stopped working by that point...that I was able to use for distraction. I bet you will do much better than you think you will!
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Yes i will have my partner in with me. I will take in a book/magazine but like you say i probably wont be able to focus!!I'll probably pace the floor and just accept i am terrified ...until they knock me out!
I will ask for them to just inject ...
(GA's are IV here in the UK not mask for alot of reasons- too long to mention here).
... and no asking me to count back from 10 or anything as i will panic more. I'm a 'just do it' kind of wuss as i want it so much and i know the freedom it will bring. I am just scared of that small window of time between being in pre-op anaesthesia room and waking up. I will just have to deal with it i think as i know its going to be hard but its also a short amount of time compared with a life free of pain and normal sized boobs. x x
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Just wanted to update you all!
Went to my pre-op/2nd assessment this evening.
I had no questions to ask but i did need a letter as HR at work said my op is a 'cosmetic procedure'.
But, thank goodness my PS has said 'its not cosmetic...its to relieve symptoms of pain, therefore, its reconstructive'.
So a letter is going to HR so I can be paid sick pay when i am off work, as HR wanted me to use annual leave and\or unpaid leave...even though I am paying for this BR myself as the NHS here won't pay for it.
That's a weight off my mind and now I want the weight off my chest!!! LOL!!
love to you all x x x x
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Never hesitate to reach out for that lifeline! I didn't think I would still be on this site daily 8 months after my surgery. But I find that I'm kind of addicted to the stories and I hope to share some of my experience to ease other's anxieties and worries. And never worry about writing long posts. I tend to be quite verbose myself and this is the best place to rant and rage. It is safe to do it here...and we all "get" it! But outsiders would think we are crazy! So we have to stick together and one by one we will all get to the other side!
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how true! No one fully understands how i feel about this op!
My partner is very supportive and its partly down to him encouraging me that i am going ahead with it.
I had my letter on saturday morning (28th april) and the date for my surgery is saturday 30th June. Unusual i know but he is doing it before he goes on holiday for 3 weeks and he likes to see his patients before he discharges them home. I am going to a private hospital which means i am in hosp for 2 nights, 3 days. The PS likes to see his patients each day and again once the drains are taken out and the dressings are off before he lets you go home.
Like you i love reading the experiences of other women. I dont think anyone who has 'normal' boobs can ever understand how big ones can make life so hard. Alot of women say they 'envy' me my big chest and the attention i get! (i dont want nor do i see the stares, as i dont like it or want it...)
-That is until i show them the strap marks.... I dont think they fully realise how painful it is. I do wonder if those women who have big breast implants have shoulder back and neck pain etc?? Just a thought...
I am pleased to hear the post op pain is described as 'soreness' or 'burning' as i think i can cope with that, as long as i have good meds!
I have sent you a PM if thas ok?
Thank you for your support iowa, you are a gem! x x x x
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You are going to do great, Deb. The surgery itself isn't too bad. And if you made it through 2 C-sections then this will be no big deal! They don't cut through muscle so you don't have that pain when you cough, sneeze or laugh. It is just a tightness really. I didn't use any pain medicine other than Tylenol after the second day and I was up walking around and feeling relatively decent. I'm confident you will be fine. After you have the surgery so many people will think you have lost weight! Most don't realize how little a lot of us are because so much focus goes directly to our huge chests, but even some of my women friends have said they never realized how petite I really am. It sounds like we may have a similar build, only you are significantly taller than I am. I am only 5 foot tall (although since surgery I've actually been measuring about 5 foot and 3/4 inch!) weigh about 140ish and was a 34H before surgery. I had almost 500 gm removed from each side and that took me to a 34DD. I since have had some lipo on the sides and am about a 34D. I go back to the doctor in two weeks and we will decide if we are going to do anything else trying to get me closer to that much coveted C cup. Though I will say this...even if I don't go down any more my life has been so dramatically impacted by this procedure. I am exercising and running, which I've never done before in my adult life...and I'm 41. I'm more confident in clothes, and I just feel good about me. I know there are a lot of anxieties. But if you have decided to have the surgery, don't let fear keep you from it. Get on here and vent and worry all you need to and the rest of us will be here to support you through. Good luck and keep us posted!
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Thank you for your kind reply. It really means alot to me. This site is like a lifeline - i dont know what i would have done without it. The support is so necessary to get through it well for me getting though the op. I just want to wake up and find its all done.
I will keep posting and i will take photos so i can tell myself i am brave just like all you girls on here. I really admire you for doing it and i cant wait to be on the post op side!
Lots of love
x x x x
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Thank you for your comments. I have written about my 1st assessment on another subject heading, rather than follow my 1st posting. The surgeon was great and i am relieved to hear the pain isnt that bad. I thought i'd be in agony after my c-section but it wasnt that bad!
Debs xx
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as for the surgery its whats delayed me all this time really. iam scared too, im not good with pain and i have never had ant surgery but i think you are right you have too keep telling yourself it will be ok. And we are all here to express your worry to, either peopel have been through it or are thinking about it.
I just tell myself that when its done i will not spend hours each day worry and feeling pain because of breast that are too big. And that wonder of that motivates me to keep going.
Always here to chat :) xx
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thank you so much for your reply. Just knowing there are people out there who understand helps alot.
For years i have endured remarks about
.....'how slim you are down here -pointing to my legs and bum- but up there you are so big.'...
When i am in a positive frame of mind I remember what people have posted on here and I also take note of the fact its normal to be nervous. I keep thinking how is only a few hours for the procedure and it will be done and over with. Then i think how great it will feel to be free of these boobs.
I saw a TV programme here in the UK about a lady aged 36 who has 40JJ breasts but who was a size 16-18 (UK size). Her UK surgeon said how he had never operated on such big boobs before and wasn't 100% sure how much scarring and shape she would be etc.
After the op she still had her steri-strips on and was bruised, ( yellow and black so approx 1-2 weeks post op i think). She was moving her breast around with her hand and touching the scars etc but the striking aspect of it was her face! She looked like a weight had gone from her and she walked better, stood straighter and had a real chest instead of breast hanging from her shoulders all the time. I am trying most of the time- to focus on this but the 25% of me (which is a big wuss) is stressing about the anaesthesia (will i wake up) which i know i will, but also waking up in pain. I will make sure the anaesthetist understands my concern. Here in the UK tho' its a very different attitude and saying how scared you are is met with a stiff upper lip attitude!
eg say nothing and deal with it!!
Thank you for 'listening' to my worries. I will stay focussed on the pretty bras available and how i'll look in one when i am fully recovered and try not o let he negative take me over... I'll post on friday evening when i get back from the private hospital. x x
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I live in Derbyshire. I have re-read your first posting and i hope you dont mind me asking but were you offered a BR under the NHS?
I'm not fixated on this just interested as Derbyshire doesn't offer this and if my Dr agrees the NHS should do it i would have to travel to Nottingham where he works as an NHS surgeon.
As i am reading the forum i am wishing it was done and i was able to ype my expereince for others to benefit from! What a lovely position to be in... BR done and recovery to work though. So much to look forward to.
x x
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Sign up for Yardbarker's daily Top 10 newsletter, the Morning Bark! Customize to get news on your favorite sports and teams.
Found November 14, 2012 on The Majors National:
PLAYERS: RA Dickey, David Price, Clayton Kershaw, Gio Gonzalez, Johnny Cueto, Craig Kimbrel, Justin Verlander, Jered Weaver, Fernando Rodney
TEAMS: New York Mets, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington Nationals, Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels
TEAMS: New York Mets, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington Nationals, Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels
The 2012 Cy Young Awards were announced Wednesday night with Mets' starter R.A. Dickey and Rays ace David Price taking home the NL and AL honors respectively. The 38-year-old Dickey led the National League in innings pitched (233 2/3) and strikeouts (230) while finishing the season with a 2.73 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. He also becomes the first knuckleball pitcher to win the award. Dickey garnered himself 27 of the 32 first place votes while the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw received two first place votes. Washington's Gio Gonzalez, Cincinnati's Johnny Cueto and Atlanta's Craig Kimbrel each received one vote. "I'm beside myself," he told MLB Network via satellite after his name was announced. "Clayton and Gio are both supernatural. They give everybody fits. This is an honor to be shared. My hopes always outweighed my doubts." On the American League side of things, David Price becomes the first Rays pitcher to win the coveted award beating out last year's winner Justin Verlander of the Tigers and Angels ace Jered Weaver. And unlike the National League race the American League tally was much closer with Price narrowly edging out Verlander. Price received 14 of the 28 first place votes while Verlander obtained 13 of 28. Weaver came in third without receiving any first place votes with the final one going to Rays closer and Price's teammate Fernando Rodney. h/t: NBC Sports
Original Story: http://themajors.net/?p=6849
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1. The handwriting of psychotic patients show definite characteristics.2. The basic disturbance in the psychotic handwriting is expressed by the drastic disturbance in the dynamic relationship.3. The fundamental dynamic disturbance finds different modifications in the handwriting of the schizophrenic, the paranoid and the manic-depressive patients.4. These different modifications are characterized by an emphasized disturbance in one of the graphic spheres:a. The dimension of breadth in schizophrenic writings.b. The dimension of depth in paranoid writings.c. The dynamic relationship implicating the dimension of height in manic-depressive condition writings.
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Mr. Mumbles
Mr. Mumbles is a pretty weird name for a female cat, but Dan doesn't mind. Every once in a while, she joins him on one of his wild adventures. There's nothing Dan wouldn't do for his cat -- and no end to his unconditional love for her. How sweet is that?


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From one fight to the nextMarch 08,2013Unable to stop the sequesters job-killing spending cuts, President Barack Obama now says he wants to move past the endless wars of budget attrition. Though he still wants a long-term deficit deal, he said last week, it is time to turn to immigration, gun control, universal preschool, a higher minimum wage and voting reform.
But Republicans are not going to allow that pivot. Most are unalterably opposed to all of those initiatives, and want to keep their focus on cutting domestic programs and fighting off tax increases. At a time when Republicans are divided on many social issues, the budget wars are one of the few things that unite them.
A variety of insidious new budget proposals are now emerging from the House. On Wednesday, by a 267-151 vote, the House approved a stopgap spending resolution to keep the government running for the last half of the fiscal year, replacing the one that expires March 27.
Such continuing resolutions, which fund the government at the previous years level, demonstrate Congress inability to do its most basic job of making spending decisions. But this new resolution is worse because it also includes the sequesters brutal cuts except in a few crucial areas that are Republican priorities.
The House bill would give the Pentagon a brand-new budget, allowing it to make the cuts in low-priority areas, preventing the reductions in military readiness that generals have been warning about. It prevents staffing cuts in the Border Patrol, and adds money for Israel and embassy security. It makes health care reform a target for special cuts, and even specifies that no money is to be spent on the community group known as ACORN, though that group has not existed since 2010.
But it allows no flexibility or extra money to prevent cuts to programs like unemployment benefits, nutrition aid, housing assistance and education grants. Republicans do not care about those programs and left the sequester cuts in place for them. Simple fairness demands that Senate Democrats call for equal flexibility and money for the most important domestic programs in their version of the bill, as Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, the new Appropriations Committee chairwoman, has vowed to do. (Obama already said that he would not use the threat of a government shutdown to fight the sequester cuts, rejecting the extortionate tactics Republicans regularly use.)
The Republicans have made it clear that the spending fight will never cease. They havent promised not to abuse the next debt-ceiling increase, necessary in the next few months, to get further cuts. And Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman, will soon unveil his caucuss 2014 budget, which will start to make good on the partys ruinous plan to balance the budget in 10 years. To do so, he is reviving his discredited proposal to turn Medicare into a voucher program, and considered making it worse by cutting benefits for people who are now 56 and younger; an earlier plan cut benefits for those 55 and below.
Republicans are hoping to wear down their opposition with these eternal battles. But their proposals are too dangerous to allow that to happen.
The New York TimesMORE IN Election LettersOver the past few weeks, Ive been reading Ken Adelmans fascinating history Reagan at... Full Story
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- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day in 1852, Henri Giffard demonstrates the first steam-powered airship, sailing 17 miles from Paris to Trappes; on this day in 1877, Japanese imperial troops crush the Satsuma Rebellion, Saigo Takamori dies in Kagoshima.
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Spice Racks for Penzey's
- Jim Leff Feb 13, 2011 08:18 AM
I can't believe that Penzey's still doesn't make custom racks to hold their containers.
Has anyone found a good third party rack that works well? I need to fit both the small and the larger containers, and I'm sure some hound out there has previously solved this problem....
Actually, I think one of the great things about Penzeys is being able to buy the spices in the baggies and skip the expense/redundancy of the containers.
I fill small glass jars I get cheap at Cost Plus (about the same size and shape as the 4-oz jars that Penzeys sells without the shipping expense) and keep them in CD bins in a pullout at my stove.
But good luck in your search. Ever written to Penzeys to ask them for a recommendation or to consider offering a rack?
I'm very happy with my Spice Stack. I've had it for over three years and haven't regretted the purchase at all. It fits perfectly in a cabinet and the drawers slide out easily. The only problem is that now that Penzey's has switched to glass instead of plastic for the smallest jars, the drawers are a bit heavier. It fits the two sizes very well. Check it out at spicestack.com
re: wvgardener
Sounds good, wvg. I"m looking for freestanding, however. I have limited drawer space, but lots of counter space.
re: Jim Leff
I have my Spice Stack on the counter.
re: Jim Leff
Spice Stack is freestanding. It would sit on a counter. It's a plastic box with three drawers which are shaped to hold two small or one standard size spice bottles in each section. It comes in two sizes.
It is not designed to fit in a drawer. I'd post a photo if I knew how.
re: wvgardener
I agree with you. I have one and love it. I purchased plastic jars from them, plus the plastic jars that spices are sold in fit in perfectly. You can fit two of the small ones in one slot.
We have a cabinet door with a spice rack built on it, the Penzeys jars fit very nicely on these little shelves with a lip to hold them in place. It would be an easy retrofit assuming there was room between the door and shelves that are installed in the cabinet.
This doesn't adress the free standing issue. I don't think the jars are that odd sized, there must be a rack out there that they easily fit into. I jsut don't know what that rack is.
I have several of the white wire pantry shelves you can buy at any home store and initially bought all the regular glass 1/2 cup jars. Now I buy nearly everyting in the 4 oz or 8 oz bags and refill the jars as needed. If it's something I use a lot of (French thyme, peppercorns, etc) I buy their larger jars that I can reach into and it goes on a regular pantry shelf. I really like the storage options that they offer with their various glass jars.
re: Bada Bing
More or less, this is the system we have and I referenced above. It's convenient, holds a lot of spices, is out of the way and doesn't collect kitchen grease and grime, and it uses otherwise unused space.
Jim: Ever consider a vintage carpenter's tool carrier? They're usually long and narrow, fit up tight to a wall behind your counter, and can be moved around with one grab. If you're clever, you can boost the containers in the "back row" up an inch with a strip of wood so all the labels/ontents are visible--or keep taller containers in the back row. A cousin of mine did this in his old farmhouse (with vintage blued glass Ball Jars as containers) and it works and looks great.
I like the envelopes from Penzey's too. I am putting up peel and stick magnetic sheet and tins to hold my spices. I did have them in jars in a drawer. We are getting together as a family and some will put them on the pantry doors and some on cabinet doors. One of my counters is extra deep and the cabinet is a few inches deeper. It is where I keep all my baking stuff and will work well to hold spices on the door.
You want to make sure the tins are food grade and stick to a magnet.
I did something heretical: I bought the stylish tins and rack from Dean & DeLuca and refill them with Penzey's as they emptied. (D&D's quality isn't nearly as good.) Since I don't have shelf space, the tins are on my counter but keep the sunlight out; also, the tins are easier on my arthritis than twisting the jar tops.


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Citrus Dipping Sauce
This recipe goes with Steamed Sesame Dumplings
Yield: 1 1/4 cups
- 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
- 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
- Stir together all ingredients until blended.
My Notes
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Citrus Dipping Sauce Recipe at a Glance
- COURSE: Sauces/Condiments
- CONVENIENCE: Entertaining, Make-Ahead, Quick/Easy
- CUISINE: Asian
- MAIN INGREDIENT: Tofu/Soy
- DIETARY CONSIDERATION: Meatless
- OCCASION: Chinese New Year
- PUBLICATION: Southern Living
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Home > Post > Post 16 > Post 16 News Release > 2012 News Releases > News Release
News Release
TFC Corey King
Public Affairs Officer
Kentucky State Police
Post 16, Henderson
(270) 826-3312
Click here to e-mail TFC Corey King
Four Vehicle Collision in Daviess County
Date of News Release: 09/15/2012
(HENDERSON, Ky.) -- The Kentucky State Police was dispatched to a four vehicle collision on KY 54 and Stonegate Drive. Stephen Veach was traveling east on KY 54 and failed to realize traffic was stopped at the intersection of KY 54 and Stonegate Drive. Veach attempted to stop his vehicle to avoid a collision. Veach struck Perez's vehicle which cause Perez's vehicle to strike Feldons's vehicle and Renfrow's vehicle. Feldon and passenger Connie Clayton had to be transported by ambulance to OMHS where they are being treated for their injuries.


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AWeber Email Marketing Tips
AWeber on the Road: Meet Us at These March 2014 Conferences
You might be surprised to learn that at AWeber, live events are a big part of what we do.
Sure, we run an email marketing software company, and we do a lot of our work online, but we find that one of the best ways to talk to and learn from customers is to get out and do so in person.
Several of our team members are traveling to conferences this month. Will you be at any of these? Check out the list below to see where we'll be.
Where We'll Be in March 2014
SXSW Interactive: March 8-11
AWeber COO Sean Cohen, CMO Erik Harbison, and Director of Educational Products Justin Premick will be at SXSW Interactive to meet and talk with customers.
We're also throwing a "Friends of AWeber" happy hour on Sunday, March 9th at 5:00 p.m. If you're going to be at SXSW, you should register and join us.
Sean Cohen: @scohen Justin Premick: @justinpremick Erik Harbison: @erikharbison
Conversion Conference and Affiliate Management Days: March 17-20
AWeber Sr. Business Development Manager Hunter Boyle will be in San Francisco for two events:
- At Conversion Conference West 2014, Hunter will discuss how to optimize your email marketing.
- At Affiliate Management Days, he'll explore how to get affiliates to care about your emails.
PubCon: March 17-20
Justin will be at PubCon to meet and talk with customers.
We'd Love To Meet You
Will you be at SXSW, PubCon, Conversion Conference, or AM Days this year? If so, let us know via the comments below.
And if you know someone who may be going and who may want to meet us, share this post with them.
Thanks! Hope to meet you at an event soon.
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6 Comments
We'd love to meet you in Toronto, Canada.3/7/2014 1:30 pm
One of your competitors was here last week, hope to see you
here as well.
Thanks, Ray. We do, too. We're always looking for great conferences and events to be at.3/11/2014 9:55 am
It's nice to see how active you are. Although I would love to meet you, I am way too far from your area. I just wish you all the best.3/11/2014 9:35 pm
Hi, I wish I could attend an event! Is it possible that there will be recordings for us to catch up to the great knowledge after the events?3/12/2014 11:00 am
Thanks, Frances. Our various conference sessions will be recorded, however the access will likely be limited to event attendees. That said, we often post our slides here: http://www.slideshare.net/aweberinc
We look forward to connecting with you in person sometime soon!
Cheers — Hunter3/13/2014 10:59 am
PubCon sounds awesome. I love New Orleans! Like Frances the audios from the event would have been nice. Maybe next time though i guess.3/17/2014 12:22 am


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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
The example you sited does not support your conclusion that GS is for lazy people.
I agree, in 5 mans, its completely useless. Kick someone if they aren't doing their job, otherwise leave them alone.
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