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How risky is your 401k?
If it's a target-date fund, that's a good question to ask. The 2008 crisis exploded the myth that these 'set and forget' investments are all equally safe.
Related topics: mutual funds, retirement, investments, 401k, stocks
Target-date funds sound simple and straightforward: An investor picks the fund closest to his or her desired retirement date and leaves the asset allocation and rebalancing decisions to experienced fund managers.
But because of the stinging losses these funds suffered in 2008's financial crisis -- the average target-date fund lost almost 34% -- investors and even the U.S. government have been questioning the transparency and marketing of these popular 401k products.
"It was kind of a perfect storm," says Eric Endress, an investment analyst at CBIZ Financial Solutions, a national financial services and consulting company. "All of these employers were taking (target-date funds) up, and they were really rapidly growing in the marketplace. Then 2008 happened before these products were really ironed out and marketed properly."
Scrutiny from regulators has increased as a result. A report in late January by the Government Accountability Office urged the Department of Labor to require 401k plan sponsors to assess more thoroughly the appropriateness of particular target-date funds for their employees. The GAO also suggested better education for investors on the strategy, composition and risks of these funds.
"A lot of people almost viewed (target-date funds) like they were guaranteed accounts," says Endress. "People were thinking, 'OK, if I'm in the 2010 account, I'll be guaranteed not to lose money between now and 2010,' when in fact that wasn't the case."
That gap between perception and reality, coupled with wide variations in fund composition and performance history, has muddied the target-date waters further, causing some investors to take on outsize risk for their retirement and financial goals.
"There was an assumption that an investor would have a very conservative portfolio at the target date," says Susan Viston, a portfolio specialist at ING Investment Management. "That wasn't always the case. It became clear that (different target-date funds) have very different philosophies and approaches that can lead to different allocations and wide performance dispersions."
Experts offer these suggestions on how you can avoid surprises in your target-date fund:
Know the glide path
The trademark feature of target-date funds is a built-in asset allocation model -- the so-called glide path -- designed to shift automatically from a more aggressive strategy to a more conservative tack as the investor's retirement target year approaches.
For example, while a fund with a target date that's 40 years in the future, such as T. Rowe Price Retirement 2050 (TRRMX), might have a stock allocation of almost 90%, funds with sooner target dates tend to back off from equities and allot more money to traditionally less volatile asset classes, such as bonds. The T. Rowe Price Retirement 2015 (TRRGX) fund has comparatively fewer assets in stocks -- about 65% -- and a heavier allocation to bonds, about 29%.
However, wide variations in glide paths among fund families have produced very different results, especially for investors closest to retirement. "Some of the target-date providers had allocations to equity between 50 and 65%, while others had as low as 30% or 20% (at the target date)," Viston says.
Not surprisingly, more conservative funds fared better in 2008's harsh bear market, while investors with more aggressive funds lost almost half their portfolio's value in some cases.
"What a number of firms found was that their allocations to stocks were a little too high and led to losses in a market like 2008 that were greater than they or investors had anticipated," Morningstar analyst Josh Charlson says. "That has led to some shifts in the glide paths, lowering the stock weighting around retirement and actually raising it in the years farthest out from retirement to up the ante and try to get more gains earlier."
Understand 'to' vs. 'through'
All target-date funds have an associated retirement target year, but some manage to a fund's target date and others manage through the target date. When a fund is managed to the target date, it reaches its final asset allocation at the target year, while funds managed through the target date will continue to evolve after reaching the target year.
"To" funds generally assume investors will cash out and move money elsewhere, either rolling over funds to a 401k or purchasing an annuity, while "through" funds continue to evolve to generate income for investors in retirement.
These two approaches have differing impacts on the resulting glide path, most apparent nearest to the target date. "What you see with different glide paths between competitors is that the widest dispersion in equity allocation happens at the retirement date due to the difference between "to" and "through" managers," Viston says.
According to a March 2011 Morningstar survey of 41 target-date funds, "to" and "through" funds have nearly identical stock allocations 40 or more years from retirement -- about 90% -- but as the retirement date approaches, differences start to crop up.
"To" target-date funds generally move more rapidly to the lower final equity allocation, while "through" funds have a more gradual arc in equity reduction. At the target date, "through" funds averaged around 49% in stocks, while "to" funds had only 33%. (The report does note that some "through" funds eventually end up at a lower equity allocation than "to" funds, but it takes longer to arrive at that point.)
Currently, more funds use the "through" paradigm, but Charlson says one approach is not always better than the other. It depends on an investor's particular situation and financial goals.
Because "through" funds have higher equity allocations for a longer period of time, they tend to court more market risk and might expose investors to short-term losses if market upsets like 2008 occur close to the target date. "To" funds, on the other hand, might not have enough equity exposure to generate the level of income that retirees need.
"One may fit a particular risk profile or investor profile better than the other, depending on your views or intentions during retirement," Charlson adds.
Look under the hood
Despite being considered by many as one-size-fits-all investments, not all target-date funds are created equal.
"(Target-date funds) are a different vehicle -- they're not your average stock mutual fund or bond mutual fund," Endress says. "They're much more complex, even though they are simple from a turnkey standpoint. When you actually look at the components across the different fund families out there, there are a lot of differences."
After the devastation wreaked by the financial crisis on U.S. stocks and bonds, some firms have tweaked target-date fund holdings to include more non-traditional asset classes, such as real estate, foreign debt and bank loans. Not only does this provide broader diversification, many of these asset classes have less correlation to U.S. equity and bond markets.
"We've definitely seen some shifts," says Charlson. "It's not an overwhelming or universal trend, but it's definitely there. There's a movement towards greater risk control."
While changes have been incremental thus far, Endress notes that recent pressure from regulators and investors might signal more significant changes ahead for target-date funds.
"I think we'll see more things come out in terms of regulations moving forward," he says. "(Fund companies) are still trying to find a standardized way to communicate these products and make it simple for investors to understand the differences a little bit more than they do today."
This article was reported by Meg Handley for U.S. News & World Report.
Yet this article doesn't mention fees at all when asking how risky your 401k is! The fact that workers are gouged tremendously, and campaign-contributed Congress won't do anything about it, is the riskiest and worst part of it.
If you haven't noticed your 401k's are heading back to 2008 levels. Wall Street is in the process of raiding them to pay bonus's. They let them build up close to where they were and now it going backwards again. I see a manupilatipn pattern going on here?? I dumped mine at 12500. i remmmber 2008. You can always get back in if your wrong.
Duh, what am I missing? If people had just done the "set and forget" strategy, they'd be doing fine. The losers were those who bought at the top and sold at the bottom. Doesn't sound like "set and forget" to me.
I don't recall hearing of any funds whose stated strategy was "Buy now, wait for it to go down, and then sell. Then complain because you were stupid.".
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US Marshals have arrested a Catawba County man they say has allegedly committed sex crimes against a child.
Nicky Lee Anderson, 41, had multiple outstanding warrants in Catawba County, as a result of alleged sex offenses involving a minor child, according to a news release from the US Marshals Service.
Following the incident, Anderson fled the area to avoid being caught by authorities.
On March 26, warrants were obtained on Anderson in Catawba County for Sexual Offense with a Child, as well as Rape of a Child.
An investigation led by the U.S. Marshals Violent Offenders Task Force from the Western District of North Carolina, revealed that Anderson was in the Tallahassee, Florida area when he was apprehended.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Great Article as always. As a hunter main myself, one pet that you left out of the list, is the Spider ( level 80s in Icecrown etc) are also great for PVP. With there web ability, range of 30 yards.
PVP though for hunter, is imo, one of two things:
a: Enter in all PVE gear, and sure blow things up, if your geared, but your pet gets no resilance from you, hence your pet gets one shotted
b: Enter in all PVP gear, and not blow things up so much..(cough) and your pet gets a higher chance of survival..which if your a good hunter, and good at pet managment in PVP, will make a diffrence.
The whole avoidance thing, and pet resilance, can gimp hunters in PVP, somewhat. Sorry for long post.
Artificial said...
As noted, PvP is an entirely different beast. But since you brought it up... I liked my spider, and I like my silithid better, but I find even better than either is a Ravager. The extra stun on demand is more useful than the web more often than not.


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Equality Michigan and Holland Minister are charging Kent County Sheriff's deputies with targeting and entrapping gay men "for behaviors that would be deemed acceptable for straight couples," the Grand Rapids Press reports. The group says police officers "arrested 33 gay men in county parks in 2010 under the state's soliciting and accosting statute, but claim about half of those arrests involved two men merely speaking to undercover deputies, or making casual contact like holding hands." "There is no money changing hands, so this isn't prostitution," Rev. Bill Freeman said. "We're talking about two consenting adults who are trying to hook up together and if one of them is an undercover officer and the only thing one of them has done is say, 'Let's get together someplace,' I don't see the problem. They're making it a problem because they're targeting gays." The Sheriff defended his deputies from any wrongdoing, but County Attorney Dan Ophoff "said changes in how county law enforcement deals with such situations are already in the works." (HT: Back2Stonewall)
Police In Michigan Charged With Unfairly Targeting Gay Men
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Peerless Industries (SAL730P-S) Monitor Arm for 10-22 in.
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Wild and Wonderful
The 25 miles of free-flowing Gauley River and the six miles of the Meadow River pass through scenic gorges and valleys containing a wide variety of natural and cultural features. The Gauley River contains several class V+ rapids, making it one of the most adventurous white water boating rivers in the east.
Gauley River Whitewater
Vigorous rapids, scenic quality and inaccessibility combine to make the Gauley River one of the premier whitewater runs in the world.Read More
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Stay connected with what is happening at Gauley River National Recreation Area, Bluestone National Scenic River, and New River Gorge National River.Read More
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Taking time to plan and prepare for your visit to Gauley River National Recreation Area will better ensure that it is a safe and enjoyable time.Read More
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The eastern hellbender is a rare salamander that is found in the Gauley River Gorge. They can reach over two feet and length and weigh up to five pounds. Hellbenders require clean, cool streams with many large rocks scattered on the bottom.


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Silverlight 4, MEF and MVVM: MEFModules, Dynamic XAP Loading and Navigation Applications
In the last example I've implemented a new "MEF Module" organized with a MVVM approach and using Prism Event Aggregator to exchange messages.
This new module could be used to partititon the application in several XAPs composed dynamically at run-time using MEF, the new DeploymentCatalog and the Navigation features available in Silverlight.
To start I've created a new "Silverlight Navigation Application" which produces a complete application with ready-to-use navigation and localization.
Then I've inserted a new "Silverlight User Control" inside the "Views" folder and named it "MEFModuleContainer": this one is called by the navigation framework and is responsible to load dynamically the module using the MEF "DeploymentCatalog".
This is the XAML of the container:
<StackPanel x:Name="ContentStackPanel"> <TextBlock x:Name="HeaderText" Style="{StaticResource HeaderTextStyle}" Text="MEF Module container"/> <TextBlock x:Name="ContentText" Style="{StaticResource ContentTextStyle}" Text="MEF content"/> <ItemsControl x:Name="content"/> </StackPanel>
Our "MEF Module" is hosted in a "ItemsControl" using the "Items" property:
public MEFModuleContainer() { InitializeComponent(); CompositionInitializer.SatisfyImports(this); CatalogService.AddXap("MEFModule.xap"); } [Import] public IDeploymentCatalogService CatalogService { get; set; } [ImportMany(AllowRecomposition = true)] public Lazy<UserControl>[] MEFModuleList { get; set; } #region IPartImportsSatisfiedNotification Members public void OnImportsSatisfied() { MEFModuleList.ToList() .ForEach(module=> content.Items.Add(module.Value) ); } #endregion
In order to use the DeploymentCatalog, it's necessary to define an interface "IDeploymentCatalogService" (read this post by Glenn Block for more information about it):
public interface IDeploymentCatalogService { void AddXap(string uri, Action<AsyncCompletedEventArgs> completedAction = null); void RemoveXap(string uri); }
and implement it in the class "DeploymentCatalogService":
[Export(typeof(IDeploymentCatalogService))] public class DeploymentCatalogService : IDeploymentCatalogService { private static AggregateCatalog _aggregateCatalog; Dictionary<string, DeploymentCatalog> _catalogs; public DeploymentCatalogService() { _catalogs = new Dictionary<string, DeploymentCatalog>(); } public static void Initialize() { _aggregateCatalog = new AggregateCatalog(); _aggregateCatalog.Catalogs.Add(new DeploymentCatalog()); CompositionHost.Initialize(_aggregateCatalog); } public void AddXap(string uri, Action<AsyncCompletedEventArgs> completedAction = null ) { DeploymentCatalog catalog; if (!_catalogs.TryGetValue(uri, out catalog)) { catalog = new DeploymentCatalog(uri); if (completedAction != null) catalog.DownloadCompleted += (s, e) => completedAction(e); else catalog.DownloadCompleted += catalog_DownloadCompleted; catalog.DownloadAsync(); _catalogs[uri] = catalog; _aggregateCatalog.Catalogs.Add(catalog); } } void catalog_DownloadCompleted(object sender, AsyncCompletedEventArgs e) { if (e.Error != null) throw e.Error; } public void RemoveXap(string uri) { DeploymentCatalog catalog; if (_catalogs.TryGetValue(uri, out catalog)) { _aggregateCatalog.Catalogs.Remove(catalog); } } }
The DeploymentCatalogService is initialized during the Application startup in this way:
private void Application_Startup(object sender, StartupEventArgs e) { //Initialize the DeploymentCatalogService for MEF DeploymentCatalogService.Initialize(); this.RootVisual = new MainPage(); }
When the user clicks on the Navigation bar, the container is loaded and filled with the content of the external XAP, all managed by MEF:
So we have a Navigation application which can dynamically load external "MEFModules" organized with a MVVM approach, contained in external XAPs and using an Event Aggregator to exchange messages, all managed by MEF.
This application can be easily extended inserting WCF RIA Services and/or Blend sample data for the design mode.
As usually the sample code is available for download here and will be soon available in the CodePlex project "MEF MVVM" – http://mefmvvm.codeplex.com.
Happy Silverlighting!
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Thanks. This is what i have been looking for, for quite a long time.It will come in handy immediately.
How can this be modified to reuse the MEFModuleContainer and load different xap's. I would like to use the same container for different imports. Thanks.
This was very helpful and very clear. Thank You.
I like it. My only question is the use of PRISM to do the messaging, and only because it adds so much to the size compared to simpler messaging solutions(MVVM Light).
Other than that, this is really useful… Thanks!
David, I reviewed how I do this for Navigation apps, and it's fairly close except for one thing.
I use the INavigationContentLoader interface to detect when the page loads, and instead of using the AddXap method to detect if the XAP is loaded, I set a "Persist" flag, and load the page from a cache.
The value of this for me is that I have the option of persisting the page or not. In your case, the page Initializes every time, and sometimes you want to remember what the user was doing the last time they were there.
That way I never download again, and I never initialize the page more than once, unless the persist flag is set to false.
[...] create a new module using WCF RIA Services and dynamically load this it inside the "MEF module container" described in the previous post; [...]
[...] Washington: "This article covers material, and uses code, from Glenn Block and Davide Zordan. You will want to read their articles after this one because they go much deeper into what you can [...]
Hi All,
I am developing a silverlight (Version 4) navigation application with
1. MVVM pattern
2. PRISM 4 framework
3. RIA services
4. Telerik Silverlight Controls (latest version)
I am using following code to update the entity data using Context.
There is a page known a Familay details. In this page i have to show the family members data in RadGridview at the time of load.
I am using the following code.
1. In VIew:
The datacontext for view will set using property in XAML file code behind as
public partial class FamilyDetailView : UserControl
public FamilyDetailView()
public FamilyDetailViewModel ViewModel
get { return this.DataContext as FamilyDetailViewModel; }
set { this.DataContext = value; }
In ViewModel
public FamilyDetailViewModel(IRegionManager regionManager)
_regionManager = regionManager;
PatientDataContext Context = new PatientDataContext();
var Query = Context.GetVw_GetFamilyMembersQuery();
Context.Load(Query, LoadBehavior.RefreshCurrent, MyCallBack, null);
private void MyCallBack(LoadOperation lo)
if (!lo.HasError)
var entityList = lo.Entities.Where(i => i is vw_GetFamilyMembers).Cast().ToList();
var entity2 = entityList.Where(t => t.ParentPatientId == LoginUser.ID).ToList();
this.FamilyMember = new ObservableCollection(entity2);
private ObservableCollection _familymember;
public ObservableCollection FamilyMember
get { return _familymember; }
set { _familymember = value; this.OnPropertyChanged("FamilyMember");}
NOTE: The data is retriving from sql2008 server using WCE RIA service.(EDMX file and Domain service class with metadata).
The above code will successfully bind my grid and display data properly.
But the problem is, i have to update the grid data after inserting a new data in Entity using datacontext of Ria service(table). Its updating in database but not rebinding ther grid again.
we are using the follwoing code to update the context.
After executing the code the updated data will saved in database (Sql 2008).
But the RadGridview is not showing the updated data.
I will used the
Even after updating the database, i am again calling the domain service to rebind the grid as..
private void RebingGrid(LoadOperation lo)
if (!lo.HasError)
var entityList = lo.Entities.Where(i => i is vw_GetFamilyMembers).Cast().ToList();
var entity2 = entityList.Where(t => t.ParentPatientId == LoginUser.ID).ToList();
this.FamilyMember = new ObservableCollection(entity2);
Now the FamilyMember list will give me all updated record, if i put a breakpoint on it. But the grid (FamilyDetails) is not refreshing/rebinging.
Its not calling the get of FamilyMember property.
Please suggest me where i am getting the problem.
Ajeet Singh


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Had other codes which were cleared with new plu, wires, O2 sensors and MAF
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2003 Ford F-150 Question: Do P0305, P0306 and P1518 relate to each other 03 Ford F150 4.2
jmill6142, 4.2L V6, Speedway, IN, February 09, 2013, 15:53
1 Answer
Answer #1pushrod February 10, 2013, 03:51Master
305= misfire #5 cyl, 306 misfire #6 cyl. These are related! 1518 intake manifold runner is not! Either of these will turn on check eng. light!
Find source of misfire(s) and reconnect IMR linkage, most likely a broken linkage rod retainer/bushing.
You didn't cross up any plug wires did you, cause these 2 cylinders are next to each other! If in fact you did the work??
Recheck plug wires for proper routing to the proper cylinder. May be crossed! These are the two rear cylinders on the drivers side, front to back is 4-5-6.
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The last time Ray Davies sat down to write a memoir, he invented a fictitious narrator, had the poor kid chase down a cranky ex-rocker, and wrapped up the narrative around 1973. So much for tell-alls. "X-Ray: The Unauthorized Autobiography" — now about 20 years old — may have frustrated those looking for the Kinks leader to step up to the confessional. But the book dripped with creative energy, Davies and his poison pen deliciously poking holes in the genre of celebrity memoir.
Now comes "Americana: The Kinks, the Riff, the Road: The Story," a kind of scrapbook, blending diary entries, slabs of lyrics and quick observations from the now 69-year-old singer. The book promises to serve as Davies's attempt to make sense of his complex relationship with "the country that both inspired and frustrated him."


text:
At Monday's city council meeting, the mayor and council voted unanimously to revoke the business licenses of two stores, and Douglas County sheriff's deputies took one of the store owners into custody.
The Douglas County Sheriff's office said Derek Britt was arrested on warrants connected to synthetic marijuana.
Investigators said Britt is the owner of Hell Yeah Novelties on Thornton Road in Lithia Springs. Britt sat through Monday's city council meeting, but was arrested following the council's decision to revoke the business license of Hell Yeah Novelties.
Another store, Elite Adult on Douglas Boulevard in Douglasville, also had its business license revoked.
In August, agents raided both stores during a raid targeting businesses they believed were selling synthetic marijuana. Investigators said Elite Adult owner Ricky Awtrey was arrested on charges of selling synthetic marijuana. Awtrey remains in custody at the Douglas County Jail on charges of racketeering.
"It is very dangerous. We have lost young people here locally because of this illegal drug," Douglasville Police Chief Chris Womack said. "I am thankful that the mayor and council stood up tonight and made a tough decision, but they took a stand to keep our community safe."
According to investigators, this is the first time a city has revoked a business license for allegedly selling synthetic marijuana.
Lance Dyer attended Monday's meeting, and said this is a big win for his son, Dakota. The 14-year-old died in March of 2012 after he smoked synthetic marijuana and committed suicide. Dyer has dedicated his life to eradicating synthetic marijuana. As Dyer watched deputies take Britt into custody during the meeting, he said he was grateful the city of Douglasville took steps in their community to fight the war on synthetic drugs.
"The father in me wants to say it was a pleasureable experience," Dyer said. "We call people, like Mr. Britt 'merchants of death' and 'narco terrorists' because they are selling a narcotic and it does nothing but destroy families."
Copyright 2013 WGCL-TV (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.


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The Key to Getting Things Done
Published on - August 6th, 2008 (by J.D. Roth)
This is a guest post from Philip Brewer of Wise Bread, a personal finance and frugality blog. Philip is one of my favorite personal finance writers. Today, however, he's sharing about productivity.
I spent many years working for various companies that, like most businesses, were more or less dysfunctional. They were places where priorities constantly shifted, where every day brought a new emergency, and where managers and peers might show up at any time with something urgent that needed my attention.
When I became a full-time writer, I discovered that I needed different ways to manage my time than the ones that had worked when I was an employee. Interestingly, the different ways that seem to work best for me aren't new at all — they're the old classic tools of time management.
Getting things done
The hot concept in time-management these past few years has been Getting Things Done. It's a significant departure from the old ways of time management, where you made to-do lists for each day and then blocked out time on your schedule to do each of the things you wanted to get done.
Instead of to-do lists and blocks of time, Getting Things Done emphasizes the practice of capturing all the things that you need to get done, and then turning those items into "next actions" that are steps toward getting the thing done. It also describes some simple behaviors for reviewing your lists, to make sure that nothing important falls through the cracks. It's a powerful tool that enables you to spend almost all your time making progress on your most important tasks.
My experience this past year, though, is that Getting Things Done doesn't solve the problems that I face now that I'm working almost entirely for myself.
Working for the man
Getting Things Done is perfectly designed to solve the problem of the guy working for a dysfunctional company. When every day brings shifts in priority and new emergencies, it's critical to have a fluid list of actions that need to be taken — and it's pointless to block out two hours on a Wednesday afternoon to work on a big project if manager A is going to assign a more-urgent task, managers B and C are going to ask for status updates, and peer D is going to ask you to spend that time reviewing and commenting on some completely unrelated thing that has to be finished today.
In a situation like that, it's very easy to end up spending all your time doing things without every getting anything done. And, if you somehow thwart the system (perhaps by coming in early or working late) so that you can finishing something, it will turn out to be the wrong thing — because priorities will have shifted or plans will have changed.
As a way to handle that circumstance, GTD is wonderful. Any moment when you have a chance to do some work, you check your list of next actions and do the most important one that you can squeeze into the time available. As long as you keep your lists up-to-date with the constantly changing plans and priorities, you can have considerable confidence that you're always making progress on the things you need to do. And, if you keep doing that, you will manage to get things done.
Working for me
The thing is, my circumstance is different. My problem isn't that goals and plans and designs and priorities are constantly changing out from under me. My problem is that I've got more things I want to do than I can possibly get done, and that many of those things require large blocks of time to make much headway. In that situation, I tend to alternate between dithering around with multiple tasks, and then throwing my hands up at my lack of progress and deciding to read a good book instead.
Similarly, I alternate between getting in the running, bicycling, and lifting that I need to be adequately fit and healthy, and then cutting those activities so that I can focus on the many tasks that I want to get done. I also spend a lot of time reading interesting stuff on the web.
The old-fashioned way
It turns out that I can solve this cluster of problems with the old-fashioned time management technique of blocking out chunks of time to do things.
- It solves the dithering problem (as long as I don't block out the morning into a dozen 15-minute chunks of time — which looks so silly on a schedule that I automatically tend not to do it).
- It solves the problem with getting my exercise in (as long as I routinely put the exercise on the schedule).
- And it solves the problem of excess web-surfing (as long as I block out enough time for the necessary web surfing, and then keep to my schedule).
I've discovered that, for my current circumstance, the key to getting things done is doing things.
Get Rich Slowly reviewed Getting Things Done in November 2006. Like Philip, I've found the system unworkable for my lifestyle. I think I'm trying to make things too complicated. I think I need to take his advice and do things.
This article is about Self-Improvement
I take portions of the system and apply them, but I definitely have hacked it into something that works for me.
I think the main thing is finding a trigger that alerts me when i am procrastinating and not getting the things done that need to be done. I find that an alarm clock is the best method for me.
What happens is that if I get off track, I usually get so into whatever has gotten me offtrack that unless there is something physical to alert me, I just never get back to what needs to get done. By setting an alarm clock to go off every half hour, it ensures that I don't waste the entire day and only a short period of time if I do get off track.
Probably won't work for most, but it does for me.
This is a keen observation, Philip. David Allen's system is designed as a set of tools for the kind of present-day "knowledge worker" that Peter Drucker identified, working in a knowledge-driven organization.
But the fact is that there are many, many jobs today that are not particularly new or different. Yes, blogging is new, but blogging is essentially writing (with research and everything else it involves), and writing is nothing new. I've also never heard of GTD working on the floor of a factory. Maybe in a factory's back offices, but not on a plant floor.
I have practiced GTD consistently for more than four years now, and I find it incredibly helpful and very suited to my various knowledge-related needs. (It seems to be of no help when it comes to doing my laundry, for instance!) Personal finances are certainly included–bills are the ideal sort of thing to go in an inbox.
Many people see GTD as too complicated or strict. I actually see it as something that lets me relax and go with the flow. Saying, "I am going to set aside this block of time and do a certain thing then" is really artificial to me–and I'm likely not to be in the right frame of mind (or not have enough energy). That said, GTD still allows you plenty of room to do that sort of scheduling.
Every few months I think about my system and make any tweaks that I need to. But in general, it's totally in the background. I spend my time actually doing things. And thanks to GTD, I spend almost no time at all worrying about what else I have to do that I might forget about.
Thanks for the guest post!
Eat that Frog! by Brian Tracy is still the best tool I've ever found — and it works great in crazy corporate environment and for blogging at home. I summarize it at http://shanelyang.com/2008/06/02/eat-that-frog/
The late Randy Pausch had some interesting ideas (none of them new, but all of them effective) in his Time Management lecture, which is available here:
Like many busy people I've developed my own system over the years. When looking at tasks I mentally sort them into the classic urgent/important, not urgent/important, urgent/not important, not urgent/not important hierarchy, and tackle them in that order, often letting the "not important" tasks slide until they magically disappear.
I manage most of my work through Microsoft Outlook. When emails come in that require action on my part, I drag them to my task bar and assign them a deadline and a reminder. Appointments go on my calendar. As task reminders come up, I look at them and decide how long I can snooze them based on how urgent/important they are. Some tasks get snoozed weeks into the future or I set new deadlines for them; others get addressed right away.
I do tend to break down big tasks into manageable steps, following Anne Lamott's advice to writers in her book "Bird by Bird." The title was inspired by a homework assignment that her older brother had months to do but left til the last moment: was supposed to write a report on birds. On the night before it was due he was sitting at the kitchen table immobilized by the enormous task ahead of him. His father walked over to him and put his arm around his shoulder, saying "Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird." That's good advice, and I find it helps me a lot. The "chunking" of big tasks into little ones gives me a sense of progress and momentum.
The other major key for me in getting things done is accountability. When my clients give me an assignment, I require them to give me a deadline. "Oh, whenever you get to it is fine" is the kiss of death, and I tell them so. If I didn't have deadlines and people to be accountable to, I'd probably never get anything done at all; I'm a lazy and disorganized person at heart, but give me a deadline and suddenly I'm focused and productive. I've also learned that far-off deadlines have a way of slipping off my radar screen, so I work with my clients to set intermediate milestones with short-term deadlines that will keep me on target.
I read Getting Things Done and I thought it was a pretty good book. The biggest thing that I learned from the book was to partition my tasks into contexts. Which tasks can I perform at home? At work? When I'm out? Etc.
Doing this allowed me to put aside the tasks that I can't possibly take care of at this very moment so that I can concentrate on the tasks that I can take care of right now.
I have been in a couple of businesses and have found each one very different. I am a list writer and now that I work in a home office I tend to schedule blocks of time (typically for an hour or so) to accomplish things.
I start out my week writing down everything I want to do. From there I put them in order of days when I want to work on them. I have that many things can throw off my schedule and that will always happen.
I do not let that frustrate me, I have just learned to live with it.
When you have days that it seems there is way to much to do. Just start plugging away and you end up getting more done than you think.
I believe the key is scheduling your work outs in your day. You will find by working out your stress level comes down and you have way more energy.
Since we all procrastinate, this will be agood book to read.
A former supervisor and friend of mine once recommended Getting Things Done as a management technique for me when I set out on my own. Like you, I quickly realized that it didn't work as well outside a larger organization as it did inside. Unfortunately, I didn't think to swing back to the "traditional method" so quickly and actually lost a lot of time trying to "improve" the ideas of Getting Things Done.
Productivity is hard to nurture when you're your own boss, but it's even more important. I agree that the key to getting things done at this stage is doing things, and I thank you for your well-written explanations.
If you get nothing else out of this system, make sure you understand the importance of "next actions" compared to to-do lists.
The next action is literally that: the next physical action you need to take. Cross one off your list and immediately add the next action required to complete your goal to the list.
Traditional to-do lists are often times counter productive. They use vaguely worded goals that are often dozens of steps long and do nothing but discourage you from being productive by permanently sitting on your list, mocking you.
I would guess that, like many people, my problem isn't one of knowing what to do when but of being motivated to do.
Consequently, systems like GTD, and even old-fashioned methods like blocking out time, seem to overthink things. I've made lists, schedules, and so forth many, many times, but have always found them nearly impossible to even implement, yet alone live by. It's been far more effective for me to implement a policy of simply doing things, stupid as it may sound.
Instead of wasting time chalking out a schedule or refining my to-do list, I just DO it. I do keep a task list at work, but it's merely a general reminder. It is usually intentionally short and vague to avoid bogging me down via over-analysis of a task. Like most people, I think, I know what needs to be done – I just need to do it!
The same principle is effective in working out. I know I need to lift (upper and lower body) and do cardio. My schedule is simple: alternate daily. To make things even simpler, I work out 7 days a week. This way I don't have to worry about scheduling days off. Also, I find it easier to work out every day than to get back into exercise after a day or two off. And so instead of messing with schedules or blocking out time, I simply adopt a mindset of getting out there and doing it!
"the key to getting things done is doing things."
I would say this is probably the key to doing most things….at most times
I think the grass is always greener on the other side when it comes to any todo system. I work in an 8-5 job and feel like GTD doesn't work for my situation but would if I was working for myself!
I disagree that it doesn't work when you're working for yourself.
If I were working a 9-5 job (none of this 8-5 nonsense – that's an American thing), my time wouldn't be my own to structure how I want.
I've worked for myself for two years and I've found GTD to be extremely helpful in raising my productivity. I might occasionally write daily lists but that's taken directly from my next actions list and just reflects the priorities for the day.
"the key to getting things done is doing things."
Absolutely. The whole problem with the GTD "system", is that the last thing a person who has trouble concentrating and following through on things needs, is another system and more tasks to keep track of.
A huge percentage of the time, the GTD system takes longer and creates more work than just doing the task and being done with it.
There is someone at work who I think follows this system and he's impossible to work with. Even small tasks take him hours because he only works on a single thing at a time and has to keep lists about what he has to do and wastes tons of time reorganizing the lists.
Well, everyone has their own 'system'. I've never known anyone who follows GTD to do it exactly the same way. There's really a couple of the most important skills that I learned from reading GTD:
1) Never keep things in your head. I carry a notebook everywhere. Inspiration or a to do strikes me – it gets recorded.
2) Whatever gets recorded gets processed and sorted into a 'next action' or 'someday' category at a convenient time.
3) 2 minutes or less – do it now and get it over with.
4) Refer back to the 'someday' category at regular intervals. There's often useful stuff in there would have long been forgotten.
5) Never keep anything in my "Inbox". I am a religious practitioner of 'zero inbox' rule. Email either gets
(a) A response because it's something that I need to take action
(b) Filed away because it's information I may need later
(c) Deleted because it's not (a) or (b)
This is how I appear in control, on top of things, and organized (even if I'm a giant ball of stress on the inside).
Perhaps GTD works great for a certain type of person, regardless of what they do.
I am self employed; I cut down and prune trees. As a business owner this involves 20% knowledge work, the remainder is actually just doing things. GTD has been a godsend for me; really it has changed my life.
Many of the individual TODOS on my projects are greatly separated by both time and space. With a traditional TODO list I was always making more trips than I needed to, and as a result using my valuable motivated time just driving around.
Now, using David Allen's system, when I'm at the video store or the pharmacy I also walk over to the hardware store buy not only the washers that I need for the garden hose, but also paint brushes to paint the gas meter that I've been wanting to do for ever, also a gallon of oil, a cheap tool kit containing a half inch socket and a new role of nylon string for the shop.
This prevents the hit or miss guessing at the store that leads to unwanted purchases and not having the things that I need to get things done.
I guess for me the biggest change is now having the right tools, information or physical, on hand, and being able to find them, to complete my projects. Before my TODO lists were all about getting my stuff together, now they are about getting things done.
But to return to my original premise of GTD working for a certain type of person regardless of circumstances; I would be unable to focus because of a certain sense of dread that I was not doing something that I should be doing. Then, once it was well and truly past due I would become frightened of the reactions of those people involved in the project; and so get even deeper into the procrastination loop.
GTD has completely eliminated this sense of dread, and as a result cured my procrastination habit. I can't believe the difference.
Those are just 2 specific areas in which the system has improved my life, there are many more.
I've recommended the system to a few people, but in reading the posts here I wonder of its usefulness to them. To those who have read the book but do not practice the system, was it worth reading?
While GTD isn't a silver bullet, I have found it helpful for me. I do have a greater sense of not having things falling through the cracks.
Issues for me are still mostly of the variety of saying no (especially to myself! there's only so many directions a person can go in) and of avoiding things I know I should do. I find the hardest thing is getting out of my comfort zone.
Peter, I'd be a little careful of the "work out every day" method. It depends on what you're doing, but generally it's a good idea to have at least one day of rest so the body can recover. Personally, I've found Ross Enamait's methods and keepting an exercise journal for myself have been helpful.
I do think having software may help with GTD. I've been using ThinkingRock (which is free and just had a new version come out) combined with a PDA (mostly for setting alarms). This way you can easily enter and sort your tasks without getting bogged down in re-writing tons of things.
I also agree that it can always be a danger from any productivity system that you spend too much time on organizing instead of doing, but you just have to try to be aware of your own mental state and when you're procrastinating.
Phillip, I think you missed the point of the system. It's not a time management system, it's an action management system.
The idea is that as anything comes at you, you decide if there is an action for you to do based on that item and you record the action in the system based on when/where you can do it. This can and will require a bit of time to initially get everything in there.
Once everything is in there, you have a list of actions that you can take to progress everything in your life that you have agreed (either to yourself or to others) to do. When it comes time to do some work, you can look at all of your actions and make an intuitive decision about which of the next actions is best to work on. As a writer, you need to write to make money. Often you will look at your lists, determine that there is nothing urgent to do that day, and then decide that the rest of the day will be spent writing. Having a list of all the actions you need to do gives you freedom to determine that everything else can be done later and leaves your mind free to be creative in your writing.


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A Small Splurge: $8.25 Worth Of Fun
Published on - June 16th, 2011 (by Sierra Black)
This post is from staff writer Sierra Black. Sierra writes about frugality, sustainable living, and raising children at Childwild.com.
The other day I went to a vintage clothing shop with a friend. I needed some simple summer staples: tank tops, skirts, shorts. I don't like shopping for clothes, so I always try to go with friends who enjoy it and are better at finding great stuff than I am.
This is as high-priced as clothes shopping ever gets for me. I get most of my wardrobe from clothing swaps and the Salvation Army, but once in awhile I find myself in need of something specific and go shopping. I found a few nice tank tops that were reasonably priced, and a few pairs of pants for my husband. Mission accomplished.
I also found a ridiculous dress. It's a bright blue flapper-style minidress. My friend tried it on, and when it didn't fit her she urged me to give it a whirl. It fit perfectly. I've wanted a flapper dress since high school, and never had one.
But I wavered. After all, I don't need a silly dress. It wasn't on my shopping list when we walked into the store.
Then my friend looked at the price tag and said, "Look, it's $8.25 cents worth of fun." I was sold.
A small splurge
If I thought about it not as Stuff I didn't need but as the fun of wearing this dress to a party sometime this summer, it seemed like a totally worthwhile purchase. I brought the dress home, showed it off to a few friends, and can't wait to wear it.
Obviously this is the kind of splurge I can't make all the time. If I did, my closet would be full of silly dresses I almost never wear. Stuff takes up space, and too much of it becomes clutter. This is one of the reasons I prefer to spend money on experiences. If I'm going to spend money on a good time, I like paying for my fun directly, rather than buying Stuff I think I'll have fun with. In this case, I made an exception to my rule.
I won't lie: I felt a little guilty afterwards. I'm the Not-Buying-Stuff Lady. What was I doing splurging on a dress I'll wear once?
I thought of my new dress when I read Ramit Sethi's recent post about the psychology of cutting back on small expenses like lattes. Essentially, he counsels against worrying overmuch about them. He writes:
Constantly over-analyzing tiny purchases is exhausting and ineffectual. This is one of the great joys of earning more money: I don't have to worry about paying for cabs or picking up my friend's drink. As a cognitive miser, this is a great relief. I can instead focus on the things I really care about.
Instead, Sethi wants to see you sweating the big stuff: finding ways to earn more money, automating your finances, and investing. He says the frugal focus on paring back your $10 splurges is really a distraction. You're expending a lot of effort for relatively small gains. All the lattes you can drink won't add up to more than learning how to negotiate your salary.
He's right of course. I'm a huge fan of focusing on big things. But there are limits to his line of thinking.
Frugality is an important part of personal finance
Opportunities for the kind of big wins Sethi is focused on come up rarely. True, you can make them happen by seeking them out to a certain extent. You're probably better off putting energy into starting a side business than you are clipping grocery coupons, for example. But anytime you get a chance to make a big impact on your finances, it's a special occasion.
Small spending decisions, on the other hand, get made every day. You're constantly confronted with decisions about whether or not to drop $4 on a latte or $10 on a vintage party dress. Any one of those purchases may be trivial, but the habits those purchases feed can get expensive.
One of the things I've learned in my frugal adventures is that I can't always see the big wins coming. I cut my heating bills nearly in half last winter by hanging insulating curtains in the doorways to keep heat in my living spaces and out of our central hallway. That was just another one of the quirky little things I try to save money. I expected it to be about as lucrative as reusing plastic baggies or diluting my shampoo. In other words, the kind of thing that makes me feel good about how I'm consuming resources, but doesn't save a noteworthy amount of cash. Instead, it saved me hundreds of dollars and made the house more comfortable to be in. This was definitely a big win, but it seemed like a quirky frugal move when I started it.
Another reason to practice thrift is to maintain a simpler, more frugal mindset. If I usually say no to impulse purchases, I'm more likely to say no to any given one. That leads to more money saved and less Stuff cluttering up my house, overall. If I typically shop around for the best value on something, I become more skilled at bargain hunting and cumulatively that habit pays off.
Even if the amounts saved are small, they're significant over time. If you can permanently shift a spending pattern to save yourself $500 a year, it's as if you've just given yourself a $500 raise. That won't make or break your finances, but it's money worth having.
Don't become obsessed
What it's not worth is obsessing over. If you have good financial habits, there's probably room in your budget for the occasional splurge. No need to feel guilty about making them. The key is just to be aware that you're deviating from your pattern, and to stay within your real budget. That is, the money for your fun has to come from somewhere. You may want to give yourself a little "mad money" each week to play with. If you don't spend it, great. You can just hold onto it for a bigger splurge down the line. If you do find yourself trying on the perfect party dress in your neighborhood thrift store, you can indulge guilt-free.
I don't have that kind of play money, but I'm thinking maybe I should, even if its a small amount. My spending plan is fairly detailed. My husband and I have talked about instituting an adult allowance for each of us, but the plan has never really taken off. As a result, whenever I spend money on some small luxury, I feel a little guilty. It may be that I can afford the $10, but I didn't have the money earmarked for fun so spending it feels like cheating.
I don't think I need to make more room in my life for spending. If anything, I'm looking to scale back on my expenses and save more. But I do wonder if I don't need to adjust my spending plan to give myself some wiggle room. $10 isn't worth feeling guilty over.
How do you make room in your life for small splurges? Do you tend to feel guilty over minor indulgences, or keep your focus on bigger things?
This article is about Budgeting, Choices, Consumerism, Real-Life
Do the adult allowances – it eliminates 'the guilts'! Neither one of you has to justify a splurge – it is your fun money and you can do what you like with it. After I implemented this in our budget I was liberated!!
I think the "Splurge" was a great deal. $8.25 generated more than 80 comments! That's 10 cents per comment, and a free dress thrown in!
We have a mad money account of $50 every 2nd friday, and $25 every non-50 Friday. This works out to 150/month each, or $300/month total for the adult allowance. We each use this money for different things.
I use mine for video games, books, and computer-related items.
She uses hers for craft projects, movie tickets, and Slurpees.
I haven't had the time to have fun lately, so I ended up buying some stocks (as a trial experiment). Everyone needs a little excitement, but making it an official number means that you find ways to cut corners (waiting for video games, using coupons for craft supplies), and generally spend less than the "buy whatever I want" plan. The adult allowance is an expense-limitting program, rather than increasing.
My wife Veronica and I live frugally by choice. We have read books like " Money Ratios" by Charles Farrell and "The Number" by Lee Eisenger and enjoyed them, but they only confirmed that we have our "number".
This brings us to today's issue: splurges. It is very hard for us to imagine a financially sound household worrying itself to the point of guilt and self-loathing over an $8 party dress from a second-hand store. In such a case frugality has migrated into neurosis.
This, however, is all too easy unless you adopt certain strategies. "Mad money," an "adult allowance" what have you. I think these terms are somewhat demeaning. Why not just have a "fun" budget, if you need a name for a line on a budget planner.
We used to worry about the cost of vacations (when there was really nothing to worry about as we were ahead of our saving goals). We solved the problem comepltely by adding a line in the budget for "vacations". The problem shifted immediately from "Oh, God, $4K for a vacation we don't NEED!" to "how can we spend out the vacation budget line?" This was a more pleasant problem, and it added nothing to our spending.
I'd just like to see a photo of the dress. It sounds fun and fun once in a while is good for you!
Sierra, I thought this article was best for its critique of Ramit's new philosophy. He's focused more and more on "big wins" over the past few years, to the point where he's now actually saying that the "small wins" are a waste of time. !!!!
I've always felt that the "just earn more" mindset was foolhardy. Almost everyone struggles with lifestyle inflation – the more you earn, the more you spend. Not learning to put a cap on your habits is a problem.
To this, you've added the critiques that 1) if we're in the habit of buying small things thoughtlessly, we're MUCH more likely to buy big things thoughtlessly, and 2) the big wins are rare, and you can't always count on them.
I think Ramit's trying to solidify a single financial platform, and I think it's weakening his advice.
I haven't read all the comments, but I remember distinctly when JD was fretting over 2 or 3 scoops of cocoa in his hot chocolate. It wasn't til some of us told him to lighten up a bit and enjoy life that it seemed to click.
I hate shopping with other people because 1. I don't like others to know my shopping habits–how much things cost, etc. and 2. I don't need anything.
Yard saling would be different, however.
You're right, $10 isn't enough to feel guilty over and I'm exhausted just reading your long angsty post. I'm glad I don't suffer over my splurges and martyr myself like you do.
On the flip side of this coin, by spending that $10 you are supporting a small business owner, a charity, a consigner who is trying to declutter and make some extra cash, or a shop employee who depends on an hourly wage when you make that purchase (depending on what kind of thrift store you visited). You are also supporting a community institution–if no one bought those party dresses, the store wouldn't be able to afford to stay open, and it would close its doors. You and your fellow neighbors wouldn't be able to shop at a quirky thrift store anymore and would have to shop at another chain instead–more expensive, more resource-heavy, and probably more money that goes to a corporation rather than staying in the community. So think about that the next time you think about "splurging".
We each get $20 a week to spend however we want. Neither of us spends that much per week so we tend to accumulate the money and end up spending it on bigger purchases. For example, my husband spent his accumulated allowance on music. I often save to get a new purse at the big art/craft show in September. By doing this, we don't feel guilty about taking any of our purchases.


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Yeah! I'm amped for tonight! See you in the chat.Oh btw, Mike Barrett reads every comment. :)
Yeah!!! Well said Darren you get me pumped!!!
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Mentor Teachers Lead the Next Generation of Science Educators
June 17 - July 11, 2008
In the world of science teaching -- which, at its best, is alive with demonstrations and "gee whiz" special effects -- this knowledge is life and death. That discovery took years for a veteran physics teacher to make. But it took much less time for him to share and demonstrate the effect with not only his students, but beginning science teachers, as well. In short, from June 17-July 11, 2008, San Francisco again demonstrates its secret weapon in science teacher training: a Leadership program for veteran science teachers and a related mentor program for beginning teachers, fueled by the Exploratorium's unique scientific and educational resources.
Results have shown a 90% retention rate, on average, for beginning teachers who participate in the program, at a time when nearly half of all schoolteachers nationwide leave their jobs within the first two years.
For just over a decade, the Exploratorium's Leadership Institute has trained veteran science educators every summer to become mentors to beginning science teachers at the middle and high school levels. Mentors pass on their knowledge, give new teachers support and feedback, and inculcate hard-won knowledge, like how a $5000 spectrometer can be improvised from a CD and a cereal box. The Beginning Teacher Program includes in-class coaching, an intensive summer institute, mentoring, Saturday workshops, and literally, a lifetime association with Exploratorium staff -- once a teacher has participated in the Institute, he or she is considered a member for life, and can return for lectures and workshops as often as needed. The purpose is to improve training and retention of science and math teachers. But it is the young students at the end of this chain who benefit from their teacher's immersion in the Exploratorium's hands-on, inquiry-based learning.
In fall 2008, the Institute plans to publish an online Leadership Manual for teachers and teacher training programs worldwide. It's an innovative approach to teaching teachers that is as time-tested as the Exploratorium itself, and as the numbers show, it is a system of learning that works.
And it works because at the Exploratorium, the teachers are the students. "It keeps me fresh and interested in teaching science," says teaching mentor and former beginning teacher Liz Abrahams, who teaches at Horace Mann Middle School in San Francisco. As the only museum in the country funded by the National Science Foundation to implement a comprehensive science program for beginning science teachers as early as 1998, San Francisco's Exploratorium is meeting a critical local need and serving as a national model.
All mentors in the program must have at least 10 years of classroom teaching experience. Since the program's inception, some of those first beginning teachers are now mentors themselves. Liz Abrahams is one. "The classroom visits and home visits from mentors were hugely important to me, because that first year of teaching is so difficult," says Liz Abrahams. "I really don't know if I would have made it without their support."
Hours of Operation & New Evening Hours
Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm; every Thursday evening adults only (ages 18 and up) 6pm-10pm.
$29 for adults, with lower rates for SF Bay Area residents, youth, seniors, students, teachers and the disabled. Tickets available at the door and advance tickets available online at www.exploratorium.edu/visit/tickets.
Getting Here
The Exploratorium is easily accessible by public transit. Convenient parking is available nearby. For more information, visit www.exploratorium.edu/visit/location-directions.
About the Exploratorium
The Exploratorium is the global leader in informal learning, igniting curiosity and inspiring creativity in people of all ages. The world-renowned science museum creates original, interactive exhibits, on display at more than 1,000 science centers, museums and public spaces around the world. Dedicated to education reform in and out of the classroom, the Exploratorium is a premier professional development center for educators and a creator of award-winning educational resources. Since 1969, the Exploratorium has influenced generations of entrepreneurs, artists, scientists, teachers, students, children, museum professionals and everyday doers, reaching nearly 180 million people annually from around the globe. On April 17, 2013, the Exploratorium opened at Pier 15 in the heart of San Francisco's Embarcadero, where it will celebrate a new era of experiences that encourage critical thinking and awaken wonder for generations to come. For more information, visit www.exploratorium.edu/visit.
Pier 15
San Francisco
California 94111
(415) 528-4444 telephone
Contact Us:
Jenny Slafkosky (415) 528-4367
Pier 15, San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 528-4444


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Legends Scrimmage Included with Midnight MayhemOctober 12, 2011
BALTIMORE -- Some of the top men's and women's players in Coppin State history will take part in a scrimmage as a part of the Midnight Mayhem event kicking off the basketball season on Friday in the Physical Education Complex.
Among those expected to participate on the men's side include Antoine Brockington, Danny Singletary, Stephen Stewart, Larry Tucker, Reggie Isaac, Terquin Mott, Sidney Raikes and Reggie Welch.
For the women's scrimmage, Sherri Tucker, LaKesha Wills, Whitney Cunningham, Regina Nolan, Shalamar Oakley, Rashida Suber and Talia Sutton are scheduled to play.
Midnight Mayhem will offer CSU fans a chance to see the 2011-12 editions of the men's and women's team for the first time this year.
Other activities include the Coppin State marching band, the Coppin State models, the Greek stroll off and the CSU dance team performance.
Doors will open for Midnight Mayhem at 8:30 p.m. and the event is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. Admission is free for the event.


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At the Crispus Attucks rec center Wednesday, young children were sprawled on mats watching "The Cat in the Hat" while dreamily waving their small feet in the air. Nearby, older children bounced around a basketball court or rehearsed their parts in a presentation for parents.
Their performance will mark much more than the end of summer camp. After more than 40 years of operation in West Baltimore's Madison Park neighborhood, Crispus Attucks is slated to close this month — one of at least four centers that will be shuttered under the city's long-planned overhaul of its recreation facilities.
The center's director, Arlene Foreman, says she worries that the children who attend Crispus Attucks will be unable to walk to the next-closest centers, which are about 15 minutes away by foot.
"How do you expect these young children to cross North Avenue?" said Foreman. "You're looking at drug-infested areas, bars, gangs. It's not safe. I don't think it's fair for them to just shut it down without something else to be in it's place."
MayorStephanie Rawlings-Blakehas warned for nearly two years that her plan to remake the city's aging network of rec centers would result in some closing. The mayor wants to create a smaller system of high-quality centers, featuring updated facilities and expanded programs. She has pledged to spend nearly $20 million on building or improving centers.
Rawlings-Blake said Wednesday that she wants children "to have choice and access to quality, not necessarily just quantity," in rec centers.
"Kids have to travel to get to the schools that they desire to go to, the libraries. And I'll be pleased when we have a system of recreation centers that people feel like are worth traveling for," she said. "Having old, rundown centers is not the way to get there."
Some city leaders strongly oppose the mayor's plan. "I firmly believe that it is a mistake to close recreation centers," said Council PresidentBernard C."Jack" Young. "Closing rec centers is harmful to our children and seniors, who depend on these centers for enriching activities."
The Recreation and Parks Department will continue to run programs at about 30 of the city's roughly 55 centers. Some others will be handed over to the school system or outside groups.
Four West Baltimore centers, including Crispus Attucks, are scheduled to close Aug. 11. The others are Parkview, near the south end of Druid Hill Park, Central Rosemont and Harlem Park.
It remains unclear whether other centers will be shut down. Rawlings-Blake announced in the spring that as many as 10 additional centers could close if the Family League, a quasi-public city agency, is unable to find nonprofits or businesses to run after-school programs in them.
Gwendolyn Chambers, a recreation and parks spokeswoman, said plans for the 10 had yet to be finalized. Kevin Keegan, executive director of the Family League, is on vacation and did not respond to requests for comment.
Rawlings-Blake has pledged to spend more than $19 million to build three new centers — in Clifton Park, Cherry Hill and Morrell Park — and to completely renovate an existing center in Patterson Park.
The city's 55 centers represent about half as many as were in operation 30 years ago, when Baltimore had 20 percent more residents. Under the mayor's plan, the Recreation and Parks Department will improve facilities and expand programming at 17 centers, in addition to the four new ones.
Eight other centers are to be handed over to private groups, which will manage daily operations and set hours, programs and fees in accordance with charter agreements. The city school system is slated to run "public education and community" programs at six centers which are attached to schools.
Employees at the centers that are closing are slated to be moved to positions at other centers.
Some parents whose children play at Crispus Attucks said yesterday they don't see how the updated rec centers will benefit their families. They can easily walk their children to Crispus Attucks or allow older children to walk alone, they said. Since the center is attached to Eutaw-Marshburn Elementary School, many children swing by after the school day ends and remain there until their parents finish work.
"It shouldn't close," said Keyarna Toliver, whose four sons attend programs at the center. "They're leaving the kids with no other option but to go to the streets."
"The other centers are too far away," said Toliver, who lives in an apartment complex across the street. "All the kids know each other here."
Chambers, the recreation and parks spokeswoman, said Crispus Attucks was targeted to be closed because attendance is low and the building is in poor condition. She pointed out that a nearby center, Robert C. Marshall, is larger and was recently renovated.


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Ice Age Wildlife Fun Facts
For the giant short faced bear, evolution was too slow. If these ancient mammals had adapted like other bears in their preparations for hibernation habits in the winter, they might still be here today.
Bigger than a black bear, bigger than a grizzly bear, bigger than a polar bear - the giant short faced bear (GSFB) was a gigantic predator on the mammoth steppes of ice-age Alaska. The GSFB was strictly a carnivore and hunted and ate prey both large and small. The GSFB was different from grizzly bears today: it was taller, more muscular and did not put on fat for the winter, had a huge head, and possessed short powerful jaws. They used their jaws not just to eat the flesh of their prey, but also to crush their kills' bones for food, too.
Cool Fact: The giant short faced bear was native to North America and lived there for almost 1 million years. The modern grizzly bear migrated over the land bridge from Asia to North America and has only lived here about 60,000 years. Their time on earth would be like comparing a 100-year-old grandmother to her 6-year-old grandchild.
Steppe bison populated the mammoth steppes more than any other ice-age animal in Alaska - so why do they call it the Mammoth Steppe? Well we will talk about that in the Woolly Mammoth section below.
Steppe bison migrated from Asia to North America and the number of fossils found in Alaska outnumbered all other animals that lived on the mammoth steppe.
Steppe bison were not like the bison roaming throughout the United States and Canada today. In contrast to the current bison species, they did not have the huge heads and massive shoulder humps and they did not migrate over large areas. Instead, the steppe bison looked more like a big cow. They ate lots of different kinds of grasses, so they did not have to migrate in search of food because they could eat whatever new, high-quality grass was growing at that time of year.
Cool Fact: A steppe bison was found near Fairbanks, Alaska and it still had flesh on its bones (some of it was even still red). The hide (skin) was still on the animal and there were tears in the hide and flesh, telling us this bison was attacked and probably killed by lions! Minerals from the soil in which the bison was found stained the skin a dark blue, so the bison was named Blue Babe.
Did You Know?
The land category of national preserves was established primarily for the protection of subsistance resources. Activities such as sport hunting and trapping are permitted in Bering Land Bridge National Preserve and other preserves.


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150 Years Ago Today…
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- Liz Bezera on 3 July 1864: "[...]we have fixed up our quarters with bowers, etc – very nice – I built me a spring bed two hickory poles – lay barrel staves on them – tack them down – and I have as good a bed as I want."
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7 June 1863: "L is for Lincoln, – Ah! woe to his crown / For Cotton, King Cotton is trampling him down…"
Item Description: Poem, dated 7 June 1863, from the John S. Henderson Papers. The unidentified author assigns a trait or subject relating to the Confederacy to each letter of the alphabet. Item citation: From folder 34 of the John S. … Continue reading
Posted in Southern Historical Collection Tagged Cooleemee Hill, John S. Henderson, John Steele Henderson, poetry Comments Off


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I have a corona mill that I want to hook up to my electric drill somehow. Does anyone have a good method for doing this? Possibly some photos showing your set up? Any help would be much appreciated.
Obtain a bolt that has the same threads as the bolt that holds the crank on, only a couple inches longer and remove the hex head of the bolt. Attach drill chuck...very simple.
info and pictures can be found here;http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-u...station-90849/
Like my snazzy new avatar? Get Sons of Zymurgy swag, here, and brew with the best.Revvy's one of the cool reverends. He has a Harley and a t-shirt that says on the back "If you can read this, the bitch was Raptured. - Madman
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That's what I was thinking. I was afraid it would just slip on the bolt and not get a grip. Thanks for your help.
I just put a bolt in, then chucked up a socket in the drill. No worry about slipping that way, and the drill isn't attached right to the mill.
Other option is to grind a flat spot in the bolt right where you cut the head off to give your chuck a place to grab. - I used a Dremel for mine and did it in a few minutes. Only issue is that I sometimes have a REALLY hard time getting the bolt back out of the mill if I want to put the handle back on.
To aid in getting the bolt out of the mill use a nut on the bolt. Put the nut on the bolt then screw the bolt into the mill. When the bolt is in the mill screw the nut down to the mill. The nut will prevent the bolt from getting farther into the mill thus preventing it from getting stuck.


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More 'choice' than chance in broadcast spawning
Chemical signals used by the eggs of broadcast spawning invertebrates to assist sperm in fertilisation could also play a role in sexual selection, or mate choice.
Biologists confirm role of sperm competition in formation of new species
Immune system study could help conserve endangered species
(Phys.org) —A study by University of Georgia ecologists has found that diversity in mammal immune system genes may have more to do with the opportunity to choose a mate than with exposure to parasites.
Birds choose sweet-smelling mates
For most animals, scent is the instant messenger of choice for quickly exchanging personal profiles. Scientists, however, have long dismissed birds as odor-eschewing luddites that don't take advantage of ...
Aquatic ecologist wants to free species from evolutionary traps
Biological fitness trumps other traits in mating game
When a new species emerges following adaptive changes to its local environment, the process of choosing a mate can help protect the new species' genetic identity and increase the likelihood of its survival. ...
Mate choice in mice is heavily influenced by paternal cues
Mate choice is a key factor in the evolution of new animal species. The choice of a specific mate can decisively influence the evolutionary development of a species. In mice, the attractiveness of a potential ...
Cupid's arrow: Research illuminates laws of attraction
We've heard the clichés: "It was love at first sight," "It's inner beauty that truly matters," and "Opposites attract." But what's really at work in selecting a romantic or sexual partner?
Survival of the prettiest: Sexual selection can be inferred from the fossil record
Study finds women prefer perfumes that mimic their immune system cells
'Sexual networks' reveal complex mating game
(Phys.org)—Social networks can be used to describe the sexual interactions in animal populations and reveal which individuals are directly competing in the 'mating game', according to new Oxford University ...
Male Gouldian finches select mates using only left side of brain, study finds
Choosing a mate is one of the most important decisions an individual of any species will make in its life. It is therefore perhaps a surprise that a new study, of which I'm a co-author, has revealed a bird ...


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