text:
- Research article
- Open Access
- Open Peer Review
Part-time and full-time medical specialists, are there differences in allocation of time?
© de Jong et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2006
- Received: 21 June 2005
- Accepted: 03 March 2006
- Published: 03 March 2006
An increasing number of medical specialists prefer to work part-time. This development can be found worldwide. Problems to be faced in the realization of part-time work in medicine include the division of night and weekend shifts, as well as communication between physicians and continuity of care. People tend to think that physicians working part-time are less devoted to their work, implying that full-time physicians complete a greater number of tasks. The central question in this article is whether part-time medical specialists allocate their time differently to their tasks than full-time medical specialists.
A questionnaire was sent by mail to all internists (N = 817), surgeons (N = 693) and radiologists (N = 621) working in general hospitals in the Netherlands. Questions were asked about the actual situation, such as hours worked and night and weekend shifts. The response was 53% (n = 411) for internists, 52% (n = 359) for surgeons, and 36% (n = 213) for radiologists. Due to non-response on specific questions there were 367 internists, 316 surgeons, and 71 radiologists included in the analyses. Multilevel analyses were used to analyze the data.
Part-time medical specialists do not spend proportionally more time on direct patient care. With respect to night and weekend shifts, part-time medical specialists account for proportionally more or an equal share of these shifts. The number of hours worked per FTE is higher for part-time than for full-time medical specialists, although this difference is only significant for surgeons.
In general, part-time medical specialists do their share of the job. However, we focussed on input only. Besides input, output like the numbers of services provided deserves attention as well. The trend in medicine towards more part-time work has an important consequence: more medical specialists are needed to get the work done. Therefore, a greater number of medical specialists have to be trained. Part-time work is not only a female concern; there are also (international) trends for male medical specialists that show a decline in the number of hours worked. This indicates an overall change in attitudes towards the number of hours medical specialists should work.
- Medical Specialist
- Multilevel Analysis
- Core Business
- Direct Patient Care
- Male Medical Specialist
As more and more medical specialists prefer to work part-time [e.g. [1, 2]], the question arises as to the consequences of this development for the tasks carried out by medical specialists. The trend of an increasing number of part-time medical specialists is expected to continue, since it is predominantly women who work part-time, and the percentage of female medical specialists is increasing [3–5]. In the Netherlands 50% to 60% of all medical students are female [6]. Growing numbers of female medical students can be found in other countries as well, e.g. the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US, with women making up nearly half of the medical student population [7–12].
Problems to be faced in the realization of part-time work in medicine include the distribution of night and weekend shifts, communication between physicians and continuity of care. People tend to think that physicians who work part-time are less devoted to their work, implying that more tasks are completed by full-time physicians [3, 13, 14]. However, results from several studies give no clear answer to the question as to whether part-time employees are less dedicated to their work or not [15]. A distinction can be made between 'in-role' and 'extra-role' behaviour; 'in-role' behaviour relates to the core task of medical specialists, and 'extra-role' behaviour refers to all tasks which are not formal tasks of medical specialists [16].
In this article we will consider all tasks that do not belong to the core business of medical specialists, although they are formal tasks, as 'extra-role'. This is done to distinguish differences in the importance of tasks. Patient care can be considered 'in-role' behaviour, while other tasks like administration and management can be considered 'extra-role' behaviour. Part-time physicians might exhibit less 'extra-role' behaviour. Furthermore, when working with part-time physicians there are more occasions when work needs to be transferred. As a result, more time may be spent on inter-professional communication.
The central question in this article is whether part-time medical specialists allocate their time differently over their tasks than full-time specialists. We will examine whether specialists working part-time devote more time to patient care ('in-role' behaviour) in proportion to other tasks ('extra-role' behaviour), such as administration, and whether full-time physicians complete proportionally more night and weekend shifts. Additionally, we will examine the number of hours worked per Fulltime equivalent (FTE), for both part-time and full-time medical specialists. Before answering these questions we will explain the importance of this study, and formulate expectations.
What are reasons for studying the potential organizational difficulties related to part-time work? In general, part-time work is to a large extent gendered; most part-time workers are women [9, 17]. Women are trying to find a balance between career and family life and part-time work has become an instrument to realise this balance [18–20]. For instance, Dutch female employees prefer to continue their jobs when they have young children, but the majority will achieve this only if they can reduce working hours, usually by half [17]. In order to make the labour market accessible for women at all stages of their working life the possibility of part-time work is important. When we focus on the health care sector, this is not only important for individual women, but also for the health care sector at large. Women might choose not to work as medical specialists when there is no option for part-time work, and this could result in medical workforce shortages. Furthermore, medical specialists who resign, for example when they have young children, will lose skills, making it more difficult to re-enter the labour market. For highly skilled women, like female medical specialists, the opportunity cost of becoming a housewife after many years of training and having a position as a medical specialist is high. This brings us to an argument put forward by those opposing part-time work among medical specialists: their education was expensive and therefore they should work full-time. Another argument against part-time work is that when there are part-time medical specialists more time is needed for inter-professional communication, and this takes place at the expense of other tasks.
Working part-time will probably have an effect on what is or can be done; it is most likely that not all tasks medical specialists perform are considered equally important. We expect that part-time medical specialists devote more time to the core business of their work, that they perform proportionally more 'in-role' behaviour (1). This means that they will spend proportionally more time on direct patient care, and less on other tasks. When working part-time there are more moments of transfer. Therefore, we expect part-time medical specialists to spend proportionally more time on inter-professional communication (2).
Night and weekend shifts, although part of a medical specialist's job, go beyond regular working hours. Part-time medical specialists are more involved in non-work-related responsibilities in comparison with full-time medical specialists. This could make part-time medical specialists less flexible, and therefore influence their availability in acute tasks, as well as in night and weekend shifts. We expect that part-time medical specialists complete proportionally fewer night and weekend shifts than full-time medical specialists (3).
If part-time medical specialists are less efficient than full-time medical specialists, this may be compensated in the number of hours worked per FTE. Possibly, part-time medical specialists work more hours per FTE in order to do their part of the job. We expect the number of hours worked per FTE to be higher for part-time than for full-time medical specialists (4).
- 1)
devote proportionally more time to patient care, the core business of their work;
- 2)
spend proportionally more time on inter-professional communication;
- 3)
complete proportionally fewer night and weekend shifts than full-time medical specialists;
- 4)
have a higher number of hours worked per FTE.
A questionnaire was sent by mail to all internists (N = 817), surgeons (N = 693) and radiologists (N = 621) working in general hospitals in the Netherlands. These different specialties were chosen on the basis of differences in procedures and organization of work, connected with characteristics of tasks, patient contacts and cooperation with other disciplines.
Medical specialists in the Netherlands [21]
• Mutual dependency between hospitals and specialists:
Medical specialist can not practice without the hospital
Hospitals can not exist without medical specialists
• Separate payment for hospitals and specialist
• In 2000, 71% of the medical specialists are not in the employ of the hospital
• It is most common for medical specialists to be associated with only one hospital
• Facilities of the hospital are used for outpatient care; outpatient care is part of the hospital
In this article we compared part-time and full-time physicians. We used the following definition of full-time and part-time work, based on self-report by the physicians: 1 Fulltime equivalent (FTE, 100%) is full-time, everything below 1 FTE is part-time. So, 29% of the internists, 18% of the surgeons, and 31% of the radiologists included in our analyses is working part-time. In addition to the question on how many FTE they work they were asked how many hours they work, and how this is divided over several tasks. We analysed this allocation of their working hours over several tasks.
Multilevel analyses
Medical specialists working in the same hospital are similar concerning hospital characteristics, and, within the same specialty, have similar partnership characteristics. Medical specialists within a partnership most probably agree on the division of tasks. There can be a division of tasks based on skills and interests, or they can equally divide all tasks. Whatever, the number of hours or the proportion of hours spent on different tasks is not independent and this should be taken into account. The data in this study are therefore hierarchical: individual specialists are nested within partnerships, and partnerships are nested within hospitals. Multilevel models are used to analyze hierarchically structured data [22–24]. Multilevel analysis is an extension of ordinary least squares analyses. With ordinary least squares analyses one can estimate, for instance, the relationship between part-time work and hours spent on management tasks in the study population, assuming that there is no partnership or hospital effect in addition to the characteristics of physicians. With multilevel analysis total variation in part-time work is separated into two parts: a part due to differences between physicians, and a part due to differences between partnerships or hospitals. We analysed the specialties separately and this makes the level of the hospital similar to the level of the partnership; the model therefore consists of two levels. We controlled for age and gender in all analyses. Both variables were centred, to give the model interpretable meaning [23].
Dependent variables
Our dependent variables were all based on self-report: the respondents were asked how many hours they spend on several tasks. With this information proportions of total hours spend on those tasks were computed. As dependent variables we used the total number of hours worked, proportion of hours spent on direct patient care, indirect patient care, and other tasks, and the number of night and weekend shifts per hour worked. Direct patient care consists of: clinical activities and outpatient care for internists; clinical activities, outpatient care, and day treatment for surgeons; outpatient care for radiologists. Indirect patient care is communication and correspondence, and other tasks are education, research, literature, and financial administration. This is the same for all medical specialties in this study. All dependent variables were based on self-report by the medical specialists; they were asked how many hours they spend weekly on certain tasks. Our last dependent variable was the total number of hours worked per FTE. This variable was computed based on self-reports from respondents on the number of hours and what FTE they worked. Differences between part-time and full-time medical specialists were tested with a Wald-test [23].
The results are presented separately for each specialty.
Total working hours
Hours worked per week (corrected for age and gender), p-value of the difference between full-time and part-time
Hours worked per weeka
41.64 (1.10)
51.96 (0.75)
42.96 (1.66)
53.04 (0.58)
38.15 (3.62)
46.33 (1.81)
Allocation of working hours over tasks
Proportion of working hours spent on different tasks (corrected for age and gender), with the p-value of the difference between full-time and part-time
direct patient carea
indirect patient carea
other tasksa
0.61 (0.02)
0.19 (0.01)
0.20 (0.01)
0.61 (0.01)
0.17 (0.00)
0.22 (0.01)
0.71 (0.02)
0.12 (0.02)
0.17 (0.01)
0.70 (0.01)
0.12 (0.00)
0.18 (0.01)
0.65 (0.06)
0.18 (0.06)
0.17 (0.03)
0.66 (0.03)
0.19 (0.03)
0.15 (0.02)
Allocation of total working hours per week over several tasks: internists (corrected for age and gender), p-value of the difference between full-time and part-time
Mean proportion of hours, part-timea
mean proportion of hours, full-timea
clinical activities
0.03 (0.01)
0.04 (0.01)
outpatient care
0.58 (0.02)
0.57 (0.01)
Inter-professional communication
0.08 (0.00)
0.08 (0.00)
0.10 (0.01)
0.08 (0.00)
0.06 (0.01)
0.06 (0.00)
0.02 (0.01)
0.03 (0.00)
0.06 (0.00)
0.05 (0.00)
financial administration
0.02 (0.00)
0.01 (0.00)
0.05 (0.01)
0.07 (0.01)
Allocation of total working hours per week over several tasks: surgeons (corrected for age and gender), p-value of the difference between full-time and part-time
Mean proportion of hours, part-timea
mean proportion of hours, full-timea
clinical activities
0.35 (0.02)
0.38 (0.01)
outpatient care
0.27 (0.01)
0.25 (0.01)
day care
0.10 (0.01)
0.08 (0.00)
Inter-professional communication
0.07 (0.01)
0.07 (0.00)
0.05 (0.01)
0.05 (0.00)
0.05 (0.01)
0.04 (0.00)
0.02 (0.00)
0.02 (0.00)
0.04 (0.00)
0.03 (0.00)
financial administration
0.01 (0.00)
0.02 (0.00)
0.05 (0.01)
0.06 (0.00)
Allocation of total working hours per week over several tasks: radiologists (corrected for age and gender), p-value of the difference between full-time and part-time
Mean proportion of hours, part-timea
mean proportion of hours, full-timea
outpatient care
0.65 (0.06)
0.66 (0.03)
structural communication
0.02 (0.03)
0.10 (0.02)
incidental communication
0.05 (0.01)
0.05 (0.01)
0.05 (0.03)
0.05 (0.02)
0.03 (0.01)
0.02 (0.01)
0.01 (0.01)
0.01 (0.00)
0.04 (0.01)
0.04 (0.00)
financial administration
0.01 (0.01)
0.02 (0.00)
0.07 (0.02)
0.06 (0.01)
(1) Part-time medical specialists do not devote proportionally more time to the core business of their work.
(2) Part-time medical specialists do not spend proportionally more time on inter-professional communication.
Night and weekend shifts
Number of night and weekend shifts per hour worked (corrected for age and gender), p-value of the difference between full-time and part-time
night shiftsa
weekend shiftsa
0.43 (0.03)
1.74 (0.11)
0.37 (0.02)
1.49 (0.07)
0.49 (0.13)
1.72 (0.58)
0.35 (0.02)
1.37 (0.06)
0.27 (0.07)
0.91 (0.29)
0.31 (0.04)
1.31 (0.16)
(3) Part-time medical specialists do proportionally no fewer night and weekend shifts than full-time medical specialists.
Number of hours worked per FTE
Hours worked per FTE (corrected for age and gender), p-value of the difference between full-time and part-time
Hours worked per FTEa
58.04 (3.90)
52.22 (0.76)
57.57 (1.77)
53.13 (0.58)
48.63 (3.80)
46.76 (1.80)
(4) Part-time medical specialists have a similar or higher number of hours worked per FTE.
Conclusion and discussion
In this article we examined differences in the allocation of time to direct patient care, indirect patient care, and other tasks between full-time and part-time working internists, surgeons, and radiologists in the Netherlands based on information derived from a questionnaire. We expected part-time medical specialists to spend proportionally more time on direct patient care and inter-professional communication, and less on other tasks. Furthermore, we expected that part-time medical specialists work more hours per FTE.
For none of the medical specialties in this study did we find that part-time medical specialists spend proportionally more time on direct patient care. Part-time internists spend proportionally more time on correspondence and less on management tasks, and part-time radiologists less on structural communication. Except for structural communication for radiologists, these can be considered tasks that are not the core business of medical specialists, but do have potential effects on quality of care. With respect to night and weekend shifts we found that part-time medical specialists do proportionally more or an equal share. It may be that because these shifts are planned in advance, there is less pressure on the non-work-related responsibilities of part-time medical specialists. The number of hours worked per FTE is higher for part-time than for full-time medical specialists, although this difference is only significant for surgeons. In the introduction we related this to efficiency; part-time medical specialists may be less efficient, due to the need for communication, and therefore need more time to do the job. However, there are other explanations for the higher number of hours worked: part-time medical specialists have proportionally more opportunities for investing more hours in their work. The number of hours in a week is limited and full-time medical specialists are closer to the limit than part-time medical specialists.
The idea that part-time medical specialists do less than full-time medical specialists relates primarily to tasks that are not considered core business, 'extra-role' behavior in this article, such as management. It is thought that part-time medical specialists do less, because they may be less devoted to their work [15]. In this article we did not find much evidence to support this idea.
In general, part-time medical specialists do their share of the job. In addition, they work the same or more hours per FTE. However, we only took account of input and did not focus on output. Besides input, output deserves attention as well. Measures of output are numbers of services, quality of care and patient satisfaction. There need not be differences between full-time and part-time medical specialists, but this should still be examined.
Although part-time medical specialists do their share of the job there is still an important consequence of part-time work: more medical specialists are needed to get the work done. Therefore, more medical specialists should be trained. Due to demographic developments and new technologies an increase in demand for health care services can be expected. The increasing number of part-time medical specialists amplifies the need for more medical specialists [5].
In this article our definition of part-time work is working less than 1 FTE. However, there might be a difference between small (say less than 0.5 FTE) and large (say more than 0.9 FTE) part-time jobs. We considered it unnecessary to make a distinction in the size of the part-time job for two reasons. First, amongst medical specialists small part-time jobs are rare; in our data only 10 surgeons, 11 internists, and 8 radiologists work 0.5 FTE or less. Most part-time medical specialists work between 0.5 and 0.9 FTE. Second, analyses in which part-time surgeons were divided into three different groups did not lead to different conclusions from the ones presented in this article.
The hours spent on specialists' tasks, and therefore the allocation of time over different tasks was based on self-report by the medical specialist. These self-reported hours may differ from the actual time spent on certain tasks; medical specialist could over or under-estimate time spent on certain tasks. This over or under-estimation could be related to how they value different tasks. It would be interesting to compare these self-reported data with actual data, to examine whether there are differences. We have information on this subject only for radiologist working in general hospitals in the Netherlands. Van der Velden et al. [25] found that the difference between self-reported and actual working hours was only two percent.
We did not have up-to-date information to test whether our sample is representative of all internists, surgeons and radiologists working in general hospitals in the Netherlands. Differences found by comparing to the available data from some years ago can be due to demographic shifts. However, based on the non-response analysis, there might have been a slight overrepresentation of female medical specialists in our sample, primarily for radiologists. Furthermore, the response for the radiologists was rather low and above that, due to partial non-response, many radiologists were not included in our sample. This might have influenced the results in any direction.
Part-time work in general is sometimes considered to be a typically Dutch phenomenon [26]. Still, there is an international interest in this topic. Increasing numbers of women entering medicine reflect an international trend, and these women work fewer hours per week [12, 27, 28]. McMurray et al. [12] report that in Australia, Canada, England and the United States between 20% and 50% of all female primary care physicians are working part-time. It is important to study the consequences of the decrease in working hours for the services provided. Increasing demand for health care services can also be found worldwide [28]. Policy should be developed to address these changes in supply and demand. Educating more medical specialists is one possibility, but another is a policy aiming at increasing the contribution of female medical specialists. One example of the latter is to create practice settings that make it possible to better balance work and family life.
In this article we have talked about part-time work as a female concern. Women entering medicine have started the discussion about part-time work. However, we must not forget that nowadays it is not only women who prefer to work part-time; there are also (international) trends for male medical specialists which show a decline in the number of hours worked [2, 28, 29]. This indicates an overall change in opinion on the number of hours medical specialists should work.
This study was financed by ZonMW (the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development). It was part of the program: "Part-time work by medical specialists".
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- The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here:http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6963/6/26/prepub
Pre-publication history
This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


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Situation Update | Bu Tho Township, Papun District (November 2012 to January 2013)
The following situation update was written by a community member in Papun District who has been trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. It is presented below translated exactly as originally written, save for minor edits for clarity and security.[1] This report was received along with other information from Papun District, including one other situation update and 64 photographs.[2]
The situation in Bu Tho Township, from November 2012 to January 2013, which is a three month period, is that the villagers still suffer human rights abuses, such as forced labour, but it is becoming much less than before. This is because the Border Guard Force's army camps are not based close to the villages anymore. The kind of forced labour that happened was portering for the Tatmadaw. Regarding human rights abuses, the government's construction contractors come to collect stones beside the [Klaw Day] villagers' farms and canal. They came to collect it even though the villagers did not allow them; they also came to plough land with a car [bulldozer].
Human Rights abuse
Starting from November 2012 to January 2013, during the three month period, the things that abused human rights are: along the Meh Tee Loh River in P--- village, Meh Klaw village tract, the Burma government workers will repair a vehicle road and their army camps, and will build more buildings. In order to do that, they came to take stones and sand from the Meh Tee Loh River, beside villagers' farms. They did not ask for permission. The person who is in charge is Ma Tin Tin; she works for a Burma government contractor group and her husband is the chief of the contractor group. They [contractors] tried to meet with some village heads, KNU [Karen National Union] leaders and village tract leaders, but they did not give them permission. They only gave them [permission for] ten days, but they did it [stone and sand collection] more than that.
Even though they were allowed to do that [stone and sand collection], it will not benefit the villagers. Additionally, the people who collected the stones are not the farm owners and they are not villagers from the P--- area; they are people from the Way Hsa Way Moo vehicle road area, Ta Kon Taing, Kaw La [Muslim] and Bweh communities. One villager told them not to carry the stones with a car, but [only] with a cart or by themselves, but not to [use carts] beside the farm or the mouth of the canal. The [P---] village head also tried to talk about this [change] with them but they did not listen. Even though people who came to collect the stones are civilians, they are under the Burma governments' control and work as their contractors.
If they [contractors] continue collecting the stones, the nearby lands will be flooded in the rainy season, as there will be no stone or sand.[3] If there is really flooding, there will be approximately 20 or 30 acres of farms that will be gone. Even if these kinds of damages happen, the Burma government will not support them [villagers]. For collecting stone, they give [the contractors] 1,500 kyat (US $1.68)[4] per pile of stone.
Forced Labour
In Bu Tho Township, forced labour, which was portering for the Tatmadaw, happened on November 22nd 2012. The Papun Battalion, LIB [Light Infantry Battalion] #434 soldiers, who are on the frontline and based at Pa Heh army camp, came back to meet with their comrades in H--- village. For that, they ordered four H--- villagers to carry their equipment to Papun [town] and carried it back to H---. However, the villagers do not know what they were asked to carry. The villagers also do not know the officer's name.
Military activities
The armed groups that base in Bu Tho Township, are Burma Government soldiers [Tatmadaw], the BGF [Border Guard Force], the DKBA [Democratic Karen Benevolent Army] and the KNLA [Karen National Liberation Army]. These armed groups are active in different ways.
For the Government case, since the KNU leaders and Burma government held the ceasefire talk, there is not a lot of forced labour happening; but they still have some, which never will be gone. After the ceasefire talk, the Burma government transported more materials, such as building materials and medicine, to each of their army camps. However; this is not a benefit for the villagers. We had heard that each of their army camps on the border have to be repaired, and constructed with cement.
The DKBA, which is based in Meh P'Ree, travels freely to Pgheh Hta and Kaw Taw [Myaing Gyi Ngu[5]. They also built up [erected] their buildings in Htee K'Mler Wah, which they now renamed Htoo Wah Kaw. They also have one monk named Khin Maung Win or Hkay Mee Ka. He planted a very large rubber plantation and asked villagers to help him. He said that it is religious work, so the civilians in Meh P'Ree village tract helped him. The villagers do not know from where the monk gets the money [to buy the plantation].
The KNLA is active according to the KNU's policy. Sometimes, they might have abused the civilians' rights, but we do not know about it exactly. They always try to protect and solve the problems for the civilians who suffer from human rights abuses, such as money, thatch and bamboo that are demanded by the Tatmadaw and Border Guard. If the KNLA knows these things happen, they do not allow the civilians to comply or go for labour.
Civilians' livelihoods
Most of the civilians in Bu Tho Township earn their livelihood by farming flat fields and hill fields. Some of them also work small seasonal plantations. During 2012 and 2013, they could not farm as well as the previous years. The paddy in the hill fields mostly turned yellow, because they were eaten by insects and by mice, so that the paddy was not good. For the paddy in hill fields, the paddy plants become white and yellow after being planted and it seems like they had been eaten by caterpillars and other insects, which live on the paddy plants, so the paddy plants died.
The other thing is that, because the rain is not falling regularly, it is not good for plantations or farming. It is different from the previous years. In the past, the farms that produced 300 big tins[6] of paddy grains now produce only 150 and 200 big tins of paddy grain. For the hill fields, if people plant five big tins of paddy, they will get only 70 to 90 big tins of paddy grain. If we compare the previous years and now, the problems with livelihoods for the villagers is the food problem. If the flat fields and hill fields continue going like this, it is a sad thing for the villagers. The villagers who earn their livelihood in this way deal with this problem more and more. They cannot protect [themselves] and or find a way to solve these problems by themselves, as their grandparents did in the past.
Civilians' situation
Even after KNU and Burma government ceasefire talk, the civilians in Bu Tho Township who live close to where Tatmadaw and Border Guard are based still have to suffer human rights abuses. But, if we compare this to the past, we can say that the situation for the villagers became better. But still, there is not enough freedom for the people who stay close [to these armies].
The civilians who stay [live] in the place that is out of the area in control of the government, they dare not travel and work wherever they want to go and work yet. They are still afraid of them [armed groups]. They dare not go to the town like Papun [Town], even though they want to go, because they do not have identity cards. People who live in the side close to the mountain always worry that the ceasefire talk will be broken. If it breaks, it will be difficult for them to travel, go to work, and to go buy salt, fish paste or clothes. However, for people who live beside the vehicle road, both under the control of the Burma government and out of their controlled area, the situation has not changed. But for the people who can travel, they can travel more easily than the previous years.
The information that I reported is only in some areas that I know and visited already. There will be many information gaps. Because the time now is under a ceasefire, there are no hot or recent incidents that have happened yet. There is only incident that happened, as I reported. Human rights abuses and forced labour still cannot be avoided, until now. These things sometimes happen despite there being a ceasefire.


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A Gif for you - the FAQ
Section 1: Ordering and payment
1) How long will it take for you to do my Gif?
This depends on what you need. A simple Gif with little frames does not take as long as a Gif with about to 20 frames.
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Yes, at least for the specific Gif you bought. This means, that YOU are the only one who decides, what will happen to that Gif and who can use it. But there are limits of course: You don't have the right to pretend that you did the Gif, and if you used any of my comic-characthers, you won't get the copyright for that characther or for the comic-series itself.
3) Speeking of comics: Can you do a Gif with other Comic-Characthers than yours, i.e the Simpsons or Donald Duck?
No! First, I don't have the right to do so. And then, I won't be able to draw them.
4) How can I pay? Do you ask payment in first?
Yes. Don't take this personally, but I don't feel like doing a lot of work (And to do a Gif IS a heathen lot of work!) for just your blue eyes! So if you definetely want me to do a Gif for you, I'll start when I got your cheque.
5) And what if I dont't like what I get ?
Now, I will send you samples of each phases of the work. If you want any changes, tell me so and I'll do it.
6) Those changes cost extra?
7) Do you accept credit-cards?
Actually not.
8) Can I order from anywhere in the world? What is the currency you want?
Yes, from anywhere. This is the www, America is supposed to be as close as Australia... Now, since I am living in France/ Europe, the currency I count with is the Euro. I tell you the US-Dollar prize to give you an idea of the costs. But do make the cheque in Euro founds. (Ask your Bank)
Section 2: General questions.
(some really don't have much to do with Gifs, but since people stay asking that, I hope I can give a response one for all!)
9) How old are you? are you married? Wanna marry me?
None of your buissnes! But, okay, if this information makes you sleep better: I was born back in 1965.. ...and yes, and no.
10) How did you learn to draw?
By doing it.
11) My 4 years old son does draw pretty good himself: Can you tell me what I can do to help him to become a famous artist?
First, let him become an adult! And then, lets say that much childern like to draw! This is not necessarly a sign of a future carrier as a drawing-genius! Just let him draw and watch his school-duty anyway. If he really keep up drawing troughout the years with a strong will to do this as a professional, He should learn a profession like graphist. Because artists rarely make a living with their art. As a graphist, he can make an income with what he likes to do and stay on drawing comics (or whatever) in the evening.
12) Why are you doing "pagan Gifs"? Sounds weird!
Well, I am actually pagan! Would it be weird if I drew christian Gifs? We all have our beliefs, (or not) and we all have the right to be creative with them! If you don't like the pagan Gifs, don't klick them!


text:
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May called on the European Union to evolve its position in response to her new plan which has outlined a blueprint for the UK's post-Brexit relationship with the bloc.
"It is now for the EU to respond, not simply to fall back on previous positions which have already been proven unworkable but to evolve their position in kind," May said in a speech in Belfast on Friday.
Reporting by Ian Graham, writing by Sarah Young; editing by Kate Holton


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How to set up a self-hosted wordpress blog or website in 30 minutes
posted in: Tips and Tutorials | 3
Having a great idea without a platform to build your audience and amplify your impact is like lighting a lamp and putting it under a clay pot. You want to put your lamp on a lamp stand, not under a pot. According to Michael Hyatt (Best Selling author and one of Forbes Top 10 Online Marketing Experts To Follow In 2014), "Great ideas are no longer enough. Without a platform – something that enables you to get seen and heard – you don't stand a chance. Having an awesome product, an outstanding service, or a compelling cause is no longer enough."
If you have an idea to spread or a product to sell, then you need a platform.


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Cara Ruby nude: 19 photos
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text: I need to create a subclass from a parent class that has lots of methods, and need to decorate all of these. Is there pythonic way of doing this other than: def myDecorator (meth): @wraps(meth) def newMeth (*args, **kw): print("Changing some arguments here.") return meth(newargs, **kw) return newMeth class Parent: def method1(self,args): pass def method2(self,args): # and so on... def methodn(self,args): pass class Mine(Parent): for thing in dir(Parent): if type(eval("Parent."+thing)) == type(Parent.method1): eval(thing) = myDecorator(eval("Parent." + thing)) I'm not even sure that this works! Thanks a lot!


text:
To link to this page from your website, simply cut and paste the following code to your web page.
It will appear on your page as:
Atlantis Plato: Timaeus 2, page 9 from www.lost-civilizations.net
Thus have I concisely given the result of my thoughts; and my
verdict is that being and space and generation, these three,
existed in their three ways before the heaven; and that the nurse
of generation, moistened by water and inflamed by fire, and
receiving the forms of earth and air, and experiencing all the
affections which accompany these, presented a strange variety of
appearances; and being full of powers which were neither similar
nor equally balanced, was never in any part in a state of
equipoise, but swaying unevenly hither and thither, was shaken by
them, and by its motion again shook them; and the elements when
moved were separated and carried continually, some one way, some
another; as, when rain is shaken and winnowed by fans and other
instruments used in the threshing of corn, the close and heavy
particles are borne away and settle in one direction, and the
loose and light particles in another. In this manner, the four
kinds or elements were then shaken by the receiving vessel,
which, moving like a winnowing machine, scattered far away from
one another the elements most unlike, and forced the most similar
elements into dose contact. Wherefore also the various elements
had different places before they were arranged so as to form the
universe. At first, they were all without reason and measure. But
when the world began to get into order, fire and water and earth
and air had only certain faint traces of themselves, and were
altogether such as everything might be expected to be in the
absence of God; this, I say, was their nature at that time, and
God fashioned them by form and number. Let it be consistently
maintained by us in all that we say that God made them as far as
possible the fairest and best, out of things which were not fair
and good. And now I will endeavour to show you the disposition
and generation of them by an unaccustomed argument, which am
compelled to use; but I believe that you will be able to follow
me, for your education has made you familiar with the methods of
In the first place, then, as is evident to all, fire and earth
and water and air are bodies. And every sort of body possesses
solidity, and every solid must necessarily be contained in
planes; and every plane rectilinear figure is composed of
triangles; and all triangles are originally of two kinds, both of
which are made up of one right and two acute angles; one of them
has at either end of the base the half of a divided right angle,
having equal sides, while in the other the right angle is divided
into unequal parts, having unequal sides. These, then, proceeding
by a combination of probability with demonstration, we assume to
be the original elements of fire and the other bodies; but the
principles which are prior to these God only knows, and he of men
who is the friend God. And next we have to determine what are the
four most beautiful bodies which are unlike one another, and of
which some are capable of resolution into one another; for having
discovered thus much, we shall know the true origin of earth and
fire and of the proportionate and intermediate elements.


text:
Contemporary Gift Shop on a Waterfall
Thursday, July 11th, 2013
This small gift shop of is full of unique contemporary art and gifts. The gift shop sets overlooking a majestic waterfall. This shop was established in 1969, and has stood the test of time by being both a exquisite attraction, and selling excellent products.
The back deck of this small North Ga. Mountains jewel has a swing where visitors can just sit back and relax to the soothing sounds and view of a waterfall. You will also find one of a kind clay pots here, and also be take a class in pottery.
This shop was at one time a old grist mill. Another favorite attraction of this place, is having the ability to feed the gigantic monster size trout that have made the bottom of the waterfalls their home.
So if your looking for that one of a kind unique one of a kind gift, or that prized hand crafted piece of pottery, than make sure and make this one of your stops while visiting up here in the North Ga. Mountains.
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Kent Highlights
Really enjoyed walking by the sea in the high winds at Margate last week and taking refuge at the Turner Contemporary to see Seeing Round Corners. From website:-
Turner Contemporary presents the first major exhibition to explore the centrality of the circle in art. Featuring more than 100 works – from 3000BC to the present day – Seeing Round Corners: The Art of the Circle brings together artworks and artefacts that reflect a vast range of themes and ideas from roundness, rotation and visual perception to wonderment and cycles of time. The exhibition encompasses sculpture, film, painting, design, installation, performance and photography, with works by leading historical and contemporary artists including Leonardo da Vinci, Paul Nash, Barbara Hepworth, JMW Turner, Theaster Gates, Rebecca Horn, David Shrigley and Bridget Riley.
At the Whitstable Biennale on Saturday night at the Tennis Courts and powered by the audience using bicycles to generate the electricity I really enjoyed the screening go In this World and Kingsland, introduced by Tony Grisoni. From the Biennale website "After an introduction by Tony Grisoni, we will screen Kingsland #1: The Dreamer (BAFTA nominated), a powerful drama written and directed by Grisoni, telling the story of a Kurdish immigrant who has arrived in North East London with nothing and finds himself involved in a dark world with fellow Kurds; and In This World (Berlinale Golden Bear winner), for which Tony Grisoni made the trek along the people smugglers' route from the Pakistan/Afghan border, through Iran and Turkey to Europe with the director, Michael Winterbottom".
http://www.whitstablebiennale.com continues until Sunday 12th June.
And a view of the Estuary on Saturday - beautiful light
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My practice, overlap psychology
January 2019


text:
My apologies!!
So, what's the *special* occasion, you ask?? Tomorrow (20th) is Flourishes' DT Coordinator, Julie Koerber's birthday, and the members of all three Flourishes Teams, joined the forces to cook up the fun SURPRISE BLOG HOP!!!
It was only fitting, to use Flourishes stamps on my card, and so I pulled out the gorgeous Butterflies & Blossoms set.
Supplies: cardstock: Canson (black), white, light green; paper: Pink Paislee (Nantucket); stamps: Flourishes (Butterflies & Blossoms); ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black); Copics; grosgrain ribbon; sewing machine
Even more fitting, to enter this card into this week's Timeless Tuesday (FTTC144) - "Flag, You're It!" :)
I also used this great layout below, from RCC29. There's no such thing as enough of Laura's sketches :)
I hope you will enjoy hopping along as well! I assure you that you want to keep clicking... Flourishes has some of the best Designers out there! :)
Here's the full list of participants... happy hopping!
- Jan Marie Caruso
- Barbara Anders
- Christine Okken
- Cindy Lawrence
- Danielle Kennedy
- Dawn Burnworth
- Sharon Doolittle
- Stacy Morgan
- Tammy Hershberger
- Beate Johns
- Cindy Haffner
- Heather Jensen
- Maki Jones
- Silke Ledlow
- Heather Jensen
- Iwona Palmountain
- Kathy Jones
- Mona Pendleton
- Yvonne Hagane
- Laura Fredrickson
See you tomorrow, enjoy your weekend! Mwah,


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23 Juli 2016
Hobart class destroyer ship (photo : Aus DoD)
Months of hard work from Production and Test and Activation has resulted in the successful commissioning of the AWD Gas Turbines on Hobart. "This is a huge achievement for the project that everyone should be proud of," said Michael Clements, Test and Activation (T&A) Manager.
A lot of work goes into the preparation for this moment. In the beginning, Production undertake the load-out of the Gas Turbine Engines onto the ship, followed by integration, alignment, cable and pipe testing and flushing of the supporting systems. The systems are handed over to Test & Activation, who energise and set-to-work the systems in collaboration with the vendors, in preparation for the engines to be started for the Gas Turbine Light Off (GTLO).
"This is one of the most powerful machines in the world and starting it up is immensely exciting for everyone involved," said Greg Hatsitsopanidis, Propulsion Team Lead, T&A.
With the Propulsion T&A team consisting of eight people, expertise is drawn from all five of the specialist T&A teams including, Auxiliary, Electrical, Controls and Heating Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC) to ensure the successful and safe start of the Gas Turbines. The hard work from teams across both Production and T&A has contributed to the success of the GTLO. "Every day has been a challenge, but it is rewarding seeing the teams come together and utilise their skills," Greg said.
With the successful commissioning of Hobart'sGas Turbine Engines, the team will continue to work towards preparing the ship for Sea Trials in September.
23 Juli 2016
AWD Alliance Starts Hobart's Gas Turbine Engines
Label: ANGKATAN LAUT, AUSTRALIA, Destroyer
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Copyright© 1998-2011 Barry Gruber. All Rights Reserved.
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Sometimes I like to just scroll around facebook
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they think they can do. You can go as far as you mind lets
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text:
Zhang said the family needed a respite from the smog and a reliable lunch.
"We just came here for fun," said the 34-year-old office manager. "I suppose we could have gone somewhere else, but it wouldn't have been a complete experience."
Welcome to IKEA Beijing, where the atmosphere is more theme park than store.
Tot articolul: http://articles.latimes.com/2009/aug/25/business/fi-china-ikea25
Imagini: http://gizmodo.com/5673748/beijings-ikea-is-apparently-a-great-place-for-a-snooze


text:
By Sonoe Nakasone, Field Book Project
|Entry for Ledum palustre in William J. Fisher's botanical field notes from Kodiak, Alaska, 1899. Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History.
What would an anthropological view of biodiversity look like? Perhaps one answer is the botanical field notes of William J. Fisher (1830- 1903) from Kodiak, Alaska, 1899.
William Fisher worked as a Tidal Recorder in Alaska, but it seems his real interest was collecting biological specimens and ethnographic artifacts. In 1879, Fisher began collecting specimens for the Smithsonian in his spare time. Although Fisher collected birds, plants, fish, and other natural history specimens, his ethnographic collections eventually dominated his focus.
Fisher's botanical field notes from 1899 take an ethnobotanical approach, perhaps reflecting his interest in Kodiak culture. Fisher examined the relationship between the Alutiiq (Aleut) and their plants by recording medicinal and food uses for 48 specimens. Additionally, for many of these specimens Fisher includes Russian and Sugpiat/Alutiiq (Aleut) names, distribution information, and a note if the plant is introduced.
The natural remedies and culinary descriptions Fisher recorded sparked many questions: how accurate were Fisher's notes; how much more knowledge about our environment can we obtain from other cultures? For this post, I attempted to answer only the first of these questions. Conducting light internet research, I compared Fisher's notes to published sources for some of the known medicinal properties and general or Alutiiq food uses of these plants. This was challenging as most of the phonetically spelled Russian and Sugpiat/Alutiiq names listed in Fisher's notes yielded no internet search results. Luckily, Fisher included scientific names for two of his specimens: Fritillaria camschatcensis and Ledum palustre Eventually, I also found results on two other specimens using their Russian names "brussnika [sic]" (brusnika) and "kalina".
Fisher provides medicinal uses for two of the four plants I researched. For one of these specimens, Ledum palustre (wild rosemary), Fisher makes the following note:
"[U]sed […]: 1) as a tea […for] alleviating the hacking cough of consumptives; 2) as a gargle for sore throat; 3) […] as a tea […for] asthmatic complaints. […] The leaves are chewed also and give relief in asthmatic complaints."
Fisher's notes align with the medical benefits listed for Ledum palustre on Plants for a Future (PFAF). This entry, however, also notes several serious hazards to Ledum palustre that Fisher does not.
Another medicinal plant from Fisher's notes is "Kalina" (Viburnum edule; Highbush cranberry):
"[R]emedy for sore throats, either the raw berries or boiled with sugar added for same purpose the outside bark of the plant is removed and the inner bark taken and boiled and freely drank."
The entry for "Kalina" in Plant Lore of An Alaskan Island: Foraging in the Kodiak Archepelago [sic] (Kelso, 2011) contains a similar description of the medical benefits of this plant, but offers more details.
Fisher's notes include information on food, but not medicinal uses for the following two specimens. According to Fisher's notes, Fritillaria camschatcensis (Kamchatka fritillary), in the Lily family, was used as a preserve:
"[T]he bulbs are boiled, mashed, and after a liberal supply of seal or whale oil has been thoroughly mixed therewith, it is put away for winter's use."
Similarly, both the PFAF database entry for Kamchatka fritillary and Kelso's book mention the edible bulbs of the fritillary, descriptions on how to prepare this plant differ greatly from Fisher's.
Different from the Highbush Cranberry mentioned earlier, Fisher's notes record another type of cranberry that is used for preserves. These are referred to as "brussnika [sic]" (brusnika) in Russian. Fisher's notes explain how these cranberries are "[M]ixed with seal or whale oil and salmon spawn for winter's preserves." By contrast, the entry for "brusnika" in Kelso's book has no record of seal, whale, or fish parts being used in the making cranberry preserves and also includes medicinal information absent from Fisher's notes.
From my brief research on the four plants above, I found some overlap between Fisher's notes and the information found in PFAF and Kelso's book, particularly with the medicinal information Fisher was able to capture. There were, however, many striking differences. These differences highlight the importance of the folk knowledge that can be gleaned from various cultures and communities world-wide.
So, where are you from? Are there plants special to your region? Does your community or region have unique traditions using those plant materials? We invite you to share some of your botanical traditions in the comments. Let us know your story and we may invite you to guest blog.
Crowell, A. L. 1992. Postcontact Koniag Ceremonialism on Kodiak Island and the Alaska Peninsula: Evidence from the Fisher Collection. Arctic Anthropology, vol. 29(1), pp. 18-37.
Kelso, F. (2011). Plant Lore of an Alaskan Island: Foraging in the Kodiak Archepelago. AuthorHouse: Bloomington, Indiana.


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We are back! Still a little dazed after the flight as I stupidly took 2 night nurse with one hour left of flying thinking we still had another 4 hours....
We're in the lovely Brooklyn right now, staying with Ladybug's Gary before the first gig with Peter Bjorn & John tomorrow night.
Off alla spiaggia now,
Molti baci, x
Wednesday, 5 September 2007
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Friday, December 7, 2012
TGIFassy 1207 (updated Gaiety pics and info)
TGIFassy everyone! Not much to report at the moment other than a contest will go live next week that will be opened to all FF readers. :-) I'm swamped with coursework for grad school and it's driving me a little insane. But this FF contest will help cheer me up and I hope you too!
Updated to add: Michael at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin today. More pics to follow - can be found at the Gaiety School Facebook. I wonder if Michael will create a scholarship for the school one day.
8 comments:
- émilie said...
Good luck for your hard work! I'm curious about the contest, I hope you'll tell us more soon! The pics of Michael at the Gaiety school of acting are making my heart melt.
- December 7, 2012 at 11:02 AM
- Jhessye said...
Yeah! Go Simone in grad school. I worked as a researcher for almost 3 years around Masters and Ph.D. students in Biology. That stuff is intense. Good fortune to ya sister. Are you thesis or non-thesis? Either way, keep it up. And Thanks for posting. Is that a school michael attended in ireland? Me don't know mon. Ja rastafari!
- December 7, 2012 at 12:55 PM
- Dionne said...
Simone, good luck and keep at it!
TGIFassy everyone
- December 7, 2012 at 2:35 PM
- Hupsakeek said...
I wish you all the best with your study and I'm glad Michael is there to distract you =D. Can't wait till the contest is online. Respect for you to find the time beside your study to keep us posted on the ff blog, pinterest, theatre of zen, f.a.c.t. community.
- December 7, 2012 at 4:42 PM
- Martha said...
New PICS! Always a treat.
How cool for all of the kids there. They must have been trilled. It is so awesome that he has taken the time to do this. Another reason to love this man.
Simone, thanks for taking the time from your busy life to bring a smile to our faces. I definitely smile and sigh when I get here and see a new picture. :)
- December 7, 2012 at 5:33 PM
- Simone said...
Thanks for the support guys! These past two weeks in particular have been brutal and I'm just so fucking tired and stressed out. I have 4 papers due, two class presentations, and constantly tweaking the FACT webpage and updating the accompanying twitter, all while doing ongoing research for this project. For my other class, that project is going to turn my hair white. It's too bad I'm boring and don't drink and smoke cuz I need a release. It'll all be over by the 17th.
Anyhoo, I will post the contest up sometime next week, I hope people look forward to it.
- December 7, 2012 at 9:31 PM
- émilie said...
X Men will be released in 3D:
- December 8, 2012 at 4:27 AM
- Fingersmith said...
Simone, I feel your pain, having a somewhat similar lot (although I'm not a grad student, just a PhD candidate). December is a cruel month... But hold on there, Xmas will be here soon and then we'll all relax (or so we hope...) :-P
- December 8, 2012 at 5:47 AM


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Thomas makes his move on Ivy.
With Wyatt out of town, Thomas made a plan to woo the beautiful Australian. After a night of white wine and risotto, Thomas snuck down to the kitchen to once again try his hand at seducing Ivy. As the storm raged outdoors, a shirtless Thomas pulled Ivy in close for a night of adventure.
Watch the full episode on CBS.com.


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The spectacle of respect key to Shocores success
Who: Shocore
Where: Boot Pub
When: Sunday, Jan. 27
With Shocore, never forget the spectacle and just plain fun.
"We really want to make our shows more crazy-cool, and less a bunch of guys standing around playing music looking at their shoes," says Cory White, lead singer for the Vancouver band.
A performance art troupe that call themselves All You Can Eat accompany the band on stage, and the womens props include whipping cream, chocolate sauce and skimpy outfits. Visual "eye candy" is all part of the show that meanders through rock, metal and house sound, with a touch of reggae too.
"I love bands like Kiss!" laughs White. "They just put on such a spectacle of show, its great!"
The lineup at this show includes guest drummer Bob Wagner of Econoline Crush, who plays half the show alongside Andy Simpson. Simpson heads for Africa in the near future, on leave from the band. Shocore is also Steve Ericson on guitar, Terry "Sho" Murray on vocals and guitar, and Paul Floyd on bass. Guest percussionists have also played with the band. Their last performance in Whistler was the annual skateboard festival in 2001.
There may be frolic at Shocore shows, but respect is also one key to success.
"Understanding another persons ideas and respect for what theyre trying to convey, is important (to music making). Im talking about the bass root of working with someone else," says White.
The former frontman for Vancouvers DDT for seven years, White left the band two years ago. DDT has since lost their record label deal.
A local fund-raiser album from CFOX radio in Vancouver made a charity, and the band, a little richer.
"The Vancouver Seeds album was really the match that lit the fire for us. The radio station ran ads saying submit your song to us," quips White, a longtime commercial voiceover artist.
The album, in aid of the Childrens Hospital, was released in May 2001.
"When the Vancouver Seeds compilation came out, Bonecracker was only available on that CD, so it got a lot of play and really sped things up for us," adds White.
Three songs, in addition to a hidden track, are featured on the album.
Their debut, Devil Rock Disco, was released through Warner Musics Canada-distributed Linus Entertainment and held at Torontos Bovine Sex Club in September. A follow-up performance at the Xbox launch event, at the docks in Toronto on Nov. 15, sealed their cross-Canada popularity.
Their single, High School Punk, was featured on the Jet Boy soundtrack in 2001, a single incorporated on The Outer Limits. Singles Bonecracker and Legendary Camero were also used on the television series. Meanwhile Burnaby-based multimedia company Electronic Arts incorporated Shocore songs in the SFX snowboard video game they produced in 2001.
Currently Shocore is in talks with CBC regarding the Hockey Night in Canada television series, while completing studio work for a second video.
U.S. side, the video for Bonecracker is now receiving airplay on MTV.


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Here are some closer shots.
And here you can see the redone Bases in a little more detail. I like it how they turn out and make all models fit together.
My week in LA was pretty awesome. A lot of sunshine, warm weather and good food. Here are some impressions...
And last but not least I got my copy of "Strange Aeons" and I must say I pretty much like it. Also got me some models from Westwind Production to resemble some Characters for the game. Looking forward to make a Silent Hill mod, which will not be that difficult but pretty cool to play.
So that's it for this year. I wish you all happy holidays and a good start into 2013.


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Hi there,
(apologies moderators for previous post, I was typing to see how this forum worked..)
I just wanted to say a big thankyou to everyone who has posted in this forum for helping me, for now, alleviate this awful thing. Am a 30yr old male who didn't expect it!
I read a lot on this forum about how tumeric, tea tree oil, epsom salts, baking soda and vinegar can help as anal abscess and I just wanted to share my experience with everyone else and encourage them to try these ideas before seeking surgery.
Need to say there's nothing conclusive here, just my experience:
About a week ago I felt something weird down near where my ass cheeks meet my thigh and thought nothing of it, the next day it was definitely something that was the size of maybe the end of my thumb.
I googled this and concluded (from what info was available) that I had a perennial abscess and read a lot of horror stories about (not so much) having it lanced but then having it packed etc and the pain involved. I thought of trying anyyythinggg else than that, and though have never tried 'natural' remedies came across this forum. Am an advocate for neither natural or 'modern' surgery - just wanted to avoid pain/suffering etc!!
So googled and came across this forum and found suggestions for remedies that essentially fell into two camps: a tumeric and tea tree oil (maybe with water) mixture and an apple cider vinegar and baking soda mixture. In addition to this epsom salt baths were recommended.
For the record at this point it was becoming painful - like from a 'fun' lump to something that was causing proper, not excruciating but potentially, pain. Like pulling a nose hair out!
First night after reading I tried mixing what I could find close by locally in my town - tea tree oil and baking soda (even though this specific combination was not recommended per se) and to be honest not sure it did much, or help swelling reside at all. To be honest also a problem is it didn't make a great 'paste' and felt more like trying to stick a grainy gel to my skin.
Next day I went out to find tumeric and mixed it with the tea tree oil. Not sure if 1:1 ratio or what, but kept adding either til it formed a smooth paste - smooth enough to apply to the area and have it stick like a regular cream. Anyway I put it on without a dressing (not to go into too much detail but taping a dressing to this area would have meant a lot of pubic hair pain when pulling it off) and followed what another posted had said of pulling on tight boxer briefs after. I was amazed how little of it went onto the boxer briefs, it stuck to the area great.
Anyway after about 8 hours I went to the bathroom and the abscess felt very 'tender' eg ready to burst, like a childhood pimple ready to pop.
I don't know why but I decided to apply some white wine vinegar I had bought (couldn't find the recommended apple cider) to the area and when I pulled the cotton wool ball I'd put the vinegar on off the area....it was suddenly seeping puss. Yes disgusting, but such a relief. I have to say though, in the most minor of ways, like a tiny pinprick.
So because I didn't think some others went enough in depth: it absolutely seeped puss (like small-medium sized globules on paper towels) at a regular rate for about 20minutes then lessened. I then thought I'd listen to others on this forum and got straight into a hot bath where it appeared to drain more but at a lesser rate. At a point I decided that further squeezing etc could cause more harm than good.
Overnight some more drained but nothing to write home about.
I should also add in its most painful stage I took some nurofen painkillers and they probably helped me through the worst of it! Highly recommended.
Since then (48hrs ago) I've been going about my day to day and its getting better and better. Gone from what was at its peak golf ball sized to now like a grape. I expect this to continue.
What I don't know:
1. Is it entirely fixed? I don't know, all I can say is its gone from 100% red alert to feeling like a pimple on my ass! I'll keep updating if interested. I've read another great post about how they felt there was something deeper underneath, and I do to a degree feel that still - there is still a pocket there that is decreasing but still exists. So I can't at all say I'm out of the woods - but I'm feeling 10000% better.
2. What did the job - vinegar, tumeric, tea tree oil, epsom or what? My honest opinon is that it was the tea tree oil and tumeric mixture that did it for me - just my opinion but its what happened. I think a rub of vinegar afterwards helped bring it from 99.9% burst to 100% burst, but maybe a rub of water would have done the same. But definitely the tumeric and tea tree oil is my recommendation.
Should also add that after bursting I tried re-applying tumeric and tea tree oil mixture but because after bursting the 'hole' is very sensitive it stung really bad. So i've switched to a combination of this (can't post links, in UK if you google this..)
Boots Tea Tree Cream - 30ml £4.39
Tea tree oil cream, mixed on about 1:1 with tumeric (plus a bit of water to make up the difference, do it in half teaspoons) and have found over last 24 hours it is still helping to pro-actively reduce the swelling down to what is now pea sized. Also mixing tumeric with a cream makes it FAR easier to apply than other methods. This gets important when its poultice vs cream in a difficult area.
Sorry for that really lengthy post but the point is that a few days ago I was horrified of that thing on my butt, and from following directions on this page (no easy answers...) it has gone from 100% red alert to pretty much nothing and I hope it continues til its nothing.
If you're reading this page for the first time please please please consider giving these ideas a go before going for that painful surgery that I've (til this point, fingers crossed) only read about!
Happy to answer any queries...


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A few months ago, I became a Practitioner of the Universal Sphere®. Why? I came to understand the Universal Sphere® as an expanding tool of accessing the Unified Field and working with it for maximum creativity for myself, family, friends, pets, home, businesses and space of all types and dimensions. Personally speaking, it's about quickly manifesting what is in our highest good (and removing ego).
I've been working in the Quantum Field for 7 years now as a facilitator of healing and transformation. The sessions I provide for clients have expanded over the years, as I moved into this new era of science and healing.
At first, I was working with resonance technology quantum energy healing called Amized Fusion Technology and continue to. Then I became a Reconnective Healing™ Foundational Practitioner, as well as the Reconnection™. A year ago, I became a Practitioner of the 111® and 222® Activations, setting in Sacred Geometric patterns into ones vibrational field for transformation, greater alignment, clarity and authenticity. Now, I have the Universal Sphere® to add to my work.
This is what I've found in my practice of healing and transformation… everyone is on their own path. Various things make sense to us at different times! We all have our own foundation of knowledge. The individual care and attention I give my clients is unique to them, based on what their objectives are, what they desire for themselves. We all have our timing!
Being able to introduce this new era of science and healing, to inform, to give people the experience and empower them in their ability to work with the Unified Field and amplify their ability to manifest for their highest good is the greatest blessing and the most profound work I can do.
For more information on the Universal Sphere® please connect with me. Interested in learning it for your own use or becoming a Practitioner and utilizing it with your clients? Check out Holly Hawkins Marwood and Paul Marwood at Soul Genesis. Let them know you read about it here on my blog. Holly has taught healing and transformation around the world for many years and they are providing online learning classes that can be done in the comfort of your own home!
I love connecting with the Unified Field and bringing in unlimited potential into my life and that of others.
If you'd like this energetic offering, please contact me at email@example.com or message me via Facebook. You can also visit my business page on Facebook at Empower Health Now.
In service,


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Marshall Danner started off producing motion-graphic videos for The Add Sheet, owned by Jamie Canine, until the company decided to spin off the division into Sneaky Pizza and sell its services to outside clients.
Address: 111 S. Ninth St.
Hours of operation: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday
Website: sneakypizza.com
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Services provided: Motion-graphic video production
Costs: Quotes available for each individual project. A standard video produced by the company costs $1,500 to $2,500.
"We're really focused on online," Danner said. "If clients want to use them on TV, we can do that, but we're really focused on videos that don't really have that time constraint that TV has." For example, a company can use the video on its website to explain products or services to potential customers rather than writing copy to explain it, he said.


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Tote 1 / 2 / 3
I like to layer tops, you should definitely take a sweater just in case
Tops 1 / 2 / 3
Comfortable pants are a must, I generally avoid dresses or skirts when travelling
Pants 1 / 2 / 3
Flat comfortable shoes are important, just in case you need to hustle!
Shoes 1 / 2 / 3
Essential Extras in my opinion includes, a hair brush, socks, facial wipes, a scarf for extra warmth, eye mask, lip balm and some kind of hair refresher - Macadamia Oil can help smooth away that in flight frizz!
Happy Travels!
Lucy x


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Featured Postcards
Greetings Postcard Pals. Below are some of the standout postcards I have received from my generous postcard friends.
I've also included some I've sent myself from significant or interesting locations or just bought for fun. All my postcards are uploaded to my Flickr.
You'll see I also enjoy fancy stamps too. Want to trade? Read on.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
New Disneyland postcards
Posted by rodeime at 9:02 pm
Labels: USA
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8 Best Nature Destinations in Oregon
Oregon is a place that nature and outdoor enthusiasts would love. Many of its popular attractions include parks, lakes, mountains, and beaches. If you are thinking of exploring Oregon's nature trails, here are some of the best destinations to put on your list.
Cannon Beach
Go for: Stunning beach with breathtaking views of coastal rocks that include the best known Hay Stack Rock.
Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area
Go for: Spectacular nature scenery including the magnificent Multnomah Falls. Enjoy outdoor activities like camping and hiking among many others.
Crater Lake National Park
Go for: See one of the most stunning crater lakes in the world and the surrounding majestic landscape and nature scenery.
Mount Hood National Forest
Go for: Explore the wilderness or follow the Mount Hood Scenic Loop and marvel at the scenic views.
Oregon Caves National Monument
Go for: Go for a hike and visit the place's best known attraction — the marble cave.
Oregon Coast Trail
Go for: Hike along a coastal trail and see the spectacular views all around.
Washington Park in Portland
Go for: Enjoy the park's many attractions including its famous Japanese gardens.
Willamette National Forest
Go for: Take a hike in a lush forest and witness the amazing scenery that include great views of mountains and rivers.


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A senior in high school at the Perpich Center for Arts Education, Amy Wilcox works in installations, fabrics and paints. Many of her works are quite large, and highly conceptual.
Her "Carhartt," a stuffed cloth deer head mounted taxidermy-style, juxtaposes the image of a child's toy against a hunter's trophy in an attempt to make a critical statement about Minnesota's hunting culture.
Her untitled self-portrait, a backlit photo on vellum overlaid with sketches she made while looking in the mirror, means to contrast inner and outer views: "The photo is how others see me," the Forest Lake native explained. "And the line-contour drawings are how I see myself."
Yesterday was Portfolio Day at the Golden Valley arts high school, an annual event that brought recruiters from 21 art colleges across the country. The recruiters were on campus to describe their programs and review student portfolios. Wilcox was a hot commodity.
A generation ago, the popular image of the art major was someone who might, if lucky, go on to work in a gallery or perhaps, if very lucky, a museum — in any case, resigned to a meager existence. Just a decade ago, Wilcox's parents would likely have been begging her to consider law school instead.
Dozens of very good jobs
Today a bachelor's in fine art opens doors to dozens of very good jobs in growing fields, according to Karen Monson, who teaches in Perpich's visual-arts program and coordinates Portfolio Day. "Art careers have been increasing at 10 percent a year for the last 10 years," she said. "Now, one in 70 jobs are in design of some sort. It's an economic driver in this country."
It's all about communication, Monson added: "Information has to be organized in some way. And the designers of the culture are best equipped to organize that communication."
Some, like Wilcox, may go on to live by their muse. But those who don't have far-ranging career choices such as computer animation, urban design, landscape architecture, package design — even crime-scene photography.
"The United States is still a leader in the world when it comes to art and design," said Monson. "Art and design are the drivers for creating a society where people can live and work together more economically, with more comfort, and greener — all of the things we think about when we think about a culture that supports its population."
Destroying myth of starving artist
As an admissions counselor at Ringling College in Sarasota, Fla., Patti Spencer is used to "destroying the myth of the starving artist," as she puts it. Every year $385 billion gets spent on advertising and $55 million on video games in the United States, she said. (More very persuasive detail is available on Ringling's website: click here to get started.)
"The economic impact of art and design exceeds that of sports worldwide," Spencer added.
Spencer spent the morning of Portfolio Day the same way as the rest of the talent scouts in attendance: describing her college's strengths. Recruiters talked to students in groups, describing everything from the schools' cultures to jobs obtained by current and past students.
Her counterpart from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago described students' internships with Ralph Lauren and Pixar Animation Studios, while a representative from the super-prestigious Rhode Island School of Design explained the 16 majors offered.
In the afternoon, they reviewed student portfolios. As she met with juniors, Spencer talked to students about ways to improve their portfolios. Seniors got more critical scrutiny; some were deemed ready to apply, while some were expected to hear they had some tweaking to do before the first application deadline in March.
Elyan Paz is director of admissions at the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul. She urges students to choose a school where they can focus on their passion. "We have found our most successful students are the ones who have said, 'This is really what I want to do.'"
In part because the Twin Cities has a thriving advertising sector, students' chances of getting good jobs here are as good as anywhere, Paz added. Many of her college's graphic-design students have gone to work for Target, and one fine-arts grad recently took a position as studio manager for Alex Soth, whose work is currently being featured at the Walker.
A good investment these days
When Nancy Norwood started teaching media arts at the high school 20 years ago, she often felt guilty encouraging students to pursue a degree in photography or filmmaking. "For the last 15 years in media arts there are big career options," she said. "I feel good about telling students art school is a good investment. You will be able to pay your loans back."
Rising star Amy Wilcox never had to persuade her family that an arts education was the right path. "My parents are really supportive of me," she said. "They want the best."
Which Wilcox, like many other Perpich students, is well positioned to get. By the end of the day several of the most prestigious programs had expressed interest in having her join next year's freshman class.
Teachers had high hopes that the competition would turn into a full scholarship for Wilcox. Whatever program she chooses, they are confident she can step from college into a well-paid job, if she chooses.
Wilcox's bottom line: "I'm looking for a conceptual-based school, but also someplace that recognizes my technical skills and can nurture them."
No doubt she'll get exactly what she's looking for.


text: Medieval Chest Small 320×145 Medium 640×290 Large 1024×463 Download TIFF Original 2400×1086 | (524.6 KB) Description This Medieval chest is from England. It was a prismatic box without feet, with delicate iron mounts and all kinds of carving. Keywords .uk, carving, chest, England, iron mounts, medieval, middle ages, prismatic box Galleries Chests Source: Meyer, Franz Sales Handbook of Ornament (New York, NY: The Bruno Hessling Company, 1904)


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Top 100
Ireland's Top 100 Ranked Golf Courses – What are the best courses to play?' more
Graeme McDowell - not to mention is entourage and his entire family - would have forgiven him had he broken into a Mexican hat dance following the playoff winning five iron to two and a half feet that won him the OHL Classic at Mayakoba.
Never mind the $1m cheque, the Masters invitaiton and the tweet of congratulations from Ryder Cup skipper Darren Clarke. As he poised with the trophy, sombrero on head, McDowell beamed the smile that has been sadly missing from his game for more than a year and a half.
"It really gives me something to grab onto," said the 36-year old, who moved up from 85th to 62nd in the world thanks to his third PGA Tour win. "You go through a year like this you think, 'am I finished? Am I not good enough?' You ask yourself all the questions.
"This is the game of golf, it is very difficult, and I have been dreaming of this day and I said to myself I was going to appreciate it when it came. So I am going to appreciate this. This year has been a grind."
McDowell, the 2010 US Open champion, knows this could be one of the key wins in his career.
Ireland's Top 100 Ranked Golf Courses – What are the best courses to play?' more
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