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Date: Mon Dec 13 17:42:01 1993 From: Luis Maclean <firstname.lastname@example.com> Subject: Re: While we're on the subject of carbs.... >Hello all, > I have a '72 240 with a 280 engine in it. I recently acquired this car > and am now in the process of trying to get it up to par. The engine appears > to be mostly stock from conversations with the previous owner. The exception > is the intake side of things. It currently has a Bob Sharp Racing manifold > and a Holley 4-barrel 390 cfm carb. (list # 8007) It also has a stock > exhaust manifold that eventually connects to 2.5 inch exhaust pipe. (It used > to have headers I hear) > The problem is that when I try to accelerate from say 1500 RPM's, it bo gs pretty hard. (Stuff deleted) > [I've meant to jump into this thread for a couple of days. The problem with > bogging on the 4 barrel conversions is the very poor design of the > intake. By the time the A/F makes a sharp turn coming out of the carb, > a couple of more sharp turns getting to the interface with the old > manifold and the turns inside the old manifold, there is more than > ample opportunity for gas to drop out of suspension AND there is tons of > surface area that must be wet on each throttle opening. > > Though I have never been able to get rid of all the bog and have as crisp > a throttle response as with fuel injection, I have gotten it to be pretty > good. > > The most important mod is to install Holly's 50 CC high capacity accel > pump kit. This costs about $30. Next, install the most agressive > accel pump cam. I think that is the red cam. Finally, Install larger > shooters so that the ballast spring on the pump linkage does not > compress as the throttle is opened. That is, so the shooters squirt > the full shot as fast as the throttle calls for it. > > These mods hammer around town fuel economy but there's really no other > way to make a 4 barrel run with a jerry-rig manifold setup. > JGD] JGD, I really appreciate this info and believe that this will be my first plan of attack in solving this problem. The only thing I might mention is that the intake manifold is a one piece manifold that bolts up to the head directly. It does have the *wonderful* 90 degree turn as the A/F comes out of the carb, but after that it is very smooth till it hits the head surface. To: Pete Paraska Bruce Haley Steve Sovaiko Peter Smith Frank McBath Thanks for all the info you gave me. I believe that I got a lot of good ideas and info from everybody. The next step I intend to implement if the above dosn't solve it is to change the jetting on the carb and see what it does. After that... Maybe call Holley and see what they suggest. Maybe a smaller carb is in order. But I have a lot of possibilities and ideas to look into. Thanks again, Luis [I have to stress again that the problem is a TRANSIENT mixture problem and jetting does not address the problem, though running a too rich mixture will somewhat plaster over the problem at the expense of economy only because an engine is a bit more tolerant of a rich mixture than it is lean. Transient mixture quality is dealt with almost exclusively with the acceleration enrichment system. Let's look at the problem in more detail, ignoring for the moment the effect of poor manifold design. Let's consider ONLY the effect of a lot of wetted manifold area. Contemplate the amount of surface area of the manifold between the carb and the intake valve. Now consider that some of the gasoline metered by the carburator is used to wet these surfaces. The amount of liquid gasoline on the manifold walls is a complex function of the wall temperature, absolute pressure, air velocity and surface roughness. We know that it is some proportional function of pressure, and the lower the pressure, the faster the evaporation. The engine's mixture requirements are fairly uniform. Indeed, an engine will run OK with a single mixture strength over most of its operating range. Consider an engine running at some throttle setting. The layer of gas on the manifold wall is at an equilibrium state with as much gas being deposited on the wall being equal to what evaporates or blows off. It therefore does not enter into the mixture equation. All the gas metered from the carb enters the chamber. Now the throttle is opened some more. The added airflow pulls more gas from the carb jets and in a well designed carb, this added fuel will be more or les proportional to the added air. The engine would theoretically continue running well, only making more power. The problem is the increased pressure in the manifold supresses the evaporation of the gas on the walls. Therefore the walls can hold more gasoline before conditions again equilibrate. Some of the gas metered by the carb sticks to the walls and the result is the overall mixture entering the combustion chamber becomes lean for a while and the engine stumbles. Eventually the walls absorb as much fuel as they can, an equilibrium is re-established and the engine again runs properly. In other words, the bog is a transient function of how much manifold must be wet. The acceleration enrichment system is designed to fill in this temporary need for extra fuel. Ideally it would deliver just that amount of fuel and over just the time span necessary to supply the wetting needs. Implementations only approximate the ideal but it works pretty good nontheless. Methods of enrichment vary significantly. The SU accomplishes the deed by using an oil or air dashpot on its slide to momentarily restrict its opening. This does two things. It makes the mixture rich and it controls the rate at which air is admitted to the manifold when the throttle is suddenly opened. It therefore attacks the problem from two angle - supplying additional fuel AND controlling the demand for that fuel by controlling the rate of change of the manifold pressure. A very clever and simple design. The Holly system is a somewhat Rube Goldbergish mechanism that works in reverse. Instead of trying to control the rate of change of manifold pressure, it tries to implement an enrichment system capable of pouring in whatever fuel is needed for the conditions. It only approximates that function. There are several control parameters. First there is the relationship between throttle movement and required enrichment. It is intuitive that a throttle valve is highly non-linear. The first motion has the most effect on flow and manifold pressure so that motion requires the most enrichment. The throttle shaft cam determines this profile. The second parameter is the total volume injected. This is a function of the pump stroke capacity and the cam lift. The third parameter is the time profile of injection. If the positive displacement pump were rigidly linked to the throttle shaft and the driver stomped the throttle wide open, the entire shot of enrichment fuel would by definition have to be injected during the time it took the throttle to open. This huge blorf of fuel would momentarily flood the engine and then go lean because it was delivered so fast little of it had an opportunity to distribute itself onto the walls of the manifold. This doesn't work, of course, so the pump is connected to the throttle through a buffer spring. This spring absorbs the energy and meters it out at more or less a constant rate to the pump. The flow profile is therefore controlled by the strength of this spring and the flow capability of the enrichment shooters. This combination spreads the shot out over sufficient time that the walls can be properly wetted without momentarily flooding the engine. The buffer spring is usually preloaded so that the pump follows the cam and therefore the throttle motion up to a certain throttle velocity. Preload is another tuning parameter. So you have the followng tuning parameters: * Pump capacity - consider this a rough ranging parameter that gets the pump within tuning range. * Throttle cam - sets the rate and total amount of fuel delivered up to the point the buffer spring lifts. * Buffer spring - preload sets the threshold of proportionality. Spring rate determines the maximum pump pressure. * Shooter flow rate - sets the maximum flow rate once the buffer spring has been activated. Tuning this mess is complicated because of the interaction between the parameters. In general, if the engine immediately bogs with applied throttle, there isn't enough fuel which means either the cam is not agressive enough, the shooters are too small or the buffer spring has too little preload. this assumes the pump capacity is adequate, of course. One can put a bit of brittle cement, something such as body putty, on the spring to detect if it is being activated. Motion will break the putty away. If the engine initially pulls but then bogs, then the shot is too short. If the buffer spring is not being compressed, the shooter is either too large or the cam lacks lift. Putting in a smaller shooter is an easy test. If the engine then pulls smoothly, you know the shooter was too big. If it now bogs immediately, you know the old shot was too fast and that you need to install the old shooter and increase the cam lift. One diagnostic technique I've found extremely useful is to observe the shot. Now I have been known to lay on the engine peering down the carb while someone else drove the car but there is now an easier technique. Simply mount s small video camera - a cheap surveillance B&W camera will do - and either watch a monitor while someone else drives or record it on your camcorder. Obviously not a good idea to put your camcorder out there. If you position the camera so that it can see some of the engine compartment, one can judge the torque output by how much the engine moves relative to the chassis. Of course the best way to tune a holly is to toss it in the scrap bin and install a port EFI system :-) Hope this helps. JGD (btw, that's me, email@example.com, yer list keeper)]
Date: Tue Dec 14 19:10:29 1993 From: Luis Maclean <firstname.lastname@example.com> Subject: Re: While we're on the subject of carbs.... > Luis > > [I have to stress again that the problem is a TRANSIENT mixture problem > and jetting does not address the problem, though running a too rich > mixture will somewhat plaster over the problem at the expense of > economy only because an engine is a bit more tolerant of a rich mixture > than it is lean. Transient mixture quality is dealt with almost > exclusively with the acceleration enrichment system. Okay. So changing the jetting will affect the overall A/F mixture. And I don't want to change that because it is not the source of my problem. > ( More stuff deleted) Now the throttle is > opened some more. The added airflow pulls more gas from the carb jets > and in a well designed carb, this added fuel will be more or les > proportional to the added air. The engine would theoretically continue > running well, only making more power. The problem is the increased > pressure in the manifold supresses the evaporation of the gas on the > walls. Therefore the walls can hold more gasoline before conditions > again equilibrate. Some of the gas metered by the carb sticks to > the walls and the result is the overall mixture entering the combustion > chamber becomes lean for a while and the engine stumbles. Eventually > the walls absorb as much fuel as they can, an equilibrium is re-established > and the engine again runs properly. In other words, the bog is a > transient function of how much manifold must be wet. > > The acceleration enrichment system is designed to fill in this temporary > need for extra fuel. Ideally it would deliver just that amount of fuel > and over just the time span necessary to supply the wetting needs. > Implementations only approximate the ideal but it works pretty good > nontheless. (more stuff deleted) Excellent! So, my goal, given the large (cold) surface area, is to maximize the pump shot volume and then install a cam to take advantage of this. Then install a stiffer spring to get an immediate response from the pump shot. You also suggested larger shooters to allow the extra volume of fuel now available to flow into the carb at the higher rate (then adjust as necessary). Yes? [Well, don't interpret my discussion as a cookbook solution. I know you'll need the large pump but what cam and/or shooter you need, you have to figure out. Something I forgot to mention in my previous note (fingers ran out of gas :-) Heating the manifold does wonders for throttle response. My CarTech manifold had water jacket heat which helped. I added more heat by epoxying some copper tubing to the bottom of each runner. If you heat some tubing dull red and plunge it into water, it will be annealed dead soft and can easily be bent to conform to the runner shape. Paint the manifold and it becomes un-noticeable. Plumb it into the same water supply that goes to the heater. This is counter- productive to best power but to me it is a decent tradeoff in order to get some throttle response. JGD]
From: John De Armond X-Source: The Hotrod Mailing list Date: Feb 1992 Subject: Re: Holleys, mostly, and a couple of Qs > You could be bogging due to several things (less than comprehensive list). >Especially at low RPM, being over-carb'ed is a common problem. Insufficient >flow gives lousy metering. The accelerator pump is supposed to correct this >but may take a fair bit of messing to get right. There is an "experimenter's >fun kit" of accelerator pump cams from Holley that contains about 10 different >profiles. Trouble is (and therefore I haven't even opened the one I bought) >there seems to be no helpful info on how to determine beforehand which one >might be the best for a particular behavior. It looks like you just have to >run through them and decide on the best using the ole whiplash gauge. Or you can be a bit more scientific :-) A little background. Transient throttle bogging is caused by instantaneous leanness. This leanness has three causes. A) lack of vacuum signal at the metering jets, B) inertia in the fuel column, and C) fuel being diverted from atomization to rewetting the manifold walls after high vacuum dries them. Funny how port fuel injection addresses all these problems in one fell swoop :-) The accelerator pump is a tag-on device that is designed to cover all these deficiencies. It does a passing job when properly tuned. Ideally the pump would supply a very large shot of fuel that would wet the walls and cover the burst of air that fills the manifold vacuum and then supply a smaller sustaining flow until flow is established on the main jets. Unfortunately, the holly pump can only approximate this behavior. If you're getting the idea I don't like carbs, you'd be close. The holly pump's delivery is governed mainly by two variables - the nozzle orfice size and the pump spring. Contrary to popular belief, the pump cam has little effect on injection rate. Consider what happens when you stab the throttle. The primaries open immediately, forcing the cam to push the actuation lever fully down. Gas, being incompressible, resists compression and so there is a spring in the pump actuation train. This spring is compressed and then exerts a relatively constant pressure on the pump diaphram during the injection stroke. The flow is regulated by the orfice size. The injection duration varies according to the spring pressure, the pump capacity and the orifce size. What the cam does do is regulate what proportion of the pump capacity is injected for small throttle openings. In practice, I've seen little difference between all those cams in the kit. Perhaps if I were UNDER carburatored, finer regulation would be needed. As it is, I generally just leave the stock cam on and tune on other areas. Spring pressure is not easily tunable since Holly does not generally offer a range of springs. I have made my own springs but that's not a common capability. The two tunable parameters are pump capacity and discharge orfice size. In pump capacity, you have a choice of 10 cc and 50 CC for common aftermarket carbs. Generally if you're overcarburated, you'll need the 50 cc pump. From there, the orfice size is the tuning parameter. There are two conflicting requirements due to the fixed pump volume. One requirement is to supply enough fuel to cover the initial air surge and the wetting requirement. The other requirement is to supply fuel long enough to allow the mainjets to begin to flow fully. This can be a surprisingly long interval. Tuning consists of installing a large enough orfice to cover the initial bog. Then if there is a flat spot a second or so after punching the throttle, either the pump capacity must be increased or a smaller orfice must be used in order to stretch the injection interval. It may be necessary to go just a bit rich on the main jets in order to help cover the leanness caused by injecting at a slower rate than needed. You can try to do this by the seat of the pants but a much better way is to actually observe the operation of the carb while underway. Now I have strapped myself on top of an engine and had a friend drive the car while I peered down the carb throat. Not recommended! A much more practical technique is to mount a small video camera over the carb inlet and video the operation. Much easier on the eye when the damn thing spits back. What you want to observe is the duration of the squirt vs when the main jets start discharging. There should be some overlap. If the squirt ends before the mains start flowing, you'll get a delayed bog. > I have been working against the same sort of behavior on my car, which is >probably a worst-case example of sorts - a 231 V-6 with a 750CFM Holley. About as bad as you can get. :-) That's about twice the carburator that engine needs. Look at the math. At 6000 rpm, this engine does 3000 intake strokes per minute. 3000 X 231 cu in = 693,000 cu in/min or 401 cu ft per min. That, of course, assumes 100 volumetric efficiency which is not the case. A small 390 CFM carb would make that engine run very good. >in the picture when it's opened up at low speed. A vacuum gauge is nice; >I put one in the dash and at half pedal at low speed it drops right down to >0; that there is one indication that you are overcarbed. Yup > Another thought - if you have solid secondaries try disabling them. Double >pumpers are popular but a bit impractical off the track; they require more >attention to the pedal because they only do what they are told. If it's a >vacuum secondary, also try disabling the secondaries just for yucks; if the >bog goes away then you might want to try out different springs in the >actuator biscuit to hold off opening. The enabling linkage can also be >bent to change the opening allowed. Mechanical secondaries are another scourge that needs to be stomped out (kinda like the coolant rumor.) I can't imagine any situation short of Daytona, where the throttle is bolted open for many minutes at a time, where mechanical secondaries are appropriate. Even in drag racing, all too much throttle gives you is a big bog. Vacuum secondaries are so smooth and work so well, they are probably too complicated for the average hotrod mag writer to understand :-) > Anybody familiar with nitrous systems? I know this guy who used to be into >the street racing scene but has given it up. He sez he has a bunch of stuff >left over in his garage, among which is a NOS nitrous system. He says he'll >take $150 for it Probably a pretty good price. About 20 cents on the dollar. >Second, the nitrous systems seem to have been evolving a bit >and I'm not sure the how the more primitive ( ca. 1980 ) setups stack up to >the current state of the art; There's not been much in the way of advancement for simple single stage units often seen on the street. You can get electronically controlled proportional systems but they involve $$$. Some improvement had been seen in injection nozzle design but nozzles are relatively cheap. Besides, you'll probably be using a small, under the carburator injection system. I've been on both sides of the equation. I've used nitrous with my turbocharged Z engines and I've sold it from my welding gas supply warehouse. Nitrous is wonderful but habit forming and will really punish indiscretion. If you turn up the horsepower screws, you can go up to the breaking point without even trying. Fastest way I know to acquiring a piston kit (you know, sweep all the pieces up off the track, glue 'em back together and you have pistons.) The second problem is the kick in the pants is so much fun that you'll get to be on a first name basis with your nitrous supplier. I know, I had several junkies tethered on my string :-) If you're really interested in Nitrous, get the book "Nitrous Oxide Injection" by David Vizard. ISBN 0-931472-16-4. Publisher SA Designs. I got mine from the local book emporium a few years ago. Lots of good poop. John
From: John De Armond X-Source: The Hotrod Mailing list Date: Feb 1992 Subject: Re: wetting manifold walls >> in the fuel column, and C) fuel being diverted from atomization to >> rewetting the manifold walls after high vacuum dries them. > >Now, I am curious as to this wetting phenomenon. I have long >since conquered it myself, but how is a highly volatile liquid >like gasoline supposed to wet the several hundred degree walls >of the manifold, and to what end? > >Does this serve as a 'fuel capacitor' of sorts, storing small amounts >of fuel until they are whisked away by air? Precisely. And the capacitor discharges and recharges at precisely the wrong time. The walls evaporate their load of fuel when the throttle is closed, contributing to emissions, and reload during power operation, causing transient lean conditions. This is one of the major reasons OEMs have flocked to port fuel injection in recent years even for non-performance vehicles. Remember the emission qualification process involves collecting all the exhaust emitted during a programmed dyno run and then analyzing samples of this mix. The OEM has X grams per mile of each pollutant. If he uses up a significant fraction of X during coastdown, he has less margin for acceleration, cold starting and the like. This process is also why you see soot from most new cars under WOT acceleration. The engine can be dirty during this phase if idle and slow speed operation is clean. The wetting occurs via two mechanisms. First is the direct squirt of heavy droplets/stream of gas from the mainjets and accelerator pump. This gets the area under the carb and the bottom of the runners for a distance. The other mechanism is aerosol deposition. That is, atomized droplets of fuel impinge and stick to the walls of the manifold just like an aerosol spray does. A secular equilibrium establishes itself at a given throttle setting whereby evaporation and deposition are balanced. You can observe this mechanism by heating a piece of metal to just below the boiling point of water and then spraying it with a fine mist of water. As the surface heat is drawn out by the evaporation, the diameter of the spot of wetness expands until a balance is reached. (assumes a constant input of heat to the metal.) An interesting experiment is to mount a carb on a manifold and then blow air through it in the normal direction and observe the mist/spray emitting from the manifold. I once made a smelting furnace to recover lead from batteries that was fired by gasoline. It used a small hair-dryer type blower, a 30 mm motorcycle carburator and a metal tube that extended to the bottom of a firebrick chimney. The idea was to pile the batteries in along with charcoal and lime, fire the puppy up and use the hot gasoline/air flame to melt the whole mix. The first attempt was pretty sloppy. Great globs of unevaporated fuel slathering out the tube and making large red flames. I finally welded up a "U" tube such that the flame impinged on it. This "u" served as the vaporizer. This kluge then burned with a nice blue flame and I smelted a large number of batteries. John
From: emory!OAS.PSU.EDU!FBS3 (SZYMKOWSKI.FRANK) X-Source: The Hotrod Mailing list Date: Mar 1993 Subject: carb cfm question X-Sequence: 4386 All the information that I have read says that the formula to caluclate cfm needed for a particular engine size is correct. Then how come my sb chevy (331cuin), which calculates somewhere around 600-625 cfm runs so much better with a 750 cfm Edlebrock then the old 600 cfm Holley? I'm running 11.5-1 compression, Isky 280 hyd. cam, minor head work (1.94" s), 1-1/2" headers,and a 1963 340 hp 327 alum. intake. Frank email@example.com [Because the "cfm" figures Holly et al quotes are at some specified but according to the various pieces of literature, ever changing pressure drop across the carb. Typically 1" of mercury. Your engine makes the best power, of course, with NO pressure drop in the intake. That "750" carb is only flowing whatever your engine needs but it is doing it at a smaller pressure drop than the 600. JGD]


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|Coconut Sesame Seed Biscotti
This is almost a very healthy biscotti, as long as you forget that it contains white flour and sugar. All the rest of the ingredients are good for you. This made me feel less guilty when I ate one too many!
If you don't like either coconut or sesame seeds, substitute one for the other, in the same amount.
|Coconut Sesame Seed Biscotti
1 cup plain flour
1 cup rolled oats
½ cup desiccated coconut
½ cup sesame seeds
2 eggs
¾ - 1 cup sugar (original recipe suggests 1 cup, I prefer less)
1. Heat the oven to 160°C/325°F
2. In a bowl, mix flour, rolled oats, coconut and sesame seeds.
3. In another bowl, beat the sugar and eggs until sugar has completely dissolved.
4. Add the flour mixture and mix until just blended. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
5. Divide the dough evenly into 2 equal mounds and place on the prepared baking sheet. With moist hands, space the dough evenly apart and form into logs.
6. Bake until lightly browned, about 25-30 minutes.
7. Cool for 5 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut the logs crosswise into ¼ - ½ inch thick diagonal slices. Arrange the biscotti cut side down on the same baking sheet. Bake until the cookies are pale golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely.

subset: commoncrawl


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Time to get real about body image…..
When healthy is unhealthy and lean is too lean…
It is time we got real about women's bodies and body fat levels. The media, magazines, fashion and clothing industry, the diet industry, and also the fitness and personal training industry has a lot to answer for.
I am seeing far too many women in my clinic lately that are beaten down, stressed out, exhausted from training and hating their bodies… and trying to attain what is NOT natural for a woman.
September 12, 2013


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On the futility of understanding
Is true understanding actually possible? I use my fingers to tap out keys on a keyboard and the light from your screen hits our eyeballs, but is it reasonable to think that there is any correspondence between the patterns in my brain and the patterns that were just created in your brain? Or are we just lucky if we have the same thoughts?
I used to think that if I just used the right words and asked the right questions and if only those I spoke with responded with the right words, then I would really understand what I needed to know. In software development projects I thought I would understand "the Requirements" (insert chorus of angels here). Either, the futility of understanding har recently dawned on me, or mind brain recently got out of focus (which is not unlikely: after my second child was born, my sleep deprivation is way up and my level of intellectual stimuli is down).
In short: I just realized I don't really understand what others are saying to me. But maybe that's okay. I've given up on understanding, but I don't let it stop me. When my users tell me what they need, I listen, but I probably don't really understand. I ask some questions and I get some answers, but not really answers to what I had in mind when I asked the question. So I retreat to my computer. Think a little. Sleep on it. Then I make something I can show my users without spending too much time. I see in their faces that they like it. Or don't like it (which, to be honest, happens more often). I think some more. I create something different. In the end, I think my users are happier and more productive.
Would the process be improved by a Business Analyst on the project? I don't know. I probably would understand the Business Analyst either. I would have someone to blame when I got it wrong. But would I get fewer things wrong?
Would it be better if someone had sat down and written a "Requirement Specification" (again: choir of angels)? I don't think so. I usually feel even more lost when I read a spec than when I talk to "confused" users. (Disclaimer: The users are not really confused – they just seem that way from my point of view)
Perhaps we all really are walking with a blindfold in this world and we are just feeling our way around in the dark. The blindfold is not coming off any time soon. Perhaps it's just as well we learned to live with it.
PS: If you didn't understand the point of this blog post: That's my point!
PPS: This seems like a philosophical position that someone must have thought a lot about before. I'd call it epistemological fatalism. I'd love to get tips to prior ideas in the comments.


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Basic Lake Construction Techniques For Building A Lake That Holds Water…… The Best It Can
Focusing On Treating The Best Clay Material You Have The Best You Can
By: Brad Vollmar
Vollmar Pond & Lake Management
Let's start by saying all lakes man made or not will leak. The goal of any lake construction project should be to have a lake that leaks the least the site and site material allow.
We are not going to focus on lake site selection at this point, but it is fair to say lake site selection is EXTREMELY important and can make or break a lake construction project. Vollmar Pond and Lake Management can perform complete lake site assessments for you, they are money well spent, Benjamin Franklin said " By Failing to Prepare, You Are Preparing to Fail". Some basic lake site assessment questions are but not limited to:
- How deep to bedrock?
- Is the bedrock fractured ? to what extent?
- How deep to sand or gravel layers?
- Is there enough suitable material to make a water tight layer of clay? The lining material should be at least 20% clay
- How much rain do you get?
- How much rain will runoff into the lake?
- How big is the watershed?
Assuming you have a decent lake site and you know how big the lake can be (not how many acres but how many acre-feet, a volume measurement), lets start digging.
As you begin digging you need to know which material or combination of materials will be used to make the water holding clay layer (field test and send to geotech lab). The most suitable material(s) need to be sorted from the less suitable material. The shape and depth profile of the lake should be taking shape as the material is excavated away and sorted. The best clay on-site should be reserved for the dam core the second best for the water holding clay layer that is applied over the entire lake surface and upstream dam face. A dam core is the inner water holding structure of an earthen dam. The dam core should extend into a hard substrate, for instance rock, clay, or shale. More on the dam core later. The excavated hole should be about 2-3 feet deeper than the final depths of the planned lake because there will be two layers added to this excavated hole: 1) the water holding clay layer and 2) the protective layer applied over the water holding clay layer.
Two Pieces of Equipment Imperative to a Successful Lake Construction Project:
So the lake has taken shape, and the dam is being built and cored simultaneously. Before bringing in the material for the water holding clay layer spread over the entire lake surface, the sub-grade of the lake needs to be watered and compacted (sub-grade layer is the ground in which the clay will be placed, should be 2-3 feet below final lake depths). The amount of water needed for compaction is determined by the material you are working with, but you don't want it to dry or to wet. Think back when you were a kid and where making mud balls…..to much water you have mud and it can not be formed….to little water you can't get the dirt to stick. The sub-grade needs be watered and rolled with a vibratory sheep's foot roller 4-6 times.
After the sub-grade is watered and compacted it should be ran over with a disc (plow) about 2" deep. This shallow plowing gives the suitable water holding clay material which will be added to the sub-grade something to hold on to. The suitable water holding clay material needs to laid down in 6-8" lifts and then watered and compacted. When using a sheep's foot roller estimating proper compaction can be done by looking at the feet on the roller, if the feet barely sink in the material, proper compaction is close. The water holding clay layer needs to be at least 12" thick once compacted, but final compacted thickness of the water holding clay layer is a function of the proposed depth of the lake ie. the deeper the water the thicker the layer need to be.
Now that the water holding clay layer is in place it needs to be protected with non-select excavated material that was sorted earlier in the project. The non-select excavated material will help blanket the select excavated water holding clay material you placed and compacted on the sub-grade The water holding layer should be ran over with a disc (plow) about 2" deep. This shallow plowing gives the non-select excavated material something to hold on to. Add the non-select excavated material in 6-8" lifts as done earlier, these lifts need to be watered and compacted in the same manner as earlier. This protective blanket should be at least 12" thick. This protective blanket keeps the water holding clay layer from being exposed to drying and cracking as well as erosional forces.
The above information mostly addresses the reservoir pooling area of the lake, but very special attention needs to be paid to the dam if your lake has a dam (some lakes do not, they are just "dug-out" holes). If a dam is constructed the base trench of the dam needs to start at least 2-3 feet into solid suitable material (clay, shale, or bedrock). This trench is sometimes called a cut-off trench or a key-way. The idea is this key-way doesn't allow water to go under the dam. The key-way is the base of what is called the dam core. The dam core and key-way is usually the center section of the dam and is constructed with the best water holding clay material available. The dam cores are at least 8 feet wide. The dam is constructed in lifts of 6-8", but instead of just laying down one type of material, you lay down select material (makes up the core) and flank it with non-select material. These lifts are watered and compacted as described above. The core needs to be as high as the full water level. See Schematic below:
Things You Should Consider:
All material has a maximum compaction, and in lake building you want to hit at least 95% of the materials maximum compaction. A geotecnical engineer can help determine this maximum compaction and tell you if you met it.
Watering and compacting can improve most soils ability to hold water, that is why we recommend watering and compaction at all stages of construction.
Lake spillways are critical to safety and longevity of your lake, make sure the spillway is large enough to handle excess run-off in a manner that reduces the water's erosive forces (slow the velocity). For larger lakes an engineer should be involved in spillway sizing.
This information listed above is basic and may not apply to very large lakes, however any size lake project always benefits from water and compaction.
If permeable material (fractured rock, gravel, sand) is found while excavating the hole special attention needs to be paid in these locations. Generally you cut these materials out as far as possible and back-fill and compact with suitable material.
Do not hire a contractor unwilling to water and compact as much as described here. By no means hire a contractor who says they will compact with their bulldozer. When building a lake, you are paying for time and equipment, if the contractor is unwilling to compact at each stage of the process, they should not be considered.
By: Brad Vollmar
Vollmar Pond & Lake Management


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The TakeAway: The Carbon Disclosure Project's new Water Disclosure program establishes water risk management as an investor concern while helping companies gauge their "water footprint".
Water is to the world what blood is to our bodies: the vetturale di natura, or "vehicle of nature", as Leonardo da Vinci called it. But water gives life not only to flora and fauna; it also serves as a critical commodity for business and industry, agriculture, and cities. To wit: the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) unveiled its new Water Disclosure program and companion report last week, the latest in a series of initiatives and publications building awareness of the necessity for wise stewardship of our fragile water resources.
Perhaps most importantly, water acts as a barometer – and a conduit – of climate change impacts: for example, as glaciers melt, causing precipitation and turbulent weather patterns to increase, water supplies can dry up, become contaminated, or trigger flash flooding. Internationally, bad water governance and management are linked to violence and conflict. According to the latest UN World Water Development Report, Water in a Changing World (WWDR3) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Environmental Outlook to 2030, within two decades almost half of the global population will reside in areas of "high water stress", primarily in developing "BRIC" (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) countries, if no new policies are introduced. Domestically, a recent Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) study showed that one-third of US counties, across 14 states, face higher risks of severe water shortages by mid-century—a fourteen-fold increase from previous projections.
That's why "assuring global water security for both humans and ecosystems will increasingly present opportunities for business," writes Marcus Norton, head of CDP Water Disclosure, in The Guardian. The CDP Water Disclosure project, which represents the concerns of 187 institutional investors overseeing assets worth $16 trillion, seeks to provide "critical water-related data from the world's largest corporations to inform the global market place on investment risk and commercial opportunity," according to its press release. Preliminary data comes from a survey questionnaire on water use and water-related issues that was distributed in April and completed by 302 companies within the FTSE Global 500 Equity Index. (The Water Disclosure project will circulate the 2011 questionnaire to a subset of the Global 500, and a sample of the largest publicly listed Australian and South African companies.)
Respondent companies operate in water-intensive sectors such as automotive, electric utilities, food and beverage, extractives, and pharmaceuticals. According to researchers, companies exhibiting best practice in water management include Anglo American, Colgate-Palmolive, Ford, GE, PG&E, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing.
Boston-based Environmental Resources Management (ERM) analyzed the data for CDP, finding the following:
- 96% of responding companies identified their exposure to water risk, with more than half of those classifying them as current or near-term (1-5 years);
- 39% of companies already experience detrimental impacts, including business disruption due to drought or flooding, declining water quality necessitating costly on-site pre-treatment, and increases in water prices, as well as fines and litigation relating to pollution incidents; and
- Water security is climbing up the corporate agenda, with 67% reporting responsibility for water-related issues at the board or executive committee level. The majority of companies (89%) have already developed specific water policies, strategies and plans, and 60% have set water-related performance targets.
It's not just about the numbers, however. The concept of "water stewardship", say the authors, not only quantifies water usage, but actively promotes responsible water use—as championed by the Alliance for Water Stewardship. Leonardo would be pleased.


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Action Network Striving Against Recidivism is aiming to be the change needed for Memphis. Through networking with like-minded organizations we hope to change the negative culture that has given Memphis a bad reputation. Change in mentality leads to change of Actions. "Free your mind and the rest will follow.". We have to be the Change that is needed.
Be the Change. If you would like to help and show support there is plenty to be done. Prayers, Advice, Volunteer time,or Donate @: https://cash.app/$ANSAR901. OR Click on our Donate Button for other Options. Thanks In Advance.


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Balancing burn rate and runway in a startup is probably one of the most critical tasks a CEO must deal with. I have a policy of keeping our team up to date as to how our bank accounts are looking, but I choose to spare our team from the burden of day to day decisions and long term projections.
It's no secret that startups operate at a loss for quite some time. How fast you become cash flow positive varies significantly from company to company, with some startups achieving break even point in the first few months, and others like Twitter still struggling to do so even after IPO. More on that later.
Following on Buffer's example, I've been meaning to start opening up about our expenses. I expect this to be the first of various articles talking about how we invest our money. If you are in for the rest, go ahead and subscribe to our blog.
We officially started working in Slidebean around May 2013, which puts us at around 2 years since we founded the company. As of today, Slidebean has raised approximately $500K, most of this money arriving in the past 6 months as our traction finally became relevant.
Believe it or not, the first Slidebean MVP took about two weeks to make. We built a Squarespace landing page with a quick explainer video and a fake sign-up form.
Related Read: How to Launch a Product the Lean Way
Still, building our first 'usable' product did take a few months. There are three things that I believe we did right during this period that were critical to get us to where we are today.
From day 1 all 3 co-founders had a designated salary. I believe this is fundamental to a company's success and very often overlooked. I've seen many startups that agree not to have a fixed salary and simply cover living expenses for the founders. This approach can lead to very awkward discussions when a founder wants to fly to visit their family for Christmas, or buy a present for their significant other.
Even if it's a small symbolic amount, everybody needs to have some money that they can spend without having to explain themselves to the rest of the team.
In Slidebean we also agreed that all three founders are compensated equally. This created a sense of transparency and equal commitment among all three of us: we all should be working as hard as we can and nobody should make more money for doing so.
We decided that if the company could not afford salaries at any point, that we would delay that payment until we had some money in the bank. Thus, if we had to use our credit cards or borrow money to get through the month, we knew that we'd eventually be paid back.
In a worst-case-scenario where the company could not afford to pay delayed salaries, these would be considered 'investments' by the founders and thus converted into shares. Luckily we never got to this point.
If we used our initial cash to work on Slidebean 100% of our time, we would have been broke before we could raise any money. This is why we decided to use part of our time to do consulting work.
During the early stages of Slidebean, we made approximately $5K a month in projects for third parties, which included online marketing and web development. We probably used 40-50% of our time in consulting work and used the rest to work on Slidebean. This allowed us to work on the tool without burning through our cash too fast.
Eventually, we hired a junior developer that took care of most of the consulting work while leaving our CTO's schedule 90% clear to work on Slidebean. Evidently, this was a developer intensive period.
This is what our monthly burn rate looked like then:
*Bear in mind we were based in Costa Rica. $1500/mo was enough to get by.
Startup Chile (SUP) is an early-stage accelerator that offers an equity-free grant of approximately $35K. Your team is required to move down to Santiago for the 6-month period of the program. By the time we got accepted into the program we had almost finished building our first beta, which we launched before relocating to South America.
Being a government grant, the use of funds was extremely strict. Aside from the initial cost of flying to Santiago (about $1K each), our burn looked something like this:
We decided to keep one staff member in Costa Rica to continue working on the ongoing consulting work we had, which we supervised from Santiago. It was clear for us that we wanted to dedicate 99% of our time to Slidebean, but with a $10K+ burn rate, we needed to keep some of our consulting work to avoid running out of money too fast.
Our time in Startup Chile was critical to start testing our product with real potential users. Our advertising spend went towards signing people up and testing our onboarding process. We subscribed around 5,000 users during this period and started testing our business model.
Since we had no time to implement a payments gateway, we tested our subscription model with a fake pay wall. If a user required a feature we were planning to charge for, they'd get a message asking if they wanted to subscribe for $5/mo. If they clicked 'Proceed', the feature would be unlocked automatically.
Using this approach, we discovered that around 8% of our active users would take the bait, which gave us some insights as to how our business model was looking.
Our plan had been to become a US Company all along, this is why halfway through the Startup Chile program we started applying to some US Accelerators. We were accepted in DreamIt Ventures in May and relocated to New York.
Similar to what we did in Chile, we decided to launch the platform in the first few weeks after the program started. We hired Wouter Veenstra, an awesome PR guy who helped us nail a Techcrunch piece for our launch (which brought us around 7,000 new sign ups).
Our burn during this period looked something like this:
Even though living in New York was significantly more expensive than living in Santiago or San Jose, we were short on cash and could not afford to adjust our salaries.
While I had been focused on marketing/growth during the previous period, we wanted to leverage DreamIt's network as much as we could to get in front of investors. Wouter took over most of my growth-related tasks and I focused to investor meetings and fundraising; this was another large mistake that could have cost us our company.
"Fundraising is an exhausting and discouraging process: you pitch your life's project only to get rejected 99%-100% of the time (remember high school dating?).
In our case, we made the terrible mistake of spending 25%+ of our team's time in trying to raise money, when our company was far from ready to do so.
With a recently launched platform we were making about $1K in MRR. Being our first $1,000 we felt that this was enough proof that our business model made sense, but we were clearly mistaken.
I don't tell this story very often, but when we got accepted into the 500 Startups accelerator we had about 2 weeks of runway. I was bringing the ill news to the team when the acceptance email came in.
500 Startups' absolute focus on growth was key to bring our company to where it is today. During this process we pivoted our target audience from our initial consumer market focus to a B2B play for small businesses and startups. This happened thanks to our weekly meeting with the staff and their endless (and often brutal) push to re-think our business. They turned out to be right. (Hey there @poornima).
Their investment was also the first significant round we had raised, which gave us some peace of mind and some flexibility to start spending more money in discovering our growth channels and measuring our CAC and LTV:
One thing was very clear when we finished our 500 Startups process: we were on our own. Growing our company and pushing the bar every month was entirely up to us.
We were able to secure a $250K bridge round and we've since expanded the company to 6 full-time employees, mostly based in our Costa Rican office. We also have a New York shared office space where I spend about 40% of my time, mainly to keep our investor and contact network active for our upcoming fundraising efforts. This allows us to official remain as a 'New York' Startup, while keeping our costs down (for us, it's cheaper to fly to NY for one week every month, than actually living there).
The challenge for any startup at this point is balancing net burn rate and growth. There are two extremely different approaches for a company at this stage:
For companies running low on cash reserves and seeking to break even as soon as possible. Low to no spending on experimenting with new acquisition channels, and no new hires.
For companies that assume that they will receive follow up funding. There is no focus on reaching a break even point, on the contrary, the first priority is continuing with accelerated growth to engage future investors.
Neither approach is ideal. On the first hand, investors expect fast and dynamic companies rather than 'safe' strategies. They've already invested and assumed the risk of funding a startup. A company with such slow growth will not give them a large return on their investment.
On the other hand, focusing exclusively on revenue growth without paying attention to the net burn rate makes the company depend on future rounds of investment, which might or might not come in time.
At the moment of writing we are looking at a 20% MoM revenue growth which we have achieved by repeating the following approach:
We've found a number of profitable channels that we continue investing in until that channel becomes 'depleted' (where more spending results in unsustainable acquisition costs). These channels are the main drivers of our monthly growth.
As for experiments, we calculate our spend keeping a balance of burn rate vs runway. We spend as much money as we can in experiments, while ensuring that our runway does not go below 12 months.
Is it the right or the wrong approach? We'll find out.
This is a functional model you can use to create your own formulas and project your potential business growth. Instructions on how to use it are on the front page.


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A co-worker brought these Creme de Menthe Brownies into work about a month or so ago. On my way in I walked through the kitchen and saw them. Naturally I grabbed one! This was at approximately 7:45 am. Immediately after I ate it I went back for another. 2 brownies before 8:00 am…must be some kind of a record. Luckily the temptation wasn't there long because everybody else liked them just as much as I did and they vanished before noon.
About 2 weeks later, she brought these brownies in AGAIN, this time with the recipe. I made myself a copy and was pumped to try them out. I added them to the top of our must-try list.
To be honest, they got mixed reviews from other people. Kara liked them overall but didn't like that they were cake-y. Others told me that they didn't really love the frosting. I think that's silly…what's not to like about minty frosting? I loved the frosting, but in all fairness there are very few frostings that I don't love.
Don't get me wrong, these definitely don't take the place of a traditional brownie. Brownies that are chewy around the edges and soft and fudgey in the middle can not be beat. But these are totally different! I think they're delicious and they're a fun twist on a standard brownie. When you need a fun, chocolate fix then this is an easy recipe worth trying out.
Creme De Menthe Brownies
For the Bottom Layer:
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 16 oz can Hershey's syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla
For the Middle Layer:
- 2 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 stick butter
- 3 tbsp (or so) Crème de Menthe liquor
For the Top Layer:
- 1 12 oz bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 stick butter
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13×9 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the eggs, sugar and butter. Add the flour, salt, chocolate syrup and vanilla and mix until well incorporated. Spread the batter in the prepared baking dish and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.
- While the brownie layer cools, start on the Crème de Menthe layer. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the confectioners' sugar, butter and liquor until well combined. Spread evenly onto the cooled brownies.
- For the chocolate topping, in a small saucepan over medium heat melt together the chocolate and butter until smooth. Spread on top of the Crème de Menthe and refrigerate for at least half an hour, or until set.


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On April 30th, as part of Alexandria's 18th annual Earth Day celebration, there will be a fun Trashion Fashion Show showcasing clothing made by local students using recycled materials.
Step on by and cheer for your favorite students AND their creations while enjoying other earth day events.
Where: Ben Brenman Park, 4800 Brenman Park Dr.When: April 30, 2011, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
For more information, visit Alexandria Earth Day 2011


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Printed Circuit Board Assembly & PCB Design Forum
SMT electronics assembly manufacturing forum.
I have shifts in the placement of qfp240 components. I have... - May 17, 2000 by Ramot Avichai
Avichai: What kind of PCB are you using, when do you detect... - May 17, 2000 by Wolfgang Busko
If the shift is happening on different machines,it sounds t... - May 17, 2000 by
Ramot, Without further explanation everyone here is just ta... - May 17, 2000 by JAX
Hi Ramot; I have some sugestion for you, you may want to lo... - May 19, 2000 by
Ramot Avichai
Become a member now and receive the value and benefits of membership.


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Welcome to the Virtual MS Center!
Ask any question you want about Multiple Sclerosis and one of our experts will answer it as soon as possible.
Healing Light Guided Imagery (HLGI)
After the interview about healing light guided imagery (HLGI) was posted on our health and wellness page, (you can listen to the interview below or read the summary...Summary of Interview), Paula Marie Jackson (who is researching HLGI) received feedback about the cost of the therapy, and is now subsidizing the rate based on your feedback. The cost has now been cut in half, and now costs $700 total for the 10 sessions. If you would like to sign up for this therapy, you can visit http://www.guidedimagerypro.com/
Comments are closed.
PLEASE NOTE: This information/opinions on this site should be used as an information source only. This information does not create any patient-HCP relationship, and should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment. Please consult your health care provider before making any healthcare decisions or for guidance about a specific medical condition.
September 2023


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NEW YORK (AP) — Morley Safer, the veteran "60 Minutes" correspondent who was equally at home reporting on social injustices, the Orient Express and abstract art, and who exposed a military atrocity in Vietnam that played an early role in changing Americans' view of the war, died Thursday, according to Kevin Tedesco, a CBS News publicist.
No further details on his death were immediately available.
Safer, who once claimed "there is no such thing as the common man; if there were, there would be no need for journalists," was 84. "60 Minutes" aired a tribute to Safer on Sunday after he announced his retirement earlier this month.
In 1970, Safer joined "60 Minutes," then just two years old and not yet the national institution it would become. He claimed the co-host chair alongside Mike Wallace.
During the next four decades, his rich tobacco-and-whiskey voice delivered stories that ranged from art, music and popular culture, to "gotcha" investigations, to one of his favorite pieces, which, in 1983, resulted in the release from prison of Lenell Geter, an engineer wrongly convicted of a $50 holdup at a fast food restaurant who had been sentenced to a life term.
A memorable 1984 profile of Jackie Gleason took place in a bar around a pool table, where "the Great One" showed Safer and his viewers how it's done.
A pair of essays in the 1990s — "Yes, But Is It Art?" — examined the relative merits of representational and abstract art.
A 1991 story close to Safer's heart reported a not-yet-popular view among some medical experts that regular consumption of red wine can be good for one's health. As with many "60 Minutes" stories, this piece had an immediate impact: Dropping by his neighborhood liquor store the day after it aired, Safer learned there had been a rush on red wine.
And in 2011, he scored a coup: a sit-down with Ruth Madoff, offering her first public description of the day she learned from her husband, Bernard, that he was running the biggest Ponzi scheme in history.
Safer won a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for his 2001 story on a school in Arizona specifically geared to serve children who are homeless.
Other honors include three George Foster Peabody awards, 12 Emmys and two George Polk Memorial Awards.
Safer was born in Toronto in 1931, yet nonetheless insisted he was "stateless" and, as a reporter chasing stories around the globe, claimed, "I have no vested interests." He eventually became an American citizen, holding dual citizenship.
He began his career at several news organizations in Canada and England before being hired by Reuters wire service in its London bureau. Then, in 1955, he was offered a correspondent's job in the Canadian Broadcasting Company's London bureau, where he worked nine years before CBS News hired him for its London bureau.
In 1965 he opened CBS' Saigon bureau.
That August, "The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite" aired a report by Safer that rocked viewers, who, at that point, remained mostly supportive of the war effort in Vietnam. Safer had been invited to join a group of Marines on what a lieutenant described as a search-and-destroy mission in the tiny villages that made up Cam Ne.
But what he encountered there, and captured on film, was the spectacle of American soldiers employing their Zippo lighters to burn the thatched-roof, mud-plastered huts to the ground, despite having encountered no resistance from village residents.
Safer's expose ignited a firestorm.
President Johnson gave CBS President Frank Stanton a tongue-lashing and suggested that Safer had "Communist ties" and had staged the entire story. Safer feared for his safety in the company of angry U.S. soldiers.
"The Cam Ne story was broadcast over and over again in the United States and overseas. It was seized upon by Hanoi as a propaganda tool and by scoundrels of the left and right, in the Pentagon and on campuses," Safer wrote in his 1990 memoir, "Flashbacks: On Returning to Vietnam."
Safer served two tours in Vietnam, then, in 1967, began three years as London bureau chief.
In 1970, he was brought to New York to succeed original co-host Harry Reasoner on an innovative newsmagazine that, in its third season, was still struggling in the ratings, and would rely on Safer and Wallace as its only co-anchors for the next five years.
In 1971, Safer won an Emmy for his "60 Minutes" investigation of the Gulf of Tonkin incident that began America's war in Vietnam.
He became a fixture at "60 Minutes" — and part of that show's rough-and-tumble behind-the-scenes culture. (A former producer for Safer kept on display a framed remnant of the curtain that was the landing place for a cup of coffee Safer once threw at him.)
By 2006 Safer had reduced his output. But he remained with the show after the departures of Wallace — who retired in 2006 at age 88, and died in 2012 — as well as legendary "60 Minutes" creator-producer, Don Hewitt — who stepped down in 2004 at 81, and died in 2009.
And as late as 2012, he still held forth daily in his office on West 57th Street, where he banged out "60 Minutes" stories as he had done for more than 40 years.
He is survived by his wife, the former Jane Fearer, and his daughter Sarah.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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In Mathematica 11.2, there are new sockets functions that are potentially very useful in network programming. I'm trying to use it to communicate between Mathematica and some external program, but I'm unable to make it work. I'm wondering whether someone could give a simple example demonstrating how socket can be used to receive and send data to other applications.
Here is an example I have tried. I'm using the uWebSockets in a basic C++ application to start a socket and then use Mathematica to connect to that socket.
This is the C++ code:
#include <uWS/uWS.h>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
uWS::Hub h;
h.onMessage([](uWS::WebSocket<uWS::SERVER> ws, char *data, size_t length, uWS::OpCode opCode) {
cout << "message received." << endl;
h.onConnection([&h](uWS::WebSocket<uWS::SERVER> ws, uWS::HttpRequest req) {
std::cout << "Connected!" << std::endl;
h.onDisconnection([&h](uWS::WebSocket<uWS::SERVER> ws, int code, char *message, size_t length) {
std::cout << "Disconnected!" << std::endl;
int port = 4567;
if (h.listen(port))
std::cout << "Listening to port " << port << std::endl;
std::cerr << "Failed to listen to port" << std::endl;
return -1;
And the Mathematica part
socket = SocketConnect["127.0.0.0:4567"]
On one hand, the socket connection is partially successful, otherwise, the
SocketConnect function would have returned the
$Failed. But on the other hand, the "Connected!" message is not outputted in the C++ side indicating that the connection is not successful.
So how to fix this problem and make the socket framework in Mathematica work with other socket libraries?


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Two of the "kites" are finished and trimmed and two are still in progress. Actually, the 2nd one just needs trimming (the one with the embroidered writing). I'm almost finished appliquéing the one on the right and then it just needs trimming. I chose to place the appliqué pieces directly on one solid piece of fabric instead of sewing fabric together - I didn't see the point. I'm into using the easiest process that I can to get finished.
Notice, I machine appliquéd the 2 stars on the left "kite." It is so much easier than trying to get good points on a hand appliquéd star. (I'm sure Jane would have machine appliquéd if she had a machine that would do it, don't you?) The next "kite" has a PPed star that the instructions from "thatquilt.blogspot.com" says should be reverse appliquéd onto it. I just paper pieced it and left enough background fabric on it to sew onto the bottom section and then trim. It is also hard to get a good point using reverse appliqué.
The right and left border triangles are on my design wall and I'm cutting fabric triangles that will be set in between each pieced triangle. Each fabric triangle will be different from all the other ones, so I'm digging in my civil war fabric drawer to find the fabrics I want to use.
Probably my next post will be the whole top put together. All I need to do is sew these 2 sides on and the corner pieces!!!!!


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The Rusty Knot has only been open for a month and already its tiki mugs and piggies in a blanket are the subject of a maudlin soft-focus montage by blogger and PR guy Michael Williams. Not even Toots, the documentary about the legendary saloon keeper Toots Shor, was filled with this much wistfulness! Watch with the sound on, and remember all the good times.
The Rusty Knot: The Video [DBTH]


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We offer residential and commercial moves in Louisville and surrounding Front Range communities.Get a free moving estimate
About Louisville
Louisville has been recognized year after year as one of the best places to live and raise a family in the US. Louisville is also home to Colorado's oldest operating tavern.
- City of Louisville official website
- Over 1800 acres of open space and 26 miles of trails
- Founded as a mining town in the 1870s
We're here to answer any questions you might have. Call 303-499-1151 today to speak to one of our representatives.


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History And Progress of the Abyssinian Cat
History of the Abyssinian Cat
As far back as four thousand years ago, Abyssinian cats were a very original breed of cat in ancient Egypt. Zula was the first Abyssinian cat that was brought to Europe by a British soldier. This was quite after Britain's victory over Abyssinia in 1868 during the Abyssinian war.
Arrival of the Abyssinian Cat in the USA
Although the Aby was brought to the United States in the 1900s, it only became popular around the 1930s. All around the world today, cat breed registries, such as The International Cat Association and The Cat Fanciers Association, recognize the Abyssinian cat. It is among the top five most popular cat breeds of the world.
Appearance and Characteristics of the Abyssinian Cat
The main characteristic that makes the Abyssinian different is due to a single gene that is present in the Abyssinian cat, which gives their coat a translucent effect. Their fur is a very fine texture rather than being of a soft quality which bears several dark bands over a lighter shade marking the coat evenly giving it a ticked coat pattern.
They are muscular cats with very long bodies and can weigh from around nine to about seventeen pounds. The Abyssinian's eyes are large and they sport dark rims round their eyes over a background of a light shade of hair. The Aby's large ears are cupped with tufts of fur at the tips. The Aby possesses slender legs with small paws. They also have long tails that can measure up to its entire length.
Abyssinians Are Curious And Athletic Cats!
Abyssinian cats are extremely motivated and curious. It is a good idea to child proof your cupboards and cabinets if you want to keep your inquisitive Abyssinian cats out of your belongings. They require a lot of attention, and prefer to be shown off by being perched high on your shoulder than curled up in your lap.
This breed of cat is extremely athletic and is capable of soaring to heights of six feet in the air and can sprint at an exceedingly fast pace. Unlike most cats, they enjoy climbing up onto things, so you'll need to keep any breakable items out of harms way.
Attention Seekers
Abyssinian cats require lots of attention and care, as when they become bored you can find them climbing things and snooping around the house. Always keep them occupied if you wish to avoid such instances. These cats can be extremely loving and gentle. They love to perch on the owner's shoulder rather than lay still curled up on your lap. They are very talkative and vociferous. They do not take well to being caged, and prefer being left to roam and explore. They can live to about ten or twelve years of age.
Abyssinian Cat Colors
Abyssinians are a special type of tabby cat by their beautiful ticked coat that makes them so unique. There are four colors of abyssinian breed wich recognized for championship by CFA: Ruddy, Red (Sorrel), Blue and Fawn.
Ruddy – this color of Abyssinian cat is most popular. Orange-brown, each hair ticked with two or three bands of either black or dark brown with a vibrant burnt orange color closest to the skin. Coat is warm brown ticked with black. Base color is deep orange. Tail tipped to black, paw pads are black, eyes are pure amber, green or gold, nose leather is brick red, outlined with black.
Red (Sorrel or Cinnamon) – warm copper red ticked with chocolate red-brown. Base color is deep apricot. Tail tipped with chocolate brown, nose leather and paw pads are rosy pink, eyes are pure amber, green or gold.
Blue – A warm soft blue-gray ticked with deeper blue. Base color is pale cream. Tail tipped with a deep shade of blue, paw pads are blue-grey, nose leather is dark pink, eyes are pure amber, green or gold.
Fawn – soft pinkish-cream color of coat, nose leather and paw pads are pink, eyes are pure amber, green or gold.


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Do you have a favorite holiday? Mine, hands-down, is Halloween! It's my favorite to shop and decorate for, it's my favorite to celebrate, and of course it's my favorite for crafting.
I got together with some of my crafty friends and we put together a fabulous list of Halloween DIYs for you. From decor to costumes to fun food, check out all of these great projects!


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Politics of Antigua and Barbuda
The politics of Antigua and Barbuda takes place in a framework of a unitary parliamentary representative democratic monarchy, wherein the Sovereign of Antigua and Barbuda is the head of state, appointing a Governor-General to act as vice-regal representative in the nation. A Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor-General as the head of government, and of a multi-party system; the Prime Minister advises the Governor-General on the appointment of a Council of Ministers. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the Parliament. The bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (seventeen-member body appointed by the Governor General) and the House of Representatives (seventeen seats; members are elected by proportional representation to serve five-year terms).
Antigua and Barbuda has a long history of free elections, three of which have resulted in peaceful changes of government. Since the 1951 general election, the party system has been dominated by the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP), for a long time was dominated by the Bird family, particularly Prime Ministers Vere and Lester Bird. The opposition claimed to be disadvantaged by the ABLP's longstanding monopoly on patronage and its control of the media, especially in the 1999 general election. However, the opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) won 2004 elections, following its leader Winston Baldwin Spencer was Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda from 2004 to 2014.
The elections to the House of Representatives were held on 12 June 2014. The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) government was elected with fourteen seats. The United Progressive Party had three seats in the House of Representatives. ABLP won 15 of the 17 seats in the 2018 snap election under the leadership of incumbent Prime Minister Gaston Browne.
Constitutional safeguards include freedom of speech, press, worship, movement, and association. Antigua and Barbuda is a member of the eastern Caribbean court system. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Jurisprudence is based on English common law.
Executive branch
As head of state, King Charles III is represented in Antigua and Barbuda by a governor general who acts on the advice of the prime minister and the cabinet.
Legislative branch
Antigua and Barbuda elects on national level a legislature. Parliament has two chambers. The House of Representatives has 19 members, 17 members elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies, 2 ex-officio member (President and Speaker). The Senate has 17 appointed members. The prime minister is the leader of the majority party in the House and conducts affairs of state with the cabinet. The prime minister and the cabinet are responsible to the Parliament. Elections must be held at least every five years but may be called by the prime minister at any time.
There are special legislative provisions to account for Barbuda's low population relative to that of Antigua. Barbuda is guaranteed one member of the House of Representatives and two members of the Senate. In addition, there is a Barbuda Council to govern the internal affairs of the island.
Political parties and elections
Administrative divisions
The country is divided into six parishes, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Mary, Saint Paul, Saint Peter, and Saint Phillip which are all on the island of Antigua. Additionally, the islands of Barbuda and Redonda are considered dependencies.
Judicial branch
Antigua and Barbuda is a member of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. This court is headquartered in Saint Lucia, but at least one judge of the Supreme Court resides in Antigua and Barbuda, and presides over the High Court of Justice. The current High Court judges are Jennifer Remy and Keith Thom.
Antigua is also a member of the Caribbean Court of Justice, although it has not yet acceded to Part III of the 2001 Agreement Establishing a Caribbean Court of Justice. Its supreme appellate court therefore remains the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Indeed, of the signatories to the Agreement, as of December 2010, only Barbados has replaced appeals to Her Majesty in Council with the Caribbean Court of Justice.
In addition to the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, Antigua and Barbuda has a Magistrates' Court, which deals with lesser civil and criminal cases.
Political pressure groups and leaders
Antigua Trades and Labor Union or ATLU [William ROBINSON]; People's Democratic Movement or PDM [Hugh MARSHALL]
International organisation participation
ACP Countries, ALBA, Caricom, Caribbean Development Bank, CELAC, Commonwealth of Nations, ECLAC, FAO, Group of 77, IBRD, ICAO, International Criminal Court, ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, International Finance Corporation, IFRCS, International Labour Organization, International Monetary Fund, International Maritime Organization, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ITU, Non-Aligned Movement (observer), Organization of American States, OECS, OPANAL, United Nations, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WCL, World Federation of Trade Unions, WHO, WMO, WTrO


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< Back to all News
Supreme Court to Hear Third Stris & Maher Case of 2015
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Merrill Lynch v. Manning, a securities fraud class action involving the practice of naked short selling. Peter Stris will argue the case, likely in December or January.
This is the third Stris & Maher case that the Court has agreed to hear next Term. In March, the Court granted a petition filed by Stris & Maher in Montanile v. Board of Trustees of the National Elevator Plan, an important ERISA case that will be argued by Mr. Stris in November. And then, just yesterday, the Court granted another petition filed by Stris & Maher in Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, a major healthcare preemption case that will be argued by Bridget Asay.
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The Pivot to Africa
Circumcision, mosquito killing, and other strange doings of Africom.
"A squirrel dying in front of your house may be more relevant to your interests right now than people dying in Africa," Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is said to have remarked. For most Americans occupying the now-now-now world of Facebook, this probably feels apt. And until just over a decade ago, Zuckerberg's statement might equally have applied to Pentagon strategists. A 1995 strategy document from the Defense Department was hardly less blunt: "[U]ltimately we see very little traditional strategic interest in Africa."
"A squirrel dying in front of your house may be more relevant to your interests right now than people dying in Africa," Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is said to have remarked. For most Americans occupying the now-now-now world of Facebook, this probably feels apt. And until just over a decade ago, Zuckerberg's statement might equally have applied to Pentagon strategists. A 1995 strategy document from the Defense Department was hardly less blunt: "[U]ltimately we see very little traditional strategic interest in Africa."
That began to change in 1998, when U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by al Qaeda, and the 9/11 attacks accelerated the change. If terrorism thrives in failed states and ungoverned spaces, it was time to rethink the U.S. approach to Africa, which boasts more than its fair share of basket-case states. By 2006, Africa had been bumped up to "high priority" in the U.S. National Security Strategy: "our security depends upon partnering with Africans to strengthen fragile and failing states and bring ungoverned areas under … control."
As the Pentagon struggles to adapt to a world in which security threats come from increasingly diffuse sources — and the role of the military is consequently less and less clear-cut — Africa has become a key laboratory for experimentation and change.
In 2007, the United States created a new geographic combatant command to cover Africa. Africa Command, or Africom, was in part an effort to rationalize a previously incoherent administrative division of labor, in which responsibility for Africa had been divided among three other commands. But it was also a bold experiment: a new kind of command, designed to reflect the Pentagon's emerging understanding of the more complex security environment.
In 2005, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had signed Directive 3000.05, which declared that "stability operations" would be a core military mission with "priority comparable to combat operations." From its inception, Africom was structured with stability operations, including conflict prevention, in mind. Unlike other combatant commands, Africom was expressly designed to take a "whole-of-government" approach, with senior civilian officials from the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and other agencies fully integrated into the command's decision-making structure.
This would, in theory, enable conflict prevention in Africa to be addressed holistically, rather than through a traditionally narrow military lens. With its integration of civilian and military power, Africom would not draw sharp or arbitrary distinctions between defense, development, and diplomacy; all three would go hand in hand. And this, President George W. Bush declared, would help "bring peace and security to the people of Africa and promote our common goals of development, health, education, democracy, and economic growth."
The resulting range of Africom's activities might cause heartburn for those committed to viewing U.S. military power strictly through a war-fighting lens. Consider this snapshot of recent activities undertaken by or with the assistance of Africom:
- Construction of school classrooms in Chad
- Research on the "Association of Sexual Violence and Human Rights Violations With Physical and Mental Health in Territories of the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo"
- Cattle vaccination in Uganda, designed to provide healthy cattle to internally displaced civilians returning to their homes
- Activities to combat drug trafficking through the West Africa Cooperative Security Initiative
- Construction of closed wells with solar-powered pumps in Senegal
- Establishment of an East African Malaria Task Force to combat "one of the biggest killers on the continent: the mosquito"
- Development of a news and information website aimed at local audiences in the Maghreb region, featuring "analysis, interviews and commentary by paid Magharebia correspondents"
- Construction of a maternal- and pediatric-care ward at a Ugandan hospital
- Collaboration with Botswana's military to "promote Botswana's national program of education, HIV screening and male circumcision surgeries"
- Cooperation with the Sierra Leone Maritime Wing and Fisheries Ministry that "result[ed] in the apprehension of an illegally operating fishing vessel"
Most of these activities sound laudable. Few would strike the average American as "military" in nature.
Of course, Africom also conducts or facilitates a wide range of more traditional military activities, including various counterterrorism programs run through Operation Enduring Freedom- -Trans Sahara and a range of efforts to help capture Lord's Resistance Army leaders in Central and East Africa. In 2011, Africom coordinated its first large-scale military operation when President Obama approved Operation Odyssey Dawn, which aimed to enforce the UN-sanctioned no-fly zone in Libya and eliminate the Libyan government's ability to threaten civilians.
Whether Africom represents a viable new model for the future of the U.S. military naturally depends on your point of view. To some, the Africom approach is downright dangerous. Military traditionalists are apt to view it with suspicion — as a dangerous slide away from the military's core competencies and the very apotheosis of "mission creep." Many civilian observers are equally skeptical, viewing Africom as further evidence of the militarization of U.S. foreign policy — and of the devaluing and evisceration of civilian capacity. "The Pentagon is muscling in everywhere," complained former State Department official Thomas Schweich in a Washington Post op-ed: "[W]hy exactly do we need a military command [in Africa] running civilian reconstruction, if not to usurp the efforts led by well-respected U.S. embassies and aid officials?"
Such views are understandable but shortsighted. The Pentagon is right to see poverty, underdevelopment, disease, repression, human rights abuses, and conflict as likely drivers of future security threats to the United States. And if the Defense Department's job is to protect the United States, that mission must surely include preventing threats.
In some imaginary utopia, the military might work hand in hand with capable, well-resourced civilian agencies, neatly dividing up roles and leaving the "civilian" tasks to the civilians. But that's not the world we live in. Yes, the civilian sector has been eviscerated by two decades of underresourcing and has consequently struggled to attract and retain personnel with key skills. But given today's political climate, this situation is unlikely to change — at least not in the foreseeable future. Congress shows zero interest in substantially boosting the foreign affairs budget. That's a crying shame, but it is what it is.
Inevitably, this means that the Defense Department will have to step into the breach. How could it responsibly refrain? As a State Department inspector general's report commented in 2009, Africom's role was "resented and challenged" by the State Department's Bureau of African Affairs, but the military was essentially "stepping into a void created by a lack of resources for traditional development" and other "civilian" tasks.
More importantly, the lines between "civilian" and "military" tasks have never been as clear as we like to pretend, and today they're blurrier than ever. Instead of wasting time in a fruitless effort to draw imaginary lines between civilian and military roles, the United States should focus instead on doing what needs to be done — and doing it responsibly, transparently, and well.
That's where the country has been falling badly short. Africom has been justly criticized for failing to live up to its lofty goals. A clumsy early rollout also left Africom struggling to allay African suspicions that the United States intended to "recolonize" Africa, and for a variety of reasons (shortage of qualified and interested personnel, inadequate career incentives, a slow-moving personnel system), many civilian slots within Africom were never filled. Those that were filled weren't always put to good use, and Africom continues to struggle to coordinate its efforts with civilian agencies.
The Defense Department is a relative amateur when it comes to development and related activities, and often it shows. Lack of cultural awareness has plagued programming: The distribution of used clothes in Djibouti during Ramadan offended Muslim sensibilities, for instance, and Africom has also been criticized for failing to take local clan relationships into account when distributing assistance.
Poor management is also a serious problem. Africom's first commander, General William "Kip" Ward, is currently under investigation for alleged misuse of funds. A 2011 Government Accountability Office report on DOD humanitarian activities found systemic management and accountability problems across the Defense Department, concluding grimly that, while there have been some improvements over the years, "DOD does not have complete information on the full range of humanitarian assistance projects it conducts.… DOD does not know … when a project is going to be implemented, when it is in progress, or when and if it has been completed.… DOD does not know how much it has spent.… DOD is not consistently evaluating its projects, and therefore it cannot determine whether its humanitarian assistance efforts are meeting their intended goals, having positive effects, or represent an efficient use of resources."
These problems are not unique to Africom. As other combatant commands have similarly expanded their activities into traditionally civilian domains, they have struggled with similar problems and criticism.
In a sense, we currently inhabit the worst of all possible worlds: The military is increasingly taking on traditionally civilian jobs but doing them clumsily and often halfheartedly, without investing fully in developing the skills necessary for success. Meanwhile, civilian agencies mostly just grumble from the sidelines, waiting for that happy day when Congress gets serious about rebuilding civilian capacity. (I think Samuel Beckett wrote a play about that.) And few people, inside or outside the Pentagon, are taking seriously the need to think in new ways about what "whole-of-government" or a holistic approach to security might truly mean.
The blurring of civilian and military roles is inevitable, but the failure to grapple effectively with this blurring of roles is not. To address threats (and seize opportunities) in this globalized, blurry, chaotic world, we will need to develop new competencies, flexible new structures, and creative new accountability mechanisms. Most critically, we'll need to let go of our comfortable old assumptions about roles and missions.
Rosa Brooks is a law professor at Georgetown University and a senior fellow with the New America/Arizona State University Future of War Project. She served as a counselor to the U.S. defense undersecretary for policy from 2009 to 2011 and previously served as a senior advisor at the U.S. State Department. Her most recent book is How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything. Twitter: @brooks_rosa
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Kemp USA Bloodborne Kit in Hard Case 10-597
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Wednesday, January 11, 2017
What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday #2
Here's an overhead shot of my craft table today, which actually holds three projects.
On the left of the table is my 2016 Gratitude Journal, which I completed a few days ago. I haven't moved it to our Memories Shelf yet because I want to read back through it first. It's so much FUN to take time to enjoy finished projects, isn't it!
In the middle of the table, I'm working on the January prompts in the One Little Word class. I've chosen a binder, added a few page protectors, and printed the handout and other elements. I'm hoping to add my journaling, a photo and some embellishments later today.
On the right side of the table, I have my 50 Things To Do Before I'm 50 mini-album and two photos that need to be added to it. This album has a page for each of the 50 items, and once I complete an item, I add a photo, the date, and two lines of journaling to the page. I need to complete the pages for my trip to the top of the Empire State Building and completion of the Gratitude Journal.
I'm hoping to have all three of these projects off my table in the next day or two, then I'm planning to create some layouts!
Head over to Julia's Stamping Ground to see what's on other workdesks around the world this week!
17 comments:
Great idea on things i want to,ReplyDelete
Lots of work on the go.
Happy WOYWDW
Lilian B #42
Like you I tend to tidy as I go when I am crafting, I do not think creativity in chaos. ... Mary-Lou #32ReplyDelete
Hi Melissa, sorry I didn't see your link last week, so I missed out on welcoming you! Great organisation on your desk, I have one of those spinners, and keep thinking about getting a second one. Have a lovely week, Hugs, Shaz #7 xxReplyDelete
I think your table is awesome! How do you like the One Little Word class by Ali?? I have thought about taking it!!ReplyDelete
I like the idea of a gratitude journal - especially one that you were able to complete! I've started a few before, but they never got very far. It will be fun to read through it! Your other projects look like fun too. Thanks for sharing, Lindart #39ReplyDelete
You are so right about taking time to enjoy the projects we have made. And you have some very attractive ones here. I've joined the One Little Word class too and look forward to seeing you there!ReplyDelete
I'm impressed that 3 projects can look so neat and tidy when my one little project is strewn everywhere at the moment LOL.ReplyDelete
I love the idea of a gratitude journal.. and a 50 things before turning 50.. but still not broken into journaling at all yet. I'm hesitant on bigger projects.. opting for the happiness finishing cards give me.. and I'm really lazy lol.. they would never get done if there were no actual deadlines to inspire me.
Have a great week,
Erika (#33 not9 lol)
Your gratitude journal sounds fun. Something to look back on and remember what good is going on in life. Your desk does look very tidy. I can't seem to keep mine that way however much I try!ReplyDelete
Happy WOYWW
Sharon K #38
Looking forward to sharing our "One Little Word" journeys together this year.ReplyDelete
What a lovely tidy desk! Mine usually looks like we've had a tornado! haha! Sez x #51ReplyDelete
Hi Melissa. Even with three projects on the go your desk still looks lovely and neat. They look like fun to do things to keep you busy.ReplyDelete
Take care. God bless.
Margaret #3
Your desk IS very neat. I wish I could learn to clean up as I go. I'm certainly old enough to know better than to leave the mess I have just walked away from lol. As always, it's lovely to see what you are creating.ReplyDelete
I must admit, I like a tidy desk ... not always works that way, but I tryReplyDelete
Like you, I need a neat desk to get started, but often it is a real mess in the midst of projects. Yours, however, is exceptionally neat considering you have three projects going at once.ReplyDelete
First of all "Welcome" and please do become a regular on here - you will make so many friends, everyone is so nice.ReplyDelete
Now, we all 'stage' at one time but we also just show it as it is so do not be afraid of a messy desk, the sign of a busy crafter afterall.
Looks as if you have a lot on at the moment but you seem to be nearing finishing time with them and ready for new projects - good luck and please remember to call again.
Hugs, & Thanks for visiting me earlier
Neet xx
LOVE seeing your work desk and you have three truly meaningful projects there as well!!ReplyDelete
So FUN to see your desk, and to recognise the BPC mouse mat - there is a matching one on my computer desk.ReplyDelete
Was wondering over the Christmas break that as I'm heading up to 50 (next May) I might do a similar album, although not of all new things.


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|Ashlub fights for his clan and community, granting no mercy in the middle of battle
Image by Noë Monin under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial No Derivative Works 3.0 Licence
The Matriarch believes that we must befriend the surface dwellers when it is they who seek to impinge on our lands. We must help where we can she says but I do not see the need. They only hurt us and so Ashlub exist to teach them a lesson. Ashlub exist to teach them that Locatah are strong and that we will never be beaten down.
Ashlub am Locatah champion and Ashlub stand ready to defeat surface dwellers in ritual combat. When Matriarch finally catches on that the only language these surface dwellers understand is that of strength she sends then to Ashlub and the arena. Ashlub is unbeaten. Ashlub has crafted his weapons from the barb of the sting ray and the shield of living coral and honed Ashlub's skill. The Matriarch has blessed Ashlub's spear and shield. Ashlub fights for his people and will never falter as Ashlub knows the language of violence too well and lusts to teach it to the surface dwellers.
Below is the stat block of the NPC whilst raging and under the effects of his mage armor and potion of barkskin which he takes prior to taking to the arena. They are gifts from his Matriarch. If you want the full character sheet you can download it here with a list of his abilities available here.
Ashlub the Champion CR 7
Male Locathah Barbarian (Beast Totem) 7 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide; Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2)
N Medium humanoid (aquatic)
Init +7; Senses low-light vision; Perception +14
AC 23, touch 12, flat-footed 19 (+4 armor, +3 shield, +3 Dex, +4 natural, +1 dodge)
hp 109 (7d12+2d8+45)
Fort +12, Ref +5 (+2 bonus vs. traps), Will +6
Defensive Abilities improved uncanny dodge, trap sense +2; DR 1/—
Speed 20 ft., swim 60 ft.
Melee heart piercer +10/+5 (1d6+9)
Special Attacks rage (18 rounds/day), rage powers (raging swimmer +7, smasher, strength surge +7)
Str 19, Dex 16, Con 18, Int 13, Wis 15, Cha 9
Base Atk +8; CMB +6; CMD 24
Feats Dodge, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Toughness, Weapon Focus (longspear)
Skills Craft (armor) +11, Craft (Weapons) +11, Intimidate +11, Knowledge (nature) +13, Perception +14, Survival +7, Swim +23
Languages Aquan, Common
SQ amphibious, fast movement
Combat Gear potion of barkskin +2, potion of mage armor; Other Gear +1 darkwood heavy wooden shield, heart piercer, 142 gp, 5 sp
Special Abilities
Amphibious (Ex) You can survive indefinitely on land.
Damage Reduction (1/-) You have Damage Reduction against all attacks.
Fast Movement +10 (Ex) +10 feet to speed, unless heavily loaded.
Improved Uncanny Dodge (Lv >=11) (Ex) Retain DEX bonus to AC when flat-footed. You cannot be flanked unless the attacker is Level 11+.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Power Attack -3/+6 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Rage (18 rounds/day) (Ex) +4 Str, +4 Con, +2 to Will saves, -2 to AC when enraged.
Raging Swimmer +7 (Ex) While raging, gain the listed enhancement bonus to swim.
Smasher (1/rage) (Ex) 1/rage, ignore the hardness of an unattended object.
Strength Surge +7 (1/rage) (Ex) Once per rage, add the listed bonus to a STR check, CMB or CMD.
Swimming (60 feet) You have a Swim speed.
Trap Sense +2 (Ex) +2 bonus on reflex saves and AC against traps.
Hero Lab and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com Pathfinder® and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC®, and are used under license.


text:
The major problem when it comes to organizing a garage is the accumulation of "stuff," some necessary and some not. These sundry acquisitions don't have to be tossed, donated, or sold at your next garage sale; they simply need a place to be stored. Once everything has its place, the garage can hold your cars and bicycles as well as all that "stuff," which is now visible, reachable, and usable.
Check out the following pages to learn how you can better organize your garage space.


text:
As recorded by the Vosbein Magee Big Band on the CD "Come and Get It!"
Flag waver arrangement of the fight song of more than a hundred schools in the US.
If you are an educator, and the Swing is your school fight song, contact us for a 50% discount.
5 saxophones (AATTB)
4 trumpets
4 trombones
piano, bass, drums
trumpet 1 = F6
trombone 1 = Ab4
2½ minutes
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