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Wellbeing @ Monash & Monash Sport newsletter – October 2013Saturday, October 5th, 2013
Read about the latest Wellbeing and Monash Sport events, services and activities. Monash aims to assist staff in achieving a healthy work/life balance using a holistic approach – mind, body, spirit and the community.
Contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com
In the October edition:
Wellbeing events and news
Monash Sport news and offers
TeamMONASH news
Employee benefits and discounts
Wellbeing at Monash Events and News
10,000 Steps Challenge, registrations close this week
More than 1500 staff have already registered to be part of the 10,000 Steps Challenge
The 4 week Challenge is open to all staff, students, friends and family and commences on Monday, 14 October and will see participants walk 1164km's in a virtual walk around Tasmania.
Teams of up to 8 people will each aim to clock up at least 10,000 steps each day. There are great events happening at each campus including
Participants will not only measure the number of steps they take each day using pedometers, but also experience the many benefits that physical activity has on mental health.
Register now! For more information visit the 10,000 steps website
Departments wishing to sponsor staff members should contact email@example.com
Monash Mental Health Week, 7-11 October
With one in five Australians experiencing a mental illness this year, it's important we at Monash continue to encourage our friends, workmates and family to seek help when they need it, without fear or stigma.
Monash Mental Health Week, from 7 to 11 October, aims to provide opportunities to understand behaviour, learn from new research, discover our current resources, and focus on improving your own mental health right here on campus.
How you can participate
We invite all faculties, divisions and student group to create awareness across all campuses, including;
Mental Health Awareness Training
Understanding and addressing self-injury symposium
Coping with change seminar
Why young people act stupid (Professor Nick Allen)
Laughter Yoga
LGBTIQ youth, mental health and making a connection
Lunchtime mindfulness session
SafeTALK: Building a suicide alert community
Essence of health seminar (Dr Craig Hassed)
Free Dynamic Yoga and Pilates classes (Monash Sport)
Lunchtime GLOBAL 3km walk / 5km run event – 9th October
The Mental Health Week GLOBAL walk/run is a great opportunity to get out of the office with colleagues and enjoy a lunchtime 3km walk or 5km run around campus.
You can also experience the many benefits physical activity has on mental health. A light lunch is provided for all participants
Date: Wednesday 9th October, 12.15pm-1pm.
Campuses: Alfred, Bendigo, Berwick, Caulfield, Clayton, Gippsland, Parkville, Peninsula and Prato
Ride to Work Day – Clayton
As part of National Ride to Work Day on Wednesday 16th October, Monash is holding its own 'Ride to Monash' celebration!
Ride by the Lemon Scented Lawns between 8am and 10am at Clayton Campus, with your bike helmet, and grab a free treat including; fruit, muffins, puncture repair key and water bottle. Come by to say hello to other cyclists, discuss your likes and gripes of cycling to Monash or simply to boast about all the benefits of cycling to work or uni!
If you would like to see better riding facilities around Melbourne be sure to register your participation with Bicycle Network Victoria
Can't ride to work that day but want to get involved? The Monash community Bicycle User Group is holding a cycling event on campus to encourage people see the campus on a bike, register for this event
Get your steps up at a lunchtime walk
Join a lunchtime walk on Monday 14th October to celebrate the first day of the 10,000 steps challenge.
Campuses: Alfred, Berwick, Caulfield, Clayton, Gippsland and Parkville
Just 15 minutes to get your health checked!
We often prioritise our daily duties at the expense of our own health and wellbeing. Spend just 15 minutes learning more about your vital health risks through a free, confidential health check in November.
Participants will receive immediate, confidential results and advice on blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, heart and stroke risk and more.
Make your booking online today!
Department bookings: If you would like to offer free health checks for your department staff (minimum 10) please contact firstname.lastname@example.com with your preferred dates and campus.
Interested in a lunchtime pilates or boxing program?
The Staff Wellbeing and Activity Program (SWAP) provides tailored pilates, boxing, yoga and zumba, Fit Camp for Monash staff.
Wellbeing @ Monash is recruiting participants interested in joining a 6 week yoga, pilates or boxing lunchtime program.
Dates: Anticipated to start early November
Price: $54 per person for the 6 week program (x1 45minute class per week)
How to register:
Register your interest for Boxing and list your campus
Register your interest for Yoga and list your campus
Register your interest for Pilates and list your campus
6 week lunchtime yoga program at Clayton
Join a 6 week yoga program at Clayton
Dates: 12.15-1pm on Friday 18th and 25thOctober, 1st, 8th, 15th and 22ndNovember
Venue: 18th and 25th October – Engineering Hall 3, Building 60, Clayton
1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd November – Monash Sport, Clayton
Price: $54 per person for the 6 week program (x1 45minute class per week)
Ready to get active?
Please download the Pre-exercise Health Screen form and return to email@example.com then make payment online with a credit card no later than Friday 11th October
Any questions can be sent to firstname.lastname@example.com. Proudly presented by Wellbeing @ Monash and Monash Sport.
Healthy cooking demonstrations: Learn to create simple, healthy and delicious meals!
Venue: Clayfield room A1.34, Building A, Caulfield
Register online
Essence of health 5 week programs
The Essence of Health is a model for enhancing wellbeing and sustainable performance as well as the prevention and management of chronic illness.
Essence is an acronym standing for Education, Stress management, Spirituality, Exercise, Nutrition, Connectedness and Environment and is a comprehensive lifestyle program underpinned by enabling strategies such as mindfulness, enhancing motivation, goal setting and behaviour change.
This 5 week program will explore the Essence model and give evidence and examples illustrating the importance of each element and how to apply the model to personal and professional life.
The program has been delivered within the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences for a number of years in training doctors and allied health practitioners in stress and lifestyle management.
Caulfield 5 week program:
Session dates: 28 October, 11, 18, 25 November and 2 December.
Venue: Room 471, Level 4, Building B, Caulfield
Register online
Essence of health 1 hr introductory seminar – Caulfield
Date: Tuesday 8th October, 12.15-1pm
Venue: Building C, level 5, room 11, Caulfield
Register online
Coping with change seminar, 10th October
As part of Mental Health Week, the University EAP provider ResolutionsRTK will provide a presentation on coping with change.
The purpose is to help participants understand their individual responses to change within the context of the psychology of change; and how they can best personally manage and promote a more proactive and resilient response to change. Key topics will include:
· The nature of change
· The impact and psychology of change
· Understanding the obstacles and barriers to change
· The keys to building personal resilience
Date: Thursday 10th October, 12.30-1.30pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre E3, Ground Level, Building 32, Clayton
Register online
Skin cancer prevention seminar; an investment in your health
Staff are invited to attend a new wellbeing seminar on skin cancer prevention.
Delivered by Sue Dixon, radiographer at Peninsula Skin Cancer Centre, the seminar will cover
– Causes and risk factors for skin cancers
– Different types of skin cancers (Melanoma vs Non-melanoma skin cancers)
– Detection of skin cancer – what to watch our for
– Prevention and the importance of self awareness of your skin
– Treatment of skin cancer
Date: Tuesday 12th November, 12.15pm-1.15pm
Venue: Building 8, Rotunda Theatre R3
Register online
Date: Tuesday 19th November, 2013, 12.15pm-1.15pm
Venue: Building H, Basement level, Lecture Theatre HB32
Register online
Staff from other campuses are invited to express their interest by emailing email@example.com, please state your campus and skin cancer seminar in the subject.
Diabetes prevention seminar – are you at risk?
Diabetes is Australia's fastest growing chronic disease with nearly 1,000,000 Australians currently diagnosed and 280 Australians developing diabetes each day. The good news is that up to 60% of cases can be prevented.
You can learn how to reduce your chance of developing type 2 diabetes, as well as heart disease and stroke, by attending an seminar delivered by DiabetesVictoria, will cover topics such as:
- What is diabetes?
- Symptoms and complications of diabetes
- Risk factors linked to type 2 diabetes
- How to prevent type 2 diabetes
All who attend will also have the opportunity to complete the AUSDRISK tool to determine their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. All high risk, eligible employees will then be offered the opportunity to participate in a Divisional Life! program
Date: Tuesday 15th October, 1.15-2.15pm
Venue: Lecture theatre H7, Building 11
Register online
Cycling seminar and on campus event
Women & Cycling: Ladies, take your riding to the next level, get into new disciplines of riding and be inspired by some pretty awesome women. Oh, and did we mention there will be cupcakes and sparkling wine? Everyone gets a goody bag, and we've got some great door prizes.
All proceeds go to charity, supporting my fundraising ride from Melbourne to Sydney for the Future2 Foundation. Date: Tuesday 24th October, 6pm
Venue: Bicycle Network, Bourke Street, Melbourne
Cost: $15
For more details and tickets visit bike seminar
Clayton Campus Quest: Join the 1st annual Clayton Campus Quest! It will be a fun Bike/Walk/Run across, through, over and under 10km of the Clayton campus for a duration of one hour.
Date: Wednesday 16th October, 4-5pm
Venue: Monash Sport BBQ area, Monash University Clayton Campus
Cost: $20 per participant
Register online
'Like' Wellbeing at Monash on Facebook
Get information about the latest events, special offers, discounts and news by liking Wellbeing at Monash on Facebook. Like Wellbeing at Monash on Facebook.
Order a delicious fruit box for your next staff meeting or event
At Monash we encourage staff to make the healthy choice when providing food for staff meetings and events. Why not try a delicious box of fruit at your next meeting and event?
FruitAddicts offers Monash departments an excellent fresh box of fruit, with free delivery to Monash campuses and 10% discount off the following prices –
Box of 30 fruit pieces $24
Box of 45 fruit pieces $34
Box of 60 fruit pieces $44
To order contact Steve at FruitAddicts or phone 1300 438 378 and quote 'Monash Wellbeing'. Payment can be made via cheque, credit card or monthly invoicing.
You can order these and find many more suggestions in our Health Smart Healthy Catering brochure or the Catering How To Buy Guide.
Do you cycle to work or run/walk regularly at lunchtime?
The University Wellbeing KPI aims to achieve 30% participation in wellbeing events and programs.
Staff who regularly participate wellbeing related activity during their work day can now log their participation in a database to help contribute to their Faculty/Division Wellbeing KPI.
Regularly is defined as at least once per week, for a minimum of 30 minutes during your work day (Monday to Friday).
Log your participation in the Wellbeing KPI form.
Save 3 lives in 30 minutes, mobile blood bank at Clayton campus, 23-25 October
Monash staff and students will have the opportunity to donate blood during October when the Red Cross mobile blood bank will be on site at the Clayton campus.
The blood bank will be located in the Engineering Building 4/60 on the Clayton campus from Wednesday 23 – Friday 26 October, 9.30am – 3.30pm.
To secure your appointment to donate, call 13 14 95 or www.donateblood.com.au
Superannuation for women seminar
Surveys consistently demonstrate that the level of retirement savings of women tend to be significantly lower than men due to different working patterns, family responsibilities and relationship breakdowns. This session is suitable for women of all ages who would like to develop a better understanding of financial matters and be more active in managing their retirement savings. The seminar will cover issues such as:
- how much do I need in retirement?
- government contribution incentives
- career breaks
- understanding your investment risk profile
- accessing benefits
- superannuation & your estate
Date: Wednesday 9th October, light refreshments 3.30-4, seminar 4-4-5pm
Venue: Science Building 25, Lecture Theatre S3, Clayton Campus
Register online by Tuesday 08 October.
Lunchtime Weight Watchers Program
Staff the opportunity to enrol in a new Weight Watchers Program. With the convenience of weekly meetings on campus*, you'll get the guidance that you need to succeed and stay on track to achieve your weight loss and lifestyle goals
About the program: The program consists of one weekly lunchtime meeting for 13 weeks.
Cost: $19.50 per session for 13 week program. Payment can be in cash, credit card or pay $50 upfront then 3 monthly instalments. Some private health insurance providers provide a partial refund.
Do you wear glasses? Monash eye glasses collection
Do you have old eye glasses sitting in your desk draw? Wellbeing @ Monash is now collecting used eye glasses for the Lions Recycle For Sight Program.
Send your unwanted eye glasses via internal mail to Wellbeing @ Monash – OHS, Building 40P, Clayton
Get active at Gippsland, Parkville and Berwick
Get active at Gippsland
Gippsland campus walking group takes place every Monday and Thursday from 12:30pm – 1:00pm. Meet upstairs at the Knuckle outside the eSolutions area (1N-209). Email Vonnie email@example.com for more information.
Get active at Parkville
Free Get Active classes including:
Boxing: Mondays and Wednesdays 5pm at Cossar Hall
Yoga: Tuesday 12pm at Cossar Hall
Boot Camp: Wednesdays 7.30am meet at the Flagpole
Mindfulness meditation: Wednesdays 1.15pm, Pharmaceutics meeting room
Dynamic yoga: Thursday 5pm at Cossar Hall
Get active at Berwick
Free Get ACtive classes are available to staff at Berwick campus, including:
Yoga: Monday's 1.30pm – 2.15pm
Zumba: Wednesday's 1.30pm – 2.15pm
Venue: Nossal High School in the Gymnasium building
For detailed class information visit Berwick Sport webpage.
Competition winners and your chance to win
For your chance to win a Village Cinemas movie ticket tell us what you think of the new layout of the newsletter or provide a suggestion for Wellbeing at Monash or Monash Sport (or any wellbeing service you would like to see) Provide feedback via email email@example.com
Monash Sport news and offers
The Doug Ellis Swimming Pool is reopening
Good news! The Doug Ellis Pool reopened this Monday 7 October.
Monash Sport thanks you for your patience during this closedown period, and reminds you that your membership will became active again from Monday 7 October when the Doug Ellis Swimming Pool reopened.
We are excited to report that the newly laid floor surface will provide an improved aquatic environment, and the upgrades to the spa and change room refurbishments are well underway, with temporary change room facilities currently in place.
Updates on the works can be found on our website.
Health and Fitness Options for Monash University Staff
At Monash Sport, we want all Monash University staff members to have a happy and healthy lifestyle. Because of this, we have introduced Health and Fitness Options for Monash University Staff. The variety of options available has been tailored so that each and every staff member is able to join the centre and able to achieve their fitness goals whether it is individually or as a group.
The Health and Fitness Options for Monash University Staff includes Centre memberships, participation in the SWAP Group Exercise and casual visits.
For any further enquiries please contact our friendly staff or come down and visit us with your voucher for a 7 Day Trial
Small Group Training
Fit Camp has a new look! ENERGISE is a six week fun, social, challenging and rewarding way of training. For those about to embark on their first fitness program or looking for a new challenge ENERGISE is for you.
All ENERGISE sessions are conducted by fully qualified health and fitness instructors who will motivate participants to challenge their current fitness levels whilst still being able to tailor the program to suit all individuals' needs.
ENERGISE is run across Monash University Caulifield, Clayton and Peninsula campuses with programs starting throughout the year.
To register your interest or for further information, please contact:
Caulfield: 9903 2358 or email@example.com
Clayton: 9905 4103 or firstname.lastname@example.com
Group Fitness
New Pilates Class at Clayton
Due to popular demand we have put on a NEW pilates Class at Clayton, Wednesday 7.30pm. Come along and get your pilates on!
New Cycle Bikes
At Clayton we are very excited to announce the arrival of new Spin bikes. The provider that was chosen wasBLUE FITNESS. They are a global leader in indoor cycling training, education and equipment and have developed a bike designed to fit all shapes, sizes and abilities. BLUE FITNESS currently house equipment in a range of high volume use facilities including Universities, private health clubs, community Leisure centres and defence force facilities. We hope you enjoy the bikes as much as we do.
Cycle Extra Performance
This 60 minute class will be running for a 5 week trial starting Thursday 17 October at 5:30pm.
Cycle Extra Performance is ideal for more experienced participants who seek a more challenging workout to build higher levels of strength, endurance and fitness in a full 'hour of power'. Burn more calories than you thought possible!
New Cycle class at Caulfield
Caulfield has introduced a new cycle class on Tuesday evenings at 6.30pm.
During the month of October this class will be free for all members.Whether you are a beginner or an experienced cyclist or class participant, the class is at a level whereby all can participate. Adrian our instructor will certainly put you through your paces.
Put your cycle training into action at this year's Around the Bay in a Day!
Collect your Semester 2 timetable from Service Desks today!
See our website for full class descriptions.
Tennis $2 Happy Hour
Step away from your desk and onto the court! Monash Sport is making this easier for you by introducing a $2 Happy Hour during your lunch break!
All Monash staff and students are able to play up to two hours of tennis at the Clayton courts for only $2 per hour between 12-2pm Monday – Friday. This works out to be over an 85% saving off the standard Non-Student Off-Peak rate! Bookings can be made up to one week in advance and you are able to find all court booking information on our website.
Fitness Connect
Fitness Connect is a service which allows users to find and workout with someone of a similar fitness level and ability in exercise and/or sport. Exercising with a friend makes working out more enjoyable with many studies indicating the benefits regarding motivation, support and exercise longevity. The service can be found here.
TeamMONASH news
Australian University Games
After a week of hard work, perspiration and celebration, TeamMONASH has finished in second place overall.
The final results placed Melbourne University first, Monash second and University of Sydney in third place.
"The team performed with amazing spirit and great determination this year, it was a great effort," says TeamMONASH Director Martin Dolton. "So close but yet so far, watch this space in 2014!"
The Monash's final medal tally stood at 8 gold, 13 silver and 7 bronze.
Melbourne University beat Monash to the finish line with 10 gold, 9 silver and 3 bronze.
"Congratulations to everyone for all the hard work his week," says TeamMONASH Captain, Elly Thorne. "It was a great time, a great effort and I'm looking forward to the 2014 AUG."
Fellow TeamMONASH Captain Nick Cox also gave his congratulations to his fellow TeamMONASH athletes.
"We're enormously proud of every individual involved and how we've banded together as a team," Nick says. "Not only are we the biggest team, but we're the proudest. Well done to everyone in TeamMONASH."
Furthermore, 55 Monash students were recipients of Green and Gold team places, recognising them as the 'best of the best' in their chosen sport.
With a result to be proud of, TeamMONASH looks forward to next year and to take their performance up a notch, build off the results of 2013 and bring home the gold in 2014 Australian University Games.
Full results can be found on the Australian University Sport website.
Melbourne Marathon and Around the Bay in a Day
Now is your chance to get fit, get social and get involved by participating in the Melbourne Marathon or Around the Bay in a Day with TeamMONASH!
Get together a group of friends, pull on the Monash blue and on October 31 participate with TeamMONASH in either the Melbourne Marathon's 3km walk, 5.7km or 10km run, or challenge yourself and your friends to the 21km half marathon… or run the full 42km!
If running is not your thing, get on the Monash gear and try the Around the Bay in a Day cycling challenge on October 20! You can take on the scenic 50km or 100km ride, or test yourself and your friends with the 135km, 210km or 250km cycling options!
When you and your friends participate with TeamMONASH™ you get to:
- Hang out with other TeamMONASH participants in our marquee before and after the events
- Access FREE massages and face painting on the day (Melbourne Marathon only)
- Support great charities with great causes
- Receive a FREE TeamMONASH singlet if you're a first time participant from Monash University's students, staff or alumni
- Be a part of Australia's, and Monash's, great sporting tradition
- Hang out with other TeamMONASH participants in our marquee before and after the events
- Access FREE massages and face painting on the day (Melbourne Marathon only)
- Support great charities with great causes
- Receive a FREE TeamMONASH singlet if you're a first time participant from Monash University's students, staff or alumni
- Be a part of Australia's, and Monash's, great sporting tradition
It doesn't matter if you're walking, running or cycling, this is a great chance to be active and raise money for a good cause, regardless of age or fitness level.
For more information or to register visit TeamMONASH's Melbourne Marathon or Around the Bay in a Day information pages.
Chancellor's Cup Golf Day – Friday 15 November
The Chancellor's Cup Golf Day is a fundraising opportunity for Monash University affiliated sporting clubs across all campuses. Your involvement on the day will assist our clubs to raise much needed funds for their on going initiatives.
The handicap format will provide the basis for a great day of golf on one of Melbourne's most prestigious courses at the Spring Valley Golf Club. Throughout the day various competitions will be held including, longest drive and nearest the pin.
See our website for registrations and more information.
Melbourne Zoo Trip
Come join Monash University for a fun day exploring Melbourne Zoo
Date: Friday 25 October, 2013
Time: 10am–3pm
Cost: $25 (Includes bus transfers, entry, lunch and fun activities)
Monash students and staff only.
Bookings: bit.ly/monashzootrip
Enquiries: email@example.com
Employee benefits and discounts
Did you know Monash staff have access to a range of employee benefits and discounts including accommodation, travel insurance, airport parking and car hire. Read more information in the range of employee benefits and staff discounts
Up to 50% off Peppers and Mantra Resorts
Staff have access to the exclusive Departure Lounge with discounted rates at selected Peppers, Mantra and BreakFree properties throughout Australia, Bali and New Zealand.
Download the October specials here . See the flyer for travel dates and specials.
To book visit Departure Lounge and enter the password: monashstaff Rates are best when searching for 3 night+ stays.
As a Monash employee you can now access a range of banking and financial benefits including competitive rates on home lending and other NAB financial products, discounted movie tickets, computers, travel, shopping and much more from a range of top brands.
Benefits include:
- Preferential rate of 0.7% p.a. less than the standard variable home loan rate for both owner-occupied and residential investment home loans. For higher loan amounts, additional benefits may be negotiated.
- First year annual fee waiver for NAB Choice Package under NAB@work (saving $395).
- Home lending: 50% discount on the standard application fee for home loans (saving of $300).
- Term deposits: Receive a 0.25% p.a. bonus on the standard rates or 0.10% p.a. bonus on the blackboard special rate. This offer is available for deposit amounts of $5,000 – $250,000 for terms of 6-24 months, for online applications through NAB@work.
- Dining: Special offers on a wide range of restaurants around Australia including local eateries and premium restaurants.
- Shopping: Special offers on an extensive array of quality brands, products and services through telephone based and online service providers.
For more information about the NAB@work program visit the Monash eployee benefits and discounts webpage
10% off Rydges, Art Series and QT Hotels & Resorts
Enter the Monash Corporate ID at 40 Rydges, Art Series and QT Hotels & Resorts in Australia, New Zealand and the UK and receive:
- 10% off all your accommodation bookings
- Best rates online guaranteed
To start saving:
- Visit any of the hotel websites and select your preferred location and stay dates
- Enter the Monash Corporate ID: PC102298 in the text box and save 10% off the best rates
BUPA health insurance staff discount
Bupa (formerly HBA) provides staff access to a Monash Corporate Health Insurancec Plan, with:
- Your premiums paid through direct debit/credit card
- Savings on corporate products including Top, Intermediate and Saver Hospital cover,
- Access to Corporate Advantage, Classic and Essentials extras (with a minimum of 70% back on most services),
- No gap dental for children
- A single room or your money back.
For pricing and detailed information see staff benefits and discounts.
Change to how your pay for your health insurance – New members who join BUPA from 1st August will only have the option of direct debit/credit card payment. There will be no changes for existing members who pay through payroll deductions.
Travelling soon? Discounted Virgin and Qantas lounge access
Sign up for a discounted airport lounge membership for Qantas and Virgin and enjoy the benefits!
Qantas Club memberships offer heavily discounted rates that can be salary sacrificed; pricing: $316 (one year) or $560.89 (two years) plus $230.00 joining fee.
Virgin Australia lounge corporate memberships offer a special price of $200 per year with a $100 joining fee.
Visit Airport Lounge discounts for more information.
Free Comedy Club tickets
The Comedy Club at the Athenaeum Theatre is offering Monash staff a great range of weekly offers, including complimentary tickets.
View the line up of comedians online. All complimentary tickets are for the show only. Dinner and show tickets can be upgraded for the discounted price of $35pp (normally $45pp). For detailed information see staff discounts.
Flower delivery and green gifts
Enjoy 10% off a delicious range of chocolate bouquets, cake pops, choc dipped strawberries and beautiful ham-pers all handmade with love at Edible Blooms.
The Green Thumb Gifts range of flowering plants, herbs and trees are not only perfect for marking special occasions and celebrating the mo-ment, but once planted they provide a lasting memory of important life events.
Staff offer: Enter the promotional code MONASH in the checkout stage on www.edibleblooms.com.au or www.greenthumbgifts.com.au to receive 10% off the product total. Offer expires 31st October 2013
Other discounts available to staff
- Andrew's Airport Parking – 20% discount for staff, 15% for family
- Avis car hire – reduced excess and 3rd day of weekend rentals free
- Aussie Farmers Direct – first order discount
- Blink Optical – 20% off sunglasses and lenses
- BMW & Mini Corporate Program – complimentary scheduled servicing for 4 years / 60,000km, use of a BMW during scheduled servicing, xorporate pricing, reduced dealer delivery charges
- Convenient Kitchen home delivery meals
- Dell – up to 15% discount
- Lite n' Easy – 7 day meal pack discount
- Magazine subscriptions – 10% off
- Monash Commuter Club, 10% discount on Myki
- Parkville Carlton Football Club Cafe
- Travel insurance – special rates for staff


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Embryo Transfer (ET) is an advanced reproductive technology and a progressive tool that can help you produce more offspring from an elite cow and can extend the impact of outstanding cattle genetics.
Embryo transfer (ET) is widely used in the beef industry today to mass replicate specific genetics. There is no faster way to generate large numbers of progeny from a particular mating than through one of the embryo transfer programs. No matter if it is conventional ET or if you are using Invitro Fertilization (IVF) you can mass produce progeny in a shorter period of time that all come from the exact same genetics. The ET program has allowed breeders the opportunity to produce more highly sought after genetics and high performing progeny that the market demands.
ET Registration Rules
All donor dams must have a HD Genotype on file with BBU through a BBU approved genomic services vendor.
1. Effective August 1, 2016 all donor dams must be parent verified using DNA SNPs before progeny can be registered. BBU will handle older STR and Blood Typing parentage methods on a case by case basis. Donor dams with E.T. progeny registered in the BBU system before August 1, 2016 will be exempted from the Parent Verification requirement.
2. Progeny that are the result of traditional E.T. are not required to be parentage verified.
3. As of 1/1/2021 All calves from embryo transfer whether traditional flush or IVF flush must have a genotype on file prior to registration.
4. When the ownership of a donor dam changes after embryos have been recovered, the owner of the dam at the time the embryos were recovered shall retain the ownership and certification rights of said embryos.
5. Immediately upon the sale (or change of ownership) of an embryo (frozen or fresh), seller must submit to BBU a properly completed BBU Embryo Bill of Sale Form.
6. Immediately upon the sale (or change of ownership) of a pregnant recipient cow, seller must complete and sign the applicable Recipient Transfer Form. This completed form must then be submitted to BBU for recording of the Recipient Transfer. Only the owner of the Recipient cow at the time of birth shall be eligible to certify said calf.
7. Rules and Regulations of the BBU Artificial Insemination Program will apply to all sires used in the Embryo Transfer Program.
Fill out this pdf completely, save your file, attach in an email and send to firstname.lastname@example.com, subject line ET BOS

subset: commoncrawl


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Under the heel of business
Rosenbaum, Ruth
Many corporations in the global marketplace have severed their social contract with workers and local communities.
In 1997 1 was part of a group of U.S. women traveling in the mountains of Haiti to meet with women from the village of Medor. We were exploring the establishment of partnerships between U.S. sponsors and Haitian women interested in starting small businesses. Each woman spoke of selling salt, oil, thread, flour, or other commodities that were part of daily life.
When asked why they wanted to start a small business, a young Haitian woman gave an answer I will never forget. "I want to start this small business so I can feed my small children a meal each day," she said. In the stunned silence, we asked what she does now. "Now I feed my children a meal two or three times a week. The rest of the time they chew sugar cane so they will not feel hungry." Any attempt to understand "business ethics" must be anchored in this woman's reality.
In the years since the end of World War 11, the world has seen the local economies of individual nations transformed into an increasingly interwoven fabric: global finance and a global economy. We read about corporate mergers, takeovers, buy-outs, and conglomerates. Success is measured by the billions of dollars "earned" by a corporation and its shareholders, or by a country's gross national product, or by the inflation rate. All of this affects the complex relationships between companies and the countries in which they operate.
Yet rarely do we read about the effects of the globalization of the economy on individual countries as a whole, or on groups of people within a country. This lack of attention to the effects of globalization on individuals and communities serves to mask many of the global economy's negative effects.
In the United States, the original charters under which companies were granted incorporation gave a company the power to function as a "person" under the law. This was given in return for the company acting as a responsible member of the community in which it operated. It is important not to minimize these charters of incorporation because they made possible two things: the legal protection of board members from individual responsibility for actions in which the corporation might engage, and the partial sale of the corporation to partial owners or "shareholders."
What has strained the legal relationship between corporations and the communities in which they operate is the change in the way corporations see themselves. Since the 1960s, corporations have shifted from viewing themselves as local to a particular geographic community to defining themselves as national, international, multinational, and transnational corporations. In this process, the links by which corporations relate to local communities have often been severed, destroying the mutually beneficial bond that once united workers, managers, and markets within a given community.
One aspect of the globalization process is the redesigning of the legal organization of the corporation so as to limit tax liabilities. These same taxes were often established to serve a local community in providing for its physical and social infrastructure. Now, the legal definition of a company's subsidiaries, divisions, or wholly owned assembly plants is designed to meet the needs of the corporation rather than the communities and countries in which they operate.
For example, maquiladoras are assembly plants owned and operated by predominantly U.S. corporations in Mexico and elsewhere, often near the U.S. border. Corporations use the availability of cheap labor as a means of lowering production costs for the products and services they provide. The tax structure governing maquiladoras in Mexico does not provide for the payment of corporate income taxes to the local communities. This lack of payment structure contributes in great part to the lack of funds available for the development of physical and social infrastructure including roads, sewers, electric power, schools, and other services that we take for granted in the United States.
In Matamoros, Mexico, across the border from Brownsville, Texas, there are families of maquiladora workers living on the basurera, the abandoned garbage dump. When asked why they chose to live on a garbage dump that is contaminated, dusty, and with no provision for water, family after family replied that they had to choose between paying rent or feeding their families because the wages in the maquiladoras were so low.
INSTEAD OF CREATING an integrated global village that recognizes the value of local and national communities, many corporations continue to weave webs of production, consumption, and finance that bring economic benefit to less than one-third of the world's population. Concomitantly, the remaining two-thirds (consisting of the bottom 20 percent of the world's richer nations and -the bottom 80 percent of the world's poorer nations) remain outside these ever-tightening webs of economy, resulting in what can easily be called economic apartheid.
We hear or read about this global economic system as though it were created by some inevitable force over which we have no control. The truth is that this particular kind of economic system has been established by decisions of human beings. We have to ask the fundamental questions, who are the groups that set the standards for the behavior of corporations, and what is the source of their power? Systems created by human decisions can be changed.
Our basic beliefs as faith communities impel us to raise the questions, and to move the issue of corporate responsibility in a globalized economy from standards of legality and ethics to standards of morality and justice.
RUTH ROSENBAUM, TC, Ph.D, is executive director of the Center for Reflection, Education, and Action (CREA) in Hartford, Connecticut.
Copyright Sojourners Jan/Feb 2000
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved


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text:
A 25-year-old filed a police report against Sean
"P. Diddy" Combs, claiming he was roughed up by bodyguards, after
he snapped a picture of the mogul at the opening of a new Miami nightclub.
Shane Emenheiser went to the February 21 opening
of the Mansion night club in South Beach. According to a police report, he saw
Combs around 2:00 AM in the VIP section with his entourage.
Emenheiser snapped a picture and the mogul allegedly
approached him and said "I will throw you over the balcony if you take
another picture."
Emenheiser replied "What?" in a confused
manner at which time Combs allegedly reiterated his threat. "Take one more
picture, and I'll throw you over the f*cking balcony." Combs then
walked away.
Emenheiser claims that Combs' bodyguards approached
him and tried to take his camera. When he resisted, a bodyguard grabbed him
by the neck and took the camera from him.
Emenheiser claims he was taken to an officer
where the bodyguards took his name and number and then kicked him out of the
When police arrived to question Combs about the
incident, Combs had already left. Police are still investigating the incident.
Emenheiser stated he simply wants his camera
back, but a lawyer told him that without any physical evidence, there wasn't
much he could do.


text:
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with the Big Guy
Join the Big Guy In the Groove as he bridges the gap of music from then and now.
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Now in its second decade, Legends of Jazz with Ramsey Lewis is the undisputed leader in bringing some of the greatest names and most influential melodies in Jazz to the airwaves, and with award-winning musician Ramsey Lewis at the helm, this guided tour of composers, vocalists, and instrumentals gets the royal treatment.
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This is the text of my latest book review for the Financial Times. It is the first time I have covered anything to do with classical antiquity in my writing.
Is there any way of escaping the terrible rut into which the debate about executive pay has fallen? As things stand, discussions of the subject generate huge amounts of moral indignation but conspicuously fail to indicate any way out of the quagmire.
Most of the public debate follows a depressingly familiar pattern. First, it emerges in the news that a top executive has received compensation that is many times the average income. Typically the package will include a large performance-related bonus on top of a substantial basic salary.
Next, both sides of the argument spring into action. The critics maintain that it is outrageous, especially in these austere times, for anyone to be paid so much.
Then the company's defenders insist the exceptional rewards are merited by performance and, in any case, they are the market rate for the job. Both camps genuinely believe they have fairness on their side.
Ultimately there may prove to be no way out of the quandary, but it is worth investigating the possibility of resolution. The Ajax Dilemma by Paul Woodruff, a classical scholar at the University of Texas at Austin, provides intriguing insights into the question.
To those unschooled in the classics, which include this reviewer, ancient Greece may seem a perverse place to start. It is not immediately apparent how those who lived in pre-modern times can provide insights to complex contemporary issues.
But it turns out there are at least two reasons why it is worth going back to the ancients. Most importantly it provides a way of focusing on first principles in relation to many thorny debates. Ancient Greece was, as far as is known, the first place where many important topics were systematically discussed.
A secondary benefit is that moving away from heated contemporary debates makes it easier to identify the fundamental questions involved.
Woodruff's approach is to outline the myth of Ajax, the Greek hero of the Trojan war, before drawing more general conclusions from the tragic tale. In the story, adapted from Sophocles' play, the Greek army is camped outside Troy after the two sides have fought nine years of war.
Agamemnon, the Greek king, decides he should give the armour of the recently slain Achilles to his most valuable soldier. The choice is between Ajax, extraordinary large and brave, and Odysseus, a skilled orator and cunning strategist. Agamemnon lets both soldiers argue their case in front of a jury; a procedure that gives Odysseus, with his rhetorical skills, an inherent advantage. Eventually Ajax kills himself after being dishonoured by the decision to award the prize to Odysseus.
It is impossible to do justice to the subtlety of Woodruff's work in such a short space but some of the main themes can be highlighted. It should be apparent that there are many contemporary Ajaxes, loyal and hardworking employees, who can feel slighted by the rewards lavished on certain colleagues.
The difficulty of making meaningful comparisons of performance is also apparent. Brave soldiers and clever strategists are both vital to an army's success, but have different types of skills.
Most contemporary managers would argue that the answer is to have a transparent set of rules to ensure fair decisions. But Woodruff argues against such an approach as rigid and unlikely to lead to satisfactory outcomes.
His alternative to fairness is justice. In Woodruff's view these are fundamentally different concepts as justice involves the exercise of discretion rather than the mechanical application of rules. Justice demands true leadership rather than the mere management exemplified by Agamemnon.
Ultimately the Ajax dilemma cannot be resolved on its own terms. By the time Ajax and Odysseus were set against each other in competition the outcome was always likely to be tragic.
Tackling such conflicts means first developing a system of shared meaning that is widely accepted across society, and then reaching a social consensus by debating shared basic values.
Solving such dilemmas also demands the development of true leadership through cultivating individuals who have the wisdom to exercise judgment, rather than hiding behind procedures.
'The Ajax Dilemma: Justice, Fairness and Rewards', Paul Woodruff (Oxford University Press, 2011; $19.95)
Welcome to danielbenami.com.
To contact me email ferraris AT danielbenami.com
I also have a Facebook fan page.
Follow me on Twitter at @danielbenami.
Ferraris For All, my book defending economic progress, has just been published in an extended edition in paperback and on Kindle with a new chapter on the inequality debate.Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de,
Please see the Buy the book page for more details.


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I'm sure the irony wasn't lost on Vito Acconci, finding himself an honored guest at the University of Pennsylvania, just about nine years after the Penn rejected a radical Acconci Studio proposal for a 1 Percent for Art project on campus.
The Penn powers that be weren't quite comfortable with Acconci's proposed little, shrub-covered African-looking huts for seating in front of the stores on 36th Street. (Acconci alluded to the African huts briefly during his talk.) They were shot down for blocking sight lines–thereby discouraging commerce and encouraging lurkers.
Ultimately, nothing got built on 36th Street, and the 1 percent public art commission ultimately went to Andrea Blum—hard-edged anti-tables and anti-chairs on 40th Street. Comparing the two pieces would be pretty instructive, if you ask me.
But back to Vito whose ground-breaking body art and installation work, with their consideration of politics and power, still influence art today. His influence is wide-ranging, also touching on video, audio, site-specific installation, everything that young sculptors are doing today. Just look through the Whitney Biennial catalog and make your own list. Or check out the previous generation, from Matthew Barney to Mike Kelley to Bill Viola to Marina Abramovic and Rikrit Tiravanija.
Vito is currently the subject of a scholarly exhibit at Slought Foundation, up until March 31. The exhibit, Powerfields: Explorations in the Work of Vito Acconci, was co-curated by Meredith Malone and by Christine Poggi, and is an outgrowth of Poggi's curatorial practices class, which focused entirely on Acconci.
Acconci (in the suit) teaching.
In her introduction of the speaker, Poggi described much of Acconci's work as utopian.
One of the warm-up images flashed before Acconci's talk. A number of them had writings and quotes from him. This one says, "There's a legal term for a problem in public space: something that might draw people to an area–say, across train tracks–where they might be caused harm. It's called a 'public nuisance.' I wouldn't mind being called that for my life's work." –Vito Acconci (Interview with Mark C. Taylor, 2002)
Famous for his edgy art actions/performances from the 1970s, Acconci is no longer that outrageous young man. He's physically a bit thicker, a lot older. When he speaks, he repeats a phrase until he explodes into the remainder of his sentence–a delivery that suggests poetry, performance and a mental tic. He rocks back and forth. He's intense and obsessive.
He described a career in which each new step meant rejecting the one before. He portrayed himself as someone whose art developed out of a series of philosophical crises, a series of manifestos that he undermined over and over until he rejected art altogether and switched to architecture (of a sort). Now he's busy wondering about the architecture.
Here's some of what he had to say:
Acconci the poet
He started out as a poet: "I wanted the words to be matter, to be material. … I was trying to make something as a fact, as literal as possible. The last piece that I thought of as a piece of writing, a 1969 poem [about a walk], was an attempt to make the reading time the same as the walking time the same as experiential time."
One of Vito Acconci's maximally literal poems.
Acconci the artist
Then he said he switched to an art context. "Art was a field you could imprint with anything from other fields." An example he gave was using walks as an art material. He said he wanted to know "how to connect myself to the world around me, to the space around me."
An example of work from this period was Street Works. "Every day I followed a person in the street until he went in." The person's reason for being on the street Acconci adopted as his own reason for being there. "I could literally be dragged by another person."
Acconci said once he realized he was no longer writing, then the ground became the replacement for the page, the walk a replacement for the writing. "Why not shift focus from the medium, why not shift focus from the ground I walked on? Why not use myself? …I have to start focusing on me. The pieces in the 1970s, the pieces are turning on myself. I start an action; the action ends in me. The pieces all involve concentration."
But Acconci then wondered how to prove that the concentration was on himself? His answer: "Apply physical stress on my body." He made a film in which he used a moving candle to burn the hair off each of his breasts; he made one in which he pulled on his breasts–an exercise in futility. "I wish I could find an easier way to look like a woman," he said, sounding rather earnest. He got a laugh anyway. The action "put me in the position of the Little Engine That Could. I think I can, I think I can. But no matter how long I pulled on my breast, nothing would happen.
The I and the You in Acconci's art
Vito Acconci following someone on the street, one of the works in his Street Work series.
"I thought I was opening myself up to viewers. I was probably closing viewers off. The viewer is always a voyeur, looking in on some secret he or she shouldn't be a part of.
"…I had to find a way to approach a viewer. This started to happen in 1971." In Claim, the viewer could anticipate the situation he was entering with the help of video. But the situation, which invited the viewer to dare to walk down the stairs to the basement, involved getting past the blidfolded artist swinging a lead pipe. Acconci also talked threatening phrases non stop.
"I talk as a self-hypnotizing device. Whenever I hear someone coming down the stairs, I can swing the lead pipe.
"This was the beginning of architecture for me," he said, referring to the way he was using and controling the space.
He said this was art as an occasion, and it was an exchange system between the artist and the viewer. "All of these I-you pieces, I set myself up as a still point, and you have to come through.
"It occurred to me that I was confirming an art world hierarchy, confirming all the things I hate about art–art as religion, art as an altar…
"…What if I started to blend in with the space?"
So in 1972, in a conventional gallery space, half way back in the gallery, Acconci made the floor rise to become a ramp that rose to 2 1/2 to 3 feet above the normal floor its highest point in the back of the gallery. Acconci hid beneath the floor for 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
"The viewer walks across the ramp. I'm trying constantly to masturbate. I can build sexual fantasies going on those footsteps. A viewer might be thinking, thinking, He's doing this for me. My voice is constantly talking.
"Seedbed, it was a kind of 8-hour job for that period. Its sense had to do with taking a room, walls and floor that you assume are neutral, and trying to fill that space with a person. I had to be part of the floor–before the first person came and after the last person left."
Suddenly, Acconci started talking about his musical influences–Neil Young, Van Morrison. "The single voice needing a long song to meander around the self. Music has always been a major influence on stuff I've done." By the mid '70s, his taste in pop during the installation phase included the Ramones and the Sex Pistols. However now, at Acconci Studios (his architectural phase), he listens to musici with no voice. "Architecture and music make an ambience. You can do other things while you're listening to music."
In the mid '70s, he started making installations. "The way I saw installations, a space was given to me for a certain period of time. I didn't think about what the piece would be until I already had a space. Why was site specific so important to me? Because that art couldn't be universal; that art only made sense at this specific time."
Vito Acconci, turning a gallery into a meeting place. The table goes out the window and becomes a diving board. His recorded voice repeats phrases like, "Now that we're all here together, what do you think, Bob?"
He began to feel that in a gallery, which was a place to which people came, people had to be part of the piece, and he envisioned a space that was like a town square, with his voice calling people together. "I was kidding myself. A gallery will never be a public square.
"I couldn't do art anymore."
Vito Acconci, Instant House, with the walls down on the floor, only the American flag showing.
So Acconci became interested in architecture in the mid '80s. In Instant House, if a visitor sat on a swing, his weight would raise the four walls from the floor, revealing a Soviet flag on the outside surfaces. On the inside was an American flag.
Vito Acconci, Instant House, with the swing weighted by a human being, the walls up, the Soviet flag, revealed
The search for a permanent home
But that wasn't enough for Acconci. "The house only exists as long as a person [on the swing] keeps the instrument going. I wanted something permanent."
Vito Acconci, Bad Dream House, his prototype permanent house
So he started making houses, like Bad Dream House. Once he made his prototype house, he decided, "So I needed a prototype landscape."
"I became convinced that the stuff wasn't art anymore. …I'm not an architect, so I needed to work with someone who was. …If I wanted to do something public, it had to start as public [i.e. made with others, working as a group]." He formed Acconci Studio eventually.
Spheres in use at Queens College.
In the '90s, most of what he did were public, 1 Percent for Art public art projects, things designed for a specific building, a specific physical problem. An example he showed was for Queens College's English Department front entranceway with two spheres, lost in a large empty space. He added more spheres, with cut-outs for sitting, a regular Acconci strategy, cutting away pieces of a geometric form. "The pass-through space has become a gathering space," he boasted, then adding, "There's a nagging doubt I have–Can a couple of folding chairs have done the same thing?
"Since I was doing public art, I was trying to give myself a reason for doing public art. Since there's so much less money spent on the art than on the architecture, only one percent, maybe I'm bringing in something from the margins, bringing in a minority view.
What's One Percent worth?
"But I've become convinced the art is worth only one percent of the architecture. Public art may be a folly."
After that declaration of self doubt, Acconci kept talking about his other projects–a store front redesign and a hilarious tractor trailer called Mobile Linear City, with several trailer homes nested inside so they could telescope out to stretch the trailer from 15 feet to 75 feet. The walls would fold down to form the furniture, once the trailers were stretched.
"I don't think I'm any good at details." So the group process helps him overcome that problem, and he said plans evolve from discussions so it's hard to say just who generated the scheme.
"I don't think you can say six people think better than one, but you can say six people think more than one."
Earlier in the talk, he had complained that his earliest body-based work came about 10 years too late. He says the same thing about architecture. "Architecture takes so long to do that it's always outdated."
The Acconci Studio's World Trade Center design, in which inside is out and outside is in.
He went on to show his group's plan for the World Trade Center. "Make a world; then poke a hole in the world." The model he showed looked like a hunk of Swiss cheese. "If a building is going to be exploded anyway, make it full of holes in the first place. "It can act as a kind of urban camouflage. A terrorist looking at it would say, oh, this is already destroyed."
The Memphis performing arts center addition, which grapples with the concept of turning inside out and vice versa.
He went on to talk about other projects involving push and pull systems of manipulating materials. He showed a bench based on a mobius strip, a space designed to accommodate intermission crowds at a performing art center in Memphis. "I was interested in topological space in the '00s.
A bench based on the idea of a Mobius strip.
"…The architecture we really want to do couldn't have been thought of before the 21st century. It needs to be subservient to people. People need to sit."
Acconci Studio, umbrella which doesn't require hands and which reflects–a camouflage strategy according to Acconci
Then he started to talk about bending and folding and stretching materials in a "person-made island in Gratz" which was a theater and cafe. From there he began talking about designing clothing, including a different approach to umbrellas, a car that wouldn't need tires or gas, and a soft car.
Acconci Studio's person-made island in Gratz
"Blade Runner changed my notion of science fiction," replacing the Stanley Kubrick all-white notion.
"Is architecture inherently a totalitarian activity? The hope of architecture is there's always that renovation principal. Architecture is done by a sequence of people together, a series of people as time progresses," he said, circling back to the problem of how out of date all buildings are by time they are completed.
But at least it's not art. "There's always the Do Not Touch signs in a museum–[suggesting] art is more important than people."


text:
How to Buy Preferred Shares of Stock
You can buy preferred shares of any publicly traded company in the same way you buy common shares: through your broker, whether online through a discount broker or by contacting your personal broker at a full-service brokerage. The more relevant issue is: what exactly you're buying and why you should (or shouldn't) buy a company's preferred shares over its common stock.
You can purchase preferred shares of a listed company using a variety of brokerage services.
The Difference Between Preferred and Common Shares
When you buy shares of a company's common stock, you've become one of the owners of the company. With your common stock purchase, you also acquire voting rights proportional to your ownership. In some cases, owners of common stock have voted out one or more members of the company's board of directors, even forcing the replacement of the existing CEO. Owners of preferred shares almost never acquire voting rights.
On the other hand, as an owner of common shares, not only are you not guaranteed a particular dividend amount; you may not be entitled to a dividend at all – that's entirely up to the company's board of directors, as is the dividend amount if one is declared.
Preferred Shares and Dividends
When you buy preferred shares, you're guaranteed regular distributions of dividends at a rate guaranteed at the time of issuance, unless the company's fortunes decline to a point where paying the dividend is no longer possible. Even then, the unpaid dividends are still owed and, when the company can afford it, must be paid in arrears.
If worst comes to worst, and the company goes bankrupt, preferred shareholders are entitled to be repaid their investment in full before common stockholders can receive anything at all. As a practical matter, when a company liquidates, preferred shareholders may or may not recoup all or part of their investment, but common shareholders often receive nothing.
Why Buy Preferred Shares?
For individual retail investors, the answer might be "for no very good reason." It's not generally known, but most preferred shares are purchased by institutional investors at the time the company first goes public because they have an incentive to buy preferred shares that individual retail investors do not: the so-called "dividend received deduction." This IRS ruling entitles institutions that pay corporate income taxes a 70 percent exclusion of that income from taxes – a huge benefit. Lacking this generous incentive, preferred shares become less attractive to the individual investors.
Nonetheless, there can be a place for preferred shares in a diversified investment portfolio. One way of looking at them is not so much as an alternative to common stock, but as an equity related to a bond. Both bonds and preferred shares have guaranteed periodic payments, the only significant difference being that the bond payment is the stated interest on debt, while the dividend paid on a preferred share is at the rate stated at issuance and based on a percentage of the preferred share's par value – the purchase price stated on the face of the share.
Another characteristic both equities share is their lower volatility compared to common stock. This is particularly true for bonds with limited maturities as well as for the preferred shares of Dow Jones 30 and Fortune 500 companies, the behemoths of capitalism.
Preferred shares are particularly suited to the portfolios of wealthy investors, where the relative stability of the investment is more important than the greater average returns on investment of common stock.
- Preferred stock symbols are different from common stock symbols, so be sure to enter the correct symbol when placing your trade.
- Finding information about a preferred stock can be difficult. Go to the company website or contact your broker to get the information you need to make an informed decision.
Writer Bio
I am a retired Registered Investment Advisor with 12 years experience as head of an investment management firm. I also have a Ph.D. in English and have written more than 4,000 articles for regional and national publications.


text:
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Through partnering with Glymt, we were able to engage thousands of creators and source original video content covering the entire country. That content provides an authentic look that helped us build our "Ponha Portugal no Mapa" campaign.
As Glymt is an outstanding partner of this project, it is with great pleasure that I invite you to the launch of the platform CLICK2PORTUGAL.com.
We have no words to thank you. Our challenge was a success !!! 150 videos... 150 memories... 150 contributions to the history of Hotel do Sado. We are certainly in an inspiring area, but you have exceeded our expectations.


text: Not only that, but the theme of the "Phase II" iteration of "Blood and Fire" was about the Peter-Alex relationship, i.e. "Space isn't the final frontier. The final frontier is the human heart; space is where we'll meet the challenge." Now I don't have a problem with that. In fact, the best stories are about how the characters are affected by what's going on around them. Or how it's often stated in mystery fiction: "It isn't how the character works the mystery, but how the mystery works the character." My disappointment with "Blood and Fire" is that the execution wasn't what it could've been, and that it TOLD more than it SHOWED, especially since Kirk blatantly tells us the theme of the entire story at the very end.


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Kim & Anne live in Sacramento, California, and having been together about 6 years now, they decided to get married and take their honeymoon all in one big fun trip (their first ever!) to New York City. While here they've hung out in Brooklyn and Manhattan, gone shopping, and explored the amazing restaurants we have […]
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At 91 years old, Hilda Bell knows how to do a little bit of everything.
As a master woodcarver, she can transform a block of wood into the face of an old man with wrinkles, a full beard and seemingly tired eyes.
Trained as a young girl in tap, ballet and ballroom styles, she now teaches line dancing to the men and women of the assisted living facility, The Holbrook.
As a woman who sewed her four daughters' clothes "because we were poor," she has crafted costumes and helped with fashion shows.
As a musician, she easily picks out tunes on a dulcimer, including the immediately recognizable "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" to a few people sitting in her apartment in the gated Gainesville community.
"I'm a jack-of-all-trades and master of none," Bell said with a smile as her eyes twinkled.
But she is adamant about what she is not.
"I'm not a singer," the nonagenarian said.
She quickly added "I feel I'm more of an entertainer."
An award-winning moment
The senior citizen, now, has the undeniable proof. She is an award-winning entertainer. Five months ago, Bell captured the Larry Williams Award during a juried singing competition in Roswell.
"It's basically like 'American Idol,'" said Cindy Bell, one of Hilda's daughters.
Started by pianist Larry Williams to raise money for children's charities, the contest involves five judges scoring contestants on their vocal abilities. The scores are tabulated and the winnerreceives four hours of recording studio time.
Cindy, who has been with the show's production since its inception in 1974, was adding the scores at the September 2014 contest when she realized her mother would be the winner.
"I saw she had a really high score," Cindy said, adding she asked another volunteer to check for any mathematical mistakes. "And sure enough (my mother) had won."
But when Cindy announced Hilda as the winner, her mother didn't hear her own name.
"I have a hearing problem, especially if a lot of noise is going on," Hilda Bell said. "When (Cindy) said the name - my name - I did not hear the name."
Cindy said she saw her mother clapping and looking around the room, trying to spot the competition winner.
"Then everyone started standing up and giving her an ovation," Cindy said.
But Hilda remained rooted to her chair. Then pianist Arthur Turner, a professor at Georgia State University, alerted her about winning.
"Arthur said 'Hilda, it's you,'" she said, recalling the moment. "And Cindy's up there (on stage) saying 'Come on, mom!'"
Hilda accepted the award from her daughter, but had a second thought. The mother of four wanted to bequeath her studio recording time to Cindy, who is a trained singer.
"She said 'I guess I should give this to you," Cindy said. "But I said, 'No, mom. You have to do it yourself.'"
Sharing the spotlight
Her reluctance to stand in the spotlight alone is nothing new for Hilda.
Her introduction into the entertainment field started when she and her sister, Betty, performed together as children in Connecticut.
"My sister and I did a duet," Hilda Bell said. "We did a minuet and a Dutch dance."
Hilda, who was three years younger than her sister, explained she always danced the girl's role while Betty danced the boy's part.
"I had the blond hair and curls and she had the brown hair," Hilda Bell said. "So she played the boy. And she hated being the boy."
This led to a good-natured nickname for Hilda. Betty started introducing Hilda as "the pretty one."
But it was Betty who encouraged Hilda to perform. In fact, Hilda said she is usually "scared" when she gets up on stage to sing. However, she always recalls her sister's words.
"She said 'Forget about the people and just have fun,'" Hilda Bell said.
And the 91-year-old ensures she has fun, especially when she occasionally forgets the lyrics to a song.
"I start gibber-gabbering," she said. "And then I say it's not a senior moment. It's an intellectual overload."
This apparently gets the audience laughing, which motivates Hilda Bell to continue.
She also chooses songs or parodies to perform in public.
"I like to tell joke stories," she said. "And perform songs where I don't have to be on the right note."
Recording a CD
But recording a CD requires the right notes. Therefore, Hilda Bell did not know what to expect when she finally cashed in her prize at the recording studio.
"Tim (Wheeler with DoubleSharp Music) made it so easy," she said. "I didn't have to hold the mic."
Turner also agreed to accompany her on the piano during her recording session. He said despite her age, recording with her was "incredible."
"It was a lot more fun and half the stress of working with anyone else," Turner said. "Her memory is incredible, and her comic timing is incredible."
Her sense of humor was apparent, especially in two of the nine songs she chose for her recordings. The second and third tracks on the CD are a parody of "Are You Lonesome Tonight" and "I'm Going on a Date with Santa." She sang both songs during the contest.
Turner believes her song selection accounted for her winning the top prize after competing in the contest for 40 years.
"For some weird reason, the novelty songs struck a chord with the audience," he said. "There were more laughs. ... I'm really glad Hilda won.
"(And) to be able to get Hilda to win something and to have enough time to record a full CD," he continued. "I think it's a nice conclusion."
Then Wheeler turned her nine songs into a finished CD almost overnight. The quick conversion allowed Hilda Bell to give her first CD to her family - including four grandsons, two granddaughters and five great-grandsons.
"It's been a whirlwind for her," Cindy Bell said of her mother's recent accomplishment. "She was so excited to get copies out to family at Christmas Eve."
Now, she plans to share her musical prowess with the residents at Lanier Village Estates. Hilda will have a CD release party Tuesday in the gated community. Her two grandsons, Matthew and Logan Daniels, and her daughter, Cindy, will perform.
"We are going to give 25 percent of the proceeds of the sales to the Lanier Village Estates Good Samaritan Fund," Hilda Bell said.
She explained the fund assists Lanier Village Estates residents who are in need.
"If you run out of money before you die, they won't throw you out," she said. "That's one reason we are here. ... I didn't expect to live this long."
A long life
Hilda has overcome two major illnesses late in her life.
Seven years ago, she had a mastectomy after developing breast cancer. Then four years later, she had a heart attack.
She attributes her survival to the wonderful support system of her family and residential community.
Her daughter, Cindy, said her mother's positive attitude and her active lifestyle play a part, too.
"She's always up doing something," she said. "We can hardly catch her at home."
While she would not describe herself as a constant student, she admits she always likes "to learn new things."
That desire led her to learn how to paint and do woodwork.
"I've always had my hands doing something," she said. "Otherwise, I'd be bored to death."


text:
Launch Speech by Burwood Scene Editor Belinda Noonan on 29 May 2013.
I met Professor Derek Hart at Concord Hospital eight months ago when he had decided that the time had come to tell the community what his Group at the ANZAC Research Institute were doing and to seek support.
Professor Hart's research has been based on the dendritic cell, a new class of white blood cells in the immune system that "talks" to and commands other blood cells. They are the Generals in the blood stream that decide whether to allow or reject drugs and cancers.
A long time into the interview as I was struggling to come to grips with what he was telling me – I finally asked the big question. "Are you talking about the potential of an anti-cancer vaccine?"
His direct answer: "Yes" I absorbed the enormity of that then asked: "Does that mean there would potentially be no need for chemotherapy?"
"It will be good for mop up."
Professor Derek Hart is a Rhodes Scholar and his work is focussed on blood cancers. It was his research at Oxford that confirmed the discovery of the dendritic cell – by American – Professor Ralph Steinman, who was awarded a Nobel Prize in 2011, two days after his death from pancreatic cancer. They were collaborators.
the past two years, Professor Hart, his Associate Professor wife, Georgina and their 20 strong brilliant team at Concord have proven that these cells can be isolated – taken out – retrained – and put back into the blood stream to fight cancer or accept transplants from the inside.
His "Group" are rapidly approaching Phase 1 of human clinical trials. This will be one of the few medical breakthroughs in history to go from discovery to clinical trial under the one team and the collaboration extends to Concord, Royal Prince Alfred and Westmead Hospitals.
I left that interview shell-shocked as the implications for mankind dawned. If I had $5million, I would have gone straight back with a cheque and said "take it – get on with it, thank you very much". Reality kicked in! What can I, with one community newspaper do other than print a few stories?
The task was to start with a group of people who could help and advise. One of those at an early meeting was the Member for Drummoyne, John Sidoti.
Then Bendigo Bank – the community bank, came on board.
Derek and Georgina Hart live in the inner west, their daughter goes to school in the inner west. It is fitting that here – tonight – in this room – for the 2013 Inner West Local Business Awards with all the good and great business owners, leaders, elected officials, council representatives and sponsors – and with the blessing of Steve Loe, that I am humbled to announce the launch of the ANZAC Research Institute Medical Appeal.
In its largest ever community project Australia -wide, Bendigo Bank will begin to promote the appeal through every branch in Sydney with an achievable starting target of $150,000, before expanding nationally for the total target of $5million. We are seeking your support. With posters in your business, by supporting or hosting fund-raising events, by providing advice and ideas. By being involved.
Burwood Scene will do two things.
1.Next Wednesday's paper on June 5 will announce the Bendigo Bank partnership with the ANZAC Research Institute on the front page. The 2013 Inner West Local Business Awards Winners Feature will be brought forward to this issue and 10% of every ad placed by tonight's winners will start the Appeal.
2.The July 3 Burwood Scene will announce – on the front page again and with a special feature inside – the public launch of the Appeal and how to donate or be involved. 20% of EVERY ad booked for July 3 with the words "We support the ANZAC Research Institute Medical Appeal" will go directly to the appeal.
Ladies – Gentlemen. Can I ask you to put your hands together and welcome, on behalf of Professor Derek Hart, the manager of his Group, Mr James Zagarella. Can I also ask you to welcome the Bendigo Bank Senior Manager of Community Strengthening, Mr John Chandler.
I invite you all to have a word tonight with these two gentlemen and on your tables are brochures outlining Professor Hart's work, information from Bendigo Bank and also a Burwood Scene card where you can register your interest. I have three lovely young women here tonight, Emily, Bridhe and Mel who can also assist you.
Thank you for listening and let's get on with the celebrations.


text:
The first Sunday of October fast approaches and since I know a great majority of you have been tirelessly oiling your lederhosen, I thought it appropriate to find the best beer to drink while wearing your leather shorts. Oktoberfest is the sixteen day festival celebrating the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. The festival typically runs for sixteen days and ends on the first Sunday of October, which for those of you not paying attentions is this Sunday. The three beers in the lineup all hail from Munich and are Augustiner-Brȁu Edlestoff, Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest, and Hofbräu München Oktoberfest.
First up we have Augustiner-Brȁu Edlestoff. Unfortunately I was not able to find the fest beer, but I figured a beer from one of the six breweries actually allowed at Oktoberfest was close enough. This beer which is actually a Munich Helles and not a Marzen is light straw colored brew with a bright white head. The brewery which has been in operation since 1328 proves its craft with this expertly produced and outstandingly crisp lager. I'm surprised at how much flavor is packed into such
a lightly colored beer.
The Hacker-Pschorr brewery which finds its roots in the Hacker brewery that was founded in 1417 provides our second offering. For beer number two I was able to find Hacker-Pschorr Original Oktoberfest. This marzen offers a deep amber colored brew capped by a frothy two-fingered head. It is crisp with a slight residual sweetness that is finely complemented by a strong taste of noble hops. If only I had a couple of bratwurst or pretzels to wash down with this beer.
My third choice is presented by the youngest of three breweries. The Hofbräu München brewery has been in operation since 1589 and their Oktoberfest is the last of my choices but not necessarily least. The color of this lager sits smack dab in the middle of the first two being reminiscent of a loaf of bread. The taste and aroma of this fine drink are both light and subtle. There is little to no residual sweetness and the noble hops flavor is only barely present. I could drink this beer all day; say in a large tent filled with long picnic tables for example. I can hear the oom-pah music now.
As thoughts of sauerkraut, baked apples, pretzels, mustard, and wurst fly through my head
I'm not only trying to figure which beer would be best to enjoy in my leather shorts, but also wondering why I didn't get myself some snacks before I started drinking these beers. All three of these breweries present fine beers that all have their merits and I can almost taste the history that's associated with them. The beer I chose to drink in my leather pants is the Hofbräu München Oktoberfest.
Mike Berube is a beer lover who has the belief that there are good beers, there are bad beers, and then there is the right beer. He has begun a quest to find the perfect for every situation.


text:
She knelt before me, her auburn hair shining, flowing down her back and onto the floor behind her bare buttocks and feet. Her head was bowed, letting some of her long mane fall forward, hiding her face, but it was not enough to conceal the puddles of tears that were forming on the floor. Her arms were stretched in front of her, palms up, cradling a glorious and shining pair of scissors. I looked, enjoying the scene, and waited.
The time had come. I had laughed when he had suggested this day might ever happen, when he described the ritual he wished me to conduct. But now, the day was here, and I was as he had requested – I remembered every word, even 10 years later – naked, hair washed, brushed dry, shining down my back, trailing on the floor, kneeling with my head bowed, offering him scissors, and about to beg him to do the unthinkable.
I knew it had to be this way. But it hadn't always.
I felt her hesitation, even as far into this process as she had come. And I wondered, too. Would she go through with it? I remembered her high, sharp laugh when I had proposed to her the arrangement that had governed both our lives for the past decade. I recalled smiling quietly when she assured me, then, and repeatedly through the years, that this day would never come. I would have been happy if that had been true – if the next decades had passed as wonderfully and passionately and as happily as the last 10 years. But I was absolutely thrilled – and working hard not to show it in this hour of her utmost distress – to think that perhaps I had been right after all. She had done everything perfectly up until now – the hair freshly washed and clearly brushed dry, the nakedness, the kneeling, the upraised palms offering scissors.
Would she remember the correct words? I had only said them once. If she failed to, I would have to decide a punishment. But if she did utter them properly, I would grant her request – in a way I had been planning since we first met.
He had seen me on the street – stopped me, actually, one cool fall day. My hair was down – rare before that day, and rarely since, it's true – and just swinging below my earlobes. I had literally just left the salon, having asked the stylist – not my usual one because she never would have agreed – to chop my average-looking shoulder-length auburn locks into a short bob with a little tiny angle to it – so just an inch of my nape was exposed, scissored shorter than I'd ever had my hair. This stylist had done exactly that, giving me a sharp left-side part and bangs that were just right – not thin, not heavy, and a strong, blunt line to match the rest of the bob. I had played with it a bit at the salon, including rubbing my short nape hairs, and loved how it felt. I thought it looked absolutely fantastic, and I was walking on air when I left to head home.
And only moments later, this man stopped me – a solid, tall man with dark hair cut short and glasses. He stopped dead in his tracks on the sidewalk, staring at me. We locked eyes. I stopped too, staring at him staring at me. After a moment, he gathered himself and said, "I'm Jon. And you have the most amazing hair I have ever seen in my life." I smiled shyly, and batted my lashes at him as I thanked him and prepared to keep walking.
"No, wait – wait!" he said, more urgently. Let me buy you a coffee, or" – he checked the clock at the bank across the road – "a drink. Please. There's a cafe with outdoor seating right over there."
I smiled, unsure. He raised his open hands. "No ulterior motives, nothing suspicious up my sleeves" – he went so far as to tug at his shirt cuffs. "Just a coffee or a drink. Please."
He was so earnest, his face so open, his eyes so focused, that I found it hard to refuse. I checked the bank clock myself and told him, "I've got 20 minutes before the next bus. Take it or leave it."
"I'll take it!" he nearly shouted, and took my hand and led me rapidly to the cafe and ushered me smoothly to a table, selecting for himself the seat opposite me.
I hadn't thought she would agree so easily, and I'd been prepared to be more convincing, but suddenly we were sitting across from each other at a small outdoor table, with her hair and face in the light so I could see every strand's glorious shine. She was smiling pleasantly, but guardedly. I caught a waiter's attention and asked for a glass of beer. She ordered one too – which surprised me a bit, because I had for some reason expected her to have wine.
The waiter was quick, and I had not even asked her name when the beers were set in front of us. I raised mine, and she hers, and we clinked glasses without a word, and took our first sips. And even though I'd thought about having this kind of moment with this kind of woman for years, I still wasn't sure exactly how to begin.
As we put our glasses down, slightly emptier than when we'd raised them, he looked hesitant for a split second before recovering his composure. I waited, expectantly. He'd asked me to accompany him – he could break the ice. I wasn't at all prepared for what he was about to say.
"I'm Jon. I said that. And you are…?" he began, waiting long enough to hear "Bridget" in reply. "Bridget. Look. You have the most amazing hair I have seen in my entire life. Not just the style – your hair itself. Would you like someone to help you with it?"
Seeing her confusion, I plunged onward. "I've been looking for some time for a woman who could use my help caring for her hair. I know, I know, you don't have much – and based on the way your hand crept to your nape just now, it might be a new short look for you, which I love, I love. But, okay, um, so tell me, when you go to the salon, don't you love how they treat you, and your hair? Shampooing, conditioning, combing and brushing, trimming just perfectly, styling it, blowing it dry and into its best look ever?"
She nodded, still silent.
"Would you like to feel that way every single day – in the morning before work, in the evening afterward, as you went to bed, and even on weekends?"
She nodded, but her eyes narrowed, so I knew I was making headway.
"You probably just calculated how much that would cost you, and nobody can afford that, right?" I smiled, knowing she'd nod and maybe even crack a smile. "I'm offering to do it for free."
I paused. He was offering – what? Was this a proposition? Was this some sort of bet, a dare from a friend, a performance-art act? His eyes suggested total earnestness and honesty, though, so I waited. And while I waited, I thought about how much I do love going to the salon, how much I do love how I look when I leave – but he was right, I absolutely went for the experience, the pampering, the nobody-can-bother-me-here feeling, the relaxation. I paid dearly for it, certainly, but the feeling couldn't be beat. Was he serious?
What he said next sealed the deal: "Tomorrow afternoon, meet me here – just tell me what time. We'll go back into the salon – the one you just left – I'll give you a shampoo, condition, blowout, and style. If you enjoy the experience, agree to have another drink with me here and talk some more. If you don't, I'll pay your bus fare both ways. Heck, here's the money for the bus fare right now." And he tossed a $5 onto the table – enough to cover a round trip to anywhere in the city.
I looked at it, and looked at him, and took another sip of beer. I ran my fingers through my hair a bit, and watched his eyes widen with interest. I felt my soft fuzzy nape and got a warm feeling inside. "Sure, why not. Meet me here at 2."
I couldn't believe it. She'd accepted. My heart was thumping inside my chest. The next 19 hours would be almost too much to bear. And then, would she show?
I showed. And he was amazing. His nimble fingers massaging my scalp, restoring circulation where I hadn't known it was missing, caressing my nape and not neglecting it despite its near-hairlessness. The water was the perfect temperature, the timing was perfect – I was so relaxed I almost fell asleep once, but he brought me back with the perfect touch to my forehead, lathering my bangs separately from the rest of my hair. And then the brushing, blowout, and styling – it was, if possible, even better feeling, and looking, than it had been yesterday, when freshly cut.
He clearly knew the folks in the salon too – not well, but they were friendly to him and treated me the same professional, cordial way they treated all their customers.
I'd agreed to have a drink with him afterward, and I intended to keep that promise. But even if I hadn't promised before, I had to know more about him. Who was he? How did he learn this stuff? What made him stop me? What did this offer he made mean?
Over the drink, and the other drinks, and the snacks, and, ultimately, the dinner we shared that afternoon and evening, I explained everything. I answered all her questions, and asked a few of my own. It seemed honesty was something we both treasured and lived.
We didn't talk much about the offer from the previous day – just our backgrounds, my hair interest, her different styles – I got her to show me her Facebook page and we looked through the different styles she'd had – her current one by far the shortest ever. We laughed at her attempts to grow out her bangs, which ultimately succeeded just in time for her to get the, cut short again to complement the bob she was wearing now. She told me how other people's fingers felt on her scalp, and what happened inside her when they ran up and down her nape. And she told me how much more powerful that feeling was since her nape was clipped short yesterday.
And then it came around to the offer. She wanted to know more, so I laid it out for her, very clearly, very specifically, just like this:
If she agreed, I would take the most devoted and doting care of her hair that had ever happened – daily shampoos and conditioning, with no work by her. Just sit back and relax. Daily styling sessions so she looked a knockout first thing in the morning and again going out in the evening. Weekends would be highlighted by deep treatments and pampering beyond her wildest imaginations.
This would go on indefinitely – as long as she wanted. There were only three catches – two very small, and the other somewhat larger, but which would only come into play if she wanted our arrangement to stop.
The first catch, the smallest one, would be that I would choose her style – the length of her hair, the way it was done each day, and so on. I would not change her hair color under any circumstances, and I would agree never to shave her head or give her a crew cut. In fact, I would seek her permission to take her hair any shorter than it was on the day we settled the agreement. I told her – truthfully – that it was my intention to have her grow her hair longer and longer and longer over time. I would trim it regularly to keep it healthy, but never more than was necessary to bring out its best. But when I declared she was ready to go out, whatever style her hair was in, she would wear without complaint.
The second catch was that I would cover every mirror in her home, and forbid her from ever touching her hair in any way – whether I was around or not. She might go days – weeks, even months – without seeing her hair but in a passing window reflection or a mirrored elevator. And she would never touch her hair, no matter what might befall it.
The third catch, the most serious one, she could avoid by continuing our arrangement forever. But if she ever wanted to end our arrangement – which was, at the outset at least, strictly platonic, though admittedly quite mutually intimate – there was a ritual she needed to conduct. I told her I was going to tell her just once what that ritual was, in precise detail, and that if she agreed to enter our arrangement, she would need to remember it exactly. If she failed, I could do anything I wished with her hair – anything at all.
But if she remembered, the ritual was this: Because I was caring for her hair, and choosing its style, and doing so much work, I considered it to be as much my hair as hers. On her, of course, but also my hair. She nodded, and told me that made sense to her.
If she wished to terminate our arrangement, I would not object or complain. But I would require compensation for all my work. The compensation would be in the form of cutting her hair into a style of my choosing. She would not know in advance what style I might choose, but I promised to not shave her head clean.
It would have to be the early morning that she conducted this ritual, and the first step was for her to call us both out sick from work that day. The second was for her to strip and shower twice, in full – shampoo, conditioner, and all – first with cold water to ensure she was in her right mind, and then with hot water to ensure everything was perfectly clean.
She was to pay special attention to her hair, shampooing it and conditioning it more than usual. And then she was to step out of the shower, towel off, and – still naked – brush her hair until it was dry from root to tip, however long that took and however long her hair was. Then she was to await my arrival in the entry of her home, hair brushed gleaming, its length out straight behind her, as far as it would reach. She was to be kneeling with her head bowed – still naked – and her arms upstretched, holding a shining pair of scissors, the scissors I would use to trim her hair as often as needed.
When I arrived, I would acknowledge her signal by touching her lightly on the top of her head. At that point, she would have to utter the fateful words.
My tongue caught in my mouth, my throat was dry, but when he touched my whorl, I was able to say it clearly enough, the memory of him reciting it to me that day as sharp as any memory from any time in my life: "Sir, you have been most kind to me, and to my most prized and precious mane. I kneel before you today to offer my hair to you. Please, sir, do as you wish with these scissors and my hair. I am kneeling before you, begging you to please remove as much of my hair as you wish."
His response came but slowly. "You have remembered the words so far. But there is a further sentence you must utter."
I took a deep breath. "Sir, I surrender my hair to you."
She had remembered, even all these years later. I reached down and lifted the scissors from her outstretched hands. They felt different somehow, heavier, more solid, than when I normally used them to lightly trim the ends of her hair, which by now reached to her knees, with strong strands and no split ends.
I put my fingers under her chin and lifted her face up to me. It was streaked with tears, but her eyes were clear. I signaled her to rise and precede me down the hall. At the end, she stopped, awaiting my instruction on which way to turn. Before she looked back at me, she paused, realizing that behind this painting was something she had not seen in 10 years: a mirror.
I stepped beside her and lifted the painting off the wall, allowing her to see her naked self and her gorgeous shining hair for real for the first time in a decade. I noticed as she eyed her skin carefully, seeking evidence of aging – or reassurance that its effects had not yet become visible. Her eyes widened as she saw the luster of her mane. I stood beside her and lifted a comb from a nearby side table. I combed through her forelock and held it out to the side, so she could see the mirror clearly, and appreciate the quality of the hair we had grown together.
I held the scissors out to her, and looked her in the eye in the mirror. "You must make the first cut." I watched tears fill her eyes once more, and she began to shake her head, but stilled herself. She raised her quivering hand and took the scissors and raised them to her hair out where my hand was holding it. I held her eyes in the mirror and shook my head. She moved the scissors closer to her face. I shook my head again. Closer still, she moved the scissors, eyes streaming with tears now as she contemplated the truly unthinkable.
I stopped her when the scissors were an inch from her forehead. "There. Cut now." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "No. You will watch." She opened them again, and slowly closed the blades of the scissors.
The sound it made was deafening in that quiet hall – sharp metal slicing through strong hair.
To be continued…