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- Home
- Government
- Boards
- Board of Ethics
Board of Ethics
The Board of Ethics has five members, who are nominated by the Board of Selectmen and appointed by the Representative Town Meeting (RTM). For a list of Board of Ethics members and information about how to contact the Board click here.
View a job description for Board of Ethics Members.
How to Contact & Make Filings with the Board
Annual Disclosure Statements are to be filed with the Town Clerk. Complaints and requests for advisory opinions are to be filed with the Board. The following may be used to contact or make filings with the Board:
- By Mail:
Greenwich Board of Ethics
c/o Office of the Town Attorney
Department of Law - Town Hall
Greenwich, Connecticut 06830
All information sent via regular mail should be enclosed in a sealed envelope prominently marked: "Confidential - To be delivered unopened to the Chairman of the Greenwich Board of Ethics". - By confidential email: firstname.lastname@example.com
- By confidential telephone: 1-888-432-2777
Note: All email and voicemail messages will be communicated directly to members of the Board of Ethics via secure means.
If you would like to speak privately with a particular member of the Board, please call 1-888-432-2777 and enter the person's extension when prompted.
General Information
The Greenwich Code of Ethics establishes ethical standards for the conduct of Town business and prescribes the role of the Board of Ethics in encouraging and enforcing these standards.
Responsibilities of the Board
The Board is responsible for
- Prescribing the form for annual statements from Town Officers that disclose interests that they had in transactions with the Town. Town Officers are required to file these statements with the Town Clerk.
- Hearing and adjudicating complaints of violations of the Ethics Code (PDF).
- Rendering advisory opinions to Town Officers who seek advice on the application of the Ethics Code (PDF) to specific transactions.
- Providing an Annual Report to the Selectmen and the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) and such other recommendations as the Selectmen may request.
Responsibilities of Town Officers
Under the Code of Ethics, elected and appointed officials, employees, consultants and agents of the Town are Town Officers, including members of any Town board, commission, committee, legislative body or other agency. The Code provides the following:
- Gifts and Favors: Town Officers and members of their immediate family, including spouses, children, parents, grandparents, siblings and in-laws, are prohibited from accepting any valuable gift, favor, loan, promise or other thing which might tend to influence the performance of their official duties.
- Improper Influence: Town Officers are also prohibited from voting on or attempting to influence any Town transaction or action in which he or she has a substantial interest.
- Disclosure of Interests: Each Town Officer is responsible to make a filing disclosing any interest that they have had in any one or more transactions with the Town that directly or indirectly provide $200 or more in value during any fiscal year.
Information About the Code of Ethics & Its Requirements
Although the Code of Ethics is not a complicated document, it is broad in scope. The application of the Code to specific situations is a matter considered by the Board of Ethics based on the particular facts of each case. One role of the Board of Ethics is to develop guidelines for the application of the Code that are consistent with the stated language and general intent of the Code. Officially, this is done by rendering advisory opinions and issuing decisions after investigating complaints.
Ethical issues can be blatantly obvious, but are often nuanced and subtle. As a result, an essential part of evaluating compliance with the Code is an appreciation of all the relevant facts and circumstances. To better assist Town boards, commissions, committees and other entities in identifying and evaluating potential interests and managing compliance with the Code of Ethics, the Board has approved a template for a Conflict of Interest Policy and will give deference to the in-depth appreciation of relevant circumstances provided by entities following such a policy.
The Selectmen have also asked the Board to provide additional information to members of the public and the persons specifically covered by the Code. As part of that effort, the Board has prepared a series of responses to frequently asked questions (FAQs) in order to help interested persons understand the requirements of the Code.
Board Procedures & Forms
The Board of Ethics has adopted detailed procedures relating to its activities under the Code. View the Statement of Procedures (PDF). Forms have been provided by the Board including a Financial Interest Disclosure Form (PDF), Request for Advisory Opinion (PDF) and Complaint Form (PDF). These forms are also available from the menu in the side bar at right.
Online Filing of Disclosure Reports
As of June 15th, 2021, Financial Interest Disclosure Forms are permitted to be filed online. To file online, please use the following link: Online Disclosure Form
Please note that the instructions are an official part of the disclosure form and should be referred to when filling in the form. Also note that Town Officers using the form will need to print it out and have it notarized and filed with the Town Clerk. Completing the form by itself will not in itself satisfy the annual disclosure requirement.
Prior Decisions & Opinions of the Board
The Board of Ethics is required to report the results of its decisions and opinions to the Selectmen and the RTM on an annual basis. In addition, the Board has compiled reports of its prior decisions and opinions. Recent Decisions are available from the link in the menu on the top left of this page. You can view and obtain copies of prior official reports here.
Other Requirements & Additional Resources
There are many ethical issues that are outside the scope of the Town's Code of Ethics. The Board encourages all Town employees and its elected and appointed officials to familiarize themselves with the ethical issues that may have particular relevance to their services for the Town. In particular, the Selectmen have adopted an Ethics Policy that applies to all Town employees. The Ethics Policy incorporates the provisions of the Code of Ethics and contains specific additional rules and procedures to be followed by Town employees in order to maintain high ethical standards.
The Ethics Policy for Town employees contains requirements with respect to outside employment and personal relationships and has been incorporated into the Town's Human Resources Policy Manual. View the Town Human Resources Policy Manual (PDF). In addition, persons in licensed professions have responsibility to uphold the ethical standards of their profession. View links to resources that the Board believes may be useful in this regard (PDF).
Agendas & Minutes
Agendas are available prior to the meetings. Minutes are available following approval. Minutes are made available in draft form in the Agenda and Minutes Center following each meeting and are replaced with the minutes in final form following their approval. In accordance with the Board's Statement of Procedures, video. audio and stenographic records of all or a portion of the Board's meetings may be made at the expense of the person requesting such records. Copies of any such records will be required to be provided to the Board and will be available upon request to the extent required by the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act. Persons otherwise seeking to obtain a transcript of the Board's meetings are referred to the minutes and draft minutes, which summarize the Board's proceedings.
Ethics Resources
Forms and Information
- The Code of Ethics (PDF)
- Mission Statement
- Statement of Procedures and Rules of Conduct
- Regular Meeting Schedule for 2024
- Complaint Form (PDF)
- Request for Advisory Opinion (PDF)
- Professional Codes of Ethics (PDF)
- Town Entity Conflict of Interest Policy Template as Approved by Board of Ethics
- Link to Online Filing System for Disclosure Reports
- Financial Interest Disclosure Form - Line by Line Instructions for Filing Online
- Financial Interest Disclosure Form - Manual Filing
- Report on Referrals and Recommendations
Contact the Board of Ethics
- How do I get a copy of the Town ethics code?
- Who does the Greenwich Code of Ethics apply to?
- Am I required to file an ethics disclosure statement?
- How can get more information about disclosure filings?
- What is considered a Town "transaction" for purposes of the Code of Ethics?
- What financial interests have to be reported and how?


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Added on Jun 6, 2012
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The Concept of Anxiety
work by Kierkegaard
Learn about this topic in these articles:
discussed in biography
- In Søren Kierkegaard: A life of collisions
Philosophical Fragments), Begrebet angest (1844; The Concept of Anxiety), Stadier paa livets vei (1845; Stages on Life's Way), and Afsluttende uvidenskabelig efterskrift (1846; Concluding Unscientific Postscript). Even after acknowledging that he had written these works, however, Kierkegaard insisted that they continue to be attributed to their pseudonymous authors. The pseudonyms…
Read More
history of philosophy
- In Western philosophy: Independent and irrationalist movements
…Kierkegaard's books—Fear and Trembling (1843), The Concept of Dread (1844), and The Sickness unto Death (1849)—indicate his preoccupation with states of consciousness quite unlike cognition.
Read More


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Card Game
This is a game of theatrical self-revelation. The cards assume the emotional damage and self-doubt of the players. Win by charming the other players into believing that you are more anguished than them.
I started the game in art school, then got a chance to make a more full version a few years later. There are about 200 cards. It's fun to play. I've only scanned a couple dozen so far. With luck I'll scan more soon.
1) Each players draws an equal number of cards at random, without looking
at their text in advance. For four or more players, each player should
draw six cards. For fewer than four players, each player should draw ten
2) Players roll dice. The player with the highest die roll goes first, if
more than one player has an equally high die roll, the players with the
highest dice roll against each other until one player has the highest dice.
3) Play proceeds clockwise around the table.
4) Upon each player's turn, the player must answer one of the questions in
their hand (at their discretion) to the satisfaction of the other
5) If a player does not answer their question to the satisfaction of the
other players they place the question they failed to answer in a discard
pile and pick a fresh card in its place.
6) If a player does answer their question successfully, they discard that
question and then pass another of their cards to the player of their
7) The player who receives a question must answer the question they
receive to the satisfaction of the other players. If they succeed they
can discard the question they were given with no penalty. Otherwise, they
discard the question they were given and then must draw a fresh question
card into their hand.
8) If a player has two cards at the start of their turn and answers the
first card successfully they must answer the second card (rather than give
it to another player) in order to successfully complete their turn.
9) The player who discards all their questions first wins.
Do you believe you have spiritual powers?
Can you think of a way that you've been a coward?
Are you spiritually alive?
Who did you learn the most from?
Would you ever consider yourself a failure?
Are you trying not to think about something?
Do you think anything besides your family has shaped you significantly?
When was a time you felt betrayed?
Do you try to control anger inside of you?
Do you trust anyone?
What do you feel able to control right now?
Do you think that you are adequately able to take care of yourself?
Do you consider yourself a good catch?
How do you know the moment when you fall out of love?
Does anyone respect you?
Have you had to make any compromises?
How did you hurt someone unforgivably?
Do you think anyone really cares about the things which you make?
What is the most wonderful dream which you can remember?
Do you think you can control your actions?
Do you regret having said anything?
Are you normally hostile toward strangers?
What do you regret not having done?
Did you see someone today who you hate?
Is there something about your body which scares you?
What was the last lie someone told you?
What was a lie you told today?
Is there anything that you would really like advice about right now?
What are some of your superstitions?
What's one piece of revenge you really really want?
What's the scariest thing that you ever saw?
Do you like being touched?
Who do you consider your heroes?
Do people often fall in love with you?
Name an immoral action.
How often do you feel really happy with your past?
Give an example of something done for utterly the wrong reason.
Have you ever done anything utterly indefensible?
Do you think you are a moral person?
Trace your sexual neuroses back to your parents.
Whose interests are you acting in?
Is there anyone you talk with on the phone regularly?
Have you made a seriously wrong decision at some point?
Do you have any long term plans?
Tell us about something you stole.
When did you last scare someone?
Should people believe what you say?
Do you respect anyone? Why? Does it matter?
Are you smart?
Who is it you would most like to be with right now but can't?
What would you give up for material success?
Do you think your friends take advantage of you?
What was the last piece of good advice which you gave?
How did your mother hurt you?
What did you do wrong today?
How did your father hurt you?
Do you consider yourself indifferent?
Do you want to become a film director?
Why don't more people like you?
What is something that you have learned?
Do you want to control your future?
Are you good at keeping other people's secrets?
Are you sticking your nose into other people's business?
Do you think someone was ever truly in love with you?
Could you justify your recent actions?
Should anyone trust you?
Do you know anyone who would never betray you?
Who do you know who you wouldn't mind not seeing again?
Do you consider yourself ironic?
What was the first thing that made you smile today?
Do you think you were ever really in love?
When did you first watch the sun rise?
Is there anyone whose respect you would sacrifice?
Do you do anything regularly which you would call religious?
What do you think a good meal would be?
When did you feel utterly at ease?
Do you like nervous people?
Do you believe in heroes?
Do you consider yourself a gambler?
Are you living your life just to hurt other people?
Are you lost?
Do you like ambitious people?
Are you an authority on anything?
Do you think you could look better than you have recently?
Do you have man close friends?
Are you acting in your own best interests?
Did you see someone do something today which made you hate them?
What's something heroic that a friend did?
Who is the most glamorous person that you know?
Do you think you hurt the people around you?
Do you need help?
Do you consider yourself ambitious?
Is there something you're not admitting to yourself?
Who do you wish you were in love with?
Is there any such thing as doing the right thing?
Are you lucky?
How much do you care about taking care of yourself?
When did you say the wrong thing today?
Do you think you are a good person?
What was something really ignorant you recently heard someone say?
When did you overstay your welcome?
Are you currently evading any responsibilities?
Do you consider yourself an artist?
Are you getting yourself into trouble?
Do you know anyone who really cares about you?
Who first broke your heart and how?
Have you ever broken someone's heart?
What is something which you would like to remain ignorant of?
When did someone last utterly misrepresent you?
Are you acting for the right reasons?
What can't you control about your day to day life?
Give an example of how someone was kind to you for the wrong reasons?
Do you have many enemies?
Who did you last get really upset at?
When did you recently fail at something and how?
Can you correct the course on which your life is going?
Do you have a vision of your future?
Are you in good health?
Do your friends like you?
Name your five closest friends.
What is a feeling you had today which you have trouble expressing.
What did you dream last night?
Describe something pretty.
What would you rather have done this week?
Why aren't you fully taking advantage of your abilities?
Do you often overstay your welcome?
Do you owe something to our society?
Do you believe that life in this region of the country is healthy?
Why do you have such trouble with relationships?
Do you consider yourself very narcissistic?
Are your friends narcissistic?
Do you consider yourself a hustler?
What do you now for sure?
Is there something about which you are trying not think about?
What are you avoiding thinking about?
When wer you doing better than you are doing now?
When you were young were you a better person?
When did you first fall in love?
Is there another culture in which you would rather live?
What is your most insidious belief?
Are you damaged goods?
In what way were you indiscreet today?
Describe something brave you did recently.
What do you consider inevitable?
Describe something which isn't very funny.
What will you never understand?
When did your plans fail you?
When were you out-foxed?
Are you good with money?
Do people steal from you?
When were you last a daredevil?
Would your children respect you?
Could you be better dressed right now?
Explain your failures.
Explain how and why you have failed today.
Do you stand out in a crowd?
Do many people admire you?
What do you refuse to tolerate?
What is eating away at you?
Do you often inventory your possessions?
Whom can you trust?
Do you think the people around you are suffering?
Do you have the power to help anyone?
Do you have an ideology?
Are you much of a hypocrite?
When did someone utterly betray you?
When was the last time you had illusions about someone?
Do you have privileged information?
Do you often go out on weekend nights?
Who are your enemies?
What are some of your illusions?
When did someone last deceive you?
How are people trying to take advantage of you?
Can you make yourself invisible?
Do people consider you glamorous?
Are you vigilant in defense of your interests?
What are you bitter about?
When was the last time you felt that you were part of a mob?
What is your oldest grudge?
In what do you firmly believe?
Do you have a strong sense of integrity?
What do you find utterly inexplicable?
Are you awkward?
Name two of your endearing qualities.
What was the last major compromise you made?
Was it inevitable that you ended up here?
Have you lost your soul?
Do you consider yourself a good investment?
In what ways are you being deceived?
In what ways are you deceiving yourself?
Tell a riddle.
Tell a good joke.
Tell a dirty joke.
Tell a stroy from your childhood.
Do you take pleasure in walking by rivers?
Do you spend to much time at home?
Is there too much routine in your life?
What would you never compromise?
Do you take yourself too seriously?
Do you hold yourself in high esteem?
Is it inevitable that you will fail?
Are you often recognized?
What is one of your qualities which you would like to eliminate?
Are you insipid?
Are you cold hearted?
To whom do you owe favors?
Are you evil?
Is there a connection between your diet and your spiritual life?
With whom do you identify?
Give us an example of your powers of endurance.
Who do you envy?
Do you have good taste in music?
When did someone utterly betray you?
Is there a genre of music which you dislike?
What is your favorite mixed drink?
What is your favorite color?
Illustrate a common fear.
What do you consider inevitable?
In what way do you lack moderation?
What can't you control about yourself?
Are you often lonely?
Are you proud?
Do you wish you were invisible?
Do you have a good sense of rhythm?
Are you often satisfied?
Describe an incarnation of Lucifer.
What is your favorite television show?
Are you a banal presence?
Are you a good conversationalist?
Have you had a glamorous affair?
Were you spiritual as a child?
What is a common misconception about God?
What do you understand now which used to confuse you?
Are you invisible? To who?
How do you make your presence known?
Do you go to bars alone?
Do you go to restaurants alone?
How do you lose control?
In what ways would you like to be taken care of?
What are the aspects of your life that you would lie to lose control of?
Do many of your friends have souls?
Is there such a thing as "the human endeavor"?
Are you prepared for a massive social disruption?
Are you pathetic?
Are you intolerant?
What disease do you most fear?
What do you find unintelligible?
Do things often not make sense to you?
Sing a beautiful melody.
When did a relationship live up to your expectations?
Who is your oldest friend?
What are you afraid of?
In what ways do you often lose your sanity?
How are you melodramatic?
How are you an exhibitionist?
What do you find alluring in someone of the same sex? The opposite sex?
What was an illuminating experience?
When did someone last tell you a lie which you enjoyed hearing?
When have you had illicit relations with someone?
How are you a visionary?
Is there an utterly grievous insult?
What can't you understand in other people?
How was your privacy invaded today?
Would you like more people to know about you?
Describe something intangible but indispensable.
Name some way in which you are indispensable.
Are you innocent?
To what are you oblivious?
Give us an invective against something.
In what ways are you unstable?
Do you think you have a good daily routine?
Do you often impose your company upon others?
Are your friends very bold?
Are you a bold person?
Describe some place utterly miraculous where you have been.
Do you consider yourself to be egotistical?
Vilify someone.
Entertain us for a few moments.
What are some of your fundamental assumptions which you fear are false?
Do you have a correspondence by mail which you value?
Describe the last beautiful painting you saw.
Whose privacy did you last invade.
What was the last feeling which you did not adequately express?
Do you have a right to anything?
Tell us something amusing.
Do you have many enemies?
Describe one of your obsessions.
Do you enjoy eating?
Are you happy?
Would you like to be more happy?
Are you an obstinate person?
Describe something useful which you cherish.
What is your favorite flower?
What were you most recently terrified of?
Are you afraid of dying?
How are you insufferable?
Who hates you?
Do you wish you had a better singing voice?
Describe a perfect summer's day.
Describe an insurmountable obstacle in your life.
What drives you crazy?
What would you rather have done last weekend?
Are you in harmony with your surroundings?
Do you have any pets?
What do you consider inevitable?
What is your favorite song? Why?
What lie were you told for your entire childhood?
Are you disillusioned?
How have you been used by others?
Do you invite others to use you?
What is your favorite vegetable?
What is an insurmountable obstacle in your day-to-day life?
What would be enough to make you feel a little happier?
Tell us one of your recent interior monologues.
With what historical figure do you most identify?
Of what would you rather remain ignorant?
Are you mentally unstable?
What was the last time you acted childish?
How are you scarred?
How are you scared?
What is one of your endearing qualities?
When did you last do something for the right reasons?
When are you boring?
When are you tiresome?
When was the last time you acted hypocritically?
What do you say when you talk to yourself?
When was the last time you wished you were invisible?
Why don't you have more affairs?
Did you cry much when you were young?
How are you too polite?
What are a few regrets you have had?
How have you failed recently?
What should you be afraid of right now?
Have you found relaxation and peace?
What would freedom be for you?
Are you urbane?
What is your market value?
Realistically describe how things are for you this year.
Do you have any political convictions?
What are you so afraid of?
What abilities to survive do you lack?
How do you know things are going well?


text:
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text:
This article is more than 1 year old
Chinese prof sent down for 18 months for stealing semiconductor secrets, trying to patent them to cover tracks
Five years after arrest at LAX, Broadcom secret snatcher sent down
A Chinese professor who stole trade secrets from a Silicon Valley semiconductor company was yesterday sentenced to 18 months in jail and fined $476,835.
Hao Zhang, 41, was found guilty of economic espionage and theft of trade secrets in June, and was facing up to 15 years in the clink. He's been in custody for five years following his arrest at Los Angeles airport in 2015.
Zhang was caught stealing from his former employer Skyworks as well as persuading a former classmate to steal more secrets from chip giant Avago aka Broadcom. These include sharing know-how of acoustic filters and resonators, which help reduce interference and boost performance in smartphones and other wireless products – consumer and military – with co-conspirators in China back in 2006.
They also persuaded the Chinese government's Tianjin University to support their plan to set up a manufacturing plant to make Film Bulk Acoustic Resonators (FBAR). Zhang and an associate quit their jobs, became professors of the university, and moved to China, taking American trade secrets with them.
US prosecutors successfully argued the two had taken "source code, specifications, presentations, design layouts and other documents marked as confidential and proprietary from the victim companies, and shared the information with one another and with individuals working for Tianjin University." With the university's help, ROFS Microsystem was created and produced FBARs in competition to Avago and Skyworks.
Laundry time
US prosecutors said the pair then tried to legitimize their theft by setting up a shell company in the Cayman Islands called Novana Inc, and even tried to claim ownership of the technology by filing patents for the stolen secrets in both the US and China.
The authorities had been alerted, however, and when Zhang flew into Los Angeles, back in 2015, he was grabbed by FBI agents, arrested, charged and put on trial. "The stolen trade secrets enabled Tianjin University to construct and equip a state-of-the-art FBAR fabrication facility, to open ROFS Microsystems, a joint venture located in PRC state-sponsored Tianjin Economic Development Area (TEDA), and to obtain contracts for providing FBARs to commercial and military entities," prosecutors asserted.
As well as Zhang, five other Chinese citizens have been named as being involved in the scheme: Jinping Chen, a Tianjin professor and ROFS board director; Huisui Zhang, a former classmate of Zhang and Wei Pang, who received a master's degree in electrical engineering in 2006; Chong Zhou, who studied under Zhang and Pang and was a ROFS design engineer; and Zhao Gang, the general manager at ROFS.
"Theft is not innovation. By combating theft, we protect innovation and freedom," said federal prosecutor David Anderson. ®


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Working on new ideas for a workshop
Posted on
I've had my head down thinking about what I wanted to learn to do when I first started working with clay and realised that firing items were important ESPECIALLY I wanted somebody to hold my hand when torch firing! So with that in mind I decided to sit down and think about a pendant that could be made, combining copper and silver clay so that I could demonstrate both working with a torch and then how to fire in a kiln.
I made two pendants and the one that was most effective and certainly "do-able" was the bee pendant. So this is going to be the subject of a workshop and I'm really looking forward to this one.


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Quality describes "the quality of all properties of an object". And all the individual parts together make the whole. If any of these individual parts are not up to standard or, worse, are of poor quality, it will affect the overall whole. If, for example, the leather that is used in a boot is not ok, the boot can tear or have leaks.
Only when a boot is of high quality can it perform its tasks and ensure the safety and comfort of the wearer in extreme situations. This is why HAIX relies on high-quality materials for its "Made in Europe" boots and subjects all parts of the whole to strict quality controls.
Tough bull leather for tough HAIX leather boots
The leather that HAIX uses for its functional boots is European bull leather that comes from certified suppliers - 100% Made in Europe.
But why bull leather? It has a different structure than conventional cow leather, which is used by most shoe manufacturers. This is due to the fact that the female cattle produce the offspring, which causes the skin or the leather to stretch and contract again and again. When this type of leather is processed into boots, this has the disadvantage that the boots fit well when you buy them. But after intensive use, the cow leather can stretch - unimaginable with firefighting boots, which are sometimes worn for as much as ten years and are always supposed to offer maximum protection.
The quality of the leather is strictly controlled at HAIX. Constant quality assurance checks ensure a consistently high level of quality in production. Because the high-quality bull leather that HAIX uses must even meet our own strict requirements. It is not only the appearance that is important, but the "inner values" must also be right. The leather is carefully examined in the HAIX high-tech test laboratory.
Rigorous testing and high-tech procedures
HAIX has one of the most modern test and inspection laboratories in the world. Because minimum standards do not meet the requirements of HAIX as a high-tech manufacturer, every HAIX boot model should exceed the standards as much as possible - for more safety, more comfort, and higher quality. Under the strict eyes of the test engineers, the leather is tested by being pulled and strained, and it is also exposed to fire and to moisture. Amongst other things, HAIX high quality leather boots are tested for tear resistance, breathability, flexing behavior as well as fire resistance and water resistance.
Not only the test methods, but the leather itself is also high-tech. The bull leather that is used for HAIX shoes is refined using state-of-the-art processes. In order to make it water-repellent, the leather is hydrophobized. This makes the leather resistant to the absorption of water. In addition, special color pigments are worked directly into the leather, which ensure that the shoes absorb up to 40 percent less solar radiation than conventional boots, making it heat up less, and keeping your feet cooler. Try our bull leather boots today!
To learn more about HAIX production and technology please visit https://www.haix.com/us/production


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New aid bill would open SBA economic injury funds to farmers
Senate action follows farm group complaints
The economic aid bill the Senate passed Tuesday would give farmers another pool of federal loans and grants to tap by ending restrictions on agricultural eligibility for the Small Business Administration's economic injury disaster program.
By voice vote, the Senate sent the $483.4 billion bill, the latest COVID-19 economic rescue measure, to the House, which could act on the legislation as early as Thursday.
Farm groups had complained that although Congress pumped $10 billion into the program in March legislation, it left unchanged language that shut out much of agriculture. Aquaculture, plant nurseries and small agricultural cooperatives could apply for up to $2 million in low-interest loans, but farms and ranches with 500 or fewer employees were ineligible.
COVID-19 has caused a domino effect in the agriculture and food supply chains as public health closures and service restrictions have hit farmers markets, restaurants, food service suppliers and other customers for small farmers as well as larger beef, poultry and pork operations.
The new bill says the loan and emergency grant programs are to use language from an SBA statute that defines agricultural enterprises as "those small business concerns engaged in the production of food and fiber, ranching, and raising of livestock, aquaculture, and all other farming and agricultural-related industries."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that thanks to the efforts of Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., "and our other colleagues from rural states, it will be clear that farmers and ranchers are eligible."
Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md., called the economic injury program important for small businesses because it "gives them working capital … so businesses can stay afloat."
More than 30 organizations joined in an April 1 letter to the SBA saying that the previous economic rescue package did not explicitly exclude farms and that the agency should follow congressional intent.
"While agricultural enterprises had not previously been able to participate in the underlying EIDL program, there is every reason to believe Congress intended for agricultural producers to be able to participate during the COVID-19 emergency," the letter said, referring to the Economic Injury Disaster Loans program.
"Many agricultural producers need access to this critical source of financing to help preserve their businesses and avoid further disruptions to our economy and food systems," the groups wrote.
The agency told the groups that Congress would have to clearly indicate that farms with 500 or fewer employees were eligible.
The bill text released Tuesday would increase funding authorization for the loan program to $50 billion, up from $10 billion in the March economic relief package. The legislation would add $10 billion to the emergency economic injury disaster grants created by the earlier relief law.


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Viennese Blend Pure* is a very dark blend that will entice anyone who loves the big smoky, deep, intense coffee flavors. The sweet aroma will draw you in and the resonate finish will leave you wanting more. Almost no acidity.
Pure* = Grown and processed using organic methods
Notes: smoky, toasty, woody, bittersweet
Body: Heavy, thick, full
Balance: Almost no acidity
Acidity is the brightness that coffee offers. Some palates register this as sour or tangy. Some delight in its fruity complexities.
Balanced coffees will have a nice mixture of both attributes so that one does not overpower the other. It will be the most complex in flavor, giving you the sweetest flavors. It will give you a nutty depth and spice of a dark roast with a gentler acidity to round out the flavors of the coffee.


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Updating Your Social Media Icons & Links Just Got Easier.
Back40 built Javelin CMS for our clients, and we maintain it in-house. It's intuitive. It's easy to use. And, it's powering more than 650 websites across the world.
Our programmers are constantly making updates and improvements to Javelin to better meet your needs. With this most recent update, a new "Social Icons" Module is now available from your standard (or core) set of options.
How does the Social Media Icons Module work, and what's it used for?
This module makes it easy to add the most popular social media icons to any page of your site simply by including the link to your social media profile or page.
Customize How Your Icons Display
We have built in several ways for you to customize the way these icons will display on your site, including:
- Style
Choose how you want your icons to appear: Round, Square, or Isolated - Color
Choose which color your icons should be: Black, White, or Color - Size
Choose what size the icons will display as: Small, Medium, or Large
Include Links to the Social Media You Have
What if you don't have profiles set up on all of the available options? No problem. Only include the links to the social media that you're using.
If you're only on Facebook and Twitter, copy and paste the URL to your profiles in the fields available, and the icons will appear automatically based on the display options you've selected.
For more information about setting up or using this module, check out our help site.


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Stock Left : 20
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The images represent actual product though color of the image and product may slightly differ.
Recharge1 does not select, edit, modify, alter, add or supplement the information, description and other specifications provided by the Seller.
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text: For brownish wood base flooring, you can consider to select the gold color double dog bowls with the transparent low feeder stand for small dog. For the white tile flooring, you can consider selecting the transparent tall feeder triple dog bowls in silver if you have a tall legs dog. For your beautiful home to look neat always, you can consider to have a transparent round bed frame for your pet cat, which make the soft bed not easy to move around by your cat. The transparent dog crate bed simply lovely and yet useful, if you have young children visiting your home, who may very scare of your dog, you can temporarily place he/she inside the crate with toys. For beautiful home SG designer, please contact us.


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Pigskin Pickins Week 7: Kip Moore (Audio)
Kip Moore was in town on Wednesday night as part of our GNA Secret Star show and absolutely crushed it on the Palace Theatre stage. Once he got off, we hunted him down and asked him to be a part of Pigskin Pickins segment for week 7 of the NFL. Kip, on-stage and off, pulls no punches, and during this segment made his predictions quickly, efficiently, and confidently. He couldn't care less that in the process he shattered the weekend football dreams of both Brian and Chrissy, slamming their respective teams. Here's the latest GNA Pigskin Pickins with Kip Moore...enjoy!
Kip Moore Picks Week 7 on the NFL
GIANTS over the Cardinals
RAMS over the Falcons
BILLS over the Dolphins
EAGLES over the Cowboys
PATRIOTS over the Jets
Tune in next Friday at 7:05 to hear another country star with Brian and Chrissy doin' Pigskin Pickins on 107.7 WGNA.


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Sensible Ideas Archives
23 Oct 2018 13:20
Take away the lid and bring the pitcher to the sink. When you've drank all of the filtered water in your pitcher, take it out of the refrigerator. Take the lid off and spot it on the counter. Pick up the pitcher by the handle and hold it in the sink underneath the faucet. These filters fasten to the sink faucet and rest on the counter and can be installed with no a plumber. Due to the fact they are generally smaller sized, they are not as efficient in removing contaminants and, according to a 1983 article in Customer Reports, they might not eliminate particles as properly.Cleaning the Filter Cartridge - You will be able to tell when the filter demands cleaning as the circulation inside the hot tub will be reduced and the water cleanliness will adjust. To stay away from the inconvenience of the filter not working we advocate that it ought to be cleaned at monthly intervals or a lot more if you use your hot tub heavily. Hot Tub Cartridge Cleaner helps clean and restores filters to their complete efficiency.If you never like the taste of tap water in the nation exactly where you happen to be spending your trip, it might be that you are accustomed to the taste of the tap water or filtered tap water from back home. If, for whatever purpose, you never want to rely on drinking bottled water, you can take a water filter bottle and fill it up with tap water wherever you go. If the top quality or taste of filtered water is not the situation, and you are just basically bored with water's plain taste, try jazzing it up a bit by adding berries, lemon, or fresh herbs to your water.Home owners concerned about the purity of their tap water can choose a water treatment appliance as a convenient alternative to bottled water. Most such devices utilize carbon filtration. The water passes through carbon granules or visit this website link a compressed carbon block, where contaminants lodge. The filter's effectiveness depends on the quantity of carbon: the longer the water is in make contact with with the carbon, the a lot more particles are trapped.Keep a pitcher of visit this website link spa water in the fridge to use day-to-day and you will find you are drinking a lot more water maintaining your water intake higher. Aim to drink a glass at every meal plus in among every single meal to hit your goal of eight glasses every day.As the temperature of the water starts to cool, stop feeding your pond fish. A slower metabolism calls for much less food, and visit this Website link fish can survive the winter beneath the ice in a state of semi-hibernation. If you have any sort of questions regarding where and the best ways to make use of visit this website link, you could contact us at our web page. The koi and goldfish do not truly hibernate, but their physique functions slow down to the point where they do not expend significantly power. As their body metabolisms slow down with the dropping water temperature, the pond fish can't procedure meals as swiftly or as efficiently.If you are the kind of hiker who appreciates a piece of gear that is versatile adequate to pull double-duty on the trail, then you're going to want to verify out PurTrek's trekking poles Lately launched on Kickstarter, these walking sticks not only give all of the functionality you would anticipate from a standard set of trekking poles, but they have a special, hidden function that could make them really well-known with the ultralight backpacking crowd. Marketplace's investigation also uncovered a sales pitch laced with scary warnings about chlorine in drinking water. Marketplace investigates the techniques utilized in door-to-door sales of water purification systems — devices that can cost thousands of dollars, but that are not necessarily required by most individuals.The components employed as mulch will steadily be broken down by the diverse biota into humus. "Humus" is considered, as I comprehend it, to be fundamentally the dead bodies of billions of bacteria, which in their lives took in nutrients broken down from the food waste, and so forth. which arrived with the grey water. Those dead bodies conglomerate into a Gel. visit this website link Gel is the Humus. It has the stunning property of being a all-natural slow-release fertilizer.As significantly as we hate doing laundry, most of us cannot envision life without a washing machine. Daphnia are a wonderful addition to organic, unfiltered ponds and make for fantastic 1st foods for fish fry. Add it to green water, then fish fry, and you get a beautiful tiny meals chain as the Daphnia eat the algae cells and the fish fry eat the Daphnia. However, a clinical, filtered pond will take away Daphnia rapidly, either by filtering it out, getting a lack of microscopic meals or basically from being more than predated by fish.Carry a book at all times. DO NOT LEAVE Home With no One! It will give paper to make a paper cup (see #three above) serve as tinder to light a fire double as a fan or fly swat can be utilised as a wipe clean plate" for eating. Greatest of all, you can study it aloud to your companions to pass the time and maintain everyone's spirits up while you wait for the rescue party to arrive.Sand filters do have a few limitations. Sand can filter debris down to approximately 40 microns anything smaller probably will not get filtered out. Sand filtration can also aid minimize the need to have for harsh chemicals, but some chemicals will need to have to be used in the filtered water to kill bacteria and mildew.
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Lab Practices and Tools Question
View this question.
Add this question to a group or test by clicking the appropriate button below.
- You may run in the science lab.
- If you have a small cut, it is okay not to tell the teacher.
- Read only the directions you think you need.
- ALWAYS wash your hands after an experiment.


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Apollo 11, 50 years later
It was at almost exactly this same time of day, 2:10 p.m., July 20, 1969, that I pulled to the side of Highway 2 near Bagley MN to listen to the drama of touchdown of Apollo 11 on the moon. Three days ago, I wrote about that event, and events before and after, here.
The astronauts stay on the moon was brief; four days later came a perfect reentry in the Pacific Ocean; a triumphal gathering on a Navy ship.
There has been a great abundance of media attention to Apollo 11 this past week. Of the many factoids was one, this morning: I think it was Neil Armstrong who gave the odds of their successfully landing on the moon July 20 as 50-50. But they took the risk anyway. Amazing. There was no room for any mistake. Such would have been a lot more serious than going in the ditch.
In 1970, my friend, Frank, went to Federal Prison for a year, convicted of conspiracy to destroy draft records. It was the hottest time of the Vietnam War. He was 26, then, and its impact is still with him 50 years later. Part of his story can be seen here (second half of the blog).
Meanwhile, back on planet earth, today, 50 years later….
Depending on what news you choose to listen to, you've probably heard about the "send them back" message to the four freshman women in the U.S. Congress this week, all of them U.S. citizens; all young women of color, all but one born in the U.S.A., the fourth, a citizen since teen years.
There's a lot of debate about "illegals" and "racism". We don't seem very civilized these days.
There's been another incident in the waters off Iran. Threats.
Today, at the excellent "Peacestock" for Veterans for Peace at Red Wing MN, Ann Wright summarized today's international "hot spots": Iran, N. Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. These are far more complex than Trump, Pompeo, Bolton et al like to position in their sound bites. Ann gave part of the backstory for each hot spot, and other current events in this world of which we are becoming less dominant. She is an expert.
The best advice I can give to all of us is to make a very serious effort to become and stay well informed. One side of the story doesn't make for being informed. I am guessing there were about 150 of us at the Red Wing event, and there was a great deal of active listening. Col. Wright knows what she is talking about from many years as an American diplomat.
Just before Col Wrights talk, my friend Dr. Michael Knox presented a video on his passion: The U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation. You can watch his approximately 6 minute video here. I have been a founding and active member of this Foundation since I first learned of it in 2006. Check it out.
A couple of days earlier, July 18, I attended an intense and extremely informative talk on the reality of refugees and people seeking asylum. It was at the Basilica of St. Mary and entitled "When Home Won't Let You Stay" (Here is previous post about it.) James A. Bowey kept our full attention for near two hours of highly informed commentary, with brief highly personal stories of refugees. If you ever have the opportunity to hear, or have, Bowey speak, take it. Check out the links.
Bowey made reference to United Nations data, which is worth accessing and reviewing. Link is here. There are powerful photos, with accompanying very brief text at his aforementioned site.
At this point in time, according to the UN, there are almost 26 million refugees in the world; in a relative sense, the United States today, accepts almost no one – less than 30,000 per year – which does not even touch the long range problem. Some estimate that by 2050 there will be 250,000,000 refugees in the world, much climate related. The U.S. population today is about 330,000,000.) This is not sustainable.
We are in a time of tribalism in this country, and it is not healthy for anyone, regardless of 'side'. We have to figure this out, how to dialogue and learn from each other, as we have to figure out another reality: by trying to fence others out, we are fencing ourselves into our own self-imposed prison…. We are a nation of good people, but there is a raw and very mean undercurrent infesting us at the present time.


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Do you want to build an array in PHP, which should contain existing variables? Well, there is an easy way to do this. PHP has a very cool function for this to do. You can use the variable's name as the key and the variables value as the value.
Month: November 2018
PHP: How Can I Find Out, Whether A Number Is Odd Or Even With The Modulo Operator?
There is a simple way in PHP to find out, wheather a number is odd or even. All you need is the modulo operator.
What is the modulo operator?
The modulo operator in PHP is represented by an %. With this operator you can determine the rest of an interger division.
Here's an example:
HTML Codes For Playing Cards
Would you like to display playing cards symbols like Diamonds, Hearts, Clubs and Spades on your HTML pages? Well, it's quite simple. Just use the following HTML codes: Symbol Code HTML Diamonds ♦ ♦ ♦ Hearts ♥ ♥ ♥ Clubs ♣ ♣ ♣ Spades ♠ ♠ ♠ With the playing cards HTML codes you … Read more


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My upcoming talk at the Quant Insights conference, 14th October, London, will be "Algo My Way, You Go Your Way – Four Decades in Business." More details about this conference can be found here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/quant-insights-conference-tickets-26514482531.
Four decades?! Doesn't time fly when you are working 25 hours a day, eight days a week?
Actually it's closer to five decades than to four.
I'll only be talking about my experiences a teeny bit. Most of my talk will be about YOU! And whether you are suited to running your own business. I get approached a lot by people with business ideas, and get asked for advice. My advice is rarely what people expect to hear. And it's more often than not about the personalities rather than the business idea itself.
I'll be completely avoiding all the hippy rubbish about following your dream, but will explain why OCD and ADHD can be beneficial.
Don't expect any talk about cash flow (although that is important), but I will talk about the eight different types of intelligence and which one matters most.
95% of you will hate my talk because I shall inevitably conclude that you shouldn't be running your own business.
But with fantastic talks by Andreas Binder, James Isilay, Yves Hilpisch, Susanne Chishti, Tony Boobier, Philippe Henrotte, Paul A. Bilokon and more, 100% of you will enjoy the conference!
See you there!


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by Claudia Zuluaga
The first short story selected by Guest Fiction Editor Michelle Wildgen
Things she could talk about on the road: the new inter-office email system, the blizzard that had hit New York City that very morning.
No. Forget the email, Karen thought. That one would be over before it started. And what was there to say about snow other than that it was messy or pretty, or that she wondered if it would delay their flight home? She had to think of something good. In a pinch, she could ask about his son; people like him loved to talk about their kids.
She exhaled, then opened the passenger side door and stepped into the white convertible.
"Thanks for asking me to come," she said, buckling her seatbelt.
"My pleasure," answered Miles. Miles was her boss.
The entire department had been flown from New York to attend the teambuilding conference, held in a hotel just outside of Miami. Each night that week Miles had taken different employees out for one-on-one meals in proper restaurants away from the hotel, and she had envied those he had favored enough to ask. Tonight's invitation had been a surprise; it was finally her turn. David Bower is the one who told her. The crown-prince has summoned you.
Karen had been a company floater when Miles hired her as his permanent assistant after just one day of try-out. Before she started working for him, she had crowned herself the queen of bad employees. She'd ordered fancy lunches and charged them to randomly picked project numbers; she'd added fraudulent overtime to her timesheet nearly every week. She'd stolen a hundred-package box of Cup-a-Soup from the office pantry, ordered another box, and then did it again. She loved being bad. She thought it was hilarious that her resume said proficient with Microsoft Access and Microsoft Excel when she didn't know how to use them at all.
Nobody knew or nobody cared; she wasn't sure which.
Now, for the first time in her life, Karen wanted to be good. As soon as she got hired on, she forced herself to stay late for three days in a row — past the time the cleaning ladies emptied the trash — and sat through all of the Microsoft Office tutorials. I can tell you've got skills, Miles had said at the end of her first week of work, but more important is that you're smart, which is rarer than you'd think. She'd replayed the compliment in her mind in Florida, when several people in the department asked her where she'd gone to college.
"I hope you didn't tell anyone we were going," said Miles. "I don't want people to be jealous of our feast while they're eating dry prime rib and canned peas."
Miles was dressed in chinos and a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to show his forearms, which were thick and covered in light brown hair. He reminded her of a slightly paunchy but still dreamy lifeguard. He was a big man with a perfect handshake, wavy, gray-brown hair, and large but crooked teeth that were so whitely self-assured that they made straight teeth seem like a biological error.
Miles never flirted. Not with her or with anyone. He was a good person, truly. The only one she thought she'd ever met. It was only after working for him that she realized she'd hated every boss she'd had before, and only flirted with them because she also pitied them. Even the drinks she had after work with them, even their fingers she let touch her earlobe — all of it was pity. Until now, pity was part of every job she'd ever had.
"Where are we going? Miami?" She glanced at the digital car clock. It was just past six o'clock and the sun was still hot and yellow. The air around them hung heavy and wet, slightly sweet. Palm trees were planted in regal pairs around the perimeter of the parking lot, but all of them looked diseased to her, like the dried-out fronds given out at church on Palm Sunday.
"I thought we'd go north a little ways," he said. "I know of a Cuban place that's supposed to be very authentic."
"Spicy!" she said, hoping to sound enthusiastic.
Miles didn't acknowledge her, and for a moment her face went hot.
He pressed a button and the car's vinyl top rolled back and away.
"Are you having a good time this week?" He grinned benevolently.
"Yes," she said. "This is great!" She felt like she had back in high school when, once a year or so, the principal would place his big hand on her shoulder for a second and ask how her classes were going. And even though she was always on the verge of failing, she would look at his moustache and say really good.
Only now she wasn't lying quite so completely.
"This place is such a dump," Miles chuckled.
She laughed back, carefully, so as not to imply she didn't appreciate being there. She did. But it was a dump, and she was glad to leave the hotel behind, if only for a few hours. Everything about it was off in some way. She had hoped it would be close to the beach, but it was a dozen miles inland. The carpeted hallways smelled like a mild but chronic illness. A single, hostile maid — with glittering, fierce eyes, and tribal x-marks carved into her brown cheeks — skulked around the corridors.
Miles pulled out of the parking lot and turned on the radio — a crackling, old-fashioned country music station that he turned up, in a gesture that seemed to her to be a joke. She hoped he would keep the music on.
"I've always thought that lobsters got a bad rap." He looked at her sideways, his hair flopping over his close-set eyes. "They shouldn't have to sweep the ocean floor. They're too delicate. And great with a squeeze of fresh lemon."
Miles was teasing her, which made her feel more at ease. During that morning's exercise, the facilitator made everyone line up and pick an animal. The first thing that pops into your head, he'd said. When it was Karen's turn, she said lobster.
The facilitator had lined them up in size order, and she, the lobster, was the smallest, after elephant, rhinoceros, tiger, horse, bear, lion, hawk. Miles said wolf. The facilitator stood with his hands on his hips. Now, you are your animal. Be your animal. Everyone except Karen began giggling, posturing, growling, neighing. How about you, lobster? The facilitator smirked. What do you say?
Um…nothing, she said, looking at the clock, cupping her hands into claws. Lobsters are pretty quiet. The facilitator took a thoughtful grab at his beard. Let's see…they hide under rocks, they…wait, I've got it, he said, a smile of satisfaction on his mouth. He handed her a toy broom. Lobsters clean the bottom of the ocean.
Now, she turned to Miles and smiled. "I've never actually eaten lobster," she said. This was a lie. She didn't know why she said it. She'd had lobster several times, but never understood what the fuss was about. A lot of fanfare for bland softness dipped in warm butter.
"Are you kidding? Never? That has to change. You'll try one tonight."
"Where? At that Cuban place?"
"No, no. Not there. Change of plans." He veered off to the right, taking the next exit. "It's a crab shanty I went to one time back in college. It has this thatched roof and the tables are sitting out on the sand." The convertible U-turned south on the highway back toward Miami.
"Do you think it'll still be there?"
"I'd bet on it. It's sort of an institution."
For a long way, the view didn't change. The road was flanked by resorts and gated retirement villas, the same fast food restaurants done up in spotless stucco, with skinny Italian pines planted at the doorways.
"How far is this place?" she said, brightly.
"It's on Islamorada, one of the first few Keys. We'll be back by nine-thirty or so."
"The Keys? I've never been there." This was true.
"Perfect," Miles turned to her, nodded. "Something new."
And then he faced front, his hands resting on the wheel. They sat side by side, watching as the sky of the southernmost part of the state came toward them. Karen slipped off her sandals and pushed them forward with her bare feet. She relaxed into the seat, the leather conforming to the backs of her legs.
Soon the buildings began to disappear, leaving the land to auto body shops, fruit stands, then nothingness. Tall, damp grasses grew with abandon on the sides of the road. Tires, viciously road-torn and abandoned, littered the asphalt like snake skins.
A boiled peanut truck, parked on the grassy shoulder, was closing up shop. As they drove past it, the man in the truck caught her eye, nodded and saluted at her; it seemed to her that he'd done this in slow motion. She turned her head, hoping Miles hadn't noticed.
The man disappeared behind them now. Karen had found that when she looked around, some man was often looking her way, and if their eyes met, and he didn't look away, she felt pleasingly obligated. Yes. Yes to whatever. If she said no, she would feel bad for them. Karen didn't want to do this anymore. She hoped that the snowstorm would delay their flight home the next day, or cancel it completely. She was supposed to go to Jimmy's Tavern with her friend Melanie. It used to be their biweekly Saturday tradition, one Karen started, but she had cancelled the past few weeks. Every other week they'd get dressed together, put on their makeup together, get to Jimmy's early, buy their first rum and Coke or Jack Daniels and ginger ale, and wait. Drink after drink after drink were bought for them, and when it was closing time, and they had lost track of each other, after the bartender wiped down the taps, some guy took Karen by the hand and led her outside and down the back street or into a car or to his place. And there in the dark, he would touch her under her clothes with fingers still cold from being wrapped around a glass.
Melanie was pissed at her these days. She said they never did anything anymore. A snowstorm would be an excellent excuse.
"In just a few seconds, you're going to be officially off the continent." Miles raised his eyebrows. "We'll be driving down a string of islands. I can't remember what that's called."
An archipelago, she thought, and then said aloud. The word came out of her mouth like a gift; she hadn't known that she knew it until she said it.
"Yes. Clever girl," said Miles.
She caught her reflection in the mirror; she was beaming.
His hand pulled at his shirt collar, letting air in. "It's almost scary, when you think of it. To drive over the ocean. So much of the world is water, but we can't survive in it. It's almost as if we're not quite really supposed to be here. Do you know what I mean?"
She couldn't fully understand what he meant; she was too worried about how to respond without sounding as if she didn't.
"You mean we should be in a boat? Instead?" She bit her lip, hoping she'd said the right thing.
"I don't know if that's it. More like…more like all that water would kill us, if it could. Only we've mostly figured out how to stay out of its way. Make sense?"
She nodded, but was worried that she had disappointed Miles, until he looked over and grinned.
"Don't mind me. I'm probably just weird." He shrugged. He looked at her and opened his mouth, as though he were about to say something important and official, but he closed it again. Karen remembered, suddenly, a DHL package that was supposed to go out last Friday. She remembered filling out the form, but didn't remember the pick up. She worried that she had left it in the drawer instead of leaving it out for pickup, and wondered if Miles had gotten a call from his overseas client that he hadn't gotten it and that Karen had wrecked the whole deal. She would be fired. And maybe not just by Miles. Maybe Fable, Gloss & Jacobs would can her altogether, and he was taking her for a meal to tell her.
No! Because she did remember to send it. She could see it now, the slim DHL package, sitting on the receptionist's desk, which was the right place for the evening pickup.
"You're doing a good job," said Miles. "I just told HR that I am pleasantly surprised. The last two assistants I've had were out to lunch, so to speak." He turned to look at her. "So keep it up." He reached over and turned off the radio and then leaned back, whistling to himself.
She took this as a sign that he wanted to stop talking for a little while, to take in the world outside of the car. She didn't mind. It was beautiful and warm, and everything she saw was something she'd never seen before.
Off in the distance, she noticed a tall white water tower, which made her think of the water tower at the top of her apartment building. She often imagined herself swimming in it; she held such a clear image in her mind that it seemed to her she really had. It would be dark, except for the slightest hint of sunlight in a ring around the very top. Her breath would sound loud and wet. She imagined that something might be swimming in the obscurity beneath the surface — a small whale, not yet aware of her.
The sun had disappeared under a thin cloud cover, but the sky still held a dull light. She was aware of her hair flying behind her. She leaned back, and opened her mouth, taking the damp air into her lungs. She wondered if the people in the few cars passing by thought that she and Miles were husband and wife.
A few months ago, at a street fair in her neighborhood, a fat-nosed old man with a white flower in his lapel had pulled her into his arms and taught her to foxtrot, right on the sidewalk in front of the bandstand. He danced sedately but gracefully. He felt fragile and solid to her, smelling of not-quite-clean bedding, of the cotton candy and the fried peppers of the street. As the song came to an end, he danced her over to the other side of the street, where an old woman stood waiting, leaning against a steel walker. You done with him? the woman shouted to Karen over the noise. This poor old fool loves to dance. And shame on you, she laughed, turning to the man. I'm sure this nice girl has a husband of her own. She doesn't need two. Isn't that right, honey?
Now Karen looked at Miles, wondering what it would be like to be married to him, to wait for him to come home each night, or to watch him from the kitchen window as he mowed the lawn. To have children with him. She imagined it would be a quiet life, but happy and good in a way she felt she couldn't quite imagine. His wife's name was either Virginia or Victoria; Karen would have to get that straight. She felt slightly uncomfortable when she saw her picture on his desk: shiny black hair, a content set to her mouth, clear brown eyes that, to her, said I always try to do the right thing.
"So Karen…what is it you really want," Miles said, without turning to look at her. "Out of all of this? Out of work."
"You mean…what do you mean?"
There were now only a few cars on the road, which was flanked by painted wooden signs, advertisements for motels, she-crab soup, conch chowder, gasoline, slush puppies.
"After this job," he gestured, with one hand, toward the lavender sky. "Think in terms of where you want to ultimately end up."
"I don't know."
"Sure you do. At least in the back of your mind. When you're done with being an assistant, and you're doing your own thing, where do you see yourself? Close your eyes. Just try to picture it."
They passed a car, maybe a station wagon, burnt out and sitting on the shoulder on the other side of the road.
"I don't know," she said, "yet."
"No. You do. Maybe not for sure, but you do know. In some capacity, you do."
"I guess I might start a business someday," she said. It came out of her mouth sounding so natural that she wondered where it came from. And then she realized it: a tiny new café had opened on her block, with red brick walls, a marble counter, two miniscule tables. A single woman ran it alone, arranging the plates of brownies and molasses cookies, filling the cups with steaming liquid, manning the cash register, taking her time doing it all. It seemed peaceful. She would like to stand at her own counter, too, arrange things, be in charge of herself, make small things happen throughout the day.
"A little one," she added.
"Well," said Miles. "That's a good plan. I bet you'd have some good ideas for it, too."
She turned her face away from him and smiled, and for a moment saw the future. She didn't recognize herself.
"Hopefully not any time soon, though," he added. "You need to save up your money. Save whatever you can. That's the way you'll find the freedom to do what you want."
And they were quiet again. He was right, she knew, but it made her feel bad to think about it. Buying lots of shoes was something she wasn't finished with yet.
Soft, tiny drops of rain began to fall, warm and pleasant. She looked at Miles to see if he wanted to put the top up, but he gave no indication that he even noticed it. He seemed far away now, as if he were thinking about something else entirely, something that required quiet and concentration. She wondered what it was.
The road was now nothing but a bridge, with slate-blue water flanking both sides. Miles pointed to the horizon; the sun was quickly disappearing.
"If you look closely at the water," he said, his voice seeming loud and sudden, "you can see right down to the reef. Quick, though. Before we're back on land."
"Wow," she said, but she hadn't turned around in time; she hadn't seen it.
And then, the road was over land again — another island.
Quickly, the sky had darkened to a velvet navy blue. This was Islamorada, but Miles seemed to be looking only straight ahead of him, and not at the signs displaying the restaurant names.
"Could that be it?" she said. "Lorelei's Cabana Bar?"
He said nothing back; she wasn't sure if he'd heard her.
She could already see the lights of the next island in the distance.
Just after the road hit land again, Miles placed his hand on her forearm for a moment, wrapped his fingers lightly around it. "Look at that," he whispered, slowing the car. "Wow." The white backside of a deer bounded away, soundlessly. He pulled his hand away, slowly; his heavy, cold fingertips lingered over her skin. It was a familiar kind of touch. She never knew how to respond; there was always a chance it was innocent.
"Are we still going to get dinner?" she said. "I think we're off Islamorada now."
"Oh. Sorry. I spaced out." He shook his head apologetically, slapped himself gently on the forehead. "It was probably ten or fifteen minutes back."
"I'm not really all that hungry," she said. "I won't care if we just head back." Unconsciously, she rubbed her forearm, warming the skin where his fingers had been.
"Nonsense. You're going to get your lobster. Let me just find a place to turn around." He slowed down, scanning the road ahead for a place to turn off. "Hey," he turned to her, "let's take a look at the beach first."
Karen noticed that the wind and humidity had taken the waves out of Miles' thick hair, made it seem to move, flame-like, up and away from his head.
"Sure," she said, quietly, and pulled up her dress strap, which had fallen off her shoulder. She felt her heart pounding in her ears. It wasn't a normal thing — she suddenly knew — for a male boss to bring a female employee, alone, to a dark beach. The smile on his face seemed content, calm, still boss-like, but the way the moon reflected in the glint of his teeth unnerved her. She turned away.
She didn't look at him until she thought she felt the weight of his right arm stretched across the back of her seat. When she looked, though, she saw both of his hands resting innocently on the steering wheel.
"Back in college I slept on the beach a few times. In the morning, when I woke up, it always took me a moment to remember where I was." He smiled to himself. "Have you ever been to the ocean at night?"
"No," she said, and wondered if she was being silly. Come on, she told herself, who wouldn't want to stop for a closer look, with the ocean so close. And if she weren't with him, he'd probably go ahead and look at it alone.
He turned off the road and followed a dirt trail. "I'll bet it's spectacular."
Gravel and sand spun under the wheels. Tree branches reached into the car, brushing the side of her face. Several hundred feet down, he found a clearing and parked. He turned the car off; the lights of the dashboard disappeared.
Miles stepped out of the car and closed his door, leaving the keys in the ignition. As he walked away in the direction of the trees, Karen reached over and took the keys, hooking her forefinger through the key ring. Then she got out of the convertible and followed a few steps behind him. The trees were thick above their heads, obscuring the sky. She could hear Miles breathing, stepping on branches, could hear the waves. She'd never seen such darkness; when she looked back, she could barely make out the car.
Her heart began to pound. After just a few dozen steps, her body felt as weak and slow as it did in her dreams when she was being chased. She knew she could have said no — could have pretended that she had a stomach ache, a sore ankle — but really, she felt as though she'd already said yes, somehow, simply by being here with him, letting the sun disappear.
As they made their way through the thick line of trees, they found the stars, then the moon, and then the water. The sand was warm and soft. She slipped off her sandals and held them in one hand.
"My God, what a night," said Miles. "Beautiful." She watched him take off his shoes and walk to the water.
He ran away from her and toward the shore, and the moon became like a spotlight, moving with him across a dark stage. "You coming?" He stopped halfway to the water and held out his arm, but he wasn't focused on her.
It occurred to her that, once more, she had put herself in a situation where what happened next would not be up to her. But this time, she was impossibly far away from the rest of her world. Apart from Miles, no one even knew where she was.
Karen stood very still at the edge of the trees, listening to the whispery slaps of the small waves as they hit the shore.
"Come on, it's warm as a bath," he called. But he was turned in the wrong direction. She realized he couldn't see her in the darkness. She opened her mouth to answer him, but she stopped herself. Instead she stepped backward, back further, behind the line of trees, until she knew he couldn't see her at all. The leaves tickled and scraped at her arms and legs. She inhaled deeply, exhaled slowly. Invisible. Her heartbeat slowed.
She watched as he walked along the shore, looking back every few moments to see if she was following. She wasn't. She reached up and pulled a leaf off the tree overhead, tore it in half, brought it to her nose and smelled the damp green of it, all the while watching Miles as he kept going, slowly, a hundred feet down the coast. After a few minutes, he turned around and began walking back toward her. As he trudged through the sand, his gait was strong and purposeful, and as he looked for her, moving his head from side to side, he seemed every bit the good, capable, concerned, fair boss, and nothing more.
She knew that it would be best to go to him immediately; she could say she'd slipped back under the trees to go to the bathroom, and that she hadn't been able to find him again until now. They would walk to the car and drive back to Miami. Perhaps they would even stop off for a fast, sober dinner. In a few hours, she would be back in her hotel room, watching television, packing her things.
Miles was near again. His white shirt was untucked, the sleeves rolled up high on his arms. He took a step closer and rubbed his brow with the back of his hand. She didn't move.
"Karen," he called, and laughed uneasily. "Where in the heck are you?"
She stepped back even deeper into the darkness of the trees. She could hear the waves — fizzing like seltzer — as they receded.
"Jesus," he sighed, and stopped. He was twenty feet away, and almost directly in front of her. "Karen. You're really starting to worry me." His voice was insistent. The wind blew across the shore, whipping her hair around her face. It was too late, she knew, to say peek-a-boo, I was just kidding.
Karen watched him jog toward the trees. He stopped just in front of her and pursed his lips. Her legs shook. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She held her breath. If she made a noise, he would see her.
He must see her as the kind of girl who would just stand there in the dark, bare-armed and shivering and just waiting for him to find her, waiting to see what he would do next. Maybe she should let him find her, let him see that it was she who was deciding what to do next. She should jump right out at him. She would do it just for that split-second when his face was taken over by terror.
Instead, Miles turned and took slow steps toward the shore, his hands in his pockets, scanning from side to side, looking for her. In spots where ocean water had splashed up on his white shirt, she could see right through to his skin.
She'd forgotten she was holding the car keys; they had become a part of her hand. The convertible was parked in the clearing. She would go back to it now and let him hear the sound of the ignition and see the glare of the headlights through the dark trees, and when he came scrambling through the sand and tripping over branches, he would find her there in the car, her seatbelt fastened, hands on the wheel, ready to go.
Original art courtesy Rob Grom.
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Articles in this Issue
Bringing Cemeteries to Life, by A. M. Whittaker Be Your Animal, by Claudia Zuluaga Remnants, by Lisa Harper An Upstate Kingdom, by Terry Richard Bazes Organic Fuji, by Denise Frame Harlan Paleontology, by Patrick Wyse Jackson Dance, by Erin McKean Real Estate, by Townsend Twainhart Lost Last Month
Claudia Zuluaga's fiction has been published in Linnaean Street and is forthcoming in Narrative Magazine. She lives in New York City, where she teaches freshman composition, and is finishing a novel entitled Music For The Future.
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Hampton Inn and Suites Amarillo West
6901 I-40 West Amarillo (TX), United States
The 2.5-star Hampton Inn and Suites Amarillo West offers comfort and convenience whether you're on business or holiday in Amarillo (TX). Featuring a complete list of amenities, guests will find their stay at the property a comfortable one. 24-hour front desk, facilities for disabled guests, luggage storage, Wi-Fi in public areas, car park are just some of the facilities on offer. Some of the well-appointed guestrooms feature television LCD/plasma screen, air conditioning, heating, wake-up service, desk. Take a break from a long day and make use of hot tub, fitness center, sauna, indoor pool. For reliable service and professional staff, Hampton Inn and Suites Amarillo West caters to your needs.
Hotel Star | Rates | Checkin | Checkout | Rating |
2.5 | USD 92 | 3:00 PM | 11:30 AM | 10 (1 reviews) |


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Somlói Vandor Pince
A young winemaker with a university degree and 5 years of apprenticeship with one of the best redwine-maker of the country, but absolutely no link to Somlo. Then, 10 years ago he suddenly decides to move to this tiny appellation and in the very first year he produces the 7th best dry white wine of Hungary. The rest is history..
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Joe Nuxoll, along with Maciek Gudrymowicz and Lyndsay Radnedge, is one of the three excellent photographers that shoots for Center Line Soccer. His photo gallery of the San Jose Earthquakes 2-1 victory over FC Dallas can be viewed here.
San Jose Earthquakes vs FC Dallas: Jon Busch makes a comfortable catch save in stoppage time
With six added minutes of stoppage time, the San Jose Earthquakes task of seeing out the victory against FC Dallas would have to wait. Goalkeeper Jon Busch, who made three catch saves in stoppage time, helped secure the three points for the Quakes.


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This is what things have come to.
The Greatest Democracy In the World™ is subjecting its people, and the world, to an election campaign to determine who gets to order new crimes against humanity, in which one candidate is a far-right, racist, woman-hating, tax-avoiding failed property mogul, reality TV star and serial sex offender, and the other is, by all available evidence, a robot built by Goldman Sachs.
Clinton looks on track for an easy win, to go by the polls. Of course she is, when the powerful forces allied against Donald Trump are so huge, according to the reliable source of Donald Trump.
Never has there been a more put-upon sector of any society than that of Donald Trump. The media is against him. The electoral system is against him. The Establishment is determined to squash the popular insurgency of this strangely orange modern-day Che Guevara.
When we think of the oppressed in the so-called Land of the Free, the first thing that comes to mind is a billionaire who is literally on record boasting he is so powerful he can sexually assault women with impunity.
Clinton, for her part, has been working hard on all the needed skills to defeat Trump — mostly standing upright, calling him "Donald" in an ironic tone and not dying.
Conspiracy theories of a fatal illness notwithstanding, Clinton looks like she should just about manage all of that and is well on her way to being the US's first female Commander in Chief to drone strike a Pakistani village. And they say progress is finished.
Sure, Clinton is in the pay of fossil fuel corporations whose practices are destroying the capacity of the planet to sustain human civilisation and WikiLeaks has exposed the extent to which she is a puppet of Wall Street. But her opponent is a psychopathic likely rapist who can't complete a sentence without threatening to commit some atrocity against one minority or another and is just one popular vote away from accessing nuclear weapons. So for many, a corporate greed-fuelled ecoholocaust starts seeming like the least of our problems.
Of course, there is also Jill Stein, the Greens candidate who advocates extreme and unpopular policies like free education, not committing war crimes and shifting away from practices condemning the planet to destruction. Many who actually support Stein's polices are likely to back Clinton nonetheless because, the argument goes, it is a two-horse race so it is important to back the lesser evil — even when the "evil" in question is a probable dead planet.
Stein is not included in any of the debates and largely ignored in media coverage, because the US is a democracy and that clearly means the people get to choose between two candidates whose policies will mean their common ruin, one of whom is Donald Trump.
It is really hard to imagine why all those countries the US has invaded don't ever seem too keen on the US's brand of freedom.
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Folks from Harlem to the Hudson River is experiencing intermittent crazy wind gusts in excess of 40 MPH. Strong winds can cause flying debris, turn unsecured objects into projectiles, & cause power outages.
Preparedness Actions:
Before an Outage
- Charge cell phones
- Gather supplies
- Turn refrigerator/freezers to a colder setting
During an Outage
- Stay clear of downed power lines
- Turn off all appliances
- Keep refrigerator/freezer doors closed to prevent food spoilage
- Do not use generators indoors
If you have a disability/access needs, or use Life Sustaining Equipment (LSE) and need immediate assistance, dial 911.
For the latest weather info: www.weather.gov/okx/


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Posted by ginevive on April 20, 2003 at 14:20:56:
Cool, someone else with wopd frog tadpoles. they looked a bit like salamanders when they first hatched, with the weird gill thingys on the sides, but now they took their tadpole shape and are swimming around alot more. i too left the eggshells in there, they eat the algae off them and also a few tads seem to still be developing in the remaining ones. theyre tiny little things! i have more than i thought, about 50 now that i counted them, i plan to setup a large 55 gal tank for them all. i already have 2 adult wood frogs. theyre real cool to keep because theyre small, allowing you to keep more in a smaller tank than needed for, say, my huge bullfrog who needs her own 55 gal. hope to get some ones with different colorations outta this batch, like the weird bluish ones! oh about feeding, i have fed mine the same things as you, but also i added in some finely ground fish flakes and boiled lettuce leaf, and i change half the water daily to provide enuff oxygen. good luck!
AprilFirstBioEngineering | GunHobbyist.com | GunShowGuide.com | GunShows.mobi | GunBusinessGuide.com | club kingsnake | live stage magazine


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DUBAI Rising from the Arabian Gulf on an island 280 metres from the shores of the renowned Jumeirah beach and the enchanting city of Dubai, stands the iconic Burj Al Arab, a masterpiece of contemporary architecture and the most opulent hotel in the world.
Designed to resemble the graceful sails of an Arabian dhow, Burj Al Arab soars to a height of 321 metres and is less than 20 kilometres south of Dubai city, dominating Dubai's coastline.
Adjacent to Madinat Jumeirah, Jumeirah Beach Hotel and Wild Wadi, and in close proximity to the Mall of the Emirates, Ski Dubai and an array of world-class golf courses, Burj Al Arab is perfectly located and acts as a landmark at the very heart of Dubai. Offering unparalleled standards of comfort and service, the exclusive all-suite hotel truly reflects the finest the world has to offer.
The World's Only 7-Star Hotel
- 202 luxurious duplex suites
- BMW, Rolls Royce and helicopter airport transfer service
- Guest Services Desk locared on each floor with discreet in-suite check-in
- Butler service
- 8 restaurants and lounges
- Assawan Spa & Health Club
- 4 swimming pools (2 outdoor, 2 indoor) and a private beach
- Complimentary access to Wild Wadi Water Park and watersports at Jumeirah Beach Hotel and Madinat Jumeirah


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Merry Christmas from Down Under
Soaking up the sun on Cottosloe Beach
Christmas at Thomo and Cathy's
Day 3: The Long Haul
We pulled out of Geraldton by 7am with our Dome Coffee in hand for the long 10 hour leg to Exmouth. We were warned by our Aussie friends that this drive would be quite the journey and to make sure we were well stocked with gas and water and to stop at the Roadhouses along the way as it could be a few hundred kilometers between stops. Eric and I have both done some road tripping back in the states and weren't intimidated by the distance or the time in the car. However, we did not anticipate that our journey would be done on a two lane country road known as "The Great Northern Highway" where we could drive for miles and miles and never see another car or road train. It was just us and our Fiesta driving through the rough and uninhabited Western Outback.
The vast open road
Eric standing next to a huge termite nest! Amazing!
The Open Road
Day 4 - Ningaloo Reef
The real reason we drove all this way was to snorkel off the untouched and mostly unruined Ningaloo Reef, which is accessible right from the beach. No tours were required to snorkel here, just our mask and fins. We woke up early to beat the heat and the sun's rays and ventured to Turquoise Bay, where we were the first people on the beach. This beach definitely lived up to it's name, clear blue waters, white sand and no crowds! This beach has natural sea currents which enabled us to do drift snorkeling where we could float face down and the current take us over the gorgeous reef. We saw tons of tropical fish, antlered corals and sea cucumbers. It was awesome! We had to pay attention to our location so we didn't get stuck in the currents and get swept out to sea.
Crystal Clear Water! Wow!
On our drive back into Exmouth, I spotted a tree full of Galahs -- pink breasted cocktail looking birds. I managed to get super close to the flock before they flew off. All of the noise also woke up the kangaroo that had bedded down right next to the tree. The roo was naturally curious and let me get a few awesome shots before hopping away. (Now I could check that off my list)
Galahs taking flight
Our first live spotting of a kangaroo!!
Exmouth's resident Emu
Our last night in Exmouth we had a great Italian dinner at Pinocchio's, where food was good and wine came by the liter, for only $16. Good thing we could walk back to our hotel.
Day 5: Coral Bay -- Our Favorite Beach
We left Exmouth by mid morning, headed back down the Great Northern set to explore the parts of WA that we missed on our long drive up the coast. There isn't much (well anything) between Exmouth and Coral Bay, just a long 2 lane road; no Roadhouses, no gas, nothing, just the open road. We high tailed it back to Coral Bay, clean, clear crystal waters where we enjoyed lunch and snorkeling right off the beach. Eric and I both think this is one of the best beaches in the world! We saw sand sharks, rays, giant fish, and huge clams literally right off the beach. We highly recommend the journey to Coral Bay, it's not as far as Exmouth but you still get the experience of Ningaloo and the gorgeous beaches of WA.
Love this spot, you can barely see where the sand and ocean meet
Eric showing off his snorkeling skills
Beautiful Coral Bay
After our beach excursion, we drove 2 more hours to Canarvon, our stop over for the night. Not much to do or see here, just a place to rest our heads and stock up before our next day of driving.
Day 6: Kalbarri National Park
Like all of the other travelers staying in Canarvon, we left this no stop light town early headed for Kalbarri. On our drive we found an amazing lookout point that really shows the vastness of the WA outback. You can see barren coastal desert for miles, no houses, no lights, just open untouched land. Pretty amazing! I'm not sure we have been anywhere this undeveloped, including Big Bend in Texas.
This shot sums up our road trip!
Eric and I added our names to the large rock piles that other visitors have left
We arrived in Kalbarri by mid afternoon. Unfortunatley we were unable to see some of the highlights in the National Park, as they required a 4-wheel drive vehical to reach and our Fiesta just couldn't get the job done. Tired of driving, we headed for our vacation rental and enjoyed a home cooked meal, our gorgeous sea view, coastal cliffs and some star gazing.
New Years Eve & Fremantle:
Our 6 day road trip drew to a close after another 6 hours in the car on our way to Fremantle, or Freo, as it is locally known. Along the way we passed a naturally pink hued lake, that produces beta keratin and vitamin A.
We also made a quick stop in Swan Valley and sampled some decent Western Australian wines before finally making it to our apartment in Freo.
We spent New Years Eve wandering around town, sampling fish and chips, drinking beer at Little Creatures and people watching. We rang in 2012 in our apartment and listened to the city below count us down. We toasted a great year and welcomed the adventures to come!
The last sunset of 2011
2012 was off to a good start in Freo. We spent the next 2 days wondering around, visiting markets, shopping and drinking beer. We never got in the car and went every where by foot! It was awesome. We met up with Thomo and Cathy one last time before heading for our final evening in Perth.
Eric sporting his new hat and enjoying a beer
Jenn drinking a proper pour at Monk
Our last night in WA was spent in Perth. We had an early (6am) flight back to Malaysia and we needed to be close to the airport. We wrapped up our trip with a visit to the gorgeous Kings Park, with great city views, and our own Sunday (Monday, it was a public holiday) sess in the park.
You can take the girl out of Michigan but...you can't take the Michigan out of the girl
Go Blue!!
Our last session
We had a great adventure in Western Australia. We saw so much of this part of the country. All and all we are glad that we drove up to Exmouth. We had lots of time together in the car to reflect on the last year and set some goals for 2012. We are looking forward to a year full of love, travel, family, friends and each other!
Cheers Mate!
From Down Under,
Jenn & Eric