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Last time I wrote about my step-grandfather's first wife, Jean Alden and her family. Jean's mother was Mollie Joan Alden, daughter of Robert Alden and Emily Gilding. This blog post is dedicated to the Gilding family.
Emily Gilding was born in Bungay in 1871. She was one of eight* children. The census returns for that year were taken on the night of 2 April and Emily is listed as being two months old. Her parents, Jacob Gilding and Sarah Ann (nee Rogers) were then residing in Beccles Road, in Bungay.
Emily's father Jacob Gilding was a Wherryman/Waterman by trade, in the counties of Norfolk and North Suffolk - this being stated in the 1851, 1861 & 1871 census returns. By 1881, however, Jacob was a Railway Labourer, as part of the General Eastern Railway (G.E.R). Jacob and his wife and children were by that time residing in Beccles.
Jacob Gilding was born on 6 June 1838 in Smallburgh, county Norfolk. He was the son of Benjamin Langley Gilding and Mary, nee Cork. On 2 July 1838 Jacob was baptised at St Peter's Church, Smallburgh. In 1851 the Gilding family lived at Broad Fen in Dilham. Benjamin, Jacob's father was a Waterman by trade. I like to imagine him rowing his way through the Norfolk Broads on an early Spring day, chewing on a piece of reed.
|Picking Water Lillies
Jacob left the county of Norfolk some time before 1860 and took up residence in Bungay, county Suffolk. Jacob married Sarah Ann Rogers, daughter of William Rogers, at Bungay Holy Trinity Church on 3 April 1860. Both signed the marriage register with an "X". The Rogers family were from Loddon, county Norfolk. William Rogers' first wife Mary Ann (nee Harris), Sarah Ann's biological mother, died in 1845 and William later married Amy Harris in 1849. Any relation?
Jacob and Sarah Ann's first child, George, was born in August 1860 but he did not thrive, and died on 3 September 1860. His burial service was held at Bungay Holy Trinity Church. Jacob and Sarah had only been married for five months. They went on to have eight more children:
Frederick George Gilding
George Rogers Gilding
Benjamin Gilding
Harry Gilding
Emily Gilding
Ernest William Gilding
Ellen Mary Gilding
Anne Gilding
They remained in Bungay until some time before 1881 when they moved with their children to Beccles: Emily, aged 10. Ernest William, aged 8. Ellen Mary, aged 6 and Anne, aged 5. What I find especially intriguing about the 1881 census return for the Gilding family is two-fold: 1) Jacob and Sarah Ann's sons George, then aged 16 and Benjamin, then aged 14, were "Inmates" (Students) at a Boys Reformatory School in Thorndon All Saints (near Eye); and 2) Jacob and Sarah Ann have an extra adopted child: Jeremiah Sturman, aged 1.
Upon further investigation, Jeremiah Sturman was born in Skelton in North Riding, county Yorkshire. He was the illegitimate son of Rebekah Sturman, a Domestic Servant. What I found to be even more intriguing was that the 1891 census return puts Jeremiah back with his mother Rebekah (along with a half-brother Harry and another Jeremiah Sturman aged 87) but this time they are all Inmates of the Loddon and Clavering Union Workhouse, in county Norfolk. This begs the question: What happened to the Sturman family and why did the Gilding family have temporary care of Jeremiah?
The 1901 census return has Jacob and Sarah Ann Gilding living at Knights Yard, Ravensmere with a grandson, Walter Belward Gilding. Walter was then aged 12, born to one of Jacob and Sarah Ann's children but which one? (Walter was living with the family in 1891 as well, when they resided at Northgate Street). He remained with his grandparents even in 1911, when he was aged 22. I don't believe he ever married. Another grandson appears on the 1911 census with Jacob and Sarah Ann: Ernest Alden, aged 18 (He was Mollie Joan Alden's eldest brother). What is interesting to note is that the 1911 census states Jacob and Sarah Ann had eight children, seven living and one who had died. But I know that they had at least nine children because I found George Gilding who was baptised and died in 1860, in Bungay. Why did they claim they had eight children instead of nine?
|Jacob Alden, 1911 census return
(click on image to enlarge)
Jacob Gilding died in 1914, aged 75. Sarah Ann Gilding died in 1930, aged 94.
My next blog post will concentrate on my step-grandfather's SAMPSON family heritage.
The British Newspaper Archive brings up several previously unknown articles in regards to Jacob Gilding who was frequently brought up before the Beccles Petty Sessions in the 1880s because he repeatedly refused to pay the ordered one shilling per week in payment of his son at Thorndon Reformatory School. For example: The Ipswich Journal of Tuesday 25 January 1881 reported that Jacob Richard Gilding was "causing much trouble" from neglecting to make payments for his sons and was "22 weeks in arrears". Jacob's wages as a Railway Labourer at that time was stated in the paper as being 18 shillings 6 pence per week and that he had "five other children to provide for".
(In July 1879 The Ipswich Journal reported that brothers George Gilding and Benjamin were caught stealing fruit from a garden in Ravensmere, the property of Edward Masters. This was the reason they were sent to Reformatory School. They had previous convictions of stealing at Gillingham.)
In January 1885 Jacob Gilding was fined five shillings for neglecting to send his daughter Ellen Gilding, regularly to school
In January 1885 Jacob Gilding was fined five shillings for neglecting to send his daughter Ellen Gilding, regularly to school


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Hi folks,
I'd like to ask anyone who is using the EcoSystem processor scheme to report how you find it, any problems, suggestions for improvement etc.
The EcoSystem processor is described here.
This will help to develop it further for others in the future.
Thanks and regards,This message has been edited. Last edited by: GrahamLaming,
Rover 75 + Skoda Fabia on B100
Bicycle on G100 12,000 miles p.a. ( http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/GrahamLaming )
I'm using the system and I'm very pleased with it - no water washing, no filtering, no emulsions.
In my experience, you don't need to heat to 90*C during the water drying stage - 75*C is plenty. With the venturi drawing in air, it takes about two hours to cool to reaction temperature, after which time, the oil is dry. Which brings me to the next point - react as close to the boiling point of methanol as possible. I aim for 63*C and react for 90 mins. You'll lose a small amount of methanol initially but it is only a small amount (~50ml or so). As for removing water, during the methanol removal stage, I only heat to 75*C, then turn the heater off. Stop collecting when the methanol flow slows to a drop every few seconds - this takes up to 3 hours. Finally, after pumping the bio into the settling tank, I throw in a bubbler to remove the last trace of methanol and water - about 2 hours. Though the amount of methanol is tiny, I make sure the shop is well ventilated during the last step. After two days settling, the bio is soap free.
Thanks for sharing your ideas freely Graham!
Free collection of waste cooking oil in the Nottingahm area http://wastevegoil.co.uk
I am, with Jamesrl's help with venturii (venturis?)
Agree with Twenty4seven -- much easier to "finsh" the fuel with less methanol.
Wondering about using it for methanol recovery - have yet to do so.
Great Job, with a lot of good info.
The question I have is what if any impact does all that copper and brass have on the process? I know this issue has been talked about in the past. But it seems, like you use a large amount of copper and brass in the project.
To date, all I have used is stainless. Had to make a lot of custom parts. So how is that copper working out?
Hi Graham and All
My new 55g cone-bottom reactor has done two batches using dry wash.
The dry-wash concept came along during construction and I modified the pump outlet plumbing to incorporate a plastic venturi above the drum, set up as a bypass to the main flow. The venturi is really a fertilizer injector.
On the first batch I was able to get about 60% methanol recovery and I decided the venturi wasn't really providing enough suction, due to the design of the venturi and the awkwardness of the layout.
On the second batch I injected compressed air into the oil flow with better results, although an amount of methanol escaped to atmosphere because it was no longer a closed system. Still achieved good recovery, but managed to fill my compressed air hose with bio by accident.
Both batches I evaporated off remaining methanol from the wash/settling tank by circulation and heating, then filtering into a third tank and recirculation filtering. Neither of these has a cone bottom yet, but plan to in future.
Jamesrl has provided me with plans for a venturi to place in the main pump outlet oil flow, which should improve things.
Other than that, I'm very pleased with the concept.
I had to modify the GL process - so I am only using elements of it. I am limited, for now, to 110 volt power. I found that it was taking forever to heat the BD above 150F. I also had poor luck making a venturi. I wound up using a refrigerator compressor on the end of the plumbers delight for dewatering and for methanol recovery.
Without the aid of vacuum for dewatering and recovery it was taking me 12plus hours to make it to the settling/filtering stage at the end. With the vacuum I can quickly dewater and it only takes 1/2 hour at 140f to remove the methanol. Maybe I'll take another crack at the venturi if I can get 240volt power to my work area..... For now I have gotten the processing time down to 7-8 hours.
Hi Graham et al,
I´m setting up your system in the moment, but with some changes. I`m building a 210l reactor with copper heat exchanger inside, to get rid of the problematic water heater inside the reactor.
So I can fullfil the ATEX goals by separating reactor and heater. For the heat exchanger I use a special heat transfer oil which has a usable temperature range from -40 up to 230°C.
Using a standard continuous flow heater with 18KW power consumption and electronic heat control, the heating times should be minimized.
The heating system will use a 3/4" heating pump for circulation. The circulation pump will be a air powered membrane pump with a capacity of abt 5000l/h. The collection barrels for the recoverd methanol and the byproduct will be 50l KEG bear container for ease of connection to the closed system.
I hope to finish the system in september, first batches will be in october when I can move to my new site for BD production.
vy 73 Dieter
Why is this? Even with a drum processor, you could be running the compressed air through a condensor and be collecting the methanol. After the condensor, it could be vented to the outside, so even if it is not a closed system, you could collect it before it gets vented.
Exactly. That is what I did. Ran the vapour coming off the reactor through the condenser and then out a vent pipe. It was a chilly day and I noticed quite a bit of vapour condensing as it came out the vent pipe. Hence my statement that an amount of methanol escaped to atmosphere.
What are these systems using for heating? The concept looks interesting and the schematic makes me wonder it might be compatible for an appleseed retrofit.
Unfortunately, all the thermostats I have seen for water heaters don't go above ~ 150F (65C). Is there an economical way to regulate these hot water heaters to 194F (90C)?
I am pretty sure they are using electric elements. I do not know what thermostats they are using.
You could probably retrofit a furnace aqua stat, with some relays, and other bits. You would need a relay to handle the amperage as the aqua stat is low voltage or a line voltage with low amp ratings.
We use a hot water furnace. So we have 205F water available for what ever use. From day one, when friends and I set up our "bio shop" we agreed, we wanted to use an oil fired furnace for a few reasons.
We use the same 205F water for everything.
We heat the bio shop with it.
We heat the processor with it.
We preheat meth with it.
We heat WVO with it.
We heat every thing that needs heating with it, very little needs to go above 205F, and much less under a vacuum.
Using electric for all this heating, even excluding the shop, just seems like a lot of watts to dump down the drain, when most of us (the bio community) can run almost straight clean WVO in the furnace for the cost of collection and cleaning.
We control separate heat exchangers with simple mixing valves and injection pump set ups which would be very familiar to any plumber who has done a lot of radiant floor heat work.
Craigslist, look for an old hot water oil furnace. We got ours for free. We just had to go cut it out and get it out of the basement.
I am using the ecosystem, or something vaguely approximating to it :-)
All the best
Graham we are just starting to use it here in Michigan. I'll give you a complete breakdown of our experience as we trial several different ways of accomplishing the same outcome.
By the way did you see that new "ionic liquid" washing research on biodiesel being performed at the University of Leicester:
http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/ChemTech/Volume/2007/06/green_ionic_liquids.asp http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/ChemTech/Volume/2007/06/green_ionic_liquids.asp
Anyway they want to work with a biodiesel producer to test out the processes on a larger scale than in the lab. The ionic liquid is apparently "green chemistry" since it is non-reactive. It is supposed to provide for a pure glycerine by-product.
Let me know if you follow up on this...
i'm using it too. using 40 gal water heater w/ harbor fright pump. basically converted appleseed. 1/2 inch home-made venturi. only using thermostat as temperature control. plans for PID (and or distillation under vacuum), cone/round bottom reactor and settling tanks and a MUCH larger pump.
We plan to process 55 to 300 gallons per hour of reaction mixer using the GL 1-day Eco process with the additional step of a resin bed purification system.
We are presently working out the difficulty in immediately removing the residual soap and glycerin following methanol removal.
Following air injection using either the venturi method or actual pressurized inlet during 1.5 - 3 hours of recirculatoin, we are sending the batch through 100 mircon type Sta-Sieve. The soap slimes up and can be squegeed off however residual glycerin goes right through so we need a clever way to deal with this glycerin. We may just use some kind of cascading/riser plate system to seperate out the Cleaned biodiesel and then send it forward for resin bed polishing.
Although it may not be down to 150 ppm it should be well below 500 ppm residual stuff and this is a near continuous flow process rather than having to weight 24 hours or so for settling.
Erm, why not just filter it more finely?
Hibbo, right now we only have 100 micronish carbon steel screen. We plan to take the filtering down to 10 microns as Graham Lamming describes in the 1-day process however we don't have any experience with sta-seives of this level. We may go to 10 micron polyester box shaped filters but don't have these presently.
The idea though is to have a process that is very low maintenance or perhaps with filter clean out/replacement once a day or for 1250 gallons of demethylated bio...
Have you looked at using sintered metal filters for the applications below 100 microns? I'm thinking of a sintered metal filter following a resin bed as a final stage to my process. Currenty I end at a 5-15 micron water filter with no resin.
Thought about going to the advanced production classes held by Girlmark - was this one of her's?
Sounds like it was great!
Never heard of Sintered Metal filters before (and you think you know a few things!). Looked them up ! Several different varieties. One looked much like the screens we have for our 48" SWECO unit, however we don't have a screen <100 microns.
If we could get a SWECO screen that is 10 Microns then we'd have a continuous low maintenance process nailed!!!
How often do you have to change out your house water filters on 40 gallons of biodiesel???
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Complex Light Covering Buy files now › USD $ 5.00
This elaborate structure was grown from a point using a very simple rule. The original dimensions were (7.8 cm)x(7.8 cm)x(7.8 cm), however we cut a (5 cm)x(5 cm)x(3.5 cm) hole in the bottom so that the object can be used as a tea light cover. You can buy a Light Plate [[[[[ httpwww.shapeways.commodel1132014light-plate.htmlli=productBox-search ]]]]] to put you tea lights on, as you can see in the pictures.
USD $ 5.00 00thLJTz would like to share their product with the following license All Rights Reserved Read the fine print of this license Buy design files › Once purchased this file can be downloaded immediately.
Additional info: Listed on Oct 17, 2013 Viewed 1659 times Report this item to Ponoko


text:
Template:Article summary start Template:Article summary text Template:Article summary heading Template:Article summary wiki Template:Article summary wiki Template:Article summary wiki Template:Article summary wiki Template:Article summary wiki Template:Article summary end
- 1 Benefits of Psd
- 2 Supported Browsers
- 3 Setup and Installation
- 4 Using PSD
- 5 Caveats for Firefox and Heftig's Aurora ONLY
- 6 Support
- 7 PSD On Other Distros
- 8 External Links Mentioning PSD
Benefits of Psd
Running this daemon is beneficial for two reasons:
- Reduced wear to physical discs
- Speed
Since the profile(s), browser cache*, etc. are relocated into tmpfs (RAM disk), the corresponding onslaught of I/O associated with using the browser is also redirected from the physical disc to RAM, thus reducing wear to the physical disc and also greatly improving browser speed and responsiveness. For example, the access time of RAM is on the order of nanoseconds while the access time of physical discs is on the order of milliseconds. This is a difference of six orders of magnitude or 1,000,000 times faster.
Supported Browsers
Currently, the following browsers are auto-detected and managed:
- chromium
- conkerorAUR
- firefox (all flavors including stable, beta, and aurora)
- firefox-trunk
- google-chromeAUR
- heftig's version of aurora
- midori
- opera
- opera-nextAUR
- qupzilla
Setup and Installation
Profile-sync-daemonAUR is available for download from the AUR. Build it and install like any other package.
Edit /etc/psd.conf
Edit the included
/etc/psd.conf defining which user(s) will have their profiles managed by psd.
# List users separated by spaces whose browser(s) profile(s) will get symlinked # and sync'ed to tmpfs. # Do NOT list a user twice! USERS="facade happy"
Optionally uncomment the BROWSERS array and populate it with whichever browser(s) are to be sync'ed to tmpfs. If the BROWSERS array stays commented (default) then all supported browser profiles will be sync'ed if they exist.
Example: Let's say that both Chromium and Midori are installed but only Chromium is to be sync'ed to tmpfs since the user keeps Midori as a backup browser and it is seldom used:
# List browsers separated by spaces to include in the sync. Useful if you do not # wish to have all possible browser profiles sync'ed. # # Possible values: # chromium # conkeror.mozdev.org # firefox # firefox-trunk # google-chrome # heftig-aurora # midori # opera # opera-next # qupzilla # # If the following is commented out (default), then all available/supported # browsers will be sync'ed BROWSERS="chromium"
Using PSD
Preview Mode (Parse)
The 'parse' option can be called to show users exactly what psd will do based on the /etc/psd.conf entered. Call it like so:
$ profile-sync-daemon parse Profile-sync-daemon v5.24 Psd will manage the following per /etc/psd.conf settings: browser/psname: chromium/chromium owner/group: facade/users sync target: /home/facade/.config/chromium tmpfs dir: /tmp/facade-chromium profile size: 81M browser/psname: firefox/firefox owner/group: facade/users sync target: /mnt/data/docs/facade/mozilla/firefox/1Zp9V43q.banking tmpfs dir: /tmp/facade-firefox-1Zp9V43q.banking profile size: 5.9M browser/psname: firefox/firefox owner/group: facade/users sync target: /mnt/data/docs/facade/mozilla/firefox/obg67zqQ.proxy tmpfs dir: /tmp/facade-firefox-obg67zqQ.proxy profile size: 17M
As shown in the output and as stated above, if no specific browser or subset of browsers are defined in the BROWSERS array, psd will sync ALL supported profiles that it finds for the given user(s).
Running PSD to Manage Profiles
Do not call
/usr/bin/profile-sync-daemon to sync or to unsync directly. Instead use the provided service file. The initial synchronization will occur when the pseudo-daemon starts. Additionally, cron (if running) will call it to sync or update once per hour. Finally, psd will sync back a final time when it is called to stop.
The provided daemon file should be used to interact with psd (
# systemctl [option] psd.service
Available options:
start Turn on daemon; make symlinks and actively manage targets in tmpfs. stop Turn off daemon; remove symlinks and rotate tmpfs data back to disc. enable Autostart daemon when system comes up. disable Remove daemon from the list of autostart daemons.
Enable psd to start/stop at boot/shutdown (highly recommended) using:
# systemctl enable psd.service
Sync at More Frequent Intervals (Optional)
Users wishing to have syncs occur more frequently can simply add a line to the root crontab to call the sync function of psd like so:
# crontab -e
Example syncing all profiles being managed once every ten minutes:
*/10 * * * * /usr/bin/profile-sync-daemon sync &> /dev/null
Caveats for Firefox and Heftig's Aurora ONLY
The way psd keeps track of browser profiles and sync targets requires users to have a unique name as the last directory for all profiles in their respective $HOME/.mozilla/<browser>/profiles.ini files. Psd will check when it is called to run for this and refuse if this rule is not satisfied. The following is an example of a BAD profile that will fail the the test. Note that although each full path is unique, they both end in the same name! Again, the user must modify the profiles.ini and the corresponding directory on the filesystem to correct this in order to use Psd.
$ cat ~/.mozilla/firefox/profiles.ini [General] StartWithLastProfile=1 [Profile0 for user facade] Name=normal IsRelative=0 Path=/mnt/data/docs/facade/mozilla/firefox/myprofile.abc Default=1 [Profile1 for user happy] Name=proxy IsRelative=0 Path=/mnt/data/docs/happy/mozilla/firefox/myprofile.abc
Post in the discussion thread with comments or concerns.
PSD On Other Distros
Psd is a simple bash script and should therefore run on any Linux distro. Below is a list of distros known to package psd, and a link to download their respective packages. As noted above, these are unsupported by the author due to their own, unique init scripts:
To add the PPA (personal package archive) to your Debian (tested on squeeze) system, and to install psd:
# echo "deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/graysky/utils/ubuntu quantal main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/graysky.list # echo "deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/graysky/utils/ubuntu quantal main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/graysky.list # apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys FF7F9516 # apt-get update # apt-get install profile-sync-daemon
To add the PPA (personal package archive) to your Ubuntu (packages available for Lucid and newer) system, and to install psd:
$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graysky/utils $ sudo apt-get update $ sudo apt-get install profile-sync-daemon


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Reviewed by Paulina K. (age 7)
I like this book because it reminds me of my teacher Karen because this is a book about school. I also like this book because it's a friendship book. At first, Lollipop was sad but at the end Amanda got an idea that they could draw pictures of themselves and they traced themselves. The idea made Lollipop happy. Then both of them walked to the school bus.
I think children who like school should read this book.


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OOC: Bleh, possibly the worst entry I've done in a while, but it's a hard business inserting yourself into a camp in the middle of a forest that everyone else seems to avoid like the plauge, no?
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From 3D-model to construction drawings
GLASER STX offers the definition of any cut depth, provides convenient functions for individual treatment of the section drawings and optimises the export to GLASER isb cad (a leading German CAD-Software for construction engineering – www.isbcad.de) or into the DXF-format.
The software distinguishes between visible, cut and hidden elements and displays them in the preview with different colours. Elements not needed in the construction drawing, e.g. hidden edges, can be filtered. The same applies to 3D-layers for different components, which also can be exported. The result is a construction drawing perfectly tailored to your requirements which can immediately be passed to GLASER isb cad or saved in DXF-format.
Easily define any section planes with individual cutting depths and transfer them to GLASER isb cad . Together with SketchUp Pro you can even use the world of BIM data (IFC) for further editing.
• Creating unlimited sections in X-,Y- or Z-directions
• Defining individual section depths directly in the 3D-model
• Preview with group and layer selection
• Transfer of section drawings directly to GLASER -isb cad-
• Export of section drawings to DXF-File
The GLASER -isb cad- Programmsyteme GmbH is a leading German software company specialised in constructional engineering and architectural applications. With GLASER -isb cad-, a highly efficient CAD-System, the company has become competent partner for over 10.000 software users over the past 30 years.


text:
Ole777 is powered by TGP Europe Ltd of 2nd Floor Athol House, 21a-23 Athol Street, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 1LB. TGP Europe provides software and network services in the Isle of Man under a licence issued to TGP Limited under the Online Gambling Regulations Act 2001 on 23 September 2012 and renewed on 23 September 2017. TGP Europe Ltd is licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission of Great Britain for provision of services to the United Kingdom. Gambling debts are enforceable in law in the Isle of Man.
Under 18s are strictly forbidden from gambling on this website. Underage gambling is an offence.


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Fansy wrote:i am in fact also pleased that you were willing to sit through what i imagine was several bad youtube covers in order to find the most offensive and depressing, all for me. the world is a magical place.
JITW wrote:Fansy if you don't hurry up and start a blog I am gona' stab you in the testicles - you are interesting and a good writer, it would be a hit bro
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Lost Highway Soundtrack
From NinWiki
Lost Highway is the soundtrack to the David Lynch film of the same name, and was released by Interscope Records on February 19, 1997. Produced by Trent Reznor, it features a Nine Inch Nails song and two tracks credited to Reznor, all written for use in the film. Although "Song To The Siren" by This Mortal Coil is featured in the film, it was not included on the soundtrack.
Track Listing
The UK double 12" vinyl release splits after tracks 6, 12 and 18, while the cassette versions split after 12.
External Links


text:
We're all obsessed with forensic science nowadays, from CSI to Bones — but this amazing science had some pretty weird origins. A new show on the Smithsonian Channel, Forensic Firsts, looks into the history of early forensics — and we've got an exclusive sneak peek clip, dealing with some mysterious bones in a sausage factory. Were those bones human or animal remains? The answer will determine whether a missing woman was murdered.
Forensic Firsts debuts on Sunday at 9 PM. And here's another clip, via Youtube:


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I'm Still Off AccesskeysJanuary 04, 2005
A follow-up to last year's article that denounced Accesskeys.
Just over a year ago I wrote that I believed Accesskeys to be more harmful than good, supported by three articles from WATS (Is it Worth it?, More Reasons…, Accesskey Alternatives) and my own personal experience.
Since then, I've decided that while there may be no explicit accessibility benefits, perhaps Accesskeys offer something for usability. Keyboard shortcuts, for those that know how to use them, can be a tremendous incremental time-saver.
I re-enabled Accesskeys on this site a few months back, following Richard Rutter's research into Accesskey Standards. The idea was to provide quick ways of accessing common site functionality for those that are aware of them, while hopefully preventing any conflicts with existing shortcuts built in to browsers.
The verdict? I never use them, and I've received a grand total of one email about them in that time. Discoverability is yet another problem with relying on Accesskeys, but I had hoped that, at the very least, my contradictory position would have prompted a bit of discussion with the odd reader who happened to view source. No such luck.
Nothing new here, so if you're going out of your way to implement Accesskeys? Don't bother. I'm not in a hurry to take them out since they're not hurting anyone (as far as I know), but I won't be implementing them in future work.
I should clarify I had web sites in mind as I wrote this, not web applications. For those who have commented that web applications are a special case and, be it through Accesskeys or custom Javascript that hooks into keyboard events or whatever else, some form of shortcut key interaction is a good thing for usability — I agree.
However, I also think that as the practice takes off, it will become necessary to do some serious testing to make sure that they help usability more than they hinder accessibility. The question of self-containedness is the issue, and how unlike a web browser you're trying to make a web browser act.
As an application becomes its own little island of individual interaction standards, it's not unreasonable to expect more leeway from a user's default setup. But there will be some fun conflicts between those who expect the user/browser is in control, and those who expect the application is in control — look at the font size issue for a minor version of what's to come.
I made a habit of using AK+1 for the first field of the first form on a page, AK+2 for the first field of the second form on a page, and so on.
The reason being that letters generally conflict with menu options etc.
Then Firefox promptly added AK+1 for the first tab, AK+2 for the second tab, and so on, making all my accesskeys pretty useless.
I was already fed up with the Firefox developers for switching right-click+T from a useful, consistent shortcut for opening a bookmark in a new tab, to a destructive action (good luck getting your bookmarks back when you've tried opening a dozen tabs from them).
I agree, since Firefox made this change, I've pretty much lost all interest in access keys.
I noticed your use of Access keys when I first installed Sage in Firefox.
The default to open the Sage sidebar is ALT + S, which, of course, does not work on mezzoblue. Instead the page jumps to the beginning of your page content (per the standards you linked to). It's no big deal really; it just happens that mezzoblue is the first site I visit most mornings before I move on to Simplebits….
(I just open sage there) ;)
I look at accesskeys the same way I look at any potential website functionality or piece of content: if it's not the response to a clearly defined need, it doesn't get implemented.
Web apps may leverage them, websites which need to accomodate disabled users and/or comply with particular regulations may require them, but your average, wide-audience, mom-and-dad website can very probably do well without them.
I mainly only use accesskeys for things that folks do repetitively…for instance a "previous and next" deal
if you have 30 images in a photo gallery, it would be much nicer to just hit "alt + >" for the next key considering the user has no add-ons like the "next please" extension for mozilla.
I use keyboard navigation in preference to mouse navigation where possible. I have styles in my user stylesheet that reveal accesskeys and tab indexes.
Accesskey shortcuts to major parts of a page (navigation, content, search, next, previous) are helpful and quick to implement, but I wouldn't bother trying to add mnemonic accesskeys for every navigation item in a site.
I doubt there is a accesskey solution that works flawlessly across all browsers/platforms/devices, but then this is the web which is pretty ephemeral at best, and todays solutions probably won't work tomorrow anyway.
Ah yes, I think you and Jonathan are correct in that Gmail uses javascript to catch keystrokes instead of true accesskeys. So I guess I should amend every mention of the word "accesskeys" with the phrase "custom key commands" in my original comment. Concept still fully applies though…
I disagree for a change ;)
On one of the biggest tech-forum in the Netherlands we have had accesskey support for years, and recently expanded the possibilities for the users. All of the most-used actions have default accesskeys defined, but we allow the user to re-assign these keys to their own liking (this can also be used to work around the built-in browser keys that vary per browser and language).
I am using these keys very frequently on this forum, and I know that a lot of other users do too…
Beto and Tino —
If you have a demonstrated need, and the users of your sites are thanking you for them instead of complaining about conflicts, then continue doing so. It sounds like your situations benefit from them.
As for what's wrong with them, go back and take a look at the WATS articles. In short, there are very few accesskey combinations that don't cause conflicts with software defaults, and even if there are safe combinations, JAWS users are known to customize their keyboard configuration for their own purposes.
As for Bobby and AAA, most accessibility experts will tell you that a) Bobby is an automated tool that doesn't check nearly enough of the WCAG guidelines to be considered an authority on what's accessible and what isn't, and b) AAA is a pipe dream anyway since the guidelines are ambiguous and aging poorly. So implementing Accesskeys for the sake of Bobby isn't a reason to use them, to me.
When I saw Accesskeys being used in Zen Garden, I found them to be very helpful in navigating the layouts. I believe that they have their own place, but nobody should expect to find them in their current form on any website.
Imagine back in the days your scroll mouse mallfunctioned then you could access the page with the tab key and enter key. So accesskeys are not new to that matter. I believe that I prefer to use accesskeys more for a game. Concerning css for the blind and death or disabled I see access keys in every form (speech, light switches) and a future
It will only be useful if we make them a standard. I.e. "h" reserved for home page, "n" for next page, "p" for previous page (In listings), etc…
Otherwise it is counter productive to educate a person on how to use your website.
Users will not remember the keys that easy, they will need to return to your little "manual" several times.
Learn from Windows. Do you know many users that use the keys? I know that Ctrl+C and Ctrl+P are frequently used, but anything else? Not really…
Thus it's a waste of time unless it is standardized.
If you look at the bigger picture (and things like viability in terms of time/cost), the effort could be much better spent fine-tuning other more directly beneficial aspects of a site - I'd rather be fanatical about things like content structure instead.
Huzzah! Not only is it rarely used, but it can sometimes cause frustration when going to sites that don't implement them. For example, many IM applications allow you to use a variety of key combinations to "send" your message. I worked on a project that allowed users to supply notes to existing bug issues in a customer feedback application. Since each additional set of notes caused an email to be sent to all, it seemed, in the eyes of the users, that the application was like an Instant Message application (minus the Instant part). Thus, they demanded that the page where they add notes allow them to use Alt-S to "send".
Thus, due to a certain design decision made for some IM clients, I had to make a change to a web-based application to mimic that behavior. Are we ready to have a set of clients who want a variety of behaviors mimicked in web applications that were never intended?
Again, huzzah, for choosing to abstain from their use. Makes for a safer web.
I agree that they are not worth it, and there is too much risk of conflict with browsers. I like keyboard-only browsing, but simply using the accessibility preferences in Firefox make it possible to select links just by typing the text in them.
There have been many times, however, that there was a keyboard shortcut for "Next" and "Previous" for long articles or picture galleries. Again, however, it would be difficult to avoid conflicting with browser preferences. Maybe the user could specify the shortcut they prefer in their preferences, and then "Next" and "Previous" could be called out in the code.
I agree that I don't personally find them very useful, but, then again, I don't browse with the keyboard often. I have, however, received very positive feedback from blind users on some of the sites on which I have implemented them. Being that I normally keep all of my navigation in reusable functions, I don't find it very difficult to manage accesskeys for the main and utility navigation for a site. I refrain from applying accesskeys to any links beyond that first tier as that would be a management nightmare.
Accesskeys = Worthless for web pages, invaluable for web applications.
Key commands only have value if a) they are standardized across all web sites (which will never happen), or b) they are used extremely frequently at any given web site… as in, a web application… as in, Google Mail.
I say, if you're developing a web application like Google Mail or Flickr or whatever, go ahead and use the hell out of accesskeys. But for a site? Stay away.
Photo gallery next/previous are a great example of where Accesskeys could shine, conflicts notwithstanding. Discoverability is the main problem there, so an explicit label would be necessary.
I thought of GMail as I wrote this — does it use Accesskeys, or Javascript that hooks into keyboard events? I sat on the sidelines and never bothered getting an account; what I've heard about it makes it sound like they're relying more on script than anything, but obviously I have no idea.
I think accesskeys work great in web applications, but with those applications you typically have a manual, or helpfiles that will explain the accesskeys.
For intranet web sites, I agree they aren't really useful, but for intranets, extranets, and other web applications they can be a huge timesaver.
GMail relies primarily on JavaScript and IFrames to operate. Although it completely disregards standards of any kind, it is more usable than any other web-based email application I've ever used. It does not appear that accesskeys are being used, though the code is very sloppy (due to apparent server-side output). You are probably right in that they are using JavaScript to "hook" onto the keypress event.
I think accesskeys, like tabindices, can be very useful. While tabindices are usually not necessary (since user agents tend to put them in the order that they are in the code), they can be in the event that a link or group of links is positioned in a location before other links that come first in the code. Accesskeys can, I believe, be very useful. Perhaps I am the only one, but I rarely use the mousepad or wireless mouse. Instead, I navigate web sites and operate my entire computer through keystrokes. I will study the articles you linked to, but as of now I support accesskeys because I think they enhance usability - not particularly accessibility - in a lot of ways. Thanks for bringing up the subject, though. It has inspired research. :)
Well, from some time ago we've been implementing accesskeys on several choice site developments, so your "no accesskeys" stance leaves me with mixed feelings. The reason we've done it is because of the feedback of some users with disabilities, specially blind ones, that have found our approach particularly useful and our sites usable. Plus you need them if gaining Bobby's "AAA" accesibility approval is important for you.
Now, these were sites whose topic is precisely resources for disabled persons so it made quite some sense to use accesskeys there. Perhaps not so if it were a designer's portfolio site.
However I don't get what's the big deal about time and cost of implementing accesskeys and put a respective "title" attribute indicating them in the "a" tags - it doesn't take longer than implementing and testing, say, a CSS hack in our experience. Perhaps because we work the navigation in include modules, as Aaron Gustafson suggests.
But I agree in that it would really make sense if there was some standarized consensus on the keys used with accesskeys - like "S" for saving and "O" to open files, etc. However that's a pipe dream. We don't implement accesskeys on every site we do (it's not worth it on many cases) but on the other hand, I fail to see what's so bad about using them.
We give our visitors an access key menu by providing a hidden div with the keys in it. This means you can have key for links that do not show on the page but still work site-wide.
If you have Firefox you press alt+M to get the menu.
Website Usability Advancer,
You mentioned "It will only be useful if we make them a standard. I.e. "h" reserved for home page, "n" for next page, "p" for previous page (In listings), etc…"
That's great… if all of the users around the world only spoke English. However, using N/P for Next/Previous as a "standard" is quite biased to other users who can see no real connection between those values and the words for Next/Previous in their own language.
Of course, even just the use of HTML for foreign websites requires the implementation of tags that only had meaning in English (i.e., H for Header, P for Paragraph, etc.). From my point of view, the problem is that we've developed a foundation that is quite biased towards the English language and so everything else builds on that biased foundation.
Who'd a thought that HTML would become so universally used?
<quick side note>
When it all comes down to it, just don't use the accesskey "D"
After all, that's the only one I really care about :p
</quick side note>
We have implemented some acceskeys on our website. We used the UK government's recommended accesskeys standard:
S - Skip navigation
1 - Home page
2 - What's new
3 - Site map
4 - Search
5 - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
6 - Help
7 - Complaints procedure
8 - Terms and conditions
9 - Feedback form
0 - Access key details
I have read a few articles from accessibility proponents that suggest the adoption of this standard.
[accesskey]:after {
content: "[" attr(accesskey) "]";
margin: 0px 0px 0px 3px;
The above code would, on supporting browsers, display as something like "Accesskey [a]" as the link text (for a link with accesskey a)…
Dave says "while there may be no explicit accessibility benefits".
Hold on a sec, maybe I missed the memo but I'm not sure how you can leap from keyboard shortcut conflicts to stating that there are no accessibility benefits behind access keys. On what basis are you making this assumption?
Sure there are problems using letters which is why the UK Government Standards settled on a numerical system. This may still lead to some conflicts, however that doesn't mean access keys are of no accessibility benefit at all. Isn't that a bit like saying there is no benefit in web standards because browser implementation isn't consistent across the board?
Or am I missing something here?
An interesting article with a useful update..
This debate will run and run for a while
Keep up the good writing, looking forward to the book
Accesskeys have great potential if you ask me.
Only one simple thing needs to be done to make them viable. Browsers need to let YOU decide the key combo used with accesskeys. e.g., you could choose to use ctrl+alt to access them, or ctrl-shift.
Right now only Mozilla makes accesskeys easy.
Also, most browsers hotkeys take precedence over accesskeys, so there isn't any possibility of disabling the users normal keys. This is how Opera is anyways. Accesskeys in Opera are worthless, btw (ctrl + escape + alt + accesskey ? give me a break).
I use them on my site to nav between posts (ctrl+ [ or ctrl + ]), and also in the photo galleries.
The only other issue is discoverability, as has been mentioned.
They are a great idea and maybe the browsers will get there act together.
Well gang…
The debate rages on. At WATS.ca, we still advocate *not* using Accesskeys, for all the reasons we've always used. A recent development is one more reasons not to…
Recently, a team of students from the University of Texas wrote a Firefox/Mozilla extension plus a script to enable JAWS to interact with Firefox (see: http://www.wats.ca/articles/firefoxandjaws/71) As part of their development, they created "custom" keyboard shortcuts to allow the visually impaired user to cycle through the Headings on the page - Alt + 1 for <H1>, Alt + 2 for <H2>, etc. Oops…
Where does this leave the "UK Standard"? Which should take precedence - the UK Standard or the user agent? Our postion is pretty clear.
We encourage those interested in the full story to read the numerous article we have posted at WATS.ca: http://www.wats.ca/articles/accesskey


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Here we are again.
Two bombs, set off within seconds of one another, left at last count three dead and over 100 injured at the Boston Marathon – with one of the dead an eight year-old child.
And once again hanging over the entire frightening scene is a word our nation has become all-too familiar with over the last several decades: terrorism.
[Below is raw video shot during the Boston Marathon bombings, which displays the violent impact of such sudden and horrific attacks.]
Already U.S. law enforcement – with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) at the forefront – is on the trail of whatever person or persons committed this cowardly atrocity.
Yet deeper questions remain regarding such evil: what kinds of people decide to commit terrorist atrocities like what's occurred in Boston, and how are such attacks affecting the mindset of everyday Americans?
Getting answers to those questions is vital, especially for transportation companies, as transportation networks – from planes and trains to trucks – can offer conduits for terrorist activity, with the events of September 11, 2001 the most ghastly reminder of that salient fact.
One group trying to dig up the roots of terrorism in order to get a clearer picture of common terrorist "characteristics" is the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism – better known as "START" – headquartered at the University of Maryland.
START supports research efforts of leading social scientists at more than 50 academic and research institutions, each of whom is conducting original investigations into fundamental questions about terrorism, including:
- Under what conditions does an individual or a group turn to terrorism to pursue its goals?
- What is the nature of the radicalization process?
- What attack patterns have different terrorists demonstrated during the past forty years?
- How has terrorist behavior evolved and what does this indicate about likely future terrorist activity?
- What impact does terrorism and the threat of terrorism have on communities, and how can societies enhance their resilience to minimize the potential impacts of future attacks?
START recently completed a survey and study dubbed U.S. Attitudes towards Terrorism and Counterterrorism and found – perhaps unsurprisingly – that more Americans think about terrorist attacks than violent crime victimization or hospitalization.
The group conducted a poll of 1,576 individuals 18 years of age and older in the fall of 2012, with plans for a follow-up survey on the same subject this year. It reveals that about 15% of those polled thought about the prospect of terrorism in the U.S. during the preceding week, significantly more than the percentage who said they thought about the possibility of hospitalization (10%) or violent crime victimization (10%).
Furthermore, almost a quarter of those who said they had thought about terrorism reported that it made them extremely or very worried, noted Gary LaFree (at right), START's director and co-author of the report.
He stressed that improved understanding of public attitudes can inform programs and tools related to managing public risk perception, increasing effectiveness of pre-and post-event communication by Federal, state, and local officials, and building and supporting more resilient social networks within and across communities.
Indeed, START's poll found a large majority of respondents said that the U.S. government has been very effective (33%) or somewhat effective (54%) at preventing terrorism, despite the fact that 69% endorsed the view that "terrorists will always find a way to carry out major attacks no matter what the U.S. government does."
[LaFree also believes more direct study of the 350 or so criminals incarcerated as terrorists in U.S. prisons should be more fully analyzed by criminologists to better understand their personality types and motives.]
The survey also found that clear majorities of respondents were willing to meet with local police or officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to discuss terrorism, data which suggest that community outreach programs may be a viable strategy for countering violent extremism in the U.S.
Yet communication remains lacking, noted LaFree, pointing out that 56% of respondents had not heard anything about the agency's "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign, while 85% of those who had heard something about the program thought it would be very or somewhat effective.
Yet here's a surprising thought gleaned from another START study called Terrorism: A Self Love Story: the very same motivational forces that drive people to commit acts of terrorism can actually promote pro-social and benevolent behavior.
That's the conclusion of psychology professor Arie Kruglanski plus co-authors Jocelyn Bélanger and Michele Gelfand at the University of Maryland, who studied terrorist detainees in Sri Lanka and the Philippines in addition to community samples in the Middle East to analyze the processes that promote radicalization as well as those that encourage de-radicalization.
Their research suggest that understanding self-love and redirecting an individual's "quest for significance" is crucial to reversing the current tide of global terrorism.
"Self-love is concern with one's image in the eyes of respected others and members of one's group. It denotes one's feeling of personal significance; the sense that one's life has meaning in accordance with the values of one's society," Kruglanski said.
"The quest for significance is a motivation that is common to all human beings, but it isn't active at all times and can be awakened in specific circumstances," he added. "If you feel humiliated or belittled because of something you did or because of something others did to you, then you experience the need to restore your sense of significance."
Kruglanski also pointed out that if a terrorist group's ideology and belief system tells its members that they can restore their significance by engaging in violence and terrorism then its members are inclined to do so. That is why he thinks it's imperative to offer individuals an alternative route to feeling worthy and significant: what he calls a "pro-social path" that is constructive and humane.
"We cannot defeat terrorism by violent or military means alone," he stressed. "The role of psychology is to guide activities, programs and policies in relevant domains such as education, immigration, and defense and foreign affairs, so as to reverse the tide of radicalization."
OK, for many out there, that may sound far too "touchy feely" especially when we're talking about people who show absolutely zero qualms when it comes to killing innocents – especially children – by crashing jetliners into buildings or blowing up spectator viewing areas with bombs if it helps them achieve whatever twisted goals they seek to accomplish.
Still, if crafting such "pro-social pathways" can be shown to work, why not try them? In the meantime, though, it behooves us to keep a closer eye on our surroundings.
For if the Boston Marathon attacks teach us anything, it's that we still just never know where or when terrorists – whatever their persuasion – may strike.


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BMW i3 Coupe Concept Unveiled Ahead Of LA Auto Show
Though BMW has yet to officially begin selling its i-brand of electric vehicles, the German automaker isn't done teasing consumers with cool EV concepts. Behold the latest pure electric vehicle, the BMW i3 Coupe Concept. The i3 Coupe Concept will make its official debut later this week at the L.A. Auto Show.Read more


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So I have a new hardcover (BLOODY MARY) and a new paperback (WHISKEY SOUR) out, and the royalty numbers won't come in from my publisher for about five months, so the only way to measure my progress is to look at my Amazon numbers and guestimate my sales by mulitplying them by 10 (Amazon accounted for about ten percent of the sales for the Whiskey Sour hardcover, and I'm using that as my base.)
Amazon is supplied by the distributor Ingram, and Ingram can be called to get weekly sales updates. (For those who want to drive themselves crazy like I am, the automated number is 615-213-6803---you can punch in the ISBN of any book and see how it is selling.)
Two questions for you folks, and I'd really like to hear from you even if you've never replied to a blog before. I know I have lurkers; please delurk and post--it's easy, fun, and good for you.
Question #1. Do you buy books on Amazon, and if so, how often vs. other places you buy from?
Question #2. Do user reviews on Amazon influence your decision to buy or not buy?
Thanks so much!
Sunday, July 10, 2005
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Michigan Transfer Network
Search by Receiving (To) Institution
Search by Transferring (From) Institution
Participating Institutions
Help & FAQs
Other Information
The Michigan Transfer Network allows students, advisers, and the general public to view transfer course equivalencies between many Michigan colleges and universities.
If you would like to go back to school, transfer to another institution in Michigan, or simply see how courses at your current institution would transfer to another school, this site is for you!
You can also view a list of the participating institutions along with links to each school's home page, admissions site, and transfer information.
Michigan Transfer Agreement
The MACRAO Transfer Agreement
Sponsored by
Hosted by


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DENVER, Feb. 4, 2010 – The American Humane Association, at the request of the ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), and under the authority and request of Shirley C. Byers of the Marshall County (Miss.) Prosecutor's Office, is assisting in animal-handling and sheltering operations in the investigation of a Marshall County puppy mill, where 96 dogs were seized today.
This morning, the team discovered the dogs living in feces-encrusted pens and filth. They include small breeds, such as Shih Tzus, Lhasa apsos, pugs, Yorkshire terriers, corgis, and Chihuahuas. Manny Maciel, an animal handler volunteering with American Humane's Red Star Animal Emergency Services™, said that many dogs appeared underweight and appear to have skin problems, among other medical conditions. Several dead adult dogs and puppies were found.
Also on the scene with the ASPCA and American Humane, personnel from Marshall County Humane Society, Mississippi State University and Collierville (Tenn.) Humane Society are removing and transporting animals to an emergency shelter site at the Marshall County Humane Society Clinic in Byhalia, Miss. There they are being triaged by a veterinary team and temporarily sheltered before being transferred to other animal welfare agencies and ultimately made available for adoption.
"Collaboration among animal welfare groups, such as this effort between American Humane and the ASPCA — both national organizations — as well as several local organizations, is an effective way to address the needs of animals in situations like puppy mills and other emergencies," said Debrah Schnackenberg, vice president of American Humane's Animal Protection Division and director of its Animal Emergency Services. "Together, we can respond quickly, assemble the best resources, and provide the necessary treatment and care to help get these animals on the road to recovery and into the new, loving homes they all deserve."
Veterinarians, including Dr. Rebecca Coleman of Memphis, Tenn., Dr. Phil Bushby, a faculty member at Mississippi State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, and Dr. Kimberly Woodruff, also with Mississippi State, are examining animals. Those requiring immediate medical care will be treated.
The investigation was set into motion after local officials contacted the ASPCA several weeks ago. The Marshall County Sheriff's Department, led by Sheriff Kenny Dickerson, served a warrant, along with Sgt. Kelly McMillan, Investigators Gary Byrd and David Pannell, and Officer Tracy Jefferies. Charges against the puppy mill's owners are currently pending, but the dogs have been signed over to the ASPCA.
Puppy mills are large-scale breeding operations where animals often live in filthy conditions that foster disease, and frequently suffer from neglect and the absence of veterinary care. Adult dogs are bred excessively and often spend their entire lives in small runs or cages. For the puppies, neglect of emotional needs due to lack of socialization, isolation and the trauma of transportation at an early age is a serious problem. In addition, ignorance or indifference to good breeding practices often results in dogs with genetic problems, and puppy mills add to the already critical problem of pet overpopulation.
American Humane seeks to eliminate puppy mills through enforcement of current laws and regulations, enactment of legislation, and public education to eliminate the market for such animals.
For more information about puppy mills and how to fight animal cruelty, please visit www.americanhumane.org/protecting-animals.
Find us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/americanhumane and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/americanhumane.


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Nothing beats chat when it comes to customer satisfaction. No other channel offers the same kind of convenience and effectiveness as a quick chat. It's the go-to support solution customers pick when facing a problem on a website. Enterprises seeking customer service software love LiveChat too!


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Posternak Blankstein & Lund LLP is now Arent Fox. Read the press release
68 total results. Page 1 of 3.
At Arent Fox, opportunity is a function of creativity, drive, and talent. You won't find a top-down management structure setting the tone at our firm. Because we're not a corporation, we're a partnership. You're in the driver's seat. Let's go.
© Copyright 2019 Arent Fox LLP. All Rights Reserved.


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Two weeks ago, Ichiro Suzuki of the New York Yankees rapped a first-inning single to left field off Toronto pitcher R.A. Dickey, briefly interrupting a game at Yankee Stadium that barely had begun and sparking a lively discussion among baseball insiders and fans.
The hit was the 4,000th of Ichiro's remarkable career, which has been split between Japan's highest professional league and the major leagues here in the U.S. Specifically – and bear with us here, this post will eventually be put in NBA context – the Yankees' right fielder had 1,278 hits in nine seasons with the Orix Blue Wave from 1992-2000, before amassing – in 13 seasons with the Seattle Mariners (2001-2012) and New York (2012-13) – an astounding 2,729 through Wednesday night.
No one doubted that Ichiro had reached a milestone and made history of a particular sort. But was he on his way toward a record? Most folks agreed he was not. Pete Rose remains MLB's "Hit King" with 4,256 and Ty Cobb – despite losing a couple of hits off his famous total of 4,191 due to clerical corrections through the years – is next at 4,189.
Predictably, the pugnacious Rose bristled at the interpretation that Ichiro was closing in on his mark. "He's still 600 hits away from catching [Yankees teammate] Derek Jeter, so how can he catch me?" the 17-time NL All-Star, still barred from Hall of Fame consideration by his lifetime ban for gambling, told USA Today. "Hey, if we're counting professional hits, then add on my 427 career hits in the minors. I was a professional then, too."
But in their appreciation for Ichiro – who was 27 when he got his first crack at AL pitching – some witnesses blurred the line a little between hits here (as in MLB) and hits anywhere.
"This is something, you don't have to be from Japan, you don't have to be a U.S. player, you don't have to be a Canadian player, a Dominican player," Ken Griffey Jr., his former Seattle teammate, told MLB.com. "You can just look and see how much time and effort and the things he's done to perfect his craft. This is something that three people will have done, to have 4,000 hits. Those are Bugs Bunny numbers."
This, of course, is NBA.com and that is the point of this exercise.
With the explosive growth of professional basketball around the globe, with the acknowledgement almost every summer – whether in EuroBasket competition, the FIBA World Cup or the Olympics – that some of the game's greatest players will spend part or all of their careers outside of the NBA, it's a question worth asking: Should stats from leagues elsewhere in the world be counted in a player's lifetime totals?
Look, this isn't a matter of re-writing a record book. It's not as if Luis Scola – who started playing professionally in 1995-96, logging 12 seasons overseas before hitting the NBA – or anyone else is bearing down on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time points record (38,387).
But maybe basketball fans would have a better sense of, say, Arvydas Sabonis' greatness if his "career" numbers weren't limited to the 5,629 points, 3,436 rebounds or 964 assists he's given credit for in his seven NBA seasons. All of them came after age 30, by which time the dazzling 7-foot-3 Lithuanian was a hobbled, heavier and lesser version of his youthful self.
Maybe Drazen Petrovic would be recalled in more discussions about the game's greatest shooters if the Croatian marksman's international stats were lumped in with his modest NBA numbers. (Maybe not, given Petrovic's tragic death at 28 in a car accident in Germany clipped his career here at the other end.)
And it seems weird that an established NBA player like Andrei Kirilenko would have a hole gouged in his resume just because he opted to play the 2011-12 season back in his homeland, for CSKA Moscow, while the owners and players here hashed out their lockout squabble and patched season. Kirilenko was named Euroleague MVP and averaged better than 14 points and seven rebounds, but from his file on NBA.com, you'd think he'd taken a sabbatical to touch llamas in Tibet or something.
One problem with counting statistics from foreign leagues is that, well, those leagues aren't so good at counting them themselves. Reliable stats and records are hard to come by, such that Sabonis' and Petrovic's entries at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and on its Web site don't have full and accurate numbers.
Another beef is that non-NBA competition doesn't measure up, so stats compiled elsewhere might be inflated. That may, in some cases, be true. But it's the same gripe that largely has kept the stats of the American Basketball Association (ABA) separate and not-quite equal 45 years after that rival league's inception. More than a dozen Hall of Famers spent part or all of their careers in the ABA, and in the first post-merger All-Star Game (1977), 10 of the 24 players were former ABA-ers. But resentment of what the ABA meant, business-wise, to some old-school NBA owners lingered, in spite of the quality of many of its performers.
So what makes more sense: Listing Julius Erving as the No. 58 scorer in NBA history (18,364), just ahead of Glen Rice (18,336)? Or counting his ABA numbers and moving him to No. 6 (30,026) as one of the half dozen players who reached that 30,000-points level? In a sense, Erving is the NBA's equivalent of Ichiro, a mid-career pioneer who crossed some borders for his sport.
The Naismith Hall – as we'll be reminded Sunday with the Class of 2013 enshrinement ceremony – embraces all levels of the game, from outstanding amateurs to foreign legends to NBA superstars, and looks at careers in full. This league rightly should maintain its record book however it sees fit, but citing combined numbers as milestones, accomplishments and bits of history is legit, too.


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Student Politics in Contemporary HE: Theory, Policy and Practice14 Sep, Durham University
Student Politics in Contemporary Higher Education: Theory, Policy and Practice
14th September 2017, College of St. Hild & St. Bede, Durham University
Over the last few years, there has been a heated debate over higher education governance, funding and organisation in England, resulting in recently approved Higher Education and Research Act 2017. While scholarly debate has mostly focused on the perspectives of academic communities, senior managers and policy makers, this symposium aims to shift the focus to student unions and their role in higher education politics and the sector more widely. The symposium explores the ways in which student unions have engaged with higher education politics and policies over the recent years and the contradictory space they occupy. Taking a sociological perspective, the symposium also discusses the importance of social theory in exploring politics of higher education. Speakers and presentations:
Social Theory and the Politics of Higher Education
Dr Mark Murphy, Reader in Education & Public Policy, University of Glasgow
The Changing Role of Students' Unions within Contemporary Higher Education
Prof Rachel Brooks, Professor of Sociology, University of Surrey
Students' Unions and Consumerist Policy Discourses in English Higher Education: An Exploration of Contradictions
Dr Rille Raaper, Assistant Professor in Education, Durham University.
Further information and programme are available at: https://www.dur.ac.uk/education/events/?eventno=34735
Space is limited, please register early. If you wish to book a place at this free event or have any questions about the event, please contact Dr Rille Raaper, email@example.com


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Following Frederick Law Olmsted's death in 1903, the firm had become fairly inactive on campus. But then in April of 1908, Thomas anxiously wrote John Olmsted that campus changes necessitated a new planting map and further advice. Thus, he began work on an updated general plan that same year.
During the development of the revised plan, Thomas expressed serious concern over the turnaround for carriages and "motors." The only one shown on the plan was directly in front of the Deanery door. This location, she claimed in her letter of May 5, 1913,
. . . would make it quite impossible for me to work in my working room as the puffing of motors would so disturb me. It is extraordinary the number of people that visit the college grounds in motors. It has become one of the regular show places of the main line as this part of the country is called.
In 1908, John C. Olmsted designed a private garden for Thomas adjoining the Deanery. This garden-still in existence today, although modified and renamed the Blanca Noel Taft Memorial Garden-took several years to complete. It was designed as a small, serene enclosure with two wall fountains, one with a small basin and the other with a sunken reflecting pool, another smaller reflecting pool, as well as statuary based on designs Thomas and Garrett had seen in Italy and decorative wall tiles they purchased from Syria. In her November 4, 1908 letter to the Olmsted firm, Thomas remarked, "The Deanery garden has worked out beautifully. We have tried to follow your directions in the minutest detail, and we are delighted with the result. The walls are built and one fountain put in. The rest is in grass awaiting further advice." Referring to the garden again in June of 1911, she pronounced it "a brilliant success."
When Edward Whiting of the Olmsted firm wrote to Thomas Sears, the Philadelphia landscape architect who took over the Bryn Mawr campus planting supervision in 1934, he described John C. Olmsted's remarkable ability to get along with Thomas. Her reputation for having a meticulous and controlling nature, a result of her penchant for involving herself in every detail of the planning and execution of all campus design work, led in large part to the deterioration of her relationship with architects Cope & Stewardson, ultimately ending in a lawsuit. With the Olmsted firm, however, her relationship remained amicable to the end.
. . . I remember his saying that in spite of the difficulty which many people had in getting along with Miss Thomas, for some reason or other his method of approach seemed to get by reasonably well and she had expressed herself more than once as greatly pleased with the garden he worked out for her; simple in the extreme, it happened to be just what she wanted.
Writing to John Olmsted on May 5, 1913, Thomas announced that the first graduating class of 1889 was planning to donate the necessary funds for an open-air theater, suggested some years earlier by one of the Olmsteds. The theater was to be located in the Midsummer Nights' Dream Hollow, named for the Bryn Mawr tradition of enacting that particular play in the hollow still evident today to the north of Canaday Library and above the current athletic fields. The desire was to have the theater ready for the following year's May Day festivities, but this project was never realized. It was a disappointment for Thomas, indeed, but as she explained in her September 15, 1913 letter to Olmsted, "Alumnae gifts are subject to these vicissitudes."
benefactors requested that the stage design be based
on that of Villa Gori-Palazzina in Sienna and the theatre at Epidaurus in
Greece. Like these, Bryn Mawr's theater was to have what Thomas described in
her May 1913 letter to Olmsted as "a small open circle in the centre which
could be used for the chorus in Greek plays, and clipped hedges which can be
used as flies." In an earlier letter of April 3, 1913, she asked Olmsted
if prior to finalizing the plan he could look at Triggs' Gardening, which she
said "contains the views and plans of the private out-of-doors theatre
in Sienna which I have heard is so beautiful."
Early in 1915, Thomas once again called upon the Olmsted firm for assistance. This time her concern was with the condition of the grass in the cloister, which she claimed had become so unsatisfactory that College workers had been forced to plough it. On January 30th, she wrote:
We should be very grateful to you if you would tell us what to do with it so as to get the finest kind of English turf it is possible to secure in the United States. We should like to know first, the kind of manure to put on it and how much per square yard; second, the kind of grass seed to sow; third, the treatment in the early spring, whether it is proper to put more manure on it or not. You may remember that some fifteen years ago you told us what to do with the grass between Taylor Hall and Pembroke. We followed your orders exactly and ever since then have had most beautiful turf in this part of the grounds.
This was the kind of issue requiring the Olmsted firm's attention for the remainder
of their relationship with the College. Difficult to assign a precise date to
the relationship's end, it would be more accurate to say that a convergence
of several factors caused it to slowly wane instead. Primary among these were
the death of John C. Olmsted in 1920 and Thomas's retirement in 1922.
The Collegiate Gothic - Cope and Stewardson
Bryn Mawr College
Campus Plan - Hutton, Vaux & Olmsted
Collegiate Gothic - Cope and Stewardson
Details & Interior - De Forest
Paving Tiles - Mercer
Decorative Sculpture - Ashbee & Miller
Bryn Mawr College Library Special Collections. September 21 - December 20, 2001


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There are biologically plausible reasons why serum 25(OH)D may be associated with respiratory health, Dr. Hirani reports, as inadequate vitamin D concentrations can impair the response to respiratory virus infection in the lung.
What does this mean for Canadians? Perry Holman, executive director for the Vitamin D Society points out that a recent Statistics Canada study(2) on the Vitamin D blood levels of Canadians, reported that the mean vitamin D level for Canadians was 63.5 nmol/L. This would put over 50% of Canadians below the 64 nmol/L level and they would be at a substantially higher risk of having a respiratory disease.
The Public Health Agency of Canada reported that over 3 million Canadians cope with serious respiratory diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) lung cancer, tuberculosis (TB), cystic fibrosis, influenza, pneumonia and bronchiolitis. Many of these diseases are tied to an ever increasing aging population and will pose a significant challenge for the healthcare system. The economic impact of respiratory diseases in Canada is estimated at 6.5% of total health care costs or $12.4B/year(3).
Vitamin D is safe, inexpensive and represents a tremendous opportunity to reduce the personal and economic impact of respiratory disease states Holman. We ask for the help and support from various healthcare organizations dealing with respiratory disease, to implement vitamin D public health awareness programs, to help raise the vitamin D levels of all Canadians especially our seniors.
This is not the first study to report an association between lower vitamin D levels and a higher risk of respiratory disease. A study published in 2010 by researchers from Yale University found that people who had vitamin D levels greater than 95 nmol/L (38 ng/ml) were associated with lower risk of developing acute respiratory tract infections(4).
To help avoid vitamin D deficiency, the Vitamin D Society urge everyone, from babies to seniors, to have a 25(OH)D blood test, get your test score and make sure your levels are between 100-150 nmol/L (Can) or 40-60 ng/ml (USA). Dr. Robert Heaney recommends people achieve a daily intake of 35 IU of vitamin D per day per pound (75 IU per kg) to help ensure you reach optimal levels vitamin D blood levels of 100 nmol/L (Can) or 40 ng ml (USA).
Dr. John Cannell from the Vitamin D Council recommends sunlight, sunbed or D3 supplementation to increase your vitamin D levels.
About the Vitamin D Society: The Vitamin D Society is a Canadian non-profit group organized to: increase awareness of the many health conditions strongly linked to vitamin D deficiency; encourage people to be proactive in protecting their health and have their vitamin D levels tested annually; and help fund valuable vitamin D research. The Vitamin D Society recommends people achieve and maintain optimal 25(OH)D blood levels between 100 150 nmol/L (Can) or 40-60 ng/ml (USA).
For further information, please contact:
Perry Holman, Vitamin D Society, 877-520-4867
PR Web


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Signs that Australian investors are moving out along the risk curve are rapidly gathering pace.
For example, stock markets are on a tear (the S&P/ASX 200 is on course for a 10 straight day of gains on Wednesday), while bond yields -- which move inversely to bond prices -- are also rising, with 10-year government bond yields jumping 19 basis points to 3.51% on Tuesday.
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These moves can usually be put down to investors looking to take advantage of an improving economic growth. But in Australia, the stocks that are currently benefiting the most fall in sectors that are least affected by economic conditions.
They include health care plays, telecoms and supermarkets. Banks are more leveraged to changes in the economy, but share some traits with defensive firms, including -- crucially -- higher-than-average dividend payments.
Some examples: At its current stock level, Commonwealth Bank's dividend yield is 5.16%, according to FactSet, while Telstra has a 6% yield. Commonwealth Bank's shares have gained more than 26% over the past 12 months, and Telstra, nearly 40%.
At the same time, investors continue to shun sectors that could give them more upside amid an improving global growth picture, notably miners.
Mining giant BHP Billiton is trading with a 2.88% dividend yield, but its stock is a tad lower over the past year, while shares of Fortescue Metals , which offer a 1.71% dividend yield, have dropped more than 5% over the same period.
It's worth noting that Australian investors have been buying up defensives since the middle of last year, as growth expectations suffered.
Matthew Sherwood at Perpetual Investments said Australian growth has moderated of late, as financial conditions remain tight, and that "the consensus view is that the Reserve Bank of Australia will have to cut rates further in 2013."
The prospects for lower interest rates help to explain why higher-yielding Australian companies are more attractive to investors, relative to some other asset classes such as cash (given that investors receiving less return on bank deposits look for other places to put their cash to work).
However, the move higher in defensive stocks -- which have also fueled broader market gains lately -- doesn't mean that investors are chasing stocks to benefit from an improving economic growth outlook. Quite the opposite.


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Tire Size: 215/55R17
Serv. Desc: 94V
Sidewall: BW
Max Load: 1477 lbs
Warranty (mi.) 55,000
3.55 out of 5Submitted by Zakk in Pennsylvania on 4/29/2016(2014 Ford Fusion SE)
Probably one of the best tires I have rode on, very smooth ride and great in all different weather. For the price they are not worth it. I have under 10k miles and they are ready to be replaced. Straight up not worth the money.
4.55 out of 5Submitted by samantha in Pennsylvania on 1/27/2015(2010 Honda Accord EX)
The best tires!
4 out of 5Submitted by Rick in New York on 12/21/2014(2012 Ford Fusion SEL)
Reason I would most likely not buy these tires again is because at around 25k to 30k miles, the 2 front tires are almost completely "bald." The rear tires are "ok" but overall, I think the tread life on these tires is very poor.
5 out of 5Submitted by Bill in Tennessee on 11/19/2014(2011 Chrysler Town & Country Limited)
Excellent tires. The same model that came w/the vehicle.
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This is a good overall tire. I would expect nothing less from the Michelin Brand. Mileage has improved a small amount. If you're looking for vast improvement, don't look at these tires for that.
The ride is a bit stiff, and there is more road noise, but I would probably purchase again.
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I am in desperate need of new tires, and would really appreciate winning the new tires.
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I really liked how much longer these tires seemed to last versus other brands.
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by George Zamora
SOCORRO – Seven Tech students — four from New Mexico Tech and three from Tennessee Tech — traveled to study in Brazil this past summer session as part of an international student exchange program funded by the U.S. Department of Education. During the condensed six-week-long program, participants took classes in mineral engineering topics and experienced first-hand the subtleties and nuances of Brazilian society and culture.
New Mexico Tech serves as the U.S. lead agency for the collaborative higher education program, known as the "US-Brazil Consortium on Mineral Technology and the Environment," and, along with U.S. partner institution Tennessee Tech, make up half of the international university consortium.
Brazilian universities Universidade Federal do Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte and Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre comprise the other half of the student exchange program, which is now entering its fourth and final year of federal funding.
"The objective of the program is to provide opportunities for students to experience the application of professional skills in the area of mineral technology and environmental stewardship in different cultural, social, and academic environments," says Catherine T. Aimone-Martin, professor of mineral engineering at New Mexico Tech and project director for the consortium's lead U.S. institution.
Students typically spend one to two semesters studying in Brazil and are provided a stipend to pay for airfare, visa, and living expenses.
"The pre-professional preparation that students are receiving by participating in this program will have great value and impact on the quality of their future professional activity, as well as permit them to become skilled in a very crucial aspect of engineering that relates to sustainable development and economic growth," she adds.
In addition, administrators at the universities in Brazil also are hoping that participation in the program will help them revamp their curricula, changing the basic teaching and learning processes employed in order to reduce the number of semester credit hours required of Brazilian students to receive their degrees.
Typically, Brazilian universities require that their students complete five years of study and graduate with about 380 credit hours earned to obtain a mining engineering degree, while U. S. universities usually require between 135 and 142 credits for their students to graduate with a similar degree.
The U.S.-Brazil student exchange program is offered on a regular semester basis. However, it became evident that in comparison to their Brazilian counterparts, U.S. students were signing up less for the program, perhaps because of the more rigid, less flexible graduation schedules they were trying to keep in order to graduate in four years.
"Our exchange imbalance, which consists of a total of 11 U.S. students and 29 Brazilians having participated prior to this trial summer session, is not unique since many other types of exchange programs have been experiencing the same reluctance on the part of U.S. students to travel abroad," Aimone-Martin says.
"Our solution to alleviate this imbalance was to offer a six-week condensed version of the regular program in May and June of this summer," she adds, "and, it worked out quite well."
Engineering professors at New Mexico Tech and Tennessee Tech also hope the program will eventually provide their students with more internships and expanded job opportunities to work in Brazil or with mining industries in other developing countries.
"The U.S.-Brazil project has allowed our students various opportunities, while they're still in school, to develop a competitive edge in achieving an international career by reinforcing language learning and understanding the global business culture," Aimone-Martin explains.
Another important component of the program is the intensive language preparation that all the participants undergo prior to departing to their host countries.
New Mexico Tech, for example, in collaboration with the foreign languages department at the University of New Mexico, developed a course in Portuguese that is specific to university students attending Brazilian schools, with an emphasis on terms commonly used in the Brazilian mining industry.
Also, at the early stages of the four-year program, both New Mexico Tech and Universidade Federal do Minas Gerais, with their prior connections to the Internet2, integrated a real-time distance learning component into the shared coursework. Shortly after, fellow consortium members Tennessee Tech and Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul followed suit and also hooked up to the advanced, broadband-width connection.
By utilizing the power of Internet2, the US-Brazil Consortium on Mineral Technology and the Environment has developed shared courses, has improved inter-institutional communications, and has been able to quickly resolve student exchange issues, while also expanding the planning and implementation of collaborative projects.
The seven students from New Mexico Tech and Tennessee Tech who qualified to travel to Brazil this summer were accompanied by Aimone-Martin, Wayne Leimer, a Tennesse Tech geology professor, and Christina Sampaio, a New Mexico Tech instructor of Portuguese and native Brazilian who now lives in Socorro.
"We were fortunate to take many field trips throughout Brazil to study the mining industries, experience different cultures, and continue our language learning," Aimone-Martin says.
The group of American university students and professors also found time on weekends to get away from their studies and enjoy the cultural and historical aspects of Brazil with short trips to take in the sights and sounds of Salvador and Rio de Janeiro.
"After six weeks, we were all ready to come home, yet sad to leave Brazil," Aimone-Martin relates.
"Our lives are richer for this experience," she says. "We only wish more college students — here at New Mexico Tech and elsewhere — would venture the world and make use of opportunities such as this program."
The program will offer the last exchange semester in Spring 2005, and sufficient funds remain to send at least five more students down to Brazil; however, students wishing to participate in the last phase of the program must prepare by taking the Portuguese language course at New Mexico Tech this fall semester.


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Face Presentation Birth
My 3rd time client went into labor at 7am yesterday and was quickly complete and pushing by 10am. Her last baby was 10 pounds 6 ounces and she pushed for a little over an hour.
I didn't do a vaginal exam on her until she felt there was no forward movement for about an hour. I'd done an exam, at her request, a week earlier and she was 5cm; not unusual for her since she started labor at 7cm last time.
This labor was easy for her (her words) because she had great breaks inbetween contractions, talked happily, laughed and really had a great time.
Until pushing wasn't bringing her her baby.
When I felt the baby's head, I felt a hand (what I thought was a hand) towards my left (her right) side, about 10:00 (if we are looking at a clock face).
She pushed mightily and she kept saying nothing was happening. Not in a discouraging way, like she was tired of pushing, but in a "something is wrong" sort of way.
I helped her push while putting pressure in her vagina, then I left her vagina alone for awhile and then went and felt where that hand might be again. Right at 2 hours of pushing, I felt again and was unhappily surprised by a bevy of ridged prominences... it felt bumpy, ridged - but not like when the skull crosses over itself and the scalp feels all bumpy. This felt different because the ridges were raised and I thought, "What IS this?" I gently explored and the ridged area was on my left; the head, on the right... split almost from midnight and 6. It didn't take but a few moments before I realized it was probably the face I was feeling.
Because she'd been pushing for 2 hours with virtually no forward movement (the baby was still at a +1... +2 while pushing), I quickly decided we needed to move to the hospital. We were out of the house in less than 10 minutes. Not frantic, but mom was in so much pain by this time - and women tend to be in a LOT of physical pain when the decision to move to the hospital is made - the car ride was excruciating for her even though the hospital is only 6-7 minutes from their house.
Blessedly, she'd seen Dr. Wonderful during her pregnancy and when I called his office, he was already at the hospital doing a cesarean. I called the hospital to give them a head's up, too.
When we got there, mom had a huge contraction in the lobby and when we got through the armed doors of the maternity ward, we were led into... the storage room?
Apparently, the hospital was full. Had my mom been earlier in labor, they would have sent her to the horrid hospital from last year. I would have taken her to a different hospital 40 miles away before I would have gone to the overflow hospital.
Despite being ushered into a room that had been set up for a meeting earlier in the day, a nurse shoving a bed into the space, other nurses hauling a computer, an isolette and supplies in, mom was thrilled we were in the hospital and immediately began asking for pain medication. Later, she said she didn't even know those words existed in her vocabulary, but all she could think of was getting out of pain. I told her I totally understood what she needed and we would get her help as soon as Dr. Wonderful came in to assess what was going on.
On the ride over, I told my apprentice I was worried if I was wrong about feeling the face... would this mom be mad at me? Knowing them through three pregnancies and two births, I was reassured they would never be angry in that I-Hate-You sort of way. They would be very disappointed, but anger wouldn't be their reaction. While I would rather the doctor not have found a face and I would have been wrong, I also hoped he would find the face and I would be correct in my assessment.
Dr. Wonderful came flowing in and lovingly spoke to mom before doing a vaginal exam and, indeed, finding the baby's face. He also diagnosed that the mentum (chin) was in the posterior position... by mom's sacrum (towards her butt, not her belly button). Most doctors would have brought her in for a cesarean right then.
Instead, Dr. Wonderful ordered a hefty epidural, which mom got pretty quickly after the doctor went in search for (the) anesthesia (doc). Dr. Wonderful held my client as she got the epidural, speaking softly in her ears, helping her through contractions, holding her warmly and lovingly. I didn't have my camera then (had to have it brought to me); but know that the image was tender and touching. The anesthesiologist dosed the epidural slowly to make sure her blood pressure didn't go down quickly - the baby's heart rate was going down with contractions and he didn't want anything more to happen - but she was completely out of pain by the time we got in a room, about 30 minutes after going into the hospital.
A couple of other vaginal exams over the next two hours showed that the baby was still in the mentum posterior position. Dr. Wonderful brought in pictures so mom could see what position the baby was in and explained that he wanted the epidural to allow the baby less pressure to find his own way to a mentum anterior position. He explained that babies cannot be born vaginally in the position the baby was in now, so we all set to visualizing the baby rotating to the position he needed to be in for a safe, vaginal birth.
About 90 minutes into this epidural'd second stage, the baby's heart rate started going funky. While he'd previously had head compression during contractions - his heart rate going down with the contraction - now, his heart rate was going down after the contraction - late decel(eration)s.
By the two hour point, Dr. Wonderful was concerned about the baby and the last vaginal exam found the baby still in the mentum posterior position, the decision was made to do a cesarean.
During the time in the hospital, we'd talked with each other about how things were unfolding and mom cried off and on about her lost homebirth. After two wonderful homebirths, it was very painful for her to be in the hospital, walking towards a cesarean. When she found herself at the operating room doors (figuritively), she broke down completely. We sat holding her, letting her feel the utter disappointment and sadness at now needing a cesarean. She looked at me and asked, "Did I do everything I could to have him vaginally?" And I told her, "Absolutely." She shook off the sadness and said, "I'm ready."
After the usual preparation, she was wheeled off into the OR - I was not allowed to go in to photograph the birth because of a nasty nurse who didn't like me at all, so my apprentice and I waited in the room for them.
This being a Baby-Friendly Hospital - one of two in San Diego - dad came in with the baby and mom followed quickly behind. She was groggy, but doing well.
Dad, when he was done showing us his precious son, began crying and telling us that the baby came out not breathing and that they had to do chest compressions on him. He also told us that whomever was working the ambu-bag couldn't get it to function correctly and they tweaked with it for far too long before someone walked over and turned the oxygen on. He said the ambu-bag didn't inflate properly until the knob was turned and then his baby began to cough and breathe. I can't imagine how horrible it must have been to watch and wait for them to get it together before his son was able to breathe. Later, the nasty, territorial nurse defended the operating room experience, saying how resuscitation can be done with room air, that someone had checked the ambu bag twice and she didn't know who it was that came and turned on the oxygen, but it wasn't Dr. Wonderful. We were told later there was a lava flow of meconium at the birth, so the baby also had to be suctioned several times to get the mec out of his mouth. I will mention to mom and dad today that it was a wonderful thing their son came out not breathing so he didn't have any chance to inhale meconium.
Below, I have two pictures of this beautiful new baby. He went through a lot, didn't he? See his right black eye? The abrasions on his cheeks are from his slide through the pelvis as he went from occiput to mentum presentation. The poor dear! And look at his fat lip! His upper lip is about 5 times the normal size.
This sweet baby boy weighed in at 9 pounds 2 ounces - a full pound and 4 ounces less than his brother that came before him. Mom's vegetarian diet was meticulous this time; I'm so proud of her! I told her it was her diet that sustained this baby so beautifully during his stress.
I left after a couple hours postpartum, after getting the baby to nurse terrifically, after annoying the nurse tremendously because the parents didn't want Erythromycin, pokes to check the baby's blood sugar or a bath and I verbally supported them in their decisions. She was amazingly manipulative, but my clients were wonderful in their convictions; the nurse took out her snottiness on me. The family did decide Vitamin K was important (I agree!) considering the amount of bruising he already had. When I left, the bruising had grown to much of the face.
I'll be back to see them in a couple of hours... I talked to them twice last night, but haven't heard anything from them during the night. I look forward to taking more pictures and will share the here again later.
As mom was being wheeled out of the room, Dr. Wonderful said, "We're going to have a birth... not just surgery." I loved him so much for saying that.
What a day.


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The Importance of Handwashing
At my middle school there are a few lab activities where hand washing is essential (those with strong acids, toxic chemicals or salmonella with the chicken wing dissection). Getting middle schoolers to wash their hands is not the easiest thing to do. That is why I like to do a demo that clearly illustrates the need. All that is needed is Glo Germ, a blacklight, and some sort of stuffed object.