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This website is called How To Go Independent. The natural question that I probably should follow that is what does that actually mean? What does it mean to "be independent?"
After six and a half years of having my own practice, and about six years before that pondering having my own practice, I have an understanding in my own head and with the people I talk to regularly what independent means. But a couple things have come up in the last week that have reminded me that anytime you're trying to communicate something that you're very familiar with, you need to do the best to start at the beginning.
This isn't to insult anyone who's already independent -who already has understanding of what that term tends to mean in our industry. This is more to make sure that anyone who's not independent and doesn't know exactly what that might entail understands it and get comfortable with the term. If nothing else to make sure when we're talking to each other if we say that word, we can say "what exactly do you mean by independent?" And then know what questions to ask to clarify those sorts of things.
So the first thing that popped up was actually just looking at my day to day. This is a Monday as I write this and I was looking at my schedule. It's about 1:20 in the afternoon, and today happens to be a busier than usual Monday for me.
At 6:30 in the morning, I went to volunteer at a charity golf tournament to shuttle people back and forth from the parking lot to the clubhouse. It happens to be a rainy day here at the Dallas area, so it was raining and cold and I was volunteering at an event that one of our key employees is very involved in and has a passion for. So several of us were helping out, which is great. So I did that for about two and a half hours.
Then at 10:00 this morning, one of my partners and I had a phone call with a potential strategic partnership. So I did that remotely with my partner. He concluded the call on the way to a client appointment and I did the call from my office. Then I grabbed a bite to eat and then had a quick phone call with a home office person from our broker dealer firm about an issue I'm trying to get resolved.
Then here in a bit I'm gonna go pick up my son from his preschool, run him to my wife. Logistically for the family that was helpful today, so I'll be doing that then I'll get back to work after picking up some computer equipment from some of our staff at 2:30 or so, and then I'll get back to office to work.
So I gave you that kind of very uninteresting agenda for the day mostly because what I had to do and will have to do to get that kind of schedule setup approved or reviewed and think about the people that would care about what I'm doing on any given day other than my clients or they need something specifically.
There is no one who's monitoring my whereabouts or I need to get those sort of activities approved. So I guess that to me is one of the hallmarks of being independent. Who's setting your agenda? Who's setting your calendar? Who are you getting approval from? Is there such as thing as vacation?
If you have to get vacation, you're probably not independent. That would be one determinant. If you're gonna feel guilty you have to disguise or somehow obfuscate your schedule where you spend your time, then you're probably not independent.
I know a lot of my colleagues or at least some of them, in the wirehouse world, day to day certainly no one is monitoring our whereabouts every minute of every day, but I certainly saw situations where there seem to be a lot of appointments happening at 3:05 or 3:15 or 3:30 PM. Looking back it appears to me that established advisors, once the market was closed, sort of unofficially ended the day but they weren't able to make that official because that's just not the culture of the firm they worked in.
So if you are having to play games like that, you're not independent. So that kind of hit me this morning but the idea was in my head idea last week because in talking to one of my associate advisors who's talking to several of his colleagues and former colleagues about life on this side of the employee world looks like, we realized there's this expectation or thought that somehow independent means you're out there building something from absolute scratch. For example, payroll, setting up legal entities, figuring out which money managers to use, building relationships individually, or who knows what other misconceptions.
But the idea is the word independence might kind of take, if you think about the United States of America, becoming independent was fighting a war, creating a new constitution, a new country, basically starting from scratch instead of the established/known constraints of the English king. Obviously even though it was not ideal for me lots of people said, well "it's kind of the devil we know and we shouldn't try to start over because....', excuse my ignorance of the details of that historical argument but you get the idea.
So being independent, let's me start there, is not starting a new country. It's more like taking a constitution and operating under it. Just picking a new constitution. In that way it's more like current day emigrating from England to the United States. Same language, maybe a different side of the road to drive, different accent, but there are gonna be rules at play. You're not starting from scratch.
So that broadly said what does it mean to go independent? Or to be independent more specifically? The two or three big things I look at are: number one, where do you office? In most large brand name firms, obviously there are only handful of locations that you can office from.
If you live in Dallas-Fort Worth for example, and picked any one of the three or four biggest-name, largest-headcount, largest asset wirehouse firms, other than Edward Jones, those firms have handful of offices in the metropolitan area. It's a decent sized metro area so if you wanna live out in the rural or very ex-urban areas, you gotta have quite a commute to get to your desk too then often, talk on the phone, email people, read things on the computer. One thing I've come to find, I would argue that anything that you need to do in our industry except meet with clients face to face, anything else, any other function or at least core function can be done remotely.
So that doesn't mean you have to work from home, out on your farm. But if you want to work 10 miles away, or 10 yards away in a Starbucks downstairs, you can do it with a laptop, cellphone and a relatively light amount of coordination in your cloud-based software.
But the bottom line is who chooses where you office? If you're in a metro area, you love the office and you want to switch to another office, can you do that without approval? If not, you're definitely not independent. So that's one huge flexibility I find is independent advisors can craft their own office space solution whether that's working from the corner of their master bedroom or having an opulent space for their small practice that maybe really shouldn't spend the money on, but they decide they want to, then they're welcome to. So deciding how and where you office is a big mark in my mind if you're independent or not.
Another huge determinant on what that term means to me is who decides who you hire and let go if necessary? Who determines your staffing? For example if you have to have a 1.3 million in revenue to have your own assistant, besides the fact that seems ridiculous to me from just a business case, then you are not independent. I don't care if that number's 100,000 or 200,000 or 800,000 or a million or 3 million. If you don't get to choose who works for you in terms of when you hire them, how much you pay them, if you share them with other people, other people you share the assistants with, then you're probably not independent.
So being independent means you do not have to incur the cost of an assistant if you are happy or willing and able to do your own paperwork, which I know a lot of folks who are.
It may not be the most productive business use of an advisor's time, but there are lots of cases where I see that the goal is not to grow even necessarily a lot. It's to have a high quality life from hours-worked standpoint, stress level. And they just rather have the simplicity of knowing if someone's screwed up it was their owns fault from a paperwork standpoint.
That might limit the upside but they're fine with that because of their own personal reasons or they just haven't got to the point where you're willing to make investment. When you're actually writing the check yourself, it's a little different than when your firm is taking the money and using your payout to pay the assistant, it just feels different and that's natural. But who, how, when, how much, all those questions around staffing is a very big determinant if you're independent or not.
And the other critical factor I see is who do you partner with and how? So I've kind of alluded to in several episodes, I have several existing relationships with other advisors through either the advisor network that we've built, or advisors who eventually when they retire, probably be in the position to buyout their practice,
Those relationships were all developed organically without any interference from any manager, supervisor, or higher up. The only supervision that's involved in being independent is around the actual running the business in terms of regulations either industry or firm, regulations, rules and policies. Never around who's gonna partner with who and how you're gonna split the revenue. All that is negotiated individually.
That came up in my recent conversation with my partner Brandon Day when he mentioned how we had come to agree with other partner as well. That was all self-driven, self-regulated. And if we want to change something, we discuss that and it's up to us. Our broker dealer firm wants no part of that. In fact if we try to involve them they'll tell us that that's not their deal. That's not what they do. They also do not provide office space and they do not provide assistants. So they do not want to get in the middle of office space, assistants, partnerships between advisors, relationships between advisor and assistants, relationships between supervising OSJ, as we call it, and advisor.
So it does feel like the wild wild west to some people in terms of not having structure but then again you have organizations like our advisor network and others like it at different firms that have sprung up to provide some structure.
So those are the three major categories that I think determine whether or not you're independent and what it means to say "we are independent." It means we get to pick where we office, who we employ, how much we pay them, etc., and who we can partner with and how. So that's a fairly short list.
What being independent does not mean from my perspective and experience is it doesn't mean you're gonna be completely starting from scratch on your own with everything. And I forget that advisors who had firms who give them day to day operational independence, for example Edward Jones is great in that you have your own office. There's no one there to look over your shoulder. That's one of the benefits of that model. It appealed to me when I got there, it appealed to me when I left. I think it's a smart way to do business to allow each advisor to grow the business the way they see fit, give them full autonomy. There's study after study and survey after survey that says that's one way to increase people's satisfaction with their jobs.
So if you're an employee but you feel like you're not, if you feel like you have full control of your day then that's a great way to retain employees which I think is what Edward Jones has done for the most part. And I used that example because one, they have a different office structure, and two, I have pretty familiar with it having spent three years there.
So being independent does not mean you have to start from scratch. What you do have to do is make educated decisions on what you want to do for office space, which again takes more work than being told where to go or having very few options. That's a given. But it's really not the hurdle that I think many of you might think it is. There are 3-4 easy obvious kinds of offices you can look at. There's executive suites, there's sharing a small office space with another advisor, there's plugging into a bigger network and the benefits that might entail. There are people who are willing and able to help you solve that problem if you don't want to figure it out to yourself.
You know, the trade office, it might cost you a little of that huge payout increase you now have. You might spend that on someone making that easy for you, either that through a network of advisors who charge you a small portion of your revenue or an executive suite which is fairly expensive per square feet but it's also very simple. So you're not gonna have to negotiate your own office space lease for the rest of your life. And if you do, it'll be because you want to. And you can get pretty good terms if you want to sign the long term lease on your own office space. That's another option.
The staffing issue - same idea. There are people out there that will provide support at least at our broker dealer and my network we've built that a lot of our firms that look like us have done the same at our broker dealer and others. If you were to go pure RIA, which I can talk about in another episode, the custodian will have resources to help you get up and running. You'll have business partners in your custodian, your broker dealer and/or your OSJ network and a lot of resources to help you get started.
We all realize in going independent, there's a huge barrier to making the leap. Getting reestablished quickly is a huge priority for not only you but for whoever is in business with you because if we take a small cut of your revenue, we don't get paid until you start generating revenue. There's a great alignment of incentives to finding the right staff. Certainly lots of people find people they know and train them eventually to become their assistants. There are all kinds of ways to solve that but it doesn't mean you have to start from scratch and interview a hundred people, do background checks and do this and that. That is not necessarily what independence means.
And there's nothing saying you have to have an assistant either. So that's a big part of being independent, is make that decision but again it doesn't have to be a massive undertaking. Each one of these pieces is important and might take some time but with the right planning it's not overwhelming at all. And there's lots of help out there.
If you're the type of person who likes to plug and play nature of a wirehouse, maybe the decision isn't so much "which printer do I buy?" but rather "which network am I gonna find to plug into that will give me great value for telling me the best resources to use, so I get to work helping my clients and not worry about office space and how to find an assistant, or what kind of laptop to buy." They've already got these sort of best practices or "hey this is a good solution, here's our standard recommendations" and you can go from there. So there's all kinds of in between models of how to bridge this idea of being completely on your own and being plugged in as an employee where you have very little flexibility.
And then the next part is the partnership or who-do-you-work-with aspect. Again, you don't even have to come and to play but if you come across someone that you personally know or develop a relationship with, you're welcome to explore whatever fit there is- sharing resources, coaching each other, holding each other accountable, kind of having accountability partner in terms of. "I'm trying to do this with my business or that with my business."
If you need someone for succession plan and to make sure if something happens to you, your family gets paid the value of your business. We see people get together all the time that don't know each other overly well but come to know each other well because they have similar goal that I need someone to be the beneficiary of their business so if something happens then that asset they've built, the value is passed on to their family. So again there's a wide range of options in getting help. Some of them might cost a lot more than is worth at least if you compared if you do it yourself.
So I recommend people comparing, at least have a ballpark of what it would like cost wise to do something themselves and then get a quote, compare a couple options for plugging into a group or having more of a plug and play approach and see what the difference is. Just like we outsource our lawn care or oil changes. Oftentimes you're gonna find that the learning curve, time, energy and money that you spend to master these things right away on your own is not worth what you pay in terms of shared revenue to get things set up and running.
And then the good news is even if you decide you do want to do everything yourself at some point, there are solutions out there that will allow you to get up and running as an independent advisor with some support but they're not locking you in for any significant period of time so that after 6 months a year, 2 years, whatever the time frame, you can have your business up and running and make sure your clients are taken care of with a change and then revisit the vendors, the arrangements you have and make sure you're happy with them. If you decide you'd rather create your own, you're free to do so as long as you have gotten to a relationship with someone who, that was clear upfront, you've got that and writing if necessary. If there is any question about whether someone would allow you to do that then you probably shouldn't be dealing with that network or provider in the first place but generally speaking you're gonna be free to do with what you think is best for you, with whatever vendor you're working with.
So that was a summary of some of the things I think it means, the ways I think it means to be independent and what it doesn't mean. So if you have any questions, you know, is it independent or not?
If that were a game show, that would probably not be very interesting to many people. But if you have any questions for that hypothetical game show, Is it independent?
Then feel free to email me at firstname.lastname@example.com or leave us a review at over on my itunes podcast.


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Interview with Justin Edmund(@jedmund)
Today's interview is with Justin Edmund. He has an afro.
But wait there's more. Justin is a product designer at Pinterest! How cool is that? Mr. Edmund is a really talented designer all around and has done some sweet work on his site.
Here is on of his projects that I really enjoyed:
Here are my 5 questions with Justin.
How did you get into design?
I went to a performing arts high school as a vocal music major, but all of my friends were fine arts majors. We all did comic book illustration in our free time—myself included, except I was quite shoddy at it. My friends all used deviantArt, which I thought was a less-than-satisfactory way to show your work; you don't get to express yourself through deviantArt because there are no templating features. In hindsight, it's obvious that I was thinking about "brand"—I didn't even know what "brand" was in high school. My friends wouldn't learn HTML, so I did. One-by-one I designed and built websites for them, and that's kind of how I started. When I applied to universities, I applied for graphic design and illustration programs, because web design was still really young and there were no programs yet.
What is it like working for Pinterest?
Working for Pinterest is really fun. I've been at the company for almost two years now, and it's been really exciting to see the company grow from eight of us in a Palo Alto living room to over one-hundred people in our new San Francisco office. I've gotten to touch pretty much every part of a product that's used by millions of people worldwide every day. That's pretty magical. I'm extraordinarily lucky.
In the past, we've done lots of design exercises with engineers and non-technical parts of the team in order to help define the problem we're trying to solve and come up with a direction together, instead of a designer sitting in a room in isolation—we call this Knitting. It's an integral part to how our company runs and it gives everyone a real sense of ownership over Pinterest the product—after all, we're all building it together.
Although you only worked briefly at Facebook, which do you prefer, Pinterest or Facebook?
This is a hard question. I was only at Facebook for three months, so it's probably only fair to compare my first three months at Pinterest to that time. It was pretty rocky in both cases.
I have to say though that I enjoyed my first three months of Pinterest more. The site was breaking every day and everyone was scrambling madly to get things running again, but every day at Pinterest was fun. There were so few people that I got to know everyone really well, and we joked around a lot and really just focused on building this thing that we loved, every single day. It might have been the shock of being at such a big company, but I remember being very stressed at Facebook all the time. The fun days, however, were REALLY fun there, and the culture was a lot more developed when I got there. At Pinterest, I had to work with the rest of the team to build a culture, which is pretty fun too, but also hard work.
What has been your greatest accomplishment so far?
I'm going to be launching my side project, Foundation (build.onfoundation.com) this summer with a couple of my friends. It is the realization of all the problems I had with deviantArt in high school, and later Behance and other portfolio platforms throughout college. It is kind of my life's work so far—I've been thinking about how to solve these problems for six or seven years now, and I think I've finally figured it out. I'm really excited (and frightened) to see what people think of it!
What can we expect from you in the future?
There's a lot of really exciting Pinterest things in the pipeline, so you should keep your eyes peeled for those!

subset: commoncrawl


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"Banks should change their mindset and follow the economic and industrial trends, to provide better services for small and micro enterprises," Premier Li Keqiang said at the State Council executive meeting on June 20.
While stressing measures to ease financing difficulties for small and micro businesses, Premier Li said these enterprises are the backbone for employment, with strong market vitality.
According to the Premier, the government will stick to a prudent and neutral monetary policy, keep sufficient and appropriate liquidity, maintain financial stability, and strengthen policy coordination to boost market confidence, employment and reasonable growth.
He said that targeted measures should be in place to solve financing difficulties and lower costs for small and micro businesses, to stabilize market expectation amid uncertainties in international trade.
Opening services to micro businesses can enhance the competitiveness of the financial industry, which is also the lifeblood of banks in the future, the Premier stressed.
It has been almost a year since China's five major commercial banks set up their inclusive finance departments. To sum up their achievements, the feelings of micro companies and other market entities matter more than their pure book value.
"Big banks will not have a future without serving small businesses, which should be embedded into every aspect of the banks," the Premier said.
To open up wider, the first step for the financial industry is to reform itself, he added.
In a previous inspection, a manager of an environmental protection enterprise told Premier Li that they failed to borrow from banks because the company was young, in spite of their prosperous development.
Then the Premier advised him to apply for "green credit", but the company's managers and local officials barely knew the policy.
Premier Li recalled the story and asked for greater attention to market entities' voices.
He urged favorable policies for easing the financing problems of small enterprises to be issued as soon as possible, and to be constantly improved in implementation.
By the year's end, related authorities should make reports on this matter, the Premier said.


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To date we have covered over 5,000 miles since we left Virginia!
Our first stop after packing up in Norfolk, and after sitting in traffic on the HRBT, was in Pittsburgh to see Megan and Jason. We got to catch up with them and see Jason off to the 2016 Crossfit Atlantic Regionals!
Next we unloaded the moving truck into Jeff's parent basement with much help from his parents and sister! We spent a few days in Ohio relaxing and trying to organize our things. Next it was on to Michigan to visit my family and see some friends.
Katie summed it up pretty well, 'Most people have a party when they get a new job. You people have a party when you quit your jobs….' My parents hosted a get together at their house when we were in town and we got to see lots of family and friends. Thanks to everyone who came out to wish us well, and partook in cups of victory!!!! (Click on photos to get the gallery to scroll.)
After the Great Lakes State, we headed to Chicago to see my brother Phil and stayed with our friends Matt and Rebekkah. You can read more about Chicago here.
From Chicago we drove to Madison, WI to see more friends. Kyle was away for work so we hung out with his wife Sarah and their two adorable kids. From WI we left for Minneapolis and spent the night with Lee and Tim. Then it was on to North Dakota to visit Jake and Whitney. Jeff and I were able to practice our babysitting skills with their two kids- and I think we did ok!
From Bismark, ND we had a long ride to Milwaukee to spend a night with Tony and Sara. You will be seeing more of them in future blog posts! In Finland! After Beer City we headed back to Ohio (Jeff's parents house) to visit with them and my parents, and repack our bags for the big trip!
We just drove to Maine to visit with my Aunt and Uncle for a week and relax by the lake until we leave the country from Boston on June 18th!


text: Memcached is a commonly used data caching system, which can increase the speed and the performance of your sites tremendously if they use a database or an API. This is achieved by caching the calls to the API/database and the replies that are delivered, so when someone conducts a search for a given product on your website, for example, the database won't have to be accessed to return the results and the whole procedure will be carried out considerably quicker. This is valid for all sorts of database-driven apps and not only for Internet shops, since every time a particular page is opened, the app connects to its database to fetch the data that should be shown. With Memcached, not only will your site load considerably faster, but it will also produce much less server load. If any content in the database is edited, the cached replies will also be 'refreshed', so the website visitors will not see any outdated information.


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4 to 6
Ease of preparation
- 2 cups (480 ml) flour, plus 3 tablespoons
- 1 ½ cups (360 ml) buckwheat flour
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) fresh ground pepper
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) baking soda
- 3 cups (720 ml) Italian beer (or substitute with red lager or sparkling water)
- 12 ounces (340 g) Valtellina Casera cheese (or substitute with Fontina cheese)
- Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
- Sliced bresaolo (or substitute with prosciutto)
- Arugula
- Add flour, buckwheat flour, salt, fresh ground pepper, and baking soda to a large bowl and whisk to combine. Gradually add beer, while whisking continuously, until the batter has a thick, smooth consistency. Cover the batter and let rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
- Heat oil in a large saucepan to 325-350 F (160-175 C).
- Dice cheese into ½-inch (1 ¼ cm) cubes and toss with 3 tablespoons (45 ml) flour. Add cheese to bowl of batter in batches, tossing to coat fully. Fry coated cheese in batches (do not overcrowd) for 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper-towel covered plate.
- Serve with sliced bresaolo on a bed of arugula.
Buon appetito!


text: A closer look at the Lone Wolf Cycling X Honey All Roads. The Trail Wizard as we are calling it was inspired by a ride we took to scout out a renegade CX ride that happened this past weekend. The bike and the name both came from the same space. The All Roads was designed to take you into the secret trails hidden behind stone walls and overgrowth. Some ride to get from point A to point B the fastest they can. We seek to get lost to find trails no one has ridden before and turn them into a loop that can transport a rider to another time and space. Lone Wolf Cycling shares our spirit of adventure and they have created a color scheme inspired by the woods we love to ride in. We are raffling off tickets for a chance to win this special bike. We will also be offering this as a very limited edition bike celebrating our partnership with Lone Wolf Cycling.


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Holland's biggest hospital, Amsterdam UMC, asked SNURK to redesign their bedding. It resulted in this colorful origami crane bird print. What makes it extra special is that the paper birds were folded by hospital staff members. They ended up folding over 1.000 of them, as according to the ancient Japanese tradition,1.000 crane birds will bring good fortune and health. Luckily you don't have to end up in the hospital to enjoy the bedding, as it is also available in SNURK's collection.
For each sold Crane Birds bedding set €1,- is donated to Cancer Center Amsterdam, where cancer research is done to find new medicine and better treatment. Update March 2019: € 2,000 collected.


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Aircrafts and Aerial Sensors
Aircrafts and Aerial Sensors
The availability of our own resources and a team that has been flying aerial surveys for cartographic purposes since 2001 is a huge competitive advantage.
Municípia operates a twin-engine Cessna 402B aircraft, which combines generous space and weight capacity, with the possibility of installing 2 sensors.
GPS Equipment, Total Station, Laser Scanner and Mobile Mapping
GPS, LaserScan e Mobile Mapping
Being at the forefront of technology, Municípia has dozens of precision GPS, Leica and Trimble, and a Leica total station…
Infrastructure Cadastre, Detection and Inspection Equipment
CCTV, FT-80 Metal Detector, FLIR Thermal Camera.
Municípia has CCTV technology with detection. This pipeline inspection filming equipment…
Municípia's Datacenter
Strength and Security for external and internal clients
Municípia's Datacenter centralizes the company's operations and TI equipment…


text:
Montana Garden Pavilion
- Street / Area: Kaapschehoop Rd, Stonehenge 310-Jt
- Zip/Postal Code: 1211
- City: Nelspruit
- Country: South Africa
- Phonenumber: +27137414612
- Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
- Website: https://www.montanagp.co.za/
- Garden & Pool details: Garden furniture, Garden decoration, Flowers and Fertilizers, Garden tools and machines, Swimming pool, Garden services, Others
- New or Used: New, Used
- Listed: October 17, 2017 11:37 am
- Expires: This ad has expired
Montana Garden Pavilion in Nelspruit
Montana Garden Pavilion, situated on the Kaapsche Hoop Road, Nelspruit, is not just your normal nursery but a top-class garden centre that strives to be a one-stop centre for all gardening, pet and lifestyle needs. Added to the business principles is the great need to treat the environment with care and to make sure that this policy of caring and "greening" is mirrored in all our day to day activities.
Loyal staff, the majority of them been with us for many years.
Regular Promotions
Guaranteed Quality Plants
Pet Shop
Kid friendly
Great advice
Loyalty/Rewards Program
Gift Vouchers
Gardeners Courses
Tea Garden
Montana Garden Pavilion, Nelspruit is rated as the top Garden Centre in Mpumalanga and as one of the top garden centres in South Africa and has won numerous awards.
Our objectives are to continue to be the leading Garden Centre in the Lowveld, by always offering the highest quality products and maintaining our customer service standards. We believe in honesty and integrity and have created a brand that customers can easily recognise and remember.
We believe in quality, value and service and these elements form the basis of our business and are not negotiable.
Montana Pet Pavillion
At Montana Garden Pavilion Nelspruit, we're passionate about PETS!
At Montana Pets, our PETS come first and we aim to house all our pets in the best possible conditions while they are with us! We pride ourselves on providing top quality products and services and we strive to only sell healthy and happy animals.
Some of the animals that we keep in stock are snakes, goldfish, koi fish, birds, dogs, spiders, hamsters, guinea pigs and rabbits. We also have a large selection of tropical fish.
We are stockists of MONTEGO CLASSIC and sell a wide range of pet accessories for dogs,cats, birds, fish, reptiles and most pets. We also stock a wide range of equipment like filters, pumps, light fittings, heaters fish tanks, fish bowls, aquarium plants and many more.
Over weekends we have puppies which we sell on behalf of clients and these puppies are only there on a Saturday and Sunday and must have up to date innoculation certificates.
We do NOT sell kittens or cats due to the diseases they could carry and infect our other livestock.
We support the SPCA and other organisations such as Pro-Life and encourage clients to adopt dogs or cats where possible from these organisations.
Come in and see our Pet department at Montana Garden Pavilion Nelspruit and get professional advice on how to care for your pets.
Contact us to learn more.
Click here to learn more about us.
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text:
Phone number: 073236....
URL: http://www.leaders.com.au
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text:
Cobalt International Energy Inc Needs This Offshore Play to Pay Off
While other E&P players have turned toward onshore shale plays, Cobalt International Energy has done just the opposite. Instead of the Bakken or the Eagle Ford, it's betting everything on Angola and the Gulf of Mexico.
Cobalt is all about offshore
Cobalt International Energy recently made a huge discovery off the coast of Angola. The Orca oil discovery is the largest pre-salt oil discovery in the Kwanza Basin to date. Being the operator with a 40% stake in the Block 20 project (Block 20 is a leasehold off the coast of Angola that houses part of the Kwanza Basin), Cobalt has a lot to gain -- and also a lot to lose from this play.
Cobalt successfully drilled an exploratory well in the Orca oil field, which produced 3,700 barrels of oil and 16.3 million cubic feet of natural gas a day. Combined with other data acquired from the well, this means that the Orca field could conservatively hold 400 MMBoe-700 MMBoe of crude oil.
Cobalt has yet to generate any substantial income from its operations, as its projects are still under development. Last year Cobalt International Energy spent $880 million on exploration, appraisal, and development of its assets. This year, that will come in slightly less at $750 million-$850 million, but when no money is coming in that will still take a toll on the company's finances.
This is why Angola is such a crucial part of Cobalt. At the end of 2013, Cobalt had $1.8 billion in cash. On top of the $175 million in interest payments and other fees Cobalt is going to have to pay this year, it also plans to spend $800 million on its drilling and exploration program. By the end of 2014, Cobalt International Energy will only have $825 million (midpoint of guidance) in cash left.
This means that if its Angola operations don't pan out as planned, Cobalt could be done for. Other than Angola, all Cobalt International Energy has is stakes in offshore Gulf of Mexico operations, but those too haven't entered commercial stages of production. If Cobalt runs out of cash, it will be forced to divest part or all off its assets in one form or another to raise additional funds. Luckily for Cobalt International Energy, finding the largest pre-salt oil discovery in the Kwanza Basin gives it more than a fighting chance to become profitable.
Proof that more is to come
There are still 11 more prospects Cobalt International Energy and its partners will have to go and test out, but so far it looks like its leasehold in Angola holds the motherlode. Another discovery off the coast of Angola, Lontra, further testifies to the enormous potential of Cobalt International Energy's operations. An exploratory well targeting the Lontra was able to produce a consistent 2,500 barrels of crude/condensate and 39 million cubic feet of natural gas a day, which is a great sign that there is still plenty more to be uncovered.
Cobalt International Energy isn't alone out in the middle of the sea. It has partnered up with BP Exploration Angola, a subsidiary of BP plc that owns a 30% interest in Block 20, and Angola's state-run oil company which also has a 30% stake in the project. BP plc has already invested $25 billion in Angola, and due to the success of these two new discoveries and the discoveries to come, plans to invest another $20 billion over the next decade. By teaming up with several other companies, Cobalt International Energy is able to migitate costs, giving it access to a wide spectrum of potential offshore bonanzas (like the Gulf of Mexico) instead of having to choose just one due to budget concerns.
Foolish conclusion
As more information becomes available due to more wells coming online, Cobalt International Energy and BP plc will be able to gauge just how valuable the Kwanza Basin truly is. This will most likely result in reserve estimates being revised upwards due to the success of the first two exploratory wells in the area.
Offshore drilling is extremely expensive. For a company like Cobalt International Energy that is yet to turn a profit, it needs to be able to showcase a clear plan on when it expects its projects in the Gulf of Mexico and Angola to begin producing substantial amounts of hydrocarbons. Cobalt International Energy doesn't have the deep pockets of BP, which makes hiccups along the watery road all the more dangerous. If Cobalt International Energy fails to deliver, then it will be forced to raise additional funds to keep operating, which could come at the expense of shareholders through equity dilution, and is a risk worth considering for investors.
A lower risk play on offshore drilling
Imagine a company that rents a very specific and valuable piece of machinery for $41,000... per hour (that's almost as much as the average American makes in a year!). And Warren Buffett is so confident in this company's can't-live-without-it business model, he just loaded up on 8.8 million shares. An exclusive, brand-new Motley Fool report reveals the company we're calling OPEC's Worst Nightmare. Just click HERE to uncover the name of this industry-leading stock... and join Buffett in his quest for a veritable LANDSLIDE of profits!
The article Cobalt International Energy Inc Needs This Offshore Play to Pay Off originally appeared on Fool.com.Callum Turcan has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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Oh so good and absolutely effortless, this Slow Cooker Spinach and Artichoke Dip is the perfect appetizer for any occasion.
This time of year can be hectic and busy. It's a good idea to simplify and plan ahead, whenever possible, so that you don't have to do everything all at once.
As people are gathering together it's nice to have a few appetizers out to munch on as they come in the door! Just seems so welcoming! And who doesn't love to nibble 😉
This Slow Cooker Spinach and Artichoke Dip is a great appetizer that can be assembled the night before and made in the slow cooker the day of your party.
I don't know about you but I seriously cannot resist a good dip. Especially a warm and gooey one. It just has my name written all over it. What about you? Are you a chips/crackers n dip kinda person?
The best thing about this dip is you can mix up and dump in the slow cooker = no fuss! It's ready in a few hours to wow your guests. Well, I may be fibbin' just a tad, really the best thing is how delicious and flavorful dip is! Ya know the kind that makes ya want to double dip 😉
Ready for how easy this is? – Here is what you need!
- Spinach
- Artichoke Hearts
- Cream Cheese
- Sour Cream
- Mozzarella Cheese
- Parmesan Cheese
- Garlic
- Salt
- Pepper
In a bowl combine all ingredients and mix well. You can do this in the slow cooker as well.Spray Slow Cooker with Cooking Spray.
Place slow cooker on high for 2 hours or on low for 3 to 4 hours and cook until warm and cheeses are melted. Stir to make sure well combined and taste to adjust salt as needed.
Transfer to a serving dish, top with addition cheese, if desired, and pop under the broiler to make cheese golden brown or leave in slow cooker and serve warm!
Tip: This is also good served cold. Leave off the topping, Make ahead and let cool some before refrigerating in an air tight container.Serve with crackers, tortilla chips, or bread pieces.
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Other Favorite Recipes
You can find this at two of my favorite link ups Meal Plan Monday and Weekend Potluck!
- 10 ounces baby spinach, chopped
- 1 (13.75 ounce) can quartered artichokes, drained and chopped
- 8 ounces block cream cheese, cubed
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated or shredded
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 tsp salt (or to taste)
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- Spray Slow Cooker with cooking spray.
- In a bowl combine all ingredients and mix well. You can do this in the slow cooker as well.
- Place slow cooker on high for 2 hours or on low for 3 to 4 hours and cook until warm and cheeses are melted. Stir to make sure well combined and taste to adjust salt as needed.
- Transfer to a serving dish, top with addition cheese, if desired, and place in oven under the broiler to brown cheese for a minute or two (just watch it so it doesn't burn) or leave in slow cooker and serve.
Make Ahead Dinner Party Recipes #SundaySupper
Ahead of Schedule Starters
- Beefy Au Gratin Potato Skins by Cindy's Recipes and Writings
- Chocolate Strawberry Brie Bites by The Freshman Cook
- Easy Chicken Liver Pâté by Palatable Pastime
- Pomegranate and Orange Champagne Punch by Our Good Life
- Rainbow Hummus by Wholistic Woman
- Slow Cooker Spinach Artichoke Dip by Soulfully Made
Earlier the Better Entrees
- Easy Grain-Free Whole30 Cauliflower Dirty Rice by Bites of Wellness
- Easy Slow Cooker Roast Beef Recipe by Sunday Supper Movement
- Slow Cooker Turkey Chili with Avocado by Cooking Chat
Prepared Ahead Postre
- Banoffee Pie by Caroline's Cooking
- Candy Bar Cheesecake by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Cranberry Orange Bread Pudding by A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
- Fireball Cupcakes by Gourmet Everyday
- Gluten Free Almond Ginger Cookies by Pies and Plots
- Pear Upside-Down Spice Cake by Positively Stacey


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Stick-to-itiveness & The Dark Side of Training
Oftentimes in the pursuit of physical fitness we try out new training programs to garner new results. And with most people new to a sport/program/challenge, its not all PRs and victory laps. Its just a lot of hard work. Grueling, hard work. You might find yourself in the middle of a long set of burpees and decide that this programming really isn't right for you. First off, making decisions while doing burpees isn't the best idea. And secondly, ask yourself, "WHY do I want to switch/quit this program?"
- Is it because its challenging?
- Involves movements you dislike or struggle with?
- You don't understand the point?
- You haven't seen progress lately?
- You are feeling excessively sore or suffering from injury?
If it involves any of these, you should first talk to your coach and tell them your concerns before you just jump the bandwagon. And if its any of the last two, you may have to ask yourself if you are A. following the program correctly and B. if the program is smart. C. if you have been following long enough to measure its success. If it is indeed a healthy program you are following well then results may just take longer than you expect & jumping to a new program that has more pullups and less rowing might doing yourself a major disservice. As Glenn Pendlay wisely wrote,
"...Giving in to temptation is almost always wrong. Assuming you are following a well balanced program to begin with, have some faith. The road to the top is always filled with curves, and the road will only get longer if you jump around from one thing to another in your training.
A good solid belief in what you are doing and a willingness to stay the course and put the required amount of work will get you to the finish line a lot quicker than changing your training program every time you hit a bump in the road.
If you can't do this, then just like Darth Vader, I find your lack of faith disturbing. "
Glenn Pendlay via Glennpendlay.wordpress.com
So don't be the guy coaches can't stand. Have some stick-to-itiveness, set some goals, and may the force be with you.


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Whether it's your first visit or your fiftieth, every guest is important to us.
If there's anything you need, or if your experience is less than exemplary, we want to know. We will do our best to ensure your satisfaction.
Thank you for choosing us.
Deviled Crab Cakes
House made Maryland Crab cakes with Curry Aioli, Apple Slaw and Harissa sauce. Recipe from someone who lived in Maryland
- 15
Shrimp Cocktail
Poached Gulf shrimp with house made cocktail sauce and our own horseradish vinaigrette
- 15
Fried Calamari
Calamari rings and tentacles served with Remoulade and Marinara
- 11
Italian Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms
Fresh mushrooms oven roasted, then filled with a mix of Italian sausage, Cheddar and Boursin cheeses, lightly deep-fried. Served with house made Marinara and Balsamic Vinegar reduction
- 12
Prosciutto-Wrapped Mozzarella
Fresh Mozzarella wrapped with Prosciutto, grill seared and drizzled with Balsamic Vinegar reduction
- 12
Jalapeño Poppers
Roasted Jalapeño peppers stuffed with a mixture of cream cheese, Italian sausage, Cheddar and Boursin cheeses, battered with corn flakes, deep-fried and served with Blueberry-Ginger compote
- 11
Tempura Battered Asparagus
Fresh Asparagus dusted with seasoned flour, rolled in Tempura batter and deep-fried. Served with Remoulade
- 12
French Onion Soup
Caramelized onions simmered with house made stocks, covered with melted cheeses and tobacco onions
- 7
Soup of the Day
Your server will describe today's offering, made fresh daily
- 3
Coyote Salad
Seasonal greens with sliced fresh apples, Maytag Bleu cheese, candied pecans and grilled chicken
- 12
Cajun Shrimp or Chicken Caesar Salad
Classic Caesar salad; Crisp romaine tossed with Classic Caesar dressing, Asiago cheese and croutons
- 16/11
Grilled Sirloin Salad
Seasonal mixed greens with fresh vegetables, Queen cut NY sirloin steak cooked to order, sliced and shingled
- 16
Ahi Tuna Salad
Ahi tuna served medium rare, sliced and served over seasonal greens with bell peppers, cucumber and carrot "noodles", Sesame seeds, fried wontons, Teriyaki-Balsamic glaze and Wasabi sour cream
- 15
Chef Salad
Seasonal Mixed Greens with Cheddar and Swiss cheeses, Cure 81 ham, smoked turkey breast, hard cooked egg, Chopped bacon and tomato, choice of dressing
- 12
Strawberry Chicken Salad
Fresh spinach with candied pecans, Maytag Bleu cheese, diced red onion, chopped mint and sliced strawberries with grilled chicken breast
- 12
Maryland Crab Cake Sandwich
Our homemade crab cake on a toasted Kaiser roll with Curry Aioli, apple slaw and Harissa sauce
- 12
Chicken Caprese Wrap
Grilled chicken breast sliced fresh Mozzarella, Bruschetta tomatoes, baby spinach and Balsamic vinegar reduction, wrapped in a toasted sun-dried tomato wrap brushed with garlic oil and grilled
- 13
Chicken Fried Chicken Sandwich
Chicken breast battered with seasoned flour and deep-fried, served on a toasted Kaiser bun with apple slaw, Remoulade
- 12
Patty Melt
Topped with melted Swiss cheese, caramelized onion and sandwiched between toasted German rye
- 11
The Reuben
Classic Reuben, why mess with something so great: Grilled thinly sliced corned beef and sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and 1,000 Island dressing on toasted German rye
- 12
The Creek Club Sandwich
Three slices of toasted Wheatberry stacked with Cure 81 ham, smoked turkey breast, Cheddar, Boursin and Swiss cheese, tomatoes, Bibb lettuce and Dijon aioli
- 12
French Dip
Slow roasted prime rib thinly sliced, topped with Swiss cheese, piled on a toasted hoagie bun
- 16
Monte Cristo
Grilled Cure 81 Ham, Turkey breast and melted Swiss cheese on egg battered Challah bread, served with Raspberry puree
- 10
Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato
Bacon is good; Lots of Bacon, sliced tomato and crispy lettuce on toasted Wheatberry
- 11
Coyote Creek Steak Sandwich
Aged, Hand cut Double R Ranch Northwestern beef NY strip steak grilled to order, piled with grilled mushrooms and onions on a toasted hoagie bun
- 16
Served with house made cold salad garnish and choice of potato
Classic Burger
Add cheese if you wish
- 11
Steakhouse Burger
Topped with Tobacco onions, A-1 mayonnaise, bacon
- 11
Firehouse Burger
Roasted Jalapeno, green chili, caramelized onion, Harissa sauce
- 12
Blazin' Wyo Burger
Blackened with our Signature Creole seasoning in a cast iron skillet, topped with Pepper jack cheese, fresh jalapeno bottle caps, tobacco onions and A-1 mayonnaise
- 13
Buffalo Bill Cody Burger
Topped with bacon, grilled onions, avocado, Original Frank's buffalo sauce and Pepper Jack cheese
- 12
Salmon Burger
Blackened with our own blend of Cajun spice, topped with sliced red onion and avocado, spinach and Boursin cheese
- 14
Black and Bleu Burger
Blackened with our Cajun spice, topped with Maytag Bleu cheese, caramelized onion, bacon
- 13
Our half pound burgers are made from freshly ground Double R Ranch Northwest beef and grilled to order. Served on a toasted Kaiser roll with freshly sliced red onion, butter lettuce, tomato, choice of potato
Change of Pace
New Jersey "Cowboy" Chili
Tender beef chunks, tomatoes, onion, celery, kidney and pinto beans, seasoned with our own blend of spices, then simmered in house made stock and served with sour cream, chives and Cheddar cheese
- 10
Chicken Parmesan
Breast of Chicken breaded with Italian seasoned crumbs, lightly deep-fried, topped with House made Marinara and Provolone cheese, served over freshly cooked pasta
- 12
Fish and Chips
Deep-Fried battered halibut served with crispy fries and cold salad garnish
- 14
Cajun Fettuccine
Freshly cooked fettuccine tossed with a spicy cream sauce with bell peppers, sausage and green onions, topped with a blackened chicken breast
- 13
Panini of the Day
- Priced Daily
Parties of 8 or more subject to 18% gratuity.