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By Maryellen Apelquist
Native Randolph resident Teresa Bradley possesses many of the personality traits attributed to Vermonters. She's hardworking, closely connected to her community, and stoic—that last quality at times giving way to stubbornness, as demonstrated by her decade-long reluctance to undergo surgeries to replace her arthritic knees. In 2017, after years of chronic pain, she decided she'd had enough, and turned to Gifford providers for help.
"My quality of life began to suffer," said Bradley, who works full-time as Gifford's purchasing specialist and part-time tending bar and working in the kitchen at Valley Bowl, owned by her brother, Wayne. When not at work, she spends summer weekends camping in Addison on Lake Champlain.
"The pain got to the point where even climbing up the steps to our camper was difficult," said Bradley, who was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis 19 years ago. "I also have osteoarthritis. The bone-on-bone grinding is very painful, but you learn to live with it. I was told 10 years ago that I needed knee replacements."
She isn't alone. Joint replacements are on the rise in the United States, particularly among baby boomers.
"Hip replacements in the United States more than doubled between 2000 and 2014—from 160,282 to 371,605 a year—according to the most recent data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, which tracks hospital discharges. Knee replacements increased at an even faster clip in the same period, from 274,467 to 680,886," reported The Boston Globe in an April 2018 article.
While Bradley waited a decade, she scheduled surgeries for both knees within about a year of each other. She had her first surgery on March 27, 2017; her second on April 2, 2018. She was back to work at Gifford six weeks after her second surgery, eager to share her experience and her take on Dr. Alexander Orem.
"He was awesome, right from the get-go," Bradley said. "He's just very easy to talk to, low-key, pleasant, down-to-earth, nonjudgmental, and just all-around nice."
She describes her surgery and recovery as fast, and the outcome as life-changing.
"I was up walking by 1 or 2 p.m. the same day as my surgery, just as Dr. Orem promised," said Bradley.
She went home the next day, started physical therapy in Sharon the following week, and admits to not always following doctor's orders—or those of her husband, Gary.
"I felt so good," she said. "I used no crutches, no walker, no cane. I wouldn't have dared to do that with my first knee. My husband had our grandkids throwing me under the bus, telling them to report to him when I did more than I should."
Bradley plans to resume her part-time work at Valley Bowl in the fall. She also looks forward to fewer trips to the doctor's office. "I no longer have to see my rheumatologist for regular visits." She had been going every three to six months for 19 years.
For others considering knee replacement surgery, Bradley has this advice: "Don't put it off. It will be the best decision you ever made. I can get down [on the floor] better. I can get down with my grandkids. They think I'm bionic."
And she can get down on the dance floor.
"I love to dance," she said. "There are a lot of dances at the campground."
Readiness Improves Results
Orem, who has been a member of the Gifford orthopedics team since 2017, is also a provider at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC). He works with patients at various stages of life, from early adulthood to late geriatric, and many of his patients have arthritis.
While Bradley was told many years ago that she needed knee replacements, to clarify, Orem said, "It's never true that you need to have knee replacements. We're trying to get you back to an improved quality of life. We see a lot of patients who put it off."
"We really help patients understand their options and move forward with what they would like to do," he said. "I am here to help patients understand risk and benefits."
The decision-making timeline looks different for every patient.
"A patient who had never before been told they have arthritis may come back a year later and say that gardening, or golf, isn't possible anymore and ask for help," said Orem, "or it might be two weeks later."
In terms of recovery, he said, patients "will do worse if they haven't arrived at the decision to have surgery themselves."
Physician Assistant Brad Salzmann, who has worked in orthopedics for 22 years and at Gifford for five, agrees.
"People do much better when they are ready for surgery," said Salzmann, who, in addition to assisting with surgeries, keeps patient office hours and provides treatment in less-complicated cases. "If you're not sure, then you're probably not ready."
Part of achieving readiness before surgery is making sure the patient, with their provider's support, modifies behaviors and conditions affecting their health, such as smoking, a body mass index (BMI) over 40, and uncontrolled diabetes.
"We want to see them motivated to have the best outcome they can have," Orem said.
Knee Surgery Not What It Used to Be
Knee surgery has changed significantly over the last few decades.
Ten years ago, "patients would spend four to five days in the hospital after knee surgery, connected to a catheter and all kinds of things," said Orem. "And 20 years ago, knee surgery would have meant a two-week hospital stay, plus potentially another manipulation under anesthesia. There's been a shift in how we think, toward value-based, efficient care."
"Knee replacements should last 20 to 25 years," Orem said. "They used to last 10 to 15."
Once a patient decides to have knee surgery, Orem identifies any issues. During an initial visit, he talks his patient through what to expect and encourages a caregiver to be a part of the conversation. He visits patients just before surgery, which lasts an hour to an hour-and-a-half and is performed under spinal anesthetics. His patients typically spend one hour in recovery and are usually out of bed that afternoon.
"My main goal is to get them out of bed, up and moving, as soon as possible," Orem said. "And just about everyone goes home the next day. Our physical therapy team works with patients prior to discharge, then our patients either go for PT or receive home-based PT if they don't have transportation."
He sees patients the day after surgery and, in most cases, not again until four weeks later, to check in, with another check-up after one year.
"Patients by and large do really well," said Orem, who finds most rewarding "the patients who have discovered they can walk without pain, doing things they thought they'd have to give up."
Orthopedics at Gifford
Until recently, 2017, Gifford had seen a lot of transition in its orthopedics team. Today, the team is strong with, in addition to Orem, who lives in the Upper Valley, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Derek Chase, a native Vermonter. Both providers are assisted by Salzmann and committed to treating everyone holistically and personally.
"We have two very good, very dedicated surgeons," said Salzmann, who lives in Royalton. "We provide the best overall care for the individual. There is no perfect recipe. We determine what will work best for the individual patient."
"The inpatient experience at Gifford is really marked by top-notch care," said Orem, who sees an equal mix of knee and hip cases. "People who come to Gifford want a good surgeon, a private room, and a personalized experience—and they get them."
Dr. Alexander Orem operates on Mondays and sees clinic patients on Tuesdays in Randolph. Dr. Derek Chase performs surgery on Tuesdays and sees clinic patients on Mondays in Berlin and on Wednesdays and Thursdays in Randolph. Chase also offers expanded hours on Wednesdays until 7 p.m., to meet patient needs outside of normal business hours.
For more information about orthopedics, visit giffordhealthcare.org/service/orthopedics.


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October 11, 2018 07:47 AM
The suspect's identity has been released following Wednesday's triple shooting, ending the life of one and injuring two others.
Before he was shot and killed by police, 39-year-old Terrell Blake was "clearly on a mission" as he targeted family members over a domestic dispute.
In a Wednesday evening media briefing, police say Blake had made earlier threats that he was going to kill his family.
Earlier in the day Wednesday, police held a media briefing detailing the events that transpired from the domestic dispute that led police on a citywide chase after Blake.
At 9:41 a.m., police say Blake went to the home of his 28-year-old ex-wife on Post Avenue and shot and killed her. Police say he also shot a 25-year-old man who was in the home. The 25-year-old is in critical but stable condition.
Around 10:20 a.m., a 20-year-old man was shot on Francis Street. The 20-year-was able to run away after being shot but later collapsed near School 25 which went on lockout at the time as emergency vehicles surrounded the area. His injuries are not critical.
That 20-year-old later identified the shooter as his father.
As neighbors took shelter, officers chased Blake who was seen driving a U-Haul truck recklessly through the city. Multiple officers fired at Blake after he began shooting, ultimately ending his life.
Updated: October 11, 2018 07:47 AM
Created: October 10, 2018 06:15 PM
Copyright 2018 - WHEC-TV, LLC A Hubbard Broadcasting Company
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subset: commoncrawl


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If you're an editorial photographer, now is definitely the time to be getting your website, portfolios and promo pieces in shape for fall. NYC will soon be a sleepy village as all of the photo editors switch from turning out big spreads to daydreaming about what time they can hop on the LIRR to their summer share. Same goes for you corporate photographers hoping to shoot still, video or multimedia for annual reports this fall.
Contact me during June so there is time to get everything in order for September!


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Our customer obsession – achieving results
Obsession is "an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person's mind" and over the past year, the OE industrial filtration team at MANN+HUMMEL in Raleigh, USA has thought of nothing else but our customers. I have to confess, we have a customer obsession – but not in a deranged way! In fact, we have a refreshed strategy around key original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that brings them into higher focus. We must know how they tick: their culture and mindset, their product, their goals and place in the market with the aim of serving them better – and it is getting results.
Taking it to the next level
Our customer obsession came from a desire to be even better. MANN+HUMMEL Group have developed a range of industry-leading, innovative products resulting from 75+ years of experience and investment in R&D, combined with a vast understanding of market needs. We knew we needed to up our game to show clients the clear benefits our products have – superior quality, ease of maintenance, extended product life. And that meant committing more time and resources to a refreshed, customer-obsessed sales strategy.
Each of our key OEM customers has a dedicated MANN+HUMMEL sales team. Each team is committed to focusing on their particular customer's needs and to understanding how filtration fits into that customer's success. Armed with this knowledge, we can take a much more strategic approach. And this approach has shown our OEM customers the value of partnership.
Making a commitment
Knowing our customers' strategies and challenges means we can focus our sales pitch on the areas that matter most to them. One very successful approach we have introduced are on-site Tech Shows, a morning or afternoon spent at our customer's office where MANN+HUMMEL engineers present and discuss our products. These high-level exhibits give us the opportunity to explain our products to our client's engineering staff, as well as production managers and purchasing teams.
It's a real door opener that differentiates our products from our competitors in the minds of the decision makers that matter. Plus, MANN+HUMMEL engineers get feedback direct from end-users – helping us to keep innovating and developing our products.
Obviously, this means that our clients' key staff are 'tied-up' in a meeting and not focusing on their daily grind. However, our commitment to the client has also led to the client committing to us. In their eyes, we are not just a supplier, we are a partner – and this is time well spent.
A total obsession
Our customer obsession isn't just with select OEM manufacturers. All our customers have benefited from our clear customer strategy and commitment. The trickle-down effect can be felt throughout our customer base.
On a personal level, I find the new attitude quite energizing. Being in front of the customer not only gives a human face to MANN+HUMMEL, but I get to know my customers both professionally and personally. I know their products, their production techniques and their development strategies on an intimate level, which means I can make a real contribution to their success (and ours). Whenever I see my client's equipment out in the world, I know how and where it is produced, how it works, and which MANN+HUMMEL filters are installed.
Our customer obsession has contributed a spike in our pipeline of opportunities. The interest in our products is certainly out there and we are in the perfect position to take advantage of it – right team, right time!


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Slew of IPOs likely to hit Dalal Street in Sep1 min read . Updated: 06 Sep 2010, 04:12 PM IST
Slew of IPOs likely to hit Dalal Street in Sep
Slew of IPOs likely to hit Dalal Street in Sep
New Delhi: People planning to invest money in primary market would have a number of choices to park their savings this month, as about a dozen of companies are expected to bring out their IPOs in September.
As many as 11 small to medium scale companies, including tutorial service provider Career Point and entertainment and media firm Eros International, are preparing to launch their initial public offerings this month, merchant banking sources told PTI.
The companies, which are planning to come out with their IPOs include Indosolar, Commercial Engineers, VA Tech Wabag, Ashoka Buildcon, Electrosteel, You Broadband and BS Transcom.
"All these companies are trying to hit the market before September because otherwise they will have to re-file the June quarter financial results with the capital market regulator Sebi.
Till September, they can go with March quarter financial results," said a person involved in a number of these IPOs. However, independently, these firms could not be reached for comments on their expected time frame to hit market.
"The huge response received by several issues in recent times is also an encouraging factor for these companies to cash in the opportunity," said a merchant banker.
Recently, the public issues of a number of entities including SKS Microfinance, Prakash Steelage Ltd and Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd got huge response from investors and were oversubscribed. Listing of these firms was also stellar.
The follow-on public offer of the state-run Engineers India Ltd has also received a robust demand from investors.
Corporate India raised over ₹ 47,800 crore through the public offers during the fiscal 2009-2010, a period during which the stock market benchmark Sensex gave a handsome return of over 80%.
Apart from some big initial public offers such as that of JSW Energy and Adani Power, the fiscal also saw divestment of the government's stake in NMDC and NTPC through the follow -on offers.
According to an analysis, about 44 companies - including PSUs - raised Rs47,867 crore during the April 2009 to 31 March, 2010 period.


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Cultural Archaeology
I never read the Harry Potter books back when they were first being published. There was too much controversy back in the day and too many other great classics to read. Even now, when you haven't read anything by Dostoevsky, lesser books don't work their way up the priority list very easily.
That's not to say I'm not curious. I have flipped through sections of Deathly Hallows once or twice and looked with disdain at the short, fragmented sentences called prose, but I've also had a college freshman with the voice and beard of a tenured-professor and a knack for Plato, Shakespeare, and Medieval astronomy tell me that J.K. Rowling is brilliant. So I'm not exactly sure what to think.
Whether or not they're actually good, I've thought about reading them simply because they are so popular and many people in my generation grew up with this as THE example of a good book. There's actually a number of books like this that I have tucked away in memory.
We read Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz for rhetorical analysis in one of my high school English classes. It's a sad testament to that class that I hardly remember anything from the book, but it was still really big in it's day, and I might enjoy going back and actually paying attention to it. I haven't heard anyone refer to Francis Schaeffer's How Should We Then Live recently, but I did at various points through high school, and I'm curious to see what it's really all about. It's been seven years since William P. Young's The Shack came out, and I still have yet to hear someone give a good explanation of what on earth it's about and why it was so popular.
Some books come and go for good reason, and I don't expect anything on this B-list of writing to be incredibly life-altering. But as a person interested in understanding the world, my question is whether it's worth the time to read books that aren't big any more, but have left ideas tucked away in people's minds. I imagine it like playing historian for recent decades in the way that we read a cheesy, didactic utopian novel for the history class I took in college on the American Reconstruction Era to WWII.
With so many good things to read out there, is it still worth the time to study the cultural bandwagon once it's a few blocks down the street? If nothing else, maybe my friends who have shunned me for not reading Harry Potter will let up on their good-natured disapproval if I ever get around to it.


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Preparing and presenting a professional portfolio
What is a portfolio?
A portfolio is a collection of your work that represents your knowledge and experiences in a particular area or career field. It is a tangible reflection of who you are as a professional with proof, or evidence, of your skills and abilities.
Portfolios can be presented in several ways. You can showcase your collection of work physically in binder with divided sections or digitally in an electronic portfolio or digitally on a website. How you choose to showcase your portfolio and what you include should be largely determined by the industry in which you work or intend to work.
What are portfolios used for?
Having documentation of your work product in a portfolio can be a valuable part of your career plan. Portfolios can be used for a variety of purposes and depending on your industry may be the standard practice (as with industries of art, photography, etc.) or not really used at all.
As an introduction to future employers, portfolios are an excellent way to showcase the value and experience you bring. At your current place of employment they can also be used to negotiate promotions, raises and bonuses as well as be a repository of your professional development.
An effective portfolio may be a required submission as part of the admissions process for certain academic programs and graduate applications. Some degree programs will also require students to compile a portfolio throughout their academic career to showcase learning outcomes as a graduation requirement. Additionally, portfolios can be used when applying for scholarships, grants and/or educational credit.
What goes in a portfolio?
Contents of your portfolio will differ depending on your intended purpose and industry type. When gathering information to include in your portfolio, keep in mind what items would represent your qualifications and skills in the best way for this particular job or degree.
Typically a portfolio includes the following:
- Cover page
- Table of contents
- Resume or CV
- Samples of work (reports, projects, writing samples, research summaries, etc.)
- Licenses or certifications
- Letters of reference or recommendation
- Any other evidence of skills
- Transcripts (if applicable)
Depending on your program or industry, there may be additional content you can add to your portfolio. Here are a few examples for additional content for program specific portfolios.
Portfolios for Teachers Sample Content:
- Credentials
- Exam scores (CSET, RICA)
- Parent communication sample
- Student assessment
- Example of a lesson plan related to standards
Portfolios for Business Administration Sample Content:
- Sample proposal
- Writing samples
- Accomplishments
- Business management experiences
How and when do I present my portfolio?
Once you have created an amazing professional portfolio, your next step is to determine the best way to successfully share it.
In your job search, a digital or paper portfolio may be a required supplement requested along with an application. Other times, an employer may request for you to bring one to your interview (or email it ahead of time) and then ask you to present it.
Even if a portfolio is not requested, a good time to present it would be at the end of your interview when asked if you have anything additional to share. This would provide an opportunity to impress your interviewer and allow for a smooth appropriate transition. When you present your portfolio at an interview, it is not necessary to go through all the content page-by-page. Be sure to highlight work that supports your previous answers or showcases your experiences and skills. If you leave your portfolio with the employer it may leave an impact of a complete picture of who you are.
You can also showcase your portfolio on your social networking sites, such as LinkedIn or on Brandman's CareerLink. On these sites, recruiters and potential employers can view your work along with your resume to get a feel for who you are and the value you would add to their organization.
Become a Student
Have questions about enrollment, degree programs, financial aid, or next steps?


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In The Heart of Energy Democracy
by Isaac Baker
February 6, 2019
This interview with Isaac Baker, the co-founder of Resonant Energy, a solar development platform expanding access to clean energy for nonprofit, small commercial and residential customers, was conducted and condensed by frank news.
How did you come to this work?
It's funny timing, thinking about my background actually. This weekend I was up at Middlebury College where I did my undergrad. I spent a lot of time on our divestment campaign, that was focused on student organizing, and a number of different efforts to do more clean energy work, to use Middlebury's work with Bill McKibben, 350, and its legacy of organizing to leverage it as a divestment tool, as part of the clean energy transition.
I always wanted to do more writing and storytelling about clean energy, and got more and more interested in implementation. Spent a lot of time going to communities that were experiencing fossil fuel extraction, went to Pennsylvania for fracked gas, went to Alberta for tar sands. Spent some time with the communities that were fighting various pipeline expansions in the Northeast, particularly Vermont and Massachusetts.
It was through all that I became interested in solutions work, and feeling like there were many more people who needed to raise their hands and be a part of the hard work we had before us, in trying to create solutions. To tell more stories. To activate our community around moving our money, and our politics, towards the rapid transition that's underway.
My first two years out of undergrad were spent working with an organization called Co-op Power, based in Massachusetts. Myself, and my current co-founder, Ben Underwood, were on the team that pioneered that energy cooperative community solar program. This included everything from helping to find sites, to organizing community forums and meetings. And then, a lot of finance training. Which turned out to be the biggest factor. When we think about the barriers to democratizing energy, which is in our world, democratizing finance, a lot of energy projects are incredibly expensive, and they need capital upfront.
The more community-led they are, and the more community benefiting they are, the less likely it is that institutional capital is going to provide the nuts and bolts things you need.
Like construction loans, and equity and debt, in order to give you the money you need to go forth and build. A vast majority of my work went into learning how to do all the complexities of solar financing and development. Working with particularly high-net worth, or social impact investors, who were filling that gap, where banks were not willing to go. They said, "We're willing to put our cash up, as an investment." As an impact investment to see some of these high-impact projects move forward, and in a larger sense, to really seed the market. Eventually we want larger, institutional capital to be serving these projects. But for now, impact investors are raising their hand, and saying, "We're going to move this market out, ahead of the more conservative investing arms in our society."
Two and a half years ago we founded, Resonant Energy as a development company. We found enough financing partners, like Co-op Power, who were willing to finance high-impact projects, for nonprofits, for low-income communities, for community solar projects, that the biggest problem to solve was really on the organizing and development side. Putting more boots on the ground, and figuring out the marketing strategies for how we found, not just five pilot projects in a given year, but how we could do 100, and start to take this to scale, so that we were in five different cities, all across the Northeast. And then 10, and then further.
I have spent the last four years in the heart of energy democracy. Working to help build a development platform, on which community-based projects can happen.
How do you define energy democracy?
People go a few different directions on that, particularly on ownership, which is something we've struggled with for a long time. We define energy democracy as expanding access, particularly in under-invested communities, which means you haven't had access to the tools, and resources, to plan, develop, and benefit from clean energy projects. A sense of ownership, of our energy system, and the ability to benefit from it, financially, regardless of race, income, creed, or other qualifiers, is what's important.
Our definition of energy democracy plus, meaning hitting all of those targets, and then some, would be 100% community controlled.
A fully, cooperatively owned and developed, participatory democracy version of all of that. Which I have been a part of, and have run into many, many challenges in figuring out how to implement and scale it. We're excited where we're able to do that, and to find funding that's excited about that.
In the short run, we're excited about bringing people into the movement, having them feel activated, having them understand their electricity bill. Having them understand what the fight is about energy, that's going on right now. Who the players are, and what are the steps we can take to give them better access to energy. Particularly folks who have not had a voice in our energy system to date.
Understanding is a critical component to this. Understanding how energy is manufactured and dispersed is a revelation for a lot of people. I think there's a large assumption that clean energy could be easily integrated into our lives. But, it's not that simple, really. What does that conversation look like with customers?
A framing piece that's really important to energy democracy is recognizing that energy is our single, largest industry. From extracting the resources, to distilling them, to distributing them, and using them in our home.
It is the single largest industry in the world, and represents enormous wealth, and is among the most concentrated of any industry in the world. And it hasn't even existed that long.
From a political economy standpoint, when we think about wealth inequality, when we think about access to jobs, when we think about all of these things, it is, for me, the poster child of what we're fighting. Who's responsible for climate change that we're taking on, and it's political framing, in that sense as well. For us, more than anything else, it's about the money. If energy has been a vehicle, in particular, fossil fuel energy, by which we have collected and aggregated enormous wealth, to a very small subset of companies and individuals, over the last hundred years, energy democracy is, to some degree, about changing our infrastructure.
There's a scenario where we can change our infrastructure, without changing our balance of power, and our distribution of money. There is a version of the next 50 years, and in particular, the next 15 or 20, that is a corporate rollout of clean energy, at utility scale.
Then there's the energy democracy version, which is about distributed generation in cities, and towns and villages. People having control of their energy, and financially benefiting from it. We're not paying rent to global corporations, for the rest of our lives. We are working on a local basis, to take control of our energy system, and to own that energy system, where that makes sense, to have it be most cost-effective, and also most resilient, in the face of a changing climate. That's some of the high-level framing. For me, that's important for understanding how we communicate it. Depending on who we're working with, we communicate it in a way that says, "These are the parts", our energy's extremely complex, especially in the United States. With every utility, every State incentive program, we have one of the most regulated industries in the world. It's our role as an organizer and educator to tell them a story first. Capturing the imagination. Why it's important that we're doing clean energy. As far as the mechanics go, we take them as deep as they're ready to go.
The stat I like to cite is that most people spend 7 minutes a year thinking about their electric bill.
When we talk about what that education is, it's explaining to them that if they install solar on their roof, that many kilowatt hours they produce in a given month, they no longer have to buy from the utility. And where are they going to see those savings? And how is their meter going to spin backwards. And what policies might get triggered? And what is the broader discussion, in effectively, the fight with the utility, that is well underway now, over how projects get compensated.
But, really, the money is what this all boils down to. If people make this transition, and make this switch to clean energy, how likely is it that they're going to get a good return on their investment? That they're going to save money on their energy bills, based on all the rules we have set up. That's where our education is focused. On telling a story to grab the heart. And on ensuring people, once they're ready to start thinking about clean energy, that it's a strong, sound financial choice that's well backed by a lot of good policy and rules that are in place, to protect them.
I understand how you would approach an individual, or a company, saying, "Let's put solar on your personal roof." But how do you define local? Do you work with cities or municipalities as local entities, and not just the individual?
That's a great question. One of solar's biggest, thorniest challenges right now, is that solar is both very popular, but still very poorly understood. It's customer acquisition costs are really high. It's not good at telling a story. It's very staff and labor intensive to find a person who wants to become a solar customer and get them to actually move forward. That's why a lot of our biggest companies, like SolarCity, have been going out of business. Or getting bought up by Tesla, and sold off for parts.
Figuring out how to cost-effectively educate people about clean energy, and to build that sense of trust, that it's a good thing to do, and it's time to move forward, is a really key piece of what we do. Partnering with groups like municipalities is one of the ways that we do that. We have a partnership with The City of Melrose, north of Boston, with a pilot campaign. We are partnering with them on a year-long campaign to do solar on some of their larger roofs, on their small businesses, and nonprofits. Through that process, we are working with their energy commission, which includes many volunteers from the city, to do outreach events, to bring forth people who are board members of nonprofits, who run small businesses in the city, and to educate them about the benefits of clean energy, and why they might want to do solar.
You're effectively using the city, that is a trusted brand, or a point of trust in an area, to accelerate the education process around clean energy, because they are lending their brand to that year-long endeavor.
Another version of working with public entities are the two projects underway in New York City. We're renting the roofs of the Brooklyn Army Terminal, which is a large, publicly-owned building by the Economics Development Corporation in New York City, to develop a low-income community floor project, on that roof. That will be owned and operated to benefit low-income residents in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn.
We're also renting 40 rooftops of NYCHA, which is the public, affordable housing building entity, in New York City. We'll be bringing the benefits of clean energy to 350 households, who live in that public, affordable housing.
You mentioned resiliency – which is massively important considering the frequency of natural disasters around the world and in the US. But clean energy cannot be stored, and we are not in control of production, so how resilient is it?
When we think about energy democracy, there's basically two versions of work that are underway, globally. There's the off the grid, what we call, "Micro Development," happening in rural areas, in Africa, and beyond, where we have no grid and clean energy is allowing us to leapfrog the enormous expense of building out all these poles and wires. You can extend centralized energy across great spans of the continent. They can build enough solar to power a town, plop in enough wires to connect all that up to the village, and add some batteries, importantly, as you noted, so that you can store power. So you don't have to make all your hay when the sun is shining, and you can use power at night. That's the localized version.
It's helpful to think about that in the U.S. context, where we are doing an enormous retrofit project. We have all this existing infrastructure, that existed to do one thing really well, and we are figuring out how to retrofit it into something really different.
We don't really do any resiliency-focused projects, or projects that are sold, as they're explicitly resiliency benefiting. We also don't have policy, that really incentivizes resiliency, just yet. It's starting to come online. Post Hurricane Sandy, a lot of the money starts to free up, and thinkers start to get more creative at the policy level, about how to incentivize things, like storage. Which is the single biggest factor in our resiliency. Can we create a lot of clean energy and figure out how to store it, such that we can operate a system of distributed microgrids, that are all interconnected, within our broader great infrastructure?
We already have examples of microgrids, where we've cared about it, all over our society. A great example of a microgrid, that got put to the test during Hurricane Sandy, was in New York City. There are some very compelling photos that show the island of Manhattan, right in the immediate aftermath of that hurricane, and just Wall Street is still lit up. Because Wall Street is full of backup generators, and effectively an entirely localized grid system that can be islanded, when and if Con Ed, which is the local utility, ever loses broader power. That part of the city is fully lit up, and still operational, and the rest of the city is in total darkness. That costs a significant amount of money, for Wall Street to be able to do that. But, for them, it was worth it. Because being without power, for even a moment, costs our global economy an enormous amount of money.
We have the technology, the know-how. What we're building the will to do, is to create policies and incentives, that have us do basically that, but instead of diesel generators, and a basement, we have solar and wind, and lot of other forms of clean energy. And then, batteries that are storing all of that clean energy, located all across our modern grid, in an interconnected way.
When I think about the work we're doing today, on a path towards resiliency, it's that we're building the justification, and laying the groundwork for that. Our work today is to install a lot of that clean energy, right now, and that's what we know how to do well. We have a lot of processes in place for the work that we will have to do in the coming years. We will have to figure out how to make our grid more like a sum of little, interconnected parts. So that each little piece of it can be islanded from the rest, and be interdependent, and interoperable. It won't need to be one, contiguous piece. That's going to take an enormous amount of investment. Then we're going to need to finance a ton of batteries, and other forms of energy storage. We're going to need a lot more control on all of our things that use electricity, such that they can ramp up and down. So we can have more, broader coordination.
There's all this stuff, on the technical side, that will be happening. Right now, investing as an organization, and figuring out how to get solar, and the savings associated with it, into communities that are not benefiting from solar, are not benefiting from clean energy, and have been left out of this rapidly-growing economy. Both in terms of consumer benefits, and in terms of jobs, on both sides of that equation.
Do you think a massive grid transition is inevitable? To microgrids, to sustainable and clean energy?
I do. I think we've passed the tipping point, where we're heading towards clean energy. We have capital working in favor of that. Just the basic economics of utility-scale clean energy has gotten so cheap, that in the fully unsubsidized world utility-scale clean energy projects, like offshore wind, which is now coming to Massachusetts, and New York in a big way, like giant, solar arrays that are outcompeting coal, and gas, in India right now, and selling for unbelievably low price points. Or, onsite wind, and all kinds of things. Clean energy, at the largest scale, is winning on a pure, economic basis, more and more, all across the globe. It's displacing new, natural gas systems, new coal, new things like that. I think that part of it is inevitable.
The part that's not inevitable is that we'll require enormous political will, and a decision figuring out who matters.
Not only is clean energy inevitable, but also electrification is inevitable. We're going to move most of our transportation to run off of electricity, if not all of it in the next 50 years. We're going to move a lot of our heating, that's currently using coal, and gas, and oil, to electricity. Our society is going to be, and needs to be, if we're going to hit our climate goals, run almost entirely on electricity. And that electricity needs to be almost entirely renewable, in the fairly-near future. Especially in developed countries, like the U.S.
What do you need to happen within policy to incentivize the work you do? On a micro sense, what does that language need to look like?
We develop small-scale, solar projects. We're developing projects in the 25 kilowatts, for a church. Or, 500 kilowatts for a community. At a high level, we need progressive policies that are not just basic. We benefit from policies that see the value of having localized generation. We're putting panels in our cities right at the point of use, where power is being used.
But there is a complicated equation that is the battle of the industry, which is, "What is the value of solar?" Or, "What is the value of local, clean energy?"
If we produce a kilowatt hour, in downtown Boston, and that kilowatt hour is produced in the middle of summer, when the total grid is most stressed, because we're entering the most power, that kilowatt hour is very, very valuable. Because we're producing it at a time of highest need, on this supply and demand perspective. That kilowatt hour means we don't have to turn on one of the diesel generators waiting in the wings somewhere in Upstate New York, to create and sell power at an enormous expense into the grid to meet the demand of all the cooling happening in Boston.
But the equation of how valuable is it, is the equation for now, and forever. What is it really and truly worth? That's the industry battle with the utilities, right now, to get what we feel is fair compensation for this local, distributed generation.
Policy that benefits distributed generation, and within that policy, recognizing the historical barriers our society has created to adoption.
Policy that says, when we create funding pots, and incentives for clean energy, we use that as an opportunity to also overcome the barriers that would prevent clean energy from getting into low, and moderate income communities.
That would prevent it from getting into businesses, and nonprofits, and in effect, a large majority of the buildings. On a fairness perspective, it's good policy because we fill our pots with money, in a public sense, equally, from everyone who pays into the system. When we distribute the pots of money through these clean energy projects, they should be evenly distributed. From our perspective that's a big part of the work we're doing. We are trying to be a part of the movement creating a more diverse and just transition to clean energy. With a more diverse workforce. A more diverse consumer base.
In a nutshell, we want policies that incentivize low-income adoption and clean energy, and adoption in under-invested communities, and recognize the significant barriers we have to overcome in doing that.
To give you an example, we solved a number of barriers to be able to get financing for projects in low-income households. We went to actually develop a whole portfolio of low-income households and found out that the majority of them hadn't had their electrical rooms, or metering setups, updated in the last 60 years. They were two policy eras out of date. Those are going to cost $10,000 a building, just to bring them up to code, before we even consider the intervention of solar. As a society, if we want things to be evenly distributed, we have to pay for the barriers our society has created.
That's insane. Who's responsible for keeping everything up to date? There's no government body monitoring this?
No. The government body's rule is if you're going to do construction on a home, you have to bring it up to code. Solar counts as construction. If it's not up to code, you have to bring it up to code, and the government doesn't create any progressive rules, that allow low-income homeowners to do that. Which is another interesting part of gentrification. You sell your home to the rich person, who can afford to make all those upgrades. But, the existing homeowner, without that sale, and new cash that comes into the building, doesn't have the means to make those updates.
Poverty becomes self-reinforcing. You have progressively more and more under-invested buildings, that become more and more expensive to live in, and only get updated when it gets sold to someone with significant resources who can afford to revamp the whole thing. In lieu of government intervention, and incentives that are allocated, on a progressive basis.
To be clear there is no policy that says, for any number of reasons, homes need to be maintained and updated? It doesn't matter to anyone they're so far behind?
In theory it matters. There are a lot of legacy setups that are complicated to maintain. For instance, in Boston we have some of the oldest building stock in the country. People's meters are in the basement. The new rule is meters have to be outside, on the side of the building, so that if the utility company wants to come by and service the building, they can actually get to it without having to call the homeowner, and be let into the basement.
That's like this big, electrical intervention, where you're going to pay electricians to move all that stuff around. The short answer is people would like for it to be updated, but we haven't had the policy will to pay for that fix, and match, for any kind of subsidy. It's basically just said, "Well, if you ever want to do a major construction project, you have to bring it up to code, and find a way to pay for good compliance." And that falls on you, as a homeowner, period.
What are you working on currently?
As a key base solar developer, you think about us like an affordable housing developer, ready to assign places to build solar, who puts together financing that makes it accessible. And educate the owners of those places, about the benefit of solar, and how to go about doing it.
We are building one of the first organizations that's doing that, explicitly, for nonprofits. The industry has been royalling with a new study that just came out recently. That study: racial and ethnic barriers to solar adoption, for rooftop solar, showed with a lot of accuracy, that black communities, particularly in the United States, even normalizing for income, have significantly, and statistically lower adoption rates of clean energy. When we think about the work we're doing, it's to address disparities. We have communities that are middle to upper income, often white neighborhoods, with massive modernization efforts underway, around clean energy, and other pieces. And then we have the Amazons, and all of these large corporations rolling out clean energy, in a big way. These people are saving a ton of money because it makes a lot of sense to do. It's not a vanity project. These are really cost-effective interventions that require the ability to leverage capital. They have the ability to borrow money, or to finance contracts in some way, that allow them to do this stuff. We are working to bring that chain benefit, to the equivalent markets at both sizes.
Instead of the Amazon, we want to bring free and clean energy to the YMCA, to the temple, synagogue, the church, which our office is in.
We want to be bringing it to those folks. At the household level, we want to bring it to the low-income household. And start that process of bringing in the financing, and the resources it's going to take to have their home be comfortable, powered by clean energy, and affordable to live in.
I talked a lot about access. We offer pay-as-you-go models, we offer loan options, and coach people through different ways of paying for this clean energy transition that's underway. That's a big part of our consumer side work. On the job side, when we think about who's working in industry, the big numbers the Solar Foundation put out, is that it is still 70% white, and male, of which I, myself, am included. I'm very dedicated to being a part of changing, and evolving that statistic, over time. That's one of the key pieces of the work we have before us, to do energy democracy well. To ensure we have a diverse stakeholder group, who are making the decisions, deciding what's the next community that gets a big, community-wide marketing campaign.
What's the next community that gets the next, big efforts around clean energy? In a market-based context, industry decides where clean energy goes, and how it goes. The industry needs to be reflective of the people they want to serve. Some of our projects have direct, workforce training funds. Our work in the city will partner with a number of different folks, including Green City Force. That will actually directly train 30 residents experiencing joblessness, and help do matchmaking with them, after they're time in that workforce program, to actually assign a job in clean energy. That's a larger initiative. At the local level, we do work with grassroots groups, who want us to do more clean energy. But also want to see their young people getting activated, around clean energy. We are working with high schools, in the neighborhoods, like Dorchester. We do a lot of work in schools. We're starting to talk with faculty, and staff, in doing training. Not just like, "Hey, you got solar on your roof. Isn't that great?" But, how do we build some of that into curriculum. How do we tell the story about that school having gone solar? That instills a sense of pride, and that makes people say, "That's really cool. I want to get more involved with that. I want to have that be a part of my story, going forward."
That is a very 360 approach.
I certainly appreciate your saying that, and I think from our perspective, at once, we are community-based, but we're a developer, right? We're trying to build a replicable model, that allows us to expand clean energy. We have a revenue model. We are not registered, but we are on our way, to becoming a benefit corporation. You believe that business can be a force for good, in this modern context. We have that side of us.
But this clean energy transition needs to happen so quickly, it's not going to happen through traditional marketing.
It's not going to happen by robocalling people, by sending out mailers, by filling people's inboxes with newsletter updates. It's going to happen when we tell a powerful enough story, that it's going to build our movement, and actually drive systemic change. Like what we're seeing with the Green New Deal. On the policy level, we have to build that kind of love for the work we have before us, in a societal context.
Have you looked closely at the Green New Deal? It's a little vague still, but is it using any of the language you just mentioned? Is it the progressive policy you're looking for?
Yeah, absolutely. Obviously, at the national level, the principles of the Green New Deal are not set. They're pretty high-level, stretch goals. But I think they're good for rallying the troops, as talking points while we build political will, to actually go out and do it. New York state, and Governor Cuomo just put out his version of a Green New Deal. Our job now, between the politicians putting out press releases, and things actually happening, is to work. That's where the utilities, and lobbyists water everything down – between press release and implementation. There's up until the press release, and there's the work that happens after. At a high level the language is right. We're starting to see a version of climate work, that is much more grounded in community benefit. Is much more grounded in how it attracts people. We're not talking as much about carbon in the atmosphere. We're starting to talk more about community benefit, about low-income access, about jobs. Those are all the things that matter to people. Not carbon in the atmosphere. The language is changing, and the focus is coming back to including marginalized communities, and those who have been excluded. Putting our dollars behind that, saying that matters to us, that we will actually pay to transition jobs of fossil fuel workers, we will pay to do the massive employment efforts, that are needed before us, to make this more accessible.
The short version is, we're headed in a good direction, and the rubber will hit the road, as we go forth. But, having jobs in there, that teach us something, is really beneficial to it being successful, and being able to build a coalition behind it.


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Open Afternoon and Official Opening of our new classroom-21March
Come and celebrate the opening of our new classroom on 21 March at 4pm 21 March. We will be having an Open Afternoon from 2.30- 4.30 with a treasue hunt for all and a cafe. Do pop in if you have never been before and want to find out a little bit about us or if you are an ex-Park family who wants to share the excitement of our dream come true!Looking forward to meeting you.


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Social Determinants of Health: Important Considerations for Medically Underserved Community Health Center Patients
March 8, 2013
A live webcast brought to you by:
Clinical Directors Network (CDN)
Center of Excellence for Primary Care Practice-Based Research and
Learning Virtual Training Series
A Network of Networks
The webinar will be held Friday, March 8, 2013 at 3:00-4:00 PM EST.
To register for the webinar, go to: http://bit.ly/sdoh-webinar-register
Social determinants of health (SDOHs) are a wide array of social and economic factors, such as income inequality and unemployment, which have a tremendous impact on health outcomes. This webinar presentation will provide an overview of SDOH and the role of SDOH in health care. The presenters will also share and discuss the experience and preliminary findings from studying SDOH at Asian Health Services, a federally qualified community health center. Finally, presenters will demonstrate the use of CHC data within a software program that uses SDOH to adjust for patient risk.
Funded by:
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Featured Practice Based Research Network (PBRN):
Presented by:
Ninez Ponce, PhD
Associate Professor
UCLA School of Public Health Department of Health Services
Thu Quach, PhD
Director of Research
Asian Health Services
Todd Gilmer, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Family and Preventive Medicine
University of California, San Diego
Media Relations
Beverly Quintana
(510) 272-9536 x112
Kristine Cecile Alarcon
(510) 671-5054


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Shadowhouse Creations focuses on giving away free textures, brushes,overlays, and tips to designers,photographers, and the hobbyist.
Thought You Should Know
I must admit I've been thinking about Wordpress for quite some time, Blogger, mainly
the editor has been a thorn in my backside. I must admit Wordpress has been a real
treat so far. For those of you thinking I'm leaving Blogger can rest assured, I have no
intentions on leaving Blogger for quite some time, it all depends on how Wordpress
works out. Not to mention I have a lot of friends here on Blogger, but if or when I
decide to go, I hope our friendship furthers. If you're anywhere in the vicinity of
shadowhousecreations.net, stop in and say hello. Keep in mind I'm just moving in, so
the place is a little bare, but there's some things hanging on the walls, with more
arriving daily. Peace
Oh, by the way, I should have something new to post here tomorrow or Saturday
at the latest.
9 comments:
Wow, that's great! I moved to (self-hosted) Wordpress long time ago and would never miss it! You are so free in your decisions concerning layout, design and your data are stored save at your own (web hoster's) server etc. - all is it your own hands. I would never ever use any services like blogspot, blogger, tumblr etc.ReplyDelete
Your new Wordpress site is looking very elegant, love it.
I've just subscribed to your RSS feed there.
Perhaps you should offer there a newsletter via Feedburner and/or place the RSS logo at the site, so that people can subscribe to your feed more easier.
Hi, Jerry! I'd follow your creative blog no matter where it went! Have a blessed day!ReplyDelete
You really make me laugh with your moving in with sparce furnishings!ReplyDelete
Good luck with your new home, I will visit where ever you are.
You are incredibly talented and generous with all that you share.. a blessing on other words. :o)
I love your page there and as others say I'd follow you anywhere :)ReplyDelete
DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT TELLING US. I STEAL YOUR TEXTURES ALL THE TIME . . .ReplyDelete
I, too, would follow you where ever you go. That said, I love Wordpress, headed over to visit now.ReplyDelete
thank you for this postReplyDelete
الموسوعة الشاملة | ازياء | برامج مجانية | صور | تحميل البرامج
You know you can transform your blogger blog into a book using Blurb -- I am doing that myself before I clean up my blog and delete a bunch of posts.ReplyDelete
I love WordPress. You deserve a domain without that pesky .blogspot :)ReplyDelete


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The No Hassle Fundraiser, which simply asks for direct donations from families, is our most important fundraising effort each year. These direct donations fund many of our programs benefiting the students and staff at Twain, all without the hassle of selling candy bars and wrapping paper.
PTSA sponsors numerous student events and school programs, but we can't do it without funding!
Please consider making a donation. PTSA suggests $50.00/student, but any amount helps.


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We left Highbury by bus to Finsbury Square, walked down Eldon Street, then Houndsditch to Fenchurch Street station.
We (my family- mother, brother and I) would leave Fenchurch Street about 12 o'clock to Benfleet, Canvey Island railway station. My father could never make the journey due to pressure of work on a Saturday until 5pm.
The ferry crossing at Benfleet Creek
We would have to cross by the stepping stones or wait for a rowing boat, if the tide was in, - there was no bridge at that time!
Our house, termed lodge - as it had an outside staircase, was one of three or four bungalows on a large site behind the Clements' Dairies in Gafzelle Drive, near to The Admiral Jellicoe at Leigh Beck.
We stayed for two to three weeks at a time, usually three times a year - Easter, Summer and the October half term.
My brother and I would go with jugs for drinking water and milk for a penny, as mother would be making up the beds. Our bed linen and summer clothes would be sent ahead in a large wicker hamper, by Carter Patterson. Mother would also have brought enough food for the week-end, a chicken or 'h-bone' of beef, leg of lamb etc. Her meals were very special, in spite of the means of cooking being a wood fire with oven attached.
There was no gas and only paraffin lamps for lighting. Mother was able to cook the vegetables and boil the kettle on the top and we may possibly have a pudding - rice or bread and butter, or particularly 'bread' was delicious.
There was only one outside tap for everything - cooking, washing and washing up, - very primitive but the water was very soft and made the chores very easy. The toilet was an outside 'cupboard' - just a hole in the ground, with, with personal toilet paper - not on a roll. The hole would be filled in and cupboard moved around the grounds annually.
Gafzelle Drive was just a track like most of the roads off the main road - (now the High Street) leading to the beach. Our tin cans would be put in the rucks as a type of topping-up procedure, since there was no path or roadway.
At the top we would have to cross a deep dyke with some sort of railway sleepers as a bridge to get across, especially for mums' with push-chairs!
Our days were spent all day on the beach with picnic lunches and we had such fun when the tide came in and when a large boat would go by, we would dodge the 'wash'!
The Casino
In the evenings there was a concert party, a stage and seats in the open air. There was also another 'must go' - the Casino, where slot machines for ½ d and 1d, roundabouts and a slippery - slip - where you take the mat up to the top of this tower-like structure and shoot down - always only a 1d!
My brother and I would be allowed to go alone to these events, our parents were very trusting and it would be safe!
In order that we had lovely meals, Bobby and I would collect kindling wood from the beach - left when the tide went out. It would have to be the dry remains and keep our fire alight for two weeks - even in the summer.
Mother would have an outside shelf where the milk, butter and cold meat would be kept in a 'mesh safe' - everything would be covered to stop the flies etc!!
Over the years our friends and relations would often come for a day, this was a very reasonable day out for folks who couldn't afford a full week's holiday!
We were advised to come to Canvey Island because my brother was quite poorly and the doctor thought the sea air at the Thames estuary was special. Apart from the ozone, Southend was also noted for the mud and it's health properties. Certainly all the years we went regularly must have done us good, we are both over 80 and our mother died in her 100th year!
When I was 14 and a wage earner, I was trusted to come again with my friend only, to one of the holiday homes - this time a gypsy type caravan on wheels - it was obviously cheaper than the usual 'lets'. We had a few steps to get in the entrance - but on our first holiday alone without our parents - 'very grown-up' my mother came down for a day with a chicken - obviously doubting we were eating 'properly'!
Imagine, doing that journey by train in a day now?!
(Edith eventually retired to Canvey in 1993)
Some of Edith's pictures can be seen here.
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text: Fulop's work in clay is heavily influenced by the Japanese tradition. His experimentation with Raku reduction and wood firing techniques along along with his use of calligraphic gesture is a culmination of experiences and time spent with traditional artists in China, Korea and Japan. In his most recent works Fulop pushes the boundaries of traditional clay vessel seeking to exploit elemental process of fired material intertwined with the artists gestural use of brushwork and glazing technique. These reflective works attempt to 'connect to reawaken' an embodied awareness of 'objects and object making'.


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Zach Heller Marketing Week in Review/
Are you a current or aspiring leader in the business world? The answer is likely yes if you're reading my blog. So let me make another recommendation for you. The Harvard Business Review offers fantastic articles on a variety of subjects – from business management and strategy, to marketing and innovation. Updated daily, there is no better place for educational and growth-oriented content. I try to keep up with everything they put out myself.
Here's a recap of last week's posts here at Zach Heller Marketing:
Happy Saturday!
3 Ways to Boost Your Marketing Knowledge:
- Subscribe to the monthly newsletter to get answers to all your marketing questions
- Ask a marketing question that you'd like me to answer for you
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Product Reference: 30323L
- FREE Leather Pouch
- Personalised Laser Engraving (12 font choices)
Victorinox SwissTool Series -
This winner of many tests is based on the values of the original Swiss Officers knife, and is versatile, multi functional and user friendly - as well as being equipped with a practical pair of pliers.
Over 18 only. Your order will be subject to age verification, please enter your date of birth in the billing screen.
1. Pliers with
2. - Wire cutter for thin and soft wire up to 40 HRC
3. - Hard wire cutter
4. Screwdriver 2mm
5. Screwdriver 7,5 mm
6. Strong crate opener
7. Can opener
8. Screwdriver 3mm
9. Bottle opener
10. Screwdriver 5mm
11. Wire bender
12. Large blade
13. Large blade with wavy edge
14. Metal saw
15. Metal file
16. Wood saw
17. Reamer/Punch
18. Phillips screwdriver 1/2
19. Chisel and scraper
20. Wire stripper
21. Wire scraper
22. Wire crimping tool (electric)
23. Ruler (229mm)
24. Ruler (9 inches)
25. Coupling for corkscrew
26. Lanyard hole
27. Leaf spring with spring for all tools
28. Lock release
Comes with a premium leather sheath.
Size and Weight -
- Length: 115mm | 11.5cm
- Width: 35mm | 3.5cm
- Height: 18mm | 1.8cm
- Weight: 11.85oz | 336g
Order before 2pm for same day dispatch
Orders received by 2pm on weekdays will usually be dispatched the same day. Orders received after 2pm will be dispatched the next day.
UK Deliveries:
Standard (FREE over £30): 3-5 working days.
Express : 1-2 working days.
Special Delivery - Excluding Sundays: Next Day before 1pm.
International orders will be dispatched using BPost International Tracked. Please note larger orders outside of the EU may be subject to import taxes. Once you have selected your delivery country in the basket you will be given a delivery window.
Our Packaging:
All of our packaging is plastic free and can be recycled or composted at home. We still receive a number of products from our suppliers wrapped in plastic, which means you may receive some of this in your parcel. We are communicating with our suppliers to change this. Read our blog to learn more.
Free Returns
You can return non personalised products purchased from us for a no quibble refund using our free returns service within 60 days of receiving the item. On engraved & embossed orders we can exchange your order or credit your Farrar & Tanner account if you are not completely satisfied. Returns from outside the UK will need to pay return postage.
Victorinox manufacturing and engineering quality shines through on this tough product. Solid enough for professional use and I certainly put it to the test everyday as a handyman.
Swiss-Store has in house, state-of-the-art laser engraving machinery, operated by skilled and experienced staff to ensure that your product is engraved with a perfect, striking and everlasting finish.
We are so confident that you will be delighted with the quality of the engraving that if for any reason you are not completely satisfied we still offer our no quibble returns service.
To order engraving please check the box "Personalised Laser Engraving'.
1. Select position of engraving
2. Choose your font
3. Enter your message
For logos, corporate orders or special requests please call 0844 5678 365.
The Victorinox SwissTool Multi Tool is supplied with a lifetime warranty.


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Letter to Vermon Times-Argus exposes grasping power Utility
"It really never ceases to amaze me what corporate America will try to do.
Idaho Public Utilities Commission recently rejected a proposal to raise monthly fees paid by homeowners who install solar panels.
That was after a June 26 decision by Louisiana Public Service Commission to maintain payment rates that utilities must make to solar-system owners for electricity. The commission voted 3-2 against a proposed fee increase supported by Entergy Corp.
It seems that Entergy and Idaho Power feel that solar-powered homes are not paying their fair share of costs to maintain power lines and respond to outages since they often have lower monthly electric bills. It seems they believe the lost revenue resulting from net metering can cut into utility profits.
They don't want to hear of the benefits those installations deliver such as reducing the need to build new power plants, I guess. No matter what the capacity of the home system at least some of the generated power never even sees the grid since it is used directly by the home itself, and what does go to the grid is delivered at peak demand time for the utility.
The industry's main trade group, Edison Electric Institute, calls the growth of small-scale solar systems the "largest near-term threat" to the industry.
Imagine that, my roof-top photovoltaic solar is a threat to the industry. Wow. So what is next, I wonder. Make people who go off the grid completely pay a power bill anyway?
This company is interested in their bottom line. They will say anything, even if it discourages individuals who are considering entering the distributed generation side of green energy.
Once again Entergy has proven it is not in line with the direction Vermont has chosen.
Shut down Vermont Yankee now and mandate Entergy pay the decommissioning and radioactive waste cleanup cost."
Alfred S. Blakey
For more stories from off-grid.net search here
Our Our fastest solar ovenBake, roast or steam a meal for two people in minutes, reaching up to 550°F (290°C). GoSun Sport sets the bar for portable solar stoves.
Buy our book - OFF THE GRID - a tour of American off-grid places and people written by Nick Rosen, editor of the off-grid.net web site
2 Responses to "Vermont Utility tries to bill for off-grid power"
I'm off-grid now and be damned if I will be a slave to the corporate utility monopolies ever again.
Vermont Wankee should pay for their own crimes against nature. Private citizens don't get away with even a millionth of what VW is.
We know that utility companies are some of the most unethical corporations. But Bluegrass Energy has them all beat as being the absolute worst in the country.
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Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ricky Naptui, and Me February 5, 2014Posted by J. in Domesticity, FYI, Genius.
Tags: addiction, compulsion, demons, diet, exercise, food, health, obesity, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ricky Naptui, TLC
Unless you've been living in a cave, you've no doubt heard that a few days ago, another celebrity lost his battle with addiction. Philip Seymour Hoffman was only 46 years old. A year older than me. He was found with a heroin needle still in his arm.
Today, I read a blog post in response to his death written by a recovering addict. By the end of it, I was in tears. Not just because of how beautifully written it is, but how big the problem is. It's a very frank, very simply put view of what addiction really is. How it works. And why people like Hoffman, who had the world by the balls, succumb to it.
I urge you to read it now, especially if you don't deal with the demons of addiction. It gives a new, painful perspective on things from someone who lives daily with those demons. If you are an addict, I urge you to read it now, too. As the friend of mine who posted it said, "It reminds me not to be complacent in my choice of sobriety."
Addiction, Mental Health, and a Society That Fails to Understand Either by Debie Hive
The part that struck me is where she says this:
The only way to really deal with addiction is one that is multi-faceted, one that makes us uncomfortable. It is messy and complicated and takes a lifetime of effort. It involves relapses and second chances and third chances. It involves support, sometimes sponsors. It involves therapy and counseling until whatever the root cause is has been revealed and addressed. It involves consideration of not just the physical withdrawal, but the emotional withdrawal, the social withdrawal, the psychological withdrawal. It involves a mental health system with adequate resources. It requires support instead of judgement.
And sometimes, even when all those things exist, it fails. It fails because addiction can take people and swallow them whole. It can rob them of everything they value, everyone they love. It can strip them of everything they care about, rob them of reason and logic. It can convince them that they aren't worthy, that they have failed not just themselves, but everyone else. It tells them that they are broken and irreparable. Then it shoves them back down and does it again.
As I read that post, and found myself tearing up at her words, I realized I wasn't thinking about Hoffman, or drugs at all. But I understood completely what the demons are that she talks about. About having forces and compulsions inside you that rob you of reason and logic, that shove you down and swallow you whole.
I get that. I live with that, too. I would not DREAM of putting a needle in my arm because drugs aren't my bag.
Food is. And it's a long, painful, goddamn slow way of killing yourself.
Like addicts, fat people get looked at with pity. Scorn. Anger. Frustration. We are called weak. Losers. A waste.
We are fat for the same reasons addicts are high and alcoholics are drunk. We use food the same way they use drugs and booze. We eat instead of shooting up. We binge on donuts, not booze.
And I wonder if any other people like me who have had a lifelong battle with weight see the same parallels.
I think the reason this blog post resonated so loudly with me, even though I don't deal with a drug or alcohol addiction is that a month or so ago, I saw part of a show on TLC called "My 600-Pound Life." And the episode I saw followed a man on Guam named Ricky Naptui, who at his heaviest topped out at nearly 900 pounds.
900-Pound Man: The Race Against Time
Maybe it's because I've been wrestling my own demons so hard over the past year that I was able to watch this show and see it from the point of view that I did. I didn't look at Ricky with disgust. Or even pity, really. I did get mad at his doctors. What Ricky thought he wanted and needed was weight loss surgery that would make him lose weight. The problem with that is that in order to do the surgery, he had to lose hundreds of pounds, first.
If you eat yourself up to 900 pounds, it's not like dropping a couple hundred is going to be a walk in the park. The doctors were approaching it from a purely physical and surgical standpoint. If you eat less, you will lose weight. If you lose weight, we will do a life-threatening procedure that has more complications than benefits to help you lose weight. Convoluted thinking at best.
Maybe they just assumed it was because he was a pig.
I'm sure it's what they assume about me.
I use the present tense because I'm fully aware that at 226 pounds, I'm still obese. People who don't know how far I've come see a fat woman, and that's not an unkind assessment or self-deprecation. I still have at least 80 pounds to lose. That's pretty fat, any way you slice it. I am fully aware that people look at me and have the thought cross through their mind that I should put my fork down and step away from the table once in awhile. Jesus, have some self-control.
They're the same people, no doubt, who look at Philip Seymour Hoffman and say, "Jesus. Just don't use drugs. How fucking hard is that?"
Fuck Forgive them, for they know not what they do.
So I watched as Ricky's doctors expressed concern with what he eats, and how much. He needs to eat good food. He needs to eat less food. He needs to get him to the point where he can at least stand up unaided, which he could not do. They couldn't get an accurate weight because he could not stand unsupported.
And the whole time they were telling him that he needs to lose at least 150 pounds on his own before they can consider surgery, I could see the frustration and desperation building in Ricky. He kept trying to find the words to tell them, "If I could lose that weight on my own, I wouldn't need you. I wouldn't be stuck in this bed. I can't stop eating, and I don't know why."
But they talked over him. They cut him off. They were so concerned with pointing out the path he was going to have to follow that not one person took the time to listen to why that path seemed utterly impossible for him to even attempt.
And I wanted to reach into that TV and hold his hand and ask him why he eats. And listen to him. Because I know that helpless feeling. I know feeling scared. I know all about not understanding why you can't seem to eat like normal people. And I know the pain of knowing how people look at you. The pity, the scorn, the disgust, the sadness. It's demoralizing. And I know he just wanted someone to help, and the best way anyone could do that was by listening.
Only no one did.
Ricky died at the age of 36, and the cause of death listed was "morbid obesity."
I didn't immediately look at Philip Seymour Hoffman and think "There but by the grace of God go I." But I looked at Ricky and I did. Ricky needed an angel. Someone to listen to him, to help him sort out his feelings. He needed someone to talk about food with him, and help him figure out what part it plays in his life and how he could work to change that.
But all they wanted to do was push him into a diet. They wanted to cut him up and hope for the best.
What Ricky needed was help with his addiction. He needed help with his demons. But as Ms. Hive pointed out in her blog post, our mental help resources are lacking. We want to be able to cure addiction with rehab or prison, and when those things don't work, we are left with waiting for death to take them. In the same way, obesity isn't solved with dieting or gym memberships or obsessively counting calories. It's certainly not solved with surgery.
It's solved with change, and that change happens inside your mind as much as inside your body. And it's hard, and not everyone can do it alone. Hell, maybe no one can do it alone. I'm not doing it alone. I have an amazing support system who should get gold medals for getting me through this.
I have a best friend who listens to me without judging and only reminds me of the things I already know to be true. He offers me the reason and logic that my demons try to take away, putting back the bits that break apart from time to time when the battle leaves me damaged.
I have a husband who knows that he is the one person who can make me feel beautiful in this world at a time where my self-esteem is at an all-time low. He supports my efforts and puts up with me when the battle gets to be too much. He is my safe, soft place to fall.
I have a sister who knows what it feels like to have never been an athlete in her whole life, but has done the work to become one. She tells me that I am an athlete, too, reminds me that my daily workouts are training, and keeps me reined in when I get too far ahead of myself, and holds me up when I fear I've bitten off more than I can chew.
My support system grounds me and keeps me tethered to sanity. And I'm not exaggerating when I say that my sanity, my own sobriety, is tenuous at best. I have people to talk to. I have people who support me.
Ricky didn't have that. His wife didn't know what to do to help him. Hive says in her post, "Until you've had to tease out where the line between believing in someone and enabling them is, you can't know what it is like." She wanted him to be happy, but the only thing that made him happy was the thing that was killing him.
People who turn to food for comfort, for happiness, for friendship–we have a lot in common with addicts. We want to feel better, if only for a little while. Food helps us cope. And sometimes, the food just calls to us and we can't stop eating, even when we want to. We hate ourselves for bingeing for no reason at all. We hate that we just can't stop.
We hate ourselves for it.
We hate ourselves.
Much like drug and alcohol addiction, people with food issues habitually need more help than what we get. We don't really need another diet plan. We don't need another 7-minute workout. We don't need another app for our phone. We certainly don't need surgery, and we don't need a magic pill that makes the fat go away.
We need someone to listen. We need someone to talk to us. To talk with us, not to us. We need professionals, from doctors, psychologists, therapists, and nutritionists who understand that the problem with our fat is not in our bodies, but in our heads, and if we work on sorting through our issues and get guidance with battling our demons, we can and will find a way to lose our weight.
And even if we get that help, there are no guarantees. Addicts relapse. Hoffman had been clean for 23 years before he relapsed. He was considered a sort of guru in AA because he helped so many other people. You can't cure addiction. The fight never ends.
I know as well that this battle of mine will never be over. I fear relapse. I know people are watching me and seeing my progress and many don't know what it takes for me to do this. If I fail, if I put weight back on, they won't understand why. Some will. Or maybe some will just shrug and say "What a waste."
There is hope. There are addicts who make it. There are people like me, and even heavier, who make it. I don't believe I'm doomed to failure, but I know the odds are not in my favor.
It's my hope that this fight gets easier at some point, but I kind of doubt it ever will. I'm not expecting it, or counting on it. I suspect it's more likely that it will be as it has been for the past year: some hard stretches, and some easy stretches. Sometimes the demons will beat the shit out of me, but I'll get back up, bruised, but stronger for the fight.
That thought is exhausting, to be honest, and after 23 years of it, I can see why a talented actor who had everything to live for put a needle in his arm.
He was tired. He was bruised. He was battered. He just wanted the demons to leave him alone, just for a little while.
Ricky never had a chance against his demons, because "the system"–whatever that is–failed him. Food was all he had, and in the end, it killed him.
There, but by the grace of God, go I.
- 1. Siací Ross - February 5, 2014
We weigh the same…and we share many demons.
Thank you.
- 2. strega42 - February 5, 2014
Not just for you, Poops, but also for your readers, and anyone else who stumbles on this:
Obesity is a symptom. The advice we are given from the government "eat low fat, eat less, eat whole grains" is patently, obviously, the wrong advice. Obesity is becoming a *global* problem as everyone tries to "eat right" as modern medicine tells us to, and yet we get fatter. I would urge everyone reading this – obese or not – to look at Dr. Peter Attia's blog and search for his TED talk on youtube.
I would also urge everyone to read this: http://acestoohigh.com/2012/10/03/the-adverse-childhood-experiences-study-the-largest-most-important-public-health-study-you-never-heard-of-began-in-an-obesity-clinic/
It's a hard read. No one is comfortable reading about how childhood abuse and childhood traumas of various sorts can cause obesity. Either it's too painful for us as victims struggling to be survivors, or it's too painful for us as a society to completely reframe obesity away from a pure manifestation of gluttony.
Your post is beautifully written and everything you said is absolutely true, and I don't mean to minimize even one word of it. I just hope my suggestions here help people who might need a bit more or want to start doing more investigation on their own.
- 3. Bonnie - February 6, 2014
Oh man, this blog made me bawl. I'm going through a similar situation (except I don't have a support network),
Thank you so much for sharing your words, they are both beautiful and heartbreaking.
And, just for the record, I think you are going to totally kick ass. You may stumble, maybe even fall, but I have faith that you will overcome. ❤
- 4. Chris L - February 6, 2014
So well said. I've always thought that it would be so much easier if my drug of choice was something I didn't need to live. I need food, we all do, but I can't control how much I eat. Most days I don't eat enough, which is a problem all in itself. I am well over 100lbs over weight. I am embarrassed by myself, and my demons play to that all too well.
I am in the unfortunate position to be on LTD, limited income, and I pay for my health insurance. What I can afford isn't the best of plans (the government doesn't help those of us who already have insurance. In fact, mine will go up in cost because the plan I have doesn't meet Fed minimum guidelines). I know I need to be in therapy, but I can't afford it. The mental health coverage part of my plan is non existent. Not to mention the drugs I was on to help with my previously diagnosed mental health conditions are too expensive for me to afford, ($300/month and I have a $500 a year cap, after 2 months of meds I go to full price!), so I am off the meds that helped me keep the demons at bay.
It is a daily struggle to battle with my depression, bipolar disease, and anxiety disorder (which manifests as agoraphobia), and having to deal with "my drug of choice". I am lucky that I have family close by, but I do not have a support system in them. I have friends who care, but I feel I'm imposing on them, and the ones I have spoken with lecture me about getting off my ass instead of supporting. More and more I'm losing the battle and have never felt more alone and depressed in my life.
I did have a "there but for the grace of God…" moment when I heard about Hoffman's death. I have always known that I use food inappropriately, and have since I was a teen. I'm to the point, and I'm sure that all addicts get to this point, where I just can't seem to care. I don't care enough about myself to fight most days. I do kind of wish I was addicted to something that I could avoid, instead of something I have to learn how to control.
Today I was lucky enough to come across your post (I'm glad we have knitting in common, so I got your link), and I don't feel so alone. Today.
- 5. Liz Hamlin - February 9, 2014
Jen, what you said about your husband is wonderful. He is wonderful. I've suffered from major depression and anxiety for almost 20 yrs. I could use your words to describe my husband. This song by Alison Krauss reminds me of my husband. If you haven't heard this, listen it'll bring tears to your eyes. You looked beautiful at church today.
It's amazing how you can speak right to my heart
Without saying a word you can light up the dark
Try as I may I could never explain
What I hear when you don't say a thing
The smile on your face lets me know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes sayin' you'll never leave me
The touch of your hand says you'll catch me if ever I fall
You say it best when you say nothing at all
All day long I can hear people talking out loud
But when you hold me near you drown out the crowd
Old Mr. Webster could never define
What's being said between your heart and mine
The smile on your face lets me know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes sayin' you'll never leave me
The touch of your hand says you'll catch me if ever I fall
You say it best when you say nothing at all
The smile on your face lets me know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes sayin' you'll never leave me
The touch of your hand says you'll catch me if ever I fall
You say it best when you say nothing at all
Read more: Alison Krauss – When You Say Nothing At All Lyrics | MetroLyrics


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American Horror Story has done plenty for the audience, made them scared, made them boggle about the story which at any time can take up a twist, and the latest addition is making fans astonished (as they aren't enough already) about the sneaky entry of any random star which they cannot expect would join the American Horror Story. The most popular star to enter the season 6 of the widely acclaimed series, is Taissa Farmiga and as rumours are to be believed, she would be making an entry in episode 9 of upcoming season 6 and would be playing the role of a trekker as a part of the Blair witch project dimension of the series.
Along with Taissa Farmiga, there are also plenty of other actresses with blonde hair and strikingly smart persona, joining the trek part of the series. If we look at the promo of season 6, it goes south to the regular nature or story of American Horror Story which is why it makes it all the more important to watch it this time.
Not only Farmiga would be making an entry this time, Lana Winters of Asylum fame would also be seen in the series though her role is still under process. Wittrock's character has faced multiple jolts in the past season as his family's murder business has come as a surprise and it has to be seen that what future his character holds. It cannot be presumed that his character's fate would last for only some time like the other characters, as the Ryan Murphy commented that there is a lot his character has to go through in the coming season.
Well, American Horror Story has delivered chills at every level and we can't wait to see the upcoming episode of the 6th season.


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Have you ever heard your grandmother talk about her childhood memories? Have you ever wanted to share your family history? Well, here is your chance! High-schoolers, college students and adults are highly encouraged to apply now for our new program!!
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Katarou Histories is a 10 week interactive program for students (ages 15-21) and adults to collaboratively foster an understanding of identity, community, and the importance of preserving oral histories in the San Fernando Valley's Japanese American community. Through a series of workshops and activities, participants will learn the significance of telling their own stories and preserving their oral histories through creative outlets. Each session will gather facilitators and speakers from various parts of the community to conduct interactive workshops focused on issues of ethnic identity, to the role of oral histories, to more artistic modes of activism.
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2CommentsJoined September 30th, 2016
- AbinashD3 commented on TAPAN MOJIDRA's instructable ARDUINO AS A 8051 PROGRAMMER - CHEAPEST PROGRAMMER IN THE WORLD2 years ago
Works fine on Windows!!! good tutorial. I used a ready-made dev. board, with 12mhz xtal ,caps and reset circuit. only connected the required VCC,GND,MISO,MOSI and reset to Arduino and uploaded hex files.However, it's not working on linux under Wine. Is there anything i need to do to make it work on linux(I'm on Xubuntu 16.04)?View Instructable »
Not working on linux under wine. Is there anything I'm missing?


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Joaquin Phoenix heckled into huge brawl during gig
London, Mar 13 (ANI): Puerto Rican actor turned rapper Joaquin Phoenix landed himself in a huge brawl during his gig at a Miami nightclub, after he flipped when an audience member taunted him from the side.
Phoenix, 34, is said to have confronted the man mid-way through his performance.
"We have a f***ing b**** in the audience," the Sun quoted him as saying.
"I've got 1million dollars in the bank. What have you got b****?" he said while nodding his head and rapping to a beat.
Phoenix, who according to sources arrived four hours late for the gig at the LIV nightclub in the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel, launched himself into the crowd.
"I saw the guy screaming at Joaquin," a fan said.
"Joaquin then flipped and jumped into the crowd," he added.
The actor wrestled the heckler to the ground before being dragged off by security. (ANI)


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