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Cool winds blew through the Vancouver residential sales market in February, says the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).
The Board reports sales in Metro Vancouver dropped nine percent in February from February 2017. The sales also came in 14.4 percent below the 10-year average for February, with only apartment sales showing an increase over the 10-year average.
Single-family home sales were down 39.4 percent over the same period, attached sales decreased 6.8 percent, with apartment sales showing a 5.5 percent increase above the 10-year February average.
The overall drop in sales comes on the heels of financial moves, says Jill Oudil, REBGV president.
"Rising interest rates and stricter mortgage requirements have reduced home buyers' purchasing power, particularly for those at the entry level of our market," says Oudil. "Even still, the supply of apartment and townhome properties for sale today is unable to meet demand.
"On the other hand, our detached home market is beginning to enter buyers' market territory."
Metro Vancouver is Canada's most expensive market and one of the most expensive in the world, but the financial moves have done nothing to change that. The Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in the area was $1,071,800 in February, a 16.9 percent increase over February 2017 and a 1.4 percent increase from January 2018.
The reduced demand and increased supply (up 15.2 percent year over year) should stabilize or reduce prices, but only time will tell.
"The spring is traditionally the busiest time for home buyers and sellers in our market," says Oudil. "We'll wait to see how they react to the taxes and other policy measures that our provincial and federal governments have introduced so far this year."


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|« Date » · « Thread »
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|Kevan Miller <kevan.mil...@gmail.com>
|Re: 2.2 in production
|Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:39:43 GMT
On Nov 2, 2009, at 9:52 AM, Trygve Hardersen wrote: > Hi Gianny > > Many thanks for you help! > > I'll try to make a Geronimo build that uses this WADI version the > next time we update our servers. Will let you know what I find. > > The session size in our application should be small as only a couple > of simple objects are put there, though I've not really verified > this. I would not say the servers are not under any significant load > when the messages start appearing, but again this is hard to > quantify. CPU and bandwidth is not constrained at least. Thanks Gianny. I'd like to see this included in the Geronimo 2.2 release. Can we look for a new WADI release, soon? Once we know the problem is fixed? Trygve, the sooner we get confirmation that your issue is resolved, the sooner we can start finalizing the 2.2 release. --kevan
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subset: commoncrawl


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Top Benefits Of Using Employment Agencies
It is very hard to find trustworthy employees. That is why you should look for better ways for recruiting new employees. The good thing is that there are employment agencies like the employment agencies Bridgewater NJ based company that can help you find new employees quickly. If you have tried to hire new employees, you know how hard it is and it is time consuming.
Here are the top benefits of hiring employees from employment agencies.
Quick Help
What do you when your employee quits without notice? If you don't find someone else, your business might be affected badly. You no longer have to worry about this because there are employment agencies that you can contact anytime. You can also hire several employees from these agencies when you have a big job that will last for a few days. You don't have to worry about new projects, because you can hire new employees anytime you want.
Qualified Applicants
The good thing about using employment agencies is that they have qualified applicants. There are some tests that every employee must pass before being hired. These tests help to know if the employee is competent for the job. The ones that are hired are highly skilled. Therefore, you will never have to worry about hiring employees who are not qualified for the job.
Flexible Time
Are you looking for someone to hire for a few weeks or months? If so, you can use the employment agencies to find the right employee. There is another choice beside temp agencies like if your maintenance employee needs general cleaning and your maintenance department is not enough for the work force, you have to look for the service of commercial building maintenance companies to help to make the work speedy. If one of your employees is sick, you do not have to hire a new employee and then fire him or her when your employee is back. When your employee comes back to work, inform the employment agency. The agency will take care of everything. So, you don't have to worry about hiring and firing new employees.
Long Term
There are some employees from the agency that might impress you. These employees might be hardworking, so they can help you achieve your business goals. If you want to hire them permanently, you can talk to their employment agency. There is a fee that you will have to pay if you want to hire an employee permanently.
These are the top benefits of employment agencies. What you need to do right now is to search for the right employment agencies. Make sure that the agency you are using is trustworthy and reliable. This because an employment agency can help you find qualified employees quickly.


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MySpace Profile
Christian Climer
Chris Kamrada
Jay Enriquez
There For Tomorrow Bio:
There for Tomorrow formed in 2003 while all of its members were teenagers (although Christian Climer did not join the band until 2006). They were originally called The Kick Off, or TKO, but changed their name after playing numerous local shows. They began playing local radio station showcase concerts, which led to stints on the southeastern leg of the Vans Warped Tour in 2006 and 2007. After the tour, they met with James Paul Wisner (Underoath, Paramore), who produced their 2007 Pages EP, which attracted the attention of the indie Hopeless Records. He returned to produce their self titled EP, released on August 5, 2008 featuring the first single "No More Room to Breathe." Just over three months later, the band won the MTVU Woodie Award for breakout artist of the year, beating established acts such as All Time Low, and We the Kings. In February 2009, the band joined We the Kings with other bands on the Secret Valentine Tour. They will also be joining the Warped Tour '09.
Collectively, they have sold more than 200,000 cds in the U.S.
On a TFT youtube update, Christian announced that their new full length album will be coming out in the summer of '09 and will be titled: A Little Faster. On June 9th, "A Little Faster" was released as a single in the US.


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What does life with, or after, breast cancer mean to you? What would you like to say to the rest of the world about life with, or after, breast cancer?
I am attempting to put together a montage of video clips from fellow breast cancer patients (who are living with cancer, going through treatment or finished treatment) telling our real breast cancer stories. The thinking behind the project is explained at the end of this page.
I am asking people to send short video clips which answer the question: what does life with, or after, breast cancer mean to you?
This can be anything and can be more than one thing.
It could be:
1. Breast cancer can be scary/devastating/stressful/traumatic etc (videos of e.g. hair loss, sickness, injections, chemo, rads, traveling to hospital, in bed, feeling ill, waiting for results, taking tablets, etc), or
2. Breast cancer can show you the best in human kindness/bring you closer to friends & family etc (videos of some of the better times whilst going through treatment or whilst living with cancer, e.g. out with friends, visitors, surprises, treats from friends and family, friends/family helping out in all sorts of ways), or
3. You can still live your life; doing the housework, normal day to day things etc (videos of just getting on with normal life – literally loading the dishwasher or cooking a meal), or
4. You can live your life to the fullest despite having, or having had, cancer (videos of doing things we may not have done before cancer, for example, me jumping into the sea from a boat while I was on holiday). The key is to be authentic. I'm not looking for rehearsed polished clips. I'm looking for real life, spontaneous, natural clips. Films that are honest and brave. Films with and without audio – you can talk in your clip, or not.
The goal is to create a film montages lasting a few minutes made up from the contributed video clips (so each clip needs to be short). We'll post the montage across social media in Oct during breast cancer awareness month to raise awareness of our real life breast cancer stories.
The key is to be authentic. I'm not looking for rehearsed polished clips. I'm looking for real life, spontaneous, natural clips. Clips that are honest and brave, which show real life including both the bad and the positives. Clips that tell the world what life is like with/after breast cancer. Your clip will be part of a collective story of breast cancer.
Would you like to get involved?
- Video clips – taken on your phone, nothing fancy.
- Up to 1 minute (but note that if the clip is used in the project then it may be edited down to a shorter length).
Clips can have audio, or not.
- You don't need to speak 'into the camera' but you can if you wish.
- You may already have video clips that would be perfect for this project – you don't need to make something new (but you can if you like).
- You can send in more than one clip.
- Email the clips to firstname.lastname@example.com
- Please include your name and which part of the country you are from. This information won't be in the film itself but I would like to have a list of credits available on the website as a way to recognise and thank everyone for taking part.
- Send them as soon as you can please.
- Deadline is FRIDAY 7 SEPTEMBER.
- The goal is to make something that we can post across our social media platforms during October's Breast Cancer Awareness Month – which means I need to get going on the editing and putting it together as soon as possible!
And just a few little notes:
- I am not a film maker and I don't have any experience in this are so I have no idea whether I can pull this off or not – bear with me and if it doesn't happen please don't hold it against me!
- I have no idea how many clips I will receive but I ought to say that if I happen to receive a lot – I can't guarantee every clip will be used.
- By sending your video clip to the Breast Cancer Film Project you are consenting to the clip being part of a montage of clips which may be shown across a variety of media such as (but not limited to) social media and mainstream media. The clips may also be shown in countries outside the U.K. and although the film is being made for BC awareness month October 2018, it may continue to be posted after the month ends.
- This is a not for profit project – no money will be made as a result of this project and nobody will be paid for their contributions. In the unlikely event that any money is made, it will be donated to cancer charities of my choice.
What is the Breast Cancer Film Project about?
People who have, or have had, breast cancer all have stories to tell.
Some stories are about the struggles, anxieties and worries.
Some stories are about the physical effects and limitations imposed by the treatment.
Some stories are about the way in which cancer can you bring you closer to friends and family.
Some stories are about the way in which cancer can damage relationships.
Some stories are about living with cancer and fitting cancer into our lives.
Some stories are about juggling cancer treatment and normal life.
Some stories are about cancer and parenthood.
Some stories are about making new, wonderful friends.
Some stories are about the observations and reflections that we make when faced with our own mortality
Some stories are about fear of death, fear of leaving our loved ones, fear of leaving before we are ready.
Some stories are about pressing the pause button on our lives and appreciating the here and now.
Some stories are about the never-ending medical appointments, scans, tests and treatment.
Some stories are about the medical professionals who are doing all they can to make everything ok for us.
Some stories are about the confusion which comes with a cancer diagnosis: why me?
Some stories are about wonderful, overwhelming kindness and support that we receive from family, friends and equally from strangers.
Some stories are about how cancer can change us.
Some stories are about the loss of control resulting from the diagnosis and treatment.
Some stories are about reflecting upon our pre-cancer lives and the resulting changes we decide to make as a result of cancer.
Some stories are about persevering with life.
Some stories are about hope, some are about grief, some are about acceptance.
Some stories are about the physical and emotional scars from breast cancer.
Some stories are about finding support in surprising places.
Some stories are about finding the positives in an awful, terrible, traumatic life experience.
Some stories are about the loneliness of a cancer diagnosis.
Some stories about struggling to move forward at the end of treatment.
Some stories are about never going back to normal, and having to live with the disease.
Some stories are about trying to distract us from everything that cancer brings with it.
Some stories are about finding a purpose to come out of the awfulness of cancer.
Some stories are about making new friends and some stories are about losing old friends.
Some stories are about being brave and some stories are about struggling.
Why should we share these stories?
So, why should we share our stories? Because sharing our stories can help us heal.
Telling our stories can allow us to make some sense of what we have been through and what we continue to go through. We take the thoughts, reflections and feelings out of our heads – whether by writing, talking, photographing or filming – and by doing so, we can, perhaps, make a little sense of the situation.
Telling our stories can lift a weight off our chests. There is a saying that by talking about something, you can get it off your chest. Well, for anyone who suffers with anxiety you will know how it feels to physically have the weight of anxiety pushing on your chest. The process of telling our stories (in whatever way we do it) can help lift a lot of that anxiety off our chests.
Telling our stories can empower us. We can, perhaps, regain a little bit of the control that we handed over on the day of our diagnosis.
And we can take what we are going through and we can pass that onto others going through the same thing. Sharing stories is an incredibly supportive way of helping others who are going through the same thing. When you share your story with someone who is going through the same thing, that person realises that they are not alone. They realise that:
Someone else has felt the way they do.
Someone else has had the side effects that they have.
Someone else has worried about the same things as them.
Someone else has struggled with the same issues as them.
Someone else has had the same fears as them.
And when they know that someone else has felt, thought and worried in the same way as them, they feel less alone. They feel comforted by that fact and they can take strength from those stories to keep going through the tough times.
And how can we share our stories?
There are many ways in which we can share our breast cancer stories; blogging, vlogging, writing articles, writing posts within the cancer community on social media, writing books, creating websites, speaking on the radio and on television.
But, for a change, why not bring some of our stories together into one collective showing the rest of the world the real story of breast cancer: what does life with, or after, breast cancer mean to us, the people who are going through it or have been through it?


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Premier Kids Grub Tub Lunch Box with 2 Containers/Cool Bag/Cutlery - Purple
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Premier Kids Grub Tub Lunch Box with 2 Containers/Cool Bag/Cutlery - Purple
In today's busy world, sometimes you find yourself always on the go with no time to stop to enjoy a delicious meal, but with Premier Housewares grub tub lunch box and cool bag, you can take homemade food with you everywhere. The purple and white PP plastic tub features two separate containers, white PP plastic knife, fork and spoon, which has its own tray to keep them separated from your food and a cool bag to ensure your food is safely stored. The two containers are kept together by an elastic strap. Ideal for kids going to school, work or day trips, the grub tub lunch box with cutlery and cool box is suitable for those who lead an active lifestyle.
- This compact lunch set includes two single compartment containers with lids and a knife, fork and spoon
- The cool bag with handle keeps your lunch fresher for longer and elastic strap keeps the containers together
- Made from durable and food safe polypropylene, BPA free
- Care instructions: Wash before first use, dishwasher and microwave safe
- Dimensions (H x W x D): 13 x 21 x 13 cm
- Brand: Premier
- Product Code: 1206295
- Availability: In Stock
- Condition: New
- Warranty: N/A
|This item is not available online at present but may be available in one of our shops. Please contact us.
|vituzote.com at Yaya Center 1st Floor
Tags: premier, housewares, grub, tub, lunch, box, with, containers/cool, bag/cutlery, purple, new, arrivals, kitchen, dining kids, back, school baby, shower


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This is my favorite part of the year: I get to wear extra-layers of clothes without anybody judging me for being a pansy. Uniform grey skies, uniform grey grounds, muffled footsteps and the lack of traffic are the perfect set up for an extensive Spaziergang through the fresh snow.
Last year, I took a walk through Kreuzberg. This year, I headed through Neukölln in order to enjoy this extraordinary feeling that only snow can provide for the city. And what do you know? There are dick drawings everywhere. Hurray!


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Forgotten Gems
Features before Spring 2008
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Backlist before Autumn 2007
About Us
Translator Focus:
NBG interviews the translator Jamie Bulloch
Jamie Bulloch
Photo: private
How did you get into translation and how has your career developed? Have you worked closely with any particular publishers?
It had not been my original intention to become a translator, but when my attempts to secure a full-time academic career as a historian were thwarted I started to consider it as a serious option. My first commission for a literary translation was awarded on the basis of a sample I had been asked to prepare for the publisher. Since then I have been fortunate to be in regular work, enjoying good contacts with a number of publishers, including Atlantic, Peirene Press and MacLehose Press.
What have been your most enjoyable translation projects?
My wife and I co-translated two novels by Daniel Glattauer
Love Virtually
and its sequel,
Every Seventh Wave
both in email format, for which I translated the male character and she the female one. We then spent many evenings editing the text together until we were happy with the finished product. Im currently working on Timur Vermes
Er ist wieder da
, a hugely entertaining satire on modern German life seen through the eyes of a resurrected Adolf Hitler. I have just finished the first draft and now my task is to inject life into the English text and render it as funny as the German original.
Do you get in touch with the living writers you translate?
To be able to translate a phrase successfully, you really need to be able to understand it down to the most basic detail. There is no better substitute for achieving this than consulting the person who wrote it in the first place. With
Er ist wieder da
, I actually had the great fortune to spend a week in Germany with the author and eleven other translators of the novel, working with languages ranging from Chinese to Macedonian. We sat around a large table and discussed the book page by page, addressing every query. It was quite an experience.
Do you tend to translate one book at a time, or have several projects on the go at once? What are you working on at the moment?
I will only translate one book at a time, but in the middle of one job you will frequently receive queries from an editor regarding a previous translation, so in that sense you can be working on a number of books simultaneously. As I mentioned, I am working on the Timur Vermes satire at present. In the pipeline I have another novel by Daniel Glattauer as well as Jörg Fausers classic
, which has been reissued in Germany to great acclaim.
Which book(s) would you still like to translate?
One great book which I loved when I read it a few years ago was Kristof Magnussons
Das war ich nicht
, featuring a translator as one of the main protagonists!
Do you have a favourite translated work by somebody else?
I particularly enjoyed Umberto Ecos
Prague Cemetery
and am sure that Richard Dixons fine translation had a lot to do with that. But and I know that this is a very unoriginal choice my favourite would have to be the Asterix books translated by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge. I remember the disbelief I felt when I discovered that these had not been written in English originally. They are prime examples of the confident, risk-taking, creative approach which all translators need to adopt if we are to convince the wider Anglophone public that foreign literature is worth reading.
What advice would you give to new translators?
For those trying to get a foot on the ladder, I would write to those publishers who do include translated literature in their lists, and offer to become a reader for them. The pay for this will be virtually non-existent, but it will establish contact between you and commissioning editors, and you might just be in the right place at the right time when one of your favourable reports on a book arouses some interest. Likewise, I would offer to produce sample translations. There are many instances where a publisher buys a book and only then embarks on the quest to find a suitable translator for it.
Interview with
Jenny Watson
Recent reviews
Literature Festivals
Book Prizes
German Book Prize 2016
Book Fairs
Information and Contacts
Austrian Publishers
German Publishers
Swiss Publishers
Children's/Young Adults' Publishers
Non-Fiction Publishers
Crime Fiction Publishers
German-Language Press
Emerging Translators Programme


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Our founder and CEO, Jerry Houston, has been in management and leadership roles for over 45 years, and has learned some things to do (and not to do) during those four-plus decades. Leading and Managing is personal. It has to … Continue reading
Monthly Archives: February 2018
Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell is a very goal focused individual. It is very natural for Charles to write this week's Power Idea, as goal setting is something he teaches and preaches! This article focuses on the reasons why Goal … Continue reading
As I reviewed this week's Power Idea from Strategic Partner, Diane Janovsky, I was reminded that, in the end, it is about our purpose, not just about making money. Now, don't be fooled by my comments because making profit is … Continue reading
Sometimes we just need to keep it simple. One of the foundational steps of great leadership is to be clear on what you want to accomplish. That leads us to ask the question, do you know where you are going … Continue reading


text:
This is a re-enactment of a client testimonial reflecting on the care and personal treatment they received from Compassion Care Center in Yadkinville, NC
You need help; we all do. Which is why I offer a FREE one hour consultation! During this time we work together to determine how to best utlize the ultimate storytelling platform to get your audience to hear your message and be compelled to action.
Let's make it happen!
Fill out the two simple questions below and I'll be in touch!


text:
This educational institution was run by The Jesuit Order. From the day the school opened on 1927, Canisius has aimed to remain true to its spirit on its protector St. Peter Canisius (8 May 1521 – 2 December 1597).
Canisius College aspires to be a center of excellence for the education of future leaders moved by principle and inspired by faith.
As a school, Canisius College strives to educate its students to earnestly live up to the principle of competence, conscience, and compassion. As a Catholic school, Canisius College strives to accompany its students in the habit of reflection, through which they thrive as fully grown persons responsive to the love of God and capable of finding the greater glory of God in the service of others, especially those in need.
As a school set in Indonesian society, Canisius College strives to guide its students to constantly seek out truth in the spirit of honesty, to share and put into practice the very quest for truth for the development of their fellow citizens, environment, culture, and the nation of Indonesia.
Principles and Goals of Canisius College
The goals of Canisius College are to educate and guide the students based on Pancasila within the spirit of chatolicsm, so that they become diligent, honest, and responsible citizens to their country.
Some personalities to be achieved are:
- An adult who can make own decision based on the right consciences and lively faith.
- An adult who are willing to get involved in social and life.
- An adult who wants to learn and developed himself continuously.


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AANMC Board Members
Fraser Smith, MATD, ND
AANMC President
National University of Health Sciences
Christine L. Girard, ND, MPH
AANMC Vice President
President, National University of Natural Medicine
Dr. Christine L. Girard is the President of the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon. For over 20 years she has devoted her career to integrative medicine and educating medical professionals across specialties.
Trained as a naturopathic physician, Dr. Girard's career has focused on hospital-based integrative medicine and leadership in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education. She has been a physician administrator for many years and has held executive leadership positions, including executive vice-president of the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine.
Michael Schanz, MBA
AANMC Treasurer
President, Boucher Institute
Michael obtained his B.Sc. and MBA in Canada. His experience spans the higher educational, pharmaceutical and financial fields. His background as a CEO in the European financial sector, as a strategic development consultant with international pharmaceutical and service sector firms, teacher and executive coach provide a level of experience and perspective that working in an international arena is able to bring. He has a particular passion for naturopathic medicine, particularly botanical medicine and homeopathy.
Bob Bernhardt, BSc, MEd, LLM, PhD
Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine
The president of the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM) since 2004, Dr. Bob Bernhardt, has a broad background encompassing post-secondary education, international education, administrative law and medical education.
Jaquel Patterson, ND, MBA
President, American Association of Naturopathic Physicians
Dr. Jaquel Patterson is a naturopathic physician who is passionate about seeing people's lives change dramatically through naturopathic medicine, not only in health outcomes, but in mind, body and spirit. She is a graduate of the University of Bridgeport College of Naturopathic Medicine.
Paul Mittman, ND, Ed.D
Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine
Dr. Mittman is president of Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine (SCNM) in Tempe, Ariz., and the founding president of AANMC.
Shawn O'Reilly
Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors
Ms. Shawn O'Reilly is the Executive Director and Director of Government Relations for the Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors.
Harlan Patterson
President, Bastyr University
Mr. Patterson has an MBA from the University of Washington and a Bachelor's in Business from Montana State University. He has served in a number of executive capacities with the University of Washington, most recently as Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration at University of Washington Tacoma, and as Executive Director of the Washington Vaccine Alliance.
Marcia Prenguber, ND, FABNO
University of Bridgeport School of Naturopathic Medicine
Dr. Marcia Prenguber is the dean of the University of Bridgeport (UB) School of Naturopathic Medicine. Previously, Dr. Prenguber served as president of the Council on Naturopathic Medical Education and president of the Naturopathic Postgraduate Association.
AANMC Executive Director
JoAnn Yánez, ND, MPH, CAE
Executive Director, AANMC
Prior to joining the AANMC, Dr. Yanez was head of government relations for the New York Association of Naturopathic Physicians. She increased recognition of the importance of licensure in the state and effectively garnered support of legislators and senior government officials. During her tenure with the NYANP, Dr. Yanez was invited to participate in a think-tank on childhood obesity sponsored by MIT, Harvard and Columbia Universities. During the summer of 2009 she found herself "on the hill" working with Congressional members and elected women to increase awareness of the importance for integrative medicine coverage in the Affordable Care Act.
Dr. Yanez served six years as a Director of the Council on Naturopathic Medical Education – the accrediting body for naturopathic medical colleges. She was awarded the 2006 Legacy Award from the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine and 2007 NYANP Physician of the Year Award. Dr. Yanez has also been inducted into the Rho Lambda and Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership and Scholarship National Honor Societies and is a member of the Delta Omega Honor Society for graduates of schools of public health.
Dr. Yanez resides in Southern California with her husband and son, and enjoys music, dancing, eating good food, and full-throttle belly laughs.


text: Now In: Gutters → Gutter Products → Pipe (Bands, Strips, Cleats And Clips) → Pipe Clip 3x4 Pipe Clip 3x4 SKU# PC34 Call for Pricing 800-356-2149 Product Description 50 per box, Used to attach downspout to the building. The clip is screwed to the building first and then a screw goes in each side of the clip to secure the downspout. Two clips per 10' section of downspout is recommended.


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What is it?
Acne is a condition of the skin that shows up as different types of bumps.
Every strand of hair grows from a follicle under the skin. In the skin, there are also oil glands �the sebaceous glands that secrete a greasy substance called sebum.
Acne is an inflammation of the pilosebaceous unit (hair follicle + sebaceous gland) of certain body areas.
Acne happens when the inside of a hair follicle becomes sticky and forms a plug.
It is thought to be caused by the interplay of four factors:
1-excessive sebum production by the sebaceous glands.
2-obstruction of the hair follicle by dead cells.
3-accumulation of lipids and cellular debris within the blocked follicle.
4-colonization of this microenvironment by a bacterium called �Propionibacterium Acne�, which provokes an immune response and increases the inflammation.
Types of Acne
Acne can be mild, moderate or severe.
1- It is mild when there are only whiteheads (white bumps) and blackheads (dark specks), called also closed and open comedons respectively, on the skin.
2- It is moderate when there are swelling, red bumps, pustules (red bumps with a white head) along with the whiteheads and blackheads in the skin.
3- It is severe when deep, painful bumps are present under the skin in addition to the whiteheads and blackheads.
Scars may follow all types but they occur especially with severe acne.
Characteristics of Acne
A- Location : lesions most commonly develop in areas with the greatest concentration of the sebaceous glands, and that include the face, neck, chest, upper arms, back and buttocks to a lesser extent.
B- Age of onset : puberty (10-17 years old in females, 14-19 years old in males) when, under the influence of hormones, the sebaceous glands become more active and secrete more sebum.
It may however appear first at age 25 or older.
C- Sex Distribution : it affects both males and females but it is more severe in males.
Cause of Acne:
Acne is not caused by chocolate, fatty foods (like fries, peanuts, etc�), soda.
In fact, it is not caused by any type of food .
Genetics play a role. Severe acne can run in families
It can be induced by certain drugs (anti-epileptics, steroids, androgens�) or by certain organic conditions.
Most of the times, no direct cause is found. However, acne can be exacerbated by many factors:
1- Emotional stress
2- Menstruation in girls
3- Oil-based make-up, hair gels, sprays, suntans
4- Squeezing or picking at blemishes
5- Hard scrubbing of skin
6- Occlusion and pressure on the skin by leaning face on hands or on a telephone (�acne mechanica�).
7- Too much exposure to sun (�acne aestivalis�)
8- Certain occupations with much exposure to mineral oils
Acne clears often spontaneously by early twenties but sometimes it can persist to age 40 or older.
Early treatment is important to avoid scarring, which is the only physical sequel.
It depends on the psychological impact of acne on the individual (perceived cosmetic disfigurement).
There are multiple modalities of treatment. Your doctor will choose the treatment that suits most your skin and your type of acne:
1- Topical products, available in many forms (gels, lotions, creams, soaps) such as benzoic peroxide , salicylic acid, etc... are especially used in mild acne.
2- Certain Antibiotics are also sometimes effective in treating moderate acne.
3- Retinoids (�Retin-A�) are other medicines used to treat acne .A strong sunscreen is recommended when using retinoids , and pregnancy should be avoided ( risk of birth defects) .
4- Isotretinoin ( brand name : �Ro-Accutane�) which is a very effective drug that is used for severe acne , that did not respond to other treatments. However, it has multiple side effects, and people taking it should be monitored closely by their doctor.
Acne, especially severe acne, can cause scars and disfigurement in some people.
The risk of scars is reduced by avoiding to squeeze at blemishes or to scrub hard the skin, and by starting appropriate treatment early.
However, in case scars do occur, there are some treatments available:
Laser resurfacing: the laser removes the damaged top layer of the skin and tightens the middle layer, leaving it smoother.
Dermabrasion: a diamond instrument or a rotating brush is used to wear down the surface of the skin. Later, a new smoother layer replaces the abraded skin.
Chemical peel if the scars are mild.
Surgery is reserved for deep, severe scars.


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Smith Roofing Co in Sentinel Oklahoma Customer Reviews & Ratings
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Wanting a roof inspection? Dial Smith Roofing Co at 580 393-4858. Request an appointment at your convenience. It's absolutely implored to check with your insurance company to ensure this is the right thing to do and if Smith Roofing Co is one of the authorized contractors your homeowner's insurance lists.


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Sun is back in Paris. The occasion for luxury hotels to open their garden-terrace. The Mandarin-Oriental, which is to celebrate its first anniversary, decided to animate it with a jazz quartet, on some dates.
Jazz but also blues, Latin and African rhythms … Music lovers will also be able to have a taste of the new cocktail "Springtime In Paris", offered by the Bar 8, under the shade of the bushes. The bar with golden and silver drops also launches its street-food offer, Thierry Marx's speciality.
The Chef, Restaurant Director, also oversees the "Camélia", and its said accessible food, ideal for lunchtime (45 euros menu in 45 minutes). For a relaxing lunch, try to book the "Garden Table", with its raised great round sofa. The menu is more colourful to fit the season : "Black tea infused langoustines, green pea ravioli, plum tomato and burrata » …
Gourmets are welcomed at the « Sur Mesure » (42 seats). A true "haute-couture" cocoon, white and quiet, dressed with a light well. The doubled starred food, which claims to be "techno-emotional", is made of tradition and innovation: "Iceberg Tomato", "Soy Risotto", "Oeuf Eclat"… (from 75 to 180 euros for the menu). The plates designed by the agency Jouin-Manku here become haute-couture jewellery: French porcelain with white and gold shades, a symbol of purity and timelessness.
A beehive on the roof
The palace will soon harvest its own honey, having settled beehives on its roof at the end of April, and thus contributing to protect the bees, which are not affected by Paris' insecticides. Regarding the care to preserve the environment, Mr Chapalain drew attention to the "High Environmental Quality" certification the Mandarin Oriental received for the building construction, the management style, the waste sorting and the purchasing policy.
Little gifts at the spa
For Mother's Day, the customers of the spa (900m²) can be offered by their loved ones the "Paris Passion" treatment, lasting 3 hours and 20 minutes, which ends with a Guerlain facial treatment, the "Orchidée Impériale". For the purchase of this gift between May 21st and June 3rd 2012, the hotel will offer the new "Rouge Automatique" lipstick by Guerlain, partner of the Mandarin.
Fathers are not forgotten. For each purchase of a "Mandarin Oriental Signature" treatment between the 4th and the 17th of June, they will leave with an Aromatherapy Associates gel.
The couture state of mind
The Mandarin Oriental Paris is part of the eponymous group, mostly settled in Asia, that wishes to reach 45 hotels in 10 years. Also present in the United States, it has just announced a new luxurious decoration for its San Francisco's palace to celebrate its 25th anniversary. Next year, it will settle in Milan. In France, the hotel, built in four years, is resolutely Parisian and modern unlike the historical palaces of the capital. Due to its 1930′s architecture, the Mandarin has been inspired by the creativity of this period in the world of women's fashion or by photography, with embroidered butterflies, emblems of the hotel, as a main thread. Those inspirations can be found in the rooms and suites, with the Man Ray style, from the famous American photograph who lived in Paris in the 1930′s. If they are all uniquely arranged and decorated, the rooms have in common the luxurious decoration and the "couture state of mind" : taupe silk cushions, embroidered taffeta, silk-threads carpets, mosaic and white marble in the bathrooms (from 950 euros per night). The suite intended for great personalities reaches 350m² with a bar, a fitness room and a terrace with a breathtaking view over Paris' rooftops, the Garnier Opera, the Grand Palais and the Eiffel Tower (20 000 euros per night).
Nathalia Bienvenu-Kapferer, May 2012
Photos credits : PLL and Le Mandarin Oriental Paris for the "Garden" and the "Garden Table"
Le Mandarin Oriental : 251, rue Saint-Honoré, Paris 1er.


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Bada Bagh Cenotaphs
After strolling and browsing all day for Jaisalmer, we decided to hire a rickshaw to visit the royal cenotaphs on our own (negotiate the return trip). It was a good choice, because at that time of day, the tour groups are no longer in the area, and there are only some children and youth groups who gather to watch the sunset. I recognize that the time was unique, as the sun reflects off the stones of the cenotaphs, and the light is special. I loved walking quietly and almost alone among the monuments, and enjoyed the silence.


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I was dying to make this for the longest time and I finally got around to it tonight. It came out so good!! "2 oz" of rum is merely a guideline, as most of the alcohol cooks off, so feel free to be generous. As long as you can refrain from pouring the whole bottle in there, you should be fine. I used white rum because it is what I had on-hand, but try using dark rum, or equal parts rum and banana liquor, for extra flavor. The sugar and liquid helps to form the sauce for the bananas, and I bet it would be awesome to even add in a splash or two of coconut milk at the end to add some more tropical flavor. Hmm… I think I sense a recipe update to come in the near future.
Bananas Fosters
Serves 8 skimpy-sized portions or 4 good-sized portions, depending on who is eating.
1 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons of butter
2 oz rum
1/2 teaspoon mixed spices (apple pie spice, pumpkin pie spice, or just cinnamon would be fine here)
4 bananas, sliced lengthwise
Melt butter in a heavy-bottomed skillet. Add brown sugar to melted butter and stir until a thick paste forms. Let the sugar melt for a few minutes before stirring in cinnamon. Remove the pan slightly from the heat before adding the rum. Be careful for flare-ups once the rum is added to the pan – a flambé is actually apart of the preparation of the dessert, but if you are not comfortable doing it, then don't. It is not worth burning your face off for, and the dessert will still taste great in the end. Once the rum is added and the alcohol has cooked off some, add the bananas, making sure to coat with the caramel mixture. Cook for a few minutes before turning the bananas, once again making sure that they are coated with the caramel mixture.
Serve immediately, plain or dressed with ice cream (vanilla or coconut would be amazing) or whipped cream.


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Jane Vaughan Life Coaching
Hi, my name is Jane and I am a fully qualified Life Coach from Shrewsbury, Shropshire. I help people to build a life they love and that feels authentic to them. Before becoming a life coach, I worked for many years as an accountant, a career which paid the bills but just didn't "feel like me". After many years of imagining what it would be like to actually look forward to Monday mornings, I decided to make the change. It wasn't easy and I had a few false starts, but thanks to some fantastic training, a very supportive husband and a lot of hard work, I now have my dream job as a life coach. I love knowing that I've helped people to make the changes that they need to make, whether it is in relation to career or their personal life, or to start that business they've already dreamed of. I'd love to help you too if you've decided that you're ready to demand more from your life. I work face to face in the Shropshire area. I also work online or via Skype or via telephone with English speaking clients based anywhere in the world. If you would like to know more: The best place to start is to contact me for a free "Discovery Call" lasting 30-45 minutes via Skype. Here's what we'll cover: We'll start by finding out more about you and your needs Then we'll talk about life coaching - what it is and how it can help If you're still interested at this point, then we'll get specific about how I work and what's involved. If we both decide we'd like to work together, then we make it happen!
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- Free Discovery call via Skype (30-45 minutes)
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DURHAM, N.C. — The worst thing you could say about previous American presidents and their sleepy approach to Canada was that they took their polite northern neighbors for granted.
But as President Trump jetted away from the wreckage of the Group of 7 summit meeting in Quebec this weekend, he plunged American-Canadian relations into a dive so steep it provoked nosebleeds on both sides of the border.
He called the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, dishonest and weak. His advisers accused the Canadians of stabbing Mr. Trump in the back as he winged his way to a meeting with his new best friend, Kim Jong-un of North Korea. And one aide said a "special place in hell" was reserved for Mr. Trudeau, who had the temerity to say to Mr. Trump what the president likes to say to everyone else: Don't push me around.
It's not every day you see an American president trade a two-century relationship with a reliable neighbor for what could amount to a one-night stand with a ruthless dictator in Singapore. Mr. Trump may well think bullying Canada is cost-free. After all, three-quarters of its exports go to the United States, which makes retaliation risky for Canada. But having limited options does not mean having none. Reversals like these come with a price, although how and when the United States will pay depends on many factors.
Let's start with the issue that seemed to have most exercised Mr. Trump: trade. Canada and the United States enjoy the second-largest bilateral trading relationship in the world, second only to America's total trade with China. But unlike the Chinese, whose largest telecommunications company Mr. Trump is helping to bail out, Canadians actually buy a lot of American products.
Canada has been the top market for American exports for more than two decades, taking more than 18 percent last year. For 35 states, Canada is their largest export market. America does run a trade deficit with Canadians in goods. But when services are added in, the United States had an $8 billion trade surplus with Canada in 2017 — a fact Mr. Trump has bragged he willfully ignored in earlier talks with Mr. Trudeau.
It is therefore strange, especially coming from a man with a business background, that Mr. Trump would treat his best client so shoddily. In addition to his verbal assaults, he has slapped tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum and railed against Canadian policies that protect its dairy and poultry market from foreign competition. And he threatened to slap tariffs on automobiles he said were "flooding" the American market — cars that in most cases contain significant American-made content.
One of the justifications Mr. Trump cited for the steel and aluminum duties was "national security," which implied that Canada somehow posed a security threat to the United States — the basis for his ill-informed joke about Canada burning down the White House during the War of 1812. This is a stunning assertion.
Besides fighting together in two world wars and Korea, since 1957 Canada and the United States have jointly monitored the skies over North America in the North American Aerospace Defense Command. In the Cold War years, we watched together for Russian bombers. Now it's mainly North Korean missiles. The United States has no other defense relationship this close.
It has also worked closely with Canada to monitor and secure another of Mr. Trump's pet concerns, the border. American and Canadian law enforcement officials jointly patrol our shared waterways. Canada and the United States exchange data on border crossers. Canada even permits American customs agents to screen passengers headed for the United States in eight Canadian airports.
When America-bound jumbo jets needed a place to land after the United States closed its airspace on Sept. 11, Canada took them in, an act of unselfish generosity I witnessed while serving at the United States Embassy in Ottawa.
What would a split with Canada look like? Obviously, we're not talking about anything like a North American Cold War. But even a minor deterioration in the relationship would have significant consequences.
In the short term, Canada seems willing to go toe-to-toe on trade. Canadian officials are already drawing up lists of American exports they will slap with duties. Such tariffs on specific products produced in politically important areas in the United States can inflict a lot of pain. Canada, for example, is the largest market for American agricultural exports.
Longer term, and likely to our detriment, Canada is looking to reduce its dependence on American goods. It already has a free trade agreement with the European Union, for example, something the United States has failed to achieve. Canada also remains part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Mr. Trump noisily rejected upon taking office. Even Canada's oil — the country supplies 60 percent of the petroleum the United States now imports — could find more lucrative markets in Asia once needed pipelines are built.
It's unlikely even Mr. Trump could cause the United States to "lose" Canada, especially since the two are still attached by a 5,525-mile-long border. What we could lose is a quiet habit of friendship and cooperation that has made us safer and more prosperous.
Can Kim Jong-un match that?


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Beyond the Occupational Identity
Friday, July 4, 2014
I have nothing to report from my actual life at the moment, decided to look through the archives to see if there was anything partially written but not yet posted that could be finished and put up.
And look, here is something.
I was working on this in the fall as I thought through issues surrounding early retirement and financial independence, about working and not working, and what that all means and where it leads people. Obviously this is something that the early retirement bloggers focus on a lot, and nicoleandmaggie wrote post about how economists define retirement that I thought was interesting. (They also have a good post about the concept of financial independence. UPDATE: And another one about identity and jobs.)
So one of the things I decided to do while thinking about all of this was to re-read part of a book I bought a long time ago, called How to Do Things Right by L. Rust Hills that is a compilation of short works and essays written by the long-time fiction editor at Esquire magazine, who had an interesting and varied career over many decades.
The section I wanted to re-read is called "How to Retire at 41, Or, Life Among the Pursuits." It was originally published in 1973 as a book called How to Retire at 41: Dropping Out of the Rat Race without Going Down the Drain.
As is often the case when I read an actual book, written before the advent of the internet (or at least before the internet as we know it), by an actual writer, I am struck by how much better it is than so much of what I usually read. Which almost always makes me think I should stop spending so much time on the internet and start reading more actual books.
So I was going to write a nice post about this whole thing, with a point and everything, and hopefully someday I will actually manage to do that, but in the meantime I decided I should just to give you an excerpt from the book. Because it provides some good background and if I ever do get around to writing more, I can just reference this.
The general point, which I've been thinking about for a long time, is that one of the challenges of being "financially independent" or "retiring" (sometimes those terms are used interchangeably, sometimes not) is that much of our society is built around work. People typically define themselves by occupation; one of the most common introductory questions in America is "What do you do?" (Which doesn't mean that it's not a weird question, it totally is, but nonetheless it is very common.)
Having a job provides a great deal of structure to your life; if you don't have a job, you need to figure all kinds of things out on your own. And you need to have enough of a conception of yourself that you can give a reasonable answer when you meet new people and they ask you what you do.
About half way through "How to Retire at 41," the author begins discussing the concept of the "occupational identity" — how you identify yourself with what you do for a living — and considers how one can move beyond that. And I think what he says is worth thinking about.
So here it is:
Beyond the Occupational Identity
Remember that statement of Montaigne's that we began with, way back when:
If you plan to withdraw into yourself, first prepare yourself a welcome.
We now see it isn't just a Comprehensive Day Plan you need, or a country place or an old time-consuming boat or an engrossing hobby or whatever (although these help, God knows); what's needed is some conception of yourself — of, that is, your self — now that you won't be working. You don't really realize, until you quit work, just how much of your conception of your self comes from your work — not just from what you do, but how you do it.
Your basic occupational identity — what you did, or "were" — permitted a lot of amplification by the way you did what you were. When you were working, you weren't (not in your own mind, anyway) just " an accountant" or "in fabrics" or "one of the salesmen" or "an insurance man" or whatever. You were also the way you did the work: you were the kindly boss, or the efficient second-in-command, or the talented idea-man or the only one in the office who got along with the secretaries, or some such. Whatever you were, you had some sense of yourself doing it, some recognition of the role you'd chosen to play or the role you'd been forced into.
Let's take fishing, which can be either a work-for-pay occupation or a leisure-retirement pursuit. Say you were a fisherman when you worked, that's what you did, that's who you were, a fisherman. Okay, now there's also the style you used when you were a fisherman. A fisherman-by-trade can be, for instance, kindly like Manuel or whatever his name was (Spencer Tracy) in Captains Courageous; or he can be surly like Ahab in Moby-Dick. There are presumably an infinite number of ways to be a professional fisherman on this kindly-surly scale, and kindly-surly is only one of many polarizations of personality traits, as you know — although, admittedly, perhaps the most important one.
But now, suppose that when you quit work you took up fishing as a retirement pursuit. One assumes here that you weren't a fisherman-by-trade before, but something else; because you'd never retire from being a fisherman at age forty-one and then take up fishing as a retirement pursuit unless it was just to make fun of me. Say, though, you were (used to be) an insurance salesman, and now at forty-one you can quit work and live off your commissions from the premiums we pay on the policies you sold us years and years ago. You decide to take up fishing as a retirement pursuit. Now the way you fish in retirement is the key thing. You can do it in a kind of elegant, heroic, upper-classy, sportsman-type way — big-game fishing like Hemingway, or elegant dry-fly angling with delicate lightweight rods — that sort of way. Or you can take it up in a kind of messy, kindly, puttery, lower-classish way — in an old rowboat or fishing off the bridge with the neighborhood kids.
You see what I'm saying? I'm saying that once the specific, defining, perhaps confining, at any rate identifying occupation is removed from your life by your retirement from work, then you style or manner, your "you-ness," becomes the all-important thing, because there isn't anything much else. The way you do things, the way in fact you do nothing (now that there's nothing to do) that's now the only self you have. If when you retire you do some fishing to fill your time, you can sit out there in your rowboat all day long with the pole in your hands, and they're still not going to say of you, "Oh, he's a fisherman," because you aren't a fisherman. You used to be an insurance man. Now you're nothing. You're nothing except the way you do nothing. Everyone thinks of you as nothing — unless you do your nothing in a way that identifies you to people; unless, for instance, you do your fishing (or whatever) in a puttery, kindly sort of way, say, in which case they'll say, "Oh, he's (you, that is, are) a kindly soul, just as sweet and gentle as can be." Or maybe they'll describe you, identify you, "Oh, he really stirs things up, a kind of troublemaker, but fun to be around." Personality's a part of it, of course, but it's more a matter of individuality, a kind of amplification of personality by consistency of style and manner.
With your occupational identity gone, you have to find another existence for yourself. Remember Thoreau leaning on the fence post, lying on the ice, and so on? Well, now imagine he's fishing. When he fishes, he fishes as Thoreau, not as a fisherman. He's not a fisherman, and he knows it. Like him, you have to be able to have the fishing (or whatever the specific nondefining, nonoccupational routine or pursuit you're up to) removed or replaced, and still be left with enough particularity of how it is done (not what is done) to provide a sufficient sense of self for yourself and others.
Beyond the occupational identity, that's all there is.
DeVoto, Avis: on "clean as you go" cooking
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Over the summer, I was browsing cookbooks at Parker & Otis here in Durham, looking for birthday gifts for various family members, and ran across a book of letters between Julia Child and Avis DeVoto called As Always, Julia, which I was unable to pass by without purchasing as a birthday gift for myself. I started reading it over Thanksgiving and just love it. The letters span from 1951 — when Julia Child sent Bernard DeVoto a gift of a kitchen knife (in response to an essay in Harper's magazine about how terrible American knives were), and received a letter in return from his wife Avis, who worked as his secretary — to 1961 when Mastering the Art of French Cooking was published.
Reading so much detail about what went in to creating the cookbook made me think about the Julie/Julia Project and what happened when someone actually tried to make all of the recipes. Which has resulted in my own little Julie/Julia project. (Fortunately my project is much less demanding than either Julia Child's creation of the cookbook, or Julie Powell's execution of it. Though at the same time not likely to result in world renown as a famous chef or a book-and-movie deal for me. But my time will come. I'm sure.)
So for my project, I have read (or am in the process of reading), in addition to the Julia and Avis letters, both of Julie Powell's books, and after much fruitless clicking and "Page Not Found" messages, I finally managed to locate the original Julie/Julia Project on the Wayback Machine, so I am reading through all 365 days of that.
One of the notable features of the project, mentioned in both the Julie and Julia book and frequently remarked upon in the blog posts, was that Julie and Eric Powell found themselves drowning in dirty dishes, pretty much all the time. Eric was the designated dishwasher and often wasn't able to keep up. And the interesting thing is that Avis mentioned this very issue in a letter written to Julia on February 1, 1955. She said:
Also been thinking about something Louisette lighted on during the short time she was here. She wondered if Americans would bother to do cooking that meant getting every pot and pan in the kitchen dirty. Wish I'd had time to go into it with her. Because I am deeply convinced that it just is not necessary to let everything pile up to be washed. I suppose it is a sort of fixation of mine. I certainly had it drummed into me thoroughly by my old ma. And I wish you would write something about it. It is so easy to wash up as you go along — absolutely no soap needed. Everybody who reads your book will have a kitchen where the water is continually hot. All that is needed is plenty hot water coming out of the faucet, and a brush. The nylon ones stand up better, but ordinary Fuller Brush sink brushes do very well. Finish with a pan, take ONE MINUTE to stick it under the hot water faucet and brush it out. Turn it upside down to drain and it will be dry in a few minutes. No soap. I just never use soap on utensils, except the detergent that goes into the dishwasher. And it works on the very greasiest of pans, roasting pans and everything, if you do it at once. If you are dishing up, and hurrying to get things hot to the table, have a sinkful of very hot water and put your bulb baster, meat rack, thermometer, skewers and the like in and let them soak. After dinner, use the brush and the running hot water and they are done. I realize this is very hard to knock into people. My last maid was a dream, and a wonderful cook, but she would let the potato pan and the ricer and the strainers sit around and dry hard every time, and I suppose it never entered her dear little head that she spent half an hour extra in the kitchen every night as a result. Let alone wear and tear on pans. I suppose you noticed the way I snatched things from you last summer and washed them up and I hope I didn't get on your nerves. I just cannot bear to have things pile up. I've only seen one article saying all this, and it was in Gourmet sometime back and written by a man who felt as strongly about it as I do, bless him.
All I could think about when I read that was that if only Eric and Julie had taken that strategy to heart when they started, things might have turned out differently.
I know that I myself am not so good about cleaning everything as I go, but I'm very good about rinsing things off before they get all dried up and hardened. And it really does save a lot of hassle.
Go Avis.
[And a side note on the subject line: I remembered reading about the dishwashing thing but knew I hadn't marked the page. Last night when I went to see if I could find it, I started with the index, and the index for this book is fantastic! There was actually an entry for the exact thing I was looking for: DeVoto, Avis: on "clean as you go" cooking. Thank you Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and your great indexer for this book! All hope is not lost for the publishing industry.]
In the Name of Ambidextrous Gluttony
Sunday, November 11, 2012
A while ago — a few years ago now — a friend gave me a copy of How to Travel with a Salmon, a book of essays by Umberto Eco. I had read The Name of the Rose many years before and didn't love it, so I might have been inclined to turn down the offer of this book, but my friend said it was really good, she thought I'd like it, I should take it.
So I took it and I started it and would read it occasionally and some of the essays are very good and some are good but very dated (most were written in the mid- to late-1980s, and many of them deal with various forms of technology, so you can imagine how those read now) and some are parodies of things I don't get at all so I just skipped those.
Last week I was visiting the friend who had loaned me the book and was thinking I should try to wrap it up and return it to her while I was there, even though I think she probably doesn't care much whether she gets the book back since she's reading everything on her iPad these days. But regardless, it seemed like a good idea to finish it, so I was reading it on the bus, and the essay I happened to have been in the middle of the last time I was reading it on the bus (it's a good bus-reading book, the chapters are all short and self-contained) is called How to Eat Ice Cream.
And as I opened the book and continued with this essay, I realized that it was about consumerism. And that it was brilliant.
Eco tells the story of his childhood in the 1930s in the Italian Piedmont, where street vendors would sell ice cream in two forms: a 2-cent cone or a 4-cent pie. He was allowed to get either the 4-cent pie or the 2-cent cone. However he says that he was fascinated by some of his peers whose parents bought them two two-cent cones.
These privileged children advanced proudly with one cone in their right hand and one in their left; and expertly moving their head from side to side, they licked first one, then the other. This liturgy seemed to me so sumptuously enviable, that many times I asked to be allowed to celebrate it. In vain. My elders were inflexible: a four-cent ice, yes; but two two-cent ones, absolutely no.
At the time, he couldn't understand their refusal, and as he points out, "neither mathematics nor economics nor dietetics" justified it.
The pathetic, and obviously mendacious justification was that a boy concerned with turning his eyes from one cone to the other was more inclined to stumble over stones, steps, or cracks in the pavement. I dimly sensed that there was another secret justification, cruelly pedagogical, but I was unable to grasp it.
He then goes on to discuss what he has come to realize was the real reason.
Today, citizen and victim of a consumer society, a civilization of excess and waste (which the society of the thirties was not), I realize that those dear and now departed elders were right. Two two-cent cones instead of one at four cents did not signify squandering, economically speaking, but symbolically they surely did. It was for this precise reason, that I yearned for them: because two ice creams suggested excess. And this was precisely why they were denied me: because they looked indecent, an insult to poverty, a display of fictitious privilege, a boast of wealth. Only spoiled children ate two cones at once, those children who in fairy tales were rightly punished, as Pinocchio was when he rejected the skin and the stalk. And parents who encouraged this weakness, appropriate to little parvenues, were bringing up their children in the foolish theatre of "I'd like to but I can't." They were preparing them to turn up at tourist-class check-in with a fake Gucci bag bought from a street peddler on the beach at Rimini.
Nowadays the moralist risks seeming at odds with morality, in a world where the consumer civilization now wants even adults to be spoiled, and promises them always something more, from the wristwatch in the box of detergent to the bonus bangle sheathed with the magazine it accompanies, in a plastic envelope. Like the parents of those ambidextrous gluttons I so envied, the consumer civilization pretends to give more, but actually gives, for four cents, what is worth four cents. You will throw away the old transistor radio to purchase the new one, that boasts an alarm clock as well, but some inexplicable defect in the mechanism will guarantee that the radio lasts only a year. The new cheap car will have leather seats, double side mirrors adjustable from inside, and a paneled dashboard, but it will not last nearly so long as the glorious old Fiat 500, which, even when it broke down, could be started again with a kick.
The morality of the old days made Spartans of us all, while today's morality wants us all to be Sybarites.
How to Eat Ice Cream was written in 1989, and I would argue that we've moved from the morality wanting us all to be Sybarites to the morality insisting that there is something wrong with us if we are not. It feels like "ambidextrous gluttony" is no longer the exception but the rule. You will never have to explain why you want something — a new computer, phone, television, car — but you often have to explain why you don't.
Oh, for the days when the Italian grannies were in charge.
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
Monday, October 15, 2012
I was talking to my mom last week. She said, "You haven't written anything on your blog in a while."
True that.
Here's something I wrote a long time ago that wasn't quite right when I first wrote it and I wrote it again, then stuck it in the blog post purgatory holding pen. Came across it recently when I was cleaning things up. Think it's probably as good as it's going to get, and despite the anomalous reference to hot weather, I'm posting as is.
Over the past few years, I've been thinking a lot about cooking and eating, and cooking at home versus eating out, and why people don't cook and why people eat out. I've had many conversations about this with many different people.
One of the things that has come up repeatedly in discussions with women, especially women who were either raised in traditional families (i.e., those with traditional gender roles, father as breadwinner and mother as homemaker) or who actually were the homemaker-half of a traditional family, is what a loaded issue cooking is for many women, especially cooking for other people. On a really fundamental level, it represents for a lot of people subservience and limited options.
I've begun to think of it as the "just a housewife" syndrome.
I had one person I was friendly with here in Durham who I talked with about this a few times, she was in her early 60s, her kids were grown and she had been divorced for a number of years. She ate out all the time but still had a refrigerator packed with food. She stopped working and cut back on how much she was eating out and also how many trips she took to Whole Foods (for a long time, every time I went there I'd see her, I think it was sort of a social activity for her — go to Whole Foods to pick up a few things, run into people and chat, like happy hour or something) but even after she had cut back, she was still spending way more money than I do on food, and had so much more than she needed in her fridge.
We had some interesting conversations about cooking at home versus eating out and one of the things she said was that she had spent her whole life taking care of other people, she wanted someone to take care of her. She wanted to go out and have someone else cook and someone else clean up.
I was thinking about that recently, and I'm not sure if I understood what she was saying at the time we talked about it, but I think I've come around.
I can see how when you feel like you've been giving, giving, giving, you want for once to be on the receiving end, you want to be taken care of. And I can definitely see how sometimes it feels like too much to figure out what to eat and get it all together and cook and serve and clean up … and then have to do it all over again tomorrow. You want someone else to worry about that, you just want it to be done without you always having to do all the work.
I can see that.
But I also think that trying to fill the need to be taken care of by going out to eat doesn't usually work.
When you go out to eat, you are being taken care of to a certain extent — you tell someone what you want and they bring it to you. They ask how everything is, they ask if you want anything else, they tell you to have a nice night when you leave. But they're not taking care of you because they want to, because they love you, because they care if you're happy. They're doing it because it's their job, it's a restaurant and that's what they do. (Not that there aren't restaurants, or people who work in restaurants, who do things for love, there are, but mostly restaurants are business. You give them money and they take care of you until you get up from the table.)
If you eat out because there's a restaurant that makes things you just can't make as well at home, or because you want a special night out, or because your kitchen is clean and you want to keep it that way a little longer, you'll likely be satisfied when you're done eating. The food will have been as good as you remember, you will have had a break from your normal routine, your kitchen will be clean for another day.
If you eat out because you're looking for love, it's not as likely to hit the spot.
In high school, I read Anne Tyler's Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, and it made a big impression on me, I really loved it, and read many more Anne Tyler novels, none of which spoke to me quite as directly as that one did. A few years ago, I picked it up again and re-read it, and was reminded of how much I liked it at the time. I could also see why.
The book is basically a character sketch of a mostly dysfunctional family, and sharing meals (or rather not sharing meals — they can never manage to make it all the way through a family dinner without someone storming off) and feeding people is a central theme. And both when I read the book initially and when I re-read it a few years ago, I found the idea of a restaurant where there aren't menus, you come in and they tell you what you should eat — "You look a little tired. I'll bring you an oxtail stew" — to be lovely and intriguing. The restaurant owner's brother, who thought the idea was stupid, gives the best description of it:
Ever since Ezra had inherited the place … he'd been systematically wrecking it. He was fully capable of serving a single entrée all one evening, bringing it to your table himself as soon as you were seated. Other nights he'd offer more choice, four or five selections chalked up on the blackboard. But still you might not get what you asked for. "The Smithfield ham," you'd say and up would come the okra stew. "With that cough of yours, I know this will suit you better," Ezra would explain. But even if he'd judged correctly, was that any way to run a restaurant? You order ham, ham is what you get. Otherwise you might as well eat at home.
I love that passage — you might as well eat at home.
There aren't many homesick restaurants around. If you eat out because you want to be taken care of, you're probably going to have to keep eating out because the need to be taken care of will be just as strong when you finish as it was when you started.
It's like people who are lonely or otherwise unhappy with their lives, who shop or eat to make themselves feel better. It doesn't ever really work — you can never buy enough or eat enough to make yourself feel better, because the reason you feel bad is not because you don't own enough or have enough to eat. The hole you're trying to fill is not touched by the things you're putting in it.
So if eating out isn't likely to fill the void left by wanting to be cared for, what is?
I feel like learning how to cook for yourself — learning how to cook with love and not resentment — has a much better chance of success. Because you can think about what you're missing and what you need and what will make yourself feel better. (And also you get to cook things that make sense — it's a thousand degrees today and has been all week, and I had lunch at a restaurant that had as its "soup of the day" a cream of broccoli with cheddar cheese. What? Clearly these people have been spending too much time in air conditioning, nothing could have been less appealing to me after endless days of sweltering temperatures than cream of broccoli soup with cheddar cheese.)
As M.F.K. Fisher said, "I came to believe that since nobody else dared feed me as I wished to be fed, I must do it myself, and with as much aplomb as I could muster."
Being able to take care of yourself — to feed yourself as you wish to be fed –is a great skill that will serve you well and make your whole life better. You get to be your own homesick restaurant.
Because, as the book says, if that's what you want, you might as well eat at home.
Thank You for Smoking
Friday, August 31, 2012
Here is a quote from "Thank You For the Light," a previously unpublished story by F. Scott Fitzgerald that appears in the August 6 issue of The New Yorker
Smoking meant a lot to her sometimes. She worked very hard and it had some ability to rest and relax her psychologically. She was a widow and she had no close relatives to write to in the evenings, and more than one moving picture a week hurt her eyes, so smoking had come to be an important punctuation mark in the long sentence of a day on the road.
I'm not sure what I think of the story — I guess for right now, mostly what I think is that I need to read it again — but I found that quote fascinating for what it says about options for leisure-time activities in 1936, when the story was written.
I also thought my smoker friends (who seem to be legion — my smoker friend Ann said I must be attracted to smokers, or they are attracted to me, I'm not sure what we figured out) would like it.
And if you haven't read it, you should check out Christopher Buckley's satirical novel Thank You for Smoking, which is referenced in this post's title, and is very funny.
There's your English major post for the week.
More on food if I ever find time to shop/cook/eat again.
Barkis is Willing
Saturday, June 9, 2012
The good thing about being self-employed is that I have a lot of flexibility; I can schedule things so that I can do what I want, when I want. The down side is that I always feel like I should be doing something else. When I'm working around the house, I feel like I should be working for pay, and when I'm doing paid work, I think of all the things that need to be done that I'm not doing right now because I'm stuck at my computer. The biggest casualty of this has been reading for pleasure. Unfortunately, there never seems to be any time when I think, "Gosh, I really should be reading a good book right now."
I try to make up for this on vacations by scheduling trips with extensive, crazily inconvenient travel: I take the bus when I could get a ride; I schedule connections with really long layovers; I make one trip and then schedule a side trip to somewhere else. (Last year I took the train from Washington, DC to Princeton, NJ for lunch.) Because then I get to sit and read and not feel like I should be doing something else.
I recently got back from a trip that involved hours and hours of basically every form of transportation — car, plane, light rail, train, bicycle, ferry, city bus, subway, inter-city bus. I wasn't sure what I was going to feel like reading (I'm old school, I don't have an e-reader, I have to decide what I might want to have with me ahead of time) so I took three things that I had on my shelf that I had never read and that seemed like would give me a range of options: A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, and David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.
On the plane out, I started Gilead, which won a Pulitzer and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and which many people had told me they liked. I got about a third of the way through before calling it. It was not hitting the spot. I switched to David Copperfield.
David Copperfield is awesome.
David Copperfield is 900 pages long.
I got through about 500 pages of it on the trip and I'm really going to try to make it to the end in a reasonable time frame. It was written in serial form, designed to be read one chapter each month, so if I can just keep things moving at that pace maybe I'll be okay.
To that end, I took the bus to Chapel Hill on Friday instead of driving for my lunch meeting.
I'm at the part where (spoiler alert!) Barkis dies and little Em'ly runs off with Steerforth.
I love Barkis.
Barkis is the carrier who drives young Davy to Yarmouth when he is sent away to school by his cruel stepfather. As they ride out of town, his nurse Peggotty intercepts the cart so she can say goodbye to Davy and to give him some cakes to eat on the trip. Davy shares the cakes with Mr. Barkis:
I offered him a cake as a mark of attention, which he ate at one gulp, exactly like an elephant, and which made no more impression on his big face than it would have done on an elephant's.
Barkis is a man of few words but he's mightily impressed by the cake.
'Did she make 'em, now?" said Mr Barkis, always leaning forward, in his slouching way, on the footboard of the cart with an arm on each knee.
'Peggotty, do you mean, sir?'
'Ah!' said Mr Barkis. 'Her.'
'Yes. She makes all our pastry, and does all our cooking.'
'Do she though?' said Mr Barkis.
He made his mouth as if to whistle, but he didn't whistle. He sat looking at the horse's ears, as if he saw something new there; and sat so, for a considerable time.
One cake is enough for Mr Barkis to know a good thing when he sees it. But he wants to make sure he understands the situation properly.
'No sweethearts, I b'lieve?'
'Sweetmeats did you say, Mr. Barkis?' For I thought he wanted something else to eat, and had pointedly alluded to that description of refreshment.
'Hearts,' said Mr. Barkis. 'Sweet hearts; no person walks with her!'
'With Peggotty?'
'Ah!' he said. 'Her.'
'Oh, no. She never had a sweetheart.'
'Didn't she, though!' said Mr. Barkis.
Again he made up his mouth to whistle, and again he didn't whistle, but sat looking at the horse's ears.
And Barkis wants to confirm what he thought he had heard earlier.
'So she makes,' said Mr. Barkis, after a long interval of reflection, 'all the apple parsties, and doos all the cooking, do she?'
I replied that such was the fact.
He then makes his offer:
'Well. I'll tell you what,' said Mr. Barkis. 'P'raps you might be writin' to her?'
'I shall certainly write to her,' I rejoined.
'Ah!' he said, slowly turning his eyes towards me. 'Well! If you was writin' to her, p'raps you'd recollect to say that Barkis was willin'; would you?'
'That Barkis is willing,' I repeated, innocently. 'Is that all the message?'
'Ye-es,' he said, considering. 'Ye-es. Barkis is willin'.'
'But you will be at Blunderstone again tomorrow, Mr. Barkis,' I said, faltering a little at the idea of my being far away from it then, and could give your own message so much better.'
As he repudiated this suggestion, however, with a jerk of his head, and once more confirmed his previous request by saying, with profound gravity, 'Barkis is willin'. That's the message,' I readily undertook its transmission. While I was waiting for the coach in the hotel at Yarmouth that very afternoon, I procured a sheet of paper and an inkstand, and wrote a note to Peggotty, which ran thus: 'My dear Peggotty. I have come here safe. Barkis is willing. My love to mama. Yours affectionately. P.S. He says he particularly wants you to know – BARKIS IS WILLING.'
Peggotty laughs off the proposal when it is first made, but accepts after Davy's mother dies and she is left without a station. She and Barkis live happily together for many years, and it turns out that Mr. Barkis has more money than anyone would have imagined, but he refuses to let on to it. He keeps it hidden in a box under the bed, and is always sure to tell everyone how hardscrabble his life is. He becomes more and more attached to the box as he nears the end of his life, but still won't admit that it contains anything of value:
He was lying with his head and shoulders out of bed, in an uncomfortable attitude, half resting on the box which had cost him so much pain and trouble. I learned, that, when he was past creeping out of bed to open it, and past assuring himself of its safety by means of the divining rod I had seen him use, he had required to have it placed on the chair at the bed-side, where he had ever since embraced it, night and day. His arm lay on it now. Time and the world were slipping from beneath him, but the box was there; and the last words he had uttered were (in an explanatory tone) 'Old clothes!'
At the time of Barkis' death, David has finished school and is working in London in the legal profession, and is able to help settle the estate.
I may claim the merit of having originated the suggestion that the will should be looked for in the box. After some search, it was found in the box, at the bottom of a horse's nose-bag; wherein (besides hay) there was discovered an old gold watch, with chain and seals, which Mr. Barkis had worn on his wedding-day, and which had never been seen before or since; a silver tobacco-stopper, in the form of a leg; an imitation lemon, full of minute cups and saucers, which I have some idea Mr. Barkis must have purchased to present to me when I was a child, and afterwards found himself unable to part with; eighty-seven guineas and a half, in guineas and half-guineas; two hundred and ten pounds, in perfectly clean Bank notes; certain receipts for Bank of England stock; an old horseshoe, a bad shilling, a piece of camphor, and an oyster-shell. From the circumstance of the latter article having been much polished, and displaying prismatic colours on the inside, I conclude that Mr. Barkis had some general ideas about pearls, which never resolved themselves into anything definite.
For years and years, Mr. Barkis had carried this box, on all his journeys, every day. That it might the better escape notice, he had invented a fiction that it belonged to 'Mr. Blackboy', and was 'to be left with Barkis till called for'; a fable he had elaborately written on the lid, in characters now scarcely legible.
He had hoarded, all these years, I found, to good purpose. His property in money amounted to nearly three thousand pounds. Of this he bequeathed the interest of one thousand to Mr. Peggotty for his life; on his decease, the principal to be equally divided between Peggotty, little Emily, and me, or the survivor or survivors of us, share and share alike. All the rest he died possessed of, he bequeathed to Peggotty; whom he left residuary legatee, and sole executrix of that his last will and testament.
I love everything about this.
I love that Barkis proposed to Peggotty after eating one of her cakes. I love that he proposed by sending a cryptic message with an eight-year-old boy who had no idea what he was talking about. I love that he patiently waited for a response, and after receiving none, sent a second message with David, who still had no idea what he was talking about, the next time he drove him. He actually has to coach David in the follow-up trip on how to proceed:
'Well!' he resumed at length. 'Says you, "Peggotty! Barkis is waitin' for a answer." Says she, perhaps, "Answer to what?" Says you, "To what I told you." "What is that?" says she. "Barkis is willin'," says you.'
This extremely artful suggestion Mr. Barkis accompanied with a nudge of his elbow that gave me quite a stitch in my side. After that, he slouched over his horse in his usual manner; and made no other reference to the subject except, half an hour afterwards, taking a piece of chalk from his pocket, and writing up, inside the tilt of the cart, 'Clara Peggotty' – apparently as a private memorandum.
It reminds me of the hint hint nudge nudge wink wink sketch in Monty Python. Ah! Say no more!
I love that Barkis keeps his stash in a horse's nose bag, complete with hay. I love that he created an elaborate story to explain the box and why he has it with him at all times. I love the list of items he carried around in the box. (It reminded me of another of my favorite lists, from Ali the Persian). I love that he was wealthy but pretended he wasn't.
I love it.
And it seems to me that the moral of the story is … you never know what a good cake might get you.
And that Charles Dickens was a good writer.
In case we didn't know that already.
Mindless Eating
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
As I think I mentioned in an earlier post, a friend recommended the book Mindless Eating to me and I happened to run across it at my friendly local used book store (Nice Price Books) and picked up a copy. I finished it a week or two ago and thought it was great!
It's by a researcher at Cornell University who studies food and eating behavior, and the studies themselves are fascinating (I especially liked the one about North Dakota wine) and also the insight it gives about simple things you can do to adjust your eating patterns seems really useful.
The point that I liked the most was in the end where he talks about working on changing habits.
The basic thrust of the book is that there are a lot of small things in our environment that add up to encourage people to eat more than they want or need to, and by paying attention to those things and flipping them around, you can set up your food environment to push you in the other direction.
His strategy is that you should take some time to figure out where your problem areas are — Do you get hungry in the afternoon and buy snacks from the vending machine? Do you go out with friends and eat and drink too much at happy hour? Do you take too many second helpings at the dinner table? — and then work to change those problem areas by creating new habits.
To do this, you come up with up to three simple habits you will focus on for the next month. (You don't want to do more than three because you want to keep it simple and not try to make too many changes at once. Doing a little bit at a time will be easier and almost imperceptible, so you're less likely to run into the difficulties people hit when trying to make a whole bunch of big changes.) Things like, "I will drink a glass of water before I eat," or "I will plate food in the kitchen and not leave serving bowls on the table," or "I will park at the far end of the parking lot even if there are spots closer."
You take out a piece of paper and write down the habit(s) you want to establish with a column for each day of the month, and every day you do the thing you're supposed to, you put a check mark in the column for that day. Once you've reliably established that habit — when it starts to feel like second nature and you don't have to think about it much anymore — you can move on to a new habit.
I love this idea because it's simple and manageable and it gives people something really specific to focus on.
A few years ago I was working on a project that resulted in a lot of procrastination, and I started working away from my office in an internet-free location to avoid internet-based procrastination (my usual downfall) so I had to come up with some new procrastination options, and I started playing pool.
One of the more interesting things I discovered while playing pool was that if I focused on what I wanted to happen — like if I wanted to hit the ball really hard, and I thought about hitting the ball really hard — I would invariably make a terrible shot. (Random aside, a guy I was playing with once told me that to hit it hard I should pretend I was hitting my boyfriend upside the head — "Just smack it. Smack it as hard as you can.") But if I focused on what I needed to do to hit the ball hard — draw my elbow straight back, keep my arm close to my body — more times than not, the shot would be great.
And I think that revelation totally fits with the Mindless Eating approach.
You break down your problem into small, very specific pieces, then focus on one piece at a time. So you're not thinking about the larger issue at all (hitting the ball hard, losing weight) you're taking action to address specific problems (keeping your elbow straight, not taking seconds at dinner). Once one problem is fixed, you can move on to the next.
I think this idea can be applied to almost anything — not just health-related things like eating better and exercising more but any problem area in you life, from watching less tv to keeping your house clean to spending more time with friends and family. Pick one thing you do that causes problems and work on changing that one thing. Once that's changed, pick something else. You probably won't see immediate results, but you'll make steady progress and that's likely to be more sustainable than larger, more drastic changes.
And definitely check out the book if you get the chance — Mindless Eating by Bryan Wansinik, Ph.D. — or for you short-attention span folks, the website.


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Top Tips on how to become a Mystery Shopper
I've been doing mystery shopping in one form or another for over 13 years now and like to think there isn't anything I haven't come across before and I feel prepared no matter what is being asked of me. I'm a huge fan of Mystery Shopping anyway as it's given me the chance to have fantastic nights away in hotels and meals out at restaurants I just wouldn't attend normally.
It wasn't always like this though! I remember doing my very first mystery shop for MarketForce which just involved going into a phone shop and asking some questions about a particular tariff and walking past the shop about 3 times before deciding if I was brave enough to go in and do this or not!
I was worried about making a fool of myself, worried I wouldn't get all the details needed for the report and worried I would be caught out as a mystery shopping and escorted off site and end up in some kind of prison that is built only for mystery shoppers!
It's because of this that I thought I would give you my top 5 tips for when you are starting out in the mystery shopping world!
Make sure that you understand the brief!
Whenever you go to do a mystery shop you will always be given a set of instructions to follow that outlines your 'mission'. That might come via a PDF that is emailed to you or if you are doing an MS for the likes or BeMyEye it will be on your phone but either way, it's very important that you understand the GOALS you need to hit. Mystery Shopping is all about reporting on an experience. That could be interacting with staff or even just looking at a display and taking a photo of it but the end goal will ALWAYS be to get the information that is required if you in the brief and how you go about getting that is up to you!
The 'Notes' app on your phone is your best friend!
In the early days, I used to try and remember everything when I went to do my mystery shop. This was fine if I could get home straight away to write up my report but was an absolute nightmare if I was going back to work and couldn't write it up for a good few hours.
This was in the pre-smartphone days though and thankfully now all phones have some kind of note-taking feature. I found these to be a life saver, especially when doing any meal based mystery shops where you have to remember all sorts of information from what your server looked like to when your food arrived! Using your notes app allows you to quickly jot down this information and it looks no different than as if you were writing a text message!
Do not throw away recipes or delete photos until you have been paid
It can be quite common for you to submit a report with photos and then a few days (or even weeks) later you can be asked to provide the photos again because something has gone wrong so make sure you don't delete anything from your phone until you've been fully paid for the job!
Check the address!
This might sound crazy but I've personally done it a few times. You get sent to do a mystery shop at a national chain such as Greggs or Subway and there are 3 or 4 of them on a very long road in the city centre and you end up doing the whole mystery shop at the wrong location! One thing I used to do after making this mistake was put the FULL address into Google Maps and hit streetview so that I know what the outside of the shop should look like and I don't keep making the same mistake!
Confidence is KEY!
Nerves will show! Nerves will also make you forget what you need to cover when you go into the shop to do you task. Try and stay cool as a cucumber (which I know is easier said than done!) and with practice even asking the most random of questions to sales assistants will become second nature. Approach the shop as if you were in there normally and going about your business and not like some secret covert mission and you will find things click into place a lot easier for you!
So there you have it, if you fancy giving mystery shopping a go I would recommend starting with Market Force who I would say give you the simplest of briefs to follow in the biggest of well known UK brands so you should feel very comfortable from the get go! I've even seem them offer FULLY PAID weekends away to Spain for 2 adults for a large UK holiday provider so they are well worth investigating!
Happy Shopping!


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Software Development
Our expertise in Web-based and native apps has led us to develop innovative applications right from concept to deployment for our clients, which are successfully in business operations.
Technology Stack
Angular Js, Java, PHP | Mongo Db, MySQL | Custom MVC | Wordpress
CRM & ERP App.
Web App | Android & iOS Apps| [Angular 5, Mongo db]
Quotes, End to End Project execution, Budget, Variation management, Onsite Material Orders, Manage Employee details, Payroll activities, EOM invoicing etc are some basic features of App.
Workshop ERP& CRM
Web App | Android | [PHP, My SQL]
CRM, Quotes, Invoicing, Vehicle Management, Job Card registrations, Spare-parts Management, Billing, Labour Management, Manage Employee details, Payroll activities, etc are some basic features of App.