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Automation Software
Enterprise File Transfers
Connectors and Integrations
By Use Case
By Platform
Transition Services
Automated Conversion
BSS/BSCS Services
Stonebranch provides an enterprise job scheduler and workload automation broker that allows you to manage the workload of your entire enterprise on any platform, from a web-based interface. Universal Controller is a modern, simple to use solution that is re-inventing the way IT can automate the business that matters most to their customers. With its simple installation and highly visual management capabilities, our customers are finding it quite easy to provide other areas of IT, as well as the business areas, with the level of automation that can give them a competitive edge. With its modern architecture and intuitive capabilities, Universal Controller could be the last scheduling or workload automation solution you will ever need. Discover Universal Controller now by reading our technical brief.
Basic Job Scheduling is a fundamental component of the more comprehensive and dynamic Workload Automation tools. Stonebranch was the only vendor that imagined providing independent agent technology that has allowed its customers to extend the job scheduling capabilities across the enterprise without being locked into a single vendor solution.
Imagine a modern, efficient automation solution to drive immediate business processing manageable from any web-enabled device.
Stonebranch has been delivering the solutions its customers have imagined for over a decade. Whether you have dozens of servers, or thousands, Universal Automation Center can help modern IT organizations that need dependable and guaranteed results. Our product provides enterprise-wide automation of complex IT business processes in a simple, intuitive way.
For companies just exploring their initial automation solutions, or for long-term companies with decades of scheduling and automation experience, the business demands of today's IT customers require rapid implementation and dynamic ability to process both planned and random data to support their business mission. These companies need a simple-to-use, yet comprehensive and cost-effective solution that would allow them to organically create a modern method of automating their most critical business data.
Basic Job Scheduling is a fundamental component of the more comprehensive and dynamic Workload Automation tools. Stonebranch was the only vendor that imagined providing independent agent technology that has allowed their customers to extend the job scheduling capabilities across the enterprise without being locked into a single vendor solution. This imaginative agent technology has now combined with the industry's most modern workload automation engine capability on the market to deliver comprehensive automation that includes built-in functions like graphical reporting, database queries/procedures, application automation, and z/OS restart, all from a 100% Web-based engine.
With Universal Automation Center, Stonebranch delivers the most innovative and modern workload automation solution available on the market. Written with the latest technology, the architecture and the driving engine, the Universal Controller is much easier to use and provides many built-in capabilities, rather than separate add-on components that create complexity and come at an additional cost to the customer to license and maintain.
"Universal Automation Center allowed us to utilize our strained resources, in the way they exist today, while still maintaining and handling issues as they came up."
Jeff Bridges, Software Development Manager, United Supermarkets
Universal Automation Center can allow you to automate your 21st century business processing, securely manage file transfers, or extend a legacy scheduling solution throughout the enterprise using newer technology to achieve a more intelligent, yet simple, automation solution.
Universal Automation Center consists of:
Whether your automation needs are simple or quite complex and cumbersome, the capabilities of the Universal Automation Center can be managed using a 100% Web 2.0-based interface, where they can automate these tasks into a cohesive workflow you've imagined—giving your entire IT organization and even your business users transparency into the system, as well as operational control, allowing you to:
-Single solution for the enterprise
-Pure web interface
-Defined business processes via graphical workflows
-Dashboards, reporting and customizations
-Clustering for fault tolerance and high availability
-Dynamic workload management
-Powerful integrations
-Integrated role-based security
-z/OS restart automation
Universal Controller is the core component for driving the workload processing using an intuitive interface coupled with a dynamic automation engine that can execute planned and unplanned workload to meet the changing business demands. Universal Controller was designed to exploit the latest Web 2.0 technology to provide extremely simple usability. Workflows can be constructed for logical business processes and can include various types of tasks, with different run frequencies, different start times, or a number of other variations designed into a single workflow, making definition changes even simpler. This can drastically reduce the number of definitions that must be maintained compared to other vendor products that require replicated definitions should there be variances from day to day or with different executions.
Fault tolerance is built into the components within Universal Controller and within the Universal Agents. Customers needing High Availability can utilize the extension option that allows for failover to occur instantaneously, even across different types of platforms.
The Universal Controller uses a different approach to managing workload.
Also different in Universal Controller is the thorough ability to manage z/OS workload either by hosting the manager on a z/Linux platform or by using the z/OS Universal Agent. This agent allows you to completely manage the workload on the mainframe and even include JCL restart capabilities as a feature, versus a separately licensed "product". This can be another cost savings of using Universal Controller with the z/OS agent
Software cost does not stop at the purchase price. Renewals and maintenance, both software cost and people effort, can create quite an impact to your IT budget. Customers licensing based on software MIPS or MSU on the mainframe, or even CPU or number of cores on distributed, can see huge jumps in maintenance costs, even if you are not processing any additional jobs. Even though the machine power has nothing to do with the volume of workload being submitted, vendors are still pricing their software and maintenance using these measurements. Stonebranch has flexible licensing terms that make sense for today's business needs.
A Noticeable Difference
Bundle and Promotion
The Universal Controller continues to move forward with innovative capabilities included in the base product. including unique abilities to include lifecycle change management that allows you to bundle and promote various components of the workload definition into a package that can be promoted from one stage in the lifecycle to another. This gives you the ability to manage the change and rollback in its entirety if there are problems. Most other workload automation solutions charge extra for this capability rather than including it as part of the base functionality.
Central Script Repository
Universal Controller includes a central script repository allow you to further lock down the access to production servers. The script will be deployed at run time. Troubleshooting information can be retrieved from the agents using the Universal Automation Center interface, without the need for users to have logon access to production servers.
Any change that is made to an artifact within Universal Controller is now versioned. Allowing you to retain as many versions as desired. This can further support the need to restore a definition to a prior version.
Online Wiki-Like Documentation
All documentation for Stonebranch solutions is available online, and in PDF format as well, using a content management solution called Confluence.
Enabling Business Growth
Automation must accelerate your ability to deliver revenue-generating or business service capabilities to the customers
Using a simpler, yet powerful solution can minimize much of the complexity required today to maintain your current solution. Automation should not require months of training to understand archaic terminology and complexities in an aging solution. It should be flexible and powerful to meet the needs to today's business demands.
Universal Controller is the key that can unlock the accessibility, accountability, and visibility to manage the workload that matters most to your company.
Dashboards, Reporting & Customization
IT must be able to manage the workload according to the business priorities and understand the potential affect that delayed workload might have on the business. Customized dashboards can be created and reports can be generated, exported as PDF, Excel or XML formats and can be automatically scheduled as emails to interested parties.
Application and Environmental Control
Rather than have workload failures occur, you can validate the application status, or even control the status, to ensure the successful execution of workload. You can also check for environmental conditions like disk space before transmitting or creating a large file.
Self-Registering Agents
Easily install and configure new agents, whether they are physical, virtual or cloud-based. No more waiting on a change request and an administrator to update the configuration and topology on another server. Graphical displays can even show you the status of the agents.
Clustering for Availability and Efficiency
Clusters make fault tolerance and high availability possible out-of-the-box. Load balancing can be defined and the broadcast option can allow you to use one task definition that can automatically be broadcast to all agents within the cluster, drastically reducing time and effort.
Modernize Your Automation Capabilities
Using the Universal Controller, customers can update the management of their business data processes to a more simple-to-use modern Workload Automation and Job Scheduling solution, one that can be adopted throughout IT to intelligently and more cost-effectively process your mission-critical data. Universal Controller is the core engine driving further visibility and extendibility with other Stonebranch products, including Universal Agents, and Universal Data Mover.
Universal Automation Center will help you improve the efficiency, adoptability, and flexibility for your data processing needs. By embedding simple built-in functionality, rather than a complex array of products, each licensed and managed separately, Stonebranch can simplify your automation configuration. Where our competitors often charge additional licenses/maintenance and require additional servers to support the new components, Universal Automation Center includes these capabilities in the base software.
Portable and Mobile Access Using Modern Technology
Rather than having multiple, partially-enabled, user interfaces, Universal Automation Center has one user interface that is 100% web-based and provides complete functionality from web-enabled devices, including smart phones. This award-winning interface allows even the novice user to quickly become proficient and exploit the automation solution to develop more intelligent processes. Pre-built dashboards can instantly provide the information vital to specific IT roles. You can also easily modify or create customized dashboards with charts, graphs, and gauges to display the exceptional information important to servicing your business.


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Can Decluttr Take on Ebay and Amazon?
In the U.K., media reseller Decluttr is popular choice for consumers wishing to sell their old CDs and games. Can this model work when the site debuts in the U.S.? Entertainment Magpie CEO Steve Oliver and Decluttr U.S. president Brett Lauter joins digits. Photo: Getty Images.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... welcome to Digits I'm Simon Constable in the UK media we sell it because that is a popular choice for consumers wishing to sell the old CDs and ends ... question is can the small will work in this disposable culture to the U S one to ten men Maffei CST for all of a ... joins us a half dozen U S president Brett will accept ... so that's my state ... Rep thank you both for being here ... but some of your youth ... becoming what it was the platoon ... the six seven years ago were founded the company initially through to offer a touch pool CD DVD and eggs for the summer to sleep ... so this was stuff to them you have to ... put some trust in the intensive school music Mok Park ... supplement my cards close to a hopping from Newcastle ... I'm boats that my parts like shiny things ... I'm not was the ... the initial ... service over that was tipped ... off of servers to ... either was a tough immobile farm in touch with old Caboolture in the attack ... on the ... week when euro launch the first because first of the couch this weekend in the bigger names you'll know ... right that is a different culture the anus of disposable culture I'm you know the bill say about that ... the console about summing sold in YouTube you look at it from its two years old and that doesn't seem very old ... facility ... with that disposable culture ... how's this going on what when people could just try the wines to buy new one you know that I think that and we've Artie seen after just a launch about a month ago that it's working quite well in record numbers in the last month ... have gone Forex to where they were before they find CPR Times examines Hughes' me four times what they were before our MarketWatch ... and they're on track ... to do better to St in the UK due to the same point ... but I think the US Coltrane ... I've been involved in a lot of e-commerce conference here ... it is ... it was that mean that was not being served by anyone ... and so when you have stacks ... of boxes of CDs and DVD is in your attic ... in your wife or girlfriend says they can get rid of those ... um instead of just throwing them into landfill ... now it's very easy ... using declutter to just and then thrown in a box free shipping and then ... we send you check Simpson has stayed back ... with getting rid of stuff we do have Amazon ... we do have a day ... Howell how is this different ... the reports from some it is surprising with music from the moment you access the website you can stop ... using the wet Thomas Lemieux a lot softball or does it work come ... whole merely Hoffa pop ups owns auctions in our ... through an I phone a cushion or Android ... unless we would just like in the whole process as easy as possible to dribbled to Azzam so ... here's some as a mini party comes the most individual items ... but I think it's all about by hostile fire Searle ... not maybe some books when you actually less to us but when you sell it ... you've now what's the ... US would take it to the post office to go to find suitable pocketing people to wait for the freebie Prakken you're worried about the use of the key to the NFL and try as it gets late July citizen of the ... forty thousand Zampano Malaga ... it has done well in the U S because the the economy is doing ... quite quite badly ... I don't think it's just because of the economy I think in the research that we've done before it will in the UK in the muffler really launched in the last ... one is ... about people trying to be in front of it is ... they just need to get rid of things and they need to ... and they don't want to thrown in landfills ... and there was no other place but ... that isn't change but as the total market fundamentals continue to use monogamous get rid of that ... you know you'd see at the end of this amassed a big piles of books to springs from a dorm room ... no attempts to what change I think unit we also have the environmental that the more ... conscious we are the environment ... but then also there wasn't a service that make it so easy so that you could actually get money for your used items in a fairly science ... and back to what Steve said ... we made it so simple and so you just scan the ... Senate in a box ... in and check that you receive a check in the mail and that's ... literally almost as easy ... as just disposing of its ... Wii for how long before kick off as a household name in the way that Amazon isn't it gorgeous or what but to me to go ... it's a good camera to London at the close up yet but hope will no longer a song goes on with it was well attended meeting Friday when the time quickly with established ourselves as the mobile long brown nine when a storm prone to consider is what would you go to ... dispose of fuel rods time Media provokes ... visit Marketimer runs higher than any of the ... fun of trying to stabilize them and in you can use it yet By inhibits the toughest in Denver bound up ... and prep last

subset: commoncrawl


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AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - The George W. Bush Presidential Center has joined the holiday festivities, offering for sale a Christmas tree ornament that features a painting by the former U.S. head of state.
The ornament, selling for $29.98, is an unsigned Bush painting of a cardinal on a tree branch in a metal frame, with a ribbon attached so it can be hung.
Bush has taken up painting in his retirement, producing still lifes, self portraits and images of animals. His wife, Laura, thought the painting of the cardinal could be used to celebrate the holiday season.
"Laura liked the bright red of the cardinal and the greens of the foliage, and chose my painting, for which I am grateful, to become the Christmas card and the ornament," Bush said in a video for the presidential center.
Proceeds from sales go back into the center, which opened this year, and to charities it supports.
Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; editing by Gunna Dickson


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Sunday, January 20, 2008
Semiya Kichadi
Serving: 2
If you've a big appetite , you can complete the whole stuff without sharing with
anyone :-)
Semiya: 1.5 cups
onion: 1 medium chopped fine
Tomato: 1 medium chopped fine
green chillies: 2 chopped lengthwise. If the chillies are not hot enough, add more to suit your taste
cilantro or coriander leaves for garnishing
Turmeric: 2 pinches
Ginger garlic paste: 1 tbsp
Garam masala: 1/4 tbsp (optional)
oil: 2-3 tbsp
salt as required
curry leaves:4-5
mustard seeds: 1/4 tbsp
channa dhal:1/4 tbsp
urad dhal: 1 pinch (optional)
cashews: 1 handful (optional)
Vegetables (optional)
1 cup chopped vegetables of your choice. I use carrots, beans and peas, chopped
--Boil the vegetables with 1-1.5 cups of water if you are going to add them to
semiya and keep them aside
--Place a pan on the stove and add semiya.Keep a low flame and fry it until semiya
turns very light brown
--Switch off the gas and keep the semiya aside
--Keep the pan again and add 1 tbsp oil. This time, medium flame
--Add mustard,channa dhal,cashews,curry leaves
--After mustard splutters, add onions and turmeric.Fry until onions become
--Add ginger garlic paste and garam masala. Add 1 tbsp of oil and fry everything
--Add tomatoes & chillies and fry for another 10 minutes
--Add the vegetables with the soup
--Add 1.5 cups of water if veggies are not used.If you are using vegetables then
the soup plus the water should be 1.5 cups.Dont add too much water, semiya will
become soggy
--Add salt
--After the water starts boiling,simmer the stove.
--Add semiya and cilantro leaves
--Stir it until the semiya gets cooked and becomes dry
Posted by Manju at Sunday, January 20, 2008
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Trading with Teachers is not a direct (person to person) trade, therefore items can be requested without the worry of having what another person wants in order for the trade to happen.
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I generally like this one by Tyle Cowen describing Keynesian business cycle theory.
Some thoughts:
1. It's all "sticky-wage in the face of an AD fall", which is understandable but obviously not ideal. This is always a tough call - exactly what do you say to a person that has no background in economics? Austrians actually face this too I think. How do you put your theory in a nutshell. Cowen's solution is a good one. If I was asked I might have said something like "Interest rates are determined by the supply and demand for liquidity, not the supply and demand for loans. When some shock causes people to become pessimistic about future demand you generally see three things happen: (1.) people want more liquidity, (2.) people want fewer loans, and (3.) people are less willing to supply loans. This generates a fall in output that can feed on itself, since my demand for output is going to decline if someone's demand for my output declines. This process by which the initial shock can feed on itself is called the multiplier effect". I think that's a pretty simple way of putting it, and it's a very Old Keynesian view, as opposed to Tyler's more New Keynesian view (not that I have a problem with New Keynesianism).
2. I'm very glad he mentions the strength that he does.
3. The first weakness of course is right. I'm not even sure I'd call it a "weakness" - it's just a fact of life. I expect no Grand Unified Theory of business cycles, and I don't think anyone else should either.
4. The second weakness I have more of an issue with. Yes, the fiscal multiplier is contested territory both theoretically and empirically, and the objections are not all from cranks. But the statement that "there is a lot of evidence from history that fiscal policy very often doesn't work very well" does not seem like a fair read of the evidence. The real concern comes in with the long-run impact. Even though the short-run is contested too - I wouldn't say it's perfect - most evidence has come down on the side that it does work. If you're going to do a generalist, bird's eye view of "the evidence", I don't think it would be the one Tyler suggests. Is there are a range? Sure. What's our best guess? In the 1.5 range. That goes in the "strength" column, not the "weakness" column. Or at the very least say nobody agrees. Don't say the evidence is that it doesn't work.


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I'm shamelessly jumping on this bandwagon because unfortunately I spend a lot of time on Pinterest. I wish I didn't, but then again I wish I didn't have to suck in my gut and lay flat on the bed every time I put on my favorite jeans either. However I'm finding my willpower is just as weak when it comes to sweet DIY pins, as it is when a Little Debbie snack is within arm's reach. . . . Anyway, my point is that I might as well make something productive out of all those wasted hours online - and why not turn my inevitable Pinterest project failures (or maybe even a rare success) into blog content?
That being said, today I'm launching my first Pinterest project blog post - aptly named: "Pinthetic?" (because I like to try and be clever - and "Pintastrophe" was already taken).
Let's start with my Pinterest inspiration:
Just look at this spooky eyeball wreath! Perfect for Halloween right? I thought it was a great mixture of scary and gross and whimsical. I couldn't wait to put one together and hang it on my front door.
When I found plastice eyeballs at the Dollar Tree I knew that me and this wreath were meant to be. I got my eyeballs, my glue gun, my grapevine wreath that I had spray painted black and I got . . . this:
It's not horrible right? I mean it kind of looks like the original. My eyeballs were smaller than hers, plus they didn't have the cool red veins and stuff on them that really made the original pop. Oh, and you see those gaps here and there. Yeah, that's where my eyeballs popped off after the hot glue had dried and the cat batted them underneath the furniture and I just didn't have the energy to try and find them.
The original Pin showed the wreath hanging in front of a distressed window with chicken wire in it. Now if Pinterest has taught me anything it's that everything looks better hanging in front of distressed wood and chicken wire. See below:
without distressed wood and chicken wire:
with distressed wood and chicken wire:
But unfortunately I didn't have any distressed wood or chicken wire lying around. I tried hanging it on my front door but it just looked really kind of sad. Like some mentally challenged (oh sorry, it's "Intelectually Disabled" now) person had ranomly glued ping pong balls on a wreath. So I ended up hanging it on the garage - which nobody can see from the street. It's my eyeball wreath of shame.
What do you think? How Pinthetic is it?


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Viewers of the Rose Parade on New Year's Day may spot a familiar name floating by.
For the first time, Public Storage Inc., the country's largest publicly traded self-storage REIT, is entering a float in the Rose Parade. The parade will travel down Colorado Boulevard and other streets in Pasadena, CA, a stone's throw from Public Storage's headquarters in Glendale.
The theme of the Public Storage float is "Adventures in Space." The 45,000-pound float will feature three "fun-loving 'space' aliens," Public Storage said on its blog.
Employees Lend a Hand
In a news release, Public Storage said that for the first time in the Rose Parade's 125-year history, a participant's employees scattered across the U.S. are decorating a section of a float. The REIT shipped a piece of the float to 33 regional offices. Public Storage employs about 5,000 people at more than 2,200 locations in 38 states. Employees decorated each foam piece with yellow straw flowers, representing a letter in an alien alphabet, and then sent it back to California.
"When assembled on the mother ship's control board, the letters spell out a secret message that has led three whimsical aliens to arrive in Pasadena on New Year's Day!" Public Storage said.
The message will be revealed as the float's animation appears. The "still-secret animation" has gained the float one of just two extended TV shots in the two-hour, 5½-mile parade.
"I want people to look at it on New Year's Day and be [so] overwhelmed that you can't help but look at it and smile," the float's designer, Charles Meier of Paradiso Parade Floats, told the Public Storage blog.
Those smiles will come at a steep price. The folks at the Rose Parade say the cost of designing and building a float can reach $250,000 or more. On top of that, Public Storage paid a $15,000 parade entry fee.
But on the flip side, Public Storage will reap considerable exposure during the nationally televised parade. Roughly 40 million TV viewers in the U.S. are expected to watch the 2014 Rose Parade.
A Year in the Making
Work on the float began last January "with a creative idea, a drawing and a lot of conversations," Public Storage said.
From Dec. 26 through 30, about 300 volunteers a day will gather to apply natural plant materials–such as flowers, rice, lentils and seaweed–to the 10,000-square-foot surface of what Public Storage calls "our moving masterpiece."
Among the components of the float will be 200 pounds of red lentils, 13,000 lime-green button chrysanthemums, 52,000 carnations and 10,000 roses.
"Each rose must be placed in an individual water vial. Several hundred green apples, half oranges and purple cabbages will provide whimsical accents, with help from over 200 gallons of glue used to hold it all together," according to the Public Storage blog.
Some of the most delicate live flowers and plants won't be added until just before the parade kicks off.
"You work for a whole year on these floats, but so much of it comes down to a few days," Meier said.


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This is a good day for tummies and toes, I think.
I had to go back to the V E T. I was sneezing and snotting and Mom was afraid I got an Upper Respiratory Infection from being at the Hospital overnight. The V E T said that it looked like it was not an infection, but just a virus (spelled Kitty Cold) that maybe I caught while I was there. She gave me a shot, just in case. But, I'm still sneezing, just not so bad now. Wonder how long these cold things last? It's been a week now and Mom is still a bit concerned. The V E T also gave Mom some pills that are supposed to perk up my appetite, I've lost a half pound in the last year and Mom was concerned that maybe I wasn't eating enough (those Moms are ALWAYS concerned about SOMETHING!) But, man do those pills work! I was so starving! I ate like a horse! Mom thinks maybe I'll gain a little weight back. I just hope this cold thing goes away soon. I don't like having a cold!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Tummy and Toes Tuesday
This is a good day for tummies and toes, I think.
Posted by Rusty at 8:08 PM 17 comments
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Easy Like Sunday
Thought I'd relax on the front sidewalk and check out how the porch project is coming along. It's nearly done, the Guy just has to get the new lattice to put around the bottom. He's got it on order and hopes to have it in a week or so. The grass is all growing back in along the sidewalk real well, and Mom's breathing a sigh of relief. I think it's all turned out rather well.
This is my house. Mom tells me it was built in 1896, so it's pretty old, but we like it. Especially all the windows.
Posted by Rusty at 7:47 AM 16 comments
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
So Embarrassed!
I am so embarrassed! I mean really, here's my Mom on Mancat Monday posting that I was constipated! I mean, how mancatly is being constipated? Us Mancats are supposed to be cool and tough not constipated! It's gonna take me awhile to get over this embarrassment. Those Moms, they just don't have any clue on how to act sometimes!
I really didn't like being in the hospital, but I tried to be good because my Mom told me I should be. I also am a pretty smart guy and I just know that if you don't do what they want, they'll make you stay even LONGER and I sure wanted to go home. I didn't want to stay in that place any longer than I had too!
But, I must admit, this is the relief I felt after it was all over. I have to tell you younger Mancat guys, getting old is the PITS! Sometimes it ain't fun at all!
Posted by Rusty at 8:00 AM 20 comments
Monday, July 20, 2009
Rusty Update
Hi, this is Rusty's Mom again. I just spoke with Rusty's vet and he's doing fine. She told me I can pick him up around 6:30 EDT, they wanted to give him fluids one more time and make sure that he's cleaned up. She said that he's pretty much cleaned out now. She suggested giving him the Petromalt on a daily basis for a week or so, then every other day after that. She also told me that I could put some Benefiber in his stinky goodness food or try some canned pumpkin or even baby food squash, just to get him a little more fiber in his diet. I'm thinking that now he's going to join me and the Guy trying to keep things regulated around here.
She did tell me that the last x-ray showed some arthritis in his spine, which is not unusual for a cat his age. But, other than that, he's in great shape age considered. So, I'm relieved. He'll probably post something tomorrow and tell you all about it.
-Rusty's Mom
Posted by Rusty at 4:21 PM 17 comments
Rusty News
Hi, this is Rusty's Mom. I know we haven't been blogging much lately, but it's been a really busy summer for us.
I wanted to let everyone know that Rusty is at the Animal Hospital after I took him in yesterday when he got constipated and was unable to easily have a bowel movement. The vet x-rayed him and said that yes, he did have a few poop balls stuck in his intestine and that they would give him an enema or two (poor Rusty) and keep him overnight. I just got an update, they told me that he did have a bowel movement last night, but they still feel that he hadn't gone enough yet, so they gave the poor boy another enema and they're keeping him for awhile longer to monitor him. The vet also told me that she saw something else in his x-ray that she thought was just a loop in his intestine near his stomach, but she wasn't sure until she saw the followup x-rays to see if it moves along. So, no word on that yet, but they said he's doing fine and eating well. So, everyone say a quick prayer that everything comes out all right (literally) and that Rusty can come home this afternoon and is fine.
Interestingly, the vet told me that I should give him Petromalt on a daily basis just to help keep things moving along in the future so they don't get stuck again. I plan to do that. He likes Petromalt and thinks it's a treat.
So, that's it on Rusty for now. I'll keep you all updated.
-Rusty's Mom
Posted by Rusty at 10:30 AM 10 comments
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Saturday Caturday
It rained this morning. Mom was glad it did, since the new grass seed they planted in the front wasn't doing real well and she thought it needed a good natural soaking. She also said the herb garden really needed a good watering.
I know about that, sometimes a good natural drink is the best. So, I went out on the deck table after the rain and had a real good, refreshing drink. Yummmmmmm.
I haven't been around much lately, Mom's been pretty busy, so she days. I'm not real sure what she's been so busy at, she said she had a few computer problems that she thinks are resolved now. And she was hoping to get into some new job training program, but she's not real confident about that and she'll find out for sure this next week. I think she's just getting bored with things and not working.
She's really happy with the porch project. She and the Guy spend a lot of time out there sitting on the nice wicker furniture enjoying the cool breezes from all the open windows. The Guy's been painting, he's working on the floor today after getting all the walls done. I'll have to put up a finished picture when he's done. Mom wants a ceiling fan put in and I think she's going to get that. The Guy thought it was a good idea too.
So, that's about it for a Saturday, Caturday in Rusty's World.
Posted by Rusty at 2:41 PM 16 comments


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Author: Donna White
You Surf like a Girl
May 17, 2016
Surfing not just for the guys
When it comes to the sport of surfing which for years has been dominated by the more masculine of the species. Times are certainly changing with a high tide of females who are taking the once male domnated sport of big wave surfing by storm.
Wave-riding like Kennelly's proves that women are not only equal to men when it comes to surfing, they can also be better.
But surf culture has long included sexist undertones with a tendency to over-sexualize female surfers and undermine their talent.
When the Association of Surfing Professionals rebranded itself as the WSL in 2014, it vowed to fight that culture, pledging a host of changes to how it treated women surfers. They've largely made good on those promises, including increasing the number of women's events and offering prize money and broadcast time equal to the men's division.
But while last week's announcement's further showed that the sport is headed in the right direction, it doesn't mean the longstanding challenges for women have disappeared.
Last year's ESPY award nominee Paige Alms, who is often referred to as the world's best female big wave surfer, still struggles to find consistent financial funding to support her career in the niche world of big wave surfing.
"It's been frustrating my entire career to have to constantly be on the search for a sponsor," Alms told The Huffington Post, adding that sponsored trips are essential for big wave surfers to master monstrous waves. "For the guys, sponsorships come a lot easier."
In the highly commercialized sport of surfing, more attention leads to better sponsorship deals — and it's high-time women started getting some attention. source:huffingtonpost.com
Surfing looses a Legend
May 16, 2016
It is rare that you find someone of greatness in a sport. Surfing is no exception to that rule. We learned to today
Waikiki surfing icon Albert "Rabbit" Kekai died this morning at Leahi Hospital on Oahu.
He was 95.
Kekai was among the beach boys trained by legendary surfer Duke Kahanamoku, introducing the sport of surfing to countless residents and visitors, including celebrities.
Considered the father of modern hotdogging, Kekai served as the beach master for many surfing events, including the Triple Crown of Surfing.
"It's an end of an era," said Randy Rarick, a co-founder of the Triple Crown.
Rarick said Kekai taught him surfing at age 10.
"He led a great life," Rarick said. "He's riding that big wave in the sky, happy with what he's done."
If you would like to read more about this surfing icon follow the link, source: http://www.staradvertiser.com
Big Wave Surfing | Waimea Bay
May 10, 2016
The big waves at Waimea Bay attract spectators. Some of them are just there to see the wipeouts, others brought cameras to get some great photos while they are on vacation in Hawaii.
Did you noticed that virtually ALL of the goofy footers got clobbered on these waves? It's tough enough to take the initial drop on these monsters with your back toward the wall, but even more difficult to make the bottom turn that way… just not enough inertia to get into position to bury a rail and save your life.


text: firehouse (based on that from Chester, Vermont). At the point the paved street of the town begins sits the dress shop, one of the first Cambell kits I ever built back in the 1970s and the AP&G headquarters[Albion's Business District: Buildings to the right of this scene].: A marching band celebrates the arrival of the new Gould horse-drawn fire engine in front of the


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Senate Still Wrangling Over D.C. Voucher Plan
After intermittent floor debate and a failed bid to craft a bipartisan compromise last week, the Senate postponed an up-or-down vote on legislation to provide private school vouchers for students in the District of Columbia.
With many Senate Democrats determined to stop the proposed five-year pilot program of "opportunity scholarships" for children from low-income families, two Democratic senators who had been straddling the fence on the bill had put forward a compromise plan as the measure came to the floor of the Republican- controlled chamber in midweek.
But after it became clear on Sept. 25 that the proposal by Sens. Thomas R. Carper, D-Del., and Mary Landrieu, D-La., was a no-go, senators returned to the floor and approved a less stringent amendment put forward by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. Debate was slated to continue late last week, but no further votes on the measure were expected until early the week of Sept. 29.
With Washington Mayor Anthony A. Williams at her side on the Senate floor, Sen. Feinstein—one of a small band of congressional Democrats to unequivocally back vouchers for the capital city—urged her fellow lawmakers to back the plan.
"I want everybody to know this is your request and your program," she said to the Democratic mayor, who has come under strong criticism from other city politicians for backing the pilot voucher plan. "I don't know how many votes on our side of the aisle we will have for it, but I think it is a very important program to try."
Ms. Feinstein's amendment, approved by voice vote, would require that recipients of private school vouchers take the same standardized tests as their public school peers, and that teachers in participating schools have college degrees. It also would require an independent evaluation of the program within nine months, according to a spokesman for the senator.
'Balanced Approach'
Sen. Feinstein's amendment did not go as far as one proposed earlier in the week by Sens. Carper and Landrieu. That plan called for subjecting private schools that accepted voucher students to the same testing, teacher-credentialing, and other accountability measures that Washington's public schools are required to meet under the No Child Left Behind Act.
The plan also would have limited the vouchers to students in public schools identified for "improvement" under the federal education law, and would have ended the program in three years if voucher recipients had failed to meet the law's criteria for adequate yearly progress. In addition, the two senators wanted a promise that the new language would be retained when the House and the Senate negotiated a final voucher program.
"Before we use taxpayer dollars to fund a private school scholarship program, we need to make sure that what we're doing will raise student achievement and secure quality results," Sen. Carper said in a statement announcing the proposal on Sept. 24.
Aides to Sens. Carper and Landrieu said that their proposal had been rejected by the White House and the Senate Republican leadership.
"When we try to make the scholarship program accountable to the same standards of No Child Left Behind, the White House and Republicans run from that," said Bill Ghent, a spokesman for Sen. Carper.
A call seeking comment from the office of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., had not been returned by press time.
The voucher plan is part of a broad funding bill for the District of Columbia that had cleared the Senate Appropriations Committee early last month. The measure would provide vouchers of up to $7,500 a year for tuition at private schools, including religious ones, with priority given to students in persistently low-performing schools.
In introducing the bill on the floor Sept. 24, Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, stressed that it allotted $40 million in new money for "three sectors" of schooling in the nation's capital: $13 million for the regular public schools, $13 million for charter schools, and $1 million for administrative expenses, in addition to $13 million for the voucher program.
"This is a balanced approach," Sen. DeWine said. "[T]he most important supporters for this program are the thousands of low-income parents of schoolchildren in this city whose children are languishing in failing schools. These parents want an opportunity to try a new approach. I believe they deserve that opportunity."
Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle, D-S.D., described the plan very differently, as he vowed last week to press his members to oppose the bill.
"It's an unfortunate loss of revenue for our public school system, it sets a double standard with regard to the No Child Left Behind Act, and I think it sends a message to the rest of the country that somehow Congress is more supportive of vouchers, which couldn't be further from the truth," he said.
Republicans hold just 51 Senate seats to the Democrats' 48, plus one Independent who typically votes with the Democrats. Thus, GOP senators would need to attract support from the other side of the aisle to reach the 60 votes necessary to cut off a filibuster, should the Democrats decide to mount one.
Currently, Wisconsin operates a voucher program in Milwaukee, as does Ohio in Cleveland. Florida runs voucher programs both for students with disabilities statewide and for students from failing public schools, while a new Colorado voucher program is slated to get going next fall.
Vol. 23, Issue 5, Page 22Published in Print: October 1, 2003, as Senate Still Wrangling Over D.C. Voucher Plan
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By Samson Habte
A liability insurer has standing under Ohio law to bring a malpractice action against a law firm that it retained to defend an insured where the interests of the insurance company and the insured are aligned, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio ruled April 16 (Carolina Casualty Insurance Co. v. Gallagher Sharp, N.D. Ohio, No. 1:10cv2492, 4/16/13).
The court rejected the assertion that under Ohio law insurers cannot establish privity with their insureds and thus lack standing to assert a malpractice claim against attorneys hired to defend an insured.
That argument was made by a law firm that was hired by an insurer to defend a lawsuit and subsequently sued by that carrier for allegedly botching the case.
The law firm filed a motion for summary judgment that sought to dismiss the case for lack of standing.
"[T]here are inherent conflicts of interests in the insurer-insured relationship," the motion said, and "no Ohio case has ever held that an insurer … has the requisite privity and thus standing to bring a malpractice claim against its insured's attorneys."
Judge Benita Y. Pearson disagreed. An insurer can establish privity--and thus standing to assert a malpractice action--so long as its interests and those of its insured "were aligned and did not diverge before" the alleged negligence occurred, the court said.
Such a showing was made here, Pearson said in ruling that the case can go forward.
The plaintiff, Carolina Casualty Insurance Co., was the liability carrier for Goodman Weiss Miller, a law firm that was sued for malpractice by former clients. The law firm was covered for up to $3 million, the court said, but that coverage was subject to "a 'declining limits' policy, whereby the liability limit was reduced with the expenditure of defense fees and costs."
Carolina retained the defendant, Gallagher Sharp, to handle the insured law firm's malpractice defense.
During the trial, Gallagher drafted a "high-low" settlement agreement which was agreed to by Goodman Weiss, Carolina Casualty, and the plaintiffs. The agreement, the court said, was
designed to cap the amount that [the plaintiffs] would recover in the event that they prevailed on their claims while at the same time guaranteeing them a minimum recovery if they lost. The "high" component was to be the amount of the remaining policy limits, and the "low" component was to be $100,000. If a jury awarded an amount in excess of the policy limit, Goodman would be required to pay the excess.
A jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs for about $2.4 million. Some $700,000 had been expended on defense fees at that point, the court said, leaving Goodman liable for about $100,000 of the judgment.
However, the plaintiffs subsequently repudiated the "high-low" agreement, the court said.
Goodman and Carolina then filed a declaratory action seeking to have the agreement declared valid and binding. That effort failed. The agreement was deemed unenforceable in a 2006 decision which, according to court documents, characterized the document as "very inartfully written."
Goodman and Carolina also challenged the judgment in the underlying malpractice suit. An appeals court affirmed the verdict in 2007, but the law firm and insurer pressed on and appealed the case to the Ohio Supreme Court.
The supreme court granted review on Aug. 29, 2007. However, just five days earlier, Goodman and Carolina decided to enter a second high-low agreement with the plaintiffs. The "low component" under this new agreement was set at $1.75 million. "At that time," Pearson noted, "Goodman's potential exposure in excess of the policy limits was $700,000."
One year later, the supreme court reversed the $2.4 million verdict against Goodman. Envtl. Network Corp. v. Goodman Weiss Miller LLP, No. 2008-Ohio-3833, 24 Law. Man. Prof. Conduct 426 (Ohio Aug. 6, 2008). That victory proved pyrrhic for Carolina, however. Because of the second high-low agreement, the insurer still had to pay the plaintiffs $1.75 million.
In 2010, Carolina sued Gallagher Sharp, accusing the firm of negligently drafting the first high-low agreement.
That negligence, the complaint alleges, obligated Carolina to pay the low amount specified under the terms of the second agreement, $1.75 million, rather than the $100,000 it would have paid if the first one had been competently drafted and ruled enforceable.
The defendants argued that Carolina lacked privity with Goodman Weiss and thus did not have standing to bring a malpractice action against Gallagher based on its services in the underlying case.
In seeking summary judgment, Gallagher relied heavily on public policy underlying the privity requirement--which, the firm stated, aims to "protect the attorney's duty of loyalty and the attorney's effective advocacy for the client."
"[T]he Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct underscore this important public policy concern and recognize the inherent conflict between the insurer and the insured," the firm argued. "The danger of the potential conflicts between insurer and insured, as recognized by the Rules of Professional Conduct, destroys any privity between the insured and insurer," it added.
The defendants also cited Swiss Reins. Am. Corp. v. Roetzel & Andress, 837 N.E.2d 1215, 21 Law. Man. Prof. Conduct 493 (Ohio Ct. App. 2005), as supporting their position. In that case, they argued, the court found that divergent interests that preclude nonclients from establishing standing are "inherent in every insurer-insured relationship where, as here, there is the possibility of a judgment in excess of the insurance policy limits."
Pearson disagreed. "The Roetzel court did not make such a finding," she stated.
"Instead," she noted, "Roetzel considered the facts of the case and concluded that, because the insured urged settlement and the insurer repeatedly refused to engage in settlement, the parties interests, 'while in harmony at the inception of the case, … diverged quickly.'"
Accordingly, it "cannot be said that the mere identity of the parties and the existence of a partial settlement, the 2005 high-low agreement, inherently precludes a finding of privity," Pearson declared.
"Privity does not equate to identical interests," Pearson explained. "[R]ather, privity exists when the interests of one adequately represents the interests of another."
That was demonstrated in this case, the court concluded.
"Carolina submitted evidence that both Carolina and Goodman sought to protect Goodman from any exposure in excess of the policy limit--Goodman had an interest in eliminating potential exposure beyond the amount covered by insurance and Carolina had an interest in upholding its obligation under the insurance contract as well as the obligation imposed on insurers under Ohio law," the court said.
"Defendants trot out other conflicts that allegedly arose between Carolina and Goodman in the hopes of destroying privity, none of them availing," Pearson wrote, adding:
That Carolina and Goodman initially disagreed as to whether Defendants should be hired to represent Goodman does not evince a divergence of interest. Nor does the fact that a side-agreement was entered into by Goodman and [the plaintiffs in the underlying case] prior to the 2005 high-low agreement, as the side agreement did not change the aforementioned interests of Carolina and Goodman.
Additionally, Defendants point to further alleged disagreements between Carolina and Goodman that occurred after the 2005 high-low agreement. However, any disagreements that may have occurred after the 2005 high-low agreement does not destroy the mutuality of interests Carolina and Goodman had at the time the alleged malpractice occurred.
Carolina Casualty was represented by Anthony Proscia, Beth Ann Berger Zerman, Craig M. Giometti, Robert A. Chaney, and George J. Manos of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, Chicago, and by Adam D. Marshall of Marshall Grant, Boca Raton, Fla.
Gallagher Sharp was represented by David J. Tocco and Rajeev K. Adlakha of Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease, Cleveland, and by Kimberly M. Moses, Ronald M. McMillan and Thomas I. Michals of Calfee, Halter & Griswold, Cleveland.
Full text at http://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/document/Carolina_Casualty_Ins_Co_v_Sharp_CASE_NO_110cv2492_2013_BL_100983.
The ABA/BNA Lawyers' Manual on Professional Conduct is a joint publication of the American Bar Association Center for Professional Responsibility and Bloomberg BNA. Copyright 2013, the American Bar Association and The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Day 10
I didn't feel very well on Thursday. I woke up without a voice because I was dehydrated, I ached all over from the running the day before, and I felt generally exhausted – so I remedied myself with strepsils and chocolate. In the morning, I did some work and put together a presentation for the 3emes (year 9s) but little else. I didn't have a class until 3.30, so it was a little boring. I went to the secretary and have now definitely signed my process-verbal-d'installation, so I will get paid. I also requested an advance because I have to pay rent for my flat in Vire, among other costs, and it is expensive to transfer money from pounds to euros online.
I had my one and only class of the day at 3.30 and it was okay. It was a class of 4emes (13 years old) and they had to make a leaflet on a country in the European union. None of them got very far because they were mostly messing around, but some of them did ask me questions about grammar and translation, with which I was happy to help. What did annoy me was that I won't see that class or my other Thursday class until November because of class trips and other things. So now I have another day off per week, with nothing to do!
At about 6.30 I went for a drink with some colleagues. It turns out that 'cider and black' is a totally foreign concept here. I think the closest you can get is a 'Monaco' – beer and grenadine, which is very sweet but quite pleasant. Nevertheless, I enjoyed that and then went back to the pavillon and cooked myself some dinner. The teachers staying in the pavillon were amused by my baked beans and quorn meat supplement because those things don't exist outside of the UK, and certainly not in such a carnivorous country as France.
Day 11
Stage d'accueil, Caen, 9 October 2015
At 6.30am I got up because I couldn't sleep with nerves, then a colleague picked me up outside the school at 7.15, it was freezing and before even the dawn. She drove me to Vire, which took only 20 minutes, dropped me at the train station from where I caught my lift (the car share I mentioned before).
It was a full car but a nice journey nonetheless; I think I will do more like this in the future. After about an hour's drive, I was dropped at a bus stop in Caen. As luck would have it, I heard some English spoken and it turned out that the people speaking were going to the same place as me, so I tagged along.
When we arrived there was a breakfast prepared, which consisted of coffee, cake, and fruit. I hate coffee, but on this occasion it was necessary! I had a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see a friend from Exeter smiling at me. It was lovely to see her again and the assistant from St Hilaire.
The first presentation was about the region (Normandy) and important people in the academies, all in French of course. Many of the assistants volunteered to speak and their language was so good – one guy even had a southern French accent. I think he had definitely done an Erasmus year before.
The assistants came from all over the world, but they split us into Anglophones (American, British, Irish, Australian, Canadian) and other (Italian, German, Hispanic etc) and we went to classes. I found it quite annoying that the classes were separated into 'college' and 'lycee', meaning that those of us working in both could only be trained in one.
My friends and I ended up in the 'college' class, where we had to come up with ideas for lessons and activities. It is safe to say that we were not prepared at all. To be honest apart from it being nice to go to Caen and meet the other assistants, I didn't think much of the day. Or the dinner. As three vegetarians, we just ate a measly lunch of mashed potato and salad.
After we finished, I waited a while to be picked up and taken to the Mairie in Caen where I would get a lift back to Mortain. The Mairie (town hall) is quite stunning and I made sure to take some photos, but, unfortunately, I can't upload them without wi-fi. I was a bit worried about finding the right people and car to get a lift back, so I asked some strangers and they were very kind actually and waited with me until I went. I think that was because I looked like a lost child but hey, whatever works. I tripped over twice saying goodbye and thanks to them.
When I arrived in Vire and paid my 2 euros for the lift (so cheap!), my colleague's daughter picked me up. That was quite amusing because we were both texting her mum saying 'what does she look like?' when, in fact, we were standing next to each other! She studies languages (including English) at the University of Caen and is about my age. By this point, I was so tired that I could not be bothered to speak French, but she said she wanted to practice her English anyway.
At their house, I met my colleague's other daughter, their cat and their dog, Cookie. Cookie was very docile, but the cat jumped on me at the dinner table and dug his claws in. My colleague made us some 'Breton Galettes', which is a traditional dish from Bretagne that I could liken to pancakes. We washed it down with a few glasses of cidre, which made for a very pleasant evening.
I'm not sure yet what the weekend has in store, but I will be sure to write about whatever happens.
A plus


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2018 Ford Focus Rumors
2018 Ford Focus is a family auto that will have a decent plan. Contrasted and the past rendition. The outline of this auto will have a decent favorable position. This auto will touch base in the North American business sector, as indicated by bits of gossip as of now. This auto is exceptionally in holding up by numerous individuals in light of the fact that it has a decent execution and alluring outline. This will be the fate of outline is exceptionally famous.
2018 Ford Focus Rumors Specs
|2018 Ford Focus Rumors
2018 Ford Focus will be accessible to decrease what might somehow or another be a shoulder-disengagement of torque cow. New auto wipes clean board and began once again. Notwithstanding AWD, the RS will be the main new Focus to pack 2.3-liter four-barrel Ecoboost Ford, accessible now at Lincoln MKC and instantly on 2015 Mustang. This motor makes 310 hp, 320 pounds-feet of torque. In the simply discharged Lincoln MKC Crossover, the same motor makes 285 hp. In both applications, the twin-scroll turbo is utilized. This would be an amazing drive and has a super execution. You will feel great when driving in this 2018 Ford Focus.
2018 Ford Focus Concept
|2018 Ford Focus Concept
2018 Ford Focus will have a decent outline and more sharp. With a more jazzy outline will fulfill you exceptionally when driving. Some refined innovation will likewise come in this new auto. To put the shut down, Ford will utilize AWD framework completely new expected for high-yield applications. This is not the same framework that is utilized as a part of the Fusion, getaway, and MKZ. The new framework will utilize the front and back torque vectoring to help the taking care of, and in the wake of appearing in the Focus RS that will stream down to different applications. This auto will likewise accompany substantial haggles, and excess channels, ventilation, and spoiler further upgrade the essential configuration of the Focus. For example, ST, RS may be accessible just as a five-entryway hatchback. Styling changes could be ahead. Spy shots uncovered by Motor Authority demonstrate a vast bar in the grille, close the vast throat ST bit. It could be a bit hokey to camouflage the genuine appearance of the auto. Before RS models highlight styling prompts rally auto in the vein of the Subaru STi or Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, so expect some bumper flares and a bigger back spoiler also.
2018 Ford Focus Release Date
2018 Ford Focus Release Date
This auto will be available in the United States business sector may be in mid 2016 or late 2015 we can sit tight for this awesome auto coming in the business. 2018 Ford Focus will be the most famous and in later by numerous individuals.


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Tesco have the best Easter Egg
Want the best Easter Egg of 2016? Well, you'll need to get yourself down to your nearest Tesco, as their £10 offering has beaten off the challenge from fancier rivals.
The Good Housekeeping Institute did their annual Easter Egg taste test and, out of 100 eggs, they decided that Tesco's "Billionaire's Dynamite Easter Egg" is the finest of the lot.
As you can see from this image of it, it also looks like it is filled with insect eggs, which is a bit horrible.
Aside from the creepy appearance, the egg weighs in at 650g, and scored 85 out of 100. It is made from Belgian milk chocolate, and is covered with chocolate coated shortcake biscuit, honeycomb pieces, and caramel fudge.
So there you have it. It might rot all your teeth and give you diabetes, but that's what Easter is all about really, so quit your moaning.
1 comment
- Jessie J.In the voice of Mr Burns.......egggggsalent. Do it like a dude.


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Combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a small, heavy saucepan and place over high heat. As soon as the sugar has dissolved, heat your thermometer under warm tap water (to prevent thermal shock) and attach to side of pan, making sure that the bulb is completely submerged. Do not stir the mixture or agitate the pan at this stage.
When the mixture reaches 230 degrees, reduce the heat to medium and allow the sugar to color gradually. As the temperature approaches 300 degrees the color will start to turn to amber. At this point, it's safe to swirl the pan gently to help distribute the heat evenly. As the caramel heads towards 340 degrees, it will reach a deep amber color.
Remove the pan from the heat and slowly stir with a metal spoon, allowing it to cool until the caramel falls from the spoon in a solid stream, like a string. When it does, it's doodad time.
Form doodads by holding the spoon 12 to 16 inches over the caramel and drizzling the patterns on the parchment. (Hint: allow the spoon to unload into the pan for a few seconds before attempting doodad. This will allow a narrower stream.) Quick back and forth motions or side to side movements are best. It's all in the wrist. Allow doodads to cool for 15 minutes then peel the paper off (not the other way around). Stack in an airtight container with wax paper between each piece.
After making 15 to 20 doodads, you should have sufficient caramel remaining to move on to the sauce phase. So, return the remaining caramel to medium high heat and continue cooking until you see the first sign of smoke. Immediately remove from the heat, and add the cream, all at once, at arms length. (It will boil furiously.) Once the mixture calms down, return to medium heat and boil 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool to room temperature, move to squirt bottle and refrigerate for up to a week.
To make the bananas brulee, quarter the bananas (peel on) and rub into sugar to coat thoroughly. Remove peel and place on cooling rack over several layers of foil. (Don't try this on your dining room table.) Don your safety goggles and fire up your torch. Hold the torch so that the very tip of the flame barely touches the banana, and move quickly back and forth until the sugar melts, turns brown, and bubbles. As soon as it looks like caramel, move on. You know you've got it down when a solid, glasslike sheet of gold (no graininess) has formed on the banana.
To do the split (so to speak), squirt a pattern of caramel sauce on a chilled plate, top with 4 banana pieces (Lincoln log style), top with the ice cream of your choice (we like our peachy vanilla from Churn Baby Churn), and finally, a doodad.


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When Gordon Reese came to Boston to welcome a new grandchild into the world last year, XV Beacon rushed him to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in a Lexus for each false alarm.
Amateur photographer Bruce Feldman said the boutique hotel brought him and his wife a complimentary bottle of champagne on their anniversary. Noël Obourn said the concierge sent her mother a bouquet of flowers for a birthday she had forgotten.
"Everyone knows me by name, everyone understands my preferences," said Obourn, a Connecticut native who travels to Boston for work and often stays at the hotel. "I don't have to even ask for things. They just magically appear."
Guests say the masterful personal service they receive at XV Beacon is one reason the 63-room luxury property on Beacon Hill was just named the best hotel in the United States by Condé Nast Traveler magazine. More than 76,600 readers cast votes and XV Beacon rose to the top among 7,700 nominated properties.
The magazine's list is dominated by boutique accommodations but also includes larger competitors, such as the Langham Chicago and the Hotel Sorella in Houston.
Five other New England establishments were among the top 25, including the Wauwinet in Nantucket (No. 8), the Chanler at Cliff Walk in Newport, R.I. (No. 21), and three Vermont hotels: the Pitcher Inn in Warren (No. 6); Twin Farms in Barnard (No. 7); and Hotel Vermont in Burlington (No. 14).
A night at XV Beacon costs anywhere from $325 for a smaller room in the winter to $3,000 for a two-bedroom suite in the peak summer season. The standalone property competes against well-known luxury hotel brands, such as the Four Seasons and the Mandarin Oriental in Boston.
The hotel debuted 15 years ago as one of the first boutique properties in the city. Owner Paul Roiff, a real estate developer known for Boston's famed Mistral bistro in the South End, said he opened the hotel independently because he wanted it to reflect the history and architecture of the Back Bay.
He also said the personal service guests rave about is very deliberate. Attention to detail has been the "nucleus" of the XV Beacon since day one.
"We knew we had to be better than everyone else," Roiff said. "We thought that would be our competitive advantage with only 63 rooms. We would meet daily and go over who was coming and how to prepare for that."
General manager Amy Finsilver said the staff still prepares for each guest, but now they are aided by online resources such as Google and social media sites. A concierge looks up unknown patrons prior to arrival and, when possible, will print out and frame personal photographs to be placed in their rooms.
The hotel keeps files on all its guests, nearly half of which are repeat customers, to maintain records of their preferences and tastes.
For example, if the staff sends up a complimentary cheese and fruit plate and housekeepers find the cheese untouched, it will be omitted from the dish next time. Obourn said she once casually mentioned her distaste for lavender years ago and bath salts in that scent have never appeared in her room since.
"We really get to know our guests and get the staff to pick up on their likes and dislikes," Finsilver said. "I tell my staff that when someone walks in these doors you want to treat them like your old friend from college who has never seen your apartment. You want them to feel comfortable and taken care of."
'I tell my staff that when someone walks in these doors you want to treat them like your old friend from college who has never seen your apartment.'
XV Beacon is set in a Beaux Arts building down the street from Boston Common. Dark brown mahogany walls form a small and intimate lobby where a Ben Franklin bust greets guests at the check-in counter. Original steel gates from 1903 still enclose the elevator.
Finsilver said the property is set up to feel more like a set of luxury apartments than a traditional hotel. Each room, for example, has its own doorbell.
The furniture, a lavish mix of old and modern in coffee, taupe, and cream tones, is custom ordered. The rooms feature Frette bedding — a brand of high-end Italian linens found in the Vatican and once, the Titanic — and fireplaces light from a bedside switch. Guests can buy the cashmere king-sized "XV" stamped throw draped over the bed for $500.
Andrea Foster, vice president at PKF Consulting, a hospitality firm in San Francisco, said XV Beacon is delivering the personal service that guests want from luxury hotels.
"It's not just about points and discounts, people want to feel welcome and appreciated and recognized for giving you their business," she said. "People are looking to have an experience that is unique to them and that's what XV Beacon does very well."Taryn Luna can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com. Follower her on Twitter @tarynluna.


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|"F*** the taxpayer!"
I hope it's a photoshop. The ridiculousness of an F-35B performing aerial refueling from a V-22 Osprey while hovering and the afterburner on is just too much to believe.
- The fuel being burned is likely faster that that being transferred.
- What would be the possible reason to do this instead of more traditional in-flight refueling?
Whatever. The 10-year-old in me still thinks this is kinda cool.


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This post has been in "draft" status for a long time. You can squint and see the date on the picture. My commitment to intentional thankfulness – a bit off the track. Funny that as I sat in church on Sunday, our pastor quoted the exact Scripture that got me started on this in the first place – Psalm 13.
I will tell you I have still been more mindful of all of his gifts. But as I sat in church, I knew that God had specifically told me that this journey was about expressing my gratitude, not just being grateful. For whatever reason, I'm supposed to write during this journey, not just think.
An interesting thing happened last week – very related. I got an email from a MOPS staff member, asking if I wanted to write an article for an email going out to leaders in November. They wanted something on gratitude, thankfulness, etc. And my first reaction? "I'm too busy to to do that." HELLO??? I'm in the middle of a season of writing about thankfulness, and I'm "too busy" to do it for someone else? I quickly reconsidered. 🙂
It seems everyone I turn these last few days, I'm confronted with something I'm not doing well, and then I'm just as quickly brought a reminder of His beautiful grace. The grace that loves me even when I'm wrong. Grace that rejoices with the tiniest of victories He sees in me – not just the big stuff. Grace that is there waiting for me if I'll just notice.
And so as many of my friends begin their "month of thankfulness" on Facebook, I am back to my writing journey. Random lists for a few days here, because I've got lots of catching up to do.
I'm thankful for…
68. the delight of my children in trick-or-treating
69. a husband who delights to be part of his children's fun
70. good friends and traditions
71. a friend who just feels "like home" for my daughter, even as life circumstances take them apart on a daily basis
72. cozy blankets as the weather turns cool
73. the delighted shrieks of children echoing through the hills during a beautiful fall hike
74. the splendor of fall
75. the warm crackle of an outdoor fire
76. health
77. God's sense of humor
78. His grace
79. His patience with me
80. friends who need nothing but some simple food and conversation


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Portland SAQA Parlor Meeting
Our February meeting for our Portland SAQA was held at Elizabeth Bamberger's home. Twenty members attended the meeting. Our topic for the meeting was "Sewing machines, Needles and Threads." Elizabeth had questions she had received from members, giving us a place to begin our discussion. Before the questions were presented, Jan Duke shared history about the sewing machine's simple beginning to our present-day modern digital machines. Jan Story's handout with illustrations and information about needles gave us valuable information on needle selection. Because of the broadness of our topic, we have decided to continue to explore it further in our March meeting. Jan Story has volunteered to share with the group more information on the different types of thread, needles and stabilizers. Jan teaches beginning free-motion classes and will share more information on free-motion and machines, if time permits. If you have any specific questions that you would like answered in our next meeting on the topic, please email Jan (firstname.lastname@example.com).
Our next meeting will be at Gerrie Congdon's on March 20th, 10-12 am. If anyone wants to contribute a snack for the meeting, please let Gerrie know. There will no longer be meetings after the Columbia FiberArts Guild meetings. We will continue to have Portland Parlor monthly meetings on the third Wednesday of each month.
As we approach our next meeting, please keep thinking about topics you would like to explore at our monthly meetings. Critique and sharing of our individual work is always encouraged. If you want to have a critique, let Gerrie (firstname.lastname@example.com) know as we limit how many critiques we can do at each meeting. Sharing projects is not limited.
Many thanks to all who attended our last meeting and all the information shared. Let's continue to share websites you find enjoyable and informational. Thank you Elizabeth for hosting our last meeting.
Betty Daggett


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Are you going to watch the opening ceremonies tonight?
We will be glued to the TV with popcorn bowls on
our laps - I love the pomp and circumstance, the crazy
outfits and the patriotism shown by athletes who have
dedicated their lives to experience THIS moment!
I can't help but think about the proud moms and dads
in the stands who have also dedicated so much to watch
their child get to the Olympics in their chosen sport -
it has to be amazing!
My cousin Courtney's sister-in-law Debbie McCormick is a
four-time Olympian, representing the United States as a member
of the Women's Curling Team. We have followed Debbie's
career and will be looking for her tonight as she walks with the
U.S. delegation during the opening ceremonies!
And don't ask me if I understand curling, cause I don't. I just
know it's a lot harder than it looks!
My cousin Courtney and her husband Donnie and their two young sons
are traveling to Sochi on Saturday so they can cheer on 'Aunt Debbie'
and the United States athletes. In addition to asking for your prayers
for their safe travels, I wanted you all to know that they have
created a blog and will be sharing their experience in Sochi!
I have posted on my sidebar and you can find it HERE.
In addition to all the media coverage of the games, I
thought it might be fun to share this personal account with
all of you!
Go TEAM USA!
** Remember, you can still enter the TARGET Sweepstakes HERE!
** Remember, you can still enter the TARGET Sweepstakes HERE!


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Stena Skane ferry
Cruise line
STENA LINE (Ferries)
Stena Skane ferry Review and Specifications
Specifications of Stena Skane ferry
|Year built
|1998 / Age : 21
|Flag state
|Navantia Puerto Real Shipyard (Cadiz, Spain)
|cruiseferry (Ro-Pax ship)
|Ferry route / homeports
|21 kn / 39 kph / 24 mph
|Length (LOA)
|199 m / 653 ft
|Beam (width)
|30 m / 98 ft
|Gross Tonnage
|42558 gt
|Freight vehicles
|Last Refurbishment
Review of Stena Skane ferry
MS Stena Skane ferry is a Ro-Pax passenger vessel operated by the Sweden-based company STENA LINE. The ship has max capacity of 600 passengers, 500 cars and 220 lorries. The vessel was launched in 1998 and currently operates on the Sweden-Germany ferry route Trelleborg-Rostock (crossing time 6 hours).
As cruiseferry, Stena Skane has a total of 600 berths in 150 cabins. All staterooms are air-conditioned and with en-suite bathrooms. The cabins (inside and outside) have max capacity of 4 passengers. The ferry company provides bed linens, towels and toiletries. Some staterooms are wheelchair-accessible (adapted for disabled passengers). The ship also offers "pet-friendly" cabins.
Stena Skane stateroom categories include:
- 1-berth / Single Outside (1 lower bed, Picture window)
- 2-berth "Disabled Cabin" / Twin Outside (1 lower bed, 1 bunk bed for assisting person, Picture window)
- 4-berth "Pet Cabin" / Quad Inside (4 beds / 2 lower + 2 upper, no window)
- (103 cabins) 2-berth / Twin Inside (2 bunk beds, no window)
- (40 cabins) 2-berth / Twin Outside (2 bunk beds, Picture window)
- 4-berth "Trucker Cabin" / Quad Inside (4 bunk beds / 2 lower + 2 upper, no window)
- 4-berth Family Cabin / Quad Outside (4 bunk beds / 2 lower + 2 upper, Picture window)
- 2-berth / Deluxe Outside (double bed, 2 windows, minibar, flat TV)
- All cabins are equipped with the luxury DUX beds and mattresses, Hansgrohe bathroom faucets and shower heads, phones, desk (mirrored vanity table with chair), open wardrobe.
For reserved seating, passengers can upgrade to the Stena Plus Lounge. Reserved seat deals are inclusive of airliine type seats (fully reclining leather armchairs), complimentary hot and cold beverages (coffee, specialty teas, soft drinks, wine by the glass), snacks, newspapers, magazines.
All passengers must vacate their staterooms 30 min prior to homeport arrival.
Shipboard dining and entertainment options
As facilities, the Stena Skane ship offers:
- Metropolitan Grill (serves hot food, fish and chips, pizza, jacket potato, pie and mash. Kids menus, vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free meals are also available.
- Barista Coffee Bar (patisserie / specialty coffee bar selling sandwiches, cakes, pastries, fruit salads, yoghurt, ice cream, hot / cold drinks)
- Metropolitan Bar (serves a range of wines and European beers)
- Children's Room (indoor softplay playground for kids) is fitted with large TV for watching cartoons, toys and games, and offers supervised activities.
- Cinema (tickets can be purchased from Information Desk on Lobby Deck)
- Teen Town (video games room with arcade machines)
- Truckers Lounge (truck drivers only bar lounge and restaurant)
- Stena Shopping Center (gifts, souvenirs, spirits, wines, tobaccos, brand perfumes and cosmetics, skincare products, leather goods, toys, confectionery, fashion clothing and accessories, gadgets and electronics, designer watches, sunglasses and jewelry, convenience goods and travel essentials). Onboard retail shopping promotions are often held and provide up to 50% discounted pricing on big brand merchandize.
- Health Club (Spa with massage and sauna rooms)
- free Wi-Fi service, ATM / cash machine (next to Information Desk / Reception).
- Dog Hotel (booths for dogs with outdoor exercise area)
- Forward-midship on top deck (Heli Deck) there is a helipad - helicopter landing area used in cases of emergency.
- All bars and lounges are fitted with large flat TVs and comfortable seating.
All onboard emergency instructions are displayed in staterooms, on the TV screens and at the ship's assembly stations (aka muster stations). Life jackets are issued at the assembly stations. In case of emergency, the use of elevators / passenger lifts is forbidden.
STENA ferry deals
Follows a list of discounts and special offers provided by Stena Line (direct bookings only).
- On the routes Holland-UK (Hook of Holland-Harwich, day voyages only), Denmark-Norway (Frederikshavn-Oslo, Monday to Friday only), Denmark-Sweden (Grenaa-Varberg) and Germany-Sweden (Rugen Island / Sassnitz-Trelleborg and Rostock-Trelleborg), passengers can ferry caravans free of charge. This discount applies to the car plus caravan fares and can't be combined with other offers.
- Motorhomes can be ferried between UK and Holland priced as cars (day voyages only).
- STENA's train and ferry deals offer discounted pricing on train travel to London (fares subject to availability). STENA issues e-tickets (not separate train tickets) and the passenger's self-printed e-ticket serves as train ticket. Dutch Railways tickets (to and from the port) can't be included in the ferry booking. These e-tickets are not valid on private UK rail carriers. Intercity Direct and ICE trains are with extra charge.
- Special meals (vegan, vegetarian, kosher, halal food, gluten- or lactose-free foods) can be pre-ordered on the UK-Holland route Harwich-Hook of Holland. All the ingredients used for these special meals are verified by their manufacturers. Vegetarian meals contain dairy products, eggs, vegetables. Muslim meals don't contain pork (or by-products) as well as food containing alcohol. Special food orders must be made 48 hours prior departure (via email upon booking or by calling +31 (0)174 - 315 811).
- In 2013, the ships Britannica and Hollandica were equipped each with 2 electric car charging points (3,7 kW 16A, Euro standard Type 2). However, these charging points can't be pre-booked. Charging an electric car on the ship is free of charge and takes 4-6 hours. Only on the ships Britannica and Hollandica are available change machines (ATM by GWK Travelex) located in the lobby area (Deck 9, opposite the Reception Desk).
- Only on the ships serving the Denmark-Norway route (Frederikshavn-Oslo) there are power connections (at fee) for caravan fridges and freezers.
- Hand luggage restrictions per person (carried in the ship's public areas) are max dimensions 60x50x40 cm and up to 12 kg. Foot passengers are allowed to bring only 2 pieces of extra luggage (up to 20 kg), checked-in on day voyages (unless there is a booked cabin). Car passengers must leave their luggage in the vehicle. Remember that car decks are closed during the voyage. Any extra baggage will be surcharged.
- All STENA ships allow boarding with LPG-fueled vehicles ("liquefied petroleum gas").
- The company doesn't allow 36 weeks pregnant women to travel, as well as 34 weeks pregnant when expecting more then one baby.
- Passengers with restricted mobility will be assisted prior departure and also onboard. Such passengers must contact the company's staff at least 48 hours priod departure (via email or by calling +31 (0)174-315811). Wheelchair passengers must arrive at the port at least 2 hours prior departure and go to the company's check-in desk.
- Bicycles can be ferried (at fee) on all STENA ships and on all routes.
- Tickets with blank return date are not offered. However, it is possible to book "open ticket" with a temporary date, that can be changed later to the actual return date.
- STENA LINE's deals are categorized as "Economy", "Flexi" and "Premium". ECONOMY fares are always the cheapest, but with an amendment fee and without refund for changes and cancellations. FLEXI fares allow changes to be made to your booking at no cost. Passengers only pay the difference in fare, with the option of full refund for canceling. PREMIUM fares (depending on routes) offer different bonus perks, such as express boarding and disembarkation, Stena Plus Lounge seats, included Breakfast. PREMIUM deals are not available on the routes Sassnitz / Rostock-Trelleborg, Grenaa-Varberg, Nynashamn-Ventspils (Latvia), and Travemunde-Liepaja (Latvia). PREMIUM fares on the route Hook of Holland-Harwich are inclusive of Stena Plus Lounge seat and Breakfast (on night voyages only).
Pets on the ship
Pets (dogs, cats and ferrets) can be ferried on all STENA ships, but some requirements depend on itinerary (destination).
- Pets are not allowed in passenger cabins, unless the stateroom is "pet friendly" (usually 2-bed dog cabin).
- All ships have a dog toilet.
- At all times during the voyage, dogs must be leashed and muzzled, and never left alone.
- Guide dogs travel for free and are allowed on all passenger decks and in the owners' cabin (but must wear harness or jacket).
- On STENA ferries serving Scandinavian routes (to Sweden, Norway, Latvia) must have valid EU pet passport with standard information about the animal's identity, vaccinations (other treatments). Pets also must have approved microchip (or tattoo) and rabies vaccination by an authorized veterinarian. Pets travelling to Norway must be treated for tapeworm. Passengers with pets must arrive at the port at least 1 hour prior departure.
- On STENA ferries to England and Ireland, passengers with pets must arrive at the port at least 2 hours prior departure. For all other routes this time is 1 - 1,5 hours. All animals are subject to the UK Pet Travel scheme rules and must be at least 15 weeks old. EU pet passport and microchips are required. Car passengers can ferry up to 5 animals (per vehicle). These cars receive a colored hanger (placed on the windscreen rear-view mirror until customs are cleared in each port). Pets in vehicles must remain inside at all times. Foot passengers are allowed up to 5 pets, but pre-booking onboard kennel is required. Children travelling with an animal must be 16 years old. When traveling with 6 or more animals, they must be at least 6 months old.
- All STENA ships have onboard kennels, of which 7 big (100x97x94 cm), 2x medium-sized (100x64x108 cm) and 16 small (100x65x50 cm). All cabins provide TV monitoring of the kennels. Visits of the pet during the voyage are recommended.
Car decks
Cargo decks serve road vehicles (cars, trucks, trailers) and trains (freight decks 2 to 7). On Deck 2 there are 1 train track (204 lanemeters) plus 204 lanemeters for trailers. Main Train Deck (3) has capacity 916 lanemeters for trains (6 rail tracks) plus 1011 lanemeters for trailers. Lower Trailer Deck (5) has capacity 1162 lanemeters. Upper Trailer Deck (7) has capacity 918 lanemeters. Access to Deck 5 is by a massive lift (platform length 104 m / 341 ft, lifting capacity 816 tons). The ship has 2 car decks (6 and 7).
Follows a list of car decks related safety procedures:
- Disabled passengers or those requiring specificassistance should visit the ship's Information Desk (open 24-hours).
- Apply handbrake and place the vehicle in park or 1st gear position. Switch off the ignition, alarm, electrical equipment, headlights. Gas cylinders, if any, must be switched off. Lock the vehicle.
- From your vehicle take only valuables and essential hand baggage.
- Make a note of your vehicle's location and garage deck number / stairway before leaving the car deck.
- Access to the ship's vehicle (cargo) decks during the voyage is prohibited.
- Smoking on vehicle decks, as well as in cabins and passenger loungesis forbidden.
- Wait for the onboard announcement before returning to your vehicle.
- In order to avoid air pollution, don't start the engine until instructed.
The ship operator Stena Line (founded in 1962, headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden) is one of the world's largest ferry companies, providing freight and travel services on the Northern Europe's routes that connect UK, Ireland, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Holland, Norway, Sweden, Poland. Stena Line current fleet includes the ships Mecklenburg Vorpommern, Scottish Viking, Stena Adventurer, Stena Baltica, Stena Britannica, Stena Europe, Stena Flavia, Stena Germanica, Stena Hollandica, Stena Horizon, Stena Jutlandica, Stena Lagan, Stena Mersey, Stena Nautica, Stena Saga, Stena Scandinavica, Stena Skane, Stena Spirit, Stena Superfast VII, Stena Superfast VIII, Stena Superfast X, Stena Vision.
Stena Skane ferry wiki
The vessel was launched on August 9, 1997, and delivered on June 22, 1998. It is named after Sweden's southernmost province. The ship was designed by the company Knud Hansen (Denmark) and is powered by 4x MAN marine diesel engines (model 8L48-60, combined output 28,98 MW).
When launched, this ship was the world's largest RoRo-Pax-Train ferry. It has cargo capacity of 3295 lanemeters for road vehicles (cars, trucks and trailers, max weight 2630 tons) plus 1110 lanemeters for freight trains (rolling stock, max weight 3330 tons).
This ferry was specifically designed to serve SCANDLINES on the Baltic Sea route Rostock-Trelleborg, achieving crossing time of 75 min (at 21 km speed) which service allows 5 round-trips to be operated each day. The ship's propulsion consists of 3 thrusters and 2 controllable pitch propellers. To be able to access Port Trelleborg via its long and narrow channel, the vessel has a duplicate (bow-located) rudder and a duplicate (aft-located) Navigation Bridge allowing it to navigate in reverse.


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WHAT'S PLAYING: Alicia Keys "Tell You Something (Nana's Reprise)"
So, I've put my first novel aside for a bit and started work on a new book. It's not going well.
The words are coming, but the little tingle I get when a story finally clicks into place is missing. With my first book, most mornings I'd sit down in front of the computer and the words would just tumble out of my head, one after the other, like some sort of shimmering fountain of awesomeness.
Awash with inspiration, I'd write for hours, stopping only to answer the demands of my coffee-filled bladder. I'd get up, only to discover that my legs had fallen asleep, and lie there, trying not to piss myself or scream as the pins and needles worked their torturous way through my lower extremities.
Those were the days.
When it comes to this new book, instead of a shimmering fountain of awesomeness, I get a viscous deluge of shit. It's depressing. Like I need a nap after every 2-3 thousand words type of depressing.
Dead moms, madness, ghosts, monsters, trauma, prejudice, all my personal demons are in there. Add to that the knowledge that I'll have to go back and tease some kind of hope out of all this despair, and you have yourself one tired, morose writer.
Don't get me wrong. The book is good, probably the best thing I've ever written. (Which, at this point, is not saying much. But I'm saying it anyway. So, shut up.) More importantly, it's the story I need to tell now.
Still, in the words of the immortal B.B. King, the thrill is gone.
I love writing, but days like this remind me that it's a job, which requires work. That's why I spend six hours a day slogging through this first draft, pushing through resistance, and forcing the words out when they refuse to emerge on their own.
Because I'm a writer. And that's what writers do.
In the meantime, if I want thrills and tingles, I'll call my boyfriend.


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* TSX up 115.10 points at 11,327.49
* All 10 TSX index sectors drive early gain
* Strong corporate earnings anticipated (Adds details and comments)
By Frank Pingue
TORONTO, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Toronto's main stock index was comfortably higher on Monday morning in a broad rally as anticipation of strong corporate earnings persuaded investors to return to equities after last week's selloff.
Gold-mining companies led the rally with shares of Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO) rising 1.6 percent to C$40.17, while Goldcorp (G.TO) shares were 1.3 percent higher at C$42.60.
Investors also moved back into heavily weighted financials after the sector slipped last week, driving the group up 1 percent early in the session.
Shares of Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) rallied 0.8 percent to C$57.48, while Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) shares were up 1 percent at C$68.19.
At 10:10 a.m. (1410 GMT), the S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was up 115.10 points, or 1.03 percent, at 11,327.49.
The TSX slipped 2 percent last week but investors jumped back in to start the week ahead of quarter-end on Wednesday, which will be followed shortly by the release of quarterly results from Canadian companies.
"There really seems to be a buy on dips mentality," said Ian Nakamoto, director of research at MacDougall, MacDougall & MacTier. "The economic indicators continue to be good, I think the earnings will be good and so the undertone is good even though we've moved up a lot and people keep looking for that big correction."
The TSX is up 51 percent since falling to a five-year low in March.
($1=$1.09 Canadian) (Editing by Peter Galloway)


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Humanitarian Disarmament in Tajikistan
The landmine and explosive remnants of war ( ERW ) contamination in Tajikistan is spread over the Central Region as a result of the civil conflict (1992-1997), and along the Tajik-Afghan Border (1991-1998) as a result of mines laid by Russian forces. There are currently almost half a million people living in mine-affected areas in Tajikistan. Of the total known casualties, almost 30 % were children. Tajikistan is one of the poorest countries in Central Asia and has very little arable land. Inaccessible land due to landmine and ERW contamination is therefore very critical to Tajikistan's civilian population.
In late 2009, Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) was invited by the Government of Tajikistan and the Tajikistan Mine Action Centre (TMAC) to conduct land release ( LR ) including non-technical survey ( NTS ), technical survey ( TS ) and clearance in Tajikistan, setting up a Mine Action programme in July 2010 and commencing field operations by November. NPA aims to support Tajikistan in fulfilling its obligation in accordance with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty.
Only 7 % of land in Tajikistan is usable for agriculture due to its mountainous terrain- the fact that more than 10 million m2 of Tajikistan's land remains suspected of contamination is therefore detrimental to subsistence and economic development.
In 2014 NPA deployed its first female demining team in Tajikistan, the only female demining team in the country and the Central Asia Region.
Tajikistan has some of the world's highest (3,700 m) and least accessible minefields in the world.
NPA Humanitarian Disarmament (HD) Tajikistan has since 2011 to date as at January 2018, released a total of 6348542 m2, completing 94 and suspended 5 tasks while discovering 22681 AP mines, 827 UXO and 120 Clusters.


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Many people know the story of amateur astronomer Dr. Goethe Link and how his amazing personal observatory came to be here in Morgan County, but there's another notable scientist who worked from the site, nestled among the hills between Martinsville and Mooresville. Her name was Helen Link, the wife of Dr. Link, and she was, among other things, a botanist. One day in the 1940's, Dr. Link gifted his wife Helen with a bushel basket of ordinary daffodil bulbs.
Helen's love of the cheerful flowers blossomed on the grounds of their home and observatory - literally! Helen planted thousands of daffodils at the site, in naturalized gardens. Over the years, she began to experiment, eventually developing many of her own unique hybrids. There are more than a dozen registered cultivars developed by Mrs. Link, including Towhee (winner of a national best-of-show), Lucy Jane (named for a stepdaughter), Tutu (a flaring, all-white variety)and Rainbow (a pink-cupped variety). Originally educated as a registered nurse, Helen returned to school at the age of 60 to study botany so she could learn as much as possible about her beloved flowers. She became a world renowned expert in exhibiting, judging and hybridizing daffodils. She won many blue ribbons in competition and was awarded the highest honor, the Gold Medal, by the American Daffodil Society, an organization she eventually served for a time as vice president.
Helen's daffodil gardens are open to the public and maintained by the Indiana Daffodil Society, which occasionally sells bulbs that have been culled from the site. Proceeds are used to fund scholarships for students in subjects like biology, botany, landscape architecture or horticulture. Thanks to the Indiana Daffodil Society and the Morgan County Master Gardeners, visitors are welcome to explore the naturalized gardens on the observatory grounds on weekends during the month of April. Visitors are asked to stay on the mowed pathways, leave any pets at home and supervise young children to protect the blooms so that all can enjoy them.
In addition to the weekend hours of the daffodil gardens, the Link Observatory Space Science Institute offers monthly programs including open telescope viewing on the first Saturday of each month, a multi-media lecture at the Mooresville Public Library followed by telescope viewing, and a daytime hours open house. Parking may be limited during telescope viewing events. If you plan to visit the daffodil gardens, park in the small parking area adjacent to the Observatory. Follow the path to the right through the trees to access the gardens (shown below).
No matter how many varieties of daffodils there were planted on the rolling hills of the Links' property, Helen Link was adamant about her favorite among the blossoms... "the first one that blooms!"