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Backers - Thank you so much for helping us meet our goal. Please watch for emails and respond promptly to clarify rewards delivery & payment. Your cooperation is critical to meeting the deadlines promised.
Windowfarms let you grow fresh vegetables at home by taking advantage of natural light and climate control indoors. The roots are bathed in nutrients from the sea, preventing food plants from getting root bound (as they do in traditional soil filled containers). You get healthier roots, and fresher, more nutritious vegetables without dirt in small spaces.
By bringing edible gardens into living rooms and kitchens, you learn about where your food comes from while eating the freshest produce available.
We are offering One-Column Windowfarms at a special reduced price to help us meet our production minimums. Normally, our One-Column Windowfarms will cost $119.95, but if you buy on Kickstarter now to help us get started, you will get it for just $99 (plus shipping and handling).
The new Windowfarms systems are made from environmentally friendly plastic and wire. The new design just snaps together, so you can get right to growing. As you can see below, they can either hang from two hooks above your window (left) or stand on their metal base or your sill or floor (right). Over time, we will come out with many more versions but we love this one so much we are already calling it "the Classic."
This website is a little different. Here on Kickstarter you can "preorder" a windowfarm. It lets you help us, a small business with a powerful social mission, pay the startup costs of this new manufacturing project. When you select a reward from the options on the right, you are ordering something that is not made yet. Your credit card will be charged for it on Dec 7, once everyone's orders are in. Then we will take your order along with everyone else's order and money to the manufacturer and they will make all of them! Yours will ship to you or your giftee in March. You will be in the first batch and you will see that that buys you a lot of "street cred" in our community.
HAVE QUESTIONS? Read our Frequently Asked Questions at the bottom of the page in blue.
You don't have to have a green thumb because windowfarms come with a built in social network online. There are already 22,000 of us around the world who are growing in water bottle windowfarms and we are online! You always have someone to talk to about your plants to share your growing experiences with at our.windowfarms.org. Conversations center on identifying the "micro-climate" of your windows and finding a good match amongst the huge varieties of herbs, greens, vegetables, fruits, and medicinals available. It's like the Facebook game, Farmville, but tastier!
If you think you want to start easy. Choose a reward that includes nutrients and baby plant delivery of our favorite, well-tested varieties to ensure that you start off with good baby plants and your Windowfarms are always producing fresh herbs, greens, and other edibles.
Holiday Gifts
Our new Windowfarms will not be ready to ship by the holidays, but your giftee's Windowfarming experience will start on Dec 24. If you tell us you are pre-ordering as a gift, we will send a personalized welcome-to-the community card to your loved one before December 24. The card will include a link to a personalized webpage already set up for his/her windowfarm. Your giftee will be able to begin customizing the page and learning about his/her window's microclimate. He/she will go through Windowfarms 101 by video. At that point, he can select the plants he wants and start meeting other windowfarmers. By the time the windowfarm arrives, your loved one will be ready to grow for real!!
One-Column Classic Windowfarm- $99 + shipping/handling (US & Canada) comes with:
International version does not include timer & pump but does include shipping (see FAQs below)
Four-Column Classic Windowfarm- $269 + shipping/handling comes with one special, slightly larger air pump that runs all four columns and one timer. All other parts come with 4X the quantity.
Baby plant and nutrient rewards come at several reward levels. Some are for one shipment, others are for multiple quarterly shipments. Each shipment includes:
- Organic and natural sea-derived nutrients from Botanicare's Organicare line, enough to last for one or two crops (about 4 months) and a measuring dropper.
- Disposable water testing strips.
- Baby plants, aka "seedlings," raised by our chef-turned-hydroponic farmer partner, Greg Graft of Grateful Greens. You will have an opportunity to select your plant mix from a variety of fine herbs and salad greens after the campaign closes. Common varieties include: Genovese Basil, a peppery watercress, perfect-caesar romaine, red leaf lettuce, tangy red-veined sorrel, lolla rosa lettuce, arugula, rosemary, thyme, oregano, stevia, mint and much more. We are always trying new varieties. Seedlings are about 3-4" tall and their roots are grown in hydroponic root cubes. You just nestle them into the clay pellets and turn your pump timer on! You can harvest from the same plant for 2-4 months depending on the variety.
Time: Windowfarms will ship in March. Bags will ship in January.
One-column Windowfarm: Please add $15 within the continental US, $19 for Canada, Hawaii, and Alaska. International shipping included in the International Reward.
Four-column Windowfarm: Please add $35 within the continental US, $42 for Canada, Hawaii, and Alaska. Not available internationally.
Baby plants and nutrients cannot be shipped internationally because of customs restrictions. Please see below for all international frequently asked questions.
The pictures of the Windowfarms systems are of prototypes. Small changes to improve your experience will most definitely occur before you receive your Windowfarm! Please contact us if you have questions.
Funding period
- (20 days)


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SanDisk Launches New Marketing Campaign to Build Awareness and Educate Consumers about Using a Storage Card to Get the Most From Their Mobile Phone
LOS ANGELES, CA October 29, 2007 - SanDisk Corporation's (NASDAQ: SNDK) launch party on the famous Sunset Strip this past weekend was filled with an exclusive group of celebrities, musicians, SanDisk key clients and the world's media enjoying VIP treatment in three of the most exclusive venues on Sunset Strip.
Lucky guests were treated to exclusive performances from Linkin Park, Common, Z-Trip, Supernatural, Cut Chemist and The Crystal Method, all of whom performed in the top three legendary clubs in Los Angeles. The SanDisk event was the first time the Viper Room, The Roxy and the Key Club were simultaneously reserved for a single event by one company.
Members of the media can download images courtesy of SanDisk: http://www.digitalrailroad.net/AppleRidgeFilms/gpgs.aspx?pgid=12373872&e=0&p=0. Video footage of the evening's highlights can be downloaded as a digital file from Businesswire or is available from SanDisk as a videotape (NTSC and PAL).
The event celebrated the launch of SanDisk's 'Wake Up Your Phone™, marketing campaign to create awareness and educate people about how they can use the card slot on their mobile phones to "Wake Up Their Phone." To increase awareness for this global initiative, the company launched two new websites with more information:
Michael Romero, Senior Director Global Retail Marketing at SanDisk's Mobile Consumer Solutions Division, commented, "While many people may have a mobile phone with a built-in MP3 player, digital camera, video player/recorder or other storage-intensive features, surprisingly few realize with the simple addition of a large capacity storage card, they can use their phone to listen to thousands of songs or take thousands of photos or watch hours of video. Our goal is to help people to get the most out of their phone by using a memory card. The growing numbers who do find they have more experiences to share with friends, family and social networking sites."
SanDisk's 8GB1 memory cards are available in both microSDHC™ and Memory Stick Micro™ (M2) formats and allows consumers to store more than 2,000 digital songs, or more than 5,000 high-resolution pictures, or up to 5 hours of high-quality MPEG 4 video2. SanDisk's 8GB microSDHC and M2 cards are now available in major retail outlets worldwide with suggested retail prices of $139.99 and $149.99 respectively.
SanDisk is the original inventor of flash storage cards and is the world's largest supplier of flash data storage card products, using its patented, high-density flash memory and controller technology. SanDisk is headquartered in Milpitas, California, and has operations worldwide, with more than half its sales outside the U.S.
1 gigabyte (GB) = 1 billion bytes
2 Approximations based on JPEG images on 5 MP camera with average file size of 1.5 megabytes (for pictures); 4 minute songs at 128 kbps MP3 (for songs) and 5 hours of MPEG 4 video (30 frames per second, 640x480, 3Mb/sec. for video). Actual numbers may vary.
SanDisk's product and executive images can be downloaded from www.sandisk.com/corporate/media.asp
SanDisk's web site/home page address: www.sandisk.com
SanDisk and the SanDisk logo are trademarks of SanDisk Corporation, registered in the United States and other countries. Wake Up Your Phone is a trademark of SanDisk Corporation. microSDHC is a trademark. Memory Stick Micro is a trademark of Sony Corporation. Other brand names mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and may be the trademarks of their respective holder(s).
|SanDisk Corporation
|Mike Wong
|Solid Ground PR
|(408) 801-1240
|Gijs Roeloffzen / Chris Owen
|+31 20 419 84 00

subset: commoncrawl


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Story highlights
- American's problems can be fixed if management wants to make changes
- The airline must convince passengers that its seats are safe and its planes will arrive on time
- Employees are the likely source of most solutions to the airline's problems
Loose airline seats. Flights that are delayed or canceled. The shifting blame game of who's responsible for American Airlines' ever-growing problems.
At the end of the day, travelers want to get from Point A to Point B safely and on time. They don't want to worry that their seats might come loose or that management and labor can't seem to get along.
American Airlines and any other company that can't fulfill its core mission on a regular basis, whether it's safe and efficient airline travel or safe peanut butter or cynanide-free Tylenol, may not be long for this world.
Clumsy fliers spilling Diet Coke and coffee on plane floors and seats, causing "gunked-up" seat-locking mechanisms, hardly seem to constitute a root cause.
"These are solvable problems,"says Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter, who wrote about the mid-1990s turnaround of Continental Airlines in "Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End."
"You have to take the right operational and strategic moves. You have to rebuild confidence. But it's by acting very quickly, not by a nice note to customers."
Troubled companies can be turned around, says Kanter, if executives take specific steps to address their problems and move forward. Add your own suggestions for how American Airlines can keep or earn your business in the comments below.
Admit what's broken and fix it
There's no doubt that American is having problems with its seats. However, Kanter says that's probably just the most obvious problem.
"The company needs to admit the facts publicly, put them on the table fully and take responsibility at the very highest levels of the company," she says.
And it's probably not just the seats.
"This is a quality failure of a massive kind and has to signal other quality problems," she says. "The situation is always worse than you think. There are a lot of other things that have deteriorated that you don't know about. You have to be digging deeper because I bet there have to be other things going on."
Turn to employees for solutions
Any solutions must include pilots, flight attendants and mechanics, says Kanter. It's often the front-line employees who really understand what's wrong and can brainstorm the solutions to these problems.
It may be too hard to get current management to turn to employees for solutions, when employees are rightly or wrong being blamed for so many of the problems.
"These antagonisms have been building for many years," says Kanter. "In a turnaround, it's management that has to change because they'll never regain the trust of employees."
Spend money on the core business
With limited money to spend, "the airline must shift investment away from things that are not directly related to passenger and (front-line) employee experience," says Kanter.
"If that means some corporate staff need to have smaller departments, so be it. They should immediately shift company resources to people delivering the product and those experiencing it."
You need happy front line employees to deliver a good product to your customers, she says. And in the case of an airline, that product needs to be safe. "Every day people are deciding whether or not to board that plane and every day they can make different choices. The American board and top management need to take this incredibly seriously."
Many of you fly American Airlines frequently. What would you tell American or any airline to do to keep your business? What basic requirements do you have? What extras would you like, and would you pay for them? If you prefer another domestic or foreign airline, please share specific experiences.


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Cancelling car lease order
Home › Forums › Car finance › Cancelling car lease order
Tagged: Audi, cancellation rights, leasing
This topic contains 70 replies, has 2 voices, and was last updated by Andrew 4 months, 1 week ago.
Hi I have a question about a car lease order. In March I signed a vehicle order form for a car leasing company to source and arrange finance for a car. In this agreement it states that if I cancel I must pay £1,500. The initial rental is only £1,100. I find £1,500 an unfair price.
I have still had no notification of a build date for my car and my ETA was for 15th October, which is now just over a month away.
Is there any way I can get out of paying the £1500 fee ?
Or any other advice.
Hi Al. Well, you signed the agreement six months ago, so it's a bit late to complain about the cancellation fee now. If you don't like what's being offered, don't sign.
In terms of whether you can cancel the agreement and not have to pay any cancellation fee, it would depend on what the agreement said in terms of delivery time. If there was an estimated delivery date, then they are obliged to deliver within a certain period of time from that date (usually 28 days). If they don't deliver within the written window, you can walk away and are entitled to any deposit back.
If you kick up a fuss to the leasing company, they will usually drop the cancellation fee, especially if the car is late.
I went to an Audi Garage to look at the cars before getting a lease. I went for a testdrive in the car I wanted and asked the Salesman what colour the car was-to which he replied Nano Grey. I wrote this down and went to a leasing company to order the car I wanted and that colour. Signed all paperwork. It went through a different Audi Garage and I got delivery of my vehicle. Wrong colour! It is Nano Grey but the but not the Grey of the car I had the testdrive in. The Salesman has told me the wrong colour! I've now got a lease car for 3 years in a colour I don't want. I spoke to Audi to say I didn't want to sign for the car when it was delivered but they said 'Our driver needs to get back-see how it goes for a couple of weeks.' I have been emailing them and they say as they fulfilled the order I asked for-they would charge me around £3000 to come out of my lease and get the correct colour car. I've asked them if they would just do a like-for-like swap and send me a black car instead as an option but they say they won't. Where do I go from here? If the Audi Salesman on the testdrive had told me the correct colour-I wouldn't have this problem. I've had the car since 2nd June.
Hi Louise. The leasing company could not care less about what an Audi salesman may or may not have told you. All they will care about is what is in the contract, and you ordered a Nano Grey car. They are not going to change it now.
The Audi dealership is not going to care that they may have given you incorrect information since you didn't buy the car from them anyway, so you are not their customer and therefore not their problem.
I guess you learn to love Nano Grey, or get it wrapped in another colour (which will cost you a considerable amount of money).
Hi Stuart
Thanks for getting back to me. My reason for now not wanting to lease a car is my circumstances have changed.
I have not yet handed over any deposit. This is due once the car is delivered.
At the moment I have only signed an agreement for the leasing company to source a vehicle and finance for me. There has been no formal agreement as to timescale for delivery- just an expected delivery date.
If you've not given them any money, they will struggle to take any off you. You would need to check your paperwork to find out exactly how and when any fees would fall due.
Hi Stuart
The paperwork is very little, basically one sheet of paper detailing the car, proposed monthly payments. The part about cancellation fee states that by signing I have entered into a agency and supply contract (for them to source a vehicle and arrange finance) and that cancellation incurs a fee of £1500. Presumably this is for their costs incurred for sourcing me a vehicle/ finance offer. My issue is I think this is a high figure.
Hi iv recently gone to buy a car, iv signed an order form for the car to be delivered and to find finance, the finance have declined and asked for a guarantor. Iv recently changed my mind about the car due to finding a better deal can I cancel? Iv not provided a guarantor.
You should be able to cancel the order and get any deposit back as you have been declined finance. If the contract cannot be completed then it is void.
Bear in mind that if you have been declined finance by one car finance company, there is a good chance you will be declined finance again by another car finance company.
Thanks Stuart
Hi Stuart,
I am in a situation in which order was signed that had a delivery date binding validity of the order (ie. "unless delivery exceeds the above estimated date without your consent"). I had complained extensively about the delivery date and when they finally provide a proposed finance agreement it was 5 business days from a delivery date falling on a Sunday. They also stated that they would delivery the car 7-10 days after the signed agreement was received. I signed the agreement but it was rejected multiple times saying there were mistakes int he way the forms were filled. After two weeks of filling forms and sending first class next day delivery (they would not accept electronic copies, which they were happy to do for their binding order form) I finally decided to cancel the order all together. Now they are telling me that I owe a total of £780 (180 document fee+ 2 months of rental). They are also advising me that the Consumer laws won't apply to this order because they are not applying the fees to a finance agreement…do you have any advise please?
Hi Marie. Leasing rules are different to those for HP and PCP finance agreements, so you will need to check your contract for specific clauses about cancellation fees.
If the finance agreement was never accepted, I can't see how they can charge you for two months' rental. Or was it finally accepted and then you cancelled?
By the sound of everything in your explanation, you should be able to avoid the fees if you kick up enough of a fuss with the finance company. Was the order placed at a franchised dealer or via a broker?
Dear Stuart, thank you for your quick response,
This was an online broker who actually never ordered the car. they asked me to substitute the car I had chosen with an upgrade (they had in stock) to try and shorten the delivery.
there was no proper contract signed. I only signed the quote (the precise title is Personal Contract Hire Quotation) and the order form which has a clause (titled Quotation Acceptance / Vehicle Order) with this verbiage 'I/we understand that by signing this form, I/we agree to order and accept delivery of the above vehicle/s under the terms specified once a
credit line has been established. I/we may be liable for a cancellation fee which is equivalent to the value of the initial rental should I/we
choose to cancel the order unless, delivery exceeds the above estimated date without your consent. This is not a credit agreement and all
proposals will be subject to acceptance by credit underwriters. Plan will endeavour to adhere to the required delivery date and relay delivery
information to me as provided by the manufacturer, although no guarantee can be given.'
They are not working with me except offering a discounted cancellation fee (£500) if I pay by 15th of July. This alone makes me kind of wonder about the validity of this charge. Grateful for any advice you will provide. Marie
I suspect it's not enforceable, but I'm not a legal expert.
Visit legalbeagles.info, where there is an excellent forum with people who can probably give you more reliable advice.
Thank you very much Stuart! I will give it a shot :) Have a great weekend!
Hi Stuart, I'm hoping you can advise me on a similar predicament I'm currently in with a leasing company.
I ordered a car for an 18 month lease, 18 monthly payments with no deposit on the 9th June of this year. I was advised at the time that it was expected by late July or early August. I had to hand back my company car at the end of June so prepared myself to be car-less for a month. I paid the £200 admin fee and returned my order form.
However, when I chased for updates on the order, the estimated delivery date became later and later, and eventually was confirmed to arrive in the UK 7th October, with delivery to me expected around the 14th. At this point I asked if I could swap my order slot with someone else, or take a stock car, but was told this was not an option.
My company have since introduced a great deal in their car scheme, which I'd like to change to, as I've lost all faith in the leasing company.
Today I advised that I would like to cancel my order and requested that they pay me back my administration fee as they could not provide the car within the one month time frame that was promised (wording on my order form is below)
I/We hereby agree to accept delivery of the above vehicle, within one month of the requested delivery date, subject to availability and satisfactory completion of finance documentation.
I/We fully understand that the terms and conditions set out below are subject to revision due to either, "National Vehicle Solutions" being unable to obtain the above vehicle at the figure upon which their quotation has been based, or should there be an increase in funding and/or manufacturing price increase/charges beyond "National Vehicle Solutions " control. I/We shall have the option to cancel in this case and any monies paid will be refunded.
By signing this form you are entering into an Agency Contract (for the supply of services) and a Supply Contract (for the supply of goods). National Vehicle Solutions will act on your behalf to source the vehicle(s) as described as above. You will not have the right (under Distance Selling Regulations) to cancel the Agency Contract once we have begun to source the vehicle(s).
In the event of me/us canceling this order for any reason, other than stated or failing to take delivery within the specified period I/We shall be liable to pay a cancellation fee of £ 500.00 to "National Vehicle Solutions ". In the event of National Vehicle Solutions "" being unable to obtain the vehicle then "National Vehicle Solutions" will not be responsible for any losses you may have incurred.
They have come back to say they now may be able to get a stock car (someone else's cancelled order) which matches my very standard spec, and that if I choose to cancel I have to pay £500 as they will be able to deliver the car before the "one month" runs out (end of September). But it seems so unfair that this option was only given to me when I asked to cancel, and was denied before!
I then asked if I could transfer the contract to my sister as an alternative, at which point they said that the rates had gone up and she'd have to pay more (including a £1,200 deposit!). So I went back to say I don't need the admin fee back, but I cannot and will not pay the £500 cancellation fee. They said they will continue to source a stock car for me until I give firm notice of my cancellation in writing.
I have lost all trust in the company and want to give my notice of cancellation in writing, but am scared that they can forcibly take the £500 (my bank details were on my finance approval documents) or sue me for losses. Another part of me thinks that they are just expecting me to back down and pay it, and probably wouldn't really take legal action if it came to it.
I commute 25 miles each way for work and am now in a position where I will need to buy something very soon to fill the gap, as I've been unexpectedly left without any car, which has caused me a lot of expense and inconvenience. Had they delivered the car when they said they would I wouldn't have cancelled, but now I have no interest in taking the car or having any further dealings with this company.
Do you have any suggestions as to what my rights are and how I should proceed?
Many thanks in advance!
Hi Carrie. I think you should be able to stick to your guns and hold them to their own contract. Car not supplied as per contract = refund. You will probably have to fight them hard to get what you are owed, but they would hold you to a contract if it was in their favour.
Thanks Stuart.
The thing is that they're now saying they can get me another build slot which will come by the end of September, which in their view is within the one month time slot. But they haven't confirmed a date for me… yet. So should I go ahead and click cancel, and hope that they won't take me to court? Should I push for my £200 admin fee back as well?
Thanks again, I appreciate your advice
Ultimately you can only be guided by what your contract says, since that is what you and they are bound by. For specific legal advice, you could try legalbeagles.info or seek your own legal counsel.
The purpose of the law is to prevent a company keeping a customer on a hook when they can't supply a car. If a better deal comes along elsewhere 5 minutes after you sign a contract and you want to change your mind, that's bad luck.
Hi Stuart,
I was wondering if you could advise me on a similar situation – I found an on-line quote I wanted to take up so contacted the leasing company and completed a contract. However, within a couple of days of placing the order my circumstances changed and I wanted to cancel the order.
As far as I was aware, there is a grace period for any contracts made on-line. I was able to successfully cancel my order but I have been informed I must pay a cancellation fee. This is supposedly to cover the agent's expenses incurred in securing a vehicle for me.
Am I legally obliged to pay the cancellation fee or does the grace period for cancelling the contract mean that I do not have to pay it?
Thanks, Glenn
Hi Glenn. My understanding is that you should have 14 days after the goods are delivered (so 14 days after taking delivery of your car) as a cooling-off period. Have a read of the Consumer Contract Regulations, or visit Legal Beagles and check out their forum, which specialises in consumer legal advice.
Just been through the same thing sign a finance agreement with fords main dealer put a deposit now in a second hand car.
Phone them 5 days later an wanted To cancel .they said I can't phone up the finance company they said I cant I knew I had a 14 day cooling off period they said I don't .
Looking on there main web site it states you can phoned them back they said that means I can find as long as I find a different finance company to pay off the finance fords done for me .
I knee I was 100% within my rites they only wanted to try an exceed the 14 day period but I emailed them to get the ball rolling .
I can go on an but u defferenly have the right to cancel they ended up canceling mine
Hi George. You're right; just because you have a legal right to cancel the agreement, doesn't mean the finance company will make it easy for you to do so…
They kept insisting that the car is yours now all the legal documents arr on your name .
There web site clearly says you have 14 day yo cancel .
They tried to say that means you can find a company at a lower interest rate to transfer the finance .
Thought I was stupid .
Hi,my partner signed a vehicle order form 2 days ago and we got finance for hire perchase, we put down an £500 deposit, and they said the finance had gone through, but the pre contract details are different to the order form details. The cash price on the order form is £16,729 and on the pre contract finance agreement the cash price £18,258.98? Now from the original price of £16,729 even with the added extras it doesn't add up to the £18,258. But there are other flaws in the contract for the finance, with these flaws being on the contract can I get out of getting this car? Also when I phoned the Volkswagon financial services they said I'd have to pay the £13,757.98 to get out of it which is what we was borrowing, but even that is wrong on the contract because from the beginning at £16,729 plus the extras, and minus the £1000 discount they said they was giving us doesn't add up to £13,757.98 We should be borrowing £12,807.99, there's a difference of £949.99 and no explanation of what that is? I hope this makes sense and you can help? Thanks
Hi Kim. Firstly, you have 14 days from contract activation to cancel the agreement, so saying you would have to pay £13,757.98 is not strictly correct. If you already have the car then you would have to come up with the cash to keep it, because cancelling the finance doesn't cancel the vehicle order.
In terms of the numbers not matching up as they should and not being consistent, go back to the dealership and query it. There may be a reason why it looks different or is laid out differently (particularly if there are discounts or deposit contributions involved), but they should be able to explain it clearly if it is all legit.
Ordered an automatic 3 series m sport car under contract hire and went to collect it last night. Car wasn't automatic and I didn't take it off the lot but I had signed paperwork last night before they showed me the car and dealer is trying to get me to take it. Do I have a 14 day cooling off period in which to cancel the sale and credit?
Hi Patrick. No, you absolutely don't have to take it. If you have documents which show you ordered a car with an automatic transmission and they have ordered a car with a manual gearbox, that's not your problem.
They can make any excuses they want, but if they ordered the wrong car then it's their responsibility to fix it. Having you sign all the paperwork before showing you the car to check over is either stupid or deliberately deceptive.
Lindsey seatter
Hi I ordered a lease hire car 10/2. Estimated delivery 10-12 weeks. 16 weeks later I'm still waiting with no further estimate of delivery. Contract states it may be sooner or later and to cancel is £500. Ive had no car for 4 weeks and I'm now in position it's affecting my job
Surely central UK vehicle leasing can't leave it open ended with no date for delivery. There are very few updates and I'm constantly chasing. I've paid £180 non refundable administration fee too. What can I do? X
Hi Lindsay. Your rights will depend on what your contract states. If the leasing company is in breach of contract, then you can cancel it. If the contract is open-ended, they can keep you waiting.
Sales contracts have specific clauses which allow a customer to cancel order if the seller does not provide the car within a certain timeframe from what is stated on the order (usually 28 days). But leases are not bound by the same laws, as you are not buying a car.
Caroline Monk
Hi I ordered my Kadjar at the end of June. It was meant to be built in July and arrive by the 1st September. I then recieved an email from the dealer to say it will be built in late August and be with me mid September. Todady they contacted me to say it will be built the 9th September and arrive late sept- early octover and this still might change as in france renult close for a period of time. I am paying for the car outright and have made a 500 depisot. As my order has been changed 3 times am I in my right to cancel this if they change my date anymore. My paperword says the 1st September.
Many thanks.
Hi Caroline. Your sales contract should have a clause in the terms and conditions which allow a customer to cancel their order if the seller does not provide the car within a certain timeframe from what is stated on the order (usually 28 days).
The trick will be finding written proof which says that the car was due to arrive on 1 September. You said you have an email advising mid-September, but you will need written advice advising earlier than that if you want to cancel the order now. If the earliest date you have in writing is mid-September, then they basically have until mid-October to deliver the vehicle.
Caroline monk
Hi Stuart,
Thanks for your reply. I have my order form which states that the Estimated delivery date is the 1st September.
I contacted them yesterday to say I need my car by the end of September as I am starting my own business, they have offered to lend me a car if mine hasn't come in by then but I feel like they can take the mick and keep pushing it back. But If I have legal rights to say that the date should have been the first if it hasn't arrived after the 28 days then I am within my rights to cancel my order. They still haven't even answered my question as to why it has been pushed back so many times either. Thank you caroline
Assuming your contract has a 28-day clause, you should be able to cancel the order if the vehicle is not delivered by 29 September.
Was wondering if you could help me 8 days ago I went to test drive a car and since filled in an application for pre approved finance on a PCH agreement with VW and then signed a this is the vehicle I'd like to order form. There was no small print just photocopied forms and was adviced that this was just to get the ball rolling and could change my mind. Since then I have changed my mind and want to keep my current car because after looking at my finances I can't afford the car I've ordered. I've still got to sign the official finance papers a few weeks before the car arrives and the sales man is saying I can't cancel now the car has been ordered and all he can do is defer the payments for six months but either way I'm having the car if the finance is cancelled then I have to pay for the car myself. Is there anything I can do?
Hi Adrian. If you have signed an official vehicle order form, then there is no legal right to change your mind.
You never need to sign anything 'to get the ball rolling'. Once you sign a contract, you are legally bound to it.
However, in reality, there's not a lot the Volkswagen dealer can do if you want to cancel – other than keep any deposit you have paid. Send written confirmation of your cancellation to the sales manager. Although you don't have any written proof that you were told you could change your mind, you should spell out in your letter that you are not impressed with their sales tactics. Eventually, they should give up and agree to cancel your order.
Hello Stuart,
I wonder if you might be able to help/advise.
I ordered a VW Passat in June, which was due for delivery late August/early September.
As you may have heard, VW had issues with the part supply for these cars, so the order was delayed.
I am now in a position where my current lease vehicle needs to be returned and I'm faced with the possibility of having to back out of the lease deal in order to find a stock alternative elsewhere (as I HAVE to be mobile for work).
The dealer I ordered through was very slack and I haven't signed an order form OR paid any deposit. All they have is an email confirming that I'd like to order the car.
Do you think I can simply say "thanks for your efforts but I'm going elsewhere" due to their incompetence at the initial order stage, or is the email all they require to hold me to the lease?
Thanks for any advice you may be able to give!
Hi Matt. If you have not signed a contract or paid a deposit, there's not a lot they can do to enforce the deal.
Margaret wright
Please can you advise , my granddaughter entered in a lease agreement , and paid a£200 deposit . She now has changed her mind , dits on lay been 2days . Does she get a cooling off period. With thanks
Hi Margaret. It will depend who she has paid a deposit to and what it was for. If it was to a dealership or a broker, then probably not. If it was directly to the finance company, then she probably can.
I was looking at leasing a new van and wanted a few extras fitting. I paid the deposit but when I got the full finance agreement didn't like the terms and backed out immediately. They are now saying I owe them an extra £660.
Apparently I'm the only person in the UK that's wants a sporline bumper on a new VW transporter.
They also wouldn't send over a finance agreement until I signed the spec sheet. How can this be legal?
Hi Jon. It's very normal for a finance company not to produce a finance agreement until you have a formal order form. As long as the numbers on the agreement match up to what you've been quoted, there's nothing wrong with that.
Once you sign a vehicle order form, you are legally committing to buying the vehicle. If you have paid a deposit, the dealer is within their rights to withhold it (unless it's an unreasonably large deposit). For more information, have a read of our article about buying a car and then changing your mind.
Craig Berry
Not sure if anybody can help, similar to the above, I have found a lease vehicle online (VW Golf) and have since sent VW a proposal form, which detailed my name, employment history and bank details. I did not have to sign the document.
I sent this document in to the VW dealer who has since said a car will be available to me at the end of March 2017.
I have since changed my mind about leasing, I have not paid a deposit or been asked for once in advance, the deal was 3×23 (660 first payment, 220 for 23 months).
If I email the dealer and say I am no longer in a position to lease the vehicle, can they do anything to me financially i.e take money or affect my credit?
steve stuart
Hi I was hit extremely hard today on very minor damage to a 2 year business leased car, to the order of £1023.63p, We only took control of the new car today and quite frankly feel ripped off by Nissan Finance so I have politely asked if I have a 14 day cooling off period as they can have the new one back as we are too scared to damn drive it without cotton wool wrapped around it?
steve stuart
Sorry My question was " can I tell them to take my new business car back" as I do not want to be ripped off again at the 3 year point of returning the vehicle again? I only signed the finance today and believe a 14 DAY cooling off period may be in place?
Hi Steve. You will need to check your contract details, as leasing and finance T&Cs are usually quite different.
James Matthews
Hi Stuart,
We ordered a car direct from dealer on a lease plan. Estimated delivery 15 July. Now been pushed back to early August. We are not very happy obviously and they offered us £100 worth of accessories.
I've argued they should offer more, like SatNav and heated seats but they don't seem interested. They took £750 deposit.
Then they said even if they could they can't do anything yet as a certain date had passed in late June which means no changes can be made to the car at all. Nothing, at all.
Are they being truthful? Who has the upper hand. I want to threaten to walk away, but am concerned they will just say ok and cancel, even though we have been waiting for months for the car.
Please can you let me know what you think asap.
Thanks a lot
Hi James. Your vehicle sales agreement should have relevant T&Cs that set out the deadline for a dealer to deliver the car (usually within 28 days of the date indicated). If the dealer cannot supply on time as per the agreement, you can cancel the contract for a full refund.
Hi Stuart. I purchased a 55 plate Volkswagen Passat with 60000mil 19 months ago on HP and 3 weeks ago the OIL Pressure light came on. I was uplifted to the garage and found the engine damaged due to a failed oil pump.
I have spoken with MOTO NOT INTERESTED NOVO and they are not interested in helping me. I still have over 2.6 years finance to pay back and cannot afford to get another. Is there some opt out clause someone is aware of.
Now I was not aware that there was a fault but all the VW forums I have seen is that VW know this as a fault but never done anything to rectify this
Hi Vaughan. You have a 11-12 year-old car that has worked fine for more than 18 months since you bought it. The finance company will certainly not be interested in helping you, and there is nothing in the Consumer Rights Act that is likely to assist.
Cars can fail and break down, and they can be expensive to fix outside of warranty. After 60,000 miles and 12 years, it would be very difficult to prove to a court that the car is faulty or not fit for purpose.
I have 2 quotes for a Mercedes A-Class, one company is slightly cheaper but has a £180 "ORDER PROCESSING FEE" which I read as "RANDOM EXCUSE to SQUEEZE MORE CASH OUT OF ME".
My question is this Stuart – if i kick up a fuss will they drop the fee?
Hi Art. You can certainly try; there are no regulations regarding brokers' fees, so everything's negotiable.
I placed an order for an Audi A3 on July 4th. At the time I was told the delivery usually takes 6-8 weeks so I should have it no later than the end of August. I explained that this was ok for me but any later then it doesn't suit me as my current car is basically not in driving condition any more.
Fast forward to the beginning of August and I get a generic email saying the new estimated delivery date is 20th September! I called to cancel but I was told that by the time I had ordered a different car, the turnaround would probably be mid September anyway…so I reluctantly agreed to wait.
Today I've received a further generic email saying it'll now be 27th October. Am I within my rights to cancel this order? I have paid £500 up front (£200 admin fee and £300 security deposit). I feel as if I've been deliberately mislead and they knew at the time I needed a car in around 6-8 weeks.
It's a personal car lease btw. Just looking for some advice. Have they breached our agreement?
Hi David. You'll need to check your contract paperwork. It sounds like you should be able to cancel by now, but it will depend on what your contract says.
Hi, I ordered my car back in July but the company have been delaying for a while and I threatened to cancel recently. They've suddenly got back to me saying that the car is now in transit and should be here within 3/4 weeks.
My question is; would I still be able to cancel my contract now? The delay has put me off and I've had a change of heart. Instead of taking this new car on lease, my partner & I were going to share cars for a while and save money instead of paying for 2 cars.
Would I be liable for the full costs, even though they've delayed over a month?
Hi Megan. It will depend on what your contract says. Usually there is a clause about how long the dealer is allowed to delay you before you can cancel the contract and get your money back (usually about 28 days after the advised delivery date).
Hi Stuart, I got a used 2015 Vw golf 24/12/16 on a 4 year lease hire. I got a service done last Thursday, drove 10 miles and the oil pressure light came on. I called Vw straight away and they told me to bring it straight back. On the way back it went into limp mode, I pulled over and called them again and they told me to stay put and they will call for a recovery,they have had the car a few days and told me that it was fitted with a defected part when it was serviced by their mechanics and the engine was not repairable so would require a new engine. Do I have any right to refuse the car back and any right to a part refund?
Hi Andy. You are outside the six-month window for rejecting the vehicle with the support of the Consumer Rights Act. You can potentially still reject the vehicle outside this window, especially if they have advised that defective parts were fitted, but you'll need good legal assistance to help you with it.
Hi everyone.
I ordered a vehicle seven days ago. I signed an agency agreement which states that delivery will be approximately two weeks. I'm still awaiting the lease agreement.
When returning the signed agency agreement, I was told to expect the lease agreement within 48 hours. I chased after 48 hours and was told that the computer system was down. Later that afternoon I was told that the delay was due to the DVLA not releasing registration numbers and that the agent would chase it after the weekend (Monday, yesterday) and get back to me.
They didn't. I chased it again, today, Tuesday and was told that the dealer was still unable to register the car and therefore the lease agreement could not be created.
I rang the DVLA this afternoon and was told that they were unaware of any delays in registering vehicles and that they were very well prepared for the September rush.
I notified my intention to cancel on the grounds that no progress had been made and that no lease agreement has been signed. I was messed around by another broker two years ago for a full five weeks and I'm determined that it will not happen again. I can get a one year old car on PCP elsewhere in the space of a morning.
The agent then informs me that the car will miraculously almost certainly be registered tomorrow (Wednesday) and that delivery will therefore be achievable by next Tuesday or sooner. They then remind me that there will of course be fees payable if I decide to cancel – up to three installments as set out on the agency agreement.
I have a company but have leased this in my own name in order to avoid benefit in kind.
Is a cancellation fee enforceable considering the Consumer Contracts Regulations?
I appreciate that two weeks start-finish is optimistic in September – however – I did not suggest two weeks as being realistic, they did.
Stuart Masson
Hi John. There's nothing unrealistic about a two-week delivery timeframe on a new car if it is in stock. Dealers work frantically to get cars turned around as quickly as possible in March and September, so they're used to it.
In terms of any cancellation fees payable, it will depend on what your contract says and whether the broker/leasing company has broken the contract. Often the broker will blame the leasing company or the dealership, and it can be very difficult to prove anything.
I signed an order form for a personal lease car. 10 days later they have contacted to say that the provider claims my credit score is too low and I have too many previous addresses. I was previously a student but have a good credit score with no debt or outstanding payments.
The broker has sent me a new order form/quote to sign.
The broker has a £360 admin fee and a £1500 cancellation fee.
Am I still liable for the cancellation fee even though they have increased the price?
Many thanks,
Hi Olivia. If the broker cannot maintain a written quotation they provided to you, you should be entitled to your money back.
You can argue that they are not honouring the contract rather than you changing your mind. However, it may depend on the nature of the T&Cs of your contract, as the broker isn't actually providing either the car or the finance.
Hi Stuart, I have not signed any Financial documents as of yet. Only the companies order form. I have now gone elsewhere as the initial payment was extremely high. I notified the original company of this, to which they cam back with better offer that still did not match the second offer.
I cancelled with the Financial company before signing any documents. No monies have been exchanged. Only an order form signed. This has all been done within the 14 day cooling off period.
They are now saying that a cancellation fee of 1200 should be paid. This was in the small print, but at no time during our email conversations was this brought my attention. Otherwise I would not have gone elsewhere. Are they allowed to stop you going elsewhere if you have only signed the order form?
Please advise.
Hi Wendy. If you are talking about an order with a broker, you're bound by the contract as you haven't actually bought a car. If the contract states there is a £1,200 cancellation fee then you can bet that they will pursue this vigorously.
Hey stuart,
I got a PCP leased car on my company name on the 16th of November, on the 13th of December the car broke down and the technicians said it was a problem with the battery. Since the car was brand new I told the Audi assist to send it back to the dealership and told them I wish to reject this vehicle as it had a manufacturing defect. In this time the dealership rang me to explain that they wish to repair the battery or replace it. I told them I do not wish for the battery to be fixed and that I do not want this vehicle, as it made me feel unsafe. I spoke to Audi finance who are the leasing company they rang me yesterday saying that the car is now repaired and that I have no right to reject the vehicle. Where do I stand in terms of rejection?
Thanking you Zane
Hi Zane. A battery is a pretty simple and easy fix, so if that cures the problem then you wouldn't really have grounds to reject the overall vehicle as faulty.
The dealership and/or finance company is not obliged to accept your rejection. If you want to pursue the matter, you'll need to take legal advice and either go to the Motor Ombudsman or to court.
Hi Stuart,
I signed a business lease for a car and requested to cancel the order in less that 24 hours from signing, I haven't paid anything to them and I was told that the admin fee would need to be paid before the order could progress. The admin fee was not paid.
The broker is now requesting payment of £2000 to cancel the order. Can they legally enforce this due to it being a business lease?
Regards Dave
Hi Dave. You'll need to look at the T&Cs of your contract, or get a lawyer to assist you.
A contract with a broker will be for their services in arranging the lease of a car from a dealer and finance company on your behalf, so they will argue that their service has been provided regardless of whether you no longer want the car.
Hi Stuart,
I signed an order form for a Personal Contract Hire agreement with Mazda about two months ago (before Christmas). Due to a change in circumstances (including the car being delivered just under a month later than they originally told me, but still within 28 days of the original estimate), I am now wanting to cancel the agreement. No money has changed hands, and there is no mention in the terms and conditions on the document they sent about me being liable for any money if I choose to cancel the agreement. Do you think it likely I will have to pay anything?
Many thanks,
Hi Stuart,
I signed a Personal Contract Hire Order order form with an online lease broker and paid a £300 deposit for the car. I haven't signed any other documents or received a delivery date for the vehicle.
The lease cost for the same vehicle has reduced significantly since I placed the order however the broker has said that they cannot do the lower price for me because they already accepted my order at the higher price. If I cancel the order (and lease the vehicle via a different broker), there is a £300 cancellation charge. I don't expect to get my deposit back but I don't want to also pay a cancellation charge when I haven't received the vehicle or even signed any finance documents. Is the cancellation fee enforceable and if so, how would they go about getting it from me?
Hi Stuart ,
I was looking for some advice I signed an order form 1 day ago, the salesmen has basically told several white lies along the way , it's a 5 year lease and he said I would be able to get out at 4 years , he has since changed his tune and said I'd have to buy out at year 4 . He said there would be no issue adding sports bars later but these require drilling into the body , he insisted this wouldn't be an issue but I'm concerned at the end of lease I will be left with a hefty bill.
I asked when the new model was out he said not until next summer 2020 turns out it's out in 2 months .
I hadn't yet decided which transmission I was going with so I know he hasn't officially ordered the vehicle although finance has been agreed.
The paperwork I have is extremely vague , no spec on it not even the annual mileage allowance etc simply the colour the model and price.
I have major concerns now over this as after speaking with a couple of other branches they have all confirmed this was all false and was just to get us to sign the order form .
I was wandering where I stand with this ?should I be able to cancel ?


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MW Guitar Academy: Personalized Guitar Lessons in Your Main Line Home
At MW Guitar Academy, we know that every student comes to us with unique goals, abilities and learning styles. Whether you're new to guitar and hoping to learn the basics, a seasoned pro hoping to explore new genres, or a songwriter hoping to sharpen your skills, we have the talented faculty to guide you every step of the way.
MW Guitar Academy's convenient, high-quality acoustic or electric guitar lessons are taught by current, professional performing musicians who play in bands both locally and nationally. You also get three unique performance opportunities each year: our popular Year End Shows, our spring Guitar & Band Showcase, and our exclusive, invitation-only Songwriters Showcase.
"Our guitar teacher, Doug, is wonderful! He relates well to Leo and appropriately challenges him weekly. He is organized and on time, as well as easy to speak with. He resonates well with Leo as a teacher, and we really enjoy seeing them work together so well. … Doug also performed with Leo at the end of year showcase, which was a big step forward for Leo. After a number of years of guitar lessons with your teachers, we continue to be huge fans of your School of Music." - Andy and Denise, Bala Cynwyd
We take great care in matching each student with a compatible music mentor, and lessons are individualized according to the student's personality, learning style and musical preferences. MW Guitar Academy hires musicians from every genre of music so we can find the perfect fit for your unique personal goals.
Our method includes activities for different learning styles, including ADD & ADHD, Autism, as well as kids participating in their schools' gifted programs. Materials are designed to capitalize on each learning style's unique strengths and systematically encourage and mentor other areas.
There's soccer, or baseball, or homework, but there's always something. Main Line families are BUSY, so we help you make time for music by coming to you. Music is a skill that lasts a lifetime, and studies continue to show that music lessons positively impact kids in many other aspects of learning. We're glad we can make it more convenient and accessible by traveling to your Main Line home. This cuts down on drive time for you, and allows the student to learn in a comfortable environment.
Our teachers go through a rigorous hiring process, comprehensive training, and attend monthly workshops on topics including songwriting, performance prep, alternative learners and more. MW Guitar Academy seeks out the best applicants possible, and on average, only ten percent of applicants get an interview (with even fewer being offered positions). The interview itself is structured to look for creativity, passion and teaching ability – in addition to musical skill.
Beginner Guitar Lessons
Beginning Guitar lessons start with basic chords and finger patterns to get you playing and sounding musical as soon as possible. After learning just a few basics, you and your teacher will start building a repertoire of songs you love. If you'd like to sing and play, or compose your own pieces, your teacher can help with that too! As you progress, you will have opportunities to perform in Main Line area concerts, recitals or recording sessions.
Intermediate to Advanced Guitar Lessons
Intermediate and advanced guitar students expand their skills by selecting song projects from different eras and styles of music. You will learn soloing, composition, optional vocal skills and advanced techniques while working on in-depth studies of your favorite guitar heroes, bands or music styles. You will have opportunities to perform in Main Line area concerts as a solo artist, in a duo with your teacher, with a backup band or in your very own band.
Do you play in a band – or want to? We offer private "Band Prep" coaching.
Your in-home Main Line guitar lessons can also prepare for and/or support you while playing in a band. Our teachers have professional band experience and can privately coach you toward becoming a top-notch player. With their guidance, you can show up at rehearsal confident, prepared and ready to rock! Your teacher will coach you on skills such as learning songs and sets, playing by ear, learning solos, performing with solid rhythm, songwriting and improvisation, rehearsal practice prep and performance prep. Because lessons are in your home, you can privately and powerfully focus on trouble areas or new skills to keep advancing yourself to the next level. Your teacher can also help you with your personal equipment, strings, tuning, and effects set up.
Personal Band Trainers: "Basement Band" Program
Do you already have your own band with your friends and need help to take the group to the next level? Are you thinking of starting a band? Do you want to put on great shows or record an album? One of our pro "personal band trainers" can come to work with your band in your space, on songs of your choice. You will be coached on skills such as learning songs and sets, playing by ear, songwriting, improvisation, soloing, recording albums, rehearsal practices and performance prep. If you need some expert coaching, but don't want to be in one-size-fits-all group classes, then having your own personal band trainer is for you!
About our Elite Guitar Teachers
Our guitar teachers are all active, creative, enthusiastic musicians and recording artists. They can energize your thoughtfully individualized lessons by helping you find music you love, accompanying you on different instruments, and more. This will make lessons more alive and musical and help you gain the skills you'll need to play in a band or performance setting. Over the course of your studies you will get the chance to study with more than one MW Guitar Academy teacher, gaining a wealth of experience and insights from each one. Because guitar lessons are in your Main Line home, your teacher can also help you with your personal equipment, strings, tuning, and effects set up. CLICK HERE to learn more about our MW Guitar Academy teachers
Here is a local map of our Main Line teaching area.
We teach students of the following schools (and also offer adult lessons):
Baldwin School, Episcopal Academy, Friends School, St. Aloysius Academy, Shipley School, Torah Academy, Akiba Hebrew Academy, French International School, Friends Central School, Merion Mercy Academy, Waldron Mercy Academy, Harriton High School, Bala Cynwyd Middle School, Belmont Hills Elementary, Gladwyne Elementary, Penn Valley Elementary, Lower Merion High School, Welsh Valley MiddleSchool, Cynwyd Elementary, Merion Elementary, Penn Wynne Elementary, Gladwyne Montessori, Haverford High School, Haverford Middle School, Manoa Elementary, Lynnewood Elementary, Coopertown Elementary, Chestnutwold Elementary, Chatham Park Elementary, Ithan Elementary, Radnor Elementary, Radnor High School, Radnor Middle School, Wayne Elementary


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DETROIT - General Motors is facing public relations crisis as it deals with the recall of 1.6 million compact cars because of faulty ignition switches.
It's the largest recall Mary Barra has had to manage since taking over as CEO of GM in January.
Matt Friedman, who runs the public relations firm Tanner Friedman, speculates on what could be happening behind the scenes at the automaker.
"It's important to understand what's probably happening at GM right now. There's a tug of war going on between PR people and legal people, between the PR people and the lawyers to decide how to handle this situation," said Friedman.
Two congressional committees and the Justice Department are investigating why it took General Motors so long to recall the cars GM admits knowing about the deadly ignition switches about a decade ago, but the recall was not issued until February 2014.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is also looking into whether GM held back information from the safety agency or didn't disclose it as quickly as required by law.
Friedman said now is a time for reassurance from the company.
"They need to provide reassurance to reassure the public that their cars are safe and they also need to show concern for the people who've been affected by the situation over the last number of years. If they do those things, they have a chance of being successful in coming out of that. The challenge is legally they're going to be told to be very careful about what they say," said Friedman.
Friedman also said GM needs to move quickly to make things right with its customers.
"The public has a short attention span and they need to reach the public with their message, with their story and what they're going to do about it really in the next few days maybe weeks at the longest if they have any hope of being successful here," Friedman said.
Here is a timeline of the recall:
On Feb 13., 780,000 Cobalts (2005-2007) and Pontiac G5s (2005-2007) were recalled. Two weeks later, 842,000 Saturn Ion compacts (2003-2007), Chevrolet HHR SUVs, Pontiac Solstice and Saturday Sky sports cars (2006-2007) were recalled.
The vehicles have the same ignition switches.
General Motors said the ignition switches can wear from heavy dangling keys and if the key chains are bumped or the car is driven over rough surfaces, the switches can suddenly change from the run position to accessory or off position. That cuts off power-assisted steering and brakes and drivers could lose control. It could also impact whether air bags inflate in a crash.
The company said anyone with one of the recalled cars should not put anything on the key rings until the switches are replaced.
GM has also offered these owners free loaners and $500 toward a new GM vehicle. The owners could use the loaners until their faulty ignition switch is replaced.
The company said 12 people have died in crashes linked to the problem.
Copyright 2014 by ClickOnDetroit.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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City police say Ruben L. Bailey Jr., 33, of 25 Tuxill Ave., is charged with two counts of public lewdness, a misdemeanor.
A South Corning man is facing charges after police say he exposed himself and masturbated in Denison Park.
City police say Ruben L. Bailey Jr., 33, of 25 Tuxill Ave., is charged with two counts of public lewdness, a misdemeanor.
On July 13, according to police, a citizen alerted officers that they had observed a man masturbating near the pedestrian tunnel by the pool in Denison Park.
Officers investigated but no suspect was located.
At approximately 10 a.m. Saturday, a 911 caller reported a man exposing himself and masturbating in the same location.
Witness reports from both incidents led to the arrest of Bailey on Wednesday morning.
Lt. Jeff Spaulding said there was no evidence to indicate that children were endangered or any reports that children witnessed the activity.
Bailey was arraigned before Judge Mathew McCarthy in Corning City Court and sent to the Steuben County Jail on $4,000 bail to await his next court appearance.
This is not Bailey's first encounter with law enforcement.
In April 2013, he was charged with third-degree stalking, endangering the welfare of a child and public lewdness after he exposed himself to a 14-year-old girl who was walking to her school bus stop in the Village of Nichols in Tioga County, according to online media reports.
He also attempted to lure the girl into his vehicle.
He was sentenced to three years probation on those charges.


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The Chicago teachers� strike resurrects a long-standing topic of national debate that has been overshadowed by the mindshare dominance of a sagging U.S. economy � public education reform.
While much has been said about the need to improve education outcomes and increase student readiness for life and work in a global society, the debate continues about how.
In Gaston County, however, there is evidence of success: Highland School of Technology.
Earlier this year, The Gazette reported that Highland scored a graduation rate of 100 percent. Taking into account transfers in and transfers out, as well as any student deaths, every student who started high school four years earlier earned a diploma.
It�s not an unusual happening at Highland. The school regularly hits the 100 percent mark for graduation.
More evidence of Highland�s success came a few days ago with the announcement of 2011-2012 SAT scores.
Highland�s average score of 1525 tops the state average by 56 points and the national average by 27.
In education, as with anything else, there�s danger in averages, but when multiple factors put a school at the top of the heap, it�s worth looking at how success is achieved and how it can be replicated.
Highland is unique in Gaston County. A magnet school with a defining name, students are accepted by lottery and must meet specific academic credentials to attend.
Defenders of the status quo in public education quickly point out that schools such as Highland achieve success because only �cream of the crop� students attend.
How then does one explain the success of charter schools across North Carolina that see success akin to Highland�s while enrolling a broader group of students?
Choice is a key factor. Students attend Highland and charter schools because they and their families seek the particulars the school has to offer. Assignment to the school comes by interest and ability, not by geography.
For charter schools, ability doesn�t always mean top academic students. In Roberson County, for example, a charter school focuses on at-risk, economically disadvantaged students and basic skills.
School choice greatly increases parental involvement, another sure factor in achieving success.
Both magnet schools and charter schools provide fertile ground for innovation. Charter schools in particular enjoy flexibility and freedom not available in the regulation-burdened public schools.
Top teachers also gravitate to magnet and charter schools, seeking the environment that underpins academic success.
The debate over educational reform isn�t likely to take center stage while the economy continues in the starring role of American concerns. When events such as the Chicago teachers strike reignite the topic, however briefly, magnet schools such as Highland and North Carolina charters will add much to the discussion.


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I have a terminology question. I am referring to a sigmoid (S-shape function) in a paper however it is inverted (if the sigmoid is $f(x)$, my function $-f(x)$).
I initially wanted to refer to it as an inverse sigmoid... but I think that would refer to $f^{-1}(x)$ ?
Any help welcome! thank you


text:
For an application to analytic number theory, I'm considering the Fourier transform of test functions $h(x)$ on $\mathbb R$ with compact support, so the transforms $\hat h(y)$ are smooth. But I want to add a mild condition on $h$ that will force $\hat h(y) \ll 1/y^2$ as $y\to\infty$. Based on the examples I know, it looks like "continuous and piecewise differentiable" works, but I'd like the largest space of test functions possible. I'm familiar with the definition of $L^2$-based Sobolev Spaces $H^k(\mathbb R)$, but $k=1$ seems too weak, and $k=2$ too strong.
What is the right space of test functions $h(x)$ so that $\hat h(y)\ll 1/y^2$


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Newcastle registered their first victory of the post-Andy Carroll era as goals from Peter Lovenkrands and Leon Best ensured a comfortable success against Birmingham at St Andrew's.
Lovenkrands opened the scoring after four minutes and then Best struck early in the second period to wrap up the points for the Magpies.
Birmingham enjoyed a fair share of possession but lacked a cutting edge as they suffered their first defeat in six games.
Newcastle had picked up only two points from three games since Carroll's £35 million departure to Liverpool on the final day of the January transfer window.
But they looked the more threatening throughout the 90 minutes with Jose Enrique surging forward from left-back to good effect. They were well marshalled in midfield from skipper Kevin Nolan and were a constant threat on the counter-attack.
Nikola Zigic, who had scored in the previous three games, posed the biggest threat for the home side.
Newcastle got off to a dream start in the rainswept conditions with Lovenkrands putting them ahead after only two minutes. Enrique's original cross was cleared after he had skipped past Sebastian Larsson but Jonas Gutierrez pounced on the loose ball and delivered a testing low centre to the near post.
Lovenkrands was first to react and he slid in front of Roger Johnson and drilled his shot past Ben Foster. It was his fourth goal of the campaign.
Blues looked shaky and more good play by Enrique found skipper Nolan inside the box but he did not extend Foster.
Former Newcastle striker Obafemi Martins showed good skill to get past Mike Williamson but Steve Harper was alert to the situation.
Birmingham were now in the ascendancy possession-wise and Johnson headed just wide from Larsson's free-kick
Then Harper did well to turn aside Zigic's shot on the turn from inside the box after good play by Barry Ferguson.
Nolan became the first player to be yellow carded for bringing down Bentley in full flight after 36 minutes.
Midfielder Craig Gardner came close to equalising five minutes before the interval. The midfielder hammered a 20-yard drive just wide after being teed up by Larsson who cut into the box before pulling the ball back.
Newcastle doubled their lead four minutes into the second half through Best's fifth goal of the campaign as Birmingham were again caught cold.
Gutierrez delivered a left-wing cross to the far post and Best got above the normally-dependable Johnson to head home.
Larsson made a crucial challenge to deny Best a second goal after good play by Cheik Tiote
Magpies boss Alan Pardew brought on Nile Ranger for the limping Lovenkrands after 65 minutes.
Johnson was well wide with an acrobatic effort while at the other end Foster gathered a rising drive from Tiote.
Zigic had a great chance to reduce the arrears but headed over from Ridgewell's pinpoint cross when unmarked.
Johnson forced Harper to save his low header from Bentley's centre and substitute Kevin Phillips miskicked inside the box when well placed.
But Birmingham seldom threatened to salvage anything tangible from the game.


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An Internet Christmas Carol
By Jon Wolf
An Internet Carol First Page Gmail email thread: - Automated response from Bob Cratchit: Out of Office: Monday December 25 "Good morrow. I will be out of the office next Monday, Christmas Day. If it is an emergency please contact Ebeneezer Scrooge instead. If this is Ebeneezer Scrooge, please sir, it is but one day a year!" - Scrooge responds: "What the dickens is this, Bob? A day off, are you insane?" - Automated response from Bob Cratchit: Out of Office: Monday December 25 "Good morrow. I will be out of the office next Monday, Christmas Day. If it is an emergency please contact Ebeneezer Scrooge instead. If this is Ebeneezer Scrooge, please sir, it is but one day a year!" (I think we should cut this image off like halfway through the second automated response so that we get that it's automatically replying but it's not so annoying as to read it twice.) ---------------------------- Facebook Event: Fred's Annual Christmas Shin-Dig My annual Christmas party featuring my wife's famous punch! Also, games. Oh yes, there will be games. Fred comments: Maybe my Uncle Scrooge will come this year! - Scrooge Humbugs this On the side: - Attending: Twenty-two guests - Not Attending, Not This Year, Not Ever: Ebeneezer Scrooge (I think we'll have to cheat this really big to make the point, otherwise the layout of an actual Event page on Facebook doesn't really lend itself to emphasizing who is not attending. Right?) ---------------------------- Kickstarter message from project Oi! 'Elp Us 'Elp the Needy In short: The poor, indigent families of London need our help in this holiday season. The money raised will go to feed and clothe those who cannot provide for themselves. You donated £0 and commented: "Are there no prisons? No workhouses? Why not let them die, and decrease the surplus population!" Thank you for supporting our project! - Messrs. Poole & Hawking ---------------------------- LinkedIn convo at 11:59 pm December 24: Jacob Marley: Scrooge! ScroOoOoOoge! Scrooge: Jacob Marley? My old partner? You stopped using LinkedIn seven years ago! Did someone hack your account? Marley: I am the spirit that was Jacob Marley in life! I'VE COME TO GIVE YOU A HEADS UPPPPPPPP word is you're acting like a real a-hole. Like you might not get into Heaven a-hole. I'm sendin three of my buddies to talk to you, Scared Straight style. The first at 1 AM, second at 2. third whenever, he didn't text me back. Scrooge: Couldn't they all come at once, and save me the trouble? Marley: nah, everything sold out this close to Christmas so they had to wait standby. aight i'm out. good luck w everything. ESPECIALLY THE REPENTANCE! Second Page [I thought it'd be cool if this section is done as an image of the old AOL desktop. The buddy list on the side, the AOL Keyboard search bar at the top, window in the middle. One of those purple Bonzi Buddy Gorillas. When Scrooge and the Ghost talk, it could be in AIM windows.] IM convo: Scrooge: You must be the spirit whose coming was foretold to me by Jacob Marley. Ghost: Totes. I am the Ghost of Internet Past. Scrooge: Long past? Ghost: Your past. History, Most Visited, Recently Closed Tabs. check it: angelfire.com/ebedeezenuts6969 ---------------------------- AngelFire custom webpage: Ebeneezer's School Page - photo of school. Some terribly 90s, but still legible background image. View counter at bottom On the side, links: About, Pictures, Message Board, Contact Scrooge: My sister Fan helped me build this page! How I miss her so! Ghost: She had a son, right? Your nephew Fred. He's quite like her. He has her hair. And her eyes. And her laugh. And her kind nature. And her way with people. Scrooge: Yeah, yeah, I get it. --------------- Old CollegeHumor Page: Mr. Fezziwig dancing gif Scrooge: Good old Fezziwig! We apprentices all loved him for the joy he brought us. Ghost: What did he do to deserve your love? Threw a party? Made the office fun? Smiled? Cost practically nothing. COUGH HINT COUGH Scrooge: I guess the Ghost of Christmas Subtlety got lost on the way over, huh? --------------- MySpace Photo: Belle and Scrooge dancing In the comments: Scrooge: Belle! It's me, Ebeneezer! Ghost: She can't see your comments, Ebeneezer. No one's been on the site for years. Scrooge: Oh. She's so beautiful, I'd forgotten how much. Ghost: Dude, she's not even 18 in this picture. Creeper status! Scrooge: What? No, she was... I was younger too! Shut up. ---------------------------- An old AIM conversation between Scrooge and Belle - funky fonts/font colors/background colors (as long as it's still legible) Scrooge: Hey, sry im late Belle: w/e Scrooge: i said sry. this time of year, my business, i have to use my time wisely. Belle: ebeneezer, i need to ask you something. if we had met today, would we be engaged? me, a poor girl with nothing to bring to the marriage but myself? no money, no prospects? say something! Scrooge: brb Belle: oh what a safe and terrible answer! **Away Message: Belle: 3** Scrooge: wtfffffffff i said brb Scrooge: I'm tired, spirit, show me no relics of the past. Ghost: Aw, man, what about this: [Peanut Butter Jelly Time] Third Page StumbleUpon - Ghost of Internet Present requests to be Ebeneezer's friend Scrooge: You must be the second spirit that Jacob warned of. Ghost: Verily! I am the Ghost of Internet Present! Click on my robe! --------------- Twitter Results for #CratchitFeast TinyTim: sry me an @TheRealBobCratchit are late to #CratchitFeast. Had to show the ppl @ church how crippled i am an how thankful they should be this time o year #notmad #justcrippled TheRealBobCratchit: Time for a toast! To the new year, to our health and to the guy who hooked #CratchitFeast up, @MrScrooge! MamaCratchit: #wth @TheRealBobCratchit don't ruin #CratchitFeast. SusanCratchit: #awkwardfamilymoments #cratchitfeast TheRealBobCratchit: My dear @MamaCratchit have some charity! It's Christmas! Think of @SusanCratchit @TommyCratchit @Belindurr and especially @TinyTim #CratchitFeast MamaCratchit: ...oh alright @TheRealBobCratchit. For your sake, my love. Here's to @MrScrooge. May he have a merry Christmas and long life. #CratchitFeast TinyTim: #YouKnowYoureCoughingUpBloodWhen it's in your hand. #CratchitFeast #HumbleBrag ---------------------------- iChat: Scrooge: Tell me spirit, does the boy live? Ghost: I see a future with an #RIP Trending Topic and an account without an owner. If these shadows do not alter, no more of my species will find him in a search, no matter how optimized his profile. Scrooge: Is there nothing that can be done? Doctors? Medicine? Ghost: What? Pity? From you, Scrooge? Better the boy die, and decrease the surplus population! Scrooge: Fine trick, spirit, to copy and paste my own words against me. Ghost: Click upon my Twitter profile, Ebeneezer Scrooge! I have but two Twitter followers, @Ignorance and @Want! They are the followers of everyone on Twitter! They spell the downfall of everyone who ignores their existence! Scrooge: Please, I'm quite tired, Spirit, please let me go to my homepage. Fourth Page A Tumblr Dashboard. The Ghost of Internet Yet to Come is now following you Scrooge Text Post: "To my new follower: What do you want? Where are we?" Scrooge: "Enable the 'Ask' feature, damn you!" (In the iChat convo window here and below, let's have the Ghost always have the "..." typing icon come up in response to Scrooge like it's about to say something, but never does.) Ghost reblogs BankerThomas: You know when someone dies and first you're like: [some sad gif] But then you're like [some ecstatic, or happily shrugging gif] Scrooge: Why are you showing me this, spirit? What could I possibly learn from some mannerless troll? Show me some tenderness, some depth of feeling! --------------- Reddit: Bob Cratchit submits - TIL What it means to lose a son Mama Cratchit posts: Oh Tim. Everyone misses you so much. Tommy Cratchit: He was so thoughtful. Susan Cratchit: I miss him everyday. s_carton: yo this should rly be in /r/picturesofdeadkids IMO Scrooge: "Spirit tell me: Are these the images of a Christmas set in stone or mere shadows of a possible future?" --------------- Instagram: Ghost posts a photo of Scrooge's tombstone Scrooge: "No! No, it can't be! Show me no more low-res filtered photos, spirit! I've seen the man I was and I can change! Tell me I may Photoshop away the writing on this stone! I promise to keep Christmas in my heart the entire year, to let the past, present and future flow through me! I will be a better man. Please, let me live!" Fifth Page Desktop with a pop-up notification: "Screensaver off. Display is now awake." --------------- Yahoo! Answers: Scrooge asked: "What day is it?" Top rated: "Why, it's Christmas Day, sir!" Scrooge replies: "Wonderful boy, splendid boy!" Other Answers: TwistnShout: Ever hear of a calendar, dingus? PipPipHooray: Do you expect us to Google everything for you, too? --------------- Seamless Confirmation: Ye Contemporary Butcher Shoppe Delivery on Monday, December 25, the Year of our Lord 1843 Deliver to: Robert Cratchit, Esq., 136 Shaftesbury Ave Delivery Instructions: Paid for by an anonymous benefactor ;) 1 - Stuffed Goose - Size: Young Street Urchin 10 - Vegetable Soup 2 - Family-Style Bread Pudding 1 - Garlic Knots ------------ Kickstarter - Campaign Page? Update: We had a VERY generous last-minute gift from an anonymous donor, so we were able to reach our goal and then some! Thank you to everyone who gave! VIP tote bags will be mailed out after the new year. ------------- Facebook: Fred's Annual Christmas Shin-Dig event page Scrooge is Attending, Making Up for Lost Time. -------------- Twitter: MamaCratchit: @TheRealBobCratchit someone dropped off a humongous prized goose for dinner...can we afford this? TheRealBobCratchit: @MamaCratchit it says it's a gift...from a friendly benefactor! SusanCratchit: It's a Christmas miracle! TinyTim: #GodBlessUs @Everyone!


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BP Comment Quick Links
May 16, 2013
Eyewitness Accounts
May 16, 2013
When I stepped away from the second chair and into Kevin Goldstein's vacated spot on the stage, I decided that the spine of my prospect architecture would be eyewitness scouting evaluations. The goal was not to portray myself or other members of the prospect team as industry-level scouts; being a fabulist wouldn't benefit the product or the public paying for that product. The goal was to offer evaluations from a more personal point of view, reports that originated at the fields instead of on the phones or the search engines. I put together a team of talent evaluators I felt had the chops to sit in the stands and document the action on the field in an authentic manner. I wanted to hire the type of talent that would one day receive the bait from the private sector, joining up with the industry that I learn from on a daily basis. That team is in place.
Going forward, Baseball Prospectus will publish a weekly series featuring eyewitness evaluations from the staff, complete with scouting grades, detailed notes and (in many cases) video. These reports will attach to the player cards and offer a wealth of information throughout the season; with multiple looks from multiple sources, you will be able to track a prospect's progression through the developmental process. As the games continue and we populate the minor-league stadiums around the country, the reports will start to pile up, and hopefully the season will conclude with a healthy reservoir of reports for you to pick through, compare, contrast, dissect and disagree with. I can't think of a better means to study the minor-league process than with a collection of scouting reports from quality eyes, provided over the course of a season, and if everything continues as planned, for the duration of the players' prospect journeys.
This has been under my cap since last October, and thanks to a brilliant support staff and a collection of talented team members, we are finally ready to light the fuse on this series and take our prospect coverage to the next level. My electronic door is always open for questions or comments, and I hope you enjoy this new approach as much as I have enjoyed the process of putting it together. —Jason Parks
Direct Links to Individual Player Reports
47 comments have been left for this article.
BP Comment Quick Links
That Zimmer video might be the best MiL video I've ever seen. Great work!
May 16, 2013 03:58 AM
This should be a great series. It should complement all of the preseason rankings quite nicely and hopefully provide insight into the developemental process. I'll look forward to these as much or as I do the Ten Pack.
May 16, 2013 04:53 AM
This is must reading, both from a reality and fantasy perspective. As usual, kudos to you and your team, Jason!
May 16, 2013 05:00 AM
Jason, this is the first time I've heard Walker and bullpen mentioned together, presumably because of his below average command, do you see him as a Bauer like pitcher who is always going to walk too many?
May 16, 2013 05:24 AM
The bullpen is the option if the command and curveball/changeup don't become consistent enough. Most likely scenario? No, especially because he's so big/strong and can hold velocity. I think even if he's a mid-rotation guy, you'd rather have him be that than in the 'pen. But I think the possibility should at least be mentioned. As far as the Bauer comp, I think there's more room for Walker to grow. He'll be 20 all season, and he's in Double-A. He's also a fantastic athlete, which is huge for being able to repeat the delivery and command. I wouldn't be shocked if Walker grew into slightly above average command, but I think average-ish or slightly below is most likely.
May 16, 2013 09:35 AM
I saw Zimmer this weekend, and the stadium gun showed him at 91-92 his entire outing, with one pitch hitting 94. The Frederick Keys, who seem to be lacking in future major leaguers, made a lot of solid contact against him -- enough hits, and most of the outs were hit right at a fielder. Maybe it was an off night, but I didn't get much of the hype, except for the curveball.
May 16, 2013 05:56 AM
Steve Givarz
I think I'm going to renew my subscription for next year now.
May 16, 2013 06:14 AM
This is fantastic. Thank you so much to the BP team for putting this together.
May 16, 2013 06:58 AM
Great idea and great content from everyone. Good information and good reading. However there are two reports on Zimmer that have two different birthdays. Thanksffor your great work on the piece, I look forward to more.
May 16, 2013 07:09 AM
Is there a difference between 65 and High-6? Or are they the same, just different presentation?
May 16, 2013 07:32 AM
This is good stuff. But, with my poor memory I never remember what league/level the affiliate is in. If you could add that to the team name, then you are getting closer to perfection.
May 16, 2013 07:40 AM
I've come to really love Jason Cole's videos. Does some great work and that Walker piece is on par with his usual awesome work.
May 16, 2013 07:57 AM
Peter Benedict
Marvelous indeed. I can't wait to read up on the hitters.
May 16, 2013 09:06 AM
Steve Givarz
Is it possible to get reports on players/prospects we are unfamiliar with? Gausman, Zimmer, and Walker have been written about numerous times on here. Just to see what else the minor leagues hold.
May 16, 2013 10:06 AM
Pat Folz
In Cole's video of Zimmer, from the side I noticed that his plant leg is pointed back up the hill, so he ends up kind of falling backwards after delivery. Might that be reducing the depth of release, leaving the fastball more hittable than it 'should' be?
May 16, 2013 10:16 AM
I have a question for Zach and Jason on Zimmer.
May 16, 2013 10:17 AM
You write what you see. For example, Withrow's command probably isn't average (and I wrote that later in the report), but when he spots up like he did in the outing I saw, you've gotta at least give him average because that's what he showed.
May 16, 2013 10:26 AM
More is better. We want more. :) Great stuff. Not sure if I'll ever tire of comparing Gausman (who I was hoping would fall to the Royals) and Zimmer as back to back picks. Thanks for another killer reason to subscribe. Q: Cement mixer? Think I know but want to confirm on the lingo.
May 16, 2013 10:25 AM
Thanks for the article. I wonder why Gausman hasn't incorporated a 4 seam to be used up in the zone. Any idea? His two seam, change and breaker all get the batter thinking down, down, down. Bust em up every so often. It seems like an obvious compliment to his arsenal.
May 16, 2013 11:01 AM
Is Gausman expected to get the call this season after super 2 status has gone by?
May 16, 2013 14:06 PM
Doug Thorburn
BP staff
Zimmer looks like he has really slowed down when compared to his college days, especially from the windup.
May 16, 2013 15:07 PM
Doug Thorburn
BP staff
Oh, and this series rocks! Great work by our killer prospect team.
May 16, 2013 15:10 PM
Simply awesome!! I remember KG did a brief, similarly formatted Shelby Miller report from when he was at Quad Cities a few years ago and I've wanted more ever since. Dishes = done! Thanks a lot everyone involved.
May 17, 2013 04:57 AM
This is a tremendous addition to BP. Great work Jason, Jason and Zach. I'm stoked for this new series!
May 17, 2013 05:28 AM
Any chance you could mention in the profile of each prospect where they were drafted from (like HS or College)?
May 17, 2013 11:48 AM
Karl Hungus
Really loved the site with what you gave us before. This is a huge us, and cant emphasize enough how great it is Jason is running roughshod over the niche baseball junkie info providers. Thanks for a great first article and cant wait for the next installment.
May 20, 2013 20:33 PM
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Hi guys!!! I used to be on these boards when my 12 year old born from IUI with 6 mature eggs (I KNOW.. at that time I didn't know the risks, just thought I had a great chance & the RE told me nada). We do live & learn along the way, but desperation also clouds judgement, even though I did NOT end up on the Discovery Health channel, thankfully, but yet, ironically, I was pregnant again after TTC here for over 4 years via IUI with only ONE mature egg and have healthy fraternal twin girls. I was told ZERO chance of multiples, so kind of wacky, and they are NOT from the same egg... no way, (blonde/ brown eyes, brown hair/ green eyes, different face features, etc. LOL.) so if you are ever told that an egg is immature and unviable on or off of meds, don't count out, because actually the only 'mature one' was not hot and was shrinking down at the time of IUI, and I had two. Just a story of hope there. They held like no hope in their faces, trust me.. I knew that look.
ANYHOW, I had them at 34 and 1/2 years old, and I have endo, but they never said that stopped me from getting pregnant ONLY with IUI, as IUI (passing maybe the barrier- maybe my mucus, though they never tested) and stimulating the ovaries worked well, BUT I am ancient now in reproductive land (WAHHHH)... although I still feel 22, my eggs obviously cannot be, which hurts me, and so I know things aren't likely the same, as fertility, I know, has taken great decline and is by the month now, I am sure. (Maybe more, which SUCKS!!!!! Pardon my French. I feel like I still should have 5, 10 years left. At 29 I felt old to have a baby and now I laugh so hard. I was one, and 42 was so old, but now that I am here and busting with energy and love, I hate myself for those thoughts. BUT higher maternal and fetal risks are very real). Thing was, my husband has been out of work for 4 years now w/o pay, and we have struggled, A LOT and now he's finally going to be getting well-deserved payments and my 42nd birthday just really made me think BIG TIME, and the fact that money times WILL now get better, and my love for children is immense, and having my kids gone all day (work from home) has left me feeling so empty, I still want a shot, but I doubt it will be easy and there's no time to waste.
Sorry to make my intro. so long here, but last month when I went to my OBGYN he told me I can still have babies, which is funny w/o any testing, but it made me feel good at the time, wrong or right, and to come in this month for CD bloodwork, which I remember very well from the past. OK, sooooo... my appt. last time was on my CD 4, and he told me I could come this next cycle on CD 3, and I said 'what if I get caught on a weekend.... my luck' and (IT HAPPENED, LOL), and he said you can have it done on CD 4 then. (That would be today.) BUT, why didn't he just do it that day? I had my pap and all, and was there, adnd I did question it. He said during my exam I was not bleeding so.... WHO CARES??? I always stop for 1/2 a day on day 4 and then it resumes lightly until it leaves. CD 1 & 2 are my OMG I can't deal with the pain days. So, I am in the same place right this second, but this could have been done a month ago, but then I just went along with it because I figured I'd nail the day 3 and timing would be A+, but, obviously, that didn't transpire.
I can't find much online, but because of my age and my mental state (no, I am not crazy, I mean.. I want right answers, not wrong ones due to timing, or it would affect my mental state, lol, if that makes sense.) I don't wanna stress, worrying if these will be 100% accurate or if they can be off a bit because it is a tad late. They may say 2-4 but I read some doc's prefer day 2!!! I didn't think about this when I was confident about my results way back when, but now am more sensitive and def. want them to be right at this advanced age. I took urine FSH tests at home and was good, but it isn't the same.
Should I go in today or wait until CD 3 next cycle, PRAYING it doesn't fall on a weekend?? I'd go to an RE now, but my hubby is older than me, and he knows how I am feeling, but I am doing this as a stepping stone to the big talk.
We were sooooooooooooo in twin shock with our girls and of course, they come and there is nothing but happiness and you can't imagine one not being there after the fact, naturally, but it was scary along the way, risks, fear, as I lost a child when I was young which compounded things greatly, but were he scared too?? OMG yes!!!! I expected one, but I know now, God makes no mistakes, and wish I enjoyed my pregnancy more, as all turned out fine. A lot of people scared me along the way. (DON'T GOOGLE MOST THINGS, OR EVER LISTEN TO WAR STORIES - BIG PIECE OF ADVICE PLZ!!!) Hub be fine as is, but he would have been OK b4 the twins too with just one biological child, so we'd talk AFTER these results, but he does know it is on my mind and I have NOT been honest about it, with my clock not ticking, but 1/2 broken, since we needed a push back then, we'd need a bigger push POSSIBLY now, unless we got real lucky, but I know time is of the essence. I don't feel FULLY complete, but I am lucky. I know women with secondary or beyond infertility understand that feeling I have. We do know we are blessed. It's just a feeling you cannot shake regardless. (I do root for all the 1st time mamas every day & have since my TTC journey started 16 years ago with my 1st DD) OK, sorry to get off track here.
What would you do??? I wanna have these results b4 talking SA and RE with him. I am very frightened though. Anybody know if this is OK, and the results would be just as accurate? I also heard of a new test that can be done at ANY point in the cycle and gives more info. but I didn't know about it to mention it last month and maybe it is an RE thing, but it is just a blood test too, which sounds awesome. Anybody know anything about that one?
Thanks bunches for reading all of this. BABY DUST TO EVERYBODY HERE!!! MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL VERY SOON!!!!!!!


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Certain mathematical objects have a theory so rich that their study alone arguably constitutes a distinct (sub)discipline. My own list would begin with
1) the absolute Galois group of the rationals;
2) the Mandelbrot set;
3) the Stone-Cech compactification of the integers;
4) the three-dimensional Cremona group;
5) the Riemann $\zeta$ -function;
6) the hyperfinite type $II_1$ factor;
7) the set of rational prime numbers;
8) $SL_2({\mathbb R})$;
9) the 27 lines on a cubic surface;
I suppose one might add "the real line," "the Euclidean plane," "the axioms of ZFC," but I'm looking for objects that have emerged out of research and whose richness itself might carry an element of surprise, rather than objects purpose-built for their universal or foundational character.
I think a survey of such objects would make a lovely text for an undergraduate capstone course, so I'm asking for your favorite examples.
My question has a sociological underpinning - there actually exist communities of mathematicians who would recognize the objects I've listed as central to their focus. I'm not allergic to suggestions of objects that should enjoy that level of attention, but for whatever reason, don't yet.
In the same spirit, I recognize that all the objects mentioned belong to broad categories, and could thus abstractly could be deemed mere examples, and certainly then studied in a broader context. But de facto, these objects enjoy a distinctive critical level of attention in relative isolation. For example, each makes an appropriate subject for a monographic treatment. But please don't hesitate to make a suggestion because your favorite object doesn't have a monograph yet!