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The Future is Not What it Used To Be at LeBasse
LeBasse Projects Presents: The Future Is Not What It Used To Be
Group exhibition curated by Mike Stilkey
Date: October 8th – November 10th 2011
Location: LBP Culver City: 6023 Washington Blvd. Culver City, CA 90232
Artist reception: Saturday, October 8th, 6-9p
Website: www.lebasseprojects.com
ʻThe Future Is Not What It Used To Be' is the upcoming exhibition at LeBasse Project marking a first curatorial effort of Mike Stilkey, a represented artist at the gallery. The title of the show for this group exhibition was inspired by a quote from the French poet Paul Valery – "The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be". Taken by this idea Stilkey shapes his vision for the exhibition:
"Our vision of the future is that society will evolve and progress and our situation will improve. As you get older you realize that these things often do not turn out the way you expected. I think this is especially relevant at this time, with global concerns and anxiety around climate change, economic and financial crises, environmental destruction, etc. When I was a kid, I thought that in 30 years I'd be flying around in a Jetson's car, not worrying about global warming and widespread extinction of species." – says Stilkey.
Artists invited to participate include: Kelsey Brookes, Brian Dettmer, Katrin Fridriks, Jim Houser, Dave Kinsey, Ryan McLennan, Cleon Peterson, Dena Shuckit, Aaron Smith, Tara Tucker and Mike Stilkey. The nature of their work and how it resonated with curator's own vision of the future helped with the selection.
Image above is work of Katrin Fridriks.


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UFOs: Meeting the Air Ministry
Article from the website mysteriousuniverse.org.
Sometimes, and purely due to the passage of time, intriguing UFO-themed events and situations get lost and/or forgotten. A perfect example of this is the strange affair of David Wightman and John Pitt. Back in the 1950s, they were invited to visit the offices of the London, England-based Air Ministry to discuss the matter of how the government and the military addressed the UFO controversy.
Click on this link to read more http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2015/07/ufos-meeting-the-air-ministry/.
Comments are closed.
Pete's Blog

subset: commoncrawl


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Maintenance Memberships are a great way to help save you money. Doing small tune ups for your system can save you a tremendous amount of money, both in lowered utility bills and in repair expenses. Reducing your utility bills not only saves you money, but it helps the environment – saving water and reducing the pollution caused by generating energy. Every year, your three major systems need a check up – plumbing, air conditioning and heating system, and electrical system.
Please click the image to see our Service Club Membership Plans
PLUMBING SYSTEM / WATER HEATER Service Club Benefits
Plumbing – $477 in FREE Maintenance Service! Once each year, a member of our expert plumbing team (a Certified Service Technician) will give your home a thorough inspection, schedule service and FREE plumbing system adjustments including all connected equipment. The complete list includes up to 100 different items…a $290.00 value alone! Here's a peek at just
a few…All of your toilets and faucets are checked and tested for leaks and smooth operation. Any needed adjustments are FREE! All of your exposed water lines, piping under your bathroom and kitchen sinks and drains are checked for any damage, leaks and clogs. A camera will be put into all drains to check for blockage and buildup. Your washing machine hoses and valves are thoroughly checked and tested. Your water heater is checked for safety, leaks and signs of corrosion. Any concerns or water hazards will be immediately addressed with you, providing you with total Peace of Mind!
Discount on any plumbing repair.
Guaranteed same day set your own appointments or that month is free. Guaranteed the fastest service on the planet. A pass to the front of the line. You must call by 8:30 a.m. to have same day service guaranteed.
Most companies charge a "trip charge" or "service call" fee just to show up. When you are a Service Club Member, it is free!
Once each year your water heater will be drained to remove sediment to extend life and maintain manufacturer warranties.
Heating elements inspected and cleaned ($149.00 Value).
Never buy another flapper or waste water ever! Once each year all toilet flappers will be replaced or adjusted as needed. ($198.00 Value)
Membership is transferable if you ever sell your house.
HOME APPLIANCE Maintenance Benefits:
Garbage Disposal:
Maintaining a good working disposal is critical, especially if you spend time in the kitchen. Water leaks under the kitchen sink from the disposal and clogged drain lines from a bad shredder plate can cause costly plumbing repairs. We will visually inspect cracked drain hoses, loose hose clamps, operation of shredder plate, and safety switch.
A poorly operating dishwasher can mean costly repairs from water leaks up to the replacement of the dishwasher, if not kept in good running condition. We will visually inspect for bad drain cycles, leaks in drain section, and bad door seals as well as all cosmetic parts.We will check for proper operation of upper and lower sprayer arms, proper water levels, the timing sequence of cycles, and the operation of the dry cycles and soap actuator cups. With all these conditions in proper order, your dishwasher will continue to work well beyond manufacturer's expectation.
A good operating refrigerator will last for a very long time if it is maintained properly. Replacing a compressor can cost upwards of $500.00, but if condenser coils are kept clean, a compressor could last over 15 years. We will inspect all major parts in your refrigerator. We will inspect the freezer and fresh food compartments to make sure the thermostats are working properly to maintain accurate temperatures. We will check the defrost timer control, water levels in ice maker, water through door and ice dispensers, and ice maker harvesting ice. We will check all air gaskets to be sure they are not leaking to save you utility costs. We will even check all cosmetic parts, such as bins, trays, and door panels.
A good microwave is nice to have when you only need a quick meal or that warm cup of soup. We will check the lights, cycling and power levels when you want to defrost or when low heat is required. We will also check for door leaks when in operation, timing sequence, and cosmetic parts.
Exhaust Vents:
We will check the condition of the filter, lights, fan and light switches and blower fan operation as well as cosmetic parts.
Oven and/or Stove:
When you are preparing that special recipe for dinner, you want to feel confident if the recipe calls for a specific cooking temperature, your oven will provide that temperature.
We will check oven thermostat calibrations, door seals to keep the heat in, and inspect proper ignition to avoid toxic fumes from a weak ignition system. We will also check burner operation, check for gas leaks, inspect lights in oven, oven racks, and all cosmetic parts.
Having a properly maintained washer is important, especially when you pay quite a bit for clothing. A poor wash cycle can damage nice clothes or simply not clean well. We will check for proper water levels during heavy, medium or light loads and check the operation of the water fill valve to assure hot or cold water is flowing correctly for correct water levels. A bad or partially clogged water fill valve can take a long time for the washer to complete its wash cycle costing you extra on utility bills. We will also check for proper drain operation, leaks, agitation cycle, timer operation, door switches, and cosmetic parts.
Having a good conditioned dryer will save you money in utility costs and save you the hassle of replacing that favorite garment you like to wear. Clothing that require special dry times and temperatures could be damaged. We will check timers for accurate timer operation, thermostats, lint filters, dryer vent and vent hose for obstructions, and check for proper ignition of the dryer and door safety switches.
Discounts on all repairs.
Discounts on diagnostic.
Discounts on accessories.
Priority service – You go straight to the front of the line.
Guaranteed same day service (if you call by 8:30 a.m.) or that month is free.
Most companies charge a trip charge or a service fee just to show up. When you are a Service Club Member, it is FREE!
Membership is transferable if you ever sell your house.
Tuning up and maintaining your home's air conditioning system is critical to its economical operation and safety. It will keep the system in factory fresh condition, prevent break downs, save money on utility costs and maintain warranties ($520 Value each system). You will also receive:
Lifetime Thermostat Warranty ($100 Value per system).
Discount on any repairs.
Discount on diagnostic.
Discount on accessories.
Priority service – You go straight to the front of the line.
Future System Reserve – 100% of your unused credit balance may be applied to a new heating or cooling system.
Guaranteed same day service (if you call by 8:30 a.m.) or that month is free.
Most companies charge a trip charge or a service fee just to show up.
When you are a Service Club Member, it is FREE! ($89 Value).
Membership is transferable if you ever sell your house.
NOTE: Tune ups do not include cleaning the evaporator coil. Tech will inspect evaporator coil by visual inspection, and if necessary, will share photos and consult with homeowner regarding cost to clean. If necessary, remove, clean, and reinstall. Will cost between $300-$700, depending on difficulty of removal and re-installation.
Also, keeping your HVAC system properly cleaned can help anyone in your home who suffers from allergies and asthma. Austin has been called the Allergy Capital of Texas for a reason! Because anyone with pollen allergies can have problems nearly year round. Even people who are not usually allergic to pollen can suddenly develop an allergy to the local cedar, whose pollen is toxic on top of being allergenic. (Many people can live in the area for years before finally developing an allergy to cedar, and many of the "colds" and sore throats that Central Texans get in the late fall to early spring are actually "Cedar Fever.") Keeping your HVAC system in top shape will help reduce the suffering of anyone in your home who is even mildly allergic and will help reduce the number and severity of asthma attacks.
Electrical – $400 in FREE Maintenance Service! Here's a peek at just a few…All of your switches, receptacles, breakers, fuses, appliance circuits, electrical panels and smoke alarms will be checked and tested for overheating, proper operation and code compliance. Any needed adjustments are FREE!
All of your interior, exterior and landscape lighting, including ceiling fans are tested for proper operation. Any needed adjustments are FREE! Any concerns or fire hazards will be immediately addressed with you, providing you with total Peace of Mind!
Discount on Repairs.
Free replacement of your air conditioner & heater breaker, if/when necessary ($149 Value).
Replace bad light bulbs in home's fixtures and ceiling fans with homeowner provided bulbs ($49 Value).
Replace smoke alarm batteries with homeowner provided batteries ($49 Value).
Electrical Panel Rejuvenation: We will clean debris from electrical panel, tighten all connections, apply insect treatment and panel labeling.
We will label all breakers appropriately ($250 Value).
Guaranteed same day set your own appointments or that month is free. Guaranteed the fastest service on the planet. A pass to the front of the line. You must call by 8:30 a.m. to have same day service guaranteed.
Most companies charge a "trip charge" or "service call" fee just to show up. When you are a Service Club member, it is free! ($89 Value).
Membership is transferrable if you ever sell your house!


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(DWI) Driving While Impaired
The following is a short explanation regarding some of the aspects of a typical DWI case:
1. 30-Day Revocation. In the event you have a blood alcohol reading of .08 or greater, or you refuse to submit to a blood or breath test, your license will be revoked by the Magistrate for a period of thirty (30) days. You must pay $100.00 to the Clerk of Court after thirty (30) days. Your failure to do so will mean that your license will stay revoked until you pay the $100.00 fee.
2. Pretrial Limited Driving Privilege. If you had a valid license at the time you were arrested, you would be eligible for a Pretrial Limited Driving Privilege ten (10) days after your arrest. To obtain the Driving Privilege you must obtain an Alcohol Assessment, provide proof of insurance through either a copy of the declaration page of your insurance policy or have your insurance agent complete a DL-123 form. The conditions on a Pretrial Limited Privilege are the same as shown in Paragraph 4 below. There is a $100.00 fee charged by the Clerk of Court for the issuance of a Limited Driving Privilege.
3. Revocations for Refusal to submit to chemical test. If you refused to submit to either a breath or blood test, the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles will suspend your driver's license for a period of one (1) year. This one (1) year period of revocation is in addition to the thirty (30) day revocation as shown above. There may be a way to delay this one (1) year revocation temporarily. You should discuss this with us immediately and prior to receiving notification from the Division of Motor Vehicles.
4. Limited Driving Privileges. If you are convicted or plead guilty to the DWI charge, the Court is required to suspend your license for a period of at least one (1) year. However, you may be eligible for a limited license, which will enable you to drive during that one (1) year period of revocation. To be eligible for a limited license, you must not have a conviction of DWI within seven (7) years from the date ofyour arrest. There are several conditions on the Limited Driving Privilege. You cannot drive with any alcohol on your breath or in your body at all. Driving is limited from 6:00 A.M. until 8:00 P.M. Monday through Friday. To drive at other hours, you must complete an Employment Note (attached) showing your hours of employment, and the driving must be employment related only. The Clerk of Court charges a $100.00 fee for the issuance of a Limited Driving Privilege.
5. Interlock Devices. If you have a blood or breath alcohol of .15 or more, you must have an Interlock Device installed on your vehicle, to obtain a Limited Driving Privilege. This Limited Driving Privilege cannot be issued until at least forty-five (45) days after your conviction. For more information, read the document entitled "Ignition Interlock in the Restoration of Driving Privileges for DWI Offenders" attached. Please note, if you are over the .14 level, you must have the Interlock installed for a minimum period of one year. DMV may require an additional period of time with the Interlock.
6. Reinstatement of license. If you are convicted or plead guilty to DWI, your license or privilege will be revoked for at least one (1) year. In some cases, it will be a longer period depending upon your driving history. To be eligible to have your license reinstated, you must obtain the Alcohol Assessment and complete the recommended course of treatment. This all must be done within twelve (12) months of the date of your conviction. If you fail to complete the treatment within the twelve (12) month period, then any limited driving privilege that you have obtained is revoked, and you cannot drive in North Carolina, under any circumstances, until you obtain a new assessment and complete the recommended treatment.
These are some, but not all, of the issues involved with a DWI. If you have any questions about your particular case, please let us know.
To obtain an Alcohol Assessment, you may contact our office or look in the Yellow Pages for Alcoholism Information and Treatment Centers.
Insurance companies will assess 12 insurance points for a DWI conviction and increase rates up to 400%.
Sentencing Levels:
Level A1:Maximum sentence is 3 years in jail; minimum is 1 year and fines up to $10,000.00 plus court costs.
Level I: Max is 2 years in jail; minimum is 30 days, and fines up to $2000 plus court costs.
Level II: Max is 1 year in jail; minimum is 7 days, and fines up to $1000 plus court costs.
Level III: Max is 6 months, minimum is 72 hrs jail or community service, and fines up to $500 plus court costs.
Level IV: Max is 120 days, minimum is 48 hrs jail or community service, and fines up to $250 plus court costs.
Level V: Max is 60 days, minimum is 24 hrs jail or community service, and fines up to $290 plus court costs.
Habitual FelonyL Max is 59 months, minimum is 12 months, and fines and court costs are determined by the Court.


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Coconut Chutney
September 21, 2007 at 4:33 pm 3 comments
I always knew 2 types of coconut chutneys -one that is made with green chillies to eat with tiffins and one this one with popu and tamarind to eat with rice. This is every one's favourite in our house . To make this,add and toast popu and grind half of this popu with a fistful of defrosted frozen/fresh grated coconut with a teaspoon of thick tamarind paste. Mix the remaining popu with prepared chutney and enjoy with rice or with anything you like.
Entry filed under: Chutnies and Raita.
3 Comments Add your own
Looks like a tasty chutney Madhavi.Sometimes I eat rice with leftover chutney,love it!:))
I like both the versions a lottt….Easy n Simple chutney it is…Looks delicious
@Asha!Yes Asha!This one's a yummy tasty,easy chutney and can be had with anything literally.
I am glad to meet another coconut chutney fan.thanks
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A few days ago I was illin' and chillin' in my home office, working hard as always, when suddenly a vortex of purple light appeared(!). From the vortex, out stepped a man(!) who looked like me, but was clearly a few decades older.
"Holy turd birds!" I cried, "It's Future Me again! You're the guy I talked to from the future last year! Telling me about all the nanobots and virtual reality and shit! What's up, Future Me?"
"Calm down, kid," the man said, "You're half right. I'm you from the future, but from an alternate timeline."
"Alternate timeline?" I asked.
"Yeah," he said, rubbing his shoulder that was noticeably more muscular than mine, "I come from a timeline where all the tech pessimists were right, and none of that nanotech or sex robots or virtual reality stuff ever came true. Technology just advanced slowly like it always has. Technology is higher now, but nothing amazing. Day-to-day life is still the same in the future as it is for you now, more or less. Especially now, since Western civilization collapsed a few years ago and China pretty much runs the world. Those Chinese are smart and efficient, but they're not as innovative as we were."
"Cool!" I said, not caring about society as usual, "But why have you come to visit me?"
"Well," he said, "Me and my DLR were reminiscing, looking through some of your old Blackdragon posts from when you were in your 40s. I noticed in one of them, a bunch of guys in the comments asked you about where you see yourself when you're in your 70s. So, I thought, what the hell, I'll travel back in time to give you some answers."
"Alright," I said, "But what the hell is a DLR?"
"Oh yeah," he replied, "I forgot. You haven't invented that acronym yet. For simplicity's sake, let's just call her an OLTR."
"Ah, OLTR I understand."
"I know, dumbshit. You coined the acronym."
"Now, now. No need to get snippy, Old Future Me. I don't do drama. Don't make me soft next you and throw you back into that vortex."
"Just try it, you little bastard," he said, flexing his Popeye-like forearms, "I can bench press 100 pounds more than you can. I'll wipe the floor with your candy ass."
"Really? Cool! I'm strong when I'm older!"
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, since shifting away from a focus on money in my early 50s, I'm a little more outcome independent these days, and just say whatever falls out of my mouth. Don't take it personally."
"You know I don't," I said.
Just like my last visit from Future Me (who looked 37 years old), I pulled out my phone and started recording my conversation with Old Future Me (who clearly looked like an old guy, just a strong and youthful version of an old guy). I got him comfortable, offered him some water, which he drank, and started pelting with all kinds of questions about my life as a man in his 70s.
Here's a portion of what we talked about.
Me: So I assume I hit my last set of financial goals when I was in my late 40s and early 50s?
Old Future Me: Yeah. There was a depression in the US and Europe during that time, as you expected, and that caused some problems, but since your businesses and investments were prepared for it, you came out alright. By the time you were about 53, money was no longer a concern for you, and you shifted your Mission into phase two, just as you had planned all along.
Me: Where do you live now? I know I moved out of the US, right?
Old Future Me: Yeah, you bugged out of there around that time and moved to Buenos Aires. Today I have a house in Argentina and an apartment in the US. You spend a lot of time in Asia though.
Me: Wait a damn minute. Why do you have an apartment in the US? I don't want an apartment in the US. That was never part of my plan. I want to stay as far away from the US as possible.
Old Future Me: Your OLTR wife didn't go for the RV idea, and you got tired of staying with family or paying for hotels every time you visited, so you finally bit the bullet and got a nice but small studio apartment. Since the US dollar collapsed a while back, it's not a big deal and was pretty inexpensive. And you rent it out when you're not there to help offset costs, though frankly, not a lot of people rent the damn thing. It's in the collapsed US after all, and no one wants to visit that shithole these days. And the lease is in one of your offshore company's names, which saves you on some taxes, liability, and regulation.
Me: I guess that's the price I'm paying for being able to visit my family and home culture in the US whenever I want.
Old Future Me: Exactly.
Me: And you said I have a…wife? Making me nervous over here, dude.
Old Future Me: Of course I have a wife. I'm 70 years old for fuck's sake. OLTR version of course, because I'm not stupid. Anyway, here's a pic of her.
Me: Wow. Older, but not bad. Still hot. How old is she?
Old Future Me: 62.
Me: What?!? She looks much younger than that.
Old Future Me: Cosmetic surgery, pal. She just upgraded her boobs again last year.
Me: Wow.
Old Future Me: Plus, your favorite FB is 27. Your second favorite is 37 but she's getting to be a bitch, so I'll probably next her ass soon.
Me: Wait, you're 70. You still have FBs in their 20s?
Old Future Me: Just one of them is. Getting women under 30 is pretty difficult at my age, but doable if I work at it. Getting them under age 25 is pretty much impossible, unless I pay a little for it of course, which is easy since sugar daddies are a norm in society now. But I don't really like spending money. I prefer to have sex the old fashioned way: for free.
Me: Amen to that.
Old Future Me: I have though, paid for it. Again, I can afford it and it's in the budget, so it's not a big deal. If I want a new FB without paying her, it takes some time, but if I want to just pay for it, I whip up my sugar daddy app, throw out a few hundred bucks, and boom, done. Like I said, not a big deal with my financial position.
Me: Do you still work?
Old Future Me: What a stupid question! Of course I work, you dumbass. I just work for fun now, and not every day like you do. I work a few days a week, mostly writing and doing speeches, whenever I feel like it. I get paid for my work but I don't really care if I do. I just like to work.
Me: I love to work too, but I work with specific financial objectives in mind. It's what drives me.
Old Future Me: I'm still driven, but not for money anymore. My Mission drives me, still to this day. My total testosterone is still around 900, my health is great, I have sex regularly, and I still set goals (just non-financial ones). I'm just as motivated as you are, but for the experience of life and my Mission, not because of money. I haven't really needed to worry about money for almost 20 years now. Your hard work in your 20s and 40s saw to that.
Me: You never lost any money in your investments?
Old Future Me: Well, as you know, you and I only invest in very boring, very conservative investments that don't make a large return but never lose money. But yeah, I've lost a little money a few times over the last 30 years, particularly when Europe and the US finally went under. (Hell, everyone lost money when that happened.) But on the overall I've maintained and grown my wealth. I've never lost a large amount of money, like all those idiots who invested in the stock market did.
Me: But surely you still have budget. I mean, you can't just spend money on whatever you want, right?
Old Future Me: Right, but like you, I live a very, very low cost lifestyle. I live in Argentina which is one of the cheapest places to live on the planet. I keep most of my money invested in strong currencies, in this case Chinese renminbi (I was smart enough to get the hell out of US dollars a few decades ago), and spend money in weak currencies, in this case the Argentine peso. So a little of my money goes a very long way. I also don't spend a lot of money in the first place. I travel a lot, but usually the travel is paid for because of work I do on my trips. I have no debt either, just like you don't now. Now granted, my wife, being a woman, spends money on all kinds of stupid shit. Clothes, shoes, handbags, pillows. You know, all that girl crap. But she has her own income so I don't need to worry about most of those expenses.
Me: She has her own income? That's good. When I was monogamously married in my 20s, one of the reasons I got divorced was because she didn't work. She didn't have something she felt was her own. When the kids went off to school, she was home alone with nothing to do. It was hard on her, and hard on the marriage.
Old Future Me: Exactly. My wife works on her own Alpha 2.0 location independent business that I helped her start many years ago. She doesn't make as much money as I do, but she doesn't really need to, with our living expenses being so low (outside of her stupid girly purchases that is). And she has something that's hers that she can be proud of.
Me: You said your total testosterone is still at 900. So I assume you're still on TRT?
Old Future Me: We don't call it TRT anymore, and we don't even use syringes. We have better systems for keeping men's T levels at their optimal levels, but yeah, I'm still on a regimen that ensures my T levels are around 900 or so. I make damn sure I never become one of those typical old guys who eventually get weak, unhappy, unmotivated and beta. I also don't want cancer or stroke or heart attacks. So hell yeah, I still get regular blood tests that check everything out, like PSA, DHEA, vitamin D, testosterone, estrogen, cholesterol, inflammation, and everything else, just like you started doing when you turned 40. That was a very smart move, and I thank you for that. Today I'm one of the healthiest 70 year-old men I know. I exercise a lot. I lift weights three times a week and do cardio two or three times a week. And that doesn't count all the fuckin' I'm doing.
Me: Speaking of that, I assume my dick still works? Dare I say…Cybercock?
Old Future Me: Yep. It usually works just fine. And when I need to take a little "help," I take a little pill. It all works. However, I don't have sex quite as often as you do. Weekly, more or less, but not what you're doing. At my age it's not that big of a priority. The biggest thing that helps sexually is my testosterone and the fact that all three of the women I'm playing with are super hot, at least to me. I see a lot of these old guys married to old, fat wives complaining about erectile dysfunction. Well, shit. No wonder they can't get it up! If my wife looked like that, and I wasn't allowed to have sex with any other women, then hell, my Johnson would be soft as a noodle too! What the hell do these old monogamous dumbshits expect?
Me: How often do you travel?
Old Future Me: We spend about two months a year in the collapsed US. It's a shithole these days, but a few of the states that seceded, like Texas and New Hampshire, are doing a little better. Regardless, me and the wife can still visit our poverty-stricken families who still live there and didn't have the foresight to get out when the getting was good. I help them out a little financially when I can, but I don't overdo it. Many of these people were the same people calling me an asshole back when I was in my 40s, when I was telling them to leave the Western world. And don't even get me started about the Europeans…they're even worse off. Since the Muslims took over after the EU civil war-
Me: <interrupting> Yeah, yeah, I get that you're probably not going to Europe that often these days, but where else do you go? China?
Old Future Me: Not necessarily just China but various places in Asia, yeah. That's where the money and the action is. I do speeches over there and the wife likes to shop there, since clothing stores in the US and Europe suck now. I travel internationally about four or five times a year, sometimes with the wife and sometimes by myself. We're even thinking about moving to New Zealand. Beautiful country. And my daughter already lives there. I'd have to get one or two new FBs if we moved, but that's easy, even if I have to "sugar daddy" it.
Me: What do you do for fun?
Old Future Me: My work is my fun. You know that.
Me: Well yeah, but what else? I mean like real hobbies. Still play blackjack? Stuff like that?
Old Future Me: I haven't really played much blackjack since right-wing rebels nuked Las Vegas back in 2026. Something about a "city of sin" or some shit. They did it as retaliation for when our first openly socialist president, Chelsea Clinton, socialized all healthcare, college, grocery stores, and auto companies. But for hobbies? These days I like to read, play out on my small boat, watch movies, and a few years ago I got back into martial arts, Krav Maga and BJJ. Fun stuff. And yeah, when I visit Macau I play a little blackjack, just for fun though, not to win like you used to play. Like I said, I don't care about money anymore.
Me: Hm. Sounds weird for me to not care about money. But getting to the point where I don't have to worry about it is my goal. I'm glad I hit it.
Old Future Me: It took you a little longer than you planned, but you hit it, yeah. Today I can focus on working for fun and giving back to the community.
Me: Is that what your speeches are for? Giving back?
Old Future Me: Many of them, yes. Many of the speeches I give and the writing I do is for free, to help men and younger people. I also donate consulting time to many nonprofits. And I give a percentage of my income, including my investments income, to charity, just like you do. It's just that I'm able to give a lot more these days.
Me: Interesting. So now you care about the world? I don't.
Old Future Me: That's because you're an asshole. I want to make the world a better place, yeah. At least for those who will listen, who I agree are always going to be a minority. Even after the collapse, human beings are still just as collectivist as they've always been. They still try to cling to things like monogamy, socialism, religion, war, debt based economies, and all kinds of other things that validate emotions but don't work or make sense in the real world. But yes, I want to help those people who want to actually live happy lives in spite of all that crap.
Me: That's pretty much my attitude.
Old Future Me: Yeah, but since you focus so much on money and empire building right now (which is what you should be focusing on right now, don't get me wrong) and I don't need to worry about any of that stuff, I can focus 100% of my time on giving back, and I love it, whereas you can only focus a percentage of your time on that.
Me: Good point.
We talked for another hour or two. Finally, he rose, saying he had to get back because he had a romantic dinner date scheduled with his wife. (Something about going out for low carb Mexican food.) Standing in front of the purple vortex, I shook his hand. He thanked me for working so hard and building a life and an infrastructure for him to live such a happy and rewarding life in his 70s, despite the collapse of his home culture. I thanked him for giving me a glimpse into my future. He smiled, nodded, stepped into the vortex, and both him and it disappeared.
I stood there, standing at the empty space where he had stood just seconds before, thinking several deep thoughts. Then I walked back to my desk.
"Back to work," I said.


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Social media is the latest approach for people wanting to communicate with each other on the Internet. Social media can work for you if you need to promote a product, brand, or anything else. Using social media sites for marketing is effective, very economical and can keep your customer base continually expanding. The following tips outline a few ways you can make use of this fantastic new communication tool to make a profit.
Make creative and interesting titles. When titles and headlines hook readers, you are going to notice people go where you ask them.
Utilizing a Twitter account could be very beneficial to creating business contacts. You can reach thousands of people through Twitter, if you know how to use it in the right way. Invest the time needed to master everything Twitter, including keywords and hashtags.
Think twice before retaining the services of a social media promotion firm. Some of these companies are frauds. These companies use thousands of bogus Facebook, YouTube and Twitter accounts using proxy servers that automate registration at these sites. They can show you impressive viewership counts for your advertising, when in fact you've sunk serious money into having your ad watched repeatedly by a software program.
Keep your tweets interesting and rich in content. You can give tweets ranging from business related to even just acknowledging your fans. Your subscribers are more likely to maintain interest in your content when you mix these tweets in conjunction with ones that you use to promote your products and services.
In order to maximize your social media results, develop links able to join all sites together. Put links in place on your blog that allow readers to follow your Twitter comments, view your YouTube videos and "like" your Facebook page. When setting up your profile on Twitter, make sure to put in the website addresses for your Facebook page and blog. When you create links between all your different social media profiles, you increase traffic.
Send out invitations to everyone you know when you establish your professional social media profile. Even if they are not a customer, they can help make others aware of your company by just liking or following your page.
If you want people to be interested in the social media marketing campaign you're running, have specials that people can take advantage of by adding you onto these social media sites. When people see deals or promotions on Facebook they will want to spread the word about what your site has to offer.
Social Media
It is important to professionally address criticism and product feedback you receive through social media channels. This simple gesture could turn your campaign into a real success. Respond to negative comments even if you don't have time to respond to anything else. If you don't, your reputation WILL be harmed. At the same time, a prompt and appropriate response could actually turn the comment into something positive.
In order to get the most out of social media in terms of marketing, add social network widgets to your page. Adding a widget to your site is a powerful way to gain followers for your site. A widget will make it possible for readers to share content from your site to their favorite social media site without leaving your page.
Make sure that you provide valuable answers to the questions on your social networking websites. Also, try to update these sites frequently throughout the day. You can also choose to receive emails every time you get a new notification. Keep in mind that everything you're writing as a comment or a response to one person can be viewed by anyone who goes to your site.
Make sure your posts aren't condescending or give the reader the impression you are too cocky. If you sound like you're arrogant, you'll end up with a bad reputation and your offensive posts repeated all over the Internet. Remember that the customers come first: if you are satisfied with your results, thank your customers for it. Without them, you are nothing.
Create vibrant titles for your YouTube or network videos. The titles should have keywords in them that are relevant to the products you are offering and your industry. You will obtain more views if the users can identify quickly that your videos are helpful, and the videos will emerge when the users type certain keywords.
Actively communicate with your customers whenever you can. When it is appropriate and relevant, leave comments on a customer's blog or Facebook page. Do not interfere in a personal discussion; you should contact someone only if they are talking about an issue related to your products or industry.
Measure your plan's success. You should know how many visitors and followers you have on all of the sites you use. Figure out which actions gained you the most action, and then repeat those strategies. You need to track results so you know if your social media campaign is effective.
You can combine email marketing along with social media. Include a link to your Facebook page or Twitter account at the end of all of your emails. It is also possible to get people to sign up for your newsletter by including a link that leads people to visit the registration page.
Try your best to respond to all of the messages and comments you receive throughout the day. This is especially true for any negative comments. If people think that your company cares about what they say, they will be more inclined to trust your brand and products. You have to reply in a reasonable amount of time; otherwise, your customers could feel ignored.
Answer any comments and questions on your social networking websites. Always check your social media sites a few times a day, and always see if you have any new comments, etc. If you wish, you can enable emails for every notification that appears on your page. Keep in mind that anything you post in reply to a comment will be visible by all.
You can promote sales and offers through your social media sites. People will look you up on Facebook if you post interesting content and give Facebook-exclusive discounts from time to time. Social media is a golden opportunity for visitors to become familiar with your brand and become personally involved with your products.
Include the names of influential users of Twitter by name-dropping with an "@" symbol preceding the name. Your tweet will be highlighted for them, and they'll be likely to retweet it to their followers or provide you with more information.
Do your research on the market you wish to target through social media when you are looking for information relating to your current or future products. Your customers and fans will love offering their opinions and having their voices heard. These people are a great source of free information about what demand exists for a particular product.
For quick turnarounds, configure your company's Twitter feed to automatically tweet posts from your blog. You can also add valuable content from other quality website as part of your update campaign. They will enjoy the exposure, and the followers of your posts will enjoy the great content you provide.
The peak in visitors on social media is typically during work hours, Monday to Friday. Use tools for automatically updating your blogs around this time each day and make the posts have a focus on certain activities or ideas that will appeal to the working audience.
Take advantage of a free account with Yahoo Answers to promote your product or services. This portion of the Yahoo website is a service that allows people to submit questions, which other users then answer. Look for unanswered questions that relate to your products and services, and find a way to organically recommend those products and services as part of the solution. You can become an expert through giving quality answers in a specific category.
Use one of the services available to help you manage your Twitter account. There are differences, of course, in the level of service each company can provide, but the essential function is to let you manage your followers and the decisions you make about reciprocating the decision to follow back. These types of services can assist you in managing your lists and discovering the right people to talk to.
Advertisements on social media sites often use interesting images that have been somehow manipulated. It's a great idea to use intriguing images, it draws people to your ad. If your ad succeeds in grabbing them, they are much more likely to be converted into a customer.
Facebook contests can be quite popular. Consumers love contests, and like to have such opportunities. Have a contest to make your brand stand out. Contests are also soapboxes from which you can highlight the benefits of your newest offerings, which can make followers intrigued and possibly spend money.
There are negative aspects of social media marketing, so be prepared for them. It is all together possible that people will have some bad things to say about your business, so you have to be ready for this. Never retreat in such instances, but instead confront problems directly so that problems can be solved and customers can be made happy.
Before creating a Facebook page for your business, look at what similar businesses are doing. By looking at their pages, you will get ideas about what you do, and don't, want to try. Create a page that stands out and appeals to users.
Social Networking
Make sure that your blog posts are visually stimulating. Nobody is interested in endless lines of words that do not incorporate any images. Add things like interesting graphics, logos, videos, music or graphs to give people something to look at. On the other hand, don't make it that the only thing seen on your page is graphics.
When finding out about your customers, make sure to ask about their use of social networking. If your target audience is very active on social networking sites, then you should be active on those sites too. If instead you find that your customers are not big users of social media, you will need to find different ways to market your business.
Use humor to increase your fan base. Whenever someone finds something funny, they are much more likely to share their find with friends. When they share your updates, you get free advertising.
Special offers should be advertised on social networks. On Facebook, people are more likely to discover you if you provide rich content and nice discounts. Your potential customers will become more familiar with your brand, and you can help build brand confidence with your offers.
To maximize your social media marketing results, make sure you make use of whatever demographic information about your customer base is available. If you find that a lot of individuals are clicking your advertisements that belong to a particular demographic group, you could tailor your advertisements to entice them a lot more effectively.
Social networking sites can offer useful insight into the minds of your target market; for this reason, it is especially useful for new product launches and quality control. People love to give their opinion, so ask the question and expect many answers in return. Often, they can provide you with all the information you need about the desires and needs of your target demographic, and gathering it costs you nothing.
Smaller and more specific social media networks can help you target your campaign to a specific group of potential customers. Learn about your target niche and learn what networks they follow.
As a business person, it's all about advertising your brand and finding loyal, repeat customers. Social media is a great way to make this happen. Use the advice of this article to familiarize yourself with social media and how it works. Once you see the positive results of your efforts, you will want to explore this area even more. Social media is a fantastic way to reach a broad range of consumers, while giving your business the boost that it needs to thrive.
You can hide a coupon code in a YouTube video thanks to the annotation feature. Post the annotation in a specific place on your video, preferably near the end. Then, post the video on all your social media sites. Tell your customers they will receive the code if they watch the entire video.


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Creating 'age friendly cities': Developing a New Urbanism For All Generations
A series of events relating to cities and social inclusion.
Informal Politics in the City: Migration, Informality and Urban Citizenship
A one day workshop sponsored by cities@manchester, on informal politics in the city, migration and informality. The workshop will bring together those working on urban informality and migration, with the aim of teasing out the relevance of migration for understanding urban informality and highlighting the importance of the informal context for those working on migration. We will do this by focusing on the different ways in which migrants do politics, here understood in a very broad sense as everyday politics – and in all their diversity: based on migrants' own identity as migrants, religion, work, or neighbourhood based around issues of housing. We will explore what kinds of visions of cities these different types of strategies promote and also how they contribute to the making of cities. Papers will be based on research carried out in Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Nouakchott, Dakar, and Harare.
- Debby Potts (Kings)
- Diana Mitlin (Manchester)
- Hannah Cross (Manchester)
- Jerónimo Montero Bressán (Manchester)
- Marina Wertheimer Becich (Sheffield)
- Tanja Bastia (Manchester)
- Uma Kothari (Manchester)
For further information, please contact Tanja Bastia, email@example.com
Urban Forum - Manchester: Towards a Just City?
Manchester like many cities at present suffers from growing divides, poverty and inequality. The Council has cut jobs and reduced services, while the centre of the city and surrounding retail high streets are blighted with a growing number of empty store fronts. With house prices stagnant or falling and unemployment levels across Greater Manchester continuing to rise, it is unclear how housing or labour markets can improve the living conditions of the local area. Some analysts point to possibilities for job growth from the creative industries and financial services sectors, but these opportunities remain as yet unrealised. In this research forum we bring together a number of stakeholders to explore where manchester is now, the challenges it faces and what it needs to do to become more at ease with itself and more socially just.
- Neil McInroy, Chief Executive, Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES)
- Allison Foreman, Project Development Coordinator, Greater Manchester Pay and Employment Rights Advice Service
- John Holden, Deputy Director of Research, New Economy Manchester
- Clive Memmott, Chief Executive, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce
- Chair: Adam Leaver (Manchester Business School, University of Manchester)
The Commons: in what state?
This one-day workshop specifically for PhD and early career researchers across the UK aims to explore the nature, relevance, and value of the 'commons' for us today. In the context of the global financial crisis spawning resistance movements to the austerity urbanism imposed in its wake a new political narrative of the 'commons' appears to emerge as the signifier of radical alternatives to neoliberalization. But what do we mean by the 'commons' and how can we make theoretical sense and political use out of the concept?
Participants will be given 15 minutes to present, followed by questions and discussion from the audience led by a panel of leading academics from the School of Environment and Development at The University of Manchester. Confirmed so far are Prof. Maria Kaika, Prof. Erik Swyngedouw, and Prof. Diana Mitlin. The focus of the workshop is on providing the space for interdisciplinary debate and engagement with the issues as well feedback for particular presentations.
North West Early Modern Seminar - Printing Cities in Early Modern Europe: Venice and Beyond
Supported by cities@manchester. Details of the speakers can be downloaded via the link below:
Symposium and Public Lecture: The future of the multi-ethnic city
May 29, 2013.
Public lecture (open to all): Professor Caroline Knowles (Goldsmiths)
'Digging Up the Urban Periphery: Reflections from Beijing on Migration, Ethnicity and Cities'
This interdisciplinary event will bring together scholars interested in race, ethnicity and the urban. It will address questions such as: What is the future of post-industrial cities in an era of renewed economic uncertainty and a creeping racialised politics of citizenship? How can scholarly work engage with questions about the future of such cities and the engendering of
new inequalities?
Supported by cities@manchester.
In the Jungle of Cities: mobs, murders, crowds, riots and crises in the modern city
30 May, 2013
The relationship between the modern city and violence has been an essential one for literature, film, television and other cultural production. ''In the Jungle of Cities': mobs, murders, crowds, riots and crises in the city', a one day conference to be held on May 30th 2013 at Chetham's Library, will seek to interrogate the relationship between violence and urban spaces from an interdisciplinary perspective. Papers will be presented by established scholars, early career researchers, and postgraduate students. The conference will bring together researchers examining this topic from a wide range of different fields including literature, history, architecture, politics and cultural studies.
Supported by cities@manchester.
For more information please visit:
Diverse Neighbourhoods: Policy messages from University of Manchester research
31 May 2013
Neighbourhoods with a greater mix of residents from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds have been widely stigmatised, and recent political debates have associated immigration and ethnic diversity with a reduction in social cohesion. However, findings from research conducted at The University of Manchester show that it is deprivation, rather than diversity, that is the key factor. This conference aims to disseminate this research to policy, third sector, media and public audiences by discussing the following findings:
- British neighbourhoods are very mixed, and increasingly so;
- An increase in neighbourhood diversity leads to higher social cohesion and reports that people in the area get on well together;
- It is deprivation, and not ethnic diversity, which erodes social cohesion and leads to other detrimental health and social outcomes.
This conference will bring together University of Manchester researchers with local and national policy makers, third sector organisations, non-academic users and the media on the characteristics and resources of ethnic and religious diverse neighbourhoods, counteracting common myths about these areas. Thus, the main aim of the conference is to influence how people involved in the governance of diverse neighbourhoods, broader political bodies, and the media think about diverse communities.
Supported by cities@manchester.
Brownbag - 'Social return on investment in social housing: a look at a live case study of housing retrofit in Salford'
Tim Whitley, Associate Director, Arup
9 May 2013
Tim Whitley takes a leading role in low energy design and low carbon energy advice for a variety of building types. He has over 20 years experience in the industry which is supplemented by site coordination and research experience.
As an Associate Director, Tim is part of the Arup North West leadership team and has been responsible for numerous key projects in the North West. He takes an active role in promoting low energy design and sustainability on all projects. He has presented at conferences and Universities and has been responsible for publications relating to low carbon heritage buildings, housing retrofit and museum and art gallery sustainability.
Joint cities@manchester / Manchester Urban Collaboration on Health Seminar
David Walsh, Public Health Programme Manager, Glasgow Centre for Population Health
7 May 2013
Exploring reasons for different health outcomes between Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester
Urban Forum - Creating 'age-friendly cities': developing a new urbanism for all generations
Joint event with MICRA (Manchester Interdisciplinary Collaboration for Research on Ageing).
30 April 2013
Ageing populations are an important feature of city life, with more people living into their 70s, 80s and beyond. But combining the interests of older populations with urban environments focused on attracting younger generations may result in conflict. How can the city of the future work to support all generations? What are the public spaces that need to be created to encourage a dialogue across generations? This research forum will tackle these and related questions drawing on current work in Manchester and across other European cities. The aim of the forum will be to highlight some of the challenges in bringing different age groups together but also the benefits and possibilities arising from new forms of solidarity.
- Stefan White (Manchester School of Architecture)
- Paul McGarry (Senior Strategy Manager, Valuing Older People Team, Manchester City Council)
- Graeme Henderson (Research Fellow IPPR North)
- Chair: Chris Phillipson (MICRA, University of Manchester)
Brownbag - 'Town Centres - challenges, opportunities and change in Greater Manchester'
Garreth Bruff, Policy Manager, Greater Manchester Integrated Support Team, Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA)
25 April 2013
Everyone has a view on the issues facing their local town centre, from car parking to shopping on Amazon - we all know the problems and who deserves the 'blame'. This talk looks at some of the issues and potential solutions, focussing on the principal town centres of Greater Manchester and the types of intervention available at both local and city-region scales if town centres are to successfully restructure in response to changing consumer demands.
Garreth Bruff is a Policy Manager for the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities/Greater Manchester Combined Authority, where he has managed a number of pieces of collaborative work into the future of GMs town centres. Prior to this he had the illuminating experience of working as town centre manager in his own local town, Barnsley.
Urban Forum - Feeding the City: The Politics & Promise of Urban Food
19 March 2013
Cities around the world are emerging as key locales for growing food. A variety of approaches are being piloted to enhance health and well-being, encourage local economic growth and self-sufficiency, enrich social cohesion and community development, and diversify urban greening and resilience. In this research forum, we will discuss the opportunities and barriers of urban agriculture and speculate on the future of growing food in cities.
- Graeme Sherriff (Manchester Architecture Research Centre, University of Manchester)
- Chris Walsh (Kindling Trust)
- Debbie Ellen (independent researcher)
- Liz Postlethwaite (Director - Small Things Creative Projects)
- Chair: Carly McLachlan, Tyndall Centre and Sustainable Consumption Institute
MICRA and Cities@Manchester Joint Seminar
Population Ageing and the Future of Cities: Designing Age-Friendly Environments
26 February 2013
- Stefan White, Senior Lecturer, Manchester School of Architecture (University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University)
- Paul McGarry, Strategy Manager, Valuing Older People
- Professor Liesbeth De Donder, Professor in Adult Educational Sciences, Brussels Free University
- Chair – Professor Chris Phillipson, Sociology and Social Gerontology, University of Manchester


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Home > Business > Commercial litigation and dispute resolution >
Funding commercial litigation
What you need to know about resolving disputes
Legal expenses insurance
It may be prudent to take out legal expense insurance. There are a number of legal expense policies available offering "before the event" and "after the event" cover.
If you take out legal expense insurance cover make sure you know exactly what the policy covers. Legal expense insurance may cover you for the risk of losing and having to pay the other side's costs or cover you for your own costs, but not the risk of losing and having to pay the other side's costs, or both your own costs and the other sides costs if you lose.
Be prepared for the insurer to want to take an active part in the conduct of the dispute and to be kept informed on an ongoing basis.
Since 1 April 2013 you can no longer recover insurance premiums from the losing party.
Third party funding
It is possible to obtain third-party funding for cases with a high chance of success and a high net value, which can be of particular help for companies that cannot afford the expense of litigation or want to minimise their exposure to the cost of litigation.
Litigation funders will pay all or some of the costs and disbursements involved in litigation, which will be repaid along with a share of any damages awarded if the claim is successful.
Sharing the risk with your legal advisers
Solicitors and barristers are allowed to offer to act on a no-win/no fee/reduced fee (a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA)) or for a share in the damages (a Damages Based Agreement (DBA)).
For more information please contact Claire Haverfield.
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Whether or not you have kids, want kids, adopt kids, birth kids, or never plan to have any kids, a miscarriage deals quite a blow. I had three miscarriages in 2013, which I write about here. I'm not going to rehash my journey through that experience here because there is something more pressing on my heart. I am on the other side of that mountain now, by God's grace, and I want to speak not only to those who have longingly endured unmet fulfillment for children or who experienced a miscarriage, but also to those who have not given up the longing, the praying, and the faith for a child.
I want to be clear. Please do not misunderstand me.
No one can guarantee you a child. There is not a Bible verse, a prophecy, or a promise out there that you can specifically claim for yourself on the assurance of children. Why some women easily conceive while others wait and wait, and perhaps never do conceive is a great mystery. Just ask Jacob's wife, Rachel, whose longing was so fierce she pleaded with him, "Give me children, or I will die!" (see Genesis 29-30).
Maybe you have said, or at least thought, "I will die if I am not a mother." (or, insert wife, grandmother, ______….)
After my third miscarriage, my husband and I were stubborn enough to try again. We could have called it quits. We already had two kids. That is two more than many have who longed for children longer than us, so why would we put ourselves through potential heartache yet again?
Because we were not ready to give up.
We had no guarantees. My fertility specialist had no power to make us parents again. He even said, "I am really not doing anything here, so don't give me any credit." We didn't. We knew to Whom credit was due. However, the Lord did use that wonderful doctor to see me every week or so to check on baby Judson. My fertility doctor was more of an In utero videographer than anything.
Don't get me wrong. Those nine months were scary. I had a hemorrhage during the first trimester, and because of the hemorrhage, we had to stop treatment for the syndrome that caused (we think) my previous miscarriages. It was all a ride of faith, let me tell you.
Some of you long for a baby this year. You skipped the resolutions. You're cutting to the chase. If anything happens in 2016 let it come with a receiving blanket and a binky. The longing is scary, though. It was for me, anyway. You ask yourself questions like, "How long will I have to wait?" "Will I ever be able to have a baby?" "Can I endure another pregnancy test? The disappointment?" "Will I be happy if I can't conceive?" I had to go to my fertility doctor every other day to have blood drawn so they could check my HCG levels, which if I arrived to the office before 10 a.m. I would receive my results that same day. The office opened at 8:00 a.m. I was there at 8:00 a.m. The longing didn't leave me even in the nine months of pregnancy, because the pain was still fresh, and I had worked, prayed, and cried for so long (it felt long, anyway), for this baby I was carrying. It was all up to God.
It is all up to God.
For those who long for a baby this year, don't dismiss the longing. Some may try to console you with "Plan Bs" when the only Plan B in your mind is "Plan Baby." Your desire is not an accident or a mistake. But here's the thing. You have to be willing to relinquish your plan to the Lord. And not just willing, but you must. When you do this God will give you the desires of your heart, which may or may not include a baby.
I got the baby. But there were other desires that I had in my life that were never met. God had other plans. He did grant me His desires in His own way and timing, though I never understood it at the time. There are some things we will never understand this side of heaven. We must find our completeness in Christ, though.
What do you feel you may die over if you do not get it?
It may not be a baby for you.
Maybe it is that house.
That job.
That man.
That income.
"God, give me________, or I will die!"
God wants to give you more than all you could ask or imagine, and He died to make that possible (see Ephesians 3:20). He gave us Himself, and when we have Him we have everything.
There is nothing wrong with the longing. There is something wrong, however, when the longing as Jim Elliot once said, "slay(s) the appetite for the living."
Today's moment is tomorrow's memory. How we long matters. Years from now when we look back on our life, with the met and unmet desires, how will we remember our disposition and attitude through it all? Will we have any memories, other than the longing?
Take your longing to the Lord and leave it there. Let Him draft His plans for your life (*wink* *wink*-He already has them ready). Your job is to live them with joy! Yes, we can be joyful in the longing. God is working in my own heart with this, because there are still desires simmering in my heart, not baby desires, but other ones. We have to, as John Piper says, "fight for joy"- everyday.
Whatever you long for in 2016, I pray for God's blessing to be upon you and for the affections of your heart to be stirred for more of Him. May it be so. And may you be filled with joy in your journey this year.


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I've been rather enjoying this election campaign - watching the Tories implode under the slightest of pressure, coupled with Theresa May's impression of a broken robot has been great fun. And watching the polls tighten ever further has been great. There's just the tiniest smidgeon of hope...
But not really. Even the most favourable polls have suggested we're heading for a hung parliament with the Tories by far the largest party, and easily able to form a minority government with the help of the Unionists in Northern Ireland (certainly the DUP, and perhaps the UUP)... and if it came to it, the Lib Dems would support them in the interests of allowing the country to have at least some sort of a government.
So I can't see there being anything other than a Tory government after the election.
However, what will be really interesting is that, if there is a hung parliament it will be almost impossible for Theresa May to remain in her position - she'll have been shown to be a liability, and the Tory party is quite ruthless at ditching weak leaders.
The reason that's interesting is that there have been two key threads in the Tory campaign: firstly, the focus on Theresa May asking for a personal mandate to negotiate Brexit (going so far as the Tories campaigning as "Theresa May's team"); and secondly the mantra of it being a "strong and stable" government.
But if the Tories promptly remove Theresa, the most likely candidate to take over is, once again, Boris (yay?). In which case, it's hard to see how they can claim to have any sort of a mandate - they'll no longer be "Theresa May's team", and the notion of such a government being "strong and stable" is laughable.
So does that mean we'll need another election, in order for Boris to get his personal mandate to negotiate Brexit? And what happens if he fails to secure that mandate and has to be replaced.
(And, incidentally, this is why it's a really bad idea to try to turn a parliamentary election into a faux-presidential one. We should be voting for our local candidates, or at the very least for parties, not for individual leaders. Or, if we're going to be forced to vote for leaders, as the nature of television probably requires, maybe we should shift to a formal presidential system, with the Prime Minister being directly elected and then allowed to form the government around them. (In this system we'd still elect MPs. Basically, we'd have two votes - one for a local MP and a separate one for the top job.))
#26: "Pathfinder: Assault on Longshadow", by Benjamin Bruck and Thurston Hillman


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Thursday, March 29, 2007
Interpreting Email
"Is it my last email she's going on about?"
"How did I sign off the last one I sent her?"
"Geez, I didn't want her to know I was pissed off…"
Sometimes I hate writing emails, because I certainly know how my mind works when I get them. And there have been a number of times when I have conveyed the wrong… sentiment or impression because of a poor choice of words.
Or, in some cases, because the person getting the email is quite sensitive. Or because I misunderstood their email. Who knew something meant to be so convenient could be such a headache?
I have a stack of emails here I've been meaning to reply to. Sometimes, with good friends I exchange longer emails with, I save them up and then write the equivalent of a letter, so I don't tend to respond quickly. I have some emails that relate to a panel I'm doing, and I didn't want to rush those off, I wanted to check out all the books involved. So those take time.
Then there are the other ones, ones I'm still hmmming over. People I genuinely like, but I'm not sure if by continuing to write back I'm pestering them. Just don't know them well enough. Or bizarre-out-of-the-blue-I-don't-know-you-weird emails that I'm still trying to figure out.
Fortunately, those are few and far between.
I was having a recent email discussion with author Carol Anne Davis about how people read things into books that aren't necessarily there. I do think based on our own experiences, things that are on our minds, we can sometimes heighten the significance of something in a story or interpret more into it because of things in our own life. Laura Lippman's TO THE POWER OF THREE is a good example for me, because I partially severed my foot, and so all the stuff about learning how to walk again nearly sent me over the edge. I kept wondering if Josie realized her life – as in, the ability to do many of the things she was great at – was over? Almost 27 years later and the muscles in my foot still cramp with agonizing pain from time to time.
In the same way we do this with books, we do this with emails. But with email I think it's even worse. There are so many obvious things to consider.
1. How the email is addressed.
Sandra. Hi Sandra. Dear Sandra. My dear Sandra. S. Sam. Look woman. Mrs. Ruttan. Ms. Ruttan. Dear Ms. Ruttan.
Yep, every single one of those tells me something right off and sets a different tone for the email. Anyone who calls me Mrs. Ruttan doesn't know me. Anyone who calls me Ms. Ruttan either a) doesn't know me, or b) is deliberately trying to piss me off. (This is an example of when how this element is interpreted is contingent on other variables, as in sender and purpose of message.)
"Look woman" is rich. I got an email from someone I didn't know once that started that way. The reason was, they'd emailed me (and they had a reason for having my address) and asked me for some information. I'd emailed back and when they replied to that their response started, "Look woman." Yeah, it wasn't the nicest exchange I've ever had, but there were legal variables involved and I didn't feel comfortable supplying the information to someone I didn't know. Guess they didn't like that answer, and this was a case where you didn't have to read past those first two words to know what the email would be like.
My closest friends use Hi Sandra, S or Sam. People who don't know me but are trying to be polite are probably going with Dear Sandra. See, first few words and it tells me a lot.
2. Content.
Yeah, this shouldn't be a newsflash. Length might be relevant. Might not be. But things like whether the person imparts any information about themselves or strictly sticks to business is very telling. If they share personal details they probably consider you a friend. If they don't, well, you figure it out.
The shortest emails I get are usually from my closest friends, in a way. They're the people I'll one-off with half the night. In those cases the emails are more like an ongoing conversations. Salutations are dispensed with, as are signatures.
3. Signatures.
These are my favourite things to interpret. Or maybe least favourite. I find these to be the most subjective thing in the average email, and I hate choosing one.
So, I usually sign off my emails with 'XO, S' or just 'S'. Or 'Cheers'. Because it's a casual 'so long' or in the case of 'XO, S' it's with affection.
'Best' is…ambiguous, at best, unless it comes from Val McDermid. To me, that's Val McDermid's signature and she owns it. If I used it I would feel like I was copying her.
'Regards' is... Polite friendly.
'All the best' is… 'We aren't close but I wish you well'. Or 'Fuck off'. Or 'I wish you well but thus ends our correspondence.' Definitely a case where context matters. Could also be 'We aren't close but I'd like to be friends'. Hmmm. Tough one.
'Hope you're well' can be:
a) 'Really hope you're well but don't want to know if you aren't.'
b) One persons way of saying they don't know what's going on with you and, they either don't want to or want to but not right now.
c) They haven't got a clue how else to sign off.
'Take care' is a fun one. Could be genuine sentiment. A way of saying, 'See you around, take care of yourself' to someone you don't know well. Could also be that you have some reason to be concerned about a friend and you're saying, 'Take care of yourself, I care about you!'
I do get emails from good friends that sign off this way. I just got one from Jayne this morning. Again, a situation where context is everything.
Really, it's the people I don't know well who throw me for a loop. There just seem to be so many times I get an email and find myself thinking, What the hell does that mean? but I don't want to cite example from private correspondence.
And then, there are the people who don't write you back. I don't write back if
a) it was spam (duh)
b) the person is annoying the hell out of me
c) my interpretation of their email leads me to conclude they would rather be soaked in honey and locked in a barn with a thousand bees than hear from me
d) I'm upset by something in their email
I suppose there could be other reasons, just as there may be plenty of other interpretations for stuff in emails. And I'm sure that I'll get some emails this morning, from people who try to explain their emails or wonder if I'm talking about them.
Or people will just stop writing to me…
The reality is, we all know our choice of words is partly based on how comfortable we feel with someone, and how you phrase an email will convey that. If I seem to wing emails off casually to a person it's likely because I feel comfortable with them – I trust that if there's a misunderstanding we'll sort it out. It's when I don't know people well that emails become a far more arduous task.
I've been thinking about this because I think I really pissed someone off with an email… this year. (See, how's that for generic? Three months worth of emails – what are the odds it's one I sent to YOU? Not good, so stop worrying.) And I have no way of knowing, unless they tell me, respond to me, or I follow this up with an apologetic email.
But what if I still get no response?
And then it might be a million other things going on that have kept them from writing back.
See, interpreting emails sucks. It isn't just what you put into one that will matter – it can matter as much or more if you don't respond. In the same way that we lose the nuances of communication – the twinkle in the eye, the wrinkling of the nose, the tug at the corners of the mouth – on forums and lists and blogs, we lose all of that in email.
I hope someone has some funny 'misunderstanding' stories to share or alternate interpretations for signatures and stuff. I could use a good laugh.
Cute (From Norby)
One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm a mother was tucking her son into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice, "Mummy, will you sleep with me tonight?"
The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug.
"I can't dear," she said. "I have to sleep in Daddy's room."
A long silence was broken at last by his shaky little voice: "The big sissy."
32 comments:
- Stephen Blackmoore said...
Technology: Helping us make asses of ourselves at the speed of light.
My advice, don't worry about it. It's not worth it.
It's guaranteed that you're going to piss someone off at some point, just like someone's going to piss you off. If not through direct action then misunderstanding. Everything's going to get filtered through the recipient's point of view, expectations, past experiences and assorted emotional baggage. And you've got no control over any of that.
The only thing you can do is try your best to come across the way you want to. If they don't interpret it that way, there's not a goddamn thing you can do. You might be able to apologize (if it's warranted) or explain yourself better (if you care). A lot of the time you may not get the chance.
Overanalysis leads to insanity.
- 11:00 a.m.
- Sandra Ruttan said...
"Overanalysis leads to insanity."
Isn't that the truth! It can be enough to drive you mad.
I've decided in this case not to worry about it any more. I never meant any offense and if the person's upset it definitely boils down to their annoyance with other things in this scenario.
There comes a point where you also have to accept that if people are upset with you and they don't care enough to sort it out or tell you they're upset and give you a chance to apologize/explain... well, that tells you what they think of your 'relationship' as well.
There've been a few times I've been really hurt by someone and told them so in an email and they didn't write back. The message was loud and clear.
Someone did use 'Ms Ruttan' on me recently, and it's someone I've even met in person and I always sign off 'Sandra'. That really pissed me off.
- 11:07 a.m.
- Erik Ivan James said...
Great post, Samdra. I wonder how many people are now digging through their archives of emails?
The biggest problems with email, in my mind, are no body language or voice inflection. Sometimes, those two are the most critical to a conversation's intended meaning. Did I just make any sense?
- 12:42 p.m.
- Sandra Ruttan said...
Oh, yeah, you did J. The way a person says something can make all the difference!
- 12:44 p.m.
- JamesO said...
But you see now, Sandra, I'm just going to have to email you as Ms Ruttan on purpose. Because I know that it annoys you, and you know that I know, it suggests that I feel I also know you well enough to poke fun at you.
Either that or it just annoys you.
Oddly enough, I rarely pay any attention to how people address me in emails, or how they sign off. The only thing that's important to me is the message. But I agonise for ages over how to address and sign emails that I send. Is it too formal? Too informal? Do I really know them well enough, or will they think me overly familiar? I'm the same with letters, too.
It's a killer, and probably why I don't communicate much.
And then there's always the problem, when you get silence from another party, that the internet might have eaten your message...
- 12:45 p.m.
- angie said...
Yup. No point parsing every word, or it'll make you k-razy. Same with the reply or lack there-of, unless you know the person really well. Now that I think about it, I usually don't do any sort of greeting with emails to people that I know reasonably well. Sheer laziness & the fact that I figure they know who they are & I must, too, or I wouldn't be sending them a damn email. If it's someone I don't know, I guess I usually do the Hi Whoeverthehellyouare thing.
- 12:50 p.m.
- Sandra Ruttan said...
James, I just got an email with "Dear Ms Ruttan" in the subject.
It was addressed, "Look woman."
And it was signed off with "Hope you are well."
And all this time I thought you really wanted to be addressed as "Sir Benfro". We all call Stuart "Halfhead" behind his back...
Since I know the person I'm still laughing.
"I figure they know who they are & I must, too, or I wouldn't be sending them a damn email."
I love that Angie. And yeah, we're all usually pretty lazy with people we know really well.
- 12:54 p.m.
- Sandra Ruttan said...
Oh this is rich. The response I tried to send to that email? I got a message back from the ISP filter saying it had banned content in it.
I swear, nothing worse than 'sweetcheeks' was involved.
Maybe they banned Spanish?
Fuckin' Californians.
- 12:57 p.m.
- Sela Carsen said...
LOL! I just use first name if I know the person at all and I never use a sign-off like "XO" or "Hope you are well." Just me.
I try extra hard to give e-mail and net conversations the benefit of the doubt. Doesn't always work because sometimes, people are just mean and stupid. When I find mean, stupid people, I just delete them.
- 2:04 p.m.
- Sandra Ruttan said...
I am just fighting this urge to write you an email,
"My dear Sela..."
I only use my xo's where I know they'll be okay. And the symbol I've worked out for french kissing doesn't get used much at all...
- 2:07 p.m.
I tend rightly or wrongly to be informal on emails. After 30 years in business I just figured "fuck it" and went with informal. I think I wrote Hi Sandra to you on my very first email even though we never met or corresponded before that (you were kind and gracious). I have been called on this a few times but WTF right. I sign "Best" because it has been the writer/journalist sign-off for years and I use "Regards" or "Sincerely" when it warrants it.
- 3:03 p.m.
- Sandra Ruttan said...
I don't mind people approaching me casually... as long as it isn't tooo casual, if you know what I mean.
I'd never heard 'best' used by anyone until Val and for the longest time she was the only person. But then I noticed some people on her forum started signing things off 'best'. They were clearly copying her, so it drove me nuts. I know a lot of people use it, but I can't, I feel like I'm copying Val.
Stupid, eh?
It's the professional business emails that are really tough to sign off...
- 3:07 p.m.
- Christa M. Miller said...
I think I qualify as one of the people you don't know well. In any case, I always like hearing from you. No worries about bugging me. (That means: I am desperate for adult contact, PLEEEEEEEASE email! AGH!) ;)
The biggest thing email fails to impart is personality. You and I might hit it off great IRL. Or we might have a significant personality conflict. Neither of us has any way of knowing that until we meet. (Even handwritten letters are easier to "interpret" because handwriting does tell you something about personality, mood, etc.)
- 5:29 p.m.
- Stephen Blackmoore said...
Actually, the subject line was "Dear Ms Ruttin". A subtle but important distinction.
- 5:49 p.m.
- Sandra Ruttan said...
Funny Christa, I think of you as a friend! I just know you have your hands full!
Stephen, a subtle and important distinction would be how I address you, Mr. Blackwhore. Changes the whole meaning...
But at least you didn't say Rattan.
- 5:52 p.m.
I know I've already talked about my feelings about the lack of nonverbal communication cues when using email and other technological means of communication, so I won't bore anyone with that again.
How I address an email, and sign off, completely depends on who I'm writing to and how long it's been since I was in touch with them. And, sometimes, what I'm discussing.
I do tend to be fairly casual in an email, because for me email is not meant to be a serious means of communication. Maybe it's just because I've never had a job where I've had to rely on emails for work messages, but it's strange to think about using email as a format for business communication, although I know it's more common these days. Hell, I could even have a consultation with my doctor over email now if I wanted.
I like to think that I'm good enough with words that my sense of humor and my meaning always come across, but I've had enough misunderstandings to know that is not true, and it's frustrating because the communicator in me knows that if they could just see me, they would know my intent. Damn technology.
- 6:09 p.m.
- Sandra Ruttan said...
Time to get a webcam Norby!
Not for me though. (Shudder)
- 6:11 p.m.
- Christa M. Miller said...
Oh, cool. Thanks for that. I wasn't sure because I drop conversations all the time. I'd like to keep in better touch, though!
- 6:39 p.m.
- Sandra Ruttan said...
It's funny, because as James was saying he'd have to send me an email 'Dear Mrs. Ruttan' just to prove he was a good enough friend to be allowed to get away with the jab, it's been a day all about that.
It's actually been hilarious to see what people have come up with following this post. I still had to start the odd reply with 'Fuck you' just to keep up appearances though.
But as I said to someone else, if a person overfamiliarizes themselves with me and doesn't know me then it can be disastrous. You jokers might live after calling me Mrs. Ruttan once but if you call me Sandy you're dead.
- 6:47 p.m.
I KNOW I'm the one that started this column! I KNOW it. To me, it's funny how you can meet and like someone even before knowing their name, but then when it's time to send them an email later, you don't know how to address them. I wanted to say, "Hey, Cutie!" but I figured that was way too informal. Then I tried "Sandra," but that seemed weird. I'd never used your name before. So I went with Ms. Ruttan, just to be safe, and now here I am another "Force of Evil." Where did I go wrong?
- 7:02 p.m.
- Sandra Ruttan said...
Dear Mr (should I reveal your real identity?)
Whereupon you first did choose to address this lady through written correspondence in what is currently known as e-mail, it was not wholly inappropriate to select a more formal manner inwhich to address me.
But when I sign off with my name it's okay to use it!
'Hey Cutie' would have been interesting. It certainly would have gotten my attention!
Yours truly,
- 7:14 p.m.
- Stephen Blackmoore said...
The best you can come up with is "Blackwhore"? And I thought you were a writer. I've gotten from 6th graders.
- 9:19 p.m.
- Sandra Ruttan said...
Not everything is printable Stephen!
- 9:21 p.m.
Hey jersey jack-to be a force of evil is a mark of honor my friend. Do not despair!
- 10:43 p.m.
- Sandra Ruttan said...
Norby's right. I'm so proud of my designation I put it in my blog description.
- 10:47 p.m.
Maybe we should start a club. Get T-shirts and stuff. "The Forces of Evil"
To join, you have to really piss somebody off!
- 4:40 a.m.
I've had so many misunderstandings with email-usually at work. At least though I could pick up the phone and talk to the person. When it's a virtual friend, that's when it gets tough.
My salutation is always Regards and I work up to Cheers and Love with good friends.
But you're right. It's a tough balance to strike and the ways to offend are numerous. I just write informally-but not too (I so get what you're saying there) and hope it works.
I've pissed off quite a few people when I've requested that they stop sending me stupid emails-chain emails, warning emails that turn out to be urban myths, cutesy emails-especially religious orientated. I figure it's my right to tell people what I do and don't want to receive, it's their right to get pissed off. We both get something out of it.
- 7:11 a.m.
- Sandra Ruttan said...
Well Jersey Jack, I guess Stephen gets a t shirt too.
Amra, having the ability to pick up the phone and sort it out must be nice! I don't blame you over the bulk email forwards. I just delete them, because sometimes something comes in I enjoy and a lot of people forward me jokes. But you have to wade through some bad for that stuff you like. C'est la vie.
- 7:47 a.m.
- Lisa Hunter said...
You're a writer. You give more thought to words than most people. I doubt that most emailers consider such nuances -- not when they also write "sentences" like "R U serious? LOL!"
- 8:03 a.m.
- Patrick Shawn Bagley said...
Jeez. I think my greeting in that e-mail I sent you the other day was just something like "Hey."
I once recieved an e-mail in which I was addressed as "you fuckin [sic] asshole." The guy didn't like a letter I'd written to the local newspaper.
- 8:57 a.m.
- Sandra Ruttan said...
Lisa, I think everyone should be careful when writing a writer. Patrick, for example, thinks anyone using 'LOL' should die a slow, painful death.
I've pledged to use it on his blog more often. Maybe I'll get TWO 'Force of Evil' t-shirts!
Hey you fucking asshole
The email was cool. I know you. And you take the prize for the rudest way to be addressed in an email. LOL! (Yeah, that was on purpose! But you qualify for a t-shirt.)
- 10:40 a.m.
- Patrick Shawn Bagley said...
Make sure my shirt is 3X Tall, okay?
Actually, I misspelled that guy's misspelling. What he really wrote was "fucken asshole," not "fuckin asshole." Classic.
- 1:10 p.m.


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Carjacking Followed by Bank Robbery in Ormond Beach; One Suspect in Custody
FlaglerLive | September 21, 2012
While police were on the lookout for a 2002 Gray Kia Sportage stolen in a carjacking incident in Holly Hill around 11 a.m. this morning (Sept. 21), a robbery was reported at the Bank of America on South Nova Road. The suspect parked a vehicle matching the description of the carjacked Kia in front of the bank and ran inside, brandishing a handgun. The suspect ordered everyone to the floor and demanded that a teller place money into a canvas bag. The teller complied and the suspect ran out of the bank and fled in the vehicle.
The Kia was spotted by an Ormond Beach Officer in the US-1/Hand Ave. area. The officer lost sight of the vehicle but broadcast its direction of travel on the radio. Units from the Volusia County Sheriff's Office and Holly Hill Police spotted the vehicle and gave chase. The vehicle crashed after stop sticks were deployed.
According to the Ormond Beach Police Department, the driver was injured in the crash and taken to the hospital. He is identified as Glenn Alexis Neal, 24. The firearm used in the bank robbery along with the stolen money was recovered from the vehicle. Charges are pending.
Anyone with information on this crime is asked to contact Ormond Beach Police at 386/677-0731 or Crimestoppers at 277-TIPS (8477) or 1-888-277-8477.


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A false sense of securityit's a sad day, as we say goodbye to DoD... after 2 years of inverstigation, just when you think those people at law institutions don't catch on, this happens...
Of course, many have opinions on this matter and slashdot is certainly one of the place where you'll find them voiced.
Of course warez are wrong, but if you never leeched something warezy, you honestly don't use the internet what it's for.
- PmI
By PmI |