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January 9 1923 August 13 2019 (age 96)
Eunice M. Ploeger, 96, of Hermann, MO, passed away Tuesday, August 13, 2019 at Frene Valley of Hermann Stonebridge. Eunice was born in Treloar, Missouri on January 9, 1923, a daughter of the late John H. & Annie (Schulze) Dothage. She was educated in the schools of Warren County, graduating from the Warrenton High School and then from Central Missouri State College in Warrensburg. Her first years of employment were in the rural elementary schools of Warren County after which she taught business education subjects in the Wright City School system as well as at Rubicam Business School in St. Louis. Later, she was employed as a bookkeeper for the Cummings Mfg. Company in St. Louis. On July 10, 1954, she was united in marriage to Carl F. Ploeger in the Smith Creek United Methodist Church in Warren County. They then made their home in Hermann. After moving to Hermann she became employed from 1954 to 1993 by the Gasconade County R-1 School District, first as a business education teacher and later as district treasurer and accountant in the office of the Superintendent of Schools. After her retirements, she did volunteer work for the school, Historic Hermann at the Museum, and for the Gasconade County Historical Society at their Hermann Record Center. In her free time Eunice enjoyed reading, fishing with her husband, gardening, and growing African violets. Eunice is survived by a nephew, David Twillman & wife Stephanie, of Marthasville, Missouri; two nieces, Carol Pinkerton & husband Bob, of Hermann, Missouri; and Anita Eckhardt & husband Carl, of Austin, Texas, also by many great nieces & nephews, and cousins. She is preceded in death by her parents, her husband, a sister, Helen Twillman & a brother-in-law, Ray Twillman. Visitation will be held Thursday, August 15th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Toedtmann & Grosse Funeral Home, Hermann, where funeral services will be held Friday at 10:00 a.m., with Rev. Rodger Kiepe officiating. Burial will be at Oak Haven Memorial Gardens, Hermann. Memorials may be given to St. Paul U.C.C. or the Carl & Eunice Ploeger Scholarship Fund. C/O Toedtmann & Grosse Funeral Home.
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Eunice Dothage Ploeger January 9 1923 August 13 2019 (age 96).
Death notice for the town of: Hermann, state: Missouri


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Original villa with a sea view, a large plot, a swimming pool 4x10 m, a gazebo, a barbecue area, a summer shower, a parking and a garage.
Main floor — an entrance hall, a dining room, a living room, a covered terrace, a separate equipped kitchen, a pantry room, a toilet, a laundry and ironing.
Upper floor — three bedrooms with a sea view, two bathrooms.
Lower floor — two bedrooms, a studio/games room, two bathrooms.
- satellite antenna
- fireplace
- dishwasher, microwave, kettle
- washer
- high beamed ceilings
- floors — stone and natural parquet
- heating
- Internet with Wi-Fi
- auto-watering and night lighting
- weekly cleaning with change of bed linen and towels
- care of the garden and pool cleaning once a week
Location and nearby infrastructure
The villa is located in a closed elite urbanization with 24-hour security in front of the beach. Near the sea there is a sports area: three tennis courts, a swimming pool of 30 m² with a children's section, a playground. Two of the famous botanical gardens Marimurtra and Pina de Rosa are 500 m away from the house. Within 15 minutes you can reach the water park and dolphinarium.

subset: commoncrawl


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Guiding Thought
Life is beautiful. There is nothing other than Life. Life is within me; Life pours out from me. Everything everywhere is Life. Life is Being. I am Life. All that I am, I offer in praise and thanks to all of Life.
Expanding the consciousness takes attention and effort.
Attention means to concentrate in a certain direction, or to direct your senses or thoughts toward something. Sometimes this is active: listening closely, reading carefully, or trying the hottest spice you can. In these cases, intention causes the direction.
Sometimes attention is passive, when something draws attention without intention: a fly that sits on the computer screen, or a mosquito by your head after you have turned out the lights, or Facebook beckoning you to watch just one more cute puppy video.
Active attention does not mean judging a thought or behavior as "good" or "bad". It does mean noticing those thoughts or behaviors. I have a friend who has made a game of this. I call it a peek-a-boo game; he calls it the "I see you" game. When he notices something in his attention that he might be inclined to judge, instead of judging it he simply looks at it like a 2-year old who has popped out from under a blanket and says, "I seeeee youuuu."
Attention alone requires effort. It is the mental effort of staying focused.
Expanding consciousness takes effort because it requires a willingness to increase active attention toward higher ideas and ideals, and to decrease passive attention to things which do not serve those ideas or ideals. It requires determining for yourself which direction you want to go and then looking at your thoughts, beliefs, and actions to discern if they are assisting your chosen direction, or inhibiting it.
Watching the next cute puppy video may be a passive use of intention, but in noticing it, I can decide if it is serving my chosen direction because I am simply tired of paying attention all the time, or if it is not serving my direction because I am using it to avoid something or to escape from having to direct my attention; even in this, the noticing and decision requires effort.
When I am on a Journey, everything goes through the filter of my active attention and I do my best to keep everything—thoughts, behaviors, emotions—directed toward my chosen ideas and ideals. Does this serve what I say I am doing? If the answer is negative, I make an effort to change my thoughts, emotions, or energy about it so that it comes into alignment with what I want.
Sometimes I don't know. I don't know if something is heading me in the right direction, I don't know if what I am doing to shift is the thing that will ensure my chosen direction. The peek-a-boo game helps with this; I just notice, make no decision, and continue with the process.
Sometimes I feel the strain of the effort. My brain gets tired and can't think; I want to recede into passive attention.
I trust myself. I trust the process. I trust my intention.
Now, another cute puppy video…


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Sentido calas vinas 5*
- Standard Double Room
- Breakfast
- Twin Sea View Room
- All Inclusive
We Love—
- SENTIDO Cala Viñas 4* is an exclusive adults-only hotel nestled in the charming bay of Cala Viñas, just two kilometres from Magaluf.
- Experience some of Mallorca's finest cuisine, sandy beaches, azure waters, and beautiful vistas at this wonderful seaside location.
- During their stay, our members may choose between two room types, each of which come complete with individual dining options that are bound to impress!
Customer reviews—
TripAdvisor score—
Your Destination—
This destination is ideal for those who wish to relax in a peaceful area during the day and let loose at nearby bars and clubs in the evening. This region also boasts plenty of shops and restaurants as well as a range of interesting excursions.
SENTIDO Cala Viñas 4*—
The hotel boasts a number of sporting activities including tennis and mini golf and in the evening guests can chill out with a cocktail at the chic SENTIDO Blue Bar. Those looking to soak up the local culture can take part in the hotel's programme of unique experiences and activities including wine tasting and picturesque discovery walks.
2 Adults
2 Adults
Buffet Restaurant Breakfast (07:45-10:15)
Late breakfast (until 11:30)
Lunch (13:00-15:00)
Dinner (19:00-21:30)
Pool Bar, serving snacks (15:30-18:00)
All Inclusive Benefits:
All Inclusive at this hotel means that food, drinks and additional activities are included, ensuring maximum indulgence and satisfaction.
– On the day of departure, All Inclusive offerings are valid until noon.
– Breakfast, late breakfast, lunch and dinner
– Soft drinks and local wine and beer with lunch and dinner
– Soft drinks, coffee, tea and local alcoholic drinks in the bar
– Snacks in the pool bar
Please Note: The hotel can sometimes change the contents of its All Inclusive offering without any further notice. Current opening and serving times for the restaurants and bars will be announced upon your arrival. Some activities are included during a limited time period. The hotel offers a relaxing indoor pool with various types of massage jets, as well as an outdoor pool with stunning views.
We highly recommend you also spend your stay discovering the wider region, by heading out to explore magical Mallorca. Palma de Mallorca makes a lovely day trip, as well as the numerous stretches of beaches around the island.
Your Journey to the SENTIDO Cala Viñas 4*—
The Top Travel Europe Promise
- A unique selection of high-end accommodation
- Exclusive perks and discounts of up to -70%
- Member services team available 7 days per week


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The weekend is here! If you are figuring out weekend plans, you have come to the right place. All of the greatest events going on in San Diego this weekend are right here!
The San Diego County Credit Union North Park Festival of Arts will be held on Saturday, May 11th, 2019 from 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM. This FREE event brings out over 40,000 people from all over San Diego County to celebrate and enjoy the creativity of our city. Enjoy local vendors, live music, arts and crafts, delicious food and some of San Diego's top Craft Beers.
This festival is held along the cross streets of University Avenue and 30th Street. Volunteers are still needed and are encouraged to sign up! Don't miss your chance to be a part of one of San Diego's biggest market festivals.
Visit NorthParkMainStreet.com for more information.
The Gator By The Bay Festival kicked off this Thursday, May 9th, but you haven't missed the full festival! It is continuing on into the weekend through Sunday May, 12th. This Louisiana themed festival is being held at Spanish Landing Park in the Point Loma neighborhood and features more than 100 performances on 7 different stages. What festival is complete without food? you can expect all sorts of famous Louisiana cuisine such as jambalaya, gumbo, beignets and of course crawfish! Ticket prices vary depending on what activities you will be attending. All active duty military and all children under 17, accompanied by an adult, are admitted free of charge.
Tickets are available for purchase at GatorByTheBay.com.
Last but not least- don't forget that Mother's Day is this Sunday, May 12th! Be sure to get her some flowers and maybe some chocolates. Do the dishes, do laundry for her, cook her breakfast in bed or take her out to brunch. Maybe even take her out for a Sail with San Diego Sailing Tours! Just make sure you do whatever you can to make sure your mother knows that she is appreciated and loved for the day.
Have a happy Mother's Day from all of us here at San Diego Sailing Tours!


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We will teach you social media marketing. This means that you will be able to answer a very important question: how to find those who I am interested in, how to explain to them what I have for them and that they need me, and, of course, how to make sure they liked it.
How much time you spend in messengers? According to Business Insider even more than on social media. Messengers allow projects to engage with customers in a conversational, interactive way. This online course is the unique opportunity to deep in to future of marketing.
Get ready for the year 2020. The market continues to grow and digital video professionals in high demand. Thus we invite you to learn how to make video content for your digital channels - from script-writing and essential software (After Effects and Adobe Audition) to producing and promotion.
So far, few people know how to make podcasts. Each podcast is a small media requiring knowledge and skills. We want more great podcasts and to make this happen, we will conduct a new course for you. You will be taught to create, record and distribute your very own podcasts.


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Teams of volunteers, with varied skills, respond to natural disasters helping victims rebuild their homes and lives. Efforts range from day trips to week-long trips. Relief work has been done in Mississippi, Texas, New Jersey, and Florida following hurricanes; Minnesota, Iowa, Tennessee, North Dakota, Colorado, and Missouri following flooding; Colorado following wildfires; and Minnesota, Oklahoma and Wisconsin following tornadoes.
Morton, MN - Daily Messages
Our team of nine arrived at the Michel home in Morton at 8AM after a two-hour drive. We got right to work with three main projects.
Door Installation – We brought three interior doors and ten bifold doors down with us. All of the interior doors were installed along with one other one that the homeowner, Dan, picked up. We also brought all of the jamb material down for the openings of several closets. The jambs were installed in five of the closets today.
Taping/Mudding/Sanding – Dan had much of the first coat taping and mudding done. We continued that work throughout the house. We also did a lot of sanding. Everything is covered in sheetrock dust! The guys got so much done that we might be able to start priming the drywall tomorrow.
Drywall installation – About 90% of the drywall that Dan wanted installed got done today.
Five of the team members are staying overnight. Four headed back home about 4:30 this evening. Two others will be joining the team tomorrow. We hope to finish the drywall, install all of the jambs and hang all of the bi-fold doors, complete the drywall finishing in the main rooms and start priming, and get the laminate floor done in the bathroom, kitchen and dining area. Lots to do, but lots of talent to do it!
Morton Team - Friday
Back row: Jordan Young, Greg Rosholt, Tim Solberg, Dave Landrus, Mark Swenson
Front row: Spence Minear, Dick Lekang with Jordan M., Richard Young, Renee Johnson
Daily Messages - Hurricane Harvey Trip #5
We completed the final leg of this journey today, arriving back at St. Philip's this afternoon. It was a long, exhausting trip but worth it. We know that without the 28 team members in October, the 14 team members in November, all of the SPDR supporters, and our partners in the Episcopal Diocese of Texas this family in the Needham Road community would have many more months of struggling ahead of them.
Final comments are summed up in the photos of the two sides of the challenge coins given to us by Pastor Deb Grant.
On the road this morning around 6:45. Cloudless sky and 50° temperature when we made our first stop. The sun was shining the whole day and the temperature even got above 60° late this afternoon. It was an uneventful drive – which is always a good thing. The chosen restaurant in Carthage was closed on Sunday evenings so had to make a change. We decided to have our traditional Friday night pizza party on Sunday night at the hotel. They had a nice room available for us to use and a Pizza Hut just down the street. So, we hung out there together and recapped the trip for a couple of hours. When we scheduled the route for today, we had made it flexible enough so that we could have put in a couple of hours at the house if necessary. Since we didn't do that, we had an earlier than usual arrival (5:30) at our hotel in Lamar, MO – which is about halfway home. There's a good chance that some of the team members were in bed by 8:00! We'll be back on the road at 6:00 and should be back at St. Philip's around 3:30.
Some of the comments heard today were:
"Semper Gumby."
"We couldn't have done this without __________ (fill in the blank)."
"We made a difference."
We often say, "If only we had one more day." This trip we did. And it was a great day. Even the weather was great – finally.
The bathroom flooring was completed early in the morning. The shower surround and the remaining sheetrock were installed. The light fixtures are in place. The vanities (there are two of them) were moved into the bathroom and John hopes to get the plumbing done on them tomorrow. (He and Sue are staying an additional day.)
The kitchen countertop is in place and so is the sink and faucet – with the water hooked up. The refrigerator and stove have been moved in place.
The master bedroom has new flooring and the walls have been textured. The opening to the closet has been framed in and the much-needed step was built to access this room so a door can be used. And the door was installed.
The electrical work is as complete as it can be. There are a few minor things that need to be done but the circuits have all been traced and the panel marked.
A door was put on another room. Some door trim and floor baseboards were installed. Floors were swept and vacuumed. Windows were cleaned. Curtaining were hung. Furniture was moved in and so much more.
The family arrived in the early evening and although it wasn't quite as finished as we hoped, there were very pleased and grateful. As is the usual, it was an emotional time as we walked through the house with them and then we gathered in the living room (with new floor joists able to support all of us, the washer and dryer, and more) as Pastor Deb presented the family with a totem stick she and Thelma handcrafted during the week. It told of the family's story from flood to the love that is now in their home. All of SPDR is part of that story.
The comment that sums up today was:
And all God's children said "Amen."
Work progressed rapidly in quite a few areas today. The flooring is down in the master bedroom. We used the same material as the living room and since that crew became experts, it went really well and fast. Not quite the same story in the bathroom. Different material required a different installation technique and a learning curved – but after a few tries, things clicked (pun intended) and that will be finished early tomorrow morning. The trim around a couple of doors is now in place. The framing and sheetrocking of the bathroom are almost complete. Work was done on a couple of the thresholds. In the kitchen, the countertops have been set in place and the opening for the sink has been cut. The plumbing to the sink is ready to be hooked up as are the appliances. The kitchen is completely energized and so are most of the other rooms. It's so nice to get rid of all of the extension cords that had been snaking everywhere. Lots of sweeping and other cleaning was done – inside and out. We've been making a mess.
We'll have to work fast tomorrow. The homeowner and family will be there at 4PM for the big reveal. (She's purposely stayed away all week.) It will be exciting!
Some of the comments heard today were:
"Row the boat." (as the bathroom flooring team worked to put in long strips of flooring.)
"Rubber meets the road." (To ensure the bathroom flooring was set down in the right direction.)
"I'm sure glad I only touched that live wire and didn't ruin by $40 sidecutters." (By Myron/Sparky.)
"The sacrifices we make in the name of Jesus." (Mostly in jest by Pastor Deb, but so true on all of our trips.)
This has not been a good week for warm Texas weather. It rained lightly most of the day and the temperature was around 45 all day. But the weather didn't slow us down much. We were able to continue with the work in the house. We can now check several items off of our "To Do" list and should be able to check off even more tomorrow.
Some of the comments heard today were:
This is my lucky day.
SHUT IT OFF! SHUT IF OFF! (When checking the plumbing connections.)
Yes! (When asked if everyone was willing to stay and work an additional day.)
Well, it was a little warmer today. The high was 44° (and no snow unlike home.) We continued with much of the same work as yesterday.
All of the subfloor has been installed in the living room and the gaps around the edges have been filled with expanding foam. The new flooring is acclimating so we will be able to start installing that.
The sheetrock work in the bathroom is almost completed. We should be able to do the taping and mudding in there tomorrow. In one of the bedrooms, the closet entrance has been enlarged. We should be ready to start taping and mudding that sometime tomorrow.
The electrical work done today was amazing. Most of the rooms now have power so we can eliminate all of the cords and the use of the generator. Pete Nash flew home today but what he accomplished will make the rest of the electrical work much easier for Spence and Myron to complete.
We had a wonderful evening at Suzanne's church. She had organized a dinner and program to celebrate us and other disaster recovery volunteers and to try to get others involved in disaster volunteer. We had a great meal (and will be eating the leftovers tomorrow.) Hopefully, our story helped spark interest in others.
Some of the comments heard today were:
I think it's colder now than it was this morning.
We are so lucky to be here.
My head hurts from all of this math. (Sheetrocking)
We have heat. It's hot. Get it sparked up. (Electrical)
Good teamwork!
St. James, we can do this!!! (Suzanne during the presentation.)
Today was great (except for the weather)! So much more progress was made. The kitchen and bathroom plumbing is close to be done. The bathtub is in! The bathroom floor no longer has holes in it. The living room has ALL new joists and three sheets of subfloor down (and the mud is starting to dry.) And there is new wire everywhere with circuits identified and hooked up to the panel.
Some of the comments heard today were:
Brrr – it's cold.
Brrr – it's cold.
Brrr – it's cold.
We had an amazing Monday. We were at the house before 7:30 and got working right away since everyone already knew what area of the house they'd be working in.
In the kitchen, there are only three cabinets left to install and all the shelves have been put in the ones that are completed. In the bathroom, the plumbing work is progressing. After much pounding and scraping, all of the tile has been removed and there is now a clean subfloor ready for the next step. In the living room, good progress was made despite standing in mud all day. The rotten joists, beams, and supports have been removed and a new transfer beam was installed along with about 25% of the new joists. The electrical crew removed the old service panel and have many of the circuits traced.
Some of the comments from the day include:
"It was a beautiful day. I had a good crew."
"Pounding on tile all day is very therapeutic. Really gets your frustrations out."
"We (the electrical crew) did a good job slowing John down."
"Roaches are really fast."
"I'm having more fun here than at home."
We finished the day with a dinner at a local restaurant to honor the veterans on the team - Mike Anderson, Wes Grandstrand, Jerry Jensen, and John Katerberg. Thank you for your service then - and now!
We arrived at West Conroe Baptist Church at 1:15 – right on time. We moved all of our gear into our lodging quarters. Can't really call it a house although it looks like it was once a couple of townhouses that have been remodeled into sleeping rooms, classrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, and some rooms that we don't know what they are used for. It will work well for us.
We headed over to the house and spent a couple of hours there going over what has been done and what we plan to work on tomorrow. We also moved in some of our tools and unloaded a trailer full of supplies that will be used tomorrow.
We then went out for dinner and enjoyed the time with the team and Molly and Pastor Deb. Tomorrow will head out around 7AM and will put in a long day of work.
We left St. Philip's right on time this morning with a small but dedicated sendoff crew there despite the 30° temperature. It was an uneventful 786 mile drive for the eight of us in the three-car caravan. We arrived in McAlester, OK ten minutes ahead of schedule! That doesn't happen often. While we were in our vehicles, fellow team members, John and Sue from Michigan, were hard at work in the home and have some of the upper cupboards installed already. We'll hit the road at 6:30 Sunday morning and should be in Houston by 1:30PM – where the temperature should be 70°.
Daily Messages - Hurricane Harvey Trip #4
Sunday, October 13
2727 miles later (on Renee's Jeep), we are safely back home - as of 3:00 p.m. today. The drive today was chilly with a little rain in the southern suburbs but it had stopped by the time we reached St. Philip's.
Although our time was short and the work at times went slow, we know that we made a difference to the Needham Road community and the wheels are turning on what else we can do. Thank you to all of our supporters, our partners, the Hurricane Harvey #4 team members, and to God. The journey continues…
Saturday, October 12
We left Houston at 7 a.m. with the temperature in the low 50's. The temperature climbed to 64° but is now 53° in Lee's Summit, MO where we will spend the night. We know it is much colder at home and aren't looking forward to that. We drove 730 miles today with no problems and are all a little weary but will be on the road at 7 a.m. again to travel the remaining 465 miles of this trip. We should arrive back at St. Philip's around 3:30.
Friday, October 11
We got an amazing amount of work done today, despite the weather. At one point, there were 12 of our team members working on the bathroom in one house. (It's a big bathroom.) They were doing plumbing, electrical work, framing, installing subfloor and more – pretty much all at the same time. In the meantime, others were busy in the same house installing drywall, mudding, taping, installing doors, and painting, painting, and more painting. We estimate that we put on 20 gallons of paint in less than two days. The electrical work continued in Ms. Rosa's house and now all of her outlets are new, the circuits have been traced, and the switches work. And in Wendy and Brian's house, the tiling in the shower was half done, the work in the other bathroom was completed, the backsplash is all in place, and more.
Several of the women in the neighborhood brought Honduran and Mexican food to us for lunch today to show their gratitude for all of the help we had provided. It was a wonderful time for all of us. We distributed prayer shawls, fleece blankets (very fitting for today's weather) and St. Philip's mugs and water bottles. It was great to see all of the women wrap up in the shawls and blankets.
Tonight, we all were involved in the devotions. There was so much sharing of what we call "treasured experiences." There were times when things didn't go smoothly and there were times when emotions ran high but those were overshadowed by the gratitude that was expressed by those we helped and our partners here in Texas. At our pizza party tonight, Molly (from Abundant Harvest) told us how much of a difference we made in the lives of these families in the Needham Road Community and how we were the God story for these people this week (and, hopefully, for a long time to come.)
Thursday, October 10
The humidity down here is awful! And it's hot! But we were still able to accomplish a lot. We finished up the flooring, soffit and ceiling work, and exterior painting at Ms. Maria's and consider our work there done. We might go back to finish a couple of things that weren't on the list but we'd like to complete for her. In the house that we got started on yesterday, we continued to work on the very challenging bathroom, cleaned and prepped, painted Kilz in several rooms along with the ceilings, started painting one bedroom, did some demolition in the kitchen to ready it for new cabinets, framed in and sheetrocked a closet and started a second one, hung doors and more. In Wendy's house the shower base was completed and the tile around it was started. Everything in this house has been challenging. In Rosa's house, the electrician (Myron) and his helpers (Spence and Dave) were busy replacing that were in use but all had been underwater and needed to be replaced. Myron's assistants actually have a different title – it's Voltage Testers. Seems like both of them found some live circuits – the hard way. We also had four team members working at Abundant Harvest again this afternoon. They made meals to feed a couple hundred people tonight.
One of our younger team members, Marie, gave the devotions tonight. (She fondly calls us the "elders.") She shared how the members of the team support each other and have become like a second family to her and how important the trips are to her in helping to strengthen her faith. She played a song for us titled "Rescue" which reminds us God is always here for you and God will rescue you from any situation.
Our team is now down to 23 for our last day on Friday. Some left for home, some to California, and others to a wedding in Fort Worth. We'll have to work extra hard without them tomorrow.
Wednesday, October 9
We continued with much of the same work and even finished up at one home. We started some exterior painting on Ms. Maria's house where so much other work has been done this week. We also started work in fifth house where we did some demolition work in the bathroom which is going to need a lot of work to make the floor stable for the bathtub installation. We also did a first coat of Kilz in that house in two bedrooms. Tomorrow we will have a majority of the crew in this house while the others will continue in the three remaining houses.
Don Foss presented the devotions tonight with the them of "Hidden Influences". He had us think about those that influenced our Christian way of life. He also spoke about how we may become positive role models for those we serve this week – and we may never know the impact we had on their lives. Our ministering here this week just might change someone's life for the better now and for all eternity.
We also gathered for our team picture this evening since five of our team members will be heading in different directions tomorrow evening.
Tuesday, October 8
A much better day today! We were on the job early this morning and continued with the work that we started yesterday. The work in the four houses progressed. More electrical work was done, the knobs and drawer pulls were all installed, 80% of the porch ceiling was completed, the siding was all put up, tile and grout were removed and prep has been done for the replacement, the flooring has been installed with only some detail work to be completed, steps have been rebuild, and more and more and more.
We sent a team of five to Abundant Harvest Kitchen this morning. This is a ministry that supports or sponsors 30 monthly food pantries and serves eight (or more) monthly community meals, in which we over 1100 meals are shared. Our team members were part of the prep for 300 meals that were going to be served or distributed today or tomorrow. And our kitchen crew was busy shopping and chopping in preparation for the wonderful meals they've been and will be preparing the rest of the week.
Our friend and Texas partner, Pastor Deb Grant, presented our devotions tonight. She read to us one of the poems she had written about her experiences sharing a church after Hurricane Harvey and the deep and wonderful relationship that developed there with Reverend Stacy Stringer as the church rituals of the Episcopalians and the Lutherans melded together and the reasons for being grateful emerged as they moved from storm to life. She then presented Mike and Renee with one of her handcrafted Earth Angels. (Check them out at https://www.jazzwater.com/wood.html). She describes Earth Angels as "unique; have spaces in their lives for love and wisdom; embed a piece of themselves in us; and change us forever and make us unique. Earth Angels are unique, gifted, and generous. They are people who give a piece of who they are to others." All of the SPDR team members are Earth Angels. "Piece" be with you.
Monday, October 7
Wow, this was not a typical Monday! We thought we had things planned out so well last night because of our visit to the worksites. We arrived in the Needham Road community ready to start working in three different homes with half of our team working at one of them. Unfortunately, the homeowner decided that he didn't want any help – he was going to do the work himself. So, we went into "Semper Gumby" (Always Flexible) mode. We were able to increase the get started on a house that we hadn't planned to work on today and increase the number of team members on another – which worked out.
Although we had a late start, we were able to accomplish quite a bit - electrical work, flooring installation, plumbing work, tile work, ceiling installation, installation of drawer pulls and knobs on cupboards, and more. We will continue tomorrow with much of the same work.
The theme for tonight's devotions was "God' Work. Our Hands." The SPDR Choir was wonderful singing the new "God's Work, Our Hands" hymn. It's about working together, building a future, repairing a world and more – all things the SPDR team is doing. It ends with "Bless, God, our lives as we answer your call." We know we have been called.
Sunday, October 6
It's hot in Texas!!! We watched the temperature go up all day long – topping out at 93°. Those in the vehicle caravan arrived at Walmart in The Woodlands, TX where we were met by three of the four team members that flew to Houston. (The fourth had an extended flight delay and joined us at the Willowcreek Retreat Center a couple of hours later.) After a bit of confusion and delay picking up the grocery order, most of the team headed for the retreat center where they unpacked both trailers and all the vehicles, settled in, and started cooking dinner. The crew chiefs went the opposite way and spent a couple hours looking at the prospective jobsites. We have our work cut out for us!
We all enjoyed a good dinner that was followed by our daily team meeting which always opens with devotions. The theme for tonight's devotions focused on the word "bless". We know that we have been blessed and hope to pass that blessing on to others here.
Saturday, October 5
We left St. Philip's with a warm sendoff despite the cold, rainy weather. There were well over a dozen people there to see us off – with warm wishes, prayer, bagels, muffins, and more muffins! It rained for more than the first four hours of our drive, which slowed down our driving speeds a bit. We were also delayed by a mysterious traffic slowdown in the middle of Iowa. We ended up barely moving for almost 30 minutes and we had no idea why. We arrived in Muskogee, OK just before 9 PM and it was dry and 73 degrees! We'll hit the road by 7AM tomorrow.
Daily Messages - Hurricane Harvey Trip #3
Sunday, May 5
We're back! We pulled into St. Philip's ahead of schedule – something that doesn't happen often. The drive today was good – some fog in the morning and a downpour in Iowa didn't slow us down much.
Our slogan for the week became "BREATHE!" It was used often – when we made some wrong turns, when saw cuts didn't come out right, when things didn't fit, when it started to rain, when traffic came to a dead stop, when things were spilled in the kitchen, whenever something didn't go quite right. But those "BREATHE!" moments were greatly outnumbered by those "THANK YOU, GOD!" moments – for getting us safely through some harrowing moments on the roadway, for things going fairly smooth that allowed us to complete the work assigned in two homes, for only a slight sprinkle that disrupted our outdoor staining project, for cuts on countertops and trim that turned out right, for getting an exterior door hung (and locked) before it was time to leave for the day, for success in tracing a wiring circuit, for meals that turned out despite the kitchen limitations, and so many more. These moments and all of the work we did, brought a breath of hope to a few of the thousands that still have not fully recovered from Hurricane Harvey.
Thank you, God for our safe travels, our partners in Texas, our supporters, strangers who engaged in conversation with us – including two people that gave us financial donations, and the 29 willing team members and their many skills that may this trip a success. The journey continues…
Saturday, May 4
We are now in Nevada, MO for the night. We traveled just over 700 miles today with a little rain and just a couple of slowdowns due to traffic accidents or construction. We'll be back on the road at 7 a.m. to travel the remaining 550 miles. We should arrive at St. Philip's around 5 p.m.
The following paragraph was posted on Facebook, along with our team picture, by Pastor Deb Grant of Houston after she attended our team meeting on Thursday. Thanks, Pastor Deb!
This is the Disaster Relief Team from St. Philips Lutheran Church, Fridley, MN This is their 3rd trip to Galveston County to help rebuild houses after Harvey. This disaster relief team started in their congregation over 15 years ago and this is their 75th trip to serve in disaster areas - most of which were out-of-state, hundreds of miles away. They don't mind sharing that the average age of the group is almost 70 years old, skilled or just willing to help. For the majority of them, they have gone on these trips over a dozen times. THEY LOVE TO SERVE. THEY LOVE PEOPLE. THEY LOVE THEIR GOD. THEY WORK HARD. THEY ARE HONEST ABOUT THEIR MISTAKES AND LIMITATIONS. THEY LEAVE HOPE AND SOME WHOLENESS EVERYWHERE THEY GO and THEY LAUGH ALOT! So...tell me why every congregation in the ELCA doesn't have a Disaster Relief team? Not enough 70 year olds who like to laugh?
Friday, May 3
It's been a great week. The weather was warm and humid but didn't deter us much. We did end up moving our traditional beach party to a local establishment that had an outside deck and yard that worked very well (and it didn't rain.)
The team that was working on the flooring all week got it all installed and the shoe molding was reinstalled. That team also cleaned the gutters and repaired the fence. They felt great to leave with the job completed.
We made great progress on the last house we started on. The kitchen cabinets were all installed and the countertop for one set of cupboards has been cut to length and is ready to be installed. Many of the electrical outlets are now functional. The exterior doors were replaced. All of the interior doors were installed and trimmed out. The 124 trim boards were handled five times to complete the finishing process. The homeowner, because of the work of our team, thinks that the home will be ready in six months for his family to move back in.
One of the other homes now has almost all of the baseboard installed. The painting was completed. Two bathroom vanities, faucets, showerheads, and toilets were installed. The home looks so much different than when we first walked in.
The kitchen portion of our assignment in one other house was completed with the cupboards, countertop, sink, and dishwasher not in place. The homeowner was very happy with the work that was completed.
And, last but certainly not least, our three-person kitchen crew worked long hours shopping, preparing, serving, and cleaning up after our many wonderful meals. Their efforts contribute so much to the team in a unique way.
The devotions this evening were done in two parts. Bob Saunders used Pastor Deb Grant's book to remind us about finding our place on these teams and how we might have some apprehensions but things work out and we all learned knew skills. He reminded us that "God doesn't call the qualified. He qualifies the called." The second part was a reading from a daily devotional book that Bob's wife Lindy read that morning from their home in Minot, and forwarded it to us. It was titled "Beyond the Neighborhood" and was about the owner of a piano store in Maryland that, after Hurricane Harvey, refurbished pianos that he and his wife then delivered to families, churches, and schools in the Houston area. When asked why he gave away all of those pianos, he simply explained, "We're told to love our neighbors." The SPDR team members on the trip, have shown their love for their Galveston County neighbors. And God has certainly qualified the called.
Thursday, May 2
We worked hard today. We had over half the team at one home. It was a little tight at times as people were installing doors; adding devices to the many, many electric boxes; tracing wires; figuring out what to do when we lost power; installing cupboards, staining and varnishing hundreds of feet of trim and baseboard (thankfully, we could do that outside), and more. Some of us learned new skills today. That's always fun.
At Denise's house, the team there finished installing all of the flooring! They started installing the shoe molding and will continue with that tomorrow. At Leonard's house, the work of installing his kitchen cabinets, sink, and countertop continued. The home with the fourteen doors to be installed has all those installed, trimmed out, and painted. The sink installation, vanity, countertop installation continued there today and two of the team members started installing the shoe molding.
We were blessed to have Pastor Deb Grant (who joined us at St. Philip's for our fundraiser in February) and Pastor Stacy Stringer (from the Episcopal Diocese). Pastor Deb did the devotions this evening. She spoke about having the right tools to get a job done. They may be actual tools, resources, skills, etc. And different tools are needed at different times. She used eating utensils as examples and related them to Hurricane Harvey recovery.
Fork – Used to pick up one thing at a time. Hurricane Harvey survivors had to pick up thing at a time as they sorted through their water-soaked belongings and make the heartbreaking decision on what to keep and what to throw away.
Knife – Used to cut up things. That reminded Pastor Deb of all of the walls that had to be cut out and taken out.
Spoon – Used to hold several things - together. Pastor Deb said it's good to be a spoon – holding things together. She called the SPDR team a serving spoon as we help hold people's lives together.
We spent a good part of the evening in conversation with Deb and Stacy finding out more about disaster recovery and their involvement with that. We also regaled them with many, many SPDR stories. A good time was had by all.
Wednesday, May 1
We finished a house! The house where we were assigned to fix the bedroom and kitchen ceilings has been completed (and then some.) It's a great feeling to leave a home and not have to think that another group of volunteers will be needed to complete the job. We continued in three homes working on the door trim, flooring, countertop and cupboard installation, and painting. And we started in a sixth home. This home needs so much done but we got a good start. We hung several cupboards, cleaned areas, stained trim boards, and worked on the wiring – tracing wires, cleaning up the wires, installing devices, and more. There is now power to one of the circuits of the house! Tomorrow we will continue in these five homes and hope to finish up our assignments in one or two of them.
Tonight's devotions were given by Carol Anderson. One of the stories she shared was about a garden in which the gardener had planted a wide variety of plants - ones of every hue, texture, and height. They were all designed to grow strong where they'd been planted, only in different ways. But these plants, rather than simply growing and being all they were created to be, started comparing themselves with each other. Some of the large, showy plants began holding back their flowers (they didn't want to look so conspicuous), while others puffed out abnormally wide in pride over their beauty. The background plants felt badly that they didn't have flowers and thought they didn't matter. The tall plants began stooping so they wouldn't look so much taller than the others, while the shorter ones exhausted themselves trying to grow tall. The ones in the shade drooped, wishing they could be in the sun; the ones in the sun drooped, wishing they could be in the shade. The silly plants didn't realize that they'd been created and placed where they were placed for a purpose. They were all part of the same garden, and each one needed to do its job. Carol reminded us, like the plants, we are all part of the same team – each with a job to do and a contribution to be made.
Tuesday, April 30
We had another good day. The weather has been warm and humid but not unbearable. We continued working in the same homes with lots of progress – installing and trimming doors, electrical work, installing flooring, painting doors and trim, installing toilets and bathroom vanities, installing cabinets and countertops, mudding, painting ceilings and walls, and much, much more. We will take on a large job tomorrow that will involve many tasks and about half the team.
Katie Swenstad presented the devotions tonight and part of it was a reading from Christ in Our Home entitled "A place for you" based on 1 Corinthians 12:12-27. It ended with "You are a necessary part of the body of Christ, individually a member of it, and have been placed exactly where God wants you to be. In our diversity, Christ himself unites us." We certainly are finding that are SPDR team members on this trip are a necessary part and have been place exactly where God wants us to be. We wouldn't be making that progress we are if this wasn't true.
Monday, April 29
We had a good day – for a Monday. We went to five different homes and were able to get started fairly quickly. As usual, there were a few hiccups – waiting for materials, some trial and errors on a couple jobsites, not all of the needed tools on locations, our electrician following one of our cars to the wrong jobsite, etc. But there were also quite a few highlights – 16 boxes of flooring were installed in one home; seven doors were hung in another; sheetrock was removed in area in two homes and replaced with new pieces; many feet of shoe molding were painted; and the electrician (Myron) who went to the wrong jobsite, was a godsend to women that owned the home. She cried when she found out there was an electrician with the group – he was very much needed. She only had one working outlet in her kitchen and the dishwasher was hooked up to an extension cord. Myron was meant to be at this house.
Don Foss led the devotions this evening centered around music. He read a daily meditation that said, in part, that "Many of us meet our Higher Power through the music we love." He enlisted 12 of his fellow team members to join the "SPDR choir" and they blessed us with their rendition of "His Eye is on the Sparrow."
Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
I sing because I'm happy,
I sing because I'm free,
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
Bravo, choir!
Sunday, April 28
We arrived - safely! Traffic was crazy in Houston. We were delayed by three different accidents but all 29 of us are now settled in to the Zion Retreat Center in Galveston. We met with the Galveston County Recovery construction manager and have five houses that we are going to start working in tomorrow. In his devotions tonight, Mike Youngberg reminded us to breathe, be flexible, and be patient. A good reminder to all of us – everyday.
Saturday, April 27
As we walked out of church at 6 this morning, to get into our vehicles, the sky was gorgeous with shades of pink. In southern Minnesota and northern Iowa, we drove in the rain but that stopped by the time we got to Des Moines. After that we watched the temperature climb and the foliage on the trees increase – the redbud trees were in bloom with beautiful pink flowers. We traveled safely - although some of us traveled a little different route for the last leg of the trip. We've settled in for the night and will be on the road at 7 a.m. to travel the remaining 450 miles to Galveston.
2019 Fundraiser
The SPDR annual lasagna dinner and silent auction fundraiser was held on February 10th and was very successful. We are so grateful to all those that contributed to the success of this event. A huge thank you to
- Pastor Deb Grant, of Dickinson, TX, that preached at worship, presented at the Adult Forum, and spoke at both dinner seatings;
- the 50 SPDR team members that helped with the preparations for the auction and dinner in the weeks prior to the fundraiser, setup for the event on Saturday, served the meal on Sunday, and helped with all of the post-activities;
- the 200+ dinner guests who braved the snow to attend the dinner and then tipped generously;
- an anonymous St. Philip's couple that, once again, underwrote the cost of the dinner and
- those that donated or bid on an auction item. Almost 500 bids were made on the 200+ auction items that were donated by SPDR team members, friends, family members and St. Philip's members. (Note: Auction items donated or won will not show up on St. Philip's members' giving statements. Winners have all been notified.)
Hurricane Michael Trip #1 Daily Messages
Wednesday, January 9
We are home – safely! This was a great trip except for the immense amount of devastation. EVERYBODY we met was impacted in some way – power was out for days; phones, Internet, and cable service were out for weeks: schools were closed for a month; homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed. Tomorrow is the three-month anniversary of Hurricane Michael. Please pray for the people of the Panhandle.
I ran across this cartoon before we left for Florida. I'm thankful for the SPDR team of nine volunteers that were more powerful than a hurricane this first week of January and hopeful for many more to follow. The journey continues… - Renee
Tuesday, January 8
Heading home! We left Kim and Gene's home this morning around 7:15 with the temperature just over 50 degrees. We drove in the fog for a couple of hours and it was tough to see but that burned off good day for driving with the temperature reaching 72 in the afternoon. It was 45 degrees when we arrived in Mount Vernon, IL where we'll spend the night. It was a long and tiring day. (Some of us stayed up a little too late last night. We were having a great time talking with Kim.) We hope to be on the road at 6:30 tomorrow morning and arrive in Fridley by 6:30 PM.
A positive take-away for today: It was a good day for driving despite the fog, the numerous trucks, and the rush hour traffic in Nashville – something three of us experienced daily in 2011 on our second Nashville trip. We remained safe.
Monday, January 7
Our five days of work are completed. We worked in five homes altogether. We installed insulation in four homes. We partially drywalled two homes (only the bathrooms are left). We painted the majority of another home. We repaired termite damage in two homes. We cleaned or removed debris in all five of the homes.
The weather turned out great. We enjoyed the sunshine. It was great to take our breaks sitting outside with temperatures in the sixties. And we ate well – not even one day of brown bag lunches. We are so grateful to Kim and Gene and their friends for all the meals and hospitality they provided.
We ended the week with our traditional pizza party. We were joined by Kim's friends, Crystal, Sheila, and Karen and enjoyed each other's company relaxing for a few hours. Lots of laughs. No beach this time but a few of us braved the cooler evening to sit by the pool for a while. We'll head out tomorrow morning and hope the weather stays great for our travels.
A positive take-away for today: We are feeling a great sense of accomplishment. Things went so smoothly – the worksites were close together and close to Kim and Gene's so minimal travel times; Lowe's and Home Depot were within five miles of where we working; we had the supplies and tools we needed all the time; and we had the right people in the right places.
Sunday, January 6
An atypical day. We started by attending Kim and Gene's church. (They weren't with us as Gene's mother passed away on Tuesday and the funeral was today in Pensacola.) Sunday's are usually a travel day, so haven't done this on a trip for a while.
After church, we drove along the coast to Mexico Beach – the area that was hardest hit by Hurricane Michael. The devastation was everywhere we looked for 30 miles. We saw amazing amounts of damage to trees, Tydall Air Force Base, and many homes and businesses in Mexico Beach. Since most of the destruction on our last few trips have been more from water then winds, we haven't seen major destruction like this for a long time.
Then it was back to Kim and Gene's house for lunch. Well, it was actually more like Sunday dinner – with ham and cheesy potatoes and more. After that, we went to work and continued where we left off yesterday. We made some more progress with the painting, insulating, and drywalling. We plan to get an early start tomorrow and hope to get a lot more done.
A positive take-away for today: We were so warmly greeted, acknowledged, and thanked by so many members of Kim and Gene's church. And the sermon was about discipleship and was very meaningful.
Saturday, January 5
We started this morning with much of the same work. The termites have been taken care of so it's on to other work in those home. We were installing insulation and drywall most of today and have also started painting. We know we won't get everything completed but it's great to see stud walls now covered with sheetrock and other walls covered with fresh paint. These places are starting to look like homes again.
Gene led us in devotions tonight and he and Kim are so very grateful for our presence and help. He spoke about how they were just treading water. He said, "You have jump-started us. We are so thankful for having you here." We presented Kim and Gene with prayer shawls and as always, an emotional time for all of us.
A positive takeaway for the day: Gene said they would be on a future SPDR trip!
Friday, January 4
Another great day! It rained during the night but quit before we got up and didn't rain the rest of the day. And it was cooler. Yesterday was just a little too warm and humid for us Midwesterners.
We have been working in six houses and really have gotten a lot of work done in just two days. We've completed the insulating in two houses and even hung a couple sheets of drywall in one of them. We are half done with insulating in another house. We are partially through the replacement of more termite damaged wood in a one more house. A couple team members spent most of the morning moving all the debris that had been removed from one of these houses to the curb.
The piles of debris along the roadways are reminiscent of Cedar Rapids and Minot and there are also huge piles of tree trunks and branches. The landscape is ugly – broken, leaning and downed trees, piles of debris, damaged buildings, and blue tarps are everywhere.
A positive takeaway for the day: (Again, there were two.) 1. Another friend of Kim's purchased and delivered sub sandwiches (and more) to us for lunch today. 2. Renee and Gene met with the coordinator of disaster relief at Kim and Gene's church this afternoon. It is very likely that they will be lodging volunteers in the future and sounds like it would be a good fit for SPDR.
Thursday, January 3
Today was a great day. First, the high temperature was 72° and the low was 62. These are 20 and 10 degrees above normal! We were busy with a variety of tasks all day. We got started insulating in one house and got that finished and are ready to start another that is nearby. We removed all the boards from the base of a gazebo and a sandbox and carried them out the edge of the street. We picked up debris in the yard and cleaned out the kitchen cupboards. We cleaned up the edges of the sheetrock in two houses where it had been removed in a manner that would make the installation of the new sheetrock difficult. We scraped carpet pad from the floors. We swept the floors of three houses and also the driveways – hopefully this will keep us from getting flat tires on any of our vehicles. A few blocks away, two of our team members removed wood that had been destroyed by termites. They replaced the window header and frame with new lumber. Lots of progress!
A positive takeaway for the day: (Today there were actually two.) 1. A good friend of Kim's served us a wonderful lunch at their nearby home. 2. Things went really, really smooth for the first day of work.
Wednesday, January 2
It rained a good share of the day but the temperature steadily increased. It was 70 degrees around 6 o'clock this evening when we arrived at the home of Kim and Gene – our home for the next six nights. Kim is the sister of SPDR team member, Michelle Loken from Wanamingo, MN. We will spend most of the next five days helping Kim and Gene recovered from Hurricane Michael. And from what we saw, starting about 50 miles north of Lynn Haven, there is a lot of help that is needed. As we drove through the damaged areas, we saw many downed trees, piles of logs and brush, and piles of debris from gutted homes. And this was mostly in the dark. It certainly will be worse looking in the daylight.
A positive take away for the day: Michelle's family has pitched in from Minnesota to help us help Kim. Her sister made bread, buns and tea rings, her brother-in-law made chocolate chip cookies, and her mom made bars and cookies. We munched on some of the goodies on the way down, had some for dinner this evening, and have plenty more for the rest of the week. We were touched by the thoughtfulness and effort Michelle and Kim's mom put into the sugar cookies she sent with. So carefully packaged was a container of crosses, hammers, saws, and dolphins (because she likes the dolphins in Florida.) Because of a cross, we are here to hammer and saw and do whatever else is needed to help others.
Tuesday, January 1
We arrived in Paducah, KY around 9:30. The roads, traffic, and weather were great all the way here. A delayed start, some detours, and U-turns resulted in us arriving about an hour behind schedule but the plan from the beginning was to be super flexible on this trip.
A positive take-away for the day: We left Fridley at -2° and arrived in Paducah to a balmy 40 degrees which turned out to be an increase of almost 3 degrees an hour. So, at that rate, it should be 70 degrees when we get to Lynn Haven, FL tomorrow evening.
In mid-December, the SunFocus published an article about St. Philip's Disaster Relief. Check it out by clicking here.
Hurricane Harvey Team #2 - Daily Updates
Sunday, September 30
We arrived back at St. Philip's a few minutes before 5:00 this evening. The drive was uneventful – which is a good thing. Watching the temperature drop almost 20 degrees throughout the day was not such a good thing.
When Pastor Deb was with us on Monday, she spoke about the those affected by Hurricane Harvey that were "camping in their own houses." It was a fitting description of what we experienced in two of the houses we worked in. The sheetrocking and flooring we installed will help those homeowners get closer to having normal living conditions.
Our week was good in so many ways. We were safe – with only a couple of minor injuries. We were comfortable at Zion Retreat Center – with no intruders this time. We were well fed – with meals made by our cook or supplied by others we met. We were supported – by each other, those we worked with in Galveston County, and those back home. We were called – and we answered.
The journey continues…
Saturday, September 29
We were up early this morning in order to be on the road by 6:30 AM. It was very warm and muggy as we loaded the trailers and it started to sprinkle as we left Galveston. We ran into frequent, heavy rains most of the early morning along with road construction that made for some tough driving. But by lunchtime we had driven out of the rain and had a nice afternoon and evening. 700 miles and 13+ hours later, we arrived in Nevada, MO. We plan to be on the road at 7:00 AM and should arrive back at St. Philip's around 5:00 PM. It will be a shorter drive – only 550 miles!
Friday, September 28
A great week of work has come to an end. Late this morning, the painting was completed in the home that we started yesterday. By noon, the last pieces of flooring and molding were installed in the house in Dickenson along with a new toilet that we purchased for the homeowners. The house in Santa Fe had the drywall completed yesterday and that team mudded and mudded and mudded all of today. The foodbank was a whirlwind of activity as the sheetrocking and mudding/sanding continued in the morning. As the other crews finished up at their jobs, they joined in the work at the foodbank helping with the completion of the wall, the installation of the baseboards, painting, and clean up. Whatever needed to get done, there was someone to jump in and help out. It was amazing to see that work so smoothly and fun to have almost the whole team working in one location. We haven't done that for a while.
We got back to the retreat center in the late afternoon and then headed down to the beach for our traditional pizza party. As we parked the cars, and walked along the seawall to the area to get to the beach, it was raining. Plan B was running through our heads as wet pizza didn't sound too appetizing. But the rain stopped about the time the pizza arrived and we had a wonderful evening on the beach to end our week in Galveston. A big thank you to Pops Foley of Galveston County Recovers for providing the pizza (and for coordinating our work here in Galveston.) Most of the team went to bed early. We are leaving Galveston at 6:30 and will travel about 700 miles tomorrow.
Thursday, September 27
Encounters should be the word for today – for a couple of reasons. The crew putting in the flooring were in small spaces throughout the day so they had physical close encounters. The sheetrock crew had some close encounters that dealt with safety with a couple of episodes of falling off ladders/stepstools – but no injuries!
The crew at the foodbank has the one side of the wall all mudded and ready for painting. The opposite side has been insulated and about 2/3 of the sheetrock installed. The baseboards have all been installed. Carpet has been removed from a large room. They also cut an opening in an existing wall and installed a door.
The flooring crew with so many tight spots had to make many, many cuts as they installed flooring in the hallway, laundry room, and the bathroom. They also got most of the molding nailed in place in all of the rooms where the flooring has been installed.
Earlier this week, our cook Dawn, had an encounter with a neighborhood woman and her son who were out walking near the retreat center. She and her husband own a restaurant and catering business and offered to provide a meal for us. Tonight, they did just that. We were treated with a wonderful meal including coconut cream pie for dessert!
The sheetrock crew completed the sheetrocking in all of the rooms and the garage. They finished the mudding in one of the bedrooms and have the other bedroom about 60% done. They also spent some time moving the homeowner's possessions back to where they were stored when they started.
The painting crew started work in another house and finished priming in the rooms that needed that and painted the rooms that had already been primed.
Tomorrow we will continue working in these four locations to finish up our work week. We are hoping for good weather so we can have our traditional pizza party on the beach.
Wednesday, September 26
Progress was the word for today.
The sheetrock has been completed in the one house and the mudding has been started. More sheetrock was delivered and that team will be able to sheetrock the garage and continue with the mudding.
The wall at the foodbank passed inspection so the team there was able to start insulating the other side. The taping and mudding continued on that wall so one side is ready for painting. The painting of the office area of the foodbank was completed along with a large wall in the warehouse and also the utility room. The installation of the baseboards is about half done.
The flooring installation moved along despite some heavy downpours. The large living room and master bedroom are done as well as another room and the hallway. There are many corners in this house which makes the shoe molding installation a slow process but two rooms were completed.
Mike and Renee attended the Galveston County Long Term Recovery Committee meeting this afternoon. This is a group of people that come from many agencies that are working together to help those in Galveston County that were impacted by Hurricane Harvey. There has bee much progress in their work and they are developing workgroups and plans to help the staggering number of individuals that need assistance.
In the evening, we were honored to have Shelli Williamson, the Disaster Response Coordinator in Texas, from Upbring Disaster Response (formerly Lutheran Social Services Disaster Response) visit one of our worksites and join us for dinner and our team meeting. She led us in devotions, shared with us about her work and live, listened to our stories, and thanked us (more than once) for being here. And she brought cookies!
Tuesday, September 25
Another great day – in spite of heavy downpours a couple of times today. We continued with the same work as yesterday. The piles of sheetrock and flooring are going down and the paint cans are being emptied. This means there are many walls that have been sheetrocked, a couple of large rooms that now have laminate flooring in place, many baseboards, molding strips, and walls that have been painted.
We are enjoying the retreat center and the evenings have become a wonderful time for fellowship with many conversations shared, games played, and other activities. This evening we enjoyed cake in celebration of the birthday of longtime team member, Richard Young.
Monday, September 24
Things went fairly smooth this morning – better than a "typical" Monday. We started working at three locations.
Two teams are at the Galveston County Food Bank – working in the "annex building" that they have acquired. One of the teams started built a steel stud wall that is 25+ feet long by 14 feet high. The sheetrock will start to go on it tomorrow. The other team started painted all of the 1"x10" boards that will be used for baseboards. They also started painting in the office area while waiting for the baseboards to dry.
Another team is working in a home in Santa Fe. They started sheetrocking and made good progress despite all of the homeowner's possessions they had to work around.
The fourth team thought they were going to have to remove flooring but found that that was already done so they were able to get started laying laminate floor. They installed 14 of the 70 boxes of flooring that were delivered this morning.
We had a guest for dinner this evening – Pastor Deb Grant from Faith Lutheran in Dickinson. Last trip, we had worked in Pastor Deb's church and a home the church owned. It was great to see her again and to hear of the progress at Faith. But we were also reminded of how much there is still to be done. We will get some of that done and hope that there will be many others that follow us.
Sunday, September 23
We left McAlester, OK early this morning with a planned nine hour traveled day. All went well and we even arrived at Zion Retreat Center a little earlier than expected. We unloaded all of gear and started to settle in.
We met with the Guy and Pops from the Galveston County Long Term Recovery Committee and have picked out four jobs we are going to start working on tomorrow with a couple of others that we hope to get to later in the week.
Using the brand-new online ordering and pick up at WalMart, Dawn had the grocery shopping done in no time and we had a wonderful supper. The rest of the evening was spent lounging around at the retreat center with most of us in bed by 10 o'clock. We are thankful for the uneventful journey to Galveston and are anxious to get to work tomorrow.
Saturday, September 22
After a wonderful send off, 21 of us left St. Philip's shortly after 6 AM. By lunchtime there were 22 of us, and by suppertime the team was complete when the two remaining team members met us in Oklahoma. We are in McAlester, OK for the night and plan to be back on the road at 7 AM. We should arrive in Galveston in the early evening.
Thank you to all that were there to see us off, those that have sent us texts, emails, and Facebook comments, and those that are praying for us. We appreciate all of you.
Hurricane Harvey Team #1 - Daily Updates
Monday – Day 10: There wasn't supposed to be a Day 10 to this trip but, fortunately, it was uneventful. We left Des Moines shortly after 9 this morning and pulled into St. Philip's shortly before 2 p.m. The freeway was bare the whole way with no blowing or drifting to deal with. And we saw very few cars in the ditch.
Overall, it was a great trip. The Zion Retreat Center was a wonderful place to stay, the Texas weather was great, our partners in Texas worked hard to provide us with everything we needed for our rebuilding work, our cooks kept us well fed, our crew chiefs led their teams effectively, and our team members were awesome!
We worked in a church and six houses that had water damage from the hurricane – mostly installing drywall, mudding and taping, and painting. We also did some demolition work, plumbing work, electrical work, cleaning, cabinet assembly, countertop installation, and much more - all things that will help those impacted by Hurricane Harvey move forward.
We thank everyone that was involved in this trip – our team members; our Texas partners; our financial supporters; those that supported us with prayers, text messages, and comments on Facebook throughout th


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New Orleans hit by tornado as intense storm pummels city
NEW ORLEANS -- A brief but intense storm pummeled New Orleans on Thursday afternoon, toppling trees and power lines and collapsing at least two abandoned houses.
Two minor injuries were reported.
"Two individuals were walking down the street in the severe weather. They happened to be right near a building when it collapsed," said Aaron Miller, director of the city's homeland security office.
Miller said both of the downed buildings had been slated for demolition.
"It's really amazing," Mayor Mitch Landrieu said as he surveyed the damage. "It looks like we had some tornadic activity."
The power from the storms damaged at least five buildings, CBS affiliate WWL-TV reports.
Neighbors said some of those buildings had been unstable since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
"It was a dilapidated two-story structure. It had work done and then it was rotting and had work done again," a neighbor told WWL-TV about one building. "It'd be waiting to fall down for years."
A funnel cloud was sighted over the city, and the National Weather Service later tweeted that a storm survey found damage from an 80 mph EF0 tornado over a half-mile track.
The damage appeared to have occurred largely in the city's 7th Ward and Treme areas. Both neighborhoods have areas of blighted housing, a problem that was made worse by Katrina.


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The International Inbound Travel Association's community leads the field in inbound expertise because they have the advantages of specific, industry-focused education; shared best practices; and a network of knowledgeable and experienced experts they can trust.
A 4-step training program for DMOs and their supplier stakeholders to work with U.S.-based inbound operators.
"America 4 You joined IITA to become more involved in the Inbound community. IITA focuses on important issues facing inbound international travel and the association uses the strong voice of its leaders to advocate for the industry as a whole."
"International Inbound Travel is very important and valuable to Las Vegas and being able to work and share information with those inbound operators who facilitate that, is why we are active members of IITA."
"Being a member of an organization like IITA is an invaluable resource for a company like ours. Their annual Summit is something that I look forward to every year because it not only allows us the opportunity to interact with the top suppliers from all over the United States but also provides top notch educational sessions and the chance to network with the best of the best in our industry. All of these reasons are why 'I'm an Inbound Insider.'"


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This was a sketch challenge (I love sketches when I am fresh out of mojo)
I used a Sassy Lil Sketch for this one, and it was a recipe challenge. Three patterned papers, chipboard, handmade journaling spot, 7 round elements.
This challenge was a lot of fun. We were told what to do with the layout step by step without actually being shown a picture of the layout we were lifting from. I think it's my favorite.


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Hinduism, Buddhism, energy, balance, heat, fire, enthusiasm, flamboyance, playfulness, aggression, arrogance, gaudiness, overemotion, warning, danger, autumn, desire, Sagittarius (star sign), September.
Orange has less intensity or aggression than red and is calmed by the cheerfulness of yellow.
Orange is the Roayal family of the Netherlands. As such in the Netherlands Orange symbolises roayalty and as William the Orange was a Calvanist orange symbolises protestantism perticualrly in Ireland( Orange Irish).
Color symbolism and psychology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Orange - Color symbolism and psychology
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Coronavirus Update:
We continue to provide our professional private transfer services. In order to protect the health and safety of our passengers and drivers during this time, our vehicles are being sanitised before and after each journey and drivers will be wearing face masks in the vehicle. We are following all advise set out by the Government.
London Heathrow Airport to Exeter Taxi Services
Heathrow to Exeter Taxi from Only £285
To get proper transport chauffeur driven car service with easy car rides from London Heathrow Airport to Exeter and reach your location securely and promptly, book one of our quality Airport transfer executive cars.
Majestic Taxis & Chauffeur Driven Car Drivers will meet & greet you upon landing at any London Heathrow Airport. They will help with properly store your belongings and proceed to provide immediate transfer taxi service for you to your desired location smoothly. We offer an exclusive car ride chauffer driven transfer service for Exeter and you can ease you mind after your lengthy plane ride while being efficiently driven by one of our caring airport transport taxi drives.
While being home to the remarkable Powerham Castle, Exeter is 184 miles from London Heathrow Airport and approximately 2 hour and 56 minutes by Heathrow Airport chauffeur driven transfer car service. Powderham Castle is located in a unique, picturesque setting just outside Exeter, beside the Exe estuary. Six hundred years of history are contained within the walls of one of England's oldest family homes. Sir Philip Courtenay began building it in 1391 and it has remained in the same family to this day, currently home to the 18th Earl & Countess of Devon. The magical setting and convenient location makes it the perfect venue for all manner of events including wedding receptions and business functions. For locals and visitors to Devon it is a 'must see' and with its many attractions - a wonderful family day out.
We provide a car transport service which can be booked at any time, day or night, and for any date you desire. Our prices are fixed for your convenience and peace of mind. They remain the same 24/7. Our chauffer driven transport service is on a price per vehicle basis and there is NO car sharing unless you request it.
Getting to Exeter from Heathrow by train, coach or bus can be a long and drawn out process, there is no need to take your burdensome luggage around when Majestic Taxis & Chauffeur Driven Car Transfer Service can take you easily from Heathrow Airport and be your car transport hired to conveniently take you directly to your appropriate destination in Exeter. The cost of a train, bus or coach is not inexpensive or worth it if you have been crammed on a plane to Heathrow Airport for quite a bit of hours.
Fixed Priced Fares - Taxi From London Heathrow Airport To Exeter – There are No hidden charges you pay only what is quoted.
All of our prices are fixed we guarantee NO hidden charges even if your flight is delayed. We also provide a fleet of executive cars. These cars include: Mercedes, Audis and BMW's exclusively for Groups Travelers we utilize Ford Galaxy People Carriers. All vehicles have leather interior and air conditioning as standard.
Flight Monitoring In addition, we utilize our flight monitoring to stay up-to-date on departures and arrivals, so that even if your flight is delayed or early, your chauffeur from Heathrow to Exeter will have airport taxi services there when you arrive. You will NEVER be charged for flight delays
Meet & Greet Service at Heathrow Airport
We can provide a meet & greet service for your Heathrow Airport to Exeter taxi service. Your chauffeur will meet you in the arrivals area at Heathrow Airport. They will have our company board with your name on it. In case of difficulty in locating your driver, please call us at the customer service number provided 0207 1276 550.
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· There is no worry of missing a train connection as the service we provide is door to door so you will be dropped off right outside your chosen address.
Book & Pay for Your Transport to Exeter Online or Call us at 0207 127 6550. Our staff members will be happy to assist you.
Information about Exeter
Exeter is in the county of Devon, in the East of England. It is the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Exeter. According to the former Devon County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 80,000 in mid- 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town of Kempston. The Exeter Urban Area which includes Kempston, Elstow and Biddenham forms the 71st largest Urban Area in the UK with a population of 101,928. The wider borough, including a rural area, had a population of 153,000.
The name of the town is thought to derive from the name of a Saxon chief called Beda, and a ford crossing the River Great Ouse. Exeter was a market town for the surrounding agricultural region from the early Middle- Ages. The Anglo-Saxon King Offa of Mercia was buried in the town in 796. In 886 it became a boundary town separating Wessex and Danelaw. It was the seat of the Barony of Exeter. In 919 Edward the Elder built the town's first known fortress, on the south side of the River Ouse and there received the area's submission. This fortress was destroyed by the Danes. William II gave the barony of Exeter to Paine de Beauchamp who built a new, strong castle. The new Exeter Castle was razed in 1224 and today only a mound remains.
Exeter remained a small agricultural town, with wool being an important industry in the area for much of the Middle -Ages. From the 1560s Exeter and much of Devon became one of the main centres of England's lace industry, with skilled lace-makers such as the Flemings and then later the Huguenots emigrating from Europe to settle in the town and surrounding county. Lace continued to be an important industry in Exeter up until the early 20th century.
Popular Hotels in Exeter
The Exeter Swan Hotel
The Embankment,
Exeter, MK40 1RW,
+44 1234 346565
Holiday Inn Express Exeter
Elstow Interchange A6/A421
Wilstead Road,
Exeter, MK42 9BF
+44 1234 224100
Travelodge Hotel - Exeter Marston
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Beancroft Road Junction,
Marston Moretaine,
Exeter MK43 0PZ,
+44 871 984 6011
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Flight arrivals are monitored, so even if your flight is delayed or early your driver
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No extra charges if your flight is delayed and our prices are very competitive.
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Easy to use online booking system that allows customers to pay for bookings securely
via Google Checkout.


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Account Info
CS Unitec
Compact Mixing Drill with Paddle
Easy to manage drill for continuous mixing of 2-bag batches. Ideal for tile, cement, plaster, mortar, paints, epoxy and coatings.
Click Here for Catalog Page
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Call Us to Order 1-888-206-2569


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Are Umbrellas Useless?
Where I live one minute you can be walking down the street one minute thinking what a lovely sunny day it is. But then a few minutes later, you find yourself soaking wet due to a sudden downpouring of rain. You spend 10 minutes hiding in a doorway waiting for it to stop.
People often tell me it would be a good idea to carry an umbrella just in case. But I don't like umbrellas. Umbrellas are anti-social, ineffective and a bit useless in certain sorts of wind. I am not usually a fan of umbrellas. Here are 5 reasons why umbrellas are useless and not worth the effort.
Rain, rain go away. Come again another day.
Arguments Against Umbrellas
Here are 5 reasons umbrellas are useless.
Reason 1: They do not work very well in the wind...
Ever tried to use an umbrella on a windy, rainy day? What happens? In my experience one of the below options occurs:
- the umbrella breaks because it blows inside out
- it catches the wind and acts as a sort of sail pulling you along.
Admittedly being pulled along like a sail by your umbrella could be fun, but if that happens you will still get wet.
Reason 2: Unless you are over 6 foot tall you might gauge someone's eye out
There is nothing worse than walking along a crowded street in the rain where everyone has their umbrellas out. Umbrellas take up a lot of space. If someone a few inches shorter carries an umbrella, you and everyone else tall are in constant danger of being poked in the eye. In crowds umbrellas are anti social.
Reason 3: It's fun to get wet anyway
Sometimes when it rains, no matter how hard you try to avoid it, you must accept you are going to get wet. This is allowing nature to take its course. As the Weather Girls tell us there is something liberating about accepting that you are going to get absolutely soaking wet in a downpour.
If it is not too cold, and you are on your way home (and not to an important business meeting) getting drenched can be enjoyable.
There is a poem that goes:
You say that you love rain, but you open your umbrella when it rains.
You say that you love the sun, but you find a shadow spot when the sun shines.
You say that you love the wind, but you close your windows when wind blows.
This is why I am afraid, you say that you love me too.
Some parts of the internet say this is a quotation from Bob Marley (and even more oddly also William Shakespeare...). However it is more reliably attributed to a Turkish poet called Qyazzirah Syeikh Ariffin.
There are also many other examples of popular culture references to the joy of being in the rain. From "Singing in the Rain" in the classic musical:
I'm singing in the rain
Just singing in the rain
What a glorious feelin'
I'm happy againI
Or Ricky Martin's Living La Vida Loca which includes the lines "She'll make you take your clothes off and go dancing in the rain".
The Weather Girls, It's Raining Men
Reason number 4: You have to carry them with you
Umbrellas can be heavy and cumbersome, meaning you have to carry them with you. This can be inconvenient and mean your hands aren't free for other things. You can get umbrellas that fold up small and fit easily into a handbag or a rucksack. However typically these are the very flimsy ones that won't withstand any rain.
If you have a properly strong umbrella that won't collapse the moment there is a gust of wind, then it will be heavy.
Even if you manage to find an easy way of transporting a sturdy umbrella, when it is raining any umbrella will always take up one hand. (Unless you have a willing boyfriend/girlfriend/servant to hold it for you).
Reason number 5: Anoraks are better at keeping you dry
When faced with heavy rain an umbrella isn't really going to do much, especially if there is also a gust of wind. It might keep your top half dry, but your legs are inevitably going to get wet.
If you are really concerned about staying dry, your best equipment is as follows:
- An anorak (or parka or cagoule)
- Waterproof trousers
- Wellington boots
Arguments to Appreciate Umbrellas
Having said all that umbrellas do have positives. Here are the five key reasons to appreciate umbrellas.
Reason 1: The Power o Sharing an Umbrella
In the words of Rihanna:
Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we'll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
You are strolling through the park on a lovely bright spring day, with your umbrella in your hand just in case. Suddenly without warning it starts to pour with rain. There is a very attractive girl just in front of you. Being a chivalrous gentleman you step forward and offer to share your umbrella with her. The girl would not normally speak to strangers but she does not want her hair to be ruined so she accepts your offer. As you walk through the park together under the umbrella you talk and get to know each other. One year later you are engaged and live happily ever after together.
Note: The above scenario may seem rather gender biased (and optimistic), I would like to say that inverting the scenario, or same sex umbrella sharing is just as good. Main rule: if one person is a lot taller than the other, they should always be the one carrying the umbrella.
Reason 2: to Protect You from the Sun!
There are different kinds of umbrellas of course. Umbrellas can be used to shade you and protect you from the heat of the sun, and skin cancer. It is likely the first umbrellas were actually created for this reason, rather than to protect from the rain.
Wouldn't it be lovely to be sitting on a sunny beach with an umbrella to shade me?
If only I lived somewhere where I would need a parasol.
Reason 3: Umbrellas in Your Cocktails
Another sort of umbrella is the little paper sort that you get in some fancy cocktails. Sitting under your parasol in the sun, sipping a silly cocktail with a paper umbrella - blissful.
Reason 4: As Art or Fashion
Umbrellas can be decorative, fashion statements and/or beautiful. They can be art. The can come in all colors, with many designs and can be arranged and displayed in many stylish artistic ways.
Perhaps if your umbrella is broken by the wind you can also reuse it to create something artistic.
Reason 5: They are Useful on Some Occasions to Stop You Getting Wet
Despite the five reasons against umbrellas above, in some circumstances they can in fact meet the purpose of keeping you dry. If the rain is light, and it isn't too windy they will usually do the job. Even the most hardened anti umbrella fan, may occasionally want to avoid getting wet and sneak into the shelter provided by an umbrella. I am one of those annoying people who never has my own umbrella. Occasionally I will try and share my companion's. Am I a hypocrite?


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Nissan Will Bring Juke - R Nismo At Goodwood, Could Get Gt - R Nismo's 592hp Engine
Remember Nissan's limited edition and totally crazy 545hp Juke R? Of course you do. Well, the Japanese automaker will release a sequel to the "world's first supercar crossover," which will be called Juke-R Nismo and will debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on June 25.
The new Nissan Juke-R Nismo will use "the latest technology, styling and running gear from Nismo products," the automaker says. No other details were offered, but according to a report from Auto Express, the Juke-R Nismo will be powered by Nissan GT-R Nismo's 600PS (592hp) twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter V6 petrol engine mated to a six-speed dual-clutch gearbox.
That means the Juke-R Nismo should be able to sprint from 0 to 100 km/h (62mph) in less than 3 seconds and reach a top speed in excess of 322 km/h (200mph). As the teaser photo reveals, the Juke-R Nismo will look more aggressive than its predecessor, featuring sharper bumpers, wider wheel arches and red accents evoking the Nismo brand.
Like its predecessor, the Juke-R Nismo is expected to feature a full FIA-spec roll-cage, bucket seats and steering wheel mounted paddles for the dual-clutch transmission.
As for pricing, while the old Juke R was priced at £400,000 ($620,560), the new model is expected to cost as much as £500,000 ($775,600). That's a lot of money for a B-segment crossover, don't you think?


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VISALIA, CALIF. – October 8, 2018 – The Citrus Research Board (CRB) is pleased to announce Franco Bernardi will serve as the organizations interim president. As of October 15, Bernardi will lead daily staff operations and management.
Bernardi's leadership will guide the CRB during the next several months as it celebrates its 50th anniversary and continues to invest in solutions to huanglongbing (HLB), the deadly citrus disease that has devastated other citrus-growing regions worldwide.
"We are extremely fortunate to be able to call on one of the leaders of our industry to steer the helm as our search committee looks for a full-time president," said CRB Chairman Dan Dreyer, who will announce Bernardi's appointment formally on October 10 at the annual California Citrus Conference, which is attended by hundreds of citrus growers, researchers and other industry representatives.
Bernardi held a seat on the CRB Board for 27-years, serving as CRB chairman from 1997-99, Bernardi had chaired a number of CRB committees during his nearly three decades on the Board. He also served on the boards of other organizations, such as the Central California Orange Growers Cooperative, California Citrus Advisory Committee, California Citrus Mutual and the California Citrus Quality Council, to name only a few.
Early in Bernardi's career, he worked at Del Monte Foods in their ag research division and then as a senior research associate for the University of Arizona. For 38 years prior to his retirement, he served in management at a number of citrus operations, including Superior Farming, Paramount Citrus, Sun World, Duda Farm Fresh Foods and Agricultural Capital Management.
The Lucca, Italy native is a 28-year resident of Visalia, who studied agricultural science at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He and his wife Kathy have been married for 52 years and have five children and 11 grandchildren.
The CRB administers the California Citrus Research Program, the grower-funded and grower-directed program established in 1968 enabling the State's citrus producers to sponsor and support needed research. More information about the Citrus Research Board may be found at www.citrusresearch.org.


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Application Developer at Zayo
Company Description
Zayo Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: ZAYO) provides communications infrastructure solutions, including fiber and bandwidth connectivity, colocation and cloud infrastructure to the world's leading businesses. Customers include wireless and wireline carriers, media and content companies, cloud providers, finance and professional services and other large enterprises. Zayo provides customers with flexible solutions and self-service through Tranzact, an innovative online platform for managing and purchasing bandwidth.
Position Description
The developer will work on the Tranzact development team to develop, enhance, and extend core order and service management tools to provide our customers an effortless and engaging experience.
- Support, maintain and enhance order processing functionality related to service change and disconnect operations.
- Maintain existing and write new unit tests in Apex to ensure continued operation of functionality.
- Extend key order processing logic through restful APIs and transition appropriate shared logic to microservice framework.
The ideal candidate should be self-motivated, have a strong attention to detail, and possess a passion for delivering a high-quality product for stakeholders. Working selflessly in an evolving and highly collaborative team environment, adaptability and good communication skills are needed. The candidate should be a problem solver, with an eye to the bigger picture and awareness to make decisions in the best interest of Zayo, ultimately taking ownership and responsibility for decisions and outcomes.
We strive to make our tools and processes better. In doing so, we expect an awareness and desire to identify and address problems before they are problems. Curiosity and passion for continued learning, as well as good reading and comprehension skills and self-directed learning, are needed in this process.
2-4 years of experience may indicate readiness but must demonstrate preceding role proficiency and a high degree of competency in the following areas.
Advanced knowledge and understanding of:
- Algorithms, data structures, data modeling, and distributed systems
- Software development methodologies including overall roles, processes, stages, and value proposition of the software development lifecycle (SDLC)
- Git workflow including general code management, branching, committing and merging
- One or more technologies or programming languages
- One or more functional business processes that an IT system supports
Demonstrated ability to:
- Navigate, work effectively, and propose improvements within several areas of the software development life cycle, including planning, analysis and design, development, testing, implementation, and maintenance
- Assist and guide others technically through collaboration and pair programming.
- Troubleshoot, identify and resolve advanced issues in a timely manner.
- Take full accountability for written and reviewed code, write reusable and sustainable code and practice test-driven development and defensive programming to create a more stable deliverable.
- Challenge existing code patterns and propose alternatives with justification of benefit/value of implementation.
- Propose and deliver an optimal solution after understanding existing alternate options and overall system impact of implementing each option.
- Can critically analyze and evaluate code of others as well as their own, provide constructive feedback, and contribute a positive influence overall within design and code implementation discussions or normal code reviews within a given domain.
- Proactively ask for assistance when hindered by roadblocks or requirement issues.
- Actively seek or take on complex problems within a project or domain.
Ideally, candidate should have experience with:
- Salesforce Declarative Development.
- Salesforce Programmatic constructs including Apex classes and triggers, and Visualforce pages and components.
- Object-Oriented programming and design.
- Data structures and data modeling.
- Node.js and microservices.
- Competitive compensation
- Excellent benefits including health, dental, vision, 401 (k), disability and life insurance
- Fitness membership discounts
- Generous paid time off policy including paid parental leave


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Mark Broadbent has been named Chief Operating Officer by GuyKat. The new role will focus on leading the eLearning agency's aggressive expansion plans. The scale-up program includes moving to a new, larger UK head office at the Innovation Campus Birmingham, UK and the opening of a physical office in the USA. Mark joins GuyKat after a varied 20 year career in various consulting and leadership roles with companies such as PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Cadbury, Unilever, PA Consulting and 02.
CEO, Guy McEvoy, said; "I'm delighted to be bringing Mark on board. It's taken us over a year to find someone we believed could scale us up quickly without damaging the existing culture. Mark understands what our current staff and clients find so special about us. The international dimension will make keeping this magic whilst growing so quickly particularly challenging, but I'm excited to have someone I trust to drive this forward."
Mark Broadbent said; "It is an honour to join a company with such a strong culture. I am proud to be part of this new adventure at GuyKat, leading the scale up programme and excited about what the future has in store."
About GuyKat
GuyKat have seen year-on-year revenue growth over 20% each of the last five years. They work with some of the worlds biggest brands to deliver engaging eLearning programs and platforms that are used annually by tens of thousands of learners and professionals world- wide. They enjoy a strategic partnership with Italian founded, Canadian based Learning Management System provider Docebo.
For all press enquiries please contact: firstname.lastname@example.com
Guykat have received support from the Business Growth Programme 2. The Business Growth Programme is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Birmingham City Council. Councilor Jayne Francis, Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Culture at Birmingham City Council said; "Local businesses are the lifeblood of our local economy and supporting companies like Guykat Solutions Ltd are very important to Birmingham City Council. Securing this grant has enabled the agency to make a real difference to their business and we look forward to supporting their growth and that of other SMEs through this initiative."