text:
The Winds of Time
by James H. Schmitz
Public Domain
Science Fiction Story: He contracted for a charter trip--but the man who hired his spacer wasn't quite a man, it turned out--and he wanted more than service!
Tags: Science Fiction Novel-Classic
Gefty Rammer came along the narrow passages between the Silver Queen's control compartment and the staterooms, trying to exchange the haggard look on his face for one of competent self-assurance. There was nothing to gain by letting his two passengers suspect that during the past few minutes their pilot, the owner of Rammer Spacelines, had been a bare step away from plain and fancy gibbering.
He opened the door to Mr. Maulbow's stateroom and went inside. Mr. Maulbow, face very pale, eyes closed, lay on his back on the couch, still unconscious. He'd been knocked out when some unknown forces suddenly started batting the Silver Queen's turnip-shape around as the Queen had never been batted before in her eighteen years of spacefaring. Kerim Ruse, Maulbow's secretary, knelt beside her employer, checking his pulse. She looked anxiously up at Gefty.
"What did you find out?" she asked in a voice that was not very steady.
Gefty shrugged. "Nothing definite as yet. The ship hasn't been damaged--she's a tough tub. That's one good point. Otherwise ... well, I climbed into a suit and took a look out the escape hatch. And I saw the same thing there that the screens show. Whatever that is."
"You've no idea then of what's happened to us, or where we are?" Miss Ruse persisted. She was a rather small girl with large, beautiful gray eyes and thick blue-black hair. At the moment, she was barefoot and in a sleeping outfit which consisted of something soft wrapped around her top, soft and floppy trousers below. The black hair was tousled and she looked around fifteen. She'd been asleep in her stateroom when something smacked the Queen, and she was sensible enough then not to climb out of the bunk's safety field until the ship finally stopped shuddering and bucking about. That made her the only one of the three persons aboard who had collected no bruises. She was scared, of course, but taking the situation very well.
Gefty said carefully, "There're a number of possibilities. It's obvious that the Queen has been knocked out of normspace, and it may take some time to find out how to get her back there. But the main thing is that the ship's intact. So far, it doesn't look too bad."
Miss Ruse seemed somewhat reassured. Gefty could hardly have said the same for himself. He was a qualified normspace and subspace pilot. He had put in a hitch with the Federation Navy, and for the past eight years he'd been ferrying his own two ships about the Hub and not infrequently beyond the Federation's space territories, but he had never heard of a situation like this. What he saw in the viewscreens when the ship steadied enough to let him pick himself off the instrument room floor, and again, a few minutes later and with much more immediacy, from the escape hatch, made no sense--seemed simply to have no meaning. The pressure meters said there was a vacuum outside the Queen's skin. That vacuum was dark, even pitch-black but here and there came momentary suggestions of vague light and color. Occasional pinpricks of brightness showed and were gone. And there had been one startling phenomenon like a distant, giant explosion, a sudden pallid glare in the dark, which appeared far ahead of the Queen and, for the instant it remained in sight, seemed to be rushing directly towards them. It had given Gefty the feeling that the ship itself was plowing at high speed through this eerie medium. But he had cut the Queen's drives to the merest idling pulse as soon as he staggered back to the control console and got his first look at the screens, so it must have been the light that had moved.
But such details were best not discussed with a passenger. Kerim Ruse would be arriving at enough disquieting speculations on her own; the less he told her, the better. There was the matter of the ship's location instruments. The only set Gefty had been able to obtain any reading on were the direction indicators. And what they appeared to indicate was that the Silver Queen was turning on a new heading something like twenty times a second.
Gefty asked, "Has Mr. Maulbow shown any signs of waking up?"
Kerim shook her head. "His breathing and pulse seem all right, and that bump on his head doesn't look really bad, but he hasn't moved at all. Can you think of anything else we might do for him, Gefty?"
"Not at the moment," Gefty said. "He hasn't broken any bones. We'll see how he feels when he comes out of it." He was wondering about Mr. Maulbow and the fact that this charter had showed some unusual features from the beginning.
Kerim was a friendly sort of girl; they'd got to calling each other by their first names within a day or two after the trip started. But after that, she seemed to be avoiding him; and Gefty guessed that Maulbow had spoken to her, probably to make sure that Kerim didn't let any of her employer's secrets slip out.
Maulbow himself was as aloof and taciturn a client as Rammer Spacelines ever had picked up. A lean, blond character of indeterminate age, with pale eyes, hard mouth. Why he had selected a bulky semifreighter like the Queen for a mineralogical survey jaunt to a lifeless little sun system far beyond the outposts of civilization was a point he didn't discuss. Gefty, needing the charter money, had restrained his curiosity. If Maulbow wanted only a pilot and preferred to do all the rest of the work himself, that was certainly Maulbow's affair. And if he happened to be up to something illegal--though it was difficult to imagine what--Customs would nail him when they got back to the Hub.
But those facts looked a little different now.
Gefty scratched his chin, inquired, "Do you happen to know where Mr. Maulbow keeps the keys to the storage vault?"
Kerim looked startled. "Why, no! I couldn't permit you to take the keys anyway while he ... while he's unconscious! You know that."
Gefty grunted. "Any idea of what he has locked up in the vault?"
"You shouldn't ask me--" Her eyes widened. "Why, that couldn't possibly have anything to do with what's happened!"
He might, Gefty thought, have reassured her a little too much. He said, "I wouldn't know. But I don't want to just sit here and wonder about it until Maulbow wakes up. Until we're back in normspace, we'd better not miss any bets. Because one thing's sure--if this has happened to anybody else, they didn't turn up again to report it. You see?"
Kerim apparently did. She went pale, then said hesitantly, "Well ... the sealed cases Mr. Maulbow brought out from the Hub with him had some very expensive instruments in them. That's all I know. He's always trusted me not to pry into his business any more than my secretarial duties required, and of course I haven't."
"You don't know then what it was he brought up from that moon a few hours ago--those two big cases he stowed away in the vault?"
"No, I don't, Gefty. You see, he hasn't told me what the purpose of this trip is. I only know that it's a matter of great importance to him." Kerim paused, added, "From the careful manner Mr. Maulbow handled the cases with the cranes, I had the impression that whatever was inside them must be quite heavy."
"I noticed that," Gefty said. It wasn't much help. "Well, I'll tell you something now," he went on. "I let your boss keep both sets of keys to the storage vault because he insisted on it when he signed the charter. What I didn't tell him was that I could make up a duplicate set any time in around half an hour."
"Oh! Have you--?"
"Not yet. But I intend to take a look at what Mr. Maulbow's got in that vault now, with or without his consent. You'd better run along and get dressed while I take him up to the instrument room."
"Why move him?" Kerim asked.
"The instrument room's got an overall safety field. I've turned it on now, and if something starts banging us around again, the room will be the safest place on the ship. I'll bring his personal luggage up too, and you can start looking through it for the keys. You may find them before I get a new set made. Or he may wake up and tell us where they are."
Kerim Ruse gave her employer a dubious glance, then nodded, said, "I imagine you're right, Gefty," and pattered hurriedly out of the stateroom. A few minutes later, she arrived, fully dressed, in the instrument room. Gefty looked around from the table-shelf where he had laid out his tools, and said, "He hasn't stirred. His suitcases are over there. I've unlocked them."
Kerim gazed at what showed in the screens about the control console and shivered slightly. She said, "I was thinking, Gefty ... isn't there something they call Space Three?"
"Sure. Pseudospace. But that isn't where we are. There're some special-built Navy tubs that can operate in that stuff if they don't stay too long. A ship like the Queen ... well, you and I and everything else in here would be frozen solid by now if we'd got sucked somehow into Space Three."
"I see," Kerim said uncomfortably. Gefty heard her move over to the suitcases. After a moment, she asked, "What do the vault keys look like?"
"You can't miss them if he's just thrown them in there. They're over six inches long. What kind of a guy is this Maulbow? A scientist?"
"I couldn't say, Gefty. He's never referred to himself as a scientist. I've had this job a year and a half. Mr. Maulbow is a very considerate employer ... one of the nicest men I've known, really. But it was simply understood that I should ask no questions about the business beyond what I actually needed to know for my work."
"What's the business called?"
"Maulbow Engineering."
"Big help," Gefty observed, somewhat sourly. "Those instruments he brought along ... he build those himself?"
"No, but I think he designed some of them--probably most of them. The companies he had doing the actual work appeared to have a terrible time getting everything exactly the way Mr. Maulbow wanted it--There's nothing that looks like a set of keys in those first two suitcases, Gefty."
"Well," Gefty said, "if you don't find them in the others, you might start thumping around to see if he's got secret compartments in his luggage somewhere."
"I do wish," Kerim Ruse said uneasily, "that Mr. Maulbow would regain consciousness. It seems so ... so underhanded to be doing these things behind his back!"
Gefty grunted noncommittally. He wasn't at all certain by now that he wanted his secretive client to wake up before he'd checked on the contents of the Queen's storage vault.
Fifteen minutes later, Gefty Rammer was climbing down to the storage deck in the Queen's broad stern, the newly fashioned set of vault keys clanking heavily in his coat pocket. Kerim had remained with her employer who was getting back his color but still hadn't opened his eyes. She hadn't found the original keys. Gefty wasn't sure she'd tried too hard, though she seemed to realize the seriousness of the situation now. But her loyalty to Mr. Maulbow could make no further difference, and she probably felt more comfortable for it.
Lights went on automatically in the wide passage leading from the cargo lock to the vault as Gefty turned into it. His steps echoed between the steel bulkheads on either side. He paused a moment before the big circular vault doors, listening to the purr of the Queen's idling engines in the next compartment. The familiar sound was somehow reassuring. He inserted the first key, turned it over twice, drew it out again and pressed one of the buttons in the control panel beside the door. The heavy slab of steel moved sideways with a soft, hissing sound, vanished into the wall. Gefty slid the other key into the lock of the inner door. A few seconds later, the vault entrance lay open before him.
He stood still again, wrinkling his nose. The area ahead was only dimly illuminated--the shaking-up the Queen had undergone had disturbed the lighting system here. And what was that odor? Rather sharp, unpleasant; it might have been spilled ammonia. Gefty stepped through the door into the wide, short entrance passage beyond it, turned to the right and peered about in the semidarkness of the vault.
Two great steel cases--the ones Maulbow had taken down to an airless moon surface, loaded up with something and brought back to the Queen--were jammed awkwardly into a corner, in a manner which suggested they'd slid into it when the ship was being knocked around. One of them was open and appeared to be empty. Gefty wasn't sure of the other. In the dimness beside them lay the loose coils of some very thick, dark cable--And standing near the center of the floor was a thing that at once riveted his attention on it completely. He sucked his breath in softly, feeling chilled.
He realized he hadn't really believed his own hunch. But, of course, if it hadn't been an unheard-of outside force that plucked the Queen out of normspace and threw her into this elsewhere, then it must be something Maulbow had put on board. And that something had to be a machine of some kind--
It was.
About it he could make out a thin gleaming of wires--a jury-rigged safety field. Within the flimsy-looking protective cage was a double bank of instruments, some of them alive with the flicker and glow of lights. Those must be the very expensive and difficult-to-build items Maulbow had brought out from the Hub. Beside them stood the machine, squat and ponderous. In the vague light, it looked misshaped and discolored. A piece of equipment that had taken a bad beating of some kind. But it was functioning. As he stared, intermittent bursts of clicking noises rose from it, like the staccato of irregular gunfire.
For a moment, questions raced in disorder through his mind. What was it? Why had it been on that moon? Part of another ship, wrecked now ... a ship that had been at home here? Was it some sort of drive?
Maulbow must know. He'd known enough to design the instruments required to bring the battered monster back to life. On the other hand, he had not foreseen in all detail what could happen once the thing was in operation, because the Queen's sudden buck-jumping act had surprised him and knocked him out.
The first step, in any event, was to get Maulbow awake now. To tamper with a device like this, before learning as much as one could about it, would be lunatic foolhardiness. It looked like too good a bet that the next serious mistake made by anybody would finish them all--
Perhaps it was only because Gefty's nerves were on edge that he grew aware at that point in his reflections of two minor signals from his senses. One was that the smell of ammonia, which he had almost stopped noticing, was becoming appreciably stronger. The other was the faintest of sounds--a whispering suggestion of motion somewhere behind him. But here in the storage vault nothing should have moved, and Gefty's muscles were tensing as his head came around. Almost in the same instant, he flung himself wildly to one side, stumbling and regaining his balance as something big and dark slapped heavily down on the floor at the point where he had stood. Then he was darting up through the entrance passage, turning, and knocking down the lock switches on the outside door panel.
It came flowing around the corner of the passage behind him as the vault doors began to slide together. He was aware mainly of swift, smooth, oiling motion like that of a big snake; then, for a fraction of a second, a strip of brighter light from the outside passage showed a long, heavy wedge of a head, a green metal-glint of staring eyes.
The doors closed silently into their frames and locked. The thing was inside. But it was almost a minute then before Gefty could control his shaking legs enough to start moving back towards the main deck. In the half-dark of the vault, it had looked like a big coiled cable lying next to the packing cases. Like Maulbow, it might have been battered around and knocked out during the recent disturbance; and when it recovered, it had found Gefty in the vault with it. But it might also have been awake all the while, waiting cunningly until Gefty's attention seemed fixed elsewhere before launching its attack. It was big enough to have flattened him and smashed every bone in his body if the stroke had landed.
Some kind of guard animal--a snakelike watchdog? What other connection could it have with the mystery machine? Perhaps Maulbow had intended to leave it confined in one of the cases, and it had broken loose--
Too many questions by now, Gefty thought. But Maulbow had the answers.
He was hurrying up the main deck's central passage when Maulbow's voice addressed him sharply from a door he'd just passed.
"Stop right there, Rammer! Don't dare to move! I--"
The voice ended on a note of surprise. Gefty's reaction had not been too rational, but it was prompt. Maulbow's tone and phrasing implied he was armed. Gefty wasn't, but he kept a gun in the instrument room for emergencies. He'd been through a whole series of unnerving experiences, winding up with being shagged out of his storage vault by something that stank of ammonia and looked like a giant snake. To have one of the Queen's passengers order him to stand where he was topped it off. Every other consideration was swept aside by a great urge to get his hands on his gun.
He glanced back, saw Maulbow coming out of the half-opened door, something like a twenty-inch, thin, white rod in one hand. Then Gefty went bounding on along the passage, hunched forward and zigzagging from wall to wall to give Maulbow--if the thing he held was a weapon and he actually intended to use it--as small and erratic a target as possible. Maulbow shouted angrily behind him. Then, as Gefty came up to the next cross-passage, a line of white fire seared through the air across his shoulders and smashed off the passage wall.
With that, he was around the corner, and boiling mad. He had no great liking for gunfire, but it didn't shake him like the silently attacking beast in the dark storage had done. He reached the deserted instrument room not many seconds later, had his gun out and cocked, and was faced back towards the passage by which he had entered. Maulbow, if he had pursued without hesitation, should be arriving by now. But the passage stayed quiet. Gefty couldn't see into it from where he stood. He waited, trying to steady his breathing, wondering where Kerim Ruse was and what had got into Maulbow. After a moment, without taking his eyes from the passage entrance, he reached into the wall closet from which he had taken the gun and fished out another souvenir of his active service days, a thin-bladed knife in a slip-sheath. Gefty worked the fastenings of the sheath over his left wrist and up his forearm under his coat, tested the release to make sure it was functioning, and shook his coat sleeve back into place.
The passage was still quiet. Gefty moved softly over to one of the chairs, took a small cushion from it and pitched it out in front of the entrance.
There was a hiss. The cushion turned in midair into a puff of bright white fire. Gefty aimed his gun high at the far passage wall just beyond the entrance and pulled the trigger. It was a projectile gun. He heard the slug screech off the slick plastic bulkhead and go slamming down the passage. Somebody out there made a startled, incoherent noise. But not the kind of a noise a man makes when he's just been hit.
"If you come in here armed," Gefty called, "I'll blow your head off. Want to stop this nonsense now?"
There was a moment's silence. Then Maulbow's voice replied shakily from the passage. He seemed to be standing about twenty feet back from the room.
"If you'll end your thoughtless attempts at interference, Rammer," he said, "there will be no trouble." He was speaking with the restraint of a man who is in a state of cold fury. "You're endangering us all. You must realize that you have no understanding of what you are doing."
Well, the last could be true enough. "We'll talk about it," Gefty said without friendliness. "I haven't done anything yet, but I'm not just handing the ship over to you. And what have you done with Miss Ruse?"
Maulbow hesitated again. "She's in the map room," he said then. "I ... it was necessary to restrict her movements for a while. But you might as well let her out now. We must reach an agreement without loss of time."
Gefty glanced over his shoulder at the small closed door of the map room. There was no lock on the door, and he had heard no sound from inside; this might be some trick. But it wouldn't take long to find out. He backed up to the wall, pushed the door open and looked inside.
Kerim was there, sitting on a chair in one corner of the tiny room. The reason she hadn't made any noise became clear. She and the chair were covered by a rather closely fitting sack of transparent, glistening fabric. She stared out through it despairingly at Gefty, her lips moving urgently. But no sound came from the sack.
Gefty called angrily, "Maulbow--"
"Don't excite yourself, Rammer." There was a suggestion of what might be contempt in Maulbow's tone now. "The girl hasn't been harmed. She can breathe easily through the restrainer. And you can remove it by pulling at the material from outside."
Gefty's mouth tightened. "I'll keep my gun on the passage while I do it--"
Maulbow didn't answer. Gefty edged back into the map room, tentatively grasped the transparent stuff above Kerim's shoulder. To his surprise, it parted like wet tissue. He pulled sharply, and in a moment Kerim came peeling herself out of it, her face tear-stained, working desperately with hands, elbows and shoulders.
"Gefty," she gasped, "he ... Mr. Maulbow--"
"He's out in the passage there," Gefty said. "He can hear you." His glance shifted for an instant to the wall where a second of the shroudlike transparencies was hanging. And who could that have been intended for, he thought, but Gefty Rammer? He added, "We've had a little trouble."
"Oh!" She looked out of the room towards the passage, then at the gun in Gefty's hand, then up at his face.
"Maulbow," Gefty went on, speaking distinctly enough to make sure Maulbow heard, "has a gun, too. He'll stay there in the passage and we'll stay in the instrument room until we agree on what should be done. He's responsible for what's happened and seems to know where we are."
He looked at Kerim's frightened eyes, dropped his voice to a whisper. "Don't let this worry you too much. I haven't found out just what he's up to, but so far his tricks have pretty much backfired. He was counting on taking us both by surprise, for one thing. That didn't work, so now he'd like us to co-operate."
"Are you going to?"
Gefty shrugged. "Depends on what he has in mind. I'm just interested in getting us out of this alive. Let's hear what Maulbow has to say--"
Some minutes later Gefty was trying to decide whether it was taking a worse risk to believe what Maulbow said than to keep things stalled on the chance that he was lying.
Kerim Ruse, perched stiffly erect on the edge of a chair, eyes big and round, face almost colorless, apparently believed Maulbow and was wishing she didn't. There was, of course, some supporting evidence ... primarily the improbable appearance of their surroundings. The pencil-thin fire-spouter and the sleazy-looking "restrainer" had a sufficiently unfamiliar air to go with Maulbow's story; but as far as Gefty knew, either of them could have been manufactured in the Hub.
Then there was the janandra--the big, snakish thing in the storage which Maulbow had brought back up from the moon along with the battered machine. It had been, he said, his shipboard companion on another voyage. It wasn't ordinarily aggressive--Gefty's sudden appearance in the vault must have startled it into making an attack. It was not exactly a pet. There was a psychological relationship between it and Maulbow which Maulbow would not attempt to explain because Gefty and Kerim would be unable to grasp its significance. The janandra was essential, in this unexplained manner, to his well-being.
That item was almost curious enough to seem to substantiate his other statements; but it didn't really prove anything. The only point Gefty didn't question in the least was that they were in a bad spot which might be getting worse rapidly. His gaze shifted back to the screens. What he saw out there, surrounding the ship, was, according to Maulbow, an illusion of space created by the time flow in which they were moving.
Also according to Maulbow, there was a race of the future, human in appearance, with machines to sail the current of time through the universe--to run and tack with the winds of time, dipping in and out of the normspace of distant periods and galaxies as they chose. Maulbow, one of the explorers, had met disaster a million light-years from the home of his kind, centuries behind them, his vehicle wrecked on an airless moon with damaged control unit and shattered instruments. He had made his way to a human civilization to obtain the equipment he needed, and returned at last with the Silver Queen to where the time-sailer lay buried.
Gefty's lip curled. No, he wasn't buying all that just yet--but if Maulbow was not lying, then the unseen stars were racing past, the mass of the galaxy beginning to slide by, eventually to be lost forever beyond a black distance no space drive could span. The matter simply had to be settled quickly. But Maulbow was also strained and impatient, and if his impatience could be increased a little more, he might start telling the things that really mattered, the things Gefty had to know. Gefty asked slowly, as if hesitant to commit himself, "Why did you bring us along?"
The voice from the passage snapped, "Because my resources were nearly exhausted, Rammer! I couldn't obtain a new ship. Therefore I chartered yours; and you came with it. As for Miss Ruse--in spite of every precaution, my activities may have aroused suspicion and curiosity among your people. When I disappeared, Miss Ruse might have been questioned. I couldn't risk being followed to the wreck of the sailer, so I took her with me. And what does that mean against what I have offered you? The greatest adventure--followed, I give you my solemn word, by a safe return to your own place and time, and the most generous compensations for any inconvenience you may have suffered!"
Kerim, looking up at Gefty, shook her head violently. Gefty said, "We find it difficult to take you on trust now, Maulbow. Why do you want to get into the instrument room?"
Maulbow was silent for some seconds. Then he said, "As I told you, this ship would not have been buffeted about during the moments of transfer if the control unit were operating with complete efficiency. Certain adjustments will have to be made in the unit, and this should be done promptly."
"Where do the ship instruments come in?" Gefty asked.
"I can determine the nature of the problem from them. When I was ... stranded ... the unit was seriously damaged. My recent repairs were necessarily hasty. I--"
"What caused the crack-up?"
Maulbow said, tone taut with impatience, "Certain sections of the Great Current are infested with dangerous forces. I shall not attempt to describe them..."
"I wouldn't get it?"
"I don't pretend to understand them very well myself, Rammer. They are not life but show characteristics of life--even of intelligent life. If you can imagine radiant energy being capable of conscious hostility..."
There was a chill at the back of Gefty's neck. "A big, fast-moving light?"
"Yes!" Sharp concern showed suddenly in the voice from the passage. "You ... when did you see that?"
Gefty glanced at the screens. "Twice since you've been talking. And once before--immediately after we got tumbled around."
"Then we can waste no more time, Rammer. Those forces are sensitive to the fluctuations of the control unit. If they were close enough to be seen, they're aware the ship is here. They were attempting to locate it."
"What could they do?"
Maulbow said, "A single attack was enough to put the control unit out of operation in my sailer. The Great Current then rejected us instantly. A ship of this size might afford more protection, which is the reason I chose it. But if the control unit is not adjusted immediately to enable it to take us out of this section, the attacks will continue until the ship--and we--have been destroyed."
Gefty drew a deep breath. "There's another solution to that problem, Maulbow. Miss Ruse and I prefer it. And if you meant what you said--that you'd see to it we got back eventually--you shouldn't object either."
The voice asked sharply, "What do you mean?"
Gefty said, "Shut the control unit off. From what you were saying, that throws us automatically back into normspace, while we're still close enough to the Hub. You'll find plenty of people there who'll stake you to a trip to the future if they can go along and are convinced they'll return. Miss Ruse and I don't happen to be that adventurous."
There was silence from the passage. Gefty added, "Take your time to make up your mind about it, if you want to. I don't like the idea of those lights hitting us, but neither do you. And I think I can wait this out as well as you can..."
The silence stretched out. Presently Gefty said, "If you do accept, slide that fire-shooting device of yours into the room before you show up. We don't want accidents."
He paused again. Kerim was chewing her lips, hands clenched into small fists in her lap. Then Maulbow answered, voice flat and expressionless now.
"The worst thing we can do at present," he said, "is to prolong a dispute about possible courses of action. If I disarm, will you lay aside your gun?"
"Then I accept your conditions, disappointing as they are."
He was silent. After a moment, Gefty heard the white rod clatter lightly along the floor of the passage. It struck the passage wall, spun off it, and rolled into the instrument room, coming to rest a few feet away from him. Gefty hesitated, picked it up and laid it on the wall table. He placed his own gun beside it, moved a dozen steps away. Kerim's eyes followed him anxiously.
"Gefty," she whispered, "he might..."
Gefty looked at her, formed the words "It's all right" with his mouth and called, "Guns have been put aside, Maulbow. Come on in, and let's keep it peaceable."
He waited, arms hanging loosely at his side, heart beating heavily, as quick footsteps came up the passage. Maulbow appeared in the entrance, glanced at Gefty and Kerim, then about the room. His gaze rested for a moment on the wall table, shifted back to Gefty. Maulbow came on into the room, turning towards Gefty, mouth twisting.
He said softly, "It is not our practice, Rammer, to share the secrets of the Great Current with other races. I hadn't foreseen that you might become a dangerous nuisance. But now--"
His right hand began to lift, half closed about some small golden instrument. Gefty's left arm moved back and quickly forwards.
The service knife slid out of its sheath and up from his palm as an arrow of smoky blackness burst from the thing in Maulbow's hand. The blackness came racing with a thin, snarling noise across the floor towards Gefty's feet. The knife flashed above it, turning, and stood hilt-deep in Maulbow's chest.
Gefty returned a few minutes later from the forward cabin which served as the Queen's sick bay, and said to Kerim, "He's still alive, though I don't know why. He may even recover. He's full of anesthetic, and that should keep him quiet till we're back in normspace. Then I'll see what we can do for him."
Kerim had lost some of her white, shocked look while he was gone. "You knew he would try to kill you?" she asked shakily.
"Suspected he had it in mind--he gave in too quick. But I thought I'd have a chance to take any gadget he was hiding away from him first. I was wrong about that. Now we'd better move fast..."
He switched the emergency check panel back on, glanced over the familiar patterns of lights and numbers. A few minor damage spots were indicated, but the ship was still fully operational. One minor damage spot which did not appear on the panel was now to be found in the instrument room itself, in the corner on which the door of the map room opened. The door, the adjoining bulkheads and section of flooring were scarred, blackened, and as assortedly malodorous as burned things tend to become. That was where Gefty had stood when Maulbow entered the room, and if he had remained there an instant after letting go of the knife, he would have been in very much worse condition than the essentially fireproof furnishings.
Both Maulbow's weapons--the white rod lying innocently on the wall table and the round, golden device which had dropped from his hand spitting darts of smoking blackness--had blasted unnervingly away into that area for almost thirty seconds after Maulbow was down and twisting about on the floor. Then he went limp and the firing instantly stopped. Apparently, Maulbow's control of them had ended as he lost consciousness.
It seemed fortunate that the sick bay cabin's emergency treatment accessories, gentle as their action was, might have been designed for the specific purpose of keeping the most violent of prisoners immobilized--let alone one with a terrible knife wound in him. At the angle along which the knife had driven in and up below the ribs, an ordinary man would have been dead in seconds. But it was very evident now that Maulbow was no ordinary man, and even after the eerie weapons had been pitched out of the ship through the instrument room's disposal tube, Gefty couldn't rid himself of an uncomfortable suspicion that he wasn't done with Maulbow yet--wouldn't be done with him, in fact, until one or the other of them was dead.
He said to Kerim, "I thought the machine Maulbow set up in the storage vault would turn out to be some drive engine, but apparently it has an entirely different function. He connected it with the instruments he had made in the Hub, and together they form what he calls a control unit. The emergency panel would show if the unit were drawing juice from the ship. It isn't, and I don't know what powers it. But we do know now that the control unit is holding us in the time current, and it will go on holding us there as long as it's in operation.
"If we could shut it off, the Queen would be 'rejected' by the current, like Maulbow's sailer was. In other words, we'd get knocked back into normspace--which is what we want. And we want it to happen as soon as possible because, if Maulbow was telling the truth on that point, every minute that passes here is taking us farther away from the Hub, and farther from our own time towards his."
Kerim nodded, eyes intent on his face.
"Now I can't just go down there and start slapping switches around on the thing," Gefty went on. "He said it wasn't working right, and even if it were, I couldn't tell what would happen. But it doesn't seem to connect up with any ship systems--it just seems to be holding us in a field of its own. So I should be able to move the whole unit into the cargo lock and eject it from there. If we shift the Queen outside its field, that should have the same effect as shutting the control unit off. It should throw us back into normspace."
Kerim nodded again. "What about Mr. Maulbow's janandra animal?"
Gefty shrugged. "Depends on the mood I find it in. He said it wasn't usually aggressive. Maybe it isn't. I'll get into a spacesuit for protection and break out some of the mining equipment to move it along with. If I can maneuver it into an empty compartment where it will be out of the..."
He broke off, expression changing, eyes fastened on the emergency panel. Then he turned hurriedly, reached across the side of the console for the intership airseal controls. Kerim asked apprehensively, "What's the matter, Gefty?"
"Wish I knew ... exactly." Gefty indicated the emergency panel. "Little red light there, on the storage deck section--it wasn't showing a minute ago. It means that the vault doors have been opened since then."
He saw the same half-superstitious fear appear in her face that had touched him. "You think he did it?"
"I don't know." Maulbow's control of the guns had seemed uncanny enough. But that was a different matter. The guns were a product of his own time and science. But the vault door mechanisms? There might have been sufficient opportunity for Maulbow to study them and alter them, for some purpose of his own, since he'd come aboard...
"I've got the ship compartments and decks sealed off from each other now," Gefty said slowly. "The only connecting points from one to the other are personnel hatches--they're small air locks. So the janandra's confined to the storage deck. If it's come out of the vault, it might be a nuisance until I can get equipment to handle it. But that isn't too serious. The spacesuits are on the second deck, and I'll get into one before I go on to the storage. You wait here a moment, I'll look in on Maulbow again before I start."
If Maulbow wasn't still unconscious, he was doing a good job of feigning it. Gefty looked at the pale, lax face, the half-shut eyes, shook his head and left the cabin, locking it behind him. It mightn't be Maulbow's doing, but having the big snake loose in the storage could, in fact, make things extremely awkward now. He didn't think his gun would make much impression on anything of that size, and while several of the ship's mining tools could be employed as very effective close-range weapons, they happened, unfortunately, to be stored away on the same deck.
He found Kerim standing in the center of the instrument room, waiting for him.
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D&I Weekly News Round Up: Women in STEM, Pride Month and more
Welcome to the latest edition of our Diversity & Inclusion News Round Up. Today we are talking about all-male panels, family friendly policies, diverse representation in children's book and Verizon celebrating Pride month.
A report released by UNICEF (the United Nations Children's Fund) shows that some of the richest countries in the world are not investing in children and family friendly policies. Those policies don't only impact gender equality, they also influence the development of families and societies. Read more here.
Women in STEM
The director of the NIH (the National Institutes of Health, a US agency) announced this week that he will no longer speak on all-male panels and challenged other scientific leaders to do the same.
Illustrated books are an essential source for children to learn language, but also concepts, problem solutions etc. Having a diverse representation of characters in books is therefore very important – but according to research done by Guardian, the top 100 picture books last year showed a growing bias against women and ethnic minority characters.
Its Pride Month – and telecoms giant Verizon teamed up with PFLAG (an NPO supporting LGBTQ and their families) to release the advert "Love calls back". Watch the video!

subset: commoncrawl


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- Description
- What's Included
- Curriculum Layout
- Course Standards
- Technical Requirements & Downloads
- Register for a Webinar
Product Description
Why bring STEM into this classroom? Because it creates problem solvers! STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. STEM skills allow students to identify problems and use a logical approach to find a solution. STEM is more than content; it's a way of thinking and doing.
STEM:IT Powered by Meeper
This comprehensive package includes the STEM Fuse STEM:IT content + the ROBOT:IT curriculum featuring Meeper Technology and Snap Circuits. ROBOT:IT complements the STEM:IT curriculum by adding robotics and circuitry to the series! The following is included with the STEM:IT Powered by Meeper package:
- 32 Makerspace Projects
- 28 Coding Projects
- 44 3D Print Projects
- 10 Robotics Lessons
STEM:IT Elementary is a supplementary program that uses core curriculum topics to introduce how STEM skills are needed and used in every subject. Students are also given a challenge in each lesson to utilize their problem solving skills.
Each lesson includes a step-by-step guide for the teacher, cross curricular ideas, and presentations that are fun and informative. Each topic contains the lesson presentation, a coding lesson presentation that ties in with the topic and a 3D lesson presentation. Standards are listed in the Teacher's Guide for what is covered in the lesson. All lessons are user friendly and take no extra training to teach.
What is AFNR? AFNR is an acronym for Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources! AFNR includes all the collaborative and problem solving skills found in our core STEM:IT topics and applies them to real world topics in the fields of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resoures. STEM:IT Elementary now includes 8 additional AFNR STEM:IT Challenges,16 hands-on activities, 4 coding activities, and 4 3D printing projects! Learn more about the program at https://ndfu.org/youth/ag-stem/.
What's Included
Digital STEM Lessons
- 32 STEM Challenges
- 28 Coding Projects
- 44 3D Print Projects
- 10 Robotics Lessons
Meeper Robotics Kits
- 9 MeeperBOTs, Motors,
- & Meeper Control Circuits
- 36 Circuit Components
- Accessories, Bricks, etc.
Online Staff PD
- Learn how to bring STEM into your classroom
- Teaching Strategies
- Year-round support
Curriculum Layout
Digital STEM Lessons
- 32 STEM Challenges
- 28 Coding Projects
- 44 3D Print Projects
- 10 Robotics Lessons
Course Standards
- CSTA Standards K-5
- Grades K-5 NGSS Engineering Standards
- ISTE Standards for Students (K-12)
Technical Requirements
- Makerspace Hardware
- Android, IOS, or ChromeOS Devices
- Internet Access


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We always try to provide the best service possible, but there may be a time when you feel that this has not happened.
We have a complaints procedure in place, for more information please refer to our Patient Charter.
If you have a query regarding a medical matter please telephone
reception to make an appointment to see the appropriate person.
write to the Practice Manager if you are happy about the care we have
given you, or feel that you would like to commend any aspect of your
treatment or any particular member(s) of the Practice Team — we would
like to hear from you.
Read or publish comments about our practice on the NHS Choices website.


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What a very touching ceremony it was today in Musicians' Village. Speakers included Congressman William Jefferson, the director of Habitat for Humanity, and the musicians who will be living in the house. Volunteers and sponsors were thanked, and people-- especially the congressman, talked at length about the levee system. He made a very clear point that it was not the hurricane that damaged the city--- it was the faulty levee system. Levees are the man-made structures all along the Mississippi River and along the canals here in the city to keep the city from flood. Well, when Hurricane Katrina came, the levees were not strong enough to keep the water out-- and that is what caused the damage-- the flooding. Imagine having four feet of water in your house. Yikes! Levees were to be maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers, but most people agree that the maintenance of the levees was poor at best, and now billions of dollars has gone to repairing them.
After the ceremony Todd, another Habitat volunteer and I went over to the French Quarter to listen to music, music, music. Specifically: jazz, jazz, jazz. Ah! I have an appreciation for jazz now more than I ever have. It's a genre of music developed in New Orleans. And there were many stages of music with many bands playing on each one. My favorite band playing today was Evan Christopher's Jazz Traditions Project at the Jazz National Historic Park. Good Stuff.
I've had such a fantastic time here. One of my favorite writers, Nobel Prize winner Dr. Toni Morrison spoke at Tulane University here on Tuesday night. I learned so much about the writing process by listening to her speak. She read parts of the endings of several of her books and answered questions from the audience.
New Orleans is a great town and I am so happy to have ended my trip here. Contrary to what dozens if not hundreds of people told me coming out here-- I feel just as safe in this city as I do in Seattle and again-- I encourage anyone and everyone to come down here and experience the town for yourself. It is indeed a city like no other.
On Monday I will be taking off from New Orleans to go back to Maryland. I went to a bike shop today and they're shipping my bike off back to Seattle-- so I guess the bike trip is officially over. What a trip -- I have had such an amazing experience! It is the kind of trip, I am sure, that I will be thinking about for years to come. When I am back in Seattle, I will be spending my time writing much more about my experience down South.
But for now, time for bed. I'll be dreaming with tunes in my head, I am sure. All the best, Dear Reader!


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This past weekend I took my daughter's to a baby shower. We all had a great time; however, since then my 5 year old has become a little bit obsessed with pregnancy. She has decided that she would like to throw a baby shower or her own, which is pretty typical. Being a smart girl, she has realized that someone has to be having a baby for the baby shower so since that time she has tucked her baby doll under her shirt and decided she will be pregnant until the shower. I am okay with imaginary play (both girls pretended to nurse their dolls after their baby brother came home from the hospital), but something about the enduring nature of this imaginary play is bothering me. She didn't just walk around with a doll under her shirt for an hour or so, she insists that it is there all the time, while she plays, while she eats, all the time. I did get her to agree that the doll needed to stay home when we left the house.
My husband thinks this is perfectly normal and a good learning experience for her; however, I am a little bothered by the behavior. Any thoughts, experiences to draw from? What would you think or do?
asked 17 Oct '13, 11:44
Tammy ♦♦


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Over the past three years, the number of students actively engaged in our ministry has increased dramatically. This is the second in a four part series to help resident parishioners understand the student parishioners and how we go about our mission of evangelizing and building up disciples among them.
In this part, I am sharing our vision for evangelization and discipleship. This vision is the product of the Parish Pastoral Council's Campus Ministry Subcommittee from 2017-2018. The subcommittee consisted of myself, Dick McGarvey and two student parishioners, Sergio Ramos and Jenna Fisher. In the next part, I will share how we go about implementing this vision concretely.
Our vision is straightforward: to reach the students of IU, especially the lost, to transform them from believers to disciples, and to send missionary disciples into the world.
Around 90% of our student parishioners are either unengaged or curious. In other words, most students aren't looking to find us. Consequently, our first step must be to reach as many of our student parishioners as we can — on campus, in dorms, wherever they are. We reach them in two ways: personal encounter and social events.. Personal encounter is when an engaged/committed student meets another student, invests time and energy into building a relationship and accompanying them, and invites them to take the next step. Social events are planned throughout the year at St. Paul's, on campus, and off campus. They serve as an opportunity for a community of engaged/committed students to meet their unengaged/curious peers. In both ways, we make every effort to ensure the people we reach encounter a welcoming community. Because this is the first and most important step, the vast majority of our energy and resources go to this step.
After we reach and welcome students into our community, we invite them to walk with us on the path of conversion and new life in Jesus Christ. In this stage, we proclaim the message of Jesus to make disciples of Jesus; we share the kerygma — the Good News of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and His mission to save us; we invite them into leadership; we teach them how to pray; we ask them to transform their lives.
The work of the disciple is to make more disciples. Therefore, after a student has been welcomed and transformed in the grace of Christ and His Church, we prepare students to go back out and to do the work. To know and love Christ, to live in His love is to share that love with the world. On campus, this takes the form of personal encounter and investment in other students. In the community, this takes the form of service and mission trips. Students transformed by grace are sent to share, to welcome, to invite, to transform others.
Leave a Reply.
Fr. Patrick is a Dominican priest and the Campus Minister.
June 2020


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Society of
Children's Book Writers
and Illustrators
AmazonIndieBoundBarnes and NobleBuy Direct
8/1/18—Kirkus Reviews, "[An] engaging tale of an unusual and spirited woman."
9/1/18 -- Midwest Book Review, "The Big, Bold, Adventurous Life of Lavinia Warren by Elizabeth Raum is an unreservedly recommended addition to family, elementary school, and community library biography collections for young readers ages 8 to 12.
Chosen by the Children's Book Council as a Notable Social Studies Book, 2018 [An annual reading list of exceptional books for use in social studies classrooms, selected by social studies educators.]
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>> Gone by Karyn Good Exclusive Excerpt, Book Tour & $25 Amazon/BN GC Giveaway<<
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by Ashley Cotter-Cairns
(Container Gardening For You)
Container Flower Gardening Ideas: White Nicotinia
Container flower displays don't get much simpler than this one!
Just plant a good quantity of White Nicotiana.
Use a dark-colored container for maximum contrast with the white flowers.
As the name suggests, Nicotinia are actual tobacco plants! However, you don't dry and smoke this kind, you simply grow them for their beautiful flowers.
Looking for a different effect? Nicotinia comes in many different colors, so you can make a display of matching flowers in all different hues. What a stunning look that would be for a patio, balcony or rooftop.
Please write to us using the Comments link below if you have either tried this arrangement, or have any questions about using these beautiful plants in containers.
|Use these buttons to get inspired by other container gardening projects.
Comments for Container Flower Gardening Ideas: White Nicotinia
Click here to add your own comments
Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Pictures of Flowers in Containers.


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The new Greater Paris network: SYSTRA wins two major contracts for Lines 15, 16 and 17 of the Greater Paris Express
Société du Grand Paris (SGP) has awarded SYSTRA some of the first contracts for project management and assistance to the owner. Thanks to its extensive experience and references in major urban rail transport projects in France and abroad, the Group was able to develop the best proposals.
"I am delighted that SYSTRA can help to improve collective mobility in the Greater Paris region by developing safe, efficient and comfortable transport systems for local residents. The technical complexities, costs and deadlines for this project are a major challenge and source of motivation for us. Resolving such issues is in our DNA. I am quite touched by the confidence SGP has shown in us and in their highly professional approach to the tender process, awarding contracts to very tight deadlines" said a delighted Pierre Verzat, CEO of SYSTRA.
SYSTRA won the contract for infrastructures project management for the southern section of Line 15 between Noisy-Champs- Villejuif Louis Aragon due to its extensive experience in underground metro systems and in-depth understanding of the issues facing the Greater Paris region.
The joint-venture managed by SYSTRA, comprising architects ANMA Agence Nicolas Michelin Associés, Agence Richez Associés, Agence Valode and Pistre Architectes and Atelier d'Architecture King Kong, won the contract for the 21km south-west section of Line 15 comprising 8 stations and access to two maintenance sites. SYSTRA will be responsible for all the design work on this section and for supervising construction work.
SYSTRA also won the project management contract for all automated systems and rolling stock for Lines 15, 16 and 17 as well as assistance to the owner on systems.
The Group will work with its partner-shareholder, RATP, the world leader in wide gauge automated metro systems, to:
Provide technical assistance on systems for Lines 15, 16 and 17. The Group will advise SGP on all major systems choices and be responsible for systems integration, performance and coherence.
Manage projects involving the Line's rolling stock as well as driverless and central control systems
Manage systems operations for all the other lines.
SYSTRA will be a key SGP partner, helping to commission successive sections of line between 2020 (from Noisy-Champs to Pont-de-Sèvres) and 2030. "There is no doubt that one of the Group's most significant assets in winning this contract was its technical partnership with RATP and their complementary areas of expertise." emphasized Pierre Verzat.
These contracts are part of the priority project to improve services for the inhabitants of the Greater Paris region and drive economic growth.
The Greater Paris Express is at the centre of a global and sustainable development strategy for the region that reconciles quality of life with access to outlying districts, economic growth, environmental constraints and international competitiveness. This new transport network, comprising 200km of new lines and 72 new generation stations, is designed for use by around two million passengers.


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Hi There,
I am considering doing an Epionce skin peel at the woodford medical practice in danbury. I have rosacea and i have been told that it is benificial for this as well as skin tone etc. I am however concerned about having a skin peel when I have very sensitive skin.
Has anyone on this site ever tried an epionce skin peel. The woodford medical practice is a very highly respected surgery and they seem very sure I will not experience any negative effects ie increased redness or flushing.
Any imput would be much appreciated.


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When: Wednesdays, 7:30-9 p.m.
This is a basic Brazilian dance class that incorporates its Afro-Brazilian roots and the rhythms of Brazilian Samba. This class will make you sweat and get the samba carnaval
Price: $5
435 E 9th St, Tucson, AZ 85705 (Downtown / 4th Ave / University)
Select a star to rate.
© 2020 Tucson Weekly


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Gloson - Mara review
|Release date:
|April 2019
01. Usurper
02. Equinox
2017's Grimen was one of the finest post-metal debuts of recent years. Two years on, and whilst Gloson haven't produced a sophomore full-length yet, they've now treated us to an abridged display of what they've been up to since.
For the most part, Gloson have thus far employed a murky, sludgy brand of post-metal, offering up the expected loud/soft transitions but maintaining the same sinister, oppressive atmosphere whilst doing so, with thick, crunchy riffs, heavy, semi-ritualistic drumming, and an in-your-face sound. "Usurper", the first of two tracks on Mara, is very much in this sonic vein, maintaining a malevolent vibe throughout, with its tom-heavy drumming and creepy guitar work. There is also ample use of ominous dialogue samples (of unknown origin) during both songs here.
Whilst 'standard' Gloson is perfectly enjoyable, their diversions into more melodic territory have been more than welcome in the past, such as on Grimen's epic closer "Embodiment" or the partly symphonic closing moments of "The Aftermath/Beginning" from Yearwalker. To that end, the second track, "Equinox", is far more melancholic than the bleak, oppressive opening track. It starts off unassuming enough, with a sludgy, punishing opening couple of minutes, but semi-melodic guitar leads throughout this opening hint at levity later on, which arrives around the 3-minute mark. From this point onwards, an overtly melodic lead guitar line announces a less claustrophobic and more sorrowful end to proceedings.
At 15 minutes, this is only a bitesize sample ahead of what I can only hope is a more substantial effort to come later on this year/next year, but for now Mara acts as a nice demonstration that one of the more exciting bands to emerge in post-metal this decade are still active and as intimidating as ever.
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Will the music streaming service become the 'it' place to shop?
In-demand and innovative brand Pat McGrath Labs has teamed up with Spotify to provide a new "shop the look" service to users of the music streaming site.
"Beauty, fashion and music have been intrinsically linked," says in multi-talented owner and makeup artist Pat McGrath. "In this digitally-empowered, digital era of make-up, where fans crave instant glamour gratification, I always want to reach fans where they're most engaged."
Successful in it's own right, Pat McGrath Labs started a revolutionary frenzy when they previewed their first ever limited edition product – Gold 001 – down the Spring 2016 Prada runway. The glittery micro fine pigment for eyes, lips and skin sold out within minutes at launch and has been re-released multiple times.
Now the brand is once again making waves on the makeup scene with the launch of Pat McGrath Lab's new liquid lipstick, LiquiLUST 007, on Spotify.
The product launch is fronted by McGrath muse and UK singer Maggie Lindeman who can be seen wearing the new lip colour in her latest music video for single 'So Obsessed'. From here, fans who love the look can simply shop the products on Maggie's Spotify page.
It's not the first time Spotify have made groundbreaking advancements in the link between shopping and music.
Currently the streaming service is also working with Merchbar to provide fans the opportunity to shop their favourite artist's merchandise on Spotify.
With over 60 million paying users and 140 million users on Spotify overall, we're thinking this partnership with Pat McGrath Labs is an incredible move for the beauty industry.
And who knows what could be next? Imagine directly shopping the millennial pink hat from Lady Gaga's album artwork or going on holiday to that location you spotted in Dua Lipa's music video.
It would all be a simple click away.


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New outdoor gym
New outdoor gym equipment arrived and was installed over the Easter holidays. It is very popular with pupils and teachers are finding ways to incorporate in lessons.
Please enter some content for your news story here.
'very impressed with the school's clear sense of purpose in preparing its students for life after school. '
'Pupils' relationships with adults are excellent, and they learn respect and appropriate behaviour from the staff. Pupils are accepting of each other's varying needs, and show pleasure in each other's successes.'


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Our serviced office comes with a glass partitioned station for a manager's desk. We offer a high end serviced office solution, we offer all inclusive packages which means we quote you a price for your preferred office which would include all our facilities and services such as the furniture in your office, the telephone and internet connection, reception call and mail management services, 24x7 access to your office, meeting room usage and printing. DEWA and WIFI are also included in the rent.
Space Type:
Office Spaces
Venue Type:
Business Center/Hub
Space size:
230 sqft.
Suitable for company establishment (licensing)
Licencing Territory
Wifi (shared), Furniture (private), Telephone line (private), Electricity (shared), Receptionist(s) & Call Answering Services (shared), Mail Management, Printer/Scanner/Fax (shared), Pantry (Coffee, Tea, Water, Snacks) (shared)
Free parking for guests. Paid parking around the building. Free parking for tenants
Operating Hours:
Prices for Saturday USD 109/Half day, USD 163/Day
Need to know:
This venue does not allow out of venue catering - bringing your own food is prohibited.
Reviews (0)
To abide by our privacy policy, exact address will be shared once booking/ request is made
Other workspaces at this venue
We want to give YOU a
5% discount on your next hourly/daily booking.
Use this discount code at the checkout - fm2016Click here if you do not wish


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You cannot imagine how much we enjoy thinking about the next 'not to miss in Palma' we suggest our readers, friends and guests. It is hard to stay still and only share one or two per month, as we feel that there are so many things we could recommend about doing, seeing and / or enjoying during your stay in Palma. So today we have thought of something that is actually very easy to do, but is not always on a list of sightseeing in Palma.
Not to miss in Palma: get lost in Palma's old town
BO Hotel is located in La Lonja, a beautiful, little and Bohemian neighbourhood in the heart of Palma's old town. La Lonja is actually a neighbourhood consisting of no more than 10 cobbled streets with a main attraction, which is the La Lonja building. But Palma's old town has more to offer than this emblematic neighbourhood and this is why we would love for you to take one morning or afternoon to just get lost in the little streets of Palma's old town.
Once you get started you will see that there are many pedestrian streets you can explore, combined with regular streets that will guide you all around this part of the city. Old manors and amazing architecture will catch your eye while you walk with no clear destination and you will be able to imagine the city's life in the past centuries. Many of the old little palaces and manors still have their interior courtyards (known as 'patios'), giving many spots a unique and special charm.
Moving around Plaza Mercat and in direction to Plaza Cort, many modernist buildings will also catch your attention, as Gaudi's footprint is easy to see around Palma.
Another thing that will amaze you are some little hidden alleys with stairs connecting important streets with one-another and offering even more secrets to unveil while exploring Palma's city centre. All around little (and not so little) shops await offering Majorcan and international clothing, gourmet products and much more. If you decide to follow our advice and get lost in Palma's old town, you will enjoy a relaxing tour combining culture, history, shopping, architecture and a city with a story that is dying to be understood and told in hundred of different ways.
As usual, the BO Hotel front-desk team will be happy to give you some directions regarding where to go to and is ready to give you all the answers you were looking for about this magical city called Palma!


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This section contains a comprehensive guide to tax planning strategies for individuals and businesses. Make sure you contact us for information and advice specific to your circumstances.
How tax planning can benefit you, and some recent changes.
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Hi All,
As the title says.'which IDE are you al using" I'm still using the 'standard' Proton IDE but noticed there are more options. I'm using the proton24 proc function many times and would like to use code collapsing to archieve easier code reading/scrolling etc.
What options do i have?
Thanks for any tips.


text: The surprises keep on coming with this fun and unique addition to the series with the L.O.L. Surprise Innovation, Series 5-2A toy. Packaged in a capsule-style case, this item features 15 toys and accessories to discover and will provide hours of entertainment for your child. The L.O.L. Surprise Series 5 collectible includes the doll, secret codes and mystery disguises, so your little one can keep working on the mystery and finding the lost pets. This item is a 2019 Toy of the Year award winner and offers many layers that reveal the surprises, so your child will keep having a ball. Put this toy in the water for even more adorable surprises.


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|Blue's Words to Live By:
|Mellon's Word's to Live By:
|Sami's Words to Live By:
|Grady's Words to Live By:
|Dusty's Words to Live By:
|Blue's Words to Live By:
|Mellon's Word's to Live By:
|Sami's Words to Live By:
|Grady's Words to Live By:
|Dusty's Words to Live By:
A very happy New Year to you and the herd!ReplyDelete
Great messages from the herd! Happy New Year to you and your family (critters included).ReplyDelete
Happy New Year to you, your family, and a very wise herd!
Fantastic quotes! You must be so proud to have such a wise herd :D Lovely pictures, they all look beautiful in the snow.
Happy New Year to you and your family, including the 4-legged ones. xx
Lovely, Happy New Year to you and yours!ReplyDelete
Such wisdom and splendid advice!! Thank you, and may you and your herd enjoy many blessings and good times in this new year as well. :)ReplyDelete
Well that's weird, I commented earlier, but it didn't show up. Happy New year to you! And your wonderful group! I think I like Donnies the best, however they are all terrific! Very good words to live by.ReplyDelete
Hmm, never got it. Happy New a Year to you and your family and of course Fred!Delete
Great words of advice! What wise creatures horses are ;-)
Wishing you & your herd the very best for 2014.
Happy New Year! You have a very wise herd.ReplyDelete
Fabulous post - love their words to live by and their beautiful selves. Happy New Year to all of you!ReplyDelete
Great pictures and words to live by.
I just looked at your last post - LOVED the pictures!
Happy New Year! Hope it's a great one.
It's so nice of you to take the time to visit. I appreciate your stopping by and commenting on what I've written. Even though I sometimes don't have the time to reply to each comment, I do enjoy reading them.


text: raymac46 2,681 Posted August 17, 2018 What with Debian celebrating 25 years of service to the Linux Community I thought it might be fun to discuss how many of the "parent" Linux distros we have tried and stuck with. Here's my list: Red Hat - I have tried Fedora back in my distro farming days but the closest I ever got was a lengthy run of Mandriva/Mageia. SUSE - tried Open SUSE in Virtual Box but never got anywhere with it. Slackware - I've installed it once or twice but never stuck with it. Not sure why. I used Vector Linux a lot though - great on real old hardware. Arch - now we're talking. Arch is the one parent distro I would use in preference to its spin-off distros like Manjaro. Still have it installed on one of my machines. Debian - I'm all over this. I use Debian and at least 3 of its derived distros. Debian isn't as interesting as Arch though. Gentoo - No. Just no. To sum up - if I had one parent distro I'd choose above all others it would be Arch. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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Graceman Industrial & Trading Co., Ltd is located in Hefei, China. We have been professional LED light display machine supplier since 2010.
We specialized in export of 3D advertising display hologram LED fan projector.
Our machines were mainly exported to USA, Canada, Germany, Italy, France and other countries.
Insisting on high quality, perfect service, competitive price and on-time delivery, we got the good reputation from the clients in more than 15 countries and regions.


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Product Specification
Good reasons for roll container
1.One format for everycase
no matter whether you store large,small,round or square goods in roll container,it always has the same outside formate.In this way roll container ensure interlligent warehouse planning and efficient utilization of our valuable storage space.
2.Protect sensitive goods
Roll container helps to avoids storage damage and complaint like protective armor if prevents damage to your goods and transports fragile items quickly and securely.
3.Flexiable warehouse
Copying with changes in product ranges and seasonal fluctuations places maximum demonds on the flexiblity of your warehouse with roll container you can respond at all items.
4.give your warehouse legs
with roll container you move your goods quickly and with out any time-consuming shifting back and forth.In this way roll container save your time and money.
5.To save yourself the trouble of reloading
The move frequently you move goods in and out of storage,the greater the probability of damage to or less of individual parts.you load a roll container only onece in the receiving department and can then transport the goods through all warehouse sections doirectly onto the truck to the customer.
6.Collapsible when they are not in use
Nothing unnecessarly takes up so much spaces empty transport boxes.You're betterofwoth collapsible roll container.It's "squeezes up" in no time at all when they're not in use.And they can be used again just as quickly of course.
7.Keep consignment staying together security.
8.We are good at designing upon customers' real usage.


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Quickfire Challenge: Guest judge is Stephanie Izard, winner of Season 4. The challenge is to make a dish; the twist is that all of the ingredients in the pantry (and I do mean ALL) are wrapped in aluminum foil and once they unwrap something, they have to use it. They also have to use foil as their cooking vessels and mixing bowls and everything else. Brooke, Micah (rare lamb) and Josh (uninspired) are on the bottom. Stephanie names like everyone else as the top six, but finally narrows it down to Danyele (who made a bean soup), Kristen (sponge cake) and Sheldon (scallops). The winner is Kristen because she made a freaking cake, which was amazing.
Elimination Challenge: Create a dish highlighting a specific berry for 150 guests at a festival, and they'll be competing head-to-head with another cheftestant. The festival attendees will choose the winner of each pairing. Turns out there was a reason Stephanie picked a top six; Kristen gets to cook alone as the winner and the other five get to pick their opponents. Here are the pairings (with their berry in parentheses):
Kristen (tayberry): Kristen made matcha goat milk custard with macerated tayberries. The judges love everything about it.
Sheldon vs. Micah (strawberry): Sheldon made ahi summer roll consisting of ahi poke, strawberries and sweet chili sauce. Micah made strawberry fried chicken with strawberry and bacon biscuit. The judges like Micah's chicken, but think the biscuit isn't great. They think Sheldon highlighted the strawberries well.
Danyele vs. Josh (blueberry): Danyele made chicken pine nut terrine with blueberry mostarda and Josh made savory goat cheese mousse with blueberry compote. The judges think Danyele's chicken is rubbery and they like Josh's delicate dish, though Gail wants more crunch.
Stefan vs. John (gooseberry ): John made white gazpacho with Spanish chorizo, gooseberries, and sweet grapes. Stefan made Cali crudo with radishes, gooseberries, and spiced vinaigrette. The judges like Stefan's dish, but they wanted more gooseberry. They thought John's chorizo overwhelmed the rest of the dish and one of the festival-goers calls it "cheeseburger soup." Ouch.
Josie vs. Lizzie (raspberry): Josie made a Rock 'n Raspberry roll which is sockeye salmon, Dungeness crab and raspberry aioli. Is Josie the female Guy Fieri? She also doesn't have her dish ready when the judges show up. Lizzie made raspberry steamed cabbage roll with heritage pork and bacon stuffing. I don't get how raspberries go with that, but okay. The judges love Lizzie's pork, though Tom wanted more seasoning. No one understands what Josie was trying to do, especially putting mayonnaise in a spring roll. That's totally something Guy Fieri would do. I get Josie now. I don't like her, but I get her.
Bart vs. Brooke (blackberry): Brooke made spicy smoke chocolate pudding with blackberry tapioca. Bart made blackberry soup with salmon and rhubarb yogurt. The judges like Bart's soup and his yogurt, but they don't think the salmon adds anything. The judges love Brooke's dessert. I don't know why no one else made dessert.
Stefan entertains in the Stew Room when he calls out John for mentioning that Stefan used frozen tuna at every opportunity. Kristen is named the winner because the judges could not find one element of her dish that was flawed. Wow. Padma calls John, Danyele, Micah, Josie and Bart in; they're the losers of their pairing. Danyele is sent home because she had a good concept for her dish but she sort of stopped halfway and her terrine tasted like lunchmeat.
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After Eliza is eliminated, the chefs talk about her in the Stew Room. Apparently, she was funny, and apparently, John has learned his lesson about talking shit about the recently eliminated cheftestant. Danyele tells everyone that the judges think she's too nervous, and then interviews that she doesn't want to come across as anxious or not proud of what she puts out. Josh jokes that he's not going to cook pork again and everyone laughs as Brooke notes that his last dish was supposed to be his redemption. Yeah, he owns a restaurant where he cooks pig; it's pretty sad that his last two pork dishes have landed him on the bottom.
The next day, the cheftestants enter the kitchen and find Padma there with Season Four winner, Stephanie Izard. One of the cheftestants mutters that she's probably joining the competition. Nope, just judging the Quickfire. Padma explains that the challenge is to cook anything they want using ingredients from the pantry. The only problem is that every ingredient is covered with aluminum foil, and they have to use everything that they open. Wow, some interns were busy last night. In addition, they have to use aluminum foil as their cooking vessel. Bart thinks this sounds fun. He's the only one.
Time starts and everyone rushes into the pantry. And everything really is covered in tin foil. Everything in the fridge and freezer. All of the individual pieces of produce. Stefan nabs something out of the freezer and discovers that it's salmon. Josie gets grapes. John was trying to get a pot of herbs and ends up with a pineapple. Has there ever been a pot of herbs in the pantry? I've never seen anything like that. What a dummy. Kristen is planning to make a sponge cake, which she knows is risky, but she wants to take a chance. Bert is going nuts with the tin foil, creating pots and colanders.
Sheldon wants fish but ends up with scallops, and he's not sure how to get a good sear on them without a hot frying pan. There are tons of foil packets on the grill, and everyone is bumping into one another trying to get their food done. Micah explains that he thought of panzanella and it's like a gift. I can't tell if he's being sarcastic, but seriously? Does he think it's an amazing gift that only he has? Because everyone else also looks at ingredients and comes up with a dish too.
Time for judging! Danyele is up first with her cannellini bean stew with bacon, asiago cheese, and tomatillo. That sounds pretty awesome. Danyele was unsure about the tomatillo, but Stephanie thinks it makes the dish - more evidence of Danyele's doubting her instincts. Micah made grilled lamb with tomato fennel panzanella. GENIUS! Just kidding. I don't know who told this dude he's the greatest chef ever, but I've yet to see evidence of it on this show. Padma thinks the lamb is too rare.


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U.S. commercial real estate enjoyed solid price gains in May, coming on the heals of declines during the early part of the year, according to the latest CoStar Commercial Repeat Sales Indices...»
The Phoenix City Council at its July 1 regular meeting will consider a developer's plan that would bring a hotel and office building to the SEC of 28th Street and Camelback Road. Developer LaPour Partners, Inc. wants to assemble two parcels to build the 4.87-acre project, which would include a four-story office building...»
Despite the global collapse of commodity prices-including many key inputs to construction- overall construction costs continue to rise nationwide in large part due to labor supply and demand dynamics that first surfaced during the recession and still have yet to resolve...»
More local retail boutiques are joining the Central Avenue corridor after the Union Shops at the Biltmore shuttered. Clothing store Phoenix General is sharing a space with eyewear retailer Framed Ewe, the latter of which was formerly housed in the Union...»
Home prices are continuing to rise at a steady clip, with an increasing number of cities setting new highs that haven't been seen since before the financial crisis...»


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Bortezomib, Selinexor, and Dexamethasone in Patients With Multiple Myeloma (BOSTON)
|The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details.
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03110562
Recruitment Status : Active, not recruiting
First Posted : April 12, 2017
Last Update Posted : August 4, 2020
Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc
Information provided by (Responsible Party):
Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc
|Tracking Information
|First Submitted Date ICMJE
|April 7, 2017
|First Posted Date ICMJE
|April 12, 2017
|Last Update Posted Date
|August 4, 2020
|Actual Study Start Date ICMJE
|May 24, 2017
|Actual Primary Completion Date
|February 18, 2020 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
|Current Primary Outcome Measures ICMJE
|To compare progression-free survival (PFS) based on the Independent Review Committee's (IRC's) disease outcome assessments in patients randomized to the SVd Arm versus the Vd Arm [ Time Frame: 15 months ]
PFS is defined as time from date of randomization until the first date of PD, per International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) response criteria, or death due to any cause, whichever occurs first. For the purposes of PFS determination, PD will be determined by the IRC.
|Original Primary Outcome Measures ICMJE
|Change History
|Current Secondary Outcome Measures ICMJE
|Not Provided
|Original Secondary Outcome Measures ICMJE
|Not Provided
|Current Other Pre-specified Outcome Measures
|Not Provided
|Original Other Pre-specified Outcome Measures
|Not Provided
|Descriptive Information
|Brief Title ICMJE
|Bortezomib, Selinexor, and Dexamethasone in Patients With Multiple Myeloma
|Official Title ICMJE
|A Phase 3 Randomized, Controlled, Open-label Study of Selinexor, Bortezomib, and Dexamethasone (SVd) Versus Bortezomib and Dexamethasone (Vd) in Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma (RRMM)
|Brief Summary
|This Phase 3, 2-arm, randomized, active comparator-controlled, open-label, multicenter study will compare the efficacy and health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) and assess the safety of selinexor plus bortezomib (Velcade®) plus low-dose dexamethasone (SVd) versus bortezomib plus low-dose dexamethasone (Vd) in adult patients with RRMM who have received 1 to 3 prior anti-multiple myeloma (MM) regimens. Crossover from the Vd Arm to a treatment that includes selinexor (i.e., SVdX or SdX) will be allowed at the point of IRC-confirmed objective disease progression per the IMWG criteria for patients in the Vd Arm.
|Detailed Description
|Not Provided
|Study Type ICMJE
|Study Phase ICMJE
|Phase 3
|Study Design ICMJE
|Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose: Treatment
|Condition ICMJE
|Multiple Myeloma
|Intervention ICMJE
|Study Arms ICMJE
|Publications *
|Not Provided
* Includes publications given by the data provider as well as publications identified by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number) in Medline.
|Recruitment Information
|Recruitment Status ICMJE
|Active, not recruiting
|Actual Enrollment ICMJE
|Original Estimated Enrollment ICMJE
|Estimated Study Completion Date ICMJE
|September 1, 2023
|Actual Primary Completion Date
|February 18, 2020 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
|Eligibility Criteria ICMJE
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
|Sex/Gender ICMJE
|Ages ICMJE
|18 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers ICMJE
|Contacts ICMJE
|Contact information is only displayed when the study is recruiting subjects
|Listed Location Countries ICMJE
|Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czechia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Spain, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States
|Removed Location Countries
|Administrative Information
|NCT Number ICMJE
|Other Study ID Numbers ICMJE
|Has Data Monitoring Committee
|U.S. FDA-regulated Product
|IPD Sharing Statement ICMJE
|Responsible Party
|Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc
|Study Sponsor ICMJE
|Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc
|Collaborators ICMJE
|Not Provided
|Investigators ICMJE
|PRS Account
|Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc
|Verification Date
|August 2020
ICMJE Data element required by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors and the World Health Organization ICTRP


text: How to Do Whatsapp free international calls – Video call:- Hello guys now here we will tell us how to make free International video Call on Whatsapp. We know that Whatsapp is a chat application which has millions of user so now you can also chat with your friends by calling them free. In the new version of Whatsapp, you can call your friends or you can make videos call but for … [Read more...]


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- This event has passed.
A Historical Walk in the Pinetum
October 30, 2019 @ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pmFree – $10
FREE for members!
Connect with nature and go back in time.
Join Lisa Beebe, Director of Horticulture of the Greenwich Botanical Center, as you look at how the landscape of the Pinetum has changed over the past 75 years.
We will compare photos and history of the majestic "Wild Acres Estate" with the beauty of what has become the Montgomery Pinetum. Wear comfortable shoes and come dressed for the weather.


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Regular price
The series of chic dinner plates are finished with genuine Japanese Urushi lacquer. The embossed original pattern inspired by traditional design shows different looks depending on lightings and angles. Can be used as a large dinner plate individually, as well as serving dishes on the table center as a set of 3 to 5, which creates fascinating Japanese modern setting. The plate is only 2cm thick and stackable, which makes a stack of 5 only 6cm high. The plate is made of resin formed particle wood, which makes them affordable to a wider range of customers.
W215×W215×H20mm (8.4x8.4x0.7 in)


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读经:诗104:31-35 林后4:1-18 弥1:1-4:13
Do Not Lose Heart
Do you ever get discouraged? Do you sometimes feel 'Is this all worthwhile? Are we actually getting anywhere?' Are you ever tempted to 'lose heart'? If you are, you are not alone. Paul was almost certainly tempted himself to lose heart, and he wrote to other Christians who were also tempted to do so.
Yet Paul wrote, 'We do not lose heart' (2 Corinthians 4:1,16). 'We do not throw up our hands and walk off the job' (v.1, MSG). Why not? Paul explains that it is because in Jesus we have received a 'treasure' (v.7). The treasure is the message of Jesus. It is because the message that Paul has to proclaim is so amazing that he starts and ends by saying, 'Therefore… we do not lose heart' (vv.1,16).
Yet the treasure is inward and unseen. Paul describes it as being in 'jars of clay' (v.7). Our culture emphasises the outward and the seen. The media is dominated by money, possessions, houses, cars, food, physical beauty and outward success. The Bible is very different. It stresses the importance of the inward and unseen aspects of our character: the thoughts, beliefs and attitudes that determine our outward behaviour.
1. Inward and unseen thoughts
Psalm 104:31-35If you know how to worry, you know how to meditate! All you need to do is change what you think about and you will be practicing Christian meditation.
'Meditation' (v.34) means what we think about, what we allow our mind to dwell on. Our actions and our words are vital. But it is not just our actions and words that can please the Lord or not; it is our inward and unseen meditation as well.
The psalmist praises God for the entire created universe. He says, 'I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live' (v.33). Then, he prays, 'May my meditation be pleasing to him' (v.34).
What does this mean practically? Philippians 4:8 has some good advice: 'Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.'
Lord, help me to win the battle of the mind. May my meditation be pleasing to you as I rejoice in the Lord.
2. Inward and unseen treasure
2 Corinthians 4:1-18We have the most powerful message in the world. Faith in Jesus is utterly transformational, both now and into eternity. 'We know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence' (v.14).
We are all 'jars of clay' (v.7). Inside is the 'treasure' (v.7), which is inward and 'unseen' (v.18). The treasure is the message of Jesus. It is given to them by the mercy of God (v.1).
This life is not the end, for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal: 'The things we can't see now will last forever' (v.18, MSG).
Secularisation has led to the world – and now even the church – forgetting about 'eternity'. We focus on, and value, the things we can see and handle. 'Eternity' is a vital part of the message.
In proclaiming the message about Jesus there are four things to which we must say 'No'.
- No secrecy
'We have renounced secret… ways' (v.2). 'We refuse to wear masks' (v.2a, MSG). There needs to be openness in everything we do: 'We keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display' (v.2b, MSG).
- No shame
'We have renounced… shameful ways' (v.2). We should not do anything that, if discovered, we might be ashamed about.
- No deception
'We do not use deception' (v.2). 'We don't manoeuvre and manipulate behind the scenes' (v.2, MSG).
- No distortion
'Nor do we distort the word of God' (v.2). 'We don't twist God's word to suit ourselves' (v.2, MSG). We must not change the message to make it more acceptable. On the contrary, Paul writes that he sets forth the truth 'plainly' (v.2).
Because the gospel is unseen and inward, not everyone sees it. 'It is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God' (vv.3–4). I was like that. I heard the message, but I simply could not make head or tail of it.
It is only when God shines his light into our hearts that we can see 'the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ' (v.6).
The message is all about Jesus: 'Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we'll ever get' (v.4, MSG). 'Remember, our message is not about ourselves; we're proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master' (v.5, MSG).
We, the servants of Jesus, are jars of clay containing the world's greatest treasure. Paul does not want people looking at the jars. He wants them to look at the treasure. God has deliberately put the treasure in jars of clay: 'We carry this precious message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That's to prevent anyone from confusing God's incomparable power with us' (v.7, MSG).
Although the jars are wasting away, 'on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace' (v.16, MSG). We are 'hard pressed' by financial and other pressures, and perplexed by things that happen to us. We are criticised and 'persecuted' and at times 'struck down' (vv.8–9).
But 'our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all' (vv.16–17). 'These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us' (v.17, MSG).
'So,' Paul writes, 'we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal' (v.18). As Father Raniero Cantalamessa writes, 'A new standard of measurement has been introduced that makes crosses and trials seem light and momentary: Eternity.'
Lord, thank you that you have given us this amazing treasure in Jesus. Help me to fix my eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen.
3. Inward and unseen power
Micah 1:1-4:13You can be greatly used by God. We are all jars of clay – ordinary, common, everyday people. Yet, you can be used mightily by God. Have a big vision for your life because you are full of the power of the Spirit of the Lord.
What the prophet Micah says can be true for us all, 'As for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might' (3:8a). His power comes from the inward and unseen work of the Holy Spirit in his life.
Micah speaks out against injustice with great power. He championed the cause of the underprivileged. As in the case of Jonah, Micah's warnings were heeded and disaster was avoided (see Jeremiah 26:18 and following).
Micah speaks out against injustice and greed. Like most sin, it starts with inward and unseen plans: 'Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds!' (Micah 2:1a).
They sow thoughts and reap actions. 'They covet fields and grab them, find homes and take them. They bully the neighbour and his family, see people only for what they can get out of them' (vv.1b–2). (This is an extraordinarily accurate description of what we would now describe as 'land grabbing'.)
Micah's words are particularly aimed at the 'leaders' (3:1a). 'Should you not know justice, you who hate good and love evil' (vv.1b–2a). He accuses them of treating the people like animals (vv.2–3). He warns them that if they treat the poor unjustly, God will not hear their prayers (v.4).
Money seems to have been at the root of the injustice. As so often, it is greed that leads to injustice:
'Judges sell verdicts to the highest bidder,
priests mass-market their teaching,
prophets preach for high fees,
All the while posturing and pretending
dependence on God' (v.11, MSG).
One day God will put things right. God 'will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes' (v.3). There will be peace. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war any more' (v.3b). There will also be justice. There will be a fair dispersal of land: 'Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig-tree' (v.4a).
Ultimately what matters is the inward and unseen thoughts of God, 'But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan' (v.12).
Lord, thank you that one day you will right all wrongs and bring everlasting peace. In the meantime, may I be like Micah 'filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might' (3:8).
Pippa Adds
2 Corinthians 4:7
'We have this treasure in jars of clay.'
I'm very conscious of being a 'jar of clay'. And my particular jar is getting rather old, chipped and cracked!
I may be flawed, but God's 'all-surpassing power' still lives in me.


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Web2.0 My Understand Thus Far, Part I
Web2.0 is social networking. And social networking can be, and is being, used for business, point blank. You can use Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, TBD, etc., to only socialize. You can share events, play games, meet old and new friends, post photos, etc., and waste a lot of time. You can post videos on YouTube for humor, shock, information, etc.
Or you can use these, and other Web2.0 avenues, to get people to visit your Website. And most of these avenues are FREE advertising and demand only sweat equity. Some are better than others. The point is if you want to generate sales through social networking, you can. If you get more people to visit, more people will purchase. Increase traffic, increase sales. Point blank, end of story.
The old rule of thumb in retailing was you either have traffic or you build traffic. In either case you pay for it. One option was to rent in a mall or street location where there was a lot of traffic, and a lot of rent. Or to start in a low traffic (i.e. home based, garage, industrial park, etc.) and spend money on advertising for traffic.
That day is passé.
Some of you spent a lot of time, money, and energy at last week's Party Planning Showcase in a Northwest Chicago Suburb. Judy and I strolled the show talking with our friends. We asked ourselves "why continue?" five years ago and could not find a reason to. We found the reason.
Glance at the Web statistics I provided you free, or request another or a new one. It compares your recent Website activities and search engine rankings with those of A-BnC Parties and More, Inc. Visitor hits on Judy's sites, including www.abncparties.com have DOUBLED on a daily basis from December, 2008 to January, 2009. Sales have also increased over last year's comparisons. Sorry, I will not divulge by how much.
The invitation is still there, join the Facebook (Home Based or Small Businesses on the Web) discussion. The information is Free. Or should I charge for it? Will it be more valuable if you pay for it? Judy's new V-P and national sales manager asked: "Why is it so cheap?"


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San Antonio Police Department overtime cost taxpayers $17 million in one year
In fiscal year 2016, roughly 2,300 San Antonio Police Department employees received overtime pay, costing the city $17.3 million, according to an analysis of city data obtained by the San Antonio Express-News.
The amount of overtime an average police officer received varied. During the fiscal year, from October 2015 to September 2016, the median overtime pay was $4,807, but some officers received as little as $6 and as much as $65,400 in overtime pay.
There were nine officers who – in overtime alone – were paid more than $46,744, which was the median household income in the city of San Antonio in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
RELATED: Ranked: Highest-paid city employees in San Antonio
Police officers were most likely employees of the department to put in for overtime, at a total cost of $9.6 million, according to the data, which was obtained through an open records request. Detective investigators, sergeants, lieutenants and communications dispatchers also received a lot in overtime pay.
According to department guidelines, if an employee works more than 40 hours, he or she can get overtime pay or compensatory time. The department has the authority to make overtime mandatory, but right now, it does not, according to City Manager Sheryl Sculley and Police Chief William McManus.
READ ALSO: Bexar Co. DA announces cite-and-release program for minor marijuana offenses, other misdemeanors
City officials say optional overtime is necessary to make sure all vacant patrolling shifts are adequately staffed. It's hard to say how many vacancies the department had during the entire 2016 fiscal year, but at one point in time, there were 227 vacancies, the second highest level in 15 years.
Since then, the department has filled nearly half of those vacancies, putting the level below the 15-year average.
And in September, City Council adopted the 2018 fiscal year budget, which included funding for 42 new police officer positions and 43 firefighter and paramedic positions.
email@example.com | Twitter: @emilieeaton


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Category: Forestry
A Threatened Wildlife Habitat
Category: Insects and Pests
Category: Wildlife
Category: Water and Wetlands
Category: Agroforestry
Category: Financial Aspects
Member Login
Our e-Letter provides: up-to-date news on forestry issues both locally and from around the world, upcoming events and links to online forestry resources.
Consider becoming an OWA member, a Friend of the OWA or make a donation today. Help support the work OWA does - such as this e-Letter. Click on the "support us" tab at the top of the website.


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Due to COVID-19 orders may be delayed. More info on the home page.
Now in the rcm and E as free planDesign Features:
Complete Kit Includes:
Short Kit Includes:
Required to Complete:
Nice woodbuilding kit, not for a beginner in building
Easy acces to motor and battery
The main gear leg is seperate available or print yourself from shapeways details on the cd
Rewarding wood building
Nose Gear Leg, not standard included in the complete kit and short kit