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Rising Bills, respectable Jets, rotten Giants top NFL's big early surprises
What in the ... How in the ... Who would have ... Huh?
Four games into every NFL season, things happen completely different from what most expected. This year has not been immune to huge surprises that make us question everything we think we know and our entire being.
In the end, the unpredictable nature of the league is what makes us love it. At the end of the season's first quarter, here are the standout shockers, starting with New York, New York, and yes, New York.
WATCH: Best plays of Week 4 in NFL
1. The Bills are a legitimate first-place team.
What late fire sale? More like on fire, amiright? Fresh off dusting Denver at home, Buffalo doused Atlanta in its own house. The Bills also were one play away from beating a third current 3-1 team, the Panthers. Rookie coach Sean McDermott's defense has allowed only one passing TD through four games. The ground-and-pound offense has made big plays when needed.
There's an overall physicality to love about this team, just as New England is wilting a bit. The evidence there is to think the Bills will remain a factor in the AFC playoff race, if not make the Patriots a sweat more than false threats from Rex Ryan did.
2. The Jets are a legitimate non-tanking team.
What fold for Sam Darnold? Heck, while New York has started 2-2 with consecutive home wins over Miami and Jacksonville after getting blasted in Buffalo and The Black Hole, it has less work to do get a pick high enough to get him or Josh Rosen.
That's thanks to the fight of ageless Josh McCown getting some things done offensively with Bilal Powell, Jermaine Kearse, Robby Anderson, Elijah McGuire and Austin Seferian-Jenkins as his top skill players. And don't forget, coach Todd Bowles is getting inspired play from his remade defense, led by rookie safety Jamal Adams and Darrelle Revis upgrade Morris Claiborne.
The Jets have delayed their estimated time of departure from relevancy in 2017. They'll probably step further away from the tank next week against the winless Browns.
3. The Giants are 0-4 ... because of defense.
What scoring slump? There has been too much focus on their overblown offensive line woes and almost non-existent running. As coach Ben McAdoo has put the offense completely in the hands (and legs) of Eli Manning, the results have been there the past two games. But what happened to the dominant run defense, daunting pass rush and downfield coverage from last season? Sure, there have been some injuries, but there's enough of the talent that did the job last season not to fall apart in every capacity.
The Cowboys, Lions, Eagles and Buccaneers pretty much did whatever they wanted against Big Blue's blown assignments. That's why the Giants are in last place in the NFC East with no hope of an Eli Hail Mary to dig out of it.
4. These Patriots are beatable ... at home.
What undefeated season? The Patriots are inches away from being 0-3 when playing in New England, with their only Patriots-like complete outing coming in New Orleans. In the top-heavy AFC, it doesn't take more than one or two games to change the course of the all-important top seed in the playoffs and home-field advantage. New England is already chasing Pittsburgh and the AFC West leaders.
The Patriots' next home game is a rematch with the Falcons, and they soon have very tough road games against the Broncos, Raiders and Steelers. With their defense losing all factors of intimidation, they've got to dig deep to rediscover the Foxborough mystique, or they can forget about the hyped repeat.
5. Anything Carson Wentz can do, Jared Goff can, too.
What weak QB class? OK, we could see this Wentz breakout for the 3-1 Eagles happening after the team invested so much in improving the offense, plus the fact that Wentz flashed plenty as a rookie. But Goff, who looked awful as the 2016 first overall pick, has gone from 0-7 to 3-1 in an unbelievable hurry. Goff got a new left tackle (Andrew Whitworth) and four new key receivers (Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp and Gerald Everett). And, oh yeah, he has play-calling wunderkind Sean McVay as his head coach instead of anti-offense Jeff Fisher.
So much for these guys not being Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, Deshaun Watson and Mitchell Trubisky (we think) or even Rosen and Darnold. Credit the Eagles and Rams for tailoring everything around their QBs' strengths to welcome them into the realm of solid starters.
6. Matt Ryan is in a most valuable slump.
What elite QB? All 2008 draft classmate Joe Flacco jokes aside, Matty Ice has gone cold and has yet to resemble last season's locked-in, wire-to-wire MVP under Kyle Shanahan. He has been very inaccurate and has coughed up some big turnovers that have turned into scores. Now there's concern about not getting a chance to rev up his struggling connection with go-to guy Julio Jones, who left Sunday's game with a hip injury.
Although new coordinator Steve Sarkisian has kept many of the run-related tenets with Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, Atlanta hasn't had the same creative explosiveness in the passing game. Ryan, who had to shake one shaky Shanny year, needs to get going in Year 1 of Sark with the Patriots, Panthers, Cowboys and Seahawks coming soon on the schedule.
7. Deshaun Watson is the best QB in AFC South ... by far.
What raw athlete? Watson is already making a claim as the NFL's most exciting young player as an early Michael Vick-like sensation. He quickly has stolen the thunder from J.J. Watt as the face of the Texans' franchise, on and off the field. Andrew Luck (shoulder) isn't playing and won't be for a while longer. Marcus Mariota (hamstring) looks to be back on the shelf, too. Blake Borltes is still Blake Bortles, even when fully healthy.
What a difference three weeks make. One now wonders why Houston even threw away Week 1 to Jacksonville — a game that is bound to haunt the team later — with Tom Savage, the division's worst QB not named Matt Cassel or Scott Tolzien. Funny how Watson, a seasoned college QB with championship intangibles, would immediately make whatever plays necessary to win games.
OK, it's not. It only happens all the time.
There will be more bumps and lumps, but Watson gives the Texans an asset they've never had over the rest of the AFC South.
8. The Lions aren't going back to being losers.
What re-regression? Matthew Stafford got paid. Jim Caldwell got paid. So they're simply rewarding ownership's expensive faith in them. They needed each other to revive their reputations as leaders and offensive stalwarts, and it has blossomed into a beautiful relationship with no break-up in sight. At 3-1 and playing some complete football, the Lions have chosen not to revert to the 7-9 teams of 2013 and '15, but rather build on the wild cards of 2014 and '16 to push for that playoff breakthrough.
Credit GM Bob Quinn for brining some of the Patriot Way to Detroit with personnel moves to help Stafford, Caldwell and steady defensive coordinator Teryl Austin. The Lions are here to stay, battling the Packers for NFC North titles for as long as Stafford is on the team.
9. The Steelers are winning ... with defense.
What Killer Bs? Antonio Brown isn't happy about not getting the ball when open. Big Ben becomes a different QB on the road. Le'Veon Bell is just coming out of his holdout rust. Reinstated Martavis Bryant is still off. Luckily the team is 3-1, totally in Mike Tomlin's image of Blitzburgh. Ryan Shazier, Cameron Hayward, Stephon Tuitt, T.J. Watt, Bud Dupree, all back healthy together, are the true stout faces of an old-school approach.
The Steelers will break 30 points at some point soon, when all those superstars get on the same page, and that's when they'll be downright scary. For now, they should love how they've held four opponents to well under 20 points each.
10. Tbe Broncos are winning ... with offense.
What Mile High No-Fly Zone? With all due respect to Von Miller, Aqib Tailb, Chris Harris Jr. and friends finding another gear under Vance Joseph and Joe Woods, the team is 3-1 because it's back into Mike McCoy's groove.
Trevor Siemian is coming through with the right throws at the right times, and the Broncos have found their bread and butter of running the ball efficiently with C.J. Anderson and Jamaal Charles showing no aftershock of knee injuries behind a much-improved offensive line. They're back to being as versatile as they were in the short Peyton Manning heyday, but in a smarter, more conservative, complementary way.
In a division with the Raiders and Chiefs, the Broncos needed to be better at moving the ball, controlling the ball and scoring points to put the division's best defense in better spots. Once again, John Elway has pushed the right buttons with a wholesale coaching change to make it work.


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Airlines have employed computer simulations to come up with a variety of counterintuitive super-efficient ways of boarding airplanes, with names like "Reverse Pyramid" and "WilMA." These systems promise to reduce turn-around significantly. I hope that the next target will be improving the debarking process, which always seems to be the longest 10 minutes of the flight.
Villalobos and van den Briel presented America West with a boarding approach called the reverse pyramid that calls for simultaneously loading an aircraft from back to front and outside in. Window and middle passengers near the back of the plane board first; those with aisle seats near the front are called last. "Our research showed that this method created the fewest incidents of interference between passengers," Villalobos explains, "and was therefore the fastest."
US Airways' Lindemann says the airline has enjoyed significant improvements since implementing the reverse pyramid in 2003, including a 21 percent decrease in departure delays in the first three months following the system's launch, and a two-minute reduction in average boarding time.

subset: commoncrawl


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Peter Jackson has premiered the first concept art for the upcoming film adaptation of Philip Reeve's young adult novel series "The Mortal Engines" at MRC & Universal Pictures.
Robert Sheehan, Hugo Weaving and Stephen Lang lead the cast in this adaptation of Philip Reeve's young adult novel series set in a devastated future world where the world's cities are run by engines and move about Earth, giving them the ability to prey on other smaller towns for resources.
The story follows a teenager named Tom Natsworthy who, along with a young woman from a territory known as the Outlands, uncovers a mystery that could change the world order.
Jackson's protege Christian Rivers is directing the project which Jackson is producing. Jackson, wife Fran Walsh and collaborator Philippa Boyens are adapting the script. The project is being produced in New Zealand.
"Mortal Engines" opens in cinemas on December 14th 2018.


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Dave Lutz of Stifel, Nicolaus passes along the topics he's talking about with traders.
They are:
Futures are up 30bp, on highs of the session - despite fresh turmoil in Europe. DAX is higher, and EU Bank are in the green despite Portugal's courts rejecting some of the austerity measures. Portugal spreads are FLAT to bunds, highlighting the lack of concern and continued demand for yield in wake of the BOJ. China's composite was off small after a 2 day holiday, but Japan's Nikkei jumped 2.8% to a near five-year high. Despite the Portugal headlines, EU spreads are all tighter, with Italy and Spain in 5-7bp. The US 10YY is unchanged for the session, and bond bulls are excited yields have broken below 8M support on Friday. The Dollar is slightly weaker, a natural tailwind for commodities - we have Copper and Oil jumping over 1%, while Oil is basically unchanged. The yen has slipped to a near four-year low, and the "Carry Trade" is breaking higher as A$ well bid on headlines indicating direct Yuan trade with China. Miners were well bid in Aussie. Earnings season officially kicks off today, with AA after the bell, JPM and WFC Friday. I read that Since 2000 Alcoa has had 53 earnings releases. Of those 53 earnings releases the S&P 500 has moved the same direction as Alcoa's stock price reaction 34 times or just under 65% of the time. The real significance comes when AA stock has a positive reaction to earnings - 75% of AA's positive earnings reactions were followed by a higher move in the S&P 500 over the next ten trading days.


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20,000 Days on Earth opens Beat Festival, Moscow
Our film 20,000 Days on Earth will open the Beat Film Festival in Moscow. The opening night takes place on 27th May at Illusion Cinema and will be followed by a Q&A session with ourselves and Thomas Benski from Pulse Films. Another screening takes place on 28th May at Horizont Cinema followed by a Q&A with us, and a final screening takes place at Horizont Cinema on 2nd June . More info: beatfilmfestival.ru
More festival previews are taking place throughout the summer, prior to a worldwide release later this year. All confirmed details can be found online at 20000daysonearth.com.


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Little Lion Costume DIY/
OK how cute is this little lion. I can hardly handle it! I am all about spending little-to-no money on Halloween costumes. We don't have all that much room to store things like costumes she'll wear once - plus it can get expensive! My siblings and I grew up wearing homemade costumes made of bright yellow tape wrapped onto our body to be a little bumble bee, and who can forget the (somewhat scarring) "grapes" costume, my mom made me into by pinning purple balloons all over my body. All the kids chased me and I remember hating it. I love looking back at photos and seeing the costumes our mom pulled together for us.
Lindsay pointed out this faux-fur trim when we were at the fabric store and suggested I should make a lion costume, and I was up for the challenge! I made the mane with tassels out of thick yarn that I picked up for a few dollars at Dressew.
I made these tassels using the same steps you can find on our Pom Pom blanket DIY ova here.
For the little wrist and ankle tassels:
1. Cut four long pieces of yarn. (Longer the better so you can tie them loosely and into bows for easy removal.
2. Cut about 20 pieces (around 5" long) for each tassel
3. Tie them onto the main piece of yarn, and bunch it together tight!
For the mane, I glued 6 big tassels I made here onto a thick piece of ribbon. I glued the faux-fur piece along the front of it. I ended up pinning the mane onto her little hat, which you can see below her trying to rip off her head. HAHA I'm surprised she let me put it on her, I had to make it into a fun game. After this little ordeal, I pinned it around the hood of a little brown jacket of hers and it worked better! She's a feisty little lion, this one.


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When the same bad news travels to the same place three times, a man should sit up and take note, which is exactly what I did when her shadow darkened my doorway. I was on my way out of the office, having spent the majority of my afternoon tossing tiny balled up bits of post-it notes into the trash can across the room, each of them containing bad information leading to dead end after dead end on another case I had caught the weekend before. The corner of my office looked as if it were covered in a neon snowfall.
Ready to leave, my coat on halfway and my gun tucked away in the shoulder holster, I heard her throat clear from the hallway. It was a dainty sound, delicate like proper manners and thin porcelain. I paused and leaned around the door to get a better look. She was in her late forties, maybe early fifties (though I wouldn't have said the latter out loud). She wore a white sweatshirt with a picture of two children screen-printed across the front, well-worn mom jeans and bright white sneakers bought from the bargain bin. Not really my type, but I couldn't help giving her the once over twice anyway. Sue me; they can't all be young damsels in tight fitting skirts.
"Ma'am," I said, nodding and shrugging my coat up over my shoulders.
"Are you Mr. Donovan?"
I shook my head. "Mr. Donovan was my grandfather. Richard is fine. As is Rick, if you'd prefer that."
She stepped into the office, blocking my exit, and began digging into a cheap brown purse hung loose around her wrist. "I need to show you this," she mumbled over the noise of the purse's contents being jostled around.
I narrowed my eyes and sighed. I slipped off my coat and tossed it onto the back of my chair, motioning for her to sit across from my desk. The desktop itself was cluttered with paper clips bent out of shape, pens that barely worked, and a filing system that really wasn't much of a system at all, even to me. It would be a stretch to call it organized chaos in the least of ways.
She didn't bother taking the chair, so I remained standing too. Her arm shot out across the desk, a handful of pictures wavering between her fingers. A few polaroids, but mostly printouts of some of the new digital styles you could print up at nearly every pharmacy or on a good printer these days. Good quality, but I preferred to have those emailed directly so I could examine them better on my software. I took the pictures from her hand and shuffled through them, seeing no real clear pattern or repeating faces. Was I being played? I held the photos up and stared back at her with my eyebrows raised, hoping the issue wasn't what I thought it was.
"You don't see it?" she asked.
I spread the photos out across the messy desktop and viewed them all at once.
Picture 1, digital printout: two silhouettes, a boy and a man, facing the ocean. I assumed them to be father and son, but they could've easily been uncle and nephew or completely unrelated. The man is leaning down towards the boy, hands out, helping him fly a kite as they stand on a beach. The sun is on its way to setting, an explosive orange that riddles the sky with color so deep you can taste it. Back and to the left, right where the tide touched the shore, a shimmery gray figure.
Picture 2, faded yellow Polaroid: a lone man sits on the steps of a porch. Both the house and the porch were once painted white, but the paint is flecked and peeling everywhere, the structure of both crumbling under the weight of time. The man rests his head on the arms that rest on his knees. If I were the type to get sad, this picture would probably do it. There is something in his pose - a kind of resignation - that I sympathize with. It's a good picture and it's surprising in its candidness. Hardly noticeable, between the trees on the side of the house stood a shimmery gray figure.
Picture 3, faded yellow Polaroid: a girl, a toddler, sitting in a high chair with cake smeared across her gleeful face. It strikes me as odd that the other chairs surrounding the table are empty. Off in the dark background to the left, a shimmery gray figure sits on a couch and seems to stare out a window into the dusky evening.
Picture 4, faded black and white: a wedding, outdoor locale. I didn't recognize it at first, but something about it felt like a foreign place to me. The bride and groom, both fairly attractive with dark olive-colored complexions dance alone on a cemented area. Neither is smiling. Dim lights hang around the edge of the cement. Beyond that, tables full of wedding revelers look on in rapt silence. Near a speaker in the background, the same shimmery gray figure…
I didn't bother looking at the other pictures splayed out across the desktop. I knew what I'd find in each one and I hated it. Had I not tasted blood in my mouth, I wouldn't have even realized I was chewing the inside of my cheek, a bad habit I'd picked up from a lover long ago. The woman hovered silently, waiting for my reaction. I sighed and shrugged, looked back up to meet her eyes. "The blurs," I muttered.
She nodded and came around to my side of the desk, a thing I didn't normally allow unless I was being paid in sexual favors and that hadn't happened in awhile, nor was I about to allow it now. Her hip bumped into my chair, moving me slightly to the left as she let her purse drop to my desk. With a single, semi-wrinkled finger, she pointed at spots in every photo. I had seen them, but wanted to avoid their appearance like an ex-girlfriend at a dinner party. I knew I'd have to engage them at some point, but the longer I could put it off, the happier I'd be.
I should back up a little. The first time this was brought to my attention, I thought the woman was taking me for a ride, having a go at me. Just a bored housewife in need of distraction from her daily duties while her bread-winning husband worked early hours until late in the night. This isn't really an uncommon occurrence in my line of work as sometimes the husband (and it's almost always the husband, let's be clear) was actually off putting his baby-maker in some new intern at the office or at some hotel on the outskirts of town. We men…we're often easily distracted by shiny things that find themselves in our line of sight. We're simple in that way. It will always be our downfall.
It was a Tuesday and, like now, I was shown pictures and had the blurry images pointed out to me. I was dubious, the way you get when hearing the phrase "non-alcoholic beer" or "charm offensive." It didn't compute and her demeanor didn't help. She was frazzled, her hair a mess and her outfit seemed slapdash, thrown on in the dark and left to chance. But I hadn't had work in some time, so I took the case and 33% down payment for a week's worth of work. I had no illusions of actually solving the case, and I said as much, but she was thankful for me taking her seriously. I hadn't, but I'd let her think so. Sometimes you just have to say what they want to hear to get them to go away. It's an asshole thing to say, but I don't make the rules.
By Thursday I'd made no real headway. I was able to track down the locations of a few of the pictures, but the people I'd left messages for (some of whom were in the pictures) either couldn't remember the moments or weren't getting back to me. I blamed wrong numbers or old email accounts, but really, I was going about it all pretty half-hearted, mostly just to pass the time until another case worth taking came my way.
That afternoon, I sat at my desk pounding my chest, regretting the decision to eat two-day old Chinese from the joint across the street. They never warn you that the stuff gets spicier the longer it sits and here I was, wishing for a glass of milk to kill the burn. I reclined in my chair after the meal, hoping a nap might alleviate things. No idea how long I'd been out before the knock on the door startled me awake. I stood up, yawned, and opened the door. Another woman with a handful of photographs and the same problem; fuzzy figures finding their way into random photos. Once is an anomaly, twice is a coincidence and I have come to loathe coincidence over the years.
She explained the problem, having randomly gone through her family's photo albums one afternoon after her father passed two weeks previous (I told her I was sorry for her loss, as one does and one tends to actually be). Like previous, I kept the photos for reference and promised to return them when the investigation was over. Another down payment and I was able to keep the lights and heat on for a little while longer. She thanked me and left.
I broke out my white board and taped the pictures from both women up in their own separate areas. My white board had seen less action in the last few months than I had and I was thankful to put it back to use as it made a better organizational tool than a dart board. Woman A on the left, Woman B on the right. Both widows within the last several years, but neither seemed to fall into the "black" variety of widow. Couldn't feel out a vindictive or sociopathic bone in either of their bodies.
I taped the images up and made copious notes about theories and possibilities around them. The shimmery shadow kept showing up in other people's pictures, this dark shadow of a figure off in the distance behind honeymooners and families on vacation, a soul caught in the background of every photograph I came across. No matter the locale or the era, whether in color or black and white, each photo I examined contained this fuzzy image somewhere in between the edges.
At the bottom of the board, I tried to poke holes in my own ideas before turning back to the pictures. I threw both women out of my mind for awhile, tried working from a point of zero connection between the two and got nowhere. At first I thought I had stumbled across some kind of post-production trick, but couldn't suss out the reason to play it on me. They'd be paying me to chase my own tail for awhile, which didn't make any sense.
I was completely scramble-brained by the time I realized the moon had been out for a few hours. I went down to the bar in the basement level of my building. I needed to move my legs, get some air in me, bounce an idea or two off some unsuspecting drunk. You'd be surprised how helpful the loose mind can be in the moment you need it to be. More than a few of my cases have caught good breaks because I chatted up the drunk who loved to talk more than they liked to drink or did both in equal amounts.
"Hey, Donny," she purred, leaning over the bar towards me. "Usual?"
"Usual. Thanks, Marcy."
Don't get me wrong, I like Marcy. I think she's a great bartender and she's listened to more of my nonsense than even I can believe, but…it ain't gonna happen. She's about a decade older than I am, but looks twice that, which itself makes her gaudy makeup jobs that much more stark and confusing. I keep trying to suggest the philosophy of 'less is more' in every conversation, hoping the idea worms its way inside her subconscious, but it's obviously not sticking. The makeup is clownish, but if I ever heard another man vocalize it that way, I'd have him eating concrete in seconds. Loyalty still holds serious sway with me.
The bar was pretty empty, even for eleven on a Thursday night. There was Marcy of course, a few straggling regulars I'd seen a few times over the last month, and a single woman at the bar not far from me. She wore a conservative-fit blue dress and sat cross-legged on a bar stool. Totally classing up the place, and knew it too, but she wasn't standoffish. She stared at something behind the bar and I turned to see Marci bringing my drink down the bar well.
The woman turned her head and watched with furrowed brow as the steam from my drink floated up and dissipated. Marcy set the cup and saucer down and the woman's head cocked sideways in confusion. "Who orders tea…at a bar?" she asked. I could hear the humor in the question and relaxed a little, dunking the tea bag over and over into the water.
"Name's Donovan," I said, waving two fingers at her. "And I don't drink."
Marcy walked away, shaking her head.
"Never took to the taste, but I like plenty of people who do drink, so that's something."
She laughed. "Yes, that's something all right."
The stone on her ring sparkled in the bar-light as bright as her smile. Damn. Sometimes a good workout can break the creative block. Guess I'd just have to settle for pillow-talk tonight. "I guess you didn't opt for tea this evening?" I asked, nodding at her martini glass. "Best tea in town, without question."
"That good?"
"You're missing out." I took a sip to accentuate the point and burned my tongue, accidentally dribbled some of the tea all over my shirt. The woman covered her face with both hands and shook with laughter. I heard Marcy cackle from down at the other end of the bar. All I could do was shrug and give a sheepish grin. "You know, when it's cooled down of course."
"But of course," the woman laughed as she leaned over the bar like a pro. She grabbed some napkins and shuffled over to me before I could wave her off. I could feel her hands on my chest, patting the wet spots, drying them as best as possible. This close, she smelled like martini, but then her perfume arrived and I got lost in the moment like some dumb high school kid. My brain went to mush, I started thinking in bad poetry, rhyming couplets of tongue-tied nonsense. I didn't even want to try to speak with her this close.
"Does it burn? Are you burned?" she asked, snapping me out of my slowed state of mind as she continued to rub the napkins on me.
"Uh. N-no. No, it doesn't burn, thank you," I replied, trying to take the napkins from her to clean up my own mess. She kept on until she was satisfied and tossed the balled up mess into the trash can in the corner.
She took a seat back on her stool and looked at me, breaking out into laughter again. She looked familiar, like someone I'd known back during my younger days. Couldn't place her though. Maybe she just reminded me of someone. Totally possible since I'd known a lot of brunettes. When she was close I thought I smelled something familiar, a memory I couldn't rid myself of as much as I may have wanted to. The scent still tickled my nose, tickled my brain in the nicest of ways.
"I'm Jamie," she said, a smile spreading across her face.
"Nice to meet you, Jamie. Sorry you've got to see me in this state. I don't normally dribble tea all over myself."
"In a bar? Shocking."
Her smile hit me with so much weight I could feel my stomach tighten, felt myself forget how to breathe. Was I sweating or was it just the remnant moisture clinging to my shirt? I couldn't tell, but it was dark, so maybe she couldn't either and that was all to the good. Dumbfounded by a woman's light like so many other rubes I'd come across over the years; guess I wasn't as impervious as I once thought. Later, I'd blame it all on the dim light and my exhaustion from working all day.
Her fingernail tapped the rim of her empty rocks glass as she glanced down the bar at Marcy and then leaned over to me conspiratorially. "Say…you know the bartender, right?"
I nodded.
"I've been trying to get a refill on my drink for awhile now. Could I trouble you to…?
I waved her off. "Not a problem. What are you having?" I asked, gesturing towards her glass.
"Bourbon. Neat. Three fingers."
Now, if I'd been a drinking man, I may have just found that elusive perfect woman every other average joe dreams about when he's laying next to his old lady at night. Perfect curves like country highways built for fast cars and faster women, dark hair, a brainy, straight-up-with-no-bullshit kind of broad, and a smile that would linger in my memories well into old age. If nothing else, I could appreciate the moment for what it was and not what it might lead to if I were to play my hand right. I waved Marcy down and watched her jiggly mass shuffle down the bar alley, a wary look on her face.
"Marcy, could I buy the lady a drink? It seems she's run out and she'd like another bourbon. About," I started, pinching my fingers together and then spreading them out, "three fingers tall?"
Marcy glanced at me and then over to the woman, then back to me. "Lady?"
I nodded. "Please?"
She clucked her tongue and agreed, shuffling back down the bar to pour the drink.
"Thank you," the woman whispered in my direction, placing money out on the counter.
I waved her off again. "Keep your money. I've got this round as long as you promise to get me for a tea next time."
"Thank you again," she said, putting her money away. "I have to use the lady's. Mind keeping an eye on my seat?" I told her I didn't mind at all as she scooted off the chair and strolled to the bathroom. And I didn't mind, which was weird for me. I'm not one for reliance. I don't like relying on other people for much. Most can't be trusted while others just end up sucking the life out of you. My father used to say: "If you can't do it on your own, it ain't worth doin."
Marcy arrived with the glass and placed it next to me at the bar. I slid it a seat farther down and thanked her.
"Donny, you mind I ask you something?"
"Sure, anything."
She rested a meaty arm on the bar and leaned towards me. "You okay? I mean, honest to God okay?"
I thought about it for a minute, wondered how much I wanted to divulge tonight and how much time I had to do it in before the woman came back from the bathroom. Small window. "I'm fine. Just a long day of hustling is all."
She nodded, disbelieving. I could see it in the way her wrinkles seemed to frown. "It's just that you've been down here talkin' to yourself since you got here and, well, to be honest, you ordering booze is pretty weird too."
"I'm not sure I follow, Marcy. There's been a woman here sitting beside me. We've been talking. I spilled tea on myself trying to impress her for whatever reason. She's just gone to the women's room."
I don't know how to describe the look in Marcy's eyes when I said this. It was worse than pity, worse than fear. It was like she was looking at the remnant of someone she once knew, a wraith of a person left sitting at her bar in some sad-sack state of affairs. I was the deflated version of a human man, all emptied out of air and sense. One could argue that most of us already were anyway.
"Honey, ain't no woman been at the bar all night, much less inside it. Jake and Darryl been playing pool since about an hour before you came. Otherwise, nothing. You were talking to yourself. Having a real serious conversation by the looks of it."
This made zero sense. I could feel my body heating up, probably from embarrassment. If she was wrong, the woman would emerge from the bathroom sooner than later. If she was right, then it wouldn't do me any good to sit here any longer. I must've gone pale because soon Marcy was sliding a glass of water across the bar to me. I wanted to pick it up, fight the dry-mouth that was permeating itself across my tongue, but left it alone for fear of shaky hands.
I pushed myself off the stool and hurried to the women's restroom. It was dark, so naturally I flipped on the light and the smell of fresh cleaning supplies still lingering in the air hit me. I ran my fingers along the sink – dry - and the toilets unflushed from an earlier scrubbing.
I ran out of the bar as Marcy yelled out after me. If you'd asked, I wouldn't have been able to recall what she was saying. Not a word. I could feel my heart beating through my eardrums, muffling the sounds of the radio system already turned down low. The sound of pool cues breaking across the table came as if through thick walls of cottony gauze. The distance to the front door felt as far as heaven, and when I finally stepped out into the night air, I gasped for breath like I'd just been saved from drowning.
I ran up the steps of my building, locked the office door behind me and then slumped to the floor. I stared at my hands, shaking of their own volition and wondered what the hell was going on with me?
I woke up in the same slumped position against the door. Weary from the day before, I didn't remember passing out, but I was in the same tea-stained dress shirt and slacks. The sun barreled through the slats of the blinds and illuminated the floor in bright mirror-ball reflections. The white board stood off to my left, remained slathered in pictures. I stood up, brushed off my pants and grabbed a bottle of water from the mini-fridge. Chugging it down, I made my way over to the board and stared at the snapshots again hoping the new day would bring some kind of revelation.
Was there a pattern I was missing? The locales were all different. There was no rhyme or reason to the seasons in the photos; they were all different too. No pattern to the weather depicted, no noticeable link to the subjects of all the photos. I was baffled; stuck in a mental trap I couldn't crawl my way out of…
A knocking shattered my train of thought. I couldn't deal with a visitor now, absolutely not. Within the space of a moment, I realized that there was a chance I was imagining the knocking, that when I opened the door I'd be imagining the person standing there. None of it would be real and I wouldn't know how to tell. I wondered how much time I'd spent running cases that my subconscious had conjured up on my behalf, how much actual time I'd wasted chasing myself through dirty alleyways and having conversations over greasy dim sum tables. Maybe this was why my funds were all but diminished.
The knock came again and I couldn't resist it. Too loud, too…everything to ignore.
The knob twisted and a head poked in. "Donny?" a voice seemed to bellow.
Chris, my brother-in-law. Or had been at one point. "Hey, Chris," I muttered, waving him in before taking a seat behind my desk.
Held before him in both hands was a banker's box. Simple cardboard thing, the kind of box you use to file papers or trinkets, mementos of things you shove up in the attic and forget about until that nostalgia hits you on a Friday night after a bottle of wine in an empty house. I was immediately uncomfortable.
"So, hey, I know it's been awhile. I haven't checked up on you the way I said I would. I'm sorry about that."
It wasn't so much the sentiment as it was the way he said it that made me want to slap some masculinity back into him. He wore his feelings in every facial pore. Great guy for poker games (if you wanted an easy read across the table), but he just seemed to ooze a kind of shameless lack of emotional reserve. "It's all right," I said. "Time passes, lives get lived, people adapt to change."
His fingers couldn't stay still, silently drumming along the sides and top of the box. I pointed. "What have you got there that's got you so jumpy?"
The ways his eyes widened, you'd think he'd just been given an electric shock.
"Jumpy, me? No. Definitely not jumpy," he sputtered. "It's just that Belinda is in the car and she's in kind of a hurry. Which is actually why I'm here. We've been cleaning out the house, we're selling it and moving. To Poughkeepsie."
I snorted. I tried like hell not to, but Poughkeepsie was like any other town with a funny name to me. Sheboygan. Kenosha. Milwaukee. Oshkosh…they all made me think of vanishing towns that only sprang to life when strangers drove through. Towns adept at creating town-like facades for those that passed by at thirty-five miles an hour. Chris appeared less amused than myself.
"Anyway, we were cleaning out the attic. Found this box of some of Natalie's stuff. We worried that some of it may have taken on some water damage or gotten moldy from the storms earlier this year, but Belinda thought you might want to sort through it before tossing anything out. So…yeah." He lifted the box up off his lap and held it out towards me. I leaned forward and began cleaning off some of my desk so he could leave it there and then leave me alone.
We both stood up and looked at each other. He sat the box down on my desktop and stuck out his hand, stiff and tin soldier-like. I didn't really dislike the guy, we just never had anything to talk about when Natalie and I came around. I shook his hand and like that, my office was empty again, the door shutting quickly behind him.
I took the lid off the box, sitting at the intersection of casual curiosity and burning need. Even through the top layer of ribbons and postcards and strange womanish tokens of an earlier life, I could see that the bulk of the box was a stack of loose photos. I saw no mold on anything and every object still seemed to be in nearly pristine shape even after all these years. But the photos…I could see immediately why he and Belinda thought the box had gone moldy. Anyone would've made the same mistake had they not known.
I reached down and grabbed a stack of them, dropping them to the desk with a thud and spreading them out loosely. Every picture of us, of me and Natalie or either of us by ourselves, no matter the pose, no matter the weather or locale, a shadowy grey figure had inserted itself in every background.
I realized then how long it'd been since I'd actively thought about our time together as husband and wife. It would be short-lived and we both knew it as she was sick when we married, but I didn't care. I hadn't fallen for anyone like I had for her. Straight goo-goo eyes with the cartoon hearts bursting out of them every time I saw her. Couldn't help it. But that had been a few years back now and I had distanced myself from her family. I just couldn't justify spending holidays around them after she passed. All the same questions about how I was doing or holding up, was I seeing anyone new, did I need anything, yada yada yada.
I rummaged through the pile and found another picture of her at our engagement party before she got real sick and became bed-ridden. She was wearing the same conservative-fit blue dress, same sparkly ring on her finger (I splurged), same perfect curves like country highways built for fast cars and faster women. But I guess I had somehow forgotten her smile and that killed a little part of me. I had conjured up a conversation with my dead wife in the bar downstairs and that was unsettling. But in the background of that photo? You guessed it; a shimmery gray figure damn near outlining Natalie from behind.
Now we had a pattern to work with. What that pattern was, however, I didn't exactly know, but like any good private dick, I had a hunch and started making a list of questions to ask my previous two clients. With any luck, I'd have an answer by nightfall. And maybe, just maybe, I'd end up keeping conversations with imaginary people to a minimum.
"What are they?" she asked. "It looks like you know what they are."
I nodded and ran my hand across the stubble on my cheek. "I don't really know how best to explain it without making myself sound crazy," I said. And I meant it. If I'd said this to anyone outside the situation, I would've been locked up and left to talk to padded walls, which I had no desire to do. Though I had a feeling Marcy the bartender was already inches away from making that call on my behalf.
I gathered up the photos from the desk and handed them back to her. I couldn't tell if her hands were trembling or mine. I don't think she could tell either and I saw her body stiffen, like she'd allowed a little bit of terror to take over. I swiveled in my chair and faced her. "Here's the thing…" I started, motioning for her to sit in the chair beside my desk. She kept the photos in her hand as she sat slowly, still clutching her purse.
I told her about the two women who'd come in before her with the same problem, the same questions, the same worried expressions. I told her about the woman (my wife) in the bar, I told her as much as I could without getting too tangential as good stories have the potential to do. I had her complete attention and I could've lied to her. I could've spun a yarn so illogical that she would've bought it without question. Conversely, I could've told her it was simply a flaw in the camera or the film or something and leave it at that. She would leave unsatisfied and her story without an end. Seemed a cruel thing to do knowing what I knew.
"On a whim, I got in touch with a buddy of mine at my old precinct. Turns out they've had a rash of these kinds of…stories…popping up over the last few months. That fuzzed out grey image is a thing they don't really like to deal with. Or have the capacity to deal with, honestly. They'll send that kind of case my way to avoid the paperwork and the headache. It's hard for them to explain to the public."
She scooted closer. I could smell the unnamed perfume on her. Tart, strong. Completely out of character for her. She'd obviously worn it just for her meeting with me. Unfortunately, I would, years later, associate that perfume stink to this case and to my memories of Natalie. All would be tangled up in each other so intricately I'd never be able to separate them from each other. I would become bitter in my old age because of it.
"Before I continue, I have to ask a couple questions."
She nodded wordlessly and I pulled a notepad out of my desk. It was already covered in questions and scribbled answers from the previous two clients. Despite being complete strangers to each other, most of their answers had been the same, so…I had a feeling this woman would answer accordingly.
"Are you married?"
"I was at one point."
"And when did your spouse pass?" Though this was only the third time I'd asked it, I hated the question. I knew the kind of feelings it would stir up, the kind of emotional crap we try to suppress whenever possible. That kind of pain is forever, even though it diminishes or flat out hides over time.
"2007. So, almost eight years ago now."
Hm. A lesbian. Hadn't expected that. Check.
"How often would you say you think about her?"
The woman slumped back into the chair and stopped white-knuckling her purse. "Well gosh, I'd say most of the time? My house is filled with things we either bought together or made together. I never had the heart to change anything once she died. Sometimes the remembering is nice, you know?"
I nodded and smiled. "I do."
"Last question: do you believe in an afterlife? Doesn't matter the specifics of what you believe, just that you believe in some kind of existence after this one."
She sighed and looked out the window. "I want to, but it's a big idea. On the one hand, I hope there is. Maybe then I'd get to see Veronica again. That'd be nice. On the other hand, it's not hard to believe that we just go to sleep forever, that this life is just a small jolt of electricity that's awakened us for a finite amount of time and once we run out of juice, that's it. Just toys in God's playroom."
Damn. Lady was dropping some serious knowledge bombs in my direction and I almost lost my focus. Check.
She swatted the air. "Sorry. That may have been more than you wanted."
I don't know why I did it, but I reached out and put my hand on her knee, hoping to comfort her. "It's okay. Really. One last question. It's kind of strange."
"Go ahead."
"If I told you that you were being benevolently haunted by your wife through the photography in your home, would you believe that?"
She chewed her lip. Whether from the lip-chewing or the possible truth of the question, her eyes watered up. "Maybe?"
Close enough. Check.
I let the room stay silent for a moment while she processed the idea. She'd start to say something, then stop and stare back out the window, make to speak again, stop again. It was a heavy thing to come to terms with. Luckily I was able to handle the other clients over the phone. Made it easier for me, but not for them. Hell, it took me a couple days on my own to come to grips with the reality of it.
But in talking to the other widows, it became less muddy. The more they thought about their dead spouses, the more pictures they found with shimmery figures. Like their grief was manifesting itself into a kind of ethereal tether keeping the fallen from moving on. How much of a logical leap was it to think the figures in the pictures were a way to communicate to the living? Blighting the images, ruining them in the hopes of breaking that tether and forcing their living spouses to move on? A wisp of a life once lived still dancing in the winds of time, trying to say hello and goodbye at the same time.
The woman stood up, clutching her purse in one hand and sticking the other out. I stood and shook her hand, pulled her into an embrace that didn't normally come naturally to me, and she left my office without saying a word.
I closed up shop early that night. I'd had enough and thought I'd go downstairs and try to chat up Marcy, confirm to her that I wasn't losing my mind even though that might have very well been the case. Only the delusional try to convince you that they aren't.
It was the tail-end of happy hour and the bar was empty yet again. I wondered how much business they actually got that allowed them to stay open. I'm sure people wondered the same about me as I sat down at my usual place. Marcy saw me and didn't hurry to come say hey. Guess I had sufficiently weirded her out the other night. Understandable.
"Donny," she said, nodding.
"Yes ma'am," I replied, managing a smile.
Marcy looked at me and then gave a sideways glance to the other side of the bar. "Your lady friend here tonight?"
I turned to look and sure enough, there she was, stunning in that blue dress again, tapping her fingers on an empty rocks glass.
"No ma'am. Doesn't appear to be anyone here but you and me right now."
"Atta boy," she said as she turned and made her way down the bar alley.
I looked back at Natalie (no longer 'Jamie') and winked. She smiled back. Marcy arrived with the tea and I dunked the bag two or three times, looked back over and Natalie had disappeared.
About the Author: Adam "Bucho" Rodenberger is a 36 year old writer from Kansas City.
He has been published in Agua Magazine, Alors, Et Tois?, Aphelion, Bluestem Magazine, BrainBox Magazine, Cause & Effect Magazine, Cahoodaloodaling, Crack the Spine, Eunoia Review, Ginosko Literary Journal, Glint Literary Journal, The Gloom Cupboard, L'allures des Mots, Lunch Box, Meat For Tea: The Valley Review, Offbeatpulp, Penduline Press, Phoebe, The Santa Clara Review, Serving House Journal, Sheepshead Review, Slice Magazine, Up The Staircase, Fox Spirit's "Girl at the End of the World: Book 1" anthology, and has been shortlisted for the Almond Press "Broken Worlds" fiction contest.
He blogs at http://triphoprisy.blogspot.com


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As the Roanoke Times reported here and the Richmond paper reported here, the United States Department of Justice is paying over $1 million of money forfeited in the Buchanan County RICO case back to the County as the victim of the Big Coon Dog case. Here is the press release from the office of John Brownlee, the U.S. Attorney for the W.D. Va. The Roanoke article mentions that I am outside counsel for the County as it tries to get its money back.
Some people have asked me what kind of proceeding was this, that resulted in this payment of the money to the County. The answer is that in the criminal case, the District Court did not order restitution but did enter a series of forfeiture orders against the defendants, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 981 and 982. Under 18 U.S.C. § 981(e)(6), property forfeited pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 981 may be transferred to the victim of the offenses which gave rise to the forfeiture. Accordingly, we filed a petition for remission of the forfeiture with the Department of Justice under 28 C.F.R. §§ 9.1 et seq. The law enforcement officials in Virginia - the prosecutors and the IRS and FBI - had to make recommendations to the DOJ in Washington, which they did, and their recommendations resulted in favorable action by the DOJ in Washington on the County's petition.


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Ever since I was little one of my favorite places to ride was up the road to visit my Grandpa. I would ride right up next to this window and wait until he would see me... he would always greet me with the biggest smile and a friendly wave. Oftentimes I would tie my horse up and go inside for a short visit. He was quick to offer me a cookie, tell me a story about a horse from his past or just offer me some daily encouragement. I never left his house without first getting a firm handshake and maybe a kiss on the cheek. And no matter what, he would always tell me how much he loved me, and that he was proud of me.
It's hard to believe that it has been almost two years since we have enjoyed a visit together, Grandpa. Tonight as I rode next to your window, I could imagine your cheerful smile through that glass... I would give an awful lot to once again firmly grip your big hand and tell you I love you. I know without a doubt that you loved me, because you never missed an opportunity to tell me. That is just one of the many things that I learned from you... and I am forever grateful. I miss you lots, Grandpa... and as you would always say..."I sure do love you..."
Always thank Jesus for those that He has given you... and never miss an opportunity to tell someone you love them! You won't have them around forever.


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MvPCbase - network inventory database
MvPCbase (Personal)
You may install a copy of the Software on a computer and freely move the Software from one computer to another, provided that you are the only individual using the Software and only one copy of it runs at any moment.Order (99 EUR)
MvPCbase (Client-Server)
You must acquire one copy of the software for each machine on which MvPCbase (Server) application will be installed.
You are permitted to install the MvPCbase (Client) application on as many machines as you see fit. There is no limitation on the number of Client applications which are connected concurrently to MvPCbase (Server).


text:
OR not.
Let's list some recent good things:
Watching - I just finished catching up on Glee! I love that show so much!!! (Mr. Schuester!! *swoon*) I am also working my way through True Blood. Oh, and Vampire Diaries is pretty great, too!
Playing - Tap Tap Revenge. It's like Guitar Hero for the iPod touch. (I just bought one, it is the most amazing gadget I have ever owned!)
Listening - Glee soundtracks, Ke$ha (lol), and new Vampire Weekend and Rihanna.
Reading - Charlaine Harris's series that True Blood is based on. I just started the first one, Dead Until Dark.
I am also packing up and cleaning like crazy because I am moving in about 2 weeks. Can it please just all be done now?!
Keep smiling!


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Friday, April 10, 2015
A bit of balsa for breakfast
7 comments :
- Phyllis said...
The Hideout is looking good. Love it!
- 10:20 am, April 10, 2015
- Kristine PaperDollMiniatures said...
The windows look fantastic with the lettering and the frosted decal! I'm so looking forward to seeing the reveal!
I'm working away into the night trying to get my scene ready... (much like your last post... It was so nice to wake up and know someone else was feeling the deadline panic too!) I hope things are going well for you today :)
- 12:33 pm, April 10, 2015
- The Shopping Sherpa said...
Part of me is wondering if the deadline is 10 April local time or 10 April Shapeways time: in which case I'd have whole lot of extra hours to work on it...
- 1:57 pm, April 10, 2015
- Kristine PaperDollMiniatures said...
The Shapeways site is back up...says All entries due by 11:59pm PST on April 10, 2015. So just a little under 24 hours left...
- 2:08 pm, April 10, 2015
- The Shopping Sherpa said...
Duh! So I should have read the terms and conditions more closely, huh?!
(And thank you! That means I can try some night shots tonight and some day shots in the morning and see which works best...)
- 5:47 pm, April 10, 2015
- Kikka N said...
Congrats! Your cafe looks great with the name on the frosted windows!
- 12:54 am, April 11, 2015
- Penelope said...
Your cafe looks great! I love the lettering!
- 4:07 am, April 11, 2015


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Still of Kevin Sorbo in God's Not Dead (2014)
Caption: Still of Kevin Sorbo in God's Not Dead (2014)
Actor, Producer, Director
Born: September 24, 1958
Star sign: Libra
Height: 6' 3" (1.91 m)
Known for: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995), Andromeda (2000), God's Not Dead (2014), Meet the Spartans (2008)
Source: IMDB
Kevin spent 3 years traveling around the world, modeling for print ads and appearing in over 150 commercials, before landing in his breakout series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995). Kevin David Sorbo was born in Mound, Minnesota, on September 24, 1958, to Ardis (Thompson), a nurse, and Lynn Nain Sorbo, a high school teacher. His father was ...


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Starting last May, every federal agency began reporting spending as open data, under the DATA Act of 2014, delivering transparency outside the government and new opportunities for efficiency inside.
At the center of this new process is a data standard, the DATA Act Information Model Schema (DAIMS). The DAIMS expresses the basic data elements of agencies' spending reports and how they relate to one another. Because every agency must follow the DAIMS, and because the Treasury Department has aggregated all their reports into a single open data set, Americans can now view a single, electronic picture of the entire executive branch's finances.
Still obscure, after the DATA Act: federal procurement!
But the open data transformation has not yet reached federal procurement. Most procurement information hasn't been systematically standardized or published, the way we have seen it done through the DATA Act, regarding agencies' finances.
Each agency must report a basic summary of each of its contracts to the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS), and those summaries are now part of the DAIMS' structure. However, the rest of the procurement picture is beyond the DAIMS', and the DATA Act's, reach.
First, the information that contractors must submit to contracting agencies and to the General Services Administration is not consistently standardized. Second, details about the timing and amounts of payments are tracked differently from agency to agency. Third, agencies' records of contract award processes and bidding also have yet to be standardized.
Because contractors' reports, payment details, and agency award processes are not part of any standardized electronic picture, taxpayers have only a murky picture of how their funds are used.
Globally, governments spend around $9.5 trillion on public-private contracts each year. The United States invests a little over 10 percent of the country's GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) in procurement, which rounds out to about $1.8 trillion. In this exchange, the government contracts business to secure goods and services through a bidding process, which can be partially followed here in the United States. But, in the space of $1.8 trillion, there's plenty of room for inefficiencies and some ambiguity.
The quickest route to procurement transparency: the Open Contracting Data Standard
Fortunately, a data standard already exists that could bring together federal procurement information in one electronic picture - just as the DAIMS has done for agencies' finances. It is called the Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS).
The OCDS is a global, non-proprietary data standard applied during the public contracting process that results in "shareable, reusable, machine-readable open data" across the life-cycle of public procurement. It was built, and is maintained, by a global nonprofit organization, the Open Contracting Partnership.
It's in use by many national governments, notably in Ukraine, where it has saved taxpayers money and reduced corruption. The United States is not one of them - not yet.
The OCDS schema covers the whole procurement process – from opening bids to all the way to contract fulfillment. By adopting the OCDS and applying it to all procurement information, then publishing that information on one public platform, governments can open their procurement processes to scrutiny and analysis - both externally and internally.
Citizens, contractors, watchdog groups, and government offices can, then, assess returns on investment and adjust to secure competitive, high-quality bids, while increasing transparency.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates that veiled, or corrupt, procurement practices consume between 20 and 25 percent of national budgets (global average). What might be seen as the cost of doing business in some countries ultimately poisons relations between citizens and their government.
The OCDS is the only comprehensive data standard for procurement. Governments seeking to bring transparency to procurement no longer need to invent their own, thanks to the Open Contracting Partnership.
The Open Contracting Data Standard's Ukrainian success story
Ukraine, a country known for associated costs of doing business, now stands as an example of procurement transparency as citizens and leaders seek to bring lasting reform in a post-revolution society. The Euromaidan Revolution (Fall 2013 – Spring 2014) in Ukraine was fed, in large part, by the full breach of trust between Ukrainians and their leaders. Following the revolution, a group of talented volunteers decided to bring reform to public procurement, which had seen an annual loss of $2 billion in bribery and favoritism.
Inspired by public procurement reforms in Georgia (Tbilisi), like-minded social activists developed an e-procurement system for all Ukrainian public agencies. This e-procurement system, ProZorro, uses the OCDS for its data structure.
With ProZorro (which means 'Transparent' in Ukrainian), Ukraine opened the state procurement process, including bids, awards, and reports, to anyone who cared to monitor the process. Since its introduction, ProZorro has supported the growth of awarded contracts and has started to compromise the previously healthy system of procurement grafts. As Ukrainian leaders and citizens work towards reform, the tools provided through ProZorro have aided in the progress towards greater transparency.
Using the OCDS, ProZorro connects to a central database that collects all information related to the procurement process – including pre- and post-award figures – and can be viewed by anyone. The architects of ProZorro use an API so that all information, regardless of the platform can be updated in the database. It is an open, non-proprietary, and replicable system that has garnered international recognition for procurement reform.
U.S. policymakers: time to adopt the OCDS!
Over 22 countries have adopted the OCDS and similar e-procurement platforms, including Canada, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Ukraine, Moldova, Slovakia, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, and Uganda. Vietnam and Nepal have developed pilot programs, and stand ready to pursue full implementation in the near future.
The United States lacks a comprehensive data standard for procurement. We ought to consider fixing that by requiring the OCDS on pre-award activities, contractor reports, payments, and the whole procurement process.
An OCDS-based system in the United States would aid government agencies in rooting out waste, increase competitive bids, and provide U.S. citizens with greater insights into how their taxes are used on goods and services procured by the U.S. government.
Taxpayers should expect full transparency into the $1.8 trillion of their money that goes through federal procurement. The OCDS could be the mechanism to usher that expectation to reality.


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Salmon Teriyaki
P Fish can seem challenging to make at home but, pavé de saumon caramélisé (salmon teriyaki) is an ultra-easy recipe. All you need to do is ask your fishmonger to prep the salmon in advance for you. I made a teriyaki-inspired glaze to go with the salmon and served it with rice.
If you've been following my culinary adventures since the beginning of Pham Fatale, you may recall that I posted one of Lulu's favorite tofu recipes, called "sesame tofu caramelized with agave nectar and wasabi". This vegetarian recipe was inspired by this salmon dish. I hadn't made it in a long. tine, but my mother-in-law brought home some beautiful salmon fillets, so I told her I'd be in charge and surprise her. She loved it even though she said I should have tripled the amount of wasabi paste (she loves spicy food). You're welcome to follow her advice if you prefer it really spicy, but I'm a wimp, so I'll stick to just a half teaspoon...
Yields: 4 servings4 salmon fillets (about 5 ounces per fillet)
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ cup honey
1-½ tablespoons ginger garlic paste (see tips)
½ teaspoon wasabi paste
1 to 1-½ tablespoons water
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
2 tablespoons lime juice, freshly squeezed
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
⅔ cup ponzu soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
5 tablespoons canola oil (or any neutral oil)
1 teaspoon sesame oil, optional
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
4 sprigs cilantro (or green onions), for garnish
Prepping the salmon: Ask your fishmonger to prep the salmon fillets and remove the pin bones. Pat dry using paper towels. Season with salt and cayenne powder. Plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
Preheat the oven to 500°F.
For the teriyaki sauce: In a bowl, combine the honey, ginger garlic paste, wasabi paste, water, rice vinegar, brown sugar, lime juice, ponzu and paprika in a bowl. Warm it in the microwave (or over low heat on the stove); the sugar should be dissolved.
Grilling salmon: Brush a hot non-stick griddle pan with a generous layer of oil. Pat the salmon dry one more time. Using a brush, lightly coat the salmon fillets as well. Add the garlic and cook until slightly golden. Once the oil is hot, place the salmon fillets, skin side down. Pan-sear for a minute and flip the salmon skin side up for an additional minute. You want nice grill marks.
Baking salmon: Quickly transfer the salmon fillets to a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Brush the teriyaki sauce over the fillets. Immediately place the salmon fillets in the oven and bake for 8 minutes (depending on the thickness of the fillets). Baste the fish with more teriyaki sauce; the salmon should be coated with sauce. Remove from the oven. Lightly cover with a sheet of aluminum foil. Allow the fish to rest for at least 15 minutes before serving.
To check for doneness, a digital thermometer should register 120°F in the thickest part of the salmon fillet.
Top with toasted sesame seeds, drizzle a little sesame oil (if used) and garnish with sprigs of cilantro.
Serve hot with steamed jasmine rice and sautéed tender pea shoot tendrils (an Asian baby spinach-like green) in garlic or choy sum. During the summer, you could also serve them as salmon burgers.
Bon appétit!
Wasabi is a green colored horseradish paste. You could also use wasabi powder. You can buy either of these in any Korean store. I bought mine at the Marina -10122 Bandley Drive -Cupertino, CA 95014.
I used our family friend Mrs. Winsor's honey. It's very floral, not overly sweet and absolutely delicious. If you don't have honey, you could also make maple glazed salmon with maple syrup or use agave nectar.
I used ponzu soy sauce; it's perfect for the teriyaki sauce. It's lemony, tangy, sweet and less salty than regular soy sauce.
I've seen fresh pineapple juice used in place of the water for making teriyaki sauce in Japanese restaurants. I didn't have any but if you use pineapple, you might want to adjust the level of sweetness by decreasing the amount of brown sugar.
You've probably noticed I use ginger garlic paste a lot in my cooking. It tastes great and is very healthy for you as well. Just clean the ginger, carefully removing any dirt. Peel the ginger root with a paring knife or the edge of a spoon, then finely chop it. Place the chopped ginger and 5 cloves of garlic in a blender and, add about 2 tablespoons (or more) of water for a smooth flow. Transfer to a jar and store in the refrigerator. You can keep this paste for at least a week in the refrigerator.
I baked the fillets for 8 minutes. The cooking time depends on the thickness of the fillet. I usually count about 10-12 minutes per inch of salmon. But the safest way to check for doneness is a digital thermometer; the fish will be cooked to perfection once the temperature reaches 120°F.
Depending on the season, you can also grill the salmon fillets on a barbecue to get nice grill marks and baste the fish with the teriyaki sauce. I love bbq salmon!
If you like a darker color and a spicier flavor, you can add 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne powder to the sauce, but I think the wabasi paste adds enough spiciness already.
If you don't have salmon, you can make this recipe with any other fish fillets such as grouper. They're equally delicious.
For a vegetarian version, check out my tofu teryaki:February 19, 2010.


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Walkley Community Centre has very competitive rates with a small discount offered to charities with regular bookings (please ask for details).
Prices below are per hour
Please note these prices are effective from January 2019
NEW: we now have disco/stage lights in Ruskin: £25 per evening
Payment: Hire charges must be paid in full at least 14 days before the hire date. Details of how to pay are on your Booking Confirmation.
£150-250 deposit cheque is required for all large events: This will be returned or destroyed after the management meeting following your event.
Decorating the Hall: You are welcome to tie up fairy lights, bunting and balloons but please no sticking, sellotaping or pinning to the walls or woodwork, as it ruins our paintwork.
Please bring bin liners: you need to take all rubbish away with you (unless we are providing a bar, in which case we will remove all bar-related items)
We don't allow tea lights/candles but we do have a number of battery-operated ones you are welcome to borrow. Please do ask at time of booking.
At the end of your hire make sure everything is tidy, clean and back where you found it ready for the next hirer. Please do not leave cars or equipment overnight without asking us before your hire.
Hire Policies
It is a condition of hire that you agree to abide by all of the policies below. Please read them so you know what you are signing up to when you book!
Fire Safety and Emergency Plan
Vulnerable Adult & Child Protection
Other Community Centre policies can be see here


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I always set out to achieve a major goal of mine around that 5 year milestone. I can say with near certainty, that this particular goal will be accomplished….Read More
I'm absolutely thrilled to introduce to you all Ryley Jewellery Creations newest team members; Tiona Pemberton, and her fluffy pooch; Bear!Read More
I will be creating an amazing bespoke creation for the event which is to be auctioned off to the highest bidder on the night. The creation will be worth more then $5000 and it will be made from 18ct yellow and white gold featuring a Parti Sapphire with a unique halo of white diamonds.Read More
Having a few weeks off over the Christmas break allowed me to take a step back and have a good think about where I want Ryley JC to go in 2018 and beyond....Read More
We are very proud to have made it as far as what we have... but the constant fight within myself to be the perfect dad, husband, business owner, jeweller and designer....Read More
Every now and then when I create a piece of jewellery I sit back and think "Wow! I actually made that with my bare hands. I turned that lump of gold and pile of stones into something somebody will cherish for a lifetime".Read More
Most people are surprised to hear this, because for some reason, they have always believed, or been told, that 9 carat gold is harder, or harder wearing than 18 carat gold...Read More
So, if you think that the price on a "natural" pink diamond is "too good to be true," it probably is.Read More


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Here at Marton Windows we are approved installers of Gliderols fantastic Roller Garage Door systems. Perfect for saving space and efficient clever design for your garage!
The Roll•a•Glide insulated roller garage door By Gliderol is an intelligent design solution creating a smart and stylish door that features vertical travel, insulation, all round weather protection and remote control operation as standard – quite a package!
The most compact garage door type, the door rolls neatly round a barrel above the door, using the very minimum of space inside the garage. Indeed, when space is very tight, a compact version is available that requires just 205mm of headroom
Available in a wide range of colours! There is a style for everyone! Visit our showroom to see a sample or call us today on 01642 494950 to book a free no obligation quotation, or to speak to a member of our lovely team!
Check out some of the fantastic Samples from Marton Windows and Gliderol!


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Home > Prescription Glasses > Esprit > ET17487 (527)
ET 17487 is available in 4 additional attractive styles
Size and availability
Free outbound and return shipping
30-day money-back guarantee
Low prices
Free outbound and return shipping
30-day money-back guarantee
Low prices
ET17487/527 Eyewear
With these designer eyeglasses, you are always perfectly dressed. The ET17487 is available in the Edel-Optics online shop in other styles from Esprit collections 2018 and 2019.
Expressive lines add character to the classical approach, making the glasses a must-have for women. Eyewear is in. Full rim is extremely popular, because you feel that you get more eyeglass for your money. It is not just about their resilience, but also about the visibility of material and design, which are of the highest quality. The square shape gives round faces a concise form and makes them appear more striking. It sets a highlight in the appearance, drawing attention to itself. The noble metal frame allows for filigree lines and creates an extraordinary lightness in appearance. In addition, metal eyeglasses are virtually indestructible - strong, flexible and corrosion resistant. Whether natural or extravagant - the colour green makes you stand out from the crowd and makes your eyeglasses the perfect accessory.
Moreover, we can also provide you with the correct prescription lenses at an incredibly low price. The only thing you need to provide us with are your current dioptre values determined by your ophthalmologist. Together with our digital dispensing optician, you can choose between reasonably priced brand lenses from Germany or premium brands such as Seiko, Hoya and Rodenstock. Edel-Optics' plastic lenses have many features such as anti-reflection coating, lotus effect, cleaning coating, antistatic and hard coating at no extra charge.
The glasses are in stock. If you order now, we can send out your glasses immediately. Decide now and secure your exclusive discount, because this model is in the sale! But only while supplies last.
Don't hesitate to call us at
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Learning in Harmony Trust
Learning in Harmony Trust is a charitable company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales with company number 09148738
Learning in Harmony Trust is a charitable company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales with company number 09148738
Contact at:
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Phone: 0208 325 4560
Registered office:
Learning in Harmony Trust
Sheringham Primary School
Sheringham Avenue,
Newham, E12 5PB
The Learning in Harmony Trust was formed in September 2014 by Sheringham Primary School and JFK Special School.
In 2015, we were joined by two other Newham schools, Upton Cross Primary School and Hartley Primary School, and three further schools joined us in the first term of the 2016-17 school year - Blenheim Primary School and the Federation of Thorpe Greenways Junior and Infant Schools, all of which are located in Southend. Drew Primary School and Temple Sutton Primary are the latest to join the team.
We do expect to further increase our number of schools and expand our geographical range in the near future, but there is no intention to outgrow our capacity. We want to be big enough to sustainably do all the amazing things we want to do, but small enough to still know each other very well.
We want to be big enough to sustainably do all the amazing things we want to do, but small enough to still know each other very well!
For us, learning in harmony doesn't mean all schools have to be the same. We are bound together by our belief that by working in partnership as one organisation we can make a significant difference to the children and young people in our schools. We are proud to have both similarities and differences as schools, and see this diversity as a strength.
As in other Multi Academy Trusts (MATs), the Learning In Harmony Trust has taken responsibility for the running of its members schools from the local council, and we are directly funded and overseen by the Department for Education. As a group we are committed to working with each other, but also to working in partnership with other local schools and providers.
We are often asked how different a MAT is from informal partnerships that have historically been valued by mainstream schools. We cherish those and continue to identify and share best practice externally and to use this to improve the provision for all pupils. However, internally we see ourselves as mutually accountable for each other's schools, and therefore really engage in sharing, challenging and supporting each other - while still giving each one plenty of space to explore individually and retain their own very unique characteristics. It is a fine line, but so far we have been quite good at it – it is our shared values that unite us.
We all believe that empowering everyone within and around our organisation, through rigorous support and challenge, will help us to maximise the life chances of the pupils in our care.


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We offer a variety of anodized finishes, from small, complex assemblies to 11-foot structures. Our electrolytic process maximizes protection against corrosion and wear and improves paint primer and glue adhesion for optimum life and cosmetic results.
Our Anodize Department is capable of processing small parts and fasteners as well as large structural components and parts up to 11 feet in length. The processes we offer consist of chem film, Type I chromic acid anodize, Type II sulfuric acid anodize and Type III hard anodize. Anodized parts can also be colored using a variety of prepared and ready organic dyes or left natural. This Department is located in a 12,000 sq foot stand alone building incorporating forty one (41) 12′ tanks with an overhead crane line and the Department's own masking and racking areas. This Department provides the highest quality and efficiency of anodizing services available on the market.
Chromic acid anodize, or Type 1, is the oldest-known anodizing process and commonly used for corrosion protection under extreme service conditions or as a base (pretreatment) for paint systems. Voltage is increased throughout the process, creating an opaque film that is thinner, softer and more ductile than other methods of+View details
Sulfuric acid anodize, or Type 2, is the most popular anodizing solution, particularly for aluminum. It offers a broad range of finish thicknesses that are generally categorized as "moderate." The sulfuric acid coating changes the properties of the substrate, increasing the metal's wear and corrosion resistance, improving its ability to+View details
Hardcoat anodize, often called Type III Hard Anodize, is an electrochemical process used for aluminum components subject to extreme wear or corrosive environments. Thicker and denser than Type II, hard anodize is often specified for applications requiring superior abrasion resistance, a thicker coating, or enhanced electrical insulation. Since the thickness+View details
Chemical conversion coatings are usually used a pretreatment on parts to prepare the surface for excellent paint adhesion. Typically applied by immersion, chromate conversion coatings also produce hydrophobic and abrasion resistance films. Our large crane line has ample capacity for your chem film needs on all sizes and volumes of+View details


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The Fiat 500 Abarth is now head in the range of Fiat, being capable of developing up to 200 horsepower. The tuner promises a better road holding after having built in a special coil-over kit which lowers the Fiat a few mm and changes the account with EUR1.270 fitting and vehicle inspection registry included. Beside the improved performance from 135 horsepower up to 200 horsepower the maximum hinge moment rises definitely.
Karl Schnorr Kraftfahrzeuge - Saturated Capacity for the Fiat 500 Abarth - up to 200 hp
The Fiat 500 Abarth is currently the head in the range of Fiat. Those who wait for a really fast 500 will be satisfied as soon as this athlete passes through the school of capacity of tuner Karl Schnorr Kraftfahrzeuge.
But one step after the other!
Schnorr leverages the visual appearance up by using sporty parts. The aluminium rims from OZ in red (Seria Rossa) and in size 7x17" are worth 1.090,00 Euro fitting and vehicle inspection registryincluded. An improvement for sure, the "normal" Abarth looks much more athletic.
Schnorr promises a better road holding after having built in a special coilover kit which lowers the Fiat a few millimetres and charges the account with 1.270,00 Euro fitting and vehicle inspection registry included. For the measurement of the axis will be charged 85,00 Euro and for the adaption of the body 285,00 Euro. No question the serial Abarth accessories emphasize the outline of the Fiat is skilfully. They continue the dynamic layout of the line in a modern way and make hungry for way more.
Power Level I (163 hp - 950,00 Euro) from Schnorr offers for the 1,4-motor with serial 135 hp an improved performance of 28 hp and 45 Nm. At power level II (5.050,00 Euro) you should buckle your seat belt very tight. An aligned engine software in combination with a sport exhaust system with a big turbo charger gives the Fiat 500 the additional 65 hp. Besides the improved performance from 135 up to 200 hp the maximum hinge moment rises definitely. It can keep on carrying Euro 4-Norm.
Car specs
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Credit Card repayment calculator
Important information
2. Complimentary insurance covers: AWP Australia Pty Ltd ABN 52 097 2227 177 AFSL 245631 (trading as Allianz Global Assistance) under a binder from the insurer, Allianz Australia Insurance Limited ABN 15 000 122 850 AFSL 234708 has issued an insurance group policy to Westpac Banking Corporation ABN 33 007 457 141 AFSL and Australian credit licence 233714 (Westpac) which allows eligible BankSA account holders and cardholders to claim under it as third party beneficiaries. Any advice on insurance is general advice only and not based on any consideration of your objectives, financial situation or needs. The terms, conditions, limits and exclusions of the group policy are set out in the Credit Card Complimentary Insurance Terms and Conditions which may be amended from time to time. Westpac does not guarantee this insurance.
Calculations provided are an estimate only. They do not include fees, charges or any promotional offers that may be applicable and assume that your monthly repayment amount is never overdue. Any additional transactions you make, including purchases or balance transfers, or interest rate changes that occur during the repayment period are not taken into consideration in the estimate provided.
*If your statement shows a closing balance, the minimum repayment will be 2% of the closing balance (rounded up to the nearest dollar) or $10, whichever is greater, plus the greater of any unpaid past due amounts from previous statements or any amount that exceeds your approved credit limit.
^This estimate does not include fees and charges that may apply to your credit card.


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Maternal health story I worked on in Nigeria for Rotary International was published in December's issue of their magazine The Rotarian. I visited several hospitals around Kano in northern Nigeria and in Lagos to see the conditions and how the equipment Rotary has donated is impacting services. Hospitals in the north have mostly only basic equipment and power cuts are a daily occurrence. Despite challenges, hospitals supported by Rotary have seen a substantial drop in maternal and newborn deaths.
#maternalhealth #Nigeria #health #ultrasound #mother #nurse