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Thursday, July 24, 2008
Little Lawyer
"I never want to be apart from you!" Oldest announces.
"Well you say that now, but you might change your mind when you grow up," I say.
"NO! I will never change my mind!" she shouts. "I don't want to get married! I don't want to have babies! I just want to stay with my family forever."
"Oh that's so sweet," I say. "I should put that in a contract and make you sign it! Also put in a clause that you will never put Mommy and Daddy in a nursing home!"
"What's a contract?" Oldest asks.
"It's a legal document and it just puts in writing an agreement between people," I explain.
"But why would you need a contract?" Oldest asks suspiciously.
"Well I'd put it in your memory box to remind you of what you said. Cause people change their minds as they grow older."
"Well I said I wouldn't change my mind!"
"I know, hon, but you never know..."
"And what's a nursing home?" she asks.
"Don't worry about that sweetie, just agree that you will never put Mommy and Daddy in one and everything will be just fine."
"Well, a contract sounds like a good idea, but maybe you should also put in stuff about how much allowance I get and what my chores are and what the other girls chores are, you know?" Oldest asks.
"Uh huh," I mutter.
"I mean I should get more allowance as I get older, right? And when can I get my own phone? And when am I allowed to wear makeup? And what about Angus and Youngest? Don't they have to sign too? And I think you should put in that they are not allowed to play with my stuff unless they have my permission..."
"Ha Ha, I was just joking about the contract?" I cut her off. "Ha ha! Big joke! Forget I said anything. Just go play."
Later on I hear the three girls playing together when suddenly I hear Angus yell out, "What do you mean I have to give you my pokemon cards if I touch your stuff without your permission! I'm not signing that!"
Uh oh.
28 comments:
- Lana Gramlich said...
Fortunately minors can't enter into legal contracts, so everyone does have an "out" if necessary. Sounds like that contract Oldest wanted would've rivalled the best that the Disney Corp. could produce on a GOOD day. Perhaps she should consider a career in law...if she ever actually decides to leave Mommy & Daddy. ;) *L*
- July 28, 2008 at 8:37 PM
I'm Jules and I work at bestrank.com, a company interested in blog advertizing. I found your blog engaging and I'm contacting you to ask if you are interested in blog post sponsorship.
If you are interested, kindly mail back for confirmation(firstname.lastname@example.com).Please include your blog's URL.
Looking forward to doing business with you.
Jules Viernes
- July 28, 2008 at 8:53 PM
- moonrat said...
- July 28, 2008 at 9:08 PM
- Aerin said...
what moonie said
- July 28, 2008 at 9:38 PM
- Merry Monteleone said...
I heart your kids, Ello....
I actually laughed out loud, too funny.
- July 28, 2008 at 11:57 PM
- pacatrue said...
My older brother did the classic "can I just get your autograph for fun?" trick with the rest of the paper covered up. Can't remember anymore what contract I had signed, but it wasn't pretty.
- July 29, 2008 at 2:02 AM
- Charles Gramlich said...
Did you ever read "The Tin Drum?" Show her the movie made from that and I think she'll want to grow up.
- July 29, 2008 at 2:46 AM
- JaneyV said...
LOL that's priceless! Thank goodness I put my tea down before reading the end - that would've been messy!
- July 29, 2008 at 3:19 AM
- jjdebenedictis said...
I mean I should get more allowance as I get older, right? And when can I get my own phone? And when am I allowed to wear makeup?
She's not so in love with staying little as she thinks she is...
- July 29, 2008 at 5:22 AM
- Precie said...
That's FANTASTIC! With parents who are both lawyers, how could Oldest not become cautious and specific when considering what to sign her name to?! And LOL at her implementing contracts with Angus.
- July 29, 2008 at 10:12 AM
- March to the Sea said...
i bet, come 13 of 14 she won't want to be around you. (no offense we expect the same with our oldest!)
- July 29, 2008 at 10:32 AM
- Demon Hunter said...
LOL. Too funny, Ello. Kids are so smart and they pick up things so easily. :-)
- July 29, 2008 at 11:41 AM
- Travis Erwin said...
What is they say about the apple?
- July 29, 2008 at 12:44 PM
- Melissa Marsh said...
How adorable!
- July 29, 2008 at 3:46 PM
- pjd said...
I think you live too close to DC. You need to get your children away from the influence of that culture before they turn into politicians. Or, worse... lobbyists.
Paca: as a little brother, I feel your pain.
- July 29, 2008 at 4:04 PM
- Steve Malley said...
Freakin' BRILLIANT!
Thanks for the laugh!!
- July 29, 2008 at 7:26 PM
- Larramie said...
Can you imagine them all living at home...forever? :)
- July 29, 2008 at 9:06 PM
- Sarah Hina said...
It's in the blood, Ello! Might as well get used to it...
Your next book needs to be about 3 precocious sisters and their indomitable mom. Really. I want to read more! :)
- July 29, 2008 at 9:43 PM
- writtenwyrdd said...
Ah, a budding lawyer! You'd best get that contract signed right quick!
So funny!
- July 29, 2008 at 10:27 PM
- Absolute Vanilla (and Atyllah) said...
LOL! She catches on fast. And shows the makings of a lawyer perhaps? ;-)
- July 30, 2008 at 6:31 AM
- Bernita said...
What a kid. Perfect title.
- July 30, 2008 at 7:58 AM
- cindy said...
haha! i always love it when our "jokes" get turned on us. *sighs* i love your girls!
- July 30, 2008 at 8:02 PM
- Robin S. said...
Both of my girls did the Peter Pan female version thing - the youngest went on for a while with it. At first I wondered what was wrong with me that I couldn't raise independent children, then I realized I could - and they felt free enough to tell me the truth, which is a big deal.
Sounds like yours can as well (not that I didn't already have that one figured out!!!) You go, girls!
All four of ya.
- July 30, 2008 at 9:40 PM
- Mom In Scrubs said...
What a compliment to you and Da Man that your kids don't want to ever leave home!! I'll give you that it would be kinda scary if they actually intended to fulfill this prophecy...still, it's a nice thought sometimes when you see them growing up so fast.
- July 31, 2008 at 9:51 PM
- J. L. Krueger said...
I hope you save this post...ours said similar things...then they turned into TEENAGERS! ARRGH!
It will be good to show her when she goes through that "evil teen" stage.
- August 1, 2008 at 5:04 AM
- The Anti-Wife said...
Three more future lawyers! Congratulations!
- August 1, 2008 at 1:12 PM
- Mary Witzl said...
My kids used to say this too! I used to praise how big and beautiful they'd gotten and wonder aloud how much more wonderful they would get. They used to get jealous when I admired the babies of friends and thought they were cute...
And Jules has visited you too! Now I'm wondering if he's said the same thing to all the girls.
- August 2, 2008 at 7:17 AM
- laughingwolf said...
lol... sounds like my three, when they were wee ;)
- August 4, 2008 at 5:18 PM


text:
Seeking Protection from the System or from Allah?
- Published in Canada
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The past year has been a difficult one for Muslim minorities around the world. We have seen an increase in overt hostility from governments in countries like India and China, along with an uptick in a climate of fear and hatred towards Muslims in Europe and North America. Even in Canada we have seen hostilities rise, with a 207% increase in hate crimes against Muslims living in Ontario.Read more...

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Press Releases
European Movement open letter to Commissioner Avramopoulos receives cross-party support
This morning the European Movement International, supported by a cross-party coalition of MEPs, sent an open letter on Migration to Commissioner Avramopoulos. In the letter the Movement urges the Commissioner to table determined and effective proposals in the context of the European Agenda on Migration to be presented later this month. The solutions offered should enable the EU to address the challenges Europe faces in a collective manner.
The Movement notes that migration offers opportunities for a continent characterised by demographic decline and with labour markets in need of skilled workers. Concrete proposals put forward include:
- Readjusting the Blue Card regulation's strict requirements and ensuring a transparent and equal application across Europe.
- Reforming the Dublin regulation into a permanent and binding mechanism that ensures the fair sharing of responsibility to host asylum seekers.
- Recognising that refugees and asylum seekers are, first and foremost, human beings and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect by ensuring access to legal asylum procedures and social protections for all.
Speaking on the issue, Jo Leinen MEP, President, European Movement International, said:
"The uncoordinated way EU Member States are responding to the influx of a large number of migrants and refugees has not only put one of the fundamental rights of European citizens, free movement, at risk, but has also led to degrading conditions in various refugee camps. Europe has to tackle this situation collectively and in the spirit of solidarity, sharing the responsibility and burdens of this extraordinary situation while, at the same time, channelling the resilience, inventiveness and hope of its newest arrivals towards combatting its demographic decline and shortage of skilled labour."
Notes to the Editors
1.The European Movement International (EMI) is one of the largest pan and pro-European civil society organisations with currently more than 75 Member Organisations, bringing together representatives from European associations, political parties, enterprises and trade unions. www.europeanmovement.eu
2.Read the open letter here.
Media Contact
Alex Godson: +32 25 08 30 88 // +32 484 93 10 20 // email@example.com


text:
I love pizza and would be happy to eat it every day. Unfortunately pizza contains lots of calories and eating one can use up most of your daily calorie allowance. Papa John's now offer the choice of a lower fat cheese topping on all their pizzas. They took on board customer feedback to make this change allowing you to feel less guilty about eating a pizza. Papa John's have also made it easier to find the lighter options on their menu by highlighting them in green. Chargrilled corn on the cob is a new side dish and frozen yoghurt is an enjoyable dessert.
Papa John's lower fat cheese pizza is meant to be just as tasty as their normal pizza. Recently I was sent a pizza to see if I was able to tell the difference. You can pick the lower fat cheese option when you order the pizza. Just choose the pizza you want and then tick the "switch to lower fat cheese" option. We chose All The Meats pizza which is a combination of pepperoni, succulent sausage, crispy bacon, spicy beef and ham.
Soon the delivery arrived and we found that we had been sent some char-grilled corn on the cob and some brownies as well as the pizza. Opening the pizza box we found the pizza inside. Looking at the pizza you could not tell that lower fat cheese had been used. It looks very much the same as normal. A delicious smell wafted out.
Next the taste test. I hadn't told my son that it was lower fat cheese and to be honest he didn't notice. He was quite happy eating the pizza. I knew that it was lower fat cheese and I couldn't really taste the difference. The one thing I did notice was that the cheese was not as stringy as normal. Usually when you pull the pizza apart the cheese forms strings but that didn't happen. This did make the pizza much easier to cut. The pizza was very tasty.
I have to quickly mention the char-grilled corn on the cobs which are a lovely addition to the menu. They allow you to add a side dish without adding calories and they taste delicious as well. I would definitely try the lower fat cheese option again if I was ordering a Papa John's pizza. It reduces the calorie count without compromising on taste.
You can also find out what I thought of Papa John's BBQ Beef Brisket pizza which is a fairly new addition to the range. If you prefer to make your own pizza then why not try my recipe for home made pizza.
Oh this is good to know – takeaway season has started for us (haha it coincides with x factor) so it's good to know I don't need to feel as guilty now x
I hadn't realised x factor was back on, a good excuse for a takeaway
Sophie isn't keen on melted cheese so she'd definitely be a fan – and I like the idea of a lower fat/calorie option so you can nibble on pizza without feeling guilty !
Definitely, the reduced calories is a plus!
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text:
Dec 02, 2017
Great course structure. Great Professors and Mentors. This course has really help me grow a lot as a photographer. I'm so thankful to Coursera & MSU for putting such a great course for learners.
May 04, 2018
Perfect capstone for a great specialization! Depending on your project and how seriously you are taking it prepare yourself for a ton of work... but it's totally worth it! :)
par Kate S•
Dec 30, 2018
This course has been great and I have learnt a lot, especially in the earlier 4 courses leading up to the capstone project. BUT considering that I was paying to access this course and then had to pay AGAIN before submitting my final project, I would expect to get feedback from the lecturers running the course. I completed this 3 months ago and the only feedback I've had on my final project has been the peer review from people assumably at the same level that I am at. One of the things I was looking forwards to with completion was getting some feedback from professionals on my photography. This hasn't happened yet. If I was on campus completing a degree this would be unacceptable. I understand that the lecturers would be busy, but if they are too busy to provide feedback perhaps less people should be able to enroll. Or it should be clear in the course description that the final grade and feedback is from your peers. In this case, we shouldn't have to pay for our final project to be submitted.
par Roberta L•
Dec 29, 2016
I learned a lot about how to use my camera from the lectures. The only downside was the feedback which was very limited from other students. The only feedback from the instructors was at the end of the 5 course series and even it was limited.
par Debora B•
Nov 13, 2017
It was a really great course, specially the exchange among colleagues with the peer review system. It is amazing how much hit chances the way you think photography. It also may ruin the way you see some of your photos from before, since you get much more of a critic eye.
If I can make a suggestion, I just believe since it is a very fast pace course, suddenly 10 pictures, it is too much. I could see it was too much form most of my colleagues, since you could notice amazing pictures and some not so great, which is what you have to do in such a short notice. It would be good to know we will be posting 10 pictures in advance, so we can prepare for it since the beginning. Or... maybe give a few more days on the tasks with 10 pictures to post.
The reason it is not a five star course is because our two professors never get to comment our work. I can understand it is too many students and a lot of courses happening at the same time, but at least at the Capstone Project we should get a review from the opinion of the two professionals we have been learning from.
par Idilia C•
May 04, 2018
Perfect capstone for a great specialization! Depending on your project and how seriously you are taking it prepare yourself for a ton of work... but it's totally worth it! :)
par Robert d B•
May 10, 2017
This course has been extremely challenging in more ways than one. Even though the actual photos were the focal point, but all the other elements were very thought provoking. Sometimes I reflected that taking the actual photos and post adjustments were the easy part. It has been a privilege to review some of my fellow photographers and see so many more photos of other photographers during the course. The diversity of subjects and techniques have shown me that anything is possible and that we are limited only by our imagination. I like to thank Prof. Glendinning and Prof. Sullivan for such a great and entertaining and thought provoking course. I like to thank my fellow students who have been with me on this nearly 6 month journey for your kind and helpful comments and I hope that some of my comments have been helpful to you as well and any comments I have made, I made with great consideration and respect.
Wishing all my fellow Spartans every success and lets hope we will meet again on some other great photography course put on by Michigan State University
par joy o•
Jun 23, 2019
This is a great way to focus on photography skills you want to take to the next level. Fellow classmates are from all over the world and exhibit wonderful art. You will learn from each other and really get to know each other's projects. I was sad when it was over.
par Andrejus S•
Jun 23, 2019
Photography Capstone Project course is a great opportunity to master your photography skills by active participation. It also helps you understand about photo critique which is very helpful in evaluating your own work. I find it very useful when my fellow course learners were giving me feedback on my creations as well as photographers statement. By doing this course i have learned framework of delivering a one theme photography collection.
par Adler J•
Nov 26, 2017
This is a great course, it teaches the fundamentals and all the little nuances which allow students to understand Photography. Now it is the time to execute and expand one
par Rainer H•
Aug 22, 2017
Awesome course/specialization. The outstanding content and extreme helpful and constructive critics/reviews help to become a better photographer and broaden your horizon.
par Shamily K•
Feb 19, 2019
Really liked ur teaching.. Is there any upgrading course in the same medium i want study..
par Abdurrahman S•
Feb 21, 2019
old but good
par Eiko S•
Apr 01, 2019
Thank you for letting me have the very important opportunity to lean the photography. I learnt a lot about the photography and how to take and make photos.
par Denise C•
Aug 15, 2018
I learned so much since taking the course. Not just about operating a camera but the whole art of photography. The instructors were very friendly and likable.
par Enrico J•
Oct 17, 2018
I did enjoy the exciting and very educational course!
par Qamar A A•
Oct 17, 2018
It's very special course and big deal for your future of photography. I have learnt a lot . my best teacher is Professor Peter.
par Bruce E•
Oct 23, 2018
I learned a great deal about photography during the five courses I took in this specialty, but more importantly I learned how to see.
par Ricardo V F•
Jun 01, 2017
Both the theory and the exercises proved to be valuable, and I have been able to get a much better control of my camera, using it under many circumstances I had previously no control of. I loved the charisma of both professors, and how they encouraged students to learn on their own, practice and share photos online. The secret group also gives students a chance to share and explore with other peers, and learn from them too. thank you for this amazing opportunity. Not only did I learn about photography, but it also gave me a chance to walk, explore and know my city in a much better way.
par Neil B•
Jan 17, 2018
Outstanding . . . through this course I have learned more about photography than I ever expected. The instructors are outstanding and the way in which they teach makes this a fun course. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in making photographs.
par Solveig O•
Sep 18, 2016
Building a final collection was challenging but this process made it easier and kept it exciting. I got so much valuable feedback from my peers throughout the 8 weeks, it really taught me a lot. Thank you!
par Cynthia T•
Nov 07, 2017
This is an excellent course! I have enjoyed and learned a lot. There is so much talent. Each one of the learners are very good, and with this quality of work, there is just one path to follow: learn and become deeply in love with photography.
par Saira T•
Jun 01, 2018
Fantastic course. Well presented and easy to understand
par Avinash T•
Dec 02, 2017
Great course structure. Great Professors and Mentors. This course has really help me grow a lot as a photographer. I'm so thankful to Coursera & MSU for putting such a great course for learners.
par karan c•
May 22, 2017
its really an amazing course. got to learn many new things
par Joanne F•
Sep 24, 2017
Great course, loved the progression and assignments.
par David T•
Oct 05, 2016
Another great course, fantastic seeing everyone's work


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Posted: Feb 06, 2019
BELMONT, N.C. - Maria Kuhlman scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the season, though the Belmont Abbey women's basketball team lost 64-58 to Barton. The Abbey now stands at 15-7 this season, and 12-3 in conference play. The Bulldogs are now 18-4 overall, and 11-4 against Conference Carolinas opponents.
How it Happened
- The first quarter was back and forth, with neither team building a lead bigger than four the entire period. Barton led 20-16 at the end of the quarter
- The Abbey defense came out strong in the second, giving up just one Bulldog field goal in the first four minutes. That same defensive effort was reflected at the end of the quarter too, as the Crusaders did not give up a Barton point in the last three minutes of the period
- Maria Kuhlman made a layup to pull The Abbey to within a point, 29-28 at halftime. She scored 10 points in the half
- A jump shot by Keyanna Spivey gave the Crusaders the lead at 30-29. Later in the period, Allie Downing scored four straight Abbey points to give the Crusaders a 39-34 advantage
- Spivey made two free throws with 20 seconds left in the quarter to put Belmont Abbey up eight, its largest lead of the game. BAC led 52-46 heading into the final period
- After Barton tied the game at 52, a jumper by Kuhlman got The Abbey the lead back. The Crusaders, however, struggled to score at the end of the game, and the Bulldogs took a 64-58 win
- On the night, Kuhlman led the Crusaders with 15 points and 11 boards. Spivey scored 14 points and pulled down six rebounds
Up Next
Belmont Abbey will visit Erskine College on Saturday, February 9 for a 2 p.m. contest.


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Can the M-Sport to preparing feverishly for the final details of the new Ford Fiesta WRC, but it does not mean that it continues to support the existing Ford Fiesta R5.
So, coinciding with the construction of the 200th race for R5 category, the British team showed the evolution of this model, which calls Fiesta R5 EVO2. In 2013, they started the course, the Fiesta R5 has become the most popular choice for competitors around the world, while only 2016 won 159 victories in 29 different countries and holds more wins than any other R5 to market.
Expected to debut in the second quarter of 2017, with the Fiesta R5 EVO2 have improvements to the engine, with an emphasis on increased power and torque without affecting the given current reliability. Changes to the cylinder head, exhaust manifold and valve train have seen performance gains throughout the rev-range which are enough to warrant the launch of a new evolution.
M-Sport Managing Director, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said:
"We're continually developing our products. Our design team rarely rest on their laurels and are constantly looking to extract further performance from all of our products. We're dedicated to providing our customers with the most competitive package and these recent findings certainly warranted an upgrade.
"There is no doubting that the Fiesta R5 is a great car and our most successful global rally car to date. Back in 2013, we never imagined that we would have 200 cars competing around the globe, but that just goes to show what a success it has become – a fact mirrored in some of the statistics we have seen over the past year alone.
"I fully believe that the Fiesta is one of the best R5s on the market, and we believe that this latest evolution is set to confirm that. We've seen some fantastic results from a whole range of championships, and we hope to continue that moving forward."


text:
Dirty WHOers Podcast - Episode 10
Brace y'self.
Another week, another 30 minutes of frothing nit-picking about our favorite Gallifeyan and this weeks episode, Vampires in Venice.
Alas, this one's a tad Lightfoot-lite, but normal service and regular interruptions will resume next week.
A couple of nice celebrity comments in this one. Keep your ears open at the beginning and end ;-)


text: Castle 3 is brought to you by DR.BEES. Also those annoying little shits who climb straight into the throne room. Anyway great game. Loved the sprite-work, in-fact if there was one thing I would have wanted more of would be monster sprites, having some of the monsters take on a few more forms. Would have liked to see more of everything, actually. This is the kind of game that could have a really great sequel or remake by adding more monsters, humans, designs, etc. (although I probably won't see that happen since the game was made in 2011)


text:
Enrollment at Johnson County School District No. 1 for the fall of 2011 is 1,303 students, an increase of 61 district-wide from the end of the school year. Data collected shows a steady increase in students during the last few years.
That is the justification for the new elementary school that will be built in Buffalo, according to Schools Superintendent Dr. Rod Kessler.
Kessler told the School District Board of Trustees at their meeting Monday night that the numbers may change some, but are accurate.
Kessler explains what the increase in student numbers means to the district.
Meadowlark Elementary currently has six sections of kindergarten, five sections of first grade, six of second grade and four of third grade. Traditionally the school has had four sections of each grade.
Once the new elementary school is completed in 2013, it will house the third, fourth and fifth grades from Meadowlark and Clear Creek Schools, leaving K-2 at Meadowlark and allowing the district to decommission Clear Creek School.
Discussions on what the district will do with the Clear Creek building will happen at future school board meetings, nore than likely beginning in January of 2012. We will have specific student numbers for each individual school in the district later this week.


text:
John Giordano is a Partner in the firm's Government Affairs practice, as well as a member of Archer Public Affairs. In this capacity, Mr. Giordano provides government and regulatory affairs advice and advocacy representing clients at all levels of government.
Prior to joining Archer, Mr. Giordano served as Deputy General Counsel to the Presidential Transition Committee of President Donald J. Trump. During this time, he also served as one of only ten people on the U.S. Department of Energy Landing Team, where he was the sole Landing Team Attorney.
Immediately before joining the Trump Transition Team, Mr. Giordano was the founding Assistant Commissioner for the division of Air Quality, Energy and Sustainability (AQES) at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The creation of AQES marked one of the most comprehensive reorganizations of the Department and ushered in a new focus on energy security. Here, Mr. Giordano was also instrumental in drafting the comprehensive update to the state's 2011 Energy Master Plan, and served as the Governor's representative on the Delaware River Basin Commission.
Mr. Giordano's state service also includes serving as the DEP's Assistant Commissioner for Compliance and Enforcement, and as Deputy Secretary (Chief Operating Officer) of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). Prior to his appointment to DCNR, Mr. Giordano was on Governor Tom Corbett's Transition Team as a member of the Energy and Environment Committee.
Prior to entering state service, Mr. Giordano was Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer for a regional transportation and equipment leasing company, where he was responsible for all legal, compliance and external affairs functions. In this capacity, he provided counsel on environmental, regulatory and compliance issues, as well as commercial transactions, products liability, corporate real estate, logistics, and operational matters, including employment and labor relations.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Giordano was a federal prosecutor and a senior Justice Department official, serving in the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, and as Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division at the U.S. Department of Justice (ENRD). While with the U.S. Attorney's Office, Mr. Giordano prosecuted federal felony and misdemeanor matters, including national security violations, fraud, narcotics offenses, environmental crimes, and government theft. As Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General for ENRD, Mr. Giordano provided counsel on civil and criminal matters involving various environmental and natural resource laws, including those related to pollution-control, land acquisition, resource and ecosystem management; wildlife protection, and national security programs. Here, he also advised Justice Department officials and client agencies on litigation strategy and risks, policy issues, and regulatory initiatives, as well as represented the United States as lead counsel in federal appellate courts.
Before joining the Justice Department, Mr. Giordano served as a Senior Advisor and Staff Director in the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy, where he provided counsel on energy policy, energy related economic activities, FERC regulation and oversight, and national security issues.
Prior to his experience in Washington, D.C., Mr. Giordano was an associate at DLA Piper, and a law clerk to the Honorable Joseph E. Irenas for the U.S. District Court, D.N.J.
Mr. Giordano is a Lecturer in Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and a Faculty Advisor at The Wharton School's Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership. He has also lectured at the University's Department of Earth and Environmental Science on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan.
In addition, Mr. Giordano is a member of the Drexel University President's Energy and the Environment Council, where he provides advice and recommendations on the effective utilization of the school's education programs and research resources to meet emerging energy and environment needs. This includes supplying strategic guidance on establishing the A.J. Drexel Institute for Energy and the Environment (IExE).
Mr. Giordano also serves on the Advisory Board of The Discovery Center at Strawberry Mansion Lake, which is a joint venture between the Audubon Society (Audubon, Pennsylvania) and the Philadelphia Outward Bound School. In this capacity, Mr. Giordano provides advice and guidance on establishing a state-of-the-art educational center for environmental conservation, leadership development, and community connections through preserving 50-acres of open land and a wildlife sanctuary, which encompasses a 37-acre reservoir in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park.
Professional And Community Involvement
- Federalist Society, Philadelphia Chapter
- Federal Bar Association, EDPA Chapter
- The Philadelphia Club
- The Union League Of Philadelphia
- Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Board Member
- Audubon Pennsylvania, Board Member
Awards And Recognition
- NJBIZ "Forty Under 40" Award (2014)


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Youth activists gather to fight climate change at UN Summit: 'We need to transform anger into action'
Young leaders from around the world are gathering at the United Nations Headquarters in New York Saturday to address arguably the most urgent issue of our time. The Youth Climate Summit comes on the heels of an international strike spearheaded by Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old climate activist from Sweden, who arrived in New York via emissions-free sailboat earlier this month.
Translated from Swedish, "berg" means "mountain," so it may feel fated that a young woman with Viking blood in her veins and summit in her name would be at the helm. But let's go out on a limb and presume Thunberg, in keeping with most activists, would chafe at the notion of pre-ordained "destiny," and rightly so. Destiny is passive — it happens to you. It's also egomaniacal. Change, on the other hand, is active; you have to fight. And it is humble. "We need to get angry and understand what is at stake," Thunberg declared. "And then we need to transform that anger into action."
This new generation of activists' most pernicious enemy is denial. The people in charge — complacent politicians and corporation heads who grossly benefit from maintaining the status quo — are buffered from real-life consequences of climate change. But millions of people don't share that privilege. For them, climate change isn't an abstract concept, but a daily state of emergency, whether it comes in the form of "prolonged drought in sub-Saharan Africa…devastating tropical storms sweeping across Southeast Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific…[or] heatwaves and wildfires," as Amnesty International reportsare all too real problems people are facing on a regular basis.


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The Net Promoter System Podcast
Host Rob Markey welcomes back Maurice FitzGerald, retired vice president of customer experience at HP Software and author of Net Promoter—Implement the System. Together, Rob and Maurice discuss the unique customer experience challenges that healthcare providers and organizations face, and how the Net Promoter System® can help.
You can listen to the full episode on iTunes, Stitcher or your podcast provider of choice. You can also listen through the audio player below:
In this excerpt, Rob and Maurice discuss the importance of communication and empathy in medical care:
ROB MARKEY: You can look at medical outcomes and you can compare that to patient NPS® or a version of patient satisfaction. What's fascinating is that medical outcome and patient satisfaction are not highly correlated. In fact, the strongest correlation between some component of the medical experience and NPS is the patient's set of ratings of the communication that they received from the medical staff.
MAURICE FITZGERALD: Wow.
ROB MARKEY: There are dimensions of it that matter. Was the messaging consistent? Was it empathetic, delivered in an empathetic way? Did they feel fully informed? All of those things mattered more for the way that the patient perceived their care than the medical outcome.
There isn't a fully objective way to judge the medical outcome. So a lot of it has to do with the patient's self-reported function. Still, the patient's evaluation of medical outcome was a less significant statistical driver of their Net Promoter Score®, meaning their likelihood to recommend that doctor and that hospital, than was the quality of communication about the procedure and about the care that was being provided.
MAURICE FITZGERALD: Wow. That's fascinating. It does remind me of the time when my sister got extensive teaching or training on what I can only call malpractice case reduction. And the training, they said that your likelihood of facing a malpractice suit has nothing at all to do with the medical outcome. It has to do with only one thing, which is empathy—the patient's perception that you're relating to them. So surgeons with no people skills, but with sensational medical outcomes, still are more likely to have malpractice suits.
ROB MARKEY: Well, this is a really common thing. Now, I'll caution you that the way that the training was positioned falls into the same category of danger as Martin Makary has talked about. And that is, saying, "This is the only thing that matters." That's not true. All things being equal, it's better to have better medical outcomes.
MAURICE FITZGERALD: Yes, even if the patient is unhappy.
ROB MARKEY: Right. And at any given level of medical outcome, it's much better to demonstrate significant empathy. So what we're talking about really is back to this idea—it's systems thinking. You need to balance all of this together.
And unfortunately, the world is a complicated place, and you cannot reduce medical care to one metric, whether it's an outcome metric, or a patient satisfaction metric, or NPS, or anything else. That would be a mistake.
So the argument that I would make is that what we need in health care, globally, and one of the most important things that is being developed today is a set of standards around what constitutes a positive medical outcome and a systematic way of measuring that, along with a set of standards regarding what it costs to achieve that outcome and what the patient's perception of the experience was, whether that's NPS, HCAHPS, or some other crazy way of measuring the feedback.
Now I will also make the argument, of course, that if you are managing a large provider network, or even a modest sized provider network, again, all things being equal, you're better off creating closed-loop feedback between your patients and the people who provide the service and the people who support them than you are simply measuring and holding them accountable to some number.
You want individual patients providing individual pieces of feedback about what happened in their experience, and how that individual nurse, doctor, orderly, pharmacist or accountant impacted that customer's experience, so that those people can learn how to demonstrate more empathy and how to create an experience that is more pleasant for patients going through a medical procedure.
Net Promoter®, Net Promoter System®, Net Promoter Score® and NPS® are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., Fred Reichheld and Satmetrix Systems, Inc.
Want to hear more from today's loyalty leaders?
Explore more episodes of The Net Promoter System Podcast.


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Official Press Release
Exciting news! Alan Moore's breathtaking novel, VOICE OF THE FIRE, is
being released in America for the very first time. Published by Top
Shelf, VOICE OF THE FIRE will be presented in hardcover format,
featuring an introduction by Neil Gaiman, thirteen full-color plates by
José Villarrubia (Promethea & The Mirror of Love), and a dust jacket
designed by Chip Kidd.
It will be solicited in the JUNE Diamond PREVIEWS catalog that hits
stores on May 28th. Please note that this novel will move very quickly,
so if you want a copy, be sure to ask your local retailer to advance
order it for you from the PREVIEWS catalog in June. VOICE OF THE FIRE
will ship to stores, from these orders, in August.
by Alan Moore
with an introduction by Neil Gaiman, thirteen color plates by José Villarrubia, & a dust jacket design by Chip Kidd.
"Do not trust the tales, or the town, or even the man who tells the
tales. Trust only the voice of the fire." -- Neil Gaiman, from the
"A burning bush of a novel full of earthy wonder and wisdom, Voice of
the Fire is a head-spinning trip down time's sacred whirlpool." --
Richard Gehr, Village Voice
"Alan Moore is the best and most innovative writer in graphic novels. I
have been a huge admirer for years." -- Michael Moorcock
"Alan takes genuine risks and justifies them: you feel, all the way, the
rush of discovery; authorial privilege endangered by the savage voices
he allows into his head." -- Iain Sinclair
"A first novel, Voice Of The Fire, slices through the history of his
Northampton home, from the Stone Age up to his literal conjuring of an
ending from the world around him, swallowing hallucinogens, beaming in
messages from the TV -- a wild, shamanic stretching of the writers art."
-- Nick Hasted, Uncut
"A daring, unsettling work of literature." -- Locus
"Remarkable, savage and, at times, unbearably beautiful…" -- Time Out
In a story full of lust, madness and ecstasy, we meet twelve distinctive
characters that lived in the same region of central England in the span
of six thousand years. Their narratives are woven together in patterns
of recurring events, strange traditions and uncanny visions. First, a
cave-boy looses his mother, falls in love and learns a deadly lesson. He
is followed by an extraordinary cast of characters: a murderess who
impersonates her victim, a fisherman who believes he has become a
different species, a Roman emissary who realizes the bitter truth about
the Empire, a crippled nun who is healed miraculously by a disturbing
apparition, an old crusader whose faith is destroyed by witnessing the
ultimate relic, two witches, lovers, who burn at the stake… Each
interconnected tale traces a path in a journey of discovery of the
secrets of the land.
In its last chapter, Moore himself describes the novel: "It's about the
vital message that the stiff lips of decapitated men still shape; the
testament of black and spectral dogs written in piss across our bad
dreams. It's about raising the dead to tell us what they know. It is a
bridge, a crossing-point, a worn spot in the curtain between our world
and the underworld, between the mortar and the myth, fact and fiction, a
threadbare gauze no thicker than a page. It's about the powerful
glossolalia of witches and their magical revision of the texts we live
in. None of this is speakable."
In the tradition of Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill, Schwob's Imaginary
Lives and Borges' A Universal History of Infamy, Moore travels through
history blending truth and conjecture, in a novel that is dazzling,
moving, sometimes tragic, but always mesmerizing.
This edition presents Voice of the Fire for the first time in hardcover
format, featuring an introduction by Neil Gaiman, thirteen full-color
plates by José Villarrubia (Promethea & The Mirror of Love), and a dust
jacket designed by Chip Kidd.
-- $26.95, 336 pages, Hardcover Novel with 13 Full-Color Plates, ISBN 1-891830-44-9


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As our assessors continue to review all the entries we received for the 2014 Awards, I thought you might like to read about some of the recent Award presentations made to our 2013 winners. After all, this could be you next year…
The Duke of Kent visited Huddersfield University yesterday to present 2 Queen's Awards. The International Trade Award was given to the university for its work to attract more international students while the Enterprise Promotion Award was presented to the university's Professor Liz Towns-Andrews for her work conceiving the new 3M Buckley Innovation Centre. The Duke toured the £12m building as part of his visit. Read more
The Duke also visited the Brighouse base of Millers Oils to unveil a plaque commemorating their Queen's Award for International Trade, marking the company's significant growth in exports over the past 3 years. The royal accolade also coincided with its 125th anniversary of lubricants manufacturing. Read more.
On Friday, Simulation Systems Ltd were presented with their Queen's Award for Innovation by Lady Gass, the Lord Lieutenant of Somerset. This North Somerset business designs and manufactures software for our road networks and the Award is a massive boost to the 130 employees at the firm, which was established in 1979. Read more
Finally Mark Moran, Chief Executive of Bristol-based Hydrate for Health Ltd, was given the opportunity, back in July, to meet The Queen after his company's Queen's Award for Enterprise Innovation win. The Award presentation was later made by the Lord Lieutenant of Bristol, Mary Prior MBE. Read more.
If you'd like to share your winning story, why not blog for us or send us a link that we can post. As always, the e-mail address is email@example.com.
Sign up for email alerts from this blog, or follow us on Twitter.


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You move me in your silence
Speak in voices of time
As winds have blown hard
Life goes on forever changing and unchanged
The love of your touch stands as testament
A harmony both firm and giving
Soft and warm, yet hard and cold
You reflect all that we are and never can be
For the enduring memories held, are forgotten
I wash my feet clean
Soothing in the oneness to stand apart
Divorced of pain from hurts and tears
I cry in joyful bliss of a life
Copyright SGW 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
4 comments:
- SandyCarlson said...
Whoa, Scott. That's powerful. A painful homage.
Where, by the way, has time gone? Seems like we were just in the middle of a great conversation and then work interfered. Such a bummer.
I hope you are well, friend. God bless.
- September 13, 2008 at 4:26 PM
- paisley said...
i like the way you keep tossing me between the ends of the spectrum ... changing and unchanged, memories held, and then forgotten,, crying one moment,, blissful the next... like a pendulum life swings... i wonder,, are we just along for the ride????
- September 13, 2008 at 5:20 PM
- Michelle Hix said...
I really like this poem. It was very easy to make personal.
- September 14, 2008 at 6:05 PM
- SandyCarlson said...
Thanks for stopping by my blog, Scott!
- September 18, 2008 at 9:52 PM
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Mohamed Salah wants to come back a better player
Chelsea winger Mohamed Salah is looking to overcome his Stamford Bridge nightmare and take the next step in his career at Fiorentina, according to the man himself. The Egyptian attacker was transferred to Florence as part of the deal that saw Juan Cuadrado move to Stamford Bridge, and it's likely he'll be afforded far more game-time there than he was in west London. Having made just three Premier League appearances for the Blues this term Salah had become something of an outcast, and if he can't impress in Italy he could well be sold in the summer. In team news Francesc Fabregas could be missing for the next two matches thanks to a hamstring injury, meaning that Cuadrado could make his debut sooner than expected. The Blues are already without the suspended Diego Costa, but Cuadrado's arrival will have strengthened their attacking options.


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Top Restaurants in Phnom Penh
Restaurants Phnom Penh – What's a vacation without excellent food, delicious cocktails or fine wine in a good restaurant? Such evenings create memories. WorldTop7 offers a selection of the best restaurants in Phnom Penh. And because we know how different tastes are we cover all of the different restaurant styles!
Whether a sushi restaurant in Phnom Penh, an American steakhouse, an Italian restaurant, a Thai eatery or exotic Cajun cuisine – the lovers of culinary delights come fully at their expense and find lots of insider tips. Our restaurant tips in Phnom Penh are by locals (which should know where it tastes best!), celebrities, globetrotter and business people. And if you've eaten in one of these restaurants in Phnom Penh where cuisine, service and atmosphere was unbeatable and you want to tell everybody – that's what WorldTop7 stands for! Restaurants in Phnom Penh with the x-factor!
The demands in terms of restaurant style are naturally very varied and WorldTop7 is happy to assist. Whether it is a small, cozy bistro in Phnom Penh with delicious and authentic food for surprisingly little money or a completely styled Michelin-star restaurant in Phnom Penh where movie stars and models have diner – here you find everything from inexpensive to expensive, from grunge to classy, from traditional to macro kitchen!
But not only for your vacation, also for your business lunch or business dinner in Phnom Penh you can find exactly the right place to eat. Thus, business become pleasure in no time!
Style: Sophisticated Petite Bar
Seibur in Phnom Penh is a cozy petite wine bar that is ideal for romantic dates or enjoying aperitifs with friends. The new wine bar that is next to Luigi's is operated by the owners of other famous local bars namely the Publick House and Bar Sitio.
Although Seubur bar is not so spacious, it has options for indoor and outdoor seating. The interiors have a European feel with its mostly wooden furnishings and stylish décor. The very friendly bar tender offers strong and tasty concoctions at reasonable prices.Make sure to bring some cash as it is the only form of payment that is accepted at Seibur.
Seibur is closed on Mondays.


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NEW ORLEANS – This weekend's Irish Channel St. Patrick's Day Parade will start earlier in an attempt to avoid bad weather.
The group announced today that the marchers will start "around 12:30 p.m." on March 11, moving the start up by an hour.
Scattered storms are expected to move across the area Saturday afternoon, according to meteorologist Jason Disharoon.
"You definitely want to bring a poncho," Disharoon said. "Just in case."
29.951066 -90.071532


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In This Section
The Browns Range Waste Management Facility is approximately 7km south east of the Carnarvon townsite and is on the Speedway Road (turnoff next to Outback Travel Centre) and is signposted. There is an alternative access to the Facility via North West Coastal Highway, approximately 2km south of the T Junction (opposite Caltex Service Station) – the road is signposted.
Pick Up
Please note that pick up commences 6.00am Monday to Friday.
Operating Hours Hours of operation are 7am to 4pm Monday to Friday, Saturday & Sunday 8.00am to 2.00pm. Closed All Public Holidays
The Shire of Carnarvon provides waste disposal services at the Browns Range Waste Management Facility for residential and commercial clients. These services include –
Disposal of industrial/commercial waste including construction and demolition materials (fees apply)
3 Francis Street
Carnarvon, WA 6701
Phone: (08) 9941 0000
Fax: (08) 9941 0099
Email: email@example.com
The Shire of Carnarvon acknowledges the Yingarrda people as the Traditional Custodians of this land which we work and live on. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and future and extend this respect to all Aboriginal people and their ongoing connection to this Country.


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BLACKJACK 21 is a HTML5 Casino game. comparing card game between a player and dealer, meaning players complete against the dealer but not against other players.
Blackjack is played with one or more standard 52-card decks, with each denomination assigned a point value. the cards 2 through 10 are worth their face value. Kings, queens, and jacks are each worth 10, and aces may be used as either 1 or 11. The object for player is to draw cards totaling closer to 21, without going over, than the dealer's cards.
This game has been developed using CreateJS library (http://createjs.com).
- Touch and mouse supported
- All audio in ogg format (include WAV on package)
- LocalStorage
- Sounds and sprites are optimized
- All font are in spritefont/bitmapfont
- Fullscreen button
- Sound button
- Modern design
- Commented code
Our Other Games


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New report warns current policies will not avert health workforce crisis
Without immediate action to develop an integrated, comprehensive, national health workforce policy, the U.S. is at risk of losing its status as the global health care leader, states a new report released by the Association of Academic Health Centers. The report was funded in part by the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation.
Out of Order, Out of Time: The State of the Nation's Health Workforce warns that the nation is running out of time to ensure an adequate health workforce to meet the needs of our aging population, such as the increased demand for health services and other critical socioeconomic challenges for health care.
"It is essential that the nation take a critical look at its policymaking framework that has created a system for the health workforce that may no longer be adaptable to changing national health needs," said AAHC President and CEO Dr. Steven A. Wartman. "We also need action because the workforce plays such a pivotal role in biomedical research and science as well as in the U.S. economy and jobs creation," he added.
Key recommendations in the report include:
-- Making health workforce a priority domestic policy issue;
-- Developing an integrated, comprehensive national health workforce policy that recognizes and compensates for the inherent weaknesses and vulnerabilities of current decentralized multi-stakeholder decision-making; and
-- Establishing a national planning body to create a national workforce agenda and promote a national health workforce policy that ensures the nation's health and economic well-being. Diverse federal and state agencies, along with multiple public and private stakeholders, should participate.
If coordinated action at the national level is not taken, the workforce will "continue to be plagued by the problems that arise from fragmented and inconsistent policymaking," according to the report. Wartman said academic health center leaders have a unique vantage point on the workforce, given the leadership role their institutions play in education, research, and patient care. "Academic health center leaders recognize the urgent need for action and are committed to changing the nation's approach to the health workforce as laid out in this report," concluded Wartman.
On the Net: www.aahcdc.org
Source: Association of Academic Health Centers
Explore further


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Come join the fun in Pre-K Counts!
Pre-K registration will be held on Thursday, February 21, 2019 at the elementary school from 8:30-11:30am and 12:00-2:00pm
Children who have reached the age of 4 by October 1, 2019 and meet the requirements set forth by the PA Pre-K Counts Grant are eligible to apply. There is no cost for this program.
A Parent/guardian is asked to bring their child's birth certificate, social security card, immunization record, and income verification for each person in the household.
*We are a full-day, 5 days a week program.
*Free breakfast, snack, lunch and transportation will all be provided.
*Field Trips! *Guest Presenters! *Assemblies!*
Why Pre-K Counts?
Quality Pre-kindergarten prepares children for reading and math, but also for paying attention, following directions and getting along with others.
Pre-kindergarten gives children a chance to learn, become excited about school and be better students.
By enrolling your child in Pre-kindergarten, your child has a better chance of being ready for kindergarten and grade school. This strong early start means they have a better chance of doing well in school, going on to college or career training, and getting a good job.
If you are interested in our Pre-K Counts Program please contact the elementary school to sign up, (814) 965-2577.


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To educate the public about the plight of farmworkers and advocate for them, the College Assistance Migrant Program Organization of Students (CAMPOS) in collaboration with Campus Activity Board (CAB) at Texas A&M International University has planned events for the 2006 National Farmworker Awareness Week.
These events are free and open to the public.
The schedule is as follows:
For more information, please contact Efrain Sánchez, College Assistance Migrant Program director at 326.2708, e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com or visit offices in Student Center, room 234.
Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests
and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information
Services at firstname.lastname@example.com
Texas A&M International University
5201 University Boulevard
Laredo, TX 78041
© 2019


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Photo Galleries . ….Resume'…. …..
[ Click "Pages" in the left-hand vertical menu to navigate website content ]
Voice-Over artist * Actor * Director
Musician * Vocalist *Acting Coach
– E-marketing consultant & Direct Sales Trainer –
……….See Eric's Work…………..Career News…………..Eric's Full Filmography
Feature Film Trailers and Websites:
…ERE Interviewed @ Bridge Crusader Premier:
Some of Eric's films have been submitted for consideration as
"Official Selections" at numerous Film Festivals throughout the country:
Starz Denver Film Festival (Denver, Co), Telluride Film Festival (Colorado), Seattle International Film Festival (Seattle, WA), Rhode Island International Film Festival (Newport, RI), Boston International Film Festival (Boston, MA), Kent Film Festival (Kent, CT), Boston International Women's Day Film Festival (Boston, MA), Southeast New England Film, Music & Arts Festival (Providence, RI), Bridge Fest (Vancouver), New Hampshire Film Festival (Portsmouth, NH), Independent Film Festival of Boston (Boston, MA)


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Pearl City Suites By Gemstones
- Free WiFi and free parking
- Collect nights
We have booked for deluxe quadruple room. As indicated by the booking, there will be a…
Pearl City Suites By Gemstonesfrom €58
- Executive Suite, City View (Twin Bed Room Apartment)
- Executive Suite, 1 Bedroom, Park View
- Superior Suite, 2 Bedrooms, City View
- Deluxe Suite, 1 Bedroom, City View
- Deluxe Quadruple Room, Kitchen
- Family Room, 1 Bedroom, Kitchen
More great choices
What's around Pearl City Suites By Gemstones
- In Deira
- City Centre Deira - 7 min walk
- Dubai Tennis Stadium - 26 min walk
- Dubai Creek - 29 min walk
- BurJuman Mall - 44 min walk
- Creek Park - 28 min walk
- Al Ghurair Centre - 31 min walk
- American Hospital Dubai - 44 min walk
Getting around
- Dubai (DXB-Dubai Intl.) - 5 min drive
- Dubai (DWC-Al Maktoum Intl.) - 51 min drive
- Sharjah (SHJ-Sharjah Intl.) - 20 min drive
- Deira City Centre Station - 4 min walk
- Al Rigga Station - 20 min walk
- GGICO Station - 25 min walk
- Airport shuttle (surcharge)
At a glance
Key facts
- 94 apartments
- Check-in time starts at 2 PM
- Check-out time is noon
Required at check-in
- Credit card or cash deposit required
- Government-issued photo ID required
- Minimum check-in age is 18
Travelling with others
- Babysitting/childcare *
- Pets not allowed
- Free WiFi and wired Internet access in public areas
- Free WiFi and wired Internet access in rooms
- Airport shuttle (available 24 hours) *
- Free self parking
Payment types at the property
- Cash
Other information
- Smoke-free property
At the aparthotel
- Buffet breakfast daily (surcharge)
- Restaurant
- Coffee shop/café
- 24-hour room service
- Outdoor pool
- Children's pool
- Fitness facilities
- Spa services on site
- Spa treatment room(s)
- Business center
- Meeting rooms
- 24-hour front desk
- Concierge services
- Tours/ticket assistance
- Dry cleaning/laundry service
- Laundry facilities
- Free newspapers in lobby
- Luggage storage
- Multilingual staff
- Number of buildings/towers - 1
- Elevator
- Safe-deposit box at front desk
- Garden
- Terrace
- Accessible bathroom
- In-room accessibility
- Roll-in shower
- Wheelchair-accessible path of travel
- Wheelchair-accessible parking
- Assistive listening devices available
- English
- French
- Russian
In the apartment
- Air conditioning
- Minibar
- Coffee/tea maker
- Iron/ironing board
- Blackout drapes/curtains
- Separate dining area
- Separate living room 1
- Separate sitting area
- Private bathroom
- Deep soaking bathtub
- Free toiletries
- Hair dryer
- Flat-screen TV
- Cable TV channels
- Desk
- Free WiFi
- Refrigerator (on request)
- Microwave (on request)
- Kitchen
- Stovetop
- Free bottled water
- In-room safe
Recommended hotels
Special features
DiningOnsite venue - This restaurant specializes in international cuisine and serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Pearl City Suites By Gemstones's small print
Also known as
- Pearl City Suites-Deluxe Apartment Dubai
- Dubai Pearl City Suites By Gemstones Aparthotel
- Pearl City Suites By Gemstones Dubai
- Pearl City Suites Gemstones Aparthotel
- Aparthotel Pearl City Suites By Gemstones
- Pearl City Suites Deluxe Apartment
- Pearl City Suites By Gemstones Dubai
- Pearl City Suites By Gemstones Aparthotel
- Pearl City Suites By Gemstones Aparthotel Dubai
- Pearl City Suites Deluxe Apartment
- Pearl City Suites-Deluxe Apartment Aparthotel Dubai
- Pearl City Suites-Deluxe Apartment Aparthotel
- Pearl City Suites Gemstones Aparthotel Dubai
- Pearl City Suites Gemstones Dubai
- Pearl City Suites Gemstones
- Aparthotel Pearl City Suites By Gemstones Dubai
All guests must register upon arrival. No visitors or unregistered guests are allowed in guestrooms. For more details, please contact the property using the information on the reservation confirmation received after booking.Please note that cultural norms and guest policies may differ by country and by property. The policies listed are provided by the property.
The name on the credit card used at check-in to pay for incidentals must be the primary name on the guestroom reservation.
Mandatory fees
You'll be asked to pay the following charges at check-in or check-out:
- A tax is imposed by the city: AED 20 per accommodation, per night
- A tourism fee is imposed by the city and collected at the property. The fee is AED 20 for the first bedroom per night, and increases by AED 20 per night for each additional bedroom.
Optional extras
Credit card charges are subject to an extra charge of 2.5 percent
Rollaway beds are available for AED 100.0 per day
Buffet breakfast is offered for an extra charge of AED 25.00 for adults and AED 20 for children (approximately)
Cribs/Infant beds are available for AED 100.0 per day
Babysitting/childcare is available for an extra charge
Airport shuttle service is offered for an extra charge of AED 150 per vehicle (roundtrip)
Airport shuttle for children between the ages of 6 and 12 costs AED 100 (one-way)
We have included all charges provided to us by this property. However, charges can vary, for example, based on length of stay or the unit you book.
Didn't find the right property?Continue searching for Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Recent reviews
Good 7.2 From 115 reviews
Holiday destination was great accomodation was well below average for the destination photographs in promotion are not upto date and pooly reflect the condition of this hotel we stayed in much better through hotels . Com for less than we paid for this and could have picked better in dubai.
Checking in did take almost 25 min. Also they charge you for airport pick up and drop off.
Really short stay because of long stopover in Dubai. Good price in my deal
The apartment is small. It is not the way it is advertised. I booked a quad room. The lounge area was so crowded no sitting area. We had asked to remove bed to allow some walking space. The bathroom is small and the water comes out slow while showering in the bath as there no shower. Cleaning and service is good. Wifi comes and go. Had to request Router to be changed. Adequate for 2 people only. I will not recommend a family to stay at Pearl Suites. The Conceige was excellent during arrival as well as departure. They arranged taxi promptly when requested. The main bedroom is small and the kitchen units have a smell when checking in. After using it for a day or two than no problems. Also shortage of towels and hand towels. One needs to call housekeeping. Also the price quoted was expensive as it did not meet my needs or satisfaction. I could have requested a triple room instead of a quad room thinking that we would adequate space. Reception at front desk not as friendly as in other hotels. I would have checked out of the apartment if we did not paid upfront as well as it was non refundable. The area where the apartment is situated is very close to the metro as well as right across Deira City Centre. There are many food outlets and grocery shops nearby. The cleaning person is also very friendly. Hotel.com must review the photos of the apartment as it very deceiving and not the same like other apartments. Check in and out was very fast and efficient. I will not booked there.
Is the description of this hotel not correct? Tell us


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- DMin, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
- MDiv, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University
- BA, Samford University
Courses Taught
- Old Testament
- Christian Leadership
Additional Information
Dr. Philip Nation is the Director of Adult Ministry Publishing with LifeWay Christian Resources. Working in the Church Resources Division, Philip oversees all Bible study materials, magazines, and devotionals produced by LifeWay for adults; serving approximately 3 million people each quarter. Philip is a frequent speaker in churches and conferences. He has trained pastors in place such as Romania, Greece, Spain, and the Ukraine. He is the Teaching Pastor for The Fellowship, a multisite church in Nashville, Tennessee. He has served as a pastor, minister of education, and church planter.
Philip and his wife, Angie, make their home in Tennessee, with their two sons, Andrew and Chris. You can find out more about Philip through Twitter @PhilipNation or at his blog www.PhilipNation.net.


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Bombshell is both light on its feet and a punch in the gut.
Bombshell is both light on its feet and a punch in the gut.
It's excruciating and exhilarating.
Roger Ebert on James Ivory's "Howards End".
"The Ballad of Narayama" is a Japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice, telling a story of startling cruelty. What a space it opens…
An article about today's noon premiere of a new movie about architect Benjamin Marshall at the Gene Siskel Film Center.
An article about the screening of Horace Jenkins' "Cane River" on Friday, November 1st, at the Academy Film Archive in Los Angeles.
Scout Tafoya's video essay series about maligned masterpieces celebrates Steven Soderbergh's Solaris.
An article about today's noon premiere of a new movie about architect Benjamin Marshall at the Gene Siskel Film Center.
An FFC on Gavin Hood's Official Secrets.
A celebration of Yasujiro Ozu, as written by a Far Flung Correspondent from Egypt.
An interview with director Jay Roach about Bombshell.
Leading the Netflix movies was Marriage Story, which received six nominations.
"Dead Girlfriends' 'On Fraternity': A Roundtable: Seven female writers talk male feminism (and/or 'mansplaining") in pop, from Fugazi to The-Dream." From Spin.
"Part of being a male feminist is that when you make a misstep —even a small one — we're going to call you out on it. I guess it's a little unfair that once you declare yourself a feminist, we will scrutinize you even harder than before. But I don't think the answer is giving every dude who calls himself pro-woman a free pass to make mistakes, just so they'll want to be on our side."
David Edelstein on 'The Spectacular Now.' For Vulture. To read Roger Ebert's review, click here.
"Sutter Keely (Miles Teller), the protagonist of The Spectacular Now, is a zany, fast-talking 18-year-old who riffs on the importance of living in the present — the now. He thinks his ready heart caused the breakup with his beautiful, blonde girlfriend, Cassidy (Brie Larson), who found him drinking in his parked car with another girl. Cassidy didn't understand that he was keeping the girl company while her friend was in a canoe with his buddy — that he was helping the guy get laid! Sutter is so bummed about Cassidy he gets extra-loaded and wakes up at dawn on someone's lawn, staring up at a girl from his school named Aimee (Shailene Woodley). He has never met her. She's a studious, forward-looking person who doesn't party. But she's very pretty in her unassuming way and obviously into him, so it isn't long before he's passing her his flask and kissing her and asking her to the prom. At first you think he's only using her to make Cassidy jealous. But then, gradually, it seems as if he does like her, at least enough to pull her into his spectacular now — which is, too often, a drunken haze."
"Millikin professor had dark secret: he killed his family 46 years ago." By Dave McKinney, Frank Main, Jon Seidel and Becky Schlinkerman of The Chicago Sun-Times.
"Not until the publication of an investigation by a Texas newspaper did it become known that he was at Millikin after shooting his parents and teenage sister to death in Texas in 1967. St. James avoided prison time after being found insane at the time of the slayings. After he was hospitalized for several years, he was found to be sane in 1974, later changed his name from Jim Wolcott, got his college degrees and joined the Millikin faculty. St. James' violent past has provoked a debate about his future with the private college, which for now is sticking by him and saying it expects him to continue teaching psychology classes this fall. Millikin also made clear it had not been told of the killings when it initially hired St. James. 'For 27 years, he has taught a variety of courses at Millikin, served in various leadership roles and built a successful academic career receiving academic awards including the 1997 Teaching Excellence and Leadership Award,' the college said in a statement released Thursday."
"What It's Like to Have Your Movie Taken Away by Harvey Weinstein." Jack Giroux of Film School Rejects interviews filmmaker Wayne Kramer about his experience working with the producer on his 2009 immigration drama Crossing Over. It's not a pretty story.
"It's very hard to move forward. I don't think people understand how brutalizing it is to you while you're going through it. This is your baby. That movie was very personal to me, because I had also gone through the journey of being an immigrant, and I wanted to write about that as a film. To see it being dismantled week after week and all the things you thought had nuance…I mean, the sex scenes were more explicit in my original cut. You go through a preview audience and they say, "We don't need to see all this nudity!" It's, like, where were they on the set when you were making it? I think that's where it's going in the future: you're going to have a 12-person marketing committee picked from a general public questioning every decision you make, because that's what they do it in post-production."
"Matt Damon on 'Elysium,' turning down 'Avatar,' and the state of Hollywood Today." An interview by Mike Ryan, for The Huffington Post. Among other things, Damon talks about what he thinks is the proper use of special effects in a blockbuster, and his and Steven Soderbergh's fondness for "Oceans 12."
Ryan: I have a weird "Ocean's Twelve" question. There's a plot point where Tess, who is played by Julia Roberts, pretends that she's Julia Roberts. Since the real Julia Roberts exists in that universe, does Linus also realize that he looks like Matt Damon?
Damon: No. I don't exist. None of the rest of us exist. Only Julia Roberts exists.
Wikipedia blocks an ISP address for vandalizing Edward Snowden's page. It's registered to the U.S. Senate. " If you are an unregistered user operating from this address, note that it may be possible for your agency or facility's administration to determine who was making contributions from this address at any given time and abuse reports may be sent to its network administrator for further investigation," Wikipedia warns whoever did this.
Next Article: thumbnails 8/5/2013 Previous Article: Thumbnails 8/3/2013
A Far Flung Correspondent weighs in on the MCU controversy.
The top 50 shows of the 2010s.
This message came to me from a reader named Peter Svensland. He and a fr...
A review of the newest film by Quentin Tarantino.


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August 2006 IT Organization Survey: CIOs Expect IT Organizations to Keep GrowingBy Allan Alter | Posted 2006-08-09 Print
Despite outsourcing fears, IT organizations are actually growing, particularly at small and mid-size companies—and CIOs expect them to keep growing.The first set of results from our new IT Organization survey reveals that the future of IT is brighter than many think. IT organizations grew 3.8% on average during the past 12 months, and 45% of respondents expect their companies to add full-time staff in the next year. The need for IT labor is leading companies to hire more outsourcers and contractors, but not necessarily at the expense of their in-house staff. In fact, only 27% of the companies that have cut back their full time IT staff say outsourcing is a reason. The bottom line: there's little indication that IT organizations are withering away, despite the many changes taking place.
For more data and analysis, see CIO Insight 's Research Center blog at go.cioinsight.com/researchcentral
Research Guide:
Read the full story on CIOInsight.com: August 2006 IT Organization Survey: CIOs Expect IT Organizations to Keep Growing
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The 2001 Pulitzer Prize for fiction has been awarded to Michael Chabon for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, his epic tragi-comic tale of two boy geniuses who start a comic strip business just as the second world war is beginning.
The highly acclaimed American writer, whose novels The Mysteries of Pittsburgh and Wonder Boys (which was recently adapted into a film with Michael Douglas) have seen him compared to Vladimir Nabokov, Philip Roth and Don DeLillo, won America's top literary award yesterday and prize money worth $7,500.
Runners-up in the fiction category were Joyce Carol Oates for her fictional biography of Marilyn Monroe, Blonde, and Joy Williams for The Quick and the Dead, her surreal tale of the friendship between three motherless girls set in the heart of the Arizona desert.
The Pulitzer Prize for biography went to David Levering Lewis for the second volume of his biography of civil rights leader WEB Du Bois and made Pulitzer history by being the first biographer to win the award for his second volume on the same subject.
The history prize went to Joseph J Ellis for his book on the founding fathers of America, Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation.
New Jersey based Stephen Dunn won the poetry prize for his 11th collection, Different Hours and Herbert P Bix won the general non-fiction prize for his biography of the Japanese Emperor Hirohito.
The winners will receive their prizes at a ceremony at the University of Columbia next month.
For a full list of winners and runners up, go to the Pulitzer Prize website


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Teen murder mum confesses: I threw baby out window
A 16-year-old girl has admitted to killing her "secret" newborn baby by throwing her out of a second-floor window.
Antonia Lopez gave birth in her bedroom in on Sept. 30 last year, before disposing of the infant in a "panic" and soliciting help to get rid of the body via her Facebook page.
Her baby girl, who was two months premature, measured 14 inches long and weighed just two pounds. According to an autopsy report, she suffered significant bleeding near the skull, brain, spine and abdomen before she was pronounced dead.
Text messages sent by Lopez to her boyfriend at the time of the incident reveal that she had kept her pregnancy hidden for months, despite initially claiming she didn't realise she was expecting until she went into labour.
In one message read in court, Lopez wrote: "Babe I'm having contractions in my lower abs every couple of seconds. It hurts so much."
"I am in so much pain," she penned in another. "I want it to stop."
The final text message read: "It was a girl by the way."
Lopez's mother reportedly called the police after finding the baby outside on the grass.
Speaking to the World Herald, Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine has explained the teen's reaction was not premeditated and described it as "a horrible case."
"It wasn't a planned-out, thought-out process. It was more of a panicked reaction," he said.
"She obviously has some issues that need to be dealt with."
Due to her mental state and lack of criminal history, Lopez's case has been moved down to the juvenile court.
According to KMTV, the Nebraskan teenager has entered a plea of admission and is currently undergoing medical and psychiatric care while she remains in foster care.
A judge will decide Lopez's fate in a hearing on March 24.
This article first published on New Idea.


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THE Chancellor will offload the Government's remaining stake in Lloyd's Banking Group to institutional investors, ditching George Osborne's plans of a retail sale to the public.
Philip Hammond said the £3.6billion - or 9.1 per cent - stake would be sold through a trading plan after experts warned a retail sale was no longer an option due to "ongoing market volatility".
Previous trading plans had seen the Government automatically sell shares in Lloyds once its price rose above 73.6p - the price it paid to bail-out the bank in 2009.
Hammond said the move would allow the Government to recoup the entire £20.3bn used to bail out the bank during the financial crisis.
The plan marks another departure by the Chancellor from his predecessor after scrapping Osborne's pledge to put the public finances back into surplus by 2020.
Speaking from Washington, Hammond said he had "listened to the experts" who advised him against a retail sale.
"Returning Lloyds to the private sector is in the interests of the bank, taxpayers and the country as a whole.
"That is why exiting our stake in Lloyds in an orderly way, and at the best possible price, is one of my top priorities as Chancellor."
"Our plan will get back all the cash taxpayers invested in Lloyds during the financial crisis and leave the bank in a better place to continue the crucial role it plays in supporting individuals, families and businesses up and down the UK," he added.
The Government snapped up a 43 per cent stake in Lloyds following the 2008 global financial crisis.
Around £16.9bn has already been raised by the Government from selling its stake in Lloyds. It still owns 73 per cent of the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Osborne had temporarily shelved plans to sell off Government stakes in British banks in January and after the EU referendum result on June 23.
Morgan Stanley International will now act as a broker on behalf of the Treasury to carry out the new trading plan, which will allow the Government to drip-feed the sale of its stake to institutional investors.
UK Financial Investments - the organisation which manages the Government's investments in Royal Bank of Scotland , Lloyds, and UK Asset Resolution - said the sale would begin immediately and last until October 6, 2017.
Shares in Lloyds, which have plunged 23 per cent since the day of the EU referendum, were down more than four per cent after the announcement.
Tom McPhail, Hargreaves Lansdown's head of retirement policy, said Lloyds sale did not dovetail with the Government's pledge to support ordinary people.
"This would have been an opportunity to not only raise money for the Treasury but also to democratise retail investing.
"Share offers of this nature are an excellent mechanism for developing consumer interest in long term investments, so this decision to place shares via an institution hardly seems in keeping with the new Government's mantra of standing up for ordinary people."
Lloyds announced in July that it is cutting 3,000 jobs and shutting 200 branches in the wake of lower interest rates and as part of an extension of a cost-cutting programme.
Results for the first half of the year saw statutory profits more than double to £2.5 billion, but the lender warned that Brexit could have an adverse impact on its future performance.


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Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb (Macintosh)
Published by
Developed by
Also For
ESRB Rating
Critic Score
100 point score based on reviews from various critics.
User Score
5 point score based on user ratings.
DescriptionIndiana Jones is at it again. This time, he must travel his way through-out Asia to recover an artifact that, according to those who required his assistance, is the most powerful in the world. As usual, Indy isn't the only one who is out to find the treasure, with the Nazi's right on his tail.
Along with a heavy dose of exploration, whip cracking and platform jumping, you will also control Indy through fighting elements against a range of enemies. Hand-to-hand combat and a collection of weapons (from guns to table legs) can be used to defend yourself.
There are no Macintosh user screenshots for this game.
There are 69 other screenshots from other versions of this game or official promotional screenshots.
Promo Images
Alternate Titles
- "法櫃奇兵:王陵再現" -- Chinese spelling (traditional)
- "Indiana Jones: המסע אל ארץ הדרקון" -- Hebrew spelling
- "Indiana Jones y la Tumba del emperador" -- Spanish title
- "Indiana Jones und die Legende der Kaisergruft" -- German title
- "Indiana Jones et le Tombeau de l'Empereur" -- French title
- "Indiana Jones e la Tomba dell'Imperatore" -- Italian title
- "Indiana Jones Be'eretz Hadrakon" -- Israeli title
Part of the Following Groups
- 3D Engine: Slayer
- Indiana Jones licensees
- Inspiration: Movies
- Protagonist: Treasure hunter
- Setting: City - Prague
User Reviews
There are no reviews for the Macintosh release of this game. You can use the links below to write your own review or read reviews for the other platforms of this game.
Critic Reviews
|87 out of 100
|Dec 03, 2003
|8.3 out of 10
|Mac Addict
|Apr, 2004
|Inside Mac Games (IMG)
|Feb 17, 2004
|7 out of 10
|Jan 19, 2004
There are currently no topics for this game.
German versionSwastikas, SS runes and iron crosses were removed or replaced in the German version. Other changes are removed Nazi salutes, avoidance of the word "Nazi" in texts or dialogues and in one instance Hermann Göring was translated to General Gering.
ReferencesLeading up to the events featured in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), it's no surprise that there's an off-hand reference to Lao Che, a mention of Willie Scott in the manual, and an important role for Wu Han (the "waiter" in Temple of Doom who makes and early exit).
Voice actorDavid Esch, who voiced Indiana Jones in this game, also voiced Han Solo (also played by Harrison Ford in the movies) in Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds.
Information also contributed by Terrence Bosky.
Related Web Sites
- Adventure Has a Name (An Apple Games article about the Mac version of The Emperor's Tomb, with commentary being provided by Producer Jim Tso (November, 2003).)
- Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb Website (Official website for the game)
- Robert Parry-Cruwys' Indiana Jones Site (Walkthroughs, News and much more on Emperor's Tomb and other Indiana Jones games.)
- Sinjin's Solve (Comprehensive walthrough in html or pdf format)
- Wikipedia: Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb (Information about Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb at Wikipedia)
VP Production:
Lead Artist:


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Eastern Provence
Exactly three months ago today I was in France (just outside of the village of Monthoiron to be exact) standing by the side of the road waiting to see the Tour de France riders cycle past. Three months. I can't believe how fast time is passing. Sadly the trip is beginning to feel like a distant memory. With it currently being school holidays, I've finally found some time to get back into editing my photos from the trip and it has been wonderful to revisit and savour the memories from our amazing time away. This post picks up where the last post finished as we made our way around the French countryside.
Following our stay in the stunning Bourg d'Oisans, we headed south to the region of Provence, with a short stop in Sisteron to drop Mum and Dad at the train station. Sisteron is a beautiful place but don't attempt to source a late lunch in the middle of summer! The further south we travelled the hotter it became – we'd finally found summer! From Sisteron we drove east for an hour or so to our base for the next two nights at Moustiers Sainte Marie. Our reason for visiting this region was to explore the beautiful Gorges du Verdon. I first saw the Verdon Gorge in the 2015 Tour de France (stage 17 to be exact) and knew that it was another place to add to the list of places to visit next time we found ourselves in France. The Verdon Gorge is a river canyon that is described as Europe's most beautiful. When booking the accommodation, I picked Moustiers Sainte Marie due to its proximity to the gorge, not knowing how gorgeous the village itself would be. Wikipedia describes Moustiers Sainte Marie as one of the most beautiful villages in France. We stayed just down the hill from the village in a B&B that had a pottery studio attached to it. Moustiers Sainte Marie is home to many pottery artisans, with the village itself containing many pottery shops. The owner of the B&B (and studio), Franck, kindly gave us a tour of the pottery workshop. He didn't speak much English but we were able to get the gist of it.
Our time in Moustiers was spent exploring the nearby gorge as well as the village. The Gorges du Verdon certainly is spectacular, with the water an amazing blue/aqua colour…
This is the actual gorge:
The village of Moustiers Sainte Marie
This area of Provence is home to much of the lavender that is grown in the region. We decided to venture out late one evening just before sunset (around 8:30pm) to photograph the lavender fields during golden hour.
Not a lavender field but still a beautiful view…
Following our stay in Moustiers Sainte Marie, we headed east for the next two nights to stay in a farmhouse just outside of Forcalquier. Forcalquier is still part of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department. There wasn't a whole lot to do in Forcalquier besides relax (which we did). We did, however, stumble upon a couple of flowering sunflower fields which were spectacular. Seeing fields of sunflowers were something that I always wanted to see and fortunately we were able to do this. Later on in our trip we saw plenty more fields of sunflowers, particularly around the Loire Valley, but it was too early in the season for them to be flowering, so this ended up being our only opportunity.
Forcalquier was certainly very beautiful and peaceful, however, in hindsight, we probably wouldn't have missed it and could easily have stayed longer in Moustiers and then in Gordes (our next stop). Despite this, it was good to unwind quite a bit after nearly three weeks on the move.
Stay tuned for part two of our visit to Provence!
Bourg d'Oisans and Alpe d'Huez
After a short but sleepless overnight flight from Iceland and several hours on multiple trains, including 2 extra hours thanks to catching the wrong train (oops), we made it to the French Alps and specifically Alpe d'Huez. For those who missed my initial trip blog post (click here), one of the things I was most looking forward to about this trip was having the opportunity to ride Alpe d'Huez. Alpe d'Huez has featured in many a Tour de France and is one of the most iconic climbs in the sport of cycling. Despite having only cycled for 8 months, I was up for the challenge, along with Ian and Dad (who has been cycling for a lot longer but not as much recently).
We spent our first night staying in Alpe d'Huez itself and the view of the surrounding Alps was pretty spectacular.
Having had very little sleep the previous night due to travelling, I awoke on the day of our epic climb feeling rather tired and somewhat apprehensive about what was to come. Thankfully the weather was perfect, if not a tad warm, and we set off down the mountain to meet Mum and Dad and pick up our hire bikes.
We had all agreed that we weren't out to set some amazing time to get to the top of Alpe d'Huez – our goal was just to reach the top no matter how long it was going to take. For those who are interested, the fastest ever time up Alpe d'Huez is 37'35" set by Marco Pantani in 1997 (however there are drug suspicions surrounding Pantani so it's possible that his rapid ascent of Alpe d'Huez was assisted). Before starting out, I was quite concerned that I wasn't going to make it. I had driven up the mountain – I knew how hard it was going to be.
With our bikes ready to go, there was no turning back. We departed just after midday and had to have the bikes back by 6:30pm (so we sort of did have a bit of a time limit). The following photos are all from my iPhone as there was no way I was lugging my DSLR up Alpe d'Huez!
At the start:
For those unfamiliar with the Tour de France, the red polka dot jersey I'm wearing is for the King of the Mountains classification. Fitting for our ride up Alpe d'Huez.
At the actual start: Km 0
Alpe d'Huez is composed of 21 hairpins, each of which are labelled and have the names of past and (some) recent Tour de France stage winners. The first two hairpins (21 and 20) are by far the hardest, with a gradient of 11%. By the time we got to hairpin 20 (the second one from the bottom), I thought I had no hope of reaching the top. It was really hot and I was probably the thirstiest I'd ever been in my life. After a bit of a break in the shade, chatting with some English cyclists and taking on board some fuel and water, we set off again. Thankfully the spectacular views made up for the pain.
One of the many things I enjoyed about our ride up Alpe d'Huez is the camaraderie among many of the cyclists. For example, for much of our time riding up Alpe d'Huez, we were riding near the group of English cyclists I mentioned above, so we were always encouraging each other to keep going.
Photo by Griffe Photos
We slowly continued uphill, eventually passing the time trial (chrono) finish of Alpe d'Huez, being cheered on loudly by our English friends who had finished ahead of us and were enjoying a cold beer in a cafe. I had wanted to finish at the proper Tour de France finish which is about 1.5km further uphill from the chrono finish, so Dad and I continued on (sadly Ian couldn't join us as we were now running out of time and he headed downhill to pick up the car to pick us up). Unfortunately the TdF finish was not all that well signposted and we actually rode too far, eventually finding it on our way back downhill (which was a pleasant way to finish). All up, it took us 2 hours and 12 minutes of riding and about that again with rest breaks.
Getting to the top was the best feeling ever. I still feel stoked to have been able to achieve this. Yes, it was extremely hard and there were many times I had to tell my legs to shut up, but the views were spectacular and the closer I got to the finish the stronger I felt (it also helped that the gradients were slightly less than the start of the ride). My many months of training had paid off. It was also really special to have been able to ride Alpe d'Huez with Dad who I can blame for my love of cycling. Riding Alpe d'Huez is something that he has wanted to do for a while so it was a privilege to have had the opportunity to cycle it with him.
The day after our ascent was spent fairly quietly as were were all pretty exhausted from our efforts. We took a wander around Bourg d'Oisans which is the village at the base of Alpe d'Huez. It is surrounded by the Alps and is beautiful.
You might be able to see a line running across the top third of the mountain in the image above. It is a road from the village of Huez and also excellent to ride along…I have plans 🙂
This field of poppies was just outside of our B&B
After our night in Alpe d'Huez, we spent the next two with Mum and Dad at a great B&B called Cycling Ascents (yes, a B&B targeted at cyclists) in Bourg d'Oisans. As you might imagine, there was plenty of cycling talk at the breakfast table as everyone shared where they had ridden the previous day and where they were headed that day. I loved it.
I felt a little heartbroken to leave Bourg d'Oisans. It is one of the few places I've visited that I think I could happily spend the rest of my life. I loved the scenery and the strong cycling culture (in winter it becomes a base for skiing). I loved what I was able to achieve by cycling Alpe d'Huez but it has left me hungry for more. The area is home to several other famous climbs such as the Col du Galibier, Col du Glandon and Col de Telegraphe to name a few, so there is plenty more cycling to be done in this area. Being immersed in the cycling culture and having the opportunity to test myself physically by cycling Alpe d'Huez has left me wanting more. We've already talked about coming back for a longer stay to tackle some more epic ascents by bike. I'm not sure when, but I'll definitely be back and I now have some big goals to keep training for!
P.S. Shoutout to the awesome team in L block! Have a great holiday 🙂
East to West Iceland
We've had a couple of big days and before any further time passes, I need to do my final Iceland blog post! We said farewell to Iceland 5 days ago and I still need to blog about what we saw from East Iceland across the top to West Iceland and back to Reykjavik, so here goes!
We left the glaciers behind as we travelled north along the eastern coast of Iceland from Hofn to Seydisfjordur, a stunning little village set at the end of a 17km long fjord. Several scenes from Walter Mitty were filmed around Seydisfjordur, including the skateboard scene. Here are a few photos of Seydisfjordur.
Not too far from Seydisfjordur was a village home to a colony of puffins. Not wanting to miss the opportunity of seeing puffins in the wild, we took the 2.5 hour round trip to Borgarfjordur Eystri. Thankfully our trip paid off – there were heaps of puffins and they were adorable!
From Borgarfjordur Eystri we headed west to Myvatn. It is amazing how different the landscape is in the north of Iceland compared with the south. As you may have seen in my previous posts, southern Iceland is quite lush and home to many waterfalls and glaciers, whereas much of the north is quite barren and desolate. There are large lava flows that give the landscape quite an alien feel. Myvatn is quite a geologically active area and is quite similar to Rotorua in New Zealand, especially in its sulphurous smell.
After some long walks and many hours sitting in the car, I was started to feel quite sore so convinced Ian to take a dip with me in one of the geothermal pools that Myvatn has to offer. It was about 11 degrees outside and the smell wasn't particularly pleasant, however, the pool was 38 degrees and incredibly relaxing. You can't really come to Iceland without having a swim in a geothermal pool!
Our journey continued west from Myvatn, passing through the the gorgeous little town of Husavik and also visiting Godafoss (another waterfall).
Lighthouse outside Husavik
Church in Husavik
Our final night in Iceland (if you don't count the one spent at an airport) was at Stykkisholmur, another charming sea-side village.
Hotel Eglisen – our hotel for the night
This building was used as the pub in Walter Mitty (just before he jumps into the helicopter). Our hotel is in the background.
Our final day in Iceland was spent exploring the Snaefellsnes Peninsula. It was a spectacular day – sunny and warm. Despite it being only 14 degrees, it was warm enough to not need a jacket. The cold in Iceland (in summer) feels much different to the cold in Sydney. 14 degrees in Sydney would have me wearing multiple layers! I even managed to get a little sunburnt on a similar day earlier in the trip.
Kirkjufoss with Kirkjufell in the background
Church in Hellnar
Another cute church, this time in Budir.
That pretty much summarises our trip to Iceland for now. As I wrote previously, there are plenty of photos to be edited and blogged when I have some more time to do them justice so this will not be the end of what I share about Iceland.
I loved our time in Iceland and am so blessed to have been able to see it. I'm not sure how much the country will change over time, particularly as tourism grows, but I fear that as more people visit there will be less access to some of the sights that we were able to enjoy. If a trip to Iceland is something you've considered, do it!
My next post will be about the equally stunning Alps in France.